#just that they can make plants grow a bit faster and healthier

[autoauthor]

Garden

The Senju have a tradition of a courtship garden.

Well... It's called a "tradition" but that's actually just to hide the fact that it's something their bloodline compels them to do.

When they feel strong affection towards someone, they feel the urge to nurture and grow plants on their behalf. This doesn't actually have to be romantic affection. Expecting mothers are some of the Senju's most prolific gardeners.

Hashirama continues to maintain plants for all of his brothers.

He's also the first person to realize that Tobirama's in love. Granted, it's hard to miss the abundance of flora that have suddenly sprung up around Tobirama's home. He doesn't even seem to realize it himself.

The main flowers are:

Tansy: resilience, a fresh start

Red Amaryllis: pride, splendid beauty, determination, worth beyond beauty

Red Carnation: love, passion, admiration, courage

Red Snapdragon: love, passion, deviousness, grace

Purple Orchid: respect, dignity, confidence, peace and forgiveness

Peony:

Meanwhile, the Uchiha value something made with one's hands. Something that shows your understanding of the person in question. For example, one could write a song to represent them or paint a mural of a memory you share together. I'd say more, but I really think my ideas for Uchiha courtship should get it's own post.

Either way, it's not like Tobirama is giving Izuna the flowers (yet). He just finds himself compelled to tend to the garden after every time they interact. Surely there's no correlation.

[cometiny]

So I was thinking a lot about how the magic in MLP:FIM might work if there was an official system, and I kind of ended up making my own and coming up with a little bit of lore to go a long with it. I don't know if anyone has done anything similar before because it's honestly not too complicated - these are just some ideas I had that made the most sense to me, along with a few original concepts :3

Essentially;

There are 9 Types of magic: Earth, Sky, Water, Fire, Sun, Moon, Love, Dark and Chaos. The first Six are called Arcanas, which creatures are able to become bound to. Creatures that are connected to an Arcana are called Kins, such as Earthkin or Skykin. Members of the same species can look very different if they are bound to different Arcanas, this is due to magic-dimorphism.

Earthponies are naturally Earthkins. They are often overlooked, though Earth magic should not be underestimated. Their magic influences plants and minerals in many significant albeit subtle ways. Plants grown in the vicinity of earth ponies grow faster, healthier, more nutritious and even tastier. Flowers become more vibrant - the honey made from said flowers is sweeter. Herbs that heal become more powerful, as well as herbs that harm… Potions, medicine and agriculture are all traditionally practiced by Earthponies. They also have an incredible sense of smell, hearing and taste.

Pegasi, bound to the Sky Arcana, grow wings and feathers in the womb as a result of magical dimorphism. They also tend to be shorter on average. The Sky Arcana influences weight and speed, which allows Pegasi to fly easily despite their short wingspan in relation to their bodies. They are the only ponies with the ability to walk on clouds. In fact, their near weightless hooves allow them to be so delicate, that they build entire cities out of clouds. They tend to be physically weaker on average, but they make up for it by being incomparably fast.

The unkin Unicorn is not bound to any particular Arcana, but they have the ability to draw magic from external sources and command it to their will. This means they can even combine different Arcanas to perform complex spells. Though this requires that they are able to differentiate between the Arcanas - which is difficult, as they are only barely detectable waves. Most Unicorns can therefor only perform a small amount of simple spells such as "telekenesis" (really just a sky spell affecting the weight of the object and the air around it) or flow spells (the kind that Arcanakins already intuitively perform all the time) The Unkins ability to use magic from external sources allowed for the evolution of three more Arcanakins:

The Kirin, bound to the Fire Arcana, were the first to evolve from Unicorns. Their evolution also lead to the discovery that different types of magic have particular effects on personality; despite Kirins coming in all varying personalities, they're all susceptible to extreme (fiery) outbursts if angered. This frightened other ponies and lead to their banishment. The Fire Arcana influences temperature and light, They have evolved separated from pony kind for long enough to be classified as a divergent species - hybrids are possible, but typically infertile (like mules)

Moonicorns evolved from Unicorn shamans that specialized in Moon magic, a small colony of which traveled to the moon itself to come closer to the magic source. The Moon Arcanas pleasant effect on the mind lulled them to stay on the planet and eventually become bound to the Arcana and evolving into the Moonicorns we know today. They are not yet fully divergent, but are thought to be on their way - hybrid foals born on the moon will always be Moonicorns, foals born on earth will come after the other parent, only if two Moonicorns both mate on earth will the foal also be born a Moonkin.

Changelings, bound to the Sun Arcana, also evolved from Unicorn shamans. Contrary to their Moon counterpart, however, they do not live on the fucking Sun. Their magic gives them an almost uncanny healing ability, even regrowing limbs if lost and experiencing almost no pain in the process. Just being near them can somewhat transfer those abilities to others (the closer the better ;3c). They may change colors in a matter of seconds under extreme emotions. And most famously, they can adopt the appearance of anyone they've seen before, (although only as accurately as in their memories, and only for so long before their magic runs out)

However, a body so malleable requires vast amounts of Sun magic to upkeep - each additional part of their bodies is designed to collect more Sun magic, such as the gems on their chest, which work like batteries, or their wings, which work more like solar panels. Even then they are required to use Love as a magic amplifier, lest their bodies begin to rot and fall apart.

Other ponies grew weary of their abilities, which wasn't helped by some of them being genuinely manipulative. Any Changelings that were found out were quickly banished or killed which lead to them evolving separately. They are a fully divergent species - Hybrids possible although infertile.

Kelpies, the Waterkin, are actually the first to evolve directly from regular ponies, along with the Earthponies. Kelpies were so deeply drawn to their element that they never wanted to leave the water and evolved to be perfectly adapt to marine life, as well as being incredibly antisocial and even hostile toward any land living species. (They also have beef with the "Seaponies", which we know are actually Hippogriffs under a transformation spell and therefore not "real" Waterkins.) The Water Arcana influences Movement. In theory, every action has a certain flow to it, much like water. This flow is not necessarily visible but can be influenced, like putting a rock in a stream. Or even, combining two streams into one, which is why Water magic is required for fusion spells. This ability to affect movement makes Kelpies unbelievably powerful, luckily however, they choose to stay in the water and mind their own business. They are fully divergent - it is unknown weather hybrids are possible.

____________________________________________ Anyway! Hope you guys liked that, I'm open for questions if anybody wants to ask, that'll help me come up with more ideas, too so ask away please! :3

[lynnsartsworld]

Hey, I have an ask for April to answer, if you- I mean SHE wants to x3 What are your hobbies? Do you have any magical or non-magical hobbies? And do you have one or more just for yourself or with your friends and family? ✨💛

╭┄┅┄┅┄〈❖〉┄┅┄┅┄╮

Question number One:

April: thoughtfully tilting her head, smiling softly “Oh, that’s a lovely question, Karajluce. My hobbies? Well, I absolutely love gardening—it’s so peaceful and rewarding to nurture plants and watch them grow. I’m also very fond of reading, especially anything about animals or nature. And, of course, I enjoy spending time exploring new places, whether it’s a quiet trail in the woods or a bustling farmers’ market. There’s always something new to discover.”

She pauses, looking around at the others with a fond smile. “And, honestly, just being with everyone here is something I cherish too. They’re a part of everything I love to do.”

Iris: teasingly “You forgot to mention trying to make every animal in the world your friend.”

April: laughing “That’s not a hobby, Iris! That’s just… a way of life.”

Everyone chuckles, clearly enjoying April’s genuine warmth and love for the simple joys in life.

“What’s the next question?”

✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦

Question number Two:

April: brightens at the question “Oh, I absolutely do! Thank you for asking, Karajluce. My non-magical hobbies are things like gardening—I adore tending to plants and watching them thrive—and reading, especially books about animals and the natural world. I also love exploring new places and learning about the environment around me. There’s something magical in just connecting with nature, you know?”

She pauses, her smile becoming a little playful. “As for magical hobbies… well, I don’t know if you’d call it a hobby, but I love using magic to enhance what I already enjoy. For example, I sometimes use a little bit of magic to help my garden grow faster or healthier, though I try to let it flourish naturally when I can. And I enjoy spells that let me communicate better with animals—it’s like bridging the gap between worlds. I find it fascinating!”

Her face lights up as she looks around. “Honestly, blending magic with everyday life feels like the best of both worlds. It’s less about grand gestures and more about enhancing the beauty that’s already there.”

Iris: smirking “She’s being modest. April’s practically a walking encyclopedia when it comes to magical flora and fauna.”

April: blushing lightly “Well, I do enjoy learning about them…”

✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦

Question number Three:

April: smiling warmly at the question “Oh, definitely. I have hobbies that I enjoy just for myself and some that I love sharing with Poppy and Evangeline. For myself, I cherish the quiet moments in my garden. It’s a peaceful time for reflection, and tending to the plants feels like self-care. I also love sketching wildlife—it’s something I do when I want to capture the beauty I see around me.”

Poppy: grinning as she joins the conversation “As a family, we have this little tradition of making herbal teas together. April grows the herbs, and Evangeline and I help blend them. It’s relaxing and a great way to spend time together.”

Evangeline: bouncing excitedly “And don’t forget when we all bake together! Mama teaches me how to make cookies shaped like animals, and they’re sooo yummy!”

April: laughing softly “Oh, yes. Baking is definitely a family hobby. And when it’s just Poppy and me, we love taking walks together—sometimes with Evangeline tagging along, of course. It’s a chance to enjoy each other’s company and talk about anything and everything.”

Poppy: nudging April playfully “You forgot to mention how we read stories together. Evangeline loves her bedtime stories, and sometimes April and I stay up late reading our own favorites.”

Evangeline: giggling “I always pick the best stories!”

April: beaming at her family “It’s these shared moments that mean the most to me. Whether it’s gardening, baking, reading, or just enjoying nature, having my family by my side makes everything more special.”

✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦ ✧✦

April: smiling softly “I really did enjoy those questions. It’s always nice to think about what brings joy and peace in life. Thank you @karajluce for sharing them with me. It’s a reminder of the little things that make life so beautiful—like the quiet moments, the laughter with family, and the hobbies that make the heart feel full.” glancing affectionately at Poppy and Evangeline “And, of course, it’s always wonderful to reflect on the people who make all those moments even brighter.”

╰┄┅┄┅┄〈❖〉┄┅┄┅┄╯

[nature-s-trunk]

The Power of Raw wild Honey: Simple Health Benefits That Will Surprise You!" 

What is wild Honey

Wild honey is honey made by bees from the nectar of flowers that grow naturally in the wild, without human interference. It's different from regular honey, which comes from bees that pollinate crops or flowers in controlled environments, like farms or gardens. Wild honey is collected from various sources in natural settings like forests, meadows, or jungles. It often has a unique Flavors and may contain a variety of nutrients depending on the plants the bees visited.

Interesting Facts About Raw wild Honey

Different Flavors: Wild honey tastes different depending on the flowers the bees visit. It can be sweet, fruity, or even a little spicy.

Lots of Good Stuff: Wild honey is full of good things for your body, like vitamins, minerals, and stuff called antioxidants, which help keep you healthy.

Fights Germs: Raw wild honey can fight off germs because it has natural germ-killing properties. That's why some people use it on cuts and scrapes.

Local Honey: Bees that make wild honey adapt to the place they live, so each kind of wild honey is a bit different and special to its area.

Not Too Processed: Wild honey isn't processed a lot. It's usually just strained to remove any bits of bee or plant, so it keeps all its good stuff.

Tastes Change with Seasons: Since bees collect nectar from different flowers at different times of the year, the taste of wild honey can change with the seasons.

Important in Cultures: People have used wild honey for a long time in different cultures for its special properties. It's used in medicines, foods, and even in some religious ceremonies.

Helps Nature: Harvesting wild honey in the right way can help protect natural areas and support bee populations, which are really important for plants and ecosystems.

Not Always Easy to Find: Because it's natural and not made in big factories, wild honey can be a bit harder to find sometimes. But that makes it even more special when you get it!

Different Textures: Wild honey can be runny like syrup or thick like spreadable butter. It's fun to try different kinds and see which texture you like best!

Health Benefits of Raw wild Honey

Soothes Throat: It can help your sore throat feel better because it fights germs and calms irritation.

Good for Immunity: Raw wild honey has stuff that helps your body fight off sickness and stay healthy.

Heals Wounds: If you get a cut or burn, putting honey on it can help it heal faster and keep it from getting infected.

Helps Digestion: Eating a little honey can make your tummy feel better if it's upset and keep your gut healthy.

Better Sleep: Having a bit of honey before bed might help you sleep better because it calms your body.

Fights Allergies: Some people think honey from local bees can help with allergies by getting your body used to pollen

Keeps Skin Happy: Putting honey on your skin can make it soft and smooth and help with skin problems like pimples and dryness.

Natural Sweetener: Instead of using sugar, you can use honey to sweeten your food. It's healthier and tastes good too!

Lots of Antioxidants: Honey has stuff in it that protects your body from getting sick and helps you stay strong.

 conclusion

Raw wild Forest  honey isn't just tasty—it's also good for you! Whether you're looking for a quick energy boost, relief from a sore throat, or help with allergies, honey has your back. It's not just for eating either; you can use it on your skin to keep it healthy and smooth. So, next time you're looking for a sweet treat or a natural remedy, reach for raw wild honey—it's nature's way of helping you feel good inside and out.    

[lizzie-is-here]

like the dawn

part xviii- the time heist

“am i supposed to be grateful to have survived this?” - brenna twohy

summary: five years after the snap, you still haven’t moved on. but when tony comes calling with a proposition, you aren’t so sure.

wordcount: 4.6k

warnings: cussing, violence, angst, reader has precisely 0 coping skills, events of the first half of endgame

taglist: @whelvedfeelingsstuff @sebsgirl71479 @rebloggingmyrecs @babyblublossom @local-mr-frog @thenyxsky @capsiclesdoll @moonlightreader649 @saranghaey @almosttoopizza @itsprashimusic @yourfavunsub

a/n: two more parts after this 🤭 anyway i’m so sorry @yourfavunsub because it WONT LET ME TAG U CRYIN FR but i do hope y’all enjoy this one. this series has been one of my favs so far and i’m still not sure where i wanna go after this. but love y’all have a nice day 🫶

previous part | series masterlist | next part

After killing Thanos, you run.

You take everything from your rooms in the compound and take off one day after leaving a note to tell the team how to reach you in an emergency.

They respect your decision, especially after hearing you wake up screaming every night.

With nowhere else to go, you head to an old HYDRA safe house. It’s abandoned, obviously, but it has everything you need.

You clean the place up, fix the paint and repair damaged wood. You plant a large garden and buy a few chickens to take care of. You work for two weeks straight.

In the end, the cabin is comfortable. Homey and small but a great place to hide from everything going on. A way to keep running but stay in one place.

The small Romanian town grows used to your presence, and after a few months of living nearby, they don’t even ask about your past when you come to market to trade. They saw the look in your eyes when they asked about Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

You tend your garden that grows every week, in part thanks to your powers that seem to affect the area. You can’t control it, but your crops and flowers grow faster and healthier. In just a year you have a fully-grown plum tree in your walled-off yard.

And the years keep going by.

You celebrate Steve and Bucky’s birthdays every time they roll around, mainly by heading back to Brooklyn for a week and visiting the museum. Your museum.

Despite how often you go, you find that you’re never able to look their pictures in the eye.

All you see is your boys disappearing from your grip.

It’s all you can see when you go to bed.

———————————————————————

“Come, come on Margaret.”

You gather the unusually small chicken into your arms, smoothing her feathers as she clucks in greeting. The birds like you a lot. You suspect it’s the wings.

“It’s about time I fix that fence, isn’t it? If you keep getting out.”

Margaret shuffles indignantly in your arms, bawking as you let her back in the fenced-in chicken coop.

They’re a bit spoiled, you have to admit. All eight hens shared a large coop, with heaters and lights, and hay you change out every week. You let them out every morning and bring them in every evening.

With a light sigh, you start fixing the fence. Enhanced strength makes it easy work as you push the post into the ground, tuck the chicken wire back down, and make sure there are no more holes.

Shaking the dirt from your skirt and wings, you rise and head to the front of your home. As you clean your feathers, your hands pass over the small charms still on them. The ones from Wakanda. From a happier time.

The stone walls surrounding your property have one entrance at a large metal gate, which is currently wide open.

Usually, you keep it open during the day, lest a villager needs a cut healed or extra food. But it’s late now, and you’re ready to head in for the night.

But just as you head to the gate, you see a car. Furrowing your brows, you call out.

“Buna ziua. Te pot ajuta cu ceva? [Hello. Can I help you with anything?]” When no one steps out of the car, you continue. “Am prune în plus [I have extra plums].”

“Come on, (Y/N). Of all the languages I do speak, you know Romanian isn’t one of them.”

A voice comes from behind you and you whip around, firing off a blast of light that the group of three dodges.

Natasha, Tony… and Scott.

Scott was dusted. Five years ago.

You storm up to them, eyes watering.

“What are you doing here? What’s going on?” you ask.

Natasha takes your hand in hers, smiling.

“We might be able to bring them back.”

Your lips purse and you take your hand back, starting to shake. Entertaining such a hopeful idea is dangerous, you’ve learned.

Every night, you dream of your boys. And every time you wake up, you hope that it all was a nightmare and you’ll wake up in their arms.

You never do.

“Don’t tell me that unless you’re sure,” you say, brushing past them and heading towards your house.

They follow you, unsure if this is an invitation or a dismissal.

When you open the door and sigh, they know it’s the former.

“It’s a nice place,” Tony comments mildly. You offer a small smile, stepping into your kitchen. You open a cabinet and grab a tin of tea, the same kind you’d buy in the 40s, and put a kettle on.

You take three cups out, setting them at the dining room table that only has three chairs. Most things here are in threes.

As you hesitate to set the cups down, Natasha speaks up again. Slowly, carefully, as though you’ll run at the wrong word.

“Will you at least hear us out?”

To her credit, you don’t run. You start crying.

Scott and Tony share a look of “Oh, shit,” as the lights start flickering.

“What is there to hear?” you ask, laughing ruefully. “Unless you’re sure, I don’t want to hear anything about it.”

Whistling from the stove catches your attention, and you hurry over to grab the kettle. Like usual, you forget to grab a glove. Your hand meets searing metal and you hiss, cursing your bad habit.

“Are you okay?” Scott asks, standing up quickly.

You nod, eyes watering even more. It’s not from the quickly-healing burn, though. “Yeah,” you sob out. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Leaning on the counter, you take a few breaths. You grab the kettle again and fill all three teacups, dropping in the tea bags and some sugar.

“(Y/N), give us a shot.” Tony takes the cup. “That’s all we’ve got, and you’ve taken chances against worse odds before.”

You don’t dare look at the pictures on the wall.

“These two managed to rope me in, and we need your help. You ran off with Cap to save Barnes, so-“

“That’s before I watched both of them die.” You gently hit the table. “Twice.”

“And we might be able to bring them back a second time,” Natasha adds. “Please?”

A third chance. You’ve seen second chances, but never third. Never. And for you, you rarely got the former.

But here one was.

“Okay. Okay,” you say eventually. They all breathe a sigh of relief.

“Just… find someone to watch the chickens.”

———————————————————————

“I see we’ve both been taking it hard.”

You sit next to Thor on a bench. Everyone else is working on a large platform, but you’ve done your part. The years clearly haven’t been kind to him either. He’s at least 100 pounds heavier and reeks of alcohol.

He shrugs, sipping a beer. “Well, I didn’t have anyone left, so…” He raises the can. “To them.”

You awkwardly form a misshapen can from light and tap it to his.

“To them.”

“Hey Point Break, Lucifer! One of you care to lend a bit of that super-strength?” Tony shouts. You sigh, hoisting a large box of metal supplies in one arm. Tossing it at Tony’s feet, you gesture to the invention.

“So this can do it?”

The genius proudly slaps a metal leg. “Yep. Time travel made simple.” You glance at the complex wiring and countless panels. Sure, simple.

———————————————————————

You watch as Bruce, now half-Hulk half man, Nebula, and Scott test one suit. Apparently, there are risks with time travel. Interdimensional warping, quantum entanglement, String Theory, blah, blah, blah.

You’ve tuned them out by the time Rhodey walks in.

“Time travel suit, not bad,” he comments. As Bruce tries to insert a vial into the suit, Scott snaps.

“Hey, easy, easy!”

“I’m being very careful,” the scientist insists.

The two go back and forth before Scott momentarily disappears. He comes back, sighing heavily.

“There goes the first test run,” you say. When Scott tries to hype himself up to no avail, you pipe up.

“Let me go. Got nothing to lose, right?”

They have you suited up in minutes. The suit, which is nanotech, materializes with a simple tap on the watch, molding around your wings to fit you perfectly.

“(Y/N), now you’re gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don’t worry about that.” You nod as Nebula types away on a screen.

“Wait, wait, wait a second. Let me ask you something,” Rhodey cuts in. “If we can do this, you know… go back in time, why don’t we just find baby Thanos? You know, and…” He pantomimes strangulation.

“First of all, that’s horrible,” Bruce says at the same time you say, “Honestly, it’s not a bad idea.”

The scientist blinks in confusion before pressing on. “And secondly, time doesn’t work that way. Changing the past doesn’t change the future.”

You groan as they argue and eventually begin listing movies.

“Boys, as much as I love this little debate, can we get going?” They oblige your request, and head to the main room. The platform stands, ominous and waiting.

“Are you sure about this?” Natasha asks. You nod, smiling.

“I just wanna see them, even just for a second.”

She won’t say it, but she thinks it’s a bad idea for you to go. To see your past selves, before all the trauma. But you’re set on going.

You step onto the machine, flexing your fingers as you watch Bruce press various buttons.

“All right, (Y/N). We’re going in three, two, one…”

It’s like the ground opens up beneath you as you dive in, passing through some dimension in milliseconds before you pop back to normal.

You shout a bit, quickly stifling the sound.

You’re in your old apartment. The radio crackles with familiar music, and your bow sits by the door.

Wandering the small rooms, you finally come to your old closet. When you open it and find the box you’re looking for, you smile and pocket it. Past you forgot it even existed, so it wasn’t like you’d miss it.

The door handle clicking makes you jump, quickly closing the door.

Three voices wander in.

“You need to stop spending all this money, or Stevie’s not gonna have any when we ship out.” Your own voice sounds weird to your ears. Not just in the normal way, but because of how light it is.

The next voices knock the breath from your lungs.

“Hey, it was worth it. I got you that bear,” Bucky retorts. You lift a hand to cover your mouth as you sob.

“Three bucks, though? And you’re supposed to be a sniper?” Steve’s voice is wheezy, thin, and breathless.

“There’s a big difference between throwing a ball in a ring and shooting someone,” the brunet grumbles.

The three of you dissolve into bickering, and all the while you sit in a cramped closet. You haven’t heard their voices in so long. So long.

Maybe you can open the door and warn them. Where to avoid, what to do. How to live a normal life.

The moment you reach towards the door, the watch starts beeping.

“No, no,” you whisper, trying to quiet while frantically fumbling with the doorknob. “Please!”

And you’re back.

You’re kneeling on the platform again, teary-eyed for the umpteenth time and more determined than ever.

The team runs up, and Natasha gently helps you stand up.

“Hey, hey look at me. You okay?”

You catch your breath, reaching into your pocket. “Yeah, yeah, it worked.” You present the small box, clutching it tightly in your hands.

———————————————————————

“Okay, so the ‘how’ works. Now, we gotta figure out the ‘when’ and ‘where’,” you say, standing at the front of a meeting room. Various screens show the various stones, and the gathered team is grasping at any ideas.

“Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones-”

Tony cuts you off. “Or substitute the word ‘encounter’ with ‘damn near been killed’ by one of the six Infinity Stones. You nod. Two out of three times you’d come into close contact with one, it had almost killed you.

Scott shrugs. “I haven’t. But I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.”

Bruce steps around the table. “Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each. And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

“Our history,” Tony clarifies. “So not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

You tap a screen, watching as all six flicker to life with images of each stone. “Which means we have to pick our targets.”

“Correct.”

“So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” When you mention him, you look up to see the god slumped in a chair.

“Is he asleep?” Nat asks.

Rhodey replies, monotone and unbothered as ever. “No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

You manage to shake him awake, guiding him to the front of the room and sitting on a nearby stool.

The god coughs a few times, tugging off his sunglasses. “Uh, where to start? Umm… The Aether, firstly, is not a stone. Someone called it a stone before. Um, it’s more of an angry sludge sort of a thing… so someone’s gonna need to amend that and stop saying that.” You massage in between your eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

Thor puts in a few eye drops as he speaks again. “Here’s an interesting story though, about the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Ooh. Scary beings.” He makes vague sounds, frightening precisely no one.

“So, Jane, actually-“ He pokes at the screen. “Oh, there she is. Yeah, so Jane was an old flame of mine. You know, she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time, and then the Aether stuck itself inside her…”

You cough to hide a chuckle.

“…and she became very, very sick. And so I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I’m from, and we had to try and fix her.” When you look around the room, Scott, bless him, is the only one paying real attention. You’re pretty sure Clint is asleep with his eyes open.

This doesn’t deter Thor, though. “We were dating at the time, you see, and I got to introduce her to my mother… who’s dead and, um… Oh, you know, Jane and I aren’t even dating anymore, so…” He sniffles a bit, voice growing heavy.

“Yes, these things happen, though. You know? Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that-“

You gesture for Tony to bring his little soliloquy to an end, and the billionaire reluctantly tries to bring the god to a chair. “Why don’t you come sit down?”

Thor brushes him away. “I’m not done yet. The only thing that is permanent in life is impermanence.”

“Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?” Tony asks. You awkwardly clap a few times.

“No. I’d like a Bloody Mary.”

For the rest of that day and much of the next, you all discuss the rest of the Stones. Where they came from, what their powers are, and everything any of you know about them. And after hours of brainstorming, the plan is all laid out.

Reality is on Asgard in 2013, a mission given to Thor and Rocket. Natasha, Clint, Nebula, and Rhodey will be taking Power and Soul, all in space in 2014. Space, Mind, and Time are all in New York in 2012. And you’re going there alongside Tony, Bruce, and Scott.

“I don’t see how I’ll be much help. These-” You gesture to your wings. “-aren’t very subtle.”

Tony pats your shoulder. “Just c’mon, kid. We could always use the extra hands- or wings.”

“I’m 105, Stark. I’m no kid.”

“You’ve lived less than half of those years. You’re a kid,” he rebuffs. The two of you exchange a smile before he claps his hands.

“Alright, we’ve got a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot.” He takes one last glance at the screens. “Let’s break some eggs.”

———————————————————————

New York City, 2012.

“All right, we all know our assignments,” you say, still catching your breath from the jump. “Bruce, get to the doctor. Get the Time Stone.” He rushes off, hurriedly jumping between buildings to stay out of sight. You turn back to Scott and Tony. “You two, get the Space and Mind Stones. I’ll get the Mind Stone once it’s in the elevator, but from there, I’ll only be backup if you get stuck.”

You fly up alongside Tony as Scott shrinks down atop his shoulder, ducking out of view as you spot the team. You can spot Steve, but you tear your eyes away, dropping down in search of the elevator.

Once you find it, you land on a ledge, taking a moment as you wait for the right moment.

“Oh, man. I almost forgot that Cap’s suit did nothing for his ass. I’m almost jealous, (L/N),” Tony whispers over comms. “That’s a slappable ass.”

“Tony!” you snap. “No one asked you to look.”

“But it is slappable, isn’t it?”

You sigh, deep and long-suffering. “Yes.”

“I think it’s great,” Scott pipes up. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s ass.”

The elevator beeps, and you get ready to ruin a few HYDRA agents’ days.

“Who are these guys?” Scott asks.

Tony starts to explain, not quite minding his volume. “They are SHIELD, well, actually HYDRA, but we didn’t know that yet.”

“Seriously? You didn’t? I mean, they look like bad guys.”

“Yeah,” you shout over the wind. “It’s even more obvious when they’re brainwashing you monthly and prodding you with needles.”

After a bit of shuffling, you see Tony leap from the tower. “It’s all yours now, (Y/N),” he yells. You mock salute, diving off your ledge and watching as the HYDRA agents load into the elevator. You’re going to enjoy this.

As soon as the door closes, you blast a hole in the glass from the outside.

You hear the screams as you barrel in, immediately smashing the emergency call button to bits. No communication.

Fire beams of light as quickly as possible, letting them bounce off the walls in deadly ricochets. Once you take out all but one, you stop.

Brock Rumlow smirks and opens his mouth.

“Свет [Light],” he begins, confidence growing. You watch patiently as he lists off your trigger words, and he finally comes to the end. “Я готов отвечать [Ready to comply]?”

You tilt your head and smile. “I don’t work like that anymore, asshole.”

Grabbing him by the tactical vest, you throw him against the wall, landing a powerful kick to the center of his chest before you start throwing punches. It’s satisfying, watching the man who caused you so much pain actually fear you for once.

You leave him, barely breathing, and pick up the case containing the scepter before starting the elevator and leaping from the shattered glass. You land on a stairwell inside the Tower, hoping to meet up with the other two. Instead, you’re met with one of your best friends.

And he can’t quite believe it.

“Hey, Stevie.”

Instead of the greeting you’re hoping for, the Captain grabs you by the collar.

“Who are you? What’s going on?”

You furrow your brows. “Steve, it’s me. Bucky and I are alive.” When he doesn't let up, you roll your eyes, still adjusting to seeing him after five years. “Stubborn as always, hm? How about I tell you something only I would know?”

He doesn’t respond.

“For example, you wet the bed until you were 7, and one night after you lost a tooth and put it under the pillow you did it again-”

The captain cuts you off, teary-eyed but still mortified. “(Y/N)? Oh my god, it’s you. How did you get wings?”

You barrel on. “-and in the morning you were too embarrassed to admit you’d pissed yourself-”

“Okay, I get it, really-”

“-so you told Buck and me that the tooth fairy did it,” you finish. He pulls you into a hug and you practically melt as he rests a hand on your head.

“Now, I’m from the future, and I really need this scepter, but me and Buck are alive, you’ve just gotta find us.” He never pulls away, just letting you lean into him.

“How am I supposed to find you?”

You sigh. “It’ll all work out in the end. I promise.” You feel him nod into your shoulder.

“I missed you,” he says.

You gently pull away, taking his hand. “I missed you, too.”

“We’ve got a problem, (L/N,” Tony gasps over comms. “Head back to the rendezvous point.”

The blond captain casts his gaze to the ground and purses his lips a bit. A shy tell.

“Guess that’s the future calling?” he jokes. You laugh before your gaze turns a bit sad again. Steve decides he doesn’t like how sad you look however far in the future.

“I love you so much, Steve. Take care.” If the words shock him, he doesn’t give it away.

You give past-Steve one last smile before turning on your heel and heading back to the elevator, prying open the doors, and diving out of the building.

When you land beside your meeting point, all you can do is wait. And when Tony and Scott walk out looking more than discouraged, your hopes sink in your chest.

In between their bickering, they manage to explain. They lost the Tesseract. And there’s no do-overs. You curse, before thinking.

There was a point in time when you were sent on a mission to retrieve Pym Particles. There was also a time when HYDRA was in possession of the Tesseract. But that means…

“I might have an idea. I don’t like it, hate it, actually, but I think it may be our only option,” you finally admit. “There’s a couple of months when HYDRA had both Pym Particles and the Tesseract.”

Scott tries to stand up before hitting his head on the roof of the car they’ve sat down in.

“Wait, HYDRA as in ‘HYDRA’ HYDRA?” he asks.

You furrow your brows. “What does even- You know what? Yes. HYDRA HYDRA.”

“So when was this?” Tony pulls up a screen.

You think about it. You know the time period, but it’ll be easier if there’s less guards around. So what date…

“March 1983. Siberia,” you decide. The peak of the Cold War meant HYDRA was sending out soldiers left and right. Better odds.

Tony nods. “Any particular day?”

“The 10th.”

Scott gets out of the car, much more carefully this time, and holds up his hands.

“So we’re going into HYDRA? No offense, but I don’t want to have to fight past-you or past-Barnes. Or the two of you together,” he says. You smile.

“None taken. But-“ You shove the scepter into his hands. “You’re not going. You’re going to get this back to the compound, okay?”

You see Scott breathe a sigh of relief before quickly hiding it. A few taps to the watch later, he’s gone.

“You sure about this?” Tony asks.

You shake out your hands, getting ready for another disorienting jump to a much more sinister place.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s all good. In and out and we’ll be cooking with gas.”

The genius snorts. “Was that some 40s slang that I just heard, (L/N)?”

You roll your eyes, simply setting the date and coordinates in.

“Do you trust me?” you ask.

“I do.”

———————————————————————

HYDRA Base, Siberia 1983.

You almost forgot just how unforgiving the cold gets here.

The wind buffets your body as you and Tony spark into existence, fighting your way to the base. You let him shoot down the man guarding the door before you step over the body. Muttering under your breath, you punch in the code before slipping inside.

Just as you predicted, there aren’t many people prowling around. A few guards that you slip past or shoot down before they even know you’re there, but nothing you can’t handle. Plus, it’s not like you have to worry about an escape route, You can head back to the present as soon as you get the particles.

“They’re in there,” you whisper to Tony, pointing to a nearby lab. “Furthest freezer on the left, third shelf from the bottom. Code is 3395” You silently thank your usually-detested memory as he slips off, politely nodding to one doctor inside the lab before blasting him into the wall.

As he has his fun, you head further into the building, pressing down the nausea that comes with every familiar corridor.

You remind yourself that you’re doing this for the world, for your boys. You can handle a few minutes in this building.

Finally, you reach a locked door. Another code you remember too well.

In the center of the dull room lies a sealed safe. You raise your hand, focusing light to your fingertips before grabbing the lock. It melts in seconds, and you yank the door away.

Shielding your eyes, you reach out for the glowing cube when you hear a voice behind you.

“Что ты делаешь [What are you doing]?”

You bite the inside of your cheek. “Привет, Зима [Hi, Winter].”

When you force yourself to turn around, you see him. Not quite your Bucky, but not quite the Soldier either. His hair is shorter, but he’s got that same look in his eyes. Still holding the cube in your hand, you step closer.

He reiterates his question, but you don’t answer, instead opting to take his hand.

“It’s going to be okay,” you whisper. “You’re going to get out, and you’re going to be free. Just a little bit more of this, James, I promise.”

He tilts his head, but he doesn’t reach for his guns or knives. You don’t want him to get punished for not dealing with an intruder.

“What?” he whispers back. You can’t bring up the words, so you simply lean into him and rest your head on his chest. The tactical vest is scratchy and uncomfortable, but you ignore it. “Who’s ‘James’?”

“Not important,” you begin before backtracking.

“Actually, no. He’s very important. He’s you, in fact.” Gently bringing his flesh hand to his chest, you smile. “Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. You’re Bucky. And today’s your 66th birthday -technically.”

The man in front of you is bewildered. It’s as if you told him the world was crashing down. For him, it might seem that way.

“And I know that sometime you’ll go back into that damn chair and you won’t remember I was here, but you will eventually. You’ve just gotta hold out a bit longer, m’kay, love?”

He nods, quiet as ever. You hug him tight, just like you’d done to Steve a few minutes earlier. Or- 29 years later? All this time traveling was messing with your brain.

“I love you, okay? Remember that.”

Bucky is still standing in that room when you slip away, heading down the corridor until you find Tony again.

He holds up two vials of the Pym Particles as you hold up the Tesseract, the both of you grinning wide.

“We’re back in the game,” he cheers. Alarms start going off throughout the base, but neither of you care. The agents will be too late anyways.

“Yes we are, Stark,” you yell over the wailing siren. “Now let’s get them back.”

[prof-peach]

I have a question: what variations of Torterra are there? For example, is there a Tropical variation or a Tundra variation? And if so, how would you be able to tell them apart?

Torterra are interesting, one of my favourite Pokemon to talk about, they hold a lot of interesting secrets, I have done a comic some place on them, might help a bit too.

The Pokemon itself is an individual that works symbiotically with other little creatures and living organisms, their soil basically has what we now know as another species living in it, much like how we humans have health gut bacteria for example. It’s a fungus that helps the Pokemon and the plants living on their back link together, exchanging nutrients to and from each other in a harmonious way, that is more efficient and productive than soil without these microscopic little energy boosters. We find sick torterra don’t have a high count of these, and so we can add some in to help boost immune systems and lead to healthier Pokemon.

this all comes to the soil, the most important thing to look at when planting, trimming, or caring for torterra. It also dictates what kind of tees are best suited to that individual Pokemon. Some have loamy rich forest floor soil that smells like a damp bright cold morning all the time, fresh, they can grow anything from oak trees, to birch, you can get some with fir trees in this soil type, and sprouting shrubs such as holly or lilac in them, fuchsias too. Usually this soil groups Pokemon body will be the most textbook looking torterra. Usually deciduous, and carpeted with thick moss in some patches. They yield sturdy crops sometimes too. You can sometimes find variants that prouduce things with seeds, and you can attempt to grow a new turtwig from the seed. That’s another issue for another ask someday later haha. But this seeded group allows for apples, pears, and cherries to be grown upon their backs, amongst a few other things.

then there’s acid soil, the Pokemon is usually grey in complexion, colder to look at colour wise, they can handle rhododendrons, pines, blueberries, and things like hydrangea, and fir trees. I’ve seen a particularly lovely monkey puzzle variant once, a real old girl. They will be sturdier in their defence stat and have adapted for mountain life, harsh winds, sheet rain, and no shelter from the sun. A tough breed. You don’t even need to bring these ones in in winter, they survive well in colder climate with snow and wind battering them. Their bodies are sturdy, the tree is strong.

you can get sandy gritty soil, though they usually are a smaller species, as a whole, a lot faster but lower, smaller, and lighter in every way. They have big personalities normally, don’t know if it’s because they’re trying to make up for something. Just stroppy normally. These species can come in a number of palms, coconut, and rubber tree. Speaking of, did you know palms are a member of the grass family and so torterra with these types of trees are especially interesting. Factoid. They usually need a good water and more protection in winter than most of the other variants, heavily susceptible to frost.

There is even torterra that love the water, most are dual ground/grass types, but I’ve seen a wonderful tropical variation with mangrove trees, they love to swim, have the grass/water dual type. Not very common at all, but none the less important to note. They need hot house temperatures and a lot of care and attention. I have yet to study these further, sightings are rare.

Along side knowing the ins and outs of their tees and their soil, you also need to care for their stony feet and horns. The pine category suffer most from this. Rocks can chaff and overgrow the Pokemon, limiting its movement. To keep them trim, take them to a professional for a sort out, they use careful drill work to trim back anything painful or in the way. Never go to an unlicensed trimmer, they need to be certified. You can look this up on the web, or go to them, they by law have to have their certification up in view someplace in the work place.

I find torterra are a strange and wonderfully strong Pokemon, some have come my way with their tree cut clean off, others come in with rot, or bug damage beyond what you’d think is fixable, but they bounce back. They’re incredibly robust, adaptable, and above all cute as heck.

hope his points you in a vague direction, I’m sure you’ll learn even more as you get to meet them.

[jeanjauthor]

The ‘dreaded swimsuit season’ is coming up, and that means people are going to be obsessing about food and exercise and losing calories.  First of all, I’m not a medical professional nor a nutritionist nor a physical therapist etc, so definitely consult with the appropriate personnel...but I cannot stress strongly enough, you must consult with non-fatphobic medical personnel.

Fatphobia kills people of all bodyweights, and this blog does not support fatphobia, especially medical fatphobia.

Now, with that said...if you want to be healthy, there are plenty of non-fatphobic things you can do about it.  And the biggest things you need to know about how to go about it are: understanding your metabolism, understanding how muscles can affect your metabolism, and understanding how diet (foods, not fatphobia industry) can affect your metabolism.

Given all the fat-shaming bullshit thrown about in the so-called “Health Industry,” it sounds counterintuitive, but you actually need to eat more in order to lose weight.  You need to teach your body that it’s not in starvation mode anymore, that it has plenty of calories and nutrients...and just start moving more.  Not necessarily exercising more, but moving more.

2,000-2,500 calories a day is the range for a “normal” body-weight-and-size person.  However, the more exercise you do, the more muscles you have, or simply the bigger a person you are (the more cells you have), the more calories you need.  Unless you’re seriously short & skinny, a 1,500 calorie meal is a starvation meal, and that will put your body into “OMFG SAVE ALL THE CALORIES AS FAT!!” mode.

Literally, a toddler’s caloric needs are 1,100, and they range from 20-35 pounds.  You’re several times that much.  This doesn’t mean that if you weigh 175 pounds that  you need to eat at least 5 times as many calories, however!  In truth, you only need about double that, because a toddler’s metabolism is geared toward growing, whereas an adult’s metabolism is geared toward maintaining.

The best way to understand this is to realize your metabolism can be divided into 4 categories.

Your Resting Metabolic Rate is simply the amount of calories needed to keep you breathing, your blood pumping, your organs functioning.  That’s 60%-75% of your caloric intake. You have your Thermic Effect of Food, which is another 10%, literally the energy it takes to chew and swallow and digest food & drinks, and then to excrete the leftover bathroom waste. The remaining two types of calorie burning are Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis, and Activity Thermogenesis.  Of those lattermost two, your body actually burns more of the Non-Exercise calories than the Active Exercise calories...and it is designed to burn more when simply moving.

Literally, just moving a bit more than you usually do in a typical day will burn calories effectively.  Move around the house on every commercial break, stand up and sit down more often, change your position more frequently, raise and lower your arms, gently swing or kick your legs...just move more.  When they say 30 minutes of (gentle) exercise a day, this is exactly what they are talking about.  You don’t need weights, you don’t need machinery, you don’t need a gym membership.  Just move.  It’ll be a gradual process, but so long as you’re eating foods with plenty of fiber as well as other food types, you’ll feel full and won’t feel starved.

Now, if you want to burn calories even faster through vigorous exercise, you can do that, too...but again you need to use your metabolism.  Make sure you’re not starving, because your body will go into a panic attack thinking you’re not only starving but are being chased by bears and will need plenty of fat to survive while you’re unable to gather food, etc because zomg you’re being chased by bears!!1!  (Truly, the metabolism is a primitive/primal minded thing based upon hundreds of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and does not comprehend modern life at all.)

And then, what do you do to burn more calories?  You build muscles.  Muscles burn a lot of calories.  Not just through using said muscles in excercise, but muscles will burn through calories even while simply resting.  The more muscles you have, the more calories your body will burn.

How do you build muscles?  Well, there are two types of muscles, which while it sounds cannibalistic, we’ll call white meat and dark meat, because it’s the easiest mnemonic to remember.  White meat (think breast meat on a chicken) is designed for strong but brief actions...and men have more white meat muscles than females, though obviously they have both kinds.  That brief sprint towards a prey animal, the thrust of a spear into its body, aaaand done.

Dark meat muscles are meant for lower-strength repetitive actions.  Walking around reaching up or stooping down or digging while gathering plants, with no need to rush and plenty of opportunities to rest.  Chasing after young children.  Weaving baskets, scraping and tanning hides into furs and leathers, cooking...these are tasks that require little to moderate amounts of strength, but most important, repeated movements.  Women tend to have more dark meat muscles than men, though obviously they have both kinds.

(The reasons why wild ducks, partridges, grouse, etc, all have dark meat breast muscles is because they use those muscles to fly long distances. Chickens evolved from jungle-floor hunt-and-peck birds that mostly flew only short distances to get away from predators by flying up to the nearest tree branches, so they literally just needed a burst of strong energy over a short period of time, hence white meat muscles.)

Which type is better?  Both, ideally, because they are useful in a variety of different ways.  Which is better for burning calories?  Ideally both, but it doesn’t really matter.  All you need to do is build muscles.

As for how to do that...you know how you feel when you exercise until you are sore?  That’s what you need to do.  This is where weights and machines and treadmills do come in handy, but still aren’t necessary, since you can lift and lower objects around your home, and get exercise bands or surgical tubing for resistance training, and go for longer walks, etc.

The object is to (gently!) push your body to the point where your muscles are sore.  You can do this by lifting weights for a few repetitions near your limit (use a spotter & practice safe lifting skills!!), which is a white meat muscle activity, or you can use lesser weights or resistance machinery (surgical tubing counts), but just do it more, which is dark meat muscle activity.

You can also do the “step down” method of weight training or resistance training, by starting near your limit, going until your muscles burn, then resting a few minutes while gently shaking out, massaging, or relaxing the muscles in question to help move the lactic acid out of your muscle tissues, along with hydrating. Then you “step down” the amount of weight (say by 20%-30%) and doing another set of reps (repetition movements) until again it’s a struggle, then another few minutes of rest, hydration, etc, before stepping down again, doing some reps...and then again when it’s at the lightest you can for as long as you can, then rest that muscle group.

Regardless of which way you weight/resistance train, take a full 48 hours off.  Or as close to 48 as you manage--weight train 3 times a week, and then take up to 72 hours (three days) off so your body can fully recover.  You can still exercise, but do not use weights or resistance machinery/rubber bands, etc.

Let your muscles use that 48 hours to heal, and eat more protein sources to help your body build more muscle strength, along with a variety of nutrients to get the right kinds of micronutrients.  Again, I must emphasize: Do not starve your body.  It will go into fat-storage mode and will only barely repair your muscles, nevermind build them bigger.

The goal is to build more muscle tissue.  if you are hungrier than usual, eat more.  Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen, and there are plenty of charts out there with “if you are craving X,Y, or Z, then try eating healthier foods A,B,C, D, E, or F!” and they’re actually not inaccurate...but it is okay to have the “less healthy” foods in moderation, same as in everything you eat.

But seriously, up your protein intake, which is what your body needs to build bigger muscles.  The average (again, your needs may be more) person needs about 4 ounces (115 grams) of protein per meal, so you can shoot for more than that.  And get your proteins from a variety of sources.  Humans can manufacture a good number of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), but we cannot synthesize 9 of them, the “9 essential amino acids.”

These 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.   Foods that contain all nine essential acids are called complete proteins. These include eggs, fish, beef, pork, poultry, and whole sources of soy (tofu, edamame, tempeh, and miso).

While plant proteins have lower essential amino acid contents when compared to animal proteins, they will also have different ratios of the various amio acids compared to most animal-based proteins.  This is something that vegetarians and vegans need to keep in mind.

Some plant-based foods can be combined together to complement and/or supplement.  “Rice & beans” is one such combination.  Basically, you combine a grain (in this case rice) with a pulse (legumes, like beans, or peas, etc).  Here in America, in Mexican restaurants, a serving of refried beans and Spanish rice (seasoned with tomatoes & spices) is often automatically included as a side for most dishes.  This provides a great deal of carbohydrates, but it also provides a more or less “complete protein” set of those essential amino acids.

Corn, beans, and squash plants do the same thing, providing a complete protein when combined together, as well as plenty of carbs.  These three plant types are the “Three Sisters” of indigenous North Americans.  They are best when planted together, the corn providing a trellis for the beans to grow upon, the squashes spreading out across the field to smother competing weeds, and together they feed people reasonably well.

However, they are still more carb-heavy than protein-heavy, which means vegetarians need to rely upon other sources such as nuts, plus eggs, dairy, and/or fish (if pisco-lacto-ovarian vegetarians).  Vegans in particular need to be extra careful.  Yes, peanuts have a lot of proteins compared to their carbs, same with almonds, etc, so definitely add nuts to your diets!  But just be aware that you’re going to need to be a lot more conscious of your protein types & sources--and make sure to get a variety of sources--if you’re trying to build muscles while on a vegetarian or especially on a vegan diet.  A purely plant-based diet will not have nearly as balanced a set of amino acids as what animal-inclusive diets can contain.

If you’re lacto-ovarian, this is made easier because milk, cheese, and eggs are wonderful foods with a lot of nutritional value.  If you eat fish as well, even better, full proteins in fish as well as in egg whites, etc...but that brings me to another caveat, because you should probably eat the egg yolks as well as the egg whites.

Do not skip out on fats.  Unless you have a genuine doctor-ordered medical reason, do not cut all fats out of your diet.  Your brain needs fats in order to function.  And just as with amino acids in various protein sources, there are different types of fats as well that our bodies need in different amounts for different reasons.  This isn’t to say you should chow down on the equivalent of a full stick of butter (1/2 cup, 65 grams) with each meal (unless you’re camping outdoors in winter in the far north or a mountain, because then you need fat in your diet for your body to literally burn to help keep you warm).

It’s just that you don’t want to go completely fat free...because if you do, your metabolism will go into panic mode in its primitive/primal-minded way, “ZOMG IT’S LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING AND NOTHING HAS ANY FATS IN IT WE’RE ALL GONNA STAAAAAARRRVEEE!!” Your metabolism will start turning carbs and even proteins into fats in an effort to ensure your brain (along with other vital organs) will have enough fats to keep functioning.  So go ahead and put some butter on your toast.  Even better, put some nutbutter on your toast, since sunflower butter, peanut butter, almond butter, all those things have proteins and fats as well as carbs.

Also, your body actually does need cholesterol to function, but only in smaller amounts than you’d think.  HOWEVER, if it doesn’t get enough of the right types of cholesterol through diet, your body will make its own cholesterol, and will make more than you need, out of carbohydrates.  (Yeah, this one was a shocker to me when I learned about it, and the answer blew my mind.  Seriously, our body will make up to 10x as much cholesterol as we need if we don’t eat it, so it’s best if we do eat it.)

So how much does an average person need to consume of these critical cholesterols that it absolutely needs?  ...About 1-2 egg yolks a day (or comparable alternative sources; vegans, do some research on alternatives, or just accept that your body may try to overproduce certain cholesterols if it’s feeling nutrition-starved).  Seriously.  Just that much is enough. (Again, your needs may vary based on your body size, metabolic rate, and/or environment.)

So.  Put it all together, and you have:  1. Eat a variety of foods in sufficient quantities and qualities (fats and proteins included) to ensure your body stays healthy; 2. exercise just enough to push your muscles into feeling sore; 3. Rest 48 hours while eating a bit more protein to help your body repair and build bigger muscles; 4. Lather-rinse-repeat... and you’ll eventually get bigger muscles that burn more calories simply by existing, as well as whenever you use them to move just a bit more than you normally would.

Dark meat muscles burn more calories when at rest because they’re designed that way, because they’re small effort but frequent use with multiple short rests, lots of blood flowing through them, and thus are more metabolically “charged” than white meat muscles.  However, white meat muscles tend to be the largest muscles, and thus while not designed to burn calories as efficiently while at rest compared to dark meat muscles...they actually end up burning about the same through sheer volume.

Work on improving your muscles, move a bit more every day, eat more conscientously but not through the heavily warped fearmongering lens of the Diet Industry’s blather and/or tactics, and you will be healthy enough to go to the beach and enjoy it.  Not because you’ll have lost weight, but because you will be healthier.  (Fun fact: muscles are denser and heavier than fat, so you could literally lose inches while gaining pounds from your body burning the fat with its now increased muscle mass.)

And yes, you can weigh 260 pounds and still be healthier than someone who weighs 160.

In other words, if you have a body, and you go to the beach with it, you now have a beach body.

You’ll just be less likely to get out of breath while swimming or building sand castles or playing volleyball or whatever if you’ve upped your exercise levels between now and then.

Also:  CONTINUE TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC.

Get one that matches your swimwear, or makes you feel silly & fun.  Even if everyone started wearing their masks (not going to happen, but one can dream), it will to take us all of 2021 to quell the pandemic...and because people won’t be wearing their masks, keep wearing that mask.  Yes, even if you have had all your shots.  Because people aren’t wearing masks, the virus is able to spread, and when it spreads, there’s always a chance it will mutate, and cause new strains of infections...which it already has.  So wear your damn mask.

[avaria-revallier]

Chapter 1: The Beginning after the End

The smell of iron lingers in the air. Muffled cries of pain and rage are dancing over the battlefield. Salty tears are rolling down her cheeks. Leaving light trails between the blood and dirt on her skin. Holding a familiar person in her arms. With shaking hands she gently brushes a dark strain of hair out of the kings eyes. His breathing is weak.

„Thorin, you damn stubborn dwarf! You can’t die now! Pull yourself together.“ A heavy sobbing shakes the little hobbit.

Azog is dead, so why, why couldn’t Thorin live to celebrate this victory?

Rough fingers brushing over her cheeks, as if they want to wipe away the tears, the sadness.

„Bella, Bell… don’t cry, my dear.“ Thorin looks her in the eyes. A small smile on his lips. He wants to help her ease the pain, make her feel better. He wants to tell her how he feels, now, that he finally is ‚King under the mountain‘ again. Now that he is worthy of this kind little hobbit. Now, that it is to late. Her crying breaks his heart and lets his soul ache.

„You know I am not very good at comforting, amrâlimê.“ With his last strength Thorin sits up and kisses his hobbit. He wouldn’t want to leave her, not like this, not crying.

Absent minded Bellas fingers touch her lips. How long has it been? One year? Two? No, longer, a lot longer. Her eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be. She can’t take long trips anymore and her memories begin to slip away.

„Bella… Belladonna.“ Startled turns the hobbit around.

„Lord Elrond. What can I do for you? Is it time to go already?“ The elve smiles gently down on her. He hasn’t aged one bit in all the time she had spend with him.

„Yes my dear, I believe it is time to go. We are the last ones to board a ship.“

She stares a moment into his eyes, searching for a hint of… of what? With a deep sight she turns back to the window. The boats had already left or where about to leave. The fog over the lake was getting thicker and thicker as time goes by.

Another deep sight left her mouth. Unconsciously her fingers reach up to her lips again to lightly brush over them.

The hobbit rummages through her pockets to hand a heavy letter over to Lord Elrond. In clear black letters the names of Lord Elrond’s twin sons where written on the envelop.

„Give them the letter once you boarded the boat and you are to far from the shore to turn around.

I will miss those two. You of course as well, Lord Elrond. But I have a feeling that this shouldn’t be. Even thought all my traveling and adventures, I still haven‘t found my place. Maybe I never will.“ With a sad smile on her face she stands up, grabs her backpack and leaves. Hoping that he would understand, but knowing she herself didn’t either.

Belladonna Baggins knew she couldn’t go back to the shire. Bag End, the home her father Bungo Baggings build for her mother wasn’t anymore hers, it wasn’t home. Home was somewhere else, somewhere, maybe someone…

Neither could she go to the lonely mountain. To many memories would await her there and only few of them where good. Her fingertips brushes her lips again, before she angrily banishes them into one of her pockets.

Mirkwood wasn’t that pleasant either, so maybe… yeah, why not. Somewhere where she hasn’t been before. Somewhere without memories, with lots of adventures. Somewhere where the earth is still singing.

A shy smile on her face, Sting on her side and a wooden stick in one hand Bella starts wandering to the woods where tree giants, ents, said to be living.

While feeling a familiar joy rising in her heart the smile on her face widens and the stick in her hand starts growing little leafs and flowers. The grass under her feet seems to grow greener and healthier, while the flowers start to bloom and are tilting their heads towards the humming hobbit.

Between two large oaks Bella set camp for the night.

Her trip didn’t took as long as expected. She reached the forest a week earlier. The journey wasn’t much of an adventure either, she didn’t encounter orcs or wargs, nor trolls. Apart from some minor obstacles like wolves and your every day bandits it was a rather pleasant trip.

Leaning with the back on the rough bark of the oak the hobbit looks up into the starry night-sky. Searching through her memories she found what she was looking for. The memory of a similar night. She was on the road for not more than roughly a few month, together with Thorin and his company. They didn’t light a fire, as it was warm enough without. Just like tonight. Bofur had first watch. With a sad smile she remembers how she tossed and turned that evening, until she finally gave up and joined Bofur. He had been smoking his pipe, silently starring into the night. With that ridiculous hat of his, which he never seemed to take of. That night he wasn’t joking around with her. They both had a lot to think about.

As Bella opens her eyes, she could almost see the sleeping dwarves in front of her. Fíli and Kíli, right next to each other, always worried that they would wake up alone. Bifur, muttering in Khuzdul and sometimes kicking at the invisible enemies. Bombur, who seems to eat even in his sleep. Nori and Dori, tucked together with Ori in their middle. Gloin, Oin and Balin right next to an overhang, snoring one louder than the next. Dwalin, not far from Thorin, the weapon always in reach, ready to protect his king and friends. And Thorin, sleeping without a sound, no movement and even frowning in his sleep. Worrying about more than he should. At first the snoring, the movement and muttering had irritated her, but soon she couldn’t find sleep without these familiar sounds. It is one of those memories that would help Bella sleep. Help her to ease the pain in her heart.

With a sight she closes her eyes for a moment. Holding back the tears she lets the image fade away. A growling not far from her left lets her freeze in the very moment. She knows this particular sound. Warc. Slowly her fingers creep over the ground to reach the hilt of Sting. Her eyes are searching the darkness for a sign of danger. Two dim glowing eyes are penetrating her from where the sound came from. Her back against the tree Bella stands up, not breaking eye-contact with the foul creature.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” a voice like metal on stone.

An Orc, uglier than the ones Bella saw before, steps into the moonlight. The blue shining blade in one and her staff in the other hand she eyes the creature.

“No answer? Well, none needed. We had specific orders for whom we are looking for. An old hobbit lass.” A screeching sound echos through the woods. It might have been a laugh.

“With something very special in her possession. A ring. Give it us! Give it!”

Bella is running. Running for her life.

Another arrow misses her just barely, setting the tree in front of her on fire. A howl from behind motivates her to run faster. Smoke stings in her eyes and lungs, making it hard to breathe. Half blind she lets her feelings guide her. The trees all around are screaming in pain. The forest is burning.

With her last strength, she climbs an old tree.

“I am sorry. I am so sorry! This is all my fault. They where right. I am poisonous, always bringing bad luck to all around me.” The words were no more than a whisper, hidden behind heavy sobbing. The tears just wouldn’t stop flowing and the screams got only louder.

For the second time this night Bella freezes, as someone right next to her clears his throat.

“My dear, not all poisons are only used to kill. With the right dose and understanding they can become the best cure.”

With a shocked squeak Bella lets go of the branch she was holding on to. A large hand catches her in the middle of falling and places her gently back on a save spot.

“What is a child of Yavanna doing here in my forest?” wise eyes are looking at her from between the bark, moss and branches.

“My, my name is Belladonna Baggins, Mister Ent. I came here looking for a place to stay, a place filled with life and the grace of our creator. I was hoping to meet an Onodrim like yourself. Sadly all I found where Orcs, Warcs and bad luck. And again I managed to poison the things I love. It is my fault that the forest is burning. I am so very sorry for this, Master Ent. I regret that I ever set foot out of my door. If it wasn’t for me, they all would have lived.”

The ent listens to her, moving slowly out of the raging fire. Bella clings to the bark, heavily sniveling, finally letting all the tears flow, together with the pain, grief and sadness.

A sudden pain in her chest ends the weeping of the hobbit lass. An arrow hit her from behind and all the way through. Disbelief fills her eyes, followed by pain. She tries to scream, but only muffled sound come out. Hard she hits the ground. In a split second the orc archer gets smashed by a giant wooden hand, the warc kicked against a tree. The screaming of the surrounding trees is getting quieter, till it is completely still. The giant face of the ent appears in her field of vision, only a small distance between them. As Bella tries to say something, only a cough and some blood comes out. Pain rages from her chest and back through her body, blurring her vision. The question of the ent she could only hear like he was speaking into a pillow.

“Child, you are blessed by the goddess Yavanna. I will help you, take this chance and change your fated path. In return, I want you to take this with you. I want you to plant the hope of our race.”

Gently he places a small object in her cold hand. She couldn’t really see it, but what does it matter? Again she tries to speak. Another cough makes her spit blood. Her vision goes dark and she can’t hear the last words of the ent. What did he mean, another chance?

‘If I could just see his face one more time, I’ll die a happy death. I am sure. All I want is nothing more but to hear you knocking on my door. I would give it my all to do better next time. All and everything of me.’ She sends her silent prayers to Yavanna.

Strangely the memories of her first encounter with the grey wizard pops into her mind. The picture of a familiar hole forms in her head.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with paneled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (she had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over her garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.

A knocking on the door made her look up from the book she was reading.

A guest? At this hour?

Slowly the small Hobbit stood up to answer the door.

„Dwalin, at your service.“ A dwarf. A dwarf on her doorstep.

A dwarf she knew a long time ago. A dwarf who died in battle, proudly swinging his weapon.

With a blank stare she scanned the dwarf.

‚Oh Yavanna, how cruel of you‘

Another moment the hobbit stood in the half open door, slowly realizing what was happening. In her empty eyes a spark lit up, after a long and cold winter. A single teardrop ran down her cheek, breaking her numbness.

„You are alive?“ She whispered under her breath.

Before Dwalin could react the small hobbit jumped at him, hugging the big warrior and sobbing at his chest.

A dream, it must be a dream. Maybe Yavanna granted her this dream to mend the crack in her heart. And even if it was just an illusion, she would be more than happy just to see them again. But still, for a dream this was kinda real.

Embarrassed she separates herself from the confused dwarf, wiping away the tears.

“Please, do come in, supper is almost ready. Would you be so kind and leave your shoes near the door? What is with the others? Are they all coming?!” Followed by an even more confused dwarf she heads to the dining room, seating him on the long table.

“Please do wait a moment. I will have to empty my whole pantry to feed thirteen dwarves and a wizard. We also have to save some for Thorin, as he will be running late.” Muttering to herself the hobbit lass vanishes in the direction of the pantry, leaving Dwalin behind. Another knock at the door announces the presence of an additional visitor.

“Master Dwalin, would you be so kind to answer the door? I have my hands full.”

Dazed the tattooed dwarf stands up to answer the door. In the meantime Bella sets the table and prepares some dishes that are easy and fast made.

“Evening, brother!” it echoes through the hallway, followed by the sound of two heads banging together. A dwarf with a long white beard enters the dining room and bows.

“Balin, at your service.” He states.

“It is good to see you again, Master Balin. Please bring the remaining food from the pantry here. I will have to answer the door. Fíli and Kíli will help you move the table.” She cleans her hands on a piece of clothes and goes to open the door for the two younger dwarves of the line of Durin.

“Fíli and Kíli, at your service!” both of them look so young.

Bella has to suppress another flood of tears, as she sees these two familiar dwarves. Before she could restrain the reflex, she hugs both tightly.

Hasty she lets go, brushing her hair out of her eyes and wiping the tears away. To stop her voice from cracking she clears her throat.

“You can leave your shoes and weapons here. I will have to excuse myself to look after the supper.” As she hurries towards the kitchen she scolds herself for reacting like this. They might think she is mad, or worse, unsociable.

Dwalin stops the two irritated dwarf lads from shouting questions at their host by assigning some tasks to them. He even answers the door a second time, just to find the eight missing dwarves literally falling inside. Behind them an amused Gandalf.

They are, as she remembered them, loud and not very well mannered. Yet as familiar as her own home. While the dwarves ate and drank, Bella was busy refilling the glasses and pints, restocking the empty plates on the table and keeping an eye on the portion she saved for their leader.

Gandalf watched the hobbit lass for the better part of the evening. She seems to behave strange, offbeat from the day before. Somehow like she became a different person over night.

She didn’t even flinch when they threw the dishes through the halls, only a slight smile on her face. Also she looks like glowing from time to time, nearly magical… Well, maybe he made a mistake.

Gandalf wasn’t the only one watching Bella. Dwalin, Balin and most of the company eyed the hobbit with curiosity and interest. How would she know about them?

They all went quiet as a someone knocked at the door.

There he was. Standing on her doorstep as if this was their first meeting. Broad shoulders that look like carrying the problems of the world. Sharp blue eyes, that pierce through hers, dark hair with some braids. Sadly without the small bells Bella gifted him.

“Gandalf… You said this place was easy to find. I got lost. Twice.” Completely ignoring the host of this home Thorin enters the hobbit hole.

“So this is the hobbit?” His attention shifts to Bella. “Tell me Mistress Baggins, have you done much fighting? Axe or Sword? What is your preferred weapon?”

Bella watches him, unsure how to answer.

“Thought as much, she looks more like a grocer than a burglar. And a lass non the less…”

“If this is a joke, it is of very poor taste!” She angrily stares up to Thorin. The relief and disbelief turns into anger. With her finger she pokes into Thorins chest, ignoring how muscular he is.

“After all we went through? You think you can just cast that aside? Do you have no shame? Do you even know how much I suffered? Just because you were to proud and stubborn to accept help!” With every sentence she pokes him again, urging him to take a step back.

“This wasn’t funny the first time and it won’t be…”

A whispered comment interrupts her angry speech. Bellas burning gaze finds Bofur.

“Oh, so you think I am cute when I am angry? Well, get ready because I’m about to be GORGEOUS!”

The whole company flinches under the angry gaze of the little hobbit. As she turns around she finds Thorin taking another step back.

“The wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves.” He tries to allay her anger.

The gate broke and the tears are rolling down her face. Her anger has vanished and a sharp pain strikes within her heart. This was no dream, no illusion or trick of her mind. Nor was she in Yavanna’s garden. Something happened to her. It isn’t them who are acting curious, it is her.

“This isn’t possible.” She takes a step towards Thorin. Careful she touches his cheek, looking him doubtful in the eyes, as if he could vanish any moment right before her eyes.

“Y-you are okay?” she gasps quietly, one hand over her mouth.

“How in the world is this possible? By Yavanna, what is going on? No, this is wrong…” unsteady she takes a small step back, then she faints.

Chapter 2

Masterpost

This is the first chapter of my story, what do you think?

[succulent-cacti-plants]

Watering Succulents

Essential Tools for Watering Succulents:

It’s important that you are setup for success from the beginning. If not, watering your succulent the right way won’t make a difference. Here are 2 crucial tools that will help ensure you grow healthy succulents:

Pot with a Drainage Hole

The best soil for succulents is one with large particles that drains well

Common Watering Mistakes:

Mistake #1 – Using a pot without a drainage hole

Although your succulents can survive in planters without drainage holes, you’ll have to put in a lot more work to keep them happy.

Mistake #2 – Using poorly draining soil

The right soil is a huge part of successfully watering your succulents.

The bottom line is that succulents prefer not to sit in wet soil for very long. So in addition to getting a pot that drains effectively, you’ve got to use soil that does the same.

Mistake #3 – Using a spray bottle for watering

Succulents like to be soaked, not spritzed!

Don’t use a spray bottle!

So what should you use to water your plants?

A small watering can works really well. My watering can has a rather long spout, so I can water in between my succulent plants rather than on top of them, or sometimes I’ll just use a hose with a soft sprayer attachment.

How to Water Succulents Indoors:

The best way to water succulents is to completely soak the soil and then let it dry out completely before you water again.

When the soil is soaked, your succulents will soak up as much water as they can. Then wait for the soil to dry out completely – all the way to the bottom -before you water again.

Your succulents will do best sitting in completely dry soil for several days, especially if they’re larger and have well-established roots.

During the “drought,” they’ll put out new roots that are thick and healthy, so they can absorb more water when the “flood” comes again.

You can place your succulents under the faucet or hose.

Remember… do not use a spray bottle to water your succulents! A light spray does not promote healthy root growth.

Instead of filling up their roots with water, your plants shoot off tiny, thin new roots to absorb as much water as they can quickly, hoping to get water again soon.

They’ll survive for a while this way, but they’ll be much healthier with a good soak every few days. Try it out and you’ll see the difference in less than a week, I promise.

So how often should you soak your soil? As a general rule, if I’m using the gritty mix I water my indoor plants every five to seven days, in a pot that has a drainage hole. But this may not be the right watering schedule for your succulent plants!

Your location plays a big role in how much you have to water. For example, my house doesn’t hold a lot of humidity, so I find my plants dry out pretty quickly.

If you live in a dry climate, you’ll probably need to water every five to seven days, which is the case for me–but if you live somewhere more humid, you may only need to water once every other week, or less.

Keep in mind too that succulent plants with thicker leaves like a Pachyveria need less water than a succulent with thin leaves like Aeonium Zwartkop.

In the end, you’re going to have to experiment a little and see what watering schedule works for you.

When you’re dealing with full-sized plants, it’s better to err on the side of underwatering, since too much water tends to kill succulents more quickly than too little.

How much and how often should I water my outdoor succulent plants?

When watering outdoor succulents, just follow the same method of soaking the soil, then letting it dry out completely before watering again. As with indoor plants, the exact amount you water your plants outdoors will depend on the humidity of the area where you live.

With outdoor succulents, it’s also important to keep temperature in mind. The hotter it is outside, the faster your soil will dry out, so you’ll need to water more often if you live in a hot area.

If you live in a cooler, more humid environment, on the other hand, you’ll need to water less often–I generally water my plants every two to three days during the heat of the summer, and less in cooler months.

Since there tends to be better airflow outside than inside, the water in your pots will evaporate faster, so it’s likely you’ll need to water your plants a little more often than if they were indoors.

I have to bring my succulents indoors during the winter, as the temperature around here drops low enough to freeze them. When the weather starts cooling off and I bring my plants inside, I cut back to watering once a week–or sometimes only every other week.

Also, keep in mind that succulents planted in the ground don’t have to be watered quite as often as succulents in pots, because the soil stays cooler and doesn’t dry out as quickly.

How should I water the succulent leaves or babies I’m propagating?

This is the one time–and the only time–that it’s okay to use a spray bottle for watering your succulents–when you’re propagating!

In fact, if you’re propagating succulent leaves indoors, you can water them every day.

Just spray the top of the soil with a spray bottle. Like the roots of large succulent plants, the leaves will absorb water from the air around them, so spraying the soil with a spray bottle is usually enough in my experience.

If you’re using a well-draining succulent soil, you can water a little bit more than if you’re using normal potting soil (which won’t dry out very quickly).

Keep an eye on your roots–they may dry out if they aren’t getting enough water.

Healthy succulent roots will be white or pink, and a plump and shiny. As the succulent grows and start to put off more roots, you can gradually cut back on watering.

However, wait until they’re about the size of a quarter with well established roots before you cut back too much.

How to Water Like a Pro:

Even if you water your succulents carefully, you may still end up with plants that look less than healthy.

As I said above, this is usually because you’re over or under watering them, and haven’t picked up on the symptoms.

[doom-dreaming]

The Sacred Flock: HIC - The Oasis

I’ve been waiting to post this article for a long time. The Oasis was one of the first bits of worldbuilding we developed for this AU and I want to, again, thank @cacklefrendly​ for pitching the idea that maybe the twins can heal as well as leech and providing the springboard for the idea of the Oasis.

The Oasis (not to be confused with Oasis in Wurmwater) is an impressive demonstration of the Twin Gods’ power. 2.5 acres of fruiting trees, streams, ponds, and waterfalls are nestled within the walls of the twins’ Holy Inner Compound. In the center stands a huge tree, once a struggling sapling growing in the harsh desert environment. Tyreen, determined to prove that she could use the healing counterpart to her leeching ability, swore to make the tree grow faster and healthier than it ever would have naturally. While this did in fact happen, the unique properties of siren energy and the ambient eridium from the nearby refinery mutated the tree into something so far removed from what it once was that it has basically become a new species.

The bark of the tree glows faintly with red and blue swirls mimicking the twins’ siren markings and bears a round fruit with thin purple skin which allows the bright glowing white nectar inside to shine through. Once a fruit is picked, it begins to lose its glow. The tree, and by extension the fruit, is infused with trace amounts of each twin’s specific siren energy signature, which creates a unique effect when ingested. For more information, see the Siren Fruit Ceremony article.

(Above: A top-down view of the garden. The entire living space of the ground floor could easily be fit within the walls of the Oasis.)

(Below: A cutaway view from the side. The second floor covers roughly 33% of the total area, near the front of the compound, but the back portion is open all the way up to the glass roof four tall stories overhead.)

Continue through the cut for more pictures and information. (Click on the pictures for better resolution.)

(Above: The view of the garden from the second floor balcony. The massive “siren tree” in the center dwarfs all the other trees around it. Glowing plants from distant planets show their true colors during Pandora’s night cycle.)

With this strange tree thriving, the twins began building around it piece by piece, planting grasses, constructing water features, and protecting it with thick glass, creating a lush Eden in an inhospitable setting. The Oasis now hosts dozens of other edible plants and fungi, some of which are native to Pandora, though most have been imported or brought back with the twins when they return from other planets. Rows of exotic vines provide grapes for ceremonial wine (and also snacks).

(Above: Angel harvests mushrooms.)

The ecological balance inside the Oasis is so delicate that anyone who enters is required to be decontaminated. Because of this, the environment is meticulously maintained by trained and trusted cultists, known as priests. Soil and moisture levels are tracked and adjusted twice daily. Ground-level irrigation can be programmed in sections depending on a specific crop’s needs. Ventilation systems filter out any possible airborne threat and keep the humidity at an optimal level. Even though the priests are tasked with the day-to-day upkeep of the garden, the pets and the twins themselves often enjoy tending to the plants.

(Nearly every square foot of the Oasis is covered in lush grass and colorful plant life.)

In addition to plants, the oasis houses small animals, including the resident “pet pets.” Weed Bongwater, a Junpai-7 kelp eel, lives in the largest pond; Soup, Troy’s stalker kit, likes to sun on the rocks around the waterfall, and Ibby, a small creature similar to Hermes, does an impressive job keeping the soil grub-free. Other denizens include small birds and reptiles from other planets, honey-producing insects, and about a half-dozen chickens that provide fresh eggs.

(Below: The Oasis is home to flora and fauna both native and foreign, and special measures are taken to ensure everything thrives in one place, regardless of its origins. Here, a small spiderant picks through the dirt near the front windows.)

(Above: A ground-level view of most of the garden’s area. The floor of the second level creates a ceiling for the front third of the space.)

Naturally, the twins and their pets have first pick of harvests from the Oasis, but the extras are handed out to the masses of the COV. Usually, the foods are dried or preserved, but higher-ranking cultists can bid to receive collections of fresh fruits and vegetables. Oftentimes, clan leaders will try to exceed their sacrifice quota in order to procure fresh food for their clan members.

(Above: Ash and Angel sit and chat with Troy and Tyreen under a glass structure.)

The Oasis is not only a source of vital food production, it’s also a place for the twins and their pets to relax, whether by swimming in the ponds, tending to the plants, or just sitting and chatting. For some pets, the Oasis is the closest thing to “outside” they see when the twins are busy and don’t have time to take them out for public appearances. Even though it is fully enclosed, it’s vast and lush and the glass walls allow Pandora’s bright natural light to filter in at any time of the day.

This area is a personal favorite of mine and while my screenshots look very nice and it took me an extremely long time to build this, it will always look better in my head. That being said, if you have questions or just want to talk about this (or other things), all you need to do is ask!

Curious about the Sacred Flock? Check out this link!

[twilightprince101]

The Drifter’s Roles

I’ve been hyperfixating on my Dimensional Drifters AU for a bit now, thinking about how exactly Campsite Starlight would be structured. Like, if there are crops then who tends to them? Who oversees construction and expansion? Who cooks? 

Well after spending a night daydreaming about it, I’ve come up with a list of each of the Drifters’ specialties at the campsite! These aren’t the only things that they do, somebody who works on farming can freely help work on construction. These are just the things each person specializes and excels at. 

(Oh and of course, everyone also has equal chance to go on adventures and the like)

Farmers/Cooks - Those who focus on basic needs first. In charge of tending to the crops, managing food supply and ensuring people have food on their plates (And also eating healthy, not just snacking 24/7)

Elora - As a satyr who has a natural affinity to nature, she has knowledge of the proper conditions different plants need to thrive, being the groups flora specialist/botanist to help the crops grow healthy.

Moominmama - A mother to all, cooking the meals everyone needs to eat. Having spent plenty of years managing their farm back home, she is very knowledgeable in tending to crops and the proper way to structure the different plots.

Likulau - While he doesn’t know as much as Elora and Moominmama, he still assists the two as the muscle, tilling and plucking the different crops. He also occasionally uses his guardian spirit powers and imbue plants with chi to help the crops grow healthier and faster.

Cartographers/Loggers - Those who value knowledge above else. Responsible for mapping out the different worlds they go to and taking notes of what that world contains, including its culture, flora/fauna and residents.

Moominpapa - Already a natural born storyteller, Moominpapa writes down and logs the different places and adventures that the group went on when exploring different worlds (although they do have to be edited down for exaggerated details here and there).

Hat Kid - Interdimensional travel isn’t so different from space travel! She’s in charge of mapping out wherever they go, along with keeping a chart of the different worlds and their relative locations/links to one another.

Bow Kid - Already a natural born animal lover and master scrapbooker,  Bow Kid keeps a record of the different plants and animals that they find. Although her and Hat Kid’s work can come off as... childish, they still get the job done!

Scouts/Supply Runners - Those quick on their feet with a good sense of direction. These people peek into unfamiliar territory to see what they find, along with running back to old worlds for any supplies they need.

Morgana - With his history in phantom thievery and ability to transform into a housecat when needed, Morgana is a pro at gathering intel without being noticed. His wide range of tools also comes in handy for any sticky situations they may find themselves in.

Shu Chi - A natural born athlete and expert in espionage, Shu Chi can get stuff done quick and efficiently. Whether it’s scouting out information or collecting supplies, his yaoguai powers truly shine here.

Spyro - The secret weapon, tagging along both to help with materials and act as defence in case trouble arises. Although the Drifters try to avoid conflict, nobody can argue against the strength of a dragon.

Moomintroll - Back home he learned and mapped out every nook and cranny of the Valley, so he’s a natural when it comes to discovering new places! When it comes to direction and learning the path forward, this Moomin is your guide!

Construction/Development - Those who help the group have roofs over their heads. These people focus on the overall structure of Campsite Starlight, planning what to build and where to build it, along with making sure everyone is comfortable.

Lindar - As an Artisan and mechanic, he has a wide array of knowledge in design and tools. Whenever development work needs to be done, he’s the one that makes the blueprints and the game plan with how to proceed.

Bubba - The main muscle! Helps construct and build different facilities and structures for the group, combined with directing those who wish to help out in that department with proper safety.

DJ Grooves - What’s the point of living somewhere if it doesn’t have style?! Works to make sure people are comfortable, sprucing up the campsite and help people feel at home, including designing and maintaining their condos.

Strategists/Planners - Those who make the tough calls. These people assess Campsite Starlight as a whole to determine what needs to be worked on, along with courses of action regarding matters both inside and out.

Twi - Maps out where the group should explore next and focuses on individual problems within the group. Makes plans focusing on the group’s well being first and evaluating possible ways to go forward without resorting to conflict.

Empress - She’s ran a yakuza before, this couldn’t be easier! Looks at situations from a gain/loss perspective, often giving harsh but necessary advice in order to make sure the group doesn’t go under.

Lin Hu - Assesses supplies and stability of the campsite, ensuring that the group doesn’t waste all of their materials and rations when needed. Restraint is necessary when trying to support a civilization, no matter how big or small it may be.

Mustache Girl - The expansion and battle strategist. After so much of her life devoted to sabotage, she’s excellent at forming plans of attack. Although due to the drifters having a “no violence unless needed” policy, she sticks to expanding their home base, mapping out where they could get materials and areas of interest.

If any future F/O’s join the team, they’ll be added to the proper team!

[luckylq63-blog]

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Advantages of Composting for the Environment

Garden enthusiasts worldwide know that compost is an exceptional garden soil conditioner and additive which boosts the productiveness and also workability associated with almost any type of topsoil. Digging in aerobic garden compost into your existing garden soil, makes it richer and healthier helping plant life develop more quickly and more powerful which as a side effect will help our world in a wide range of simple ways from food production to irrigation.

This is exactly why Aerobic Garden compost is loved and cherished by garden enthusiasts all around the world because it has plenty of mineral deposits and nutrients which are suitable for promoting the healthy, rich and rapid development of plants.

The technique behind aerobic composting depends on the basic idea of return, which deals with the theory of whatever you put in can help determine what it is you go out. Composting yard garden waste products plus kitchen area leftovers is probably the most helpful and also the easiest action you can require to reduce waste and establish a good, sustainable garden.

Utilising compost within your back garden recycles minerals and vitamins and organic and natural matter which helps to grow hassle-free flowers or vegetables by using a lot less water, business fertilizers and even pesticides. Knowing what compost actually is in addition to how it can help your garden, will lead to high quality garden compost, even for those newbie gardeners, so following is a quick check list describing the specific seven components required to guarantee an efficient and healthy composting stack.

1. The Correct Kind Of Products - We're continuously being notified that for people to keep in good condition we need a well-balanced diet and exactly the very same holds true about the compost heap. All the ingredients that you add to your composting stack are its sources of food and energy.

Composting microbes make it through best on a mix of succulent yummy nitrogen abundant materials called "greens", such as fresh new lawn clippings, weeds, and also garden flora, along with woody carbon rich elements called "browns", like fall leaves, branches, straw or paper.

I would believe that you might have all discovered before that including simply food wastes from the cooking area in your garden compost is a great idea. While this does work, a good mixture of browns and greens is necessary for creating fast results. As a general guideline, you must load your aerobic composting stack, or composting bin with one part "Green" type products to around 30 parts of "Brown" type materials.

This ratio is necessary because an aerobic stack containing lots of browns will require a long time to decay, whilst a lot of greens will lead to a smelly algae kind of mess.

Remember, that too produce the best type of garden compost, all the products you add to the compost pile need to have these following characteristics. 1), they must be bio-degradable and 2), they ought to consist of products that are liked by the micro-organisms. Then this suggests that you really need to avoid the things they do not like such as different meats, bone pieces, fats and cooking oils as well as milk related items merely since they do not disintegrate successfully and typically make the compost heap smell bad. Also, consisting of meat associated items to an aerobic compost pile is a lot like offering an open welcome for rats and other such scavenging animals to feed on your compost heap.

2. Product Size - As with a lot of things in this life, size really does matter. Adding large branches, big leafy products and even whole food items on your compost heap is only going to decrease its rate of decomposition. All of the composting microorganisms, bugs and composting worms living in your compost only have little jaws so naturally they like smaller sized portions to chew on. Cutting bigger organic food products in to smaller sized bits, by using a saw, garden shredder or your mower will help break down the bigger items into smaller bite-sized portions.

Nearly all germs's and micro-organisms generally have a tough time finding their preferred foods contained within large woody type brown materials due to their hard outsides so shredding the materials you add helps them on their way. Because the compostable products are made much smaller sized, a lot more surface area and inner area will be exposed to the microbes which perform the job of decay.

If these products are separated and decreased in advance, it can help speed up the decomposition process since the smaller sized the pieces, the much faster they can decay. Nevertheless there is also a disadvantage in shredding woody materials to carefully.

These smaller sized particles will likely produce a more compacted aerobic compost pile reducing ventilation and air circulation inside the load which might in turn result in an anaerobic condition because of the insufficient oxygen therefore the stack may have to be handed over more regularly.

3. The Compost Tons Size - How huge your composting load is also makes a huge difference not simply to the speed of decay but for the last quality of the finished pile. Generally, a compost pile needs to be at most comparable to about one cubic metre (3 x 3 x 3 feet) in volume as this makes it easier to handle. Smaller sized aerobic piles have a tendency to dry easily therefore require regular watering, although commercially available composting bins which have strong sides plus a lid can help keep smaller stacks damp. Larger aerobic composting piles inhabit a lot additional area and will need to be shelled out to allow more air into their center.

Furthermore, forking over an aerobic compost heap regularly to move freshly included external products towards the stacks center, or perhaps to a different location or composting bin is much easier and much less effort when the real size of the compost heap is much more convenient.

4. Water Content - Another essential element with regards to fast aerobic composting is the appropriate quantity of water. Microbes reside in thin watery films which surround the elements within the compost heap so it helps to keep the compost heap damp at all times. If your stack ends up being dried out, the bacterial microbes are unable to work successfully so include some extra greens. Must the stack become too damp, the bacterial microorganisms are not able to receive the quantity of oxygen they want to breath so include some extra browns and hand over the pile to mix it in.

It is basic to discover if your compost pile contains the appropriate volume of water (40-60%), merely take hold of a little handful from the compostable material and after that squeeze it. If water permeates out through your fingers, then the pile has actually ended up being too damp. Ideally the garden compost needs to be a little damp, much like a moist fabric or sponge to be able to guarantee bacterial decay and development.

5. Aeration - the composting of products is certainly an aerobic process. In order to help develop premium garden compost quickly, a lot of fresh clean air is essential to let the microbes and bugs living and flourishing inside it breathe. Forking over your garden compost using a spade or pitchfork as soon as or even two times a week helps aerate the pile as well as putting the recently added fresher external materials into its middle and vice-versa.

The method of forking or turning and consisting of dry or coarse materials to the compost heap will help increase aeration, avoid odour-causing bacteria's from establishing and also help to speed up the aerobic composting procedure. This action of dishing out garden compost on a regular basis in order to help accelerate the piles decay process is known as "active composting". Just turning and forking the stack allows surplus water to leave and evaporate providing fresh tidy air to the pile at the same time.

6. Micro-organisms and Bugs - No aerobic composting stack worth its salt would not be complete without the presence of the microorganisms and bugs which do all the work. It is these tiny little air-breathing micro-organisms and their larger soil caring cousins which are found naturally within the soil structure that will flourish within the wet and nutrient-rich environments which you have developed.

The smaller sized decomposters for instance fungis and germs start the decay process whilst bigger sized bugs such as worms, beetles, millipedes and centipedes, finish the decomposition cycle. What's left behind is an almost black humus soil improving medium.

To be able to effectively develop and increase, all these macro and micro-organisms need an energy source like for instance the "browns", which provides them with a carbohydrate source and the "greens", which provides a protein rich source. In addition to these they also require oxygen and water to endure.

However much like humans, these bugs also like it warm and cosy, which indicates your compostable active ingredients will definitely be become a completed garden compost far more rapidly during the summer months when the sun's rays help warm things up compared to the chillier winter months.

7. Don't Hurry, Be Patient - Aerobic composting requires time. The speed or rate of composting trusts lots of aspects as we have seen, such as the wetness content, level of aeration, in addition to the carbon-to-nitrogen percentage, the real greens-to-browns ratio. Normally, aeration and humidity are typically the two key elements influencing the quantity of time needed to develop your completed compost.

But you can help Mother Nature on her way by regular forking and turning of your compost pile which will probably produce quality garden compost in about one or two months in the summertime whilst regular monthly turnings could develop compost from about 4 to 6 months in time. The fastest composting takes place when you have already pre-mixed the browns and greens materials, including some previous microbe abundant garden compost and turning or mixing up the stack weekly, in addition to managing the quantity of air and water. But if all that is simply excessive work, then sit back, relax and let the bugs do the work.

Aerobic compost is an excellent garden soil additive which increases the workability and performance of your garden soil. The right quantity and type of products you add into the compost pile really makes a big difference on the level of quality and the composting time period.

You ought to think of your aerobic compost heap as being like a self consisted of eco-system, and in order for it to develop and endure, this particular eco-system requires the right mixture of active ingredients and products such as "Oxygen" (the air), "Warmth" (the sun), "Food" (the compostable products), and "Moisture" (the water), with the resulting quality and amount of the ended up compost being figured out by simply how well you are able to manage and manage all of these 4 variables.

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[amitojo]

Living Consciously in These 7 Areas Will Set You Up for ANYTHING You Want in Life

Image Source: Piqsels

In the previous post, I talked about What is Conscious Living and How we can achieve ANYTHING by practicing it. In this post, I will be discussing the 7 Areas of Life where practicing living consciously can lead us to fulfill our dream life.

In the context of conscious Living, I believe there are 7 areas of life where we need to focus on, to live the EXACT life we want. Below, I’ll be sharing those areas and their importance. Also, as a bonus, I am attaching a comprehensive question-bank at the end of the post which will help you gain consciousness in each area of life discussed. Remember, awareness is the first step to a completely different life, and answering questions is the best tool to gain awareness.

Without any delay, let’s get into the 7 Areas of Life

1. Me, Myself, & I

This is the foundational area. As the name suggests this area has everything to do with us — Be it within (our thoughts, feelings) or without (words, actions- which are nothing but the physical manifestation of our thoughts and feelings.).

This area is about introspection. This is where you discover yourself, what you want, what your goals are; You learn who you are, what you like/dislike, what works for you, what doesn’t, what are your strengths and weaknesses.

This is where you define terms like happiness, success, etc, for yourself.

Knowing yourself will impact each and every decision of your life, whether you’re choosing a career or a life partner.

Knowing yourself could be the key difference between a living a fulfilled life and not.

2. Time

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once”

In my opinion, Time is the most valuable currency. We are always trading time for something or the other. We trade time to study/gain knowledge, we trade time for entertainment, we trade time for health, we trade time for work, and so on.

If we lose money, we can still make it back, but time — once gone, it’s gone.

That is why it is extremely important to make every minute count. Invest your time consciously. Be intentional with your time, be purposeful, and most importantly, be present while doing what you’re doing. Give your 100% focus and attention to whatever you’re doing at that moment.

If it’s time to rest, rest. If it’s time to spend time with family/friends/loved ones, do that. If it’s time to work, work. And be there (mentally) while you’re doing whatever it is that you’re doing.

3. Money

Money is, of course, another crucial currency. One cannot survive without money. We all need money for our basic survival needs such as food, shelter, clothes, etc., let alone everything else that we desire

No matter where you are right now financially, thinking about and acting consciously with money can help you get where you wish to go faster.

It is not always about how much money you make, it is about what you do with the money you make.

“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”

Wagner’s law states that public expenditure rises constantly as income growth expands.

So, if you’re a habitual “spender”, making 10x more money won’t make you a “saver” unless you choose to do so.

Choosing to manage money as per our financial goals is a conscious act.

4. Health

What good is wealth if we can’t enjoy it with our full health.

“Health is the crown on the well person’s head that only the sick person can see. When we are young, we sacrifice our health for wealth and when we grow old and wise we realize what’s important – and become willing to sacrifice all our wealth for one day of good health.” Robin Sharma

Listen to your body, it usually tells you what’s not working.

Take care of your physical, mental, emotional health.

5. Sensory Diet

By sensory diet, I mean what we are consuming as a whole being — physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. What we are consuming through all of our senses.

Food is just one aspect of what we consume — extremely important for survival, yes, it is one part of what we consume nonetheless.

Except for food, we are also consuming what we are listening (music, news, sounds of nature, sounds of engineering, etc), watching (movies, shows, news, videos), reading (books, magazines, social media), aromas, energies (relationships).

Get present to what all you’re consuming.

Get present to its impact on your quality of life, your health, and your well-being.

Our Environment is stronger than will-power. Create an environment that supports you in your needs and wants. If you are, for example, committed to positivity then consume positive content, be it through social media, books, audio, etc. Unfollow/mute/stop engaging with that which doesn’t fulfill your purpose. Listen to positive songs/podcasts, read positive text. Look for “good” news. Surround yourself with positive people.

Create an environment that sets you up for achieving your goals and dreams.

6. Relationships

According to a study conducted by Harvard (one of the longest studies ever conducted spanning over 75 years and still going on), good relationships keep us happier and healthier. You can watch the ted talk here

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

It is extremely important to choose your tribe, choose who you spend your time with, and focus on the quality of the relationships.

Choose to hang out with people who you want to be like, who have similar goals, who get the best out of you, who motivate you, inspire you, make you feel good about yourself, add value to your life.

7. Environment

I am left in awe every time I think about the Earth and how everything seems to works seamlessly. The whole ecosystem of plants, animals, all the natural events, etc., are all doing their part, working together in harmony for a greater cause. It is mind-blowing how all this works. We truly live in a magical place.

Get present to the impact of your actions on the environment. While we can’t stop living altogether, being aware of our actions and their effects on the environment can help us choose our lifestyle consciously. Each bit counts

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To Conclude

These 7 areas cover pretty much all of our life. Whatever our dreams and aspirations are, we can achieve them by living consciously in these areas.

I’ll be expanding on each of the above-mentioned areas in the coming posts. Sign up for my newsletter to be the first one to know and get it delivered right to your mailbox!

Tips & Resources

Before closing this post, I highly recommend you read the two books mentioned below if you want to practice living and adopt new habits consciously.

A book that set me on the path of conscious living — After reading this, I started getting present to what I am doing and the decisions I am making  Mindfulness by Ellen J Langer

We do need self-discipline to consciously put new habits into place and this book will help you do just that in all areas of life No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy

The more you practice living consciously, the better you become at it, and the easier it will be for you to create the EXACT life that you want. The life of your dreams!

The best way to gain consciousness is to ask questions. Awareness is the first step to living a conscious life. As promised, here is the download link for a comprehensive question-bank covering all areas of life discussed above. Answering these questions will certainly help you be more conscious in your everyday life, as it helped me.

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I hope this post added value. Feel free to share your thoughts, and reach out should you want to know more

Have an amazing day, and take care!

Love, Tojo x

More of what I’ve written on Conscious Living What is Conscious Living and How we can achieve ANYTHING by practicing it. A Snapshot of My Spiritual Awakening What inspired me to turn Vegan Why I had taken a break from drinking and what I learnt. A conversation with my dog that changed my life forever! 6 Steps to Overcome Fear / Self-limiting Beliefs Why I started reading books and Why you should too!

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Ideal grow  Tents In 2020: Best Reviews

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What is a  grow  tent?

When you as if to grow floras in any type of sort of location where it is really protected, you need to have to handle the weather condition as well as likewise lighting fixture. grow  tent is actually the remedy to this. The tag on its own expresses what an grow outdoor tents is actually. When it is really an exceptional inside growing place for all your in time along with unique floras. It has smooth edges, it is really light in weight in body weight, and also it may effortlessly also keep all of them comfortably. Somewhat, it is actually much like a grow compartment for all your inside vegetations.

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Below par internal place of an grow exterior  tents which performs as a reflector, picks up lightweight radiations arising from over. It provides to the several places noted below the cover plants. You might call this method a scattered graphic. It can easily take advantage of light-weight along with added performance. Because of this, it implies preserving in energy expenditure. You are going to absolutely acquire much healthier greeneries.

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Opinion

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[cryptidcalling]

I’m participating in @twistytwine‘s Smog City AU thing because I think it’s super cool!! I do not have the power to make things canon of course! So I’m just gonna talk about how my ocs might fit in, and just some ideas I think might be cool!

OCS:

-Acre is one of the Flare Fighters, although he often gets into a bit of trouble by going out of his way to steal things and get into danger. He takes every opportunity to steal from the rich and give back to the people. He himself has only had Cleansing Amber once or twice. He doesn’t like holding onto any for himself, because he worries if he does he’ll become like the people he’s stealing from. He hides his identity behind a gas mask, meaning even though he’s wanted by authorities no one actually knows who he is (or if all of his crimes have been the same person). He has a poison capsule that he hides in his mouth during every mission in case he ever gets caught. 

-Wren is a daydreamer who wants nothing more than to see a real life living plant. He’s one of the few who still takes walks outside. To keep himself safe from the pollution he wears a gas mask, but only the kind that goes over his nose and mouth. He’s often forgetful and will take it off and forget to put it back on or leave it at home, meaning sometimes he’ll get very sick and have to stay inside. Because of this he always saves at least a gallon of water in case he can’t go to get more for a few days. He’s online friends with Haywood and Seph.

-Horace is a biologist working for the government. He does experiments on animals, trying to find ways to make them grow a lot of meat very fast. Fast enough that they could be born and then killed for food within weeks. These batches are grown in test tubes, and poking around in animals DNA often produces very mutated results, such as pigs with many extra legs or chickens with no eyes. Because he works for the government Horace gets access to Cleansing Amber and clean water. He’s doing what he does for the good of the people, or at least he believes so. Many people think he’s doing it for the luxury that comes with it. 

IDEAS:

1: Vegas! Lights!! Buildings covered in neon signs and fairy lights, helping them stand out amongst the darkness of the smog. 

2: The air is always filled up with drones. People order things online so they don’t have to go outside, and that means there’s always swarms of flying drones going to and fro. Poorer people use slingshots and rocks to try and crash the drones, but many are reinforced now because these attacks are so common. 

3: The Flare Fighters are able to blend their own drones in with official ones, and once a drone drops a package at a rich person’s door they’ll swipe it with one of their own.

4: Cleansing Amber has a sort of mystique to it in places where it’s expensive. The lower class spread rumors about it, making it sound like ambrosia. People say it tastes like sherbet and oranges, that you can eat just one package and not get hungry for a week, that it makes you stronger and faster and healthier. 

5: People can’t have biological pets anymore, and in their place lots of people have robotic animals. People don’t just have robo cats and dogs, but they also have robotic rodents, snakes, wolves, and other creatures. 

That is!! All I have so far!! If I come up with more I’ll make another post!