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m3hgumi · 10 months

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— when you have period cramps

a/n: me at any minor inconvenience: omg more content 😍😍 cramps are hurting so bad and i was thinking about them … ooo the voices THE FUCKING VOICES

i’ll also be splitting the hcs into two parts with other characters so it’s easier to post

pairings: itadori yuji x f!reader, fushiguro megumi x f!reader, gojo satoru x f!reader

genres: fluff, hurt/comfort

word count: 853

itadori yuji

baby was so scared and terrified and confused at first

he’s never had to deal with something like this before, having no female family members or relatives

so to say the least he was stumped

you tried to brush it off saying you were okay and the pain would pass until another wave of sharp stabbing pain hit your side

that’s when you told him to get the pain killers cause this was gonna be a Very Long Week

once you explained to him the horrors of being a woman with a functioning uterus, he didn’t hesitate to grab (steal) a heating pad from nobara’s room (which almost led to disaster, thankfully you had stepped in and no damage was done)

he hates seeing you in pain and tries so hard to make sure you’re comfortable

he’ll have you laying your head in his lap, sprawling the rest of you body on the sofa or bed of your dorm, and ruffle your hair as the two of you watch your favorite show or movie

when you’re napping, he’ll try to cook you something to keep your energy up and endure the pain

i bet he tries to look up recipes for meals that help with period cramps

and tries to cook them for you 🥹

even if he’s not the greatest cook, you appreciate those meals better than any craving you’ve had for the rest of the week

megumi fushiguro

he’s gone through this many times with tsumiki before so he knows exactly what to do

prepare a heating pad, stock up on pain meds, get her usual cravings and everything would be fine

though her cramps weren’t as painful (or so he thought, she just hid how painful they were from him) as he found yours to be, so he had to do a little bit more to help you alleviate the pain

including routine cuddles, plenty of kisses, many many blankets, and the occasional peace and quiet for your naps

he has your period tracker synced to his phone so he knows in advance when to stock up on any supplies you’ll need to get through the hellish time of shark week

he’d cancel any plans he may have had with nobara and yuji to stay with you (mad respect 🙏)

he’ll also summon his demon dogs for emotional support, even if it’s not allowed in the dorms (he’s such a real one 😭☝️)

he also has his phone notifications off so all of his attention is focused on getting you through this hellish week (ok but mans needs to catch a break too)

he’ll let you play with his hair as a distraction from the pain

if you ask for cuddles his face will get super red but he’ll oblige after

eventually he’d stop you from consuming all of chocolate and chips that is your cravings and get you to eat an actual meal

he won’t mind if you start complaining or yelling at him about something insignificant (like the temperature in the room being too low) because he knows it’s just the pain talking

instead he’ll pull you even further to his touch, soothing you and hopefully getting your mind farther away from your uterus twisting itself

gojo satoru

for ONCE his sweets stash under his bed is finally useful for someone other than him 🔥

i can imagine teen gojo first seeing you in pain and laughing (geto probably smacked him real good after that)

“wowww women have it SOOO hard 🙄” “OF COURSE YOU WOULDNT KNOW YOU ASSH-“

he has everything stocked up and ready for that time of the month: from pads to heating pads to pain meds (lots of them) and most importantly SO MANY SWEETS

he definitely uses this time of the month as an excuse to go out and buy an exorbitant amount of candy that will most definitely leave the two of you with diabetes

he’ll also bail out on any meetings or missions (except the ones with his students, he can’t leave them) so he could stay with you

if for any reason he can’t be physically be there, he’ll be on speed dial or he’ll get nanami or shoko to keep you company

you tell him not to worry and don’t bother staying since the pain will pass on its own and isn’t really anything to worry about, but he insists anyways

when he’s not busy he’s either cuddling you or having you wrapped around his arms, passing the time by watching his shitty collection of movies or any of your favorite shows

he’s definitely gonna feed you the giant chocolate cake he bought from the bakery down the street (and feed himself some ofc)

since gojo is just a giant pillow anyways, falling asleep on him isn’t much of a problem, even if your insides are attacking you with the worst pain ever

i’ve mentioned this in hcs before but he ABSOLUTELY has a whole album of pics where you’re sleeping on his shoulder or lap, cuddles are not excluded

(ok this is getting too long i should stop)

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sirfrogsworth · 6 months

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I posted the below on my Facebook. I am secretly trying to head things off at the pass. Every time people see pictures of me out and about, they think I have been magically cured or my health status has improved. And I know going to Florida is going to give people that impression.

But also, I just wish a few of my relatives could understand my situation better. And why I didn't come to Christmas. And why I might try to come to Christmas now.

I guess I'll see how this goes.

-----------------------------------

One of the biggest struggles I've had my entire adult life is explaining why I appear fine whenever people see me. I say I am very sick and bed-bound and then they see me and I am out of bed and talking and joking and... a normal healthy person.

What many don't realize is I am making a choice.

A choice to get sick.

I can use up all my energy in a short time frame to accomplish a difficult chore or entertain a friend or go to a doctor, but that is going to have a consequence.

The more I do, the more severe the consequence.

In the ME/CFS world this is called "post-exertional malaise." (for those interested, you can read more about it here: https://rthm.com/art.../what-is-post-exertional-malaise-pem/ )

Imagine every time you wanted to do something, you were *choosing* to get the flu.

Take a walk, get the flu.

Exercise, get the flu.

Spend a night out with friends, get the flu.

And you might be thinking, "Okay, it can't be as bad as the flu. I've had the flu and the flu sucks. No one would choose that."

I may not get the nasty respiratory symptoms, but everything else is pretty much the same. Crippling fatigue, horrible aches, and the loss of the will to do much of anything. Sometimes it is much worse than the flu. Some people don't know how much being this exhausted can hurt. They have never used up enough energy that their body is unable to power itself properly. I usually say it is like every cell in my body is starving and screaming for energy. I feel it in every inch of my body—and not just on the surface... through and through. So, like... cubic inches.

Sometimes I don't even have the energy to power my legs. Trying to stand feels exactly the same as trying to lift a barbell with way more weight than you can lift. I can't get upstairs or even walk to the kitchen. It's a concentrated misery that defies description, despite my constant attempts to try.

Sometimes I get lucky and this flu lasts for a day or two. But the more active I am, the longer it can last. And the severity increases as well. There is also a cumulative version of this—where if I do a bunch of little things over a longer period of time, eventually it will catch up to me and I may be stuck in bed for a few weeks.

And when I say "stuck in bed" I mean stuck in bed.

Short trips to the bathroom and a few minutes in the kitchen to make food. If I spend too much time upright, my legs will literally give out and I will be stuck on the floor until I recharge enough energy to get up again. It would be like every time you needed to get up, you had to hold your breath. Not to mention, the more I do, the longer the recovery will take.

For a long time I chose to never get the flu. I stayed in bed and did just enough to avoid the worst of PEM. I skipped family get-togethers. I didn't see my friends. And I lived my life inside the computer. Some may find that sad, but I actually found a way to make this work. I ran a successful blog that was seen by millions of people and I met my two best friends who I now consider my new family.

One thing that allowed me to choose not to get the flu was my parents. I fear some thought they were spoiling me. They did my laundry. They helped clean my room. They got my groceries. They cooked my food. They took on any chore they could so I could avoid the flu and live some semblance of a life on my computer. There is a lot of guilt wrapped up in that. I didn't ask them to do that. They just sort of... did. And I am so grateful to them.

To be fair, they would have to do these chores for themselves anyway, and tacking on my stuff wasn't a huge deal. But I know it caused them a little extra pain and a few post exertional consequences of their own. So I appreciated that sacrifice more than I can put into words.

But then they both got very sick. And not only could they not help me with my stuff, I had to help them with their stuff. And this was a difficult transition. I had to choose to get the flu to take care of my parents, but then if I got the flu, and I couldn't take care of my parents. I believe this is called a catch-22.

My initial solution was to just not take care of myself. At all. My health and mental well-being was set aside and I just gave all of my energy to them. I didn't shower. I forgot to take important medicines. I didn't do a single thing that brought me joy. And I'm reminded of that analogy of the airplane emergency where the oxygen masks drop. You put on your mask first before you put one on your child. Your instinct is to save them first at all costs. But if you pass out, they are screwed.

So I kept getting that cumulative version of the flu. I'd help them as much as I could for a week or a month and then I'd be useless to them for just as long. Living in the basement did not help. Stairs were very hard for me and constantly going up and down was a huge waste of energy.

And I'm sad to say, the level of care I gave to my mom was not great. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't understand how to balance my needs with hers. And it led to costly mistakes. She had several preventable falls that caused injuries. At one point she spent hours on the floor because I fell asleep and did not check on her. When you know someone needs regular supervision, you need to synchronize sleepy time.

Thankfully I learned from all of these lessons. Maybe not as quickly as I would have liked, but I did figure it out. I just wish I had learned them before my mom passed. I just wasn't able to give her the help she needed.

And you can tell me "you did your best" all you like, but this isn't a guilt I am choosing. It's just there and I feel it no matter what anyone says. In time I am hoping it will get lighter, but I'm afraid it cannot be wiped away with a well-intentioned platitude.

But with my dad, I decided to move upstairs. That was something I should have done much sooner. But I liked having my personal space and that was hard to give up. When he slept, I slept. When he spent 4 hours at dialysis 3x per week, I would make sure to take care of any personal needs. I would do chores a tiny bit at a time. 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there. And then I would lay on the couch in between and regain my strength. I did everything possible to not get the flu. And I got my flu shots so I wouldn't get the actual flu. (Get your flu shot! 50K die from it every year!) The only hitch in my plan was when I got a kidney stone at the same time my dad was in rehab. I have no idea how I got us through that.

I was very proud of the care I was able to give my dad. And I'm so grateful I was able to pay back just a tiny bit of what my parents did to help me. And the care I gave my father is the only thing that helps me feel better about my failures with my mom.

But now I am entering a new chapter of my life. And I find myself choosing to get the flu more often. I have decided sometimes it is worth the consequences. Part of that is because I am more used to it after dealing with it for 20 years. I have coping mechanisms and procedures and techniques to manage the symptoms. It doesn't make them suck any less, but it definitely makes it more manageable. It's akin to people with chronic pain who still feel the pain just as profoundly as when it was new, but they get so used to it that they forget that isn't how they are supposed to feel.

I approached this scientifically. I did tests. I went to the movies. I tried once a week and that was too much. Then I scaled it back and that was more manageable. Then I realized I had movies at home and decided to end that experiment.

I started to put my energy into something I enjoyed more. My photography. So I have been finding new ways to take pictures again. More experiments. I'm designing a simpler studio that requires much less energy. I'm creating a little product photography workstation where I don't have to set up everything each time I want to take a cool picture of an object. It will just be "turn on the lights" and "take the pictures."

Figuring all of this out made me realize how much I missed photography. And since I have been shooting test pictures here and there, my mental health has been noticeably better. And once I get this all figured out and set up, I am hoping some of you will let me take your photo. Or a photo of your kid. Or a pet. Whatever you have that needs photographing, I'm game.

I'm not going to charge. It's not going to be a business. I do not have the energy to "hustle." And asking people for money just sucked all of the fun out of my beloved art form. It corrupted it. I just love taking pictures and if you need a photo, I'd like to do that for you. I also restore old photos for fun. I'll talk about all of this more in another post when I am ready to start.

And then my grand experiment is coming next week.

I am going to travel.

I am going to see my best friend in Florida for two days. Two days of travel and two days of visiting. This is a scary choice. I know the aftermath is going to be difficult. But I need to get out of this house. I need to see my chosen family in person. And I have never been on a plane and I love the perspective from high places. I know people hate air travel, but for me, looking out that viewport is stunning television that cannot be matched.

Purposely making myself sick sounds like a bad idea. But it isn't life threatening. I have the free time to recover as long as I need to. And I can always choose not to get sick for a while if it gets too hard.

I just ask that people not see this as going from a worse life to a better one. I was really proud of the life I was able to create for myself while staying in bed. That took a long time to figure out. I met some of my favorite people. And I accomplished things I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams. Please do not shit on that life and think it was sad or meaningless. I was given that life as a gift from my parents and it kept me alive. It has always been a huge insult when people pitied that precious gift they gave me.

This is not a better life that I am trying to figure out. It is just better for me right now. My needs have changed. I have changed. So I am trying to adapt. I just ask that people understand when I go out and do something, please remember the choice I am making.

You may be tempted to say, "You are doing so much better!" I am not any better than I was 10 years ago. Actually, my health has degraded. It's just that before I didn't think getting the flu every time I did something was worth it. And I would hope everyone would understand that was a valid choice.

And now I am inviting those consequences.

On purpose.

Give me the flu, I guess.

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leliosinking · 5 months

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Okay folks. Hear me out. I know the popular vision on this site is for amc Lestat’s rockstar era to be like.. leather pants and mesh shirts ala Maneskin (and Stuart Townsend tbh) but I just don’t see it for this interpretation of the character.

(I can’t shake the vibe that Damiano is a liiittle too close to what we’ve already seen, I’ll explain shortly)

But also.. we’ve already gotten a canon taste of this Lestat’s stage presence in s01e07. Look at this guy. He’s a flamboyant, piano playing dandy.. like a flamingly gay theatre faguette. This man was crowned king of Mardi Gras and chose to dress up like a queen..

No. No I don’t see mesh shirts and leather pants in this man’s future (at least not with a 2022 sensibility). But I do see a potential vision. Ride this thought train with me for a sec.

So for this theory to work I should first quickly explain where I think we are in the timeline:

We know that the original interview occurred in the 1970s, and that Daniel doesn’t remember much of that era.. (perhaps he was much closer to the action than he remembers) but I (and several other long term fans) think that the events in Dubai 2022 are likely a fusion of Prince Lestat and Merrick. But more importantly, I think that the events of TVL and QotD have already happened, and mostly likely in close proximity to the original interview.. it’s a lot to explain but trust me it works.

Lestat’s rockstar era occurring in the ‘80s (or even late ‘70s) would of course be book accurate, but it also would allow the show to distance itself from what has already been done in the films. So much like moving the events of IwtV from the 1780s to the 1910s for aesthetic variation, we would be moving the modern events of TVL and QotD from the early 2000s of the film back to their original placement in the timeline. And boy oh boy are the fashion options exciting.. but I have something in mind a little left of field.

So like.. I’m imagining a gothic Liberace, clad in 18th century waistcoats and dramatic capes. Think sequins and candelabras. It’s all very late ‘70s early ‘80s. I know the books are more of a guideline than a bible for this series but the TVC vampires are drawn to the fashion of their era. I can 100% see interpreting his wolf killer coat into an extravagant sequined cape. Imagine “Come to Me” rearranged as a Neil Diamond piano rock ballad.. like are you following my train of thought? Like this Lestat is so so SO gay. And the visual references amc has been pulling from understand that.

(of course this is all very silly looking, but again, refer to Lestat at the Mardi Gras parade.. that’s him!)

Or think Elton John but like.. by way of Ozzy Osborne. Dramatic wigs and piano ballads, but also stage blood and prosthetics.

This Lestat understands high camp and theatricality, and I see him deliberately toeing the line between these two seemingly conflicting aesthetics because that’s who he is. Frankly it’s who he has always been as a character. Lestat “eating” the king cake baby? It’s just Ozzy biting the head off a bat. And I think more of that is what we’re in for.

(I can’t not mention the absolutely perfect adaptation by innovation comics. This look is a great jumping off point for what we might see.. but I think the costume department will take it many many steps further)

At their root the Vampire Chronicles are period drama, and Rolin and co. are already leaning into that (like there are what? Three active timelines in season one? I would expect even more as the series progresses tbh) and I think a season set largely in the 1980s is going to be more enticing to this team than one set in our present decade. And that’s okay! There’s not only a ton of fashion potential in that era, but also storytelling tools that could not only maintain the current framing device, but also expand on it.

Imagine season 2 ending not with Lestat arriving at the door, but with Armand handing Daniel yet another stack of documents to read and research. Only this time it’s Rolling Stone interviews, vinyl records, music videos and mtv appearances on tape.. all of this ephemera could be used similarly to Claudia’s diary in s01e04 to develop a richer storytelling device. But also it would help to keep Louis the primary narrator, while still providing voice and agency to Lestat (who I suspect is recovering from his post-MTD coma, but that’s a theory for another day).

Of course this is all theory and I’m sure many of you are more informed on bts spoilers than I, but this is one topic I’ve been wanting to talk about since season 1 concluded, and knowing season 2 will be treading into TVL territory opens up a ton of possibilities. But yeah! Even if the show goes in a totally different direction I hope if nothing else this might inspire some fan artists to play around with an alternative era for Les!

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #anne rice #lestat #amc iwtv #vampire chronicles #amc interview with the vampire #the vampire chronicles #tvc #queen of the damned #the vampire lestat

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soracities · 8 months

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writers block is killing me, mim. i haven't written anything since ages. but i really want to, i just don't have anything in mind. send help!!

Oh, dear anon....I may not be the best person to ask in this because I generally don't believe in writer's block to begin with; I have dealt with one for years but at the same time I don't see not writing as any more natural or normal a state than writing itself. Neither is "bad" or "good"; they're simply two different processes with different results, one of filling up (not writing) and one of emptying (writing). But because of this, it is, crucially, a cycle to me—like how you fill a cup then empty it again then fill it then empty it again. Sometimes the processes happen so subtly, or so closely together, that we don't notice their separate movements. But sometimes they aren't as synchronised as that. Sometimes there's a long period of filling up that, because of how extensive and deep it is, requires far more time than we would like.

Our imagination and creative impulses don't exist in a fixed, preordained state of On / Off—they are something active and responsive that needs to be nourished and replenished just like our bodies do with fresh and air and food. And sometimes being replenished looks like a passive rather than an active event. So maybe it will help to look at it as less of a "block" anon, and more a state of accumulation. Maybe you're percolating, brewing, marinating, collecting fragments and impressions of the world and shoring them up deep inside you. Maybe it's the time to touch life and be touched by it and allow it to change the landscape inside you, to renew the places you can write from when the time comes but simply live and experience the things that happen to you until that time comes. Maybe you are undergoing deep changes yourself and these need to be allowed to take shape a little more before you can use them as a foundation from which your writing begins.

I don't know if any of this will help and I'm sorry if it doesn't. But I do believe that in moments like this, the best thing you can is not to force yourself or your mind into a state it does not seem ready for at this time because you will only be met with more resistance and more frustration as a result (which will also only harden that resistance further). If you desperately need to write I would recommend a journal, but a journal with no expecations—errant thoughts, observations, things you saw and that made you happy (or sad or angry), a catalogue, really, of the sights and sounds and textures of your day. They don't need to be eloquent or polished (if anything I think it helps if you keep them as spontaneous as possible). The point is to make a habit of noticing the world around you and the experiences you have and also let you feel that you are capturing or expressing something as you write it all down. Alternatively you can also try a stream-of-consciousness exercise every day: write whatever comes to your mind, again without expectations, without hesitation or concern for form or content. I don't know if this will help, but it may ease the anxiety you feel around wanting to write and not being able to simply by providing you with the action in some form.

I hope you find something in here to see you through this, anon x

#ask #Anonymous #book talks #notes on elsewhere

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undercoverpena · 1 month

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You said that you like post-outbreak pre-Ellie Joel because of the scene at Bill and Frank’s. TALK MORE ABOUT THAT. The whole “mine” thing makes me 🫠

talk about it? how about you try and stop me 😂😂

to preface, I ramble a lot below about “her” (as in the reader I imagine) I’m… sorry for the length 😂

okay, not to be like ‘my work’ but most of the one shots I’ve written for him is in this period. I know he’s sad, still very trouble and closed off—but god when he finds something worth it? a small thing to grasp onto. a person who doesn’t need him to protect but will do all the same. ugh!!!! (and also to preface I love LOVE Tess, I just don’t want to write her as jealous or mean cause I adore her so we’ve kinda… au’d her out of them)

but the dynamic I love (that I’ve written) is that the person is a little softer but she’s not as soft as she once was. she’s hard, she has edges. and for the most part it’s all carnal with care that’s built around it. and then I wrote ‘be good, be quiet’ purely because of that scene at B&F’s. like him just realising that it’s something, there’s a thing that matters after everything burned and was left in ash. she’s not a phoenix, she won’t save him, but she’s molten and walking and existing and he doesn’t hate her, if anything it’s the opposite, but his world is so charred and his heart is so warped and broken he doesn’t have the pieces to love. so, it’s what it is.

it’s why he goes to find her in BGBQ because he needs to feel her against him. and it’s different, it’s safer here, in a house that is protected. which allows what would be love to seep in further and cement itself around him. it’s why it’s so much more tender than some of the other pieces, because it does shift things, it changes them, but I got that from that “mine” scene in the show. he can’t articulate the world, but there’s something.

and god we love something, don’t we?

a respect, that’s layered in “I’ll protect you, you protect me”. it’s a warm body under stars and empty branches; it’s a thing that knocks into things in his place in the QZ to make him not feel so alone. not that he’d ask, not that he’d love that her things are around his, but he also wouldnt dislike it either.

plus, god is she his. there’s not a pair of hands left on the earth that he’d let even come close to her. it’s why he trusts her, it’s why he knows what she can handle and what she can’t. it’s why sometimes he rolls his hips softly and has her face him as he does, why he brushes his fingers over her cheek—for a moment able to pretend that destruction and corruption and death is outside—because she helps him forget for a moment. she allows him a breath without the weight of the world on his shoulders. and he suspects he does the same thing for her, it’s why they spend a large portion of their time (when it’s safe) distracting the other with the only thing that doesn’t cost anything to have. one another.

#mothandpidgeon #asked and answered #kind souls #Joel miller ramble from jo

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wetcatspellcaster · 18 days

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I hope this isn't too personal. If it is, I apologize and you can obviously ignore it! But you've mentioned how there was a period where you were going through some stuff and stopped writing. I had the same thing happen, and things are better (yay for both of us getting through Stuff), but my writing still hasn't come back, and it's been years. I know you said BG3 itself helped bring it back, but did you do anything to help force yourself back into writing mode? Just wondering if you had any tips or anything. Thanks!

hey anon, I'm really sorry to hear that you're struggling to write. I'm going to do my best to answer but I've found writers block to be a highly personal thing so I'm not sure what I did works for everyone!

I've had two periods of writing block - one was years long due to having a high pressure university degree and then general life stuff after (18-26) the other was due to depression and something in a fandom upsetting me to the point where I didn't want to interact anymore.

So the first piece of advice I have is, work out what the root cause of the issue is, and address it! Which sucks! It's basically therapy! It feels very silly to even be advising it. But for my first writers block I realised I was putting too much pressure on myself - I wanted everything I wrote to be Meaningful and Perfect - so I devised the silliest and most entertaining writing project I could ever imagine for myself and got rid of expectation, and this broke through the block entirely. I began thinking of writing as a hobby I do for fun rather than a vocation or future profession, etc. I came to this drug late, so people who've been writing fic for longer probably won't find that novel - but I did! For the second issue, I took a break and then I readjusted how I interact with fandom. I probably seem quite antisocial at times to others, but I've just changed my boundaries to make it so I'm comfortable and so I keep writing. I realised that I didn't like the grounds on which I'd been operating on ao3 so I changed them - the block shifted again.

Often, it's not the writing that you're struggling with, necessarily, it's something else in the mix that's preventing you from doing it. See if you can find out what that is!

The second part of your question is 'how do you force writing back'... I don't think you can, honestly. Placing pressure on yourself, I've found, always backfires. But my advice for getting started writing again after a break is as follows:

Make a really fun project, as silly or cringe or self-indulgent as possible. Something you are genuinely excited about putting down on paper. Something that feeds you specifically. from a favourite maladaptive daydream, to a silly one shot, to a laundry list of all your favourite fictional things.

If you feel like you literally can't write sentences, bullet point something instead. This means that you won't feel guilt about losing the idea you've had, but also i've found that whenever I return to bullet points, it's easier to start writing bc it's not a blank page. Whatever your notes are, I promise they will be useful. If you write them in a low energy time and come back to them at a higher energy time, even better, bc past-you has literally set up a little springboard for you once you have the bandwidth to jump!

Reduce pressure. This one is very personal so it'll seem vague. Reducing pressure could be not publishing anything until it's finished. Reducing pressure could be publishing or sharing with friends immediately, so you get support and motivation to help you keep going and don't feel like you're working alone. Reducing pressure could be to pick the easiest project you have first, so you do something that maybe feels simplistic at the time, but it helps you build confidence for facing more ambitious projects later.

I don't know if any of that is helpful, but I've honestly found that for me, keeping writing as fun as possible has been what allows me to keep doing it. Any time I feel anxiety or stress creeping in, I try to remind myself of that by any means necessary.

#asks #anons

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cripplecharacters · 1 year

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Hi! A little while ago you made a post where you mentioned a character who suffers from migraines would be considered disabled. I have had periodic migraines since I was a kid (varying in frequency and intensity, and now tend to get them associated with changes in the weather/seasons), and have never heard them described as a disability before. Is there a certain threshold for migraines to be considered a disability? Apologies if this sounds insensitive - I promise it is made in good faith.

Hello, thanks for your question! I love these kinds of identity-related questions, so apologies in advance for the slight ramble.

(The post referenced in this ask can be found here for anyone interested.)

This may be an unsatisfying answer, but it really depends on the person and whether they're personally comfortable identifying as disabled. This is true not only for people with migraines, but people who experience any kind of dynamic disability whose severity fluctuates over time or from day to day -- and especially so for people who may experience both extremes of being functionally able-bodied one day and fully debilitated the next.

My personal experience has taught me that people will often think their good days somehow cancel out the bad, and this gives them a kind of imposter syndrome when it comes to engaging with disabled community. My aim isn't to force people to identify as disabled (and I hope it didn't come across that way!) but rather to emphasize that there is no "correct" way to be disabled, that it's okay to find solidarity in disabled community even if you have more good days than bad, and to encourage us to think about why some conditions "count" in popular imagination as disability and others don't, no matter how debilitating they may be.

Some people who experience dynamic conditions like migraines (as just one example of many) might genuinely not consider their condition a disability and won't necessarily benefit from identifying that way, and that's completely okay. My mother gets a couple migraines per year that last about a day, and doesn't consider this a disability in itself because she just doesn't really feel they impact her life in a meaningful way. But a good friend of mine gets them much more frequently and isn't able to live normally/needs specific accommodation for days or weeks at a time, and does consider this a disability because it has a profound impact on their comfort and lifestyle. It just depends on what resonates with people and what they feel speaks most authentically to their experiences.

Just a sidenote as some people may not know this, but it's also exceedingly rare for a doctor to just come out and tell you that your diagnosis makes you disabled. In my experience, they'll hardly ever even use the word "disabled" at all. I've known people to go years living with a diagnosis the community practically unanimously sees as a disability, yet fully identifying as able-bodied without even thinking to connect with us for support, just because they expected a medical professional to tell them the moment they became disabled.

Ultimately, there are no hard and fast rules for who is "allowed" to identify as disabled. My own personal stance is that if people find comfort and solidarity in recognizing themselves as disabled and benefit from connecting with disabled community, I have no interest in interrogating them to figure out how affected they are by their condition or deciding whether I think they're disabled "enough" to call themselves that. I believe them to know their experiences best.

Even if someone lives with a dynamic condition and decides intentionally not to identify as disabled, I do think we all ultimately benefit from introspection about our own sense of ability and way of inhabiting the world, and from asking ourselves why so many people allow themselves to live in any manner of pain and discomfort before they'll let the word "disabled" even cross their mind.

I hope this helps explain my answer to that particular ask a bit more! While not necessarily writing related, per se, I do think these conversations are important, and I hope that at least one person comes away from these types of asks with something new to think about.

-Mod Faelan

#mod faelan #migraines #dynamic disability #identifying as disabled #physical disability

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thenoaaah · 4 months

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Hysterectomy as a transmasc

A little over a year ago I got a hysterectomy as a gender affirming surgery and I wanted to take a moment on here to talk about how it has affected me. I really missed that when I was thinking of getting a hysterectomy, so maybe this could help someone.

The topics I describe could be dysphoria inducing, so if you're sensitive to that, don't read this :)

Within the transmasculine community we talk a lot about top surgery and that makes sense. It's a visible change. It's obviously a life changing surgery. Everyone can imagine that, even cis people. When you're pre-op you imagine a life post-op. You think of the things you'll finally be able to do. Things you'll finally be able to wear.

For this reason I was barely nervous for top-surgery. On the day itself I was calm even. I would even call it one of the best days of my life. Yes, the weeks leading up to it I had nerves and even doubt came up a couple times. But that morning... I never felt so sure about something in my life. It happened in 2020, which meant that I wasn't allowed to bring anyone with me. I wasn't allowed visitors. I know my family, especially my mother, had a hard time with that. I feel like I should have been more upset about it too, but was not. It was my day. I saw it as the start of the rest of my life. And it was.

Getting a hysterectomy didn't feel like that. I knew I had to get one. The idea that I was able to get pregnant was giving me a lot of gender dysphoria and I was absolutely terrified of getting pregnant. There was no way I was getting close to getting intimate with someone that could get me pregnant. Menstruation was also a big indicator. However, I hadn't gotten my period since I was about 16/17 years old, since I took orgametril. For reference, I was 21 when I got my hysterectomy. It was hard for me to even imagine getting my period and I honestly barely thought of it as a problem any more. This medicine wasn't something I could take the rest of my life though. It was my mother actually who pointed this out to me and said that a hysterectomy wasn't such a bad idea. She remembered how terrible I felt during my period. Something I had totally forgotten. I started talking to my therapist about it all and she also said that I'd probably benefit from a hysterectomy. In the Netherlands specific psychologists have to approve whether you can have gender affirming medical care. I took time to think about it. It was difficult for me. The hard thing was that I knew it would improve my life. I knew it. But I was terrified. That area of my body is such a sensitive subject. I'm incredibly dysphoric, so having a bunch of people work down there was an awful thought. I had several breakdowns over the fact that I felt the need to put myself, my body, through such things just to be comfortable.

In the end I decided to do it. I was put on a waiting list, just as I was put on a waiting list for top-surgery when I was 19. This wait was so different though. Waiting for top-surgery was full of excitement and watching YouTube videos of other excited transmen and non-binary people. Waiting for a hysterectomy was full of fear and watching YouTube videos of other transmen and non-binary people feeling bad and dysphoric after surgery. There was nothing exiting about the surgery. Top-surgery felt like a specific chapter in my life. Something that was a big part of my journey. The hysterectomy was something I just really wanted to get over with.

The day came and luckily I wasn't that nervous any more. I knew this had to happen.

The recovery was though, but so was that of top-surgery. It was physically more comfortable than recovery from top-surgery since for that you have to wear that awful binder. Recovery from a hysterectomy was more dysphoria inducing. I had to use menstrual pads, which I hate, and I couldn't wear my normal boxer briefs, since the pads wouldn't stay in place. The YouTube videos really helped here. Watching transmen use pads helped a lot, since I saw those people as nothing other than men and seeing men use pads, made me feel less dysphoric about using pads.

Now that I'm a year post-op I can say that getting a hysterectomy was a very good choice and I honestly can't imagine my life without it. I don't cringe when I hear girls talk about their period, cause I will never ever relate to that any more. I don't cringe at pregnancy tropes in books and movies, because I will never ever experience that. I feel so much calmer now. There is a sense of peace. A sense that things are right. They fit.

#transmen #transman #transmasc #hysterctomy #transgender #trangender surgery #trans joy #gender dysphoria

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teaontoasty · 1 year

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A Brief History of Basilisks

Early witch civilizations had many hardships trying to establish a colony. There were famines, plagues, and dangerous beasts, all of which caused witch societies to struggle. The worst of these were probably the basilisks. Basilisks were scaly, snake-like demons and they had many ways to attack these early witches. Not only did they have claws and fangs, they also had the unique ability to shape shift into the likeness of any witch they came across, this allowed them to infiltrate villages and steal witches’ magic, leaving them entirely defenseless.

Although basilisk attacks were uncommon, they always happened whenever our ancestors tried to expand their villages and farms. Basilisks were extremely territorial and would not allow settlers access to nearby rivers and streams. Rivers like these were vital to the survival of society. They provided a source of fresh water, both as drinking water and as a way of watering crops. Rivers also had large amounts of fish, which was a reliable source of food in the more difficult times of the year. They also provided the power needed for many innovations, mills that made processing grain and lumber much easier. Basilisks would sabotage expansion is any way that they could, from stealing necessary tools and equipment, to draining workers of their magic, leaving them weak and open to attacks. Writings found from this time period, really show how difficult life was due to these basilisks.

“Some of those savage beasts were caught sneaking around town today. They were demanding we leave the riverbed and find some other place else to build our town. Nasty vermin, we can’t even let our children play near the river without fearing that one of those creatures is going to take one of our little ones. You can never know if someone walking down the street is really a friend of yours or one of those shape shifters. I say we find a more permanent way to keep them out of our town.”

Archeological research has shown that these basilisks had a society of their own, not nearly as advanced or organized as our early settlers, but they had many aspects of what makes a civilization. Evidence shows that they had many primitive tools, homes, and even instruments. It also showed that their way of life had stayed the same for centuries, with little to no technological advancements. They did not take advantage of their many, bountiful resources and instead chose to live a simple life. Families tended to be more solitary, only coming together for their holidays and rituals. These holidays mostly consisted of celebrating seasonal events, like the start of the growth season or the yearly migration of several species of fish. They had many celebrations, each focusing on the importance on a different important resource. One particular holiday was focused on the worship of the titan itself, this included feasts, dances, and games. Eventually, settlers took this event and made it their own, this became the beloved holiday we know as Titans Day.

After much hard work, the villages successfully convinced the basilisks to move their own families to another part of the titan. It seems that they had grown accustomed to their way of living, since they lacked the ability to rebuild their civilization and their source of defenseless witches to drain magic from. Their numbers very quickly died out, leaving witch society to bloom into what it is today.

(I was trying to imagine how textbooks might write about basilisk history, that this is what witch children are taught and this is why basilisks are still looked down upon. I think in reality the basilisks just wanted to keep the river beds and were willing to let the witches have everything else, they needed the river because it had their main sources of food and they made their nests in the river beds. Without the rivers, they starved and had nowhere to raise their children. I also think that in looking for some information about her ancestors, Vee might find a book like this and see what witches think of her kind)

#vee noceda #the owl house #vee the basilisk #toh vee #the owl house vee #vee toh #toh speculation #toh analysis #toh fanfic #unreality #toh headcanon

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ohc-and-the-music-tapes-archive · 9 months

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Article about "Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes" and Music Tapes' 2008' shows. Flagpole, 13 August 2008

[source]

transcript:

Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornados is a wintry thing, full of insistent sleigh-bells, delicate chimes and mournful singing saws. It’s the newest album from Julian Koster, the former Neutral Milk Hotel multi-instrumentalist who also releases his own works under the name The Music Tapes.

In a recent interview sitting under a Prince Avenue tree on a balmy Athens afternoon, Koster laughs at the prospect of the album's release during the sweltering Georgia August. “Yeah, we always seem to put out these winter-ish albums in the summer or the spring,” he says. For the most part, though, the albums come out when they come out—and it’s been nine years since a Music Tapes album was released. In fact, talk of this new disc has been circling in Athens and online for years.

“After four years, I am happy to say that Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornados is about done. All except for one final song that I am beginning now. So, soon,” Koster wrote in March of 2004 on the E6 Townhall, an online messageboard dedicated to all things Elephant 6. “It will be lovely and fun to send it out into the world to begin a life of its own at last.”

Four-and-a-half years after that post, Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes finally made its way into the public sphere. Laden with scratches and audio clutter that make it sound like a relic from some long-forgotten 19th-century circus of morose whimsy—Come Marvel at the Monumental Imaginarium!—the album carries a weighty nostalgia, attributable to its chilly noises, but also to memories in the liner notes of Athenian musician friends like Will Westbrook and Bo Tompkins, who both passed away in the past several years. Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornados makes the late-’90s Elephant 6 heyday seem very long ago, but it also carries a sense of immediacy and completion rarely seen in Athens music in those days—the album is a complete whole, and it feels both highly personal and of a community.

Koster moved from Athens half a decade ago, splitting his time between here and New York City before settling on a small island off the coast of Maine. “I left Athens in 2002, or somewhere thereabouts. My entire life I've moved from place to place pretty constantly,” he says. “That was the way it unfolded in my childhood, through no force of my own, but somehow I just never stopped even when I was alone or on my own. I would always be in Athens or New York City on and off.”

The island getaway is a huge, multi-bedroom house rented for a few hundred dollars in a part of New England that acts as a summer retreat for the well-to-do, but in the winter-time folds into itself as the sunbirds return home, leaving only a handful of full-time residents. Koster visited the ocean every day, spent time with his dog Rudolph and other friends, collected ancient recording devices and wrote songs. He says the solitude allowed him to refocus his interaction with the outside world while cultivating his ever-active imagination. “Y'know, it’s like suddenly there’s this place I love or this thing I love, and I can go there and interact with it like a kid,” he says. “The parts of my brain that used to make make-believe games when I was a kid continues to grow and make things, and sometimes they're records, sometimes they're stories, sometimes they're infinitely more complex ways of relating to being an existing creature that doesn’t make a product that you can share with someone, so there’s a certain solitude inside of yourself that can also grow and become part of what you live in, along with trying to relate to the world like a little kid.”

This week's PopFest show is the band’s big coming out performance, and Koster says he hopes it'll start a period of reactivation for his musical career. Onstage, expect to find musicians Laura Carter, Robbie Cucchiaro, John Fernandes, Theo Hilton and Scott Spillane, among others, performing alongside a spectacular seven-foot metronome Koster had built especially for live performances. Koster says that other special guests may poke in for a song or two, including Athens stalwarts Vernon Thornsberry and Jill Carnes. Currently working out the specifics of a national—and perhaps international—tour is on Koster’s mind, and he says he'd like to hit the road in October, circling the country on some sort of an Elephant 6 Revue jaunt (although he'd never call it that), perhaps focusing on Music Tapes stuff, perhaps more. He has ideas of a big stage performance involving “me, W. Cullen Hart, Scott Spillane, many more, a whole ton of us, playing all of our music as an orchestra, a special program, all sorts of nice things,” he says. It may, after all, be a good time for an E6 renaissance of sorts; Neutral Milk Hotel's landmark album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year, and many of the Athenian friends skirt national spotlights, with the Olivia Tremor Control's Bill Doss showing up on “The Colbert Report” last week playing with Robert Schneider's Apples in Stereo. Many of the groups missed the Internet hype machine age by just a few years, and the popularity of psychedelic pop explorers like Animal Collective could signal a willingness to re-embrace the crew. It's all contingent upon building a bridge between the real world and the imaginary, something that Koster seems dedicated to doing.

Chris Hassiotis

#the Music Tapes #Julian Koster #Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes #articles #interviews #2008

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twistedtummies2 · 8 months

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Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 13

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! Today’s entry is the source of Disney’s Anthem. Number 13 is…Pinocchio.

“When You Wish Upon a Star, Makes No Difference Who You Are…” I don’t know how many people now would place this film so high in their personal rankings, but in animation circles, “Pinocchio” is considered not only massively important, but also a massively impressive feature, on an artistic level. This was Disney’s second full-length animated movie, and the whole conceit of the project seems to be, “Go big, or go home.” Nearly everything that made “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” impressive seems to be “upped” in this feature. The music in “Snow White” is charming, but “Pinocchio” is home to Disney’s Anthem. The illustrative aesthetics of Snow White seem to be given an upgrade; this movie is DRIPPING with atmosphere. Everything feels so rich and detailed, with so much texture and weight to it, and the scope of the film – which has also been upped – allows for a lot more variety in the environments we travel through. As Pinocchio goes on his many adventures, we move from humble cottages to grand theaters, demented carnivals, and the vast ocean itself. The darkness has also been upped. I would argue that “Pinocchio” is at least a strong candidate for Disney’s single darkest movie ever made. At first, this may seem odd; as most people probably know by now, Disney did dumb down the story quite a lot. In the original book, things got not just disturbing but downright brutal, sometimes even gory. Not only that, but the original Pinocchio was very much a little brat: the idea of him having no conscience, in the original story, was that he was a bad seed, who had to learn how to be a good person. He was a troublemaker who had to learn a lesson. For the Disney film, the character of Pinocchio is softened up QUITE considerably: this version of the character is instead a pure innocent. He’s not inherently bad, he’s just…inherently ignorant. He doesn’t fully understand the world around him, and he’s just trying to figure it out and survive the experience. Surviving, on that note, is NOT easy for him: at every turn, Pinocchio’s very EXISTENCE is under threat. Some scenes in this film are so horrifying, they’re still named as among the scariest moments in any animated feature, or heck, any movie ever made PERIOD. Just because it’s dumbed down from the source, it doesn’t mean it isn’t still utterly SADISTIC when it wants to be.

On the note of darkness, if you’re a Disney Villains fan, then you’ll be happy to know that this movie has more major rogues in it than perhaps any other theatrical Disney feature: as the story goes on, Pinocchio and his sidekick, Jiminy Cricket, have to work their way past an escalation of increasingly nasty baddies. From the con-artists, Honest John and Gideon; to the two-faced puppeteer, Stromboli; to the diabolically disturbing Coachman; and finally to the man-eating Monstro. With each new challenge, Pinocchio learns and adapts. His courage, optimism, and perseverance ultimately see him through. On that note, what I do like about this movie – and what I think it actually achieves that is BETTER than its source material – is that it balances its dark and light elements in a very good way. For all the nasty characters, deranged visuals, and morbid scenarios…Pinocchio and those closest to him are all wholesome, funny, and loveable characters the audience can relate to and enjoy. It’s one of those stories where the darkness helps one appreciate the light a little more: after going through this crucible with these protagonists, the happy ending feels even better than expected. I imagine Don Bluth and possibly Brad Bird probably took a lot of inspiration from this film, since their movies also seem to have this wonderful blend of cynicism and positivity. Films like “Iron Giant” and “An American Tail” are also stories where the humor and joy is amplified by the dread and despair that comes with finding it. The film is equal parts inspiring and utterly insane, and if that doesn’t sound like a story I’d love…you clearly don’t know me very well, do ye, folks? ;) The countdown continues tomorrow with my 12th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: The One That Started It All.

#disney #disney 100 #disney 100 special #list #countdown #top 15 disney animated movies #fifteen days of disney magic #number 13 #pinocchio #pinocchio 1940

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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maydaymayramble · 2 months

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my final opinion on Fashion Dreamer as a devoted fan of style savvy

so as my initial deep disappointment started wearing off, i realised that it was unfair of me to immediately compare Fashion Dreamer to the style savvy series so harshly because they are simply not the same! Fashion Dreamer IS co developed by synsophia and it IS a game that revolves around fashion, but otherwise, they’re two completely different games.

you dont have a boutique to run, you dont have any customers to assist, you cant make connections with people and gradually make a name for yourself, you cant improve the community in the setting you live in etc etc. your just an influencer doing vague fashion related tasks and irl “influencer” would do.

tl;dr once i separated the two and started to see Fashion Dreamer as its own game instead a style savvy without any charm i started to really enjoy it for what it is

there’s no real tangible story here at all, only faint goals to achieve very early game and then thats it, and its obvious that they were never going for that in the first place because this isn't style savvy! its a completely new game that only has SynSophia working on in collaboration with another company. im sure if nintendo didn't decline SynSophia's request for another style savvy game on the switch this im sure this conversation would not exist but unfortunately, they did, and now we only have Fashion Dreamer, which serves as a descendant of a successor to the style savvy games.

now that i've managed to separate Fashion Dreamer and style savvy as two completely different games i want to talk about what i actually /like/ about Fashion Dreamer. i was super super disappointed my first time playing not only because i immediately held it to exact same standards as a style savvy game, but also because by itself it felt quite unfinished.

with my very first time playing i felt like after 2 hours or so i had already seen all the game had to offer. and while i wasn’t wrong and the gameplay just had to grow on me, still i wasn’t all that motivated with the goals you had to complete or the rewards it gave you. it also doesn’t help that there isn’t anything all that challenging about creating lookits for other muses, or any way to fail them.

yes, you have to create lookits to get epoints to make more clothes for your brand and level up so you can unlock even more clothes for your brand but ah, that part isnt really all that impressing. its just fine

i can appreciate all the effort that went into the clothes making process though, that’s definitely the most impressive part of this game. i’d say its the most impressive thing out of all the fashion games ive ever played. i have soo much fun making my own clothes! as an artist i feel like my creativity has no limits and i can literally make whatever i want, however i imagine it. for me, this one amazing feature alone is enough to carry the rest of the games mediocrity.

once i have an idea for a piece of clothing i think would look nice, i can just take out FD and create what i thought of immediately. even though i forgot about it for so long, for a brief period as an adolescent i really really wanted to be fashion designer and this feature reminded me of my silly wish and made me love it all the more

i also like the photo egg stuff, the poses are all super cute and i like the expressions the muses make. im very glad that they put in a scrapbook feature that allows you to save specific ensembles (that and no way to filter clothes by color were probably my biggest complaint) i already have a bunch of outfits saved in my notebooks that i absolutely adore. i do wish they were prettier backgrounds for notebooks though

and the event stuff.. is just fine. it's not the worst thing in the world, i enjoy creating outfits for character or player muses out of all but it also isnt that fun. a little grindy and annoying, but just fine. if this game had a story or plotline to follow i think i would be able to enjoy it alot more maybe? running around cocoons doing vague influencer-like tasks just isnt all that engaging for me.

the last thing i'd like to say about FD is that i actually do get happy when ppl like my stuff. like wow, they actually like my product! it does make me kinda feel like i do have a semi successful brand that people are paying attention to. ofc most of my reasons for designing clothes is because i was inspired too, but getting those fake like notifications make me want to display them just in case others would like them too.

in conclusion, all of this to say what exactly?? i enjoy Fashion Dreamer now! i like it quite a lot, i find it enjoyable and satisfying, and it scratches those fashion related itches ive been having but didn't know how to make them go away. i really love being able to create clothes exactly how i imagine them, and i enjoy being able to dress my oc's up so prettily and accurately. i also really enjoy the overall art direction of this game, the backgrounds really caught my eye and they all stand out individually in my mind.

im not 100% sure but i think FD is popular in japan? which makes me happy because i know overseas and english speaking fans of style savvy really dislike this game, especially upon initial release. i was one of them but now i can say i dont hate this game at all anymore. once i stopped comparing everything to style savvy, for what it is, is just fine. the reason why i made this long ass post in the first place was because FD already gets SOO much hate online from everyone, and i think its a little unwarranted. if this me talking about everything i dislike about FD this post would probably be much longer lmao, but i didnt want to add to all the flack it gets. if you stopped playing after a few hours like i did i'd say its definitely worth a second chance! just see it for what it is and you'll have a much better time

#fashion dreamer #style savvy #also!#the music is really good #like i find it getting stuck in my head sometimes and it makes me want to play more

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mx-julien · 2 months

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the Not Lego Animated, Unrealistically Perfect Ninjago TV Series in my mind has a whole plot point where Zane becomes a human. background: his "heart" is actually a trapped soul. Zane's android body is so intricate that it allows his soul to adjust and basically treat it like a human body. Dr Julien does not notice Zane's sentience as the years go on, as he's convinced it's a part of the AI black box issue

we get clues and eventually figure out that the trapped soul inside of his heart used to belong to an enemy of the first master of ice. it is why the forest where Dr Julien lived was under a permanent winter. however, that soul spent so long outside a body that it "forgot" all its memories

at some point much later there is a major fight during which one of Zane's arms is ripped off above his elbow. they are battling someone who has found another way to harness the ability to turn back time (like in series 1 with the combined golden weapons). Like He Always Does, at one point Zane jumps in front of someone to shield them from the blast so they don't pop out of existence and turn into ash

you can only turn back time as early as The Beginning, and Zane's soul was one of the very first since it was around at the same time as the First Elemental Master of Ice. instead of turning him into spare parts, logically it has hit a soul inhabiting a body- where was that soul at The Beginning? a human body. it makes him human with the parts that it has, so the body is basically the human version of his robot traits. this includes the lack of an arm with an elbow and forearm

this immediately takes him out of the fighting game and he doesn't exactly know what's happened (he's still wearing a gi, he's still alive, but he feels weird and uncoordinated and weaker) until the fight's completely over and people go to check on him

the absolute pure joy Zane feels as he partially unwraps his gi and realizes he's human is one I can't convey in words. it's up to you to imagine

other details below the cut

what about the end of Rebooted? while Zane's original body dies at the hand of the overlord, his soul (like the overlord's) is in his new titanium body. he programs his og robot body to sacrifice itself

does he need to adjust to the human body? his titanium body was almost an exact copy of a human body just in wires and metal (he doesn't need to eat or breathe ofc, but the layout is the same bc he likes the idea of it), so there is very little adjustment period. also the human body instinctively knows how to breathe, so right after he transforms it's like breathing after getting the wind knocked out of you

he doesn't have most of one of his arms?! yeah! personally I think it's his left arm.

why? because (1) he frequently loses parts of his robot body during major fights, so it adds some realism, (2) the ability to use adaptive tech on his arm stub connecting him back to his time as an android. I'm not talking winter soldier style "an able bodied person's arm just metal" I mean like a stump but a screwdriver on the end. something practical that does not resemble his other arm. the further it is from ""arm"" the more connected he feels with his roots. personally I'm sick of amputee characters who are "magically able-bodied again bc technology" fuck that shit I want Zane to have a swiss army knife on that stump. a slingshot for water balloon fights. just his bare stump when he's not doing anything in particular. the presence of a tool or prosthetic on would differentiate for him a relaxed vs guarded state

you have this whole thing figured out, huh? nope! just some vivid details. if you have any questions about this idea or want me to write more on it, just drop me an ask

#congenital amputee character #bc it's torn off before he's 'reborn' and also he has no trauma associated w it #he's dealt with No Arm(s) and/or No Leg(s) before as a robot this isn't new or scary to him #dr julien #ninjago headcanons #ninjago #lego ninjago #zane julien

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letterslaura · 4 months

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Writing as an articulating axis and practices involving Educational Technologies

Coucou everyone!

Today we are going to tackle a very important topic: developing writing skills in school.

What memories do you have of writing practices in school? In my case, it was always fun and natural, just because I was so eager to practice my writing skills, but we know that this may not be the reality for most children. When I was in school, the methods were pretty strict and mechanical, with very little room for imagination. In Portuguese we were taught (a lot of) fixed rules, systems, genres (not the cool ones) and structures, everything for the sake of Enem’s essay. In the English classes things were not so different. In a room full of people, with a diversity of confidence and enthusiasm, imagine trying to apply the same monotonous pattern. What could it lead to? This rigid approach to writing can turn it into a monster for students, a real struggle, especially when in another language. It should not be like this. Students should be encouraged to see writing as a simple skill that helps us convey messages in the best possible way. And they should know that they are all capable of learning it!

Now, let’s move away from the past and take a look at what schools are teaching today. From the Common National Curriculum Base (BNCC), we can grasp how things should be done inside the classroom. Regarding writing practices in primary education, the BNCC states that writing is an essential competency that crosses many areas, not being restricted to language itself. In other words, writing practices in school should not focus only on language or on grammatical rules. Instead, it should aid students express their ideas and communicate adequately in the other disciplines as well. Could you spot the difference from the previous approach? I was so thrilled to read about how much has changed!

Further on, the BNCC stresses the relevance of integrating educational technologies into the writing practices, such as softwares, collaborative platforms, multimedia resources, etc. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources at our disposal and they can greatly enhance the teaching learning experience. This integration opens up a world of possibilities.

After that, according to Liberali, “social activities in second language teaching focuses the study on activities where the students interact with each other in determined and historically dependent cultural contexts.” (LIBERALI, 2009, p. 12). Educational technologies are able to facilitate social interactions with speakers of the target language (in this case, English) and there lie glorious opportunities to teach writing practices smoothly.

One of my favorite writing activities (if not my favorite) was a movie review requested in the third period of the English discipline. Learning every aspect of an adjective was never so fun! In my opinion, it is a brilliant idea, since there are many interesting literary and linguistic aspects to be explored in a movie review and it can be done with just the amount of difficulty you want. How cool would it have been to write a review of "Finding Nemo" back in the day?

Movie reviews are also easily relatable, as everyone has a favorite movie, making it much easier for the students to connect and really engage with the proposal. To make the experience even more realistic, if the students' age group allow, it is also possible to introduce the Letterboxd website, according to the students' age group. In this site, they can read reviews of the movies they like and maybe even post their own later. In order to enrich the activity a little more, there can also be held peer reviews and presentations.

Another idea is to explore the world of comics! What Brazilian kid does not know Monica's Gang? Comics are very appealing for primary students, it is usually a genre that they are comfortable with and it really stimulates creativity. You can begin with reading and understanding the components of comic books, leaving the writing to the end. By creating setting and characters first, the story will be less difficult to write. It is important to get to know your students in order to pinpoint what activity would be a better fit to them.

Finally, there are plenty of writing resources online, which can be used to help students in their process. My favorites include: Thesaurus, Cambridge Dictionary, Collins Dictionary, Linguee and Grammarly. These tools can give a little extra confidence to those embarking on the adventure of writing in another language.

Now that you know a little more about writing practices and educational technologies, make sure to leave a comment below with your own experiences. I want to know all about it!

XOXO

Laura

#education #teaching #learnin #writing #brazil #esl #english #portuguese #school #text

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writingquestionsanswered · 1 year

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Hey there, hope I'm not a bother, but I need some help.

Alright, I have two characters(a man and a woman in case your curious. I'll call them John and May for now.). The chapter I'm writing has them locked in a stereotypical dungeon(barred cells, dark/damp/wet/cold, etc.) inside a large mansion/estate with security at every turn(camera's, bodyguards, gates, etc.) Is there any possible way they can escape and/or evade security in any way?

Incase you need more context, May has been kept there for years. The person who kidnapped them believes that John has information they could use, while May was kidnapped just to lure her husband(John's brother) into a trap.

Plotting a Basement/Dungeon Escape

While I'm not able to plot your characters' escape for you (that's part of your job as the writer!) I can help you with some things to consider and methods you can use to help you figure it out. :)

So, the first thing I think you need to consider is the building itself. "Stereotypical dungeons" are actually a facet of European medieval castles and weren't as common as storytelling leads us to believe. In the 1400s and 1500s, European royals and nobles largely abandoned the building of old stone castles in favor of palaces and manor houses. These did not include dungeons, though they often had basements that were used by servants and housed all of the areas required for the domestic upkeep of the palace/manor house.

Unless the "mansion" in your story is in fact a medieval European castle, it probably doesn't have a "dungeon" but rather a basement. In mansions built before the 1950s or so, basements would have been finished and used to house things like staff, kitchens, pantries and food stores, storage, etc. In mansions built after the 1950s, basements would usually be finished and used for additional living space and storage. So, in order for a mansion's basement to be dark, damp, cold, and contain barred cells, it would probably need to be old and in some level of disrepair, probably having been abandoned for some period of time. This is most likely a temporary base of operations rather than someone's permanent home, as dampness in basements means there's a leak in the foundation and that can lead to costly damage if not taken care of. So it's unlikely anyone living in a mansion permanently or for the long-term would allow there to be damp in the basement.

Having further thought about where/what this mansion is, you can think a little more about these cells. Since this is probably a finished or partly finished basement in an older mansion, that was later converted to include barred cells, I think you've got a case for construction errors to aid in your characters' escape. Also, things that the captors may not have considered like access to windows, vents, old cupboards within the cells that allow access outside of the cell, that kind of thing.

You might want to look for real life mansions that fit the mansion you're imagining. See if you can find photos or a layout and try to imagine how the cells would be incorporated, then see if you can figure it out. At the very least, you may want to wing it and draw up a layout, figure out where the cells are, where the cameras would be, where the guards will be, and see what you can figure out that would work in your characters' favor.

More than likely they'll need to rely on some level of craftiness and subterfuge to trick the guards and take advantage of weak points. For example, if there's a particular camera pointing at their cells that they realize is almost a blind spot, they might be able to create a diversion that allows one of them to somehow move the camera just enough to fully create the blind spot. These are the kinds of things that having a map/layout of the basement will help you with.

Have fun with your story!

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