#supplements for women in 20s

[stevenspacil]

Supplements For Women

Supplements can play a crucial role in supporting women’s health, particularly when dietary intake is insufficient or when specific health goals need to be addressed. Here are some commonly recommended supplements for women, categorized by their benefits: 1. Essential Vitamins and Minerals Multivitamins: A good multivitamin tailored for women often includes key nutrients like iron, calcium, and…

[vskitty]

daily check-in: november 8th

workouts:

full body: everyday full body pilates workout 10 min

arms: slim arms in 1 week - arm fat loss workout 10 min

abs: abs workout- at home total core routine 10 min

workout 4: 5km walk

posture & flexibility exercises:

lower back stretch: how to do a backbend fast! back flexibility stretches for beginners

step count: 11,058 steps

fasting:

stuck to my fasting window (12 pm - 6 pm): yes

notes: super easy to stick to my fasting today

water intake: 3 litres

weight: 56.7 kg (exam stress weight increase)

zone minutes: 20 minutes

supplements:

supplements taken today: b6, b12 and women's multivitamin

sleep quality:

hours of sleep: 7 hours + 40 mins

quality: fair

[redfoxwritesstuff]

Posting schedule: Friday Misdemeanor, and Wednesdays for one the occasional one shot. Tag lists are always open. 

Join us in the VoxTek Discord server for a Vox themed Hazbin place to hang and get teasers for upcoming chapters! 

my AO3 and Kofi

A Misdemeanor Of The Heart 

Cover done by @redvexillum

Human Alastor x married reader Rated Adult for adult themes,triggering content and sexual content. Potentially DD:DNE, mind the warnings Series Trigger Warnings: Adultery, stalking, Sexual assault, Rape, smut, Domestic Violence, Time period accurate views on women and domestic violence and skin color, murder

Summary: Fading away in an abusive marriage, each day passes just the same as the last. Painful monotony eats at you until a pair of warm brown eyes sparks the idea that you could have something more. When a business deal between men sparks a torrid affair, how long can you keep things going before the fire either leaves you a burnt out shell or burns up everything around you?

And what becomes of the radio host who thought he was above the fickle fires of the heart when the match he strikes burns his hand instead? Can he possess what rightfully belongs to another man without leaving everything he has fought for in ashes?

Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59. 60

Why Is MisD Reader Coded... white? A supplemental reading explaining the historical context, why the deliberate choice was made to code the Reader as a white woman for the sake of plot points, and why I personally would find it disrespectful to have not done so.

MisD Sidepieces: One shots or fics that take place in a MisD AU or are MisD canon but written by another.

Inappropriate Demeanor by @nyx-umbrakinesis (Canon placement, end of chapter 22) Chapter 2 (canon placement between chapter 24 and 25)

Audio Chapters by Nyx Productions: Chapter 1: part 1 part 2, Chapter 2:  Part 1, part 2, part 3, chapter 3, Part 1, part 2, part 3, Chapter 4: Part 1, Part 2,  Chapter 5: Part 1, Part 2, Chapter 6: Part 1, Part 2

For Eternity (Completed)

Banner by @redvexillum

Alastor x Angel!Wife Oc (Isabel) Rated: Adult Warnings: This fic contains sexual content, explorations of consent within Angel Dust's contract in relation to sex work, Sexual assault, Possessive and obsessive behaviors, Power dynamics, Adam being an ass, kidnapping, Vox is in hell for a reason, Val is in hell for a reason, Vox has a weird thing for Alastor, Angel Dust is sweet as pie, murder, revenge, implied sexual assault and harassment, miscarriage and death.

Summary: Isabel died young, leaving behind her husband to pick up the pieces. Finding herself in Heaven, she waits for her husband to join her. And waits. And waits. Years and decades pass as she faces the realization that Alastor may not be joining her in Heaven, leaving her largely alone in a realm of double standards and fake smiles.

She must decide if she is going to move on from her marriage or do whatever it takes to reunite with her husband. Would he even still want her? Would she survive the dangers to find him? Would the cost be worth what could be gained?

Is Heaven really Heaven if the one you love isn't there with you?

Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Another day in Paradise (On hiatus)

Pairing: Eventually Alastor x OFC, later- light Alastor x ofc x Lucifer Rated: Adult for eventual smut Content warnings: It's Hazbin Hotel- this feels redundant. Sex, eventual smut, referenced implied suicide to be discussed in more detail later, drugs, drinking, poor coping, toxic behavior, controlling behavior, cannibalism, idk, it's fucking Hazbin Hotel, if it's worth a content warning it's probably going to come up at some point? Religious trauma. reader has a name/is a oc.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

A Taste of Sugar

Alastor x reader Rated: Adult for smut TW: blood kink, bondage, reader with trauma from food insecurity Summary: As you work through the trauma of your life and starving to death, you dismantle your stash of snacks for what you hope will be the final time. Snack cakes, cookies and crackers are given to everyone around you, except one resident in the hotel whom you knew wouldn't enjoy or consume the treats. Then, as the flow of treats tricked to a stop, stash dismantled, small brown boxes containing treats began to appear at your door. Simple, delicious and seemingly homemade treats without so much as a note.

He watched and he waited, each week for your offer. Each week, no offer came and again he left his gift at your door. Why would you not think of him? Why would you not see him? What did he have to do for you to consider him?

Chapters: 1,  2 

Wild Flowers (One shot)

Alastor x readerRated: Adult, 18+ Content warnings: Sex pollen trope and related questionable consent due to intoxication, oral (f receiving), multiple orgasms, knotting, praise, dancing that shouldn't be that sexy, biting, a touch of blood drinking, female masterbation, some possessiveness, Alastor being a bit of an ass

Summary: You had always loved flowers, so when you found a patch of pretty purple wildflowers growing in the small forest behind the hotel, you didn't think twice about picking a small handful to bring back to your room. While they smelled lovely, you were wholly unprepared for the side effects of exposure or the repercussions of offering the terrifyingly handsome Radio Demon a smell on your way to your room.

With your body burning from the inside out with an overwhelming need and a displeased Radio Demon pushing his way into your room, you have no idea what you're in for.

All you wanted was to pick some flowers but you got so much more.

Audio version brought to you by @nyx-umbrakinesis,  Pt1, Pt2, Pt3, Pt4, Pt5, Pt6.

Steamy Situations 18+  (One shot)

Alastor x readerRated: Adults only Warnings: Smut. It's shower smut. Female bodied reader. Careful with your shower sex.

Summary: You're hot and bored and your husband is busy working. If only there was a way you could distract him, get some of his attention and cool off. Audio Fic credits: Read by the lovely @nyx-umbrakinesis (Audio fic part 1, part 2)

Read me to sleep? (One shot)

Alastor x readerRating: G Summary: After a long, shitty day out and about you drag yourself home to the hotel to seek shelter and comfort in the one place you knew you could find it.

Home is where the heart is (One shot fluff) 

Vox x Reader Rated: General Warnings: I accidently spilled a little angst on the fluff serving. Sorry?

Summary: You're cooking dinner when your secret boyfriend comes home. Caught up in the moment, confessions are made and hearts are put on the line.

A Bed of Electric FLowers (One Shot)

Header done in part by the wonderful, amazing, fantastical @redvexillum

Vox x ReaderRated: Adult CW: Sex pollen trope, sex toy use, female masterbation, Vox's glowstick dick, way too many tv details, Male receiving oral,

Summary: A unexpected floral arrangement is delivered to your door as you're trying to ignore the lingering absence of your flat faced boyfriend. When Vox returns home and finds you in a compromising position, he's eager to assist even without a clue as to what has you so worked up.

Sister Dearest (One shot)

Requested: Vox x Alastor’s!Sister!Reader rated: Adult

Summary: Sneaking out of the protection of the protection of your brother's district was dangerous. Not only did you risk Alastor's wrath, you risked catching the eye of some unsavory characters. While you could meet many friends upon the streets of the forbidden tech district, you find Vox and his alluring promises of a good time.He knew of your brother and seemed to hold no animosity, surely he was a friend to the Radio Demon, right? Surely you could trust his company, right?Right?

Power (One Shot)

Vox x Reader Rating: Explicit 18+ Warnings: Porn without plot, Power dynamics, Secretary reader, Choking on dick, Office blowjob. 

Summary: Vox is wound tight after his on air showdown with the newly returned Alastor. The show must go on though and you have just what he needs to get into the right headspace to move forward. 

(None, for now)

(None, for now)

[sparkly-sediment]

Tf2 Mercs Period flow headcanons

Free will strikes again 😈😈

Heavy

The Red terror

Very heavy flow that last 6-7 days. The longest she’s had is 9 days and it took bear meat to recover

The blood is usually dark brown and overall a bit of a delayed flow

Calls it her menstrual cycle only. Heavy isn’t big on midol or pain relief (Russian grit af)

Will always use a warm water bottle tho

Only used scraps of fabric until her 20s. Heavy doesn’t like pads because they feel like diapers and she doesn’t fuck with tampons until she has sex for the first time so she won’t “loose her virginity to stick”

We need more sex education

Ultra tampons for business, free bleed in the period draws for leisure

Sniper

Bush woman

Some hardcore feminist shit. Walk into the woods and menstruate on a stick indigo girls concert transparent

(if you get that i love you)

Sniper normally just free bleeds or like dries out her vagina during bathroom breaks. She smokes weed for cramps and gets bad period diarrhea

Very light, irregular periods. Completely skips some months due to stress and malnutrition (and she looses her appetite on her period!!(

Severe period exhaustion 😮‍💨

Flow is bright red or faint. Might be some blood on the briefs on the first/second morning but then not much happening outside of clots.

Would have fertility issues I feel

Sniper gets anemic on her period and resists taking the supplements Medic recommends. Finally he fights her into taking them and, shocker! She’s not passing out when she stands

Has tasted her period blood clots. Canon I fear

Says on the rag

Demo

MENACE

Demo has a moderate flow but pretty gnarly cramps. The sharp, pulsing kind. Hurts like a bitch!!

Flushes tampons and could give two fucks

She drinks more on her period and has wicked period shits. Possibly the worst asshole cramps in the group, and don’t even get me started on sore nipples

Thick dark red blood. Not hard blood clots but large bloody goops and liquid. Has to shower more often on her period 😔

Super and super plus tampons and the hospital grade pads. Completely unnecessary but Demo gets the biggest most crinkly padding pads of all time!!! Why!!!???!!!

PCOS queen. Thicker body hair, wild anger at times, and cysts!!! When one bursts she finally goes to Medic who immediately gives morphine and some weird blue sludge

Pain was gone but she did wake up with a third kidney

Scout

Type of bitch to get pregnant while pregnant

What a nightmare! PMS like a mother fucker! Scout becomes a snappy little bitch on her period. Terrorizes the base and just crashes out for no reason

If you eat her food so help you God

Really strong cravings and really intense ovulation. Yk how some women really go into heat when they ovulate? Like REALLY lock in? That’s Scout

Fertile and loves chocolate but aggressive

BAWLS ON HER PERIOD and period breakouts

Lighter/moderate flow. More than Sniper but less than Demo

Running really helps her cramps but they usually go to about 5/10 at worst

Her boobs always hurt worse than anything else and she’ll wear a sports bra instead of wrapping them for work

regular tampons and refuses go wear a pad

Medic

I will be using he/him pronouns because period!medic isn’t a gender bend. Medic wanted to feel even closer to his baboons and so he installed the necessary organs to build and birth them

Unwanted and unforeseen side effect 😔

Sturdy but average flow and a very consistent cycle. Bright red with brown spotting towards the end. He keeps a calendar and tracks ovulation

He would have period sex. No question. And, in a sick and wicked manner, would blow them after 😋

horrible to imagine. Anyway, Medic has rougher periods with heavy hormone fluctuations. Intense mood swings, fatigue, and some month deals with painful ovarian cysts

His periods don’t normally have too bad cramps!! He’s just sore in the southern skies and has some lightning sharp stabbing pains in his asshole

Medicates fully and all the way except in the beginning when he monitored the function more closely

Light period acne heavy metalic scent. Feels very tender and hungry

Soldier

Free bleeds and gets blood everywhere

Heavy flow and pretty intense cramps. And, rage. Period rage. Heightened by her pain and immense discomfort and all of her sheets have stains

Dark brown blood and irregular. Can bleed for days and has had 11-12 day periods that completely drain her

Her cramps will leave her bed ridden. If she has to go to battle, there will be NO indication of her pain. She might even be worse to over compensate. But Soldier will run a little slower and land from rocket jumps much more gently

Cries in the locker room and respawn when alone 😭😭😭😭 my shayla

Unless she’s gassed up for battle Soldier is much quieter on his period and sluggish

Eats so much omg decimates that kitchen. The team has to have a meeting because they’ve gone to the store three days in a row, and this is the forth morning everything is gobbled down in the night by a certain greedy little rat

Every time she starts her period she marches into the medbay to LOUDLY announce it. This is the only time she ever mentions the topic of menstruation in relation to herself

Will say fucked up shit tho. Tells Scout blood attracts bears and viciously growls after finding Scout’s tampons

Spy

Eats steak almost nightly when on her period

She refuses to discuss such things with the team and calls it tasteless conversation

INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY and does everything she can to hide her period. Will use kitty perfume to avoid blood smell, tampons only and she hides the wrappers before throwing them out

Heavier flow with low pain. She’ll feel the most discomfort in the cervix area but she doesn’t experience much cramping

Red/brown mix and very spotting days 1-3. Day 3/4-5 is heavy flow and then day six is usually the end

Midol in a Tylenol bottle 😭

She becomes a wicked bitch. Horrifically snappy and will bite your head off. Some period shits. Boobs hurt the week before

Engineer

Her periods are dandy.

Yk how people say periods last 3-5 days? And you’re like, who the fuck is having three day periods?

It’s this gal

Engineer has some mild cramping but it lasts ALL day. From the first flutter of her eyes to the final rest, her uterus is aching

Tight period cramps and a lighter flow. She wears regular and lite tampons for two days and then is good

Bright red and thin blood. Never has big clots and rarely has goopy blood

Her discharge is tinted pink or brown for about a week though so it does balance out

She will smell really strongly of blood like the ripe period embarrassing smell

Working in the workshop when she catches a whiff of the 🩸🐱 but she likes feeling primal and will work into the dank night

Engineer eats all chocolate in the based and will probably eat every cookie too

Period rage that rivals Soldier’s

Pyro

Free bleeds and doesn’t practice good hygiene. She won’t change her clothes- including underwear- any differently despite having blood all up in it

Pyro doesn’t have much liquid blood, but a lot of clotting and clumps of tissue

Because of this and a lack of good hygiene she has a worse smell, and it is noticeable to others. Pyro always smells burnt though so it isn’t exactly traceable

Heavier flow, WOULD use super plus tampons

Pyro has worn pads in the past but she dislikes the diaper feel and she never likes the sensory experience of period products

She’s much sleepier on her period and will curl up to nap. If not in her bed then wherever

[joannechocolat]

On Power, and on Powering Through, and Why They’re Really Not the Same

I don’t pay much attention to personal attacks in reviews. It comes as the flipside of success; an attempt by the critic to puncture what they see as too much success. But I still remember one review, just after the film of Chocolat, when two of my novels happened to be in the Top 5 at the same time, in which a (male) newspaper critic referred to me dismissively as a premenopausal woman writer. I was a little taken aback. Clearly, it was meant to disparage, but I was only 35, ten years away from the perimenopause. What exactly did he mean? It wasn’t a comment about the book (which I doubt he had even read). The obvious misogyny aside, it seemed to express resentment, not of my books, but of me, myself, my right to take up space in his world. That word – premenopausal – was at the same time a comment on my age, my looks, my value, and a strong suggestion that someone like me shouldn’t be this successful, shouldn’t be writing bestsellers, shouldn’t be so – visible.

I don’t recall the name of the man, or the paper for which he was writing. He was far from being the only journalist who felt I didn’t deserve success. I shrugged off the unpleasant comment, but he’d meant it to hurt, and it did. I still wonder why he – and his editor - thought that was appropriate. I also wonder why, 20 years on, women are still dealing with this kind of thing. It’s still not enough for a woman to be successful in her chosen field. Whatever her achievements, you can be pretty sure that at some point, some man in his 50s or 60s – maybe an Oxbridge graduate, author of an unpublished novel or two - will offer his opinion on her desirability, either in the national Press, or most likely nowadays, by means of social media. The subtext is clear: women who don’t conform to societal values of what a woman should be are asking for this kind of treatment; especially those who dare to achieve more than their detractors.

10 years after that nasty review, I finally began the journey into perimenopause. No-one told me it was happening. No-one in the media was talking about it at the time. Even my doctor never thought to mention that my symptoms – the insomnia, headaches, mood swings, anxiety, depression, sleep paralysis, hair loss, brown patches on my skin – might have a single origin. I began to feel I was losing my mind: as if I were starting to disappear. I started to doubt my own senses. I blamed it all on the stress from my job. My mother had powered through menopause – or so she led me to believe – and made no secret of her contempt for modern women who complained, or treated the symptoms as anything more than a minor inconvenience.

And so I did the same. I powered through; and when at last I began to experience the classic symptoms of menopause - irregular bleeding, hot flushes, exhaustion, night sweats so bad that I would awake in sheets that were wringing wet – it did not occur to me to seek help. After over a year of this, I finally went to my doctor, who took a few tests, cheerfully announced I was menopausal, and when I inquired after HRT, advised me to power through – that phrase again - and let Mother Nature take her course. The internet was slightly more helpful. I took up running, lost weight, cut down on alcohol, downed supplements and sleeping pills and vitamin D, and felt a little better. Then, breast cancer came to call, and by the time my treatment was done, the symptoms had more or less disappeared, or at least had been superseded by the symptoms of chemo. I congratulated myself at having powered through cancer as well as surviving menopause.

But two years later, I feel old. I look that way, too. I’ve aged ten years. Some of that’s the cancer, of course. I was quite open about my treatment when I was powering through it – partly in order to pre-empt any questions about my hair loss or any of the all-too visible effects of three courses of chemo. Not that it stopped the comments, though. Even at my lowest ebb, a sector of social media made it clear that my only concern should be to look young and feminine to anonymous men on Twitter.

Right now, I don’t feel either. My hair has gone grey and very thin. My skin, too, seems thinner; both physically and mentally. At a recent publishing event, several acquaintances failed to recognize me; others just looked through me as if I had become invisible. Invisibility would be a relief; I find myself dressing for camouflage. I tend to wear baggy black outfits. I got my OBE last week. Photographs in the Press show me talking to Prince William. I’m wearing a boxy black trouser suit, flat shoes and a red fedora. I think I look nice. Not glamorous, but comfortable; quirky; unpretentious.

On a thread of largely supportive messages, one Twitter user pops up to say: Jesus, who’d accept an honour looking like that middle-aged disaster? @Joannechocolat thought she’d make an impact? She needs a stylist. If you look in the dictionary for the definition of “dowdy”, it features this photo.

It’s not the same man who belittled me over 20 years ago. But the sentiment hasn’t changed. Regardless of your achievements, as a woman, you’ll always be judged on your age and fuckability. I ought to be used to this by now. But somehow, that comment got to me. Going through menopause isn’t just a series of physical symptoms. It’s how other people make you feel; old, unattractive, and strangely ashamed.

I think of the Glass Delusion, a mental disorder common between the 14th and 17th centuries, characterized by the belief that the sufferer was made of glass. King Charles VI of France famously suffered from this delusion, and so did Princess Alexandra Amélie, daughter of Ludwig 1st of Bavaria. The condition affected mostly high-profile individuals; writers, royals, intellectuals. The physician to Philip II of Spain writes of an unnamed royal who believed he was a glass vase, which made him terribly fragile, and able to disappear at will. It seems to have been a reaction to feelings of social anxiety, fear of change and the unknown, a feeling both of vulnerability and invisibility.

I can relate. Since the menopause, I’ve felt increasingly broken. I don’t believe I’m a glass vase, and yet I know what it feels like to want to be wrapped in a protective duvet all day. I’ve started buying cushions. I feel both transparent, and under the lens, as if the light might consume me. On social media, I’ve learnt to block the people who make mean comments. To make myself invisible. To hide myself in plain sight. I power through, but sometimes I think: why do women power through? And who told them that powering through meant suffering in silence?

Fortunately, some things have changed since I went through the menopause. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more people talking about their experiences. Menopause is likely to affect half the population. We should be talking about it. If men experienced half these symptoms, you bet they’d be discussing it. Because power isn’t silence. You’d think that, as writer, I would have worked that out sooner. Words are power. Sharing is strength. Communication breaks down barriers. And sometimes, power means speaking up for those less able to speak for themselves.

I look at myself in the mirror. I see my mother’s mouth; my father’s eyes. I see the woman I used to be; the woman I will one day become. I see the woman my husband loves, a woman he still finds attractive. A woman with a grown-up child who makes her proud every single day. A menopausal woman. A cancer survivor. A woman who writes books that make other people sit up and think. A woman who doesn’t need the approval of some man she’s never met to be happy. She can be happy now. I can. And finally, I understand.  Powering through isn’t about learning to be invisible. It isn’t about acceptance, or shame, or letting Nature take its course, or lying about feeling broken. It’s looking beyond your reflection. It’s seeing yourself, not through the lens of other people’s expectations, but as yourself. The sum of everything you’ve been; of everyone who loves you. Of claiming your right to be more than glass, or your reflection in it. The right to be valued. The right to shine, regardless of age or reproductive status. Men seldom question their own right to these things. But women have to fight for them. That’s why it’s so exhausting.

This morning, instead of putting on my usual baggy black sweatshirt, I chose a bright yellow pullover. I looked at myself in the mirror. It’s not a great colour on me now, but it feels like dressing in sunshine. My husband came into the bathroom. You look –

My husband rarely gives compliments. I can’t remember the last time he commented on how I was dressed. I wondered what he was going to say. Dowdy, perhaps? Inappropriate? Like a menopausal woman in dire need of a stylist?

At last, he said: When you smile like that, you look like a friendly assassin.

A friendly assassin. I’ll take that.  

Shining like the sun. That’s me.

[serpentface]

First Goose of Spring: What was it like living in Cynozepal?

"...I haven't actually seen much of it, but the kingslek had the most stunning view of the mountains. They rise higher than anything you've ever seen, I'm sure, all the way up to the clouds. And our serfs actually live up there! It must be awful, braving the heights and fending off those little qilik barbarians. But we are a very strong people, so they manage just fine.

But the kingslek was the very best place in Cynozepal. It had everything you could possibly want. There was a garden with a little herd of horses living in it, and a spring to bathe in, and musicians and singers, and plenty of good food and wine, and the finest cushions to sleep on, and a HUGE library that had every book in the civilized world, probably? And there were always tons of servants around to care for us. My handmaid, Gray Gull Comes Home Wealthy With Fish - may her next birth be prosperous - lived in the kingslek too. Because she used to be a concubine, I guess? And she was the best of all. I never learned to read like my older sisters did - may their next births be prosperous -, but she would read to me whenever I wanted so it was okay.

So obviously I never wanted to leave. But my sisters and I had to leave the kingslek sometimes. Like when our mothers and father had very, very important guests, or when there was an execution, or for the solstice songs. And this was always a dreadful bore. But Gray Gull Comes Home Wealthy With Fish would always bring my favorite books along, so it wasn't TOO bad. And she would always, ALWAYS carry me there on her back. Until I got too big, but we have litters for that.

And now, I am expected to walk everywhere. EVERYWHERE! Or fly like a serf, sun be swallowed. I hate it here."

---

Notes:

-Goose is the absolute worst source to to ask about life in Cynozepal. First and foremost, she's a young child and hasn't been on this earth all that long (she's cognitively equivalent to a human preteen, and is 5 years old). As the third youngest princess among 39 daughters, Goose spent the vast majority of her life both cloistered in the kingslek (which is a privilege) while experiencing little to no pressure to excel and being minimally educated (as she was exceptionally unlikely to be married into an important political role). She would leave this space only infrequently, and never once stepped foot outside of the palace grounds prior to her dynasty's fall.

...And she LOVED it. Now she’s out seeing the world firsthand, breathing the fresh air and feeling the ground beneath her feet, and it fucking suuuuuckkkkkssssss, man.

-The kingslek refers both to the collective women in a royal family (wives, concubines, daughters, all of whom will typically outnumber the men at LEAST 20:1) and the domestic space in which they live. This is a massive section of the palace (as it houses most of the members) complete with its own amenities, gardens, etc. It is functionally the center of power and politics within the palace (the culture itself is not outright matriarchal, but the institution of the kingslek effectively has more political power than the king, and tremendous sway on his actions).

-Honeythief is translating for her. He frequently manipulates his translations to make her sound a little more down to earth (but still regal and far, far more important than you) and less like an exceptionally ignorant, spoiled child, but his translation here is accurate.

-Crown Cynozepali language is (and a majority of caelin and delkhin languages are) predominantly tonal in nature, supplemented with rapid clicks and deep booming 'drum' beats (it is these aspects that are physically impossible for humans to accurately reproduce). To a human ear, these languages often sound like vaguely musical but discordant barrage of sounds. I'm attempting to represent this visually with dots and squiggles.

-'Little qilik barbarians' is not referring to qilik of the region as a whole. She is referring disparagingly to the Cu-Chukka, which are a people that traditionally inhabit the higher reaches of the Azure Mountains, and do not frequently interact with the Crown Cynozepali sphere outside of land conflicts with serfs (who build their homes at high altitudes and often encroach on Cu-Chukka territory). 'Barbarian' in this context is a racist and xenophobic insult that groups together all qilik, caelin, and delkhin peoples that do not speak Crown.

Honeythief is Chit-Sut-Susit (a nationality native to parts of eastern Cynozepal and the Ch'Chen plateau, most of whom exist within the Crown cultural sphere), and is not receiving a microaggression in this particular context.

-Crown Cynozepali personal names are descriptive phrases. Song and poetry is of central cultural import, and naming conventions are rooted in these poetic traditions, designed to be beautiful and evocative turns of phrase. This is often lost in translation, and the names take substantially longer to speak when translated into most human languages.

-There are taboos surrounding speech that evokes the recently dead (defined as within a solar year), that require additions of placating phrases that will dissuade the dead from attaching to the speaker and direct them towards a good rebirth. "May her next birth be prosperous" is one example. Goose's handmaid and most if not all of her sisters (among other relations) were killed in the coup.

-The 'solstice songs' refer to traditional 'boomsinging' performed at the summer and winter equinox to call down the Solar Dragon. (boomsinging is an artform utilizing the deep, thunderous vocalizations caelin and delkhin can produce- sounds like a combination of throat singing, drum beats, and a noise kind of like a sage grouse display but deeper. The sound can travel for miles)

-'Sun be swallowed' is a translation of a phrase used to (often hyperbolically) emphasize the horror and depravity of a situation. Kind of saying 'what's next? the end of the world?'.

-Kingslek members and royalty as a whole are transported from place to place in litters and carriages, but they aren't carried literally Everywhere (they do like, walk). Goose recalling constantly riding on the back of her handmaid is describing a time where she was a tiny 5 lb child (a phase in life where most caelin and delkhin children will ride on their mother's backs).

[episodes-ff]

Push

Yes, I got inspired by that damn gym video of that fine ass Aaron😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 CAN YOU REALLY BLAME A MF?!?!??! Y’all enjoy though…

Terry

“Push harder. Harder! Yeaaaa, just like that, baby. More effort like that gets you the results you want. C’mon, Mama, I know you got it in you.” “Terry, stopppp.” Anaya whimpered sinking to the turf as I sighed at her exasperated expression. “Come on, Ny, you had a couple more left.” “No, I need a break.” As if on cue, Maya’s cries could be heard from the baby monitor in the corner. “Great. I’ll go get her.” “Nah, baby, just relax. I got it.” I persisted pecking her sweaty forehead before jogging into the house. Hearing her cries get more and more fussy, I quickly made it to her nursery to come to her rescue. “Heyyyyy hey hey! Who did it, fat?” I cooed walking in to see a couple drops of tears and a permanent frown as she reached up for me. “Come here, fat mama. Daddy’s here, I know. What’s wong, pwetty baby.” I simpered kissing her chubby cheeks as she wiped her tired eyes and messy hair. Inspecting her diaper and making sure she was ok, I fed and rocked her back to sleep before coming back to the gym in our garage. “Is she ok?” “Yea, she just got hungry and wanted to be held a little.” Nodding in understanding, she stared at her flaws in the mirror as I frowned in disapproval.

“Anaya, you only gone make yourself unhappy picking yourself apart like that.” “Terry, I can’t help it ok? I just don’t feel beautiful anymore.” “Hey, quit that shit man.” I spat pulling her into me as she sighed into my chest. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever met in my life, Ny. Quit fucking downing yourself. You know that shit be pissing me off.” I gritted as she stared at me on the brink of tears. I hate postpartum depression, with everything in my fucking soul. Anaya used to be so vibrant and full of life! We actually met in the gym funny enough. Now, she’s a shell of herself. She puts on a brave act but I see right through it.

**SIX YEARS AGO**

Walking into the gym, I smirked dapping up the trainers and workers as I headed into the locker room to drop my bag. Securing my items, I poured my supplements into my bottle and headed back out to the water fountain to fill up. “Ayeee, Terry! Wassup man?” My homie, E, smiled tapping my shoulder. “Nun much, you know I had to come get that workout in.” “I feel you, man, I feel you. Might catch a view or two while you at it.” “Is that so?” I replied taking a glance around at all the beautiful women in the building as I bit my lip. “Hell yea, it’s some bad ones in here today.” “Bet, thank you for looking out.” “Shiiiit, you already know.” He smiled flashing off the numbers he got as I chuckled. “See you around, fool.” “You too, bruh.” He grinned walking out the door.

Shaking up my bottle, I headed over to the machine of choice for my warmup… the treadmill. Sending a few winks and smiles as I made my way, I narrowed in on this fine light skin making her way to the treadmills as well. She got it all, man. Stylish as hell, thick in all the right places, beautiful as a motherfucker. She’s 90’s Nia Long type of fine and my handsome ass had to make a move on that. Coasting over to the treadmills, I picked the machine right beside her and began stretching so she could see all my masculine glory. Finishing the stretch, I cut on my machine and started lightly jogging before matching her pace. Stealing glances at her as she vibed to whatever was playing in her Beats headphones, I turned my machine up a little more in an attempt to show off my skills. After about 20 minutes of silence, she ended her warmup before cutting the machine and heading off to her next set, all without so much as a glance in my direction.

Completing her workout as I watched from an unnoticeable distance, she finished the last of her reps before ridding the sweat from her brows and making sure she had all of her belongings to head out. “Now’s your chance, Tee.” I coached under my breath before traipsing toward her and the exit. “Excuse me, miss?” Looking up in confusion, she motioned for me to hold on before pausing her playlist and removing her buds. “Ummm, yes?” “I know this might seem kinda forward but I was noticing you earlier and I couldn’t let you leave without expressing how beautiful you are. Like you drop dead gorgeous, miss. Mona Lisa is having a hard time competing with you…” I smiled confidently as I stared at her intently biting my lip.

“Was I supposed to swoon or something? Do you say this to every woman you meet?” She remarked shooting me down as my face faltered at the first time rejection. “N-Nahhhh, I was just looking to compliment you.” “You were looking to get some ass.” “Mama, it’s not even like that.” I chuckled nervously as she narrowed her eyes and proceeded to cross her arms. “Oh really? What’s your name?” “Terry, but you can call me Tee.” “Oh really, Tee, is it? How many women could I stop right now that would testify that you’ve hit on them this week, Mr. Tee? Is there a woman in here besides myself that you haven’t talked to?” She questioned reading me like a book. “U-Ummm.” “I figured as much.” “My apologies, Missssss?” “Anaya.” She grumbled as I scrambled to recover from this failed shot. “Let me be more honest…” I said as she motioned for me to proceed. “I noticed you earlier by the machines and I found myself quite attracted to your beauty. Not because I wanna hit or anything like that. I was just hoping I could get your number and get to know you better and vice versa.” I rambled on nervously as she pierced my demeanor. “Much much better.” She smiled lighting my insides as my cheeks flushed with heat. “So, is that a yes?” “No.” She replied flatly before retreating to her car and driving off as I laughed in utter disbelief. Did she really just tell me no?

Anaya

Entering my cozy apartment, I cut on the lights before calling out to my man. “Baeeee! Sebastian, I’m home!” Watching him scurry over to me, I smiled meeting his appreciative kisses at my feet. “Hey, my baby! You missed mama! Good boy! Hi! You so handsome!” I cooed massaging and tickling his luxurious coat. “Let’s go for a walk, baby boy.” I commanded placing his leash on before locking my doors back and letting him out to use the restroom. Finishing his business, I brought him back inside before starting on dinner for the evening.

“Hmmm, what about some steak tonight?” Barking in agreement, I smiled before pulling out all of my necessary items to make pepper steak with plantain, curry sauce, and rice and peas. Looking and realizing I was missing some ingredients for the curry sauce and that I would have to go back out, I groaned before sniffing myself and further frowning at the rancid sweaty smell. “Ok, baby, mama has to run back outside.” I groaned rolling my eyes as I trekked into my bedroom and grabbed my shower essentials. Finishing the quick shower, I dressed in a cute fit before throwing a couple spritz of perfume on and securing my shoes. Snapping a few pictures, I placed my phone in my bag and put some food and water into Bash’s cage before locking him back up and making my way back outside.

Declining on stopping at a regular store, I opted for the Caribbean market for the more traditional and fresher options. Grabbing a cart just in case, I started the journey through the aisles of the store. Realizing I was out of fruit for my smoothies, I perused the mangos and other tropical fruits before picking up some choices. “I should have made a list.” I mumbled to myself as I got preoccupied with the different delicacies in the store. Turning the corner to the spices, I spotted the guy from the gym earlier and cursed silently to myself. Terry or something like that. He looked as breathtaking as he did in the gym, it was his arrogance that made my damn skin crawl and he oozed with it. Ignoring his presence so he wouldn’t notice me, I browsed the dry spices before getting stuck on which level of jerk spice I would prefer to use for the night.

Feeling his electric gaze on me, I continued ignoring him and settled for the mild flavor before placing it into my cart. “Anaya, right?” He asked stopping me in my tracks as I looked up to meet his beautiful smile. “It must be fate, mama.” “You’re stalking me now?” “Hey hey hey, you in my neck of the woods.” “How so?” “C’mon, when have I ever seen you in here?” “I’m in here very frequently, you’re the new face.” I quipped as he smirked. “So jos chuu mi lait skin, mi kyaahn bi Jumiekan?” He asked making me giggle uncontrollably. “Ok, that impersonation was horrible!” “But you see it made you pretty ass smile.” He countered biting his lip as I flushed red. “Don’t flatter yourself, Ter-“ “Terry?! Mi lef yuh alone fi a few minutes an yuh get distracted tryn’ fi chat to gyal?” A beautiful woman fussed as he straightened up and turned around. “Ma, I wasn’t chatting. I was getting ready to head back with the spices.” He sighed apologetically. “Mmmhm, nice to meet you sweetheart. You have eyes for my son? He was a Marine, y’know.” “Maaa.” He complained as I giggled at he and his mother’s banter. Watching him gently walk her away, he mouthed an ‘I’m sorry’ as I shook my head.

Finishing up my food, I fed Bash a couple strips of steak before making a glass of wine to go with my food and sitting on the couch to pick a movie. Snuggling up under a blanket, I took a quick selfie before posting it to Snapchat and relaxing. Diving deep into the movie, I felt my phone vibrate before looking down to see it was a Snap notification. Clicking on it, I saw I had a new added friend from a TR_thaGod. Adding the person, a quick message popped up causing me to roll my eyes and smile.

From TR_thaGod: I found you, Mama. I’d say that’s some crazy ass fate or sum, right?

**PRESENT DAY**

Thinking back on how Terry and I’s relationship started to where we are now, I smiled admiring him as he demonstrated the next exercise he wanted me to try. Biting my lip as I smiled at how blessed I was to have someone like him, I walked over as he collected himself with some water. Stopping in front of him, he eyed me warily as I met his stare. “You ok, Mama?” Nodding, I leaned in and hugged his waist close as he chuckled. “I’m not opposed to the loving, but what’s going on?” “I’m just really lucky to have you in my corner, baby.” I simpered nuzzling my face into his chest. “Nahhhh, I’d say I’m the lucky one, Mrs. Richmond. Shit, who knows who you would have ended up with had I not ran into you at the gym.” He cringed jokingly as I giggled at his teases. Hearing baby girl’s cries again, we both went into the nursery before she whined and babbled reaching for Terry. “Nnnnnnn, Dada.” She murmured squeezing her little fists open and closed as we stared in shock. “Did she just?” “Baby, she said Dada!” I squealed in delight as Maya looked at us both crazy still crying to be held. “You said your first words, fat mama? Say it again. Say Dada.” “Da! Dadadada. Da…” She babbled as he cuddled her with joy and teared up. Wiping his silent tears, I kissed her forehead and his as I admired my gorgeous family. I just needed a little push.

Tags (based on reactions, if you’d like to be added or removed let me know): @violetmuses @believeinthefireflies95 @brisunique @kaylaahisthebestest- @madxlov3 @armandosbabymama @casualsludgeshoetoad @mauvecherie-writes @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @theereina @kumkaniudaku @geneziesm @megamindsecretlair @simpledopeme

[prolifeproliberty]

10 months on the Carnivore Diet - my results

I know back in January I mentioned in a couple of posts that I was trying out the Carnivore Diet. Back then it was still new, and I was doing a bunch of research. Now I’ve been fully on it for 10 months, and it’s been amazing.

What I’m eating:

Meat (mostly beef and pork/bacon), eggs, butter, some cheese (mostly used as a garnish on eggs). I aim for a fat to protein ratio of between 75/25 and 80/20.

Typical breakfast: bacon and scrambled eggs cooked in bacon fat

Typical lunch: Chomp beef sticks or more recently these Greenridge Farm beef snack sticks from Costco that have really clean ingredients. I’ve also done leftovers and breakfast casseroles.

Typical dinner: Beef burger patties with scrambled eggs

What I’m drinking:

Water with electrolytes, Coffee with heavy cream, occasional low-carb alcohol (red wine, whisky, low or no carb drinks like vodka soda)

Supplements:

Bacopa monnieri (500mg capsule, 1/day) for my ADHD, Codeage beef organ supplement (1 capsule per day) as a multivitamin.

Exercise:

Basically none, outside of some walking and some minor weight lifting (biceps, triceps, squats) - nothing strenuous or consistent. I am working now on getting my walking and weightlifting more consistent, along with incorporating some abdominal exercises.

My results:

Weight lost: 50 lbs

Cycle regularity restored

Significantly lighter menstrual cramps

More energy, less anxiety/depression

Better immune system (still get sick occasionally, but much less frequently)

Biggest victory: my cravings for sugar and carbs went away pretty much entirely after about 2 weeks. I now have no desire to go back to the way I used to eat, making this the first diet I’ve ever tried that I‘ve been able to stick with for more than a few weeks, and certainly the first one I think I could stay on indefinitely.

What made this work for me:

The high fat content of my diet is very satiating, which makes it much easier to say no to carbs/sugary snacks. Also, artificial sweeteners actually make you crave sugar, so I cut those as well when I started the diet in January. I think that made a huge difference.

For context, I had NO ability to moderate carbs and sugar before this diet. I had a huge problem with binge eating sugar, especially if there was “free food” (a party, donuts in the staff lounge, etc). On previous diets, I could always come up with an excuse to eat sugar. Somebody’s birthday, I had a long day, it’s just this once and then I’ll be good, etc.

Now it’s not even a temptation.

How I learned about the diet and did my research:

I started with YouTube videos from people like Steak and Butter Gal. She does a lot of videos with recipes and tips for staying consistent, and she also does a lot of collaborations and interviews with doctors who recommend the diet, such as Dr. Elizabeth Bright. I went into researching the diet more for my hormonal health than for weight loss, and Dr. Bright is the expert on hormonal health (especially for women) and thyroid health.

This lead to more videos from different doctors and reading studies (including studies on the “link” between eating red meat and problems like heart disease and cancer, which were poorly done and don’t show what they claim to show).

How I handle social gatherings and holidays:

Everyone who knows me irl knows about my diet by now, either because they noticed my weight loss or because they’ve seen me eat! This means friends and family who are hosting will often ask me if I can eat certain things they’re planning to serve and will try to accommodate me.

It’s not too tough though because most social gatherings with food include some kind of meat, and it’s often “buffet style” so I can skip things I can’t eat. I generally try to avoid processed foods unless I can check the ingredients and make sure they’re free of preservatives, dextrose, sugar, etc, but one of my “cheats” is eating the meats and cheeses from charcuterie boards at parties.

If I suspect I won’t be able to eat much or I’m just not sure, I’ll often eat before I go so I’m not sitting there hungry. Then as long as there’s something I can eat, I can still participate in the social aspect of eating with friends and family.

Why I don’t eat fruits/vegetables:

I will occasionally have small amounts of vegetables, usually as a garnish (like I do with cheese). I also use medicinal herbs in the form of tinctures, capsules, or teas - though I need them much less often now! However, avoiding vegetables for the most part simplifies the diet, reduces my inflammation, and means I don’t have to count carbs like I would on keto.

The foods I eat all have zero or virtually zero carbs, and I know they won’t mess with my digestion or make me feel bad. It’s simple, it’s easy to follow, and I don’t have any real need or craving for the veggies. Occasionally I’ll have a couple pickle slices with my burger patties at a restaurant or some avocado with my bacon and eggs, but that’s about it. Basically, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Please feel free to ask questions and check out the channels and videos I linked above to learn more!

Starting a new diet is obviously tricky this time of year, but January 1st will be here before you know it. If you’re looking to make a change, maybe this could be the thing that works for you like it did for me!

[doberbutts]

Saw in one of your transition timeline posts that you got taller on T and was real curious since that’s a really rare experience. Do you think you just had the dna for it/height range in your family ? Or were you surprised by the change?

In addition: do you have any other ways you’ve tried to transition physically other than HRT? Like do you use minoxidil / work out more than you did and stuff like that. Pseudo medical changes that don’t get talked about often are always interesting to me.

If I’m too nosy feel free to leave this in your inbox. Just hope you know I’m asking in good faith! Also I always appreciate you on my feed man. Good takes plus good selfies AND good dogs makes for a pretty damn good blog you really cracked the code on that one

Honestly I didn't expect to get taller at all and in fairness it was a fairly marginal amount (2in) BUT a couple things to consider:

I am intersex and began puberty at 6ish, had C cups by 7, and had my first period by 10. That is VERY early and likely accounted for my relatively short stature compared to the rest of my family, which brings me to my next point

My entire family is filled with people who are 6ft tall at minimum and I am one of only ones that never hit 6ft. And while that's not so unheard of, I think it also has a lot to do with my height gain. My biological sister is over 6ft tall. My father is over 6ft tall. My mother is almost 6ft tall. My aunts and uncles and cousins are largely over 6ft tall. The shortest of us is my adopted sister (4'9"), genetically my cousin, whose mother is over 6ft tall but her father was just over height of legal dwarfism (5ft even), so it makes sense that she's a little smaller. I was the next shortest at 5'8" which isn't really that short but seemed noticeably small when compared to the dozens of 6'2"-6'7"s of the rest of the family.

I think that also had something to do with how long it took to recognize that the early puberty did have an effect on my natural growth, because of course no one thought it was strange when I'm over the average height of a cis woman anyway... but then when compared to the rest of the family, my doctors quickly realized that I'm the odd one out and probably for a reason.

So while I was surprised by the change, it was more the fact that I started HRT at 30 and nearly 20 years post-puberty and less that I actually gained height. Like, I figured if I had started T when I'd wanted to at 13, I probably would have gotten taller. Maybe even that 6ft range the rest of my family's in. But I thought my height was simply my height when I did actually start T almost 2 years ago, so realizing one day that hey wait a second I'm actually taller was a pleasant surprise.

I am not on any other sex hormone supplement. I did start a cholesterol medication and change my diet when T made my cholesterol jump, mostly at my doctor's urging, but that wasn't a surprise because both the men and women in my family have cholesterol problems. I also expect to be diabetic at some point for the same reason. I don't work out, but I am more active on T, largely because it fixed a lot of my joint pain and chronic fatigue and blood pressure/heart rhythm issues. And just this month I started an inhalant steroid for my asthma, but I don't think it would have any effect on height as that's mostly just to make sure I can actually breathe during allergy season.

I'm not bothered by these questions at all. Ask away!

[she-is-ovarit]

This might be old or unhelpful information to some, but along with women needing higher healthy fats in our diets (avocados, eggs, etc.) and liquid vitamins potentially being life-changing (because the body only has a 10-20% absorption rate for supplement pills), dehydration can be a huge trigger for chronic fatigue syndrome.

We can get to a dehydrated point where we won't feel thirsty (which is easy to reach), and some of us might struggle with cravings, because we are thirsty but these thirst receptors aren't perfect (also, prior to us being able to develop drier foods, most foods had water content in them so it's intuitive that our bodies do this). We live in an age where we can't unfortunately trust our water sources due to environmental pollution, and where the workplace might not accommodate healthy hydration (or frequent peeing). What I do to limit how much I pee and increase how much fluid I retain is to add those little electrolyte packets to my bottled water.

If your mind feels laggy or jumbled, if you feel too weak to get out of bed, if you're tired like all the time, if no matter how much sleep you get you still feel tired, if you have cold hands and feet, anxiety, and if you have memory issues - these are all signs of chronic fatigue and women experience it more than men. It's a complex chronic condition that is debilitating and not taken seriously at all, and there can be numerous triggers to it. I mentioned not obtaining enough healthy fats above or proper vitamin levels (especially iron and vitamin Bs), and these issues can trigger the above symptoms of chronic fatigue. Dehydration is another big trigger, and it's why we might especially experience these symptoms a few hours or a day after exercise or after drinking alcohol. Take care of yourself, pound water.

[femmefatalevibe]

Hello, Femme!

I would like your advice on a couple of things, if that's okay. This is a lot, so I apologize.

I am young and nearing my 20's, and I am only recently trying to learn how to invest in myself, my self-care/wellbeing, and my future.

I've grown up in poverty, in a male-dominant household, and my mother (the only other woman in the house) was emotionally and physically absent for most of my childhood so I was never taught proper hygiene, self-care and in general really crucial things that a woman should know. I think also because of these factors (as well as sexual assault history and being afraid of predators), I've never learned how to be in tune with my body and its needs and how to be feminine, and how to embrace it.

I've been trying to find female role models on Youtube, but the sheer amount of channels and content has me overwhelmed. In other aspects of my life aside from physical care, I have no clue what I'm doing and what I should do.

I'm making almost $900 a month thanks to my dad's SS benefits because he's retired, and I want to get the things that I need/want (physical self-care, exercise equipment, room decorations/furniture, clothing, etc.) as well as investing in the future (car, apartment, etc.). Do you have some ideas as to what I should get or recommended channels on women's health and self-care?

Lastly, what does femininity mean to you? What does it mean to be feminine or a woman? I understand that it's a very subjective question, but I would really appreciate your outlook on it. :)

I hope this explains my circumstances well and I hope I wrote my questions well enough for you to understand.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Hi love,

I'm so glad you're here <3 Proud of the headspace you've managed to acquire at such a young age.

I would say the most important self-care and women's health things you can do is to get the basics down in a way that realistic and sustainable for you. These healthy habits include:

Eating healthy meals (more than once!) per day and healthy snacks as necessary and getting any necessary vitamin supplements you need (like b12 or additional vitamin d)

Drink plenty of water

Limit/eliminate highly processed foods or drinks (calories are just a form of energy, so be more mindful of where they come from on a daily basis–– don't be afraid of them but don't neglect laws of thermodynamics lol)

Get plenty of sleep (7-9 hours every/most nights)

5-7x week/movement (walking/a simple exercise routine or sport you love)

Hygiene (skincare, shower, haircare, nailcare, laundry, house cleaning)

For health/workout-related ideas based on your question, I would recommend the following YouTubers:

Natacha Oceane

Caroline Girvan

Lilly Sabri

Pamela Reif

As for what feminity means to me, it's a tough answer to articulate, so I hope this covers it:

Unlearning patriarchial ideas to discover, validate, and act on your own needs, desires, goals, and pursuits of pleasure without shame and/or allowing it to in any way dictate how you perceive your social currency (especially in relation to the patriarchy).

Hope this helps xx

[vskitty]

custom 75 hard challenge

daily rules

workout

exercise every day for at least 45 minutes (any form of movement).

rest day: i’m allowed one full rest day per week from strenuous activity.

flexibility training

stretch or do flexibility training every day for at least 15 minutes.

rest day: i can take one day off flexibility training per week if needed.

intermittent fasting

follow intermittent fasting from 12 pm to 6 pm or 12 pm to 8 pm, depending on how i feel that day.

drinks allowed during fasting:

green tea (or really any tea)

coffee

chia + lemon water

protein smoothie (only if i’m really hungry)

clean eating

eat healthy, clean meals every day, minimising carbs, sugar, and greasy foods.

incorporate more plant-based or vegan meals into my diet.

cheat meal: one cheat meal is allowed per week to support calorie confusion.

study

study everyday even if it's just 20 minutes

focus on either uni coursework or learning german.

vitamins

take the following daily supplements:

women’s probiotics

women’s multivitamins

b12

iron (every second day)

hydration

drink at least 3–4 litres of water daily to support energy and recovery.

sleep

prioritise getting at least 8+ hours of sleep every night to recharge and support my body.

clean and tidy

take time every day to clean and tidy my space, keeping my environment organised and comfortable.

reading

read at least 10 pages of a book every day (any genre). audiobooks are okay if reading physically isn’t possible.

additional rules

period flexibility

i can adjust or skip rules as needed during my period, prioritising listening to my body.

blog

write a blog post every day to document my progress, or any inspiration posts.

challenge duration

75 days, with all rules in effect unless noted for flexibility.

[ace-s-fav-dp-posts]

Currently cooking up an AU heavily inspired by the magical girl concept.

And I am going ahead and making Danny a girl in this AU.

Her name is Danae, pronounced exactly the same as Danny.

Yes it's because I think Vlad hearing "Danny" and being convinced it's short for Danielle, is funny.

Mostly because I've also loved the AU that Maddie isn't short for Madeline but some other name, like Madison, since I was 14 myself.

I've just always thought it suited Vlad's character, and his more or less parasocial (remember they haven't seen each other since the Vlad's accident before the 20 year reunion happens, this is 100% parasocial) obsession with Maddie that her real name doesn't actually matter to him.

He loves her as an object, a prize to be one and then flaunted/hoarded as the mood strikes him.

We know this from the episode where Danny goes back in time to mess with Vlad's accident, and Vlad ends up married to Maddie.

Because unlike Maddie and Jack who're ecstatically happy and ridiculously in love with each other even after 20 years.

Maddie Masters is unhappy in her marriage and constantly lies to her husband, and Vlad is completely dismissive of Maddie's continued interest in ecto-science and pressured her into giving it up.

Personally I love it when the nickname actually comes from her middle name, and her first name is something completely different like Amelia.

But she's gone by Maddie for most of her life because Amalia and Alicia (her older sister) sound pretty similar, and both start with the same letter, and end with the same two letters. And she was sick of getting called Alicia by teachers who'd previously had Alicia as a student.

[Can you tell me and my older sister have very similar sounding names, that start with the same letter, and end with the same two letters. And I spent most of elementary school getting called her name by teachers.]

But enough about Vlad's misogyny and inability to view women as anything more than objects. Back to the AU I was originally talking about.

Magical girl Danae.

Who I can't decide if I want her magical girl alter ego to be Phantom. Considering in canon how Phantom operates is 100% based on superheroes, and not magical girls.

With all of Phantom's abilities being treated as superpowers and not magic, and the use of scientific gadgets to supplement where said superpowers don't suffice.

I'm honestly leaning towards Phantom being like part of all the names of those in the magical girl group.

Like with Sailor Moon all their magical girl names have Sailor in them, or with the Star Guardians they're all Star Guardian Blahblahblah.

So Danae's magical girl name is Phantom Infinity, but most people only know her as Phantom, until other magical girls going by Phantom start showing up.

[Phantom Infinity is in reference to both Danae's love of Space, and her status as a being of protection of both the Infinite Realms and her home dimension.]

Danae however is still 100% a halfa, and remains the only 'turned' halfa other than Vlad himself. The others who join the Phantoms, aren't half ghosts.

They're magical girls by way of more stereotypical magical girl methods. IE being given power by an exterior force in order to fight to protect peace.

Anyways, yes, Danae does eventually gain the ability to turn people into magical girls. If, they're ecto contaminated to a certain level, and the person's personal ecto doesn't conflict with what Danny does to turn them into a magical girl.

Said magical girl gains magical girl powers an a transformation, but they don't get ghost abilities. At least not most of them.

Like Sam becomes Phantom Arcadia (she successfully fought off Undergrowth's claim on her, but adding Danae's own claim to her keeps him from ever being able to try it again as long as Danae's claim remains in place), Valerie is Phantom Athene (she joins the Phantoms after she learns the truth about Cujo, and Axiom Labs, and ghosts in general, which allows for Danae to transform her into a magical girl. Which also keeps Valerie from being at the mercy of Technus again), Paulina is Phantom Wondrous, and Star is Phantom Songstress.

As Aracdia Sam obviously has powers over plants, but also has a soothing aura towards animals in general. She doesn't command them into battle, because she's not comfortable enough to even try something like that, but she does influence them into wanting to leave the area of the battle.

Her powers are best described as influence (possibly even outright control) over the natural world. Her colors are purple with green and black accents.

Athene (Valerie) still has access to all of the ghost hunting gear like blasters that the suit Technus infused with her body. It's infused with her body after all. However it's not as anti-hero tech-y as it used to be, instead reformed and reshaped by her new magical girl magic.

Her powers is best explained as weapon manifestation. Her colors are now shades of Orange with no red (Red was chosen by Vlad, not Valerie), with black and yellow accents.

Valerie is one of the team who can fly, due to her having a bio-suit before becoming a magical girl.

Wondrous (Paulina) had no real influence from a specific ecto-being before her transformation, so her powers are based entirely on her own personality.

This being attention manipulation, the ability to move and shift an opponents attention how she wants. Most easily being able to pull it towards herself, but can also push someone's attention away from her, even to the point she more or less disappears from their perception. Her colors are primarily pink with blue accents.

Songstress (Star) is much like Paulina in that her powers are rooted in no one else but her own personality. Her powers are (obviously) based around music.

When first starting out they thought the extent of it was being able to influence the emotions of her opponents (which is pretty powerful when fighting ghosts), but the more they experimented the more they found she can do. She can sing songs that have different effects based on intention. Songs that heal, songs that make people sleep. It's eventually discovered that singing a song with someone else in a duet or as a group will boost the other person's own powers.

Her colors are blue with pink and orange accents.

Infinity's (Danae) ghostly powers are mostly the same to canon Danny's powers with a few exceptions/tweaks.

Primarily being that instead of sending blasts of energy out of various body parts (hands, fingers, eyes) Infinity manifests a magical girl wand and uses that as a conduit by default.

Which essentially placebo's her brain into thinking she can't use her powers without her wand summoned, which does prevent most of the embarrassing accidents and power mishaps Danny has in canon. But also fully locks her out of using her powers without her wand before meeting Vlad and learning he's also a halfa.

The other being a power (obviously) unique to her in this AU, this being Appointer of Champion(s). The power to give someone else a portion of her own power/energy, with certain rules and restrictions applied to it.

Which actually within this AU calls her to gain the same power classification as Desiree, who's a Wish Granter. This being the Bargainer classification, ecto beings who use deals of varying types to gain power by way of spending power.

Anyways Tucker can't be made a magical boy because he's a reincarnate soul who's thousands of years old.

And Duul Aman isn't going to give up he's accumulated power he'll be able to access once he's back in the afterlife, all so his current mortal lifetime can coast on some infant's power.

Boy has to man up and learn sorcery the old fashion way he did the first time around. (So Says Duul Aman. Who'd love to angrily shake his scepter and tell all these upstart brats to get off his lawn.)

Jazz can't be made a magical girl because she's extremely liminal, and has been so longer than Danae's been alive. She has a personal ecto signature that's too potent and too established for Danae to turn her without possibly wrecking her health in the process. So she remains a sci-fi action girl who uses the Peeler.

Anyways if you couldn't tell this is also based around those AUs were Danny, and Tucker were friends with Paulina, Dash, and Star back in elementary school.

But they have a falling out, or rather Dash and Tucker have a falling out, and the girls are made to pick sides. Over an accident, which boils down to Tucker tripping during lunch and spilling his food on Dash. Making him have to go to the office to change his clothes, resulting in multiple people asking if he'd had an accident (peed his pants).

Originally Danae tried to do her best to play mediator, while Star just wanted everything to blow over because it's not a big deal, but Paulina sided with Dash.

And someone openly siding with him just made him get louder and more insistent that he's right in the situation (even though it was a dumb argument over an accident). Escalating into him intentionally dumping his tray on Tucker the following day, in order to "make things even".

Which Tucker didn't appreciate at all, and went as far as to declare him and Dash not friends any more. Because Dash did this on purpose, while Tucker did it on accident.

Danae, having known Tucker her whole life and being fiercely loyal, instantly sided with him.

Paulina was of the opinion that Dash dumping the food on Tucker made things fair because both boys ended up humiliated and having to go change. So she thinks Tucker ending their friendship over it is a complete over reaction.

While Star was of the opinion that Dash intentionally dumping his food on Tucker was going over the line, and he should have just let it go. But also that Tucker immediately ending his friendship with Dash over getting food dumped on him was too far.

Considering Tucker was telling Dash that people would forget about him having to change his clothes in a few days and how it didn't matter. But it did matter. It mattered to Dash. Who Tucker inadvertently humiliated and didn't really sincerely apologies to.

Star eventually ends up remaining friends with Dash and Paulina. Because Tucker tells Danae that because Star didn't side with them, she sided with Dash, and if Danae keeps being friends with Star he doesn't want to be friends with her anymore either.

[The kids are like 6-7 year olds when this happen, and it happens over the course of a single school week.

By the end of the school year, Tucker's completely forgotten he'd ever said anything like that to Danae. Mostly because he never would have actually followed through with it, he was just angry.

Danae is basically his sister, he's known her his whole life. He'd never be able to just end his friendship with her the way he could with Dash, Paulina, and Star, who he'd only started hanging out with that school year. Danae isn't blood, but she's as good as, as far as the Foley family is concerned.

Heck Tucker barely even remembers the three-ish months where he was friends with Paulina, Dash and Star. Most of what he remembers is the blow out fight that ended it, and in his mind, the three of them ending up as A-lister bullies in high school only makes sense to him.

If you can't tell being the reincarnation of an ancient pharaoh who was worshiped as a living god by his subjects, along with being a doted upon single child as his current reincarnation, has resulted in Tucker being a bit self-centered in general. He's not evil though, just deeply flawed.]

A situation that results in Dash, Paulina, and Star hating Tucker for a pretty long while. Star mostly lets it go, but remains bitter over it. While Paulina and Dash are never really able to let go of their anger. It's a massive part of why Dash bullies Tucker specifically so much, and why Tucker, and Danae by association, end up as social outcasts.

So Paulina and Star get brought in after her and Danae start repairing their friendship. Dash gets kind of locked out of the dynamic for a pretty long while, under the guise of it all being "girl stuff".

Star befriended Valerie back in Middle School, while Dash befriended Kwan, which is how Valerie and Kwan end up as part of the A listers. With Star and Valerie ending up best friends, and Dash and Kwan ending up as best friends.

Tucker never really rebuilds any kind of friendship with Paulina, Star, or Dash. They can eventually work together without constantly insulting each other, but it takes a while.

Tucker doesn't even remember being friends with them in the first place. Only clearly remembering how said relationship ended, and just assumes they were probably crappy friends considering how they act now. So he's completely disinterested in trying to build a friendship with them beyond the potential for popularity.

Dash finds Tucker the most irritating guy in the world. Considering that for the few months they were friends, he considered Tucker his best friend. When they originally had their blow out fight, Dash spent basically the rest of that school year convinced he and Tucker would patch things up and be friends again by the following school year.

That's half the reason why Dash held the grudge for so long. The other half being that he heard from Star that Tucker basically forced Danae to stop being their friend.

Anyways this post got way too out of hand, and I have to stop it now or I'll never be done with it.

[zingingdesertrose23]

Sweet Dee’s Complete Backstory (1976-2005)

[cw: suicidal ideation, emotional abuse, bullying, body shaming etc..]

Deandra "Dee" Reynolds was born the older twin to Barbara (born Landgraf) and Frank Reynolds in 1976, the latter of which raised illegitimate children not knowing that their biological father was Bruce Mathis, a man his wife was having an affair with. Barbara was 28 years old at the time, and Frank was 33. Frank has claimed that Dennis and Dee would have had a brother, Donnie, had they not eaten him in the womb.

Dee was raised not by her emotionally distant mother, Barbara, or her father, Frank, but rather a "series of Mexican women" who served as nannies. Barbara, who chose Frank under the belief that he was wealthier than her former lover Bruce Mathis, consistently favored Dennis over Dee. Thanks to Frank’s real estate business and shady dealings, the twins had a financially stable childhood.

The neglect from her parents was supplemented by the dubious influence of her maternal grandfather Pop Pop (Heinrich Landgraf), a former SS officer, whose presence in her life introduced her to extreme ideologies and further complicated her moral landscape. Based on his uniform, he was a low ranking gestapo officer. He may have even been an acquaintance of Adolf Hitler. Barbara was certainly raised with a Nazi belief system, a tradition he would go on to continue with his grandchildren Dennis and Deandra. His home was filled with Nazi memorabilia including the German Shepherd painted by Hitler.

In 1981 when the twins were five, Pop Pop attempted to indoctrinate his grandchildren through a Neo-Nazi summer camp. All of this was so normalized within the family that the twins didn’t realize there was anything wrong or off with these things until their 20s.

Dee and Dennis went to Waldron Elementary school. They grew up in the Reynolds house that would later become the “Party Mansion”.

Frank was often away conducting business and Barbara was an absent mother addicted to amphetamines. Despite this, at some points they take trips to the Jersey Shore and the twins build positive memories there together.

Frank and Barbara were incredibly neglectful and verbally abusive to Dee, the “black sheep” of the family. Among other things, Barbara used to always say “Worst is first” because Dee was born first.

Raised primarily by a series of caretakers rather than their own parents, the twins were subjected to cruel psychological games like the Christmas "fake out," where Frank would show off the gifts the children had wanted most for himself, while Dee and Dennis received empty boxes. Frank would make home movies of Dee and her brother opening the empty boxes, laughing at their disappointment.

Such experiences contributed to her complex relationship with reality, where she often downplays or rationalizes the abnormal behaviors witnessed in her family, including those of her brother Dennis. For instance, she dismisses Dennis's violent act of snapping a crow's neck, revealing her struggle to maintain a semblance of normalcy against her better judgment. Later in life Dee still defends and downplays this behavior saying,

“Well, he kind of... snapped the neck, uh, off a crow one time a little bit. But that... but that's not not normal right, you know? (laughs) I mean, it was just like boys being boys. Yeah. That...Look, we had a totally normal childhood, and...Look, Dennis wouldn't hurt a fly. No way.”

To which Frank would say : “Whatever Deandra says is BS. She's probably just covering for him because she's afraid he's gonna snap her neck like that crow.”

While she does tend to minimize what she saw, she began having recurring nightmares about it that would haunt her for life. “I still have nightmares about it…And I'm old.”

Her tendency to put Dennis on a pedestal despite his glaring flaws also highlights her conflicted feelings of loyalty, envy, and shared identity as twins. Dee has always put Dennis on a pedestal, so when he does things that are clearly wrong she has to find ways to compartmentalize and rationalize it to herself. You can also see that Dee tells herself that her childhood was normal, despite all of the traumatic experiences.

Their extended family consisted of at least Pop-Pop, Uncle Max and Aunt Donna (Barbara’s sister) as well as their cousin of similar age Gail “the snail” who they found annoying, so they would frequently bully and throw salt at her.

Dennis:“No one likes salting the snail but she gives you no choice.”

Dee: “She doesn't leave you with any options.”

Barbara was a perfectionist about appearances, which not only made her extremely insecure about her own looks and aging but also incredibly cruel towards Deandra. She constantly told Dee that she “wasn’t pretty enough” for whatever she was trying to accomplish. She would also fat shame her when she was clearly not fat at all. (Also, Barbara later on dies from a botched neck lift after Frank makes one remark about her “turkey neck” after their divorce.) Barbara held herself and her children to impossible beauty standards, and Frank didn’t exactly help; he actually perpetuated it, going so far as to call Dee “a dog” and never calling her pretty. Dee grows to hate and resent her mother, and neither twin attended her funeral later on.

Dee was a successful child beauty pageant winner, winning several shows she entered on her own despite both parents’ constant criticism of her looks and lack of support. (Later in life when she performs for Frank’s Little Beauties Pageant, during her original song “Moms Stink” she throws a photo of Barbara in the trash onstage).

Dennis and Dee were also raised Catholic, frequently attending church and confessing their sins.

By the time she reached middle school in the late 1980s, she had been diagnosed with scoliosis and made to wear a back brace, which became the source of a lot of bullying down the road and earning her the nickname “Aluminum Monster”. Dennis began to fit in with the “cool kids” more than Dee was.

Later on Charlie reads her middle school diary entries from her childhood bedroom in the Reynolds House / Party Mansion and discovers the following snippets from this period..

“Dear Diary, the dance was a total disaster. I cried myself to sleep again last night. Mom forced me to wear the back brace. And all the school chanted "aluminum monster!”

and

"I'm totally gonna tell Eric how much I like him tonight. Even though Danielle was like all over him today in school. Mother said, "Don't bother. He wants a pretty girl instead. "'

This period marked a turning point for her depression and possibly the beginning of her s**** ideation.

In the early 1990s, the gang entered high school. Dee attended the Academy of Notre Dame an all-girls academy that was affiliated with St. Joseph's Preparatory School, which Dennis Mac and Charlie went to. By 1993 Frank was gone in Vietnam opening a sweatshop. Dee had already established herself as unpopular due to her back brace and horrible self esteem. However, she continued to try to fit in and become a “cool kid”. Having no friends, she hangs out with Ingrid “Fatty Magoo” Nelson, another girl in her class that is frequently bullied.

Other classmates of hers included the Waitress, Maureen Ponderosa, Stacy Corvelli, and Nikki Potnick.

She attended physical therapy twice a week with Matthew Mara, a boy from St. Joseph’s with a huge crush on Dee and whom the gang would tease. Dee found belonging and power in taunting him, making him do all of her math homework as well as embarrassing things (like making him eat horse poop before getting to kiss her then refusing because ‘his breath smelled like shit’) much to Dennis and his friends’ amusement. She would also make fun of Brad Fisher for his acne along with the other students. The gang would also drink and party underage frequently.

During this time Dee found an escape in drama class with Dr. Larry Meyers. He made her feel a sense of self worth when she was performing, as he encouraged her talents and cast her in roles.

Around 1994, the twins graduate high school. Around this time Dee decided to stop going to her church, which may or may not be linked to her newfound passion for the pro-choice movement. She got into University of Pennsylvania and chose Psychology as her major, and was assigned a dorm with a female roommate. Somehow Dee’s insecurity and possibly internalized misogyny created a strange dynamic between them of jealousy, rivalry, and obsession.

By 1997 her back brace was removed. Dee enters into a secret sexual relationship with her professor Dr. Gainer. Her roommate issues escalate as Dee finds her “annoying” and accuses her of copying her and wearing her clothes, which Dennis claims happened the other way around. The conflict came to a head when, as she puts it, she burned her roommate “Down to the box springs whilst she was sleeping” after she “crossed” her.

Dee is sentenced to be institutionalized, and presumably get no support from her parents during this phase. Not only does Barbara see her as even more of a disappointment, Frank probably wouldn’t set foot in another mental hospital even if he wanted to. The family becomes more estranged, and while the twins remain in each others lives, they distance themselves from their parents. [edit: this would actually be mainly after the roller rink era, as the twins were still very involved in with their parents’ expectations at this point]

By 1998 Dee was released with medication and a treatment plan, which probably caused her personality to seem more “sweet” than usual. Mac and Charlie were working at the roller rink where she also had a head injury around this time that went untreated.

At some point Dennis and Dee get involved with gay culture to the point of having an almost encyclopedic knowledge of gay slang. The gang also creates the board game “Chardee Macdennis”, during which in one game the boys emotionally abused Dee for two minutes straight, which led her into a deep depression and she attempted to commit s*** with pills. The guys purchase Paddy’s Pub and hire Dee as their bartender to help her get back on her feet. She manages to get a one bedroom apartment and a cat, as well as taking up acting classes again where she meets her friend Artemis. and that brings us to episode one!

[trekbait]

Kirk's most unbelievable log entries!

Kirk’s logs while in command of the Enterprise are considered some of the wildest and most outlandish entries submitted to Starfleet. They have been the most queried of any set of logs but given Kirk’s status as a hero they were rarely challenged. Yet many today question the authenticity of his records. Some outright wonder if he was high on snakeleaf at the time or was covering up other activities. 

What we can say for certain is that he was not following protocol and recording his records at the time, but filling in gaps much later and backdating them. For example, listen to this: "Captain's Log, Stardate 1672.1. Specimen-gathering mission on planet Alfa 177. Unknown to any of us during this time, a duplicate of me, some strange alter ego, had been created by the transporter malfunction." I’m sorry, if no one knew about it at this time, how are you recording a log about it, Kirk? Clearly, he slipped up there. Do you think this is an isolated case? Let’s jump to 1704.2: "Captain's Log, supplemental. Our orbit, tightening. Our need for efficiency – critical. But unknown to us, a totally new and unusual disease has been brought aboard." 

So let’s go through and see which of Kirk’s bizarre log entries are most likely to be stretching the bounds of plausibility.

They stole his what?

Alien women overpowered the Enterprise crew by unknown means (that happens a lot, it sounds like a security failure being passed off as “there were 20 guys! No, 50! Big ones! 100 big guys with guns!”) and “stole Spock’s brain” to be their new supercomputer. Kirk chases down the thieves with Spock walking like a toy drone. 

McCoy manages to use alien knowledge to “put Spock’s brain back in” as if nothing had happened (perhaps nothing did happen?). Conveniently, McCoy promptly forgets all this knowledge and the whole process hasn’t so much as ruffled Spock’s hairdo. What?? I’m sorry, where are the receipts for all this.

Greek gods?

Kirk claims that a “giant green hand” in space grabbed the ship then an image of the “ancient Greek god Apollo” appeared. This god could crush his ship, call lighting from the sky and grow to an immense size. In the end, he just wanted a girl and worshipers (Lt Palamas weirdly throws her Starfleet training to the wind to accommodate the first). 

Now sure, we’ve encountered a lot of powerful aliens before, but are you seriously just expecting us to have you rewrite a huge chunk of history without so much as some pottery shards to elaborate? What about the other pantheon of gods? Or Klingon gods? Did one of your officers really sell out humanity that fast? Don’t leave us hanging!

Abraham Lincoln in space?

Kirk claims the Excalbians sent a giant vision of “Abraham Lincoln floating in space”, and then to walk around and chat on the ship, for the sole purpose of asking him to beam down to the planet. Why the convoluted form of invite? Kirk never really elaborates. It’s almost as if he’s making the log up as he goes along. 

Once on the planet, Kirk explains, they meet another recreation, this time of “Surak”. The Excalbians don’t seem to have a concept of good and evil and want to test it (is the emotionless logic that Surak brings the most effective example of this?). Ample philosophical literature in the Enterprise’s databanks that would be very insightful is not suggested. Instead, a battle to the death. Drawing from Kirk’s knowledge the Excalbians have them fight “representations of evil”: Colonel Green (legit), Kahless the Unforgettable (racist much?), Zora of Tiburon (niche choice, Kirk. I had to look her up), and Genghis Khan (a rather reductive assessment of his legacy). This sounds more like a scattergun of names from the library databanks than a judgement on the representation of evil.

Prescription strip club?

First up, let’s talk about how Kirk claims that the reason they were found in a strip club was that Lt Commander Scott “became a misogynist” because a female engineer “caused an accident”. McCoy then “prescribed” a visit to sex workers (which also needed the Captain to attend for emotional support) to “cure” him of his misogyny. As if encouraging your chief engineer to view his female staff as sexual objects would help in that regard.

Given this log was recorded immediately after Scott was found over the body of a murdered sex worker with a bloody knife in his hands, I guess A for effort on rapidly coming up with your cover story, Kirk! But then for it to turn out that this whole murder was because Scott was possessed by “the spirit of Jack the Ripper”. Well, that’s one way to keep Starfleet’s reputation clean. And yet again the only evidence that any of this happened was scattered across space while Kirk gets credit for “solving” multiple cold cases.

A planet of Nazis?

Kirk’s “logs” here say that the planet of Ekos had become a “duplicate” of Earth’s Germany under the rule of the totalitarian "Nazis". Apparently, Dr John Gill violated the prime directive to “help” the fragmented planet and drew on Nazi Germany as an example of the “most efficient state Earth ever knew.” Now someone like Dr Gill would know that Nazi Germany had resources and prison labour but was far from an example of “efficiency”. Certainly not if you intended to do it ethically. And why the costumes? The race purity? Sounds more like Kirk spinning a tale based on his very fragmented understanding of that era of history. Does Kirk just get bored reporting planetary survey reports and wants to spice them up; or is this the best cover story he had for why Dr Gill returned home in a photon tube? How did Gill really die?

Prime Time Rome?

Ekos wasn’t an isolated case, but at least that was externally influenced. Planet 892-IV is one of many “alternate Earth’s” (which are, oddly, rarely encountered by any other ship). This planet not only had a copy of Earth’s Roman Empire, but its 20th century US TV culture and Human Christianity. But at least they weren’t “reciting the US Constitution” like they supposedly did on Omega IV. Does Kirk just have a spinning picker wheel of Earth history to pick from when he’s making up these logs? What’s next, a planet of 1920s Chicago gangsters? Oh, wait…

The devil is just a cool guy?

On stardate 1254.4, while exploring the centre of the galaxy to see a matter-energy vortex (sorry, I thought we went there more recently and found god?), the Enterprise was thrown into another dimension which they discovered runs on the principles of “magic”. It was from here that “witches” on Earth came from. 

Their number apparently includes the mythological figure of the “devil”, Lucifer, who Kirk describes as charming and affable. Lucifer aided the crew while on “trial” by the witches for the crimes of humanity in their persecution of their people. Kirk later takes credit for “saving” the devil. While future visitors became welcome, no one has been able to corroborate any of these reports on subsequent surveys (including Kirk it seems).

---

Have you ever lied in your duty logs? Let us know in the comments why and if you got away with it.

[pro-birth]

Boron, a trace element found in many plant foods or taken as a supplement, is gaining popularity as a preventive against osteoporosis in menopausal women. Osteoporosis makes bones weaker and more brittle and thus more likely to break, and it’s connected to low estrogen levels, as occur naturally during menopause. 

We have previously written about the importance of ovulatory cycles for bone health, especially during the crucial bone formation years of women’s 20s and earlier. Since women on hormonal birth control (HBC) are at risk of bone density loss, should boron be recommended for these women as well? Let’s look at what research has to say on the uses of boron and whether it might make sense for HBC users to take.