#cutting vs bulking

[anbuselvi1]

10 Best SARMs: Top SARM Supplements for Cutting, Bulking, & Strength

10 Best SARMs: Top SARM Supplements for Cutting, Bulking, & Strengt

SARMs are bodybuilding supplements that are often used as an alternative to anabolic steroids. The best SARMs may be able to offer health benefits such as faster muscle gains, improved strength, better endurance, and fat loss. However, real SARMs haven’t been proven safe yet for human consumption. That’s why many bodybuilders are turning to SARM alternatives for bulking and cutting cycles. SARM…

[passports-pls]

Lord… what a man

[nutritionist00]

[musclyfit]

How Long do I Bulk For To Gain 10 lbs?

In this article, I am going to reveal: How Long do I Bulk For To Gain 10 lbs? To my surprise, after just four months of eating healthy and exercising regularly, I had gained 10 lbs of muscle!

In this article, I am going to reveal: How Long do I Bulk For To Gain 10 lbs? I always wanted to be muscular and have the “perfect” body, but I never knew how to go about it, or if it was even possible for me because I have a relatively fast metabolism. A few months ago, I decided to do some research and found out that if I ate 500-1,000 more calories per day than my body required, I would gain…

[littledead-ridinghood]

sorry if this is a weird question to drop on you you were just the first person I thought of who might know but do you know if it's canon/canonically-based evidence that jason is physically stronger than other bats because I always see people say jason is the one with "brute strength" and I can't remember if that's based on anything besides people saying that as a nicer way to call him a brute(maybe it was on lobdells stuff? but I wiped most of those out of my memory)

You thought of me first? <333333 I'm blushing. And it's not weird at all! Even if it was, I love answering weird shit.

Anyway:

So part of Jason being considered "the muscle" of the bats comes from the fact that Jason's currently the biggest of the robins. (Adult!Damian is usually drawn as the tallest of the kids when all is said n' done (that's vague for "age")).

Well, how big then?

I always go with this chart which was released while UtRH was being released:

(I Love this! I wish DC still did little info things like this within their comics. Or maybe they do and I'm just blind. But Look! Canonical Information!)

So canonically speaking, at least when running around pre-crisis, Jason is 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. (Also note criminal mastermind and put a pin in it)

But you've probably heard 200 & 220 thrown around a lot. Those numbers are specifically pulled from two different DC character encyclopedia books which I don't trust at all because there notoriously filled with false information and are dubbed as not canon all the time.

Personally, I use the 6', 180-195 pound range which estimates for fluctuating weight, the passage of time, muscle mass, and minimum bulk & cutting (which I assume is part of most superheroes' training to stay in fighting form, but please recognize that vigilantes are more athlete than bodybuilder) because it's from a canon source (Canon is "king" and all that). No shame to people who use the other numbers or even headcanon something completely different, but again, vigilantes are predominantly running all over cities day after day, not stagnant weight lifters. Cardio vs weights body compositions are quite different even if both are healthy. (And it's not all "swimmer's body illusion" either (they have that body because they swim? No, they swim because they have that body.)

How much muscle mass a person can maximally obtain is up to your genetics. But that max only comes with constant maintainment. It's not feasible for Jason to be doing all that cardio and also have that much muscle mass and fat. Cardio burns "fat" (calories), weights build muscle. We constantly see the former and former-adjacent workouts more than the latter with him. Jason is running across rooftops, flipping off them before falling into a shoulder roll onto the next roof over chasing after bad guys every night. The number of calories he'd have to eat and time put into lifting weights (too many reps a week lead to damage, not growth) to maintain his max (max being what a lot of weights category athletes try to achieve which Jason just hasn't been shown to be (except in his jailbird phase where he could literally only lift weights, read, and avoid being killed to pass the time)) isn't possible.

Using comic art to "prove" how much he weighs doesn't work either. Firstly, because everyone wears weight differently. Two people can be the same height, weight, and sex and look completely different. This is due to different body types, composition, genetics, diet, (what kind of) exercise, and many other factors. Assuming someone thinner is automatically "super light" doesn't factor in different body compositions (fat, muscle, bone percentages). (yes, I know it's stupid to apply science to comics. There's my digression. let me live). Secondly, Jason (just like everything else about him) isn't drawn consistently at all. Sometimes he's pretty damn massive, but we also have Twink and Twunk Jason (DC can't even decide on hair color? Do you think they're gonna decide on his body?).

So, comic book art isn't super reliable as evidence unless we want to theorize if, how, and why he seems to fluctuate between weights all the time (<- Which I have a whole headcanon about if anyone's curious), especially in comparison to the others because, seriously, it's totally a Jason thing. Most characters are pretty consistent in body type. Anyway, someone could argue "See! he is 210!" but it's also not for a long enough period to stick around :/ Again, hard to consistently maintain that much weight as a 6-foot-tall, cardio-based athlete.

Also note: DC is horrible when it comes to weight-to-height lineups. A woman hero can be ~5'7'' and then we're told she's 110 lbs which Fact 1. is considered underweight for this kind of height-to-sex ratio, Fact 2. probably isn't factoring in the fact that muscle is heavier than fat, she just "looks thin", and 3. Usually, totally, absolutely is just blatant sexism.

Really, the numbers don't seriously mean anything of actual substance because their comics, are unreliable, and also usually just...scientifically wrong. But Jason's perception on page, as well as the information we've been told, is one reason he's considered "brute strength first and foremost."

Furthermore, Jason has been shown repeatedly to be on par with Bruce (even when Jason, most of the time, plays defense in their physical fights) but many people chalk this up to him and Bruce having similar physiques making it "easier". Again, counter-productive argument because Bruce and Jason have been drawn very similarly before in stories as well as completely different from each other in others. Also, this purposefully, blatantly ignores Jason's actual skills. No one chalks Dick Grayson or Cassandra Cain beating Bruce up to their body types. Moreover, when Bruce and Jason are drawn similarly in body, no one refers to Bruce as "Brute Strength" either. Bruce gets to be tactical, strategic, clever. (Also Also: In Pre-Crisis, Bruce, Dick, and Jason are deliberately drawn to look similar (height, mass, looks, etc.) to get that Brothers in Blood effect. Still, No one chalks the formers up to all strength. Just Jason)

And that brings us to your question, Anon: Is there canonical evidence for Jason being stronger than the other Bats?

Remember how I told you to put a pin in that "Occupation: Criminal Mastermind" note? Well, first off, Jason creating jobs for his community. Go off, king. Second off, and more importantly so, "Mastermind": a person who supplies the directing or creative intelligence for a project (Merriam-Webster).

When Jason was first re-introduced, what made Jason dangerous was that he was highly skilled and smart. He was playing with both Black Mask and Batman like a cat batting a toy mouse. He orchestrated an entire "slow-growing" takeover of Gotham's underworld (he was actually very quick about it). Jason controlled the situation and planned so well that he had the villains and heroes who were both after him fighting each other so he could slip away and do what he actually needed to do.

Throughout Jason's history, he's always had tools with him when he fights. To the point that Bruce says to Jaybin "You won't always have this" cutting his utility belt, insinuating he relies too much on it, which Jason returns the favor to on his return and fights B hand to hand <3 Love a cocky callback. Furthering this, he knows many, many different fighting styles and techniques both from life experience and from extensive training. Jason's a quick learner by nature and is incredibly adaptive. Guns; knives; swords; pens; sets bombs to specifically implode, not explode; makeshift gadgets; a baseball bat just laying around; a tire jack that one time; brains. I could go on. Jason doesn't just hit things. He uses what he has as a means to an end. He's canonically known as one of the best strategists in-universe and is incredibly creative with his surroundings. Jason isn't just great at extensive, long-term planning either. Bruce himself has remarked on the fact that Jason thinks incredibly quickly on his feet, he's really good at improvisation. Concisely, he has plans A-G and if all those fail, he can pull something out of nothing. Contrast this with Bruce who needs to have a plan for everything. Even if it doesn't look like he's following a plan, Bruce is. Opposed to Jason who can go with the flow and figure it out along the way.

Jason even said this in present-era in TFZ:

And that's the whole point, isn't it? Jason is strong. Incredibly so. He's big and tall and has gorgeous thighs. Not to mention, has a mean right hook. But just because Jason's strong doesn't mean he isn't a bat first and foremost who relies on his brain before anything else. He died 4'6 (on his death certificate, his height varies depending on what source you pull) and famously had to defend himself his entire life ever before being Robin. Being young and small and forced to survive shaped Jason into a quick thinker who could either get away or take enemies 10x his size down. Nowadays, he just has a longer reach.

In Event Levithan when Damian says: "Jason Todd is one of the Great Master fighters of all time" He doesn't say strongest because Damian doesn't mean strongest. Damian means adaptable, smart, capable, and well-rounded in skill.

While I don't doubt that Jason is most definitely one of the strongest Bats due to his size, what makes Jason dangerous is not his body, but the fact that he knows how to use it. It's not "Brute Strength" as many people like to say, it's Strategic Strength. He knows just because he's stronger than someone doesn't mean he'll always win. A la see panels above. Jason knows throwing his body around won't do anything of real, long-term substance. That it's just blindsided and stupid.

I'm sure if I looked I could pull panels where other bats and/or vigilantes refer to Jason as the muscle, brute (strength), all brawn (no brain), other such implications, etc, but whenever people do, it's always to undermine Jason's skill. Because it's not actually about his strength. Jason, with his taller, more built form, makes walking quiet seem easy. And it looks easy because he's good. Jason himself knows his skill set, it's everyone else that undermines him time and time and time again. (Again, Event Levithan, Bruce doesn't agree with Damian's statement even though Jason just outsmarted the six or so people who all just tried to take him down (for something Jason didn't even do, mind you))

But, again from Damian, Jason's not known as "the muscle," he's "the emotional one" also usually used to...degrade Ja--We can't have anything nice apparently is what I'm saying. But yes, when people refer to Jason as "Brute Strength" it's usually them trying to find a nicer way of saying Brute or "thinks with his fists" or "Jason hits first, asks questions later." It's in the same vein as when people say "Jason likes books" as short-hand for "see, he's smart at something" rather than acknowledging that Jason achieved a degree's worth of knowledge in comp-sci by age 13.

Anyway Smart and Strong Jason, my beloved. I wish DC & others loved you as much as Rosenburg and the teams of artists he's been working with do.

[see-arcane]

The Vampyres--The Bones and Blood of the Book

Good news! I’m not dead and the book isn’t either! Just shambling slowly through the wasteland of the publication process. It’s been a bit since I last waved this bloody morsel around. So, consider this a progress report on the state of the novella, the prospective publishing options, and a few other questions that have been bouncing around in the inbox.

EDIT:

I have a website now! For some reason.

It's See Arcane Scribbles.

Smaller Edit:

Got a Spotify too for story soundtrack goodness:

COVERS

First things first—and the first part of a finished book is the cover. Here are some mockups I’ve been juggling, starting with the original placeholder. They’re far from perfect, but I’m proud of what I managed with a fairly skinny graphic art skill set.

FINISHING, FORMAT, AND FINANCE*

*(OR, THE HEADACHENING)

Copyright: Technically speaking, you have the copyright to your own writing once you put it to paper or screen. But this is somehow a different thing from a legally-binding registered copyright, which everyone declares is a must-have if you want your work to be protected with more than a non-textual trust-fall exercise, hoping nobody steals your work and runs.

That said, electronic registration with the copyright office is $65, or $45 to register one work by one author.

ISBN: I only recently learned the words behind this acronym. ‘International Standard Book Number.’ It’s the ID on a book that marks it as unique and helps commercial booksellers and libraries circulate it. Each iteration of a book—paperback, digital, hardcover, new editions, et cetera—has its own ISBN. When you’re publishing on your own, you purchase ISBNs through a service called Bowker.

One book/version’s ISBN costs $125.

There are better bargains the higher the number of books and/or versions you go, starting at a bulk of 10 books for $295. But as I only have the one (1) skinny novella on the table, that’s a no-go. Which begs the question of how many ISBNs are in store for this little monster. It depends on how many formats I go with.

eBook: The quickest and most cost-efficient option across the board for any self-publication service. Short, sweet, no printing pains of trim sizes or distribution costs or formatting, oh my. Nice.

Paperback VS Hardcover: …But I am now and forever a sucker for physical media. Even though it’s a teeny brochure of a thing, I want to hold a physical copy of The Vampyres in my hands! So bad! And every service I’ve looked through has stated the obvious: Hardcover costs more than paperback. My heart won’t break if I have to stick with paperback to spare everyone’s wallets—hardcovers are pricy in both directions!—but I am a little torn. Especially as physical size might affect the price too.

Here we have two of my favorite quick reads, an anthology of Poe stories and Clive Barker’s novella, The Hellbound Heart.

The Poe book is a clothbound hardcover. 6.5 x 4.5 inches, a bit over 120 pages.

The Hellbound Heart is roughly 8 x 5 inches (about standard for a novella), at 164 pages. But unlike Poe, it looks like Barker took some liberties with the spacing and font size.

Standard size dimensions cost less than unique cuts, which means that whether paperback or hardcover, I sadly have to say goodbye to the petite palm-sized edition I was hoping for. On the upside, good news to us crap-vision readers—the font’s going to get H U G E in order to make the book more than a pamphlet with delusions of grandeur.

Audiobook: The fact is, my voice is not up to the task of reciting anything with appropriate gravitas and I think we’ve all been spoiled by @re-dracula and assorted other podcasts’ skill in orating. I don’t have the cash to hire a professional and I’m not about to accept anyone’s freebie offers. I won’t pickpocket friends for their talent. If an audio version ever comes along for any story of mine it’ll be down the road when it proves worth the format’s effort and cost.

REVIEWS (and a Foreword!)

It was the best of times (People reading the thing! Commenting on the thing! Good good good—), it was the worst of times (The Mortifying Ordeal of People Reading and Commenting on the Thing). Time for what every advice site declares a book absolutely must have the moment it’s thrust into the wild.

Reviews, reviews, reviews.

I’ve already bitten several bullets and passed copies out to a handful of fellow scribblers to scrutinize, their reviews destined to be hung up like literary gold stars on their bookselling site of choice, my own included. Now comes my preliminary grovel to readers en masse to please drop a review, a comment, a blurb of any shape or size where you can once The Vampyres drops. I’ve already gotten some early comments that have consisted mostly of screaming. Screams also count as a review.

As an aside, there are two folks in particular who I reached out to who exist in the stratosphere of Coolest People in the Vampiric Lit scene. They promptly exploded me into disbelieving giblets when they told me, yes, they’d be happy to read my little story and offer up a review and a foreword for the book respectively.

I’m not sure what the decorum here is, but for safety (and surprise’s) sake, I’ll not name names. But they are names I’ve been happy to come across for the past two years while neck deep in the undead book club. I’m infinitely grateful to both of them and am waiting on pins, needles, stakes and kukri blades by my inbox so I can pin their words up inside the book itself.

FUTURE SCRIBBLING

To get one of the biggest questions out of the way, let’s talk about Barking Harker.

My very own object lesson on sunk cost fallacy.

I wrote my way through a goddamn cinderblock of text without even grazing the finish line of the first section of the story. A story made of so many convoluted triple-decker layers of subplots and side characters that it had the structural integrity of a monolithic Nature Valley granola bar, just waiting to fall apart under its own weight. Such is the hubris and curse of too-many-words-itis. The Vampyres remains a miraculous fluke, jotted down during an overdue break from BH’s slog. Not just because I tripped and fell into finishing the story, but because it’s comparatively compact! Brevity at last!

For those still craving the assorted gothic and ghoulish promises of the initial novel idea, don’t worry, those aren’t going anywhere. I’ve just crumbled the metaphorical bloodstained granola by my own hand and have done the sane thing of parsing out the various subplots to become the foundations of their own stories. Which they really should have been from the get-go. Insert 100+ clown emojis here.

On that note, I am turning into WIPs Georg over here. Good god.

I hesitate to throw myself all-in again and make promises of X Story that may leave me spinning my mental wheels or ballooning the plot out into a behemoth that can’t be steered back on course. Even so, here’s a peek at a few ideas I currently have on the brain.

So.

Not exactly lacking for stories. It’s just a matter of seeing which of them breaks ahead of the herd and squeezes out into the publication ether first.

LAST BIT  

Blah, blah, requisite reminder that I have a Ko-Fi where you can donate a buck or commission my best attempt at art, blah. Any pennies are a help.

But I’m betting very few of you came around here for my doodles. Somehow, a good amount of people tripped into this pit with me because you enjoy the rambles and horrors I’ve written over the years. Maybe some of you will even buy my book once it’s out. And you, there, on the other side of the screen—you’re reading this right now. You made it all the way to the bottom of this pile of exposition just because you wanted to. So, thank you.

Thank you for reading this far. Thank you for reading before and reading what’s to come. Thank you for giving me the confidence to even consider shouldering my own work out into the wider world.

Thank you.

P.S. If you want to re-read the preview, go here!

[doubleca5t]

Ok, there's something about Home Insurance that I don't get: For many other kinds, the company can negotiate with Mechanics or Vets or whatever to get a discount which can then be used to offer policies lower than what the average person would pay. But Home Insurance doesn't have that, does it? I don't want to call Home Insurance a scam but on average wouldn't someone be better off without it?

You definitely would not be better off without home insurance b/c if your house burns down you would have to pay for the entire thing out of pocket and that would be very much Not Fun.

As for the difference in claims process between PersAuto and Home, I think it has to do with the business model of contractors vs auto shops. Mechanics make the bulk of their money off repairs, so having an insurance company recommend you to their customers in exchange for a discount can give you a huge boost in sales even if it cuts into your margins for individual repairs a bit. Contractors on the other hand make a huge % of their money off remodels, rebuilds, new construction, and other projects where an insurance company isn't involved. They have way less incentive to give a discount in exchange for extra business because their business model gives them a consistent source of revenue regardless of an insurance carrier's recommendation.

Same thing applies to vets with pet insurance - vets make way more money off a sick pet than a routine check-up, so they have a big incentive to get a recommendation from an insurance company.

[lonelyroommp3]

*please read the explanations below the poll options before voting*

was thinking about this on my coach home and naturally had to make it into an overcomplicated poll

explanations, disclaimers, etc. under the cut:

until tumblr enables polls with infinite options there is no way for me to account for the entire breadth of human experience here. the categories provided and the examples thereof will not be, and are not intended to be, exhaustive. if you can't find the exact thing you do listed here or you think it falls into more than one category then please use your best judgement to select whatever answer is closest. only choose "something else not covered here" if there is actually nothing even close to what you do listed in the poll (and please elaborate in the tags if this is the case! i'm curious)

i really wanted to include "guy running alongside the moving vehicle you are in" but ran out of options. sorry

if you feel you do two or more of these things in equal measure just pick whatever one answer you want based on vibes

music video: anything you imagine as a standalone, prerecorded visual to accompany the music. this may feature musical performance elements, dance, a narrative, or any combination of the above. if you're imagining your little scene as if it's intended to be viewed on MTV, youtube, etc as the official visual complement to the music, it probably comes under this category

a music video mainly featuring somebody else: this could be you, your blorbos, your self insert OC, another artist you'd like to see cover the song, random actors/celebrities you would cast in the video, etc. whether they are performing the song within the video or not. if the bulk of the "running time" of your daydream is taken up by people who aren't the artist who originally performs the version of the song you're listening to, pick this one

a live performance: this could be in concert (whether a concert version that already exists e.g. imagining taylor swift's eras tour staging when you hear cruel summer, or a version you would like to see), at karaoke, at an open mic night, your acoustic cover that goes viral when you post it on youtube, busking on the street, performing to the other passengers on the bus, etc. could apply to dance as well as singing/music!

a diegetic use in narrative context: imagining the song being performed as a musical number by people in a story that exists beyond the scope of this one song in order to accompany or advance said story. this might be imagining the song being performed as one of many musical numbers in a stage or movie musical, or it could be a performance that takes place in universe (like the performances in glee, or scott pilgrim vs the world)

non diegetic narrative use: imagining the song as the soundtrack to a scene in a story that exists beyond the scope of this one song, but it is not being played/performed/heard by the people within the scene. for example, you imagine a fight scene in a movie taking place to this song, or perhaps it would play in the background during your OTP's first kiss if your favourite fanfiction was adapted into a netflix original tv series.

AMV/edit: a video compilation of existing* scenes from a piece of media, put together by a fan and set to music. (*existing might be taken loosely; e.g. you might be imagining an AMV of scenes from a book with no actual visual media adaptation. the main distinction is that here you are imagining the actual editing process of splicing scenes together as a fan project, as opposed to the music accompanying one continuous scene or sequence of scenes - which would come under "non diegetic narrative use" - or the clips being intended as the official visual accompaniment to a song, which would come under "music video".)

an abstract or lyric based visualiser: 2000s core windows media player visuals, a lyric video, anything that focuses more on objects, scenery, abstract patterns, words moreso than People/Fictional Characters/Animals/etc Doing Things To Music

[howtofightwrite]

Are there any significant effects of a character swordfighting or fighting with other weapons while wearing fingerless gloves VS wearing no gloves? How about with normal gloves?

The short answer would be, it's not a huge difference, until it is. When you're looking at most melee weapons, gloves will provide a little bit of protection to your hands, sometimes at the cost of a little bit of grip on the weapon itself.

Somewhat obviously, if you have a plate gauntlet that's protecting your hand or fingers, that will provide more protection, same thing if you're wearing chain gloves. In fact, chain gloves can be pretty useful in specific situations to protect your hands against cutting impacts.

However, as I mentioned, you lose a little bit of grip. This isn't a huge difference, but it can start to impact things like your ability to engage in fine manual dexterity with the weapon. For example, if you can quickly reverse a knife with one hand without thinking about it, you might not be able to replicate that feat while wearing a heavy glove. You can think of this as more of an armor familiarity issue, though. If you train, and practice, while wearing gloves, this should be a pretty minimal loss.

Archery is a case when you really want those heavy gloves. The fletching can scrape up an exposed arm, drawing can scrape up your fingers. Having gauntlets, and even bracers to protect your forearms, can dramatically reduce the amount of cuts and scrapes you suffer from your own arrows. You really do not want fingerless gloves while using a bow, and in some cases, you may even get archer's gauntlets that are just finger protection, leaving the hand itself exposed. (This is for the draw hand, not the bow hand.)

Fingerless gloves work best in situations where you'll expect to take hits across the palm or back of the hand, but need your fingers to operate controls. Firearms are a prime example of this, where most shooters would rather have their finger directly on the trigger, and it's much easier to operate things like fire control settings, mag releases, and bolt catches, when you can actually get the tactile feedback from it. (Also, if you have normal to large hands, a lot of guns don't really accommodate the increased bulk of the glove on top of your hand.)

It should probably be mentioned, that I am assuming the gloves in question are heavy leather, or some similar material (there are synthetic work gloves now.) So, if you're thinking about something like a thin fabric glove, that's mostly going to be a cosmetic change. It will probably protect against some minor nicks and scratches, but won't offer much use as armor, while a heavy leather glove will provide a little more protection. Something like chain or plate gauntlets can offer some significant combat protection, and depending on the design, you can even minimize the loss of grip on your weapon. In a modern context, there are even work gloves with rubberized inserts on the palm and fingers to increase grip, though I'm unsure exactly how useful those would be in a combat situation. Fingerless gloves do have practical applications (I used to wear a pair for years at an old job), but they're not uniformly better, just specialized to different tasks.

-Starke

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[muscleryb]

Bulk vs Cut IG: Furkner

[professionalmachinefuckerwrites]

CW : NSFW

Oh shit. Time to drool over a new machine character.

Recently began playing Cyberpunk 2077 after wanting to play it for years, finally bought the game.

Found the source of that “You look like a cut of fuckable meat. Are you?” Video, and was not disappointed.

Now, let me tell you.. that guy, his name apparently being Adam Smasher, fucking shit, he can smash me next. He’s tall, bulked out of his mind, and sexy.

I am absolutely certain he wouldn’t mind if I walked up to him and asked to fuck me, or, more canon-ly speaking, he’d forcibly take me somewhere to fuck.

Now that’s something I’d like to see. Seeing how tall he is, even to V, the character we play as, he’d definitely tear my insides apart. And I think him manhandling my form and using me like a fleshlight and fucktoy would be on my bucket list for sure.

You heard of android vs. cyborg, now get ready for android x cyborg.

- Boss/Anderson

[fear-aesthetic-tourney]

Finale

Flesh synopsis

Looking good! But you could look better... Cmon, let's hit the gym, no harm in some extra reps? And you know you might need to cut some more, I think you've been in the bulk stage too long. Let's get into shape, buddy!

No propaganda submitted

Lonely synopsis

Sometimes, that isolation feels like it's choking you. Like when you want to speak, but the words get stuck in your throat. People try and talk to you, you try and talk to them, but you don't. You could never manage. And all that guilt just weighs down on you, crushing you.

No propaganda submitted

Dark synopsis

Around the dark corner, is something. Something you may not recognise, but would it be better if you did? Schroedinger says that until the box is opened, you have no way of knowing. Until you turn that corner, you have no way of knowing. Go on. Turn the corner.

Propaganda:

The all encompassing darkness is silent, cool, and comfortable in a way you can't get anywhere else. Just a surrounding blanket of Dark to embrace you. It's also scarier than people give it credit for. After all, how many statements take place at night, or include some kind of figure standing in the dark, just out of sight? Not being able to see what's after you may be more scary than the thing itself; your imagination is your own worst enemy.

[jamiesansible]

Interesting knitting insights in Knitting Stockings in Wales—A Domestic Craft, S. Minwel Tibbott in the Journel of Ethnological Studies.

1. Dyed vs undyed yarn

…it was regular practice in Cardiganshire to knit the west and toe in natural white yarn while the bulk of the stocking would be knitted in the blue-grey dyed yarn. Some informants stressed that the natural colour yarn wore better than the dyed one and therefore was more suitable for the toe-caps. A scientific reason given for knitting the welt and toe-caps in natural colour yarn was that the oil or lanolin present in it gave added warmth and protection to the wearer’s toes. The oil would also weatherproof the welts of the stocking which were often exposed to the wearer when worn above the tops of boots; they would thus readily shed any moisture. (Pg 67)

2. Methods of blocking/finishing

The completed garments were pressed beneath stocking boards (styllod sanau) and then were ready for market. These boards were cut to the shape of a stocking and informants from Cardiganshire described how a pile of stockings would be positioned between two boards and were then pressed by the weight of a heavy stone resting on the upper board for a whole week. Another method practiced in north Wales was that of placing a pre-heated board inside the stockings. (Pg 68)

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 239 (spoilers)

We have a scenery change again after the cliffhanger from last chapter. Gege is fond of forcefully stopping the ongoing action and giving us other parts of the narration for the time being. I'm going to call this cockblocking from now on.

An unimportant side character makes valid observations here. Because the first part of her thoughts are correct, I'm going to assume that the second is, too. Kenjaku created the Culling Games through binding vows which gave Megumi and co the ability to add favourable rules. Kenjaku still knew to counter those though with military fodder.

Kenjaku also knows the locations of the incarnated and awakened players but even for the normal sorcerers in Shinjuku he took additional measures to keep track of them like knowing the CE aggregate and having cursed spirits see for him. We need a better translation for the Maki part though. Have they really not seen that cursed spirits are monitoring them?

It would've been illuminating to see why Kenjaku decided to look at his phone in that moment. Does he periodically check it? Did he get a notification? Did he feel a dip in the CE aggregate in Shinjuku? Regardless, his reaction to Gojo's apparent death is underwhelming.

The 6-Eyes has been his one enemy he couldn't defeat in his 1000 years. He had to kill a 6-Eyes baby before they would've become too strong to be defeated. Here, though, Kenjaku only concentrates on Sukuna with no thought lost on Gojo, as if he were to say "enjoy yourself Sukuna before he gets up again."

Gojo's birth was also a tipping point for the world. It irrevocably changed after he opened his eyes for the first time. But his death didn't have the reverse effect? Really? Someone like Kenjaku would've commented on that but there is nothing on that front, neither from Kenjaku or the overall narration.

What Kenjaku did comment on in this chapter was RCT and how to prevent it: by cutting the connection between the head and the rest of the body. Since Toji, we know that you need to cut a head off to prevent the sorcerer from using RCT and who's head is still on his neck? Gojo's.

The emphasis that Gege puts into this fact is important. And after my "Incongruence of his life and death" post, I'm going to make a post about the mechanics of Gojo's survival because the hints just keep piling up and hitting us in the face at this point.

Takaba finally makes his entrance into the fight and he goes against Kenjaku on his own. Kenjaku is not impressed but the irony is that Takaba is an awakened sorcerer, created by Kenjaku himself to "bulk up the numbers" but as the narrator once told us, Takaba can be as strong as Gojo himself.

Now we have three fights in two locations in front of us and Gege has to decide which will come first, so:

[keef-a-corn]

So the humanformers hands thing...

Fun fact: The middle finger gesture originated from archers showing off to the opposing side in war that they still had their middle fingers; the specific finger most commonly used in archery. During one of the many French vs British war/battle/things, archers middle fingers would be cut off (to render their bows useless). Hence the gesture showing off that they still had their fingers.

Seeing Bulk and Bee's hands are missing a finger each, maybe they had a little accident? I get that their missing their ring fingers... but hey! Wacky weapons right? Modern equivalents and all. I can totally imagine it too: Bee with being captured by the opposition? Bulk could also just have had a construction mishap. But eh. WAR CRIMES.

Love historical fun facts.

I don’t know if it can be seen in the actual picture, but there’s scarring in the space where the ring fingers are missing.

So… ya

When thinking it out, I had thought they probably lost it due to the Decepticons, especially because they’re missing their fourth finger on both hands.

The decision to specifically cut/rip off the fourth finger may be related to a Decepticon belief, probably being symbolic of confessing/silence, especially because Soundwave also only has four fingers,.

With a vow of Silence, there’s an element not to say a word, so removing the ring finger for a Decepticon is used more as loyalty to the Decepticons, while doing it to an Autobot is a bit more like saying ‘we tortured them, but they didn’t say anything (we wanted to hear)’

If that makes sense.

So Bee most likely had his ripped off during Tyger Pax, which is also why they didn’t come off easily and ripped off part of his hand- being done on a battle field and by such large servos.

While Bulkhead’s was more likely done during a longer, more ‘professional’ interrogation, where he may have had his amputated after they realised that he wasn’t saying anything they wanted to hear (most likely because he genuinely didn’t know) and didn’t want anyone else to waste their time on him.

I dunno- it’s an idea :)

[nanowrimo]

A Comprehensive Guide to Self Publishing Your Book

Publishing a book is every author’s dream, but the path there can be rocky and blocked by a huge wall of information that you need to know. Today, Deborah Dixon has written a comprehensive guide to self-publishing discussing editing printing, distribution, ISBNs, and marketing.

Publishing a book is a rewarding experience, but it can also be confusing or demanding as well. Here is a very brief look at the steps an author can take towards being published.

Traditional vs. Self-Publishing

First ask yourself if you would prefer to be traditionally published or self-published. Both routes are viable and respectable, but they are very different. Traditional publishing involves finding an agent through the process of querying. Authors submit documents like synopses, query letters, and first chapters in hopes that the agents they submit to are interested enough in their manuscript to represent them. Once accepted, the agent finds a suitable publishing house for the author, and all parties coordinate to publish the book from there.

Self-publishing involves much more direct author participation. The author will generally handle editing, marketing, printing, and distributing the book, often with assistance from third parties. There is no need to query agents, but an author should still be prepared to explain their book from a sales standpoint. In self-publishing, the author is their book’s best advocate.

Editing

Usually, the first step in self-publishing is having the manuscript professionally edited. This is a crucial step that should be taken even if the author is an excellent self-editor. Even the best editors can overlook common mistakes in their manuscripts! The Editorial Freelancers Association is a wonderful resource for finding an editor.

Printing & Distribution

If you’re planning to print your book, you’ll want to decide whether you want to print a run of books upfront or set up print-on-demand. Book printers like Gorham can print many copies of your book and ship them to you for placement in bookstores and the like. Alternatively, though, you can use print-on-demand (POD) services like IngramSpark or Lulu. KDP Print is a great option for authors who are mostly looking to sell print books on Amazon. POD is often considered the cheapest option because you don’t have to invest as much upfront. Rather, POD vendors will take a (pretty big) cut of every book you sell, but you get the added bonus of not dealing with printing, distributing, or shipping. 

If you elect to pursue distribution through your own means, you’ll have to purchase your own ISBNs. Think of an ISBN as the ID card of your book. Every book needs one, and they will need a different one in every format. If you want to publish your book as an ebook, hardcover, and paperback, you’ll need 3 ISBNs. Therefore, it might be more economical to buy them in bulk. If you’re in the US, you can buy your ISBNs from Bowker, and they never expire, so you can use them for future projects. If you go with KDP Print, Amazon will provide you with a free ISBN, but bear in mind that it's not truly free. Since KDP “owns” your book, it will be difficult to get into brick and mortar bookstores, Barnes and Nobles, and other distributors that could get your book more reach. On the other hand, if you purchase your own ISBNs, you can distribute them anywhere.

Once you have your books in print, you’ll want to reach out to your local bookstores to place your books there as well. Many book stores will sell your books on a consignment arrangement with you, meaning that you receive your portion of the sale when the book is bought. Building relationships with your local booksellers is also a part of marketing, as booksellers make great advocates for books they like!

You may also want to consider distributing your work as an ebook. For this, you’ll want to create accounts at Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Amazon if you so choose. These all generally take a portion of your sales as payment, and so are free to set up initially.

Marketing

Another important step in self-publishing is marketing. It is a good idea to have a marketing plan set up in advance of selling the book. Marketing covers many facets, like book design, book promotion, and publicity. It is its own discipline, and many authors might not have the time or know-how to develop a solid marketing plan. For those authors, services like Reedsy, Scribe, and BooksGoSocial can be of great help.

Through all of these steps and going forward, you want to be marketing your book. Consider going to book fairs and other book events, whether in-person or virtual, and reach out to your local and national news outlets. It never hurts to tell people about your book—and the more who know about it, the more who will read it!

With this baseline information, I hope you feel ready to embark on  your self-publishing journey!

Deborah Dixon is a writer and author advocate with Shalamar. She is also an editor for Radon Journal and a student of George Washington University's Publishing program. She lives with her partner and their dog, Spirit.

Photo by Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash