#extract of llama

[charliesopus]

𝘖𝘩, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, the poison, the poison for Kuzco. The poison chosen specifically to kill Kuzco. Kuzco's poison... 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 poison?

Best cup EVER

[dndtreasury]

Extract of Llama by Bonus Action

[hedgehog-moss]

I received a BroomSlayer 3000 for Christmas!

Behind its jovial mien lies a cold-blooded killer. It's got merciless jaws to clamp onto the plant and a heavy pivoting handle to extract the roots.

I think Father Christmas saw the Christmas Broom held hostage in my living room, under which he was supposed to leave presents, and realised I had reached a breaking point. Last winter I removed all the invasive shrubs in the pasture. I cut everything! Down to the tiniest baby broomlets! And one year later the place looks like this

It's luxuriant. It's humiliating. It's a boundless undulating broom prairie. Clearly as far as they're concerned, I just gave them a nice trim which allowed them to grow back even healthier. So I needed to try something more violent. Get to the root of the problem. (Sorry.)

(I noticed that the spot of last year's broom bonfire is still completely broom-free, but I have not yet reached the point where I set fire to the entire pasture and hope for the best)

Now let me demonstr

—wait a minute.

Is Pampe eating broom??

Ah, no. She's eating pointless, flavourless, leafless brambles which she wouldn't look at twice if they weren't right next to the plants I'd like her to eat, thus emphasising how much she is not eating these.

For a second here I thought you were being helpful.

I saw Poldine eating brambles instead of broom as well. Bad Poldine!

Poldine recovered from this heartbreak after I let her sniff the snow boots I got for Christmas. Just like cats (her idols) she enjoys inspecting new things. (She also enjoys pulling on the laces delicately with her lips to untie them. This game never gets old, if you're a mischievous young llama.)

Anyway. The BroomSlayer 3000 works!! But it's hard work. I did not think it was going to be hard work, because the website made it look so easy.

I wanted to take a little video of me uprooting my enemies but then I thought an illustration would better convey my emotional state—there was a demo video on the gardening website which sells the BroomSlayer and it was the loveliest most bucolic scene, featuring a polite tree who basically picked up its skirts and scampered away with a contrite gasp the minute it realised its presence was unwanted. I really thought uprooting things was going to be a picnic, because I am not immune to propaganda.

To be fair to the gardening website, maybe it's just broom. With that said, it's incredibly satisfying to pull on the handle and hear the delightful sskkrrhh sound of roots being violently torn out of the ground. It's an exhausting whole-body workout but eventuaIly I will grow stronger than broom. I made a murderous Veni Vidi Vici playlist to put myself in the right mood and with this musical support and my new antibroom weapon I will prevail.

[its-a-swift-kloss]

I did a double take and I STILL can't believe my eyes lmao I mean, it's our own fault for not realizing girlie would never be in a convertible with a guy she barely knows, on the streets like a commoner and without her security LOL

[otterloreart]

I was thinking I'd like to try modeling some of the other pony friends. Like the above I may make them slightly chibi-fied, but I won't bother with the hair or base modeling for the future ones.

[whencyclopedia]

Cochineal

Cochineal is a brilliant red dye extracted from the crushed bodies of parasitic insects which prey on cacti in the warmer parts of the Americas. The dye was an important part of trade in ancient Mesoamerica and South America and throughout the colonial era when its use spread worldwide. Even today, cochineal continues to be used in foodstuffs and cosmetics.

Cacti & Bugs

The insects required to make cochineal red dye are females of the Dactylopius coccus which feed on the nopal cactus (aka the prickly pear cactus) in tropical and subtropical areas of the American continent and in some highlands in South America. A massive amount of insects is required, some 25,000 live insects or 70,000 dried ones to make around 450 grammes or one pound of dye. Only a few millimetres in length, the insects were so small that there was confusion over what they actually were, most thought them a worm that derived from a berry turning rotten. Not until the arrival of the microscope and the work of Nicolaas Hartsoeker in 1694 and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 1704 did science shed its light on the subject of just what was the source of this brilliant red dye.

The insects are collected from cacti and then subjected to extreme heat before being crushed, the precise method and temperature used dictate the colour shade of the resulting dye, produced by the presence of carminic acid. Cochineal red dye ranges in colour shades from orange to scarlet. Pure cochineal dye was also used to make other red-based colour pigments such as lake and carmine. Cochineal dye is particularly effective at bonding with natural animal fibres like silk, rabbit hair, feathers, and the wool of sheep, llamas, and alpaca.

Continue reading...

[zorakihyena]

I went to Lucille, the Largest Llama in the World and all I got was these lousy 3t2 conversions.

Welcome to scenic Viper Canyon, and remember your visit with an Orb of Answers from Supernatural! How about a SnapTastic Flimsy-Cam from World Adventures? A Ducksworth of Bathington from Base Game? Maybe even a shrunken extracted rock of Will Wright's head? Come on, if this stuff is too nice for ya', I got some crap!

Random Sims 3t2 Clutter plus the giant Will head ripped into sculpture form.

Orb of Answers - Found Under Hobbies - Recreation - Costs §195

Ducksworth of Bathington - Found Under Plumbing - Showers & Tubs - Costs §40

SnapTastic Flimsy-Cam - Found Under Electronics - Small Electronics - Costs §250

Whatchu' Talkin' About Will? Head Replica - Found Under Hobbies - Knowledge - Costs §120

Download All Conversions + Will Head

~ Individual Downloads:

Download 3t2 SN Orb of Answers

Download 3t2 BG Rubber Ducky

Download 3t2 WA Cheap Camera

Download Extracted Will Wright Rock Head

[noticiasarquelogicasjaponesas]

Sean bienvenidos amantes del mundo japonés a una nueva publicación, en este caso voy a dar mi opinión sobre uno de los hallazgos que se han hecho en el país del sol naciente y que tiene que ver con el rostro del niño reconstruido y de cómo la genética se aplica a la arqueología espero que os guste.

-

Antes que nada, el periodo yayoi abarca las siguientes fechas, 300a. C 300 d.C estas fechas son las tradicionales, aunque hay estudios más recientes del siglo IX antes de Cristo desde la península de Kyūshū, pero bueno, eso serán otras publicaciones que realizaré sobre el tema, pero en este caso nos vamos a centrar en este hallazgo este hombre se llama Aoya kamijiro.

-

Fue creado en octubre de 2021, ya que 1998 se encontraron unos restos arqueológicos de más de cien huesos humanos por lo cual es una tarea complicada, pero que nos permite reconstruir las facciones y no solo de la gente prehistórica, sino también de la propia historia como del mundo antiguo y de muchas épocas históricas.

-

Esto se obtiene a raíz de los huesos de los que se pueden extraer pequeñas muestras que son las que nos permitirán, saber si el individuo en cuestión era masculino era femenino y si padecía patologías.

-

Las nuevas tecnologías nos permitirán reconstruir fiel miente de alguna forma u otra el rostro, a la cual parece, ya que esto es un avance muy notable, tanto en la genética como en la arqueología porque podemos reconstruir bastante bien a la gente del pasado no sobre toda la población, que suele estar olvida en un segundo plano.

-

Espero que os haya gustado que pasen una buena semana.

-

日本を愛する皆さん、新しい出版物へようこそ。今回は、日出ずる国で行われた、復元された子供の顔と遺伝学に関係する発���の 1 つについて、私の意見を述べたいと思います。考古学にも応用できると思います。

-

まず、弥生時代は以下の300aの年代になります。 西暦 300 年頃 これらの日付は伝統的なものですが、九州半島からは紀元前 9 世紀に関するより最近の研究もありますが、それはまた別の出版物でこのテーマについて行う予定ですが、この場合は次のようにします。この発見に焦点を当ててください この男の名前は青谷神代です。

-

1998年に100体以上の人骨の考古学的遺跡が発見されて以来、この計画は2021年10月に作成された。そのため複雑な作業ではあるが、先史時代の人々の派閥だけでなく、古代世界や歴史上のさまざまな時代からの歴史そのものです。

-

これは骨から得られるもので、少量のサンプルを抽出することで、問題の人物が男性か女性か、また病状を患っていたかどうかを知ることができます。

-

新しいテクノロジーにより、何らかの方法で、その顔に見える顔を忠実に復元できるようになります。これは、遺伝学と考古学の両方において非常に注目に値する進歩です。なぜなら、私たちは過去の人々についてではなく、非常によく復元できるからです。国民全体が、通常は背景に隠れて忘れ去られています。

-

気に入っていただければ幸いです。良い一週間をお過ごしください。

-

Welcome lovers of the Japanese world to a new publication, in this case I am going to give my opinion on one of the discoveries that have been made in the country of the rising sun and that has to do with the reconstructed child's face and how genetics It applies to archeology. I hope you like it.

-

First of all, the yayoi period covers the following dates, 300a. C 300 AD These dates are the traditional ones, although there are more recent studies from the 9th century BC from the Kyūshū peninsula, but well, that will be other publications that I will make on the subject, but in this case we are going to focus on this discovery This man's name is Aoya kamijiro.

-

It was created in October 2021, since archaeological remains of more than one hundred human bones were found in 1998, which is why it is a complicated task, but it allows us to reconstruct the factions and not only of the prehistoric people, but also of history itself. as from the ancient world and from many historical periods.

-

This is obtained from the bones from which small samples can be extracted that will allow us to know if the individual in question was male or female and if he suffered from pathologies.

-

New technologies will allow us to faithfully reconstruct the face, in some way or another, to which it appears, since this is a very notable advance, both in genetics and in archeology because we can reconstruct quite well the people of the past not about the entire population, which is usually forgotten in the background.

-

I hope you liked it and have a good week.

[annymation]

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 8- They Know

Chapter 7

The sun rises upon the kingdom of Rosas.

We see the castle in all it’s magnitude glistening as the first rays of sunshine hit the top of the tower.

We then cut to a sleeping queen, wearing a white night gown made of silk. Her long brown hair spreads all over the pillow.

She moves her arms trying to reach for something next to her… But she doesn’t feel what she was looking for

She opens her eyes slowly, still trying to hug someone that isn’t there

Then she sits up upon realizing… She’s alone in bed.

“Oh my… This really must be serious” the queen says in a whisper to herself

She then hears something approaching the door

Footsteps, coming very quickly and loudly, like a horse running down the hall.

The queen just smiles as she gets up, knowing full well that is-

🚪 B L A M

“AMAYA, DARLING! I FOUND IT!!!”

The king of Rosas barges through the door, kicking it with one foot.

He’s carrying a large book on his hand.

The queen just looks at her husband lovingly as he proceeds to babble incomprehensibly

“YOUWONTBELIEVEIT!THEBOOKWASLOCKEDBYAMAGICSEAL!THATOLDFOOLREALLYTHOUGHTHECOULDKEEPTHISAWAYFROMME”

He exclaims all that with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas Eve while running across the large room to reach the bed.

It’s noticeable he’s much less put together than usual, his hair is messy and he has bags under his eyes, naturally because he barely even blinked for the past 8 hours.

He’s now right in front of Amaya opening the book to show her something

“TOOKMETHEWHOLENIGHTBUTIWASABLETOBREAKIT!NOWLISTENCLO-“

The queen gently places a hand on his face. Immediately he goes silent and melts into her touch.

“Shhh my sweet, calm yourself.” she caresses his cheek and as if by magic Magnifico is overtaken by the exhaustion and just falls on the bed next to them “Aww my handsome bookworm didn’t get any shuteye last night?” She coos

The man is now laying face first on the bed as he mumbles “I didn’t need… Sleep- I needed answers zzz” he falls asleep, the book now is just laying next to him like it’s nothing

“Hmm” the queen hums while she walks to a closet.

Upon opening it, there’s nothing out of the ordinary, just some lustrous royal gowns.

But then she pulls a hidden lever in the form of a candlestick on the wall, and the closet reveals a secret.

Shelves full of potion flasks of all colors and sizes.

(Ya know that scene from Emperor’s New Groove? Yeah it’s like that)

The queen starts looking for an specific potion, she reads the flask labels out loud as she looks for it

“Let’s see… Voice remover- no- Frozen heart- no- Llama extract- why did I even make this? No… Aha there you are.” She says softly as she takes one of the potions “Waking potion”

(Wouldn’t it be funny if she accidentally mixed up the labels and gave him poison? I’d laugh.)

She walks back to her beloved husband and opens his mouth while petting his hair. She pours the potion in his mouth.

Magnifico’s eyes are shot open, no longer with bags under them. He sits up quickly and coughs while gasping for air.

“*COUGH* UGH- Tastes as bad as I remember” he says while wiping his mouth with his sleeve “I thought you were going to make them all strawberry flavored” the king wines like a spoiled kid to his wife

“Sure, let me know when you find out how to do that with a potion made of bat eyes, sloth nails and coffee” She stated sarcastically “Now, about your discoveries…” The queen glances at the book he brought in.

The book has a symbol of a intricately drawn star that looks like a compass, surrounded by drawings that represent the constellations.

“OH YES! Here, come come!”

(This is, in fact, a direct reference to that scene in Wish when Magnifico is already totally possessed by the evil magic book and is all excited to show Amaya his new powers, I thought that was cute.)

The king has a huge smile, eager to show his wife what he has found.

He uses his staff to make the book float and the pages quickly turn by themselves “You see dear, my ancestors studied all the ins and outs of wish magic, however, there was one thing that they never DARED to do... Though personally, I've always had an interest in trying for myself” he stops on a page showing a sorcerer stealing away the power of a person with shining gold hair, the person seems to be screaming in pain “To harness the power of A WISHING STAR” the king announces proudly with an evil grin

“… Hmm” The queen seems unimpressed “So the powerful being you were talking about just looks like this? A golden haired person?”

(Amaya is more sassy with her husband than usual because he didn’t sleep with her last night)

“That’s how they SHOW themselves when they come down here!” The king explained, still just as excited as he was before “Their golden bright hair is a defining trait. Yes, they may not look like much, but their power within is unfathomable.” He says with a dark chuckle.

The queen seems more interested now

“Well then, does the book say anything about how to track it down? How to capture it?”

“Sadly, there’s no way of tracking one… However, capturing it will be easy” he says, using his staff, he makes some green magic flow through his hands creating the imagery of a a star “Star’s magic is made out of pure goodness and light, it’s pathetic really, they can’t even hurt anyone.” The king chuckles at that while gazing at the little star he created with his magic “Their main weakness is dark magic, such as mine. So if I were to fight one-" He crushes the small star with his hand "I'd have the advantage.” The king has a smile full of malice

The queen on the other hand is looking at this through a more... Rational point of view, yes it's great that her husband can capture a star... But where's the use in that if they don't know where it is?

“So there’s a star disguised as a human wandering around the island, splendid, how are we supposed to find it?” She asks him, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The king's smile disappears

“…Eeeeh” He takes some time to think “… Arresting all the blondes in the land would raise some eyebrows, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, yes it would darling” Amaya nods

She loves this man, but he can be pretty dense sometimes.

“Oh well, we can start by finding out who summoned it in the first place” He turns the pages and it shows an illustration of someone wishing upon a star, and on the second page it shows the humanoid star coming down “Stars only come down when they’re wished upon by someone truly pure of heart… Now the question is… Who would wish upon a STAR in a kingdom that has a wish granting KING?” He ponders, sounding almost offended.

“A child wanting to get their wish granted earlier, no doubt… It’s not like anyone older than five would believe in such fantasies” the queen says dismissively as she walks to a mirror

“… Yes…” The king places a hand on his chin as he ponders “But then again… That girl from yesterday”

The queen turns to him with wide eyes "She wouldn’t dare... Would she? After we promised to grant her wish- Wait, did you even grant the wishes last night?!” She changes the subject mid sentence

Magnifico eyes widened… He didn’t even realize it before.

“… I forgot” he says in a sigh, placing a hand on the back of his neck

The queen is brushing her hair as she says

“Ha! Oh wonderful, now the little brat will go around spreading to her friends that we lied to her, so much for saving face I suppose” Her tone is condescending, she’s not sugarcoating her disappointment in him.

Magnifico’s eyebrows scrunched, he wasn't pleased with his wife’s tone at all

(OOOOH THEYRE FIGHTING!!! THE OLD MARRIED COUPLE IS FIGHTING YALL LETS GOOO)

“Well “sorry�� if I got overzealous. I just thought gaining THE POWER OF A CELESTIAL BEING ON THE PALM OF OUR HANDS would be pretty great, “sweetie”" his sarcasm when saying “sorry” and “sweetie” is palpable. He’s now pacing around the room as he talks with her, sounding angrier with every word “I don't get why you're not as thrilled about this as I am. Can’t you see what this MEANS? With this power we won't have to pretend anymore, those worthless people won't have a choice but to adore us, we’ll be IMMORTAL, is this not what we’ve alway wanted?” He’s actually trying really hard to not raise his voice much, because he knows at this time of the day there’s already servants around the castle.

“Believe me, nothing would bring me more joy than that, but unlike you, I refrain from celebrating prematurely." She explains firmly and coldly. "So far, all you’ve told me is that we MIGHT gain more power IF we find this certain individual with golden hair.” She talks to him while looking at him through the reflection on the mirror, he gives her an frustrated look, but more so because he knows she’s right… As always.

She continues, still speaking eloquently:

“And it’s not like the answer to where this star is will come knocking through that door.”

*Knock knock*

They hear a knock on the door

They both turn to it

“Um- breakfast is served, your highnesses!”

It’s the voice of one of the maids

The royal couple stare at one another for a moment

The queen points at her own hair with an annoyed expression

Magnifico rolls his eyes as he moves his fingers, using his magic to braid Amaya’s hair while they both walk towards the door

“We'll discuss this later…” The king says stoically.

But as they walk his face softened and he tries to make amends “*sigh* I love you mi vida. You do have a point, I may not have any leads now, but rest assured I will find that star for us… Somehow” Magnifico says quietly so the maid outside doesn’t hear

The queen calms herself as she holds his hand “I love you most Magnus, and I don’t doubt you for a second... I just fear that in this search of power, you might get carried awa-“

When they’re close to the door they start hearing something coming from outside…

Whispering.

Two different female voices are talking

The royal pair stops as they try to listen closely

“I need to ask them-“

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to bother them about this?”

“Who else would know why Asha ran away crying like that?”

… Asha?…

They both exchange a serious glance and nod.

It's show time.

Magnifico opens the door quickly.

That startled the two women standing on the other side. One is Dahlia’s mom, Ms. Hayashi, we’ve seen her in chapter 2.

And the other is a woman wearing a royal maids outfit. She looks remarkably similar to Safi, with brown curly hair and a big nose like his.

The royal couple now stands on the other side of the door, both smiling at them kindly.

Magnifico begins the act:

“Good morning ladies, beautiful day isn’t it?” He says with his usual charismatic voice

“G-good morning, your grace” the maid that looks like Safi gives them a curtesy, and so does Dahlia’s mom, but she doesn’t say anything, it seems like she’s thinking on what to tell them.

“We couldn’t help but overhear you both whispering… Something about Asha? Would that be the same delightful girl we’ve met yesterday?” The queen asks with a gentle smile

“Ah- Yes, it's her, b-but It’s nothing for your majesty to worry about I’m sure she’s alright” The maid says

“We don’t know that, Mishel” Dahlia’s mom corrects her friend “Your majesty, forgive me for troubling you this early, but you see... Asha has been living with me and my family for the past few years after her grandfather’s passing, and last night after she talked with you both… She came out of the castle crying unconsolably, then she ran away.” the royal cook explains, desperate for some answers.

The smiles on their faces are gone

Internally, the cogs start turning in the king and queen’s heads, but on the outside, they look just as worried as the royal cook.

Amaya’s voice is filled of distress as she says “Oh my goodness, but she was just fine when we sent her off last night, what on earth could’ve upset the poor thing?” She looks at her husband with an scared expression

“I have no idea. We’d never want to cause her any pain…” the king adds with the innocence of a saint in his eyes while looking at the two women “Did she say anything before leaving? Anything at all?”

“Well… There was one thing but- I’m sure it was a misunderstanding” Dahlia's mom says

“Oh I’m sure it was.” Magnifico agrees with certainty “But any clue may help us understand what could’ve caused such reaction or where could she be, please, we'd never forgive ourselves if something happened to her.” he holds Dahlia’s mom’s hands

“… She said her wish would never be granted.”

And all the pieces clicked

In that moment both king Magnifico and queen Amable knew…

She knew.

That noise they heard last night, it wasn’t Bravo going crazy and attacking an armor…

It was the little brat snooping around

Of course they connected the dots that the girl heard them, learned all their secrets, ran away crying, and with no one else to turn to…

She wished upon a star.

They knew.

They were both thinking the same thing.

Their faces softened into calmer expressions, to soothe the worried servant.

"I see" Magnifico says calmly "I think we both know what might've caused her to become so emotive... Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention." He says giving the woman a sympathetic smile

"I'm sure she'll show up eventually, and once she does, we shall clear up the misunderstanding" The queen adds words of reassurance

"And if she doesn't show up till sunset, please do not hesitate to tell us. I can send the guards to look for her." The king says with a comforting voice

Dahlia's mother looks at the two rulers relieved... Oblivious to the fact she just doomed the girl she promised to protect.

"Thank you my king... But, if I may be so bold to ask... What caused her to be so ups-"

"You may, in fact, NOT be so bold" The queen cuts her off, still with a smile still plastered on her face

"Oh- I just thought-"

"What happened last night is only for us and Asha to know." The king explains patiently "Now run along, we'll be down for breakfast in a moment."

Magnifico shuts the door.

They can hear the footsteps of the two servants getting farther and farther away.

Once they're sure that no one is near, they look at each other

Both grinning wickedly.

"Well, well, well... It would seem our dear guest did some eavesdropping last night, how rude." The king says, still mimicking his fake caring voice they were doing when talking with the two women, but this time with a devious grin on his face "And as a reward for snooping around, she got her own magic companion to assist her, now that's just not fair, is it?"

"Right you are mi rey, such unbecoming behavior should be punished" The queen says with the same malice in her smile

"And you know..." The king uses his magic to bring the book close to them, he flips through the pages and we're shown an illustration of a wishing star protecting a human from monsters made of shadows "The book says wishing stars can be quite... Defensive of their wish makers. It would be suuuch a shaaame if any harm befalls her, and the star had no choice but to come for the rescue" Magnifico coos in a mocking concerned tone

Amaya hugs her husband's arm as they both finish each other’s sentences:

"We find the girl"

"We find our star"

…

(The credits for the following sequence goes to @gracebeth3604, thank you so much for the help! Not gonna say what the sequence is about yet of course, but I hope you all enjoy heheh)

We cut to Asha and Aster in the kingdom of Rosas, making their way through the crowd. Asha feels the warm rays of sunshine touching her skin, the kingdom is lively as always, with people everywhere showcasing the talents they acquired thanks to their wishes.

Asha has a confident smile, for she too can't wait to show off this new talent she acquired thanks to Aster, who is right behind her.

They're now at the center of the plaza, in front of a water fountain, water splashes from it. Asha smiles confidently as her fingers easily glide across the strings, music flowing satisfyingly throughout the air, as the sun hangs brightly in the skies, Aster is dancing beside her just like he said he would, the people start gathering around to watch them.

It was working, it was working! If we keep at this long enough we might actually be able to—!

But suddenly, the sun is no longer as bright, and the water stops flowing out of the fountain. The music and cheering all ceases, like a flame suddenly being blown out.

Asha gasps, holding the mandolin tightly in her hands. She’s surrounded by darkness. The only sound now being her slow shaky breaths catching in her throat. 

“H- Hello?” She whips her head around in every direction, Aster is gone, everyone is gone. She keeps the instrument held close like it's the last companion she has left “Aster!? …Everyone!?” She calls out in a slowly rising panic that pooled into her stomach.

Everything was going well, what happened!?

Suddenly, a light catches from the corner of her eye, she looks down confusedly to her mandolin, the strings on it are now glowing brightly in green light, making the sinking pit in the girl’s stomach grow even more.

Why did this feel familiar…? 

The strings pressed against her fingers begin to burn ever so slightly, as the light sears, she draws her hand back in shock as the strings begin to snap off the head of the mandolin, snaking around wildly in the air. She drops it, making it clatter to the floor and shatter, but it wasn’t like wood splintering, but more so like glass, just like the glass slipper that broke in the king's room of items…

Why was that coming to her mind…?

She wasn’t given time to mourn the loss of her Saba's mandolin, as the strings shot up into the inky black air, their length increased, and they quickly began to tie around her during their accent. Asha reels back, struggling and attempting to get away, but it is in vain, as the green threads tightly latch onto her wrists and ankles, like puppet strings. 

An echoing duet of laughter rings above her from every direction, like it’s bouncing off the air itself, she looks up in panic, seeing the strings now attached to a pair of even more shadowy hands, two sets of glowing green eyes piercing her soul. 

She hears King Magnifico's voice booming from the sky like a thunder "Hahahahaa~ What's the matter, Asha? Didn't you say you were "a star"? Well then, give us a show!" The shadowy figure of the king moves his fingers that are attached to her strings.

Asha feels as her body being moved at their will, like she’s nothing but a ragdoll, she whimpers in fear with every movement, unable to speak.

"You really thought wishing on stars, singing and dancing could save them? Hahahah!" Queen Amable's cackle sounded akin to what Asha imagined would come from a wicked witch "Awww such a foolish, sweet, little doll" Her echoing voice cooed with a tauntingly honeyed voice.

Asha feels as her legs begin to go numb, looking down, she sees herself turning into wood.

She yells out in panic, pure fear consuming her along with the transformation, that is spreading slowly up her body, she squirms under the restraints of string but it's no use. The wooden corruption eats it’s way up her torso and arms, making her lower half go numb, it claws its way up her arms, chest, and finally it reaches her neck.

"There's no one coming for youuu!" The king's voice is deranged.

"No stars to wish upon~" The queen singsongs, it's the same line she sang in their previous musical duet, a duet Asha does not remember, but clearly it's still deeply rooted inside her mind.

"You are all ALONE" The two shadows say at the same time.

Tears stream down the girl's face, Asha closes her eyes with all her strength, not even letting out a scream, she doesn't have the energy, and even if she did she wouldn’t dare to give them the satisfaction of hearing it.  

Her face begins to go numb, the royals laughter slowly muffles until she can no longer hear them at all, if everything was already black before, then it surely was now.

All there's to see is Asha's eyes locked shut as her face slowly turns into wood...

...

(Thank you again @gracebeth3604 for helping with this nightmare sequence!)

Until she hears a familiar voice echo, muffled and distant.

"Asha?"

The voice is not sinister like the royals, it's lively and warm, like a light at the end of the tunnel.

And she does start to see a light, as her eyes slowly open, she sees what seems to be the rays of sunshine hitting her eyes... But it's not just the light of the sun...

It's Aster's hair.

Their face is literally almost touching hers, as he's floating above her.

"Mornin' A-"

"AAAAH!-"

And basically this scene from Ponyo happens

Asha hits her head on Aster's, some star dust sprinkle on her face, while Aster doesn't really move at all, since he feels no pain.

"Ouch..." Asha massages her forehead while laying down on the bed, she processes both the pain of the impact and... Everything else that just transpired in that nightmare.

"Ooops! Hehe sorry about that, you okay?" Aster asks, unfazed by the scare, he smiles excited to start a new day, in fact, his first day on earth.

Asha on the other hand is feeling pretty down right now, but she tries to not let it show "Uhum, I'm fine... Good morning, Aster" She says while taking some of the star dust off her face "Remind me to teach you about the meaning of “personal space” later" She tries to force a smile, her eyes are tired, and not just because she just woke up.

"I think had enough "space" in my life, thank you very much hehe" he says with a cheeky smile while sitting on the bed with his legs crossed. But Aster sits down on the bed, he realizes Asha looks like she's hiding something "... Hey, you're alright? Did I wake you too early?" The star asks concerned.

Actually not early enough Asha thinks to herself, but of course she doesn't say it, instead she just says "It was just a bad dream I had, that's all..." Asha sugarcoats it, that was the most horrifying nightmare she ever had.

Aster feels the weight of the world fall on him like a giant hammer. He could've prevented that. The star covers his face with both hands and throws himself on the bed, it's like he's hiding away from the shame and guilt "UUGHHH I'M SUCH A DIMWIT! I should've seen this coming!" The star hits his own head on the bed in frustration.

Asha tries to calm down the star, reassuring him "Hey hey it's okay, it was just a dumb dream, and it's not like you could've done anything"

"Yes I could, I can give you nice dreams with my magic..." Aster is now looking at her with a mournful eyes, his hair is shinning way less brightly. This "Dumb dream" is a big deal for the star, as it's his purpose to be there for Asha... To make her happy...

"... Oh" Asha is surprised by that, but at the same time it does make sense that a star would have a power like that. Of course she holds no ill will against Aster for not giving her sweet dreams, she knows he couldn't have known she'd have such a horrible nightmare.

Aster realizes there's no use in mourning for this mistake, all he can do is learn from it and move forward, as he flies off the bed and looks at Asha with his sparkly eyes full of determination "I'll make it up to you, tonight! I'll give you the best dream ever, I promise!" The star swears on it like it's the most important thing in the world to him.

Asha can't help but giggle at how the star is taking this seriously, but it is really sweet how much he cares, she never had someone worry so much for her because of just a nightmare... It was nice. "Thank you, I look forward to dreaming it then heheh" Asha tries to change the subject as she get's out of the bed "So umm... How has your first morning on earth been?"

The star is already back to their cheerful self "Pretty good actually! I just made a new friend that loves earth just as much as I do!" he tells her while jumping a little bit on the bed

"Oh you did? *yaaawwwn* And who's that?" She asks while stretching her arms.

Aster points out the window. She follows where he's pointing... Oh... She should've guessed

"The sun?" She asks him with a curious smile

"Yup! I saw her showing up in the horizon and said hi, so we started chatting, she's really nice!" He explained, excited to share everything with Asha.

"So the sun is a she? Huh neat" Asha isn’t even surprised that the sun itself is sentient, after everything that has happened she’s kinda just going with the flow.

Aster’s smile grows into an even bigger one as he starts recollecting his whole morning to Asha.

"Uhum! I asked her name and she said "The people from the rock you now lay upon know me by many names"" Aster is making a deeper voice as he quotes the sun "and yada yada yada something like that, anyway she said she didn't have just ONE name so I just call her Sunny, she thought that was funny-"

Asha usually would be really interested, and she is, but now that she’s more awake she notices there’s something that Aster hasn’t told her yet... Where's the wish bubble?... He got it last night, right?

"That's great Aster bu-"

"Then I asked her what kind of wishes did she usually gets, and she said it's mostly the same thing: Good harvest, no more rain, unless people DO ask for rain. Anyway she said it's kinda repetitive, but she likes it-"

"Aaasteeer" Asha sing songs his name to get his attention, but he's too lost in his own story

"Then I was like "Why don't you come down here like I did?" and she said that if she did so the whole planet would die, so uuh yeah she ain't doing that, ever. But then she started going on and on about how in about 10 billion years she's gonna EXPLODE, and she got all saaad and I was like "Lady, I just wanted some casual conversation, I'm not a therapis-"

"ASTER!" Asha holds the star by the shoulders and raises her voice to get his attention.

He stops talking and blinks a few times in surprise.

"Where is it?"

Aster tilts his head to the side in confusion.

"Where's what?"

"The wish, you know? The one you promised you'd stop from getting to me while I slept" Asha reminds them with a calm smile, hoping he'll just say he left in the closet or something.

"OOOH YEAH... It never showed up" He said with a innocent smile.

Asha feels a sense of dread go through her...

"... What?... But the king said last night he was gonna grant all the wishes, including mine" She has a puzzled look, could he have lied?... It's on brand for him, sure, but why?

"I saw no wishes coming out of that tower last night, I guess the king just forgot" Aster shrugs like this is nothing to worry about, as from his perspective he just got more reason to stay longer with Asha to protect her from the cursed wish, and he's confident he can do so, as long as he stays by her side.

Asha on the other hand finds this very strange "Huh... He seemed pretty eager to grant it though..." Asha doesn't really know how to feel, on one hand, maybe that means Magnifico doesn't care THAT much about trapping her and is willing to give her a few more days to stay as herself... But on the other hand... They still had her wish...

"We can try again tomorrow night, now come on!" Aster quickly flies out the room and just as quickly he returns with Asha's mom cloak in one hand and Sabino's mandolin on the other "Ready to inspire them?"

In this moment, Asha is seeing in front of her the purple cloak that once belonged to her mother, the mandolin her grandfather once played, even if she never heard him do so, and Aster, the wishing star that she only wished upon because of the things her father wrote about people being connected to the stars... She feels connected with all her family, and with that in mind, she knows she'll be safe... She believes in that with all her heart.

Asha’s face crescent into a smile as she said:

"Alright... Let's do this!"

The sun, or rather, "Sunny" is shining...

But there's some dark clouds approaching in the distance.

Chapter 9

Final Thoughts

Soooo I know this one was a short chapter... For my standards. But there's a reason for that, this was actually just the beginning of a much longer chapter, but I decided to divide it into two chapters, so don't worry, chapter 9 is actually almost done.

Also I think it's better to have this simple chapter of the two main couples waking up in the morning so you guys can see how they're, in a way... Mirrors of each other.

See, that interaction of the king and queen served to show how Magnifico is more of a dreamer, a man child, that can barely control his own enthusiasm... Kinda like Aster, but twisted... And believe it or not but their similarities run even deeper than that.

Meanwhile, Amaya is realistic, grounded, and she understands the real world much better than her husband because unlike him she didn't grow up in a palace... Kinda like how Asha understands the real world way more than Aster... And the similarities between Asha and Amaya also run deeper than that.

Buuuut that's a subject for another post. Let me know if you're curious ;)

Okay but changing the subject, I can vividly imagine Aster seeing the sun rise and being like

Aster: HIIIIIII What's your name?

Sun: Little one, I do not have a name, the mortals in this rock you now lay upon have named me many things in their short and fleeting life time. Some see me as a bringer of life, while others the ravager of their doom. I have seen everything that ever happened in this planet, and I shall see everything that will ever happen... Until it perishes.

Aster: Hmmmm I'll call you Sunny!

Sun: Lol ok

Like yeah, that's what happened, now Aster has a new friend yay

Also, since I mentioned that Aster reminds me of Ponyo...

Aster loves… EARTH!

Aster loves… ASHA!

Aster loves… *sees Magnifico* Revolution.

Yeah I think that’s his character in a nutshell.

Anyway, I’ll try adding the finishing touches on the next chapter and post it as soon as I can!

Thank You For Reading!

[lilijka1]

Extract of Llama?!?!

[nonsensical-pixels]

I am trying to build a moon/starry night themed nursery room for two and I wanted to ask if you know a list of CC for this theme. Thanks!

hello, narcy! this was a bit of an unusual request, but i did my best to answer it! 😅 i took the 'starry' theme and assumed you meant aliens--sorry if that's a bit off-topic, i'm not used to compiling cc lists on the spot.

SPACE NURSERY CC RECOMMENDATIONS 🚀

cosmic bedroom by liz on mts - cute bedding and rugs!

alien abduction 'llama' lamp by wndy26 on mts - absolutely adorable and hilarious lamps!! a must-have for baby aliens and big aliens!

q baby kids set by nofrills on t$r - not space-themed per se, but pretty atomic! plus, that tv is really cute!

extracted alien paintings by strangetomato - very cute and versatile!

solar bug by kate on parsimonius - an oldie, but a goldie! cute toys and imaginative cribs/changing tables

maxis baby stuff - i know that some people dislike using maxis stuff and prefer a 'cc' look, but now that i'm using a low-cc save i've really come to appreciate the maxis space-themed furniture. it was adorable & it's endured the last ~20 years pretty well!

hope this is good enough for you! 💖 if you have any other cc-list requests, just go ahead and ask!

[valarhalla]

Emperor's New Groove AU of Roman History where Yzma= Cleopatra, Mark Antony = Kronk and Julius Caesar = Kuzco.

"Oh the poison for Caesar, the poison chosen especially to kill Caesar. Caesar's poison." "Yes! That Poison!"

"This isn't poison. This is extract of… llama!" "You know, in my defense, your poisons all look alike. You might want to think about relabeling some of them."

"Will you take a look at that? Pretty pathetic, huh? Well, you'll never believe this, but that llama you're looking at was once a human being. And not just any human being. That guy was an emperor. A rich, powerful ball of charisma. Oh, yeah! This is his story. Well, actually, my story. That's right… I'm that llama. The name is Caesar… Julius Caesar. I was the world's nicest guy and they ruined my life for no reason. Oh, is that hard to believe? Look, I'll tell you what. You go back a ways, you know, before I was a llama, and this will all make sense."

"And let's not forget Cleopatra's right-hand man. Every decade or so she gets a new one. This year's model is called Mark Antony."

[govindhtech]

Aible And Google Cloud: Gen AI Models Sets Business Security

Enterprise controls and generative AI for business users in real time.

Aible

With solutions for customer acquisition, churn avoidance, demand prediction, preventive maintenance, and more, Aible is a pioneer in producing business impact from AI in less than 30 days. Teams can use AI to extract company value from raw enterprise data. Previously using BigQuery’s serverless architecture to save analytics costs, Aible is now working with Google Cloud to provide users the confidence and security to create, train, and implement generative AI models on their own data.

The following important factors have surfaced as market awareness of generative AI’s potential grows:

Enabling enterprise-grade control

Businesses want to utilize their corporate data to allow new AI experiences, but they also want to make sure they have control over their data to prevent unintentional usage of it to train AI models.

Reducing and preventing hallucinations

The possibility that models may produce illogical or non-factual information is another particular danger associated with general artificial intelligence.

Empowering business users

Enabling and empowering business people to utilize gen AI models with the least amount of hassle is one of the most beneficial use cases, even if gen AI supports many enterprise use cases.

Scaling use cases for gen AI

Businesses need a method for gathering and implementing their most promising use cases at scale, as well as for establishing standardized best practices and controls.

Regarding data privacy, policy, and regulatory compliance, the majority of enterprises have a low risk tolerance. However, given its potential to drive change, they do not see postponing the deployment of Gen AI as a feasible solution to market and competitive challenges. As a consequence, Aible sought an AI strategy that would protect client data while enabling a broad range of corporate users to swiftly adapt to a fast changing environment.

In order to provide clients complete control over how their data is used and accessed while creating, training, or optimizing AI models, Aible chose to utilize Vertex AI, Google Cloud’s AI platform.

Enabling enterprise-grade controls 

Because of Google Cloud’s design methodology, users don’t need to take any more steps to ensure that their data is safe from day one. Google Cloud tenant projects immediately benefit from security and privacy thanks to Google AI products and services. For example, protected customer data in Cloud Storage may be accessed and used by Vertex AI Agent Builder, Enterprise Search, and Conversation AI. Customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) can be used to further safeguard this data.

With Aible‘s Infrastructure as Code methodology, you can quickly incorporate all of Google Cloud’s advantages into your own applications. Whether you choose open models like LLama or Gemma, third-party models like Anthropic and Cohere, or Google gen AI models like Gemini, the whole experience is fully protected in the Vertex AI Model Garden.

In order to create a system that may activate third-party gen AI models without disclosing private data outside of Google Cloud, Aible additionally collaborated with its client advisory council, which consists of Fortune 100 organizations. Aible merely transmits high-level statistics on clusters which may be hidden if necessary instead of raw data to an external model. For instance, rather of transmitting raw sales data, it may communicate counts and averages depending on product or area.

This makes use of k-anonymity, a privacy approach that protects data privacy by never disclosing information about groups of people smaller than k. You may alter the default value of k; the more private the information transmission, the higher the k value. Aible makes the data transmission even more secure by changing the names of variables like “Country” to “Variable A” and values like “Italy” to “Value X” when masking is used.

Mitigating hallucination risk

It’s crucial to use grounding, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and other strategies to lessen and lower the likelihood of hallucinations while employing gen AI. Aible, a partner of Built with Google Cloud AI, offers automated analysis to support human-in-the-loop review procedures, giving human specialists the right tools that can outperform manual labor.

Using its auto-generated Information Model (IM), an explainable AI that verifies facts based on the context contained in your structured corporate data at scale and double checks gen AI replies to avoid making incorrect conclusions, is one of the main ways Aible helps eliminate hallucinations.

Hallucinations are addressed in two ways by Aible’s Information Model:

It has been shown that the IM helps lessen hallucinations by grounding gen AI models on a relevant subset of data.

To verify each fact, Aible parses through the outputs of Gen AI and compares them to millions of responses that the Information Model already knows.

This is comparable to Google Cloud’s Vertex AI grounding features, which let you link models to dependable information sources, like as your company’s papers or the Internet, to base replies in certain data sources. A fact that has been automatically verified is shown in blue with the words “If it’s blue, it’s true.” Additionally, you may examine a matching chart created only by the Information Model and verify a certain pattern or variable.

The graphic below illustrates how Aible and Google Cloud collaborate to provide an end-to-end serverless environment that prioritizes artificial intelligence. Aible can analyze datasets of any size since it leverages BigQuery to efficiently analyze and conduct serverless queries across millions of variable combinations. One Fortune 500 client of Aible and Google Cloud, for instance, was able to automatically analyze over 75 datasets, which included 150 million questions and answers with 100 million rows of data. That assessment only cost $80 in total.

Aible may also access Model Garden, which contains Gemini and other top open-source and third-party models, by using Vertex AI. This implies that Aible may use AI models that are not Google-generated while yet enjoying the advantages of extra security measures like masking and k-anonymity.

All of your feedback, reinforcement learning, and Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) data are safely stored in your Google Cloud project and are never accessed by Aible.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[firapolemos05]

So I have polls now.

[laidee-flegman]

Journal prompts for dealing with your triggers

What's that one thing that never fails to make your eye twitch? Describe it in all its triggering glory.

When did you first notice this trigger creeping into your life? Was it like a ninja in the night or more of a "bam, I'm here" situation?

Give your trigger a name. Go on, get creative with it. Something like Captain Cringe or Drama Llama. Own that trigger, fam!

How does this trigger manifest physically? Sweaty palms? Eye rolling so hard you can see the back of your head? Paint us a vivid picture.

Dig deep and uncover the root cause. What childhood trauma or embarrassing moment might be hanging out in the shadows, pulling the trigger strings?

Think about the last time this trigger ruined your day. What happened, and how did you react? Were there tears? Swearing? A dramatic exit?

On a scale from 1 to "I need therapy ASAP," how much does this trigger control your life?

Imagine your trigger is a character in a movie. Who would play it, and what would its catchphrase be?

List three situations where this trigger is most likely to pop up uninvited. Prepare yourself, Sherlock, we're going detective mode.

If your trigger had a theme song, what would it be? Bonus points if you can hum it while writing.

Flip the script! How can you reframe your thoughts when this trigger comes knocking? Turn that negativity into a comedy show, my friend!

Explore your coping mechanisms. Do you drown your sorrows in ice cream, or are you more of a scream-into-a-pillow kind of person?

Have a heart-to-heart with your trigger. What would you say to it if it were sitting right in front of you? Get sassy if you need to.

Reflect on a time when you conquered this trigger like a superhero. What powers did you unleash to defeat the villain?

Create a "Trigger Emergency Kit" – a go-to list of things that make you happy and distract you from the trigger madness. (Hint: Puppies and pizza are solid options.)

If your trigger were a meme, what would it look like? Embrace the meme magic, my friends.

Channel your inner therapist. What advice would you give your bestie if they were dealing with this trigger?

Journal your dream scenario: You, your trigger, and a boxing ring. Who wins, and how epic is the victory dance?

Share your trigger struggles with a friend. You're not alone in this, and sometimes a good laugh with a buddy is the best medicine.

Write a letter to your future self, giving them tips on how to handle the trigger like a boss.

Map out a "No BS" plan for dealing with the trigger next time it shows its face. No excuses, just action!

What would your favorite fictional character do in the face of this trigger? WWJD (What Would James Bond Do)?

Explore the silver lining. Is there anything positive you can extract from this trigger experience? Growth, resilience, a killer stand-up routine?

Imagine your trigger as a superhero origin story. What traumatic event turned it into the complex character it is today?

Create a mantra to repeat when the trigger strikes. Something like "Not today, Satan!" but tailored to your unique situation.

Draw a comic strip illustrating a day in the life of you versus your trigger. Spoiler alert: You're the superhero.

Journal your progress. Have there been moments when this trigger had less power over you? Celebrate those victories, no matter how small!

Write a breakup letter to your trigger. It's time to kick that toxic relationship to the curb.

Explore the possibility that your trigger is secretly your BFF in disguise, just trying to toughen you up. What valuable life lessons is it attempting to teach?

Reflect on how you want to grow beyond this trigger. What kind of badass version of yourself will emerge from the trigger ashes?