[stmercy2020]

So if Canada is America's hat… what does that make Mexico?  Its underpants?

This may be a case of the metaphor being carried a bit too far…  😀

[stmercy2020]

That's a great shirt.  But going in another direction on T-shirts, I'm a big fan of unintendedly mangled english on T shirts.  This one is a recent fave.

http://www.engrish.com/recent_detail.php?imagename=i-eat-your-skin.jpg&category=Clothing&date=2007-07-30

Call it my dark sense of humor.

Bo.

My God!  I think I saw that shirt in Itaewon when I was in Korea!  ;D

[stmercy2020]

It must be fun having a regenerating heroine to inflict your sadism on…  I wish I had one…

This story just keeps getting better and better.

http://www.thevalkyrie.com/stories/1misc24/jan27.htm

[stmercy2020]

Thigs keep getting twistier and twistier…

http://www.thevalkyrie.com/stories/1misc24/jan26.htm

[stmercy2020]

As an American wedged firmly in America's @$$, I found this extremely funny.  ;D

[stmercy2020]

Thanks nam,

I spent my birthday packing my life into a 9×12 U-Haul trailer, so I don't know if fun is the word, exactly, but it was certainly exciting…

I'm sitting in my motel room, now, and I have one more day of hard driving before I get to my new house, then another day before I'll have internet at home again.  It's an adventure!

And happy birthday to emiel, too!

[stmercy2020]

Okay- I'm here in my motel room in Tucamcari, NM, and I finally got internet access.  It seems to be pretty intermittent, so I'll keep this short.

THANK YOU SATSUROU!

This was an outstanding birthday present- so much better because it was something I'd really wanted!  Rest assured, I will be linking to this page in upcoming Sylph stories ;D

[stmercy2020]

Okay.  I haven't had the opportunity to weigh in on this because of moving and family obligations (I will be completely incommunicado as of tomorrow and lasting about a week- hopefully slightly less, but it'll all depend on the phone company where I'm going).  First off, as reaper stated, writing about the sexuality of a 10-year-old, especially a fictional 10-year-old, is not illegal in any state in the U.S. that I am aware of.  Child pornography laws seek to prevent the exploitation of actual children.  It is, generally, considered to be in poor taste, however, to write about child sexuality unless it is being used specifically to demonstrate a plot point- and generally, the only plot point that would be considered acceptable by the average reader is that sexually charged situations involving children are bad.

I didn't have any problems with the scene as reaper wrote it for two reasons.  1) this scene is not portrayed in a positive light.  It is presented as gory, bloody, and horrible.  Mercy is presented as fundamentally disturbed.  2) reaper made it quite clear in the scene that Mercy's perception of herself changes and becomes sexually charged only after she sees her dream-persona as a young woman, no longer a child.

All in all, great writing.  Gross, as a friend of mine once said, but cool.  I'm still of mixed minds about Mercy- she seems like a character who wants to be accepted, good, etc. al., but, at the same time, she's a monster who revels in her destructive power, her ability to unleash her fury with cataclysmic results.  A darkly fascinating character.

[stmercy2020]

As Lionforce said before me, I'm not a certified personal trainer.  I have done some research on the subject, but I would recommend that you also go and do your own.

Generally speaking, you lose weight through cardio.  Building muscle will help you burn fat because lean muscle will increase your metabolism.

There is no way to isolate the area that will lose fat first- your body will take the fat stores from where they are present as it needs them, and it won't consult you to find out where you'd like it to take from first.

That said, if your goal is to both burn fat and to increase muscle growth, it's best to exercise before a meal, particularly before breakfast.  The reason is that your body burns off some short-term fat stores (I forget the actual name for these) while you sleep.  Additionally, the body produces GBH when your blood sugar is lower, and this will help in the production of muscle.  You do want to be careful, though- be ready to eat something as soon as you finish your workout, and pay attention to what your body is telling you.

In terms of what to exercise, Lionforce is definitely spot-on.  You want to vary what parts you exercise and make sure you give your muscles time to recover.  Depending on how easily you put on mass, this may mean as little as 48 hours between exercises for the same body part or as much as 3-4 days.  I read an article by Shannon Pittman for serious hardgainers that suggested doing only two workouts per week, extremely heavy but low sets.  Most people can exercise the same muscle groups every other day, and that's probably where you want to start.

[stmercy2020]

Okay.  I'll say this once, and then I'm gonna let it go.  When someone makes something for me, I'm going to be appreciative.  Period.

That said, not everyone's interpretation of a character I write about is going to be the same.  That's fine- diversity is the spice, et. al.

Would I have drawn Sylph the same way Cowprobe did?  I suspect not, since my drawing skills aren't even on a par with a demented three-year-old's.  If anyone wants advice from a writer about precisely what I visualize when I'm writing about any of my characters, Sylph included, I'm more than happy to provide it- in a PM or open forum, your choice.

Okay.  That little rant over (kind of like being flogged with a wet noodle, huh?), I'll go on to say just two more things.

1) Thank you, Cowprobe for your drawing.

2) I look forward to any other interpretations anyone wants to post here- bring 'em on!

[Author]

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