#so the smith family is the baseline

[night-panda]

Just thought if something. Now that we have confirmation that our Morty is in fact Morty Prime, he’s the only Morty that we can confirm wasn’t somehow manufactured by a Rick, either through cloning or manipulating Beth/Jerry. I guess that’s why he’s the Mortiest Morty.

[mayweneverdie]

What The Rdr2 Men and Women Want For Their Birthday

—

Warnings: slight violence mention in Karen’s part but nothing graphic, no beta read, too lazy for it

Characters: Arthur Morgan, Charles Smith, Eagle Flies, Mary Beth Gaskill, Tilly Jackson, and Karen Jones (in order)

Gifs are not mine!

Requests are open for rdr2!

-

The Men

Arthur Morgan

-

Arthur is a simple man, both low and high honor.

He’d enjoy cigars, cards, whatever it is, he’s grateful for it.

Well low honor might not be as upfront but I think he’d like it a bit.

But if you wanted to get him something more, give him something for his horse.

A nice brush or treats.

But if you buy him a new saddle he might have to turn it down.

Key word might.

His old one has charm, but its gotten more worn for wear.

Charles Smith

—

I think he’d insist you didn’t get him anything.

He’d much rather spend time somewhere rather than receive a physical gift.

If you did get him one, he’d kindly decline unless it’s something he absolutely needs.

Instead, he’d ask you to take him either hunting, out on a walk, or just hanging out together for the day.

He’s a very simple man and he’s very easy to please.

Eagle Flies

—

Similarly to Charles, he would rather have something to experience than something physical.

Riding horses, walking together, etc.

But if you did, he’d accept it.

I think he’d enjoy receiving a meal from your family’s secret stash of recipes that you may or may not have taken before running off with the gang.

He’d also like anything handmade.

You embroidered him something? Awesome!

Painting? He loves it.

Wood carving? Impeccable.

The Women

Mary Beth Gaskill

—

She’s a very simple woman, she wants books and flowers.

She’d read just about any book that’s in the English language if it’s about romance.

With flowers, she dries them so they last much longer.

Of course she wouldn’t be opposed to other finer things like wine, jewelry, etc. but baseline this is something she’d enjoy receiving.

Tilly Jackson

—

Tilly is a girl who adores small intricate gifts.

A simple necklace will do, no expensive gem or stone needed, just something to had a little extra pizazz.

But she also enjoys little lockets with tiny flowers pressed into them.

She’d also love something personal, something that has a lot of thought like an earring set with her initials or other engravings, or an embroidered shirt with delicate designs.

She loves whatever you get her, but those, those are like gold to her.

Karen Jones

— i think this gif is adorable!

Karen is a “go big or go home” girl, she loves gifts that have high value, how you get them, she doesn’t care.

In fact, she might scope out some rich snob who so happens to be a bit too drunk to realize he’s following someone to a well.

And afterwards, she’d thank you for the heavy lifting and take the ring, necklace, or other accessories she had her eye on.

Just be weary you aren’t the rich snob.

—

I hope this was in character, requests are open for rdr2!

[vrisbian]

So there have been concerns regarding Morty not having enough screentime for the first half of this season.

And I do understand, he is a MC but has been relegated to be more apart of the family, with the other Smiths getting time to shine instead.

But I have thought- the writers have this great and rare blessing to have so many episodes signed off on. They can write their show now with shifting dynamics and see the payoff over the future seasons. And we already have been seeing Rick, from seasons 1-5, be a toxic asshole but getting in some ways better at having and being part of a family over time.

In Season 6 Rick is reacting to nearly dying and more importantly Morty nearly dying- at the beginning of the season. Its happened before, that near death that he drags his 14 year old grandson into, but I think it had been awhile for Rick to not have any real solution but to give up. And he truly realizes then that he does love Morty as his own grandson. And then seeing Rick Prime again, and having to give up on that vengenance for the sake of Morty and the rest of the family.

I see Morty taking a bit more of a backseat as Rick trying to protect him and be more of the adult. He is shit at it, his baselines are so far off from anyone elses, but hey hes doing laundry and not flinging Morty into every danger every time. And in this first real Rick and Morty adventure of the season, Rick is continually saying the goal is to get Morty safe and out of the meta story. He puts his coat around Morty as he thinks they will freeze to death. Rick and Morty will be finding a new balance, bc they can’t go back to that exact (toxically dependent) dynamic as before.

[alchemisoul]

"Andy and I met as schoolboys in 1975. We were best friends, going everywhere together. When we were fifteen I moved into his house with him and his three brothers and I soon came to realise that my mate was one of those rare people that absolutely no one doesn’t like.

Andy and I spent all our time studying music, having fun, and working on becoming the best musicians we could possibly be. Back then Andy was a guitar player and a good one at that, but it was when he picked up the bass that he would find his true calling and his singular talent would flourish.

Throughout our teens we played in various bands around South Manchester before making our reputations with The Smiths from 1982 to 1987, and it was on those Smiths records that Andy reinvented what it is to be a bass guitar player.

I was present at every one of Andy’s bass takes on every Smiths session. Sometimes I was there as the producer and sometimes just as his proud mate and cheerleader. Watching him play those dazzling baselines was an absolute privilege and genuinely something to behold. But one time which always comes to mind was when I sat next to him at the mixing desk watching him play his bass on the song The Queen Is Dead. It was so impressive that I said to myself ‘I’ll never forget this moment.’

We maintained our friendship over the years, no matter where we were or what was happening and it is a matter of personal pride as well as sadness that the last time Andy played on stage was with me and my band at Maddison Square Garden in September 2022.

It was a special moment that we shared with my family and his wife and soul mate Francesca. Andy will always be remembered, as a kind and beautiful soul by everyone who knew him, and as a supremely gifted musician by people who love music.

Well done Andy. We’ll miss you brother."

- Johnny Marr

(Images: Andy Rourke and Johnny Marr by Paul Slattery, Andy Rourke as seen in the sleeve of “Hatful of Hollow”, Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

[gale-dekarios]

bones' version made me realise i literally did not elaborate on any song whatsoever LMAO

Cold, Cold, Cold by the Family Crest is OBVIOUSLY about milo. its the degree of separation between them, how rose wish he could have been there for her, even if it meant he was risking his own life too. just for the chance of knowing what happened to her in elturel. even if that means confirming that she died. its not the grief of losing her that hurts the most, its not knowing whether or not she got out.

TCOIIF by junie & thehutfriends (underrated band) kind of follows on from coldx3. rose, despite his best pretences, is deeply fearful of losing the people he loves. to the point of obsession and paranoia. when gale and rose first move to waterdeep, they have to work on rose not having full scale panic attacks (that he stubbornly refuses to admit are panic attacks) whenever he wakes up and gale's not besides him in bed, or when he's late home from work, or simply wanders off to look at smth at the market. rose knows hes irrational, but unfortunately, as a naturally imaginative person, the consequence is fear.

next to me by emili sandé was actually a really tough pick. i wanted smth about rose being seen as desirable without making it too... aggressive? or... idk... i was thinking unholy by sam smith for example, but whilst the vibe was right, the actual lyrical content was too....... much? rose has sex with his friends. he does it as bonding. always has done. if theyre comfortable with it and want to, hes all for it. but its incredibly platonic for him. so i didnt want anything that was more than that, but could still fit for how gale sees him too. obviously with the exception of the drow twins and halsin, rose stops sleeping with his friends (rose is monogamous when hes in a relationship, its all very confusing, i know), and so whilst next to me i think was written in a romance context, i think it totally applies to how dependable and supportive rose is. he's a bit of a ride or die.

let me follow by son lux is about galllllle, obviously. will gale blow himself up? will gale ascend to godhood? he hopes not. and so he pleads, don't go anywhere that i cant follow.

STARTAFIGHT by joey valence & brae is smth kinda punchy (ha) and fun whilst also having that quick baseline i wanted. its posturing, rose cant fight to save his life. he and his 8 strength noodle arms stays firmly at the back of the line and dazzles the enemies for long enough for someone actually capable to beat the shit out of them. this is totally a song rose would PLAY for everyone else fighting tho!

cloudbusting by kate bush -- something light, something hopeful, something a bit dreamy. i imagine it like, rose steps out onto the docks of baldurs gate, a small crate in his arms as he looks over the seemingly endless sea, the waves turning gold from the sun above. seagulls caw as they fly overhead as gale, just on the boat, and looking healthier than he ever has in plain, linen clothing, offers to take rose's crate, who hands it off to him. he boards the boat as the song kicks in and then as they undock and sail away the credits roll, the boat becoming smaller and smaller on the horizon as they leave for waterdeep.

6 Songs Tav-Tag

thank you @darkurgetrash for the tag! your girl tavlyn, (who's version you can see here), is gorgeous!

tagging: @lewdisescariot, @the-skeleton-speaks, @astarryvamp, @lamortwrites, @simpofwaterdeep, @heytheresunflower, @gale-force-storm, @orangekittyenergy, @friendly-wizard-bibliothecary, @ravnloft, @marlowethebard, @rowansnaps

an event that defines your character's past

And the war, it carries on,

And our hearts, they echo strong,

With a silent tick we wimper and fall.

Take your time, and take it slow,

Take your breath, and feel it go

2. how your character sees themselves

The consequence of imagination is fear,

The million "what if I"'s between your ears,

The feeling of regret,

And now I'm running to forget,

But know, the consequence of imagination is fear

3. how others view them

When the money's spent and all my friends have vanished,

And I can't seem to find no help or love for free,

I know there's no need for me to panic,

'Cause I'l find him, I'll find him next to me.

4. their closest relationship (platonic or romantic)

Please just take me with you when you go,

Or let me follow,

Take me with you,

Take me with you,

Or let me follow.

5. a major fight scene

I'm burning bright,

My fists are tight,

My momma always told me two wrongs don't make a right,

Fight or flight,

I got you in my sight,

Let's start a fight,

Let's start a fight,

Let's start a fight

6. end credits song

But every time it rains,

You're here in my head,

Like the sun coming out,

Oh, I just know something good is gonna happen,

I don't know when,

But saying it could even make it happen

[duggardata]

It Katey IS pregnant, and her due date is BEFORE Joy’s, what would that mean for her PP? Their ESOQ?

[ Follow–Up to This Post ]

If Katey is Pregnant w/ #29…

If Jed + Katey are, in fact, expecting the elusive 29th GrandDuggar, they’re way early, and they'll be setting a truly incredible pace. Also, their Pregnancy Announcement is really late, based on the timing of their 1st Pregnancy Reveal—but not yet late, based on family data.

Joy (Duggar) Forsyth is currently pregnant with GrandDuggar #30. She’s due on May 23, 2023. If Jed + Katey are expecting #29, then Katey's Due Date must be before Joy's. (We can be fairly certain of this. Katey had True on his Due Date, while Gideon and Evy arrived just 1 Day Late and 2 Days Late, respectively. So, there's no reason for us to think Jim Bob might be thinking, like: "Yes, Katey is due a day or two after Joy, but Joy is always really late, so Katey probably will deliver first.") She'd be due on May 22, 2023, at the latest.

Using May 22, 2023 as Katey’s Due Date, the Predictor thinks she'll once again give birth on that Due Date. Currently, Duggar–Nakatsu #2 isn't expected until August 22, 2024. Doing the math... Katey + Jed would be 458 Days (15 Months) and 2.56 SDs Early, if Katey is due on May 22nd. That's in the 92nd Percentile. And that's if she's due on May 22nd; if she's due earlier, it'd be even faster!

Just to hammer this home... That'd be a short spacing. Like, short. Really short. Counting from May 2, 2022 (Truett's DOB) to May 22, 2023, it's just 385 Days (1 Year, 3 Weeks). Even among the top, top producing Predictor Couples, that is extremely fast. Going off Non–Firstborn, Non–Post–Loss Child Spacings, with adjustment for any unexpected, unlikely to recur prematurity (e.g., Josie D.), Truett–to–Baby #2 would be beaten only by 11 Child Spacings. And, that's out of 500(!) Spacings, across my entire spreadsheet. Here's the list—

331 Days Timothy David Rodrigues [Jill's 2nd]

342 Days Audrey Kress Morton [Alyssa (Campana)'s 3rd]

345 Days Grace Ann ("Gracie") Wikstrom [Kristi's 3rd]

348 Days Renee Crystine Rodrigues [Jill's 4th]

359 Days Ronald Michael Smith [Katie (Morton)'s 2nd]

361 Days Coralee Jean Rogers [Courtney's 10th]

364 Days Toby Malachi Mueller [Mary Jane (Stoll)'s 6th]

366 Days Etbauer–Wikstrom #2 (Approx.) [Gracie's 2nd]

367 Days Callie Ann Rogers [Courtney's 4th]

375 Days Colt and Case Rogers [Courtney's Twins]

382 Days Michael Dean Tull [Kaleigh (Holt)'s 2nd]

Clearly, it's not unprecedented—but, it would be impressive!

If Katey was due on May 22, 2023, her prior data indicates that she and Jed would've announced on September 25, 2022. As of today, November 4, 2022, their Baby News would be 40 Days Late. (And, they announced True at Day 41—so, they're already 98% Later than last time.) If we were to use the Overall Duggar data, however, they wouldn't actually be late to announce, at all. They'd be expected to announce at 94 Days Among, on November 17, 2022.

If Duggar–Nakatsu arrives on May 22, 2023, 385 Days after Truett, Jed + Katey's Baseline Procreative Pace (PP) would be 385 Days, which trails just 1 Couple—Gracie (Wikstrom) + Kord Etbauer (366 Days). Their Age–Adjusted Procreative Pace (AAPP), from <25 to >40, would be just 385–508 Days (12.6–16.7 Months). And finally, their ESOQ would be 14 Children, which is 6 Children / 75% More than the Predictor currently thinks they'll have. That's a lot!

Duggar Data thinks Duggar–Nakatsu #2 is probably GrandDuggar #31 or #32, or something. Not #29. But, we'll see! If it is #29, it's unexpected, although not unprecedented, and Jed + Katey will be the Duggar Couple to watch re: Procreative Pace.

[azureflight]

The Desmonds, the Forgers and the ending of Spy x Family: A completely baseless Tin Foil Hat Theory.

The reveal of Melinda Desmond at the end of the latest chapter of Spy x Family manga has brought forth a wave of speculation and theories within the fandom. I have enjoyed them quite a bit, however, the reveal itself has evoked a, dare I say, “darker”, idea in my mind. As I have said in the title, this is completely baseless, I will be reaching across the stars as I work my through this, and yet, the idea begs to be out of the boundaries of my own skull, so I will share it with you all the same.

With that said, here we go: 

Ostania vs Westalis: An Uncanny Feeling

Everyone has mentioned the obvious similarities between East-West Germany divide/Cold War in general with the Ostania-Westalis of the setting. However, I feel like the similarities are a bit overstated. First of all, the divide during the Cold War was a core ideological one between Socialism/Communism and Capitalism/Free Democracy.

So far, both countries seem like they share at least a baseline of multiparty democracy, even if one of them more free and true in its democracy while the other has an effective police state. A free market capitalism of multiple privately owned businesses seem common and in fact dominant in both countries. Rather than a fundamental difference of core systems, their animosity seems to be one based on nationalism and specifically nationalist ambitions.

On that regard, I feel like Westalis-Ostania divide is similar to France-Germany antagonism pre-WW2. They were both technically democracies, they had a previous war that one side technically won and yet left none satisfied. And, technically speaking, interwar France was richer and freer than Weimar Germany.

Now, we don’t really focus on Westalis and have such a limited knowledge of it  that it is essentially none existent. So that part of the equation is thin to the point of irrelevance. However, the main side I want to focus on, and the core of my tin foil hat theory, is about Ostania, and specifically its similarity to Weimar Germany.

The National Unity Party and the Politics of Ostania

At this point, some of you probably already know where I am going with this, yet I will spell it out all the same: While it is usually mentioned that the National Unity Party is probably based on Socialist Unity Party of Germany, I feel like this is not entirely true.

Main reason for this is that the Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the sole and ruling political party of East Germany, rather than one of many competing ones that “may” cause problem “if” they had won.

On that regard, the National Unity Party reminds me more of the National Socialist Germany Workers’ Party. Yes, I mean the literal Nazi Party.

The apparent belligerent, warmongering nationalism is the biggest connection between the two, so far we do not have any other details about their ideology. However, the potential details of the type of far right fascism is not exactly the point of this theory. Rather, it is the mechanics of their rise and the overall war threat they had brought.

Another little part that inspired this whole rabbit role that I have dug for myself, is that while I enjoyed the Mr. & Mrs. Smith jokes about Loid and Yor, what this shows actually reminds me of is The Americans tv series. Instead of bunch of Soviet spies in USA, it is about bunch of French spies in Weimer Germany trying to prevent the rise of NSDAP.

Resentment from the Last War, Wounded Prides and How to Appeal to the Electorate

At this point, we already know that there is a lingering resentment due to the war and dissatisfaction with the current peace within the Ostanian population. And as far as we know, the National Unity Party is trying to tap into those feelings to climb back into power after they had lost their seat to the more dovish party.

However, we have no real knowledge on how this is going for them. Are they ahead in the polls? Is there an election soon? Are they trying to force an early election?

What we do know, on the other hand, is this: Donovan Desmond, is a completely unappealing, creepy, borderline repulsive man who openly and even proudly, talks about being incapable of connecting to other human beings, to the point he doesn’t even bother to pretend to be anything less than an absolutely anti-social wacko.

Now, that is something that “may” not matter in closed, elite spaces of power trades, but it is a death sentence in electoral politics. You need charisma and appeal to familiarity in order to win. People need to feel heard, understood and represented. A creep incapable of even pretense of that, cannot succeed in politics. 

Enter Melinda Desmond. She is charming, she is kind, she is supportive. She makes you feel appreciated and accepted. We have many speculating how Melinda maybe a spy, the real head honcho, or at the very least a close ally and confidant of her husband. 

I agree to the last one of those speculations, but there is one more part I would like to add onto that: Melinda looks like she is the leader of a more subtle and potentially far more influential community outreach program.

The Lady Patriots Society feels like the women’s branch of the party, or at the very least, affiliated with the party. And while Donovan maybe this unreachable sociopath incapable of making inroads with the common voter, Melinda is most definitely not. On the contrary, it looks like she is quite capable of winning people over. And guess which demographic votes more, more often and more consistently: Women.

Female vote was crucial for the rise of many a political party, ever since they had the right to vote, and the Nazi party was no exception I’m afraid. For any political party that is serious about winning, getting at least a substantial part of the overall women’s vote if not a flat out majority, is necessary.

Another aspect of this electoral calculation is relationships. Husbands and wives influence how each other vote. And while the first reflex maybe to assume husbands dictate wives’ votes, the opposite is just as common if not more.

Especially, in the more middle class families, not only would women have more voice in couple’s voting, they have overall more influence in the general politics of the family, as they are the ones handling most of the child rearing. And the middle class, historically, is the most reliable voting block. They show up in higher percentages, more often, more consistently. 

It appears that Melinda, with her society, is trying to reach to middle/upper-middle families, through the women. And if her interactions with Yor is anything to go by, she is doing a tremendous job at it

Yor Forger the Wife, Loid Forger the Psychiatrist, Melinda the Connector

The main premise of the series so far, is the WISE’s attempts to get into Donovan Desmond’s inner circle, in order to get direct information regarding their potential war plans.

The WISE, had come up with a pretty intensive and convoluted plan to reach Donovan, through Eden College, which caused the creation of the Forger family. Now, since we have no real information about the relationship between Donovan and Melinda, we have no canonical explanation as to why the WISE seemingly ignored the wife in their quest to get close to Donovan. However, for the sake of this tin foil hat I am wearing, I will assume that it is possible reach him through his wife, just not one that the WISE thought they could pull off.

Yor, being pretty much completely honest in her interactions, has no plans or ulterior motives to get close to Melinda. She just happened upon her and dragged by her. Assuming their relationship will grow, this presents a previous unthought off path to Donovan for Twilight.

The main advantage is that Yor will come out clean and never give off any feeling of conspiring to get close to Donovan or Melinda. The main challenge is that Loid is dependent on Yor’s connection to Melinda and runs a huge risk of seeming too eager.

This is where I think Donovan’s lack of appeal, Melinda’s seeming effort for voter outreach and Loid Forger persona’s psychiatrist profession will come together to work in favor of the WISE and the Operation Strix.

Melinda gets closer to Yor, tries to influence her politics, and her husband’s politics through her. 

Loid, knowing full well this is a golden opportunity, plays it cool and cautious in his approach to his wife’s new friends and potential political hooks. 

He appears the archetypal crucial electoral demographic: Working family man who knows war and while not fundamentally opposed to the nationalist ideas, weary about hostile rhetoric.

Melinda learns of this attitude either through direct conversation with Loid or through Yor “my husband thinks and I agree” type of deal.

Melinda realizes he is not only the type of person they need to convince, but also, due to his profession, may even know the best way to do the convincing.

Melinda connects Loid to Donovan so that he maybe recruited into the party.

Donovan, convinced by Melinda, seeks to hire him to help with their campaign.

The WISE considers this the golden path and fulfillment of all their wishes. Loid is less convinced as he would be essentially helping the antagonists who are trying to start a war. The WISE says the intelligence is too valuable, go for it anyway. 

The Endgame of the Series and the Price of Preventing the War

The Operation Strix, is not just connecting to Donovan. In fact, the real operation starts after establishing contact with him. This is meant to be a deep undercover, several years maybe even life long mission, to keep feeding information from the very head of the National Unity Party until either the risk of war is completely eliminated or death.

Here, is where I think the real gut punch will come:

Loid helps Donovan’s party.

He is actually pretty good at it and quickly realized for his capabilities.

He rises rapidly into a prominent position and becomes a close confidant of Donovan.

Due to Donovan’s abject lack of charisma and Loid’s abundance of it, he increasingly becomes the face of the party.

The party increases popularity and wins back the unitary control of the government.

They actually do attempt to start a war.

The WISE is forced to commit violence in order to stop them.

The SSS helps them but there is a price to be paid: Ostania alone cannot be made out to be the bad guys. The WISE cuts a deal where their organization is branded a conspirator in helping warmongering agenda. Several agents, Twilight included, get exposed.

Political violence explodes and purges start. Most of the party goes down.

Loid and Yor, now revealed to each other, try to get Anya out of the country into safety.

They themselves stay back to finish the job.

Loid dies during it, now openly known not only as a Westalis spy, but as an evil saboteur who tried to restart the war.

Yor survives, leaves the country, raises Anya on her own.

I had this idea pop up in my head as soon as I had finished the chapter. I know that it is extremely convoluted and even ridiculous. Reaching across the universe if I say so myself. However, the more I think about it, the more scared and sad I feel, fearing that something of this sort will happen. Especially given Endo’s famous penchant for darker stories.

With all those said and done, I am eager to see where the story is actually going, enjoying every wholesome, sweet, silly moment and the interpersonal relationships of the Forger family we will have in the process. 

[stancine]

i just watched a compilation of stans childhood with his dad and like i just feel really bad for stan, mustve been rough growing up like that :c

oh my goodness i just watched it too. when little Stan is sad i just want to give him a hug. Stan went through so much in his childhood. its so interesting to watch his life unfold in the show. honestly they really do get pretty detailed when it comes to his childhood trauma and the way it affected him as an adult. the writers do an awesome job at conveying how Stan copes with his trauma

for example, in the scene where Steve turns Stan’s nostalgia filter down to 0%, Stan still revisits his horribly traumatic childhood with fondness. its not uncommon for adults who were abused/neglected as children to be unable to see their childhood for what it actually was, because in doing so it could be too much for them to handle. and in turn, Stan tends to idolize his father to the point of acting like him and treating his children —namely Steve— in a way that mirrors Jack. this is evident more so in the earlier seasons where Stan was consistently shitting on Steve’s unconventional interests and rejecting Hayley’s nonconformity. he cannot accept his children’s self expression during this time, because he was never allowed to do so when he was their age. he wasn’t treated like a human, but rather an extension of his parents

thank goodness for Francine. she definitely was encouraged to express herself in her youth and she never really shit on her kid’s interests like Stan did. i think that her free spirited nature makes up for Stan being so stuck up.

not to mention how fucking terrible Betty was too! she parentified Stan the moment Jack left them. Stan never got to have a proper childhood not only because his father was a neglectful, emotionally abusive alcoholic, but his mother also never allowed him a proper childhood after his father was out of the picture. she relied on Stan for emotional support, and Stan didn’t know any better. he had no baseline for what a healthy parent-child relationship should look like. and even as an established adult, Stan still is at the hands of his mother from time to time. it takes Francine to point it out for Stan to realize how unhealthy his relationship with his mother is. maybe its hard for him to let go of that because she is the only parent he has left.

it really makes me happy that Stan’s personality shifted as the show went on. in the future, i’d like to gather more information about when this shift actually happened for him, but i really see it as him healing from his trauma, or at least moving on from it. Stan has a wonderful support system in the rest of his family. they all love him and respect him as the father figure/“patriarch” of the Smiths. i know that there is a lot more for Stan to unpack, but it really is wonderful seeing him turn out to be the father that he needed to his own children. the husband that cares about his wife and cherishes their relationship. and the person that everyone in the Smith family can go to when they need help.

[lankira]

I’ve converted a ton of old recipes from community cookbooks, family cookbooks, etc to the current standard of having numbered steps and precise instructions*, and I’ve noticed some things about them.

Older recipes that are written with a single paragraph of instructions often don’t describe what you’re looking for when, say, cooking chicken. They don’t tell you how to check for doneness, or exactly what color it should be. It’s usually “Roast for X-Y hours until done.”

Older recipes assume a baseline of knowing what “standard” is at the time of writing. “Cook the [ingredient] in the typical way” is not uncommon, especially pre-1950s. (This is also done in vintage sewing patterns. “Finish the seams in the usual way.”)

The information that would be an 80-paragraph recipe blog post are often summed up in a few lines at the beginning or end of a recipe in family cookbooks. One of my favorites comes from my dad’s family and was something along the lines of “When Clem tried to make butterscotch, he added this ingredient instead of this other one. We all liked it just fine, so we wrote it down and called it ‘Clem’s Mistake’.”

You can usually break the paragraph down into numbered steps just by putting each sentence on a new line.

Older recipes resemble the ones I received in professional kitchens more closely than the ones in modern cookbooks do. Modern cookbooks are mostly written as though the reader has not been introduced to the specific style of cooking or, in some cases, to cooking at all.

Older recipes are better about offering substitutions in the ingredients, especially those from the Depression and WWII eras. I have one recipe that has an ingredient list where the line for cooking oil is listed as “oil or melted shortening or melted lard”.

There are a bunch of other things I’ve noticed, too, but I’d have to review some of the comparisons I made in my kitchen notebook, which I don’t have on me right now.

Read below the cut for the starred notes.

*Notes on the conversions I do:

The conversion isn’t to lose the history, but to keep the recipe alive. Sometimes I come across an old recipe that it takes me 2-3 tries to make right, even though the instructions would have been clear as day in the era the recipe was written.

So, I convert these recipes and write more detailed instructions so that they can be made by other people.

For many of these recipes, I keep the original unaltered as both the hard copy and a scan (where the scanning process doesn’t risk damaging the book).

I keep the original source with the re-written recipe in as much detail as I can. Example: “This recipe comes from the Jones family cookbook, published for their reunion in 1985, which was held in Small Town, West Virginia. The book was compiled by Mary-Sue Jones and Joanne Smith (nee Jones). The original recipe instructions assumed use of the wood burning stove in the family home in Other Small Town, West Virginia, and an approximation and trial and error have resulted in the recommended temperatures above.”

Part of why I’m doing these conversions is because of a project I call my “funeral cookbook.” When my grandmother died in 2018, the response I got when I asked for any of her recipes was “you’ll get it when the cookbook comes out” or “I’ll give it to you when you come learn how to make it right.” The latter infuriated me because I spent time with Gram in the kitchen, learned how to make the things, and just...never got the recipe or lost it.

That made me realize that, when I’m gone, I don’t want my friends and family to have to search for or fight over the recipes. So, I am digitizing every recipe I make through a long, slow process and have the information backed up on Google Drive and a thumb drive. The Google Drive link already exists as pinned messages in a handful of places and my spouse has explicit instructions to distribute the recipes as a cookbook at my funeral.

One thing I'm enjoying about these community submitted recipes is the omission of certain instructions and measurements. Like if doesnt say 'add salt and pepper to taste.' Salt and pepper are in the ingredients list, but nowhere does it say how much or when to add.

Because you can hear Grandma Li saying 'you know when to add salt and pepper, have you never cooked before?'

And the curry recipe later in the book is like 'of course we use cardamom and cumin, we're not British. Measure with your heart.'

[nvrcmplt]

Disclaimer:: I am still researching autism in teens, so things may not be accurate just yet. Please feel free to correct me on things or give me better links for the information you’d think would help me out the most. Bon was a feral child, a lot of his symptoms are common with lack of human touch / education  but it’s only been recent that I’ve noticed / ICly things have been making me think of Bon’s actions in the spectrum. I am not sure if it’ll be 100% fixed to Bon; however it feels correct at this moment in time. Thanks for reading.

Bon is now legally an adopted child and existing “human” being. He no longer a John Smith or Questionable Random Child. He is no longer feral, but is learning how to be human all over again. Bon has suppressed / forgotten memories and holes all over his timeline but it’s evident by the research and medical facts they’ve found from Bon’s body and body language, he has been slowly learning and relearning what has happened to him; but safely in the home of a loving family.

Bon is now fully homed, away from the Social Centre he once frequented to now have a family of his very own. @prekliatyvlk​

Bon Skalický :: Legally Changed

Žigmund “Ziggy” Skalický - Adoptive Father.

Anthony Evans - Adoptive Father

Robbie Evans - Adoptive Brother

Artem Vukaxin - Pack Leader and God Father

Renji Vukaxin - Uncle RenRen

Katia Vukaxin Pack Leader and God Mother / Auntie

Alojz Chrobák - Uncle WeeWoo

Cecília Pivovarčová - Auntie WeeWoo

Loni Valadin - Tia / Auntie & God Mother

Shoto Todoroki / Valadin - Big brother figure

medical records have been updated and all injuries treated after Bon was bought in by general public after a Car Accident.

Alica Tesárová and Aapeli Hilja - Assigned Doctors.

mentions of child neglect, molestation, abuse and broken / fractured bones.

bon symptoms ::

Feral Behaviour ::

Crawling effortless on hands and knees/feet.

Growling / Showing teeth as a threat.

Biting / nibbling items that belong to him.

Peeing on the floor / in wilderness moreso than a toilet.

Howling, huffing

Nuzzling

Eating with hands

Sniffing food before eating without hands.

autism signs ::

Behavioural Disturbances

Hype-fixation on one topic / item in his possession.

Lack of understanding social cues.

Learning difficulty.

Lack of eye contact

Sleep Disturbances

Stimming - Hiding in corners under blankets, Clinging to cushions, Rocking in seats / on the floor.

Heavy handed gestures; such as petting the head and shoulder is welcomed, but a light pat makes Bon feel scared and agitated.

High levels of Anxiety in unfamiliar rooms.

Being very uncomfortable with or uninterested in anything unfamiliar. Though open to meet new people, it must be 1 on 1 greetings with someone ‘safe’ already in the room.

Being anxious. Children with autism generally suffer a high ‘baseline’ level of anxiety, though they aren’t always able to communicate this. Anxious feelings can also escalate very quickly if something triggers them.

child abuse markings ::

Cigarette burning on his shoulders / upper back and heels of feet.

Scarring on feet, slashes / gashes. ( Stepped on glass a lot / sharp sticks. )

Lots of small cuts, like from a pen knife, all over his chest, stomach and thighs.

Crescent scarring in fours or fives from sharp fingernails around his throat, on his hips, thigh, upper arms and dick.

Collar scarring around the neck, three fingers thick.

Botched Circumcision / Genital Mutilation.

x-ray findings ( when found in hospital ) ::

Fractured forearm.

Broken three left ribs.

Right skull hairline fracture.

Broken eye socket and nose.

Jawline fracture

Broken / crooked fingers from improper resets.

theorised happenings ::

Excessive abuse from parent / caretaker - female in nature due to genital abuse - someone trusted person.

Sexual abuse - Unknown but signs of forced intercourse / molestation evident.

Physical harm, Mental abuse.

Suppressed memories or forgotten from Head injury - either received via Car accident or tossed in front of car after receiving the blunt force trauma.

High pain threshold from possible Autism gave caretakers more leeway to harm Bon in worse ways or get away with questions if ever raised with CPS.

Anorexia from lack of feeding.

Bought up by family pets / wild animals before / whilst with human parents. Shows a very close natural to animals, canines in particular.

Growls, snarls and howls instead of speech due to animal upbringing / treated as an animal.

triggers recorded since bon’s been adopted ::

Red clothing - tight in nature; will cause Bon to withdraw, cry and scream in his lips/teeth.

The scent of roses / plant itself or an essential oil makes Bon feel sick to the point of vomiting. Plant itself in his presence will be torn apart by his own hands, thrown away - the smell on his hands hastily wipe off, crying all the while.

Soft touches on shoulders, neck, head makes Bon hyperventilate in a sudden anxiety.

Hates the texture of mushy vegetables and will avoid them like the plague.

Night terrors, much worst after a long humid day.

Being in a Bedroom or Bathroom with a Woman alone will trigger Bon; however outside of these rooms he is completely fine.

[amarguerite]

One thing I'm curious about in your Skating AU Persuasion - did you make Anne low contact with Walter/Elizabeth because that's what you think canon!Anne would do with more financial/social freedom, because that's what you think she'd do with more therapy to set boundaries, or both together? (Sending via ask in case anyone else is curious!)

Ooooh interesting question to which I don't really have a clear answer.

I can say that I was inspired to have Anne go low contact in my fic by the line, "all the toil of keeping up a slow and unsatisfactory correspondence with Elizabeth fell on Anne," and the idea that part of Anne's arc is moving away from people who don't value her, towards people who do-- like even when she is in Bath at the end, she's not spending a lot of time with Sir Walter and Elizabeth. She's visiting Mrs. Smith, she's walking around and meeting the Admiral on the street, she's visiting places with Lady Russell, she's calling on the Musgroves, and then she gets engaged to Captain Wentworth.

So if Anne just... stopped, would it be noticed? If she went to sea with Wentworth and her letters started getting very sporadic, would Elizabeth and Sir Walter realize what was happening? And would that make Anne happier? I do think that she wouldn't call it going low contact in the Regency era-- the lack of news was just a reality of communication networks/ naval life-- but I imagine that Anne would have an overall higher baseline level of happiness with that arrangement.

In the modern era-- I was trying to figure out if/ how/ in what manner my thoughts on canon!Anne's lesser amount of contact with her dad and eldest sister would manifest and since I already knew I wanted Wentworth's arc to be kind of trauma-focused and incorporate therapy in some way, I thought about what might prompt Anne to be in therapy, and what effect that might have on her. Part of it would of course be dealing with her injury, her career ending, and not getting triggered by all the news coverage, but her problems started long before that-- so it made sense to me that any therapist worth their degree would point out, "hey your dysfunctional family is causing you problems. Here's some strategies to cope." I think canon!Anne has a level of skill at navigating/ using accepted social conventions of her era to get herself where she wants-- as much as it is in her power-- so in modern era, Anne would, I think, have a little more agency to create those conditions of higher baseline happiness. If that makes sense?

[batmannotes]

DC SHOWCASE

BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY

WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT AND DC PRESENT COMPILATION OF 2019-2020 ANIMATED SHORTS

COMING OCTOBER 13, 2020 TO BLU-RAY™ & DIGITAL

NEW COLLECTION INCLUDES ACCLAIMED TITLES SGT. ROCK, ADAM STRANGE, DEATH AND THE PHANTOM STRANGER

BURBANK, CA (July 30, 2020) – Five fascinating tales from the iconic DC canon, including the first interactive film presentation in Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) history, come to animated life in DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC, the anthology of 2019-2020 animated shorts arrives from WBHE on Blu-ray and Digital starting October 13, 2020. 

Anchoring the compilation of shorts is Batman: Death in the Family, WBHE’s first-ever venture into interactive storytelling that allows fans to choose where the story goes through an innovative navigation guided by the viewer’s remote control. Central to the extended-length short is an adaptation of “Batman: A Death in the Family,” the 1988 landmark DC event where fans voted by telephone to determine the story’s ending.

Inspired by characters and stories from DC’s robust portfolio, the 2019-2020 series of shorts – which have been individually included on DC Universe Movies releases since Summer 2019 – include; Sgt. Rock, Adam Strange, Death and The Phantom Stranger.

DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family will be available on Blu-ray (USA $24.98 SRP) and Digital (19.99 SRP). The Blu-ray features a Blu-ray disc with all of the shorts in hi-definition, including the fully-interactive, extended-length Batman: Death in the Family, plus a digital version of the four other 2019-2020 DC Showcase shorts. The Digital distribution features the Batman: Death in the Family extended-length short in a non-interactive format (pre-assembled version of the story, entitled Under the Red Hood: Reloaded), along with the other four 2019-2020 DC Showcase shorts, and three other non-interactive versions of the Batman: Death in the Family (entitled Jason Todd’s Rebellion, Robin’s Revenge and Red Hood’s Reckoning) as bonus features (Note: not all Digital retailers offer bonus features with purchase). The Blu-ray also offers approximately five minutes of additional content within the Batman: Death in the Family story that is not included in the Digital version.

Produced, directed and written by Brandon Vietti, Batman: Death in the Family offers an inventive take on the long-demanded story. In the new animated presentation, the infamous murder of Batman protégé Jason Todd will be undone, and the destinies of Batman, Robin and The Joker will play out in shocking new ways as viewers make multiple choices to control the story. And while Batman: Under the Red Hood provides a baseline, the story also branches in new directions and features several characters previously unseen in the original film. Bruce Greenwood (The Resident, Star Trek, iRobot), Vincent Martella (Phineas and Ferb) and John DiMaggio (Futurama, Adventure Time) reprise their Batman: Under The Red Hood roles of Batman, young Jason Todd and The Joker, respectively. Other featured voices are Zehra Fazal (Young Justice) as Talia al Ghul and Gary Cole (Veep) as Two-Face and James Gordon.

“Batman: Death in the Family is essentially a comic book come to life,” says Vietti, whose DC Universe Movies directing credits include Batman: Under the Red Hood and Superman: Doomsday, and he is co-creator and co-executive producer of the popular Young Justice animated television series. “We’ve paid homage to the 1988 interactive experience of DC’s ‘A Death in the Family’ comics release by giving fans a unique opportunity to craft their own story through a branching tool that can lead in multiple directions. The viewer gets to choose these characters’ paths, and each choice paves an alternate future for all of the characters and, ultimately, the story.”

The interactive Blu-ray presentation offers many different ways for viewers to tell the Batman: Death in the Family story, with numerous twists and turns in the middle, and several possible endings. The choices along the way put greater weight on the viewers’ decisions and result in even stronger stories. Viewers can also choose to allow the story to tell itself, as there is an option to let the Blu-ray decide its own path.

Packed with Easter Eggs, the centerpiece short’s story – with its foundation grounded in the original “Batman: A Death in the Family” comic run, and the acclaimed Batman: Under the Red Hood animated film – balances a number of integral themes within its entertainment, including fatherhood, mental health, death, rebirth, revenge and redemption. Along the route, viewers encounter new, surprising looks at some classic DC characters.

“From the very first navigation card, we wanted to give the audience an impression of what they’re getting into, but then also give them something unexpected – maybe even something they’ll regret, so they have to think twice about every future choice they make,” Vietti explains. “Branched storytelling has to be stronger than just the gimmick of the choices – it has to be rewarding and offer new and worthwhile insights into the characters. It needs to involve you, and keep you searching for the next twist. So we sought to subvert expectations and do something very different.”

Beyond Batman: Death in the Family, the additional four shorts on Blu-ray & Digital are:

Originally attached to Batman: Hush, Sgt. Rock is executive produced and directed by Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) from a script by award-winning comics writers Louise Simonson & Walter Simonson and Tim Sheridan (Superman: Man of Tomorrow, Reign of the Supermen). The original tale finds battle-weary Sgt. Rock thinking he has seen everything that World War II can dish out. But he is in for the surprise of his life when he is assigned to lead a company consisting of legendary monsters into battle against an unstoppable platoon of Nazi zombies. Karl Urban (Star Trek & Lord of the Rings film franchises) provides the voice of Sgt. Rock. Also voicing characters in Sgt. Rock are Keith Ferguson, William Salyers and Audrey Wasilewski.

Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” Death is produced & directed by Sam Liu (Superman: Red Son, The Death of Superman) and written by J.M. DeMatteis (Batman: Bad Blood). In the story, Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy … and eventual death. Leonard Nam (Westworld) provides the voice of Vincent, and Jamie Chung (The Gifted, Big Hero 6) is the voice of Death. The cast includes Darin De Paul, Keith Szarabajka and Kari Wahlgren. Death was originally included with Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.

Attached as a bonus feature on the release of Superman: Red Son, The Phantom Stranger has Bruce Timm (Batman: The Killing Joke) at the helm as executive producer & director, and the short is written by Ernie Altbacker (Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Batman: Hush). Set in the 1970s, the short find the enigmatic DC mystery man simultaneously playing both omniscient narrator and active character in a story of supernatural comeuppance for evil doers. Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick) gives voice to The Phantom Stranger, and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Impastor) provides the voice of Seth. The Phantom Stranger also features the voices of Natalie Lander, Grey Griffin and Roger Craig Smith.

Adam Strange is produced and directed by Butch Lukic (Superman: Man of Tomorrow), who also conceived the original story – which is written by J.M. DeMatteis (Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons, Constantine: City of Demons). The short was initially attached to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. On a rugged asteroid mining colony, few of the toiling workers are aware that their town drunk was ever anything but an interplanetary derelict. But when the miners open a fissure into the home of a horde of deadly alien insects, his true identity is exposed. He is space adventurer Adam Strange, whose heroic backstory is played out in flashbacks as he struggles to save the very people who have scorned him for so long. Charlie Weber (How To Get Away with Murder) provides the voice of Adam Strange, alongside with Roger R. Cross, Kimberly Brooks, Ray Chase and Fred Tatasciore.

All five new DC Showcase shorts credits include Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) as co-producer and Amy McKenna (Wonder Woman: Bloodlines) as producer. Sam Register is executive producer.

Initially launched in 2010, DC Showcase was originally comprised of four animated shorts produced by Bruce Timm and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos: The Spectre (released on 2/23/2010), Jonah Hex (7/27/2010), Green Arrow (9/28/2010) and Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam (11/9/2010). An additional short, Catwoman (10/18/2011), was attached the following year to the release of Batman: Year One, and was directed by Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) and executive produced by Bruce Timm. Screenwriters on the initial quintet were Steve Niles (The Spectre), Joe Lansdale (Jonah Hex), Greg Weisman (Green Arrow), Michael Jelenic (Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam) and Paul Dini (Catwoman).

“Interactive storytelling offers an entirely new dimension of entertainment for DC animated movie fans, and an exciting look into potential titles for the future,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Senior Vice President, Originals, Animation and Family Marketing. “Brandon Vietti has crafted a uniquely involving, multi-tiered approach to captivating the audience with both popular story devices and some very unexpected plot twists.”

DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family Special Features – Blu-ray

Audio Commentaries – Commentary tracks on Sgt. Rock, Adam Strange, Death and The Phantom Stranger, plus one of the linear “Death in the Family” shorts (Under the Red Hood: Reloaded), by DC Daily hosts Amy Dallen and Hector Navarro.

DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family Special Features – Digital

Three non-interactive versions of the Batman: Death in the Family – entitled Jason Todd’s Rebellion, Robin’s Revenge and Red Hood’s Reckoning. (Note: not all Digital retailers offer bonus features with purchase).

Running Time: 96 minutes (151 minutes for interactive storylines)

Preorder now at Amazon.

[shrikeseams]

I wouldn't say that Beren cares about the silmaril more than he does about Luthien! But I think that at least subliminally, and possibly in his conscious thought, he considers the silmaril proof that he's good enough for Luthien. And any attempt to take or steal the silmaril is therefore an attempt to de-legitimize his marriage, and probably the best way to get him to go berserk apart from an actual attack on him wife/child/family. Something along the lines of Feanor and the Th sound, might be the right comparison? Luthien could cheerfully drop the silmaril down a well, but Beren... couldn't without an extremely compelling reason. His interest in the silmaril is driven by his love of Luthien, rather than supplanting it.

My baseline assumption is actually that Galadriel and Celeborn cross the mountains and leave Beleriand (with their own little political faction) before Thingol dies! I have no particular rational for this, apart from 'I like it' and also, 'I suspect even Galadriel would struggle to stay friendly with dwarves if she actually had to witness a group of dwarves attacking Menegroth.' She has enough emotional distance from Menegroth to work around the knowledge that they did so. But considering how thoroughly she apparently withdrew from the Noldor after Alqualonde... I just can't see her being chill about it if she was a witness.

(Also, Galadriel probably wouldn't be interested in taking over Doriath because they're in such bad shape, especially without the silmaril. I've rambled about this elsewhere, but Doriath was only sustainable because of Melian and the Girdle. Without it they've probably lost like 75% of their defensive capabilities. They're unlikely to have kept up on the cutting edge of military tactics while Morgoth and the Noldor fight back and forth outside their borders. They probably have an unusually high proportion of children and adults with no military capability, relative to communities outside the Girdle. And without trade with the dwarves, they're probably going to struggle to keep themselves in weapons and armor. Even if they have enough smiths to maintain production (unlikely), they almost certainly can't get the metal. And that's all assuming that they're 100% self-sufficient on food and everyday goods. And Galadriel doesn't bet on a losing proposition. Again, see her withdrawal from the Doomed Noldor.)

It's not narratively satisfying, but my pragmatic bet would probably be on Doriath splitting into three or four smaller tribes or factions, with maybe one of them staying in Doriath, maybe under Dior (until Morgoth wipes them out), one or two going west to the coastline, and one or two leaving Beleriand entirely. Without the second kinslaying, Doriath dies with a whimper.

I have a crunchy concept I’ve been rotating in my mind and since you have some of the best ideas out there: what if post-nirn, and post-Thingol death (and hence Melian leaving), the Feanorions decided to take a leaf from Beren and Luthien’s book and steal the Doriath silmaril now that the girdle is gone? What if they succeeded?

oooh that is crunchy. I actually don't think that they could have succeeded—you'll see why—but in that case what happens is "the Second Kinslaying happens a few years earlier," so it's kind of moot.

so positing two things here:

This heist takes place during the year in which Beren and Lúthien are in charge in Doriath, and

the heist succeeds and Maedhros et al have the Nauglamír.

Now, I don't think Beren and Lúthien really care all that much about the Silmaril; they seem a lot like Thingol and Melian in terms of "we care about maybe three things and if this isn't one of those three things Who Give A Shit" and while the Silmaril was one of those things for Thingol, I don't get the sense that it was one of those things for Beren or Lúthien.

(Honestly I suspect that if Maedhros had written to Lúthien with "listen, my dad made us swear an oath to get the Silmarils back, I'm really sorry about my brothers, let's make a deal" they probably could have come to terms. But Thingol dies only the year before Beren and Lúthien do, and I doubt that keeping the Fëanorians in the loop was a priority for anyone in Doriath.)

So they wake up one morning and the Nauglamír is gone…assuming no one was killed in the process, meh! It was pretty, but we're also explicitly told that wearing it shortened Lúthien's lifespan, so there might be some element of relief to it being stolen as well. The nobles of Doriath probably do care, but also they've got a few hundred years of inertia towards "anything outside of this forest is not our concern" so idk how much pressure they'd actually put on Lúthien to do something about it.

Meanwhile…okay. I don't think that the Silmarils would burn the Fëanorians because of Alqualondë—Thingol hunted the petty-dwarves and didn't get burned, so either the hallowing doesn't care about dwarves, and you can make the argument that it doesn't, or the line to "evil" is somewhere beyond those incidents.

I do, however, think that the Silmarils would burn the Fëanorians because of the Doom. I think that is very crunchy and I love it. All the elves under the Doom—which seems to also include those born in Beleriand, too, so long as they are following a leader who is under the Doom—are probably barred from the Silmarils, actually. This would explain why Finrod and Beren's mission failed (Finrod is Doomed) but Lúthien's succeeded (Lúthien is not Doomed), and of course all the military efforts don't succeed because Fingon is Doomed and Fingolfin is Doomed and Maedhros is super-extra-Doomed. And the Doom is very clear that everything the Doomed try to do will fail and will turn to evil.

We're told that Dior uses the Silmaril to restore the glory of Doriath (…somehow) so Maedhros could probably also use the Silmaril in some similar way, maybe reclaiming and strengthening Himring, though the burning (and the Doom) would probably prohibit that.

Oh, and Morgoth probably would be sending orcs and dragons and balrogs after them to get the shiny thing back. So that would probably end…badly.

[thesaltyoncologist]

Oh man. Just beware that I have some embarrassingly strong opinions on medical notes. I was (and still am) one obsessive motherfucker when it concerns patients under my care... probably, at times, at the expense of my mental health. So...

We’ll start with your general hospital H&P

As a medical student, however your attending wanted your note written was always the correct answer. That applies to a lesser degree during residency. You’ll generally figure out the people who have strong opinions because, without fail, they will tell you. In those situations, again, the correct answer is whatever your attending says is correct is correct. 

The biggest tip I can give is to develop a mental template for everything. I wrote every H&P during residency in a very specific format. It had a couple of advantages: (1) I never left something important out, and (2) it sped up my ability to churn out H&Ps. Now that template had slight variations depending on which service I was on because, as you probably already have realized, different things are important to different subspecialties. In the beginning, it may be near impossible to put together a mental template just because you’re still learning to differentiate the signal from the noise. Everyone is. I will say that my notes now, as an April first year fellow, are much better and more succinct than my notes were as a July first year fellow. That is perfectly ok to adapt things as you learn more and more. So my basic template for a hospital admission was this:

------------------------------------------

HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS

------------------------------------------

A minimalistic one-liner that should tell you, in broad strokes, what you need to know to start formulating a differential diagnosis. 

Mr. Smith is a 58 YOM with PMHx significant for [only RELEVANT co-morbidities] who presented by ambulance to the ED for shortness of breath of three days duration.

Next, this is where you break out your mnemonic of choice to describe the patient’s chief complaint. Was onset acute vs slowly progressive? What was his baseline respiratory status and how does it compare to now? Is it continuous or does it only happen when he’s moving? Does he have any pertinent associated symptoms? What makes his sob better or worse? Has this happened to him before? Pertinent negatives to rule out other possible causes of the patient’s chief complaints.

Patient reports his shortness of breath started two days ago and has slowly worsened. At baseline, he is able to ambulate without limitation but is now having difficultly walking more than from room-to-room in his home. While he initially only had symptoms with exertion, he now has symptoms at rest. Sitting in an upright position improves his shortness of breath and lying flat worsens his symptoms. He endorses worsening orthopnea, PND, and lower extremity edema. No fevers, chills, localized symptoms of infection, or sick contacts. No associated cough. No chest pain or anginal equivalents. No personal or family history of blood clots. Reports he was hospitalized two years ago for similar symptoms that required IV diuretics.

Next, I went into the objectives obtained in the ED. What were the patient’s vitals on presentation? What pertinent abnormalities were noted on labs? Imaging? If there were any consults, what was recommended? What treatment was provided in the ED?

In the ED, patient was afebrile, normotensive, but tachycardic to the 120s and initially satting 85% on room air. He was placed on 4L supplemental O2 with improvement. Labs were significant for acute on chronic elevated creatinine, a minimally elevated troponin, and severely elevated BNP. EKG showed sinus tachycardia. CXR showed bilateral pulmonary edema. Cardiology was consulted in the ED and felt his elevated troponin was due to demand ischemia rather than true ACS. Patient received 80 mg IV lasix and was admitted to the gen med service for further care.

------------------------------------------

ASSESSMENT

------------------------------------------

Now a few lines that succinctly presents the case, from beginning to planned end. My goal was always to present a quick overview of the patient’s treatment course.

Mr. Smith is a 58 YOM with NSTEMI s/p DES to the LAD and HFrEF 2/2 ischemic cardiomyopathy who presented to the ED with shortness of breath with a new oxygen requirement and was found to have a HFrEF exacerbation. Treatment course was complicated by a brief transfer to the step-down unit for BIPAP support following admission. He has since been treated with aggressive IV diuresis with improved respiratory status and was transferred back to the floor. He is now maintaining appropriate oxygen saturations on room air. Plan for discharge in 2-3 days following conversion to PO lasix. 

------------------------------------------

PLAN

------------------------------------------

These are pretty straightforward. I usually presented off of this part of my note and included things that helped me keep track of my patient’s pertinent history and recent results. For this guy, that would mean knowing this guy’s last EF by echo and when his PCI was performed. 

#Acute hypoxic respiratory failure 2/2 HFrEF exacerbation.

-Presented to ED with shortness of breath and new O2 requirement

-Hx of NSTEMI s/p DES to the LAD in Oct 2018

-Baseline EKG with sinus tachycardia. No change compared to prior.

-Last echo in Jan 2019 with EF = 30%; echo 4/8/20 showed EF 15% and WMA of the left apex

-Dry weight 70 kg; patient currently above dry weight at 78 kg

PLAN

-Lasix 40 mg IV; goal net negative 1L

-Follow-up on BID BMP; replete lytes as needed

-Arrange outpatient visit with heart failure clinic

If anyone is interested, especially the new ‘terns or med studs, I can do some additional posts on note writing tips. Outpatient notes are also definitely a completely different ballgame and thus approach. 

[rayarmat]

Fun in Snow and The Road Not Taken: Money-Time Trade-off For Happiness is Not  Linear

I often hear middle- or high-income friends and family members complain about being overworked and not having enough “time” for fun and relaxation. I think their logic is flawed because of their basic misunderstanding of the relation between “time/quantity” and “experiential/quality” of life. On a snowy day like yesterday, for example, many people were aggrieved at having to work indoors and missing the perfect sunny day outdoors, which my family and I used for downhill sledding (as shared in the pictures and video).

Often when I ask people trapped indoors why they can’t they take a half day off to enjoy the snow, they would say they have used up their vacations or time offs and cannot take an “unpaid” leave. When I ask them how they used up all the “paid time off” they often mention some costly or elaborate activity or high expenses of life. The question is why not enjoy breaks in life in smaller, lower cost doses? or even lower our baselines of expectations in life so we can live at a lower cost? It is all rooted in the circuitry of human brains.

The Addictive Reward Seeking Circuits in Human Brains: Dopamine, The “Never-Enough” Hormone 

For example, one of my former coworkers once spent $3000 on a week-long vacation to a ski resort. That was about two weeks of take-home pay for him and his wife (after tax) and about ONE YEAR of his family’s (after-tax) savings. That also used up half of his annual vacation time. Another person I know, would spend a major part of her time-off from her well-paying but grueling (indoor) job, inside shopping malls (indoors again) to shop for designer items like expensive snow boots or triple goose down winter jackets to keep her feet and body “perfectly” warm for up to 8 hours “if and when” that rare occasion arises that she can finally take the hard-earned vacation to enjoy the snow outdoors. When that ephemeral moment of joy finally arrives to enjoy life in full gear - arctic boots, jackets, Ray-Ban sunglasses and all - she would spend, like the fellow in the first example, hours driving or flying to a costly ski resort plus a good bit of her hard-earned savings and time off on a vacation which often turns out somewhat disappointing and not as dreamy or enjoyable as her perfectionist mind had imagined or planned (spent) for. Occasional head aches or back pains, stressful travel, imperfect weather, residual work stress and and the anxiety of returning to her indoors grueling job make the fleeting vacation a lot like caffeine rush and crash, high expectations and fleeting pleasure followed by disappointment and fatigue. The superwarm jacket and arctic boots now have to be stowed away in a large, very large, closet (in a large house with a high mortgage), next to other once or twice a year used items, all paid for by her, toiling away at a tiresome job.

The brain circuits pushing humans to these cycles of “rush and crash” are often controlled by a hormone called dopamine, the “not-enough” hormone involved in pleasure, reward, learning, motivation and novelty. Basically without this hormone we would not be motivated to “explore” but with too much of it we end up on slippery slopes and addictive cycles of seeking more novelties and new highs (My book will explain the mechanisms in more detail). Basically the “rush” phase of the cycle results from elevated baselines of pleasure expectation (dopaminergic reward seeking circuits in the brain) followed by a “crash” phase caused by negative prediction-errors, i.e., the experience being a lot less rewarding than imagined (hence a sharp depletion of dopaminergic energy, drive and motivation). Over time, these cycles are associated with dependence and withdrawal, the clinical hallmarks of addictive behavior. That is why the new volume of American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) now lists several new conditions such as hoarding disorder, internet gaming disorder and caffeine use disorder as psychiatric disorders or conditions recommended for further research because of their addictive nature.

The way out of these cycles is to:

1) Understand the real “reward” is the experience of joy with minimal expectations, and the real “cost” is the amount of life (work) exchanged for that joy.

2) Set our “reward” expectation baselines and set points, as well as our “cost” baselines, at low manageable levels and in small doses over time.

That is why my family and I take a different “low-cost” path to relaxation, but it needs flexibility:

1) We do not wait for the perfect week-long vacation to travel to a remote fancy resort: This allows us to be flexible and take advantage of smaller windows, 2-3 hours at a time, of great weather.

2) We enjoy taxpayer funded local natural preserves or state and public parks that are lesser known, often free and not that busy. Many are within an hour drive from our house so there is no need to spend a lot of time and money in transit, lodging, restaurant food, etc.

3) We do not wait to buy nice arctic jackets and boots because we do not need all of that on a 2-hour sledding window. Normal boots and jackets will do.

4) We do not think too much about the opportunity cost of our time (see next section). Any income we lose from not working for a few hours is offset by the money we save in staying local and flexible with our relaxation windows.

In short, we find Robert Frost very wise in The Road Not Taken: 

“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

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On The Opportunity Cost of Time and Experiential Value of Life

“It is one of those days that even my second pot of coffee is not helping!” This and many similar posts I see every day on social media signal to me a state of “fatigue”and grievance among people. But the grievance is misplaced and rooted in the way people unknowingly base their own life’s value system on the economic model first proposed by Adam Smith to quantify and allocate labor and capital resources in the new age of capitalism. Prior to that, (excess) labor, capital and know-how were not mobile or widely available to create the large-scale powerful machinery, factories and markets that capitalism created.

In Adam Smith's capitalism, a person’s unit of time (labor) is valued and quantified for the labor and productivity of that person in that unit of time. Unfortunately, many people have now adopted this market valuation of hourly labor (salary) as the baseline of how they “value” their own time and life’s worth. Their mix up experiential value of life (joy of living) with the exchange value of their time and labor. Therefore, many people now subconsciously evaluate any experience in their life (units of time on this planet) as a “cost” or what economists call an “opportunity cost,” the market value of their time.

For example, a nurse whose time is valued by the medical market at $30 an hour, would be programmed to think of an 8-hour block of her job, life and even vacation opportunities at about $240 (in lost income opportunity or opportunity cost). After all, if she had to take an unpaid day off for fun or any task or life experience, she would lose about $240. A medical doctor making about three times as much as the nurse, would value his or her time in life at a rate of $720 per 8 hours. That is why with time-consuming chores such as mowing the lawn, or taking care of an elderly parent, it is more likely that the doctor, and not the nurse, would hire help. This is because the opportunity cost (i.e., forfeited income) for the nurse, of “not” getting paid for hospital work while nursing an elderly parent at home, is less than her cost of paying someone else to nurse her parent so sh/he would nurse the parent herself. For the doctor, however, the economic calculus is very different. He comes out way ahead in terms of the opportunity cost if he can work on that day (make $720) or not use a paid vacation and instead pay someone about $240 to nurse the elderly parent or $100 to landscape and manicure his lawn.

The problem of “rush and crush” explained in the first part of the article occurs because many humans now equate ANY reward expectations in life (and dopamine baselines) with income and opportunity cost of their time (labor) in the market. Yet life’s “experiential value” cannot be quantified with market “exchange value.” For starters, there are no taxes on the joy of life (not yet). Also, how could anyone assign value to what we learn or feel through our life experiences? To the peace and health that comes with a joyful anxiety-free life?

Although some evolutionary scientists call modern human species as Homo Economicus, the economically calculating human species, Money-time trade-off for happiness is not linear. If it was, rich folks would never have to pay for love, get depressed, addicted or suicidal in an economic utilitarian system.

Our brain circuits (including those of the rich folks) have not evolved to curb our enthusiasm, excess and high reward expectation baselines. So we are prone to being regulated and controlled by the addictive “never-enough” hormone (dopamine) when we are driven by competition to set increasingly high expectations proportional to the exchange value (opportunity cost) of our time even when it comes to life outside work. This is why many people follow and worship folks who have higher (income/reward/dopamine) baselines than theirs because they equate value of a life to the exchange (market) value of that person’s time. 

***********************************************

I have learned to set modest reward expectation baselines so I do not have to measure life experiences (vital to my quality of life such as health and peace) against the exchange market value of my time (i.e., labor). For example, the opportunity cost for my two hours of sledding would be around $200 in a competitive world. But that number is now totally irrelevant to me as long as I am able to feed and house my family. Honestly, how can anyone “quantify” a “qualitative” life experience which is conducive to our health and peace? How could I even assign a market exchange (dollar) value to the joy of sledding downhill on a sunny afternoon with my family? Is it worth the $200 I lost in income (if I competed against my equals in capitalism)? or slightly more or less? Does it even matter as long as it exceeded my modest and humble expectation for a happy afternoon and dopamine baselines moderated by contentment (the hormone involved here is serotonin, which is a topic of another article). 

Perhaps nobody can summarize this article better than Jose’ Mujica, Uruguay’s former farmer President, who stepped down voluntarily after one term to attend to his flower gardens: “When you buy something, you are not paying for it with money. You’re paying with the hours of life you had to spend earning that money. The difference is that life is one thing money can’t buy.”

[armsdealing]

charles derane’s apocalypse verse notes.

basics.

codename: hawthorne -- this is a name/nickname he will occasionally use when he does not feel like going by his actual name. height: six feet four inches weight: 274 lbs (formerly 295 lbs) transportation: 2001 Dodge Ram - Black (looks)

appearance:

standing at 6’4”, charles is massive in size and along those lines, incredibly imposing in posture – straight and ready unless otherwise required. not only that, but his build packs 274 lbs of muscle/fat that he’s had even before the outbreak and he’s been very careful to maintain at all possible costs. while it’s true that he had the weight lost typical of survivors, he remains hefty and able to endure and perform physical tasks with ease. this is a skill developed from childhood, and charles has formidable dexterity and control of his body, moving through the environment with the speed necessary to outrun even the most feverish of zombies or fight them with melee weaponry. he has very broad shoulders and thick biceps and forearms, muscular legs, and a solid stomach and chest, even if it lacks tone. despite all this, he’s able to remain graceful, movements characterized by their stealth rather than flaunting his physical appearance with noise and clumsiness. when needed, his walking might as well be referred to as an experienced hunter’s prowl, used to both rural and urban scenarios to explore and navigate.

slightly sharper features have been the main toll taken by a lack of steady food source. the biggest change remains in his head, though; charles actually is incredibly survival-driven and apathetic toward anything that won’t ensure said survival. he doesn’t care about anything or anyone but himself, and he will make a point to show it. needless to say – he won’t be very friendly.

due to a lack of efficient razors, charles sports an unkempt dirty and bloody beard that he only maintains at bay with a knife but otherwise leaves to grow as extra protection in harsh temperatures. this makes a good job at covering the lower half of his face, filling out the spots where body fat or muscle lacks. his hair is messy, but consistently kept short by comparison – and surprisingly soft to the touch if ever actually touched. but it’s true; he neither is nor looks friendly, and if ever forced to speak, it’ll be in the form of gruff mumbles and a desire to keep the conversation as short as possible. there is no discernable accent in his voice, save a very rugged pitch and texture born from disuse, and the only hint at coming from somewhere is a shortening of words typical of the southern american dialect – found in his closest post-apocalypse allies, the beckett family.

tics are bound to be picked up if too much time is spent around him. while at first glance you won’t see nothing but a very large man you’d want nothing but to get away from, there is a cleverness to his eyes that makes it noticeable he is very aware of what happens around him and what happens to you. he will pick up on movements, expressions, with nigh perfect accuracy – and know the very moment you’re reaching for the gun tucked on your side or planning to propel forward for an offensive. he reads people before ever coming close to them, which is an important point to keep in mind – while he has no problem whatsoever with violence and even, at this point in his background, with killing, charles would rather keep things distant, and he’d rather you left him in peace. he tends to look around himself when idle, unconsciously even, as a remnant of situational awareness, and so coming from behind is nearly impossible.

on that same vein, other minor habits include adjusting and readjusting his pack and its straps; a lot of his supplies are in that bag, and he makes sure to check regularly that everything is in place and he can move without fear of losing it. he twists his neck and rolls his shoulders, cracks his knuckles when it is necessary, and might scratch his cheek and beard. when he speaks, he might sigh occasionally, and grunt even more so, nod and shake his head and gesture directions rather than mention them, clench his jaw when he doesn’t like how an exchange is going, raise an eyebrow when he’s questioning you, shrug to disregard your questions, purse his lips when he’s being thoughtful. people have met him and not heard him speak even once because of his taciturn nature, keeping to commands that he does need to elaborate on and that is it. when forced to speak at greater length, expect hostility and a sharp sarcasm that might take you off guard.

clothing wise the apocalypse does not allowfor anything but light packing, and his shirts are comfortable and visibly worn, sometimes torn. he has no attachments to any particular piece of clothing – with the exception of his jacket and his steel toe combat boots, and will not hesitate to switch clothings the second he sees an opportunity to do it. ever present is the pack strapped to his back along his shotgun, however. he will go for the comfortable and things that will last him, most commonly henleys or plaids, western cut. nothing colorful and in fact, probably dirty. long sleeves are preferable, given most deaths to zombies being due to an exposed limb. he does not care about how he looks under any normal circumstances, and how he looks like – like the lone survivor he is – isn’t his primary concern. if he ever cleaned up, he’d be much more handsome.

when found in close quarters to him, the smell of forest will be practically a staple, along with with sweat and grease, scents that have followed him. occasionally, smoke may be added, when he’s been near fire. such is the case with gun powder or blood, the latter which he washes away when he has the opportunity to.

skin deep, it is surprising that he does not sport any tattoos of note or at all. he has never been interested by the idea. what he does have, though, is scars in spades, some – many – dating back to his very childhood, teenagehood, and pre-apocalypse adulthood. his knuckles are very scarred, as are his arms and legs, with an assortment of prints left by experiences that range from simple falls to glass to blades. in his very face rests a cut on the bridge of his nose, and another on the left side of his cheek/jaw that leaves a thin scratch in his beard devoid of hair. another quite visible scar going across his right eye that took some eyebrow with it. 

INVENTORY | WEAPONS (8)

aluminium baseball bat. found in his truck.

glock g17. found on his person. (spare ammo? yes)

smith & wesson 629. concealed on his person. (spare ammo? yes)

smith & wesson model 59. full magazine. in his backpack. (spare ammo? yes)

winchester fixed blade knife. in his backpack.

mossberg 590 mariner. holstered in his back with a strap. (spare ammo? yes)

remington 700pss with leupold mark 4 scope. in his truck (5 rounds. fully loaded. spare ammo? no)

makeshift blade. (looks) concealed on his person.

INVENTORY | ITEMS (12)

(1) backpack (looks). usually on his person or the back of his truck. very worn looking and dirty.

(5) cigarettes. lucky strike. kept in their package, inside his backpack.

(1) canteen (looks). water. normally full. inside his backpack. 34 oz.

(1) flask (looks). empty.

(1) zippo lighter (looks). on his person.

(1) leather journal (looks). inside his backpack.

(1) swiss blade (looks). on his person.

(1) duct tape roll. inside his backpack.

(1) first aid kit: (1) sterilized needle, (3) aspirins, (10) band-aids, (2) gauze, (1) surgical tape, (1) small bottle of rubbing alcohol. neatly pressed in a small bag (looks). inside his backpack.

(1) compass (looks). usually in his pocket.

whenever possible he has a map of whichever location he’s in.

he tries to keep a jug of spare gasoline in his car whenever possible.

BASELINE INVENTORY | CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES (8)

steel toe combat boots (looks). worn.

2 extra pairs of shirts. 

jeans (looks) very worn, as well as torn.

canvas coat (looks) worn.

leather jacket (looks). 

spare underwear.

one spare pairs of socks, besides the ones he wears, in his backpack.

BASELINE INVENTORY | FOOD & EDIBLES (9)

2L water canteen. usually full. ** (looks)

(2) goya black bean cans. **

(1) b&m baked beans**

(2) chicken bouillon**

(1) progresso chicken noodle soup.**

(1) jar of peanut butter’s co.*

(2) hard tack packs.*

(1) fruit snack.*

* kept in backpack ** kept in car.

BACKGROUND / VERSE NOTES.

this information will be used interchangeably for any apocalypse/zombie themed scenario that presents themselves. hence i didn’t write about a single specific storyline.

charles is a rover and this is by choice. however, he does have alliances, most notably with the o’connell compound located in garnet, montana (click here for more information on it -- when i post it that is :^)). 

charles usually acts as though he has no set role; however, this is false: his job is to track other settlements and map out other places of the united states to see how they’re doing, then relay this information back to the compound -- hence the journal he has on hand. he usually winds up there once every two to five months, depending on how far he wanders off. he will also hunt down rare supplies, and outline “no-go” zones, either because the place is swarmed or because the settlements are hostile. 

this information is normally used with the purpose of establishing communication between the settlements, if charles deems it useful and favorable. this goes back to whether he finds the settlement in question trustworthy and reliable. not all of them cut it. 

otherwise, he will never disclose the existence of the o’connell compound. you could set fire to his leg and he wouldn’t do it. 

exceptions are only if he finds you alone and you’re a child. he will try to take you back to the compound so you’re safe.

in this verse charles is 49, and still a father. cael derane is 20 and living in garnet. he’s a trained medic and occasionally will tag along for specific situations.

charles is unfriendly and does not like to work with others but he is pragmatic first and foremost and if you present yourself useful then he will consider forming an alliance for however necessary he deems it. again, the presence of children and young (his kid’s age, basically) people does a lot to sway him. he is very fatherly.