Things That Make You Happy

[Things That Make You Happy]

The number of replies chiming in with "Me too!" in reply to this thread is heartening.  :-)

[NP Friday July 26, 2019]

On 7/27/2019 at 0:35 PM, ChronosCat said:

The only problem with an Ashley/Elliot/Tedd/Grace/Sarah relationship is that Elliot sees Sarah as a sister; I would think that would make things a little too awkward.

A poly relationship doesn't have to mean everyone is attracted to everyone else.  The simplest example would be two straight guys and one woman.  The guys have no interest in each other, but they have no problem with both loving the same woman.  (There's a web TV series called "Family" with this premise.)  You can also have the exact same thing, but with the guys also being interested in each other, but it's not mandatory.

Of course, physical closeness doesn't have to equal sexual interaction, either -- I did a massage workshop led by Patch Adams (the real guy, not the Robin Williams version), and we'd have everything from one-on-one to eight or ten people working on one person at once, with no sexual pressure involved for anyone.  "Massage is not a way to get into someone's pants.  If you want to get into someone's pants, tell them, 'I want to get into your pants!'"  Yup, he's quite a character, and we filled a whole room with balloons for him as a thank-you. ;-)

[NP Wednesday July 24, 2019]

On 7/24/2019 at 3:56 AM, ijuin said:

Tedd is looking cute here . . .

Are you kidding?  She's looking absolutely adorable!

On 7/24/2019 at 4:12 PM, Scotty said:

Looks like this confirms that Nanase isn't the only one who burns calories to power magic, of course it's not exactly the same, while Nanase can choose to use caloric energy over magic, Elliot's super healing in Cheerleadra form requires it.

Yet another reason to wish for magic....besides wanting to be taller..... ;-)

On 7/24/2019 at 4:12 PM, Scotty said:

It actually makes sense though since there could easily be cases where Elliot (or anyone with a similar spell) might find themself seriously injured and have nearly exhausted their magic energy and there's not enough ambient energy to help, burning calories would mean survival.

It would make more sense, in that case, to be able to draw from any or all of those sources of power!

On 7/24/2019 at 5:00 PM, weirdee said:

There's a difference between wearing stuff to hide behind and wearing stuff because you want to. I wore boring t-shirts and shorts before i came out as trans, but afterwards? Cute t-shirts and shorts, with patterns and colors.

Hmm, I'm so used to T-shirts being a way to express your fandom for a show/comic/movie/band/etc, or to make a grammar joke, or wear a cute animal, or.....I have a very hard time picturing what could possibly be a "boring t-shirt."  Aren't blank T-shirts just what they look like before the image is printed on them?  ;-)

[Monday, June 3, 2019]

2 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If I heard this fantasy expressed by a friend of mine, I might advise her to get counseling based on she may be suppressing the memory of an event. I know a woman who we have reason to believe was raped by an uncle when she was young. There were other indications, and her uncle has a track record. Her response when asked about it was to lash out at those asking. If it never really happened, you'd expect a straight forward, "no".

Might depend on who asked, how they asked, and how many times they or other people asked, stated, insinuated, threw pitying looks at her, etc.  And that's true whether what you suspect happened or not.  Nevertheless, there are a great many women who have never been abused or raped, at any age, who still find a thrill in the imagined loss of control.  They might feel so strongly that it would be wrong to have sex with anyone but their husband, that the only way they can indulge is by imagining they are forced.  They might have been taught that "good girls don't" or feel trapped by their partner and want to fight back in some way.  Or, crazy idea, maybe they are completely happy and normal and just find the idea arousing.

Dexter was a hit series, Criminal Minds focuses on crazy killers every week, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit explores all sides of rape and abuse and etc.  People are fascinated by bad things that might happen to themselves or to others.  There are theories all over, but I don't think anyone really knows why.  But it's true!

[Monday, June 3, 2019]

I see strong parallels with other kinds of fantasies....studies have shown that a lot of women engage in fantasies that involve all sorts of situations they absolutely would not want in real life, including various rape scenarios.  It's considered a normal, healthy thing to fantasize, even involving rape, as long as a person doesn't get obsessive about it or start putting themselves in dangerous situations in real life.  A big part of BDSM is creating ways to engage in fantasies of non-consent in a safe and consensual manner.  Getting turned on by fantasizing about or play-acting rape does *not* mean they actually want to be raped, or to commit rape or violence themselves.  Likewise, Ashley may fantasize about being forcibly transformed, or transforming others willy-nilly, but that doesn't mean she would ever actually want to do either in real life.

And yes, Ashley-mouse is very cute.

[Last Post Wins]

On 6/27/2019 at 7:01 AM, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Has anyone ever traveled in the vicinity of Albuquerque without making a navigational error?

Filker Tom Smith tells a wonderful story about choosing which route to take on a long road trip, choosing at a certain point to take a more southerly route instead of going north and through Denver in the winter, with the punchline that he is one of the few people on the planet who can honestly say, "I should've made a left turn at Albuquerque!"

[Things You Only Noticed On Reread]

On 6/30/2019 at 4:30 PM, Sonicfan said:

Not the usual re-read noticing, but I just noticed that the source comic from ye olde Pointing Justin Meme was uploaded on my 8th birthday 

Hmm, trying to make us feel old, or is that just a side effect?  ;-)  :-P

[Story Monday, May 27, 2019]

On 5/27/2019 at 6:32 PM, Scotty said:

There is a rather large lake not too far from Moperville which likely has natural beaches.

I don't know about natural beaches, but there is at least one sandy beach I've walked by (breast cancer 3-day started out going up the shoreline) which was right in downtown Chicago.  In fact, they just showed people playing volleyball on North Avenue Beach on the news as I'm working on this post.  There's also some very nice lakeshore paths, and gorgeous strips of parkland a smidge inland from the shore.

However, that's *in-* the city of Chicago, and our story is set in what is basically Naperville.  From my suburb, it's almost an hour to get downtown, and Naperville isn't that much closer, I expect the shortest travel time is more than half an hour.

Many suburbs do have smaller lakes, natural or artificial, which may or may not have a little fake beach, but almost certainly have walking paths, bike paths, grassy parks, etc. around them, which would make for nice places to go for a walk together.

On 5/28/2019 at 2:39 AM, ijuin said:

On "caveman" clothes, I would think that what prehistoric people wore would be similar to what stone-age level "primitive" tribes in modern times wore until they first started interacting with higher-tech people, e.g. the native American tribes before they started trading with Europeans. Rather than crude fur wraps, they had sewn clothes made with fur or leather even before they invented thread-spinning and weaving or knitting.

America had some extremely sophisticated cultures, long before the Europeans showed up.  At some points in history they were ahead of Europe.  They're hardly the equivalent to cavemen, and it's rather insulting to imply they were.  There are a very few extremely low-tech cultures still in existence in very remote areas of each continent, generally in warm enough climates that not much clothing is necessary, so they don't bother.  They mostly craft things to carry stuff in, and simple weapons and tools.  Any group that ventured too far away from the equatorial zone would need to have the technology to craft clothing capable of protecting them from the cold of winter, including their feet.  

Even Neanderthals and their contemporaries used more technology than most people realize.  Look up Mousterian Industry and the Levallois point.  But there's no evidence of them (or anatomically modern humans alive during the same time period -- they overlapped quite a while) processing furs beyond scraped hides, no bone needles or awls for punching holes to sew through.  So, a large fur wrapped around or draped over the body, maybe something like a poncho and kilt?  Probably not the cliche that looks sort of like a cross between a fur pair of boxers and a half of a wrestling tank top, with a long thin piece over one shoulder and the rest of the chest bare.  Once you get into the Upper Paleolithic, there's plenty of evidrnce of tailoring clothing rather than just wrapping in furs.

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On newspapers, how many people here still get a paper delivered to their home every day? I would bet a fair number do. People are not getting their news ONLY from papers, but papers are still circulating.

We get the paper at work, for clients to read in the lobby, and many of them do; granted we do have another use for it after reading it....

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On fashions, it is common for a person's (including Dan's) fashion sense to become "frozen" when they are in their twenties, unless they are the type of person who puts effort into staying on top of trends. Most of the rest of us simply figure out what we like to wear and stick with it forever. Definitely, people who do not have children tend not to keep up to date with "what the kids wear these days", so Dan basing his characters' fashions on what was fashionable when he was their age is pretty standard for artists.

Hasn't the default been jeans and a T-shirt for quite a while now?

On 5/29/2019 at 5:43 PM, hkmaly said:

Before finding out he's [a] seer there was no reason. Afterwards? I'm pretty sure if Tedd would reject Arthur's offer Arthur would try something else, up to anything Edward wouldn't object against much.

I'm not sure about this. I mean, it would make sense, but it would also be something which SHOULD be in comics directly. Maybe he's waiting for them to be older, like, he might be wanting to mention it when they will be choosing college or something.

With the whole magic reset storyline, I was half expecting that DGB somehow turns to enemy and main 8 will be working against it. However, magic reset ended up with Tedd being offered work from Arthur. Which means we are returning to previous state of "whole EGS seems like main 8 will end up working for DGB".

I think Edward would object to any coercion of his son, but at the same time I can picture Edward himself putting pressure on Tedd to join DGB.  Or, actually, I could see him pressuring Tedd not to join, too, depends on how he sees the situation at the time.  But Edward would believe he knows what's best for his son, and that he knows how to 'convince' him to do 'the right thing' or 'what's best for him.'

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Depends what actually is Mama Kitsune's opinion on Nanase working in DGB ... but yes, I think she's scary enough everyone would leave such decision on her.

Shouldn't they leave that decison to Nanase?

On 5/30/2019 at 11:41 AM, Don Edwards said:

They are in the latter half of the senior year of high school. The time to be choosing colleges is early in senior year - or earlier. Nanase probably has several letters in hand telling her that various colleges would welcome her. Several of the others likely have at least one such letter.

Just checked the University of Illinois web page.  Applications are filed from Sept 1 to Jan 5, "early action" due by Nov 1.  Notification comes in mid-Dec for early acton and early March for regular admission.  Honors programs and scholarships answer by April 1.

On 6/6/2019 at 5:03 AM, hkmaly said:

Is that even allowed in US? I mean, it's pretty normal in Europe, but from what I saw about US, commuting to college from home seems non-existent.

My dad was a professor of mathematics, so I grew up in the university town.  Freshmen are required to live in the dorms unless they live with family in town, so I could have lived at home, but chose to live in the dorms.  Actually, although it would have been my choice anyway, my mom said she wanted me to live in the dorms that first year, to get a little independence.  I can easily picture Elliott wanting to live at home, and his parents informing him he can't.  :-)

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But, yes ... despite the fact that we all know somehow the main cast ends up in same college and likely living together, realistically, it should be taken into account that Dunkels and Diane are relatively poor while Susan is rich (and I suspect [V]erres would also be relatively rich, I don't think DGB pays that bad).

The Dunkels were given some sort of lottery windfall to pay for the extra expense of having Ellen.  I suspect that would have included a college fund.

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... actually, wait: it's pretty realistic that Elliot and Ellen ends up living with someone else BECAUSE it will save money. I mean, it might require some mental gymnastics to make Dunkels not feel like taking advantage of someone, but still. They will definitely live together, because it cost less, they are used to it and face it, their interests are not so different they would opt for different colleges anyway. Unless you count Ellen's interest to have privacy with Nanase (and, presumably, Elliots with Ashley at that point).

The roommates I'd like most to see is Sarah and the college-student-persona Pandora. :-)

[Where have you been going?]

Just got back from a trip to the Canadian Rockies.  Wow.  No picture could possibly convey just how *huge* these mountains are, or how gorgeous the scenery.  Saw some wildlife, walked on a glacier and drank water from it, walked a few trails.  Went with my sister, my mom, and my mom's sister, and between my sister's health and my mom's age, we wound up doing most of our sightseeing by bus, so fairly limited time at each sight.  Saw enough to have been there, not enough to never need to come back.

[What Are You Watching?]

Been watching YouTube, oddly enough mostly TheTimTracker, DisneyFoodBlog, and SuperCarlinBrothers.  Am I heading towards another Orlando trip in the near future, or just trying to find a substitute to soothe the urge to?

[Things That Are Just Annoying]

On 7/7/2019 at 9:49 AM, Darth Fluffy said:

Beats the alternative.

Beats the usual alternative, anyway....if there's a chance to Take A Third Option, I'm all for it!

Warning: TVTropes link, because I'm evil!

[Life's great mysteries.]

I think I think, therefore I think I am, I think.

[Things That Are Just Annoying]

On 6/12/2019 at 0:00 PM, mlooney said:

I just found out that I'm going to have Monthly video walk through of my house.  This does not make me a happy or gruntled person at [redacted] all.

Not sure I get this one.  If I may ask, who is taking videos of your home, who is seeing them, and why?

[What Are You Ingesting?]

On 6/12/2019 at 7:07 PM, mlooney said:

I made my 500 degree roast beef.  This is a 3 pound chunk of meat.  Normally this last me, at least, 3 days.  Not this time.  I've eaten all of it, granted in 3 separate "meals" but they weren't that far apart in time. 

I've done something similar with the beef from Trader Joe's.  They have a grass-fed hunk of beef which is seasined and sliced and mostly cooked, just have to heat it up in the microwave.  I've been known to get a package that's about a pound, and eat it all in one go.  Yum!

Great, now I want beef.

[Video Game Discussion 4]

I've been playing Niantic's other AR game, Ingress.  Well, technically Ingress Prime.  I freely admit that I started playing it after I heard that after reaching a high enough level you're allowed to recommend new spots for portals, which are also used as PokeStops and Gyms in Pokemon Ho, and will presumably be used for whatever Wizards United winds up sending us out into the real world for.  Among other things, I want to use the "hidden gems" category to suggest our practice, because I still hear people say they've lived nearby for years and never realized we were here.  Anything that makes more people aware of a small business is a big help!  And yes, I'm playing under a pseudonym, who knows if they'd pay any attention to any signs I work there.

[What Are You Listening To?]

Ah, yes, I went through a BÖC phase in high school.  Having read some of the Eternal Champion books and seen the movie Heavy Metal definitely helped with understanding certain pieces.

[Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)]

How's the big toe doing?  Is the Clavamox Augmentin working?  Or did you have to discontinue it due to the hives?

[Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)]

One of the FDA newsletters we get at work covers new meds for people as well as pets.  There's an announcement about "a new treatment for episodic cluster headache that reduces the frequency of attacks" which was just approved.  It's called Emgality (galcanezumab-gnlm) solution for injection, apparently self-injection but it doesn't say how often or whether it's a set schedule or as needed.  Given how many people here have mentioned headaches regularly, I thought it was worth mentioning here.  :-)

[Things You Only Noticed On Reread]

There may be more to why Edward doesn't want Tedd to know about his mom.  "'Why' doesn't matter. You're burdened with enough secrets."

[The Weather.]

Lovely weather lately, except for the thunderstorms, which pop up here and there in long lines, occasionally with storm or tornado watches.  Last night it went up to tornado warning a few counties to the south.  Got to take the pup on a nice walk at lunch yesterday; today I have errands to run he can't come on.

[Story Wednesday, May 22, 2019]

If someone is going to be the visible face of magic, someone fledgeling Dreamers and Awakened could find out about and go to for information and advice, then Grace is certainly the best able to defend herself, and she's proven she can keep other people's secrets, even if she is more free with her own secrets than Edward would have preferred.

[NP Wednesday, May 22, 2019]

2 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

If you know your D&D, you wonder what the heck a sorceress was doing at a mage academy.

<snip>

Mages, on the other hand, can do more powerful magic than sorcerers - eventually, when they get to higher levels.

Sounds like that might be the answer -- she wanted to multiclass so that she could access those more powerful magics.  I suspect the mages were worried about whether a sorcerer who did manage to learn their sort of magic would be much better at it than they were, hence attacking her when they discovered she was a sorcerer.

[Story Friday, May 17, 2019]

19 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Grace needs to work on her poker skills. So does Sarah. And Elliot. Hey, they should totally play poker at the party. ... probably not strip poker, though. Nanase and Ellen would be ok with that but Grace wouldn't see the point and Sarah and Susan would definitely object.

Sarah would want to not object, but I suspect mixed-company nudity is still far outside her tolerances.

19 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Note: While Grace's observation abilities would seem to put her at advantage, It might not be enough to make her win. After all, Riker was winning against empath, android and someone who can see through the cards.

Wait, what?  Did they actually have that poker game onscreen and I missed it?  I had, I confess, a short fanfic called "Cheaters' Poker" in which the four of them played a poker game where anything goes -- Geordi got to pick the deck, Data got to shuffle and deal, Troi could use her empathic ability (and her telepathy to, ah, distract Riker), and Riker got to "cheat the old-fashioned way."  Naturally, Riker won. ;-)

15 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Given the orders given by Rhoda, Diane and Lucy must go on a date by themselves and then have dinner with Rhoda and Catalina, unless they did both over the last weekend, it's quite possible they're doing one or both this weekend.

1) Rhoda is turning into quite the Domme, isn't she?

2) Perhaps that dinner is when Rhoda and Catalina decide to reveal their magic to Diane?  I can think of several ways the conversation could go that would make the reveal quite natural.  Only question will be, does Lucy have a mark too, or will she end up being to this group what Sarah used to be to the Main Eight?

15 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Diane was also thinking about hanging out with Susan after school that day to talk about herself and Lucy. I could see Susan coming to that dinner, a situation a bit like "Night Out" with our (expanded) gang split into two parties.

Or, maybe Diane and Susan finally sit down and talk about magic between the rejected invite in the hall and the party itself.  If she finds out that Diane talked about magic with Rhoda and Catalina, and they all had questions, it might get Susan to start talking with her friends, too, if nothing else to try to get some answers for them.  Elliot isn't the only one who can take the initiative to help someone else, even when they won't for themselves.  It could become a party tradition. ;-)

15 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Or Dan may leave out the Susan-Diane-Lucy-Rhoda-Catalina situation for the rest of "Title Pending". We should all gather rocks to throw at Dan in case he does this.

I can wait as long as it does get addressed eventually.  Of course, he may address it via a couple of casual lines after the fact, or by Susan describing the conversation second-hand.

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

I dunno if this means that she'll attend, but her and Susan might talk at some point before the party, if Susan mentions the party and not wanting to go, Diane might say something that changes her mind. It's clear neither of them have talked about what happened, but maybe Diane finally breaks that silence, maybe she'll see how Susan's handling it, compare it to how she's handling it, and decide it's time to rip the bandaid off.

Yeah, I really hope Susan talks with someone soon.  

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

Oh, I just realized, Sarah's seeing Sam again on Friday, and Grace is remembering what Sam told her, if Sam does go through with telling Sarah that he isn't sure he wants to date, and keep things platonic between him and Sarah, what emotional state would that put Sarah in and will it effect her behaviour at the party?

Ooh, good point!  Sarah may not be in the mood for light-hearted play.  Hmm, could Dan be setting up reasons for everyone to be in a bad mood for the party?

[Story, Wednesday, May 15, 2018]

Re-reading, set off by some of the links here, has led me to evidence that Grace suspects Rhoda and Catalina can use magic and might like to talk to someone about it.  Think she'll suggest inviting them, too?  Let's see, potential additonal invitees include Diane, Catalina, Rhoda....Greg?  Charlotte?....anyone else we can think of?

[Story Monday May 13 2019]

5 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

But Elliot could not lie his way out of a damp paper bag.  And even an honorable warrior must know how to deceive and confuse at times.

If Elliot can not convincingly lie in the line of duty, he will never become the henchman Susan needs to support her nefarious plans.

I can definitely see Elliot having no problem with feinting during combat, that's a situation where it's acceptable, even expected, to lie in that way, so there's no betrayal of trust.  I suspect if the gang ever played Werewolf (aka Are You A Werewolf?), Elliot would surprise them all by lying his pants off, simply because that's a part of the game, and thus there should be no hard feelings or resentment.  Whenever I've played, tricking the other players successfully was met with admiration, especially from the players who were fooled.  (Yes, I'm sure there are people who take it badly, but I can't picture anyone in this group acting that way....okay, maybe Ellen would be surprised enough to be a teensy put out, but she'd come around pretty quickly.)