#spectrum local stores

[ckkastory]

The Best Marketing Tool Empowering Local Entrepreneurs and Fueling Community Growth

Are you a driven local entrepreneur ready to make your mark in the business world? 

CKKA (Customer's Key to Kickstart Affinity) is the revolution you need. As one of the best marketing tools available today, CKKA ignites the flame of success for ambitious business owners and local stores. Navigating the digital age and standing out from the crowd can be a challenge, but CKKA is here to empower you and your fellow local business owners, fueling community growth like never before.

Creating the Spark of Customer Engagement: 

Every local store is more than just a physical space—it's a hub of community connection. CKKA, one of the best marketing strategies for small businesses, assists you in sparking meaningful customer engagement. Every interaction becomes a memorable experience with CKKA. You can transform your customers into loyal advocates who not only support your business but also spread the word about your unique offerings.

Igniting the Blaze of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: 

Unleash the power of word-of-mouth marketing, supercharged by CKKA! CKKA's referral and rewards program incentivizes satisfied customers to share their positive experiences. These glowing recommendations will set off a wildfire of buzz within your local community, driving new customers to your door.

Fostering the Inferno of Community Support: 

Join CKKA and ignite an inferno of community support! CKKA, a leading marketing tool for small businesses, fosters connections among like-minded individuals passionate about local businesses. By tapping into this vibrant local community, your store can thrive as customers champion your success.

Heating Up with Personalized Rewards: 

Say goodbye to generic discounts. CKKA, a superior strategy for customer engagement, enables you to offer personalized rewards based on your customers' preferences and shopping habits. This not only keeps the excitement alive but also keeps customers coming back for more.

Embracing the CKKA Revolution: 

CKKA is more than just a marketing tool—it's the fuel for your success. By embracing CKKA, you can spark a fire of customer engagement, ignite the blaze of word-of-mouth marketing, and foster an inferno of community support. With CKKA, your local store becomes a beacon of community growth and prosperity.

Conclusion: 

CKKA is the best marketing tool for local businesses, serving as the lifeblood of their success. It empowers local entrepreneurs, supercharges word-of-mouth marketing, and strengthens community bonds. As you set out on your journey as a local business owner, embrace CKKA as your ally. Let the fire of CKKA ignite the growth and prosperity of your store and community

[noisycowboyglitter]

Buffalo Plaid Preschool Has My Heart: Ideal Gift for Teachers

Buffalo Plaid Preschool Has My Heart

Capture the warmth and charm of preschool with our "Buffalo Plaid Preschool Has My Heart" collection. This adorable design combines the timeless appeal of buffalo plaid with the unconditional love for little learners.

Buy now:19.95$

Perfect for teachers, parents, and anyone who cherishes the magic of preschool, our collection features a range of products to suit every style. From cozy sweaters and stylish t-shirts to practical tote bags and heartwarming home decor, you'll find the perfect way to express your love for preschool.

Imagine the joy of a teacher wearing a "Buffalo Plaid Preschool Has My Heart" t-shirt, inspiring young minds while showcasing their passion for education. Or picture a proud parent gifting a matching onesie to their little one, creating a precious memory. Our products are designed to spark smiles and create a sense of community within the preschool world.

Buy now

Let our "Buffalo Plaid Preschool Has My Heart" collection be a reminder of the love, laughter, and learning that takes place in every preschool classroom.

Teacher Cute Valentine

Show your appreciation for your teacher with a sweet and thoughtful Valentine's Day gift. Our collection features adorable and practical items that will make any teacher feel loved and appreciated. From personalized mugs and stylish tote bags to heartfelt cards and delicious treats, we have something for every teacher. Let your teacher know how much you care with a cute and heartfelt Valentine's Day gift.

Buy now

Valentine's Day Near Me

Looking for romantic inspiration close to home? Discover a world of possibilities for your Valentine's Day celebration! From cozy date nights to thrilling adventures, there's something for every couple. Explore local restaurants, charming shops, and hidden gems in your area. Create unforgettable memories without the hassle of long-distance travel. Let your city become the backdrop to your love story.

Buy now

[jayrockin]

The crest of the Bug Ferret Galactic Community, a intergovernmental organization that represents the of the vast majority of bug ferret polities and institutions in galactic politics.

The crest depicts the habitable tropics of the bug ferret homeworld, and the avatars of their planet (brown and white ferret with a teal band overhead) and their large moon (pink spotted ferret with an orange fungi) surrounded by a pink cloud representing their relationship as egg twins in Star Family mythology. The homeplanet is shown transferring life to their sibling, who is imagined as having been a stillborn that was returned from death by terraforming. The six other ferrets represent the inhabited celestial bodies of the local star system. There are some expanded forms of the BFGC crest that include avatars of more or all of the inhabited worlds in their territory, which can get ridiculously large. Bug ferrets can only see red through green on the visible light spectrum, meaning their blue gas giant and bodies of water are depicted as a dark, grayish green.

Like other ferret crests, it can be represented in any style between painted realism and a "Braille" form; simple grooves that are easier for touch identification in total darkness. Bug ferrets do not use flags to represent political factions— they are accustomed to windless underground tunnels and tend to have poorer long distance vision than other sophonts, making "legibility at a distance" unimportant to them.

PATREON | STORE | Runaway to the Stars

[dduane]

At Ebooks Direct: our LGBTQ Pride Bundle's still 50% off!

Caution! These works contain: homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, pansexuals, asexuals, polyamorous folks, genderfluid humans and nonhumans, and two (or maybe three) varieties of queer magic-users, as well as gay science-users, wizards, and Dragons.

And they’ve all been there since 1979.

Welcome to one universe where whom you love and how your genders intersect is between you, your lover(s), and the Goddess. And another where wizards come in so many species and sexualities that getting sniffy about something as wildly variable as local sex and gender may well be seen as kind of provincial… when you’re just one more of a million kinds of humanity, and the serious question is: “Never mind the tentacles—do you think we can date?”

The Pride Month Bundle contains:

The Door Into Fire*

The Door Into Shadow*

The Door Into Sunset*

Tales of the Five #1: The Levin-Gad

Tales of the Five #2: The Landlady

Sirronde’s World #1: The Span

Sirronde’s World #3: Parting Gifts (SW #2 not yet written)

Tales of the Middle Kingdoms #1: Lior and the Sea

Additionally, it contains the Tales of the Middle Kingdoms novella, Overdue—available only at Ebooks Direct as a standalone purchase, in this collection, and in the whole-store “I Want Everything You’ve Got” collection.

And finally, from the Young Wizards universe, the Pride Month Bundle contains the matter-of-fact exit from the (contextual) closet of two of the best-loved characters in the series—Advisory wizards Tom Swale and Carl Romeo—on their first canonically-“out” (ad)venture as a couple:

Owl Be Home For Christmas

Click here to get the 2024 Pride Package!

UK friends: due to Brexit, we regret that we are no longer able to sell ebooks into Britain. Our apologies that this offer is therefore not valid in the UK.

*Gaylaxic Spectrum Awards Hall of Fame winner

[headspace-hotel]

so, in regards to your recent posts on kane-tucky and usa food industry, do you / how do you keep active hope and not slip in into apathy and "looking out for my own" get out of dodge mentality? im having a hard time articulating this, but what makes you not curl up into a shaking mess in anger resentment and a deep desire for change that likely, if ever, wont happen in our lifetime.... any advice is appreciated

The short answer is "getting out and doing stuff in the real world, educating, volunteering, whatever is within your ability"

I will add that "looking out for your own" is not...bad. Like I don't know precisely what you mean by this phrase, but it's actually very important to come to terms with the fact that your impact is strongest where your feet touch the ground, and you have a responsibility and relationship to the people immediately around you, the place immediately around you.

This has not been a popular opinion of mine in the past, but...you can't and shouldn't care about literally everything on the planet. There is of course huge global disparity with access to resources and aid networks, and the largest communities we belong to are: all of Earth and the whole human species.

However: your level of agency is so low with issues that are happening on the other side of the world from you, compared with issues that are happening in your home town. And we're seeing people just get completely burned out from compassion fatigue without ever doing shit because the global responsibility is pushed on us and the local responsibility is not.

I hated my hometown for a decade. In high school I wanted so badly to leave. It's one of those desolate-feeling towns that's developed enough for a shopping center and big chain retailers but not enough to have a sense of community or a single bookstore. I've never been able to place myself precisely along the urban-rural spectrum because I feel isolated from even isolation: there's nowhere to go that doesn't feel razed by human development, where you can't hear the noise of traffic on roads, but it's all cattle pastures, sprawling storage facilities, auto parts stores, big, empty churches. One wrong turn will put you in a dark valley where there are rotting, derelict trailers on cinder blocks hidden back in the woods, and this place has that same feeling of "nowhere to go."

And I felt paralyzed by everything bad happening around the world and the fact that I was just one person, and I had gotten the horrible impression that the only thing I could do about anything was vote and donate money to links I saw online. The worst lie the internet taught me was that in saving the world, nothing matters except Power, Money, and an unclear third category that involves throwing bricks at cops.

But I touched grass. And the weeds taught me something. Do you see the parking lots, the harsh pavement and gravel and brick? I saw. I was surrounded by this landscape of brutal, totalitarian surfaces, impermeable concrete locking the soil away. But in the cracks in the surfaces, dandelions, purslane, and spurge were thriving.

I observed that the spurge stretched out like a shaggy rug and padded the concrete surfaces. The old leaves of the dandelions, as they withered, caught bits of dirt as it flowed into drainage ditches after rains. Soil was forming, and the sprawling structure of the early weeds seemed specially adapted for the task. In older cracks, more plants moved in; I found a wild ruellia blooming in a paved road, an evening primrose. And in some places, seedling trees.

Have you seen what happens when a sidewalk is left unmaintained for years? It disappears. The roots slowly buckle and break it into pieces, and it vanishes beneath lush leaves and moss. A tree growing in a crack in concrete will slowly pry the slab apart.

This is how my IRL rewilding project got started—just pulling plants from the pavement cracks, raising them in pots. I was surprised and awed at the resilience of the plants. I found little trees in concrete with at least two years' growth on them, that had survived being mowed down multiple times.

The weeds changed my viewpoint on the world forever. Up until that point, certain facts about power and politics and money had seemed like law, but I'd suddenly seen that there was a deeper magic.

The dandelions' survival made it possible for others to survive, which in turn made even more life flourish. They could not demolish and remove the concrete and pavement, but they could overcome it by refusing to be destroyed, because the power to take care of each other is in their nature.

People have made fun of me for telling others to go plant a tree. I think culturally we have this ingrained dismissal of things like that due to the twee, cutesy associations of "tree hugging" environmentalists, except in this instance it's because planting a tree is pointless in light of something something systemic issues, not because climate change isn't real, or...whatever reason people have for finding environmentalists cringe. (That is kinda sus now that I think about it.)

And I'm not saying planting a tree will fix climate change. I'm saying that something in my brain had broken and planting a tree unbroke it.

Go outside. Touch grass. Do the work in the immediate community you belong to, in the place you are in, where you have the best and most impact. We have the power to take care of each other, and that power grows stronger the more we are cared for.

The internet is a good place to share information, but that's fucking it. The real stuff, the stuff you can touch with your hands, the stuff that will heal despair, is out there in the real, touchable world. You need to see and feel what you are doing. Don't just give help—accept it. The power to take care of each other is in our nature, and by nature we can give more when we thrive as a result of others' care.

I hope this helps.

[transmasc-advice-blog]

How to Get a Binder Without Your Parents Knowing

*disclaimer!! we here at transmasc advice blog do not promote lying and sneaking around behind your parents/guardians back! this is just a resource that might help if you are in a situation where you need a binder!*

**disclaimer #2! i am from the us in an urban area. i dont know if this will work in other countries or in an rural area where you dont have gas stations/stores as closely available. feel free to add in the notes/reblogs**

First: ask yourself: how much trouble would you get in if your parents if your parents found out? i trust that you are able to make a responsible decision in your situation. make sure you will be in a safe spot.

If you have access to money:

Do research! the best binder brands that ive tried or others have recommended to me are: Spectrum, Underworks, Wonababi, and ForThem. Make sure to look at the size guide and do measurements!

Depending on your binder, you will need about $30-$60. If you have a credit/debit card that your parents don't monitor, you can ship the package to a friends house whose parents are chill(ask them first!!), or get a p.o. box (this can cost about $5 a month, go to your local ups store to see!). You might be able to have the post office hold the package for you, but contact them about that (you might need a photo id).

If you only have access to cash, or your parents monitor your card, you can go to your local gas station/target or walmart and they should have visa giftcards. buy a visa giftcard with about $10-$20 more then the binder costs (shipping+tax).

If you don't have access to money:

There are programs availble! read the websites!

point of pride

ftm essentials

rainbow youth pride alliance

queer trans project

and many more! do your own research!

If you know transmasc people who bind, ask them! maybe they have a spare/old one, you never know!

I hope this helps! Please feel free to add anything else in the notes!

[corpsegirl-sephie]

We here at Woke Industries are proud to announce the brand new BLINK cat ears. Can you not decide between pink and black? Just tired of having to deal with the concept of object permanence? Introducing the Blink Cat Ears. This lovely gadget blinks in between all colors on the visible light spectrum, as well as those outside of it, occasionally even blinking out of reality. Buy them today at your local [redacted] store

[darksideofthemoonbot]

Slaanesh

As I previously covered my favourite chaos god, Nurgle, I thought I'd go on to my second favourite: Slaanesh. Not my favourite but the one I relate to the most. Fair warning, this gets personal and not especially amusing. Rather dark actually.

For context to start: I have chronic pain, fibromyalgia stemming from childhood trauma, since I was nine years old. I also have significant mental health issues for which I get therapy and medication. I have only been treated for the chronic pain for a few years, after about 27 years of literal constant torture by my own nervous system.

I understand obsession and chasing the next sensation. Of extremes of passion and self destructive indulgences. I self medicated in various ways for a long time. I am also, as I joke sometimes, a "recovering yandere". I've had times where I've become so obsessed with someone I only know online, that I spent the entire day staring at a message screen waiting for a reply, despite them probably being at work or otherwise busy; because interacting with them was the only thing that mattered and gave my life purpose. New sensations, greater sensations, were always needed to escape the torture chamber of my body.

On a lighter note: on to the circles of seduction

Avidity – I grew up in the 80s and 90s, when "greed is good" was really taking hold in public consciousness. Despite that, this temptation has rarely been much of a love of mine. I collect sins as a hobby but my desire for money has not generally been for money's sake, more on that later.

Gluttony – for so long, food was more an annoyance to me than anything. The suffering drowned out any enjoyment so it was merely a tedious habit I had to partake in to survive.

However! Now that I am getting treatment, I can enjoy things again. And the lack of familiarity with pleasure from food makes it so intense sometimes! Most recently I had a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich on generic store-bought whole wheat bread. It was so good. Unbelievably good. My mouth tingled so much it tickled and I almost had to stop eating. The savoury all natural peanut butter, the sweet tang of the jelly, and the soft squishy texture of the bread. Oh dear gods it was heavenly.

Carnality – this seems to be what people first think of when they think of Slaanesh, which to people not on the ace spectrum is probably obvious. For a long time I thought I was ace. No interest, in fact I was hostile to the idea due to trauma. But trauma response is not the same as being ace, and it turns out I am not. Very not. Switch/vers, bi. And in a committed relationship of 24 years with a partner who has no complaints, heh.

Paramountcy – power, control, influence. These are a heady wine for many. I have considered running for local office, school board or something, with ambitions to perhaps state level. Not that I have the means, I am regrettably disabled and the demands of power are too much for me. Doesn't stop me dreaming. And thinking I am more worthy than others to wield such power. Perhaps foolishly.

Vainglory – remember greed above? This is where it gets me. I don't want money for money sake; I want it for all the good I could do with it. Buy and forgive debt. Start businesses that pay better and sell lower. Scholarships. Political influence to improve people's lives materially. Providing food to those in need free of charge. Building low/no rent but well maintained housing. Just do a whole lot of good with vast fortunes. Because then people will love me, cherish me, praise me for my largesse kindness. I will be invited to all the public events, have hospitals named after me, get messages of gratitude from all those I've helped. To be worshipped, in a secular way, for my use of my money. And yet remain rich, for after a certain threshold money compounds upon itself indefinitely.

Indolency – here's the circle where I die. I am... so tired. Decades of misery have drained me. Medications sap my energy even as they reduce my pain. I've had long swathes of time where I'd go to bed around 21:00 and sleep until 10:00. And then nap in the afternoon. Napping in fact was my chief hobby for many years. I didn't know relaxation until recently, as I was always tense; trying to hold myself up so less of me was pressed on a surface, because it hurt. I still struggle to relax and let a bed or chair hold me up without my effort. It is an alien sensation, frightful in a way, as though I will fall through the world if I let go.

The Palace of Pleasure – no line uncrossed, no barrier unbroken, no debasement too low, no extreme too high. Worry not, dear reader, I do in fact have scruples. But I relate to the notion well. After half a lifetime of senses dulled by endless unchanging aches and an unbalanced mind, I yearn. I yearn for all those experiences that many take for granted. The joy of a sandwich, the thrill of minor ambition, the softness of restorative rest. Pleasure. It isn't what I expected. I imagined pleasure as a passive feeling, a relaxation and untroubled feeling. A soothing of the pain, I couldn't imagine more. Yet it is more than that. It feels very much like the opposite of pain, an intense and sometimes stabbing sensation. A good one. Like a pain but you want to experience it. Pleasure can be so good and so intense, a mirror of what life used to be.

And I want more.

[steampunkforever]

Postmodernity is dead. Long live whatever is going on right now. It'll be dead before we can figure out what to call it.

I'm a few years removed from an academic context where I'm sure I could be properly corrected on this, but I've been lumping a lot of current post-postmodern of a certain flavor under the title of Vermeulen/van der Akker's definition of "Metamodernity" as the traditional postmodernity of the mid to late 20th century gives way to whatever we're experiencing today. Thats right, despite the harangues of cable newscasters, Postmodernity has been over for decades. Literary and artistic movements are rarely named while they live and breathe (unless they're some astroturfed "[PREFIX]-Punk" genre driven by posers) and so to try and name what's happening today is futile. But for simplicity's sake lets file this one under "Metamodern" so I can actually write this filmpost on the surrealist film "Greener Grass."

The last couple times I've mentioned the concept of metamodernity has been with Quentin Dupieux's surrealist film "Rubber" and-- on the absolute other side of the spectrum --Greta Gerwig's "Barbie." Greener Grass is like if the movies swapped directors, with the mind behind Mr. Oizo taking a crack at what dealing with life and womanhood in a pink-saturated nightmare is really like.

Anyone who grew up in an affluent suburb with a William Sonoma store in their local mall will likely resonate with this film. I think we all remember those , whip thin mothers of classmates who drove Escalades and wore outfits too intentional to not be expensive. Their kitchens were massive and uncooked in. The exercise classes they attended were always feminine, nonthreatening, and adhered to with iron wills usually reserved for Olympic training. One must be pretty like you were in college sorority but a homemaker like his mother in the 70s but "with it" in ways that don't conflict with the new Land Rover financed in your McMansion driveway. The performance of gender and class and perceived societal value is incredible, and that's exactly what Greener Grass is about.

The film talks about something much more complicated than "Barbie Goes To The Gynecologist." It's a film about performance, social hierarchies, and the injustice of artificiality thrust upon us by the manufactured standards of innocuous but deeply "wrong" systems. And it does so by creating a surreal world of skinjob characters pretending that everything is perfect, ignoring the graves their children play over as they conduct monstrous business with a smile and polite posturing. Everything is pink. Everything is perfect. Your son drowning himself and turning into a golden retriever is perfectly normal, even if he does flunk math class. It is dreadfully important you continue to be a good mother.

The fact that Covid killed this movie is a travesty. Go watch it.

[porgthespacepenguin]

1. How to setup 2FA on your accounts

As some of you may know, my friend @why-its-kai's Discord account was taken over this morning by a scammer.

The scam they used was this one, or close enough; but anyway, the exact specifics don't matter.

What matters is, it can happen to you. It can happen to anyone.

The good news is, you can learn how to protect yourself. Making some small changes can already improve your online security by leaps and bounds.

I made a series of 3 posts covering the basics:

How to setup 2FA on your accounts (you are here!)

How to spot a scam

How to set up a password manager.

Protect yourself with 2FA

Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, isn't a silver bullet -- but it exponentially increases your online safety by adding an extra step to the login process that a hacker/scammer does not have access to.

Every account that you care about (and even those you don't) should have some form of 2FA enabled.

Especially email -- should your email become compromised, this can become a catastrophe.

(For websites that don't support 2FA, use a burner email!)

What 2FA should I use?

2FA can take many forms, from the highly convenient (SMS, email) to the highly secure (security keys), but one thing is certain:

Any form of 2FA is better than nothing.

The simplest forms of 2FA are phone number or email. While these are very easy to use, they are unfortunately not very secure.

Still, I repeat: despite their flaws, these forms of 2FA are absolutely, 100% better than not having any 2FA at all.

On the other end of the spectrum, security keys (like for example a Yubikey) are extremely secure, but they cost money and are a bit of a hassle at time. I use them, but for most people, it's overkill.

What you want is an authenticator app.

Important

A note, before we go on…

If you enable multiple forms of 2FA, how secure your account is will depend on your weakest link.

For example, if you enable SMS authentication AND register a security key, your account will only be as safe as the SMS authentication. The security key is essentially useless.

In other words, the least secure form of 2FA you add determines the overall security of your account.

Sometimes, less is more!

Authenticator Apps

First, choose a free, reputable authenticator. Google Authenticator is a good choice. So are Aegis Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.

For simplicity, we'll go with Google Authenticator; the process is rather similar for most authenticators.

First, download the app from your app store and install it on your phone.

Enrolling Gmail into GA

Securing your email should be your number 1 priority, so let's enroll a Google account to Google Authenticator.

Let's enable two-step verification first.

Phone number is better than nothing, but not very safe (SMS verification can be spoofed), so let's click on "Add authenticator app".

Click on "Set up authenticator". Google will generate a QR-code.

Next, go back to your phone and click on the little multicolored cross. It will bring up a menu; click on "scan a QR code".

Go ahead and scan the QR code.

Congratulations, you have enrolled your Google account!

Now, whenever you are asked for a 2FA code, just open the app and copy/paste it.

Note: the codes are stored locally on your phone.

Enabling 2FA on Discord

The process is fairly similar. Go to Settings > My Account:

Click on "Enable Authenticator App". You will be prompted for your password. Enter it.

Download Google Authenticator if you haven't already. Scan the QR code as described above.

Do take the time to download your backup codes as well!

As explained above, I personally do not recommend setting up SMS authentication here, since authenticator apps are supported, as this weakens the overall security of your account for little benefit.

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

[soleminisanction]

Did I spend my Saturday putting together character write-ups of my two main Our Life: Now & Forever MCs? Yes. Yes I did. What can I say, I'm addicted.

Alvis Norling - Step One

Pronouns: He/They

Alvis was born intersex, so their mother opted to raise them gender-neutral from birth and leave their pronouns and gender up to them as they got older. The he part of he/they is a fairly recent development. 

Despite identifying as “kind of” a boy, Alvis has a preference for feminine clothes. Not skirts or dresses, they almost never wear anything like that, but they tend to wear women’s pants and girls’ blouses, that sort of thing. 

His biological father was of Russian heritage, while Opal is Welsh. 

Favorite color is silver. The thought that it pairs so nicely with Qiu’s gold makes him happy. 

Fell for Qiu pretty much the moment they met. He’s the prettiest person they’ve ever seen, so cool and graceful, it’s like hanging out with a prince. Alvis is completely blown away that this guy would even talk to them, and is just happy to spend whatever time they can with him. 

Tamarack overwhelms them, but in a good way. They’re pretty content to be dragged along by her like a doll, deferring to her in pretty much everything. He admires her a lot, and just the fact that somebody so fun and confident seems to like him makes him happy. She’s their best friend, and he especially appreciates the way she looks out for him when his social anxiety acts up. 

He starts off afraid of the woods but he’s going to learn to love it with Tamarack’s help. Getting used to the people who hang around Qiu all the time takes considerably longer, particularly after Darren's less-than-stellar first impression. Alvis also finds Baxter intimidating.

Due to his missing leg, Alvis walks with a prosthetic and sometimes with the assistance of a cane. While he can usually manage on his scooter, there are some days when he has trouble getting to school by himself; luckily, Opal’s arrangement with the Lins and the Baumanns includes Qiu and Tamarack’s respective guardians cluing them in on the situation, so he can always count on leaning on Tamarack’s shoulder or catching a ride on Qiu’s bike if he needs to. 

Opal calls them a starling as a term of endearment because their voice is sweet and they’re tiny and light. As they get older, the use of that name extends to a small handful of their most precious people, most notably Qiu.

Alvis Norling - Step Two

Pronouns: He/Him

By fourteen Alvis is pretty settled in Golden Grove, but is far from the most popular kid in school. He's more of a quiet fixture in town, a common presence in the local library, park and craft store, but one who mostly keeps to himself or to the company of his best friend Tamarack.

He's still head-over-heels for Qiu, and the fact that they're not as close as they used to be is a source of a lot of melancholy and longing for him.

Biggest hobby is jewelry-making. He makes a lot of his own accessories (including the earrings hidden by his messy hair) and often gifts the rest to friends and family.

Overall demeanor is of a somewhat restrained, academic, effeminate gay man -- less flashy and flamboyant than most queens, but in the same rough area of the gender spectrum. Like a queen who's also a librarian.

Very much the mom friend.

Chandra Dúskar - Step One

Pronouns: She/Her

Cisgender female and an incorrigible lesbian pretty much from birth. Chandra has flirted with a lot of girls in the past (and let boys simp for her to get her way) but none of them have ever struck her with full-blown love at first sight the way Tamarack did when she burst out of her leaf pile. Chandra came home and told her mum that very afternoon that she was going to marry Tamarack one day, and she sticks to it.

She also decides, on her first day of school, that she's going to be popular someday, and goes after that goal with confidence to spare.

Style isn't full gothic lolita but she's close to it. The outfit she wears in this picture has jeans, for example, but also a sporty skirt worn over it, and she definitely favors the black with colorful accents look.

Adores spooky things and is super excited by the prospect of her house, the town, or anywhere else being haunted. Naturally, autumn is her favorite time of year because it has Halloween, the best holiday ever.

Give Qiu a run for his money in terms of friendly showing off. From the moment they meet Chandra wants to match him toe-to-toe in terms of athletics, popularity, and dance performances. So naturally, they're best friends.

Thinks Baxter is cool and mysterious and Darren is cute and fun to tease.

Wears her hair over her eye like that because she likes to surprise people with her heterochromia. And also because she's a little self-conscious about her birthmark, though she'd never admit that.

Favorite colors are black, pink and cranberry. Favorite drinks are hot chocolate and Shirley Temples.

Doesn't know how to ride a bike and has no interest in learning, especially not when she can hitch a ride on Tamarack's scooter.

Chandra Dúskar - Step Two

Pronouns: She/Her

Her personal style remains more feminine than the head shot might lead you to believe, it's just taken on a distinctly goth-punk edge as she grows into her rebellious phase.

Super stylish. Super confident. Super witchy. Always gets her way.

She and Qiu are the top dogs on campus, and also best friends. Chandra picks up the slack where they've stopped caring, though at a glance people usually find her the more intimidating of the two just based on her looks and style.

Is completely unsubtle about how much she adores "her Tammy." It might not help Tamarack's confidence to be showered with compliments all the time but dammit, Chandra's going to try.

Fully intends to get an eyebrow piercing and/or a tattoo once she's older.

[kiefbowl]

I know you're probably sick of hearing about amazon in general but I just want to mention that their impact on the environment is truly worst than most people think. I work somewhere that process Amazon returns and it makes me genuinely disgusted at some people's consumerism. I'm talking about people bringing back litteral dozens of amazon parcels on a weekly basis. Clearly they had no intention of keeping those things, they just love getting a new package and opening it. It's not a rare behavior either. The return process uses a ton of fuel (much more than if they were juste returning something to their local store) and just as much plastic (seriously, I know it doesn't look like that much but I tried to imagine how much tape was used on a daily basis just for amazon returns and it made me sick to my stomach. And that's just the tape...). Anyway, I'm venting at this point but you're 1000% correct, amazon is trash and I don't trust anyone selfish enough to defend it.

yeah :( part of the problem is that "hauls" are now a type of online content. people buy stuff to open it on camera to their followers with no real intention of keeping any of it. it's an indefensible way to behave tbh. someone buying a couple of cheapo pants off shein a couple times of year isn't great but it's better than buying stuff every week so you have boxes to open on camera. you can't act that way and call yourself radical or leftist or marxist or whatever left leaning words people want to use as identity markers. like we can't get around buying stuff sometimes and I don't want to live in a world where nothing exists, even fun frivolous stuff - but the fact that so many people act like "well if I want something what exactly can I do besides buy it??" as some sort of defense to buying things when...you could literally want less and maybe explore why you constantly want things and maybe realize you are being manipulated by marketing. if you use your airfryer every day and plan on keeping it clean and working for 10 years, that's awesome. if you bought it because you saw 17 reels online about it being cool and only used it twice, you could have kept your money and done a little elbow grease (barely) to go look up how to cook those things with the stove and oven you have. if you feel like you need to avoid repeating outfits all month, maybe think about who actually benefits from you thinking like that. so if you see yourself as so left you're off the spectrum, you really should be trying the best you can to buy less and optimize more. and as a hint, like you say, if you're returning stuff constantly, you're not doing so hot. imo ;)

[noisycowboyglitter]

Bratz Jade I Love Me Valentine’s Day Heart Tee - Stylish and Fun

Bratz Jade: I Love Me Valentine's Day Heart

Relive the iconic Bratz era with our exclusive Jade "I Love Me" Valentine's Day Heart collection. Celebrate self-love and individuality with this vibrant and stylish range of merchandise. Featuring the fabulous Jade in all her glamorous glory, this collection is perfect for fans of all ages.

Buy now:19.95$

Our designs capture the essence of Bratz with bold colors, playful patterns, and a touch of sass. Whether you're a nostalgic '90s kid or simply appreciate fashion-forward styles, our collection has something for everyone. From trendy apparel to adorable accessories, you can show your love for Jade and yourself with pride.

Embrace your inner diva and spread the message of self-love with our Bratz Jade "I Love Me" Valentine's Day Heart collection. It's more than just merchandise; it's a celebration of confidence, individuality, and empowerment.

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Valentine's Near Me: Love is Just Around the Corner

Looking for the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day? Look no further than your local area! Discover a world of romantic possibilities with our guide to Valentine's Day events and experiences near you.

From elegant dining to exciting adventures, there's something for everyone. Enjoy a romantic dinner at a cozy restaurant, indulge in a couples spa treatment, or explore the city lights on a romantic walk. For those seeking something different, consider attending a live show, a wine tasting, or a cooking class together.

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Create unforgettable memories with your loved one by exploring the hidden gems in your neighborhood. With a little planning, you can turn Valentine's Day into a truly magical experience.

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[markrosewater]

As a person accustomed to going to local Game Stores and seeing considerably more inventory of Draft stock than any other, I welcome the change. I moved to Set / Collector only to almost exclusively collector the last few sets. I am sure you are getting reviews all around the spectrum. I know I am not alone in seeing a change was warranted. Looking forward to the change.

: )

[dduane]

At Ebooks Direct: Our Pride Month Package

...with an exclusive new release!

Warning! These works contain: homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, pansexuals, asexuals, polyamorous folks, genderfluid humans and nonhumans, two (or maybe three) varieties of magic-users, science-users, wizards and Dragons. Even occasional straight people.

And they've all been there since 1979.

Welcome to one universe where who you love and how your genders intersect is between you, your lover(s), and the Goddess. And another where wizards come in so many species and sexualities that getting sniffy about something as wildly variable as local sex and gender is (eyeroll) soooo provincial... when you're just one more of a million kinds of humanity, and the serious question is "Never mind the tentacles... do you think can we date?"

The collection contains:

The Door Into Fire*

The Door Into Shadow*

The Door Into Sunset*

Tales of the Five #1: The Levin-Gad

Tales of the Five #2: The Landlady

Sirronde's World #1: The Span

Sirronde's World #3: Parting Gifts (SW #2 not yet written)

Tales of the Middle Kingdoms #1: Lior and the Sea

Additionally, it contains the new just-dropped Tales of the Middle Kingdoms novella, Overdue—available only in this collection (and, way earlier than usual for a new release, in the whole-store "I Want Everything You've Got" collection) until the end of Pride Month.

And finally, from the Young Wizards universe, the collection contains the matter-of-fact exit from the (contextual) closet of two of the best-loved characters in the series—Advisory wizards Tom Swale and Carl Romeo—on their first canonically-"out" (ad)venture as a couple:

Owl Be Home For Christmas

All the works above are available for individual purchase at Ebooks Direct at the (currently normal) 50%-off discount. This package, though, takes an additional 15% off that price. The Pride Month Package will be available at its reduced price, $18.99, until Pride Month's end (30 June 2023, 23:59 UTC).

Click here to get the 2023 Pride Package!

*Gaylaxic Spectrum Awards Hall of Fame winner

[rainydetectiveglitter]

🌟 The Healthy Choice: Plain Yogurt and Greek Yogurt Over Flavored Yogurt Introduction 🌟

Yogurt is a versatile and nutritious dairy product that has gained immense popularity among health-conscious individuals. While the yogurt aisle at your local grocery store may offer a rainbow of flavors, it's essential to understand why plain yogurt and Greek yogurt stand out as the healthier choices. In this blog post, we'll delve into the reasons why opting for plain yogurt can be a smart move for your health.

Minimal Added Sugar: One of the most compelling reasons to choose plain yogurt is the absence of excessive added sugars. Many flavored yogurts on the market contain high levels of added sugars, which can contribute to weight gain, increase the risk of chronic diseases, and disrupt blood sugar levels. In contrast, plain yogurt allows you to control the sweetness by adding natural sweeteners like honey or fresh fruits, keeping your sugar intake in check.

Probiotic Power: Yogurt's reputation as a gut-friendly food is well-deserved, primarily due to its probiotic content. Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that promote a healthy gut microbiome. Plain yogurt, whether regular or Greek, tends to contain a broader spectrum and higher concentration of these probiotics compared to flavored counterparts. These friendly bacteria aid digestion, support the immune system, and may even impact overall well-being.

Versatile and Customizable: Plain yogurt provides a blank canvas for culinary creativity. You can tailor its taste to suit your preferences by adding a variety of ingredients, such as fresh berries, nuts, seeds, or a drizzle of pure maple syrup. This versatility ensures that you can enjoy a different yogurt experience every time you consume it.

Lower Calories and Fat: If you're watching your calorie and fat intake, plain yogurt is the way to go. It typically contains fewer calories and less saturated fat than flavored alternatives. You can relish the creamy texture of Greek yogurt while maintaining better control over your dietary choices.

Healthier Ingredients: Plain yogurt is a purer form of yogurt, containing just two primary ingredients: milk and live active cultures. In contrast, flavored yogurts often include artificial flavorings, colors, and preservatives. By opting for plain yogurt, you're choosing a simpler and cleaner ingredient list.

Weight Management: Due to its high protein content, yogurt, especially Greek yogurt, can be an excellent ally in your weight management journey. Protein keeps you feeling full and satisfied, reducing the likelihood of overindulging between meals.

When it comes to yogurt, the choice between plain yogurt and flavored yogurt is clear. Plain yogurt, whether it's traditional or Greek, offers superior health benefits by providing you with control over added sugars, a broader spectrum of probiotics, versatility in taste, and cleaner ingredient lists. By making this simple swap, you're not only taking a step toward better health but also opening up a world of delicious, customizable yogurt creations. So, the next time you reach for that yogurt container, remember that plain is not boring—it's a smart and healthy choice!

🌟 Dressing up your Greek yogurt or plain yogurt can turn a simple snack or breakfast into a delicious and satisfying treat. 🌟

Here are some healthy and tasty toppings and mix-ins to consider:

Fresh Fruits: Add sweetness and natural flavor with fresh fruits like berries, sliced bananas, diced mangoes, or chunks of pineapple. The combination of creamy yogurt and fruity goodness is delightful.

Nuts and Seeds: Boost the texture and nutrition by sprinkling a handful of chopped nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, or pistachios) and seeds (e.g., chia seeds, flaxseeds, or pumpkin seeds) over your yogurt. They provide healthy fats, protein, and a satisfying crunch.

Honey or Maple Syrup: A drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness without resorting to processed sugars. It pairs wonderfully with Greek yogurt's tanginess.

Granola: Crispy granola clusters are a classic yogurt topping. Choose a low-sugar or homemade granola to maintain a healthy balance.

Nut Butter: Swirl in a spoonful of almond butter, peanut butter, or cashew butter for added creaminess and nutty richness. It's a fantastic combination with sliced bananas.

Dried Fruits: Chop up dried fruits like apricots, raisins, or cranberries to infuse your yogurt with a chewy sweetness.

Cinnamon or Nutmeg: A sprinkle of ground cinnamon or nutmeg can add warm, comforting flavors to your yogurt.

Vanilla Extract: A drop or two of pure vanilla extract can enhance the overall taste of your yogurt, making it feel like dessert.

Coconut Flakes: Toasted or untoasted coconut flakes provide a tropical twist and delightful texture.

Dark Chocolate Chips: If you're in the mood for a touch of indulgence, add some dark chocolate chips for a hint of sweetness and chocolatey richness.

Spices: Experiment with spices like cardamom, ginger, or cloves for unique flavor profiles.

Savory Options: Don't forget that yogurt can go savory too. Try adding chopped cucumber, fresh herbs, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of olive oil for a refreshing, savory yogurt bowl.

Fruit Compote: Top your yogurt with a homemade or store-bought fruit compote or jam for a burst of flavor.

Mix and match these toppings to create a variety of yogurt bowls that suit your taste preferences and dietary needs. Whether you prefer a sweet, savory, or balanced flavor profile, dressing up your yogurt can make it an exciting and nutritious part of your daily diet.