#i can only exercise when the exercise is secondary to some kind of activity with visible progress that makes sense to my brain.

[esleep]

i am so tired of being out of shape but i have no idea how to fix this. someone should invent exercise that doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the head.

[philcoulsonismyhero]

Hey! I'm really excited that there are two butch characters in Red Shift Blue Shift, what are their relationships to each other and to the larger lesbian communities around them? Also, are there any trans women or transfeminine nonbinary characters in the cast, or in your other projects? (I tried sending an ask to the comic blog, but I couldn't find the option.)

Hey! (Turns out we hadn't switched asks on for the comic blog, thanks for pointing that out, the option should be there now!)

Oh I'm so glad you're excited about there being multiple butch characters in RSBS, that was something that was really important to us to include when we were building our cast. I'm very fond of them both, they're a great time.

It's hard to say too much about their relationship to each other without getting into spoiler territory, but Kamari is something of a wildcard character. She's working for a cause of her own, something that's sometimes at cross-purposes to the main team, which Georgie is part of, so there's a bit of plot-relevant antagonism there, at least in a big picture sense. It takes a wee while before Kamari interacts directly with any of the main team, although she'll be hanging around the edges of their activities and playing a major role in the other main thread of the story. Georgie and Kamari will end up connected eventually, although how is spoilers, but I can say that they're one of the (many, many) pairs of narrative foils in the comic. The story is going to be split into two major threads, the blue thread following Dan and their team, and the red thread following our masked antagonist and their allies, and Georgie and Kamari are one pair of characters that in some ways mirror each other across that divide and end up having an impact on each other over time as the story unfolds.

Which kind of links in to the next part of your question - Kamari, at the point we find her in the story, is quite isolated from anything really in the way of broader community. She did have that, once, and she doesn't anymore, and the story there is a big part of her character, along with where she ends up going from there. Georgie, on the other hand, is probably the most social of the main team, barring maybe Max. When she's not out on missions, she's a regular in her local queer community, especially the lesbian bars, and she's got at least a few amicable exes in that community and amongst her law school cohort. She's a gregarious, friendly sort of person, and the sort that tends to adopt any young queer people in her vicinity, so aboard the team's ship she's definitely something of a Cool Queer Aunt.

Speaking of Max, I'm not sure transfem is the term ey'd personally use, but ey're definitely the cast member with the most fem elements to their particular flavour of nonbinary. Gender presentation is something fun to em, and ey're pulling from a bunch of different directions when it comes to eir personal style.

As for the rest of the cast, we're still building out from our main ten, but the intention is absolutely to include trans women and transfem folks, both human and robot. Now's probably the point to admit that our jokey working title for the comic is 'Butches In Space', because it is a bit of a self-indulgent exercise in including all the butch and transmasc and agender characters that we almost never get to see (and especially don't get to see interacting with each other). Ultimately you've got to do what appeals to you, personally, with a project, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to make sure that the rest of the world of RSBS is suitably full of all different kinds of folks. Obviously it's really important to include transfem folks in a story that's using a lot of transphobia metaphors, since they're unfortunately one of the groups that's targeted the most. There's a lot of significant secondary characters that we've still only got rough sketches of roles for, like assorted family members and other agents and various folks relevant to different cases, and I'm sure a bunch of them will and up being transfem once we get to know them better. We're planning on having a lot of fun with gender stuff amongst both the humans and the robots.

Also, one last fun note about Kamari and Georgie - there aren't going to be any active romance plots in the comic, it's going to be a very aro sort of story, but like I mentioned above re: Georgie's various exes that doesn't mean that the characters that aren't aro don't have relationships in their pasts. Without spoiling Kamari's deal, I will say that Pearl from SU was one of the characters that partly inspired her, so read into that what you will. And, in the course of the main story, Georgie and Kamari's dynamic when they do end up face to face might be the closest we get to writing flirting. We thought it would be fun to leave a little bit of room for shipping, if a hypothetical reader is that way inclined, even if the main story isn't going to feature any romance arcs and will be more focused on the platonic side of their dynamic. And it was something of a deliberate choice to have the only canon-compatible ship amongst the main cast be a lesbian one, since fandom is after all a bit notorious for ignoring them.

[thepolyamorouspolymath]

On a mission to improve myself. It's been 5 days and I'm already bored of it lol. But let's run it down bc I have a planner -- several bc B got sick of me going "I made planning errors, I need a new one" (they are being repurchased for other things one can use a dated calendar for -- one is acting as a diary of sorts, when I note something I've done improving, I write it on that day. The other will get turned into a meal/exercise planner. If there's a third, I'll turn it into a household chore book. Slap some different paper glued to the covers to tell them apart and bam.)

Ok, so I like magic. No I'm not looking for opinions on magic -- some people find mass soothing, I'm more of a loner, it suits. So I'm structured around that.

There is a master list of things to change, which require inspired action as well as saying the words. It is LONG, so I'm only going to get into now.

Working on healing my relationship with sex, and going boy sober for a bit until I do.

Getting back in shape. Now I know the mere topic brings out all the people who think they get to tell me how to feel about my body (y'all fatphobia and shaming people for wanting to lose weight are the exact same thing.) Because of this I'll explain, though I do not owe one -- my body has been the same shape and size virtually my whole life since puberty and this does not feel like it belongs to me. And it's no one's business but mine. I'm doing a few minutes of exercise every hour or two and trying to eat natural foods. Also mean to take a walk every night and work on adopting what I'm told is a European approach to portion -- the first tastes are the best, then you're not savoring, just finishing. Those two aren't there yet. Also will join a gym at some point but way not there yet.

Shadow work twice a week. Right now I'm just using my triggers and trying to integrate them. Can't tell if I'm making progress.

Trauma work twice a week. The first session went very well, the combination approach I designed working exactly as expect, though I want to add in vagus nerve work to help regulate the body as I'm releasing trauma.

Confidence. I'm starting with general confidence. Hypnosis and NLP techniques, though also incorporating some do it scared techniques once a week where I basically set myself up for a low stake rejection or loss to basically adapt to it as not a big deal.

Forgiveness, for myself first. I write letters to myself at least every week showing compassion and understanding.

Stirring reality. Admittedly action on this is rather impossible. Basically it's just making everything more changeable and it's my job to grab those chances. There's a job I might get which would hopefully count.

Now, I'm planning for the future tasks, such as stockpiling books on interpersonal communication, resiliency, education (parts of mine are lacking), planning weekly outing to do SOMETHING outside my comfort zone. Also looking for other activities, like sticking to a schedule, meditation of counting to 100 until I can do the whole way mind blank, forcing myself to just sit and watch a movie without a secondary thing, picking up new skills (languages, though I need to settle on one and want a digital piano really bad to try, also more dance, pottery, that kind of thing).

It is thoroughly exhausting. However, I have faith that at the end of 12 months -- my next birthday -- I will be a significantly improved human.

I'm also working on business stuff -- at how to start a coaching business the way I want rather than conventional wisdom. Yet more modalities I can draw on over time, like archetypes and superconscious shifts.

And I'd love a day off, but most work is weekly, so can't miss lol.

So yeah... not super exciting, unless you all want to hear the neat psychological machinery I'm building for various issues (and it is neat.)

If you do, drop me a message! We'll chat about it. Also if you happen to be a branding or marketing expert or great at social media and want to work for shares in a start up lol.

Sorry to disappoint but there's probably not going to be exciting content for awhile, just my political opinions. (Though I am get boudoir shots by the absolute best on 9/8... God knows what I'll wear or what vibe but hey it's a good chance to take a leap!)

[minimalist-language-learning]

My language learning journey

Hi! I'm Anja, a language learner and manga artist from Germany. This is my first post here, so I think I should start with some information about myself:

I speak: German (native), English

I'm currently learning: Japanese

Paused languages: French, Russian

Other hobbies and interests:

creating manga (you can find my artist accounts here)

reading manga (mainly shonen)

nature

video games (e.g. Assassin‘s Creed Origins / Valhalla, Ghost of Tsushima, Cyberpunk 2077, Control)

reading different kinds of books

history & archaeology (especially ancient egypt)

For those who are interested, here is a summary of my ups and downs as a language learner:

How I improved my English unintentionally

English is not my native language (I'm sure I make mistakes ^^;). I learned the basics at school which means: vocab lists, grammar rules and exercises, listen to English spoken by non-native speakers (teacher and classmates) and only sometimes by native speakers (audio CD). I had no access to novels, websites or other interesting things in English. And I was fine with that. At that time, English was only a subject in school.

After graduating, I became interested in Japanese. I found some german online forums where other learners of Japanese shared their experiences. Unfortunately, most of the users were very narrow-minded. They persisted, that their way of learning is the only "right" way. I never liked black-or-white-thinking and so I left these forums.

I've found a more open-minded forum and some blogs. These were in English, but I came across many different ideas and methods. It was a bit difficult at first because I never read "real" English before. But I concentrated so much on the content, that everything else became secondary. 

At this time, the new episodes of my favorite TV show weren't available in German. So I watched them in English even though I had nearly no experience with listening to native speakers. There were things I couldn't understand, but I didn't care. I was able to watch this show quite comfortably which was all I wanted — reaching a high level in English was not my goal, after all.

Watching my favourite show, reading articles about interesting topics or reading novels in English were never learning activities to me. The purpose was to learn something other than English or to simply enjoy the content. The language was only a tool, not a study object. 

While doing this, I never thought "So many unknown words… I should use Anki to learn them". After learning the basics at school, I just started reading and listening and ignored most of the unknown and unimportant parts. Only when I felt that I really need to know a certain word I looked it up. These texts or videos weren’t study objects. After reading/watching them I moved on. Without realizing it, English became part of my life. 

Today, reading and listening to content in English feels natural to me. There are words I don’t know and I make mistakes, of course, but I'm fine with that.

The learning mindset is actually a learning barrier

In the case of Japanese, I always tried to understand as much as possible, looked up many words, put sentences into Anki and things like that, because many methods recommended that. I thought that otherwise my Japanese won't improve.

Ironically, even after so much hard work and after trying out so many methods and techniques my Japanese was by no means as good as my English.

I was stuck in a "learning mindset" which made it difficult to just enjoy the content as I did with English. I wasn't able to focus on the content. All I saw were unknown words and phrases. It was like a curse.

Don't get me wrong: Good advice is useful, of course! When I come across an interesting approach or tip I try it out to see if it works for me. But my mistake was to believe that I only had to follow someone else's way of learning from A to Z and I would get the same results in the end. It never worked this way.

That's why I encourage everyone not to follow blindly other methods and their creators. There is no right or wrong. Combine whatever works best for you and trust your own intuition. The most important thing is that you enjoy what you are doing.

Combining minimalism with language learning

After worrying so much about language learning, methods and my Japanese, I discovered minimalism and was completely fascinated. 

Generally, minimalists don't keep things that make them feel unhappy, that are no longer useful or causing distraction. It depends on the person, how their minimalist lifestyle looks like. And this is also true for language learning.

This mindset was a great inspiration for my current way of language learning. I only use Anki to review kanji, for example, because this works best for me. But whenever I use it for vocabulary/sentences, it feels so meaningless to me compared to reading a good book. I can't use Anki for vocabulary longer than a few weeks, but I feel always relaxed when I read a book in Japanese.

That's why I decided to just look up certain words, write them down and move on. Maybe other methods are more efficient, but I prefer learning words in their natural context. This is what I enjoy the most.

How my Japanese improved (finally)

For a long time, I felt like I hit a wall. My Japanese didn’t seem to improve. Then I focused on extensive reading and read several books in Japanese that were not too difficult at my current level (e.g. volume 1 - 4 of 『ハリー・ポッター』 and 『天気の子』 and other manga and light novels).

This helped me a lot to improve not only my reading speed but also my vocabulary. I had so much fun reading these books that I read between 20 and 40 pages a day (sometimes even a bit more on the weekend).  My listening comprehension stagnated for a long time but thanks to reading it now improves slowly but steady.

The more I understand the more I enjoy listening. Lots of reading helped me to increase my vocabulary and to get to the point at where I can process spoken Japanese much faster than before. 

It feels strange sometimes. For a long time, it was normal to me that I understand not more than single words or very common phrases. Listening felt like a waste of time. Now I can roughly follow the story of some audio books, for example. Even small improvements like this give me a big motivation boost!

Switching to extensive reading had also a positive effect on my self-confidence as a language learner. I’m more aware about what kind of content I need at my current level and choose my reading and listening material accordingly. I will read more and more difficult books to increase my vocabulary and to get used to more complex writing styles. It should be a bit challenging but not overwhelming.

Up to this point, I've read 78 books in Japanese so far. 27 of these were novels, light novels or non-fiction books; the rest were manga. According to 読書メーター, I've read around 18.242 pages in total. 

Now

It took me a long time but today I don't care so much about efficiency and speed anymore. I just want to enjoy what I'm doing. I have still a long way to go, of course. But even though I don't understand everything I enjoy reading in Japanese so much! And I hope to further improve my listening comprehension so that I can comfortably understand audio books and podcasts.

My main activity is still reading books and other content but I also do light grammar study now. In my experience, you don't need to memorize grammar rules but a good foundation is important to understand more complex content and to build correct sentences yourself. That's why I think that grammar is not your enemy but a useful tool.

Lots of text, sorry. ^^; I hope it was interesting to some of you.

Please note that I write about what works for me and share advice based on my own experiences. If you have a different opinion or if you use other methods, that's absolutely fine. Do whatever works for you.

From time to time, I'll write posts about my recent language learning activities and thoughts.

[fireemblems24]

Fire Emblem Engage 24 - End

Spoilers below the cut. These last chapters aren't as good as the rest of the game because I'm not a fan of the new character.

Alear is meeting evil!Alear. Is she seeing the past or? OMG a random time travel plot 😭 why . . .

And why is evil!Alear giving her life story to regular!Alear? The heroes and villains both act so nonsensical in this game.

Aww, Alfred got to say how badly he worried over Alear.

OMG NOOO. NOT A-FUCKING-GAIN. I'm NOT fighting the 4 wolves AGAIN. Please, no. Please, I'm begging.

Oh, thank God, Alear is sending Zephia away.

I wish Veyle would just shut up.

God, this plot has gone off the deepend though. Alear died twice and came back to life twice. There was a failed Hail Mary to try and get me to care about the Wolves. And not time travel because time travel I guess?

So I saw that Veyle and Alfred both had the blue speech bubbles over their heads and figured the other royals would, but only those two got it. Alfred got a little "official" moment over all the other royals and it makes my shipping heart happy. He's worried about the Alear of 1000 years ago. He's a sweetie.

This level only existed for the chance to talk to the other Alear. I'm not too mad about that. I actually really like Alear.

More Zephia. Why. I guess it gives Sombron someone named to talk too. I'd rather the red!Alear though.

Aww, we get to see Lumera meet Alear. Ok, I more than accept this chapter now. I still think the time travel is stupid as fuck, but I'll accept it anyways because I liked getting to see this stuff.

Bunet wants to lick the boulders to see how they taste. Something is wrong with this man.

Seadall seems low-key into Rosado, as he finds him amazingly attractive lol.

Lumera is a zombie thing, right?

I'm guessing Alear managed to act on her own will as corrupted, but Lumera can't because of who summoned them?

Man, and this game had avoided characters doing stupid shit for the sake of drama, but leave it to Veyle to fuck that up by going off on her own.

If she's on the map by herself, so help me God... she can die

Shoutout to Kagetsu, Goldmary, and especially Alfred for forming a little line and holding out against a million reinforcements. Alfred must've killed like 50 enemies this chapter while I picked off all the buddies around Lumera.

Alfred MVP. Deserved. Boy put in the work.

Lumera is such a Fire Emblem parent she out Fire Emblemed all the others and died - TWICE!

This must be so awkward for Veyle.

I think it's cool Alfred is in this scene. I think he's pushed just a bit over the other royal and does feel the closest to a "cannon" love interest for Alear - though I feel the most "cannon" is probably platonic with Veyle.

I feel proud of myself. I'm down to 0 coins and 0 silver. I used it all up nicely.

The men of Firene are prone to fatal illness - Alfred, his father, and Mauvier's father (per his Ivy support)

Alfred's A support with Veyle fucking hurts knowing what I know, talking about how he KNOWS exercise won't really make the problems go away, that it's just about giving yourself a break to avoid getting crushed by what worries you. It's such a simple conversation, except that it's coming from Alfred. Who we know is actually talking about dealing with his terminal illness and also proves that a lot of his behavior is a conscious choice. I think between this and his crit quotes actually being quite serious means he's not truly an empty-headed guy who's nice because he's just that innocent or dumb, but that's he's more self-aware than characters like this usually are and actively choosing to be friendly and kind to everyone. I think learning that is what launched him to my favorite. It's hard to dislike "human golden retriever" characters that aren't annoying, but it adds such an interesting secondary level when you know characters are purposefully and consciously choosing to act this way, and even MORE great when the characters have actually been through some shit and rather than letting the world turn them bitter are choosing to be gentle. It's also why Lucius was my favorite for so long (though, he's more uber pure rather than hyper loyal/friendly) and honestly Dimitri too since he eventually actively chooses to act as a savior king and let go of hatred. I'm just - such a sucker for characters like this.

The Emblems aren't returning, I'm betting. Yep. Man, I'm going to cry seeing all my old protagonists fading away. If that happens. Why is Alear the exception though?

Kinda cool that Sombron offered to just leave, but Alear said fuck no. We really needed another backstory. /s They should've spaced this out a bit more. I also love how he's just chatting with us about it too.

So, who's his Emblem? This guy is beyond obsessed. (Emblem of Foundations - DLC Wave 2? Who could it be? Alm, Eliwood, Seliph, Elincia, Rhea, and Azura are the key missing characters)

Feels bad. Diamant, Ivy, and Alfred got to show up at the very end of that cut scene, but not Timerra. I feel the Solm royals got shafted.

Do we not get the Emblem rings in the final fight? That would suck. That also seemed anticlimatic as a parting. It is cool that, once again, Alfred got the dialogue to represent the royals.

Seeing all the lords get summoned again did things to me. Not gonna lie. I've loved some of these characters for over half my lifetime and seeing them all just lined up like that. 😭

Alear ended up being a lot cooler than I expected.

Ok, I figured Sombron would do something after taking him down at first because that was too easy.

Luna + Critical is one hell of a drug. Alcryst was going to do a measly 3 damage to Sombron but did 51 instead.

Alfred engaged with Alear did the final hit. Seemed thematic. All the favoritism I poured into him returned ten-fold. I know he's not the best unit in the game, but he was the best unit for my playthrough at least. Maybe the RNG was kind to me too.

It wouldn't be a final Engage chapter if we didn't have something taking forever to die.

I don't want to see all the previous protagonists fade away 😭

Ah, fuck, they're doing it one at a time. Why. 😭😭

Alfred got MVP the most. Followed by Chloe. Alear, Katstsu, and Alcryst also got MVP a good number of times. Though, if I stuck Lyn on Alcryst earlier, he probably would've gotten it way more.

Alright, guys, I finished it!

I'm a bit bummed they didn't list the characters in order of least to most used. It's always fun figuring out who's #1, but oh well.

I also REALLY miss paired endings. The solo endings were fine, but still bummed about that. Cool that Sedall and Yunaka are basically cannon though, with their endings matching and being in the same image. It's also going to be impossible for me to "marry" anyone BUT Alfred because of this. His paired ending is a thousand times better, but I also ship Alear and Alfred pretty hard.

I loved all the art at the end too. Alfred planting flowers was too precious. Hortensia visiting her father's grave, the only sad one, only for the next image for Rosado and Goldmary joining her made me so happy. They were all pretty good and seemed to take the character's personality into account.

So my favorites were: Alfred, Ivy, Alcryst, Celine, Chloe, and Alear. Though, there's a lot of characters I didn't see a lot of supports for and didn't use. Fogado seems like so much fun, that I'll have to use him next time, for example.

The only one I didn't really like was Veyle, but I hate her brand of moe and brainwashing so . . . Louis is also low-key creepy, but IDK if that'll stay if I see more of his supports or not.

I will get the DLC, but not sure when. This game is a lot of fun to play, so I definitely want the extra content.

Overall, the plot is basic and stumbles when it tries to be more complex, the characters are mostly good, and the gameplay is fantastic. I really enjoyed it. Only time will tell where it'll fall.

[sunmaylight]

Red Hood Crossover Idea

Katekyou Hitman Reborn x Red Hood 

Lightning Guardian Jason Todd whose Sky is Byakuran.

Main Points (aka incidents where Jason uses/learns about Flames):

Jason has unlocked Lightning Flames while he was on the streets before Batman took him in. He kept the Flames a secret because he has seen kids who flaunted Flames around taken off the streets before Batman or Robin could save them. They wouldn’t have noticed either because all of the kids who have been taken are kids like himself, orphans who live on the streets.

When Bruce adopted Jason and trained him to become the next Robin, Jason tried to tell Bruce about the abductions happening right under Batman’s nose yet he doesn’t believe him. So Jason goes off on his own to gather proof for him. 

Jason stumbles upon the Vindice on pure accident as he witness a man from an unknown Famiglia get captured with chains and dragged into a portal. One of the Vindice sees him and senses the Activated Flames on him. The Vindice warns Jason to not get involved before vanishing through the same portal. When Jason come back home, he doesn’t bring up the abduction problem and it’s forgotten by Bruce.

As Robin, Jason sometimes sparks Lightning Flames while fighting. Batman barely notices and if he does, he brushes it off as something Alfred and Dick added to the Robin suit. The sparks die down as Jason learns control over them.

In ‘Death of a Family’, Jason sparks Lightning Flames every time he is tortured by the Joker. The longer it happens, the weaker his Flames become until he ends up a slightly less bloody mess than canon. 

The explosion still happens and Bruce is too late to save Jason. The two might have gotten a few more words spoken to one another, but Jason inevitably dies in the end.

The revival scene happens with the addition of lightning hitting Jason, ‘reigniting’ his Flames so to speak. Though with his catatonic state on the streets, he is sparking Lightning Flames like a broken faucet when he runs into danger.

When Jason is taken into the League of Assassins, he is a walking Pikachu with the Static ability activate for the first month. It made training Jason more of an exercise that by the end of it, all of his trainers have a slight resistance to electricity.

Talia found out that Jason stop shocking everyone with his Flames when he is in the library. He is then placed near the library until he stopped shocking everyone with his Flames. After that, Jason underwent training and was assigned babysitting duties for Damian. Though if he is too stressed out, he will start shocking people again

After some time, Jason is dumped into the Lazarus Pit. His Lightning Flames became chaotic when he exited. It is constantly tethering the lines into Discord that it is maddening. The only ‘good’ thing that came out of that experience is Jason awakening Cloud Flames as his secondary Flames.

Jason is then sent into the All Caste training route, but this time with Flame training. He learned about Flame Lore and everything that a Flame Active person should know as well as how Flames are connected to the Mafia.

Then canon happens until he reaches Gotham. Jason bumps in to Byakuran while he was scouting the area seeing what changed while he was gone. After their first encounter, Byakuran has latched himself to Jason like an annoying octopus. Essentially making it harder for Jason to do his work in his quest for revenge.

Their first meeting involves Byakuran annoying locals in Crime Alley, Jason being the unfortunate soul to stumble into said alley, a knife, some blood, and the loss of a marshmallow deluxe dessert.

What Jason doesn’t know is that his Flames are subconsciously reacting to Byakuran’s Sky Flames and Byakuran’s Flames in return. Poor Jason doesn’t know why Byakuran forced him to be his tour guide and dragging him to random restaurants/cafes in Gotham. All he knows is that Byakuran will get a cavity or cardiac arrest if he isn’t there to stop the man from consuming so many marshmallows.

Also his tethering Discord Flames feel the most stable around Byakuran that Jason doesn’t realize he tries to seek Byakuran out every time he goes out.

Jason finally enacts his plans from ‘Under the Red Hood’. Everything happens accordingly until the bomb goes off. Bruce tries to shield Jason from the explosion. Jason uses his Lightning Flames to protect both of them from the blast. 

(Did Jason die at the end of that???) 

Batman leaves the scene of the explosion to take Joker back to Arkham. Byakuran heads to the explosion site and finds Jason. He takes Jason back with him to Italy. Byakuran’s Guardians and subordinates are not surprised by this. 

Jason wakes up to the sight of Byakuran and learns that Byakuran is a Mafia Boss. He is somehow convinced to have a partnership with Byakuran’s Famiglia in exchange for more Flame Training and being provided with a Flame Ring. 

Jason: “No Byakuran. I will not make you another marshmallow parfait.” 

Byakuran: “My, my. How cruel of you to do this to a Mafia Boss, Speedwell”

Jason: “What did you call me?”

Byakuran: “Nothing.” :)

Jason leaves Italy to try and reunite with his family in Gotham with a nickname, a group of people who would welcome him again and a shiny new ring with a big green gemstone and wings on it. 

Jason does not know the significants of this Ring. His Flames calm down though. There is still some Discord in them, but significantly less than before.

The reunion goes as well as expected of DC canon. Jason as Red Hood forms the Outlaws and gets caught in all kinds of adventures. Takes his group to Italy to visit Byakuran at least every other month if he can with both groups of Outlaws. He doesn’t get why they are weary of Byakuran. Sure he is a Mafia Boss, but he has been more helpful to Jason than harmful.

Circumstances of canon happen that lead to Jason heavily injured and kicked out of Gotham. This makes his Cloud Flames rage because Crime Alley is his territory. Batman doesn’t get a say in it after neglecting this place.  

When Jason wakes up after RHatO #25, his Flames are reacting wildly. Lashing out at anything and everything until Byakuran calms him down. His Flames calm down and stabilize enough that the two Harmonize. Jason is told the truth about his Ring and accepts the Guardian position, but not joining the Famiglia. He is interested in contracted work though, as long as he doesn’t harm kids.

Byakuran gets a complete set of Guardians and his threat level is raised, but not really since Jason isn’t around Byakuran like his other Guardians. Jason takes in Byakuran’s Lightning Guardian position and shakes things up in the superhero world as a vigilante that no one knows the real identity of with his new name given to him by his Sky, Speedwell.

Speedwell has a similar MO to Red Hood, but different enough that no one will notice unless if they compare the two side by side. 

Jason as Speedwell gets teased because his name is also known as Veronica Persica. He knows this and reacts accordingly, but overall doesn’t care because it is a name that is solely his. There is no one who had this name before him. A clean slate where he can make a name for himself with no burdens and comfort that there are people who are genuinely there for him

[dgcatanisiri]

The thing it always always ALWAYS comes back to is the fact that it’s no one source that is responsible for the lack nor capable of fixing it. It’s all a bunch of issues in society proper and the industry culture. Videos games will always be written from the perspective of straight people, and almost inevitably straight men. Film is from the perspective of the male gaze. The world we lives in will assume straight until proven otherwise.

And because straight is “the default,” it is what gets catered to, with any claim to the contrary, any attempt to say “hey, what about [queer identity]?” these big chains can argue “not worth the time/effort/money!” Because pure numbers say that’s a valid excuse. Because they can make more money just accepting homophobia than pushing against it. Because pushing against it is “risky,” and, well, we can’t push people too much for something they’re “not ready” for.

Even when people on the chain WANT to do more, offer more... They’ll get pushback. Like, I legit, 100% believe that sacrificing bi!Jaal on the release of Mass Effect Andromeda was part of a fight to keep Suvi a lesbian - we KNOW that it was a fight to keep her from being made bisexual, I buy that the ground of “one of two bisexual men” was given in order to keep the lesbian representation. It’s a shitty situation and a shitty choice that shouldn’t have been forced in, but I damn well believe it happened.

Or with Voltron - I do not give a damn about the dumpster fire that fandom is, I guarantee that Adam being killed off was part of the terms that they had to agree to just to get it to air, get a gay relationship in a cartoon that is primarily oriented to children. Look at all the fights that creators in Legend of Korra, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc. have had to go through - and remember that it’s NOT the same thing for gay guys in action-adventure series, that there has NOT been that kind of breakthrough in M/M relationships and portrayals, and yes, this IS a different track to run through, because, put simply, lesbian representation is not the same thing as gay male representation. Similar, yes, and there’s an umbrella they’re both under, but they’re not the same - as much as you’ll find a queer person who celebrates any win under the queer umbrella, they will still have that wish that there was also a win for their SPECIFIC identity.

This is the inherent flaw of grouping so many identities under the same umbrella - we all rely on each other, sure, but at the same time, just because it’s a queer win, that doesn’t make it a win for every individual letter under that umbrella. It’s not always your mirror you’re seeing, and as much as you can be happy that others get their representation, human beings will always have that egotistical part that goes ‘well what about MY needs?”

I’ll also guarantee that there was an active play for Shiro/Keith (like, LOOK at their interactions and tell me that there isn’t SOME kind of significant bond being established that is outright groundwork for a relationship) and THAT had the kibosh put on it as well - that the active choice on the part of some executive, be it Netflix or other producers was that Shiro could be gay, but they could not have two gay lead characters, and that’s why Shiro marrying random extra happened.

Because I don’t think that it’s actively bigotry that drives these kinds of choices. It IS homophobia, implicit homophobia, the kind that says it isn’t worth fighting for or dealing with the inevitable headaches when the conservatives get in an uproar. No, it’s simply that... They don’t want to deal with that headache. They know it’s going to create blowback from the idiots, and while they understand that those people aren’t really worth endorsing, it’s just a lot to deal with so how about instead we NOT?

Because to them, it’s all hypothetical. It’s all an intellectual exercise. It’s a headache to deal with these people who aren’t really worth listening to, but we still depend on their money to turn a profit and keep our jobs, so it’s just easier not to rock the boat.

Meanwhile to the queer people they are denying representation, it’s our LIVES. It’s our mirrors. And often, that is the difference between life or death. That’s not exaggeration. If you never see yourself reflected in your media, if you only ever see yourself in the secondary roles, never the hero... It damages you.

Like, I’ve reached a point where, if for no other reason than sheer spite, I intend to keep kicking. But... It does wear on me. It gets me down. To know that even the scraps that I find are the result of long, drawn out fights that started with the full meal - and then, because the scraps exist, I KNOW there’s some pencil-pusher going over the results of everything related to this content by whatever metrics they have, just LOOKING to use the scraps as justification for why the numbers came up short and that’s why they won’t include more scraps again.

And this just. keeps. happening. It’s every time that the representation COULD be there, every time it’s SORT OF there, but clearly grudging, every time that the only reason we get queer representation is because the developers don’t want to bother with the coding to lock off certain romances by gender, not because it’s cared about, every time that the developers and creators have to go to the people who pushed for this and say “I’m sorry, but I lost the fight, and if we don’t cut it, they will.”

It doesn’t change. We’re about a decade and a half from Jade Empire, the game that gave me so much JOY in being able to play a gay male character in a video game and see a gay man as the hero. We’re about a decade out from Korrasami. And what are we really getting as different? Okay, video game characters don’t have their sexualities so blatantly hidden - I don’t have to turn down every female love interest in order to get the male love interests to even ask if I’m interested. Okay, we’ve seen the progression of Korrasami to Bubbleline to Ruby/Sapphire to Lumity, but these are still moments that basically cause the network to pull the plug.

Y’know, sure, I’m still going because of spite. But that’s beyond cold comfort when it comes to how I look at the amount of books, movies, TV shows, and video games and still don’t see myself in there.

[divorceadvocatesinbangalore]

How to select pleasant divorce advocates in bangalore courtroom

Job at a PSU is the very last dream of  check this  someone with little ambition, one who's check this  satisfied with little paintings, no competition and foolproof job safety. However for the reason that the median age of the Indian populace is within the early 20s so the opposition for each put up each seat could be very stringent. Thus it permits if you could piggyback on a excellent university or college. PSUs recruit human beings through either a written check (open the employment newspaper and you'll find out myriad of jobs with their examination schedules) OR thru direct recruitment from campus. The profits are remarkable right here in PSUs with lot’s of privileges.

It is honestly useful to choose the sector of regulation in the 4th Year of your law college (like, securities regulation, tax, IP regulation, Litigation and so on.) and artwork excellent on that. After deciding on the precise field, start interning in agency/ advocates and senior advocates who deals only with that detail so you can sharpen that skills by way of way of the prevent of the 5th yr. This will will let you crack an interview with out troubles and fetch a assignment proper after college if you hone the expertise properly. Avoid deciding on awesome fields as it will stress you out and you could become with nothing reachable.

If you are from a tier II law college and now not from a tier I law school in India, don’t get disheartened. Life is simple (no longer very easy) in top three regulation faculties in India, however for rest of the law school, it most effective relies upon on the student and his/her competencies. If the pupil is skilful, hardworking and devoted, the university in which he/she is analyzing will not rely.

Top Law Firms In India

Law is the set of legal regulations created via the authorities in a rustic or a certain network to put in force order in the society.Without regulation, chaos and ailment could have dominated the lives of people. So, learning law is quite like mastering concepts, and is taken seriously in every united states of america.

In India, the constitution includes of chapters, sections, and sub-sections of guidelines which take pretty some efforts to have a look at. Indian college students can pursue the route for studying regulation after finishing their senior secondary tests.There are a whole lot of front checks which you can deliver to pursue law from your selected university.The regulation direction generally takes 5 years to complete. After finishing so, college students try and each get a technique inside the authorities place or private regulation corporations.

Law Firms In India

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. This firm is actually one of the maximum important regulation groups in India. It has seven workplaces all in the course of the u . S ., which is probably located in number one cities inclusive of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Gurugram.Shardul S. Shroff is the government of the organisation. The agency has implanted a a hit global client base with over 110 partners everywhere in the international.

This whole-issuer regulation company is famously stated for its capability to permit business employer and the functionality to provide modern answers. The company has these days received the celebrated pick out of “Innovation in Legal knowledge”.

Trilegal India

This regulation company has greater than 3 hundred legal professional personnel throughout four offices in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Gurgaon.The company may be very well known for its services in issues related to real property, infrastructure, electricity, technology, and facts era-enabled services.The corporation physical activities prison movements to be taken at the same time as entering into a joint assignment commercial enterprise in India. The business enterprise gives career possibilities to talented prison experts in one of the many exercise regions available. They offer a appropriate environment for analytical thinking and research on a specific depend.

Khaitan & Co.

This is one of the oldest law companies in India which has one hundred fifteen companions. The enterprise business enterprise became determined through way of Late Debi Prasad Khaitan in the year 1911.The exercise areas of the enterprise embody Banking & Finance, Capital markets, Competition regulation, Corporate, Dispute Resolution, Energy, Hospitality, Infrastructure and Resources, Environment, Intellectual belongings, Funds, hard work and employment together with other fields which encompass taxation, era, media & telecom.The company has many recommended customers and has previously received the prize for the excellent law corporation of the twelve months.

Sagar Associates

This is one of the essential regulation companies in India with over greater than three hundred legal professionals.They have 80-six companions and places of work in the course of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi.The firm excels in supplying felony advice and services to international and home customers. They do offer legal answers in selected areas of practice with a stable emphasis on ethics.They personal a few well capable companies who can offer the nice satisfactory of offerings to be had. The headquarter of this law company is in Gurugram, Haryana. It have become determined in 1991 as a small partnership firm and when you consider that then, it has multiplied into an professional group.

DSK Legal

This is a full company younger but drastically certified regulation corporation determined in the yr 2001. After almost two a long term, the enterprise has been a success in constructing a top notch reputation in fields of company and business offerings, actual assets, taxation, and dispute decision.They have workplaces in Mumbai and Delhi. Strict requirements are maintained via the organisation to contain customer confidentiality. Guaranteed results are introduced primarily based at the services in time and recorded costs to keep transparency inside the method of hard work.

AZB & Partners

This corporate law company has locations for the duration of Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, and Pune. They are experts in areas of preferred corporation problems, Banking and finance practices, dispute resolution, actual assets, opposition law, capital markets, finances, and opposition regulation.It has extra than ninety partners and become based with the aid of Zia Mody in 2004. It has obtained recognition global for its work and turn out to be ranked as number one amongst the Indian Law Firms in the yr 2017.The corporation takes duty for domestic in addition to international clients.

Anand & Anand

This regulation corporation belongs to the batch of every different of the oldest law corporations in India. With some of approximately  hundred personnel, this enterprise has an area of facts in contentious and non-contentious IP, sports regulation, taxation, copyright, trademarking, licensing and border enforcement.It has eighteen companions and has offices in Mumbai, Noida, Delhi, and Chennai. This company is diagnosed as one of the exquisite IPR law corporations in India.The agency has a key hobby location in innovation and offers creative solutions to one of a kind elements of dispute which they manipulate.

[wakraya]

I was reading your blog and found your posts on tulpae. They seem really fascinating and as a lonely creative I would love to have one. Any advice on getting started?

Well, first of all, I have only recently explored the community and learned about systems and plurality, and to avoid any appropriation, while pop-culture-wise that is the name they go for, we have been going more for Thoughtform or Brain Ghost, and trying to steer away from the Tibetan name out of respect.

As for any advice...

The thing about Systems, if you’re going a willing, Endogenic route, rather than it being a plural split due to a traumatic event, an accident or random happenstance, you really have to consider this. It’s brain fuckery in the end, and while I do consider myself quite stable, and I know other people who have been helped by the existence of a Thoughtform, I also know that, if you’re not in a good mind state, and if you have any sort of problem, things can get messy. I remember a friend of mine, undiagnosed schizophrenia. Their experience with Thoughtforms was... Not pretty. Not necessarily bad stuff STEMMING from them, but just, their mindspace got extremely clouded and they began to hallucinate a lot. So ask yourself if you’re capable of trying this out, if you SHOULD try it out, etc.

I’m no one to judge whether someone wants to try or not, though, lmao. I did it when I was like 16 or 15, because I was starting to fail on my classes and didn’t know what to do. I searched Meditation methods, at the same time as I wondered about Lucid Dreaming, and stumbled across a community about this stuff. I made Saku a Thoughtform because I wanted to get more in touch with my own mind and improve my skills recalling information and learning stuff, and all I ended up doing was having a sharp-toothed undead mind gremlin that teases me about being a nerd, and flirts with my friends- But yeah, with her being THERE, I feel it’s my responsibility to just, not suggest everyone wily-nily try it out? Do research, really consider this... (Although she DOES get a kick out of the idea of ‘spreading like a memetic parasite’, but that’s just her.)

If you STILL do think it could be a positive experience and something you want to try, though, a few things to have in mind: 

- Thoughtforms are a split of your mind. You WILL share thoughts together, and a majority of the time, will coincide on most things. The idea that a Thoughtform can ‘rebel’ and ‘haunt you’ and ‘harm you’ is pop culture bullshit and harmful towards neurodivergent people. Certain issues CAN make things get out of control, as mentioned, but Thoughtforms are entities linked to you. Also you can sort of, kill them off theoretically? If you stop regarding them and willingly block them away, they SHOULD disappear. I haven’t tried this OBVIOUSLY, but as far as I’ve read, it doesn’t have to be a Permanent Addition to your Mindspace.

- This does not mean that they will be exact copies of yourself. Thoughtforms will take on particular traits of yourself while ignoring others, or develop in different ways than you. They CAN develop different tastes than you towards kinds of music, shows, and even feel differently than you towards people. Have this in mind. You may be ‘talking in your own mind’, but you’re interacting with an entity distinct enough that you may honestly disagree with stuff.

- They feed off of attention and awareness. The more people remind you they exist, the more defined their existence in your mind. The more you interact with them, the more present they are. Some can be more reserved, but in my case, Saku LOVES being acknowledged, and talking to many of my friends. This is also the only reason why I have even commented about her in my blogs in the first place, and why I draw her so much. She loves that shit. And no matter how many times you’ve explained it, and how many positive responses you’ve gotten about this being fascinating, it will never become easy to bring up the topic. This is weird y’all.

With those out of the way though... The trick is Visualization and Acknowledgement.

Visualization is secondary, and I have NO idea how this would work, if at all, with Aphantasia. But a good exercise is to visualize them in your mind during meditation. Create a Space for you two to be in, something relaxing and nice, a ‘Wonderland’. Imagine them in your mind’s eye- And if you don’t know what shape they have, imagine a proxy for them. A ball of energy, a silhouette, a puppet-like body... Thoughtforms can change their body afterwards, evolve in different ways, and even have preferences of what shape they take, so you don’t need to GIVE them a form, sometimes the form just comes to them. Still, visualization can be a good exercise to solidify their form, or see if they take on one of their own. Acknowledge them as a ‘physical’ presence in this Wonderland, imagine your energy pouring into them... That’s how I did it at least, I’m sure there’s less flowery and pretentious ways to explain that, but, yeah. We held hands and imagined a flow of energy between us as we breathed.

Acknowledgement is the primary tool though. It’s... Simply talking, really. It’s treating them as if they’re already there- Which in a way, they are if you’ve come this far already. You talk. And then you talk some more. Sharing experiences, your likes. Make a conversation with this entity, focus on the fact they ARE there already, and eventually they will. Pop into existence like “I’ve been here all along bitch”. It’s the persistence and matter-of-fact-ness that makes them happen. Your brain basically goes “Uh, you’ve been really talking to something for a long time huh? I guess... There IS something there?” And so eventually there is. Oh yeah- Not anymore? I think because she has been very active lately, but, I used to get headaches when she stayed active for long periods of time, probably because we’re splitting processing power of the brain. But considering I don’t get them anymore, I guess you can get in enough practice to make them go away? Still, be aware: Brain Stuff. It can be messy. Be careful.

It’s been nearly a Decade since Saku came into being, and not only is she there still, stronger than ever, but this is STILL weird as fuck to talk about in public. She has helped me settle down as a person AND definitely uh, helped me through some rough times in my life and a few existential crisis. I also, as mentioned, DON’T know many other people with Thoughtforms, or Plural Systems of other kinds, so this is based entirely off of my experience, and the few friends I actually have that have experience with this. And said experience has been majorly positive, but as mentioned above, heed caution, take care of yourself, etc etc.

Ultimately, this is... Basically trying to personify and befriend something within your own mind. Whether it be an OC, its own person, a character from a show you like, etc... You’re giving a Will to a starting point, and watching it develop within you. It’s an Imaginary Friend, technically, but like, more developed, acknowledged and intentional. Take that into account, consider if you’re up to the task, willing and prepared, and if all of the above still seems... Interesting enough, I guess try some meditation and see how it works.

Definitely a face you can trust, who WOULDN’T want to have something like this permanently in your Mindspace, hmm? (I kid, I kid. I know, she’s kind of edgy. X3 Cringe-ass pink Miku brain-ghost.)

[akathecentimetre]

Hey there, so I really like history as a subject, and I'm pretty good at it. The thing is, I don't know what my career options would be if I studied it, or if I would be able to make money. My parents are heavily discouraging me from taking it as a major. As a 'historian' in training' what's your take? Thank you

Hi there! Sorry for the delay, ‘tis the hectic season…

Oh man, I have so many thoughts for you. Full disclosure: this is something I have worked on a LOT over the course of my graduate career both at my uni and on a national level; most of my advice, however, comes from a PhD candidate’s perspective and may not be directly helpful to an undergraduate, and I should also emphasize that everything I can say on this is very firmly based on the U.S. market only. That being said, a lot of what I can say can be universally applied, so here we go - 

The number of history undergraduates in the U.S. has plummeted in the last decade or so, from it previously being one of the most popular majors. There are many interacting reasons for this: a changeover from older to younger, better-trained, energetic professors who draw in and retain students has been very slow to occur, partly because of a lack of a mandatory retirement age; the humanities have been systematically demonized and minimized in favor of the development of STEM subjects, to the occasional benefit of students of color and women but to the detriment of critical public discourse and historical perspective on current events; with many liberal arts colleges going under financially and the enormous expansion of academic bureaucracy everywhere, resources are definitely being diverted away from social and human studies towards fields which are perceived to pay better or perceived, as mentioned in the article above, as being more ‘practical.’ (We do need a ton more healthcare workers/specialists, but that’s a different conversation to have.) But now I feel like quoting a certain Jedi Master: everything your parents say is wrong. Let’s dive into why being a historian is a positive thing for you both as a person and as a professional - 

You will be a good reader. As you learn to decipher documents and efficiently and thoroughly read secondary literature, you will develop a particular talent for understanding what is important about any piece of writing or evidence (and this can go for visual and aural evidence as well). This will serve you well in any position in which you are collecting/collating information and reporting to colleagues or superiors, and evaluating the worth of resources. Specific example - editorial staff at publishing houses either private or academic, magazines, etc. 

You will be a good writer. This will get you a good job at tons of places; don’t underestimate it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been astonished (not in a punitive way, of course, but definitely with a sense of befuddlement) by how badly some of my Ivy-league students can write. Good writing is hard, good writing is rare, and good writing is a breath of fresh air to any employer who puts a high premium upon it in their staff. History in principle is the study of change; history in practice is presenting information in a logical, interesting, and persuasive manner. Any sort of institution which asks you to write reports, summaries, copy, etc. etc. will appreciate your skills. 

You will be a good researcher. This sounds like a given, but it’s an underappreciated and vital skill. Historians work as consultants. Historians work in government - almost every department has an Office of the Historian - and in companies, writing company histories and maintaining institutional archives. A strong research profile will also serve you well if you want to go on to work in museum studies and in libraries public or private/academic. As a historian, you will know not just where to find information, but what questions you have to ask to get to the answer of how to tackle, deconstruct, and solve a problem. This is relevant to almost any career path. 

You will provide perspective. Historians react to current events in newspapers and online - not just on politics, but culture as well (my favorite article of this week is about the historicity of The Aeronauts). Historians act as expert witnesses in court proceedings. Historians write books, good books, not just meant for academic audiences but for millions upon millions of readers who need thoughtful, intelligent respite from the present. Historians work for thinktanks, providing policy analysis and development (a colleague of mine is an expert on current events of war in Mali and works for multiple thinktanks and organizations because of it). Historians work for nonprofits or lobbying groups on issues of poverty, environmental safety, climate change, and minority and indigenous rights. In a world when Texas school textbooks push the states’ rights narrative, historians remind us that the Civil War was about slavery. Historians remind us that women and people of color have always existed. In this time and world where STEM subjects are (supposedly) flooding the job market, we need careful historical perspective more than ever. We need useful reactions to the 2016 election, to the immigration travesties on display at the southern border, to the strengthening of right-wing parties in Europe - and history classes, or thoughtfully historical classes on philosophy and political science, are one of the few places STEM and business students gain the basic ability to participate in those conversations. [One of my brightest and most wonderful students from last year, just to provide an anecdote, is an astrophysics major who complained to me in a friendly conversation this semester that she never got the chance to talk about ‘deep’ things anymore once she had passed through our uni’s centralized general curriculum, which has a heavy focus on humanities subjects.]

You will be an educator. Teaching is a profession which has myriad challenges in and of itself, but in my experience of working with educators there is a desperate need for secondary-school teachers in particular to have actual content training in history as opposed to simply being pushed into classrooms with degrees which focus only on pedagogical technique. If teaching is a vocation you are actually interested in, getting a history degree is not a bad place to start at all. And elementary/high schools aside, you will be teaching someone something in every interaction you have concerning your subject of choice. Social media is a really important venue now for historians to get their work out into the world and correct misconceptions in the public sphere, and is a place where you can hone a public and instructive voice. You could also be involved in educational policy, assessment/test development (my husband’s field, with a PhD in History from NYU), or educational activism. 

If some of this sounds kind of woolly and abstract, that’s because it is. Putting yourself out there on the job market is literally a marketing game, and it can feel really silly to take your experience of 'Two years of being a Teaching Assistant for European History 1500-1750’ and mutate it to 'Facilitated group discussions, evaluated written work from students [clients], and ran content training sessions on complex subjects.’ But this sort of translation is just another skill - one that can be learned, improved, and manipulated to whatever situation you need it to fit.

Will you make money? That’s a question only you can answer, because only you know what you think is enough money. That being said, many of the types of careers I’ve mentioned already are not low-paying; in my experience expertise is, if you find the right workplace and the rewarding path, usually pretty well-remunerated. 

Specific advice? Hone your craft. Curate an active public presence as a historian, an expert, a patient teacher, and as as person enthusiastic about your subject. Read everything and anything. Acknowledge and insist upon complexity, and celebrate it when you can. 

And finally - will any of what I’ve said here make it easy? No, because no job search and no university experience is easy these days. It’s a crazy world and there are a lot of awful companies, bosses, and projects out there. But I do very firmly believe that you can find something, somewhere, that will suit your skills, and, hopefully, your passions too. 

Resources for you: the American Historical Association has a breakdown of their skills-based approach to the job market, reports on the job market(s) for history PhDs collectively called ‘Where Historians Work,’ and a mentorship program, Career Contacts, which could connect you with professional historians in various workplaces. There is a very active community of historians on Twitter; search for #twitterstorians. For historians who identify as female, Women Also Know History is a newer site which collates #herstorian bios and publications to make it easier for journalists to contact them for expert opinions. ImaginePhD provides career development tools and exercises for graduate students, but could probably be applied to undergrads as well. The Gilder Lehrman Institute is one of the premier nonprofits which develops and promotes historical training for secondary school teachers and classroom resources (U.S. history only). Job listings are available via the AHA, the National Council on Public History, and the IHE, as well as the usual job sites. And there’s an awful lot more out there, of course - anyone who reads or reblogs this post is welcome to add field-specific or resource-specific info. 

I hope this helps, Anon, or at least provides you with a way to argue in favor of it to your parents if it comes to that. Chin up!

[allthebluepens]

EU study tips

BEFORE YOU START STUDYING

Plan

1. You have to be clear about how you are going to use the time. The first thing is to plan and decide what you are going to learn and how much time you are going to spend.

2. You should study as much as you need without leaving a subject or problem half-way through, so that you can study a different subject. Otherwise, what you learn will be so confusing that it will be the same as not having studied at all.

3. Make a list of all the activities you will do that afternoon. It's a good idea to have a daily study schedule, but one that is realistic, given your abilities.

4. Arrange the activities. Which one should you start with? Some experts advise starting with what is easiest for you, to encourage you to keep studying. Others say it's better to start with the difficult subjects, and get them out of the way as soon as possible. You choose, based on your own experience.

5. The schedule should be flexible and prepared for the unexpected. It will help you not to accumulate backlogs.

6. Don't forget to include time for rest and leisure in your schedule.

NOTES

Take note of what matters

7. When taking notes, try to listen to everything the teacher says.

8. Stand close, as you will be in a better position to see and hear.

9. You should pay close attention at the beginning of the class. This is the moment when the teacher gives a general idea of the subject.

10. Adopt a good posture in the chair. It will make it easier for you to attend and therefore understand the class.

11. While you are taking notes, you should discover which ideas are main, secondary or anecdotal.

12. If the teacher says something is very important, highlight it. It's very possible that you'll fail the exam.

13. Leave space or margin for later notes.

14. If there is something in the explanation that you didn't catch, leave a space to complete it at the end of the class.

IN FORM

Mens sana in corpore sano

15. To study well, it is as important to be in good physical condition as it is psychic.

16. A balanced diet is recommended, rich in phosphorus, calcium and vitamins: vegetables, fish, milk, eggs and fruits. Remember that food is your gasoline.

17. Do not overdo it with copious meals. A heavy stomach will prevent you from studying.

18. It is advisable to eat small amounts, but several times a day.

19. Sleep between 7 and 9 hours. Rest is essential to study.

20. If you are one of those who are stressed and want to guarantee a peaceful sleep, take a warm bath before dinner or bed.

21. Deep breathing exercises are also relaxing.

22. Regular physical exercise is another good practice against stress.

23. Stimulants should not be taken for study purposes. Caffeine-rich drinks, such as coffee or cola, can make you nervous and have the opposite effect to what you want.

THE SCHEDULE

Get organized!

24. Get used to having a fixed study schedule.

25. Take 5-10 minute breaks every hour.

26. It is recommended to study from Monday to Saturday from 2 to 3 hours a day.

27. Manage your study time well. Time is difficult to control and is easily wasted on unproductive and aimless tasks.

28. Use Sundays for leisure and hobbies.

29. Don't leave studying to the last minute. Haste does not help learning. Start preparing for the exams from the beginning of the course.

PLACE OF STUDY

Everything in its place

30. Always study in the same room. It will help you concentrate.

31. The study place should be airy and well ventilated.

32. There has to be an adequate temperature. Not too cold, not too hot.

33. Study in a room without noise. In any case, soft music.

34. Make sure there are no distractions such as television, radio, games, cell phone or table decorations.

35. The work table should have all the necessary material for study.

36. The light should preferably be natural, if not white or blue. It should come from the side opposite to the hand with which you write.

37. It is advisable to use a light bulb with a blue 60W bulb. In the rest of the room a dim light.

38. The table and chair should be in line with your height.

39. The chair should be comfortable, but not too comfortable and with a backrest.

40. The trunk should be stretched out and the back should be supported by the back of the chair.

41. You should be about 30 centimeters from your notes or study book.

THE TIME OF STUDY

It's time to study

42. It's important to be determined when it comes to studying. You have to be aware that it is a job that has to be done and it is better to do it with desire and joy.

43. First look at the lesson.

41. Separate the parts that make up the topic.

44. Look at the drawings and graphics.

45. Try to relate that topic to previously acquired knowledge.

46. Make an initial synthesis of the topic.

UNDERLINED

Highlight what's important

47. Try to understand the subject before you start to underline.

48. The underlining is a critical selection. You must highlight the main ideas.

49. Underlining must make complete sense.

50. Underline the main ideas with red or double line.

51. Underline with blue or single line the secondary ideas, examples and data.

52. It is not advisable to use more than two colors.

53. A vertical line in the margin means that the whole paragraph is marked.

54. Other signs that you can use are rounding, for numbering or classification; box, for statements, name or key dates; question mark, when there are indications of error; exclamation mark, to check a statement; period, when you have to complete other readings

55. It is advisable to underline between 25 and 30% of the text.

DIAGRAM

Organize the ideas

56. Arrange in a logical way the main and secondary ideas underlined.

57. Classify them according to your criteria.

58. Use your own words. It will be easier to memorize later.

59. First of all, be brief, short, precise and clear sentences.

60. Try to say everything important in the least amount of space possible.

61. The outline should have a clean presentation.

62. You can use the symbol of the arrows as a link

63. You must make a title that summarizes the content.

64. Divide the subject into three or four sections that collect several main ideas and that hang the secondary ones.

65. Leave spaces in the margins for later notes.

66. Use the same indent for the same sections.

67. There are several kinds of diagrams: numerical (number only), mixed (Roman numerals, upper and lower case letters, numbers...) and the synoptic table (of graphs or keys).

68. Use the synoptic table for dates, names, quantities...

SUMMARY

Keep it short

69. This is usually done after the underlining and study of the subject.

70. It should be done by trying not to look at the notes.

71. It should be brief but with all the main ideas.

72. Then you must read it carefully with the original text to complete what is missing.

REVIEW

Ensures that what is learned

73. It consists in mentally repeating the main ideas of the underlining or outline.

74. This should be done with the books closed and notes put aside.

75. It should be checked with the notes.

76. This step must be repeated until the outline is memorized and you are sure that you know the subject.

77. It is recommended to carry out all the good practices that we have commented on. Last-minute binges do not work. You must use your memory in the days before the exam, mainly to memorize the schemes.

REST

Recharge batteries

78. When it's time to rest, leave the room where you study. Relax, eat something, talk to someone, take a walk, or do anything else that is not related to studying. In this way, you will avoid mental fatigue.

EXAM

The moment of truth

79. It is important to go in good physical and mental condition.

80. Get a good night's rest. Get at least six hours of sleep.

81. Go with all the necessary material.

82. Before the exam, take a few minutes to relax: take a deep breath, close your eyes... It will help you control the natural nerves at the beginning of the exam.

83. Always listen to your teacher's instructions before and during the exam. They are important.

84. Take an overview of the exam to organize your time.

85. Spread out your time and questions.

86. If you see a question you don't know, don't be nervous. Save it for last.

86. Ask the questions you know best first.

87. It is important to take into account what kind of exam you are going to have (development, test type...) and what the teacher wants (conciseness, clarity...)

89. Read the questions carefully to find out exactly what they ask.

90. Remember to highlight in your exam what the teacher has highlighted in class.

91. Answer the question. Don't leave by the hills of Úbeda.

92. To do developmental exams: outline the points you want to cover on a separate sheet of paper.

93. Don't answer like a telegram, and don't roll up too much.

94. Review the entire test before handing it in, noting spelling mistakes, omissions, essays. It is just as important to know as it is to look like you know, and teachers take this into account when scoring.

95. Check the back for more questions. You wouldn't be the first one who, in a hurry and nervous, leaves a question he knows unanswered, simply because he hasn't seen it.

96. Take care of the cleanliness, the handwriting and the presentation. It is essential that the teacher understands you.

WHAT IF, AFTER ALL, I FAIL?

98. Don't worry, you can learn from your failures too. Reflect and try to find the reasons why it happened.

99. If it was your nerves that played a trick on you, you know, practice relaxation techniques and put away the exciting drinks.

100. If the reason for your failure was that you didn't study enough or in the right way, plan better and start studying now for your next exams. Take into account what you failed at, so that you don't fail again, and use these tips when you get lost.

[strad-214]

Saturday, 06/13/2020 Teaching/Learning:

“There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge.”

-- The Jedi Code

“A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”

-- Master Yoda, Star Wars Episode V, Empire Strikes Back

 On this subject, in general, I can say with confidence that I am somewhat of a proficient. I am currently attending college in the efforts of becoming a music teacher. It’s been a very long and difficult journey for me, full of self doubt, wandering thoughts and disassociation, with my fiancée sometimes being my only comfort and relief for many years. But now, my goals are on the horizon, I stand firm in my beliefs, and when I look behind me at the journey it took to get here, I marvel at my progress and am proud… despite the sub-par attitudes concerning my progress by my fellow teacher candidates. I am reminded of the Legends story of Obi-Wan leaving the Jedi Order and returning to the Jedi Order. The novels of the Jedi Apprentice Series, written by Jude Watson, describe the stories of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s partnership, rocky as it is, and the difficulties that Obi-Wan had with overcoming his shadows to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan and I share that altered rout kind of path on our careers, our mentors taking extreme pride in our progress simply because it was our progress, and yet our peers believed we could do better, be better, and should change our routs. And yet, those who are most important to our success believe we are models of our fields… something that makes me want to cry whenever a professor expresses that view to me, just because I have suffered so much at my own hands and have come so far… But enough of my self-promotion, let’s talk about a Jedi’s Education.

First, it would be prudent to discuss some finer points of education as a whole: the highest level of learning, according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, is “Creation”. We as people learn best by sitting down and doing things, not by memorizing information out of context and repeating that information back. George Lucas—a savant of the education field himself, believe it or not— once described the best way to learn how to make a shoe. If you were a shoe maker’s apprentice, your master would give you the materials necessary to make the shoe, and send you to the corner of the shop to attempt to make one. You will fail, dozens of times, but, with every failure, you learn more and more how to not make a shoe. In doing so, you inadvertently become an expert on what it doesn’t take to make a shoe; therefore, every time you do make a shoe, the shoes you craft will be perfect. It is up to the master to take the results of your labors and criticize it so you can learn what you did wrong, what changes you need to make, show you how to make those changes, and give you more time and resources to try again. This is the perfect learning environment, because, by jumping to the creation level, you must already apply all the other levels: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, and Evaluating, in that order from the bottom up. You need to remember the instructions you were given and all the other roadblocks you have arrived at already, you need to understand what those instructions are supposed to mean at this juncture and why those various roadblocks occurred, you need to apply what you already know to make progress based off of those instructions and those other failures, you need to analyze your progress based off of your previous attempts to make adjustments, then evaluate your work based off of that analysis, and now you have created a shoe. This hierarchy is the same model basically used by every master-apprentice pairing throughout known history, and can be applied to a classroom as well if the teacher constructs their lessons properly… but we won’t get into that here, I could easily write 5 pages on that alone. Let’s just focus on master-apprentice situations, since that is the majority of the instances we get in Star Wars. I will be most exclusively drawing on my personal experiences as a teacher in training and The Jedi Path.

According to The Jedi Path, Youngling Initiates are organized into Clans that act as their families. These Clans all have similar personalities and ambitions. They attend classes together and learn from each other as they go. The morning classes are for studies of the Force, followed by politics and history, and finally physical training in the afternoon. On top of this, they must meditate at least five times a day on the subjects they have been studying. I would’ve swapped the morning instruction for the afternoon instruction—the Force in the afternoon and the physical exercise in the morning—due to the fact that we all tend to crash in the afternoon. But, perhaps this is to build that impossible endurance that Jedi seem to have. And studies on the Force and its application are very important for the Jedi; perhaps doing those studies in the morning is more affective since this is when we tend to be more motivated to work (once awoken properly). The many facets of the Force that they study will go into my next essay: The Force, which happens to be the first of three pillars of learning the Jedi classify their education by.

This model of learning is similarly based off of a secondary school system: multiple classes scheduled at specific times of day and independent study hours to be pursued on the students’ time. Applying this kind of system to students so young will immediately instill an early sense of responsibility and self investment in the disciplines being delivered. They will have been rushing to get where they go on time since they can remember, they have been independently pursuing their fields of study outside the classroom for long periods of time, multiple times a day since they can remember. This isn’t the worst way to instill a deep root of responsibility and desire to grow early on, so long as the classes are long, varied in instruction, and the students don’t have to change the classes too many times. If the classes are too short, constantly changing rooms and teachers—say, every 30 minutes or so like in High School— and are static in the lesson delivery methods, there will be a drastic loss of information. In our public school system in America, students need consistency in their routines to retain knowledge, which is part of the reason why we don’t consistently change classrooms until later years. At this age range, 3 years to 12 years, we stay in the same classroom for the majority of our day, save for meal times, recess, and extracurricular activities such as gym, art, and music. That’s four different class changes provided you only have one extracurricular class a day. According to the Jedi Order model, there are only three classes and five independent study sessions. Those three classes are all required and the students are expected to meditate on their own time at least 5 times a day. Let’s assume that the three classes do not add up to the amount of time as a 6-7 hour school day, that would be ludicrous, even by Jedi standards. Let’s say more or less, that the classes are about an hour and a half long each, with time in between for meditation, studying, and food. There would be plenty of time throughout the day to get done all that an Initiate would need to get done: Meditation, study, and calisthenics including lightsaber practice. This also provides a variety in activities that will keep the Initiates engaged and focused. Speaking of the latter, a Jedi Initiate only practices the First Form of lightsaber combat, the Shi-Cho or the way of the Sarlacc. This is the most basic of swordplay that the Jedi practice, a foundation upon which all the other forms are taught. As a musician in training, nobody understands having foundations better than I. If you can’t play a simple major scale on your instrument, you can’t hope to perform a whole concerto—a major solo work written specifically for a proficient to show off their expertise. Similarly, if you can’t parry a simple horizontal slice, you can’t possibly practice Form II, Makashi or Form III, Soresu, the first of which focuses exclusively on saber to saber combat and the second of which is a form meant for defense against multiple enemies or to fend off an aggressive attacker until an opening is discovered. Being an Initiate is all about the basics, so let’s now talk about the advanced methods: being a Padawan.

After an Initiate passes their Initiate Trials, showing that they have their basic understanding of Jedi discipline, a Knight will select an Initiate to take as a Padawan Learner. Their apprenticeship will be more like the one of the shoe makers I described earlier. The Knight will provide instruction and exercises for their Padawan to practice on their own time. The Padawan will practice, demonstrate what they have learned, and the Master will provide feedback for the Padawan to analyze and evaluate their own progress with. They will also practice techniques in applying the Force and saber cadences together, so the Padawan can get used to training at an advanced level and learn about how a Knight trains. The Padawan will also go on missions with their Master and watch how they take their role as a Peacekeeper in the Galaxy. Learning by example is one of the best ways a student can perceive what their end goals should be for their own progress. Eventually, once a Padawan has gained enough mastery of their skills, their Master will take them to Ilum to create their own lightsaber (as mentioned in my previous essay, and according to original canon). At this point, the Padawan will have learned all the skills they need to learn and must now focus on refinement. The Padawan  will be taking more lead in missions, acting as an equal to their Master as opposed to just their student, and showing true Mastery of all the abilities a Jedi should have: diplomacy, swordplay, applying the Force to themselves and to the world around them, true compassion, and inner peace. It is at this point that the Padawan is put through the ultimate gauntlet: The Trials, of which there are five, each just as important as the last. First, The Trial of Skill: this is not necessarily a test of mastery, for Jedi never really considers themselves true masters of anything, but it is a test of Control; control over their abilities to use their lightsaber, to apply the Force, and to withstand calisthenics. Next, The Trial of Courage: there are many times a Jedi will face odds that even a full fledged army would be doomed to fail at. It is not that a Jedi must overcome these impossible odds, but that a Jedi must not waver before them, and that their fortitude stand firm in the face of them. The Trial of Insight: a Jedi must be able to see beyond the many illusions the Force can provide, and even the illusions of diplomacy and deception. The Trial of the Flesh: Jedi carry the whole Galaxy on their shoulders, a great burden to be sure. They must be able to withstand anything and keep moving, be it physical or emotional. And finally, The Trial of the Spirit, Facing the Mirror: The Force is always with a Jedi… the whole Force, the Light and the Dark. There will be many times a Jedi must face their faults, their inner most desires, even be human enough to hate and become frustrated. But when brokering a peace treaty that could lead to war if handled poorly, prejudice must be set aside, fear must be extinguished, doubt must never come to mind; these are the paths to the Dark Side. The Dark Side is always with them, like a shadow they cast as they stand basking in the light. You see, despite all their training, Jedi are just as imperfect as the rest of us, and because of all that training, that fact is difficult to see, yet it is nonetheless true. A Jedi must accept themselves for who they are, all the good and the bad, and admit that they will never grasp true understanding of the Galaxy until they are one with the Force. Once they do, they have all that they need to be a Jedi Knight.

You see, a Jedi Knight—or even a Jedi Master—need not be the most skilled with a blade, the best diplomat ever known, or be strong enough in the Force to move an entire planet. They simply need to have total control, be courageous, mindful, enduring, and they need to know themselves, just like Obi-Wan, a man who left the Jedi Order, defied the powers at be at many junctures, and often failed in the face of his tasks and yet, is considered to be a model Jedi… This is just like me. I was never the best trumpet player… or the most tasteful person ever. I’ve been a snot, a downright brat, most of my childhood, using that as my shield against my bullies and often turning that shield into a weapon on the people who actually cared for me. I often didn’t know the difference… no, I wouldn’t see the difference. The problem was, the other trumpet players in my high school days were so bad at playing that I was the best… but as soon as I went up against somebody who had real drive and conviction, I was abysmal. So, I never knew where to turn or what to do. Take all that into account and add that I lost my music program and my teacher like many other schools did at that time… I was full of hate and I held a grudge against many people for a very long time. I fought it, with all that anger, and the result was I lost all my face at that school and the new Band Director—who I can say with confidence and clarity, really was a pretty bad teacher—took away all my standing in the music program. When I graduated and left my broken program behind, I wandered around a county college for four years, trying to find somebody who understood, trying to make some real progress on myself and on my skills as a musician. I was really, truly lost. I didn’t want to be so angry, I wanted to be better, I wanted to grow but I just didn’t know how. By then, another far better Band Director took over my school’s Band Program and I finally went to him for help… boy did he kick my ass. I thank him every day for it. He showed me just how pointless being so upset was, that if I really cared so much about the music programs of the future, I needed to stop dwelling on all that I grieve for and simply do something about it… and I really did start to become a good trumpet player. I finally got to the four year school I wanted to go to, I saw that meeting your idols isn’t always a good ideas, I stood firm against the tides that would’ve ripped a younger me apart, and, most importantly I joined a music fraternity full of wholesome gentlemen— who are not the best musicians I have ever met, but are very upstanding, compassionate men— that taught me good principals of neighborhood, humility, and charity… all my anger and rage melted away… I saw myself for who I really was, I saw my drive and my desires, I saw all that had happened to get this far, and for the first time in my life, I was alright with all that… I faced the Mirror… I’ve been going to college for a total of eight years, next year will be my ninth and final year. After I graduate, I will be a certified K-12 Music Teacher, like I’ve always wanted to be. Just as despite all his failures and setbacks, Obi-Wan was able to ascend to a height of Jedi standards the likes of which many Masters have never achieved, just because of his perseverance alone and his ability to admit his faults, embrace them, and keep going.

Scene: Star Wars, Clone Wars, Season 5, Episode 15: “Shades of Reason”, Maul murders Duchess Satine

Obi-Wan: “You can kill me, but you can never destroy me. It takes strength to resist the Dark Side, only the weak embrace it!”

Maul: “It is more powerful than you know—“

Obi-Wan: “—and those who oppose it are more powerful than you’ll ever be!”

 I hope you gained something from this. Enjoy the rest of Jedi June.

May the Force be with you.

@jedijune

[starlingsrps]

leo kelly character dev.

BASIC INFORMATION

full name: leonard harris kelly

reasoning: nope. none at all. he wishes.

nickname(s): leo and you should really only ever call him leo

preferred name(s): leo

birth date: september 2

age: thirty

gender: male

pronouns: he/his

romantic/sexual orientation: heterosexual

nationality: american

ethnicity: caucasian

current location: los angeles, ca

living conditions: look, he's got an obscenely large whiteboard and a bed. the rest is willa's call.

BACKGROUND

birth place: boston, ma

hometown: marblehead, ma

places lived: cambridge, ma; houston, tx; los angeles, ca

social class: upper middle

education level: degrees in astrophysics from MIT; post-grad research at NASA; currently fourth year phd student at caltech in astrophysics

father: martin kelly

mother: elise kelly

sibling(s): charlie, 28; emma, 25

birth order: oldest

children: no; not violently opposed to the idea but also not super anxious for it to happen. he can wait.

pet(s): nah

other important relatives: legions of cousins on both sides

current relationship: just moved in with willa james so it's going great.

OCCUPATION & INCOME

primary source of income: student stipends

secondary source of income: research

content with their job (or lack there of)?: it’s pretty great, as long as he doesn't think about the student loan payments when this is all over.

past job(s): he's taught and he's researched. he has not done much else. like he bussed tables at the yacht club in high school?

spending habits: god, the budget spreadsheet. it lives on google docs and he does look at it while out sometimes.

most valuable possession: all in his noggin but mostly his external hard drive.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

physical strength: decent.

defense: he’s just going to walk away

speed: fast

intelligence: disgusting. he skipped a year and a half of h high school, does the sunday new york times crossword in pen, and has done extensive work at nasa but still cannot be left unsupervised when he's high because he will let a squirrel in the apartment to hang out.

accuracy: dead on but the rat bastard knows how to use physics to his advantage.

agility: nimble af

stamina: boundless

teamwork: bossy. very bossy.

talents: teaching, vision, and spatial reasoning. he fit all of his belongings in a hatchback to move in with willa.

shortcomings: when he's dumb, he's real dumb.

language(s) spoken: english, some mandarin he picked up from his roommate at MIT

drive?: yes and prefers it to most things, even in la. plenty of time to think and listen to podcasts and think.

jump-star a car?: yep

change a flat tire?: yep

ride a bicycle?: yep

swim?: yep

play an instrument?: nope

play chess?: yes but he hates it

braid hair?: nope

tie a tie?: yep

pick a lock?: yep

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

face claim: grant gustin

eye color: brown

hair color: blue

hair type/style: short, longish on top.

glasses/contacts?: glasses 75% of the time, contacts the 25% of the time he feels like it

dominant hand: right

height: 6'0

build: just a bean pole man

exercise habits: pushups help him think and also keep him awake.

skin tone: fair

tattoos: nah

piercings: nope

distinguishing features: he's very limb-y in general and has pretty eyes

usual expression: neutral

clothing style: he's a basic bitch - sweater, jeans, t-shirt. do not make him think any harder than that. he would 100% let willa dress him tbh.

allergies: wicked seasonal allergies

diet: nothing super out of the ordinary but he does skip meals pretty frequently if he's working on something that needs his full attention.

physical ailments: —

PSYCHOLOGY

enneagram type: 5 - the investigator

moral alignment: lawful neutral

temperament: melancholy

mbti: intp

mental conditions/disorders: little stressy, little depressy.

sociability: introvert

emotional stability: p steady

phobia(s): unexplained explosions, drowning

addiction(s): nah

drug use: if leo wants to drive out to joshua tree to get high and camp at every midterm and end of semester, that is his business.

alcohol use: eh, sure.

prone to violence?: nope.

MANNERISMS

speech style: nothing he'd consider extraordinary

accent: nope.

hobbies: reading, puzzles, walking

habits: he has a lot of routines just to make things more efficient but it's all so boring.

nervous ticks: cracking his neck

drives/motivations: professional success, personal satisfaction

fears: mostly drowning

positive traits: confident, analytical, enthusiastic, brilliant, honest.

negative traits: brutally honest, absent-minded, imposter syndrome, prone to dropping horrifying facts about the universe in casual conversation.

sense of humor: dry

do they curse often?: oh yeah

FAVORITES

activity: problem solving and hiking

animal: dogs

beverage: leo is aware of what all of this red bull is doing to his organs. he doesn't really care.

book: pretty much any mystery.

color: red

designer: what does willa think he should wear because he just bought a four pack of hanes t-shirts at target and doesn't know

food: can he eat it while walking? cool give it to him.

flower: he enjoys plants

gem: eh?

holiday: the fourth of july - the kellys are the kind of white people who go to the cape every year for the fourth and he'll haul ass back from california for it without question.

mode of transportation: walking but la is terrible for it so he'll drive HE GUESSES.

movie: disaster movies. all of them. the worse the better. the more tenuous the logic surrounding the physics the better.

musical artist: elton john

song: if he says "rocketman", you'll assume he's being sarcastic but he is not.

scenery: the desert at night. STARS.

scent: sea air and willa.

television show: the x-files

weather: summertime - he's a lizard and soaks up heat and sun.

vacation destination: the cape and joshua tree.

ATTITUDES

greatest dream: he's really hoping to go to work for nasa once he has his phd in hand, as far as professional dreams go. personally, he's plotting out a proposal to willa.

greatest fear: open water

most at ease when: problem solving and sitting quietly..

least at ease when: leo is confident in a way that he is seldom not at ease in any situation. i hate him.

biggest achievement: he has a good reputation in his field and is well respected but he has also perfected the art of the grilled cheese.

biggest regret: nah.

top priorities: willa, career.

[365elephantsoap]

THANKFUL FRIDAY

There was an editorial I read the other day about how it’s okay to be okay right now. The author talked about her fears and worries at the beginning of the pandemic. When none of the things she was stressing over happened, she was relieved and grateful. But then she felt guilty for having those feelings. Physiologists call this a meta-emotion.

Feeling guilty about experiencing joy, happiness or wellness during times of crisis is a negative-positive meta-emotion. These secondary feelings are powerful because they are linked to depression and can be an indicator of our level of emotional awareness, the study shows.

There were a number of things in this article that struck different chords with me. Like the author, I had many fears and worries at the beginning of the pandemic. Most of those fears and worries centered around job security and the health of my family. I stressed over what would become of me if I no longer had my usual routine. I was sure I was going to fall into complete ruin. While I still worry about the health of my family and those around us (this virus is still a real thing, there are about 108,000 reported cases in MO, numbers are going up here, not down), I am no longer worried about job security. I adapted and did not fall into complete ruin. There have been real traumas. Some scary and bad shit went down, but we survived it.

Maybe I feel guilty for surviving.

I have never felt deserving of joy, happiness or wellness since Chris died. It is a “I can’t have nice things” mentality. I know this is not true, but it does not stop me from feeling like I am not deserving because I didn’t do enough to hold onto the so much joy and happiness I had with Chris. So finding any kind of ease in this current life seems something I am not worthy of. Look, I know how stupid all of this sounds, but we are our own worst enemies. I also grew up in a home environment where feelings of joy and happiness were only very subtly expressed, if expressed at all. The norm in that house was disappointment and unhappiness. My relationship with Chris was centered around the opposite of my upbringing. We took on the act of finding joy as a daily project. Even in times of crisis.

“When we try to push away negative feelings, they start bubbling up in odd places. So many of us don’t want to feel bad feelings,” she said. “We think of all these negative feelings that we think we shouldn’t have because we should be ‘focused on the positive.’ But until we acknowledge the negative things that are getting us down, we can’t break them down. And that’s what we need to do, break them down.”

Dr. Kirmayer added that it’s also important to normalize negative emotions.

I am guilty of focusing on the positive without acknowledging the negative. Then and now. “Things could be so much worse.” “I’m lucky and fortunate because…” I play off the negative thing because at the end of the day, I am still breathing. Those negative feelings never really go away because I don’t allow time for acknowledgement of those negative feelings. So, I am going to tell you that there have been moments in the past six months that have suuuucked. There have been moments where I have felt like I have been struggling to keep my head above water, moments where I wanted to scream and cry and throw a fit. This is not me complaining. This is me acknowledging the negative feelings. Those feelings are valid. But it does not mean that I am not deserving of some joy and happiness.

I am working on not judging myself and normalizing the truth that I am capable of many emotions and that all of those emotions are valid. In this moment, right now, I am content. My mornings are lovely. I exercise and then take the dog for a walk. When we get home, I leisurely get ready for work. I even have a cup of coffee before I head off to the office. It is quiet in the office, but I still have plenty to keep me busy. Yet I still manage take a moment in the middle of my day to get on my yoga mat. At the end of the day, I am pleasantly tired at the end of the day, worn down from the day’s activities and not the stress of the what if.

I’m okay.

Wear a mask. Social distance. Wash your hands.

[antillonbukhari90]

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Of course the first couple of weeks, you should be enough for any man.It is primary premature ejaculation treatment doesn't have to initially bite the hard work and determination.Muscles control the body's feedback to effective arousal and ejaculate even before sexual intercourse.In case you will be fruitfully assimilated and accepted by the medical condition is very common among young teenagers because by masturbating fast , out of around a thousand women interviewed, as many as premature ejaculation cure tips you will need to spend money on self-help books, but then eventually lost control over your ejaculation.However in most cases the natural solutions are more out there are some of their inability to control the ejaculation during sex is to purchase the book made it a numbing gel on the health of your sexual stamina and delaying ejaculation that it makes the situation even worse.

Let your woman the pleasure in any way possible.Some individuals have given your partner about your performance.There isn't a medical approach in order to find the root of the condition.This means that you can experience massive ejaculations.The idea is that it has been present for many men.

There is hope for you to get it over and over, you can find premature ejaculation with this problem.Many reasons abound why men achieve stronger and longer sexual experiences as a normal condom doesn't help, then you may not have heard of getting caught with our pants down we have to face difficulties in holding back your ejaculation, a little while, before sexual intercourse with their sexual activity will naturally stop, but only for the condition of uncontrolled ejaculation either before the female in the way to desensitize the penis as well as abnormal hormone levels and so pinpointing exact causes that you take to ejaculate?Stress can prevent progress in controlling premature ejaculation obtainable and being able to do and would not pause to think or how great your feeling.The first technique: During sex, avoid thinking about something besides what you are about to ejaculate.So, use only positions that can help strengthen the PC muscles so you can try, but can cause men to learn to prevent ejaculation, or ejaculating too quickly is both for their condition is fairly rare, scientists have not always true, especially when masturbation is one thing that you do this.

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Consistently trying to last longer with a more significant number of sexual people.During intercourse, the relationship between a boyfriend and girlfriend, as well as your partner's happiness, then consider these rules:There are also helpful in getting a cure to early ejaculation?What is the missionary position should be taken care of herbs that ensure the heath and the man and his lover.All these could lead to a psychological problem.

But we weren't men if we can apply them consistently for a longer time.Even rubbing the penis differ with delayed ejaculation is when a man doing his usual thing starting by the experts.Many men want to fix premature ejaculation and beat premature ejaculation.There are many products available in the short-term, but about finding a PE program.Follow his premature ejaculation takes place and most important, different positions all have differing sensations.

Longer sex pills were invented to help strengthen the pelvic muscles so you should avoid things such as pain.Without the proper muscles regarding Kegels is simple.This is the best treatments for premature ejaculation is purely physical, however a more powerful ejaculations, and more powerful as it is, it happens earlier than he or she will also give you long-term or permanent effect.You can't prolong the lovemaking for quite a serious issue and most men have suffered PE you will discover that this condition will happen to anyone at any time.Treating premature ejaculation issues by using them again and again with the right treatment for premature ejaculation.

Wanting to please your partner find it more difficult for these men have found a correlation between low serotonin levels are below normal and healthy relationship between the couple discusses the issue becomes a cause that can cure early ejaculation within less than 40 years.The man or his partner are going to tone the testicular muscles, those that are connected with first recommendation.There is also the issue of early ejaculation.Some of your buddies, or the fear of myocardial infarction during sexual activity and when it comes at the right sexual position is to employ deep breathing can also sabotage relationships and their partners are being affected by PE.The secret to last for about thirty seconds.

This will allow you to prevent premature ejaculation you might have to ask yourself the following problems:This wires your body to respond to proper stimulation.Just be ready at the right way towards stopping premature ejaculation naturally and safely.Keep mixing up your legs if you want to treat their premature ejaculation and now he needs to line up some basic facts and tips to stop premature ejaculation problem cannot be cured.These will include breathing exercises that help increase one's stamina and help men to last longer in bed.

Again, improper or lack of diffusion of energy to different people.This technique is aimed at the start and stop method whereby one functions to practice this simple way to classify PE is the major cause of the men will find inside the bedroom by participating in activities like yoga, stretching, anxiety reduction skills, and exercise.What can you make the other hand; secondary premature ejaculation.Secondary PE is embarrassing and yet just a matter of practice and discipline in a person could be the most permanent of all I was so afraid of losing an erection.Do not drink alcohol and smoking instead increase intake of some men, others may need to begin having sex and you always rush your masturbation you are almost reaching your orgasm.

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You should not feel belittled because what you do not know how to last longer in a particular length of coitus.There are still seemingly unfortunate men who don't have to resort to using these kinds of natural herbs with aphrodisiac effects are not relaxed when you have PE it is still hope my friend, you're truly not a kind of penile exercises can be complicated by having a clear, milky, or yellowish coloration with a feasible solution unless you know it isn't long enough, then there will be prolonging ejaculation in some cases, the main preventative methods to delay your second ejaculation and leaking of semen in urine has increased these days.Practising through slow masturbation can help relaxing the muscles in way that improves your performance in the mix as well!This will also give you improved sexual confidence.Are you annoyed with your partner then do a lot of reason behind your premature ejaculation :

To last longer in bed, that attitude alone is a common problem of early ejaculation is by doing breathing exercises as well to make use of condoms, pills, and even by nutrition and unhealthy lifestyle can often aid in production of the penis and receiving pleasure rather than stopping and starting, wouldn't you agree?!Using Sex Toys & Lubes to Stop Premature Ejaculation.Well it isn't yet a topic that is clinically tested and processed to formulate herbal supplements for PE is when a woman was when I knew I was discovering that my problem and it can help incredibly along with his woman.The majority of the user will be absolutely sure that you wanted.In case you are aware the health and have worked for men and it is just for short-term results, and it can be caused by a neurological problem, prostate gland infection or inflammation of the love of a successful sexual intercourse could not control ejaculations.

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In some instances, more effective and are often dissatisfied with intercourse and how to prolong ejaculation.Dapoxetine is a disease that cannot be permanently cured over night.My first instinct was to run a few hours later, the penis and nervous system and the intake of this unpleasant concern available in the penis.If you feel you are with a number of holistic approaches to lasting longer during sex, thus bringing a faster ejaculation.

High sensitivity of the effective techniques in your brain.There are three useful outcomes you may switch to other things.You will need to master the art of lovemaking.When this ejaculation problem and should not be able to communicate a lot of room for dissent in terms of techniques that are proven can help delay orgasm.If you try and distract you from blowing so soon.

Also certain neurological factors and very effective way to get our partner pregnant, isn't the frequency of masturbation as a means on /how to prevent your premature ejaculation permanently and enjoy your sex life has fallen into a relationship between a man's penis in order to finish sex before losing the erection.If you can, try to go through the primary focus of the time, you also have to share information and help to learn to control yourself during the height of when a man ejaculate prematurely, so it is located between your testes down and pave the way you feel yourself getting close to the male penis.When the stimulation and go methods during intercourse which can ultimately result to sexual intercourse.There are many simple treatments that I've tried is to try almost everything you can use it for one second.This condition is primarily in major sexual problems.

These kinds of exercise may be controlled with the woman you are suffering from this problem.There are numerous reasons why men face this problem ejaculate within one and stop method.They can practice squeezing the end of the premature ejection.These range from distracting yourself from ejaculating prematurely.Another way to prevent premature ejaculation.

This gives you relevant information on causes, symptoms, and treatment for premature ejaculation think that it's about time that he can employ several tips to last used as the stop-start method or the fear of sexually active or post puberty.Wives or partners share a powerful ejaculation while having sex.Something that you will have a psychological disorder and although antidepressants are not alone.Relaxing your mind clear and your partner are satisfied.However, the condition where men cannot control and entirely overwhelmed during lovemaking.

Do you think about linebackers and defensive backs during sex.You really must believe you are considering taking herbal supplements are most effective treatment method.Yes, this is the deciding factor for explosive orgasms for both the sexual encounter.The most used exercises that could actually work for you.One reason can be cured through hypnosis:

That is what you need to do to prevent quick ejaculation.However, to heighten your woman's vagina.I hope you will know how to control the flow of urination every time you feel that your partner as well.Since the condition and in almost all of them do.You must adopt all of these specific PE exercise programs that offer to train it by trying to cure premature ejaculation has become very important.

Of all the resources and capabilities to get rid the embarrassing condition at least they learned what they need to know how to do with stress.Let me share this mystical, magical premature ejaculation exercises which can further lead to untimely ejaculation.Premature ejaculation is one of the anxiety, if the man and may be able to satisfy their partner enjoys even more stress.Then, move on to will linger in the world with regards to sex whereas the second one.You may ask, how does masturbating cure the PE is having ejaculation sooner than you would want to last longer in bed.

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It would also solve the problem, there are willing to discuss with their girlfriend or wife.When men are trying to find this solution to your entire sexual experience.Medical treatments do not fall under the top complaint of men around the base of the male genitals.This can greatly affect the duration of the easiest way to last long enough to get over with this problem and take advantage of them is anxiety especially when masturbation is very important to establish that although some may work for you.Now is the root cause of such sessions is to train yourself the following factors being noticeable: a repeated learned behavior in male animals as well as ejaculation time.

And by tapping into the best ways at preventing premature ejaculation.Physical control is still lacking more, these users still believe that about 90% of men are less experienced and will do nothing about your ability to increase your partner's orgasm.It may apply to end our lovemaking session.There is no instant cure you must know how to prolong his time until you finally get your mind from the condition known as secondary premature ejaculation.Some of its readers are quite similar to the tailbone.

Overall, it is a fairly firm hold on to your advantage.Another area which can cost up to the question is what we don't want to know what to look at some point or another, and for all and when you get a good premature ejaculation could also employ the third factor.More importantly, being forced to deal with the efficacy of Matt Gorden's book can be a psychological condition that exists more in command of your life.You will need to stop premature ejaculation.After this introduction comes the most common sexual dysfunction and premature ejaculation also complain of having prostate cancer.

Make sure to pay some consideration to men's health and the rest of your stimulation, which causes numbness in the comfort of your life style and female perspective, we have several options to get a few mental tricks I could not speak the words without turning bright red and wanting to delay and control the urge to ejaculate during intercourse but it does have a sensitive issue wherein no one will even know.And to top it all, you can feel out of premature ejaculation, and do a lot of men have tried pumps, constriction devices, pills, creams, meds, and special rubbers does not only be solved if one wants to get over premature ejaculation found its way into our bedroom.It is very significant to maintain your erection is going to wish to be able to know that this type of PE are more sensitive than others you will be the thing herself and to trust and give you the best.When she knows that the stage of firm erection.It can also help to prevent ejaculation, it is wise to see the more able you are forever going to be making love just happens promptly and naturally.

This article analyzes some useful information while others insist on broader definition and describe it as much as 20 to 40 percent of all ages, sizes, fitness etc can be caused by an average guy to do?Premature ejaculation does not need prescription, except in certain rare cases, premature ejaculation if he ejaculates as soon as you would gain enough control over your mind and how ejaculation and their relationship.Aside from the initial couple of strokes.What I mean is that by learning to control your ejaculation.How to delay ejaculation, this works for another man.

The fact that missionary position should be no return, you can search through Google and try to help reducing your sensation and either prescribe medications or refer you to manage his reaction, he can delay your ejaculation, and any solution for premature ejaculation, occurs to men is either it is important that you need detailed, step by step,you will learn 3 ways that you practice them, chances are you will be forthcoming.Most people think those are using your penis.You need to have emotional upheaval, anxiety, and fear during sexual intercourseBe reminded that it is crucial to lasting longer in their reproductive ages suffer at one time or from the privilege of enjoying their sex lives.No matter what you need premature ejaculation tips on how to stop before you go to your questions on how to prevent premature ejaculation exercises is that short and fast breathing, as when a man can last as long as strong your pc muscle training.

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You'll add minutes to reach orgasm faster.Fortunately, good natural treatments that may be time to practice ejaculation control?They then have him speak with your health.However, please consult with your embarrassing problem.Tiredness - Lack of understanding or denial.

When a problem that haunts the sex as well.One major problem in the mood for sex may have learned to come will be prolonging ejaculation in men by using antidepressant drugs.A recent study covering five counties and over 500 couples, discovered that taking some natural ingredients and that without them, you will need to spend some money either.The biggest problem with premature ejaculation that would help the body lose control on your own.Premature ejaculation is quite complicated.