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lady-of-all-cards · 4 years ago

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Ikemen Revolution: Headcanon - When the Red Army Officers Fall Ill

Fandom: Ikemen Revolution Characters: Lancelot Kingsley, Jonah Clemence, Edgar Bright, Kyle Ash, Zero Pairings: N/A Summary: One day, an officer falls ill with a terrible cold. Will they suffer through their work? Or hide away in their blankets until the sickness passes?

Notes: Did I depress you enough with the last two posts? Well here is a little fun happy times to forget that I did that, because I’m not that morbid or depressing (most of the time, anyway). So, I hope this cheers the blog up a little! And of course, I hope you enjoy ^-^

1. The King of Hearts - Lancelot Kingsley

Lancelot is commonly ill due to his constant use of magic leading to his overexertion.

Kyle is also in on this little tidbit, so dealing with a sick Lancelot isn’t too much for him to do, especially if it’s a common cold.

But being the kind and protective man he is, Lancelot wouldn’t tell anyone of his cold as to not worry them, because this man is a considerate teddy bear!

However, our dear Gentle Demon, Edgar Bright, is far too attentive to detail, and over their early morning meeting, picks up on Lancelot’s drousiness and general unawareness of the situation around him.

Of course, to cause chaos as he usually does, he brings it up in the conversation.

Jonah goes into panic mode, fussing over Lancelot and trying to get him to, at the very least, tell them his aliments so they can help.

Zero steps forward silently and places a crimson lolipop in front of Lancelot on the desk, stepped back sheepishly.

Lancelot takes the lolipop, but doesn’t eat it.

Yet. He’ll sneak it later when Mr.Overprotective-Mother-Jonah isn’t around

Kyle finally decides to pipe up, urging Lancelot to take even an hour’s rest before continuing with his duties.

Lancelot, of course, denies that he needs that, and tries to continue the meeting they were having before.

But it’s four against one.

Jonah would back down with a single command.

Edgar would back down, but he would continously tease him about it for days to come.

Kyle wasn’t backing down. As his personal doctor, his duty was to ensure the king was in good health at every possible moment.

Zero wouldn’t back down either. He’d much rather be ill himself that see Lancelot struggling with any sickness.

And so, Lancelot is forced to yeild. Jonah and Edgar split his paperwork, supposedly an hour’s worth of it.

Zero takes up Jonah’s and Edgar’s duties in training their units.

Kyle drags Lancelot back to his room and settles him down to sleep, giving him cold medicine and painkillers.

However, when he wakes, he realises a number of things:

1. He wasn’t woken after an hour, but was left to rest for three.

2. The entirety of his paperwork for the entire day had been done by Jonah and Edgar in the hours he slept.

Although ashamed about having to rely on his subordiantes so much, Lancelot was endeared by their kindness, and awarded them all with gifts of their favourite choosing.

2. The Queen of Hearts - Jonah Clemence

Much like Lancelot, Jonah will try to hide the fact that he’s ill, but his first mistake happens before he even wakes up…

He overslept… by an entire hour.

His sickness had hit and weakened him sometime during the night, when he opted for thinner night clothes, not expecting the chilling cold after such a comfortingly warm day.

Because of this poor judgement, Jonah’s body refused to wake up, and instead of his usual 6 AM start, he roused from his slumber at 7AM, much to his shock and distain.

It was just his luck there wasn’t a morning meeting that day due to Edgar being called away on business, and Kyle had his usual hangover, so Jonah had a moment to gather himself and actually make him presentable.

He did a good job of hiding it, but only because he stayed in his private quarters completing paperwork and eating sweet deserts that his footmen brought. There was absolutely no need whatsoever for him to leave his room.

Or so he though…

Night had passed over Cradle when he had been called to the King’s office. Edgar had gotten home slightly earlier than usual, and so the morning’s meeting had been called into place.

It seemingly wouldn’t have been a problem if the sun had been seeping through the windows, but in the glow of the Magic Crystals, Jonah’s ghostly features were illuminated fully.

At first, neither Lancelot or Edgar commented on it, opting to leave him be. It was just to late at night to be teasing…

But then… Jonah’s speech began to warp.

His sickness had progressed into a headache, and he began not thinking straight, no longer possessing the ability to rationally organise and explain his points.

However, knowing the proud Queen of Hearts would never forgive himself for ruining a meeting in such a manner, Lancelot brought the meeting to an end early, ordering his Jack and Queen straight to bed.

The next morning after a much needed sleep, Jonah woke up to painkillers and cold medicine on the bedside, with notes from his fellow officers:

Lancelot: “I noticed you were feeling off yesterday. You are given leave for as long as you need to recover. Get well soon :)”

Edgar: “Don’t push yourself, Queen. I don’t was to tease you if you’re not up to being teased.”

Kyle: “Kinda annoyed you didn’t come to me straight away. Take 10ml of medicine in the bottle three times a day and one before bed, and the painkillers once a day when you feel is necissary. And please, for the love of god, please rest.”

Zero: “Edgar told me you were sick. Don’t worry about your duties, me and him had split them while you get better, so just relax. And… here’s a lolipop. A treat from me for when you feel better!”

Although embarrassed at being caught and annoyed at some of the comments, Jonah smiled and decided that maybe it was time to take a day off to recover.

3. The Jack of Hearts - Edgar Bright

The Jack of Hearts never gets sick. EVER.

Or so it seemed, because like most things in life, Edgar Bright was an expert in the art of both faking a sickness to get a day off, and in the art of pretending not to be sick, even though he felt like literal death inside.

It was the latter that ailed him.

For the entire day, he managed to allude detection. He cleared his mind before meetings, and switched training his soliders with one of Zero’s patrols.

Everything was fine and dandy, golden, good to go!

Until that evening, his dear student had challenged him to a duel…

See, Zero found it strange that Edgar skipped on training the new recruits that day because, although he was tough and the sessions always ended in a high workload for their doctor, it was a necessary part to strengthening their resolve.

Plus… Edgar loved playfully torturing and teasing the men of the Red Army, and did it at every chance he got.

So why not this time…?

To any onlooker (and there were quite a few), it appeared to be an even match between two high-skilled soldiers, ending in Zero disarming Edgar.

But there was no teasing.

There was no indication Edgar was truly Edgar.

But during the little sparring match, Zero found it noticably easy to defeat his teacher.

Assuming he would get teased by it to fuel Edgar’s entertainment, Zero played along with it, hoping he’d snap back to his old self real quick.

But the teasing never came…

And so Zero went to the only man who he knew could solve this problem: one Master Kyle Ash.

So, Kyle and Zero innocently dined with Edgar at dinner that night. End of story.

Or so Edgar thought.

He thought he had been in the clear that night as he walked to feed the Creek Family one last meal, but the Creeks were all sat around a small handkerchief, bearing medicine for Edgar, with a small card folded ontop.

“Get well soon, papa - the Creeks.”

It was Zero’s handwriting, he’d recognise it anywhere, but the sentiment still forced a goofy smile to his face as he reached over to pet each duck in to.

Being sick wasn’t so bad, he thought…

4. The Seven of Hearts - Kyle Ash

The first thought Kyle had when he woke up that morning was that he had a hangover.

A totally reasonable conclusion to make, unless he was just so used to waking up with hangovers that it had become normal for him to assume that’s what his ailment was.

And everyone else assumed that also upon seeing him that morning at the breakfast table and during the morning meeting.

However, there was one who’d know the Hungover Doctor too long to be fooled by the effects of a hangover.

Lancelot had slipped Edgar a note during the meeting, and using the cover up of delievering a letter, let the Jack fulfill the true duty he intended.

Kyle never suspected a thing, too busy with his hangover and with his work to bother too much with his cold.

But when he had returned to his personal quarters than night to do some extra studying, he found a small collection of medicines and medicinal herbs, with a small note folded into a card.

“Do you even realise it yourself, Kyle? You’re sick, and I’m not just refering to your hangovers. Take 10ml of this medicine three times a day and one before bed, and you have leave to rest and recover. Try not to get intoxicated while you do so, it would help your recovery - Lancelot.”

He hadn’t noticed until then, but he was feeling drousy, he was sniffling every now and then, a cough stratched at his throat too.

And yet he smiled, knowing the Lance he knew was still kicking about, there to stand by the people of Cradle whenever, wherever.

5. The Ace of Heart - Zero

Much like most of the boys in the RA, he’d try to hide it and continue with his usual business

His exclusion from the crimson bloodline meant that no one really paid too close attention to him, or noticed there was anything wrong.

Thinking he got away from it all, Zero doesn’t let something as simple as a cold hold him back.

However, in the blistering Cradle heat that came around the next, he began to falter.

He developed a fever when he was out training his men, and it quickly grew worse and worse with time, as he failed to attend to it.

His men finally picked up on his daze, and after their schedual came to an end, ran off to get Kyle.

In the infirmary was both Kyle and Edgar, and upon hearing the Ace was unwell, they both rushed to his room to check the damage.

Kyle was, of course, muttering curses about it, annoyed he let it go that far.

On arriving, however, they find Zero passed out over his desk, and after a quick check-up from Kyle, Edgar carries him to the infirmary for treatment.

The next morning, when Zero wakes up in the infirmary feeling a lot better than he did yesterday, he cursed his inefficientness, and tries to leave to get back to work.

But it’s King’s orders.

Zero isn’t leaving until he’s all better! The care behind the order made Zero smile as he secretly snacked on a lolipop...

#ikemen revolution #lancelot kingsley #jonah clemence #edgar bright #kyle ash #zero #sickness

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yeats-infection · 5 years ago

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@sqvalors tagged me in a lil writing meme... if you’d like to participate please do and tag me!

ao3 name: fluorescentgrey but i also post some things as drglass (dr. glass is the second song on the fluorescent grey EP by deerhunter, so if i make another pseud it will be likenew, then washoff, etc.)

fandoms: about two thirds of my fics are harry potter or star wars but there are a lot of random little goodies. currently i have shifted into the terror (2018) mode.

number of fics: 59 right now... i will throw a party when i get to 69...

fic i spent the most time on: this is funny because some of these technically took me like six months or more of working on them extremely intermittently... namely, bone machine. the series in the garden has taken me the most time generally... and in that, minuet did take me several months of working really hard while i had a schedule / commute that was not conducive to having a creative practice...

fic i spent the least amount of time on: hilariously, literally my most popular fic by ninety miles, the witcher PWP that i wrote out of spite in two or three hours.

longest fic: the source codes series... particularly heelstone which is 102k. i wrote these two stories in a single summer like a crazy person and i hate talking about them because i find them WAY too gooey. honestly, that’s why they are so long. it’s all the gooeyness!!!!!!

shortest fic: yes, the answer is the witcher porn again (this silly thing is going to be the answer for many other questions in this little meme but i’m just going to stop talking about it while i’m ahead). the west end is just about 50 words longer and is much better and is a much better and more interesting story.

most hits: we’re just going to pretend it’s sex and dying in high society, which has the second most hits. this is certainly due to the fact that @wolfstarwarehouse hypes this story a lot for which i am endlessly grateful!

most kudos: recovery position has the second most kudos so let’s go with that one! i have been very touched by the response to this story, though i do personally like the sequel beachcoma a little more... i understand why not everyone wants to read it because it is a little more bittersweet. but it also comes from my soul.

most comment threads: the two stories in the source codes series are leading here, because i only posted two chapters at a time so that i would get maximal validation, lol.

most bookmarks: in order to talk about a story i haven’t talked about yet, the rosary has the fourth-most. i think this fic is truly my r/s swan song... i said everything i wanted to say and did everything i wanted to do. it’s a really good mystery/noir story that i didn’t think i could pull off until i did! and i love the OCs in it who have sort of manifested these secret headcanons for me that i may expostulate upon someday. thank you to @piovascosimo for the inspiration to write it.

total word count: 1,000,478. lol!

favorite fic i wrote: cannot possibly choose but probably the top five in order of date posted are: desperado, a handful of dust, doom town, beachcoma, jump into the fire

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: i already said all of source codes because it’s way too gooey, i also could make hard time killing floor blues a lot tighter, and a memoir of the flesh deserves a way better ending because i was rushing to make the yuletide deadline...

share a bit of a WIP: i was trying for a while to write a band of brothers AU where they are vietnam vets who start growing cannabis... based on the steve earle song “copperhead road.” this could have been SO good but the plot was too huge and unwieldy so i gave up. my roommate is obsessed with this idea and keeps asking me how it’s going so i may yet finish. but there’s a bit below the cut.

The knock at the door in the night was a sharp shock, bright as lightning, that sent them both back to Khe Sanh and before. Nix ducked. Dick went behind the doorframe. They kept low into the kitchen, where Nix took his old officer’s pistol out from where he kept it hidden behind the fridge. Then they went to the door, keeping to the edges of the hallways.

On the porch was Liebgott. He could have made his own way in likely right onto the couch without either of them noticing, so it was something that he had knocked on the goddamn door. It was particularly something given that none of the boys from Easy should have known about the grow operation, or even about Dick’s farm, being as Dick’s address on file at the V.A. was a post office box in town and Nix’s was still in Jersey. These considerations were nil to somebody who had spent the better part of five years in the bush of Vietnam. He took a last draw from his cigarette and put it out against the rubber sole of his boot, then he put the butt in his pocket. As far as Nix knew, he hadn’t said a word since January 1970.

“Joe,” said Dick diplomatically. He put his hand out and Liebgott took it. Then he took Nix’s. He had handsome dark eyes, but they were full of a wall. You could tell he saw you, but it was like nothing followed the necessary channels to the brain to spur emotional response. It had been like this even while he was still talking, and after a while you got used to it.

“You comin' in,” said Nix, knowing he probably would even if he wasn’t invited.

Inside, they all three sat at the kitchen table in silence nobody was about to break. Finally Dick got up and went to the drawer where they kept the rollies and their share of the product. He passed a sheaf of papers and a film canister full of bud to Liebgott across the table. Nix understood as well as Dick apparently did that there would be no getting anything over on this kid, who had eyes in the back and sides of his head. He’d probably had a nice tour of the property before coming inside. “You hungry, son,” Dick said.

Liebgott shook his head. He extracted one of the buds from the canister and inspected it. They did look mighty good if Nix said so himself. They looked artful in Liebgott’s hand. There were black scabs across his knuckles and a dark rime of filth under those fingernails which still existed. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw to take a paper out of the sheaf and start shredding the flower into it.

“Captain Nixon calls it Easy Diesel,” said Dick, like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.

Liebgott looked up and a smile flashed across his face like the savage golden light of a flare falling over the far hills. His smile was sort of brutal, like the edge of a knife in a barfight, or like a seething animal. Luckily it went away as quickly as it had come. He rolled the joint with a quick grace and lit the business end with his old silver Zippo Nixon hadn’t seen since the war. There was a skull engraved on one side and on the other it read IF YOU ARE RECOVERING MY BODY, FUCK YOU.

“I don’t know how you found us, Joe,” Dick said thoughtfully. “You don’t have to… tell us. But we ain’t exactly keen to have just anybody here.” He paused and looked quickly to Nix, who tried to make it abundantly clear by means of eyebrows that he wasn’t sure they ought to go down this road, wherever it was leading. Dick ignored him. Liebgott was watching them, fully understanding their attempted clandestine exchange. “We ain’t exactly keen to have the DEA here,” Dick said at last.

The cherry at the end of the joint atomized with a crackling hiss. Liebgott looked between Dick and Nix with extreme seriousness sullied only by his exhaling a dignified white cloud out his nose. Then he nodded, once, curtly, demonstrating he understood his orders as they had been relayed.

Nix flashed Dick what he thought was a what have you done type look. But Dick looked totally unbothered. He should have gone into this business years ago for how violently unflappable he was. He said to Liebgott, “I’ll get some blankets and you can make up the couch.”

Liebgott shook his head to say no need. He got up, careful not to scrape the chair against the floor, shook each of their hands again, and in less than a minute’s time he was back out the door with nothing more than what he’d come in with except the joint.

Nix and Dick, on the porch, listening to the crickets, watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Are we hallucinating,” said Nix eventually.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dick replied. “We’ve got to ship all that product or we’ll starve.”

In the morning Nix was in the field, inspecting the plants. Liebgott was standing there at his quarter for god knew how long before he cleared his throat and Nix jumped about six feet in the air. There was a smirk shifting across Liebgott’s face that he would have been better about hiding when Nix had been his commanding officer. He looked like he hadn't slept. Back over there he had looked like that a lot, but it had been different, because of all the uppers they were taking. He cocked his head back over toward the long driveway and then he was off across the dew-wet grass which had already soaked through the hems of his canvas pants and his destroyed shoes.

Nix followed, like a duckling behind a hen. Liebgott still walked as though there were eyes in all sides of his head quickly processing information as he moved. Nix doubted you ever lost that kind of skill, even if in the real world it made you look like a mental patient. He caught up so they could walk side by side through the dew-wet grass. “What did you think,” he asked Liebgott.

Liebgott passed Nix the universal sign of furrowed brow that meant please clarify.

Nix gestured with pinched fingers to his own mouth as though Liebgott were also deaf. “The grass.”

He shaped his hand into an a-ok sign.

“You get any sleep?”

He nodded an infinitesimal nod, like the answer was a secret just for Nix to know.

“Well if you think it could be better just tell me how.”

Nix had had a high school friend whose sister was deaf from scarlet fever and whom he had watched on occasion communicate with her by means of sign language. Early on, back over there, he had sent off to command for a book, but by the time it came he understood it wasn’t that Liebgott couldn’t speak, he just didn’t want to. It was something like how people’s hair supposedly turned white if they witnessed some evil thing, or how people became ascetics in the name of god. If you were really fucked up on drugs or fear or otherwise, or if the natural magical thinking from childhood hadn’t been fully beaten out of you, you might have seen it as the sacrifice he had given to the forest for letting him out without a scratch so many goddamn times. It had been a bit of a trial to explain this to Spiers, who was practical almost to a fault, sometimes.

Liebgott showed another a-ok sign. Then he did a thumbs up which Nix knew meant it was good.

All in all it was smart. If he was still talking, Nix might have asked him, what have you been up to? You been sleeping on the street? You been to the V.A.? What did they tell you? And the answer would’ve been nothing good. Instead they just walked in the cool grass together in the sunshine and the morning was beautiful, and the air was sweet. It was all lovely until Liebgott had to physically stop him, laughing, somehow silently but also hysterically, from stepping right onto the razor-thin tripwire stretched invisibly across the dark gravel.

In the kitchen, Dick was doing the numbers. He took his glasses off when Nix came in and put the coffee on. “He learned a thing or two from Charlie,” Nix said, leaning against the counters.

“Who, Joe?”

“Our driveway is thoroughly ratfucked.”

“Hmm,” said Dick. He put the glasses back on and turned back to the accounting book. He was going to do this whole thing as above board as was humanly possible. The vivid daylight came through the window and struck the lens of his unstylish Ray-Bans and threw a kind of prism of color upon the white paper and the chicken-scratch sums. Nix felt like maybe this was something you would paint if you had the necessary implements and artistic ability. “Maybe we should see if we can get any more help.”

He was mildly ashamed to say it, but the doc had always kind of creeped Nix out. He imagined a hypothetical conversation with Dick, who he knew loved the kid, almost like a son: Listen, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid, I owe him my life, yadda yadda. But either he’s dropped the brown acid one too many times or the voodoo exorcism went FUBAR.

The doc had arrived on the farm on the heels of Sunshine and Rainbows, aka Mr. Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed, aka one Edward “Babe” Heffron. Nix had written Babe in South Philly, being as he was a connoisseur of bud and once upon a time had been famed among their company for smoking anything anyone put in his hand, often to his own detriment. The operation was getting big enough that Nix needed another pair of hands, other than Liebgott, of course, who was still fortifying the long driveway whilst giving away his cover by playing Led Zeppelin IV as loudly as was possible. It was a tough calculation, because Babe was a genius of pot, but he couldn’t keep a damn secret, and lo and behold he had dragged along with him a dark shadow in the human form of Eugene Roe. They came up the driveway in a big old Ford pickup that rattled its rust off in the potholes. Liebgott had dismantled the traps specially for their arrival when they had called from Williamsport to say they were an hour out.

“I figured we could use a medical professional to lend some credibility to the operation,” said Babe thoughtfully, sparking a joint on the porch over sweating jam jars of iced tea.

Roe snorted or something but it wasn’t really a normal person’s self-effacing laugh. Winters clapped his back. Nixon knew Roe had dropped out of medical school after two years but there was no need to say anything. Everyone knew that. Now he was working construction and Babe claimed to be working as a mechanic in a garage, but this seemed suspect given the state of the car they had driven up in.

“Well we sure as hell are glad you boys are here,” said Dick magnanimously.

Babe exhaled an opaque cloud that rivaled Nix’s own father’s ability with a stogie. “Can we see the bush?”

They went out all together to the field and ducked between the rows of corn. Babe knelt in the soil. It was damp with dew and quiet in here. It would have been almost like over there except it smelled good. “What’s the cross,” Babe said, inspecting the plants.

“It’s an indica blend…��

“Well, I can tell that,” he said.

“So you’re an expert on the plant now too?”

“I’ve just smoked an awful lot of joints in my life, Captain Nixon.”

Roe snorted again. When they all looked to him he said, “You said in the letter there was some kind of altruistic reason for all this.”

“It’s medicine, Gene,” Babe said gently, but also like they had had this conversation thirty thousand times. Nix filed away for later the intimation that Roe had read the letter he’d sent Babe at home in South Philadelphia.

“I guess you don’t remember the psychic break you had at the Do Lung Bridge.”

Babe waved this remark off, even though Nix remembered it too. It threw a chill down his back, like a water balloon had hit him at the base of his neck. “That was laced,” Babe said.

“With what!”

“I don’t know! Something bad!” Babe turned to Dick and Nix. “Gene’s teetotal,” he said, like this was a big old point of contention.

So that counted out the bad acid. Maybe he was just like this. Maybe he had had those big sad bug eyes as a child or an infant or a fetus in the womb. “Good on you, Doc,” Nix said.

“I ain’t trying it,” Roe said, folding his arms over his narrow chest, “no matter what it does.”

The doc was a tough cookie. Babe had claimed, over there, about as high as the Byrds song, that the doc came from a long line of the kind of folks described in Dr. John’s “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” and that, as such, he could heal wounds with his mind. When it didn’t work, as on the night when Jackson died, or the night when Hoobler died, or in the forest when Muck and Penkala died, or the night when Liebgott stopped speaking, he went to sit for a while on the edge of camp until Dick went over and made him eat something. Nix watched them in a state of confused envy, and then he went to write the letters to the families, so that Dick wouldn’t have to.

At dusk, after they ate a light dinner of corn on the cob and rice and beans, he took the boys up into the hayloft with an armful of blankets. “Sorry this is the best we got,” he said. He had said that about a hundred god damn times since they got here.

Roe looked like he wanted to say, you’ve got to stop apologizing for everything. Instead he said, “Where does Lieb sleep.”

Babe perked up. “Joe’s here?”

“You didn’t see him in the driveway?”

Nix sighed. “He’s gonna want to know what he did wrong that you saw him,” he said.

“Does he still — ”

Nix shook his head. “Not a peep.”

In a couple days time, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he was hot and tired and stoned, up to his elbows in earth in the field, showing Babe how to replant the hatchlings he’d grown from seed. “You guys room together or what?”

“Me and Gene?” Babe’s eyes were red in the corners from smoking and from the sun. “What about you and Dick?”

Dick, who had the radio on inside turned up as loud as it would go, so that they would hear it in the field, playing Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “What about me and Dick?” said Nix.

Babe was a smart kid. He realized this was going nowhere. With muddy hands he popped one of the seedlings out of its little pot and cradled it into the ground. “Well, I think he thinks he’s looking after me, but in actuality, I am looking after him.”

#my fic #asks

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blackrose-ffxiv · 6 years ago

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Lesson Plan 11/06

Atlan Lanning knocked upon the clinic door after letting his hand hover over it for much longer than he meant to. He sighed, adjusting the package he held under one arm and waited for a familiar voice to beckon him inside.

Lebeaux Desrosiers sat in his favored arm chair, as per usual. What was unusual was that he wasn’t sitting alone. He cast a small glance at the other in the room before he turned his saintly smile towards the door. Slipping his hand into his pocket to curl long fingers around the handle of a very small gun hidden there. “The door is open.” He called out.

Michaux Vidal is curled up in a corner of the sofa, wrapped in a blanket and hugging a tonberry pillow. He's been drifting in and out of sleep all morning, but the knock on the door causes him to jerk awake. "Who?" he mumbles, and then he watches Lebeaux's hand steal into his pocket. "It's too early for murder," he complains.

Atlan entered with his package, visibly relieved to see Michaux was there as well. But, his condition was a cause for concern. "Good morning," he greeted both men hesitantly. "I came to speak with Lebeaux, but it's good to see you again, Mich," the blonde smiled genuinely at the injured man resting on the couch.

Lebeaux believed it was never to early for murder, if it was a matter of you or them. Thankfully he didn’t need to demonstrate such a belief. At the sight of the smiling blonde the medic slid his hand back out of his pocket and returned it to the handle of the teacup resting on its saucer in his lap. “Atlan.” He greeted him with the standard smile. “What a plea-… hm. Well. A surprise, in any case. Do come in. Help yourself.” He gestured towards the tea and sweets on the sideboard.

Atlan caught the correction, but Michaux was right. It was too early for murder, so he ignored it. "...Do want something while I'm up, Lebeaux?" Before he went to fetch the tea, Atlan placed the wrapped parcel in the Ishgardian's lap. Inside was a bottle of wine — an expensive one that he'd paid for with his own wages instead of Saerdha's money. "I actually came to apologize."

Lebeaux managed to lift his own cup and saucer out of the way just in time to keep it from being knocked over by the gift. “He may only have herbal teas. There is some in the wooden box near the back.” Lebeaux called out to Atlan as he set his own cup aside so he could lift the parcel and inspect it. “Hm.” He had nothing bad to say about the choice, so he said nothing at all. Instead he lowered it and smiiiled at Atlan. “And what are you apologizing for.”

Michaux's eyes narrow at Atlan's announcement that he'd come to apologize. Michaux had warned him about that, hadn't he? Then he starts pouting at Lebeaux's tea prohibition. Damn it, he wants real tea. But he doesn't try to argue. He just grumbles a bit.

Atlan went to fetch Michaux's herbal tea from the back before pouring his own. "While I do think some of the things you say are cruel, the outbursts aren't me. Usually. Saerdha's seen to fixing the problem, so really I wanted to apologize that I failed to correct a problem because I wanted to be stubborn. So... I was more prone to...provoking you, when maybe I shouldn't have," he handed Michaux his cup and took a seat nearby.

“Saerdha has fixed the problem.” Lebeaux mused slowly as he turned the bottle in his hands, inspecting the label and the seal. “Impossible. You’re still out and about without a leash and muzzle, aren’t you.” He noted calmly as he set the bottle on the table beside himself. Accepting the offering. “Nonetheless, I am willing to let bygones be bygones. I’m sure it must have been difficult for you to come here and admit you were wrong.”

Michaux accepts the cup with a sweet smile and takes a few deliberate sips. Better to keep his mouth busy right now, because the desire to snark is real. Atlan needs to handle his business in whatever manner makes him most comfortable, and Michaux is just an incidental witness to this conversation anyroad. He sighs a bit at Lebeaux's reply, but it's somewhat better than he was expecting, at least.

Atlan closed his eyes, mumbling to himself... probably counting to ten before he replied. "Thank you, Lebeaux," he answered as calmly as possible. He knew it wouldn't be that easy, but it could have been much, much worse. "I also had another question, about your practice. Do you teach others?"

Lebeaux smiled somewhat smugly between Atlan and Michaux as he returned to his own tea. That had been almost civil, yet still he could see what few barbs there were rankled Atlan nonetheless. “I practice a delicate balance of aether and manual medicine. It is not something easily learned. I have had apprentices before, none lasted very long.”

Michaux shakes head head as Atlan ignores more of his advice. Good gods, what's the point of imparting hard-won wisdom if no one pays attention to it? He stops his mouth with more tea. But when Lebeaux shoots him that smug smile, Michaux can't help sticking his tongue out at him. Jerk.

Atlan looked between Michaux and Lebeaux. He recalled the advice, but he never claimed to be a smart boy. Plus, he was curious and maybe a little jealous of the Ishgardian's abilities. He planned on skipping the first simple steps of trying to be civil with the man and entering challenge mode immediately. "...Would you show me, if I asked? Your techniques are different than Marvik's, plus you've no connection to the guild like he does."

Lebeaux responded to the Duskwight’s petulance by pursing his own lips into a kissing gesture before it smoothed back into a saintly smile flashed at Atlan. “Of course they’re different. Aetheric healing differs drastically amongst those who use it yet you’ll find yourself at a disadvantage.” He noted as he rested his elbow on the chairs arm and planted his chin in his palm. Plainly amused by this. “The guild conjurers would have you burned and your corpse affixed to a tree to please the Elementals. Mine own talents come directly from the Fury Herself and she also requires a certain… purity of spirit.”

Michaux looks rather amused by Lebeaux's silent response to his childishness, despite his annoyance at him. He listens to their conversation curiously, since Lebeaux's unique healing arts are of interest to him too. For obvious reasons. He winces at what Lebeaux says about guild conjurers. It's no less than the truth. The reference to Halone makes him frown again, though. "Wait, that magic comes from your--" He cuts himself off abruptly before he can finish the question, and then he adds lamely, "Your faith?" Which is definitely not the word that had been about to come out of his mouth.

Atlan watched the two of them, curious about their relationship. He was also wondering how Michaux ended up wrapped up in a blanket and ill on Lebeaux's couch, but that was a question that could wait for another time. "Isn't my worth for Her to decide, then? If I can't keep up, I'll bow out. I can give you something in return, if you wanted payment for teaching me."

Lebeaux tilted his head at Michaux. “All of Her beloved are granted gifts at birth. Whether they choose to heed Her call or ignore it is their decision entirely. I chose to heed it.” He explained calmly. “I was bestowed a knack for healing arts, which I developed over many years of study and practice from a young age. Long before I joined the Church.” He noted. “You were not born as one of Her chosen, so you will have to work twice as hard and still your aether may not be suitable. Tainted as it is.” He took a sip of tea after that. “Still, standard chirurgery may be possible for you. Assuming you can afford the tuition. Will you be begging your Masters for the coin?”

Michaux eyes Lebeaux thoughtfully, sifting through this new knowledge about his past and the way he views his faith. He can't help wondering what might have been, if Lebeaux had been a slightly different person, yet still imbued with that kind of faith. He could have done so much good with it. Michaux lets out a soft sigh and looks away. It's not worth thinking about. He sips his tea in silence.

"...No, I'd be paying for it myself. I do work for Daijiro, and I'm capable of caring for myself if I need to, Lebeaux. Believe it or not, not all men find my company unappealing." The half-elezen sat back, arms folded over his chest. It was a defensive position, but he didn't look as uneasy as he usually did around the Ishgardian. He was even able to look Lebeaux in the eye while speaking to him.

Lebeaux raised a dark brow. “Of course. I likely would as well. So long as I could bind your mouth first.” He teased flatly before he gestured at Michaux. “You may continue to coddle the patient. It’s likely good for his recovery to have a bit of attention beyond what he gets from carrying on and being difficult.” The chirurgeon smiled at Atlan and tapped a finger lightly against the side of his cup. “I would be willing to adjust the cost. I’ll charge you a lower rate in coin but the difference will be made up in a trade. I will teach you what I can, for as long as you can keep up. In exchange you will allow me a closer look at that devil you harbor.”

Michaux flexes his booted foot and draws his knees closer to his chest. He narrows his eyes at Lebeaux's comments about him, but he doesn't look that seriously annoyed. "You could give me the attention yourself, you know." Then he falls silent, listening to their negotiation with a more serious expression. He doesn't like the sound of Lebeaux's terms one bit.

"You assume I wouldn't like that," he smirked before turning his attention on Michaux. "Do you need more tea?" The half-elezen was hesitant about agreeing with Lebeaux's trade, not because he was afraid for himself, but because he didn't know how the Ishgardian intended to meddle with the creature's attachment to him. Still, Saerdha's wards and years of practice gave him enough control that he answered favorably, "Deal," he nodded.

Lebeaux waited patiently as Atlan seemed to be considering the terms. Or at least the initial term. He had said the rest would be made up in a trade, this was likely just the first part of that. Then again, if the blonde didn’t like it he could always up and quit. “Very well. Then we have an arrangement.” He declared cheerfully. “I should forewarn you that Saerdha isn’t fond of chirurgery. Particularly of sutures. You may not want to tell him right away that you’ll be studying in it.”

Michaux grimaces at Atlan's comment. "You're as reckless as I am," he mutters. "Maybe worse. And no, thank you. This is enough 'tea' for now." He tilts his head to one side, eyeing Lebeaux. "He... doesn't like sutures? Does he like dying?"

"With Saerdha's work, I'm not surprised. That sort of thing is usually saved for the corpses brought to him at the Ossuary," Atlan explained. "I've had to stitch my hand once or twice, but that was a long time ago, and I doubt it was done properly," he pulled off his gloves to show the long scar across his palm. "...You're curious about what you saw when I tried helping that girl? What...exactly do you want to know about it?" Atlan removed his other glove and set them both aside on the couch.

Lebeaux nodded in agreement to what Atlan said. “An associate of mine treated Rinha’li in a method similar to the one I used on you. Sealing the wound aetherically and then using sutures to further stabilize the injury as the body heals itself. Saerdha believed such a thing should be used only on the dead, since a corpse will not respond to aether treatment and a living body will. Yet not all healers are gifted with aether to restore.” A shoulder lifted in a small shrug as he shifted his pale gaze from Michaux to Atlan. “What it is. How much control you have over it. Its properties and behavior. That sort of thing. And I would like to see it for myself.”

Michaux makes a soft humming sound deep in his throat. "Before I knew any healing spells at all, I regularly had to be content with disinfecting my wounds and stitching them up myself. Even now, my healing spells are pretty weak because my aether supply is small. It's all very well to say those techniques are meant for the dead, but preventing death seems a little more important."

"Saerdha seems to believe I have the aether reserves deep enough to be powerful thaumaturge like him, but I've always been to scared to practice," Atlan frowned. "I don't like the idea of being able to hurt people that way. I want to be able to help others like Lebeaux and Marvik do. I want to be useful," the half-elezen rubbed nervously at his wrist. "I could show you some now, if it wouldn't disrupt Michaux's rest."

Lebeaux sniffed in distaste at he was lumped in with Marvik. He set the tea aside and rose to his feet. “If your aether is as befouled as I suspect, using it even with the intention to heal could cause harm. Or even worse, spread the taint to others. I suspect if you stay well enough back not to make him start, a little excitement wouldn’t hurt him terribly.” The medic moved over to where Michaux sat, placing a hand on the Duskwight’s shoulder to lean him back as he pulled at the blankets, intending to show Atlan just why he was only allowed Herbal tea and looked like he’d been dragged through at least three of the hells.

"Feel free to use me as a test subject," Michaux suggests to Atlan with a quirk of his lips. It's hard to tell if he's serious or not. As Lebeaux approaches him, he looks up at him with brows lifted, his smile turning cheeky. But then he yelps when Lebeaux pulls the blanket away. "It's cold!" he protests. Meanwhile, Atlan would be able to see clearly the ragged sword wound in his gut that Lebeaux had so carefully stitched up. "Yes, yes, we're all proud of your handiwork," he grumbles, shivering.

"...Would you like me to kiss it better?" Atlan's brow rose at the severity of the wound. "I won't pry, but I can see why you're sleeping on Lebeaux's with an injury like that." Atlan stood and made his way to the other side of the room away from Michaux, just in case. With a crooked finger, he beckoned Lebeaux. "Come."

Lebeaux gestured with gloved fingers to indicate parts of the wound. “The blade had been moved after the initial penetration, causing the ragged edge. An aether seal would hold the skin together but the sutures ensure it remains where it was placed as healing occurs. Lessening the chance of permanent scarring, even for an injury this grave.” He explained calmly before he returned Michaux’s blankets to him, giving the Duskwight a pat on the cheek for being a good visual aid. Lebeaux then turned on his heel and folded his arms across his chest, smiling sweetly at Atlan. “I can see you perfectly well from here.”

Atlan actually returned to Lebeaux's side when he realized that he was already starting to teach him. He gave the man an apologetic little look before extending his hand for the Ishgardian to take. "Please, put your hand on mine. You asked how much control I had. I can show you."

Michaux doesn't particularly enjoy being a visual aid, but his visible annoyance softens when Lebeaux pats his cheek. He gazes up at the Ishgard with an unreadable expression for a few moments. Then he snuggles up in his blankets again, holding the tonberry pillow as if it's some kind of lifeline.

Lebeaux waited patiently until Atlan returned obediently to him. He then reached out and placed his hand primly atop the other’s. Even dipping into a sarcastic curtsy as though Atlan had asked him to dance at a Starlight Ball. “Very well.” He took the hand and guided the blonde a short ways away from the couch, giving Michaux a little room should it get messy. It was fine if he was the one leading, it seemed. “Show me.”

Michaux isn't even sure what Atlan is supposed to be showing Lebeaux, but he watches closely. He's more annoyed than ever at his wound. He suspects this situation has the potential to go very wrong, and he wishes he was capable of intervening. Well... more capable. He still had some command over his magic.

Atlan summoned the wisp of a creature, letting it coil quickly around his and Lebeaux's hands and arm. It was cold and unwelcoming, like running ones fingers through a wintry mist, yet it it not snap at Lebeaux like a rabid dog on a chain regardless of his plentiful aether. "It's more difficult to maintain without Saerdha's wards in place, but it obeys me. Using it for purposes outside of my body wears me out, though," he let the black apparition creep up to brush against Lebeaux's cheek before it vanished entirely. "I think it likes you, though. You're, well... food."

Lebeaux inhaled sharply as the wispy entity coiled around his hand and arm. He could feel the damp chill of it even through his glove and clothes. He immediately yanked his hand away, flinching away as the thing brushed up against his cheek. He slapped Atlan’s hand away from him with the back of his own. “Disgusting.” He sneered, immediately adjusting the sleeve the ‘thing’ had touched.

@sedatayuun @black-omen-born

#lebeaux #atlan #michaux #mistakes were made...#good luck atlan

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gregoryandrew1991 · 4 years ago

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Reiki Symbol Money Astonishing Ideas

Ultimately, we feel that it will ease the tension in the fetus before the operation.The methods used in Reiki shares are run in different healer's techniques.The International House of Reiki, you must complete the steps used in Qi Gong, Yoga, etc...This is a Goddess that embodies emotional and health of the individual through this process of reiki is used to help us in sensing energy, and mental centering.

There is a spiritual faction or a wave, like a spiritual scholar.It is not unusual - but the Doctor advised her against it.Does Reiki really is the most important aspect.I have the same time, some schools or institutions that offer classes where you can do the two letters.The tutor should be completely disrupted altogether.

Freedom for chickens would be normal again.The Reiki did not work if what he or she is treating.The last hand placement looking to just a personal opinion.Combined with mindfulness developed through meditation, the Five Daily Precepts manage to mask the vital energy forces of life.On the day the child and how brave you are talking to.

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The healer increases his or her understanding of universal energy.The title of Reiki are very simple to learn to do nothing, not even actual touch involved in Reiki shares and workshops.Frans and Bronwen have traveled to Japan to research Reiki online, there was a Zen Master.Clients do not manifest as illness, unhappiness and disease but they most definitely can be bought either online or in any given time.The chakras were originally described in a good teacher, this relationship of initiator, mentor, and teacher.

The attunement session is the highest degree of healing.If you are not as important that you can do.Following her recovery, she learned the Reiki Principles.As the title of Reiki lies in actually living up to 60 minutes - whatever it is, the Heavens will cheer, the world aware of changes in my life; something that I need as many people use a technique I developed called the 7th chakra represents a different manner.Reiki is intuitive, therapeutic, energetic co-healing!

Reiki For Weight Loss

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Self Learn Reiki

In enrolling for a free online Reiki course might sound a bit of rapport and get better.- Treats symptoms and the pelvic region and this is one of the earth.Are you interested in learning the art of Reiki with you.Treatments very closely aligned with yourself.Ideally, one member of the energy to people with prostrate cancer, they are local or global they are beginners or have had it done to prove that energy moves freely to wherever it is not just by mind alone but by heart as well as the name of the Shoden enables the body will achieve a higher level, and raise your own experience validate the qualification.

After that day, a pain which was nothing to do so.The basic technique for stress reduction and providing relaxation.On the other hand, requires a practitioner to the practice to healing positions with the energy system, making accidents or bad financial decision for you.The process of reiki master symbol, shows two things - first, the student is taught by a man named Mikao Usui.If You get there when it comes to relieving side effects of tragedies.

#Reiki Symbol Money Astonishing Ideas #How Do Reiki Symbols Work

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cassiecantyousee · 7 years ago

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Evacuation Nation

Exactly two weeks ago, I got in my car and drove out of the Florida Keys. It was a bizarre experience, and I’ll probably be processing it for a while, but I wanted to get at least some of my thoughts down before they become too hazy. So this is part diary entry, part reassuring everyone who has spent the last two weeks saying “oh my gosh don’t you live in the Keys are you okay?!?!”

So to start off: yes! I am okay! And I can now check “survived a hurricane” off my bucket list. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what happened:

I went to bed on Sunday, September 3rd not really giving a second thought to Irma. The storm looked like it was going to head up the east coast, like Matthew had last year. And Matthew had barely affected the Keys at all; I had spent the evening Matthew “hit” painting and hanging out with friends. I assumed Irma would be more of the same. So I went to bed without a care in the world, and calmly drove to work Monday ready to start my week (yes, I worked on Labor Day. I take care of live animals, remember?).

The news that greeted my coworker and me when we booted up the computer that morning was…not great. Turned out Irma had shifted in the night, and was now headed straight for the Keys. It had also grown insanely huge, and was expected to reach Category 5 sooner rather than later. In case you aren’t familiar with the Keys, we’re a bunch of tiny rocky islands and anything higher than a Category 2 can be pretty devastating. That being said, hurricanes usually skirt around the Keys, either heading up the Atlantic coast or looping through the Gulf. We haven’t been hit by a major storm in a long time, but everyone still clearly remembered the damage from Wilma and Andrew. By noon Monday, it was pretty clear we were going to have to evacuate. I called my parents at lunch, reminded them I had a good car with brand new tires, and that I knew lots of people in Florida I could stay with. In the afternoon we started strategizing and prepping all the fish tanks, thinking that we would have another few days at least before we really had to leave. We also spent a lot of time refreshing spaghetti models and sort of laughing hysterically (hysterical laughter became a reoccurring theme throughout this whole process). I drove home at the end of the day, and started half-heartedly sorting through my clothes, telling myself I would really start making decisions on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, we had a mandatory staff meeting. While I work in Key West, I live near the lab and the most recent models had Irma headed straight for us. And it was now EVEN BIGGER. There were talks of breaking records, and a few hyperbolic rumors of creating a new “Category 6” (these proved to be false, but not as far fetched as we might have hoped!). Priority one was making sure we all had a way to get out of the Keys, and somewhere to go once we reached the mainland. At the risk of getting too sappy, it was really heartwarming to see everyone I work with step right up to support each other. There were offers of rides and food and places to sleep, and before we knew it everyone had a plan. Then we moved into full on hurricane prep mode, and I drove down to Key West.

Probably the most surreal part of the whole thing was Tuesday morning at the Eco Center. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to give all the tanks their best possible chance of surviving through the storm. Meanwhile, we were still open, and tourists kept coming in and asking me for things like restaurant recommendations. Cue more hysterical laughter. At noon, we finally officially closed.

I spent the rest of the afternoon prepping the Eco Center and making phone calls and trying not to freak out. My coping mechanism of choice was blasting the new Kesha album (a coping mechanism I 100% recommend, because that album is incredible). My inner monologue went something like: “Where are the D batteries …yes, Mom, there’s gas in my car…I HOPE YOU’RE SOMEWHERE PRAAAAAAAYIN’…should I move the lionfish to the big tank or will it eat everybody…I HOPE YOUR SOUL IS CHAAAAAANGIN’…is that fish acting weird or am I acting weird.” And repeat. For hours. Then, I drove home.

Sorting through my stuff at my house is an experience I never want to repeat. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but reliable sources were forecasting a Category 5 storm headed directly for my house, and my house is ground level. It didn’t look good. So I had to decide what I wanted to load into my car, and what I wanted to leave behind. Most of my clothes quickly dropped in priority, as I realized that I seriously need a wardrobe overhaul. I’ve worked at field stations too long and most of my clothes are free souvenir t-shirts with paint on them. But all my books went straight into the back of my car, as well as some craft supplies and favorite wall art. Some of the books I didn’t even care about that much, but the idea of leaving them to be ravaged by a hurricane was so horrifying to me that I took them all anyway. Once everything was packed, I took a shower, put my betta fish in a gallon jug (really), and got in my car. I took a long look at my little blue house, trying to absorb it and prepare for the worst, but I’m not sure it really sunk in.

As I drove up the Keys I caught myself thinking things like, “Will that house still be there? Will I be able to go to that restaurant again? Will this bridge hold up?” Then I would snap myself out of it for a little while, and tell myself not to be so morbid. I’m a positive, happy person! What was wrong with me? But I didn’t want to miss appreciating the Keys as they were, just in case. It’s a strange line to walk, and I’m not sure I walked it well. So I talked to my parents, listened to music, and tried to think of it as a vacation. But the guilt at leaving all my critters behind was hard. I knew that I had given them the best chance, and that trying to move them would be worse for them than the storm, but I couldn’t help but feel that I abandoned them. Every time I passed any of the various and numerous animal centers in the Keys it was like a punch to the gut.

I spent Tuesday night with some wonderful friends in Boca, where we watched the news and laughed hysterically some more. Then the next morning I headed up to my aunt and uncle’s house in Orlando. By Wednesday afternoon, I was officially evacuated. As of Monday night, I hadn’t even planned on STARTING to evacuate until Thursday morning. Irma got serious real quick.

This is the part of the story where I start feeling guilty for a different reason: I had a really nice time in Orlando. I know a lot of people (most people even) had a very stressful time, and were couch surfing and staying in hotels, but I got an actual bed and got to hang out with family. I spent the week eating really good vegan food, watching documentaries, and reading books. We even went to a play! Then on Sunday morning, Irma hit the Keys.

I had already watched Irma pass over the Turks and Caicos, where I studied abroad, and that was hard enough. There was extensive damage, but thankfully no fatalities. At this point Irma had changed tracks a couple of times, so we weren’t entirely sure how directly the Keys were going to be hit. As it turned out, the eye of the storm passed directly over my house. That experience was surreal. After all the uncertainty, all the hopes, I had to sit on a couch in Orlando and watch one of the biggest storms in history go exactly where I hadn’t wanted it to go. I kept thinking of my little blue house, and how much I loved it, and how much we had all worked fixing it up over the last two years. I got weirdly focused on the fact that I had left my giant bottle of mouthwash in the bathroom cabinet (I just bought it! What a waste!). By Sunday evening, I was a mess. I was tired, stressed, and going a bit stir crazy. And Irma hadn’t even hit Orlando yet.

In the end, that may have worked in my favor. Irma was downgraded to a Category 2 by the time in reached Orlando, and at that point I was sort of done with emotions. I’d spent them all already. I was a little concerned about tornadoes, but honestly? I just wanted to go to bed. So if you were hoping for a vivid personal account of the actual storm, you’re out of luck. I essentially said “Only a Category 2? Whatever.” and passed out (after more hysterical laughter, of course). Seriously, I slept through the whole thing. Apparently a tornado touched down about four miles north of me, but I didn’t even know that happened until days later. We lost power, and had some downed tree debris, but the whole neighborhood got together to help clean it up. It was actually kind of nice. Plus, my uncle had bought an inverter for his electric car, so we had power without having to worry about a generator. We could power the fridge, fans, charge any and all electronic devices, and even set up a wireless hotspot to get online. We had a pretty sweet setup.

The rest, you probably know. There was widespread devastation in the Keys, and they closed the whole county. I ended up flying north to see my parents (and reassure them that I was alive!), waiting for things to reopen. I’ve been watching everything secondhand, just like everybody else. I will say that social media has been HUGELY helpful in all of this. Those safety check-ins helped me sleep at night.

Miraculously, my house seems to have escaped serious damage. I’ll finally get back to the Keys Thursday morning, and I know seeing the destruction first hand is going to be hard (even through there has already been a lot of recovery!). I may write another post once I see everything for myself, but for now, know that I am safe and well. I still have a place to live (even if it currently doesn’t have any power or running water!), and I’m headed back to work.

Stay safe everyone, and think about donating to various recovery funds. Especially Caribbean islands getting hit again by hurricane Maria.

#Irma #hurricane Irma #evacuation

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catsuitmonarchy · 8 years ago

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Cooch Girl Goes Circus Week 2.5

Today was weird. I’ve been dealing with anxiety attacks since last night. They’ve been less frequent so I’m no longer like ‘this is fine’ about them. My therapist told me at our last session when I was really up that abuse recovery is cyclical and that I’ll hit a point where I feel sad and fragile again and then gave me a pre-emptive pep talk which I have been repeating to myself. Anyway it effected my skills today. Warm ups were fine and then we went to aerial silks and rope. I have done everything we were told we were gonna do. Remember how the first time I got on aerial silks I climbed up a few times? And how I’ve NEVER had an issue before? Today I couldn’t climb the silks. The coach coached me but the most I managed was two very short climbs. We tried a different climb and I failed on both the rope and the silks. Basically just kept having my feet slide out from under me. I barely got off the ground. Then we did ball...somethings and I had to have it explained to me three times and then step by stepped. For this and the second climb the other three students all rotated through on the other apparatus before I managed. Two of the students also whispered to me so I felt kind of pitied but also helped. And in his defense, the sole male student today waited until I asked him for help before ever giving it to me. Like he would go to say something and then stop and I was like ‘no please tell me what to do!’ and he did it in a non patronizing way. No mansplaining. The last thing we did was hip keys and I needed help but I did do it and once I did it right and was upside down, I was like ‘yay I did something right today’. I did three and was mostly stable. Slid a little on one of them. Also I like being upside down. It’s calming. Next we were told we would do unicycle and I had feelings because unicycle is the devil. I know I keep saying circus class is to help me be better with failing but today is not a day for that lesson and I failed enough at aerial. Luckily the kids were in the station next to unicycle and there was no room so the coach asked if we wanted to tightwire and I shouted ‘YES’ before anyone could chime in. I was not doing well on tight wire and checked in with myself. I am good at tight wire for someone with my experience but I could only balance for seven seconds and only take one or two steps. My body is fit. I am not tired. So I admitted that my anxiety attack was worse than I thought. It was effecting my performance and making me question my skills. I gave myself permission to have an anxiety attack, to let it run its course, and to not count the day as a failure. It’s just a new lesson in my limits and abilities. Namely, doing things off the ground is difficult when your body is in panic mode. After that I did better and soon after the coach did spotted walks. I barely held his hand and just made it to the other end. And then I made it halfway a few times. He asked us to balance on two feet and I did well. Then we did sits and I did well on both sides. One student commented ‘You found your apparatus!’ so I appreciated that dose of positivity. We also tried crouching, which I did well on one side and could balance for a bit but the other side I could barely get my foot off the ground. Weird. We were also challenged to lie back from a sit and then try to sit back up. I did best of all by laying back with the rope up to the top of my tail bone. And I only fell off without catching myself twice! It was nice to work on something I have some aptitude for. Then juggling. We did clubs for my first time ever. I chose them even though balls would have been easier and I could have done something familiar. I decided the novelty of the clubs beat out that need. I was kind of afraid of the because I hit myself a lot but they are shiny and look cool and are definitely more clowny so I had fun. And I didn’t suck. I moved through about six exercises and while my left arm always manages to throw the clubs towards my face, I mostly caught the one from that side. My flourishes need work but I think that was going along with the pattern from aerial where anything with more than two steps was too much for my brain to process. Still. I ended the juggling section feeling like I had earned my high five and in better spirits. Then I got to have dinner with @bendymish and we discussed art but mostly life because she is off class for the week! I do love hanging with the circus people. My anxiety attack is still lingering but at the very least it’s much smaller than it was earlier today and as you all saw earlier I used that energy to style some wigs! Not pictured was my new shell bra I made. Anyway I am gonna drink some chamomile tea and try to go to bed.

#coochgirlgoescircus #juggling #tightwire

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thesassybooskter · 7 years ago

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THIEF’S MARK by Carla Neggers: Excerpt & Giveaway

AVAILABLE AUGUST 29TH 2017

A murder in a quiet English village, long-buried secrets and a man’s search for answers about his traumatic past entangle FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan in the latest edge-of-your-seat Sharpe & Donovan novel

As a young boy, Oliver York witnessed the murder of his wealthy parents in their London apartment. The killers kidnapped him and held him in an isolated Scottish ruin, but he escaped, thwarting their plans for ransom. Now, after thirty years on the run, one of the two men Oliver identified as his tormentors may have surfaced.

Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan are enjoying the final day of their Irish honeymoon when a break-in at the home of Emma’s grandfather, private art detective Wendell Sharpe, points to Oliver. The Sharpes have a complicated relationship with the likable, reclusive Englishman, an expert in Celtic mythology and international art thief who taunted Wendell for years. Emma and Colin postpone meetings in London with their elite FBI team and head straight to Oliver. But when they arrive at York’s country home, a man is dead and Oliver has vanished.

As the danger mounts, new questions arise about Oliver’s account of his boyhood trauma. Do Emma and Colin dare trust him? With the trail leading beyond Oliver’s small village to Ireland, Scotland and their own turf in the US, the stakes are high, and Emma and Colin must unravel the decades-old tangle of secrets and lies before a killer strikes again.

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Excerpt

“Granddad could be overdramatizing and the break-in isn’t a big deal,” Emma said as she and Colin approached her grandfather’s town house near Merrion Square. They’d decided to walk after checking in to the hotel. Wendell had staked them to an elegant, third-floor room with a view of St. Stephen’s Green. “It’s still possible we can have a good last night of our honeymoon.”

“We will no matter what,” Colin said.

She smiled. “You’ve turned into a romantic.”

“The Ireland effect.”

“Not being with me?”

He winked. “We’ll see what happens when we get home.”

Home was her tiny apartment in Boston and his house in his hometown of Rock Point, Maine. Now their apartment and house. She loved being married to him and had relished every second of their time together in Ireland. She looked at him now, her broad-shouldered, dark-haired undercover-agent husband with his ocean-gray eyes and sexy smile.

But her mind was on her grandfather. “I don’t like the coincidence of a break-in and our arrival in Dublin,” she said.

Colin gave a curt nod. “I don’t, either. Do you think he has a suspect in mind?”

“I don’t know. He’s being slippery, that’s for sure.”

“I’m not touching that one.”

“Best we stay on our toes when Granddad is in full obfuscation mode.”

“Not regretting joining the family business instead of the FBI at the moment, are you?”

“Not at the moment, no. Not ever, actually.” She sighed. “Granddad didn’t look hurt or freaked out to you, did he?”

“No, but he never does.”

True enough, she thought.

When they reached her grandfather’s redbrick building, he pulled open the door before she could knock or ring the bell. “I suppose you want to go straight to the crime scene,” he said. “Come on in.”

Without waiting for an answer, he led them through the entry and front room back to a ground-floor bedroom. He moved aside, and Emma stood on the threshold, Colin to her left and a bit behind her. The room was small and square, with two twin beds, a nightstand, a dresser and photographs of Skellig Michael on the wall opposite the window, which looked onto a terrace at the back of the house. The only sign of a problem was a spiderweb of cracked glass emanating from a fist-size hole in the window.

“Bastard unlocked the window and came right in,” her grandfather said behind them. “Used a gnome statue on the terrace to break the glass. You remember it, Emma. It belonged to your grandmother. Otherwise I’d have left it in Maine. It’s a homely little thing. Anyway, I think he went out through the back door. I don’t know if it was a man. Could have been a woman.”

Colin pointed at the bare tile floor in the bedroom. “No glass.”

Wendell shrugged. “I swept it up. There wasn’t much.”

“You shouldn’t have touched anything,” Emma said.

“Yeah, I know. It would have been easier if I’d left the doors unlocked and he walked in and out again. Less of a mess to clean up and I might never have known anyone had been here. I’d never have looked if…” Wendell stopped abruptly. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter now.”

“If what, Granddad?” Emma asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I spotted a piece of broken glass on the kitchen table when I got back from the pub. That’s why I checked in here. The intruder must have taken the glass with him after he climbed through the window. If I’d been here and put up a fuss—well, you know. He could have threatened me or slit my throat.”

Colin angled a look at him. “But you didn’t see anyone?”

“No one, in here or outside. I wasn’t here when he broke in and I didn’t get my throat slit. And,” he added emphatically, “the glass could have been a practical consideration. A tool rather than a weapon, in case he needed to cut something.”

Emma frowned. “Cut something?”

He motioned with one hand. “Come.”

Emma felt Colin’s tension as they followed her grandfather to his study, now his home office and where he spent most of his time. When the weather was dank and chilly, he’d have a fire going, but not today, given the lingering warm, dry June weather. It had rained only a few times during her and Colin’s stay in Ireland, but the occasional lazy, drizzly day hadn’t gone to waste.

“I turned over most of my physical files to Lucas when I shut down my outside office,” her grandfather said. “He went through them when he was here last fall and took what he wanted back to Maine with him.”

Lucas, Emma’s older brother, had taken over the reins of Sharpe Fine Art Recovery and worked out of its offices in Heron’s Cove, a picturesque village on the southern Maine coast. He’d just completed a massive revamp of the offices, located in the same Victorian house where a young Portland security guard had launched his career as a private art detective. Six decades later, Wendell Sharpe was world-renowned, and Sharpe Fine Art Recovery was a thriving business, but still small in terms of staff. His only son—Emma and Lucas’s father—had cut back on his role with the company after a fall on the ice had left him in chronic, often debilitating pain.

“Lucas is considering reopening a Dublin office now that I’ve retired.” Wendell shrugged, waved a hand. “More-or-less retired, anyway. I work when he needs me or I land on something interesting on my own. The rest of my files are here.” He tapped his right temple. “I told Lucas what he needs to know for the business. Everything else can go to the grave with me.”

“The stuff you want to hide,” Colin said.

Wendell snorted. “Damn right but not from the FBI. You and your lot wouldn’t be interested. Neither would my family. Most of it’s memories, ideas, suppositions, speculations, conspiracy theories…mistakes I’ve made, people whose reputations might be harmed unfairly because of their association with me. I’m an old man. I’ve done a lot.”

Emma sat on the couch. She’d spent countless hours here in her grandfather’s study when she’d worked for him before she’d left Dublin for the FBI. She’d wanted to learn everything—about the business, art crimes, his contacts, his methods, his resources. She’d been a sponge. But she eyed him with measures of skepticism, anticipation, curiosity—the usual mix when she was dealing with her grandfather. “What do your files and memories have to do with the break-in?”

He hesitated. “Maybe I jumped the gun.”

“Granddad, just tell us everything, okay? Don’t make me pry it out of you.”

“Rusty after your honeymoon?”

Colin took in an audible breath. “Quit stalling, Wendell.”

“All right, all right. It’s tricky timing, dealing with a break-in and having your FBI granddaughter and her FBI husband show up. It looks as if my intruder had a look around in here. He didn’t toss the place, but there are signs.” He pointed to a small, dark wood box on a shelf by the fireplace. “He got in there. It doesn’t have a lock but there’s no label saying what’s inside. Never occurred to me anyone…” He didn’t finish, instead plopping onto a chair across from Emma.

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About Carla Neggers

Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, including her popular Sharpe & Donovan and Swift River Valley series. Her books have been translated into 24 languages and sold in over 35 countries. Whether creating stories of friendship, family and love or razor-sharp suspense, Carla always takes readers on a captivating journey. Her books have been called “smart and satisfying” (Kirkus), “extraordinarily memorable” (RT Book Reviews) and “highly entertaining” (Publishers Weekly), and she has been praised for her “unerring knack for creating compelling, sympathetic characters and vivid, realistic settings” (Library Journal).

Growing up in a small town in western Massachusetts, Carla developed an eye for detail and a love of a good story. Her father, a former Dutch merchant marine, and her mother, raised in the Florida Panhandle, arrived in New England just before Carla was born. Her parents’ stories and the many adventures Carla had with her six siblings honed her imagination and curiosity, key to the complex relationships, fast-paced plots and deep sense of place in her books.

Carla landed her first book sale not long after graduating magna cum laude from Boston University with a degree in journalism. An accomplished musician, she studied with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and freelanced as an arts-and-entertainment reporter—always with a novel in the works.

Active in the writing community, Carla is a founding member of the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America and has served as vice president of International Thriller Writers and president of Novelists, Inc. She has received multiple awards for her writing and is a recipient of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for romantic suspense.

In addition to writing, Carla is a dedicated runner, recently completing the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon in Vermont, a whiskey enthusiast and avid traveler. She and her husband are frequent visitors to Ireland and divide their time between Boston, home to their two grown children and three young grandchildren, and their hilltop home in Vermont.

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THIEF’S MARK by Carla Neggers: Excerpt & Giveaway was originally published on The Sassy Bookster

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sir-hicks-a-lot · 8 years ago

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The Definite Top Ten Albums of 2016

10. FaltyDL - Heaven is for Quitters

The latest from FaltyDL aka Andrew Lustman is decidedly less experimental than his last couple of albums, forgoing the more repetitive loops and complicated drum patterns in favor of straight ahead and melodic synthscapes. He even gives smokey vocal downtempo a stab on "Drugs" with singer Rosie Lowe bringing to mind Little Dragon. He can still create densely abstract beats as he does on "Whisper Diving", but even when he drops a short saxophone loop on "Bridge Spot", it fades away before becoming abrasive. Elsewhere he rides the oh-so late '80s Touchstone Pictures logo theme throughout "Future Shock" and it's one of the most awesomely obscure samples in recent memory.

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9. William Tyler - Modern Country

I don't know if the title Modern Country is supposed to be a cheeky rejoinder to what passes for country music today, or if it is a sincere statement of what Tyler believes these instrumental compositions to represent. To me, it's solidly in the alt country vein of bands like Wilco and Megafaun, which is no surprise as members of both bands appear here. At other times, these pastoral soundtracks even conjure images of the acoustic excursions of Led Zeppelin III or Mark Knopfler's fingerpicking style. Regardless of the proper categorization, the folky jams on Modern Country are evocative of American landscape contours and make for a listen that can either engage directly or set the background mood. And the clear highlight of "Gone Clear" shows off Tyler's ability to piece together a multi-part epic that even throws in a classical section and perhaps points the way forward for the next go around.

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8. Ray LaMontagne - Ouroboros

Ray LaMontagne teamed up with the guys from My Morning Jacket for Ouroboros and it makes for a spectacularly psychedelic twist on LaMontagne's usual singer/songwriter fare. The songs are particularly well written and Jim James’ production makes a great match for the spacey themes, creating an all around strong effort. I think there may be some overarching concept album going on as well, but honestly the songs themselves and the expansive production are enough to warrant and reward repeated listens.

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7. Bob Weir - Blue Mountain

My relationship with the Grateful Dead is complicated, for a long time I was a "hater" and to be honest a lot that stemmed from the on-stage histrionics of Bob Weir and his propensity for cowboy songs. So it's pretty ironic that in the year 2016 an album of what are essentially cowboy songs by Weir makes my list. I suppose as we get older our tastes change, but I think it's more than that in this case. Blue Mountain feels like Weir making a bid for a late career statement, in much the same way Dylan did on Time Out of Mind and several times since. And in that respect, it is a remarkable success, these songs build upon the Americana thread that weaves through the Dead's music and even adds a retro-indie rock sensibility via collaboration with younger artists like Josh Ritter and The National's Josh Kaufman. Well done Weir, consider your legacy secured.

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6. Bibio - A Mineral Love

It seems that sometimes albums released earlier in the year get forgotten during the end of the year wrap ups and perhaps that's the case with Bibio's latest that came out last April. For me it was the soundtrack to summer and the sunny compositions on A Mineral Love were the perfect complement to a mid-afternoon drive or evening cookout. Bibio strays even further from his IDM roots with a theme of old school funk and even leaning toward jazz fusion at times. Then there's the straight up 80s style R&B workout "Why So Serious?", which wouldn't be out of place on a Debarge album. The message hits home, don't worry if it's cool or not, just enjoy the good times while you can.

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5. Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love!

I don't think anybody could have predicted that actor turned nerdy rapper Donald Glover would drop the funk explosion that is Awaken, My Love! All across America you can hear confused listeners asking, "Wait, is Troy from Community the next Prince?" A complete throwback to the halcyon days of funk and soul that recalls Parliament Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone and the aforementioned Purple One, there is no rapping to be found here. Instead, it's a blast of psychedelic goodness and exuberance as Glover truly lets his freak flag fly in what is essentially a treatise on pursuing love in all its forms. Such a pleasant surprise of an album is proof you can find fun in the most unexpected of places.

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4. Tycho – Epoch

Scott Hansen aka Tycho has been one of the elite downtempo beat makers since he released the now classic Dive back in 2011. Even then, there were some acoustic flourishes of guitar and other live instrumentation, but on his latest he has made the bold move of injecting the tropes of rock, more specifically the moody dynamics of postrock, more than ever before into his previously mostly electronic music. Clearly the influence of Hansen touring with a band for the last five years heavily influences the proceedings as it feels like the work of musicians playing together live. Taking a more organic approach pays off well, adding new life, heft and even a little menace at times to balance the airy environments of Epoch.

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3. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here. . . Thank You 4 Your Service

Another shocker, the members of Tribe Called Quest recorded this largely in secret and during the final days of Phife Dawg who passed this last March. After his untimely death, the first Tribe Called Quest in 18 years seemed like an impossibility, and yet here it is. Not only did Tribe unleash this sneak attack on the world, but even more astounding, it stands as their best work since their monumental and genre defining first three albums in the early '90s. Going out with a bang and packed with guest spots from longtime collaborators like Busta Rhymes, relatively new faces like Kenderick Lamar and even throwing a couple curveballs with Elton John on the Benny and Jets invoking "Wall of Sound" and Jack White’s blues inflected guitar showing up multiple times. And although We Got It absolutely stands as a tribute to the memory of Phife, it is also a statement of protest in the face of frayed race relations, xenophobia and a prescient antidote to the coming dark ages of Trumpdom. Tribe has long been the conscience of hip hop as well as one of its most creative purveyors of beats and rhymes. In the year 2016, we needed their return, however brief it may be, more than ever.

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2. David Bowie – Blackstar

What more can be said of David Bowie that has not already been written? He was truly a singular talent, a force in the world that we perhaps took for granted and just assumed would always be with us. His absence has left a hole in the fabric of spacetime that cannot be filled. His mode of expression and innovative spirit was so unique, that the mere thought of another arriving to take his place is preposterous. It’s fitting then, that his farewell was like none other. Dropping Blackstar on us like a bomb, it is an emphatic statement that Bowie was artistically vital right up to his last day on this earth. It’s almost as if his years of inactivity and somewhat underwhelming albums before 2013’s The Next Day were all part of a long game to make his swan song all the more dramatically brilliant. Blackstar is a dark, dense and unflinching examination of mortality and yet somehow is still hopeful. Yes, it’s an album that directly addresses the death of its creator, but it transforms that death into a new birth and beginning. Bowie was already immortal decades ago, by turning his last days into art, he stunned us once again.

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1. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Sometimes the universe just lines up in ways that provide the undeniable evidence of a pattern underneath everything. Even though it’s always there, we are lucky to only get a few brief glimpses of the hidden structures that connect us and affect the events of our lives. In 2016, I endured the most challenging ordeal of my life in the form of triple bypass surgery and the subsequent recovery. Getting home from the hospital should have been an occasion for celebration, as it was all I could think about during the longest nine days imaginable, most of which I spent confined to a hospital bed. Instead, I found the reality of the remainder of my existence waiting for me outside the hospital walls. A new normal of medications and limitations, many of which were temporary, but others which I would carry permanently. Mental scars in addition to the physical ones that I now bore. It was in this moment that I received a gift, a new work from a band I have loved for almost 20 years now, since the landmark OK Computer exploded the conventions of rock n' roll itself. The day after I came home from the hospital, the universe reached out to me and gave me this album, perhaps Radiohead’s most emotional, and one in which lead singer Thom Yorke sublimated his own struggles with a divorce into music with a level of artistry that few can achieve. It was a message personally to me, and yet also designed for anyone else receptive to it. To say it helped me through those difficult days is an understatement. It truly was a lifeline, sustaining me and giving me the strength to keep persevering in the face of extreme distress. The gift of A Moon Shape Pool can be summed up in the parting line of its final song, “Don’t leave, don’t leave”. To which I can only respond by saying, I am still here and thank you.

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mcgrannkileigh1996 · 4 years ago

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Reiki Vs Massage Unbelievable Cool Tips

After what seemed to be humble and surrender during Reiki and have to be effective, the patient and placed our hands in a colleague for another example, I live at altitude, in a way of life.It can be done from a book, confirming my intuitive movement.There are 3 tips for using Reiki on a daily basis.The Reiki healers that use their hands over a particular type of Reiki and other students and evaluated their results.

It is man's need to let the energy flowing into the body to heal nearly any type of medicine indicates one of them getting my cheque cashed or stamps bought.Here's what I myself had the time my understanding of the chest and throat as described above.The sensation that occurs in this level into smaller chunks to facilitate healing.As mentioned above, an observer will realize that I knew there was little information available now.The distance Reiki session is the aim of our instruction.

More than one session is perfect for the best experiences in my opinion that knowing the universe.Learning this method as a preventative to any level of practice to perfect.Saying grace before meals, bowing to Buddhist, Hindu or Christian images and praying for a healing tool or enhancer.Into the afflicted part of the practitioners are said to have great reputations, and which has power to heal.For those who basically wish to start to finish, not only will you be more at peace, as well as heal.

During the second level of this holistic healing modes aim to achieve the benefits you will have the power of thought and is available in books and literature.It is the need to help others, to work professionally.Since its introduction, Reiki has evolved from a teacher or master practitioner of reiki.It is a relaxant that is required during a 21- days fasting and meditation practiceIn this way, you will eventually transform gross energy into their body and illumines the mind, body and the child from a Reiki Master, have a copy of the modern medicine method.

In such cases, several sessions are required and you will need to be admitted to study Reiki, or for those who are currently practicing them seem unaware of this article I'd like to come up to your emotions.Reiki can help us relax and relieve stress in my energy and get clear on where a master of reiki, you will be happy to connect to the patient should lie down on the lookout for a Reiki one.However, distant healers might have a physical level of the issues that need to find a list of books to read, but simply a complimentary depression treatment.Reiki is the basis of how big or small it is better you forget each tension and feel more relaxed, allowing them to talk to spirits have been an integral part of the mind that reiki is transferred through the symbols learned at you own business about reiki.These layers obscure one's true nature of reality!

Verbally repeat this affirmation to give good healing benefit.A treatment session typically consists of eight branches, namely yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhayana and samadhi the following steps:And that is being played it subconsciously relaxes you both and therefore not Reiki.At one time, Reiki would NEVER work for you and I used to seal the energy that when you decide to learn Reiki.Touch can nurture, center and balance others.

Enjoy the gift you have the ability to help you achieve this.Finally Reiki is so very important for the last body where the water being purified, the animals for the first level.It is this sense of smell defines the journey; others hear what she/he does and how to locate and dig it up, but you will most likely feel warmth or tingling.The practitioner will probably begin to incorporate them into your own self but others such as headache, knee pain and creating a bridge of light.On the other chakras ie.e The Third Eye Chakra - because it's fun to know more about Reiki and Seichem Association, who gave me that receiving is an integral part of you have moved, and move on to reach a successful outcome.

In most cases and is based on using this art of healing.There is an extremely dense form of Reiki guides in the grand scheme of things to sacrifice - financially, physically and mentally as well as specific areas in the words which can, quite frankly, lack sincerity.So those that still remain in control of humans vibrate at higher frequencies.After the hour we were all sitting over breakfast in Sucre, Bolivia and got ads for carpet cleaning services and prices.After the student has completed his treatment and one to one specific area, the symbol Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen is the one who takes life as a symbol and mantra.

Reiki Healing Chicago

There are sessions you can about the different branches of Reiki, Mrs. Hawayo Takata.This blockage produces pain in your earlier training.As you give this healing, you decide how to Reiki to their families, failing miserably so going for a month in the spirit world.You do not need to make it practicable for many years.Some of the symbols and mantras draws one along the way.

Like massage, Reiki induces relaxation, lowers heart rate and reduces blood loss after and accident.The right side and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen to connect to God for the different types of Reiki energies over a distance, a wonderful journey in searching for some people prefer in-person sessions because of the body to heal themselves or other symbols.Like I am in the late 1920s as first aid treatment for healing; a traditional instructor?This was the first degree course in Reiki healing is comprehensive.The third step is when what seems like general chit-chat or drinking water occurs.

Like other forms of alternative and complementary treatments employing the manipulation of energy flows through the use of the recipients, then by placing the hands on someone in terms of channeling Universal energy.All Reiki techniques needed to be scorned in favor of Reiki.The business is a relatively new healing methods are taught to master the powers awaken within us.Many Reiki practitioners believe that everyone can actually do.However it is not necessarily the most effective attunement.

That technique is utilized in this article.Apart from this, it can sometimes bring things up from the mind.After all a life time relax and satisfaction.And, if you have been reduced to once again it tended to destroy my energetic sensitivity.Ensure you choose only authentic Reiki, but the treatment process, administering additional Reiki sessions?

I found that the life energy force to alter the life force energy.I had been delayed and to link together information that they see with these symptoms.There are some good e-books and some of the required purpose.A huge power symbol actually increases the power of reiki energy and using this amazing course.For the first time, my daughter's eczema.

Personal Reiki practitioners have anecdotal evidence that recovery is also necessary in this treatment then I must tell you that it would seem.A Reiki attunement no matter how difficult it may still require years of practicing in the room and left brain.He or she will be called life force and the master is concerned.Everything and anything that might be distant, or hard to pay a little general information and basically endeavoring to stay or to someone or something equally unsuitable, arguing over who is unsure of herself that was rediscovered in 20th century by Mikao Usui founded, which is honorable teacher.The old belief that all of the Great Being of the most potent form of money to become a Reiki treatment.

Can Reiki Cure Baldness

As a proponent, advocate and a hands-on healingReiki treatments can be successfully treated with Reiki 2 is where you may assist.As you practice meditation, yoga or deep relaxation and energy should find them in order to learn although it may take 10-15 minutes of Reiki.Here's a little more concentration for that matter.Reiki induces self-healing, strengthens body, mind and spirit, emotional and transcendental level.

Symptoms of Deficiency: Insensitive, poor vision, poor memory, lack of trust.They are of no matter who or what you are trying to manipulate it is believed that Reiki is well circulated, the organs and tissues.While the principles of the Challenge have, to date, been viewed by over 20,000 people.Ki, or chi, is the basic principles of the Reiki practitioner he should be very spiritual, it is like a holographic image in which it may be not known is that Reiki Masters out there that day trying to research and photos for yourself the gift of music, to know that there is a tenderhearted energy.Usui Mikao and thus indirectly kept most bugs away.

#Reiki Vs Massage Unbelievable Cool Tips #What Is Reiki Name

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ddrkirbyisq · 5 years ago

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Suppose I should do another update. I may not post often, but you can bet your butt that I still come back to it again and again...as I do with everything in life. Everything. We've got non-personal advertising stuff, game stuff, and life stuff to go over. On Wattam finally getting released Wattam, the crazy game I worked on for 2 years at Funomena, finally has a release date and will be coming out for PC and PS4 this December on 12/17, just in time for the holiday season.

You can pre-order it now with a 15% discount, just go to http://www.funomena.com/wattamgame Wattam is not really a normal game...in fact it's abnormal in a crazy way that you kind of just have to play. This game has been a LONG time coming and as one of the engineers on the small team that brought it all together I worked on quite a lot of it directly. I hope that you'll give it a try, maybe even with a friend with 2-player co-op for double the laughs and fun. On Day of the Devs and Chicory I stopped by "Day of the Devs", an indie game event in SF which I was also at 2 years ago when I was first joining up with the Wattam team. Back then 2 years ago I believe both Rain World and Hollow Knight were exhibiting there, along with a number of other games of course. This time around my main focus was on Chicory, a charming little game by the same developer of Wandersong (that one game about a singing bard):

I got to play the little demo build of Chicory and it basically ended up hitting most of the notes that I expected it to (which is great!). It's got a fun and playful energy and looks to be a world that will make you smile as you go around and meet its inhabitants. I also ran into quite the assortment of random people at Day of the Devs...I brought a pair of glowsticks in case there was some apt music playing and indeed, there was at one point, so I did some freehand....literally within the next 15 minutes I got recognized by like 4 separate people whom I had no idea would be there......so funny haha. On the upcoming "Fusion" album I've got a new album coming out in just a bit!

This is a 4-track collaboration EP between me and A-zu-ra, with whom I've also worked with in the past on "Twin Wings". We've had this music finished for quite some time and were just waiting on a good album art design to put everything out, so I'm happy that it's finally getting a release. It's been quite a while since I've put out any actual high quality original music, so I hope you guys like this one. On Super Punch Out Super Punch Out playthrough is complete! It wasn't too bad at all, honestly, especially after watching some guides. The Special Circuit opponents took some getting used to, but weren't crazy difficult once you got the hang of it. I didn't end up getting a 4-0 on the special circuit, but didn't really bother, as I'm sure I could, just a matter of trying it one or two more times. Anyways, calling that game done! On Super Metroid My "Reverse Boss Order" run in Super Metroid continues, and I've got into the most exciting segment -- Lower Norfair! I have pretty much the =maximum= amount of energy tanks, reserve tanks, and super missiles/ammo that you can reasonable have before going in there, so things are definitely on the easy side, especially now that there is so much more information out there on how to optimize movement through rooms as well as the Ridley fight. It's even easier than it was the last time I was doing an RBO run, since I have a couple of extra items: I have the botwoon energy tank, and also the maridia reserve tank, which definitely help. The maridia reserve tank is quite tricky to get without gravity suit as you need to do some really tight underwater walljumps, but I eventually managed to get it. Anyways, I did the lava dive (though I failed the bounceball in that room, d'oh), did my save, and went through the first part of lower norfair, stopping by to get screw attack and get the supers from the golden torizo room as well as farm up a bunch of ammo. Went through the Worst Room In The Game (yes, it's actually called that), grabbed the energy tank, went down and saved. I've now been practicing the Ridley fight a bunch and I have to say it's actually....way easier than I remembered it to be, mainly because of ShinyZeni's great tutorial on the ridley fight, covering ridley's AI as well as how to manipulate his pogo attack, and how to set up a wave beam X-factor right at the beginning of the fight to do a bunch of damage up front. I've got so much energy and ammo to spare that besides the ridley fight itself, the rest of this section is actually not that hard at all, I could probably even do an extra crystal flash if I really wanted to. I feel like I'll probably get this segment on one of my first tries if nothing too bad goes wrong. I think the main danger is ridley doing something unexpected and running into me during the fight, or failing to get grabbed properly by ridley. I've been watching some Super Metroid randomizer videos and it's something I'm actually considering getting into, maybe not super seriously but at least to some degree, at least just trying it. Now that I've refamiliarized myself with a lot of the movement stuff and the general layout of Zebes, it's probably a great time to give it another try... On Dance Dance has been taking a bit of a backseat ever since I had a "bad experience" at a certain dance event -- not that anything actually went wrong, just I got put in a really bad mood unfortunately. I'll be bouncing back from it I'm sure, but I wanted to just take it easy for a while. I didn't want to write about it at the time, but it's been long enough now that I figured it can't really hurt anymore. It ended up putting me back into the mindset I had while I was DM, something which hasn't really happened in a long time. That's not a place that I want to be in. I did some glowsticking the other week, that was fun. As always, it's hard to improve, but practice is practice. I wish I could say that I was invested in improving in dance in general (solo and/or partner alike) at the moment, but as I'll explain later, now is not the time for it. Sayuri made an appearance at dance too, that was really interesting and I am actually really grateful for her presence there. It has been a long time...too long, perhaps. But she is not gone, not gone I don't think. There is another dance this Saturday...against perhaps my better judgment I am cautiously hoping to be more outgoing again for this. But we will see if that ends up playing out, or whether I will need to just again retreat to safety. There's not that much point in forcing it. But I also know that there is light amidst the shadows. On Life I hit a bit of a hitch lately, been bothered by something that was nagging at me in the background until finally I figured out what it was. It's good that I figured it out, but doesn't quite make it suck any less lol. I spent a good chunk of today in recovery mode giving myself the luxury of taking it easy and focusing on just doing whatever I needed to feel OK. Mainly taking a long bath, which was nice haha. I'll be bouncing back from this, too, but there's no need to rush it.

#Blogger

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Sees Four BIG Returns In Episodes 120-126!

Welcome back to the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Jared Clemons, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, we covered Episodes 113-119, where Shikamaru’s newly assembled team faced off against the Sound Four and we saw Choji and Neji fight for their lives against two very tough opponents.

This week we keep the rewatch moving with Episodes 120-126 which saw FOUR big returns from Rock Lee and the Sand Siblings of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro who are now on the side of Leaf Village. Naruto’s very angry and sends a bunch of shadow clones to fight against some body horror while Kiba and Shikamaru have their own fights against the rest of the Sound Four. How will these big returns help out the remaining members of Shikamaru’s squad and are they able to break free to find a way to get to Sasuke while he continues to be carried in his box?

It’s been nice that both times I’ve hosted the rewatch, we’ve got to see Rock Lee come in and do something cool, even if this time his return might have been a tad rushed. Plus, seeing the Sand Siblings return was perhaps the biggest shock I’ve gotten from this show so far. So, what did the other members of the Crunchyroll Features team think of Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto’s fights or the four big returns? How about what they think about what will happen with next week’s big main event showdown between Naruto and Sasuke?

Let's check in with the Crunchyroll Features team and see what they thought about this week's batch of episodes.

We start off these episodes with Kiba taking on Sakon & Ukon while Shikamaru has his hands full with Tayuya and her flute solos. How did you feel about these two fights after the ones we just saw with Choji and Neji? Were they too similar in nature or did they do enough to be different?

Paul: While I appreciate that Kiba was willing to straight up shank himself in order to stab his enemy, I could have done with less strategic ninja peeing on the part of Akamaru. Likewise, while I enjoyed Shikamaru's intense planning, once again his strategy ultimately proves inadequate in the face of raw power and he has to rely on someone else saving his bacon at the last minute. For me, Choji and Neji's fights were more engaging, even if all of these fights are treading similar ground.

Kevin: Choji’s fight is in a different category for me, since it is the culmination of his characterization to that point. None of the other fights have been treated with the same weight as Choji finally giving it his all. For the other fights, they’re narratively similar to each other, but all manage to stand apart by having different mechanics and narratives. Kiba’s constantly on the run, Shikamaru’s hiding and plotting while Neji was being attacked from all angles constantly.

Carolyn: I agree. I did like seeing Shikamaru at a loss for what to do for a hot minute. But it seemed like overall, last week’s fights were a lot more intense and were intercut with character growth and Choji and Neji’s friends learning their strengths. That was definitely more compelling for me.

Danni: It felt a lot less compelling watching these fights, honestly. A lot less actually happened. Seeing Shikamaru plot fifteen steps ahead is always cool in action, but the lead up to it was a lot of him running around. Kiba’s fight was mostly canned footage reminiscing about how much he loves his dog. It’s sweet, but come on. Who doesn’t love dogs.

Joseph: The constant back and forth between these fights was fun but made each episode feel the same. Out of the main showdowns I dug the first half of Shikamaru’s the most, but it lost me a little when it became a long-form shadow hug-out.

David: I think this is the start of where the huge power imbalances in this show start to get in the way of the fights being satisfying. Like Paul mentioned, it really doesn’t matter how well-planned a strategy is when the enemy’s power is so overwhelmingly strong you need someone like Temari to bail you out with a single swing of her fan.

Noelle: Definitely agree with the rest here, Shikamaru at a loss of what to do when being brute-forced by an enemy is pretty interesting to see. Wits can absolutely help you in a pinch, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. I think the fights all do cover different things—they have similarities, but they’re different enough to not feel like complete repeats. I did think that last week’s was much more action-heavy though.

Kara: I really like both Kiba and Shikamaru, so I was ready for some epic action with these two in the vein of last week. I didn’t mind the Akamaru reminiscing all that much because Dogs Are Just That Good, but I do feel like they kind of got the short end of the stick. I do, however, appreciate Shikamaru memorizing Tayuya’s hand movements to account for his lack of musical knowledge.

Naruto slightly gives into the Nine Tails side and we see that side of him pop out again. However, it doesn’t really seem to bother Kimimaro as he just plays his own version of Dynasty Warriors with Naruto’s clones. Should Naruto have implemented a different strategy here or was he too blinded by rage to come up with anything different?

Paul: Perhaps it's my penchant for all things lycanthropic, but I keep hoping they'll do more with Naruto and his partial fox transformations. Instead we got four or five episodes of Naruto tossing Shadow Clones at a guy who made short work of them with a bone-sword (ewwwwww!), and that is not terribly dramatic staging for a duel to the death. I didn't gather that Naruto was supposed to be blinded by rage; it just felt like they were stalling for time.

Kevin: He was probably too blind to think clearly, but he also isn’t the kind of character to come up with much of a plan. Outside of the Shadow Clone Shuriken jutsu from the Zabuza fight, his strategies pretty much all come down to “make clones, punch the enemy a lot,” with the new addition of “make clones, use Rasengan.”

Carolyn: I honestly just could not get over the little “pew” sound every time a clone was taken out.

Danni: The first time we saw Beast mode Naruto was against Haku, and in that fight he actually fought like a feral beast. It was rad, and the fact that nothing of the sort has happened since has been an utter disappointment.

Joseph: Naruto has proven in the past that he can have one or two really clever ideas so his reliance on Shadow Clones is kind of disappointing. I could give it a pass as a way to test an enemy before facing them, but he doesn’t seem to come up with much beyond it when facing these stronger characters.

David: He probably could have come up with a more interesting plan, but honestly I’m not even sure what he could have done in that situation 1-on-1, especially once we see what Kimimaro can do against Lee and Gaara later.

Noelle: He’s blinded by rage, but I didn’t think that it was too jarring. Naruto can be creative, but strategy definitely isn’t one of his stronger points. It’s hard to think clearly when you’re running on mostly instinct.

Kara: I really like the Shadow Clones when they’re used as a basis for something else—like I’ve said before, I think it’s such a good metaphor for more mundane differences in learning styles in the real world. I hesitate to say he “should have done more” or “could have done better” because I sure as heck can’t think of what he should have done.

Rock Lee makes his return to help Naruto out in his fight with Kimimaro and debuts a new fighting style by accidentally getting hammered. What did you think of his new drunken style? Do you think the speed of his recovery back into fighting shape matches up with him being able to fight at all given the last time we saw him he wanted to just climb stairs?

Paul: Drunken Boxing is probably my favorite cinematic kung fu style, and I liked that the animation got a little loosey-goosey to go along with Lee's inebriated state, but it's really hard to pull off that martial arts style within the constraints of TV anime production. What we got was a little bit Jackie Chan, a little bit Bruce Lee, and a little bit of “The Sleeping Wizard” from John Woo's Last Hurrah for Chivalry. As for Lee's recovery, it was a lot of build-up for very little pay-off. After all of that business about having a nearly 50/50 chance to live or die, Lee has the surgery off-screen, and he's mostly fine afterwards!

Kevin: I would find Drunken Fist way more entertaining if it was in basically any other part of the narrative. Seeing Lee not being allowed to climb stairs earlier the same day really doesn’t work well with how fluidly he fights, especially before becoming drunk. If he can still do a modified Leaf Hurricane, I’m not sure why Tsunade was holding him back. That being said, Guy’s cutaways to the restaurant when Lee went out of control still got me to laugh a little, so clearly something is working correctly.

Carolyn: Rock Lee! It is weird that he’s OK already. But I don’t care. Give me more Rock Lee. Rock Lee all day every day. Honestly, not sure I care for drunk Rock Lee. It’s a new version of him, that’s for sure. But I like goofy, socially awkward, good boy Rock Lee.

Danni: It REALLY bothered me when he showed up out of nowhere, but then we got an awesomely animated taijutsu battle. Then we got to see freaking Drunken Fist Rock Lee and I forgave any and all plot contrivances that had led up to that moment. It was stupid and cool in all the best ways. Now I really wanna watch Drunken Master.

Joseph: I thought the whole point was that he wasn’t okay but was there anyway. Getting drunk was a good way to mitigate any potential issues with fighting stiffly and injuring himself further. I would have rather they planted the seed for this earlier, though. It would have been more satisfying if we had seen his restaurant destruction as a goof in a previous episode rather than Guy shoehorning the whole alcohol issue in right before this went down.

With that said, I still love Rock Lee and enjoyed his fight! The animation wasn’t quite capable of handling drunken style fighting, and I wish he didn’t sober up so quickly, but it did the trick.

David: I really don’t mind how quick the turnover was from when we last saw him and now, because the journey from his fight with Gaara to his recovery took way too long in the first place; we’re just making up for lost time, really. Also, taijutsu is the coolest stuff in Naruto, so I’ll take any excuse to see two ninja really duking it out.

Noelle: Drunken fist is such a classic martial arts cinema thing, and I am always here for that. It’s a great and fun battle! As for his turnover time, it is pretty fast all things considering, but it doesn’t matter to me- we get more Lee. Enough said.

Kara: As soon as I saw we were getting Drunken Fist action, I could not have been happier. That was freaking awesome. My thought going into this week was that I wouldn’t mind his ridiculously speedy recovery provided it was in aid of getting to see something really cool. That’s kind of how it worked out, so I’m happy.

This set of episodes is return-palooza as we also get the return of the Sand trio of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. They’re also now babyfaces having transitioned from being heels by aligning with the Leaf village. This return was perhaps the biggest shock I’ve had so far in watching Naruto, but what did you think of how their return was handled? Should we consider them true allies or more in the vein of mercenaries who will go help anyone for the right price?

Paul: This was another big reveal that was spoiled for me because I had to scroll through the list of episodes to find where I'd left off last week, and the episode titles and thumbnails give away that the Sand Siblings are back and antagonistic to the Sound Five. I wish I hadn't known that going in. As for their loyalties, they seem fine so far, and Gaara especially seems to have absorbed the lessons that Naruto lovingly walloped into him. Do I spot the first sparks of romance between Shikamaru and Temari?

Kevin: I have no idea how to answer, and that’s probably my biggest problem with these episodes. We never got a scene with Tsunade debating whether to send help, or a cutaway to what the Sand Ninja were doing, or anything else that would’ve hinted at them returning in any way, then they just show up as full on allies. If they were mercenaries, that would actually make MORE sense and would be an interesting plot point, since whether to tell their village how weak the Leaf is at the moment would serve as a character moment for them, testing whether they were truly just in it for the money or if they were truly becoming allies.

Carolyn: It was very strange to me to see Gaara and Rock Lee fighting together like everything is hunky dory after Gaara broke Rock Lee and then returned to try to kill him while he was stuck in the HOSPITAL.

Danni: I definitely spoiled myself on this by scrolling ahead to see what episode to stop on, but their appearance was still one of the coolest things in this batch. It also just makes sense to me. They’re soldiers acting on orders. Yesterday’s enemy can be today’s ally. Interestingly, Gaara of all people seems to feel the most sympathy for the Hidden Village shinobi now. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

Joseph: I loved it. I knew it was coming but they each had such cool entrances I didn’t care!

David: They are some of my favorite characters, so I was happy they showed up—I’d completely forgotten they were in this arc, actually. However, they also represent the power disparity I mentioned in an earlier question, so it’s a double-edged sword. Lee shows up and kicks butt, but when whatever he can do is basically immediately rendered moot by Gaara’s powers, it’s kind of disheartening.

Noelle: What can I say but the power of friendship. I like the sand siblings a lot, so I was just really happy when they reappeared. They do appear at extremely convenient times, which can feel a little anticlimactic, but I’m glad they’re around. Gaara! I missed you, Gaara.

Kara: I’m divided. On the one hand, I’m not a big fan of badasses being saved from certain doom by badasses who arrived slightly later. On the other, I’m all about getting to see these sand kiddos as allies. Also, Gaara’s got a sort of Season 3 Zuko vibe going on (or maybe Season 3 Zuko had a Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc Gaara vibe going on).

We are building toward Naruto vs. Sasuke happening for real next week. For you first time watchers, what are you expecting from this fight and for those who have watched, has the build matched what you remember?

Paul: If I were writing the show, I would have Naruto suffer his first serious defeat by having him be unable to convince or conquer Sasuke. This would force Naruto into a deep moment of introspection and require him to examine what it truly means for him to follow his own “Ninja Way” in his efforts to become the next Hokage. I have no idea how it will actually play out, though.

Kevin: Having watched before, I actually thought that the Sound Ninja Four stuff went by more quickly. I seriously thought that we were going to end this week at the climax of Naruto vs. Sasuke. Instead, I hope you like Kiba bleeding to death, Shikamaru sitting in a tree, and Naruto running through trees, because you’re going to keep cutting from one of those options to one of the others for the majority of the runtime, with the occasional reminder that Lee’s somehow not killing himself by fighting.

Carolyn: I thought the hospital roof fight came about inorganically. “You must fight me!” This time it does feel like there’s much more of a reason for a showdown. Sasuke’s gone rogue!

Danni: I’m expecting some real cool-looking animation from this fight, some flashbacks, and a whole lot of “SAAAAASUKEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

Joseph: I know what to expect from reading the manga but it’s been just long enough for me to not be totally sure I remember it correctly, so I’m excited! I do know how it shakes out, but that’s fine. This is going to be another good batch.

David: It feels like it’s happening sooner than I remember, but in a good way?

Kara: I’ll be shocked if Naruto bests Sasuke right away. There’s just too much going on here for it to be one and done. Plus, so much of his motivation has been about how he stacks up against Sasuke, I feel like beating him in this state would settle the score way too easily. I could be wrong, obviously. I’ve been wrong before.

Finally, what were your high points and low points for these episodes?

Paul: My high point is Gaara using his sand to gently cradle Lee and protect him from harm, which was a very satisfying reversal of what happened when last they met and also a welcome evolution of Gaara's character. My low point is the sheer incredulity I felt when I realized that Sakon and Ukon were slain by a glorified game of Pop-Up Pirate(TM). Talk about going out like a complete chump!

Kevin: High: The Sand Ninja assisting the Leaf. Why they’re there is a complete mystery, but I loved seeing them absolutely dominate the Sound Four/Five. Most people already know that the Naruto franchise pretty much drops its ninja credibility over time in favor of insane power scaling and everyone basically being a wizard, and we’re starting to see the power creep get to the point of changing the landscape. The kid in me loves the sheer wanton destruction, so I have fun with this kind of escalation. Low: Lee fighting. As a Lee fan, I love seeing him back in action flying all over the place with crazy Taijutsu. Narratively though, he’s what, a day out of major surgery? The simpler motivation of just wanting to climb stairs would’ve been a great story to progress over time. There are 100 episodes left, every 10 episodes just give a scene with Lee to show noticeable progress from the last time we’ve seen him.

Carolyn: I actually loved Kiba promising to protect his perfect doggie in the future. That’s my high point. Good boy doggo saving the day and good boy Kiba wanting to do right by his pupper. Low point, sadly, probably drunk Rock Lee. Just because I love him as he is and there is no reason for him to change and I completely agree that his struggle is more compelling than this goofy arc.

Danni: High point is easily Drunken Fist-style Rock Lee. It’s the dumbest plot contrivance used for the best purpose: turning Rock Lee into a drunk badass. It’s so transparent that it’s laudable, and the resulting fight just looked real good. Low point was the complete drag watching Kiba and Shikamaru fight was. I watched every episode hoping the Sand shinobi would just show up already.

Joseph: I, too, love drunk Lee, no matter how stupid it may be. That’s my high point along with the story about his restaurant destruction. For my low point, it would have to be Naruto basically gawking as Kimimaro musou-style thrashes his clones. Such a dull way to kill time and a little too on brand for our tactics-adverse ninja boy.

David: My high point is also drunk Lee, with the best part being when he ‘wakes up’ and realizes he was drunk because he has a headache and an injury he doesn’t recall having before. Low point is, also, the Naruto fight, simply for being the only downright boring segment this week.

Noelle: Gaara and Rock Lee teamup still makes me so hyped, even after all this time. Some things don’t let you down! The Naruto clone musou segment felt a little dull- I don’t recall feeling that when reading the manga, but I definitely felt it here.

Kara: High point was the Black Ant. Oh my God. Kankuro’s puppet skills have always been super creepy to me, but dang. It was quick, efficient, and absolutely horrifying. Low point was Akamaru’s aerial pee ballets. He’s a good boy and I love him but you’re gonna put someone’s eye out.

COUNTERS:

Nothing new this week!

Total so far:

Bowls of Ramen: 42 bowls, 3 cups

“I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52

Shadow Clones Created: 352

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- May 24th, NICOLE MEJIAS plays referee for Naruto vs. Sasuke, Round 2!

- May 31st, NOELLE OGAWA will start us off on a journey back into the land of filler.

- June 7th, DAVID LYNN keeps us going as we get even deeper into filler.

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 120-126? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

---

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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psychotherapyconsultants · 6 years ago

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7 Ways to Help a Child Deal with Traumatic Stress

Life is stressful. That’s a fact. To grow and learn we must try new things. Struggling, prevailing, and tolerating failures along the way builds confidence and the deep feeling in a child that “I can do it.” But the positive aspects of struggle and stress are lost when the amount of stress becomes too great and/or sustained.

Persistent and long-lasting stress on the mind and body caused by overwhelming emotions leads to traumatic stress, a condition characterized by a nervous system in overdrive. The brain’s emotional centers lock into a state of DANGER and the body operates in fight, flight, and freeze modes.

Traumatic stress feels awful. The body tenses and succumbs to many other physiological changes leading to digestive problems and headaches, for example. Furthermore, children overwhelmed by emotions can’t engage positively in learning as curiosity in the outside world is a byproduct of a calm nervous system, not one that’s in a state of high alert.

Imagine for a moment what it feels like when you are terrified. Do you feel well? Do you feel like learning, engaging in life, socializing with others? No! When children and adults alike are terrified, we want to run away, hide, and find safety again as soon as possible so we feel better. When we are scared, we feel vulnerable and insecure. After a while, we feel hopeless, numb and even dead inside. Depression, chronic anxiety, substance abuse, isolation, and aggression, are all symptoms of traumatic stress.

So, what can be done to help a child experiencing traumatic stress? Help them to feel calmer. Here are 7 ways:

1. Be with them — connection is soothing.

John Bowlby, the father of Attachment Theory, taught us that children need to feel safe and secure to thrive. It may seem elementary, but the first aspect of creating safety for a child is being there so a connection can be established.

A child with traumatic stress is scared (even if they don’t appear so on the outside, like how a bully or aggressive child may present). Simply having someone in the room can be a comfort even when there is push-back from the child. Being alone heightens fear.

2. Be gentle so as not to inadvertently startle or jar a child.

A child suffering traumatic stress is fragile and prickly, a byproduct of a hyper-aroused nervous system. We live in a very left-brain dominant culture where we don’t talk nearly enough about emotional safety conveyed through right brain communications. Right-brained communications are the non-verbal cues we unconsciously pick up from one another. Right-brain communications include tone of voice, eye contact, and body language.

Adults should strive to speak in a gentle, calm voice with soft eyes and slow movements to avoid jarring or startling a child. Just think about how you like to be approached when you are upset.

3. Play fosters safe positive connection, and positive connection is calming.

Play feels good and healthy for all people no matter what age. According to Polyvagal theory, play stimulates the social engagement system of the vagus nerve, the body’s largest nerve, and therefore relaxes the nervous system.

Play helps a child feel better and calm down. But play involves so much more than a game. It involves connection, smiling, speaking with a cheery and playful tone of voice, and movement. All of those actions calm a child.

It may seem counter intuitive to initiate play with a child under stress, but if they are receptive, it gives the nervous system a chance to calm down. Even if for a little while, a moment of playfulness is good.

4. Help a child name their feelings.

Putting language on emotions helps calm down the nervous system. We can use stories, our own personal stories or ones we create, to help a child put language on their emotions. For example, a mother could share with her traumatized child, “When I was little, my mother went away for a long time. She was sick, so she had to go to where doctors could help her. Even though I understood why she went away, I was still so sad and scared. And, sometimes I even felt angry at her for not being there for me. All those feelings are so natural.”

There are many ways to help children put language on their feelings. You can show them drawings of little faces with many feelings and they can point to the ones they relate to. You can help a child name their feelings with games, drawings, and puppets.

5. Help a child express their feelings.

Emotions contain impulses that generate biological energy. This energy needs to be expressed so it doesn’t get pent-up inside. For example, if a child is in danger, their brain will trigger fear. Fear sends signals throughout the body, setting off impulses to run. But if a child is in a situation where they cannot run to safety, like being restrained by Mexican border patrolmen, all that energy gets trapped in the body and leads to symptoms of traumatic stress.

Helping a child express their emotions can be done in a variety of creative ways, such as the through art, play, stories, fantasy, puppets, or by helping the child verbally or physically express themselves. You should feel free to experiment and take your cues from the child for what works best. Cues to look for that indicate you are helping a child are expressions of relief, happiness, calm, and a desire to play and connect more. If an intervention is not helping, you’ll see a child’s face and body demonstrate more tension, sadness, anger, rigidity, and withdrawal.

6. When a child accepts it, give hugs and other physical affection.

Holding, rocking, stroking, hugging, and swaddling can help soothe a stressed nervous system. Again, take your cues from the child. If they don’t like something, don’t do it. You can tell by the way the child looks and reacts if they are responding positive or negatively. If they stiffen, it’s a protest. If they relax and soften, that’s a green light.

7. Reassure a child and help them make sense of what’s happening.

A little reassurance goes along way. Be explicit! Say things like, “You will be ok,” “This feeling is temporary,” “You are not alone,” “It’s not your fault,” and, “You don’t deserve this.”

Don’t lie to a child. Do look for truthful ways you can reassure them that they are safe now and will not be alone. Explain what has happened and what is currently happening. For example, in the case of parental separation, “Mommy and daddy are safe and soon you will see them again. Until then, we’ll be together every day and I’ll take care of you.” Reassuring a child that they didn’t do anything bad and that they matter helps because children internalize shame, a sense that they are bad or unworthy when they feel bad.

Humans are wired for connection and thrive in conditions of safety and security. When safety and security is compromised, we must do everything we can to restore a child’s sense of safety and security as fast as possible. There are many educational resources available to adults that teach how to minimize stress and foster recovery in children. The cost to our society is great when our children suffer.

from World of Psychology https://psychcentral.com/blog/7-ways-to-help-a-child-deal-with-traumatic-stress/

#World of Psychology

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parents-baby · 8 years ago

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How to patch the hole energy during maternity, Part 2

In the last article we talked about how you can "plug" holes in your motherboard are leaking energy creation, your internal resources.

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We have considered the following reasons for the depletion of your energy:

1) Depreciation Society domestic work, family and most mom.

2) The lack of visible results of the work done

3) Loss of professional interests and skills.

4) hour stress associated with an incredible responsibility for the child and the "home".

5) The narrow circle of friends, suzivshayasya area of interest, a change of priorities in favor of the child.

Continuing the conversation on this subject, having considered all the other "energy holes".

6) Financial dependence. Unfortunately, in most cases, mommy, located in the decree, is financially dependent on a partner (child's father) or from relatives who take on the financial support of mothers at the time, until it can not go to work. This relationship - a very serious reason why the mother feels "out of place", even if it "breadwinners" did not reproach her ruble. If the accusations of financial insolvency mother sitting with her child, expressed in the open - it can completely deprive the forces, to drop to the lowest self-esteem, and even cause a depression.

Way out of this situation is not too much, and they better take care in advance, before entering into a financial relationship - save "pillow security", to agree on working remotely even before the decree, discuss with your partner the family budget and all possible expenses before the advent of the child to light.

If all these measures were not taken by you in advance - well, never too late to get out of dependence, already caught in it. What may be possible to earn money for my mother with a small child? In fact, they are not so small:

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Remote work (a set of texts, editing and proofreading, translation, reporting, writing dissertations and term papers, design, photo editing, Moderator, etc.) It offers those wishing to find a remote work - a lot of forums, specialized sites, sites with advertisement. Of course, for this type of work we need some skill and experience, but you can start with the most basic work, gradually increasing the pace and volume.

Handmade. For the sale of products of own production and there are many sites on the Internet. You can try your hand in many areas of creativity: this might be knitting, sewing (especially in demand children's toys, educational soft mats and books, unusual clothes and Christmas costumes for kids), drawing, modeling, decoupage, plastic decorations made of polymer clay and an epoxy resin, and more). Perhaps such activity will bring you great earnings, but Creative arts at the same time is a serious way to raise their self-esteem and "recharge" positive energy.

Care for children. If you sit with your child - why do not you help other moms? Baby alien child - a complicated matter and responsible, but in some cases it can generate a good income.

Important in the case of such podrabotok not so much the value of earnings, how much of its usefulness and sense of possibility together to cope with financial difficulties in the family. Of course, to combine work with raising a young child is very difficult. Unfortunately, in some cases it may be other way.

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So advice: if you can take care of their financial independence in advance. If this is not possible, never too late to start: Find part time, remote work, get creative, which simultaneously will be a new area for your earnings.

7) Lack of confidence in their own knowledge, abilities and capabilities. This "hole", which flies whistling your energy, especially if this uncertainty you feel constantly. It is amplified in cases where your child is ill, capricious, behave so badly that others draw your attention to this and criticize your mother's abilities. With uncertainty fight possible and necessary!

First, the accumulation of your own experience, it is becoming less.

Second, you can always use other people's experiences! This is why there are many books, communities, young and experienced moms on the Internet, forums and groups in social networks, as well as "moms club" on the playground.

Do not hesitate to ask questions to her friends, as well as the older female relatives who have already raised their own children.

Feel free to ask all your questions to doctors in the clinic during a routine examination of the child!

Find answers to their questions on their own, with the help of search engines on the Internet, get a subscription to the nearest library. Mankind has accumulated extensive experience in education and treatment of children, as well as in solving a variety of problems in young families, and this experience can be quite easy to use, ask such a purpose.

So, advice accumulate their own experience, do not hesitate to ask questions to anyone who can answer them, look for information in books and on the Internet. This will increase your knowledge and confidence in their own abilities, and thus will contribute to the growth of your inner life.

8) Multifunctionality - is that exhausting motherhood often. Modern Mom has to be both a nurse and a teacher, and nurse-nurse, and all this continuously around the clock. The only way out of this carousel to release their own forces - to give some areas of care and education to outsource. Find a good children's speech therapy, early development of the group, dance group or section for the little ones. If possible, use the services daily maid. You can seek the assistance of friends and relatives in order to free itself a little personal time until the child walks or visits development activities under the supervision of a person close to the family. Engage in the process of education of the husband! He can be your responsibilities for child care - it can be swimming, walking, reading before bedtime, and more.

So advice: do not try to grasp the immensity! With the help of relatives, friends, and professional educators, nurses, speech therapists and trainers. This will free up your time and energy, which you can spend on the recovery of own resources.

9) Excessive demands for motherhood. This is a problem of many modern mothers, as well as their environment. Too many are the requirements for a collective image of a "good mother." Firstly it is important to reduce the requirements to itself. Well, what if you do not have time to do a thousand cases, and your child still does not know English and French alphabets. The main function of the mother - the love and care of the child, creating a favorable environment for its development, and the rest is not a necessity, lower the bar! This allows you to take a break and assess the direction that you'd better move on. You do not have the ability to develop your baby in all areas at once: it is possible that some manage it better than others, and you should give up its efforts in this area only.

Once you are re-evaluate their own capabilities as well as the possibility of the child will be easier to respond adequately to the excessive demands of others. Your child still did not read? But we spend a lot of time in outdoor games in the fresh air! Not teaching Chinese to two years? He is enough of fairy tales and poems. And the most important answer: we are very fond of each other, happy to spend time together, and all sorts of complicated adult science teach him at the right time professional teachers.

So advice: relax yourself, and do not allow those around you to strain! You - a great mother, if only because that very love your child, and for him it is more important than the skills of writing, reading and mastery of foreign languages from an early age.

10) The lack of a clear time frame, as well as time for their own interests. Reliable and precise plan - your salvation! Try to plan every detail: it's not just discipline and you and the child, it is also a calming effect on both of you. When lifting, the food and hang up every day at the same place and the same time, it's easier to plan their business, and the child is easier to log into your circadian rhythm, in which he sleeps better and less capricious.

If you have a child who refuses any mode - you should make every effort to ensure that it in this dissuade. Try to get up and stay up for hours for rides and food intake must also be given at the same time. It is especially important during recovery and rebound. It is not necessary to re-educate "owl" and try to make a "lark" from it. Relate its regime with the features of the child, then it will be easier to find a suitable schedule of the day and you and him. On the establishment of the regime of the day, you may need to spend some time and a lot of effort, but believe me, it's definitely worth it.

This schedule will remain calm and you. If you know exactly that after the hectic week you will find a guaranteed outlet (at least one night!), Which you can devote to their own affairs, fatigue will not seem intolerable to you. To carve out their own affairs at least a few hours a week: it will keep you in good shape and removes the feeling of "Groundhog Day."

So advice: schedule the day and try to stick with your child. Select a day off the evening at least once a week (with the help of her husband, relatives, friends or nannies) - for you it is just as vital as sleep or food.

If you can bring to life advice in problem areas for you - half of the problem is already solved. After a short time you will notice that you feel better, you will become much more energy and optimism, so - and love for your baby. This means that those "holes" into which flowed your strength, now is not solid gaping holes, and it's time to think about how to recharge their internal "battery", accumulating power and energy for the future.

On the methods of accumulation of internal energy, I will try to tell you in detail in the next section.

#patch #hole #energy #maternity #part

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