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pandemique · 3 years

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hI!! i love your art and was wondering if you could make a tutorial showing how you paint stuff? only if you can! it's just really pretty !!

hi nonnie! thats very flattering !! i’m sorry i dont think i’ll be very helpful bc i’m a mega noob as well :D but i’ll try my very best <3

my process is very tailored for speed instead of quality (oops soz LOL) so i do suggest this for if u have short doodle breaks ⬇️⬇️⬇️

thumbnailing (for comics) -> lines (sketch who?) -> bucket tool/color drop in the base color -> color in the lines -> one multiply layer for a “base” shadow (in the vid below its purple!) -> one (1) render/paint layer a.k.a lawless no man’s land

full rendering process & more general painting tips below the cut‼️

NOTE: i’ll be focusing more on traditional/fundamental tips for stylized art because i’m sure there’s a much more effective way in digital. I truly do only use one normal layer for render... i think this is bc before i made this blog, my only prior experience in drawing is middle school art class, so all i know is traditional painting on one layer.... pray i can answer this again in the future with something smarter lmao

🌺 MY PAINT PROCESS

1. Choose a color scheme!

It doesn’t have to be set in stone like below, but i at least keep in mind the color range i’d like to use depending on what i want to convey (ex. soft pastels for soft fluff, or warm colors for happy vibes). I try to be as limited as possible for base colors because I tend to go ham when painting, you’ll see later AHAHA

2. Base coloring + Base shadow

Base -> bucket tool in the color scheme (I know other artists are against this but when i discovered the bucket tool in digital art I immediately divorced manual coloring i’m sorry i loved you tho bae) (this is why my style and lines are simplistic as they are, so the color drop works!)

Base shadow -> in theory, warm-colored light creates cool-colored shadows and vice versa. because i’m a fluff addict i mainly use warmer light, so i like using blue/purple as the shadow. generally u can’t go wrong with complementary colors!! (yellow light & purple shadows / orange light & blue shadows).

I make a new multiply layer (decreased opacity just bc i like things soft okay) and clip it on the base layer, then block in the areas i think would get blocked from the light.

3. Color in the lines!

for simplistic styles i swear this works wonders. i just clip a layer to the lineart and manually color the lines with a darker but more saturated version of the base color. it just tends to look more dead i guess with low saturation lol (ex. u can see above i use both peach and red or pink for lines of skin, i guess it implies the blood under the skin too. or something :D)

4. RENDERRRR

when i’m not in a rush i just paint things completely (and mindlessly), but here are the things i almost always do:

line the shadows with a saturated color! i’m not sure this is common but i love it lol, in almost all my doodles just check the shadows—on the edges, there’s bound to be a wild color :D (usually its the light color, shadow color or a color scheme color but sometimes i’m just like boY do i loVe piNk)

my art major friend told me about saturated colors on desaturated bases and my life was changed forever lol. u can see below even when my base is very grayyy, my rendering is very gay :D ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

make the shadows darker where i think they should be darker. usually i can just colorpick from that darker, saturated lineart color!

if it’s a more realistic piece i usually make the highlights lighter, but in simple doodles i find it unnecessary, and i dont like how light/white it looks :( i tend to just make the areas exposed to light more saturated

color in the rebound light~ in reality there’s usually not only one primary light source, at least there’d be secondary light from where light bounces off objects. in art we just emphasize that! so in large shadow areas, or in areas close to other objects/colors, i like to ‘splash’ other colors on

yeah this part is less intuitive for beginners and u have to learn a grasp on the concepts over time, like for lighting and structure. values can be more important than color, so i do suggest learning shading first before coloring, but only if u like (u can always be like me and just pull up references when u dont get how the light would fall on some materials :>). i have more general paint tips below! don’t give up okay, i believe in u nons, we’re all still in the eternal learning process together ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧

5. OOOOHHH SHINY ✨🤩

this step is just me being mesmerized by how easy it is to play with lighting in digital. i play around with the layer settings (multiply for shadow, overlay for light, and often try out the other settings too!). my favorite effect is the highlight glow thing, where u just make a copy layer of the highlights below the original layer, and blur it slightly so it looks like glow ✨✨🤩 overpriced acrylic could never

6. COLOR ADJUST / EDIT

Truthfully i usually skip this step, but my more pro friends really vouch for it!! i think definitely an incredible thing with digital is that u can edit proportions and even color after you’re done. i think they usually use like the curves adjustment layer in photoshop until they get colors they like, but for me, well, in a reaally diligent day i like to slap on the “auto” fliter in the iphone’s photos edit button lmaoooo

🌺 GENERAL PAINTING TIPS

learn basic theory: i think theres free courses everywhere online, but heres a few things u might like to have a basic understanding of: color, perspective, shape language, lighting, composition. don’t sweat it too much tho, it should be fun to explore the concepts!

and for drawing hoomans: proportion, gesture, expression, and veery basic anatomy. i find that overall forms are so much more important to learn than like detailed anatomy bc u can always look it up lol

but remember, u mostly want to learn the rules so u know better ways to break them :)

uuuuse manyyyyy referencessss every time u draww!

^this includes other people’s art — when u see good stuff, figure out why u like it and apply it to ur own art

get feedback!!!!

draw tons!!! brainrot helps !! ;D

aaand thank u for coming to my ted talk! sorry for the ramble nonnie, i hope u got something out of this lol

#VERY LONG POST ALERT‼️#thanku for enabling my rambliness nons #thanku for asking <3 #love u anon #demi rambles #untagged #art advice #art tips #art tutorial #art #painting #i’ll update this as i go bc lord knows im also just a noob

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quentinbecks · 3 years

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Summary: Charlie left Hope County years ago hoping never to come back. But when she learns of her parents involvement with the local doomsday cult, she finds herself heading back to a life she thought she left behind. (Begins two years before the reaping/events of the game)

Words: 5 k

Warnings: The typical lack of boundaries from the Seeds, slight use of violence, mentions of violence and death, peer pressure to use drugs (bliss), and this is a big one, lots of talk of anxiety/ build up to a panic attack.

A/N: Thank you so much to @adelaidedrubman and @johnnycranes for being my betas/second and third eyes on this! And to @smut-goblin for hitting me with the writing stick! You have no idea how much I appreciate you guys 💕 Since the atonement process begins now, hopefully I can start putting these out in a timely manner from here on out.

Chapter 4: Snakes in the Garden

“We’ll begin the process of atonement immediately.”

Charlie glances up at the man through her lashes. She should be trying to run away; pushing his hands off of her face, but she can’t. Frozen in place with John’s hands cupping her cheeks; their foreheads pressed together. From this angle she can see all the freckles that adorn his neck and collarbone. It almost makes him seem human.

“I thought,” she stammers, “I thought I was just getting baptized. That’s what we agreed to.”

John sighs, pulling away to look down at her; hands still gripping her face. “You will be cleansed, you will confess all of your sins, and then you will atone. That’s the only way you can reach true salvation. And you did just promise me you would allow me the gift of saving you,” he grits out, the hold on her face getting tighter as he goes on.

Charlie squirms away, attempting to free herself without making matters worse. “You’re hurting me,” she hisses as she grabs a hold of his hands. She may be willing to play along with his mind games; keep up whatever foolish charade she needs to to stay safe, but she draws the line at having pain inflicted on her.

The Baptist just nods as he backs away, hands held up as if to show her he won’t touch her.

Too fucking late.

But there was no apology, and Charlie can’t really say she’s surprised. “Listen,” she says as she leans against the brick wall, fingers rubbing the spots where her face was held, “you can have my soul or my salvation or whatever the fuck it is you want. But what happens to me afterwards?”

If she’s being honest, Charlie is afraid of the answer. Does she get to have a normal life? Just one within the parameters of the cult’s rules? Will they force her to marry another member of the project in one of those giant, mass weddings like the Moonies? Or will they just kill her? It’s selfish and would be a great betrayal to her friends, but she would marry The Father himself if it meant keeping them safe.

John sighs, sitting on the couch, legs crossed and arms spread across the back; posture too casual for such a tense environment. “I think it’s best we take the process day by day.”

Charlie glares at the man, only receiving a chuckle in return as he notices her olive eyes fill with rage. “Relax, sweetheart. I won’t send you back up to the mountains; back up to my big, bad, brother.”

Sitting down in the chair across from him, Charlie wills herself to calm down. The shock of the situation is starting to wear off rapidly and she can feel the panic inside her start to rise just as fast.

“Can we at least discuss the immediate future? Like, me going home?”

“What,” John teases, a hint of faux sadness in his voice, “you don’t like it here?”

Not really she thinks. But she would rather not vocalize her thoughts; too tired from all of the youngest Seed’s threats and games. She’s pretty sure she’ll combust from stress if she has to stay at the ranch a moment longer.

“Haven’t you had enough fun tormenting me for one day. I’m just,” her voice shakes and she can feel her heart start to pound; her anxiety starting to make itself known, “not in the mood for this shit. Please. Just let me go home.”

Charlie wishes she could kick her own ass at this very moment. Uncomfortable with becoming so emotional in front of John, but there was only so long that false sense of bravado and heroism could last. But the sight of his guest on the verge of a nervous breakdown does seem to have an effect on the man.

“Wait here.” He says, standing up and heading towards the door. He turns back before stepping out to look at her. “Don’t leave before I get back.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

John just gives her a smirk before leaving. Flopping back onto the chair with a sigh, Charlie closes her eyes. She’s sure trying to take a power nap in a herald’s house is just asking for trouble, but she’s too exhausted to care.

She’s barely relaxed for more than thirty seconds when the door bursts open causing her to jump.

“Charlene, this is Deanna. She’ll be taking you back.”

“What about you?” Charlie cringes inwardly at herself. Now she knows she really needs to get out of here, the environment is clearly taking a toll on her sanity quicker than she anticipated.

A faint smile creeps across John’s lips before he rights himself. “Don’t worry. Deanna is one of my most trusted chosen.”

Charlie takes in the woman she’s being handed off to. She’s not much older than her, tall, tan, and athletic. She can tell by the excited grin on the chosen’s face that the other woman will most likely get on her nerves.

“Hello, sister,” Deanna says with a wave.

“We’re not quite there yet.”

“Here,” John drops a white hardcover on her lap. “Try to read this before your baptism.”

Charlie thumbs through the book curiously. She may not have had any sort of religious education, but she’s pretty sure this isn’t the traditional Christian text.

“Is this a bible?”

“It’s the Book of Joseph.” The chosen chirps from across the room. “It shows us the hardships the Father went through and how God spoke to him and showed him the path; the path that would save us all from the Collapse.”

“Sounds enlightening.”

“It is.” John is behind her now, hands on her shoulders. “But as much as I would love to keep you here to continue this conversation, I thought you wanted to leave.”

Charlie recoils at his usage of the word “keep”. She can’t see the man, but she’s sure he’s wearing an arrogant smirk; a smirk that she would happily slap off of his face if she wasn’t trying to behave.

Nodding, she gets up. “Thank you for the talk. It’s been… eye-opening.”

John leans over the chair as he beams at her. “I’m just glad you agreed to let me,” he pauses as if he’s contemplating his words, “work with you.”

“Well, you didn’t leave me with much of a choice. Certain death or,” she gestures towards him, “you. And I like being alive, thank you very much.”

Charlie doesn’t bother to wait for a response, pushing past the chosen and out the door to wait on the steps. She doesn’t need to wait very long as Deanna follows after her almost immediately. “My truck’s down there,” the woman points down the driveway to an old, white pickup with a black Eden’s Gate sigil on the hood.

Following silently behind the other woman, she tries to catch her breath. Relax, she chants to herself internally. In only twenty minutes you’ll be safe. Charlie tells herself she can do this as she gets in the car. All she has to do is wait a few, short minutes and she can scream and cry as much as she wants to.

The car ride is silent for the most part and Charlie is glad for it. Until about halfway to her parent’s house when the chosen turns to look at her nervously. “So,” she pauses, chewing on her lip, “are you excited to be joining the project?”

Charlie gives her a snort in response. Leaning her head against the glass, she closes her eyes. “That’s an overstatement.”

“Well, I’m thrilled to have you here. I really like your mom.” Deanna gives her a grin before turning back to the road. “And besides, we don’t have many young women. It’ll be nice to have a friend.”

Friend Charlie scoffs. “Let’s just take this day by day,” she says, repeating the exact phrase John used on her earlier.

She’s relieved to see her parent’s house come into view as they turn the bend. Grabbing onto the handle, the young woman prepares to jump out the minute the truck pulls into the drive.

Charlie goes to shut the door when Deanna calls out to her. “I know you’re scared or angry or whatever it is you’re feeling, but I’m happy you’re here. Maybe we’ll even get to work at the ranch together.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Slamming the door closed, Charlie heads towards the house. She looks back to watch the chosen back out. Once she’s absolutely sure she’s gone, Charlie heads to the bunker in the backyard.

Clutching The Book of Joseph that hasn’t left her hands since she left John’s house, she climbs down the ladder. Charlie gags once she’s inside the bunker, the musty air that hits her makes her think that it’s been years since anyone has been down there.

She barely makes it to the couch before her breath becomes labored, adding to her already rising blood pressure. Tossing the book on the sofa she begins to pace around the room. What is she supposed to do? How is she supposed to explain this to Eli? Will Mary May even trust her again after this?

Letting out a frustrated cry, Charlie slinks to the floor. She has to make them understand she’s doing this for them.

But are you really? Pops into her mind. She offered to join the project the moment she felt her life was in danger, not her friends. Protection for her friends only came as part of the bargain after she agreed to have her soul saved.

But is it really wrong to want to save yourself? To value your own life? Not really, she thinks. Trying not to dwell too hard on the guilt that’s eating at her, Charlie goes to pick up the radio she notices lying dusty and dormant on the desk.

Blowing the dust off, she turns the dials until she finds the channel that would reach Eli and the Wolf’s Den.

Pausing to sniffle, she presses down on the button to talk. “Hello? Eli? Tammy? Anyone? It’s Charlie.” She clears her throat awkwardly as she waits for a response. “Um, over?” She adds.

“Ya know, it’s not really necessary to say over.”

“I know, Wheaty, but no one was answering.”

Charlie can hear the younger man laugh into the microphone. “Well, ya gotta give us more than ten seconds to get to the radio, Charlie.”

“Patience has never been my strong suit.” Sighing, she bites her lip. Not sure of how to go about relaying the message about the mole in the militia; not even sure she should be telling them this. But, it’s the right thing to do. And it’s not like she made a promise to John about what she would do with the information either way.

“Is Eli around?”

“He’s out scoutin’ right now. Whatcha need?”

Charlie knows it’s not Wheaty who’s the betrayer, but she has a bad feeling about repeating the news over the airwaves.

“Is anyone else from the militia there?”

There’s a long pause over the line as she waits for the young militiaman’s answer.

“It’s just me and Tammy here. Why what’s wrong?”

Picking up the radio, Charlie goes to sit on the dilapidated couch. She takes in a deep breath, trying to quell the feeling in her gut that’s telling her she’s making a mistake.

“Tell them that there’s a snake in the garden. They snitched on me to the Seeds. They know I killed one of Jacob’s hunters and I-”

“Who is it? Are you at The Veteran’s Center?” Wheaty interrupts her. There’s a hitch in his breath as he asks his next question. “Did they take you?”

“No,” Charlie can feel tears start to fall and she digs her nails into her thigh to stop herself from openly showing her distress, “but I can’t come back to the Wolf’s Den anymore. That’s why I need you to report back to Eli, shit even Tammy, what I just told you.”

“But why-”

She lets out a deep sigh before cutting him off. “Can you just trust me? I’m trying to protect you. All I ask in return is you get rid of your rat infestation.”

Charlie waits, the static of the radio the only response.

“You got it.”

“Thanks, kid. I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

And with that she flicks off the power, unable to continue the conversation; unable to accept her newly minted fate.

Tossing the machine onto the ground, Charlie falls back onto the couch. She decides to spend the rest of her day inside the bunker, certain her parents won’t come searching for her here. She isn’t ready to hear the exuberance of her mother when she tells her the news of her joining the cult; if it was up to her she would have offered Charlie’s hand in marriage the moment she had stepped foot onto the compound.

Though, Christine has probably already found out if John was actually telling the truth about there being a meeting. She can’t bear to think about the two of them conspiring about her; about her future. It’s too much to deal with. The whole day has been too emotionally taxing for the young woman.

Charlie reaches behind her, picking up the stray Book of Joseph; her curiosity getting the better of her. She’s pretty sure the whole book will be monotonous; mundane monologues about their terrible childhoods. It’s the same bullshit with every cult leader. Regardless, she wants to find the juicy bits for future ammunition for the next time John Seed wants to throw jabs at her about her own youth. They’re alike, her ass.

Opening the book to a random page, Charlie settles in. Admittedly, the book is a hard read, both from Joseph’s unreliable narration and the abuse the two eldest Seeds regularly suffered. What catches her eye, though, are the bits of a young, barely more than a toddler, John being beaten; abuse so bad it forced the brothers into foster homes.

The new information forces Charlie to slam the book shut. She can’t help but feel guilt and pity for the man, all of them if she’s being honest, but especially John. She doesn’t know if these feelings are stemming from the parental neglect she suffered as a kid or if it’s because of her own desperate desire to become a mother; to be able to give a child a life she was deprived of. She doesn’t even know if any of this is actually; maybe it’s all a ploy for people like her to feel empathy for them.

Shaking her head, Charlie closes her eyes. Do not think of them as anything more than the monsters they are, she chides herself.

Curling up into a ball on the couch, she tries to relax; tries to clear her mind of all the dizzying emotions that came from today. After what feels like hours of breathing exercises and mantras to shut her brain off, she finally falls asleep.

The nightmare is the same as it is every night. Charlie finds herself being hunted through the Whitetails by one of Jacob’s red camo clad chosen. And just like always she kills them; just as it happened in real life. But this time, the outcome has changed.

It’s still her blood splattered face that’s exposed after the ski mask is ripped off, but the eyes staring back at her are no longer the hazel eyes of the recently deceased hunter. This time they’re sky blue; blue like the eye color shared by all of the male Seeds.

Charlie wakes up with a start. Heart racing wildly, she puts her palm over her chest in a vain attempt to calm it down.

“Fuck me.”

She’s no dream interpreter, but Charlie is definitely concerned this means something. Means that she’s become prey to the Seeds; that she’s become some sort of toy for them to play with at will. It’s distressing, especially since she’s worked for years to ensure she would never be in such a vulnerable position with men again. And now here she is; in the belly of the beast, but this time it’s worse. This time it’s with cult leaders rather than a gaslighting husband.

“I need a drink,” she mutters to herself as she sits up.

Charlie heads up to her parents house, the early summer sun blinding her as she exits the bunker. “Mom? Daddy?” she calls out once she’s made it back inside. The calls for her parents are met with dead silence.

Searching through rooms gives her no leads on where they could be until she finds a note plastered to the refrigerator.

“Princess,

Mammon and I will be out for most of the day. You can find your mother up at Black Horse Peak if there’s an emergency. I’ll be out fishing on the bay with a few friends from church. Both of us should be back by dinner time. Don’t get into any trouble while we’re gone, ma fille.

Love,

Papa”

Charlie sighs. She was hoping to not be alone after the nightmare she had, let alone the day she had previously. But, on the bright side now she has time to come up with a way to explain to her parents about her change of heart towards Eden’s Gate.

Deciding the best course of action would be to tell them over dinner; a dinner where she can spike her own drink to take the edge off. There’s no worries about them being disappointed or angry with her. No, she needs to drink to hide the disappointment in her own mother who will be delighted that her boss managed to break down her daughter into joining his family’s cult. In one day too. What a feat!

A couple hours pass with Charlie trying and failing to concoct a meal when there’s a knock at the door. Immediately going on guard since she wasn’t expecting any guests, she grabs a kitchen knife off the counter.

As she heads over to the door she peeks outside the window to see who her surprise visitor is. None other John Seed is standing there on her porch; a look of fury written all over his face.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she says, slamming the knife down on the entrance table.

Opening the door with a bit of trepidation, Charlie begins to panic. Why would he come here when he could have just had her brought to him? Why come when she’s all alone? The normally well-coiffed Seed looks frazzled; his usual slick backed hair falling loosely in his face.

“What do you want?” she asks through the crack in the door. Instead of giving her a response, John pushes his way into the house.

“Oh, okay. Please, come inside,” Charlie grumbles as she slams the door shut.

She watches as John paces through the living room; watching as he runs a hand through his hair, letting out a dark chuckle as he does so. The situation started out unsettling and now it’s just flat out creeping her out.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” John asks, finally looking up at her.

Charlie blinks at him trying to understand what she could have possibly done in the last twenty four hours to anger him this badly. And then it dawns on her. She told the Whitetails about the mole amongst them and she’s guessing Eli handled the problem.

Oops.

“What exactly did you expect me to do? Allow your brother to keep getting intel on my friends? So he could, what, pounce on them when the timing was right? I don’t think so.”

“No, you’re right.” He clears his throat before leaning against the wall, no longer manically pacing around the room, but calm and collected. “I trusted you too early; had hoped you would be grateful for the gift I’ve given you, but I see now I was mistaken. Instead, you would rather squander it and try and pull off these childish antics of yours.”

John pushes himself off the wall, slowly making his way towards her; the action preemptively making her back herself against the counter.

“But I’m not worried about it. And you know why?” He knocks on the table as he continues on.

Charlie shakes her head “no”, uncertainty over whether that was the right answer setting in.

“Because Joseph saw you walk through the Gates of Eden with us; with me. So, I know all of the trouble you’re putting us through will be worth it in the end. I just need you to recognize your purpose and start behaving.”

They’re so close now; too close for Charlie’s comfort. She puts a hand between them; her fingers lightly touching his torso. The touch makes her flinch, but after he put her face in a vice-like grip just the day before, she’s not letting him get that close again.

“Walking through the Gates of Eden? What does that even mean?” She furrows her brow, she’s pretty certain Joseph is just making up visions to have his brother keep her in line, nevertheless the possible euphemism unnerves her. “Is that like heaven? Are you here to commit a murder suicide?”

Charlie quickly realizes that that may be the wrong thing to say when she sees the scowl cross John’s face.

He leans in closer to her, forcing her makeshift barrier of her wrist to drop. “You are in no position to be making jokes, sweetheart”, the Baptist glares down at her. “Because you, Charlene, in less than three weeks have managed to get two of our chosen killed. One by your own hand and,” John looks down towards her lips, “and one by your big fucking mouth,” he hisses at her.

“Good.” Charlie shoves him away, trying to reclaim some of her personal space. “That last one snitched on me; took my life away from me. So I guess we’re even now. Eye for an eye. Isn’t that what you people believe in?”

“You know, you’re not nearly as clever as you think you are.” Sitting on their loveseat, John splays himself out as if he owns the place; the overly cocky attitude in full swing again.

Admittedly, Charlie does feel some guilt over the news of another chosen dead. There’s a part of her that’s curious about who they were in the militia, but the other part doesn’t need that on her conscience; not when the first death has been haunting her dreams nightly.

“Joseph entrusted me with your atonement; he still has faith that you’ll come around. Jacob still believes you deserve to be punished. Now I’m of two sides,” he says, leaning forward. “I believe you need to be reprimanded for this; for making some of the project’s best hunters spend their morning burying their friend. But death is too harsh.”

“What – what were you thinking of doin’?” Charlie stutters, her drawl starting to slip out.

“I was thinking of moving up your baptism. To tonight.”

“No!” Charlie all but yells as she marches over to where John is perched. “I – I haven’t even read your brother’s book yet! I don’t know what I’m getting myself into! I don’t even have anything to wear!”

She’s practically in between the man’s legs and she’s half tempted to bend down and scream in his face; make him feel as small as he constantly makes her feel. But it’s inappropriate and she immediately rights herself of the urge.

“None of that matters. All that matters to me is that you start the process soon.”

It dawns on Charlie that she should be questioning John on why he is so insistent on keeping her alive; what he meant by her walking through the Gates of Eden with him specifically. But a voice inside of her tells that she’s certain to find out sooner rather than later; and she might not like the answers she gets.

“Can I at least find something decent here to wear?”

“Yes, but,” John shifts uncomfortably, “I need you to keep the door open. I can’t trust you to not try and run.”

Charlie laughs as she heads into her parent’s room. “Where could I run to that you wouldn’t find me?”

She shuts the door a crack, partly out of habit, partly because she doesn’t want John watching her undress. The thought of him seeing her naked alone makes her grimace.

It takes her a few minutes, but she’s able to find something buried in the closet. It's pink and floral, not her usual color, but it’s a sundress and that’s all that matters to her. Pulling her shorts and cropped top off she watches in the mirror as John loiters around her family’s dining room.

Uncomfortable with the Baptist going through their belongings, she quickly pulls the dress on; tossing her honey brown hair into a ponytail.

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, you’re ready,” he says as he comes and leans on the doorframe to the bedroom. “Like I said earlier, I can’t trust you. So I need you to do me a favor before we can leave.” John pulls a flask from his jacket pocket, handing it over to her as if she’s just supposed to accept a drink from him.

“I thought you guys banned this shit? Too good for a stiff drink or two.”

“It’s not alcohol.”

Charlie scoffs. He wants to roofie her so she’ll behave; be a good girl for the Seeds. And he thinks she’s going to consent to this? Fuck that.

“Then I’m not drinking it. Not until you tell me what’s in it.” She has spent way too many years practicing drink safety to just take a drugged drink, even if the man giving it to her is warning her in advance.

“It’s bliss,” John says as if she would understand what that means. But he sees the confusion written all over her face. “It’s safe. You’ll be fine. It’ll keep you calm for a couple of hours. Enough to get you through the cleansing . And after that,” he smiles down at her, “we can work on building trust.”

“What if I say no?”

John’s smile turns sour suddenly, stepping forward to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Like I said earlier, I’ll be forced to take your sins out the people you love the-“

“Okay, enough with the threats,” Charlie groans as she snatches the flask from his hands. “You’re a huge dick, ya know that?” She shoves past him, “a real pushy asshole.”

Uncapping the flask, she takes a sniff. It’s oddly sweet smelling. Maybe it won’t be so bad? She thinks to herself. John watches her intently as she puts the container to her lips. She can’t help but feel that he’s enjoying this too much.

The drink itself is bitter in spite of its fragrant scent. The taste makes her want to throw the flask across the room; then maybe projectile vomit afterwards. She manages to get a bit down before handing it off to John.

“I think I’m ready,” she says, trying to hold the bile in her throat down.

John nods, heading out the door. Charlie starts to feel nervous as she follows suite; afraid that she may pass out and be taken to God knows where to have God knows what done to her.

“Don’t worry about the door. I’ll have one of my chosen let your family know where you are so they can join us.”

“Okay,” she mumbles, allowing John to open the car door for her to get in.

Eli and the Whitetails will come for you soon. They know you’re in trouble now and he’ll come and save you. They have to. She thinks as she watches the youngest Seed walk around the vehicle to get in as well. And she wants his head on a platter when they do.

There’s not much time to dwell on thoughts of being rescued. John has barely backed out of the driveway by the time Charlie has started seeing green and feeling dizzy. Her head drops back to fall against the cool leather of the headrest.

“I’m just gonna rest my eyes for a moment,” she slurs; eyes drooping shut. Before she knows it, she’s out cold; on the way to start the most interesting chapter of her life thus far.

#fic: stillness in woe #john seed x oc #john seed #oc: charlie berger #far cry 5 fic #yay! baptism next chapter #we’re really in it now

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impracticaldemon · 5 years

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What are your headcanons for a SaiChi wedding in SSL?

Hmm, haven’t thought much about SSL (or modern day) Saichi. Thank you for the question! I note that “Scenario 2″ (below the cut) got a little out of hand, as I visualized various things that could happen with *everyone* involved.

Scenario 1: A Wedding Just for Two

Assuming that SSL Saitō doesn’t have anything to do with his family (or doesn’t have any close family living), and assuming that only Saitō and Chizuru were involved, I think an SSL wedding would be a very quiet affair, with some traditional touches and an exchange of gifts.

Chizuru would want to make a meal for the two of them afterwards, and Saitō would struggle with himself over whether he should let her, or whether they should go out for a fancy dinner. Since I’m an optimist, I believe that Saitō would make the right choice and they’d have a very romantic dinner for two at home, cooked by a thoroughly delighted Chizuru. The cuteness factor would be through the roof, and Saitō would find it very difficult to keep his hands off his new wife–and probably wouldn’t for very long, despite being a conscientious sort over not wasting food. Dessert would have to wait until much, much later.

They both value traditions, and Saitō knows that Chizuru enjoys making things “special”, so I can see vows of some kind at a shrine or temple, not just signing documents at a registry office. Saitō would want to ensure that Chizuru could have something nice to wear, and some kind of flowers. If she didn’t have much money of her own, and wasn’t yet working or established somehow, he’d find some way to help her out. [None of this would be accomplished without a lot of shyness and false starts, but he’d do it.]

They would *definitely* get each other presents, and the gifts would be practical, but also somehow sweet. Saitō wouldn’t mind exchanging wedding rings, if Chizuru brought it up, but wedding rings are a newer tradition in Japan than in western countries, and may or may not be worn regularly, especially by men. My headcanon is that Saitō would give Chizuru a ring, or exchange rings with her but not wear his much (for practical reasons and personal preference).

Unless Kaoru had improved a *lot*, Saitō would be wary of having him around, because he’s aware of Kaoru’s attitude toward Chizuru. While Kaoru is arguably more stable in SSL, his antics do cause problems for everyone, and specifically affect the “chocolates episode” during the SSL SaiChi route.

All that being said, unless they eloped, or were off on their own due to circumstance, Saitō and Chizuru’s friends would be keen to celebrate their wedding in style. Moreover, I think Sen would insist on a “proper” wedding for her beloved friend and cousin.

Consequently, I think that they’d wind up with a more formal wedding ceremony than either originally expected/contemplated.

Scenario 2: The Wedding Planners

Sen and Souji, as maid of honour and best man, respectively, would reluctantly collude (honestly, I could see a lot of snide comments back and forth!), although Souji would leave the ceremony and overall event planning (and Chizuru) to Sen. He’d look after the party, and Saitō’s part in the wedding itself. Sen would hate this, of course, since she wouldn’t trust anyone but herself to make things *perfect*, but Souji would do the equivalent of stick his tongue out at her and say that she was already getting her own way for most of it, so give up already.

Assuming a wedding not too long after high school (or maybe immediately after some form of post-secondary education), with all the usual crowd in attendance, I could see:

Chizuru in a traditional (Japanese) wedding outfit, which would be Sen’s gift to her (Chizuru would be shocked by the cost, so it would be a rental - and still more expensive than Chizuru would like) (naturally Chizuru would look adorable, and Sen would be delighted); Chizuru would have a much simpler outfit for after the ceremony, probably a dress she could use for some other formal occasion in the future

Saito in traditional, but plain, male wedding/ceremonial attire; he’d change into a good black suit after the ceremony (but he rather likes wearing hakama, so nobody has to twist his arm over the old-style formal-wear)

Sen and Souji as attendants, possibly with Kosuzu as a second attendant for Chizuru; Sen would want traditional Japanese attire, but Souji would threaten to wear a sword with his (which would be illegal); in the end, Sen would get her way, since Souji would discover that traditional Japanese attire meant hakama, not just a kimono or yukata (Kondo might be able to lend Souji something)

pale blue and indigo as wedding colours (despite being unusual) at Chizuru’s request; probably some pink thrown in to lighten it up a bit (per Sen)

a small, but vibrant party with great music and excellent saké after the wedding; both Saitō and Chizuru get a little drunk, but hawk-eyed Sen prevents it from going too far; hard to say if Saitō is actually drunk (it takes a lot, and his expression doesn’t change much), but either alcohol or happiness has loosened him up

a live band, and an impromptu performance by Harada, Nagakura, Heisuke, Souji, and Saitō, after everyone is a little bit tipsy; the real band leaves after the first hour of the party, and the guys take turns providing DJ services (the music is good, but the commentary is better - or very embarrassing, depending on whose turn it is)

Souji taking pictures - a lot of pictures; Chizuru is immensely happy to have them, and Sen is forced to concede that they’re good; everyone is tolerant except Hijikata, who scowls a lot (entirely for show - several more candid shots show him actually smiling)

Yamazaki trying to prevent Souji, Nagakura, and Heisuke (in that order) from spiking the non-alcoholic drinks with alcohol (he succeeds, because he has paranoid reflexes when it comes to drinks); to his surprise, he has a fascinating discussion with Sannan-san about a recent medical break-through that does not involve ochimizu

Hijikata drinking more than he should (which isn’t much), and giving a brilliant satirical impression of a recent ultra-popular TV actor he happens to loathe (he’s jealous, but shouldn’t be, because he’s been very successful in a recent venture into acting); Kondou fetches him coffee when he switches to reciting depressing poetry

Harada flirting with Sen all evening, and shocking everyone by stealing a kiss and not getting slapped (yes, these are my headcanons, lol)

Kazama surprising everyone by (a) showing up; and (b) behaving quite reasonably during the ceremony and the short time he stays at the party; his melancholy-but-noble expression draws a few compassionate sighs (mostly from friends of Chizuru and Sen), and annoys most of the “Shinsengumi” crowd (i.e., it’s a success)

Kaoru sulking; he’s kept firmly in line by Souji and Sen (who both scare him into mostly good behaviour); it really annoys him that once Saitō got together with Chizuru, his influence over Chizuru lessened dramatically [if the wedding is quite a bit after the main events of SSL, then maybe Kaoru has improved - as mentioned above, Saitō would be wary]

Saitō eventually just stealing Chizuru away from the party at an opportune time, because they’re both fairly quiet people; between the alcohol and the excitement, Chizuru would be pretty tired and sleepy, but if Saitō has any qualms about keeping her up, she would dispel them pretty quickly - and a fine wedding night would be had by both!

And that’s it for now, but ohhhh, so much more could happen… I mean, I didn’t really get to explore all the different characters etc etc.

Hope this was interesting, and thanks for the ask!

~ Imp

#hakuouki #haku headcanons #saichi #saitou hajime #saito hajime #yukimura chizuru #okita souji #senhime #hakuouki ssl #hakuouki modern #saichi wedding #asked and answered #imp chats

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toasttz · 5 years

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How to Make Games: Gacha Games

Hey, do you wanna make more money than several member nations of the EU?! I know I sure did, so when I was 12 my sister and I set up a lemonade stand that made several times the value of Greece's GDP when you consider that negatives cancel each other out. Hey, do you want to make MEANINGFUL amounts of money and have zero moral compunctions that might inhibit your success even though the road to the top is steep and lined with unethical business practices? Well, just insert $29.99 (397.48 Canadian dollars) and I'll teach you how to make some fuckin' gacha games! Gacha games, games inspired by a terrifying Japanese tradition known as "Seppuku" where you shoot pinballs in order to undress a girl carrying a bowl of ramen - before I go any further I feel that my understanding of Japanese culture may be a little out of date, so apologies where necessary - and something else happens, blah, blah, blah, and you get some toys or some shit. When it was discovered that Android and iOS can be programmed in such a simple and fast way that typewriters and some house plants with high RAM amounts can run the code, the market soon became flooded, but not saturated, with gacha games. Why hasn't the market hit saturation point despite the fact I can't scroll further than a gnat's dick in winter's length on the Google Play Store without hitting one? Because, as the wise Chinese philanderer, Aristotle, posited, "The difference in hardcore pr0n and gacha is a string bikini and $39.99 USD, but the amount of shame is equal in both," So, the games are retardedly easy to code and the only decision you'll spend one afternoon making is if you want to spend 2 hours making it a fully-automated RPG, 5 hours to make it a complex battler with some meaningful gimmicks, or 15 minutes copying Puzzles & Dragons. These options have totally not been done to death, so feel no worry if you can't be arsed to innovate. Once you have done the easy part, the next part is to locate someone with artistic talent and ask them to draw girls. Lots and lots of girls. Unlike H-games, the theme here can be as broad or narrow or as obtuse as you want. In fact, you can use multiple themes or just do what most of these games do and just steal from history and myth and make them all girls! It literally doesn't matter how deep or nuanced your story or gameplay are if the 2D waifus are cute enough. Lots of girls are necessary - tall girls, short girls, thicc girls, lean girls, brown girls, bunny girls... just don't stop making girls. Ever. You'll be expected to actually update about every two weeks or so, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. Lastly, for each summoning banner, place four characters on them in varied, dynamic poses and outfits in the ratio of 3 girls and 1 guy. "Guys?" I hear you ask incredulously. Yes, I recently read a very scientific study that said girls sometimes use the internet now and, so, to compensate for this possible oversight, each banner needs one shirtless guy, but unlike girls, never vary their body types. Just watch a few Marvel movies for their shirtless stud scenes and copy that - that's all you'll have to do! And sometimes give them different hats, so they know they're different guys. What? Sound design? Pffft. Don't be ridiculous. Everyone's going to be playing this game at their jobs when they can't play their real game libraries, so they're just going to mute them. Those that don't will be the creepy weirdos just listening to their waifu of choice's voice actress anyway. Besides, Wendee Lee is gonna do 85% of the voices anyway. You can just skip this part. The core of any gacha game, as it was foretold in the Japanese romcom, The Art of War & Peace, by Leo Toystore, is their summoning mechanic. You need some kind of in-game currency to exchange in order to summon heroes to make up your party. Sure, you'll give the players some generic filler heroes, but they'll all be bottom-tier and Worst Waifus(TM) with no real potential for growth, but that way no one can call foul on your game design. The real draw will be summoning, so make your orbs or your gems or whatever, just be sure that they're artificially inflated like nations that no longer rely on the gold and silver standards, because just like those nations that no longer rely on the gold and silver standards your imaginary currency is backed by fucking nothing other than your insistence that, yes, 300 platinum gems totally costs $49.99, stop asking so many questions! The second-most pivotal point is that your exchange between currencies and summons is completely irrational. Anything from 5 to 150 is acceptable, just so long as it's never, ever 1:1. That would make it easy for your fans to deduce the true value of your currencies and that's literally the last thing you want. You can set aside special vouchers for people who acquire enough "Good Boy Points" by making the game a habit rather than a game in the requisite "Daily Login Bonus" category. But those are entirely secondary and should still have the same low, low rates of drawing heroes anyone gives a shit about. About once a year you can hand them 5-Star Summon Vouchers, if they have enough Good Boy Points and throw them a bone to keep them in the dopamine loop. So, once the game is on market, just rotate your banners every two weeks, usually in the pattern of "Useless, Fanservicey" Banner twice, then "Mechanically Powerful Characters" Banner once, then repeat. That way players are inclined to waste their currencies on bathing suit beauties or Valentine's Day honeys instead of the St. Patrick's Day themed Hero who has S Ranks in Strength and Defense. This will incentivize players to routinely pay up like the good little whales they're meant to be. Err, I mean... it will encourage players to contribute to your work economy, so your studio can keep the lights on... like the good little whales they're meant to be! There we go, much better. Now just slap on a campaign mode and a crap-ton of side missions - preferably one or more for each hero you make in order to pad out the game length - and then slap a Stamina Bar on top of that! Make sure they can't do more than 10 missions in a day's time at the highest possible levels, so they don't blast through your paper-thin experience and keep ponying up properly. This will also tie back into the "make the game a habit" goal we talked about earlier. Once you have enough starving artists ball-n-chained to their writer desks churning out waifus, that's pretty much it! You have a sustainable game in the same way a drug cartel overlord does! Now make another following the above and enjoy double the money, ad infinitum! Also, one last bit of writing advice: never actually finish the story. Just keep adding new 'twists' and 'complications' no matter how hackneyed they may be! If they're getting bi-weekly banners, they aren't complaining that the story only updates every financial quarter when the investors start asking questions! Bonus points for making your characters aware of the events as they come and go and reference past banners - this will add the illusion of depth to your writing and characters. Congrats! You're contributing to the blight on the Earth's surface known as cell phone games. When the aliens find us and we try to rationalize all the good we've done, yours will be one among many sins that cause us to get vaporized to make way for a cosmic-scale McDonalds. But, hey, you can't take all that shit-ton of money you'll make with you when you go anyway. You're welcome.

#satire #video games #games #gacha

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megatentious · 5 years

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My lengthy defense of the most hated Persona game

Here’s my grand defense for the most hated game in the series: Persona 1, AKA Revelations: Persona. I know it’s too late to try and rehabilitate the game’s reputation on the internet, but I’m hoping that by rambling in modestly structured form for a bit, at least some folks might be able to look at Persona with a fresh perspective. It would be cool if everyone could try to understand what the game did so well and why it resonated so strongly with me and 2 or so other people. If you are the kind of person that thinks games age and become archaic, then I probably don’t have any hope of reaching you, but still, try to put yourself in the right mindset and approach the game on its own terms, and maybe you’ll discover something quite special.

So, Persona. Persona does very interesting things with choice. As the first Megaten rpg released in America, the negotiation system was a revelation (har har), providing the choice to talk your way out of battles and into rewards is a natural D&D element that never got a foothold in countless videogame conversions of the game, and in the first Persona these elements are at their peak. With every demon having four moods, four series of animation and four sets of voiced sound effects, the expanded options really let you get into the headspace of the demons you’re conversing with, unlike traditional SMT’s more spare binary system. Getting into the thick of things with complex sets of reactions (Joy + Interest, that’s what’s up) makes for a fun simulation.

The theme of choice is also really built into the game’s fabric, it’s the reason why in old usenet postings, Persona was recommended to folks who were fans of Gold Box games, during a time when RPG labels were more porous and that sneaky “J” hadn’t yet latched itself omnipresently to the term. Choice here also extends to the fifth character in your party, a friendly way to promote replay value without new game plus, and certain choices locking you out of giant chunks of the game, an unfriendly way of getting you through the game again. In a world though where developers are desperate to ensure that gamers experience all content (so many buzzwords!), the chutzpah of Persona being willing to lock you out of huge swathes of the game is something I actually admire.

It’s easy to underestimate the impact of the modern day setting in a post Persona 3/TWEWY/Alpha Protocol world, but dungeons that were hospitals and police stations and high school students snarling “EAT THIS” with MIGs in pitched street battles felt revelatory. Exploring the comically low-rent polygonal city (is this another reference to the abstracted icons of SMT1 and 2 world maps?) was actually fun, as ridiculous as waiting for traffic to pass might seem. There are also many complaints about the first person perspective dungeons, even though the rest of the game is third person, but the setting variety is nice and many of the wall patterns are quite evocative (Deva Yuga looks like Persepolis!)

The game also does PSX-era philosophizing in a tasteful and generally thoughtful way, while contemporaries were drawing from Evangelion, Persona looked to Zhuangzi and Jung. Not very high-falutin, true, but at least middle brow enough such that my 14 year old Sophie’s World reading self was entranced. The game has something neat to say about loneliness and identity and the way we construct the world around ourselves (all hinted at in the moody intro. The story is very nice and very Kaneko, even if he’s overestimating the literary quality in this interview, I’m very fond of it and it is my franchise favorite.

Here’s where I alienate the remaining people who might have been on board with me so far: if you ignore the loss of the Snow Queen Quest, a 20 hour alternate version of the story that takes place in a series of SMT:If... like towers, Revelations: Persona is actually the superior game. “Lunarvale,” a hodgepodge of America and Japan cobbled together by localizers attempting to mask the game’s origins, is actually more weird and interesting than the Mikage-cho that appears in Persona PSP. This bizarre mashup, combined with a nonsense translation attempt, somehow manages to better fit the lurid dreamscape vibe the original developers were going for. I can’t undersell how one-of-a-kind and wonderfully unsettling the game’s atmosphere is in the PSX version, and this is helped along of course by the sound.

Here are excerpts from some things I wrote on the music in this game:

Revelations: Persona has the best soundtrack in the franchise, possibly the best soundtrack ever made. In raw quantitative terms it's ridiculous, 113 songs and 3 hours of music without being looped, and all without doing Persona 2's trick of repeated (but still awesome!) remixes. Two majorly sweet leitmotifs for the two major quests, employed creatively and thoughtfully, four fantastic composers on four discs, cohesive and thematically coherent when by all rights it should feel disjointed as fuck, this is a generous OST!

Hidehito Aoki (R.I.P.) composed the dungeon music, which is exquisite. Lengthy songs that are moody, elegant, just plain beautiful and get you PUMPED! The iconic Deva Yuga Monochrome: School Revisited Dream-like, synthy, catchy, beautiful, quintessential Persona sound. Pandora's Den (Deepmost Area): The climax at 1:12! Ice Castle/Black Snow The twists and turns in this one, so effing good. Sebek Music, Karma Palace 90's music is the best!!! Misaki Okibe's range is ridiculous, she composed some of the most memorable, interesting tracks in the whole game. Reverse Dream World: You think you have this song figured out in the first few seconds, but stick around to see where it suddenly veers off to around :30, hilarious and awesome. Theme of Nemurin's Love: The intro! The power of a simple lovely melody, a little Uematsu-esque. Augustia's Wood: The save music, so memorable, I love the grumbling. City 2 Accident: Do you remember wandering the streets in the town, disoriented, listening to this gorgeousness, thinking about how Lunarvale suddenly seemed so scary, like an unsettling dream? Bar Attacked by Harem Queen: A bit of jazzy beauty. And most important of all of course, Misaki Okibe is the composer of the Pharmacy Music, featuring vocals by one Hidehito Aoki of all people. Satomi Tadashi Drugstore Song In our heads forever, teaching us about item use since 1996.

More alienating for readers who have gotten this far: the “whitewashing” character designs were all improvements, Kazuma Kaneko redrew everything himself and it’s easy to tell that a lot of thought was put into the redesigns. Finally, Mark is also >>>> Masao, everyone’s always yelling about the jive-talking but to me he came across as quite smart and savvy. I dunno, maybe this is just a Flavor of Love/Outsourced minorities just wanna see themselves effect operating here, leave me alone you guys! So yes, the franchise’s current fanbase might not be fond of them, but the cast is comprised of characters that are meant to be iconic and not friends you wish you had in real life, a cast that, FFVI-like, is meant to evoke broader themes and not follow the typical arcs of many RPGs these days. Check out the classiness of Yuki’s design, and allow me to quote some more stuff on how Tsuchiya, master of the character theme, nails it for each party member.

The sign of a good character theme is when you can extrapolate from instrument choice and melody to personality. Here Tsuchiya is the man, no one does it better this side of Uematsu. I hear these songs and I've got a perfect picture in my mind of each cast member. It's what I think of when I think of "videogame music" ha, here are my personal favorites, I could listen to these endlessly. Mary/Maki: Cheerful, just a hint of melancholy in the notes, love that slap bass. Yuki: Starts a bit slow, but soon we learn that Yuki's cool but determined. Alana: The song tells me she's brassy, energetic, fun. Chris/Reiji: Dangerous, exciting, a bad-ass delinquent. Ellen/Elly: Classy, elegant, confident.

Some also rag on the dungeon design, but it seems unfair to expect centerpiece labyrinths along the lines of Strange Journey or Etrian Odyssey in a game going for something completely different. Nevertheless, you’ve got tricky mazes with dead ends that test resource allocation skills and provide a sense of accomplishment. Encounters are tough and require thought, careful consideration of when to flee and negotiate is imperative for dungeon survival. This is something that gets lost a bit in the PSP remake as the encounter rate is increased but battles are a bit easier. Exploiting elemental weaknesses isn’t as elegant as in later games, but with a ludicrously high 14 damage types breadth supersedes depth. And there’s even a positioning system to consider that the developers decided to drop from later games rather than refine. In the end, surviving the dungeon and beating the boss is an RPG staple that just plain works, although yes you will probably grit your teeth at some of the loading times.

And finally, you don’t have to take my random word for it. Parish really liked it too! How’s that for an appeal to authority?

For series buffs, it’s fun to trace this game’s historical lineage, as one of the earlier spinoffs of Shin Megami Tensei, it's easy to spot the mainline series influence: the occultism of the opening ritual, the hospital as first dungeon, the first person perspective for dungeon travel, BLUE POINTER MAN, and the omnipresent danger of demons in town and dungeon alike. Revelations: Persona is drawing from a rich and storied history, but manages to recast SMT traditions in interesting new directions. Again, the atmosphere is really unbelievable and something I haven’t come across in other games. It’s more than a simple curiosity and it doesn’t deserve dumb dismissal or sneering derision for its flaws. Revelations: Persona is a real marvel, modern games ought to draw more inspiration from its lessons, and the game belongs in the RPG canon, there I said it!

#persona #revelations persona #persona 1 #unjustly maligned

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Wednesday, April 21, 2021

There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing (NYT) At first, I didn’t recognize the symptoms that we all had in common. It wasn’t burnout—we still had energy. It wasn’t depression—we didn’t feel hopeless. We just felt somewhat joyless and aimless. It turns out there’s a name for that: languishing. Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield. And it might be the dominant emotion of 2021. Languishing is the neglected middle child of mental health. It’s the void between depression and flourishing—the absence of well-being. You don’t have symptoms of mental illness, but you’re not the picture of mental health either. You’re not functioning at full capacity. Languishing dulls your motivation, disrupts your ability to focus, and triples the odds that you’ll cut back on work. Part of the danger is that when you’re languishing, you might not notice the dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive. You don’t catch yourself slipping slowly into solitude; you’re indifferent to your indifference. When you can’t see your own suffering, you don’t seek help or even do much to help yourself.

Biden’s virtual climate summit: Diplomacy sans human touch (AP) There will be no hands to shake or backs to slap, no way to look a foreign leader in the eye. The small human moments that define statecraft will be reduced to images on a screen. President Joe Biden, a most hands-on politician, this week will host a major climate summit with dozens of world leaders—all of them stuck on Zoom. Streamed 100% live with no backroom give-and-take, the summit will be more geared to sending a message about America’s return to the climate fight and nudging the world toward a greener planet than about specific deals or action. Climate activists may hope for dramatic moments when countries like Japan, South Korea or even China are suddenly inspired by Biden and announce they will stop funding other nations’ coal power plants. But Henry “Jake” Jacoby, who cofounded the MIT Center for Global Change Science, just laughs at the idea: “On a Zoom call with 40 nations of the world watching? Yeah, not a chance.”

Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death (AP) Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man’s neck in a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S. Chauvin, 45, was immediately led away with his hands cuffed behind his back and could be sent to prison for decades. The verdict — guilty on all counts, in a clear-cut victory for Floyd’s supporters — set off jubilation tinged with sorrow around the city. Hundreds of people poured into the streets, some running through traffic with banners. Cars blared their horns.

Teen’s death puts focus on split-second police decisions (AP) It happened in less than a second. Thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo dropped the gun he’d been holding, turned and began raising his hands just as the officer had commanded. Then the cop fired a single shot, killing the boy in the dark Chicago alley. The graphic video that became the latest tragic touchstone in the nation’s reckoning with race and policing puts a microscope on those split-second decisions with far-reaching and grave consequences. It takes the brain about three-fourths of a second to react to a perceived threat, said Chris Burbank, a former police chief in Salt Lake City who is now with the Center for Policing Equity. Most police can then draw a gun and fire two accurate rounds in 1.5 seconds, so the pivotal portion of a confrontation can be over in less than three seconds.

Journalism problems (American Press Institute) The latest World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders found that journalism was impeded or constrained in 73% of the 180 countries that the index evaluated. The report finds that the pandemic severely curbed journalists’ access to sources and reporting in the field. Meanwhile, the he2021 Edelman Trust barometer, which surveyed people in 28 countries, found that 58% of respondents said journalists deliberately misled the public by reporting information that they knew was false. The United States ranks 44th out 180 countries in press freedom and is rated “fairly good”; the top five countries when it comes to press freedom are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica.

Covid in Brazil: Hunger worsens in city slums (BBC) The queue snakes around the block and each day it gets longer: hungry residents of Heliopolis, São Paulo’s largest favela, waiting in line for the handout that will keep them going until the next morning. They are given a bowl of pasta with meat and a portion of rice, two packets of biscuits and a carton of milk, shared between a whole household and usually their only meal of the day. Before the pandemic, 300 people would queue up here. Now it is over 1,000, and the charity that runs it has 650 others across São Paulo. “The vast majority of people who live in the favelas work in the informal economy, as cleaners in homes or helping to bake cakes, so when businesses close or houses stop using them, they feel the impact,” says Marcivan Barreto, the local co-ordinator. “You see people queuing up at 03:00 for food. I’m very worried that as the pandemic continues, a hungry father will start looting supermarkets. When you’re starving, despair hits.”

Argentina’s Misery Deepens in the Pandemic (NYT) Before the pandemic, Carla Huanca and her family were making modest but meaningful improvements to their cramped apartment in the slums of Buenos Aires. She was working as a hairstylist. Her partner was tending bar at a nightclub. Together, they were bringing home about 25,000 pesos ($270) a week — enough to add a second story to their home, creating extra space for their three boys. They were about to plaster the walls. “Then, everything closed,” said Ms. Huanca, 33. “We were left with nothing.” The global economic devastation that has accompanied Covid-19 has been especially stark in Argentina, a country that entered the pandemic deep in crisis. Its economy shrank nearly 10 percent in 2020, the third straight year of recession. The pandemic has accelerated an exodus of foreign investment, which has pushed down the value of the Argentine peso. That has increased the costs of imports like food and fertilizer, and kept the inflation rate above 40 percent. More than four in 10 Argentines are mired in poverty. Hanging over national life is an inevitable renegotiation later this year with the International Monetary Fund, an institution that Argentines widely detest for having imposed crippling budget austerity as part of a rescue package two decades ago.

Britcoin (Foreign Policy) The Bank of England is exploring whether to follow the lead of China in developing its own digital currency. The proposal, dubbed “Britcoin” by U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, is in early stages: A task force between the U.K. Treasury and Bank of England has been formed to investigate the viability of such a move. The European Central Bank said last week that it was also looking at electronic cash, but that implementation was years away.

A Quiet Arms Race Is Rapidly Heating Up Between the Two Koreas (NYT) Pride and jealousy have driven North and South Korea to engage in propaganda shouting matches and compete over who could build a taller flagpole on their border. Now that one-upmanship is intensifying a much more dangerous side of their rivalry: the arms race. Earlier this month, South Korea’s dream of building its own supersonic fighter jet was realized when it unveiled the KF-21, developed at a cost of $7.8 billion. The country also recently revealed plans to acquire dozens of new American combat helicopters. When President Moon Jae-in visited the Defense Ministry’s Agency for Defense Development last year, he said South Korea had “developed a short-range ballistic missile with one of the largest warheads in the world.” Unlike North Korea, the South lacks nuclear weapons. But in recent years the country has revved up its military spending, procuring American stealth jets and building increasingly powerful conventional missiles capable of targeting North Korean missile facilities and war bunkers. The impoverished North has used those moves to justify expanding its own arsenal, and has threatened to tip its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads and make them harder to intercept. Experts warn that the ensuing arms race between the two countries is jeopardizing the delicate balance of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

China Plans a Communist Birthday Bash (NYT) Movie theaters in China are being ordered to screen patriotic films with titles like “The Sacrifice” and “The Red Sun.” Elementary students in some cities are being told to create paintings and calligraphy extolling the “Chinese dream.” Buses and subways are broadcasting nationalistic messages about revolutionary heroes. China’s Communist Party is gearing up for a patriotic extravaganza to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding on July 1. Officials are going into overdrive to make sure commemorations go off without a hitch—and hammer home the message that the party alone can restore China to what Beijing considers the country’s rightful place as a global power. While much of the focus will be on the past, the party’s centenary will have significant repercussions for China’s future. The celebrations will give China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, a forum to present himself as a transformative figure on par with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. “We need to educate and guide the whole party to vigorously carry forward the red tradition,” Mr. Xi said during a recent conference call with political leaders about the centenary, according to People’s Daily, an official newspaper. Chinese officials, using the slogan “Follow the Party Forever,” are keen to trumpet China’s strength in a pandemic-ravaged world and justify the party’s increasingly tight grip on daily life in China.

Beijing’s control over Hong Kong (Washington Post) For a place that has been stripped of its democratic rights during a pandemic, some days in Hong Kong still feel routine. April 15, however, was not. That occasion, the first “National Security Education Day” since China imposed a tough security law in June, was the most visible display of Hong Kong’s fall from a relatively free, boisterous territory to an Orwellian place that resembles the repressive mainland. Directed at children and designed to rehabilitate the image of the Hong Kong Police Force, last week’s campaign showed how the authorities are enforcing a single narrative of the protests—meddlesome foreign forces stirring up trouble—and how no expense will be spared to fully integrate the financial center into China’s authoritarian system. The day started with flag-raising ceremonies at most schools and the singing of the Chinese national anthem, the “March of the Volunteers.” Many schools also organized national security puzzle games and asked students to write “wish cards” pledging support for the new security law—the resulting works resembling the message-covered “Lennon Walls” synonymous with the democracy movement. Hong Kong’s best legal minds continually tell me the law is a vague catchall, creating broadly worded crimes that could land people in jail for playing a song or uttering a slogan. They call the law “one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law” in Hong Kong since the handover; it has already driven out thousands of people and led some companies, most notably the New York Times, to move employees elsewhere. Now, it was being portrayed to youngsters as something universal and observant of human rights. One elementary school teacher said her 10-year-old pupils can’t comprehend this nuance—and so have become part of a “brainwashing” campaign.

Hugs, tears as Australia-New Zealand travel bubble opens (AFP) Emotions ran high Monday as excited passengers set off on the first flights to take advantage of a quarantine-free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand, allowing families split when borders closed almost 400 days ago to finally reunite. “(I’ll) yell, scream, cry, hug, kiss, (feel) happy—all of these emotions at once,” Denise O’Donoghue, 63, told AFP at Sydney airport as she prepared to board her flight. The arrangement means that for the first time since the pandemic closed borders worldwide, passengers can fly in either direction across the Tasman Sea without undergoing mandatory Covid-19 quarantine when they arrive. “It’s a very big day and exciting for families and friends,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who hailed the success of both countries in containing the virus as a key factor in allowing the travel corridor.

Fleeing a Modern War, Syrians Seek Refuge in Ancient Ruins (NYT) AL-KFEIR, Syria—As the sun set, children in dirty clothes and battered shoes herded sheep past the towering stone walls of a Byzantine settlement abandoned more than 1,000 years ago, leading them into an ancient cave nearby where the animals would spend the night. Abu Ramadan, 38, said he cared little for the site’s history as a trading and agricultural center, but appreciated the sturdy walls that blunted the wind and the abundance of cut stones that a family who had lost everything could salvage to piece together a new life. “We built these from the ruins,” he said, pointing to a chicken coop and wood-burning stove. “We, too, have become ruins.” As Syria’s 10-year civil war has displaced millions of people, families like Abu Ramadan’s have sought refuge from a modern war behind the walls of dozens of ancient villages sprinkled across the hills of the country’s northwest, a region still out of the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Since their original owners left them between the eighth and 10th centuries, these ruins have remained in remarkably good condition for more than 1,000 years, their stone structures largely withstanding the passing of empires and battering by the wind and rain. And many Syrians, with noplace else to go, have taken refuge in them.

President of Chad Is Killed as Soldiers Clash With Rebels (NYT) Gunshots rang out in the capital of Chad Monday night into early Tuesday morning as supporters of the president, Idriss Déby, fired in the air celebrating the announcement that after three decades of iron-fisted rule, he had just won a sixth term. Meanwhile, Mr. Déby was dying on a battlefield north of the capital, Ndjamena, of wounds sustained while fighting rebels trying to overthrow his government, his military generals said. His death was announced on Tuesday. The death of Mr. Déby, who brooked no dissent and was feared by his own people, could spark a battle for succession and leave a gaping hole in a country heavily relied upon by the West in its wars against Islamist extremists in West and Central Africa. Chad is a desert nation three times the size of California, surrounded on all sides by countries facing serious instability, like Libya, to the north, and Nigeria to the south. Its military forces have been key to both the war in the Sahel, a vast stretch of territory to the south of the Sahara, and the fight against Boko Haram and its splinter groups in the Lake Chad region.

Home accidents (WSJ) The scars of 2020 are in some cases quite literal: A study published in Injury Epidemiology found that 26 percent of about 2,000 respondents surveyed between March and June 2020 reported a household injury, up from a 2017 version of the same survey where 14 percent reported one in the preceding three months. New hobbies, home improvement projects, at-home exercise routines, all the random things people did to divert their attention in the inaugural months of the pandemic in some cases came back to bite them. I, for one, learned a valuable lesson about the melting point of solder vs. the melting point of thumbs over the summer that I would not care to repeat.

#headlines #news

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pursemongerstuff · 6 years

Text

The Gift

For @tendosaotome, I’m your Secret Santa! Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy the fic! @ranmasecretsanta

With a sigh and huff, Ranma dropped cross-legged to the floor and propped his chin on fist. He glared at the bundle of lights he had been struggling with for what felt like hours. Shaking his head in exasperation, he tossed the bundle aside. They - the combined Tendo and Saotome families - were setting up the Christmas decorations. After the success of last year’s party, Kasumi decided she wanted to make it an annual tradition. The women - minus Nabiki who had disappeared somewhere – were cleaning and decorating the inside of the house while the men were in charge of the outside, which meant stringing lights throughout the yard, in the house, and on the dojo. His pop and Mr. Tendo were supposed to be helping him but they had snuck off to play a game of Go. He was so tempted to just throw the lights away and buy new ones but he couldn’t exactly afford it. Actually, he didn’t have money at all. Remembering that, he sighed long and deep.

It was Christmas and he had nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not a single yen to his name but he didn’t have a lot of people to buy for. His mother and Akane; that was the whole list.

His mother wouldn’t care as long as he got her a card or something. She knew exactly what their financial situation was. To her credit, Akane wouldn’t care either. She was pretty unmaterialistic and she’d be happy with anything he got her. She was really happy about that picture he gave her last year and all he did was put an old photo it in a cheap frame.

He wanted to do more for her; give her more this year. He wanted to give her everything. But he’d settle for a decent Christmas gift. After Jusendo he really wanted to tell her how he truly felt but he had always been so clumsy with words, so maybe he could give her something that would somehow show her instead.

It was too late to find a job, he’d never make enough money to get her anything good. He could sell something, if he had anything to sell. But he didn’t have anything worth any money. The only things he had to his name were his clothes. He had to carry everything he owned on his back for most of his life, which didn’t give him much space for knickknacks.

Although…

Ranma ran to his room and pulled out the shoe box he had shoved into the corner of the guest room closet he had been occupying since he came to Nerima. Wiping off the thin layer of dust, he sat on his futon, placing the box on his lap.

Opening it, he couldn’t help but smile as he looked at his few ‘treasures.’ On the very top was the scarf that Akane made him for Christmas last year. Gingerly taking it out, he fingered the soft yarn. He had only worn the scarf that first day he received it. Not because it was ugly, even though it was, or that he was embarrassed to be seen in it, because he wasn’t. And it wasn’t because he didn’t like it. The opposite was true, he loved the thing. Never had anyone spent so much time and effort for him. It was just so poorly made that he was afraid that it would unravel at the slightest snag. He wore it proudly and happily the day he got it and then tucked it away where he could keep it safe.

He put it next to him gently and pulled out the second item, a long bundle of hair still tied with the yellow ribbon placed in a Ziploc bag. He always got a pang in his chest when he looked at the hair. The shock on Akane’s face when it was chopped off was still a vivid memory. While it was Ryoga who carelessly and accidently chopped off her hair, he always felt guilty that he got her so worked up that she didn’t dodge the bandana and for her being near that fight in the first place. After she slapped them both silly and stormed off, he had picked up the hair but hadn’t been able to throw it away.

Putting it next to the scarf, he pulled out the last item in the box. It was an old book. He had received it from the kind old woman who he used to run to when he entered the nekkoken. After she calmed him down, she would feed him. She had no children’s books in her house so she pulled out the one book she had that contained a lot of pictures that turned out to be a martial arts instruction book. The old lady had told him that it was a style that her family had practiced generations ago. There was a second book that was needed to explain the moves that was handed down a different family line and had been lost for generations. Incomplete, the book was useless and the old lady, who had developed quite a fondness for Ranma, let him keep the heirloom. It kept him entertained throughout the years. First he would spend hours looking at the drawing of the forms. But it was always a comfort to him, reminding him of the sweet old woman whose name he long forgotten.

He flipped through the book and couldn’t help but smile to himself. The binding was cracked and the pages yellowed. It was very old and he wondered if it was worth something. There was a rare bookstore in town he could take it to and get it appraised. It hurt to think about giving up the book but it had been a long time since he had even looked at it. He no longer needed it for comfort, he had…something…someone else for that now. He knew the little old lady would understand. Besides, he didn’t need the book to remember her; he could never forget her kindness and warmth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Akane drummed her pencil on the desk. Earlier, Kasumi and Nodoka had gently nudged her out of the dojo when they were setting up for the party and, in her enthusiasm, she had taken on decorating the tree and had gotten a little too passionate. While the tree was completely covered, and she thought it was definitely festive, it wasn’t very pretty. She had a feeling that she probably should have stopped before adding the old sake bottles she’d painted, or the old toys she’d strung up with yarn, or the shoes she simply tied on with their laces (she wondered if anyone would miss them from the genkan), but she couldn’t help it. But just because she was bad at something didn’t mean she should just give up and stop trying. If she did, how would she ever learn?

Now, she was supposed to be doing her homework but math was the farthest thing on her mind. She was thinking about Ranma, who was on her mind a lot lately. Sometimes she was focused on what a dumb ass he was and why he had pissed her off. Others she would wonder about his true feelings for her. This time she was wondering what to get him for Christmas. She only had a week left before they were to exchange gifts at Kasumi’s party.

She could make Ranma something again, but although she would never admit it, she knew she was awful at arts and crafts. And cooking. When she had given Ranma the scarf last year he said he liked it and she never saw him wearing it again.

She actually had the perfect gift in mind but she didn’t quite have enough money for it. She had tried to save more but her allowance wasn’t very big and she had some unexpected expenses. Like paying for a new uniform when hers was ripped during the bonsai trimming martial arts competition. Or replacing her new satchel when she lost it when she was kidnapped by Taro. Again. No matter the reason the result was the same: she needed more money.

There was one thing she could think of to get some funds and bit her lip. She couldn’t believe she was even considering it but she couldn’t think of anything else to do.

Hesitantly, she put down her pencil and pulled open her bottom drawer. She took out her little jewelry box, opening it up to reveal a small gold heart pendant. It was a gift from her mother, or rather something her mother had left to her. She had left all the girls something personal before her death. It wasn’t very expensive, its true worth was its sentimental value. She couldn’t get much money out of it if she tried to sell it to a pawn shop, which she would never even consider.

But…maybe if she could keep it in the family, with someone who would want it. Someone who would treasure it in her own way, then she could…possibly…maybe give it up. She would never have even thought she could even consider it but she really, really wanted to buy that gift for Ranma. If it made him happy, it would be worth it. She guessed it’s what people meant by sacrificing for people they lo…lik…cared for.

Even in her own mind she couldn’t say the “L” word.

She clutched the pendant to her heart and thought of her mom. She wouldn’t have gotten mad at her for doing this, she would have understood. Her mother would have been happy that she found someone she…cared for. That thought made up her mind. Taking a deep breath, she went to see Nabiki, who had been not so subtly been asking about the pendant for years. She thought she even once found Nabiki looking through her stuff for it. She wouldn’t have put it past her sister to just take it.

They had a very complicated relationship. Nabiki had manipulated and taken advantage of her for years and Akane had come out the loser in almost every single deal. But this time she had the leverage. She knew how much Nabiki wanted the pendant and she picked up a few things over the years negotiating with her sister.

*~*~*~*~*~*~* The party had barely started, guests were still streaming in and Ranma had only gotten a single helping of the appetizers before he had been surrounded by his worst nightmare: Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi surrounding him with expectant smiles on their faces. Not even the heaps of food they each had with them could him feel any less apprehensive. And he had been right to be nervous, as soon as he told them he didn’t have any gifts for them, they had gotten mad. Now he found himself running from three angry women.

“I told ya! I ain’t got nothin’ for ya!”

Ranma ducked as a chui went whizzing by his head, then kicked a second chui into a brick wall.

“I ain’t got nothing for you, either!”

He did a flip over the large spatula and landed on a neighboring roof. He sprinted across two more rooftops before having to change direction to avoid the gymnastics ribbon that tried to tie itself around his ankle then had to dodge into an alley to avoid gymnastic clubs.

He didn’t bother wasting his breath this time. Nothing anyone ever said got through to that whack job. But he couldn’t help but wonder why did he attract so many wackos that used projectile weapons?

Sighing he put on some speed, weaving his way away from Kasumi’s party and through some buildings to try to lose his stalkers…err…friends?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back in the Tendo dojo, Akane was doing some dodging herself. Mousse was currently waddling around, quacking at random girls at the party he thought was Shampoo. It seemed like his glasses didn’t work for him as a duck because he was actually wearing it. She rolled her eyes. He had been punted into the pond for confusing her with Shampoo. That in itself wasn’t enough to warrant the kick but the glomp he gave her afterwards did.

Akane was currently on the lookout for Ryoga. Akari was here and after making sure Katsunishiki was comfortable in the area Kasumi had created for him in the Tendo yard, she came looking for him. It seemed they kept missing each other and she had finally come to Akane for help. Akane had thought she had seen him in the crowd but he disappeared suddenly. That was ten minutes ago and she still couldn’t find him. She wasn’t worried though, he would show up sooner or later. Akari didn’t seem worried either but that could be because she had found P-Chan, who was sitting on her lap while she was hand-feeding him. Akane smiled. Akane was glad Akari was happy but she wished Akari would spend more time with the human guests instead pigs. She was chatting away with P-Chan like he could understand her.

Akane saw Picolet out of the corner of her eye, eating a watermelon whole and decided to go the other direction, keeping an eye out for Ranma. She had seen him surrounded by Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi about an hour ago. Each of them were trying to hand-feed him while giving him presents. Since he had seemed to be enjoying himself, she left him to his little harem. It seemed she was right because he had taken off with them about thirty minutes ago and she hadn’t seen him since. She shook her head. She was being unfair and jea…jealous.

After Jusendo she had felt much more secure in her relationship with Ranma. Sometimes you went through something so intense with someone that it had to change things. Jusendo was it. But breaking old habits was hard.

Danger senses tingling, Akane turned to see Kuno rushing towards her. He was carrying two bouquets of roses, one in each hand, his arms thrown to his side.

“My fierce tigress! Come to me so that I can shower you with my love! It is time to declare our love to the woooorrrrlllldddd!!!”

Akane to kicked him through the ceiling where he left a nice Kuno-shaped hole in the roof. With a huff, she straightened out her hair and dress.

If this kept up, she could skip leg day tomorrow.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It was an hour later when the party was in full swing that a redheaded Ranma finally limped his way back inside. His clothes were torn and dirty, he was soaking wet and freezing to death. He swore there were icicles forming in his hair. And of course, he was in his female form. He peeked into the dojo to see everyone having a good time. Tofu was doing a jig with Betty, his skeleton. His glasses were foggy and he had a goofy smile on his face. The reason was clear: Kasumi was standing five feet away, giggling at his antics. Nabiki was walking around the party with her camera and he was sure there was either something very incriminating on it or some pictures she could sell. Pops, Mr. Tendo, and Happosai were getting drunk in a corner. His mother was putting out more food.

It seemed that everyone had come. He could see The Gambling King playing poker with the little girl who had given Ranma a valentine, her grandmother sitting nearby. Taro was sitting with Rogue, trying to get her to give him her magnets. Mamolin was trying to give some of the Furinkan High School girls his bell. Sentaro, his fiancée Satsuki and her monkey were enjoying some food. He had seen their horse outside in the make-shift pen with Katsunishiki. Prince Toma was also there talking to girls who were way too old for him. Thankfully Akane was nowhere near him, Ranma was sure the little jerk still had a crush on her.

Thinking of Akane, he realized he hadn’t seen her in the crowd. He did another sweep of the room and couldn’t find her. Brows furrowed, he tried to push down the anxiety and worry that was creeping up. It was a sensation he was all too familiar with. Ever since Jusendo, when he didn’t know where she was he began to panic. He had been doing a good job controlling it but that was because he usually found her relatively quick. He closed the door intending to go after Akane but the ice cracking off his frozen shirt from the movement had him changing his mind. He’d go change – both his form and his clothes – before going to look for her.

After a quick scrub and jump into the furo to warm up, Ranma was headed out when he heard a sound back upstairs. He went up to see Akane’s door cracked open and a light on in her room. Looking in he saw Akane sitting on the floor, wrapping paper and ribbon littering the floor. She had tape in hand trying to get the present wrapped but doing a very poor job of it. There was tape everywhere, overlapping itself and rolled into hard pieces she clearly couldn’t unravel. What could be seen of the paper looked festive but it was crinkled, ripped, and random pieces stuck through the small amount of surface area not covered with tape. He knew he shouldn’t tease her but it was too hard to resist. Plus, she was so cute when she got all worked up.

“Whadya got there, tomboy?”

Startled, Akane threw the present in the air. When it came down she fumbled it before grabbing it to her chest.

“Ranma! Wh..what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the party?”

“I just came back in to change.”

“Splashed by the little old lady again?”

“Nope, the canal.” She smirked and he rolled his eyes. “So, what you got there?”

“Nothing!” Akane squeaked and hid the gift behind her quickly.

Suspicious, Ranma had a quick rush of emotions: curiosity as to what she was hiding, hope that it was for him, and jealousy at the thought that it wasn’t. She had wanted to get it wrapped just right before giving it to Ranma but since he had already seen it and they were alone together (miracles could happen!) she decided now was as good a time as any.

“Ummm…actually…I was planning on giving it to you later, but i-iff you wanted to open it now…”

Hesitantly, she pulled the present from behind her back and offered it to him. Embarrassed and happy, Ranma blushed. He reached for the gift but pulled back at the last minute, confusing Akane.

“Give me a second, okay?” He sped out of the room and was back almost before she could blink holding a small box. “I…” He cleared his throat. “I got something for you, too.”

“Oh.”

Surprised but pleased she began to blush, too. They exchanged gifts and looked at each other expectantly.

“You open yours first.”

Now that she gave him the present she was excited to see him open it. She looked at him expectantly, practically bouncing in excitement. He smiled at her enthusiasm and unwrapped the present with some difficulty. Did he mention how much tape she used? “A…book. Thanks.”

His confusion and his lack of enthusiasm made Akane giggle. A book was definitely not the obvious choice of gifts for him.

“Open it, Ranma.”

He picked up the book, noticing how old it was. Opening to a random page, he realized it was a martial arts book. The style of the writing and the art was very similar to the one the old lady had given him. No. It couldn’t be…could it? He gave her a questioning look.

“It’s the mate to your book, the one you showed me before.”

He stared at her blankly before looking at the book again. The look of awe and reverence on his face her feel so warm inside. She had been right, it was worth the sacrifice.

“How did you find it?”

“Dr. Tofu helped me. I told him about it when I hurt my foot and had to stay at the clinic. He heard about the books and helped me find it.”

Once Tofu had sobered up a bit from his bout of Kasumi-tis he had given her the book that had just came in that morning. She had thanked the stars that it made it in time and rushed upstairs to wrap it.

“Wow, this is amazing. Thank you.”

It seemed completely inadequate. It was the most thoughtful gift he had gotten from anyone, ever. He hoped she liked her gift even half as much as he liked his.

“Open yours.”

The box was small and square, wrapped simply in brown paper. She opened it to find a small cinched drawstring bag inside. Opening the bag, she emptied the contents it into her hand to find a slim but sturdy looking gold chain.

“Thanks Ranma, this is beautiful.”

“You’re welcome. I know you don’t wear that much jewelry…”

“No, I love it really.”

When she went to put it on, he stopped her.

“I actually got it so that you could wear that pendant your mom gave you. I know you’re worried about losing it, but the lady at the store swore this was good for more active people like athletes, so you don’t gotta worry about it breakin’”.

Akane could only stare at him. She couldn’t believe that he would remember the necklace, much less be considerate enough to remember she was worried about losing it.

“Why don’t cha go get it and see how they look together.”

Excited by the idea, Akane started to get up before she remembered that she sold it.

“Ummm. Maybe later.”

Ranma couldn’t help but notice the change in her expression and mood. Maybe she didn’t like it after all. Or she thought it wasn’t good enough for the pendant.

“Oh…okay… It’s okay if you don’t like it. You don’t gotta say you do.”

Disappointed and slightly hurt, he crossed his arms and looked to the side.

“I do! Really! It’s so pretty and thoughtful…”

“Then why don’t you want to wear it?”

“Well… It’s just…”

“Chh..forget it.”

Now angry, Ranma started to leave but was stopped when Akane put her hand on his arm. She couldn’t let him leave thinking she didn’t like his gift but how can she explain that she didn’t have it anymore?

“Ranma, I really do like your gift. I just…I just…”

Looking down he could see the tears forming in her eyes. His eyes widened in horror and he began flapping at his sides. He could never stand it when girls cried but Akane crying? That was his kryptonite.

“I…don’t have it.”

“What do ya mean? Did you lose it?”

“No…I…I sold it to Nabiki because I needed the money…”

Ranma didn’t have to ask her what for because her gaze fell onto his new book.

“Geez, ‘kane. You didn’t hafta sell it for m…this.”

He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Seriously, what else was he supposed to do? Sniffing, Akane wiped her eyes quickly.

“It’s okay. It’s still in the family and I’m sure I can probably buy it back from her later.” Most likely for ten times the amount she sold it for but she didn’t mention that out loud. Trying to change the subject she said, “Why don’t you get your book? We can see what it says when we put the two together.”

It was Ranma’s turn to look awkward and uncomfortable.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t want to right now. I’ll look at it later when I’m alone.”

“Oh…If you don’t want me to see it…”

“What?”

“It’s fine Ranma, you can keep the techniques to yourself.”

Ranma had never taken her martial arts seriously and this just proved that was not going to change. Hurt, it was her turn to try to leave.

“Damn it, ‘kane! It ain’t like that!” he screamed in frustration.

“Then why don’t you want me to see it?” she yelled back.

“I don’t have the book anymore, okay?!”

“What? Why?”

“I sold it,” he mumbled.

“Sold it?! What for?”

Ranma wouldn’t look her in the eye but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Not with her clutching the necklace so tightly in her hand.

“You shouldn’t have done that. That book meant so much to you,” she said softly.

He had so little and it made her feel guilty that he would give up something that meant so much for her.

“And how much did that pendant mean to you?”

They both sat there awkwardly. Both of them realizing just how much they sacrificed for each other and not just with the presents.

“C’mon. I’ll help you put this on…if you still wanna wear it.”

She smiled and handed the chain to Ranma before turning around. Carefully, he put the strand around her neck and taking a couple of tries before getting the clasp right. He grazed the nape of her neck, sending shivers down her spine. Turning back around, she realized how close to each other they now were.

“It looks good on you.”

She looked up, her face flushed in embarrassment.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Their eyes locked and they both knew the moment they had been waiting for had finally come. He leaned down ever so slightly and she angled her head up. The rest of the world seemed to disappear, the only thing that existed was each other. Their bodies moved slowly together, their hearts pounding rapidly. Time seemed to stand still and rush by at the same time.

He had waited for this moment for almost two years, ever since their almost kiss during the figure skating match and it was worth it. Her lips were so soft and warm, a shiver ran down his spine at the contact. Every part of his being seemed to shift and fall in place. His body felt like it was on fire and like it found home at the same time. It was only Akane ever that could make him feel so much.

There had always been something between them, a tension that caused their fights to be so passionate and their first kiss was just as explosive, like electricity running through her body. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. She always felt safe in his embrace and this time was no different but she also felt wanted and emboldened.

She couldn’t help but want to deepen their kiss, instinctively she ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he parted for her. Inexperienced, they took their time to explore, their tongues dancing. They pulled apart resting their foreheads against each other. The only sound in the room the sounds of their heavy breathing as they tried to catch their breaths. Ranma ran his hand through her hair gently. Minds blown, it took a while before either of them spoke.

“Akane…”

There was so much he wanted to say that he never could and now felt like the time. He just had to get his thoughts together, which was even harder than usual.

“Ranma,” Akane sighed dreamily.

She had a lot she wanted to say herself but any coherent thought was a long way away.

“’Kane…I…I lo-”

A loud explosion rocked the house. Ranma instinctively used his body to cover Akane’s with his own. Coughing, he looked up to see three figures glaring at him.

“Ran-chan!” “Ranma darling!” “Airen!”

Ukyo, Kodachi, and Shampoo stood before them. Catching Ranma with Akane alone in her room was bad enough but their current position made it worse. They loomed over the pair, their battle auras blazing dark and ominously. Before anyone could move there was another loud bang and Akane’s bedroom door came flying off its handle. Once again, Ranma instinctively pulled Akane to him, trying to protect her from the debris.

“Damn it, this isn’t the bathroom!” Ryoga shouted in frustration. Then he spotted Ranma on the floor on top of Akane, who was clearly trying to shove him off her. His eyes shadowed and he whipped out his umbrella pointing it at Ranma’s head. “How dare you try to take advantage of Akane like that!”

“Him? It’s that hussy who’s trying to take advantage!” Ukyo screamed.

“Shampoo, my love!!! I’ve finally found you!”

Mousse jumped into the room and promptly hugged Kodachi.

“Get off me, you cretin! This body is solely for Ranma-sama!”

“Akane, you die now!” Shampoo threatened.

“Shampoo my sweetie!” Happosai hiccupped before he latched himself onto her and rubbing his face between her breasts.

Ranma scooped Akane up and ran for it. He knew from experience that things were only gonna get worse. What else was he to expect from a Nerima Christmas? But at least he got to spend some time alone with Akane. She wrapped her arms him then making him curse their luck and wishing he had more time with her. If he ran fast enough though, maybe he could ditch the rest of the wrecking crew and finish telling her how he felt. And if he were really lucky, maybe he could get another kiss from her. Or two.

For those of you who want to leave a review or check out any of my other stories please check out my profiles on FanFiction.net or AO3.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4769255/PurseMonger

http://archiveofourown.org/users/PurseMonger/pseuds/PurseMonger

#ranma secret santa 2017 #ranma 1/2 #ranma saotome #akane tendo #Ranma and Akane

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

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Big Power In A Little Symbol: How To Create Sigils

Avery Hart

Sigils are a wonderfully simple form of magic and also one of my favourites. These little magical symbols are each coded with a unique purpose, allowing them to be incredibly direct and powerful while also being a very fast form of spell work for the adept witch.

There is no single, definitive method for designing a sigil. The method I use is one of the more traditional versions but any method that allows you to condense an intention into a single symbol will work. The important part is that you feel that the symbol has power when you are finished. To this end, the choice of method largely depends on your personal sense of aesthetic and how much effort you need to expend to achieve it.

How Do Sigils Actually Work?

Sigils crafting is one of those practices that is widely used but little understood by many of those who use it. Due to this, there are some huge misconceptions floating around about how sigils work, what you can actually do with them, and how transferable their power is. Before we dig into how to actually create sigils, we need to clear up these ideas and make sure that you’re starting off your sigil journey with all of the information you need.

When working with a sigil, the power comes from the act of creating the symbol itself. The process of taking an intention and transforming it into a magical symbol encodes the meaning of that symbol and it’s magical potential into your subconscious. The point of doing this is to be able to bypass the doubts, restrictive beliefs, and self consciousness of the conscious mind and tap directly into the power of the subconscious, where your power isn’t restricted by those limitations. This is powerful stuff! The activation of a sigil is like using a password that gives you access to the fullest extent of your power in one quick burst.

This brings us to the first major misconception that we have to debunk. Unfortunately, due to the necessity of this coding process to actually get the symbol embedded into your subconscious, using a sigil created by someone else just doesn’t work. Or, at least it won’t work the way a sigil is supposed to work. When you use a sigil created by someone else you’re essentially just using a random symbol to focus your conscious mind’s intention. This can still work and be effective but it is not tapping into the subconscious in the way a sigil is supposed to.

To really use sigil magic you MUST make your own sigils. There’s no way around it. Using someone else’s sigil isn’t sigil magic, it’s just some intention setting with a pretty symbol.

Beyond this key point, there’s very little that’s set in stone about sigils. Sigil magic stems from chaos magic and by its very nature this kind of magic is highly experimental and tends to evolve quickly. What this means is that are tons of right ways to use, activate, and create sigils. While this can seem overwhelming at first, it’s actually a wonderful thing! The sheer number of ways that you can create and use a sigil and have it work means that it’s a very easy form of magic to do correctly. You’re not likely to screw it up! It also means that there’s a lot of room for personal experimentation and figuring out how to optimise the practice for you and your craft. As long as you’re creating the sigil yourself, you can’t go wrong.

What If I’m Not An Artist?

One thing that trips a lot of people up when it comes to sigil crafting is a lack of confidence in their creative skills. If you search sigils on any social media site, you’ll turn up page after page of gorgeously designed sigils with artistic flair, personal style, and something about them that just makes them feel witchy. Being able to create these kinds of sigils is great and if it’s something that appeals to you then definitely work toward that but if you’re not an artistic person or you don’t feel confident in your ability to make symbols like that, it’s ok! Your sigils do not have to look a certain way.

Remember, a sigils power comes from the coding process, not from how it actually looks. It doesn’t have to be pretty! If you’re not artistic, don’t feel like making it pretty, don’t have time to put that much work in, or plain old don’t care about making it look “witchy”, then don’t! Your sigils will still work even if they’re scribbles done in pencil on the back of a receipt. Don’t worry about the aesthetic value of the sigil unless that’s something that you think would benefit your magic.

Now that you’ve got a better understanding of how sigils function and what it really takes to make this amazing form of magic work for you, it’s time to dig into the process of sigil crafting. For those of you who want a little extra help while you’re learning this process, I’ve created a free PDF workbook to guide you through sigil crafting step by step. It also includes a bonus method for you to try!

How To Create A Sigil

You Will Need:

Paper

A pencil

I like working with paper and a pencil but if you prefer to work in another medium you should absolutely experiment with other methods. Digital art, paints, creative collage, ink pens, whiteboards, and more can all make excellent sigil mediums.

Your first step will be to figure out what the intent of your sigil is going to be. This is the most important step, your intention should be well thought out and very clear. A half-assed intention will lead to a half-assed result!

You’re going to turn this concept into a sentence, make sure you’re being specific and precise with your wording. You want the sentence to be relatively short and it needs to be phrased in the present tense, i.e. phrase it as though you’ve already got what you want.

Ex. “I have self-love” instead of “I will love myself”

While this distinction seems small, it’s actually huge. One aligns your energy with the result you want, the other aligns you with the state of wanting itself. In other words, when you phrase your intention as something you want in the future, it will remain something you want in the future… indefinitely.

As I said before, be precise and clear in your meaning. Wording can make all the difference. “I have the job of my dreams” will have significantly different results than “I am a journalist for National Geographic”. Neither is inherently better than the other but make sure you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish with your wording.

Additionally, try to avoid negative words such as “I do not”, “I will not”, “I have no”, etc. These negative words tend to get lost in the grand scheme of things and the intention “I do not smoke” can very easily lead to the result “I do smoke” instead. To avoid this, always phrase positively. (To rephrase this positively you might say something like “I quit my unhealthy vices easily”)

As an example, I’m going to use the phrase “I am mentally healthy and happy”. This is a sigil that I could use any time I’m struggling with anxiety or depression to help tip me back into a more solid headspace.

Write out your intention sentence (otherwise known as the power words or power phrase). Erase or cross out all of the vowels in the sentence. When you’re left with just the consonants, you’ll remove any repeating letters so that you have only one of each letter present. These letters are the base symbols of your sigil.

“I am mentally healthy and happy” becomes the series of consonants “M M N T L L Y H L T H Y N D H P P Y”

When you remove all of the duplicates, you’re left with the letters “M N T L Y H D P”. These are your base symbols!

Now start to fit your base symbols together into a single glyph. At first, it’s probably going to look weird and nothing like a symbol of power, that’s ok, just keep messing with it and moving things around. This part takes some time, the key is to play around with it a lot. If you don’t like the way a particular letter is fitting in anywhere, you can break the letter down into pieces, something like a P would become a line and a half circle that you can use independently within your design.

The most important thing about how it looks is that you like it. It doesn’t matter if it looks like just a jumble of letters or if none of the symbols even resemble the letters they were originally or if it doesn’t “look like a sigil”. If it looks right to you then it’s right!

After I get all of my base symbols arranged how I want them I like to take some time to stylise it, even out any symmetry and draw a few drafts just to get used to the symbol.

This is the finished first draft of my mental health sigil. As you can see, some of the letters are still pretty clear like the N and H while others have become so a part of the symbol that they’re hard to pick out. I’ve also added some aesthetic flair just for the fun of it.

It’s important to note here that there are two distinct camps among sigils users. There are the people who believe that you absolutely must forget the original phrase of the sigil before you use it and those who think that it’s ok to use the sigil even if you haven’t forgotten it. The thinking behind this is that if your conscious mind no longer remembers what the symbol is for, it can’t get in the way of the magic that the subconscious is doing. The forgetting method is definitely more traditional but I’d encourage you to try both methods to see what works best for you.

At this point, your sigil is ready to use! Slap it on jewellery, walls, mirrors, yourself, boxes, sticky notes, pie crusts, whatever you want.

When you’re ready to actually use your sigil, you’ll have to activate it. You must do this for the sigil every time you use it, even if you’re using the same symbol that’s just been copied somewhere new. If you like working in a ritual space, set that up for yourself. With practice, you can learn to activate sigils on the go without all the ritual trappings but they’re always helpful when you first begin.

The method of activation that I use is actually quite easy, though it may take a bit of practice before you identify what the “activation moment” feels like. Make sure the entire sigil is visible and gaze at it comfortably. Let your eyes become familiar with the symbol and if you’re not using the forgetting method, meditate on the sigils power phrase. As your eyes become more comfortable they’ll start to warp the sigil, it’ll look like it’s squiggling a bit. Shortly after this the sigil will fall still again and appear very ordinary and inert, letting you know that it’s charged and activated.

There are plenty of other ways to activate sigils like burning them, charging them with other power sources, baking them into food, etc. If you’re not getting good results with the method I use, do some research and try other methods of activation!

When you’re done, close down your ritual space and go about your witchy business.

Sigils are wonderful for all sorts of magic, I’ve used them on the outside of the doors to my house for protection, on my skin for changes in my mental state and on sticky notes scattered about my home and town when I need some quick magic. Give them a try and have fun learning how to tap into your subconscious power!

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/2016/12/21/creating-sigils?rq=sigil

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libralita · 7 years

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Title: When Dimple Met Rishi

Author: Sandhya Menon

Summary: Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Review:

It’s probably not a good sign when the only reason you want to finish a book is because you want to be able to write a full, in depth post about the abuse in this book. But my hats off to the narrators for the audiobook, they did a really nice job. I wanted to like this book. I saw it on Amazon a while back and thought it was going to be a cute, perfect for the summer type of read. But oh boy this was just an awful book.

I’ll get into the things that I did like. One was the scene where Celia and Ashish are telling the main characters that they hooked up. It was really funny and unexpected but made total sense. I liked how it cut back and forth between Dimple and Rishi’s perspective. Honestly the way the story was told from the duo-perspective was fine. They had distinct voices (Rishi was sweet and endearing and Dimple made me want to kill kittens) and it flowed nice.

Also, normally I would be more angry that Dimple and Rishi get together but then break up for really stupid reasons but honestly there’s much stinker shit to be mad at.

I’m happy that Menon wants to share her culture and give a new perspective. I’d love to learn about Indian culture. However, what I found annoying is that Menon writes as if everyone reading this book knows the basics of Indian culture. If you aren’t or have never lived around Indians then you’re probably going to have an annoying time reading this like I did. I don’t expect her to spend pages upon pages explain ever little detail but maybe spend a little time describe what the traditional clothes looked like or what exactly the food was. At the very least she should have translated the dialogue. Any time the main characters were talking to their parents I had no idea what they were saying. It didn’t leave me interested in the culture, it left me confused and I just kept reading on instead of taking the time to look into it more. It’s like if I were in Japan and writing a book where a Mexican character had a sombrero or was celebrating dia de los muetros, I’d probably have to explain what those things are because Mexican culture isn’t very well known in Japan.

Second, there are a lot of inconsistencies in this book. Dimple is introverted, nerdy, isn’t traditionally attractive (until she puts on a dress because yes that trope is still alive), is made fun of and comes from a culture that would make her an outcast. Yet, she likes to go to…parties. She wants to go to a college party where she will only know one person there. How is that at all consistent with her character?

Dimple’s parents are so inconsistent that I don’t really know what problems Dimple has. So the book starts off with us thinking that her parents are very traditional and they want her to get married and have babies. Patriarchal values and other such nonsense. But as we get to know her parents we see that her father doesn’t really care and wants Dimple to win the Insomnia Con. Okay, maybe it’s just her mother—

“Whatever you do, Dimple, I am your mother. I will always support you. I am always proud of you. Okay?”—Page 365

Nope. So…what’s her problem? The only thing I can think of is that because her parents lied to her about why they wanted her to go to Insomnia Con and…her mother doesn’t want her to dress like a complete slob. The first one, is sucky but really get over it. We don’t get to see if Dimple’s parents are learning to accept their daughter for who she is or if this a miscommunication or what. At the beginning of the book Dimple says they don’t support her and at the end of the book they say they do. So…what happened?

Also, she’s complaining about her mother wanting to find an IIH and that’s the only reason she’s going to Stanford but that doesn’t make much sense. Why would your parents, who aren’t that rich, send you to Stanford to meet a husband? Why not, oh, I don’t know, set you up with someone they know? Like that nice Patel boy! Why do they need to send her to Stanford? If I were writing this book, I’d make it where Dimple gets into Stanford but her mother doesn’t want her to go. So she asks to go to Insomnia Con to prove that she has what it takes to be a coder and they agree mostly because they know that nice Patel boy is going. Problem solved.

Finally, the main problem with this book. Dimple Shah. She is one of the worst characters I’ve ever read. First of all she’s so ungrateful. Her parents are sending her to freaking Stanford but because they “don’t have the right intentions” so, her life is awful. Rishi gets her a meeting with her Jenny Lindt and she then breaks up with him because they’re “too perfect”.

Second, she is so hypocritical. She complains about misogyny and complains that Celia basically has internalized misogyny when she’s been nothing but awful to her mother because of her mother’s values.

“Rishi rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. ‘I don’t know; she’s your mom, you know. I feel like if you were really hurting or really needed her, she’d be there for you without question. And maybe there’s a part of her she hasn’t shared with you yet that’s totally not what you expect.’ Dimple thought that was likely utter BS,”—Page 283

Rishi brings up the fact that maybe her mother has good intentions or another side to her. Dimple just brushes this off as BS and never goes back to think “hey maybe Rishi was right”. Another time when she’s being hypocritical is when the talent show comes up, Dimple picks a dance where she doesn’t have to do much and passes the burden off to Rishi without consulting him. She eventually pressures him into do it and he gives in. Then within the same scene Evan is pressuring Celia to do a dance in a swimsuit and Dimple says:

“‘No.’ Dimple reached out and put a hand on Celia’s arm. ‘Not at all. It’s totally up to you how comfortable you are with this, you know? It’s totally up to you how comfortable you are with this, you know? It’s not up to Evan or Hari or Isabelle. So what if she wants to do it? She’s not you, and you’re not her.’”—Page 237

Like what kind of horseshit is that? You literally just pushed Rishi into doing something that he may not be uncomfortable with but it’s not okay for Evan to do that with Celia? She never has any self-awareness at all. It never crosses her mind that Rishi also might have stage fright. Then when he turns out he’s not a great dancer she gets pissed like. It was your idea Dimple, not Rishi’s.

Now, time for the part of this book that I hated the most. Dimple is so physically abusive to Rishi and it just made my heart ache. She was just an awful person and I couldn’t stand it. Okay, so there’s a time when Dimple first meets Rishi and he says “hello future wife” it freaks her out and she throws her ice coffee at him. It totally get that, if some stranger came up and said that to me, I’d probably do the same. Then in the next scene Rishi goes to explain himself to her and she cuts him with a map because she thinks he’s continuing to be creepy and not taking a hint. It’s in self defense. I have no problem with that but there are several points where Dimple hits Rishi for playfully teasing her and that’s where I have real issues with. Especially how Menon handles it.

A little context to this first quote, Rishi and Dimple are on a scavenger hunt and they’re at an antique shop so Dimple is being silly trying on hats and things.

“She pretended to strut around, and, on impulse, he raised the Polaroid and took a picture. ‘Hey!’ she said when the flash popped. ‘What was that for?’ she reached out and punched him in the ribs seemingly as an afterthought. ‘Ow!” Rishi said, rubbing his side. ‘What the heck?’ ‘Sorry,’ Dimple mumbled, and it looked only half true.”—Page 71

This next scene is where Dimple and Rishi are working on the concept art for their app. Rishi draws zombies as the bad guys but Dimple says those are overdone and suggests aliens.

“‘Aliens?’ Rishi rolled his eyes. ‘You totally don’t have my artistic vision.’ Dimple punched him in the ribs, lighter than she wanted to, but he still winced. ‘Ow. You know, most girls just slap guys playfully on the arm or something. They don’t actually hurt them.’ ‘Well, maybe you need to expand your idea of how girls behave,’ Dimple replied, grinning. Rishi laughed. ‘Fair enough. And yes, I can totally do aliens since they seem so important to you.’”—Page 130

So both times Rishi is being playful, taking her picture and jokingly teasing her. Then Dimple chose to respond by punching him. She’s actually hurting, even when she’s “going lighter” she’s still hurting him. Also, this gives Dimple (and the females in the audience) the idea that if she punches Rishi that she’ll get her way. He let her get away with punching him and changed his concept to aliens. Then, the line, “expand your idea of how girls behave”. That sounds to me like the author thinks that girls hitting boys is okay and empowering. No. Thousands times no. That shouldn’t be your message. Your message should be it’s not okay to punch anyone. That is not an okay message to teach young women and no one in the story class Dimple out on this.

The character is constantly complaining about misogyny, at one point Rishi makes a snarky quip to a bunch of dude-bros about “casual misogyny”. So if just talking about a wet-shirt contest is casual misogyny, I’m guessing that Dimple is a straight up misandrist. There are times when Dimple says “Fighting is ever the answer” but you’re constantly hitting him to the point where he’s now use to it.

“‘That…you’re a little too obsessed with Insomnia Con?’ Dimple punched him in the ribs, and it was a testament to him having acclimated to her that he didn’t even flinch.”—Page 233

Seriously, I didn’t want Rishi to get with Dimple. I wanted him to find a girlfriend that wouldn’t constantly abuse him. When he called her an unkind person, I was so happy because she is. She’s a horrible person and this author is telling her audience very questionable things. This book would be a million times better if Dimple wasn’t in it. She’s abusive, preachy and giant hypocrite.

I felt like I was being trolled the entire way through this book because there’s no possible way an author could be this not self-aware. This is probably worst than Future of Us because I had to drag my way through this book. It put me in a reading slump. It was awful.

#Sandhya Menon #when dimple met rishi #reviewsdaytuesday #abuse #2017 reviews

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nonoboymusic · 7 years

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Blackface in the Camps

Some of the most complex and interesting performances in the camps were those which featured young men and women donning blackface. This happened on at least two separate occasions during the internment of the Japanese-Americans and provides a lot of food for thought concerning the performance of race and nationality in the camps. It also points to a still lingering issue of anti-blackness, or at the very least, ignorance towards black social issues in not only the Japanese-American community but the Asian-American community in general.

One scholar recently took up the topic of blackface in the camps. In their article, they argued that performances of blackface by teenage girls were acts of “resistance" against their unjust imprisonment by the US government. A performance of a minstrel version of Cinderella called “Cindy Ella" which was performed at a “Southern Jamboree” themed talent show was regarded by this scholar as a critique of Japanese and white American racial codes. They wrote, "Therefore, when young Nisei women interned in a government assembly center as an enemy race decided to apply blackface to perform the Cinderella subject, this audacious theatrical gesture potentially laid claim both to Cinderella’s mobility (usually denied to nonwhite Americans) and to an interpretation of racially stereotypical icons (like minstrelsy itself) as soot disguising the true worthiness of those deemed “the colored races.” In so doing, the performers suspended dominant narratives and representations long enough, perhaps, to begin demystifying the blackface commodity and Cinderella as a commodity of whiteness. Emptying either commodity fetish of even a modicum of its usual exchange value could have marked the entire spectacle with critical intentionality.”

To this scholar, these girls were able to use the practice of blackface to stand against the injustice of their imprisonment. If this is what actually happened, it would have been a lovely story, incredible really. But this isn’t what happened. This was not the intent of the teenage performers, and the author’s reading of blackface as resistance because this makes for a more interesting and publishable argument is wrong and irresponsible and obscures the real conversation which should be going on. In actuality, these performances of blackface (like the ones we still see today in the head-slapping halloween costumes which make national news every year) were soon-to-be embarrassing moments forever preserved in photos of a group of regrettably ignorant teenagers who, by simply regurgitating popular (racist) culture, put on a show using blackface performance which was still en vogue in 1942 (see Holiday Inn starring the ubiquitous Bing Crosby).

Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn, 1942.

I really can’t begin to tell you how frustrated I got reading this article and its misguided defense of blackface.

The most glaring problem with the article-which-shall-not-be-named is that, aside from one sparsely quoted letter from a teenage girl to a favorite teacher back home, the author uses no quotes from girls who were a part of or saw this performance, nor does she interview any Nisei (second gen Japanese-Americans) who would have been the age of these performers in the camps to get a better idea of the mindset of these performers. The following lines of text from Fusa Tsumagari to Clara Breed, along with a program from the performance (which features a super racist drawing of a racist stereotype of a black child eating a watermelon, is pretty much the entire evidence for the scholar’s entire argument: ““Cindy Ella" a blackface story of "Cinderella." It was cute and very well acted. It was modernized with a geta for the slipper.”

Had the author interviewed people instead of relying on an arsenal of “what if” conjectures based on looking at photos, a couple of camp newspaper clippings and their imagination, or had they contextualized this performance within the long and lingering Japanese American (JA) community history of anti-blackness, there is no way, outside of a captivating short story or novel, these girls who put on this play should be granted the political awareness which would have redeemed this racist performance as resistance. Every Nisei I’ve talked to, most of whom were musical performers in the camps, said politics was hardly ever on their minds, that they were “naive.” This “Southern Jamboree” was less a “carnivalesque” “tactic” as the scholar claims (trying to stretch theory to defend this indefensible claim), and more of a modern day sorority or frat party with a “white trash” or “indian” or “mexican” theme in which blackface and all other manner of appropriation occur. I mean we still have fucking Coachella... that’s how I think of this Cindy Ella performance. (shakes head)

I don’t want to name this scholar, because 1.) I hate how people drag others through the mud in academia without knowing them personally (I asked around and apparently this person has many good qualities, but their work on Japanese Internment has not been so great, and 2.) no one should waste their time reading this trash because, as the only major publication on this subject, it as of right now, has the last word and is dangerous to teach to a college class. As this is the only in depth word on blackface in the camps, I want to refute it heavily and state that, to read blackface in this context is misinformation.

I get the author’s intent, they (being not Japanese, Asian, or a minority) want desperately for a liberal, progressive social justice fairy tale to be present in this deeply complicated Cinderella story. But they’re assuming a set of identity-politics which doesn’t yet exist for the Nisei in 1942, and an understanding of black culture and struggle which still alludes a lot, if not most of us in the Asian-American community. But lest I am too heavy handed in my criticism, it’s important to note that, in one way, the author is right: these girls are having fun, and that production of fun, despite the racism inherent in their performance, was an important thing in the Santa Anita Assembly Center. Putting on a show and helping people in a terrible situation forget their worries was an honorable and commendable and inspirational act. But that’s where any “resistance" to internment stops. They resisted boredom, sure, and a lack of theater events and fun within the sad, pathetic confines of the Santa Anita race track, but there is no political critique of their situation happening, as nice of a fairy tale as that would be.

A year or so after the Santa Anita “Southern Jamboree,” in the Minidoka, Idaho camp, there was a girls club called The Bojangles who appropriated black and Indian culture in a much more absurd performance centered around the production of chaos at a dinner in their block’s mess hall. This performance, which had no formal staging, seating, or program and no real plot or point; this performance of live wire nutso, mismatched clothing, unconventional and half completed makeup, I buy more as carnivalesque resistance because of the unmanaged bat fuck crazy chaos which the Minidoka Irrigator reported. There was no applause, but confusion.

Cindy Ella, not so much. The Southern Jamboree girls, like the majority of Nisei, and their parents, were putting on a, to them, innocuous au currant play, having fun at the expense of black culture by employing a minstrelsy which they didn’t even really understand could be offensive. A large part of all second generation immigrant kids want desperately to assimilate into the mainstream culture around them. Anti-blackness/white supremacy was an underlying part of the 1930s and 40s culture in which these Nisei were raised. So, of course they didn’t bat an eye at putting on blackface when Bing Crosby spent a whole number in it in a hit film that same year! And another thing, the author failed to contextualize is that there was a tradition of Japanese-Americans performing blackface before the camps, done not by ignorant teenage girls copying mainstream culture, but by large troupes of adults.

Minstrel Show, Seattle, 1929. Courtesy of Densho.

Like Eric Lott points out in his book Love and Theft, minstrelsy is a complicated performance practice which arose not only out of bigoted racism, but also fascination, attraction, admiration, and confusion of whites towards black culture and music. Dark and complex. In the case of Cindy Ella, there was both a mimicry of white (predominately male) culture’s longstanding performances of black face and a continuation of a legacy (although not as strong) of Japanese-Americans performing in minstrel shows. On one level, the JA girls who put on Cindy Ella, were just having fun, unaware of the head shaking, and flat out wrong performance of blackface. Their performance was an echo of grown ups around them, white and Japanese, a distant, peculiarly staged mimetic of the original 19th century white male performances of blackface, which, in a lot of ways, is just what people do. We imitate, sometimes without giving enough thought to the work we are imitating. But it’s hard to really make any readings of such a bizarre performance, especially when we can never go back and see the thing. The Santa Anita Cindy Ella performance does add to the evidence that the camps were culturally complex places, with staged performances not just pulling from white American culture and what Japanese culture was permitted, but from aesthetics and styles and genres from all over the world, often warped through racist appropriation, by a community which was forced into camps by unchecked racism at a massive state endorsed scale. Layers, complex layers.

CABARET INTERNATIONALE

Yuki Shimoda does an imitation of Carmen Miranda's "Mama Yo Quiero.” Tule Lake, 11/1/1942.

The Cabaret Internationale, debuted November 1, 1942 at Tule Lake was a huge success and subsequently toured around the camp, playing at different rec halls for 10¢ a pop. It needs to be stressed that the “cultural appropriation” in these performances works on many levels, and I believe is different than the blackface performed by children in Santa Anita and later at Gila River in the Harvest Festival parade.

Star Yukio Shimodo’s portrayal of Carmen Miranda, was actually a recreation of Jerry Lewis’ drag sendup of Carmen Miranda from the film Scared Stiff, also starring Carmen Miranda. Known as “The Brazilian Bombshell,” Miranda, born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, was born to white Portuguese settlers. So, in Shimodo’s performance, we see a comedic recreation of Lewis’ drag version of Miranda’s over the top, exoticized fruit hat, and seductive wardrobe originally performed in a movie which Miranda herself appeared in.

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Jerry Lewis in Scared Stiff, 1953.

Here, might be a case of appropriation taking on a more potent political meaning, in that an Asian man was taking a star turn by both parodying and paying tribute to (Love and Theft) two white entertainers. Of course those white entertainers were a Portuguese barber’s daughter born in Brazil and a Russian-Jew from Jersey. Further complicating this is the fact that front row seats were given not to fellow internees, but from photographs we see white camp administration taking up the front row of the Cabaret. Of course, it could have just been a dude who wanted to entertain people, or it could have been something in between. It’s tempting to try and think of Shimodo expressing some kind of queer identity in this performance, and then this would be really political, but we don’t have that information, or, at least, I don’t right now.

THE “SIAMESE” DANCE

Japanese-American women do a “Siamese” dance at the Cabaret Internationale. Tule Lake, 11/1/1942.

I find the “Siamese” dance which was also performed at the Cabaret Intenrnatioanle, fascinating because of the implications of women of Japanese descent performing in the style of a country/region (Thailand/SE Asia) which the Japanese Empire was currently invading. A military invasion which established prison camps all over SE ASIA, while at the same time, these prisoners of the American government were dancing in the style of southeast Asian women... The ideas of empire and nationalism, Thai v. Japanese, Japanese v. American, White-American v. Japanese-American, all of this is fascinating to think about when we consider the layers involved in this performance. Can us Asians borrow from other Asians moreso than borrowing from black folk or latin folk? What if our country of origin is taking over the country we’re borrowing from? What if we are now Americans and at war with our old country? Are we then allies with our oppressed Asian?

I also think about a girl I once dated, who used to do this really annoying “Siamese” type dance, which she (and another friend she used to doit with) thought was really cute. She’d close her eyes to a squint, tilt her head to the side, purse her lips into a smile, and put her palms together in front of her chest. She wasn’t racist, and she probably had only seen echoes of any kind of original Thai or Burmese dancing, but still, she was dating an Asian dude. She was an ignorant Wyoming girl who’d never really been anywhere in the world, not unlike the girls in this dance, or the girls in blackface. Can’t be too hard on any of them, but you can shake your head, and try to think through how that girl in Wyoming (I love Wyoming by the way, and have worked there for five years, but it is super insulated and super white) ended up making a damn fool of herself, or likewise, the gals in the camps. I’m very much of the mind that it is not a big deal and also a pretty big deal. Different levels. Can’t get too hung up, but you can’t let that shit slide. People using cultures as accessories as mediated to them through mass media in the wake of empire... (shakes head).

This cabaret was performed in the same mode as the Southern Jamboree, meaning, the intent was to entertain. It’s important to note however that different performances of appropriation or mimicry or tribute or whatever you want to call it, operated on different levels, reflecting how intertwined the world had become in some ways by WW2 through the transmission of culture. No answers on what was less offensive (was it better for Shimodo to take a star turn in Jerry Lewis’ drag but perform directly for his camp director, or for little girls to entertain each other in blackface? There’s no better or worse. And what was with the “voodoo” performance mentioned in the Cabaret writeup?), only that there were many complicated, interesting, questionable, and fun performances in these camps showcasing a wide range of “cultures.” Yet, situated in the United States, there is something particularly troubling, something a little bit more rooted in blackface being performed in these camps which makes me cringe a bit more than the Siamese dance or the Miranda impersonation.

***To my main research interest, it should be noted that Woody Ichihashi’s jazz band provided music that night. Interestingly, the jazz bands in the camps, predominately favored repertoire performed by white jazz bands, with only a few of the more serious players being well versed in the black jazz greats.***

CONCLUSION

To be sure, there were actual acts of resistance in the camps, such as riots, strikes, draft dodging and random violence, as well as artistic performances such as the Bojangles girls and boys at Heart Mountain who scratched graffiti onto bathroom stalls which veer more towards the resistance the scholar-who-shall-not-be-named was seeking, through the disorder and chaos of their acts. But, to the point that the Nisei as a whole were shifting their political views towards being radical enough to employ blackface to make an anti-imperialist, anti-racist statement, or that they, as a generation were gaining some kind of agency and affinity for social justice within the camps, is bull. It’s their kids that would buy into social justice rhetoric and as the kids say, get woke. We can in fact point to the continued ignorant and racist leanings of large sections of the JA community by the fact that minstrel performances by Japanese Americans continued outside of the camps after the war. In the photo below, five little girls, who no one could argue are old enough to be making a statement resistance, perform a minstrel number in a Buddhist church in Portland, circa 1950! And, as we know, the model minority myth which a lot of East Asian-Americans have made self fulfilling is in many ways anti-black (and other races).

***To be fair, there are a lot of Asian-Americans today who get that the persecution they and their ancestors have faced, whether it was through Japanese Incarceration, Chinese Exclusion, or American Imperialism in Asia, or less state-sponsored acts of racism, is linked to the histories of suffering which other communities of color have lived through.***

Five unidentified girls have their faces painted black and are dressed up in large white gloves and patched jeans... performing a tap dance at the annual talent show hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church, c. 1948-1954. Courtesy of Frank C. Hirahara Collection, Oregon Nikkei Endowment

This scholar, who frustrated me for 20 or so unrelenting and exasperating pages which I hope you never have to read, wanted so desperately for these blackface performances to be, not only excusable, but justifiable and brave. They weren’t. They’re embarrassing, but they remind us (especially us Asians) of the complicated legacy we have with racism in this country both as victims and perpetrators, or at least, ignorant bystanders. These pictures are complicated. They hit on a lot of stuff about race, gender, generations, nationality, etc. worth pulling apart. But, let’s have some real talk, when it comes down to it, it was just dumb and racist. Even at the deepest level, it was not excusable, and there is a deep sadness in these photographs. Just because a group suffers some of the most extreme forms of racism, doesn’t mean they can’t be racist themselves.

In order to understand the camps better, to humanize these evacuees, or prisoners, or whatever you want to call them, to me, it’s important to not sugarcoat it. Certainly, I celebrate the survival of many of the people I’ve met, the musicians in particular, who lived through these camps. But you have to call bullshit on certain things too. There’s been a lot of airbrushing when it comes to the telling of the internment, whether it’s excusing blackface, ignoring the native history that is intertwined with Poston and Gila River, or privileging the voices of the patriotic over those who actually resisted. Man, that does no one no favors. In the same way that it is important for all Americans to learn this history as to not let it happen again, it’s important for Asian-Americans to learn our own history more fully, as well. Especially when we see ourselves in blackface in pictures 75 years old and to this day, are still largely ignoring the plight of the black community.

Gila River, Harvest Festival Parade, 1943. Courtesy of the National Archives.

#Japanese-American #Japanese incarceration #Japanese Internment #blackface #racist #cultural appropriation #theater #cinderella

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sillyandquiteawkward · 7 years

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HEY so number one, i get notifications from your blog because i frickin' love all your content. i'm a big fan. number two, i love your art and doodles and i wanted to know - do you have a drawing tablet? do you use more traditional drawing or purely digital? i draw something Every Day but it is always pencil and paper and I don't have a tablet... I want to post my stuff sometimes but I'm too nervous and it doesn't look as good as digital art stuff. do you have any advice?

screams first of all bc i had no idea that someone has notifications on from my blog

but ah, yes i do have a tablet! ive been using one almost daily since maybe freshman year of highschool, so i have lots of years of practice under my belt. i do draw traditionally, but i work both traditionally and digitally depending on what i feel like.

i think its a wonderful habit to draw daily! whether or not you get a tablet, learning how to process your traditional work to display online can make your traditional work shine just as bright as digital works. tablets are notoriously tricky to handle, esp if youre used to traditional drawing. its a different skill set, you have to focus your eyes forward and trust that your hands are moving in ways that appear nice on the screen. but if youre willing to learn and can fork out 60-100 bucks, getting a tablet may be for you. wacoms are good starting points, theyre reliable and hardy. but having a good scanner on your side can help out for your traditional processing to make pencil stand out. i just use the one my printer came with, so its not fancy schmancy but it will scan 300 or 600dpi, which is p sick. sometimes i use my phone to take pics and slap some filters on it, but its never as good as just scanning.

i might also try to get into the habit of working with ink, or even buying a darker pencil, like a 5b or something. in fact, buying a starter pack of artist pencils can help too. youll have a hb for light sketching, and a darker 5b or 9b for the more noticeable lines. itll help your drawings stand out when transferring to digital, if you dont want to use any ink. i assume youre using just a 2b pencil, since they are the most common, but they are also kinda in the middle value range wise. high contrast is the best way to have your pencil drawings show up well online. ink wise, it depends on your drawing style. some people like the uniform thin lines of micros, some people swear by ballpoint pen. some people say fountain pens or bust. its really whatever youre used to or interested in working with. looking at other artists is a good way to find out a kind of inking style you might want to gravitate towards.

also dont be discouraged that your art “doesnt look as good as digital” bc that is all subjective! some people love seeing traditional stuff over digital, theres even some bozos that think digital art is literally the worst thing to happen to art. its ok to be nervous, sharing art is a big, scary, highly personal step, esp online. id say keep up with your drawings and find some way to appreciate your work and get that little bit of confidence you need to post, and then just do it. if youre worried about if people will see it or not, appropriately tagging your work is important too, because people track tags and check for new content on tags all the time (tumblr only tracks the first five tags tho). if youre worried about judgment from others, try not to fret too much. some people may judge, but some people may be looking just for that kind of art. art is super super subjective and just putting out work, to me, if the best way to build a sense of confidence in your work.

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torreygazette · 4 years

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Music Review: Extra Nos

One of Christian Hip Hop’s (CHH) most loved & respected artists released a new album: Extra Nos by Flame.

Let’s be honest most of CHH is baptist or Calvinistic leaning, so Flame confessing that he is not Calvinistic, not baptist, but he is a Lutheran is a big deal. Before the bias reviews from Calvinist whining about being attacked arrive, I figured I as a Lutheran (Wittenberg Project) will give a review.

Overall I give the album 4 out of 5. It is a very short project, even if you count the skits. While being a short project, Flame still was able to succinctly lay a foundation to his fans about his new tradition and to introduce it to his fans. Album had a goal & he hit that goal: inform people of his theological journey, correct past things stated, and share new orthodox outlook. This EP will give many things to think about and offer a great casual listen to many.

Each song is packed with theological significance that relates to why he left Calvinism. I pray people receive it as “his journey,” and not just a slap in the face to tulipers. But if they take it that way ... oh well ... we are ready for all the smoke.

On the song “Used to think”, Flame mentions that people think either your Calvinist or Arminian as if those are the only two options—which is utterly false. Flames album challenges all these misconceptions. Fans on social media are asking for clarification and resources because they have no knowledge of what defines a Lutheran. Flame does an excellent job explaining key tenants without going too deep.

These are the highlight songs:

“Used to Think”: great song. Lutheran place a big value on church history. I love the way the song starts off acknowledging the East church. From there the songs gets real personal and exact. He addresses false doctrines he held. His flow/pattern to the beat makes the song not appear too “heady” but the song is very deep.

“2k”r: His flow on this song improves the beat. Once again this track is content > typically hip hop beat. The beat is not bad, but the beat does not drown out the message. This song is a great intro to Lutheran thought for his fans & people not familiar with Lutheranism as a whole.

One of the personal reasons I love this album is that Flame unapologetically confronts the issues he sees. Many Lutherans come off as Crypto-Calvinist and more eager to rebuke methodist/free will systems than to draw a hard line against Calvinist, but Flames has no issue clearly stating the errors in the Calvinist tradition. Overall this album will shake things up in the CHH world. Some are already calling for a response, while many others are being exposed to historic reformational thought. Great album.

#Music Review #Lutheran #Calvinism #Flame #Extra Nos

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eggcaw · 5 years

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Asks I Saw While Scrolling On Tumblr

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? teacups

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? neither. is that an option??

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? bubblegum

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? very energetic but concerningly quiet

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? can (please don’t tell an Australian I drink from the can like a damn demon

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? goth & pastel

7. earbuds or headphones? earbuds because headphones will put a dent in my frohawk

8. movies or tv shows? movies

9. favorite smell in the summer? morning dew when it’s still chilly outside or the smell of the farm at 4am

10. game you were best at in p.e.? The Pacer Test. Just the running one though. I was always the last girl running.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? leftovers or hot chocolate with strawberries

12. name of your favorite playlist? don’t have one

13. lanyard or key ring? key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Strawberry Creme Savers

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? The Night Trilogy

16. most comfortable position to sit in? left leg folded under my body with my right leg out and free

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? my athletic Walmart shoes

18. ideal weather? 65-70 degrees F with a very light breeze

19. sleeping position? I have no idea. Usually on my left side.

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a notebook, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? notebook or worn paper

21. obsession from childhood? NARUTO.

22. role model? Christine W

23. strange habits? I have no idea

24. favorite crystal? Don’t have one

25. first song you remember hearing? Oof man I’m not sure I listen to way too many songs to pinpoint this

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? Horseback riding. Specifically, cross country.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? Sleep. Really anything

28. five songs to describe you? *insert shrug emoji*

29. best way to bond with you? Spend time or let me listen to you rant about your favorite thing. I value quality time the most. Even just being around someone and doing two completely separate things works out.

30. places that you find sacred? Nothing. I am not religious at all.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? My blackout outfit

32. top five favorite vines? *slap* what about NASCAR?___the michael jackson one with the pot__gummy money__I’m the best dressed from the east to the west with my hair lookin’ real good and my hairy chest UH__eh? eh?

33. most used phrase in your phone? NINA! (that’s my roommate)

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? mayhem guy or that one ramen commercial with the chick (like the bird)

35. average time you fall asleep? 11-2:30am

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? it was most likely a naruto meme

37. suitcase or duffel bag? duffel bag man I’m shoving a dead body in there

38. lemonade or tea? tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? lemon cake

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? A guy no our floor stole the entire recyling bin and put it in his dorm room. This thing is like 4 feet long

41. last person you texted? My friend Ceara

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? both

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? leather

44. favorite scent for soap? lavender or a vanilla soap my rich friend had in her third-floor bathroom. It was amazing

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? superhero

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? my neked body

47. favorite type of cheese? Bour’s Head smoked gouda

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? papaya

49. what saying or quote do you live by? Breathe.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? I’m not sure but it was most likely an in the moment laugh.

51. current stresses? I’m constantly afraid that the horse I used to lease will die while I’m at school. The man was born in 1996. His time is coming up and I hate it. At the moment though it’s getting a job for the summer.

52. favorite font? Lobster

53. what is the current state of your hands? Soft with lotion on but very red. I’m too hot right now

54. what did you learn from your first job? How to be patient with children and how to deal with problems in the moment. I was a lesson instructor and camp counselor at a horse farm I rode at. It was awesome and I’m going back to work under the manager/owner as an assistant.

55. favorite fairy tale? Faire Tale Theatre’s The Three Little Pigs

56. favorite tradition? Don’t have one

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? That’s too personal.

58. four talents you’re proud of having? My animal sounds and I can eat three large bowls of ramen in one meal.

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? I’ll throw you across the room! I’ll do it!!

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? Something like Silver Spoon

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? I’m not answering this because there’s too many

62. seven characters you relate to? I don’t really relate to any characters.

63. five songs that would play in your club? *insert shrug emoji*

64. favorite website from your childhood? There was this gaming website with a ton of games on it with the word fetch in it but I can’t remember it

65. any permanent scars? A lot. One on my knee, a stab wound on my chest from a stick, several on my legs, one on my right foot from my brother’s laundry basket, one on my left foot from stepping on a bee (the stinger is still in there), and a scar on the inside of my right elbow from doctors trying to get in IV in my arm as a newborn.

66. favorite flower(s)? Haven’t thought about it. I’ll go through my flower log and come back to this at some point

67. good luck charms? I don’t have one.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? anything cherry flavored

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? Ummm not sure

70. left or right handed? Right

71. least favorite pattern? Figure-Ground Reversal and Moire it hurts my eyes

72. worst subject? Science and yet that is my major

73. favorite weird flavor combo? I used to like putting cheese in my ramen until one day I messed up the ratio and have never had it again

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? I’m excluding period pain. Usually 5 or 6

75. when did you lose your first tooth? I don’t know.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? ALL POTATOES I LOVE THEM (baked potatoes)

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? Lavender

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? Sushi

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? Maybe my school ID???

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Earth tones

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? Lightning bugs

82. pc or console? Console

83. writing or drawing? Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio? Talk radio

84. barbie or polly pocket? Neither. I had scooby doo and bratz

85. fairy tales or mythology? Mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes? Cupcakes

87. your greatest fear? Accidentally becoming abusive like my parents without realizing it

88. your greatest wish? I want a Doberman or a German Shepard

89. who would you put before everyone else? Close friend or partner. @sergeantamerica1234

90. luckiest mistake? That day I did cross country with my old horse back riding trainer and the horse I rode took great mercy on me. We were both exhausted that day and I almost passed out on the walk back to the pasture. Should not have done cross country that day.

91. boxes or bags? boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? fairy lights

93. nicknames? All of these are for a horse: Handsome Man, Sweetness, Sweet Heart, Sweet Stuff, Lovely, Bro, My Old Man. My boyfriend: Songbird

94. favorite season? Fall

95. favorite app on your phone? WTForecast

96. desktop background? A horseback ride I went on with my friend Margo to an ice cream shop and I got to ride her wonderful pony Paco for the first time. I almost fell off that day.

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? 5

98. favorite historical era? WWII I find it very interesting

#asks #ca-caw #eggcaw

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landendkha831-blog · 7 years

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Our garage door repair work professionals are skilled, licensed, bound, as well as guaranteed. They use just advanced tools as well as supply our consumers with one of the most economical, timely, and also reputable service. We've made our track record for high quality, truthful, and also dependable solutions within the communities we serve. Most importantly, our costs are unmatched!

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Call today at our neighborhood or toll-free line so we can begin detecting your garage door problems. We are open up 7 days a week for garage door fixing services in Carmel, and provide costs as well as no cost to you! We make it basic as well as simple for homeowners and company owner to safeguard and also improve their properties. Let us reveal you just how we can do the exact same for you while we help you obtain one of the most value for your dollar. Our seasoned professionals will certainly make sure you have the solution you anticipate and also the quality you are entitled to-- ask for an assessment today! WOW, garage door lift damaged April 7. Called Garage Door Medics morning of April 8 completely anticipating to get a response machine. NO!!! A genuine real-time individual (Pleasure). She told me her office is on Morena Blvd. Told her the trouble. She claimed a tech would certainly go to my house in between then (10:15 AM) and also 1 PM. 15 minutes later on I obtained a phone call from their tech Rick W. He was in OB and also would go to my house in 15-20 mins. He was! Given the numerous options in the marketplace, shopping for a brand-new garage door is not truly an easy process. A great deal of people are not truly experienced regarding garage doors and also they are not even well proficient at the formalities behind this. This is the reason why it is very important that you ask for an expert help when it concerns this.

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If your garage door will start acting up, then this might be informing you that it's time that you do a bit of maintenance of your door. But before you begin searching for a garage door repair work professional, you may wish to require time to analyze the tracks and rollers. If you can not keep in mind the last time that you cleaned up the doors, after that you might intend to provide your door a great cleaning as well as probably add some lube. Your garage door is the largest moving component on your home. If it is not working correctly it could be frustrating and harmful. Accuracy Overhead Garage Door Service is a full service garage door business concentrating on Garage Door Repair, Substitute Garage Doors and fixing of Garage Door Openers. Please require further aid with any kind of troubles that you have. We would value your business.

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A typical issue that we see with garage doors. Torsion springtimes (across the top of the door) and Expansion springtimes (those on either side of the door) are ranked based upon a certain number of cycles. When these cycles run out, or when a spring breaks/snaps the door could no more be lifted by the electric motor. When this takes place the springtimes must be changed as well as we advise calling a professional. "I'm very happy with G&S. Steve replaced springtimes on 2 garage doors as well as a new garage door opener too. Courteous, timely, and also friendly, a skilled expert with a focus on information. For all your garage door needs, I would recommend!" - Milton C. (Herndon, VA)

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Change track rollers individually (Photo 2). If your door uses torsion springs mounted on the header over the door, do NOT try to change the rollers in the lower brackets. Those braces are under constant springtime tension and could create serious injury if you unbolt them. That's a job for a pro. Prevention: If you are making use of a gateway or garage which uses "fixed codes", to avoid this type of attack, ensure you update to a system which clearly specifies that it's utilizing rolling codes, hopping codes, Safety+ or Intellicode. These are not foolproof from assault, however do protect against the OpenSesame assault together with traditional brute forcing strikes. Recommended suppliers: existing products from LiftMaster as well as Genie.

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OpenSesame uses the Radica Girltech IM-ME texting toy from Mattel, as it sports all the equipment we should manage the attack-- an efficient TI CC1110 sub-GHz RF chip, an LCD present, key-board, backlight, and also a lot more. As well as it's pink.

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You'll discover that virtually every one of these transmitters use ASK/OOK to transfer. Additionally, a number of the receivers support interoperability using the same OOK signaling. This can be verified by checking numerous garage door openers, reviewing the FCC records for a number of transmitters, and keeping in mind the supported versions in various garage door openers. Cords run from the bottom of the door completely up along- side of the door. A lot of the moment if a springtime breaks after that the cord also damages and must be replaced when you replace the springs (see above). Once again, we suggest calling an expert for this because it threatens if you do unknown just what you're doing. Once you have actually changed the used door components, inspect the garage door opener chain. A loose garage door opener chain makes loud slapping noises and also triggers jerky door activities that slap the rollers against the track. So start by tightening the chain (locate the procedure in your owner's handbook). If you have a track drive opener, the next step is to lube the opener track with grease. If you have a screw drive opener, oil the strings (Picture 4). There are times nevertheless that the door will refuse to move. When this happens, after that do not hope that if you will certainly hit the button numerous times, a miracle will certainly happen. The only thing that could take place is that you will wind up triggering a much larger problem on the opener, as this can strip the gears, damage the coils and also shed the motor out. Bear in mind that no matter the reason behind your broken glass door, you should ensure that you obtain it repaired asap. A broken glass is absolutely a safety problem as well as a safety and security issue. It is also an invitation to birds in the neighborhood making your garage their dwelling area. It is not really that difficult to change a solitary pane of glass, however the risk that features it is tremendous and this is why you must make certain to obtain in touch with a regional garage door repair work professional when it concerns dealing with the damaged glass of your garage door. We are prepared to react to your demands when you require commercial garage door or entrance repair in Carmel. We understand that your organization can depend on your packing dock or garage door, and also we promise to obtain the task completed immediately whenever you most demand it. Our services and products consist of all working components of the door, so if your track is bent, springtimes damage, or opener dies we'll have the ideal components and also recognize how for the job.

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We're always looking for methods to serve you better-- and also all of your ideas are welcome. If you have a specifically fantastic experience you wish to share, we wish to speak with you! Please contact us for any kind of reviews/testimonials, inquiries, comments, or demands.

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It takes 29 mins to open an (8-12)-bit garage (presuming you recognize the frequency and baud price, both of which are pretty typical.) If you need to try a few various frequencies and http://garaznavratabg.blog.rs/blog/garaznavratabg/generalna/2017/04/25/servis-i-popravka-garaznih-vrata2 also baud rates, after that the moment it takes is a multiple of 29 mins.

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"The owner as well as technology were extremely expert and action was prompt. The work was performed in a prompt style and also they arrived at the task when set up. I would certainly utilize them once again and highly suggest them." - Samiro O. (Sterling, VA)

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Just the best! Quick, trustworthy, truthful, reasonable rates! I have never ever been more pleased with a company and also its technicians ... Gene A. was my incredibly hero yesterday!! As a Real estate professional I will be confident referring this gentleman and also firm to all!

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