I love seeing character cosplays with a twist. These beautiful dresses for Ariel and Minnie definitely caught my eye. I would wear these on a regular day!
Voting is Now Open
Hello Readers and Imaginary Friends,
Voting for the Aurora’s is now open until September 14th.
You still have time to get the voter’s package and vote for your favourites!
I hope you’ll consider The Travelling TARDIS and The Sign of Faust when you’re voting.
The Sign of Faust
Elizabeth Coderre solves mysteries. Magic, wizards, and killer kittens didn’t stop her last semester. Now someone is trying to kill her in absurdly complicated ways, she’s hearing voices, her best friends are constantly fighting despite being madly in love, and the desires of Baker City’s residents are becoming reality. Can she find out who’s trying to kill her and discover the source of everyone’s luck, while navigating dating, concerts, school, and competing in the science Olympics? She can only wish… and you know what they say about wishes!
The Travelling TARDIS
The Travelling TARDIS moves, with the power of timey-yarney crochet, through time and space visiting and taking pictures with cosplayers, landmarks, celebrities, and cute babies.
Sign up, get ebooks, read, and vote for your favourites before September 14th. It’s a great deal and you’ll love the books.
So go to https://prixaurorawards.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.
Later days,
Éric
Blush: A doula’s toolbox – Guest Post by Tricia Surette
Read Part 1 here.
Part 2: A doula’s toolbox
Doulas have many tools in their repertoire that can help a woman in labour.
“When I first go to a birth, I observe what my client is doing and ask her some questions,” says Anderson. “For instance, if the mother says the pain is all in the back, I would start straight away with counter-pressure and ask her, ‘does that feel better?’”
Communication with your doula is key. Anderson will check in with her clients repeatedly about what is working, what’s not, and will change up her techniques accordingly. She can offer the use of a TENS machine, which can help some woman cope with the pain better. Anderson will also remind the labouring woman to stay hydrated, to rest, to breathe.
It’s not uncommon in birth for emotions to come up.
“If somebody gets really emotional, if they need to cry, I tell them, ‘Just cry’,” says Anderson. “I can ask them questions as to what’s coming up, what are you worried about and sometimes they’re very valid worries.”
And if something comes up on the medical side, Anderson can help remind the woman or the couple that it’s okay to ask questions. Rarely is there ever anything in birth that requires such an immediate response that there isn’t time to ask questions and find out what’s happening before making a decision.
“Sometimes in a hospital setting people can find it overwhelming where [information] is often presented as ‘this is how it is’ and some people have a hard time going against it,” says Anderson. “Sometimes it’s really hard to collect your thoughts when people are looking at you waiting for an answer, so I might say to them, ‘Ask for five minutes’.”
The discussions a couple has with their doula at their pre-meetings, as well as work they did on the birth plan, will make all of this easier to navigate, as there will be a bond and the couple will already be privy to a foundational understanding of the choices they may face during labour.
“Many times, at the hospital,” says Anderson, “the nurses would say to me, ‘You’re really lucky because you got to know these people. I just met them and they’re in labour’.”
The support a doula can provide for the non-birthing partner is amazing as well.
“[Partners] have a hard time because they feel like ‘oh, my love is in this much discomfort and I can’t do anything’. They feel helpless and that’s a difficult place to be.”
Doulas can help partners learn massage and counter-pressure techniques to help reduce pain, which gives the partner something to do and can help them feel more connected to their labouring partner and the birthing experience as a whole. Doulas can remind partners to breathe and to take time to rest, eat, or drink, especially if it’s a long labour as was the case for Chris Brown’s wife Debbie. Her labour went on for several days and they were sent home from the hospital a number of times, plus there were other complications such as meconium, a complication where the baby poops inside the amniotic sac and runs the risk of aspirating it into their lungs before they are born.
“I actually hyperventilated and left,” said Brown. “I think it was because I was afraid for Debbie and the obvious pain she was undergoing.”
But he credits their doula with providing them with a lot of information ahead of time, that allowed he and his wife to navigate the overwhelming elements of their daughter’s birth.
“She was genuinely there for us when we needed her and she did provide a lot of comfort and knowledge,” says Brown.
There have been some studies conducted on birth outcomes for woman with labour support and while some of the results are harder to quantify, in general most woman did better with continuous labour support. According to the Journal of Perinatal Education, “Doula-assisted mothers were four times less likely to have a low birth weight (LBW) baby, two times less likely to experience a birth complication involving themselves or their baby, and significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding.”
(At the end of the article there will be an additional of list of resources and recommended reading that you might want to explore if you are contemplating a doula for your next birth.)
References
Oakville Family Birth
NCBI
Science Direct
Dona
If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.
Ghost Ship Robinson – Chapter 5 of 7
“Hal, you’re an idiot. Get the hell out of there.” Suzie was sad and ignoring it by being furious with me. I couldn’t blame her. I’d told her I loved her and sent her back to the ship with a giant alien monstrosity’s head. If I’d been going for romantic, I should have gone with flowers or chocolate, but it’s all I had at the time.
“Sorry. Sol tells me I’m more likely to survive this.” It was mostly a lie. I’d seen her death, more than I ever wanted, but I hadn’t seen anything about me. Although these nightmare creatures were sure trying hard to get me. I’d managed pretty well so far by slicing with the sword and pushing them back with gusts of heat.
“Fine. Just get to the shuttle. We need to talk before I kill you.”
Clearing his throat, Adric said, “I’m having a little trouble getting a lock on the ship. Can you get to engineering and turn off everything?”
“Sure. Just a walk through a park. An alien, prophet eating, dog park.” I’d been doing okay against the creatures and that wasn’t a good sign. They should have been able to swarm me. Maybe cutting off the big one’s head had scared them? Or maybe something else was going on and I was sure that wasn’t a good thing.
Sure, I had a sword and sure, I had cut a few of them down, but if they all attacked at once I’d be swamped. What were they waiting for?
I moved slowly towards engineering and wished I could stop off at the armory. I killed a few of the nightmares as I went. They were getting less petrifying and more annoying.
It took me much too long to get to the main power shut off. It would shut everything down. Thank Sol for my portable air extractor. It would let me breathe in terrible conditions for at least a few hours.
I saw fresh blood on the ground and Sol hit me with a disturbing vision. “Adric, power’s off now. Is the Doc there?”
“Yeah Hal. I hear you. What’s up?” Janet sounded and looked like she was in her early twenties. It was the side effect of her immortality serum. She should be just over a hundred now.
“I’m seeing blood in engineering. Either they’ve been spreading our poor teammates around or someone was bit. Check Suzie and Travis out and let me know.”
The creatures all lifted their slimy heads and turned around, leaving me alone in the semi-darkness. I started to wonder where they were going and decided to worry about it later. Making my way back to the shuttle quickly would have been my best bet; but I was worried about a trap. I made a small stop at the armory on my way.
“We’ve locked onto the ship, but we have a problem.” Adric sounded annoyed and didn’t wait for me to say anything before adding, “Travis was bit by one of those things. He says he can’t remember, but now his legs swollen and Doc put him in the fishbowl.” He was talking about the sterile biohazard room that doubled as our jail cell.
Janet started talking, “Something’s attached itself to his leg and infected him somehow.”
“My day isn’t going to be complete until you tell me that one of my crew has alien eggs in him, is it?” I tried to not gag.
“How did you know?”
“I asked myself how things could get worse and this was one of two options. Can you cut it off?”
A sigh from the coms told me she didn’t like the idea, “The eggs are releasing an antitoxin. If I cut off his leg, the toxin that’s throughout his system will kill him. I’m trying to synthesise an artificial version but…”
“I owe that man my life. Do what you can… wait… what about the virus? Could that work? It was genetically engineered to fight these things right? Maybe it could be adapted to cure him.” Travis had been the captain of one of the most impressive pirate ships in the system. They stole from the rich and gave to the poor. The poor were mostly their families, but they gave to others too. They were rotten and wonderful all at once. I’d infiltrated and it hadn’t gone well for him. I’d felt every pain the other pirates put him through before he escaped, and I’ve never forgiven myself for what he went through.
“This isn’t my first medical issue, Hal. I’m already working on it. Get your healing fire ass over here.” She sounded tired and stressed. Without me or Travis to pilot they’d have to take a risky jump or coast to the closest commercial jump gate. One gave them even odds and the other would take a few hundred years.
“My flame cleanse might make things worse.”
“Then do the opposite. I don’t know. Get here and we’ll figure it out.”
It was an interesting idea. If I could create heat and plasma why couldn’t I drain it? Could I freeze these things?
The point was academic. I turned the corner to approach the shuttle and there, standing with a cocky grin, was the man from the cryogenic pod. I stopped walking and he must have taken that for fear instead of shock. Still smiling, he said, “Emissary of Sol. I’m here to kill you.”
Sun Speaker
In the distant future humanity has spread to the other planets in our solar system. These stories follow Hal (a prophet for a godlike entity that lives in the sun), and his friends, as they try to make the solar system a better place.
Hal The Sun Speaker
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The Assassin
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Gladiators in SPACE!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Ghost Ship Robinson
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
Lion
This Paris statue reminds me of Aslan and Lucy from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Maybe it was the inspiration for it?
Thirteen
It was so great to see cosplays of the thirteenth Doctor at Ottawa Comic Con this year. I think I need her shirt.
My Favourite Content Creators – Guest Post by Jonas
I’m not young. I remember a time back when we rode dinosaurs. Ok, maybe I’m not that old. But I do remember growing up without the internet. I’m somewhat fortunate in that in my late teens I *did* go to a private school that offered students laptops and internet access. So I had a bit of a jump on the rest of my generation.
There’s a lot of great (and not great) stuff out there. But growing up as a budding nerd, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to share and talk about my passions. Plus I was limited in the opinions I could find based on geography. Sure I could go to a Star Trek Convention. But the only people who I’d be able to interact with were those other people who were there.
Now, of course, you can connect with a fellow nerd who is on the other side of the planet in a few seconds. And it’s so much easier to find and spend time with local humans who may share your passion.
It’s also so much easier to consume media that dives deep into topics you are interested in. Talk about the philosophy of Star Trek. The history of miniatures gaming. A documentary on the making of your favourite video game. I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favourite content creators.
Note they’re all YouTubers mostly because it’s the content delivery medium I am most familiar with and the platform, despite them “optimizing” it on and off, it’s pretty user-friendly.
1. Moviebob
Moviebob *is* my favourite content creator. He dives deep into a whole host of nerdy subjects. And even topics I’m not interested in, I’ll still usually watch. I never thought I’d be interested in Yogi Bear’s collar, I was wrong. Also COMICS ARE WEIRD! (Seriously, search “Moviebob” and “comics are weird” you won’t be disappointed. I mean, unless you don’t like comics.)
Really That Good: Superman:
About Yogi Bear’s Collar:
2. Steve Shives
Steve talks about Star Trek and Social Justice Issues. I don’t always agree with him on both. But I’m always edified by the experience. He just did a video about the new Star Trek: Picard trailer and I enjoyed it.
Channel URL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/stevelikes2curse
3. How to ADHD
It’s not nerdy per se. But I think it valuable. I have ADHD, it’s….challenging. This channel has helped me understand myself better. It’s also helped me know I’m not alone in my struggles.
Channel URL:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nPM1_kSZf91ZGkcgy_95Q
4. Lindsay Ellis
Another brilliant media commentator. Also someone who, even on topics I’m less interested in (like Game of Thrones) I’m still interested in her opinions. If I were half as smart as she is, I’d be twice as smart as I am now. Oh! And she was nominated for a Hugo award for her Hobbit Trilogy.
The Hobbit, A Long Expected Autopsy:
5. Noclip
I love video games. I also enjoy learning more about the games I love. Danny interviews industry luminaries and dives deep into how some amazing games came to be. If you’re a fan of the Witcher 3 or 2016’s DOOM, I really recommend checking out those documentaries.
Channel URL:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0fDG3byEcMtbOqPMymDNbw
Bonus: Mick Gordon talking about the creation of the DOOM Soundtrack
6. Guerilla Miniature Games
In addition to video games, I also enjoy tabletop games. In my experience, there is a dearth of commentators on the industry who bring insightful industry knowledge and who aren’t governed by “hot-takes”. Ash is one of those and the discussions on issues of the day are well worth listening to.
Channel URL:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbO4Vs1vlAA9hz7Ad7IMgug
About the Author
Jonas is a nerd who loves many many different nerdy things…. Except Anime! Anime was a mistake!
If asked what he thinks is most under-rated in nerd culture he’d probably say Babylon 5.
*Note* All opinions are those of the author and not JenEric Designs.
Gold Rush Canada
Who shot the boss? is the question that Gold Rush Canada asked several thousand contestants before releasing them to search for the $80,000 dollars buried somewhere in the Nation’s Capital on Saturday July 27th 2019 at 9 am. Armed only with a special map, a video from the website, and smart phones, everyone headed for where they thought the first clue was hidden.
Now, days later, most people (if not all) are stuck on the third challenge of ten. Based on the comments on the Facebook page, people are getting very frustrated. (As of July 30th when this post was written.)
Nobody said that it would be easy.
So why am I talking about an event that is currently ongoing?
Because Ottawa is only the first city of six.
On August 10, Edmonton starts. August 17 is Calgary and Montreal, and August 24th Toronto and Vancouver.
Due to Ottawa’s event taking longer than expected, they have rearranged the dates for the other cities.
Montreal is August 24, Vancouver is August 31, Calgary is September 7, Edmonton is September 14, and Toronto is September 21.
Are you ready to reserve your map, solve the mystery, and find the treasure?
Knowledge of Escape Rooms is definitely an advantage.
Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
Ghost Ship Robinson – Chapter 4 of 7
I have wonderful timing, I mean I’m a bonafide prophet. I spun around and shot not one, but two, of those nightmare dog things in the head without hesitation.
They had no eyes, no nose, they were nothing but dark, slimy muscle and teeth. They seemed utterly quiet until they pounced, then they let off a series of complicated clicks.
“They’re blind and hunt by sound,” I told Suzie as we moved through them towards the shuttle.
“Good thing we have lights,” she said before grimacing and adding, “I shouldn’t have said that.” The light died. We both had enhanced vision built into our suits. It didn’t make any difference other than making the whole situation creepier.
I shot another one and then tried to throw a plasma blast. It hit the closest nightmare and seemed to do nothing.
We fought until heard a screech, howl, and louder clicks. Somehow my plasma managed to feed the damned thing I hit with it, making it grow. It was now big enough to shrug off the bullets I was shooting at it.
They swarmed over every surface. I blasted holes into the floor, walls, and ceiling. They still came towards us, but slower. The big one stayed back, barely moving. We killed them as they came at us. By we, I mean Suzie sliced them and I tried not to die.
“Hey Sunny. Lets get that matter transporter working, shall we?” I yelled into the coms.
“Sure thing boss… I’ll see what I can do.” Adric replied.
“Faster is better.”
“Right. Not something I’m going to rush. Stay exactly where you are.”
We were backed into a corner and I aimed the gun to make the biggest bang. Unfortunately all I got was a click, meaning I was out of ammunition. My trusty blaster did nothing and my super awesome plasma attacks made them grow.
“Suzie… I-”
“Not the time Hal.” She was right. I had terrible timing.
“I’m an idiot.”
“Go on.” The nightmares were staying back, having learnt what she could do with a blade.
“I should have told you before. I’ve been having nightmares about these creatures since before my funeral.”
Sighing, she said, “You talk in your sleep. We all know.”
“I really am an idiot.”
The problem with a matter transporter is that it’s unreliable, illegal, and painful. You’re just as likely to get rearranged into a pile of goo as you are to arrive at your destination. Which, in normal times, isn’t an issue since I can use my powers to know when it’ll work. But when my powers are on the fritz, well, that’s not great.
I reached out and touched her shoulder. I was going to say something, but a vision of her death stopped me. I saw over a hundred versions of her dying before I found a plan that would work.
“I love you, Suzie. I know I’ve been an idiot and I know I don’t deserve you. Just make sure you remember me.”
Her face softened for a moment and she looked at me. “What…”
I gently took the sword from her hand and took two steps to the side. “Now, Adric, now!”
“Use the head to figure out the virus. You only have a few months.” The large nightmare creature dove for me but I had already moved out of it’s way. With a swipe of the sword, I cleanly took off its head. It fell where I had been and both it and Suzie were teleported.
“Go into the dark, you son of a third rate pirate!” I heard Suzie’s cursing transition from in front of me to the coms as she was transported to the ship.
When I didn’t say anything, I was too busy fending off the creatures, she asked “Why?” There was a catch in her throat. That catch and the sadness it represented was worse than all the yelling she could have done.
“Because it meant I saved your life. Adric, tow this thing within tossing distance to the sun.”
“Hal No!”
“Last resort, throw this garbage heap into the sun and let Sol work it out.” I was fairly certain that the heat of the sun would kill these things. If they fed off plasma this would kill them from overfeeding and Sol himself should be able to deal with them.
Not to mention my powers would be more… well, powerful. Yes, it was a terrible plan but it was the only thing I could think of. Give me a break; I was fighting of nightmare creatures with a sword on a ghost ship. Sure, it might have been the solar prophet equivalent of wanting my teddy bear when facing nightmares. Thankfully my teddy was a seven thousand kilometre radius ball of fire.
Sun Speaker
In the distant future humanity has spread to the other planets in our solar system. These stories follow Hal (a prophet for a godlike entity that lives in the sun), and his friends, as they try to make the solar system a better place.
Hal The Sun Speaker
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The Assassin
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Gladiators in SPACE!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Ghost Ship Robinson
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
Arch of Beauty
We saw so many beautiful carvings, statues, arches, and other works of art just…out. In the middle of the city. It was incredible.