#the ib program is making me evil

[magnorious]

A Lightning Thief Retrospective, 16 Years Later

Good grief, I am old. *Spoilers ahead*

In the spirit of the resurgence of appreciation for this series, I’m doing a retrospective on the books that single-handedly got me to love reading. No matter how old I get, Percy and co will always hold a special place on my bookshelf and in my soul. 16 years later and I have my own books to show for it.

*Disclaimer, I have read the books multiple times in the interim, but I first got my hands on it, and first fell in love with it, in 2008.

So: The Lightning Thief

The Greek-verse isn’t Riordan’s only series to open with a fourth-wall-breaking element, nor is it the only series to open with a “if you’re reading this, be warned” narrative (Maximum Ride comes to mind) but, at least in the paperback edition circa 2006, the last lines on the first page read:

Am I a troubled kid?Yeah, you could say that.

And I just… it’s so Percy. It’s perfect. You have no idea what it really means on your first read through but sixteen years later after growing up with these books, that line just makes me grin like the little kid that’s still inside.

As I kept reading, I tried my best to remove my “victim of the hellish IB Program, literary analyst” hat. This book spoon feeds you exposition in a really palatable way. We’ve seen the museum scene adapted twice now and while older me thinks that’s really convenient timing, it does a lot of legwork while also being short enough to keep the attention of its intended audience. It is also very, very good at foreshadowing, and setting up major payoffs, for events later in this book and beyond.

“Mr. Brunner” looking at the stele of the unnamed hero like he’d been to her funeral

Luke’s scar in the firelight making him look evil

Percy’s affinity for water and the sea, peeking into Cabin 3 before it’s his

The Fates’ electric-blue (remind you of anyone’s eyes?) string

“Someone summoned it,” Chiron said. “Someone inside the camp.”Luke came over���.

Ares’ curse on Percy

Speaking of foreshadowing – prophecies. Since all five books have them, I’m dedicating a section in each review to each one.

You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

The whole point of these things is to drive you crazy trying to figure out what they mean before they play out, making you rotten suspicious and paranoid. The book does go line by line in the end and explains how each element was resolved. It’s both very deceptive, on purpose, but easy to grasp for younger readers. I think the prophecies in Titans Curse and Battle of the Labyrinth are superior, but it does its job well.

—

The whole book, likely intentionally so, with an ADHD protagonist, isn’t filled with fluffy narrative. There’s a ton of one-sentence paragraphs and Percy’s personality always shines through, even from page one, a la Holden Caulfield. Even when it’s an exposition-heavy scene, or just traveling while on their quest, nothing ever *lingers*.

Percy is direct in his observations and his narration jumps about from thinking about some random comment another character made that’s poignant in the moment to funny descriptions of the mythic world, to pitching his two-cents on the matter, expressing his annoyances with Annabeth, etc, all in a snappy and easy to keep up with manner. He doesn’t wax poetic, that’s not who he is and that’s not the story this book is telling.

For anyone intimidated by chapter books (re: me at that age) this book is endlessly approachable. He doesn’t have *too much* personality to be distracting, but he has enough to be more than a reader-insert everyman.

I don’t necessarily believe he’s twelve, but he does have that childish immaturity with his narrating and I forget if it ages with him. Since I brought up Maximum Ride earlier, she’s a child protagonist who does not read like a 14 year old girl, she reads like a quirky caricature written by a middle-aged dude.

**Side note, upon my re-read, it came to my attention that the Disney show inexplicably skipped the cutting of the thread with the Fates scene that is like, foreshadowing for the entire series**

*Side side note, Percy isn’t the one who came up with Wise Girl, it was Clarisse. Chapter 6**

I also forgot just how big a temper Percy has. He contemplates kicking Smelly Gabe in the balls for being mean to Sally, with zero care for the consequences. Not to mention the whole “Gabe would love to give away free appliances” schtick. He’s such a little sh*t and we love him.

For a book that’s largely action adventure, it balances the slower moments with the fight scenes smoother than butter. Percy’s demigod-ness gives him quite a bit of plot armor and excuse to survive these fights as a mostly-untrained twelve-year old without making him unrealistically over-competent.

The world building, at least in my opinion, feels like it looked at Harry Potter and went “I can fix that”. There’s not one cabin of demigods rudely and unfairly and problematically labeled Wizard Nazis, (except Grover insinuating that Hades’ kids were actual Nazis in WWII…. Hmm). The Mist exists to hand-wave away everything mortals aren’t supposed to see. It gets really creative with modernizing these myths and making them more child-friendly, and does a good job at urbanizing it, for lack of a better term. The concept of mapping Ancient Greece onto the US is neat, for American readers, and the explanation of “traveling Western Civilization” makes sense. The Underworld having traffic and toll booths was funny.

It treads the razor-thin line of “paganism is real” as well as it can, I think. It focuses less on “creation of the universe was definitely this” and more “the forces of nature have names and faces,” and sidesteps the giant sinkhole of Christianity and Christian readers with “we shan’t deal with the metaphysical,” and says nothing more about it, or demigods who grew up religious, or the other pantheons (yet). Beyond a throwaway dead preacher who Grover argues likely sees the underworld through his Christian kaleidoscope.

The series also doesn’t suffer egregious plot holes, only some continuity errors (like Blackjack). One that comes to mind in TLT is that if Camp contacted Sally about watching over Percy, Sally knew his dad was Poseideon. So how did the whole “I want to watch over your son cause he’s interesting, hm, can’t put my finger on why. Say, who’s his dad?” never lead anywhere? But it doesn’t break the immersion, certainly not for young readers.

It’s interesting how, looking back after knowing the entire story, how the seeds of doubt are right there, in your face, from the moment Percy learns the gods are real. It’s almost a meta self-fulfilling prophecy how things go so wrong for these characters, it’s so obvious.

SInce it is an adventure, the places they go are all wildly and entertainingly different. The garden gnome emporium, St. Louis Arch, Waterland, the Lotus casino, Crusty’s waterbed store. Each provides their own challenges and take full advantage of “mythology is real”.

Let’s talk about the villains, and how Hades was not done dirty this time. I’m going to presume that it’s bias on part of the characters for the whole “Hades’ kids were Nazis” and it’s absolutely on Chiron for insisting that Hades is the culprit when he sends Percy on his quest. Nowadays, especially with the staggering popularity of Nico, Hades has been pretty well redeemed in the eyes of a casual reader. But I think, at the time it was written, making Hades not the villain here was fantastic. He’s still a god, still a jerk, still dangerous, but he’s not the Devil. He drew the short straw and is an introvert written by salty extroverts.

Luke, for a twist villain (read my post here for a deeper analysis) and Ares as a tool of Kronos worked really well. If anyone got the Slytherin treatment, I guess it would have been the Ares cabin, but… he’s a jerk. His kids got his temperament, thus they are jerks. But even then – Ares was just a tool, a crude hammer swung alarmingly well.

Setting up your series-defining villain as a disembodied voice pulling strings is nothing new, but it comes with the benefit of two thousand years of real-world mythology backing up this entity’s power. Kronos is basically a non-entity in this book, but what he does is effective, and kudos for making readers’ skin crawl with the near-tragedy at the edge of Tartarus (foreshadowing!!!!!).

Something else the book does well is having a very well-written and uniquely motivated reluctant chosen one. Yeah, we’d all rather be demigods than Tributes, but being a demigod has drawbacks that being a wizard doesn’t. They don’t shy away from the risk of kids getting skewered and mauled, even if you don’t actually see it happening. This is dangerous work.

And, Percy calls it out – he exists to be used. That’s all demigods are worth to the Olympians. So, he’s going to use this quest to rescue his mom. He doesn’t give a damn about his dad, he doesn’t care about the looming civil war, doesn’t think it’s even the right thing to do, except to prevent the nuclear fallout that said war would cause.

He’s not one of those whiny “I just want to be normal” protagonists like no child in the history of ever has dreamed of if they were in their hero’s shoes. He’s also not pumped and jazzed and excited about being a demigod. They’re the victims of abusive and absent parents and, for a kids series, I still think such a sobering subject was handled really, really well.

You want to be a hero like Percy. You’re rooting for him from the first page. Discovering all his new powers is fun, daydreaming getting claimed right along with him. It isn’t dated with pop culture references and most of the humor lands (a novel experience that does not last forever, unfortunately). He’s sassy and sarcastic and his in-character ignorance and naivety opens the door for plenty of smooth exposition and letting the reader discover the world through his eyes, without feeling lifeless.

Speaking of personality, his rapport with Annabeth grows pretty decently over the course of the book, from being super catty to getting embarrassed on the tunnel of love ride, as if anyone would really care. They have their spats, but the budding friendship is realistic and she doesn’t feel at all like the girl hastily written in because the author forgot to include one.

She has her faults, but that’s the point. She’s also a victim of godly propaganda, and twelve, and literally burdened with hubris. All three of them bounce off each other well, each bringing different strengths and weaknesses to the trio, building each other up and bickering to tear each other down because, you know – twelve.

—

I read somewhere that the first five books all pay homage to some of the most famous Greek myths. Lightning Thief’s myth is that of the original Perseus with these familiar beats shared by both:

Murdering Medusa via reflective surface

Wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and punished by Zeus

Hermes’ winged shoes

Hades’ missing war helm

Obtaining a cool new sword

Rescuing his mom from the Bad Guy

Not dying tragically

Princess Andromeda (the more famous Perseus myth adapted by Wrath and Clash of the Titans) does make an appearance in Sea of Monsters.

The joke people used to make about the fans of the series is that reading PJO does not make a mythology expert, but that isn’t the point. The books opened the door to further research at your own pace and maybe fostered love of a subject and culture you’d go on to study later in life.

This review is about the book, not the show, but it is a disservice to the book to cram nearly ten entire chapters of content, out of twenty-two (156 pages in the ‘06 paperback) into two episodes both less than an hour long. No wonder the premier felt, night and day, far inferior to episode 3. Episode 3 wasn’t sprinting the entire time.

Overall, the missing-persons-turned-possible-child-terrorist subplot stayed its welcome exactly as long as it needed to and every time I think about this book I forget it’s even part of the story. The payoff is really at the end with the free appliances and, of course, Gabe’s just desserts.

The book is absolutely, transparently, the first leg of a relay race, not one of those “I wrote this and it was successful now I have to come up with a sequel” stories and all the seeds of development for the series at large were expertly scattered.

The worst I have to say about the book is this: The constant “Thalia, daughter of Zeus.” There’s at least seven of them across the book and the whole title almost every time she’s mentioned reads a bit strange.

It’s paced excellently, with a few slow beats for good character development in between locations. The foundations of our heroes are solid, all the twists and turns with the true villains and the real meaning of the prophecy was well done. For the book that began a multi-series world of interconnected pantheons with new publications still coming out today, it’s humble and smart and, for a “children's” book, anyone can enjoy it, no nostalgia required.

[cordria]

Rewrite an episode: The Ultimate Enemy

While there is a lot of good stuff in this episode, there have always been three things that bothered me:

1. Nobody would cheat on a career aptitude test. 

2. Clockwork doesn’t have totally clear reasoning for pulling Danny in to do this. We’ve fanon-ed things in, but the episode sort of pulls a catch-22 on this. I realize they use the plot hammer of the observants thinking Danny will become evil, but let’s put some actual thought into the reasoning here.

3. Danny has little actual responsibility for the creation of Dan. This cuts down on the angst - and also how the episode hits in a moral sense.

So I wanted to ‘fix it’ while keeping the large brush-strokes the same. Read on for my thoughts.

(Assume proper foreshadowing of these, were I rewriting the entire series.)

Story opens with Danny struggling with frustration and anger that has been building. Not to a personality-change level, but more to a ‘there’s realistic consequences for his actions and he’s frustrated with it’ level. He’s frustrated about his grades and detentions. He’s angry with Val for continuing to hunt him. He’s tired and getting angry with his parents for not listening to him.

An actual high-stakes test is coming up - let’s make it a placement test for whatever the IB/College in the Schools this universe has. In order to even have a chance at being accepted into the astronomy program Danny’s been eyeing, he has to get into the honors-level science and math classes in high school. Which means he has to pass this test.

He comes up with a plan to study. Sam and Tucker and Jazz try to help. Whenever he gets a chance to focus and study, it’s clear he has the knowledge to pass. He’s acing the questions, quick answers, etc. But the ghosts are on a rampage, and Danny’s study times always get cut short. 

Morning of the test arrives and Danny is a mess. He’s exhausted from dealing with a ghost all night, his brain feels like mush, and there’s zero chance of him passing this must-pass test. Frustrated at the ghosts and angry about the situation (because he would have passed easily without the ghosts!), he makes a choice. He sneaks into the school using his ghost powers and deliberately steals a copy of the test. Not the answers, because that’s stupid. None of the testing companies would give a school a copy of the answers even with a gun pointed at their heads.

So he brings the test home and looks up the answers before school starts. He waves it off by saying if his ghost powers were going to cause him to fail, he should be allowed to use his ghost powers to pass.

Deliberate choice to cheat.

Enter Box Lunch attacking the school before the test starts (which delays the test to the next day) so Danny ends up with the time medallion, and Skulk-Tech shows up which clues Danny-and-crew into what the time medallion does. Head over to Clockwork as per the actual episode, and Danny sees his future. Sees Dan and the destruction that was caused. The fact that Danny is choosing to cheat and using his frustration to manipulate things makes his comment about Dan looking cool more ominous. 

Again, Danny-and-crew end up in the future and run into Valerie. Sam and Tucker head home and Danny gets tossed into the ghost zone. There, he confronts the ghostly results of his anger. They attack him and he can’t fend them off. But he’s listening, and he hears how he destroyed their lives, and he feels bad. He wants to go back and fix things - but he needs them to leave him alone to do that. So he finds his Ghostly Wail.

Yada, yada, he ends up at future-Vlad’s place. Vlad does the recap - only it’s a bit different. Instead of some freak accident, Danny ended up continuing to allow his frustration and anger to make bad choices. Danny slowly twisted into a person that freaks even Vlad out. Angry all the time and willing to use his ghost powers to subdue whatever caused that anger.

Vlad chose to remove Danny’s ghost when Danny is in his early twenties, in a bid to prevent Danny from getting worse, and with the assumption that Phantom would disintegrate without a body holding it in place. Phantom didn’t, and freed from whatever humanity Danny’s mind had left, attacked Vlad. So we, again, get a human-Vlad and creepy-Danny/Vlad ghost combo known as Dan. Begin epic destruction of both worlds for the next several years.

Vlad removes the time medallion, Danny ends up back in their normal time. Dan has been behind the scene orchestrating some destruction, setting in motion a bid to utterly destroy Danny in the present time and continue to wreak his anger-filled havok on this new world. While he was gone, Maddie, Jack, Lancer, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker ended up learning that Danny cheated on the test. 

They corner Danny (not at the Nasty Burger - it never made any sense for them to meet at the Nasty Burger in the first place) and Danny starts to react with frustration and anger. It’s not his fault he’s not getting any sleep, and didn’t get time to study, and it’s not fair that all his future dreams rest on this one test. 

Dan attacks. The humans are kidnapped and locked up at the Nasty Burger. Danny follows, trying to fight Dan. Angry at Dan, Danny isn’t able to access his new power. It’s not until he lets go of that anger (Star Wars reference, right?), and is attacking to save his family from destruction, that he can finally use it to subdue Dan and lock him away in a Thermos.

Of course, Danny is too slow, as per the show, and Clockwork has to step in to prevent the death and destruction and ends up resetting the time stream. 

It’s the morning of the test, Danny is still exhausted and a mess, and he gets to make a new choice. No cheating. Instead he goes and talks to Lancer about how he’s not been sleeping and didn’t have the time to study like he needed, and Lancer lets him take the make-up test the following week.

Lesson learned - talk through your problems, get help when you need, and don’t wallow in anger and frustration.

Oh, and Dan comes up again in some later episode. Because why create such a wonderful example of angst and never use it again.

Anywho, that’s my thoughts on how I’d rewrite this one. :)

[exrayspex]

tbh i think it’s pretty demeaning and ableist of you to say in your tags that “none of these examples are anywhere close to as severe as disabilities can get”. like— i personally live with bipolar disorder and it can make me severely psychotic and out of touch with reality. while that doesn’t happen to me too often, bipolar disorder has absolutely torn apart my life and i have almost no chance of undoing that. and i have to live with it bc in my case it’s genetic (familial). so i have to agree with op after seeing your tags, ngl. idk if you meant differently but being disabled isn’t a competition. just bc you look at someone like me and don’t see suffering doesn’t mean i’m not. just bc you look at someone like me and don’t see someone disabled doesn’t mean i’m not.

op said just "people with bipolar disorder who have attended partial inpatient programs" and that's it. it is possible people with bipolar disorder to be severe enough to be fully institutionalized against their will. a bipolar family friend of mine was recently murdered by hospital staff while in a full inpatient program. disability isn't a competition, but all disabled experiences are not the same. my issue is that, (as you seem to agree based on your experiences?), the suffering of a bipolar person can be even greater than that of the experience of a partial inpatient program.

nowhere did i say or imply that you, op, or anyone was not suffering or not disabled. i am saying that, because of the diversity of disability, there is almost always someone suffering in a way you can't even imagine if you aren't deliberately looking for and advocating for those disabled people who are the most severe.

your and the op's reactions (if you aren't just op block-evading) to me raising these issues speaks to how deeply this problem runs in the disability community. and i'm sorry if you feel de-centered by this, but acting like admitting the fact that there are different levels of severity among disabilities (specifically also among each individual disability) is an evil oppression olympics tactic is only ever going to hurt our most vulnerable.

like you cannot honestly tell me that it is ableist and cruel to suggest that friend who was murdered for his disability was just as severely disabled as like, idk, someone with ibs; a genuine disability that many suffer with, and who need disability activism....but also not people who are murdered for their disability. generally also not people who have no power of attorney, or who are bedbound full-time, etc.

you have to be able to acknowledge that huge differences exist in the disability community to identify who is being left out of disability activism and to adapt different approaches for different disabilities and severities, so that all disabled people can be included in our fight.

we all deserve a seat at the table. reminding you that some people may need a ride to their seat isn't saying you don't deserve one.

[rpgmgames]

August’s Featured Game: Marinette

DEVELOPER(S): Teal Crown ENGINE: RPG Maker MV GENRE: Horror, Puzzle, Adventure WARNINGS: Sensitive Themes, Blood/Light Gore SUMMARY: A little girl named Marinette, in the wake of a splitting family and a change of homes, is having a birthday. But this, her eleventh birthday, will present a deadly opportunity to fulfill a special promise. On the night before her birthday, she is drawn into a strange realm; an unnatural dollhouse, populated with dolls who are not quite what they seem. A web of strings lying in wait, and threatening to ensnare the poor marionette; warping her perception, and twisting her every move. Will the strings attach, and force her to become an unwilling puppet, or will she escape this surreal web of strings? What will she have to do to avoid the dangers of the dollhouse, and set herself free?

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *Mitty: "Hello, I'm Mitty! Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate in this interview. I'm the main developer of the game and I'm working with a team of friends to make this game a reality. I work mainly on the visuals and programming, and I'll be representing the team, alongside Third! I've been on the community for around two years, even though I tend to not be active very often." *Third: "Hoi, I’m Third! I appreciate you reaching out to interview us. I’m the main composer and writer of Marinette, and I work under Mitty to make the story and soundtrack what we want it to be. I’ve been in the community for little less than Mitt but am even less active in most of my developer discords."

What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially? *Mitty: "The game is essentially about a girl that gets trapped inside a dollhouse. A simple concept really can go far ahaha I've always loved themes related to creepy dolls so I wanted to create something related to that. What pushed me initially to start were obviously the inspiration of seeing other devs creating, seeing how far you could go with these engines and create amazing interactive stories, however the huge support from a friend was what made me actually start past the planning and dreaming!" *Third: "Marinette is a story about a little girl becoming entangled in the complicated family and supernatural landscape she finds herself in on her birthday. I enjoy writing short stories about this kind of thing so it’s fantastic to work on a larger project about one of my favorite subjects. My primary inspiration and introduction to this kind of game in general was Pocket Mirror, and I use it the most as a model for how to do certain things. However, I also draw a lot of inspiration from masterpieces like Aria’s Story, Ib, Witch’s House, and Alice Mare."

How long have you been working on your project? *Mitty: "The project has been in the works for around two years now! The first year was mostly planning and right now we are on the right track with the programming and asset creation for the demo, as well as music and sound design for later development. Planning isn't over yet though, especially for the final game." *Third: "I’ve been working on this for almost two years. The soundtrack possessed most of my earlier attention, but now it’s taken a backseat to writing, now that I’m actively writing the scripts for the game now. "

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Mitty: "Yes! The game has inspirations from plenty of sources, not only strictly RPG Maker Horror games, or games in general for that matter. If I were to mention those, of course games like Ib, The witch's house, Alice Mare, Pocket Mirror, Yume Nikki & .flow, Stray Cat Crossing, Mogeko's games...etc quickly come to mind. When it comes to the aesthetics and visuals, the inspirations come from several different places, including games like Alice Madness Returns, Dofus, Yomawari, The Legend of Mana, Little Nightmares...the list goes on; or other media, like Inu Curry's animation style or video creator nana825763, as well as some anime and music videos. Silent hill is also a huge inspiration for the atmosphere, and hopefully we can pull it off well!" *Third: "My primary inspiration, as I’ve said earlier, is Pocket Mirror, both for its masterful writing and soundtrack. The game’s soundtrack is the main reason I still play piano. Whenever I’m feeling musical, my fingers always hunt out the same kind of haunting, mysterious, and sometimes peaceful and playful melodies that Pocket Mirror is rife with. In the end, our soundtrack is probably going to sound like Pocket Mirror and Aria’s Story’s soundtracks were meshed together. Story wise, commonplace elements in this genre like demons, monsters, mean parents and puzzles that tell the story are commonplace for a reason, and certainly find their way into this one, in their own special way. Every other game I’ve mentioned involves them in some form or another. And young, curious protagonists are also a blast to write and do evil things to and put in difficult, dangerous situations. "

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Mitty: "We surely have! Many of them in different areas ahaha Taking away bug hunting, I am primarily an artist, so programming for me is a secondary thing. Because of this it's easy to get carried away and hard to realise what can and can't be done. I don't want the game to be visually boring if I can make things move and seem alive! The way I'm handling it is programming like an artist: I think in my head what cool things I can do with my art by not having it completely still, and then it's a matter of executing it on the engine. However this comes with a downside. I tend to tweak things a lot, and that takes quite some time, but I honestly think it's worth it ahaha Also I find it hard to start writing, but when I do, I can't stop orz. Other challenges are also finding plot holes. This is fixed with a lot of studying the story, gathering inspiration and talking with the team. I also struggle a bit with communicating with the team, but thankfully they are all very nice and understanding." *Third: "Main challenge is overcoming the sheer weight of how much I have to learn about music and writing in order for this game to be what I want it to be. I’m a perfectionist, and when I care about something, I can’t tolerate it being worse than it could’ve been. Also, writing is getting more and more complicated and there’s more things and details to keep track of so as not to create inconsistencies or plot holes, especially as we try to revise it and make major changes to the story (Mitt will know what I’m talking about). "

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Mitty: "It changed a lot, not only in terms of the story and writing, but visually too. The basic concept is close to being the same, though. You can check out old posts in the blog where I consider different styles of mapping and such. Actually, don't, please. It's too old...and my writing...oh god." *Third: "The writing has come a long way, but now that we’ve fleshed out and written down much of the backstory, it’s a much more complicated story than what Mitt first showed me when I joined."

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Mitty: "Initially it was just me, occasionally having Mia to talk about the story and help develop it. Rindre joined as a voice actress very early on and also helped in other aspects of the game. Then I also talked about it with two friends I know in real life, one helped with organization and the other with some concept art, but they aren't that active anymore, even though I still count them as part of the team (Thank you guys btw if you're reading this). Eventually I met Third, an amazing composer and writer, and I asked him to join in! He brought along a friend who is also an amazing composer and writer, Code, and these two are complete madmen of music and writing and I'm super glad to be working with them, as they are super passionate and it makes me really happy ahaha. Bruno is also a really dedicated composer that is helping with a few tracks as well! Miku and Luccinia are two super talented and kind artists that have also been helping a ton with concept art, and their ideas have certainly improved the game as well. We are welcome to more concept artists, though! More heads, more ideas ahaha Recently we got the voice actresses for a few characters in the game, when we did the auditions, and hopefully soon another friend will jump aboard and help with organization and writing! We are a relatively small team, and sometimes progress goes a bit slowly since we can get busy, but we are all doing our best! I’m glad that I’m not alone. Links for their pages and such can be found on the team section on the blog, go support them if you can!"

What is the best part of developing a game? *Mitty: "For me, personally, I love seeing what my team mates come up with, whether it is music or concept art. I also enjoy the love and support we get, and it makes me excited in the development. As for the creation part, I like programming challenging cutscenes and doing cool things with the assets. Progress updates can also be fun to make when I have the time." *Third: "My favorite part is showing Mitt what I’ve written and composed. Making her happy and excited with my work is extremely fulfilling. "

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Mitty: "Oh, yes! Besides being a cool break from programming hell, it helps me make it less of a hell ahaha I like improvising, though, so I think I play RPG Maker games because I enjoy them for the most part." *Third: "Occasionally, not really. I don’t play many games and I’ve played the heck out of the ones I have."

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Mitty: "Ah I don't know, honestly. I think I can relate to every character in one way or another, and it's hard picking one, especially since the game isn't out yet and I'd like to keep most characters hidden until the demo. Marinette is definitely one of my favourites, though, I just love how innocent and cute she is. Her cheekiness can be made super interesting ahaha" *Third: "My favorite character is definitely Pierre. He’s a complete blast to write, and gives me lots of cool things to describe and say through him, from his magic tricks to his killer lines and quotes."

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Mitty: "Hm...Having organized things better in the beginning would have saved a lot of time now, but I don't think it's been that big of a deal anymore. I don't have any regrets that I'm aware of at the moment since everything until this point was necessary to learn and get to where we are now."

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Mitty: "I'm not sure yet, it depends on the reception and how willing I'll be to continue the story. Even though I would find it fun to make comics, another game or a different midia, realistically I can't tell how willing I'll be to continue developing content about it after the game is finished. Honestly, I hope I can develop more projects on Marinette, we do have content for that, and I absolutely love it with my heart! But it's also equally important to move on to another story. Only time will tell!" Third: "I hope to, but that day is very far away for me. I’ll be gone for quite some time after Marinette is finished, and I hope I’m not forgotten by the time I return. Perhaps I’ll entertain myself with additional short stories exploring the various aftermaths of the game."

What do you most look forward to upon/after the release of a project? *Mitty: "I honestly just want to get the story out there. I'm hoping people will enjoy it if they play the game, and will have a special place in their hearts to keep it on. This project means a lot to me, and having it making people feel things is what I'm looking forward to. I'd love to see other people playing it, definitely. I imagine I'll eventually be relieved to have finally completed it, it'll be a big moment for me to sigh be proud of creating. I'll be able to move on to work on other fun things while I see how this little child of a game is going to do out there in the wild, and that's always nice!" *Third: "Fan reaction, 100%. Having people ask me questions about my work and telling me how much they enjoyed it is my favorite part of writing."

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Mitty: "Yes, I don't want to feel empty with nothing to do when I finish the game. I know it will be great and all, but I've been working on it for so long that it's hard to imagine not working on it ahaha! It's a really fun hobby, but it's also engraved in my heart. I want it to be the best it can be, of course, so I'm scared of bugs, inconsistencies and overall it being clearly a bad game. I'm hoping that people will help with critiques on the demo, so I have a better outside perspective of where we are going. I don't want to drop the game, so I'm scared of having to take a long break from it during the development. I'm worried of being a terrible team leader as well." *Third: "I dread plot holes more than anything, and I dread a dull and overall unimpactful story. I want a tale that will punch the viewer in the gut, hard. I want to make them cry. I want to make them laugh. I want them to draw what I wrote, and explore it further in hopefully-not-too-sexual fanfiction."

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Mitty: "Don't be scared to start. You're going to suffer mid-way if it's a long term project, but keep pushing through, you'll learn a lot and it becomes easier with time. Take breaks and take it easy, step by step. LIST STUFF AND MAKE BACKUPS. Learn with short projects first. Ask for advice from people you admire, but never hold them on a pedestal. It’s always helpful to be a jack of all trades! Try to think from an outsider perspective if you're not sure of how it's going, and if you can, tell people you trust about the game and ask for opinions. Always take criticism well, but don't stress too much over harsher or even meaner comments. Have fun and never forget your starts, the people you meet and the reason you're doing the project for. If you're also an artist, writer, musician, remember this is a great opportunity to add something interesting to your portfolio. Cool visuals attract people, but they are not everything that will keep them hooked." *Third: "The best part of making a game is the people you make it with. The story is the most important ingredient of your game. Prioritize it first, and everything else will fall into place around it. Otherwise, everything will serve some other aspect of your game, and that’s rarely a good thing. Always speak your mind; do not every not say something just because it’ll hurt someone’s feelings. Obviously don’t be a tool, but if you ever have to choose between hurting the game and someone’s pride, pick someone’s pride. It’s much kinder in the long run."

Question from last month's featured dev Froach Club: Have you ever had a moment where you got completely stuck or became intensely frustrated while using RPG Maker? *Mitty: "Yes I have, I think everyone has QwQ Despite silly mistakes, I've gotten stuck several times, but honestly it's usually either us doing something stupidly hard that can be done another way, or we are just not skilled enough yet, and it's better to come back later. You can usually do most things you wanna do if you have the advantage of knowing the programming language your RPG Maker Engine uses I think. Google is your friend always, and sleeping about it also helps. I once dreamt of a whole sequence to fix a problem, and it worked! ahaha Always take it easy and don't give up, but know your limits and the limits of the engine!"

We mods would like to thank Teal Crown for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Marinette if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[engagedtobefree]

It’s been probably over a year since I posted anything about my personal life on here, aside from a few little one- or two-liner posts. A lot has happened, some of which I will hopefully be posting about soon, but there have been a lot of other things weighing on me lately.

I guess I can continue where I started in therapy yesterday, but didn’t get to finish. I have felt for the past few weeks so sick of so much. I am sick of politics and politicians, first and foremost. I’m sick of living in a country where the child of Narcissus and the devil is running our country. I feel so much anger towards him at times, and then I try to feel myself back in, calm myself, but his complete disdain for anyone other than himself is just so infuriating, and then it fuels my anger even more to see people defending him like he’s some sort of god. It’s disgusting. I’m sick of Biden. I was okay with him as VP but haven’t cared for him at all since he started campaigning. He is just a lesser evil Trump; but evil is still evil. I don’t know if I can bring myself to vote for this man, but then I know if I don’t, we might get Trump for another 4 years, and to me that is much worse. I don’t know what to do. Right now I’ve just put it aside. I have until November to make a decision. Which brings me around to my anger at Bernie. I placed all of my hope in him, as many others did, and he dropped out so soon. I can, to a certain degree, understand why he did it, but he could’ve stayed in the running. He still had a chance. And I’m mad at him for giving up way too soon and leaving us with Biden. He knew he was our only hope, and he dropped the ball.

I’m sick of my mother. Her narcissism also angers me at times. Every conversation we have, every interaction, always revolves around her, and if we aren’t talking about her, she will somehow bring the conversation around to her and her life. It’s predictable and I’m so tired of dealing with it, even more so now being stuck in with her all the time. She goes from being nice one second to tearing me down the next, calling me names, being controlling, gaslighting me, blaming me for anything she can think of. It’s exhausting. I just want a house of my own, but thanks to covid, the housing market is slower than ever. Another frustration. I daydream about living alone again, about not having to emotionally support my emotionally unsupportive mother, about not hearing my name called 50 times a day about something, about not having to deal with someone who is always angry, negative, miserable, and blaming everyone but themselves for how they are.

I am sick of Scott. Something shifted for the better the past several months before lockdown happened, but then of course like everything else, this got flipped upside down. I was reaching out to him almost every day, then once a week, and a majority of the time I was just not well-received. So now it’s been almost 2 weeks and I just can’t bring myself to message him. On top of everything else I’m dealing with, facing the almost constant feeling of rejection day after day was too much, so I stopped putting myself in that situation. He hasn’t reached out and who knows if he will. The only reason we ever talked 99% of the time anyway was because of me initiating it. Normally, I didn’t care too much, but now I do. I’m just tired of being treated like I’m not worth the effort to talk to. I don’t have the energy to deal with it right now and my tolerance for people’s behavior toward me has dropped very, very low. But then, in another sense, I don’t think it’s Scott I’m really sick of. I think of him and can feel the warmth and light immediately, the kind I always get, and I think maybe it’s not him I’m sick of, but the situation, the not knowing, and the way I am perceiving his current behavior toward me. It’s a mixed bag, and I just want to stop carrying the weight of it for a while.

I am very much sick of my IBS. I have been having more flare-ups than usual since I’ve been stuck home, despite taking my usual supplements, drinking peppermint tea daily, and avoiding my known trigger foods as much as I can. I guess it’s my current stress levels and mental health that are probably triggering flare-ups, which is more annoying because those, to me, are harder to control than food. And flare-ups make me so tired, then I don’t have energy to do things I want to be doing. I know that my IBS formed by bacteria from a virus, and in most cases it tends to go away after 6-10 years, but it’s of no consolation to me currently as I am only about 2 ½ years into it and there’s no guarantee my gut will ever return to normal. Recently, I have seen my distorted, bloated belly more than I’ve seen my normal, healthy one. It’s disheartening.

I started my yoga teacher training via zoom, and I guess because of my constant fluctuating mental health, I fell behind on homework. I turned in my first assignment on time, but I need to catch up on readings and practicing teaching. I’m worried about getting hands-on experience too. I know my teacher wants us to have that, but my biggest fear in all of this is that I won’t get it. I am trying to now remember the feeling I got several times that this was the program for me, so I am trying to rewire my brain to remember that this was divinely orchestrated and that it’ll be okay.

But it’s hard. It’s all so fucking hard. And I know there are people dealing with much worse right now, but there are just some wounds I’m dealing with right now and I’m tired of feeling like all I’m doing is pouring salt on them. I see so much, observe so much, I think so much, and all it does is well up inside of me like an overflowing sink, a faucet that is rusted open and won’t shut off. I miss my friends, I miss doing things, I miss going out, I miss having hope, I miss the people I work with, I miss talking to Scott, I miss people I have never even met, I miss the life I am not living, I miss the life I never had. There is so much going on inside of me right now, it is overwhelming. Everything I stated above isn’t even half of it. I don’t know how to put it all into words. I don’t know how to express the simultaneous life and death I am feeling happening at all times. It’s like I can feel every cell within me dying every second and the new ones coming to life at the same moment. That is just the one constant thing I am feeling at all times and it is such a strange feeling to have.

I am trying to look for the silver linings in all of this. For everything, I ask myself questions. What can I learn here? What is this trying to teach me? Is this trying to propel me towards something else? I am trying to make hope from the seemingly hopeless. What can I do? I can throw myself in. Embrace this messiness and ugliness for all it is. Don’t try to make it pretty cuz it isn’t. I can get off my phone. Deletedeletedelete. Stop looking at other people’s lives and look at my own more. Get up earlier. Move more. Let go. Focus on the yoga and the meditation and the breath. Throw myself into the hurt and the healing. Allow it to swallow me whole. Cry. Write. Cry some more. Dance. Shake. Unpeel all the layers. Love. Then love some more.

This overall is such a strange time. I hope that maybe, for me, this is just my cocooning. Maybe I’ll come out alright.

[samsstudygram]

critical analysis and how to ace it

critical analysis is a huge part of college english and literature courses, high school english projects and book reports, and the IB DP program. it’s essentially a deep look into a piece of literature and reading between the lines. critical analysis can be hard to get the hang of, so here’s points that you can and should address in critical analysis projects that i was taught in my IB DP Language and Literature course that has helped me tremendously and can help you with any critical analysis project:

summarize: at the beginning of pretty much all critical analysis projects you should give a brief summary of the piece. keep it to only 2-5 sentences. in this summary include who the author is, when and where the piece takes place, who the main characters are, what the conflict was and how it resolved at the end. 

content: what is the piece? when and where was it written? book, novel, short story, poem, news article, diary, newspaper, legal document, movie, play, informative paper, scholarly piece, etc.

audience: who is the target audience? what type of people would be interested in this piece? consider the time period it was originally written and the reader’s prospective gender, age, interest, political views, and economic standings.

purpose: why was it written? how do you know why it was written? to inform, to persuade, to express, for propaganda, to send a message, or to entertain. (to help determine this, consider who the author is and what their beliefs are, whether it be religious, political, social, etc. often times a piece is written to spread the author’s beliefs.)

theme: what is the main idea that the author is trying to express? some common ones are: equality, government motives (promoting communism, capitalism, etc.), think before you act, follow your heart, good vs evil, empowerment, the power of wealth, the power of words, and religious points.

tone: how does the author/narrator sound? why do they sound this way? how does the author’s tone change throughout the piece? fed up, upset, cheerful, childish, up beat, optimistic, pessimistic, melancholy, depressed, anxious, etc. (stay away from basic words like sad, happy, angry, etc.)

mood: how does this piece make you feel? does it change your perspective on anything? does your mood change throughout the piece? anxious, on edge, depressed, confused, optimistic, pessimistic, inquisitive, cheerful, etc. (again, stay away from basic words like sad, happy, angry, etc.)

stylistic devices: what type of language does the author use? how does this help express the author’s theme? sarcasm, simile, allegory, allusion, assonance, irony, metaphor, onomatopoeia, pun, personification, oxymoron. (irony and religious allegories are seen in the majority of classics, while simile, metaphor, and personification are seen in the majority of poetry and more artistic pieces)

structure: how is it organized? why is it organized that way? in poetry, stanzas are typically used to separate ideas or to show an evolution of some sort. in novels and plays, chapters and acts are typically used to show a change in setting or a change in perspective.

[alghawy7blog]

GM Diet Guide||How Lose Weight ||Best Diet To Lose Weight

Welcome to the 21st century, where modern man has perfected the art of "Fast Food". It may not be completely true, but thanks to the era of the "Global Village", there is hardly any cuisine left in the work, which has not been the victim of this trend. It certainly is the need of the hour in the fast paced world, where so many people no longer have the time or patience to cook healthy food at home. It is ironic how the very population on whose shoulders the world economies are being built, are on the unhealthiest diets in the world.

Thanks to these realities, a considerable portion of this population is suffering from diseases like high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. These are nothing but the direct results of these unhealthy food habits and lazy lifestyles. The youthful population is willing to work itself to death in today's day and age of competition, not realizing that they can do more with a healthy body. High Cholesterol is just the beginning. It can lead to severe heart-related ailments resulting in a shorter lifespan.

It is about time, that people should pay attention to this horror and address it by changing their lifestyle. In order to combat these modern evils, there are two major steps that should be taken. Firstly, change your diet. If you are what you eat, then you should only eat the good stuff. As a youngster, you should look to be ripped and always be ready for swimsuit season. To achieve this goal, you need to plan a step by step plan to measure your progress. Try to eat more raw foods like fruits and salads. You may even want to consider looking into the GM diet. You can try out this week-long plan once every month. It is excellent for detoxifying your body helps to lose up to 5-7 kilograms or 12-14 pounds in a week. Keeping weight in check is a great to fight high cholesterol.

Secondly, start dragging your rear end to the gym. It is unacceptable that a girl or a guy in their twenty's or thirty's being out of shape. There is no simply no excuse. Exercising should be part of your daily routine. Regular exercise boosts your metabolism and overall wellness. High Cholesterol levels are no match for a healthy lifestyle. Carve out at least an hour of light workout every day, and rest on Sunday.

Remember, the future of the human race depends on the youth of the world. So always keep this in mind, that when you do make it big, you better look like a million bucks as well.

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You may love it or you may hate it, but I am very sure, if you are seeking for weight-loss methods, you can never ignore it. General Motors Diet or popularly known GM Diet, ranks highest in the most-sought diet charts. Surprisingly, I have yet not found any information about GM Diet on any of the official sites of General Motors (update me if I have missed any).

Various sites, blogs and forums have discussed about GM diet, but in a scattered manner. My primary intention behind this post is to represent various facets of this diet plan and to give a comprehensive overview, based on the experiences of my own as well as of my friends.

BACKGROUND:

This diet plan was introduced at a general meeting of General Motors Corp. on 15th August 1985, initially intended for the use of the employees of General Motors company, to facilitate wellness and fitness. It was granted by the United States Agricultural Department and the FDA, further tested by the Johns Hopkins Research Centre.

It was designed as a 'De-toxification diet program', to improve ones metabolism through its cleansing systemic effects, reflected by an improved disposition and a feeling of well being. As an end-result, a weight loss of 4-6 kgs was expected within the program-week.

THE PLAN:

Here is the day-wise diet plan and its dietary significance. I have added few things from my experience and experiments, which worked.

Day 1:

Fruits of any kind (except bananas) in any quantity. The most preferred fruits are the melons and cantaloupes, due to their high water content. In addition, you should drink at least 10 glasses of water.

By eating fruits, you are preparing your system for the upcoming program. Fresh fruits are nature's perfect food, providing all essential elements needed to sustain life. Fruits are also a good source of antioxidants and are fiber-rich. Fruits are also considered as a negative-calorie food, thus burning more calories for its digestion than those provided.

Believe me, I have done GM diet twice and have found this day the most difficult one. Firstly because of the sweetish taste of all fruits, and further due to an intense craving for bread or spices, that one develops towards the end of the day. The solution for this is the Soup to break the monotony of the fruity taste.

Day 2:

The day can start with a large baked potato with one pat of butter for breakfast. It definitely fills you with complex carbohydrates to start your day after the first sweety-fruity day.

For the rest of the day, you should eat all sorts of vegetables of your choice, raw or cooked. Vegetables have very less calories, high in nutrients and fiber. There is no limit on the amount. This should be added with drinking at least 10 glasses of water.

One can also mash a baked potato, add some onion & curd, and spice it up with chaat masala & red chilli powder and pinch of salt.

Day 3:

This day consists of a combination of fruits and vegetables of your choice, except banana & potato. In addition, you should drink at least 10 glasses of water. Potato is avoided on this day since the carbohydrates are available from the fruits that you eat.

One can do varieties of salads mixed with fruit slices. If you take more cucumber and melons, it's more likely to lose weight than any other vegetables or fruits. Adding a curd to vegetable salad, in a 'raita' form will make it more palatable towards the evening, when it gets monotonous.

Day 4:

A day when you can eat nothing but eight bananas coupled with three glasses of milk. It is not mandatory to eat 8 bananas; you can have less as well. In fact, you might feel satisfied within 4-5 bananas within the whole day. This is the day when you can clearly feel your food-craving diminishing significantly. It feels divine, to get over your 'desires'. Do not forget to drink at least 10 glasses of water, as always.

Bananas will act as a provider of carbohydrates that is easy to digest, coupled with sodium and potassium reserve.

Day 5:

This is considered as a 'Feast day', where you should eat up to two portions of lean beef (10 oz.) combined with six whole tomatoes - as a source of fiber. On this day, you should increase your daily water intake to at least 14 glasses. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid getting produced. You will experience colorless urine on this day.

Beef is a source of proteins & iron, and thus an alternative can be paneer (tofu - soya paneer for better results) coupled with mushrooms for the vegetarians. Many people have recommended rice as a replacement to beef, but if one considers the nutritive contents, rice can not be the right surrogate.

Day 6:

Another day with beef and vegetables. Today you can eat any amount of beef combined with cooked or raw vegetables. Keep your daily water intake to 14 glasses. You can add the Soup to add some spice to your day.

Iron and proteins from the beef or paneer-mushroom combination, while fiber and nutrients from the vegetables. Till this time, you must have experienced an energetic feeling and an awareness of the power of natural food items.

Day 7:

The food intake on this day should consist of a bowl of brown rice with fruit juices and any vegetables you want to eat. Drink 14 glasses of water.

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The juices will break the fast (?) providing the essential nutrients along with the vegetable stuffing. The brown rice provides the carbohydrates.

Now you must be at least 4 kgs lighter than day one, yet more energetic and free from the cravings for high-calorie stuff.

The Soup:

The following soup is a modified version of the GM Wonder Soup since it is not possible to get the Lipton Onion soup mix everywhere, as suggested in GM Soup. The modified soup goes parallel to the 'rassam' or 'saaram', served in south India. This soup is allowed to be consumed in large quantities throughout the program. It is intended as a supplement to your diet.

Boil few large-cut onions, tomatoes, cabbage, and celery in water. Add the sambhar masala for the taste. You may also add tomato-puree (but with the skin) instead of tomatoes to make it thicker. One can season it with herbs and flavorings. You may also add: asparagus, peas, corn, cauliflower, green beans or finely chopped mushroom.

General instructions for all days:

You may squeeze a lemon to flavor the water that you drink every day.

No alcohol of any kind since it adds empty calories.

Salt should be used as less as possible.

Use artificial sweetener, in case you can't stay away from the sweet taste.

No fruit juices till day seven.

Black coffee or tea is allowed.

You may repeat the schedule, if you want further weight loss, but it is suggested that you should take a gap of at least two weeks in between two schedules.

========

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Now the most important part: the doubts, accusations and myths.

"It works just by losing the water content of the body and not actually a fat loss."

a.    Firstly, there is no mention of restricting the water intake on any day. How can one lose only water if we are consuming at least 10-14 glasses of water every day, added with the unlimited quantity of soup and the water contained in the melons, fruits and vegetables?

b.    It basically acts on the principle of 'negative calorie foods' where you are consuming certain foods that demand more calories to burn themselves than what they provide themselves. High-fiber food stuffs you but doesn't provide the required calories, instead demands more calories to burn themselves, which is derived from the stored energy-deposits.

"Skin gets dry and you may lose your hair during and after the GM diet."

a.    At least I have not met anyone in my acquaintance complaining of this, but found this on few blog-posts. The reason can be insufficient amount of water intake and not supplying enough protein sources on specific days.

"It is a temporary loss and you regain all lost weight in couple of weeks."

a.    Obviously, if you resume your high-calorie food once again. It is not difficult to lose weight, but to maintain it. Malvika, my wife who is a dietician, always recommends a maintenance diet program after the GM diet schedule as follows:

i.    Only liquids in the form of soups, buttermilk or fruit juices for dinner on three consecutive days in a week. This should be followed endlessly, until you want your weight to bounce back.

ii.    Drink plenty of water as if you are on GM diet.

iii.    Exercise regularly.

"It's just a Crash-diet and a Fad, nothing else!!"

a.    First of all, it is not promoted as a weight-loss diet, but a Detox diet that cleanses your system from within. Weight loss is just a by-product of it.

b.    Even if one looks at it as a 'crash-diet', it surely will not harm you, but will 'move' your weight in the least period, thus motivating many who tend to leave their regular diet and exercise regimens within first month, for not getting desired results. Once you can 'see' your weight dropping, it boosts your will to try further.

c.    As said above, it is futile unless you back it up with a maintenance program. You can not be on GM diet for lifetime, nor you can or should do it every month. Instead use is as an initial-motivator and switch to a liquid-dinner course later.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE:

I myself have done GM diet twice. The first time I was very sincere in following it. Thanks to my wife and my mother, who made all arrangements for the foods on each day. I lost 4 kgs towards the fifth day. I could not lose any further on the last two days and I presume that to the rice I ate, as a substitute to the beef. The lost weight remained there for a month, in spite of not maintaining it actively. I could have lost at least half a kilo more, if I would have stayed away from the rice, which in any case I do not like to eat.

The next time I started it, but had to leave it in between due to some unavoidable circumstances. But had seen significant change in my weight and the energy level for the four days that I followed it.

The most significant gain has been with my lipids coming down to normal. I have had really bad lipid levels for two years and after following GM diet twice, being on statins and taking self-prescribed homeopathic medicines for the same, the latest levels of lipids were perfectly within normal limits. The credit goes to the high-fiber rich GM diet as well.

THE CONCLUSION:

If followed sincerely, GM diet has a definite positive effect of its own on our metabolism. I agree that it is not an end in itself, and one needs to maintain the metabolism by appropriate food habits and exercise regimen. GM diet can not be a 'quick & easy' substitute to 'efforts', but surely can be a booster for those who have never seen their weight going downhill, providing a 'kick-start'.

As Malvika says, 'one should take a diet that s/he can follow for the lifetime...' and that's true! You can never have GM diet for everyday, since there are so many delicacies around to enjoy, but for that we need to have a balanced metabolism, so that we can give them their due justice.

Realistically, about half the population will admit that they are unhappy with their physique. However, losing weight is not as difficult as many would believe. All it takes is willingness to commit and a little bit of effort on your behalf. Okay, honestly, it takes a great deal of effort and dedication, but it is definitely worth it in the end.

We have a special new diet plan to help you lose weight and slim down in just 7 days! This diet plan is the top vegetarian diet to lose weight safely and effectively!

GM Vegetarian Diet 

This vegetarian version of the GM Diet Plan consists of vegetables, legumes, fruits and limited starches. In order to prep your body for this diet, you should eliminate alcohol during the diet, as well as few days prior to starting the plan. This is important as alcohol retains water as it increase the uric acid level, which then prevents the body from detoxifying naturally.

Another key factor of The GM Vegetarian Diet is to drink up to eight to 10 glasses of water per day. As you will be greatly cutting back on the number of carbohydrates you would normally consume, water will act as your main source of energy during this time. Not only will it speed up your metabolism, but it will help naturally remove those extra, unwanted pounds.

For those who have tried this plan previously, or who plan to continue beyond the initial seven day period, it is recommended that you give your body a break for two to three days prior to resuming the diet. This will give your body time to adjust to the new level of nutritional consumption and help reduce any stress on your system as well.

Day 1:

Warning: the first day is always the hardest so try to resist any temptations! Today you will be partaking of fruits only. With the exception of bananas, litchi, mango and grapes; you can eat any fruits in any quantity you wish. However, the most beneficial fruits include melons, strawberries, lime, pomegranate, apples and oranges. You can have up to 20 servings of fruit only today.

Day 2:

Instead of all fruits, today you are only able to consume solely vegetables. However, you can eat as much as you want. Boiled, steamed, roasted, and raw... anything but fried or battered! You should begin your second day with a baked or boiled potato with a just a teaspoon of butter. This will provide your body with the proper amount of carbohydrates and energy required for the day. However, after this, you can only consume veggies.

Limit yourself to only one potato today. If you want to add some zest to your meals, simply add a pinch of basil or oregano. Day 2 is basically a calorie-free day, however, it is chock full of essential vitamins, nutrients and plenty of fiber! If you can survive Day 2, you definitely have what it takes to stick to this diet!

Click here to take the best weight loss product. Score about 30 IBS from the first week. Just imagine that

"Disclaimer" : When someone clicks on the link in the article and buys the product, I will get a little commission. I like the explanation

[tvcrystalite]

i just found out what bothered me about a lot of indie horror games (besides the ‘jumpscares over atmosphere’ thing because everybody knows about that)

so incoming rambling

it’s that a lot of them don’t have characters, or if they have any they (besides nameless protagonist) don’t really have a personality outside of spooky monster/npc

i’ve seen opinions about how horror games should only be in 1st person and i disagree, sure, it helps more with immersion but i think horror can be perfectly done with a 3rd person view (ex. the Silent Hill franchise, Resident Evil 1-3, Haunting Ground, Rule of Rose, Clock Tower, Fatal Frame 2, Forbidden Siren, Detention, the classic RPG Maker horror games like Ib, The Witch’s House, Ao Oni, etc)

and all these examples that i mentioned have something besides great atmosphere: characters

the protagonists have a reason for going through their journey, the antagonists pose a threat, the npcs add to the feeling that something’s not right and some of the stories of these characters are tragic or disturbing, giving a sense of hopelessness and knowing them may either give a more satisfactory feeling at the ending or a really sad one which i personally like a lot

now, when it comes to 1st person view horror games, the cast tends to be more minimalistic (with exceptions like Outlast, Rides With Strangers, among others) which is not a bad thing!

like with Amnesia the Dark Descent, there’s three ‘main characters’, which are ‘developed’ (to say it in some matter) through notes, memories and such, it gives a personality to our main character of which we don’t see his apperance

other game could be PT, we don’t know who our character is until the very end and he doesn’t give vocal reactions like Daniel, but the characters in this one (the radio announcer, the sink baby and Lisa) make up for it, the story is told trough them while also giving the main character a reason to be there, to be the protagonist

then there’s the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise, we never see our protagonists, their reactions consists or gasps and heavy breathing and the most we know about them is their names, but once again, the animatronics make up for it, the story is about them while the protagonist is just a dude that happened to be there

also quick mention to one of my personal favorites ‘Imscared a Pixelated Nightmare’, minimalist but memorable cast, great atmosphere and really good concept and execution of said concept

some games done in 1st person view that work without other characters being physically or even noticiably present are Stories Untold and Kitty Horrorshow’s games

now, most of the games i mentioned are big names with some not being indie and it may be just me not searching hard enough but the horror side of indie games hasn’t been in good condition recently, around the early 2010′s it was the best thing since not many big companies even bothered with the genre

not saying that it’s all bad, there’s been some great AAA horror games recently and the indie side of things it’s not dead at all but it’s more quieter now

it’s now more common to find bad ones since Unity is easily accesible, dark empty halls, boring choice of black, grey and brown colors, antagonists that aren’t threatening, stock models, buggy as hell programming and bad stories (although games like these aren’t anything new either)

like, in my opinion the PT looping hall mechanic got beaten into the ground faster than the FNAF formula because every single of them missed the point of what made PT, well, PT, and that scene in Layers of Fear??? that’s just the part in PT where Lisa strangles you??? i got really angry about that, specially since it was very much a part of the main story and not just a reference in loving memory like Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion did (not dissing Layers of Fear, btw, it had really nice graphics and i appreciate the developer’s work but the game wasn’t really to my liking, also i don’t know if they did anything with that scene since then oh well)

tl;dr: i like when horror games have actual characters, in some cases even including the protagonist

[jeannietdunlap]

Sugar Pushes Buttons

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One night, I wrote a post about how America indoctrinates our children into the “Sugar Culture” from the word go. I really didn't expect the post to generate much interest.

Boy, was I off.

Now granted, my blog page is still in its infancy and doesn't see spectacular numbers, but in numbers of views, that post nearly tripled the next closest post. It was also a big topic of conversation at my workout that evening.

It seems that more people than I expected are also frustrated by the seemingly universal assumption that it's OK to bribe and/or reward children - yours and mine - with sweets.

If you'll indulge me on the subject, the whole thing has stirred my thinking about how we are influenced by our culture. Actually, “influenced” isn't a strong enough word here. Strike that and replace with “programmed.”

I really don't mean to go all conspiracy theorist on you - I'm not one of those guys - and I don't believe our government is inherently evil and trying purposely to brainwash us, blah, blah, blah. I do, however, believe that when enough people do the same insane thing over and over again enough times and over enough years, that once-clearly-insane thing eventually becomes sane. Even smart. Even mainstream. Even cherished.

This is, in fact, programming. Just like a TV network programs advertising. When we see enough of any product over and over again - regardless of its humanitarian merits or lack thereof - we will eventually buy it.

Oh, there are lots of examples of this; take your pick. But in the specific case of sugary foods, I think Western culture has clearly “bought” the advertising, and eating sweets have firmly become an important part of Us. Don't you dare try to take away the sweets, especially during the holidays!

It was never a fair fight. Once sugar touched the taste buds of the first caveman dessert-eater, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and even meat quickly became red-headed stepchildren. The first millionaire (of caveman currency, perhaps?) was probably the first guy who had the good sense to market sweet food.

His selling points?

It's cheap. It's easy to keep and it's portable. It makes you feel good. I'll cut the cavemen and women some slack. Although they probably noticed the spikes and valleys of their energy levels upon consuming sugar, they didn't have the science to understand why. But fast-forward to today. We now build computer chips that fit on your pinky nail. We have figured out how to plop a human being down on the surface of the moon and return him safely to Earth, and that was 40 years ago! We can make virtual reality worlds in the forms of motion pictures and computer games, can transplant one person's heart with that of another, can fly around the globe at supersonic speeds, and have created robotic vacuum cleaners that bump around our homes like near-sighted dogs while we watch football games on 70-inch, high-definition television sets.

But we're still eating Cinnabons and drinking Dr. Peppers.

We've known - conclusively - for years that sugar encourages cancer. That sugar makes us fat. That sugar makes us diabetic. That sugar makes us weak. That sugar may ultimately ruin our quality of life.

We know all these things, yet we keep eating it.

I'm certainly not the smartest guy in this or any other room, and I don't have the answers. What I believe, though, is that real improvement in our culture of food is going to have to start one home at a time. We are faced with an enemy that doesn't fight fair and that has the full weight of public sentiment on his side, but revolutions begin with small uprisings, and small uprisings begin with brave choices made by moms and dads who are fed up.

Get fed up. Think for yourself and cancel the programming. Let go of destructive traditions and have the guts to start healthy ones. Consider the health of your child as a 70-year-old rather than his or her's happiness as a 4-year-old.

Do the right thing.

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Originally published on Doofus Dad

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The post Sugar Pushes Buttons appeared first on The Good Men Project.

[bleepityblooopkraftdinner]

The Pain Eater; An Analysis, circa 2017.11.27

I am a male. In my school, I am part of the IB program. The people who usually join this program are enthusiastic in learning, and intelligent. All of my classmates are like this.  They are nothing like the students that surround Maddy Malone. I have never being raped, never being mocked by my school, never burned my self. I have never come close to experiencing what Maddy Malone has gone through. I'm telling you this because I want you to know how I looked at this book, and how I came to the conclusions that I did.  

Throughout this book, I experienced the same battle over and over again, within my head. When Maddy made the decision to not tell anyone about her rape, two weeks after it occurred and when the damage in her genitalia vanished,  I scolded her. Why don’t you tell your family? Why don’t you tell your loving sister? Why, Maddy, why? And then another voice within my head shouted at the other voice, "Have you gone through what she has? Have you been raped? Have you felt what she has? You've heard the story before, the story of women not being believed, scorned. She herself pointed it out". And that shut me up. That made me feel guilty and shame. I did not know what she was going through. I couldn’t judge. And the next time she made a decision, to well, not make a decision that helped her, that battle waged again. And again and again, and again. Until I myself was filled with pain.

I started criticizing the book itself, the writing, the plot, the character development, the stereotype, the plot it self.  I said to my self, "All these students cant possibly do this, so many people cant possibly be this cruel, and downright evil, especially from one school." It wasn’t possible. I did not know the size of the school population. These negative thoughts were really a distraction, from my pain. The pain the book caused. Within me. For all those who went through what Maddy Malone was going through, who are going through that right now, and who will go through it in the future.

It hurts, to feel their hurt. I wish I could eat all their pain, Burn it away. But of course, as she says at the end, and as I've experienced over the years, its pain that truly allows one to heal and grow.

The reaction to Maddy was ridiculous. At least that’s what I thought, me who has never been raped before. How could so many people, people Maddy doesn’t even know, treat her like this? Even the voice in my head that told me that I've never gone through what she had so wouldn’t know how id react, or how my school would act, admitted the ludicrosity of being mocked by people you don’t even know.

But near the end I came to a realization. I'm not 100% sure the author meant to do this. Im not sure. But I don’t think this book was meant to be a novel. Not something that people take pleasure in reading. This novel is a lesson. A lesson to those who have never experienced what she has. To emphasize this, the author presents the worst case scenario in the event of a crime such as this. From the victims actions, to the assailants, to the family, to the students at school. This book is a lesson. A lesson to those who struggle to understand.

The book ends with the reader not knowing anything about Maddy afterwards. The reader doesn’t know whether her rapers are brought to justice, or whether nothing happens. The viewer doesn’t know how Maddy's story continues. There will be no sequel. In a normal novel, this would have been sacrilegious. A giant flaw. However, this isn't a normal book. This is a lesson. This uninformational ending is done purposely. The author wants Maddy Malone to represent every single person in the world who has ever been raped, or violated sexually.

Its unimaginable. I think I have about a 0.7% understanding of what its like now. 

[happyfunnycoolgirl96]

trying to get my alarm working and frankly I think i’ll just have to give it up because i dont want to spend several hours deleting and resyncing everything on my phone like a maniac.. 

i have to make breakfast tomorrow even though i have my internship (its not good) and she says it has to impress her because she was telling me about how when she was 26 she called her mom and called her evil and the worst and like cussing her out because she didnt teach her how to cook rice and she taught her how to step by step on an expensive international call and she was just saying all this mean horrible stuff with no expression of remorse and it made me so sad and I was like thats mean when she described herself saying something so mean to her mom and she got really pissed and now I need to make breakfast and wake up even earlier than i already do and im not even 18 yet man why cant i have a fun summer i havent had a fun summer in ages I just spend all my time studying for this test, studying for THAT test, extra homework from my mom my school extra everything just wringing my hands and going to all these education programs because I simply must get smarter all the time and Im so sad all the time because Im not having fun and i see all these back to school ads on tv when Im just trying to watch the amazing race with nobody else and I dont even have time to skate anymore which is like my only pleasure after game shows and I kinda ran out of interests and dont really feel pleasure anymore because nothing is really gratifying anymore because I’m so tired after i come home from the internship goddamn it dude why am I working I’m so young why should I work I get a couple of years left in my life and probably not even that because I have my IB program to finish and i already spend an entire  summer on that and now I have to do it again i dont even want to think about the ib just search it up its like a really difficult school course and then after the ib is done its college and after that i get a job and work forever I hate work and I wish i could have fun and not feel so sad all the time because i have to work and lsiten to my moms stories about how she spend her entire teenagerhood being awful to her mom and her best friend and how she never cared about her and would invite herself to things and then not go for three hours and not even have any excuses or apologize and her friend would buy really expensive nice things for her and my mom would just never accept the compliment or give anything back and it makes me so SAD for her i’m jsut so so sad all the time and I dont wnat to do this anymore i just want to have fucking fun and instead i just feel terrible and never happy. Anyway i just cried so hard a booger fell straight out my nose so fast i thought it was a bug . I’m so sad

[vtcollegecounseling]

What’s the best high school for my kid (and should I move now)?

I am of the age when many of my friends have babies or toddlers, and are already looking ahead to high school since choices they make now might influence their kids’ options for high school. More urgently, those with students in middle school might be freaking out about their choices, knowing that they ideally should choose now and never look back. I revel in helping families navigate the nuances of this precipice and specialize in options in the Portland, Oregon area.

most important

No school is "better" than another, and there is no such thing as the best school in town. Pedagogies and institutional philosophies vary greatly. One school might offer the most excellent traditional academic programming in terms of rigorous classes and homework, and tough grading. Another school might outshine in terms of community, support, experiential education, and/or cocurricular programming. Perhaps the most important factor for your student is a celebration of various learning styles. I'm a firm believer that appropriate fit and happiness beget success. Whatever you do, do NOT get caught up in guessing what the "best" school is considered to be in your area.

how to choose

Define your goals. This process will be complex! Before you weigh the factors of cost, location, and offerings, decide as a family what your priorities are among the following: excellent traditional academics, progressive or holistic academics, life-skills/learning development, community standards, character and moral development, quality arts programming, quality athletic programming, robust parent involvement, high-caliber college placement, student and family diversity (ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural), differences in learning support and accommodation.

Then visit. Open Houses and other visit programs are the best. Don't be afraid to ask for more, though. Every school will be able to accommodate special meetings and visits anytime, during which you're likely to receive better attention. See me for more ideas and protocols.

Chose as individuals. Your kid is unique. So is your family. It's soooo easy to be influenced by what your neighbors are doing, but it's essential to assess your goals based on the list above, and then consider factors of cost, convenience, reputation, size, etc.

There may not be a totally ideal school. But don't get hung up on finding the perfect synthesis of all your criteria. There won't likely be a school the reportedly distance from your home, with the ideal academic programming and activities for you. Prioritize.

Assess how much support you can offer your kid. If you are able to drive to activities elsewhere in town, then perhaps a robust arts or athletic program isn't necessary. If you are willing to pay for standardize test prep, then maybe you can sacrifice traditional academics for progressive. If you have little time beyond your own work schedule and commuting, perhaps a school that offers strong community and advising will help you rest assured your student is being looked out for.

Investigate sticker price. If you're considering private schools, it will be daunting to face tuition, especially with college cost on the horizon. My general belief, based on decades of observation, is that investment in education in the earlier years yields returns on that investment down the road. It may or may not be worth it to take out loans or re- budget elsewhere in your life to ensure a quality education and community during your child's formative years. That stated, it rarely makes sense to struggle, economically, when your student could also thrive in you public school option. In general, the best choice for your family should trump minor differences in tuition. Whatever you do, investigate the real cost of attendance (COA). Is there financial aid available? Are there hidden costs in fees and community expectations? Is there a current family you can ask? What would be your opportunity cost of commuting or buying your kid a car to ultimately drive herself/himself? Again, it may or may not be worth it.

Listen to your kid. She or he may not be able to articulate why one option is more appealing than another, so gently try to determine what is behind their opinion. If it's only friends and social concerns, we adults know that factor can and will change ("nobless oblige"). If it's something deeper like community size, programming, or activities, it's worth further, patient conversation.

You won't be locked-in. Albeit ideal to remain in one school as long as possible, students are transferring high schools more than ever in the past few decades. Transferring makes no impact on college admission, and this acceptable trend should take some weight off your decision.

PDX options and corresponding strengths

Public schools Most offer very impressive and robust IB programs or AP courses. Their strengths also rest in large, dynamic, diverse, and exciting populations. If you have a choice, I advise against splitting hairs about what classes are offered and especially what college credits might be accrued. You should focus on the community vibe, guidance, cocurricular programming, and general cultural feel of the school.

ACMA Public funding with the most advanced curricula in arts and communication.

Catlin Gabel Often viewed as the most elite independent school in the NW. Outstanding writing prep, incredible advising system. and extreme experiential education.

Central Catholic A more affordable option for a larger, faith-based education with many befits of a private institution. Families have often selected CC over other for their broad academic offerings, deep athletic rosters and opportunities, and social vibe, in general.

Jesuit - A dynamic faith-based community with particularly rich programming in athletics and community service. The community at Jesuit is by far the largest and most vibrant of the major prep schools: think filled football bleachers.

Language immersion/international schools - Exceptional communities that empower global citizens and celebrate diversity in an otherwise homogenous city.

Metropolitan Learning Center - awesome. More on this one to come...

Northwest Academy - Extremely small, intimate, and tight-knit community with remarkably devoted faculty and a progressive curriculum.

Oregon Episcopal - Excellent college preparatory education with robust offerings, strong advising, and a surprisingly diverse community.

Pacific Crest - An intensively supportive, small environment with adaptive education.

Portland Waldorf - A wonderfully holistic approach to educating the whole student and drawing connections across the curriculum.

Riverdale - An exceptionally intimate and close-knit community for a public school. Parents and students have reveled in the remarkably small, intimate, and tight-knit community.

St. Mary's - The ultimate option for empowering intelligent, confident young women and ensuring limitless opportunities for their participation.

Valley Catholic - Exceptional, much smaller community with strong character education and, IMO, the best writing prep in town.

admission tips

test prep

You must prep your kiddo for the necessary exams. I know they're unsavory and to expose your middle-schooler to such stress seems cruel, but you should bow to this necessary evil now and help put her or his best foot forward. You will most likely be able to DIY your own prep at home; I recommend a few hours of familiarizing, and then one timed practice exam, and then, most importantly, one hour of assessing results from the practice exam. Or get a tutor. IMHO, the absolute most effective test prep in the Portland area is Stumptown Test Prep.

visiting

At all costs, drop everything to take advantage of special visit days and open houses. In fact, you should participate in pretty much every opportunity and event for prospective students that each school offers. Even if you believe you're already familiar with a school, these events will be useful for myriad reasons, and most oilers will affect your admissibility. See me for questions.

outcomes

DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY IF YOU'RE NOT ADMITTED! I can't state this concept enough. Your kid was not assessed and "rejected," rather, there was simply not enough room for her or his demographic profile. I actually suggest seizing this opportunity to talk to your kid about these dynamics. See my blog tirade (as you can see, I'm pretty passionate about this topic):

[healthfitessweblog]

Blending Various Food Types Properly Will Usually Bring About Supreme Healthiness

There is in excess of 33% of the adult population, which comes to over 70 million people, who are ingesting various and numerous “over-the-counter” and medically prescribed medications for all types of digestive system conditions, disorders, afflictions and the consistent gut pain that accompanies them. There are some serious health problems in this nation, as a whole, and those problems are being spread globally.

The despair felt by the majority of people occurs when they actually follow the diet plans that are touted and generated by the health professionals. These are the very diets that the health industry considers to be the best diets. Even so, an increasing portion of affected people continue to have digestive system difficulties. For this very reason many folks will turn to drugs, medical surgical procedures or even resorting, in desperation, to extremely dull and bland foods. They feel like the alternative is simply to continue suffering.

There is a system that was developed for all of the above reasons and especially to help defray the humongous cost (around $ 42 BILLION dollars), that is flushed down the commode, for all of those diet medications every year.

This simple eating system is designed to dramatically diminish the acid pH amount in a person’s entire body — not only in the belly. It does so by increasing the ratio of alkaline forming foods consumed and by showing you how to combine foods in a way that radically decreases the amount of acid digestive juices in the gut and small intestines essential to break down foods. With me so far? Hope so, as this is vital material.

One of the primary components of the Great Taste No Pain System is the knowledge of food combining, which was first introduced into the US in 1911 by Dr. William Hay, a New York doctor who used it to heal his Bright’s Disease, a kidney disorder which was often fatal at that time. In actual fact, among many thousands of lives it claimed was Teddy Roosevelt’s first wife, who died of Bright’s Disease at barely 22 years of age.

If you have a simple, basic understanding of Secondary school chemistry, you can easily understand how this science works. Here’s how it works: When you mix foods that need alkaline type digestive enzymes with foods that have to have acid digestive enzymes to break them down, this slows down and more often than not, actually stops the digestive process. It will often slow down or delay digestion for as many as, or more than 10 hours at a time. This is outlandishly bad for the entire body. This system eliminates this very problem and causes food to move quickly through the digestive system, allowing the food nutrients to easily be absorbed at a much more rapid rate.

There is a manual in the system that is called, “Foods That Create Acid, Foods that Take It Away.” This one manual and its concept make the system as simple and easily understood as anything I’ve ever read before. All it takes is for a person to follow the guidelines in this manual and their body will naturally use the very minimum of energy for the digestive process, thereby preserving most of the energy for the healing process and for other functions of the body.

This set of guides is fortunately very timely because our society is addicted to processed foods, partly for convenience, partly out of necessity. Our contemporary cultures actually present many more challenges than were present in the early part of the 20th Century, when the original parts of this system were beginning to be developed.

Great Taste No Pain author, Sherry Brescia, was a previous Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) target herself. In fact, in 1991, she spent 7 days in the hospital with bacterial colitis.

Ms. Brescia’s occupation is that of a Chief Underwriter and health insurance researcher and, as such, researching the benefits of an alkaline-balanced body system was right along her lines of interest and she spent 15 years perfecting this system that she very appropriately named Great Taste, No Pain.

She has successfully intertwined the numerous proven philosophies that help to alkalize the body. She has been able to conceive and write this easy to understand and use system which should be simple enough for anyone to use, regardless of where they may live or what their food alternatives may be.

What I Like:

Taste: Unlike most restrictive diets, Great Taste No Pain can?t actually be labeled a diet, as it enables you to eat even great volumes of luscious, delicious food so long as you combine it as outlined by a few simple rules. It honestly involves a minimum of self-control. Perhaps the greatest news for folks who love to eat is that the 176 page recipe book in the system is full of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that are unbelievably scrumptious. No rabbit chow. Gourmet all the way, yet the meals (if you want to cook) only take between 15 and 30 minutes of prep time and make tons of yummy leftovers. So you can toss away the assumption that you can’t eat healthy on a super-busy schedule.

Speed: What’s impressive about this system is that you won’t be bored by having to read 300 or more pages of filler before you get to the important parts. In the very first guide (How To End Stomach Pain Forever, Even If Your MD Says “No Way) you get a quick rundown about the science of food combining and then quickly move on to the actual “how to do this” sections. It’s not long and drawn out either. It’s step-by-step and I really liked that about it.

Simplicity: The second Guide in the GTNP System is ‘What To Eat With What.’ This is a massive compilation. Every kind of food that you could possibly put in your mouth is listed, with the corresponding foods that combine with it for straightforward relaxed digestion, and those foods that don’t. This guide is so complete and really easy to follow, if you screw this up, it’s back to pre-school for you.

More Simplicity: Traveling is the one thing that may ruin even the healthiest eaters. But in Great Taste No Pain, Sherry provides a ‘Pocket Guide For Pain-Free Dining Out.’ This application is phenomenal. One might store this tiny baby along with your credit cards and, until you grasp what combines with what, all you should do is pull out your pocket guide and quickly observe the rule, so you can eat and take pleasure in the remainder of your day, pain-free.

Guess what?! You can actually eat at McDonald’s and you won’t have to suffer from all that gasiness and have reflux symptoms. That’s right, you CAN do this! Awesome or what?

Meat: You know, people who suffer from digestive issues usually don’t tolerate meat well on a daily basis. This is why they have daily stomach pain. Well, the problem is really not about the meat but rather what is eaten along with the meat.

It is for this reason that all of the guides in the program list all of the foods that can possibly be combined with various meats in order to avoid the pain and suffering. Most people can now find that it is possible to eat fish, beef, chicken, turkey, pork and venison without problems and they can eat all they want. And those veggies that usually tend to wreak havoc in the stomach, like lettuce, broccoli and cucumbers…, they won’t give you anymore problems. Don’t you just love that? I know I do!!

Fruits: Horror stories abound about people who suffer from digestive or stomach problems. For some reason, fruits, which are deemed the perfect food, cause tremendous difficulties in digestive system sufferers and thus, they have a tendency to avoid them at all costs. This is no longer necessary. By using the GTNP system, you’ll be taught the reasons fruit cause such discomfort and, more importantly, you’ll discover how you can actually put a change to all that. You’ll no longer have a problem eating fruits and you can eat as much of them as you want. Yes, it’s true!

Don’t worry about not being able to understand each and every “guide” in the GTNP system because they are written very simply and put in language similar to the “For Idiots…” series of books. They are very clearly written. Even, as Ms. Brescia claims, “even an 11 year old can teach this, ” I really love this about the system!

Things To Watch For:

The one thing you need to be careful of is that once you begin eating as approved in Great Taste No Pain, you may suddenly begin to feel all powerful. You could begin to think you might be “cured” of your digestive evils since they went away so fast and since you have a great deal of additional energy. That would be a mistake.

There is actually no technical “cure” for most digestive problems and the reason is that they are not technically treated as diseases at all. Simply put, they are merely maladies that occur because people eat the wrong food combinations. So, it would be wrong to believe that these principles presented in Great Taste, No Pain are cures. You see, people who have a sensitivity in their stomach will, unfortunately, always have those sensitivities. However, by using the GTNP system you have a way to make those annoying and painful symptoms disappear forever and provide you with a tremendous amount of energy.

As an example let us pretend (maybe not so much pretending for some people) that you have acquired a bad case of Crohn’s Disease or even Diverticulitis. The painful symptoms that make you so miserable can be treated easily and quickly with the methods from GTNP.

Let us now move forward one year. You’ve now decided that, since you no longer have the burning gut and other symptoms, you’ve been “cured.” You then begin to eat the same way you did before GTNP and can you guess what happens next? Right…all your symptoms return, this time with a vengeance from hell. You see those GTNP principles are very sound ones and are based on research and practical experience. They work for everyone. However, if a person does not have any symptoms for a long time and then begins to have a belief that they are cured, they might want to seriously think again. If the principles of the system are ignored and the person resists them, those symptoms are guaranteed to return and be much worse. See, good health is a result of a lifestyle that is also healthy. It’s not a simple matter of “do this one thing, one time and you’ll be cured forever.” It’s imperative that a person who does GTNP, stays with the program.

Another thing you might want to be ready for is that as Great Taste No Pain cleanses your digestive tract, at the start you possibly can get a bit of diarrhea. If you experience constipation on a fairly recurring basis, you might get a little “looseness” in the beginning, but it’s going to end soon.

Also, because of the detoxing occurring, you may get a runny nose or get some other cold-like symptoms at first. It’s nothing to fret about. If you do, while it may not be enjoyable, it does mean it’s working. It means your body is becoming purer and the toxins are departing. And that is an excellent thing.

Conclusion:

What amazed me when I started using the system, was the amount of energy I experienced, not only during the day but also late into the evening. I felt no bloating or discomfort at all and I felt not urge to eat again in an hour. I also had no urgent need to have caffeine after my meals.

Professionally and personally, my solid suggestion is that for anyone who wants more energy, sounder and longer sleep, migraine headaches to stop rapidly, pain from gastritis and acid reflux to stop almost immediately, plus the pain of digestive problems to stop or be reduced dramatically get this system now and get the whole system. You are going to be thrilled.

And frankly, it won’t take an entire day for most people to feel a significant difference in their bodies. Often it only takes one meal. After you have been following it for a week or more, feel free to let me know how you like it. I personally trust that anyone who adopts this easy, gratifying food combining approach will gather massive health benefits.

The alkaline content helps gradual loss of weight. The normal pH balance is 7.35 more of alkaline and less acid. Healthy eating habits include eating plenty of vegetables. Stomach Pain Bloating After Eating

from Lose Weight http://healthfitnessweblog.us/diets/blending-various-food-types-properly-will-usually-bring-about-supreme-healthiness/