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forthehpfanboys · 4 years

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Three is a Crowd

Pair: Remus Lupin x Reader x Sirius Black; he/him.

Summary: Sirius, you and Remus weren't scared to hide your relationship, but when it came to more.. Private matters, they obviously preferred keeping it personal. Plus, who doesn't love teasing Remus?

Warnings: SMUT (MDI), dirty talk, poly relationship, Wolfstar (but is that even a warning?), hair pulling, short mention of daddy. use of a collar at the end. If I missed any, please dm me.

Notes: Me, knowing damn well I have a busy life, but takes every request I get because I can’t say no. Oh, and the gif by me using other people's gifs- Might make a part two. Top Remus tho.

~DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE~

It wasn’t hard to catch the boy's attention. James and Lily loved to joke that they were wrapped around your finger, which they were. All you had to do was sway your hips a little bit or bend over right or just lick your lips innocently. They really were, they weren't afraid to admit it and of course you used it to your advantage, but you still love them. That always came first.

Sirius and Remus had fallen head over heels for you during their time during Hogwarts. Both could pinpoint it exactly. The two men were already an item when you showed up at the school- a transfer student. You were introduced to them by Lily, something about you being a distant cousin of hers and you quickly became a new founded Marauder.

Remus fell for you first. It was around the time they were all studying to become animagus and he discovered you were bloody brilliant! After months of struggling with the stupid ritual, you were the final piece they needed to figure it all out. And you didn’t judge him over something he couldn’t control, so that was a bonus to him, of course. But how could you judge him for his lycanthropy? Almost everyone in the wizarding world hated him for this one simple thing,

Meanwhile, Sirius’ was a lot more simple. He noticed you by your slick comebacks. Like holy Merlin’s beard- Sirius was convinced your words could cause someone to physically combust. He’d never seen that happen, but he has seen you make 8th years cry. He’s also a hundred percent certain you have a thesaurus lying under your pillow. He didn’t know the word ‘imbecile’ had so many synonyms. And you helped him help his best friend so of course he fell in love with you.

So, when you fell for them, a natural love for being between both boys formed. This random craving would kick in whenever you were around the two of them. Whether it was you three walking to the next class or sitting in the Gryffindor common room, you just had to be between them. It was quite literally your favorite place on this planet. But there were rules- of course there were.

One of the main rules was no teasing in front of friends. Believe it or not, James had a limit on how much sexual tension he could sit through in one lunch period, so he enforced the rule, which was.. Unusual to say the least. Usually Remus created the rules to keep you and Sirius in check. He had a switch and a sub under his belt and it could be a struggle, especially when they were bratty and they’d team up against him.

Which is exactly what you two had been doing all day; harassing poor Moony despite whoever was near. During potions, Sirius had palmed Remus while you playfully whispered in the werewolf’s ear, calling him daddy and asking for help with your most innocent voice. Watching your boyfriend squirm and slap Sirius’ hand away was genuinely humorous. It became down right funny when he threatened to punish both of you by not talking to you, but you both knew he’d do more than that. Knowing Remus would drag you both by your ties to the dorm room and straight up ruin you two, you both eased off him, letting him continue his notes in peace, but once potions were over, the teasing immediately continued.

Soon enough, classes were over and the three of you were walking back to the dorms. It was easy to see Remus was sick of your shit, so while he led you to his prefect room, you and Sirius were looking at each other. Sirius shrugged, looking as laid back as he felt, but you were a tad more nervous. Sometimes Remus could be downright mean.

“You two are insufferable!” Remus hollered, his hand rubbing his temple as he shoved open his door. “I know you love my reactions, guys, but seriously? Was grabbing my ass over my robe necessary?” He had his arms crossed over his chest and turned around to glare at you and Sirius.

“You know it was, baby.” Sirius winked while shutting the door behind him. He walked around you, dragging a hand across your lower back before diving onto Remus’ bed. He laid on his back, spreading his legs and placing his hands behind his head. Your eyes shamelessly dragged across the sliver of pelvic bone peaking out under his white collared shirt.

“I thought it was a bit much.” You shrugged, looking over to Moony’s glowing eyes. A smirk grew across your lips when he pointed at you, his eyes narrowing at you.

“Being a kiss ass does not mean you’re free, mister. You’re in just as much trouble as that one.” His point moved to the man laying on the bed, who clearly couldn’t care less. He ran a hand through his hair and plopped down onto the edge of the bed. He even smacked Sirius’ hand away when it gripped his hip. “Down, boy.”

“Ouchies! My pride.” Sirius mocked your voice and rubbed his hand, a chuckle leaving his lips. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. His dark eyes flicked over to you, his smirk growing as he nodded his head in the direction of Remus’ back.

“Good. I’m mad at you.” The werewolf ducked his head down before running a hand through his hair, making the curly locks messier than usual. He beckoned you over with two curling fingers and waited patiently for you to stand in front of him. Once you were in arms reach, he cupped both of your cheeks in each hand and smiled at you, bringing your face closer to his. “What am I going to do with you?” He whispered, his breath fanning over your lips.

“I’m not sure, but I know Sirius technically did more damage than I did. I’m your bestest boy.” You grinned, grabbing his wrists and kissing a palm. Your grin turned into a side smirk when Sirius let out a weak ‘hey!’ behind your brunette boyfriend.

Suddenly, Remus’ arms were twisting around your waist and he was falling backwards onto the bed, taking you down with him. You let out a yelp while colliding with your soft boyfriend's chest.

“I think I know what I’m going to do with you.” Remus’ head was resting on Sirius’ tummy, allowing the animagus to run his fingers through soft hazel nut locks, which Remus easily ignored. Meanwhile, Lupin was cheekily slipping his hand under your shirt. His calloused palms glided across your skin, rubbing your hip gently before moving up to your belly. “I’m going to ignore the little bastard behind me and I’m going to focus on you, pretty boy.”

“Hey! (Y/n) messed with you too, Rem! You’re being unfair!” Sirius sat up a little, bracing his body weight on his elbows as he glared down at his freckle covered partner. His jaw dropped when Remus flicked his nose before skillfully tugging your shirt over your head. “Un-fuckin’-believable.” Sirius grumbled, laying back on the bed and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your smart mouth is why I’m ignoring you.” Remus spoke nonchalantly, one hand slipped into your back pocket, gave your butt a tight squeeze, while the other steadily began climbing toward your chest. His hand in your pocket held your hips down while his hips grinded up into yours. His eyes darkened at the needy whine that left your lips when his rough thumb pad ran over one of your nipple.

See, Remus always enjoyed seeing you react to him. He could write down all of it. He could fill enough books with his favorite things about you to cause an empty Hogwarts library to overflow. How your eyes would roll back into your skull, how your jaw would go slack with need and how your breath catches in the middle of your throat, leaving you breathless, how you’d moan his name. He loved wrecking you, utterly destroying you.

His scar covered hand moved up to your hip, getting a steadier grip so he could really raise his hips and roll them against yours. The hand on his chest delicately rolled a nipple between the thumb and forefinger. He thought you were a piece of art, painted just for him. Your heart was pounding in your ears. Remus was quickly becoming the only coherent thought in your head. You could smell his perfume and it was only fogging up your head worse than his touch. You let out a moan, your eyelids drooping a tad.

"You like that, baby?" he whispered into your open mouth, kissing the corner before sliding his lips down to the corner of your jaw. He licked a fat, flat line across the point, running up to your earlobe before sucking on it.

The werewolf grinded up into you harder, a growl emitting from his throat that would scare even the toughest of creatures. He let out a loud, breathy loan when you nodded and copied his hip movements.

"Of course you do. You're not a brat or a whiney bitch- you're perfect."

Suddenly, Sirius was sitting up and Remus was going silent, almost frozen in his place. Both were listening quite intently over your heavy breathing when loud, stomping footprints made themselves known. Sirius watched in amusement while Remus threw you on to the empty bed space next to him and magicked a blanket over the both of you.

James was pushing open the door about as loudly and hazardously as his footsteps. The door bounced off the wall and collided with his still outstretched arm. You sat up, slowly coming back from the pleasure filled bliss, and slowly becoming more and more pissed you just got cock-blocked by one of your more oblivious friends.

“James, sorry, mate, we’re in the mi-” Sirius was rudely cut off by the messy haired idiot. Spit flew from James’ mouth as he spoke aggressively, his hand waving around as he spoke.

"Can you believe him?!" the Seeker hollered, acting as if his friends, best friends knew immediately what he was talking about. He strode into the middle of the room, pacing in front of the polygamous couple, clearly pissed. It didn't take long for Peter to follow in after, either.

"No, Prongs, you're not exactly telling us anything." Remus spoke up, acting as if he totally wasn't just grinding against you. He was good at keeping his voice level and that it had you confused.

"Little Sour Grape Snape thinks he can try to push that whole fiasco on me like I meant for it to happen?" James yelled out again, almost completely ignoring Remus. Peter sat on the bed across from the trio, his eyes glued to James as he paced. You looked at Sirius, who turned to you, and shrugged, scooting to sit right next to Remus.

"Wanna share what's goin' on, Pete?" Sirius asked, finally scooting to be face to face with the soft boy, and sitting on the other side of Remus. His hand landed on Remus' thigh, gently rubbing over the blanket.

The chubby boy played with his fingers, his mouth opening quickly to tell the tale of Snape and his stupid complaining and blood status shit. However, Remus, nor you, could focus because Sirius’ hand was moving under the blanket and going straight between Remus’ legs.

The sun was setting behind the vast forest, effectively blocking natural light, leaving the room slightly colder and darker than before. Sirius knew it was hard to see what was going on under the blanket, so all carefulness got thrown out the window.

Sirius' hand slid between Remus' thighs, using a hand to hide his smirk. He nodded his head along, as if he was really listening and invested in the story. You turned to Sirius, following his arm and the lump under the blanket and got the idea- and it only became reinforced when Sirius gave you a dramatic wink.

Your own hand slid under the blanket, landing on your werewolf boyfriend's knee, you thumb caressing it gently. Your hand didn’t stay there long. You began to move it up, moving slowly, just inch by inch, stopping suddenly when Remus’ hand clamped around your wrist.

“Boys, stop it.” Remus growled out, but it seemed more directed to Sirius. You were worried for a second that James or Peter heard, but when they kept going on and on, delving deeper and deeper into the story, you realized they were absolutely clueless. You decided to test the waters, slowly running your hand down and then back up, a tad higher, but Moony left his hand on your wrist.

“I said, cut it out. Now.” The brunette’s voice was deep enough to cause a shudder to go down your spine and it went straight to your dick. You jumped when his hand landed on your thigh, giving you a warning squeeze that you once again ignored and moved your hand closer to the inside of his thigh.

You felt fingers run over yours at the top of his thigh and suddenly Remus’ thigh muscles were tightening. Padfoot had run his fingers over his hard-on. You knew you were both pushing it, but you kept going. You heard the brunette groan into his hand, his eyelids fluttering for a second before his gaze hardened and he sunk his teeth into his bottom lip. You could hear the low growl emitting from this throat.

So while James and Peter told their elaborate and stupidly long story, you both teased your partner, enjoying how he tried to sit still and refused to even look at you two. Remus’ jaw was pulled tight, his eyes darker than the night, and his lips drawn into a thin line. Eventually, it came to an end, and the two left, James complaining loudly that no one cared like he did and suddenly the blanket was thrown across the room.

Remus stood up, giving you a glare that you couldn’t help but find hot as hell. You always loved riling him up, but you also loved managing to wiggle out of punishments. Sirius always bitched about you getting away nearly scot free, but you’d just blow raspberries at him. It was funny, honestly, not that you were laughing now. It was clear both of you took it too far.

“You two are in a whole heap of fucking trouble. I can not believe you today, especially you. You’re such a bad influence on my baby.” Remus pointed at Sirius, his brows drawn tight together in pure anger. His eyes were lit up like with fire and the veins on his neck were protruding from underneath the skin in the sexiest way. The simple feature had you clenching your thighs, hoping to release some tension or get a touch or something.

“Our baby. Besides, you’re overreacting Rem.” Sirius shrugged, leaning back on his hands. He blew a stand of hair out of his face, acting like everything was fine and dandy while his boyfriend had steam blowing out of his ears.

His simple sentence caused the brunette’s eye to twitch and you knew he had dug himself a bigger whole. You put your hands in your lap like a good boy and sat, watching the two argue, knowing it was going to be a very long night.

“Oh. I’m overreacting, huh? Do you wanna say that again?” His tone was so flat, almost like he was talking to an idiotic teenager who did exactly what he was told not to do, the messy haired animagus was sitting up quickly, realizing he fucked up- again.

“No, no. That’s not what I meant, baby, you’re getting my words twisted. I meant it’s my fault and that you might be getting a tad carried away. Please don’t be mad at me.” Sirius put on his most dazzling smile and softest voice. He was trying to do what you did so well and wiggle his way out of punishments. “Have I ever mentioned how hot you look when you're mad?”

It was funny, really, how Sirius was saying exactly what you were thinking.

“No, dove, I’m not mad at you.” Remus threaded his hand slowly through Sirius' wavy hair, a small, sweet smile spread across his cheeks. Sirius let out a sigh, a huge grin matching his boyfriends, his eyes sparkling with pure joy in the dim light.

"I'm glad you're so understanding, honey bunches. I love you so, so, so much." Sirius spoke, leaning forward, lips puckered to plant a kiss to the brunettes. You really thought he had known Moony better. Moony very, very rarely let either of you off the hook for something like this.

However, Remus didn't let him move very far. His fingers latched onto the hair at the top of Sirius' head and ripped it back, causing his neck to bend backward and a whorish moan escaped his lips. Siri’s hands shot up to grip the one tugging his head back and he had to strain his eyes to look at his Moony.

"I’m fucking livid, Sirius. You're such a slut. Surely you know me better than that. Have I ever let you get away with behavior like that?” Remus waited for an answer. He wasn’t very patient though, because soon, he was pulling on the long locks again. “Well?”

“No.” Sirius groaned out. He seemed grumpy he couldn’t cute his way out of this like he was sure you could. You figured you could probably avoid the punishment by sneaking out, knowing Remus wouldn’t send a search party after you. And if you made a good enough excuse, he’d let you go with a harsh spanking and the promise of no orgasms for the day, which didn’t seem too terrible.

“Do I have to treat you like a slut?" his lips pressed against a pulse point but didn't place a single kiss to Sirius' lips. "Maybe I should put a muzzle on your filthy mouth and tie you up. Put you in the closet while I fuck our dearest silly, hmm?"

Remus pulled away, this time tugging Sirius' eyes level with his. The werewolf let out a snicker, enjoying the way tears of pain had gathered in his boyfriends eyeline.

"I should teach you who's in charge. What do you say pumpkin?" Remus turned to the spot where you were seated and noticed it was empty. "Pumpkin?" He turned around and saw you trying to sneak out of the dorms door.

He reached into his pocket, tsking all the while casting a spell that caused a collar to appear around your neck with a pop. You let out a squeak, your heads going to the new leather.

"Do I have to put both of you in your place?” Remus pushed Sirius away and walked swiftly over to you, grabbing the d ring on the front of your collar. He gave it a tug, effectively keeping your eyes on his. “You’re not being my good boy, are you?”

“No..” Unlike Sirius, you answered quickly. You looked up at Remus, eyes wide, owlish and feigning innocence. “But I-”

“Quiet. You’re usually so good for me, darling. I bet you picked up the disrespect from our boyfriend, didn’t you? I’m gonna have to fuck the attitude out of you.” He tugged on the d-ring, dragging you with him as he walked back over to the bed. “Sirius, against the headboard.”

Without hesitation, the niorette shuffled toward the headboard, resting his back against it. He learned quickly to keep his mouth shut. With the new space made, Remus pushed you forward and laughed when your hands came out in front of you to catch your fall, but slipped on the silk bedspread. Your chest collided with the plush mattress, a pained cry leaving your lips when your knees collided with the wooden floor.

“Owie, Rem!” You turned to look back at him, but he grabbed your hair and forced your cheek against the mattress. You looked back at him, your cheeks turning pink with embarrassment and you tried to pout your way out of this, like usual.

“Shut up, bunny. Daddy’s not going easy on you this time, so be a good boy and take what I fucking give you.”

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adonis-koo · 4 years

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Weight anon here! I’m not gonna pretend that my initial goal was to lose weight. More over to just lose the fat on my stomach, but it was weird to see that it had just gone up, also I’m working out at home, and as for my food intake, I’m trying to limit the junk food I eat, but I somehow always wind up giving into my cravings 😔

I think my dietary habits are what’s the worst for me. I don’t eat a good breakfast, and then eat a crap ton in the afternoon and for dinner. Not snacks, but just a lot for those meals

You’re definitely off to a good start then!! Knowing the difference between burning fat rather then losing weight is pretty important because losing weight just means losing fat and muscle which most people don’t want!

Here’s a few possible things for the weight gain:

You actually haven’t gain weight, our weight fluctuates throughout the day and it’s totally normal! We usually gain up to 3-5 pounds of water weight throughout the day so you’ll weigh more at night then in the morning

This goes along with the first point but still: you could just be bloated, it’s not uncommon for bloat to not go away in the morning and sometimes this is just caused when you’re GI tract (digestive system) filled with air or gas

You’re eating too little. Shocking, I know. But it’s a lot more common then you think. When you eat too little in a day for a long period of time your body often goes into kind of a ‘starvation mode’ and in order to sustain your body it’ll start using a composition of energy from your liver and muscles which will cause muscle loss before it uses the fat in your body for energy. I feel like I’m kind of hacking this up so I’ll just drop another link in case you’re interested in the breakdown process💀

Alternatively you could actually be gaining muscle, muscle weighs more then fat so if you’ve been working out for a long period of time at home it’s not impossible that your body, while it hasn’t lost fat, has gained muscle!

Last but not least you could be eating too much, but we’ll get into this one a little more in depth

So these are some options to just keep in mind before over all saying you’ve gained weight. A lot of this crossing out will have to do with; A. How long have you been working out and sticking to a more clean diet and B. How much food are you intaking.

Let’s say you’re bloated, something you can do to help with this is staying away from foods heavy in fiber or cause gas, generally speaking try not to eat too much in one sitting, for me at least that’s usually the cause of bloating. But it can also be due to things such as dairy intolerance and etc

You’re eating too little/much, this is very important to note. Your body can’t sustain on less then 1200 calories, if you’re eating say 500 calories a day for a long period of time it can damage (per say) the body’s matobolism and cause it to slow down even long after you increase your calorie intake. It’s so so so important that you make sure you’re eating enough. A lot of people assume they eat too much but that isn’t always the case.

This kind of leads me to my next point, in order to burn fat you have to be in a calorie deficit, which is just a fancy term for burning more calories then you’re eating. You can’t take it too extreme for reasons above, but it’s important that you keep track of your calories. I don’t...really wanna recommend counting calories because it’s very easy to get obsessed with how much you’re eating and it can be a quick slippery slope to toxic dieting habits.

I’d recommend taking a day to keep track of all your calories, without restricting any of your normal eating habits, just to get an estimate as to how much you’re eating in a day. It’s not uncommon to change your eating habits just a smidge when you’re counting because you’re more consciously aware of what you’re putting in your body but don’t completely change your intake for this! Again you just want an estimate of what you eat in a regular day.

The average calorie intake is 2,500- 2,000 but it can vary person to person, you can find out your BMR online to get an idea of how much calorie intake you need to sustain your body weight! Mine is around 1,500 but I prefer actually eating around 1,800 since I’m a pretty active person, sometimes I’ll even go to 2,300 in a day if I’ve had a an intense work out etc etc. Just to note: just because your BMR is a certain number doesn’t mean you have to stick to it, depending on your goals will depend on if you eat more or less from that number.

Okay I hope I haven’t lost you yet lmao. Last but not least, this is probably something you’ve heard and it gets annoying but I’ll go ahead and say it. Losing body fat especially, takes time. It really does. I’ve been working out for over three months consistently and even I haven’t gotten instant results and it can be SO frustrating I understand. But somewhere down the line it becomes more about enjoying the workout then the result.

I can commiserate with you on being terrible with meals especially in the morning 😭 But id recommend getting in Pinterest and finding a few fun breakfast meals to maybe help get you inspired. If all else fails I love making over easy eggs with sausage and toast to get the beautiful mix of protein, fats and carbs in (THEY’RE ALL IMPORTANT I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH). It doesn’t have to be elaborate! I hate taking an hour to make my food so rather then fight it I accommodate what I prefer.

And I think that’s the majority of a lot of people’s problems, we all get into fitness with this stigma of having to completely change our eating habits and how we go about it, but we really don’t. If eating three big meals a day is how you operate don’t fight it! Work with it. Last but not least, don’t fight your cravings either. Life sucks when you say no to all the sweet goodness it has to offer 🥺

I’ve found that when I let myself have that one snack I’m REALLY craving I don’t over eat all the other sugary snacks in compensation for that one I’m really trying not to eat (but end up eating anyways along with at least 700 extra calories from everything else I ate meanwhile).

Okay I think this covers everything. I hope this helps you a little baby! Not seeing progress is so frustrating! Trust me I’ve been there and felt it, even just a few days ago really! But progress takes time and even if we can’t see it just keep pushing. If you have any other questions or problems feel free to hit me up! Again I’m not a professional I just love fitness and want to help others be passionate about it the way I am so I hoped this gave a little insight! 🖤

#missy answers #anon #misc #anon i am SO sorry this is so longjhwuihwefo #i did NOT mean to write a whole ass essay hnngh #i also added some insightful links as reference for subjects im not completely sure of #again take it slow and dont obesess! fat loss will come with time!

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buttercupsfrocks · 5 years

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Hey, Tumblr, did you know that there’s an Interior Design Police as well as a Fashion Police?! Strangely neither did I until I stumbled upon a listicle entitled 75 Things No Woman Over 50 Should Own on the delusionarily titled bestlifeonline.com. There, along with the usual arbitrary selections of sartorial crimes against humanity, (tracky bottoms, skinny scarves, bolero jackets), were the following:-

Tapestries. (What, even if one designed and made them oneself, comme ça?)

Neon signs.

A piggy bank.

Novelty salt and pepper shakers, (Oops!)

A vinyl tablecloth.

Novelty pillows. (Dang!)

A rolodex.

Indoor wicker furniture.

A lava lamp. (Who doesn’t love a lava lamp? Not this fully paid up B52s fan, I can assure you).

A dish of seashells. (D’oh! Missed the memo again).

Framed autographs (yep, got one of those too).

Talk about random. And there’s more; much more. It appears I should have jettisoned my giant pin boards at least twenty years ago, along with my magnifying mirror, stuffed animals, coloured pens, fairy lights, frameless posters, cheap mismatched silverware, decorations based on cartoon characters, mismatched towels, striped wallpaper, tassels, and elaborate keychains. (They’d have a blue fit if they knew that one of my keychains has both a twiddly fake key and a tassel on it). In fact the entire website is little more than an endless litany of stuff you should feel ashamed about owning, wearing, and in some cases, even saying. Like I totes can’t say “totes” – me, a writer, who loves slang so much she has at least a bookshelf-and-a-half dedicated to it. I also can’t say: “OMG”, “humblebrag”, “talk to the hand”, “fauxpology”, “sorry not sorry”, “I can’t even”, “as if”, “sus”, (a term in common UK parlance among people of all age groups for the duration of my lifetime), “ship”, (fuck you; Spuffy forever), and…wait for it…”adulting”, even though I plainly know a good deal more about doing it than the embarrassingly embarassable twelve year old ninny who probably wrote the article.

And still on the subjects of lists that give me the right royal pip, there’s thelist.com.

“If you are familiar with Dr Martens, you are too old to wear them.”

I’m sorry, what now?!

“We know those Crocs and orthopaedic shoes are super comfy, but they're not doing you any favours. There's something to be said for smart, sensible footwear, but you don't have to sacrifice your style and give away your age just to save yourself a few blisters”.

Unless of course you suffer with any kind of condition that dictates you have to wear fugly orthopaedic footwear, as numerous older people do. And blisters are the least of my problems, bub. Believe me the bunting and party hats come out when I can persuade anything approaching normal-looking footwear to accommodate my orthotics. Doc Martens are one of the precious few options available to me. I am, incidentally, feeling especially “salty” (another word my age precludes me from using), about this right now as, having discovered I can sometimes wear sandals with a moulded orthotic-like sole, these Office sandals...

...which I genuinely love and desperately wanted to rock this summer, damn near crippled me when I tried them on.

For all the blather about older women being able to cast off the shackles of convention and wear what we please, (or whatever the expert du jour thinks is within reason), the same unspoken assumptions that prevail in mainstream ladymedia are present in spades on these websites. Nobody reading could possibly be fat, or if they are they’re assumed to be fighting their poor beleaguered bodies unto death. The only chub ever alluded to, (albeit soto voce), is “middle aged spread”, but only the vestigial kind that can be miraculously rendered invisible by the belting of an “unflattering” oversized garment in the middle.

“Show off your curves by adding a cute belt to that dress or coat. It will accentuate your shape and let you still wear those comfortable items in your wardrobe without looking like you're wearing a muumuu.”

Never mind that I quite like wearing a muumuu, far from showing off my curves, belting any of my coats would make me look like the Albert Hall, which while undoubtably a Look, is not one I’m after.

“Balance is important when it comes to crafting a stylish look. Wearing oversized clothing disrupts that delicate equilibrium and unintentionally ages you.”

What. Ever.

The hectoring never lets up.

“There really is no such thing as grown up glitter when it comes to apparel, so it's best to accept that fact and avoid glittery tops, bottoms, and everything else!”

“Dressing like the '80s or '90s can be fun for a party, but being attached to a trend from your youth can look tired and disconnected and therefore can make one age themselves.”

“Large prints, especially on a tight clothing item like leggings, are an avoid-at-all-costs look. They are just too loud and aren't a piece that helps you look your best”

Among the ten items everyday.health.com bans me from wearing on account of my encroaching dotage are “too trendy denim”. Apparently I’m “not in my element” with it so my hard work was all for nought. Also verboten are oversized, overly decorated hobo bags, cheap unflattering underwear; (fat chance of finding cheap underwear in plus-sizes anyway though apparently I should do like the Sainted Gwyneth and wear Spanx under everything. Because she totally needs to and I so enjoy colic); and…wait for it…wait for it...

...“loud accessories”. This includes, horror of horrors, plastic earrings, which apparently I forfeited the right to wear at 35. (Do they count vintage phenolic, bakelite, and lucite as plastic I wonder? Because if enough rich older women get dissuaded from wearing it I might actually be able to afford some instead of faking it). Instead I’m exhorted to make a...

“Stunning Substitute: think quality and quantity. Limit yourself to one funky accessory per outfit – as long as it’s well-made. Think a leopard-print scarf, thin silver bangles or a gold clutch to dress up nice jeans and a simple top”.

Yeah, no. And, by the way here’s a picture of Helen Mirren in quite the loudest plastic necklace I’ve ever seen which, as you can plainly see, ages her terribly.

*snort*

Which brings me neatly to the subject of role models. Dame Helen comes up a lot. Here’s Harper’s Bazaar with some more:

“Pay close attention to the way women like Robin Wright, Julianne Moore, and Kristin Scott Thomas dress. And revel in the moment when you can justify shopping for labels like Céline, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and the Row — because not all sweaters are created equal. The Perfect Length (not too long, not Rihanna short), with the just-tantalizing-enough neckline, is more than worth the extra zeros”.

Wow. So much nope to pick apart in just three sentences!

Firstly, while I’m sure they’re all perfectly charming, I look nothing at all like any of these women, so why would I aspire to their style? Secondly, they have allllllll the extra zeros in their bank accounts while I have zero zeros. Thirdly, even if I could afford any of those labels, (a sweater from The Row costs well over a thousand quid by the way), why the love of little fluffy kittens would anyone think I want to dress like this?

I mean I know I like an oversized garment but I’m good with Monki, thanks. If that lot doesn’t say, “this was the only shit I could find to fit me”, I don’t know what does. And quite what the tiny, terminally haggard looking Olsen twins, who dreamed up the wretched label, would look like in any of this eye-bleedingly expensive folderol I shudder to think. You’d probably need to send in the fire brigade to find them in all that fabric, poor loves.

At its root shaming-as-entertainment is a tool for capitalism, both simple and complex. Feel mortified for owning something age inappropriate? Buy something new and more grown up, preferably at enormous expense. Or, if pay day’s too far off, invest in some garbage gossip rag and bitch about the state of those richer and more famous than you are. It’ll make you feel great for all of five minutes, then you can fill the emptiness that follows in its wake with some cheap fast fashion or cake. Even though cake is naughty and unclean and fast fashion is killing the environment; but hey that’s what diet books (kerching!) and gym memberships (kerching!) and ethical fashion, (with a cut-off size of 16), are for, right?

Ironically, in yet another catalogue of grievous mistakes to make once you’re over forty, bestlifemyarse.com includes “neglecting your mental health” and “basing yourself-worth on what other people think”. But how the hell are women expected to do that under a constant barrage of opprobrium, not least since also included in the aforementioned list is “avoiding the scale”?

Tumblr, I put it to you that people are just as likely to buy stuff if they’re feeling good about themselves than if they’re feeling shite. I fucking love stuff but there has to be an alternative way to sell it that’s less damaging to our sanity and self esteem. That’s in part why fat women created their own media. But, the more it edges into the mainstream, the more it it puts the wind up advertisers and those who rely on their sponsorship. So now our message – the one about self acceptance and being able to live unrepentantly in the bodies we have – has been appropriated, de-fanged, and rebranded as “Body Positivity”, an ersatz movement intended to reassure average-sized women fretful they might be a little bit fat, with the added proviso, “as long as you’re healthy”, (i.e not fat). And while the net abounds with token examples of older lady bloggers granted the status of fashion maven, they’re all slender as reeds, and most of them are ex-models. Big fucking whoop. Meanwhile anyone of any age who is objectively fat is “promoting obesity” simply by expressing our personal style in public.

My collection of shells incidentally, includes some my mum brought me back from the Channel Islands when I was a child; a conch a friend dove for in the Virgin Islands and presented me for my 19th birthday; several beauties that held pride of place in a late family friend’s study for decades; an abalone shell from New Zealand plucked from the beach by my Kiwi pal Di; a sand dollar from Ocean Beach in San Francisco given to me by my dear friend Jude who died of secondary breast cancer a few months before Jane did; some pebbles gathered with my friend Lesley in literal sub-zero temperatures on a completely deserted beach one not-so-flaming June up north, both of us in hysterics over the utter bleakness of it all, and a load more shells from the Pembrokeshire coast contributed by my friend Steve’s departed mum back in the 1980s. Even the bowl itself was given to me by Karen, whose parents found it in the attic of their new house and thought I might like it. It’s a veritable a lifetime in shells; a celebration of love and friendship spanning decades. In short it has meaning, which is a damned sight more than you can say for any of these wretched lists.

Rise above the buzzkill, Tumblr.

#What I'm wearing #Plus size style #Fatshion #OOTDs #Ageism #Sizeism #Got my ranty pants on #Fuck fashion rules #Fuck interior design rules too

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spiritualgravity · 5 years

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My Keto Case Study

I can’t remember exactly when I first began to diet. The earliest recollection I have was my freshman year in college, obviously I gained the obligatory “Freshman 15.” A girlfriend of mine was a distributor for Herbal Life — the program included shakes as well as about one million herbal pills.

At some point, I hopped on the Weight Watcher train. My Mother is a “lifer” — meaning she met her goal weight, and for the rest of eternity, will be known as a Life Long member...even if she doesn’t maintain the goal weight. My entire childhood, even until today — on the cusp of turning 40 years old — she still toggles on and off diets regularly...gaining and losing the same 20-30 pounds. We are kindred spirits with a fondness for carbs, but she prefers salty and I prefer sweets.

Over the past five years, I tried WW again, another company with shakes and pills, Whole 30, and I even made up my own program which basically included not eating any processed foods.

Before I got pregnant, I was about 20 pounds overweight. Technically, I actually “should” have weighed 40 pounds less, according to BMI algorithms, but my body has always enjoyed extra padding. I don’t think my infastructure is meant to be stick thin. Going into a process where your body willingly puts on weight in order to grow a human, and you’re already carrying extra poundage, certainly isn’t ideal.

I dropped some weight after giving birth, because said human left my midsection. Then, I’d like to think, that breastfeeding knocked off a few more pounds. Many months later, I eventually got down to the weight I started with when I was pregnant — which was — 20 pounds overweight. Sigh.

{Postpartum Photos}

In June, eight and a half months after giving birth, I stopped breastfeeding, and hadn’t worked out...not even broken a sweat...since right before giving birth. My entire pregnancy, all 41 weeks, I worked out religiously at CrossFit, and then never looked back once becoming a Mommy. This isn’t because I didn’t want to do overhead squats and crazy WODs, but because my baby didn’t sleep. I was essentially a zombie for her first year of life, while juggling and navigating postpartum depression.

Over the summer, while visiting my parents’ home, a friend from childhood came over to see my daughter and catch up. To my surprise, she dropped dozens and dozens of pounds. Our figures are very similar, we could even pass for sisters from below the neck. I was impressed by her success, and curious how she did it. Meanwhile, my Mother sat in the background at the kitchen table, overhearing our entire conversation, and decided she wanted in on the “Ketogenic” program, known as Keto.

Just like my Mom, I have historically lost weight for an event. Weddings were my go-to weight loss event, particularly when I was a bridesmaid (12 times no less). This particular time around, my Mom wanted to lose weight for a cruise she was going on in September; she went on the ship 15 pounds lighter but then subsequently didn’t stick to Keto.

For the next few weeks, after my initial talk with the successful Keto friend, I cannonballed headfirst into Google research. I consumed videos, read articles, watched more videos, and then read some more articles. After my sister’s wedding in early August, during the 13 hour drive back from New York, I spent some more time reading, and reading, and reading. It probably didn’t hurt that I also became privy to photos of me from the wedding — not only did I immediately realize I sadly no longer needed to wear nursing bras with zero support (Dear God, why didn’t anyone tell me?!?), but I did in fact need to get healthier. My body and face looked inflamed, and I was tired of not being able to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans.

I asked countless follow-up questions to my successful Keto friend, and also to another gal who lost a massive amount of weight following the Keto program (under a doctor’s supervision). I decided I was in.

My personality, at a microscopic level, is all in or nothing at all; I do not know what half-assing means. Some people call this discipline, I call it not wasting my time.

So on August 13th, I officially weighed in and measured my Mommy curves to begin the journey on a ketogenic diet. I’ve had curves since I hit puberty. I embrace them, and love that my strong legs resemble tree trunks. An hour glass figure isn’t the worst card to be dealt. So when I say curves, I just mean the extra thickkkkk curves that came with pregnancy.

I wasn’t strict as far as counting macros, I simply counted (in my head) the number of net carbs I was consuming. That’s how my friend did it, so I figured I’d follow her lead. As it turned out, I personally needed to count my macros (ratio of protein / fat / carbs) in order to follow Keto correctly. I began using a free and easy app called Carb Manager for about two months until I got the hang of things and haven’t used it since because now I know what’s what.

Some people call Keto a diet, I’d like to think it’s my new lifestyle. I have absolutely no idea how long I’ll follow this lifestyle. I’m not naive enough to say for my lifetime, but it definitely isn’t going to be a shortlived stint.

This process has been incredibly humbling at a visceral level. For starters, I am embarrassed to admit how incredibly ignorant I used to be when it came to judging things I knew nothing about. One of my best friends, who is fighting a chronic heart condition, first brought up the word “Keto” over the phone last year. I immediately snubbed the idea, exacerbated, I said, “it’s just like Atkins” (which was meant to be a negative connotation), and shut down the thought of her doing this diet. For the record, it’s not like Atkins (that program touts high protein, whereas Keto is moderate protein — this is signficant because too much protein can be turned into glucose/sugar).

“The biggest form of ignorance is rejecting something you know nothing about.” - Wayne Dyer

The Ketogenic gurus are also hyper focused on not eating fake sugar, particularly lots of phony faux sweetners that are labeled “Keto” on the package, but are absolutely not Keto-approved because they will still spike your blood sugar levels as if you’re actually eating sugar.

{Source: Epilepsy Foundation}

The name ketogenic means that it produces ketones in the body. (keto = ketone; genic = producing) Ketones are formed when the body uses fat for its source of energy.

Usually the body uses carbohydrates (such as sugar, bread, pasta) for its fuel. Because the ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrates, fats become the primary fuel instead. The body can work very well on ketones (and fats).

Ketones are not dangerous. They can be detected in the urine, blood, and breath. Ketones are one of the more likely mechanisms of action of the diet, with higher ketone levels often leading to improved seizure control. However, there are many other theories for why the diet will work.

Secondly, for as long as my temporal lobes can recall, I have been adamantly against fasting…and, I’m not exactly sure why. Again, just another position I claimed with literally zero education or facts. My husband, for years and years, suggested I workout while fasting. I swore to him that I would fall flat on my face if I ever tried such an absurd strategy.

Since I have been a devout low calorie follower, I’ve been chronically hungry. I was brainwashed to believe, with most of America, to have Fatphobia. I drank skim milk, which has a lot of sugar. I ate low fat packaged snacks, which were packed full of sugar. I ate mini meals all day long, 6 times a day. In other words, I was spiking my insulin all day long. My purse was always, without fail, full of munchies. Protein bars, crackers, apples, and a myriad of other nibbles. I would not, could not, leave my house without emergency food within arm’s reach. God forbid I got hungry and immediately turned hangry. Come to think of it, I was basically a 5′4″ child who was, at any given time, on the verge of a meltdown from being ravenousness. I didn’t quite realize it, but I was starving myself, and yet ironically, still overweight.

When I started Keto, my motivation was weight loss. But, what’s fascinating, is learning that weight loss is actually a side effect. The Ketogenic diet was originally designed for people who suffered from epilepsy and helped control their seizures. Ketogenic eating has been known to decrease inflammation in the body, eliminate diseases such as diabetes or heart conditions, sleep issues, GI troubles, and the resolution list goes on and on.

What I’ve learned is that our bodies have 2 primary sources of fuel — glucose (sugar / carbs), and fat. When you eliminate or greatly reduce glucose / sugar / carbs, your body will eventually start to burn fat for fuel. Luckily, I have a tremendous amount of excess fat that’s been waiting for an intevention.

There is an enormous amount of misinformation ‘out there’ about eating Keto, and I am the first to admit I was super skeptical before I did my homework.

Keto can get a bad rap for eating unlimited bacon, cheese, and bacon cheeseburgers. The other night, while out to eat with a group of ladies, for an appetizer I had a wedge salad (which includes veggiesc and crumbled blue cheese), and for dinner I had broccoli, asparagus, and a delicious steak. I put a little bit of real butter on my veggies. Also, the table enjoyed an array of desserts and not only did I not partake in the sugar fix, I didn’t even want any / I didn’t feel like I was missing out. In my past carb-laden life, I plunged my spoon into the dish first, and shoveled the brownie and ice cream into my pie hole as fast as I possibly could. There are varying versions of keto, that range from “dirty” to “clean.” When you eat dirty Keto, that’s what has given the program an unhealthy shadiness reputation on the streets. I fall in line closer to the cleaner side of keto, but have my dirty moments, and always eat organic, nitrate-free, etc. whenever possible. Oh and for the record, I usually drink one glass of red wine with my dinners. I may have lost weight, but I haven’t lost my damn mind. I draw the line at giving up my vino, that’s non-negotiable, and more importantly — I’ve been able to stay in ketosis. And yes I eat a small serving of fruit from time to time, berries are the best option and happen to be my favorite.

Because every one is different, literally and metaphorically, results vary. My personal journey was that I shrunk in size, but the scale didn’t have impressive numbers to show for my effort.

Come October, on the same day that my daughter turned one year old, I joined a gym. By that time, I had two months of Keto under my belt. Since I was a CrossFit junkie for 3 years pre-baby, I had to check my ego at the fitness facility’s door and slowly take it one day at a time. Besides picking up a baby thousands of times, I really hadn’t moved a muscle in 365 days. My body went through an enormous metamorphosis after making a little person, and I knew in my bones that I truly had to ease my way back into a safe grove. I sat down with a registered nurse at the gym and she did a body mass analysis using a machine that can calculate your composition make-up.

This is where my self-fulfilling prophecy manifested, in the form of a personal case study. During college, I sucked at all things math, but ironically I was a wanna-be wizard at statistics. I got a B+ and until this day, I live for stats. With this documented analysis, I was stoked to have a baseline for my Keto journey that was more than just a generic number on a scale. Sure, I have baggage with the God foresaken scale, but now I truly know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the scale does not tell the whole story.

Next up, I went to my Primary Care Physician’s office and had blood work drawn, along with a physical exam. I would also use these clinical insights as a foundation for improving my health, as well as proving that this way of eating is in fact healthy and not destroying my heart or other organs, or jacking up my cholesterol.

Come January, I started to dabble in “I.T.” — intermittent fasting.

Now, when I say I’ve done my research, I mean an absurd amount of research. For almost a decade, my profession has been based in the medical field, so I’ve become a wee bit snobby when it comes to peer reviewed, scientific-based information. Blogs and anecdotal banter do not hold a candle in my book; I want facts, documentation, and proof. I want real stories from real people. I want lab work and the truth.

From mid-October through today, I’ve worked out on average about 4 times a week for one hour at a time. I joined a gym that has a daycare and now the sun shines a little brighter. My mini me gets to socialize with little people, and I get to lift weights (which doesn’t entail lifting a little person). I no longer listen to music while working out and I’ve become unapologetically obsessed with Podcasts. I realize I’m way, way behind the digital audio fad, but nonetheless I can’t get enough of them. Despite my husband’s dismay at potentially drowning my iPhone, I even listen to Youtube videos and Podcasts in the shower for goodness sake. Oprah, Tony Robbins and their leadership development peers make regular appearances, but for the most part, I’m quite literally up to my ears in Keto-related content.

Maybe this is because I’m a real life sponge and adore the process of learning. Maybe it’s because I’ve been trained through my professional line of work that it takes listening/reading/hearing the SAME information at least 5x before you even retain a fraction of it. Who knows.

With that said, I’ve been convinced through dozens and dozens and dozens of 'classroom’ hours that intermittent fasting is a phenomenal practice for our bodies. And, if my own mad scientist research wasn’t enough, then when my friend who is currently battling breast cancer was told by her global team of physicians to do I.T. because it helps shrink those asshole cancer cells, certainly proved the point that removing sugar from our systems is a miracle worker.

I.T. comes in different forms because there are a variety of disciplines, but the most popular one is 16:8 / you don’t eat for a 16 hour window and you do eat for an 8 hour window. Within that 16 hour window, you’re sleeping for hopefully 7-8 hours of them, which basically means you don’t eat breakfast and you start your first meal with lunch. And, here’s the fun part — when you get the majority of your fuel from healthy fats, you aren’t even hungry, so fasting is actually not a big deal. Just like the rest of my journey, I worked up to this goal. I started with 12 hours, then 13, and so on.

I tried a longer fast, about 60 hours, in January. This was supposed to be some type of reset for my body. I felt like my weight loss was stalling, despite no cheats and working out. The first day was extremely difficult for me, I wanted to quit throughout the afternoon. The second day was a complete 180 degree turn — I wasn’t hungry and felt totally fine. But, I wanted to eat anyway. This experience really helped me stare my relationship with food face-to-face. I quieted my mind and asked why did I want to eat, I wasn’t even hungry. I realized that it’s the habit of eating I was used to, even if I wasn’t hungry.

Several people I know have loved ones who had gastric bypass surgery. It broke my heart to hear that there is no counseling after the fact — sure it’s available, but they weren’t utilizing it, nor was it required. And, they were back to their original style of eating and unhealthy types of food that qualified them for this surgery to begin with.

Food can be used as a drug, just like other stereotypical vices including gambling and shopping. I know that no matter what “diet” or lifestyle change I become a VIP member to, it’s just a Band-Aid until I fix the root of the issue — using food to fill me up. I also realize that history has a way of repeating itself and I’ve walked in my Mother’s shoes, witnessing her on some type of diet my entire life.

I am approaching the 8 month mark as a Ketogenic crony, and here is where things currently stand:

I’ve lost 21 pounds.

I’ve lost 14 inches between my hips, waist, thighs and chest.

I’ve lost 2-3 pant sizes — even fitting in to my “goal pants” (which I have never been able to zip up, including when I bought them years ago).

I weigh less than I did at my wedding four years ago.

I mentally and physically feel amazing and am rarely hungry. I repeat, I am not hungry. Eating fat is satiating...what a freaking concept (girl hits empty carb head against brick wall).

In all of my days walking this earth, no one has ever once told me that I was tiny. Last week, two people on the same evening said, “You’re tiny.” Granted, I am not tiny. In fact, I’m technically still overweight on the BMI algorithm, and according to...what I like to refer to as my Momma Kangaroo belly pouch... but that leads me to my next point.

One week ago I had my follow-up appointment with both the gym’s registered nurse as well as my PCP. I had both original tests re-run in order to determine, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was 100% healthy. Obviously being able to stowaway my maternity jeans, and have my leggings become baggy speaks for itself, but I wanted to know what was really going on behind the zippers and elastic bands.

At the PCP appointment, my provider couldn’t stop gloating about how much weight I had dropped since our last visit. The next day, an email came through with results from the blood work as a 3-page report. At the very end it says, and I quote, “Your lipid panel results are acceptable. Continue your Keto diet, it is not detrimental to your cholesterol.”

My body composition test results were also impressive.

BMI —from 30.2 (obese) to 27.9 (overweight)

Body Fat %: 37.2 to 35.2

Blood pressure — from 130/80 to 110/78

And what really made me jump for joy, was finding out the breakdown of my “dry lean mass” and “body fast mass.” The nutritionist, who was a skinny mini, said to me, “Your skeletal muscle mass is nearly above average. I’ve spent my whole life doing massive amounts of cardio, which is why I’m so skinny, but I should have been doing much more weightlifting and less cardio. Keep doing what you’re doing.” In other words, the stupid scale not moving exponentially and “only” losing about 20 pounds is a bunch of bologne. I legitimately have put on muscle, praise the Lord almighty.

So there you have it folks. This is one way of getting healthy. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. I do not feel deprived, whatsoever. The food I eat is absolutely delicious, I’m satisifed after eating, and there are thousands of Keto-friendly recipes to make the process a breeze — including yummy alternative carb staples such as breads.

I’ll sign off with a few insider tips and resources.

Drink a lot of water. People — listen to me — do this anyway. But especially if you’re doing Keto. I drink 3 liters of water a day. My goal is to drink 1 by noon, 1 by 5pm, and the rest before bed.

You’ll lose water weight and with that, electrolytes will flush out, which is why you want to replace them. Otherwise, you’ll get what’s called the “Keto Flu.” Don’t do that. Up your electrolytes (potassium, magnesium and sodium), ideally through whole foods but also in supplements (vitamins and/or electrolyte drinks). By eating Ketogenic-friendly foods, your body won’t get as much of this as it normally would and balanced electrolytes make you feel awesome.

Don’t be scared of veggies just because they have carbs. Veggies are good for you, really really good for you and have tons of fiber. They’re not all created equal of course, but enjoy your greens every single day.

I don’t recommend starting out with Keto-style desserts / sweets or Keto breads. You can work those into your meals later on, once you’ve gotten fat adapted (Google what that means), but they should be considered a treat and not a staple in your everyday regimen.

Check out these links for Dr. Fung —all things Intermittent Fasting — and Dr. Berg for all things Keto and nutrition.

You don’t have to do this in order to follow Keto, but I have enjoyed drinking exogenous ketones for the last few months. I drink it as my “pre workout” drink or while I’m working out. It gives me lots of energy and all the benefits of ketones. I have a customer referral code if anyone would like it.

This may be the first time, in all of my diet dabbling years, that I’ve ever truly faced why I treated food like medication. It’s also the first time I’ve ever tried to lose weight and it wasn’t for an event.

I’m turning 40 years old this summer and we may consider giving my daughter a sibling, if that’s what the good Lord wills. My ‘event’ milestones with a dress size to fit into has been replaced with the lifelong milestone of being a Mother. I want to be a confident woman who my daughter looks up to and admires my health from the inside — out. I want her to know that food is for nutrition, not for stuffing feelings down. I want her to know that the scale doesn’t define her worth. I want her to know that muscles and strength is sexy. I want her to know that she’s perfect exactly the way she is.

#keto #weight loss #before and after #healthy #fitness #low carb #BMI #case study #live happy #mental health #physical health #crossfit #crossfit pregnancy

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gunhyung · 3 years

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Sensory evaluation

Nando's

The assignment of the theory of food was trying new food that I have never experienced before, but it was very difficult to choose it because I did not have much information about various food. Meanwhile, I realized that I have never tried African dishes, so I decided to visit Nando's which was well known for PERi-PERi sauce. When I stayed in Sydney, Australia, Nando's was very popular, so it attracted my attention, but I did not try it because of the unfamiliar atmosphere. Then I found Nando's in Toronto as well and I decided to take this opportunity to try.

Menus

I visited this restaurant located in Dixie road in Mississauga with my wife and we ordered a whole grilled chicken, which was the main menu in Nando's, and side dishes, which were garlic mashed potato and Caesar salad. Also, they served garlic breads and we chose garlic pepper sauce and hot pepper sauce.

Sensory evaluation

Grilled chicken

The five basic tastes: the chicken was properly seasoned with salt, and I could feel a very small amount of sweetness and umame from the red pepper seasoning applied to the chicken. I felt a little lemon taste, but it was not enough to feel sour. In addition, I could feel the subtle herb scent from spices such as basil applied to chicken and the bitter taste could not be detected at all.

Sense: the chicken was seemingly not greasy and seemed to have a light taste. I could feel the softness when I cut it with a knife and smell the savory scent from the time the food was served. The skin of the chicken was burnt on the grill, but it looked soft without being hard. The texture felt when I put the chicken in my mouth was very soft without a rough feeling.

Similar flavours: the taste likes Korean roasted chicken removed a lot of fat and the seasoning is lighter than Indian tandoori chicken, but has a similar taste.

Unique: the PERi-PERi sauce, which contains Africa Bird's Eye Chilli, lemon, garlic, and herbs, is very watery and sour, unlike the Korean red pepper paste seasoning. This is a refreshing taste that goes well with fatty meat and a unique taste that comes to mind when people think of Nando's.

What did you learn about your palate?

As soon as I put the chicken in my mouth, I could sense the soft meat quality of the meat on the palate of my mouth and feel the flavor of butter, the spiciness of peppers, the sour taste of lemon, and the scent of herbs. As I chewed chicken in my mouth, I could continue to feel the taste of savory, and the greasiness was not strong.

Did I enjoy this food?

When I entered the restaurant, African exciting music and primary coloured interiors made me feel good even before the food was served out. the chicken was not greasy and very soft, so I was very satisfied with the texture, but the chili sauce with a lot of lemons was unfamiliar to me, who was familiar with Korean chili paste. Personally, I do not prefer the sour taste, so the chili sauce at this restaurant was not satisfactory at first, but the more I ate it with meat, the more refreshing it was. This experience was very enjoyable throughout the meal and it made me decide to re-visit with my friends next time.

How has this experience changed the way in which I will taste, analyse and use foods in my cooking?

While doing this assignment, I felt like a gourmet because when I eat food, I usually focus on eating, so could just remember the simple tastes of the food such as sweet, sour, and spicy, but this time I analyzed the tastes in more detail and could remember more variety of flavours than before. Through the analysis, I was able to learn about the harmony of taste and aroma that I thought it would not match at all, and it was an experience that I could take a step further from my limited cooking knowledge. Based on this experience, I would like to challenge the mixture of ingredients and spices that I am not familiar with and develop my own unique sauce like PERi-PERi sauce in the future.

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dwestfieldblog · 5 years

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IT SEEMS TO BE NOW OR FOREVER/ A NEW DISORDER OF THE AGES

(Or is it only ancient and unjustified?) Hail Eris...I escaped England on the day Boris Johnson became the newest puppet of masters, vested interests, donors and manipulators. The evil of of two lessers. 23rd of July, Sirius day (The sun behind the sun). British people prefer characters these days more than actual character. Put it down to the Reality TV facebook twitter lifestyle. A loveable eccentric eh? Blonde and bumbling, good for a laugh huh? Despite the fact that he is a serial barefaced liar, was a very dubious lord mayor of London with highly expensive/ridiculous ideas and utter bollocks at being Foreign Secretary. Boris wrote in 1999 'I am a raving Euro federalist...a pro European of the most violent, dyspeptic and incurable disposition'. (That was until he saw 52 percent of Brits wanted to leave the EU and thought AHA! I smell a way to power.) We all forgive a rogue with boyish charm don't we? Let's see how long the United Kingdom survives. On the day I flew back The New York Times front page had a column: 'Is Johnson how Britain will end?'

Depressing advert seen on the side of of red London bus...'Bucket Life (KFC) delivered'. Buckets of antibiotic pumped peculiar half 'chicken' type chemicals straight to your door. Good to have the empty bucket handy after one has consumed a feast fit for vomiting straight out again. Obesity well on the rise over there, he says, wolfing an entire packet of chocolate waffles with half a litre of cold milk.

Religion/politics...Nice quoted headline from a Taliban spokesman last month: 'We will not bomb schools or hospitals'. How very decent and noble of them after all these years, perhaps there aren't enough left to bother with. Today on the BBC news their spokesman said they 'never targeted civilians'. Well quite a lot seem to have been accidentally blown up by roadside and suicide bombs...Hard to imagine a decent future for the non fanatical people of Afghanistan, especially the females and shameful that the west is withdrawing because 'peace' is so near. Fnord. Perhaps they will get a cut in the opium profits/prophets. 'Mission accomplished'. Really? Saudi Arabia will now allow women to go out without permission or a guardian. In '2019'? Surely they will microchip them under the veil and have them followed by drones. How long did it take the sheiks just to accept female drivers? Nice folk who agreed to release a woman's rights activist only IF she said she hadn't been tortured. Swine.

'Can Christians in the US survive without bibles? The answer is probably not'. Thus spake the Global Times newspaper, run by the allegedly communist party of China. This, in response to hearing of new US tariffs on Chinese goods...guess where their bibles are made? That's right. 'The spiritual world of most American people is based on China's industrial capability'. Fascinating sentence on many levels. Take five seconds and think on the implications of that, if you will...

I watched several Trump debacles on CNN this summer. As usual, the 'fake news/liberal media' (etc etc) doesn't actually need to make any stories up, he provides a limitless supply of verbatim goodies with which to play. And then tries to deny he ever said them by using outright lies and obfustication (exactly the same as Boris's 'dead cat on the table' idea.) The four congresswomen of colour Trump ranted about...the chanting crowd 'Send her back'....'I didn't like that they did that and I started speaking very quickly'....Live TV coverage showed it took him 13 seconds before he spoke over them, while he turned left and right...and just for a second got that look of shiny eyed pride. His sentence that he had been 'down there' with the first responders on Nine Eleven. Surely his supporters (apart from QAnon who is either a moron, brilliant comedian or Kremlin sock puppet) must know he is lying in their faces..perhaps they really don't care. Like Melania's coat.

One of the congresswomen (Born in Somalia and a naturalised citizen) had made a non racist comment that some congressmen appear to have received money from Israeli businesses to promote their interests. Well..seems likely and fair enough, that is how it usually works everywhere. Those with money pay politicians to dance and the dosh is gleefully accepted. Not just Israel. It looks as if Trump seized on this as a useful way of stirring up manure. Criticising the state of Israel and her government is not racist just because they are Jewish. Corruption is corruption, whatever the colour or creed. And a prostitute is a prostitute. How many of Trump's KKK followers and Republican Christian haters of abortion actually support Israel? Take a calm guess on the percentages of probability. How many 'acting' people has he around him now? (One way of keeping them on their toes...) 'Fat tangerine racist with the brains of a McNugget' indeed. Hopefully he will continue to take no unhealthy exercise and maintain his cheeseburger diet.

And Yet Another mass slaughter by a man/boy with a gun. In protest at the 'Hispanic invasion'. In Texas. That's right Texas, which used to belong to the Mexicans before the old land grab in the name of oil. Trump rambling that bigotry, racism and white supremacy have no place in America. Well apparently they do and are not diminished by your former and continuing outright lack of total condemnation over the last few years. Although they have been strengthened by your petulant little blonde boy Hitler youth type attitudes towards blacks, Moslems, Native Americans and Mexicans. Germophobia because of colour? (unless the showers are golden) Does darker skin seem dirty to you? You approach black sportsmen and musicians with a type of benevolent fascination rather than actual friendship.

Extinction Rebellion...Hmm..'And yes, some of us may die in the process', as one of the English leaders of the movement said. Unlikely the 52 year old with a PhD meant himself. However, a placard I saw held aloft by a young protester read; 'WHY AM I BEING EDUCATED IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO THE EDUCATED' was a highly salient point (albeit without a question mark at the end.) Scientists amass careful evidence of global warming and the politicians, being paid regular large sums by oil, gas, precious metal companies etc, ignore long term survival for the sake of all following generations. Leave it for the kids to inherit a wasteland. However, in the XR handbook, it mentions the protests causing the 'necessary material disruption and economic cost'. Costs which will be mostly paid by those on average to minimum incomes...doesn't really square with XR also seeking the 'redistribution of wealth'. Marxist twats masturbating their egos. Personally, I am far more on the side of the rebellious, always have been and will be, just seems a shame XR seem so full of smugness, radical unbalanced vegans and hatred. (and I would like to know exactly where their funding comes from) Not possible to be a quiet, determined but peaceful fanatic. I have always liked Jaz Coleman's old quote that 'Fanaticism is the only way of dealing with a situation of overwhelming odds.' At last reason makes perfect sense! And speaking of those who love Mother Earth...

Who didn't love Putin's wonderful speech to a manufacturing and industrial forum in Yekaterinburg?....Hilarious stand up comedy as he asked 'How many birds are dying?' (By flying into wind farm turbines.) And followed that heartfelt classic up with 'This is no joke, the worms crawl right out of the ground' (due to the shaking...) 'This is the consequence of these modern forms of energy production'. In other words, keep buying oil and gas and sod clean solar and wind power because some worms and birds have a problem with it. How does the universe not laugh him into a Siberian gulag? Trump had said that wind turbines 'are killing all the eagles'. He didn't mention the worms. Don't mention the worms! It is lovely to know Mr Putin cares so much about our feathered and slimy friends. (Good to see Russia welcomed back into the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe after 5 years out in the howling wilderness for its invasion of Crimea. Well, the PCE were running very low on funding and Russia owed them a lot of well needed roubles. These assemblies cost money...and souls for Yog Sothoth)

Many hundreds of protesters have been arrested in Moscow over the last couple of weeks. They had been asking a fair question of where all the opposition parties and leaders had gone for the local elections. And the main opposition leader was moved from prison to hospital (and then back again) due to having had 'an allergic reaction'. Well, poison can do that to a man. Especially when he thwarts the Kremlin in any way. Whoever described Russia as a democracy? Not Solzhenitsyn. 11th August, one week after it told America that it is watching its missile programme VERY closely and will 'match every step with one of our own', Russia tells Google to stop advertising 'illegal demonstrations' or it will take action against it. Lovely news.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong...How long before the veritable Mrs Lam 'invites' the tanks in to help? Good luck with freedom people, be careful. At least Li Pcheng is dead. (one of the minds behind the June 1989 massacre of students in Peking) As one newspaper over here said 'One butcher is gone, others remain.' Detention Centres/'Vocational Schools' have been set up in Tibet where lucky students 10-20 years old can 'learn law (!) language and employable skills' and renounce the Dalai Lama. The latter is non optional. And the former. China has said the camps are 'all expenses paid humane boarding schools'. Humane is not a word for semantic realists to associate with their regime. One more time, Tibet is NOT China in any way whatsoever and certainly not spiritually. A fair number of Huawei workers were educated at and worked with and for China's varied military agencies. Enough to be worrying that Britain has yet to refuse them contracts involved in building the 5G mobile network. Smart phones for foolish people. Are these really the folk to have linked up to a telecommunications network in a democratic country?

Speaking of which...Seems that most folk in Britain have not got the smallest idea how much they have been manipulated. Direct links between Boris, (still in close touch with Steve Bannon) Farage and Trump. The well interwoven threads of populists pandering to the lowest common denominator in the name of self gain. The democracies of the western world are being turned against themselves in the name of foul hearted demagogues. Lack of balanced education has made a deep mass unawareness of actual facts. Human emotions are being weaponised to make choices based on wrong information. It has always been so but it is far easier now due to false twitter accounts/facebook et al. Trump's entire vision is based exactly on genuine false news and what he and the other similar familiars are promoting is a virus of illusion and outright lies.

Psyops..(psychological operations) have been used for centuries. There is much wrong with the EU, but they are way closer to us (Britain) in spirit and democratic culture than Russia and China. Those voting for more control of borders will eventually be gifted with less and less freedom but at least it will have been their democratic choice. Arf. The majority of Britons believe they are making patriotic choices. They are not. They are assisting in the break up and destabilising of friendships based on level headed, pragmatical agreements. And into this weakness will move those whose only interest is mass control. We are serving our enemies.

But that said, it is good to be aware that 'Opinions result from perceptions and perceptions reinforce opinions which then further control perceptions, in a repeating loop that logic can never penetrate.' Stasis and decay result unless a little shock of the new is introduced one way or the other to 'startle the brain enough to re-frame its experiences'. So there you have it. Or as Buddha said, 'We are the result of everything we have thought.' Makes you think, doesn't it? Ha. How do you know you are thinking? So...You knew that would happen but you did it anyway...

Back to normality....

While in London, I played with my band and after we had played a fast song called Natural Chaos, (a classic) the bass player told me I had shape shifted and looked like a reptile. No drugs involved. Very disturbing to be told this as I have various theories about those who look reptilian. Oh well, perhaps cold rage and evil are still within. Shame. I spent three and a half hours one afternoon freeing a bumble bee from a large black spider's web in the garden. Got it out, gave it a couple of flowers to suck from and get energy, some rain drops of water to help clean itself, tiny tiny bits of hedge twig to gently attempt to get the web off like a careful brain surgeon. Got two legs free, very gently helped clean one half of the head (it didn't fight or try to sting me) Put it in sunshine for some seconds to power it up, then back into cooler shade and back to work. Absolute focus of three hours. Web is VERY difficult to get off. I left it alone with some more rain drops from a flower tray to drink from. Went back, tried again until darkness fell. Had to leave it by side of flower bed, still half covered by binding web. In the morning found the bee was dead but had managed to remove the rest of the web itself and die clean. The energy it must have spent would have been massive. Wondered about attempting to mess with nature and whether it is justified but I could not have left it wrapped up and trapped. So, I am a hippy reptile. And according to someone in my family I am also a Socialist and cynical. Cynical I can live with (having checked the exact meaning and origin) but bollocks to Socialism. Labels are truly ridiculous...Libertarian anarchist is closer to a useful definition. Or failed mystic. Arf arf arf. The wizard without any whizz. Maybe.

'Whatever is done for love is beyond good and evil.' Hmmm...First, try define Love. What do you seek? Happiness and learning, Freedom and magick...Balance? Between the I and the AM, there sparks the relay of Will and vision and so, creation. 'Not until the male become female and the female becomes male shall ye enter the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus (Yeshua ben Yosif) in the Gospel of Thomas....So, All together now..Yod-He-Vau-He...(To couples too withdrawn to truly open their hearts, fearing pain or too guilty to express their inner nature to their partner or themselves.) Sex without true passion leads to orgasm but without connection by those who have been taught or who have learned to be afraid of love. Chasing orgasms is a fraction of the colossal energy and brain change possible. When Earth blends with Heaven, the astral is born and all take on aspects of the other, empowering all. Merge the fields, unify the forces and don't rush before the fields are charged. Open and focus.

I read in the New York Times today about various problems with tumblr...would be a pity if it vanished. All I have seen in the years I have been on, has been of far more heart and good spirited humour and care than other sources of individual expression on line for free. All the best back to school...All Hail Discordia and see you with Love at Halloween. Keep expanding your reality labyrinths until now or forever....

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ultrahenry88 · 6 years

Text

Academy Days

Chapter 4

The day had progressed with all the students going through their other classes, and David carried on as usual too. Although he was rather on edge about the possibility of running into Randal again even though he lost him hours ago. It was a simple mistake, and it's not like people don't get hit by soccer balls. What had him concerned about that event, though, was how he was quick to chase a student with a hurtful intent in his mind. Not only was such behavior unprofessional, but it was a clear sign that the next student who will be unlucky enough to piss him off would be in a reasonable threat already when paths are crossed. He must remember to tell the headmaster about this.

That would however come later. Right now, he had to focus on preparing for the first real training exercise. No artificial simulators, no safety nets, no kid gloves. This was the real deal in which the pilots would be weeded out from the pansies. And more than anything, David wanted to make the cut and show he was a pilot, a real pilot. He also hoped that John and Nozomi would become pilots too. The three of them have made it this far from the application test, to getting accepted and to getting into to the Tresser Time Academy itself. He wants all of his friends to go over that proverbial threshold of success together. And when he thought like that, David grew worried over the outcome of the first exercise. What if none of them didn't make it through? Sure it wasn't like a final test or anything but it would still count for a good portion of their overall grades, and that will be the basis for their overall reports. One strike in the T. T Academy and you're out!

"But I won't let myself mess up;

We won't mess up". David thought to himself as he made his way to the cafeteria to sit at the usual table he, Nozomi, John, and Christine sat. His friends soon arrived at their table and joined him.

"Hey, Dave! Sorry for keeping you waiting. We were having a little conversation and lost track of time then rushed here." John said.

"It's cool, John. What were you guys talking about?" David asked.

"Nothing much. Just how you hid out from Randal in the girl's locker room." Nozomi said with a grin.

"Jeez. I guess Sayuri told you about that little incident then." David said with a look of embarrassment but also held a good, 'laugh at yourself' type of smile.

"Oh yes. because she wanted me to remind you she intends to collect on the debt, you owe her for saving you." Nozomi said.

"Speaking of debts and saving people, David, I owe you for standing up for me against Wilson the way you did," Christine said with a smile.

"No, you don't, Christine. I am glad to help you, no one should have to put up with a jackass like him." David said.

"Speak of the devil, look up," Nozomi said with a glare on her face as she pointed up to the entrance of the cafe.

Everyone at the table turned their heads up and saw Wilson Bentley walk into the cafeteria with his entourage following close behind. He had a confident looking expression on his face as he gave a wink to every other female student in the lunch room, making them feel giddy. However, when Wilson's eyes got to the table David and his friends were seated at his confident expression changed. When he saw David there, they both shared a look of startled surprise. And just as the confidence changed to surprise, the surprise changed to anger. Wilson seemed to growl low as his teeth moves. Or maybe David was reading too much into his expression. Either way, he gave a cool, even stare towards Wilson. He was serious and unafraid of the other teen's attempt at trying to intimidate him. His least favorite classmate realized this and so the so-called top dog gave an indignant huff and continued walking away, but not before giving Christine a certain stare that David couldn't figure out, with his entourage following. The said crew gave David and his friends a dirty look, but they all ignored them, Nozomi giving a stern look of warning that said to them' "keep on walking losers."

"Well, he sure is a regular peach. A rotten one with a huge pit that is." John said.

"Yeah. I can't wait to whoop his butt in the gym next time." Nozomi said.

"Ditto. Now I think about it, Christine, I never asked you why Wilson gives you such a hard time, anyway." David said.

"Ah, that. Well, I believe it has to do with my powers. As you know, I am a telepath and thus can read people's thoughts. And it's because of an incident that occurred due to the telepathy I believe is the reason Wilson has such a dislike for me." Christine said.

"What was this incident about?" John asked.

"Well, during one of my passing encounters with Wilson I read his mind by accident. However, I'm glad I did. You see, I could learn that he was planning to pull a prank on Headmaster Hadley for suspending him for poor grades, which made him unable to attend a big annual party the academy was holding. Wilson got into even bigger trouble when I told the Headmaster of the impending prank." Christine said.

"Ah, I get it now. And he's hated you for telling on him ever since." Nozomi said.

"Yes. It's not that I'm surprised though, or even bothered. I never cared for Wilson Bentley, to begin with. And... I'm used to being hated." Christine said with a sad frown, looking down at her plate and playing with her salad.

"Well, you're not hated among us, Christine. We like you fine." John said with a smile, laying a comforting hand on the insecure girl's shoulder. Christine looked up and saw that the rookie trio were all smiling at her and she gave a soft smile back.

"Thank you all. I appreciate that." Christine said.

Meanwhile, Sayuri was on the other side of the school eating her lunch alone in the park near the academy. She never cared about eating among crowds because of the loud chattering. While some may call it odd, she liked to think while she ate. It gave Sayuri the chance to think of new techniques and also recall past family memories. She can't-do that in a cafeteria full of loud chatters, alone, she can drown out the massive talking but eating alone is just a preference. As she munched on her tempura while sitting on the bench, Sayuri's attention was drawn away from her food to someone walking towards her down the concrete path. The person wore an academy staff uniform and was a brunette haired male. He seemed to be only a few years older than her and held something in his left hand she couldn't yet identify. But it seemed like she would get an answer as he reached her.

"Excuse me, are you Sayuri Kazuko?" Asked the man.

"I am," Sayuri replied as she placed her chopsticks into her bento box and looked at the staff member to give him her full attention. "Can I help you?"

"I'm one of the staff members of the academy, and I was asked to give you this letter The man said and handing Sayuri a white envelope.

"Oh?" Sayuri asked as she accepted the envelope.

"Yes. The sender seems to share the last name as you, so I assume it's a relative. Have a good day Ms. Kazuko." The man said, and with a courteous bow, he walked away.

Sayuri watched the man go then turned to look at the envelope. It was white, and right on the upper left-hand corner was the name of a relative as the sender. And that "relative" was none other than Anya Kazuko, her sister, who is a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. It was quite a surprise as she hasn't heard from her sister since she left after being accepted into T.T Academy. A quick at the upper right where the stamp was placed showed off a silly little stamp of a fat, cartoon cat eating a doughnut. Sayuri had to smile and giggle a little to that. Even though Anya is the oldest between the two of them, she is a child at heart. It's something that Sayuri was always impressed by, as only few adults can maintain that lightheartedness as they get older.

"Well, I wonder what my dear sister has written," Sayuri said and opened the envelope then pulled out the letter.

Dear Sayuri,

Hey, little sis! How's it going? I hope that this letter finds you well. And if it doesn't, just tell me who the punk upsetting you and I'll break their skull in! I'm well aware that you can handle yourself. But I won't let anyone get away with upsetting my sweet sister without catching hell from me.

Anyway, I heard about your acceptance into Tresser Time Academy from mom. Congratulations! I'm so proud of you, Sayuri. I'm sorry for not sending this letter to you sooner. Things on the ship have been crazy, and it's all hands on deck in here\ Okay, that wasn't a pun I swear! I meant that in the proverbial term. Though I got super busy and didn't get to send this at the time I wanted to. It was my intention for this letter to be here at the academy to greet you when you first arrived. But you know what they say about best-laid plans.

Never the less, I couldn't feel any prouder of you than I do now. I know you will become a wonderful mecha pilot! And who knows? Maybe I'll be able to steal a few days away from the base to see you in action. I hear mechas can be outfitted with custom weapons depending on the pilot's preference. So maybe your future mecha will get equipped with a sword. That would be awesome to see–a samurai mecha, slicing through evildoers with its blade and an honorable sword-woman pilot at the helm! Just thinking about that makes me want to leave early so I can see you in action. But I know that will be a long way away. Still, it's very exciting to think about! I know you're not super outgoing but I hope you're as excited for yourself as mom and I are. Oh and be sure to write to mom after you reply to my letter. You know how she worries a lot.

Well, that about wraps it up. I hope to be there at the academy when you graduate, Sayuri. And you'll notice I didn't say 'if you'll graduate', but 'when you'll graduate'. That's because I know you'll ace these tests so fast you could pass twice! But I better hurry and finish this letter. I don't want this sent in any later than it already will be.

I wish you the best as you work hard on your studies, Sayuri! I know you'll become the best pilot out there! Oh yeah... and try to get a boyfriend while you're there. You're quite a catch and those city boys will line up at your door.

With lots of love, Your big sis Anya.

At the end of the letter, Sayuri gave a rare, public full smile. It was such a wonderful thing to receive this letter from her sister. And even though she wasn't here, the swords-woman could 'hear' Anya's voice as she envisioned how she would respond. Her ending remark about a boyfriend also made Sayuri chuckle. Even though she may act like she's annoyed by her older sister acting so, in her heart of hearts nothing makes Sayuri any happier than Anya being the way she is.

Later that day, classes went fast and the day came to a close. As the final bell rang, students were piling out, with some staying behind to take some last minute notes or chat with friends. Christine was taking last-minute notes herself and just finished writing the final word in the document on her laptop. Just as she closed the electronic device and put it in her backpack, Nozomi approached her.

"Hey, Christine! I would meet John later for an ice cream run before we study. Want to come with us?" Nozomi asked.

"Oh, why yes! I would enjoy that, Nozomi." Christine said with a smile, though her phone rang the moment she stood up to get out of her seat. The telepath girl pulled out her cellphone to check who was calling her. When she saw the name on the caller ID, her heart stopped.

It was a call... from her mother.

"Is it someone important?" Nozomi asked which snapped Christine out of her horrified trance.

"Um, yes. It is. Someone very important. Excuse me, Nozomi, I have to take this in private!" Christine exclaimed as she ran out with haste, failing to take her backpack.

"Wh-what? Hey, wait for Christine! You forgot your backpack!" Nozomi called out as she grabbed both her bag and the bag of the shy girl then ran off after her.

Christine walked far away from the history class she was in until she reached the underside of the stairs leading up to the second floor., no one was there to listen to her. Without wasting another moment she pressed "answer" on the touch screen of her cellphone then put it up to her ear.

"Hello, mother," Christine spoke in an even tone.

"Good afternoon, Christine. I hope you are doing well." Said Mrs. Navarro said in a business-like a tone that held only a flat tone of care.

"Yes. I'm well. So far I am excelling in the classes of the academy. I sent copies of my graded papers to you." Christine stated, making sure she didn't miss a thing in her latest report.

"Yes, I got them. Your father and I are quite impressed. You have excelled well

" Said her mother, and then she sighed. "Which makes this call even more difficult."

"What do you mean?" Christine asked in a confused tone.

"Christine... My daughter, I'm afraid that... we must part ways."

Mrs. Navarro replied.

This made Christine stop. For a moment she felt no air circulate into her body. When she did, she let out a shaky breath. God how she prayed her mother didn't mean what she thought she meant. And yet, deep down she knew those words couldn't mean anything else.

"Mother... I don't understand. What do you mean we must part ways?" Christine asked.

"Christine, your father and I are seeking to merge with a company that could benefit ours. And we direly need a partnership that can bring in new capital."

Mrs. Navarro explained.

"I understand, mother, but what does that have to do with us parting ways?" Christine asked in an urgent voice.

"Well Christine, the company is that of Bentley Corporations. And from what Mr. Bentley has told me, you have been in altercations involving his son Wilson. That being said, his father stated that unless we disown you and sign papers for Mr. Bentley's son to inherit the company later on... And we agreed."

Mrs. Navarro explained.

With every word that was spoken to her, Christine felt like her heart was collapsing under massive pressure. As if someone added one hundred pounds onto her heart with every passing second until it was on the verge of being crushed. And hearing the name Bentley, hearing the name of Wilson Bentley, made Christine furious. She knew he would hurt her. But she never thought he would be so cruel as to put her own family against her.

"Mother, please! It wasn't an altercation! Wilson is lying! Just ask the headmaster for the story! He'll tell you...!" Christine tried to explain but her mother then cut her off.

"Christine!"

Her mother shouted in an authoritative voice over the phone. This made the telepath girl stop her panicked rambling as she became quiet. The older woman gave a heavy sigh and spoke, sounding calmer than before. "Listen, I know you speak the truth. I'm aware of that Wilson's reputation and I'm not so foolish as to take the word of him or his father."

"Then why, mother? Why must you forsake me?" Christine asked, now on the verge of tears at this point.

"Please, try to understand my daughter. We need the profits that this merger could bring us. Even though we are doing well, we can lose out in the stocks. We have to have a fallback. And we're not forsaking you. Your father and I still care for you very much."

Mrs. Navarro stated.

"But not enough to have me as a daughter and risk losing a profit," Christine stated in an emotionless, icy tone.

"Christine, I understand that you're angry. We will still pay your tuition for this semester, but after that, we cannot support you any further."

Christine mother said ignoring the girl's statement. And at this Christine scoffed.

"You understand nothing. You never did. Not when I was born... and not now." Christine stated as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Daughter..."

Mrs. Navarro tried to say but this time she was cut off.

"Don't!... Never call me a daughter again. As you said we are no longer family as you plan to disown me. So... we only share the same last name. But we are not relatives. Goodbye... Mrs. Navarro." And with that, Christine hung up before her mother could get in another word. Then she sobbed as she dropped her phone and rested her weeping eyes in her hands.

The world just felt like a desolate and terrible place. she was a telepathic girl who was already an outcast because of her strange powers. And now she has no family. Christine is all alone in the world. No one cares for her. No one loves her. It seems like she may as well just die at this point. There's no meaning if you have no one who cares if you're around.

"Christine?" Asked a new, concerned-sounding voice that broke Christine away from her depressing thoughts. The girl gasped and whipped her head around to see who had greeted her. And she saw none other than Nozomi, who was looking very concerned. "Hey... are you all right?"

"...Y-Yes. I'm fine. all right." Christine lied, straightening herself up and drying her eyes.

"Christine, I don't believe that. You've been crying." Nozomi stated. She didn't believe a single word the telepath girl said.

"I... Well, you see...I..." Christine stuttered, unable to form a whole sentence. Realizing that her friend was most likely on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Nozomi tried a softer approach.

"Christine, if there's something bothering you then please tell me. I may not understand it and some others would, but I will try my best to help you." Nozomi stated. Christine seemed to consider this and fiddled with her fingers.

"I... You see... It's..." Christine trailed off, and just then John came up.

"Hey, Christine, and Nozomi! There you two are. I was looking all over for you two. Are we still on for that ice cream run?" John asked.

Just before Nozomi could tell him she was having a conversation with Christine, the other female leaped in and cut her off.

"Of course, John! We're still on for it. Who can turn down ice cream? Right, Nozomi?" Christine asked.

Nozomi started to protest, but then stopped when she saw the expression on Christine's face. It was a look of sad pleading. And that sad pleading asked her to let the matter drop for now. She didn't want to talk about it at this moment. While it didn't settle for her to leave an obvious problem like this as it was... Nozomi will drop it. At least for now.

"Yeah You can't have a good time without ice cream." Nozomi said, playing off the situation like it was nothing.

"Well, all right then! Let's hit the store! Shall we!" John exclaimed and walked ahead while Christine and Nozomi followed him close behind.

Nozomi passed Christine one last glance and saw how she dropped her false, cheery look she gave John. She now looked as sad as she was when she came to check on her. But she made a silent problem to let it alone. Even still, she had every intention to find out what was wrong later.

David was walking out of the school campus and headed to the dorms as he bids his goodbyes to the classmates he passed by while he walked down the long pathway. As he walked down and was halfway to the dorms, he stopped when he noticed someone standing there. It was a woman, who seemed to be in her mid-forties give or take. She had short blonde hair, a pristine white uniform with several badges on the right side of her chest, a blue dress shirt, a black tie with matching gloves and black heel combat boots. As he observed the woman, he saw she seemed to be looking around like she was trying to find someone, and she kept looking at her watch. Deciding to help the lady out, David walked up to her and spoke.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Do you require some help?" David asked. The woman looked over at David, and he noticed that she had blue eyes, and smiled at him.

"Oh yes, thank you, young man. I would appreciate it." The woman said.

"No problem. My name is David Blair and I'm one of the new students here at the academy. What's yours?" David asked.

"Ah yes! Forgive me for my poor manners. The woman said then stood with her feet touching together , she gave a salute; Lieutenant Colonel Dakota Hamilton, at your service,"

"Wow, the Lieutenant Colonel Dakota? It's an honor, ma'am!" David exclaimed as he gave a salute back.

"At ease, young pilot to be. We're not at war and I'm not putting you through a drill. It's just Dakota." The woman, Dakota, said with a smile.

"Of course, Dakota is fine with me. What brings you here to Tresser Time Academy?" David asked.

"Well, I was asked to be an observer for the term period. In particular, the first official mecha pilot training session. However, someone mixed up my arrival date, because when I arrived, there was no kind of reception around or anyone to greet me. I tried to ask this one man for help but he had a real sore attitude. Randal, I think his name was." Dakota explained, and the mention of Randal's name made David cringe but he shrugged it off.

"I see. In that case, then I can escort you to Headmaster Hadley's office, Dakota if you wish." David said.

"That would be very nice, David. I am very grateful." Dakota said and held out her hand for David to shake, and he returned it with a firm grip then shook her hand.

The pair then turned back to the entrance of the school, chatting together as they went on their way. Even though it was small talk David couldn't help but feel comfortable around the army woman. And Dakota felt a sense familiarity with David. Neither of the two could explain the odd senses they had... but it would all be explained the more they got to know each other.

#anime pilot teen mecha

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inherentsleep-blog · 7 years

Text

Liberalism and Rationality, 1

A short additional defense of freedom. Now that two rounds of edits have more then doubled the post in length, the title is somewhat tongue in cheek. Nevertheless, this is a post about an additional benefit to multiple government systems (in this case looking at it applied to democracy) that doesn’t really get enough talk, while dipping into (like most political posts must) my greater thoughts. Advocates and critics of democracy have debated for centuries about the various benefits and problems democratic rule. One feature of functioning democracies that I think is overlooked is the natural benefit of occasional shifts in policy as new parties are elected.

One of the stranger parts of modern economic theory is that while it’s known that as an individual people do behave rationally, there is some relatively strong evidence that they behave in ways approximating ‘rationally’ in larger groups like the markets. The idea of perfectly rational markets at this point I think has been fairly well debunked for a variety of reasons, with examples like the sudden spike of the CUBA stock (which is pretty well unrelated to the country Cuba) at the loosening of trade restrictions on the country serving as good demonstrations. How can this be, you might ask? The simple answer is that firstly, humans are not rational in the economic sense, but they are maximizers. This means they will attempt to do things in the way that best allows them to achieve their goals. Second, in large numbers those individual goals that people peruse start to look very ‘rational’. Thirdly, and most importantly, humans can learn from the observed mistakes of others.

The best way to discover if something is a good idea is not, in fact, to test it. If you have low ability to absorb risk, the best way to test something is to let someone else test it, and observe the result because this allows you to test more then one thing, or have more then one repeat of the test. The risk of testing things yourself and the fact that humans are maximizers mean that when someone finds a system that works, or in many cases is personally profitable, they like to stick to it. An unfortunate part of this is that along with systems that provide actual innovations, some of the most profitable systems are the ones that exploit social rules and laws, and many of the most profitable do both. When someone (be it an individual or a company) finds a loophole to exploit as apart of their system, they will both use it, and importantly, test it for other people. If the first person to use it is not punished, the larger community will begin to adopt it, and after a generational turnover (so about 20 years, in my estimation) a loophole will propagate through the entire community.

This is the disadvantage of freedom, the same way that it is the advantage. People are able to attempt new things, and as some work and some fail, natural adaptation makes the greater community become more efficient in the given environment. Without that freedom though, it becomes far more difficult for people to behave in rational ways, because the constant test cases appear less often. Even if eighty percent of tests fail, the greater community will still grow more efficient, and faster then a system that just attempts to make singular good choices with less information. Because bad choices are an inevitable part of being human, a collection of smaller bad choices that do less damage are preferred to a longer one that may do catastrophic damage. This is the very source of the idea that a freer market is a more efficient market, because a freer market has more information and tests to work with. The much misinterpreted ‘invisible hand’ is a series of a lot of small failure and successes that add up into greater information.

The benefit of a democratic system that goes undiscussed is the idea that peaceful rule changes will invalidate at least some of the holes in the system, while not destroying actual innovation or capital. Even if a government party makes decisions that are non-optimal, if they are ‘good enough’ to not crash the system and shed the fat they fulfill a hidden objective. The natural aversion in most democracies to corruption also acts as one of many tools to helps to cut that fat (thought very clearly does not do it on its own). People are also able to recognize in many cases when a loophole is being exploited, if not what loophole it is. As far as I can see, anger over this exploitation of systems means that very few systems last very long after propagation really starts, a twenty-year generational shift usually being about the limit people are willing to bear. This natural anger and dislike of other people’s corruption and cheating means that democracies are able to get rid of at least a portion of the broken systems that plague complex human societies.

A system doesn’t have to be perfect to serve a purpose, and it better not need to because no system is perfect. This is partly because humans are maximizers, and if you give them long enough just about any static system will end up broken.

The boat has sails

Part of a response that I received (more then once) to this was well summed up by the idea that the democratic elections I was talking about “…just [take] funding, or manpower, or legislative processing time and directing it towards what that specific party wants the country to be like – it’s never going to work long-term…”. I think this feeling is echoed by a whole group of people. I would counter that was is being described is a revolution. Elections of course to take a level of financial commitment and time, but in most cases, this should be a mostly nominal amount of the funding and manpower of the country. I am not arguing for total direct democracy, but instead that these very changes that are being talked about both cost far less then a revolution, civil war or even a mass crackdown. More relevant though is the fact that they help dislodge a portion of the corruption both in the economic system and in the political system (the former being far more important for this example.) The gains from dislodging that corruption, which I have argued is at a certain level inherent to economic systems and will grow in a static system more then otherwise, provide a major boon to the country that doesn’t get talked about.

To talk with metaphors, the response described that “…compare the nation to more like a boat, and the party members and the government are the oarsmen. Each time they swap over to another party, the oarsmen try to paddle in the other direction. This means that the net displacement of the boat is going to be close to 0.” This seems like a compelling point, until one realises that with or without those oarsmen, technology is still advancing, quality of life is still growing in most places, GDP and productivity still see rises, the list goes on. A large and particularly competent government isn’t needed for growth, though a non-obstructive one is helpful. I would say that the wrong type of boat is being described altogether. The boat is moving along at a fair pace, and the part of the crew working the sails (as I made a point before) work those sails more effectively when they can make many small adjustments. Meanwhile, the ‘government’ side of things is a collection of drunk, rowdy sailors who are attempting to steer the boat. To use an example from Belgium, the central government was unable sit at all for several years following the financial crisis due to a hung parliament. The country preformed better then the average eurozone member, if not the best. The changing in course of the boat, to run this metaphor into the rocks, may slow it down or give it a rougher ride but barring someone destroying parts of the boat or totally obstructing the travel of the ship, the ship doesn’t have to sail perfectly straight to keep sailing.

#archive #old #sleeppolitics

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