#who takes between 3 and 10 calls per hour

[seraphtrevs]

So many earplugs/headphobes/earbuds on the market boasting about how they make it easier to hear conversations, or how they can make it easier to listen to music. Like I appreciate that's a need many ppl have and I'm so happy there are so many earplugs that make hearing better, but surely there's a market for earplugs that BLOCK sounds and not make it easier to hear sounds. Just no sound! I would like zero sound please!

[jeonsbabygirlsworld]

DESIRE PT.2

SUMMARY: Life was easy until you meet the eye candy of your life and the adventure with him is a hell of ride, but there is certain someone who seems to get hurt in this.

PAIRINGS: Bartender Yoongi X reader (ft Gynecologist Jungkook)

WORD COUNT: 1.8K

WARNINGS: Smut, reader is a flustered cause of course its Jungkook, eekkk Eunwoo is here as well! but he's here only for this chapter, that's it ig, Jungkook is Mia, but he soon will be here!!

SMUT WARNINGS: Doggy, blowjob, fingering, cum eating.

Note: this is inspired by a web series and I’m GONNA EDIT IT, I’m not gonna make it a whole ass 3 season containing 10-12 episodes per season and I felt like I could do something with this series. Thankyou

Work work work......

these past days it's been hell for you from the meetings and cracking up deals you were tired of it , but you still showed up every other day at the office. The interns and other employees did no good when they were asked to fill up your place when you were late for the office.

What kept you alive between this constant hectic schedule was a shot of vodka to wash down all the stress at your and the girl's favourite bar, you guys would spend the almost whole night until it was Yoongi telling you it was time to close the bar for the day.

Just like any other Friday night, you were here with your girls chatting about all the stuff which happened this week and they try to console you saying it's all right and you will pass through it, both of the girls then reach over to give you a warm hug.

Spending a few hours with them Chae gets a call from her husband telling her that he desperately needs help with the 3-year-old. “I'm sorry guys I have to leave, Yu-Jin seems to have a fever and she needs me” Chae says grabbing her purse and getting ready to leave.

Telling Chae a very goodbye and telling her to take care, Yuna is the next one to leave after she gets a call from her girlfriend, she hesitates to look at you, and you tell her it is fine and she can leave, she initiated a small hug and presses kiss on your forehead before she apologizes again.

Feeling alone in this busy bar, you see a busy Yoongi serving drinks on the countertop with Taehyung right beside him, maybe he saw you staring at him so you wave your hand and ask him if it's okay if you can come and sit there, he says he's more than happy to have you there.

"Hey, miss how are you? doing okay?" Yoongi asks before serving the last customer for the time being and telling Taehyung to look after them, "I'm okay I guess work is killing me, the meetings and the deals and whatnot is what I'm bored of you tell me?" Sighing you wait for him to answer, and he chuckles and says he's completely fine.

Yoongi places two glasses in front of you one for him and the other one for you of course, pouring in some of your favourite Japanese malts you chug it down with a “Cheers” Groaning at the taste he brings up some fries on the side and you thank him for being considerate.

"I'm bored yoongi, I wanna go on a trip or something." The tipsy you come out of you, and you slur occasionally while speaking “Calm down y/n, it's enough shall I call a cab for you?” Ever so sweet Yoongi asks you just because you are out of it after having the shots you had with the girls and the three glasses of malt with yoongi.

Yoongi soon books a cab and tells the man to drop you at the place, you reach your home soon after the fifteen minutes of the ride just to see your ex- fuck buddy right outside your house.

“Eunwoo? What the fuck? when did you come back?” Your mood instantly lights up after seeing him after so long and all the tipsiness goes away. “Hey y/n, I landed a few hours ago and thought of visiting you first and right when I was about to call you, here you were” He says with a bright smile.

You intended to initiate “Just a hug” but you don't know how he is under the sheets right now eating you out like a hungry man, “fuck right there woo” you moan and reach a good orgasm after a long time, your vibrator did no good until you felt a tongue or fingers or even someone's dick at this point.

Upon reaching your orgasm the man between you now hovers above you with his lips drenched in your release, and grabs on his hard length and positions right where your hole clenches, the release makes the slide just perfect for him to slide inside you and a moan tremble from his lips.

“Yeah perfect, keep going,”you say and grab on the small wisps of hair on the back of his head, and he grunts at the tight fit making him almost “relax angel, I promise I'll be good just please....”soft moans leave his mouth and both cum at the same time.

After a few minutes, Eunwoo lays on the side of your bed and talks to you until an awkward silence fills in and you call his name softly “Eunwoo...” sighing he gets up and leaves the bed and soon goes to grab his clothes and place a last kiss on your cheeks before telling you goodbye.

You sigh feeling bad for telling him to go but yeah you were always like this, and he knows it well just like that waking up from the bed you grab on the new sheets to change and place soft pillows all over your big bed and go back to sleep peacefully.

THE NEXT MORNING

“Hey hi! I'd like to order a butter croissant and black coffee” You get the cash ready and tell the counter women to take your order, not realizing you hear someone calling your full name and when you turn around to see it no one then "Mr. jeon your gynaecologist."

With a flustered smile, you tell him a quick "hi" before paying her the bill and getting off the line, you didn't expect him to get off the line with you, in a flustered state you ask him if he lives here and all the stuff and grab your order just to tell her she can pack this as a takeaway.

Rolling her eyes she packs up the drink and food and gives you the bag while Jungkook just gives you a crooked smile and walks out “Hey by the way I got my period last week” you tell him, and it gets more than awkward it was earlier.

“Oh, that's great, good to see you” Jungkook says, and you wave a quick bye when you get a call from your coworker and leave the place Jungkook stands there, and a smirk paints his lips.

This is the fourth time you are pissed at your coworker today; they fucked up the most important file “Can you at least get me a copy of the papers?” you ask again getting disappointed again “Sorry ma'am I didn't get the photocopies of it” Your intern says and you just sigh.

“Okay maybe try searching the file again, and if not I'll contact the clients and tell them to send the original copies,” you tell and dismiss the meeting, at this point, you need nothing more than a cold martini.

“Can you believe Chae, they misplaced the fucking file, I'm glad they weren't the original or else I would've been fucked” you say very much pissed at the events which happened today, while Chae and Yuna just sip on their drinks after trying to calm you down.

“Chill baby, everything's going to be fine you need to calm down y/n” your friends tell you and you just sigh, you long for nothing more but a break from this bullshit, paying up for the drinks today you say goodbye to your friends and go ahead to meet yoongi, who is the position of cleaning up for the day.

“Hey, how are you y/n?” Yoongi asks in a very yoongi manner his front teeth appearing when he talks to you, and you tell him all the events happening with you while he places two glasses of whiskey in front of you.

You don't even notice it is past one a.m. until Eunwoo texts you.

EUNWOO🫣🫣: hey, you up?

YOU: busy right now.

YOU: rain check?

"Another glass?" you ask him after chugging down the remaining glass while Yoongi hesitates and tells you he needs to stock up for a party which is happening tomorrow, you give him an embarrassed smile and tell him it is fine, and you will leave Yoongi feels equally embarrassed to cut you off for the night.

YOU: Free now, will be in 15 mins.

"Fuck right there" you moan at your ex- fuck buddy who is fucking you like a slut, your face down facing the sheets while he hammers from the back, his moans and grunts fill the room, and the room smells of sex and sweat.

"Fuck baby, you are so tight, missed me while I was away, right?" Eunwoo mutters while thrusting inside you and you choke on your moans and manage to mumble a small "yes" clenching on the sheets you cry for more, you needed this after a long day at work.

"Gonna cum.....ye-ah right there" you shutter at one point when he finds your g -spot, the slapping of his hips fastens just when you cum and cream his cock, and the man behind you slows and pulls out a bit just to see the creamy slick forming at the base, "fuck so messy y/n," Eunwoo says while he fills you up with his hot cum.

"On your back baby," he says, and you obey at lightning speed and your eyes shut at the moment when he nibbles on your pebbled nipples, you twitch at the feeling until you moan out loud when his thumb rubs on your clit and his index finger enters you.

Your pussy gushes out the mixture of both of your releases and messes up the sheets under you, Eunwoo continues to slurp and nibble your nipples while you whine at the overstimulation and fall apart on his fingers again for the second time in the night.

"lay down wanna suck you off real good" you whisper and kiss his lips in the heat of the moment, now that you are in between his thighs you start laying some soft kisses all over the tip and he whines at the sensitivity.

The taste of your releases still lingers on his tip, and you whimper at the taste, sucking on the tip Eunwoo above you is about to lose on for the second time, his soft grunts surrounded the room as you palmed and layed soft kisses on his balls.

The tightness of the grip he has on your hair ensures you that he is about to cum and increase your pace in palming him and you soon let him cum in your mouth and you swallow like a good girl you were.

You don't know why you let Eunwoo stay even after it was ruled to never let any fuck buddy stay at your house after fucking but here you are in his embrace and cuddling him.

A/N: Thank you for the reading ik it is confusing not Appeling ending or the whole chapter I'm sry but I'll do better. tag list is open.

TAGLLIST: @jungk97kwife @kingofbodyrolls @kimmingyuswifee @heyyymin @cassies-cookies @missnea @kooklovee @lovkiss @jungkooktoespost @jalexad @gimeow @lillove7 @marvelbun @namelesskeid @tyche0119 @gbbhbc123 @whoa-jo @holybxba @bangtans-momma @gdjyho @kpopsmutty69

[nena0me]

Commission Status: Open

　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆.

　　　.��  　　˚　✭　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　　✭　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ✦

Hi, I'm Nena! (⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝) I'm a Brazilian freelance artist who likes to play DatingSim games… You'll probably see more about Touchstarved on my profile, but there may be other obsessions. If you contact me, use she/her.

✦ About my Art

For some reference, visit my art tag> 「 ✦ Nena ✦ 」

Lineart: Only the lines of the drawing. Coloring any part with black will not change the price.

Flat Colors: Lineart with flat colors and only a few details (cheek color, sparkle in the eyes, shine in the hair)

Rendered: Complete illustration with colors, shading, lighting and lots of details!

Chibi: All chibi art will be fully colored, full body, and with some extra details.

Simple Character Design: Full body character (front only), with underwear and 1 more set of clothes! Comes with 3 different facial expressions of your choice.

YMH Touchstarved: I draw your Chibi MC with the LI(s) of your choice. The figure on the right is just a base, it can be changed according to the appearance of your character.

✦ Prices

The prices above are per character and background coloring (optional) only, if there are extras:

Extra character: 70% of the base price

Simple background: 10% ~ 30% of the base price

Complex details: 5% ~ 15% of the base price

✦ Size

Bust, Half body, Full body and Character Design: The base size is usually A5 (2039x2894, 350dpi), but it can be a little bigger or smaller, depending on the commission.

Chibi: about 900x800, but they can be bigger too.

✦ How do I commission you?

You should send an email to nena00comm@gmail.com, with the title "Commission - your @", for better email organization. The email should contain all the references you can send, such as: poses, images of the character, clothes, details you would like to see in the illustration, etc. The commission request should be made only by email. The final file will be sent as a response to the request.

⭕: Simple backgrounds, Original and non-original characters, Suggestive/NSFW (only if you are of legal age, please), Blood, Kemono, Monsters (not complex) and other debatable categories.

❌: Complex backgrounds, Mecha, Furry, Gore or anything that makes me uncomfortable.

✦ Payment

Paypal (international)

Pix or NuBank bank transfer (national)

If possible, I would like to receive 100% in advance. Otherwise, 50% of the amount must be sent after confirmation of the commission (after sketch process) and the other 50% before sending the complete illustration. The drawing can be modified only while it is in sketch mode and any changes that come after this process will be charged extra!

✦ Commission turn around time

I usually vary a lot in hours and days, so it will depend on the complexity of the commission. On average, simpler and less colored drawings can take between 7~15 days, while more complex ones can take between 15~25 days. Chibis, even colored and rendered, take about 7~10 days, but if it is very detailed there may be a greater variation in days.

✦ What do I need to know to commission you? - Any and all commissions will be made for personal use only, commercial use is prohibited! However, feel free to use it to make a personal product, something like: print, keychain, etc… And show me, please! - Even if the commission is your request, the art is entirely mine, that is: it is prohibited to claim the art as yours. - Feel free to repost the art on other social media, but please be sure to give me credit! - Any unpleasant request may be denied. - Even if the commission request is made only via email, the conversation about the progress should be done through other social media, just call me and let me know that you commissioned me. - Ideally, I would like to publish your commission to showcase my work. If it is too personal and/or NSFW, it is your choice whether to post it or not. - When the commission is posted publicly, a watermark will be inserted so that it cannot be used by others. - Please do not remove the signature from my illustration. - If you plan to use AI with my art to "improve" it, please do not contact me.

[thequeenofthewinter]

Skyrim Characters Send Text Messages

It's been a while since I have done one of these, so let's goooooo...

Elisif the Fair: *sends passive aggressive texts where she tries to get you to "unwittingly" compliment her* *favorite emoji is the heart with sparkles* Vilkas: *has a Nokia brick* *it's vintage, okay* *he bought it secondhand at Belethor's General Goods* *half the keys don't work* Farkas: *emoji king* *sends out those chain texts like "pass it forward to 10 friends you think are special"* *buys Vilkas a new phone and he refuses to use it* Galmar Stone-Fist: *sends one word texts* *half the time they are misspelled* *"What's an emoji? Why are you sending me smiling bears, Rikke? Bears don't smile"* Ulfric Stormcloak: *all of his texts are grammatically correct* *man would not deign to use abbreviations nor contractions* *long winded walls of text which wax poetic* *this is a 5 paragraph essay* Brynjolf: *sends out phishing messages about Falmer blood elixir* *gets scammed himself* *phone is full of texts about meeting the "sexy Argonian maid of your dreams for 29.99 per night"* Serana: *sends the politest texts or rants about her parents* *there is no in-between* *just come meet me okay* *200/10 will then get you into trouble but you'll have fun* Teldryn Sero: *prefers not to send text messages but rather call people* *no one picks up because who answers a phone in this day and age* *gives up and texts eggplant emojis to Neloth* *will talk to you on the phone for 3 hours* General Tullius: *loses his phone half the time so he gives it to Rikke* *Rikke sends all his text messages* *doesn't actually know how texting works* Lydia: *sends snarky texts about picking up your stuff from Breezehome* *seriously my house is not a storage shed* *drunk texts flirty messages* *LDB takes her phone* Uthgerd the Unbroken: *too little patience and too small keys* *accidentally smashes her finger through the screen* *doesn't bother getting a new one*

[macgyvermedical]

Let's Talk ESRD and Dialysis

Have you thanked your kidneys today? Do you feel grateful when you pee? How about when you eat a little too much potassium or drink a little too much water, do you really enjoy feeling confident that your kidneys will just dispose of the excess?

If so, you probably know the alternative.

About 10% of the world's population has a condition called Chronic Kidney Disease, or CKD. About 2 million of those people are in End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and require dialysis or a kidney transplant to live.

Your kidneys are amazing things. They are two organs that sit outside of the sac that hold the rest of the abdominal organs, called the peritoneum. They take in blood from the body, determine the levels of electrolytes, water, and waste products in that blood, and remove the waste products and excess electrolytes and water.

They also have secondary tasks. They monitor the amount of red blood cells in your blood and send out hormones that entice the bone marrow to make more when we're low. They also monitor blood pressure and release hormones that raise that blood pressure when it gets low.

Lots of things can hurt the kidneys. For example, poorly controlled high blood pressure and poorly controlled diabetes are among the top reasons why kidneys fail. Additionally, being dehydrated while engaging in strenuous exercise or taking medications like ibuprofen or naproxen (any NSAIDs) can cause kidney damage.

We measure how well the kidneys are working via the Glomerular Filtration Rate, or GFR. This is a measure of (essentially) how much blood in milliliters the kidneys filter per minute. 90 or higher is normal, while a GFR of 15 or lower is considered ESRD.

So let's say someone has a GFR of less than 15 and the decision is made to start them on dialysis and put them on the kidney transplant list. What options do they have?

Well, they need to figure out if they want to do hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

In hemodialysis, the patient is hooked up to a machine that runs their blood across a special membrane. On the other side of the membrane, a solution called dialysate draws excess water, electrolytes, and waste products from the blood. Hemodialysis is usually done at a dialysis center for 3-5 hours, 3 times per week.

Hemodialysis is better for patients who have either failed home peritoneal dialysis or can't or aren't comfortable with doing the technical part of the job by themself at home. There is also a social component, where dialysis is a chance to meet and interact with other people who are going through the same things they are.

People who undergo hemodialysis have to have some kind of "access", or a way for the blood to come out of their body, go through a machine, and go back into their body. For some people, this is a dialysis catheter that is inserted into the person's chest and looks like this:

It can also be a fistula. A fistula is the surgical connection between a vein and an artery in the arm or leg. Over time, this connection becomes large and rubbery, and each time dialysis is done, two needles (one to remove blood, and one to return it) are placed in the fistula. A fistula often looks like this:

In peritoneal dialysis, the patient instills the dialysate directly into the sac that holds their abdominal organs. The sac itself acts as the membrane, and dialysate draws the electrolytes, water, and waste directly through the sac wall. They then wait a certain number of hours, and drain the dialysate. This can be done manually by the patient during the day, or at night while the patient sleeps with a machine called an automatic cycler. Usually peritoneal dialysis is done every day, with 2-4 cycles of 4 hours per cycle.

People using peritoneal dialysis also need a form of access, but instead of it being to their blood stream, it is to their peritoneum. Here's what that looks like:

The catheter is placed surgically into the peritoneum, and stays there all the time, even in between dialysis sessions.

Someone using peritoneal dialysis has to be very careful when they are accessing their dialysis catheter. This is because the biggest problem with peritoneal dialysis is the risk of a life threatening infection called peritonitis. Someone who gets peritonitis too many times may need to switch to hemodialysis.

Here is what a manual exchange looks ilke:

Someone may choose to do peritoneal dialysis over hemodialysis because it affords more freedom to keep a job or do daily tasks like keeping house. People who do PD also don't have to find rides to the dialysis center. However, they do have to take on more of the responsibility for making sure they do treatments correctly and be able to keep accurate records of the treatments they give themselves. Peritoneal dialysis also tends to be less taxing on the body, and have fewer side effects than hemodialysis when done correctly.

[canonicallyobserving911]

My thoughts on how bad season 7 ended up being can be summed up in one sentence and it's based on a quote I heard from a former employment director. He used to tell us all the time, "When you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" And I think that's what happened to season 7 of 9-1-1 since they were still writing while the main cast was filming the remaining episodes.

After TM's most recent interview, in which he admitted he doesn't plan seasons out beforehand, I felt justified in my analysis but the question is has it always been like this? IMO, the answer is NO! And that's because it wasn't like this for seasons 2 and 3. They were planned out and the continuity was there which made everything better than the mess that was season 7.

Honestly, I don't understand how anyone can run a multi-million-dollar business or a TV Show (I do get it because some people aren't organized but usually, they don't stay in a leadership role for long) and be as unorganized as the showrunners have been for the last few seasons of 9-1-1. It literally costs between 9 and 10 million dollars per episode to produce it but nothing they've been doing lately has lived up to those high costs. Please understand this is not about the cast, crew or the directors because they don't have control over the scripts. They have a WRITING TEAM which means TM didn't have to spend 40 straight hours while he was lying in a hospital bed writing the first 3 episodes. He chose to do that and since the writers returned to work in October of 2023, what were they doing that whole time because they were already promoting the cruise ship disaster at the end of November?

An example of how ridiculous it is for TM to not have a plan can be equated to a construction company. People who build homes and buildings have to plan in advance before they start or else it'll end badly. They can't just start building a home or a business without a blueprint because if they do, the bathtub could end up in the kitchen and the garage might not have a driveway. Builders have to order supplies and materials like drywall, tools, windows, appliances etc., far in advance so they'll have the things they need when they get to a particular step in the building process. Therefore, how can anyone handling multiple storylines for the main cast of a popular TV show like 9-1-1 go into a season without an overall plan? They shouldn't and if they continue down that path, IMO upcoming seasons will end up being even worse.

It doesn't make any sense at all to me and hopefully, season 8 won't be a repeat of seasons 5, 6 and 7.

House M.D. is one of my favorite shows of all time because Gregory House was a brilliant doctor and even though he was a complete jerk sometimes, I liked it because the creators and the showrunners knew when it was time to end it. After 8 seasons, they decided to call it quits so they could go out on top. Any good show worth it's weight knows when they're running out of good stories and they know when to end it. It happened with the Sopranos too. They ended it after season 6 because Tony Soprano had already done the things he needed to do in therapy and his families (personal and mob) were personified. They couldn't take the show anywhere else, so they ended it.

Please understand, if you've never seen a TV show stay on and keep airing episodes past its prime (Grey's Anatomy and Law & Order SVU are two examples but there are others) you have no idea what it could be like. Viewers end up hate watching them and hopefully that won't happen with 9-1-1 but if they don't do something soon, like let the characters grow professionally and show them moving on from their previous mistakes and pasts (looking at the "Vertigo" storyline because Eddie should be allowed to move on from Shannon since it's been six years) it could end up being their fate too.

Even though I've never watched Grey's, I have watched SVU and for the past few days, I've been rewatching season 14 when Rafael Barba (my favorite A.D.A.) arrived on the show and I instantly noticed a stark difference between it and the most recent seasons. It's so good and its way better than the trash they're producing right now. Olivia Benson is the SVU captain but they've been centering all the episodes around her character (like season 6 was all about Buck) but it's time for her to be promoted to chief so Detective Joe Velasco and Detective Terry Bruno can be in charge of SVU. They're the future of the show but if they keep sidelining them, who knows if they'll get a 27th season. It's so boring now and I wish they'd bring Barba back but I digress.

I don't watch a lot of TV because most of it is reality, news and game shows (I don't like those but for those who do, no shade) but I do watch 9-1-1 and I'd hate to leave it in the dust like I did CSI and Chicago P.D. but I will once it's no longer entertaining.

I still haven't decided if I'll watch season 8 (I'm 95% sure I'll treat it like I did season 5, watch the episodes weeks after they air, so I won't get pissed off or I won't watch them at all like I did 5x7 since Eddie wasn't in it) but I refuse to sit through another season like the cluster "F" that season 7 was. I don't want to see another doppelgänger or anymore LIs that are used to delay CANON Buddie.

I needed to get this out of my mind and write it so I can move on.

It's ok to have an opposing opinion but if you do, post it on your own blog and don't reblog this because if you do, I will block you.

[girlactionfigure]

⚠️ SATURDAY after Shabbat - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( after Shabbat summary report #3 )

📌 HEZBOLLAH ROCKET ATTACK kills 11+ children, ages 10-20, critically and seriously injured: 34+ mostly children, in Majdal Shams - north Golan Druze city.

.. IDF Spox: "All the murdered are children. (Number increased to 11)  According to the investigation, it was a single rocket that was launched and the warning was too short.”

.. Among the dead are four brothers from the same family.

.. (Really?) The UN Force in Lebanon UNIFIL: "We are in contact with the authorities in Lebanon and Israel regarding the incident in Majdal Shams, in an effort to keep the peace.”

🔹DRUZE STATEMENT.. The head of the Druze community, Sheikh Mwapak Trif (sorry if error in name translation): "We are in great shock at the terrible massacre in this brutal terror attack. A functional country cannot allow continued harm to its citizens. It crosses every possible red and black line.”

🔹ARAB MEDIA.. Lebanese media emphasize that in Israel there is "significant incitement" among senior Israeli officials regarding a powerful response against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

🔹PM.. to depart US basically as quick as can be organized with the delegation, within a few hours.

🔹LEBANESE DRUZE demand an investigation.. Wiam Vahab, the Druze-Lebanese politician who is considered close to Hezbollah, tweeted incisively: "Our blood is not cheap, we demand an independent investigation.  There are 200,000 Druze in Lebanon.

🔹US SAYS.. American officials to Israeli media: The Biden administration is very concerned that what happened in Majdal Shams in the Golan will lead to an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.

▪️PROTESTS - ANTI-GOVT.. large Tel Aviv Kaplan protest - “elections now, free the hostages now”.  Large but smaller than previous weeks.

🩸BLOOD DONATION REQUEST.. MDA says over 100 units of blood used for injured in the attack, calls for blood donations.  Here’s where (change the date to tomorrow) -> https://www.mdais.org/blood-donation

♦️Report in Lebanon IDF Air Force began an intense wave of flights over Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli. (???)

♦️IDF AIRSTRIKE on Shabbat in Balata, Shechem, Samaria.  Terror cell hit, commander killed.  During further battles, 2 terrorists eliminated, 21 wounded.

⭕ JENIN.. Shooting by terrorists at the Al-Jalama checkpoint, north of the city of Jenin, on Shabbat day.  Then shooting at Israeli town of Shaker, across the green line.

🔅EMERGENCY PREP - THE BASICS

🔅via ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime

A number of people responded to a few scary-ish articles “well what am I supposed to do?”

Basic preparation:

.. Drinking water.  Buy some bottled water, 9 liters per person.

.. Washing / flushing water.  Have a few buckets  or a bunch of used water bottles, to wash or flush with - fill buckets when emergency starts.

.. Medicine.  If you take chronic medicine (every day), take the 3 month supply from your Kupah.

.. Money.  Have cash on hand in case ATM’s and credit cards aren’t working.

.. Food.  Canned, dry, etc, supplies on hand for a week.  Baby food? Formula? Special nutrition? Pet food?

.. Light.  Flash lights, candles. 

.. Shelter.  Make sure it is ready.

More here -> Supplies and Equipment for Emergencies.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15903-en/pakar.aspx

❗️EMERGENCY PLANNING

Links to prepare for greater conflict.  Note many of the links work on in Israel, to view from outside use a VPN (special app or program that lets you appear somewhere else on the internet).

.. Preparing your home for an emergency.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15902-en/Pakar.aspx

.. Help Prep your Neighborhood and Family Elderly.  https://www.oref.org.il/12550-20999-en/pakar.aspx

.. Know the Emergency numbers:

Police 100 emergency, 110 non-urgent situation

Ambulance 101

Medics 1221

Fire 102

Electric Company 103

Home Front Command 104

City Hotline 106

Senior Citizen Hotline *8840

Social Services Hotline 118

Cyber (hack) Hotline 119

🔸 MENTAL HEALTH HOTLINES, in case you are freaking out:

.. in English : Tikva Helpline by KeepOlim, call if you are struggling!  074-775-1433.

.. in Hebrew : Eran Emotional Support Line - 1201 or chat via eran.org.il

[fishmech]

It's just like, damn man communication and getting info cost so much around 2000.

You wanna look up some information on the phone so you can call someone that isn't in your phone book? That's like $4 in modern money.

You wanna call your aunt who lives a couple of states away and you're not paying the extra monthly landline cost for unlimited long distance? $15 in modern money for a 10 minute call in daytime hours, still like $3 nights and weekends, and these are both like "you got a pretty good deal" cases. Worse for most people.

OK so you just want to call your buddy who moved like 25 miles away? Maybe it's free cuz you lucked into still being in the same local call zone, but maybe you're still paying $3 in modern money for a 10 minute conversation because you managed to hit through two long distance zones. Especially if you're on opposite sides of a metro area or something. And if he had a cell phone you were calling, it might mean you paid even more because it registered as a further call.

But that's landline, let's say you were going cell. You might be paying the equivalent of $50 a month in modern money for 120 minutes of call time and no included texting. This service would likely charge you extra for "roaming", that is being out of your designated home calling area, as well as exceeding 120 minutes of talk time (and you would be billed a full minute minimum for any call that connected, mind), and texting once might be 75¢ in modern money on a cheaper provider, as much as $2 modern on others. Your excess call minutes might cost between 50¢ and $3 in modern money per minute and roaming calls would cost similar amounts even when you were within your plan. And on such a plan there was no cell data service so it would be an addon around $5 a month in modern money to have it at all - and prices of between 35¢ up to $5 in modern money per kilobyte transferred. Even if you were using strictly plain text that piled up quick.

You could of course move up to significantly more expensive plans per month in fixed costs to have much bigger pools of call minutes, freedom from roaming charges texts, and data. And to have significantly cheaper per-unit overage charges if you exceeded those. But that would quickly take your bill beyond $100, even $200 a month in modern money for a single line.

And of course if you wanted a couple songs from favorite singer? You ain't streaming it on a cheap monthly plan or likely even paying individually: your ass is paying nearly $38 in modern money for the whole album on CD, maybe $23 in modern money if you got a good sale price. And the artists still got a fraction of a penny off it cuz music royalties have been fucked forever. (of course you could pirate it probably... If you had internet service, if it was fast enough, if you could afford it for generally $36 a month in modern money for slow dialup, often much more if you had broadband available at all)

You wanna watch TV shows? Well like now you could watch the over the air stations for free. With tons of ads on the non-public stations ofc. But this is generally pre digital so there's much fewer stations on the air.

Or you could pay around $85 modern a month to get a pretty decent cable or satellite package and well you know, hope the time the shows you like line up with your schedule and of course it's full of ads too. Maybe you will setup a vcr or DVD recorder to catch what you couldn't be around for, and if you're not willing to wipe your old recording then you're going to need to drop serious cash to have fresh tapes and rewritable DVDs to keep that stuff around.

You want the higher end cable/satellite stuff? Well HBO alone back then was like $28 in modern money for a month on top of the rest of your bill - and most other similar no-ads premium channels were similar.

And let's not forget that this was still a time where getting official copies of shows on any kind of media often just Didn't Happen. Or they'd do it but they'd only put out random single episodes, maybe one full season on a multi season show. You might easily pay $26 in modern money for two half hour episodes or one full hour episode on a tape or DVD. Maybe you'd get lucky and instead be buying a whole season set for $75 in modern money, admittedly a much cheaper price per episode. Otherwise though, it's record it yourself in often pretty bad quality or trading and copying recordings from other people who liked that thing, if you got in touch with any.

And on-demand cable/satellite was just getting started and often required upgrading to a higher package, including paying more to rent a higher end TV box, with miniscule libraries. And the pay per view costs were often like $5 modern to watch a single movie squished to fit your TV, sometimes up to $35 modern for "new releases". Similarly, typical rental store costs were in the ball park of $7.50 to $30 in modern money per item, depending on overnight versus all week and sometimes old release vs new release. That shit added up quick! And Late fees could easily double up or triple up in just a few days.

And of course newspapers and magazines and books all cost money. We generally expect most of these to have some at least limited amount of free access on demand today, whether it's the free few articles a month before the paywall or getting free access digitally through your library. But of course back then, that's no such thing. A lot of online versions of publications were strict pay only, others only posted summaries for free, and that's if you were even online. It may not sound so bad to shell out 65¢ to $2 in modern money for a newspaper issue, or $4-$15 in modern money an issue for various magazines, but you'd be buying them pretty often if you wanted to keep up with things in more detail than they got into on TV. Even if you subscribe and get that discount for everything in a year, that's like maybe $90 a year in modern money for a major city paper, or $70 to $150 in modern money for a magazine depending on its frequency and size and content.

Shits just so fucking easy and cheap these days for real. You want to call someone you don't think about distance charges or roaming, you just fucking call. If you're calling overseas you probably use some app or program on a computer to call for free. A text message does not cost more than sending actual mail, it's nothing. Even all those stupid streaming services, which I don't use personally, you can have like 5 of those damn things, have way more to watch for less than cable back then, let alone modern cable prices, and have somewhat more reliability in what will be available next month!

Even when you're stuck on something like a strict budget, using prepaid cell service with blocks of minutes now, like some Tracfone "I only can afford $15 a month" stuff? It's like shlt at least that's 500 minutes/texts/megabytes of data. Like you're still getting screwed but it's much less so than what you got for that 10 or 20 or 25 years ago, and a lot more places have wifi you can use to stretch your data usage out.

[prommethium]

He said that he was craving Aztec soup.

Because he is my dad, of course I made it!!

Now, I'm sharing just because I'm saving MY recipe here and for the ones who would like to eat some decent fucking Mexican food.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE 3 LITERS OF SOUP. 

6 big tomatoes

4 garlic cloves

1 big ass onion

2 chiles guajillo (dried mirasol)

2 chiles de guisar/ancho (dried Capsicum annuum)

120g of chile chipotle 

1 chicken leg (or just a chicken bone... any bone)

2 chicken breast

carrots to taste

potatoes to taste

Cucurbita to taste (that green veggie)

2 Avocados

Fresh cheese to taste (when I mean fresh, I mean; go and buy it from your local market, not the shit that has probably 6 months in a fridge, this needs a cheese that breaks once you slightly press it between your fingers) if you can't get it, use mozzarella.

15 tortillas (please use tortillas made of CORN, but if you don't have them... well then the dish you will prepare can't be called "Aztec," but hey, you have my permission to use bread or even those shitty nachos BUT YOU CAN'T USE DORITOS... or I'm personally chasing you over and murdering you.)  

Spices

METODOLOGY!!

1) Bring half a liter of water to boil, turn the energy down (fire or ignition WHATEVER!), and add there the dried chilis (this will help them soften.) Leave them to rest. (just look how sad they look and how happy they turn after a nice hot bath 🥺✨ if you are weak and can't tolerate spicy food take away the seeds and the little veins, Omacatl is going to curse you without friends bc of your puny palate.)

2) In a pot, add 2 liters of water, add salt to taste, and put there the chicken; (as it cooks, take away all the foam.) Cook medium-high heat for 35 min.  

3) Cut the tomatoes and the onion into big chunks, and peel the garlic cloves (do it with your fingers pretend they are the eyes of your enemies and release some anger.) 

4) in a very hot comal (or if you are basic, in a nonstick pan,) put your tomatoes and onion to cook, DO NOT USE OIL!! just let them cook on a hot surface.

k: omg!! they look burnt!! are you sure is that the right way???

c: STFU YOU WEAK HUMAN, THEY NEED TO LOOK LIKE THIS if they don't look like this you are doing it wrong; if you don't do it like this the nearest Mexican human corpse is going to haunt you down.

5) Take away the chicken from the broth, and put it in a bowl.

6) Take away from the jacuzzi those dried chilis and put them on the mixer, add the cloves of garlic, tomatoes, and onion you just cooked, the 120g of chipotle chilis, and now my fellas, dear colonizers reading this, pay attention, this is crutial THIS IS WHAT MAKES IT TASTE GOOD:

add a pinch of: 

salt, black pepper, cinnamon, powder of cilantro seeds, brown sugar, thyme, AND 3 PINCHES OF DELICIOUS GLORIOUS CARAWAY. Add a liter of water and mix it well, once looks as homogeneous as it can be, pour it into the chicken broth.

Just look at how pretty that looks!!! That looks like decent food, that looks like something my ancestors would be proud of!!! *honestly I got some tears after tasting this, ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!*

7) Use any method you like to make eatable those chunks of meat, I like to separate the meat with my hands.

8) Add the meat again to the chili-spicy/broth and add the minced veggies 

9) cook for 40 min, low heat.

10) Mince the coriander

11) If you are a cool decent human cut the tortillas into small rectangles and fry them until they are hard 🔥😏 2 to 3 tortillas per serving. If you are not cool use your shameful nachos. 

12) TIME TO FUCKING SERVE AND TASTE THE FRUIT OF YOUR 3 HOURS OF WORK!! 

In a bowl, serve the meat and veggies, add some chili broth, put in the center your tortillas, around the tortillas the cheese, on top the minced coriander, and decorate with slices of avocado. 

now that is decent food 😌🔥 you are very welcome.

[maia-and-ria]

Maia Hasegawa Home Screen Lines

Credit to @/danieyells for the template

*I added a new type of voice line of my own at the end

** so many of these lines refer to Ria's voice lines and ofc a lot of these are a bit unhinged 😭

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"Well aren't you a busy bee. Go on, don't let me hold you back."

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"If you don't take them, the institute will."

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"Move, will you? My hands are full I don't wanna spill my coffee on you."

"... Shit I forgot the file in my room."

"I'm bored. Hey MC, wanna crash at Ria's bar?"

"I gotta go to another class, but I can walk you to yours if you want."

"Don't mind them. They're staring at me, not you. Why...? Who knows. They're not brave enough to confront me."

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"Rise and shine and whatever corny stuff that comes after."

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Let's go to HTH. Sho owes me a meal for beating him in the Pit last time."

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Seriously?! These dumbasses can't just be reckless as they please and expect me to bail them out every time."

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"The Pit is still loud, I'll walk you to the cathedral. Who knows what Alan might say if I keep you in here with me."

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Who the fuck do you think you are to call me at this hour? Do you even know what work-life balance is?!"

((She's... clearly not a morning person sometimes...))

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"The garage can really benefit from a good coffee machine. I'm sick of lining for a coffee every time I'm going out to work."

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"...Is that your ringtone, MC? What— (sigh) damn it. Ria's changed it without me knowing."

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I'm going to the casino, wanna come along? We're gambling this time, not drinking at Ria's."

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Have you seen Professor Nicholas? I need him for something."

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"My 5th cup of coffee... my heart feels like exploding."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"Don’t talk to me. I didn't slept a wink last night."

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Did you say you lost your key? I can help you kick the door open if you want — I'm kidding. Here's your key, you dropped it earlier.

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Where have I been? Jail. I have to get these pups to Alan. He's the one who decides their punishment."

((Pups = Vagastrom general students))

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"What brings you here, MC? ... That mutt did? You know what, come with me, we're leaving the institute. I'm seriously disappointed that you would do what he asks."

((Mutt = Leo))

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Can't sleep? I can give you my last cigarette. Just don't tell Ria."

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"You’re curious about my left arm? We have to find some privacy if you really want to know."

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"... They denied my request again. The least they can do is fix that old house."

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Same appearance... same description... just like what Ria told me. Heh– guess who's going to get behind bars soon."

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"I need to change the oil... Fuck it. I'll order a general student to do it tomorrow."

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"What the fuck are these notifications... Are these thirst comme— KUROSAGI I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES YOU FUCKING MUTT!"

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Be nice to Sho. Not all of us are strong enough to have that perv for a brother. Personally I'd slit my throat the second he welcome me into the world."

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I'm off to work. No goodbye kiss for your husband? Hahaha, I'm kidding. I was just copying the other cops."

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Can you like... not sneak up on me? I don't want to accidentally judo-flip you to your God."

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Hm? Blood...? Oh! Hahaha, it's not mine. Some criminal tried to avoid interrogation so I went for a little hunting game."

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"I don't know how you feel about a dirty cop like me, but should you ever need help when I'm not around, simply mention my name in front of those slackers. It'll strike fear in them knowing that you're with me."

((Slackers refer to cops below her rank))

Spring: (March-May)

(between 5am and 11am)

"Mm? (yawn) Get out. I'm not in the mood."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"These flowers? They're for Ria. It's her favorite that only blooms this season, and I just happened to pass by the shop. I got you some too, honor student. Hope you're not allergic."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"I need to train the rookies tomorrow. Can't have them slacking off."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"My hair and cherry blossoms...? Yeah, pretty similar. It must be an insult to them to share a trait with me."

Summer: (June-August)

(between 5am and 11am)

"Don’t get too close. I just finished training and I'm way too sweaty."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Can I borrow your hair tie, honor student? ...You want to help me tie it? That would be nice, thank you."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Great. Fucking great. Why can't people just enjoy their vacation and not do crime? Whoever says it's to create memories will be sentenced to death by my own hands."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Shorter nights doesn't always mean lesser workload, huh... Fuuuuck."

Autumn: (September-November)

(between 5am and 11am)

"Spooky season huh... I'll dress up as a good cop this year. That'll scare the rookies."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Have you ever gone bird hunting? You know, shooting real birds as they fly. No? Pack your things. We're going."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Do you need my jacket? The air is getting chilly lately."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"I bought you a drink. Make sure to drink while it's hot, alright?"

Winter: (December-February)

(between 5am and 11am)

"I wish they would stop saying that phrase from Game of Thrones. My mind would instantly picture Kamurai with his ice sword and I don't know what to feel about that."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"My hair feels so dry – the product Ria recommended is useless."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"(Sneeze) ...Fuck. So sorry for that, MC."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Winter is the perfect season for homicide— statistically speaking."

Her birthday: (July 29th)

"Fine, fine. I'll celebrate my birthday. Why do you seem so happy doing this? More happy than the birthday girl herself."

Your birthday:

"I've emptied today's schedule to celebrate your special day. Keep in mind that I let criminals loose for another day just for you. Unless you want to celebrate by hunting them down with me, of course."

New Years: (January 1st)

"Let's hope for a much, much lower crime rate this year."

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"...What do I do after receiving the chocolate? I've never had anyone giving me anything during Valentine. Do we like... kiss? On the cheek, maybe?"

White Day: (March 13th)

"Pink and yellow lilies. I hope they can cheer you up through tough times— and I hope they stand as a reminder that I'm on your beck and call whenever you need me."

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"Honor student, you have the right to remain silent— Pfft, you become so pale just from that? Wait... did you actually do something...?"

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Trick or treat! The trick is handcuffing you to me all day. Unless you're one of those people who see it as a treat..."

Christmas: (December 25th)

"I usually take most of the work during Christmas. I've decided to be a little selfish this year."

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"I'm out. I have calls to make."

(13 affinity and above)

"A penny for your thought, or a bullet for your problem? I was joking. But that got me your attention."

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"(Sigh) Another lost pup...? Don't waste my ti— Oh, it's you."

About others (opinion on other ghouls. asked by MC)

About Ria:

"If she fell into the depth of Tartarus, I'm falling down with her. It's nothing romantic, it's just that no creature would be sane enough to befriend her."

About Alan:

"His biggest mistake is letting that Kurosagi run things around as vice-captain. I guess as long as he keep that mutt in check, I can't really interfere much."

About Leo:

"I will bail any Vagastrom students out of jail without charge except for him. Hell– I would even put him behind bars myself. What, like it's hard? I can send you his police record on WickChat if you want."

About Sho:

"He's tolerable. I would have better opinion about him if only he's not Kurosagi's devoted follower. No offense. I like his cooking, though. And he can take a punch in the Pit."

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

This is my post for tonight's movie presentation at the D23 Expo, which I'll edit/update as the news comes out, and after I formulate thoughts and whatnot... I have already seen some of the stuff for ELIO and ZOOTOPIA 2 revealed earlier today and yesterday, and will integrate my thoughts into this.

10:23PM EST (Approx): Looks like MOANA 2 will be the focus of their first announcement tonight. A real 180 from the 2022 D23, where they saved all the animation stuff for the last half hour and breeeezed through it.

10:30 PM EST: Trailer drop. Promises epic adventure, more pig, a very natural kind of villain, and worldbuilding/expansion of this South Pacific setting. I dig, I dig. Looks very movie-caliber to me. If it was never said that this began life as a D+ show, I don't think most would see a difference.

10:35 EST: The Rock is involved with another Disney movie, a live-action called MONSTER JAM. About... Monster trucks. Documentary or picture that isn't a remake? No release date given.

10:37 EST: 'Kay, we're jumping right into the AVATAR movies now. From water to monster trucks to water... I guess we'll be jumping around a bit tonight.

10:42 EST: AVATAR 3 is AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH. Not THE SEED BEARER, as previously rumored. Hitting all the elements.

10:44 EST: Alright, Pixar time, what's a-cookin'?

10:46 EST: Kicking off with DREAM PRODUCTIONS, the INSIDE OUT Disney+ series that had been previously talked about in interviews. TBD 2025. Takes place between the two movies, so a little bridging of the gap.

10:48 EST: FINALLY! A WIN OR LOSE release date! December 6th!

10:50 EST: Trailer for WIN OR LOSE. Looks like a lot of fun, love the different animation styles for each players' perspectives.

TOY STORY 5 is being directed by Andrew Stanton after all. Concept art shows Woody, Buzz, and the gang all together, in Bonnie's room. She's playing with a tablet. Apparently the story about toys dealing with... Electronics. Smartphones and computers and tablets... Is this a midquel?

A bunch of malfunctioning Buzzes... 50 of them... Is the antagonist. Kinda dipping into the unmade Circle 7 TOY STORY 3 well for ideas, is we?

10:54 EST: Pixar original 2026 is called HOPPERS, starring Bobby Moynihan as a beaver. Not a movie about a clone army of the A BUG'S LIFE villain. Logo gives secret agent/spy vibes. Critter comedy meets action?

It's about a girl who switches brains with a beaver, while her town's mayor (voiced by Jon Hamm) threatens to destroy the beaver home... Love this. Wacky-sounding and perfectly Pixar.

10:58 EST: Zoe Saldanha is starring in ELIO, as the titular kid's aunt. The story doesn't sound much different from what the mid-2023 teaser promised...

The little girl is HOPPERS is putting her brain in a ROBOT beaver, correction. This stuff comes at you so fast. No director named, but I'm thinking it's Daniel Chong?

11:01 EST: INCREDIBLES 3... Whoaaaaaa.

HOPPERS is Daniel Chong's Pixar movie. Makes sense... Bears, now beavers...

Per INCREDIBLES 3... "Brad Bird is developing it right now." Directing? Writing? Producing?

Pixar presentation OVER. INCREDIBLES 3, I guess, will bow in 2027 or 2028.

11:05 PM EST: ZOOTOPIA 2 time. Ke Huy Quan voices a snake named Gary in the film. Reptiles, sea creatures, and more are now in the city.

11:09 PM EST: FROZEN III, 2027. Not 2026. FROZEN IV confirmed. Disney's "Four Seasons" quadrilogy, it seems.

Jennifer Lee says an original comes from WDAS in 2026... Doesn't say what... yet?

11:12 PM EST: Not announced at D23. Adrian Molina was removed as director from ELIO, it was taken over by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian... More on this shocking development later.

11:15 PM EST: They're onto stage stuff now, musicals, etc. No word on the WDAS original slated for 2026. Surprised, but also not surprised. The furthest Pixars tend to get announced before the furthest WDAS movie... Still very shocked about ELIO, though. First director removal of Pete Docter's era... He said in an interview that Molina is still at Pixar and had been moved to a "priority project"... ELIO must've really hit a wall, or something's afoot...

Stay tooned...

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

My Wilderness Hexcrawl Rules

This post began life as an attempt to redesign the Ranger for 5e. I'm still going to do that, but it diverted to an explanation of my wilderness hexcrawl procedure, which I don't believe I've ever shared online in full.

I am on record as saying "exploration" is everything the players do that isn't talking to people or fighting monsters, but for the sake of this, we're going to focus on wilderness "exploration" and parts of the game that use that.

So to do that, we need to talk about what this looks like in my game and at my table. All overland travel in a dangerous area is on a 6 mile hex grid, and we engage in the "gritty realism" rest variant when we use it. This means a short rest is 8 hours overnight, and a long rest is every 7 days/short rests or if the party spends 24 hours within the same hex (which also puts them back on "normal" resting; unless, of course, they travel outside that hex again). Again, this is a "dangerous area," which is most of the parts of the world that adventure takes place in. If the players are travelling a long distance that isn't the focus of the adventure (for example, they travel weeks from the city of Dawnharbour to the city of Steelhaven) then that can be handwaved; they're sticking to roads and not worrying about it, because the Adventure is not The Travel.

When the party travels through hexes, we determine their planned route and weather. This determines how many hexes they can go through. The party can travel 24 miles per day through normal terrain, which equals 4 hexes; difficult terrain like swamps, deep forest or mountains may reduce this to 3 or even 2 hexes.

For each hex, the players roll what I call "Advancing d6s." This means they roll, in order: 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, and finally 4d6. This produces several results, between 1-6, 2-12, 3-18 and finally 4-24. This corresponds with this simple table:

The d6 table is landmarks such as burial mounds, obelisks, etc. The d8 table is several encounters that are not necessarily combat related, such as a group of fake adventurers, a Peryton that attempts to capture a player, or a golden Fey steed appearing on the horizon. It also contains an entry called "Character Event," which is a series of encounters built around the PCs. (I'll go more into Character Events in a later post.) The d12 table is larger landmarks and mini-dungeons or lairs, including things like wild magic zones, dead magic zones, etc. Finally I have lists of combat encounters. Embphyrkhaksis is the BBEG of the campaign this particular table is taken from; an adult red dragon who can appear any time all four players roll 6s. (For each encounter with Embphyrkhaksis, I raise the threshold for him to abandon the encounter by 10hp; initially they just had to deal 10 damage to the dragon for him to flee, but after 4 or 5 encounters they need to do 40 or 50 damage for him to leave. Exciting!) I then arrange the encounters we rolled into the best narratively cohesive order, based on my judgement as a DM and my absolute, flawless, omniscient knowledge of what is Actually in the hexes ahead of them; I ignore results that are boring or have been used recently if there is a legitimate feature in a hex that I've previously determined. At a later time, I'll update this post with a formatted PDF of my table so you can alter it and make your own.

When the party spends the night in the wilderness, they need to set up watches. My rules assume a 4 person party using 2 hour watches. (Elves can take 2 watches and still gain the benefits of a short rest.) During a watch, they roll 1d6; on a 6, an encounter happens. The character makes a Perception check to see if they notice the encounter; this is contested against a DC equal to a passive stealth check made by the monster. (If there are multiple monsters, I use the monster with the highest bonus.) If they fail, they are Surprised, which can be really dangerous with 3/4 of the party still sleeping, outside of their armour. If they pass, the party member has the opportunity to wake up the other players and put on their armour. (Realistically, this takes 10 minutes, but the start of the encounter is a little abstracted in this case.)

This is the core of my wilderness overland travel system. It's easy to see, when it's laid out like this, that there are several "hooks" by which the Ranger can key into to make them feel very useful in this style of campaign.

Next time: We fix the Ranger.

[peniswizard69]

The arc of Torchwood as a series is something that's sooo interesting to me so enjoy reading this post if you care.

Seasons 1 and 2, which I like to call Torchwood Who between me and myself, are very simple. It started off as a Doctor Who spinoff, but horror drama instead of scifi adventure. It tries to mix in some worldbuilding, some character work, mystery driven plots, and deeply explored themes, and there's just no room for that; solid bones but kinda boring all around. It's furtile for fandomwork, inkeeping with Tumblr's fine tradition of making up half of their favorite show, but the tone is on the grim and gray side for those purposes. It's ultimately British fast food tv, for everything you'd expect of that.

They didn't expect to get a season 3. They killed off two of the main cast, and gave the rest an ending in the Doctor Who season 4 finale. Then they got a season 3

Season 3 is called Children of Earth and it's a gut wrenching, stomach churning, horror tour de force. The total runtime is down 54%, from thirteen 50-minute episodes (per season) to five of an hour each, but Torchwood Who was monster-of-the-week but Children of Earth is fully serialized, so the premise has 6 times as much room for all the things the series wanted. To a more discerning viewer this is an oasis of pure light in a dim desert; to the humble Tumblrina, this is a betrayal. Children of Earth is not fun; it has fewer gaps to fill with little scenarios and interpretation; and it leaves you broken, hesitant to come back. Honestly CoE being stapled to the end of Who is one of the wilder things in television.

They didn't expect to get a season 4. They killed off another of the main cast and blew up the secret base and almost all of the gadgets; and they gave the rest a sort of biter-sweet ending. Then they got a season 4

Season 4, whose name is Miracle Day, was mostly produced in the US and it shows. The season mostly takes place in the US, but there's a definite change to the writing that's hard to pin down. It's faster paced and more plot-driven, lighter in tone. The runtime was brought back up to ten 50ish-minute episodes, which feels like bloat given how tight CoE was om 60% of that, and the lower budget/screentime ratio is more important with the American style. It also has Bill Pullman? What is he doing here? It would be rich ground for a fandom, if not for the rest of Torchwood. Fans of Who that didn't bounce off CoE are probably gonna mostly spend it missing Who, and to the discerning CoE enthusiast it is AWFULLLLL. My brother hates it so much, which does fill me with power. At the end of the day, when you hear "American sequel to high budget British mini series" you make a series of assumptions and they're all correct.

They thought they were gonna get a season 5. They set up a recurring antagonist, only killed characters that debuted this season and made one of them immortal. They didn't get a season 5, which gives me ample opportunity to pretend to speculate on season 5. Jathesson is endgame

The arc of all of this is soooo delicious to me. They legitimately went "I'm dying let's party!!!" and then "I survived let's just sorta sit here". Hard to sit through for three different reasons. Campy to classy to cheesy. Ultimately I have to give Torchwood 1 out of ten children, because that's a CoE reference. Trying to actually rate the show is tricky, it's three different shows amd deserves three different shadows. I give it 1, 7 and 3 out of 10 on my little pet scale where 0 is neutral. You probably don't need to watch Torchwood Who to get Children of Earth, but you do need Children of Earth to get Miracle Day.

Also, Bill Pullman in Miracle Day is actually so fucking good??? He brings this powerful and spcific energy where he's the most wretched and disgusting thing in history but also still charming and charismatic. How did he do it

[seacee16]

when petals fall | bangchan

bang chan x original female character

ch. warnings: mention of family death

prev chapter // next chapter

!! FULL STORY ON AO3 !!

ch. 10 ~ when the rain stops

The dorm was quiet. Each kid was tucked away and asleep. Chan, as per usual, was the only one still awake. He had kept his promise to his fellow Aussie, coming home with the rest of them as soon as their schedule for the day had ended. He had taken a long, warm shower and spent a number of hours playing games with the kids before they all retired for the night. Now, he laid in bed with his closed laptop next to him and his phone next to his head.

He would have settled for an early sleep had it not been for the way his phone vibrated as soon as his eyes began to shut. The man turned to the screen, wondering who would be contacting him at that hour. Familiar smiling honey eyes stared back at him as her name flashed across the device, causing his face to lift in a tired grin.

“Petal,” Chan cooed happily as he answered the call. “To what do I owe the pleasure of an after-hours phone call from you?”

“…Chan?”

He froze. It took nothing more than his name on her tongue for Chan to know that something was wrong. It was the tone of her voice. The shake in her breath. The twist of her letters. His heart clenched in his chest as he lifted himself into a seated position on his bed, the sheet falling away from his bare chest.

“Sakura. What’s wrong?” He waited for her reply, growing more anxious with every second of silence that passed.

“Are you busy? I don’t want to bother you,” she finally said, no emotion to her words.

Chan was tumbling out of bed before she reached the end of her sentence, his free hand feeling around violently for the nearest sweater. With his phone tucked between his shoulder and ear, he rushed to throw on clothes.

“No, not busy at all. What do you need, petal?”

“Can I see you?” He heard it. Barely there, but loud as the rolling thunder. The crack in her voice when she asked for him. A hiccup followed shortly after.

“Where are you? The river?”

“Namhansanseong Fortress.”

Chan cursed under his breath. “Petal, what are you doing there?”

“Can I see you?” she pleaded a second time, not knowing that the male was already out the front door.

“Stay where you are. I’m on my way.”

<3      <3      <3

It wasn’t long before the cab pulled up at the familiar wall, the air cold and damp as if expecting rain. As if the sky would cry too. Chan hurried out of the car, not waiting to see it leave before taking off towards her location. His eyes searched for her, worried pants raking his chest. Chan felt his heart lurch beneath his ribs. He found her, a few feet off the ground walking along the top of the jagged fortress wall. She had both arms stretched out at her sides, and her lips pulled tight with utter focus. A breeze pushed the hair from her face, bringing his attention to the red rings around her eyes and the tint to her cheeks and nose. Her body tilted before fixing itself, arms tipping at each side of her frame.

“Sakura!”

The man ran towards her, watching as she spun towards the sound of his voice. All he could hear was the blood thumping violently in his ears as he rushed towards the her. Chan was only some meters away now. Her smile widened at the sight of him while one foot slipped forward on the stone. But before she could fall, Chan reached the wall, securing both arms around her waist before pulling her into his chest.

“Hi, Nemo,” Sakura giggled. Chan ignored the squeeze beneath his sternum at the sound of her laughter, focusing on the slur in her steps and the weight of her unsteady figure. Holding onto her upper arms, he let his gaze speed over her for any signs of a drunken fall, or any other pain.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” The girl shook her head frantically before another round of laughter bubbled up. Chan sighed.

"You're drunk, petal."

"And you, Christopher, are annoyingly sober," she shot back, a tilted smile gracing the span of her face. "Why is that?"

With a tired huff, he let go of her, walking towards the walk and sitting on its edge to catch his breath. He raked a hand through his hair, pushing the hood off his head in the process. "I don’t drink much, not the biggest fan of alcohol. Plus, people make the worst decisions when they're drunk."

"I’d beg to differ. I have never once made a bad drunk decision," she tells him proudly, a lopsided grin etched into her face. 

Chan snorted. "There's no way that’s true."

She feigned a serious expression, hands firmly on her hips. "I'm telling the truth,” she shot back through pouting lips. A hand raised to her heart. "Scouts honour."

"You're telling me that you make no stupid choices when you’re drunk? That the only thing a lack of sobriety makes you do is dance clumsily?" His comment earned him a flash of her pink tongue, followed by a small shrug of her shoulders. "Were you drunk that night too? When we met?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope."

She clumsily hopped up onto the wall besides him. "Do you want to know what I think?" Chan responded with a tilt of his head, eager to hear her answer. Her heart stopped at the sight. She forced herself to shake off the feeling. "I think that people truly make the worst decisions when they're happy. When they feel like nothing could possibly break them. No amount of water can sober up a mind drunk on pure joy. And that, Christopher, is what gets us. Not alcohol, but happiness."

“Why are you drunk, Sakura?”

“Because, Christopher,” she said. “I am living through something that is too painful to experience sober.”

Chan looked at her, waiting patiently for Sakura to explain.

“The last two years weren’t the best for me. I lost my uncle, and then my grandmother. A few months later I said goodbye to another uncle…and then otōsan got really sick. It was unexpected. I thought it would pass. That he would come back from the hospital when he said he would. But he never did. 19 days and h-he was gone too. I-I haven’t exactly been handling the grief that well. My brother was never home, and my sister shut down. And okaasan…I had to be strong for her. For both of them. I buried myself in my studies until the feelings were so deep down that it could be easily ignored. But sometimes…sometimes it comes back.”

“Sakura,” he said in a sorrowful voice. She hated the tone. It made her skin itch, and her eyes sting. She hated the way her throat closed up at the sympathy laced into his tone.

“Don’t,” she hissed. “Don’t say it like that.”

Chan brushed off the aggression and continued, “You’ve been through all that in just one year? How are you even managing?”

Sakura shrugged, a drunk giggle slipping from between her poison tinted lips.

“I don’t know, really. Physically, I feel fine. Great even. Mentally, I’m managing. And emotionally-well, I’ll cross that rickety old bridge when it begins to crumble beneath my feet, I guess.”

“Sakura,” he said again, his voice just above a whisper.

The sound of her name caused her to look at him, a smile still on her face, red from the alcohol running through her blood. A minute hiccup was heard, her head tilting to one side.

“You’re not okay, are you, petal?”

The accusation hit her like a wave of Arctic waters, her high spirits crashing down and disappearing with the foam. It was enough to sober her up, just enough that a crack formed in her façade. And Chan watched in silence as her entire being began to fracture right in front of him.

The first change was seen in her eyes. Bright beads of unpolished amber in the darkness, unable to meet his gaze. They fluttered around, trying to grasp onto anything in sight that could draw her attention away from the dreaded question. But her thoughts beat her to it, digging its talons into her mind and not letting go. And suddenly it was all she could think about. Her eyes misted over, and all she could do to stop the tears from forming was look up. At the stars. To where she knew he was. Then came her smile. The once vibrant bend straightened out, curving downwards as they began to quake. Her bottom lip was tugged between her teeth, leaving indents behind when released. Her throat bobbed as she choked down the noises she wanted to make, the cries she wanted to let out. Like every time before, she forced it down.

But Chan saw it all; knew that she was hurting so badly that she didn’t want to feel or think. That she didn’t want to breathe.

She reached down out of habit, her fingers curling around her own wrist tightly. “I don’t think I am, Chan.” And with a smile of cracks and whimpers, she let out a truthful answer. “It hurts. So much.”

“All this time, have you let anyone comfort you?” Ashamed, she shook her head, and Chan felt a large piece of his heart chip away.

Without warning, he took the remaining steps towards her and gathered Sakura up in his arms in one swift movement. His arms wrapped tightly around her body, as if he hoped to squeeze all the broken pieces of her soul back into one. One hand slid up into the hair at the back of her head, allowing her face to be hidden from sight. Protected from judgement. From the embarrassment she may feel from him seeing her cry. His cheek pressed against the side of her head, and all it took was one whisper for her walls to come crashing down around her.

“I’m here now, petal,” he whispered to the girl in his arms. “You can let go.”

The build-up was slow, but soon he could feel the tremors running through her body; could hear the sobs that tore from her lips.

“Why do they keep leaving me?” She sobbed into his chest, her words shredded by hiccups and pained cries. Each sound ripped through his heart. He tried to hold her tighter, to keep her closer. Chan wanted to give her every happy thought and precious memory and pray that it makes the hurt in her heart a little less. He wanted to beg before every celestial being until they took the pain from her life and rid the world of it entirely. He prayed on each tear that she shed. A prayer for better days and healed pasts. He wanted her to be okay.

But she wasn’t, and that was the reality he had to live. So, in that moment, he hugged her a little tighter and wished for her pain to morph into peace.

“You know,” she said in between tears, “there was this cat in our neighbourhood that my sister and I absolutely adored. He wasn’t a stray, he wore a collar, but he was always roaming around visiting the different houses. We started playing with him whenever he came by, and soon he started coming by daily. Otōsan hated it, didn’t want the cat around at all. But after a while, he started warming up to the small thing. He ended up loving the cat like it was our own.” The smile that had started to form on her face faltered. “According to my sister, the cat went missing recently.”

Chan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging the girl as close to his body as possible. She nuzzled further into his side, hands clenching at her sides.

“Maybe I’m just cursed to lose everyone that I start to love.”

It took him less than a second to take her chin into his grasp and force her to look up at him. Her eyes were glossy, but they didn’t once waver while staring up at him. Honey covered in the clearest layer of ice. The arm that had been around her dropped, hand resting just above her hip instead. Sakura could feel the way the hand pressed to her side shook. However, when she looked at him, only calm was seen. No furrowed eyebrows. No clenched jaw. Just the same kind eyes and half smile that she had become so familiar with.

“You are not cursed,” he told her. They were simple words, but Sakura found believing them to be the real challenge. She had lost too many to think those words were true.

“Everyone I love has left me, Chan. What other explanation is there?”

“The stars are testing you. You just have to push through until the test is over.”

Sakura scoffed. “I’d rather be cursed.”

“Then I shall call you Rika.”

“What?”

He laughed gently, reveling in the look of confusing that had traded places with the sadness in her eyes. How I wish you knew, petal.

“At the end of the day, test or no test, cursed or not cursed, you still have your okaasan. Your siblings. Your friends.” Chan leaned in closer. His lips stopped a breath away from her own. “You still have me, petal.”

With that, he leaned up and pressed the gentlest kiss to her forehead. And like timid waves over stick strokes on the shore, Sakura felt the panic fade away. With his gentle hands still cradling her damp face, she felt the pad of his thumb glide over her cheek.

And when one corner of her lips finally twitched up in a hint of a smile, he couldn’t help but feel his heart swell in his chest.

“There’s my girl.”

“Do you remember when we met?” Sakura began. “You told me that I looked unbothered by the world, that my freedom enticed you so much that you couldn’t help but approach. This past year, being here in Seoul, was meant to be a time where I could find myself again. I was so lost after he died. I just gave up. The things I once loved became poison; I couldn’t go near a paintbrush for months. And that night was the first time in a year that I knew what I wanted to do with my near future.” She turned towards him, admiring the way his eyes stayed on her no matter how she shifted. She was all he saw. Only her. “That day, I submit an application to do a one-year postgraduate course at this university in Africa, and sending it in alone gave me such a rush. I laughed. There was nothing funny in sight but I just laughed. For once I was excited for my return home. For once I wasn’t worried about anything or anyone else. I was happy.”

“That’s why you were dancing?”

Sakura nodded, her head falling to lay on Chan’s shoulder.

“Would things have gone the way it did if you weren’t happy that night?” he asked, referring to himself and all of their interactions since that one night.

“I think I would have walked away. Or I may not have even been out there that night. But I was happy, and I was there, and so our paths crossed.”

“I’m glad it did,” he whispered honestly.

Her mouth opened to respond, but she stopped when Sakura felt a wet drop on her cheek. She had long stopped crying, her breathing slowly regaining its normal rhythm. The drop was too cold to be her own. Then she felt another, and it dawned on her. The clouds had thickened, the temperature dropping as the sky prepared to let go. And as she started to tell Chan her predictions, it started. Light, but quickly falling heavier on their heads.

“My car is this way,” she yelled over the rain, dragging him up and towards the parking lot nearby. They continued running, even as his hand slipped out of her own.

Slowly, his steps lost momentum until he was standing still in the downpour, staring after her. He watched as Sakura turned to look for him, surprise covering her face when she noticed the distance between them now. Her mouth moved, but her words fell mute to the sound of the heavy droplets falling around them. Chan didn’t know why, but he couldn’t look away. They were both near drenched and cold. Sakura’s hair was flattened against her head, curls of dark hair stuck to her cheeks and forehead. Her clothing clung to her frame. She looked a mess. And yet, he couldn’t look away. In that moment, Chan felt himself wishing. He watched as the rain fell and kissed her in a way that he yearned to. Hard. Continuously. Without an end in sight. He found himself longing for her the way a desert traveler craved for the water of an oasis; so close to the eyes, but so far from touch.

“Chan, let’s go!” He heard her voice through the rain, pulling him back to reality.

They reached the car, Sakura handing Chan her keys before getting into the passenger side. While the cold rain had aided in sobering her mind, she didn’t trust herself to drive. Luckily, the male didn’t seem to mind, pulling out of the lot as soon as the car was warm enough to keep their chills at bay for the period of the drive.

It was a quiet drive, and once they reached her building, Chan followed her up. He refused to leave without seeing that she was safely in her apartment. Praying that she hadn’t left the rooms in a state, Sakura punched in her code and entered.

He had already started to take a step away when Chan felt her grab onto his forearm, stopping him from leaving.

“You’ll get sick. Stay for a while. Just until you’re dry, or at least until your driver gets here,” she tried to convince him, nervous that the cold would cause him to fall sick during such a busy time.

Chan looked down at her, observing her. The way her eyes stayed on the area where she held onto him, fingers curling slightly in the wet material of his sleeve. And when her gaze lifted to meet his, he knew that there was no way he would ever be able to say no to her. Fuck, those eyes. He was nodding before the action even registered in his brain, caving at the first sight of her victorious smile.

“We don’t have a working drier right now, but I’ll grab you a towel in the meantime.”

So, he let her drag him back into the depths of her apartment until he found himself in the living room area. A long white couch covered the length of the wall to his left, an array of abstract paintings hanging above it. Chan could just make out the golden ‘S’ in the bottom corner of the largest piece, recognising it from the canvases scattered around Sakura’s art class. A horizontal cabinet of equal colour to the couch sat along the opposite wall. Photo frames and the rare succulent littered its top, a television seated at the very centre.

In his blind admiration of the room, Chan hadn’t noticed that Sakura had disappeared for a moment, only to reappear with a fluffy blue towel big enough to wrap around his shoulders. The girl lazily tossed it over his head before retreating to her room to change. Chan huffed, pulling the towel off his head with a boyish pout. He attempted to dry his pants first. When it was as dry as he could get it to be with the towel alone, Chan moved on to his sweatshirt.

A door opened, and Chan looked up to see Sakura exiting a room wearing lilac hoodie and matching sweatpants; a green clip keeping her damp hair in place at the back of her head. In her hands sat a bundle of black.

“Here, it’s clean.”

Upon closer inspection, Chan recognized it as his own hoodie. The one he had given her when they were on the company rooftop.

“Is this-“

But she had already turned away, promising not to look as she headed towards the small kitchen on the other side of the open space. There, she busied herself with the few dishes that had been left to dry besides the sink after that morning’s breakfast. Sakura kept her eyes on the glass bowl in her hands, focusing on returning every item of cutlery and crockery to its respective homes. Focusing on wiping down the granite countertops until they were spotless. Definitely not focusing on the fact that the boy that made her heart burn was potentially shirtless right behind her. She dropped the rag in her hands, reaching up in an attempt to cool her slowly heating face.

An awkward cough was heard behind her, some vague signal that it was all clear. Sakura let out a breath. Safe at last.

When the last of the misplaced items had been stashed away, Sakura turned her attention back to the lounge, only to spot her guest sitting on the ground on the farthest side of the room. Chan had the towel laid out beneath him, back against the extended bit of wall as he stared out at the mourning sky.

“You’re on the floor,” she stated, grabbing her own towel off a nearby chair.

Chan looked up at her innocently, eyes wide and honest. “I was afraid the water would ruin your couch.”

“Your hair is still dripping, Nemo,” Sakura teased, watching as panic flashed through his eyes. He rushed to push the damp hair out of his face, stray droplets flying as he pulled his hood up and over his head with a quick apology.

“Don’t do that, you’ll-Forget it, come here.” The boy’s movements paused, eyes lifting to meet hers. She back tracked to the kitchen table, knowing he would refuse any instruction to sit on the couch. So again, she looked at him, calling him over until she saw him stand hesitantly.

“Sit,” she instructed, eyes flickering down to the open seat.

And he listened. Chan let himself sink down into the seat, hands tucked away in the pocket of his hoodie as he stared up at her waiting. Tense. It was only when Sakura placed her own towel over his head that he seemed to acknowledge what she was doing and relaxed. With careful hands, she patted the water out of his hair in slow motions, trying her best not to accidentally tug too hard.

“I feel like a little kid,” she heard him mumble from beneath the towel, a laugh following his words.

“You look like a little kid,” Sakura responded, yelping when she felt a pinch at her waist.

So, in a true mature response, she pulled on his hair. Hard. Only he didn’t react in the way she had expected. No pinch or shout or taunt. No. Chan’s head fell back, the towel flapping open and exposing his face to her gaze. Her stared up at her, eyes wide and lips parted, shock written all over his face. Shock – and something else? Sakura felt her body heat up at the thought. Her hand was still locked in his hair, tangled in the web of dark curls that stuck to her digits. She was lost. And when she felt his hands creep up to rest on the curves of her hips, she knew there was no hope in finding a way back from where they were.

Sakura blinked, breaking all eye contact and tension to say, “Your hair is all curly.”

He chuckled; hands still firmly pressed against her sides, thumbing her waist through the material of the soft hoodie that she wore. “It gets like that when its wet.”

Chan pulled her closer so that she stood between his knees. She didn’t stop him. Instead, Sakura curled a lock of his hair around her index finger. “I like it.”

I like you.

“Yeah?” Sakura nodded, watching the locks bounce back into place as she soaked up more water. Once it was no longer dripping, Sakura gave him the okay, but the man went right back to his spot on the floor. She rolled her eyes, but followed him, lowering herself until she was seated on the floor opposite him. His focus stayed on the rain outside. Sakura rests her chin on her raised knees, wrapping both arms around her legs. She stares at him, eyes shining with curiosity in the dim light.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours, Nemo?”

Chan sat silently; eyes cast to the outside world as he wondered. He found himself thinking back to the night she had come to his aid, cradling his face in her small hands as he trembled. She had been there for him. Give me the weight of your sky, she had said. Please, she had pleaded. He snuck a glance at the girl sitting opposite him, waiting patiently for his response. One look into her eyes, and suddenly, he was passing a cloud-covered sky into her outstretched palms.

“You were right,” he admitted, immediately feeling the weight lift from his chest. He inhaled with ease, eyes finding the cars passing below them. “I need to learn to allow the kids to help me. I know what they do in secret, how they disguise their help by asking me for help, because they know well that I would never turn them down.”

 

“Hyung, I know you’re busy, but that I’m at the company gym and I really need your help. None of the instructors are here to spot me and lord knows Seungmin’s arms would snap if he even tried to help with this amount of weight on the bar. Think you could come down and help me out, just for an hour?”

 

“Hyung, would you help me make dinner tonight? Felix really wants brisket and I need an extra set of hands that I know won’t get in the way of my mastery.”

 

“Chan-hyung, would you mind sitting still for a little longer? I want to practice drawing people, and the others keep moving around when I try. Please, hyung? I won’t take too long. Just this once? Thank you!”

 

“But it’s not just the kids, everyone else looks to me for strength too. I do those weekly lives for them, so that our Stays, or anyone really, have one hour of peace to look forward to at the end of every chaotic week. They have something safe to be excited about, a reason to make it to Sunday,” he told her. Chan leaned his temple against the glass, closing his eyes.

As he spoke, Sakura listened intently with an open mind, and content heart. After helping so many, he was allowing someone to help him.

“There’s this constant pressure of being who they think I am. This perfect, smiling leader who they can rely on to always be there. And that’s what I want to be, don’t get me wrong. But,” he pauses. “But I’m human too. I fall and I break and I have days when getting out of bed seems impossible, and sometimes even I need the Chan that they depend on so wholly.”

He let out a tired sigh. “It’s hard being human, when the person they believe me to be…isn’t.”

“Me saying this is in no way meant to invalidate what you’re feeling,” Sakura started, wanting to get her thoughts across clearly. “But I can assure you that they know you’re human. They may know it more than you yourself do, Chan. Why do you think they – we – pester you about getting enough sleep? Why at least once every live, someone asks if you’ve eaten, or how you are? Your life is a double-edged sword. I know it’s not ideal to have your life’s events be as public as yours are, but because of this your fans have seen you go through all of your phases. Good and bad. Every victory and failure, every loss and gain, every smile and tear. They know that you laugh and cry and tire out like every other person. They know this, and yet they are still there every week. You may do those lives for them, Chan, but they join those lives for you.” Chan let her words sink in, his heart overflowing with love for his fans. They were the reason he was where he was, doing what he loved with the people he loved. His family, the one he got to choose. His home away from home. But with the joy came another cloud of doubt, and then he was frowning once more.

“What makes me so special? I’m just another kid with some stories to tell. There are hundreds – thousands – of others who could do what I do. What makes me so deserving of their love and time and blind dedication?”

“Because you have earned their loyalty. You put in the time to be there for them, to remind them how precious and loved they are when the world around them made them feel like nothing. The world sees their differences as defects and flaws, but you see them as stars and gold. Love isn’t something you need to work for or earn, it just happens, but loyalty? If you have that, they’ll be there. Throughout every little hiccup in life.”

Chan stared back at her. “How do you always know exactly what to say?”

“Giving advice is easy, like loving. Its receiving and taking advice that is difficult. And like being loved, it gets harder the more you’ve been hurt.” Sakura pulled at the sleeves of her sweatshirt, so much so that the cuffs hung loosely over her fingertips.

“Can I ask you something?” Sakura looked over at him, taking in the sight of his flushed face and dark eyes.

“Anything,” she responded honestly.

“Why Korea?” Chan asked her. “When you decided to leave home, what made you choose Korea? I’m sure you could have gone anywhere.”

She thought for a moment. “Seoul is familiar. It’s not home, but its close enough to home that returning would be easy. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to travel. There’s just so much that I want to see, and so many places I want to explore, that I don’t think I would have wanted to go back home after seeing it all.”

Interested, Chan leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “What things would you want to see? If you had no restrictions and no boundaries – no limit – what would you want to see?”

“I want to see the Northern Light,” she said with a pensive gaze focused on something outside. The left corner of her mouth pulled up as her head tilted to lean against the cool glass. “The Acropolis of Athens. Mont-Saint-Michel. The Great Barrier Reef. Lake Como. I want to see Cappadocia from a hot air balloon so colourful it hurts my eyes, and hike in forests straight out of a fantasy film. Oh, and I have to see a real sunfish, and…”

In the rush of her dreams, Sakura failed to notice the besotted look on the man’s face as he stared at her. He took in every word, absorbing every syllable, drinking in every sound that fell from her mouth like a man dying of thirst. And he remembered his own dreams. How the 13-year-old trainee would dream of his debut. Of winning his first award, for an album he put his entire soul into. Of performing on a stage so big that it made their group of eight look tiny. Of a dark sea lit up by lights like the night sky at back home. His dreams accumulated over those seven years, growing bolder even after his debut. And one day, he realized that he had almost reached the end of his once infinite list of dreams. But Sakura had yet to accomplish all of her dreams. And Chan couldn’t help but feel excited for her to fulfil them, whenever it may be.

“I hope all of your dreams come true, petal.”

She smiled back at him and said, “Thank you, Chan. But in the end, I’m okay even if they don’t. Sometimes it’s nice to just have the dream, something to give you hope. In the reality of things, some dreams just don’t come true.” The contentment in her eyes began to waver. Chan frowned at the sudden dip in her mood.

“Your sky seems a little heavy,” He stated, thinking back to that night in his room. With his head tilted to one side, and without looking away, he opened his arms widely. “Will you let me hold you?”

The girl arched an eyebrow. “Was that one of your pick-up lines?”

Chan shrugged. “I modified it to fit the conversation.”

“I think you mean ‘will you let me hold it’.”

“I know what I said, Sakura.”

Sakura wanted to say no. She wanted to stay where she was, where she could see every flicker of emotion in his brown eyes. At a safe enough distance to help him, but not too close that she could be pulled deeper into his warmth. It was too risky, too dangerous. But maybe…maybe that’s what she wanted. Just for one night. For them to just be a girl and a boy, comforted by each other’s embrace.

So, on shaky limbs, she crawled over to him. When she was close enough to his long stretched out legs, she turned around. Two arms found their way around her waist almost instantly, wasting no time in tugging her back until she was seated between his legs with her back resting flush against his chest. Sakura couldn’t help the content smile that formed on her face. He smelled like rain. Sakura loved the rain. She could feel the heat from his body seeping into her skin right through her clothing, into her bloodstream and straight to her frenzied heart. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to sink into his warmth.

And he received her with an open heart. One hand lifted to carefully shift her head into the nook beneath his chin, and he immediately felt her body curl into his own. His arms tightened around her protectively.

“Just until the rain stops,” Sakura whispered, a yawn chasing her words.

“Of course, petal. Just until the rain stops.”

And for the first time, Chan prayed that the storm would never end.

[thepercy6andtheradicalsabbatical]

Dubrovnik to Split-

We awoke on our last morning in split and Matt and Becca went on a super quick and relatively flat (by Dubrovnik standards) run then we packed with the usual franticness and stored our bags in the luggage storage in our building at checkout time of 10 AM. Our ferry to split didn’t leave until 3:15 pm so we had some time to kill and we started this buy spending about 2.5 hours of hanging on Banje beach right by our place. The kids had fun exploring the beachside rocks and all enjoyed cooling off in the clear blue waters of the Adriatic. We then used our one 50 euro cent piece to pay for a 30 second beachside shower to try and desalinate the 6 of us (but it seemed like only Matt was willing to brave the ice cold shower water to do so). We then headed back to our place, got our bags out of storage and changed our of swimsuits in the courtyard before catching a bus to the port area. There, Matt’s plan was to check out Dubrovnik beer company and grab beer/lunch. We only succeeded in one of the two as they apparently don’t start serving food until 3, but the beer was tasty and it was a bit refreshing to taste some hops after not getting much of this in beers over the past month or so. We improvised a lunch of bread, cheese and the 100g of Salami Matt had purchased way back in Pianillo and then walked about 10 min to our ferry dock. The children and Becca were once again commenting on Matt’s frugality as we walked by several much larger ferries going the same direction to our much smaller, slightly cheaper and hopefully (for Matt’s sake) equally fast and comfortable “TP lines” ferry to Split. The ferry ride did turn out to be pretty smooth, if a bit long. it was cool to look out and see the coastline of Croatia and hundreds of islands sliding by as we sailed up the smooth waters of the straits between them. We called in Pomena, Korcula, and Hvar before arriving in Split right on time at about 8:30 pm. From Hvar on there was another child who was sprinting laps around the ferry playing a broken english chase game with our 3 littlest kids (Emily the pre-teen read her book instead). On arrival it was immediately apparent that Split was a much bigger town than Dubrovnik with lots of hustle and bustle around us and people trying to get us on taxis. We instead walked to the nearby bus stop where google maps said to get on the number 18 bus, so we did, it was one of those double long busses and Becca/kids got on the back while Matt walked to the front door to pay for tickets. When I got on the driver asked where we were going then looked at Matt's phone and told hime to get off walk across the street and take the 15 bus, so Matt got off and yelled back to the fam to get off which they tried to do but the back doors wouldn't re-open so the family drove off on the bus with Matt standing on the curb! Becca called Matt and we made a plan that they would stay on and ride the 6 stops as originally planned per google maps, which they did and found the place, and checked in. Matt walked across the street as instructed by bus driver but discovered the number 15 bus was not coming for 45 minutes, so he again checked the phone and it advised him to take the number 8 bus which came in 10 minutes so he did, purchased a ticket without being hassled bu the driver this time and ended up with a short 5 min walk to the place at the end. Matt arrived to all the kids being very fired up about arriving at the rental place they had been looking forward to the most of anywhere, complete with a "B" shaped pool the kids had dubbed "the butt pool" in pictures and a kids room with a cars/star wars theme. We finally got them calmed down, unpacked and in bed around 10 pm and the tired adults also hit the hay after social media-ing a bit on our fast internet.

[agapi-kalyptei]

@rightanglepro no no, it's a good question. With a boring answer.

The short version is - I'm just buying dietary supplements from a private company, online. Free healthcare exists, but private healthcare also exists in parallel.

The longer version is, yes, we do have free-ish healthcare in EU. Conceptually it's not difficult - in the USA, you have federal law and the state law. In EU, you have EU law, in this case European Medicines Agency, which supervises research on new treatments, and individual countries, which have their own laws and regulations.

In general, healthcare is mandatory, just like taxes, so a portion of your salary is taxed towards healthcare, hospital care, just like it is for unemployment fund, etc. (This is generally not seen as a "big brother reaching into your wallet" because we don't have fox news here, it's just a part of everyday life - every adult understands that brutto and netto salaries are different numbers, and it only takes a few seconds to google a calculator to figure out the difference.)

The details vary over different countries. In Czechia, you used to have to pay 5CZK per doctor visit ($0.25). Then they took it away because people were complaining. In Czech and Slovak Republic, it was common to visit your family doctor early in the morning, then wait a few hours through a poorly managed queue, and then get a variable amount of time with the doctor depending on your issue. (I'm sure that's changing nowadays though.)

In Estonia, you email, call, or book online, and get a 20 minute time slot with your family doctor, at no cost. They might prescribe you some meds. These are anything between free and a handful of euro, but still compensated via "Haigekassa", the universal health insurance thing.

You'll often find USAmericans come here and be puzzled at how well it works. I have at least one friend who used to pay thousands of USD a month for their meds in USA, and here they have to pay like... 5€ for the exact same medication.

That said, no country has infinite budgets - the weak point in Estonia is mental health care - it exists, but generally takes a 2-3 months of queuing for a psychiatrist, and Haigekassa (last I heard) only covers 5 psychotherapy sessions per patient. Private sessions cost generally 50-100€.

New experimental therapies take a while to be accessible - as they should. I read research about ketamine use for treatment of depression 10 years ago. A few years ago it was approved by the European Medicines Agency. A bit later, it became available in a clinical setting. And it's still 100€ per session for the IV drip version.

On the other hand, tDCS is now fully covered by Haigekassa, so you can get fully free sessions from your family doctor.

And to get to my case - digestive issues are still very hard to categorize. I'm not allergic, I don't have gluten or lactose intolerance, so the label I get is just "IBS" - which, while internationally recognized, is still just a codeword for "tummy hurty, we don't know why". Medical trials are a tricky subject, and of course you mostly get focus on well-researched and urgent conditions (alzeimer's, heart disease, cancer...), so either there's public health interest, or there's a company with a profit motive looking to register their medication.

In case of the company Intoleran, while I'm hoping they're going to stay profitable enough to sell their enzymes to me, they don't seem big enough to have the same leverage as Big Pharma does, and to register a medicine, they'd need both a lot of underlying research, a condition to cure, and a loooooooooot of money to go through rigorous trials to prove their stuff works.

As much as I'd be happy to see their enzymes being covered by health insurance, I also don't want the regulations to get lax to approve snake oil sales. Doing science is a slow and expensive process.