GUYS. THIS IS IMPORTANT. A lot of people probably don’t know about this, I didn’t until now. And quite frankly, the hate people in this fandom are getting right now is just disgusting. So reblog to let your followers know they can do this!!
candystoreliza
I remember I figured this out a while ago!!!!! Yay
•always have bottled water in your house/apartment
•pay your bills on time
•wash your dishes everyday
•don’t tell anyone you don’t trust you live alone
•call your mom and tell her you love her
•make sure you have extra toilet paper
•remember to close the curtains when changing
•lock all the windows and doors at night/before leaving the house
•double check that the stove is off
•don’t leave lights on too much
•use real plates instead of throwaways
•have flashlights in every room
•fruits and veggies are important
•night lights aren’t just for babies and kids
•electric and water bill are more important than cable
•don’t eat out too much
•do your laundry
•it’s okay to ask for help
•own at least two recipe books
•never lock yourself out
•but don’t hide a spare under a mat/plant
•don’t open the door without knowing who it is
•mop
•wash your bed spread a lot
•make sure you always have food in the fridge
•if you feel unsafe call someone
•candy/snacks are not meals
Not to be rude but this can be aimed at teens so they know what to be prepared for or for adults who are about to move out. The important thing is learning it sooner rather than later.
So Scientology has recently been purchasing ad spots on social media sites including Twitter and Facebook. Scientology has always worked hard to recruit young people it seems like they’re investing in social media as well now. I know most people think Scientology is a joke but it’s a seriously dangerous cult which uses fear, extortion, violence, vandalism and various other unethical actions against those who oppose them both inside and outside the church. Here is key information on the abuses committed by Scientology:
•Scientology uses a form of pseudo-therapy called auditing which focuses largely on embarrassing and traumatic memories. Scientology collects the information you share and uses that information to threaten you if you oppose the church. They also charge huge amounts of money for auditing sessions (which is why they really are doing all this).
•They are extremely anti-psychology and psychiatry and pressure you against taking any antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication or any other drugs for mental health.
•They believe homosexuality can be “cured” and are blatantly homophobic. •Enemies of the church are labeled “suppressive persons” and it is forbidden to communicate with such people. This isn’t just to limit the negative press they receive but also is a manipulative tool. If you are in the cult and decide to leave or criticize the church you stand the risk of being completely cut off from your friends and family. “Suppressive Persons” are often also harassed, stalked, or threatened.
•If you’re new to Scientology and your family or friends are worried about you being in a cult you’re instructed to cut them out of your life, increasing your reliance on the support system (though there’s nothing supportive about it) the church give to you.
•Scientology’s doctrine includes the concept of “Fair Game”. This basically says that those who are judged a threat to the Church can be punished and harassed by any and all means possible.
•Because of this, they have no moral qualms about having their members lie in court which they use to defend themselves from lawsuits or charges that they’ve broken the law and also to help win lawsuits against their enemies. •They essentially spied on and stole information from the IRS and tried to frame the mayor of Clearwater Florida for a hit and run.
•Scientology filed 50 different lawsuits in one year against the Cult Awareness Network, an anti-cult organization. Using false testimony they won one of the suits and because the organization couldn’t pay the fine Scientology took the organizations name and logo so if you were calling to get out of Scientology you’d be unknowingly telling Scientology of your intentions. (For full transparency my mom was a member of the Cult Awareness Network before it was taken over and was sued individually by the Church of Scientology)
•Scientology has an official branch known as the Sea Org, a mixture between a paramilitary group and slavery, comprised of their most dedicated members including many children/teens who’ve been raised in Scientology. This is where some of the most rampant and terrifying abuse in Scientology occurs.
•Sea Org members often work over 100 hours a week for Scientology for around 2$ per hour.
•Sea Org member’s living conditions are terrible; they live in overcrowded communal rooms with up to 12 other people, are not given healthcare unless there is a free clinic in the area, often are forced to miss meals or sleep in order to successfully completed their work.
•Several former Sea Org members have accused the church of physical abuse. •Sea Org members may not have children and women who have become pregnant have reportedly been forced/coerced by their higher-ups to have abortions.
•Leaving Sea Org without permission automatically makes you a suppressive person, so young adults who’ve been raised in Scientology who want to leave are cut off from everyone they’ve ever known with no money or job and getting permission to leave can require 3 years of hard labor, social isolation, and group pressure.
it’s one of the scariest “religions” you’ll ever meet if not THE scariest because it was PURPOSELY created to make money. unlike most cults that do have some seed of genuine belief however twisted and off base the founders are, scientology was never a belief system - it was a get rich quick scheme for a terrible hack author who saw that there was more money to be made in manipulating people into a cult and then not letting them leave. higher and higher levels of scientology, which you have to take to be truly “clear” aka free of evil spirits, will cost you thousands and even millions of dollars. they will literally hook you into a billion year contract and then pursue you for any money you “owe” them, thousands of “back fees” for their religious training, if you try to leave.
stay the fuck away from anything marked scientology or dianetics. narconon (NOT the same as narcotics anonymous, the 12 step program) is also their thing. never even step FOOT into one of their free dianetics “auditing sessions” because they will use it to manipulate you into joining. they are incredibly persistent and will use every trick in the book to get you on board.
I can add nothing to this post except to say that this is true. I’ve crossed paths with these people several times. It’s a fascinating and terrible psychological control.
Took notes on Scientology from a public speaker and regrettably this is very true, based on the research done afterwards. But I think the obvious tell is the fact that the speaker began by explaining for 20 minutes straight about how “Scientology is not evil. It’s not a cult. People are just wrong and stupid.” Anyway if you have to preface your speech with a multitude of reasons why people shouldn’t think your belief system is god awful, then you may have a problem.
I’ve heard them, too, and they’ve set up their own TV channel as well.
Particular PSA for the Tumblr crowd as I know there’s a lot of creators on here: They’re also behind the “Writers of the Future” and “Illustrators of the Future” contests, which are run by “Author Services Inc” and “Galaxy Press” so beware of those if you’re looking to submit anything to contests
Alright you guys, ‘tis the season again and I’ve already seen bullshit float about so here we go: what to do and what not to do when you happen to have a tick attached to yours truly.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
DON’T cover the tick in anything. Vaseline, nailpolish, whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’ll all suffocate the tick, making it panic vomit germs into your blood stream. That’s the opposite of what you want.
DON’T burn the tick. Same problem, plus the additional option of giving yourself a burn wound in the process.
DON’T squeeze the body of the tick when you try to remove it. Again this empties the tick’s digestive system into your body. Bad.
DON’T wait for the tick to detach itself. The longer it stays on you, the higher the chances it’ll transmit anything to you. Plus when ti detaches it may again vomit germs into you.
WHAT TO ACTUALLY DO
STAY CALM. A tick hanging on you is not a reason to panick. You’re not going to keel over just like that, and if you’re unsure what to do, there are many resources on the internet on how to safely remove a tick, like this one from the CDC (aka the professionals)
USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS. These can be suitable tweezers (the pointy kind, not blunt tipped ones), tick removers (there are cheap ones out there, those you can buy at the vets are totally fine for use on humans, too!). Ideally you can remove the entire tick in one go, however if that doesn’t work and the mouth part breaks off in your skin, that’s not a terribly big deal and you can totally remove it separately after you got the body remove. Again, don’t panic.
KILL THE REMOVED TICK. But not by squeezing it. Flush it down the toilet, submerse it in alcohol in a container etc. Ideally if the tick has bitten you and not your dog, keep the tick around in a sealed container in case you start having symptoms and someone needs to identify the tick species. Also IF you start getting symptoms like the tell tale Lyme disease rash, HIT A DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY AND TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR TICK BITE. Do not wait this out, ticks can transmit a whole host of diseases beside Lyme, so be mindful of that, too!
Some of those diseases you can actually get vaccinated again, such as tick born encephalitis. Check with the local authorities if you live in a risk area, and if so, get the shots to protect yourself.
Excellent post! I would like to add that ticks hide in tall grass and bushes mostly. They do not drop down from trees or jump to other people’s heads etc. Ticks aren’t designed to jump, they latch on somewhere on your leg and then crawl upwards in most cases.
Ticks will crawl from the cuffs of your jeans all the way up to your hair, where they cannot be seen, and nor could a bite rash be seen (ask me how I know HAHA).
If you walk through an area that may have ticks for any length of time, check yourself for them! Especially after you get home. Strip down, check your whole body, even your belly button, armpits, between toes, behind ears and ESPECIALLY YOUR HAIR. Long hair in particular is beloved. Comb all the hair, and check your scalp. Deer ticks are tiny. Wood ticks are just under the size of a pencil eraser and can easily be felt.
I just spoke with a friend who also contracted Lyme’s disease as a kid and it’s no “yeah I guess that’s bad?” disease. Chronic untreated Lymes can lead to crippling arthritis and lifelong psychological issues and doctors are just starting to take it seriously.
CHECK YOURSELF FOR TICKS. IF YOU LIVE IN AN AREA WITH DEER TICKS GET TESTED FOR LYMES IF YOU SUSPECT ONE BIT YOU.
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters… S.T..R … My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.
STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.
Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this…
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the ‘3’ steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :
S * Ask the individual to SMILE .. T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg ‘It is sunny out today’). R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
NOTE : Another ‘sign’ of a stroke is 1. Ask the person to ‘stick’ out their tongue. 2. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.
A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
And it could be your own.
First reblog post that actually saves a life.
This is a life-saving post.
the more you know
yeah don’t think that this can’t happen to you or someone you know if they’re young. my cousin’s wife is 33 and she had a stroke last year
I’ve had a stroke. It happens to people, and the more you know about this kind of stuff, the better.Because it could be important to know.
hokarotsukino
LIVE SAVING. WOOOAHH. REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG
So now that the infos are more or less known from the beta, i suppose i can speak out and give some more (personnal)
information :)
I wish i could have done it before, but i just could not.
First of all,
a topic that quite bugs me is the “I wasted X years of my life for this”?
You
know it’s a game right ? It’s awesome you care so much for it, but didn’t you know it woud end someday ? Do you consider
every game, book, movie that you finished like wasted time ? o_o
My
candy love could have stopped at the episode 40 and that’s it, end of the story. But we are lucky to be able to continue in this universe with University
Life, which is like a new season. It’s different, yes, but still connected.
(you could also compare this to Marvel who has done dozens of versions of their stories/characters. Yet Spiderman is always named Spiderman. There are been lots and lots of them, like bladewitch too because i’m not just talking about the movies or most famous ones here. )
Secondly, I
said to trust us, yes, but i didn’t say i was going to make your every
whishes. I still take you in consideration but i also took myself in consideration and did what i think is best, even if it’s hard to accept at
first. I get it.
Just a reminder that it is impossible to do
everyone’s wish. Just take as an exemple the fact that so many people
wanted to flirt with a teacher, and now that it is possible, the other
side is outraged that it is even possible.
Or another
exemple, the sooo many rants in the past when i did the characters
redesigns. I’m sure by now that if we would put back the very first
designs, you would be all screaming in pain. But at that time, it was
like the worst decision ever for you.
So to make it clear, i am happy with the choices i made. And even if I
can sincerely understand your sadness, i won’t change my mind about it, and the planned characters and scenario won’t change either. Then, in or out, it’s your choice.
Now, how, why did this happen ?
What you must keep in mind is that we (the creative team) work for a business.
We
have counts to give to our bosses, deadlines to respect, and also
access to numbers and stats that you don’t know about
that might affect our choices/work. ( and those stats can actually be very different from the expressed
wishes and points of view of the active fandom, because lots of players
are also silent players.)
This brings us to the first topic !
First
thing to know is that to maintain good delays for everyone and every
country, (because as you saw we have episodes coming out on a regular
basis by now) we have to follow strict rules of production.
This is
not totally new but still: we have a number of words allowed per episode
that we can not go over, and less than 2monthes to produce and test
everything. So yeah, it’s a bit sad in some way, but totally
understandable, if we did not do that, the game could not go on.
So
to keep the best quality, this is also why we can’t handle more than 5
routes. (and this is also why last episodes on High school life seem
shorter when you are on one guy’s route, as it is like 5 little episodes
in one.)
I’m not totally sure i am allowed to share
those production informations, but it’s not just some friends playing
around,snapping fingers and bam an episode. So i wanted you to know that
:)
This brings us to the next topic, the crushes gone in Campus Life ?
Yes they are. At
first it was a decision strongly suggested by our bosses. And i was sooo against
it, i was like “they will be so mad, it’s a dangerous move”, but
apart from wanting to preserve you, i didn’t have any other reasons not to
do so. In the end, the idea really grew up on me, and i totally agree with it.
So here we are.
Yeah I’ll cherish the past characters and will miss them but a breath of fresh air will be great,
and i’m really happy to be able to play along with new characters.
Also I
wanted that 4 years gap, because i wanted the characters to have grown
and develop on their own for some time.
Let’s move on.
Why I chose to keep Castiel ?
Well, let’s be honest about that, Castiel has always been the main favorite, and
by far. Just like pokemon, there are thousands of them but Pikachu still remains special. Anyway,
if you are good at maths, you’ll have noticed that i said we are doing 5
routes, and you only know about 4 so far, so yeah, there is someone i
still wish to torture some more too hurr hurr. And i think he will be my
favotire for UL.
One last thing to clear out.
As I said
we work for a business and our bosses, but even if we have some rules
to follow, i am not complaining. We are very lucky to be free in our
creation process, they dont mingle in our story and scenarios, and i
really think we are very very lucky about that.
This
is
how you can have a Priya route ( which would have been impossible if we kept all
the old crushes too by the way). They were a bit worried that a lesbian
route wouldn’t draw enough players as just another guy’s route, but they
still
let us do without interfering. (Show them we were right ! ;) )
I think this is all by now !
If you
keep on with University Life, i hope you will enjoy your new adventure, and i
will always be lurking around to see your reactions ;)
If you
prefer to quit because you are too
disillusioned, well i am sad to hear it, but it’s ok. No one is
forcing you to play, and thank you so much for being part of this great
community until there.
Kisses and take care everyone ♥
One
last thing, I knew we would have drama whatever we did or announce, so i am quite prepared and chill about it.
But, I will blacklist anyone harassing me, sending me hate
messages, insults, long rants directly to me or whatever of the kind
without a second thought. I dont have time for this.
So… Here we go. Thank you for answering this, Chinomiko.
I think… I still would’ve chosen for it to end and and have a full new spin-off versus knowing my Candy can no longer be with them when she was. Like it just… doesn’t feel like a continuation or a sequel if all the original love interests aren’t there (Great for those who went with Castiel, but not so much for the rest of us). Like maybe have Priya as a dating option still, but being the only character to make a return as we know she travels a lot anyway.
I feel bad you guys only have two months though… I wish the company was more adaptive on that? I feel like more time would just be better and if people got small updates, people wouldn’t get impatient anyway.
But yeah, thank you for the information…
I don’t know if I will still play or not, but… I’m happy to know.
While you are worrying about whether beta readers will steal your ideas, there is a more genuine threat on the horizon.
When offered a publishing contract, please do all your research before you sign. There are a number of fakes and scammers out there, as well as good-intentioned amateurs that don’t know how to get your work to a wide audience. I won’t tell the heartbreaking stories here - there are too many.
Being published badly is worse than being never published.
It can destroy your career and your dreams.
The quick check is to google the publishing house name + scam or warning.
But, to be sure, check with these places first. They aren’t infallible (nothing is) but they can help you protect yourself. They are written and maintained by expereinced writers, editors, publishers and legal folks.
Also applies to many so-called freelance sites that are just content mills, and may not pay unless your work is used, even if the contract seems designed otherwise.
Listen, reading these is like legit reading horror stories. When it comes to publishing your writing, always, always, ALWAYS do your research. Not only will it help you avoid scams, but it will also be likely to help you land a much better fit for an agent/publisher/whatever. Knowing more is never going to hurt.
I’ve heard stories like this that are scarier than horror stories. This is an all time worst nightmare for a writer. Everyone reblog and make sure you keep your work safe!
Reblogging again for the links. Also check pred-ed.com and the Absolute Write forum. Then google Publisher’s name + scam and see what comes up. Do NOT use the BBB ratings, they are wholly unsuitable for rating publishers and regularly give A ratings to well-known publishing scams. You can also read my own post on publishing scams, have a link on the left of my blog ( can’t link here, I’m on mobile, sorry).
Equally important to know is that you can SELF-PUBLISH through a number of platforms these days. @ean-amhran and I used Amazon’s CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing to publish both of our books. No editors, no contracts, no finagling with publishers who want to change your materials. Just direct-to-market material.
(Granted, it means you’ve got to do a LOT more work yourself with editing and formatting and cover art, but it’s worth it to miss the headache of trying to bargain with publishing houses or avoid scams.)
I actually recommend using the Smashwords Style Guide even if you don’t use Smashwords.
It lays out how to neatly format an e-book in a wonderful step by step format, and you can get it free from Smashwords. Just leave off the couple of things that are (very obviously) Smashwords specific.
If you can’t stand dealing with the meticulous detail, then by all means hire somebody, but most people can learn to format an ebook correctly and once you’ve done it a couple of times it takes about an hour tops.
Because the redirects aren’t working for me, I’m going to assume others might have trouble with these links, so for those who need it the URL for the website to Writer Beware is:
These are not publishers’ guilds, notice; you sometimes see scammers trying to defend themselves against Writer Beware exposes by claiming that they’re “small press” or “indie” and Big Publishing is somehow out to get them - but all of those guilds are run by and for writers, to help support them and represent them in the field. It is the closest writers have to having unions, and there’s no direct competition between them (you could literally be an in any of those guilds are the same time as each other, in addition to others, and I believe a number of authors are).
Writer Beware is a wonderful resource, and I highly recommend it. It’s both a good general guide to the scams people run/red flags to watch out for (such as giving up your copyright entirely as opposed to specific rights, or being charged to publish something or have it edited, when they’re trying to act like they’re a “normal” publisher), and a frequently-updated list of the latest specific known scammers, both in “fake agents” and fake/scammy publishers categories. (The company formerly known as Publish America is one of the most famous and egregious cases, but by far not the only one)
Additionally, for SF and fantasy writers, the SFWA’s own list of qualifying markets that one can be published in as a prerequisite to be able to get into their guild (remember, it IS a profession-based guild), is a great guide to normal markets for those genres that have standard contracts that aren’t abusive or scammy, and their guidelines include some of the industry-standard minimums for “per word” etc rates, so even if some new magazine market isn’t on their list, you can tell if it’s suspiciously far outside the usual per-word or whatnot standards. (It’s likely the guidelines for Mystery Writers of America etc also would be useful in that vein)
Even if you’re unpublished or don’t want to join their guild, they’re a wonderful group and resource, and I highly recommend their site and Writer Beware in particular!
The other sites mentioned above, such as “Preditors and Editors” should be still valid if you Google them, and are often rec’d by Writer Beware, but Writer Beware is the one I’m most familiar with. :)
Also, you should never have to pay an agent or anyone a “reading fee”! DO NOT PAY PEOPLE TO READ YOUR WORK!!! Run away from so-called agents that charge a reading fee! They are considered unethical in their own industry!
Also related to agents: Should you go this route and seek one, DO NOT PAY ONE DIME TO THEM upfront! A real agent only gets paid when he sells your book to a publisher! The average cut is about 10-15% of the first sale profits, if I remember right, with cuts of film and other rights maybe being more, when sold. At most, writers should only be responsible for the costs of phone calls and postage.
also while I’m here: historical figures aren’t your fandom faves. they’re real people who had profound and often terrible effects on other real people. you can’t apply fandom logic to them. you can’t fill in the blanks with no evidence other than you like the idea. you can’t vilify some of them while simultaneously stanning over “”misunderstood babies”” who committed equal atrocities. and perhaps most importantly of all, you can’t treat real history as “canon” and develop AUs where your fave is exactly how you want them to be with none of the nasty bits attached. that’s not how you read history. that’s how you get a painfully obvious bias which makes your conclusions and contributions useless.