#this is right up my very specific nerdy alley

[scepterno]

i love ur fic so much ive been hyperfixating on it for like two weeks 😢😢 can i have some little trivia facts about some of the characters please i need to know silly stuff u haven't told us!!

omg.. ty... this is the sort of message that gives me life I LOVE SILLY TRIVIA

gwen and trent probably hang out the most from the original cast (minus anyone living together or dating). gwen has her own room in her parent's house dedicated to painting and trent will chill there on a bean bag in the corner writing music while she paints. now that she and courtney are dating, courtney visits way more to study in that chair while gwen works (they take breaks to make out and cuddle very often) gwen's little brother thinks trent is a huge loser and wishes duncan would hang out around the house more instead (courtney bullies him on trent's behalf)

cody lives in a dorm room on campus at his college. sierra goes to the same college but still lives with her mom (she has an hour long commute) she and cody hang out on campus and hang out in a lot of the same clubs and friend groups (mostly nerdy stuff)

harold is a speedrunning streamer and video editor for popular youtube channels. they make music for fun but wants to make professional music for indie games one day.

leshawna really loves to do community service (canon in the show) but i like to think she somehow managed to drag duncan into it too (his parole officer approves) so they get really close through that. he also ends up being dragged to a bunch of family events and parties with leshawna. like an honorary brother who acts like he doesnt want to be there but is super good with all the kids and is never actually disrespectful to the adults. leshawna's parents adore him. he's never been more well fed in his life.

zoe mike and cameron are all living their best lives with the all stars money zoe/mike earned. mike and cameron live together but zoe lives in an apartment with 5 roommates near her community college. they live within 10 minutes of bus so distance isn't an issue at all. they're practically inseparable.

scott and courtney are actually pretty good friends still (they never dated in all stars in this fic) and text regularly. scott moved back home after the show so he's not really near anyone else from the casts, but that's more of a blessing than anything considering the wacky hijinks everyone gets into on the regular.

i think ezekiel lindsay beth and tyler probably hang out a lot when lindsay and tyler aren't traveling around the world to fashion shows and whatnot. zeke got super into thrifting fashion because of lindsay. he's like. bowling alley employee fashion. you know. and although he's not really good at sports, tyler still likes to have "boys nights" and take him to games. they have a tradition of buying and rating the hot dogs at every stadium they visit, and buying souvenirs for lindsay.

alejandro really wants a lizard tattoo but he's very sensitive to pain and would definitely cry, so he's avoided getting one until he can find a tattoo artist who won't judge him for sobbing in the chair. he learned his lesson the hard way when he got his nose piercing and nearly broke carlos's hand because he was so scared (it didn't really hurt that bad, but nerves make everything worse).

josé has a quarter collection (like, the united states quarters, because there's a different one for every state). it's a good excuse to travel and get out of the house (or country) for a weekend retreat.

okay that's pretty much all i have in me right now (i have a meeting to go to at work) but if you want to hear anything for a specific character or headcanon, i would LOVE to share my thoughts!!!!

[demonslayedher]

What years does KnY take place?

Ready for more nerdiness?

I picked up this book, which is NOT an official Shueisha or Gotouge related publication. Instead, retired Shizuoka University professor, Owada Tetsuo, wrote this fandom deep-dive and nerdy flex called "Japanese History of Demon Slayers." It takes little bits and pieces of full KnY canon lore and explores wider historical roots, like drawing comparisons from specific characters to folkloric demons and making deeper speculation about the blue spider lily and such.

I'm looking forward to tearing through this nerdy material as it's right up my nerdy alley, but I must resist while I must focus on studying for a different nerdy test, blah.

But here is one tidbit to share, especially for people who have way too much of a preoccupation with canon accuracy, like me.

As part of the analysis of why the anime was such a hit (he draws the comparison of it marking the turn of an era, similar to how Japan recently entered the Reiwa period), he breaks down hints from canon (specifically, the declaration of it being Taisho at the start, Nezuko referencing letting the kids eat tasty things for New Years, and the Hand Demon's very detailed recollection of time) to arrive at the following estimate:

--The story begins in Taisho 2 (1913)

--The Final Selection takes place in Taisho 4 (1915)

Again, this is UNOFFICIAL, but it is based on sound historical reasoning I'm too lazy to translate at the moment. 

EDITED NOW WITH TRANSLATION!! You can read my longer rambles about messy calendars and why you can’t make any assumptions about birth-years here.--> No, read the better explanation about messy calendars and birth years here. Pages 134~135 of “Japanese History of Demon Slayers” by Prof. Owada Tetsuo, published 2020/10/24 (non-official KnY) Translation Note 1: I’ll be leaving “Nengo” untranslated. This is the term for naming different periods of Japanese history. You may be familiar with the recent tradition of changing the Nengo according to the changing of Emperors’ rule, but it used to be changed for many more reasons than that, and they could be very long or very short. Furthermore, it’s easy shorthand to refer to centuries-long periods like Heian or Edo by simply those names, but there were many, many Nengo contained within those periods. Translation Note 2: The conclusions are Prof. Owada’s, not mine. (As part of the “Why Has ‘Kimetsu no Yaiba’ Become Such A Big Hit” section) “Kimetsu no Yaiba” is a story that takes place in which year of the Taisho Period? ~Based on the words of the “Hand Demon” at the Final Selection~ The impetus for “Kimetsu no Yaiba” becoming such a big hit was the anime which began airing in April of 2019. Prior to the anime’s release, the manga had sales of 3.5M copies by March of 2019, but by the anime finished airing that September it had suddenly risen to about 12M. I believe this has something to do with the change from the Heisei Period to the Reiwa Period which occurred on May 1, 2019. That’s because the setting of “Kimetsu no Yaiba” is when the era has just changed from the Meiji Period to the Taisho Period. Let’s start by considering exactly when the story gets its start. The official website states, “Set in the Taisho Period, Japan” and from Chapter 1 we know it’s in the Taisho Period. In Chapter 7, during the Final Selection which takes place on Mount Fujikasane, the “Hand Demon” asks Kamado Tanjiro, “What year of Meiji is it?” To which Tanjiro responds, “It’s Taisho now.” At this, the Hand Demon shrieks, “The Nengo!! The Nengo changed!!” and goes on to say, “Urokodaki was the one who trapped me” and “I’ll never forget what happened 47 years ago” and “It was back in Edo times… around the time of the Keio Period.” 47 years prior to Taisho 1 (1912) was Keio 1 (1865). Since the Keio Period was only four years long, the Final Selection had to have taken place between Taisho 1 and Taisho 4 (1915). Seeing as Tanjiro spent two years training under Urokodaki prior to battling the Hand Demon, we can assume Chapter 1 took place sometime between Taisho 1 and Taisho 2 (1913), and the Final Selection took place sometime between Taisho 3 (1914) and Taisho 4. In Chapter 1, snow is falling, and Tanjiro mentions, “I want to let everyone eat their fill for New Years’ Day,” so you can infer that this takes place in early February before the New Year on the traditional calendar. Since Taisho 1 started on July 30, the start of the story is Taisho 2*, which makes the Final Selection set in Taisho 4. That makes “Kimetsu no Yaiba” set in a world that just entered a new era, just like 2019. *Simply put, the Japanese calendar is a mess, and it was even messier back in the Taisho Period when you were still between official changes to the Gregorian calendar in Meiji and the wide-scale, more enforceable adoptions of the Gregorian calendar in Showa. Officially, July 30-December 31, 1912, would be Taisho 1, so Taisho 2 began January 1, 1913. The traditional/agricultural/semi-lunar/Chinese/what-have-you New Year in 1913 was February 6.

[impalementation]

Do you think the trio were good as villains? (As foils, as obstacles etc) I know people tend to dislike them in general

Anonymous asked:

Why do you think “the trio” make sense as the antagonist of season 6?

i’m combining these two asks together, since they’re both about the trio.

i love the trio as villains. they might even be my favorite villains in the whole show. angelus and glory are both classic, and easily my favorites after, but the trio just get under my skin—much like season six in general—in a way those classic villains don’t. adding a cut for length.

i think a lot of what i like about them was covered in these two excellent posts by @comradesummers, so i’ll probably end up repeating some of what she said. i’ve also talked about the trio before myself, so there’s a good chance i’m repeating my own past posts as well.

but to put things in my own, new words. the reason i love the trio is because of how many levels they operate on, and how interesting those levels are.

on one level, the mundane nature of the trio and their villainy parallels the depressing, irritating banality of adult, real-life problems that the season spends so much time exploring. it’s very deliberate that after a season in which buffy defeated a god, she finds herself antagonized by a cringey trio of boys her age. the writing emphasizes the lameness of the trio enough times that you know this choice was on purpose.

scenes like:

BUFFY: I'm just saying, all the things that have happened lately? Okay, the, the bank robbery, the jewelry heist... XANDER: The exploding lint. BUFFY: I-is it me, or do these things seem really- ANYA: Lame? BUFFY: (shrugs) Well, I was gonna go with unusual, but, yeah.

or:

DOCTOR: Buffy, you used to create these grand villains to battle against, and now what is it? Just ordinary students you went to high school with. No gods or monsters...just three pathetic little men...who like playing with toys.

the fact that buffy dismisses the trio, but eventually finds herself in danger of them, echoes the way that she struggles to “defeat” the problems of adulthood that she thinks she should be able to handle. as she says in “flooded”:

BUFFY: Okay, it's, it's bills, it's money. It's pieces of paper sent by bureaucrats that we've never even met. It's not like it's the end of the world. (she thinks about that for a moment) Which is too bad, you know, 'cause that, I'm really good at.

the fact that the trio is so “ordinary” and “lame” adds to that season six feeling of having been rudely brought to earth. of the magic of childhood being left behind, and having to deal with problems you can’t build a myth around. there’s just something so real and brilliant to me about how wrong it feels that these are buffy’s antagonists. because of how well it evokes that wrong feeling of: this is what adulthood is? these are the problems i have to deal with? it seems so easy, so why is it so hard?

the second level of the trio relates to the first level, in that they represent the mundane dangers of real-life misogyny. season six is all about making the metaphorical literal (ironically, as a metaphor for how the transition from childhood to adulthood can feel), and so there’s something very fitting that in a show that has spent a lot of time creating horror from metaphorical, supernatural misogyny—it suddenly becomes literal. no more swim team jocks becoming rapacious fish monsters, no more frat boys sacrificing girls to a snake demon, no more vampires cornering victims in dark alleys. and okay, the trio is still doing spells and such. but besides that, everything about them is so normal it becomes disturbing. they are simply boys who feel disempowered in their own lives, and think this entitles them to play with other people, particularly women, because they barely see those women as people in the first place.

there is also something crucial to the fact that the trio are the villains that are most like the writers, and who the writers probably conceived of as their audience. it’s on record that many of the nerd debates that the trio have were lifted directly from debates the writers would have amongst themselves. the writers were also on fan boards, and well aware of the fact that their show was popular with very nerdy people. which means that when they made nerdish avoidance and entitlement a villain in season six, it was another way of bringing the show to earth. by making the trio into some of the show’s mostly subtly, yet acutely, horrifying antagonists there is an implication that: misogyny and wrongdoing is not something that only oafish athletes and distant authorities are capable of. it is something that anyone can be complicit in.

which is also why the third level of the trio, the fact that they act as mirrors of all of the other characters, works so well. because season six is when the show makes some of its most beloved characters do very bad things. the protagonists become aware, just as the audience does, of their potential for complicity in evil. and i think this is a very very important aspect of becoming an adult for the show to capture. to me, becoming an adult means becoming responsible for yourself and your moral choices in a way you aren’t quite, when you’re younger. bad choices are a bit cuter when you’re younger, a bit more forgivable. you’re growing, right? but at a certain point that stops working, and you need to own your choices. and that means being able to recognize that you’re capable of being the villain, so that you can choose differently.

so over the course of season six, all of the characters get tempted by irresponsible and easy ways out. sometimes they give in, and sometimes they don’t. but no matter what, the trio is there to help frame the actions of the protagonists. so for example, while the trio robs banks and steals diamonds, buffy takes a difficult job, and doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail the doublemeat palace. or the fact that buffy is giddy at being turned invisible in “gone” is framed as troubling in part because the trio are giddy at the idea of invisibility as well. and of course: willow, spike, and buffy, and how they behave in intimate relationships, all get paralleled with warren and the trio. what tara says to willow in “tabula rasa” for example, is much like what katrina says to the trio in “dead things.” (TARA: “violate my mind like that? how could you willow? how could you after what glory did to me?” WILLOW “violate you? i…i-i didn’t mean anything like that, i-i just wanted us to not fight anymore” / WARREN: “i just, i wanted us to be together” […] KATRINA: “well this is not some fantasy, it’s not a game you freaks! it’s rape” JONATHAN: “what?” ANDREW”: “no..we didn’t…”). or buffy’s “tell me you love me” exchange with spike in “as you were” is almost word for word what warren says to the mindwiped katrina in “dead things.” and of course, there’s the fact that spike and warren both assault the woman that they claim to care about in an attempt to get them back.

does this mean that all of our protagonists are irredeemably evil? of course not. the reason that warren ends the season flayed and burnt alive is because he repeatedly commits to doing the wrong thing. while the scoobies and spike don’t, because as flawed as they are, they still ultimately try to make better decisions. but it doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of harm. and specifically, the kind of harm that comes from not seeing oneself as truly capable of it. spike thinks he doesn’t hurt buffy, willow thinks she’s just trying to fix things, jonathan and andrew think they’re living out a comic book. this is why i also love how the season lulls you into a sense of complacency with the trio. you think the show might be playing their hijinks straight, and validating their less-than-savory plans as funny, until “dead things” pulls the rug out from under the season and shows what the writing has been doing with them all along. that wake-up slap of katrina saying “rape” is like the slap of willow’s breakdown in “wrecked” or xander leaving anya or warren shooting tara, or—and this takes us back to the central metaphor of the season—buffy being brought back from heaven. that slap of “childhood is over, it’s time to be responsible now, and it turns out you’re fucking up at it.”

this honestly is just the surface of what i could talk about with the trio, and it’s already long enough as is. and when a villain has that much thematic richness in it, i just can’t help but love it.

[semper-legens]

6. The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern

Owned: Yes Page count: 494 My summary: The son of the fortune teller stands in front of a painted door, wondering whether to open it. A pirate (who is also a metaphor) sits in a cell telling stories to a servant girl. An acolyte accepts her calling and loses her tongue. A woman with pink hair is chased by a woman with one eye. And the son of the fortune teller makes his way deep in the earth, to the starless sea... My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

Ok, confession time. I have totally been putting off reading this book for months now. You know how sometimes you don’t read a thing because you really want to enjoy it but aren’t sure if it’s going to live up to your expectations for it, and then you get it out from the library and it just sits on a shelf for months on end, mocking you, and then your mother independantly buys you it for Christmas so fuck it, you have no excuse not to read it? That incredibly relatable and not at all too specific feel? Anyway, I loved Morgenstern’s previous work, the Night Circus, so this was either going to be right up my alley or incredibly disappointing. Fortunately, it was the former!

Let’s start with the main protagonist, Zachary. I love him. He’s exactly the kind of character that I really enjoy - reserved, a bit repressed, not terribly proactive, being dragged around by the narrative and internally snarking about the whole affair. I was thinking earlier this week about how you often see characters in stories who have nerdy interests, but they’re very broad-strokes or stereotypical to maintain the audience’s interest. And then you have Zachary and his academic work on video game storytelling, clearly written by someone who has actually played video games. It’s a lovely little bit of authenticity and really helps ground and humanise him as a character before all of the fantastical things start happening.

This is sort of a hard one to talk about, because it is long and sprawling. There’s the main narrative with Zachary, but also a lot of side-stories that tie back into the main plot, or give context and background to some of the events that unfold. It’s told in this mythic, folkloric style - you really get the sense that these are fairytales from another universe - winding in and out through the different tales and different methods of storytelling. It’s the kind of Dark Fairytale genre that I love, too - not just fairytales But With Sex And Gore, but fairytales with complex themes and no easy answers. There’s also some gorgeous imagery - sprawling underground caverns, the titular Starless Sea, and the repeated motif of bees, swords, and keys. It felt very Tarot, in some respects, which I adore.

At the end of the day, this is a story about the power of art. While it focuses on stories, because it’s a written medium, many of its key players are also poets and painters and sculptors and suchlike. It’s about art’s ability to connect, and how art has to keep moving and changing with the times, because forcing it to stay the same will inherently damage it. There’s nothing I love more than a story about the power of stories, and this is an excellent example of that. Just tales, and storytelling, and how it is human nature to seek out stories and create art in whatever ways we can. And I love that!

[donotdisturbmysleepingdragon]

KiddxLaw Modern!AU

Traffy x Kidd Modern!AU 

~///~

It was a fairly normal day in the city. Traffic sucked, people were yelling at each other for no reason, and crime was still high despite the high police presence from the corrupt government that abused their authority.

Trafalgar D. Water Law was enjoying a calm day off from the hectic ER where he worked in the city’s main hospital. Despite his age, he was a very well respected and coveted doctor. He had seen his fair share of injuries, from stab wounds to odd objects lodged into places this didn’t belong. So he was glad that his one day off allowed him some time to decompress from all the chaos of the ER.

His day had been going quite well. He had gotten a decent amount of sleep (for him anyway), a full meal, and was able to dress comfortably. He was currently sitting at a table outside his favorite local coffee shop with his best friend and dog, Bepo. The White Tibetan Mastiff was laying at Law’s feet, a bowl of water next to him. The weather was cool, so the thick-furred dog was quite content.

Law was enjoying a medical textbook and a relaxing cup of tea. It was late evening, and the city was alive with post-work rush. He was just planning on leaving when a body dropped into the seat across from him. Bepo’s head popped up and swiveled to the interloper. Law’s eyes slowly dragged from the text to the person before him.

A full face mask surrounded by long spiky blond hair was what greeted his gaze.

“Killer-ya.” he greeted dully. 

The blond nodded back cordially.“Hello Law. Enjoying your day off?” he enquired. Law sighed and softly shut his book. 

“I was. What do you want?” Killer chuckled and sat back. His relaxed demeanor was betrayed only by his tense shoulders. 

“I require your assistance.” Law’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.  Killer was a known associate of Eustass Kidd, an up and coming gang leader who had a reputation for being hot-headed and ruthless. Law, Kidd, and Killer all went to Grand Line High together, so he was familiar with Killer’s boss and best friend.

 Law raised an eyebrow at the masked male before him. Bepo had long since lost interest, and had gone back to napping by his owner’s feet. Killer sighed.

“I need your medical expertise. My boss is in need of … assistance, and has requested you specifically. I was hoping we could do this amicably, but I’ve been ordered to bring you by whatever means necessary.” Law contemplated for a moment before sighing again and packing away his book. Bepo perked up as Law stood, and shuffled out from under the table.

 Killer stood as well and motioned for Law to follow him. The two males and one dog walked in silence down the street. Killer turned into an alley, stopping just past the threshold.

“I’ve brought him, Boss.” Law looked over the blond’s shoulder. Leaning against the dirty wall was a beaten and bloody Eustass Kidd.

The fiery haired gang leader looked up, giving Law a chance to assess the damage. His face hadn’t taken much damage, just some minor scrapes and a bruised jaw. Probably punched in the face for being an asshole. His eyes traveled lower, and finally saw why he was asked over. Taking in the -always- exposed chest, there was blood coming from in between his fingers as he tried to staunch the flow.

“What happened, Eustass-ya?” The brash idiot smirked up at Law and Killer.

“Heyya Law, I just need a quick patch job But let’s just say that hospitals and I don’t get along to well, ya feel?” The rough voice was exactly how Law remembered from school.“You didn’t answer my question, Eustass-ya” He dead-panned. Killer sighed and turned to the towering doctor behind him.

“He challenged one of Red-Hair’s crew members and got shanked.” Law sighed in resignation.

“I don’t have my medical bag with me, so I’ll have to go grab it.” He turned to leave, but was stopped by a strong grip around his bicep. Kidd chuckled.

“Ah, yeah that’s not gonna happen, pal. We don’t need you callin the pigs on us or anything. You understand, right?” Law glanced down at the hand on his arm, then turned to Killer, who had stopped him.

“Then what do you suggest, Eustass-ya?” His eyes slid over to the seemingly unconcerned bleeding male.

“Take us to your bag, of course,” was the blasé response. Law’s face dropped into a glare as his brain processed the demand. Kidd and Killer, whilst his old classmates, were also known criminals. Did her really want them knowing where he lived? It sounded like a terrible idea.  He didn’t need any gang members knocking down his door, for any reason. 

On the other hand, they wouldn’t be disturbed, as his building held a no-questions-asked policy. And it would give him the home field advantage.

Law fully turned back to face Kidd. He nodded once, which prompted Killer to release his arm. Both males moved forward and grabbed an arm to hoist Kidd up and onto their shoulders. Law internally mourned the loss of his jacket and shirt, but moved to the front of the alley where Bepo was sitting dutifully keeping watch. The Large mastiff sniffed at Killer and Kidd, growling at the latter, before turning and heading down the street.

The three males managed to make it to Law’s building with little more than an odd look or two as they stumbled through the streets. As they made their way to the elevator inside, Law pulled away and headed towards the stairs.

“Hey, where ya going, Law?” Kidd ased, almost condescendingly. Law turned, with Bepo at his heels, and looked at the bloody duo.

“Well, Eustass-ya, I need to prepare my equipment if I’m going to stitch you up. Besides, Bepo doesn’t like the elevator” Kidd snarled in response.

“Well who cares what the flea-bag feels. We stick together.” Law glared and Bepo growled. Killer, ever the mediator, held out a placating hand.

“How about I take Bepo up the stairs and prep your equipment for you?” Law turned his steely gaze to the level-headed blond. He thought about it for a moment, then sighed and acquiesced.

A few minutes, and explicit instructions later, Killer led Bepo up the stairs, Law’s keys in hand, and Law was holding up Kidd as the elevator ascended the seven floors. Kidd was staring at Law.

Despite his best effort, Law could not ignore the intense gaze bore into the side of his face. He slid his steel grey eyes over to meet carmine irises. Kidd’s eyes roamed Law’s face before settling back on his eyes and he smirked.

“How ya been, Traffy? I ain’t seen ya since graduation.” Law turned away, not dignifying the unwanted nickname usage with a response. Kidd waited all of thirty seconds for an answer. “Aww come on Law, don’t be like that. I’m just tryin’ ta make conversation.” Law kept his eyes forward, hoping that the elevator would just reach his floor already.

“You are essentially forcing me to help you out of a mess that you made, so I’ll be however I want, Eustass-ya.” he intoned as the doors finally opened. He quickly dragged the still bleeding male through the quiet hallway and to his opened door, where Bepo was sitting just indie watching Killer as he finished covering the table with plastic.

His tools were laid out neatly, and he could smell the antiseptic and sterile metal. Killer looked up and the mastiff boofed in greeting to his owner, and hurried over to help move his boss to the coffee table.

Once Kidd was settled, Law stepped away and shrugged off his jacket. He tossed it into the trash bag that Killer had so kindly provided. He then stripped off his Black turtle-neck long-sleeve shirt and tossed that as well. His fit and inked torso was exposed, but he thought nothing of it as he walked down the small hallway into his room to pull on a new clean shirt and wash his hands.

 When he returned to the living room, Kidd was holding his nose, which was bleeding. Killer sat on the couch next to him, with a hand to his masked face, shaking his head. Law raised an eyebrow.

“Why is he bleeding?” Killer shook his head again.

“Because he’s an idiot,” Law forward and began prepping.

“I didn’t know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from their nose.” He snarked as he pulled on gloves and grabbed Kidd’s other hand away from the still bleeding stab wound.

“I think it’s a new phenomenon.” was Killer’s only response as he stood up to leave. “Call me when he’s fit to leave. I left my number on you fridge. I should also change, and let the boys know what happened.

“Aren’t you worried I may kill him?” Law asked as he started to clean the wound, assessing how deep it was.

“No. I believe he is in good hands. Best of luck ‘Surgeon of Death’,” Law froze for only a moment before continuing his work.

~///~

Kidd was a confident guy. He had every reason to be. He was tough, strong, and well respected by his gang, not to mention the name he had made for himself in the criminal world. But his confidence was what had landed his in this situation, he wasn’t too proud to admit that. Lay, half-naked on a plastic covered coffee table, a dog glaring at him from it’s bed across the room, and a very fit docotor cleaning his wound.

 For some reason, Eustass Kidd was at a loss for what to do. He hadn’t expected Law to just strip right in front of him so suddenly, and now he was holrny as fuck, because damn if Law wasn’t the most attractive doctor Eustass ever had.

 The muscles alone would have been enough, but paired with the many tattoos swirling across his torso, down his arms, and onto his hands, Kidd’s blood rushed to his face so fast that he got a nosebleed. A nosebleed! Him! Like some nerdy virgin middle school boy! He knew he was going to get crap for it later from Killer based on the sigh and head shake.

Now, however, Kidd was focused on a different problem. He just couldn’t stop staring at Law’s face as the man concentrated on stitching up the now cleaned stab wound. His steely eyes were laser focused on his work, and it made Kidd feel extremely exposed, which was impressive considering his general state of dress, or lack of dress. So, in order to hide his growing … attraction to his ex-classmate, he decided to make conversation again.

“Hey Law. What's with the creepy nickname, huh?” ‘Surgeon of Death’ doesn’t sound like someone a soccer mom would let operate on her kid, ya know?” Law paused in his sewing and spared a glance at Kidd

.“Unless you want a scar, Eustass-ya, don’t talk. You’ll move your abdomen too much and then I won’t be able to sew straight.” He waited a moment before going back to work. After a few minutes he responded. “I got the title a few years ago when I was doing off the record treatments and surgeries for criminals and runaways. Anyone who couldn't pay my price or threatened me ended up ‘dead’ and in police custody.”

Kidd would never admit it, but rather than terrified, or shocked, he was only thinking about how ruthless, and hot, that was. He cleared his throat and tried very hard not to shift beneath those steady and tattooed hands.

 Law finished up his final stitch and swiped an antiseptic wipe across it to remove any lingering blood before placing a bandage across it. Once it was secure, he snapped off his gloves and threw them in the trash bag that held his bloody clothes. The large dog hopped up from it’s bed and trotted over to his owner, who was moving over towards the kitchen.

 Kidd moved to sit up, and was promptly hit with a massive dizzy spell. Law, from the kitchen, spoke loud enough for his dulcet tones to carry.

“Don’t move yet, Eustass-ya. You’ve lost a lot of blood, and will need to replenish your fluids so your body and start to make more blood. I’m grabbing you some juice to get your sugar levels back up as well. Do you happen to know your blood type?” Kidd scoffed and managed to sit up straight, perching himself on the edge of the table.

“F.” Law snorted, and Kidd heard a door open and close. It was silent for a moment before Kidd heard it open and close again. Law came back into the room orange juice in one hand and … an iv and blood bag? “Hey hey, what’s this shit?” Law set the juice down on Kidd’s lap, shoving it between his thighs so it wouldn’t fall over. He then moved to set up the IV stand with the bag of blood.

“You lost too much blood, remember? This will help. Now lay down on the couch, Eustass-ya.” As he explained,  Law positioned himself to stick the needle into Eustass’ arm. He swiped it with another wipe, and pushed in the needle with no warning or pause. The smooth motion was followed by him taping the needle in place, and a hand gesturing to the couch.

Eustass flushed a bit, a scowl appearing on his face to try and hide his embarrassment. He moved carefully over to the couch. Law, despite complaints, heled Kidd lie back, and even moved a pillow behind his head so he would be more comfortable.

“Drink your juice, Eustass-ya” was the order given before Law turned back and headed into the kitchen once more. Kidd was sure his face was as bright as his hair, and he could almost feel another nosebleed coming. He quickly grabbed the orange juice and tried to chug it, but was caught off guard when his ecarmine eyes caught sight of the pitch black ones of Law’s dog, who was staring at him from across the room. He choked  bit, and pulled the juice away to hack out what little got into his lungs.

“Don’t chug the juice, Eustass-ya. Sip it. Otherwise you’ll vomit, and I don’t feel like cleaning up any more of your messes tonight.” Law’s voice carried from the kitchen,a s well as the sounds of meal prep. The dog continued to stare at him as he followed Law’s directions.

“Hey Law, your damn dog is staring at me again.”

“That’s because he doesn't trust you. Once food it ready he’ll stop.”

 A while later, and two empty juice glasses later, food was ready, and Kidd was sitting up on the couch feeling more like himself. When Law came out wearing a “Kiss the Cook and I’ll Kick Your Ass” apron, all his previous hirniness returned. Law set down a plate before Kidd, then settled on the floor across from him. As soon as he was seated, the dog moved from his vigil position and layed down behind Law. The inked doctor leaned back onto it, and tossed a scrap of food his way.

As the meal progressed in silence, Eustass thought back to what Law had said earlier.“So, uh, about this payment.” Law’s eyes slowly moved up to meet Kidd’s own. “What exactly do you want in return?” Law, still chewing, processed the question.

“Depends on what of value you have. Normally I ask for money, the amount for supplies used [laus time and effort. But, I am flexible if you have something of use and value to me.” Kidd’s mind worked to try and figure out what he had that could work as payment to the reclusive doctor. 

“Well, Traffy, I ain’t exactly liquid right now. So, how about I give you a down payment, and then have Killer bring the rest when he comes to get me?” Law hummed into his drink (water) and set the glass down. “You’ll need to stay the night for observation, so he won’t be able to come and get you til morning.” Kidd blanched and flushed. Stay the night!? “What did you have in mind for the down payment?”

End?

This is my gift for @generaldevi who is my “secret santa” for the discord gift exchange. Hope you enjoy~!

Rose

[kvetas]

*✿❀; general headcanons part 1 (akechi)

 just some random, usually rather mundane headcanons that probably won’t fit as a theme anywhere else, yeah.

Generally refers to ‘[insert surname]-san’ to nearly everyone.

He’d make exceptions if he’s familiar enough with someone (He either generally refers to Sae as ‘Sae-san’ usually, though may attempt to jokingly call her ‘senpai’ at times) or if he’s fine with a request (So he’d refer to Sojiro as ‘Boss’ if asked, but he’d otherwise call him ‘Sakura-san’).

There’s a possibility that he’ll use different honorifics with either children or people he’s familiar with who are closer to his age. So he’d call some of the phantom thieves as ‘Takamaki-chan’ or ‘Sakamoto-kun’, for example. It’s only really just because sounds like it suits them more to him rather than any indicator of friendliness though.

And honestly, he’ll still persist at using surnames unless someone specifically requests him to be on a first name basis (or if they’re either western/literally do not have a last name) because he lacks the ability to gauge how relationships work. u_u ;;

bro will spill out his childhood drama unprompted to protag at confidant level three, especially with someone he literally just met standing right next to them, but he can’t bring himself to call someone by name?? smfh with this dude

I’m sad that the proof of justice OVA pretty much ruined my headcanon that Goro played video games as escapism growing up. But I still wanna say that if Goro did choose to play video games, he’d voluntarily play RPGs, puzzle games, and simulator games in his free time as a relaxation.

He may or may not create a Shido Sim just to torture the poor bastard as a way to vent on bad days if he got his hands on The Sims.

But he’d be willing to play any video game, even if half of the reason is just as a point of conversation.

Probably wouldn’t really scare easily on horror games. Because his life is already a goddamn horror to sit through as it is. Actually, since a lot of horror games are generally RPGs and/or puzzle games - they’re actually right up his alley.

He’d be the kind of guy who’d go “Oh, congratulations on the win. :)” but be inwardly seething in rage and already plotting 5 different possible ways to beat you after losing a game.

But this is only if it’s for a game he’s actually familiar with and got absolutely demolished on, he wouldn’t really care otherwise and would even welcome a challenge.

I feel like his hobbies were initially picked... well, to look cool, number one, but also for practical use via metaverse shenanigans. (Cycling because it’s the cheapest and fastest option to travel+gather intel but also to help his speed, bouldering for make scaling palaces easier and improve his guts, and darts to improve his proficiency.)

Though he can safely say that he genuinely enjoys these hobbies and is not actually lying through his teeth. But he doesn’t really indulge in them as much as he used to. 2/3 of the reason is because he already maxed out his guts and proficiency stats though tbh

I know that it’s common for people to believe Goro to have a preference in sweets but idk man I don’t really agree with that fanon.

Half is because he wants to be able to judge something he tastes without extra condiments and stuff possibly diluting the flavor. He has a food blog to run and reviews to write and dangit, he’s gonna write nothing but the facts!!

The other half is because he honestly isn’t picky with flavors and the guidebook even says so. Like, sure, he’d critique something to Death but he’d still eat it because you don’t waste food smfh

Even that one spicy-ass takoyaki he unintentionally ate? Like, Yeah, he clearly can’t handle spicy food too well, but he still properly ate it in my book.

Like the only exception is if it’s literally inedible. Like, ‘this is rotten!’ or ‘it  fell all over the floor’ kind of inedible.

That being said, I’d say Goro’s favorite coffee blend is Columbian 100% Typica but I can’t be super sure since I’m not a huge coffee fan and I wouldn’t know for sure how it would taste

I DO agree with the fanon idea that Goro doesn’t know how to cook a whole lot (the most being simple food like. fried egg, or steamed potato, or sandwiches) and just shovels instant-made food into his mouth if he so chooses, which is literally any time he’s not trying to show off or look sophisticated.

His apartment probably has fancy, modern looking furnishings and appliances. But it looks more like a home catalogue than a teenager’s living space. (Again, out of posturing to look more esteemed than he actually feels.) Though the apartment’s size is pretty average.

He almost never gets visitors though despite all the effort, except maybe Sae for whatever reason.

The only room that actually looks lived-in is his room, the messiest thing in the room being his (long) desk since he’d generally work on stuff there.

Has a lamp, a pencil holder, a file holder, and his laptop. But also expect to see stacks of books, papers lying around, maybe an empty coffee mug or three, and tools he didn’t put away on top of it.

I can’t imagine him NOT making his own tools (lockpicks, goho-ms, etc.). But he probably had to learn how to make them through trial and error (and using google). At least he had like, two years to learn.

Of course he has a bunch of books in his house. He’s an *~~intellectual~~*, he’s gotta look the part.

Most of his bookshelves are like. Philosophy books, law books, mystery novels, school textbooks, stuff about cognitive psience, and ‘How-to’ books.

He may or may not secretly keep manga in his room.

I like to think he has a balcony. Though it’s pretty bare outside of maybe drying his clothes, he likes to contemplate about stuff out there.

He doesn’t really like staying home very much though, he only stays when necessary. Unfortunately, getting punched by depression and wanting to just lay in bed all day doesn’t count as a necessity to him, especially since he’s undiagnosed.

His fridge generally consists of takeout (either delivered from home or leftovers), beverages (like milk, iced coffee, any SP-recovering weird sodas), butter, bread, eggs, deli meat, and maybe a salad pack.

His freezer is exclusively full of frozen meals. 90% is microwaveable, while the rest of the 10% is stuff you heat up in the oven or steam it with.

His pantry is full of instant-made microwaveable food. Or stuff that doesn’t require much prep work or knowledge in the kitchen, like Mac and Cheese, Hamburger Helper, canned soup, and tuna packages.

Though he also has stuff like tea packs, hot chocolate mix, and instant coffee in the off chance he actually gets a visitor. A lot of them may or may not be past the "Best By” date.

A lot of his budget goes into skincare and hair products as a celebrity-figure that shows up on TV a lot, so predictably his bathroom is just chock full of the stuff.

GOD I WISH HIS FASHION SENSE WASN’T SO NERDY but unfortunately, he’s a kid trying to grow up too fast in order to be taken seriously and hiding the fact that he’s an orphan and didn’t have money before so we’re just gonna have to deal with his preppy grandpa fashion sense

[neverlandparker]

“Could this be another lead?” (peter parker)

Word Count: 2.4k words

Warnings: none, enjoy!

Author: @neverlandparker

Requested By: @broadwayshtuff p.s. thanks so much for requesting!

Prompt: #7 from my prompt list: “Peter, my favorite avenger is Spider-Man. He is super amazing and believe it or not, I think I’m really close to finding out his identity…”

RINGGGG

The shrill school dismissal bell finally rang and jolted you out of your thoughts. You couldn't be any more excited. You quickly gathered all your belongings and rushed through Midtown’s main hallway to wait by the main entrance for your best friends, Ned and Peter.

This week had seemed especially long and a stressful one too. The teachers somehow decided to dump loads of homework on you this week. You heaved a great big relieved sigh. 

It was FINALLY Friday, and you couldn’t wait because Fridays were the best. Not only were they the last day of school for that week, but it also meant that you and your friends, Ned and Peter, would walk home and spend some time together. 

You guys would often hangout either at Ned or Peter’s house and build legos, watch movies, or play games. Friday nights were something you’d constantly look forward to each week, and you were especially excited since Peter had promised he would be there after mysteriously skipping out on the last few Fridays. 

What brunette nerd was oblivious (or hopefully oblivious) to was that you had begun to slowly develop feelings for him and you saw him as more than a friend, but afraid of risking your friendship, you had kept the secret to yourself. 

You shook out of your thoughts as the boys spotted you and made their way through the crowd, weaving between students in order to get to where you were standing by the doorway. 

“Hey Y/N! What a week huh? But yay, it's Friday! And you know what that means??”

You gave a laugh at Ned’s enthusiasm and smiled, and off the three of you went.

When you arrived at Ned’s house you made yourself at home, after all, it was almost like your second home because you practically went over all the time. You grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around yourself sighing at the comfort and warmth.

Then all three of you sat down and somehow, your conversation with Ned and Peter about Star Wars turned into one about the infamous Avengers.

Oh.

It's on.

Let’s see who the biggest fan actually is...

You were the ultimate Avengers fan, you had posters, drawings, and even Spiderman pajamas that you were only slightly embarrassed about.

When you had the opportunity to speak, you practically fangirled and told Ned and Peter all about your love of the Avengers and your newfound fascination with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

“Guys, my favorite avenger is Spider-Man. He is super amazing and believe it or not, I think I’m really close to finding out his identity…”

After your little fangirl moment and rambling about how much you adored the Earth’s youngest Avenger, you looked up to see Ned who was weirdly smiling like Earth’s biggest fool (which you had no idea why) and also Peter who was totally red in the face and a sputtering mess.

Expecting them to agree or even chime into your fangirling, you were confused  and a bit disappointed by their strange facial expressions. Weirded out, you quickly back and forth between the boys several times.

Pausing because you registered the awkward atmosphere your fangirling had suddenly created, you frowned.

“Wait. Was it something I said? I’m sorry...”

The boys gave you no response but all of a sudden, Peter abruptly walked out, mumbling over his shoulder some lame excuse about having math homework to finish (but Pete, its Friday) or something like that to do, and then you heard the front door click shut, signaling Peter’s rushed departure.

When Ned’s front door shut, it seemed to end this trance that Ned was in after you finished your little Avengers outburst.

“Sooooo....uh what was that about? Did I say something wrong?” you questioned Ned with a slightly accusing look. 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” was all Ned managed to say.

You sighed.

He was such a bad liar. There was definitely something suspicious that just happened here.

For the past few months, you had been obsessed with the Avengers. After all, they had saved your city. There were all these crazy space aliens who invaded and caused chaos upon New York, but thankfully, the Avengers were there and managed to save the city. It was thanks to them that New York was still standing and the fact that you were still alive. 

More recently, you noticed a new superhero, “Spider-Man” as YouTube dubbed him. And you had been fascinated with the new hero and curious to learn his real identity. So all things led to other things, and for you, your Avengers obsession quickly turned into an investigation to find the face behind the mask of Queen’s very own Spider-Man.

You quickly told Ned an excuse that was something like, “Uh...yeah I will go do that, but actually, I also really need to go, my mom just texted me and she wants me home. I’ll see you later! Bye!”

And with that, you booked it down the hallway and out of Ned’s house. As you were making your way back to your house, you were too busy thinking about Spider-Man and your mind was running wildly. Could this be another lead in your rather far-fetched investigation in finding the identity of the spandex superhero?

So you paid more attention to Peter Parker over the next few days. But every time you tried to approach him to talk with him, he would just avoid eye contact with you, make a random excuse, and walk away. He seemed to be desperately trying to avoid you. You were heartbroken. What did I do to deserve this? 

At lunch, it seemed like every time you had tried to bring it up the topic of the Avengers or Spiderman, he would start to fidget awkwardly and avoid the conversation. You also noticed he seemed to grow more distant. If you were partners in Chemistry class, your once lively conversations with Peter now dwindled to little or none besides the occasional muttered “hey, can you pass me the beaker?” or “what do we do after stirring the mixture?” And to be honest, you felt strange and tired of this weird treatment you had been receiving after that one “fateful” Friday night at Ned’s house.

You decided that as Peter’s friend, it was your responsibility to find out what had exactly happened on Friday night when you had had your little ramble that had led to Peter avoiding you for the entirety of this week. The question that you had left to ask yourself was, “Did this have anything to do with the identity of the superhero?” 

Deep in your thoughts as the history teacher rambled on about your assignment, you had begun to think of possible reasons to why Peter was avoiding you. Then, after several focused minutes of thinking, you finally came to your questionable, crazy, and absurd but only logical conclusion. 

What if...What if...the reason that Peter had been avoiding you had been because...

You gasped at your conclusion, the fear and shock making your drop your pencil which dropped to the hard tile of the school floor with an audible “clank” and it seemed that half the class seemed to stop whatever they were doing before to stare at your shocked expression. Your hands flew up to your mouth in a failed attempt to cover your loud gasp. Embarrassed that you had made quite the noise, you shrunk in your seat and laughed it off, hoping your fellow peers would buy it and turn their attention back to what they were doing before. ,

...because he himself, 

Peter Parker...

was Queen’s very own neighborhood Spider-Man?

At first thought the idea of nerdy, socially awkward Peter Parker as the spandex hero almost made you laugh out loud, but thinking about it again now, it made perfect sense. 

Suddenly, everything clicked:

...why he had decided to avoid you after the conversation at Ned’s house

...why he had tried to avoid you this week

...the numerous times in the past he had skipped your Friday movie nights that you, him, and Ned would enjoy after a long week of school

...why he had seemed to gain quite the athletic form recently.

...why he specifically avoided the topic of Spider-Man

and now, you had been assigned yourself a new mission:

To confirm the identity of the web-slinging hero, Spider-Man, as your friend, Peter Parker.

Feeling energized with a the sense of discovery and epiphany, you could hardly wait until class was over. And when the school bell once again signaled the end of the school day, you dashed out of the classroom and walked out towards the front grounds of the school. You had a plan. And one that involved with you spying on Peter. 

If he wasn’t going to tell you, you might as well take the initiative to figure it out yourself. Besides, you were getting tired of Peter treating you like Flash Thompson, the school bully who Peter always actively tried to avoid because of the taunts that he would often shout at him to ridicule Peter whenever saw him. 

That’s right, you, Y/N, are on an investigation to identify the face behind the mask of the web-slinging hero. 

Instead of waiting by your usual spot to wait for Ned and Peter, you had decided to hang out in a secluded shady spot underneath a tree where Ned and Peter were most unlikely to spot you. 

Waiting in the shade, you noticed Peter and Ned looking for you, but after a while of looking, they gave up and went their separate ways. But what caught your attention was the fact that Peter walked away from the school in the direction completely opposite of the neighborhood he, you, and Ned lived in. Instead, it seemed like he was heading straight towards an alley. Tailing him loosely, trying hard not to get noticed by him, you followed him into the alleyway. And what you saw, only seemed to confirm your earlier suspicions.

You cautiously approached the-person-who-must-be-Peter in his Spider-Man suit standing with his back facing you in the alley, but despite your best attempt at not getting discovered, he whipped around, recognized you, and jumped backwards. His spider eyes of his suit seemed to dilate and you could only guess it was out of surprise.

“Soooooo...Parker...you have some explaining to do...” 

But before he managed to modify his voice....it was too late and in a timid and surprised voice he exclaimed, “Y/N?!?” 

He tried to cover it up...he really did...but he tried...and failed...miserably.

“I mean...u-uh w-w-who’s Parker? I don’t k-k-know him...a-anyways hey, whattcha doin’ here?” he said, but this time, in a newly modified voice an octave lower than his normal one. 

His stuttering only grew worse and you grinned, knowing that his cheeks would be flaming underneath his mask. His best effort to fool you failed miserably, and you shook your head, responded with a slight giggle, and gave him a look. 

You laughed...“Please don’t do this, Pete.” 

However, despite his failure in the beginning, he seemed adamant on keeping his act up.

“Okay, if you are so convinced I’m Parker, then you can prove it to me” he stated in a gruff voice, this time, with new-found surge of confidence that you were 99% sure that only came with the Spider-Man suit. He was still hoping and trying to mislead you. But you wouldn’t be deterred. You knew it was him under the mask, but for some reason, he was still trying his absolute best to throw you off your little investigation. 

You confidently strode up to him and to be honest, you think you surprised him with your confidence because he seemed rather taken aback by your actions, judging by his almost-comically dilated Spider-Man eyes. You smirked. 

“You are Parker...Peter Parker because...

“number one...,” you counted off on your fingers, giving your favorite hero an award-winning smile, one that translated into that’s right, I’ve solved the mystery now, its game over... “...our height difference is the same.”

“number two...,” you continued to list off. “um, you sound like him, duh.” you stated flatly, at which he shook his head wildly against, which you found so amusing that you almost just burst out laughing right then and there. But reminding yourself that you were in the middle of your oh-so-serious interrogation, you managed to stifle your laughter.

“u-uhhhh, n-n-no I d-don’t...” Peter interjected, but instead of his gruff confident voice, his normal stutter voice slipped out. 

You raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“andddddd…..” you continued...

“o-okay, okay, okay, okay,” the masked hero sputtered, but this time in his ordinary Peter Parker voice.

Sighing, he dropped his shoulders, and he turned away from you to check his surroundings, making sure that there weren’t any peeping eyes, to which indeed thankfully there were none, before finally lifting his mask up and off his face to reveal a brunette boy standing with his back towards you.

You held your breath, waiting for the big reveal that would confirm your suspicions.

surely you were right...right? 

Finally, after what felt like 10 minutes, but was only a few seconds, he finally turned around to meet your glance. 

“You caught me.” it was indeed no other than your best friend, Peter Parker, who turned around, grimaced, and raised his hands in surrender. 

You gave him a look that said really?

He just gave you a sheepish smile, rubbed the back of his head, and you swear that you could see a blush that had crept up his cheeks. 

Glad that you had managed to solve the mystery as you felt your investigation come to an end. But you still had one last thing you wanted to tell you friend. 

“Oh! And Peter?”

“Huh?”

”I meant what I said,

But Peter just stared at you with confusion written all over his face. 

”At Ned’s House...I meant what I said...you’re my favorite Avenger,” and with your reference at the words you had said “that one fateful night,” you gave Peter a wink and a wave, and walked out of the alleyway with an uncontrollable smile tugging at your lips and a new bounce in your step.

And once your words had sunk in, Peter Parker was left in the alleyway, once again, a sputtering mess, but this time his cheeks were a flaming crimson color...

...one that perfectly complimented his Spider-Man suit. 

Author Notes: Sorry this one took me a while to write...I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!! :)

[maddiviner]

Pass the happy! 💛 When you get this, reply with 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people in your notifications!

Hmm, okay. I’ve been working almost every day lately, so I’m very sorry for the late reply, but this is a pretty fun idea. Most of my “happy things” for this post are going to be super-nerdy and weirdly specific, but still. 1. I’m in a Facebook group for the diner franchise I used to work at. There is this fellow in the group, and he’s a cook. His name, if I recall correctly, is Jolly, but I don’t know if that’s his real name Every so often he posts a photo of something really elaborate he make for a customer. He writes a little blurb above it filled with about twenty emojis and describing in detail what he made. For some reason, seeing these posts always cheers me up immensely. You go, Jolly! If you can dream it, you can cook it!2. This is pretty weird. I’m in a Facebook group about chaos magick and a lot of the people on there are very liberal about drug use. Cool with me, of course - I don’t use drugs personally, but I am okay with other people doing what they wilt in that regard. Anyways, I guess someone was both a little bit stoned and fighting with autocorrect at one point. They posted this thing that simply said, “Your in a dark alley. Nuggets attack, surroundering yuo at flounce point. Wuddyado?” I guess autocorrect changed “muggers” to “nuggets” but I don’t know what was meant by flounce point. Gives me a chuckle, though. I mean, flouncing chicken nuggets. Good heavens.3. Pack out time. At my new job (I started two weeks ago), I work in a warehouse. When end of shift time comes for us night shift workers, they are required to announce on the PA system that it’s “pack out time,” which signals that everyone is supposed to pack all the remaining merchandise into boxes and then head home. Thing is, my manager can’t seem to just regularly say “It is pack-out time,” and instead he screams, “Yeaaaahhh it’s P-PACKOUT TIME! LETS DO THIS! YEAHH!!” And sometimes plays loud music soundclips, too. That cheers me up at the end of a long shift. I think that’s the point. 4. My friend’s space adventures. I have this friend who saved up a bunch of money a while back and dropped it on a really high quality telescope (as in, not a Powerseeker - a Dobsonian). Nowadays he’s obsessed with seeing as much space as possible with the thing, buffing it with special lenses, attaching a camera, etc. He also, of course, watches every SpaceX launch he can, and once they build the spaceport up in Canada (close to wear he lives), I suspect he’ll hyperventilate like a kid in a candy store just watching the launches. You go, space friend! Explore the universe!5. Anything with watercolor. After years of doing almost entirely just digital art, a few months back I decided I wanted to teach myself watercolor painting. So, I got some paints and have been watching a lot of tutorials on Youtube, trying to learn new techniques. Most things I’ve painted so far aren’t very good, but I feel like I’m learning and watching the colors mix is so relaxing and happy-making.Wow, that was long. I feel happy and more cheerful just having written it, though. I have to go into work in about three hours, and this put me in the right mood.

[maitredesnavires]

25 Days of ML Christmas - Day 4: Snow

I can’t write less than 1,000 words. It’s not in my DNA. So here. Take it. 

Audiences: T

Word Count: 1827

AO3

The color drained from Chat Noir’s face. His bug was trapped in a globe that was quickly filling up with snow. She had used her lucky charm but the single match lay outside of her glass prison, completely useless. Ladybug’s panicked expression as she slammed her fists into the side had Chat’s heart reeling. He looked down at his useless glove, having already used Cataclysm to break an object the akuma had not actually been in. He rushed into an alley just before his transformation wore off.

“Here, Plagg,” Adrien roughly threw some camembert at his kwami before peering around the corner again. The snow was up to Ladybug’s waist already. Her movements were sluggish and she was losing out to some innate instinct that was obviously making her drowsy. Perhaps she took on some ladybug characteristics as he did a cat’s? He really didn’t want to find out what happened if she fully lost consciousness.

Adrien whipped around, ready to tell Plagg to hurry up but found his kwami had already polished off his cheese. He quirked an eyebrow and Plagg’s somber expression sent shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the rapidly decreasing temperatures.

“Let’s go, kid. We’ve got a bug to save.” Adrien wasted no time in calling up his transformation, bounding out from behind a dumpster before the green light even finished fading.

The akuma who called himself Jack Frost was busy using an icicle to turn people into living ice sculptures and throwing snow globe grenades to trap others. Chat wanted to pummel him so bad but he needed to save his lady first. Save Ladybug, save everyone, he kept chanting to himself as he watched a young child turn to pure ice, her scream etched in the smooth glass. Save Ladybug, save everyone. He looked back to Ladybug just in time to see her eyes slide closed and then disappear in snow.

“Ladybug, no!” Chat’s cry was lost in the wind that was suddenly whipping around him. A chill had settled in his bones even with his magical suit. He turned to the akuma, his body set in rage. “You’re going to be sorry you hurt my buginette,” he growled at the man dressed in snow and ice.

“Give me your miraculous and I promise I’ll set her free,” the akuma sing-songed, believing he had Chat cornered. The leather clad hero grabbed a nearby icicle and used his claw to carve it into a sword.

“Never,” Chat lunged at the man who tried to block him with his own icicle wand which promptly snapped in half. A black butterfly flew out of what was now a broken icicle Christmas ornament. Jack Frost changed back into his civilian self but Chat didn’t seem to care. He raised his sword once more, fury filled his eyes as he locked onto his prey. The man cried out as Chat swiftly brought down his weapon. All of a sudden, it slammed into a green shield.

“Chat! Stop!” Carapace pleaded. “He’s de-akumatized. He didn’t know what he was doing, Chat! Go get Ladybug before it’s too late. We’ll take care of the butterfly.” The green hero waited until Chat had dropped his weapon, wide-eyed at what he had been about to do. Red and yellow flashed ahead and the man in front of him dashed off to join them in their chase.

Chat rushed over and stood in front of the snow globe. He’d not seen the aftermath of an akuma before without Ladybug’s miraculous cure. Parisians everywhere were trying to get people out of snow globes; he could hear the cries of those who still had love ones encased in ice. Was this the future without Ladybug’s magic? He shook the thought off. There were too many people here and too much time had passed, he had to get his lady out of the park that was quickly filling with people. He lifted the snow globe, surprisingly light in his transformed state, and bounded off.

~~~~~~~~

He had had to break his window to get her into his room but he didn’t care. No one was home anyway; his father and Nathalie were off on a “business” trip and Gorilla was still searching for him back at the park. Chat set the globe down in the middle of his room. He took a deep breath. There was no going back now.

“Cataclysm.” The black magic glowed around his hand. Using a single finger, he tapped the glass and watched as it fell away to ash. The trapped snow fell to the ground around him and he lunged forward to catch an unconscious Ladybug. Only, it wasn’t Ladybug. Marinette Dupain-Cheng fell into his arms. His masked and unmasked lives crashed together in an overwhelming wave of thoughts and emotions. His best friend was his, well, best friend. The girl who he had been chasing had been right behind him the entire time. He felt an itch in the back of his mind and he released his transformation. Plagg flew out of his ring and started digging through the snow, yelling a name Adrien didn’t recognize. He finally put the pieces together as the black cat dragged a red bug out of the melting pile on his floor. He cradled her in his arms, tears streaming down his face as he repeated her name over and over again. “Tikki. Tikki. Tikki, please. Tikki, wake up. Please, Tikki.”

~~~~~~~

Marinette was the first to stir. Adrien had been hard pressed to let her out of his sight but he had left to get extra blankets, hot water bottles, and hot tea if, no when, she woke up. He had also found a plate of cookies for Tikki, Ladybug’s kwami as he learned. Plagg had not left her, cuddling up next to her in a nest of warmth.

Marinette slowly blinked the sleep out of her eyes, realization dawning on her that she was not, in fact, at home. She did, however, recognize the room. She bolted upright only feel a cool breeze. She quickly grabbed at the sheets to cover her naked body, her eyes searching the room until she heard a crash.

~~~~~~~

The snacks that he had been bringing into the room fell unceremoniously out of his hands at the sight in front of him. His first reaction had been relief, relief that his lady had woken up and seemed to be out of harm’s way. His second was a rather swift rush of warmth to his core as he averted his eyes from the bare woman in front of him. The plate clattering to the floor.

“Adrien?! How did I get here?! What happened to the akuma?! WHY AM I NAKED?!” Marinette’s voice continued to raise an octave higher with every question. Adrien knew that he had to tell her everything. A voice that sounded a lot like his father’s sowed seeds of doubt in his heart. How would she take knowing he was Chat Noir? Would she be happy? Disgusted? Disappointed? He walked over, food forgotten on the floor, and gingerly sat on a chair next to the bed.

He told her about the akuma, which she remembered. He told her about the snow globe, to which she shivered at the memory. He told her that Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee had captured the akuma and were keeping it in a special glass jar at Master Fu’s. He told her that he had carried her snow globe back to his room to keep her identity a secret from the masses. He told her that she had been soaking wet and freezing from the snow so he stripped her down (a deep blush forming from his ears to his chest,) and laid her in bed with all of the extra warmth he could find. Before anything else could register, she was calling out a familiar name.

“Tikki. Where’s Tikki? Is she okay?” Marinette sat up and looked around the room, just catching the sheet in the nick of time so as not to flash her crush...again.

“She’s with Plagg. She hasn’t woken up yet but he said that as a ladybug, she hibernates in the extreme cold. He’s not sure how long she’ll be asleep this time,” Adrien’s voice trailed off as he looked over at the mess of blankets in the drawer of his nightstand.

Adrien followed Marinette’s gaze as she found her sleeping kwami. She reached over but Plagg gave an uncharacteristic growl, protective of his hurt bug even from her own holder. Marinette just smiled and addressed the black god of destruction.

“Thank you, Plagg. Please keep her safe. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Plagg’s expression softened but his arms wound tighter around his other half.

Suddenly, Marinette’s eyes widened and her head snapped back to Adrien. Her head flipped back and forth between the mini deity and the blond haired boy next to her.

“Chat…” she started timidly. Adrien gave her his most Chat-like grin.

“Well, hello, my lady. It’s so very nice to finally meet the girl under the mask,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Adrien...Agreste is...Chat Noir...Chat Noir is...Adrien Agreste. Oh mon dieu…” Marinette covered her face with her hands. A slight panic started in Adrien’s soul. Was she really that disappointed…?

Marinette burst out laughing. “Of course you’re Chat Noir. How have I never seen it before? The puns, the bows, the flirting. Oh my God, Adrien, you’re Chat Noir.” She continued laughing until tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

“And is that...a good thing…” Adrien offered, hope not yet completely squashed by his lady’s reaction.

“A good thing? Adrien, that’s a great thing. My best friend and long time crush is actually my nerdy partner who I trust with my life. How is that anything but amazing?” She looked at him incredulously. Adrien’s ears perked up at a very specific word she had used to describe him.

“Long time...crush...my lady?” Marinette blushed but smiled.

“Well, yeah. I’ve had a crush on Adrien Agreste since collège. You’re amazing, Adrien. So kind and caring and thoughtful. Of course you’re Chat Noir. He’s the same way.” She looked at her partner fondly. How she had been so blind was beyond her. Perhaps it was the magic of it all.

“Well, my lady, I’ve had a crush on you since collège,” Adrien smiled shyly. “I always knew I would love the girl under the mask. I just didn’t realize she would already be my best friend.” They’re eyes met and they both blushed even deeper.

“Oh, kitty,” Marinette leaned over, being sure to keep herself covered, and bopped his nose. “I’m so glad it’s you.”

“And I’m so glad it’s you, Marinette.” Adrien caught her hand and placed a chaste kiss on the inside of her wrist. Suddenly a small, high-pitched voice came from the side drawer.

“Marinette?”

[kurosis]

i really need to stop saying fuck the police because this time they really came

so lemme set up the scene for ya’ll. i was on discord last night, right? ingesting an entire bottle of wine because of who i am as a person. went to bed at fuck all in the morning because i didn’t work till 2pm. i wake up out of a dead sleep at around 10am? ish? to a lot of voices in our living room. like a shit load, like whose having a fuckin pow wow at 10am on a fuckin thursday kinda commotion. ( for reference, myself and my immediate friend / roommate are in the master bedroom. it’s an enclosed space, with it’s own walk in closet and bathroom. we can hermit ourselves away from the rest of the house by closing the door. important detail here ).

so i’m laying there waking my gay ass up slowly like, i don’t gotta be anywhere till fucking noon-thirty who the fuck ruining my procrastination? and then the very distinct sound of police walkies puts my brain into maximum fuck-no like? ya’ll? i fucking lived in LA for a chunk of my life and still visit there frequently. if there’s one noise i can pick out of crowd, it’s gunshots and police radios. the shit is VERY specific of a sound.

so now i’m like goddamn the cops up in our pad? who the fuck let them in? do they have a warrant? weeds legal why is this happening, is someone a crack head in here that i don’t know about? mental dialogue is going at full on lit at the same time as i’m texting my roommate whose on the other side of our apartment in her room ( i know she’s in there with the door closed. she’s a very delicate person with a lot of ptsd. i’m sure she’s gone straight up non-verbal at this point and just nope’d out of whatever’s going on ).  while i’m waiting for her to reply, i get snippets of conversation through the walls. shit like “ can you account for where you were last night? “, “ did anyone see you? can you confirm this? “ and i’m like oh goddamn this an interrogation. the goddamn fuzz is interrogating my roommates?! why?!?!

other roommate gets back to me with a big long garbled text of shit, and TL;DR our neighbor across from us has been MIA for a solid week. fuckin just vanished off the grid aint nobody seen her or heard from her. ( it’s entirely possible she’s been missing for longer. i mean we live in an apartment building. we keep to ourselves and don’t really fuck with each other, so it’s possible she’s been missing for like hella longer than just a week. )

so being the sweaty black gay disaster i am, i’m layin there like nah. i gotta go to work. how am i gonna go to work? shit i should call my manager and tell her what’s up. maybe i can just go back to sleep and be dead throughout this whole ordeal? peace out into the bathroom all quiet like. call up my manager and try to lowkey ask how late i can come into work without it being a problem. she lists off a lot of things that would essentially be a problem with that and i’m like “fuck alright. i basically need to put my biscuits in the oven and hope they don’t burn.”

hang up with my manager then head back to bed and lay down in preparation for pretending to be asleep and confused. text nervous roommate back like “yo, i don’t have time to be interrogated, i gotta work and shit and if this turns into a murder case i’m legit not about this as shitty as this sounds like i’m too dark and we live in trump’s america i’m gonna get lit the fuck up” she’s basically like “lol got u”  just as we agreed that i don’t exist in the other room, i hear the cop ask “ is there anyone else in the apartment? “ and scared roomies boyfriend is like “ oh yeah, just our roommate in the other room! “

sittin here like ya’ll for real. ya’ll for real karma, why you like this?  i’m just layin’ there like alright god, just let them come in here and be quick about it, my alibi’s gonna be “sorry officers i was drunk for an entire week” which aint even a damn lie let’s be real. waitin’ on shit to hit the fan and splatter all over my face, but after like five minutes nothing happens? i realize then that they must have been talking about scared roomie, cause voices are way less close to my side of the wall then they were before.

i realize no one fucking knows i exist in here ( i also realize they don’t have a warrant, because otherwise they’d be all up in our kibbles and bits ). plan gets shit into my head at light speed and sloppy and i’m like i’m gonna sneak away from the cops ( this is how i know i will never be a competent reasonable adult, this is the worst fucking decision i could have made instead of just being normal and going outside to see what was up #my life living with anxiety ) so i crawl my ass up, gather my two day old work clothes and grooming shit and decide i’m gonna get changed and ready in the closet.  with the lights off ( hindsight rn is like “bitch wtf were you on? you fuckin weirdo wtf is the matter with you?” )

i get completely ready, get my backpack, keys and garage key and wait like i’m pretty sure i’m not breathing, or quietly telling all my damn organs to chill the fuck out and quiet down just in case feds can smell the fear coming off a nervous bladder.  sounds like everyones either outside, or too close to the front door to notice shit, so i peek out carefully, make sure no one’s around then fucking book it to our patio.  like i probably could have gotten away with just carefully crawling over the railing and being chill about it, but i had to go full teenage boy on that shit and throw myself over straight into the goddamn bushes.  no time to make sure i didn’t get fucked up by plant-life ( spoiler: i wasn’t, somehow ). get my ass up and book it to the side gate next to the front main gates because there just cops and fucking people everywhere????? like fuck this, now i’m really not interested in staying. someone gettin lit up i don’t wanna be part of that i’m too dark for that shit fuckin’ bye.

i roll out mission impossible style, huggin walls and goin around the perimeter of our big park / playground out in front of our complex, lookin like a goddamn fool. i get aaaaall the way around to the other side of the gate, trying to like stay ducked out of sight along the wall and sort of periodically throwing my hand in the air to get our garage to open.  course the shit’s low on battery, so i have to sit my ass down and like repeatedly hit the button and press and hold on it and shake it-- you know all the dumb shit you do to get a thing to work that doesn’t actually help but makes you feel like it’s helping? yeah that shit.

shit opens up finally. i come out of the little alley, cove, shit, checkin’ for cops and generally makin’ myself look real gooddamn suspicious as i squeeze my ass into our garage to get to the car ( no easy task, considering it’s filled with things including a TABLE and  FUCKING ENTIRE MATTRESS ). get in the car, peel the fuck out- but like not too fast, i’m tryin to play it cool ( even though i fucking tripped on every single thing i came across. like it’s a goddamn miracle i wasn’t noticed like holy shit ). i make a very laaaarge wiiiide circle around our complex, just so it looks like i’m a nosey sunday driver and not the suspicious 16 year old boy i probably am lookin’ like right now.

i make it all the way around, i’m almost at the gate, my butthole can finally unclench soon and then a cop waves me down.

like of course i’m gonna stop he’s the goddamn law also it would be a decidedly bad idea to fucking not stop right now. so i slow down, roll down my window, and try my best to pitch my voice higher to sound a little more feminine and disarming? like no one’s going to fuck with a little nerdy black girl right? woops. nope. bitch you forgot you’ve been on hormones since november, you don’t sound like a cute confused little girl you sound like the squeaky teenager disaster of a boy with bad fashion sense and smelling vaguely of fritos and febreeze.

apparently this works, because he just asked if i lived here ( to which i mentioned a building on the opposite side of the complex entirely ), and then said that that was alright, but if i heard or came across anything funny to please let them know. “ anything helps, even if you don’t think it’s important- “ i squeak out an okay ( and try not to check him out. like what’s wrong with me i’m terrified and trying to escape and go to work but honestly he was a very nice ginger guy with like perfect teeth i was DOA ).

i end up at work on time, wondering why i’m like this as a person and why i can’t just be normal and not be full of anxiety and be turnt up to 11 about anything.

and that’s it. that’s everything.

[cydarizard]

Mr Nobody: This Turned into a Terrifyingly Personal Movie Review

I haven’t done any movie reviews since grad school, so this is really long overdue one. It will also just be really long, because this movie gave me a lot of feels and made me want to put my personal thoughts on religion (usually saved for drunken conversations) into words for the first time ever. Warning, I don’t want to “spoil” Mr. Nobody since the concept of the film itself is pretty cool, so go watch it on Netflix if you haven’t seen it.

Double warning: this turned super introspective idek what happened. Only read if you like sad emo diaries.

I don’t know why it took me so long to watch this movie because it ended up being right up my alley. I think I’ve blogged about this before, but I’ll reiterate that to me, sci-fi must extrapolate the effect of a fictional scientific advancement onto a realistic/recognizable society or humanity. Otherwise, it’s just fantasy. By this definition sci-fi is unavoidably allegorical or at least commentary, and it’s often used to take on serious political issues like gender roles and race and slavery (The Left Hand of Darkness, Xenogenesis) as well as the more "nerdy” themes of scientists encountering extraterrestrials or colonizing other planets (Rendezvous with Rama, Red Mars.) [An aside: I used books as all these examples because I have a better memory for books than for films, and films that pop-up frequently in the “sci-fi” genre I often don’t consider as such. I know, I know, I’m one of those elitists about Star Wars and new-Trek and that kind of stuff.]

So anyway, Mr. Nobody was a good sci-fi film to me because it applied the Multiverse concept from theoretical physics onto a human scale, and not because of the scenes that took place on Mars or in the future. (The Mars bits were actually the least interesting parts of the movie for me since they were so far removed from the other timelines!)

My favorite line was “as long as you don’t choose, everything remains possible.” This is where it gets personal because I’m a super indecisive person and that’s subconsciously been my motto for a long time. (In real life I don’t get to look back and experience everything that could have happened though, so my fear of commitment just leads to inability to initiate plans, massive insecurities regarding new people, and sitting alone and reading a lot of science fiction. I’m also at the age where I need to start committing to some career goals and ugh it’s like psychologically impossible for me.) I was learning about quantum physics at the same time I finally got free of Catholicism, so this idea of either random phenomena or personal choice driving the state the world in in, and not God, took on a lot of significance for me.

If you change the word “choose” to “observe” in the above quote it applies to a lot of quantum phenomena (I’m thinking specifically of the double-slit experiment and Schrodinger’s equations, but also Heisenberg’s uncertainty principal.) It can be tricky to explain to people, but basically on a very small scale any illusion of a deterministic universe falls away. On a macro scale, we don’t see this uncertainty so we can pretend that there is only one path in life, it was all pre-ordained by God, nothing could have turned out differently and everything will work out the way God intends. However, on a quantum scale nothing is determined like that and everything is actually governed by statistics. For instance, in physical chemistry you can calculate that an electron has a certain likelihood to be in one orbital versus another, but observing it fundamentally changes it’s behavior so you can never know what state things are in, you just have to accept that there are multiple simultaneous possibilities, represented by some differential equations. This way of thinking doesn’t necessarily exclude determinism, but if you apply it on a human scale I think that each choice we make fundamentally changes our own universe, and there is no God because we are all our own God.

Haha and now I sound like a total megalomaniac (is that the right word?) or something. But when people say “there’s a plan for everyone” or “it will all be okay” or “you’ll figure it out” these phrases sound extra meaningless to me because I truly don’t think that any of those things are physically possible, and I don’t know why people keep telling me stuff like that. I don’t believe in one linear timeline, I think we just can’t perceive all the other timelines that exist. There are parallel universes where I’m a lot happier, ones where I’m sadder, and in about 52% of the universes that existed in a similar state to ours last November I bet Trump didn’t win the election. (So I’m writing this in one of the darker timelines.) Also, even when things are going well I'm always thinking simultaneously of the worse case possibility for why everything is in the state it appears to be. This makes me a great research engineer (good at spotting false data!) and horrible at personal relationships because I’m constantly convincing myself that everyone secretly hates me.

Um, this is barely a movie review anymore. But whatever no one reads this blog anyway so I’m just gonna post it so future versions of me can look back and laugh/cry depending on what state their lives are in at that time. My actual review is something like “Mr. Nobody was a great film, should be used in high school physics classes to help kids understand quantum phenomena, has a little problematic racial thing, and makes me want to touch Jared Leto’s face with my tongue.”

Okay. Apparently I also already had a tag for “this turned into a livejournal post instead of a movie review whatever” so that’s getting some good usage at least.

[kristablogs]

Five beast-mode workouts PopSci editors are doing from home

Go solo, with a live-in partner, or with a pet as you adapt your fitness routine for social distancing. (The formfitness/Pexels/)

All around the world, people are finding creative ways to live their best lives while social distancing. Roving outdoors is a healthy option if you have access to large, uncrowded spaces—but you can also keep your fitness up by making an yard, alley, or bedroom floor your new playground.

Extreme times call for extreme measures. PopSci editors are helping to flatten the curve by bringing their nerdy gym regimens home. And sharing them with you, of course.

Read on for a few of our custom workouts.

If you do hot yoga, try this …

A long-time mat rat, DIY Assistant Editor Sandra Gutierrez has practiced Bikram Yoga—now controversial because of its infamous creator—for more than six years, and now makes due with YouTube videos in her tiny Brooklyn apartment.

Hot yoga is one of the hardest workouts to replicate at home mainly, because most people don’t just have a spare room conditioned to a constant temperature of 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

But this practice is just a selection of 26 hatha yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises made into a specific routine, so technically, they can really well be done at any temperature. One thing to keep in mind though—some of the more advanced versions of these postures are really straining on the tendons and joints, and not having hellish heat to soften your muscles means you have to be extra careful when trying to reach for your toes.

Equipment

Yoga mat

Towel (even without the heat, there’s a posture that requires it)

Full-body mirror

Comfortable and light clothes (you’ll still be sweating)

Any device that can play YouTube

Wireless earbuds (optional)

The drill

A good Bikram Yoga practice requires near-perfect postures, so listening to instructions is very important. Given that you won’t have a teacher around to correct you, practicing in front of a full-body mirror and focusing on the right form is crucial. This doesn’t mean you have to push yourself unnecessarily—do whatever you can, but do it in the proper way.

The main challenge of practicing the discipline at home is time. Bikram Yoga’s 26 postures are done in a routine that’s invariably 90 minutes long. If you have kids, it’s very unlikely you’ll get that much peace and quiet, unless you have a team-player spouse or another caregiver who’s willing to sacrifice themselves. If you do, honor them after your practice. If you don’t, be indulgent with yourself and stop as many times as you need.

For your practice choose somewhere spacious and quiet; if you can lay on your stomach with your arms extended to the sides and not touch anything, you’re good to go. Then pick your video. A quick search on YouTube will result in more than a handful of easy-to-follow videos. There are also a couple of studios giving classes on platforms like Instagram live right now (like my old studio in Santiago, which teaches in Spanish every day). Since you’ll be looking at your body in the mirror most of the time, don’t worry about image quality or how big your screen is. As long as you have earbuds on to listen in on the dialogues, you’ll be fine.

And practice! If you’re new to this, take it slow and throw in as many savasana breaks as you need. The next you’ll be feeling muscles in your body you didn’t know existed. If you’ve done this for a while, please remember that you’re not nearly as flexible in a cold environment as you are in a hot yoga room—avoid injuries by listening to your body. It’s very likely you won’t be able to do advanced postures or bend as much as you usually do.

If you’re signed up for a race, try this ...

Flying’s Editor-in-Chief Julie Boatman had been training for her 20th marathon this spring. Now she’s switching course and planning for a virtual event.

When you’ve been training for months, the postponement or cancellation of your goal road race hits home, particularly if you’ve aimed for a half or full marathon. Your race director may have a virtual option for you, but what if there isn’t a planned event? You can set one up on your own or with a few friends to keep your dream alive—and stay in shape to combat the physical and mental health drains of stay-at-home restrictions.

You already have a spiritual leader in this: the guy who completed a marathon on his 23-foot-long balcony in France in six hours and 48 minutes. So there’s a concrete time to stride toward.

Equipment

Running shoes

Smartphone app like MapMyRun

An app, measuring tape, or your foot to estimate distance

The drill

Find your course. The best ones take into consideration the lay of the land and have minimal turns to cut down the overall run time. Making fewer turns holds another benefit: reduced strain on your knees and other joints. No one wants an injury, ever, but you definitely don’t want to crowd the emergency room in these times.

Measure the distance in either meters or feet using whatever tool you have. Here’s a quick conversion chart:

5K = 5,000 meters = 16,404.2 feet

10K = 10,000 meters = 32,808.4 feet

Half marathon = 21,097.5 meters = 69,217.5 feet

Full marathon = 42,194.9 meters = 138,435 feet

One of the reasons to run road races is for the crowd interaction: The miles are a lot less lonely with your fan club there to support you. The advantage of a virtual event is that you can pick a time for people to cheer you on from wherever they are.

After you’re decided on a date, come up with the plan. If your course is outside (say, 1,730.4 laps around your backyard’s 80-foot perimeter) resist the temptation to scrub if the weather’s not perfect. Half the challenge of a real-time race is dealing with the conditions at hand. You’re not really testing yourself if you wait for the perfect time.

Finally, plan a reward. Did you finish? Beat an old record? Push through a tough part of the run? It’s worth diving into your quarantine snack stash—and that stockpile of adult beverages—to celebrate your success. Those are some unexpected odds you beat since you signed up for that race back in December.

A satisfying kettlebell routine will make you feel like you've been tossing rocks around all day. (Taco Fleur/Pexels/)

If you’re a kettlebell fiend, try this ...

After Tech Editor Stan Horaczek’s CrossFit gym shut its doors during the pandemic, he turned to a friend and pro for a stand-in strength regimen.

A kettlebell is essentially a rock with a handle on it. It doesn’t have any moving parts you can break, and it doesn’t require any pricey accessories to go with it. Still, that simple weight enables some of the most wonderfully evil workouts you’ll ever accomplish. Baltimore-based trainer and certified kettlebell coach Laura Diebold provided the following workout specifically for PopSci.

Equipment

Kettlebell. Note: If you’re just ordering your first bell or you’re a newcomer to the discipline, don’t get fooled by the weights, which may seem low. A 35-pound kettlebell can tax even the fittest and strongest athletes. Because they require dynamic movements, it’s best to err on the lighter side and make up the effort with increased volume.

The drill

Warm up with this half-kneeling kettlebell sequence. It’s short, only because the workout itself is long.

The workout should take about half an hour with reps every minute, on the minute—EMOM in CrossFit speak. For each exercise, perform 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest and transition. When you finish the last exercise (kettlebell pull-overs), start back over with the first exercise (cheat clean with goblet squat). After 25 minutes, you will have completed five total rounds of each exercise.

Each round consists of:

<a href="https://youtu.be/0yx6bbKIFIg">Cheat clean with goblet squats</a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/cdYrfm2u2Fo">Z press</a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/cUeV8TPSXvY">Single arm swings</a> (25 seconds with each arm)

<a href="https://youtu.be/YmX0cy4VdQg">Plank pull-throughs </a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/LHQzzNhRrgc">Kettlebell pull-Overs</a>

Adjust the work-to-rest ratio if you need. You might find that you can hold your form better with 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off, which is important if you don’t want to spend the rest of your social distancing laid up with an injury.

If you rock climb, try this …

Think it’s impossible to keep up your bouldering and top-roping skills at home? Think again. Whether you have a house or a studio apartment, Art Director Katie Belloff’s full-body routine should fit right into your day to day.

Outside of the warm up, abs, and cool down, it’s important to alternate exercises to avoid overworking your key climbing muscles. Here’s just one combination to get you started.

Equipment

Resistance bands

Pull-up bar

Two dumbbells (any lighter weight)

Yoga mat

Door-frame hangboard (advanced)

The drill

A light yoga flow will help your control and stability on the wall. Start with 30 seconds of cat-cows to get your core active, then move to table-top. Flexing and lifting with your toes, lift your knees off the ground so they hover just six inches over your mat. Hold for 10 seconds. Push back into down dog and slowly lower into a plank position. If it’s too hard to hold yourself with straight arms, move so your forearms are resting on the mat under your shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds. Push back into your down dog and repeat this transition three times. You can end on twisting triangle pose on each side: Focus on keeping your shoulders in a straight line as you push your chest and arms out.

Climbers, you can never do too many ab workouts or leg exercises. Try the ones in the links with dumbbells each day and twice a week, respectively.

Now let’s get to the good stuff: your shoulders and back. With the pull-up bar, do a round of 10 scapular pull-ups and 10 regular pull-ups. If you have trouble doing the full set, grab a resistance band and hang it on the bar. Put your foot inside the bottom of the band and pushing it down to keep your your leg straight while you lift with your arms.

Switch your grip around so your wrists face in and do 10 chin-ups. If you’re having trouble again, try the same hack with the resistance band. Next, move over to your mat and hold a one-minute forearm plank. Do this for two sets.

If you want to level up and use a hangboard, go for it. You can do the same pull-up and chin-up routine as above, or you can skip straight to the finger exercises. These should be customized to your personal climbing goals: An app like Beastmaker can help you choose the right cadence and mix. Always make sure to offset your grip, so the right hand and left hand are holding different kinds of holds. For example, when your left hand is on the top sloper, your right hand should in a deep slot. Whether you decide on a beginner, intermediate, or advanced routine, take one-minute breaks between reps and five-minute breaks between sets.

Posture is important on a hangboard. Your arms and back should be engaged so that you’re slightly lifting, and you’ll want your ankles crossed and your hands in an open grip. The correct posture can be found here.

Cool down with another short yoga flow with back twists, warrior positions, and deep savasana breathing Picture your body sinking deeper and deeper into the floor as you exhale and relax.

If you kickbox, try this …

To make up for her typical sparring and Muy Thai classes, Senior Editor Purbita Saha has been taking to the driveway to practice speed drills and footwork. Cardio, upper body, and core exercises help round out her workout.

Mitts, pads, and speed bags be damned, the secret behind every martial-arts champion is movement. Coaches preach this time and again, but to be honest, it’s a tough to keep your head and toes in sync in the heat of the ring. Being sidelined at home, though, gives you all the time in the world to fine-tune your flow. Study the tapes (Mike Tyson and Laila Ali are both clutch for footwork), slip on a pair of light sneakers, and start throwing.

Equipment

Jump rope

Resistance band

Medicine ball (15 pounds or lighter)

Two dumbbells (five pounds or lighter)

The drill

Warm up with five suicides, one minute of jump rope (try alternate footing if you want to perfect your kickboxing rhythm), five bear crawls, and one minute of straight and uppercut punches holding dumbbells. Repeat three times. If this is too easy, double the sets and times.

Move into shadowboxing. Some people like to do this in front of a mirror to track their shoulders and feet, but you can pretty much do it on any flat space. Start with arms only, building on combos of jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks, and elbows. Add in defenses like slips, catches, blocks, and ducks after every third or fourth punch. To up the ante, put a resistance band around your ankles: This will keep you nimble and prevent you from crossing your feet.

Take a quick cardio and strength break with a minute of mountain climbers, 10 burpees, a minute of ice skaters, and 20 Russian twists with a medicine ball. Repeat three times. If you have a sturdy wall in front of you, do 10 lateral throws with the medicine ball on each side—great for getting full extension on punches—and 20 sit up throws. Repeat twice.

Now work in your kicks. Bring back those punch combos with straight, side, and back kicks peppered in. (Roundhouse kicks are tough when you’re only hitting air.)

Close the session out with a few sit-up variations: Superman lifts, bicycles, scissors, and goddess crunches are just some options if you don’t have back issues.

For further inspiration, check out UFC Gym’s Instagram workouts and teen fighter Chantel Navarro.

[scootoaster]

Five beast-mode workouts PopSci editors are doing from home

Go solo, with a live-in partner, or with a pet as you adapt your fitness routine for social distancing. (The formfitness/Pexels/)

All around the world, people are finding creative ways to live their best lives while social distancing. Roving outdoors is a healthy option if you have access to large, uncrowded spaces—but you can also keep your fitness up by making an yard, alley, or bedroom floor your new playground.

Extreme times call for extreme measures. PopSci editors are helping to flatten the curve by bringing their nerdy gym regimens home. And sharing them with you, of course.

Read on for a few of our custom workouts.

If you do hot yoga, try this …

A long-time mat rat, DIY Assistant Editor Sandra Gutierrez has practiced Bikram Yoga—now controversial because of its infamous creator—for more than six years, and now makes due with YouTube videos in her tiny Brooklyn apartment.

Hot yoga is one of the hardest workouts to replicate at home mainly, because most people don’t just have a spare room conditioned to a constant temperature of 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

But this practice is just a selection of 26 hatha yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises made into a specific routine, so technically, they can really well be done at any temperature. One thing to keep in mind though—some of the more advanced versions of these postures are really straining on the tendons and joints, and not having hellish heat to soften your muscles means you have to be extra careful when trying to reach for your toes.

Equipment

Yoga mat

Towel (even without the heat, there’s a posture that requires it)

Full-body mirror

Comfortable and light clothes (you’ll still be sweating)

Any device that can play YouTube

Wireless earbuds (optional)

The drill

A good Bikram Yoga practice requires near-perfect postures, so listening to instructions is very important. Given that you won’t have a teacher around to correct you, practicing in front of a full-body mirror and focusing on the right form is crucial. This doesn’t mean you have to push yourself unnecessarily—do whatever you can, but do it in the proper way.

The main challenge of practicing the discipline at home is time. Bikram Yoga’s 26 postures are done in a routine that’s invariably 90 minutes long. If you have kids, it’s very unlikely you’ll get that much peace and quiet, unless you have a team-player spouse or another caregiver who’s willing to sacrifice themselves. If you do, honor them after your practice. If you don’t, be indulgent with yourself and stop as many times as you need.

For your practice choose somewhere spacious and quiet; if you can lay on your stomach with your arms extended to the sides and not touch anything, you’re good to go. Then pick your video. A quick search on YouTube will result in more than a handful of easy-to-follow videos. There are also a couple of studios giving classes on platforms like Instagram live right now (like my old studio in Santiago, which teaches in Spanish every day). Since you’ll be looking at your body in the mirror most of the time, don’t worry about image quality or how big your screen is. As long as you have earbuds on to listen in on the dialogues, you’ll be fine.

And practice! If you’re new to this, take it slow and throw in as many savasana breaks as you need. The next you’ll be feeling muscles in your body you didn’t know existed. If you’ve done this for a while, please remember that you’re not nearly as flexible in a cold environment as you are in a hot yoga room—avoid injuries by listening to your body. It’s very likely you won’t be able to do advanced postures or bend as much as you usually do.

If you’re signed up for a race, try this ...

Flying’s Editor-in-Chief Julie Boatman had been training for her 20th marathon this spring. Now she’s switching course and planning for a virtual event.

When you’ve been training for months, the postponement or cancellation of your goal road race hits home, particularly if you’ve aimed for a half or full marathon. Your race director may have a virtual option for you, but what if there isn’t a planned event? You can set one up on your own or with a few friends to keep your dream alive—and stay in shape to combat the physical and mental health drains of stay-at-home restrictions.

You already have a spiritual leader in this: the guy who completed a marathon on his 23-foot-long balcony in France in six hours and 48 minutes. So there’s a concrete time to stride toward.

Equipment

Running shoes

Smartphone app like MapMyRun

An app, measuring tape, or your foot to estimate distance

The drill

Find your course. The best ones take into consideration the lay of the land and have minimal turns to cut down the overall run time. Making fewer turns holds another benefit: reduced strain on your knees and other joints. No one wants an injury, ever, but you definitely don’t want to crowd the emergency room in these times.

Measure the distance in either meters or feet using whatever tool you have. Here’s a quick conversion chart:

5K = 5,000 meters = 16,404.2 feet

10K = 10,000 meters = 32,808.4 feet

Half marathon = 21,097.5 meters = 69,217.5 feet

Full marathon = 42,194.9 meters = 138,435 feet

One of the reasons to run road races is for the crowd interaction: The miles are a lot less lonely with your fan club there to support you. The advantage of a virtual event is that you can pick a time for people to cheer you on from wherever they are.

After you’re decided on a date, come up with the plan. If your course is outside (say, 1,730.4 laps around your backyard’s 80-foot perimeter) resist the temptation to scrub if the weather’s not perfect. Half the challenge of a real-time race is dealing with the conditions at hand. You’re not really testing yourself if you wait for the perfect time.

Finally, plan a reward. Did you finish? Beat an old record? Push through a tough part of the run? It’s worth diving into your quarantine snack stash—and that stockpile of adult beverages—to celebrate your success. Those are some unexpected odds you beat since you signed up for that race back in December.

A satisfying kettlebell routine will make you feel like you've been tossing rocks around all day. (Taco Fleur/Pexels/)

If you’re a kettlebell fiend, try this ...

After Tech Editor Stan Horaczek’s CrossFit gym shut its doors during the pandemic, he turned to a friend and pro for a stand-in strength regimen.

A kettlebell is essentially a rock with a handle on it. It doesn’t have any moving parts you can break, and it doesn’t require any pricey accessories to go with it. Still, that simple weight enables some of the most wonderfully evil workouts you’ll ever accomplish. Baltimore-based trainer and certified kettlebell coach Laura Diebold provided the following workout specifically for PopSci.

Equipment

Kettlebell. Note: If you’re just ordering your first bell or you’re a newcomer to the discipline, don’t get fooled by the weights, which may seem low. A 35-pound kettlebell can tax even the fittest and strongest athletes. Because they require dynamic movements, it’s best to err on the lighter side and make up the effort with increased volume.

The drill

Warm up with this half-kneeling kettlebell sequence. It’s short, only because the workout itself is long.

The workout should take about half an hour with reps every minute, on the minute—EMOM in CrossFit speak. For each exercise, perform 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest and transition. When you finish the last exercise (kettlebell pull-overs), start back over with the first exercise (cheat clean with goblet squat). After 25 minutes, you will have completed five total rounds of each exercise.

Each round consists of:

<a href="https://youtu.be/0yx6bbKIFIg">Cheat clean with goblet squats</a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/cdYrfm2u2Fo">Z press</a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/cUeV8TPSXvY">Single arm swings</a> (25 seconds with each arm)

<a href="https://youtu.be/YmX0cy4VdQg">Plank pull-throughs </a>

<a href="https://youtu.be/LHQzzNhRrgc">Kettlebell pull-Overs</a>

Adjust the work-to-rest ratio if you need. You might find that you can hold your form better with 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off, which is important if you don’t want to spend the rest of your social distancing laid up with an injury.

If you rock climb, try this …

Think it’s impossible to keep up your bouldering and top-roping skills at home? Think again. Whether you have a house or a studio apartment, Art Director Katie Belloff’s full-body routine should fit right into your day to day.

Outside of the warm up, abs, and cool down, it’s important to alternate exercises to avoid overworking your key climbing muscles. Here’s just one combination to get you started.

Equipment

Resistance bands

Pull-up bar

Two dumbbells (any lighter weight)

Yoga mat

Door-frame hangboard (advanced)

The drill

A light yoga flow will help your control and stability on the wall. Start with 30 seconds of cat-cows to get your core active, then move to table-top. Flexing and lifting with your toes, lift your knees off the ground so they hover just six inches over your mat. Hold for 10 seconds. Push back into down dog and slowly lower into a plank position. If it’s too hard to hold yourself with straight arms, move so your forearms are resting on the mat under your shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds. Push back into your down dog and repeat this transition three times. You can end on twisting triangle pose on each side: Focus on keeping your shoulders in a straight line as you push your chest and arms out.

Climbers, you can never do too many ab workouts or leg exercises. Try the ones in the links with dumbbells each day and twice a week, respectively.

Now let’s get to the good stuff: your shoulders and back. With the pull-up bar, do a round of 10 scapular pull-ups and 10 regular pull-ups. If you have trouble doing the full set, grab a resistance band and hang it on the bar. Put your foot inside the bottom of the band and pushing it down to keep your your leg straight while you lift with your arms.

Switch your grip around so your wrists face in and do 10 chin-ups. If you’re having trouble again, try the same hack with the resistance band. Next, move over to your mat and hold a one-minute forearm plank. Do this for two sets.

If you want to level up and use a hangboard, go for it. You can do the same pull-up and chin-up routine as above, or you can skip straight to the finger exercises. These should be customized to your personal climbing goals: An app like Beastmaker can help you choose the right cadence and mix. Always make sure to offset your grip, so the right hand and left hand are holding different kinds of holds. For example, when your left hand is on the top sloper, your right hand should in a deep slot. Whether you decide on a beginner, intermediate, or advanced routine, take one-minute breaks between reps and five-minute breaks between sets.

Posture is important on a hangboard. Your arms and back should be engaged so that you’re slightly lifting, and you’ll want your ankles crossed and your hands in an open grip. The correct posture can be found here.

Cool down with another short yoga flow with back twists, warrior positions, and deep savasana breathing Picture your body sinking deeper and deeper into the floor as you exhale and relax.

If you kickbox, try this …

To make up for her typical sparring and Muy Thai classes, Senior Editor Purbita Saha has been taking to the driveway to practice speed drills and footwork. Cardio, upper body, and core exercises help round out her workout.

Mitts, pads, and speed bags be damned, the secret behind every martial-arts champion is movement. Coaches preach this time and again, but to be honest, it’s a tough to keep your head and toes in sync in the heat of the ring. Being sidelined at home, though, gives you all the time in the world to fine-tune your flow. Study the tapes (Mike Tyson and Laila Ali are both clutch for footwork), slip on a pair of light sneakers, and start throwing.

Equipment

Jump rope

Resistance band

Medicine ball (15 pounds or lighter)

Two dumbbells (five pounds or lighter)

The drill

Warm up with five suicides, one minute of jump rope (try alternate footing if you want to perfect your kickboxing rhythm), five bear crawls, and one minute of straight and uppercut punches holding dumbbells. Repeat three times. If this is too easy, double the sets and times.

Move into shadowboxing. Some people like to do this in front of a mirror to track their shoulders and feet, but you can pretty much do it on any flat space. Start with arms only, building on combos of jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks, and elbows. Add in defenses like slips, catches, blocks, and ducks after every third or fourth punch. To up the ante, put a resistance band around your ankles: This will keep you nimble and prevent you from crossing your feet.

Take a quick cardio and strength break with a minute of mountain climbers, 10 burpees, a minute of ice skaters, and 20 Russian twists with a medicine ball. Repeat three times. If you have a sturdy wall in front of you, do 10 lateral throws with the medicine ball on each side—great for getting full extension on punches—and 20 sit up throws. Repeat twice.

Now work in your kicks. Bring back those punch combos with straight, side, and back kicks peppered in. (Roundhouse kicks are tough when you’re only hitting air.)

Close the session out with a few sit-up variations: Superman lifts, bicycles, scissors, and goddess crunches are just some options if you don’t have back issues.

For further inspiration, check out UFC Gym’s Instagram workouts and teen fighter Chantel Navarro.

[crimsonblackrose]

I love comic conventions. Growing up I had older friends and family members who went to conventions but tickets were expensive and so was the hotels and they weren’t easy to get to. So I couldn’t go till college when I lived in Chicago. And there, I went to all the conventions. I went to ACEN every year with friends, I volunteered for C2E2 to work a booth for a comic book company (and reviewed it for a now vanished into the ether board game company), went to the IGC show at navy pier on behalf of my aunt who wanted to know what cool stuff they were having but was too busy to actually go look at the garden show, I volunteered for the Chicago Toy and Game fair, and spent a year working AWP. (It’s a writers conference and most of the time I was working it was to direct drunken writers and professionals to the nearest bars.)

This is all to say I love conventions. And I haven’t been to one in over 4 years. I don’t know what kind of conventions are housed in Seoul or even Korea beyond Seoul Comic Con, which I never realize is coming until I just happen to be at Coex and exhausted and see a cosplayer walking by and wonder what’s going on? But this year I was determined to go, I even talked a friend into going with me.

  A lot of the conventions I’ve been to are huge. You can walk and look and look and look at vendors and that’s an entire day right there, even without visiting the panels or the signings. If you’re looking for anything specific that adds to the amount of time that disappears hunting for things through bins or looking at displays. Add to this exponentially if you’re at a nerdy con and a friend dresses up. (Aka every time I went to ACEN ever)

I’m not sure what I was expecting Seoul Con to be. I had recently sprained or inflamed a tendon in my foot so the goal was to be slow and chill. We got there before they opened, filled out some forms at one registration booth and then joined the line for tickets. Because we had gotten our tickets that day we just had wrist bands. We’d also arrived right around opening time so we headed upstairs to the entrance to find a large line and then headed to the back of it. I was concerned that this long line meant the convention was crowded, but what it actually meant was that the convention had finally opened and these were all the early birds who’d gotten there before us, because once the line started moving we were in there pretty quickly.

Usually when I go to a convention my favorite this is to look around at shops and see what they have for sale, or what sort of free things they’re handing out, and to spend a ton of time looking around artist’s alley. Usually I run into a couple of friends who I for some reason always miss out that they have a booth. At Seoul Comic Con I ended up first at a stationary shop and then found behind it was the artist alley, which was quite small. I didn’t see anything that I felt like I really needed so I just kept wandering. Artist alley later bumped into more official shops like the Star Wars shop and the Marvel booth, both which had statues and things to take pictures of/ with. Star Wars had a couple storm troopers you could take a picture with and they were taking donations for Make a Wish. Then we found a bookstore with English options and a ton of notebooks and I regret, for my wallet, that I purchased a Hufflepuff notebook and the Hannibal cookbook. (The latter is more of a regret for when I eventually move and have to lug that across the ocean with me). I’m actually very happy with both purchases and I get really excited whenever I find books in English. I’m impressed/proud of myself for not buying more. We also found where the signings/pictures were hosted and we looked at the pricing which was more/ if not the same price as to get in and decided maybe it wasn’t worth it.

Then we ended up in the food section which was a couple little kiosks including a Monster kiosk giving out free samples. (aka full size Monster energy drinks) I gave mine to my friend.

Then while she ran off I watched a little bit of the panel that was happening with Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I thought it was kind of nice that it was out in the open so that even if you didn’t grab a seat or were early enough you could still listen and watch from other spots in the room. But it also kind of showed me how small the convention was. Essentially panels were being hosted in the food court.

After that we did one more quick loop, watched some people playing dance dance revolution and then that was it, we’d seen the whole con and it wasn’t even lunch time yet. I’d expected it to take the whole day. But it hadn’t, but it was probably better for my wallet. So after making sure we had everything we wanted and there wasn’t anything we wanted to go back for we left and headed out to lunch.

I know not every convention is as big as C2E2 or ACEN. I’ve even hosted a small for charity convention before that people could finish (If they wanted to skip panels and showings) in about a half hour or less. I’ve even attended a convention that was only like 3 rooms. But this was Seoul Comic Con. Essentially a big city convention in a country that makes it’s on cartoons and animation and comics and that was it. I don’t know if it’s because I went on Sunday but I was a bit disappointed.  Though the cosplayers were great.

Seoul Comic Con tends to happen annually at Coex mall during the first weekend in August.

Seoul Comic Con I love comic conventions. Growing up I had older friends and family members who went to conventions but tickets were expensive and so was the hotels and they weren't easy to get to.

[mado-science]

Prepare for a Riproaring Ride! While I am still not quite ready to eat fish for dinner anytime soon - despite great recipes - I must say that this is a truly fascinating read - author Mark Kurlasnsky does amazing research and I while I do not generally consider myself a fan of nonfiction - I hereby declare I will read everything Kurlansky writes! Go to Amazon

Splendid Book About A Fish -- And Much, Much More I can't recommend this book often enough. Kurlansky is a brilliant writer and does this sort-of "all the world's connected" kind of history extremely well. After reading, you think, "D'uh, I should've known that" when considering the centrality of food acquisition and production to the political-economy of the modern era, but Kurlansky is so gifted a writer that each discovery -- the reader's and those historical figures who are doing the discovering -- is an absolute delight. The book is also a splendid demonstration of just why the basics -- food and water -- are likely to be sources of conflict in coming decades. Go to Amazon

A great book, filled with emotion over the tragedy of the cod industry A great book by Mark Kurlansky that explores the globalization of cod and shows its impact of history. This book taught me so much about this simple fishes influence on the past and current world. The book was as informative as it was entertaining. This book was by no means boring and I often found myself losing a few hours getting lost in the story of cod fishermen. Kurlansky writing is rich and full of an unexpected amount if emotion about his topics. The various recipes the use cod scattered around the book were a novelty touch and seem very interesting! I'm really considering trying one...only I find myself stopped by the knowledge provided by Kurlansky of how over fished cod are! Go to Amazon

Eye opening, lots of history, a real page ... Eye opening, lots of history, a real page turner, I now have something to talk about besides "Salt". I'm not an English major, the writing was attention grabbing and really hard to put this book down. Go to Amazon

An incredible history, but not always a gripping read As a chef and history buff, this book seemed like it would be right up my alley. And I will admit that many portions of the book were utterly fascinating, specifically those regarding the complete history of cod fishing and the very nature of the cod itself. Go to Amazon

My "nerdiness" is showing I loved this book--a desert rat who knows nothing about fishing. The story of how this fish influenced the discovery of the New World and the development of the US economy is breathtaking. My husband and I came to love bacaloa after a couple of trips to Portugal and Spain--wish I had known the cod story then. Go to Amazon

Good stuff It's great, being one of the first narrative non-fiction books that talks about a specific species of fish and its history. I think now there are other books a bit more engaging, but they all talk about this one as being their main inspiration. Go to Amazon

Who'd have ever guessed a fish could have been so ... Who'd have ever guessed a fish could have been so important to history or that it could have been nearly wiped out by overfishing? Go to Amazon

Would recommend How many ways can you say "cod" enjoyed very much Five Stars Interesting albeit not for everyone ... after all, it's just cod Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars But still likes this the best. Cod

[rememberthattime]

Chapter 30. Move II. Part I. Japan

Well, it was the long route, but we finally made it to Sydney. Things are relaxed: I’m beachside. It’s 80 degrees in late February. I’m in sandals, shorts, and a tee shirt, and I’m sipping down back-to-back açaí smoothies.

Three months ago, on December 12, I knew this day was eventually coming. Back then, I even knew exactly how the next twelve weeks would play out: absolute madness. In our indirect and unusual move from London to Sydney, Chelsay and I fit in trips to Tokyo and Kyoto, Dallas for Christmas, Seattle for New Years, a one-month-only busy season reunion with EY US, before catching our 24 hour flights to 'Strayaaa.

It was the absolute madness I predicted, but now, several months late (and with my third açaí smoothie in hand), I can finally present: Chelsay and I’s three-part moving post. Part I: Japan.

To begin, I need to rewind three months to early December. We were pulling together visa applications and arranging our London move (see last post), so I didn’t have much time to plan Japan. That said, I was too excited for the trip to not look into a few things.

I’d watched YouTube travel videos and developed a broad idea of the places I wanted to see. Instead of exact sites or temples though, my list was made up of unique Japanese experiences. In Tokyo, I wanted to experience the 21st century city: neon-lit streets, overwhelming density, and arcade-inspired quirkiness. Think Lost in Translation.

In Kyoto, I wanted to experience the opposite: Japan’s 9th century temples and shrines. Removed from the big city and hidden deep in maple and gingko tree forests, I wanted to walk through peaceful and perfectly manicured Japanese Zen gardens. Think The Last Samurai.

Luckily June’s family lives in Tokyo, so even though I didn’t know the exact sites to visit, she knew exactly where we could get the above experiences. That said, not only were we getting June’s insider tour, but we’d also get to spend time with June’s family, especially Chelsay’s cousin Yuka, and her daughter Sayaka.

Juju (a family nickname I’ve adopted) clearly knows me well, because the first place she took Chelsay and I was a katsu place for lunch. With all respect to the international city London is, this was our first good katsu in two years. Our Christmas trip was off and running right from the very start.

After lunch, June took us around Tokyo’s many unique neighborhoods, including the bizarre Tsukiji fish market, the jaw-dropping city views from Roppongi Hills, and the charmingly nerdy arcades of Akihabara. Small side story from the arcades: Chelsay shockingly beat me in Need for Speed. I’m not sure how she won, but it was a perfect showcase for her mixed background: the Asian side had the video game advantage, while her white side handled the driving.

For dinner, we met June’s mom and sister in trendy Ginza for shabu shabu, thinly sliced meats that you self-swish (“shabu” in Japanese) in boiling broth at your table.

This is going to be a long post, so I’ll just list my Day 1 takeaways in bullet form:

First, I don’t understand how Tokyo can be so clean. In any other major city, trash cans are over flowing and dirty newspapers are blown up against the sides of buildings. Not in Tokyo though. Despite being the largest city by population (36 million), Tokyo keeps things tidy.

Second, I’ll just repeat that last line: there a 36 million people in Tokyo. There are only ~15 million in New York City. There are only 24 million in ALL OF AUSTRALIA! I remember feeling crammed in London (8 million), so Tokyo was bound to be a circus, right?... Not so fast my friend. The difference between London and Tokyo is that Tokyo was built vertically, with retail and restaurants filling 20+ stories in each endless block of skyscrapers. London’s a relatively short city given most of the buildings were made in the early 1800s. Tokyo, on the other hand, was leveled during WWII, so city planners were able to rebuild a taller city using more modern methods.

Third, things are strange. White strawberries, square watermelons, pour-over coffee filters, massive tunas, crazy gamers, and Tweety bird giving the finger (see below). We hadn’t even cracked into some of the weirder neighborhoods (Shinjuku and Shibuya would come a few days later), but I’d already started to experience the unique, quirky, Lost in Translation-y side of Tokyo.

So, to summarize, Day 1 was a success. For Day 2 and 3, we’d be taking a bullet train to Kyoto before returning to Tokyo for Days 4 and 5. As a reminder, my goals for Kyoto were pre-turn-of-the-(first)-century temples and shrines. See, unlike Tokyo, Kyoto was not a target for the Allies, so the city’s temple parks have maintained that Last Samurai feel for 1,000 years.

Our journey back in time actually started with one of the most modern modes of transportation: Japan’s bullet trains. Topping out at 375 MPH (though only 200 MPH with passengers) Chelsay and I covered over 300 miles of Japanese countryside in less than two hours.

It might have been a futuristic commute, but our first stop in Kyoto, Daigoji Temple, immediately pushed us into the past. I’d never even heard of this place, but Juju’s insider tour proved valuable because this ended up be my favorite memory in Kyoto. Daigoji is tucked into a neighborhood on the outskirts of Kyoto, shrouded in quiet privacy behind a rows of maple and gingko trees. It was the exact experience I was hoping for in Kyoto: peaceful Japanese Zen gardens, precisely manicured bonsai trees, creaky but colorful timber shrines. It was Tom Cruise’s temple in the Last Samurai.

Daigoji was certainly a June-insider-special, but our next destination has gone slightly more mainstream: Fushimi Inari. Founded in the 700s, this temple ground is massive. It takes up an entire hillside just outside Kyoto, and its famous 10,000 torii gates weave through the surrounding fall colored forest. These bright red shrines are built by the temple’s Shinto followers, each displaying a prayer inscribed in the gate’s frame. Sayaka was starting to get hungry as we set off through the shrines, so she led our rather quick 2.5 mile trek to the top.

The sun set on our descent, so we made our way from Fushimi Inari to Gion for dinner. Gion, Kyoto’s most historic neighborhood, is lined with machiyas (traditional wood townhomes with paper interior walls), but is best known for its secretive geishas. For being entertainers, geishas are actually very discrete and hard to spot. ... we were on an insider tour though.

June and Yuka kept their eyes peeled and pounced once they saw one. Yuka sprinted down a tiny back alley after the geisha, yelling in Japanese: “Wait, we’re showing around Americans!” She actually caught up to the geisha, but apparently our American-ness has its limits: the geisha said she was “working”, so we let her carry on with her evening.

After our high-speed geisha chase, Saya finally got her dinner wish. We met Chelsay’s non-English speaking cousins at a small yakitori restaurant hidden in the back alleys of Gion. As Chelsay’s family seemingly beat boxed at each other, I politely nodded and laughed when it seemed appropriate while enjoying grilled chicken heart and beef tongue.

I should note somewhere in this post that I barely slept while in Japan... We were crossing quite a few time zones going from London to Japan to Dallas to Seattle and finally to Sydney, and I did not get off to a good start. I think my nights ranged from 2 to 5 hours while in Japan, and this night specifically was closer to 2. I guess this was also part of the Lost in Translation experience.

The next day’s schedule certainly kept me awake though. We started by banging gongs at Kiyomizudera, one of the 21 finalists for UNESCO’s New Wonders of the World because of the fact that the timber temple is built WITHOUT A SINGLE NAIL. We then took a stroll down the historic Three Years Hill, picking up tasty Malebranche matcha cookies as well as other various rice-based snacks. Next, we visited the Earthy Ginkakugi temple, hidden among a mossy, natural Japanese garden that reminded me of Iceland’s terrain, followed by the more superficial Kinkakugi temple, whose walls are plated in gold leaf. Finally, to close out the day, we walked through the Arashiyama Grove, where flood lit bamboo trees grow up to 90 feet tall.

This didn’t turn out to be too bad a day given I’d only slept 2 hours. It might be the most anyone’s ever accomplished with that little sleep. Who’s to say. Either way, I (finally) slept like a rock that night.

The next day, Chelsay and I grabbed a return bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. ...back to the weird stuff (in the most charming and culturally unique sense). Our first day in Tokyo included white strawberrys and Tweety bird giving the finger, but somehow this day would be even more bizarre.

After arriving back in the city, Chelsay and I’s first stop was the Shibuya crossing, labeled as the busiest intersection in the world.

Every three minutes, the great migration begins. As soon as the traffic lights change from green to red, 1,000 travelers take their first step in an arduous journey from one side of the road to the other. It is a chess match navigating this cross walk, but each delicate dancer somehow manages to weave around one another without colliding.

After witnessing this miracle of nature, Chelsay and I headed up to Shinjuku for a miracle of mankind: the Robot Restaurant. Restaurant is actually a misnomer, because there really wasn’t food. I’ll more accurately refer to it as the Robot Spectacle.

The Spectacle began in a bizarre technicolored waiting room that can only be described by the picture below. Really, no more needs to be said because you already have an idea where this night was heading. It was sensory overload, starting with the waiting room. 

After about 20 minutes, the Spectacle was ready, and we were taken to our seats. We descended a few sets of clown-puke staircases before arriving in a dark, basement-level arena. Was this actually just a drug trip? Was the waiting room an ecstasy high and this basement the crash?  If so, the buzz soon returned, as the dark arena was illuminated in a seizure-inducing rainbow of neon lights. The black curtains were pulled and the Spectacle was on!

For the next hour, Chelsay and I were completely sober but tripped balls. There were flashing lights, robots, dinosaurs, a Michael Jackson tribute, a cabaret, and a Kung Fu Panda rip-off. It was a non-stop, 60 minute sensory overdose. I don’t know of any other way to describe this point in my life (nor do I want to, given how long of a post this is), so I’ll just let the videos do the talking.

After the Spectacle, we needed fresh air and open space. We exited the arena into the cold Tokyo night, unsure whether it was the same evening or several days had passed during our long drug trip. I joke about the overload of the Robot Restaurant, but it was actually one of the exact experiences I was hoping to have in Tokyo. Neon-lit, overwhelming, quirky. It had everything, but now we needed to decompress.

It was our last night before heading to Texas, so we decided a wintery walk through the city’s illuminated streets was the perfect way to unwind. Starting in nearby “Piss Alley” (a series of “Old Tokyo” restaurants and sake houses where the patrons used to step into the small outdoor alley for… relief), we walked through the colorful, skyscraper-lined neighborhoods of Shinjuku, Harajuku, and finally, Shibuya.

To end the evening and our bizarre but exciting week in Japan, Chelsay and I stumbled into the perfect exclamation mark for our trip: a yakiniku grill. Over the past few days, Chelsay and I had enjoyed almost all of her favorite treats from summers in Japan: shabu shabu, katsu, raman, bento lunches, vending machine coffee, senbei from the local conveni, mochi balls, onigiri (no doubt), matcha cookies, yakitori, takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), and genuinely dozens of rice-based snack variations. The one type of food we hadn’t found yet though: yakiniku, a beef dish served similar to Korean BBQ, with grills in each of the tables.

There are 36 million people in Tokyo, and genuinely thousands of yakiniku options to feed them. This means you can’t really research because any TripAdvisor search for "best Tokyo yakiniku" comes back with 100 results. Instead, we Google searched for nearby options and just went to the first result with a high rating. I don’t even know the name of the place we chose because it was in all Japanese characters.

It was located on the ground floor of a large residential building, and was tucked about 100 feet in from the street. The entrance certainly didn’t suggest this place was anything special: plain, dimly lit, and with beer casings stacked up beside the door.

Thank god we opened the door though, because this place was phenomenal! The interior was still dimly lit and cramped, but from the entrance, we could see the perfect, copious, thinly-sliced, deep red, marbled beef. In the same night we witnessed the Robot Spectacle, dinner might have provided the greatest sensory overload. We were hooked at first sight, and the scent of the grilled meats on each large wooden table’s barbeque reeled us in. What’s that we hear?  Harry Potter playing on the restaurant’s TV? This place really was the perfect finale for our trip to Japan.

As we grilled the succulent, thinly-sliced hunk of beef, Chelsay and I reflected on the weird and wonderful week that was. As I wrote earlier, I didn’t have exact sites that I wanted to visit, but rather unique Japanese experiences I wanted to enjoy. In Tokyo, I wanted the Lost in Translation experience of neon-lit streets, overwhelming density, and arcade-inspired quirkiness. In Kyoto, I wanted to walk through the temples of The Last Samurai, peacefully reflecting beside Zen gardens and underneath colorful shrines.

To sum up our few days in Japan, all I can say is that it was exactly as I expected. This is the highest compliment I can give for this trip, a perfect Part I in our three part move to Australia.