#Incredible Benefits of Potatoes

[highblkfemsociety]

Nourish Your Beauty: The Ultimate Fall Vegetable Guide

As the seasons shift, so do our nutritional needs—and the vegetables that thrive in the cooler months are packed with vitamins and minerals perfect for keeping your skin glowing and your health strong. For the Feminine Woman, integrating seasonal produce into your diet not only nourishes your body but also radiates beauty from within. Here are the best fall veggies to stock up on and their incredible benefits for both your health and your skin.

1. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, which your body converts into Vitamin A—a key nutrient for maintaining healthy skin. Vitamin A helps prevent dry skin, keeps it soft, and promotes a youthful appearance by encouraging cell turnover.

Beauty Benefits:

• Glowing Skin: Beta-carotene protects your skin from UV damage and gives it a natural, radiant glow.

• Anti-aging: The high antioxidant content fights free radicals, reducing the appearance of wrinkles.

• Hydration: The Vitamin C in sweet potatoes aids in collagen production, helping to keep skin plump and moisturized.

How to Use: Roast sweet potato slices with olive oil, rosemary, and a pinch of sea salt for a simple yet delicious side dish.

2. Kale

Kale, the queen of greens, is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables you can add to your diet in fall. It’s loaded with Vitamins C, E, and K, which are crucial for skin health, elasticity, and wound healing.

Beauty Benefits:

• Cleanses Your Skin: Kale’s high fiber helps to detoxify the body, leading to clearer, more even-toned skin.

• Fight Acne: The Vitamin C in kale reduces inflammation, making it a perfect addition to combat blemishes.

• Skin Elasticity: Vitamin K helps with skin elasticity, reducing dark circles and puffiness under the eyes.

How to Use: Add kale to a smoothie for a nutrient boost or sauté it with garlic for a quick, nutrient-packed side.

3. Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is high in Vitamin E, beta-carotene, and potassium, which help your skin stay hydrated, soft, and smooth. It’s perfect for preventing signs of aging while keeping your skin firm.

Beauty Benefits:

• Hydrated Skin: Butternut squash helps retain moisture in your skin due to its rich potassium content.

• Even Skin Tone: Its Vitamin E helps even out your complexion and reduces hyperpigmentation.

• Firmness: The collagen-boosting properties of Vitamin C in this squash keep your skin looking firm and youthful.

How to Use: Roast butternut squash and blend it into a creamy soup or cube it for a hearty salad.

4. Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are often underrated but are a powerhouse when it comes to skin health. Rich in Vitamin C, Brussels sprouts promote collagen production, which helps maintain your skin’s firmness and elasticity.

Beauty Benefits:

• Brighter Skin: Vitamin C boosts your skin’s radiance, making it look brighter and more youthful.

• Collagen Boost: Collagen production is essential for skin structure and elasticity, reducing sagging and fine lines.

• Detox: Brussels sprouts help detoxify the skin, flushing out harmful toxins and leaving your complexion clear.

How to Use: Roast Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar for a tangy, crunchy side dish that’s perfect for fall.

5. Beets

Beets are known for their blood-purifying properties, which lead to clearer, healthier skin. They’re also loaded with antioxidants that prevent signs of premature aging.

Beauty Benefits:

• Glowing Skin: Beets help boost blood circulation, resulting in a natural flush and radiant complexion.

• Detox Power: The high iron content in beets helps detoxify the body, keeping skin clear and blemish-free.

• Anti-Inflammatory: Beets’ anti-inflammatory properties reduce puffiness and redness.

How to Use: Add roasted beets to salads or blend them into smoothies for a pop of vibrant color and nutrients.

Incorporating these seasonal veggies into your fall diet will not only boost your health but also enhance your beauty from the inside out. These nutrient-packed powerhouses will keep your skin hydrated, youthful, and glowing as the temperatures drop.

So, head to your local farmer’s market, stock up on these fall essentials, and let your natural beauty shine!

[borgevino]

i have been doing some light experimentation this winter with miso and gochujang and i can tell you now they are two of the best substances on this green earth. a quick list of ways i have used them so far:

spoonful of each in the broth where you cook the ramen (big for miso, small for gochujang), along with half the flavor packet and a 7-minute hard boiled egg

teeny tiny amount of gochujang (like, 1/4tsp per cup max) in hot chocolate to add richness, depth, and spice

miso in the water where you cook the red lentils, combined with a can of butternut squash soup and a can of coconut milk, big heaping spoonful of gochujang for warmth and heat

2tbsp brown sugar, 1tbsp melted butter, 1tbsp gochujang; mixture swirled into sugar cookie dough (this is from a nyt cooking recipe by eric kim) or whatever other baked goods could benefit from a little kick.

pal of mine mentioned maple syrup + gochujang as a condiment, which would be spectacular on many roasted veggies (carrots, brussels sprouts, potatoes, beets, etc), or as a ham glaze, or on fried chicken (fried chicken & cornmeal waffles with maple-gochujang sounds completely incredible)

my budget is tighter than usual this winter and i can tell you that having gochujang and miso to play with is really bringing joy to what would otherwise be a season of mac & cheese, ramen, very basic soups, etc.

[alastor-simp]

Dorm leaders with a reader who sings like the Japanese singer, "Ado"

🌹 Riddle Rosehearts

-Riddle knew you were full of surprises, but he never expected you to have such an amazing voice. Cater was the one that revealed your talent by showing him one of your music videos at one of the Unbirthday parties. Riddle questions as to why you don't reveal your face, but he realized that if that's what makes you comfortable, then its fine. The ADeuce combo joked with the both of you saying that you should sing for Riddle for his birthday. Riddle flushed and collared the both of them for messing with him, but he secretly wouldn't mind if you sang for him. His favorite song of yours is "New Genesis" , he loves how upbeat it is and he sometimes hums the song to himself when he is doing his schoolwork

🦁Leona Kingscholar

Leona doesn't really care for music and all that other nonsense, especially if it disturbs his sleeping. He had found out about your singing when he was heading to Ramshackle dorm to avoid Ruggie, and had caught you in your room, recording for one of your music videos. You didn't realize Leona was in the room until you heard clapping, and saw him standing there with a smirk on his face. "Not bad", he said as he came closer to you and patted your head. Leona started to get more involved with your music, to the point he would wake up from his nap once he got a notification about a new music video on his phone. His favorite song of yours is "Usseewa", he tends to relate to the song and also likes the rebellious theme in the music video.

🐙Azul Ashengrotto

Well, well, well. Not only are you an angelfish, you also have the voice of an angel. Azul had discovered your talent, when he came across you in the music room of NRC, playing and singing on the piano. Azul came closer to you and sat down next to you, not saying a word, just listening to your gorgeous voice. Azul, being a business man that he is, wanted to promote you into being a singer in Mostro Lounge. Of course, he would pay you accordingly and there would be no need for a contract. Once you told Azul that you mostly perform on Magitube (Twst version of Youtube XD), and don't show your face, he understood and wouldn't pressure you, but he really would loved if you worked for him, so he could hear your voice more often. You did offer to sing a song promoting Mostro Lounge or have some of your merchandise be sold at Mostro Lounge, so both of you could benefit, since you felt bad for rejecting Azul's promotion, and Azul agreed in a heartbeat. His favorite song of yours is "Readymade" , he loves how jazzy it is.

☀️Kalim Al-Asim

NO WAYYYYYYY!!!!! YOU CAN SING!!!!!!! WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE!!!! Kalim was over the moon when he found out that you can sing, that he wanted to throw a celebration for you at Scarabia. He kept asking you over and over if you could please sing at the party. You appreciated how happy Kalim was about your talent, but you were not use to singing in front of people. Jamil noticed saw how tense you were and explained to him everything. Kalim realized that he was pushing you to sing and felt uncomfortable. He just wanted everyone to hear your amazing voice that he didn't consider your feelings so he apologized and offered to give you a ride on his magic carpet. Kalim wasted not time to subscribe to you and listen to all your music videos. His favorite song of yours is "The World's Continuation" , he loves the animation in the video and how soothing your singing is.

🍎Vil Schoenheit

Vil considered you to be a regular potato like all the other students until he discovered your talent when the Joint Culture Festival took place. During the auditions for VDC, it was your turn to demonstrate your singing, you surprised both him and Rook with your incredible voice. Vil is not an easy man to impress as he has been in the acting/music industry for a long time, so the fact that you were able to leave him wide eyed and mouth gaped like fish, welp, you had managed to capture the attention of the most beautiful person in NRC. Vil was slowly starting to become one of your biggest supporters/fans, as he often watched over you like a mother hen, making sure you were okay and not straining your voice too much. He wasn't use to your habit of not showing your face in your music videos, as you should be able to show your beauty to the whole world, but he slowly got over it, yet he was still interested in doing a duet with you on your video channel. His favorite song of yours is " Gira Gira" , he loved the message in the song and how it focused on beauty, but flaws and imperfections as well.

🔥Idia Shroud

Haha, don't group Idia with the other normies. He was the first one to discover your talent before all the other dorm leaders. During one of his gaming streams, he noticed that a lot of people were commenting in the chat about a recent music video of yours and that he should check them out. Idia decided to indulge in his streamers comments and check out one of your music videos. Welp, I guess you can imagine that after that, Idia become a huge fan of you and subscribed to your channel immediately. He was always the first one to hop on your new music videos and leave so many sweet comments about how good the video was and your voice. Idia understood COMPLETELY about not showing your face at concerts and in your videos as he does the same thing, and uses a tablet to communicate half of the time. You really appreciated Idia's support and you had asked him if he would be interested in doing an animation for your next music video. Idia fainted once you told him that, but Ortho answered for him and said he would love too. He loves all of your songs, but his number one favorite is "Backlight" , he loves the animation and the fact that you sang songs for an anime has him fangirling like crazy.

🐲Malleus Draconia

"Oya~ You are certainly one unique Child of Man." Malleus loves listening to music, but he is more use to the classical genre of music then rock or pop. He is also artistic in performing since he is very skilled with string instruments. He happened to discover your talent during one of his strolls through Ramshackle, as he saw you sitting in the fields, singing to yourself. Once you discovered Malleus had appeared next to you, you apologized quickly as you wondered if you had disturbed him, but he shook his head and said you sang very beautifully and would love to listen to you sing a bit more please. Malleus wasn't use to technology, but he had Lilia help him with that, since Lilia had better knowledge in that field, so he could watch and listen to your music videos. He was amazed to see how versatile your vocal ability was as you could hit so many different ranges. You had helped him discover other genres of music that he had never tapped into before and he thanked you for letting him discover something new. His favorite song of yours is "Aitakute" , he loves the story in the music video and the romantic theme in it.

Credit to the youtube singer, Ado

[ovaruling]

mostly a vent but—how do so many adults not only know so completely zero about nourishing themselves properly, but also have zero curiosity about their nourishment on top of that? like how are basic nutritional facts and basic food nutritional profiles and the barest RDAs not known and not even wondered about

like i meet adults every single day who literally can’t grasp the concept of a meal that they know and understand the components of. like. they legitimately don’t know or care what they’re eating at any point of the day but have complaints of many solvable symptoms of nutrient deficiency or saturation

even a large number of people who cook all the time will seem to have this incredible blind spot for knowing anything about nourishment

like there are people who think you legitimately don’t get nutrients from anything but animal flesh and leafy greens and then i’m supposed to act surprised when their bloodwork is a mess

and when i suggest “oh you may need to include more things like orange juice and potatoes and bananas and pumpkin seeds and dried fruit for other quick sources of electrolytes that aren’t just shit tons of sodium” after friendly discussions of muscle cramping despite water and Gatorade consumption

and they’re like “oh my god you’re so smart…,” lmao no i’m fucking not!!! fr how can you have persistent muscle cramping every day and not even WONDER if it’s related to what you do or do not put into your body. that’s my FIRST thought every time i have a palpable issue—“maybe i’m getting too little or too much of something, let’s get curious and think critically about what i’m currently eating and drinking”

especially people with chronic illness like me!!!!! come on now!!!!! how can you not even deign to google what nutritional advice you might benefit from!!!!

i’ve fr had people be in awe of my casual recommendation of eating more fiber. and even more awe about what foods contain fiber. like. you cannot be serious that you didn’t know that about your human body. you cannot be fucking serious!!!!!!!

how can you go through your day—through your adult life—not knowing or caring if you’re meeting your individual nutritional needs and how can you not even be CURIOUS about that if you know that you don’t know. ppl act like you need regular bloodwork to be able to suspect anything abt your body enough to try the very risky risk of simply eating more of xyz type of food (usually a fruit or vegetable god forbid) or something to just see if it helps with your issue ykwim. like eat an apple and maybe your gums will stop bleeding, matey. oh no cap’n i can’t i would need sooo much bloodwork to know if it’s ok to try eating an apple!!! come on now

like. i know im not a genius to just be knowing Feeding Yourself Properly 101. my parents never taught me a damn thing about nutrition and i never even learned it at school. it’s not hard. i know it’s not. so everyone else must just be stupid as hell abt this or willfully ignorant

and maybe they are bc the average western diet has most ppl malnourished despite a very, very large daily intake of calories so idk man IDK!!!!!

[yandere-writer-momo]

How would Yandere baki characters including Jun crash on their darling’s wedding day while the reader were about to marry someone that wasn’t them?

Yandere Baki Head Canons

Wedding Crashers Edition

Hanayama Kaoru

He was your regular at the cafe you worked at. He was also your secret admirer who sent you rose bouquets and jewelry everyday. You turned him down several times because you were dating someone already. Hanayama did not accept No as an answer

He shows up to your wedding with guns blazing. He’s a yakuza boss. He’s showing up with his entire gang to your wedding and taking you. There’s little you can do to stop him if you don’t want your groom’s/ bride’s and family’s heads blown off

The man always gets what he wants

Baki Hanma

He was the kid you used to baby sit. A little brother figure to you

He bursts into the room when the officiant asks if anyone objects. It’s super dramatic too.

He fist fights your dad and the groom/ bride (both at the same time) for your hand. He then scoops you up in his arms and leaves

Jack Hanma

Jack was your best friend. Someone you saw as a brother.

He waltzes in before your wedding even starts to see you in your dress. He asks you if this is what you want. If you truly want to be with that other person and why you didn’t choose him. He is being incredibly vulnerable

If you so much as hug him when he breaks down, he scoops you up and steals you away. There’s not a force at your wedding that could stop him

Katsumi Orochi

He’s the childhood sweetheart you grew apart from. You two were able to workout a friendship but he thought it was more than that

The most dramatic objection of a life time. He declares how much he loves you and all the things he loves about you for fifteen minutes straight. Will not leave

Punches your partner in the face when they try to escort him away and continues on with his rant. He waltzes up to kiss you in front of everyone and married you instead

Kaioh Retsu

He was your guy best friend who you met on a walk in a garden. You two spent almost every day together and he fell in love with you

He showed up early to your wedding and convinced your groom/ bride that you were cheating on him with Retsu. Retsu then takes his place as the groom

Retsu informs you your groom/ bride got cold feet. He then convinced you that instead of wasting all your money on this wedding or your time trying to get to know someone new, why don’t you marry him? He is the man who knows you better than anyone else after all. You accept and he holds you the entirety of the honeymoon and kisses all your tears away. No one can love you as much as he can

Jun Guevara

He was a friends with benefits years ago before he went to prison. He was madly in love with you but you didn’t feel the same. Jun believed you two to be in love. Imagine his surprise to find out you had gotten into a relationship and getting married upon his return. Is that loser the reason why you haven’t been answering to his letters?

He crashes your wedding and ‘rescues’ you. His crew plunder the wedding while he had you draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes

Don’t cry! The love of your life has returned! You can finally have the passionate love you once had all those years ago

[writing-whump]

Something about your tummy

Very fluffy Isaiah and Seline fic. Mild stomach discomfort, lots of bellyrubs.

"You are not going to eat?" Isaiah asked.

Seline looked at the freshly cooked vegetables, meat and potatoes Isaiah served on the table.

Isaiah went ahead to make a great lunch, as he usually did when they both had classes in the afternoon and could spend the day lazy and alone together.

Seline loved the fact he cooked, cause she has been afraid since she was little this would be considered a "woman's responsibility" and her boyfriend would automatically assume she would take over the kitchen. Which never made sense to her, cause if they both returned from work, why should the girl be the one cooking while the guy lazes in front of the TV? How was his work more exhausting than hers?

Never been an issue with Isaiah, cause he liked to cook and took over preparing all their meals without asking. She has been suprised to find his cooking style also suited her well, not too salty or oily. Though he seemed to pick up on things she and Matthew disliked, cooking more into the direction they all enjoyed.

Seline liked salty and meaty things more, Matthew had more of a sweetooth but also needed lots of proteins and weight for his weight lifting and boxing. Isaiah didn't seem to have strong preferences, but he liked healthy natural vegetable heavy meals. That was the verdict from watching him.

He would never say. Seline was finding out there were many things Isaiah wouldn't freely say or express if he could somehow solve it on his own.

She felt a little guilty, but Isaiah's private mysterious personality was incredibly calming. Her father and brother were both emotional, often yelling when excited, angry or upset, without even noticing. Seline and her mother talked over it many times, but there was usually no stopping it, only bearing, leaving the room and forgiving them after.

In a way Matthew's grumpy more direct approach was more familiar to her, safer. But Matthew also wasn't one to yell, more like grunt and complain and she found that heartwarming despite herself.

Matt was very careful with his temper around her since the incident that had them not speaking for a week, but there hadn't been that many things that made him angry at home. It felt to her like he was genuinely happy around them, no matter how closely she watched.

And she has to make herself watch, because she got so easily lost in thought, her books or her current research, she could ignore a storm going on downstairs. Since starting to live with the boys, she started to force herself to pay attention. From time to time or when she felt like something was off, hopefully catching on things if it mattered.

Isaiah was all knowing and calm and she knew repressing many things, but for her it was such a big sign of self-control from his side...it fascinated and comforted her.

Maybe it wasn't a good fit. Maybe he would benefit more from someone prodding and making him speak more about his past, about his complicated family relationships. Maybe a more nosy and clingy girl could make him open up quicker.

But she also suspected Isaiah wrestled with things still and that prying would not actually help. Despite the calm exterior Isaiah was actually quite easy a nerve-wreck. The nightmares that could make him puke, or the days after he met one of his brothers or was reminded of something he could spend in silence, brooding, pale and not eating.

If asking him about something made him so obviously uncomfortable, shadows under his eyes growing as the neutral mask settled over him, voice going cold - that was a sign there was something intense and painful behind the facade. She couldn't bring herself to push at him, knowing this.

She didn't understand how someone could, when someting was so obviously painful for him.

The incident with his high fever helped her find the line she wouldn't cross. When he finally felt like asking for help was far too long after he should have. Something to watch out for sure.

She counted it a little win he did ask at all.

They would have to figure out this speaking up thing somehow, or she would pull her hair out mulling and worrying when he was drifting off without telling her.

She was starting to pick up on the signs, but wasn't yet sure how to address them in a way that wouldn't disturb his pride-bricked comfort zone.

"It looks delicious, Zaya," she said apologetically. She was sad she couldn't eat, it was steaming and smelled amazing. "I don't know, I don't feel like eating."

Isaiah frowned, sitting down at the table beside her. "You are not? We didn't eat anything for breakfast yet."

They lazed around in bed until 11 before Isaiah started on lunch that he could fix in an hour.

"Not really feeling hungry. Maybe it's just from yesterday-"

"You feeling sick?" His hand shot out to cup her forehead, checking for fever.

"No, nothing like that," she smiled at his concern, gently prying his fingers away and intertwining them with hers on her knee.

It was...simply emberassing to talk about anything related to her stomach. She didn't mind talking about headaches or colds, but stomach and anything lower felt...way too gross.

She gulped, lowering her eyes to the table, cheeks colouring a little. If she wanted him to communicate, she should probably do it too.

"It's just like dinner didn't sit well," she blurted out, "and Iwokeupfeelingabitfull and now I think maybenoteatingcouldhelp."

Isaiah, noticed to her eternal, horror, how she tended to be ravenous in the mornings and careful about her sugar dropping, cause they were quite drastic with how quickly her metabolism worked.

Today it was unnerving that it was different - she felt full and a little crampy. Loking at the food now, she felt only revulsion. Time to listen to the signals and take it easy.

"I'm sorry, you went through all that trouble." Her eyes flickered to him for a second before going back down. "It won't go to waste, don't worry, I'm just going eat a little later. If there is anything left after Matthew comes."

Isaiah huffed out a breath, his hand turning in her grip to take her wrist and squeeze it. "You are cute, when you are flustered, but please don't be. It's natural. So unidentified tummy problem, is that it?"

She snorted at the word 'tummy' and his light tone. "Eat, I'll just get me some mint tea."

"No, no, no, sit," Isaiah said playfully, standing up to kiss her on the forehead and gently press her back against the chair. "I'll make it."

"You are hungry, so you eat," she said with a shake of her head at his escapades.

"Nope, won't eat before a lady does, so tea it is. Does the smell bother you?" He was opening the window before she answered.

"You are fussing," she accused with a smile, a wave of fluttering warmth spreading over her heart.

"You wouldn't deprive me of the pleasure, would you?" Isaiah had the water boiling and picked her favourite blue mug from the shelf.

"You are crazy," Seline said with another shake of her head.

Isaiah poured the water in, bringing the steaming mug over to the table. He stood behind her, draping his arm around her front casually. Always so careful about what she would want, what she would allow.

She wrapped her hands around his arm, clutching it to her chest like a talisman.

Isaiah smiled as she leaned her head back against his stomach. "You always say that when I do something very nice and you don't know how to accept it," he said smugly, very pleased with himself.

Seline rolled her eyes. "Go eat already.

Isaiah let her go after another squeeze, sitting down. Judging by the speed her ate, he must have been dying of hunger.

It was definitely crazy. Isaiah was the busiest person she knew - between his master degree in psychology, doing practicum this semester, being on back and call of so many packs when they didn't know how to resolve a dispute, often teaching new pups in the city or preparing them for their shadow passability exams.

But he still somehow managed to drop everything for her, to be with her, to find the time.

"What are you thinking about?" Isaiah interrupted her thoughts.

Seline flushed again. She couldn't exactly say 'about how amazing you are'.

"Ehhh, did I tell you about that cool class I found this semester? Every week comes a different professor from a different faculty to talk about their approaches to storytelling, it's so interesting. I still think we could make a whole new faculty around that topic..."

He listened and nodded, asked questions. Never did he complain that he was too tired to listen or that it was too complicated or that he had better things to think about.

Was this the first stage, the wooing stage, where he would hold out everything? Or would this change with time as they became boring to each other? Would it pass, getting this giddy when his eyes lightened up, when he shared his thoughts to things that mattered to her?

After eating, they ended up sprawling on the couch. Or more like Isaiah sat down with his arm around her waist, dragging her to lie against him as she talked, cushioning her.

"These are all excellent things to consider for my master thesis. I talked about it with the professor and the workshop group, and they weren't sure what about bestseller books would be relevant for culture studies. I always get that question, but like popular culture is very much a subject of culture studies and we are allowed to work interdisciplinary."

"And your theory in this is culture can be analysed through the bestseller that was popular at the time?"

"Yes, but not just doing a classic literary analysis of the structure and style and themes and techniques. I want to analyse the way the audience interpreted the bestseller - which doesn't have to be at all what the author indetended. What about that interpretation resonated so well, that the book became so popular? What about books that become popular after many years, because some kind of event makes it suddenly interesting? That's like George Orwell's book being suddenly sold out in Ukraine, because considering the life in a dictatorship suddenly looks like a very real risk or the book Pandemic being reprinted several time during Covid."

"I think you make a compelling argument. The psychological reaction to brutal or world shattering events often leads to two reactions. Either they read everything related to the situation, devouring dystopic films and such or they watch everything but to get their mind off it." Isaiah shifted as he talked so he could lean over her, watching her face. He propped himself up with one hand while his other stayed on her hip, tentative anchoring touch.

Then it gently slid up towards her middle.

"That's exactly what- Isaiah?"

"Your belly's still upset? Can I rub it?" he asked.

She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks, leaning forward to press her forehead against his chest. "Don't say it out loud, it's emberassing."

Isaiah chuckled. "May I?"

"If you have to." It felt very intimate for him to touch her stomach like that. She had offered bellyrubs to him once before, but something about receiving them, about his hand circling the top of her stomach, wide and gentle, had her toes curling up. It was like he had her in the palm of his hand, like there was nothing to hide.

Her stomach wasn't bloated, not exactly, but it was swirling quietly, like there was something inside although she didn't eat for over good 12 hours.

Isaiah followed the sound with his fingers, palm at the center. "There. Like this okay?"

Seline stayed with her face covered by his shirt, breathing in his cologne. "Tell me about your week. Are you still working with that kid that moved here from Neusiedl?"

Isaiah raised an eyebrow at the subject change but complied with a smirk, tone turning thoughful. "Yes. He's got good control, he is just a little arrogant, you could say. He follows his shadow's desires without question."

"Is that a usual problem?"

"One of the most usual ones. Either they are scared of their shadows taking over or they rely on them way too much. And their packs seek me out, like I had some kind of special talent with my shadow, some kind of gift." He scoffed at the idea, turning to lie on his back. "I simply have good training. It's entirely teachable."

"So their packs teach them wrong?"

Isaiah grimaced. "They are not wrong per se, but if you want to live in an environment so naturally stressful for wolves as a city is - with all the people, smells, impulses, lot less space - you gotta stop hating everything that's human about yourself. You gotta stop looking down on what human schools and universities can teach you. Otherwise what's the point of being here?"

Seline leaned the side of her head against his chest. "You know, you make for the perfect combination. You are studying the best there is to understand human psyche, but you are also a wolf with excellent control. You are the best to teach them."

Isaiah chuckled. "Maybe. I guess it's a rare to be both."

"Hmm. It looks like nobody can teach them this although it's very needed for the newbie wolves. Like how you taught Matthew?"

"Matthew didn't...he isn't problematic or whatever he thinks he is. He just didn't have anyone who would show trust in him."

"Yeah, but you figures out what he needed and then gave it to him. I'm not saying you need a psychology degree for that, but you are obviously demonstrating the ability to help wolves to understand their shadows better. Something no wolf can explain and no human school can teach. There is a hole for that and a demand..."

Isaiah smiled, bowing his head closer to her face. "Are you making up a new profession for me?"

"A unique one indeed," she said, leaning closer too. Their foreheads were almost touching. They were breathing the same air. Seline couldn't take her eyes from his lips.

She squaled a little when Isaiah tentatively pushed up her shirt to put his hand on her belly skin on skin. "W-what are you doing?"

"Rubbing your belly, of course." His voice was all innocent, with a terribly smug undertone.

Seline leaned away, covering her face with her hands. "You are horrible. I can't focus at all."

"Looks like you got a thing going on there with tummies. I don't know what it is, but it's very cute."

Seline rolled her eyes, trying to take control over her rapid heartbeat and breathing when he whispered like that with his hand up and down on her skin. His fingers were warm and smooth and she was melting under the touch. Was this guy going to be her undoing?

"Seriously. I tell you it's feeling off and you keep doing this. I don't get you." Shouldn't he be grossed out by the image of her insides moving, in whatever direction that might be? It was petrifyingly emberassing.

Isaiah scoffed at her words, sliding down on the sofa so his face was on the same level as her stomach. He cradled it with one hand while throwing the other over her back.

Then he kissed her on a sliver of naked skin under the shirt, right under her belly button.

Seline's eyes went wide, mouth hanging open in a little o. Isaiah chuckled.

She cupped his cheeks in her palms, fingers slightly shaking as she pushed his face towards hers.

Something flashed in Isaiah's eyes, something dark and intense, but exciting in a new way and he leaned into her touch to capture her lips in his.

The kiss was deep, long, and she completely lost herself in it. In his taste, his smell, his everything. If she could drown in him, she gladly would.

They were both breathing hard when they separated, his hands still on her waist, under her shirt.

His smile was wide and genuine, no masks. This was an emotion he wanted her to see.

"Completely crazy," she breathed.

@bellysoupset

[prairiefirewitch]

I’m hagging out a day early because I’m headed out of town for a couple of days, but I was not about to miss this month’s hag party. I love making infusions and have managed to turn infused witch things into my full time job, so this is my strawberry jam. Strawberry vanilla hibiscus infused mead, specifically.

I try to make at least 2 batches of mead a year; one at Yule to be shared at Midsommar, and the other made at Midsommar to be shared at Yule. It’s a nice way for me to slow down and apply patience (I’ve got zero) to a project, and eventually reap the delicious benefits of waiting for the mead to mature. And it’s very sweet to taste the labors of summer in the middle of winter, and then to taste the warm spices of winter in summer. It’s alcohol-fueled time travel.

This mead is my favorite of all the batches I’ve made, so I made 3 gallons instead of the usual 1 gallon batches I make.

Mead is incredibly easy to make; once you toss everything together, it’s just a waiting game. Here’s the down and dirty but there are many good recipes online if you want something more complex. Sanitizing your equipment is the most important step and you can use San-star from a homebrew supplier, or make your own with a gallon of cool water and about an ounce of household bleach. Everything you use here needs to be sanitized.

You need all this stuff to make a gallon:

2.5 - 3 lbs honey

1/2 pack sweet or dry yeast mead (I used champagne yeast because I like it bone dry)

1 gallon spring or purified water

2 cups berries

Vanilla bean, split and scraped

10 raisins

1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers

You’ll also want a gallon sized glass carboy, a big funnel, a large cooking pot, a small cooking pot, an airlock, a sieve, a rubber stopper that fits your carboy, and a big spoon to stir with.

Put your honey in your large pot and add about half a gallon of water. Warm it on low just until the honey dissolves. Watch the heat, honey scorches quickly. While it warms, put your clean chopped strawberries into the small pot with about 2 cups of water. Bring it to a low simmer and use a potato masher or an immersion blender to make a purée. Add your hibiscus flowers, heat for a few minutes to let them soften and turn off the heat. When it’s just barely warm, use your sieve to filter out the seeds and flowers.

Once your honey water cools to about 100 degrees, pour it into your clean carboy. Add the other half gallon of water, and your sieved strawberry purée. Top up with additional water if needed, leaving about 3 inches of head room. Add your vanilla beans and raisins. Raisins provide nutrients for the yeast. Sprinkle the yeast on top, but be sure your mixture is 90 degrees or cooler or your yeast will die.

Pop your rubber stopper into the carboy and insert the water filled airlock. Now you wait. Let it ferment for 2 weeks. Most of the activity will have stopped.

Now you need to filter the mead into a second carboy. If you don’t have one, use a sanitized pot or bucket while you wash your carboy for the secondary fermentation. You want to pour or siphon slowly and carefully, using a fine mesh strainer, so you leave most of the settled yeast and bits of strawberry out. Once it’s carefully filtered, add it back to the carboy, put the stopper and airlock back in. Now wait for a long time. This mead should be ready to drink in 6 months, but it’ll be a bit rough and unrefined. You can bottle it at this point, which is what I do, but lots of people just let it age in the carboy. I like heavy duty swing top glass bottles, but wine bottles work too.

If you’re patient, save a few bottles to age for a full year. This is when your mead becomes a nectar fit for gods, with all the roughness gone, and the delicate honey flavor gets complex. Keep your bottles in a cool dark place.

Thank you @msgraveyarddirt for hosting!

[stormy-talks]

Further mole cat worldbuilding, this time with food!

Mole cats evolved to eat mushrooms that are poisonous to most other creatures, large warm-blooded insect-like burrowing animals, the eggs of terrestrial animals, and root vegetables. Nowadays, they specialize in meals prepared with those same poisonous mushrooms as well as insect parts, cooked root vegetables, and rarely red meat all prepared with spices and black vinegar. Pickled vegetables, leaves, and mushrooms are another favored ingredient in dishes, as well as dried mushrooms and meat.

The dishes shown on the right are as follows:

Insect larvae prepared with black vinegar, a specialty ingredient made in bulk and traded for other goods. It's a key ingredient in most dishes.

Lightly steamed stuffed mushrooms. Most mushrooms are partially cooked to maintain the chemicals that protect mole cat young while they're still in their eggs. Mushroom caps might be stuffed with thinly sliced red meats, mashed root vegetables, nuts, legumes, or pickled insect parts.

A simple dinner of sliced potato and insect organs, usually drizzled with a spicy vinegar-based sauce. The potatoes aren't always cooked, but it's a generational preference more than anything.

Raw foods were the norm up until about a hundred years ago, when mole cats developed a better understanding of chemical compounds and nutritional benefits in cooked food. Older mole cats prefer an entirely raw diet while younger ones prefer their food to be cooked. Most dishes are a mix of both options depending on the intended taste and texture. Drinks may include mushroom coffee, watered down vinegar and spices, ginger tea, or teas created from aromatic leaves and bark. If you've noticed, there isn't really any sugar - mole cats can't taste most sugars so fruits, granulated sugar, and syrups from trees are off the table. A "dessert" may be a very fatty or oily dish, but I haven't figured out what they are yet.

Red meat is incredibly rare and a luxury, as a lot of terrestrial animals are either enormous or they're predators themselves. Hunters are rewarded well for the slaughter of any grazing beast because of the effort it takes to do so. If meat is regularly hunted, it's usually birds.

Eggs are traditionally eaten raw to get the most benefit from them. Mole cats can swallow most eggs whole and extract the insides with a special barb inside their throats before expelling the shells. Yes, like an egg-eating snake!

Still deciding on more details here.

[the-typing-dragon]

still favorite chelldos setup is that glados IS like that meanwhile chell is legitimately just incredibly robocidal and just wants to go home. like I'm sorry but almost every decision she makes is just net positive for chances to leave the hellhole. she brings wheatley along because he promises to let her leave. she brings potatOS along because she promises to let her leave, even stabs her in the process. like yes GLaDOS absolutely has something going on but chell is mostly just doing cost-benefit analyses of different murderbots in the chair

[mixotrophics]

Supermarkets and intl farming corporations are evil I think: international trade, refrigeration, and the race for the bottom

nowadays we have refrigeration, freezing, and fast-moving vehicles with these technologies installed. This means that it's now possible to move perishable goods over longer distances.

Up front, seems pretty cool. You can get mangoes in Norway and saltwater fish in deeply-landlocked places. There have been benefits to some people too. Primarily this is with fisheries for desirable catches with a restricted geographic range and no real farms. For example, Nephrops norvegicus is a crustacean that lives in cold water. It is known as scampi† or langousteen when sold as food . As a shellfish, it spoils incredibly quickly, and so is primarily sold in two forms: frozen, and live (to be killed immediately before cooking). Neither of these options would be possible to sell to far-away locations without modern tech, and french desire for high-quality nephrops was the main thing keeping many individual crustacean fishers in Scotland afloat financially (until Brexit happened, and customs slowed down trade enough that live nephrops weren't able to be sold to france, so the fishers had to sell frozen ones for less profit and it's been very not good and pushed a lot of people into poverty , Brexit, babey )

but the Big Thing here is that a lot of foods are not geographically restricted in a way we can't overcome right now. A lot of things can be just fine living somewhere else, but just can't swim across the ocean to get there, etc. Quinoa farms in england, olives in california, cacao in africa, potatoes almost ubiquitous. So when something can be grown wherever and technology means we can ship perishables around the planet no-prob , big supermarkets can now choose where they get their goods from a wide range of options.

And where do they pick? They pick to buy from the cheapest places; the places where environmental + workplace safety regulations don't impose more costs, where the workers are underpaid or enslaved and their wages don't mess with their boss's bottom line. The way a country can attract a big company (and its money) is by crushing unions, allowing slavery, and so on. If a government enforces environmental regulations or minimum wage etc, then the big company moves its operations to a different country. This is the race to the bottom, where countries gain jobs by disenfranchising their people. Sometimes, "structural adjustment programs" and the like are used by companies to say: Hey, financially-struggling country, we'll pay you a bunch of money in exchange for some land & for implementing laws that reduce workers' rights.

& in countries with better workers rights and environmental protections, jobs evaporate into thin air as supermarkets by goods elsewhere.

Who benefits? only the higher-ups in these companies, buying goods at the lowest possible cost, and then selling them at a huge profit margin in countries where the living costs are different. Buy one chocolate bar in exchange for the money a cacao-picker may earn in a day of backbreaking labor.

-

I live in a less-populated country where low-density urban centers are surrounded by farms.

On the bus ride to the hospital i saw fields of oilseeds, edible brassicas, strawberries, potatoes ... sheep and cow pastures ... forest-banks grown lush from the high-latitude midnight sun, full of wild edibles.

In town center there is one store that sells local goods, only meat.

I go to the store and the produce is sourced from despotic regimes and countries implicated in human rights abuses and forced labor. fresh vegetables cost money people don't have. health issues from insufficient nutrition are chronic and frequent. the supermarket CEOs have multiple mansions.

-

the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte established ABasteCer markets, land in prime (town central) locations where proprietors could bid to run the market; certain important foods such as fresh vegetables would be sold at a fixed, lower price, while buying the goods from farmers for a higher price, while others would be sold as normal. While the fixed-price foods didn't have a profit margin, the proprietors didn't have to worry about rent , & the unfixed foods provided enough of a wage for them.

Local farmers got paid more, exploitation elsewhere avoided. Lower prices meant poor people could buy important foods, nutrient deficiency dropped.

i wonder how much fighting it would take for such a thing to be established elsewhere in the world . Shall we?

-

† note that if its Cheap then they're probably lying and selling you intensively-farmed Litopeneaus prawns ... these are implicated in ecological problems such as mangrove destruction.

-

World Hunger: 10 Myths. Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, 2015.

[the-real-maglev]

I'm still not done with my competitive Cassette Beasts hypothetical. I now present a list of moves that I think have an argument for banning, some much more than others.

Hypnotize & Snooze Spore: The way statuses work in CB makes Sleep incredibly OP, thus meaning I will be banning every move that can inflict it on the opponent. These two are the obvious ones, but that also includes...

Trick, Wonderful 7 & Vengeful Curse: All of these moves inflict a random status effect (three in Vengeful Curse's case), which has a chance to be sleep, banning all of them. No, this does not ban the Allseer like, they're just locked out of their signature move (not that it matters when Triphinx has 190 base RAtk STAB Gear Shear). Two of them can also inflict Petrified, which I deem to be insanely broken for the same reason.

Stony Look: Petrified is also a stun that's extremely frustrating to deal with. This move's extreme rarity does nothing to make it legal.

Avalanche: Completely nullifies melee attacks for a turn and is given to a bizarrely wide array of monsters (even Sparktan of all things can learn it). Close Encounter and Hot Potato combined with this move are outright cheeses and this move is frustrating at the best of times, so it's a very good ban candidate.

Glitter Bomb: Using this move even ONCE can instantly derail a battle due to how Glitter works. Bootlegs got their own format already for undermining typing and this move is in the same boat. The fact this move is extremely widely distributed and costs zero AP doesn't help its case.

Prismatic: Do I even need to explain why this is banned?

AP Refund: You know the risk-reward aspects that make the 10 AP moves super enticing yet ultimately balanced? What if we just through that all out the window with a single coin flip?

Critical AP: Enables your RNG addiction.

Random Starter: Definitely not quite as insane as it would be if multiples of the same sticker were allowed, but it's still uncompetitive and RNG reliant. At least Pre-Emptive strike is predictable after it's revealed and amounts to chip damage.

Custom Starter, Automate & Chemical Imbalance: RNG bad.

Dodge, Treat & Shear Luck: Evasion sucks. I don't think I need to elaborate any further. Creating and exploiting evasion boosts through element chemistry may also be grounds for disqualification.

Battering Ram, Blizzard & Peekaboo: Accuracy down is every bit as painful and evasion up. I thought I could trust you, Bansheep...

Damage Roll: Not only can it apply both of the above statuses, it's also just RNG incarnate as it is, with it giving you a 5% chance for having a move nearly as strong as Headshot for a measley 3 AP.

Stab in the Dark: Here for pretty much the same reason as Damage Roll, it's an uncompetitive dice roll of an attack that's a 10% chance of half a Last Rites for free.

Jagged Edge: You know what's worse than evasion strats? Evasion strats that punish you for factors out of your control!

Ecolocation: Multitarget is a really good status, being able to create it through chemistry (even exploiting Shrapnel to do so) is a big appeal of Lightning types and Broadcast is a viable move as well. This move allows you to get it for completely free just by switching in. It's not even like the monsters you have to switch in for this benefit are weak either, some incredibly dangerous ones like Triphinx and Robindam can learn this move. Definitely overtuned.

Two Heads: Same case as Ecolocation, however I'm slightly more willing to let this one slide since Multistrike has the weakness of also doubling AP consumption.

Fusion Power: Not only does it apply a random status, it also has a random attack type. Its niche is covered by Last Rites, Headshot, Gear Shear and Cosmic Kunai regardless, all of which are at least possible to read. The legality of fusion in general is dubious, but even if it's allowed, this definitely isn't. Fusions are still terrifying foes without this up their sleeve.

Moonshine & Djinntoxicate: Confusion is also pushing it because RNG.

Uncommon & Rare Stickers: Too many variables and most Rare stickers have unfair RNG effects.

[beyondthebloodsugar]

7 Vegetables That Support Healthy Blood Sugar

Managing blood sugar can feel like a never-ending battle. But what if I told you that something as simple as veggies could help? Eating the right vegetables not only adds nutrients to your diet but can also play a role in controlling your blood sugar levels. Let’s dig into seven fantastic vegetables that can support your health in this area.

1. Spinach: The Leafy Powerhouse

Spinach is a true superstar among vegetables. Packed with vitamins and minerals, this leafy green is low in calories and carbs. With its high fiber content, spinach helps slow down glucose absorption. Toss some fresh spinach into your salad or blend it into a smoothie for an easy boost to your meals.

2. Broccoli: The Blood Sugar Fighter

Broccoli is more than just a side dish; it's a warrior when it comes to blood sugar control. It's rich in fiber and contains compounds that may reduce insulin resistance. Eating steamed or roasted broccoli brings out its flavor without losing its benefits. Plus, it’s an easy veggie to sneak into casseroles or pasta dishes.

3. Carrots: Naturally Sweet and Savory

Carrots bring a natural sweetness to the table. They have a low glycemic index, meaning they won't spike your blood sugar levels. Snacking on raw carrots makes a healthy choice, or you can add them to soups and stews for a hearty flavor. Who doesn’t love that crunch?

4. Bell Peppers: Colorful and Crunchy

Bell peppers aren’t just pretty to look at; they’re also incredibly healthy. They’re loaded with vitamins A and C, and their high water content helps keep you hydrated. Their fiber helps manage blood sugar, making them perfect for salads or stir-fries. Grab a variety of colors to enjoy different flavors and nutrients.

5. Kale: The Nutrient-Dense Green

Kale is another leafy green that deserves a spot on your plate. It’s packed with antioxidants and is low in carbohydrates. Adding kale to your meals can help regulate blood sugar levels and keep you feeling full longer. Try kale chips for a tasty snack or mix it into your favorite smoothie for a nutritious punch.

6. Sweet Potatoes: A Healthier Starch Option

Unlike white potatoes, sweet potatoes are higher in fiber and have a lower glycemic index. This makes them a better choice for those looking to keep blood sugar steady. Bake or mash them for a delicious side dish, or even make sweet potato fries for a fun twist on a classic.

7. Zucchini: The Versatile Veggie

Zucchini is more than just a low-calorie vegetable; it's loaded with vitamins and minerals. With plenty of fiber, zucchini helps keep your blood sugar levels stable. Use it in stir-fries, bake it, or spiralize it for a healthy pasta alternative. It adapts well to any dish, making it a kitchen favorite.

Conclusion: Adding Veggies to Your Plate

Incorporating these seven vegetables into your diet can support healthy blood sugar levels while offering a variety of flavors and nutrients. Whether you enjoy them raw, steamed, or roasted, these veggies can become your allies in managing your health. So, next time you’re planning a meal, think about how you can add a splash of color and nutrition to your plate!

[auckie]

Just curious what you typically feed your dubia? Or other roaches you may or may not use/keep?

We have red runners as our bread and butter, but also keep and sell dubia, lobsters, hissers, orange heads, and two small colonies of peppered and dead head roaches. We used to have lil black Kenyans and some sort of discoid too but they’re gone now.

All of them p much eat the same diet of organic chick starter feed mixed with dry cat or dog food, and occasionally a mix of things like bee pollen, fish flakes, dried mealworms, freeze dried peas, calcium powder, cornmeal, oats, repashy bug burger or similar, and even gecko powder. I only do that as a treat, or if we’re low on sometning else tho. In a bind I’ve even fed them yeast and spring tail powder.

They get water beads, very similar to non toxic orbeez, as their water source, as well as cut fruits and veggies. Ideally organic but that’s not always possible. I wash them in vingar, warm water, kosher salt, and baking soda mixed together, then they get brushed and rinsed. We used to peel them too but it takes too long.

The main veggies are carrot, sweet potato, zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, beets, and a chopped leafy green like collards or kale or beet greens. The fruits are apples and oranges, but pears also work well. I try to avoid wetter vegetables like. Well I guess it’s a fruit, like tomatoes, or squishy things like grapes and banana, but they do love them. Any squash, tuber, whatever will do. I mean. Honestly I don’t know of a grown food that’s not recommended save for the fly or mold issue. I would avoid anything too acidic obviously like lemon or even grapefruit but other than that, go crazy. They just tend to mold or garner flies. But if they’re on heat (90F is ideal for breeding for red runners) then the wet foods will dry and desiccate quickly.

In addition to all of this I add pellets of dried, rehydrated alfalfa to the wet food. The roaches go nuts for it and try to lay their ooths in it, which is great bc when it dries I can collect them and sift it all out easier, and then throw remaining chick feed and dried alfalfa get put into the bin that they’ll eventually hatch out into, so that they can eat it.

Some species are kept in closed but ventilated bins, like the hissers and lobsters. You have to line the tops of the bins with food grade lubricant otherwise they’ll climb on the lid or try to get out out. Lobsters mostly get dry food and water beads bc of this, otherwise it molds quickly and attracts fruit flies. The hissers love fruit and dry food but don’t get water beads. Usually I just mist their enclosure. Other species we keep in open bins, and they get the whole shebang. If they’re on substrate it helps to keep springtails and dwarf white isopods in there so they can clean up excess. I’d recommend keeping almost every species on substrate save maybe red runners, and depending on how you have your dubia set up, possibly them. But they do seem to benefit from it more than not. We have a ton of dermestid beetles that do this in the other bins, such as the red runners, but they’re annoying as fuck and can and will wipe out a colony bc they tend to feast on the hatchlings and teneral roaches, esp if the lid is kept on.

Orange heads are incredibly carnivorous and protein motivated to the point that they regularly eat their own newly molted roaches, or at least chew the wings off of each other. They’re a bitch to keep bc of how hardy and prolific they are so it’s difficult to avoid at a certain colony size. Culls aren’t even necessary bc they basically do it for you.

But, if you feed them enough they’ll continue to breed to the point of absurdity. They love wet cat food and literally anything I drop in there. They could clean a thawed frozen feeder rat in minutes, and never have dermestids or any hitchhiking red runners (who are great at sneaking into the other bins. Actually any climbing or flighted roach is, even those that flutter, because they’ll jump the gap. Red runner males instinctually want to wander, up to 20 ft from their colony to search for food and water. They bring it back to the females and young, but even when foods available they prefer to try and come and go for breeding purposes. Dubia are somewhat similar, bc the males are mildly territorial and the females bully the fuck out of them. Actually all females we keep bully the males. I think that’s sortve a standard in arthropods tbh but I could be wrong) .) bc they just fucking eat them. They’re insane and smell bad and I’m coming to hate them bc it’s a regular site to see a teneral, newly matured roach being fucked and eaten at the same time. I hate it. They also cannot be sated. Their thirst is literally unquenchable. They’re the TRUE cockroach of cockroaches in terms of being voracious, prolific, and difficult to kill via pesticides, disease, starvation, dehydration, etc etc. they love to bite and have barbed legs which will scare you, and secrete a gross smelling fluid when scared. They burrow too, and are hard, so idk why anyone keeps them as feeders, or pets. Mostly likely roach to fight back and hurt/kill whatever you’re feeding if it happens to be a wimp or molting. They also give ‘live births’ (read: the ootheca hatches inside them and the baby’s emerge internally) so if you drop a pregnant one into a spiders enclosure you might have a bunch of shithead baby orange heads appear, even if the spider manages to bite and hold onto the roach. At least with dubia they’re sad little baby cows and can’t really do much to harm your spider.

Red runners aren’t as bad but will also occasionally resort to eating their own if they’re really hungry, and have been known to eat spiders if they’re larger than them, or if the spider is premolt/molting.

Lobsters will eat carboard given the chance. Dubia as well, but they love the veggies and dry food. They all love oranges but esp orange heads, dubia, and hissers. Dubia actually become more prolific on oranges and afaik we don’t know why. I’d hazard other species do as well honestly.

Sorry that was a long answer but I’m always delighted to talk about my roach husbandry, or just how I care for insects in general!

[obsoleteozymandias]

Hopefully I'm doing this right (Feel free to delete/ignore if your request matchups are closed or if you don't feel comfortable writing it) I just wanted to request a Matchup for Twisted Wonderland

Appearance: 5'0, waist-long straight black hair with full bangs, round almond brown eyes, round face (pale-ish??), just an Average Asian/Filipino, has a bit of a resting b face, so I try to always smile with my eyes.

I like wearing dark academia clothing but I also like clothing that looks grundge-y (my style is either masc or fem, no in-betwen)

My MBTI: ENFP

Zodiac Sign: Leo ♌

Sexuality/Gender: Demiromantic Asexual (I just say I'm Demisexual), Agender/ Genderfluid (She/her/They/them)

Personality: Ok whew, I dont know how to begin- My personality is a bit of a mess, I can be childish and playful but serious at times. I'm prone to hyperfocusing on things, I get defensive easily, and I am prone to getting a bit aggressive when I'm extremely mad/ pissed off. My tone of voice comes out as cold and mean (But I try to make it friendlier), I am stubborn (very stubborn when I know I'm right, I'm insistent on it too and rarely backdown) and I'm pretty confident and independent. I work in street smarts but my intuition is pretty strong, I'm quick to think on my feet. Some people have told me I like I have an Inferiority/Superiorty complex where I act like I'm the best but feel like the worst. I like acting average when I'm aware I'm not and I like playing Devil's Advocate, I like acting innocent and cutesty when I know I'll benefit from it. I like acting naive to fool people (My survival skills, apparently), I can be eccentric and follow my heart than my head most of the time, I am more inclined to go with the flow instead of sticking to a routine or schedule (Been told that I'm a walking Adhd). My friends have described me to be a "Golden Cat (or something)- Black Cat appearance and Golden Retriever Energy.

Likes: Sleeping and Daydreaming

I like chocolates, especially the extra bitter dark chocolates. And whipped cream makes me absolutely feral. My favourite type of chips are honey butter potato chips. I love blueberry cheesecakes and chocolate chip banana muffins. I also like the different colored macarons. I like my chocolate bitter but when it comes to tea, I will rival Kalim's sugar serving

I like the colors red, blue, and green.

I like roses, specifically the half colored roses (half red, half white), Sunflowers, and Forget-Me-Nots.

I like both dogs and cats.

Dislikes: Hypocrites, people who have no sense of morals and principles (people who cheat in school, just to be a top student, without actually learning anything), people who flex their wealth around. I dislike veggies because they have a weird aftertaste, specific textures (sensory issues go brrr)

Partner Preference/s: Its either one or the other for me (usually, when I simp for characters, They're either INTJ/ISTJ or ENTP, its crazy) To be more specific... I would prefer a partner who is incredibly smart/intelligent in academics (or just being knowledgeable in general), someone who is studious (I like nerdy people ngl) and being dorky about their interest. Sometimes, I find great attraction to people who seem aloof and closed off, I like cracking people open (not literally), people who compliment me, that we are different but similar in the things that matter. Someone who just gets me in ways that I couldn't/wouldn't anticipate.

My Love Language (Receiving): Acts of Service and Quality Time

I'm sorry for the word vomit 😭 I wanted to be as specific as I can

Hereeeee ya go

== Twisted Wonderland ==>

I match you up with…

Jade Leech

Jade is one of the few people who can appreciate the more manipulative ways you deal with people. When he sees you put on a cute or innocent act to get what you want, he’s SUPER intrigued. 

He’ll get closer to you with politeness at first, but you know he genuinely loves you when he shows you his more cunning and less than polite side. 

He’s also someone who can appreciate your lightheartedness. He himself is somewhat reserved and distant, and I imagine you’d be like a ray of sunshine in the ocean of his life. 

Side note: you and Floyd are a chaotic friendship which he frequently finds himself being both annoyed by and extremely fond of. 

Catch him making you all sorts of teas and drinks with your favorite flavors, or having you taste-test some snacks at the lounge that he already knows you’ll love. 

Is he offended when you put a lot of sugar into you tea? A little bit. Does he find your delighted smile cute and will overlook that? Absolutely. 

Jade and you are both independent creatures, but you find solace and acceptance of eachother wholeheartedly in one another. 

[max1461]

I mean I think a significant part of many debates I have on here is just "should you be a satisficer or a maximizer". Like my ethical intuitions are all very satisficing, or satisficing-ish (you know, I don't have a precise formalism, they're intuitions after all). And I think from that perspective, it's like. No matter what economic benefits you postulate language death to have, they're going to do orders of magnitude less to achieve satisfaction than a global UBI would. And without something like global UBI, we're never gonna achieve satisfaction anyway. So that's sort of the intuition. This language-barrier-inefficiency stuff (which I don't even have numbers on, and I'm not sure anyone has numbers on) all seems like small potatoes. Whether we satisfice will just be determined elsewhere.

If you're a maximizer the case is much stronger. In fact I think if you're an aggressive maximizer it's probably an open and shut case. But then so are all kinds of conclusions I find difficult to stomach, culminating in "tile the universe with pleasuronium". Which like, maybe that's the right thing to do! It doesn't seem impossible that that would be the right thing to do. Maybe if I introspected significantly on the nature of non-pleasure I would find that it is equivalent to pain. I mean it at least sort of is. By this is the whole AI alignment thing: I kind of think you can't salvage a human-compatible worldview out of really truly maximizing tendencies.

Anyway presumably the answer is somewhere in the middle, and well I mean I said I was a satisficer but that's not really true either. So I'm already somewhere in the middle. Anyway this is basically a thinking out loud post, it's incredibly loose. Don't take it too seriously.

[helperhome]

Identifying Poisonous Plants!!

Whether you're going out for an evening stroll or foraging, being able to identify poisonous plants can be incredibly helpful.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is no "one rule" to look for when identifying a poisonous plant from a harmless one. Each plant has its own characteristics that are unique to it, with some obvious overlapping of course. Also each person can have a different experience with a plant as well. Meaning, one person may be able to handle something another person can't.

A lot of the variance has to do with individual allergies, but there are also those plants that everyone needs to stay away from as well.

Some poisonous plants include:

Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac - these are know to cause contact dermatitis as well as other more severe symptoms (depending on the seriousness of the allergy)

Virginia Creeper - This is a pal to Poison Ivy that grows near it in most cases. While the leaves don't cause the dermatitis, the fruits are very poisonous. If ingested they can cause serious kidney damage and even death.

Wild Cherries - These are very tricky to identify so always use caution before consuming. [I've acutely poisoned myself with only 1 berry and it't definitely not something to mess with. For me, it caused disorientation, a drunk feeling, loss of balance, and an overall feeling of being unwell.]

Poke/Pokeweed - While there are ways to prepare Poke leaves to consume, this plant is best to be avoided by newcomers. If you boil the leaves, changing the water out 3 times, you can eat them. The benefit of doing so is that they purge your lymphatic system. This plant is known to be full of berries but they are poisonous so do not consume! (The berries can be used to make dye's however.)

Horse Nettle/Nightshade Plants - The plants in this family contain a compound called "solanine" which is highly poisonous. Most of the levels of solanine vary throughout the year. For example, Horse Nettle is known to be its most poisonous in the fall. Another example of a nightshade plant are potatoes! While potatoes are not poisonous, I'm sure you've been told to avoid eating any green ones - this is because of the high solanine level

The best way to identify which plants are poisonous or not is to do research into the plant in question and keep a detailed field journal. Using plant identification software is a great tool to use aside of your other identification methods, but they should be used with caution. Do not base the edibility of a plant solely off of an identifying app - do further research. I like to use the app to figure out the name of the plant and then compare it to what I've found on the internet.

Remember to have fun and be safe (using caution when necessary) whenever you are exploring the great outdoors!(: