Hey enecoo, I had a question. I saw a post recently about what does and doesn't break fast during ramadan (it was basically centered around the nsfr and why people shouldn't use it) but listed under breaks fast is both periods and taking medicine. So I guess I'm a bit confused about what women need to do during ramadan to avoid getting their periods if they can't take birth control? Unless it just means that you aren't required to fast on the days you have your period. Just genuinely curious as the post didn't comment on the whole period thing at all.
When people go through their period during Ramadan, then it is not required for them to fast. You don’t have to go as far as to take birth control pills if you desire to fast as it doesn’t amount to sin, even though you fall into a state of ritual impurity (blood is considered ritually impure, not the person). God is merciful and wish not to burden anyone with difficulty, which is why He allows people to abstain from prayer and fasting when in such state. However, fasting must be made up at a later time. The only thing to do is to make sure you pay the fidyah (compensatory charity)
Hey I'm really adoring the comic so far. I just was wondering if there was anyway you can add a back button on the individual pages (maybe even a next) sometimes I miss a couple of pages. And while it's not an issue to scroll through the tag now eventually the back log might get too long to scroll through to find where one left off. I think having a link to the previous page would really help with that!
Thank you! I’ve been meaning to rework the blog to be more user-friendly for a while (ex: it sucks to try and read on mobile) but I kept forgetting haha. I’ll get on that! -Ray
celestialmayhem replied to your post:The idea that I could go bald before like, 70 is...
Did your moms dad go bald? Because the bald gene is passed down through our moms and not our dads. So if he’s bald then you might have to worry but if you’re dads the bald one then you should be fine.
That’s actually a really common myth! I forget the specifics but balding isn’t directly related to maternal genetics in that way
Hi, I’m your Tuxcret Santa :) Based on what you like, I wrote a Haruka x Michiru/Outer Senshi family fic (loosely based on “Gifts of the Magi”). I hope you enjoy it!
A Special Gift
She didn’t look up from her book. “No.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask,” Haruka huffed.
“You were going to ask me to help chose a Christmas present for Michiru.” Setsuna’s eyes flashed briefly over to Haruka. “And my answer’s no.”
“Michiru’s claimed you then.”
A small smile crossed Setsuna’s mouth. “Maybe you do need help with this.” She laid her book down on the coffee table. “Michiru has not asked for my help, nor would I give it to her.”
“Couldn’t you just look at the future and tell me what I get her?”
“I could. But I won’t.”
“Fine.” There was someone who would help. Haruka made her way to the back of the house and knocked on the door.
“What, Haruka-papa?”
“I need your help.”
Hotaru jumped up from the floor. “With something important?”
“With something very important.” Haruka knelt down so they were face to face. “I need to get Michiru-mama a Christmas present.”
Hotaru nodded solemnly and crossed her arms. “Very important. What ideas do you have?”
“Well. Not so many.”
“I see.” Hotaru scrunched her face in concentration. “You buy her flowers and jewelry all the time, so that’s out.”
“What about a new violin?”
“Haruka-papa, she has a new violin. She said it was the best violin.”
“She got that months ago.”
“But she hasn’t used it in a concert yet!” Hotaru’s eyes lit up. “Haruka-papa, if I help you figure out a great present, can it be from me too?”
“Of course.”
Hotaru smiled. “Well. She’s saving her new violin for something special, right?”
Haruka smiled back. “So we’ll arrange an extra special concert!”
“Yes!” She pumped her little fists. “What makes a concert special, though?”
“That’s going to take some reconnaissance.”
“And for that we need a plan!” Hotaru grabbed construction paper and pens off her desk, and they got to work.
The next morning, a music magazine was strategically placed on the kitchen table before Michiru got up. Haruka busied herself teaching Hotaru how to make waffles, or at least tried to. The waffle iron was an early gift to Setsuna from Usagi. They’d run into each other right after she’d bought it, and she’d been too excited to wait. “The best mamas make waffles! And I’m sure Hotaru would agree that you’re one of the best mamas!” She’d explained to a slightly bewildered Setsuna while Haruka looked on. She’s thanked Usagi politely, but Haruka knew she was more touched than she let on.
And what if Usagi does something similar for Michiru? Can I compete with that?
“Haruka-papa, it’s smoking!”
“Oh!”
Out came four very black squares. Perhaps waffles were best left to mamas.
“What is that smell?”
Hotaru bounced off her stool and ran to hug Michiru good morning. “We made waffles.”
“They didn’t quite turn out,” Haruka admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.
Michiru laughed. “Is there batter left?” She scraped the burnt pieces out of the iron and poured in a new batch. “It’s not hard if you pay attention.” She wrapped her arms around Haruka. “What was distracting you?”
Haruka’s face went warm. “Nothing.”
“Mmm are you sure?” She nuzzled her head between Haruka’s shoulder bones. “You’ve got your big race coming up, you can’t be distracted for that, can you?”
Haruka smiled. The national motor racing championships were the day after Christmas, and she’d been preparing for months. “Don’t worry. I don’t lose focus on the road.”
“I know.” Michiru slipped around took four perfectly golden brown waffles from the iron. She put one on a plate for Hotaru. “Looks much better than Haruka-papa’s huh?”
Hotaru glanced guiltily at the charred pile. “Yeah.”
“If you ruin my waffle iron with your cooking attempts, you’re buying me a new one, Haruka,” Setsuna said as she came in with the morning paper. She grabbed a waffle and sat down. The rest of them followed suit.
“What’s this?” Michiru asked, flipping open the magazine.
“I saw it at the bookstore and thought of you!” Hotaru said.
“How nice.” Michiru smiled as she continued flipping. “Oh!”
“Hm?” Haruka tried to keep her interest casual.
“Antje Haas is doing a tour in Japan.”
Setsuna swallowed a bite of waffle. “That’s the maestro prodigy, right?”
“Mhm. She’s the youngest person to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic. I’ve followed her work for a while.” Michiru chewed thoughtfully. “Pity she’s only here for a month. I’ll have to try and get tickets for one of her shows.”
Haruka caught Hotaru’s eye. They both tried not to grin. Haruka swiped the magazine after breakfast.
“It doesn’t say where she’s performing,” Hotaru said.
“I bet we could find out.” Haruka grinned. “Let’s go for a ride.”
She drove her Ferrari to the Hikawa shrine, knowing she’d find everyone there. After greeting everyone, she turned to Ami. “I need your help.”
She blinked. “My help?”
“You can figure out anything, can’t you?” Haruka showed her the article in the magazine. “I need to find her and talk to her.”
Minako snatched the magazine away. “Haruka, Ami-chan’s good at math and computers, but when the music industry’s your game Minako-chan’s the one to come to!”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Well, no…”
“Haruka, why do you need to talk to this woman?” Ami asked.
“I see.” Ami smiled. “I think we can figure something out. Let’s get on Rei’s computer.”
They followed her inside. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “She has a concert today at the Juuban Center.”
“I’ll get us backstage!” Minako exclaimed.
“How?”
Minako patted Hotaru’s head. “Auntie Minako has experience with these things, don’t you worry. Let’s go!”
“Don’t we need tickets?”
Minako patted Haruka’s shoulder. “You need to trust Auntie Minako, too.”
“You’re not old enough to be my auntie.”
“But you’re silly and naïve enough to be a child, so it’s close enough.”
“Hey,” Haruka huffed.
“Don’t be so grumpy, we’re helping you!” Minako linked arms with her and Ami. “Forward to the arena!”
“But Minako-chan,” Ami said. “We do need tickets.”
“Scalpers, Ami-chan. There are always scalpers.”
And indeed there were. They got their tickets no problem, and Ami bought them all hot cider from a café while they waited for the show.
“Do you think she’ll really do a concert with Michiru-mama?”
“Hmm…” Ami smiled. “Michiru-mama’s pretty famous herself, isn’t she?”
“Mhm!”
“So maybe. Ms. Haas has admired her work, too, and would love to work with her.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Your parents are all very special, aren’t they, Hotaru-chan?”
“They are.” She kicked her feet back and forth under her chair. “Even you, Haruka-papa.”
“What do you mean, even me?”Haruka asked with a laugh.
“Your waffles aren’t as good.”
“Is that so?”
“And you’re not so good about the rules.”
“I’ve never heard you complaining about that.”
“That’s because I love you. And I like staying up late when Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama aren’t home.”
Ami giggled. Haruka smiled. “Alright then, should we go?”
“When it’s over, remember to follow me. We’ve got to be quick to get backstage!” Minako danced her way into the arena.
Haruka fidgeted through the concert. Ami and Hotaru seemed to genuinely enjoy it, but she could see Minako noting the security guards and cameras. The last thing she needed was to be telling Michiru merry Christmas from inside a jail cell. Maybe she should have gone with a simple gift. It wasn’t like Michiru disliked flowers and jewelry. Or like Christmas was a very big deal for them. But this year felt special, with no monsters or big enemies around, so it felt like her present had to be special, too.
There was a line, though, between special and stupid. And this might be it.
Minako was moving the moment the music stopped. Haruka scooped Hotaru into her arms to follow more quickly. They weren’t stopped until they got to the back most hallway.
“What are you doing here?” A burly man in uniform asked.
“We’re just going backstage to see Ms. Haas,” Minako said with a big smile. “So if you’ll just excuse us…”
“No one’s allowed back here.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Minako waved him off. “Don’t make a scene.”
“It’s not fine. Leave.”
“But you’re ruining Christmas!” Hotaru pouted.
“Christmas?”
They all turned. Antje Haas stood at the end of the hall. She said something Haruka couldn’t understand to the guard. He nodded and stepped aside. She said something again, and Christmas was the only word Haruka could make out.
Ami stepped forward and spoke. They must have been speaking German; Haruka was impressed. How had she ever underestimated this girl so much? They conversed for several minutes before Ami turned towards the rest of them. “She says she’d love to incorporate Michiru into one of her concerts.” She smiled right at Hotaru. “She really is a fan. But the only day it’s really possible is the 26th. Her other concerts are less flexible.”
“But that’s Haruka-papa’s big race!”
Haruka hesitated. Months of preparing, and it was looking likely she would place. “There’s no other day?”
“No.”
Haruka sighed. “Tell her that works fine.”
“But Haruka-papa…”
“There’s always next year, Hotaru-chan.”
“Mm, I suppose so.” She pushed her head into Haruka’s shoulder. “You love Michiru-mama a lot, huh?”
“About as much as I love you.”
Hotaru giggled. “You’re so embarrassing, Haruka-papa. But I love you too.”
Ami bowed to Ms. Haas in thanks and turned back to them as Ms. Haas walked away. She handed a piece of paper to Haruka. “The information Michiru will need for the performance.” She smiled. “Ms. Haas is excited. I hope Michiru is, too.”
“Yeah, Haruka,” Minako said, clearly holding back laughter. “I hope your present really excites her.”
Haruka struggled to cover Hotaru’s ears without dropping her. “Minako!”
She burst out laughing. “I wish I could get a picture of your face.”
Haruka sighed. “Thank you for helping me. Both of you.”
“Thank you for asking for our help,” Ami said. “It’s what we’re here for.”
Christmas morning came, and Haruka got up before even Hotaru. Was it special enough? She asked herself as she made coffee. Would she like it?
Setsuna was next to get up, after what felt like ages. She sat down on the couch next to Haruka. “You shouldn’t worry so much,” she said gently.
“Are you about to say something about her liking anything I get her because she loves me?”
Setsuna smiled. “No, I’m going to say that you know her too well to get her anything she wouldn’t like. You care far too much to be thoughtless, and you know too much to think wrong.” She took a sip of Haruka’s coffee. “But to a certain extent, she’ll also like it because it’s from you.”
“Thanks.”
“She’s just as worried about you, you know.”
“You said she didn’t ask for help.”
“She hasn’t talked to me at all about it. That’s how I know she’s worried.”
“Ah. She should know I don’t need anything special.”
Setsuna raised an eyebrow at her. “The two of you are incapable of not being the most ridiculous people on earth.”
“Then you must be just as ridiculous, since you’re practically married to us.”
She smiled. “I suppose that’s true.”
Michiru and Hotaru got up soon after. Hotaru dove into Haruka’s lap. “Can we give Michiru-mama our present first?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Hotaru jumped up and Haruka got out a small wrapped box. Michiru smiled. “What’s this?”
“Just something from the two of us.”
She pulled the ribbon off and carefully slipped the box out of the paper, opening it to reveal a piece of paper. She inhaled sharply as she read it. “Haruka… how?”
“She’s a fan of yours!” Hotaru said.
“We thought you could use a special event to use your new violin at.”
“My new… oh.” Her face fell a little. “Do you mean the vintage Stradivarius I got in September?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah.” She paused. “Well, we’ve been saving money lately, haven’t we? We’ll be going to university soon, and then Hotaru will…”
“Yes, so?”
“Look outside.”
Haruka pulled back the curtain. In the driveway sat a sleek red race car. “Michiru… is that the new KTM?”
“Mhm. One of the first ones.” She pushed her hair behind her ear. “And to keep it from being too outrageous a dip in our funds, I sold my Stradivarius.”
“Michiru…” Haruka rested her forehead on hers. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”
“I thought you could use it in your big race. The engine should give you even more of an edge.”
“Ah… you didn’t see the date of your concert then.”
“Haruka, you didn’t…?”
“I did. There’s plenty of other races.” She leaned down to kiss her. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.” Michiru knelt down to hug Hotaru. “And thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Michiru-mama. But I have something else for you, too!”
“Hey, you didn’t tell me that!”
“Haruka-papa, you didn’t ask.”
“That’s true.” She and Michiru sat down on the couch together while Hotaru ran to her room to retrieve her presents. “Merry Christmas, Michiru,” she said, nuzzling into her hair.
Hey Astra, Me and my friends are gonna start playing exalted soon but none of us ever played before :P is there any intro info you can give me so i kinda know what to expect? I dun know anything about it at all
Hey, Exalted tag, who wants to give them a primer? Since none of you have played, it’ll be easier to stick with Solars, probably, just so you know.
theonyxpath is the tumblr for the company that produces the game now, but here’s a heads up; there’s a new edition coming out soon, so you’re going to end up with changes soon.
But the most recent one's really mechanically wonky.
Be ready to houserule, look up errata, run into contradictory rules and setting stuff, not exactly the best examples of showing and not telling, and run off with your own ideas of the setting because it’s a lot of fun but second edition had one hell of a bout of writers into ‘shitdark’ writing and heavy favoritism towards the Solar Exalted and Infernals as well.
AND IGNORE CHAPTERS 1 AND 2 OF INFERNALS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
