#and more than anything. people in the 50s or whatever 'making up things about 1800s corsets'

[kraniumet]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corset_controversy

just reading through the literal wiki page on 1870s corset discourse (consisting of people who actually wore corsets day to day arguing back and forth about them) would be good for everybody

[normal-thoughts-official]

you talk a lot about magnus and camille dynamic and how they started and all that great meta content that you know i love but here's a question that idk if you ever got: how long do you think they were together? bc i can't think of a specific timeline and personally i love the one you talked abt at some point how she was pretty much right after asmododo or something like that, so he went from one type of abuse into another... but how long was he there? was camille with him for 20 years? 80? 130? any theories?

ugh that's a complicated one because i don't really have an answer for that and i think about it often as well

altho i think you got confused about her being right after asmodeus, i definitely don't think she was. i mentioned it my post about the timeline to say that magnus COULDN'T have been born close to the 1800s because that would make it asmodeus and camille way too close and that can't be the case because it would imply camille is basically the only person he dated before alec doajsdoaj and we know that's not true cuz there's also other ppl like george and etc. it was more a point in favor of "early to mid 1600s" for his birth date

anyway! let's go through this. i mentioned in another post that i think he got together with camille right after george, and that i think george died around the middle of the US civil war, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. so let's say they got together around 1863. now, we have a few pieces of information:

magnus mentioned that he hadn't been with anyone for "almost a century" when talking to alec. i know i think magnus is time blind but he can't be TOO off here. that was in 2016 so that would make their breakup date be a little after 1916 if magnus remembers correctly

literally the only thing about the timeline in that time period that i can remember is that one picture there was in his file of magnus surrounded by girls at a party, which looked to be in the 20s to me. since camille was an abusive asshole probably sabotaging his every chance to meet people, that couldn't have been when they were together. so i'd say 1920 is like, the limit for when they could have broken up. it's up to you whether or not you think magnus would be jumping into his party animal role immediately after the breakup or if it would take some time for him to heal; personally i think both make sense (i think she made a huge number on him so it would make sense for him to take a while to get back to that kind of thing; on the other hand, a lot of people turn straight to being party animals after breaking up abusive relationships, especially because for so long abusers have kept them from doing anything fun. so both work imo) so it's up to you

conclusion: they broke up in 1920 at the latest, so the max you could go for is 80 years, if you go with a timeline where camille was right after george (george can't be after camille because magnus has had no relationships after camille, but there could have been a bigger gap between george and camille than i personally hc). it could still be less tho, because we literally have NO information whatsoever on what happened between 1861 and 1920. even if you go with "they broke up and magnus immediately went full party animal" (which is perfectly valid), it's also entirely possible that this happened in say, 1901 and that pic just happened to be from the 20s, years later. but i also don't think it could have been a lot earlier than 1901 because magnus said almost a century, implying less than a century between the year they broke up and 2016. and while i do think that any immortal would lose track of time after a while and mingle years and decades together, nevermind adhd time blind icon magnus bane, if they had broken up in, say, 1880, magnus would remember that over a century has passed, if anything because so much has changed since then. so i think for him to say that the breakup should have happened in the 20th century at least

so that's the analysis from what we've seen in the show. personal opinion! i think 80 years makes sense, but is a bit much. it makes sense because there does seem to be a pretty obvious gap in magnus' file from the 1860s to the 1920s and then it goes back to having many pictures of him, and that "disappearance" makes sense in the context of him being in an abusive relationship (which limits your interactions and going outs by a lot). it does seem to be a bit much because magnus is at max 400, so, if they had been together 80 years, that would have been 20% of magnus' life spent with camille. or 1/5. added with all the time with asmodeus, it seems to be... a bit much dioadsoaijd and like look i'm not judging, i know abusive relationships can last many years and decades even for mortals, nevermind immortals, but i just don't like the idea of it lasting this long personally, especially because i think it makes him getting with alec seem actually a bit soon considering how long the abusive relationship lasted, and that's ignoring asmodeus' abuse on top of it

so personally, i like it morenif its around 40-50 years. i think it makes sense. it would mean the breakup was sometime around the 1910s, and while, okay, there is a gap in his file that seems to only end in the 20s, we must not forget an important fact: shadowhunters are stupid. so i actually think it makes sense that like, magnus emerges from his abusive relationship and is still getting back on his feet, and shadowhunters just don't care. like who is that guy? oh some warlock, no one's heard of him since like the 1860s lol. whatever happened to him? who cares. anyway, we love racism

and then around a decade later it turns out that magnus is healing enough to be a pain in their ass; say, that is when he becomes HWoB, or simply that they are reminded of how powerful magnus actually is once he is back in activity, and so they go back to like, investigating him and updating his file. so the file gap could be explained in that case. it also actually makes more sense that it would take shadowhunters a while to pay attention to him again, and since magnus was healing from an abusive relationship, the time it would take for him to draw their attention might well be around a decade

and with 40-50 years of an abusive relationship that would mean magnus has spent 10-12% of his life with camille; which is a LOT of time (for comparison: my first abusive relationship lasted a little over a year and i was 16 at the time; that makes it have lasted around 6% of my life at the time, and it did a HUGE number on me, taking me almost 3 years to have a relationship again), but not quite as much as a full 20%. not just that, but him taking "almost a century" (it would actually make it be a little over a century in this timeline, but again, magnus is immortal and time blind, so give him a break) to get with anyone again makes sense. that would be around double the time he's spent with her before he heals enough to be with someone else. that tracks, because abuse fucks you up fast and unfuckening yourself up takes longer. magnus isn't even fully unfucked up (which is okay, he doesn't have to be), but for him to be ready to take such huge steps as he is taking with alec, i think around double the time he's spent with her spent on healing makes sense

(again, i'm mostly going off my own experiences here; my abusive relationship lasted almost a year and a half, my next relationship was almost three years after the breakup. so almost perfectly double the time before i was ready to have another relationship. and again, i know recovery isn't the same for everyone and a lot of factors go into this, but i just think a timeline where he's been with her for 80 years and then gets with alec less than 100 afterwards is a bit too fast)

i still think 40 years is kind of a very long time to be in an abusive relationship and like holy shit i cant even imagine, but also i mean, mortals have abusive relationships that last that long and to an immortal itd feel like less time, and it does seem to be what best fits the timeline, so

and yeah i think those are my thoughts dadsajdsa

LAST MINUTE EDIT BEFORE THIS IS PUBLISHED CUZ IM NOT REDOING THE WHOLE THING: i got an anon today saying that magnus said something about not having seen camille in 130 years (link) which i didnt/dont really remember but i trust that theyre right and im wrong because i dont remember a lot of shit from this show. 130 years before 2016 would be 1886, meaning that if they broke up at that time and got together right after george's death as i personally hc, that's a 20-year relationship. that sounds like it fits the timeline as much as any other to me, and like i said in that ask, i think it makes sense that magnus would play it down to alec by saying "almost a century" instead of how long it's really been cuz it's a bit too vulnerable, and plus, we know one of the ways he protects himself is by not letting people pinpoint exactly some important dates from his past, particularly his birthday and etc

and okay i know that 20 years together, then 130 years recovering is a huge difference, but also i think with twenty years together as opposed to my comparatively short abusive relationship the scars of abuse would deepen a lot and quicker, so maybe it makes sense that it would take a longer time to feel confident enough to get to dating again. plus, like i said, there's no real math to be had in that process, everyone is different, has their own history and recovery process and etc so it's not like there is a deadline. so actually scratch everything i said above im going with this timeline. the one thing that doesn't track with that is the gap in his file but also like i said shadowhunters are stupid, so. yeah 20 years together is probably closer to it

in the end its kind of a relief cuz i was like "holy shit 40 years is so LONG" so... yeah udndidn

[bondsmagii]

I really love your takes on the supernatural, so I wanted to see what you thought of the house that I lived in as a child from ages 4-12.

First things first, the house had three levels. The middle one was the foyer where the front door was, and that opened up to the backyard. It was a small level and it had two sets of staircases, one to the main level and one to the basement. The top level opened up to the foyer.

When we first moved in, my parents started hearing children's laughter in the foyer. They heard it separately and they only heard it late at night, and they would check up on me after to make sure I wasn't up and I never was. They realized they both had heard it, and so they went down to the foyer and said that they were fine with whatever was there staying there as long as it didn't hurt anyone. They never heard the laughter after that, and I wasn't told this story until after we moved.

I was convinced there was a girl named Ruby in my bedroom, and part of the reason my parents didn't tell me about the laughter was because I was terrified of her. They didn't want to freak me out any more than I already was. I don't think this was a malevolent spirit, but just that I knew something was there and it frightened me. I also sometimes felt that there was a little boy in a sailor suit that would watch me in the bathroom. I was also scared of the basement. Nothing ever happened there and I never saw anything, but I was still frightened and I wouldn't stay down there alone.

When me moved out, my dad stayed behind because the house wasn't sold yet and he hadn't gotten a new job where we now live. He would sometimes hear music boxes playing in the basement, which is where he slept during that time. Keep in mind that the house was completely empty except for some clothes and an air mattress during that time.

What's weird about it is that the house wasn't even 50 years old and nothing bad had happened there. There was only one family that lived there before us and they had built the house. The only thing we can think of is that before the neighborhood was built, it was a swamp.

love a good haunted house! it’s a misconception that a house has to be old to have ghosts; it’s more a case of the older the house, the more likely something has happened there that would encourage a haunting. whether that’s an event that occurred in the house (deaths, for example) or it’s simply a build-up of energy from decades or even centuries of constant use, both of these options are more likely in an old house. interestingly, the latter explanation is why so many hotels are haunted, or at least give off haunted vibes, even if they’re practically brand-new. all those people coming and going, all that transient energy, and not to mention the sleazy shit that can go on in hotels... makes sense.

with this house, it could have been any number of things. something that happened with the old family, either an event or an energy buildup; perhaps something that the old family or you/other relatives brought with you; or something that happened to the ground the house is built on. with new houses and hauntings, it’s not uncommon for the ground itself to be haunted, and that then seeps into the structure which becomes a kind of anchor for the manifestations. it’s pretty fascinating, actually -- any place can be haunted, be it a house or a stretch of road or a field or a whole country. and people can certainly be haunted, too. ghosts are certainly not confined to a rickety old house from the 1800s or whatever. I’ve been on brand new double-decker buses that are haunted; I’ve been in new houses that were haunted; hell, I’ve even been in a haunted Travelodge, a roadside/city centre hotel chain here. it’s all about what was there before, and what the ground remembers.

[toomuchtv95]

Selfish

Pairing: Damon Salvatore x Reader

Word Count: 3.4+k

Warning: Fluff, Angst, Smut (18+), Unprotected Sex

Summary: You and Damon have a long history together and when you find out that he’s got werewolf venom in his system and no sign of Klaus, he refuses to to take the cure. Once you comforted Damon about not taking the cure, you find out why he didn’t take it.

A/N: I know this was supposes to be out yesterday, but I got distracted and didn't get editing it. I manage to finishing it super late (2am) and I was tired and I ended up editing it today. I also didn’t plan on it being this long, but I was on a roll and I just kept writing.

MasterList Moblie MasterList

It was a quiet afternoon at the boarding which is what you needed. Things have been hectic over the last couple of weeks. Elena was turned into a vampire; Klaus was dead but then ended up he wasn't and now there's a vampire hunter out there killing every vampire he can get his hands on. As you walked into the parlor with a blood bag in your hand, you headed straight to the cart to grab a glass and poured the blood into the cup. Drinking the blood, you closed your eyes letting the blood hit the right spot. As you stared down at the blood in the cup, you took a few deep breaths as you tried not to think about the fact that you were slowly losing control for blood.

“You know what I hate? Vampire hunters.” You chugged the rest of your blood before turning around to see Damon walking in shedding his coat. Damon stepped over to the cart to grab a napkin to wipe off the blood from his shoulder.

“Well, no one told you to go and piss off a vampire hunter.” You muttered to yourself as you set your glass down to help Damon. Grabbing the napkin from him, you unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt so that you had better access to the blood.

"You know if you wanted to see me topless all you had to do was ask," Damon whispered as he gave you his famous smirk. You rolled your eyes as you shook your head slightly back and forth.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." You spoke low so that only Damon could hear just in case more people were lurking in the house. After cleaning up the blood, you took a few steps back as awkwardness and silence filled the air. “I need some air.” With that said you disappeared out of the room.

Once you walked outside there was a slight breeze with caused you to cross your arms over your chest as you held your sweater close. Standing underneath the entranceway of the house you closed your eyes as you thought back to when things were simpler. Before you were a vampire, you were a witch that was born in 1685. You were born to a powerful witch who had a child out of wedlock and was kicked out of her family. Your mother had taught you everything you need to know about being a witch and when you were attached by witch hunters, they had killed you and your mother. The only difference between your deaths was you woke up as a vampire which meant you lost your magic.

“I’m worried about you.” You pulled out of thoughts when you heard Damon speak up from behind you.

“Since when you do care about me?” You mumbled to yourself without realizing that those words slipped your mouth.

“Where is that coming from? I’ve always cared about you.” Damon lightly grabbed your upper arm, turning you around to face him.

"Well, you have a hell of a way of showing it.” You blurted out in anger that you have been holding back for so long. Damon was stunned at your outburst. He knows something as been bother you lately, but with everything that's been going on, he's kind of neglect you and he feels guilty about it. “Why don’t you just go back to Elena? Because it’s always about her.” You yanked your arm out of his grip and walked towards the forest.

“What the hell is your problem lately?” Damon vamp speed so that he was now in front of you.

“You are! This town is and I’m sick of this crap. I’m sick of fighting battles that aren’t mine to fight! And I am sure as hell sick of tired sitting around watching you and Elena do whatever it is you two are doing with each other!” With that said you disappeared into the forest not caring that Damon was calling after you.

This was one of the many arguments that you and Damon have been having lately and most of the time it was about Elena. You and Damon had a history that dated back to the early 1900s. Some people would say that you two were bad for each other and others would say that you two couldn’t live without each other. When Damon showed up in Mystic Falls after you and Stefan, things between the two of you escalated. Constantly arguing, him always dropping everything to go save Elena, and sometimes that meant he left you when you needed him the most. The Salvatore brothers were your best friends and only friends you manage to keep over the centuries. You had meet Stefan first during one of his ripper stages in the late 1800s.

The first time you meet Damon was in 1912 when you returned to Mystic Falls with Stefan for their nephew’s funeral. Then when Damon made Stefan feed on human blood again, Stefan disappeared leaving you behind and that’s when you and Damon got close. The two of you spent a few years together and after getting to know Damon, you started to develop strong feelings for him, but he was still hung up on Katherine. So, you did the one thing you do best, you flipped the switch. You tend to flip the switch when things got too much for you. You were the type of person who cares too much and once you became a vampire, you learned about the switch causing you to use it quite often. You ended up disappearing because when you had no humanity, you were not pretty to be around.

For the next 40yrs, you struggled with your humanity, turning it on and off whenever you felt your emotion start to take control. It wasn’t till the early 50s when Stefan found you and helped you turn back on your humanity and keep it on. Then in 1960 you ran into Damon again and found out he turned off his humanity, and for some reason, you were determined to help him turn it back on, which didn't go as plan. Your feeling for Damon resurfaced after a somewhat drunken one-night stand with him and after almost 10years, you flipped the switch again not wanting to feel those feelings for him again. With both you and Damon and no humanity, you were basically Bonnie and Clyde. The next 17years you and Damon traveled around and in 1977 is when the two of you settled in New York and at that point, you were completely lost with yourself.

That was the year that Stefan sent Lexi to deal with Damon while he came and personally got you to save you from yourself. After leaving Damon yet again, you felt lost without him, considering the two spent so many years together. Once your switch was back on, everything flooded back to you, all the kills you made, and of course your feelings for Damon. There was something that always drew you two back to each other, rather it was fate or just luck. When you and Stefan arrived back in Mystic Falls in 1994, Damon and returned claiming he hand turned his humanity back on and wanted to make good with the two of you. You soon found out that he was lying everything. Then you and Stefan left Mystic Falls and the two of you went your sperate ways until about two years ago and the rest is history.

As you sat down on a tree stump, tears formed in your eyes as you felt like you were falling apart. It was moments like this where you wanted nothing more than to turn off your humanity, but you worked so hard to keep yourself together for the last decade. You laid your head in the palm of your hands trying to gather yourself. Without realizing it, you felt a pair of hands grab yours causing you to look up to see Damon squatting down in front of you.

“I’m slowly losing control, Damon.” You finally admit was been going on with you lately and you felt completely broken. “I’m having a hard with controlling my urges for blood again and my emotions are all over the place and all I want to do is turn it off.”  

“Well, that's not going to happen because I won’t let it.” Damon felt terrible that he didn’t help you sooner, but he was determined to help you know no matter what it takes.

Tears rolled down your face as the damn was now broken. “Ever since that night that Klaus compelled me to suck that innocent man dry all I think about is blood and how I want to drink from the vein again.” Damon could see that you were on a verge of a breakdown and he knows that you need him right now. “I am losing control and I don’t know much longer I can hold on.”

“Hey, look at me.” Damon grabbed hold of your face forcing you to look at him. “I’m going to help you. I promise.” You nodded your head not believing him. Damon forcefully pulled you into his chest and that's when you completely broke down. Damon wrapped his arms around you tightly not wanting to ever let you go. Damon hated seeing you like this and he would do anything to make your suffering go away.

"Hello, sweetheart.” You stopped dead in your tracks when you heard the one voice that you thought you would never hear again. With the Veil to the other side being down Mystic Falls was crawling with ghosts who most of them were out of revenge, but you had no idea that Henry was one of them.

Slowly turning around, you saw your ex-fling who had died 250yrs ago to a stake to the heart. “Henry,” you choked out as Henry stepped out of farther from the shadows. All of a sudden, your body gets thrown up against the brick wall letting out a groan in the process.

“I see you moved on without thinking twice about me and with another vampire.” Henry tightened his grip around your neck causing you to gasp for air. “250yrs I have been watching over you and I knew you were in trouble when you first laid eyes on Damon Salvatore. How could you do this to me? To us?” Henry was raging with anger as his grip was only getting tighter.

“You died 250 years ago.” You struggled against this grip as the air from your lung escape. “Why are doing this? You and I both know that what we had was just a fling that lasted a summer.” The two of you agreed that it was just supposed to be a fling that lasted a summer, but you notice that he was catching feelings so when you went to end things, he was already dead. He had a stake through his heart, and you were left with disposing of his body.

“I loved you. Why didn't you love me back? Instead, you wanted nothing more than that." Henry pulled you back slightly before slamming you into the wall again. Henry slammed his hand into your chest wrapping his hand around your heart causing you to gasp in pain.

“Henry, please stop.” Henry slightly squeezed his hand around your heart causing you to gasp for air. “I’m sorry that I hurt you, Henry, but you knew that I couldn’t love you like the way you loved me. You need to move on. You shouldn’t haven’t held on this long.” Within a blink of an eye, Henry let go of your heart as he took one last breath as he stumbled to the floor causing you to slide down against the wall.

“Y/N,” you looked up to see Stefan standing in front of standing over Henry’s lifeless body.

“I’m okay.” You manage to speak up as your breath started to become even. Stefan extended his hand offering to help you up which you gladly took. “Did I miss the ceremony? I was a little busy.”

“No, it hasn’t started yet. We have another problem.” As Stefan pulled you up, you could see the worriedness on his face which instantly caused you to be worried. “It’s Damon. He's got werewolf venom on his system from wooden bullets that were laced with it. We are trying to get a hold of Klaus, but it’s not looking good. He refuses to take the cure. Alaric is with him now. Call him and convince him to take it because he’s not listening to me.”

God, this can not be happening. Not again. Grabbing your phone, you landed on Damon’s name and instantly click on it. “Y/N,” Alaric answered on the second ring.

“Alaric listen to me. You shoved that cure done his throat because odds are, Klaus isn’t coming through.” Anger flooded through your veins that Damon is dying, and you were miles away.

“He won’t take it, Y/N.” Clutching your eyes shut, you felt tears coming on just thinking about losing Damon. You spent so much time with Damon, and you must admit that if he dies, you probably won’t survive. You would end up turning off your humanity and never turn it back on.

The last 24hrs have been hell and all you wanted to do was sink your teeth into someone’s neck and drain them, but you have worked so hard over the last couple of months to gain control again. After Alaric called you back letting you that Klaus came through with his blood and Damon was going to be okay, you thanked whatever god was listening. Pulling up to the boarding house, you cut the engine of your car and climbed out and headed into the house. Walking into the living room, you saw Damon standing of the fireplace with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

“I wanted to apologize.” Damon didn’t bother looking up knowing you were the one that walked in the room.

“No, you don’t get apologize.” You stepped down the steps and stood a few feet away from Damon. “Why wouldn’t you take the cure? You would rather die than to be human again? Did you think of how it would make me feel if you died?” Anger pulsed through your veins as tears filled your eyes. Damon set his glass down on the table next to him before turning to fully face you.

“Yeah, I would rather die right now than to be human again because I’m selfish like that. I make bad decisions that hurt you in the end. We spent a handful of years together and I know I’m bad for you, you, and I both know that. So, I would rather die right now than then spend the rest of a miserable human life disappointing you and losing you when too old and sick. I’m not going to change, Y/N. And there no apology in the world that shows you how sorry I am for everything that I’ve done to you.” Tears welled in your eyes as Damon spoke with pain in his voice.

“Fine, then I'm selfish too." Damon snapped his head towards you and looked at you confused. “Because I would do anything to save you and if that means that if I had to travel miles away to find Klaus to get his blood then I would do it. And I’m also selfish because I realized that I can’t live without you. I've tried and it's miserable.” More tears filled your eyes as you were now pouring your heart out to him. “I’m not sorry that we spent 20 plus years together and I’m definitely not sorry that I’m in love with you, Damon. I’ve been in love with you for almost a century and I -” Damon rapidly closed the gap between the two of you and crashed his lips against yours. The kiss was gentle yet slow. Your entire body had been taken over with lust as your lips moved in sync with his.

Damon pulled away just enough to get a full look at your face. “I didn’t take the cure because I don’t want to be human if it means you’re still you. I don’t want to grow old if it means I lose you in the end." Damon frames your face with his hands then lightly stroked your cheeks with his thumbs. “I love you, Y/N.”

A smile spread across your faces, as you pulled him as close as you could to you before kissing him passionately. You wrapped your arms around his neck as his hands roamed your body making their way down to the back of your thighs. Giving them a light squeeze, you jump up, wrapping your legs around his waist and your lips not once leaving his. Damon pushed up again a nearby wall causing the stuff on the table to fall to the floor.

A small chuckled escaped your lips as you pulled away to see what had dropped. "Stefan's going to kill us if we break something.”

“He’ll get over it.” In one quick movement, he pulled you away from the wall and carried you up to his bedroom. Once inside, he laid you onto the bed with him hovering over you. His lips left a trail down your jaw eventually working his way to your neck causing you to let out a moan. His fingers found the hem of your shirt, slowly drawing it smoothly off over your head. You looked at him with a smile on your face as you reached for the buttons on his shirt and unbuttoned it, then slid off and tossed it to the floor. You stared at him, letting your eyes linger over his body. You have never seen anything as beautiful as Damon.

“I guess you got what you wanted.” He smiled down at you as he was referring to your convention a few weeks ago. “Topless and all.”

"And like I told you. Nothing I haven't seen before." You sat up leaning back on your elbows as your hair laid loose at your shoulders.

“That was over 50years ago,” he whispered gently.

“Yeah, well I remember it like it was yesterday,” you admitted and without hesitation, Damon leaned down and planted a kiss upon your lips. As you reached out, you started unfastening his pants and once they were off, he pushed you back on the bed gasping as he kissed his way down your stomaching. As he stopped at the top of your pants, he unbuttoned them and drew them down your legs and tossed them into the pile of clothes that was growing on the floor. Once the two of you were completely naked, his hand rested on the back of your thighs before gently moved them apart.

You smiled at him just as he gently slid into you and it was just the most amazing feeling in the world. He withdrew and pushed in again and you groaned at how amazing it felt. Even though it’s been 50yrs, you never once forgot about how good he felt, and you weren’t going to lie no other man could make you feel the way Damon did. He smiled at you and you knew you were smiling back at him. He repeated the motion a little faster, his breath unsteady, his hand on your hips giving them a light squeeze. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he lifted your legs so that they were around his waist. You gasped at the change in position inside of you, hitting you a spot that hasn’t been touched in a very long time.

We moved together and it felt good, it felt right. His hand moved to your thighs and you gasped as he started to touch you, his fingers grasp and if it could leave a bruise it would. He slammed into you again and again. You shut your eyes as you felt yourself getting closer and closer to your climax. As the two of you both cried, his body relaxed and collapsed onto yours. After a moment of both of you catching your breaths, Damon rolls onto the bed next to you adjusting the sheet over this lower half. You followed his action before laying your head on the pillow and faced him and to see him smiling at you.

You reached up to touch his face and he turned in your hand and kissed the palm of it, a gesture that made your heart melt. “By the way, I would never ask you to change who you are.” You smiled at Damon, before scooting closer to him just inches away from his face. “I love you for who you are.” You whispered against his lips just as Damon kissed you with everything he had.

“I love you, Y/N.”  Damon pulled away just enough to speak before returning his lips to yours. You deepened the kiss as you pushed Damon back onto the bed before laying on top of him. For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon in bed going at it like rabbits and cuddling and when the evening came around Damon took you out to dinner as a first date.

Tag List: @butifulsoul125​

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

The OTHER Members of Eve’s Coven

Me and @lilmissrantsypants couldn’t fit all the coven in as cameos in chapter 3, so here’s a rundown on the members who didn’t make an appearance. I added some of the stuff that inspired us into making the characters, My wife just went crazy with descriptions for her characters.

Aleister & Tantomile Deering: A pair of twins who were orphaned during WWII. They had to scrape by to survive, with Tantomile whoring herself out for drug money. They were turned when Aleister begged for help as his sister was overdosing. They were plagued by psychic visions as mortals, their powers awakening fully when they were turned. They are practically inseperable nowadays.

Power: Aleister and Tantomile have innate psychic abilities, activated by touching someone. Tantomile can see into a person’s past, while Aleister can see multiple outcomes the future could hold and then latch on to the most likely scenario. Their vampiric power is a twin link that allows them to experience the emotions the other one does, as well as keep them connected.

Inspiration: The psychic cat twins Tantomile and Coripocat from Cats 

My wife came up with the basic concept and we workshopped them together from there; it’s a joint effort. She does Tantomile, I do Aleister.

Bartholomew Comstock: An overly aggressive puritan who was despised by his fellow townsfolk, he was banished from his New England home and forced to start a farm on his own. He nearly perished in the winter before Eve turned him. His hatred at being a disgusting, demonic creature such as a vampire is only ameliorated by his knowledge that Eve, having once been the angel Samael, ‘confirms’ his beliefs and allows him to eternally punish those he views as sinners.

Power: He believes his power gives him great strength against sinners, allowing him to inflict pain upon those who have done foul deeds. In truth, it is actually his own sins that give him strength, though his power does weaken as he exerts himself or runs low on blood (he cannot become unstoppably powerful).

Inspiration: The dad from The VVitch

Beatrix Cullen: Beatrix Cullen was a happy woman once, a skilled seamstress in the 1950s who simply loved the act of creation. She had an adoring boyfriend, and the two were set to be married, with Beatrix making a gorgeous wedding dress for her special day. But on that day, her groom never arrived, as he had been killed in a car accident on the way. Stricken by grief, Beatrix was easily convinced by Eve to join her coven, with the promise that perhaps her power could help her bring her husband back some day...

Power: Beatrix can imbue any object such as a sculpture or statue with life, essentially making golems without a magic scroll. Her most trusted golem is her mannequin, Manny, who often tries to steal her wedding dress. Her ultimate goal is to use her natural skills and her power to bring her husband back to life, stitching a Frankenstein monster of him and pieces of sleazy men who hit on her into a perfect flesh golem.

Inspirations: The bride from the Haunted Mansion, Kill Bill, Frankenstein, that one Tumblr post about 50s housewives fighting zombies with chainsaws, La Pascualita, Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh

Blanche Atterton: Daughter of Lady Drusilla Atterton, she grew up wanting nothing more than her mother’s love, though her mother was often far too preoccupied with “other things” (which she later learned was all of her plotting and planning to ensure her riches).When given the choice for vampirism, she excitedly vowed her loyalty to her mother and Eve. As she was only 15 at the time and children would not survive the turning, her mother waited until she turned 21 before turning her.Blanche does everything for her mother’s attention and love. She doesn’t hesitate to do her bidding in hopes of her mother praising her for it. She’s misguided, not evil, though her mother’s praise has given her a superiority complex and she’s a bit of a narcissist.

Power:  Blanche’s power gives her a powerful, painful scream. Those within 5 feet of her screaming will suffer from temporary deafness for 5 minutes. Whether they fall deaf or not, bleeding from the ears is very common, especially among mortals.

Inspiration: Drizella from Cinerella

Dee Comporre: Giorgio Nero’s faithful, somewhat obsessed bodyguard. She quite obviously has a crush on him due to her hatred of any woman who so much as interacts with Giorgio, though Giorgio just sees her as being a bit overprotective. She has a shaved head, and paints her face to look like a skull.

Power: She can secrete and spit a powerful corrosive acid that can melt through even metal.

Inspirations: D’Compose from InHumanoids

Dorian Ferris: A serial killer known as “The Ferryman,” who always leaves coins over his victim’s eyes. As a mortal, he had far too many close calls, and was nearly caught several times, particularly during a bout in a town back in 1999. He tends to target wicked people such as domestic abusers, rapists, crooked cops, and so on, sending them down the River Styx ahead of time to make the world a better place. He willingly joined the coven to escape punishment. More than anything, he just wishes to live a quiet, peaceful life.

Power: Has luck manipulation, which can allow him to do everything from dodge attacks by near misses or turn his surroundings into a Final Destination movie for opponents. He tends to activate a particular mode based on the whims of a coin toss. 

Inspirations: Jinx from Teen Titans, Final Destinatiin, Two-Face, Yoshikage Kira

Elizabeth Bathory:   The Blood Countess herself. After evading death in the 1600s thanks to Eve, she became a loyal follower of the demon, and was recruited into the Order of the 1800s. Dracula and Rasputin managed to defeat her and supposedly kill her, but Bathory is notoriously hard to slay. True to her infamous reputation, she tends to “Feed” by bathing in the blood of her victims. 

Power:Bathing in blood gives her an insane power boost; the longer she soaks, the stronger she gets. She can also absorb blood through her skin, though she can’t absorb the blood of supernatural beings this way.

Elvis Rey: Growing up near the border, Elvis always wanted to be like his hero, Elvis PResley. He obsessively watched the man’s performances and learned his every move. When the man died, he vowed he was going to become the greatest Elvis impersonator that ever lived. The 80s weren’t too kind to him, and drinking, gambling, and overeating left him looking like chubby later-years Elvis. With debt collectors crawling down his neck, he turned to Eve, and became a powerful vampire.

Power: He is capable of replicating any non-supernatural ability he sees. For example, if he watched a martial arts movie, he would be able to pull off those moves. Think the comic book character Taskmaster. 

Inspirations: Elvis (Presley), Elvis (God Hand)

Giorgio Nero: Giorgio Nero was a member of Cosa Nostra who attempted to retire from this life due to his wife and child. However, his past would eventually catch up with him, and his child was nearly killed, which lead to Giorgio accepting an offer he had once rejected, but now couldn’t refuse: vampirism and joining with Eve’s coven. Despite everything, he is an honorable man who dearly loved his wife and adores and accepts his child.

Power: You know Magneto? Like from X-Men? Imagine that but instead of a Holocaust survivor it’s an Italian guy. Boom.

Inspirations: Magneto, Risotto Nero from Vento Aureo, Metlar from InHumanoids

James Wilson: James was born in 1812 as a slave. When he was 8, he was gifted to the man one of his master’s daughters married, along with 13 other slaves. As his former master’s name was Wilson, he took that as his surname. He worked as a stablehand until he became a farmer at age 12. After a rather brutal beating when he accidentally dropped a bag of freshly picked potatoes at age 25, James encountered Eve. She promised to help free him. She turned him into a vampire (1837). He lived on the run until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and went into full effect in 1863. James used to speak in thick, Gullah speech, but over time, it has lessened as he acquired modern language.

Power: James’s power gives him the ability to summon and play with water. He can use it however he wishes: to drown someone, to create a small unnatural pool to swim in, or to cool someone off with a quick sprinkle. This comes from his silent love for water, though he wasn’t ever allowed to swim or play in it.

Inspiration: Splash Mountain

Juno Nero: The child of Giorgio Nero. They tend to wear long black coats, masks, and facial bandages to hide their face and body due to extreme anxiety. They are mute as well, and communicate via sign language. They are nonbinary.

Power: They can stretch their body like rubber (think Elastigirl, Rubber Band Man, Plastic Man, you get the idea).

Inspiration: Tendril from InHumanoids

Lady Drusilla Atterton: Born in 1852 in England as Drusilla Graham to a middle-class family. She grew up idolizing the wealthy and decided she would do whatever it took to become wealthy herself.Met Josiah Kipling, a 28 year old man, when she was 22. He fell madly in love with her. She was overjoyed as he was quite wealthy. They married in 1874 and had two daughters together (Katharine [1875] and Blanche [1877]). However, after 8 years of marriage (1882), Drusilla (now age 30) fell out of love with him and secretly laced his food with rat poison, ultimately killing him. As they had personal chefs, it was deemed to be the fault of the chef, who was arrested and charged with the crime. As his widow, she inherited a share of his wealth.Over the next 10 years (1882-1892), Drusilla married 8 other wealthy men from all over the country, all who mysteriously died less than a year later in what were deemed to be unfortunate accidents.

Donald Thompson, married in 1883, died in a carriage accident.

Maurice Parker, married in 1884, died of a laudanum overdose.

Timothy Edwards, married in 1886, died by drowning

Christopher Watson, married in 1887, died by falling out of a second story window

Nathaniel Harris, married in 1888, died of apparent suicide

Bernard Carter, married in 1890, died of a hunting accident

Percy Clarke, married in 1891, died after being attacked by a burglar

Timothy Atterton, married in 1892, died in bed (cause unknown)

She met Eve in 1892 shortly after marrying Timothy Atterton. Eve had heard of her reputation as the Cursed Widow (but knew full well her husbands’ deaths were her doing). As Eve was extremely weakened, Amon turned her. With Eve’s assistance, she killed her final husband by scaring him to death by introducing him to Eve. Drusilla vowed her loyalty.With the knowledge of how to turn another from Eve (as Amon refused to tell her how), Drusilla offered the gift of vampirism to each of her daughters. Katharine ( refused and cut herself off from her mother, instead choosing to live a full and honest life. Blanche, on the other hand, being so keen to be accepted and loved by her mother vowed her own loyalty to both her mother and Eve. When she turned 21, Drusilla turned her as well (as she was informed that youth would not survive the turning).

Power: Her  power allows her to paralyze her target with a simple cold stare for a full 5 minutes.

Inspiration: Lady Tremaine from Cinderella

Lord Gordon Ruthven: A rich, aristocratic vampire who enjoyed luring in and preying on young women. He was part of the Order of the 19th century. He is currently a severed head, as his body was destroyed by the Silverwings.

Power: Can exude a charm aura that makes women more susceptible to his commands and desires, though it only works on women capable of being attracted to him (it would not work on lesbains, for instance).

Mabel Lockhart: A sickly young girl whose father made a deal with Eve to keep her from dying. Her dad is currently missing, and she is unsure if he’s even alive.

Power: She has the ability to absorb energy, such as steam energy, electrical energy, etc and gain boosts and power depending on what type she absorbs. For example, absorbing electrical energy would allow her to to shoot lightning. She can also absorb a person’s energy, but at most she can make them very lethargic and gets little else from absorbing that sort of energy.

Inspiration: Loosely based on the Pokemon Magearna

Maddox Hinton: Maddox was born in 1863 in a small town in England. He doesn’t talk much about his past, but he does boast about how he and his father were valued hypnotists in their small town. He was his father’s apprentice, learning how the art of hypnotism worked, though he wasn’t quite as successful as his father. This was what Eve used to convince him to turn to vampirism. It occurred when he was 25 and preparing to take over the family business.His power helped him convince his customers that they were actually under the effects of hypnotism. His father simply believed that taking over the business helped him tap into his true potential. 

He continued this way until Eve demanded his help. He lied to his dad, telling him he was going to travel abroad and spread their business, causing his father to take over the business once again.Maddox served Eve for a few years before she told him she didn’t need his help anymore. It was likely this that irritated him so much that he eventually became loyal to Amon while under the very convincing facade he’s loyal to Eve.

The rest of his past is unknown. All he will often tell people is he traveled all over the world, performing great feats under fake names as “world-renown hypnotists”. Maddox is a wild card. He does things for the fun of it or for his own pleasure, often without any sympathy towards others.

Power: Maddox’s power allows him to take control of another (similarly to Gabby’s). However, he can take control of up to two people at once. Instead of physically puppeteering them, he simply suggests they do something and they do it.

Inspiration: Vex from Lost Girl

Margaret Derwin: Margaret was born in New York City in 1902. She grew up with a love for music, particularly singing. She had dreams of becoming a famous singer.When she was 18, she pursued these dreams. She got a job as a dancer at a speakeasy with hopes of, eventually, being able to become one of their singers in time. It was there that she met Elizabeth, one of the other dancers. They secretly fell in love (which answered Margaret’s confusion about why she wasn’t interested in men). Eventually, they decided to run away to California together. They made plans and prepared for this, but on the day it was to happen, Elizabeth never showed up. Margaret later discovered she had changed her mind and, instead, was going to marry a man she’d met at the speakeasy.Eve found Margaret heartbroken and wandering the streets looking for a new job after quitting at the speakeasy (as it was too difficult to continue working there when Elizabeth was still there). Eve easily wooed her to her side. Though, as Margaret had good intentions, Amon had eventually been able to convince her to assist him instead as he wanted to ensure Eve would stop preying on innocent people like herself.

Power:  Margaret’s power involves her voice. Through singing, she can influence one’s emotions depending on her intentions (anger them, seduce them, calm them down, soothe them to sleep).

Nora: Nora’s memories are very faded. She knows she was born to a very poor family in Ireland. She knows she was sold as an indentured servant at age 13 in exchange for her tickets to America, board, and food. She knows she worked for that American family for 7 years. She knows she caught influenza and was promptly fired by the family for fear she’d infect them all. She knows she was near death, wandering the streets alone, when a massive black snake promised to save her. At the time, Nora believed it was just an illusion. She found out the next day, however, that it was not. She’d been saved by the gift of vampirism.Nora lived a long, long time as a homeless woman. She watched as America grew into a country of its own. She preyed on any she could find in order to survive. Eventually, she took residence in an abandoned house on a street. Over time, rumors spread that a ghost lived in the house on Blackwell Street. Her appearance and her power did much to add to this as well, as did the occasional mysterious deaths of those who wandered into the house hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost.

Power: Nora’s power allows her to become visible or invisible on command. She can only switch from one to the other every 10 minutes. She often uses this to frighten mortals and uphold her identity as the Ghost of Blackwell Street.

Tony Sugar:  Tony Sugar is the owner, spokesman, and iconic figure of the Lost Paradise Candy Company. With the help of Amon, he became one of the first successful Black candy makers in America. He’s very flamboyant, campy, and charismatic—essentially a black Willy Wonka. He is pansexual because, in his own words, “everyone deserves a little Sugar.” He is also an avid beekeeper.

Power:  He has the power to “mellify” corpses, filling them with a honey-like substance and turning them into zombies.

Inspirations: Tony Todd’s Candyman, Ruby Rhod, the song “Sweet Bod,” the myth of the mellified man

Walter Sherman: Formerly a college professor and devoted family man from the dawn of the 20th century, Walter was a good man known for always thinking forward and being able to accept new changes in the world. However, when a freak accident claimed the life of his wife and child, he couldn’t handle it and attempted suicide before being saved by Amon. He’s mostly in the coven out of loyalty to Amon.

Power: He has the power of adaptability, allowing him to easily adapt to any situation. For example, using lightning against him would make him adapt lightning resistance.

Inspirations: The Carousel of Progress

Wayne Nicol: A formerly friendly clown who was forced to witness unspeakable horrors during WWII. He survived the horrors, but was left fundamentally disturbed by the nightmare he had lived through. He joined the coven hoping to find some sort of safety, but as it turned out, Eve had other plans.

Power: Has the power to control and manipulate a person’s fears to weaponize against them.

Inspirations: Scarecrow (Batman), Pennywise, Freddy Krueger, The Day the Clown Cried

[kinetic-elaboration]

October 2: 1x17 The Squire of Gothos

Not one of the strongest S1 episodes but not bad either.

Why is Spock not nostalgic for the desert? It’s where he’s from.

I love, and it never gets old, how Kirk always grows so Fond whenever Spock and Bones banter. “Ah, yes, my two favorite people in the world, Interacting.”

Spock showing off his eye makeup with a dramatic eyeroll.

Uhura’s voice is so beautiful.

OH NO SULU? WHERE’D YOU GO?

THE CAPTAIN? DISAPPEARED?

Love how Spock yells “emergency!” Like, yeah, I’d say it is!

The rarely heard Spock narration. “Captain James Kirk”--do none of his boyfriends know his middle name?

Lol at Trelaine trying out his calligraphy.

Spock’s not up for this nonsense. “If that’s the Captain or Sulu they’ve lost their gosh darned minds.”

Spock in The Chair.

Spock and Scotty can’t be spared for the landing party but McCoy can lol. He’s only the CMO nbd if he just dies in a totally unbreathable wasteland.

Spock is looking thoughtful and clearly upset.

Oh no, no cell service! Again! Have you guys tried switching networks?

Love this weird ass set.

Salt monster! What! Look Bones it’s your gf.

“Display pair” lol.

Is that...Liberace?

“Did you like my whimsical way of getting you here?”

This episode is both way funnier and way more interesting knowing who Trelaine really is. Like the concept of an alien child watching past Earth, thinking its present Earth, and becoming obsessed with in the exact way children do, is so good?

“Our missions are peaceful, not for conquest.”

“One of the few predator species that preys on itself.”

Omg at the French and German. A little disappointed he didn’t break out the Japanese and/or call Sulu a samurai.

Not very smart of DeSalle to approach stealthily from behind when Trelaine is looking into a mirror like duh he can see you? In that huge-ass mirror?

It actually is kind of nuts, and doesn’t make the most sense, that phasers make things disappear.

No! Salt monster!!

I love Kirk in suspicious mode. He can be fun and relaxed and have a sense of humor but the SECOND something threatens or appears to threaten his crew he’s on high alert, very serious and focused and not up for nonsense of ANY sort.

Absolutely hilarious that Spock was the First Officer a moment before and now he’s the Science Officer.

“If the Captain’s alive, that’s where he’d have to be. And uh those other people too, whatever.”

Sulu asking the important questions here. (I wrote this down and already have no idea what it was referring to.)

“It doesn’t even show that he exists at all.” Well either their instruments just don’t know how to pick up on the life force of this new kind of alien or they’re confused because he’s essentially just energy, non-corporeal.

Kirk thinking so deeply about all this is also hilarious in context. “He’s not all knowing. He makes mistakes.” Uh you think? He’s 8 years old.

I feel like this whole ep is just a burn on humans who are obsessed with war and romanticize the whole concept of war-mongering. (ETA based on the amazon trivia I am right about this.)

“Our companions.” Such a sweet way of referring to the crew.

WOMEN! Hydration game: drink whenever someone finds women surprising.

“Those are crucial operating personnel.”

“The party’s over, thanks to Mr. Spock.”

Trelaine is not a “life being” obviously.

Who’s this bitch in the Captain’s Chair? Shouldn’t it be Scotty?

Random Yeoman trying to flirt.

“Don’t you display your weapons?” Oh man you should see Spock’s room! You’d love it!

Are Vulcans predatory? LOL. Love Spock’s answer (”Not generally but there have been exceptions”) but like honestly I think, historically, the answer is yes?

Sulu is hilarious. He’s like the opposite of Kirk--when faced with danger, he goes into “might as well laugh through the awkwardness” mode and I appreciate that. A really underrated Sulu trait that the reboot movies completely failed to acknowledge. (Which is extra nuts considering John Cho is very funny!)

Trelaine obviously discerns that McCoy is the most likely to want to drink.

Well at least Trelaine’s not racist....

Never mind.

Spock is so Tired of this already. This little bit, the Trelaine and Spock exchange and Spock’s definition of fascinating, is the best part of the episode. Also I 100% believe this disinterested attitude is the exact one Spock took with Sarek throughout his adolescence. “Is that what you’re doing? Challenging me?” / “Uh, yeah.”

Whereas Jim is just loving this. This is the only fun he’s had all episode. He’s been so annoyed the whole time because Trelaine is annoying but then Spock starts speaking and he breaks out the heart eyes.

McCoy looks so into the food and the booze. Except actually it’s tasteless, never mind again.

“Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.” I mean definitely the best quote of the ep!

Trelaine’s not into the miniskirt look.

Kirk, whispering: Explain.

Kirk and Spock figuring things out together <3<3<3

Look at that crocodile head over the mantle.

ALSO love when Kirk breaks into acting mode. I stan one dramatic nerd.

Trelaine: a Hamilton fan. Don’t tell him about the musical.

Kirk doesn’t like that gun pointed in his face.

Some good quotes from the Captain’s log: “The creature Trelaine.” “Everything depends on my one chance with the ancient dueling pistol.”

This actor does a good job of being a petulant man child.

He knows Kirk loves Spock the most! Always love when aliens discern that immediately.

The sound effects when Kirk destroys the computer are so wacky.

“Space fleet command.” Still?

Lol at Princess Yeoman. See, Kirk thinks they’re out of danger, and his humor immediately returns.

Oh no, not Gothos again! I love their subtle “hey, we’re turning now” movements.

Judge Trelaine is hilarious but Kirk does not have the sense of humor to appreciate this. “You’re charged with the high crime of being annoying to me.” “Anything you say has already been used against you.” His knowledge of the judicial system is impeccable!

“Vent your anger on me alone!” He is so good!! He is the hero we deserve!

“Captain’s log, Spock here again.”

“Why, Captain, you’re still angry!” I do kind of like this thing about Trelaine not really being able to feel emotions, or at least not for very long, like that’s one of the things he’s seeking in his play.

“Everything’s too easy for you. Check your privilege Trelaine.”

Lol at the noose just moving in the air toward him.

Trelaine has obviously read The Most Dangerous Game.

Kirk is looking extra handsome here.

“You’ve been beaten.” / “But I’m not defeated.” You tell him!

It’s sooooo obvious that Trelaine is a child.

I like that when his parents are speaking to him, they shoot him in a way that makes him look very small. Kirk is finally finding this funny now. “Time to come in now.” “But I’m not done studying my predators!” “Or you’ll not be permitted to make any more planets.”

“Beam me up, Mr. Spock. Beam me up into your loving arms.”

Alien classification: a small, naughty boy.

The concept of the last banter between K and S is cute but really distractingly anachronistic. Like why does Kirk think Spock’s childhood took place in, idk, the 1800s? However, I appreciate both Kirk’s flirty face and Spock’s super confused face. (Which, I must say, ZQ could imitate really well.)

So overall.. I like the general hook of this episode--the alien child who appears as a humanoid adult, is obsessed with humans, acting as a commentary on human obsession with war--but I don’t think it needed to be 50 minutes. The story could easily have been told in half the time. Like everything after Kirk shoots the mirror, other than the final reveal, reads like fluff, to make the ep fit the time slot.

Thus I would say it’s decent, a B episode, with a strong concept and some good moments, but not as iconic as most of the other eps this season.

Next up, Captain Gorn co-starring in Arena!

[ober-affen-geil]

Please share all of the things about paper? I know nothing of anything you listed and now am curious and listening to someone who's passionate about something talk about it is honestly my favorite thing. What is deacidification and what consequences has it wrought? What qualities does onionskin paper possess and are you for or against it? Why are basic office supplies the devil and what, then, is your preference? WHAT IS THE GREAT PULP PAPER SWITCH?! I'm dying to know

Anon. You. You are my favorite.

Ok *cracks knuckles* important context. I am an archivist, I work with paper whose creation dates from anywhere to several hundred years ago to several decades ago. Our main goal in archives is long term preservation; basically make stuff last as long as possible as-is. 

Now, all of the stuff I mentioned in my tags on the post anon is asking about sort of tie together, so let me sing you the song of the archives.

tl;dr Office supplies are the devil and so is onionskin paper, paper used to be better and then it got worse, and humans tried to fix the bad paper by throwing chemicals at it.

Let’s start at the top. Idk how many of you did or had a paper making demonstration at some point in their youth, I did but I realize my experiences are not universal. Basically, paper is made by turning a material into pulp (exactly what it sounds like) and adding water and a sizing agent to make it a slurry (a very gross looking soup consistency). 

- A sizing agent is something that is used so that ink doesn’t “feather” when it touches the page. An unsized piece of paper will act like a paper towel with liquid. Not ideal for writing on. Sizing will become important later -

The slurry is then captured in a frame and the water is more or less squeezed out of it until you’re left with soggy pulp that you dry out and presto! Paper. Here’s a quick video showing the process.

Now. The first material that was used for paper was literally cotton rags. They were shredded and pulped and then made into paper. It’s called cotton rag paper and it was the main paper supply until the early-mid 1800s. It has a completely different feel to it than the paper we use today, it feels more like cloth. Paper money is made from something like it because it’s a lot more durable.

- Fun fact, “parchment”, which predated cotton rag paper, is not actually “paper” as we think of it. Parchment very specifically refers to a finely cured animal skin that was written on. Vellum is the same thing except finer, usually calfskin where regular parchment is sheepskin. -

Problem was, with the advent of movable type and higher literacy rates, the need for paper was steadily increasing. And cotton rags just weren’t cutting it. So manufacturers started looking for a more plentiful source. And they found trees!

Turns out wood pulp makes an excellent paper, toss in a little bleach and it works great! So around about the 1860s, most newspapers had switched over to wood pulp paper instead of cotton rag paper. And everything was looking up!

BUT.

Here’s the thing about wood pulp. It has a naturally occurring chemical called “lignin”, which is hella acidic. Not like burn-your-fingers acidic, but like over-time-this-material-will-chemically-eat-itself acidic. Which started to be a problem a couple decades after wood pulp paper started to be mass-produced. 

The good news is, what they quickly figured out was if they added a basic solution (who remembers their high school chemistry?) in the initial sizing agent it would neutralize the natural acidity in the pulp and the paper would last a lot longer.

But this did fuck all to help the paper that had already been made and was quickly becoming very fragile. Whatever can we do?!

Well, some genius (I use that term as sarcastically as possible) got the idea that maybe we could do the same thing - add a basic solution to acidic paper - to paper that had ALREADY been made! Brilliant! The process was called “deacidification” and it was very popular in the 1970s. The idea was to basically give at risk paper a “bath” and it would solve the problem. Here’s a video about it made by American higher ups that is absolutely hysterical imo.

Well, the university where I work had its own deacidification lab, which was fine. Deacidification does work, when done properly and when very specific criteria is met by the paper being treated. When that’s not what happens….it gets messy. The main problem with the deacidification process at my university is that it wasn’t being run by people who really knew what they were doing. Because what they understood about what needed to be done and the WHY behind what they were supposed to be doing were two different things.

Long story short they hella botched the deacidification process, and now not only does a large part of several of our more highly used collections have a lovely gross chemical residue all over it, they also managed to “deacidify” a good chunk of letters that were from the 1700s. AKA they were on cotton rag paper. AKA they were not actually acidic to begin with. I may be bitter.

Anyway. Speaking of types of paper, let’s talk about oinion skin. My sworn enemy. Onion skin paper was used for copying purposes when carbon copies were a thing, otherwise known as the early part of the 1900s up until when copy machines became a thing in the middle-late part. It’s still used if you’re filling out something with a “copy” attached to it, usually yellow, that you get to keep.

It’s called “onion skin” because that’s kind of what it looks and feels like; it’s thin like tissue paper but it’s sized in something that makes it much more durable. Easier to make multiple copies at once on a typewriter by stacking several sheets together. Great! Except it’s the fucking cockroach of paper.

It just fucking LIES there and is fragile enough that you can’t really do too much with it, but whoever sold their soul to make it less destructible than it should be got their money’s worth because it won’t die. It just. Doesn’t age the same way regular paper from the same time frame does and it doesn’t fucking go away.

But GOD HELP YOU if there’s a paper clip attached because you ain’t getting that sucker off without tearing the page short of an intervention by a surgical professional and the pope himself.

And do you know why? BECAUSE OFFICE SUPPLIES ARE THE LITERAL WORST.

I’m talking staples, paper clips, tape, sticky notes, glue sticks, binders, stick-on labels, et fucking cetera. It comes down to two things, metal and adhesive, and the fact that neither of those two things age very gracefully.

You know what’s fun? Clicking a stapler together. Very satisfying, punching that thing through the paper you just finished and are ready to turn in. You know what’s NOT fun? Prying rusty staples out of a stack of 50 year old papers with your fingers because they’ve rotted themselves into it and the tool you have for it won’t work. Same for fucking paper clips, because rusty metal eats into paper. Seriously, there will be a hole left when you finally pry it out. Not to mention rust stains. 

And ADHESIVE oh MAN. The thing is, over time it dries out. And rots. So depending what you’re looking at, it could be a sticky, half-melted pile of goo that doesn’t want to stay where it was, it could be straight up gone with a yellow stain to mark where it was, or it could have eaten into the paper it was stuck to and left a hole. Any way you slice it, it ain’t doing it’s job any more. Which is why traditional scrapbooks are usually an utter shit show.

But anyway, that’s that on that. If you have MORE questions, I am very, very happy to rant or find pictures of horror stories. There are a lot!

[roscoe-me-and-this-fuckin-kid]

My Ryden Recs

not in any particular order

The Heart Rate of a Mouse Series (11/10)

~513k words

Ryan "Heterosexual" Ross and his incredibly popular prog rock band, The Followers, start their summer tour for their new hit album "Boneless" in June of 1974. However, Ryan begins to take a shine to their new roadie, the ever mysterious Brendon No-Last-Name-Given, who dodges questions about his past and flaunts his flamboyant homosexuality. After an assault by a member of the supporting act, Brendon and Ryan get their payback, and begin to bond. But much to Ryan's confusion and alarm, he starts to want something he can't let himself have, starts to feel something he can't let himself feel.

--Okay I kinda lied. This list is in no particular order EXCEPT for this one. This one is the best. Anna Green owns my ass. I'm not someone who's picky about first vs third person, but if you are, then just this once throw that out the window and read this utter masterpiece. Ryan's character development throughout is so touching, but my god he fucks up a lot. One of my friends who has gone through the process of buying the physical copies and annotating them says that Ryan majorly fucks up over 50 times. Emotional rollercoaster straight ahead!--

Freaks (7/10)

~45k words

Ryan's face was permanently disfigured when he was 12 years old, and since then, the only person who has ever stood by his side is his best friend Spencer. After earning the nickname "Freak" in high school, he finally accepts that nobody will ever want him, or ever treat him normally again. But after an accident that lands him temporarily in the hospital, he meets Brendon. They get along great, and Ryan begins to fall in love. One small problem though:

Brendon had been recently blinded. Neither of them know if it's permanent, and Ryan is sure that if Brendon knew about his face, he would leave him forever.

--I really liked this one. It makes you sit on edge and every single time you think that Ryan will finally confess and tell the truth, he blue balls you like an asshole. This story is so sad and so sweet, I definitely recommend. Also, there's some background Joncer, which is really cute. Definitely a worthy read if you're looking for some angsty fluff. Oh, and a little aside: the author, spazzyskittles on LJ, actually beta-ed a lot of Anna Green's Ryden fics, including THROAM! So do with that what you will ;)--

The Red Eyed Owl Series (10/10)

~403k words

As one of the best players of one of the best National Hockey League teams, the Chicago Hounds, Ryan Ross has everything he could ever want. Young, famous, and free to do whatever he damn well pleases, the world either wants him or wants to be him. But after a leg injury that could potentially ruin his career, Ryan begins to realise that perhaps he doesn't have everything. Perhaps some things can mean so much more than women throwing themselves at you every chance they get and receiving bottomless drinks at sports bars. Perhaps he could fall in love.

--This was actually recommended to me by @wandering-verses and it was 100% worth the read. I broke out crying in the middle of class during the second book, and I cried again at 3 am when I stayed up all night to finish it. It's one of those that fucks you up so bad that you can't read anything else for a little while after finishing. Now, both the authors are from Spain, so English isn't their native tongue, but it's so well written that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read the notes at the very beginning. An all time Ryden fave.--

Missing In Action (10/10)

~204k words

In where the American Civil War goes differently, the nation once known as the United States of America is instead separated into two: DURA and Beauregia. The latter didn't change much in terms of their economy. Slavery is still legal, and the kingdom is ruled under a tight, Christian monarchy. Their king is Boyd Beauregard. His only son, crown Prince Brendon Beauregard, heir to the throne, resides in the highly respected Saint Francis' Academy. DURA on the other hand developed quickly, a democracy founded on new technology and equitable ideals.

Everyday, bipartisanship seems farther away from grasp, and DURA, realising that cooperation is impossible, creates the DURA investigative bureau. Identifying the crown prince as the Royal Family's weakest link, they realise that he could become an infinitely invaluable asset to them. Agent Ross, under the pseudonym "Ryan Hastings", is chosen to go undercover, enroll in Saint Francis' boarding school, infiltrate the Prince's friend group, and gain his trust by any means necessary.

--I'm ashamed to admit that I let this one pass me by for a while. I read the words "American Civil War" and I automatically assumed that this would be a mid 1800's Civil War fic about closeted gay soilders, and I'm not against that, but the premise didn't really interest me. But once I finally caved and started reading, I quickly realised not only was the premise entirely different, but it was really fuckin' good. Read this!!!!--

Esoteric Contagion (8/10)

~18k words

He wakes up with a note stuck to his forehead that reads, “You traded your memory in a spell. It was worth it.” The note is signed George Ross. He wonders if that’s his name.

In which things are lost and gained and remembered and forgotten, in that order.

--Despite being the shortest on this list, I loved it to death. You will cry so hard, I promise. This story is so sad. The author can deal so many shocking blows in less than 20,000 words, and you will be completely invested. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's massively underrated, and it will fuck you up.--

Two Vatos Locos Series (7/10)

~311k words

When you have your first dream with your soulmate, everything changes. But after years and years of watching all his friends have their dreams and fall in love, Ryan started to wonder if he would ever has his dream. At twenty, Ryan started to get desperate. He went to doctors, therapists, even a fucking palm reader. No one could tell him what was wrong with him. There was only one explanation: his soulmate had to be dead.

Ryan spent endless hours laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, begging, wishing, praying to have his dream and meet his soulmate. One day, with blood gushing down his face and vomit coating his tongue, his prayers were finally answered.

And now, as he stares at this scared, helpless boy, with bloodied rope burns around his wrists and tears staining his cheeks, he wishes that they never were.

--The title "Dos Vatos Locos Lleno de Carnalismo y Inamorates" roughly translates to "Two Crazy Dudes Full of Carnality and Infatuation," which is definitely accurate. I did enjoy this fic; it was cute, sad, and very interesting, but if you are interested in reading, you will need to be patient at times. Some passages seem like filler and the writing in a few places is kinda dry or cringey. But it's still overall a good story though. WARNING: Brendon is underage for most of this fic, but nothing sexual happens until he is of age.--

The Way Home From Nowhere Series (9/10)

~158k words

After his parents find out about his relationship with another boy, Brendon Urie makes a snap decision to flee from his abusive home. After a quick makeover to hide his identity, he decides to thumb a ride. He starts living the life he never even dreamed he could. Talking openly about things like sex, condoms, and homosexuality- he's happier then he's ever been.

There's one problem though.

His new roommates, Ryan and Spencer, have no idea that he is the missing Mormon boy from the nearby town of Summerlin.

--Ladies and gents, welcome to my first ever Ryden fic! This will always be a favourite of mine. Both Brendon's arc and Ryan's are are so heartbreaking, and there were so many times that I wanted to reach into the story and give Dallon a hug. So many tragedies in this story, and not all of them solved. I don't have any empathy for Brendon's parents in this story, but I feel so hard for his siblings, and for Marc. I just wish they knew. This story is so heartbreaking and yet so happy. Will play with your emotions like they're a shiny new toy.--

Filthy Lucre (10/10)

~362k words

Ryan Ross is living the American wet dream. He’s rich, he’s good looking, he gets paid just to turn up at parties and he spends his days drinking, doing drugs and climbing into bed with eager and willing boys and girls. His parents and PA beg him to quit, and his brother turns up his noise at his destructive lifestyle, but Ryan is desperate to sink into the void, escape the memories of what his father's friend did to him when he was fifteen.

Brendon Urie is a man bordering on desperation. He whores himself out to millionaire bankers and CEOs to fund his boyfriend's heroin addiction and pay off his ungrateful father's medical bills. Things could be worse, though. He's lucky enough to have a roof over his head, to be living with the love of his life, to no longer have to hook on the street, but instead be privileged enough to turn tricks in the wealthy circles of Wall Street and Goldman Sachs.

Where a broken boy meets another broken boy, and falls in love.

--Normally, I would never recommend an unfinished fic, let alone fic that hasn't been updated in four years, unless it was it was so good and so engaging that it made me literally scream. Trust me when I say that you have not experienced true hatred until you read this fic. I have literally never hated a character more in my entire life, and I know who Dolores Umbridge is, for reference. The best thing about this fic, in my opinion, is that the characters, whether good guys or bad guys, do evil. And they do it on purpose. Because the characters feel and act as though they're real, and real people fucking suck.--

The Black Rose Season (8/10)

~158k words

Ryan Ross' life is essentially over when his scholarship is inexplicably cancelled and he will be forced to pay his way through school. As a young, broke college student, Ryan is desperate to find cash fast, but to no avail. Just when he thinks all hope is lost, a mysterious benefactor promises to pay his tuition in full, on one condition: Ryan is infiltrate Sigma Chi Beta, the most prestigious and cultish fraternity that Swan University has to offer. And if, by some miracle, Ryan succeeds, his mission is clear:

Befriend Brendon Urie, fellow Swan Sigma, and, more importantly, alleged leader of Sigma Chi Beta's secret society, which might not even exist. He is to document his findings, and send them to his benefactor. One small problem though: Brendon fucking hates his guts.

--Did I mention that Anna Green owns my ass? Because Anna Green owns my ass. This one is so fleshed out, and there are some moments where it really spikes you in the chest. Every time that Patrick comes onto the page, my interest piques, and I remember That One Scene™ that completely changed my perspective of him (You'll understand once you read). Besides... college AU? Secret societies? Betrayal? Enemies to lovers? Sexual tension? Need I say more?--

I have more fics to recommend if you guys like this list, so tell me if you want more fic recs

[kitchenremodelingatlanta41]

Determining a Kitchen Remodeling Budget

Kitchen remodeling atlanta

It is crucial to determine a financial budget for almost any do-it-yourself project, and kitchen remodeling is no exception.

A thing of caution: I spent many hours researching kitchen remodeling cost and budgeting online to gather data just for this article. I ran into a couple websites that gave size pricing for kitchen remodeling. Although I commiserate using attempt to find an easy method to discover remodeling pricing, this type of advice is just not operating out of reality. Remodeling jobs in general are really specific towards the conditions in the building and tastes from the homeowner that no square footage pricing will ever starting point. Also i bumped into many websites that didn't provide you with any real details about starting a budget but basically interpreted Hanley Wood's Remodeling Cost vs. Value report that is published each year. You happen to be much better off visiting the Cost vs. Value report web evaluating the results by yourself.

home remodeling marietta

Like whatever else on this planet a kitchen remodel is going to are more expensive than you thought it would and the sky is the limit on the it may cost depending on you. There are multiple factors which are into determining a remodeling budget.

There are many web sites you can check out assist you to begin a basic budget number to start with. My personal recommendation is Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value Report which is released by region and major city every year. The truly nice point about this report is it offers a description in the "average" project to help you gauge if your kitchen remodel will almost certainly fall below or above the benchmark. Also i find their average pricing to be a definative reflection with the pricing for the company, so by recommending to clients before I even meet with them which they investigate this report these are prone to generate a realistic budget we can easily work within to provide them a fantastic kitchen.

Custom Hutch developed with Semi-Custom Cabinets

While Remodeling Magazine's report is extremely helpful, it is still an incredibly one size fits all approach to generating a budget. Read on if you would like try and hone your numbers somewhat.

Get out a pad and paper and take note of a number of notes about each factor as you go along through their list:

Factor 1 Home Value- Consider not only what you think your property is worth, but the price of similar homes in your town that already have updates. The best site to check house values is zillow.com, simply enter your address and you also receive an interactive map with house values as well as other information listed directly on the map. Pay attention to which homes are of similar size to yours, happen to be purchased lately, but have a higher value, then peek inside their windows to see just what the house appears to be. Ok, seriously, I was only kidding. If you don't know them perhaps it's time to meet the neighbors and request a fast tour.

Factor 2 Wow! - It has everything to apply your objectives and motivations. Jot down each motivational factor which can be important to you within a kitchen remodel. Below are a few possible examples: Kitchen is fallling. You want to cook and also the layout doesn't suit you. You love to entertain and wish to start the kitchen as being a place to gather. You'll need a kitchen that wows your guests. You are getting prepared to sell your home as well as the kitchen is often a sticking point with buyers... Now that you have your list, determine what motivations are most crucial and relist them in motivational order. Imagining your financial allowance from "the middle" be aware of which factors might slowly move the budget up or down...i.e. attempting to remodel to encourage a sale might slowly move the budget down, remodeling to wow guest might max it out...etc.

Factor 3 Did someone say AGA? - List any "must haves" for any kitchen remodel to get worthwhile to you. Possible examples: granite counters, hawaiian isle having an extra sink, an extra dishwasher, a commercial quality gas range, etc.

Factor 4 Longevity- Determine on the better of your ability just how long you plan on owning the property.

Factor 5 Size Matters- Evaluate which percentage of your house your house encompasses. A sampling of over 100 modern home floorplans of 1000 to 3000 square foot homes revealed the typical kitchen sq footage to be 7% of the home's sq footage. In case your kitchen is larger or small compared to this average you might need to decrease or increase your budget accordingly.

Factor 6 Layout- in the event you know already you will want the sink moved, hawaiian isle sink added, an inside wall moved plus an exterior door added, then you need to incorporate money in your budget well past that of a basic facelift would cost.

Tricky layout: the decorative column conceals a good wrapped drain pipe

Factor 7 Funding- Determine the most money you can manage to spend. Should you be financing your project you can calculate what a lender will probably lend you. Lenders are interested in a debt to income ratio(DTI) of.36 or fewer. Your DTI created by subtracting all your monthly debt obligations (bank card payments, automotive loans, mortgage, etc.) and dividing from your monthly income. To find out your maximum safe monthly debt multiply.36 times your monthly income. Now subtract your existing monthly debt from this number and you have a month-to-month budget maximum. Here is a connect to a calculator that will perform the math for you personally: mortgage calculator

Putting it All Together

The key to managing your finances are choosing the percentage of your home's value you should use being a budget guideline. While researching this article I came across recommendations to make use of percentages which range from 10% to 25% of home value. For the kitchen remodel of the substance that also includes new flooring, appliances, cabinets, sink/faucet, lighting and bringing electric approximately code I find anything below 15% becoming a very dubious number. Perhaps over a big house 10% will be a workable budget, but on a 200k house a 20k finances are marginal at the best for a complete kitchen remodel.

If resale value is vital to you it is shrewd to keept the expense of your house renovation project within 20% of the present valuation on your home. Staying in this particular range insures that almost all the new kitchen's charges are recouped in increased home value immediately, as well as the remaining cost needs to be recouped within Five years since your home appreciates.

Ok, let's run through an example. Bear in mind, there isn't any exact formula here. We're simply doing our best to become as informed as you possibly can making a good plan regarding how much to pay on the kitchen remodel.

For the example let's use the home. It's a 50's cape cod with a modest sq footage of 1500.

Factor 1 value: Zillow provides me with an estimated value of $167,500, however, I notice zillow hasn't yet updated and included the one family homes that had been recently integrated the area behind us with a starting tariff of $270k. Zillow also has our square footage listed for less than 1200. Looks like the previous owner did a bit remodeling without having a permit. I will base my budget on a expense of 180k which is analogous with houses locally which are exactly the same size.

Factor 2 Goals: My wife and I wish to entertain guests. To make a kitchen remodel worthwhile for us we should instead lose an indoor wall to open up inside the kitchen and dining nook to the family area. I'm going to add 1% to plan for this.

Factor 3 Most important items: Being a former chef two most important items personally certainly are a new oven plus a really nice propane range(no propane service here), preferably an industrial range modified for use at home (real commercial ranges don't have insulation round the oven, critical for home safety). I'll add another 1% to my budget to make certain there is enough money to obtain me my range and propane installation.

Factor 4 Longevity: We plan to live in our home at the least 4 years. Usually of thumb it requires Several years for the majority of remodeling to comprehend and recoup all of your money. Since we might be right here at least A few years I am not planning to penalize this, but as there is a pretty good possibility we'll move right around Several years That's not me going to increase it like I'd personally as we were staying for a long time.

Factor 5 Height and width of Kitchen: Our kitchen is all about 140SquareFeet(SF). That's over 9% in the SF of the home, 2% above average. Obviously this kitchen is going to require some additional material and cabinets. I am going to up the budget 1% with this, I hope it's enough.

Factor 6 Layout: We are going to change the layout of our kitchen pretty extensively. Supermarket use a cooktop peninsula. The stove will probably go on a differnet wall and also the dishwasher will turn to the peninsula, though we might ditch the peninsula, slowly move the fridge and add an island instead. The only thing that won't move will be the sink. I'll add another 1% to my budget, again hoping $1800 (1% individuals 180k value) is sufficient to cover the electrical and plumbing changes.

For my base I'll use 20%. Because i previously mentioned, there are gonna be people who will argue when camping with that, but going lower often doesn't provide you with workable budget numbers for full blown kitchen remodels. I'm adding 4% according to my factors in the above list. I adjusted my zillow.com estimated home value to 180k depending on the comparable sq footage and expense of other homes around me. Thus giving us a working budget of 24% x 180k= $43,200 While i compare this to the Cost Vs. Value report I see that in the centre Atlantic Region a significant Kitchen Renovation is $59, 098. It appears as though my budget may be bit low, especially ever since i really would like granite countertops along with the Cost Vs. Value specs require laminate tops. On the other hand my kitchen is substantially smaller compared to their 200SF benchmark, therefore i think I'll opt for my budget number to see what my contractor can do for me because budget.

[ckret2]

do you think alister if he even has any kind of preference (he could be sex repulsed and all) would have that old 'its not gay if you're the one fucking the other man' mentality (round about way of asking for the same post you made for pen but. for the radio demon)

No, no, see, this isn’t the same as the question I answered earlier at all. The question I answered earlier was “do you think Sir Pent tops or bottoms?” (technically, the “question” i answered was “pen is a bottom” and my answer was “INTERESTING! NO.”) But the question you’re asking is “do you think Alastor defines a person’s sexuality by their sex acts rather than by the people that person is attracted to?” with a side helping of “do you think Alastor has any sexual preferences at all or is he 100% sex repulsed?”

“Which acts does the character think ‘count’ as gay” has no inherent correlation to “which acts does the character enjoy engaging in.” You see the difference. For them to be the same question, we’d have to start off the question by assuming that what acts the character is okay with engaging in is determined by whether or not the character thinks those acts are gay. Conflating what they think is gay with what they’re okay with doing implies that you’re assuming a whole lot about that character’s personality, how much internalized homophobia that character is dealing with, and how fragile that character’s sense of masculinity is, and I’m pretty sure you don’t actually want to imply any of that!

So if you want me to answer the same question I answered earlier, then come back and ask that question, not a roundabout version of the question that’s in fact a very, VERY different question. In the meantime, I’m going to answer the question that you actually asked: “do you think Alastor has 'it’s not gay if you’re penetrating’ beliefs about sexuality?”

The tl;dr is: big shrug, I dunno. Seems possible based on what little I DO know about the time period but I don’t know enough yet. Also if anyone happens to have resources on queer life/history in 1920s New Orleans, like, please chuck them at me.

Essay below!! Hey tumblr you’d better let the read more cut work, don’t let me down.

As it happens, I’ve actually been trying to figure out how sexuality was viewed roundabouts the 1920s in New Orleans—because I figure Alastor’s views have probably evolved very little since then. I get the impression that he’s very set in his own era; and because he’s sort of in a social bubble—who’s going to try to get close to the Radio Demon?—and doesn’t engage much with current mass media, he’s more or less shielded from evolutions in modern culture.

(Compare that to, say, Angel, who sounds very modern—or Charlie, who’s at least a couple of centuries old (probably much more) but also dresses and acts very modern.)

So whatever he thinks about sexuality is going to be rooted in whatever was current when he was alive.

The 20s were actually surprisingly good to queer folks, from what I’ve found so far—there was some VERY gay vaudeville & jazz tracks coming out—but like, I don’t know exactly how good, relatively speaking. Or where. Was it, like, only New York? And/or only San Francisco? I’ve got next to no sources on what was going on in New Orleans. The ONLY fact I’ve been able to find from the era so far is that 1933—the year of Alastor’s death—is the year the first gay bar opened in New Orleans (or, at least, the first one that’s still open today—it relocated but it’s still going). But that doesn’t tell me a lot about the overall environment. All it tells me is “New Orleans wasn’t so homophobic that the bar was burned down immediately, and/or they kept it too secret for that to happen.” That’s not a lot to go on.

And all of this is, like, the level of mainstream tolerance/acceptance toward queerness. It doesn’t tell me what people actually believed then.

Here’s a paragraph on late-1800s/early-1900s psychological beliefs about queerness that are hella outdated today: one contemporary belief about sexuality called “sexual inversion” basically said that a queer person’s brain was “inverted” gender-wise from the norm—that is, for instance, if you’re AMAB and attracted to men, you’ve got a feminine brain, you’ll like to do feminine things, you’ll want to perform feminine sex acts (ie, be the recipient in anal sex), and you’ll probably want to have a feminine body. Basically it conflated being gay and being trans. On the other hand, if you’re AMAB and you’re attracted to a feminine AMAB “invert,” you’re more or less still straight, because you’re attracted to someone with a feminine brain so like that’s more or less a woman psychologically speaking. By modern standards this whole framework is very “oh yikes” but like… ours probably will be seen as cringy in 50 years; and psychologists who believed in sexual inversion generally advocated in favor of letting inverts live in alignment with how their brains told them to, which was a big step forward.

So that was a theory going around. But like, how widespread was it? I know a book about lesbian inverts was written in the late '20s to try to make the term more widespread but idk whether it succeeded or to what extent. Was it a term ONLY being used in psychiatric circles and a handful of people who picked up the book? Was it restricted to certain metropolitan centers? If you went to a drag ball, did people introduce themselves as inverts? (Did they have drag balls? I know they did in mid-Victorian England but that doesn’t tell me much about what was being done in 1920s USA, much less New Orleans.)

And as far as I can tell, the idea of “sexual inversion” was the first time that a framework was presented in Western society where queerness was presented as something inborn rather than a choice people make to go screw someone they “shouldn’t” screw. There was a shift around the 20th century from “gayness is an action that you perform, people can perform the act or not perform the act but they’re basically all the same on the inside” to “gay is something that you ARE, on the inside,” but WHEN exactly did gayness shift from an action to an identity? And when did that shift happen in New Orleans? Knowing when it happened in NYC or some shit isn’t gonna do me any good if, say, it didn’t happen in NOLA for another two decades.

So like obviously I need to find a lot more research on queer history in that region and decade before I can give a super firm answer about what Alastor’s opinions/beliefs are.

I’m toying with the idea that Alastor did spend some of his life in NYC, though; like, he didn’t just casually pick up a Mid-Atlantic accent on the streets of Nawlins. He might’ve picked it up from talkies—although he would’ve had to spend a LOT of time at the movies studying specifically to copy the accent. I know the Mid-Atlantic accent was big in theater, but was that also the case in NOLA, or only in New England? Were there, like, traveling Broadway shows then like there are today? I’m inclined to believe that Alastor actually studied theater at some point in order to pick up the accent, which probably means going to some theater school in the northeast. We know he was into theater, being trained as an actor before going into radio makes sense to me. (He also could’ve learned it at a fancy expensive private school, but I prefer headcanoning him as from a lower background than that.) So maybe he spent some time living in NYC before going back home to NOLA, so if I really really can’t find anything on 20s NOLA I can focus research on NYC instead and say “he picked up his opinions there.” That’s my plan B.

I know that, WHATEVER the 20s NOLA queer community was like, I want to headcanon Alastor was sort of in it but also sort of on the fringes of it—like, due to his very conspicuous (conspicuous to himself) lack of normal/expected attraction to the people he knew he was “supposed” to be attracted to, he sort of felt a draw to the company of other folks who were conspicuously not attracted to who they were “supposed” to be—but he never really felt super deep ties to that community because, one, he just naturally forms very shallow relationships in the first place, and, two, he wasn’t hanging out in queer spaces looking for a relationship or a date or an opportunity to express some hidden side of himself so much as he was looking for a place where he wasn’t being weighed down by The Mainstream Expectations. But you can still be weighed down, albeit to a lesser extent, by The Counterculture Expectations, too. So, he was comfortable enough in queer spaces, but remained just sort of on the edges—was probably recognized by sight by other folks in NOLA who frequented queer events but wasn’t anyone’s best friend. Kinda shows up and makes small talk and goes home.

So, what sort of opinions and beliefs would he have absorbed from those edges? And how would they have been influenced by his own ace/aro perspective, from which ALL talk of sex and romance, whether queer or straight, is a foreign perspective that he could intellectually learn about but not ever really FEEL on an instinctive/gut level the way allo folks do?

I don’t know yet. Gotta find the right research materials first!

So tl;dr anon I don’t know yet whether he thinks taking it up the ass makes someone gayer than putting it in the ass.

[bitchinparty]

BP 2020 Main Con Info Post

Here is the ginormous, one-stop-shopping con information post, including registration, hotel, con schedule, travel, tourist, and concomm contact information, to be updated as we go. Don't forget you can follow us on Twitter or Dreamwidth for quick links to updates! You can also reach the concomm at pacificwriterscon [at] gmail at any time. General Information: When is Pacificon 2020? April 4 and 5, 2020, with an optional movie night and other activities on the evening of April 3. Where will it take place? At the Issaquah Hilton Garden Inn near Seattle, Washington. How do I sign up? The registration post—including detailed registration and payment information—is here. Full membership is $85, and is limited to 100 attendees. You must be at least 18 years old to attend. The current list of attendees will be posted soon. If you need some help with the registration fee, check out the financial assistance post. "Bitchin' Party"? Seriously? "Bitchin' Party" became the unofficial name of the con after some of the concomm had the misfortune of watching a gloriously bad TV show called Dante's Cove. Don't worry, we're not using it unironically.* *except that some of us totally are Hotel Information: The hotel is the Issaquah Hilton Garden Inn, located at 1800 Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, WA (here on Google Maps). The front desk number is 1-425-837-3600, and the fax number is 1-425-837-3635. How much does it cost? The con rate $124/king and $144/two queens, plus tax. A small number of cots will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis upon check-in. How do I reserve a room? You must reserve your room by March 3, 2020 in order to receive the con rate and be in the room block with all the other cool kids con attendees. If you're looking for a roommate, we'll link that thread once we get closer to the con. To reserve a room online: 1. Go here. 2. Select your arrival/departure dates, your number of rooms/guests, your preferred bed configuration, and then provide your information. Our group code is PWC402. (Note that you can only add ONE additional person's name to your reservation, so give some thought to who is likely to arrive first. It can also be changed later if necessary.) A credit card is required to hold the reservation, but no deposit is required. (They do have a disclaimer that they can place a hold on your card for the full amount of your stay, but FWIW, we've never seen that happen.) NOTE: If you have ANY question or problem with the reservation process (for example, if you did not get the correct rate quoted to you, or it says it doesn't have your preferred bed configuration available), PLEASE call the toll-free number at 1-877-STAY-HGI and talk to a real person (tell them you're reserving for the Pacific Writers' Conference). If for some reason that still doesn't resolve things, contact us at pacificwriterscon [at] gmail [dot] com and we will contact the hotel. To reserve over the phone: Call the main reservation line at 1-877-STAY-HGI and tell them you're reserving for the Pacific Writers' Conference (that is our sekkrit spy codename to civilians!). Make sure you specify whether you'd like a king room or two queens. Again, if you have any trouble—if they tell you our block is full or that the con rate isn't available—contact pacificwriterscon [at] gmail and we will contact the hotel. Hotel Amenities Room amenities include: - mini fridge - microwave - 42-inch HDTV - FREE wireless high-speed internet throughout the hotel Hotel amenities include: - on-site restaurant (including a bar) - room service - pool and hot tub - fitness center - free parking - complimentary shuttle available for transport within a five-mile radius of the hotel Check-in starts at 3 p.m., check-out is at noon. The con will be providing hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar on Saturday night, a full breakfast on Saturday and Sunday morning, and some snacks and beverages throughout both days. We'll post a complete menu a couple of weeks prior to the con. NOTE: We are NOT allowed to bring our own outside snacks into the meeting room. You are, however, welcome to eat or drink whatever you like in your own room. Area Amenities Within walking distance of the hotel, you'll find several fast food options, a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, a Starbucks (of course), and a liquor store. Within easy driving distance and within the range of the complimentary hotel shuttle, you'll find practically anything else you might need, including lots of food options, Costco, drugstores, Target, various banks, an organic grocery store, etc. Maps will be included with your welcome packet when you arrive. If you want to check out the lay of the land before then, Google Maps is your friend (see the hotel link above). Con events The con will officially run from 9 a.m. on April 4th until 5 p.m. on April 5th, with an optional movie night and other activities to get the ball rolling on the evening of April 3rd, and post-con movie-watching on the evening of the 5th. Panels Panels are being organized by the ConComm, with help from you. Final list of panels will be linked here once they are available. Always check out the panels tag for the latest info! Vidshow There will be a vidshow on Saturday night, details TBD. Check out the vidshow tag for the latest info! Room parties Room parties are totally encouraged (as long as noise is kept to a respectful level that won't get us in trouble with other guests/the hotel)! Please note, however: NO alcohol is allowed in the main con ballroom (except via the cash bar on Saturday night). Feel free to drink/eat whatever you want in your sleeping rooms. A list of things we will not have, because we are all casual and stuff: No celebrity guests (y'all are rockstars enough for us) No art show No dealers No free meals besides hors d'oeuvres on Saturday and breakfast on Saturday & Sunday What we do have is LOVE, people. SO MUCH LOVE. And bacon! Getting to the con: By air Airport You'll probably want to fly into Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport. Getting from the airport to the hotel The hotel is about 20 miles from Sea-Tac. The most affordable option is to take the light rail and connect to a bus; the light rail will get you from the airport to downtown Seattle for $2.50, and from downtown, there are several buses to Issaquah (average $2.50 fare) that will drop you off at the Issaquah Transit Center on 17th Ave NW, less than half a mile from the hotel (see the Metro Online Site for more info). Otherwise: - Taxi (in the vicinity of $55-$65 plus tip), Uber, or Lyft - Shuttle service - When the con gets closer, we'll open up a thread for anyone who wants to try to coordinate cab/shuttle-sharing with other attendees. - Rent a car (see below for driving directions) Getting to the con: Not by air The thread for roadtrip coordination will be posted closer to the con and linked here. By train or bus Amtrak and Greyhound both have stations in downtown Seattle. From there, you're about a 20-minute drive away from Issaquah. See below for driving directions. Local bus service is, as I said, not all that comprehensive, but it is pretty easy from downtown--the Metro Online site is here if you'd like to check out your options. By car: driving directions - As long as you are not east of Issaquah (including from Sea-Tac airport), take (as applicable) I-5 N, I-5 S, I-405 N, or I-405 S to I-90 E (toward Spokane). If you're east of Issaquah, take I-90 W. - From I-90, take exit 15 (WA-900 / 17th Ave NW). - Turn right at the light onto 17th Ave NW. - About a block down, turn right onto Gilman Blvd (by the Burger King). - The hotel will be about a block ahead of you on your right, behind the John L. Scott building. The hotel is here on Google Maps. Getting to the con: Other Travel by War Rig, Bifrost, tour bus, dog sled, Goat Van, stargate, wormhole, battlestar, firefly, TARDIS, Leviathan, Chevy Impala, Mystery Machine, or similar to be arranged by individual attendees. Roommates, rideshares, and airport transportation coordination Roommate, rideshare, and cab/Lyft/shuttle-share threads will be posted closer to the con! Weather It does not, in fact, rain ALL the time in Seattle. However, in the springtime, it tends to rain quite a bit. Bring a waterproof jacket if you have one, and maybe an umbrella if you plan to be out and about (though the hotel also has a few umbrellas you can borrow). Temperatures will probably be in the 50s/low 60s, but given climate change shenanigans, we cannot safely predict the weather. Basically, layers are highly recommended—not only is Seattle weather changeable (it snowed at our first BP; WHAAAT), but so are hotel temperatures (especially in meeting spaces, where they tend to crank the air conditioning), so being able to take off/add clothes as necessary is your best bet. Tourist information Downtown Seattle is about a 20-minute drive from Issaquah (up to about 45 minutes with traffic). For information about tourist activities available in the area, you can visit this site. Who's flying this thing? The mod team is intransitive, jedusaur, & pi. General questions/concerns/etc. should go to the ConComm at pacificwriterscon [at] gmail   Questions about registration should go to the ConComm at pacificwriterscon [at] gmail as well. As we get closer, we'll update this post with panel, vidshow, and other contact info, but the entire ConComm has access to the above email, and the appropriate person will answer any questions that come up, so that email address is your best bet! We're trying to tag posts as much as possible for ease of navigation. To view all the tags for the community, go here. See you in April!

[patricianandclerk]

some hamish mckinnon notes

feel free to feedback/send asks/discuss!

Brief

Plump, rosy-cheeked and appears to be into his fifties. Thick, blond hair that's thinning ever so slightly on the top, has a tendency towards yellows and browns in his wardrobe - fan of tweed, but also of clothes with various patches on them, and tends to look a few decades out of time. He has sensitive feet, and wears red slippers virtually all the time.

When he was a child (thirteenish) in the late 1600s, he was taken by faeries, who dropped him, for the sake of fun, in the middle of the states in the mid-1800s. Ended up in the middle of a cultist sacrificial ritual, but it went wrong, and instead of being devoured a legion of demons half-possessed him. They're connected to him but can't actually control his actions, and tend to just follow him around and get him to entertain them. They used to be cruel to him, but they've got bored of that and are now just entertained by whatever he offers them as he won't generally attack people.

Bought the antique shop in London in the 1970s and just stayed ever since, as dealing in antiques and speciality magic items is rather easy for him, but doesn't take all too much effort.

He reads voraciously and often, and he's relatively good with the Internet - took a secretarial course in the 70s, learned to type on the computer in the 90s, took another IT course recently.

External Body

Hamish is a short man, plump and rounded off – round belly, thick rounded thighs, thick arms, round cheeks with red apples in them. He has a small mouth, red with plump lips, and heavily lidded, round eyes, which are a softly golden hazel. If you look very closely, you can see the shadows shifting about his irises – the physical reflection of the Horde’s connection to him. He has small crow’s feet and frown lines at his brow and around his mouth, but his hair is thick and deeply golden-blond, burnished with a little brown, and not greying at all, although it is beginning to thin slightly.

His skin is generally pale all over, and mostly unmarked, with patches that go very red very quickly. He has a heavy chest and rounded belly, with broad thighs and calves – he’s quite muscular beneath the fat, especially his calves, his shoulders, and his arms, but you wouldn’t think it to look at him. Holds himself very small.

His feet are only a 5 or a 6 maybe? Quite small feet, and they’re very delicate-looking.

Quite a bit of body hair, but it’s a lighter gold than the stuff on his head, and it tends to dust very finely on his chest, his back, his belly, his thighs and calves. His hands are usually very delicately kept and manicured, with super soft hands.

The horde are a legion of small demons, a few hundred of them that are insectile – they each have six little arms, bat-like wings, little legs, and are a sort of reddish brown colour. They look and feel like bats to the touch, and are that kind of furry-warm, but if you press on them you’ll feel that they’re hard-shelled underneath the soft outside of leathery skin, and on the inside they’re insectile, with hemolymph etc, and their skeletal system is external.

You see them as dark shadows and funny dark spots around Hamish, often under chairs, behind shelves, etc, and semi-non-corporeal so that they just seem like thick shadow. 

Job(s)

Hamish owns McKinnon Antiques in London, which is an antique shop that specialises in haunted and supernaturally charged objects.

His main thing is as a supplier for others, and to get hold of things for some people and pass them over – he’ll usually come in and get hold of something and mostly take it off someone’s hands? Like, he always makes sure that he gets a haunted object away from someone because he’s very aware of how big that weight can be on someone, and then he’ll either put it into storage or sell it on.

He’s a big supplier to businesses and so on.

He makes some income from the several flats above his shop, and also owns some other storage spaces and houses and such that he rents out through an agency. He is not a very friendly, involved landlord – the renters upstairs (usually faeries that are struggling to get the hang of appearing human enough to rent elsewhere, usually as a stop gap before they get work elsewhere) pay him directly in cash, but the others are run through an agency with a director so that Hamish doesn’t have to interact with anybody.

The agency is called the Wednesday Letting Agency, the name being one that Asmodeus came up with when it was established back in the 1970s.

Abode(s)

Hamish owns the entire building McKinnon Antiques is in, which is the flat just above the building, which is two storeys of the actual flat, and then the other like, half a dozen storeys are like, three more flats and some extended storage? The flats are from an entrance at the side, and are usually the faeries and whatever.

Hamish’s flat is two stories, so like.

You enter the shop, which is crammed full of stuff, and then has a whole further area of back storage, a little kitchenette, and then you go up the stairs into the first floor, which is Hamish’s living room/library – a room with a very plush and cushy couch, lots of bookshelves, a nice radio and record player. It’s got a lot of soft surfaces, a lot of the McKinnon tartan hung up, and a lot of blankets and cushions, and you really would feel like you’d stepped back in time to look at it all.

There’s a small, cramped kitchen with a fairly big oven and some okay gas burners, but not much counter space, and just a little dining table that’s made for two people. Hamish does not have a toaster or an electric kettle – I don’t think he actually has anything electric in his kitchen.

Upstairs, he has his bedroom and then the two other bedrooms that are used for storage, although he always has some cots he can fold out for people who desperately need somewhere to sleep, usually JP and Colm, and later like, Velma. Hamish’s bedroom is a bit more cramped than cosy, with a lot more books, clothes, etc, all stuck into the same room, but you do step in and feel like, warm and comfy rather than claustrophobic. His bed is huge, very plush with four posts and a top, and he literally has like, thirteen or fourteen blankets on his bed.

Religion & Worship

Hamish was raised as a Christian, but is now an atheist, and is generally very uncomfortable with a lot  of religion and very religious people.

Childhood & Young Adulthood

When he was 13, Hamish went wandering in the woods to avoid like, his parents and that, and ended up straying off the path when he heard a funny noise, and was seduced by like, a very pretty man just off the edge of the path? Ended up stepping off and off the path, into the midst of a faerie realm

Hamish was kept as a sort of pet and toy as he grew older, once he was old enough to have sex, he did? It was always pseudoconsensual, but it was obviously affected by the whole situation around him – he could choose to initiate it, which he did with other boys, but it was slow and uncertain, and as time got older it was more charged, more complex

He did age in the fae realm, but far far slower, and once he seemed to be around 25, the faerie prince who was most infatuated with him grew bored with him and his blossoming manhood, and they decided to turn him out…

In the middle of a summoning circle in America, where he stumbled in amidst the Christians that had been radicalised by a demon and were trying to summon another demon. It was all just a joke – the idea was that they’d summon the horde of demons and be devoured, which the original demon found super funny?

But because they used Hamish as a sacrifice to open up the split in the parallel realms and not a human, the magic didn’t respond right – Hamish’s capacity for magic had been permanently changed by his centuries in the fae realm, and so the demons were bound to him instead

And then…

He had to deal with the Horde.

The horde are a legion of small demons, a few hundred of them that are insectile – they each have six little arms, bat-like wings, little legs, and are a sort of reddish brown colour. They look and feel like bats to the touch, and are that kind of furry-warm, but if you press on them you’ll feel that they’re hard-shelled underneath the soft outside of leathery skin, and on the inside they’re insectile. They’re one of the smaller species of pseudo mammalian demons.

For a few years, as Hamish began to work himself out – this was just after the civil war, so he managed to find for himself a place in the country to work with the demons, who just fucking tortured him the first few years, but once he got a handle on them and learned to live with them, and then he made his way into Dinwiddie, Virginia.

When he started travelling north toward New York, in like, a little bit after the civil war, he met the angel Asmodeus, who immediately took an interest in him. He, Jean-Pierre and Colm had just landed in the US and were spending some time in NY – later, obviously, they’d move elsewhere for another like, fifty years, I think going across the top of the US, then down to California in the mid 1900s, then to Texas, and then back East to go back to Ireland as they came into the 21st century

The demons were immediately fucking terrified of Asmodeus, which meant that like, for the first time in nearly a decade, someone could get close enough to actually touch Hamish, who was beginning to show his age now, starting to look a little bit older, now looking like he was in his thirties, and Asmodeus didn’t know why, but he was super interested and engaged with Hamish?

He slipped a little bit closer, took Hamish into bed, and to his surprise kept thinking about him afterward?

Middle Age

Hamish settled in NY, began working with a carpenter in the city and then began working in furniture making, so that when he makes his way back to the UK in the 1920s, he looks the age he does in the 21st century, that he looks like he’s in his 50s, opened up the shop in town, and then just. Stayed there.

Asmodeus comes to visit regularly.

Hamish buys and sells antiques, is generally quiet with himself and is often uncomfortable with a lot of people because he’s still frightened of bringing the demons out in public because they’re little cunts. They’re not actually cruel anymore, they’re just mischievous and sort of stupid, which makes it all difficult.

Velma comes in regularly enough, and she very much encourages Hamish to come out of his shell a bit – Ash does the same when he’s around, but isn’t actually hugely social himself, so isn’t the best at it, whereas Velma encourages Hamish to come to bars, restaurants, parks, etc. The Horde likes Velma.

When Ash comes in, he’ll normally sleep with Hamish in the same bed and give him a little taste of domesticity? They tend to settle in together, Ash will take him out for dinner and expensive wine, will often take him dancing somewhere quiet, and then they’ll spend a few days together, reading, etc.

Asmodeus isn’t at all big on botanical gardens, libraries, or museums, but will specifically go out of his way to bring Hamish to places like that.

[innerpostmentality]

Prelude - Aeneas & Sarissa

Four thousand years ago gods and magic shaped and ruled and were plentiful in the world. Man and all magic diminished and the things of science took precedence until magic became a myth tucked away safely in children’s fairy tales and skilled entertainer’s parlor tricks. It’s been the creatures were shaped and marked by it. Then things began to change. Gradually those things of a thousand years of progress unmarked by true magic.   Things are about to change.  

This fic is part of a collaborative AU created by my talented friends @tornbetween2loves, @kennaxval and myself. This part was written 50/50 by myself and @tornbetween2loves.

Disclaimer: all original TRR characters and references belong to Pixelberry, however we are claiming their beautiful children as our own creations. Please see the Series Master List here: Arcana Unbound Series Masterlist Word count: 4800 + Warnings: mild angst, pretty PG-13 for this part. Future parts will be erotic and deal with some serious problems.

Tags: @darley1101 @gardeningourmet @speedyoperarascalparty @hopefulmoonobject  @bobasheebaby  @carabeth @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @riseandshinelittleblossom @stopforamoment @teamtomsato @furiousherringoperatortoad  @indiacater @sirbeepsalot @alesana45 @strangerofbraidwood @museofbooks @eileendannie @furryperfectionlover @ao719 @blackcatkita  Her intent when she told Leo she might just shoot some pool after he showed off his horse was to get a little time to think and kill time while Xiphos and Calais did… whatever. Now as she stood before the door into the billiard room alone, light seeping below the door, the last thing she wanted was to possibly interrupt, whatever.. so she cupped her ear and listened at the door for a moment. She heard what sounded like someone breaking to start a game of pool but no conversation. She thought to herself that it must be Aeneas. The future king. The king that she would most likely protect one day. She hesitated at the door as she contemplated if this was a good idea. Sure, they had grown up together, and attended a lot of the same parties and events. And they had spent a decent amount of time together but always in the presence of Calais or Xiphos or both. Never alone. She could not think of a single instance when she was alone with the crown prince.

  She suddenly felt nervous. What would she say to him? Would they even be able to hold a conversation? She sighed, suddenly in need of a drink. She raised her hand and knocked lightly on the door.

  He was surprised as he leaned over the table and heard the soft knock. "Enter" he called as he made the shot before he turned to the door.   His eyes widened in surprise. "Sarissa? Hey, are you okay?"

  She smiled at him. “Yes, I’m fine.” She glanced over at the bar. “I was hoping to have a drink. Care to join me?”

  He smiled. "Sure" He set his cue stick back in the rack. "What is your preference Sarissa?

  She smiled at him as she noticed for the first time how good-looking he was. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed before. Hell, she hadn’t noticed anyone before. “I’d love a vodka tonic, please.”

  He lifted a brow and grinned... "Vodka tonic eh?" He poured her drink and put some ice in a glass and poured some black label whiskey over it for himself. "So what has you drinking vodka tonic tonight?"

 She sighed deeply and narrowed her eyes at him with a small smile. “I think you already know the answer to that, Aeneas.” She took the drink from him and took a long swig. “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it. Let’s talk about something more pleasant.”

  He searched her dark eyes for a moment before he nodded. "Very well. What is your favorite hobby, Sarissa? I have known you forever; but I think this is the first time you have ever come to talk with me. So tell me about what you like?"

  “I like to read.” She suddenly felt very shy as she tried to think of something else. Her face grew hot. “I’ve never talked with you before because I was never sure it was appropriate. Please don’t take it personally.” Her eyes shifted downward to avoid his gaze.

  "Hey," he lifted her chin gently to look in her dark eyes. "I am not offended. And reading takes in a lot of territory. What do you like to read Sarissa?" He grinned and studied her as he contemplated her with his amethyst gaze. "Mystery?"

  She smiled as she gazed into the violet swirls of his eyes. In that moment, she found him mesmerizing. “I definitely find mysteries interesting. I also enjoy true crime stories. And I’m a sucker for the classics. Anything written in the late 1800s to early 1900s.”

  “What about you, Aeneas? Do you like to read?”

  He grinned and his eyes were bright. He nodded. "Oh yes. I love reading... well not so much reports about minutiae." He crooked his finger at her, "I can tell you a secret. But you can’t tell..."

  She leaned in a bit closer with a sly grin on her face. “You can tell me. I’m great at keeping secrets.”

  "I love to read really good cookbooks." He whispered low in her ear his breath warm on her cheek.

  She couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her at his confession. “Cookbooks? Really?” She chuckled and gulped down the rest of her drink. “That wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

  "Shhh,,," He looked around like the walls might be listening. Then smiled. "Seriously a really great cookbook is like travelling with the added benefit of some amazing recipes and stories about their origins."   "You have a great laugh, Sarissa."

  A slight blush crossed her cheeks. “Thanks. And I must say, you are more fun than I thought.” A moment later, she realized that he might have found that offensive. Her eyes grew wide as she slapped her hand over her open mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, that was so rude of me. I didn’t mean to imply that you aren’t fun, Aeneas.” She looked away from him, cursing vodka tonic under her breath.

  He shook his head. "It is fine. I might be a little tipsy. You would not believe … Well you might. Just please do not Highn ASS me and we will be fine. And I give you official permission to remember when it is private please just let me be Aeneas."

  She smiled at him as relief washed over her. At his mention of it, she realized she hadn’t referred to him once as ‘your highness’ or ‘your royal highness’ or even ‘sir’. The thought truly never crossed her mind once she entered the room. She studied his eyes, she found the violet pools captivated her to the point where she couldn’t break their gaze. She swallowed hard as she battled her nerves which were normally made of steel.      “So what do you do for fun Aeneas?”

  "Fun? What is this foreign language you speak?" He grinned as he teased. "I make horrible messes in the kitchen trying to make some of the things I have read about. Hand spun sugar and sugar work are especially messy. Even when they go right. I play guitar and sing... mostly in the bathtub. Sing that is not play guitar. Oh... and I play billiards and pool. Billiards mostly to think. Pool mostly to beat my little brother."

  She smiled at him, her eyes danced with amusement. “I didn’t know you could sing. Or play guitar, for that matter.” She smiled as she leaned in close to him again. “Will you cook for me sometime, Aeneas?” She knew somehow that she might wake up tomorrow and be mortified about this conversation. But in this moment, she didn’t care. “I guess I won’t challenge you to a game of pool then. Leo beats me all the time so I’m sure you would totally kick my ass. I would need lessons to prepare.”

  Aeneas nodded and smiled, "I would be happy to cook for you. Or with you." His eyes were intent but he seemed happy and relaxed as he leaned toward her. "There is a secret with pool as well. You really want to know how to get a good break. It is all in the wrist. It is not how hard you hit it but rather how much spin you put on it."   There was a soft knock on the door and Aeneas laughed as he looked up at the door. Then he grinned at her and whispered, “Quick, who do you think that might be?" He was close. Close enough she could smell his fresh woodsy cologne and faintly the whiskey he'd been sipping.

  Her heart pounded in her chest and she wished whoever was at the door would just go away. She flashed Aeneas a smile as she rolled her eyes. “I’m guessing it’s our two favorite people. I wish we could hide and not answer it.” She nuzzled a bit closer to him as she breathed in his scent to commit to memory.

  "Do you?" He looked in her eyes a moment then grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the cue rack. He reached down and pressed the molding and there was a faint click. He opened the panel into darkness and stepped in tugging her hand for her to follow him before it closed. It was almost pitch dark and he was right behind her, warm against her back. He whispered softly in her ear. "We have to be quiet. Calais knows this is here. If they hear us we are stuck."

  She leaned into him, the warmth of his body against hers. His whisper in her ear sent shivers down her spine and she trembled just a bit. She sighed and hoped he didn’t notice. Her voice was barely a whisper. “I don’t think they’ll try too hard to find us anyway.”

  A moment later they heard Calais voice, "Sarissa?" "Well she's not in here now, Xiphos. But there are two glasses still on the table and there's ice and ... whiskey still in this one. Aeneas doesn't usually leave a mess. Leo?... " The room got quiet. Aeneas shook against her back as he tried to keep from laughing out loud at the mystery they had posed for his sister and Xiphos.   After a moment he whispered, "Give me your hand and follow me." His hand was warm and large as he held hers gently and led her through darkened passages. After a few moments he paused not letting go of her hand and feeling around on the wall. He pressed a button and a light at floor level came on illuminating stairs going down. "My dad used to tell stories of him and Uncle Drake playing hide and seek in the tunnels. Apparently, your dad was the only one who could regularly find them." He led her down a couple of flights of stairs and then paused at another panel that from this side looked like another doorway. He listened intently for a moment then opened it with a small lever. It opened into a large well stocked pantry. Aeneas smiled broadly enough to show his one dimple. And bowed to her. "Mi Lady your pantry awaits... Let's get some ice cream. They may find us but hey... we will have ice cream."

  “Mmmmmm ice cream. Now you’re speaking my language.” She followed him to the freezer as he opened the door to display the flavors. She tapped her index finger to the side of her cheek as she contemplated the selection of favors. “I think I’ll stick with plain chocolate.”

  He smiled at her as he got two bowls down and scooped a couple scoops into each bowl. She watched him as he served the ice cream. She smiled at the way he stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on scooping the ice cream. She never realized there was an actual person behind the stoic demeanor he presented to the public. She was curious. She wanted to know everything about him. He finished and put the ice cream away then turned to her with a smile, holding out a spoon. She took a spoonful and held it up to him. “Ice cream cheers?”

  "Wait!... " He dug around in the fridge side for a moment and came up with a gallon sized jar of maraschino cherries and put one on each of their spoons before clicking them together. "To mischief managed?"

  She smiled as she clinked her spoon against his. “Yes. Managed is the word.” She giggled as she shoved the spoon in her mouth, savoring the feel of the coldness as it flowed over her tongue. “Mmmmm.” She gazed into his eyes intently. “This may be the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.”

  He was grinning, "A true culinary masterpiece. It's the cherry on top." He looked at her as a mischievous sparkle appeared in his violet eyes. He lifted one brow and then touched the back of his spoon to her nose leaving a little chocolate there. "Tag!" He dashed off into the kitchen as he chuckled.

  “Hey!” She giggled as she wiped the chocolate off with the back of her hand and took off after him, spoon still in hand.

* * *

  After they didn’t find Sarissa in the Billiards room Calais led Xiphos up to Leo's room. They could hear the drum solo being played before they even got halfway down the hallway. Calais grimaced. "I'm going to murder him." She went to his door and didn't bother knocking because he wouldn't hear anyway. He had headphones on one ear as he listened to a track and was very, very much into his playing, no Sarissa in sight.   She closed the door and led Xiphos upstairs to her own room and pulled him into the elegantly appointed room. "I give up. Any ideas where she might be?"

  Xiphos furrowed his brow as he shrugged. “I think she’s somewhere with Aeneas. They’re messing with us.” He wrapped his arms about her waist and kissed her softly as he looked around the room. He raised an eyebrow as he glanced in the direction of the bed. “We could just let them have their fun....”

  She smiled up at Xiphos. "If we really, really want to find them we have several options. We can call or text them. Even if Sarissa is angry I know Aeneas has his phone connected to his royal jewels and will answer me. There's one more place we could look... Aeneas’ personal hang spot... Or I can poke the guard and ask him to locate them." She grins. "How much trouble would you like to cause?"

* * *

  In the kitchen, Sarissa took a moment to glance around at her surroundings. The room was dimly lit with lots of shadowy corners to hide in. She slunk into a dark corner and surveyed the room. This was her area of expertise. She could be quiet and stealthy. She disappeared into the corner and waited for him to reveal himself. After a few moments she saw him reappear in the middle of the room with a puzzled look. “Sarissa?” His voice was a loud whisper. She waited until his back was turned then crouched low behind him, until they almost touched.

  Aeneas chuckled.. oblivious to her behind him. "Saaaa rissaaaaa…. I'm going to eat your ice cream...."

* * *

  Xiphos returned her grin. “Normally I would be all about causing trouble. But considering we’re both in the dog house with my sister; and Aeneas and I aren’t exactly on the best terms, maybe we should just keep this on the down low?”

  Calais ran her hands up Xiphos’ chest and kissed him again then pulled out her phone and texted Aeneas. ….. Hey, have you seen Sarissa?   A worried look crossed Xiphos’ face. “I hope she’s ok. She’s used to hanging out with Leo, but she hardly knows Aeneas. I know we’ve all hung out together a few times, but she has always insisted on maintaining a professional distance between her and Aeneas. She feels it’s unprofessional to be close to the future king she aspires to guard. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

  "Hey... Aeneas is pretty gentle. He's just oblivious to things sometimes. But Love, if she's hurting he'll do his very best to help her. Trust me."

* * *

  Sarissa couldn’t help herself. She chuckled softly right by his ear. “I’m right here Aeneas.” He turned around to face her and she quickly touched her spoon to the tip of his nose. “Tag!” She took off and ducked back into the pantry before he could react.

 He laughed. "I'm glad you are on my side." He opened the door to the pantry. "I have to go reload..." He went back into the kitchen and grabbed a can of whipped cream from the fridge on his way back to his bowl of ice cream.

  Sarissa stood on the other side of the pantry as she ate her ice cream. Aeneas walked into the room, obviously holding something behind his back. She put her spoon back in her bowl and took on a fighting stance. She knew he was up to something. He moved closer to her. She started to giggle. “Aeneas, whatever your planning, don’t.....” Just then his phone pinged.

    Aeneas’ face transformed and he instantly turned serious as he set the cannister of whipped cream on a shelf and pulled out his phone. He looked at the text and smiled again. "It's Calais wanting to know if you are with me? Shall I tell her to join us for some ice cream tag?"

* * *

  Xiphos grumbled. “I wouldn’t exactly call our conversation gentle.” He sighed deeply as he pulled Calais close into his chest. “That’s really not fair. I said a lot to provoke and anger him. I knew how he’d react.” He kissed her softly then pulled back with a questioning look. “When he and I were having our discussion, I asked him for permission to court you. He in turn asked for permission to court Sarissa. I thought he was joking and I laughed at him.” He sighed again. “He insisted later after we calmed down that he was serious.” He looked deep into Calais’ dark eyes and stroked her cheek softly. “What do you think about the two of them together?”   Calais hugged him and considered for a moment seriously. "Your sister can be pretty stubborn. I think it depends a lot on if she decides she wants Aeneas. Not the future king, the man that is beneath the crown. I think she could get to him. But it's going to take a lot of stubborn."

  Xiphos sighed and stroked Calais’ cheek. “Then let them be. She will find us when she is ready.”

  Calais smiled at Xiphos and plugged her earphones in to her phone and offered him one and put the other one in then selected Ed Sheeran’s 'Perfect' and held her arms out to him. "My dad taught me to waltz to this song. It's older than I am but I still love it. Dance with me Love."

  Xiphos smiled down at her and his emerald eyes sparkled as he wrapped one arm around her waist and took her hand in the other. He pulled her close and they moved around the room in perfect unison as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Enchanted with each other so much  more than they would have thought possible in one night.

* * *

  Sarissa’s mouth dropped open and she laughed as she realized what Aeneas was about to do. She eyed the whipped cream playfully. When he mentioned Calais’ name it was as if a dark cloud passed over her.

  The joy left her face and she looked away from him. “No. I do not want her or my brother anywhere near me right now.” Her eyes stung with hot tears as she turned her back to hide her face. She knew that Xiphos was probably concerned. She cleared her throat. “Please just tell her that yes, I am with you and I am fine. Ask her to tell Xiphos I will find my own way home from the palace.”

  Aeneas looked puzzled. Then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he dropped his phone back in his pocket and pulled her against him into a hug. "Sarissa… help me out here. What happened? I am sorry I hurt your brother. He caught me off guard and I was honest with him. Why are you upset with them? He asked me if he could court her. And I thought if we were being formal I should ask his permission. I am a bit dense at times according to Calais. I know I should have asked you first." He stroked her back as he held her close.

  A confused look crossed Sarissa’s face as well. “Aeneas, I am not upset about what happened between you and my brother. I don’t really know what happened, I can only make educated guesses because everyone just keeps me in the dark.” She cast her eyes downward to hide her tears again. It was unlike her to show weakness like this. “I’m upset because Leo and I walked in on them in the stables and interrupted a passionate kiss.” Her voice was soft and shaky. “Calais is my best friend. How could I not know she had feelings for my own brother?”   She hesitated for a moment, her face buried in his chest. She pulled back to look into his violet eyes. “Wait. You asked his permission? You should’ve asked me first? Maybe I’m the dense one here because I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

  "Welcome to my world, Sarissa. I feel like I have been on an alien planet most of the day. Since my sister walked in my room upset about the social season and told me she didn't need a social season because she already liked someone. She did not tell me who. And I knew she had not told them. So I sort of threatened her. She knows me. She knew I would find out who. I want her to be happy. The next thing I know Xiph is texting me he needs to talk. He has been like an older brother to me my whole life so I was completely caught off guard... " He shook his head. "When you came in and told me I knew why you were drinking Vodka I thought it was because I had asked Xiphos' permission to court you rather than asking you."   He frowned. "I am sorry."   He held her gently. "Xiphos was seriously kissing Calais?"

  She looked up into his violet eyes, caught off guard by what he just said. This was the last thing she expected. She felt like she should pull out of his embrace, but there was something so comforting in his touch. Her brother and best friend were suddenly the furthest thing from her mind as she absorbed what he just told her. “Y-you asked Xiphos’ permission to court me?” She didn’t know how to feel. Flattered? Angry? Hurt? Excited? Lucky? Her head was spinning. This was so unexpected. This was the future king she was supposed to protect. Yet here she was, wrapped in his arms, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t meant to protect the king as a member of the royal guard. Maybe she was supposed to protect him as his queen.   She looked up at him almost hopeful. “And what was his response?”

  Aeneas smiled, "Well he gave me permission and told me good luck because you were going to guard the crown. Then I opined that you might prefer my brother, who is honestly the better catch. Then he said that wasn't funny and things went downhill from there..." He frowned. "You deserve better, Sarissa. Truly."

  She looked at him with a shocked expression. “I deserve better than the affections of the crown prince?” She shook her head in disbelief, then searched his eyes. “I think you have more in common with your brother than you realize, Aeneas.”   She hesitated for a moment as she tried to think of what to say next. She felt as if her entire life path could change in this one moment. Her grey eyes swirled with emotion as she gazed at him and she knew she needed to choose her words carefully. “I am not so special, Aeneas. I am just a girl who thought she knew exactly what she wanted in life. But really I know nothing. My brother was not wrong, I’ve always had aspirations of following in my father’s footsteps. That’s the only dream I’ve ever had. To guard the crown.” She sighed deeply. Her voice was soft and quiet. “That was so much my dream that I had blinders up whenever I was around you. I felt I had to keep a professional distance.” She looked up into his eyes. She whispered softly as she stroked his cheek. “Tonight the blinders came off. I didn’t realize what I had been missing.”

  He took her hand and delicately feathered circles across her knuckles with his thumb. The brilliant amethyst of his gaze met her beautiful dark eyes. And for a longtime he just lost himself in her gaze. He finally closed his eyes a minute and sighed. "You deserve someone who can devote themselves to you. Not divide their attention to you with the attention that the Crown demands. You deserve someone who doesn't have to be fair and subject you to the cattle show of a social season. You deserve someone who can wrap their arms around you and kiss you on the street corner, or on the beach, or on a park bench and doesn't have to worry about which paparazzi outlet may capture a photo." He shook his head. "It's likely the most selfish thing I've ever done asking to court you, wanting to court you.."

  She looked into his eyes and smiled. “Aeneas, you are worthy and deserving of all those things too. I understand the demands of the crown. Probably better than any of the other girls who will be at social season. You deserve happiness too. You deserve to be loved.” She looked deep into his eyes as she thought for a moment. She spoke softly, her voice full of emotion. “I give you permission, Aeneas. Please don’t push me away.” She shifted her gaze downward, then looked back up at him. “We will never know if we don’t try. And if you choose not to court me, I will be here anyway. Ready to protect you with my life. Always wondering what could have been in the back of my mind. Watching the queen and wondering what made her good enough when I was not.” She turned her head away suddenly as her voice cracked with emotion and tears welled up in her eyes. She took a few deep breaths to compose herself, keeping her hand clasped with his. She looked up at him with sad eyes. “You’re not being selfish. Wanting a true connection with someone who can know who you truly are beyond the crown is not selfish. It is brave.”

  His eyes searched hers in turmoil as a deep desire to kiss her raged through him and waged war with his resolve. Finally his voice deep and soft he managed, "I am honored Lady Sarissa." He bowed over her hand as though to kiss her knuckles but turned her hand and softly kissed her wrist, then unable to quite let go smoothed his thumb across her palm and planted another kiss there. He stood up straight, shoulders square, composed crown prince and offered her his arm. "It is very late my lady. May I get you a car to take you home?"

  Sarissa’s breath hitched as Aeneas’ kisses on her wrist and palm sent electricity up her arm and straight to her core. She trembled slightly as she threaded her arm through his. “I’m sorry. Am I keeping you awake Aeneas?” She knew it was late and her 8 am class the next morning was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. She never thought that he may have an early day as well.

  His eyes flew to hers with a flash of startling intensity. His voice was very low and flowed through her. "It is a certainty that you will Sarissa." Then he blinked. He laid his hand over hers on his arm and escorted her back to the hallway. He smiled at the first guard they came across. "Tevi, could you please call for a car for Lady Sarissa?"   The man gave him a short bow and spoke into his headset.   Aeneas turned to her and smiled softly. "I have enjoyed this evening tremendously, Lady Sarissa. Might I call on you tomorrow?"

  Sarissa smiled up into his violet eyes. “Please do, Aeneas.” She smiled shyly and broke their gaze as she glanced downward. “This is the best night I’ve had in a long time. Thank you.”

[vickijones]

Complete Guide to Weight Loss

From a glance, weight loss is simple. Eat less and move more. But it’s actually a lot more complex than that. First of all, I would like to say that weight loss is 70% diet and 30% exercise. You can work out for 60 minutes each day, but if you still eat like shit, you will not lose weight. On the other hand, if you don’t exercise at all and eat less, you will lose weight. But to maximize the full potential of your weight loss, and to gain health, fitness, and self confidence, you should incorporate both. Think of it as a lifestyle change. This isn’t some 3-month crash diet so you can fit into the dress for prom, only to regain the weight in a matter of weeks. You want to create healthy habits you can have for LIFE.

I’m not going to lie: weight loss is hard. It’s probably one of the hardest things you’ll ever do in your life. Which is why if you have a set-back, you have to keep on pushing. You’ll laugh, cry, and will want to give up at times, but I guarantee end result will be worth all the effort.

Setting realistic goals Calories Diet Healthy foods list Exercise Bingeing Staying motivated Weighing yourself Plateau Targeting fat loss Why do it the healthy way? Anything else?

Setting realistic goals You are way more likely to succeed in weight loss if you set realistic goals. A perfectly healthy rate of weight loss is 1-3 pounds a week. The heavier you are when you begin, the more weight you’ll lose. Anything more than 3 pounds a week without medical supervision means that you are probably losing muscle mass as well. So no, losing 50 pounds in a month is probably not an attainable goal. Instead of thinking “Oh my god I have to lose 30 pounds in 4 months how am I ever going to start!”, divide up your goal into mini ones. Aim for 5-10 pounds a month, and soon it will seem less daunting. Make sure your ultimate goal weight is also something that you body can reach. For example, if you’re 5'8’’ with a large frame, you’ll probably never be 100 pounds unless you resort to unhealthy methods. Your health is more important than how thin you are!

Calories One pound of fat is 3500 calories. You can eat a certain amount of calories a day without gaining any weight, and this is called the recommended daily intake. Use this to calculate your RDI (it’s the maintenance one). To lose weight, you have to create a calorie deficit. Let’s say your RDI is 2000 calories a day. If you eat 500 calories less per day, that adds up to 3500 calories less in the whole entire week, which means one pound of weight loss! If you consume 1000 calories less a day (which I don’t recommend unless your RDI is 2200+), that means 7000-calorie deficit throughout the week, which equates to 2 pounds lost. Depending on your current weight and exercise level, you should aim to eat around 250-750 calories below your RDI each day. Never eat below 1000-1200 calories because you won’t be getting the adequate nutrition that you need, you’ll lose your energy, and your metabolism will start slowing down. You can burn calories from exercise too! I’ll go more into that later. On days where you exercise, eat slightly more to replenish the energy you lose from exercise. Should you count calories while losing weight? That’s a question I get a lot. I used to count calories religiously, but I found that it didn’t work for me. Try counting calories for 2 weeks. If it’s something you like, continue with it. If you don’t like it, stop. This way you will know what a 1200, 1500, or 1800 (etc.) calorie day looks like. This site is great for figuring out how much weight you’ll lose depending on your starting weight, exercise, and caloric intake. It’s pretty accurate. Myfitnesspal is a great site if you want to count calories. It has every single food imaginable and a lot of exercises. It’s also an app! It calculates how many calories you need to eat and how much you need to burn from exercise to reach your goal weight. It’s customized to your height, age, gender, and weight.

Diet The following are some great tips I found while I was losing weight. You can use as many as you like. The bolded ones are the most important 1. Cut out junk/processed food as much as you can. 2. Drink 8 cups of water a day. Water flushes out toxins and keeps you full. 3. No liquid calories! Or cut them down as much as possible. They add up so much without being filling. Water and tea are your new best friends. 4. Eat in moderation. If you want that cookie, have ONE and be done with it. If you eliminate all your favorite foods, you will be more likely to lose self-control and binge. 5. Are you at a restaurant and don’t know how to eat healthy? Here are some good tips. 6. Whole grains instead of white/enriched grains. Why? Because they don’t have the fibre and nutrients completely stripped from them. Fibre fills you up a lot! 7. Eat LOTS of fruits and vegetables. They are full of nutrition and very calorie light. 8. Eat protein. Protein is the most filling of all the macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein). Good sources of protein are chicken, turkey, beef, fish, eggs, legumes, and nuts. Google for more! 9. Eat slowly. It takes several minutes for the feeling of being full to reach your brain. 10. DO NOT EAT IF YOU’RE NOT HUNGRY. Do not ever feel like you’re obligated to eat anything. 11. Use a smaller plate. It gives the illusion that you’re eating more food. 12. Measure out what you’re eating. You don’t have to do it every single time you eat something, but do it once so you have an idea of what a serving size actually is. For example, chances are you’re pouring more than a recommended serving of one cup of cereal. 13. Limit, if not eliminate all “extras” like butter, mayonnaise, ketchup, dressing, added sugar, added oil, etc. 14. Eat breakfast! There have been so many studies done that show that people who eat breakfast lose more weight. It kickstarts your metabolism for the day and you’re less likely to binge later. 15. Don’t eat mindlessly while watching the TV, on the computer, or doing other activity. Be very aware of what you eat. 16. Keep a food journal so you can be accountable. 17. Don’t eat out of a bottomless bag. Scoop one serving into a bowl and eat from that. 18. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T STARVE YOURSELF. Your body will not live on 200 calories a day just because you told it to. There are so many adverse psychological and physical effects of starvation. You will be more likely to be depressed, get an eating disorder,  lose your health, and develop unhealthy habits for the rest of your life. Your body needs energy (food) to survive. Don’t think of food as something you need to eliminate. Food is just food. It’s not your friend, nor is it your enemy.

Healthy Food List Whole grains- bread, pasta, tortillas, wraps, oatmeal Meat- skinless chicken and turkey, fish, lean beef, shrimp, seafood, eggs Vegetables- every single vegetable. I especially like spinach, lettuce, broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, squash, celery, legumes, nuts (in moderation because they’re high calorie despite their nutritional benefits) and sweet potatoes Fruits- every single fruit. I especially like bananas, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, watermelon, and peaches. Dairy – skim milk, light cheese, yogurt Fat - Nuts, tuna, avocado

Exercise It is best to exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time to lose weight. Cardio exercise is what burns fat (anything that gets your heart rate up) and burns calories. That’s where you can subtract calories from your daily intake. Here’s a calories burned calculator. The most effective cardio workouts are running, biking, dancing, and swimming (just to name a few). Aim for at least 15 minutes of cardio each time you work out. You should also do some strength training. This can be lifting weights, doing crunches, lunges, squats, pushups, bicep curls… (google for more workouts). Though they burn less calories, they do build muscle. This is important because one pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat, giving the illusion of even more weight loss! Plus muscle burns more calories than fat when you’re sitting still. And muscles will eliminate the skinny-flabby look. People who exercise burn more calories simply existing than people who don’t. In essence, working out burns calories, which increases your standing metabolism, burning more calories! SO GET OFF YOUR BUM AND MOVE. If you have time to tumblr you have time to work out! Remember the times I give are the bare MINIMUM. What I find most effective is 30+ minutes of cardio and 30+ minutes of strength training in one workout, 5 times a week.

Bingeing So you’ve just binged. What now? First you have to accept that what’s in the past is done. You ate the extra food and now you feel guilty. Let go of the guilt! There is no point in worrying about things you can’t change. 1. Do not purge. This creates a terrible cycle of bingeing/purging and can lead to an eating disorder. Purging is also extremely unhealthy towards your body, causing stomach ulcers, tooth decay, esophagus problems, and a lot more. 2. Do not starve yourself. This also creates a cycle of bingeing/starvation. Remember, just because you eat significantly less the next day does not make it “okay” for you to binge! 3. Eat as healthy as you can. Your body will be in need of nutrients after you binge on unhealthy food. Consume fruits and vegetables because they won’t bloat you as much as carbs. Resume your regular eating pattern! 4. Exercise the next day. You don’t need to overdo it with exercise either, just do some cardio to speed your metabolism up. (Nothing too extreme, remember resume your regular lifestyle) 5. After a binge you can gain anywhere from 1lb-10lbs. Most of this is probably just water weight! Carbs and salty foods make your body retain a lot of water. One pound of fat is 3500 calories, and unless you ate 5000+ calories the day before, you didn’t actually gain a pound! 6. Drink water. As odd as it seems, the more water you drink, the more water weight you’ll lose. 7. Recognize why you binged. Was it because you were sad? Stressed? Bored? Socializing? Once you start identifying these factors you can go towards solving the root problem of the binge. 8. Forgive yourself. Recognize that it’s okay to make mistakes and that you’re just human. Will one binge really matter in the scope of things? No. As long as you don’t make bingeing a habit, the weight will come off in no time. How to avoid binges   1. Eat enough on a day to day basis. Make sure you’re not restricting your calories too much. Your body will start thinking that it’s in a period of starvation and will do ANYTHING it can to get extra food. 2. Don’t cut off entire food groups/your favourite foods completely. The more forbidden something is, the more you’ll crave it. 3. This goes hand in hand with the previous rule. If you crave a piece of chocolate, have it! A lot of times people will think, “Oh I really want chocolate. But that’ll ruin my diet! So I’ll just have a healthy granola bar… wow I’m still not satisfied. Maybe I’ll have another granola bar. But it’s not sweet enough! I think I’ll have some cereal with that too. And some milk. And some more sugary cereal.” And before they know it, they’ll have consumed MUCH more than if they had just had the piece of chocolate in the first place and squashed that craving! And most people end up having the food they craved by the end of their binge anyway. 4. Avoid emotions that trigger your binge. Call a friend, go for a walk, have a bath… do something that occupies your mind when you feel like bingeing!

Staying Motivated Sometimes you’ll want to skip a workout or you’ll want to eat a whole entire pizza. Weight loss is hard. Whenever I lost motivation, I thought of all the reasons why I wanted to lose weight. Create your own list of reasons why you’d like to lose weight and remind yourself of them often. When you’re about to veer off track, just think of how absolutely healthy, slim, fit, and awesome you’ll be once you reach your ultimate goal weight. (Note: these reasons should be motivated by something within yourself like to get healthier, not to impress your friends. It’s much easier to lose motivation when you’re losing weight to prove something to someone else instead of finding happiness for yourself). Also, awarding yourself for reaching mini-goals is another great way of motivation (clothes, photoshoot, trip, concert, etc). Have a support group. Studies have shown that people who lose weight with others are more successful than people who don’t. If your family and friends aren’t supportive of your weight loss, that’s where tumblr comes in! You can also join a fitness class (yoga, dance, swimming, karate, wall climbing… what have you ALWAYS wanted to do?) so you have to work out. If you have some extra cash, invest in a gym membership as well. Or maybe even get a personal trainer? Don’t give up if you screw up: you will regret it. A slip up is minor in the whole picture of things. Of course there’s going to be failure, but you have to get back up and keep fighting. It’s hard, but the end effort IS worth it. Years from now, will you be healthy and slim or will you have given up and fallen back into your old unhealthy ways? It’s your choice.

Weighing Yourself It’s best to weigh yourself once a week, but once a day is okay too. Seriously, don’t weigh yourself once every few hours. Weight fluctuations of up to 10lbs throughout the day/week are very normal! Your weight will fluctuate due to your period, water retention from excess carbs/salt, last time you ate, time of day, last time you pooped/peed, being sick, exercise, muscle gain, and so many other factors. You’re less likely to lose motivation when you focus on the overall trend in weight loss, not the individual weigh ins.

Plateau Hitting a plateau sucks. It happens to almost everyone when they lose weight. To combat/avoid it, you have to keep your exercise and diet varied. If you get good at one exercise, your body begins to adapt to it and you no longer burn as many calories. Try lengthening the time of your workouts or the intensity of them. Or try a new exercise altogether! For food, you can try calorie cycling, which is basically where you eat different amounts of calories a day, but the weekly average is still the same. It’s supposed to trick your body’s metabolism. I’ve never tried it so I can’t attest to its usefulness but it’s worked for other people. Also try eating new foods! And varying the amount of food you have for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Jillian Michaels (who is a fabulous fitness guru, if you haven’t heard of her) advises for people to increase the calories they’re eating and take rest from working out for a few days to break plateaus. This reminds tells the body “Oh hey you’re not actually starving so you can lose some fat!” I know it sounds counterintuitive but that’s how I broke through my plateau. It’s worked for a lot of other people too. You may also be at a point where your body no longer wants to lose weight and it’s doing all it can to keep onto the necessary fat. Yes, fat is necessary for your survival. Keep your goals realistic. You may also be eating too much. 1700 calories a day may have made you lose weight when you were 200 pounds, but it won’t create a big deficit when you’re at 130 pounds. Try eating a bit less, but don’t starve yourself. Make sure you’re not sneaking calories in by adding extra pats of butter, too much salad dressing, underestimating portion sizes, etc.

Targeting Fat Loss It is impossible to target fat loss. You can’t decide to lose weight only from your stomach. It is your genetics that determines where the weight comes off first. A combination of cardio and healthy eating will lead to overall fat loss. Strength training will tone the area up though, making it tighter!

Why do it the healthy way? The healthy way is slow, hard, and painful. You could always just starve yourself and get the same results faster. But you know what? If you lose weight that way, you risk losing your physical and psychological health, self-confidence, relationships, and happiness too. Love your body, treat it right, and the weight will come off. It’s as simple as that.

Source

[elleberquist6]

Play Upon Me Like This Piano - chapter twenty-eight

Summary: In many ways, Phil’s life is perfect: he loves his life in London, he has a wonderful brother and parents, and he has a great job as a radio DJ for BBC Radio One. There’s only one thing missing in his life… A rumor reaches an executive at the BBC about a talented local piano player named Daniel. The executive decides that Daniel would be the perfect guest on Phil’s radio show, so she sends Phil to speak with the evasive and mysterious piano player.

When they finally meet, Phil starts to think that he has found the person who will make his life complete. Unfortunately, Dan has a secret that will make getting close to him difficult.

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 1955

Warnings: Smut

—

Siren fact: By the 1800s, hoaxers churned out faked mermaids by the dozen to satisfy the public's interest in the creatures. The great showman P.T. Barnum displayed the "Feejee Mermaid" in the 1840s and it became one of his most popular attractions. Those paying 50 cents hoping to see a long-limbed, fish-tailed beauty comb her hair were surely disappointed; instead they saw a grotesque fake corpse… To modern eyes it was an obvious fake, but it fooled and intrigued many at the time. Some researchers believe that sightings of human-size ocean animals such as manatees and dugongs might have inspired merfolk legends. These animals have a flat, mermaid-like tail and two flippers that resemble stubby arms.

They don't look exactly like a typical mermaid or merman, of course, but many sightings were from quite a distance away, and being mostly submerged in water and waves only parts of their bodies were visible… When you add in the factor of low light at sunset and the distances involved, positively identifying even a known creature can be very difficult. A glimpse of a head, arm, or tail just before it dives under the waves might have spawned some mermaid reports. [https://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html/]

“Do you hear that?”

“Mmmh?” Phil groaned and opened his eyes a fraction of an inch. He was sitting in a slumped position on the sofa, with Dan sleeping cuddled against his chest. When they had both been too exhausted to be stiff with terror anymore, Phil had pulled Dan close and they had both fallen asleep. As Phil looked around, he noticed that Dan was still asleep, but Martyn was getting up from the floor and staring at the stairs. Phil asked, “What did you say?

“I hear something,” Martyn said, and then he ran up the stairs and out the door.

Phil blinked in the light that streamed down from the open door – it looked like a sunny day outside. He listened for whatever sound had alarmed his brother but heard nothing except for the soft swishing of waves. It sounded peaceful outside… Phil gasped and sat up a bit, jostling Dan who startled awake.

Dan looked around wildly before his eyes settled on Phil’s face. He asked, “What’s happening?”

“Um, I think that the storm is over. Martyn is up on the deck now… I think we’re okay!”

Dan tilted his head. “I hear something… Do you hear that?”

Phil started to shake his head because there was no thunder crashing, no pounding rain, and the sea sounded calm. But then he heard it: in the distance, Martyn was talking to someone. It was hard to make out what he was saying, but Martyn sounded excited.

“It must be someone from the Lifeboat Station,” Dan said with a smile, which then quickly faded. “Phil… how am I going to explain to them that I’m here? I was in the Lifeboat Station yesterday, but now I’m here being rescued. This is a disaster…”

“I’m sure it’s going to be okay. It will all be fine! They probably won’t even notice,” Phil said as he put a hand on Dan’s shoulder, but Dan stiffened under his touch.

Dan sucked in a sharp breath like he was trying to calm himself. He snapped, “Look, Phil, I know you’re trying to be nice, but stop! You can’t just say things like that!”

Phil removed his hand from Dan’s shoulder. “Are you angry with me?”

Dan sighed and shook his head. “No, of course not. It’s just that you don’t understand. Phil, this is my biggest secret, one that I have been protecting for my whole life. I’ve lived in fear of people discovering what I am for 27 years. And now you tell me that this risk is nothing? That it will all be fine? It sounds like you’re not taking this seriously.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Phil bit his bottom lip as he thought. “Maybe you can jump off the side of the boat and swim to shore. Are you strong enough to do that?”

Dan opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment Martyn was bounding excitedly down the steps with a grin on his face. He was carrying two water bottles, which he ran over to give Dan and Phil on the sofa. He said, “Here, drink! We’ve got plenty of water now.”

As they both eagerly twisted the caps off the water bottles and took deep swallows, Martyn shifted in place before them, eager to share the news. Once they had both finished drinking, he blurted, “There’s a rescue boat here to save us! Since our boat is still operational, we are going to follow them as they lead us back to shore. We’ll be back on land within the hour.”

Dan swallowed heavily and asked, “Is the rescue boat from the Lifeboat Station?”

Martyn’s grin widened and he nodded. He didn’t notice the alarm on Dan’s face and he said, “Yeah, the guys from the Lifeboat Station were looking for us, just like you said. Thanks, Dan.”

Then Martyn started to pace the room like an excited caged tiger as he stared at the stairs like he was waiting for something to happen. Dan was staring at the door intently at the stairs too, maybe expecting one of the men from the Lifeboat Station to come through the door at the top of the steps.

Phil tapped Dan’s arm to get his attention. Then he mouthed the words, “Should you go?”

Dan nodded, though he didn’t look very sure of the prospect. Phil had hoped that since the storm passed that swimming would be easier, but Dan just looked like he would rather drown attempting to swim in this exhausted state than face the men of the Lifeboat Station and their questions. And suddenly Phil was terrified for him, as he was starting to understand what this secret meant to Dan.

Just as Dan looked like he had decided what to do and was bracing himself on the arm of the sofa to get up – not that Phil was going to let him leap off the boat if he was too weak to swim – there was the roar of a motor and the floor lurched beneath their feet. Phil gasped in surprise and said, “We’re moving! Mar, what’s going on?”

Martyn looked at them and smirked at the alarm on their faces. “Relax, one of the guys from the rescue boat is sailing us. I told you, we’ll be at the marina in less than an hour.”

Having no other choice, Dan settled down and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Phil put a hand on his arm, but Dan didn’t appear to notice or be comforted by it. Now that he couldn’t jump unnoticed from the boat, he just looked trapped and miserable.            

By the time they arrived in the marina, Martyn had also noticed Dan’s distress – his tense shoulders, wild eyes, and the way he gripped the water bottle so tight in his hand that the plastic crunched – and he was looking at Dan curiously. Just as Martyn opened his mouth and looked like he was going to ask what was wrong, they heard the motor shut off and the familiar sounds of the marina were suddenly audible. The three of them became very still, straining to hear familiar voices in the nearby chatter of people who sounded like they were gathered on the dock, awaiting their arrival.

“Cornelia?” Martyn gasped, and he ran up the stairs to see if he could find her.

Phil was eager to see Corn and Mum too, but right now he was more concerned about the person sitting rigidly at his side, and he turned to Dan with a reassuring smile. He was ready with the typical phrases “it will be fine” and “it’s all going to be okay” on the tip of his tongue but he remembered Dan’s reaction before. He decided on something more serious, saying, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Dan’s mahogany eyes shimmered and he swallowed heavily. “I, um… I’m not just nervous of seeing the guys from the Lifeboat Station – and fuck, but I am really freaked out at the thought of that. But, um, the other thing is that after being in the sea, it hurts people like me to walk on land for a bit. It’s like a pins-and-needles sensation in the legs, but really painful. I’m probably going to cry, which is a bad thing for another reason…”

“You’re going to be in pain? For how long?” Phil’s mind was reeling. He still didn’t understand what Dan was, but he hated the thought of him being hurt.

“Dunno, about an hour maybe? I don’t do things like this a lot, so I don’t know…” Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked like he had settled his mind on something when he reopened his eyes. “Well, it’s not like I can spend the rest of my life on this boat, so I guess I should get this over with.” Dan laughed at his own words, but the sound was hollow. As he got up, he picked up the blue blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders.

Phil also stood up and he opened his mouth to mock Dan for wearing the blanket like a superhero’s cape, but his teasing died in his throat as he saw the way that Dan clutched at the blanket, looking like a scared child who wanted to hide beneath it. He put a gentle hand on Dan’s arm and said, “Come on, it will be alright.”

Phil led Dan by the arm up the steps and then across the deck. They both froze at the sight of the marina as numerous curious eyes fixed on their faces – apparently it was not every day that a boat was lost during a storm and retrieved by the rescue services, and this was enough of a sensation to cause a crowd to gather to witness their return. There were curious locals, looky-loo tourists, a harried looking cop who was trying to keep the crowd back, two ambulances with lights flashing atop them, and several reporters who were holding cameras and eyeing them like hungry vultures.

At the sight, Dan whined, “Phil.”

“I know. But we’re almost out of here. And then we can go back to the hotel.” Phil scanned the crowd for familiar faces, and he saw his brother near one of the ambulances. He was having his pulse taken by an EMT. It looked like one of the men from the Lifeboat Station was trying to ask him questions, but Martyn was too distracted by Cornelia, who was at his side, to pay much attention to anything else. Phil tightened his grip on Dan’s arm and said, “There’s Mar. Let’s go.”

Dan followed him as they climbed off the boat, but he gasped the second his feet touched the dock and his legs buckled beneath him. “Oh… fuck,” Dan whimpered and pulled the blanket up over his head, covering his face from all but Phil’s view. “I can’t…”

“Dan, what is it?” Phil crouched before him, aware that an EMT had spotted Dan’s distress and was pushing through the crowd to get to them. Phil hadn’t forgotten what Dan had said about the painful sensation he would feel when attempting to walk on land, and now he was panicked at the idea that someone might try to drag Dan to a hospital, seeing him like this. “Is there anything I can do?”

Dan whispered, “Don’t let anyone see my face.”

“Why? Oh…”

[radhikaschauhan]

Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

Today it becomes a trend to purchase from the online platform. Analysis has reported that 77% of people prefer the online platform. Keeping that thing in mind, Snapdeal has tied up with HDFC bank – as a result, customers can enjoy offers from Snapdeal, plus some additional discounts can be availed and this is through Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card.

Before starting this card, let’s know about the bank and the card in a nutshell.

HDFC bank is an esteemed bank since 1994 and maintains goodwill till now. Its main office or headquarter is in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Actually, the services and products provided by the bank are – giving loans (2-wheeler, 4-wheeler loans, property loans, educational loans, personal loans and much more), wholesale banking, retail banking and credit and debit cards.

The card provided by this bank is actually a result of the collaboration of HDFC and Snapdeal. So later on, when you will proceed to read further, you can understand how efficient the card it is.

Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

Key Highlights On Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

Good rewards on everything – from online shopping to refuelling, you will get rewards.

Security is top-notch, and the transaction is done by just swiping your card.

The fuel charge is almost waived off.

50 days of the grace period or interest-free period.

Rewards On Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

Features And Benefits Of Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

1. Rewards program: As you have seen before, the rewards points are quite good – especially when you buy from Snapdeal. The rewards rate is accelerated up to 10 times, which is really awesome.

2. No payment for loss of card: If you lost the card or your card has been stolen, you should report to the bank within 24 hours. As a result, your card is not misused by someone, and you have not to pay anything and no tension for responsibility.

3. Security is good: A microchip built-in with this card comes with a dip and magnetic swipe facility. So, your every transaction via card is safe and secure.

4. At nominal interest, you can enjoy revolving credits.

5. If your monthly expenditure on fuel is more than 6000, you can save up to Rs 1800 if you refuel via this card.

6. Up to 50 days, you will have no interest fee, expense whatever amount you want.

7. Special privileges: Enjoy many exclusive and special privileges on travel, recharge your phone, ride on OLA. Not only that, you can avail of 10%, 5% and Rs 1000 cashback from Freecharge, OLA and Cleartip if your bill amount exceeds Rs 5000.

Charges Of Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

Who Should Opt For This Card?

I think that this card is dedicated to the people who frequently purchase items from the online platform. Except for refuelling, every reward and benefit are associated with buying from Snapdeal. Again, the fees are not much. So, common people will feel more comfortable and will not hesitate much to apply for this card.

Why This Card Is Better Than Other Cards?

Eligibility Criteria And Documents Required For Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

You have to be between 21 and 60 years old.

If you are a self – employed, you have to make sure that your company has been trading for more than 12 months.

You should have a good credit history and no pending payments till the time you have applied for.

You should be an Indian.

Documents Required

Identity proof– you can choose any of the following- PAN card, AADHAR card, Voter Id slip as proof.

Address/residence proof– An address proof is also required. You can choose any of the following-ration card bills of the telephone exchange, gas connection bill, electric bill, or anything.

Income proof – Another important document is income proof. You can show the Latest pay slip of three months, Form 16, or anything as income proof.

Cards Similar To Snapdeal HDFC Bank Credit Card

How To Apply For This Card?

Again, the idea is pretty simple. There is nothing to elaborate on.

Go to the official website www.hdfcbank.com. You will find some questions which are mandatory as they collect some of your details. Fill very carefully.

In the second step, you have to fill in some other fields – mobile number, PAN number, pin code, Net annual income, and so on. Keep all the documents ready in your hand to avoid an error.

Fill the forms very carefully. And also, read all the disclaimer terms and conditions before applying.

Fill in the form and enter the next step by clicking on a button that may appear at the bottom of the page. Not all steps are required for elaboration, as you have to fill in all the details. Remember- forms will be rejected in case of any false information.

FAQ

1. The rewards are from HDFC bank; how I can redeem those and how to use them?

You have to visit the official website of HDFC credit card net banking and login into that account. If you don’t have an account, you have to create it. Then request for the promo code, which ranges from Rs 500 to Rs 1500.

2. How to use the welcome gift voucher?

You have to purchase something from Snapdeal only. Select which items you want to buy, then there will be an option “e-gift voucher” – probably at the payment page. Click and enter your voucher number and the PIN and then “apply”.

3. Can you tell me about the credit limit?

The bank has not disclosed it. It depends on the income, usage pattern, credit history and much more. The bank will let you know about this when you apply for this card!

Final Talk

Any online platform offers some discount and offer based on the tie-up between the banks. But a specific online platform called Snapdeal has collaborated with the HDFC bank, which makes a dedicated credit card for those users who prefer to buy online. Different e-commerce site offers some discount and early access on some items, but here you will get a lot more advantage and a higher rate of rewards. So, it becomes quite meaningful if a person applies for this card.

Via https://invested.in/snapdeal-hdfc-bank-credit-card/

source https://investedin.weebly.com/blog/snapdeal-hdfc-bank-credit-card