Don Edwards

Obviously, Magus's sister.

Wildspec: "3 of a kind". It turns out that Susan and Diane are not twins... they are triplets.

And it has really weird side effects too, which apparently include inducing extreme anger.

Well, we know that the intimidation factor is why superheroes that can throw nuclear-grade fireballs from their fingertips carry guns. (Well, that, and sometimes you want to shoot something small but not leave a crater.)

There's at least one doctor getting some publicity who says that colon cancer is so slow to develop and grow that if a colonoscopy at age 50 is clear there's no point in ever getting another one done: even if you DO develop colon cancer later, you'll die of something else before it becomes a problem.

Yeah, an introvert support group does sound rather self-contradictory. But maybe they could meet jointly with my procrastination support group... nobody has gotten around to attending yet.

I thought that Wolf and Cranium reporting to him was sufficient confirmation.

They are now working on batteries that you DO recharge by changing the fluid. Obviously a rather different technology from the common automotive battery.

It is. Even being only mildly genderfluid. Not that I'd equate it, or even compare it, to what someone who's transgender deals with - I've had dysphoria for hours *total*, they suffer it for hours *daily* - but it's nonzero.

For consensual changes (and there's no doubt that, with very rare exceptions, Tedd's changes are consensual) it doesn't even make sense: if the change CAUSED dysphoria, the person would STOP. Exposure to homosexuality might cause a person who had never realized they were homosexual (because they'd never been aware of the possibility) to realize it, and thus "change" from "straight but there's something wrong" to "gay". Or if the person was aware that they were gay/bi but thought of it as "abnormal" and thus hiding it, and then got enough exposure to start thinking of it as normal... In other words, it might cause someone who had previously incorrectly labelled themselves to change labels. But no, it would never turn a genuinely straight person gay.

Also do not spray paint your support for a candidate on things that don't belong to you. (As happened twice to a sign advertising the RV park we're in.)

Of course, it could be that Sunday will be a really dull day; not only does nothing significant happen, but nothing even interesting happens.

Most humans have trichromatic vision. However we have some (mostly males) who are bichromatic in the same way as other mammals, and some (mostly females) who are quadrachromatic with TWO sorts of red receptors that emphasize slightly different colors. (Most humans have one or the other of those two; they aren't equally common but both are common enough that even *having* both isn't seriously unusual let alone rare.)

The problems with reincarnation as a means of gender-swapping include: It's a long-term prospect infrequently available One of the prerequisites is generally regarded as something to avoid (although so far it doesn't look like more than maybe one or two people have managed to avoid it permanently, and even those few are disputed) It's generally believed that during the process one is out of commission for an extended period Upon completion, one suffers significant physical disability for some years and lower social status plus restrictions on one's liberty for quite a bit longer With possible rare exceptions, one doesn't remember life before the swap It's effectively impossible to arrange to retain employment, ownership of property, etc., and one may lose most or all of one's friends The problems with surgery as a means of gender-swapping include: It's expensive, invasive surgery, with all that entails It isn't complete Portions of the process are not reversible The TFG offers huge advantages. On the assumption that self-application of TFG or equivalent is freely available to persons over, say, age 16, and not to younger ages (totally arbitrarily, because it's harder to predict what kids will do, and you get into questions of "would it really count, in most cases, at age 6?")... I'd guess that over 30% and maybe over 50% of people will, by age 20, have genderswapped (temporarily) at least once. And probably over 10% would find themselves comfortable enough with being swapped that they might occasionally do so as a matter of convenience, with a smaller percentage occasionally doing so recreationally. And yet a smaller percentage would, anywhere from frequently (Tedd) to near-constantly (Sam), in order to resolve identity issues.

Of all the Discworld books I've read (most of them but not all), I would have to rate A Hat Full of Sky as the best preparation for writing Sarah learning about her magic. It would be mildly beneficial - certainly not critical - to read Wee Free Men first.

There's another problem. Some authors start out decent and are moderately successful, then get better and are more successful, then get so fabulously successful that nobody bothers (or perhaps dares) to edit their work and point out problems, and then they go to crap.

There is also something called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. It's essentially a defect in the receptors for one or more male hormones, particularly testosterone. Genetic males with this defect are divided into three categories depending on how severe it is. The moderate form is the easiest to detect, as it causes the person to be born recognizably intersex. Males with the mild form are less fertile or perhaps sterile, while males with the severe form seem to be completely female - and, quite often, unusually shapely - but are sterile. Genetic females with it... are more shapely than they would be otherwise. They are NOT less fertile. The shapeliness occurs because in the female body, the major source of testosterone is fat cells... such as what fills in breast development and widening hips in puberty... and the androgen receptors are a major part of what tell the body to stop enhancing those areas. The bigger the boobs, the more body fat in them, therefore the more androgens saying "okay that's enough" - and nobody's listening.

She's emulating a teacher speaking to a poor student. "You shall not pass."

I'm reading a book where the main character works with the SPCA. That is, the Society for Paranormals and Curious Animals.

Ah, CK, that was my first post in the thread, so I didn't "keep insisting" anything. You're mixing me up with someone else. And I certainly don't agree that every relationship is one-on-one, or that only romantic relationships count for polyamory. Note: Avistew posted his reply while I was figuring out just how I wanted to word this.

Seems to me there's some confusion here between "poly" as applied to individuals, and "poly" as applied to relationships. I would use different definitions (basically, it's a much simpler definition for individuals), and maintain a distinction between "poly" and "open" relationships. If A and F do not have a strong emotional commitment to each other, I wouldn't say they are part of one poly relationship no matter what other relationships might connect them. Now it may happen that multiple relationships overlap - A B C D are one family while C D E F are another and E J K are a third - but that doesn't mean A, F, and J have any relationship at all.

MtG has long had starter packages that include a deck barely competitive against other MtG starter packages. I mean, what percentage of experienced MtG players routinely play five-color decks? Not many. Even three-color decks are unusual. There's a reason for that. The starter decks, last I looked, were ALL five-color decks.

Well, you're also making an assumption about which one of the two I don't believe. Among other assumptions. And I won't comment on the accuracy of any of those assumptions.

Pretty much everyone nerds out about something. It's just that nobody admits it's nerding out when the "something" is sports, auto mechanics, or a few other select subjects.

Whereas I'm looking at choosing between a candidate I don't want to support because I don't believe they mean what they say, and a candidate I don't want to support because I do believe they mean what they say.