#CAKE FEVER DISEASE

[funds4gaza]

https://www.gofundme.com/f/m82uu-help-me-and-my-family-to-evacuate-from-gaza

This is Omar in the rubble of what once was his home, he told me he was just sitting down and his sister took this picture of him.

Today Omar woke up sick, he had a fever and is being affected by a skin disease, he became a patient at the same hospital he usually works at as a nurse.

His campaign is still going slow, please help us share it and donate if you are able to.

€3,388 raised of €5,700 target as of 02/09/2024

Tagging for reach, pls let me know if you don't wanna be tagged, thank you!! <3

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[moonythejedi394]

snippet from remix of honestly thought i'd be dead by now

“Happy birthday,” Bucky repeated on their way out.

“Thanks,” Steve answered, ducking his head as he smiled a little.

“Anytime, buddy,” Bucky promised. “How’s it feel to be twenty-seven?”

Steve shrugged. “Surprising,” he said.

“Surprising?” Bucky repeated, tipping his head to the side. “How?”

“I honestly thought I’d be dead by now,” Steve answered, his eyes lifted to the velvet blanket of light pollution obscuring the heavens.

“Oh,” Bucky said, not sure what else he could say, his gaze trailing away to the sidewalk beneath their feet. “Oh…”

He’d been in a place like that once. Thrown himself into the Army at 18 to escape memories of his childhood and all the abuse from his doting grandfather, then drank himself almost to liver failure by 24 and a nasty DUI where he’d barely escaped hitting the other car and only injured himself, not to mention all the risky sex he’d had. It had been surprising to him, too, when he lived past that.

Steve just continued to walk, as if he’d said nothing out of the ordinary.

“Why?” Bucky asked gently.

Steve’s lips curled into something that Bucky almost mistook for a smile. He wasn’t sure what it meant instead.

“Lots of things,” he eventually said. “Scarlet fever, polio, lead poisoning from the boat Ma and I took from Ireland over here, I got beat all to shit almost every day growing up, not to mention crashing a plane full of bombs into the Arctic and – Well. I don’t like to talk about it.”

“I see,” Bucky said, his gaze on Steve’s hands slowly picking apart his cupcake half.

“Hell, the serum should’ve killed me,” Steve added. “The odds of me surviving the procedure were one in about a thousand.”

“Seriously?” Bucky replied, his brow furrowing.

“Mhm,” was all Steve said in answer. 

“Why did you do it?” Bucky asked softly.

Steve glanced at him, then down at his cupcake. “I was dying. I didn’t have much longer, anyway. I wanted to go out doing something useful instead of wasting away.”

“Oh,” Bucky said a second time, even softer. “What – what was it?”

“I don’ know,” Steve said. “I was just sick one day. I could only afford one doctor’s visit and the fella that saw me had no idea, either. He even let me come back for free because he thought it was an undiscovered disease. He didn’t discover what it was,” Steve added, “and I ended up being chosen for Project Rebirth, so it didn’t matter. I figured they would get a trial run with me and improve the odds for the next guy to get in the Vita-Ray machine. Only it worked on the first try.”

Bucky blew out his breath. “That’s… that’s intense, buddy.”

Steve’s lips made that almost a smile curve again, and he even let out a short huff of breath. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

Bucky guessed that Steve didn’t want to talk about it. He watched Steve break off a small chunk of his cupcake and put it in his mouth. Bucky then returned his gaze to his half of the cake and decided not to pry.

“I think it was AIDs,” Steve said quietly, suddenly.

Bucky almost choked. “Oh,” he said again as he blinked rapidly at the haze of purple rising in the east. “Um… Wow.”

“Not like I can find out now,” Steve added. “I don’t think there are any samples of my blood before the serum.”

“That –” Bucky started. “That’s horrible, pal. I’m sorry.”

Steve only shrugged. “I deserved it.”

“What?” Bucky said as he frowned heavily.

“I deserved it,” Steve said. “I was stupid.”

“Kid,” Bucky said carefully, “nobody deserves AIDs. Don’t think that.”

“I guess,” Steve muttered, looking up into the east, as well.

don't forget that all of my patreon tiers are discounted by 50% for the month of december

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Page 85 Author's Notes

Page 85

There was supposed to be another panel of the two of them celebrating Laudna’s birthday:

Panel 5: It's Laudna's birthday, or as close to it as she can remember. The remains of an iced gingerbread cake with a candle on it is on the table, with crumbs on both of their plates and a little slice set out for Pâté on a saucer. Laudna is exclaiming in delight over the collection of calico fabric squares for quilting Imogen has given her.

In this continuity she has a Duscar birthday; both here and in Remember Us she mentions that the fatal dinner party, which most likely took place on one of the last days of Cuersaar since Vox Machina rolls into Whitestone on 2 Duscar to discover the aftermath of it, happened just a few weeks before her 20th birthday. (How kind of the Briarwoods to host a fancy party just for her!)

However, when I went back to the Encyclopedia Exandria article on the Exandrian calendar to get a better idea of when I had meant for it to be I realized something I’ve been totally overlooking all this time: Marquet is in the southern hemisphere and has opposite seasons! So even though it’s winter for them now Laudna’s birthday is actually half a year a way. (And incidentally probably close to Imogen’s, since I had envisioned a summer birthday for her.)

But since Winter’s Crest is not a Marquesian holiday and they could theoretically celebrate it whenever they wanted, I figured I could keep that panel as it is and just let the one about her birthday go (or move it into the next chapter, which takes place in the summer). That panel is largely lifted from my fic Come In From the Cold, in which Imogen goes all in on Winter’s Crest to make Laudna happy. So there’s the matching red flannel jammies, Pâté’s gingerbread house, the sunflower-embroidered handy haversack (wrapped in paper painted by little rat feet), and Chateaubriand the Mari Lwyd. (The fic goes into greater detail about the customs, which I largely drew from the rowdy Tudor-Era traditions of Christmas because that seemed the most thematically appropriate for Winter’s Crest in Whitestone, in particular wassailing which, appropriately enough for the Mintyverse Bradburys, involved making a ruckus in the apple orchard to ensure the health of the trees.) The only different detail is the enchanted teakettle, which in the fic Imogen gives to Laudna as a present rather than having bought it previously at the general store. So the contents of that box with the striped paper are a mystery.

They have red pajamas not just because Laudna insists that matching pajamas for the whole family are an essential part of the holiday but because of a belief persisting since the Elizabethan era that scarlet was the warmest color to wear. From the 17th century onward and throughout the early-mid 19th century especially red flannel was the popular choice for winter petticoats, underwear, and pajamas because it was believed that red flannel worn next to the skin would protect against cold and diseases and serve as a remedy for rheumatism. (This is where the classic image of the red flannel drop-seater union suit comes from.) Examples of this can be seen in the literature of the time, (off the top of my head) red flannel nightgowns and nightshirts are described on all of the children in Little House in the Big Woods and in Little Women Beth wears a red merino wool wrapper while recovering from scarlet fever.

Other details on this page include a halfling with a tail because I really like that headcanon, Chloe Bell haberdashery named after my old cat, and a tavern called the Gloating Goat with a sign featuring the smug goat meme, and portraits of Pâté and Calamari as Victorian-era children. I thought Laudna’s vision for them would be a cross between Beatrix Potter and Victorian death photography, which is why they’re wearing fancy little outfits but listing stiffly and awkwardly in the frame. (I mean, any portrait of Pâté is a death portrait as it is.)

[qwertycake]

more qpr fluffy squishy platonic writing prompts! wahoo!! part two!!! :)

Same disclaimer applies as my first post - these are aro- and ace-spec centric, may only work for shortform fiction, and feel free to tweak them to be less specific/more specific to specific characters.

Specific is a weird word lol

Anyways…

“We both get caught out in the rain and wait out the weather under the same shelter, and either we’re meeting for the first time or we have a nice excuse to hang out together” AU

“You annotate a book for me and I annotate it right back for you, and we keep passing the book back and forth until its a mess of affectionate scribbles that we keep on the coffee table” AU

"It's hot outside and you love the heat but I hate it and you're being stupidly nice and sweet to me while I'm a grouchy mess" AU

"I can teach you how to play this instrument if you stop DISTRACTING ME by looking so ENDEARING AND INFATUATED" AU

"Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes" AU

"We're both too tired to take care of ourselves because of sickness/work/school/whatever but we immediately find the energy to take care of one another via making tea and grabbing blankets" AU

"We trade clothes for Halloween and do terrible impersonations of one another" AU

"We have a bunch of unfinished craft projects between the two of us and decide to just... finish them all in one day... 24 itty-bitty hours... oh boy..." AU

"We recreate a terrible low-budget movie together" AU

"On Valentine's Day, we decide to make a bunch of garlic bread and cake, and buy each other flowers in the colours of our respective aro-/ace-spec flags... and then the day after, we buy all the chocolate that's finally gone on sale" AU

“I teach you how to do make-up because for one reason or another you’re unfamiliar with it” AU

“Fake dating and having dramatic break ups over silly things in public for shits and giggles” AU

“So, the world might have just ended… so guess who has two thumbs and a bunker that desperately could use a roommate?” AU

“We’re made to play seven minutes in heaven at a party and after a few awkward minutes of silence we both decide to just order a pizza or something while we wait out the seven minutes” AU

“Hey, you can dance, and I can’t, teach me— no, I don’t care that I’ve got two left feet, teach me!” AU

“We’re both artists, maybe of different skill levels, and we decide to draw/paint/make art of each other” AU

“I’m a night owl and you’re more of a day person, so whenever we stop texting because you have to go to bed, I’m stuck laying awake thinking about you Please Enjoy Waking Up To A Bunch Of Messages” AU

“I’m a day person and you’re more of a night owl but I struggle to fall asleep because I’m stuck thinking about how lucky I am to be your friend Hey I Think I Could Stay Up For An Extra Ten Minutes” AU

“We’re both nervous about going to the gym alone so we try going together… but neither of us have the guts to get out of the car so we just go for a walk or something instead” AU

“You’re super into sports and exercise and I’m just getting into it but you hype me up so I’m less nervous about getting started” AU

“I bake a whole bunch, you cook big meals… at the same time of day - our kitchen is chaos” AU

“It’s New Year’s Eve and we’re hanging out at a party and everyone’s speculating that we’re gonna have our New Year’s Kiss together but the New Year comes and we just do a weird handshake” AU

“Non-Fatal Hanahaki Disease AU where we’re some of the few people who don’t experience it because we’re content with whatever non-romantic thing we have together… but we both have hay fever and are very annoyed by the constant barrage of flower petals around us and have to tell our friends to Please Stop Crushing On The Random Barista At Starbucks It’s The Third Time This Week You Are KILLING US” AU

“We’re both alien test subjects who’ve never met before and have to try and plan our escape - bonus points if the aliens are specifically testing for something like amatonormative like All Humans Fall In Love and we’re the black swans of the research since they apparently abducted Only Romantic Allosexuals Aside From Us Somehow” AU

“It’s midnight and you show up on my doorstep unannounced after a long while of us drifting apart, what on earth happened?” AU

“We’re both capable of granting wishes - you’re the monkey’s paw and I’m the guy who’s stuck remedying all the messed up things you have happen to people What Is Wrong With You” AU

And finally…

“I’m laying on the couch at a party drunk/high/exhausted/whatever and you’re looking after me, having only met me that night - I proceed to ramble about how embarrassed I’ll be when I’m older and think back to how I made a fool of myself in front of someone I wanted to be friends with really badly… but luckily for me, you’re flattered that I think you’re super cool” AU

[via-the-cryptid]

So like. A thought that came to me about the Snow Queen AU and the events of Fionna and Cake.

So, while I'm not sure exactly of the logic, but. What if when Snow Betty's crown broke (after the whole being used as a battery thing) was when Fionnaworld lost it's magic? Because the Crown already got kind of busted by the magic drain, and SQ is connected to the crown and stuff. I'm not sure it makes sense, but like. If Betty still has magic even when the Crown isn't actively trying to super-impose another Wizard's madness onto her (and failing), Fionnaworld would still be magic and stuff, so the premise of the show (besides the "look for a different magic crown by traveling across the universe" part) wouldn't exactly apply...

Though, I guess you might have other plans? I just thought like. The Crown getting its phantom circuits fucked up by the magic drain would be an interesting reason for why magic is gone in Fionnaworld, that's all.

I may have a different idea as to how the events of the actual Fionna and Cake show would go, but I think the damage to the crown would at least result in some really weird shit happening in Fionnaworld. like in the episode Broke His Crown, the circuits were rearranging things and everything kept ending up backwards, upside down, and inside out? that basically happens to Fionnaworld for a little while until the crown gets fixed through a combined effort of built-in debugging, Magic Simon, and PB’s VR equipment.

for the actual Fionna and Cake series arc, however, I’ve decided that their world doesn’t actually lose its magic — not in its entirety, at least. It becomes a little more mundane and a little closer to an actual city, like one from before the Mushroom War, but it’s honestly closer to Wizard City or the floating human city than like… New York or Seattle or something. so yes, they’re no longer a genderbent copy of Ooo, but they’re not completely magicless, either.

Fionna and Cake get brought out into Ooo kind of by accident. Magic Simon and Snow Betty were fucking around with interdimensional stuff (not necessarily trying to summon Golb this time, more like trying to world-hop because they were bored) but it went a little sideways and Fionnaworld started having these glowing blue portals appear (because technically, that is what the spell was trying to do, give them a door to the closest alternate reality, they just didn’t expect it to be in Snow Betty’s head). Fionna and Cake decide to go on an expedition to find out what the portals are and where they lead, and… they pop right out of Snow Betty’s head. in the middle of the attempted spell.

and that’s about when the Scarab shows up!

see, he was already alerted by Simon and Betty’s world-hopping attempt, but now they’ve actually succeeded, and that puts them on the level of Scarab’s targets — the ‘gods’ he audits, like Prismo and Cosmic Owl. Magic Simon was already kind of a grey area due to some of the other weird stuff he got into, but now both he and Snow Betty are firmly in the section of Interdimensional Criminal in Scarab’s eyes.

instead of running throughout the multiverse in an attempt to restore the magic to Fionnaworld, their primary goal is simply to get away from the Scarab and specifically to keep Fionna and Cake away. while running, however… Scarab manages to steal Snow Betty’s crown, and that is where they enter the plot of the canon Fionna and Cake. they’re running from the Scarab and looking for a replacement crown, but this time it’s so Betty doesn’t die of 1000-years-old disease.

they do end up getting her original crown back from Scarab and the show ends much the same, but it’s Prismo who separates Fionnaworld with the permission of The Boss instead of it being a Golb-induced dandelion fever trip. the final episode of F&C obviously goes differently as well, but we’ll get into that later bc this is getting a liiiiittle longer than I’d intended.

[dulcisregnumdorm]

Candyfolk lore

TW for discussions of illness symptoms

What are Candyfolk?

Candyfolk are beings ( that can be human, beastmen, merfolk, fae, cy-bugs. etc) who have had their DNA altered due to eating candy that grew in the glace duchy. Most of the time humans mainly refer to themselves as candyfolk while other species will use their previous name to identify but it is not always the case, just preference.

Where did they come from?

In terms of how many different species settled in the Glace Duchy, the Cy-beings (or when they had not evolved from cy-bugs) settled on the continent a long time ago as a weak colony that was kicked out from the greater hive in the Green Wasteland. They settled in the center of the continent near the volcanoes and mountainous regions.

The Humans were dropped off on the continent as punishment for starting a coup against the king in a foreign nation(this could have been around the medieval period in our timeline for reference). They settled more so on the coastline but eventually intermingled with the cy-beings.

As for the beastmen, their presence in the Glace duchy is quite new. Due to what the records say as a dip in the quality of life in the Savanna slums many beastmen were given the opportunity to change citizenship with the Glace Duchy and start anew. This worked out well for the Candyfolk beastmen,Glace Duchy government and the Kingscholar family.

It is unknown when the candy-merfolk showed up on the strawberry milk coasts of the glace duchy. Some argue that they may have been the first ones to settle before the cy-bugs arrived.

What is this Disease?

Even in the modern age both scientists and mages alike are unsure of how candy mutation even exists. According to many studies mutation occurs when any living organism eats an organic piece of candy that naturally grew out of the candy soil of the duchy. Depending on the type of candy consumed, symptoms can vary.

What are the Stages?

Let us use the story of the red velvet baroness’ mutation as an example. When she first ate a piece of red velvet cake there were no visible signs, just the mention of a slight increase in adrenaline and dopamine.

Later it was said that in the next five hours the young baroness began to feel very fatigued, she started to show physical symptoms of said fatigue however she also started to show the signs of a fever and was soon rushed to a local hospital in the duchy. 

As the doctors realized that the baroness was mutating there was nothing they could do to reverse the painful process. All that could be done is bide time hoping that the baroness's pain of her cells heating up and cooking each other would eventually end.

Thankfully for the baroness it did, and she successfully mutated, the odds of a successful pastry-based mutation are usually low in numbers but other things like age, diet and family illnesses can have a profound influence as well. The only thing now the baroness needed to do was receive therapy due to the mental trauma she experienced during the transformation.

[eletricheart]

Saturn

(Donna Beneviento x Reader)

*image creds to the owner

Word count: 845

"You taught me the courage of stars before you left

How light carries on endlessly, even after death

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

Do you know that moment when suddenly  everything stops, one minute becomes an hour. That's how Donna felt when she first saw you, frozen in time.

Ever since that day, she kept watching your bakery from a distance, longing to have a single glimpse of you. It wasn't long until she became obsessed, always following you, stopping anyone from getting too close.

You weren't stupid, you knew what the Lady was doing, finding it endearing, after all she was your favorite customer. So, you started talking by yourself, telling her about your day, the books you were reading, the next cakes you planned to make.

Donna was enchanted by you, she adored the times you hummed while baking, or when you complimented the flowers along your path, which the dollmaker was responsible for creating.

Angie desperately wanted to meet you, to see you up close, but the lady always refused, being too hesitant whether you would like her or not.

Donna was as satisfied as someone could be in such a situation, even the other lords noticed how brighter she seemed.

However, one can not be in all places at the same time. It was truly unfortunate how much damage a fever could do.

You were sick for days, Donna knew that and observed you more concerned as you didn't stop working. 

One day, she was at one of Mother Miranda's meetings. You started to feel weak during work so went back home to rest. The short path was excruciating when it's hard to breathe and the fever has skyrocketed. You did make home, passing out on the couch.

Lady Beneviento was nervous once you weren't found at the bakery, running to your house, hoping for everything to be fine. She found you uncomfortably laying on the couch, therefore made quick to take you to your bed . Once settled, Donna prepared tea and a cold bath, writing down a note for you, in which you never got the chance to read. 

Waking up in a delusional state, you called out for her, asking to stay, and how could the woman say no.

She took care of you for the next week, until your apparent recovery. You obviously thanked her with dinner and late night talkings, ending up in an honest friendship.

You met Angie two weeks later, the doll having run off to find you and scaring Donna for hours until she found both of you walking to her house. Angie told the lady everything, all of the jokes, the dances and cooking, leaving her speechless and even more in love.

You got sick again two months later, staying at Donna's since she insisted on taking care of you and having Mother Miranda over.

You lived a happy life, a healthy one, but some diseases of the blood can not be healed. The priestess knew it, you knew it, and Donna didn't want to.

Mother Miranda did all she could, providing some treatments, medicine. The dollmaker tried to forget the truth by following a routine with you, such as helping you with the garden, cooking together, crafting dolls with you by her side, making little clothes.

Things were well for a while, you still felt ill from time to time, but Mother Miranda was there to help. So you both could stay in the domestic life haze, not wanting to count the time for it to end.

5 years, that's how long it took for you to get worse. Miranda's treatment wasn't being effective anymore, and you felt weaker as the days passed, sometimes not even leaving the bed.

You still tried to be positive, to make Donna smile at least once a day, to listen to Angie's plans for when you got better and encourage the other dolls's attempts in lifting you up.

It was the first day of autumn when you felt better, managing to leave the bed on your own and make breakfast. The lady almost panicked once she saw you weren't in your room but was quickly calmed by your singing in the kitchen. 

It was a good day, you played with Angie, read with Donna and collected leaves with the dolls. When the night fell, you set up some blankets and cushions on the front porch and asked the dollmaker to watch the stars with you.

The wind was calm, the waterfall cold was surprisingly bearable, the skies were sparkling, and so you told her about your day, you told her about herself, about how she made you feel, how lucky you were to have existed with her, and how much you truly loved her.

Donna wasn't the same after you left, feeling grief for you, anger towards Mother Miranda, and disappointment in not saving you. She wanted to go back to when you met, to ask Miranda early for her help, to proclaim her love for you every day.

She missed you dearly, finding you in small moments, when she's watching the sunset, when her flowers grow. That's when Donna understands how lucky she was to exist with you.

With shortness of breath

You explained the infinite

And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist"

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

masterlist

[mariana-oconnor]

The Yellow Face pt 2

Last time I was possibly overly critical of Mr Grant (or Jack?) Munro who was not dealing with his wife's curious behaviour very calmly. I stand by the fact that barging into people's houses in a fit of fury is very much not a good response to thinking your wife is lying, but I guess we'll see if I'm right.

“It seemed to be of an unnatural color, and to have a strange rigidity about the features. When I approached, it vanished with a jerk.”

An unnatural colour. Yes, both 'chalky white' and 'livid yellow' at the same time. I didn't bring this up the first time, but I probably should have. Was the face white or yellow? The title of the story indicates yellow, but the first description definitely, clearly, stated 'white'.

“Have you ever seen a photograph of her first husband?” “No; there was a great fire at Atlanta very shortly after his death, and all her papers were destroyed.” “And yet she had a certificate of death. You say that you saw it.” “Yes; she got a duplicate after the fire.”

A lot of very convenient events right there. And of course the death certificate comes up again - although now there is indication that it might be erroneous. I didn't know until recently that apparently you can just go to the hospital where you were born in the UK and say 'I've lost my birth certificate, I need another one.' I assume there is more to it than that, but I can't imagine there was in the 1880s. 'Hey, my husband died of Yellow Fever and I lost his death certificate in a fire, can I get a new one please. Yes, his name was Coen Siddence?"

"Let me advise you, then, to return to Norbury, and to examine the windows of the cottage again. If you have reason to believe that it is inhabited, do not force your way in, but send a wire to my friend and me."

Don't force your way into the other people's house. Good advice there from Holmes. He only follows it sometimes himself, but I do appreciate that he's being clear on this front. Do not break and enter, Mr Munro.

“I am afraid that this is a bad business, Watson,” said my companion, as he returned after accompanying Mr. Grant Munro to the door. “What do you make of it?” “It had an ugly sound,” I answered. “Yes. There’s blackmail in it, or I am much mistaken.” “And who is the blackmailer?”

OK, so probably not her kid. Probably her former husband who isn't actually dead, I guess. Because the death certificate which was so very specifically mentioned is not real.

“Yes, a provisional one. But I shall be surprised if it does not turn out to be correct. This woman’s first husband is in that cottage.”

Welp, theory 1 it is. Theory 2 has been thrown out of the window.

Her husband developed some hateful qualities; or shall we say that he contracted some loathsome disease, and became a leper or an imbecile?

Holmes... I'm not going to bother to unpack that but... okay then.

Right the term imbecile was one of those that used to refer to a very specific level of IQ and apparently there was also considered to be such a thing as 'moral imbecility' which was believed to be connected to genetic criminality and part of eugenics (hoooooo boy). Basically I don't really know what it means in this context, but I'm guessing he's going for the moral meaning rather than an IQ issue as I doubt someone with "a mental age of three to seven years" would really be hatching a dastardly blackmailing plot. Although my nephew can be particularly cunning sometimes in his attempts to get more cake, and he's younger than that, so... what do I know?

HOWEVER.

After all of this, we have to remember that this story started by saying the Holmes was wrong.

So maybe I'm right after all. Hidden child is back on the table, boys!

I was going to put the 'looks like meat's back on the menu boys LotR gif here, but decided implied cannibalism of theoretical disabled children is probably not the best idea I've ever had, so have this gif of Jeremy Brett as Holmes instead.

"She has been married three years, and believes that her position is quite secure, having shown her husband the death certificate of some man whose name she has assumed, when suddenly her whereabouts is discovered by her first husband; or, we may suppose, by some unscrupulous woman who has attached herself to the invalid."

Ah, no... the blackmailer in Holmes version is the northern woman who opened the door and wasn't particularly welcoming. Though it makes no sense why she'd be from northern Britain when the husband would, presumably, have been cared for in the US and she would, also presumably, have had to come over from there with him in order to hunt down his wife.

So she's either really good at accents or... she was British to begin with and knew them over there...?

Taking down with her the photograph which had probably been demanded from her.

This is a very weird demand if Holmes' theory is correct. The photo was one of the things that made me think it was a child, because giving your child a picture of you to look at is just... a nice thing. Taking a photo of the woman you're blackmailing is... I guess it's a control thing, or a weird stalkery thing.

"...on which the wife, knowing that he would come straight down to the cottage, hurried the inmates out at the back door, into the grove of fir-trees..."

Again, a strange detail for the blackmailing plot. This implies that Effie would have had some sort of control over her blackmailers. Surely they would be more likely to stay? Her husband wouldn't recognise the guy, by his own admission. Or they'd leave of their own volition, surely. But allowing their blackmailee to smuggle them from the house seems very weird.

But we had not a very long time to wait for that. It came just as we had finished our tea. “The cottage is still tenanted,” it said. “Have seen the face again at the window. Will meet the seven o’clock train, and will take no steps until you arrive.”

A round of applause, please, for Mr Munro's self control, which appears to have finally returned to him.

“What is your plan, then?” asked Holmes, as he walked down the dark tree-lined road. “I am going to force my way in and see for myself who is in the house. I wish you both to be there as witnesses.”

It was a brief reunion, alas.

“For God’s sake, don’t Jack!” she cried. “I had a presentiment that you would come this evening. Think better of it, dear! Trust me again, and you will never have cause to regret it.” “I have trusted you too long, Effie,” he cried, sternly. “Leave go of me! I must pass you. My friends and I are going to settle this matter once and forever!” He pushed her to one side, and we followed closely after him. As he threw the door open an old woman ran out in front of him and tried to bar his passage, but he thrust her back

Effie... please just talk to your husband. Clearly the 'trust me' line isn't working. Just... like... tell him. I really hope you married someone you can trust. Although, given... y'know, Victorian era etc. maybe you didn't. But communication is a really good strategy.

Jack, Grant... Grack, whatever your name is... Just.. stop barging into people's homes. And telling your wife you don't trust her like that is a dick mood. You need to calm down and talk this through, too.

In the corner, stooping over a desk, there sat what appeared to be a little girl. Her face was turned away as we entered, but we could see that she was dressed in a red frock, and that she had long white gloves on.

Hidden child. HA!

Also... Grack you just frightened a child. I hope you're happy with yourself, you great numpty.

Holmes, with a laugh, passed his hand behind the child’s ear, a mask peeled off from her countenance.

First - mask! Ha again! I mean... you really shouldn't touch the kid's mask without permission, Holmes.

I... did not expect the mask to be hiding the fact that the kid is Black. But I live in the 21st century, I guess. Yeah...

I burst out laughing, out of sympathy with her merriment; but Grant Munro stood staring, with his hand clutching his throat.

At least she's laughing too, I guess. But Grack, you need to prove yourself not a terrible person pretty damn quick. I still have a few shreds of faith in you.

She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a portrait within of a man strikingly handsome and intelligent-looking, but bearing unmistakable signs upon his features of his African descent.

Well that's a super sideways way to describe his race, particularly after the choice of words to describe the kid. Also, hello racist implications of that 'but' right there. Le sigh. This story is really pulling a bait and switch by calling itself 'The Yellow Face', isn't it. You expect racism against one group of people but Surprise! it's about another.

"When I left her in America,” she continued, “it was only because her health was weak, and the change might have done her harm. She was given to the care of a faithful Scotch woman who had once been our servant."

Not going to touch the colourism of the passage before this with a barge pole. That's a whole heap of ugh that I do not have the historical or personal understanding to unpack in a way the subject deserves.

Also, the woman is apparently Scottish, not just vaguely 'Northern'. It does read as a Scottish accent when I look back on it, but still. Coming from someone living in Norbury, which is in South London, 'Northern' could mean anything higher than Watford! Northern? How vague can you be?

(Incidentally if someone from Berwick-Upon-Tweed calls you Southern, it can mean anything south of Sunderland. The Midlands of England is Schroedinger's land. It lives in a permanent superposition of being both The North and The South. Your interpretation depends entirely on which direction you're looking at it from.)

"But when chance threw you in my way, Jack, and I learned to love you, I feared to tell you about my child. God forgive me, I feared that I should lose you, and I had not the courage to tell you. I had to choose between you, and in my weakness I turned away from my own little girl."

Dick move, Effie. On so many points. My theory was waaaaay more charitable to you than you deserved apparently.

"At last, however, there came an overwhelming desire to see the child once more. I struggled against it, but in vain."

Shucks. You wanted to see the child you abandoned. How terrible.

This little girl deserves so much better.

“We can talk it over more comfortably at home,” said he. “I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.”

That... is optimistic. I mean... you're essentially just walking out on the little girl immediately. But he seems to be saying that he's not racist, at least. So yay for that?

That poor kid. For so many reasons.

EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that I missed a paragraph when I was reading, where he picks up the little girl:

It was a long two minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence, and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think. He lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door.

OK! Far more satisfying ending if your brain doesn't skip a paragraph. D'oh!

That's really sweet. You have redeemed yourself Grack. Still have those anger and trust issues to deal with, but this is good. I approve. And I approve that Watson approves. Yay. There is a happy ending.

Still some marital issues, though.

Not another word did he say of the case until late that night, when he was turning away, with his lighted candle, for his bedroom. “Watson,” said he, “if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.

I remember this ending. I like this little nod to Holmes being aware of his own failings. And his trusting of Watson to keep him in line.

Well... I was right. And I absolutely allowed ACD to manipulate me into feeling smug for having beaten Holmes to the punchline. I was not expecting the race reveal, sure. But I think I can be forgiven for that. Effie needs to take a long hard look at herself in the mirror. Grack needs to sit down and deal with his temper problems. And that little girl needs to not be forced to wear a mask and gloves and stay inside all day.

Also, both Effie and Grack need to learn to trust each other. I get different time period, different attitudes, different expectations, but maybe you shouldn't marry a person if you can't tell him about your kid? And maybe talk to your wife rather than going full on B&E?

[djclawson]

Public Service Announcement

It occurred to me that some fanfic authors are very young, and have grown up on tropes. As you go your way in the world, you will discover that people act differently. Here are some things I've gained from being an adult in the real world for a long time:

No unattached adult man has ever gone into a flower shop, except to buy flowers for his mother, and you can get those at the supermarket.

Your local barista may not, in fact, be looking forward all day to the 20 seconds you spend buying coffee. They work in the service industry. It is their job to be pleasant so that you will come back. They may just want to get through their shift and go home.

People mostly buy cakes at places that sell food in general, not shops that specifically sell cakes.

If you did have your soulmate's first words written on your body, they mostly likely would just be "Hey" or "Hello" like everyone else.

If there was a deadly disease that could be contracted due to un-confessed love, the most logical thing to do is to immediately confess your love to everyone in your social circle, whether you are the victim or they are, so they don't die.

Very few cozy towns have extremely hardcore S&M clubs.

You can meet someone, not like them upon first impression, and then continue to have that impression because they are not very likeable.

Very few people with colds, the flu, and/or high fevers are interested in having sex.

Sex is not a good way to cool off during a heatwave.

You can share a bed with someone of the same sex and not be gay. Interesting note: teenage boys will often refuse to share a bed with other teenage boys and opt to sleep on the floor or in the bathtub because of learned homophobia, and the fact that teenage boys are generally gross. Good hotels will provide you with a cot if requested.

It is harder than you think to get so drunk in Vegas as to accidentally get married to your best friend. They have legal safeguards against that.

Being a camboy/camgirl or a porn star is not the glamorous life you may think it is.

I have been informed by reliable sources that the first time you have sex actually kind of sucks.

The digestive system and reproductive organs are not in any way connected.

[missguomeiyun]

Homecooking [May ed]

Anyone else reading who has "Sun-jae fever"? lol my month of May was basically suffering from this disease. .. & now that the drama Lovely Runner is over, I'm suffering from Monday illness T___T

Leftover gumbo soup (Campbell) with pasta & more veggies. Having rice & long pasta together was kinda weird but you know. .. some Korean soups contains noodles (usually the japchae glass noodles) & that's eaten with rice as well :O

JJM =]

I personally prefer jjambbong but you know. . haha once in a while, jjajangmyeon is great! This wasn't from a kit; I purchased the noodles & the sauce separately. & also added beef to the sauce instead of pork.

My version of a "bun" - aka Vietnamese rice vermicelli with various toppings. I have chicken breast (seasoned with lemon pepper), cucumbers & spring rolls.

Wanted to make a "big pot" item.. . made this ramyeon ddeokbokki. Contains: rice cake, carrot (need carotenoids), cabbage, kimchi, & pork belly.

Ate it with rice & topped with seaweed~

The leftovers tossed into soup form with vermicelli noodles. Who else out there converts leftovers into soup dishes?? :S I don't like making big batches of food bcos I get sick of eating it but things like ramyeon ddeokbokki with a bunch of ingredients is hard to portion down. Normally, it's eaten with rice but I don't like rice that much. .. so oftentimes, I make a soup with some form of noodles with what I have left.

As I was saying. .. I don't like rice that much xD here is a rice bowl =P

& more rice! The soup is a cross between budae jjigae & deonjang jjigae. As deonjang soup base but I added sausage & kimchi to it.

Another one of this Bon-juk congee. This was sooo tasty! I liked this one more than the previous kimchi & squid one.

Anita's creative cooking using expired garlic & chive cream cheese.

I made meatballs & stuffed cream cheese into them. For the sauce, I added more cream cheese, butter, lemon pepper seasoning & black current balsamic vinegar. But then it got so thick so I added milk...

The above was made as a pasta sauce.

It tastes better than it looks, okay? haha You might not believe me but it's true! I am honest when it comes to personal opinions :D I think it could use a little bit more "lemon" but I don't regularly have it available. It's missing a little zesty/tangy kick, you know what I mean?

Black peppercorn steak with ramyeon. SO GOOD!!!

Oh look- another rice bowl. Ribs + air-fried eggplant.

Thick rice noodles with baby bokchoy & fatty beef, feat 1 spoon of my friend Susan's mom's special hot sauce.

Beef & seaweed soup & rice. .. Wow, didn't realize I had so much rice this month HAHA this is crazy!

Thick rice noodles with bokchoy & Busan fish cake. I normally have the flat ones & recently got a bag of these hollow ones. It was okay; I prefer the flat ones personally. They're easier to cut & maybe it's just a psychological factor but I think those ones cook faster. Could also be the brand/ingredients of the fish cake. In theory, if the thickness is the same, & it's just in a diff form, they should take around the same time to cook, right?

That's it~

Sorry for taking sooooo long for this post. Been busy/lazy / fangirling ... hehe

[rabbitcruiser]

National California Strawberry Day

National California Strawberry Day falls on March 21 and you bet it’s the perfect holiday for nutrition lovers to bask in the fruity deliciousness of one of the world’s favorite fruits — strawberries! A whole day dedicated to strawberries? Why not? Not only does this yummy heart-shaped fruit warm countless hearts and delight bellies, but it’s also packed with goodness benefiting our heart, skin, brain, and much more. National California Strawberry Day was birthed in 1983 by the California Strawberry Advisory Board (now California Strawberry Commission) in celebration of strawberries, which can be enjoyed in a variety of recipes.

History of National California Strawberry Day

We all know strawberries rank among the world’s preferred fruits right now but did you know the existence of strawberries can be traced back centuries? According to popular belief, there are traces of strawberry plants in ancient Rome in 234 B.C., their use then was medicinal — they were used to treat depression, fever, kidney stones, and sore throats. By the 14th century B.C., the tiny rare fruit was cultivated in France. In America, the Europeans first discovered strawberries in 1588. However, the variants of strawberries enjoyed today differ from the earlier ones. In 1712, native strawberries landed in France from Chile they were crossed with European strawberries, and the result was the delicious, large berries enjoyed today.

The small bright, juicy, red strawberry, scientific name — Fragaria ananassa, rumored to be berries just like blackberries and raspberries aren’t really in the botanical sense of the word as they are derived from a single flower with more than one ovary, as compared to true berries from one flower and an ovary with several seeds. Examples of true berries are blueberries, gooseberries, cranberries, grapes, tomatoes, bananas, and peppers.

Strawberries are reputed to deliver a world of goodness: Wade off cancer, boost immunity, boost eye, and brain health, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, among numerous benefits are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. Plus, strawberries seat comfortably as a low-calorie food too which helps with weight loss. Strawberries are also a highlight as they are dubbed as one of spring’s first fruits.

National California Strawberry Day timeline

234 B.C. Strawberries are First Found in Rome

The strawberry plant is first found in ancient Rome but is used for medicinal purposes.

1588 Europeans First Discover Strawberries

In America, the Fragaria virginiana, a species of strawberry native to North America, is found.

1712 Much Loved Strawberry Hybrid

Owing to a French excursion to Chile, the widely grown garden strawberry is born.

19th Century Strawberry Love Widespread

Fresh strawberries become a luxury, being served with cream, and champagne, among other delicacies.

National California Strawberry Day FAQs

How old is the oldest strawberry?

The royal sovereign dates back to 1892 and is one of the oldest varieties of strawberries that still delights households to date.

What is the sweetest variant of strawberry?

The Alpine Strawberry, also known as the wild strawberry, is small, and super sweet with a distinct flavor; it is easy to cultivate too. Such a delight.

What’s a fun fact about strawberries?

Strawberries belong to the rose family. It’s little wonder they smell just as nice too.

National California Strawberry Day Activities

Learn a new recipe

Enjoy a strawberry treat

Pick your strawberry

Strawberries come in about 600 varieties and can be enjoyed in plenty of ways; you could try the easy strawberry milkshake, perfect for any time of the day. All you need is frozen strawberries, milk, strawberry ice cream, whipped cream, and of course, strawberries.

There are lots and lots of options out there; strawberry sweets, strawberry ice cream, strawberry cakes, chocolate-covered strawberries, and strawberry shortbread cookies. Let your heart guide you!

The sunny weather brings the perfect opportunity to be outdoors picking your summer fruits — strawberries. Quick tip, mornings are best to pick and don’t forget to give yourself a treat once done.

5 Awesome Facts About Strawberries

The first fruits to ripen in spring

Strawberries are a terrific aphrodisiac

Strawberries were a symbol of love

Strawberries stand out

California is a major producer

Strawberries and honeyberries are known as the first fruits to ripen with the welcome of spring.

Just like chocolate, strawberries are known to boost mood, increase libido, and heighten pleasure.

In ancient Rome, strawberries were regarded as the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love.

Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside and that disqualifies them as berries.

California produces more than 80% of strawberries consumed in North America.

Why We Love National California Strawberry Day

Strawberries are super delicious

It’s the perfect healthy snack

Strawberries are symbolic

This nature’s delight is yummy and can be eaten in a variety of ways. Indulge in smoothies, puddings, ice cream, cake, breakfast fruits, desserts, or after-dinner snacks, depending on your preference.

Strawberries are low in calories so we don’t have to worry about packing extra pounds while enjoying the treat that provides tons of nutritional benefits. We love this!

The delicious treat has long been associated with purity, love, fertility, and rebirth. Go ahead, gift your loved one some strawberries today!

Source

[fatfables]

Big Ben (3 of 3)

The winter was even harder on Ben’s health than the summer had been. He hated going out in the cold and started to stay in bed all day to stay warm. His hands and feet now often felt frozen cold. He would try to warm them by drinking vodka. His nerves now had him on four packs a day. Thank God for the beautiful Diego and his daily deliveries.

The lovers spent Christmas together and what a feast they had. Diego fed Ben more than ever. Christmas dinner was massive, a fat turkey that could easily have fed a family of six. Mountains of roasted and mashed potatoes, big bowls full of roast vegetables, and pints of thick milky gravy. Ben wondered how Diego could afford all this but didn’t ask. They shared a whole Christmas cake and Ben also ate a whole Christmas pudding. Diego was also stuffing his own swelling belly. He couldn’t help himself but join in. Stuffing this sad sack of lard was just such good fun. Ben drank like a fish as well. His face grew redder and his limbs more yellow. Everywhere else his skin was a sickly white. His once thick curly hair was now thinning and he heaved and coughed terribly whenever he tried to move. His massive belly hung so long and low. The sight of the state of him made Diego as hard as a rock. He kissed and sniffed at every inch of sweaty unwashed fat. He took in the smell of all the diseased parts of him and pawed all over his obese parts while Ben lay back smoking heavily. He also had a massive boner from watching Diego. This once thin seventeen year old boy was now a chunky twenty year old young man. He had gone from a 28 inch waist to 36 inches in just under three years. His belly, chest, ass, and thighs were all now soft and round. Still hairless, smooth and tanned, he was a real rolly-polly Romeo. Ben couldn’t believe that he had transformed Diego so. He was both turned on and repulsed by himself. They continued to fill each other’s bellies and fucked for hours.

The big day came on their three year anniversary, 18th February 1994. Diego hadn’t realised how close he was the previous evening when he had fed Ben ten pints of lager, four portions of fish and chips, two Sarah Lee gateaus, and three packets of fig rolls. He had left the 25 stone depressed alcoholic on the edge of ecstacy with a promise of more tomorrow. When he returned in the morning though it was obvious that Ben was not at all well. He had pissed  himself but had been unable to move to clean it. He was shaking and sweating profusely. His once overblown red face had turned ghostly white and his eyes a kind of dirty yellow. Diego was delighted.

He dropped his shopping bag full of chocolate rolls on the floor and ran over to Ben, “Oh babe, you don’t look well.” His voice was already hinting at a fake level of concern. “You need to feed a fever. Don’t worry I’ll look after you.” He picked the plastic bag back up, opened the first packet of chocolate rolls and started pushing them into Ben’s mouth. He made him eat thirty. He checked Ben’s pulse and it was increasing. He would have to go now before it was too late. He couldn’t bear the thought of missing this after putting in so much hard work. “I gotta go get some more supplies and call someone. I’ll be back soon babe.” He kissed Ben on his pale sweaty cheek and grabbed a handful of belly fat and gave it a good squeeze. He then ran out the door.

He returned an hour later with three litres of vodka, six large brown paper bags with a golden arch logo on them, and a nineteen year old femboy called Danni.

Danni wore red high heels and black lace stockings. He was topless, exposing his curvy midriff and pierced nipples. He wore black eye shadow, had long dark dyed hair, and spoke in a camp cockney accent. “Oh wow babe, he’s actually real! You actually did this. You’re just the best ever.” He leaned over and kissed Diego on the lips. Diego kissed him back and slid two fingers along Danni’s ass crack. “Oh Ben,” he said, “I’ve never introduced you. This is my girlfriend Danni. We’ve been together for the last three and a half years. It was actually her idea to respond to your advert. You have her to thank for getting us together.” “He doesn’t look very grateful,” Danni commented.

Ben looked beyond terrible, his huge belly was convulsing, he completely lacked energy. He tried to speak but was surprised to discover that he couldn’t. Diego came up to him and stuffed a cheeseburger into his mouth, grabbed his chin and forced him to chew it. He noticed a tear running down from Ben’s eye. “Oh don’t be like that. You will always be my Daddy. You’re my Daddy and you fuck me. She’s my girlfriend and I fuck her, It was always going to be this way. I had to prove to her that I could actually do this.” He forced a second cheeseburger into Ben’s mouth before he had even swallowed the first one. “Oh, are you struggling babe,” he said “Let me get you something to wash that down with.” Danni passed him one of the bottles of vodka and he poured all of it into Ben’s mouth. He then fed him three more cheeseburgers. Ben gulped and wretched like he was going to puke, but he didn’t. Diego took his clothes off. His massively hard young dick looked longer and rounder than ever. He did a provocative little dance that caused his own soft fat to gently jiggle. He was so smooth and juicy and powerful. God, Danni loved him. She needed him inside her.

He picked up two more bags of McDonald’s and handed them to Diego. “Feed this dumb fucker up and get this over with. I’m bored of him. He’s so fat and ugly. I need you, not him.” 

Diego followed his instructions with joy. Fifteen more burgers and an equal amount of fries went down Ben’s gullet despite the fact that his breathing had become slower and heavier. These were followed by a second bottle of vodka. Everything went dark. Diego slapped him in the face. “Stay awake you fat piece of filthy shit!” he screamed at him. “I need you to see this.” Diego took his pulse again and said, “almost.” Ben was no longer sure what was happening. The whole world was blurry and the pain in his chest was growing stronger. At times he drifted off into his own thoughts, memories of his childhood, of his parents. But then he’d be brought back to the present by Diego stuffing more food into his mouth. Sweet, sweet Diego. How he didn’t deserve this boy. He had used and abused him yet here he was still caring for him even when he was seriously ill. Ben felt like such a piece of shit.

Danni pulled a wooden chair up at the bottom of Ben’s sofa-bed and bent himself over it. His thick pear shaped arse stuck up like a perfect heart shape. He put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it while staring at Diego’s thick cock. He was so impressed that Diego had done this for him. Naked, sexy, tubby, Diego climbed onto the sofa-bed and poured the remainder of the McDonald’s bags into Ben’s mouth. It was mostly cold fries and scraps of chicken nuggets. He stroked the top of Ben’s massively full belly. It was super hot how this tub of lard could keep consuming even on his deathbed. He felt for a pulse in Ben’s neck but struggled to find one as it was so weak. “This is it.” he said. He poured the third bottle of vodka down Ben’s throat, lit two cigarettes and put them both in Ben’s mouth, closed his lips together to hold them in place and gave him a final kiss. “Obrigado papai gordo,” he whispered.

Ben felt the pain surge down his arm. Danni felt the pain as his well hung boyfriend entered him from behind. Diego’s thick thighs slapped against the femboy’s fat pearshaped cheeks. They both moaned and groaned with pleasure. Ben’s chest felt like it had exploded. He could feel his overfull stomach still gurgling away, pointlessly trying to digest his final feast. His massive ball shaped beer belly turned completely yellow as his fat riddled liver had already packed in. It was the first part of him to die. Diego and Danni kept fucking. Their eyes fixed on Ben for any sign of change. Diego stared at his massive yellow balloon belly. The belly he had created. Fuck that filthy fat slob had eaten so fucking much. Diego kept pounding Danni’s ass. Danni was disgusted by the sight of Ben. He was so swollen and misshapen. What sort of loser could ever allow themselves to end up like this? She had always wanted to see someone die and now Diego was making her dream come true. “Harder, harder!” she screamed as Diego picked up the pace. Ben was looking at Diego, he was so beautiful. Sweat was running down Diego’s recently rounder face as he thrusted back and forth. He couldn’t believe that Diego was fucking him. He had been so sinful, so lazy all of his life. What had he ever done to deserve a boyfriend like this?

Diego shouted at Danni to look. He pointed at Ben’s face. “This is it. This is fucking it!” He forced himself in harder, deeper, and faster than ever before. Ben’s eyes were glazed, the lovers could see his brain function fading away behind them. His massive belly rose three or four inches with a long slow intake of breath. “Yes!” screamed Diego. “Fucking Yes!” His last breath out was accompanied with a ghostly deep ‘oooogggghhhh’ sound as his chest rattled. His belly was now completely still. Diego had never felt so much cum shoot out of his dick in one go. Danni felt it all rush inside him and shouted “Weeeee!”

The boys fell onto the floor with exhaustion and lay panting in each other's arms. They stayed in that blissful state for a good twenty minutes or more. They would make passionate love three more times that day before leaving the bedsit.

[kxlinthesky]

EPISODE 6 PART 2 LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 5-10 English Translation

The next day:

“Come on, please?”

“No way.”

“....”

“You’re not getting out of this one, Owl.”

Owl groaned, long and loud and despairing. How many hundreds of times had they had this conversation already?

“C’mon, Owl, give it up. Ralph’s outside, and so’s Hannah – she looks furious, by the way. There’s no way you can escape.”

“No way.”

“So this is how you betray me, Nick... Ellie....”

“It’s not like we want to, y’know.”

“No way.”

Nick plopped down on one of the wooden chairs with a heaving sigh... and rested his chin on the edge of the bed in front of him. Ellie did the same next to him.

Owl was sleeping in that bed. Or, more accurately, someone was forcing him to sleep in the bed.

It had been a full day since the tumultuous events that had plagued the city.

Owl had been admitted to a medical facility that Tristan ran. He’d sworn up and down that he didn’t need it, of course, but every other person around him strongly disagreed, and he wasn’t going to win against their combined might. He’d looked so worn out and shabby after the dust settled, with his golden hair caked in dried blood, and it had taken every ounce of effort he had just to stand after he’d completely drained his magic reserves... so of course he’d been summarily bundled into the hospital. He’d actually been pretty docile at first, but as soon as he got word that neither he nor Ellie had been infected with the Black Rose Disease, he’d immediately demanded he be discharged so he could “look into ‘those guys’ as soon as possible.”

He’d only been hospitalized for four hours.

Naturally, his discharge request had been quite firmly denied.

When official channels didn’t work, Owl decided to take matters into his own hands. It didn’t matter how many times he tried to sneak out, though; Ralph and Hannah had set traps, and they kept catching him and marching him back to his room after every single escape attempt.

Which led to their current conversation.

“On top of that nasty blow to the head, you’re also suffering from some broken ribs and magic exhaustion. You really should be taking it easy.” Jack slipped a thermometer out of Owl’s armpit.  “And look, you’ve even got a bit of a fever, too. I prescribe complete bed rest. You really shouldn’t have been moving around so much with a head injury in the first place.”

He made a show of waving a pair of bloodied gloves around – the very gloves he’d lent to Owl, the white ones with the healing technique embroidered on them that Owl had used for first aid during the battle against Krinos. They weren’t really “white” anymore, though, not with the extensive bloodstains marring the fabric.

Owl’s face pulled into an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry I got them so dirty,” he said. “I know they mean a lot to you.”

Jack’s eyebrows nearly shot off his face. “I’m not mad about that!” He lightly ground his knuckles into Owl’s bandaged forehead. “You can use them all you want, I know Eliza doesn’t mind! What I’m mad about is you not taking good care of yourself!”

“... I take care of –”

“You rushed your treatment as soon as you were brought in and then you went right back out there to help the people who were infected with the Black Rose Disease! And you were going around left and right shooting your disassembling bullets to treat everyone who was Demonized! Did you really think you could use that much alchemy in a single day without resting properly?! Of course you used up all your magic! If you had messed up at all you would have died!”

Owl’s eyes widened. He’d never seen kind, gentle Jack so angry before. The furious fire in his friend’s narrowed eyes looked almost foreign on his face, in fact, for just how much it clashed with the Jack he’d come to know. “Even you’re mad...” he mumbled.

“Of course I am! My friend was out being unbelievably reckless with his health! I’m furious!”

“... Sorry.”

“Yeah, you’d better apologize. A lot.” Jack glared for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped in a sigh. “But I know you probably had to be a little reckless, given everything.” He reached out and took Owl’s hand in a handshake. “On behalf of everyone you saved, thank you. Thanks to you, most of the people who caught the Disease were saved. They’re carriers now, of course, and they’ll need to get follow-up exams, but they’ll be able to get back to their normal daily lives soon.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that. Honestly, I don’t really remember much of what happened.”

“That’d be because of the head injury.”

“Besides, you and Tristan took care of the important stuff, right?”

A complicated expression flitted across Jack’s face. “Sir Tristan and his state alchemist friends, yes,” he replied. “They were also the ones to study why Miss Maud... no, sorry, Miss Matilda’s body remained after she died.”

“Wait, what? They did?”

“Yes... as it turns out, she’d been clutching a certain stone fragment in her hand when she passed. The power of the stone preserved her body, apparently.”

“A stone... I didn’t realize she was holding one.”

“It makes sense you didn’t, its power in and of itself was extremely weak. But it was a healing power, we think.”

“A healing power?”

“Or rather... maybe not a ‘power,’ per se, but a powerful wish stored inside. The stone had been stolen from Miss Matilda’s mother’s body, actually, so maybe she was drawing on her mother’s love?” A faintly bitter smile rose to Jack’s face. He was well aware how strange it sounded coming from a doctor like himself.

“How could you tell it was her mother’s?” Owl asked.

“She told us herself. Quote, ‘my father stole this stone from my mother,’ unquote.”

“What?”

Jack sighed. “Put a bunch of state alchemists in one room and you get to see some absurd power being thrown around. Sir Tristan used that stone as a base to reconstruct what we would call her soul. It was a stroke of luck that they found her own azoth in the ruins of the salon. She... wasn’t really resuscitated, though. It was more... he combined the last bits of magic in her body with the ‘soul’ of her mother in the stone she’d been carrying, or something like that?” He shrugged with a thoughtful hum. “Well, there’s no real precedent for what he did, so I don’t exactly know how to describe it.... It was so high-level, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.... But in any event, Miss Matilda’s magic was strong enough that he was able to restore her soul, though half of it is actually her mother’s soul sort of stitched together with hers.”

“So... what you’re saying is...?”

“She’s alive and well. She’s got no relatives, so once she’s all healed up we thought she might work here at this facility. It seems she has quite the gift of foresight.”

“No relatives? What about Duke Fitz?”

“You could say he incurred Sir Tristan’s wrath, I guess? From what I hear, his title was revoked. He’s not a duke anymore.”

“Ahh... I see....” Something in Owl uncoiled at that, all the tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying finally slipping away. His voice lowered to a relieved, almost trembling whisper. “I’m glad.... Thank you, Jack, really, thank you....”

Jack’s face did that complicated little dance again. “Like I said, it wasn’t me, it was all Sir Tristan. I couldn’t even give you the proper support you needed, and I won’t lie, that’s been weighing on me a fair bit.”

“That’s not true. You were working your hardest to help. I’m guessing Tristan was keeping your nose to the grindstone? Making all these unreasonable demands?”

“Well... things were busy?” Jack hedged. “But it was all a learning experience. I’ll study up so that next time I can help you properly.”

“I thought you were plenty help as it was. If anything, I feel like I should apologize for you having to look after both me and Tristan.”

“No, there’s no need for that. But if you’re feeling a little guilty, maybe you can at least promise that you won’t do anything rash from now on?”

Owl went rather tellingly silent.

“Otherwise, I might just suggest that Sir Tristan build a hospital right next door to your agency.”

“... Mmgh.”

“Well?”

“... If a case crops up, I’m going to pursue it. So....”

“So?”

“... I can’t make any promises.”

“You –” Jack blew out a sigh, then jabbed Owl in the shoulder. “Are the worst. Then at least no more escape attempts for the next week, got it? You can be discharged next week! No sooner! Understood?”

“Yeah, got it.”

“And if you try, I’ll have you tied to the bed until the week after that with Eliza’s special restraints.”

“... Yeah, heard you loud and clear.”

Jack nodded with a cheery smile after that final threat and finally left. Nick snickered as the doctor walked out. “Yeah, I really like him. It’s a good thing he’s your friend, Owl.”

Owl nodded. “He’s a good guy, right?”

“Oh, yeah, the best!” Nick flashed him a thumbs-up, Ellie copying him not a second later. “Which is why I completely agree with him about you resting. At least stay here until your injuries are all closed up and your ribs aren’t snapped like twigs anymore.”

“Don’t call people’s bones twigs. They’re just a little cracked.”

“Says the guy who can’t even hug Ellie.”

Owl twisted a little in his bed, expression darkening mutinously. “... I’m bored. Too much free time and nothing to do. And I can’t sit still with Tristan hovering over me.” Mostly because he could never tell when exactly his adoptive father was going to show up for a visit.

“Aww, but Papa Tristan’s so sweet!” Nick leaned back a little, completely relaxed. “And he’s the reason you’re staying here and getting treatment are free. Right, Ellie?”

Ellie nodded along. “Papa... gives me sweets.”

Owl jolted and leaned forward without thinking, suppressing a wince as the movement twinged his ribs. “‘Papa?’” he repeated incredulously. “Since when did you guys call him Papa? Do not tell me he won you over.”

“Who, me?” Nick pressed a hand to his chest in mock affront. “Come on, Owl, don’t be silly. He’s not gonna get me on his side just because he treated me to one measly, very delicious steak dinner.”

“Steak? You had steak? When?!”

“... Man, it was so good...” Nick mumbled.

“So tender and so yummy...” Ellie agreed.

The two giggled to themselves. Owl stared in horror. “He absolutely won you over!”

“Nuh-uh, no he didn’t.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“I don’t believe you! How do I know he didn’t turn you into his spies?”

“He didn’t, we swear.~”

“We swear.~”

A knock at the door interrupted the trio’s back and forth, followed by a head poking in – Ritz. “May I come in?” she inquired.

Owl turned to the newcomer. “Hey, Ritz,” he greeted.

“You feeling okay since you woke up?” checked Nick. “All your tests and stuff done?”

The two were treating her like normal. Ritz relaxed... but there was still a shadow of embarrassment lingering about her as she shuffled into the room, her head slightly bowed. Once she was at their sides, she bowed even lower. “I, er, wanted to... apologize, for all the trouble I caused.... I know that what I did can’t be fixed with a simple apology, of course, but still, please allow me to properly express just how truly sorry I am for what happened.”

Owl and Nick silently traded glances as she continued to spout apology after apology. When she finally paused for breath, they shrugged in unison. “What’re you talking about, Ritz?” Nick said.

“Huh?”

“You kind of always bring us trouble,” he pointed out matter-of-factly. “Why’s this time any different?”

Ritz opened her mouth to argue, but upon reflection closed it again. “... That... I suppose that’s true,” she admitted. In fact, it was altogether too common. “But this time was truly embarrassing. Because I was so immature and inexperienced... you all suffered so horribly....” Her eyes flicked up for a brief second to the bandages wrapped around Owl’s skull before flicking away again. “You were even hurt....”

Nick rolled his eyes. “No, really, why’re you saying this now? We knew from the start you were an untrained, incompetent cop.~~~”

A growl rumbled from Ritz’s chest. Normally she’d snap back with something like, “And just who are you calling incompetent?!” But today, she couldn’t muster up the energy for her usual retorts. She curled in on herself with a pained grimace, her feet tapping anxiously against the floor.

Yes, her feet. Attached to her completely normal human legs.

Ritz had reverted back to a human form, no trace of the Leviathan she’d been to be seen. That stark-white, mermaid-esque Demon she’d been almost seemed like a dream... but no, it had been real. She had become Leviathan. It was an indelible, inescapable fact.

“Don’t worry about me,” said Owl. “I’ll heal up soon enough. I’m more worried about you – you’re a carrier now of the Black Rose Disease, that has to be a big shock.” Mental and emotional scars wouldn’t heal as easily as his physical wounds and could open up again at the drop of a hat.

“It is a shock, but....” Ritz placed a hand over her heart and gave a single nod. “I’ve decided to see this as an opportunity. There are certain things that only a concerned party could understand when trying to relate to those who struggle under unfair oppression.”

“Ritz....”

“Besides, I can’t stay depressed forever. I was lucky to be highly compatible with the disease, but even so, there’s a chance the Demon will manifest again someday, and I require practice. If I pretend it never happened, everyone around me may be placed in danger again.” Ritz straightened up, eyes blazing. “I need to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen!”

Owl’s eyebrows shot up. “... You’re so strong,” he murmured. She’d been so flustered at first, but she’d bounced back remarkably fast. Was it the unshaking, unwavering belief in her core that refused to bend or break? Or....

“That’s a police officer for you!” cheered Nick, completely oblivious to Owl’s contemplation.

Ritz pouted. “Even though I’m ‘incompetent’ and ‘untrained,’” she grumbled.

Nick side-eyed her, his eyes narrowed like a cat’s. “Well, I mean, yeah? But you’re the most honest, hardworking cop of them all. You’re the coolest.” He sounded like he was just stating another fact of life. The sky was blue, the grass was green, Ritz was amazing...

... and her face instantly flamed red. “I-I know – I know that I’m ‘cool!’” she hissed as she turned away to hide her blush.

Nick twisted to try and peer at her face with a leer. “Oh-ho, what’s this? Are you feeling shy? Are you all red?”

“I – I am not shy! You’re just mean!!”

“Aww~~, and here I was thinking I distinctly remembered you calling me ‘clever!’”

“I never said that!”

Ritz continued to twist away from Nick’s prying eyes, even as he continued to twist to try and get a better look. Owl watched the two with the distinct sense that he was intruding on something again, despite the fact that this was his hospital room. Nick noticed his partner being quiet and glanced over. “What’s with that grin on your face, Owl? You’re thinking something weird again, aren’t you?”

“No, just reflecting. Looks like I made the right call.”

“What d’you mean?”

“Just, you’ve always called Ritz a police officer.”

“I mean... yeah? ‘Cause she is. ‘Course I did.”

“Right. Of course you did.”

To Nick, it was a given, and that warmed Ritz’s heart more than anything else. Nick didn’t see her as a “woman,” a “li’l miss,” or a “girly” – she was a “police officer,” and that was that. At some point his simple acceptance of who she was had become something that always brought her joy, and he’d become someone she could trust wholeheartedly.

It was for that exact reason that she’d reacted so strongly to his voice back then.

With a sarcastic little chuckle, Owl muttered, “Well, it looked like the chocolate cake also had a hand in bringing you back to your senses.”

As if in response, Nick sniffed the air. “Hey, d’you smell something sweet?”

“Sweet?”

“Yeah, sweet and... savory? Hm? Where’s it coming from?” Nick prowled the room like a bloodhound, his nose twitching in the air as his meandering path slowly took him toward the door.

Owl’s eyes tracked him in turn. “Oi, Nick?”

Ritz sniffed the air as well. “You’re right...” she murmured. “Something does smell sweet.”

“Me, too...” added Ellie.

What were they all picking up? Owl’s head rose, nostrils twitching –

Knock knock. Jack poked his head in. “Hey, Owl, you’ve got a package,” he announced, holding out the sizable basket in his arms. “Someone left if at the entrance, addressed to ‘the people of the Owl Detective Agency.’”

“Really?” Nick bounced on the balls of his feet. “What is it? Who’s it from?”

“I’m not sure... the card only says ‘B.’”

“‘B’...?” Nick accepted the basket from Jack and sniffed it. His face lit up. “The smell’s coming from this!~” he crowed and yanked the top open.

“Oi, be gentle,” Owl admonished, brows furrowed a touch anxiously.

As Nick opened the basket, a delectable scent filled the room. Nick peeked inside, as did Ritz and Ellie. “Ah!” he gasped.

“Chocolate cake!” cried Ritz.

“And a meat pie, too!~~”

“Freshly made...!”

They stared starry-eyed at the glossy cake and crisp meat pie stacked inside the basket. All three of them started hopping up and down in their excitement.

“It looks so yummy....”

“Yes! Awesome! Let’s all dig in!~~”

“Hold on, you two, let’s not be hasty. This is a gift for Owl, so we can’t just grab whatever we like ourselves,” reasoned Ritz.

“Ritz, you’re drooling.”

“I – I am not!”

Owl watched their lively discussion from his bed with raised eyebrows. “Wait, are you guys really going to eat something from someone who we don’t know sent it?”

“But we do know!” Nick shot back. “This has to be from Byron! We’d know his cakes anywhere!”

“He’s absolutely right! These are Byron’s cakes without a doubt!”

“It has to be.” They were completely confident that they were right.

“... ‘B,’ huh.” Owl took the card from Jack and squinted at the “B” scribbled on the little square. The tenseness in his shoulders eased a little. It was, admittedly, vexing that Byron would send a care package without actually showing his face, but Owl simply sunk back into bed told the others, “One slice each,” before turning his head to stare out the window.

The sky outside was still the color of lead.

“It’s still not back,” he muttered to himself. “... Can it come back?”

As memories from the previous day flooded his mind, his eyes slipped shut. Two figures flashed through his mind’s eye – one vampire, and one....

“What were they doing...? What are they hiding?”

After they’d defeated Krinos, they’d both left again without explaining anything. He still had no idea what they were up to or why.

“Am I not strong enough to help them...?” A strange sense of alienation, of powerlessness, swept over Owl. “Will they ever tell us what they’re up to?”

And then there was what that young man had shouted at the light back then. He’d been barely conscious, so he hadn’t gotten a good look at the guy, but he did hear what he’d muttered as Byron flew off into the sky:

“I feel so awful for you... Byron.”

Owl slowly opened his eyes again to the ever-overcast sky and a plate in front of him bearing a meat pie and a slice of the cake. “Let’s eat together, Owl,” said Ellie.

“Yeah, thanks.” Owl took the plate.

“There’s seven slices each of the pie and the cake,” she told him. “Can we give some to Doctor Jack and Ralph and Hannah?”

“Of course.” Owl reached for his food, ready to take a bite... but then he paused with a blink. “Wait. You said seven slices?”

“Hm?”

“There’s seven slices each? Of the cake and the pie?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“....”

“What is it?”

“There’s not enough.”

“Huh?”

Owl traced a circle in the air with his finger, then sliced up, down, and diagonally both ways. “Usually when you’re cutting a whole cake, you’d make four cuts to make eight pieces, right?”

“Oh... you’re right. They were both missing one....” Ellie peered into the basket. “Where do you think it went?”

It was easy to cut a cake into eight pieces. It was much harder to cut one into only seven. That meant either one slice had been removed from the start... or....

Owl stared down at the pie and cake on his plate, then glanced over to Nick. His partner noticed his gaze and turned, his cheeks bulging already. “What?” he said thickly, head tilted.

The detective’s mouth twisted in a pensive frown. “... Are you cheating on me, Nick?” he asked.

“Cheating?~~” Nick stared at Owl. What was he talking about? Yeah, he’d accused Owl of cheating before, but never in a million years did he expect him to flip the script like that.

“I was wondering... if maybe you’d made some other friends besides me,” the detective muttered.

“Other friends? You mean like Brat?”

“No, I mean the person who gave you those weird things.”

“What weird things?”

“Those cards you had?” Owl traced a rectangle in midair and leaned toward Nick. “With the alchemy infused in them?”

“Ehh?~~” Nick’s shoulders slumped almost comically, very obviously not meeting Owl’s eyes. “Those were... what were they, huh?~~”

“Uh-huh?”

“....”

Owl stared at him doubtfully. “Just so we’re clear, I’m grilling you about that later,” he told his partner, then took a big bite of pie. The savory batter crunched and squished as delicious, juicy meat flooded his mouth. A groan unconsciously bubbled out of his throat at the superb, nostalgic flavor.

He ate silently, bite by bite, until in the blink of an eye the slice of pie had vanished down his gullet.

And as he wiped the last traces of sauce from his lips with his finger, a bubbly voice gasped and said:

“Ah, Louis! Looks like you’ve got something good there!~~”

“Pipe down while we’re in the labs, Tino.”

“What’cha got? And where’s mine?~~”

“There’s none for you. I only had the one slice of each.”

In a lab at the Royal College, a young man eating his lunch in a corner of the room shoved a young lady away as she came running at him and swept away the pie crumbs scattered across his textbook. The slice of cake by his elbow, however, remained untouched.

“What about the cake?” she asked.

“No, that’s mine.”

“Cheapskaaate!~ C’mon, just one bite....”

“Not a chance.” And to keep the greedy girl from claiming his prize, the young man stuffed the whole slice of cake into his mouth in one go. Once he swallowed, he told her, “Can’t go to battle on an empty stomach, right?”

“What’re you talking about? You gonna go fight someone, Louis?”

“... Not really a fight, but....”

He licked his lips and stood up, shutting his textbook as he went.

“I’m going to go make a declaration of war, I guess.”

He gathered his things and left the lab. Tino stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. “What a weirdo!”

END

original written by Nagaya Kawaji here

[kuichihimei]

Chapter 2: The White & Red Queen

When King White opened his eyes, he was met with a bright, orange light. He was back inside the castle, the seer was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly a small figure ran past him.

It was his daughter Snow! But why was she in a hurry?

He decides to follow her & tries to catch up, the little girl eventually reaches the doors of the infirmary...

King White reluctantly enters through the room, the familiar scent of herbal medicines & clean linen filled the air. Snow was nowhere to be found.

His eyes immediately noticed two figures occupying one of the beds.

One of them was of his wife, Queen White. The queen laid on the bed with a serene, almost emotionless expression on her face.

The other figure was that of himself, who was standing on the foot of the bed, eyes on the floor with a solemn expression, like he was deep in thought.

“I can't believe she's dead now.”

The king who was near the bed muttered.

“W-what?”

He froze, what did he just say?

“She's dead. Her heart stopped beating almost an hour ago...” King White approaches the bed.

He looks over to see that his wife had peacefully passed on... The love of his life & the mother of his dear Snow is know dead.

He was... quite disturbed & relieved to say the least...

Disturbed since he knows that she'll be dead soon & relieved since she'll no longer suffer from her sickness.

Queen White was always bedridden ever since she got sick. She always suffered from high fevers that made her aggressively convulse dark bile & she always felt tired, her once rosy complexion had gone sallow over time as her disease worsened. As much as Queen White's disease pained her, he & Snow also suffered to see her in such a condition.

They tried everything to heal her, from trying the latest medicines doctors could come up with, from consulting a witch doctor to find ancient remedies that could cure her but to no avail.

“Please leave, I need some time alone for a moment.” The King White who was on the foot of the bed spoke, almost like he was demanding for the other version of himself to leave after knowing that their wife's dead.

“W-what?”

“I said get out.”

“ Now wait a minute, hold on—”

“I SAID GET OUT!” The figure on the bed yelled.

“Ok, ok I'll go now. I'm going.”

King White started backing away from the bedside where he stood. Without breaking eye contact from the alternate version of himself, he walked backwards towards the infirmary room's doors, but when he opened the door, the hallway had disappeared, he was only met with pitch black, darkness.

Suddenly, the King White on the foot of the bed appeared in front of him & pushed him into the void, he started falling at an accelerated rate.

‘Is this how I'll die?’

King White thought as he closed his eyes bracing for his death on impact

W̴̨̰̣͖̆ḥ̶̤̲̏̽́̃̾̂͐ơ̵̱'̵̲͕͓̬͈̅̅̊̐ͅs̴̞̈́̒̐̿̚͝ ̴̛̯͓̗̦̪̠͂̆̀͝g̸̠͚͕̝̱̣͙̿̀͑́͆̈͝o̵̬̫̣̼̯̗̿̾̊̈͜i̷̲̗̜̒͑̀̑͘n̷̪̯͎̪̼̤̳̏g̵͚͍͒͑̃̇̈́́ ̷̭̥̭̥͙̀̃t̷̨̛̥͍̼̹̿̔͌̒͆̃o̷̦̩͉̪̳͋̃̀ ̵̢̼̻̙͓̏̓̓̏͘t̴͈̜̥̗̎̑́̏̓͆͜͠ą̵̧͖̼̞̗̗̓́̒̋̋͋̚ḳ̴̢̨̢̛̳͌̿̄́̕ẽ̴̫̰̲̮̇͆̍͒͋͘ ̶̪̻͔̟̣̈́c̴̤͙̩̜͔̭̺͆̏͊̈́͒͗a̷̧̜͚̥̪͋̒r̸̢͔͈͔̭̈͌̅̀̊e̴̛̲̘̯̒͒͊͂ ̵̤̦̑̄̊͝o̴̧͈͘f̸̨͕̭̥̗͓̃́̽ ̴̢̬̹̤̣̊̈́͊̆́͑̚S̶̛̪̺̯̟̮̦ṇ̴̢̪̞͉̑͝ő̸͓̞̗̔̈́͝w̴̧̤̯̹̟͛̿́̈́́͌́͜ ̸͖̮̪̰̖͐͛́ṅ̵̹̟̯̞͗̓͛͗͝ͅo̵̡̦͍̔̈́̉̈́̚w̷̡̺̖͑̎̇̄̉͆͝?̵̝̼̠̋͂͆¿̸̦͓͈͕̤̘̙̀?̷̹͙̻̼̻̈́̓¿̷̡̻̹̍

“Papa?”

“Papa? Are you alright?”

All of the sudden, he was in the throne room surrounded by people, Snow White worriedly stood in front of him. Since when did she get so tall?

“What's going on?”

“It's my birthday party?”

“What?” King White looks down.

Since when was he holding a birthday cake?

King White took notice of how many candles were on the cake.

‘18 Candles...’

This must be Snow's 18th Birthday.

‘Ok, this is getting weird.’ King White thought, as he scanned the room & his now fully grown daughter.

Suddenly, he could hear someone running towards them.

“Your majesty—” A guard frantically enters the room.

“Your majesty! We found a witch near the castle!”

“A what⁈”

“We saw her lurking around the castle walls, she was planning to do something horrible!”

“What was she planning to do?”

“She was going to try ma—”

All of the sudden, the gates are opened wide. King White accidentally drops the cake that he was holding & readied himself to face the said witch.

Two guards walked into the room to reveal... a beautiful woman? Is this the witch the guard was talking about? She couldn't possibly be a witch right?

The woman had red hair, that was held back by a bun & had sharp features, her grey eyes captivated everyone in the room. She was wearing a below the knee, long sleeved, black dress & was wearing bright red shoes.

King White began to approach her as he was in awe with her beauty, but as he got closer, his vision began to darken & he starts to become dizzy, but he still tries to approach the woman.

When he got to her, he passed out.

Everything was pitch black again... He was back in the void...

B̸̢͈͎͚̞͍̫̹̟͉̮̲̳̣̬͆͂͛͆͂̿̑̒̃͊̀͌̎̚͘͜e̷͓̮͖̝̺͖̥͓̼̮̊̽̄̎͜w̴̛̗̹͈̞̮̬̠̟̠̠͐͒͆͂̀̾ͅą̸̠̞̟̪̜͓̞̣̘̻́̎͌̇̀̃͑̋̕̚͝ͅr̷̨̨̦͈̝̳̠̂̊̄̇̌ȩ̶͓͓̯̮̱̫͕̟͎̟͂̐́͒̊̈́̂̐͒̈͌̚͠ ̷̰͍̮͊̅́̋̾̉͊̈̀̊̉̓̚̕͝o̴̡̡̡̢͈̩͖̤͇̲̬̝̹̐͂̽͜͜f̶̝͚̆̃̄͊̌͊̕ ̴̧̛̟̣͍̭̺͇̮̺͕̻̹̟̾̒̅̈́̿͑͊̀̇̃̚͠ţ̴̧̱̗̩̭̮͎̪̬̞̮̺̤̟̙͇͖̏̈̏̀͛̅̾͘͜ͅh̶̡̡̛͔͖̱͉̫̥̲͉͍̞͍͚̩̼̳̞̩̯̽̽͆̄͐͒̈́̿̓̏͂̈́̎͐͋̀̽͗̚e̵̛̘̱͙̯͈̠̗͍̯̬͎̰̺̭̳̯̊̂͋̈́̎͋͌̾͌̕͜͝ͅ ̶̝͈̙͈̜̮́͛́̎̚̕͜͝w̴̨̨̭̙̻̤̮̲̹͓̻͈͓̻͍̌͌̌͜͜ǫ̶̡̜̝̰̖̭͓̹͙̯̘̒̋̂̃͑̑̊̈́̂̒̔́͐̋͑͗͘͠͝ͅm̵̢̰̫̣͇̲͉̠̻̽̅̾̿̋̈͘̕͝͝a̵̳͚̺̮̮͍̮̩͓̹̫̩̙̜̞͛̈͂̄͛̃̈́̄͛̀̈̃̉̒̕͜͠n̸̢̛̜͓̬͙̙̓́̽͂̀̑̏́̅͑̋̾̑̈̐̊͆̅͝ ̵̢̲̯̜͇͖̩͇̬̯̣͖͉̆̓̀̈́͛͑̇͗̚͝w̶̨̙̠͋̽͠h̷̠̺̳͕̤̲͓̼̘̭͐͂͝o̸̧̢͉̯͇̩͍͈͔͚͖̗̗͌͋͋̀̉͒̌͒̔͋̅͑̕͜͝͝ ̷̢̨̡̛̫͍̰̜̭̭͙̰̽͑̓̿̌̔͂̌̊̑̚͘̚̕͠͠͝w̷̡̨̧͕̱̱̹͇͇̯̮̯̰̪͓̥̘̰̥̄͂̒̂̏͋͒ȩ̷̢̡̢̧̹̰̻̻̞̲̠͕̲̮̝͚̐ā̶̤͌́̀̇̓͛̌̌̑͘͘͝͠ȓ̷̡̧̛̼̬͉̺̝̗͖͔̱̻͖̉̿̈́̉͌̂́̎͜͝ͅş̴͎͖͔̹̅ ̴̨̘̯̫̬͈̠̻̱̳̦̓̌͊͊̐͂̀̾̂̀̀̓̓͊͆̚͘͜͜͠ţ̶̡̩̲͓̻͈̜͉̝̬͈͇͓̗̋͌̿h̷̨̢̨̲̠̖͈͍̭̬̺͕̩̦͓̫͊͜e̶̟̝̦̟͍̋̀̐̑̎͋̌̽̓́̓̕̚͜͜͠ ̷̡͉̤̯̘̼̣̹̪̭̝͕͙̪͔̎̅̇͌̈͗̽͝r̸̹͔̰̩͓̓͌͒̏͋̆͒̾̇͆̓̐́͘͜ȩ̷̢̺̣̩͍̞̥͇̪̣̤̖̝̤̫͕̗͒̏̀͝ď̸̢̡̢̻̲͍̰͈͉̳̩̲̬̜̆̉̽̉̚͜͝ ̶̨̧̨͙͙̬̹̺̭̞͚̮̥̀̊͋̌̿̾̄̀̑̑̔̎̽͛͑̀̕̚̚͝s̶͊̾̾��̛̱̗̥̺̞̹̜̺̯͆̉͐̉͛̏̀͛ḩ̷͖͕̠̞̰͈̙͙̲̟͓͚̫͍̭̠̲͍̱̎̈ǫ̴̘̰̰̹͎̭̒͐͐͌̿̂͐͒̅̀̄̂͋͊̅̈́́͘͜ȇ̸̡̧̛̟͇̙̱̦̖̘͍̟̬̖̘̮̝̖̻̖̈̀́͑̎͐̌̿́́̓͒́́͘̕͘͜s̷̡̥̤̘̖̝̠̦͐̋́͋͂̒͘

[trilobiter]

I haven't mentioned it yet because I didn't really know what to say about it, but my wife and I got covid on our way back from vacation last weekend. Almost precisely three years after we cancelled our first attempt to go on this vacation because of, well, covid.

This is the first time either of us have ever tested positive for covid, and we have tested whenever we've felt sick. And this is definitely the sickest I've felt since I last had the flu, which was incidentally just before the pandemic began.

The scariest part for me was when she had a high fever for several days, and I didn't know how high it would get or how long it would last. We've both been vaccinated and received every available booster, but when it's all happening you just can't take anything for granted. Fevers are terrifying.

But the most physically miserable part for me is the sore throat. I've actually lost track a few times of how long we've been sick, partly because of not ever leaving the house, but partly because my throat has kept me from sleeping much of the last two (three?) nights. Part of the reason I'm even writing this is because I'm anxious about trying to go to bed now. The fatigue, the coughing, the congestion, the chills and aches; those are all just kind of icing on this sore throat cake.

Like I said, we're both vaccinated, and neither of us have needed to be hospitalized. She's taking paxlovid because of concerns about her chronic conditions: I was given the option, but the doctor said that my case appeared so mild that the side effects might not be worth it, so I passed. But mild or not, it's really been kicking my ass.

At this stage it seems like we'll probably come out fine in the end. But I looked up the statistics and it remains a fact that people are still dying of this disease. Nearly seven million people in the world are known to have died of it. There's probably more. Sobering thought when you can't sleep.

If you haven't gotten vaccinated yet, I can now recommend from immediate personal experience that you do. Take the appropriate measures to blunt the impact of this thing, because even when the blow is blunted, it still hits hard. This virus doesn't fuck around.

Gonna go try and soothe my throat enough to sleep long enough to not go insane now.

[gogarbha]

Many Indians have a special place in their hearts for cows, which are treasured in the Hindu religion. They are venerated as representations of riches, strength, and motherly love and are thought to have heavenly and healing properties.

One of the reasons for cow sacred in India is that they are considered a symbol of the divine mother, or "Gau Mata." In Hinduism, the cow is seen as a representation of all that is holy and pure and is believed to be able to nourish and sustain life. The cow is also seen as a symbol of selfless giving, as they provide milk, cow dung, and other resources to humans without expecting anything in return. Humans use these raw materials from cow and prepare milk-based products, dairy products etc.

The other reason why cows are worshiped in India is that they are believed to have medicinal properties. Cow's milk, urine, and dung are all used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat a variety of elements, and many people believe that consuming these products can bring good health and blessings.

In India, cows are revered not only for their spiritual importance but also for their usefulness in everyday life. Cow waste, which can be used in a variety of ways to benefit the environment and the economy, is one of the most precious resources that cows offer.

Using cow waste as fuel is one of the most popular uses for it. Biogas is made by the use of cow dung. It is a clean and renewable. Cow dung is nutrient-rich and can be utilized to increase the fertility of the soil. It works well in place of artificial fertilizer because it is a natural pest. In Hinduism, cow urine which is highly revered is thought to have medicinal powers. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat a number of illnesses, including fever, skin conditions, cancer etc. Additionally, it is an antibacterial and a component of pesticides and cosmetics.

Cow waste is a useful resource that can be applied in a number of ways to help the economy and the environment. Cow waste has a wide range of useful applications that are worth exploring, from biogas production and crop fertilization to the treatment of diseases and being a sustainable building material.

We at Gogarbha understand how important and gainful the cows are. We've taken it upon ourselves to spread awareness and appreciation of these organic products with our company. With Gogarbha, you can feel safe knowing that you're supporting a sustainable source of nutrition while aiding in environmental protection - it's something we all need more of in this age!

We offer you the best-handpicked products blended with natural herbs that are not just the finest but also fine-tuned to meet your needs in home care.

At our company, we are proud to offer a range of desi cow products for your home care needs, such as:

Diya

Cowdung Sambrani Cones

Cowdung Sambrani Cups

Cowdung Dhoop Cakes

Cowdung Cakes

Mosquito Repellent

Vanaraksha Amrutham

Phenoyl

Our desi cow products have spiritual value in addition to being healthy for the environment. In Hinduism, cow manure is revered and thought to have both holy and therapeutic properties. We are dedicated to creating eco-friendly and sustainable products, and we anticipate that our cow waste line will have a positive effect on both the environment and the communities in which it is used.

In conclusion, cows are venerated in India as a symbol of the divine mother, selfless service, therapeutic benefits, wealth and success, and nonviolence. The Hindu community reveres and defends them, and they are important to the nation's religious and cultural customs.

Let us know in comment section which are the desi cow products that you use regularly.