#instead of relying on Gamechangers

[green-for-the-win123]

Hello lovely readers! Let us get personal today.✨ You can simultaneously listen to the audio attached and sip some warm chai for this little chat session, because as we all know, being sustainable is also about the mind as much as it is about the environment:

A few years ago, I made a conscious decision to incorporate sustainability practices into my daily life. One area I focused on was reducing single-use plastic waste. It all started when I realized how much plastic I was using and throwing away without really thinking about its long-term impact on the environment.

I began by making small changes. I purchased a reusable water bottle and started carrying it with me everywhere I went. This simple switch not only saved me money over time but also significantly reduced the number of plastic water bottles I used. I also invested in a set of reusable food containers and utensils. This made it easy for me to bring homemade lunches and snacks instead of relying on takeout containers and plastic cutlery. One of the most impactful changes I made was adopting a "zero-waste" mindset when grocery shopping. I started bringing my own cloth bags and containers to the store, avoiding plastic bags and packaging as much as possible. I began buying items like grains, nuts, and spices from bulk bins using my own containers. I started using menstrual cups and this was a gamechanger. Not only did this reduce packaging waste, but it also allowed me to buy only the quantities I needed. As I continued on this journey, I found that my mindset shifted. I became more conscious of my consumption habits in all aspects of life. I started repairing items instead of immediately replacing them, and I began supporting local and sustainable brands whenever possible. One of the most rewarding aspects of this sustainability journey was sharing it with others. Friends and family started noticing my changes and became curious about how they could make similar shifts in their own lives. We would exchange tips and ideas, and it became a source of inspiration for all of us. Over time, these small changes added up. I saw a significant reduction in the amount of plastic waste I produced, and I felt a sense of empowerment knowing that my choices were contributing to a healthier planet. While the journey to sustainability is ongoing and there's always more to learn and improve, this experience taught me that even individual actions, when multiplied, can make a meaningful difference. It's a reminder that each of us has the power to contribute to a more sustainable future. Thank you very much! Feel free to share your experiences as well. Hugs, Ang❤

Audio credits:

Fly Away When The Fog Settled Down by Spheriá | https://soundcloud.com/spheriamusic Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

[ecoplanetstore]

"Sustainability meets world-class quality: Discover the game-changing B2B wellness and beauty portal - Ecoplanetstore" As the world moves towards sustainable practices, it becomes crucial for businesses to follow suit. Ecoplanetstore, a single-brand B2B wellness and beauty products e-commerce portal, has taken up the mantle of sustainability in its business practices. Unlike traditional businesses, Ecoplanetstore does not offer discounts or credits. However, this has not impacted customer loyalty or trust. In fact, it has only increased as the customers recognize the value of the sustainable and indigenous but world-class quality products. Moreover, by not offering discounts or credits, Ecoplanetstore has been able to save time and money, which is being invested in research and development for sustainable products. The company is also investing in technology and e-commerce for convenience, optimum inventory, customization, and seasonal product offerings. By optimizing their stock and purchasing online, business clients operating salons, spas, or skin clinics can save time and focus on their business. Ecoplanetstore ensures that their orders are delivered on time, making it easier for clients to invest their time in growing their business. Ecoplanetstore believes that discounts, freebies, heavy promotions, and selling discounted products in marketplaces are old business school thoughts. Instead, the company focuses on providing the best price and quality for their customized supply. Leading spas and salons have relied on Ecoplanetstore for two decades. If you are an operator of a spa, salon, or skin clinic, Ecoplanetstore invites you to explore their products for your customized supply. With a commitment to sustainability and world-class quality, Ecoplanetstore is redefining the business practices for the wellness and beauty industry. Visit us at www.ecoplanetstore.com #sustainability #worldclassquality #B2B #wellness #beauty #Ecoplanetstore #customizedsupply #salons #spas #skinclinics #researchanddevelopment #ecommerce #convenience #indigenous #gamechanging #research (at Ecoplanetstore) https://www.instagram.com/p/CreyCykqJxb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[victorluvsalice]

And then I remembered I had Flutterberries (from their Tree of Emotion) in Nikal’s inventory. So they chowed down and promptly started engaging in all the PDA. XD Which hilariously coincided with the NPC hanging out there finally heading out, so I was able to get my pretty pictures in the gazebo after all. :D I really like some of the background buildings in this world -- they’re very cool-looking!

Anyway, the date ended at Gold, as most of my dates in this game do -- Emmett took the opportunity to practice his “Florolorial” spell on the local chocoberries, then he and Nikal had a nice relaxing swim in the river Bagley. I was going to just send them home after that. . .

But then I figured -- “You know what? Let’s do a little more magic stuff before we end this week. They deserve it.” So it was off to the Magical Realm to see what was what there! Nikal spent her time with Simeon, who kindly taught her the spell Copypasto! And Emmett?

[sebastianshaw]

I could have imagined a different plot in the future. If I were a writer at Marvel, I would have taken Magneto and Shaw and make them team up so Cerebro can travel through time.

Shaw gets his love resurrected and Magneto gets Anya (this is one option. I am still very conflicted about this idea.).

The other possibilities would have been endless.

I am not a fan of time travel plots PERSONALLY but this would be better than Duggan's story not simply for "does not make me rage" but also in that, while Duggan's story was a dead-end single-issue one with no ramifications on the wider plot of Marauders or the larger Krakoa storyline, this would be a HUGE THING. Admittedly, I'm not sure Krakoa NEEDS another "huge gamechanger" because it's such a huge one itself, but it opens up a ton of possibilities---and questions. Like, if Cerebro can travel through time, what else can? Can atrocities be stopped? Modified? Will that alter the present or merely create new timelines as it usually does? If Cerebro can travel to the past, why not the future, and how would that relate to the "no precogs" rule, if information from the future can be obtained in the present? More than that, if Cerebro proves able to resurrect Anya, this means one of two things---either Anya was a mutant all along. . . or it can download the genetic profiles and minds of humans too. Which, makes sense. Why wouldn't it be able to do that with some reprogramming? Which then begs the question of, should mutants use it to resurrect humans? What implications does that have for the Kill No Man law? What about the world at large? On a personal level, we would get Dadneto content untainted by previous issues, as he would have with Wanda and Pietro and even Lorna too. Anya died when their relationship was pure and ideal. She has nothing but fond memories of her father, and he has nothing but love for her. There's no complications there. It would be purely wholesome fluff that I think a lot of readers would enjoy as a break from. . .everything, both in the Magnet family and the general heaviness of the current X-storylines. If Anya is human (which I like, I always thought it was poetic that she and Magda, who are a big part of Magneto's figurative humanity and his rejection of literal humanity, were human) then there's also the seed planted of, how is it going to be for her growing up on an island where she's the only one without powers? A seed that admittedly won't go anywhere, since Krakoa is going to wrap up probably in the next year by my estimate, but an interesting question at least. On Shaw's end, I think Lourdes coming back works SO MUCH BETTER if the man she loves has changed into someone else, rather than him having always been a bastard. If Shaw was always awful, then he's just the same asshole she remembers, no surprises. If he seems like the man she loved, and who clearly loves her, the gradual realization that he's actually become everything she feared he would is SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL. Because that was the thing Duggan missed---Lourdes wasn't scared BY Shaw, she was scared FOR him. Lourdes had a background in the Hellfire Club and she knew it changed people for the worse, so she didn't want Shaw to get deeper in it. She said she feared he would become corrupted. Which, after her death, he did. So basically Shaw and Lourdes would get domestic bliss for a time, but she's going to start realizing, however much he might care for her personally, he's become an evil man, a cold greedy heartless bastard just like she wanted to SAVE HIM FROM BECOMING. And now she's like, what do I do? Leave? Try to change him? What is her reaction? And what is SHAW'S reaction to her telling him this? To her being disgusted with him? I don't believe Shaw can change, not much anyway, but would he try? Or would he just let her go? What? There's SO MUCH MORE DRAMA TO BE HAD THIS WAY! And in a way that's true to the characters! It doesn't make Shaw look any better than he is, but it doesn't rely on making him worse than he was either, and it gives Lourdes an actual ROLE and PERSONALITY instead of just being this simpering helpless dolly that Emma has to save. Literally, I thought of this in less than an hour and it's a better idea than the whole Marauders series has been. Also I got your other ask, I will get to it later! I want to make you a lil fic out of it :3

[sciencespies]

Database of vegetation of planet Earth

https://sciencespies.com/nature/database-of-vegetation-of-planet-earth/

Database of vegetation of planet Earth

It’s a treasure trove of data: the global geodatabase of vegetation plots “sPlotOpen” is now freely accessible. It contains data on vegetation from 114 countries and from all climate zones on Earth. The database was compiled by an international team of researchers led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Researchers around the world finally have a balanced, representative dataset of the Earth’s vegetation at their disposal, as the team reports in the journal Global Ecology & Biogeography.

Global issues and questions require global answers. “If we want to understand or predict how climate change will affect biodiversity in all regions on Earth, we have to consider them in their entirety. We need more than just data from a few well-studied regions,” explains Professor Helge Bruelheide, a geobotanist at MLU and a member of iDiv. Instead, a global geodatabase is required with information on vegetation from all continents and climate zones.

Now, with the launch of “sPlotOpen,” this database not only exists but it can be accessed by anyone who is interested. Around 100,000 vegetation plots from 114 countries have been entered into the database which has been release as open access. Each data point contains information on all of the plant species co-occurring at that location, alongside geographical, temporal and methodological metadata. This enables researchers to see exactly when, where and by whom the data point was collected.

Most importantly, sPlotOpen provides information about the complete plant community that can be found at the respective location. This is one of the great advantages of the new database, explains Dr Francesco Maria Sabatini from MLU and iDiv, who is coordinating the project together with Dr Jonathan Lenoir from the CNRS. “There are already several databases that show the distribution of individual plant species worldwide. In reality, however, plant species rarely occur alone and in isolation,” says the researcher. With the aid of “sPlotOpen,” scientists could figure out whether the data was collected from a forest — with various tree and grass species — or a meadow. According to the biologist, this is important when selecting individual surveys for specific research projects that are meant to investigate, for instance, only forests or grasslands.

Another advantage is that the team has attempted to balance the data. “There is already an incredible wealth of data on vegetation in Europe, North America and Australia. But, for many different reasons, there is much less data on other regions,” says Sabatini. If the data from all countries were compared without weighting it first, false conclusions could be drawn. Therefore, the team tried to establish a certain comparability between the datasets from different regions. For example, not all data from Western Europe was included in the project — only a representative selection. The team already balanced the data for the benefit of future users. This should prevent a striking imbalance of data over regions that are less well documented, for example, warm or cold, dry or humid climates. “Our database has the potential to be a gamechanger for research projects in the field of macroecology and beyond,” explains Sabatini. It could also be used in the field of geoscience, for example, to train algorithms for analysing satellite images. If you know where a certain community of plants exists, you can associate this plant community to a specific pattern in satellite images, namely a specific spectral community, and search other images for the same patterns.

In order to create this unique set of data, the team from Germany and France have relied on the support of 161 researchers from 57 countries who participated in the project by providing data. “Behind these individual datasets are countless colleagues and students, who went to the field collecting data in the first place. The sPlotOpen database could not exist without them” says Sabatini. The data also comes from national projects, such as the German Vegetation Reference Database, which is managed at MLU by Helge Bruelheide’s research group.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

#Nature

[university-blues]

So I just read this article called 5 Pursuits That Will Destroy Your Creative Spark and I'll be honest, at first I didn't think it would be very useful to me, that it was just going to be stuff I already know, stuff that doesn't really help. I was wrong. I recommend you read the full thing, but here's some of my thoughts and highlights.

The pursuit of virality

I've been there, constantly checking for likes and reblogs in the hours and days after I post something. I don't like it. I don't want to do it, but, it's so hard to resist the urge and even harder to not let the numbers get to you.

This made me wonder if there's a way to hide all the likes and the claps and the shares and saves and the reblogs and the retweets on the content we post. At least from ourselves. Not the comments though, that's where the actual meaningful interactions happen. But everything else, it just seems to be doing more harm than good. There should be a way to hide the numbers, I don't think there is. I don't think these websites and apps would want it, considering how they make their money, but maybe there's a market for a browser extension to hide all this stuff. For now I think I'll just disable notifications for everything but comments and rely on my forgetfulness to not reach for my phone every 5 minutes after I post something anywhere.

The pursuit of inputs

“How could you not be creative with all that new information?”, I asked. She had a simple, yet profound reply: “Because I didn’t do anything with all that new knowledge, Mike.”

Learning new things is great. Putting them into practice is better.

Teaching someone else about the thing you just learned is a great way to make sure you've actually learned and understood it yourself. It's so obvious in hindsight, but so so easy to forget in the moment. This was a good reminder that it's not all about the learning, there has to be some doing 😄.

The pursuit of the outcome

The numbers will never be enough. You'll constantly move the goalposts for yourself. Instead ask yourself 3 questions before you make a thing:

- Who is it for? - What is it for? - What value am I hoping to bring to the person consuming this content?

These are excellent questions. They help put things into perspective. I make things for me, and for others in a similar situation. I hope the things I make help or inspire whoever sees them. It can differ from thing to thing, but in general, that's it.

The pursuit of perfection

“Now I know what I want to do, Mike, I want to bring value to people,” Janine said. “But I’m filled with fear and then I procrastinate doing anything because of it.”

“Janine”, I paused… “What would happen if you stopped caring so much about what other people think?”

Thank you Janine for putting it into words and thank you Mike for asking just the right question!

For me, the answer to the question is: I would actually do the thing and probably be happier and less stressed. Gamechanger.

This whole thing just reminded me of some blogging advice I read years ago that I distilled into "No one cares, do it anyway". That wasn't exactly what it said, but (for me) that was the gist of it and I've tried to keep it in mind and apply to everything I've wanted to do, creative or not, over the years. It's not easy to reprogram your brain, but recognizing the bad patterns we fall into can be a good start.

[anchanted-one]

Eternal War. 26. Battle of Asylum II

Read on AO3

Lana watched Arro recuperating in his Kolto Tank. It was such a good thing that Koth had insisted on getting these installed first! The wound Arcann gave him would have been fatal under ordinary circumstances. Arro would have died right there if not for Valkorion.

That realization shattered Lana’s heart. She better than most had known that Arro was not the unstoppable whirlwind popular tales made him out to be; that behind his accomplishments, he was only mortal, that he could be beaten. Or she thought she had known. She should have known. Instead, she had so strongly believed in his strength to save them all— just as he had before, so many times— that she saddled him with the entire burden of fighting Arcann by himself, even though he had been so sick; so vulnerable. He ought to have been in bed for at least another three weeks and she’d had him running around meeting his new allies and attending meetings. If he had been better rested, just a little, then today would have turned out differently. Arcann might have even been defeated!

Instead, Arro was barely alive and only just hanging on. Seeing him like this made her— for what felt like the first time— see Arro not as a Jedi, not as a hero, but as Arro . A man. Her man. It made her sick to think that she might have failed to make that basic distinction. Of course he was just an ordinary man, still in recovery, and she had asked far too much of him. If not for the unknown whims of a ghost, Lana would have lost the Love of her life today.

“Valkorion,” Lana whispered. “I don’t know if you are listening, or if you will choose to respond, but thank you. If not for you—” She shuddered. “If not for you, my husband would be—he would be dead.” She swallowed. “But the destruction you caused today will haunt him, forever.”

She waited for a response. But none came. The Emperor only spoke to her that one time because He had deemed it necessary. She was nothing to Him. Arro was all that mattered for some reason.

“But I don’t understand; why Arro? Why have You chosen to take up residence in his mind? If You don’t need him to survive, why take such a direct role in keeping him alive? Aiding him the way You did is different from sitting back and enjoying the show.”

She fancied she heard mocking laughter in response. The hours ticked by in silence, and she was content to wait. To wait and watch. For once, she didn’t care about her responsibilities, even responsibilities on both hers and Arro’s behalf. She wanted to know that Arro was recovering, not just through their bond, or through the Force, or through reports, but by watching over him. When Senya had tried to take her to the bridge for a quick recap of events, she had given such a snarl a rancor would have shirked from, before apologizing for her response.

Arro stirred in his tank, and his eyes opened slightly. “Hey you!” She smiled, heart soaring. The breathing mask made it difficult to be sure, but the bond was more than enough for her to know that he had smiled back weakly in response. She felt a powerful and warm emotion flowing from his heart, and the words formed: I love you so much!

She laughed giddily. Seeing him open his eyes after such an injury made her feel so jubilant!

Don’t tell me it’s been another five years? “Two days, give or take. I wasn’t sure you’d ever wake up.”

She removed her gauntlets and placed a pale hand on the transparisteel. Arro reached out and placed his on the opposite side. Lana giggled uncontrollably—this was straight out of the cheesiest romance stories! But it certainly held such magnificent significance when living the scene. “Arro, my Heart: I am so sorry. I don’t know if we will have a moment to talk when we arrive, so I need to say this now. Seeing the damage you suffered at Arcann’s hand; it shook me to my very core. It should have killed you. I got you working as soon as you were out of Carbonite when I should have given you longer to recover. I told you about how bad things were before you had even been free a day. I forced you to start thinking like a warrior even though you needed to focus on recovery. When we reached Asylum I shouldn’t have made you run around and meet allies like we did. I shouldn’t have placed the burden of fighting Arcann on your shoulders alone. Please forgive me. I will never take you or your sacrifices for granted ever again.”

Arro blinked in his tank, and Lana felt his arms wrap around her. You did what you had to do, and none of this is your fault. If you hadn’t gotten me in the frame of mind in time, I’d never have been able to run from Vaylin, or I’d have had to face Arcann while in a recovery tank, and then where would I be? There were no right calls, but you made the best ones available to you. Thank you. She Felt his kiss on her cheek. You have no idea how amazed I am that someone as incredible as you loves me!

Sighing, Lana leaned against the glass, hand still opposite Arro’s, and settled in to just… be with him. This was a day for cliches!

*

“How many?”

“My Love—”

“Please?”

Lana swallowed hard, tears forming around the corners of her eyes. “We might never get an accurate count, it was that chaotic. But SCORPIO witnessed it, and she estimates anywhere between twelve and twenty standard capacity vessels being destroyed. That could mean as many as 50000 casualties. The Lightning also struck thirty two Eternal Warships, opening up a massive hole in the formation that allowed hundreds of other ships to escape.”

But it came as no surprise that her Jedi found that poor consolation. “I should never have believed Valkorion,” He whispered, his face contorted in horror.

“He saved your life,” Lana said, just as softly. “Even I couldn’t have done anything for you. Even I had lost hope when I saw Arcann strike you. You were fading fast, moments from death, until He intervened.”

His gaze still empty, he nodded.

He had been released from the tank an hour ago, and was in the Common Lounge, where he had requested to meet his friends. And Ranking Officers. That meant Lana, Koth, Senya, Lem, and the Zakuul Knights, but also included Theron and Major Jorgan of Havoc Squad. There was also a Rattataki woman who he recognized as one of Doctor Archibahn Kimble’s many exes, but one who thought him beneath her. She introduced herself as Kaliyo, and she made Koth and the Zakuulans bristle in barely contained anger.

“This is exactly how he killed Darth Prowle,” Theron said. “He got lucky, and he seized the moment. He got lucky with his Father too, when he captured you. And now he almost killed you the same way. He is an opportunist. But that gives us an opportunity too. Internal security captured your duel with Arcann and his Knights. Every last second. Just like with Prowle, we get to show the Galaxy that Arcann isn’t the implacable but honorable Conqueror he pretends to be. Every last bit of doubt we can throw at his image, the better it’ll be for us.”

“What happened?” Senya asked. “This all began when Heskal invited you over for Scion Tea.”

“Arcann said that he betrayed us,” Arro said. “That he was the one that told Arcann where to find us.”

“But that makes no sense!” Senya said. “He hated Arcann! Loathed him deeply! Do you think he was lying?”

“Well, you received a recorded message from him shortly after the battle,” Koth spoke up. “I haven’t seen it yet. I mean it wasn’t addressed to me.”

“TeeSeven, can you play it for us?” Arro asked, and the little Astromech complied.

A small blue hologram of Heskal appeared in the air. “And so it begins, just as I foresaw. You will regroup and your leg will heal. It is a wonder you escaped with something as simple as this. After that you will kill Arcann, and Vaylin, and her Dark Sith Shadow… many innocents will also die but this is what must be so. Know that this was necessary to hasten his fall. Without this you and your allies would have remained a small band of rebels rather than a determined army. Now you will seek battles and weapons capable of hurting him, rather than spending the next ten months debating. The Scions are still with you, and they will return when it is their turn to die.” And then it went blank.

*

Koth broke the silence that followed. “What did he mean about your injured leg?”

It was Farya who answered, with a look of profound shock. “He Saw it all wrong!” She looked at all of her fellow Knights in disbelief. “He thought that the Jedi would emerge with only an injured leg! He didn’t foresee the stab wound!”

“And what did he mean by ‘ Seeking ’ weapons?” Khoarad questioned, dark face uneasy. “We’ve already found the Gravestone! This alone is a gamechanger if we use it right. We don’t need to hide.”

“He didn’t know about the Gravestone either,” Senya guessed. “We didn’t tell them, we assumed we didn’t have to, they already knew! They certainly knew when to expect us.”

“Their spies on Zakuul would have told them when we had escaped,” Lana answered. “Though the spies probably didn’t hear anything about the Gravestone . Arcann has tried to keep it under wraps after all.”

“Spies?”

“Yes, a lot of the Scion’s knowledge came from spies, or bugs. I ran into some of them while I was on Zakuul. Having a listening device in the right place is far more valuable than relying on a power  we can barely control.”

“But…” Senya sputtered. “Spies? They relied on spies?”

“The Force is vast and vastly unknowable,” Arro said. “Even Master Zoran, or Darth Nox—both masters of lore and secrets—didn’t presume to understand it perfectly. The Voss don’t either—they acknowledge that even if visions are never wrong—and that’s a big if—interpreting them accurately is tricky.”

“The Scions relied on electronic and physical eavesdropping to get a hold of information they couldn’t divine through the Force.,” Lana continued. “They wanted to appear more all-knowing than they were. Their supposed clairvoyance is a sham.” Just like so many other things on Zakuul , she added to herself and to Arro. “With allies like them, we don’t need enemies.”

They stood around gloomily, except for Kaliyo who stood playing some holo game on her pad.

“If we’re done depressing each other, can we share the good news?” Jorgan grumbled. Yes, he looked brimming with optimism. “The Battle of Asylum showed the Galaxy that Arcann is invincible, and once Theron shows off the footage of you whooping his Guards’ collective asses they’ll be even more convinced.”

Lana nodded. “Every one of my contacts in the Core Worlds and Empire have thrown in their support behind us. We had some forces before, but now we can really call it an army. I am having them directed to a world named Odessen, which we have chosen as a base of operations. We should be landing soon, but this time I’m going to insist you get some proper rest between all meetings!” No one looked ready to argue.

“Let’s not keep them waiting.” Arro said.

“Here we go again,” Koth cheered.

*

[bigskydreaming]

A couple of people have asked if there’s been any change in my situation, so figured I’d make a post about that. Thanks to my insurance, I was finally able to get all the tests they’d been waiting on doing, stuff they need to check in order to ensure I’m a good candidate for the surgery, that I won’t be allergic to materials in the prosthetic, that there aren’t any other underlying causes to my condition that need taking care of beforehand, etc. So that cost about $400 instead of the $1,450 it would have cost out of pocket. Now we’re just waiting on the results, it’ll be 1-2 weeks for them all to come back, and then we can move onto the next stage if there are no big surprises there. That’ll be new X-rays and modeling for my prosthetic joint they have to make.

So that’s finally progress on that front. Now I’m back to focusing on finally getting into an apartment and having an actual place of residence instead of this motel. I think I mentioned before, but it costs $85 a day here, plus another $10 for food per day since I have no way of cooking and pretty much have to survive on takeout or fast food. Which means since my ex and I broke up last summer and I moved out, I’ve had to basically make $100 a day minimum just to get by, except for the couple times I’ve fallen behind and donations from ppl have covered the gap. Which is.....exhausting. To say the least. And I’m definitely running on fumes there, so now that my credit’s back up, I’m trying to find a place ASAP. 

Even a place for $1,200 a month (which is ‘cheap’ for anything within twenty miles of me) will still be almost $1,500 bucks cheaper than my cost of living right now. Not to mention the money I’ll save on food once I have a kitchen again. And that will take a huuuuuge load off my back, I won’t have to stress daily about keeping a roof over my head, just monthly, lmao, but I’ll take it. That would actually be a huge gamechanger emotionally and energy-wise.

Plus, my insurance, while it makes getting these medical bills waaaay cheaper and more manageable, is still $821 a month in premiums, so there’s pretty much ZERO chance of me being able to reliably make that every month on top of what I’m shelling out now in cost of living. So yeah, I’m definitely hustling, trying to get into a place before I have to come up with my next insurance payment a little under a month from now.

But to do THAT, I still have to come up with first and last month’s rent to put down on an apartment, and at the moment I still need to put the first $100 of anything I make each day towards the motel and food costs and thus I have to make more than $100 a day in order to save anything at all towards an apartment. And that’s.....lol....umm....hahaha yeah. I’m honestly not sure how I’ve been making even that much this long at my current pain/energy levels as is - I suspect I may have made a dark pact with demonic forces that I’ve repressed all memory of, but eh, oh well - but yeah. 

Trying to make an extra fifty or a hundred a day is super not realistic HOWEVER, I am a petty, spiteful little cockroach who refuses to die so I’m trying anyway. Buuuuuuuuuut that’s not to say that I would not be over the moon with gratitude if you guys could keep reblogging and stuff, because seriously, every extra dollar helps. My daily stress and anxiety has an actual dollar price at this point, and every single extra dollar I can earmark as being for an apartment is one notch lower on that front.

(Also I think my only pair of sneakers is about to give out any day now so that’s another mini-crisis I would really like to avoid if at all possible. It’s still raining every other day here at the moment, and walking to the nearest shoestore to pick up a new pair will be so much easier if I’m able to do it while I still do have a working pair).

As much as I hate having to keep making these posts and asking for help, like trust me, nobody likes doing this, there’s just no point in pretending I’m yet at a point where I couldn’t still really use any help anyone can spare. I’m doing my best to not make this a habit or let it become something I rely on or have expectations for, but it is what it is, and...yeah. LOL. Sorry to devolve into rambles, I just am the actual worst at asking for help gracefully, so heeeeeey. 

Anyway. Yeah. Someday, hopefully soon(ish) I will be back on my feet again and be in a position to pay it forward, but that day isn’t today and its not gonna be tomorrow or the next day either, unfortunately. Here’s my paypal and ko-fi page, and anything from a single dollar to a single reblog definitely helps and has my continued gratitude. As always, if there’s ever anything I can do in return, like...if its in my power, I’d definitely be more than happy to. Thanks again in advance for even just reading my rambles! 

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Worm Liveblog #80

UPDATE 80: Not So Invincible

Last time Grue had yelled at Skitter a lot of what he thinks of her daredevil plans and inclinations, and Director Piggot of the PRT wants to do a decisive attack onto the Slaughterhouse Nine. Let’s get a new arc started!

Arc 14, ‘Prey’. That sounds both promising and dangerous.

The noise of the microwave beeping jarred me from the first restful sleep I’d had in some time.

Wow, that’s...that’s quite the rare sentence in this story. Restful sleep? That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, apparently! Aisha and Alec woke her up, Brian apologizes for them interrupting what he wanted so much: Taylor to finally get sleep. He didn’t get to follow her example, anyway. He doesn’t say why, but I suppose he was quite diligent about paying attention and being ready to alert about any danger.

Say, now I wonder, where are the Travelers? Did they leave already? Are they still around? This is Grue’s territory, and they were all staying awake anyway, so it’s not like they had any reason to stay here.

Talking to Brian seems like such a minefield to Taylor now. Almost anything she can do will be a reminder or touch a nerve. Not really the best environment for two friends. It doesn’t help that Aisha seems to either be jealous about Taylor getting close to Brian, or protective of him because he’s vulnerable and she found them snuggled together. Leaning more towards the second because I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and because despite her faults Aisha cares a lot about Brian.

You’re not helping, Alec! Well, although he says it in a way that reminds everyone Alec’s dad was rather unsavory and Alec is largely unrepentant, the point he’s trying to make is that close contact with someone is good and Brian wouldn’t dissuade Taylor from doing that. I see his point. Aisha doesn’t like it, but it’s not like she can do anything, anyway.

I was awkward, screwed up and feeling guilty on a lot of levels, from Brian to Dinah to the people in my territory that I hadn’t seen to.  Brian was traumatized, and that was layered on what he’d described to me as an unfamiliarity with social situations and emotions.  Alec was fucked up in a way I couldn’t even label. Aisha wanted to protect her brother but didn’t know how, lashing out at me instead.  Damaged people.

It’s like that’s the common thread that unites the Undersiders: being traumatized and battered by life! Well, some had it worse than others, that’s for sure, but in general they all are teenagers who were dealt a very bad hand at life.

When Rachel and Lisa return from exploring the surroundings, Brian gets alert and ready to fight. He’s still jumpy from what happened to him, and it’ll be quite the long time before he stops getting ready for battle at the slightest sign of movement. Surprisingly, things are calm out there. There’s no Mannequin sneaking into Taylor’s territory to kill more civilians, thank goodness. It’s one of those rare moments of respite Worm almost never has. As to when it’ll end...well I guess it’ll be when the heroes decide to attack the Slaughterhouse Nine. No way the Undersiders don’t get involved somehow. It’s a perk of being the protagonists.

Surprisingly, Rachel doesn’t get upset when Taylor makes the well-intentioned but misguided offer of giving bacon for her dogs. She even says she’d like bacon, and sounded almost friendly! Things are being almost deceptively courteous and normal today!

Turns out the Travelers are still around; they just were asleep. While they wait for the Travelers to finish cooking breakfast for each other, they finally start digging onto where exactly Rachel obtained the wolf cub.

“Siberian,” Bitch finished.

“That’s crazy,” I said.  How long has it been since we had a chance to talk and touch base like this?  “She’s crazy powerful.  Majorly scary.  And she just, what?  Handed you the wolf cub and told you that she’s picking you to be a member of her team… how?”

“She told me with words.”

“She doesn’t talk,” Brian spoke up.

Ah, right. I heard the Siberian doesn’t talk, her conversation with Heckpuppy was the first time someone heard her talk. I wonder why she doesn’t talk often – not that there’s much to say when you’re tearing people apart and pursuing candidates to eat them.t

The first thought some of the Undersiders have is that they may be using the wolf to track the Undersiders. Heckpuppy’s reasoning to counter this is that the wolf smelled like the forest when it was given to her. Nobody else accepted this reasoning, and instead wonder if the Siberian would be smart enough to place a tracker on the wolf.

“Is she really that smart?” Alec asked.  “Jack is smart.  Bonesaw, Mannequin, sure, to varying degrees.  But Siberian?”

“My instinct?” Lisa shrugged.  “She’s an actor.  Playing up the feral angle, hiding a deeper strategy.  She might even be playing a long con on her team.  Or maybe her intentions are pure but she’s keeping them in the dark about the key stuff.”

I don’t think someone would need to be smart to think about using the gift to track them. Even if she didn’t think it, someone else could have given her the idea. I think she’s a decently intelligent woman at the very least – you don’t get to be part of a murderous group, survive for quite long, and befuddle heroes and villains without a certain amount of smarts.

That said, it’s unlikely she has managed to hide anything important or gamechanging from Jack. He’s too sharp to let that happen.

He got the ability to grant healing from Othala.  Regeneration from Crawler.  But who was the shadowy figure he used to pulverize Burnscar?”

“You’re thinking Siberian,” I said.

Lisa nodded. “Sure.  What if she’s like Genesis?  Or Crusader?  What if Siberian has a very real, vulnerable human body somewhere nearby, always has, and the body she’s using is a projection?  Maybe it’s something even Jack doesn’t know.”

Okay, first I’ll comment how I like that they’re getting to the same conclusion I did about the Siberian. That must have been her power. Now that I acknowledged that, I doubt Jack is unaware of the true nature of her powers, mostly because I doubt anyone can keep the charade going 24/7 for who knows how long without he or someone else getting suspicious. For example, the nomadic behavior the group has. It’s simpler to think the real Siberian is with the team instead of following them around without them even noticing. True, that could get countered if she has a lot of range – if it’s ludicrously large she could control her projection from very, very far away – but then there’s the matter of what happens if the woman making the projection has to stop focusing on the projection and do something else. Would the Siberian disappear? I doubt this could happen without raising any questions.

Naturally, Rachel isn’t taking well the confrontation regarding the Siberian giving her the wolf pup. She’s taking offense because she thinks they’re calling her gullible. Oh, not at all! Rachel definitely isn’t a gullible person, in my opinion! Of course she’d be offended.

“There’s one way we could try to find out,” I said.

I won’t lie, given Brian’s argument last time and how right he was Taylor leans towards the dangerous plans, my first thought is that she would suggest something like pretending to accept the Siberian’s offers, somehow. In other words: something reckless that turns out to have been calculated.

Well it’s not the most reckless plan ever, but it could go wrong. She suggests going to consult Cherish. Tattletale may be able to tell if Cherish lies or something, buuuuuut it’s still somewhat risky.

Still, it’s not like they have anything else they can do right now. Lisa went to get in contact with Coil, so Taylor focuses on her breakfast, until she notices Rachel is staring at her. She’s not silently begging for food or anything like that, she needs to ask about something she heard the night before.

“You said something about doing the same thing for the rest of us for what you did for Brian.” She broke eye contact, looking down at Bastard.

Ah...she heard that, and everything else Brian said, I suppose. I wonder if that has anything to do with her mood today. Taylor looks around to gauge if anyone else was listening. Brian is, although he’s also keeping his eyes on Alec, who was demonstrating his power to Aisha. Well it’s good he’s listening.

Of course, Taylor’s reply is that they would do the same for Rachel or for anyone else in the team. I know she means it. What I’m not sure is if Rachel will believe it. I mean...after the betrayal, it wouldn’t be surprising if she never trusts Taylor ever again, no matter what she says. The mere fact she bothered to ask Taylor directly instead of deciding it was a lie to appease Brian is rather telling.

“I- I don’t know if I can really say.  You’re my friend.  We’ve been through a hell of a lot of crap together.  We back each other up because we have to.”

“You think I’d back you up?”  The question was a challenge, brusque, barely-but-not-quite-anger.

Well I think she already showed she can’t rely on Rachel, honestly. She did try to get Taylor to get captured by Dragon. Still, even if Taylor remembers that – I will be very surprised if she pretends that never happened, you don’t really forget something like that! – it’d be better not to say it aloud.

Taylor gives her answers with a lot of words that may work better with people much more patient than Rachel. She doesn’t really like the answer. Also, Taylor, stop glancing at Brian to check if he’s listening! That could make it seem like she’s saying it just to impress Brian or something. It’s a good thing Rachel doesn’t notice Skitter’s glances at Brian.

I’ll make it simple, then.  I consider you a friend, I’ll help you when stuff goes down.  And you… do whatever you think is right.  Do what you want to do.  I won’t stress about it, and unless you fuck with me like you did when we fought Dragon, I’m not going to hold it against you

She said it! Hah! But yeah, this sounds good! Now to settle this, she’ll need to prove it with actions. Someday Taylor will save Rachel, and things will get a bit easier for them. You know, back then, when Taylor was planning to betray the Undersiders, I really liked her budding friendship with Rachel. I doubt it’ll be the same than that, but it sure would be nice to see them give friendship a try again. It’s nice to watch.

Once Lisa returns, she gives an update of what’s going on with Cherish. She’s in a derelict boat. Worm just made me search how a boat graveyard looks like.

Apparently boat graveyards can be tourist attractions! Buuuut I don’t think many in Brockton Bay right now will be interested in exploring broken boats, and I really doubt there are any tourists anywhere in Brockton Bay. It’s not a bad place to keep Chersh in! She wants a deal.

Not everyone likes this, because this gives Cherish the chance to cause dissent in these teams. Well that’s not that big of a risk unless someone has thin skin. Cherish isn’t a gifted manipulator and she’s far away to not affect anyone’s emotions – I hope – unless she also can do it through the phone or something. I’m sure everybody knows they should take with a grain of salt anything she says. Lisa is pretty sure there’s something she can say but won’t be forthcoming, instead being spiteful enough to let the Undersiders dig their own grave by not talking to her.

Sundancer spoke up, “Can’t we?  What are we really risking, here?  I mean, what’s at stake?  The worst case scenario, if we let her talk?”

“Can’t say, can we?” Lisa said.  She tossed the phone in the air and then caught it.  “Say one of us has something to hide that Cherish could reveal to the others.  Nobody’s about to admit it.”

Well the thing is that it doesn’t mean they’ll believe her, does it? Trickster didn’t seem to believe it when she said everyone in his team hated him. Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t, maybe he did believe it and didn’t let it show...the point is that Cherish can say whatever she wants, they’re the ones who have the last say on how effective it’ll be.

Lisa’s idea to determine if it’s safe to take Cherish’s deal is that they all rip pages of a book to reveal how bad any secrets they hold is. Okaaay, as a plan that’s pretty good, but why did you have to tear apart a book, as a person who likes books that’s awful! Goodness! But yeah, good plan and it maintains everyone’s anonymity.

Where did I stand?  What secrets was I keeping, and how highly did I value them?

I had my deal with Coil, with the real possibility that I might wind up his adversary. Lisa knew that, as did Brian, but the others didn’t.  I suspected that Aisha could be convinced to roll with it when Brian did, so long as we didn’t push too hard.  Alec and Bitch would go with the majority.  The Travelers?  They had other stakes in this.  That was more dangerous.

One-sixty. I tore it out and stuck it in the couch, sat down and handed the book to Lisa.

That’s a higher number than I expected, but I see it’s because of the risk the Travelers will find out about her plan to liberate Dinah. They depend on Coil to help Noelle solve whatever’s happening to her, they won’t be happy if there’s anything that could hinder that. Besides, Cherish already proved she knows about Skitter’s plan. It really is plausible she may mention it.

The results are in.

“So, in order… twenty-six, one-twenty-two, one-forty, one-forty-one, one-fifty-five, one-sixty, one-seventy-five, two hundred twenty-two, and three-twenty-five.”

Oh, that’s pretty bad. More than half have ugly secrets. What’s more, someone has a borderline unforgivable secret. I wonder who it is. Since they rejected talking to Cherish, Tattletale decides to haggle with Cherish, hoping to get a different deal. For example, how about getting the Travelers out of the room?

He shook his head.  “But how do you know your teammates didn’t pick the high numbers?”

“I don’t,” Lisa flipped through the pages.  “But just going by what I know about our groups, I think our team is going to be more concerned about what outsiders think.  You guys are going to be more concerned about what your teammates think. Am I wrong?”

You know, given her power, I think it’s rather possible she does know who put what page in there. Her power can tell a lot; this should be a cinch. That aside, yeah, I can’t think of any secret the Undersiders can have that’d be so ugly it’d require such a high page. If Skitter still was trying to be a hero and sell Coil and the Undersiders to the heroes, I’d think her page would be higher than this, but since she isn’t...yeah, that one must be from one of the travelers.

Another blind vote is fine, in case anyone objects to the current arrangement. Regent reveals he made his page number higher than it’d actually be, and the Travelers leave. Now that only the Undersiders are here, they can talk.

Her first move is to say she can tell them all the nasty stuff Regent has made. The really bad stuff, she means. The stuff he did while he was with Heartbreaker. Well that won’t be that much of a shock, maybe? For Skitter it may be, for the others maybe not so much. Regent, seeing what she’s trying to do, tries to stall, saying quite rightly that she’s not exactly an angel and did as many or worse things.

I won’t lie, I don’t think he saying he was a kid makes any of that much better. In fact I think it makes it worse.

There was a pause.  I looked at Alec, and he rolled his eyes at me.  Was he like Brian?  His emotions buried deep inside?  Or were they simply not there?

They may be there, but they’re very suppressed. Not nonexistent, more like very stunted thanks to Heartbreaker.

The next target is Grue. A reminder of what Bonesaw did, and a warning she’s going to do much worse next time – because of the second trigger, I bet. She also has new hands, courtesy of Mannequin. I knew she’d have new hands in no time! Heckpuppy was the next target, she was told Skitter is ready to take advantage of her again. It’s a good thing Heckpuppy still can recognize a manipulation attempt.

Now that the pleasantries are over – no time to try to mess with Skitter, unfortunately – she talks about the Siberian. It’s starting to seem like the Siberian will be an important character in this arc.

“Why would I do that?  I want you to deal with the Nine.  You killed Burnscar, didn’t you?  If you dealt with Siberian, life would be a lot easier for me.”

“So we’re right?”  Lisa leaned forward.  “There’s a weakness.  She has a real body somewhere?”

“She does. Right now it’s actually not too far from you.”

That’s scary! I don’t know how near she is, but when it’s put like that, it makes me think she’s really close. Maybe her projection isn’t too far away, too, and is coming to try to catch Heckpuppy and Regent.

She’s actually at the artificial lake Leviathan made, I think.

“You know what she looks like?”

“He.  A man.  Middle aged or older.  Unkempt. Doesn’t eat much, probably thin.”

...wait what? Really? The Siberian’s real body is a man? A...middle-aged man. Okay, that’s pretty much the opposite of the projection! I wonder why the projection is a woman painted black and white and going around naked. Is it to distract, to make them not think a middle-aged man is the person behind the Siberian’s existence? Maybe.

Either Panacea or Armsmaster is about to die. Of those two, I lean more towards it being Panacea. Armsmaster may not be able to fight back against an invulnerable projection, but I’m sure he wouldn’t be about to die so soon after the round started. That’s all Cherish has to say, so Skitter goes to leave and lend a hand. Time to get in the way of the Slaughterhouse Nine once again!

Heckpuppy may have known Cherish was trying to manipulate her, but it still seems to have affected her. She’s very upset. I hope she’s upset towards Cherish and not towards Skitter – or maybe she’s angry at both.

Tattletale is keeping the pages of the book they used for their secret danger measuring. She’s so going to try to find out who had what page, I bet. She also doesn’t mind Skitter noticed, and says Skitter is the one who is best equipped to find and stop the Siberian’s real body. Well it’s true the bugs maybe will find the body, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to stop him. He may have the same augmentations Bonesaw has.

The chapter ends here. I think I have time for another one, so let’s go.

Amy Dallon ran for her life.

I knew it’d be her! I hope she survives. Now that the Undersiders will be here, maybe she has a better chance of surviving. Right now her left hand is mutilated, missing fingers. The reason whyis obvious a moment later. The Siberian has been pursuing her, cornering her more and more, never going straight for a decisive blow. It’s a game, a test, after all. When the Siberian catches her again, the projection gets ready to bite another finger off.

“Shouldn’t we do something?”  Sundancer asked.  Her hand trembled as she lowered the binoculars.  I wasn’t sure how useful Sundancer was going to be, on several levels.

Against the projection she won’t be able to do much. Against the real body...well I think that depends on if she can make the sun be near him. That and she getting over her moral principles, killing the man. I think she can do it.

Looks like the Siberian bit Panacea’s finger off – I think once there are no more fingers left, she’ll go ahead with the kill. You know, I think I didn’t say it, but I did wonder how it was possible a candidate survived an encounter with the Siberian. She’s invulnerable, she’s fast, and she likes chasing people. All in all, it sounded like a test that either would maim you or outright kill you. Cherish had an advantage because she can sense the Siberian – I suppose the feelings of expectation when the projection got close, and of frustration when Cherish got away – and other past candidates maybe had powers that helped somewhat too. Panacea has nothing.

Amy wasn’t bleeding as much as she should have been.  I knew she couldn’t use her power to affect herself, or this fight would be playing out much differently.  But maybe she was using her power to affect microbes on her hands?  Changing them into something that could breed, coagulate, and staunch the wounds?

It was what I’d be doing.

Well that’s what a person who thinks fast would do, yep. I admit it’d be interesting to see what Skitter would do with such a power, it would be cool! Add that to the list of potential stories I hope exist. Heck, she even says Panacea could imitate her power with some preparation.

I think the difference between Skitter and Panacea is simple: Skitter would face the challenge and try her best to survive. Panacea only wants to run away, nothing else. She’s not going to take the time to prepare herself, to come up with plans to counter the Siberian. She’ll keep herself alive any way she can, but she won’t fight back.

When Leviathan had hit the city, she’d stayed behind to give medical care instead of using her power against him.  Now she was panicking, up against an unstoppable enemy and an inevitable fate, and she didn’t have the tools, mental or otherwise, to hold her own.

That I can’t blame her for. Who wouldn’t panic when enemies like the Siberian or Leviathan are trying to kill you? Unfortunately, Panacea doesn’t have the guts to not yield to that panic. That’s the problem.

Or maybe Siberian was waiting for Amy to break, mentally.  How long could she put up with this before she lost all hope and surrendered herself to a fate of being eaten alive?

Unfortunately that’s something that can’t be discarded. Panacea broke ties with her family, broke her standards, and is now pursued by a relentless enemy. It’s possible she will break and give up, yeah.

To help and try to save Panacea’s life, Skitter gathers a swarm of unspecified bugs around Amy. Her reaction is to freak out, and then to start fighting back against Skitter’s power. That makes Skitter frustrated. Of course Panacea would do that, it’s not like she associates Skitter with anything good. Last time Skitter tried to help Panacea got Mannequin’s dagger through the palm of her hand.

Still, I wonder what’s Skitter’s plan. She may have an idea already of how to help Panacea...perhaps obscure her view? Projection or not, the Siberian needs her sense of sight. Besides, there’s something else Skitter hopes to exploit.

Siberian was watching, uncaring.  As was so often the case, my timing had to be specific.  She wouldn’t let Amy go as a matter of principle, but she’d let hope dangle in front of both of us.  That penchant for offering hope and then dashing it was a weapon she and virtually every other member of the Nine had at their disposal, but it was also a tendency we could exploit.  A weakness, if you could call it that.

An unorthodox weakness, certainly. It could help buy some time. The Siberian may choose to play around with Skitter and everyone else instead of going straight for the kill because there’s someone nearby. After all, what’s an invulnerable person afraid of? She has no way of knowing Skitter and the others know her secret.

During all this, Skitter wonders why the Siberian’s projection is a young woman when Grue’s projection had been so similar to him. Now that she mentions Grue...hm...maybe the Siberian can control how his projection looks like. Maybe it would look completely different under other circumstances. What’s for sure is that it can’t be to blend anywhere or try to be unnoticed, because it seems the coloration is a trait inherent of the projection. Grue’s also was black and white.

Or there’s also the possibility Cherish is a dirty liar and decided to mess around with the Undersiders. It’d be a stupid thing to do because it’d make harder to deal with the real Siberian, but spite can make you do stupid stuff.

Panacea tries to disable Skitter’s power, making it harder to find the Siberian’s real body. There’s a lot of people in the area they’re searching at, and although she can continue, the constant headache distracts her. Despite that, they did manage to give her enough cover for her to hide behind a building. That’ll get her some time. Not knowing where to continue with the search, Skitter wonders if something about the Siberian’s projection could indicate something about the real body.

Ninety-five percent sure I’m right on this score, but her power probably copies her real body’s physiology to some degree, molding all the internal organs and whatever else with whatever reality-scrambling-stuff she’s made of.

It kind of feels like this could be useful information, but I really can’t think how it could be used.

The strategy is to distract the Siberian. Decoys are formed and spread around, and since the Siberian can only follow one, she has to stop and consider what to do. She doesn’t follow any, she grabs a vehicle, tears it in half, and throws the pieces, obliterating several decoys at once with the first throw, the second passing through the swarm and hitting a couple decoys...and Panacea too. Whoops! Panacea is so going to hold this against you, Skitter. Luckily she’s not injured by that.

No time to lose, she makes more decoys. She knows the Siberian will be bemused by all this, and will use this chance to show them fooling around with her will only lead to death and pain. She’ll play around for a while, then kill Panacea.

Oh, she’s not holding this against Skitter. Panacea realized Skitter is trying to help. The interference is gone, Skitter continues the decoys but also keeps searching now that she won’t have constant headaches. Sundancer asks if she should attack, she’s told to not do that because it’d give away their position. Trickster has an idea, though.

He uses his power to exchange the position of grenades with pieces of buildings, the grenades explode near the Siberian. That, coupled with the decoys, maybe will give Panacea a chance to run away further.

Grue also will use his darkness to look for the target. I figure that if he finds the person, he’ll be able to make a projection, that’s how he’ll know when he finds the real Siberian. The projected Siberian noticed the darkness, and considered striking at its source, but decides instead go catch Panacea, despite the many distractions around her.

It’s a good thing that even if the Siberian knows they’re distracting her, she still misses and goes for a decoy. Such an effective strategy sometimes! She throws brick and mortar around, a piece hitting Panacea without stopping her. Having the need to communicate with Panacea – and hoping the Siberian doesn’t have any special tricks to find her target soon – Skitter uses insects to form on Panacea’s hand and guide her. Panacea actually is obeying without any objections.

That left the problem of Siberian and whether she would come after us when she lost Amy’s trail.

I’d say she would. They’re interfering, although that’s fair game in this competition, and she still has a lot of time left. I think she could spend a while pursuing those who interfere.

Despite the darkness, the decoys and the bugs, it’s matter of time before the Siberian reaches Panacea, she keeps going in her target’s general direction no matter what. If the real body really is around here, then they need to find him and put an end to this, or Panacea is doomed.

No.  My gut told me Siberian wouldn’t operate like this if there wasn’t some link.  There had to be some kind of range limit on the projection, or he wouldn’t have any reason to follow Siberian from city to city.  The fact that he was supposedly in this area meant it might even be a fairly short range.  If he was an unwilling participant, a recipient of a power with unfortunate side effects, like Labyrinth, then she’d have to direct him from one place to another with threats.  It would require more interactions between her selves, and that would mean something would have been given away.

Along similar lines, if she depended on him to keep her going, then she had to keep him safe from the other members of the Nine.  There was infighting in the group, apparently, though I’d seen no sign of it with the team thus far.  Keeping the ordinary man safe wouldn’t be a problem if he shared Siberian’s senses like I shared those of my bugs.  She could keep an eye out for trouble and he could slip away or hide if a member of the Nine came around.

Oh? Is Skitter theorizing that maybe the projection isn’t just a projection, but a sentient being or something like that? That there’s a twisted symbiotic relationship going on here? That’d be really interesting, honestly. It’d be fun to explore and see how it works. I’m still unconvinced the Slaughterhouse Nine wouldn’t know about the Siberian’s real body, but I have no doubt they’d be interested in the projection, not on the man behind the curtains. You know, I hope Skitter is right about this!

The Siberian is no fool, she realizes where Panacea is hiding, and since she by now knows Skitter is interfering, she takes a roundabout way to strike. She punches through the wall and starts moving her arm down, destroying the foundations of the building nearest to the mall Panacea is hiding at. Still guiding her, Skitter manages to illustrate what was going on. Running, she gets out of the mall several seconds before the building falls on the mall. It’s just a demonstration of power, to scare Panacea further, which is...the equivalent of psychological overkill. Panacea is already deathly scared, after all.

They’re seriously lucky the Siberian has no way to find Panacea other than through her eyes.

The failure in their attempt to find the Siberian’s real body makes Skitter wonder if maybe they got lied to, but she has faith Tattletale would have caught on. What could be used to identify the man that’s making the projection?

What was she? Unstoppable, a deceptively strong, deceptively tough juggernaut of a woman.

Something caught her attention.  A vibration in the road?  Or had she used her power to protect the ground, and sensed some impact as the dogs walked on it?

I believe that if it was mentioned just now then it must be significant in some way. Maybe what caught her attention was something that happened near the real body. Perhaps they should run in the direction she just looked at? That would entail leaving Panacea along, though, so...hmmm...well the group right now has like five people, they could send Sundancer to go take a look. She must be really bored and nervous standing around in darkness and just watching Skitter say words aloud.

While the Siberian turns her attention to them and starts chasing them, Skitter gets the revelation she was waiting for.

The thought clicked into the blank I was looking to fill.  How was her alter ego getting around?  I’d assumed he was traveling on foot because that was how ninety-percent of the city was getting by.  Very few cars on the road had access to gas and the ability to traverse the broken, flooded streets.  But if there was a range limit to the projection, how was he keeping up with the woman who could ignore air resistance and leap across a city block in a single bound?

I shouldn’t have been looking for people.  I should have been looking for vehicles.  Had I overlooked anything like a truck or a van interior he could be hiding inside? Or was he still in a location outside of my range?  Or -I wasn’t ignoring the possibility- had Cherish lied or misled us?

Damn it! The extra possibility threw my hopes of finding the man totally out of whack.

Well I sure didn’t think of vehicles when Cherish said the Siberian’s real body was near the hole in the ground – the artificial lake. The mere sound of that gives a metal image of a craggy, ruinous terrain, where vehicles won’t be any good. Honestly my first thought back then was that he had a way to move underground. Still, this means Skitter spent a long time searching in an incorrect manner. It may be a bit too late to continue.

Also, if the Siberian has to focus on his projection yet he’s able to drive his vehicle around, then I must give kudos to his concentration skills. It’s not easy to drive and do something else at the same time.

Grue immediately goes straight for Amy, without even being asked. He’s going along the plan of keeping her protected, although this also means the Siberian is going to reach them. Grabbing Panacea is something they shouldn’t have done, though, she’s freaking out. I’m surprised she didn’t immediately start screaming bloody murder as soon as they got their hands on her.

Now this is a good time to start screaming bloody murder. The Siberian reached them. She pushes the group together, bowling them over. Grue banishes his darkness. Nobody is dead, good thing! Apparently Tattletale had asked him to cancel the darkness. Maybe she wants to talk and do her usual taunting routine? That’s going to be dangerous when it’s done at an invincible foe who can crush your head like a grape immediately.

I have always found kind of funny that someone can say ‘hold on’ or ‘stop’ firmly and the villain would stop and listen, especially when what’s going to be said is long. So! Tattletale informs they’re here for three reasons: one is to save Panacea. Well, yeah, I’m sure the Siberian figured out that much already. The second is that they’re looking for the Siberian’s real body, that doesn’t get any reaction from her. Maybe it’s because she’s sure they won’t find the real body? And the third is that the rest of the team are attacking the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine right now, the fearsome four known as Crawler, Jack, Mannequin and Bonesaw. That’s going to be a tough fight. Since this story is from Skitter’s point of view, it’s likely we’ll just see the aftermath – if they don’t get there while it’s happening.

What happens next is something I’m not surprised about at all.

Siberian flickered and disappeared.  Tattletale’s jaw dropped.

I have to wonder what exactly Tattletale was expecting. What other reaction would the Siberian have but immediately go towards where the rest of the group is at? Although maybe what she’s surprised about is that she disappeared. That is inconvenient indeed.

The chapter ends here, with an urgent request to call the rest of the team and warn them there’s an upset invincible projection going towards them. A cliffhanger, in other words. I’ll end this here for now.

Next time: in three updates

[logistiservices]

Best Practices of eCommerce Customer Support

With the growing eCommerce business landscape, it is time for eCommerce customer support to follow certain practices that help build trust and good relationships with customers. So, hiring the best customer support service is surely a gamechanger for the business. Here we bring you the best eCommerce practices to help you up your game.

Well-Organized

Being well-organized is the best way to enhance process efficiency. It also helps to keep the team motivated. If things are not well organized, it can result in things falling apart. It shall help keep a tab on customer conversations and use tools to equip the team to ensure a seamless process. Using saved replies, shared inbox, collision detection, etc., will help empower the team to efficiently handle and solve customer requests.

Customer Meeting on Their Terms

Another practice that will benefit you is meeting with the customer on their terms. Every customer looks for undivided attention and a customized approach to feel valued. Thus interacting with them helps in better ongoing and meaningful relationships. The demands and expectations of customers are ever-evolving and changing. It is important to understand them and match pace with them. Email, live chat, or tweet works well to stay in close contact with the customers. Call center outsourcing companies are increasingly relying on these methods.

Self-Service

Another practice that works well for the eCommerce contact center is enabling self-service. Many customers prefer automated self-service like mobile or website apps for simple customer service tasks. Preference is usually given to the knowledge base. It is very beneficial when a customer is looking for an immediate and accurate revert. Instead of beating around the bush, they get perfect answers to their queries.

All these eCommerce practices can help a lot to help businesses grow and succeed in this space.

For original post visit: https://logistic-consulting-services.blogspot.com/2022/01/best-practices-of-ecommerce-customer.html

[wailord]

D.Va & Mercy: I am SO Bitter

They took my two mains and have made them both completely and utterly useless. I was hopeful when I heard about these changes, but now I am fuming. And it doesn’t seem like the devs are listening to anybody who shares my opinions. Despite being a console player, I HAVE played them both for a couple of hours on the PTR. I’m going to put my full points (I’m trying to be more rational than rant-y but I’m still incredibly bitter lol) under a cut, so that I don’t crowd people’s dashboards, but because of that, I’ll give a tl;dr right here. - D.Va has been nerfed so hard that she is in the same position now as Roadhog and doesn’t have a defined role in the game, nor will she be viable in upcoming seasons. - Mercy has been put into a spot where she can no longer fulfill her role adequately when compared to other supports or even characters with a blended role, making her worse even than Sombra, a DPS, and Orisa, a tank. Picking her is ultimately almost pointless. - OW is becoming a game catered solely to DPS characters, and protecting your team is a thing of the past. FEEL FREE to reblog, post your thoughts, message me privately, send me asks, etc. I don’t have many followers, but I encourage it.

I’ll start with D.Va. DM uptime reduced by 50% - Now, for every 10 seconds (plus a delay in recharge), I can protect my team for 2 seconds instead of 4. D.Va can no longer counter the brunt of any ult, nor can she successfully protect herself or her healers, which was something she excelled at. Without having her cooldown, critbox, or delay reduced, and without having her HP altered or increased, D.Va now becomes, like Hog, a walking ult battery for the other team. Her mech can be destroyed in quite literally a second if focused down and you will spend more time out of mech and dying than you will doing anything useful. Short of Zen’s Transcendence, if the enemy team is any good, you’re fucked. In addition, the only decent protection your backline healers had from Tracer and Genji have been removed. IN PAINFUL ADDITION, know who can protect from damage, ults, and even redirect them? Fucking Genji. And now he can do it better and longer than D.Va can. On a shorter cooldown!! That’s fucking right, folks. A DPS character is now better at protection than a goddamn tank. Let that sink in. Added Missile Attack that can be fired every 8 seconds. - D.Va ca now use a missile attack that deals a total of 200, no, 160 (lol they nerfed it too) damage in total, with very minimal splash. - These missiles can be shot while boosting. - These missiles can be shot while firing her regular cannons. Cool, missiles! Not really. Contrary to her cannons, these missiles are projectiles, and require good leading skills rather than the tracking skills her cannons require. Because of this, firing them together is clunky and awkward. You cannot lead and track at the same time. Because of how the missiles are fired (a few on each side in a line, rather than in a burst like Pharah’s ult), any player who is good at straffing can take potentially little to no damage. Firing them while boosting is risky; if you’re too close to the enemy D.Va damages herself, making her mech melt even faster. On the last patch, they actually nerfed her damage, solidifying her role as a protector tank. Why give her something clunky and potentially self-damaging when they could have just upped her regular damage and gotten rid of some of the fall-off? If they wanted to give her another ability, it should have been a utility - that way she wouldn’t have had to rely on DM so much (since apparently it’s a problem). Can now shoot while flying. This is self-explanatory. Despite having learned to use the fire button to cancel flight, this is actually a welcomed quality of life change. Of course, it doesn’t nearly make up for how hard they’ve killed her. Let’s move on to Mercy. I won’t put this in point form since it’s just a doozy. I’m more bitter about this than D.Va, surprisingly. Her rez has been moved to an ability on a 30 second cooldown, which averages more rezzes per game than having it as an ult. In THEORY, this is really cool. In THEORY, this will end the “hide and rez” Mercy tactic the DPS players whine about (isn’t backing off when you hear a teamwipe coming common sense???). However, it completely falls apart when you take a good hard look at her ult. Also her new rez voiceline really just sounds like she doesn’t even care. It’s watered down and uninspired. VALKYRIE, the name of the suit and the reason we’re all here. They have removed what made this character iconic, and given her a bit fat nothing in return. While ulting, for 20 seconds, Mercy can fly, shoot with infinite ammo (because they removed the firerate as it was too strong), move slightly faster, and her beams can chain amongst her team. In addition, her rez is reset, and cooldown while ulting is down from 30 seconds to 10. Yes this sounds super cool! But it’s not. Despite her beams chaining, they do not get buffed. Mercy still heals 60hp/second, and still damage boosts for 30%. If we’re comparing ults, Zen heals for 300hp/s over 6 seconds and is completely invulnerable. Orisa’s ult boosts all your nearby teammate’s damage by 50%. If we’re looking at numbers, Mercy can potentially heal 1200 hp over 20 seconds for each teammate. Zen, while invincible, heals 1800 hp over 6 seconds for each teammate. He can save his team from all high-damage ults that aren’t instakill (Junk and DVa, both of which are easily avoidable). Mercy, while ulting, cannot even outheal anything except a non-ulting Winston. She cannot protect her team from ults. Take 10 damage. A 50% boost puts it at 15, and a 30% boost puts it at 13. Orisa, over the period of her ult can boost 220 damage. Mercy, in 20s, can boost 260 damage. Only more because of the duration; more impact yeah, but over way more time.  With the added firerate of her blaster removed, she no longer has the same DPS addition to her ult (which isn’t really her character’s purpose to begin with anyway so to me this is negligible). But KENDRA! Her rez resets and the cooldown is lowered! Yes, very true! However, what good will this do in a team wipe? You rez once, ult, then rez again. But then you gotta wait 10 seconds. By this time, the other dead souls have respawned and you and 2 teammates are standing there, acting as further ult charge for your enemies. But she can fly and escape! This becomes irrelevant when you have to literally be on top of the soul you want to rez (and you no longer have invincibility frames! This is true even without ult. Rezzing a teammate will literally get you killed unless no enemy is around). The restricted distance is a meager 5m. And despite being able to fly and having your regen be uninterruptable, you still only regen 20hp/s. While for Huge Rez you were invincible, during this ult, any 76, McCree, or Widow worth their salt will still demolish you, especially if the first two ult, making any impact you WERE going to have null and void. LITERALLY, taking all this into consideration, the only thing Mercy is good for anymore is healing outside of her ult and damage boost. And if you thought people yelled at you for not rezzing before, be prepared to be yelled at by every player you choose NOT to rez (or can’t rez because of the cooldown). This leads me to my conclusion; that Overwatch as a game is being changed to cater solely to DPS players. “It’s not fun to be oneshot by Hog.” Nerf. “It’s not fun to have my ult eaten by DM” Nerf. “It’s not fun to have my teamwipe reversed.” Nerf. It’s a disturbing trend that any type of character that can oppose and counter a DPS hero will get nerfed if enough people complain about things being not fun. However, Scatter Arow has yet to be nerfed (”he needs a way to defend himself!” so did D.Va). Symm’s melting capabilities have yet to be nerfed (”she wasn’t strong enough before in a fight!”). Pharah, Reaper, Soldier, McCree, and any ults in combination with Grav or Blizzard can all gain team wipes (”ults are meant to be gamechanging!” mercy’s no longer is tho). Someone on the forums worded it nicely: Overwatch is meant to be a Rock-Paper-Scissors game.You’re supposed to switch it up on the reg to counter your opponents. But because paper beats rock, rock complains and paper gets removed. Rock will now always beat Scissors, and so a new meta is born whether you like it or not, and you have everyone picking rock. This is how the game becomes stale. With D.Va’s new rework (cough, nerf), there is no longer any way to protect your healers from backline harrassers like Tracer, Genji, Pharah, or Reaper. Short of Zarya’s bubble (which only lasts a second under heavy damage), Rein staying back to beside the healer (ill-advised), or Winston’s dome (which can be walked into), anyone getting harrassed will be killed unless another DPS (or a charged Zarya) saves them by killing the enemy first. Hog can no longer punish harrassers completely, and the most Orisa can do is briefly mini-gravi them away (and that’s only if she isn’t paying attention to the frontlines, where she should be). Honestly at this point, the best protector is Mei, who can freeze and secure a kill (except against a really mobile Tracer or Genji, and except Pharah who’s in the sky), but then has to remain with the healers. Very rarely have I seen a DPS player who stays back and helps protect the healer (but yes I know you guys are out there). DVa can no longer counter (despite the amount of characters who can ignore her DM), and Mercy can no longer reverse the tides of battle.  The majority of the roster is meant to secure kills. With the new deathmatch mode being introduced, and characters being reworked to fit a mold, I fear this will only increase. A diverse game that I loved is slowly being changed to accomodate esports and pro-players, and it’s incredibly disheartening.

[oncuehiswill]

ABCs of AB

+++++

Just as in sports, every organization needs that lead D.O.G (Disciplined Outstanding Gamechanger) to set the tone on the field, in the office, or on the shop floor.  That D.O.G. can shift the tides of how an organization peforms as soon as he or she arrives.  But what happens when that D.O.G. lacks the fundamentals of leadership and lives by his or her own ABCs?  Let's take AB as a example. He appears to be a D.O.G who ...

A-Anoints self or anointed by org as the savior

B-Believes he is the exception to all rules and entitled to special treatment

C-Checks everyone but himself

The Raiders wanted to transform their culture but made a miscalculation in anointing him as the savior of their offense and culture.  Every high performer has an ego, but the question is how he performs when things don't go his way.  He acts out, just as he did while with the Steelers.  In both case, the culture became toxic. 

There is the danger in feeding an athlete's ego. One danger is only feeding those who get playing time.  Can an organizations feed the ego of bench player to look forward to playing on the bench?  No, it has to be something greater.  Another danger is creating a mixed message to role players, bench players, fans, customers, etc. Mixed messages break trust.  Organizations cannot unify in a commom purpose if there trust is broken. Lastly, a danger is creating double standards and hypocrisy. Who can follow or be a disciple for an organization's mission in the sea of hypocrisy.

They say that "culture eats strategy for breakfast".  That is true in many cases.  What is also true is that culture transformation trumps toxic talent today and tomorrow.  An organization must make a choice. Either the organization has to be bold enough to detoxify, even getting rid of the D.O.G.  The risk is creating more self-serving premadonnas. Or the organization must begin develop the whole leader instead of the "at-work" leader.  In other words, to smooth the edges that ego and feed the D.O.G.s "en-tween", i.e., the edge of hope and despair and the place where the spirit cuts between the mind, body, and soul.

But is the "en-tween" really the organization's responsibility?  The D.O.G. must be a willing participant, for getting rid of the toxicity is purely the D.O.G.'s responsibility.  There are certain realities he must accept before dealing with the "en-tween".  One reality is that everyone can't and won't be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time).  Swallowing pride is one of the most difficult challenges in life.  We all tend to forget that "pride comes before the fall".  The "fall" will surely come when a leader holds self first; that includes principled philosophies, personal preferences, popular narratives, problems, and all hopes and dreams that a leader holds as the point of reverence.

This leads to the most important reality that the all leaders must accept.  To fix the "en-tween", the D.O.G. must become a F.R.O.G. -- Fully Relying On God.  That starts with a different set of ABCs -- Acknowledge, Believe, and Commit to Him.   This is an imperative, even when others are calling the leader a fool for staying in the boiling water.  Pray for AB and all of us trying to fix our "en-tween"...

[wellpersonsblog]

Muscle Gain on a Plant-Based Diet: How to Hit Your Macronutrient Numbers as a Vegan

Although most people know me as a runner, when I first got into fitness in college, my measure of success wasn’t miles — it was muscle.

I’d always been a skinny guy, and thought that with the freedom and time college afforded me (not to mention an amazing fitness complex), I might be able to change that.

The problem, I soon found, was that no matter how many hours I spent in that fancy gym — following programs from Men’s Health to the letter — I just couldn’t put on the muscle that I thought I should be adding with all this heavy lifting.

Why not?

I had the wrong nutrition strategy.

I was eating for general fitness, when what I should have been following was a targeted strategy specifically designed to give me the nutrients I needed (and, importantly, in the amounts I needed), based on my body and goals.

I learned, over many frustrating years of failure, that nutrition is just as important as strength training when it comes to building muscle and toning your body.

And once I nailed the nutrition, putting on muscle (and later, losing fat) became easy.

But what kind of nutrition?

For most of my life, I thought that nutrition for muscle-building meant steaks, lean chicken breasts, and whole-milk protein shakes. The idea that you could get results in the gym from a plant-based diet never occurred to me.

But I’ll dive into that topic here, and share three example vegan meal plans to prove to you that it can be done — and I’ll show you how.

First, Understand that the Types of Foods Matter

Most people know that if you’re trying to lose or put on weight, you’ve got pay attention to calories in versus calories out.

But when you’re trying to do something like add muscle mass, it isn’t just about the calories.

Accomplished vegan bodybuilders and coaches Giacomo Marchese and Dani Taylor put it this way:

Which macronutrients your calories come from will determine what kind of tissue you gain or lose (in conjunction with your training, of course).

For example, you can lose 20 pounds by restricting calories alone, but without planning your macronutrients, and weight training appropriately, the weight lost could easily be coming from muscle.

Conversely, you can definitely gain weight by eating a surplus of calories, but without a plan of where they are coming from, and without strength training of some kind, you can easily gain more fat than you intended.

So we’re talking about macronutrients… does that mean we’re focusing on protein?

While protein is a key ingredient to muscle growth, understanding the macronutrient profile that fits your body and supports your goals requires looking at carbohydrates and fat as well.

In a post they wrote for No Meat Athlete, Dani and Giacomo do a fantastic job outlining how to calculate your macronutrient needs for muscle gain and fat loss. So that’s the place to start. (I’ll refer back to this formula a lot. Make sure you check out that post before finishing this one, so you know what I’m talking about.)

But the process is pretty simple:

Step 1: Find your maintenance calories, or the number of calories you need to maintain your weight right now.

Step 2: Find your deficit (assuming you want to lose body fat), or the number of calories below your maintenance level that fits your goals. There’s a tradeoff here — the larger your deficit, the quicker you’ll lose weight, but the more likely that weight is to be muscle instead of fat, so you want to find the balance that works for you.

Step 3: Calculate your protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs, based on your weight, activity levels, and body composition. This is where Dani and Giacomo’s formula is most helpful.

Here’s that macronutrient formula again, which we’ll be referring to for the rest of this post.

But fair warning: Once you have those numbers, they can look a little daunting. After having never calculated nutrients, suddenly seeing over 100 grams of protein listed as your target makes it easy to question how you’ll get that on a whole-food plant-based diet.

But it’s possible, and it’s not that hard. I’ll show you what I mean.

Macronutrients, Muscle Gain, and the Plant-Based Diet

Instead of just throwing random numbers around, let me set this up by taking three example friends, all trying to gain muscle or tone their bodies:

1. Ann, a 130-pound active vegan. Her calculations show that she needs 1800 calories per day, with 62g of fat, 84g of protein, and 232g of carbohydrates.

2. Daniella weighs 150 pounds, and she needs 2,000 calories each day, with 67g of fat, 93g of protein, and 256g of carbohydrates.

3. Peter, a 165-pound male, needs 2,541 calories per day, with 84 grams of fat, 113g of protein, and 337 grams of carbohydrates.

Like I said, the numbers can look a little daunting. Getting a lot of carbohydrates on a plant-based, now that’s pretty easy, but 113 grams of protein for Peter, or 67g of fat for Daniella?

Sounds like a lot. Which is why, for a long time, high fat and protein paleo or meat-heavy diets have been associated with big muscles.

But more and more — with the growth of the vegan bodybuilder movements on social media or documentaries like Gamechangers changing the conversation — people are starting to come around to the fact that plant foods can be just as effective (and sometimes even more effective) for muscle gain than animal foods.

By eating the right plant foods, not only can you easily hit your macronutrient numbers; you can also get the right balance of amino acids and a ton of great micronutrients as well.

So what does a day of eating for these macronutrient numbers actually look like?

Let’s use our three examples from above and see how they eat for a day. First up, Ann…

Ann’s Meal Plan: 1800 calories, 62g of fat, 84g of protein, and 232g of carbohydrates

Breakfast: Easy Tofu Scramble with Whole-Wheat Toast with Hummus

519 calories, 32g protein, 18g fat, 55g carbohydrates

Snack: Celery & Nut Butter

234 calories, 5g protein, 20g fat, 12g carbohydrates

Lunch: One-Pot Peanut Butter Noodles

376 calories, 20g protein, 15g fat, 42g carbohydrates

Post-Workout Snack: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie (2 Scoops)

267 calories, 24g protein, 6g fat, 32g carbohydrates

Dinner: Chickpea Chili with Baked Potato

371 calories, 15g protein, 2g fat, 77g carbohydrates

Ann’s day adds up to 1767 calories, 61g fat, 96g of protein, and 218g carbs.

Daniella’s Meal Plan: 2,000, 67g of fat, 93g of protein, and 256g of carbohydrates

Breakfast: Soy-Free, Gluten-Free Pancakes with Maple Syrup and Mixed Berries

523 calories, 24g protein, 17g fat, 87g carbohydrates

Snack: Crackers & Hummus

293 calories, 7g protein, 15g fat, 40g carbohydrates

Lunch: Chipotle Sloppy Joes

380 calories, 28g protein, 6g fat, 30g carbohydrates

Post-Workout Snack: Lean & Green Smoothie

209 calories, 23g protein, 5g fat, 20g carbohydrates

Dinner: Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers with a Side of Quinoa

540 calories, 26g protein, 9g fat, 86g carbohydrates

Daniella just consumed 1945 calories, 52g fat, 108g protein, and 263g carbs.

Peter’s Meal Plan: 2,541, 113g of protein, 84g of fat, and 337g of carbohydrates

Breakfast: Oatmeal with Nut Butter, Raisins, and Banana

634 calories, 18g protein, 21g fat, 95g carbohydrates

Snack: Edamame (2 cups)

378 calories, 30g protein, 19g fat, 30g carbohydrates

Lunch: Quinoa Mango Salad with Homemade Seitan

367 calories, 40g protein, 5g fat, 32g carbohydrates

Post-Workout Snack: Pumpkin Pie Smoothie with Peanut Butter (2 Scoops)

438 calories, 32g protein, 22g fat, 25g carbohydrates

Dinner: Veggie Loaf with Baked Potato

702 calories, 32g protein, 9g fat, 134g carbohydrates

Peter’s meals add up to 2,519 calories, 152g protein, 76g fat, and 316g carbs.

Did any of them hit the numbers perfectly? No, of course not.

But hitting the numbers perfectly isn’t the point. That would be far too stressful and difficult. Definitely not the No Meat Athlete way; to me, if it’s not sustainable, it’s not worth much.

Instead, they used the numbers as a guide, aiming to average out those macronutrients over the course of the week.

But here’s the kicker:

In all three cases, they were able to get more than enough protein through a plant-based diet. And fat was right around where it should be (and could easily be adjusted with a few handfuls of nuts or seeds).

So even though the numbers might have seemed jarring on paper, these meals probably aren’t that much different than what you’re already eating.

With an extra snack or two, and maybe a bit heavier of a breakfast than normal, you can easily take a pretty standard plant-based diet and turn it into one that works for your strength training goals.

When Building Muscle, Don’t Neglect Nutrition

If you’re trying to gain muscle, burn fat, or simply tone up you body, don’t make the same mistake I did for so long.

Don’t rely only on strength training to produce all the results.

Sure, a thoughtful, progressive strength plan is crucial, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

The extra attention to diet is what creates the magic.

For best results, take the time to calculate your personal macronurients. Knowing exactly what you need for your body will make a real difference.

But if you’re itching to get started now, use the calculations above to ballpark your numbers and start tracking your food.

As always with No Meat Athlete, the ultimate goal is to get familiar enough with your needs and foods that tracking isn’t necessary. The simpler the better.

But until then, do the work.

Because ignoring the other half of the strength equation will just leave you frustrated, like I was for so many years until I figured it out, and finally got the results I wanted.

The post Muscle Gain on a Plant-Based Diet: How to Hit Your Macronutrient Numbers as a Vegan appeared first on No Meat Athlete.

First found here: Muscle Gain on a Plant-Based Diet: How to Hit Your Macronutrient Numbers as a Vegan

[peacekaleandyoga1]

Soccer superstar Alex Morgan is many things to many people: co-captain to her US women’s national team, social media celebrity to her 84 million Instagram followers, Best Female Athlete of the 2019 ESPYs, wife of soccer player Servando Carrasco, and role model to women and girls around the world She’s also a hero to animals — from her rescue pup, Blue, to all the cows and pigs and chickens she no longer consumes

“I’m passionate about giving animals a voice,” Morgan told Reuters recently.

“I even adopted a vegan diet, because it didn’t feel fair to have a dog I adore, and yet eat meat all the time” Morgan is part of the growing wave of top-tier athletes who are eliminating animal products — including meat, eggs and dairy — from the collection of foods they eat, instead embracing vegan, or plant-based, diets

Along with Morgan — and five other women on the U.

S world cup soccer team, plus retired World Cup player Heather Mitts — other pro athletes who eat vegan include NBA point guard Chris Paul, tennis player Novak Djovic, Olympic weightlifter Kendrick Farris, tennis star Venus Williams (who went plant-based to improve symptoms of her autoimmune disorder, reportedly to great effect), Arnold Schwarzenegger, NFL defensive linebacker Derrick Morgan, possibly NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick (though he’s never confirmed it beyond a 2018 tweeted with the hashtag #notbadforavegan) and Olympic cyclist Dotsie Bausch, who is so passionate about the issues involved that last year she formed a nonprofit called Switch4Good , promoting science-based benefits of a dairy-free lifestyle View photos Alex Morgan, a member of the US women’s national soccer team, accepts the award for best female athlete at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) More “One of the misconceptions in sports nutrition is that we have to have animal protein to perform at a high level That’s just not true,” states James Loomis, MD, a practitioner of internal medicine at Barnard Medical Center in Washington, DC, and former team internist for the St Louis Rams football team and the St Louis Cardinals baseball team Loomis, who is also a competitive marathoner, had been suffering with chronic health conditions when he saw the documentary Forks Over Knives , about the benefits of a plant-based diet, and was inspired to stop eating animal products “I recently turned 60 and I’m able to do stuff physically now that I could never dream of doing and I attribute a lot of that to my diet,” Loomis, who appears (along with many of the athletes listed above) in the forthcoming Gamechangers , “a revolutionary new documentary about meat, protein, and strength,” tells Yahoo Lifestyle “Exercise is a highly inflammatory activity, and the Standard American Diet creates low-grade inflammation So, exercising is throwing fuel on the fire I’ve heard other athletes talk about a quicker recovery, and less injury, being the biggest change” Morgan, who has been prone to injury in the past, recently told the podcast Hurdle with Emily Abbate , “I’m knocking on wood right now, but I haven’t had a serious injury [since her last, which was before going vegan] and I credit that to my diet I feel better all around, I feel like I have great energy, I feel like I’m sleeping really well, I feel like I’m just more clear-minded and not as reliant on caffeine as before” She’s also seen a drop in her bad cholesterol Always ready 💪🏾 #NotBadForAVegan pictwittercom/TLfbsUUeIb — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 3, 2018 Athletes who do go vegan, though — just like any person in general — must be deliberate when it comes to doing it healthily, and ensuring they get certain dietary requirements

“Veganism, historically comes from an ethical place.

and there’s a lot of unhealthy stuff that’s vegan,” Loomis explains “So, a whole-food plant-based diet,” which he recommends and follows, “is vegan, but it avoids that highly processed food” View photos Dotsie Bausch, Olympic medalist and founder of Switch4Good (Photo courtesy of Switch4Good) More Some vitamins and minerals to be vigilant about, he says, include: Vitamin B-12 , 500 mcg a day, which vegans will need to supplement Calcium , which he calls a “faux nutrient of concern” for vegans, as there are many excellent, plant-based sources “A cup of collard greens or a cup of tofu has as much as a cup of milk” (Vitamin D, which many cite as a reason to keep drinking cow’s milk, is not naturally occurring in milk but fortified — just as it is in plant-based milks including soy, almond and oat

) Iron , which can be of concern in pre-menopausal women, as iron from meat sources is easier for our bodies to absorb.

To aid absorption from plant sources — which include cashew nuts, kale, hempseeds, tofu, blackstrap molasses and dried apricots — vegans should consume it with sources of vitamin C, such as citrus fruits Iodine

“That’s one that people don’t talk about, but 150 mcg is needed a day,” Loomis says.

While the biggest source used to come from iodized salt, many people now use sea salt or other none-fortified types

But it can be found in sea vegetables, such as nori and dulse, as well as kelp supplements.

Finally, there’s the ever-present question of protein , which even Morgan admitted she finds challenging “I think for a non-professional athlete it’s quite easy

But for me, I find some difficulty in making sure I get enough protein,” she told Hurdle.

It’s very common for me to have two protein shakes in a day, almond milk and pea protein… and I like to incorporate protein into every meal that I possibly can, so that includes nuts, nut butters, black beans, chickpeas” But Loomis says most people are getting plenty of protein without overthinking it — even athletes — since all that’s really needed, according to the Daily Reference Intake (DRI) is 08 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 036 grams per pound, amounting to 56 grams per day for the average man and 46 per woman; that’s upped to about 1

2 grams per kilogram for athletes, he says, easily found through the sources Morgan relies on, and others, including tempeh and tofu.

.

from https://ift.tt/2ZJpMfF

[siliconwebx]

Facebook Fan Subscriptions: A Patreon Alternative?

Monetizing your content is never easy. To be successful, you need to build a significant audience and convince them your articles, videos, or tutorials are worth paying for. Even if you get there, collecting that money can also pose problems.

With Facebook fan subscriptions, the platform wants to provide an alternative to services such as Patreon. In this article, we’re going to go over what this new Facebook feature offers and talk about how it compares to Patreon.

Let’s check it out!

An Introduction to a Subscription Business Model (And Why It’s Popular)

When it comes to purchasing digital products, you can boil down business models down to two types. The first is the one-time purchase, while the other is recurring payments, more commonly called ‘subscriptions’.

If you’re the person who’s selling the product, subscriptions may make you more money than one-off purchases. There’s also the added benefit of subscriptions giving you a more stable income, month after month.

When it comes to software subscription models are especially attractive. Take Adobe, for example. They switched to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model a while ago, and while the backlash was intense at the time, it’s a strategy that has become more popular in the years since.

The idea is, subscription-based models usually make for better business over the long term. The past few years have also seen the rise of several platforms that enable regular people to provide content in exchange for a subscription fee. Let’s look at one of those right now.

A Brief Overview of Patreon

In the past, famous artists would often have wealthy benefactors or ‘patrons’ that financed their projects. This relationship enabled artists to thrive and focus on creating new amazing things without having to worry about eking out a living.

Patreon is a platform that aims to replicate this, except instead of relying on a single patron, it connects content creators with hundreds and thousands of patrons. Each patron pays a few dollars each month in exchange for access to exclusive content. Content creators can even set up subscription levels with special rewards. Each month, the people you subscribe to will get money from each person that pledges to them, which Patreon collects and distributes. It’s pretty simple, but it’s also been a gamechanger for a lot of people.

This can be especially useful for creators that would otherwise struggle to monetize their content. This includes but is not limited to video creators, writers, artists, and musicians. For example, even if you “only” have 500 fans, getting them all to pay at least $1 a month can give you a pretty substantial boost to your regular income, at a very small cost to each individual patron.

While Patreon is a popular option, there are several other platforms that use similar models, such as Drip, and Memberful. The most recent addition to this method is Facebook and their fan subscriptions. Since Patreon is the leading website when it comes to this business model, we decided to use it as a measuring stick to see how Facebook fan subscriptions compare.

Facebook Fan Subscriptions: A New Alternative

Facebook has recently made an effort to attract more content creators to their platform. The goal is for the platform not to be used to share links or status updates, but also for people to post unique content.

The problem is, Facebook probably isn’t the first place you think of when you want to see unique new content. Video creators usually stick to YouTube, webcomic artists have their own websites, photographers have Instagram or Flickr, just to name a few examples. However, regardless of their chosen platform or their popularity, many creators still struggle to monetize their work.

Patreon provided them with a way to monetize their fanbase, and now Facebook wants to take a bite of that action. From what we know so far about their fan subscriptions, the system will work similarly to Patreon:

Exclusive rewards. Creators will be able to reward subscribers, although we don’t know if it will offer a tier system.

Monthly payments. As a subscriber, you’ll be charged monthly. The fee is currently set at $4.99 per month.

We also know that subscribers will get access to exclusive badges that show they support specific creators. The type of badge you get will also vary depending on how often you share their content or comment on it. These features make sense since the main advantage Facebook has over Patreon is its massive built-in audience. With that in mind, let’s look at how both platforms compare.

How Facebook Fan Subscriptions Compare to Patreon

Facebook is by far the leading social media platform these days, with billions of users. As such, the fact they’re jumping on the subscription-based business model is good news for a lot of creators.

As we mentioned, Facebook fan subscriptions will work very similarly to Patreon. The main unique feature is in how Facebook can leverage the platform at large, such as offering users badges they can show off. It also means that new users won’t need to register for a new service just to support someone with a subscription. Facebook has the distinct advantage of having a massive built-in audience. This may make it easier to scale your subscription count within the platform.

At the moment the Facebook subscription scheme is still in beta and only accessible to selected users that have registered for the Facebook for Creators program. As such, it’s difficult to gauge how it will stack up against Patreon and whether it’s worth considering jumping ship to Facebook’s alternative. The smart move is to focus on your current monetization platform for the moment and wait to see when Facebook’s alternative rolls out.

Conclusion

Fan subscription services are a lifeline for a lot of content creators that can’t rely on traditional monetization methods. They enable fans to support the people they like and get rewarded in the process. In other words, they’re a win-win for everyone involved.

There are a lot of subscription platforms available online, such as Patreon. Now, Facebook wants to challenge their dominance. From what we know so far, they’re not planning on implementing any groundbreaking features, though. However, with such a massive platform at their disposal, it’ll be interesting to see how they leverage it to their advantage.

What do you think about Facebook fan subscriptions? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

Article thumbnail image by venimo / shutterstock.com

The post Facebook Fan Subscriptions: A Patreon Alternative? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

are you not going to watch thor3 then?

Hey Anon! You have the honor of being my first anon ask ever! Thanks for asking!

Anyways, that’s a good question. I’m still on the fence about it. I have a feeling I’m probably gonna end up going to see it because it’s supposedly going to be a gamechanger for Phase 3 like TWS was for Phase 2, and if I don’t go see it and wait until it comes out on DVD I know I’m going to get spoiled for it, which I would rather not happen. Also I have a friend who might want to see it and if she wants me to go with her I will.

Either way I have pretty low expectations for the movie. I’m really excited for Valkyrie and I’m looking forward to Hela too, and to the actual Ragnarok elements of the movie, but it seems like they’ll be downplaying that in favor of the Planet Hulk GOTG-esque stuff. (I did get really excited when Surtur and Fenrir were in the trailer though! And the Valkyrior with their flying horses.) Even leaving aside there being no Jane (or Darcy or Selvig), which could have worked if they’d been respectful about it, kept Thor and Jane together but just not had room for the Midgard cast in this movie and brought all them back in Infinity War or Avengers 4, a lot of the stuff I was originally hoping for from this movie just isn’t there. There’s no Sif and the Warriors Three, and they’re using Skurge but not Amora the Enchantress. (I’m still really annoyed about that tbh. We have Lorelei in the MCU and now we’re getting Skurge the Executioner and it’s just weird to use those characters without including Amora too.) Also the general aesthetic of the movie being like GOTG and not high-fantasy-Vikings-in-space and the fact that they seem to have gotten rid of the Shakesperean-speak all the Asgardians use really annoy me.

The things that bother me most though, are that it should’ve been a high-fantasy/mythological Ragnarok-in-space movie, instead of “mostly GOTG-style Planet Hulk with as few Ragnarok elements as we can get away with in a movie that’s called Thor: Ragnarok,” and the fact that they seem to be dumbing down Thor’s character for laughs. Contrary to popular fan opinion, Thor is canonically not stupid and has had some really amazing character growth: just look at him in the first Thor movie and then in the second, the difference is amazing and I feel so proud of him every time I watch it. And based on the trailers they’re throwing all of that down the drain for the sake of comedy. :/ The previous Thor movies showed that there are plenty of ways to make Thor funny without relying on “oh look Thor is being dumb and callous”-style humor and I hate that this movie appears to be trashing all of his character development to make jokes at his expense. I’d be really excited to see Thor and Hulk’s friendship on the big screen if it wasn’t for this too, Avengers Assemble made me love their friendship.

This got very long, oops. I have a lot of feelings, especially about Thor. And I specifically tried not to talk about Jane or Jane/Thor because if I did that we’d be here all day. Also didn’t say anything about Loki because much as I love him we haven’t gotten enough promo material on his part in the movie for me to have any opinion on it. And we know he’s in Infinity War so there’s no risk of him dying (yet).

TLDR I’ll probably end up going see it but I have pretty low expectations for it and I’ll be sitting there mentally erasing half of it from continuity in my head just like I did with Age of Ultron.