#Umlilo

[gravalicious]

Umlilo - Umzabalazo (Struggle), 2017.

Source: Jay Pather and Catherine Boulle (eds.) - Acts of Transgression: Contemporary Live Art in South Africa (2019: 225)

[thisisalwaysmorethanoneknows]

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Chapter 6

Word count: 2300

Summary: A dragonet, Ray, tries to be more important that whom they are and gets way in over their head. They get involved with everything from pirates and evil queens, to buried secrets lost to the sands of time.

Will she get out of the storm and finally live a normal life, or will the world of dragons crush her?

_______________________

“Ray… Ray…” Cypress whispered to Ray, shaking her.

“Hmm, what?” Ray asked, voice heavy with sleep.

“I think someone is poking around outside.” Cypress said, “we have to go.”

“Is it still raining?” Ray asked, standing up.

“Drizzling,” Cypress stated, before moving to the cave entrance, “now come on, we don’t know how safe they are.”

“Coming,” Ray said, following them.

They snuck out of the cave, but whoever had been poking around was right by the entrance. They turned to the two of them and everyone froze. The dragon was a SkyWing with dark scales, their back scales, though, were gold on the edges. They bristled seeing Ray and Cypress.

“SeaWing, MudWing, what are you doing in the SkyWing Kingdom?” they asked.

“Oh uhh, we’re just passing through, we’ll be gone soon,” Cypress assured.

“So why were you two hiding in a cave?” the SkyWing asked.

“We were waiting out the rain,” Ray explained, leaving out the rest.

“Really? A SeaWing avoiding the rain?” the SkyWing sneered, “aren’t you guys used to water?”

“You know that is incorrect,” Ray stated.

“Mhm, sure, whatever you say, fish face,” the SkyWing said.

“Heyy, SkyWing, man, we’re just passing through, please leave us alone,” Cypress said, getting in between them, “we’re just passing through, we should be out of your scales by tomorrow.”

“Fine, MudWing, but only because we’re allies and I don’t want Queen Gharial to get pissed,” the SkyWing said, “but I will go with you, so y’all don’t try anything funny.”

“Understood,” Ray said.

The group started to fly west, going above and around mountains. As time passed, what was left of the storm cleared up, only leaving clouds. The SkyWing kept having to circle back for them, as both Ray and Cypress were super sore, and well, it was a SkyWing.

“So uhh, SkyWing-” Cypress started.

“Could you not call me ‘SkyWing’, call me Umlilo,” the SkyWing said, interrupting Cypress, “‘SkyWing’ sounds super dedragonizing.”

“Uhh, okay Umlilo,” Cypress said, “aanyways, what were you doing? Why were you so far from any towns?”

“That’s not your business,” Umlilo stated.

“Okay okay, just trying to make conversation,” Cypress said, raising their talons.

“Whatever, let’s just get out of here,” Umlilo said.

She zoned back in on Cypress and Umlilo’s conversation. Umlilo was in a way trying to interrogate Cypress into giving him more information about them, why they were passing through, and where they were going. Cypress was trying their best to not answer or to dodge the question.

“Man MudWing, you’re almost as prickly as a SandWing,” Umlilo said, “I assumed you’d be super laid back, you know, like most MudWings.”

Cypress and Ray looked at each other. It was weird to think of MudWings as laid back after living with them, and after… the day before. The tribes really needed to interact more.

“What are those expressions, am I wrong or something?” Umlilo asked.

“It’s nothing, Umlilo,” Ray said, “don’t worry about it.”

“Whatever SeaWing,” Umlilo said, rolling their eyes. · ·· · By the time the light was lowering again, the group could see sand on the horizon. They were close to the SandWing kingdom. They would be flying to Pantala within a week. They just needed to stay safe.

“Finally, soon I can be done with you two,” Umlilo said.

“The feeling is mutual,” Cypress said.

As they got close to the desert, the group prepared to land. Ray was relieved to finally be free of Umlilo. On top of that, they got a lot of relief from being so far from the MudWing kingdom and Queen Gharial.

Once they were grounded, Umlilo spoke, “welp, this is the SandWing kingdom, you two can go, but I’d better not see you again.”

“Yeah yeah, we got it,” Cypress said, “come on Ray.”

“Yes, and stay out of SkyWing territory next time, SeaWing,” Umlilo added.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of returning,” Ray said, “I’m not a fan of smoke breathers.”

“Come on Ray, let’s leave him,” Cypress said, walking away.

Ray just silently agreed and followed Cypress into the desert. They both started flying again to avoid burning their talons. Neither wanted to trek across a burning desert.

They flew in silence for an hour, the sun slowly lowering towards the sea. Cypress broke the silence first, “so Ray, what happened between you and the Royal Sibs? I mean, it must have been important if Queen Gharial got that angry.”

“Well in short, Queen Gharial decided to violently take over Pyrrhia with the RainWings,” Ray said.

“Wait WHAT?!” Cypress yelled, “we have to tell someone!”

"I know! We can tell the Pantalan queens," Ray assured.

"I hate that we have to wait," Cypress groaned.

"Yeah but we can't tell the Pyrrhian queens, as we discussed earlier," Ray said.

"Let's just fly faster," Cypress said, frontalis muscles scrunching up.

"Yeah…" Ray said. · ·· · The moons were at their peak in the sky when the two of them reached the Scorpion Den. By then Ray was exhausted and Cypress probably was too. They both needed to stop.

"Cypress, we need to land," Ray suggested.

"But you said the Scorpion Den isn't much better than Queen Buzzard?" Cypress inquired, "besides we have to get to Pantala soon."

"We won't reach Pantala if we don't rest," Ray pointed out.

"Fiine," Cypress said, "but we fly again once dawn breaks."

"That will work," Ray said.

As such, both dragons flew to the ground in front of the Scorpion Den. Ray stretched quickly before walking up to the entrance with Cypress in tow. Ray hoped that they wouldn't charge a fee like they've done in the past. At the entrance there were two large, heavily armored SandWings.

"Halt," one of the SandWings at the entrance said, sounding like they had been asleep, "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"We're just passing through, me and my friend needed a place to rest, then we can be on our way again," Cypress said.

“Heh, if you wanted a place to rest, then you’ve come to the wrong city,” the other SandWing said, “this city has been in chaos for centuries. You’re more likely to lose all you care about than to get a good rest.”

“Yeah, you should keep going, travelers, find a different oasis,” the first SandWing said.

“It’d be difficult for us to travel much farther, let alone to another oasis,” Ray stated, “as me and my friend have been flying continuously since the SkyWing Kingdom.”

“Well you should have thought about that sooner,” the guard said, “now get out, we are not allowed to let dragons in this late without Fennec’s permission.”

“Oh…” Cypress said, “That's a shame.”

“Yeah yeah, tough cacti,” the second one said, “now get out of here squirts.”

“Please. Think it over,” Ray requested, “we just need somewhere to rest until midnight, then we’ll be gone. Afterwards, you’ll likely never see us again.”

“Once again, no, I will not go against Fennec,” the first one said, “and neither should you.”

“Wait, maybe you can take us to Fennec,” Cypress suggested, “what we are doing is important.”

“How so?” the first guard asked, “how important is it?”

“Very important,” Cypress said. Even Ray was unimpressed at Cypress’ method of omission.

“Mhm, yeah, not good enough,” the second guard said.

“I have important information on the MudWing Queen,” Ray said.

“And you want to tell Fennec, why?” the first guard asked, getting in Ray’s face.

“Me and my friend need rest to deliver this info to who we need to get it to,” Ray explained, “if it means using the same info to get into the Scorpion Den, then so be it.”

“Finally, an actual reason,” the second guard said, “but still no.”

“What?!” Cypress yelled.

“Like we said, no one can come in this late,” the first guard said.

“Could one of you talk to Fennec, negotiate maybe?” Ray asked.

“Not at this hour,” the second guard said.

“What if you let us in, and we give up the info in the morning?” Ray said.

“For fucks sake!” the second guard said, “when will you two get it?! Neither of you are entering this town. Now if you don’t quit we will kill you.”

“Damn, come on Ray, let’s find another place to rest then,” Cypress said, turning and walking away, “I don’t want these guys to get much angrier.”

Ray raised a frontalis muscle, they didn’t expect Cypress to respond like that, but she followed anyway. After all, maybe Cypress had a back up idea or something. Ray wouldn’t know, they weren’t a moonborn NightWing after all.

“So what will we do now?” Ray asked.

“Simple. We either find another way in, or we sleep on the sand,” Cypress stated.

“How will we find another way in? From what I saw above, there isn’t many entrances that are subtle enough to sneak in,” Ray pointed out.

“Well then we’ll make an entrance,” Cypress said, “I mean, I could just burn a hole in one of the walls.”

“That’ll catch a lot of attention,” Ray said, deadpanning, “we will be skinned if we try that.”

“Hey don’t judge it, you haven’t even tried it,” Cypress argued.

“Yeah? Because I can’t burn things,” Ray pointed out, “and I don’t plan to start now.”

“Fine, but when we’re cold, know it was your choice,” Cypress said.

“Alright then,” Ray said, walking away from the city and laying down on the sand. · ·· · Ray awoke to the warming of her scales and the desert sun in their face. They could feel sand in between their scales and talons; not a great way to wake up, but certainly better than the freezing winds of night. They stood up and shook the sand off before walking over to Cypress who was still asleep.

“Cypress, get up, we have to fly,” Ray said, shaking Cypress, “I want to get to Pantala today.”

Cypress slowly got up, stretching, “it’s morning already?”

“Yep,” Ray confirmed, “now let’s go.”

“Yep,” Cypress said. They yawned before stretching their wings and getting themself into the air.

Ray followed into the air after them. She winced feeling how sore her shoulders were. It was bad, but she could keep going. Although she would probably think otherwise once they reached the coast. “Cypress we should probably land when we reach the coast. We haven’t eaten in over two days,” Ray suggested, “also I’ll probably fall out of the sky if we don’t stop there.”

“That is fair,” Cypress said before yawning again.

The two of them flew for a few hours, reaching the coastline around sunhigh. The sun beating down on the duo. Between pain and heat, Ray felt like she was dying.

“Finally, urg, I feel like I’m going to die,” Ray said, landing. How badly she wanted to just swim the rest of the way there. But unfortunately, Cypress couldn’t breathe water.

Cypress landed by her before they too spoke, “so what will we eat? Because sand won’t do, and seabirds would be annoying to catch right now.”

“What do you think? Fish,” Ray said.

“I can’t fish, Ray, and I don’t know if you know either,” Cypress pointed out.

“Oh please, it can’t be that hard,” Ray scoffed, “you just sneak up on the fish and grab them, right?”

“Uhh, you can try that,” Cypress said, “not like I know much better.”

“Exactly,” Ray said while wading into the water, “now, if you don’t want to fish, you don’t have to, I can do it by myself.”

“Yeah, you should do it, I’m not a great swimmer,” Cypress said.

Ray proceeded to waded until she reached the ocean drop-off when she dived under. Instinct kicked in, allowing her to swim. The sting of salt in their gills felt right. She was so distracted by a feeling she had barely felt in years, she didn’t notice there was something near here. While as a dragonet she would have turned, she just dismissed it. After all, it was too big to be anything important, it was probably just a whale.

She tried to catch some fish, but as they kept trying, they realized it wasn’t as easy as she remembered. A testament to how long she had been in the MudWing kingdom. She decided to just try and catch something else, like a shark. It would be a fight but at least she could do that.

After swimming for a while, Ray found her target, a blue shark. Catching the shark wasn’t much of a challenge and they were able to return relatively quickly. Although the time they spent in the water wasn’t enough.

As Ray reached the shore, Cypress jumped up, “holy shit, Ray, you caught that?!”

“Yeah, I couldn’t really get the smaller fish, they were too fast, so I had to go for a shark instead,” Ray said.

Cypress stared at Ray’s face for a moment, confusing her, before speaking, “crawfish, you were in the MudWing kingdom far too long, weren’t you?”

“Umm, pardon, where is this coming from??” Ray asked, even more confused, and a hint of something she couldn’t put their talon on.

“Well- Actually, nevermind,” Cypress said, “we should just eat and start flying.”

Ray raised a frontalis muscle, but didn’t comment on it. Food was more important anyways. Regardless of how they felt.

After they finished food (and after Cypress burned it for some god), the two took to the sky again. By that time the sun was pretty far in its trek across the sky and some clouds had rolled in from across the ocean. They would have to land soon. When Ray looked over at Cypress they were watching the clouds, likely thinking something similar.

[researchrealmblog]

South Africa Charcoal Briquettes Market To Reach $286.7 Million by 2030

The major factors aiding in the growth of the South African charcoal briquettes market are the country’s rich barbecue culture and the low cost of such fuel. As a result, the revenue generated from the sale of such products is projected to display an 8.8% CAGR during the forecast period (2020–2030), to reach $286.7 million by 2030 from $136.0 million in 2019. Charcoal is produced by heating wood without oxygen, to remove all the volatile constituents and water from it.

Based on type, the South African charcoal briquettes market is categorized into round, hexagonal, oval/pillow, coconut shell, and others, which includes shisha, hookah, and octagonal charcoal briquettes. Among these, the oval/pillow category held the largest share during the historical period (2014–2019) due to the fact that these products are mostly produced within South Africa. Moreover, market players find this shape easier to create than others. In addition, this shape has even granularity and good clot state strength, which is why it is used as a sinter in blast furnaces.

The divisions under the application segment are barbecue, metallurgical fuel, industrial, and others, wherein others include odor control in attics, garages, and closets and religious purposes. Among these, the barbecue division is expected to witness the fastest growth and keep dominating the market till 2030. This is attributed to the country’s lively barbecue culture, which vividly showcases itself in the summer, when people assemble in their backyard or front garden, fire up the pit, get a load of beef, pork, and lamb, and gulp everything down with cold beers.

A key trend in the South African charcoal briquettes market is the usage of instant-light briquettes. Lighting conventional briquettes can be a long and tiring process of kindling and rekindling the fire and continuously monitoring and controlling the heat. This is crucial as too strong a flame can burn the food instead of cooking it, while if the heat is too low, the food will never cook. Instant-light charcoal takes people’s pain of using a dryer and fan to control the heat away, as such briquettes come to the desired temperature within 20 minutes of being lit.

One of the major drivers for the South African charcoal briquettes market is the cost-effectiveness of such fuel. Even for everyday cooking, South Africans find charcoal briquettes to be cheaper than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This is because the briquettes are produced by mixing the powder left after the production of lump charcoal with wood and other chemicals. Moreover, all the briquettes in a bag are of similar size, which makes them easy to be transported, an advantage not offered by lump charcoal.

Due to the presence of a large number of small-scale, often individual, players, the South African charcoal briquettes market is highly fragmented in nature. This offers organizes players, including Ignite Products, E & C Charcoal (Pty) Ltd., Namchar (Pty) Ltd., Umlilo Charcoal Products (Pty) Ltd., Rapid Fire Charcoal and Briquettes CC, Braai & BBQ, SAFIRE CHARKA (Pty) Limited, Blaze Braai, Safari Braai Products, and Braaistar, to expand their presence in the country through retailers and wholesalers, as well as effective marketing strategies, and capture a larger share than presently.

Hence, with the growing barbecue tradition in the country, the demand for charcoal briquettes will continue to grow in South Africa.

[xseox222]

Yenikent tesisat

Yintoni ipayipi Yeyenikent?

Yenikent tesisat Imibhobho yamanzi luphawu lolwakhiwo olubandakanya amanzi, amanzi amdaka kunye neenkqubo zegesi. Imibhobho yamanzi ibandakanya ukufakwa kwamanzi amdaka, amanzi emvula, ukufudumeza, ukupholisa, ukungenisa umoya kunye neenkqubo zokukhusela umlilo ngaphakathi nangaphandle kwezakhiwo. Ezi zibonelelo zibaluleke kakhulu kumakhaya anamhlanje Afana Neyenikent. I-Yenikent Vitrifiye ibonelela ngendawo yokuhlala esempilweni kunye nococeko ngezinto ezikumgangatho ophezulu kunye nofakelo lobungcali.

Ukubaluleka Kwemibhobho

 Ufakelo oluchanekileyo lweenkqubo zogutyulo lubalulekile kwimpilo yabantu kunye nokusingqongileyo. Imibhobho yeyenikent idlala indima ebalulekileyo kwimiba efana nokuhanjiswa kwamanzi Jul-ukhuseleko lwendalo, umgangatho wamanzi okusela kunye nokukhutshwa kwamanzi amdaka ngokufanelekileyo. Ukongeza, ufakelo olufanelekileyo luka-okthobha lunokugcina amanzi kunye namandla. Ngenxa yesi sizathu, ufakelo lombhobho Weyenikent kufuneka lwenziwe liqela lobungcali.

[pofox76badurasgpl]

Namuhla yithi ngikwazise nans' iAfrorave# Nigerian Superstar# NG# uMlilo#

[mvwordz]

Mambotho Mayalo Mtshikilana Mazama Mathoyana Ngcakhwe Fulela Sibasa Manzini Kuvuthe Umlilo https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1UgpQjX-O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[queerafricans]

Genderqueer and African

Uzoma Asagwara (Nigeria)

UMLILO (South Africa)

Tunde Olaniran (Nigeria)

Angel-Ho (South Africa)

[noah-jeter-uml]

Sneaking Into Class Storyboard

[kaospheric]

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE

New music, at KAOS.

Stay up to date. KAOS is on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and OnlyFans. And don’t forget to visit the mothership: KAOS.

[johnegbertsprites]

One of my ocs: Umlilo Keesel

[inkjoint]

This how my first (1) Official EP is looking like, It's a Jam packed April 💯❤ which is My birthday Month and will be Celebrating it with Dope ass Fire 🔥 EP coming Soon, Thanks to INKJOINT & IHOSA ENTERTAINMENT for pulling through and making my Dreams come True, lenna Ketlaba le di track on Spotify & ITunes including other digital Platforms, Most Of all we Give thanks to the Most High GOD for the LIFE and TALENT He bless US With 🙏💯❤🙏 WE HOPE Y'ALL ARE READY BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE A MOVIE 🎥🎞🎬🤞💯, THE EP IS ALREADY 75% DONE ✔👏 1 - #BLOWING_UP_MY_PHONE_FREESTYLE 2 - #MANGWANE_ft_EMGEE_MOTSWAKO_and_RENZO(PROD. Trendy'Kid Peezy​​) 3 - #JUMP_OUT_THE_JEEP(PROD. SHUTRUH & Trendy'Kid ZA​​) 4 - #ISPAN_NO_GAMES_ft_BLACK_OP(PROD. Trendy'Kid​​ & SHUTRUH) 5 - #UMLILO(PROD. #EARL_MORGAN_and_Trendykid) Let's keep the Fire 🔥burning because we about to Drop you #UMLILO while we still kept y'all waiting ✋. #D.I.T.C.EP (DIAMOND IN THE CUT) #UMLILO #INKJOINT #IHOSA #sahiphop247 (at Arcadia, Pretoria) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbm2_Hfssf3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mrsegbert]

Bad OC Moodboards - Umlilo Keesel

A traumatized introverted hacker boy,, most most relatable fantroll,,

[freshmenmag]

A Huge Arlo X World 🌍🏆 Congratulations to @djzinhle 😭 for #Umlilo 🔥 Feat. @rethabile_rsa @mvzzle_sa ✨ Now Certified as a TRIPLE PLATINUM Single. 💽🚨🎉 #Djzinhle #Platinum #Umlilo (at Umlilo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHukZ4anFuJ/?igshid=xgmuc1xm3vl3

[queerafricans]

Genderqueer South African musician, activist and model UMLILO

[reverdece]

Out Of This World, a new i-D documentary series, journeys with American rapper and activist Mykki Blanco as he explores queer culture in Johannesburg. Captured intimately in an experimental hybrid-documentary by director Matt Lambert, Mykki meets boundary pushing artists Umilio and FAKA, designer Rich Mnisi and Bradley and Nkulsey, a model and dancer of the 'Born Free' generation - all using their platforms to give a voice to issues surrounding the politics of their sexuality, gender, identity and humanity. As we make our way through the creative epicentre that is South Africa's biggest city, join us in celebrating the thriving alternative queer scene.

[brucedeefromnow]

My female friends are gangsta ‼️💙💜 Miss y'all @gigi_lamayne @rethabile_rsa 📷: @lord_kaybling_official 💯 . . . . #GigiGang #AuraInCheck #BlurpleVibesUniverse #Umlilo #MojoJojo #stayhome #southafrica #Soweto https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uLJCYD6Jc/?igshid=1azhvd6xy8jv4