#Animal Vegetable Miracle

[fordragonfliesandme]

From Farm to Table: How Eating in Season Supports Local Agriculture & Sustainability

 “A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world. He is producing something to eat, which makes him somewhat independent of the grocery business, but he is also enlarging, for himself, the meaning of food and the pleasure of eating.” ― Wendell Berry You may be asking yourself what it means to eat in season. Eating in season simply means we…

[kylobith]

Little Town Tails

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Summary: After saving up for years, Halsin fulfils his dream and opens his veterinary practice in a quaint little town.

Ship/Pairing: Halsin x Fem!Tav

Trope: Modern AU, Meet-cute, Little countryside town, Cosy

Word count: 1,441

Read it on Ao3 here

Listen to the dedicated playlist on Spotify here

Sunlight pierces through the cherry blossoms, dancing upon the cobblestone of the old arched bridge leading into Heawick. It is a quaint little town, tucked away between rolling hills dotted with hazel trees, a grove, and meandering streams. No modern architecture has defaced its landscape, leaving its traditional limestone facades to stand the test of time, which they did brilliantly.

After all, anybody lucky enough to settle down in Heawick can only fall in love with its old streets and picturesque shopfronts, and this urged most of the inhabitants to care for the outside of their homes almost as much as they did the inside. Those who are too old to tend to them can usually rely on the kindness of good-hearted neighbours, who do not hesitate to lend a hand for anything. Trimming the growing ivy without removing it, plucking juicy fruits from branches, cleaning windows; there is never a task too daunting when it comes to helping out.

It is early on a spring morning and the elderly man who lives nearest to the bridge has already been up and about for hours to water every planter lining up the road and hanging from the old lampposts with their flaky paint. Another project held captive in the neverending pile of documents and forms on Mayor Ravengard’s desk.

The bakery at the corner of the first crossing has long finished its first batches of pastries and bread, filling the air with mouthwatering scents. A few souls are already dragging their feet to its doors, still wiping the sleep out of their eyes as they seek some warm breakfast. On the opposite side of the street, a sweaty young man carries crates full of fruits and vegetables. He sets them up outside the greengrocer's shop, ensuring they are stable enough to sustain the shaking and bumping of passersby and customers.

Near the tiny park at the heart of the town, some owners walk their dogs, waving at neighbours and friends, wishing one another good morning when they have enough caffeine in their veins to wake them up. The barber reads his newspaper on one of the benches, seizing the opportunity to enjoy the first beautiful day of the season before going to work.

All is well in Heawick, as it always is. It is rarely eventful since so few people inhabit it.

‘Come here, Scratch. Good boy.’

While giving the white dog a loving pat between the ears, Halsin turns the sign on the door, officially opening his practice. He leans casually against the doorframe, his gaze fixed on the world beyond his house, a triumphant surge coursing through his veins. So many years of hard labour and sacrifice, this seemingly small victory holds the weight of a lifetime’s worth of dedication and perseverance.

After perusing office space offers on every website known to man and visiting many a wretched place, having found this little corner of paradise to establish himself was nothing short of a miracle. And what a place it is!

Everything is ready for him to welcome his first furry patients. After renovating the place himself, he designed a welcoming surgery for owners and animals alike, creating an environment in which he would not mind staying for hours on end every day. Each nook and cranny has been sterilised for the animals’ well-being and he dedicated a corner for the comfort of his own dog, whom he expects to become his official assistant. Photographs of Scratch and the pets of friends from his hometown printed on canvas are the only decorations in the waiting room, ornamenting the otherwise dull, pastel-blue walls. At the welcome desk, a duck he whittled himself sits on top of the counter between two bowls of treats; one for the pets, one for the anxious owners.

Karlach, his newly hired assistant, insisted on having more decorations brought in, but Halsin was more than hesitant to indulge her. While the young woman certainly is enthusiastic enough for both of them, he can tell that if he does not put his foot down, the practice would have stuffed animals from floor to ceiling.

After giving the place yet another proud look, Halsin walked over to the reception, sneaking a treat to Scratch on the way. He sits behind the computer and plays old-timey folk music from his music library. He stretches his back and spins around on his chair, kicking his feet.

Now he just has to wait.

While one of his favourite songs plays, he browses the latest wildlife photographs on the National Geographic website, smiling at the wholesome snapshots and zooming on each of them to observe any detail capturing his attention. He is halfway through the second page and sipping his cold herbal tea when the door opens and the little bell tinkles. His eyes shoot up and he stands from his chair.

But it is no patient. It is merely Melly, the baker’s mother, who comes to bring him some fruit pastries wrapped up in a small lavender-coloured box topped with a bow. As soon as she catches a glimpse of him, her eyes illuminate and she gives him a wave.

‘Good morning, Halsin, dear!’ she chimes.

Grinning from ear to ear, he bypasses the desk and comes to shake the old lady’s hand. Curled up on his cushion, Scratch looks up, but ignores her arrival and goes back to sleep.

‘Good morning, Melly,’ he greets her back. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Oh, nothing, love, nothing at all! I came to see how you were faring on your first day.’

Halsin gazes around with a chuckle.

‘It has been quiet so far. In fact, you are the first person to walk in.’

‘Is that so? Ah, well, do not worry, dearie. The people in this town have been praying for a doctor and a veterinarian closer to home for decades. They will come.’

The thought warms up the man’s heart. Not that he has been worrying about the lack of patients so far, but he has come to wonder on multiple occasions about how long it would take for the first appointments to come in. He has bills to pay after all, and the renovation of what used to be a woodworker’s shop was not cheap, no matter how many things he did himself to save up on better equipment.

‘Would you like some tea, Melly?’

‘Oh, no, darling, thank you,’ she chuckles with a dismissing wave of her hand. The old woman hands him the lavender box. ‘I brought you this, thought you might need a little encouragement for your first day.’

‘How lovely of you, thank you!’

‘I will not linger, I fear that my old face would scare even the sickest hound away,’ she jokes while patting his shoulder. ‘Would you like me to take some of your business cards to display at the bakery? I’m sure that my son would not object.’

Melly does not even wait for him to respond before grabbing a quarter of the cards neatly stacked on the countertop. She shoves them in her cardigan’s pocket. The garment seems to have survived many decades, yet has retained its charm. Halsin always finds himself smiling at the sight of the ducks knitted around the waistline, complementing the beige diamond stitches all over it.

‘Do you need me to bring you lunch later, love?’

‘No, Melly, thank you. I have already planned my next few meals, but it is nice of you to offer.’

‘Very well,’ she smiles, patting his cheek. ‘You know where to find me if you need anything.’

‘I do. Thank you for everything.’

Out of courtesy, he accompanies her to the door, the pastry box seeming so tiny in his large palm, when it is a normal size in anybody else’s grasp. Before leaving, Melly turns to look at him, running a wrinkled finger underneath her chin.

‘Where is that eccentric assistant of yours? Is she not helping you today?’

‘Karlach? Oh, she is touring the neighbouring towns to leave calling cards in shops and town halls.’

‘Oh, good, good. What a tempest, this girl!’

Halsin laughs, scratching the back of his head.

‘She is, but I am sure that the animals will love her. I can already tell that she will love them first anyway.’

‘Well, as long as she works well…’

Without adding another word, Melly crosses the road, absent-mindedly waving at him while she looks around for cars. Once the old lady has returned to the bakery, Halsin takes a deep breath of countryside air and moves to close the door.

That is when he sees her.

[stardewremixed]

Harvey is absolutely an Aquarius in my opinion, with a February 14 birthday. However... I still feel like putting up Harvey headcanons today.

*Harvey is the first in line to receive his free cup of coffee from the Night Market. He also exchanges pleasantries with the Desert Trader, and inquires about the trader's family and health.

*Harvey is embarassed to visit the Mermaid show, but he does find their singing voices to be pleasant.

*Harvey secretly wants a pearl ring (a masculine looking one, of course), but he has always liked the look of pearls and the little miracle of how they are made.

*Harvey would be thrilled if the Farmer grew fresh vegetables in their greenhouse in winter, and even more thrilled if the Farmer invited him for a pickling session.

*As a Valentine's baby, Harvey is in favor of making old-fashioned heart cards, complete with paper doilies and glitter glue for his kid patients. He might even pen a particularly sweet, if not a little dorky, one for his lovely Farmer.

*The vanilla game has no real food recipe uses for truffle oil, BUT I imagine Harvey likes to serve it with pasta. If he's feeling fancy, he would drizzle it over popcorn. Maybe enjoying the snack while cuddling under a blanket on a wintery night reading a biography or watching a historical epic with his lover.

*A cup of jasmine tea is the perfect remedy for a sore throat if Harvey catches a cold. Also, he would appreciate a plaid scarf.

*Harvey takes long walks around town to clear his head after stressful days at the Clinic, which frequently happens in fall due to back-to-school vaccinations and flu season.

*Harvey would absolutely call his love interest "darling" as a pet name. And he wouldn't be opposed to being called "dear." (Yes, I'm now unintentionally picturing Lady and the Tramp, which would be one of his favorite Disney animated films). He would want a little Lady cocker spaniel too for the farm, and enjoy taking the dog along on his walks.

[matchalovertrait]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers (ू•‧̫•ू⑅)♡

Thank you! I've answered this ask before, so I'll tell you 5 things from my recent trip to Hawaii that made me happy :) Here are some unedited pics too lol:

The people. There were many lovely people, both the residents of Hawaii and the tourists. I've been to other states but the atmosphere is a lot more serene there. It also seems like most of the places close early, which I really liked; it's more civil.

The animals. The wild chickens and turtles were really cute. My mom saw a mongoose but I didn't get to see one, lol. Also, we knew that we wouldn't be able to see whales, but we still went to a little museum to learn more about them. Very informative!

The scenery. Such beautiful beaches and vegetation <3 The rocky points were awesome too! It was nice being surrounded by the many miracles of nature.

The food. I wish I got to try more traditional Hawaiian food, but the Hawaiian barbecue was so good! I'm typically not a fan of pineapples either, but the ones here were delicious.

The music. The songs are heartfelt and moving. They truly sing from the heart and it's such a joy to listen to.

[monstersandmaw]

I am unreasonably excited for this stardew fic im hearing about 👀 (also seb, my love- i always end up romancing him)

Thank you! In all my playthroughs (maybe five before this one, lol) I've never romanced anyone. This one (which inspired this story) I decided to romance and marry Seb :).

The story is gonna feature a lot of the game and setting as inspiration, but I'm going to edit the mechanics a bit so it's less contrived, and there are gonna be more supernatural elements and folks at play... :). And an affectionate, fwb situation with Elliott before the end-game Sebastian romance, just a heads up.

Since you were kind enough to reach out about it, here's a 1400 word WIP sneak peek of Rowan, my gruff, buff werewoof farmer:

(CW: standoffish, loner character with scars on his neck from a werewolf bite, passing mention of a werewolf attack at night that nearly killed him)

This run-down, wild farm, with its endless tangle of fairytale brambles arcing around the roots of maple and oak trees, and its overgrown ponds full of frogs and flowering water weeds, was beyond perfect.

Of course, Rowan knew next to nothing about organic vegetable farming, but that was a problem for another day.

Mayor Lewis dithered on the top step a moment longer before taking his leave with Robin and heading back up the rutted path towards the town. Apparently Rowan had been taciturn enough to drive the chatty old man away, and something about him had evidently unnerved Robin a little. Maybe it was the mess of scars on his throat. He didn’t much care. If it meant they left him alone, so much the better. He wasn’t sure that anyone but Robin in her off-road pickup could make it comfortably along the winding drive to the farm anyway, and it was a miracle that the old man hadn’t toppled into a pothole or a ditch on his way over.

Rowan watched them leave together, deliberately ignoring their nattering gossip about him, which carried easily enough on the spring air to his sharp ears, and he felt something new prickle down his spine. It wasn’t even close to the full moon — he’d made damned sure of that before booking his one-way ticket to the sleepy little valley — but something about this place set the wolf in him prowling. He realised with a jolt that his wolf liked this new territory, with its fresh air and cacophonous birdsong. Where he’d been fractious and aggressive in the city, prone to lashing out when he felt the least bit cornered or trapped, now his wolf was practically bounding on the spot to explore his new territory and claim it as his own, and Rowan recoiled from the idea.

“I am not an animal,” he snarled at himself.

He thought that after bearing the curse for a year, he should have been far more accustomed to the feeling of there being a whole new part of himself inside his own head, or in his heart. And yet, noticing that the way he was feeling was largely because of the wolf, and not his human side, still freaked him the fuck out.

He turned back to the front door of the tumbledown cabin where his grandfather had lived until he’d had to go into care five years earlier, and immediately put his boot through the rotten boards of the veranda with a curse and another snarl. A small family of mice skittered away beneath the house, their pungent smell rising through the new hole to his sensitive nose, and he sighed. “Still not alone, even out here.”

Although the moon was only halfway to full, and against his better judgement, Rowan did let the shift sweep over him a few nights later, and as he sloughed off the complex trappings of his human life and sank his claws delightfully into the velvet-soft dirt, he patrolled the perimeter of the farm where his human self had spent his first week in Stardew Valley clearing weeds and setting up his first organic vegetable beds.

His wolf didn’t think about the uppity shopkeeper in the general store or the awkward blacksmith who’d smelled of a nauseous cocktail of discomfort, anxiety and axle grease, or the harried-looking man in a tweed jacket who’d smelled of coffee and antiseptic. His wolf lowered its head to the ground and inhaled the scents of rabbit and squirrel. It couldn’t decide if it was relieved or saddened to find no trace of wolves — shifter or otherwise — in the area, but seemed to settle for relieved as he slunk like a deeper shred of shadow from the porch of the farmhouse and bounded off into the dark to explore the place with the new, golden eyes of a wolf in place of the slightly blurry, hazel eyes of a human.

A rockfall in the cliffs behind the wreckage of the greenhouse had exposed a damp cave some years ago, though it smelled of bat guano and little else to interest a wolf. He let it be. Trotting eagerly on, the wolf relished the decadent flex and stretch of its powerful muscles, and the bliss of being able to shift whenever the fancy took him was enough to make him tilt his head to the sky and howl his ecstasy at the silent stars.

Rowan knew that being bitten and turned, and dumped unknowingly into the secret world of the supernatural, had taken its toll on him.

His sanity had been right on the ragged edge when he’d come across that forgotten letter from his grandfather in a desk drawer. After a year of trying to hold the remnants of his miserable life in the city together, of slinking down into an old storm drain on the edge of an abandoned industrial estate every full moon, to cage and contain his frustrated, furious wolf, Rowan had known he had to get out of the city. Permanently. It was messing with his wolf and he was losing more of his awareness to it with each passing full moon. He’d also started zoning out at his desk at work and coming-to with claws out and the wolf prowling right beneath his yellow-eyed facade of calm, even halfway through the cycle. The constant clacking of keyboards, the shrill, metallic ringing of office telephones, and the stink of leftover lunches from the cubicle next door to his was going to make him snap. Violently.

Part problem and part gift, his wolf existed purely in the ‘now’. There was no painful past; no human lying abandoned and bleeding and irrevocably changed on the rain-soaked tarmac of a grotty bus station; no human who’d drifted out of touch with his one surviving family member; no bills overdue and no landlord to keep happy. There was only the scent of moss and emerging spring grass and last year’s fallen pine cones, and the echo of a fox’s passing trail across the land which was now his territory.

Rowan’s wolf followed its nose down to the lower pond and lapped luxuriantly at the rich, cool water. His ears drew back and another thrill of delight ran down the length of his body as the sweet, wholesome taste of the water exploded across his tongue; he could detect none of the pollution and chemicals of the city water, just fresh spring that bubbled up from the depths of the earth, carrying with it the minerals and magic of the place.

Yes, this place had magic in abundance.

His grandfather had married a witch, so magic had been in Rowan’s blood already before he’d been mutilated by a lone werewolf at three in the morning in a filthy, city bus station. Perhaps that had been why a bite that messy had taken when it would have killed most people. He prayed he never met his monstrous sire, because he knew he’d rip his fucking head off for ruining his life and turning him into a slathering, near-mindless monster once a month. It was probably only by sheer, dumb luck that he hadn’t been killed by hunters, or killed someone himself by accident, and it had only been by the grace and patience of a blue-haired witch named Mercury that he’d even known what was happening to him in the first place. He shuddered to think where he’d have been without her.

A figure moved in the darkness at the edge of the trees on the southern-most reaches of his property and his lips drew back into a snarl.

“Easy, Rowan,” came a resonant, bass voice, and he froze, tilting his head, ears pricked. He recognised that voice, but couldn’t place it. For answer, he just growled a warning. “Easy,” came the voice a second time. “Rowan MacTavish, I am not here to hurt you. It is I, Rasmodius.”

At the sound of his full name on the still night air, Rowan’s whole body shivered, but the wolf let go of his mind a little. Thought came to him just a little easier. Rasmodius. That was the name of the wizard in the tower. Rowan blinked his golden eyes and sat back on his haunches.

“May I approach?”

He whined and ended the sound in a soft sneeze. Close enough to a petulant ‘fine’, he supposed.

___

(more soon, hopefully, if there's interest :3)

[ameliathetadclover]

GREETINGS FELLOW HUMANS AND TADC APPRECIATORS!

@jaxfromthatcircus you might like this…

So.. I may or may not have spent half an hour writing a fanfic on why Jax is terrified of corn?

I thought I’d share it. Just a warning, this is long.

FANFIC 1:

Everyone knew Jax was an asshole. He would play pranks on everyone. Putting centipedes in Ragatha’s room, breaking Gangle’s comedy masks, etc. Jax used everyone’s fears to his sick advantage. The worst part was, he actually enjoyed it! One day, Ragatha and Gangle had enough. They devised a plan to find out Jax’s biggest fear so they can torment him. A lovely taste of his own bitter medicine. At night, when everyone, including Jax, was asleep, they would sneak into his room, steal his journal and read through it to find his biggest fear. Jax was a secretive person, so no-one really knew he was afraid of what he was afraid of. Once Ragatha and Gangle were certain Jax and all the other circus members were asleep, they snuck out of their rooms and silently headed towards Jax’s. They then tried to open the door. Shoot. It’s locked. Luckily, Ragatha was able to steal Jax’s key as it was left hanging in his door earlier. Silly Jax. Carefully, they both unlocked the door to see a fast asleep Jax. His room was a mess, video games and food everywhere! On his bedside table, there it was. The thing that could give Ragatha and Gangle the chance to get revenge on Jax- his journal. Ragatha very quietly grabbed the red journal off his bedside table and started walking away with Gangle. They were almost about to make it, when Gangle tripped over one of the many video games Jax had laying on the floor and her comedy mask broke. The smash was so loud, you could immediately hear Jax had stopped snoring. Although it was accidental, Jax had a good defense mechanism. Ragatha quickly grabbed Gangle’s pieces of comedy mask as not to leave evidence behind and darted out of the room with Gangle back to Ragatha’s room. That was a close one! Once they knew it was safe, they opened the journal. Let’s see… chapter 1: life in the circus.. no… chapter 2: pranks.. no… Aha! Chapter 3: The peoples fears including mine! Ragatha and Gangle quickly turned to chapter 3. They could see everyone’s biggest fears! Ragatha: Centipedes, Gangle: Being hated for liking anime, Pomni: being stuck with no exit. But they didn’t care about those. All they wanted to find was Jax’s biggest fear. And then.. on the very last page, in big, black, bold writing, there it was. What Jax was terrified of. Jax: Corn. This took Gangle and Ragatha by surprise. They expected to be maybe spiders, or snakes? But corn? Surely someone as brave and confident as him couldn’t be afraid of a vegetable! They quietly giggled at this. Now time for the next part of the plan. Ragatha and Gangle put the journal down onto Ragatha’s bedside table quietly and went into the kitchen. In there, there was bags and bags of corn and lots of bottles of corn syrup. Ragatha and Gangle turned the key to the kitchen and grabbed a big sack of corn and 3 bottles of corn syrup. This sack was heavy! (DONT TAKE THAT OUT OF CONTEXT.) With all their might, they lifted up the sack of corn and by some miracle managed to get it into Ragatha’s room. They hid it under her bed as well as the corn syrup. Jax knew something would be up when he realised his journal was missing, but that didn’t matter. Everything had pretty much gone according to plan. Gangle waved Ragatha good night and went back to her room. At exactly 8am, the sound of everybody’s alarms filled the dorm hall. Knock knock knock. It was Gangle, ready to initiate the plan. They both took one corn on the cob each and put corn syrup on it.

Everyone walked up to the breakfast table. When everyone sat down, they could tell Jax was pissed.

Jax: Which one of you took my f*cking journal?

Zooble: Since when did you have a journal?

Pomni: Idk. You probably just misplaced it.

Jax: I DONT MISPLACE IT! ONE OF YOU IS A THIEF!

Gangle: Calm down..

Jax: SHUT UP CRYBABY!

*Ragatha smiles slightly evilly*

Ragatha: Hey Jax?

Jax: What do you want, dollface?

*Ragatha looks at Gangle to tell her that it’s time to do the plan*

Ragatha and Gangle: Want some corn?

*Jax looks horrified. He gets up out of his seat and backs away*

Jax: GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!

*Gangle grins evilly*

Gangle: What’s wrong Jax? Afraid of some corn?

*Jax is pissed and terrified*

Jax: I TOLD YOU! P-P-PUT THAT THING AWAY YOU B*TCH!

*Everyone is laughing*

Ragatha: Cmon.. what’s so scary about corn? Is it just because it’s disgusting?

Jax: I’LL NEVER TELL YOU DOLLFACE!

Gangle: We won’t put away the corn unless you tell us.

Jax is torn. He has two options: Be scared but not reveal his past, or not be scared but have to relive a painful experience. With a lot of reluctancy, he says this:

Jax: IF I TELL YOU, YOUD BETTER PUT THE DAMN CORN AWAY!

Ragatha: We’re women of our word.

Jax: Fine. I’ll tell you, idiot. But.. but p-put that stupid corn away!

*Ragatha and Gangle put away the corn.*

Jax: ugh.. I can’t believe I’m actually telling you this. When I was a kid.. about.. 8 years old I think? I was the youngest sibling. I had two older brothers. This dumb digital world made me forget their names though. I grew up on a corn farm. My parents were corn farmers. But when I was 8, my siblings would go and take some of the leftover corn from from the harvest and pin me down and shove it down my throat.

*Jax laughs nervously*

Yeah.. they basically force fed me the corn. But they did that multiple times. If I ever told my mom and dad my brothers threatened to lock me in a shed. This was the 2000s. My mom probably would’ve hit them over the head or something and they didn’t want that. Not only that, when I was asleep they’d grab a bunch of corn syrup and pour it all over me when I was sleeping so I’d be all sticky when I woke up. Luckily in the end I told my mom about everything including the shed part and I laughed so hard when I saw my dad hitting them over the ass with his belt. So that’s why I’m afraid of corn. And if you ever bring this up again I’ll make you wish you’d abstract. Got it?

*everyone nods*

*Ragatha genuinely looks sad as well as Gangle*

Ragatha: I’m.. so sorry Jax..

Gangle: Same.. if we knew we wouldn’t have done that.

Jax: yeah, well don’t feel sorry for me. It’s pointless.

Ragatha: I guess.

Jax: I know you guys have my journal. Give it back or you’ll be sleeping with a black eye tonight,

*Ragatha goes to her room, grabs the journal and gives it to Jax*

Jax: Thank you.

And that my friends is fanfic 1!

This took me ages to write 😭

I hope you enjoyed it :)

Lmk if you want another one :D

@gooseworx is this good?

@jaxfromthatcircus is this good?

[rjzimmerman]

Food as You Know It Is About to Change. (New York Times Op-Ed)

From the vantage of the American supermarket aisle, the modern food system looks like a kind of miracle. Everything has been carefully cultivated for taste and convenience — even those foods billed as organic or heirloom — and produce regarded as exotic luxuries just a few generations ago now seems more like staples, available on demand: avocados, mangoes, out-of-season blueberries imported from Uruguay.

But the supermarket is also increasingly a diorama of the fragility of a system — disrupted in recent years by the pandemic, conflict and, increasingly, climate change. What comes next? Almost certainly, more disruptions and more hazards, enough to remake the whole future of food.

The world as a whole is already facing what the Cornell agricultural economist Chris Barrett calls a “food polycrisis.” Over the past decade, he says, what had long been reliable global patterns of year-on-year improvements in hunger first stalled and then reversed. Rates of undernourishment have grown 21 percent since 2017. Agricultural yields are still growing, but not as quickly as they used to and not as quickly as demand is booming. Obesity has continued to rise, and the average micronutrient content of dozens of popular vegetables has continued to fall. The food system is contributing to the growing burden of diabetes and heart disease and to new spillovers of infectious diseases from animals to humans as well.

And then there are prices. Worldwide, wholesale food prices, adjusted for inflation, have grown about 50 percent since 1999, and those prices have also grown considerably more volatile, making not just markets but the whole agricultural Rube Goldberg network less reliable. Overall, American grocery prices have grown by almost 21 percent since President Biden took office, a phenomenon central to the widespread perception that the cost of living has exploded on his watch. Between 2020 and 2023, the wholesale price of olive oil tripled; the price of cocoa delivered to American ports jumped by even more in less than two years. The economist Isabella Weber has proposed maintaining the food equivalent of a strategic petroleum reserve, to buffer against shortages and ease inevitable bursts of market chaos.

Price spikes are like seismographs for the food system, registering much larger drama elsewhere — and sometimes suggesting more tectonic changes underway as well. More than three-quarters of the population of Africa, which has already surpassed one billion, cannot today afford a healthy diet; this is where most of our global population growth is expected to happen this century, and there has been little agricultural productivity growth there for 20 years. Over the same time period, there hasn’t been much growth in the United States either.

Though American agriculture as a whole produces massive profits, Mr. Barrett says, most of the country’s farms actually lose money, and around the world, food scarcity is driving record levels of human displacement and migration. According to the World Food Program, 282 million people in 59 countries went hungry last year, 24 million more than the previous year. And already, Mr. Barrett says, building from research by his Cornell colleague Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, the effects of climate change have reduced the growth of overall global agricultural productivity by between 30 and 35 percent. The climate threats to come loom even larger.

It can be tempting, in an age of apocalyptic imagination, to picture the most dire future climate scenarios: not just yield declines but mass crop failures, not just price spikes but food shortages, not just worsening hunger but mass famine. In a much hotter world, those will indeed become likelier, particularly if agricultural innovation fails to keep pace with climate change; over a 30-year time horizon, the insurer Lloyd’s recently estimated a 50 percent chance of what it called a “major” global food shock.

But disruption is only half the story and perhaps much less than that. Adaptation and innovation will transform the global food supply, too. At least to some degree, crops such as avocados or cocoa, which now regularly appear on lists of climate-endangered foodstuffs, will be replaced or redesigned. Diets will shift, and with them the farmland currently producing staple crops — corn, wheat, soy, rice. The pressure on the present food system is not a sign that it will necessarily fail, only that it must change. Even if that progress does come to pass, securing a stable and bountiful future for food on a much warmer planet, what will it all actually look like?

[bluewavesofchange]

The guardians of the Pharaoh

Rebirth of ancient secrets

I don't own Yugioh or it's characters.

Chapter 3

In ancient Egypt…

7 years had passed since Heba was born and things in the small broken down village had changed for the better. By some miracle vegetation had started to grow around the area, making the area look vibrant and lush. Water had returned to the once dry wells and a fresh stream ran through the outskirts of village. The people could now grow wheat and other grains to feed their families, and they could trade what was left. The diseases that once infected the people had disappeared over night. They no longer liked sickly or starved, they had grown into a hearty and lively group that supported and helped each other. The houses had been restored and given now life. Many children had been born during the past 7 years as there were now resources to provide for the little ones. People believed that the gods had given them a second chance at life when the strange little boy was born.

Speaking of the child, Heba had grown into a sweet and kind little soul who could do no wrong. He was always helping out his family when he wasn’t playing with the other children. And everything he did he did with a smile on his face. His pale skin remained despite the harsh desert sun which confused everyone, he seemed out of placed amongst his people but no one really minded for they believed he was a miracle from the gods. Life had returned to the town when he was born and they would always be grateful.

Heba’s parents had some fears though about their son. For one…strange things would happen around him…when animals and wildlife returned to the area, they would catch Heba speaking to them as if he understood them and they would sit still and listen to the boy yammer on as if they could understand him. He would speak to the plants too sometimes and the next day plant would be two or three times bigger than the day before. And everyone one he came across would end up admiring his sweet and innocent nature as if they had been enchanted by him.

The second concern his parents had come the day they had travelled to the royal city to trade the grains wheat their village had farmed.

Heba was over joyed to be visiting a new place. All he had known was his home and the people that lived with in it. He had never known hardship and grief, just joy and prosperity. He loved playing with the other kids and interacting with the wildlife. He enjoyed listening to their stories and learning about them, even the vegetation had stories to tell. But he felt out of place sometimes…no one else could hear the animals like he could and sometimes others looked at him strange when he was having a conversation with the plants. But honestly he didn’t care; he was having fun and enjoying his life.

The pale boy held his mother’s hand while they were exploring the market place, he was wearing a brown cloak with the hood pulled over his head to shield him from the harsh sun, (not that he ever burned despite his pale complextion). Their father was elsewhere looking for a buyer for the wheat and grains. Heba’s eyes scanned the area, looking at all the wonderful and new things. He tried to pull free from his mother’s grasp when he saw a stall selling toys that had been carved out of wood but she kept a firm grasp on his hand, “My little light you can’t run off in a place like this. You could get lost.”

“But mama look at all this! Isn’t it amazing? Look there’s even a shop that sells honeyed sweets! Can’t we take some home for the other children?” he begged his mother. Sure the village had recovered from its disastrous state but the place was still small with very few people living there. So they didn’t have the variety of goods that this market had. The small boy’s mother sighed softly, her son was always thinking of others before he even considered his own. He barely had anything as he always gave to those who needed it more.

“Heba we don’t have money to get them for the other children. The money your father is making has for go for supplies needed to plow the fields…”

“Oh…you’re right…” the small boy said letting out a soft sigh.

His mother smiled, and rested her hand on his face, “Maybe someday we can farm honey, then we can make our own sweets for the children back home.” This seemed to cheer her son up as he was smiling again.

They continued to explore the market, eventually somehow reaching the large courtyard outside the palace gates. The court yard was filled with people, making the boy curious as to what was going on, “Mama why is everyone here?”

“Well my little star do you see up there?” she pointed to the balcony overlooking the courtyard, “That is where the Pharaoh stands once a day to greet his people.”

“Oh…that’s nice of him.” Heba said with a giggle. His mother shook her head as she smiled. She would explain to the child later what the significance of it was.

A moment later Pharaoh stepped out onto the balcony, the crowd of people bowing their heads. Heba’s mother encourages her son to do the same as she bows her own head.

King Aknamkanon gazed upon his subjects, before looking back at his son, now 7 years old. The boy was a bit nervous as this would be the first time he greets the people with his father. The pharaoh holds his hand out with child, an encouraging smile on his face. Hesitantly Atem stepped towards his father, the sun hitting his tanned skin as he peered over the railing, his eyes widened at all the people that were there to give their praise to them…

Heba heard the Pharaoh starting to speaking, introducing his son, Prince Atem. Everyone raised their head to look up at the young prince, including the pale child. His eyes widened at the sight before him, up on the balcony stood a child that looked almost identical to him, give or take a few details. They shared the same hair, the same face but their eyes were different and their skin tone wasn’t the same either. However they could very well look related…

While Heba was looking at the other boy with wonder…his mother looked on with fear. Her sons dopple ganger stood before her…this could be trouble for her and her family. She looked around, noticing a few shady looking men were looking at her. Confused she turned to her son, only to realize his hood had fallen back, revealing his strange hair and light complexion.

Quickly she pulled his hood over his head again before running back to the mark with him, wishing to get back to her husband so that they could leave this place, not realizing they were being followed by the men who had seen the prince’s look alike.

Back to the present day.

It had been days after the incident with the Pharaoh’s tablet and Lillian finally started to awaken. Her body felt heavy and hurt all over, her nerves were screaming at her to stay still as she tried to move. Her eyes slowly opened, her vision was blurry for a moment before clearing. She found that she was lying in her bed in the room Ishizu had given her when she joined the tomb keepers many months ago…Shadi had brought her to Ishizu to see if the Millennium necklace would work on the teenager, which unsurprisingly didn't.

The two keepers of the Millennium items didn’t know what to do with Lillian. Do they let her go or do they lock her away or do they execute her. Instead they decided to give her a chance to learn about the Millennium items and learn about the Pharaoh whose tomb they protected. They offered this choice to the girl, confusing the raven haired teen. Eventually she agreed but only after seeing the very tablet that depicted an image of her brother and the man she loved…she explained to the tomb keepers that she was searching for her father, explaining the weird things that had been happening to her before she came to Egypt (keeping it hidden that her brother just so happen to look like the guy from 5000 years ago and that he had one of the Millennium puzzle). They agreed to help her if she stayed with them.

Now nearly a year later, she had learned nothing about her father’s whereabouts and had instead learned a lot about the unnamed Pharaoh and the history of duel monsters and many other secrets…

Lillian slowly sat up and held her head as it throbbed, wincing when she moved her arms, discovering that they were covered in bandages. She examined the wrappings, finding splotches of blood on the fabric…she stumbled out of bed, a wave of nausea and dizziness hitting her. She made her way over to the dresser that stood in the corner that had a large mirror attached to the top. She slowly started to remove the bandages, revealing her newly inked skin. She started to tremble as she dropped the wrappings to the floor, looking at the images that not decorated her arms. They were duel monsters from what she could tell, sea and water monsters to be specific.

A moment later Ishizu’s entered the room carrying a tray with fresh bandages and ointment. The Egyptian woman was surprised to see her friend was up and about, she quickly set the tray down, “You shouldn’t be out of bed.” She took a step towards Lillian but the shaking teen stepped back. She looked Ishizu with suspicion and fear in her eyes, “Did…did you do this me?!” she indicated to her arms. Ishizu spoke in a calm voice, wanting to reassure Lillian, “Do you not remember what happened? The pharaoh’s tablet? It was activated somehow…a wave of power surged from it and I was knocked out. When I can too you were on the ground…like this…” she motioned to Lillian’s arms.

Images of being surrounded by water…nearly drowning…immense pain…it started flooding back to the raven-haired girl. She felt unsteady on her feet as Ishizu wrapped an arm around her middle and helped her back to bed, sitting her down on the bed before retrieving the tray.

She carefully cleaned the areas covered in ink before applying ointment and wrapping them up in bandages again. Lillian watches in silence, flinching every now and then, “Did you have to do this for your brother after his initiation?” Ishizu’s hands stilled for a moment before she nodded, “Yes. Although he was only cut and scarred. Yours seems to be inked in like tattoos.” She was soon finished and started to clean up the supplies.

“I need to go home.” Lillian said softly. Ishizu didn’t respond. “I…saw something while I was trapped in the water…and…I think my brother might be in danger…”

The Egyptian woman took the tray and headed to the door, stopping for a moment and looking back at Lillian, “You should get some more rest. I will begin preparations for your departure.” There is silence between them again as Lillian lies down, pulling the covers over herself.

Ishizu turns to leave when the other girl speaks softly, “Thank you Ishizu…you really are a good friend.” This made the tomb keeper smile as she walked away.

Back in Domino.

Things were not going well for Seto Kaiba. Let’s go down the list, first he kidnapped the old man from the game shop. Then he duelled him for his Blue Eyes and won, he then proceeded to rip up the card so that it could never be used against him. He then duelled Yugi (who seemed to somehow change which shouldn’t be possible. Maybe it was just the lights of the duel arena) and actually lost! The twerp somehow summoned Exodia and beat his 3 Blue eyes! Then to make matters worse, the kid did some kind of weird thing that seemed to have messed with his head before he passed out.

When he came to he was laying on the couch in his office, pain shooting through his head as if someone had stabbed a white hot poker through it. He stared up at the ceiling, wonder how he had gotten there. Mokuba had probably called security and had them escort him here. How humiliating.

He growled as he sat up and rubbed his forehead, trying to make the pain go away. It felt like something was missing…like something had been ripped away from him. He was probably just getting a migraine. The CEO stood up and made his way over to his desk, yanking open the drawer where he kept his pain pills. He reached for the bottle but stopped when he saw a familiar photo frame, a wave of emotions flowed through him as he forgot about the meds and instead picked up the frame. Sitting down in his chair he stared at the image of his best and only friend…the girl who had stolen his heart and who left him a year ago…he ran his fingers the picture, tracing her cheek as he gazed at her smile and bright blue eyes. He had almost forgotten how she looked…how she made his heart race...how much he missed her…how he longed to hear her voice again…to she her smile again…

Suddenly something came to mind, his eyes widening as he remember something from the previous day when he entered that stupid game shop…his hands shook as he remember seeing a different framed photo that held a happy family…he remember a seeing a familiar face amongst them. He thinks back to all the times she had mentioned that her grandfather owned a game store…how her brother looked more like the old man than their father or mother. He drops the photo frame as he steps back, his heart beating faster as he feels panic starting to sink in.

He thinks back to everything Lillian had ever mentioned about her family…every little detail flooded back into his mind. Even during his duels with Yugi and his grandfather something was screaming at him to stop, even as he played his Blue eyes card…the one Lillian had given him, he remembered how it felt like it was burning his skin when he used it to bring harm to the old man and how he tried to used it to intimidate Yugi…his subconscious was trying to tell him the entire time that what he was doing was…wrong…that he was hurting the family of someone close to him…one of the only two people that he ever cared about…

He slammed his fists onto his desk as it felt like he was starting to hyperventilate. Why was he feeling like this? He shouldn’t be, he was stronger than that! He had built up a wall around this ridiculous and nonsense feelings for months now, he had grown bitter and prideful, wanting to forget his trauma and pain. He was Seto god damn Kaiba! And he was also the man that had hospitalized the love of his life’s grandfather, torn up his most prized possession and then terrorized her brother. Oh god what had he done?!

Breathing heavily he swiping everything off his desk in a fit of rage, his computer crashing to the ground and breaking, paper scattering across the floor. He proceeded to trash his office in anger and frustration. He picked up his chair and was about to throw it when he heard glass breaking under his foot. Looking down he saw the photo of Lillian that he had dropped. Setting the chair down quickly he kneeled down and picked up the broken frame and tried to dust away the broken glass, removing the photo to prevent it from sustaining anymore damage as the shards of glass had made a few dents in the image.

He sat back, his back against the floor to ceiling window, holding the picture as if it were the most precious thing in the world…tears blurred his vision but he couldn’t care. He had hurt the family of his beloved, a family that she thought she would never have and treasured them all, a loving mother and father, a wise and kind grandfather and a little brother who Lillian adored more than anything else. They were her heart and Seto had tried to shatter it…grief washed over him, realizing that the person he had become in the past year was gone…and all that was left was the pain and sorrow that he held in for years. His step father would call him pathetic and weak if he saw him now but he couldn’t care…because the only thing that went through his mind was the fact that Lillian was going to hate him when she got back and found out what he had down…and maybe…just maybe…he deserved it…

[mangledscrimp]

this is a response to your twitter post im on priv and also shy: i would literally love to see you talk about ranlay. any and all text related to ranlay is a valuable resource.

Mega ramble incoming; Miracle Mask spoilers, Unwound Future spoils, Layton anime spoils

Some silly or sad hcs abt ‘em (most of these are shared hcs or hcs I got from other peopleee ) I know they’re cringe LEAVE ME ALONEEE

(๑･̑3･̑๑)([ ˃̶͈̀]∀[˂̶͈́])

Ok Let’s start with some silly ones :3

Randall and Hershel’s Garden

Since Hershel practically lives at the University, Hershel and Randall start a garden there and plant fruits and vegetables to cook a nice meal at home. Or even walk together in the garden for a nice distraction from life and work.

2. Dancing

I like to think Randall is a pretty good dancer. Though, Hershel has two left feet. Randall teaches Hershel some basic moves as they intertwine their fingers. Or just hold hands and stare deeply into each-others eyes.

(Doodles I did of it hehehe)

-Randall doesn’t mind if Hershel can’t dance, he still enjoys doing anything with him regardless. He enjoys Hershel’s light that he brings into his life.

a song that I think they’d dance to together in their free time; (posted like this so you can listen to it as you scroll through ‘em HEHE )

3. Pajamas and Sleepin

What would Hershel and Randall wear to bed?Hershel wears a sweater all the time no matter the weather (well obviously not summer) , He feels pretty insecure about his body since he hasn’t been with someone in such an intimate way since Claire’s accident. Randall teases him for that as he kisses him and tells him how beautiful he looks at any given moment. Randall would only wear boxers to bed or just…nothing at all if you’re brave enough LOLL. Randall has a lot of body heat so he doesn’t need any PJs. Often times, Hershel holds Randall while they sleep for warmth but Randall starts sweating like crazy because of the blanket + Hershel’s body heat, he doesn’t tell Hershel to stop hugging him tho since he loves the affection. Randall often wakes up to Hershel either spooning him or Laying close to his chest. HEHEHEEEE

4.Wings

One of my favorite hcs with Randall is him growing wings from the mask in order for it to not be damaged. I like to think that his wings kinda flutter when he’s doing anything with Hershel. He just starts hovering in the air when Hershel kisses him, bringing hershel up with him as he holds his face

5.Annoyance

Randall annoys Hershel at any given moment he can. Pinching his cheeks, interrupting Hershel when he does lecture plans, nuzzling all over Hershel like a cat (hehehee), or even kissing him straight on the mouth when they argue. Hershel doesn’t mind what Randall does, in fact, he loves it. He enjoys the attention Randall gives him since it makes him feel special, like someone actually cares about him with a passion.

6. Hairsss (Inspired by sweeetrandall HEHEHE)

The more time Randall spent away from Henry and Angela, the more his hair grew out. Randall wanted to be more of his own person than who he was before the fall, and Henry and Angela didn’t really help with that. During his time with Hershel, his hair grew back into that spiky style we see after he unmasks himself in miracle mask, with side burns and a bit of beard scruff (i love that hc so muchhh rahhggh) . He feels much more confident in who he is with longer hair and a scruffy beard. Hershel enjoys his confidence and scratchy kisses. Hershel also has the occasional Beard Scruff since he rarely takes care of himself.

7. Relaxation

Randall and Hershel’s ideal vacation spot is anywhere they can be together. Hershel often spends time on the couch reading while Randall makes them tea so that they can cuddle together with a cup of belle classic, though Randall prefers a cup of chai.

Going a bit away from that, whenever Hershel tries to relax himself in the bathtub, Randall hops in beside him (Ranlay bathing RanLay bathing RanLay bathingggg, they need to be squeaky clean, no mud in sight)

(slowly entering the sad territory, so sorry)

8. Comforting

Hershel has nightmares in his sleep about his past, replaying the worst moments over and over again. From him and Randall’s adventure in the ruins to Claire’s explosion accident. He often wakes up in a cold sweat from his nightmares. Whenever this happens or when Randall feels hershel squirming next to him, he’ll wrap his arms around him and whisper sweet words in Hershel’s ears with a tired but loving voice to try and calm him down.

9. Wishing

(This is during stansbury before the fall)

Randall would spend so much time together with Hershel. Going on expeditions or studying together for a big test at home. It would make Randall start to fall in love with Hershel the more he hanged out with him. Randall would often find himself wishing that Hershel was a girl. He knew that at home he would be shamed for ever finding interest in a man, none the less one of his best friends. Often going to their tree study spot under the stars, wishing and begging that Hershel would magically turn into a girl so that he could be with him. Randall still loved Angela a lot and would do absolutely anything for her. But his feelings were torn apart between his forbidden love for Hershel and Angela.

10. Flowers

Before Hershel set off to find the relic treasure, he would often send flowers to Randall every week while he was out on an adventure. Bouquets with a mixture of trillium flowers and violets would always be at Randall’s doorstep with a hand written note attached possibly saying;

“My love, I’m out on another busy trip but i hope these flowers brighten your days without me. I will be back fairly soon. Enjoy the flowers, my darling.

-With love, Hershel Layton”

Randall would enjoy receiving these flowers in person or delivered to his doorstep. But a year after Hershel had gone to discover the secret behind the relic treasure, Randall received these bouquets less and less each passing month. He began to worry about Hershel’s whereabouts and question where and why he was gone for so long without a call or a letter. Randall grew depressed and longed for Hershel as he had no contact from him in years. After receiving a call from the hospital Hershel was staying at he immediately ran over and held Hershel’s hand with tears flowing out of his eyes happy to see his beloved partner return, gently kissing his hand. Sadly Hershel couldn’t feel it since he was trapped in an ice bath for so long. Randall didn’t care as he continued to kiss him.

Song that gave me inspo for this;

ok. my silly babies.

[jcdedmemories]

Welcome to New York {AUGUST LOVERSON} !! They are a {31} year old {CIS MAN} who uses {HE/HIM} pronouns. They’re a {FLORIST} who has been in town for {30 YEARS} living in {THE BRONX}. When looking at {AUGUST} you automatically think of {FLOWERS, COLD BREWS WITH COLD FOAM, DOG HAIR} but that probably makes sense since they also remind you of {RAFAEL SILVA}. You can always hear {NEW RULES} by {DUA LIPA} coming from their place. Who knows what kind of trouble they’re going to get themselves into.

CHARACTER INFORMATION:

full name: august loverson

nickname(s): auggie, gus

pronouns & gender: he/him, cis man

sexuality: homosexual

age: twenty-eight

relationship status: single

birth date: october 31, 1995

birth place: beaufort, south carolina

time in town: since february 2022

occupation: florist @ dahlia & daffodils

parents: dillon & maria loverson

siblings: dillon loverson jr, gabriella loverson, jacqueline loverson

personality: obsessive, energetic, impulsive, & creative

pet: none at the moment

APPEARANCE:

celebrity doppelgänger: rafael silva

height: 6'0"

hair color: black

eye color: brown

FAVORITES:

color: orange

non-alcoholic beverage: celsius 

alcoholic beverage: high noon watermelon

season: autumn

candle scent: macintosh apple

book: perks of being a wallflower

video game: spyro; save the last dragon

tv show: rupaul’s drag race

animated tv show: bob’s burgers

movie: anything marvel

animated movie: the iron giant

holiday movie: the grinch who stole christmas

disney movie: frozen 2

pixar movie: toy story 2

disney original movie: halloween town

candy: twizzlers

chocolate candy: snickers

Fruit: pineapple 😉

Vegetable: garlicky green beans

cuisine to eat: jambalaya

cuisine to make: anything on the grill

genre of music: country

artist: luke combs

song: beer never broke my heart by luke combs

Biography:

Being the southern golden boy is always something that August will be known for. He was the miracle child that Dillon and Maria were never expecting. After their first three children which all happened to be daughters, the two didn’t plan on having anymore and they didn’t even think that they would be able to. But for Christmas 1994, Maria had surprised her husband and children with the fact that she was going to be having another child. They were ecstatic that they were going to have one more and once they found out that it was a boy, they were even happier because they were going to have the son that they always wanted. 

Once August was born, it was like all the attention was on him because he was the son that they longed for. And even though August tried his best to get along with all his sisters, some of them didn’t really care for the attention that he pulled from the others. At the same time, Dillon and Maria were leaving the girls to babysit August whenever they wanted to go do things, which was always. The Loverson’s were not well off by any means but they didn’t live poorly either. And whenever August wanted something, they would try their hardest to ensure that he got it while his parents would tell their daughters that they needed to work for it. 

From a young age, August was always obsessed with flowers and he was always bringing them home and ripping them apart to make things like crowns, jewelry, and other things that most boys weren’t worried about. He liked to make things look pretty and sometimes that got him bullied in school but he never let it get to him. Speaking of school, August was your average student who slid by with some B’s and some C’s and didn’t care about graduating at the top of his class. He didn’t even care about going to college at all. 

Although he wasn’t worried about school, he did pay attention in some business and art classes to ensure that he was being the brightest when it came to opening up a business of his own one day and learning different era’s of art to come off knowledgable to a wider range of age groups. August was no dummy and if he cared about something enough then he was willing to put in the work. He did the best that he could in his hometown to try and create a business for himself and he was doing great at first but then business seemed to slow down that he turned to TikTok and was able to sell some things quite fast.

While selling things online were nice, he felt like he could do more if he went somewhere that was bigger. He decided that in the beginning of 2022 that he was going to be moving to New York to appeal to a different clientele (well that and there were many many more gay boys like him). While his business in New York was trying to grow, he wasn’t making enough on TikTok to live so that’s when he found a flower shop called Dahlia & Daffodils were hiring florists and he decided to do that along with his business on the side.

August has begun to make a name for himself and he has started to rake in some money that he never thought was possible. He has been able to send money back home to his parents for helping him get to where he was. He feels like some of his sisters are still judging him for being so close with their parents and he tries not to hold it personally as he wished he had more of a relationship with them because regardless of what they think of him he has always loved them. 

[theblerdbox]

vii || No Good, Root-Working, Heart-Breaking Great-Great-Grandmother

Green Lake, Texas - 1900

Green Lake, Texas was heaven on earth, once upon a time, before the empire of the South came crumbling down, like the walls of Jericho.

Before its demise, the people of Green Lake lived in harmony. Neighbors were family. To leave Green Lake to do business elsewhere was taboo. People didn't buy or sell homes. They built them, expanded them, and passed them on for generations. Mayor Walker, boasted with a menacing grin, "Everything you could ever need is right here, at home."

So, naturally, when Elroy Zeroni arrived in Green Lake, he made a home. He built a house on the lake and a garden atop the tallest mountain. He married the most beautiful woman in town, and, together they raised a set of twins, Clove and Samuel, with endless love and integrity.

Sam took after his father - hardworking and earnest - able to fix anything with the magic of his hands. Clove took after her mother, an incredibly shy, gifted, root-worker with a knack for natural remedies and spell-casting. Elroy adopted his mother's house rules: "No love spells and no curses." But, Clove couldn't help but break the rules. Little did her father know that his daughter's existence was a love spell at work, as was his wife's. When they entered a room, the world stopped, men gravitated towards them like magnets, women feared them, children trusted them, and animals followed them.

Mrs. Zeroni was rumored to come from a family of sirens from Louisiana. The housewives of Green Lake's elite grew suspicious of her adversity to water. But, that couldn't have been further from the truth. She came from a family of high priestesses and devout root-workers. Her appeal was no more supernatural than the application of kindness and good genes. 

As children, the twins sold onions, vegetables, and other goods outside of the chapel every Sunday, tending to the let out of churchgoers seeking last-minute supplies for Sunday dinner and miracle healing remedies.

Ten-year-old Sam, boisterously announced the day's specials as the crowd gathered. His twin sister, Clove handled the money while her father maintained inventory on the farm.

A young boy was immediately taken by Clove who towered over him. He looked up to her, eyes round and wide with wonder. His mother nudged him and snarled between clenched teeth every Sunday, "Stanley Yelnats, it is not polite to stare!"

This particular Sunday, the Lord's word mustered the boy with enough courage to speak. Stanley shamelessly and naively surveyed her flawlessness. He'd never seen a black diamond, but he was confident such wouldn't hold a candle to the enchanting girl standing before him. Her obsidian skin sparkled under the beating sun - like the angel, Gabriel - to which he was inferior. 

It was love at first sight.

"One box of herbal tea bags, three onions, two carrots, and..."

Stanley quickly grabbed a string of ceramic beads hanging from the buggy and placed it before her.

Clove smirked and looked over the beads, "These aren't cheap. They are handmade in Latvia and have been blessed over with holy water by the high priestess -"

"I have enough," he cut in, desperate to convince her and himself.

"And they are for women," Clove laughed, as did her brother who eavesdropped while he performed. Clove studied the clumsy boy. She was as good a salesperson as her brother - Perhaps better. Many were unaware Clove Zeroni had sold them anything until it was too late. She had a way of making customers feel like the decision to splurge was their own."It's $2 for the tea and vegetables - Beads like these go for $5," She looked up to Sam, who nodded in agreement, both in on the con. It didn't matter to Stanley. At that point, he was willing to sell his soul for a moment in her presence.

Young Stanley dug into his pockets and placed $10 in Clove's open palm. He'd been saving for weeks sweeping the floors of the only bank in town. "That's all I have," he said panicking as Clove held his gaze.

"Who are you trying to impress, Stanley Yelnats?" her full lips pulled into a smirk, knowing the answer but challenging the boy to speak for himself. 

He didn't fold or look away when he said, "You." 

Stanley gathered the tea, onions, and carrots in a sack before placing the string of beads back into Clove's hands with a shy smile. Stanley began to explain himself, "I noticed you never wear any jewelry and thought you could use -"

"Thank you," she didn't let him finish, "This is my favorite pattern."

No man, besides her father, had ever given her anything but stares before then.

Stanley tied the string of beads around her neck, basking in her scent. Clove admired his bravery. No one had ever flirted with her before. Clove was a beauty, but Sam was approachable. The boys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be with him, secretly, batting their eyelashes and twirling their hair as they flocked to him after school. 

She extended a hand to her new friend, "Clove Zeroni."

"I know," Stanley bit his lip, embarrassed by honesty, "See you next Sunday?"

"Or sooner," she said, making Stanley blush.

"Be careful with that one, sis," Sam said in a low voice as Stanley ran home with glee, "There will be no saving us when he breaks."

Clove waved off her twin brother. If he could have admirers, why couldn't she?

--------------------------------------------------

Hi Peaches!

Love time no write. I miss you (and the Zeroni's) terribly. So here I am with a short chapter. After a long vacation from writing, I finally have the time and space to update this story. Enjoy!

[mandrathekandra]

Comprehensive guide to keeping a cremling in a jar:

Fill the bottom of a large jar or glass container with crem and let it harden, to create a natural stone floor. The goal is to mimic the natural environment closely, in order to reduce stress on the specimen

Find flat stones of varying sizes, stack them on top of each other to create a small hill so the cremling has something to climb on or sun itself, be sure to leave plenty of crevices for it to hide in (optional: secure the stones in place with more crem)

Add a tree branch to allow for vertical climbing space (do they climb? Further observation required, they do seem more crablike and may show variable climbing ability)

Add in a small fragment of shalebark, and secure it to the stone to grow. Add other small plants or lichens as suits their natural environment

Cremling diet and behavior is not well studied. Therefore you must learn what you can through observation in the wild. Hopefully you will have a sense of the creature’s diet ahead of preparing to care for it. This is highly advisable, as testing a series of foods could lead to stress or starvation if a suitable food is not found quickly. Foods to try include fruit, fungal, vegetable, and animal matter, fresh or decaying. Cremlings filling a scavenger niche will likely make the best pets, as they are able to eat a wide variety of foods.

The most likely benefit of the storms would come from the enriched rainfall, so stormwater itself will hopefully be enough. In that case, a small dish of storm water may suffice. Remember to clean the crem off of the dish regularly, as it WILL build up

It is uncertain whether the cremling will view a highstorm free environment as a miracle, or if they require regular storm conditions in addition to stormwater, as rosharan organisms have adapted to highstorms in fascinating ways, intertwining their lives with scheduled natural disasters. If it becomes evident that the storms themselves are necessary, it may be possible to simulate proper conditions by pouring collected storm water into the enclosure and shaking it. Make sure to allow the container to dry afterwards, overly damp environments are conducive to mold. Another option includes placing it in a wire cage in a safe and secure place outside, though distinctly less than ideal. Further observation and experimentation is required.

Local seasons are unpredictable. In order to determine optimal lighting, temperature, and humidity, the target species behavior should be observed in multiple seasons. The rosharan environment is so distant from standard, it may be difficult to predict how to best care for local organisms. Presumably a steady, moderate environment would be best, as many creatures benefit from the stability of well kept artificial environments, as shown by increased longevity, but it is important to remember the assumptions we make as outsiders may be wildly incorrect as we fail to take into account the alien evolution. These creatures have grown in sync with this dynamic and dramatic world, and mimicking that environment will be best for the specimen.

Don’t let them pinch you (important)

It is uncertain whether they will tolerate handling. Best recommendation is to limit handling to the regular enclosure cleaning, as necessary. Too much handling will likely stress the organism.

Have fun observing it! Being small and less interesting than the megafauna such as chull or the various greatshells, cremlings have been largely unstudied. Much of their behavior and life cycle remains to be uncovered. Perhaps you will find something new! How exciting

[itsaugust-loverson]

[ rudy pankow, cis man, he/him ] — whoa! AUGUST LOVERSON just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for TWO YEARS, working as a FLORST @ DAHLIA & DAFFODILS. that can’t be easy, especially at only 28 YEARS OLD. some people say they can be a little bit OBSESSIVE and IMPULSIVE , but i know them to be CREATIVE and ENERGETIC. whatever. i guess i’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to QUEENS! —

@bhqextras

CHARACTER INFORMATION:

full name: august loverson

nickname(s): auggie, gus

pronouns & gender: he/him, cis man

sexuality: homosexual

age: twenty-eight

relationship status: single

birth date: october 31, 1995

birth place: beaufort, south carolina

time in town: since february 2022

occupation: florist @ dahlia & daffodils

parents: dillon & maria loverson

siblings: dillon loverson jr, gabriella loverson, jacqueline loverson

personality: obsessive, energetic, impulsive, & creative

pet: none at the moment

APPEARANCE:

celebrity doppelgänger: rudy pankow

height: 6'0"

hair color: blonde

eye color: ocean blue

FAVORITES:

color: burnt orange

non-alcoholic beverage: celsius 

alcoholic beverage: high noon watermelon

season: autumn

candle scent: macintosh apple

book: perks of being a wallflower

video game: spyro; save the last dragon

tv show: rupaul's drag race

animated tv show: bob’s burgers

movie: anything marvel

animated movie: the iron giant

holiday movie: the grinch who stole christmas

disney movie: frozen 2

pixar movie: toy story 2

disney original movie: halloween town

candy: twizzlers

chocolate candy: snickers

Fruit: pineapple 😉

Vegetable: garlicky green beans

cuisine to eat: jambalaya

cuisine to make: anything on the grill

genre of music: country

artist: luke combs

song: beer never broke my heart by luke combs

Biography:

Being the southern golden boy is always something that August will be known for. He was the miracle child that Dillon and Maria were never expecting. After their first three children which all happened to be daughters, the two didn't plan on having anymore and they didn't even think that they would be able to. But for Christmas 1994, Maria had surprised her husband and children with the fact that she was going to be having another child. They were ecstatic that they were going to have one more and once they found out that it was a boy, they were even happier because they were going to have the son that they always wanted. 

Once August was born, it was like all the attention was on him because he was the son that they longed for. And even though August tried his best to get along with all his sisters, some of them didn't really care for the attention that he pulled from the others. At the same time, Dillon and Maria were leaving the girls to babysit August whenever they wanted to go do things, which was always. The Loverson's were not well off by any means but they didn't live poorly either. And whenever August wanted something, they would try their hardest to ensure that he got it while his parents would tell their daughters that they needed to work for it. 

From a young age, August was always obsessed with flowers and he was always bringing them home and ripping them apart to make things like crowns, jewelry, and other things that most boys weren't worried about. He liked to make things look pretty and sometimes that got him bullied in school but he never let it get to him. Speaking of school, August was your average student who slid by with some B's and some C's and didn't care about graduating at the top of his class. He didn't even care about going to college at all. 

Although he wasn't worried about school, he did pay attention in some business and art classes to ensure that he was being the brightest when it came to opening up a business of his own one day and learning different era's of art to come off knowledgable to a wider range of age groups. August was no dummy and if he cared about something enough then he was willing to put in the work. He did the best that he could in his hometown to try and create a business for himself and he was doing great at first but then business seemed to slow down that he turned to TikTok and was able to sell some things quite fast.

While selling things online were nice, he felt like he could do more if he went somewhere that was bigger. He decided that in the beginning of 2022 that he was going to be moving to New York to appeal to a different clientele (well that and there were many many more gay boys like him). While his business in New York was trying to grow, he wasn't making enough on TikTok to live so that's when he found a flower shop called Dahlia & Daffodils were hiring florists and he decided to do that along with his business on the side.

August has begun to make a name for himself and he has started to rake in some money that he never thought was possible. He has been able to send money back home to his parents for helping him get to where he was. He feels like some of his sisters are still judging him for being so close with their parents and he tries not to hold it personally as he wished he had more of a relationship with them because regardless of what they think of him he has always loved them. 

[the-marat-multiverse]

Harrison's Brother's Disappearance

Timothy is Harrison's little brother by 4 years. Growing up, Timmy was fascinated by his big brother's miracles, especially how Harrison was able to use them to get out of eating his vegetables. Timmy even tried to make the miracles a few times, but they soon realized it was only something Harry could do. Not too long later that revelation, Harrison told Timmy about magic and how there are magicians that use their magic to entertain people. Timmy loved learning about magic through his brother and was happy to watch him practice. When he heard about a talent show the school was putting on for the older kids, Timmy convinced his brother to enter as a magician. He'd come to regret this, as their parents were not happy when they found out. They ruined the talent show and scared his big brother, leading to the magic to act up in a scary way. After that they were both pulled out of school and put into this more boring computer school. Timmy wasn't allowed to play with Harry anymore, but he'd sneak away to try anyway. Harrison didn't want Timmy to get in trouble, though, so he'd push his little brother away. Their parents tried to convince the larger catholic church to exorcise their son Harrison, but after some investigation, the psychologists employed by the mainstream catholic church didn't believe the boy possessed real magic and suggested he was a little stage magician with an overactive imagination. When Harrison learned that the larger church didn't think he was evil, he set to convince his parents that his magic was good. He put on a show for his parents and brother and tried very hard to convince their mom and dad his magic was a good thing... But when it was looking like they weren't going to be convinced, Harry tried very hard to make the magic work right in front of their eyes. The magic is kind of alive, though, and it doesn't like to be watched. Timmy saw the look of fear on his brother's face as he lost control of the magic and suddenly the world around Timmy disappeared. No longer was he sitting in Harrison's bedroom with his parents. Timmy blinked, looking around at the forest of weird trees he was now in. It was clear that Harry's magic did something weird again, but where did it put him? As Timmy began to wonder around, he noticed that he didn't recognize the local animals at all. They all looked so different. There was a pack of fluffy things with tails flying in the sky, really tiny creatures walking around like humans with small houses. Timmy didn't want to hurt them and with how clumsy he is, he didn't want to walk around their little village, so he kept looking. Eventually he found a wooden creature that walked like him and wasn't much taller than him, and it talked to him. The wooden man needed a favor to get some of his stuff back from a giant, and Timmy was happy to help so he agreed to helping Woodman. After they snuck some of his stuff back, Timmy kept following Woodman, much to Woodman's annoyance, but the wooden humanoid couldn't just let the stupid young fleshling starve, so eventually he accepted his fate and took care of the annoying fleshling.

[haggishlyhagging]

Agricultural fertility is a matter of vital concern to the peoples of the ancient world, who cannot take fertility for granted and believe that fertility is fragile. Ancient religions provide a way to participate in the creation of fertile abundance and to ensure its continuation. They address a human desire to do everything possible to make the earth fertile and to make the crops grow. In Mesopotamian thinking, labor is divinely ordained and, indeed, the purpose for which humans were created. The gods give humankind the tools of labor and instruct the people on their use. Actual work, however, is only one sphere of activity. The ancient pagan religions also provided a cult of fertility in which people sang, danced, and performed other rituals in order to experience and aid the perpetuation of nature.

It was not ignorance that impelled people to perform these rituals, for they were practiced long after the neolithic revolution, long after the ancients learned that if you put a seed in the ground it will grow, long after people domesticated plants and animals to ensure their food supply. But the ancient farmers were also very aware that sometimes you could put a seed in the ground and it wouldn't grow. The ground might be too saline, or the birds might eat the seed, or locusts might devour the growing plants, the weather conditions might not be right, the earth might have become contaminated. There are so many reasons that a seed might not grow that it is a miracle every time it really does so. Pagan religions celebrated this miracle by offering a ritual life through which one can participate in this miracle. Of course. the fertility ritual does not really "cause" fertility—if it could, rituals would not have to be repeated. But in performing these rituals, the celebrants acknowledge their dependence on fertility and their desire to participate in assuring the continuation of the natural cycle.

Pagan prayers and rituals reflect the idea that fertile abundance is the result of harmonious interaction among various powers in the cosmos. Cultic acts and liturgy may propitiate the various divine powers and facilitate their joining together. In Sumerian cult, this conjoining was achieved sexually in the ritual of the sacred marriage. In later periods, even when sacred marriage was no longer part of the official state cult, it clearly continued in sacred and popular literature. Was there ever a time in which fertility and vegetation were thought to come directly from the womb of the earth mother? This claim, very often assumed in modern recreations of paganism, can only be true (if at all) for the prehistoric period. There may be prehistoric evidence from Old Europe and possibly from Çatal Hüyük that the mother-goddess had this vital function and the all-powerful position that results from it. The historical evidence, from the writings of Sumer and Babylon, indicates that the conceptualization of fertility was much more complex than the simple idea of earth mother and her womb. There are certainly goddesses of vegetation, and the breast of the goddess Nisaba is sometimes considered the source of grain. But more common are the many indications that fertility required many gods, and that no one god was able to insure it. Agricultural abundance depended on an interaction of forces and their divine embodiments, upon the fertility of the earth and its fertilization by water, and upon the joining of the power of life with the exercise of agriculture. This conjoining of forces could be aided by sexual activities on the fertile bed, sexual intercourse into the body of the young nubile goddesses. Even when sexual union is not part of the ritual, this union of forces is the essential metaphysical idea.

-Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth

[bisexualroger]

can you share some of your bensus and timdas hcs? 🤲

oh my god yes I can ☺️🤩 All of these were created in collaboration with @solarflicker who shares custody of them

Timdas

Attended a military boarding school growing up. When he first started he was quite sensitive but he had that knocked out of him very early on

He had to have a buzz cut in school and the moment he got kicked out he grew it long and never looked back. He refuses to have it shorter than shoulder length

After getting kicked out he spent time in prison. Not a long time, just long enough for the last of his walls to be put solidly in place

His parents tried but they were neglectful at best. By adulthood he has basically no contact with them

He’s dyslexic!

He successfully quit smoking before the events of the show. The stress of Jesus going all martyr on main is what made him fall off the wagon

Falling asleep around other people makes him deathly uncomfortable

Hates vegetables and will only eat them when someone else has made dinner and Jesus pressures him to eat them out of politeness. He has probably never even touched a salad because he’s basically a carnivore

Once befriended a ratty old street cat (Macavity) that no one else would touch. He didn’t mean to but eh it recognised a kindred spirit in him

Bensus

Grew up in Palestine, is trilingual (Arabic, Hebrew and English) but speaks Hebrew to his mother Mary and his cousin John

Moved to the uk in his early teens

He was an eccentric, slightly creepy child but teachers adored him. He did basically every extra curriculum activity under the sun

Absolute mothers boy. As an adult he calls her at least once a week and he (privately) gets really homesick whenever he’s on the road for too long

When he was 16/17 he started going through a massive crisis where he couldn’t sleep, eat, or study because he was coming to terms with the immense pressure of being the messiah. Of course he still ended up getting perfect marks so none of the adults around him (bar Mary) ever noticed

He’s on antidepressants!

Eldest child with five younger siblings

Animals follow him around

Worlds most annoying morning person ☀️

Gets on really well with his weird cousin John the Baptist

He’s vegetarian bordering on vegan

Prone to hyper focus

One of those “above social media” types

He can’t actually do miracles. They’re all just exaggerated anecdotes