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higumei-guidebook · 1 year

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Higurashi Mei: Gacha Currency Overview

Since Higurashi Mei is a gacha game you are probably here to get pulling! This post is a quick compilation of all the ways you can collect Oni Stones and Gacha Tickets, which are the items you can exchange to pull new cards. I'll also briefly cover Fragments, another method of obtaining specific cards. (See the main Fragments post for more details).

Note: When creating your account, you'll get a free 10 Card pull. Some players like to re-roll; A process where you get your free pulls, transfer those cards to a new account and get more freebies, and repeat. I'll be adding a post on that soon, but for now you can find a video of the process here.

Here is a list of the various currencies you can exchange for cards.

Oni Stones: Rainbow orbs. A pull of ten is generally 3,000 Stones, and a single pull is 300.

Paid Oni Stones: Functionally the same as Oni Stones, but obtained through the real money shop. They are listed seperately on the gacha page, with Paid to the left and Free to the right. Singular pulls are discounted to 120 Stones when using paid.

Bronze Gacha Ticket: Can be exchanged for one pull.

Silver Gacha Ticket: Can be exchanged for 10 pulls.

Rainbow SSR Gacha Ticket: Exchanged for a pull of a guaranteed SSR card, the rarest/strongest variety.

Fragments: "Pieces" of a specific card. When you obtain 100 Fragments of a certain card, you can recieve that card. Note: These are different from the RED Fragments you may see. (See the full "Fragments" section of the guide for clarification.)

Gacha Points: Points accumulated through pulls that can then be exchanged for prizes, including Fragments of Cards.

Next, we'll look at all the ways to gather these items.

For the most part, I'll not be covering paid methods of gathering these, because that method is pretty self explanitory. However I will mention that every week there are special packs availible on the shop for ¥480 that give you some Oni Stones as well as other useful items. That's about $3.57USD, £2.87, or €2.39 at the time of writing this. The regular packs get a bit pricey, but these are a really good deal if you're in a pinch.

Gathering Oni Stones:

💮Log In Bonus: You'll be given a present for logging in each day, which can be often be Oni Stones. There's even different checklists for different special events. Note: The "Day" resets at 5am Japan Time.

💮Main Story Quests: Each story quest awards you 10 stones per achievement star, for a potential total of 30/quest if you get all three.

💮"Challenge" Missions: Each chapter has a second tab where you can find three bonus quests. These also have stars to gather. They also have the potential added bonus of awarding you Fragments of the card featured in the icon beside the quest.

💮Story Scenes: Every story scene concludes by awarding you 20 stones.

💮TIPS: Just like the visual novels, sometimes you'll unlock "TIPS" or bonus scenes after viewing a scene. You can view them in the Story tab for another 20 stones each.

💮Achievement Stars: Each chapter has 3 milestone goals for gathering stars on all the missions. You are awarded 10 stones for each milestone you reach, for another potential 30 per chapter.

💮Daily Gathering Quests: Like main quests these also award you 10 stones per star. The quest sets in the daily tab change day to day, but the stars are a one time thing.

💮Special Event Quests: Same deal, 10 per star.

💮Takano Battle Tower: About once a month for around a week, the tab under quests featuring Takano becomes availible. These quests award huge amounts of Oni Stones (and also blank notes, very useful!!).

💮Missions and Milestones: There is a list of "missions" to complete. Each award you with a different prize for completing them, some being Oni Stones! I recommend using a translator app like QooApp's "Servant" feature if you don't read enough japanese to understand what the missions are asking of you. (See the full page on the QooApp Translator for more details and help decoding the rough translations.)

Gathering Gacha Tickets

💮Log In Bonus Presents: Tickets are usually a login bonus or award for achievements.

💮Free Shop: There is a Silver Ticket for sale each month in the free shop. It costs Oni Stones to redeem.

💮Event Shop: Some special events allow you to exchange items for them in their event-specific shop.

Gathering Fragments

💮Challenge Missions: As pictured and mentioned above, each chapter of the story comes with three bonus missions. One of the potential drops for these missions will be a Fragment of the card shown.

💮Free Shop: Different types of coins and points can be exchanged in the free shop for Fragments, usually in sets of three. The Fragments availible may change when the shop updates. Note: Again, don't mistake the RED Fragments for the same thing as regular ones! (See the full "Fragments" section of the guide for clarification.)

Gathering Gacha Points

💮Each page of the Gacha is called a "Banner". Banners usually come in sets, each one in the set having the same general image or theme. For each set, you'll accumulate 1 point per card you pull. In the bottom left of the banner, you can tap the white button to redeem these-- The higher rewards are often large amounts of Fragments for a card on the banner! So if you spend a lot of stones trying for that one card, you can still end up earning it. Note: These points expire when the Banner event ends, so be sure to redeem them before the date above the white button!

General Tips for Gathering

💮Support Cards: As a beginner, the main story is your best friend. You can gather a lot of stones very quickly by running through the story, but you will eventually hit a wall where your party isn't strong enough to advance further. You might want to make use of Support Cards to help carry your team through! In a nutshell, you can borrow other player's Cards to help your team.

💮Healing Skills: Another way to advance the story when you've hit a skill wall is to make sure you have a healer (or multiple!) in your party. Look for a card that has a green capsule icon as one of their skills, and focus on leveling them and that skill up as much as you can. If you have a good enough healer, you can truck out difficult quests by chipping away, as long as you win before the time limit is up. Some cards also have healing Sub-Skills, so you can stack these effects for some really sturdy teams.

💮To make the most of your stones, definitely save up to do the larger x10 Card pulls. Event Banners will have present checklists, giving you a bonus each time you exchange for 10 cards. The first 10 are also usually 50% off, ten cards for 1,500 stones.

As always, additions and suggestions are very welcome! Share your tips for getting those pretty rares without breaking the bank. 🐳

#higurashi mei #higumei #guide post #quick start

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lovebiteshqs · 5 months

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HAS MATTHIEU MAURENTIACUS ALWAYS HAD WOLF LOOKING AT THE MOON TATTOO ON HIS SHOULDER BLADE? COULD BE THAT MORE SOULMARKS ARE APPEARING.

welcome to lovebites Cris, Chares Melton is now taken !! please make sure your account is sent in within twelve hours, and give our checklist a read over.

⋆ ⠀⠀⠀࿐ྃ ▸ ; ⠀ [ charles melton. alpha werewolf of the atropos pack. 28/28. heterosexual. cis male. ] was that just MATTHIEU MAURENTIACUS, I saw coming out of EVERWINTER FOREST? the BAR OWNER is best to be described as + PASSIONATE, but he could also be - IMPULSIVE and can easily be noticed by CLOTHES SMELLING OF LAVENDER PLAGUED BY THE DISTINCT SMELL OF GRASS, WORN SWEATERS UNDER BLACK LEATHER JACKET STAINED WITH GREASE, DARK EYES WATCHING FROM ACROSS THE ROOM WITH CURIOSITY AND KINDESS, as well as HIS WOLF LOOKING AT THE MOON TATTOO ON HIS SHOULDER BLADE. [ cris. 26. gmt. them/they. none ] // a half moon, another wolf on the opposite shoulder, a full moon

THE DETAILS

⋆ ⠀⠀⠀࿐ྃ ▸ ; ⠀( CHARLES MELTON ) our MATTHIEU MAURENTIACUS is looking for their BEST FRIEND. They would be LATE 20S and would most likely look like HUNTER SCHAFER/UTP. You DO NOT have to contact the player. Description: These two are ride or die for each other. They have known each other since they were children, perhaps this character is part of the atropos pack, and have been inseparable ever since - think scott and stiles vibes. They share one brain cell between the two of them, and are always getting in trouble together. This person could be his Beta, but they don’t have to!

⋆ ⠀⠀⠀࿐ྃ ▸ ; ⠀( CHARLES MELTON) our MATTHIEU MAURENTIACUS is looking for their AUNT. They would be 30+ and would most likely look like UTP. You DO NOT have to contact the player. Description:The Maurentiacus family are big on staying connected and together, during peace and struggles. His aunt is his mother’s sister, and has always been Matthieu’s favorite one. She acted like a mentor most of the times, and now after his mother’s death, Matthieu relies on her more than ever.

questions — lets take a deeper dive into how your character has viewed whats happened in everwinter so far.

how does your character feel about their soulmark? for those bonded with vampires, your character would have only gotten the mark back recently — how has that changed their lives/plans at all? is being soul-bonded something they look forward to?

Soulmarks have always been important to his family. His parents were soulmarked, and Matthieu has always seen them as an example of undying love. His soulmark is an extremely serious business for him, and his Luna is everything in his life. Matthieu had always been excited to soulbond, wishing desperately to feel that connection with his imprint and live a long life together. His intentions about it were serious enough that he barely dated until he met his Luna.

for werewolves — were they born a wolf or turned? how do they feel about pack dynamics? are they close with the pack? what are their thoughts on the other species? how do they feel about the treaty?

Matthieu was born a wolf, and grew up within the heart of the pack. He adores his pack, and would spend any of his free moments with them whenever the chance would arrive. His mother was bitter about the treaty, unable to trust a witch even, and Matthieu adopted her opinions as his own.

given what’s occurred in everwinter so far ( please look at our PLOT and SUMMARIES page for a break down ), how do they feel? has their changed their thoughts on anything like the other species?

Matthieu grew up wary of the vampires and witches lurking about. He isn’t unkind to other species, but he would rather spend as little time around them as possible, if he can help it. It is a mistrust passed down to him by his mother, which was passed to her from her mother, and so on. He certainly can’t see himself being the best of buddies with a vampire, and always thinks they are up to something evil.

explore where you’d like to see your character going arc wise. how would you like to see them develop here at lovebiteshqs.

I would love to see Matthieu grow more confident in his role as an alpha, and learning how to trust the other species as well. He is in a place now where he is very closed off, and I would like to see him opening himself to the world.

background — TW: Death

For as long as time existed, the Maurentiacus lived by a very simple principle; family. Extended, adopted, found - It didn’t matter for the tightly knit group; if you were accepted into the open arms of the Maurentiacus, you would find yourself loved and protected ‘till your last days. Their driven force and fatal flaw, one could say; they kill and die for family. Matthieu Maurentiacus wasn’t an exception; born during the late hours of a stormy evening, the boy with dark eyes stole his mother’s heart when placed on her open arms. His father, a man with gentleness beyond anyone’s comprehension, had cried during the entire birth. Mon petit loup, they had called him. Matthieu was the youngest of two children, the youngest of countless cousins, and therefore, he grew up without the heavy responsibility of being his mother’s next in line.

A respected powerful Alpha, Beatrix Maurentiacus had claimed her eldest daughter for that role. Camille had inherited her mother’s blonde hair and stern eyes, but their father’s kindness and mischief in ways that would, playfully, irritate their mother. Matthieu remembers days where he and Camille would disappear into the woods, playing by the trees when the girl should be attending pack meetings with their mother. The siblings were close especially to their father, Seok, who would teach them all he knew about plants and flowers during warm afternoons.

Life had been simple, then. The Atropos pack had a reliable leader, there weren’t potential threats the wolves had to worry about, and Matthieu spent his days with cousins and pack members alike, chasing each other through the woods while skipping classes. Matthieu was easy going, charming but relatively shy, captain of the rugby team, a prankster and a good boy. His grades were mediocre, but enough to get him by, and he broke hearts of girls he didn’t know by simply not being interested in dating during his teenage years. He had not met his imprint yet, but the tattoo meant the world to him, and Matthieu had no wish to fool around.

After graduation, Matthieu hadn’t had many plans for his life; perhaps his carelessness came from a place of soft arrogance, knowing his family was prominent and he would always be cared for. Or perhaps, he really didn’t show interest in any pursuits. He adores dancing, being a skilled ballet student, but he didn’t want to leave his family for an upstage New York school. So he settled with working with his father, administrating the bar the pack could call home and eventually opening up a small flower shop. Life was good. Simple.

And then, the accident happened. The call came when Matthieu was cleaning up the bar; a drunk driver, a wet road, three bodies for him to identify. His family was gone. Matthieu felt the peace and happiness leave his life in one single night. The night his mother died. His sister too. The night he became the Alpha. Physically, no one dared to question Matthieu’s ability as the leader; big, strong, tall as a tree. But emotionally, many are worried for the boy who now has to lead and grief, and he is tired of their pity.

contact — prior to someone applying to fill your pair, would you like to be contacted, or are you fine with someone applying and figuring out the details of the pairing later on?

It’s up to the player!! I always love to plot, and talk about my blurbos, but I honestly don’t mind if someone wishes to apply first and talk later!!

#submission #accepted

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houseagenda0 · 1 year

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#the press room coffee shop #coffee shop

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flr-house-husband-blog · 3 years

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Female Led Relationship In Real Life

FLR explained, the woman has final say on all matters. The man accepts her wishes, her wants, and her punishments. This isn’t the FLR most men dream about in real life which is sexual in nature; I can promise in real life it is much different and more rewarding long term for both parties involved.

For us, yes housework is my responsibility and it started out with her lowering the normal standard that she kept up so that I could get down a routine. Overtime I’ve gotten better and worked longer in rooms and areas that did not meet her standards. I want to say higher, but they were only higher standards to me when we were vanilla. I see now the importance of daily, weekly, and monthly deep cleaning chores and tasks. They really do make the house ready for guests at a moments notice without worry and it really lifts a level of stress off of her which reflects back into us and our time together.

I’ve been timed and my daily chores I can do in 20 mins if I hustle. Normally it takes me an hour in between making her breakfast or getting ready for or after my work. Either way my “right” to ask permission to play video games or have screentime on my phone is once my chores are complete. The weekly tasks I’ve broken down into days to accomplish them easier (for myself), to not get behind, and make sure I meet her expectation of cleanliness.

My fav part of our FLR which has led to has been more love, time, and attention towards her is a phone rule. Dinner at home or out, regardless with friends I have to ask permission to use my phone. Needless to say no one bats an eye as they think it’s great we’re not on our phones. I like to check google reviews and see photos of different food options at a restaurant and it’s almost always a yes when I ask and then I put it away or it goes in her purse. I will say getting to that level of discipline isn’t easy.

In FLR I thrived with any new rules or expectations as soon as Goddess Amy figured out the best punishments that one changed my perspective and made me do risk/reward calculations before taking an action. What worked for her and didn’t cause her too much additional time away from what she enjoyed and was highly effective for me was corner time (30+ mins sometimes) and marking down in my shared chore app her grievances, which I too could see and were addressed with the paddle when she so decided. Unlike fantasy FLR there is nothing fun about having your pants around your ankles and being met with a firm paddle. She knows once I’m over ten that each and everyone will be remembered throughly. She has taken it a step further and makes me recite while I’m being paddled. Again not sexy but to make sure i know what I did and what I should do again.

Writing lines or the same thing over and over on paper takes a lot of time and she doesn’t except sloppy work. When that comes up I know I’m metaphorically fucked. It’s the equivalent of a cold shoulder when we were vanilla and I know a conversation is coming.

FLR isn’t all chores and sex. It’s a means to have a more loving and quality filled relationship. It’s non-standard but really does the trick for us. Of note when you’ve been met with consequences for falling short on expectations it really does change you behavior and moments vanilla you might want to give constructive feedback or argue a point of view. In FLR skip it and if you don’t like the point/topic/discussion try and bring it up at the end of the day or week, and if you really want ask if she wants feedback and if she says yes then maybe; otherwise wait until the end of the day or week.

In real-life FLR I can only give my perspective and maybe some of hers. For me I’d say the most important part is the man accepting she has the authority. Leadership isn’t all about being right, it’s about inspiring follow-ship naturally and accomplishing shared goals of the individuals under you and for the organization. Goddess Amy does that wonderfully and this is where you could say she understands my kinks (motivation) and pessimistic characteristics (frictions). She has a firm grasps on all things me and has goals for me, expectations for herself, our house, and our family. FLR works well for us because I accept and want her authority and she cares about all of the above to ensure each and everyday we move forward and improve. It’s not like the kink where things are expected to be absolutely perfect. She knows what I can handle and pushes the bubble little by little until it’s “perfect”, I look back and think wow what a difference I never thought this was possible.

Have you heard the phrase “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. If daddy ain’t happy don’t nobody care. “ That phrase sums up FLR. This ties in with communication and roles of FLR. She can easily say be ready we are going out and that means get in nice clothes and get everything ready to go or she can say she’s going out, which means I have the house to myself and if I’m lucky I’ll be given permission to watch TV or play games on my laptop. This ties in with staying on top of the routine she has set for me and other rules like no screentime without the chores being done. Most times I’m fortunate enough to get sceentime when I have the house to myself and sometimes it’s an opportunity for me to address a writing assignment she would like or an addtional chore. Rarely does it include me playing and sending pictures while she is out and about, but either way I’m always responsive and accept what she chooses as I know and believe it has a purpose. I just don’t sometimes fully understand it until later on down the road.

Real-life FLR the man only does what she wants and in ours she has retained meal prep for us and weekday dinners. The weekends I get to grill out and make her meals. Dishes are easy in our house. After a meal we clear the table, some things into rubber ware, some things rinsed in the sink and then into the dishwasher. We have a sign for clean/dirty and the dishwasher gets ran at night once full every couple of days and per my checklist is emptied or check daily.

A big benefit for her is me seeking ways to earn extra privileges ultimately by going out of my way to be on my best behavior, pampering her with love, surprises, and foot rubs. Some days she surprises me with the same to include paid massages and also breakfast in bed.

In public we appear vanilla, with the exception that I may secretly ask permission to have a soda or bend our diet plan a bit with a dessert. I’ve found asking before we go out with friends is better and also she has coded eye brows and looks which convey a silent approval or disapproval as I talk through what I might want when asked.

In addition to not meal prepping every meal since she loves cooking and helping us meet our fitness goals there are a few other things she retains control of. One is laundry, not because she loves it but because only she understands our walk in closet system for her stuff. Every morning I make sure everything is in the hamper and check the dryer- going through and pulling clothes tout of the dryer and separating out her dresses, tops, panties, etc in a way that makes it faster for her to put away herself, along with hanging and putting away all of my clothes neatly. Second the baby’s room there is a fancy rug which gets cleaned a certain way that’s off limits to me. I didn’t ask why and daily just make sure everything is clean and organized. Unlike fantasy FLR you won’t see me begging to do more chores, but you will see me finding areas which I add to my daily to keep off my monthly and deep clean routine to save myself time another day but just maintaining the area better. One example for this is dusting, yes the dreaded dusting. Once despised, I now prefer to address it per room per weekday versus all at once on the weekend. For me it’s less tedious when mixed in with picking up toys, vacuuming, and wiping down surfaces versus a whole hour of it another day.

To end this long discussion one thing that I like most about our FLR is despite me, the man not having final decision is that she gets my feedback 9 times out of 10 before making the final decision. I always feel heard and understood even when I don’t get what I wanted on most big topics, this isn’t the case with little chores or screentime expectations.

#female led marriage #female led relationship #house husband #the way of the househusband

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diveronarpg · 4 years

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Congratulations, JULIE! You’ve been accepted for the role of BRUTUS. Admin Rogue: There is always something about the way you write unvarnished truth that gets me, every single time. Boris is not a likable character by any means, but I still find myself curious about him when seen through your lens. You want to make ruin of him, or maybe for him to make ruin of us, and it’s so attractively despicable that I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a character this unapologetic, not just to some but to every single person in Verona. Let them try and eat him, let them spit him back out, let them realize he will not be swallowed no matter how much he deserves it. I can already see the way he’ll burn across the dash, a torch-song I want to touch, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome you back to us in this new and exciting form! Please review the CHECKLIST and send your account in within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Julie

Age | 20

Preferred Pronouns | She/her

Activity Level | Given that I’ll probably be stuck at home searching for a job for the next month, I figure my activity will be okay. The usual reply every other day or so situation, I hope!

Timezone | MST

Triggers | Already listed!

How did you find the rp? | Two years ago I went diving into the LSRPG tag because I was curious and now here we are. :)

Current/Past RP Accounts | Santino, Loretta, Lucien

IN CHARACTER

Character | Brutus / Boris Kovrov

What drew you to this character? | Brutus, I think, is one of the most human characters in Diverona by default, without development, in the sense that he is so selfish it makes you want to tear your eyeballs out. It’s the same with most people: we encourage each other to take time to themselves, to put themselves first, but can feel rebuffed or insulted when they actually do that. Boris has taken that to the ultimate extreme: everything he does is for himself and no one else. He didn’t ascend within the Montagues because he wanted to further his family’s social standings, he did it because he alone wanted to succeed.

He’s not apologetic about it, either, and that’s what makes him so interesting. At all times, Boris is fully aware he is perceived as underhanded and generally disliked among the mob, but he’s so good at what he does that it doesn’t matter. He returns to Verona with a searing brand of shame in the form of his personal betrayal, and anyone could see that if they just fucking looked close enough, but they don’t. That’s where his talent really lies, and that’s what makes him so weirdly endearing to me: he makes himself valuable, and even when he does the worst possible thing a person could do in a mob, it still doesn’t undercut his worth. He makes himself out to be a friend, lies and lies and lies, and because most people don’t want to make the effort or choose not to, it’s believable.

Some might call him cut-throat, or a coward, a backstabber, potentially even brutal: he’s not ashamed of sprinkling rat poison into the food of his competition if it means he’ll succeed. He’s an opportunist at best and a manipulator at worst, and if there’s anything to be said about Verona, it’s that the manipulators usually come out at the front of the pack. The last sentence or so in his bio are what really sealed the deal for me: “The historians fail to mention that the traitors are the ones who survive, who outlive empires and kingdoms, who lay their sovereigns to rest and spread their ashes like trail markers.” God help him, Boris will come out of Verona alive, no matter how much of it he feeds into and how much of himself he lets it consume.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

• Fly not; stand stiff: ambition’s debt is paid. I’d love to see some real-time consequences for Boris’ betrayal of the Montague family. Others have been ousted for less, but somehow he gets to remain? That doesn’t seem particularly fair, but Boris couldn’t give a shit about fair if he tried. He sold his information to a mob in Russia for the purpose of a safety net. Other emissaries also deal with Russia – it’d make sense that one of them might hear about the dark dealings and try to use it to their own advantage, were they so ambitious. Or maybe it will come from someone higher up, like Castora, who knows more than they’ve let on. Maybe this will lead to his demotion, his death, Damiano’s assassination, the ushering in of a new era – who knows? These things don’t play out without someone paying the price, and I want Brutus to pay in full.

• I kill’d not thee with half so good a will. In my head, Boris has been out of the picture for some time now, working on relations between the American families and the Montagues to keep business booming. I’d love to explore the Verona Boris left a little over a year ago (totally headcanon, by the way! I’m happy to adjust wherever necessary) and how it’s changed in comparison to what it is now. Roman Montague has failed as an heir, the Witches hung in a public trial, all illusions of neutrality or working towards peace have been shot right through the middle. Damiano is unraveling at the seams, and the question of who will lead the Montagues lacks an answer entirely. It’s complete and utter chaos: messy, bloody, exactly the kind of environment Boris thrives in. I want him to wreak as much havoc as possible in his own way, and if he can’t do that, then I’d like to see him secure his seat closest to the throne when the concept of a coup becomes inevitable.

• But hollow men, like horses hot at hand / Make gallant show and promise of their mettle. He hunts Tomas Sabello and Bernadette du Pont because they are the easiest openings into both sides of the mobs. Bernadette is croquettish and manipulative but still naive, in Boris’ eyes, to the difficult path which lies ahead. I could see him trying to sway her to the Montagues if she would only listen. Grace Daly had done it for less, after all. Sabello, on the other hand, is Boris’ favorite target: throat exposed, head leaned back, weeping tears of sorrow over his wife. Boris has experience with the follies of the heart and he can see that Celeste has never loved the man, and frankly, Boris doesn’t think there’s much to the man to love. He’s hollow on the inside, scraped out with a metal spoon. His arrival so late into the act poses some difficulties, but he’s hopeful he’ll be able to pick up where he left off.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Absolutely!

IN DEPTH

In-Character Para Sample:

Valentina Gallo dies a violent death. An inextricable, unforgiving death. An ugly death. When they take pull her body from her brother’s arms, and she is taken in to be seen by Damiano’s own eyes, witness the violence which has laid itself across the barren field of a corpse –

This is when Boris is called home.

Exit, Viola.

Enter, Brutus.

He bids Lorenzo and the rest of the Gambino family farewell that same night over the phone: Lorenzo calls him a bastard for not shaking his hand before saying goodbye, but Boris has other things on his mind: A plane. The brisk cold mornings that give way to blustery sunshine. Damiano greeting him as a member of the family instead of an extension of his long reach, like he had a year ago. He can remember the phone call well. He’d run it through, night after night, dissecting and picking apart intonation and tone and the speed with which Damiano had dismissed him, like a dog begging for scraps hastily shoved away from the dinner table. He lets the familiarity of the conversation wash over him as he settles in his plane seat the night of the twenty-seventh. He’ll be there by morning.

I’ll be there to greet you, Damiano had said. Boris had tried not to read into it too much.

New York was intended to be punishment and apology wrapped up into one. Damiano sent him off to deal with the budding crime syndicates and crush them under the imaginary Montague heel. He would spread seeds of dissent and terror: most fall silent when he enters a room for good reason, and it is in this way that he gets them to listen when he speaks. Most would not expect a man as imposing as Boris to speak so passionately; he’s always been a fan of turning ideas on their heads. By weaving tales of just what the Montague family has at its disposal, he alone would stamp out the passionate flames of greed and light his own small fire of fear.

In his younger years this would have intimidated Brutus. When he’d received the call a year ago, he’d only felt dread.

But he’d done well. It took him five months to chase down every single lead provided to him by men paid under the table, and after that, all there had been to do was clean up the mess and socialize. Shake hands with the shattered fragments of the once-powerful mob families, reach out to the contacts he’d had in Canada and New Orleans, as they were perhaps the most influential, the ones who could sway the boat with weaponry and other fun and exciting goods that still had his heart pounding when he looked at them.

He’d thought about calling Evgeny once, and only once: when Damiano had chewed him out over the phone for something that was not his fault and hadn’t been in his wheelhouse to begin with. Boris knew, that night, what Evgeny would say. Patience, Kovrov. We’ll be here when you’re ready.

When you’re ready. Whatever that meant. For all Evgeny knew, Boris would never be ready. He’d die with Verona just out of reach.

He startles awake as the plane hits turbulence coming into Verona, heading towards the landing strip. It’s a bumpy landing, but he’s never done well in planes to begin with. He thinks, often, of his father, who had marked to Boris that all would be well just before returning to Russia. The flight wouldn’t make it, of course. Damiano had ensured it: Sasha Kovrov had been dead weight long enough. All he could’ve hoped for, Boris thought, was that his son would prove worthy of something.

And he had. He’d crawled on his hands and knees across glass and gravel, waded through blood and sweat, and tears – never his own, if he could help it – to see the Montague family through to the other side. Could he really have been blamed for wanting to ensure he had some sort of future laid out for him, even if it wasn’t in the name of the two old bloodlines of Verona? In return, he’d gotten: a usurpation of a position that should have been his, a pound’s worth of rat poison that he couldn’t use, distrust among his peers and disgust from the one man who should have seen his dedication, and a promise he couldn’t act upon until he was ready.

враки.

He exits the plane, meets Damiano on the tarmac, and just as quickly they are swept away by Damiano’s driver. There is no discussion of previous business, tasks he has completed. Craven is mentioned offhandedly, but Boris had to admit some time in September that whatever illicit ties Everett Craven had to the Capulets when it came to his dealings in America, the man kept them wound up tight. He’d been impressed. Instead, they set their eyes on the future: Damiano speaks to him of the failures and successes, trials and tribulations, and Boris takes note of the way his brow knits together when he speaks.

It is like Damiano cannot bear to look at him, but is forcing himself to anyway. Surely his betrayal had not burned so badly. It wouldn’t have left a mark.

Valentina Gallo died for less. She didn’t give nearly as much away. She’d given what she had to give. Boris had given Evgeny everything, and then offered the grounds of the coffee to Damiano in return.

Boris is lucky to be alive, seated across from a man he might have once considered a better father than his own, who looks at him with poorly-veiled discuss and tells him what to do. Boris had sold his soul – this might just be the devil’s recompense.

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself, watching the city pass them by, nodding where appropriate and watching the sun rise over the river as they drive alongside it. If he gets his way, Damiano Montague will be sooner dethroned, and Brutus will have his rightful place as second-in-command to some poorer, less competent man. If he is anything, it’s stubborn. They drive by the Castelvecchio, and he’s saddened to see it is still a work in progress, not at all the shining beacon it had once been of unity or pride within a place being torn in two, right down the middle. He feels a pang of something hit him in his chest. Homesickness? He’s home, but—

Boris’ flat is small, modest, tucked away in an alley. Close enough to the library that he can be there within minutes just by walking, if necessary. All the pedestrians on the street avert their eyes when they see Damiano’s car pull up outside. He grabs the one bag he’d taken with him on the plane: he’s hopeful the rest will arrive within the week, but that’s an if at best. Before he slips out, Damiano clears his throat.

He stops, and finds a single piece of paper pressed into his hand. He can only assume what it is, won’t open it – it’s deliberately folded closed. It could be anything: a name, a number, a place, a threat, a promise.

“When you’re ready,” Damiano murmurs, like some sort of sick joke, which is to say that it will be when he asks, because Boris ceded any hope at control over his own life the minute he sold all he possessed to the Russian mob, heart and mind and soul, only to crawl back to Verona just after. Some might’ve called him a fool, but he’d only seen the future, then. If only others could see the eclipsing horizon always in his sight.

It’s here that Boris is left: a small alley, out of sight of the rest of the world, the morning sun shining on his face. The future in his hand. He opens it before he has the chance to breathe in again, the vitriol in his heart already beginning to sear out through his ribcage.

Extras: N/A

#accepted: brutus #accepted

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tslasvegas · 3 years

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Episode 5 - “The clowns are in full force this season” - Jaiden

The clowns are in full force this season. First of all that tribal council was a load of fucking shit lmfao, I could not believe the sob stories Nik and Joey were pulling out to try and stay another day in this fucking org... it is final 17 it's not that serious. I will say that I immediately regretted the decision to vote for Joey but now I'm realizing how beneficial it might've been after all, like.. now people don't see that Joey and I are as closely aligned as we are and it definitely shows Kailyn that not only can I be loyal, but also that I had an accurate read on the events of this tribe. Interestingly enough, Kailyn did NOT believe me when I told her we didn't have the votes to keep Nik without drawing rocks. As soon as the tie came in I acted all mad and said "I'm not drawing rocks for this, I'm flipping". ...and Kailyn still had the nerve to ask "wait did you flip?" after it was all said and done! The funny thing is, Ben also assumed Kailyn flipped and immediately DMed me saying "So I assume Kailyn flipped go figure" or something to that extent. LOVES IT! Maybe no one thinks I'm a flip-flopper after all. Rachael being on this tribe already bugs me because I think she's going to get along with just about everybody and we should've taken a shot at her when we had a chance. It's become evident that I need to start playing the chips game a lot more than I have been because those little buggers are going to become more and more important as time goes along. I think Rachael is fucking full of it when she says there was nothing on Exile for her. She either has an idol and is lying about it, or she's got some sort of advantage to help her out and I'm not here for it. I did eventually come clean to Rachael about the whole DeNara vote thing, where I whipped around and pretended to be voting for Ben afterwards, but I don't think it has a strong impact on our relationship. She gives me such an uneasy vibe and I don't want her around much longer... I kind of hate this tribe I got swapped onto because everybody here feels like legitimate threats to win this game except I guess myself right now. And Xavier. He doesn't really provide much to the game yet, but I bet he will surprise us all along the way. Agenda for this round... make sure we win immunity. But if we don't.. sorry Rachael, you're going to just have to see your buddy Nik a lot sooner than you would've liked. Ciao!

Survived another Tribal!

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Super sad to see Nik voted out but also insanely glad to see Joey survived. It would be heartbreaking to see him voted out first after the swap. Livingston and I are sharing all the chips we have and when we spin the wheel we’re transferring chips so if we land on a bankrupt spot we don’t lose the 28 chips we have so far. If we win this next immunity challenge, we may have enough chips to purchase the super idol that’s on sale for 48 chips. (If we both bid two chips on the challenge and then spin the wheel and get some chips.) otherwise, if someone purchases it before we do, we may end up buying some other useful items. Now it’s a selfie scavenger hunt which I hate, but that’s alright. Gonna give it my all and hope to take home the win.

I just had a moment of clarity. The other tribe are full of OG Palazzo. If they stick together, we're screwed. We should win this next one, see how their vote goes, and change our plans accordingly.

So my lazy ass hasent done any of these yet. So let me catch y’all up. So when my original trive first went to tribal I kinda thought I was fucked cus like I barely talked to ppl. Nik and Rachel were my closest allies (Rachael being my final 2). So quickly they told me denara wanted my ass out. Fucking mistake. So I got my sheep in order and went to work. I pulled some bs outta my ass and was like yo we got a swap coming up and denara is too fucking social she’s gonna flip on your asses. The more I said it the more it made sense to me lol. That fucking tribal was AIDSSS. I’m literally sitting there thinking I was getting booted, but my fucming savior Jaiden came up clutch. We sent that bitch packing. So me and Rachael have had a strat this game to send each other our coins before spinning the wheel to avoid going bankrupt. Since I’m a fucking gambling addict I’m always betting on the comps and spinning that wheel till I’m stacked on coins. So we hit a swap and I actually started talking to people. John is pretty chill and Xavier is kinda weird ngl. When it came time to vote nobody wanted to bring anything up to me. I had to hear from kaitlyn that nik was sadly the vote. So I quickly went to work. I felt the least connected to Joey so I went after his bitch ass. Originally, I didn’t wanna stick with my tribe but like they kinda forced us into that by keeping us in the dark. Everytime I’d ask Xavier his thoughts he’d just say some weird ass response and avoid my question lol. So like I kinda expected a tie vote and tbh I wanted rocks. We get to tribal it was a tie, and I’m fucking trying my best to get Xavier to flip cus he just seems like the dumbest person there. He’s like we can take nik out now then Joey next. LIKE FUCK NO. He wanted to create an all noobies alliance with idek. But I agreed cus fuck it. So sadly nik went home cus jaiden flipped :/ BUT me and Rachael got all his chips!! Now I’m fucking vibing with 10, and Rachael had got 8. Tbh we wanna save up for an idol, but with the shop at 20% and another 4-4 vote looming, I’d be down to snag an extra vote. I gotta peep all these new prices tho. I do hope we win this comp cus I’m obviously betting and I’m too lazy to fucking deal with another tribal. Well anyways peace out see y’all later.

My plan continues to just be working on relationships and hopefully winning the challenges. Either way, I've participated one of the most on the team so I'm hoping if we do lose, I won't become the target. I know I have a strong relationship with Kevin, which is 1/4 of the tribe. I'm also working on my relationships with Keegan, Pat, and Livingston. I kind of hope the other team targets Rachael, just because I wasn't a huge fan the last time I had to deal with her. I also want John and Xavier to survive because I know I have solid relationships with them. We're at day 14 and I've already put so much work to evolve my game, I want to go from worst to first - I want to do all the things I couldn't do when I was 16. But I have to keep thinking three steps ahead. So if we lose, my target is Mo. Nobody from OG Pink has been voted out yet - but because they have majority on this tribe there really isn't much I can do yet, but Mo hasn't contributed to the challenge. They're also very awkward, so I think I'd be able to swing it. If I keep working on my relationships, working hard in challenges and showing myself as a good ally - I have a chance to make it deep in this game. For now - let's hope we win the challenge so I can relax a little bit more. Day 15 is the farthest I've ever made it so if we do end up winning I've completed my third goal. (The first two being going a tribal without getting a vote, and leading a blindside.) My other four goals - getting an advantage, making merge, winning individual immunity, and winning this game. Get your checklist out, cause I'm coming.

Keegs and I have 28 chips between us then Okay so I told Keegan this, and I could be wrong, but I feel as if the numbers in the vault seem fairly good and that leads me to believe that nothing has been bought yet. If anyone else gotten in there, they are likely saving up for the Super Idol. Keegan and I will be saving up for it but if it ends up being gone, we'll at least have enough chips to pick up some other stuff. Keegan to me: "Also, I just thought of something. Since it’s possible to go Bankrupt from the wheel, would it be a good idea for us to give most/all chips to each other before we spin the wheel? That way if we do land on a bad spot, we’re only losing like 1 chip instead of the 10-20?" This gonna be our wheel strat moving forward

...five seconds later

Jake came to me wanting to work together. Of course, there is no real way to turn such things down so I let Keegs know and then I told him I would be down for that. I am not tryna do some Final 2 or whatever. For now it is just a "I have your back if you have mine" type thing. Jake also went to Keegan so Jake better not fuck up and be overly messy because I have enjoyed my convos w him LMAO - Okay so update on that: he has pitched a 3 of me, him and Keegan. This is good for us so we are going with it but my loyalties are to Keegan before Jake and I think Keegan feels the same way. We are being hesitant just in case Jake has also pitched similar things to other people. If we go to tribal, ideally we keep Jake safe but if he's being like this with everyone then maybe he's the one to go. I like Jake so I would really make rather it be the former.

So nervous about this challenge! We went all in! I even danced Blackpink. My gosh we have to win this.

fuck

38 points in SSH is a terrible score, I’m upset at my poor performance, but now that I just acquired the Legacy Advantage, it makes my game so much more interesting to say the least. I have 11 chips, I could’ve bought an idol, but given my luck, I’d rather not risk all my chips and lose them on a bankrupt.

this is so lame, im not super worried about getting voted out but still i just like the serene environment that comes with immunity, the chaos is fun too but like ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh im tired

Well... we lost the challenge. And I am not surprised in the slightest. This was a very very poor showing from this tribe. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind voting out Jeff right now. He really flopped the challenge. But it seems like the OG Palazzo group is wanting to stick together and vote out one of Jake, Mo or Kevin. Ideally, Kevin would be the one to go. I’ve barely talked with him, and with his recent win in Travellers survivor, he’s certainly capable of playing a strong game. That’s someone I’d like out sooner rather than later. Andrew has suggested Jake. Which I definitely don’t want. Jake, Livingston and myself have a sort of three person thing going on. As long as Jake is casting his net over the entire tribe, I want to continue working with him. Mo is in a weird spot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ At the end of the day though, I don’t really care who it is, as long as it ain’t me.

SO HAPPY TO HAVE FINALLY WON! Steph and I have enough chips either for an IDOL or two of other advantages. I would rather have two others, because there is an idol nullifier out there. And two advantages are better than one. I am going to be watching the tribal of Bellagio. I want to see if the OG Bellagio are a solid 5.

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Ahhhh first time going to tribal. I’m really nervous. Not bec I think I’m in danger but more for long term... what to do?

girl... im so sick and tired of the people in this game keeping around inactive players because they know them from other games. SERIOUSLY, listen ma'am if my good friend is inactive, I know when someones dead weight. I get rid of them. They'll understand, and if they don't then thats a manipulative dumbass because who gets mad for being eliminated by a friend when they were inactive. it was originally gonna be me but ive been fucking pushing for kevin to go cus he doesnt do shit. DeNara give me strength.

Mo at one point was throwing my name out, which is awful. Apparently he’s not anymore. I think he’s voting for Kevin? Let’s hope so. I don’t want to be out of this game yet.

Currently holding that Legacy Advantage gives me much more access to information

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homenum-revelio-hq · 4 years

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Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Jess!

You have been accepted for the role of ANDROMEDA TONKS with the faceclaim of Natalie Portman! We really enjoyed your focus on the ambiguity of Andromeda’s beliefs and choices; how choosing Ted doesn’t mean she stopped loving her family, how things aren’t perfect now any more than they were wholly miserable before. We look forward to seeing you dig-into her conflicted feelings and lingering prejudices. We are so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Jess

AGE: 20

TIMEZONE: EST

ACTIVITY LEVEL: I’m a full time student, but I usually have time to spend an hour or so writing a day, and I’m always reachable by mobile!

ANYTHING ELSE: I have a lot of experience with Tumblr RPs, but I haven’t been part of anything for about a year! I’m really excited to re-enter the fandom with a new character.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Andromeda Tonks

AGE: 29

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Cis-female, she/her, heterosexual

BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Slytherin

ANY CHANGES: I’d like to use Natalie Portman as her FC- for me, Natalie always comes across so poised and graceful, which is a trait I really want my Andromeda to have.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

All middle children act out, the Blacks used to say to themselves. Andie’s stubbornness and fire, her petulance and ferociousness were absolutely natural for anyone who grew up aside an elder sister as prominent as Bellatrix, and a younger sister as pristine as Narcissa. Regardless of the occasional dinner table outbursts and the Muggle books hidden under her bed, her fierce love for her sisters convinced Cygnus and Druella they had nothing to worry about. Nobody would have chosen her as the rebel of the family. Sometimes, Andromeda can’t even believe it herself.

While her parents urged her to spend her Hogwarts years searching for a suitable match, Andromeda was almost always found in the library. Slytherin cunning manifested in a thirst for knowledge, a trait that serves her well in the Department of Mysteries. A built-in lie detector and a keen eye for bullshit got her through teenage drama and now, get her through pre-teen squabbles with her daughter. As she grew, she learned when to share her opinion (almost never) and when to keep her mouth shut and listen (most of the time). She prefers to get a good read on people before sharing any of herself with them.

Like every Black, she has her own tempestuous streak. Andromeda can be impatient and particular, liking things done a certain way and at a certain time. A childhood in a controlling family has left her with a need to control her household the same way Druella ruled hers- of course, unlike her mother, Andromeda works full-time and lacks the small army of house elves. Her mother’s influence also left her with a too-sharp tone and a habit of bossing others around. Passion comes easy, but steady, everyday love is harder. Adulthood and responsibility hit her like a brick. She’s a little too measured for spontaneity these days, too concerned about the future to be present in the now. Andromeda is at her best when she’s having fun- but it seems those moments are too few and far between now. Maybe that’s just part of growing up.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Cygnus and Druella never appeared to enjoy having children. To them, children weren’t something to be enjoyed. They were walking trophies, representations of the long and storied history of Black. Andromeda was hardly raised, more cultivated, like a rare orchid or crossbreed of roses. A Black is poised, she is lofty, she is obedient. A Black does not slide down staircases, or speak to the house elves, or make faces at her parents. In time, she became two women- stoic Andromeda, to her parents, and goofy Andie, to her sisters.

Who’s lucky enough to be born amongst their best friends? Andromeda never needed anybody but her sisters growing up- they were her anchors, her compass, her roots. Being a Black was important, as her parents beat into her, but being a sister to Bellatrix and Narcissa was her priority. As her built-in confidants, she confided in them about every impulse and doubt and fear. Until Ted Tonks.

Finally, something was just for her. She hadn’t anticipated how delicious it was to have a secret, how much of an adrenaline rush it was to sneak around. She felt seen for the first time, seen and loved and wanted, and by someone who was indisputably good and kind. Ted shone a light on the fear and confusion that had gradually begun to fill her heart, and in return Andromeda gave Ted her whimsy, her joy- all the parts that were disagreeable to her family. But she also hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to lie to her sisters. Or how difficult it would be to watch them walk away from her. The rejection of her parents hadn’t stung as much as she thought it might. Yes, there was shame, but perhaps more from an accidental pregnancy than from being disowned. The sting was from the upturn of Bella’s nose, the curl of Cissy’s lip. She would have died for them- and they wouldn’t even bend over for her. Becoming Ted’s Dromeda was easy. Shedding Cissy’s Andie was hard. She knows she made her choice, but some days it’s all she can do to keep the lump out of her throat when she looks at her life. It’s worth it, she knows that. She loves her husband and her daughter just as fiercely, if not more so, than she loved her sisters years ago, but that love for them still hasn’t faded. She’s grown to accept that it might never. But even a core as iron as Andromeda’s can fail sometimes, and she sometimes wishes she could have raised Nymphadora in the same palatial luxury she came from.

OCCUPATION:

It’s almost ironic- the woman who’s name is verboten in certain social circles is an Unspeakable. Andromeda loves her work- for the first time in her life, she feels as though she’s contributing to something important, helping people without rocking the boat. The Department of Mysteries is her sanctuary. It feels like nothing from her past followed her here, no petty gossip or snide looks. She’s truly thrown herself into the werewolf project, fascinated by every difference between herself and the subjects that look just like her for all but a few nights a year. She began this study to find a cure for lycanthropy, to make werewolves like everybody else, but the project’s evolved over time to focus on the unique talents and gifts of the werewolf and how they can be exploited. Her whole life has emphasized homogeny, but it might be time for her to start seeing the power of divergence.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

She’s given up her last name, her family, her inheritance. She will not give up her daughter’s safety. It’s not that she doesn’t believe in the cause, because yes, of course she believes Muggleborns have a right to be in this society. She just doesn’t see why she should put her life at risk for it. Of course, the occasional slip of information from her department hardly counts, it’s not as if she’s on the front lines. It could never even be traced back to her. And if she doesn’t tell Ted about it, it’s only because it’s unimportant, not because she’s afraid. Andromeda Tonks would never confess to being afraid.

SURVIVAL:

She flies under the radar as much as possible. Sometimes that means signing her name as A. Tonks in fear of someone putting puzzle pieces together, sometimes that means waiting for the next elevator when the faces inside don’t look friendly, and sometimes it means spending Friday night til Monday morning locked up in their house, afraid of something she can’t put a name to. She’s fortunate enough that her parents are content to only act like she’s dead, but her eldest sister may change that any day. There’s still a part of her that cares for her sister, but if Bellatrix even glanced in the direction of her family, Andromeda would rip her apart in an instant.

RELATIONSHIPS:

The problem with leaving your world behind for a man is that, suddenly, that man becomes your world. High on hormones and righteous fury, Andromeda told Ted over and over he would be all she needed. But she can’t help feeling as though she gave too much and he gave too little. With every slip of the tongue, each not-progressive-enough viewpoint, she wonders if he’ll ever look at her without disappointment in his eyes. If she’ll ever feel worthy of his love. She tries to give hers freely in return, but showing appreciation is hard for her, and recently their relationship has felt more like business partners than man and wife.

She’d love to fill that void with some friends, but frankly, she was too busy following her older sister around like a lost puppy at Hogwarts to make that many. She recognizes surnames in her new social circle from the old- Selwyn, Macmillan, Yaxley- but she doesn’t miss the way these people look at her (she thinks it’s the pity that’s the worst, worse than the disgust or the amusement). And so many others hear the implicit Black when she introduces herself and flee. She never forgets that she still has some family, but Sirius still looks at her with distanced eyes. It doesn’t make sense to Dromeda- in her mind, the two black marks of the family tree should look out for each other, but then again, blood has always taken up a disproportionate amount of Andromeda’s thoughts.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: I think Andromeda really loves Ted, but there’s definitely a lot of room to explore in such a high-pressure relationship! She’s lost her family, given her all in raising a child, and is keeping a secret from her husband about helping the Order, all of which I think could be major stressors in their marriage. I’m really very flexible with ships, I just love to write through conflict like that!

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

Andromeda grew up in the lap of luxury, with any privilege imaginable. Having all those taken away from her in a heartbeat (the money, the family cache, the status, the family, oh Merlin, the money), left her with more frustration than compassion. These are things she silently feels entitled to, and wishes she could have given to her daughter! Basic responsibilities were foreign to her a decade ago, but she’s been made painfully aware of what her privilege enabled her to do, and what she no longer has access to. It’s made her colder and more serious, and if she was confronted with any of the privilege she still has (being a white, cisgender, straight pureblood), she’d be highly defensive. I’d really love to explore how this silent resentment is building up inside Andromeda- it’s her own choices that led her here, but self-reflection was never her strength, and it’s just easier to pin this loss on Ted, her family, really anyone but herself.

Andromeda was essentially raised in a fundamentalist cult, and she’s only just begun to really confront those implicit biases. While she can say all the right things when prompted- Ted, of course I don’t think Muggleborns are genetically inferior, would I have married you if I did?- she’s not interested in exploring any deeper. To Andromeda, being a pureblood still means something, she just can’t elaborate on what something is without revealing the blood superiority still in her heart. She works with werewolves, but she still sees them as beasts to be feared. She’d be embarrassed if her daughter was born a Squib, and she’d never let her marry a Muggle. In Andromeda’s world, these aren’t viewpoints, but indisputable truths, and she reacts to any attempts to change these truths with a laugh and a wave of an ivory hand. No point in being naive- this is just the way the world is.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? I LOVE exploring duality within characters, especially ones seen as “good” in canon. The focus on the gray in all the skeletons really drew me in, and I would really love to write the messier parts of Andromeda.

PLOT DROP IDEAS (OPTIONAL): It would be really exciting to get to write Andromeda when the threat of Death Eaters becomes more immediate, and she begins to recognize faces under the mask. Her love for her family is still very real, and I’d love to write out that internal conflict.

ANYTHING ELSE? Nothing!

#homenumaccepted

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ourlifeintransit · 5 years

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TAKING FLIGHT WITH SARAH DEMARCO

Words and images by Sarah DeMarco

I spent the first day of 2019 soaring between the peaks of the Grand Tetons.

It was about three o’clock in the afternoon when Lanny and I rolled out from the steel hangar in Driggs, Idaho. The plane, a six-seater Beechcraft Bonanza with ruby stripes running up and down its white casing, rumbled over the icy taxiway with the propeller beating tirelessly as it worked to warm the engine in the winter air that has fallen well below zero. Lanny, a wizened mountain guide, a climber, a photographer, and my personal pilot for the day, handed me the classic aviation headset and had me go over the pre-flight checklist with him as he took us towards the runway. After the list was completed and Lanny reported to the Tower that we were going to be taking off, the Bonanza leapt forward with a zeal as it gathered speed and eventually lifted its wheels from the earth.

We shot into the air and were soon peering down onto the valley and the expanse of town below us. Lanny brought us around to the right, and through the clouds that covered the hills below us, the spire of the Grand poked violently through and came closer and closer as we made our way towards it.

Going into our day, we weren’t exactly certain if we were going to be able to get close enough to the mountain range to get the opportunity to shoot some photos. The clouds had been tricky all weekend, and since we had gotten a late start to the day already, it was about a 50/50 gamble that we would get the views we were hunting for. I had my camera bag ready at my feet, and I was holding my beloved film camera expectantly as we neared the crest of the range and got ready to head into the clouds.

I wish I had a video of my face when we finally got close enough to see through the cloud coverage and the Grand came into full view. It was almost as if it had been waiting for us to arrive--in an instant, the clouds thinned, and we circled the massive walls of the mountains as small and silent as a bird. My jaw hung open at the sight of the textured faces of these incredible peaks that looked like they were formed from the same storytelling asm The Lord Of The Rings, and I lifted my camera over and over and over again, filling up an empty card with every single angle I could possibly hope to get of the wonder that was before me.

Lanny took us close by the face of Mount Moran, a part of the range where the easiest way up is still ranked as a class 5.4 trek, and I watched as the wind blew thin lines of snow from the tallest points on its jagged face in an ethereal and almost premeditated manner. When we came back around the Grand on the eastern side, the sun began to slowly crawl below the fleeting cloud coverage which flooded the mountain with a wash of purple, orange, and red. The wings shuddered against the push and pull of the colliding winds surrounding us, and the plane jostled up and down a few times, but nevertheless, the aircraft remained steady and took us into the mountains with speed and precision. I will admit, up in that freaking plane, I felt like I was on the set of an Indiana Jones movie, and the thrill of the adventure was just so present as Lanny and laughed for no reason at the other-worldly view we passed again and again.

When Lanny would open the pilot’s window to allow for clearer shots, I would feel the rush of wind enter the Bonanza with a chill that had me shivering within seconds. I hardly minded the cold, however, because whenever Lanny pulled that latch and the air rushed in, I would look at those mountains--seemingly within arms reach--and I would feel this peace I can’t really describe with justice. There’s something surreal about looking at hills that are as old as the earth and feeling so small when you are near enough to be at their mercy. It was almost out of respect that I would lower my camera every 20 shots or so just so that I could stare in awe at do nothing else but be present when face to face with them.

We took pictures until our shutter buttons froze up, and we did four more spirals around the range until the silhouette of the peaks began to grow misty with snow once more. Lanny took us down into the valley again, and we laughed at how someone was looking out for us, because we could not have asked for more perfect conditions than what we received when we were up there. The sunset guided us down through the shroud of fog that had manifested over the small town of Driggs, and it wasn’t until we were back on the taxiway that I felt like I could let go of a breath I’d been holding the whole time; maybe nerves, maybe joy, maybe excitement, maybe uncertainty.

Looking at the photos from January 1, 2019, I feel very humbled. I moved to Jackson Hole, WY with no job, no plan, no connections, and no idea what was next. I had come to the west carrying a feeling of failure and dissatisfaction with my photography as a whole, and up until that day soaring high above the Grand Teton National Park, I was considering throwing in the towel on it entirely.

It may sound silly to some, but I think those mountains gave me the bravery to not quit. Seeing those peaks in all their glory, and being given the chance to capture them on a beautiful day in my own style and in my own time, was a gift I can’t quite ever say thank you enough for.

I may never know what’s next, but there will always be mountains to yearn for. And for that, I am grateful.

Sarah DeMarco is a talented photographer and exceptional wordsmith.

Visit her on Instagram here.

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cindylouwho-2 · 5 years

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, September 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across in the past 5 weeks, although some may be older than that.

I am still working on scheduling enough time to post these every 10 days or so, but lately luck is just not on my side. Writing this elsewhere then cutting & pasting it here is creating some significant formatting issues, so if you find any errors or broken links, please let me know.

Are there types of news you would like to see here? Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Etsy introduced Etsy Ads at the end of August; I covered it on my blog. Some people are seeing decent returns, but many are not. I started a forum thread here for continuing discussion.

A day later, Amazon announced it has waived their $40 a month shop fee for Handmade by Amazon shops. See the pinned post on their Facebook page.

A large study of click-through-rates (CTR) on Google reveals that the top link gets over 30% of the clicks, titles with questions get 14% more clicks than those without, and moving up one slot in the results leads to more clicks, unless you move from 10th to 9th. They cite Etsy’s study of titles & CTR (which showed that shorter titles get more clicks, something that this study also found).

Trend watch: a suggestion that Americans can avoid most of the tariff pain in the pocketbook by buying used clothing & other items. “Secondhand and vintage is no longer synonymous with a dusty pile of outdated sweaters in the corner of a church basement, or a yearly rummage sale. Online resale, including high-end designer items, is booming, thanks to start-ups like The RealReal, Depop, Poshmark, eBay, and Etsy. It’s possible to fill your entire closet this way”. Pre-owned & rented clothing also makes fans of sustainability happy.

Also, “grandmillennials” are a thing.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy US searches often now have a full first page of items that ship free or have the $35 free shipping guarantee, as of September 6 (although they were testing it earlier than that.) I was seeing the rare exception, beyond searches that have fewer than 48 items shipping free, but it wasn’t clear if these are tests or personalization. Then on September 21, we started seeing many items with shipping charges on the first page of even very large results, & most smaller results didn’t give much if any priority to free shipping at all. There has been no statement from Etsy, so your guess is as good as mine ...

In the meantime, they’ve begun promoting free shipping to buyers, which has led to some media coverage. Some note that the timing is good, since most US holiday purchases online in the past several years have included free shipping.

There is a new chapter in the Ultimate Guide To Etsy Search, involving attributes. The accompanying podcast with Etsy’s head taxonomist [transcript with links to the podcast] is quite interesting. She says that one of the reasons that some attributes haven’t shown up yet as search filters is that not enough sellers have applied them to listings. “If we have 100,000 items in the search results and a buyer uses a filter, and that filter causes the results to return just 20 items, that makes it seem broken. The buyer no longer trusts the results. If only 20% of sellers fill out an attribute, showing a filter based on that attribute to buyers isn’t going to be helpful because such a drastic reduction in results makes them lose confidence in those search results. We have to wait until a large number of sellers fill out that data to show it to buyers as a filter. When we do, sellers who have filled out that attribute show in those filtered search results. Sellers who haven’t, don’t.” Also, “[w]e know that shoppers who interact with these filters tend to buy more expensive items.” And, there aren’t separate jewellery attributes for “gold”, “gold-filled” & “gold-plated” because “[m]any jewelry buyers don’t have your experience and don’t know the huge difference between these things.”

The new commercials were launched earlier this month; you can check them all out here, and here is some media coverage. Some analysts think this is a good thing for the stock.

Vox published a review of Etsy’s latest free shipping push, in contrast with its history. [I am sure most of you have seen that, but if not, it is a good read!] “Silverman doesn’t like the words “handmade” or “craft” because they “don’t communicate anything to buyers about when to think of Etsy.” he says now. Nobody wakes up thinking, “Gosh, I need to buy something handmade today,” he tells me, which may be true but I rarely wake up thinking I need to buy anything at all, and more commonly wake up in horror because I’ve already bought way too much. “You need to furnish your apartment. You need to prepare for a party. You need to find a gift for a friend. You need a dress. Handmade is not the value proposition — unique, personalized, expresses your sense of identity, those are things that speak to buyers.” [emphasis added] Also, apparently Etsy founder Rob Kalin “didn’t know what seed funding was when he took it” 😮

The new tool for creating country-specific sales is finally out. You still can’t create the equivalent of the $35 free shipping guarantee for countries other than the US, however, which makes this pretty useless for people wanting to offer free shipping in the US and to their own country. The only way to come close is to set a 30 day free shipping sale to your own country, but it won’t show up in search (unless people filter for free shipping) or get the Canadian search boost for items that ship free, and you still need to renew it every 30 days. In short, Etsy is telling us to overcharge our customers in other countries with no way to offer them the same deals Americans are getting.

Sellers can now use Etsy Labels for USPS First Class letters & flats.

Holiday tips continue to roll out: here are some ideas for running holiday sales and promotions on Etsy.

Advanced content on machine learning: Etsy is employing its data on styles to serve up personalized recommendations, including the “Our Picks for You” section on the home page. The purchase and favouriting rates are part of what gets shown. They’ve discovered that some styles are more popular are different times of the year.

For those of you who think Etsy doesn’t spend enough on advertising, they are actually buying spots on tv shows now, including this Las Vegas morning show. [video]

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Sad to report that Keywords Everywhere is becoming a paid tool starting October 1st (although it may take longer to roll out to your account). https://keywordseverywhere.com/news.html They need to do this because they were being scraped by bots, which was affecting user experience & costing them a lot of time and money. Fortunately, it is still going to be very cheap - 10,000 keywords for $1 USD, purchased ahead of time as credits. They say that the average user will spend less than $2 a month, & I suspect that the average Etsy user will spend less. Once your account moves to a paid one, you will no longer see the search volume, cost per click & competition numbers under search terms until you buy credits, although the "related keywords" & "people also search" sections will still show up on the right side of Google search. I usually do not recommend any paid tools, but I do think this will still be worth every penny, especially if you remember to turn it off when shopping instead of researching! Every comparable paid tool costs way more than this. And despite the rush of attention since their announcement, I still received a personal reply to my email within 24 hours.

You know how I always talk about nofollow links? They still exist, but Google has expanded their link attribution codes to include “sponsored” & "ugc" (user generated content), and all might be crawled at any point after March 1, 2020. Moz did a top level explanation, and here is Google’s (shorter) summary. But it may not really matter much to the average site.

Want to rank well on Google and other search engines? Create “complete content.”

A followup on last edition’s discussion of canonical URLs - Google gets the final say. [video]

Google is now releasing monthly videos of their search news; first one is here.

Some of you will remember Moz’s Whiteboard Friday series on learning SEO in one hour. They’ve now compiled all 6 videos in one place.

And if you want to learn the basics of link building quickly, Moz has a short version of that chapter from their Beginner’s Guide to SEO.

If you are afraid you are missing some SEO rules on your top pages, check out this complete checklist for on-page SEO.

There are tons of SEO tools for Wordpress; here are 15 of the best.

Many people will find your blog through search engines, so make sure you use keywords in your blog posts.

If you have a website, check out 16 things that can harm your search engine rankings [semi-advanced in part, some points are discussing coding]

Success on YouTube involves SEO, something I find many users forget.

Mostly advanced: reminder that as of September 1, you can’t use robots.txt to tell Google not to index pages or sites.

Advanced content for website developers: you need to make sure the site is ready for SEO work.

There are always more Google updates; this one is still rolling out, and was confirmed by Google, but very few details were given. Sistrix did the first comprehensive analysis, although it is still early, and health and media sites seem to be the most dramatically affected.

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Marketing emails need to be carefully designed for success. Everything from the layout to the “preheader” matters.

If you have content on one medium that is doing well for you, it’s time to “repurpose” it for different platforms.

Infographics are very popular in content marketing; here’s how to make one, with 15 free templates.

Some Instagram posts do better than others; here’s why. Among other study findings, “smaller profiles which use more hashtags actually do see better engagement rates per post.”

If you aren’t getting much interaction on Instagram, you could be “shadowbanned.” There are ways to avoid that happening, and ways to fix it when it does.

“Content factories” are a big part of Instagram traffic. Maybe Facebook should crack down on this?

Pinterest is combining image recognition visual search with Shoppable Pins.

Facebook is considering hiding the like counts on News Feed posts, as Instagram is testing in 7 countries right now. “The idea is to prevent users from destructively comparing themselves to others and possibly feeling inadequate if their posts don’t get as many Likes. It could also stop users from deleting posts they think aren’t getting enough Likes or not sharing in the first place.”

Video app TikTok can be confusing, so here is a step-by-step guide for beginners. And here’s a podcast [with text] on the basics.

Twitter chats are a great way to attract interest in your business.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Facebook is testing new shopping ads, but they are only available to small groups at the moment: checkout from the Facebook app, and turning Instagram shopping posts into ads. Here’s more on the latter.

Snapchat now has longer ads and different formats.

I see a lot of questions on what you can advertise on various platforms; here’s a good summary of items/topics prohibited on major sites.

Since so many sellers are interested in other types of advertising right now, here are a few primers, most of which I have posted here before: Setting up Google Shopping for your website Instagram Sponsored Posts How to beat Facebook’s ad algorithm Setting up Pinterest ads

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Have Google Analytics set up on your website but don’t know how to use it? Here are some common features [text and video] you may want to take advantage of. Note that the part about setting it up doesn’t apply to most marketplaces and many website builders, which have a more simplified set up, as Etsy does.

The old Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is now almost entirely converted to the new version. Expect all of the old reports to be moved to the new version soon.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

There’s new evidence that Amazon has skewed its search algorithm to favour its own products & third-party products that make Amazon the most money. ”Executives from Amazon’s retail divisions have frequently pressured the engineers at A9 to surface their products higher in search results, people familiar with the discussions said.” In case that WSJ article goes back behind a paywall, here is some news coverage of it. “Instead of adding profitability into the algorithm itself, Amazon changed the algorithm to prioritize factors that correlate with profitability, the article said.” Amazon denies this, of course.

Despite the legal agreement in Germany, Amazon is still suspending accounts without 30 days notice.

Want to use cash to pay for online purchases? Amazon is now offering that option in the US.

eBay listings now default to 1-day handling; if you ship slower than that, make sure to remember to change the default on each new listing you make.

eBay managed payments (the equivalent of Etsy Payments) are now available in Germany.

A review of major shipping trends in ecommerce notes that “[t]he accelerated supply chain is putting small sellers at a crossroads regarding if they can afford to take a hit on margins” when discussing Etsy’s free shipping push.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Over ⅓ of US adults have bought something on social media, over 50% of 18-34 year olds are in that group. Far fewer had used visual search or virtual reality.

More people are shopping online late at night; women are more likely to do it, but men spend more when they do. [I’ve noticed this trend on my site and Etsy shop for a few years now,compared to when I first started selling in 2008.]

The majority of shoppers worldwide who are online use videos to make some purchase decisions, as shopping lists, how-to research, and to check reviews.

Gen Z (the generation after millennials) is more concerned about their health than the the previous 2 generations, and sometimes avoid the stresses of social media by shopping in brick & mortar stores. “About two-thirds (67%) of Gen Z prefer products made with ingredients they can understand, and tend to buy products in health and wellness categories more frequently than other generations. On environmental issues, 65% said they prefer simple packaging and 58% said they want eco-friendly packaging. Half of the group seeks products that are locally sourced or made, and 57% are seeking products that are environmentally sustainable, but fewer are willing to pay a premium price for them.”

For the 2019 holiday season, “65% of holiday shoppers will use a mobile device to shop, and 65% will make an online purchase via mobile.”

How do different industries get their online traffic? Google sends sites 8 times more traffic than all social media sites combined, and Facebook drives nearly ⅔ of all visits from social media. Instagram is responsible for less than 1%, while Twitter tops 10%. The author notes that “faster-growing social networks like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are designed from the ground up in a way that makes it difficult to drive traffic to external sites.”

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Google is working on letting you search your Google Photos for text; it seems to be using AI to identify & store the text in your screenshots and other images. It’s interesting technology that will likely be used in many ways, including search engines, if it works well.

If you like convo snippets on Etsy, here’s a tool that will make them possible in many more places.

Need a photo editor that works on mobile? Here’s a list of 12, most of which are free or cost only $1 USD.

This one simple trick makes everything faster and easier.

Stuff that probably shouldn’t taste like pumpkin spice. [humour]

#seo #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #etsynews #analytics #stats #social media #contentmarketing #content marketing #Ecommerce #smallbiz #CindyLouWho2NewsUpdates

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joie-university-rp · 5 years

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Dear, SPENCER ABRAMS,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

–

Congratulations, ADMIN O! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklistand send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Admin O (she/her)

Age, Timezone: 20, EST

Activity, short explanation: #AlwaysHere

Ships: Chemistry

Anti-Ships: No Chemistry

Triggers: N/a

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link): I make the graphics, lol.

Anything else: Shout out to everyone there

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Spencer Robin Abrams

FC: Mae Whitman

Age: 18, Junior

Birth date: July 21st 2000

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Washington, DC

Gender/Pronouns: Female; She/her

Sexuality: Homosexual

Major(s): American Sign Language, Italian, German

Minor(s) [optional]: 3D Arts

Housing request (remember only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Pillsbury RA Suite

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): Thunderclap tour guide, RA [Secretary], Lacrosse, World Languages Club [President], LARPing Club

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): MuSig [Pledge educator]

CHARACTER PROFILE:

[At least] 3 Headcanons for your character:

TW: Car crash, amputation

Spencer is a class-A ‘mom friend’ to any and everyone around her. She’s an RA, a tour guide for Joie University, and a Pledge Educator for her sorority. However, although she’s always looking to be a maternal mentor for those around her, she somehow manages to not be the most excitable or preppy person around. Although she loves Joie, she also prides herself in being a realist who address Joie–and life in general–as realistically as possible.

Spence and Artie are fraternal twins who are attached at the hip. Being such a maternal figure to every one else, if it weren’t for her brother Artie, it would be difficult for Spencer to find someone willing to talk to her in the same way.

In the car crash when the twins were 8 that forced Artie to lose his ability to walk, Spencer lost her left leg above the knee. It took years of physical therapy for Spencer to completely regain her ability to walk, but, nowadays, it isn’t even an obstacle. In fact, Spence has gone on to make Joie University history by being the first female player scouted for Joie’s otherwise all-male lacrosse team.

Spencer’s love for LARPing and cosplay actually came from her amputated leg. Inspired by Josh Sundquist, she began making her own temporary fashion prosthetics in high school and fell in love with costume and fashion making in general.

Her main career goal is to be a high-class interpreter who’s able to travel the world. If that doesn’t work out, she also wouldn’t mind being a costume designer for a theatre company.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY:

(Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? “JU was honestly a bit of a random decision for me. I know everyone loves to slog on and on about how great this place is–and it is to a certain extent–but I honestly didn’t even look into all of that. When I applied to colleges, I wanted somewhere out of state that was far enough away that I had an excuse not to fly home much–but not so far that I never wanted to fly home–and had the majors I wanted. JU was the first one I found. I went on a college tour as a high school senior, loved the campus, and the rest was history.”

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? “I’d say I’m a pretty realistic chick–in general, I mean–and I’m definitely someone who preserves. If there’s anyone who had more than enough excuses to give up whenever we wanted to, it’d be Art and I, but we never have–that’s something Mom and Pop really instilled in us. As far as a third thing, I mean, I’m that traditional ‘did you eat, don’t get pissy ass drunk tonight’ level of mom friend, so that’s definitely positive too.

For negative, I’m definitely quick to get annoyed–not pissed, just annoyed–especially at new people, so I can see that being kinda a problem. I also just generally don’t give much of a fuck what strangers think. I mean, people who like me are gonna like me. I’m not the type that runs around trying to get people to like me. I guess that second one works as two negative traits since that also gets into the whole ‘being too straightforward thing’.

Which of your traits do you value most? “My ‘mom friend’-ness, I guess. I have the sticker on my laptop to prove it–’certified mom friend’.”

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? “I mean, given that the Freshies and Sophs are fucking monsters that don’t want parental supervisions but desperately need it, I think I’m already doing my part…”

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? “Everything I’m already gaining–more ‘kids’ to take care of, a nice education, a new team of stupid LaX boys to run circles around, some other dudes who are just as dorky as me when it comes to cosplay… honestly, JU’s been pretty damn good to me.”

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you?

”And I’ll rise up I’ll rise like the day I’ll rise up I’ll rise unafraid I’ll rise up And I’ll do it a thousand times again”

#accepted

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homedesignlog-blog · 5 years

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20 Awesome Brick Walls in the Bathroom

I WILL’t inform you enough how much i am excited about brick walls in the interiors. As a kid, we have been advised of the tale about the Three Little Pigs where one in every of these brothers (the last one) made a home of bricks that saved him and his brothers from the big dangerous wolf that went to the first homes and destroyed them. So, with that, we all know how much strong and neat brick walls (or houses) are. Below, you can be seeing a fantastic checklist that showcases a list of bathrooms that experience brick walls – either as accent walls or their primary walls. This list presentations a pair of bogs with the traditional purple brick walls whilst a few have white brick partitions. you should go beforehand and take a look at this list and pick a favourite – red or white!

Jane Kim Design First prevent is your conventional purple brick walled rest room from Jane Kim Layout. The furnishings in right here glance in point of fact vintage and really attention-grabbing. the choice of toilet furnishings in here's slightly one thing, even the tile used to enrich the red bricks is just so fancy.

RKM Internal Design This part of the bathroom i locate attention-grabbing. i'm hoping that whoever uses the tub wouldn't hit the ceiling component to the brick arch. As you'll be able to see, the distinction at the pink bricks and the white bathtub makes each of these things stand out – particularly the white bath.

Stephen Fletcher Architects I Like the immaculate steel bath in this rest room. It’s loopy unique and i’d love to in reality have one when I CAN in fact find the money for it. the usual white tub in an ordinary rectangle or the ones adorable oval ones are pretty, however i believe that having a stainless bath would be attention-grabbing and cool altogether.

Break Out From Settee Here Is one contemporary layout of a tub which in truth seems to be in point of fact fancy. I don’t produce other photos of this house but i think throughout from the bathtub is the bed – pretty cool, right? i actually dream of having a bath with regards to my bed even separately from the bathroom. I Love this.

Studio 10 Internal Layout The contrast of the crimson brick wall and that of the white wall is rather cool. It makes me suppose which one is actually the accent wall and which one is the primary wall that wanted accenting. With the uncovered ceiling and the matching wooden flooring, i believe this toilet is considered one of the prettiest in this listing.

Wolveridge Architects This Bathroom is something – with white walls and ceiling and the fundamental white rest room fixtures, the use of pink bricks for the aspect of the bathtub and the floor is one awesome move. It creates a loft feel and on the same time, it makes it seem like other puts. It appears nice in this picture, but I WILL’t say the same after we see it in person.

Tyrrell and Laing Global, Inc. The Primary merchandise or the focus of this toilet is actually the bathtub. Why now not? It without a doubt deserves an entire lot of consideration because it looks actually lovely and comfortable. As so much because the white portions of this toilet glance divine, i believe the extra brick wall on the upper part of the wall and the brown granite as the countertop and backsplash makes an entire lot of difference in right here.

Hudson Place Realty While I first saw this photograph I were given confused with the decorations behind the tub; toilets don’t regularly have this so much decorations and never rest room similar stuff, if you realize that I mean. I’m undecided if this was once staged or whatnot, but i think that those cabinets undoubtedly made this space fascinating.

Flux Interiors The Primary time I came across this bathroom photograph, it used to be hard for me to really in finding the best size that i needed and whilst I did, i was in reality satisfied. I Really Like spaces that showcase vintage decorations or Americana that makes it truly appealing. I imply, i know no longer all of the visitors who would talk over with this house might see how beautiful this Pinocchio portrait is, however i believe it really seems to be unique.

Contramark Contramark certain made sure that this bathroom could seems awesome and ideal. The distinction at the prints, textures and colors in this rest room is quite interesting and very fascinating. i've never noticed such a lot drama (the good sort) in a bathroom. I mean, i do know there are fancier and perhaps extra stunning toilets however this one appears just like it is where it belongs.

Peter Landers Photography As so much brick partitions can be great for an entire room, having bits of it in the house (in the bathroom, for that topic) creates a extra funky aura. A Few areas do not really want that funky contact however for others who want to deliver a touch of a loft in their houses, toilets like this one ought to do the trick.

Carl Leroy-Smith I particularly like how a lot better bath tubs appears to be like beside a brick wall. The distinction of colour makes it stand out and just about makes it extra appealing than it already is. It makes the tub glance love it’s actually inviting and i guess the home homeowners made this phase sure in order that bathing can be as enjoyable as it have to be – all of the time.

Court Atkins Workforce I WILL’t say so much about this loo as a result of this is already an outstanding space to even speak about it. The use of white, picket, granite and bricks make this bathroom different and cool. i like the colour via the door and above it – it’s captivating.

John Cannon Homes When I saw this image, i used to be as to what number of a few of the pictures in this listing has brick partitions by way of the lavatory space as much as the ceiling part? I didn’t really test what number of – however however, I’m happy that now we have this one on the list for reference. Making arches fabricated from brick is common however adding it via the bathroom is an even thing; at least i think so.

Otero Signature Properties I’m afraid that you actually have to actually zoom on this photograph for you to give you the option to see the white brick wall however don’t worry because it sure is one neat thought. They introduced the brick wall at the back of the mirrors and the sconces. i believe that this bathroom is one beautiful area to chill and take a bath.

Inner Intuitions, Inc. You Can mainly see the outdoors from the window by means of the shower, and why not if you happen to have a big outside that the neighbor can’t see, proper? i like how nice this transform is, aside from that it has to many corners that children aren’t supposed to be right here; the corners of this toilet might be dangerous – unless of course that is child-proofed.

Tonic Layout Featured this photograph as soon as ahead of and i suppose this one wishes this publicity as it is just so neat. the combination of the pink brick, the black glossy tiles and grey diagonally positioned ground tiles make this space somewhat masculine; particularly the reality that this has a black bath too. however, i feel this area is still beautiful and sophisticated.

Tom Hurt Structure I wish that you'll see the other aspect of this loo; across from the reflect – there you'll see the beautiful tub. even when the wall on that aspect is not so pretty, generally, i believe that this toilet has slightly of an Asian touch to it and it’s moderately catchy and neat.

Hansgrohe UNITED STATES this is but a small element of all of the toilet but since the brick is noticed in this attitude, i assumed that we must proportion this with you guys. The contrast of the red bricks that serves because the backsplash and the white walls, beams, loo and flooring makes the bricks in reality wanted.

Catlin Stothers Design Remaining but surely now not the least is a minimalist lavatory area. i like how uncooked this space in fact appears to be like with out a lot paint on the wall and the concept that it kind of feels no longer completed or what but still looking truly superior. i really like how the incomplete aura makes it unique from other spaces. This record won't appear such a lot for a few, however i feel that seeing bathrooms just like the ones in this checklist makes for great concepts and concept for designs you'll use in the long run, whether or not it’s professionally or personally. If you have the chance despite the fact that, be at liberty to take a look at the dining ares with brick partitions and propose us as to what we will be able to do again next time! Read the full article

#bathroom #bathroombrickwall #brickwall

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crimsonrevolt · 6 years

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Congratulations Leah you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Xenophilius Lovegood!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

To get a Pandora and a Xeno all in one day...! I don’t think my heart can take it. Xeno is always a beloved character and you’ve written him so well in your application that we just cannot wait to see what you do with him. Also thank you Taylor for dragging her here! *your faceclaim change to Austin Butler has been accepted

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

I’m Leah, 25, and I use female pronouns and live in EST

ACTIVITY

I’d say about a 7. I do have a full-time job, but I’m usually able to be around some evenings and weekends

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

Welllll…I happen to know Taylor and she may or may not have drug me here

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Look, I know this is going to sound like a line given who I’m applying for, but honestly, it’s always been Luna. I’ve always been a Ravenclaw and always known that and was always really disappointed that really in the books (at the beginning) the only character we had was Cho. But then Luna was introduced and I was just so happy. She’s my little Ravenclaw baby and she’s so weird and bizarre and just owns that that’s who she is. The year she was introduced in the books, I made my parents buy me a Harry Potter robe, printed out a Ravenclaw emblem, hot glued it over he Gryffindor emblem, and dawned earrings of a crab grabbing onto a foot and went as Luna for Halloween. I just love how intelligent and eccentric, but also how good and loyal she is. It’s always been her above anyone else that I relate to.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Nothing I can think of :)

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Xenophilius Hezekiah Lovegood

Xenophilius knows their name is obnoxiously long. Nicknames are going to happen, it’s only natural with a name like Xenophilius, really. They don’t mind and they don’t really mind why you call them—Xeno, Xen, Philly, even Lovey if you wan to take something from their last name. But DO NOT, under any circumstances, ever call him Phil. Just. Don’t. Do it.

Additionally, being demi-male (see more later), he tends to use Xeno more when feeling masculine and Xen when feeling agendered.

FACE CLAIM

I’d really, really love Austin Butler (first choice) or Toby Regbo for Xen. I’m not against Jamie, but his tendency to play villains/assholes makes it a little harder for me to see him as Xeno

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

As stated above, I really, really love Luna which makes Xen an obvious choice. I’m also a Ravenclaw, so I feel like I have that tie to him. I started looking through the characters and there were probably a half a dozen I started looking at, but Xen just started talking to me before I even read all the way through their bio. I love that he’s kind of wild and crazy and just free. They believe fully in being whoever you are and not letting anyone stop you, unless of course you’re hurting someone else. They’re incredibly intelligent and driven to always know more and investigate more. I also see him as horribly loyal. Few people take the time to get to know Xen or become friends with them. But those that do gain a fierce friend.

I think an important thing to know about the Xen we’ll see in game play is that they’re not the same Xeno we see in the books. In the books, he’s a lot more unhinged (for lack of a more fitting word), a lot more willing to throw anyone under the bus for the sake of his daughter. But I think a lot of that comes from losing Pandora. He’s been in the midst of a war for the better part of 20 years, his wife died at her own hands (even if by accident) and there was nothing he could do to stop it, the wizarding community as a whole believes him entirely delusional, really the only thing he has is his daughter who’s taken by death eaters. A lot of what is seen in the books comes from all that trauma. He’s eccentric in the current timeline becomes craziness. His protectiveness of his friends becomes a willingness to go against even is own principles to save his daughter. His laid back, open-minded demeanor has morphed into something that’s jarring to most people. At their roots, the personality of current Xen is still very much the same as Xeno in the books, but the way it manifests itself is much more dialed back. Xen is a little more in line with their daughter now, rather than the more extreme manifestation they become in their older years.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

End-game for Xen is definitely Pandora. With how much we see that they love her in the books, I can’t imagine it any other way. That being said, I’m more than open to exploring other relationships with other characters. Xen is also definitely pansexual. They’re a person who loves love and acceptance and openness and not closing yourself off to anything for any reason so I can’t imagine them being anything other than pan.

When it comes to romance and sex, well Xeno actually has far more experience in the latter. He’s had his fair share hook ups—with parties of both genders and have they explored outside human/wizard species…well maybe. But romance? Honestly, Xen considers themselves lucky to have friends. They aren’t going to push anything more. They rather like the idea of falling in love, having some little house somewhere surrounded by plants. But love and romance at this point are more ideas to Xen than they are reality. If it happens, it does, and he’ll be more than happy with it. If it doesn’t..then they’ll just adopt a house-full of creatures and live happily ever after with them.

Xen identifies as demi-male with a bit of genderfluidity behind it, using both male and agendered pronouns. Gender is just another construct and they suppose they align more with male than female if they have to choose. That being said, the never-ending comments about being feminine for their long hair and tendency to wear far too many accessories never bothered him either. Use what pronouns you will with them, none of them really matter. Xen has far more important things to worry themselves with.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-AN AESTHETIC

Pinterest for Xeno can be found here

-A PLAYLIST

Playlist for Xeno can be found here

-A FEW HEADCANONS

Xen’s crowning achievement of their Hogwarts years is sabotaging the Slytherin Quidditch team. It wasn’t about winning a game or the house points—Xen couldn’t care less about Quidditch really and the house tournament always seemed rather trivial to them. No, the Slytherin team was being rather awful to a group of first year Hufflepuff girls and someone had to put an end to it. So right before the Slytherin/Gryffindor game, Xeno may have enchanted all their brooms to give them all a horrible case of jock itch.

When Xeno wasn’t trying to sneak into the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library or wondering off into the Forbidden Forest, you could usually find them at the lake. It was a nice relaxing place and a good place to get high without the professors catching you. There was, of course, also the giant squid. Xen named him Sqedward and tried desperately to train him. Much to Xen’s dismay, the squid never did listen, no matter what they tried, and their dreams of riding the great beast as Muggles do dolphins at Sea World were thwarted.

Xeno isn’t sure how to feel about all the violence Aversio has been using lately. They’re not much prone to violence themselves and tend to take less traditional approaches when push comes to shove (see above). They don’t necessarily support just how violent the group is being, but they know something needs to be done given the state of the wizarding world and their Muggle relations. Sure, it’s nice the Order exists, but just talking about making change isn’t enough. You have to do something for anything to happen. Maybe Aversio’s path isn’t the right one, but it’s the best path available at the current time, so he’s going to take it.

Xeno has an extremely deep love of New Scamander. They think he’s absolutely brilliant. Living a life searching out and findings and treating and fighting for and writing about magical creatures, it just sounds like an absolute dream. Xen’s copy of Fantastic Beasts long ago had to be enchanted so the pages wouldn’t fall apart from wear and there’s paragraphs of notes scribbled into the margins. If they cared less about trying to make a difference for humans, they would almost certainly become a magizoologist, but there’s far too much work to be done getting humans to care about each other before trying to get them to care for creatures. Not that that puts any damper on Xen’s love of all things animal, vegetable, and mineral and his extraordinary adoration of his hero. The day Luna brought home a Scamader was damn near the proudest day of his whole life.

(Note: I saw you guys have a profession list and picked on that feels the most fitting for a young Xeno. I’m more than open to adjusting to fit your views/group needs for job positions.) Xeno currently works at the Daily Prophet. Sure, it’s corrupt and what they’re printing is hardly the truth, but Xen is convinced they’ll be able to change it from the inside out if only they try hard enough. They thought if they joined the Prophet they’d be able to print articles to change minds and change the ideals of the paper’s staff. So far it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere though. Most of his articles wind up getting cut out of the paper and the editor is scolding him more than publishing him. It’s starting to get frustrating, but they’re still holding out hope to make a difference. (The Quibbler will still be founded at a later date when Xen can no longer deny that they aren’t making any impact at the Prophet. Or possibly the Quibbler is founded as an Aversio propaganda paper that either uses Xen’s eccentric interests as a way to send veiled/coded messages to members or it just simply morphs into something entirely different as the war winds down and after Pandora’s death becoming the zany brain child seen in the books.)

Xenophilius sends Howlers quite frequently to anyone in the select group they consider friends. They’re not angry, no, of course not, that’s just now who he is. But there’s just something about a talking/screaming message that simply conveys things written letters can’t. Hand written messages just aren’t…dramatic emphatic enough.

More often than not, when writing Xen tends to dictate out loud to an enchanted quill while pacing around the room and keeping their hands busy.

Xen is a lover of accessories and is rarely without at least half a dozen rings between their two hands.

Xeno is a babbler. Bring up any topic he’s half interested in with anyone willing to even half pretend to be half listening and he’ll babble on endlessly about most anything. Their speech patters tend to involve long drawn out sentences that can be a bit hard to follow.

A few quick facts about their family: Their dad is a wizard while their mum is a muggle. Their father isn’t entirely supportive of their (for the time) progressive gender and sexual identities—the older Lovegood doesn’t necessarily scorn it or treat their child poorly, but he just doesn’t get it. Xen is an only child.

He brought a toad with him for his years at Hogwarts named Wartly. He talks to him a lot and even created a miniature, functional piano for the little guy to enjoy, fully infuriating most all of the Ravenclaw house as the toad would “play” at all hours of the night and Xen did absolutely nothing to “restrict the creature’s right to freedom of expression.”

Two brief headcanons about Xen as an adult that likely won’t have an impact on game play but I can’t shake:

Xen often calls his wife Panda Bear and his daughter his Little Moon

Xen’s knowns about the Deathly Hallows for quite some time, but the reason he carries so much information about them in Harry’s time is because of Pandora. After her death, Xenophilus poured himself into a way to bring back the love of his life. He’s still certain the only thing that could bring her back. He never managed it and maybe that’s for the best, but his knowledge of the Hallows comes down to his longing to bring back Panda.

Connections: (These are a few ideas for connections, all pending approval of the characters’ respective players and naturally his connections aren’t limited to these, but it’s a jumping off point and a look into how he relates to others)

Marlene—Marlene and Xen easily go back to their early Hogwarts days. She’s one of his best friends and one of few that can fully stomach everything that is the complexity of Xenophilius Lovegood. She’s a pub buddy and his go to for someone to smoke with. No one makes them smile and laugh quite the way Marlene can—even if they both spend just as much time rolling their eyes at one another.

The Black Family—The Black Family as a whole is just…distasteful to Xeno. They’re the perfect portrait of everything wrong in the wizarding community. They can’t stand them. Even Sirius, who’s long been a member of the Order and Aversio, Xen can’t quite bring themselves to fully trust—can someone truly disconnect so completely from a family so deeply tainted? The Blacks are violent and bigoted power hungry. Despite his typically warm personality, he’s often notably cold to the Black family and their backwards ways.

Rita—A fellow wizarding journalist, Xen and Rita have always been in the same circles. It doesn’t make them friends though. They have very different world views. She’s the kind who is actually published by the Prophet—though really he can’t see why as so many of her article are full of half-truths and exaggerations. Xeno is always trying to get her to write something good. Something worth her time. Something valuable and positive. It hasn’t worked thus far, so for the time being they’re really just rivals at best.

Arthur—Arthur Weasley is something of a treasure to Xen. They both have immense loves for things that no one else can quite fully appreciate. And sure, they don’t always have interest in the same sorts of things, but there is something nice about finding someone how loves loving things the way you do. The two can sit and babble on for hours, neither really saying anything relating to what the other’s just said and neither really minding because at least someone is finally listening to them.

Sybill—Sybill is so free and strange, just like himself and honestly, Xeno loves it. They always feel free to be unabashedly weird with her and it’s rather freeing. They’ve tried time and time again to get her to teach him divination. And she’s tried, she really has, but every time he fails to see anything of the future, he just tells her he’s failed to teach him properly rather than accept the fact that he’ll never have the affinity she does.

Lucius—Few people really truly get under Xenophilius’s skin quite the way Lucius does. He’s just so smug and so self-important and so sure he’s better than absolutely everyone when the reality is, he’s not. ‘Men’ who act like they are men, like they are more than what they are, when really, push comes to shove, they are nothing, are an utter frustration to Xeno. They’re very, very tempted to put him in his place and at some point, they just may. Someone needs to.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

“One? Only one? Boiling down the entire universe worth of possibility into only one options?” Xen’s cheeks puff up as he lets out an exasperated and dramatic sigh. “Merlin’s beard, that’s a big question. Oi I suppose…something that would cause some kind of instant karmic retribution. Or perhaps a potion that allows you to know everything—absolutely everything, even if only for a while. Or what about the ability to see all creatures, even the invisible one or the ones that run away really fast. Or maybe-” They stop, suddenly realizing themselves and let out a small chuckle. “Well I suppose that’s more than one it’s it. It’s far too complex a question. You can’t honestly expect anyone to be able to give only one answer, it’s entirely unfair.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

“Well it would certainly have to be Marlene to bring along with me, it’d be rather grate fun. We’d find some good trouble to get into. I mean not that we haven’t already found good trouble in the Forest. You know everyone is so against the centaurs and, no, they’re not the friendlies group, but they’re not all bad. Now what would I bring with me?” They pause for a moment contemplating. There were plenty of good things to bring, plenty of things they had dug up spending far too much time in parts of the library and personal tomes that they should have never laid their hands on. The Philosopher’s Stone came to mind. Or maybe the Hallows. But that wasn’t exactly information they thought best to share with anyone. “Hmm…perhaps a griffin. Or a phoenix. Maybe a Thestral—they just have bad reps you know. Oooo, or perhaps a Graphhorn. Sure they’re rather hard to find, but you didn’t specify the likelihood of being able to obtain said object before entering the forest with it.”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

“Decisions in general are rather difficult I find. Even the most mundane ones. The world, by design, is full of choices and you’ll never be able to choose all of them—never. Isn’t that a thought?” As their words die off, their face gets an uncharacteristically morose look to it. “Those with gray morality, I suppose. Where right and wrong blend together and white and black are not so clear. When you know more needs to be done, but you aren’t sure the best path forward. The choices where there is no right and no wrong and yet someone could wind up hurt regardless. Those are the hardest.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

“Most anything that could be said about me has already been said. And frankly, I don’t much care about any of it. I suppose he one thing I’d never want said about is that I’m unkind or uncaring. There’s a great many things that can be said about a person, but I think that, by far is worst. That and unimaginative. Both terrible, terrible things.”

REACTION TO LAST EVENT DROP

Reading through the plot drop, there were two different places I really saw some place that Xeno would fit in. In the first portion of the plot drop where Aversio and the Order are working together, it mentions that some, including Sirius are frustrated with how long it’s taking. I think Xen would fall into that camp. To them it’s just obvious that something needs done and everyone should be willing to take action. Sure, it’d be nice if it were a little more peaceful than what Aversio is doing now, but it certainly needs to be more than what the Order has been doing. They just can’t quite understand why things aren’t moving more quickly and why the two factions of the same side can’t seem to get along and find a solution. They’re trying to get everyone to work together and find a better middle ground, but it can at times wear at him and become rather frustrating.

The second part is that he would most certainly help Hestia and Edgar making the posters. Xen, being Xen, making a paper as bright and vivid as we all know the Quibbler is, I can absolutely see him helping to write and format propaganda (for lack of a better word) for Aversio trying to recruit or spread their message. It’s something he would definitely have a heavy hand in given half the chance. It’s something that would let his imaginative and creative ways be put to work. There’s also a fair possibility that if given a chance, he would have help with creating the potions to help Aversio/Order members go undercover to the Death Eater events as well.

WRITING SAMPLE

“Lovegood! My office now!”

Xeno was more than familiar with that tone. It was more or less the only one they ever got from the editor of The Daily Prophet. Sure, it had been a bit disheartening at first—Xen was used to their fair amount of trouble, but being a disappointment, a let down…well not so much. They had gotten used to it now. Which was probably why they were more often tasked with the mundane articles—new students arriving at Hogwarts, the menu changes at the Leaky Caldron, a nasty flea outbreak at Eeylops. Not that that stopped Xen from writing the articles they really wanted to write. The ones that really mattered. They waived their hand at the enchanted pen scribbling away mid-air and it clattered down onto his desk with a rather defeated clunk as he made it way into the editor’s office.

“What in the bloody hell is this?” the editor asked, slamming down his most recent article. The big, bold headline of Death Eater Takes Minister Title and the sub-caption of Rodolphus Lestrange, a member of the terror organization known as the Death Eaters usurped power unjustly from former Minister Millicent Bagnold. Sure, it wasn’t big flashy words, and Xen has spent ages trying to come up with something better, but he figured cutting it straight to the chase might be best given the circumstances.

“Well it’s the truth.”

“The truth? The truth? We can’t go making claims like that about the LestrangesXenophilius.”

“They’re not claims, they’re the truth.”

“You’ve nothing to support that argument.”

“I have everything to support that argument,” they countered. They could feel their typically laxed personality starting to pull back as they got more and more frustrated. How on earth was he supposed to do anything, change anything when every decent article he wrote led to this kind of conversation? There was good to be done here, change to be made, but once again, they were just the crazy little wizard with an imagination too bright to understand the reality of the world. What no one ever seemed to notice was that it was that exact imagination that made them see things perhaps a bit too clearly.

“We won’t be publishing this sort of nonsense here.”

“It’s not nonsense! Sir, surely you have to know! You have to know the kind of things that man is wrapped up in. Him and the Black family, all of the Death Eaters, this never ending parade of hate that’s only leading to genocide. The wizarding community needs to know what’s happening! They have to be enlightened.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“We’re the leading paper in the English wizarding community. If we’re not going to talk about it, then who will? We have a duty as members of the press to publish the truth, regardless of backlash, to make readers informed and keep them up to date on the reality of the world around them, even when it’s a reality that is hard to stomach.”

“Enough.” With that one barked word, Xen knew. They knew that surely, same as Rita, the editor knew. He knew about all of this and was just going on complicity. Maybe he was even one of them. “I was warned when I hired you. That this kind of drivel is what I’d get from you, but some of your professors seemed to have good words to say about you. Last time I listen to them.”

Xeno’s face fell. His writing wasn’t drivel. It was good. It was the only good he had to offer the world right now. But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t doing anything if no one ever read it. Their mind flashed back to all of Aversio’s talks of future plans. All the wrathful ideas they had that churned Xen’s stomach. But sitting here and being peaceful wasn’t working.

People would hear Xenophilius Lovegood’s messages one way or another. Maybe they’d have a turn of staff soon, an editor who would listen, who would be interested in the truth. Maybe Rita would quit and free up page space that could go to articles that really mattered. Maybe the world would finally just start seeing things as they were and cry for the truth themselves.

“Get out of here. Go write me something I can actually publish Lovegood. We won’t be having this conversation again.”

Xen turned to the door, shaking their head as their fingers played with the rings that adorned each one, already plotting out their next articles—both the ones they would turn in and the ones they would find other ways to distribute to those who would listen. They were just to the doorway when the editor spoke again.

“And nothing about Nargles this time Lovegood.”

#Accepted App #HP RP #skeleton rp #lsrpg #xenophilius lovegood

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diveronarpg · 4 years

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Congratulations, JULIE! You’ve been accepted for the role of LUCIEN. Admin Minnie: Goosie, I thought I loved Lucien’s bio and that it was the finest work I’ve ever read. But I was wrong. Your application for the very character you dreamt up, from your magical brain (and yes, inspiration from Shakespeare himself) is a whole new level I have genuinely yet to see from you. You have raised your own bar with this, truly. Lucien is every bit as human as he is an enigma; a man who walks among gods and demons, yet grieves like a small boy. He’s lost his family twice over, and I genuinely cannot wait to see what he’ll do next in your hands. Admin Rosey would also like to add: Julie what the actual -- this para sample is so impassioned I’m. In total awe. Wow. Again WOW. Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Julie

Age | 20

Preferred Pronouns | She/her

Activity Level | I just quit my job, so I’ll have more time to be online instead of working myself into the grave! I’ll still be working on our new house, however, so I’m hoping to churn out at least a reply a day if not more once I get threads kicked up.

Timezone | MST

Triggers | Infertility, miscarriage

How did you find the rp? | I’ve been here for a little over a year and you can’t get rid of me now, baby!

Current/Past RP Accounts | N/A

IN CHARACTER

Character | Lamprius / Lucien

What drew you to this character? | I think that Lucien sort of just clicks in my brain like a puzzle piece. As I was writing the app, I was like, oh no, I won’t be able to finish it in time, but that was obviously a fucking lie, because I word vomited about four-thousand words onto a google document for him, and it was the easiest time I’ve had writing in a while. I think his narrative and potential character arcs are so fascinating to me that there’s no way I could get him out of his head, even if I tried, and I want to see how far I can go with that.

Even moreso, I want to figure out what’s all the way underneath him, who he is at his core. At the end of the day, I think that Lucien is hiding from himself as much as he is from other people, and there’s something incredibly human about that. So many of us have difficulties looking at ourselves from different angles in the mirror, but Lucien looks every day from every angle and still struggles to reconcile with what he is, who he is, where he is. I think he could be a catalyst, if he’d only let himself be one, and writing that just plain sounds like fun.

There’s an additional mystery and mysticism to him that isn’t seen a lot in Verona save for within the neutrals. The Montagues and Capulets, try as they might, are not always able to hide their cards when they really, really need to do their best to not give themselves away. I’m thrilled at the very idea of playing someone who doesn’t always know what they’re doing, but everything about them is shrouded in so many facades and riddles that it literally doesn’t matter, so long as he looks like he does.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

I THINK THE END OF IT ALL MAY LOOK A LOT LIKE THE BEGINNING: I’d like to establish how Lucien is handling the grief that comes with the death of the Witches. Grief does weird, bad, ugly shit to people, and the Lucien coming back to Verona isn’t the same as the one who left it, even if he wasn’t gone for that long. To him, Hecate, Circe, and Medea were family. His own flesh and blood, after working with them for over a decade. He lost all of them in a matter of mere moments, and I’m interested in seeing if maybe he could be swayed to favor the Capulets over the Montagues just on the basis that it was Damiano who orchestrated their deaths. To all of Verona, the Witches were gods among men. They were unattainable, out of reach - but to Lucien, they were real people with lives and stories and faces and names he never got to learn the full extent of.

I NEED SOMEONE TO REMEMBER ME: Lamprius isn’t an alias I think many in Verona are familiar with, but maybe it’s time that changed. It’s implied that Lucien operated entirely behind the scenes for the Witches, so while they garnered a reputation for themselves, he might not have done anything for himself in that particular area. As the city shifts, in order to survive, Lucien needs to change with it - so I’d like to explore ways in which the name Lamprius means something to people, something larger than just Lucien ever could.

I’LL BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS ME: I’m interested in exploring Lucien’s relationship with Ronan, because as far as I can tell, Lucien hates the guts of the man he’s literally married to. I don’t think it was always like that. At some point, Lucien looked at Ronan with eyes clouded over by love, and that was enough to trip him up. There are advantages to being married to a member of the mob - namely, being looked over as inconsequential. But I think Lucien’s made it clear he’s not a wallflower, even to the Montagues, and stirs up trouble when given the opportunity. What happened along the way to get them where they are now? What broke?

YOU WILL OPEN THE YAWNING GRAVE: I’d be super interested in following this thread of figuring out just what the fuck happened to the Witches’ bodies, and if they left anything behind for him beyond what they didn’t give him up front. This could be prompted through the help of another neutral character, or maybe a sympathetic Capulet or Montague (potential blackmail?) - someone with resources, who knows what the Montagues do with their dead. He dug them empty graves, but there are moments where he can swear he hears their voices, and knows that he hasn’t left them behind yet. Not fully.

JUST GIVE ME A GLIMPSE, I HAVE TO KNOW: Who has Lucien helped, over the years? Who among the mobs has come to him, unknowingly, and asked for a favor, a pardon, aid in erasing their debt with the Witches? He’s been the sole deliverer and courier of misfortune and warnings that no one could have seen coming save for the Witches, and Lucien has tied himself to Verona and its residents just as much as they did. I’d love to see characters wrapped up in past affairs interact with Lucien, if there’s any chance he might have saved their lives or hurt their chances of survival at the bequest of Hecate, Circe, or Medea. They weren’t immune to influence from the Capulets and Montagues, as much as they would have liked to be, and by default, neither was Lucien.

WHO’S A HERETIC, NOW?: I think, to some degree, there are a certain number of characters realizing that the life they are currently leading in Verona is not sustainable, and not quite as golden as they thought it would be. Lucien’s well aware of the fact he can’t do what the Witches did all on his own. He needs people to lean on, those who can aid him in moments of moral weakness and lead him away from this path of revenge that is very slowly coming to the surface. He needs a guiding hand to aid him in his hereticism, because I think if he tries to do this all by himself, he’ll literally go mad. This is, of course, at the discretion of the admin team and members, but I’d love to see where this route could go after a while.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Sure!

IN DEPTH

I. When he is seventeen he goes to the police and tells them his father has been shot dead -- unintentionally -- and demands justice. He can’t remember the feeling out of it but his body can recall that particular anxiety with relative ease. The way he’d stood, spine straight, jaw clenched, hands clenched into fists with nothing to aim at. He can remember shaking, and after getting home to a mother who had stress-cleaned the kitchen three times, nearly vomiting on the not-newly polished floor.

When he says it, the police look at him like he’d told them he had been the one to shoot his father, and confessed. He’s resolutely aughed out of the station. One cop -- a tall, statuesque woman with hard eyes and ashen hair, skin mottled with acne scars and what could be a broken nose or just a crooked one -- leads him out with a guiding hand on his shoulder. He is sweating. His hair is sticking to the back of his neck. It feels like the whole of him is trembling.

They walk a ways before she lifts her hand, and he comes to realize she has led him to a quieter back alley. A metal door creaks open and a man in a butcher’s apron carries out a trashcan of meat entrails and sets it aside. Lucien looks away, but not before he sees a cat leap down from its perch to feast on the newfound opportunity. It has a pink collar, sleek golden fur, and a tag that he can see even from here which says Helios. A strange name for an alleycat, even if it is well-loved.

It is then that he realizes this woman could kill him. He swallows, hard. She lets go of him and comes around to look him in the eye. “I want you to listen to me, very carefully.” Her eyes are all steel, brow set low. He nods, because it’s the only thing he can think to do.

“If you go after this dog it will bite you and it will not let go until you are dead. You might think you have the resources -- a dog-catcher, a shock collar, a knife, a gun, a leash. It won’t matter what you use, and it won’t matter how long you try. It will be pointless.” She keeps her words at a whisper, voice scratchy. It’s only then that he notices the long, horizontal, thin scar dragging across her throat, the peek of a blue-and-gold hints of a tattoo at her collar, script that reads CAPULET--

She doesn’t miss that he’s looking, and she grabs his face by her whole hand. “If you are smart, you will go home, to your sad little life, and you will sit and be miserable and die choking on your dinner instead of your blood. But you’ll be safe. Do you understand?” He nods, hesitant, and she shakes her head, tightens her grip. “Tell me you understand.”

“I understand.” With the way she’s holding him it sounds more like I undershtand. He doesn’t know if he’s ever been so humiliated, shame and embarrassment burning bright in his chest.

She releases him, and Lucien stumbles backwards. He hits brick, feels cool clay against his back, and the woman leaves without saying another word. He doesn’t know how long he stands there, waiting for her to return and bury her teeth in him. She does not.

The cat, licking its chops, its whiskers dripping with the red of discarded carcasses, looks up and stares. He stares back.

II. He’s never been to the Roman bathhouse before, but with the sun gliding behind the mountains and settling in for the night, with the way the orange and gold glints across the stone, it looks like something out of a painting. When he steps through the doorway the torches are lit, guiding him further down the long main hall. There are sitting rooms to the sides, but no visible directions beyond the light licking at the wood-etched walls.

At the end of the hall, it splits off: women’s, and men’s. A golden-furred cat sits at the entrance to the men’s door. He opens it, and it slips through -- he follows, and is met with a pool of glossy-looking water. The architecture is beautiful: pillars spiral up towards the ceiling, and the whole room is like one giant flame, warm and welcoming. The water is -- steaming. The pool occupies the entirety of the room: there are only stairs into the water on one side, and stairs out of it on the other.

The cat winds its way between his legs and mrows. He kneels and scratches at the corner of its ears, and it purrs before wandering off into the dark, collar jingling as it goes. Lucien looks back at the water, and empties his pockets. When he sets his wallet on the floor, a door that hadn’t been there before on the other side creaks open. On the other side stands a figure, beckoning with an open palm. Fear leaps into his throat.

“If you cannot get around, then the only way is through. This is your first lesson..”

He kicks his shoes off and steps in. The water, at first, reaches his ankles. It’s pleasantly warm, and even clothed, it’s immediately tempting to derobe and stay in forever. He wades further into the depths, and when it reaches his waist, the edges of his brain feel pleasantly foggy. What was he here for?

The figure on the other side, robed only in shadows, waits.

The water goes no deeper. He keeps moving, feeling slow and sluggish. The water, which was warm before, is suddenly boiling. He looks at his hands and they are no redder than they were when he stepped in. The length of the pool feels infinitesimal, like he’ll never reach the other side no matter how much he wants to. Waves lap at the edge of the pool and move closer, foaming at the edges like ocean waves. There is something tugging at him, telling him to go back in. To lay down and hold his breath.

What is this?

He keeps going, though. When he places his foot on the first step up, something icy grabs at his left wrist, tugging him away. The figure waits and watches. The hand holding onto him tightens, even as he pulls. “Let go!” Lucien’s voice echoes around the room, loud, a little too high-pitched to convey peace. His head is swimming. His thoughts are swimming. He’s swimming.

The thing, whatever it is, pulls him under the water. He struggles against it, and though it is shallow, he cannot seem to rise the mere half-foot up out. It feels as though a thousand pounds are weighing down on his chest, individual pieces of steel. He kicks his legs. Not like this. Not like this! Black swarms at the edge of his vision. It’s a last-ditch effort, but he tries to set up regardless --

And wakes up completely dry, coughing, in a dark room. There is a mahogany table in the center, and three people gathered around it. They seem caught up in quiet conversation. Something about what to have for dinner? He rolls over, tries to stand, and finds he is too weak. He pukes, instead, and what comes out looks less like bile and more like inky-black ichor. Panic surges through him. He turns his head, at a strange angle, and looks at them.

They are all staring at him. He opens his mouth to speak and finds that words will not come out. Instead, there is only a strange croaking noise which spills out of him in a hurry. The tallest of them -- the one standing in the center -- smiles. “Congratulations,” they say. Their voice is a low timbre in their chest. “You made it through.”

III. For a man who so vehemently claims to hate Battista Tahan, Lucien’s husband seems to talk about him a fair amount. He’s not unused to idle chatter that Ronan likes to fill space with, but this is a new level of dedication to blathering words.

Lucien is staring out from the kitchen window and eating blueberries right from the pack over the sink. (Rinsed, obviously.) The gardener did something strange with the arrangement of the chrysanthemums and he can’t decide if he likes them or not. The sound of a lawn mower roars from nearby, and the front doors is open as the maid sweeps out the hall at the entryway.

Ronan is digging through the fridge. Judging by the sound, it’s probably the top shelf, where all their medications go. It’s only eight in the morning: he hasn’t taken them yet, if Lucien had to guess, but the details of Ronan’s routine are up in the air these days. He’s been spending more time at the apartment, unable to focus on his work at home.

The berries are good. Maybe if they planted roses instead of chrysanthemums next year? No, roses are difficult to dig out. He wouldn’t want to create that sort of problem for the next owner. He hates the color of roses, too, so there’s that.

“-I can’t even believe he asked me. I could have killed him right there. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry,” Ronan is saying.

“Mhm,” Lucien replies. Who decided blueberries needed to be called blueberries? What a boring name. He wonders what the name for blueberries are in Scandinavian.

“Are you even listening to me? I just said-- are those all the blueberries?” Lucien turns, looking at his husband. He’s leaning against the island countertop. It’s early enough in the morning that he’s only using a cane, not his brace. He needs a haircut, too, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week. Lucien frowns, pops another berry into his mouth and chews. Ronan watches the way his jaw works with obvious hunger.

Eugh. Disgusting. The berries turn sour in his mouth.

“Don’t you have a job to do? I remember you saying something about Camilla Grieco at dinner last night. And it’s end-of-month.”

“I don’t care,” Ronan replies. “Are those all the blueberries? I was going to eat those.”

Lucien nods. Ronan outstretches his hand, reaching. He’s not wearing his wedding ring this morning. He immediately feels like twisting his own on his finger, an unfortunate nervous tell. Lucien turns to face the window again. The gardener is watering the flowers with a beaten-looking can, a wheelbarrow sitting three feet away. She has a nice sunhat. He’ll ask where she got it, he thinks. He dumps the rest of the blueberries into the sink and flicks the disposal on.

For a blissful ten seconds, there is no talking. Just the churning of blades and working mechanisms. It’s wonderful. Lucien goes to exit the kitchen, gives Ronan a neutral look as he leaves. Ronan, to his credit, is not balking, because they’re used to each other by now, but he’s gripping the counter so tight the edge of his hands are turning white.

“Oops,” Lucien says. “I didn’t know.”

IV. His mother remarked often that as a child he did not cry. He was quiet, snuffled more than he did sob - even when he broke his arm, he didn’t wail, he sort of just… whined. Lucien did not learn that a lack of emotional vastness was something to be cherished in Verona until his father died, and he was able to hold his mother while she shattered and still managed to stand after.

It’s good, the Witches always said, but it’s only a start. Hecate was the best at expressing their displeasure with his wide-ranging array of reactions, even if by comparison Lucien’s face didn’t do so much as twitch. They made him stare at his own face for hours, smooth out any lines until there was nothing there. Just a blank mask. No name, no face, no personality, no humanity. Just a shell.

“That’s what you need to be,” Circe had said, “if you want to avenge your father. You cannot be Lucien when you pull the trigger, or you’ll miss.” And Lucien had believed them. He’d dedicated himself to being nothing but a body, wandering through crowds and negotiating deals and stepping back from the table when necessary. He doesn’t think he even smiled on his wedding day. He didn’t even cry when his mother- when she-

Nothing. Keep yourself drained. You are a vessel that holds nothing.

He’d thought it sounded melodramatic, all those years ago, just starting out. But it was true. Anger and sadness make your hands tremor, betray hatred. Happiness alludes to pride, which can cause the bottoms to fall out of deals before they’re ever solidified. In the end, nothing on the inside matters. It doesn’t matter what he feels about things, who he is buried all the way down in dirt. The land is barren. Nothing grows.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

The bodies of the Witches swing on stage and the crowd screams in terror. He hears a couple a few seats behind him chuckle. For a moment, he can’t process - it doesn’t make sense. Nothing clicks. And then he realizes that those are their bodies, their faces, their tongues lolling out of their mouths. That is Hecate’s bracelet. Medea’s ring. Circe’s necklace.

The world breaks out into violence but for Lucien there is no sound save for a murmur. A whisper at the back of his head. It suddenly makes sense. They’d burned all physical evidence of their deeds, workings, misdoings. They’d given everything they had to Lucien. Had they known they’d die tonight? Surely not. Hecate would have tried talking their way out. Circe wouldn’t have come at all. Medea would have accepted it, stoic. Resolute.

It’s bizarre. Lucien is still, but Montagues and Capulets bite viciously at each other’s throats and don’t let go. Men and women alike limp out of the theater, their pride wounded and hearts broken. All Lucien can think about, perhaps manically, as he stands in an empty room with only three corpses to accompany him -

Hecate had been so excited to wear those shoes.

Lucien cries when he cuts their bodies down and leaves them there. He cradles each of them, if only for a moment, because if anyone is watching, it will be his own undoing. Their bodies are still warm. He doesn’t know what the Montagues do with the dead they don’t care about, but it doesn’t matter. He’ll dig them up, if he has to.

“I’ll come back,” he promises. “I will.”

He doesn’t ever find their bodies, in the end. But he digs them graves, six feet deep, with his own two hands. It’s gruesome work. The headstones are the heaviest thing he’s ever had to carry, but they deserve recognition. In the end, Lucien doesn’t think they could have been faceless forever, even if they wanted to be. Once their stones are standing, overlooking the city the Witches gave everything to, he does the one thing he swore to them he would never do: he leaves.

INTERMISSION: Wait. Hold on. That would be too easy, wouldn’t it? He wouldn’t leave things in the air like that, would he? Where would he go? What would he do? That doesn’t -- it doesn’t make any sense. I need another drink. Do they have champagne in the lounge, you think? No, leave my coat there. No one will steal our seats, that way. Where’s my purse? Is the fifth act really the best place to put an intermission?

V. He returns in mid-February to a city in turmoil, ripping apart so slow it’s like watching molasses move across an angled countertop. Anywhere else, it would be over quickly, but in Verona, the black treacle grips to the granite like it has nothing left to live for. And it doesn’t.

It rains, on his drive back from the airport, and he likes watching the city lights glimmer off the asphalt. He doesn’t bother going home - he goes to the apartment instead. They still haven’t fixed the elevator, so he takes the stairs, bags in tow, and fiddles with the sticky lock on his door. When he enters, everything is covered in a thin sheen of dust. Untouched. Not a fingerprint to be found. It’s dead silent. It’s exactly what he wanted to come back to: proof that no one has done anything they shouldn’t have. Reassurance that things have truly stopped in Verona since the Witches were so mercilessly slaughtered.

The time’s come to get the wheel turning again. He digs through the cupboards to find something to make tea with, and then settles in. The first thing he does is call Loretta, to say hello after a long period of radio silence. It seems like the right thing to do. She picks up after the first ring, and a warmth in his chest blooms at the sound of her voice.

They discuss plans of action, movement, maps across the entire city. And then they talk about the Festival, and the turmoil between the Capulets and Montagues. This whole thing is ready to fall apart, but no one is willing to let it.

Worse, still: Verona isn’t ready to change. It never will be, in the end. Lucien knows that. It’s been set in its ways for too long. He’ll rend it apart, if he has to. He’ll break the bone if that means the limb will set itself right again.

Extras: A playlist, a pinterest board, an inspiration tag.

#accepted #accepted: lamprius

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nogravitynetlabel · 3 years

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Foods That Burn Stomach Fat Quick

phenq reviews - What if I informed you that there are foods you could consume that could assist your body shed fat consisting of that persistent tummy fat, would certainly you think me? I have actually assembled an incredible checklist of foods that shed belly fat quick so you can start incorporating these into your diet regimen today!Now this is not to completely happen of a full healthy diet plan and workout. In order to actually see weight management remember you're going to have to go to a calorie shortage significance that you are shedding extra calories than you are consuming. So if you melt 2,500 calories each day but only eat 2,000 calories, then you are at a calorie shortage. You can go right here to calculate the number of calories you melt each day.

Please keep in mind that shedding stomach fat is more about what you don't eat than what you do eat so to optimize exactly how efficient these foods work for you then I suggest not consuming refined carbs as well as sugar, consisting of alcohol which often tends to urge fat storage space in the stomach location. Obtaining not enough rest also encourages fat storage space so ensure to obtain 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

On to the listing!

Foods That Burn Stomach Fat Rapid:

1. Grapefruit

Grapefruit is hands down the very best food to eat to melt belly fat quick since it isn't just high in fiber but it's additionally extremely reduced in calories and also it aids to minimize your insulin resistance preventing your body from saving as much sugar as fat. The advantage of reducing your insulin is that it visuals the appetite causing you striking that calorie deficiency a lot a lot easier.

2. Leafy Greens

Leafy eco-friendlies are veggies like kale, spinach and collard eco-friendlies. They are low in carbs high in water, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and also fiber which equates to fat loss as well as terrific health and wellness. One more advantage is that with these included in any type of meal you make certain to really feel fuller quicker with less caloric consumption.

3. Wonderful Potatoes

Wonderful potatoes are a healthy facility carb which is great for managing your blood sugar and also maintaining it from surging after you consume. They also include a high quantity of Vitamin C, Folate (the natural kind of Folic Acid), Potassium, Beta Carotene (which obtains exchanged Vitamin A) and also Fiber. making it one of one of the most nourishing foods you can consume!

4. Nuts

These are loaded with fiber, healthy and balanced fats as well as protein making them great for weight-loss.

5. Beans

The soluble fiber in beans really aids decrease natural fat, which is the fat that's saved around your body organs. Visceral fat is extra hazardous to your wellness than the subcutaneous fat that's stored under the skin, it is among the causes of that beer belly appearance. Attempt to aim for a minimum of 10 grams of soluble fiber per day.

6. Bananas

Bananas are an outstanding treat for weight loss, they are low in fat yet consist of adequate starch to make you feel full. One banana is 105 calories making it a great snack. Plus it's rich in potassium which help in muscle mass feature, making it a fantastic message workout snack.

7. Cinnamon

Okay this is a seasoning not a food, yet you might add it to some of these various other foods and also really amp up the weight loss capacities like oat meal and also blueberries. Cinnamon helps regulate blood glucose, avoiding spikes that trigger tummy fat to collect to begin with.

8. Blueberries

Researches show that blueberries can decrease threat factors for cardiovascular disease as well as metabolic disorder, this triggers enhanced tummy fat. Since they have such a high level of phytochemicals they can help to decrease and also protect against belly fat.

9. Avocado

The trick to eliminating tummy fat is to consume great fats, which are monounsaturated fats, which is what avocados are rich in. Just half an avocado contains 20 grams of monounsaturated fat, this likewise aids to control blood sugar level spikes that can like I said previously, direct fat to store in the abdomen.

10. Entire Grains

Whole grains (if you don't have an issue with gluten) teem with insoluble fiber making you really feel fuller longer they likewise help maintain your blood sugar level. Replace fine-tuned carbohydrates like white rice and white bread with entire grains like oats, brown rice as well as quinoa, and also you can lower your stubborn belly fat.

11. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil can aid you burn fat because it has medium chain fatty acids which have actually been revealed to increase energy expenditure (melt calories) contrasted to the same quantity of calories from other longer chain fats.

12. Quinoa

Quinoa is among the very best types of complicated carbohydrates, it's likewise packed with fiber, and contains practically two times as much healthy protein as rice and 3 times as much nearly three times as much healthy protein as couscous. It also includes calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins B and E which will certainly decrease cholesterol and also avoid condition.

13. Apples

Apples are packed with nutrients and fiber which quickly makes you feel complete. So following time you really feel starving grab an apple to treat on rather than chips or ice cream.

14. Oat meal

Consuming oat meal for morning meal is a certain method to squash your stomach, it's filled with soluble fiber. It will give you with tons of power, gas your metabolism and also aid you to really feel full longer. Consume steel reduced oats if you can stand it due to the fact that it is the least processed, if you can not choose entire rolled oats (they have actually gluten totally free options) and don't choose the sweet flavorful varieties. You can top it with fruits like blueberries, strawberries or goji berries to make it much more healthy.

15. Cucumber

Cucumbers are incredibly low in calories and also loaded with water as well as extremely revitalizing. Since it's so high in water it can help you feel satiated quicker when eating. A full cup of chopped cucumbers consists of just 14 calories so also after eating a large quantity it will certainly make you really feel full without making you gain weight. It likewise has a cleansing impact on the body which can assist to shed fat.

16. Berries

Berries are packed with anti-oxidants and also fiber. Berries assist increase your metabolic process which increases calorie burn which equates to fat burn. The high amount of fiber they include help aid in feeling full for longer. The best berries for fat melt are black berries, strawberries, raspberries as well as blueberries.

17. Green Tea

I know this is a list of foods yet these last two beverages were wayyy also efficient at doing away with stomach fat to leave them off the listing. Environment-friendly tea is high in catechins and polyphenols, these are thought to assist shed tummy fat. In 2010 The American Journal of Professional Nourishment published a research study revealing that "topics that ate green tea catechins with high levels of caffeine saw a higher decrease in midsection circumference as well as additionally shed even more weight overall, than those that only consumed caffeine."

18. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar minimizes blood glucose spikes after your meals, if also you only take 1 tbsp with your meals after that it will make you really feel fuller rather reducing the amount of calories you take in at once. It also takes out all sorts of toxins that are being in your colon adding to the appearance of a big tummy.

Okayy men this was a checklist of 18 foods that melt belly fat quick, again these are to be coupled with a healthy diet as well as exercise to optimize the results you get out of this. Given that tummy fat persists you require to be constant as well as you will certainly see results. Have an excellent day!

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orbemnews · 3 years

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Canada's healthcare workers brace for the painful blow of a punishing third wave But many of Canada’s healthcare workers were telling anyone who would listen that some provincial governments reopened too quickly after a difficult post-Christmas surge. “So, we’re stuck, where we have cases out of control, hospitals completely full, not enough vaccine supply available and months of difficult public health measures ahead of us,” said Dr. Michael Warner, the director of critical care at the Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, in an interview with CNN. Provincial governments across the country are now reckoning with a damaging third wave of Covid-19, one that might imperil the universal healthcare system of which Canadians are so fiercely proud. From coast to coast, across thousands of miles and hundreds of hospitals, many provinces are now anxiously watching the case count rise as variants of concern spread a more contagious virus to younger Canadians and land more people in hospital. And nowhere in Canada is the hospital situation as critical as it is in Ontario, the country’s most populous province. “The government didn’t listen to scientists, they didn’t listen to epidemiologists, they didn’t listen to doctors other than their chief medical officer of health. And because they failed to listen to scientists, they thought they could negotiate themselves out of this virus, but the virus is too strong, the variant is a different disease,” said Warner, telling CNN on Friday his ICU was working at 115% capacity. Ontario premier Doug Ford defended his actions Friday as he announced new restrictions, including extending a stay-at-home order until at least mid-May, prohibiting indoor and outdoor gatherings, and restricting non-essential travel in and out of the province. At a press briefing Friday, Ford insisted he has always acted on the science, adding that in the case of recent rising critical care admissions, he drafted the stricter public health policies “the second” he found out. “Whatever we put into place though, it’s going to take time to take affect so right now, the trajectories of Covid rises are really baked in and I think the next 2 to 3 weeks for Ontario and Canada are going to be very, very, tough.” said Dr. Fahad Razak, who treats coronavirus patients at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. On Saturday, Ontario again shattered fresh records for both hospital and ICU admissions. Modeling released by the province’s expert advisory panel Frida detailed a dire snapshot of the crisis already unfolding in hospitals and how the situation is likely to get even worse. “Notice that our hospitals can no longer function normally, they are bursting at their seams, we’re setting up field hospitals and we’re separating critically ill patients from their families by helicoptering them across the province for care, our children’s hospitals are now admitting adults as patients. This has never happened in Ontario before it’s never happened in Canada before,” said Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, Ontario’s science advisory co-chair. Brown was strikingly blunt about the worst-case scenario that could see Ontario rationing care, especially finding critical care spots for patients saying, “there may just not be the ability to put them into these types of beds.” “We will be there, we will do our best, but I’m trained to save people, not to use a checklist to decide if people are going to live or die, but that’s where we’re head and that’s my biggest fear and I think a lot of healthcare workers are beyond angry, I think we’re really forlorn about the situation we find ourselves in,” said Warner. Throughout Canada, save for its Atlantic provinces that have worked hard to create a ‘bubble’ with some of the lowest incidence rates of Covid-19 in all of North America, the epidemiological data has been alarming. Health Canada reported a 35% increase in hospitalizations and a more than 20% increase in ICU admissions throughout Canada in the week ending April 11th. More worrying still, the mortality trend is concerning, with a 38% increase in deaths in the last week alone. Some public health professionals say many provinces reopened too much, too soon. And in Ontario, many healthcare providers say that, given their scarcity in Canada, vaccines should have been more quickly allocated to marginalized and racialized communities. In many of Canada’s largest cities, essential workers in factories, meat processing plants and distribution centers have suffered through dangerous outbreaks. Dozens of Ontario’s doctors have taken to social media demanding these workers have safer working conditions and easy access to sick pay when they contract the virus or must be tested for it. Most provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec are beginning to concentrate on these workplaces and community hotspots with mobile testing and vaccination clinics. Some healthcare workers, however, are resigned that those programs were not put in place quickly enough to spare them and their patients from the ravages of a third wave, much worse than the first two. “It’s clearly a crisis, we’re in the midst of a crisis now, it’s not a week away, we’re in it right now,” said Razak. Source link Orbem News #Blow #brace #Canadas #healthcare #Painful #punishing #wave #Workers

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