#some crops take longer to grow than others that is all <3

[sparrowmoth]

❀ Wesper Fanfiction Masterlist

I've been writing (mostly) Wesper fics for over a year now, so I figured it was about time I put together a masterlist of my fics. You'll find b/g Kanej and Helnik sprinkled throughout many of my Wesper-centric fics. Mind the ratings/warnings because I write all over the spectrum.

➳ Oneshots

Inside/Outside Voices | Teen | 1.6K Kaz POV, pining, denial of feelings, love, missing scene, canon compliant

Yours, Mine, Hours | Teen | 11.5K Hurt/comfort, fake relationship, attempted assault, drinking, fluff, jealousy, humor

Armor and Amor | Teen | 1.5K Royalty AU, knight/prince, secret relationship, fluff, flirting, sexual tension

the perfect genius of our hands and mouths | Teen | 1.5K Modern AU, semi-epistolary, mutual pining, gay panic, romance, fast burn

The Only Heaven I'll Be Sent To | Teen | 3.2K Reincarnation, fate/destiny, true love, married Wesper, honeymoon, fluff/angst

We Go Down Together | Explicit | 11.1K Human/monster romance, aphrodisiacs, threesome, consensual kink, unsafe sex

My Kingdom for Your Kiss | Explicit | 5.6K Light angst, tentacle sex, fluff and smut, interspecies romance, love confessions

all this (but heaven too) | Explicit | 20.5K Non-con, graphic violence, serial killers, heavy angst with a happy ending

➳ Multichaps (Complete)

The Show Must Go On | Teen | 20K Kidnapping, body horror, torture, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort

i feel like i've known you (but we've never met) | Teen | 20.5K Modern AU, internet friends to lovers, fluff and angst, happy ending

➳ Multichaps (WIP)

cards on the table (we're both showing hearts) | Teen | 5K+ Modern AU, fluff and angst, emotional hurt/comfort, humor, college/uni

The In-Between | Mature | 19K+ Hybrid AU, Wylan-centric, Angst, body horror, hurt/comfort, happy ending

The Only Hope For Me Is You | Mature | 4.5K+ Dubcon, public sex, humiliation, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending

My Little Pony: BDSM is Magic | Explicit | 11.8K+ Pony play (kink), heavy BDSM, safe sane and consensual, dom/sub play

➳ Drabbles

les fragments de la nuit | Teen | drabble collection Divine/mortal, afterlife, love, fantasy, siren/mortal, reincarnation, love confessions

Pretty Face/Blank Canvas | Teen | drabble Gender roles, wearing make-up, fluff and angst, love, short and sweet

starlight starbright (too-ra-loo-ra-li) | Teen | drabble Memory loss, surreal, mild hurt/comfort, love, singing, short & sweet

➳ Poetry

Soul to Burrow (Little Rabbit) — and other poems | Teen | collection* Love, childhood memories, self-worth issues, dreams and nightmares, mutual pining

*ft. Kanej in the poem Her & the Sea

＋ Polycrows

Leather Collar Prayer | Mature | 4.5K Polyamory, puppy play (kink), praise kink, soft, no smut, emotional hurt/comfort

[overly-verbose]

I take back my previous threats of violence as my foolish self had not scampered through your art book in all its glory.

Chapter 8 has the reference that is to be used in general, correct?

No worries, I actually chuckled a bit reading that lmao - I didn't expect a reference for SIkuna being in high enough demand for me to be threatened at watergun-point 😂

(the previous Ask with the 'threats of violence' in question for context purposes;

😂)

I'll probably try to draw something of an actual approximation of a 'reference sheet' with the little differences (I was actually planning to do that for the Ask but uh that'd take much longer than this), but to explain it quickly (well, for me quickly which isn't at all);

Chapter 8 of Visuals has actually moreso to do with a perhaps-hypothetical scenario in which later down the timeline SIkuna gets Somehow separated from Yuji and gains a body of his own

- and that allows him to switch between Normal Form

which is basically how he looked whilst possessing Yuji, except probably quite a bit taller (it's already a bit stifling in comparison to the Big Form so he wouldn't make himself even shorter just to keep to Yuji's height lol), a bit older

(he looks a bit older whilst possessing Yuji anyway but yeah),

with some (usually) black earrings and two slits in his left eyebrow to connect it to the Big Form visually

The version with the earrings and slitted eyebrow can f.e. be seen in Chapter 11 lol, just with pink hair for that last one

And Big Form/True Form

which is about 9~feet / 3~ meters tall (I based it off of that one short manga flashback moment rather than some other seemingly smaller depictions?), has four arms and such + mostly wears the outfit from Chapter 8/14 but would also wear different things just like he would in Normal Form

- and I follow the logic of the clothes Somehow changing to fit whenever he suddenly shrinks or grows rather than having to have specifics outfits, but the four-arms thing still kinda demands a different wardrobe anyway for most cases lol

(+ he does have the stomach mouth in the Big Form, and sometimes he'll prefer to leave it uncovered so another outfit difference then,

like maybe an open robe in place of a shirt, something cropped, or occasionally just forgoing a shirt altogether lol)

I think a better reference for the height comparison between him and other characters in that form is moreso Chapter 11 and 14, but it doesn't matter That much

But like, in terms of outfit it doesn't have to be exactly what I've drawn before lol

- he's more of a comfy/casual guy but I'm 1000% certain that Nobara + perhaps other kids would take him shopping sometimes (she or they can't let this particular Older Familial Figure go unfashionable constantly!) and he'd probably want to occasionally wear something more Wowowo so he'd likely have something other than a dozen sweatshirts (and robes and comfy pants and such) somewhere in his wardrobe too 😂

(some Hello Kitty™ merch is also a must, For The Meme!!!)

And I've mentioned it a few times before but, especially if separate from Yuji unless he'd also agree to painted nails which he just might, he's likely to have painted claws/nails sometimes lol - they're a nice big canvas for Nobara to practice her skills on y'know, and he definitely wouldn't mind

.

In terms of how he looks inside the Domain, it's mostly just Canon-kuna's look lol

The kimono/kosode(? I have yet to understand what the exact difference is but heard it may be the second) is the same, the scarf and blue(?) accents on the sides of the main robe and stuff

with the anime-only addition bow to the back of the sash/idk material belt because yes, and because it's something to fiddle with whenever SIkuna gets ungodly bored lmao (the equivalent of fiddling with a sweatshirt's zipper or hoodie string lol)

I've interpreted whatever Canon-kuna wears on his legs as some sort of simple black pants that run down until a bit after the socks beneath the sandals(?) start or something like that??

I don't think he wears anything under the upper part of the kimono(?) but maybe there is some sorta ancient Japanese equivalent of a t-shirt I dunno about lol, besides that it's the same with the wide sleeves and everything

The sandals(?) are the same as in Canon, I've seen somewhere that they could have a small false heel (like a cut underneath that doesn't actually raise the heel of the foot idk how to explain it better) but it's an utter detail lol

As aforementioned, the scarf-thing around his neck is the same too, it's definitely an addition SIkuna appreciates heh - it's comfy 👍

(the Inner/Innate Domain examples I've drawn in Chapters 1, 4, 5, most of 10, 1st bonus drawing in 11, a cropped out glimpse in 13 and second drawing of 14 is ok lol - I just forgot about some things earlier/got better at it with time maybe)

.

In terms of physical differences, in or outside the Domain, the biggest one is probably the eyes

His usual/regular look involves the pupil/most inner part of the eye being white, then having a ring of darker red, then much lighter/brighter red

Meanwhile, whenever he's feeling particularly murderous/spooky/overall more OG-kuna-like (f.e. in Part 4 after a bit of 'experimenting' on the Special Grade), the sequence becomes [very light/bright red, much darker red, a bit lighter/brighter red]

(I mostly draw the eyes in a more oval shape, but that's just my stylistic choice lol - I don't mind it being the same but don't mind otherwise ofc

Same with the colours, they don't have to be Exactly those)

Like this;

And the fact that he actually has a whole Four eyes be eyes and usually all open - the secondary eyes are smaller, but are full eyes with colour and stuff rather than the sometimes barely-there look they had with Canon-kuna

(I'm not yet 100% certain if the difference in colouring is seen in-universe, though 🤔 - but for drawings yeah)

Another thing that isn't usually consistent in the manga/anime (from what I can remember) is the way Canon-kuna sometimes has moreso claws Or fingernails - SIkuna basically always has claws (they sharp!)

I'm kinda contemplating including slightly pointed at the tips ears to the list but it's not an 'official' characteristic lol

.

I've... Uh. Gone off on a tangent?? As per usual lmfAO-

But hope you get at least a little useful info from this?? 😂

(I don't mind clarifying questions lmfao (though my apologies if I take some time to respond))

Also, I'm not that much of a stickler for detail just fyi - even if the interpretation were to differ in some way from this rambly excuse for a guide I'd still love and adore any and all art created for my story because hOLY MAC A R O N I- *implodes from pure joy*

(Assuming, of course, that that's what 'for scientific purposes' meant 😂)

[urgonnaneedabiggership]

NAMOR (MCU) X MEXICAN!OC

MASTERLIST

A/N: Remember you can find this fanfic on AO3 right here. Any feedback and/or comments are greatly appreciated <3 If you want to be added to the taglist, just say so!

Warnings: Somewhat graphic violence, mentions of weapons, death and un-aliving people. Language.

Word count: 2441

“As you can probably imagine, keeping you in the caves with your injuries was far too dangerous,” Namor explained as he led her around the circular structure and into another one of the rooms, of larger size. A gush of warm air hit her face as he rushed her inside and closed the door behind her. Inside, several rows of bright green leaves emerged from glass containers filled to the brim with a glowing blue liquid. Mercedes gently lifted one of the huge leaves to carefully observe the roots, floating on the mysterious solution.

“Are these…?”

“Hydroponic crops,” He confirmed, “Anything that can’t survive underwater we grow here in a controlled temperature and pressure. Including you, in this case.”

“This is brilliant,” She exclaimed, kneeling next to the next row of plants. It was small, with several delicate white flowers blooming everywhere. Mercedes smelled one and sighed with delight, “These are xtabentun flowers, aren’t they? Now I see where you get that great liquor from.”

“I’m glad you like the plants but this is what I really wanted you to see.”

Namor stood in front of a small panel with a black screen and shiny codices scattered on its surface. He swiftly tapped a couple of them, triggering a low humming sound. The vibranium walls, which turned out to be curtains, slowly rose to uncover glass panes that revealed a sight so beautiful that Mercedes was left speechless. While she had been to Talokan several times, they had always remained on the limits of the city. This was the first time she had the chance to truly witness the city in all its chaotic, lively, and beautiful splendor.

Several Talokanil swam past them. Those who had the time stopped and observed curiously. Her lack of breathing devices made it evident she wasn’t one of their own. Sadie smiled to herself, wondering if this was how fish felt on the other side of the crystal. She wasn’t comparable to a colorful tropical fish. Underwater or above, these people still looked like her, and those around her growing up. An elderly woman with a young boy approached the glass. The kid, not older than five, hid behind the woman’s skirt. With a gentle smile and a pat on the head, she exchanged some words with the boy and goaded him to go on with a nod. Cautiously, he swam closer and, once he was close enough, greeted her with the customary hand sign. Mercedes looked at Namor questioningly, wordlessly asking for permission to return the gesture she still felt out of place using. He softly nodded, indicating for her to go on. Once she did, the boy smiled and promptly returned to his grandmother’s side, who thanked her bowing her head before leaving.

When Namor turned to look at her once more, he was surprised to see a thin stream of tears running down her cheeks.

“You’re right,” She said, eyes still fixated on the city before her, “I’m not some self-righteous saint. Everything I’ve done, I didn’t do it because of some obligation to the world. There is a selfish motive, and that’s what I’ve been hiding. But I can’t do it anymore because now I need your help.”

“You can tell me,” He assured her adamantly, pressing a few more symbols on the console to return the blinds to their original positions.

“No, I can’t. I have to show you.” Mercedes insisted, taking a deep breath, “And for that, you have to take me to the surface.”

Seeing the look on his face, she was quick to continue.

“I promise you that it will be safe. It would be just for one day and then we’ll come back. I promise I won’t try to escape, but you can come with me every step of the way if you want to be sure. Please, kän-an.”

“We will be back in two days,” Namor remarked to his cousin, “Not one day longer, right?” He asked, looking back at Mercedes.

“That’s right.” She nodded, nervously fidgeting with the necklace they’d given her. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of having a tracker on her, but her excitement surpassed any negative feelings.

She was sure she’d never been there. This entrance would have been perfect for her escape, which was why they’d probably avoided it completely in the first place. She didn’t even have to swim underwater to get out. Warm sunlight filtered through several cracks in the rocks along the tunnel that would get them to the surface.

“That device will let us know if you leave the zone we marked on the map, for your and our own safety,” Namora reminded Sadie, her eyes denoting she wasn’t sure this was a good idea, “Ba’ax jaaj kutaj u píibo’ k’a’am?”

“Je’el. Yaan in yaantal ma’alob,” Mercedes replied with a smile, pleased with her improvement.

After exchanging quick farewells, they crossed the tunnel and emerged from an opening on the ground barely large enough for them to fit through it, even with Mercedes sucking her belly in. Surrounding them was a dense and humid jungle, and an orchestra of chirps belonging to both insects and birds surrounded them. Not far from them, the sound of the waves crashing against the beach served as a reminder of what they were leaving behind.

Sadie, however, seemed delighted. She took a deep breath and smiled gleefully, leaning against a tree and sniffing its bark.

“Two months,” She whispered, basking in the bright sunlight that barely reached them through the thick tropical canopy.

“Barely,” Namor muttered, looking slightly hurt seeing her so overjoyed about leaving his domain.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like that,” She said with an apologetic grin, “Let’s go. If we hurry we might get there before sunset. Try not to damage the plants, I’d rather not have someone notice a path in the middle of the trees,”

“You have yet to tell me where “there” is,” Namor observed as they started to make their way through the bushes.

“Be patient. We’ll get there in no time, trust me,” Mercedes avoided the question.

“If you won’t tell me that,” Namor resumed the conversation after a few minutes of walking in silence, “I think you still owe me an explanation.”

“Do I?” Sadie smiled to herself, distractedly kicking a few rocks back into their path to conceal their tracks. “Everything that happened on that ship…it wasn’t the first time you’d done something like that, was it? ,”

“I’ve told you what I do for a living,” She shrugged, “I had to learn a couple things to keep myself safe.”

“Does that include learning how to interrogate prisoners?”  

She cursed to herself, and just kept walking, pressing her lips together until they were just a thin line. Namor considered insisting. She did, after all, know more about his past than he did of hers. And he still felt as if she’d used that feeling of complicity against him.

“I know why you’re doing this.” Mercedes finally spoke, stopping and looking back at him, “For what it’s worth, the nightmares were real.”

“That’s not…”

“And since they were real, your stories did help every time” She interrupted him with a reluctant bashful smile “And I never got to thank you for that time you stayed with me.”

He didn’t immediately answer, unable to decide whether to assure her knowing her nightmares weren’t fake didn’t bring him any satisfaction, say you’re welcome, or accept her apology. But Sadie hadn’t actually apologized, had she? Did she expect him to interpret her words as an apology? Before he could make up his mind, Sadie failed to see any change in his expression and kept walking.

“In fact, u jaajile’? When I woke up in a strange place after nearly dying with a weird artifact attached to my veins, I saw Namora asleep next to my bed and for a second I thought it was you,” She kept talking, still looking to the front, “And I thought ‘Oh cool, at least he’s here. Everything’s fine,’ but then I realized you don’t have blue skin and I remembered I was angry at you, so…”

Mercedes noticed something on the trunk of the trees and moved closer, thankful for the distraction. God, she could’ve sworn she’d grown out of her nervous ramblings.

“Look, we’re almost there,” She showed him a small clay figure embedded in the wood, “We have to follow these,”

“Maybe I should also apologize for not being there while you healed,” Namor admitted as they kept walking.

“I think I understand. You felt betrayed and used, and I don’t blame you.”

“But you would’ve acted differently, wouldn’t you?” He asked, catching up to her, “If I had been the one laying there, I mean.”

Sadie was so taken aback by the question that she had to stop walking. The roles reversed in her mind. She pictured him the way she imagined she’d looked. Helpless, weak, barely hanging on to life. She stopped trying when she felt a knot in her throat.

“Probably, yes.”

“Why?”

“Somebody I loved very much used to tell me that resentment is a wild and hungry beast. You can keep it under your roof, and feed it every day, but you can’t tame it. It will always be dangerous, and it will never be satisfied. And one day, it will turn on you and eat you whole.”

Surprisingly, Namor chuckled at her statement and shook his head.

“What?” Mercedes snapped, furrowing her eyebrows, unsure of whether she should feel offended.

“My mother would’ve loved that.” He explained. “She would’ve thought you were charming, I think,”

“No, no, please, don’t,” Sadie immediately cut him off with an embarrassed smile, turning her back on him to hide how terribly flustered that statement had made her feel.

“I mean it. I can almost hear her right now yelling at me for being such a terrible person to you.” He insisted, a bit more confidently after realizing she was laughing again.

“Thank you,” Mercedes replied. She smirked at him and pushed him away playfully, “For the record, my father would’ve hated you for being such a terrible person to me.”

He laughed again and lifted his hands admitting guilt. When their laughs died out, Mercedes looked at him, scanning his face intently.

“A friend of my family taught me everything I know,” She said, “After my father died, he took me in and I got him to train me. For six years he taught me everything he could. And yes, that includes questionable interrogation techniques,”

Before he could ask anything else, she urged him to keep walking, pointing at the next marked tree.

It took them another hour of following the scattered clay objects until they reached a river with a rope bridge dangling over the mild current. On the other side, Namor was surprised to see several small houses practically hidden among the trees. Not even three seconds had passed and Mercedes was already crossing the bridge. Much to her surprise, she found him already waiting on the other side.

“What? How did you…?” She asked, perplexed, looking in the opposite direction before looking down and remembering one of Namor’s abilities she’d never witnessed and actually forgotten even existed. He smirked at her, obviously proud of himself.

“Alright, show-off, you’ll have to wait here for a moment,” She said, “I’ll get you some human-looking clothes. We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves and that’s going to be hard with you looking like that,”

“Like what?” He asked innocently. Mercedes just threw a deadpan glare at him before, in one quick move, taking a step toward him that left her face just two inches away from his and placing her hand on his chest.

“I’ll tell you when it’s safe to come out,”

The next thing he knew, she’d pushed him down into the cold water of the river.

Still laughing to herself, the girl made her way to the first house near the end of the tree line and knocked on the door.

A woman in her fifties opened the door and the second her eyes laid upon Mercedes, she gasped and gave a little excited leap backwards, her hands covering her mouth to muffle an excited squeal.

“Merceditas, mi chiquita preciosa, ¿pero qué haces por acá? ¿por qué no habías venido a verme?” Merceditas, my beautiful little one, what are you doing here? Why hadn't you come to see me?

She asked a million more questions that Sadie could hardly hear after finding herself trapped in a surprisingly tight hug given the height of the woman.

“Moni, Moni, espérame tantito,” She begged, freeing herself, “Mi amigo se acaba de caer al río, ¿no tendrás por ahí algo que se pueda poner?” Moni, Moni, wait a minute. My friend just fell into the river. Do you have anything that he can put on?

“Sí, sí, mijita, tráetelo, no le vaya a dar algo. Allá adentro se puede cambiar,” Yes, yes, bring him inside before he catches something. He can get changed in there.

The woman pointed at a small shed next to the house before rushing back inside. Sadie thanked her before jogging back to the river to retrieve her understandably annoyed companion. Once she successfully sneaked him inside, Moni knocked on the door. She had returned with a light jacket and a pair of jeans, which Sadie gave to Namor, who hadn’t stopped glaring at her for one second.

“She doesn’t have any shoes,” Mercedes apologized, giving him a pair of sandals before turning around, “But hopefully everything else will fit you,”

Looking at the wooden walls, all she heard was the rustling of clothes and whispered complaints as he changed into the unfamiliar clothes. After two minutes, she started to wonder what was taking him so long. Then, all movement ceased and he sighed in frustration. He said her name and then muttered something so lowly she didn’t get it.

“What did you say?” She asked.

“I need help,” He said, only a little bit louder.

“It’s just jeans and a jacket, what could you possibly…?”

“It’s stuck,” He replied impatiently. It wasn’t until she heard a struggle behind her that Sadie finally turned around to find a frustrated Namor fumbling with the zipper of the jacket.

“Don’t laugh.” Namor hissed when he looked at her face. On the verge of laughter, Mercedes pressed her lips together tightly and shook her head.

“I swear I’m…I wasn’t going to. Here, let me,” Under his observant gaze, Mercedes patiently pulled the stuck teeth in opposite directions until they gave way, allowing her to piece the zipper correctly and slowly pull it upwards.

“There. Perfect.” She said, never taking notice of his eyes on her until that moment. She cleared her throat and stepped away, “Let’s go. They’re waiting for us inside.”

The Translations:

Ba’ax jaaj kutaj u píibo’ k’a’am?: Do you really feel strong enough?

“Je’el. Yaan in yaantal ma’alob: Yes. I will be fine.

[tsukuyomii45]

ObiKonan. Canon divergence obviously. Pick any AU you'd like. What are some ways these two would meet?

Yay, ObiKonan again! :3 Get ready, this is a long one!

!!! NSFW - NO MINORS !!!

~~

-A canon divergent AU could look something like this: Obito would be on his way to Amegakure on a diplomatic mission in order to deliver a message from the Hokage and to discuss a few political decrees, but then he gets ambushed by suspecting, rebellious Ame ninjas regarding his presence since Konoha is not seen in the best light amongst their people. He manages to fight against some of them, but then he's outnumbered, and this delays his mission.

However, he suddenly witnessed a flurry of papers wrapping around his opponents, and then some paper shuriken and kunai flying around and even paper bombs exploding on tree branches. Obito then follows one of the bounded men's line of vision, and sees Konan floating above with her paper wings spread out.

He walks out of his hiding spot, composing himself despite his awe of her, and Obito goes, "So, you're the Paper Angel that everyone talks about."

Konan would then ask what he's doing here and what's his purpose, and then Obito tells her his name that he's on this diplomatic mission and would need to enter the village to speak to the leader (we could assume it's Yahiko). Konan is astonished and surprised that she's meeting a member of the Uchiha clan for the first time, and then she further turns Obito on by disintegrating into papers and reforming before him, and subtly looks him over, noting the glow of his Sharingan. Obito would subtly check her out, noting that she's one hell of a beautiful ninja, and he would compliment her jutsu on how original and out of the ordinary it is. Konan would tell him that she spent years perfecting her jutsu and it is unlike any other, to which Obito responds, "A true testament to your dedication and talent. I like that."

Konan would give him a small smirk, and tell him that she would happily escort him into the village where he would face no threats from other ninjas, and Obito would be delighted that he'd be escorted by her, than anyone else.

~~

-Another AU could be a Greek mythology AU; in which Obito would be Hades and Konan would be Persephone. xD Obito is the god and ruler of the Underworld while Konan is the goddess of spring and nature, and spends her time in beautiful fields and bringing life to the gardens of the world. One fateful day, while the goddess of spring was wandering around in a beautiful, blossoming meadow, she catches Obito's attention. Because he's so fascinated by her, he continuously watches her, and finds himself leaving the underworld to catch a glimpse of the beautiful goddess of nature in the gardens.

The sight of her bringing life to the lands makes him start to yearn for her, desire her, and he could no longer hold himself back the more he watches Konan looking so graceful and vibrant - he just wanted to feel the warmth and radiance of that beautiful goddess that he's so intrigued by because all he's ever known was the cold atmosphere and lifelessness of the underworld. So...he decides to once again leave the underworld and pay her a visit as she's tending to the gardens, where he abducts her and takes her with him to the underworld.

Konan spends a good portion of the year in the underworld with Obito, where crops don't grow during that time. At first, she resents him for bringing her down here without her consent, but then as time passes, she sees how lonely he has been despite the fact that he's been the king of the underworld for a very long time. He tells her that he longed for life and warmth, but all he's ever seen was a lifetime of emptiness. They get to know each other, and with time, Konan starts to fall in love with him, and Obito makes her his queen, and he allows her to leave the underworld from time to time in order to resume her role as the goddess of spring and grain. :3

~~

Another AU would be a very sexy assassin x assassin AU; where Obito and Konan are rival assassins and would often compete on who would take out their targets first - because they unfortunately have the same target. Konan's codename would be Paper Angel while Obito's codename is either Masked Man, or even Swirly (for comedic effect, perhaps?). They met one day when they both took out their target at the same time, and then became aware that they were both rival assassins. Both of them broke into a small fight, but then decided that they'd meet again. XD

They meet a few times in an unspoken race to see who would take out the target before the other. One day, Konan was making her way to the hotel where her handler told her to meet the target, and she was disguised as a normal civilian wearing a long, sexy dress, not knowing that Obito was around at the same time, also disguised. He recognizes her and is stunned by her beauty, and decides to follow her around. He's aware that they're both taking out the same men, but in order to spice things up with her, he decides to disrupt her by sneaking up behind her and covering her mouth, then drags her to a private room and pins her to the wall. "I did say we'd meet again, didn't I?" Konan pushes him off her, and they both get into one hell of a physical fight where they throw heavy objects at each other and even hidden knives (strapped on Konan's thighs), and then they would tackle each other to the ground and Obito would once again manage to pin her down. The two would stare at each other for a few seconds in awe, before clashing their lips together and heavily start making out, then they'd rip out each other's clothes and have the hottest sex in the middle of the big mess and chaos they caused. After they're done, they'd change their clothes (they're always prepared), and they would assassinate their target together.

That would be the start of their very secret relationship, and whenever these two meet, they'd playfully combat one another - either by shooting their guns or throwing their knives, and then tackle each other to the ground and literally have sex in the shadows. Sometimes, the winner would have to give the other head in public or they would sometimes hand over their weapon/underwear as a prize. xD

~~

That's all for now! :3

[sfarticles]

Fall into flavor with versatile squash Farmers markets will be the place to be for this popular harvest

 A popular fall harvest is squash, a vegetable belonging to the gourd family (photo: Emily Ryan)

As published in......

It seems like yesterday when I picked up the vibrant, flower-filled, railing boxes from our local greenhouse.  Last week, I noticed that those boxes on the deck railings have thinned out, and sadly, the colors are dissipating. I was reminded, as the temperature at night drops, plant life slows down, and very soon, nature’s artistry takes over blanketing the landscape with vibrant colors.

Fall arrives next week. Along with the arrival of autumn, are the farmers markets displaying myriad crops of the seasonal harvest.  A popular fall harvest is squash, a vegetable belonging to the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae).

I’ve been stalling purchasing those mini pumpkins (a type of squash) that are displayed on my fireplace mantle. The beginning of August was too soon to think about fall. Many of the stores I visited at the end of July and beginning of August welcomed me at the entrance with displays of all sorts of fall décor. Why do we rush the seasons away…. Well, maybe we do want that with winter!

People love squash because the flavor connects them to holidays, special occasions, and family gatherings. Perhaps this is why some people were flocking, or will soon be, to the farmers’ stands to purchase their pumpkins, squash, gourds, and other seasonal fare.

The mild flavor offers a blank canvas to create sweet or savory dishes, whether it be soups and salads, appetizers, casseroles and, most importantly, at least for me, dessert. This time of year, winter squash takes over from summer squash. One big difference between summer and winter squash is the winter variety’s thicker skin and denser, sweeter flesh. And, unlike summer squash, they can be stored for a longer period, thus they are available all winter. Popular varieties are butternut, hubbard, acorn, spaghetti, and of course, pumpkin. The type of preparation is varied; mashed, pureed, and often used as pie and pastry fillings.

One of my favorite single subject cookbook authors is Julia Rutland, who wrote “Squash: 50 Tried & True Recipes” (2019, Adventure Publications, $16.95).

Rutland’s recipes will become instant family favorites, especially for autumn. The book’s full-color photography adds to the enjoyment of cooking. Her pointers on buying and cooking squash, along with practical tips for cutting tough-skinned winter varieties, along with creative recipes, make the book a must for squash lovers. Additionally, if you grow squash in your garden, and it produces more than you can eat, you’ll find simple and delicious ways to preserve your crop.

I think I will give-in this weekend and buy those mini-pumpkins and some squash. Perhaps the calendar is reminding me to let some squash-themed dishes and adornments contribute to the overall festive atmosphere of the upcoming season. And…my mouth has been watering since reading the recipes from Rutland’s book.

For the recipes for Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins and Butternut Squash-and-Quinoa Salad, visit https://bit.ly/3kF6RwL.

Photo: Julia Rutland 

Pumpkin-and-Pepita Parker House Rolls

7 tablespoons butter, divided

½ cup pumpkin or butternut squash puree

1 cup cream, half-and-half, or whole milk

2 large eggs, divided

¼ cup sugar

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 envelope (2 ½ teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)

Flaky sea salt

Note: Allow the cream, egg and butter to reach room temperature before mixing together because cold ingredients will slow down the rising process.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. In the bowl of a stand-up electric mixer, beat 4 tablespoons melted butter, pumpkin puree, cream, 1 egg, sugar, flour, yeast and salt, mixing until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface (or in mixing bowl with a dough hook) about 5 minutes or until smooth. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat surface. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Brush a 9-inch-by-9-inch baking dish lightly with some of the melted butter. Set aside.

Punch dough down and divide into 18 pieces on a floured surface. Roll into balls, and place in prepared baking dish. Brush tops with remaining melted butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until puffed (but not doubled in size).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk remaining egg and brush over tops of rolls. Sprinkle with desired amount of pepitas and sea salt. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 ½ dozen.

Pumpkin Hummus

The headnote says, “There are lots of hummus flavors in stores and you can easily make this unique fresh version anytime with ingredients kept in the pantry. The pumpkin flavor is a fun riff you can serve at Halloween parties and through the rest of the fall holidays.”

Pumpkin Hummus – Healthy and delicious and easy to prepare.

1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup tahini

1 garlic clove, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika or ground cayenne pepper

Pita chips

Garnish: toasted pumpkin seeds

Combine pumpkin, beans, lemon zest and juice, tahini, garlic, oil, cumin, salt, and paprika in a food processor; process until smooth. Spoon into a serving bowl; garnish, if desired. Serve with pita chips. Makes 3 cups.

Butternut-Rosemary Risotto

The headnote says, “Risotto is a creamy rice dish made specifically with a medium-grain Italian rice called Arborio. Arborio contains a good bit of starch that, when cooked slowly with small amounts of broth, creates a silky, saucy texture. Make sure the squash pieces are cut to the same size for even cooking.”

4 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 ½  cups Arborio rice

2 cups peeled and cubed butternut or other hard winter squash

½  cup white wine

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warm

½  cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

½  teaspoon salt

¼  teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until tender.

Add Arborio rice and squash; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 to 2 minutes or until wine evaporates.

Add 1 cup broth to risotto mixture and cook, stirring constantly or very frequently, until liquid is absorbed. Repeat with remaining broth, 1 cup at a time, until liquid is absorbed after each addition.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese, rosemary, salt and pepper. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Turkey-and-Winter Squash Pot Pie

The headnote says, “Put this recipe on your to-do list after Thanksgiving because it’s great for leftover turkey (and the rest of that package of celery!). I tend to use shortcuts like refrigerated piecrusts after a big food-filled holiday, but you can substitute your favorite homemade double-crust pastry.”

4 tablespoons butter

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ½ cups cubed butternut squash or other winter squash

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chicken or turkey broth

1 cup half-and-half

3 cups chopped or shredded cooked turkey

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add squash. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until vegetables are almost tender.

Stir in flour, poultry seasoning and salt. Cook for 1 minute.

Add broth and half-and-half, stirring until well blended. Bring to a simmer; simmer 5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in turkey.

Place one piecrust in bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Add filling, and cover with remaining crust. Fold over edges and crimp to seal. Make several slits in top. Brush with egg. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Makes 6 servings.

Recipes and photos courtesy of ......

Stephen Fries, is Professor Emeritus and former coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, in New Haven, CT. He has been a food and culinary travel columnist for the past 15 years and is co-founder of and host of “Worth Tasting,” a culinary walking tour of downtown New Haven, CT. He is a board member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Stephen@stephenfries.com

[adaginy]

Asteroids and Politics (P. 2)

(Part 1) tw human death and tw animal death in this second half. People in the far southern regions saw the asteroid arrive. They took pictures. People farther north, all the way north, found out as fast as the news and internet could carry those pictures. The world braced itself.

Despite all our fears of instant annihilation, it took days to see any effects. Whoever the scientists had been, they’d done that part correctly: they’d found the perfect size of asteroid and hit us at the correct angle, even after having to change the trajectory with only days to spare. But soon enough, sensors confirmed brightest day now was not as bright as brightest day pre-Strike. It took longer than the scientists had expected to cool down, what with the greenhouse effect they’d been studiously ignoring. But with less sun to be trapped inside with us, temperatures did drop.

And drop.

And drop. 

We’d wanted 1-2 degrees Celsius and some stability. We got 3 and a half, and we got them fast. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. I used to say 6 degrees Fahrenheit, it sounds like more, but these days not many people know what "Fahrenheit" was. But the point is that it doesn’t take a lot, not when you’re looking at that being an average drop around the globe. It altered water currents and wind patterns, making the cold settle on places where it used to get blown or washed away. So the asteroid wasn’t so perfectly sized after all, really. 

The cold itself was survivable. Most of those who died were, sadly, as always, the old or young or sick, primarily in the far north, then in the far south when winter came to the southern hemisphere. Some places were evacuated -- not that humans couldn’t survive the temperatures, but places where they wouldn’t be expected to be prepared. Some people refused to leave, saying they’d weathered everything nature had thrown at them so far. That was more common in the northern hemisphere; people in the south looked at the north’s death count and packed up when they were told. And it was worse out in the country, where people still used firewood, where people had to plow out their own roads.

Cities got hit harder by the other issue: Food. 

That problem was twofold. The first part is the obvious one: different areas knew and planned for crops that grew there before the Strike. There was a whole area of America called “the breadbasket” because it grew so much wheat. After the Strike, not so much. Fruit froze and then rotted on trees. The market for meat was glutted as farmers slaughtered animals they couldn’t afford to feed, but after that there was almost no meat in cities at all.

The second problem was sociological. When everybody bought a few extra cans of food, and the shelves emptied faster than the computers that did the ordering could adjust their math, it inspired panic and more people bought whatever they could, leading to more empty shelves, more panic, more hoarding...

I think we reacted to it as best as we could. Rationing, for one, rolled out as fast as it could be, though that didn’t do much to help in dense places where stores couldn’t handle the demands. Posters exhorting people not to waste food, and trying to build a culture of helping and expecting help -- “We’re in this together: If you can’t eat it, ask your neighbors; if you can’t eat, ask your neighbors.” Laws overturning any local regulations that told people they couldn’t keep chickens in a city or dig up their yard to grow vegetables. Television shows teaching how to identify dandelions and purslane and other edible plants, how to to trap and clean small game. All of this was much more useful to people in rural or suburban areas. Though when one of those shows pointed out that most animals could be cleaned and dressed about the same way… the urban populations of stray cats and dogs dropped, even as people found pets too expensive to keep.  Starlings, small enough to boil and peel and eat whole, bones and all; pigeons, easy to catch and meatier than other birds their size. 

I’m only talking about the US, mind you; we liked to pretend we were isolationist, so we didn’t have a lot of timely updates about other countries, not until the Fixer government started to form. So things were different in other countries of course, different levels of infrastructure, different population densities. Countries with megalomaniacal dictators willing to let their people starve before admitting that they weren’t capable of handling it themselves, or weren’t literally gods. I can’t speak to history there.

The biggest, fastest change was the rationing. The Fixers started with relaxed trade rules, for better or worse -- hunger is the best seasoning, and it breaks down a culture’s resistance to SPAM or Yellow #5 pretty quick. There was a lot of support for farmers, funding to try alternative crops, buy-ups of surplus like the meat. Subsidies, too, indirectly: everyone got tickets for so much fruit and meat and so on, and every other week you went to a government storehouse to pick it all up, or old & disabled people could leave tickets in their mailbox to get delivery. It was just barely enough food to get by if you didn’t waste any or get picky when the menu was beef tongue and overripe bananas, but it meant the government was promising farmers there’d be a market for at least that much of whatever they were producing. And then it just made sense to keep going that way. Everyone had access to healthy food. 

A bigger change, but much slower, was healthcare. At the time, the US didn’t have universal healthcare, people were supposed to buy it themselves, and if you were sick it was stupid expensive. The best healthcare in the world! If you could afford it! Canada actually made overtures to us first, offering a trade: if the US would let refugee Canadians get healthcare on our dime, Canada would let chronically ill Americans into their system. That went back and forth in negotiations before they gave up and just shook hands on a deal to roll with it and pay back any gross difference later. And that took some pressure off while the US built its own universal system, modeled on Canada’s for easy sharing, ready to merge with Canada’s. And Canada had already had reciprocity with the UK, the UK had reciprocity with its other former colonies and various European countries, and so on. In the short run we linked up where we could, and in the long run we stayed linked wherever we could agree on rules and standards. It just made sense. 

And then of course energy and infrastructure. Wind and solar got a big boost. Solar faster, since the wind tech at the time had a problem with obliterating birds, but we got that figured out. Areas with coal and other fossil fuel plants got their updates the fastest, obviously. Then the nuclear ones, since they made people nervous. Garbage-burning plants probably should have been updated sooner, but they got punted until there was a better plan for garbage.  Anyway, building wind and solar farms meant roads and bridges had to be ready to haul construction gear, so a lot of long-overdue repairs got made, and all that food distribution meant there needed to be ways to ship it fast, all ideally with minimal fuel, so we finally got high-speed rail in the US. Politicians, mostly Strikers, had always made high speed rail sound like science fiction when Japan had been using it for decades already. New tracks, more tracks. It just made sense. 

Remaining Strikers screamed about budget as long as they were in office, but what with the MIC having its disgustingly bloated budget yanked and reappropriated, they didn’t have real legs to stand on. They screamed about socialism too, but at that point the majority hated them and every idea they’d ever had or would had, so that voice got quieter and quieter as they got voted out.

Other changes… they just happened along the way. I mean, imagine the burden lifted from families that had struggled to buy adequate food, let alone healthy food, because someone couldn’t work because of a disability. Now they had medical care and could work, now they had at least a minimum amount of healthy food whether they could work or not --  which meant their kids were healthier and less likely to miss school, which meant they got a better education. 

Education got an overhaul. It used to cost thousands and thousands of dollars even at state-supported universities, but with the government desperately needing scientists and engineers and doctors -- to be fair the Strikers were partially right about the surge of patients with free healthcare -- the government put out more scholarships and subsidies and debt-forgiveness programs, starting with those fields and then expanding both outward to other fields and down to secondary and primary  schools, strengthening school budgets and investing in programs that reduced truancy and caught kids up when they were behind. It just made sense. 

After boosts to education, private prisons complained that states weren’t fulfilling occupancy contracts, resulting in a surge of protest against them, newspaper editorials explaining the idea of “perverse incentives” -- basically the fact that prisons had no motivation to discourage recidivism, since they got paid per inmate inside. There was some experimenting with paying them instead for inmates outside, the ones who hadn’t been re-arrested; there was experimenting with paying bonuses when inmates got GEDs or college credits or trade school certifications; there was experimenting with paying them to put mentally ill inmates in hospitals instead of keeping them. Eventually they were just phased out, replaced with government-run operations that have every motivation to turn petty criminals into productive members of society and not cheat itself in budgeting. It just made sense. 

It helped a lot that big changes were made to finances in elections. It seems so obvious now, but back then it wasn’t considered a bribe for someone to say “Mr Congressperson, these proposed regulations would make it awful difficult to keep my prison profitable, and without profit it’s hard to make hefty campaign donations like I did last year.”  It was public information, but that didn’t do much good when the prison or the oil company or what have you could donate more themselves than every human supporter opposing them could. New rules put a strict kibosh on that so nobody could gain the power the MIC had.  That made a lot of sense. 

And when we felt good about ourselves, we reached out. Europe had its European Union, and there’d always been various trade and border agreements between basically everyone, and the UN, so this wasn’t a new idea or just our idea either. We expanded what we shared with Canada, what we shared with Mexico. Our healthcare connection, and then economic connections, grew from Canada to the UK to the EU. A bit, um, not colonialist, but… eurocentric? Eurocentric. But we got there eventually. The World Union was what the UN probably should have been. You had to have good roads and healthcare and everything to join, but the WU would help you get there, if you followed the rules, and they’d help you follow the rules too. We didn’t want to help a country build roads if the roads were going to be made with forced labor and materials stolen from the indigenous people, that sort of thing. Didn’t want to connect to your healthcare system if you were touting beet juice as a cure for HIV. Didn’t want to loop you into the food system if you were force-feeding your cows and chickens unnecessary antibiotics -- the US used to do that, almost ruined antibiotics for everyone, had to stop that before anyone would join the WU with us. Had to quit the Yellow #5 too. 

It was a weird few decades, I’m not denying that, and it was a lot of adjustment and getting things wrong and having to fix them, not denying that either. And I’m still not used to it. I forget to take in my food tickets before I go grocery shopping. If I get prescribed a different dose for my pills, I’ll double-up or cut the old ones before I start the new bottle, so that I have extra pills in case I “can’t afford” to get more. I started college funds for all my grandchildren! I don’t know what they’ll use them for. 

But I would happily take all that confusion again rather than letting the Strikers handle things. Some people feel the Fixers and the WU intrude on things and I understand that, but it’s like mom, you know she means best. The Strikers and their government before then, they -- ugh. I still don’t want to think about them. Sometimes it sure looked like malevolence but mostly it was just callousness. They-- ugh. You have history books. I don’t mind talking about the transition years but the years before then gave me so much anxiety I had to go on pills for it.

Pills that I still have extra of, in case I can’t afford to get more. 

[edgewaterfarmcsa]

"its the most wonderful time of the year..."

Andy Williams was wrong when he said Christmas was “the most wonderful time of the year…”

It really isn’t.

Mud season on the farm is!

What are we to make of the weather thus far in 2024?  I am personally torn. I feel for my skiing buddies, but as a person whom is no longer skiing, I have enjoyed the relatively ice free footing and the temperatures that have allowed me to cut brush and indulge in an occasional bike ride, say nothing about economizing on the firewood.

Spring fast approaches, maybe a little too fast. There is a palpable level of tension in the Macs Maple Sugarhouse as to the uncertainty of the weather and that its impacts could spell a very short sugaring season. Climate change  has wrought some real havoc with the trees as we lost not only the tree fruit in most of New England in 2023 but most of the leaves on the hardwoods got burned off as well. This is abnormal stress that they can once endure, but they wont do well if it becomes a normal event.

Let’s shift to to greenhouse season and early considerations about vegetable growing.

We pretty much adhere to a chronological schedule for doing things in the greenhouse. Things are timed as best we can to provide flower and vegetable starts for our farm and customers in May. This plant material is all grown in a controlled environment, so it is a mostly weather independent schedule. However, what we do in the field and gardens out in the real weather and the timing of when we do it becomes a whole other bucket of fish. We time the first plantings of our spring vegetables starts for early to mid May, especially the field crops that take a long time like peppers and tomatoes. The first part is easy: seed and grow in the greenhouse. Then there is a general planting date (mid May) that is adjusted and affected by temperature and moisture. You can’t keep transplants in the greenhouse forever until all threat of frost has gone, because the quality of the transplant diminishes. Maybe you cant (or dare) plant because it looks like a cold front coming at you in 3 days. Or perhaps the ground is too dry and the supplemental irrigation has not been set up.  After planting, the frost sensitive crops will need protection in the manner of row covers….and a bit of weather related luck by avoiding late frosts. Weather can affect the successive planting of vegetables. In 2023 we had all manner of vegetables backed up waiting for transplant, couldn’t get them planted in a timely manner because we couldn’t get into flooded areas or the ground was just too saturated.

Lets forget about last year….not a minute too soon…

The question in my mind (and every other farmer) is this : Are we to expect a drought like in 2022, or a wet year like 2023? From what I am seeing today, I put my money on a drought this summer. Loggers are complaining about the water running in the woods, but down here on these well drained sandy soils I fully expect dust clouds in May when we go to work up planting ground. There is no snow pack to keep the brooks and streams flowing full bank into May. There is no ice in the brooks and rivers and I would say by the lack of fishing huts on area ponds is that there isn’t much ice there either. That is not to say we could not have a wet spring. We certainly could, after all, don’t we live in New England? The Connecticut River across the road looks navigable in a kayak today (March 3, 2024) without much water in it. Thirty years ago (back in the Old Days…) we worried about “ice out” in the river resulting in ice dams and flooding. The river rarely skim coats ice now, and didn’t at all this year.  So it will be pretty easy to get things pretty dry around here pretty quickly with a strong spring sun and some breezy April days.

Other than the regular weather concerns we think we are ready (mostly) to hit the ground running. We will put in our first two houses of tomatoes by the end of this month. Jenny and Ray are busily grafting the later plantings of tomatoes and seeding vegetables and herbs for later vegetable tunnels and outdoor planting. Ali, Aly, Sarah, Holly and Anne are already cranking out hanging baskets and transplanting seedlings. We have passed the annual housing inspections by NHDOL for the H2A crew, and we have a good start on family firewood for the upcoming winter.  Youth hockey season is wrapping up and winter vacations are over so there are a lot of bodies here working already. With Jenny and Ray busy grafting tomatoes, Steve is seeding onions and I am seeding annuals and tying up the latter part of vegetative propagation of ornamentals. The warmth and relative dryness has been very nice to work in,  a silver lining to all that is  potentially dangerous about a warming climate. By week’s end we will have 8 greenhouses up and running.

Game on.

And finally we should mention the turnover in some of the farm team members. During the 2023 season we lost two of our favorite team players. Ray and Jenny lost Sugar, the benevolent dog beast with a sweet disposition and a firm advocate at Edgewater for a Woodchuck Free Zone. Anne and I saw our old pal Dixie leave the building. She too had a nice disposition, an un paralleled love of riding in a car and intently scrutinizing my cooking at dinner time. But there are a few new recruits that have come with the advent of the new growing season, With Walter and Mina the senior dogs, the new trainees are getting acquainted and we are learning names. There also seems to be a new breed of farm dogs showing up. They are very nimble, quick and are small. They look a lot like small goats, but I am assured they are not…….

[afr0-thunder]

[Poor Chronicles Pt. 40]

Topics: Weed/Diet/SEXI (“final” update)/HORNDAWG/Fake Lesbian Girlfriend/Living Arrangement/Accounting/Geography Thoughts/Remaining Thoughts (3+ Parts)

*$260. I obviously lied. I will continue to purchase weed, but only in small amounts now following my thorn strain mishap. The second wasn’t rashy throat, as it was just not very great serving as an improvement while simultaneously there were some improvements. If you can’t rely on your dealer who can you rely on? I refer back to guy last. Solid improvement, still not surpassing quality of guy last to him. I decide it is time to stop waiting for my schedule to align with my dealer and let it be. I crossed passed with the second dealer from the second location. The one I had looked for and didn’t find until his services were no longer needed, I requested them for the first time. Greatest quality since “guy last to him” had been present. My dealer, although he gave me discounted weed “for Christmas”, I wouldn’t have even believed it was weed, if a seed didn’t fall out. Not my first, but it will be the source of a great experiment. We all know weed is good. We all know weed is great, but can “bad” weed become strong weed using proper gardening techniques as terrible crop soil, improper harvesting method and growing techniques could have harmed the first plant’s growth. Much like a bad plant with a bruised fruit or vegetable, or is it just aged? Or not aged enough? I also purchased a “grapple” of chips.

SEXI, has not replied to my latest direct message. It is time to retire her jersey number on the roster. She is not a destined baby momma. I am speechless.

Horndawg has to be retired. I had attempted to recruit a lesbian bride-to-be and she can’t be disrespected by competition. It was all or nothing. I couldn’t let another woman challenge her position. Unsettling. Both are to be retired.

I am considering abandoning my upcoming plans and taking them on alone. I do not believe such a perfect situational preference exists. I am stuck between frustrated and angry, less so of the angry.

Am not getting tired of the chips. Am getting tired of the endless cycle of nothing to do. There is almost nothing to spend money on.

Discovered my walking path to my old neighborhood was the projects and you would never notice in the present day. The idea of people hating it here is actually outrageous. The idea of my old neighborhood being the same for almost 50+ years in almost every way statistically is absolutely outrageous as well. Still the poorest in the whole city. Although people carry out these ideas poorly, we used to be a country. Mostly just Chicago, but this is nearly an island or country. We certainly are larger than many other places as far as population for some who have an outstanding amount of land in comparison and land for those lacking enough of it to consider declaring independence rational. We’re just larger in every way.

I have been getting an abundance of things lately. I had a ton of [Bad Questions] for the series, personal ones. I cannot remember them all or any really. I am unsure of where to place my money still. My savings series is still in process. I just had to spend about $400 on weed in 6-7 weeks just to show you it is not even a terrible expense. Just costly and uncertain in desired quality. Otherwise, I’d put it there. For what? To never spend? Exactly. Outrageous concept, really an emergency fund. I get the sense my ancestors were here and departed at some point surrounding the period of the Great Chicago Fire as a “smoke signal” (primarily marijuana) notifies African Americans of where it is and is not safe to be in the near future. I’m getting that they have relocated to Canada. I assume they departed from Haiti and traveled north near Nova Scotia and headed through the Great Lakes into the Chicago area and most have not returned since. The water quality declined and citizens were killed daily of cholera, so it had to have been a million signs notifying people to leave the area and were met with no responses. Eventually, the signals began to falsely be sent out after everything began to die down and safety was called. We now live in a period and/or era where almost nobody knows what is going on. There will be joy and cheer someday, but for most, not like the times that existed previously.

I’m so interested in what my projects will evolve into over time. I am happy with the progress that I didn’t even see myself making with them. The creativity is not satisfactory, but it’s becoming something to appreciate. I’m not sure what comes next because the additions I’ve made and am making could be disastrous or a significant improvement from the first attempts made. My “version” (totally new idea) will be better.

I have gotten back into reading, not the traditional kind, but articles at the very least. I’m loving it. It’s fun. I shall have a library for me and my nerdiest wench. I intend to treat every single one of them the same, because that is who I am in nature, but who am I to not “reward” my first available angel. It feels scum-like, but why would that relationship not be more personal. It has to align a certain way for some reason, right?

I miss cooking. I would like to learn _______chicken and fried rice. Shrimp, but that’s expensive. Chicken fried rice would be a lot of chicken, unsure of the clash. I would like to try the traditional General Tso’s, Orange, Etc…, but would also like to make my own sauce after I’ve gotten comfortable with cooking methods and tastes. I would love to try a chimichanga still, but wonder if I can make it more like nachos (cheesier). What creates the difference in texture with cooked ground beef versus ground turkey. Does turkey bacon get as crispy as pork? Bacon, cheese, fries. Ghost peppers? (Wendy’s). Any other peppers available?

- MH (2023)

[12/28/2023 - 10:58AM]

[cutoutpictures]

Why Photo Editing Service Is More Crucial For Photographer

Photography has never been more popular than in the last few years. Technology has come a long way in the past few decades. The photography industry used to rely on film cameras, but it was expensive, tedious work, and it wasn't even a problem for the average person to consider it a profession. With the development of DSLR cameras (digital single-lens reflex cameras) in the 2000s, the framework situation changed completely.

Photographers used to have to buy expensive film. There were 28 to 36 shots, and it was even more difficult to develop them after they were taken. This takes time

Digital SLR cameras and mirrorless cameras currently lead the market. Film is no longer needed as it is much cheaper and more intuitive to use. Faster, more reliable and with clearer results. The use of film was replaced by flash memory, and there was no limit to the number of photos that could be taken.

More and more people are taking up photography as a profession. Photography is an art form that requires artistic effort and aesthetic flair, but with the transition from analog to digital post-processing platforms, imaging has become a separate sector.

Why are photo editing services important for photographers?

Many photo editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photos, and Adobe Lightroom give users tremendous freedom and unlimited ways to edit their photos. can now be edited. The only limit is your imagination.

For photographers, it is difficult to balance shooting and image editing at the same time. This is where Clipping path services come into play. Photo editing services allow photographers to have their photos edited by experts in the field and focus on capturing the moment.

1. Save time and increase efficiency:

A photographer's job is not just to take photos, but to make them look good and deliver them to the client. Capturing a moment takes seconds, but making it look good and improve quality takes time, especially if you're doing it all alone. Have you ever done retouching? Dealing with every single wrinkle to get rid of blemishes on your face is no fun at all. Your time is valuable. A photo cutout service provider will do the editing for you so you can focus on capturing the moment. It also means you can grow your business by delivering photos faster and freeing up time you previously spent editing to invest in other clients.

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Professional editing services can give you access to advanced editing techniques and premium software that you may not have. This includes techniques such as color correction, cropping, masking, spot removal, and compositing to make images more attractive and attractive to clients. When you outsource your editing to a professional service provider, you benefit from advanced techniques to create stunning images that stand out from the crowd. Additionally, some advanced features may take years to master and perfect. Therefore, using a photo editing service will help you stay far ahead of your competitors.

4. Cost-effectiveness

It may seem expensive, but outsourcing your photo editing to a professional photo editing service can be cost-effective. Let me explain. As mentioned before, professional photo editing services already invest in premium software and tools to provide advanced editing. You can enjoy the peace of mind of paying a small fee for your images without having to invest in expensive software or equipment. This will save you time and money, which you can spend on developing your business.

Not only does it cost a lot of money to use premium software, but it also takes a lot of time to learn and master this image editing software. With the help of photo editing services, you can save that time and use it to invest in other clients, which will be beneficial for your business.

5. Reliable Delivery

Clipping path service provider primarily use batch processing. Edit multiple images at the same time. When you use a photo editing service, you can rest assured that the service provider is responsible for all editing. Your editing service provider will deliver your photos before the submission deadline, so you can submit your images on time. This will help you build a good brand image and maintain it over time. Your customers will be impressed and your company will build an image that will serve you well in the long run.

[sanesquaregg]

Why Flutter Application is a Great Idea for Your Business in 2023

Cross-platform development is one of the main advantages of his Flutter, allowing programmers to create beautiful apps for iOS and Android platforms at the same time. Compared to native development, Flutter programming saves time and money as it does not need to hire two development teams to create separate platforms for Android and iOS. Are you still wondering why Flutter is always in the news? Why should you use Flutter in your future projects? Or how can the benefits of Flutter help you grow your business? Whether you are a CTO, a startup entrepreneur, or an avid developer, this blog is definitely for you. If you have any questions about Flutter's strengths and weaknesses, we'll be more specific.

In this blog, we have summarized all the benefits of Flutter App Development , why you should switch to Flutter app development, why Flutter is the best choice, and more. Let's get started!

Why is Flutter Perfect for App Development?

With so many app development platforms available, why choose Flutter? Why Flutter is the ideal platform for app development These are just a few of the current predicaments you may be in. Here's some information to help you understand why Flutter is the perfect choice for app development. Flutter is more than just a framework for UI components like buttons and sliders. It's also a complete software development kit with everything you need to create the best applications. Flutter has an API interface, various pre-built widgets, a visualization system, command-line tools, and more.

Flutter has climbed to the top of the ratings in every country with a huge wave of popularity. Here is a map created by experts to commercialize and discover the benefits of Flutter app development. Although the number of experts in this field is growing, the industry is still relatively untapped.

Advantages of Flutter App Development

1. Started Quickly

The quickstart will start even after you start working with Flutter. With the Flutter environment installed and running, you can start creating new applications in less than 30 minutes. This is just one of the benefits of Flutter app development.

2. Clean Development Methodology

There are several ways to describe working with Flutter as clean and convenient. Some developers have experienced severe CPU overload due to, for example, the abundance of elements within a WebView. Additional items are required to resolve this issue. process takes more than once.

3. Great for MVP Development

Developing MVPs (minimum viable products) for multiple systems at the same time is a dream. It includes all the qualities that company owners look for when selecting products that they later present to investors.

It's fast and cheap. As with native apps, he is the only developer required to develop an MVP.

4. Full Consistency

Flutter provides comprehensive synchronization of user interface and business logic on both Android and iOS. One of the main advantages of Flutter app development is evident from this very image. Platform layout is no longer an issue for professionals as end users benefit from guaranteed work quality.

5. A Great Interface for Any Complexity

The flexibility to customize whatever you want to achieve on screen is Flutter's most prominent feature. Developing such a view using native platforms is much more difficult.

This tool fully automates the creation of the most common realistic images without increasing application load. Crop or transform images by changing colors, shapes or shadows. Here you can do it with maximum comfort.

6. Simplified Implementation of Logic

Some organizations use Bluetooth to manipulate accounts, implement coordinates, and other technologies during application development. Plugins make it easy to integrate all this into future applications.

We cannot rule out the possibility that some functionality exists at the plugin level. As you may have noticed, innovative Flutter has overcome this case. Implement an easy way to connect your code to Dart. This is the perfect opportunity to connect the desired with the real. great performance.

Application performance is one of the most important categories when developing a good UX. Flutter 1.17 improved rendering performance by 50% and reduced memory usage by over 70% on new iOS devices. This statistic gives a quick overview of the advantages of Flutter app development over the competition of software development kits.

7. Flutter has Very Good Performance

sometimes even outperforming native applications with complex animation interfaces. Not relying on an intermediate code representation is one of Flutter's many advantages. Since the app is already embedded in machine code, the possibility of performance issues is virtually eCoding integration is easy.

Flutter is very flexible when it comes to embedding your code into your existing platform or application suite. Developers can customize the new code so it can be easily integrated into existing application code. Developers have long believed that SDKs are very beneficial to programming and use them all the time.

8. Faster Application

Flutter apps run fast and smoothly without stuttering or stalling when scrolling. Read this article if you want to know the reason behind it and how it works. Flutter applications are partly faster because Dart is a much more advanced programming language. This enables predictable and customizable native code compilation in a single codebase, with key features such as hot, reloading, and accelerated development and testing.

9. Same User Interface and Business Logic On All Platforms

As an expert, I know that almost all cross-platform frameworks provide a way to port code between target platforms. However, apart from Flutter, no other application framework can share the UI code and the UI itself. Below is what UI rendering looks like in most cross-platform frameworks.

This rendering approach makes it easy to develop apps that display natively on all platforms. But the devil is in the details. Using platform-specific rendering components requires the development of a platform widget property mapping layer and data synchronization of framework widgets. Therefore, each animation must be converted into platform-specific interface calls.

10. Simplified Test Procedure

If the code is identical on both systems, the tester runs a series of tests. Cross-platform development saves testers time. If there are differences between apps, testers will have to put in a little more effort to test on both platforms.

Why Choose Sanesquare Technologies for Flutter App Development ?

Dedicated Team

We as a Flutter application development company provide top-rated Flutter developers to create, update, and support your Flutter apps.

Great User Experience

Our in-house UX/UI designers create an intuitive interface for your with the native touch and feel.

Flexible Pricing Models

Our Flutter app development company gives you a few pricing models - fixed and time & material.

Conclusion

One of the most advanced mobile technologies available today is his Flutter. As with any innovation, there are some limitations. So, does Flutter benefit your business? The benefits of Flutter app development definitely outweigh some of the drawbacks. With Google's backing, it's a strong contender to dominate cross-platform mobile app development.

As one of the leading Mobile Application Development Companies in India, we can help you develop a mobile application for your business.Our experts can help you if you need assistance with your Mobile Application Development needs. Feel free to contact us.

[im4uworld]

500 per second, 29,000 per minute, 1.7 million per hour, 41 million per day

You can make a difference by making some small changes. Are you willing?

We based this article on a short video clip by BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) from February 20, 2020.

What could happen if everyone on Earth planted a tree? Currently, tree canopy covers approximately 30% of the planet. We know trees play an essential role in climate change and biological diversity. We also know that trees are a renewable resource, but cutting them down at current rates has a cost.

There are currently about 3 trillion trees on Earth. That may sound like a lot, but estimates show that humans have destroyed 50% of the tree cover since the dawn of civilization if each of the approximately 8 billion people planted one tree. Eight billion new trees would equal a little more than ¼ of 1% of all the trees already alive. It would make a huge difference, symbolically, but it would only be a drop in the bucket.

Estimates show that if we planted 1.2 trillion new trees, we would cancel out ten years of carbon dioxide emissions by the time the trees reached maturity. The current tree canopy captures 400 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. Another 1.2 trillion new trees can capture an additional 100 gigatonnes. To achieve this, every human on the planet must plant 160 trees.

There is another way we can help achieve this result. Slow down the rate of deforestation worldwide. Every time someone cuts down a tree, it starts a process of releasing the carbon captured by the tree in its lifetime. If the tree is allowed to decompose naturally, the rate of that carbon release is slow. Living organisms like fungi, insects, and other plants reabsorb some of that carbon. If we burn wood in a fire, the release of carbon occurs quickly. Approximately 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are a result of deforestation. That amounts to 15 billion trees cut down annually, 500 trees per second, 29,000 trees per minute, 1.7 million per hour, or 41 million trees per day.

Planting more trees will capture more carbon, increase habitat protection and support increasing biodiversity. An added benefit is the relationship to mental health. Trees can lower stress and increase feelings of happiness. The Japanese have a ritual called “shinrin-yoku,” forest bathing. People reconnect with the forests to reduce stress and find inner personal centeredness.

Here are some ways you, as an individual, can reduce the rate of global deforestation and slow climate change.

Reduce your meat and dairy consumption. A lot of forest land is lost to make room for cattle. Consider making meat a part of special occasions only. Beef production is responsible for about 41% of the deforestation in the world today. Beef production produces five times more greenhouse gas emissions, uses 11 times more water, and takes up 28 times more land than all pork and chicken production combined.

Reduce your consumption of palm oil. Many tropical forests are lost each year and replaced with oil palm trees. Read the labels of the products you consume and choose alternatives.

Overall, consume less and choose quality over quantity. Cell phones are a good example. Companies will clear and mine land to get the rare earth minerals needed for your cell phone. Seek out eco-friendly companies and support agroforestry.

Use your products longer. Rid yourself of the disposable mentality. Think of everything you consume in your household - food, power, transportation, clothing, chemicals, and consumer goods. Less is more. Buy products that are known to last longer.

Reduce fossil fuels, but be aware that biofuels may not be a suitable alternative. Did you know that palm oil shows up in some biofuels? That and other biofuel sources rely on large-scale agriculture to grow the crops, accelerating land clearing. Walking, cycling, and car-pool can help reduce this demand.

Buy second-hand. Furniture is a good example. Cheap, mass-produced furniture has a shorter lifespan, is often thrown away, and encourages mass consumption.  

Seek out sustainable products. Coffee is a good one to consider, along with clothing, food, and cooking oil.

Reduce and reuse is a good mantra to have. You can start with paper products in your home. Print documents double-sided. Better yet, replace printing on paper with digital files. Reduce paper towel consumption and use cloth towels instead.

The New Year is an excellent time to reassess your current lifestyle and introduce some simple changes that can make a difference. You can still enjoy your quality of life and contribute to the well-being of our planet. We are all in this together.

https://www.im4u.world/news/500-per-second%2C-29%2C000-per-minute%2C-1.7-million-per-hour%2C-41-million-per-day

[fullmains]

Hltb resident evil 3 remake

Hltb resident evil 3 remake .dll#

Hltb resident evil 3 remake update#

Hltb resident evil 3 remake upgrade#

Hltb resident evil 3 remake code#

Hltb resident evil 3 remake license#

Will Lady Dimitrescu or anyone else in Resident Evil Village eventually make this list? Only time will tell. So, in celebration of Resident Evil Village, or Resident Evil VIII, launching, now is as good a time as ever to look at some more characters in the series that are considered by many Resident Evil fans to be the cream of the crop. Some have persisted throughout many adventures while some were one-and-done situations whether they just went off and did something else or died. It’s been around for over twenty years so that fact may be obvious. There are two things that stand out about RE3: Nemesis and the city setting.

Hltb resident evil 3 remake code#

It's not quite as good as 2 or the REmake but it's miles better than Code Veronica, Zero, or the original RE1. Updated May 5th, 2021 by Tristan Jurkovich: Resident Evil is a series filled with characters. RE3 is one of the better old-school RE games. The site How Long To Beat measures RE3's main story at six hours, which made some fans feel shortchanged. Some are more memorable than others for one reason or another so let’s rank them out to see who is the best of the best. 2020's Resident Evil 3 Remake was great, but it got criticism for its short run time. From heroes to villains, there are a lot. In celebration of whatever they announce, this might be a good a time as any to remember the most beloved characters from these games. RELATED: The Best (& Worst) Area From Each Resident Evil Game This is most likely tied to Resident Evil VIII. It’s not slowing down anytime soon either as Capcom has already announced a big set of announcements for an upcoming stream. I have no relation with , if you like their work please go and support them.The Resident Evil series has been growing strong for over two decades now.

Hltb resident evil 3 remake license#

I think you need a premium license because custom fields are not supported in free license (not sure). Is it worth it Let's talk about itFollow Jake on twitter: https://t. Lengths are shown with leading zeroes because is the only way to properly order the games since custom fields are strings and not integers. Resident Evil Zero gets the HD remaster treatment for PC, PS4, Xbox One, 360, and PS3. You can use the "Arrange By" option to order the games by length. Metal Gear Ac!d will get no results but you can then change the search to Metal Gear Acid). If there's no results you can manually change the search words (e.g. A window will popup with all the games found and you can choose which one correspond to your game.

Hltb resident evil 3 remake update#

So config the first time and stick with that.Īccess the option by right-click a game (only one game, no massive update yet). It’s probably better to play that first in order to get used to the mechanics and controls in RE2/RE3, because not only is 2 more simple with that stuff, but Nemesis won’t allow you much time to learn lol. It says about 15 hours for completionist, but most games, I usually get a lot more hours out of, because I explore everything. Note: If you change the fields names it will not update the games that already have information, so you will end up with duplicated fields with different names and you will have to manually delete them (edit game -> custom fields tab). It’s not necessary, but I’d definitely recommend doing so. Anyone got longer than the HLTB hours bigmalky 1 year ago 1. Default: Main + Extra LengthĬompletionistFieldName: Change completionist length custom field name. MainExtraFieldName: Change main story + extra length custom field name. Resident Evil Village is officially available, and according to early players, it takes around 10 hours to beat. MainStoryFieldName: Change main story length custom field name. MainExtraLength: Enable/disable main story + extra length update. Default: true.ĬompletionistLength: Enable/disable completionist length update. Default: true. MainStoryLength: Enable/disable main story length update.

Hltb resident evil 3 remake .dll#

You can configure which ones you want to add by editing the file HLTBPlugin.xml.īecause there's no oficial API from HLTB, I had to parse the HTML, which means that as soon as they change something on the HTML this plugin probably will stop working.Įxtract files (dll + xml) to : Launchbox/Plugins/HLTBPlugin.

Hltb resident evil 3 remake upgrade#

This adds 3 custom fields for Main Story, Main + Extra and Completionist length. As part of our Resident Evil 3 Walkthrough, you might also be interested in: All Gun Upgrade Locations, All Hip Pouch Locations, All Ammo Crafting Combinations, All Herb Combinations and Their. I made this plugin to add length information for certain games, mostly rpgs. Plugin that scrapes information from and adds custom fields with game lengths information.

[seepiner]

California lightworks solarsystem 1100

California lightworks solarsystem 1100 full#

Once the item has been arranged to ship or has shipped, the package will be treated like a 'return' and is subject to ship-back fees and restocking fees. We can accommodate most requests, but due to the different time zones and schedules that our warehouses ship from, sometimes the cancellation request may not reach the warehouse in time before the product ships. We charge a 2.9% (credit card), 3.5% (PayPal), 4.0% (PayPal International), 4.1% (American Express), or 6.5% (Shop Pay Installments or Sezzle) order cancellation fee after the order was received. If you need to cancel your order, we recommend reaching out to us ASAP. These charges are the responsibility of the customer and not Canada Grow Supplies Inc. Items shipped internationally from the USA may have VAT, duties, taxes, and/or local charges due at delivery. If not, you can email us at for some more information on shipment. Nearly all of our brands can be shipped internationally using FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL or other couriers. Free Shippingįree shipping is available across all provinces throughout Canada for orders over 149$. As soon as we receive your tracking number, we will send it over to you. Some items might take longer as they are delivered from our warehouse in Vancouver. Most products ship within 1 to 3 business days. Please see current estimated lead times on the product page for each product. If the item is available for shipment we will submit the order for processing and arrange shipment. In rare cases, if the product is on backorder or unavailable, we will contact you and ask if you would like to wait for the product to become available, switch your product, or have your payment refunded. Payment is captured as soon as the order is placed. This means we have received your order and payment. *SolarSystem Controller Required (Sold Separately)Īs soon as your order is placed, an order confirmation will be sent to the email address you used to place the order.Perfect for Small- or Large-Scale Grows.Replaces a 1000-watt HPS with 40% Less Energy.The advanced SolarSystem 1100 offers exceptional power and convenience and provides the conditions needed for any size of commercial crop production operation to succeed. These commercial grow lights are ideal for maximizing yield in small growing operations and continue to meet your operational needs as your business grows. Linked together in a series, SS 1100 large LED lights can cover any size grow area-large or small-while drastically cutting energy usage and eliminating the need to change bulbs-ever.

California lightworks solarsystem 1100 full#

Light output from our full spectrum grow lights promotes photosynthesis at all stages of growth and a comfortable environment to assess and maintain crops. A high efficiency of 2.23 umol/j and 0–800-W power consumption contributes to efficient growing operations. It also offers a large 5’ x 5’ bloom coverage area and 8’ x 8’ foot vegetative coverage area. This grow light system enables 0 to 100% dimming of commercial LED grow lights. Powerful enough for veg or bloom, the SS 1100 features fully programmable spectrum control with the optional SolarSystem Controller. The SS 1100 is lightweight yet puts out more light than much larger LED grow lights and will replace a 1000-watt HPS system. The SolarSystem 1100 (SS 1100) represents the most powerful horticulture LED lights we’ve ever made. California Lightworks SolarSystem 1100 LED Grow Light

[vampyrial]

A World For Her Alone | The First Lives pt. 3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

cw (chapter specific): emotional hurt, general angst, abuse, death, murder

pairing: claude x fem!reader

summary: end of the first, beginning of many

For the time being, you were locked up in your room (Claude had rarely slept in it) while evidence was gathered. Once it was, Claude would divorce you and you would be at complete mercy of the kingdom’s judgment. It was unthinkable to you at that point, though, half hysterical and half delusional in your faith. You pleaded your innocence and believed, convinced yourself that you would never reach anywhere near a jail cell. Claude would come to his senses. You were innocent of Diana’s death even if you were not innocent of resenting her to some degree.

Again, you had been living in the reality of a desperate hope rather than the one that was obviously unfolding before you.

All of a sudden, evidence of crimes cropped up everywhere. Confessions from “co-conspirators”, a gang of bandits who you had never laid eyes on. They confessed unanimously that you were the instigator. In a moment’s notice, you were in a damp, dark cell before you could process the insanity of the situation. It felt like a fever dream, even just being there. You, in growing hysteria and desperation, simply couldn’t help but laugh. Such a story, no one rational would ever believe it. Yes, in a minute, you would be home.

But the longer you waited there, in that cell, as hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation set in, you had to accept that such was not the case. You were forced to analyze your situation. As the wife of a marquis, yours was a coveted title, you had known that and you’d know that some nobles played underhanded schemes to set others up. But the marquisate was rigid and upheld their power strictly and carefully. You didn’t think it could happen to you, like anyone who’d gone through a tragedy.

It was something gradual, too incremental to catch until it was at such a point that it flooded over. Your reputation had been fraying, thread by thread. No one would care to defend you and you couldn’t do it yourself while in custody. All you could do is hope for Claude to come, to dispute the charges.

Knees on the rough stone floors, kneeling beside a flat, crudely made bed of wood and made with a thin blanket, you prayed. Claude was always an upright person and though he had been quite shaken by Diana’s death, he was always a man who could put aside his feelings when necessary. He would calm down and see reason, he would understand. He would think logically and prove your innocence. He would apologize for the misunderstanding with that calm, firm voice and take you home.

In that dirty cell, sitting on the splintered wooden bed, listening to the eerie moans of other inmates, you waited faithfully.

“Why do you still believe in him? Why do you still look like you’re waiting?”

You could hear someone’s voice say to you at some point through the endless hours. You didn’t have an answer, not only because your mind was moving very slowly, getting stuck on thoughts of Claude but also because living as a prisoner took an enormous toll. You didn’t have an answer. You loved him, that was the only explanation to be given. It was the only thing that existed then.

In the end, he did not come. You died praying, taking shallow breaths of the moldy air.

You did not make it to execution, or if you did, you were not lucid enough to remember. A real prison was a harsh place to a young noblewoman. Nobles were normally placed in a separate place for their crimes, a place which could only be considered a prison to nobles but to a commoner, would be a fine hotel. You would have been placed there as well in standard procedure. But your parents and Claude himself pleaded against it. Claude’s position allowed the privilege of having his requests heard and granted, being in the position second only to the royal family and his words could very usually be accepted as commands. He understood the weight of this but he rarely asked for anything. This time, he had asked, no, wished that you be locked away in a worse place. This hatred for you ran deeply, so much so that he had broken away his own stoicism and worn his disdain outwardly.

You yourself could not even understand why you had waited, why you still loved him but that fact remained that you did. You died waiting for him after your parents had abandoned you. Diana, your little sister, had the love of everyone and who would ever forgive you for taking her away.

Diana was the main character of this story, without her in the world, everything was a painful epilogue. This world was Diana’s to live in and without her…how could there ever be a happy end for anyone? Everything after her is unimportant, a side story tacked onto her finale.

Your second life began with his voice. “Are you alright? This isn’t like you” Claude’s voice brought your surroundings to life. You were alive again, in your parent’s garden. You noticed the china on the tables matched that of what you picked out the day of the tea party, a lovely design that you thought would appeal to your sister’s taste. Tea, selected and highly fussed over to appeal to Claude’s tastes.

Until the tea party began, she was “your sweet Diana” and he was your fiancé, the person who would hold your hands in his and promise to care for you forevermore as you would do for him. The sole person who cared for you. For their sake, everything had to go right. You felt a bit nauseous, as a sickening feeling of deja vu nearly laid you flat on the ground. What happened before…was definitely real. Then what was this? It felt like it had the very first time you had lived it.

Your hands trembled as those memories of the previous life flooded into the equally realistic scene before you. You could hear the light footsteps of Diana making her way to the two of you. And as Claude caught sight of her…again, it happened again. In a red dress that very nearly matched the color of her eyes, with her hair loosely tied and fluttering in the breeze, she resembled a goddess from an old myth. His expression softened, the scene that had tortured you in it’s repetition in your previous life was playing out again before you.

You dropped the teacup you hadn’t even known was in your hand.

“Are you alright?” Claude was standing, prepared to meet Diana. Yes, the two of them together…you had seen it before. The previous life, the one spent kneeling in a pool of congealed blood, abandoned. It took everything in you not to scream.

Perhaps Claude’s eyes watching you carefully is what kept you from doing so, what grounded you.

“What happened? You’re not yourself today,” He had said, slightly reproachful.

“...I’m sorry.” Forcing a smile, you realized that you were still trembling.

But Claude answered your smile with his brilliant one. He stroked your back so soothingly and the touch felt so comforting it put chills down your spine. You almost cried in spite of yourself. Previously, that hand had been around your throat, that hand had wielded a knife prepared to kill you. But that man, that version of Claude had vanished.

You had been granted a chance by God to redo everything. God had bestowed on you, who had met a tragic and unfair end, his greatest miracle. It was more than you had prayed for in that place and it was more than you could have thought to.

The smile that played on your lips became, at least, somewhat genuine.

tags: @kage-tobiuo

Next

[whateverthebeeswant]

How The FUCK Do You Mistake Your Glock For A Taser: A Crash Course In Gun Anatomy

Ok listen up ladies and motherfuckers ‘cause I’m about to learn you on why anyone who says that they mistook a Glock for a taser is a fucking idiot. I’d like to dedicate this to the stupid fucking Republicans who, although they love talking about guns apparently don’t know a damn thing about how they work.

Warning: This post contains screenshots from the bodycam footage of the murder of Daunte Wright. The only objects shown in these screenshots are a gun and a taser; I have cropped Mr. Wright out of the image and there is no graphic content.

How the FUCK do you mistake a Glock for a Taser, Lesson 1: Basic Fucking Eyesight

 [IMAGE 1: Left photo from this NYT article shows the Glock 17 model and the Taser X26P beside each other. The Glock 17 has a longer grip, is darker colored, and is more rectangular. The X26P is bright yellow and has a curved grip and trigger space. Right photo from the bodycam footage video linked beneath the cut, timestamp 1:24, shows a fellow cop with a yellow taser similar to the X26P.]

Look at the pretty colors. Now listen to me very carefully, Blue Lives Matter: yellow is the color of the sun and also this taser. The Glock is the fucking black one.

Lesson 2: Basic fucking touch

Now, let’s say you can’t see. Well, even if it’s not color coded and you’re either blind or stuck in a cave and can’t see your hand from your face, that shouldn’t matter.

Humans are incredible in the animal kingdom because we have an extraordinarily developed sense of touch. Some researchers have proven that humans can feel the difference between a level of molecules.

Which is why it is so incredibly fucking stupid that Potter allegedly didn’t realize that she was holding a gun.

Look at the basic differences in the shapes, the grips, the trigger. I’m pretty sure the outside is made out of plastic or some other lightweight, matte substance. Grabbing a Glock instead of a pistol should be like reaching in your backpack for a pencil and grabbing a banana. And that’s ot even factoring in the weight.

Lesson 3: Guns are fucking heavy

If you’ve never shot a gun, then you might not realize how heavy they are. Hell, I can shoot a lightweight pistol and my arms will still be sore. This is partially because I’m a twink, but mostly because when you hold a chunk of metal for an extended period of time your arms get tired.

Although the NYT article I stole that picture from states that although the exact model Potter is holding is unknown, standard issue for the department are the Glock 17, 22, and 26 Models.

([MAGE 2: The Glock 17, 19, and 26 Models side by side (source) with a screenshot of Potter’s weapon from the body came footage (timestamps 1:30 and 1:31 in the video linked below). The Glock 17 is larger than the 19, which is larger than the 26. The body cam footage shows a gun that resembles either the 17 or the 19. Potter is holding her gun in a loose grip. A caption says Do not hold your fucking gun like this. You are not tomb raider”.]

Now, unless Potter has a rare condition where her hands did not grow past the age of 6, there’s no way that the grip of that gun belongs to a Glock 26 (yes, there could be another grip on it, but I digress). To me, it looks like a Glock 17 because of the length of the grip, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on Glock models.

So let’s say it is the lighter of the two, the 19. The Glock 19 weighs 670g unloaded and 855g loaded. The  X26P Taser used by law enforcement weighs 213g unloaded and 338g loaded.

Don’t know the difference between those two weights? Okay, well first pick up this cute little copy of “If You Give A Mouse a Cookie”  (weight ~345 g.)

[IMAGE 3: Picture of “If You Give A Mouse a Cookie”, a popular and very short children’s book]

Now, pick up the 752-page monstrosity that is the entirety of The Divine Comedy (weight ~794)

[IMAGE 4: Picture of a large copy of “The Divine Comedy”)

The weight difference between those is still smaller than the difference between a Glock and a Taser.

Or go pick up 3.4 apples and 8.5 apples. The list goes on. The point is that it takes an extraordinary lack of care and critical thinking to not realize the difference.

And Potter is holding the gun with one fucking hand.

Lesson 4: The Safety

This is maybe the most important part of the whole situation.

[IMAGE 5: A picture from the X26P User Manual, which displays a safety trigger than must be flipped up for the gun to work].

All tasers have a safety. You have to flip it up so you don’t accidentally shoot yourself in the ass. Now, I’ve only ever owned stun guns and never actually used ones, but I do shoot. When I’m shooting say, a shotgun, it’s an automatic instinct to undo the safety before I shoot. Close, shoulder, aim, safety. Fire. Fire. Close, shoulder, aim, safety. Fire. It’s automatic, but at the same time if I went to flip the safety and my finger ran over where the lever should be, I’d be pretty fucking confused.

And I don’t even going shotgun shooting that often!

Now let’s look at a close-up of the triggers of the Glock 17 and the X26P.

[IMAGE 6: A close up image of the Glock 17 trigger, the X26P trigger, and a diagram of the inside of a Glock 17.]

Glock’s don’t have the standard manual thumb safeties that come with other guns. Instead, they have a trigger safety. It’s hard to see in the first image, but there’s actually a second trigger/piece of metal protruding from the center of the trigger. This way you don’t have to deal with a manual trigger, but the gun won’t go off unless you pull directly back on the trigger.

Again, tactile sense. If you’ve trained with a weapon, a musical instrument, a piece of sports equipment, you know that object inside and out. You might be amazing with a tennis racquet, but if your shorter friend hands you her’s it’ll take awhile to get used to.

Now, it could just be that Potter is incredibly fucking stupid. Let me rephrase that: Potter is definitely incredibly fucking stupid. It’s not just the things she didn’t notice; besides her lack of protocol, she holds her gun with one hand. Maybe you can do that easier with a taser, which doesn’t have this nice little thing called “kickback”, but it’s still bad practice. She fires when one of her coworkers is close to Mr. Wright—generally, it’s a bad idea to fire a taser in an enclosed area.

I can’t speak on the sheer malice or racism in Potter’s own views, but I can say this: Potter was no rookie. She had spent 26 years as a police officer. She was training others. She was head of a fucking police union. So even if she is incredibly apologetic and pro-BLM, even if—this is who the policing system puts their trust in. This is the standard you get, after over 2 decades of experience. A mildly confrontational situation, an officer who doesn’t know her fucking weapons, and a man dead, and a child without a father.

Fuck the police. There’s nothing to reform here.              

Body Cam Footage for Screenshots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdv03O23vRQ

Edit 15/4/2021: mistakenly referred to a taser as a stun gun. In case anyone was wondering, a taser shoots and a stun gun looks more like a cattle prod.

[gallusrostromegalus]

If you ever want to do a "Top 10 home gardening tomato cultivars" segment, I'm here for it. (My folks mostly plant Early Girls, but they have a ridiculously short growing season up there. I grow Sweet 100s, because they taste good enough and I gave up on growing anything other than cherries due to bastard squirrels who like to take exactly one bite out of larger tomatoes.)

OH

IT IS NOW TIME TO INFO DUMP

CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED

Ok so the actual thing with tomatoes is there are- checks google- about 10,000 tomato cultivars out there and every single one of them is different, so you should tailor your tomato breeds to what you actually want to do with them.  10K is a lot a breeds to break down, but fortunately, there are ways to Do That:

1. Determinate vs. Indeterminate 

Determinate tomatoes grow to a genetically predetermined size and start fruiting.  Pros: Tends to have a short time between planting and fruiting, don’t get bigger than a certain size if you only have so much space. Cons: Once they’re done fruiting, that’s it. you really only get the one crop out of them.  Also tend to have sad, watered-down flavor.

Indeterminate tomatoes grow as big as the space will let them, and start fruting when they get around to it. Pros: Maximum Plant for minimum investment, which can be like 10x as big as a determinate plant. Will KEEP fruiting until it gets too cold, so if you can get it in a pot you can move inside you could potentially still be harvesting tomatoes after thanksgiving like my MIL was this year.  If you live somewhere warm like SoCal or AZ, you could keep it alive all year. Cons: MUCH longer time between planting and fruiting.  Indeterminate tomates Get there when they get there. Also may be more prone to disease and pests than the more-modified determinate plants.

There are determinate and indeterminate tomatoes in all 5 of the Greater Tomato Archetypes.  Speaking of:

2. The 5 Tomato Archetypes

I’m so good at segues! 

So tomatoes come in 5 basic types, each which is generally better for something culinary than the others.  You CAN substitute different types of tomato but your food generally doesn’t come out as good.

1. Cherry: Cherry tomatoes produce fruits that are about the size of cherries.  Some people put Grape and Saladette tomatoes in here but they are WRONG, both of those belong in the “Round/All-Purpose” group because Cherry tomatoes specifically have thinner skins, more soluable pectin, and more dissolved glutemates, which means they cook VERY differently.  Cherry tomatoes also produce a shitload of fruits at a time and might be some of the heaviest producers.  Tend to be more heat-tolerant. Good For:  Fresh tomato sauces (i.e. takes less than 20 minutes to make), salads, snacking on directly off the vine like you are a small tarsier discovering a hidden bounty of fruit.

Top reccomendations are: -Indigo Cherry or Dwarf Black Krim if you can find it. I always reccomend dark-pigmented tomatoes as I find they have better flavor, pest resistence and UV tolerance. Taste fruity but not over-sweet and Very Tomato-y.  -Sweet 100/Super-Sweet 100/Sweet Millions: All varietals of the same mass-producing Cherry Tomato. Makes absolute buckets of Tomatoes, sweeter and more fruity than the Indigo cherry, good disease resistence and long growing season.

2. Paste: Paste tomatoes are thin-skinned, meaty and soft tomatoes that... well, they make good tomato paste, the basis for all long-cooking tomato sauces and recipies. They tend to be kind of Oblong and sometimes grow in fun extras like lil tomato “dicks” or weird cthulian shapes, but this doesn’t effect the flavor or nutrition There’s a shitload of great varietals in this category, I’ve yet to hear of a Bad Paste Tomato, just Less Excellent ones.   Good For: Long-cooking Tomato-based dishes like: Bolognese, chili, ketchup, BBQ etc.  Also can and freeze well.

Top Reccomendations are: -Amish Paste: MEATY, and well-suited for growing in a variety of conditions.  Paste is smooth and velvety.  Good for Chili, BBQ and Bolognese. -Opalka tomato: Russian Tomato, little more on the acidic side, grows well in places prone to surprise late frosts.  Paste isn’t as smooth but very thick. makes great ketchup. -San Marzano: THE tomato for making Marinara Sauce (also does good bolognese). Sweeter and lighter, with a slightly runnier paste that clings well to pasta. cans and freezes excellently, does well in places with HOT summers.

3. Beef: Beef tomatoes are BIG motherfuckers that kind of take a long time to grow but are very rewarding.  Beef tomatoes are firm, have a very solid meat and are best eaten raw, typically sliced onto a sandwich or seared under a broiler for a NZ Mousetrap. Not only are the fruits big but so are the Plants, so they take a long time to reach maturity and the fruit takes FOREVER to ripen but if you like a sandwich, they can’t be beat.  Also they look hella impressive on instagram. They also tend to be more prone to Blossom End Rot (which is just a calcium deficiency- just make sure to fertilize with some eggshells and don’t over-water them), and despite the size, don’t tolerate cold well. Good for: Slicing on sandwiches, eating raw like you’re biting into the still-beating heart of your nemesis and enjoying that sweet, sweet revenge, searing quickly under a broiler or putting on a Kabob.

Top Reccomendations Are: -Brandywine: Hefty, great fresh tomato flavor, and PINK.  -Big Zac: Goddamn Massive Tomato. A Real Heckin’ Chonker. meatier flavor and lots of firm flesh with few seeds. -Beefmaster: One problem with Beef tomatoes is that a lot of them are heirloom varietals that aren’t as widely available. Of the ones that are easy to get your hands on, Beefmaster is the best, but it lacks the flavor punch of Brandywine or Big Zac, but it’s not a BAD tomato.

4. Round/Early/All-Purpose: The Workhorse of Tomatoes, the Round Tomato does it all- sauces, salsa, sandwiches, salads, and snacks.  But it doesn’t do them quite as well as the other, more specialized tomatoes.  Also, some of these tomatoes have been Over-Worked and bred to fruit early and transport well, at the expense of it’s Flavor.  I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU, EARLY GIRL AND BETTER BOY, YOU FLAVORLESS TENNIS BALLS, YOU INSULTS TO THE MIGHTY HOUSE OF NIGHTSHADES. Love yourself, don’t get Early Girl or Better Boy. If your season is too short for anything but the earliest of tomatoes, it may be better to grow Something Else than put all that effort in for Disappointment. That said, there are many types of Round/All-Purpose tomatoes that haven’t been overbred into corporate blandness, and I can reccomend them in good concisence if you’re not totally sure what you want to do with your tomatoes: Good For: Indecisive people, people just learning how to grow plants, using one plant for a variety of purposes, people who are not yet prepared to enter the world of Tomato Opinions. Top reccomendations are: -If you really must have an early-fruiting tomato, the Wayahead is an heirloom that people swear comes in early with good size, flavor and firm structure.  I have not personally tied this varietal but people I trust like it. -Black Krim: GOD-TIER TOMATO. It’s got it all- flavor, high yields, firm structure, pest and disease resistence, fucking purple stripes. Cans Well, Freezes well, seeds well and breeds true. Fuck yes. Other tomatoes fucking WISH they had what this Hot Bitch has. -Invincible is a damn-hard-to-kill tomato that isn’t very large but fruits reliably and preforms well all around.  it also ripens 3 fruits at a time so you’re not constantly overburdened with Tomato.  Probably my top pick for beginners that need an Emotional Support Crop.

5. Fun: This is not, strictly speaking, a traditional type of tomato, but I feel like it’s an important category for people who want to do something different or really enjoy all Tomatoes have to offer. Good For: Trying new things, taunting the garden gods with my hubris, showing off at the garden FB group, discovering new flavors of plant.

Top Reccomendations: -Mr. Stripey:  it has a goofy name, it’s yellow-and-pink striped, and it smells and tastes almost exactly like pineapple, but it doesn’t try to digest you back.  I love it. -Japanese Truffle: Dark Brown tomato that looks like someone tried to make ferro rochers at home and bungled it, and has a LONG maturation time, BUT it’s got a chocolately flavor and even at maturity has green insides which give it this. Lightness?  it’s hard to describe but it’s a fascinating flavor. The plant also is more branched and elegant than most tomatoes. Very different, very cool. -I have not personally tried Cherokee Purple but I have heard good things about it. We’ll see how it does in the garden this year. -Tomatillos and Ground Cherries:  Not actually tomatoes, but closely related. Neat herbaceous sort of flavor, like thyme but to the left.  Also comes in a fun Organic wrapping paper. -Ketchup ‘n’ Fries: a Sweet 100 tomato top grafted onto Kennebec Potato rootstock, so it grows both tomato AND potato!  Grafting was invented prbably about a week after the concept of agriculture was, and consists of taking two or more closely related plants and taping a cutting of oone into a hole in the other until the plants heal together.  Like that one gorilla-dude from Umbrella academy, but without the angst.  You can get them pre-made or attempt to make them at home if you’re feeling adventurous and are OK with potentially killing a bunch of starts while you learn.

Good Luck and Happy Gardening!