#burr's cup is life

[assortedseaglass]

🌟Wassail | Yuletide🌟

Tom Bennett x Fem!Reader

Summary: A minor indiscretion leads you to chaperoning the yearly children's wassail with none other than Tom Bennett.

Content: Fluff, Language.

Yuletide Masterlist

Spending the evening with a handful of excitable children and Tom Bennett wasn’t too bad, as far as punishment went.

You supposed your father thought the children, full of a night’s sugar after years of rationing, would tire you out with their boundless energy. Perhaps he also thought that Tom Bennett would scare you. A petty criminal that good, honest girls should be frightened of. Well, your father should know that you were far from good or honest. That’s why you needed punishing in the first place.

Word got to your father that you were seen in a compromising position behind the Capital Club with Willie Murphy on New Year’s Eve. You traced the source easily. Your father heard it from that busy-body, Mrs Browning, who heard it from her neighbour. The neighbour’s daughter just happened to be Minnie Goodman, Willie’s on-again-off-again girlfriend. The tale was a tall one, for in truth Willie Murphy snuck his hand up your skirt and you’d given him a smack. If Gossip Goodman wanted that creep all to herself, she was welcome to him.

“Hurry up you!” One of the little lads shouted at you as he made his way to the next house.

“Watch your mouth, Harry Tollet,” you said, coming to stand beside him and the other children. “You won’t be wassailing next year if your mother hears you talking like that to a lady.”

“My mum says you aren’t a lady,” Harry said, knocking on the door. A little girl beside him gasped. Before you could speak, Tom Bennett, who had been silent on the evening’s walk, stepped forward.

“You’ll get a clip round the ear an’ all if you keep on.”

Harry had no time to cower for the red door opened and the children sang a chorus of We Three Kings. Their tin cups were filled with mulled cider by the old lady at the door, and Tom ushered Harry away before his could be filled.

“That’s not fair-”

“Shoulda thought about that before you ran your mouth,” Tom shoved the little boy towards the rest of the group. “Best behaviour.”

One of the little girls whispered in Harry’s ear and gave Tom a wary glance. She smiled awkwardly at you and turned around as the next door of the street opened and the children began their singing once more. The house belonged to old Mr Preston, a widower who lived alone. His only son died in the war. He had no grandchildren. You watched, heart growing as the old man gave the children their cup of mulled apple and presented them each with a mince pie.

Silenced for a while by their full mouths, the children listen to old man Preston telling them tales of Christmases long ago. Enraptured, they forgot all about you and Tom. Thank Christ.

You smiled at Mr Preston and showed him your cigarettes, indicating the pavement on the other side of the street. He nodded knowingly and continued his tale.

Leant against the lamppost, you clicked your lighter and inhaled the heady smoke of the cigarette. Tom Bennett took out his own packets of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth. With his hands safely back inside his pockets, he swaggered slowly towards you, looking over his shoulder in a half-arsed attempt and chaperoneship. You snorted.

He came to a stop before you, clicking his heels together as though he were still in the navy. He looked down his long nose at you a moment, smirking. You weren’t rattled. He brought his long fingers to take the cigarette from your mouth and light his own with it. The end sparkled into life, the tobacco crackling. The low, orange flare of light illuminated his sapphire eyes, which were fixed on yours. That rattled you, just a bit. This was a man who made flirting an artform. He looked at your cigarette as he passed it back to you.

“Lucky Strikes? Very posh,” he drawled in his Manchester burr.

“Got ‘em from a Yank. Better than your filthy Marlboros. Bloody stink,” you took a drag and exhaled the smoke in his face. He didn’t budge, the smoke dissipating to reveal a fully born grin.

“Lucky Strike for a lucky strike?” Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t be jealous,”

Tom puffed out his chest and sniffed the night air. He glanced over his shoulder. You smiled to yourself; you never knew it was so easy to hurt Tom Bennett’s pride.

Across the road, Mr Preston had finished his story and gone inside. The children were walking to the next house, some hand in hand.

“They don’t need us,” you nodded towards them.

“Nah,” Tom said. “War made them different. Self-reliant.”

You hummed in agreement.

“You’re welcome, by the way.”

You stared at him, amusement tugging the corners of your mouth. Tom Bennett always thought so highly of himself.

“What for?”

“Harry.” He stated simply.

“But you didn’t do anything,” you laughed brightly.

Despite himself, Tom smiled. “Hold on-”

“Don’t think I could have handled a ten-year-old myself?”

Tom took a step up onto the pavement and, in doing so, brought himself closer to you. “Oh no,” his voice dropped to a gravelly whisper. “I heard you can handle yourself very well,” One of his hands slipped inside your coat to rest against the slope of your hip.

It wasn’t his hand that made you bristle. It was the assumption that you were easy. Sure, you’d had your fair share of flings, but you didn’t drop your knickers for any fella with a sly grin and foreign cigarettes.

You took his hand in yours, moving it from your waist and dropping it back at his own side.

“I’m only here ‘cause Dadda believed in a load of old hearsay,” You flicked your cigarette to the ground and stamped it out under your heel. Tom didn’t hide the way he stared up the length of your stockinged leg. “I wouldn’t touch Willie Murphy with a ten-foot barge pole-”

“I know,” Tom said simply, idle hands tucked back into the pockets of his jacket.

You stared at him, lost for words. No-one ever believed you. Seemed to think because you’d had three or four Longsight lads, you’d had the whole lot. “Really?”

“Yeah, course I do. He’s an ugly little bastard with more spots than I’ve had hot dinners.” You laughed. Towards the end of the road, the children were singing again, and the lamplights began flickering into life. “I didn’t try it on ‘cause I think you’re easy,” with another step, Tom was pressed flush against you. “I tried it on ‘cause I like you.”

Your smile of genuine happiness turned to one of mischief. “Tom Bennett, are you going soft?”

In the dim light, his blue eyes twinkled. With a wink, he stepped back and began his slow walk towards the gaggle of children. Falling into step beside him, you walked in silence but for the chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and clack of your heels on the cobbles.

Gently, boldy, you tucked your hand into his. “Not so bad, is it,  this punishment?”

“Not a punishment for me. Not a petty criminal anymore.” Tom said, smiling down at you and tugging you closer so that the kids wouldn’t see your entwined hands. “Nah, I volunteered.”

You stood still, mouth agape with amused shock.

“What?” Tom tugged your hand and you kept walking.

“You really have gone soft!”

“War’ll do that to you.” You bowed your head solemnly. “And the prospect of an evening with you.”

“Even with a headache’s worth of kids?”

“Even so.”  

Finally back with decent internet! The last few days of Christmas are going to be heavy with uploads!

The usual suspects: @arcielee @targaryenrealnessdarling @theoneeyedprince @ewanmitchellcrumbs @ellrond @cyeco13 @babyblue711 @exitpursuedbyavulcan @humanpurposes @myfandomprompts @barbieaemond @anjelicawrites

[milk5]

THE MILK5 COFFEE GUIDE VOL. 1

REMOVE #BADBEANS FROM YOUR LIFE FOREVER

If you are a #TrueBlueCoffeeHead and subsisting on supermarket beans and/or frequent visits to big chains like Starbucks, PLEASE help yourself (and your local community, the environment, coffee workers, etc) and buy a pour over filter and freshly roasted, quality beans from a local roaster. Explicitly seek out Fairtrade Organic/Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified beans if possible. The taste of shade-grown coffee is incredibly flavorful AND you can be certain that your beans aren't the product of yucky pesticides, actual slave labor, and the annihilation of millions of acres of rainforest.

To start with what you need, a goose-neck kettle and pour over carafe are good purchases, but a suitably sized mason jar and regular kettle still work on a budget. Learning how to make a great pour over will raise your home coffee game to professional standards without needing to spend literal thousands of dollars on a real grinder/steamer/espresso machine setup -- if you're able to buy all of these items new for less than a thousand dollars, you're going to be down a few hundos in exchange for some pretty shitty machines. Regardless, a pour over setup with good beans will pay for itself VERY rapidly, assuming it replaces frequent Starbucks visits or whatever other chain you were going to. If you frequent a LOCALLY OWNED coffee shop that you like, keep going! You're an important part of the ecosystem.

What about grinding the beans? Should I get pre-ground beans? Would a cheapo blender-like blade grinder work?

NEVER touch a blade grinder again. It doesn't matter as much if you have #BadBeans, but if you have good beans, ALWAYS use a grinder with a burr; blade grinders just chop up your beans randomly into particles of massively varying sizes, leading to simultaneous over-extraction and under-extraction, generally leading to wildly inconsistent flavors and low repeatability. Burrs will always grind the beans into uniform particles and ensure that you're always (more or less, every cup is different to an extent) getting a consistent flavor. Don't buy a burr grinder -- just bring your beans to a local coffee shop, buy a drink, tip well, and ask the barista if they could grind the beans for you when you can clearly tell that they aren't busy. I have NEVER been refused, just go to a place with less sour employees if they won't help you out. Specify the coarseness that you'd like; smaller grounds have a greater surface area, so they're extracted to a greater extent, resulting in a more intense flavor; coarse grounds are the inverse. Lots of people recommend medium-coarse for pour overs (about 80% coarse 20% fine), but I prefer the stronger flavor of medium/drip (dead middle, 50% coarse 50% fine). It's also better to grind your beans periodically, as freshly-ground beans will taste better, but it's fine to have it pre-ground or ground all at once if you aren't able to easily make coffee shop trips every week or two. As far as roasts go, there's an entire gradient for you to explore -- not just the few that I list here; light roasts have a more sour, fruitier flavor, medium roasts are well rounded, and dark roasts are rich and smokey. Medium-dark is my personal favorite.

Experiment!!! It's all about your own taste, after all.

How do I make a good pour over?

Again, it depends on your taste. My go-to is a vigorous fourth-cup of grounds to 300ml of water; this is easily on the stronger end, but it's what works for me. More common ratios are usually weighed out on a kitchen scale, so consider picking one up if you don't already have one. Document your process until you get to your favorite! I always stop the kettle a little before it gets to its terminal temperature, then pour just enough water onto the grounds to let it bloom -- wait for one minute, and then start pouring a small-ish portion of the water onto the grounds every 20 seconds (this is where my own technique varies the most, it usually takes between 3-4 minutes to finish since I'm not pouring standard amounts; some people DO measure their pours for even greater consistency). Use the stopwatch on your phone, it's much better than keeping track in your head. Make sure to distribute the water evenly over the grounds, particularly making sure to wash the grounds off the sides every pour. When I'm finished, I like to immediately take a sip to see if a splash of milk or half-and-half would help or hurt the cup -- I think a very good cup of coffee can easily stand on its own without anything else, but additives can absolutely help depending on your personal preferences. Just be sure to taste the black coffee before you add anything.

What if I like the syrupy sweet drinks? What about iced coffee?

From my experience working at/visiting coffee shops, Monin is the most common syrup brand I see at local places. As far as iced coffee goes, coldbrew would be probably be the superior option -- it's also pretty easy to make at your home. I'm not going to be writing a guide for coldbrew any time soon, so you're out of luck there. I also never steam my milk if I'm doing a pour over, so I can't really point you to an inexpensive way to do that. Just know that the cheap handheld stick-frothers do not do the same thing as an actual steamer.

What was that about certifications?

Fairtrade is a pretty notable certification for food items produced in areas that have a history for being exploited (so pretty much the bulk of the global south), it can get very complex -- read more about it here. The goal is to ensure that the workers and communities involved in the production of the product receive fair, livable wages, that labor conditions are safe and reasonable, and that the decisions around the production of the product are made by those directly involved in the labor. FTO refers to Fairtrade Organic, which just means that it meets the standards of both Fairtrade AND organic production -- I'm not exactly sure if the organic standards are based on where the coffee is sold, produced, or both, but regardless, it's still a bonus; organic coffee will almost ALWAYS be shade-grown, which is the way that coffee grows naturally. Since coffee is an understory tree in nature, shade-grown coffee is produced more slowly and under a canopy and thus does not require the forest to be damaged or destroyed to grow; however, not all organic coffee will necessarily take place in a completely natural, untouched rain forest setting. Industrial non-organic coffee is most often produced under direct sun in gigantic clear-cut monocrop rows and usually with massive usage of potentially harmful inputs like, such as various pesticides and fertilizers. Direct sun coffee grows faster, but it has a distinctly different taste and is easily the most damaging method of coffee production to both the environment and the local communities. Smithsonian Bird-Friendly is the most rigorous certification for coffee in particular; FTO is more or less a pre-requisite to achieve SBF. Coffee likes to grow in tropical, equatorial environments -- these environments are also the areas of the greatest bird diversity in the world (and, really, biodiversity in general) and the destination for most migratory birds during the winter. The coffee industry has destroyed literal millions of acres of rain forest across the world, which has resulted in the death of billions of birds worldwide over the past 50 years. SBF guarantees the FTO criteria PLUS the additional criteria that the coffee must be produced in forests that are more-or-less in their natural state with thriving diversity of endemic species of flora and fauna. It's harder to find SBF-certified coffee than FT(O)-certified coffee, but the Smithsonian website has a handy vendor locator here. I'm not confident that it works beyond U.S. vendors, so I apologize to anyone interested abroad. Note that some of these certifications may be exclusive to particular continents; I need to do more research on the subject, but the tropical forests around the world vary wildly -- this adds a level of complexity to the goals and criteria of a particular certification. I am confident that all of the certifications that I have mentioned apply to South and Central America (and most likely the Caribbean), so keep that in mind. Also, watch out for phony certifications; big corporations frequently buy out existing certification organizations and/or create new green-sounding organizations to fool well-meaning consumers.

Where should my brand new beans come from?

Like wine, the exact qualities of a bean depend on its terroir, or the specific methods and geographic factors involved in its growth. However, some countries have trends in how the coffee is generally grown; some counties will practice shade-growing more than others and some countries will practice direct-sun industrial methods more than others. As a rule of thumb, Arabica beans are mostly grown in shade or partial shade, while Robusta is generally grown in direct sun. Defer to certifications if applicable.

The following areas primarily practice shade-growing:

Mexico

El Salvador

Peru

Panama

Nicaragua

Guatemala

Cuba

Timor

New Guinea

Ethiopia

Burundi

Rwanda

Tanzania

Zambia (*)

Zimbabwe (*)

Papua New Guinea

Sulawesi

Timor + East Timor

India

The following areas primarily practice direct-sun growing:

Colombia

Brazil

Costa Rica

Hawaii

Yemen

Kenya

Angola

Benin

Central African Republic

Congo

Gabon

Ghana

Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Ivory Coast

Liberia

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

Togo

Cameroon

Madagascar

Malawi (**)

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sumatra (***)

Java

Vietnam

China

Jamaica

Again, this is just a rule of thumb; there are exceptions to both and I'm sure that I've left out several production areas. Most of this information comes from the blog Coffee and Conservation, written by ornithologist Julie Craves. I've only tried a very small percentage of these origins; so far, my favorites are Sumatran (Arabica, of course) and Peruvian.

*The source that I got this information from mentioned that some avoid Zambian and Zimbabwean coffee due to concerns of it helping fund violent conflict in the area; this particular article, however, is from 2006 and may be wildly out of date. I couldn't find much more info on this topic when I searched elsewhere.

**They primarily produce Arabica with organic methods, despite the sunny conditions.

***Sumatra is likely the most notable coffee-growing island in Asia; while the majority is Robusta grown on plantations that have deforested a horrifyingly large percentage of the island, the Arabica grown in the north is well-known for its far healthier growing conditions (shade + organic, usually) and extremely distinct flavor.

Volume 2?

I may eventually add on to this post, most likely with a Turkish coffee guide coming next. I used to make Turkish coffee quite frequently, but I would need to dig up my old favorite recipe and cezve first. French press and coldbrew stuff will be in the more distant future if at all.

If any of this info looks wrong, let me know and I'll edit the post :-)

Enjoy your cup!!!!

[octoagentmiles]

Hello! I was wondering what you'd think the octo-agents would do if you got sick. Blorbo thoughts go burr

Natquik my beloved. He has at least 20+ years of Polar Scout first aid knowledge, and roughly 30 years of "pure adrenaline/spite-fueled survival in Antarctica" instincts; so you're either gonna get a nasal strip and a raw ginger root to chew on... or a surprise shove into an ice bath, followed by a cup of hot cocoa. You don't get to pick which one.

Pirates have their own unique "medical practices," if you can dare to call them that. So... Calico Jack WILL cure you of whatever's ailing ye, but you're in for one HELL of a ride. Have fun! :D

Tracker has over 20 years of Polar Scout first aid knowledge, so he's basically Natquik but without the 50/50 chance of being forcibly thrown into Arctic waters when you least expect it. He will make it his temporary life purpose to make you feel better. He will not sleep, eat, drink, or work until you are Fixed™. He will make himself sick in the process, this is inevitable.

Ranger Marsh has father instincts + who knows how many years of experience taking care of the Everglades critters when they're hurt or sick, so he's basically a certified medic. He might LITERALLY be certified. Either way, he's also kinda like Natquik in the sense that he definitely has a normal first aid kit/medicine cabinet,, but he's going to force you to take weird swamp cures anyway.

Pearl has mother instincts but they're still relatively new, so she might treat you like a baby with a fever: tell you to take a lukewarm bath, make sure you get snuggled up in a cozy bed to rest, and watch you like a hawk while you guzzle down 7346389 liters of fluids.

Paani will straight up sit there and stare at you. You can't tell me this guy takes care of himself properly when he feels sick, so he has no clue how to help you. Realistically he'd pass you on to someone else, but let's say he doesn't do that—instead I can see him trying to tell you that you can "speed up" getting better by going out and getting dirty, running around, eating spicy food, etc., and at the end of the day you'll either end up actually feeling a lot better, or 1000x worse–

Ryla is actually the same. She's gonna drag you out into some random cave whether you want to go or not, and tell you to eat those weird-smelling berries she found because they're "good for your immune system." Unlike with Paani though I feel like somehow this would 100% work. It's basic cave diving stuff, page 574 of her book, don't question it.

Min is the only normal person. She'll make you some tea, insist you take a nap, and tell the Octonauts to make sure that you really do (instead of saying you will, but then "forgetting"). She doesn't want to get herself sick, so you can expect most of her check-ins to be through video calls. She won't seem very worried about you, but that's only because she knows you're tough enough to get through this.

[snacho-to-ur-nacho]

“There were gradations of support for or protest against slavery at this early date, and so Burr’s views on slavery are hard to put into a single category. One telling vignette involves Burr’s own slave Carlos, a young boy and his body servant. In a letter to Theodosia in 1781, Burr expressed his disappointment with a friend who mocked the idea that Carlos might learn to play the violin. The “insult,” as he termed it, shocked him. He found it hard to believe that someone he knew so well could be so insensitive and so unenlightened. Burr made sure that his slaves were well educated. He insisted that Tom, another house slave, apply himself diligently to his reading and writing lessons” -Nancy Isenberg “fallen founder the life of Aaron burr”

I never said burr wasn’t a slaveowner I’m not denying that and of course slavery is horrific. However we need to take into account that he treated his household servants much better than people of the time

Hamilton during the election of 1800 was prepared to orchestrate a coup d’état in order to prevent a republican government from winning so his takes on this election cannot really be trusted (AH to John Jay, May 7, 1800), and besides his opinions of burr didn’t hold much importance considering the fact no one was taking him seriously after the pamphlet slandering his own party leader, Adams.

When the tie between burr and Jefferson was discovered Hamilton at first wanted to take advantage of burr in order to promote the federalists, if that doesn’t sound selfish I don’t know what does! “Initially, Hamilton agreed, confiding to Adams’s secretary of the treasury, Oliver Wolcott, that it might prove useful to “lure” Burr into a compromising situation that would ultimately prove difficult for him, that is, to “lay the foundation of dissention between two chiefs.” But for those Federalists who seriously considered putting Burr in the presidential chair, a darker plot emerged: that of converting the imposter president into a puppet prince. Federalists could lose the election and yet be the power behind the throne, taking advantage of the fact that Burr would be a weak leader without popular support.” -Nancy Isenberg “fallen founder the life of Aaron burr”

He endorsed Jefferson only because he saw he couldn’t keep Adams -so the federalists- in power.

I also really don’t understand what you’re referring to when you mention burr was selfish in what he wrote? I’d love it if you could provide some examples.

The reason his other family was secret was because it would’ve been a scandal to expose it. On the other hand the only proof of the emmons family existing is through oral history. I’m not saying she was lying but it needs to be taken into account.

The burr conspiracy on the other hand was just Jefferson acting completely insane and wanting to get burr executed for “treason” having no proof whatsoever on that charge so there’s not even point in bringing it up lmfaoo

I still don’t see how burr was a hypocrite saying one thing and then doing the opposite

I didn’t scan your posts to see what you read it was just the first post that just popped up when I clicked on your blog lol. Also I have read ron chernow’s biogroahy and it was honestly one of the most biased biographies I’ve ever read. His sources are not clearly stated and a lot of the stuff he writes ought to be taken with a grain of salt since they hearsay and random anecdotes.

Y/A fantasy romance books aren’t really my cup of tea so I don’t think I would enjoy it but thanks for the recommendation!

As for burr being a feminist I’m so glad you brought that up!! He was quite literally the most feminist out of all the founding fathers; he ardently defended the right for women to receive an education, evident from the way he treated his daughter, he was an avid supporter of Wollstonecraft, someone men of the time weren’t too fond of, and he supported women’s rights in the way that they are understood today, meaning that women have the same rights as men and not the way people thought of rights for women back then.

hey anon, thanks for the ask, tho it might be better if u want to debate to just reblog the posts so we can keep it to one place, but anyway yea lets get into this

thanks for telling me about that, i didnt know about that letter, and thats really cool of him to have said that, and thats a fair point

as for hamilton in the election, that wasnt selfish, he knew he was a hated public figure, he wanted federalists to stay in the goverment for the sake of their beliefs (anti slavery, less stare power, more financial aid). not getting intp what the other federalists were thinking, alecander himself simply believed in the abolition of slavery and for the national government to be more powerful than the state government, and therefore wanted a federalist. when he saw there were no federalist options, he chose the best of the two which, in his opinion, would benefit america. he believed burr to be dangerous, and therefore picked jefferson. he believed 'Burr lacked the authenticity that hamilton valued in an honest person. He'd rather have a president that says what they think that he disagrees with than someone who he has no idea what they believe because they pretend to agree with everyone.' burr did, undeniably have a tendancy to put up a fake front, to disagree internally but play along and be agreeable, as stated in several books and online databases.

now, the possibility of her lying is close to zero, and the family wad very real, and im not saying burr was wrong for keeping it secret, but he still did have secrets which he kept, and was said to be a quiet wnd mysterious person who stayed silent a lot by multiple historicql wnd modern accounts.

as for the burr conspiracy, he dis talk to some british agents for sure, whether he was planning on carrying it out or not we arent sure. we cant fully say it was just jeffereon being insane, brcause there are traces of information, which while is not proof, still do point to the idea of burr committing treason. yes, its not complete proof, but we cant say it is complete insanity either.

and, the definition of a hypocrite is yo claim or say something and do the opposite, like burr claiming slavery was bad and owning slaves.

and, as for ron chernows biography, check out pages 2234 to 2521. they could not be more clearly stated. and for Infinity alchemist just check it out, trust me, its a great book with a tiny fandom

yea this probably isnt written qell bc its late and im about to sleep but yea u get the point

[lunarsights]

Hii can you do a reading on hongjoong (ateez) ideal type please? Thank youu

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙟𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙄𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙮𝙥𝙚

𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲:

“Death of a Bachelor” by Panic! At The Disco

“This This” by Nicole C. Mullen 

“Just That Girl” by Drew Seeley

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬:

The High Priestess (Rx), Wheel of Fortune, Ace of Cups, The Chariot, Two of Pentacles, The Lovers, Ace of Pentacles (Rx), Queen of Wands, Ten of Swords (Rx), The World, The Sun

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠:

hongjoong may not be totally sure about his ideal type; “too fluid” comes to mind – especially in terms of looks and style. “someone who can’t be defined”. his tastes could change from day to day. he likes someone who is a little unpredictable. someone who is true to themselves and honors their own feelings and emotions and wants over what people expect from them. someone who is trying to figure out life in their own unique way. he’s attracted to people who have a work-life balance. someone who’s not overly steeped in work to the point where they refuse to go out and have fun and also someone who isn’t solely focused on ignoring life’s responsibilities. it seems he’s attracted to someone who kind of mirrors him in a lot of ways. 

i’m not sure if this is a specific person or just describing a situation or way of thinking he wants people to have? but someone who has experienced some losses; someone who before maybe waited too long to make a decision or someone who backed out of doing something they wanted to because someone else made them. he wants someone who has been through this experience, but has learned to speak up for themselves as a result of it. the character arc aaron burr from the musical hamilton had may be significant or what he’s attracted to in some way; “it builds character” comes to mind, and ironically enough “aaron burr, sir” is one the shufflemancy songs! i can also see this as he doesn’t want to be with someone who is spoiled or sheltered; he wants to be with someone who has experienced the ups and downs of life and has decided to live authentically as a result. 

he could be attracted to extroverts or those with a large or strong friend group. someone who looks friendly and gets along with everyone. he could be drawn to people who have “harmonious” facial features; having a face that “fits”. he’s likely more drawn to air signs. not a lot of information on looks came out - he seems to focus more on personality.

[themindarchive]

"Look to the stars, young one, and see as they do."

The BG3 brain rot has joined with one of the movie's i loved when i was a kid and still subscribed to the christian newsletter.

I had already made a post about it here:

But, I couldn't get it out of my head so now i am writing out the first draft of a piece of a future chapter.

In this chapter, Halsin has traveled with Razzikel to reuinite with his people. A group of wandering nomads who have no home for reasons both tragic and agravating but joined together to form a community loving and diverse community jst as willing to share what little they have as they are to protect it from being taken from them.

When he gets there he see's this diverse community from every walk of life, race and creed. Seeing Razzikel's home he better understands where Razzikel's kind, compassionate and non judgemental nature came from.

Tears may have been shed at the overwhelming beauty of it.

However, as he looked over this incredible community that was vibrant and full of life, those old thoughts that his captors in the Underdark instilled in him begin creeping in.

And even though he tries his best to remember his friends kind words as they had traveled over, it isn't enough to keep him from staying on the outskirts of the lively and joy filled celebration.

However, the ever observant source of Razzikel's wisdom and compassion does not fail to notice his child's new friends hesitation and sad expression. So, with warmth in his eyes and a gentle smile in his voice he walks over to help him not miss out on the joy and love those present wish to give him, because of the dark voices others had put there to keep him from living.

Written blurb under the cut.

Halsin held his cup of warm spiced cider to his chest as his other arm wrapped around his middle. His sad Hazel eyes watched in longing the dancing form of his friend as he spun and leaped, laughed and sang, the normally stoic drow blooded ranger radiating joy and freedom that he envied.

He wanted to join them. He wanted to bask in thier joy and warmth, letting it wrap around him until he forgot the world around him.

But the voices in his head began to whisper all the ways he was unworthy. They whispered how he was an outsider, a stranger to everyone but Razzikel. They told him that he was no longer needed, now that Razzikel had returned to his people. He should leave they told him. You don't need to be here anymore, you are just using up resources that are already scarce. Your wasting thier time, thier space, their company.

"Cub, why do you hide here?" A deep and gentle burr interrupted his spiraling thoughts.

Halsin looked up to the 7ft, 1/2 furbolg elven man, his tanned skin and long red brown hair, framing green eyes the deep color of maple leaves. The bonfire gave his gaze a warmth that made everyone around him feel safe despite the mans immense size.

"I would have expected you to be out there with my son. But I find you here in the shadows looking like someone stole your favorite staff. Are you all right?"

"I..." Halsin wanted to try and come up with a lie but Razzikel hadn't been exagerating when he siad his father's gaze saw straight into you. Looking at him now suddenly reminded him of the father he had lost so long ago. He had a gaze that was so filled with warmth and understanding that it was difficult not to tell him what was wrong.

So instead he cast his eyes to his feet.

He heard the man sigh before he felt a large hand gently rest on his shoulder.

"Cub, what is it that troubles you? What is it that keeps you from doing what you very clearly want to do?" He then gently hooked a finger under his chin and tipped his head up. "Let me be the arms that carry your burdens when you can carry them no more."

Halsin couldn't help the tears that pooled and fell down his face, nor the sobs that began to wrack his frame.

"Oh Cub, come here."

The larger man pulled him forward and wrapped his large muscular arms around him. The embrace was all encompassing in the same way Razzikel's often were. AS much as his friend would joke about taking after his mother in appearance, it seemed he took after his father in almost everything else.

Halsin let himself melt into the fatherly embrace as Rhu's voice gently echoed in his head.

"Razzikel told me of what happened to you in the dark and how isolating it has been for you. My heart aches knowing that the man who rsiked life and limb to get my son home has no one to turn to." He then stepped back and rested his hand against Halsin's face, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "So, cub, let this old wolf ease your burden. It is the least i can do after what you have doen for my son."

Halsin's eyes drifted back over to Razzikel who was now spinngin around with a couple kids hanging on to his arms, laughing and smiling, his Amthyst eyes shining like jewels in the fire light.

"I don't deserve to be here. I am an outsider. Now that Razzikel is home, i am of no more use. If i am not useful I..."

Rhu leaned down and pressed his forehead against his forehead. "Those arn't your words."

"What?"

Rhu then reached down and pulled up the tunic he was wearing. a few inches above his hip bone was an old faded branding scar. He didn't know which house it was from but he knew the aesthetic design on a drow noble house.

Halsin's eyes widened, "You too?"

He nodded. "In the same way you brought my son home, Danny did the same for me. That's why i know those aren't your words. Those words are theirs. You are worthy and deserve so much more than to just 'be of use'."

He then turned him back towards the celbration, his hand sweeping out towards all of his people so full of joy and life.

"This celebration could have easily been a funeral if it wasn't for you." He then pointed at Razzikel who was back to dancing and leaping around the campfire, his mother now having joined his side. "My wife could have been lighting her son's funeral pyre, instead there they both are dancing around a bonfire." He watched as tears began to form as he watched his wife and child. "When we lost him, our world shattered. Razzikel had been a blessing form Selune herself. A child Danny didn't think she was even capable of having." His eyes then turned back to him, the tears now falling down his face. "You brought him back to us out of the kindness of your own heart. What little we have, Halsin, is yours. As of today, you are a member of Clan Moonclaw and will always be welcome amongst us."

Halsin started crying again, happy tears this time. "I...I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." He then saw Rhu look up and nod at someone. When Halsin followed his eyeline he saw Razzikel walking over, his chest heaving a bit out of breath. When Rhu saw him looking he smiled and said, "Instead, I want you to ignore those voices in your head that tell you you don't deserve to be here, and when my son offers his hand, you take it."

"I don't know how to dance." Halsin spoke but didn't stop Rhu from taking his cup out of his hand.

"You don't need to. Just let the music and energy flow through you, your body will do the rest."

When Razzikel reached them, his naked chest was glistening with the sweat and heat of the celabration, his thick pack alpha scent setting his veins on fire.

He held out his hand, the fire a blazing halo around him, making him seem as if he was the spirtual empobiment of the celbration itself.

"Dance with me?"

Halsin took a quick glance in Rhu's direction who tipped his head towards his son encourgingly.

"I would love too."

[burr-did-nothing-wrong]

As promised, here is Burr's tarot spread! In the first two spots we have major arcana which act as themes in Burr's life. The Hermit card is a card that stands apart from the rest. It is card for solitude, both physically and intellectually. This card represents Burr being 'an island to oneself,' someone who forges their own path, carefully and quietly.

Beneath this card we have the inverted Hierophant, a card which usually represents tradition, morally and religiously. Inverted this card represents Burr's rejection of his theological roots, his rejection of the dominant exclusionary attitudes of the time--religiously, morally, and sexually.

Next, we have the card that represents Burr himself. I see him as a "Knight of Cups," a card which represents reckless passion, the surrender to that passion. In a similar vein, Burr's astrological card is the moon card--a card that represents the subconscious, desire, and the hidden. Also paired with the moon card is The Lovers, a card which represents attraction, two sides of something. Paired with the moon card, I see this as an inversion of harmony. It points to a soulmate who is one's negative--someone one cannot live with or without.

After this is The Wheel of Fortune, a card of transitions, of ups and downs. This card is in the middle, like the middle of a wheel--it is the core of Burr's experience, and forms the fabric of his life. Unpredictability, shocking and dramatic changes in position and power.

The Hanged Man card comes in midlife--a card of struggle but not hopelessness. It points to sacrifice or struggle being made in the name of something else. This is a struggle one believes is worthwhile, with a purpose. Yet underneath this card we have the inverted Ten of Wands--a card which normally means responsibility, burden, and consequence (not necessarily negative), yet inverted points to abuse, deception, an betrayal. Someone is taking advantage, placing an unfair burder, and endeavour will likely end in disaster. This card represents Burr's alignment with Thomas Jefferson, and other figures of misplaced trust.

Next is the ten of swords--rock bottom, despair, and desolation. I don't think I need to explain this one. Following this The Devil--a surrender to hedonism and bodily desires.

Finally, overarching all cards is Death. A card of change, of loss, and ultimately of acceptance.

[rogeriswater]

Don't Leave Me Now

xl

This work contains fictionalized versions of real events and people. Most details won’t be accurate to real life.

tags for this chapter: some sexually explicit content (lactation kink, oral sex (m receiving) ), roger being a sweet daddy <3

~m.r~

October came around soon enough, and that meant Roger was back home. With his return home from tour, that meant he wanted me in the studio to do some work with him. It was for our next album, which was doubling as a live album and a studio album. For the studio portion, we were all supposed to create a solo work. David, Nick, and Rick had already done theirs way back in April. Now, because of me being tired with a combination of my pregnancy and doing shows, I didn't get the chance to do my contribution yet, and Roger didn't do his yet either, well because he refused to work without me. I was something much more intimate than a lover or a wife to Roger. I was his songwriting and music partner, and he refused to do any work on music without me.

I met up with Roger at EMI Studios, bringing Victoria with me. Of course, I made sure it was okay with Roger first if I brought her, and he was more than happy with seeing her. She is his daughter after all, and this was possibly going to be one of those rare times where we could be mother, father, and child together. I entered studio three where Roger was already waiting.

"Sunshine." His eyes lit up when he saw me. He walked over to me, cupping me face and kissing me sweetly. "Finally, some time alone."

I smiled at him. "Well, not quite."

Roger reached into the bassinet and carefully took Victoria into his arms. "There's my little one." He cooed to her, kissing the top of her head. She looked so tiny in his arms. He started making little animal like noises at Victoria, which caused her to smile and giggle at him. "Daddy loves you!"

"And she loves you too." I said, my heart melting at the sight in front of me.

"Daddy has to put you down now." Roger says, putting Victoria back in her bassinet. "Mummy and daddy have some work to do." As soon as she was all cozied up in her bassinet, she was fast asleep. "Won't we wake her up?" Roger asked me.

"All this girl does is sleep when she's not eating, crying, or pooping." I told him. "A siren could be going off and she would sleep right through it."

Roger chuckled. "We sure she's mine? Mum said I was a very fussy baby."

"She's definitely yours." I said. "I look into her eyes and I just know."

Roger smiled and kissed me again. "How good are your animal noises, darling?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "My animal noises?"

"Yeah"

I shrugged. "I do pretty decent bird calls"

"What about squirrels and chipmunks?" He asked me.

"Roger, what kind of song are we making?" I questioned him. Roger always had a unique way of making music.

 "It's called Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict."

"Wow, that's quite the mouthful." I said. Nothing could ever be simple with this man, but that's part of the reason why I loved him so much. "What do you need me to do then?"

"Let me hear your bird call." Roger asked of me. I whistled for him, just like a bird would. He seemed quite pleased with it. "Now make a rodent sound." I did what he asked, doing my best impression of a chipmunk, and Roger seemed happy with that as well. "Great! You just need to make those sounds while tapping at the microphone."

"And what are you going to do?" I asked him.

Roger caught me off guard when he started speaking nonsense in a Scottish burr. "Aye an a bit o' mackerel, fiddler, rack and fear. And I rutted down by the hade and the furrow. Well, I slipped me in a flop and hit down and I shied. And I cried, cried, cried"

"What the hell was that?" I asked him, not being able to hold back my laughter.

Roger started laughing with me. "Do you like it?" He asked me.

"It's oddly hot hearing you speak like that"

Now that sparked Roger's interest. "Really?" He raised his eyebrow and smirked. He started speaking in the Scottish burr again. "After we're finished I'd love to bend you over and give you a good pounding"

Hearing him speak like that in that ridiculously hot accent sent a heat across my face. "Roger, you know I'm not allowed to have sex for a few weeks." I remind him.

"Aye, we can find ways to work around it" Roger winks at me before lightly smacking my ass. "Maybe you could give my cock some attention with that lovely mouth of yours"

"We are not doing anything of that nature while Victoria is with us" I said.

"Speaking of Victoria, mum would like us to bring her over so she can meet her" Roger mentioned, going back to his normal voice. Hearing him say that made me wonder if Roger told Mary that Victoria is his child, or if he left that out for now. "I didn't tell her that she's mine, but she's going to know as soon as she sees her"

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Sunshine, looking at Victoria is like looking at my baby pictures"

"Well I wouldn't know. I've never seen your baby pictures"

"Just ask my mum to show them to you next time you see her. She's always looking for a reason to show me off as a baby"

....

Roger and I worked on recording Several Species first before we moved on to recording Grantchester Meadows. I sang the verses by myself but I insisted that Roger sang the hooks with me. He was against the idea at first, saying it was my voice that people wanted to hear, but I insisted that he sang with me. We argued a bit back and forth about it, but I ultimately won the argument. I thought our voices worked rather well together and they created a perfect harmony. We only needed one take of the song to be pleased with what we did. And it was perfect timing too as Victoria had just woken up crying from her nap.

I was about go get her when Roger beat me to it. "Daddy's got you." He cooed to her as he picked her up. Victoria stopped crying as soon as Roger took her into his arms. Roger grinned at her and leaned down, nuzzling his nose against the soft skin of her face. The sight of the two of them was very heartwarming. It's like the fatherly instincts just came naturally to Roger. "Sunshine, I think she needs to be changed" By instinct, I tried to take Victoria from him, since every time Billy would tell me that, he would refuse to change her, leaving me the task of changing her nappy. "I can do it" Roger insisted, taking me by surprise. "Just pass me a nappy and I'll go change her"

I reached into the bag that I brought with me which had all of Victoria's things in it. I grabbed a fresh nappy out of it and passed it to Roger. "Are you sure you don't want me to do it?" I asked him.

"I'm her father. I need to be able to take care of her too" Roger told me. "That includes changing her nappies" With that, Roger took Victoria into the nearest bathroom so that he could change her. I waited patiently for him to finish and come back with her. "All done!" Roger announced when he returned with Victoria. "She had left quite a mess but I got her all cleaned up"

"You're amazing, Roger" I told him.

Roger shrugs. "I'm just being a father"

I smile, walking up to Roger and put my hand on his arm. "You'd be amazed at how many men expect the mother to do everything for the baby"

"Then those men are fucking idiots for not wanting to experience the bond with their child then" Roger said. Victoria drifted off to sleep once more and Roger put her back in her bassinet.

I walked up behind Roger, placing my arms around him. He places his hands over top of mine. "It's a real turn on seeing you be such a dad" I whisper to him. Since Victoria was fast asleep, I decided that Roger deserved a real special treat for being such a good daddy. I take Roger's hand and bring him into the booth. It's soundproof so Victoria won't be able to hear us, and it lets us keep an eye on her due to the window. "You deserve something real special for being a good daddy." I purr to him.

"And what's daddy's special treat, hmm?" Roger asks in the same purr. "Do I get more of your delicious milk?" He asks, cupping my tits and giving them a squeeze, which made a wet patch appear on my shirt due to the milk leaking out.

"You just have to make sure you leave enough for Victoria" I said.

Roger was already lifting up my shirt, revealing my tits to him. Milk was already dripping from my nipples. "Which one?" He asked me.

"Right" I answered. "Victoria usually feeds from the left one" Roger nods and leans in, latching his mouth onto my right nipple. He suckles away at my nipple, moaning every time my milk hits his tongue. As he suckles, he keeps squeezing my breast to encourage more of the milk to come out.

"So fucking good." Roger says once he's satisfied with his last taste of my milk. "Now it's your turn"

"My turn for what?" I ask.

"For you to suck on something until you get your special milk" Roger says with a naughty smirk. He hands go to his belt and he begins to unbuckle it. "Only the milk you get is thick and creamy, and you look good when it's all over your face and tits"

Roger pulls his pants down, letting his thick hard cock spring up. I don't even need to be told to get down on my knees and start sucking. At this point, it's an instinct I have whenever I see his beautiful cock. I take him into my mouth and begin sucking. While I do so, Roger speaks in that hot Scottish burr again. "Look at you, sucking on my cock" He says. "Just keep sucking like that until I shoot my load down your throat"

Hearing him talk to me like that only encouraged me to suck him harder and faster. Roger was groaning and pulling on my hair and I knew he was close. Before I knew it, I could feel the warmth of his cum hitting my throat. I made sure to swallow all of it. He pulled himself out of my mouth and tucked himself back into his pants. "You give the best fucking blowjobs"

I smirk at him as I stand back up. "That's because you have a very appetizing cock"

Roger caresses my face before leaning in to kiss me. When his lips part from mine, he touches his forehead to mine. "Let's finish up here, yeah?" He suggests.

...

Roger and I only had some little touch ups to do before we were done. As we were leaving the studio and got into his car, I thought Roger was taking me home. But as he was driving, I realized he was going in a completely different direction. "Roger, where are we going?" I asked him.

"We have an important visit to make" Roger answers.

"Visiting who?" I asked him. Roger didn't answer me. He just smiled, keeping his eyes on the road while he reached over to brush his fingers against my cheek. It wasn't until we pulled up to his mother's house that I realized what the important visit was. "Roger, I didn't think we'd be visiting your mother today" I said.

"I wanted to keep it as a surprise" He explained. "Mother has been hounding me on when she can see you again, and I thought today was perfect. And plus, she can meet Victoria"

"Roger, my own mother hasn't even met her yet"

"It's not my fault your own mother hasn't asked to see her yet" Roger said. He was right. I've told mum about Victoria and I kept asking her when she could come see Victoria. Let's face it, I don't want my daughter in that house while the monster is there. But mum always said the same thing. Some other time. It made me question if my mum truly did care about her granddaughter or not.

Roger and I get out of the car. I grab Victoria's bassinet from the back seat. We walk up to Mary's front door. Roger knocks on the door and we await for the answer. The door opens and the first thing Mary does is greet me. "Maggie! Oh my dear, it's so good to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too, mother" Roger says with a chuckle, clearly amused by the fact that Mary seemed more interested in seeing me than her own son.

"Oh George, you know I'm happy to see you too" Mary says. I try not to laugh at Roger's mum calling him by his birth name. It will always be amusing to me that Roger's first name is George. He just doesn't fit that name so it's funny to hear him be called as such. Mary invites us inside. As soon as we settle in the living room, that's when Mary puts her attention to the bassinet. I had a blanket covering it so Victoria could sleep. "May I see her, my dear?" Mary asks me.

I lift the blanket, revealing my daughter to Mary. "This is Victoria" I say to her.

"She's absolutely precious" Mary coos. She gently picks up Victoria. "Quite the spitting image of George when he was only a baby"

"So you know" I said.

Mary looks towards Roger. "George, you know where I keep the photo albums don't you? Can you go get the one that has the baby photos please?" Roger nods and leaves to go get the photo album that Mary was talking about. When Roger comes back with the photo album, he opens it to the very front page. Front and center of the page was a very lovely family photo. It was of Roger's father and mother and the two children. The baby was Roger, but I was curious as to who the other boy was.

"Who is this Mary?" I asked, pointing to the boy.

"That's John" Mary answers. "George's older brother"

I look to Roger, surprised to hear that he even has a brother. "Roger, how come you never told me you have a brother?" I ask.

Roger shrugs. "Just never came up, I suppose. And it's not like I see him often. Only for holidays and family events"

"You should call your brother" Mary tells Roger. "He'll be quite happy to hear that he has a niece"

"As far as John knows, I'm still with Judy" Roger says, causing Mary to roll her eyes. "John doesn't know a thing about Maggie probably other than that she's a member of the band"

"Are you two still going to spend the night?" Mary asks suddenly.

My eyes widen and I turn to look at Roger. "You told her we're spending the night?" I ask.

"Mum, can you keep an eye on Victoria while I talk to Maggie?" Roger asks. Mary nods and she brings Victoria with her into the kitchen. "Okay, I know I should have discussed it with you first but I know what you were going to say"

"Roger, Billy will be wondering why I'm not home" I said.

"See? That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you! I knew you'd use Billy as an excuse!" Roger says, raising his voice a little. He grimaces, once he realizes he's yelling at me. "Sorry, sunshine, I'm not angry at you. "I just could hear the two of you arguing again last night and I think you need a bit of a break"

"Billy will freak out if I don't at least bring Victoria home" I said.

"Let me ask you something, sunshine" Roger says. He takes my hands into his. "Has he done anything to help you with Victoria?"

"Well, no, not really" I say. Whenever Victoria started crying, Billy would always tell me to go get her. He just expected me to do everything. He hasn't even held her since I was in the hospital for God's sake!

"Just one night at my mother's house" Roger begs. "If not for me, then do it for her. My mum cares a lot about you. She tells me how you're like the daughter she never had"

My eyes light up at that. "She does?"

Roger smiles. "She really does. Keeps pestering me about when I'm going to marry you" He puts his hands on my arms, and rubs them up and down. "And I want to. Very soon, my darling"

I return his loving smile. "And I want to marry you too, Roger. I'll be your wife forever"

"Forever" Roger repeats, a dreamy tone to his wife. "I really like the sound of that" With that, he leans in to kiss me gently.

...

Roger and I settle in his childhood bedroom for the night. Mary decided that she wanted Victoria to sleep in her room tonight. I trusted Mary, I really did, but I still felt a little anxious not sleeping in the same room as my baby tonight. I know Roger could sense how anxious I felt about it. He was intuitive like that. "Sunshine," He says, putting his hand to my back. "Victoria will be in safe hands with my mother tonight. Believe me"

"I know" I sighed. I take a seat on the bed. Roger's childhood bed. It was quite small but it could fit both Roger and I. It was the perfect size for us to cuddle. "How many girls have you had on this bed, Roger?" I ask him with a teasing smile.

Roger chuckles. "Only you, sunshine"

"Really?" I asked him with amusement. "I'm the only girl who's shared this bed with you?"

Roger gets into the bed with me. "Do you think I was going to have sex with girls while my mother was just down the hall?"

I laughed at that. "Good point. And with the way you make a girl feel, she would've been screaming all night"

Roger wraps his arms around me as we both lay down and get under the covers. "I wasn't always so good at sex, you know"

"Could've fooled me" I say, putting my head on his chest. "Do you remember who you lost your virginity to?"

Roger shrugs. "I can't remember her name. She was a few years older than me though. It wasn't until I first slept with Judy that sex actually felt like more than just sex"

"What does sex feel like with me?" I couldn't help but ask him.

"It's the most amazing thing in the world" Roger confesses. "No other feeling could possibly compare to when our bodies are connected together" I smile when Roger tells me that. I can feel his fingers brushing against my arm, tracing shapes on it. His gentle touch lulls me into a sleep. "I love you, my darling" Is the last thing I hear before sleep overtakes me for the night.

...

I wake up before Roger that morning. I make my way downstairs to the kitchen, where Mary is already making breakfast. She already has Victoria seated in a high chair. "Morning Mary" I greet her.

"Morning, my dear" She greets me back.

I walk to my daughter and brush my finger against her soft cheek. Victoria giggles as she reaches with her tiny hand to grab my finger. "Was Victoria much trouble for you last night?" I asked.

"She was a perfect little angel. Only woke me up once" Mary told me. She brought a bowl of some sort of mush over to Victoria. It smelled of apples. "Hard to believe she's George's. He was a fussy baby. I couldn't tell you how many times he woke me up in the night"

I help myself to the food that Mary prepared while she sits in front of Victoria and starts feeding it to her. Victoria really seemed to like it. "What are you feeding her?" I ask as I sit down with my plate of food at the table.

"Mushed apples" Mary explains. "George loved it when he was a baby"

"What was Roger like as a boy?" I ask her.

"He was a troublemaker at school. Always getting in trouble with the teachers and getting sent to the schoolmaster's office. It probably had a lot to do with his father being gone" Mary tells me as she sighs sadly. "But still, he was a sweet boy too"

"Did he have a lot of girlfriends?" I couldn't help but ask Mary.

"He knew Judith since childhood but he had a number of girlfriends before the two of them got together" Mary frowns as she recalls the memories of his girlfriends. "Poor George got his heart broken by everyone of them. Cheated on him, every single one of them. And I knew when he got with Judy, that she will break his heart the same"

"What made me so different then?"

Mary smiles at me and tucks her fingers under my chin. "Mother's intuition, my dear. I can see it when I look at you. You're a sweet girl who would never break his heart. You two are meant for each other" I smiled at her. Mary treats me in a way I wish my own mother had treated me. I knew that my own mother loved me, but I've been depraved of motherly affection for most of my childhood. Especially after she married Steve. Mary takes my hands in her own and rubs them. "I never asked. How's your relationship with your mother?"

"She wasn't really an affectionate person" I said. "It made me think that she didn't love any of us. She does, but she just never really showed it"

Mary's eyes are full of sympathy and love as she looks at me. "Come here, my dear" She says, wrapping her arms around me as she hugs me tightly. "Every child needs affection from their mother. And if your own mother won't provide it, I'm more than happy to" She coos into my ear. My eyes begin to water as I hold onto Mary tightly. So this what a mother's embrace felt like. It felt really nice. It made me feel safe. A different kind of safe than the one I felt when Roger held me. "I'm your mother now, my dear. There's no need for you to call me Mary anymore, okay? You can call me mum"

"Thank you, mum" I cry into her shoulder.

"Mum!" Roger exclaims as he walks into the kitchen. "You didn't do anything to upset her, did you?"

"Don't be silly, George!" Mary tells Roger. "She just needed a hug" She smiles at me as she puts her hand on my face. I have finally found the mother I've been neglected of having. And I found her in Mary Waters.

...

After breakfast, Roger and I went back to our neighbouring homes. Once he realized that Judy wasn't home, he decided to invite himself over to my home. The two of us walked into my house. As soon as I closed the door, I could hear footsteps stomping down the stairs. I rolled my eyes. It was probably Billy coming to harass me as to why I was gone all night. To my relief though, it was Olivia, but she didn't look too pleased either. "Where have you been, Maggie!?" She asked me. "You didn't come home last night and I was worried sick!"

"I'm fine, Olivia" I assured her. "Roger and I just got so busy, we had to pull an all nighter at the studio" There was no way I was gonna tell Olivia that we actually spent the night at Roger's mother's house. Then she would sense something was up between us. "Where's Billy?" I asked. As I asked that, I could feel Roger tensing beside me.

"Oh" Olivia mutter and she started rubbing the back of her neck. "He's actually not home. Once he realized you weren't coming home last night, he decided to spend the night with some of his friends" That didn't surprise me one bit.

"Did he seem worried at all that I wasn't coming home without word?"

"I'm sorry, Maggie" Olivia sighed. "He didn't. That didn't sit right with me" And that didn't surprise me either.

"Maggie and Victoria were in good hands with me, Olivia" Roger told the younger girl. I saw Olivia look between Roger and I as we stood so close to each other. I could practically see the gears turning in her head.

The sound of Victoria giggling broke through the momentary silence. Then we heard her gurgling followed by a sound that sounded very much like her spitting up on herself. Olivia went over to Victoria and picked her up. "Someone needs a bath" She cooed to Victoria. Olivia took Victoria upstairs to go and bathe her, leaving Roger and I downstairs by our lonesome.

"If I were Billy, I would be quite worried that my wife and daughter hadn't returned home without a single phone call" Roger said, making himself comfortable on the couch. He pulled out his carton of cigarettes and looked at me, silently asking if it was okay for him to smoke in the house. I let him know it was okay. Roger put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "Billy doesn't appreciate you the way I do, and I will keep saying that to you"

"I know, lover" I said. I approached him from behind, wrapping my arms over his chest as I kissed his cheek. My affectionate gesture was interrupted by the phone ringing. I sat beside Roger in the couch, and reached over to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't be the one to answer" I heard the snobby voice of my mother-in-law.

"What do you want, Gertrude?" I asked.

"Word is that we have a granddaughter we have yet to meet" Gertrude said. "Why haven't we met her yet?"

"I didn't realize you were even interested in meeting Victoria"

"Really? That's what you named her? I was hoping you'd go with something a little more sophisticated like Evangeline or Cordelia"

"I named her after my father" I don't even know why I tried defending the reasoning of naming my daughter what I did to someone like Gertrude.

"No matter. Where is my son? I would like to talk to him"

I'm sure Roger was able to sense the tension I had while talking to Gertrude, as he put my hand on my thigh and rubbed it as a way to comfort me and calm me down. "Billy isn't here, Gertrude, but whatever you have to say to Billy, you can say to me"

"Fine. Winston and I would like to meet our granddaughter. We're even willing to throw a party in her honour. Consider it a gift from us"

"Wow. Thank you, Gertrude. That's really nice of you to offer"

"Victoria is my granddaughter. No matter how I feel about you, she is my son's flesh and blood" It was rather heartwarming to hear Gertrude say something like this. Perhaps now with Victoria in the picture, it would give us a chance to try to work things out between us.

"I accept your offer of a party for Victoria. I just ask that you don't invite anyone that doesn't even know who Victoria is. You invite your family and I'll invite mine. Deal?"

I heard silence on Gertrude's end for a good moment. I knew that's not what she wanted to hear. "Fine. If that's what it takes to meet my granddaughter. I will call again later with details" With that, Gertrude hung up in her usual fashion. Abruptly without a word of gratitude or love.

"I thought you didn't like any of Gertrude's parties" Roger said, taking a drag from his cigarette with his hand still on my thigh. "Remember what happened at the New Year's party?"

I winced as the memory flooded my brain. "Don't remind me. I can practically still feel her slap"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for Victoria. She deserves a relationship with her grandmother"

"But Gertrude isn't her grandmother"

"I know. I meant just until everything is how it's supposed to be. With you, me and our little angel together as a happy family"

Roger smiled at me and moved his hand from my thigh to cup my face. "We're already a happy family, even if we aren't always together"

I grin as I lean in to kiss him softly. "If only you knew how incredible you are, Roger"

"Well, of course I know" Roger joked with a chuckle. "But I'm only that way because you make it so" He watched curiously as the expression on my face changed from one of happiness, to one of sorrow. "What's wrong, sunshine?" He asked.

"My mother-in-law asked to see my baby before my own mother did"

"Of course your mother wants to meet Victoria" Roger assured me. "The asshole she's married to just makes it difficult for her. If you're gonna be mad at any one, be mad at him and not your mother"

Roger was right. I'm sure my mother really did want to meet Victoria, but Steve wasn't letting her. I wasn't surprised. My step-father wants nothing to do with any of his step-kids. I was wondering if my mum would accept the invitation to Gertrude's party. My mum and Gertrude only met once and that was at mine and Billy's impromptu wedding. That day my mother showed up the wedding with a black eye and Gertrude kept making snide comments about it all day. My mother heard her and she snapped, punching Gertrude square in the face. I always remember that day as the day my mother grew a backbone. Too bad it wasn't towards the right person. Still, it was quite the amusing thing to witness. I just hoped this party Gertrude was planning will go smoothly and without incident.

[carminegarden]

Musings on sub-300$ coffee grinders

If you're not set on saving money within your budget, a Kinu M47 Simplicity will leave you set for life on the conical burr side of things. EK47-esque ground distributions (source is from sifting, so take it with a grain of salt), sweet and textured shots with an engaging and blended pourover from the stock burrs as well. Built to last, all steel and permanently aligned. I personally don't like the pourover burrset, creates WAY too many fines, runs loud, and grinds slow. You could drop down to an M47 Phoenix to save some, but then you end up with plastic internals. I also own a Kingrinder K6, which has been serviceable at a secondary grinder it's price point. Proficient at both pourover and espresso, but nothing that made me go "wow" the same way a god shot on the M47 did. I can't recommend the Opus, it has brutal retention and I've never had less than a gram lost between the inside of the machine and my countertop. Timemore C3 was good when it came out, but with it's lack of ability to do espresso stemming from the too-coarse adjustment, I can only recommend it as a clarity-focused filter grinder with excellent separation. It has provided some juicy and intricate cups, but I always found it to lack the sweetness that the K6 and especially M47 bring to. the table

P.S. Hand grinders have trended to have such a better UX in my hands-on time with them, having reduced retention and easily accessible parts. They also serve a better value prospect by far (ie. the Opus and M47 Phoenix are at the same price roughly, but the Opus is only entry level whereas the Phoenix will have you set on conical burrs)

[drabmakyo]

Excerpt from Mitzvot

Hey! I have a new book coming out on January 21st, Mitzvot! It's book 4 in the Post-Self cycle, but this snippet stands on its own reasonably well, so I figured I'd post it as a bit of a teaser.

Mitzvot won't be a standalone story, and relies on context from the first three books in the tetralogy. You can find all of those at the link above, where you can get paperbacks, ebooks, or read for free in the browser.

For context, the setting is a future of uploaded consciousnesses. This comes with pros and some cons. For instance, one is functionally immortal and can create copies of oneself at whim, and later merge them back in to have memories of their experiences. However, the complete inability to forget combined with that same immortality can be a little crazy-making.

"To be built to love is to be built to dissolve. It is to be built to unbecome. It is to have the sole purpose in life of falling apart all in the name of someone else.

"We all have a bit of that in us, do we not? You find yourself at a bar or maybe in some class somewhere, you look over, and there they are, right? You look over and you maybe catch their eye and you come undone at the seams. You fall into those big, beautiful eyes --- for when you are built to love, every eye that catches yours is the most beautiful thing of all time --- and you begin to flake away at the edges.

"And to be built to love is to be all edges. They catch on your clothes, they brush against walls and furniture. You are all edges so that love can fill the cracks and soften those jagged corners.

"You are spiked and barbed. It is as if you are built that way on purpose, so that the slightest breeze can blow you about and catch you up on some future love."

The skunk had been sitting on a barstool, hunched over a pint and slurring half to the glass, half to some absent bartender. She slid to her feet, wobbled for a moment, then righted herself.

"Actually, you know what? I have heard it said so many times that to hate --- truly hate, burn up inside with that passion --- is to actually be in love with the object of your hatred, but I think there is a little bit of hatred in love, too. You fall so completely for someone that you just cannot help but resent them. It is a mirror of that hatred for yourself, for all your jagged edges and prickly burrs, a reflection of the resentment that you feel towards yourself for having been built to love. And look at me!" She gestured down at herself, a grand sweep of the paw outsized in her intoxication. "I fuckin' loathe myself! Can you imagine how deeply I must love others, then?"

After a moment's wild laughter, she stumbled back until her tail crumpled against the edge of the stool. "Ow! Fuck. Yeah, I deserved that one, I think."

She moved to finish her pint, frowned on finding it empty, and shuffled away from the bar.

"So yeah, you hate yourself, and it actually feels kind of good, does it not? Hatred can fill in those cracks as easily as love. Sure, it may not leave so pretty a pattern as the...whatsit...the patina that stains a tea cup with crackled glaze, but maybe the edges of you do not catch on so many things anymore. Maybe those prickles are dulled and you bounce off everyone around you. You can ping-pong through life, then, loving everyone and loathing yourself."

The skunk stood up straight again, brushed her shirt out, and brought her tail around to rub at where she'd bumped it against the stool.

"Good Lord, May," Ioan said, laughing.

She grinned widely, all that feigned drunkenness suddenly gone from her expression. "How was it, my dear?"

Ey slouched back against the front row seat ey'd claimed, tapping the end of eir pen against eir lower lip. "Really, really good," ey said. "Was the stumble intentional?"

"The movement itself was," she said. "Though hitting my tail was not."

"So no 'I deserved that one'?"

She sat down on the edge of the stage, kicking her feet idly. "It was not in there, no, but I think I will keep it."

Ey grinned and closed eir notebook around eir pen, setting it aside to stand. "Yeah, it's good in there," ey said, leaning forward to give the bridge of her snout a kiss. She squinted her eyes shut and then scrubbed a paw over her muzzle. "I mean, the whole thing's good. Only note I really had is that you say 'hate' four times in a pretty short span right after you stood up. 'That to hate', then 'truly hate', then 'object of your hatred', and then 'little bit of hatred'."

"Should I make them all different?"

"I'd keep the first two because it works as an echo, so maybe just change the fourth? 'Loathing'?"

"Excellent, O great wordsmith."

Ey laughed and tweaked her ear before hoisting emself up onto the edge of the stage next to her. Predictably, she scooted closer so that she could lean against eir side. "Who would've thought, hmm? You getting me into theatre and me getting you into writing."

"This is still theatre! Just earlier on in the process," she said, indignant. "But yes, it is proof that the Bălans can shove us around instead of only the other way around."

Ey gave her a playful shove with eir shoulder, at which she let out an outsized yelp followed by a whimper. "So mean!"

"Yeah, that's me. Meanest person you know."

She rolled her eyes.

Ey let a long silence play then, looking out into the cool darkness of the theater while May summoned up her notebook and scribbled down eir tip from earlier.

"Do you really feel that way?"

"Mm?"

"The jagged edges and self-loathing."

She shrugged. "There is some of me in there, yes, but it is still theatre. It is about taking the particular and making it universal, if only for a little while, yes?"

Ey nodded.

When ey didn't reply otherwise, she shrugged and continued, "I would not say that I agree with that 'I loathe myself, so imagine how much I love others' bit. I do not loathe myself, and yet I still love others. Have loved and will love in the future, even, and I see no change in my rare moments of self-loathing."

Ey laughed. "'Will love in the future'? You leaving me for some handsome guy you met in a bar, then?"

"A bar? Ugh. I am apparently more of a 'hunt nerds in the library' type." She poked em in the belly. "But I love you, Ioan, and will continue to do so."

Rubbing at the spot where she'd poked with her dull claw, ey nodded. "Love you too, May."

She beamed happily and settled back in against eir side, head resting on eir shoulder. "I am glad, my dear. I know we agreed early on that this --- us being together, I mean --- does not need to be permanent, but that does not change the fact that I will continue loving you. Even if we should split, I will not stop."

Ey nodded slowly.

"I have no plans for such," she added quickly. "You are stuck with me for a good while yet."

"What? Oh, no," ey said, shaking eir head to clear a few too many thoughts. "I trust you on that. Just got me thinking. Do you still love all the others you've been with?"

She laughed. "What I said does not apply just to you. Of course I still love them. Some long-diverged forks of me are even still in relationships with their partners."

"So you've said. You still love them as the root instance, though?"

She nodded. "I do not begin relationships as anything other than my root instance. I do not know why, but it does not feel fair of me to do anything but."

"Oh, so none of your forks went on to fork for other relationships?"

"Not that I know of, no. It is a firm conviction, so I would imagine that they hold to it, but perhaps some older ones have diverged. We do not speak much."

"How many are there, anyway?"

She lifted her head to dot her nose against eir cheek. "Are you jealous, my dear?" Her voice was calm and curious. Calm enough and curious enough, some distant part of em noted, that it kept em from falling immediately into defensiveness.

"I get the occasional pangs, more so early on," ey said after a long moment's thought. "When ey was first getting settled in eir relationship, Codrin told me about something that Dear had told em shortly after ey'd been forked, 'jealousy is a sign of needs not met'. Whenever I start feeling jealous, that's usually a sign for me to take a step back and think about what need that might be."

"See, this is what I like about you, Ioan. You feel a thing and then think about it until you understand it. Sometimes a little too much, but it has served you well."

Ey tilted eir cheek to rest it atop her head, a bit of closeness that also served the purpose of stopping her ear-tip from tickling eir neck.

"I feel a thing and am helpless before it. I cannot but wrap myself up in...it..." she said, pulling out her notebook again to jot down the words as they came. "Love, hatred, hunger, exhaustion. I am built for them all, and I cannot do a thing about them..."

Ey shared a secret smile with emself as the skunk trailed off, continuing to write, tongue-tip peeking out from her muzzle.

"Also," she said once she'd finished. "The answer is that I do not know how many of me are still in relationships. There are at least three, and I know of at least five that have quit, though I declined the merges out of privacy. I never made it a requirement that they keep in touch. Beyond that, I think there are...mm, seven, perhaps?"

"So that makes me your sixteenth relationship?"

"Something like that, yes. Sixteenth truly serious one." She slid over and swung her legs up onto the stage so that she could rest her head in eir lap. "Did my monologue really get you thinking about all this?"

"It's a good monologue," ey said, petting over her ears. "Or start, at least. You said it should be five minutes, right?"

She nodded. "Around that, yes. I am still working on it."

"Mmhm. It's good so far, though. It got me thinking, but I'm also just fascinated by you, which helps."

"Why, because I am weird? I think that is an Odist thing," she said, laughing.

"What, am I not allowed to be fascinated by my partner?"

"Absolutely not, no."

Ey tugged on her ear. "Fascinated and annoyed."

"Yes, well, too bad. You remain stuck with me, Mx. Bălan." She continued more seriously, "I did not expect this to be fascinating to you. I try to be careful talking about my other relationships."

"I don't really mind," ey said after giving it due thought. "That was past May, right? It'd be like getting upset over someone else having exes. If it were multiple partners at the same time, that'd probably be a separate conversation."

She shook her head. "I could not do that. I am not built the same as Dear. I am only in multiple relationships in the sense that there are multiple mes, but there is only ever one me involved with one other. It is parallel monogamy."

"Why?"

"Because," she said, rolling onto her back so that she could smile up to em. "I am also helpless before devotion, and that takes the whole of me."

"What about Douglas or A Finger Pointing?"

"I hold no romantic feelings for A Finger Pointing." She laughed. "She is nice, but in a boss-you-drink-with-on-Fridays-and-I-guess-occasionally-have-a-fling-with sort of way."

"And Douglas?"

Her answer was a while in coming. "Were our friendship to head in that direction, I would fork, but I do not foresee that being the case."

"Really?" Ey frowned. "Wouldn't that be awkward? Us going over there to see him and the other you together?"

"Oh, incredibly awkward," she said, rolling her eyes. "I have done similar in the past, and it would take a year or two to shake out. It is uncomfortable for me, as well, as I am left with the same desire even as my down-tree instance gets fulfillment and they are left with love for you."

"I can imagine."

"No, Ioan, I do not think you can," she said primly. "You actually think about the way you feel as you are feeling it like a normal person rather than just crashing headlong into overwhelming emotions like a fucking Odist."

"Well, fair."

"I do not think we need to worry about that, though. I am comfortable with my friendship with him just as I am comfortable loving you, and should someone catch my eye--"

"You'd need to start going to more libraries, I think."

She laughed and shook her head, continuing, "--should someone catch my eye --- or yours, for that matter --- we will tackle it then with plenty of talking."

"Oh, I believe you on that. Skunks never shut up."

She made as if to bite em on the belly and, when ey flinched away, grinned up to em. "Mx. Ioan Bălan, you are the one asking all the questions with long, involved answers. Do not pin this on me."

"Yeah, yeah. You just got me thinking is all. I think you're giving me too much credit saying someone might catch my eye, though."

"Why?"

Ey shrugged. "I'm not exactly that observant."

"You worked as a professional observer for, what, a century?"

"Not that kind of observation."

She laughed. "Well, okay, yes. I will not discount the possibility, though. If we are in this life for yet more centuries, there is no harm in being deliberate. Plus, I will get an inordinate amount of satisfaction out of seeing you fall for someone. It was so wholesome the first time! I see no reason why it should not be the same subsequent times."

"I guess. I don't know if there's anyone who--"

She waved a paw dismissively. "If there is not, there is not. We can speak in hypotheticals like fucking grown-ups."

"Fine, fine."

When the silence drew out, May grabbed one of eir hands and started mouthing on eir fingers, sharp skunk teeth just pricking skin.

"Ow!" Ey laughed and tapped a finger on her nose lightly. "Pest."

She licked at eir fingertip, saying, "Thank you, my dear, in all earnestness. It makes me happy to be able to have a conversation about this."

"Of course, May. I figure it ought to be an open topic for us."

She nodded and stretched out on the stage. "Agreed. We can come back to it later, though. I would like to run this through once more," she said, waggling the notebook at em. "And then head home to get ready for dinner. Debarre is coming over and I plan on flirting with him outrageously in front of you all night long to see if I can make you jealous."

Ey laughed and pushed at her until she sat up before sliding off the stage and walking back to eir seat. "Alright. Once more, from the top."

[parkerbombshell]

Addictions and Other Vices 934 Fix Mix July - August 2024

Addictions and Other Vices Fridays 4:30 Repeats Saturday 4:30pm EST bombshellradio.com and Sundays 9:30am Thanks to all the artists, labels and PR companies that submitted tracks. #Indie Rock #Alternative Pop #Dream Pop #Post-Punk #Synth-Pop Fix Mix 934 #Addictions 934 1. **Game Six - Bedroom Tax** 2. **Might as Well Know - WAASH** 3. **Part Of You - Four Faces** 4. **Rush - CATBEAR** 5. **Feel So Good - Dream Together** 6. **Inga Hauser - KEELEY** 7. **Hotel Song - Fintan James** 8. **One More Day - Mallory Chipman** 9. **Kiss Like Me - Piper Conolly** 10. **Heart - Amber Elara** 11. **Come Back - Nicky MacKenzie** 12. **COOL - Vikki Minor** 13. **Looking Through The Window - Barry & The Visitors** 14. **Record Cover Girl - Blake Jones & The Trike Shop** 15. **I Am Bleeding Internally - The Dream Eaters** 16. **Seasons Come, Seasons Go - Cuff The Duke** 17. **The River She Knows - Rose Morrison** 18. **On Fire - Ivery** 19. **Take The Punches - Wild Remedy** 20. **Hide and Seek - Courtney Wolfe** 21. **Ain't Life Strange - Julian Taylor** 22. **Mother (Clean) - Burr Island** 23. **Horse in a Sling - Boulder Fields** 24. **When the Music Plays Again - Chapell** 25. **Seasons - Kojak** 26. **Problem Is - Friends of Our Youth** 27. **High Park - Andrew Spice** 28. **Asking - Tendertwin** 29. **Save Me - Astro Cat Collective** 30. **From the Start - Gingham** 31. **The Secrets Out - Andy Jans-Brown** 32. **The Rain Is Not Far - Jenny Risnen** 33. **Looking Glass - Todd Hearon** 34. **Guillotine - Todd Hearon** 35. **I Don't Wanna - Jody and the Jerms** 36. **Rivals - This Is War** 37. **Howlin and Dyin - Johnny Nasty Boots** 38. **Hey - Points** 39. **Dinosaur Song - Monkey Sockets** 40. **Lost and Found - The Things We Never Got Over** 41. **Kicking Habits - NEPS, Ivery** 42. **Skinwalker - Virtual Nobodies** 43. **Lust - RosGos** 44. **Midsummer - Odd Marshall** 45. **Red Box Telephone - Paravida** 46. **John Chesbro - Always and Forever** 47. **Jackob Chacko - Turnaround** 48. **Take This Love - Sun Atoms** 49. **Scenes - T. G. Shand** 50. **House On Fire - Telebox** 51. **Five of Cups - The Adriatic** 52. **Ziggy - Xan Tyler**            

  Addictions and Other Vices

  Read the full article

[worthyhog0001]

Grinder Grain Coffee: A Fresh Perspective on Your Morning Routine

Introduction

In the fast-paced world we live in, a morning routine often serves as a cornerstone for a successful day. For many, this routine involves the ritualistic preparation and consumption of coffee. While instant coffee has become a quick and convenient choice, there's a growing trend towards embracing the art of grinding your coffee beans. Enter Grinder Grain Coffee – a fresh perspective on elevating your morning coffee experience.

The Art of Grinding

1. Unlocking Flavor Profiles

Grinder Grain Coffee introduces you to a world of rich, nuanced flavors. By grinding your beans just before brewing, you retain the essential oils and aromas that give coffee its distinctive taste. This precision allows you to explore a myriad of flavor profiles that might have been muted in pre-ground coffee.

2. Customizable Grind Size

Tailor your coffee to your preferred brewing method with customizable grind sizes. Whether you're a fan of French press, pour-over, or espresso, Grinder Grain Coffee offers the flexibility to adjust the grind to suit your taste. This adaptability ensures that every cup is a personalized masterpiece.

The Grinder Grain Experience

1. Freshness at Your Fingertips

Grinder Grain Coffee brings the freshness of a local coffee shop to your kitchen. The aroma of freshly ground beans is an experience in itself, setting the tone for a sensory journey that begins the moment you start grinding.

2. Sustainability Matters

Beyond flavor, Grinder Grain Coffee aligns with a commitment to sustainability. By choosing whole beans over pre-packaged ground coffee, you contribute to reducing packaging waste. Embrace eco-friendly practices without compromising on the quality of your daily cup.

A Healthier Brew

1. Preserving Nutrients

Grinding your coffee just before brewing ensures the preservation of essential nutrients. The exposure of ground coffee to air accelerates the oxidation process, leading to a loss of antioxidants. Grinder Grain Coffee allows you to savor every sip, knowing that you are maximizing the health benefits of your morning brew.

2. Reducing Additive Exposure

Pre-ground coffee often contains additives to prolong its shelf life. These additives can compromise the purity of your coffee and expose you to unnecessary chemicals. With Grinder Grain Coffee, you take control of your ingredients, eliminating the need for preservatives and additives.

Choosing the Right Grinder

1. Burr vs. Blade Grinders

The choice between burr and blade grinders is pivotal in shaping your coffee experience. Grinder Grain Coffee provides insights into the nuances of each type, helping you make an informed decision based on your preferences. Discover the advantages of consistency and precision that burr grinders offer, or the affordability and simplicity of blade grinders.

2. Electric vs. Manual Grinders

Modern conveniences have brought forth electric grinders, but the charm of manual grinding has not faded. Explore the pros and cons of each option with Grinder Grain Coffee, ensuring that your chosen grinder aligns seamlessly with your lifestyle and brewing routine.

Grinding Tips for the Perfect Cup

1. Grind Just Before Brewing

The essence of Grinder Grain Coffee lies in the freshness of your grind. Embrace the ritual of grinding just before brewing to extract the maximum flavor from your coffee beans.

2. Store Beans Properly

Protect your beans from light, air, and moisture to maintain their peak freshness. Grinder Grain Coffee shares expert tips on storing your beans to ensure a consistently delightful cup every morning.

3. Experiment with Grind Size

Don't be afraid to experiment with grind sizes to discover the perfect balance for your preferred brewing method. Grinder Grain Coffee encourages you to embark on a journey of exploration to find your coffee nirvana.

Conclusion

 Coffee grinder machines opens a gateway to a heightened coffee experience. Beyond the convenience of a quick cup, it invites you to engage with the art of brewing, savoring every nuance of flavor and aroma. Embrace the ritual of grinding, and witness how it transforms your morning routine into a daily celebration of freshness and quality. Elevate your coffee journey with Grinder Grain Coffee – because your morning deserves more than just a routine, it deserves an experience.

[two-oaks-farmstead]

Unbelievable KitchenAid Cyber Monday Deals - Don't Wait!

Kitchenaid Deals for Cyber Monday If you have followed me here or on Two Oaks Farm Talk, then you know that KitchenAid is in my kitchen, and if it's not in yours then this is a great time to grab some! Here are a few KitchenAid Cyber Monday Deals that you need to grab while they're around...because they won't be for long! KitchenAid Stand Mixers I simply cannot do without mine! In fact, I have 2 just in case, a 4.5 qt and a 7 qt. If I had to give up my appliances, this is one that would never go! ...and you will see why! KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer K45SS, White KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield, Passion Red KitchenAid® 7 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer, Blue Velvet KitchenAid Stand Mixer Attachments This is where you find out just how wonderful your KitchenAid mixer truly is. And that is because it is so much more than just a mixer! It can do just about anything! Metal Food Grinder Attachment I butcher and process all of our meat and I cannot sing enough praises about this powerful little grinder! Ice Cream Maker Attachment Shave Ice Attachment Food Processor Attachment All Metal Grain Mill Attachment Pasta Roller Attachment Spiralizer Plus Attachment with Peel, Core and Slice Fruit and Vegetable Attachment Strainer Additional KitchenAid Small Appliances Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender, Empire Red 9-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater II Accessories and Pro Whisk - Candy Apple Red 6 Speed Hand Mixer with Flex Edge Beaters, 6 Speed w/Flex Edge Beaters, Contour Silver 3.5 Cup Food Chopper, Empire Red Blade Coffee Grinder - Onyx Black 3.5 Cup Food Chopper, Pistachio Burr Coffee Grinder - Black Matte, 10 Oz Digital Countertop Oven with Air Fry 1.25-Liter Electric Kettle - Empire Red, Small Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender with Chopper and Whisk Attachment - Empire Red, 1 Liter CHECK OFTEN FOR UPDATED SALES – WE WILL KEEP THEM COMING! MORE WAYS TO CONNECT We also, as a homesteading family, have a variety of blogs that might interest you. A Life on the Farm focuses on the more personal side of the homesteading life. We discuss subjects like family, parenting, relationships, homeschooling, cooking, canning and so much more. Two Oaks Farm Talk concerns the more technical side of homesteading. We discuss subjects like gardening, food prep, and farm building and construction with lots of tutorials! Farm Raised Family is basically a hub for everything under the Two Oaks Farmstead umbrella. You can learn a great deal about all parts of the farmstead there. The Farm Raised Family blog focuses on financial matters such as budgeting, saving, and more and on current events affecting families. You can also have a more in depth look at all that we do by visiting our Two Oaks Farmstead YouTube Channel and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss a thing! Farm Life and Freedom is the new podcast we are in the process of launching! It is going to be so much fun! You could also check in with our Farm Life and Freedom Youtube Channel. Two Oaks Farmstead is the farm store… the one that holds the umbrella! Check us all out and join us, not only on our blogs and Farm Life and Freedom podcast but come join the fun on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… wherever you get social! Read the full article

[yesthatssadirichardslove]

Netflix's 'Old Dads' is a recycling of PC grievances and a Bill Burr career nadir

LOS ANGELES

The new Netflix movie “Old Dads” has a title problem. It really should be called “Old Dads Yelling at Clouds” or “Old Dads Raging at QR Codes.” It's designed for people who find it hard to navigate the Netflix scroll and so blame millennials for being woke.

Bill Burr, who directs from a script by him and Ben Tishler, leads a meandering, unfunny assault on PC culture that would seem perfectly in place in the 1990s alongside “Illiberal Education” by Dinesh D’Souza and the rantings of Pat Buchanan. It's so dated there's even a mention of Halliburton.

The whiff of deep, old school morass about modern life comes from the moment the movie begins with the Miramax logo and a rock guitar solo, two clear signals we’re going back in time when making fun of Starbucks cup sizes was funny.

Burr, who plays a 51-year-old dad with a young son and another child on the way, is immediately ranting about the lack of parking spots, mechanical scooters, pre-school etiquette, Twitter, emotional learning, vaping and paper straws. Cutting edge humor, this is not.

Burr, who has also conspired to sully the reputations of onscreen buddies Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine by inviting them into this mess, go on to mock trans identity and the notion of “check your privilege.”

“No offense, you’re just coming across a little old, you know? A little out of touch,” a younger guy tells Burr, who responds: "Like your generation? Filming yourselves while you're flipping water bottles?"

The plot is loosey-goosey, never anything engrossing and more like a series of set pieces for Burr to act badly. The three old dads once owned a high-end throwback jersey company — throwback at least is on brand — and have sold it, returning as employees to a 28-year-old new boss, who fancies himself a disruptor. “I appreciate you,” he tells them, which naturally enrages them.

Strap in for a lot of purposely baiting slurs and then amazement that there's push-back. “Is it ever over with these people?” whines Burr's dad, whose style of parenting is to rub dirt into a child's wound to make them more macho.

While Burr is a boiling cauldron of grievances, Cannivale’s dad tries too hard being cool — saying things are “fleek” and that he has “gotta bounce” — and Woodbine’s carefully curated life is suddenly under threat. Things go south for all of them when they “exercise free speech" — in other words, spew misogynist hate.

Their friendships begin to rend and their wives — portrayed as either cold, needy or intimidating — begin bickering. Mostly because Burr is a Gen-X anti-social warrior, prone to go on an angry rant no matter the consequences. “What, you're mad?" he screams at his pregnant wife. "Cause I’m honest?” No, 'cause your toxic, dude.

In one scene, the three old dads try to trap a millennial into using the n-word when he sings along to N.W.A.'s “Straight Outta Compton.” Why? That will apparently expose the hypocrisy of the younger generation. But it doesn't. It's also a moment lifted from another earlier Netflix movie, “You People.”

There's no way this cinematic slop would lead to a strip club, is there? You bet your G-string it does. That's where Burr's old dad comes to a realization, and where the others come to their own realizations. That they should be better men? No, it's too late for that. You can't teach an old dad new tricks. As for you, gentle viewer, you're better off watching water bottles flip in the air for 100 minutes.

“Old Dads,” a Netflix release, is rated R for “pervasive language, sexual material, nudity and brief drug use.” Running time: 104 minutes. Zero stars out of four.

[maximuswolf]

Having Trouble with Pour Over

Having Trouble with Pour Over I'm going to preface this by saying I love coffee, but am very much a hobbyist rather than a die-hard. I have a little bit of knowledge and some very entry-level gear, and I prefer pour overs to most other brewing methods. I have been successful with my pour overs in the past, primarily medium roast Guatemalan beans from the grocery store because they're cheap and surprisingly good. Recently, my favorite local coffee shop started roasting their beans in excess to bag and sell. So instead of shelling out copious amounts of money each week for their Ethiopian light roast pour over, I purchased the beans to make at home. Except I cannot for the life of me produce a cup even remotely close to theirs. I did ask them about their ratios and grind settings, but the manager was around and the barista seemed very hesitant to discuss it.I've played around with my brews the past couple of days, but am underwhelmed every single time. At the coffee shop, their Ethiopian light roast pour over is medium bodied with a juice-like slickness and a berry-like sweetness, with a soft acidity. However when I make it at home, the coffee borders watery with a slightly sour, slightly bitter flavor profile and a scant and distant sweetness. Quite frankly it feels and tastes like convenience store coffee.I'm brewing using a ceramic Chantal Lotus with brown Melitta paper filters and a Cosori electric gooseneck, temperature set to 205°F (and have tried the 212°F setting as well).I only have a kitchen scale purchased from Target to measure, but I'm using 28g of coffee for 390g of water, ground to a coarse tablesalt-like consistency using a Shardor conical burr grinder.I'm using about 200g of water to rinse the paper filters and preheat my mug. Blooming coffee for approx 40 - 45 seconds with 60g of water before finishing with two more pours. Total brew time from bloom to finish generally clocks in around 4½ minutes.Is there anything glaringly wrong here? Submitted May 09, 2023 at 09:03AM by Resident_Artist_2199 https://ift.tt/OtoYCNX via /r/Coffee

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