#I had to reduce the amount of hands shown

[unlimited-sciuridae]

Smoochin time 🌈😇🗡

Ref:

[cripplecharacters]

what are the top 5 things you'd like to see a disabled character do in a story?

Hey! This is a very vast question and a lot of it would depend on the character's actual disability - I have completely different wishlists for what I'd like to see intellectually disabled characters do versus what I'd like to see characters with facial differences do. Different stereotypes and tropes affect different groups of disabled people differently - to work with this fact, the below list will try to account for as large amount of disabled character as I can reasonably think of, but it won't have as much detail as you might want. If you have a specific kind of character in mind, feel free to send another ask.

Not in specific order:

Disabled characters being in love. Disabled x disabled, disabled x abled, disabled x very different kind of disabled, all these variants but including more than 2 characters (since I've yet to see a polyamorous disabled character), all of this.

And I mean in actual relationships, not the pitiful and devoid of actual chemistry thing that we usually get (think "really sad disabled man only becomes happy after an abled woman takes pity on him, but they never kiss or god forbid have sex because that's gross and the disableds surely don't do that anyway").

I want to see an interabled couple going through IVF because they want to have kids, a wife with hemiplegia getting to grow old and wrinkly with her autistic husband, a lesbian with Treacher Collins syndrome moving in with her chronically ill girlfriend after a month of knowing each other, DeafBlind men getting hands on each other in the bathroom of a shitty nightclub, a trans woman with autism asking out a trans man with Down syndrome via her AAC tablet, a neurotypical guy with an obvious crush on his classmate with cerebral palsy.

I want to actually see disabled people being shown as desirable partners, good parents and grandparents, potential crushes, going through some new feelings and going on both good and bad dates, from all walks of life, of all sexualities and genders. Just like abled people.

Disabled characters participating in their community. Especially severely and/or visibly disabled characters. This is obviously a concept as vague as it could possibly be, but a big problem with a lot of disabled characters is that they don't... do anything. Not in the sense that they aren't "active enough", but that they aren't really... characters. They're often reduced to a family member who's at home and maybe the abled character takes care of them sometimes, but that's seemingly all that happens; they have no interests, hobbies, agency, preferences, or an internal thought process. All they do is wait for an abled savior to do something to them, not even with them.

I want to see more disabled characters who have jobs (whether it's a "regular" job, a supported employment workplace, a creative job that maybe they can only do a few hours a week, or self-care as a full-time job kind of thing), participating in hobbies that are accessible and/or modified to their ability level, emailing or sending pigeon letters to their friends, trying out new stuff that they're interested in, having actual complex relationships with their caregivers. Anything to actually make them feel like characters that exist in their setting, not just cardboard cutouts that the author had no ideas for.

Disabled characters who are a part of real-world disability (and adjacent) culture. Obviously also a vast topic. Most disabled characters, regardless of setting, are completely separated from concepts that were made by disabled people for disabled people; usually the connection to disability is their actual medical condition and a sterile mobility aid. This is not incorrect or bad to represent since that describes a lot of people, but I'd like to simply see more variety.

I want to see disabled characters who do parasports, who are excited about tactile art, went to blind/Deaf/SPED schools, call themselves #a babe with a mobility aid, decorate their AAC device, learn about disabled history, experience Feelings when hearing that Neanderthals cared about their disabled children, go to disability-centric events or support groups to meet people similar to them.

Do all disabled people do these? Absolutely not, but I'd like for even 1% of fictional characters to represent those who do.

Yeah I just want more disabled characters doing sports. As in real-life sports that real-life disabled people do, apologies to all the fantasy swordfighting that's out there.

There are so many sports out there we can do, some are adapted, some have a sitting or wheelchair version, while others were made specifically for us. Team sports are such a good opportunity to have your character have a community of people like them, have interesting dynamics, yet the only anything I can think of that's about it is REAL by Takehiko Inoue (wheelchair basketball) and the art by @/gayaest / @/sproutwiki (sitting volleyball). Also some Paralympics documentaries that I can count on a single hand - there's like three of them.

I want to see characters who are starting out and really suck at their sport, ones who are decent, ones with ridiculous sports-anime-level over the top abilities. I want to see all kinds of sports done by all kinds of disabled characters; blind kids learning goalball with their blind parents, quadriplegic guys working their ass off to qualify for national murderball championships, folks using sticker-covered bright-pink ramps in their boccia games, people with POTS playing along with their abled partner on their wheelchair rugby league team, standing fencers becoming disabled and adapting to wheelchair fencing that they love just as much. More disabled people having fun, knowing other disabled people, having interests!

Also, parasports are just cool as fuck and interesting to both watch and read about.

Disabled characters getting to make bad decisions. Disability representation is often extremely black-and-white in terms of morality: the character is either an angel who always does the right thing and talks about being grateful a lot, or the character is comically evil, wanting revenge because of their disability, hating their disability, constantly in grief and anger since not a single mildly ok thing happened to them since they became disabled. Neither of these feel like real people.

Disabled characters should be able to say hurtful things, get mad, lie, and whatever else, without being demonized to hell for it the same way abled characters are. They should be allowed to consciously make a decision that they shouldn't take (also known as "dignity of risk" in context of disability). They should get the same consequences for mistakes as everyone else and need to have the opportunities to actually make them.

In a much shorter way: more complex disabled characters.

These are things that I'd enjoy seeing for disabled characters. But the main thing would probably be that I want more of them. The scope of disabled characters in media is so painfully narrow because there's so few of them + they're usually capped at one per series. More writing featuring multiple disabled people please.

Here is a list of wishes from other mods who wanted me to throw them here:

Disabled characters who act like the author did more than a 10 min google search about their disabilities. [So authors doing actual research.]

More disabled characters of color. A lot of time disabled characters are white because it's only acceptable for them to be one kind of marginalized. In real life that's not how it works. People of color are disabled too!

Characters with comorbidities, characters with physical and mental health and developmental symptoms. Disability doesn't just come with one cut and dry disorder all the time - you can even be diagnosed with some things and undiagnosed with others.

[A character can have 5 comorbidities, or 5 completely unrelated disabilities - both happen. Or, most frequently, a bit of both.]

Characters existing in all parts of their diagnostic journey. [So characters who are yet to be diagnosed, currently investigating their symptoms, ones recently diagnosed, and ones who had their diagnosis for their whole lives - and as mentioned previously, you can be on one stage with disability A, and on another with disability B.]

Characters whose whole life isn't just tragedy/struggle! See this a lot when a story with disabled character is just about how life is hard for them as disabled person. Would love disabled characters being leads in other genres and just existing as people. Not to say disability isn't a struggle, but there is more to life and person than disability.

mod Sasza

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I watched and loved Andor, a show about the ways that people organize and respond to the steady, encroaching tide of fascism, and I’m also living life here in late stage America. And those things have me now thinking about a little rebel movement in the making among the household staff and guards of Meduseld. One that might have burst into full view had Gandalf not arrived and healed Théoden when he did.

Like, it begins with Éowyn’s chambermaids whispering amongst themselves about how they’ve discovered their lady is sleeping with a knife beneath her pillow because of that awful, creepy Gríma. The kitchen staff overhears and chimes in with their suspicions that Gríma has been tainting the king’s food. Strange events start getting linked. Quiet, cryptic inquiries are made of one or two of the door guards who have cousins in the kitchens or on the cleaning staff — what are you seeing from your post about how Gríma is treating the king and his family?

They start out acting on their suspicions with small, low-stakes acts. Théoden’s personal grooms slow down his morning routine to reduce the amount of time the king is alone in the hall with Gríma before other advisors arrive. Whenever Gríma is headed in the direction of Éowyn’s rooms, whoops, sorry, the floors are being scrubbed again Master Wormtongue, you can’t pass that way! Any time he wants his horse for one of his mysterious trips out of the city, oh, too bad, the farrier is re-shoeing your horse at the moment and it’s gonna take a while! Come back later! People are nervous because no one can afford to lose their jobs, and they’ve all seen Gríma’s willingness to throw opponents into prison. But they do what they can to obstruct whatever his purpose is.

Little secret meetings start happening in the royal root cellar after dark, led by Théodred’s old governess. Their efforts get both more organized and more daring. The couriers who come in daily from Théodred in the west or Éomer in the east are plied with ale and then pumped for info that can be matched up with what the woman who cleans Gríma’s office has overheard each day. Things start disappearing from that office, and the half-Dunlendish stable hand who can read a few words of the Dunlendish script is shown the scraps pulled from Gríma’s wastebasket of diplomatic correspondence to help them puzzle out his plans.

Divides start to appear among the resisters. Some are intent on learning as much as possible and finding a way to bring their evidence to one of the lords of Rohan they can trust without getting caught. Others are impatient for action and want to take the fight to Gríma. They start stockpiling hidden weapons around Edoras for if/when they’re needed. One of the guys who works in the prisons on Gríma’s behalf and is especially dickish about it has a mysterious ✌️accident✌️ on the stairs after hours and ends up dead, and the laundress who is suspected to be responsible is hailed by some as a hero and criticized by others as a foolish loose cannon. 

One night the secret root cellar meeting is unexpectedly interrupted by heavy steps clomping down the stairs, and everyone is terrified when Captain Háma appears in the doorway, certain that he’s been sent to arrest them all for treason. He scolds them for not being nearly as stealthy as they thought they were but then proceeds to give them a bunch of advice on how to better evade detection and the whole operation kicks up another notch…

I don’t know. Fun to think about.

[despazito]

what is type drifting in dogs and what does it have to do with the chow?

It's a contentious topic, type drifting refers to the general appearance of a breed changing over time.

I should clarify that it's disingenuous to assert that dogs inherently had better structure 100 years ago, we definitely know more medically and genetically about how dogs work now than we did back then. i'll sometimes see old photos of dogs whose heads i find very pleasing but the postcranial structure is an inharmonious mess (and it's not about what 'looks' right aesthetically, the way joints are arranged decides how efficiently a dog can move which can have some big impacts on working ability and quality of life). we can thank good breeders for smoothing out a lot of those imbalances in their dogs. You know when you see a funny shelter dog that has the proportions of 3 different animals cobbled together? It is the work of breeders that purebreds as a general rule don't have that structural funkiness going on.

Over the years the desired "type" of dogs within a breed becomes standardized (after all the word conformation literally derives from "to conform"), so the population settles for a desired direction to take their breed in. The controversy starts when for whatever reason, usually a variety of factors such as judge preference, breeder preference, whose kennel is bigger or more influential in a given area, etc... that you can see desirable physical appearance drift towards certain traits over others throughout the decades.

These changes can be structurally harmless, the roman nose of the bull terrier doesn't cause any dysfunction and boils down to personal preference of what folks think a perfect bull terrier should look like. Other changes can pose more harm, such as the preference for a french bulldog to have a completely flat face+meaty neck+wider skull+pinched nostrils together creates a dog much more prone to breathing issues.

As a trend though I do feel like a handful of breeds have drifted towards a cobbier build, reduced muzzle length, a more domed head shape, more skin, and more bone. which like, isn't inherently cruel or anything, but i think we should ask ourselves why some dogs are drifting that direction because there also isn't anything to be gained from it beyond aesthetic preference.

Chow chows have gotten quite a bit meatier and stockier, here's some top chows of 2024

compared to prized chows at the turn of the 20th century when they were still novel dogs to the west, there's definitely structural differences and the dogs just looked more moderate overall.

I think where folks get confused is that it's not so much saying that meatier chow are all diseased and should cease to exist, we can still have those chows (within moderation lol), it's the frustration people like me have that the old type champion dogs if shown today would not get praised as good looking chows even though they're still purebred chows and there's nothing wrong with them! I wish clubs were more flexible in this way and were more openminded on what a purebred should look like so long as the dogs are healthy. And i don't believe drawing a line in the sand to call it a different breed is the solution either because on average purebred populations are in need of more gene flow.

How this ties in to china is that chow chow originated in china. the meatier and western type chows can be found there but so can the more moderate old type that has become harder to source from a western breeder nowadays. When you search chow chow on chinese social media (i can't read mandarin but i've copy pasted various terms from chinese dog sources) you will find a more diverse range of dogs. there are dogs that look closer to the ancestral landrace songmao, more western-style dogs, and a wide spectrum of stuff in between (unfortunately extreme breeding happens over there too, i've seen dogs with CRAZY amounts of skin that are even more exaggerated than western type).

If you're like me and have a strong preference towards the old style of chow and the native songmao i think you can understand why we have some strong opinions on the direction that western lines went lol. I'm just absolutely in love with these guys that you can still find in china, I want to meet some so bad!!

(songmao dogs)

[somewhereincairparavel]

Literally where do people get the idea that Jason was full of himself and that he thought he was better than Percy? This is legit brought up in so many 'why-i-hate-jason-grace" arguments it just screams lack of reading comprehension and obvious Percy bias saltiness. Like just say you are bitter that Jason is written as percy's equal and that you want Percy to have nobody rival him 💀

Never once in his povs did he ever think about how much better he was, on the contrary it's just him not feeling good enough about himself. He and Percy NEVER said anything bad about eachother.

His and Percy's rival is just a joke between two powerful demigods who have rival dads, that's literally it. Even if Jason did indeed think he's better, so what about it? What's the big deal?

he has worked hard and accomplished great things, so he has like, every right to be confident in his power, stop acting like hes all weak and inferior when he canonically killed a titan with like his bare fucking hands till the point Krios swore vengeance on him. No he's not "weak" or morally inferior to Percy as a person. You are merely trying to cope. Not to mention the way people judge a character's worth SOLEY based on their abilities is a huge red flag in itself, but that's a discussion for another time.

he shouldve canonically had more achievments and power than he originally got in the books as a son of jupiter. but rick made Percy too OP and fumbled jason for the sake of keeping percy's spotlight intact. Has it ever dawned on people that Percy is shown to have cool abilities like bending tears but Jason is never shown to have abilities like controlling lungs? Yeah, that's authors privilege for ya.

Y'all put Percy in an obnoxiously high pedestal and that's not a good thing. It diminishes his flaws and makes him appear so saint like and Gary Stu even though he's not. the fact that ppl get so sensitive over their rivalry and try to belittle jason by making up scenarios (like claiming jason thinks he's superior and shit) and go around saying that to ppl to reduce his value DESPITE being well aware that he has like enough hate already, is so insanely petty. BOTH Jason and Percy deserve equal amounts of respect.

God forbid a teenage boy say he's better than the other as a joke, he's such a terrible, stuck up, and shitty person who deserved death for that, isn't he?

[celestialtrolls]

The chained-up princess in need of rescue... ...Or the beast you've been sent to slay?

130+ layers later. ONE AELYNN BALL DRAWING FOR 2024 FINISHED

MAJESTY AND MYTHOS

FULL EXPLANATION AND PROCESS:

Earliest drafts:

Original the concept was inspired by Dragonmom, [REDACTED], who is in-character known for destroying several cities during a rampage a few sweeps/years ago but also like. mother nature.

In character, Aelynn did get all the materials and start on this, and was planning on making a counterpart outfit for her twin brother, but ended up not liking how it was turning out and scrapped the project.

CONCEPT 2 SKETCH

i'll type out all the writing on there + unwritten thoughts/elaboration

villainess knight vibes, but the beast lies beneath

fake horns for a scarier silhouette (also she canonically already had the materials to make fake horns)

lots of sharp points for hostile shape language

ghoul claws and eyes on for "beast"

tail still included in design because she already had the materials and it worked well for beast

red roses as a reoccurring theme each year to tie her outfits together, and also red is a 'dangerous' colour

holding something? gotta be something that fits the evil/villain concept

shoulder + knee armour for knight

"spine" down the centre of the chest

skull buttons, but might be too cheesy

wanted to cover the eye with dragonmom's symbol, while she's now dressing as a villain she doesn't want to represent dragonmom now

FINAL SKETCH

added a lot more chains, removed some of the 'knight' concept, did plan briefly for her to hold a sword for that, but thought the dress shape was better more for the royalty/princess aspect

didn't remove the shoulder armour though because. i like it.

more spikes for the beast/dangerous silhouette

didn't like that the chest was the only place with a bone/spine feature, so also included it in the tail. i tried to add some of it to the gloves as well but it just didn't look good.

speaking of the gloves, i made it so the gloves actually have a faint divide into her real hands for the sake of in-character being able to return her hands to normal for interacting with people, since her claws ARE extremely sharp, but when she has them turned they blend in almost perfectly

LINES + FLATS

make the heels ALSO spine just to have it reoccurring again

very dark palette but with the lighter purply-silver chains breaking it up

"red wine" is tinted closer to tyrian for. reasons. (eating seadweller reasons) (its not actually blood though)

tiara is replaced with a hair accessory tying some of her hair in a bun - in traditional formal settings, your hair should ALWAYS be up by classical western rules - and while aelynn isn't going to completely conform to that, she has enough hair that she can tie some up just for the appearance

still has a tiara SHAPE though for majesty/royalty reasons

she has her ghoul split-mouth not properly pressed closed for the fang shape it puts across her cheek for beast reasons - but she has good control and will not be opening the mouth past what a normal troll can do so it just looks cosmetic

FINAL PIECE: shown above

Thorns lace detail in the corset, thorns are often used in fairy tales (sleeping beauty, the original rapunzel) to ward off rescuers

Dripping "blood" makeup on one eye, just for drama really

Background is just an alternian skyline but with 'towers' and 'castle' like structure for the majesty theme

reduced the amount of shine in her eyes. it was too innocent and not evil looking enough.

[pixi4]

**OBX SPOILERS**

Can we talk about the fact that Obx4 is not about good plot, writing or character based story. It's about shock value and fan service.

JJ Maybank, who literally hasn't had a moment of happiness in the 4th season, gets killed by the end so that were shocked and hooked for the next season.

We get one shot of him dead, his friends barely even crying and them BOOM gets buried in the fucking ground in the place that's not even his home, literally plopped into the fucking ground like a piece of rock. Audiences don't even get time to process his random ass death and suddenly John Bs stupid ass monologue shows the flashbacks of JJ and how he was a good friend and all that shit.

If people who WROTE this fucking show can't understand that JJs character goes FAR beyond just being a good friend, then I guess I'm not even surprised by the end.

We were CONSTANTLY shown aspects of JJ that in some other universe would've been properly explored. He's clutches his chest constantly, perhaps suggesting he's got a heart thing or breathing difficulty, his home life is shit and not a single adult gives a fuck. John B is practically stalked by the CPS in season 1, but no one bat's an eye at the fact that Luke abuses JJ. He's got dyslexia and kleptomania which is only ever played for laughs meanwhile Cleos kleptomania is regarded as a serious thing she had to do to survive. He can never sit still and constantly switches back and forth, obviously ADHD coded. Whenever gang argued before, JJ used to pace around and put hands over his ears suggesting he has some bits of PTSD from unstable home environment.

All of THAT exists and is true about JJ yet in John B fucking monologue he's reduced to just "a good friend" ????

Literally NOTHING of his trauma is explored or even touched upon aside from that bit in season 1. NO ONES trauma is explored except for Sarah's (no hate to her) and John Bs.

Fuckin bs.

Imagine being given up by your dad (who killed your mother btw) to a morally questionable man such as Luke, who then proceeds to beat you and emotionally manipulate and torment your for years, neglecting you and abusing you. To then suddenly being told you're not actually his and that all that beating and abuse COULD'VE been avoided had someone actually wanted you. Then you meet the said biological father only for him to lie to you, manipulate you, gaslight you, scam you, attempt to kill you once and then fucking succeed in killing you..... The amount of disrespect for JJs character.

Fuckin Luke, the biggest abuser is JJs story is alive and well and FUCKING JAIL FREE??? WHILE JJ IS IN THE GROUND???

The angry faces of others and Kiaras "revenge" implies that season 5 will be about seeking revenge and sinking further into darkness in order to right the wrongs of JJs murder. But guess what?? Sarah's pregnant. That storyline itself is basically ensuring that happy ending is in sight. For basically all of them, because as Kie said: takes a village (to raise a baby). Motherly vibes are gonna spread their positive energy and then they'll heal and John B will most likely give another boring ass monologue about how People die but they also live and heal and shit and how everybody deserves happiness with shots of the gang raising the kid and riding off into the sunset....

Guess who fucking deserved happy ending THE MOST out of all of them???

JJ fucking Maybank.

Every season of obx focuses on on Pogue. 1.- John B, 2.-Pope, 3.- Kie. Imagine waiting for your own season only for your character to constantly be dealt the worst of cards, be perpetually disregarded and have shit go from worse to worse to in the end fucking die randomly???? If I was Rudy Pankow I'd fuckin sue.

The shit that pisses me off the most is that it's so painfully obvious that Rafe will inevitably get a redemption arc and his own happy ending, possibly even with Kie since people love to ship her with a man who's a) mentally and emotionally not at all alright b) is a murderer who never served his time and got one of her friends framed for it causing him to literally be chased out of his own home for crime he did not commit while he was still a minor c) has tried to kill her d) has tried to kill her best fucking friend, who is his own fucking sister

Infatuation with sociopath men in media HAS to stop. But it most likely will not stop any time soon and JJ is yet another victim of shipping wars.

I can't even read stupid ass fanfics anymore because I'll always remember that JJ is not alive in the Canon anymore.

Who ever gave the green light in the making of the end of season 4, sincerely and disrespectfully, I fucking hate you.

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

[runabout-river]

Twins, Maki and Mai

Maki and Mai, as identical twins (also called maternal and monozygotic twins), share their cursed technique and cursed energy. As Mai says here, they share even more than that, as Maki's ambitions in life would always fail because Mai doesn't desire the same thing.

When you look at the picture of them from before they were born, we can see that Mai and Maki not only share the same placenta, as is normal with identical twins, but also the same amniotic sack, which isn't. Monoamniotic twins only happen in 1-2% of maternal twin pregnancies.

This is symbolic because we're not only told that Maki and Mai are "the same person" but we're also shown it with a picture where those two, not even during their pregnancy, are ever separated.

This is reinforced later again when Mai hands Maki a feather in their dream world, which then turns into the Split Soul Katana.

In the first and fourth panel, Maki is holding the feather and the sword (you can see a little bit of Maki's burns on her wirst in the fourth panel). In the real world though, it's Mai who is holding the sword in that position. While Maki is shown holding it with her right hand, Mai is holding it in her left.

They're one being. (Taking Sukuna and Weisuke into consideration here, they still have two souls though.)

What does this mean for their CT and CE?

Being considered as one sorcerer by jujutsu (btw, I would've loved to have the original Japanese panels; the unofficial english translation seems a bit fishy here and there) means they share their CE 50:50, which makes Mai have only enough energy to (comfortably!) create one bullet per day. Maki's 50% share is reduced to normal humans levels of CE by Heavenly Restriction.

How they share their CT isn't talked about further because Maki can't access her part of it. Maybe their technique could've ended up split as well, eg. by giving Mai one application and Maki another. Construction only has one application as far as we know, so imagine if Nobara had an identical twin and one could use Resonance and the other Hairpin.

When Mai dies, she makes the concious decision to take her part of their CT and CE with her, artificially reducing Maki's CE to zero and perfecting her HR in the process. It's not said outright, but Mai most likely did this with the expectation of making Maki into the next Toji. Not only does she copy Toji's sword (the SSK), she would also have knowm that the Zenin feared Toji the most.

What would've happened if she didn't take her CT and CE? Maki would've gotten all of it just for it to be reduced back to normal human levels. Maki was physically weaker than Yuji, so if we assume for a moment that Yuji also has HR but with the starting point of a normal sorcerer, than Maki most likely would've gained similar physical strength to Yuji.

But Yuji is no Toji and Maki doesn't have sorcerer-levels CE infused inside of her through an ancient King. What Mai did was the best outcome for her.

But what would've happened if Maki died instead of Mai? Mai would've gained access to 100% of her CE, and in case her CT was also restricted, 100% on that as well. But in Mai's case that wouldn't have amounted to much. She never wanted to become a sorcerer, and her strengths in battle don't lie in jujutsu but in human shooting weapons. If she had trained her body in CE reinforcement and efficiancy like Todo and Mei Mei, then an increase in CE would've empowered her immensely. But that wasn't the case.

If Maki had died in that pit, than Mai would've just died there with her, without ever taking erevenge on the Zenin.

(Thanks to @lolitamermaid123 for talking with me about this.)

[its-echo-song]

Malewife Ch 2

We make our way through the palace, the king spares no details about the architecture, expense, and care that went into building it so many years ago. He provides a rich and detailed family history and seems content to have me nodding along, strolling with my hand resting in the crook of his arm like it’s simply always been this way.

It’s hard not to communicate, I have so many questions about everything–an avid lover of history–but am reduced to non-verbal communication. I try to gesture with my hands but he doesn’t understand fully most of the time, so I nod or shake my head and hope that somewhere on the tour I’ll be shown where the advisors are. He takes me to the gardens, slowly making our way through the plantlife with warm, dappled, sunlight dancing between the leaves. He looks lovely like this and once again I find myself wishing I was someone else, wishing I could live this life in earnest. He catches me staring, trailing off his sentence for a moment before giving me a warm half-smile, brushing the hair of my wig off my shoulder. “You look gorgeous.” I blush up at him, smiling despite myself before I turn my attention away from him. He reaches down, plucking a flower and holding it out to me, I take it from him, turning it over in my hands and studying the delicate petals on it. “I have to ask… is it a custom in your homeland to wear a scarf?” He gestures to my face, obscured only out of necessity. I nod at him, avoiding eye contact. “You even hide your face from your husband?” It’s not an accusation in any sense of the word, his questions are all dripping with genuine curiosity. I nod again, this time meeting his gaze as I feel the weight of scrutiny shift into something less stressful. “Does it have to be a scarf? I-I only ask because I could have the seamstress tailor some to match the dresses. I’d like to contribute to your comfort and customs if allowed.” I shake my head, not really able to do much else, and he chuckles. “Sorry, I should get you something to write with.” He calls out for a footman, who seems to appear out of thin air, and asks them for a pencil and parchment. They give a slight incline of the head before hurrying away to gather the items. “I won’t lie and say I’m not curious.” He starts walking again, slow, a meandering pace that tells me he has no real intention of going anywhere, we’re just moving for the sake of it. “You’re already so enamoring, I have to wonder how you look under the mask. I won’t look, of course, but it is intriguing.” I nod along, feeling myself daze slightly, imagining the disappointment on his face if he ever sees mine. Disappointment that would quickly find its path to anger, I’m sure. No man would like to be betrayed in this way. I imagine the feeling of a noose tightening around my throat– that’s enough imagining for now. 

As we make our way through the garden I catch stray glances from those tending to it, hear hushed whispers and notice that he tenses when he hears the word ‘mute’ from one of them.

I’m not, but I blush at the situation regardless. Had I been, I imagine I’d be furious with them, but he glances down at me and what would have been angers seems to melt away entirely. He clears his throat loudly and the gardener suddenly glances over at us, flushing before ducking his head in shame.

Nothing more was said, he didn’t even have to address it directly. To be entirely honest, he’s a tad intimidating, I would’ve felt a great deal of fear if I knew I’d possibly angered him. It seems, though, that he’s careful with his anger. Nothing I’ve seen of him, despite the small amount of time I’ve spent in his presence, tells me of any sort of volatility. 

I conclude this after remembering last night, the way he’d allowed me to retire to my chambers alone where other men might have been… less gracious, to say the least. I shudder at the thought, pulling my arms around myself as more of a defensive gesture than anything else, but he is already pulling his cloak off and draping it over my shoulders.

A perfect gentleman, it seems. So I pull the cloak tighter around myself, shocked slightly by the weight of it, then shocked again by the scent that clings to it—tea and roses. I glance up at him, wondering if this is his scent or if perhaps his cloak is washed and fragranced that way. Whatever the answer may be, I bury myself deeper within it, pulling the soft fabric up to my chin and surprising myself with the spark of happiness that ignites in my chest.

Then I catch a glimpse of him and my heart flutters. The way he’s looking at me— admiration, joy, a spark of happiness that wasn’t so clearly defined earlier. Good god, my soul dances within me when we make eye contact. He grins and I’m thankful for the scarf over my face as I blush up at him, taking in new details—like how the sun illuminates the golds in the waves of amber that trail down to his shoulders.

“It’s occurred to me-” He thanks the employee who hands him a notebook, passing it on for me to hold.”-that I never even learned your name. It feels kind of strange to ask now, but… well, now that I think of it, I only ever learned the name of your father- Harvey, yes? I’d very much like to know what I should call you.” I realize with this, that he’s the man I’d exchanged letters with– Donald or “Donny” as he’d signed his letters. My mind stalls to a halt for a moment, realizing what he’d asked me and frantically trying to come up with any feminine names at all, as I stare at the ‘H’ I had started on my page out of habit. ‘Helena.’I show him, holding out the paper, and he hums a soft note of conformation. “It’s a beautiful name, befitting its owner.” I wonder if he took classes for this kind of thing, some sort of education in ‘how to flatter women’ that comes with his pedigree. I turn my attention back to the paper, writing a new note. ‘You flatter me. Do you treat all women you know like this?”“No, of course not. I just got very lucky that my wife is someone so easy to find compliments for, I don’t have to search for them at all.”

‘You seem very eager to approve of me.’

“Perhaps I am, would you rather me be more reserved? Do the compliments bother you?” I smile, trying to hold back the bemused laugh that wants to escape. ‘No, I’m quite fond of them.’“Then both of us are in an agreeable situation.” I nod at him, trying to push down the small sting of guilt within me. ‘I admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was surprised when I first saw you.’ His smile sinks ever-so-slightly, a miniscule flash of doubt overcoming his charming nature for the briefest moment. “I hope I didn’t disappoint.” ‘Not in the least, I’ve never seen anyone so handsome.’ And it’s true. I had gone into this engagement knowing I would probably never have any sort of real feelings toward a wife, I’d been more inclined toward the same sex. Seeing him, instead of a woman- pleasant surprise, but horrible disappointment. I’m going to pay for buying into this fantasy with my life unless I can find a way to get out of the engagement gracefully. “I’m glad I don’t frighten you…” He’s looking away, shame seeming to wash over him, draining away the beauty he holds naturally. ‘Why would you frighten me?’ I hold the paper out to him and he reads it, taking his time to formulate a response. “I saw the way you looked at me– it- it was because of the scars, wasn’t it?” I frown, my heart sinking slightly. He’s far too perceptive, a very very bad thing for him to be with my current situation. ‘No, no it wasn’t. I think I was startled by how handsome you were.’ He reads the page and I watch his expression shift as his eyes scan the words. He looks up at me with rosy cheeks and a large grin. “You flatter me- I’ll have to ask you to do that more often.” ‘My pleasure.’ I nod toward the path, leading out of the gardens. “Shall we go on, then?” When I give him another nod he holds out his arm to me and I, once again, walk next to him with my hand in the crook of his elbow. 

The path leads down a hill, towards a clutter of trees surrounding a large lake. They’re blooming with flowers, all sorts of beautiful and soft pinks and whites, the air scented with a sweet and woody fragrance. It’s quiet here, nothing but the gentle rustle of leaves and the wind swaying the grass around us. Nestled into the treeline, next to the water's edge, is a large stone bench. It’s engraved with a fern-like pattern, something furling and lush, painted with lime wash in different muted shades of greenish grey.

Donny gestures toward it and we sit together, barely fitting without our shoulders brushing but it’s a touch that I do not mind.

I enjoy the stories he tells of fishing here as a child, sitting on the shore with his sister from sunrise to sundown, the times he’s taken a dip to cool off in the hot summers, the times he’s taken a boat out at night to stare at the stars surrounded by blossoms and fireflies.

He tosses stones into the pond idly while we chat, the action itself is boyish and full of the kind of fresh life you don’t often find in people our age— not anymore. Usually at this stage of life there’s a deepest tiredness, especially from the men who have seen war, but Donny— lord, he could turn dust back into flesh with the way he exudes life, like his spirit is made from lightness and joy.

I watch with interest at the way he picks up a stone, studying it in his hands for a moment, running his fingers over the smooth speckled surfaces before gently throwing it back toward the water. For only a short moment, I envy the skin of a stone.

He picks up one after the other, repeating this small ritual time and time again, never falling out of conversation or missing a word.

Not until the end, where he spends a longer time turning a stone over in his hand. It’s not really an idle action this time, he brushes dirt from it, turns it, brushes dirt from it again, holds it into a dapple of light that’s filtered through the trees and angles it so he can watch the stone glitter— whatever this one is made of, it certainly does glitter. 

He looks at me with some intensity, eyes meeting mine, and all else that was being discussed ceases. 

“It matches your eyes, you should have it.”  He says more softly than I’d ever heard him speak before, tenderness in the tone and sweet to hear like the honey over fresh strawberries in the summertime— refreshing, delicious, and something I could crave every evening.

I take it from him, taking my turn to observe the stone closely, smiling so wide I almost wish he could see it. 

It’s prettier than I’d ever have the hubris to consider myself, for this my heart flutters. 

‘Thank you, this is a lovely gift.’

He grins at me, closing my hand around it and encapsulating mine in his, “you are lovely, this stone could never compare.”

When evening finally comes around, after we’ve made our way back to the castle and I’m shown to my chambers, I sit on the edge of the bed holding the stone in my hands. 

I observe it until I’ve memorized every detail, each small indent, every speckle, every smoothed out crack in the surface, and I find comfort in the cool touch of it. 

I smile, placing it on the bedside table as I undress for bed. 

Somehow, though, that stone ended up resting in the palm of my hand all night.

[transdimensional-void]

Interesting parallels between Dany, Jon and Paul. I have seen some posts about how Paul and Dany being the 'white saviours' in their arc. What do you think?

glad you found my answer to this question interesting!

i actually highly recommend this princess weekes youtube video titled "Why Sci-fi & Fantasy Can't Fix Its White Savior Problem." she delves into the entire topic of white saviors in speculative fiction while discussing how paul and dany both fit into the trope.

as she discusses in the video (and clarifies further in a comment below it), paul atreides was always meant to be a deconstruction of the archetypical hero. (if you want to delve even more deeply into paul as "hero" i suggest this video by Jess of the Shire). in fact, it's quite clearly stated within the text of dune itself that paul being a "hero" is a bad thing for the fremen. as he lies dying, the planetary ecologist liet-kynes, who has dedicated his life to helping the fremen terraform their planet, hallucinates a conversation with his father in which his father warns him:

"No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero," his father said. Reading my mind! Kynes thought. Well...let him.

and over the course of the series, this warning is borne out. in the wake of paul's ascension to the throne, the fremen way of life utterly disappears. their planet, now the capital of the empire, no longer belongs to them. the sandworms—their gods—disappear. fremen culture is eventually reduced to museum performances for tourists.

paul is even explicitly shown to be a false messiah. the prophecy that tells the fremen of their coming savior was planted by a branch of the bene gesserit called the missionaria protectiva. jessica, a bene gesserit, recognizes the signs of this when she first arrives on arrakis and later takes advantage of the groundwork her sisterhood laid to ensure that she and paul will be accepted among the fremen.

but what makes paul a tragic figure is that the moment he becomes aware of the path he is being lead down—to become this figure of prophecy, a hero, a messiah—he tries to resist it. yet he is trapped, by the deterministic prison of his own prophetic visions, by the millennia of planning and manipulations carried out by the bene gesserit which led to his birth, and by his own thirst for vengeance. also, he's only fifteen when he is asked to take on this mantle of hero-messiah-prophesied savior.

paul's failure to avert the devastating genocide that is carried out in his name is tragic...yet it doesn't make him any less responsible for his own decisions. he could have given up on vengeance, settled down among the fremen, and lived the rest of his life in obscurity—but he chose not to.

i think grrm has set dany on a similarly tragic path. she's so young, has experienced such massive loss, is the result of generations of intentional inbreeding to maintain her family's connection to magic, and when we first meet her, all she wants is a home, love, and security—things she has never had. despite all of these factors that make her a sympathetic character, though, dany is no less responsible for her own decisions than paul is for his.

her actions lead to ever increasing amounts of death and destruction. first, the lhazarene, then the people of slaver's bay, and probably, eventually, king's landing and other areas of westeros. she positions herself as a savior who is ending slavery and establishing a better, more benevolent form of government in astapor, yunkai, and meereen. yet, astapor is left in a state of utter ruin and devastation after dany's sacking of it. no one there is better off as a result of her actions. yunkai goes straight back to its slaving once she leaves, and she herself reimplements slavery in meereen as its queen. by the end of adwd, she's decided to abandon meereen like she did astapor and yunkai, so we can assume it will suffer a similar fate.

dany, like paul, is clearly meant to be a deconstruction of the white savior trope. in her own mind, she is a savior of the foreign cultures she invades and conquers (also note how similar her title "mhysa" is to "messiah"). yet the reality is that she has brought little to the people of slaver's bay other than death and destruction. and once she gets to westeros, who, exactly, will she be saving? westeros has no slavery. marching her armies and dragons in to claim the iron throne will be hard to spin as an act of benevolence rather than of conquest.

that being said...

as princess weekes points out in the video above, while the authors intended these two characters to be deconstructions of the white savior trope, the execution leaves something to be desired...because in both the case of paul and dany, there are large numbers of readers who take their claims of heroism at surface value, see them as straightforward heroes, and applaud their actions. they miss the context of them each being outsiders highjacking a foreign culture for their own ends. in some cases, the very types of people these depictions are most meant to criticize, are the exact same people who hold up these characters as their ideal...

so, are paul and dany "white saviors"? well...a lot of readers genuinely read them that way, even if that's not what the authors intended.

thanks for your question! i really enjoyed being able to discuss this topic.

[revelations-persona]

fucked up my hand in the middle of sewing so i won't be able to make progress in a while :') but while i'm here i might as well show what i got done so far. made everything but the tie :3

long ramblings about the process so far below

started working on all this for a bit over month. been alternating between maya and jun's outfits but ultimately switched focus to maya because her stuff was more complex.

this post is mostly about maya but here's the only interesting part of jun's stuff rn

i don't like the stitching on the roman numeral either but who will look. my eyes are Up Here. might paint over the thread so it doesn't stick out as much but who knows. also kind of off topic, it threw me off so bad that jun is a third year but in official art he's always shown with the two on his collar?? had to do some digging to make sure i wasn't crazy for thinking he was a senior.

the rest of his jacket is currently like a very basic looking cardigan with raw edges everywhere, nothing worth showing off rn. i think i'll continue working on it now that i can only work one-handed for the time being since the machine does most of the heavy lifting. as for the pants, i thrifted a pair several months ago. it's actually the reason i wanted to cosplay him lol, the pants were just the perfect color.

side note, my machine is Mischievous and simply refuses to sew down several layers at a time, or even just my beige fabric for some reason. so everything beige is sewn entirely by hand. maybe that's why i got carpal tunnel lol

here's what the sleeves look like on both sides and also on the inside

tbh i never realized it until i looked at her design more closely but she has like these little squares on half of her sleeves, so i tried to recreate that. it's basically just two rectangles sewn together but one of the rectangles is made up of other, smaller rectangles. nothing crazy. however, sewing the trim and elastic to it suckedddd. generally to sew elastic or stretchy fabric, you have to use a zigzag stitch (which looks exactly as you'd imagine). the easiest way to do that is by machine, except i couldn't because of the problems i just described and also the opening is too small for me to properly put it under the machine anyway. i never want to do a zigzag stitch by hand ever again. especially not with having to push through like six layers of fabric like no ty </3

now the corset

side by side of how a half of it looks on the outside vs the inside. both cups on the inside are labeled left and right respectively, in case i forget which boob goes where. currently the trim is just pinned on until i recover and can properly sew it down. i'll also have to figure out how to get the two zippers and the little rectangle that goes at the bottom on it too. the zippers for sure i'll have to cut down bc they're too long (they were the smallest ones the store had :/)

i found a pattern for it and it was easy enough to follow, just took longer than i wanted it to because i had to do it by hand. i also modified the pattern a bit to have it zip up at the front bc by default it closes at the back. had to adjust it twice so it would stop slipping off from being loose (size chart was weird). that little triangle was the result of me trying to ease the transition from the cups to the back of the corset after making the adjustments. it's not very noticeable when i have it on bc that's where my arms rest lol.

you might also be looking at the weird looking foam like why's it look like that. and you're right!

this is leftover from when foam was installed in the ceiling by the landlord to reduce noise from upstairs neighbors! like ten years ago! and she just left it here!! there's a lot more of it not pictured, that's just the amount i used. so kind. had to cut the triangles off and trim some of the thickness off, but thanks to her, i'm gonna have the quietest boobs at the con :)

and the hearts

they're right here :3 i still haven't attached them yet.

the trim is just black fabric cut into 5cm by 1.5m strips attached to other strips to make a super long strip i fold into 2cm pleats and cut as i go to fit the things i need to put it on. the stitching looks messy bc i have to in several times on the machine and only sometimes does my machine want to sew down more than two layers. i bought a yard of the black but i might unfortunately need more? i will cross that bridge when i get there.

the brown zip up undershirt thing i just modified an existing pattern i found online so that the sleeves were longer, it zips instead of buttoning up, and making it cropped. the collar is just that comically large so i suggest adjusting that if you also plan on using this pattern and don't like the collar size.

the skirt is a simple a-line skirt made a few inches wider so after sewing it and it's properly shaped like a skirt, i can go over and fold two sides together for that pleat in the middle of the skirt. i went in by hand to sew the inside of the folds to the fabric behind them so that the pleat stays in place. then i cut a strip of elastic to a few inches less than my waist measurement, sewed the ends down to form a circle, folded the top of the skirt over it twice, and then sewed it down and boom waistband. looks kinda weird all bunched up when it's not being worn, but i didn't really care about making it too pretty. you only really see the bottom part of it lol

i also made legwarmers to wear with the outfit because i refuse to spend money on shoes i will never wear outside of cosplay. they're literally just tubes made of a singular rectangle each with elastic on one of the ends, easiest thing ever. i think those boots fit well enough with the overall vibe so i'll wear them with the outfit.

the beige skirt thing she has i cut out already but really didn't do anything with yet so i have nothing to show for it rn lol

oh also. the brown, black, pink, and teal fabrics are broadcloth, the beige is peachskin, and the white fabric and little things on the front of jun's collar are gabardine (leftover from lisa and elly's uniforms).

if anyone has any questions i'd be down to answer them :3

[riririnnnn]

ngl as much as i like isagi it gets boring when he's winning too much 🤷‍♀️ i still hope he wins tho lol but he needs to lose sometimes idk wtv i love kaiser

Hm, I agree with you, but at the same time, I don't too—Isagi isn't winning 'too much', he is, simply, reaping what he sowed.

So, let's start from the start:

Isagi's initial ranking was 299 which is HELLA low, but, you know, that ranking was, somewhat, pretty.. false.

In short, there were 5 strata and EVERY team in each stratum was named from V to Z and EVERYONE, initially, held a ranking from 241 to 300, so we have no way to truly calculate Isagi's true ranking out of 300.

One more reason why I don't trust that ranking is because Ego is one hell of a cunning man—I bet there were more than just 'skills' as a criteria to rank them because I can never in my whole life accept that Niko ranked above Kunigami.

And in the first selection he LOST to Barou—he did NOT win right away. He did NOT score ALL the goals in their subsequent winning matches too—Bachira, Chigiri, Gagamaru, Kunigami, even Kuon shined in their own times. Isagi did NOT have the spotlight onto him all at once.

Skipping towards Second Selection, we remember him getting praised by Anri that, "Ooh, that kid is improving so fast," and it was, by no means, a protagonist point because, my brother in Christ, one of his abilities is literally adapting!

And after we get his new ranking of 15, and as said by Ego, it's a true ranking rather than a false one like earlier.

Then the story proceeds and he challenges Rin, and guess what?

HE LOSES TWICE AGAINST RIN!!

And then.

HE LOST AGAINST THE WORLD FIVE TOO!

HE IS THE LITERAL PROTAGONIST AND HE HAS BEEN SHOWN LOSING SO MANY TIMES ALREADY!!!!!!!

If he really had an actual plot armour, then he would've won against Rin the second time and would've gotten VERY close to winning against the World Five too.

You getting me?

And then he doesn't even have a ranking in the Top 6!?! His ahh wasn't even the runner-up of it—Bachira was!

And trust me when I say it, if it would've been any animanga other than Blue Lock, then that protagonist would've been the CF during the U-20 because WE ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THAT MATCH WAS SINCE BLUE LOCK'S LIFE LITERALLY WAS DEPENDENT ON IT!!!!!

I'm so sorry. I promise I'm not angry or yelling at you. Please don't be mad at me, I'm just being passionate.

Now comes the current arc: NEL

I've already made a post about why Kaiser chose Isagi to be his rival (it may differ once we get Kaiser's backstory revealed), so keeping it aside, I want to say that Isagi is THE pacifist because if Kaiser did all that to ME, then I would've swung so fast like who tf you calling a clown, huh? You wanna catch these hands? Guess what, I'll give you these legs too.

Well, now focusing on FC Barcha match, remember that Isagi didn't score. He PASSED. How can people even forget that? Yukimiya nearly threw hands because of that only!

And then came Manshine City—bro, he literally got blocked by Kaiser and then he PASSED again and then he FAINTED!?!?!?!?!

All this time he was SLOWLY building up momentum and that's what we low-key saw in Ubers match and are seeing in PXG match.

He EARNED everything.

He wasn't winning everytime.

He has lost many times too.

We just have too many characters who are given proper amount of character developments which sometimes reduces Isagi to being just a protagonist—God! Us Fandom is so spoiled, aren't we? We are so well fed that we have become bratty, LMFAO.

And yes, I love Kaiser a lot too.

But in the end, the Roman Empire fell too, right?

[thefisherqueen]

The campaign brought honours and promotion to many, but for me it had nothing but misfortune and disaster. I was removed from my brigade and attached to the Berkshires, with whom I served at the fatal battle of Maiwand. There I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a pack-horse, and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines. Worn with pain, and weak from the prolonged hardships which I had undergone, I was removed, with a great train of wounded sufferers, to the base hospital at Peshawar. Here I rallied, and had already improved so far as to be able to walk about the wards, and even to bask a little upon the verandah, when I was struck down by enteric fever, that curse of our Indian possessions. For months my life was despaired of, and when at last I came to myself and became convalescent, I was so weak and emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be lost in sending me back to England.

This is a touching look back at the severity of the injury and infection that Watson sustained in his army time. I'm no expert on traumatic injury and infection, but I think it is safe to assume that a shattered bone will never fully heal, and that a months-long hospital stay, in a barely concious state, will leave chronic damage to for example lung and muscle tissue, perhaps would have led to a certain amount of organ failure and reduced/over-active immunity as well. Some life long amount of chronic pain and exertion fatigue, at least, is surely to be expected.

Holmes, living together with Watson, would of course know. It's easy to imagine Watson coming into the living room at an impossible time in the night because his shoulder just feels wrong and he can't sleep anymore, only to find Holmes similary awake. Or to imagine those two investigating a murder and Watson having to stop for few minutes to rest because he just can't get enough air. I'd like to imagine Holmes treating Watson not with pity or pressure, but with understanding and sympathy, similary as to how Watson treats Holmes' mental health problems

[argumate]

Hey, I saw a reblog of a post of yours. It was about no-fault divorce being legalized in the ‘70s and how that reduced the percentage of wives committing suicide. I can’t click the link you had to source it, and am wondering if you still have that source, or can find your post. Thanks!

this is the most commonly cited source I think:

Since 1969, studies have shown no-fault divorce correlates with a reduction in female suicides and a reduction in intimate partner violence. A 2004 paper by economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolvers found an 8 to 16% decrease in female suicides after states enacted no-fault divorce laws. They also noted a roughly 30% decrease in intimate partner violence among both women and men, and a 10% drop in women murdered by their partners.

although I've seen it quoted as a decrease in women murdering their husbands, with the implied threat towards those would wish to create obstacles to divorce.

on the other hand there are also studies finding an increase in women murdering their husbands due to no fault divorce:

The results indicate that unrestricted unilateral divorce laws had small and statistically insignificant effects on the amount of lethal spousal violence directed against wives. However, the easy access to divorce created by such laws increased spousal homicides of husbands by approximately 21%. These increases were concentrated in states where the division of marital property favored husbands.

so no fault divorce could make it easier to leave an abusive partner, reducing the incentive to kill them, but could also make it easier to be financially cut off by a partner, increasing the incentive to kill them; somewhat disconcerting implications there for humans as rational actors.

[fortheloveofnutrition]

I like to re post this every now and again because it's good advice I frequently forget.

Also I post it in part because I'm laying in bed with Covid (for the first time) at the moment and eating as much fruit as I can to expedite recovery. I grabbed a banana and orange, ate the banana and asked myself if this was a good combo or not. Glad I checked, because it was not. The last thing I need is indigestion.

But because it's me, my main focus has been doubling down on nutrition and observing my own results. I was eating plant based before, but sometimes I went a little too hard on the peanut butter trail mix, breads, or other sweet treats.

My doctor said rest and hydrate, but I took it a step further and since testing positive have cut out wheat, sugar, and any kind of dairy or processed foods. I figure nothing that could make inflammation worse. I've been consuming tons of herbs like cinnamon, ginger, echinacea, and turmeric while eating fresh citrus fruits like lemon, orange, strawberry, and pineapple daily.

Now I did a bit of tooling about the internet to see if any studies had been done over the last four years regarding a plant based diet and it's effects on Covid. The results were hopeful.

I found one study that said,

"Merino et al revealed that healthy plant-based foods could decrease the risk and severity of COVID-19.21 In this large survey, it was shown that as the quality of the diet rises, the risk of disease COVID-19 (HR 0.91) and severe COVID-19 (HR 0.59) diminishes.

Which gave me hope so I kept digging.

Another one stated, "Compared with an omnivorous Western diet, plant-based diets containing mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, with restricted amounts of foods of animal origin, are associated with reduced risk and severity of COVID-19. "

And I can tell you that has been my experience thus far. I developed a fever that went away after 24 hours and didn't go over 100.4. My only other symptom has been a stuffy nose with sinus pressure. Im definitely tired and need to limit activity but I can still taste and smell, breathe through my nose a decent amount of the time, and I'm not coughing. I'm lucky in that I have time off from work and for that I am grateful, as rest is another key component.

And why would a plant based diet be so beneficial for mitigating Covid symptoms? Because, "plant-based dietary patterns are rich in antioxidants, phytosterols and polyphenols which positively affect several cell types implicated in immune function and exhibit direct antiviral properties."

The full study can be found if you pop this into Google::

Acosta-Navarro JC, Dias, LF, de Gouveia LAG et al. Vegetarian and plant based diets associated with lower incidence of COVID-19. BMJ Nutr Prev Health 2024:e000629. doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000629

I was really scared at first and this information helped me feel more empowered in my health and recovery. It's not a substitute for any medical attention or prevention like vaccines, hand washing, and mask wearing- all things I was doing regularly prior to getting sick which may have also been variables in keeping my symptoms down. A little help goes a long way.

Has any other plant based person had a similar experience? Let me know.

[lizmindpalace]

The lightning that blinded his eyes struck his chest making him fall backwards. He expected to feel his body crash against the ground at any second, but contrary to his prediction, the air kept leaving his lungs and his stomach remained up in the clouds while his body kept falling without reaching land, his thoughts scattered around his head, overwhelming it to the point of almost losing consciousness; making his heart bounce in his chest, he felt as though a cold hand was grasping it and tearing it out of his body, leaving just pain within him, pain that only grew once he finally reached land, the bones in his tailbone and hips shattering due to the force of the violent collision. And a piercing shriek made the gloomy lands tremble.

 He looked around, moved his head desperate to see something, but all he was able to perceive was blackness, it took him an unknown amount of time, since time seemed to be slow and fast all at once, to finally be able to discern fire, embracing him, since it was fire coming from his own body, specifically from his back; what were once white feathers, had been reduced to dust, which also explained the pain coming from that part of his body; he gasped in horror and tried to get rid of those monstruous limbs, every burnt feather was followed by a screech of agony that echoed throughout those dead lands. There were corpses everywhere, all of them stained with blood, and covered with ashes, but what he feared the most was the one of a woman before him; his only sister, Lilith, who he had failed to protect, another howl left his mouth as he crawled to that lifeless body.

The scream startled him; he opened his eyes as he looked around, it had been a disturbing way to wake up and he was now experiencing a headache; he squinted and perceived in the darkness the silhouettes of six people around him, where it should have been seven, all fast asleep, snoring loudly. It was a relief all of them were too tired to hear him, or to notice him; he took his hand to his heart as it was pounding in a concerning way and his forehead sweating, and yet he did not have a clue on how it was possible, but his body was freezing. His fingers were numb, and he was not even able to hold the pen he had been using before nodding off by accident; he had attempted to prevent himself from falling into the lands of sleep since that dreadful memory was harassing him, torturing him every time he closed his eyes. 

He sighed and opened the book he had managed to get from the library so he could get some work done. It had been a relief Barbatos had shown up there right in the middle when the demon behind the counter was showing him behaviour linked to senseless hatred.

"I perceive some kind of an angelic accent" the librarian had said "I cannot understand a word, so I cannot help". 

The royal bluter had shown up right before Lucifer gave in and left the place, giving the demon a meaningful look that made the other freeze and all of a sudden, he was capable of understanding the first born, because he fulfilled his order in a second.  

Lucifer thanked the butler, picked the book up and left the library with humiliation reflected in his red cheeks; his pride had been boosted ever since he had fallen into that place, every little rough action made him feel humiliated or stupid, he had to be right, he had to know more than anyone else, he had to be perfect.

A part of him resented that place where they were strangers, where they knew quite well they were not welcomed, yet, they did not have too much of an option and there was so much to learn: potions, curses, other languages, history... so he was forced to swallow his pride and hatred towards most of the Devildom's population and he made himself study while his brothers slept so he could help them later and make things a bit easier for them, even if he refused to accept it. 

It was tough, he was overwhelmed with so much new knowledge, and he was slowly losing it. He was angry and he was hurt, he was slowly falling into a black hole where his existence was meaningless and the idea of eternal sleep promising. 

He was a demon now and he had to act like such, and he could perceive his feelings were changing or at least the way he used to sense them... so it was unexpected and he could not help but ask himself why was a tear rolling down his cheek? Was it the permanent pain in his body of the broken bones that were taking centuries to heal as his burnt wings? Was it the hatred against his father always unwilling to talk or to listen who had now forsaken him? Was it the pain in his heart for producing the fall and pain of his brothers? Was it due to the death of her little sister he had been forced to face? Was it the reject of the locals? Was it the annoyed sights given at him as if he was not worth anything or as though he had done something wrong, from those who dared to judge him without even knowing what had happened to him? Was it because he was a far from home in a dark land and he would never get to see the sun ever again? Was it because he was no longer loved or respected?...

 It had been beyond a high toll according to his thoughts, he sighed and looked at the sleeping demons, and he realised whatever he felt, it did not matter. There was no way back, he could not give in now, he had brought that fate upon them, and he had to protect them now, no matter what it took, he wiped his tears away and continued reading the book under the dim light of the candle, that would eventually damage his eyes.