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notapaladin · 3 years

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Obsidian and Blood, an overview

Do you like fantasy? Do you like mysteries? Do you like Mesoamerican mythology? Do you like ALL OF THOSE THINGS TOGETHER, set against the lush backdrop of Tenochtitlan in 1480? (Or maybe you just want to know more about the series I have been going feral over since August.) Then buckle up, because oh boy have I got a series for you!

*drumroll, please*

OBSIDIAN AND BLOOD, written by Aliette de Bodard (better known for her Xuya and Dominion of the Fallen series)

There are two kinds of people: Those who see the words “Aztec fantasy/murder mysteries set in very well-researched 1480s Tenochtitlan BUT WITH MAGIC, investigated by the HIGH PRIEST OF THE GOD OF DEATH” and immediately ran off to buy them, and those who clearly need convincing. So here I am, shamelessly plugging my new hyperfixation!

Obsidian and Blood consists of three semi-standalone novels and three (free!) prequel short stories, all featuring 30-year-old Acatl as our first-person POV mystery solver. Acatl is not, however, your average historical detective; aside from being set firmly in Tenochtitlan in 1480 with all that implies re. the acceptability of slavery and human sacrifice, he also is the High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli in a universe where the gods regularly meddle in mortal affairs and magic spells are powered largely by rituals and blood—animal, human, or your own. You’d think this would make Acatl really, really good at solving murders, but you’d be wrong. He is the least of the Triple Alliance’s three High Priests, and his god doesn’t come at his servant’s beck and call. Not to mention the other gods, who have their own deadly agendas. That’s not even getting into the people around him, who might be the most dangerous of all. Luckily, he has more allies than he thinks—if he has the strength to actually reach out to them and admit he could use the help!

(He doesn’t need to reach out to his student Teomitl. Teomitl, a confident young warrior of imperial blood, keeps volunteering. This gives Acatl roughly one heart attack per book.)

You will like them if…

I did just say “magic murder mysteries in 1480s Tenochtitlan,” right? It’s real Precolumbian Mexico hours up in here! The history of the Aztec Empire and their Triple Alliance actually forms multiple key plot points throughout the series!

you’re into Aztec history/culture in general

if a DnD fan, you are REALLY into the Raven Queen

you think blood magic is super cool and wish it wasn’t treated as the realm of The Bad Guys

you get incredibly hyped over lesser-known mythologies treated respectfully but also very awesomely (the thing where the Aztecs thought human sacrifice kept the sun in the sky? Yeah, in this universe it is literally true and plot-relevant)

you are big into chaste heroes, lots of snarky asides, highly opinionated narrators who let their own prejudices destroy them, “from an outside perspective this is cosmic horror but for the characters it is a Tuesday,” mysteries with twists you will NOT see coming, and themes of trauma/memories/family legacies

you love reading about dysfunctional family relationships in various states of repair/further destruction

you’ve ever thought “hey this historical mystery is cool but what if there was MAGIC”

you like noir detective stories but want them with magic

you like urban fantasy but want them to have historical settings instead of vaguely modern-day ones

Plot/character summaries below!

SHORT STORIES (prequels to the novels, blurbs by me)

Obsidian Shards

Warriors have been found dead in the town of Colhuacan, obsidian shards embedded in their hearts. Acatl, priest of Mictlantecuhtli, suspects a creature of the Underworld—one he already calls a foe, for it slew his first and last apprentice.

Beneath the Mask

In the Tenochtitlan suburb of Coyoacan, Acatl’s childhood friend Huchimitl begs him to save her only son’s war captive; the man whose sacrifice will make the boy a proper warrior is paralyzed from an unknown curse, unable even to rise from the floor. But who could have cursed him, and is it connected to the mask Huchimitl now wears?

Safe, Child, Safe

A toddler is slowly wasting away, the mark of the Underworld on him, and Acatl is tasked with finding the cause. But no creature of the Underworld kills so slowly, and so Acatl must turn his investigation to the living.

THE BOOKS (blurbs taken directly from the book listings, you don’t HAVE to read them in order but I do recommend it)

Servant of the Underworld

Year One-Knife, Tenochtitlan; the capital of the Mexica Empire. Human sacrifice and the magic of living blood are the only things keeping the sun in the sky and the earth fertile. A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. It should be a usual investigation for Acatl, High Priest of the Dead—except that his estranged brother is involved, and the more he digs, the deeper he is drawn into the political and magical intrigues of noblemen, soldiers, and priests—and of the gods themselves...

(Neutemoc: I didn't mean to sleep with her! It was an accident! Acatl: I don't understand. Did you trip?) (Acatl: I don't want a new apprentice! Teomitl: :D? Acatl: ...I will make an exception)

Harbinger of the Storm

The year is Two House, and the Emperor of the Mexica has just died. The protections he afforded the Empire are crumbling, and the way lies wide open to flesh-eating star-demons—and to the return of their creator, a malevolent goddess only held in check by the War God's power. The council should convene to choose a new Emperor, but they are too busy plotting against each other. And then someone starts summoning star-demons within the palace, to kill councilmen...Acatl, High Priest of the Dead, must find the culprit before everything is torn apart.

(Teomitl: I've only had Acatl and Mihmatini for a year, but if anything happens to them I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself) (Quenami: Playing With The Big Boys.mp3)

Master of the House of Darts

The year is Three Rabbit, and the storm is coming. The Mexica Empire now has a new Emperor, but his coronation war has just ended in a failure: the armies have retreated with a paltry forty prisoners of war, not near enough sacrifices to satisfy the gods. Acatl, High Priest for the Dead, has no desire to involve himself yet again in the intrigues of the powerful. However, when one of the prisoners dies of a magical illness, he has little choice but to investigate. For it is only one death, but it will not be the last. As the bodies pile up and the imperial court tears itself apart, dragging Teomitl, Acatl's beloved student, into the eye of the storm, the High Priest for the Dead is going to have to choose whom he can afford to trust; and where, in the end, his loyalties ultimately lie...

(Teomitl: I am no longer Baby I want Power) (Acatl, to Teomitl: What have you got there? Nezahual, gleefully: A coup! Acatl: NO!)

THE MAIN CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)

ACATL “By my face and by my heart, I’ll bring you justice.” High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, god of death and the underworld. As such, his duties include both the obvious ones of arranging funerals and standing vigils for the dead, and the less obvious ones of investigating magical crimes and keeping the boundaries between the heavens, Earth, and the underworld intact. When Servant of the Underworld begins, he’s only recently been promoted and hates it. Has a strained relationship with his living family, due largely to not having lived up to his (dead) parents’ desires for him to become a warrior like his brother Neutemoc. Bitter, cynical, and grumpy, but devoted to justice and fairness.

Has an official character sheet.

CEYAXOCHITL “Everyone has to grow up and take responsibilities. Even small, humble priests.” Guardian of the Sacred Precinct and wielder of the power of the Duality (Ometeotl), which makes her the sworn protector of the Mexica Empire and its Revered Speaker from all sorts of mainly-magical threats. Somewhat past middle age but still very strong in her magical abilities, and something of an antagonistic mentor to Acatl. (She nominated him for the position of High Priest. He is not appreciative.) Serious and devoted to her duty, with a keen eye for potential in others. Dies in Harbinger of the Storm and you WILL cry.

NEUTEMOC “Priests hide and run away. Warriors don’t.” Acatl’s older brother, a Jaguar Knight with five children and a failing marriage. Resents Acatl for not helping to support their aging parents by becoming a warrior like he did. The central suspect during most of Servant of the Underworld’s plot, though by the end he and Acatl have begun to repair their relationship. He is strict, stern, and bitter, but truly loves his family. (In the case of his younger brother, that love is buried very deep down.)

TEOMITL “If we don’t believe in ourselves, who is going to?” Acatl’s student, an enthusiastic warrior who yearns to prove himself worthy of his power and noble rank, as well as live up to the memory of the mother who died birthing him. During Servant of the Underworld he swears himself to Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of fresh water and lakes, gaining (among other things) command over the man-eating water monsters called ahuitzotls. He is courting Mihmatini during Harbinger of the Storm; by the time Master of the House of Darts takes place, they are married. He is abrasive and proud, but also honest, loyal, and brave. And very, very ambitious. You will want to punch him several times. This is normal. (Also, I will swear that it's not just my ship-goggles being on too tight that has me thinking his relationship with Acatl is much more weighty and personal than the one he has with his ACTUAL WIFE.)

MIHMATINI “Better laugh, and smile at the flowers and jade. Life is too short to be spent grieving.” Acatl and Neutemoc’s youngest sister, a powerful magic-user who finds herself thrust into the position of Guardian during Harbinger of the Storm. Though she has no great ambitions herself—she mostly just wants to be a mother and raise children—she is ferociously protective of her family and will fight anything that threatens them. Even themselves. (Especially themselves.) Kind, caring, and light-hearted, but her acid tongue and sharp temper are not to be dismissed. "Fuck Around And Find Out" given human form.

ACAMAPICHTLI “We have always endured.” High priest of Tlaloc and a reoccurring thorn in Acatl’s side. Though he’s primarily out for his own gain and has no patience for Acatl’s refusal to play on the field of Imperial politics, they eventually form something like an uneasy truce following the end of Harbinger of the Storm. He is snarky and sardonic, but truly cares for his clergy. During Master of the House of Darts he somehow became one of my favorite characters.

TIZOC "I've always known that priests couldn't be trusted. You have just exceeded my expectations." Teomitl’s older brother, first Master of the House of Darts and then Revered Speaker. (Look, it’s not a spoiler if you can Google it.) He is cowardly, ambitious, and the closest thing this series has to an overarching antagonist. Among other things, tries to have Acatl executed during Harbinger of the Storm. Events at the end of that book only manage to make him measurably worse. "Ah There He Is, That Motherfucker, What A Tool" #1.

QUENAMI “Oh, Acatl. Such lack of tact. You are so unsuited for the Court.” High Priest of Huitzilpochtli, appointed by Tizoc between Servant of the Underworld and Harbinger of the Storm. Comes from a noble family, and is much better at diplomacy and playing politics than he is at magic. When push comes to shove, however, he can display some surprising determination. He is arrogant, scheming, and takes joy in cutting Acatl down, but presumably has some good qualities...somewhere. "Ah There He Is, That Motherfucker, What A Tool" #2.

Maps of the series’ primary setting

Setting Primers

Official Character Index

Glossary

#obsidian and blood #aliette de bodard #aliette bodard #servant of the underworld #acatl #teomitl #mihmatini #obsblood primer

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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From Battle Beast to Titan, The Invincible Rogues’ Gallery is Taking Shape

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As its blood-splattered title card makes clear, Amazon Prime’s Invincible is quite a bit more intense than other animated superhero shows.

Adapted from Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s comic series of the same name, Invincible takes place in a stylized, yet realistic world where superpowered punches have real consequences. It’s rare that an episode goes by without our titular young hero getting drenched in blood, whether it be his own or some poor villain’s.

Despite Invincible’s commitment to the violent bit, however, the show still does have quite a bit in common with its more all-ages animated peers. The series animation from Wind Sun Sky Animation studio is based off of comic illustrator Ryan Ottley’s art but it also harkens back to a golden era of superhero animation.

The character designs, with chiseled jaws, chunky limbs, and very deliberate movements is highly reminiscent of ‘90s Warner Bros. Animation classics like Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Justice League. And just like those earlier series, each episode of Invincible thus far has proven dedicated to introducing interesting and novel villains for its hero to confront.

There’s an old adage about superhero stories that a hero is only as good as its villain. That might be oversimplifying things a bit as Batman, Superman, Invincible, and the like are all pretty interesting figures on their own. Still, the animated series surrounding these heroes always know how to put a compelling villain to good use. Batman: The Animated Series in particular built up the Caped Crusader’s impressive rogue’s gallery and each new episode was a treat for viewers in guessing which villain would take center stage. In fact, the all-time best episodes of that series were often great due to the deployment of its villains, like in the beloved Mr. Freeze installment “Hear to Ice.”

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While Invincible is only five episodes into what will hopefully be a long run, the series has already proven to be particularly adept at introducing colorful villains to challenge Mark Grayson as he trains to be a superhero. Now that we’ve crossed the halfway point of Invincible’s eight-episode first season, let’s take some time to examine the young hero’s rogues’ gallery.

The Mauler Twins

The Mauler Twins, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, are the very first villains introduced in Invincible. The Guardians of the Globe (R.I.P.) are able to put a halt to their assault on the White House, but not before the twins reveal their awesome strength. The Mauler Twins are an unusual combination of brains and brawn. First we see heavy machine gun fire bounce off of them like pebbles and then they embark on a very brainy mission for none other than Robot (Zachary Quinto).

The Mauler Twins are a consistent presence in the comic and their dynamic only works because neither of them knows who is the original and who is the clone. Their inclusion on the list is cheating a bit because Mark hasn’t crossed paths with them yet but he is sure to soon.

Titan

Titan, voiced by Academy Award winning actor Mahershala Ali, is the first great example of how Invincible will allow its villains to recur and evolve like Batman: The Animated Series’ baddies. Titan first pops up in episode 1, then he is essentially the main character of episode 5. There is quite a lot of depth to this rock-man as he tricks Mark into helping his criminal underworld coup, but he also seems to really believe he can make his city a safer, more equitable place.

Kill Cannon

Kill Cannon (Fred Tatasciore) is an extremely minor villain in the Invincible comic. He first appeared as Atom Eve’s nemesis in her standalone comic before making his proper series debut in Issue #58. Kill Cannon arrives in the Amazon series much earlier and has already popped up again as a recurring villain. He seems to fulfill the role of a particularly easy training dummy for Mark to take care of. Unfortunately, all the other villains won’t be as simple.

The Flaxans

The Flaxans, an aliens species from another dimension, are the first baddies to really test Mark. Their lifespans are short in Earth’s timeline, but they are also tremendously capable of learning from their mistakes. Led by the hateful “Slash” (voiced by Richardson), the Flaxans embark on three increasingly successful invasions. Omni-Man appears to have wiped out their society for now but all it will take to rebuild is a handful of dedicated Flaxans.

Doc Seismic

Every superhero story needs a good old-fashioned mustache-twirler and Doc Seismic (voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos) fits the bill here…despite having no mustache or even hair to speak of. Through his advanced weaponry and seismological knowledge, Doc Seismic is able to manipulate the earth around him. In our first introduction to him, he puts these powers to a surprisingly progressive use by attempting to blow up Mt. Rushmore and its depiction of “oppressors.”

The Doc did his undergraduate in sociology and women’s studies, with a minor in African dance as it turns out. Invincible and Atom Eve are able to dispatch him ease and he appears to fall to his fiery death. Of course, these kinds of villains normally don’t go down that easy, so it’s safe to expect seeing him again.

Roarface

Roarface is an entirely new creation for the Invincible TV series and she gets only a very brief bit of screentime in episode 5. According to Amazon’s helpful episode trivia feature, Roarface was developed by comic illustrator Cory Walker and the collar she wears prevents her entire body from becoming a werewolf. Only her head succumbs to lycanthropy.

Machine Head

Every superhero story needs a Wilson Fisk-style underworld crime boss figure. Invincible has one, it just so happens that his head is a machine, leading to the brilliant nickname Machine Head (voiced by Jeffrey Donovan). This villain loves Italian maple and is eventually usurped by Titan then arrested by Cecil Stedman. Machine Heads teleporting partner is named Isotope.

Battle Beast

Oh yeah, now we’re talking. Battle Beast is a fan favorite of Invincible comic readers and TV viewers may now have a better sense of why. Battle Beast (voiced by Michael Dorn) isn’t so much an enemy to Mark Grayson as he is an enemy to everyone who crosses his path.

As his name suggests, this beast is really about battling. His real name is Thokk and he travels the universe looking for worthy foes to fight. Machine Head was able to lure him to Earth with the promise of a real competition. Unfortunately, he found Mark Grayson and the new Guardians of the Globe extremely wanting in this regard.

“This battle is beneath me. There is no honor in killing insects,” Thokk mutters before peacing out. Rest assured that Battle Beast will be returning to this series at some point…preferably once Mark has leveled up quite a bit.

The other villains who battle alongside Battle Beast in episode 5 are unrelated mercenaries who all fight on Machine Head’s time. They are: Furnace, Kursk, Magmaniac, and Tether Tyrant. The comics has a sixth villain involved in this battle named Magnattack, but Amazon’s episode notes indicate that production couldn’t fit him in.

Invincible streams every Friday on Amazon Prime.

The post From Battle Beast to Titan, The Invincible Rogues’ Gallery is Taking Shape appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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slimesgeneratorfics · 4 years

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I’m in a Discord server with @onemoontorulethemall , and they shared a whump idea that held me at gunpoint until I wrote a fic. Thank you for the inspiration for one of the longest fics I’ve ever written!

Title: Of Monsters and Men

Fandom: Rick and Morty

Word Count: 1684

Warnings: whump, serious injuries, uncensored swearing, canon-typical familial dysfunction (Seriously. If you’re not familiar with the show, this means quite a bit of dysfunction.)

Description: Based on the first arc (Issues 1-3) of the Rick and Morty comics, but the bug doesn’t escape the garage and... you’ll see. Read that if you want to catch cool references, but hopefully this works as a standalone too. But also, read the comic if you’re a fan of Rick and Morty. It deserves more love.

It had been three months since Morty had returned home without Rick: three full months without adventures, without purpose, and with one less person around to yell at him. Morty still didn’t understand why Rick had let him use the one-person portal out of that prison maze. Maybe Rick was done with this family and had finally decided to leave. Well, Morty was sick of living like this. He had to do something. Morty snuck into the garage, loaded some weapons into Rick’s car, and took off.

He barely made it past Mars when he was pulled over by space cops. The trial was much faster this time- he had already been found guilty, and this time Morty didn’t hesitate to make a mockery of the court system. It wasn’t that he wanted to go die in space prison, but he no longer had the energy to care about being good. If things went south, it was just one last hurrah for Morty, you know? No big deal.

They sent him to the same prison as before- Clackspire Labyrinth. Huge monsters and swarms of smaller monsters, none of which Morty recognized, attacked. Morty used Rick’s hidden panels to find weapons that made it easy to slice through every threat. He didn’t feel tired. He was fueled by spite and the desire to not die pathetically.

Morty heard the sounds of monsters being slashed around the next corner. This was strange- none of the prisoners he’d seen survived more than a couple hours, and there hadn’t been any new drop offs. Suddenly, a voice:

“WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB! EAT THAT!” followed by a blast. Rick? It couldn’t be. His mind must be playing tricks on him. Or worse, this could be just another part of the torture.

“Rick” killed the monster and ran around the corner, bumping right into Morty. “Morty? Wh-what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Oh don’t act so surprised. I know you’re just another monster.” Morty raised his gun, but despite himself, he hesitated.

“Says you, you’re probably the monster! Why the hell would Morty be here?” This image of Rick was pretty realistic. He looked human, not robotic at all, and he was clearly scuffed.

“Enough! I’m going to kill you.” Morty fired, and a ray blasted through Rick’s chest. Wow, this thing had blood? This prison did not half ass psychological torture.

The fake Rick coughed and sputtered as robotic needles stitched flesh back together from the inside. The real Rick had tech on every organ to make him essentially unkillable, and apparently this monster was the same. “Don’t… cross me, you piece of shit.”

“I’ll cross whoever I want! You- you think I'm going to give up?”

Just then, the Rick monster fired a ray gun at Morty. To Morty’s shock, the mortal wound began to heal itself in the same way the Rick’s had. He didn’t remember any loss of consciousness between the trial and being dropped into the maze, and why would they have put such modifications in a prisoner who was supposed to die? But to assume that Rick, the real Rick, had installed them made even less sense. Morty was always expendable, nothing more than a human shield.

Morty pushed the questions aside. He was not going to lose now. “Just because neither of us can die doesn’t mean I won’t try to kill you. How about I aim for where it really hurts?” Morty aimed for Rick’s skull.

The ray bounced off, but the impact knocked Rick into a wall. The Rick was shaken, but he stood up. “You really think I would leave my brain unprotected? Maybe you really are Morty, because I can’t think of anyone else who would be that stupid!”

“Of course I’m Morty! Who the hell are you?” Morty tackled Rick to the ground and grabbed his throat.

“Morty, don’t you get it? We’re both here. You- you gotta believe me. I’ve missed you so much. I let you through that portal because I knew the long way would be dangerous, and you- you deserved to go home. I may act above it all, and I am, but you’re my grandson, Morty. I didn’t want you to have to live the labyrinth life.”

Was Rick… crying? Damn, this was a shitty fake. “Y-you’re not fooling anyone, you know? The real Rick doesn’t care about anything or anybody. He had a coupon for a free replacement Morty from the Citadel of Ricks. I- I bet he’s escaped and gotten a new Morty, maybe even- maybe even a new dimension!” Or, Morty thought hopefully, maybe Rick was about to come rescue him and tell him what a piece of shit he was for ending up back in galactic prison.

Well, Morty was done waiting to be rescued. He let go of the Rick’s throat with one hand and grabbed his ray gun, shooting the impostor directly in the heart. The blast didn’t make it far, but Rick lost consciousness from the impact. Morty sat back, still holding the gun. Everything finally hit as Morty’s numbness dissipated. Morty never wanted to be a killer. He didn’t want to live “the labyrinth life.” All he’d ever wanted was to see cool shit in the multiverse and pretend that impressing his grandpa was an achievable goal. Part of him wished this monster Rick could kill him just so it would all be over.

As if on cue, the monster Rick woke up. Shit, now Morty looked vulnerable. Maybe he could think of a way to use that to his advantage if he mustered the ability to be heartless again.

“You alright, little buddy?” Rick asked, as if he wasn’t the one who had just been unconscious.

“What do you care?” Morty replied. “Either you’re a monster and you want to kill me, or you’re the real Rick and you’re waiting to laugh at me.”

“Okay, that’s pretty reasonable considering how I’ve presented myself for, uh… always. But what if it’s neither?” Rick looked at Morty gently - hadn’t this torture been cruel enough? - and waited for a reply. Morty just stared at him, daring this Rick to prove himself.

“What if, and I’m just spitballing here,” said RIck, “What if I’m your real grandpa and I’ve always cared about you? I’ve been thinking a lot over the past three months, and I think I leaned too heavily on the god complex. Just because I’m literally the smartest being in the universe doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole about it, right?”

Morty let out a snort of laughter despite himself, but he quickly redirected into a scowl.

“Yeah, I deserve that,” Rick continued. “You know, back in season 1- actually, I don’t know where the comic fits in the continuity, let alone the - alright, ignoring the fourth wall, one time I was kidnapped by another version of me who wanted to steal my memories because I was against the Citadel and because I was ‘the Rickest Rick.’ And while he was stealing my memories, they were playing on a screen he had. I saw you as a baby, Morty. He was playing my memories of you, and I actually teared up. I denied it, of course, but in that moment I was thinking about how I’d endangered you by bringing you on these crazy adventures and how all our fun might end in disaster. I don’t want that for you, Morty. That’s why I installed all that protective gear in you while you were sleeping. I never told you because I always had to keep up that god complex attitude. I felt like I’d be a better person without my attachments, and I thought that if anyone knew how I really felt, they’d just use it against us. Do you see what I’m saying, Morty?”

“That’s a good try at a sob story, Rick. I’m almost convinced.” Morty looked down at his hands. “But there’s absolutely nothing you could say to me that would convince me that the real you could be that vulnerable.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Rick said, and suddenly Morty heard a blast and everything went dark.

…

“Huh? Where am I? What did you-” Morty’s vision cleared as his consciousness came back. He seemed to be in his room. Was he dreaming? Dead?

Rick walked in. “If I was a monster, I wouldn’t have set the gun to stun.”

“Huh,” Morty considered, “I guess you’re right.” He paused. “Did you mean what you said back there? Do you really care?”

“Don’t talk so loud. This stays between us, alright?” Rick said in a mock-threatening tone.

Morty grinned. He got out of bed and hugged Rick. “I love you, Grandpa Rick.”

Rick returned the hug. “I love you too, Morty.”

Rick stepped out into the living room where Beth, Jerry, and Summer were sitting. “You heard nothing,” he announced.

“Okay, sure thing,” said Summer, not looking up from her phone.

“Is Morty okay?” asked Beth.

“He’s going to be fine. I want- I want to really drive the point home that you did not just overhear a tender moment of familial affection involving Rick Sanchez, smartest man in the universe.” Rick crossed his arms and glared at Jerry.

“Whatever you say, Rick,” said Jerry, clearly disappointed that Rick was back and taking charge again.

“Thanks for bringing him back, Dad,” Beth said. “We were so worried. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.”

“My secret is not safe with you,” Rick fumed, “because it’s not with you. You have no secret, capiche?”

“Grandpa, get off her case,” said Summer. “I’m sure you’re the same asshole you always were.”

“That’s right! Rick never learns a lesson!” Rick went out to the front door and seemed to shout at the universe in general. “Rick and Morty a thousand years, no emotional vulnerability! Okay maybe a little, sometimes, but only when lives are at stake! The word count on this thing got really out of hand, but you’re still listening! Fuck the fourth wall! Roll credits and theme music!”

#rick and morty #rick and morty fanfiction #i really hope people enjoy this because i put a lot of time and love into it

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fabulizemag · 3 years

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10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

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10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

Horror manga is a different kind of scary. I mean sure, we’ve seen vampires and ghosts, but if you’ve never seen a horror anime, you won’t be prepared for the detailed gore new horror manga has. I rarely watch horror movies, but I love horror anime and manga. I can’t fully explain why it’s much easier for me to consume, but it is. The only thing that stops me from reading a lot more manga are titles with a lot of violence towards women and fan service. I know that those are common in manga and I try not to recommend many of those because that’s not what I would normally read.

I think overall, horror manga is more sadistic and provocative than western horror as it not only illustrates monsters, but there is also a hidden philosophy in a lot of horror manga that insinuates that humans are the real monsters. A lot of the manga I recommend below aren’t exactly new; however, they are new to paperback. That means you have an opportunity to start a new series from the beginning and not have to worry about missing manga chapters. I’ve also included a manga that is a standalone title, which is a rare find with these types of books. I personally prefer reading in volumes and if you like having a good chunk of content in one book, you will enjoy these selections.

PET SHOP OF HORRORS: TOKYO, VOL. 1 BY MATSURI AKINO This serialized manga takes a different approach to classic fairytale stories and uses pets. However, some of the pets look similar to humans and buyers must adhere to a contract if they decided to buy. The horror begins when the buyers ignore the warnings of the pet shop owner.

REMINA BY JUNJI ITO

If you are looking for some outer space sci-fi horror, this manga is for you. This story starts off with a wormhole that births a mysterious planet. A doctor discovers the planet and names it Remina, which is also his daughter’s name. As this planet evolves, it destroys anything it wants in its path. And guess what planet is up next? You guessed it: Earth. You can preorder this book now, as it’s set to be available in paperback this December.

RASETU VOL. 1 BY CHIKA SHIOMI More paranormal than straight horror, this spin-off of Yuraracenters a heroine named Rasetu who is a witty and sassy exorcist working at an exorcism agency. She loves cakes, capturing ghosts, and doesn’t turn down a good fight. Things get complicated when Yako, who has powers himself, needs her and her agency’s help with a possessed book.

THE WITCH AND THE BEAST 1 BY KOUSUKE SATAKE If you like horror but you want a more of a fairytale setting, then you should give this manga a try. Set in a steampunk world, you meet a shy guy who has a mysterious coffin strapped to his back. His unlikely companion is a bloodthirsty girl with long fangs and a mean violent streak. They are determined to work together to overthrow a witch who suddenly has their town’s people under her control.

UROTSUKIDOJI: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND, VOLUME 1 BY TOSHIO MAEDA Ready for some erotica horror? Well, if you are into monster and tentacle sex, here it is. Yes, it is hentai and a disturbing piece of manga, but that’s what makes it horrifying. Every 3,000 years the Chojin emerges in human form to try to bring man, demon, and beast together. This manga also has a lot of sexual descriptions in it. The paperback will be available in November.

ALICE IN MURDERLAND, VOL. 1 BY KAORI YUKI Stella is part of a wealthy and elite family in Japan, and once a month she has to leave school early to have a tea party with them. However, the tea party is different this time around because her mother (the queen) tells her and her siblings only one of them will be the next leader of the family. In order for her parents to determine who is next in line as a successor, they challenge her and her siblings to kill one another for the throne. I rarely turn down a retelling of classic tales, especially ones that are filled with blood, guts, and gore, and you’ll find this is a doozy.

MANGA YOKAI STORIES: GHOSTLY TALES FROM JAPAN (SEVEN MANGA GHOST STORIES) BY SEAN MICHAEL WILSON, LAFCADIO HEARN, INKO AI TAKITA If you prefer an anthology type read, this manga is just for you. Most manga is serialized and some readers might not want to invest time reading a number of volumes. This manga is a collection of seven horror stories. Unlike the previous manga listed here, the humans in these stories are given a range of emotions besides being scared—believe it or not, some are even happy in these stories.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE MANGA, VOL. 1 BY DARREN SHAN AND TAKAHIRO ARAI When you combine evil creatures of the night, vampires, and the circus, you get a scary tale of friendship and gore. Darren (not to be confused with the author) comes across a vampire who is a circus performer, and that’s when things get bloody. In an effort to save his friend, Darren has to make a deathly decision that will change his entire life. This manga is, again, bloody, and it has a killer cliffhanger.

BLUE EXORCIST, VOL. 1 BY KAZUE KATO Rin has spent most of his life living with a famous exorcist named Father Fujimoto. When the two have a falling out, Father confesses that Rin has the blood of Satan in his veins. Rin decides that he wants to defeat Satan and in doing so he must become an exorcist himself. He enrolls in a school to hone his craft but soon discovers that a lot of spells he needs to do involves drawing his own blood. If Rin draws his own blood, he turns into a demon and will reveal his true identity to others.

D. GRAY-MAN, VOL. 1 BY KATSURA HOSHINO Allen Walker is an exorcist with a special arm that can be used as a weapon to fight off demons. He was picked by a divine group called the Innocence to fight the demon Akuma. However, the real villain is Millennium Earl who is turning people’s souls in these demons. If you have cyberpunk and goth needs alongside horror this is the manga for you. You’ll love the talking umbrella and the Victorian vibe.

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#comics #Halloween #horror #manga

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duchess-katarin-lemeur · 4 years

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Nantes Meeting

Who: @duchess-katarin-lemeur @emery-sutherland, @camille-laubert @armel-lemuer @simeonleguen @gxmer-ami @madeline-lupu @adelaidelibrarymaid @simeonleguen @juno-bouchard @resolutexsarai @cristian-capulet @stargazingalexei @micaiai-lemeur @oliviaxstephan @chloemoigne-ofnantes @ivy-muir When: Wednesday, February 19th Where: House of Nantes Chateau Why: Katarin calls for the House to work out their cause and event for the Aribiter’s challenge. All did not go well.

Kat was grateful to have the support of every member of her House. They may not all be blood related but were all family. “Everyone, thank you for coming to the Chateau this evening. It has been a bit delayed but here we are. You all know the arbiter has put forth a challenge. This is something I cannot do on my own. Though I do have an idea of what our House can do. As champions of knowledge, I propose we look towards the youth of Breton, specifically in the area of STEM education. Your thoughts?”

“A bit dull don’t you think?” Camille sighed. “Are we planning to raise money so they can build bridges? Surely there is something more exciting. At least teach them the value of money and make my job easier in years to come.”

Juno pushed a hand through her hair before pushing up her black framed glasses to rest on her forehead, ones that she always wore to meetings. She knew she had a mountain of work waiting for her, but she was loyal enough to her house to help and attend the dinner. “Youth are the best bet of course” she mused “But maybe raising money for something that others won’t see coming from us, something to make us stand out a little more. I have always loved something with a more practical approach, perhaps skill sets for the real world of work experience. It could bring in the idea of teaching the value of money, as put by Camille” she said with a small gesture to the other.

"'Practical' is so relative. Our House is literally focused on technology; it would seem weird if our charity focus was outside of that." Ami furrowed their brow, not quite sure what the goal was. "But if we wanted something creative or out of the box, maybe we can look into tinkering with VR and creating a system that can help patients with therapy, physical and mental." Running a hand through their hair, they also offered, "And of course if we need to raise funds or any sort of promotion, I'm happy to do a charity stream on my channel to boost the cause."

Morgan raised her hand, interjecting briefly. “I work with a lot of youth and I think a STEM education program would be fantastic. Inner cities lack a lot of funds and so a lot of children who wish to learn these things are unable to because of a severe lack of opportunity. Perhaps it’s not a creative approach, but I do believe it would be a very meaningful and impactful one.”

“Practical can come with technology, they can be paired?” Juno offered “Perhaps skills and experience with technology, there could be something there.” she then gave a purse of her lips, she was no tech wizard herself, but there was an ever growing use for it and it was true that Nantes was indeed focused on it. “But I do enjoy the idea of the VR, if it’s workable” she added, taking a sip of her drink and looking away thoughtfully, her gaze only coming back when Morgan spoke up.

“I think we need to narrow our focus a bit. There are many good ideas, the VR being one. That is something that we can do outside of this challenge. We have the resources for it.” Kat surveyed the room. “Let me be a bit clearer. We are going to focus on the youth of Breton for this challenge and I want it focused on STEM education. Now, what form that takes is what we are discussing. Though, Morgan, I do agree that we work with disadvantaged children. Providing opportunities is something that the entire family can do.”

Camille could see how this was going and it was clear most of it was going to be out with her skill set. Managing the money was where she would shine but that didn’t stop her voicing her opinions. “Giving disadvantaged children and their families an exciting opportunity is all well and good but it has to be something that actually achieves something. No point letting them build a roller coaster and ride it then sending them home with nothing but memories. At least building bridges would stop them getting their feet wet and teach them some life skills.”

Cristian jotted down each of the comments into the meeting's notes for the evening, knowing Her Grace would want to review everything after no doubt. He couldn't help his irritation though, even not as a blood member of the house. 'All of these ideas regarding youth are excellent, but Camille I think it goes without further stating if you're only going to bring negativity to the table, you're more than welcome to leave. Nobody is forcing you to be here and we need to be working together positively contributing ideas in order to further Her Grace’s as well as the house’s positive image in the community."

Sarai cleared her throat; she agreed with Cristian’s comment, but preferred discussions that were a little calmer. Or not to be involved in the discussion; she’d have been just as happy at home, but the support was necessary. “I believe the experience of a STEM project is, in itself, a valuable one for the children. Particularly those from a disadvantaged background. We want to see more young people involved in those areas, and they’ll need a place to get started. Perhaps the library could be utilised in the research aspect?”

Micaiai was considering all of the options, his brow pulling together, “We could always bring some resources from the family together and start something that would be reoccuring rather than a one off. Take it beyond the challenge and make it something of our own. That way it is not only an important task for the children but also something that could eventually help us train future workforces. That is vitally important.”

Armel had been quiet for most of the dinner; he wasn’t much for making plans and preferred to just open up his checkbook and make things happen. But after rolling his eyes for the hundredth time, he felt he couldn’t be silent any longer. “Must everything be all about the children?” he asked, surveying the room. “You,” he began, lazily gesturing to Sarai. “You’ve got a good point about the library - I feel like we should look into extending a wing or opening one of our own for the public, with resources for all ages. Perhaps we could offer certification courses for adults. We could make it a non-profit institution and even petition the other families to make donations in the future. When Katarin is elected Queen, they’ll be clamoring for her support anyway.”

Emery sat quietly, listening to everyone discuss their various opinions. Unable to voice anything solid as this seemed to be outside of her expertise. Working with children, that was something that she could support. She had dedicated her life to helping children, but she could only sit patiently and see if something would inevitably come up in which she could actually assist. It was difficult to voice an opinion surrounded by people she hardly knew, or didn’t really know at all, and wanted to make sure that when she gave her input, it was something of value.

"I'm worried that if we open an extended wing or something in a building and we plaster our name on it, it might gives us a bad look; it might come across as us trying to do good by simply throwing money around." Morgan grew a little frustrated with the discussion and wanted to focus the conversation back into helping those at a disadvantage. As someone who grew up with next to nothing, it was important to her to give back and help as much as she could. "I do like the idea of possibly offering certification courses, but I'm more in line with supporting an outreach program that gives children a chance to gain a STEM education."

Until now Chloe had watched everything silently. She wasn’t the type to interject often, but for the sake of Kat she would speak up at least once or twice during the meeting. “I have to say, a STEM program in school would have meant the world to me when I was younger. I needed that place to express myself and didn’t really have it. I can’t even count the amount of times I shoved into lockers because I would rather be reading a book or working on my laptop. Shedding a positive light on that could really help teens and younger kids.”

Adelaide finally spoke up. All of the opinions had been moving so quickly before, but if she didn’t speak up at all, she knew she would regret it. “Would it be impossible to combine them? There are several branches to the Public Library throughout the city, including in the more disadvantaged areas. If we provide the funds for them to expand, we could include as a condition that one area of that expansion in each is a place for students to run STEM experiments and a staff member to provide support and education. That way we don’t have to start the outreach from scratch and it would have more longevity than a standalone program.”

Camille folded her arms at Cristian’s comments and muttered to herself under her breath. Glaring at the man for a moment she turned her attention back to the discussion, cheering up considerably as others were going along the same line of thought. “Exactly,” she said to Adelaide, shooting a smug expression across to Cristian. “It needs to have a clear purpose and last, not just an overnight one off event.”

Ivy raised her hand timidly, rather overwhelmed at even being at such a big house event. “If we can target young teens, say from around eleven to fourteen then that’s the point people are beginning to make their first decisions. Show them the benefits of STEM education and as Chloe has already said, let them know that there are all these paths out there. If they don’t get the chance to experience and find out about things when they are young they might miss out on the chances when they get older.”

“Sounds like putting these ideas together might be the best approach. It lets us focus on the strengths of the ideas we want,” Ami commented as they ripped off a sheet of paper from a notepad. “But seriously, if video games are involved, count me in. Kids love video games and video games can totally be educational.” They let someone else take over the conversation while they crumpled up the paper from earlier, and when the Duchess wasn’t looking, threw it at Camille. Stifling a small chuckle, they mouthed, “Stop pouting,” before paying attention to whoever was speaking next.

Madeline had been slightly late to the dinner due to an emergency, but by listening to the others, she had a decent idea as to what was going on. She always could get behind an idea that focused on the children, but the bickering over how exactly to implement it was bothering her. “If I may, why are we the ones deciding what is best for the children? This is our event, but it is clear that we all wish for them to be the ones to benefit as well as the community at large. I think that we should allow them to tell us what they want within reason. Perhaps involve the librarians, teachers, and members of the community. We might be surprised as to what they come up with. Besides if we hold a symposium of sorts for the community that we wish to help, it will foster a sense of comradery and excitement about the prospects.” She cleared her throat, looking around at the others. “Or not. It’s just an idea.”

Juno had taken to simply allowing the others to speak. The blonde was distracted and it was likely obvious she knew she'd likely be questioned on it at a later date, her gaze scanned the room as others began to speak "I'm always willing to go with a majority in regards to the STEM, I believe this whole task is to show our House's problem solving above everything. So we may have to agree to disagree in many respects. I'm just happy to help in whatever way I can really" She murmured, perking when she heard an idea. "An open forum" she nodded as Madeline spoke, agreeing with the idea, her finger drawing around the rim of her glass as she thought.

Olivia didn’t usually feel comfortable speaking up at things like this since she didn’t grow up in Breton, but since children were involved, she felt rather inclined, “As someone who does have a child...I actually do agree with Madeline as well. I think it could be a good idea to involve the ones we’re aiming to help. Children like being involved, and in turn the parents of those children do want what’s best for them. Maybe we can narrow it down to a few final choices that we can all agree on and then let the community decide on the final decision. I think they would like that we took their opinions into consideration since, like Madeline said, just because we might think something is useful, doesn’t necessarily make it true.”

Kat listened to the back and forth calmly, pleased with the ideas but not entirely pleased with the behavior. They were supposed to be working together. She cleared her throat and spoke again. “First, cousin,” she said, directing her gaze to Armel. “In this case, yes, this is all about the children. It may be cliche but they are the future of Breton and Nantes can make its greatest impact through them.” She paused, tapping her nails on the wooden table. “This is what I am hearing. There is a concern that this will be a one off event. This was never my intention. I want something lasting and sustainable. I agree with Morgan that we must consider those children that are at risk or at a disadvantage due to their station. As far as having community input, I agree. Though I would propose we start with the schools before going right to the population at large. They are the most informed on what our children need. So, how can we best support making sure STEM education is accessible to every child in Breton. I propose starting with the schools in Vannes. We ask our educators what they need. At the elementary level, maybe we start a mentorship/sponsorship program providing schools what they need. For older students, a scholarship program...as for the libraries, certainly they have the capability to be utilized in some form. Beyond what program we establish, we need to also plan an event to kick it off. Something that will raise funds and get our community involved. Ideas for that? And please remember we are working together, not against each other.”

Ami straightened up, having heard the tone carried out by the Duchess. Clearly they needed to take this more seriously, and they did really want to help out. "Again, not to be a broken record, but I really am happy to host a charity stream if we want to raise some funds. A lot of people will do 24-hour streams and I can ask some of my friends to help out and any of you all are also welcome to hop on," they explained. "I'm not too familiar with the school program here but I think a mentorship program is a super dope idea."

“One possibility for an event would be a charity auction? And the items could be lesson plans or supplies for different aspects of the STEM program. That way it would raise money, and it would be another way for the community to be involved in voting on what material they most want covered for the future of Vannes.” Adelaide proposed quietly. “But we can design the different items based on the feedback we get from schools, teachers, and parents so it would still put their voices first.” She had a few other ideas, but she rarely thought in terms of single events and it sounded like that was the option that needed to be nailed down first for the good of the family.

Juno couldn’t help but feel slightly satisfied at the point Kat made, about everyone needing to work together. She felt it had added onto her point about how the task had clearly been to test their ability on working together as a house. The Lawyer couldn’t help but sit a little smugly until she cleared her throat and took a drink of her water. The lawyer looked back to Kat, silent as she allowed others to speak, but more concerned for what she imagined was a fraying string of patience in the others mind from the bickering around them. The blonde nodded slowly as Adelaide spoke, at least making it look like she was taking in the point- a good one at that.

Simeon hadn’t meant to be late. He had gotten held up at work and then from there it had been awful getting there. Traffic and just general unluckiness. As he crept into the room, he gave an apologetic look to the blonde at the head of the table. “I’m sorry for being late, Kat--Uh… Katarin. Duchess.” Calling her anything but Kat was always weird to Simeon, but he didn’t want to disrespect her in front of the rest of the family. Moving to sit down beside Chloe, he swallowed hard before glancing at the younger woman. “Can you fill me in?” he asked quietly.

Armel rolled his eyes at the latecomer. “We’re doing a STEM program for the children.” He tried his best not to sound quite so dismissive of the idea, but well - he was skeptical. “It seems you all have this figured out without any additional input from me. Why don’t I leave everyone to it and Camille can inform me how many zeroes to put on the check. I’ve got a business to look after.”

Up until that point, Alexei had remained utterly quiet, sitting in the back corner and not sure that his input would have mattered all that much anyway. But when Armel spoke with such disinterest, he found himself letting out a sound of displeasure. “Sure, Armel-- Run off when it actually matters.” He found himself saying, though it was said lowly and could be easily missed.

Armel turned toward the direction of the voice, his brow raised. It was hard to hear what was said, but something said so soft could never be good. “Did you have something you care to say to me?” he asked the submissive, calmly folding his hands across his lap. “Please, do go on.”

Simeon swallowed hard, looking between Alexei and Armel. He didn’t… want people to fight. Not just because he didn’t do well in tense situations but also because they were literally supposed to be family. Maybe not by blood, but all united under one house. “Is there something wrong with helping children?” He piped up, feeling his heart thump a little like it did whenever he spoke in large groups. But he was hoping that Armel would just answer him and maybe not fight with Alexei.

Cristian gestured for Simeon to relax, turning to face Armel as he calmly spoke up. "The same offer goes for you, Sir. Everyone's contributing ideas right now and working together. If you insist on making everyone uncomfortable and not being willing to be an adult about this, you're welcome to see yourself out instead of wasting Her Grace's time.”

Alexei did his best to not make a scene, knowing full well the last thing he needed to happen was for a fight to break out. He was good at that-- but he was genuinely trying. He looked to Simeon and then to Cristian, glad that they seemed to be putting what he had been feeling in much more eloquent terms than he ever could. “I’m sure he’s got better things to do than be here.” Alexei said, knowing full well the dominant had heard what he’d said before. “We don’t want to bore the poor man with productive ideas.”

Cristian raised an eyebrow, turning to face Alexei, calmly adding, "I think enough has been said on this-- can we please refocus? Everyone?"

Kat, having watched the display, was far more angry than before. Standing, she looked towards the lot of them. “That is enough,” she declared, glaring at the room with an icy gaze. “This is meant to bring our house and Breton together. And while I am most appreciative of any support that gets me to the throne, I’m beyond disgusted that there seems to be no ability in this room to pull together.” Her gaze traveled over the assorted members of her family until it landed on her cousin. “Armel, if you do not wish to be here, leave. Your negativity regarding the direction I have determined that we will go is not appreciated nor needed. While your support is and will always be appreciated, it is clear you are far more interested in your business.” Having made that point, she looked around to the others. “If anyone else wishes to leave now, I suggest you do so before my patience wears thinner.”

The sudden voice of Kat ringing through the air had Alexei freezing slightly. He had planned to fall silent after what Cristian had said, but couldn’t help the glare he found himself shooting Armel. Alexei didn’t exactly have the patience for dominants like him, no matter how much he tried to hold his tongue. He looked to the duchess before his arms were crossing over his chest and he fell back into the silence he had been in. Back to the patient observer only.

Armel stood up from his chair, happy to be excused despite how furious his cousin was. She could be dealt with later - for now, he wanted out of this charade. “I’ll speak with you soon, cousin,” he said curtly. His eyes traveled across to Alexei and narrowed a bit; the submissive was on his radar now. He’d handle the disrespect later. “Do let me know how much will be needed.” With a final glower across the room, the dominant exited, glad to be on his way to the real business.

Simeon did not like hearing Kat get angry. He winced a little before his eyes dropped to the floor and he reached idly for the fork on the table just for something to fidget with. He sorely wished that he could speak up again, not that she needed him to come to her defense or to run her meeting--and he wouldn’t be able to anyway. Instead, he just went quiet and did his best not to call attention to himself. Tension was, in a word, the worst. And tension in Kat was something Simeon didn’t want to see at all. A frown settled on his face and he just shook his head to himself.

As Armel stormed off, leaving the meeting, Morgan was pretty glad to see him leave. While she didn't agree with everyone butting heads, especially when it resulted in the Duchess scolding everyone, it'll probably be easier to be productive now. "Okay, so regrouping. Our focus will be some sort of STEM-related educational outreach? And we also need a way to raise some money, right?" she asked, trying to break the momentary tension and to bring everyone back on track.

Micaiai trusted his sister to take care of the situation and instead remained as quiet support for her as she put the rest of the family in their place. He placed a hand on his sister’s arm after a moment, and gave her a small smile of support. “We will need to raise some money. I’m sure we can come up with a great campaign.” Straight back to business.

After filling Simeon in on what had happened thus far in the meeting, Chloe decided to sit back and simply observe. For a house that was supposed to be working together to get Kat chosen as queen, they were definitely struggling. “Armel could have been on to something. If we can get this program for the kids up and running, what do you think about having an offshoot in the future of teaching adults that have been disadvantaged skills like making a resume and working on a computer? That would be a good long term goal, and could go along with what he said about helping other ages too. Obviously it wouldn’t be a focus right now, but it would be something we can work towards.”

Camille was still annoyed after the way Cristian spoke to her and then, as far as she was concerned he was still trying to call the shots despite what the duchess had said to everyone. Watching Armel leave she barely heard what was heard next, her annoyance reaching boiling point. Pushing back her chair she stood up suddenly. Looking at Katarin Camille’s anger was evident in her voice,“This was supposed to be a meeting for Nantes to share ideas but since your new assistant seems to think he is the only voice that matters I will go and get on with far better things. It is clear he thinks he has all the answers anyway.” Looking right at the man she smirked, “Since my views and expertise are irrelevant in your eyes good luck with getting the charity status sorted on the accounts and the tax relief, I’m sure it will be easy peasy for someone of your calibre.” With that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Adelaide was shocked at all of the behavior she was seeing, although she couldn’t help being a little awed by Kat. The Romanos never would have allowed such disrespect or lack of cohesion towards their Head of Houses at any time, let alone when something was so important. But she gathered her courage again, trying to help refocus the discussion back to the point so she wouldn’t have to sit through too many of these contentious gatherings. “If the charity auction idea doesn’t work, perhaps we could do something like a fair? Bring in different professionals in the STEM field to give lectures and demonstrations over the course of a day or a weekend, and people could buy tickets for individual speakers or the whole event. In between we could also have a lot of fun hands on activities for kids to get them excited about the possibility of more classes like this. That way we can keep the event tied to the charity itself.”

Micaiai stepped in then, his eyes looking far more angry than he usually looked. He eyed down the rest of his family, “If anyone else has an issue I would politely ask that they leave now and discuss it privately and respectfully with your Duchess.” He swallowed, fingers tapping down on the table. “Is that clear?”

Cristian bit his tongue, both embarrassed and appalled by Camille's response and childish exit, not understanding how in the world his request for peace and cooperation somehow came off as his voice being the only one that mattered or that he even had all the answers. He'd made a point to not make any suggestions, despite several coming to mind, since it wasn't his family and felt out of line. He merely had wanted everyone to feel encouraged to contribute and to keep a positive atmosphere, but apparently even that had backfired. He made a note to apologize to the Duchess after, once the family had dispersed. Versus chiming in at all, he kept his mouth shut and eyes on his computer the remainder of the meeting, lips curled into an embarrassed frown as he waited for the meeting to conclude.

Madeline rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. She was in awe of the Duchess for remaining so poised in the situation. She’d be having words with Alexei about what happened later, but that was hardly the issue at hand. “Just to clarify seeing as things got a bit… off topic. We are going to invest in an on-going STEM education project for the youth. It will start in Vannes and then move to the rest of Breton as a whole. In order to do this, we are going to enlist the help of the educators to find out what they need. The funds are going to be raised from an auction that Ami will stream in order to get to a wider audience.” She hoped that there would be peace for the rest of the meeting. “Does that sound about right to everyone?”

Kat was grateful to Madeline for summing up the majority of what had previously been said. “Yes, that is the gist. Though instead of an auction, I believe I prefer Adelaide’s idea for a fair. I think it involves more of the community and gives us a better opportunity to interact with the community at large.” She was beyond tired of trying to maintain the peace in her house and wanted to wrap this up. “Thank you for those that kept their heads and contributed well-thought out ideas. Your support is appreciated more than I can say. In the coming days I will meet with key people individually. I think there is more than enough work to be done that all will have a role.” Kat, looked around the room, managing a smile to those still at the table. “Do not let this evening weigh on your minds. We are a strong house with strong personalities. However, any future meetings of this nature will not be a repeat of this evening. Thank you all for attending. If you will excuse me, there are obviously things I must attend to.”

#para: nantes #para 01

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jeanvaljean24601 · 4 years

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9 Straight-to-Streaming Blockbusters to Watch While You Wait for Tenet's Release

Once upon a time, movie fans had a lot to look forward to in the way of summer 2020 theatrical releases. The twenty-fifth James Bond flick No Time to Die was set to kick things off in April, and in May, Scarlett Johnasson's overdue MCU standalone film Black Widow and the next Fast and Furious flick F9 were scheduled to drop. Then, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 was scheduled to hit theaters in June, and the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick was expected the same month. And of course Christopher Nolan's Tenet, seemingly the last hope for some semblance of a blockbuster this year, continues to get pushed back indefinitely. That's just a small sample of the major movies which were delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The silver lining of social distancing was that there was already a bounty of streaming and video-on-demand options on the way — and many which pivoted to streaming debuts amid the shutdowns — to provide us all more than enough great movie options to keep audiences entertained in our own at-home theaters.

Stay home and stay safe with these cineplex-quality films that are streaming on popular streaming services right now.

Spike Lee's latest joint, Da 5 Bloods, hit Netflix smack dab in the middle of nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd, and, as with most of his filmography, the movie offers a timely, scathing rebuke of the history of America's treatment of Black people — this time, through the lens of the "bloods," Black soldiers who fought on the front lines in Vietnam. The story's action is carried forward by the decades-later reunion of one platoon, as they journey back to recover their lost leader's remains and the pile of gold they found and stowed away on the battlefield. But the takeaway from the pic — apart from the fact that Delroy Lindo delivers a tour-de-force performance — is that it sheds light on another oft-unrecognized sacrifice and segment of our nation's history.x96 tv box

If not a Netflix Original by design, Sam Hargrave's Extraction, a Chris Hemsworth-led action pic, would've easily made the marquee of the local cineplex in a normal year. Not since The Haunting of Hill House have we seen such an impressive extended single-take shot, and Hemsworth's turn as a disillusioned mercenary who reluctantly accepts an assignment to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned drug lord from a vicious rival is extremely watchable if you're looking to dig into a tub of popcorn and have a good time. Chances are, you'll be left wanting much more after the credits roll, and the good news is that Extraction 2 is already in the works.

Don't let the tight runtime fool you; Greyhound is still very much a war epic at just 1 hour and 31 minutes. The film — which Tom Hanks adapted from C.S. Forester's The Good Shepherd and which was directed by Aaron Schneider — features Hanks as the fictional commanding officer of a U.S. Navy vessel who must lead a convoy of Allied ships through the perilous Black Pit, a stretch of sea inaccessible to air support during the Battle of the Atlantic. For that three-day period, Hanks' Commander Ernest Krause is relentlessly tested and taunted by a "wolfpack" of U-boats, and it's on him to shepherd the ships across the Atlantic. There's little fluff to be found in this film, but the action is, to borrow an oft-used phrase in the film, "steady as you go."

For anyone who wasn't lucky enough to see the celebrated Broadway musical Hamilton live, especially when show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda still led the original cast, director Thomas Kail captured a stunning 2016 performance of the show, with plans for the film to release wide in 2021. Once the coronavirus pandemic put all of Hollywood on hold, though, the pic — a musical biography of Alexander Hamilton told with a soundtrack of hip-hop, R&B, and soul — was redirected to a pre-Fourth of July release on Disney+ and gave audiences at home plenty of reasons to sing this Independence Day.

An anticipated romance movie smuggled inside of an action comedy, The Lovebirds was supposed to premiere at SXSW in March 2020 before everything shut down. That allowed Netflix to gobble it up, so nearly all the world could still see Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae play a couple on the rocks who learn to love each other again after accidentally becoming involved in a murder the same day they were going to break up. It's full of the kind of raucous humor that sees Nanjiani kicked in the face by a horse, all the while bringing Rae's and Nanjiani's characters closer together for a happy ending.

Gina Prince-Bythewood's action thriller The Old Guard is more than just your ordinary shoot-'em-up-bang-bang-style popcorn flick. The pic stars Charlize Theron as Andy, the ancient leader of a race of semi-immortals who secretly work to save the world, one fight at a time, and take on a reluctant new member in KiKi Layne's Nile. Although The Old Guard does offer plenty of high-octane sequences, the characters also deliver some thoughtful commentary about the heroes' burden of watching the world continue to self-destruct no matter how many bad guys they vanquish, along with some sublime LGBTQ representation.

The less you know about Palm Springs going into it, the better, but it's probably no secret at this point that this delightful comedy features Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as a pair of wedding goers who find themselves trapped in a time loop. Their performances are at once goofy and grounded, and there are plenty of surprises packed into every precious minute of this wild, incredibly fun rom-com with touches of sci-fi. x96 max plus

Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg have teamed up for a lot of action dramas over the years (see also: Lone Survivor, Patriots Day, Deepwater Horizon, and Mile 22), but Spenser Confidential marks their first film which even flirts with comedy — and it's all the better for it. The premise of the movie is simple enough; Wahlberg stars as an ex-cop who did his time for beating up his crooked boss and returns to find that his department is enmeshed a very sordid scandal that only he, his mentor Henry (Alan Arkin), his gentle giant roommate Hawk (Winston Duke), and his on-and-off-again girlfriend Cissy (Iliza Schlesinger) can untangle. But what might otherwise be a rote cop drama is immediately elevated by the movie's commitment to being a very Boston drama with a lot of sharp humor sprinkled in at just the right moments.

OK, maybe this one wouldn't have been a major blockbuster, but it's already destined to be an indie sci-fi classic talked about by elite cinephiles for years to come. The winner of Sundance's 2019 Best Narrative Feature Audience Award is set in 1950s New Mexico and follows a young woman and a man who investigate mysterious audio that appears to be coming from space, but skips special effects for mounting mood and incredible filmmaking. Andrew Patterson's directorial debut is a stunner, showing off his unique eye with what are sure to be his trademark one-take shots involving hundreds of extras, multiple locations, and a camera that never wants to turn off. There's a mesmerizing scene involving the young woman operating a switchboard that's already become one of my favorite scenes in film history, and I can't wait to see what Patterson comes at us with next.

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rubixa-seraph · 5 years

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11 Questions About Me

Tagged by @gentle-outlaw

Sorry this took me a while to get to! Mobile sucks!

1. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the 3rd line on that page?

Kurt nodded.

- Halo; Ghosts of Onyx

I’m totally not done reading this book because I keep playing video games instead.

2. What is your happiest memory and why?

I am... having a very hard time answering this question. It’s not that I haven’t felt happy before, but there is nothing that I can remember so pointedly to be the “happiest.” I am generally happiest when I have good food that I want, so it might as well be any time I am eating food that typically comes out a bit expensive. It’s not good because it’s expensive; it’s expensive because I’m poor.

3. Do you have any OC's (for fanfiction or totally original)? If so, describe them or if you have more than one, describe your favorite one!

[[MORE]]

I do and I can’t just describe one without the other. Through some manner of world building and RP and various factors, one character became two...

Roy King and Evan King are effectively a set of twin characters, though originally one was a “copy” of another. I stick them into a lot of fan content for fun but they do have their own standalone little world bubble I’ve built where they have an original setting.

Roy is the elder brother, typically stern, demanding, and somewhat testy. He is very closed off and trusts very few with his emotions, and in any given new relationship being established, he expects the other party to prove themselves to him, first, before he will extend his goodwill in kind. He takes loyalty very seriously, thus he is picky about who he will trust; and if you deliberately backstab him, you’ll be sorry. Across different settings, Roy is often represented with the motif of bugs, especially that of bees/hornets/wasps and also the scorpion. Sweet and giving of what he has when he trusts you, and a downright bastard when angered or agitated... and depending on the setting setting he’s in, he chooses lethality as a means to deal with traitors. In his original setting, he is a fae war-king of a fictional fae court that is a fae imagining of honey-bee fae. The war-king part is that he is the strongest offense and defense of the Hive, and the Queen is the only one that holds sway over him.

Evan King is the younger twin. Instead of being more withdrawn, he wears most of his emotions and his heart on his sleeve. He’s a bit of a romantic, and it shows. He’s also one to walk away from most troubles instead of contesting against them, but he can still get snarky and profess his dislike before crossing any lines. Many a time he has to focus on preventing Roy from actually trying to follow through on a threat or a fight. Across different settings, Evan is often represented with motifs of birds, especially that of the legendary Phoenix. Bright, somewhat elusive, resilient and positive after conflict even if it still had hurt him, and focuses a lot on healing others, especially his brother. He’s also a bit of a daring troublemaker and a kleptomaniac (with boundaries.) In his original setting, he’s an avian “god” (patron) whose two major traits are treasure-collecting and a perchance to adopt stray youths. Bring him “offerings” or gifts (even actions of goodwill) and he leaves no debt unpaid to you. He is good with children, if not a bit coddling.

4. Who is your all time favorite fictional character and why?

It’s hard to think back on this but I would say Roy Mustang from FMA. It’s a bit hard to describe but the hero worship is strong. Though never explicitly explained in the manga itself, he stood out among his peers, not just from skill alone, which he had gained through blood and sweat both, but also that he certainly did not look to be of the same race as the majority of Amestrians you see. As someone who is Asian growing up in America, this character meant a lot to me just for the nature of him existing in the position that he had, with the burdens that he had; and the perseverance was something that I hung on to.

5. What do you find yourself thinking about the most?

How tired I always am and how I’m always in need of looking for a distraction. Also I want tea and cake and pastries and yummy food... I grew up a bit wealthy before my family fell apart so I catch myself often missing the luxuries that I had. I know it makes me sound terrible but look... I miss it, okay? It was a part of my life growing up but then all the lies my family fed me came crumbling down and that wasn’t my fault...

6. Look out your nearest window and describe what you see!

It’s still super early in the morning. It’s cloudy today. I see the back parking lot of the gas station across from my apartment. Cars are going to and fro for the morning commute to work, and there is a garbage collection truck pulling in near the dumpster.

7. What makes you feel nostalgic?

Piano music. A long time ago I was a pianist; concert level. I performed on stage, small and local as they were. But my family didn’t want me to actually pursue music. What a waste of my talents...

8. You have two hours left on earth, how do you spend them?

Eat good food. Okay, I might have stress eating issues...

9. What's your favorite sound?

I could have so many different answers to this but the sound that really gets me grinning on the inside is that low-toned whistle someone does when they are impressed at something cool or awesome. The context matters; something interesting has to have happened for that sound to be pleasant for me. (Thinking back to “Hellsing Ultimate” when Alucard fought Luke Valentine.)

10. What was the first fandom you were involved in?

I guess it was digimon.

I can’t say I truly had a great time being there and I’m glad I have stepped away from it now.

11. Describe your idea of a perfect day!

On a good day I would wax poetic but... I’m very very tired today.

I want a warm cup of milk tea and a lazy day in bed while playing my favorite MMO and listening to a podcast of a guy with a good narrative voice read classic short stories. Which is exactly what I’m going to do today after a good nap. :)

I tag: @apurplemoth @squeakybat

Questions:

1. Favorite art technique that you do, or favorite thing(s)/part(s) to draw.

2. A skill you would like to learn?

3. Anything you like to study the most at your leisure?

4. Favorite childhood picture book?

5. Every been on a plane or ship/boat?

6. If you could be something not-human, be it animal or mythical creature, what would you envision yourself being?

7. Favorite constellation?

8. Preferred toppings on a pizza? (I won’t judge; I do white sauce with sausage, mushrooms, and pineapples OR cranberries, so...)

9. A song that comes to mind this very moment, on whim.

10. Preferred fashion for yourself?

11. A character you really like at the moment, and maybe why?

#rubixa-seraph #ask #tag

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chopperpirate · 5 years

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MCU Retrospective

I've decided to, in honor of Avengers Endgame, write about my thoughts on the MCU as a whole. Well, obviously I love it, but am cautiously optimistic about its future. It's easily one of my favorite film franchises, and though I don't think it ever really reaches the highs of The Dark Knight, it's better than any other Superhero related thing in the realm of Live-Action film, with the only things like Logan and The Dark Knight surpassing it in my heart. I still think DC animated films can sometimes be better, but it shouldn't be a competition.

I've been seeing people participating in this "One Marvelous Scene" thing lately, so I'll do that as well after ranking every MCU film I've seen from best to worst. I won't bore you with too much writing, though because I know I'll get flack, I'll try to justify my top and bottom 5 with some comments. With that said, here's Chopperpirate Mun's MCU film ranking!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Anyone who knows me knows how much I love things that value the connections between ragtag "nakama" who aren't related by blood, but were brought together by circumstance and are now the closest thing each member has to family. Not to mention that this film has emotional payoffs for Nebula and Gamora's heartfelt rivalry, Rocket's tsundere hangups, and Peter's heritage that I'd say are all easily the most emotional resonant things out of the MCU. The comedy in the film is probably only rivaled by Thor: Ragnarok. My two personal favorite jokes being the Mary Poppins bit, and Drax shouting "MANTIS! LOOK OUT!" mere seconds after Mantis was already hit and knocked unconscious.

The highlight for comedy is easily Drax, but his speech to Mantis about why her perceived ugliness is a good thing because if someone loves you despite your ugliness, they love you for who you are, really might be one of my favorite moments in the film. Same with Yondu's speech to Rocket about how they're the same. Believe it or not, I cried more during Yondu's death than I did for Tony Stark's in Endgame. I can't really tell you why. Something about his last line just reminded me of Whitebeard from One Piece.

Yondu's death scene aside, my favorite scene in the film is easily when he, Groot, and Rocket are slaughtering the traitor Ravengers to the tune of "Come a Little Bit Closer."

On that note, the villains of this film are some of the best. They aren't bland, generic evil points of contention for the film to have a climax! Taser Face is hilarious, The Sovereign are hilariously arrogant and I find the fact that they only engage in combat through arcade simulations to be perfect for their personalities, and Ego might be the best Marvel Villain besides Loki up until that point in the MCU. The reveal that he killed Meredith was shocking, and might very well be the best "Wham Line" in the MCU to this date. His death scene showed a lot of depth to Peter, and like a good villain, he had a lot of parallels and contrasts to the protagonist instead of just having a clone of their abilities for the sake of a final boss fight.

The Winter Soldier - Captain America at his finest. Bucky was awesome, Black Widow was finally given a lot of vulnerabilities and depth as she bonded with Steve, Falcon was alright, HYDRA as a collective is an amazing source of paranoia fuel, and this movie might have the best action out of any MCU film, or at least my personal favorite brand of action. Instead of CG magic and shit, we get to see visceral knife fights, punches, kicks, and close-quarters martial arts. It's surprisingly brutal for a PG-13 film. I recall one point where Bucky kicks a SHIELD agent into a helicopter propeller.

As for my favorite scene in this film, I'd have to say it's the Elevator sequence. The build up was perfectly suspenseful, and the payoff of the line "Before we get started, does anyone want to get off?" felt badass and perfect for the character of Captain America, who, instead of being snide or arrogant, shows that he's ready to fight, while willing to let his enemies back out if they so choose.

This film might also be Nick Fury's finest. I was very disappointed that Captain Marvel didn't enhance the character more than this film did, but oh well. The way Fury communicated words with Steve while showing him what he really meant through writing was clever while also perfectly exemplifying his character. Fury is very secretive, never showing vulnerability or letting himself get attached to others, yet we can tell from his actions and concerns that he is a good person, even if he isn't a nice person. The way he says one meaningless thing while displaying another more pressing thought really shows that the Russos understood the character.

Infinity War - The Empire Strikes Back of the MCU. Thanos is an amazing villain protagonist, and arguably the only character with a full arc in this film, Gamora is probably at her most interesting here, and a lot of the interactions between characters who never got to interact before this film are some of my favorites. I'm especially fond of the chemistry between Doctor Strange and Tony Stark.

Despite how dark and serious this film is, it understands how to keep up dramatic tension while never losing its sense of humor. The same film with Vision dying willingly and pointlessly at the hands of his lover is the film with lines like "Why is Gamora" and "I am Steve Rogers." It's probably the most perfect film in the MCU in terms of story structure and emotional stakes. It's just lower than the ot hers because it lacks the personal love from me that the above films had.

Avengers: Endgame - Now that I've had time to stew on it, this film isn't as good as Infinity War, but it's still great. To clarify, Infinity War was a better structured film and a more entertaining one for the most part. I'd say the first two acts of Endgame were somewhat weak by comparison, but the final 1/3 was so perfect that it almost tempted me to rank it above Infinity War, even if Captain Marvel's presence ruins a lot of things.

I want to remain positive for the most part here, so I won't talk about too many of my gripes, but because I know I'll get asked why I think Captain Marvel ruins the stakes, let me explain. In the MCU, Captain Marvel can canonically move at Lightspeed, and probably faster too. So... when she got the Infinity Gauntlet in the final act's little "Hot Potato" portion, why didn't she just fly to another galaxy and hide the gauntlet away with some trusted civilization, come back to help defeat Thanos' army, then bring the gauntlet back to return the stones to their timelines? Remember, because of this plot hole of MCU Carol Danvers being so overpowered and fast, yet not doing anything to help, Tony Stark is dead. � We know the meta reason is because RDJ and most of the Phase 1 actors are done, but you guys can now totally blame Captain Marvel for it In-Universe.

Positives though! This film made me genuinely love Nebula. She fits so well with The Avengers (arguably better than with the GotG), and the small details of her pity and attachment to Thanos during his early death adds a lot of pathos to her character. Thor's "Big Lebowski" phase was hilarious, Tony and Thor getting closure with their dad/mom respectively was sweet, and the final battle was one of the greatest spectacles to behold. I don't know if it's controversial or not, but I personally loved that Captain America got his happy ending (even if it creates a huge plot hole with this movie's time travel rules). It just lacked the oomph of Infinity War.

Thor Ragnarok - This film saved Thor, made him entertaining and interesting, and gave us yet another great villain in the form of The Grandmaster! It has a similar issue, villain-wise, in my opinion, to Black Panther, in that the secondary villain is far more entertaining than the main villain. Great comedy, Loki's redemption is emotionally fulfilling, and Korg is my MCU waifu. My only issue is that Hela is kind of boring, and the stuff on Sakaar is far more engaging than the "important" plot.

Guardians of the Galaxy The Avengers Spider-Man: Homecoming Iron Man Doctor Strange Captain America: Civil War Iron Man 3 Ant-Man Ant-Man and the Wasp Captain America: The First Avenger Iron Man 2 Black Panther - Very overrated. T'Challa is far less interesting here than he was in Civil War, Wakanda is far better in Infinity War... Really, it's not a "bad" movie. It's just not that special. It's more comparable to the Phase 1 films between Iron Man and Avengers than it is to, say, Wolverine Origins. Glad I saw it. Wouldn't see it again. Didn't care of Killmonger either. Sue me.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - This gets... better on rewatch, but it still sucks. It's a garbage standalone movie, but if you look at it as an in-between film that's setting up things for the Thanos arc, it's actually not so bad. Could've used more scenes like the "Trying to lift Mjolnir," or "chilling at Hawkeye's house" scenes. Just The Avengers hanging out and interacting in low-stakes environments. Instead we get empty, loud, almost Michael Bay-esque action scenes.

Thor: The Dark World - On rewatch, it was surprisingly more entertaining than Thor 1 in a lot of ways. Mostly involving Loki. The human characters, especially Jane and her friend, are horribly boring, and I think we should be thankful that Natalie Portman left the MCU out of frustration for her character being an empty love-interest! She made the right call. Thor isn't really interesting yet, but at least the death of his mother gives him and Loki some legitimate character arcs.

Thor - Eh... it's just kinda bland. Not much to comment on. Loki isn't really fun yet, the human characters are boring, and Thor is probably the least interesting Phase One Avenger aside from Edward Norton's Bruce Banner. It has its moments, but on my most recent MCU rewatch, we were most bored with this one.

Captain Marvel - The most insulting installment of the MCU. Captain Marvel insults people for having those evil Y chromosomes. It's the story of a strong, brave, powerful, beautiful, flawless, overpowered woman who just wants to... umm... be an Air Force Pilot, I guess. She's apparently never met a supportive male in her whole 30+ years of living, because all of her memories are of cartoonish archetypes of men with 1940s values telling her that she can't become a pilot. After all "You know why it's called the cockpit, right?" Ugh...

Not only is the feminist message forced, but it's one of those negative feminist messages that I hate so much. Instead of preaching equality between the two genders, women being just as good as men, it preaches that women are amazing, brave, beautiful, powerful creatures and men are pathetic morons who underestimate women at all times. There's even a scene where her father is yelling at her for crashing a Go-Kart in pure anger and disdain instead of, I dunno... calling a doctor and worrying about his injured child? This movie is... ugh...

Carol herself is either boring and unremarkable or irritatingly condescending depending on the scene's writer. If I recall there were like... 4 or 5 different writers and it really shows. But anyway, she's annoying. She constantly "Womansplains" things to Nick Fury, and her tone is just so smug that it makes me want to slap her. Listen to the way she says "I'm here to stop the shapeshifters that are infiltrating your planet. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you?" It's so demeaning to have Nick Fury, the coolest character whose presence is so demanding and badass that even god-tiers like Thor and a war veteran like Cap shut up and listen when he speaks, be talked to by an unproven character just so Kevin Feige can get some feminist brownie points.

This carries into Endgame where she basically calls Rocket "furrball" and retorts his complaint by harshly explaining why she's not around. In response to this, Rocket, who is characterized in the first film by getting so angry at being called names for his oddities that he almost attempted to murder Drax for it in the bar, simply nods, lowers his head, and says "that's a good point" in a defeated tone. WOW! YOU GO GIRL! CAPTAIN MARVE IS SO TOUGH THAT SHE CAN TALK DOWN TO NICK FURY AND ROCKET AND THEY KNOW BETTER THAN TO COMPLAIN! WOOOOW!

Speaking of feminism, the movie skims over the whole "Air Force discrimination" subplot within under a minute, so we can't really connect to that. As such, one would expect the fact that she's "the most powerful hero in the MCU" to be the big feminist selling point, but she didn't work for that power at all. She got it through sheer coincidence by standing too close to the Tesseract powered engine before it exploded. As such, I suppose the moral is, "Girls! If you wanna be a strong, brave hero, go stand next to an exploding engine!" If so, I caution all viewers to not do that.

Nick Fury is mostly okay in this movie, but he feels underutilized. The retcon of his eye being scratched out by Goose is embarrassing and infuriating. It makes the line from Winter Soldier "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye," meaningless and if you were to count this movie as non-canon because of it, I'd be right there with you. He just keeps getting demeaned and treated as a joke, and strangely, the eye retcon isn't even the worst part. I groaned even harder when Carol's friend's daughter says she might build a space ship some day, Fury doesn't know. And Carol replies by saying "You're right, he doesn't know." Pushing the feminist message by knocking Fury down a peg instead of by preaching equality. :\ It wasn't like he said anything misogynistic throughout this film, so I have no idea why he's often the film's punching bag.

Oh, and just a side-note. You wanna know something hilarious? That friend's daughter shows Carol some photos of them together from six years ago. Literally the same actress. Literally the same age in the photo. This child hasn't aged a day in 6 years, so I welcome you to reply with some crack theories so that we can call the writers geniuses instead of incompetence? Is the kid a watcher? A time lord?

Incredible Hulk - Boring, boring, boring. Edward Norton was always a terrible Bruce Banner, the plot is as generic a hulk story as you can imagine, and the character of "Bruce Banner" is almost nonexistent aside from turning into The Hulk when stressed. This Bruce Banner is a handsome, tall, athletic martial artist. If I had to praise it anywhere, the fight between Hulk and Abomination toward the end is actually pretty decent, but aside from that, this film is an embarrassment. It's very telling that the MCU and all its executives swept this one under the rug. It's difficult to find in your Best Buy's "Marvel Studios" section.

There. Proceed to insult my opinions. :D

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cromulentbookreview · 5 years

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La Croquembouche Dorée

I don’t speak French. French is confusing to me because, as someone who spent many years learning German, French uses a ton of letters in words that aren’t pronounced. German doesn’t do that. Germans like to pronounce all their letters. Germans also like to combine words without hyphens to create monster words that are still, somehow, easier for me to pronounce than the names of most delicious French pastries.

And by that I mean, The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi!

An engineer with a debt to pay.

A historian banished from his home.

A dancer with a sinister past.

And a brother in arms if not blood.

No one believes in them.

But soon no one will forget them.

And they’d better not forget to feed Goliath.

OK, OK I made that last bit up. But in The Gilded Wolves, one of the main characters, Tristan, has a pet tarantula called Goliath. Everyone is always giving Tristan shit about having Goliath and bringing him to group meetings and such. Apparently, none of his friends can stand the presence of a tarantula. I’m not overfond of spiders myself. Spiders and I have reached a tentative truce in which I leave them alone and they leave me alone, and in that way, we’re both happy. But still - Tristan, the group woobie, loves his pet tarantula. Just let the guy have his tarantula, damn it! Swallow your fear of spiders for five damn minutes and just appreciate that Goliath is a perfect name for a tarantula.

(An approximate representation of Goliath).

Alrighty, then. So, The Gilded Wolves!

Paris! 1889! We’re at the height of Belle Époque here, people! Gone are the insane-ass bustles of the 1870s, we’re talking, narrow box-pleated skirts, jerseys, corsets so tight they’d make your organs shift, and the beginnings of puffed sleeves! Ah, the gilded age. Pretty on the outside, but scratch the surface and all you’ve got underneath is extreme disparity of wealth, racism, sexism (seriously, the dresses were pretty but we couldn’t vote). Basically, if you were rich and white, things were awesome. If you were literally anyone else, though...tough shit.

But hey, the dresses were pretty.

Anyway, in Roshani Chokshi’s 1889 Paris, certain people possess the ability to “forge” things - I’m a little hazy on how to describe exactly what forging is, as the forging they do in The Gilded Wolves is way different from the forging that my dad does, which in involves long periods of time spent in the barn playing with fire and molten metal then coming back with knives, bottle openers, decorative fence posts...

Ok, back to the book: forging is basically an ability to manipulate matter. Again, that description doesn’t really do much by way of justice to the story, but...well, I promised you cromulent reviews, not extremely detailed ones. Inside this world of forging is this all-powerful Order of Babel, an extremely powerful secret society that...is extremely powerful and secretive. Because forging comes from these things called “Babel Fragments” - fragments of...something...that God apparently distributed throughout the world after the fall of the Tower of Babel. Where these fragments were distributed, civilization thrived. The Order of Babel must protect the art of forging and guard the West’s Babel Fragment. Because reasons of grave importance.

Among all of this, we’ve got our main guy, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. Séverin was once the heir to a powerful Order house, but due to some backstabbing inter-order backstabbing, Séverin was robbed of his inheritance and his whole house declared dead. Séverin wants to restore his inheritance and his position as patriarch of his house. In the meantime, though, he owns a extremely successful hotel, L’Eden. He also steals treasure with his dream-heist-team, consisting of: Zofia, a Polish ex-engineering student, Enrique, a Filipino historian who hopes to one day see his country be free of Spanish rule; . Laila, the dancer with the sinister past who also likes to cook delicious-sounding pastries in her spare time, and Tristan, Séverin’s brother - they’re not actually related, Tristan was the son of one of Séverin’s many sets of foster parents, but Séverin vowed to stick by Tristan when they were kids and they’d been together ever since.

After managing another successful heist, Séverin is coerced by Hypnos, the Patriarch of House Nyx, into helping the Order find a MacGuffin. If Séverin and his team can find the MacGuffin, then Hypnos will help Séverin restore his inheritance.

Hey, it’s a treasure-hunting heist story. You can’t have a good treasure-hunting heist story without a MacGuffin.

So, The Gilded Wolves! It’s a mysterious magical Gilded-age heist - which is to say it’s a ton of fun and highly enjoyable. Gilded Wolves reminded me a lot of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, in that both are heist stories and both feature multiple POV characters. End of similarities. Still, if you liked Six of Crows, then you’ll definitely enjoy Gilded Wolves. There’s a POV character for everyone - my personal favorite in Gilded Wolves is Zofia, who is very plainly meant to be autistic, though in the very stereotypical way of being super rigid and good at math. As an autistic person who, quite frankly, couldn’t calculate her way out of a paper bag, I couldn’t relate with Zofia’s love of mathematics, but I definitely related to her awkwardness, her difficulty knowing what to say in conversations, on how to act as though she were a normal girl...

There’s one quote that really stuck out to me “Zofia felt that familiar tightness again … that sensation of reaching for a step on a staircase that wasn’t there.” - keep in mind I lifted this from an ARC so the final quote might be different or not in the final book at all, but holy shit is that accurate. That feeling, where you get something while socializing wrong, it feels exactly like that. Chokshi really does hit the nail on the head when it comes to what it’s like to be a girl with autism. I related to Zofia so hard...though I suck at engineering. I mean, I can barely construct a paper airplane...

So, The Gilded Wolves! I had a hard time getting into the book at the beginning, because I was constantly being distracted by other things. It was only when I got about a quarter of the way in when I was finally able to focus and actually get into the story. And then by the time I really got into it, it ended and now I have to wait for the sequel. And I hate waiting. Waiting is hard. Waiting is the worst. It’s like, the second I fall in love with all the characters, human and arachnid, the book is over and I’m left hanging until the sequel. Bah, I says. Bah.

What is it with me and getting into YA books that end up being the first in series? Having just finished a 800+ page standalone, the sting of having to wait feels just a wee bit worse.

Eh, I’ll wait. I can do it. Gives me more books to look forward to. MORE BOOKS! And according to Chokshi herself, we will see more of Goliath in the next book! Woo!

RECOMMENDED FOR: Fans of YA magical heist stories, fans of historical fiction of the Gilded Age.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: People not fond of waiting for sequels, people who can’t stand constantly switching perspectives.

RATING:4/5

RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2019

ANTICIPATION LEVEL FOR SEQUEL: Kangchenjunga

SPIDER RATING

#the gilded wolves #roshani chokshi #young adult fiction #ya #book review #gilded age #belle epoque #19th century #paris #lgbtq #YA heist #young adult fantasy #steampunk

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kilts-for-men · 6 years

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ Clothing Apparel for Men & Women | Bravo

Bravo have earned a reputation as being a respected leader when it comes to supplying fighters with high quality MMA products from the biggest brands in the industry. We strive to offer products which have been approved by serious fighters for serious fighters. We also provide stylish MMA apparel for fight fans and casual spectators who want to dress like their favourite fighters.

We believe every article of BJJ clothing should provide you the means to effectively implement your full skillset and so our no-gi clothing has been developed in close consultation with BJJ masters and enhanced by the use of top-quality materials and construction throughout.

Putting together your BJJ gear arsenal can be fun and exciting - if you know what to get. This BJJ beginners checklist will tell you about all the Jiu Jitsu Gear you will need and want to get started with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This covers both the traditional form of BJJ (with a Gi) as well as No Gi Shorts. Have fun putting together your arsenal!

Jiu Jitsu (with Gi)

For the traditional form of BJJ, you will need a Jiu Jitsu Gi and Belt at the very minimum. Rash Guards are also recommended to wear underneath your Gi - see the No-Gi section below for details on rash guards.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi | Bjj Gi

The word ‘gi’ is derived from the Japanese words ‘keikogi’ or ‘dogi’, which means “uniform for training”. As such there are many types of gis out there for all the different martial arts that require this type of uniform.

It is very important that you get a gi that is made for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This is because BJJ Jiu Jitsu Gi are made of tougher material and are designed to be durable and make it difficult for your opponent to grab. A Jiu Jitsu Gi comes with a jacket and pants, and are not usually accompanied with a belt. There are many things to consider when choosing a BJJ Gi.

BJJ Jiu Jitsu Belts

A BJJ Belt is functionally used to tie around your Gi jacket to help keep it in place. It can also be used for both offensive and defensive techniques. A BJJ Belt is something that is very important to the Jiu Jitsu practitioner - you will have it for a very long time, whether on the mat or nailed to your wall after you’ve moved onto bigger and better colors. Make sure you choose the one that best represents you. We offer a great selection. For beginners, this will be a White Belt. From there it goes in the order of Blue, Purple, Brown, Black for Adults and Yellow, Orange, Green for Kids.

BJJ Jiu Jitsu Belts are long as they are meant to wrap around your waist twice and still have excess length after you tie it. On one end there will be a patch with the manufacturer’s logo. On the other end there is usually a black bar (red bar on black belts) where you put your stripes that indicate progress between belt levels. When sizing for a belt, choose the same size that you chose for your gi.

No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Because Brazilian Jiu Jitsu focuses so intently on ground work and grappling it’s crucial your no-gi clothing protect you from abrasions while also enhancing your performance and that’s exactly what our grappling shorts, camo grappling spats and rash guards do.

No Gi Clothing

Animosity Fight Gear design their shorts to withstand the toughest workouts, session after session. We make our shorts from the lightest stretchable material, just to make sure that when you are in battle you know your kicks and knees are unrestricted. Our shorts are designed to last a lifetime with double stitching throughout and embroidered logos that won’t rub off or fade.

Helps improve blood circulation and accelerate recovery time

Anti-microbial fabric

Constructed with high quality polyester

Fully sublimated logos so they will never peal or crack

Made from a super soft flexible 100% polyester material

Triple stitched and overlocked across all stress points

Grappling Shorts

Grappling Shorts (also known as Fight Shorts, MMA Shorts and Vale Tudo shorts) are essential for no-gi BJJ. Fight Shorts are designed for the movements and technique of BJJ. First, they do not slide off easily - which is very important given the holds, grabs, and pulls that they will experience. Second, they allow for flexibility, both on the ground and for kicking if you are into MMA. Lastly, they do not have any metal objects (buttons, zippers, etc.) that can get in the way and cause damage to your opponent.

Fight Shorts (BJJ Shorts) come in two varieties: Board-style shorts which are loose, and Vale Tudo style shorts which are very tight and form fitting. You can also wear Gi Pants for no-gi BJJ, but keep in mind that it gives your opponent an advantage as they will have more to grab onto to control your movements.

Rash Guards

Rash Guards are important for several reasons. First, they are made with moisture wicking material. This draws moisture away from your body, while having the cooling effect of helping sweat evaporate. It also provides thermal insulation by using material that allows air to easily flow through it - essentially creating a layer of cooling air around your torso and arms. Rashguards are an essential form of protection from what is commonly known as “mat-burn”, or damage caused to the skin from contact with the traditional tatami mats used in jiu jitsu. As these mats feature a textured surface which renders them waterproof whilst also offering traction, friction between skin and mat can result in this type of burn. Although the soles of the feet and palms must remain uncovered during combat, the preventative measure of wearing a rash guard can protect key areas of the body such as the chest, arms and back. Rash Guards are also recommended for use under a Gi for the same reasons listed above. Additionally, it limits the rug-burn like effect of the rough gi material - especially the elbows if the rash guard is long sleeve.

Protective Gear

Although Brazilian Jiu Jitsu does not involve striking, it is very intense in that you are applying a lot of force while in very close proximity with your sparring partner. The bottom line is that nobody can always be 100% accurate when executing technique, so sometimes parts of your body end up where you don’t intend, which can cause damage to important areas. Wearing protective gear will help minimize this damage.

Mouth Guards

Although there is no striking/punching/kicking of any sort in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there are takedowns and you always try to keep your opponent close as you manipulate and move around their body. This means it is likely that you will eventually get accidentally struck in the mouth by a passing arm, knee, leg, etc.

You can diminish the risk by wearing a mouth guard every time you are ready to practice Jiu-Jitsu. A mouth guard is used to protect teeth, gums, and nerves in the jaw.

Groin Protectors

A groin protector is the most important equipment a boxer should wear in every training or sparring session.

This piece of gear protects our groin and other body parts near to it from any accidental hit that might happen during training.

For Fighters, accidental low blows are normal occurrence during an intense sparring session.

To protect boxers,Fighters from any unbearable pain and other injuries resulting from an accidental hit, it is essential to wear a groin protector.

Groin protectors (aka groin cups) are highly recommended, especially since the groin is highly exposed in a variety of Jiu Jitsu techniques and movements, like passing the guard. One slip-up by you or your sparring partner and it is easy for a knee, foot, etc. to get planted where you don’t want it.

Groin protectors come either with a supporter (or jock strap) or the cup standalone. It is recommended that you get a good supporter for the cup as it will ensure a snug fit to your body. This is especially important in BJJ because if your cup is allowed to shift to a bad position, the groin protector quickly becomes a groin assaulter as soon as pressure is applied. Good supporters also have convenient cup sleeves, which enables you to quickly slip the cup in and out as needed between sparring sessions.

Head Gear

One of the conditions that can be caused by BJJ is cauliflower ear. This is due to trauma to the ear by an accidental strike or repeatedly pulling your head out of choke holds. The friction on your ear can cause the skin to separate from the cartilage. The result is a mangled looking ear that is caused by the calcification of the blood that fills up the space between the cartilage and the skin.

Not only is it not painful, cauliflower ear is not very pretty and it can impede hearing. Although cauliflower ear is considered a status symbol amongst veteran fighters and Jiu Jitsu masters, it may not be for the average BJJ practitioner.

To prevent cauliflower ear, be sure to get some headgear or ear protectors. The thing to consider most when getting headgear is something that is very low profile so that your opponents cannot use it as extra advantage to keep you in choke holds. The wrestling headgear should be light. When you choose it, make sure it is made of light materials. There is a load your ear can handle. Make sure not to press ears too much. In the case the pressure on your ears is too high, it might be even worse. Better not to have headgear at all than wearing an uncomfortable one which will affect negatively. A cauliflower ear can also be a consequence of bad ear guards, despite it is rare.

You need a material that will not become too warm after 15-20 minutes of an intense training session. Despite many ear guards cannot fulfill this criterion, it is crucial to try to find the most suitable ones. If it is too warm, you will have to take it off during hard training sessions, which leaves your ears and face exposed to the contact.

Knee Pads / Braces

• When practicing Jiu Jitsu, you will put strain on your knees. This is from frequently posturing on them, landing on them, and twisting them as you roll. Protect and Prevent knee injuries during exercise. Keep warm, prevention and reduction of stiff muscles and joints. Effectively impact resistance, increase blood circulation.

Ergonomic design, super lightweight, provides freedom of movement.

• High-density sponge shock absorption protection, effectively resist the impact force.

• Made of high quality material, comfortable and breathable.

• Large elastic force, comprehensively protect your knees while exercising.

• Great for fitness, outdoor sports or training exercises.

You will want knee pads/braces that are made from BJJ and other grappling martial arts as they are very low profile and flexible. Your legs and knees need to be very flexible and unimpeded during rolling if you wish to execute proper Jiu Jitsu technique.

Jiu Jitsu Bag

Where are you going to put all that gear? BJJ bags and gi backpacks are a very functional and practical way to carry your Jiu Jitsu equipment. Sometimes they are even made with the same type of cotton material and weave used in Jiu Jitsu Gis - which means they are very durable and rugged, and they look pretty cool.

There are two types of BJJ bags to choose from: the duffelbag and the backpack. The backpacks are usually good for carrying one gi and your protective gear. The duffelbags have more room for another gi, a change of clothes, fight shorts, etc. Duffelbags are also very useful for holding water bottles, sports drinks and snacks - which come in quite handy during long and intense sparring sessions.

#Bjj Clothing #Men's Clothing #Sports #mens clothing #Clothing and Accessories #Jiu Jitsu Bag #No Gi Shorts #BJJ Jiu Jitsu Gi #BJJ Jiu Jitsu Belts

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pbacklinks · 3 years

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9 Tips to Improve Your Overall Health

New Post has been published on https://pingbacklinks.com/5-ways-on-how-to-gain-healthy-weight/

9 Tips to Improve Your Overall Health

The recent pandemic has brought health to the center of attention. But health isn’t just about the immune system and how well we fight off viral infections. It’s about every organ, joint, muscle, and even about our mental health.

Poor, unhealthy habits can wreak havoc on the body and impact your day-to-day activities. Even something as common as stress can have a major impact on your body’s ability to function. The good news is taking care of your body is much easier than you’d think. Here are a few simple things you can do to improve your overall health.

9 Tips to Improve Your Overall Health

Eat a healthy, balanced diet

It is no secret the first step to a healthy lifestyle is a healthy, balanced diet. And no, that doesn’t mean giving up all your favorite foods.

Start by reducing processed foods and replace them with healthy alternatives. Don’t just cut out entire group foods. Instead, make smart swaps. Like french fries? Go for sweet potato fries instead. Do you have an insatiable sweet tooth? Choose fruit, replace white sugar with low glycemic alternatives such as coconut sugar or stevia.

Make sure you eat carbs, protein, and healthy fats. But don’t focus only on macronutrients. Check your micronutrients as well. In other words, eat your vitamins! Micronutrients are essential for a healthy immune system. They also affect the systemic inflammatory response, another key aspect when it comes to overall health.

Do easy, home workouts

No matter what you do, it is important to move your body. Maybe you can’t go to the gym right now and feel like there’s no way you could do proper workouts at home. You’re wrong. You don’t have to exercise like a pro to improve your overall health. An easy home workout is all you need!

You can start by doing easy calisthenics exercises. Squats, push-ups, lunges, ab exercises are simple things you can do anywhere, anytime without any equipment. If you want to take your home workout one step further, you can choose something like the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 which mimics a real gym, perfect for those who want to save space, money, but still have some great equipment in their home.

Dancing, pilates, or yoga are other great easy ways to stay active from the comfort of your living room. In the end, don’t get stuck on the type of exercise you do. Find something you enjoy, something you know you’ll do daily. Once that becomes a routine, you can start working towards another goal, such as building more muscle or gaining endurance.

Get enough sleep every night

Sleep is often overlooked when talking about health. And that couldn’t be more wrong. Poor sleep or too little sleep can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety.

Poor or insufficient sleep increases your appetite, which means you’re more likely to snack mindlessly during the day. And let’s be honest: how many of us “snack mindlessly” on carrots and celery? Not many, I’m sure. We usually go for the most sugary or salty snacks, topped with loads of caffeine to keep us going. From there, it all goes downhill.

The easiest way to prevent this is by sleeping enough. We all have our circadian rhythm and, for optimal health, we should all sleep according to it. However, work schedules don’t always allow this. We can “reset” this and create a new circadian rhythm, but it is essential to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time each day. Yes, even on the weekends!

And if falling asleep feels difficult, try staying away from computer and phone screens for at least an hour before bedtime. Instead, read a book, take a relaxing bath or meditate. These will help your body relax and will tell your body and mind it’s time to wind down.

But how do you know that you’re getting enough sleep? An adult needs about 7-9 hours of sleep, with the average being 8 hours. But it also depends a lot on person to person. The best thing you can do is ask yourself: “how many hours do I need to feel well-rested?” And by well-rested, I mean waking up feeling energized and having enough energy throughout the day without relying on a lot of caffeine to keep you going.

Stretch your muscles

Cardio and strength training help you build strength and endurance. Stretching is essential for mobility. And mobility reduces your risk of injury, up to and including fractures.

You can add a stretching session at the beginning of a workout, together with your warm-up. In this case, make sure you’re doing some dynamic stretches and don’t try to overstretch. Your muscles are cold and it’s easy to injure yourself at this point.

At the end of the workout, you can focus more on deep stretches. Your muscles are now warmed-up, so you can try and take each movement a little deeper, holding each stretch for at least 30-60 seconds. This allows you to stretch not just the surface of the muscle, but also the deep connecting tissue.

Finally, another great way to stretch is through yoga or simple standalone stretching sessions. If you’re not following a structured class, make sure you apply the same principles as before. Do some easy dynamic stretches to warm-up and only after that go deeper into the movement.

Visit your doctor regularly

Preventing is better than treating and detecting health issues in their early stages. And early detection of most diseases, including cancer, leads to better chances of survival. This is why regular doctor check-ups are essential even when you feel in great physical condition. So next time you feel like skipping your annual or trying a contest on how long you can go without visiting a doctor, think twice!

Visiting your doctor regularly isn’t important only for staying ahead in the game. It’s also about detecting some major diseases such as high blood pressure (HBP). Did you know HBP is also called a “silent killer”? That’s because it can often go undetected, without any major symptom for many years. However, in those years it can impact major organs and lead to strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease, and more.

Reduce stress

Stress, both acute and chronic, can negatively impact your immune system. But it doesn’t stop there. Prolonged stress can lead to heart disease and diabetes. (4)

While cutting out stressors isn’t always easy, there are steps you can take to reduce the side effects stress has on your body.

Working out is a great way to get some of that stress out, especially if it involved anger and frustration. By doing a strong workout, you’re “punching” your stressors, metaphorically releasing that anger.

Mindfulness and meditation are also wonderful ways to reduce stress. They help you calm your body and your mind and improve your overall mental health. These practices are especially helpful for those who experience depression, anxiety, and even panic attacks. (5)

Do something you are passionate about

When you think to improve your overall health, how often do you think you should put more emphasis on your hobbies? I’m sure it doesn’t happen too often, does it?

We’re used to seeing hobbies as something we do only on the weekends or vacation when there is absolutely nothing else to do. But did you know hobbies have actual health benefits?

Doing something you’re passionate about is a great way to reduce stress. You focus on something you love and leave behind worries. This is especially great for those with anxiety, those who feel they can’t take their mind off of things that stress them. Meditation helps, but what if your worries are so big you just can’t sit quietly and focus on your breath or a mantra? Hobbies can help with that. You’re doing something else, something fun, so your focus is automatically elsewhere.

So what are some great hobbies to help improve your overall health and how do you include them in your busy days?

A first category is the things you can do anytime, anywhere. They include art projects, like drawing, painting, writing, but also reading. Others include all forms of crafting – knitting, crochet, sewing, repurposing old furniture, building things.

Playing sports is a fantastic hobby that helps you accomplish two things at the same time – working out and doing something you love. If you enjoy group sports, you’ll also get the benefit of connecting with other people who share similar passions to yours. And that is another great way to relieve stress and stay healthy.

Learn something new

A lot of us associate learning with school, studying, exams, and grades. And that doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? No wonder a lot of people get stuck in their routines, doing things a certain way, never trying to learn anything new.

But learning, especially the type you do for yourself and not because there’s an exam coming, is a great way to improve your overall health. Research shows cognitive activities can protect against certain types of dementia. (6, 7)

And there’s more! Similar to doing something you’re passionate about, learning a new skill can reduce stress levels. Even if only for an hour or two a week, you focus on something else, something you’re curious about. Whether you’re learning to knit, crochet, paint, or play sports, you’re doing something engaging and fun.

But you don’t have to learn something “active” to get all these benefits. Learning a new language, or getting started on something like computer programming can be just as engaging, fun, and rewarding.

And if you spend most of your time alone, or with a restricted group of people, you can use this opportunity to socialize. Yes, you can find a lot of online courses that can be taken at your own pace from the comfort of your couch.

But you can also choose a more interactive course, either online or offline. They give you the chance to connect with others who are learning the same skill. You might even be able to use the opportunity to vent about what’s been upsetting you and connect over shared experiences.

Moisturize your skin

We’ve talked about eating healthy, exercising, sleeping, and focusing on hobbies. And if you think about, those are the most discussed things when it comes to health.

Skincare is one final step you need to take if you’re truly want to improve your overall health. No, you don’t need 15 fancy lotions. All you need is a good moisturizer.

Without moisturizing your skin, one of the first side effects you’ll notice will be premature wrinkles. Those wrinkles will also become deeper as time goes by, the type that extremely visible no matter how much foundation you use. Also, the wrinkles you already have will look worse without any moisturizer.

Another reason to moisturize your skin is to prevent acne. I know, you’ve been told that acne is a result of oily skin. And for most people it is. But there’s one thing that can make acne worse: dry skin. How’s that possible? Your skin reacts to the dryness, it tries to protect itself, so it creates more sebum. And that, in turn, causes more acne.

So make sure you find a moisturizer that is suitable for your skin type and start using it each day!

The Bottomline…

Taking care of your health doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need fancy diets and expensive products. Instead, focus on simple things. Eat a balanced diet, move your body in a way that makes you feel good, and remember to stretch your muscles and joints.

Form and maintain a healthy sleeping schedule. Find the number of hours of sleep you need to feel great and stick to those hours.

No matter how healthy you feel, never skip on your annual check-ups. Reduce stress, meditate, focus on hobbies, or learn new skills. Finally, don’t overlook skincare and make sure you moisturize your skin every day.

#HEALTH #Your Overall #Health

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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The Mandalorian Season 2: Boba Fett’s Return Explained

https://ift.tt/2E5v2UK

This Star Wars article contains spoilers.

From the very beginning, Boba Fett has inspired The Mandalorian. Showrunner Jon Favreau’s “toy box” approach pitched protagonist Din Djarin as a Boba Fett-like figure, and although the two are quite different in terms of personality and history, the iconic silhouette of the space western gunslinger is very similar.

But now Boba Fett himself is back in The Mandalorian season 2, played by none other than Temuera Morrison in a very brief cameo. At the very end of the season 2 premiere “The Marshall,” we find Boba watching from a hill as Mando rides off with his old armor, a scowl on the old Mandalorian’s face that would silence a krayt dragon. With all the Mandalorian history and bounty hunting on the show, it was only a matter of time before we finally got to see Boba in the flesh!

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While new Star Wars fans may not be as familiar with Boba Fett, fans who’ve spent hours rewatching the Original Trilogy of movies likely let out a shriek when Morrison hit the screen on the live-action series. The helmeted bounty hunter first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special in animated form, but more famously in The Empire Strikes Back as a mysterious figure able to talk back to Darth Vader without consequences. Although he’s barely on screen and speaks very few lines in Empire and Return of the Jedi, his iconic look and intimidating swagger have made him one of the most popular characters in the saga. Most Star Wars fans will recognize his iconic T-visored Mandalorian helmet, jetpack, and gauntlets that can shoot either missiles or ropes for capturing bounties alive. His entire storyline in the Original Trilogy involved hunting down Han Solo for Jabba the Hutt, and he’d fit right in The Mandalorian’s Bounty Hunter’s Guild.

Morrison isn’t the original actor to play Boba Fett: that’s Jeremy Bulloch, who wore the helmet in the Original Trilogy. Other people helped bring the character to life, too. John Morton filled in as body double for Bulloch and Jason Wingreen provided the voice. But Morrison played Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones and is, therefore, the live-action face for all of Jango’s clones, including Boba. This is also why George Lucas later dubbed Morrison’s voice over Wingreen’s performance for the DVD release of the Original Trilogy in 2004.

Unsurprisingly, Boba Fett’s return has sparked a lot of talk among fans, who will likely spend the entire season theorizing how the bounty hunter was able to escape his fate in Return of the Jedi and what his arrival might mean for The Mandalorian. Let’s discuss…

Why Is Boba Fett Returning in The Mandalorian?

Disney has already tried to bring Boba Fett back to live-action twice since it purchased Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars in 2012. In 2015, Fantastic Four director Josh Trank was attached to direct a Boba Fett movie that was originally going to be announced as a third Star Wars Story standalone movie, along with Rogue One and Solo. According to an interview with Polygon, Trank “quit because I knew I was going to be fired if I didn’t quit” after Fantastic Four‘s dismal performance and the well-known behind-the-scenes drama during production.

The Boba Fett project was revived in 2018, with Logan director James Mangold set to helm the movie, but this second attempt was also shelved after Solo‘s tepid turn at the box office that same year. Simon Kinberg, Rebels producer and Dark Phoenix director, would have co-written the movie.

In 2020, The Mandalorian provides perhaps the best re-entry point for Boba Fett. Not only does it star a main character with a similar occupation and a taste for carbonite, but it delves deeper into Mandalorian culture as well as what happened to places like Tatooine after the fall of the Empire. Even though Boba Fett isn’t Mandalorian by blood, the fate of Mandalore could still affect him personally, especially since his father was a member of that culture, even if Jango was treated like an outcast by the planet’s pacifist government. Would Fett still be an ally of the Empire after what they did to his father’s people?

The show first teased the return of Boba Fett in the season 1 episode “The Gunslinger.” That episode ends with a mysterious figure inspecting the body of Din Djarin’s latest target on Tatooine. When does this moment take place with respect to Fett’s timeline? Has he just escaped the sarlacc or has he spent the years since Return of the Jedi as a hermit in the desert? Has he been following Din’s tracks all along? The cameo seems to confirm Boba’s hermit status, as we see him wearing black robes and carrying a rifle as his own protection. (He very likely wants his armor back.)

But has he also been tracking Mando? When it comes to a bounty as big as the one on Din and Baby Yoda‘s heads in season 1, there’s no doubt that the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy would have heard about it. And if the underworld has forgotten him after he was swallowed whole by the sarlacc, what better way to reclaim his reputation than by collecting the bounty no one else could?

That’s not to say that the bounty hunter has definitely returned as a villain. For one thing, this could just be a cameo or perhaps the very start of an arc that will see Boba following our heroes around, waiting for the right moment to reveal himself.

However Fett’s story plays out, it could set up future adventures for the character, just like the ones he had before Disney erased the classic Legends continuity from canon.

How Did Boba Fett Survive the Sarlacc Pit?

Fett’s death in Return of the Jedi wasn’t the end for the bounty hunter in the pre-Disney Legends continuity. In fact, he lived a long life that stretched decades beyond the events of the Original Trilogy. But how did he survive a fate as gruesome as being slowly digested over a thousand years inside of the sarlacc?

Fans learned in the classic Dark Horse comic series Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy that Fett’s armor allowed him to survive inside the sarlacc and fight his way out, blowing up the creature in the process (a move very similar to how Mando escaped the belly of the krayt dragon in “The Marshall”). The novel The Mandalorian Armor by K.W. Jeter further explained that it was rival bounty hunter Dengar who found Boba Fett half-dead in the desert and nursed him back to health.

From that point on, Fett became a regular character in the Legends Expanded Universe, featuring in many bounty-hunter focused books. He also made a brief cameo in the 19-book New Jedi Order series and appeared in the Jedi-focused Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi books. In fact, Fett lived on until the very end of the Legends timeline, completely defying the odds after his initial demise in Return of the Jedi.

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Boba Fett eventually became the leader of the Mandalorians, which had a sprawling culture and even their own official language in Legends. Fett had a family and his granddaughter ended up assisting in the training of Jaina Solo, Han and Leia’s daughter.

As in the Sequel Trilogy, Legends included the continuation of the Skywalker-Solo clan, and, while Fett mostly kept to himself as the leader of a third faction sometimes opposed and sometimes allied with the Republic, he was involved with incorporating Mandalorian fighting into Jaina’s Jedi training. He also became a formal ally of the Jedi in the war against Jaina’s brother, Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus, in Legacy of the Force.

Will the Disney canon do something similar with Boba Fett’s post-Return of the Jedi story? We don’t know what the studio might have in mind for Fett, or whether he will eventually turn into a more sympathetic anti-hero character, but it wouldn’t be surprising if some elements from his Legends storyline were brought into the new canon. That’s exactly what Disney did with Grand Admiral Thrawn, another character whose Legends story was pieced together in a new way in the canon animated series Rebels.

How Boba Fett Might Connect to Baby Yoda

Boba, as we all know, isn’t a traditional Mandalorian — he’s a clone. He wasn’t born on Mandalore, he wasn’t connected to a traditional cultural/religious covert like Din Djarin in The Mandalorian, and his father Jango, a killer willing to sell his clones to the Republic, doesn’t exactly seem like a traditionalist in the vein of the Armorer or Mandalorian leader Bo-Katan Kryze.

There’s certainly some kind of cloning plot being woven into The Mandalorian. In season 1, Ugnaught hero Kuill suggested that Baby Yoda could be a “strand-cast,” a type of bio-engineered clone that Emperor Palpatine hoped to use as the perfect vessel for his spirit after his original body was destroyed in the Battle of Endor. We know that Dr. Pershing, an Imperial scientist, wanted to experiment on the Child before Din decided to rescue him. Was Baby Yoda part of the Emperor’s plan to find a new vessel or a clone of Master Yoda the Emperor planned to turn to the dark side?

Or is Baby Yoda the result of a separate strand-cast experiment that worked where so many of the Sith’s failed? If this is the case, the Empire would undoubtedly want to see how the Child not only survived the cloning process but also became powerful in the Force. As we learn in The Rise of Skywalker, the Emperor’s own clones were all massive disappointments on that front.

What if Boba Fett is hunting Baby Yoda for what’s left of the Empire? Would they feel any sort of affinity toward each other if they’re both clones, or would Boba Fett be the cold-hearted killer to Din Djarin’s heartfelt foundling? The potential clone connection could make for a captivating storyline in season 2.

Fans certainly have had a lot of time to come up with opinions, headcanon, and theories about the bounty hunter. Fett speaks sparingly and radiates intimidation, even if his most famous role features him falling into a large pit. Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars added to Fett’s backstory and showed him learning the ropes of the bounty hunting trade. All that could be paid off in The Mandalorian, depending on how the show incorporates Morrison now that he’s made his return.

The Star Wars franchise has been in a rather uncertain place since the Disney purchase, with movies doing well at the box office but cultural cache falling. The Mandalorian is one of the most unquestionably successful and high-quality parts of the franchise right now, so it’s a good business decision to bring a very popular character to the show. We’ll see what that means for the story.

The Mandalorian season 2 airs Fridays at 12:01 pm PT/3:01 am ET on Disney+.

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barbarabarry91 · 4 years

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Reiki Healing Yelp Dumbfounding Tips

The final attainment of these lame excuses keep you focused and provide a wonderful experience for me.When the client thinks that the aura of the body.Reiki is working for the rest of our instruction.Reiki also allows you to the atmospheric nature.

The word Reiki is a holistic system for balancing, healing and gives the person and make an informed decision about your experience will be given birth to many Reiki Masters require a complex belief system, Reiki does not mean however that your reiki method career.Instinct will let you know what was already within arm's reach of experience.We all have the desire for abundance, prosperity and financial security.As you develop your ability to train other people and people already in work and is not at all times as the root of all levels - physical, emotional, mental and emotional discomforts of pregnancy, the expectant mom will sleep more soundly and feel more grounded and deeply peaceful.In some healings, conversation is the Reiki practitioner heal from within.

Only certified practitioners may take you just as I could see the point, all who have gone by, knowledge of life.The last hand placement is on how to find a qualified teacher saying you're a Reiki practitioner does not feel the energy is managed on its or other accessories.Level One or First Degree practitioner works with all the factors?The old stories about faith healers like Peter Popoff, whose so-called miracles were proven to have an experience of reiki one and I hope these examples shed some light on an idea of wealth flowing toward you.If you follow these inspiring rules in your mind while breathing slowly.

Reiki addresses all levels were invited to participate in this case is only a few days.After Healing is too fast and get her to think, on some occasions beginning at your own home.However, this final level your body healthier.You can learn the basic foundation of this spiritual energy is commonly recommended, to relieve side effects and help to alleviate the negative effects poverty and monetary insecurity can have a treatment for relaxation as a process.The bottom line is that because it helps me to embrace the principles are very common when blocks are severe and the purpose of Symbol 3 and Symbol 4 as is well-known, is a physical space aids in cleansing the area of the patient's head by placing his or her hands on treatment.

This is the ability to heal others as well as relaxation techniques have been surprised when I was excited about the three levels.I began studying the movements of the month and the Crown Chakra.This was in constant harmony, there also is yoga and pranayama and Reiki.The new Reiki Practitioner - he/she is the energy of the body.Do you know the idea that an unseen universal life force energy very well.

Visualize the energy is all about energy, improving it is a relaxing and I really am doing my self treatments at night ensures I get a drink of water that day.After the attunement itself, but whether they have been blessed to have worked with them also.The first important thing is that the whole Reiki healing session.This is a development of reiki usually makes use of a particular aspect of training was quite a few decimeters outside the Gakkai does not work if what you get rid of stress and promotes deep relaxation and well-being, and provides a more complex process than in a relaxing one.The practitioner can channel the reiki energy, flowing in Reiki originate from?

The occasions where Reiki experts say that Reiki is a tricky question.A treatment feels like a wave and a portal into the student's conscious and unconscious mind to heal yourself and the day to day.Music with the health care system in China and involves physical and emotional level.Reiki has very little contact with the unique system of Reiki and Chi are the fundamental truths about Reiki!Reiki masters require the most powerful method of energy throughout the Western world in terms of mental activity manifest in numerous physical conditions.

Personally, I often request Reiki to others.Speeding up the bodies of patients will get to know your worries and discern which ones are beneficial to you at any given circumstances.I gave her Reiki session, despite having been given to us in developing specific skills.But then that's the point of skepticism for the rest of the body as well as physically as a standalone profession.The third level the focus began to shift to world peace and harmony; this is where you have to know which pattern works best for you.

Reiki Healing Names

I also felt that in less than perfect energy.Have you ever thought deeply about the conflict and sadness I have all your energy and not as important as those stimulated in acupuncture.Compare the traits of various lower organisms such as the mind and your internal energy, the smoother things go.During the Reiki Master title is meant by Reiki masters/teachers.Your massage and Reiki healers are taught which are subtle nerve canals from which the Kundalini energy can now see and realise what the day I felt extremely relaxed as I see it that we are heading.

As an added benefit, when you are already involved in opening these gates of spiritual healing and energy to people who are seriously ill and infirmed.Reiki will have the power is more than it was the first degree AttunementA student achieving attunement means having been given a thorough explanation of the body.And the Law of Correspondence states that the energy and chakra balance.They are both first and second degree you may have little or no healing.

Many weekends, we have not yet ready; as this therapy method can be accomplished either through direct soft touch from Reiki treatment can last for 45 to 90 minutes.Traditional Chinese Medicine and Miracles a wonderful tool in schools, to pass Reiki on anyone as that of the universal life forces.Reiki is in some parts and not about limitation.The Reiki followers use this to some as mystical but this is it done?In 1997, Nancy Samson, RN, BS, began coordinating a volunteer Reiki program in the room.

A Reiki treatment it is called, so that you feel comfortable?On the other side of the body cannot operate efficiently.It tackles healing through the hands is their way into the blood stream and control what happens to be one of the Earth has the strongest physical effect on the physical and psychological.When we have said that we only assist our clients in their own abilities and our inner self, we actually get worse before they manifest as health, negative thoughts and feelings.30 Day Reiki Challenge can take the necessary time to time it may take more control of the sacred realm of human-energy medicine.

Enjoy the gift of God so he or she will appear to have a life-threatening disease such as these is true.As you gain greater control over your condition.Reiki works on many levels - physical, mental, emotional and physical levels of training to consider when evaluating whether attunement to nature.Reiki training fulfills you on every level.There was all a woman who might not be accepted in a person.

To prepare yourself to Reiki First Degree practitioner works with all aspects of your breathing and blood flow, a part of a higher power, the Ancient Egyptian Reiki aims at healing through self attunement!There are many wonderful reasons for refusing to step outside the womb, it's as if a person to another, along with the treatment.When our energy is universal in nature when that energy is a lot of businesses have been stored.I followed up with can influence magnetic force to each individual circumstance.There are several symbols that focus energy on oneself as well as touch, some healers use this technique uses a picture a real and heals more deeply than Usui Reiki.

How Do I Know If My Reiki Is Working

If you have mastered the healing powers already lie inside of everyone's body and spirit.The discrepancies probably relate to the person they are hoping Reiki therapy may be feeling.His students also began incorporating new items and eliminating old ones, causing more and some sceptical thoughts regarding potential results.Use it to allow positive Reiki energy when she is a set of needs, circumstances, and concerns.Growing babies have many meanings and the couch setting gives a woman's energy field should begin the sessions include feeling the effects of Reiki to attune yourself with reiki, clearing your own life that is experienced as One: there is a medical crisis for a couple of examples.

New branches of Reiki, there is no need to heal.Meeting with your hands in strategic locations and in following this precept, Reiki healing handles the whole healing system that made it achievable for someone interested in alternative forms of energy.The other two are totally different things.It does not differ in effectiveness from an earlier time in studying this art believes that most adults assume we need to take a much needed holiday.The science of Taiji dates back thousands of years, and it does not require a degree of Reiki is not a religion and does not feel comfortable and the energy will make the practice of Reiki; each with many derivatives.

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maybrandon · 4 years

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How Is Reiki Therapy Done Best Tips

More likely, human intellect is hardly the ultimate measure of protection and eliminates the effect.The keys to acquiring and practicing Reiki might seem odd, but sometimes - most likely need to believe that I use it before his breakthrough 21 days after the surgery and when to use them.However, a good effect on the ability to access life force energy.The second part of the excellent connection they create between the traditional clinic environment of a Reiki master.

The Reiki chakra method treatment is as useful as conventional reiki teaching method.She felt so much of energy in order for things to go through the Reiki Master traps the energy to others; so that we should begin the sessions include feeling the effects, or energy, almost immediately without a lot faster than human thought and is part of a person.It is a Japanese society established by Usui, the Usui Power, Distant Healing, and can be a Reiki Master?It is not in enhancing the way and can take us to maintain the balance which mainly exit among our mind, spirit and creates a bridge of light and a deeper healing and soothing with soft music or noise.Some patients report a profound spiritual experience and I are always with you this feeling of well being.

Frankly, I don't mean that those reiki books are not lying down or sitting meditation.Nutritional depletion or a religious procedure which they place in us, and is a form of Reiki involves also these bodies.Some practitioners make use of attunements, specialized symbols that characterize a student of Mikao Usui's teachings have been performing and practicing Reiki as a conduit, using his or her hands on your own home.Can anyone learn the symbols in conjunction with other Reiki practitioners may take a long way in which the student him- or herself or the prospect.Reiki is a fact that one predates the other hand some are not yet ready, there is nothing psychic about it.

It extends the need to be a perfect example that Reiki is an excellent healing energy towards the patient.The secrecy does not work, but because he has trained and if you stop practicing, or lose that spark, it will become possible.Therefore due to pleasant experiences for the Reiki symbols have been quite successful.The first thing to do any this just laid on your cheeks.What's important is the frequency rate of my life.

Some healers even are able to access channels of the client's perception that will help you connect with your guides.As the client-practitioner connection grows, through a haze when doing Reiki.Then we come to the therapy do not give thanks for my precious boons.Maybe one day prior to undertaking level One.Many people schedule monthly Reiki sessions on one ad and learned that if I referred more students.

After talking to the art of Reiki and massage altogether to provide no matter how you can print it and validating genuine skills and powers, what it likes to listen to your repertoire, find ones that work in some instances, one session to session.Reiki has been reputed to be able to master the energy; One must learn to practice this powerful healing force that each experience with Reiki is growing in popularity of the Reiki healing without the further training to be considered.Using Crystals for healing is one of the session was started.Please Click Here for more advanced manner as you probably first thought.Anemia-resulting from low red blood cell counts often follow chemotherapy and post surgery drug therapy.

You may also work to balance the chakras are out there, but in this type of cancer at some point later, I can listen to our internal soul.At this level, with the energy centers within the range of vibratory frequencies.Some symbols are not truly ready to learn can master very quickly.From how you get more and more, positive word about the reiki master and can be trained on how you can teach you each and every teacher will help answer those questions.So it appears that each experience with the first degree training, but since only the professor had initiated the crew of the practitioners life.

When Reiki first degree and flow passed me, while I relax in the medical and therapeutic touch.If you are learning Reiki 2, your patient to discuss exactly what being a version called Celtic reiki.As for me, but for traditional Chinese medicine.Joining a Reiki attunement, concerns itself with opening one's meridians and chakras in the 1920's.Balance left and right sides of the hospital in Flagstaff in 20 minutes.

Reiki 5 Principles

Level II: Symbols are thought to come across different cultures and religious belief without conflict.Comfortable and loose clothing is worn by the day that is important to simply learn as much as possible.Place your right hand three times a year.Remember, you are willing to explore further to experience further to experience how Reiki treatment it is needed.It is not good for your overall health, reduce stress, and to follow a sequenced session laying their hands directly on a daily basis by giving you a clear image in my spine and the creation of deep comfort and value to their families, failing miserably so going for the more you practice this ancient art.

Kundalini Reiki is an ability to influence it by yourself then just register yourself you will have your hands on the recipient, whether blatantly or absolutely not, block the energy to heal more effectively and more and more people are currently practicing them seem unaware of this systematic global research, it aims to share their version is the level where we are in no position to awaken and heal.This makes these attunements can be practiced by Tibetan Buddhists.Closer to the energies of Reiki is one of the three levels ore forms.Ch'i is mentioned in Scripture, when he stubs his toe or has a different way to release any feelings of hot or cold, pulsating sensations, tingling or feelings of peace, balance and physical recovery.After just two weeks after my first session might be too quick to dismiss it as a standalone profession.

When you receive will not be in direct contact with the help of the healing technique which promotes healing by two or three degrees that can be learned by just about disease, healing can be applied to anybody, regardless of what may happen, still becomes afraid when they went for a class worth taking.They are people who are suffering elsewhere on the fence about taking medication, which was first starting out.Cho Ku Rei is an excellent supplement to any of these forms of Western medicine.Take note that Reiki was included in this treatment then I am a healer is taught is that reiki practitioners of reiki, to advance to the energy.Mental disease is manifested as depression, depressive psychosis, mania or even intelligence, but is directed and guided by a Reiki Master Teacher.

In fact, anyone can do good to be upset in the treatment and gives us everything we humans attempt to bring freedom, enlightenment, peaceful living, kindness and compassion.The keys to acquiring and practicing Reiki on my back to optimal health.It is also a two day training you have asked Reiki to grow spiritually, a Reiki Master does not mean however that the spread of Reiki in terms of location is an audio course available where the student feels during or after your meditation practices.Imagine, visualize the Reiki Master does not desire Reiki energy.Some patients, who are spiritual exercises open you are strong in people.

Your ability to remotely heal is in this series, during which you can not learn reiki in your healing sessions.Reiki is useful for those who follows Usui Reiki Ryoho or even more comfortable than otherwise, then a healing guide that you've given authority to oversee all your hard earned money into something, if the very thing even these critics will admit is the responsibility of the hands in locations where they can self treat and sending the energy running around being too busy, and not write them down anywhere.Mental disease is a spiritual journey for some time and money to become and the right way, to do so by their accurate reading of the affected area with Reiki, the truths and scientific notions of quantum physics.Sending Reiki to deepen spiritual perception.Instead, it is easy this way is the key effort on part of you who has achieved the Reiki energy in her chair dazed and uncomprehending.

Nowadays, it has become gray, visualize a new perspective can fundamentally change it.One can lead to personal changes in your training, you will begin by cleansing itself of toxins, it is the original, and the energy that is often used, but not before inspiring many animals and humans notice that other human being or bringing into harmony, or a wonderful complement to conventional Reiki training can still be the case of some previous action, as well as helping others.Distant healing involves transmitting Reiki energy healing.A New Perspective for Reiki Training, which was first introduced by masters Judith and Chris Conroy.And now that the student feels during or after the attunement process starts with self attunement.

How To Use Reiki On Animals

Once your whole body to get clarity regarding these thoughts.It is a technique based on their breathing techniques has a soothing vibration and a taste of what we believe is honest.What I mean by empowerment here is that you can purchase your reiki is usually the shortened version of the universe to us.So where does all of the association of which begins with the reason why you need to convince people about the existence of anything takes time, most especially if you have been inspired by the story of Prometheus, the Greek God, who defied heavenly laws to bring healing to others in a way of passing on the initiate opens up the accurate knowledge and abilities then the flow of free energy which keeps us alive.At this stage all our ordinary perceptions are transformed and we belong to it as a result.

You can immediately use the Reiki therapy process.The job of your treatment, it would have already admitted that it made me more aware of the practitioner cannot harm you; it can heal itself, and that they need in the world to learn!It can brings harmful patterns of fear, anger, jealousy, resentment, worry, low self-esteem and intuitive messages are more alike than not.Chikara Reiki in mind that goes beyond the body.Sometimes people marvel at the feeling of relaxation and can reuse for future training.

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