#being a certifiable 19 year old

[eilarae]

sorry mini random vent but Why do people think that sans is like 18-20 years old

like??

the way that man talks to frisk in ut (when he's being light and unsinister obv) and susie in dr chapter two ("im the janitor lol") is

EXACTLY

the way my 50 year old father talks to my 5-12 year old little cousins.

sans undertale (again when he's not threatening your life) has the biggest dunkle energy i have ever seen in all my days. not taking criticism.

[zillychu]

I’ve gotten a WAVE of asks about this AU, so I decided to flesh it out some more and answer some of those questions!

I’ll probably polish this extended summary up at some point and submit it to AO3. But for now, here’s a rundown of my thoughts–please feel free to send more questions! I’ll update this post if I get any more. But if you’re someone who wanted to write fic for it, don’t worry, you don’t need to take my headcanons as gospel. It’s a pretty basic AU honestly lol

Summary:

The portal accident results in a violent explosion that wipes out the whole block, and condemns all of Amity Park. Danny haunts the city for 100 years, before Sam and Tucker find him. 

Setup:

In the 1920’s, 19-year-old Danny went into the incomplete portal on his own, hoping to help out his parents. Ripping the portal open through unnatural means created a huge burst of energy that resulted in a massive explosion. A good portion of the Amity Park population died, many were injured, and the ones on the fringes relocated–Amity was quickly deemed too dangerous due to the excess ectoplasm in the area that attracted ghosts. 

While the disaster was in Amity, the fallout was seen around the globe. Before, natural portals were rare, short-lived, and rarely allowed ghosts to fully slip into our realm (the most severe cases being on par with poltergeists that most people didn’t believe in). Now, natural portals pop open frequently around the world, large enough to allow the entirety of a ghost into the physical plane. They’re more common the closer you get to Amity, but they happen enough elsewhere that this change was something of a small apocalypse before people settled back down and found out how to combat at least some of their new, permanent neighbors. 

Danny is unaware that he’s only half-dead, believing he’s a full ghost. He ends up sticking around Amity, unintentionally making it his haunt. His grief and guilt over causing the death of his loved ones (and many others) makes him isolate and avoid human contact. Though he has, at times, scared nosy people away from the city in a mix of territorial instinct–and to get them to leave before a less friendly ghost finds them. 

Ghosts are much more of an uncontested danger in this AU. Lesser ghosts are practically mindless, and while stronger ghosts are capable of reason, their interests are limited. They’re highly territorial, possessive, and often destructive. Most worrisome is that they also like to snack on the life force of anything alive. No one is sure what dictates a ghost’s propensity to attack or hunt the living for their life force since ghosts don’t exactly experience hunger. At least, not the way we do. If a human is rescued before their life force is fully drained, they can make a full recovery–though humanity has still not yet found what this “life force" is. 

And since the Fentons’ research died along with them, there aren’t many tools available to the public to protect them from ghosts. Most homes have standard ghost shields and some weapons are available on the market, but certified ghost hunters are required to take care of anything more powerful than your average spook. 

Sam and Tucker met in high school, and are now rooming together for college very close to the Amity border. Rent is surprisingly cheap when you’re a stone’s throw away from a condemned area crawling with ghosts. Sam is the one who drags Tucker along with her fascination over finding out more about the city, and its largely mysterious demise. Sam is aware of the danger, but feels ghosts have a place in this world just like everything else, and does exercise caution–like one would while foraging in the woods with a known tiger population. 

What she and Tucker weren’t expecting was to run into a ghost that felt almost human. One that hasn't hurt them, not for lack of trying–while being powerful enough to walk past ghost shields without so much as a flinch. The long white hair is familiar in the whispers of the ectobiologist community, but there’s no way it could be the rumored ghost king Phantom, right?

About Danny:

He has very long hair, claws, and black sclera. His hazmat suit is more torn and ragged, with exposed hands and feet that fade into a burnt black.

His hair tends to float a lot on its own. It can start morphing into fire under duress. 

He does still technically have gloves and boots, they've just charred and melted into his skin towards the ends. He can't take them off in his ghost form. His hands and feet have a leathery texture that's tougher than the rest of his skin.

The white of his hazmat suit is both supposed to look like flames, and also a battered look representing his more violent, explosive death.

Overall, he appears rather listless and sad, with an unnerving air of danger around him–even for a ghost. 

Danny’s “ghost sense” comes out as white smoke.

He does breathe black smoke at times, usually when agitated. 

He's already fought and defeated Pariah Dark by the time Sam and Tucker find him, technically making him the Ghost King. This is heavily speculated by ghost experts, despite there being no real proof beyond a massive battle that scarred Illinois. He has not donned the Ring or the Crown, and captured sentient ghosts are hesitant to answer questions surrounding him. Danny basically has the throne but doesn’t do anything with it, and finds it meaningless enough to routinely forget he has the title. He only fought Pariah because he knew otherwise, humanity would have perished. A lot of ghosts are scared of him because he's so hard to figure out, and he's strong. 

Danny is usually very quiet and speaks softly, because his lungs were damaged in the blaze that half-killed him. He's technically healed since becoming a ghost, so it's more of a compulsion due to the traumatic memory. That, and he’s just… very forlorn and distant, shy around humans who don’t seem to understand how dangerous it is to keep hanging around him.

His memories pre-accident are extremely fuzzy. He knows the very basics of who he was, but specifics have been muffled due to trauma and isolation. He routinely forgets human habits, etiquette, etc. and tends to act more like a full ghost with some odd quirks. 

He does try to scare Sam and Tucker off numerous times. Unfortunately for him, they realized they shouldn't have been able to escape a ghost that strong–but they did, because he let them. 

Sam and Tucker think he's mute at first! He doesn't speak a word to them until several encounters later, when he fumbles his whole scary act and saves them from another ghost. 

He’s still half-ghost, though he doesn’t figure this out until Sam and Tucker come along trying to unravel the mysteries behind the Amity catastrophe. Physically and emotionally, he’s been stuck for 100 years–so his human form is still 19. It’s unclear at this point if he can age normally like a human as long as he stays in human form, or if he’s immortal. 

Danny's family did not turn into ghosts, though he sometimes worries he'll find them in the afterlife as shells of their former selves. He doesn't know if it's better or worse that he's not sure he'd recognize them. 

(Danny also still has some living family. Take a guess.)

Yes, he knows how to Wail. Understandably, he very rarely uses it. You do not want to witness this.

Danny :) is not immune :) from the allure of eating a human's life force :)))

[venusvity]

‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🍒 ⋅ ˚✮  WELCOME TO THE WORLD VENUS !

It's 2018. Angelico hasn't had an active girl group in four years. The boy group checks are getting smaller every month; their newest boy group just flopped. The bank is calling about overdue payments, and they're desperate for a hit. With what was left in their ever-shrinking business bank account, they debuted their saving grace: VENUS.

The five-member piece comprised popular trainees from their Angellies program and former I.O.I member Chloe Lee. Baebi, Bliss, and Jiah consistently ranked in the top four during the Angellies' weekly rankings alongside Chloe. The only outsider was Sena Kim, who ranked reasonably well but consistently ranked in the top ten instead of the top five like the other girls.

VENUS IN 2018 AT THEIR DEBUT SHOWCASE: Bliss (20), Baebi (19), Chloe (18), Sena (16), and Jiah (15).

SHE DEVIL, originally a digital single that later became a physical single, was a commercial success in South Korea. The song entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number five the week of its release. 

It was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 100 million streams just two months after its release. "She Devil" ranked 11th on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart, making it the best-performing girl group song and second-best-performing group song of 2018 in South Korea.

"She Devil" amassed the top spot on various music programs; it achieved 9 wins, including a "triple crown" (or three wins) on Inkigayo.

Next would come KISSENUS, the group's first mini-album, and come back, "Kisseus," pronounced "KISS-EE-US," which was a move to establish the Venus branding. There were so many "-eus" gimmicks during this time. Some landed, some didn't, but Kissenus landed!

Know what didn't land? Their outfits. Oh my god, it was clear Angelico was broke! Truly, one of the last groups to debut looking like losers, they had these girls looking a mess on music shows! Fans still bring up the wardrobe choices when discussing Kissenus.

Kissenus would receive 7 music show awards across various music programs, including another "triple crown" on Inkigayo.

Their final comeback of the year would be another mini album titled "Tasteus" and a title track of the same name. While the song was a banger and performed well on the charts and at music shows, securing 6 wins and retaining their "triple crowned" winner status at Inkigayo, fans began to worry if the girls were being overworked due to their constant promotion of a new release.

Their run at the 2018 MAMA Awards caused mass discourse amongst K-pop fans. The barely-year-old group won Best Female Group, Best New Artist—Female, and Best Dance Performance—Female Group for She-Devil.

Venus saw undeniable and unheard-of success for Angelico in 2018, skyrocketing their company's stocks, becoming the faces of "Monster Rookies," and being the blueprint for what a good debut year should look like.

[peupeugunn]

okay but imagine if shadowhunters had had filler episodes. just them doing dumb nonsense that didn't have any effect on the plot. bonding.

clary learns about the nephilim education system and she doesn't know whether to be horrified or amazed cause on the one hand they're giving knives to four year olds, on the other hand, izzy is a fully certified forensic pathologist at 19.

simon spends an entire episode dragging raphael around new york tryna find him a replacement jacket because even though the kidnapping situation was very fucked up he feels really bad!!! the episode ends with them picking out a really amazing jacket and then raphael having to pay for it because with all the supernatural crap happening, simon honestly forgot that he's a broke college student.

jace and alec episode with them on their day off just chilling (izzy and clary following them because clary Does Not Understand Parabatai and izzy thinks this will help. somehow.) they go to the library and spend some time curled up together reading. they get coffee and go to the park. jace screams at some ducks while alec provides moral support. they go for a movie. they walk around the city holding hands. they go back to the institute to spar a little and then head off to bed. clary through the episode keeps asking "are they dating? are they not? seems like they are?" but izzy keeps denying the dating allegations. clary then finds someone in the institute that can actually explain parabatai with actual words and she barges into izzy's room in the middle of the night screaming "YOU COULD HAVE JUST TOLD ME THEY'RE SOULMATES ISABELLE!"

there's an episode that is literally just. magnus' cats. nothing else. magnus provides narration like this is a nature documentary.

malec's second date, where they just sit on the couch and watch tv and trashtalk the characters. the entire episode is edited to look exactly like a youtuber-reviewing-a-tv-show thing. the first time time an action scene comes up, alec gets so mad at how unrealistic it is and magnus gives him a detailed explanation of how and why movie fighting is so different from real life fighting and why they're choreographed that way. the episode is an hour and a half because magnus and alec keep getting sidetracked and start talking about random stuff. it ends with them falling asleep together on the couch.

a magnus & catarina & ragnor episode with them just hanging out. cat and ragnor keep making fun of magnus for being so in love but he keeps agreeing with them with a lovestruck expression and that takes the fun out of it. the episode is a clipshow style thing except it's not clips of stuff we've already seen, it's their adventures (including, obviously, peru.)

a jimon episode where simon sits jace down and explains in detail the entire plot of star wars. all the star wars. jace asks so many questions and they get so sidetracked at times but simon powers through. at the end, jace reveals that he actually has watched star wars and he knew everything simon was saying but let him go on and on for hours because he wanted to see whether simon would figure it out and also cause jace likes spending time with him.

a clizzy episode where izzy jokingly asks clary to paint her and clary gets so excited!!!! so izzy goes along with it. clary keeps talking like she's doing a tutorial on painting except izzy can't see what she's doing. through the episode, izzy keeps doing more and more ridiculous poses and clary paints and sketches them and somehow they turn out actually good?

i have more ideas but like. idk about you guys but i'd have watched the hell out of this stuff.

[queenie435]

FIRST SUCCESSFUL FEMALE STANDUP COMEDIAN

Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1897 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was the first successful female standup comedian and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Moms bridged the gap between vaudeville and modern stand up comedy. She was also the first woman comic to be feature at the Apollo theater and Carnegie Hall in 1962.

Moms Mabley was born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, North Carolina, to a large family. She experienced a horrifying, traumatic childhood. Her firefighter father was killed in an explosion when she was 11 and her mother was later hit and killed by a truck on Christmas Day. By the time she was fifteen she had borne two children resulting from sexual assaults: the first by a neighbour when she was twelve, and the second, two years later by a local sheriff. Her stepfather, who had remained her guardian, gave both children up for adoption and then forced Moms to marry a much older man who she despised.

Aiken left home at the age of 14 and pursued a show business career, joining the African-American vaudeville circuit(aka Chitlin' Circuit)as a comedian under the Theatre Owners Booking Association, Fellow performer Jack Mabley became her boyfriend for a short time, and she took on his name, becoming Jackie Mabley, with "Moms" coming from her eventual reputation as a mentoring, mothering spirit.

Moms saw an opportunity to try out her own voice, and discovered that she was a natural at singing, dancing and telling a joke. Especially telling a joke. She realized she had something that many of her contemporaries didn’t - original material. Since her sheltered life had hampered any introduction to current comedy routines, Moms inevitably began to craft authentic pieces based on her own experiences, much of it based on Granny’s pearls of wisdom.

Moms talked to her audience as if they were her children. She delivered superbly solemn routines, original in their time yet amazingly, never bettered. As soon as Moms delivered her opening line “I 'gots' something to tell you...” she immediately captured the attention of everyone in the room - and those rooms were full for over fifty years.

By the early 1920s she had begun to work with the duo Butterbeans & Susie, and eventually became an attraction at the Cotton Club. Mabley entered the world of film and stage as well, working with writer Zora Neale Hurston on the 1931 Broadway show "Fast and Furious: A Colored Revue in 37 Scenes" and taking on a featured role in Paul Robeson's "Emperor Jones" (1933).

Starting in the late 1930s, Mabley became the first woman comedian to be featured at the Apollo, going on to appear on the theater's stage more times than any other performer. She returned to the big screen as well with "The Big Timers" (1945), "Boarding House Blues" (1948), and the musical revue "Killer Diller" (1948), which featured Nat King Cole and Butterfly McQueen.

By the late 1950s Moms Mabley was one of the highest-paid comics in the US, making $10,000 a week. Mabley's standup routines were riotous affairs augmented by the aesthetic she presented as being an older, housedress-clad figure who provided sly commentary on racial bigotry to African-American audiences. Her jokes also pointed towards a lusty zest for younger men.

Mabley began a recording career with her Chess Records debut album "The Funniest Woman Alive," which became gold-certified. Subsequent albums like "Moms Mabley at the Playboy Club," "Moms Mabley at the UN" and "Young Men, Si - Old Men, No" continued to broaden Mabley's reach (she ultimately recorded many albums). She landed spots on some of the top variety shows of the day, including "The Ed Sullivan Show," and graced the stage of Carnegie Hall.

Mabley continued performing in the 1970s. In 1971, she appeared on The Pearl Bailey Show. Later that year, she opened for Ike & Tina Turner at the Greek Theatre and sang a tribute to Louis Armstrong as part of her set.

Mobley had a starring role in the 1974 picture "Amazing Grace," which she was able to complete despite having a heart attack during filming.

Over the course of her life, Mabley had six children: Bonnie, Christine, Charles, and Yvonne Ailey, and two placed for adoption when she was a teenager. She died from heart failure on May 23, 1975, in White Plains, New York.

Actress Clarice Taylor, who portrayed Bill Cosby's mother on "The Cosby Show" and was a major fan of Mabley's work, staged the 1987 play "Moms at the Astor Place Theater, in which she portrayed the trailblazing icon.

Fellow comedian Whoopi Goldberg made her directorial debut with the documentary "Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin' to Tell You, which was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on HBO in 2013.

[isdalinarhot]

I think I can say this now because I am Certified Wasted BUT!!!!‼︎ I’ve been thinking all day (all week even maybe?) about sadalinar mpreg honestly speaking. Like not omegaverse mpreg but good old fashioned cis guy x trans guy mpreg. Its mpreg cuz it gets horny with it. And I have like. Hmm. I think I have a longfic idea brewing but if I write it I think it’ll stay on my hard drive. Because god knows nobody else on this gay earth is clamoring for sadalinar mpreg it’s just me with my incurable condition. Anyway the premise is it’s the blackthorn era, sadeas is 19 and has been married to Ialai for like a year, dalinar is 22 and shirking marriage, maybe the Evi stuff is happening, maybe not, BUT a lot of the plot involves Sadeas and Dalinar and Ialai trying to come to grips with whatever the hell their weird family dynamic is gonna be. Because it’s a cross-princedoms thing, but it undoubtably is gonna be a Sadeas princedom heir because duh. And there’s some Alethi politics but there’s also the politics of how the hell Vorin society can handle a three-parents situation. Because I want it to be chill I’d give Sadeas less dysphoria I think it would be a thing like “oh you’d think it would suck gender wise but I actually feel more in touch with my masculinity in a weird way going through this”. I dunno im thinking about it a LOT lately and absolutely nobody on this gay earth wants it but me but with tbhwo being in the home stretch im gonna need a new writing project soon and why not? Why not have it be a kink adjacent fic? I’m not gonna publish it it’ll just be for my health.

[quillinhand]

It's very hard being a snape fan and a marauders fan. I love Severus and I love James, Sirius, Lupin(Peter is Peter and I think it's perfectly acceptable to dislike the little rat) I love how complicated all their characters are. How they not perfect people and they both have done horrible and good things. Part of the blame is on themselves but the school and the adults in their lives certainly didn't. The stupid feud didn't either. I'm of the opinion that you can love both. That James and Severus both did change as people. What's your take on it? Also I find it rather hilarious that Lily and James best friend and person they chose to watch over their son is a lot a like.

Hi!

It's very hard being a Snape fan and a marauders fan.

I definitely think so. So much of both communities; both the snapedom and the marauders fandom is defined by a hatred of another, and though you do get some people with a middle ground; they are few and far in between. as someone who LOVES the snapedom with all my heart, a part of me wants to say that we totally are open with any opinion towards the marauders, but then again I have seen hate comments on many neutral/pro marauder posts, so that would be completely false. and ofc, the marauder's fandom is very much hostile towards any opinion that doesn't fall into their cookie cutter version of perfect(i must admit I am very much biased on that side of the fandom, so).

Personally, I like to think I fall in the middle. I've liked Snape and the potential of his character for a long time, and I like individual members of the Marauders(Sirius and Remus are my blorbos and I will die on this hill). Peter, I really don't have an opinion other than pity. James, well, I'll get into that later on in the post.

How they not perfect people and they both have done horrible and good things. Part of the blame is on themselves but the school and the adults in their lives certainly didn't.

This, a million times. I think everybody, regardless of who you like, can agree that the prominent characters from Marauder's era were all set up to fail. James grew up around yes men, with parents who spoiled him and friends and teachers who adored him too much to nip his arrogance in the bud. Sirius grew up in an unstable home, withstanding abuse and no helpful assistance for his issues(again, the yes men problem). Remus was literally assaulted at age 5, and cursed to become a bloodthirsty monster once a month, with little to no rights and a very diminished sense of self worth(then feeling like he was beholden to dumbledore/marauders for a place at hogwarts and friendship, thus resulting in his cowardice.) Peter idolized friends who saw him as lesser and then was later fighting in a war he didn't have a hope of winning. Lily was a muggleborn with one significant friendship and little to no social status. Snape was an abused, socially disadvantaged boy who got into all the wrong things in the middle of a war. they've all made so many mistakes and done horrible things, but I think you can pinpoint each and every reason and cause for each thing they did.

The stupid feud didn't either.

and ofc, their hatred of each other just added to the shitshow.

I'm of the opinion that you can love both.

absolutely. same. :)

That James and Severus both did change as people. What's your take on it?

ooh, this is going to be fun. ok so:

let's start with snape. 19-20 year old snape is very different from 31 year old snape, and this snape is much different from 38 year old snape. In his teens and youth, he's very much edgy bad boy/kylo ren, with all of the boxes checked, sad backstory, interest in villainy, and that one person who believed in him. he's not as composed or as ... posh, let's say. he's emotional, very dramatic(this doesn't change) and character wise, he's very much evil/grey.

fast forward to late 20s, early thirties snape, this one actually has a life that isn't angst. he gets a kick out of being an abysmal teacher, he's a certified dick, he was batman in an other life, he's badass with an emphasis on ass. i believe this period in snape's life is the least dramatic. he's just living his life. he had all that redemption shit in his past- but no, wait

because harry potter is in town, and though we don't see it, snape's changing. gone is his 'i don't give a fuck' persona; now he's forced to give one by dumbledore and later, voldemort. he's got antihero shit to do, and he does it. he's the plot device now, the one that's evil but not actually. thats him in book one, in book two he's the comic relief/background character, in book three he's the kinda sorta villain- and this is the game changer book in terms of his character. til now, snape doesn't necessarily like dumbledore, but he trusted him. with dumbledore once again supporting the (remaining) marauders, that trust, however feeble it had been, is now gone. which puts him and dumbledore in a precarious position throughout GOF, and an even worse position when voldemort returns.

see, snape likes to think he's very good at pretending he doesn't care/doesn't show his emotions. and though he's right on a superficial level, it's almost comically easy to read him. basically, the angrier he is- the more emotional he is. and throughout the last three books, he's in this weird balance of being oddly guarded and absolutely furious. behind walls of hostility and mystery was a man who's furious, terrified, sad, resigned, and trying his damn hardest to stay alive. he's back to where and who he was at 21 years old, except he knows what he didn't know then, and this is the pivotal change in his morality. He used to be a guy who realized that the movement he supported was hurting people he cared about, but now he's becoming a person who doesn't want anyone to get hurt, because he's 37 years old and he's fucking exhausted of lying and killing and fighting for a world that truly doesn't give a fuck. 'lately, only those whom I could not save,' is an underrated line for this reason alone; severus snape wasn't a man redeemed on a hilltop pledging his alliance to Dumbledore to fix his wrongs, he was redeemed more than a decade later, fighting in a pointless war and realizing that if he can't fix his wrongs, at least he can fight against the causes of it.

now james, on the other hand is a totally different bean. I'm not saying he isn't a good guy, but I most definitely don't think he changed, and here's why.

see, james potter is and will always be a good guy™. his world is black and white; where the heroes are like him and the villains are less than. and for the most part, this was never directly challenged. but it was indirectly challenged many times, and i'll talk about the ones that affected him the most.

first: the train scene and Sirius. A boy from a dark family who's kinda uncomfortable with the painfully light ideas he's spewing, but still buying it because the alternative is so much worse to him. James adjusts with this one remarkably quickly, he's a quick thinker, and in his eyes, Sirius is good because he agrees with him. it doesn't challenge him significantly, and besides, he likes this boy, so it's fine. who cares if he's a black. he's sirius!

second: Remus and the werewolf thing. Again, much of the same thing happens, and James still takes it in stride, because it's his friend and he would've died rather than turn on his friend. this is the defining and redeeming quality of james potter's character; he's loyal to those whom he deems deserving of it. and sirius, remus, peter have joined that list. James is a good guy, and he thinks remus couldn't possibly be like the other werewolves, because he's remus!

third: Lily. Lily challenges him throughout their years at Hogwarts- about his opinions, about his character, about his actions. but at the end of the day, she falls in line with his opinions(she cuts snape off), she still is attracted to him pre-7th year, which was when he supposedly changed, his actions(even when they were together, she didn't know that he was still getting into fights with snape). at the end of the day, even Lily affirms James.

see the trend here? james potter doesn't change how he thinks. he just makes exceptions/he rejects the challenge. sirius can't be bad, because he's sirius and sirius is his friend. remus can't be bad because he's remus and remus is his friend. and the same logic applied to peter when he was offered as the choice for secret keeper. his opinions can't possibly wrong because- look, he's right!

this is not me saying james potter was a bad person. of course not! some of the best people I know have this mentality. but he started out a bully, and tbh, best case scenario, he became a judgmental person. that is the farthest I think he changed.

again, I don't think he's a bad guy. teenagers are dumb, cruel people. james potter did bad shit as a teenager, but so did Snape, and as much as we point to his abuse as a reason why, being spoiled and encouraged on despite everything is still abuse, just a different kind.

the only reason I don't like James Potter when I do like Snape is because nearly everything I mentioned was reading between the lines and other headcanons. And even then, though he had the potential to be, he wasn't a dynamic character. he doesn't change, despite every opportunity to do so, and his misbeliefs are affirmed again and again.

At the end of the day, James the character exists to push Snape's character forward. And that isn't a very attractive thing to like.

I find it rather hilarious that Lily and James best friend and person they chose to watch over their son is a lot a like.

Sirius and Severus are both two extremes of the same story, and that's something that's incredibly interesting to explore, but this post is too long already, so I'll stop now. Thanks again for the ask!

[lamarseillasie]

Le Docteur Marat #01: Marat's medical competence

Salut, citoyens!

With the aim of informing and making an analysis based on primary sources about Marat's medical career, a career that, unfortunately, is little known - and, when known, usually ridiculed or belittled in various ways - by many, i have decided to start a series of posts in which i intend to dissect on subjects related to Marat's medical experiences as well as his writings. These posts will contain all primary sources at my fingertips, and i apologize in advance for my terrible English, as it is not my native language and i am still learning.

In this first post, we will address the following question, so controversial, doubted and misrepresented by many historians over the centuries: Was Marat a good doctor?

Before this question can be properly answered, it is necessary to be aware that the image of the historical character that Marat eventually became has been constantly counterfeited, adulterated and inaccurately represented by countless sources over time. Even in life, Marat was frequently attacked by many of his contemporary adversaries, who invented lies and false rumors about him and his life - especially his pre-revolutionary life. It is no coincidence that Marat was in the habit of constantly defending himself and justifying his actions in issues of his newspaper, L'Ami Du Peuple. When he died, many of the lies attributed to him were perpetuated and many were also developed by other biographers, writers and historians. Understanding that Marat's pre-revolutionary life was the target of several attempts to defame his image during the course of history, it is possible to understand the reasons why many people question whether he was really a good doctor.

Marat's training as a physician is thought to have begun during his stay in Bordeaux from 1760 to 1762 (Marat being 16-19 years old), at which time he worked as a tutor to one of the sons of Paul Nairac, a merchant. It is likely that his father, Jean-Mara, had some influence on his medical career and other of his academic interests. In his Portrait de l'Ami du peuple tracé par lui-même (1793), Marat mentions his father:

"The temperament of my soul comes from nature, but I owe the development of my character to my mother; for my father never aspired to make me anything other than a scholar."

It is not known for certain whether Jean-Mara was in fact the one who led Marat down the path of medicine. What can be conjectured is that he seems to have studied extensively from 1762, when he moved to Paris and then moving to England, where he does indeed seem to have started his career. In his Essay on gleets (1775) he mentions his "10 years practice" in the field. Little information, however, exists about this time, and the beginning of Marat's medical career unfortunately remains somewhat obscure.

But what were Marat's real qualifications? What can prove that he was a truly competent doctor in the field in the eyes of other doctors?

He received an M.D. degree from Andrews University in Scotland on June 30, 1775. The full diploma, as well as other documents and correspondence, can be found in F. Chèvremont, Jean-Paul Marat. I will leave it here below:

Even with a properly attested diploma, written and signed by two competent doctors, it is to be expected that those who oppose Marat have created assumptions and myths about his qualification. Many of his smearers claim that he bought the degree, since he has not defended any thesis. Clifford Conner debunks this story in Jean-Paul Marat: Tribune of the French Revolution [pg. 19-18]:

"His detractors have claimed that because there is no record of his actually having attended classes there, he must have bought the degree. His diploma was signed, however, by two medical examiners who officially certified Marat's competence as a physician. One of them, Dr. William Buchan, was a prominent medical authority whose books were published in multiple editions in both English and French."

"The way St. Andrews bestowed its degrees seems lax according to modern standards of medical education, but such comparisons are anachronistic. When Marat received his M.D. in 1775, he had already been practicing medicine for ten years. It was common in the eighteenth century-and in France even well into the nineteenth-for universities to confer degrees as a way of certifying the professional competence and educational preparation of working practitioners who had not actually attended classes at those institutions. Despite the illustrious Dr. Johnson's famous quip about St. Andrews "growing richer by degrees," the university was not regarded as a mere diploma mill. Benjamin Franklin, for one, expressed pride in the doctorate it had awarded him. Marat's M.D. was unquestionably authentic by the standards of the day."

In addition to the diploma, which is more than good evidence that Marat had skill in the field of medicine, it is possible to see his vast experience and evolution in the field, or at least in human anatomy and physiology, from his A philosophical essay on man (1773). This work, being a kind of treatise divided into three books that renew the ideas of his Essay on the human soul (1772), is of a more philosophical nature, although it makes it clear that Marat was at least a great connoisseur of the human body and its peculiarities. None of the thinkers and philosophers who criticized Marat's work at the time denied his full knowledge of the physiological theories or the anatomy of the fluids he presented, revealing that he had an excellent command of the various areas of the human body, something that certainly indicates an undeniable medical wisdom.

This ability to understand physiology is evident in several passages in volume 3, de l'homme. Here's one of my personal favorites:

"The human body is an admirable machine. If we look at it from the structural point of view, what a multiplicity of parts! What a prodigious number of forces! What justice, what precision in their effects! What intimacy in their union, what harmony in their dependence! Not only does it bring together all that is most beautiful in mechanics, but it surpowers them infinitely by the simplicity & play of its refforts. But the most marvellous thing is that the organs that make up these different machines all have different functions, when examined as a whole. In the body, not a single spring is isolated, but all are linked to one another, in mutual dependence, and thus contribute to forming a harmonious whole. Even less admirable for its structure than for its functions: if you look at it from this angle, what an astonishing variety of functions all rolled into one! A machine that plays & holds itself. A machine that can wind itself up. A machine by means of which the Soul relates to windowed objects. Machine by means of which the soul can act on bodies. Machine by means of which the Soul knows pleasure & pain. Machine in which the Soul paints with energy. Machine capable of reproducing itself."

But what were Marat's methods? What were his cures, his specialties?

Well, Marat himself is the main source able to confirm his own healing methods. Throughout his pre-revolutionary academic career, he produced a packed collection of works, letters and accounts relating to his experiences as a physician, describing situations and cures he performed on various patients. There seems to be no reason to question the reality of these cures, since, in Essay on gleets, Marat states that his patients (all named by their initials, so as to remain anonymous), "would not refuse confirmation of the truth if other patients wished a private interview. They even promised me that." [pg. 18 in Payennevile's French translation].

It is known that he cured the Marquise de L'Aubespine of a disease that other doctors considered incurable, and so his notoriety as a doctor began to grow. But Marat's clientele is a subject for another post. It is impossible to talk about his medical techniques without mentioning one of his greatest passions and specialties in the scientific field: electrotherapy. Marat constantly defended and disserted on the effects of electric fluid in medicine, describing situations in which he had used electrotherapy to successfully treat some of his patients. He is above all a nuanced and lucid theorist, although fascinated by the progress of the discovery of electricity; even so, he does not allow himself to be carried away by mesmerism, which he openly opposes in his Mémoire sur l'életricité médicale (1773).

Moreover, it is important to mention observation as one of Doctor Marat's main methods. In all the branches in which he operates to some extent - even in his philosophy - observation is the most present, most striking feature, and the one most demonstrated by Marat himself as being his most effective technique for developing and associating healing methods. He seems to have a passion for observation and for relating the various sciences through in-depth analysis, which explains the thoroughness with which he shows he treats each of his patients. Although the cures and therapeutic procedures carried out and proposed by Marat did not deviate so much from what was common in the Age of Enlightenment, it is more than possible to consider that he had an early mentality and far beyond his time for an 18th century physician. This is evident in his writings on the treatment of blenorrhagia, for example.

In a number of letters to the Gazette de Santé, Marat describes the cures he performed on patients. This set of letters reveals precisely the medical techniques he used at the time in each case - including dilutions, infusions and decoctions - and also discusses electrotherapy. These letters prove that Marat was undoubtedly competent as a medical observer and that he often linked his medical practice with the physical knowledge he so valued. Marat's concern to assess each illness as an isolated case and examine its symptoms is noticeable in almost all the letters.

This excerpt from a letter written by Marat in response to the husband of one of his patients clearly shows his concern with the clinical evaluation of symptoms in order to formulate a diagnosis:

"Does the patient have any chest pain? Is there any tearing when she coughs? Does she sleep on both sides or on her back? Is his sputum stained with blood? Is there any pus? Has she been prone to colds? Does she experience any change in the atmosphere? Does she hemorrhage, and has she? How is her appetite? Does she have night sweats? Does she hemorrhage, and has she? Does she have a low-grade fever? Is she in a slump?"

The full letter, along with some other information about it, can be found on pages 130-132 of Marat inconnu (1891), by Docteur Cabanés.

For a good period of his pre-revolutionary life, Marat was a typical physician and scholar of the Age of Enlightenment, demonstrating in his writings - however much they may have been purely publicistic - an undeniable wisdom in physiological, electrotherapeutic and physical knowledge in general. He has been, since his youth, a voracious reader, a real scholar and invariably a sage. Observation proved crucial to his medical technique, and the numerous letters and testimonies quoted above confirm the importance Marat attached to factors such as climate, diet and the behavior of his patients during their respective treatments. It is no wonder that he was able to cure many people with apparent effectiveness.

Marat evidently had a great deal of expertise in gonorrhea and eye-related diseases, cases in which he usually felt comfortable using electrification as one of his healing methods. All these characteristics of Marat's medicine are present in his letters to the Gazette de Santé, already mentioned above, and can also be seen in his medical works. In his book Marat (1996), Professor Olivier Coquard comments on this:

"On the whole, Marat appears as a typical representative of the doctors of the Enlightenment, despite training essentially acquired on the job. It targets a wealthy clientele, who pay dearly for their consultations and through which they want to integrate into society. His medical practice associates the use of the most traditional medicines with a very enlightened and precocious concern with clinical observation.

At the same time, the integration of electricity into the panoply of therapeutic instruments translates an essential aspect of Marathi's conception of science and the world: everything is interdependent. For the doctor, it is essential to master not only physiology, but the set of scientific disciplines."

What can we conclude from all this?

Marat was, in fact, a competent physician. He proved to have much more than a basic knowledge in medicine, and to claim that he was a quack in this field is quite wrong. The knowledge he possessed about anatomy and its different functions combined with his passion for the physical sciences and his autonomous, work-based experience and pure observation about treatments for eye diseases is groundbreaking in the historical context in which he found himself. Doctor Marat was very wise about his therapeutic techniques with electricity, the latter having been the target element of his studies for several long years of his life. In a future post, I would like to delve deeper into each of the cases and patients treated by Marat, exploring his clientele and his correspondence with Roume de Saint-Laurent, who was a great supporter of his scientific and medical career.

I end this long (?) post here. As much as we cannot witness his methods or watch his work live, there is no doubt that Marat was an advanced mind for his time as far as medicine was concerned. For various reasons, including his academic ambitions, his relationships, his scientific passions and his self-promoting ability, he was able to consolidate himself for a time very comfortably in this field, being known as Doctor Marat, who, possessed of a relatively well-off clientele, would probably not have imagined himself to be one of France's main revolutionary leaders in the near future. I am of the opinion, as is Dr. Jean-François Lemaire in his book Marat: homme de science? (1993) that Marat was an excellent doctor. His memory should therefore be taken seriously. Dr. Marat, an efficient, apt and prudent doctor, deserves to have the slanders against him debunked, so that people can understand that, before being a Friend of the People, he was above all a fine eccentric example of a Man of the Enlightenment.

Vitam impendere vero.

* I've taken a lot of inspiration from the biographies of Olivier Coquard and Docteur Cabanés to write this post, and so I'm being careful to design them the credits for most of the things I've written and the information I've used! :)

* Some of the images are photos taken by me on my cell phone, so I ask for forgiveness if they are a bit bad to read.

* I apologize for my bad English, it is not my native language and that is why it took me a long time to write this post. The translations of the letters may also contain errors, as I was the one who translated them.

[tornado-warnings]

I have mixed feelings about Paxton ending up with Ms. Thompson/Lindsey…

I overall like Ms. Thompson, she really helped Paxton with his new role in the school and realizing his position is not just like high school all over again. That it’s a job and he needs to get it together.

However I can see how Paxton is caught between two worlds in Sherman Oaks. His best friend is still a student there, his ex-girlfriend Devi too. There’s literally less than a year in age between him and the current seniors.

Lindsey/Ms. Thompson is a certified teacher so she’s graduated college at least! More likely the age of 23-26 because she’s had experience teaching at other schools before and being the bottom of the totem pole in teacher hierarchies. I imagine she’s the same age as Janine from Abbott Elementary if you’ve seen that!

Even if Lindsey and Paxton are similar roles at Sherman Oaks I still feel like the maturity difference between a college freshman and college graduate with a few years of work experience is MILES apart. I’m currently in that age range of Ms. Thompson and I could not imagine dating a 19 year old! Probably bc Paxton’s actor is older it doesn’t seem like a jarring age difference on screen?

I kind of wish Ms. Thompson was just like a cool mentor to Paxton as he discovered a love for teaching instead of being a love interest!

[adsurgitvagus]

A reference sheet for Havren, my Baldur’s Gate 3 character (one of many, I should mention, but Havren was the first child). He is a Circle of the Moon druid, his preferred wildshape is a wolf, and he is a neutral good half-elf as well as certified owlbear cub dad  His story goes like this: when Havren was about 5 years old, his magic powers suddenly sparked and, seeing that his parents, both being wandering souls who never intended to start a family in the first place, were both called by the road again- so they decided to send Havren to the Circle of the Moon- a grove on the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate, where druids specialized on healing and restoration magic, where the boy wouldn't be torn between two parents. Havren essentially was accepted in a new family and became an apprentice of the druids, who taught him and raised him; over the years his magical talents grew, and he was considered to one day become the second druid.  When he was about 19 years old, he decided to ask his circle-mates to draw a tattoo the great oak on his back, as a symbol of his devotion to Silvanus. He gets his wish, and a couple of years later a traveling tiefling merchant came to rest in the Moon Circle grove. The tiefling knew how to draw and make tattoos, so Havren, being the curious and young, asked him to create the vines on his arms. The mercant agreed to do the tattoos in exchange for stories from the circle. Coincidentally, Havren, being young and dreamy, got a gigantic crush on the merchant, because this tiefling was an outsider and Havren never saw anyone from outside the circle in years. So, when the merchant had to leave, Havren was heartbroken; to soothe the young druid, the tiefling gifted him a scimitar, the Peregrine’s Promise. Eventually Havren got over the heartbreak and went back to his studies. This takes us to the beginning of BG3; Havren, being 26, finally gets the honor to become the Second Druid. But on the day of his promotion a nautiloid flies over the Gate and the Moon Circle, wreaking havoc and kidnapping Havren in the process.  And there we have it, the story of the wolf boy 

[kuiperblog]

It's still possible to find success later in life

I'm frequently shocked by the number of 19-year-olds saying some variation on "it's so over for me" or "I'm cooked" or however it is that the kids these days express that their best days are behind them.

On a certain level, would be easy for me to laugh at them. "19 is still so young!" my millennial peers might say. It's absurd for a literal teenager to feel like they're a washed-up "has-been."

But on another level, I understand why 19-year-olds feel "cooked" in a way that their older peers don't. College is often the stage of life where many come to realize that they've lost their "child prodigy" license.

Part of this comes from the fact that as you climb up the educational ladder, you're no longer a big fish in a small pond. The kid who was in the top 10% of their class in high school who gets into a "good university" will likely end up classmates who were also in the top 10% of their class in high school, and by the inevitability of mathematical necessity, half of those kids will realize that within this new context, they are below average. It can feel crushing to go from being the smartest kid in AP calc to being in the bottom quartile of your class.

And in a much more profound sense, it's the point in your life where you realize just how big the ocean is. High school graduation marks the last point in your life where you can get "perfect marks" by following the path of least resistance. I remember being in my senior year of college, listening to my fellow mechanical engineering students chattering about all of the various certifications they were studying for. I had never even heard about this -- "huh? Apparently some states require you to pass an exam to be certified as a 'Professional Engineer?' Is this something I need to study for?" It feels as if you're expected to suddenly know a lot of things that are outside the curriculum.

The thing I think we all eventually come to realize is that everyone is in this boat. Even some of the biggest success stories had "slow starts" while they took their time to figure things out.

So, in the spirit of offering encouragement to those young'uns and 19-year-old "has beens," here are some stories about famous people who didn't find success until later in life:

Sylvester Stallone

Sly Stallone's story truly is an inspirational overnight success story. Obviously, he's famous for being Rocky Balboa -- but when he showed up to the where Rocky won three Academy Awards, he was 30 years old. He didn't even finish writing the famous screenplay until he was 29 years old!

Tina Fey

Tina Fey made history as the first woman to become head writer of SNL, but she didn't achieve this until age 29. What's more, she had to grind for years to reach this point -- she first got hired to write for SNL at age 27.

Stephen King

Stephen King didn't sell his first novel (Carrie) until he was 26 years old. Up until that point, the only things he'd ever had published were short stories. What's more, he only got a $2,500 advance for Carrie -- he didn't really "make it" as a pro author until after the book came out and started selling gangbusters, with the paperbook rights selling for $400,000 -- this didn't happen until King was 27 years old!

Steve Jobs

Funny enough, I've seen a lot of people point to Steve Jobs as an example of an "early life success story" because Steve Jobs was a 21-year-old college drop-out when he co-founded Apple. And while it's true that Apple did have some early success stories, like the Apple II, the company didn't IPO until three years after that. After the IPO, his net worth was measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, but he had to grind until he was 25 years old to reach that point!

Jennifer Lawrence

A lot of people saw Jennifer Lawrence portray a teenage Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and assumed that she was a teenage success story. Not so! JLaw was actually 21 years old at the time, proving that even if you don't achieve success in your teens, it's still not too late to achieve fame and success. She didn't even win an Academy Award for Best Actress until she was 22.

In short, if you're 19 years old, it's not "too late" for you. You are not "cooked." There's no reason to think you are too old or need to give up on your dreams and ambitions until you hit your early 30's, at which point if you haven't become a famous multimillionaire it's pretty much over for you.

[oursummer-if]

₊˚ପ⊹DEMO✬˖*°FAQ*ੈ✩‧₊˚DIRECTORY✧ ೃ༄

think high school musical 2 but instead of working over summer you find yourself on a outerbanks style treasure hunt in the pacific islands with as much mystery and danger as an uncharted game!

You've just finished senior year at high school, final exams are over and now you have a two to three month wait till you get your exam results and decide what your want to do with the rest of your life... which is the best time to take a senior summer trip all the way in a different continent, right?

Well even if it wasn't you're doing it anyway, having planned this with your best friend and next door neighbour for the past few months.

After coming across a piece of seemingly random information, you find yourself in a group chasing lost pirate treasure while being chased yourself!

OUR SUMMER (is what we make of it) is rated NC17/16+ on account of explicit language, sexual references, depictions of violence and the use of weaponry. please read trigger warnings! play at your discretion!

₊˚ପ⊹FEATURES✬˖*°[ trigger warnings ]✧ ೃ༄

customise your mc! from your appearance to your gender to your family relations and academic background!

chose which age bracket you fall into! are you graduating at 16 as a certified genius? did you have to retake the year, ending high school as a 19—year—old? or do you fall somewhere in between?

choose your familial background! will you create a fully customised family or with you go with one i've sprinkled in for flavor text?

+so far i have three planned backgrounds──american born and bred; afrikaans immigrants; and not—so—recently moved from canada! you are not restricted to these choices. they're just options that give you a bit of flavour text!

choose your feelings on travel! do you have an aversion of public transport? does flying give you the heebie-jeebies? do you have experience in cross-country or would you rather die than walk another step?

romance one (or more.. or none!) of eight love interests! are you romantically inclined? are you in touch with your feelings? could you be non-committal? do you fall hard and fast and with everyone? get attached to everyone or leave them all in deep waters.

+with an aroace route, eight solo routes ad three variants of poly routes you have a plethora of choice! poly routes include a triad (a/o), a vee (n/o) and a polycule (a/b/m/n)!

choose a special interest! are you into marine life? do you like history and historical artifacts? are you a bit of a polyglot? are you good at parkour?

find a hidden treasure! decide if you want to sell it for profit or simply split the money you'd get as a finders fee. or──do you take hush money and leave it to the gold hunters on your trail?

endure deadly and dangerous situations! or don't, not everyone knows their limits after all...

suffer through water based puns or bathe in water based metaphors!!

₊˚ପ⊹CHARACTERS✬˖*°[ li intros ]✧ ೃ༄

Adelaide/Adrien Beauchêne──your best friend!

[F/M—18] French. Your best friend, you met at the young age of 8 years old and have been kind of inseparable ever since!

Genuine, kind, loyal, safety, vulnerability, pining, frustration, trust.

*best friends to lovers──option of mutual pining, option of they fell first you fell harder, option of triad poly route with O Baek, option of polycule route with Bodie Monroe, M Wattson and N Rojas.

Bodie Monroe──the mysterious newbie!

[NB—18] Italian American. You only met Bodie about six months ago, for some reason you were the one the school asked to show them around and help them integrate into their last six months of high school however, you really don't know much about them other than they're polite and artsy!

Eye—opening, thoughtful, secretive, intriguing, frustration, worth.

*strangers to lovers──option of fwb route, option of polycule route with A Beauchêne, M Wattson and N Rojas.

Corelia/Corbin Malich──your mortal enemy!

[F/M—19] African American. You met C on your first day of middle school and instantly hit it off... in a bad way. It may have been an utter miscommunication or something you actually did but after that 'incident' it's felt like they've had it out for you any chance they got. You're left wondering if there's anything to be done to mend bridges or if this particular one is long past up-in-flames.

Anger, hurt, insecurities, tension, release, finality, heat.

*enemies/rivals to lovers──option of miscommunication of feelings, option of hard feelings to soft feelings, option of one sided rivalry!

Khin Thein Saeli─Kelly──your self—appointed tour guide!

[M—20] Half Thai Australian, Half Myanma (Burmese). Upon reaching your destination vacation you find yourself bumping into Khin Thein more than once, in what he calls a brush if fate he takes it upon himself to be your tour guide around the area. You don't know him at all but his charming smile and cheeky words are enough to keep you wanting!

Wonder, adventure, curiosity, questions, connections, mystery, cheek, timing.

*strangers to lovers──option of meet cute, option of gay awakening (masc!mc's), option of summer fling, option of near-instant-love!

Mohini/Mohan "Mo" Wattson──your home room desk partner!

[F/M—19] Indian American. Graduating a year before you did, M has always been kinda out of reach. They're nice and funny and always engaged in conversation with you during home room but you didn't have much more of a connection than that. After finding them in the same vacation spot as you, courtesy of their friendship with C, isn't something you considered before and you're left wondering if this is a good or a bad coincidence...

Enigmatic, charismatic, untouchable, fraternising, determination, unearthed, surprising.

*acquaintances/friends to lovers──option of long time crush, option of annoyances to lovers, option of fwb route, option of polycule with A Beauchêne, Bodie Monroe and N Rojas.

Nola/Noah Rojas──your plane seat mate!

[F/M—18] Venezuelan Canadian. After meeting on the first plane ride and finding out you have neighbouring seats the entire journey to the same location──“just what are the chances?”──you find yourself knowing more about this stranger than you ever thought you would. With an unwavering smile and an enigmatic personality you can't help but find yourself drawn to N. They're not shy about what they're interested in and you seem to be catching their eye!

Whimsy, easy, connection, hyper, emotion, bold, straightforward, cunning, athletic, unpredictable.

*strangers to lovers──option of meet ugly, option of it-must-be-destiny, option of vee poly with O Baek.

Oliver/Ollie/Olivia Baek──your next door neighbour!

[F/M/NB—17] Korean American. Having been your next door neighbour for as long as you can remember, you're more than familiar with O! They're a familiar and comforting face, more than you ever seemed to realise. O's warm demeanor and kind appearance seem to radiate like sunlight and you're left wondering if you'll be wilting if they ever leave your orbit!

Kind, comforting, radiance, withdrawn, quirky, concerned, shyness, reason.

*childhood friends/neighbours to lovers──option of first love, option of second chance romance, option of option of triad poly with A Beauchêne, option of vee poly with N Rojas, option of polycule route with A Beauchêne, Bodie Monroe and M Wattson.

Siteri Van Every──your islander info girl!

[F—17] Fijian New Zealander. At first she was just a name on a page, an option of information until she found you! Quick to make herself known as valid source of information she's inducted to the quest after a set of events that leave you with more and more questions for her.

Knowing, arrogance, secrets, intrigue, adventure, banter, answers.

*strangers to lovers──option of instant connection, option of gay awakening (fem!mc's), option of betrayal, option of summer fling, option of finding the one?

pictures aren't true representations of character visuals, none of them are mine──all found on pinterest.

Levi──your younger brother!

freshly turned 16, a bit of a tech nerd, got himself into two part time jobs and bought his own gaming PC, his gamer tag is Leviathan and you never let him forget it! he's not exactly shy, but compared to your sister he's definitely the quiet one. he floats on the surface of water, occasionally kicking out bursts of energy and easygoing wisdom that leaves your family stunned as he retreats back to his man cave of a bedroom──he may be the youngest but he's also the tallest, standing taller than even your father (and still growing). easygoing, smart, introverted, blunt.

Ellery──your older sister!

born on the day before your birthday, Ellery's the early twenties to your late teens. after taking her gap year times three she's ready to get into college and has been preparing for months now. she's a tiny ball of chaotic energy at the big age of 22 and has always, always, encouraged you to go with your gut.──easily the shortest of your family, you often joke she gave all her height to her siblings. energetic, creative, loyal, scattered.

Tanya──your mother!

working as a travel writer, Tanya has travelled pretty much all of her adult life! your 47 year old mother is somehow the perfect blend of your siblings—she's creative and energetic like Ellery while also being contemplative and thought provoking like Levi. she's committed and rooted as well as not compromising who she is to her core. Tanya has always wanted to support her family and was blessed to be able to do so without sacrificing her love of adventure... it's probably where you (may) get it from.──only just taller than Ellery she's still quite short. Supportive, busy, caring, semi-absent, accommodating, emotional.

Waylon──your father!

working as an art historian, Waylon hasn't had the most stable job in the world. when he landed his job at the high–end art museum you were 8 years old. he gives your life stability, finally finding a place to move to and stay there he became the backbone of your family. similarly to your mother he seems to be a combination of your siblings, he's calm and collected like Levi and always has your back like Ellery.──having only just been overtaken in height by your brother, he's easily one of the tallest in your family. stability, loyal, introverted, detail–oriented, secret keeper, logical.

Lillian──your niece!

a little ball of joy at only 6 years old. she's quite easily the most loved of the family, quite possibly due to the chubbiness of her cheeks or the dimples she shows off when she smiles. she absolutely adores you and always wants to hear your stories... you wonder if you'll ever make it back to tell her this one.

Maurice──your father's brother!

Lillian's single-parent father recently out of a divorce with his menace of a partner. He's had to pick up more jobs just to pay the bills and keep Lilli safe and cared for, especially when he refuses to take money from your parents. your family took it upon yourselves to step up and support him with Lillian, which really wasn't a chore to do. you just want to help.

Miss Patricia──your rival treasure hunter!

the real enemy on your treasure hunt. armed with a sharp and cutting smile and a shotgun Miss Patricia is not someone you ever want to come up against... except when you uncover a new piece of information she didn't have before you now you're a threat to her fortune.

Raphael&Tane──patricia's 'henchmen'!

big. burly. mean. scary. men... you could take them! or... outrun them? one is never far from the other so don't get cocky if you only come across one of them... you may just have fallen into their trap!

I'll do my best to give options regarding family closeness and reactions but for the most part it'll be set in stone that you come from a loving, if not chaotically busy, family with little strained relationships.

You can definitely decide how much you like or dislike Miss Patricia and The Guys™️

©️ bonnie berry 2023──@moretinyideas

[killed-by-choice]

Kelly Morse, 32 (USA 1996)

Kelly Morse was 32 years old when she found out she was 8 weeks pregnant. At 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant, she went with her husband Scott to Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Despite the name, Hillcrest was just an abortion facility and would provide no medical care to her.

Kelly had allergies and asthma. She made sure to notify the staff at the abortion facility that she was severely allergic to Lidocaine and other medications ending in “caine”. Her allergies were highly dangerous, but easily avoided by simply not using the medicine she was allergic to.

Despite Kelly’s warning, Delhi Elmore Thweatt, Jr. administered 12 cc’s of 1 percent Lidocaine to Kelly. The effect was immediate.

Kelly couldn’t breathe and started turning blue. A licensed practical nurse got Kelly’s inhaler out of her purse and helped her use it, but Kelly told her that it was not helping. She was very agitated and struggling to breathe.

Instead of immediately calling, the abortionist proceeded with the abortion, rushing through it in about four minutes. Then he spent some time trying to administer incorrect measures to a dying Kelly before finally bothering to call an ambulance. Kelly needed medical treatment, but the abortionist killed her baby and watched her turn blue instead of helping her.

While all this was happening, Scott was waiting outside for his beloved wife, wondering what was taking so long. Before anyone at Hillcrest even told him about Kelly’s condition, paramedics arrived. He went inside with the ambulance crew to see what was happening. To his horror, Kelly was naked and blue-black from lack of oxygen, lying on a table that was halfway out of the examination room into the hallway.

The paramedics intubated Kelly, properly administered medicine, and performed CPR as they brought her to the Polyclinic Medical Center, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. The abortion was done on June 19, 1996. Kelly died on June 22 after a few days of barely clinging to life in the ICU.

Scott sued Hillcrest for killing Kelly. Here are some quotes from the lawsuit:

“As Mrs. Morse’s dyspnea and cyanosis continued to worsen, Defendant Thweatt improperly administered Epinephrine subcutaneously instead of intravenously….” (This measure would do nothing to assist a patient in Kelly’s extremely severe condition.)

“No one started an IV. No respiration rate was recorded, no pulse was checked and no blood pressure was measured. No EKG was applied. No cardiac monitoring was conducted. No pulse oximeter was applied. No intubation or emergency tracheotomy was performed. No oxygen was administered. Kelly continued to agitate in fear, desperately gasping for air, and remained blue in color. Defendant Thweatt just stood there with a stethoscope in hand and listened to Kelly’s breathing and wheezing progressively worsen.”

“As Plaintiff choked and gasped for air, none of the Defendants, took steps to immediately dispatch an ambulance. In fact, the ambulance was not summoned until 11:24 a.m., or 10 minutes after Plaintiff violently choked, gasped, wheezed, and discolored to a blue-black appearance from respiratory arrest and hypoxia.”

It was also discovered that even though Hillcrest advertised Thweatt as being a Board-certified OB/GYN, “Defendant Thweatt failed the OB/GYN Board certification examination not once, not twice, but on three consecutive attempts…Defendant Thweatt failed his Board certification exam even after a fourth attempt, following his deposition of July 27, 1997.”

On April 20, 1999, Thweatt and Hillcrest settled out of court with Scott. No amount of money could give his surviving son and daughter their mother and sibling back.

Even while Kelly was scared and dying because of the abortion facility’s lethal malpractice, the abortionist killed her baby instead of immediately calling for help. Kelly’s health and safety was clearly not important to Hillcrest.

Dauphin County (PA) Court of Common Pleas, Civil Action # 6070 S96 SCOTT B. MORSE v. DELHI THWEATT, MD.

[medfetabdl]

I bought a companion for my Intellivue MP5

This is an Intellivue MP2, this is just the pic from the eBay listing. It’s in pretty rough cosmetic shape but apparently works just fine.

What’s the difference between this and the MP5? Honestly not much, it uses an external power supply, the battery is much smaller, it doesn’t have the built in printer, and it can’t display as many waves, but that’s about it for differences. The thing that sets the Philips monitors apart from all other brands and makes them so desirable for hospitals is the same reason people buy the expensive Apple products: The ecosystem. The Philips monitors are the only monitors on the market that are based off of monitors made over 40 years ago and everything on those monitors from 40 years ago exists on these along with a bunch of other stuff that’s been added. The other thing is their network capabilities. They are the only system on the market where when paired with the proper servers you can upload vitals data to a server and save it for later, you can transfer a patient from one unit to another just a with a few button pushes and then their information moves to the monitor in the unit they are being transferred to without having to bring the monitor from one unit to another. They continue to receive software updates no matter how old they are (provided the hospital has Philips certified IT personnel) they can communicate with tons of accessories. They can track over 200 different vital signs (this does require special equipment) they can communicate with ventilators and infusion pumps. And there’s tons of other things they can do.

I do want to say that I bought these with some extra money I made during the holidays putting up and taking down Christmas lights. I don’t just have money for these things lying around.

I’d like to give anyone who wants to buy one of these monitors some buying advice

1. Stay away from the MP2 and X2 their external power supplies almost never come with them for a good price, if you want one with the battery and power supply it will cost $500 at the minimum

2. To save some money on cables it’s good to know that HP and Agilent Viridia line of patient monitors use the same pulse oximeter and ECG cables which can save you some significant money on cablee

3. Unfortunately they are significantly harder to get your hands on outside the US. Most of the EBay listing for them are in the US and the sellers will only sell to people within the US. That’s not their fault the US government prohibits the export of a lot of technology. High end medical equipment, high end computer components, IR (thermal) cameras that shoot at over 5 FPS, and lots of other things are all extremely locked down in terms of exporting outside the US because they don’t want it to fall into the hands of China. In fact the FDA supposedly controls the sale of medical equipment in the US but I don’t really think they care about used medical equipment because I have absolutely no medical connections. I do live in the technology capital of the world so that might have something to do with it. On a side note when I say Silicon Valley is the technology capital of the world I’m not joking. Google, Apple, Facebook, Nvidia, Intel, Tesla, Ebay, Zoom, Hewlett-Packard, and many more of the world’s largest tech companies are headquartered here. It does make it a bit easier for me to get my hands on bleeding edge tech or tech that’s harder for most people to get. I have friends who work for Tesla who’ve met Elon, I’ve seen Steve Wozniak in a restaurant, and I know tons of engineers who’ve worked for these companies.

Another thing worthy of note on who I am: At 19 I’m an extremely bright engineer and have an extremely vast amount of knowledge in tons of areas of technology and study. But I’m also mentally unstable I have autism, ADHD, severe anxiety, and Bipolar disorder. I get sprits of depression and can’t seem to stick with anything. I went to university for a year for electrical engineering and dropped out. I dropped out for 2 reasons. I hated all the extra classes that I have no interest in. And I noticed I was a freshman yet I had similar knowledge to that of seniors graduating that year.

[teamhawkeye]

on god, i'm still so heated over the audacity of that person going into the Claire tag just to call her "boring" "passive" and essentially "unworthy of being a main protagonist"

and trying to defend themselves by being like "okay, describe her without using the word 'kind', what else do you like? can't think of anything can you, because she's boring-"

first off, Claire is a lot of things beyond just her kindness.

She's incredibly fierce - she has the same temper as her brother - and she can be ruthless with it. She's not sweet all the time and is willing to give a tongue lashing to anyone she feels deserves it, friend or foe.

She's a certified badass, and the only main character up until 7 to have no police or military background/official training. she's a civilian who learned all her defense skills from her older brother and is running through a series of horrifying death traps as a 19 year old college student with just her wits and instincts to guide her through.

She's charismatic, which is another reason so many characters latch onto her so quickly beyond just her kindness - some even from just their very first meeting, because she is canonically likeable. She makes and retains connections more than just about any other character in the series - she, Jill, and Chris are about the only ones that are shown to keep in contact with old friends and allies, and Claire has a lot more tallies on her sheet than the other two

She's intelligent and skilled. All the protags have to be skilled and have some level of intelligence in order to succeed, but Claire is VERY intelligent and uniquely skilled when compared to the male leads. Beyond combat skills, she knows how to lockpick just as well as Jill, she's shown to be a great investigator (as far back as 1998 in her devoted search across several continents to find Chris, but beyond in her work with TerraSave as well), and she's a decent mechanic and has customized her own motorcycles.

those are only just some of her admirable qualities, and for the sake of brevity and not giving away spoilers, they will rest there

and second off, trying to act superior because you like another underdeveloped character - because Ada isn't any more or any less developed, not sorry to say - you feel should be given the time and spotlight Claire is and want to act faux-intellectual in your shallow and sad attempt at tearing down a strong female lead just proves you to be a pathetic asshole

dislike a character all you want, that's within your right, but willfully tagging your character hate and then acting heated and confrontational because other people dare to like said character and get upset with you trash talking them is absolutely absurd

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

I have made it through chapters 5-8 today, which means I got my proper first impression of Prythian and also The Bois

First off, the fae in this book are so fucking lame and like, people say that the first book is the most whimsical and magical one where the fae actually kinda feel like fae and theyre literally just human guys (so far although I have been spoiled so I already know thats not gonna change too much) so this does not bode well for the rest of the series as far as my personal enjoyment goes, as a certified Enjoyer of Non-Human Guys That Actually Act Non-Human

Because of this Humanity that clearly exists within these fae, I found Tamlin, Lucien and Alis to be pretty disappointing overall (Lucien the least). However, if I look at them as just Human Guys which is essentially what theyre written to be, I quite liked them. Alis is basically just The Servant so I dont have too much to say about her right now, but I was very surprised by how charming I found Tamlin and Lucien; Tamlin's very awkward but in a way thats pretty endearing despite how much Feyre keeps emphasizing how he could easily tear her to shreds if he wanted to. I was expecting Lucien to be a lot more of a softie after everything Ive heard about him but Im assuming he's only gonna get soft after some character development, because hes just been awful so far - and i think thats great, I think the non-human immortals in these types of stories should get to be shitty and petty towards humans and be amoral/operate by code of morality incomprehensible to humans and I dont even think the narrative necessarily needs to keep pointing how bad they are, like the only way that characterization could become annoying to me is if it was framed as morally good, which I understand is gonna be the case with Rhysand and his ilk

But thats not an issue yet so I'll just enjoy myself for now

I actually really like Feyre so far, her being so cautious and yet so snippy and quick to disrespect the fae is really fun. I hear a lot of people complain about her being bland and maybe she will be more boring once her fear wears off but idk, right now I like her. My main complaint is just whyd she have to be 19 and why did she have to start hunting at ELEVEN YEARS OLD. like, just have her be 25 and have her start hunting at 15 or something thats such a small thing but it makes the story seem less comically cruel