This Mouse needs no introduction.
Lady of Light
Galadriel looked ethereal as always. I like that she is wearing Nenya. It’s the little touches like that that really make the cosplay perfect.
Comic Con Holiday Edition 2017
Come see us at Comic Con Holiday Edition this weekend at the EY Centre!
Free admission! It will be a great time to buy awesome stuff.
Saturday, November 18: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 19: 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
See you there!
Blush: Seniors
If you think having “the Talk” with your children is weird (try the card game Blush to help with the conversation!), how would you feel about having that same conversation with your newly divorced or widowed parent?
This article from Arti Patel on Boom 99.7’s website has a bunch of statistics, including that both chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases have all increased between the years 1980 and 2015 (the most recent national data). And while seniors aren’t experiencing all that many STIs, the fact that there are still reports of any cases is worrying.
“Joan Price, sex advocate and author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50: How to Maintain – or Regain! – a Spicy, Satisfying Sex Life, says the reason why the community has high STI rates is simple: they’re not using condoms.”
So I did some calculations. If a person is 60 today, they were born in 1957. Add 14 (the approximate age for sex education), and you get 1971. What was sexual education in Canada like in 1971?
This was actually an interesting topic to research. I found a pretty great resource here (page 387), but here’s the most important part:
“During the 1960s and 1970s, most students in Canadian schools received little, if any, sexual health education. During this period, information about sexuality was often provided in programs called “Family Life Education” (FLE), which focused on human reproduction, puberty, and, in some cases, birth control.”
Pearson, p 387
Note that there is no mention of STIs. Why not?
Because the AIDS and HIV scares didn’t happen until the 1980s!
So the senior population would not have learned about using protection against diseases. No matter the sexual orientation, a senior couple wouldn’t consider using a condom, because there wouldn’t be a chance of getting pregnant!
In conclusion, have a talk with your parents, and make sure they are aware of the consequences of not using a condom!
References
Sexual Health Education in the Schools: A Brief History – Chapter 15 (PDF: 1MB)
If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.
Battlemage Taika – Part 3
“That’s it?” Taika looked at the six old men and shook her head, “There’s supposed to be hundreds of you.”
“Tales for children and peasants. There hasn’t been a new battlemage in… What is it now, Frank?” Julien asked.
“Twenty-three years,” the oldest said.
“What happens if we hear from the towers?” Taika had grown up with stories of the battlemages protecting their world from the demons that came from the portals inside the wall.
“We tell the nice indigenous children not to play with the towers have a nice lunch with the village elders and come home.” Julien smiled and looked at her like he pitied her. “There hasn’t been an incursion in over a hundred years. Since we’ve declared peace with our neighbours, we’ve been glorified illusionists for parades.”
* * *
“There are only six of them!” she bellowed at Adrix not caring that his wife and small council were in the room. He smirked and she yelled, “You knew?”
Giving her a laugh that was too much like her father’s for it to be natural, he said, “Yes. Over the past three decades, father has cut their budget and prevented recruitment.”
“Why do the official papers say eight hundred?”
Rachel, Queen consort, replied almost bashfully, “That’s my fault. I didn’t want the other kingdoms realizing how under prepared we are to deal with magical attacks.”
It made sense and that made Taika all the more angry. “So I have six battlemages and no money to recruit more? You realize the youngest is seventy?”
“Sister. The wall accords have been broken. We can ignore our oath and let the rest of the world burn or we can ensure it stays safe. I refuse to be the king that forsakes our world. You’ll have your budget.”
Recruitment was harder than she expected. Everyone wanted to be a battlemage but most didn’t have the magical ability or the discipline. Instead of battle plans and training regiments, she and the other battlemages spent their days sifting through the recruits. By the end of the six months they had accepted three hundred, none of which were even close to the old standards of the battlemages. A fact that Julien reminded her of daily.
After a bad day of training, just under a year since she’d been appointed Knight Commander, she sat in a meeting with the six senior, in every sense, battlemages.
“How are they doing?” Each of them had been given a specialty to train. Each battle specialty needed a particular style and the six of them covered the five main specialties; Attack, Defence, Physical Enhancement, Healing, and Counter-Magic.
“They rely too much on the ambient energy of the ancestor crystals. When we’re out in the wilds there won’t be as much and they’ll find themselves unable to cast.” Julien followed his statement with a tisking sound.
“Then teach them.” She lifted her hand to stop his witty retort. They were insubordinate, rude, and questioned everything she said, but they only did it in private. They were exactly what she’d want as commanders. “I want each of you to pick the best ten of your classes and start giving them extra training. I want a fighting force by the end of the month. I want two groups of Defence mages. Until we can train a full battalion, we’ll be working with the fourth knight’s legion.”
“Those ninnies wouldn’t know a demon from a Panos.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you outrank them, then, and that they can follow orders.” Their faces fell as she said it. battlemages were taken from every class while knights were always nobles. To have the battlemages outrank knights was unheard of. “You six are now honorary lords and commanders. You’ll each have five hundred men under your command while in the field. You’ll also have a knight commander to advise you.”
After a month of preparations, the fourth legion and their battlemage commanders were ready for battle, or so they thought.
The Panos towers lit up and the legion prepared. They were slow to teleport and when they transported to the towers they were already surrounded by an enemy in strange armour, who was much better prepared for battle.
If you liked this, why not read more stories set in The Tree of Worlds:
Disneybounding sisters
Do you know what disneybounding is? It’s when you dress up in clothing that is reminiscent of a Disney character.
Battlemage Taika – Part 2
Taika was knighted and everyone in the Maneean military was relieved to see her go. Despite being a capable knight she was too smart and stubborn for her own good. If she’d been a regular recruit they would have given her a frontier outpost to command.
The battlemages paraded in all the major parades and occasionally did demonstrations of combat for foreign dignitaries. They hadn’t seen combat since her grandfather’s time. There were fewer and fewer mages capable of casting anything beyond basic spells away from the power of the ancestors.
Before meeting the mages, she’d been given all the official papers about the battlemages. The papers said there was a full regiment of eight hundred. That was less than one percent of what they’d had in the last great war. Before they’d built the wall to keep out the demons.
She’d been given command a month before the coronation and her brother had asked that she appoint an honour guard of ten battlemages to protect him. She was thinking about that while she traveled to the official battlemage barracks. It was the only building in the capital that was against the wall.
Unfortunately, like the wall, it was old and crumbling. The wall was still a priority but the barracks were not and it showed. Walking into the crumbling building, she was challenged by a young soldier, maybe sixteen, “Stop. Who goes there?”
“Taika of Maneea, Knight Commander of the battlemages.”
To the boy’s credit, he didn’t flinch, simply replying, “You may pass.”
“What’s your name Private?”
“Alex, Sir.”
“Continue the good work Alex.” The boy’s chest puffed out and he seemed to be paying better attention. Her words and their reaction gave her the reassurance that she could do this.
Walking into the command office she found it empty. They must have been running drills, she thought. She checked the practice yards and found them not only empty but barren.
She found the banquet hall in the same state and most of the first two floors. She was going to give up and use a locater spell when she heard voices coming from the officer’s mess.
“You should have seen her Frank. They don’t make women like that anymore,” an old man was telling his tale to a group of five other old men. Each had a full glass of beer in front of them and several empty ones.
She stood at the door shocked and what she was seeing. None of them were in uniform, they were drunk and it wasn’t even eight in the morning. She let the old man finish his story and then said, “Is this what a battlemage does in the morning?”
The old man who was telling the story, swung around and threw a line of pure force at her. It was weak but well crafted; she deflected it easily, converting he energy to harmless wind.
“Hmm that normally works. Okay boys, let’s teach this pup some respect.” The six of them stood up and she could feel magical energy coalescing around them.
Raising her shields, she said, “Gentlemen, this is not the welcome I expected as your new knight commander.”
The entire group burst into laughter. The man who’d been telling the lewd story, between guffaws, said, “New is right. What are you, twelve? And what moron appointed a knight commander to us. We haven’t needed one of those in sixty years.”
“I’m twenty-two, and the moron who appointed me was the king. May his soul find rest.”
“A dying man’s wish for his what? Niece? Mistress?”
“Daughter.”
They all nodded sagely. The oldest of them squinted at her and said, “You’re the youngest one aren’t you. The troublemaker.”
One of the others said, “That’s why she’s been assigned to us.”
Since they seemed to have released their offensive magic, she dropped her shields and nodded, “Yes. That’s me. Now that we’ve decided not to try and kill each other I’d like to address the entire group.”
“Go ahead. We’re all here,” the storyteller said. “My name is Julien and here are your mighty troops. Impressive shield by the way.”
These six old men were all that was left of the mighty battlemages.
If you liked this, why not read more stories set in The Tree of Worlds:
Madison, Wisconsin
A small town in Wisconsin has come across my radar, because every Labour Day, they screen the 2001 movie Shrek in James Madison Park. It has become quite the event over the past four years, with 2018 being the fifth year. People dress up as characters from the movies, take part in the costume contest and the onion eating contest, eat yummy Shrek-themed snacks, and watch the first Shrek movie with tons of other fans. They note that bug spray is needed – so don’t forget that!
Here is the link to their website – prepare yourself for a garish lime green monstrosity!
Are you interested in travelling to Madison, Wisconsin? Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
Battlemage Taika – Part 1
“No Adrix, you’re wrong!” Taika turned her head away to not let her older brother see her cry.
“I’m sorry Tai, he’s dying.” Adrix had the height and rust coloured beard of their father, but had yet to gain the girth of the king.
Running towards the royal chambers, still in her practice armour, she fought back the tears that would have most of the other knights in training laughing at her. Sir Vastra was fond of telling her that knights don’t cry. As if the older woman could ever dredge up tears from her cold crystalized heart.
The castle guard didn’t stop her running through the halls. Her amber hair, bright pink eyes, matched with her improbable height, marked her as one of the thirteen Maneean royal heirs.
The royal surgeon stopped her at the door of her father’s rooms. “He only has a few minutes left. He’s asked to see you.”
A wave of indecision rolled over her. She wanted to remember him as the vibrant happy man he’d always been and part of her thought if she didn’t go in he couldn’t die. After a breath she decided she was being silly and walked into his rooms.
The large bed that he’d always looked so comfortable in now made him look small and frail. He gestured for her to come closer and she kneeled at his bedside. “Father, I… she trailed off, unsure what she wanted to say other than “Don’t Die”.
“Little Dagger.” His voice was raspy and distant. “I’ve always had a special place in my heart for you.” He was once again the lithe frame of his youth, but it was due to illness not training. “You’ve always been my favourite.”
Smiling despite her tears, she laughed, “You tell us all that.”
“Perhaps, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”
“Don’t go, Father.” She knew it was an unfair request but she didn’t care.
Taking her hand, he looked at her and said, “You have always been most like me and I’m sorry for that. The traits that served me well as king are not well suited to a life as the fourth daughter and thirteenth heir.”
“It’s okay, Father. I’ll make a good knight.”
“You hate taking orders.”
“If they weren’t so stupid, I’d follow them.” He patted her hand.
“Adrix will be a good King but he will need someone with your sharp tongue and mind to keep him grounded. I want you to finish your knight training and then take over command of the battlemages.”
She assumed he was starting to slip and just smiled and nodded.
Giving her the cutting glare that had him nicknamed Dagger he said, “I have not lost my mind. They might be few but they’re powerful and they’re necessary. You are the most powerful, magically, of the heirs and I fear they’ll be needed now that the other kingdoms have pulled out of the Wall Accords.”
“Are you expecting war?”
Nodding he replied, “I’m expecting far worse my daughter, far worse.” He took a deep breath and released it slowly. He closed his eyes and his entire body started to glow. She called for the surgeon who called in her siblings, all but Adrianna who had been married to the prince of the kingdom on the opposite side of the circular wall.
The twelve of them stood around his bed and chanted the death song as his body converted itself to crystal. When it had finished, most of them were crying.
Taking the crystal, Addison who was the Keeper of the Crystals and first born, said, “And so in his death our father gives his power to his people and will rest in the hall of crystals.” The magical power of all Maneean’s came from their ancestors. It made the capital one of the most powerful places on the planet.
When a king dies, the kingdom goes into mourning for a year. In that year nothing happens but essential events and festivals. On the one year anniversary of the King’s death, the heir is coronated. It’s the most dangerous time for an heir, historically those below them in succession would try to assassinate them. This year was different; Adrix was the only heir that had ever cared about ruling, and both Adeena and Addison had abdicated in favour of service to the Temple of Ancestors.
The year passed with no assassinations, no scandals; nothing but sombre events.
If you liked this, why not read more stories set in The Tree of Worlds: