Random Fangasm

This means:

If you draw a hard line between "drug" and "medicine" based on current legality where you live (or any other criteria) you've gone wrong somewhere,

If you think legality and/or prescription status tells you all you need about a substance's capacity to do massive harm to someone's body, mind or well-being you've gone wrong somewhere,

If you think legality and/or prescription status tells you all you need about a substance's capacity to contribute meaningfully to someone's healing, function or happiness you've gone wrong somewhere,

Violence: A Writer’s Guide:  This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

Body Trauma: A writer’s guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.

10 B.S. Medical Tropes that Need to Die TODAY…and What to Do Instead: Written by a paramedic and writer with a decade of experience, 10 BS Medical Tropes covers exactly that: clichéd and inaccurate tropes that not only ruin books, they have the potential to hurt real people in the real world. 

Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury you’re inflicting matters. 

The owner of the drone was so impressed by the brilliant attack that he suggested organizing a competition for bringing down “dragons” with short spears next year.

On the seventh day of May in the year of 2016 on hither spot the mighty warrior Ulf hath slain a dragon with his spear.

This is a parasite that usually causes about 3000 cases of illness per year in the USA, Michigan currently has reported about 2900 (the confusion about “Michigan outbreak” is because Michigan is the first that caught an uptick in cases and has been very proactive about trying to trace them). Last official update from Massachusetts was 18 cases here centered in Greater Boston. The CDC recommends NOT assuming there are no sources of the parasite in your state even if no cases have been reported.

It isn’t an unknown illness but it is an unusual quantity of cases, and the fact that they haven’t been able to pin down the source after weeks of tracking is what makes it particularly concerning this year (harder to contain).

Produce like leafy greens, fresh herbs or berries where the produce is delicate and/or has lots of little crevices is only safe to eat if you can cook it. If you can’t cook it, throw it out.

William Etty was a York-born (English) artist, who was instrumental in saving our medieval city walls. My city is Roman in origin, the frontier of the Empire, Eboracum, occupied later by Saxons, then Scandinavian settlers (Vikings), then expanded by medieval occupation. It was home to the first railways, the Rowntree (kitkat, smarties, etc) and Terry's (chocolate orange) chocolate empires... it is still surrounded by its medieval city walls and gates.

Early in the 19th century our City Fathers decided we didn't need the walls anymore and plans were laid to dismantle them. There was a group of folks who didn't agree, William Etty among them, so legend has it he held an exhibition of his work...namely nudes...and instead of charging people money to see them, he insisted they sign his petition to save the city walls. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but Etty is known for his controversial painting. At the time it offended sensibilities... yeah, right. He was popular for his *talent*, I'm sure. However, exhibition or no, he used his wealth and influence to lean on the council to change its mind, and we still have our walled city today because of his influence.

This painting isn't by him. Its by this guy...

This is Etty's original, but the nudes thing still stands. He drew quite a few.

All the episodes of Galavant are on the Internet Archive!

It tastes like a pumpkin gingerbread cake! Great treat for fall and winter!

Tim Cain's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins -- They're the shadow king's favorite!

1 and 2/3 cup flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup sugar

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup pumpkin (half of a 16 oz can)

1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted

Tim Cain is one of the creators of Fallout

and he is an overall delight