Personal Inquiry

- The reason you get extra hungry before and during your period is because your body is physically burning more calories, sometimes as many as 300 more per day for the duration of your period, with an elevated BMR (base metabolic rate) in the days before it starts. So no, you’re not being weird or gross or undisciplined if you want to eat a bunch of chocolate - your body is just burning the same amount of calories you’d expend in 25 minutes on a crosstrainer to shed your uterine lining. 

- This is especially important to remember if you’re already, for whatever reason, eating fewer calories per day than it takes to maintain your current weight, which is about 2000 for an adult, though it can be dangerous to have much less than 1300 per day. Think of it like this: if you’re eating 1600 calories a day out of a potential healthy 2000, and your body suddenly wants an extra 300, you’re not craving 1900, but 2300, which is the difference between wanting a chocolate bar and a slice of toast, and wanting an entire extra meal. So, I say again: DO NOT feel bad about wanting to eat more during your period. Your body is working hard, and needs fuel!

-  Paradoxically, despite the rate at which you’re burning calories, you’re also retaining water, which can make you both feel and weigh as heavier. Speaking personally, I’ve noticed my weight fluctuate by as much two kilos (4.5 pounds) before and after a period, rising before and during, then dropping sharply afterwards. So if you’re struggling with body image or weight issues, this is a suboptimal time at which to get on the scales: the result you’ll get will only reflect a temporary reality, not your actual progress, and is therefore unhelpful.

- If, for whatever reason, you’re self-conscious about easing your cramps with a hot water bottle where other people can see it, whether at home or work, consider using a plastic soft drink bottle filled with hot/boiling water. Even if you put it openly on your lap, instead of tucking it under a shirt or into a front hoodie pocket, it will just look like a regular bottle of water, and any relief is better than none!

- No, it’s not weird if you shit more during your period than usual, either. The hormones your body releases that make your uterus to contract and release sometimes end up in the bowel, particularly if you happen to produce a lot of them, which means that bowel contracts and releases, too.

- If anyone tries to make a dumbass sexist joke about your being more [insert stereotypically negative feminine quality here] while on your period, you can tell them that actually, menstruation raises testosterone levels, not oestrogen. (Telling them to go fuck themselves with an angry cactus can also be therapeutic.)

- The cramps and lower back pain often experienced during menstruation, when the uterus expels its contents and your hips shift slightly wider to accommodate it, are a microcosm of what happens during actual labour. So yeah: it can hurt!

- That being said, we’ve culturally accepted the idea of massive period pain as normative to such an extent that many people don’t realise their pain is a sign that something’s wrong. Despite how common they are, a lot of conditions like PCOS and endometriosis are poorly understood in terms of their etiology, which means it can be hard to get an accurate diagnosis. But if your periods regularly have you screaming, vomiting or totally incapacitated, get checked out: you shouldn’t have to just shut up and endure because it’s ‘meant’ to feel like that. It’s not, and there are ways to manage it.

- As well as being a form of birth control, you can take the pill to control or stop your period. When used to prevent menstruation, the pill tricks the body into thinking you’re already pregnant, which stalls your cycle (and stops you from actually getting pregnant). Though some people worry that it’s unnatural not to menstruate for long periods of time, or for your body to ‘feel’ pregnant for so long, it’s also important to remember that, after an actual pregnancy, especially if you breastfeed, your period won’t resume right away. This is called  lactational amenorrhea, which can work as a form (though not, I hasten to add, a 100% reliable form) of natural birth control. Basically, it means your body is focussed on producing milk for an existing child, such that you can’t easily conceive another one until the first child is weaned. While this varies from person to person, the important thing to remember is that there’s ample biological precedent for stopping menstruation for long periods of time whether you’re pregnant or not, and that choosing to do so via the pill doesn’t make you unnatural, nor does it cause your body to do something it otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t. 

I assumed for years that being exhausted and depressed to the point of barely being able to move from bed or focus on anything during my period was just part of the normal suffering, and then when I mentioned it to my doctor while troubleshooting for possible depression she said “Hmm… that’s uh, not normal.” and made me get a test to check for blood disorders. Turns out my blood iron levels were at like, critical rock-bottom (aka I now had severe anemia) due to me having pretty heavy periods for such a small person! I was basically living a week of my life every month like a person dying of severe blood loss, exhausted because my cells weren’t getting the oxygen they needed to make energy. She said it probably had been that way for a long while and getting worse over time, and I had no idea, because nobody in health class or anywhere else had ever told me it was a thing that might happen!

Trying to get birth control sorted out such that it minimizes/eliminates my period is still a work in progress, but in the meantime I’ve also been on (relatively inexpensive, like $10 buys 105 of them) daily over-the-counter oral iron supplements which in six months brought my blood back to healthy iron levels and allowed me to function with something more like a normal human level of energy again, no matter what time of the month it is!

“Now, in the privacy of Mika’s home, Yuu would give himself entirely to Mika in return for the same thing from him. Yuu didn’t know precisely what that entailed, but he was certain of one thing: he trusted Mika with his heart, his body and his soul. No matter what, he was putting himself entirely in Mika’s hands, and Yuu could feel the weight of Mika’s own trust in his hands at the same time. Such severity was in Mika’s gaze that there was no mistaking the overwhelming love in his heart. Yuu knew he had all of Mika’s love, loyalty and devotion, which made them equals. Yuu was elated; he stared up at Mika with such yearning that he couldn’t hold back the sweet moan that sounded in his throat when their lips met slowly.”

From Chapter 14 of the completed MikaYuu Phantom of the Opera AU, Angel of Music.

Doujinshi commissioned from @rindartist. This doujinshi is meant to be read from left to right.

This doujinshi was previously exclusive to the Angel of Music fanbook, which is still available for purchase here.

Happy Birthday, Mika!!

I decided to finally share this beautiful creation with everyone, as I promised, since the fanbook has been out for nearly 5 months now & today is an important day! I hope you all enjoy it! You can own a physical copy of this beautiful doujinshi embedded into the Angel of Music fanbook. All links are above. :)

For now, there’s still one more epilogue story exclusive to the fanbook. I will be posting it to AO3 later this year!

Rin’s Commission Catalogue 2019!

Step by step ^^ 1. Discussing the theme and details of the commission 2. Sketch approval (you can ask for revision until you’re satisfied here).     After the sketch is approved, I will proceed to the next step after half/full   payment and I will show you the progress as well 3. I will show the finished work in low res for approval, and if it’s satisfying, I’ll     send the high resolution one after fully paid :)

I won’t accept commission as listed below :( x. Mecha/car/robot/machine (it’s okay if it’s just for complement/background) x. Horror/ghost theme (a bit horror-ish theme is okay, e.g.: vampire themed) x. Sadistic/heavy gore theme (blood and little bit of flesh is okay though) x. Hardcore/vulgar erotic theme (R-18 is okay but please not too vulgar) x. Realistic animal/human

If you are interested or have any question (about the theme, rating, price, or anything - I won’t bite!), please don’t hesitate to message me here or any of these contacts below: e-mail: [email protected] twitter: rindartist facebook: Rin Rindartist

Reblog or sharing this will be highly appreciated <3

It was Gallia. The place I lived with the sage. It was a small village in Gallia. A few beorc had settled there and… When the sage died… I, with my silent tongue, was about to die of hunger. To me, in that state, you were the only one who offered your hand. That’s why, only you are special to me.

I commissioned this from @rindartist​ because there needs to be more content for these two and her comic work is always amazing (Thank you for letting me rant to you about them bb <3)! Read from left to right. This is from the infamous why do I have to play through the game twice to unlock it conversation Ike and Soren have in the final chapter of Radiant Dawn (shown here). I gave the artist both the Japanese and English dialogue, so it uses a mix of both.

(A few notes: 1. Raise your hand if you also want to punch those laguz in the face; 2. I don’t think it was ever canonically stated when and where Soren and Ike reunited so that was just a guess! And 3. Intsys, I will sacrifice an organ for a Soren alt. please.) 

Anyways thank you for commissioning me and I hope everyone likes it~~~ man I want to shower Soren with love (especially Ike's love because I know he needs it the most yo)

Rin’s Commission Catalogue 2019!

Step by step ^^ 1. Discussing the theme and details of the commission 2. Sketch approval (you can ask for revision until you’re satisfied here).     After the sketch is approved, I will proceed to the next step after half/full   payment and I will show you the progress as well 3. I will show the finished work in low res for approval, and if it’s satisfying, I’ll     send the high resolution one after fully paid :)

I won’t accept commission as listed below :( x. Mecha/car/robot/machine (it’s okay if it’s just for complement/background) x. Horror/ghost theme (a bit horror-ish theme is okay, e.g.: vampire themed) x. Sadistic/heavy gore theme (blood and little bit of flesh is okay though) x. Hardcore/vulgar erotic theme (R-18 is okay but please not too vulgar) x. Realistic animal/human

If you are interested or have any question (about the theme, rating, price, or anything - I won’t bite!), please don’t hesitate to message me here or any of these contacts below: e-mail: [email protected] twitter: rindartist facebook: Rin Rindartist

Reblog or sharing this will be highly appreciated <3