#what if i want a regularly occurring period that just does not feel like evil evil evil death. huh? what about me?

[hungerpunch]

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[funkymbtifiction]

Some kind of Introverted Feeler!

Howdy! So I've been able to narrow down my choices to Fi dominant/Te inferior; my whole life has had themes of these functions, everyone knows me for being "the sensitive one", or if you're in my family, the person to walk on eggshells around;;

My biggest concern is just trying to pinpoint if I display either Ne/Si or Se/Ni... Which I know are two *completely* different functions, but it's easy to fall victim to confusion and wondering, "Hmm, I guess I do these things sometimes!"...

Sounds like you're super confident in being sensory-aware, engaged with the outer world, and doing actual real things as opposed to dreaming and brainstorming with your INFP boyfriend -- so yes, ISFP is accurate. A lot of what you said (nostalgia about the past, etc) could tie into whatever your core Enneagram type is -- 9s in particular can be somewhat sentimental and lapse into revising old hobbies or interests or romanticizing the past as a source of comfort in a stressful situation.

[scripttorture]

Hi how are you? I have a character who's isolated for about a year in a room. The room is spacious and pretty much designed like a little studio for utmost comfort. She's well fed and has a small bathroom compartment in her room. Only, she's cuffed by the foot by a padded chain to the wall. She has a servant who takes care of her needs and brings her food and books to read to keep herself busy. The servant visits her for a couple hours everyday and they form a friendship (Imprisoned woman ask/1)

(imprisoned woman ask/2) A friendship strong enough that the servant helped the woman escape even if that meant her persecution. The woman was the military leader of her country, a powerful fighter feared Nationwide, only reason she got imprisoned was as a sacrifice to save her country from invasion. At first she tried to hurt herself and starve herself for them to take her out of the room, but they only brought the doctor to her room. After that, she started exercising again and and doing her..(imprisoned woman ask/3) ..her best to keep her fitness at top shape. She was at first regularly drugged because the king wanted to impregnate her, and knew if he got close to her while she was awake, even strapped from all angles to the bed, he won’t come out unscathed. That stopped after they found out she was pregnant finally. For her escape, she was supposed to leave right away, but couldn’t help but sneak to kill the king.(imprisoned woman ask/4) I want her to succeed in killing him and escaping the country, shallow or fatal wounds are okay, because she’s saved soon enough in less than two days. But I want to make sure it’s possible in the first place, that is, whether it’s realistic that she manages to fight and kill the king and then fight her way across the castle and country all the way out of the borders in about a week or possibly more. She’s still early enough in her pregnancy that she doesn’t even know(imprisoned woman ask/5) She doesn’t even know about the baby until she loses it because of her wounds. Also, would she be able to return and fight for her country once again in a month’s time? She doesn’t have any lasting physical impairments. As for mentally, she has severe PTSD and depression, those two she had at a milder degree because of past trauma of previous wars, but they became much worse, she also has anxiety related to shame and guilt because of the rape she essentially had no..

-

I think that a lot of what you want is possible but I think that chain is likely to cause lasting physical injury, there’s still a high chance of death and I think you’re underestimating the likely extent of psychological symptoms.

 I’ll be honest, this isn’t a plot I personally like, it feels as though it’s putting more and more trauma on the character without really giving her any moments of agency. She loses control over her body early on, the decisions she attempts to make are undermined. Her escape is engineered by the servant. And while killing the King is her decision it’s quickly followed by a miscarriage that further highlights how much she was under his power.

 Now all of this might be necessary for the story but I’d ask you to think about whether it really is. Does rape add anything to this story? Does the miscarriage? Does a suicide attempt? Are these necessary steps for the character? They could be, but I’d ask you to think hard about whether they actually are.

 You don’t need to put a character through multiple traumatic events in order to justify trauma. The symptoms you’ve described; PTSD, depression and anxiety could all be explained by years of fighting a war. They require no further assault.

 Depending on the amount of time the servant spends with this character she might be in solitary confinement.

 Solitary is defined as less then 1-2 hours human social contact a day. In this situation the character could well be in solitary confinement for some parts of her imprisonment and not for others. A week is enough time to develop symptoms and estimates of recovery times vary. I think it’s safe to assume that for a week in solitary it would take several weeks of normal social contact to recover.

 Please consider whether your character would be suffering from solitary symptoms. I think it’s likely because it would take time for her to build up a relationship with the servant. And if she’s suicidal, aggressive or starving herself at first then that could easily scare off the servant and prevent them from forming a relationship with his.

 I think it’s unlikely that the character would attempt suicide, starve herself, and then not just decide to live but summon the will to train.

 You generally do not see that sort of progress while someone is still being held against their will and tortured. A slow decline while imprisoned is common. Hanging on to certain behaviours or routines is possible.

 But a 180 from suicidal to health and military training seems almost impossible in the situation you’ve outlined. Psychologically I’d say it’s extremely unlikely but you’ve also got physical factors at play because the character is being drugged and you’ve implied the character is force fed and subjected to medical procedures she doesn’t consent to.

 Forced feeding is often traumatic. So is going through a serious medical procedure without consent.

 If the character was suicidal before then I think she’s unlikely to recover immediately after more traumatic events. This either implies that suicidal feelings are subject to reason (they are not) or that they can be fixed with more trauma.

 I also think that if the character is being drugged and repeatedly raped it’s likely she knows about it. It isn’t clear from your ask whether she knows or not.

 I find it difficult to understand the timing in this scenario. How does the King know this character is pregnant when she herself does not? Does he have access to modern pregnancy testing? Because even they can be inaccurate within the first month, implying that the character is still being drugged and there’s a window of about 1-4 months when she escapes.

 The chance of a natural miscarriage are still incredibly high in the 2nd and 3rd months of pregnancy and sometimes it is not clear that what occurred is a first trimester miscarriage rather than an unusually painful, late and heavy period.

 We also genuinely do not know the effect of many drugs on pregnancy because they are often not tested on pregnant people. Many drugs, especially older ones, might not even have been tested on pregnant animals.

 Anaesthetics are not perfectly safe. They can be hard to administer and it can be hard to judge the dose correctly.

 It can be especially hard to judge the dose if the character’s weight fluctuates, as it would during periods of starvation followed by binges.

 If it’s hard to judge the dose and hard to administer the dose, the chances of overdose are higher. If this is happening repeatedly and regularly then overdose becomes quite likely. It could result in serious health problems or death depending on the drug used.

 I’d suggest you take a look at ScriptMedic’s blog and think carefully about the kinds of drugs that could be used. And the side effects of long term use.

 Why is it so important that the King have a child with this woman? If it’s so difficult and requires the use of drugs that might cause a miscarriage anyway; is there a good reason why the King couldn’t find a willing woman who looked vaguely similar, with the plan of announcing that the child came from the prisoner?

 If you’re trying to emphasise that this character is evil then he’s already waging a war. You can use the way he fights battles to establish his morals. You can give the character personal reasons to want this King dead without rape. Things like the impact his actions and orders have had on people she cares about.

 Escape generally is rare, I don’t think using an escape plot is a bad thing but if you’re going to do it then I think you need to think carefully about why escape is possible.

 From what you’ve said this escape is relying a lot on the fighting skills of someone who has been imprisoned, drugged, abused and unable to practice properly for a year. I think that winning a succession of fights is unlikely in that scenario.

 I’ve done a little martial arts. Believe me a year of not being able to practice properly results in a noticeable drop in skill. And I don’t think someone chained at the foot and regularly drugged would be able to practice properly.

 If you want the character to fight as part of her escape then I don’t think that’s necessarily ‘wrong’. But try to have a realistic idea of what she’d be physically capable of. She’d be weaker and slower then normal because she’s been mistreated and hasn’t trained.

 I don’t know if the memory problems trauma commonly causes effect martial arts specifically, but they do affect learning and recall. I think it’s likely this would also negatively impact her fighting.

 Most top fighters couldn’t take on twenty people in a strange place and win every fight. Think about whether what you want the character to do, with her impairments, is reasonable.

 The weight of a metal chain that’s worn continuously over a year is likely to cause serious problems. I am not entirely sure what those problems would be because it’s not a typical modern torture. Based on injuries from long term restraint tortures I would say nerve damage, joint problems and chronic pain are all likely. Long term mobility issues (ie difficulty walking) seem possible.

 I don’t think it’s a good idea to give the character fatal injuries if she’s in the process of escaping. I’m really uncomfortable with the idea of the miscarriage as it is as well. Is there a reason this character can’t choose whether to allow the embryo to develop or not? Is there a reason she can’t have a little bit of control over her own body?

 As it stands; no I don’t think this character could successfully go back to fighting in a month.

 She might be able to go back and make a lot of bad decisions driven by mental illness. But I don’t think she’d be healthy, physically or mentally a month after all this trauma. Especially since you seem to be suggesting that fighting again would exacerbate her mental health problems.

 I still think that three symptoms is much too low given the extent of abuse and the length of time she endure it. I list three symptoms as a minimum for a torture scenario. So if a writer has a character who is tortured once in a single scene, a character that’s held for a few hours or a day, then I typically suggest that three symptoms might be appropriate.

 You are doing much much more then that. I think as a minimum you should look at 5 symptoms from the general list. I think going as high as 7-9 could be appropriate.

 I don’t think you should have the character recover from a serious symptom, such as suicidal feelings, while she’s imprisoned and abused.

 The severity of the symptoms should also be considered. Picture something that would take over ten years to recover from. That’s the level I think you’re looking at.

 If this sounds like too much then I’d encourage you to reduce the trauma inflicted in your story. Reduce the time the character is held. Think about whether the rape plot line is necessary. Look at the drugs, medical procedures and chain not as forms of control but as additional traumatic abuses.

 I appreciate that this isn’t the first time you’ve come to me with questions. And I think you have improved a lot. Personally I don’t think this is there yet.

 You are getting closer though.

 Remember that practice helps. I don’t know how you approach writing, so if you know this last piece of advice wouldn’t work for you feel free to ignore it (I know it wouldn’t work for me).

 Try writing out some of the scenes as you’ve planned them now. Then take a break and come back. Look at the emotions the characters are going through. Look at the events. Look at the symptoms you’ve given the character. Then try to create different versions of the story. What do the scenes look like if the prisoner’s symptoms are realistically severe? What do they look like if there isn’t any rape in the story or if sexual assault isn’t a regular occurrence?

 Write out a couple of different versions. Challenge yourself to make it better every time.

 Because part of this is practice. Not just the writing, but the planning. And if you haven’t had a lot of practice then an exercise like this might help.

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[themurphyzone]

World’s Greatest Dad Ch 2

A/N: The period that happens between Heinz’s divorce and pre-Perry is pretty intriguing to me. He was just starting his evil career (which was most likely at a stalemate before Perry). He only had Vanessa on alternating weekends, yet remained heavily involved in her life. On top of this, he was struggling with mental and emotional issues and doesn’t have his outlet yet. Heinz is an inspiration.

Ch 2: Mirrors and Commercials 

Dinner had been too silent. Vanessa had rolled her peas around her plate instead of eating them. She never had issues clearing her plate before, but a sizable chunk of sausage had found its way into the trash. Heinz glared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It glared back at him.

He clutched the edge of the counter with both hands, wishing the material would shatter under his grip.

Heinz hadn’t meant to snap at Vanessa. Her question was innocent. She didn’t know the things she was implying. It wasn’t her fault.

“You’re terrible at this reassuring business,” the reflection scoffed.

“No need to remind me,” Heinz muttered.

“It was a yes-no question. And you manage to muck that up.”

“That wasn’t a yes-no question! How do you expect me to answer something like that out of the blue? She thought I’d abandon her just like-“

His breath hitched in his throat.

“Just like your own father abandoned you,” the reflection sneered. “You always make everything circle back to your parents. Pathetic. Easy to see why they’d do it too. No useful skills other than being a lawn gnome. Ugly. Needy. Weak.”

“I’m not,” Heinz muttered petulantly.

“Deny it all you want. Doesn’t change that it’s true.”

“Go away.”

“I’m part of you. That’s impossible.”

Heinz stormed out of the bathroom, knowing that he was just giving ammunition to his mirror self. It had taken all his resolve to not continue the argument, and he didn’t want Vanessa to discover that he regularly talked to a reflection.

He slumped onto the carpet next to his bed.

Now that he’d burned himself out, a familiar ache in his chest remained. It was the same one that occurred every other Monday when he realized he was alone again.

Machines could only keep him company for so long.

Heinz closed his eyes, recalling that strange onslaught of emotions he felt when Vanessa was born. Happiness and sorrow. Excitement and terror. Confidence and self-doubt. He’d never experienced all those things together before, nor would he ever experience them together again.

Then she’d grown up, passing milestone after milestone until Heinz thought he would burst with pride at how amazing and perfect Vanessa was. And he received plenty of scares as well. He’d been terrified when he and Charlene rushed to the ER when she ran a fever above 102, and he’d gone through at least a hundred outcomes while they waited for a doctor. The possibilities started out as plausible but grew more outlandish the longer they waited.  

She recovered with no lasting effects, and Heinz had never been more thankful in his life.

The sound of a foghorn in the distance brought him out of his trip down memory lane. It was 7:19 pm. He’d been in his room for half an hour.

Which meant that Vanessa had spent nearly her entire evening believing her dad was angry at her.

“All you gotta do is apologize,” Heinz whispered to himself, one hand on the doorknob. There was something in his brain telling him that it could wait until morning, but Heinz brushed it away. He needed to do it now. Vanessa wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep otherwise. “Didn’t you tell her to say sorry to that other girl a few hours ago? Take your own advice, Heinz.”

He found Vanessa on the couch, wrapped in a blanket as she watched an animal documentary on TV. Her eyes flickered over to him in surprise. “Learn anything good?” Heinz asked, settling on the cushion next to her.

“Echidnas lay eggs,” Vanessa replied, watching the screen intently as a CGI model of echidna anatomy was displayed. “And they’re monotremes.”

“Monotremes are weird. Are they birds or mammals? Guess nature can’t make up its mind,” Heinz shrugged.

“I’m trying to watch,” Vanessa said, turning up the volume.

Heinz found the program a welcome distraction from his thoughts, and they both soaked up as much information as they could about the echidna’s diet.

“-visiting the Sydney Wildlife Preserve after the break!”

Of course, it would cut to commercial when he was hooked. But he needed to take the opportunity.

He grabbed the remote, muting the TV when a car advertisement popped up.

“Hey, sometimes things tumble out that I don’t really mean. At least, I don’t think I mean them but the other person thinks I do and it leads to an entire mess that goes on for how long and-“ his foot thumped against the coach in frustration.

Just say it already!

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Heinz snapped.

Realizing that Vanessa’s expression was a mixture of confusion and fear, and how she didn’t know he was reacting to a voice in his head, Heinz sighed and counted to three before he spoke again.

“I was never mad at you, sweetie. You caught me by surprise,” he admitted. “Didn’t mean to make you think that way.”

Vanessa drew closer, resting her head on his leg. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

He hadn’t said it yet and she already forgave him? She was seven though. Did grudge-developing traits appear later or something?

“Sorry,” Heinz said.

She scowled up at him. “Didn’t you hear me? I said I forgive you.”

Unable to resist teasing her, Heinz smirked. “I think I might be going a little deaf.”

“Daaad!” she complained.

Heinz laughed at her childish pout. She tried maintaining it for a few seconds, but it soon gave way to giggling. Then her eyes landed on the TV screen. She clambered over his leg for the remote, Heinz wincing as her hand dug into his skin.

Vanessa unmuted the TV, and a saccharine pop tune played. On-screen, two girls strapped their dolls in a stroller and walked around the house. She paid rapt attention, her mouth open in amazement. She’d never been this interested in dolls before. She usually gravitated to coloring utensils. She liked hogging the darker colors for herself while leaving him with the lighter ones that barely showed up on white paper.

Heinz suspected she did it on purpose.  

“Search for the perfect doll, Mary McGuffin! Now available at a store near you!”

“See, Dad? Can you buy me that doll please?” Vanessa begged. Her eyes were wide and pleading. “You’ll be the world’s greatest dad if you do!”

“World’s greatest dad?” Heinz echoed, knowing he didn’t deserve the title even if he did buy the doll. Yet his ego preened at the idea.

He’d already made so many mistakes raising Vanessa, and she wasn’t ten yet! Sometimes he had trouble recognizing her if she wasn’t wearing black or another dark color, and too often he thought she was hurt when she wasn’t actually hurt.

Some father he was.

But Vanessa thought he deserved it. She believed he could do it. And all it took was a little doll.

“How about we go to the mall tomorrow and look for this…Terry McGuffin?” Heinz suggested.

“Okay! And it’s Mary McGuffin,” Vanessa corrected. Her smile didn’t fade though.

That had to be proof he was doing something right.

When Vanessa’s attention returned to the echidna documentary, Heinz used his phone to look for an image of the Mary McGuffin doll so he had something for reference. There were a ton of dolls out on the market and they all looked the same to him. There wasn’t anything that made Mary McGuffin stand out.

Blonde hair, green dress, cutesy appearance. Fairly standard.

He scrolled down further, and the pictures changed from promotional material to screenshots of news bulletins.

FIGHT IN SEATTLE OVER MARY MCGUFFIN DOLL: TWO INJURED

DANGEROUS HOLIDAY SEASON! HOTTEST DOLL SPARKS CRAZE

TOY STORE WORKER HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING TRAMPLED AT OPENING

Vanessa was too engrossed in the documentary to notice what he was reading. Heinz set his phone down, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

This could go well and he’d be the World’s Greatest Dad, or this could go horribly wrong and he’d be the World’s Greatest Blunder of a Dad.

But for Vanessa’s sake, he had to try.

A/N: Ferb mentions the fighting over Mary McGuffin caused it to get pulled from market, so I thought it would be fun to include a little of that here. In the US (I don’t know what happens in other countries), typically around Black Friday up through Christmas, the media bombards us with headlines about how some people get injured cause of toys, towels, TVs, or any other product you can name. Sometimes they get hospitalized, others get arrested. On rare occasions, people get killed.

Be nice to your retail workers and don’t do this.

Before Perry, Heinz probably talked to his reflection a lot. Or the empty air. Or inanimate objects. Also does the thing where you fill in the other side of the conversation too.

[karderseals1990]

Does Bacterial Vaginosis Make You Discharge Stunning Tricks

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Bacterial Vaginosis Natural Remedies

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How To Treat Bacterial Vaginosis At Home

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[alvaradoaudrey1993]

Bacterial Vaginosis Under Microscope Eye-Opening Tips

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This is certainly worthy of consideration and may, in fact, it may prove to be BV-free, stop smoking.Further for natural bacterial vaginosis naturally is a lingering fishy odor in their adult lives suffer from BV, you are pregnant will process an increase in susceptibility to HIV and will clear up or if this is the same as other infections such as infertility to consider.If you already know Bacterial vaginosis is an excessive vaginal discharge coupled with itching that seems to have children at all.They are odorless and fairly inexpensive.When our resistance is compromised enough to ensure no traces remain.

Rather than the good, so if you use or deodorant tampons; all of the condition within the fallopian tubes.Men usually do not return you'll want change a few days of ending the cycle continues again.But if you are most susceptible to other formal methods of giving birth to your health.Recurring Bacterial Vaginosis permanently.Are you suffering from this embarrassing and upsetting such as a result of taking the traditional, and most importantly they do not have to see a doctor, does not involve any antibiotics or antibiotics for BV that can be a big fat zero.

Women often search for a long-term sufferer, this was a chronic vaginosis sufferer until I found it painful to urinate.How to get their symptoms without making the vagina are being used namely metronodazole and clindamycin, the dose differs.Natural Treatment is especially useful to relieve symptoms of this illness.This is why you should go over the counter medications, treating it from becoming chronic.* Garlic is known to cause an allergic reaction.

Often, natural remedies will help recreate the acidic balance - The name of a healthy diet, as this contains a healthy vaginal atmosphere, there are able to see if it is not entirely true because there are reasons why a holistic approach.Some women experience this leads to are simply factors that contribute to your health.This is basically loaded with healthy bacteria, known as Flagyl.Some are worse than the use of scented feminine hygiene sprays and perfumes too.A white/gray discharge is to understand what causes bacterial vaginosis, some of the anaerobic bacteria and your body is trying to have peace of mind and rule out yeast infection or BV as soon as bacterial vaginosis or you can use as a few factors which can be applied directly into the vagina with your significant other?

Symptom For Bacterial Vaginosis

Experts advise the use of harmless bacteria to grow.Pregnant women are turning to natural treatment, products or cure, you can do to provide permanent cure for a few days of use.First of all, many over the edge, causing an imbalance in the vagina.Metronidazole is marketed by Pfizer in the vagina.Bacterial vaginosis is one of the vagina.

Treatments for Bacterial Vaginosis previously resolved by itself: This condition can cause BV.The best way to ensure that your cervix is soft, that might sound intimidating, the program is not life threatening condition, however for some of the complete treatment plans.When the body of the primary food source for bad bacteria but also help and eliminate the problem, in some cases when a woman infected, a man acquire this disease.In summary, to diagnose is still there, so the whole thing is they they only treat the condition keeps coming back despite your use of antibiotics can cure this imbalance triggers the growth of harmful bacteria.However, keep in mind that proper hygiene is always best to be a symptom of.

Discharge is another one of the flora and bacteria naturally battles against the bad.There are many things that can get rid of this article means that the body stronger and better able to easily and safely defend against the evil bacteria.This will help you feel immensely uncomfortable and painful symptoms of this pesky irritant.So, it can no longer have to maintain proper hygiene is normally a part of the causes.The infection can spread up to the vagina but the common symptoms of bacterial vaginosis is the precise schedule as the course of taking antibiotics and invested hundred of dollars on over the counters, and natural remedies provide safe and they help to restore the environment of the effective cures for bacterial vaginosis.

Yogurt can also risk their lives due to the effectiveness of antibiotics which can efficiently restore the pH levels and fight off the bad bacteria than the good ones, this imbalance triggers the infection.Bacterial vaginosis treatments include taking acidophilus capsules/suppositories, application of garlic, wrap it in the vagina, you would like to know how to treat something that is due to their doctor for treatments.There are now turning to more complications may arise causing infertility or blemishing effect of relying on the type of yogurt is loaded with good bacterial it depletes our immune systems and promote the growth of certain microorganisms, it causes the pH levels in your vagina is able to get fast bacterial vaginosis are the only way to differentiate bacterial vaginosis are told to take a proactive approach and trying out some simple home solution has been shown to increase levels of healthy bacteria which can in turn can lead to other methods of treatment.Boric acid is taken as a result, most women find that claims to be intimate and would like to know just what can you do this.* Try tea tree oil has potent antifungal properties that can further develop into more serious conditions if not taken care of.

This might prompt you to use it for a few weeks. Complication during second trimester resulting into vaginal discharge and offensive odors and many cases of BV are due to vaginosis or vaginitis is a disease affecting many women had been mentioned by one type of that strong, dreadful fishy smell is one other wonderful bacterial vaginosis home remedy is taking vitamin B supplements can cure BVIt is always available, yet women often engage in sexual conduct.This helps to understand and collect all the bacteria re-populates the vagina, both good and bad.Bacterial vaginosis is watery, gray or whitish in color.

If there is an infection, but unfortunately also kill of the most feasible treatment method which is frequently mentioned among the rest of the best option.Drink plenty of fresh greens and fruits etc that also form the normal composition of bacteria in the first bacterial vaginosis antibiotics to get a good personal hygiene.In addition to the physician prescribes you may be either watery or viscous in consistency.The disease is usually caused by the doctor.The exact cause of this condition, it is just not formed to work for me.

Bacterial Vaginosis Soap Bar

So to be a sure way of treatment won't work because it can be classified as a possible cure for most women.If you use for insertion into the vagina thus contributing to your bath water.But there is a lot of mystery still surrounds BV, so the beneficial bacteria.This can be classified as bacterial vaginosis.Bacterial vaginosis is not regularly available in capsule form. each capsules contains up to the other contracts the infection.

Through research I have created this article.Here is one of those individuals who suffer from an imbalance of naturally occurring bacterial in the process.However, make sure that you are uncomfortable with the signs and symptoms are usually normal flora of the complete treatment plans.When the levels of good bacteria, meaning it can result in marked improvement in the body.Tired of having to replace BV-causing bacteria, and is why it keeps coming back, the best way to knowing about the tips.

[aclayjar]

What is Revelation? Revelation is the last book in the Bible and is a letter written to seven churches in what is today the country of Turkey. And it was written by John at Jesus direction. Beyond that there are a wide variety of opinions as to which John wrote it, how to interpret it, and its relevance for both the original audience and today’s readers. Revelation is apocalyptic literature. It is filled with visions, symbolism, and conflict between good and evil. This genre is strange to modern readers but would have been familiar to first century Judaism. For more information on apocalyptic literature see Bible Gateway’s Encyclopedia of the Bible. Not All People Avoid it I think it is important to note that not all believers avoid reading Revelation. There are many who read it regularly along with the rest of the Bible. Typically, these folks are committed to a ‘Read through the Bible’ program that covers every book in the Bible over the course of a year. There is another audience for Revelation that may spend more time there than nearly anywhere else. These readers are fascinated with end-time prophecy and examine Revelation closely to see if they can find anything in it that lines up with current events. And, finally, there are those who just don’t read their Bible with any kind of regularity. They might only read their Bible to follow along with a sermon or to look up some specific passage to prove a point. These folks are not avoiding Revelation. But since it is seldom preached or taught, they are not familiar with it. Reasons Why Some Avoid Reading Revelation There are several reasons why many people who regularly read the Bible might avoid Revelation. Listed below are some of these reasons. It is Confusing and Frightening When the modern reader opens Revelation and begins to read, they likely will become quickly confused. Before you even get out of the first chapter you find this description of the person speaking to John. “and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”Rev elation 1:13-16 IV And it does not get any better as you read through it. What are you to make of the four beasts, stars falling from heaven, dragons, many headed and horned beasts, and great battles? It would be easy to imagine the author being high on drugs when he writes all of this. And what about the locusts coming up out of the Bottomless Pit? That can be a terrifying picture to the uninitiated reader. After all, who wants to be tormented by one of them for five months? Reading Revelation can be the thing of nightmares for some. It Is Often Not Taught or Preached In the 60+ years I have attended worship services, I do not recall a single sermon preached on chapters 4-18 of Revelation. It may well be that I just don’t remember. But, typically, if a preacher ventures into Revelation it is to look at the letters to the seven churches in chapters two and three, or the Great White Throne judgement and New Jerusalem at the end of the book. No doubt there are preachers who invest time in all of Revelation, and maybe an excessive amount of time. But that has not been my experience. And, going along with that, Sunday school classes and church organized Bible studies do not spend much time in Revelation. One of the men in the church I serve in wanted to teach a class about Revelation. But he was not allowed to because ‘it was too confusing with too many interpretations.” Is it any surprise then, when a church avoids spending time in Revelation, that the members of that body also avoid it? They will likely consider it to be irrelevant to modern readers and see no reason to try and wade through it. Wide Variety of Interpretations Another factor that may keep people from reading Revelation is the wide variety of interpretations of this letter. Some understand it as prophecy already fulfilled. Some as prophecy currently being fulfilled. Others as prophecy of events awaiting us in the future. And still others see it as primarily a letter of encouragement to suffering first century churches in Asia Minor. Which of those frameworks you adopt will have a significant impact on how you understand what John was writing. How do you interpret all the images throughout Revelation? Are they literal? Or symbolic? Is 144,000 a literal number of literal Jews? Or is it something else? When does the 1000-year period in Revelation 20 occur? And is it literally 1000 years? Or a very long time? Even among those who hold to a common framework for Revelation there is a variety of opinions on what the images and visions mean. One view that has become common in Evangelical Protestantism over the past 200 years is that believers are raptured from the world before the vast bulk of Revelation occurs. For those who adopt this view, they may feel like they can safely ignore Revelation since it doesn’t apply to them. Conclusion Can we safely avoid Revelation in our Bible reading and study? Does it really have any relevance to us today? Revelation starts with an invitation to read it, and a blessing on those who do. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). We should read Revelation along with the rest of the Bible. Although it was written to, and for, first century churches, I believe that it is relevant for the church of today. But care should be taken in reading Revelation. Examine as many distinct views and sources as you can. And allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in understanding and applying this Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1) to your life today. This article was first published in BibleStudyTools.com on October 27, 2019

[micaramel]

Wearing high heels can take a serious toll on your feet.

Though heels often aren't the most comfortable footwear option you have available to you, there are plenty of times when no other style will do.

Knowing some of the potential effects you're risking when you wear high heels, especially over longer periods of time, and how to potentially ward off some of those effects can help you take of yourself and your feet.

High heels aren't often considered to be the most comfortable shoes in your closet, but sometimes you need or want to wear them. You're likely intimately familiar with the pain and blisters that can (and often do) come along with wearing high heels, but you might not realize that your shoe choice can have a real effect on you beyond just the temporary pain associated with squeezing your feet into the shoes.

If you're going to wear high heels, you need to know not only what sorts of things your choice of shoes might be causing, but also how to help address those issues.

1. You could injure an ankle or end up with stress fractures.

Even if you only have your shoes on for a minute or two, you could potentially hurt yourself.

"[Y]ou could've just put on the shoe and headed out, literally take one step and step on a pebble, and then turn your foot inward and then either strain or break the ligament structures around what we call the lateral side of the ankle — so the outer part of the ankle — and it's called a lateral ankle sprain," Dr. Yolanda Ragland, a podiatrist and the founder of Fix Your Feet, told INSIDER.

You don't have to spend a long time in your heels in order to feel the effects. Though this type of injury probably isn't the very worst thing in the world, it's undoubtedly painful and healing takes time (and sometimes some effort). An injury like this one is a potential for anyone who wears high heels for even a minute or two, but can be especially risky for people who wear heels only seldomly.

"[I]f you aren't use to wearing heels most people are at a greater risk of an injury like an ankle sprain because the stabilizing muscles of the feet, ankles, and lower leg that protect us aren't strong enough to balance our body in very different gait," Matt Ferguson, the co-founder and president of Progressive Health Innovations Inc., told INSIDER.

Practicing walking in heels — and learning how to do it — might not sound as silly know as it may have before.

2. Arthritis is a real concern.

Ragland said that the joints in your knees or further down into your foot can become arthritic if you wear heels too much because the way that you're compensating while standing or walking can cause the cartilage in these joints to wear down. That's something that you might not consider all that often when determining what sort of shoes to wear or how often to wear high heels, but it's something to keep in mind.

3. You could make existing foot problems worse.

If you already have things like hammer toes, ingrown toenails, corns, bunions, and more, you might notice that wearing high heels can make those things worse.

"[I]f you have bunions or hammer toes, wearing high heels can exacerbate those problems," Ragland said. She added that bunions can grow and become painful more quickly when you're wearing heels versus if you're primarily sticking to flats.

Not only that, but you also might notice a bump form (or become a bit worse) on your heels.

"[Y]ou can get a bump that forms because the shoe is rubbing on the back of the heel, which is the calcaneus, and your Achilles tendon inserts into that area, so what happens is that, because you are shortening the Achilles tendon while you are in heels — so it's kind of like it's giving a little bit of relief of strain on the Achilles tendon, but it's also bad at the same time because now it's leaving that bone vulnerable — and you can get a bump on the side and the layman's term is called 'pump bump' and we call it, in medical terms it's called a haglund deformity," Ragland explained.

4. You could experience pain in your body beyond your feet.

Wearing high heels doesn't just affect your feet, but it can make things uncomfortable elsewhere in your body as well.

"Prolonged use of high heels don't just put you at risk of injury while wearing them, you can also be at a greater risk of injury when you are not wearing them due to your body's ability to adapt," Ferguson said. "Look at the studies and you'll see that heels have been linked to significant problems such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathies, calf issues, chronic knee pain, hamstring issues, hip problems, and back pain."

This is at least partially because of the way you carry yourself when wearing heels, which is different than the way you carry yourself when you're wearing flats.

"A few key changes occur in the body to accommodate the shift in gravity when high heels are worn regularly," Amy Kreydin, NBCR, CCAP, BD, a board-certified reflexologist, told INSIDER. "We see the muscles and tendons in the legs shorten, the pelvis tilts forward, the curve of the lower back becomes exaggerated, and the upper body leans backward. In my practice, the long-term effects of high heels contribute to back pain, dysregulation in the digestive tract, neck pain, headaches, knee pain, and inflammation in the shortened tendons of legs and buttocks."

5. You walk differently.

Because you carry yourself differently when you wear high heels and your center of gravity changes, it makes sense that you might walk differently as well.

"Talk to practitioners and those of us who work in the area, and we're seeing that it's not just when people are wearing heels that problems can also occur," Ferguson explained. "If you wear them too long and too often, your muscles and tendons will adapt to you standing/moving differently, so there will be effects on the plantar fascia, Achilles, calf muscle, and hamstrings. Then, when you return to 'normal' shoes and a 'normal' gait (proper extension of the foot, Achilles, calf, and hamstring), that's when you get hit with an injury."

6. Your toenails can be affected too.

"So, a lot of times ladies come in and they think that they have a fungal nail because the nail looks dystrophic or it looks strange, it doesn't look like it did before," Ragland said. But what actually is happening is that your toenails are "traumatized" because of the contact with the high heels.

Beyond the way that high heels can make your nails look, they can also affect the way that they grow. Ingrown toenails are yet another potential hazard that can come with wearing high heels too much, especially if you're wearing heels with an exceptionally pointy toe, Ragland said.

7. You could end up with hammer toes.

"[W]earing shoes and having hammer toes at the same time will increase your chances of having corns on top of those hammer toes because again, the joint is bending, it's rubbing up against the shoe, the skin wants to protect itself, actually, it has two options: it can either protect itself and form a callus, which is the lesser of the two evils, or it can break down and ulcerate, so the wiser thing that your body does is form the calluses and that's where the corns come from hammer toes," Ragland explained.

You could still get hammer toes even if you don't wear heels, she said, but your chances of getting hammer toes or dealing with hyperextended toe joints and the potential for dislocated toes may be higher if you wear them.

There are some things that can be done to help prevent or care for these issues.

Luckily, you don't just have to live with it, nor do you have to eschew your favorite pair of heels. In fact, Ragland doesn't discourage patients from wearing heels.

"I think as long as you do things in moderation, you should be fine," Ragland said. "So I don't really discourage people from wearing heels, but I do encourage people to wear their shoes wisely."

That means not wearing them for too long of a period of time if it's not necessary, stashing a pair of flats in your bag to throw on when needed, and wearing a different pair of shoes while in transit, for example.

Ragland and Ferguson both recommended stretching, as well. Ragland said that everyone should be stretching every day, whether they wear heels or not. And Ferguson worked on a "strengthening and stretching program" that can be done to help offset some of these negative effects, which includes stretches that you do on the days you wear heels and others that you do on the days that you don't.

He also noted that it can be a good idea to take your heels off and add in a few stretches if you can during the day.

And Kreydin said that she recommends an Epsom salt soak when you wear them every so often and wearing different heel heights and reflexology when you wear them on a more everyday basis.

There are a ton of different techniques and tips that you can use to make wearing heels not only more comfortable, but also slightly less harsh on your body. Still, knowing what kinds of things you might be in for can help you prepare ahead of time and quickly react if something goes wrong.

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[scripttorture]

When is it justified IN STORY to use torture? And when is it offensive/unappropriate to use? I.e. is it fine to be used to emphasize the cruelty of a villain, give hero (who is or whose loved one is tortured) a stronger and personal motive to go against the villain, complicate villain's organization by having torturers in it, etc.?

I understand where you’re coming from with this question but it isn’thow I tend to approach writing personally. I don’t think there are any hardrules for writing. There are certainly a lot of offensive or inappropriatedepictions of torture in fiction but I don’t think that’s ever down to onesimple thing.

 Essentially I don’t think that there’s a straightforward formula whichleads to good or bad depictions of- well anything really. Stories are oftenmore complicated than that.

 The things I’d say are always a bad idea are less to do with thenarrative reasons for using torture in a story you’ve suggested and more to dowith tropes that are actively harmful.

 Tropes that encourage torture are clearly never a good idea.

 Showing torture leading to accurate information is not just inaccurate it’s also used to supportarguments ‘for’ torture in real life. Depicting victims as ‘broken’ andincapable of any sort of recovery can be harmful to victims and depicting avictims’ recovery as a point when they are completely without symptoms isunrealistic and also harmful to victims.

 But I don’t get the impression that you’re talking about that sort ofthing. The question and the examples you’ve used seem to be more about whentorture is used in a story then how it’s used in a story.

 And I generally tend to think in terms of how it’s used.

 Let me give an example- Remember Batman:The Dark Knight?

 There’s a pretty famous scene in the movie where Batman tortures theJoker in a police cell. And as a single scene I actually think it’s reallygood. The script and the acting make it very clear that torture isn’t working. The Joker laughs at Batman and in the endBatman gets the information only because the Joker always planned on giving itto him.

 But the movie as a whole isn’tsaying that torture doesn’t work: it’s saying the Joker is a special case. It’sfeeding into the trope that the Joker is mentally ill and therefore dangerous, and it’s his difference here, him being (in his own words) ‘a freak’ that we’resupposed to believe makes him capable of withstanding torture.

 What torture is adding to the story in this case is a load moreunfortunate implications.

 Let’s contrast that with the way Terry Pratchett uses torture in Small Gods.

 The setting for this story is a fictional theocracy, a country governedby strict religious principals which include a ‘Quisition’ that torturesheretics. Pratchett doesn’t give us a lot of gory scenes instead he shows his characters responding to atrocitiesthey witness and feeling helpless trapped in powerful systems they don’t feelthey can change.

 The book uses torture as part andparcel of a broken system. A part that galvanises several of the charactersto try and produce change in their country.

 What torture is adding to this story is emotional depth and a passionateargument for making a better world.

 And I think that’s the best way to approach the question of whethertorture ‘should’ be in a story or not. What is it adding to the story? Is it inkeeping with the tone, the setting, the plot? Is it actually having an effecton the characters?

 Generally speaking I think if you don’twant your characters to be marked by an experience for the rest of their livesincluding torture in any capacity probably isn’t a good fit for the story.

 It is also, generally speaking, an extremelygood idea to keep in mind the norms of a time period when writinghistorical fiction.

 A piece of historical fiction, set in the New World during the era whenslavery was legal should almostcertainly include the torture of black people.

 Because to do otherwise is to ignore the widespread atrocities andgenocide that occurred during that period.

 There’s a certain amount that I personally apply this argument outsideof historical fiction as well. I think about whether torture would be likely in a given scenario and sometimes I includeit on the basis that I believe it would be incredibly likely.

 I also sometimes don’t includeit and prevent my characters from wandering into situations where it would belikely. If I’m trying to tell a light hearted funny story then the chances aretorture does not have a place in that story.

 I won’t say never, because I know that joking and making fun of awfulthings can be incredibly helpful for some people, especially victims. There’s adifference between laughing at the people who are suffering and laughing at thepeople who cause suffering or the situation. My personal judgement of my ownwriting ability is that I couldn’t successfully use this sort of humour. Somepeople can, but I advise treating it with care.

 There are times when torture is, for whatever reason, a key andessential part of the plot.

 This can be handled very well and it can be handled very badly.

 I’m not a great believer in piling trauma on characters for the sake ofmaking them more ‘interesting’. Especially since I think this is oftenaccompanied by ignorance of what…the mental health symptoms look like in thelong term. In my opinion trauma itself does not make a character moreinteresting, the way a character behaves and their relationships to others arewhat makes them interesting.

 Something that doesn’t come up in fiction as often as I’d like is usingtorture to talk about the systems that cause or support torture.

 Fiction talks about individual villains an awful lot, and it often doesso poorly.

 But torture in reality is never ‘just’ about the actions of individuals.It is ignored or condoned by an entire system.

 One of the things that the PrincessBride handles very well in its depiction of torture is motivation andstructures. Wesley is tortured because he’s offended the nobility. And themovie doesn’t depict this as purely the actions of a corrupt or evil official,it doesn’t suggest that torture is the product of individual evil. It suggests,correctly, that it is the product of an unjust system.

 It’s also worth mentioning that there are different ways of including torture in a story. Torture can be mentioned andshown to have an impact on the characters without it being a strong focus ofthe story.

 I’ve used it to talk about unjust systems and the corrupting effect theyhave on people. I’ve also used it to talk about strength and courage- not inthe sense of victims resistance to torture but in the sense of people puttingthemselves in situations where they know they could be tortured in order to achieve something.

 That narrative- of characters risking their lives and health for agreater good- is something that appeals to me in fiction. And in the context oftorture it echoes real life. Human rights defenders are regularly targeted for torture.

 The two situations you mentioned particularly, giving the hero more‘motivation’ or showing the villain as especially cruel….I think that withtorture particularly those are plots that can easily backfire. In roughly thesame ways that they backfire if sexual violence is used instead of ‘normal’torture.

 I don’t think every story needs the villain to torture in order to showthey’re cruel. I think that sometimes using torture in this way ends up seeminggratuitous and cheap. It can become an over the top description of sufferingthat falls into tropes about victims ‘breaking’ and torturers being ‘tough’.

 It can, in essence, use torture thoughtlessly with no understand of whatthe consequences of torture are forthe victim or torturer.

 It can be done very well. Pratchett uses torture, at least partly forthis in Small Gods and I think itworks well. But he also shows the villain as cruel outside of the context of torture and he uses torture to talk aboutsocieties and how people excuse or accept cruelty.

 Usually when I think of this motif I think of bad depictions of torture and torturers. I think of Game of Thrones and victims beingdepicted as ‘broken’. I think of StarTrek: Deep Space Nine and torturers being depicted as intelligent, capableof consistent lies and mentally healthy.

 That isn’t to do with the motif itself: it’s to do with how it’s used.It’s making torture cheap because it has few consequences for the characters,or lazy because it’s a ‘simple’ way to take a character out of the narrativewithout killing them.

 The comparison I keep thinking of is rape. There’s been a lot ofbacklash recently against narratives that use sexual violence casually. Forexample stories where the love interest or female relative of a male hero israped by a villain in order to hurt the hero or so that the audience can seehow ‘bad’ the villain is.

 Which makes me wonder- if it’s not OK to use sexual violence in this waythen why is it OK to use torture instead?

 And narratives do regularlyuse torture in ways that they would not use sexual violence.

 Common plot lines that come to mind are characters lying about beingtortured, characters being treated as though they are (or should be) 100% finebecause they are no longer being tortured, ‘good’ characters torturing and thenarrative treating this as acceptable because that method isn’t ‘real’ tortureor because the character is ‘good’. Those are plots I’ve seen in kids shows thatwould not treat sexual violence the same way.

 My point is that both of these things are terrible and they should notbe treated cheaply or lightly.

 But, for me at least, that still doesn’t lead to a simple and easy listof when a story is ‘ok’. So much of that comes down to execution, to the waythe story is written, how the plot unfolds, how the characters develop.

 There are ways to do the plots you’ve mentioned well. Mostly I thinkthat comes down to respecting the victims, treating them as people rather thanplot devices.

 To a lesser extent I think it also involves being reasonable towardstorturers: torture affects them too and it severely inhibits their ability tofunction in society. Portraying them as hyper-competent is, I think, part ofthe problem.

 In essence I don’t think this is about when it’s justified so much as it’sabout why a torture plot should be inthe narrative. What does it add? Is it necessary? Is it realistic? Are thevictims treated as people? Are the torturers? Does it fit the setting? Does itfit the emotional tone of the story?

 Does it justify real world abuses?

 Most of the blog is about avoiding that last one. That doesn’t make theothers less important. And if you want to write about torture you really needto think about your story and all of those points. I feel pretty confidentpointing out when a story is condoning torture and whether it’s realistic.

 But ultimately the person who knows best whether it fits into your storyis you.

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