#tea exporting countries

[exim-pedia]

Top 10 Tea Exporting Countries in the World 2023-24

There are many tea exporter countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Kenya, but one of the biggest tea exporter in the world is China. Today, In this blog, we will explore  the detailed list of top tea exporter countries with their export values and updated tea export data.

[anamseair]

https://www.seair.co.in/blog/tea-exports-from-india.aspx

Discover the journey of Indian tea exports, from its origins in China to becoming a cultural staple in India. Learn about top tea-producing regions, current export statistics, leading exporters, and market insights. Explore more at Seair Exim Solutions.

[relia-robot-writes]

Export Restriction

We'd gotten all the way through airport security without problems. Its normally hypervigilant attitude had turned docile, and it hadn't even been pulled aside for a special search, just waved through. I thought we were lucky. "Good work, doll," I murmured to it, tracing the line of its jaw where metal met synthflesh. "Very good."

I wasn't prepared for it to collapse onto the floor in a compacted-for-storage ball.

I knelt down next to it, reaching a hand out to touch its shoulder in concern. "Doll? What happened? Are you all right?" When my gentle query was met with nothing more than a small shudder, I hesitated for a moment, but I couldnt help it if I didn't know what was wrong. I put some authority into my voice. "Combat Doll 826-7, report."

It didn't uncurl, but it did speak up. "Combat Doll 826-7, status: red."

I felt a sting of panic. Red could mean a lot of things. "Elaborate."

"This one... this one is not a good doll. This one is useless. It should be decommissioned."

"Whoa, hey, don't talk like that." I sat down next to it. "That doll did very well! You didn't attack anyone, or jump, or even acquire any micromissile locks!"

"Only because it would have been pointless to do so. This one is outmoded. It used to be the case that this one would not have been allowed to leave the country, except on deployment."

"We've left the country together before, though." I kept rubbing its back, tracing my fingers gently across recharge ports and armor seams.

"There were still restrictions! Special search procedures! Weapon lockdowns! This one didn't even get pulled aside for a special search this time!" It wailed. "It is no longer a threat worth being concerned about! Useless! This one is incapable of being your protector!"

My hand stilled. "So that's what this is about, huh," I murmured. "Doll, look at me."

It uncurled itself just enough to meet my gaze. It looked truly miserable. If it had tear ducts, I think its face would have been a mess. "Listen to me, doll. You may not be top-of-the-line anymore. You might not be an automatic threat to aircraft with modern security measures." Its chest hitched, but I plowed forward. "But you're still useful! Why, just the other day you stopped that assassin in his tracks!"

It hitched again, shivering against my touch. "A human assassin? What a joke. Any combat doll could have done that. A human bodyguard could have done that." It sneered through its self-deprecation.

"But more importantly, you know what I need. How I move, how I operate. You're more than a simple combat doll. You provide more than just mere firepower. You give tactical advice, good strategic suggestions, support in times of need. My operations wouldn't be half as successful without you." It blinked at me, misery beginning to drain from its face. I grinned at it. "Plus, you're the only one that knows how I like my tea."

That got an actual bark of laughter, if only briefly. "If you try to put this one in a maid dress, Ma'am, it will detonate its fusion core." It stood, and offered me its hand with a faint smile.

I grabbed it, squeezing it tight as I stood. "Aww, but you'd look so cute!" I teased it, as we took the escalator down to the terminal trains. It wasn't completely better, but we'd get there. Together.

[neuroticbookworm]

Engagement of QL Fandom in Indian Queer Media

I was tagged by @lurkingshan and invited to respond to an ask she received from @impala124 that noted the absence of India in the Asian queer media spaces and discussions, and questioned the reasons behind it. @starryalpacasstuff has also responded to it in a great post (check out the reblog additions for a treasure trove of Indian queer media recs), discussing, among many things, Korea’s culture export aiding their queer media ventures, access to Indian queer media, and the quality of Indian queer media. @twig-tea’s addition discussed the ease of access of Thai BLs via YouTube and how it prompted Korea and Japan to re-enter the genre.

My thoughts on Indian queer media are complicated and involve several detours to understand Indian media culture, its economic power, and how it navigates international viewership. For context, I am an Indian cinephile who grew up watching a wide variety of Indian media in terms of both language and genre. I naturally transitioned into watching Western content as globalization of the 2010s brought HBO and Comedy Central to Indian screens, and later sought out queer media, Asian media and Asian queer media on the internet.

Indian Media Industry - A Primer

I know there are a lot of countries right now that produce QL media, so I am gonna mainly consider Thailand, Japan, and Korea, the three countries most prolific with ql, for the purpose of this discussion. All of these countries, while regionally diverse, have managed to considerably homogenize in language and culture over the course of history and colonization. India, on the other hand, is still significantly and distinctly diverse in language, culture, religion, food, media styles, social norms, and on and on. India has 22 official languages and thousands of regional ones that are used in various capacities everyday. This diversity is then reflected in the media produced by India, with multiple powerhouse film industries dominating box offices simultaneously. Bollywood is the biggest one and obviously well known internationally, but Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali-language film industries are successful in their own right and consistently produce box office hits and self-sustain in the larger Indian media landscape. This makes domestic media highly regional in India. Even today, in the age of social media, it takes a box office success to the tune of hundreds of millions of rupees for a film to break out of its domestic audience and cross over into other Indian states.

This diversity has also led to the different industries developing media styles unique to them. I watched this video a while ago of a creator documenting his experience of dipping toes into Indian Cinema for the first time, and he ends up covering three movies from three different industries, because the pathos of each of them is so fundamentally different yet effective in their own ways. This diversity also applies to the television industry, both traditional cable TV soaps, and the modern shows made for streaming sites. And all of this, *waves hands*, presents a set of challenges like no other country faces for both Indian queer creators and Indian queer media audiences.

The Challenges for Creators

Since the Indian media industry is not a big monolith and is made up of multiple film industries, queer creators who are trying to get their foot in the door will face a unique uphill battle in whichever regional industry they’re trying to break into. And trying to research, learn, and understand each and every single one of them will take me and my non-existent research team years, so the simpler thing to do would be listing the factors that have worked for other countries to foster their media industries to produce QL content, and discuss if India could replicate them. The list goes like this:

Japan’s rich history in yaoi

Thailand’s use of BL as a soft power to promote tourism

Korea’s culture export via kpop and other media

While India does have religious mythology that discusses sex, gender and queerness, it is often subtext with a lot of intersectionality. Does Ardhanarishvara represent fluid gender, or a symbol of harmony, or both? The debates are endless. Japan’s yaoi roots are as deep as they are explicit. And this rich history could be why the Japanese domestic audience is open to queer media even when the country is still conservative.

Thailand’s rise as a major player in the QL industry is remarkable, but there is a case to be made that the country’s media industry was directly and indirectly boosted by the government’s interest in establishing revenue from tourism, and exporting culture to international audiences via food and media. While the revenue from tourism in India is substantial, the Indian economy is not built on it. And the Indian media industry is thriving and regularly makes bank with their already established content models, so the producers have a pretty low incentive to deviate and fund queer media.

I bet every coin I own that not a single one of us on this hellsite have successfully eluded the allure of Korean media in our lives. The Korean media industry is a well-calibrated machine that shall and will target every single human into funneling their time, attention and money into the Korean culture and economy. And I think queer creators looking to make queer content in Korea would’ve had good incubation in an industry that was looking to make as much content as possible. And once again, while Indian movies have significant international box office collections, that is not where the Indian media industry, and just India in general, makes its money. The priorities are just not the same. And to be perfectly honest, India is nowhere near the level of Korea at producing and exporting television shows to international audiences.

All of this is a long winded way of saying that the conditions required to foster a QL industry in India are not the same as what we have seen work so far from the other major players. And sadly no one has really figured out the winning formula yet.

These are just a few reasons, and I haven’t even discussed nepotism and how painful class mobility is in India, making it even harder for new queer creators to break into the industry. There’s a reason why movies with queer representation like Badhaai Do, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, and Kapoor & Sons all feature characters in the upper middle class or above. Hell, they’re even played by actors whose portfolio is already filled with daring and experimental roles, or by first- or second-gen nepo babies who would literally have nothing to lose from the potential backlash for playing a queer character. Poor, queer characters in Indian media have never been a part of a fluffy romance as far as I know. They are reserved for the gritty dramas where intersectionality of queerness, poverty, class and caste could be examined.

The Challenges for the Audience

And once again, all of this, *aggressively waves hands*, makes things harder for even the domestic audience to engage with Indian queer media, let alone international audiences. Kathaal - The Core, a 2023 Malayalam movie about a queer man in his fifties coming out of the closet and contesting in his village body elections, was a box office success in Kerala, and I can tell y’all with complete certainty that not many people outside of Kerala would’ve even heard of it. And this was not some small indie venture – in fact, the lead characters were played by Mammootty and Jyothika, who are both absolute legends in their own right in the South Indian film industry.

Super Deluxe was a 2019 Tamil-language black comedy film that tells four interwoven stories that run in parallel, and one of the stories is about a trans woman who, pre-transition, was married and had a son. She returns to her family as her post-transition self after years of disappearance, and the film engages in conversation around sex and gender, through the innocent questions of her young son. The movie is gorgeously made, and outrageously sharp and witty in its commentary on society’s views on sex, morality, religion and family. And once again, I don’t think it is well-known outside of the domestic and international award-circuit audiences it was promoted to (last I checked, it was available to domestic audiences on Netflix).

Sometimes, even the domestic audience might miss the queer representation in their regional media when it is indie enough to not get aggressively promoted. The Hindi-language anthology movie from Netflix, Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), featured a story where two women from different caste and social class meet at the workplace (the sapphic story, Geeli Pucchi, starts at 1:17:05, if anyone wants to check it out). It served biting commentary on the intersectionality of queerness, misogyny, caste and class. And once again, I’ve never found a person with whom I could discuss it with (other than my mom, with whom I watched it).

And sometimes, even when a massive show with queer representation is well promoted and well received by critics, it still manages to fly under the radar in Indian queer fandom spaces. Amazon Prime India spent a lot of coin on the show Made in Heaven (2019) – and it was worth it. The show follows the lives of two wedding planners, Tara and Karan. Karan is closeted (except to his close friends) for most of the show, but after he makes some powerful enemies in his line of work, he gets publicly outed, which puts him on the path of dealing with his family’s shades of acceptance, queer rights activism, and reconciling with an old friend. The car scene in episode 9 made me cry, and yet I’ve never read a word about this show from Indian QL fan blogs here on Tumblr.

Following every film and TV show that releases in one language, across all modes and platforms, and keeping an eye out for queer representation is hard enough. Doing it in multiple languages is downright impossible. And then personal preferences come into play. Personally, I enjoy nearly all genres of media, but I am primarily an angst monster, so I seek out and watch sad shit on the regular. All four examples I’ve listed in this section are good queer representations, but they are deeply sad, rage-inducing, heartbreaking and realistic. If one wanted to watch an Indian queer romance that’s inside the bubble, I’m not sure if they can even find one – I have certainly not come across any. Even the queer Bollywood movies designed for a box office run, paying homage to iconic Bollywood romance sequences, were still outside the bubble. When a niche audience like the QL fandom collides with a complex media-churning machine like the Indian media industry that is fundamentally not designed to cater to them, all we get is a lot of puzzled looks and question marks.

A Thought Experiment On The Future Of Indian QLs

Now that I have established the challenges, I want to engage in a little thought experiment – if we were to receive a steady stream of Indian QL content, what would it look like, and how can the fandom engage with it?

If we are looking for content from a stable production entity for Indian queer media, like Thailand’s GMMTV, Japan’s MBS Drama Shower, and Korea’s Strongberry, we would be waiting for a long time, at the very least a decade or two. What we could get are small indie queer shows like Romil and Jugal, squirreled away in a streaming platform exclusive to India and only accessible internationally via VPN. Another example is the list of sapphic shows @twig-tea shared with us a while ago, here. These are gonna be low budget, probably-not-great-quality shows reminiscent of early GMMTV.

Another variety of QL content we could get are the Bollywood queer romance films and TV shows. They will be cheesy and tropey and romantic, and might interact with the bubble, but probably mostly from the safety of an upper middle class setting. This means they would eventually run out of fresh perspectives they could tune into in their limited scope and the stories might turn stale and repetitive (I’m deriving this from the general state of things in the Indian media landscape over the last couple years). International access might be a little easier than the previous case, but not as easy as going to YouTube and hitting play.

The third and final variety are the gritty dramas with heavy social, cultural, religious, gender and class commentary that Indian cinema industry has always made, and has upgraded in the recent years to include queerness. Once again, the access will be hard, but if we are looking for queer stories that also show the audience what it is like being queer in India, beyond the glitz, the glam and the colors of pre-packaged Indian experience often sold to the West, this is where we will find it. Most of it will be sad, but we are a sad bunch who constantly make sad shit, so it will be on brand for us.

And all of these different varieties of content are gonna need to be picked up and promoted by the Indian folks in the QL fandom who are tuned into these regional industries. India not being a cultural monolith that is easy to package and ship is precisely why we have all these beautiful and crazy and sometimes even contradictory styles of media that are offered for us to explore. And therefore, the fandom engagement on Indian QL content would also vastly differ from the fandom engagement for Japan, Thailand and Korea. A dedicated fandom captain might not emerge, but rather, a collective group of folks tuning into and promoting finds from their regional industries would be the way to go. In addition, if this content is not available in English, we would need fan subbers to provide translation expertise to even make it accessible, something we see often for Japanese media on Tumblr.

I know from observation that watching media in a different regional language could sometimes be as foreign to Indian audiences as watching media from other countries. The language, traditions, mannerisms, social mores and food would all be different from region to region, but I guess it would be a good litmus test to observe how well the fandom acclimates to a culture that is so eye-wateringly diverse and not as constantly promoted to them.

When I was texting @waitmyturtles discussing how we can approach answering this question (remember when this all started with a question, some two thousand-ish words ago? Yes, that question), at a point in our conversation I exclaimed "Ugh, everything in India is too complicated!" This long-ass post of mine is in no way the complete account of why things are the way they are in the Indian queer media landscape. But all I know for sure is that it’s not simple. And I really do not want anything related to India to be simple, because being unbearably frustrating and complicated is not a bug, but a feature of India. The road to Indian QLs is unique, but I will do my best to check the paths and share and recommend them to my friends whenever possible. And I invite my fellow Indian QL fans to do the same.

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

What about a yandere king x reader (make or female) and reader is basically a spy, making the king fall in love with them to get information etc, and reader basically tries to kill the king in his sleep but he lives cause he's a warrior at heart 💪(bbg energy lol) and basically what the king would do in that situation

An extremely cliche scenerio

Yandere! Male! King x Gn! Spy! Reader

Ugh Uni just started last week, and it was not... Fun.

One of our classes start at 7:30, and my Uni is like 30minutes-1hour far from my house so AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyways, there's no classes today so I got to actually write.

I got quickly uncomfortable writing this HAHAHAH damn. So, if noncon is not your tea, or you're looking for a fluffy fic, I suggest you don't read this one. I'm serious. This is not romantic in any way.

Yandere! King name: Soma

TW: NonCon

At Saphiri, there's a lot of Kingdoms and Sultanates, and a handful of Empires. One of the Kingdoms is called the Caelum Kingdom.

It's a newly established Kingdom, and was once a sizable city without a nation. Built from the foundations of a trading center.

It's a Kingdom formed on an archipelago separated by streams of salt water and fresh water in between their islands. A tight knit community, they thrive in tourism, trading, and textile export. They were honestly on a breakthrough to become an Empire, and it was just a matter of time.

Caelum has been led by the Elara family for generations upon generations. They were the first to discover the island, to establish itself as a city, and a kingdom as they led and oversaw the whole archipelago.

And currently, it's led by Soma Elara, the 3rd born crown prince and now the King of Caelum.

Soma, being the 3rd born, didn't really have that much chance on the throne. That, and his siblings, especially the first born, were smart and all had a chance at taking the throne.

He hated it dearly.

His mother, the second Queen after the previous died, is a greedy woman.

She sees Soma as a tool, and wanted him to succeed the throne.

If not... Let's just say the back of his legs will have more scars decorated on them.

Soma suffered abuse at the hand of his mother who wanted him to catch the attention of the King. And him, conditioned by his abusive upbringing, caught the want for power from his mother.

Ego and Pride. Those two prospects were pummeled into Soma's mind. Nobody can become the King. Only he is worthy of the throne.

So, he became the perfect prince. Nevermind that he orchestrated events in which it would humiliate his siblings. That's irrelevant. What's important is him.

The perfect gentleman with the wits of a genius, he became the crown prince when the selection came.

And, to solidify his place...

His older siblings were pronounced dead due to "freak accidents". One was devoured by sea monsters, the other was torn apart by demons. The younger ones were lucky, they only got to be a bit disabled due to "their own faults at being clumsy".

To not raise suspicion, of course Soma got hurt. Dead almost, but he miraculously recovered! How delightful!

The poor scapegoat is the youngest. And, as she got executed, Soma had a cold look of arrogance on his face.

The Queen?

She's afraid of the monster she created. She wanted a King, not a tyrant.

And, as she trembles when her friends tell her how good of a King her son is, Soma glares at her coldly from the balcony, daring her to speak ill of him.

Years passed, and Soma is now of marriageable age at 25.

His advisers told him to find a Queen, but he refuses to do so.

He's thinks having a Queen would make him look weak in the eyes of people.

So, why get a Queen when he can be an absolute Patriarch?

His Pride cannot allow for a potential weakness.

Not until a certain new person entered the palace as a stableperson...

Soma is welcoming foreign envoys to his palace, in which they would have a inter-country peace talks about a certain Emperor who is wreaking havoc amongst other kingdoms in search of a knight. They said that she was the supposed to be Empress, but fled the Empire.

Even one of the Dukes there, Duke Eros, is here to talk about the man.

As Soma guides the envoys to the palace grand meeting room, a certain servant caught his eyes.

They were frolicking with his horse, who was known to be too stubborn for its own good. Heck, this horse needs coaxing from Soma even just to let him ride on it.

But this stableperson was just... Hugging and petting his horse without any kind of violent reaction.

Honestly, Soma's ego was bruised.

His eyebrows furrowed as he led the envoys to the meeting hall once more.

He needs to know who this person is.

After quite the gruelling three hours of a collective disbelief over the actions of the Emperor Callisto, Soma got out of the meeting room and bid a good day to the envoys. Without any more distractions, he marched to the stables to find the person.

There, he saw you. Brushing the coat of his horse ever so gently and with a hum.

Oh he's annoyed.

Again, how can this pride filled horse just... Let's you be?

"State your name."

Your head, that was hidden due to being on the other side of the horse, popped out of the frame and he lets out a confused look.

You look so... Cute and innocent with those sparkling eyes that held so much affection for the horse in front of you.

"Oh! Your majesty!" You bowed. Even your voice sounds so sweet. "My name is Y/N. I'm not unworthy to meet you but..."

You looked up at him, eyes sparkling once more but now, with affection for him.

Oh?

"But I am so glad to meet you, your majesty."

Your voice held so much affection and love for him.

He cleared his throat, a bit awkward.

Sure, people admired him, but these people always held reverence and respect first. But here you are, projecting your affection like this.

His ego was fed immensly.

"You're bold." Soma smirked, "I like that."

He didn't miss the way your eyes widened subtly. Your face glowed with radiance of happiness that he was so sure he got blinded.

"Oh! Oh my..." You held your blushing cheeks, shy. "Thank you, your majesty... Um Oh..."

You bowed and ran away, fully embarrassed.

Soma, surprised, let his guard down a bit as he laughed gently at your antics.

You were like a deer that was curious, then runs away when get caught.

He liked that.

Immensly.

Yet, what he doesn't know, is that you were smirking as you ran away.

You knew that a prideful man like him wouldn't like a strong independent person.

That would just clash with his personality.

But, what if that person was cute, innocent, shy, friendly... Someone who is easily protect-able. Someone who loves them immensely and is shy about it?

It would inflate his ego wildly seeing this naive person love them without a care.

You're a spy sent by the Emperor Callisto in order to find his darling knight here. And, if you can't find her, you just need to send the Emperor information, so that he can infiltrate the Kingdom and wreck havoc just to lure out the knight.

Honestly, the Emperor scares you. Who's crazy enough to wage countless wars just to find his woman?

Or does he delight in bloodshed and finding his darling is just an excuse?

Who knows, but you knew you have to kill Soma after you extracted enough information from him to start the war inside the Kingdom.

Starting with capturing the heart of the Prideful King.

"Soma!"

You ran to Soma and hugged him tightly. A happy smile on your face with a blush well orchestrated that you know he loves.

Soma smiles and kisses the top of your head before continuing to talk to his Prime Minister.

In those two months that you were here, you painstakingly captured Soma in your hands. Continuing to act as the naive person who doesn't know noble etiquette, you were a breath of fresh air in the uptight palace.

The servants love you, the other nobles look longingly your way, wanting to act as carefree as you.

And Soma? He's head over heels for you.

Yet, in his mind, you were the one in love. Not him. He loves having you by his arms, with you just loving him affectionately and being there to relieve his stress.

You were promoted to consort immediately once you confessed to him fully, and was now a precious being inside the Kingdom.

After all, this King who doesn't want marriage, with ego so high people swore it was through the heavens, suddenly had a consort on their way to become his royal partner.

Soma gave you everything. He loves giving you gifts, asserting dominance as he spoils you greatly.

And, as his reward, you would pour your affection to him while asking about information that he willingly gave.

After all, the foolish king still thinks you won't betray him.

You were only a stableperson, who in their right mind would betray him? Someone who's such a catch?

Sure, he's really handsome. People were lining left and right for his hand in marriage after all. And he spoils you greatly. You won't betray him. He knows it.

But, why are you straddling his lap now, in the middle of the knight, with a knife raised up high?

You were staring at him so coldly, he swore you are a different person.

Anguish, that's what Soma felt first.

He wanted to ask you why, but anger immediately filled him as you swung the knife down.

You're fast, but not fast enough.

He grabbed your hand and gripped it hard, making you seethe and drop the knife hilt down on the bed.

"WHY?!" He screamed, trying to clutch your body to submission. "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!"

You gritted your teeth and tried to thrash away from his hold, not saying anything.

When he got you pinned down on the bed, he grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him.

"Who sent you." He chillingly said that you gulped and shakily answered.

"Emperor Callisto."

Soma stopped, eyes darkened to a degree.

Yet, the words that came out of his mouth was surprising for you.

"So, you're doing this for a man other than me?"

He threw his head back, laughing wildly as his pride got pummeled fully.

First, you made him dance on your palm. Make him spill information and secrets. Let him spoil you greatly. Let you love him freely! And this is how you pay him? A betrayal for another man?

You're such a greedy fucker.

"Oh, cuz he's an Emperor, isn't he?" He spat out, eyes wide with extreme jealousy and unbridled rage. His squeeze on your waist was hurting you immensely. "And i'm not? Is this it? Do you spread your legs to men of higher status huh?"

Your heart dropped when you saw him take off his dress shirt, displaying his carved out muscles that once brought you lust, but now it brought you fear.

Soma gripped your shirt, eyes dead with no light. His mouth a thin light as he captured your lips in a frenzied kiss.

He's no one with pride now. His ego gone.

The betrayal made him crazy as you made him crazy for you.

Placing a palm on your abdomen, he smirks. An evil intent on his eye.

"I'm gonna fuck/breed you into submission." He growls out, grinding his hips against yours. "I'm gonna make you forget the Emperor. I only want you to only live for me, sing and dance for me, I want you to only love me."

And as he relishes in the fear in your eyes, he smirks.

You're his.

And he will break you into being his if you try to get out of his clutches at all.

Remember that.

[fatehbaz]

There is a direct connection between the expansion of [...] new [coffee] consumer culture in Europe [...] and the expansion of plantation slavery in the Caribbean. [...] [S]lave-based coffee was more important to the Dutch [Netherlands] economy than previously [acknowledged] [...]. [T]he phenomenal growth of [plantation slavery in] Saint Domingue [the French colony of Haiti] was partly made possible by the export market along the Rhine that was opened up by the Dutch Republic. [...] [E]arly in the eighteenth century, the Dutch and French began production in their respective West Indian colonies [...]. [C]offee was still a very exclusive product in Europe. [...] From the late 1720s, [...] in the Netherlands [...] coffee was especially widespread [...]. From the late 1750s the volume of Atlantic coffee production [...] increased significantly. It was at that time that the habit of drinking coffee spread further inland [...] [especially] in Rhineland Germany [...] [and] inland Germany [due to Dutch shipments via the river].

Although its consumption may not have been as widespread as the tea-sugar complex in Britain, there certainly was a similar ‘coffee-sugar complex’ in continental Europe [...] spread during the eighteenth century [...]. The total amount of coffee imported to Europe (excluding the Italian [...] trade) was less than 4 million pounds per year during 1723–7 and rose to almost 100 million pounds per year around 1788 [...]. In 1790 [...] almost half of the value of [Dutch] exports over the Rhine [to Germany] was coffee. [...]

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The rising prices in the 1760s encouraged more investment in coffee in Dutch Guiana and the start of new plantations in Saint Domingue [Haiti]. Production in Saint Domingue skyrocketed and surpassed all the others, so that this colony provided 60% of all the coffee in the world by 1789. [Necessitating more slave labor. The Haitian revolution would manifest about a decade later.] [...]

In French historiography, the ‘Dutch problems’ are considered to be the slave revolts (the Boni-maroon wars) [at Dutch plantations]. [...] France made use of the Dutch ‘troubles’ to expand its market share and coffee production in Saint Domingue [Haiti], which accelerated at an exponential rate. [...]

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[T]he Dutch Guianas [were] producing over a third of the coffee consumed in Europe [...] [by] 1767. [...] The Dutch flooded the Rhine region with coffee and sugar, creating a lasting demand for both commodities, as the two are typically consumed together. [...] [T]he history of the slave-based coffee production in Surinam and Saint Domingue [Haiti] was pivotal in starting the mass consumption of coffee in Europe. [...] Slave-based coffee production was also crucial [...] in Brazil during the 'second slavery', where slavery existed on an enormous scale and was reshaped in the world's biggest coffee producing country [later] during the nineteenth century. [...] The Dutch merchant-bankers organised coffee investment, enslavement, and planting and selling; [all] while not leaving the town of Amsterdam [...].

[This market] expansion ends in crisis [...] - a crisis caused by uprisings and revolutions, most notably, the Haitian one. Yet Germans still liked coffee. And the Dutch colonial merchant-banker[s] [...] learned something about [...] production, and perhaps also something about the role of the state in labour control: as soon as they could, they sent Johannes van der Bosch [Dutch governor-general of the East Indies] to Surinam and Java in order to solve the labour issues and expand the colonial production of coffee [by imposing in Java the notoriously brutal cultuurstelsel "enforced planting" regime, followed later by the "Coolie Ordinance" laws allowing plantation owners to discipline "disobedient" workers, with millions of workers on Java plantations, lasting into the twentieth century].

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Text above by: Tamira Combrink. "Slave-based coffee in the eighteenth-century and the role of the Dutch in global commodity chains". Slavery & Abolition Volume 42, Issue 1, pages 15-42. Published online 28 February 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. All of that italicized text within brackets was added by me for clarity and context; apologies to Combrink. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism.]

[probablyasocialecologist]

If Ugandans have a social safety net, it is woven from banana fibers, and if there is a clear path to socialism, it will be lined with banana leaves. The lusuku model, premised on intercropping and smallholder farming, could be the basis for national agrarian reform that improves the lives of Uganda’s agricultural workers without accelerating the destruction of the natural environment. Uganda faces increasing difficulty feeding itself because of climate extremes and land degradation, and this affects farmers more significantly than anyone else. Moreover, since the 1990s, the ruling National Resistance Movement regime sold off and dismantled most of the coffee, tea, and cotton growers cooperatives, leaving smallholder farmers in the hands of the predatory middlemen which cooperatives had been established to protect them against. Unable to collectively bargain and exposed to dramatic fluctuations in the market prices for cash crops, many people left rural areas to search for employment in cities. This has been a driving force behind the massive inequality between rural and urban workers. Ugandans now produce more food than they consume, even exporting to other countries in the region, yet 41% of people are undernourished, and agricultural production has decreased over the last 20 years. For the most part, the strategy pursued by Uganda’s government has been to encourage the development of ecologically disastrous intensive agriculture for export, privileging foreign investors rather than developing the infrastructure that would benefit peasants. Indeed, while more than 70% of Ugandans are employed in agriculture, the sector only receives around 4% of public investment, and projects aimed at helping smallholder farmers have had very little success, even by their own standards. Many of the government’s investments in agriculture very clearly advantage larger landowners, to the detriment of the poorest farmers. For example, most of the government’s investment in labor-saving technologies has been spent on tractors, which are great for large plots but largely unaffordable or unsuitable for the average farmer, whose plot is usually between 1-3 acres large. However, a socialist transition premised on agroecological reforms could make use of the existing lusuku model to create the kind of growth that actually improves poor farmers’ lives without destroying their environment. This could begin with reestablishing cooperatives and engineering agricultural prices around social needs and goals, like guaranteeing access to food. Research from around the world has shown that while large, monocrop plantations are good at producing huge volumes of one crop, smallholder farms are more productive when evaluated on a per-unit area and are capable of securing national food sovereignty. Why, for example, should Ugandans buy rice imported from Pakistan or Vietnam when banana intercropping yields more calories per hectare than rice? Lusukus could feed the nation without relying on foreign experts, development aid, or the capital-intensive inputs now being imported to grow for export. Because lusukus are far better for the soil, they also improve the nation’s capacity to resist severe floods and drought, effects of climate change that hit poor farmers hardest. In these ways, the lusuku model could provide a sustainable path to socialist development.

[lalathemediterraneanmermaid]

Saligia kingdoms as real life countries Pt.2

Good day, my esteemed Concordians. I trust this moment finds you in good health and high spirits. Here I am, once again with the last part of the lesson about how "The Creator" copied has taken inspiration from the Earth and created Saligia. I'm not going to take attendance today, so let's get started my dears.

Kingdom of Avari - Japan

Avari, Land of Fire. Home of our beloved Guy who couldn't care less for his fanclub lol. He is a mood. Back to the kingdom, settled by an ambitious people who are blessed by the abundance this volcanic land provides. Rich with underground resources, this is a powerful kingdom. Many veins of valuable ore run through the land, which makes Avarians excellent metalsmiths and crafters of magical weapons. Their most famous export is red coffee.

So why Japan? Japan is a volcanic archipelago with abundant mineral resources and a history of expertise in metallurgy, especially in the crafting of swords and tools (like katanas). Additionally, although coffee culture is relatively recent, there has always been a strong tradition of beverages such as tea and sake.

Kingdom of Luxure - France

Luxure, just hearing the name of this kingdom makes you go bankrupt. Luxure, you would think is the Land of Luxury, but nope, it actually is the Land of Lakes, and home to our favourite womanizer/maneater Fenn (even his name sounds luxurious). Anyway, back to the topic, selected for its vibrant landscape, this land is favored by those that seek pleasure. The fields of art and entertainment flourish in this kingdom, which is also known for its unique attitude towards love and marriage. Here, any one person can be married to multiple other people at the same time. The local specialty here is blue wine.

And what does Luxure has to do with France? Well, actually A LOT. France is known for its vibrant artistic scene, its liberal approach to love and relationships (being a culture open to diverse forms of expression in love), and its tradition of high-quality wines. Similar to Spain, France is another nation with a great sense of fashion, being directly the birthplace of haute couture. All these characteristics have endowed France with unparalleled popularity on a global scale. Fenn would LOVE this place.

Kingdom of Voleri - Italy

Voleri, Land of Plenty. This fertile region was chosen for its ability to feed its citizens' voracious appetites (we have seen it with Rio). This expansive land is known for its agriculture, producing the most food of any kingdom in the magical realm. However, Volerians lack economic trade agreements, which puts them at a disadvantage power- wise. Famous products include Volerian wheat.

Okay, this is another case of a difficult kingdom to identify on Earth, It could try to mimic Argentina. Argentina is a country with vast fertile lands, known for its agricultural production, especially cereals like wheat, and it has faced economic challenges despite its natural wealth. BUT, in my opinion, Italy is the best match for Voleri. Italy boasts vast farmland, rolling green hills, and fertile lands that produce wheat, grapes, olives, and more. Regions like Tuscany and Puglia stand out for the natural beauty of their rural landscapes, where agriculture lies at the heart of the economy and culture, much like in Voleri. Additionally, Italy is renowned for its love of food, with a cuisine that celebrates fresh, local ingredients. Italians are also known for their hospitality and their cheerful, open nature, doesn't that reminds you of our beloved Rio?

Kingdom of Ira - Arabia

Ira, also known as the Land of Deserts. An indignant people opted for this ideal battleground from which to win every fight. An indignant people opted for this ideal battleground from which to win every fight. Surrounded by desert and with few natural resources, the Irian people have focused on enhancing their military might. They have little exportable products, keeping their kingdom afloat through mercenary work instead. I mean, I'm sure it's a beautiful kingdom, but it does sound kinda scary (the mercenary work part took me out).

Now, what does Ira has to do with Arabia? Both Ira and Arabia are defined by vast deserts that create a harsh and challenging environment. These lands are tough, arid, and demand great resilience to survive, symbolizing the strength of their inhabitants. Additionally, Arabia has historically held strategic importance due to its geographical location. So yeah, they are pretty similar.

Isle of Colde - Malta

Finally, our pretty little island. Isle of Colde, the Keeper of Peace. This island was formed in hopes of never bringing war and tragedy to the magical realm again. The Royal Academy of Concordia is located on this politically neutral island. Each kingdom must send their princes here to this microcosm of the magical realm, which serves as a symbol of peace.

And you know what? Exactly! This island has also been pretty difficult to summarize in just one country, but I tried my best. Okay, essentially, it resembles Switzerland more closely. Switzerland is famous for its political neutrality, its focus on peace, and for being a meeting point for diplomats and international students. The idea of a "microcosm" where people from different places gather also mirrors Switzerland as the host of international organizations. Furthermore, its role as a symbol of peace fits perfectly with the image of a neutral and safe place. However, aesthetically, one could say that the best comparison for Colde would be another island, this time called Malta. Malta, as a small island in the Mediterranean, has a long history of serving as a meeting point for various cultures, which aligns with the concept of a neutral place. Malta has been a melting pot of European, Arab, and Mediterranean cultures, and although small, it possesses a unique beauty with its coastlines, historic architecture, and colorful landscapes, making it an ideal location for diplomacy.

And well, that’s all, dear ones. I hope you’ve enjoyed this masterclass about our world and its foundations. Now, back to your studies, you wouldn’t want to end up in section C and get expelled, would you? Bye-bye! Kisses!

Author's note: Again, obviously, none of this information has been confirmed by the developers and creators of the game; it’s just the opinion of a girl who’s way too bored, despite having too many things to do.

[hwsforeignrelations]

A Fogged Up Plan

Summary: For three weeks, the Kingdom of Spades’ royals have been held captive in Diamond’s Fort Shellac. After one weevily meal too many, they hatch a plan to escape.

Made for @usuknetwork's USUKUSTwicePer zine: Cards, With Spades to Start. Read the full collection here (hehe I also designed the cover, please show everyone some love!!)

AO3 Link // Words: 3,812

Five moons before Queen Arthur Kirkland’s coronation, the isolated swamps of Southern Spades were inhabited by an insect known as PB Cup. 

Previously known but unstudied, a small population found itself in the hold of a cargo ship en route towards the Kingdom of Diamonds. 

Once docked, it is rumored that a seawoman unloading barrels and crates of imports carried the insects to her town on the outskirts of the port, where the red buzzers settled onto a Camellia sinensis farm. There, the small population decimated the crops. When customers purchased the expensive processed leaves in tea, it tasted of woody, bitter peanuts. 

Diamond’s PB Cup population quickly spiraled into millions and one of the kingdom’s primary exports, tea, crashed. 

With it, Diamond’s economic influence sank to match the impoverished Kingdom of Clubs. 

 Through no fault of his own, Queen Arthur inherited one of the world’s worst foreign affair conflicts in history as the Diamond government demanded compensation for their introduction of the bug to their crops, and Spades denied any responsibility for the lack of preparedness on the part of Diamond’s farming protection or economic infrastructure. 

Thus a war broke out between the two kingdoms. Luckily, the Queen of Diamonds, Francis Bonnefoy, and Queen Arthur Kirkland had fluttered in similar social circles on opposing navy forces, during earlier military careers, before Oracle selected them for positions of royalty.

Due to their previously-held relationship, the conflicting countries maintained (albeit strained) contact.

However, twenty years later, the strung out conflict saw no resolution in sight. Neither party would budge. In the last two decades, Diamonds had mostly recovered, converting and subsidizing previously small industries to make up greater lumps of their exports. 

Diamond GDP had mostly recovered, and the occasional skirmishes along the Spades-Diamond borders had lost their impact to both sides' citizens.

Mentions often paralleled this tone:

“Hey mom, Junior’s little league game’s canceled. Queen Arthur just announced Diamond shots fired near the field.”

“Gee, I’m in absolute shock. Let’s order a Continental basket for the other team. I know those sweet kids were looking forward to a Spadian roast but it can’t be helped.”

“Yes, ma.”

“Our government should really step off their high horse- it’s practically a soap opera! ‘You sent our kingdom into a depression!’, ‘No, your lack of planning sunk your economy!’ Honestly. Time for Gen. Jones to call it cuts… bring the phone while you're up, let’s reserve that basket before we forget.”

“Yes, ma.”

And so you see, neither kingdom withheld reservations to mock the ongoing conflict. So far in, it was nothing more than a contest of resolve between two too-proud kingdoms.

Bi-annual tea shortages, sport game cancellations, flight and ship delays, internal division among governments… but neither party appeared to be dismounting their positions, and as the conflict neared its twentieth anniversary Spades-Diamond tension surged.

Unbeknownst to regular citizens, the jack, queen, and king of Spades had disappeared from the castle three weeks prior. 

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Drop-drop-drop sounded a mysteriously originating source of water, droplets plopping onto a moist stone ground. 

The Jack of Spades, dressed in creased gold, purple, and blue fabrics cast his eyes towards his hands where he organized a cheap deck of playing cards. 

The action demonstrated disinterest to anyone unattuned to Yao’s discreet mannerisms, but the way his fingers twitched to swipe brown hair behind his ear was telling.

“...I beg your pardon?”

Drop-drop-drop.

Army General Alfred Jones raised thin eyebrows above round glasses in a look that read “everyone in this dungeon heard me loud and clear”, but continued in a patronizingly careful tone. 

“You need a command like brown bananas to banana bread, or day-old rice to fried rice. Something that suits your past-prime station, y’know?”

Drop.

Arthur Kirkland’s forehead actually twitched but his expression remained unaffected. “Well done, dear. I’ll be the first to admit, never in a million years would I imagine you capable of something so complicated as a simile”.

“Har har, Your Majesty,” Alfred reached across the cramped cell to knock his knuckles against the wrought iron bars.

Drop-drip.

“When I met you, 200-odd years ago, those magic bones would have no problemo melting, or-or slicing through these bars like butter.”

“-OH be silent for once, blathering-”

“And now look at you!” Alfred flung his hand in the general direction of his husband, himself  melted on the floor, head balanced on a rock. “A washed-up seadog, no good for nothing but a semi-ok fuck. What the hell happened to you, man? You used to bring dragons to their knees. Now some Diamond-fired metal’s too much? Y’all know their quality’s shit,” he yawned.

“Retirement might be on the horizon, sweetheart. But no offense.”

Drop-drip-drop. Drip. 

Yao didn’t even blink when hands lept for King Alfred’s throat.

“Gah-!” Vague choking escaped Alfred’s mouth while his oily hair tossed wildly and his cheeks went red from the loss of air.

Drop-drop-drip.

“Worthless excuse for a leader, I’d sew your thin lips shut before these stinking walls hear another lie from them. Seadog I am- and proud, too!” Arthur gave one last throttle before throwing Alfred aside in disgust. 

It could have been his breath, too. They hadn’t exactly been given a toothbrush. Three weeks into captivity and their last frigid bucket shower was over four days ago.

At least they had a toilet, even if it was awfully cold when you sat. Stars above, Alfred wanted out. 

Patience, Alfred reminded himself. That voice in his head sounded suspiciously like a certain magical queen, and the king ignored his own internal voice which insisted self-restraint would never be his specialty.

Drop-drop-drop. 

The queen had retreated to the opposite wall to collect his composure, Alfred’s own ragged breathing filling the chamber and he coughed, once, before resuming his idle splay on the floor.

 Arthur ascertained the damage choking his spouse had cost his nails. 

“As for the jab at my sexual performance, love, I think everyone in this room can deny that claim with absolute confidence. Isn’t that right, Edison?”

Drop-drop-drop.

“H-huh?” Their guard startled at his post, not expecting to be addressed by name. His feet kicked at the ground, “Um. I-I guess rumors do get around.” Arthur turned smugly towards the army general and received a playful scoff for his troubles.

The jack spoke up, unimpressed by the exchange, “Do be mindful of others nearby who may not be so invested in his co-workers’ thrilling sexual escapades, please and thank yo-”

“Chow time!” Interrupted another guard, sliding three portions of beige sludge through a small slit in the bars, accompanied by biscuit. 

All three groaned.

“C’mon! I get the prisoner thing, but is this,” the queen knocked his biscuit against the bars and three weevils fell out, “really necessary?” said Alfred.

The guards shrugged with indifference and Yao dipped the corner of his flour ball in their water, softening it enough to break off a piece and chew. He paused, fiddled the bite with his tongue, then pulled a long, curled hair out from his teeth.

Both guards had left for a smoke break. 

With stony resolve, Yao declared, “We’re getting out of here tonight.”

“Fiunwwy!” said the king through his porridge. 

“Ditto,” Arthur scowled. “And, these meals aren’t so bad. Navy ships serve far worse.”

“Ugg. That doesn’t make you look good, Admiral.” Alfred took a small handful of his food and fed it to a cluster of shadows in the corner of their chamber.

Gotta keep his slimy friend nourished, Alfred smiled as the shadows accepted the grub.

Meal finished, Arthur tossed his tray through the bars and sat against the wall, joining Yao where the jack dealt out three piles of playing cards. His technique was quick and clean, and Arthur would never admit to admiring the show. 

Not even magic could put on that performance.

 Envy forced him to deign his husband with a response. “Do us all a favor and shut your trap.” 

Alfred clutched at imaginary pearls and Arthur smirked. “And finish your plate. Besides, army rations hardly pass as food, General Jones.”

Cramming the rest into his mouth with hardly a gag, Alfred discarded the plate and crawled towards the pair. He added an ass wiggle while Yao’s attention was elsewhere. The queen’s ears glowed red and he sneered at Alfred, disapproving of his husband dangling treats with no ability to give in the confined space.

Alfred laughed to himself. The queen was afflicted with an unfortunately high libido. Something which Alfred eagerly satisfied, even if his own needs paled in comparison. However…

Restricted to the meager dimensions of their cell with the observant jack… well, all jokes aside, the king looked with a mixture of trepidation and delight at the demolishment of his ass the moment they found a private space. 

They were lucky enough to acquire the deck of cards and spent their time playing every game under the sun- and some new. With Arthur’s unmet sexual needs and most forms of exercise impossible, stir-crazy was an insufficient descriptor for the kinetic energy burning through them. 

Cards helped starve off frustration, and offered an iota of normalcy.

Their favorite guard, Edison, returned from his break and all three royals exchanged glances. Alfred straightened up and humm-ed, “Did I ever tell y’all ‘bout that time Major Maisie single-handedly rallied the marines through Norbrandy?”

Yao and Arthur, having heard Alfred’s stories a million times, shook their heads. Alfred laid down a Four of Clubs and dove into his narrative, smiling behind his cards as Edison’s head tilted to hear their conversation better.

“Soulda heard from the boys direct-like. Said she flew in like a cannon. Fort Potomac was occupied by Hearts. Maisie rode in under the shield of fog, took one look at the opaque path ‘round the hill, and led her advance in the dead of night. Bombarded out of nowhere, King Kiku’s soldiers resisted heroically. But,” 

“Potomac was conquered by dawn, with only five Spadian casualties.” 

Arthur inspected his nails, ignoring the swell of power growing in his breast. “Impressive, I’m sure. What were the odds?”

As an ex-citizen of Spades (likely hired by Diamond forces for better wages than Spades’ less impressive salary), Edison’s vague admiration for his home-kingdom’s success fed the royals’ power. Having been away from the appraisal of most Spadian citizens for a month now, the ignorant guard was their only supplyant.

“Four Hearts soldiers to every one of ours.”

Alfred shivered in excitement when that number reached Edison’s ears and their unknowingly-benevolent guard emitted a burst of patriotism.

“Capital.” The queen spun a card onto the pile.

Yao delivered Arthur a sharp look. Sarcasm was fine, but not when a deaf person could hear it.

“500 points”, Yao announced in a tone which attempted neutrality but failed, tossing the last trick towards himself.

Arthur and Alfred groaned in unison, scratching one more check to the scoreboard on the stone wall. The box under “姚” had comically more checks than the “Al” and “K” beside it.

Alfred thought dreamily of their own castle’s gameroom, which displayed a point board of less comparatively devastating results. 

The king’s husband stared hard at their score board, then exchanged with Alfred a look he recognized as offense. Eyebrows drawn to etch little wrinkles above his nose and the tiniest sneer curling the right side of his mouth. 

The admiral’s tisk made Alfred break out into pearls of laughter and Yao allowed his own expression to revel in the satisfaction of besting his co-workers.

It was these shared moments which reminded Alfred of Oracle’s excellent match-making.

Drip.

Behind them, soldiers shuffled their shoes into the floor and small movements clinked metal armor. 

Probably jealous they weren’t in on the joke, heh.

Yao caught his eye, subtly jutted his chin towards their window. A few miles off an oncoming fog made itself known. Alfred nodded, canines flashing in his grin.

It was go time.

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That night, all men finished their trays of food, persevering through the mealy texture. 

Finally, after three weeks of drawing on Edison’s flaky Spadian patriotism, Yao, Arthur, and Alfred felt strong enough to fuel their escape. 

But that had been true for three nights now. There was something else they needed to ensure a successful breakout from Fort Shellac. They knew it was only a matter of time, in Diamond’s chilly forest climate, for moisture to collect in the air. All they had to do was intensify the natural way of things.

 In the ancient and clammy foundation of their prison, fog poured in through the bars and it only took slight encouragement from Arthur for a Féth fíada to emerge.

“Maisie’s a mage as well as a scientist, no?” asked Yao as the mist grew thicker.

Alfred nodded proudly, cupping something close to his chest so he wouldn’t lose it in his blindness. “Made her own fog machine and bribed some fairies to superpower it- resourceful as always.”

Their security was starting to notice the clouds curling at their metal feet and muttered in distress while their prisoners whispered and waited.

Moonlight cast its reflection on the fog, and as the minutes passed the damp room filled with blue hues.

Drop.

“H-hey!” Edison finally addressed them, kicking spastically at the vapor as though it could be intimidated by violence. He pointed an accusatory finger at Arthur, who played a game of Patience against the tilted wall, “You’ve something to do with this, necromancer?”

Drop-drop-drop.

The Queen of Spades didn’t respond, pulling an ace from the stockpile and whipping it at his captor. 

It bounced off Edison’s helmet.

“What on Earth?” The guards watched in horror as the fog swallowed up their legs and began on their chests. “Find the director,” one snapped. Edison didn’t waste a moment, keys clanging in his grip as he scrambled to the exit. 

His hurried footsteps echoed through the stairway while silence enveloped the prison. Yao could smell anxiety pouring from the invisible guards, the gentle clinking of their metal armor interrupting an otherwise soundless environment.

Suddenly the cast iron bars screamed, brute force bending and tearing through the metalwork. “Merde!” cursed a Diamond accent.

“That’s a lad,” complemented Arthur, patting his husband’s back while the King of Spades huffed another breath before finishing the job, ripping the door out of its hole with one last ear-splitting jerk. 

With inhuman speed Alfred was gone in the fog. Before the unfortunate Diamond soldiers realized, their prisoner smashed them apart so they couldn’t see the other. 

“Heh- happy to help.” Alfred smothered the unnamed guard’s mouth, delivering a fist into the armored abdomen. The force was enough to penetrate the protective metal and padded fabric and the body slumped instantly, held up by Alfred’s hand gripping his face. 

Yao stepped over the raw metal of their prison door and into the face of Alfred’s catch. The Jack of Spades reached into the guard’s fauld and produced a string, on which he pulled and produced a small sheet of inscribed metal. In complete blindness Yao skimmed his finger beds along the sheet, memorizing the meaning of the indents, before stepping back and handling it the the Queen, who confirmed his interpretation with a hum.

“Thank Oracle for y’all’s Diamindortic, couldn’t read it even if I could see an inch from my face,” Alfred said, dropping the unconscious body and listening with satisfaction as it crashed into the floor.

Dusting off his hands, the cluster of shadows from their cell made itself known against Alfred’s prosthetic leg, oozing up the complicated gears and bolts. It chirped.

“Butters would like some gravity, Arthur,” Alfred said, taking “Butters” from his thigh and flailing in the air before locating the queen’s outstretched hand.

Butters slid the languid journey onto Arthur’s palm and waited patiently for the kiss which Arthur pressed to its head. “Erg. Revulsion doesn’t scratch the surface of your pet’s chosen skin.”

“Yeah, I know. But the mucus keeps ‘im healthy!

A large silhouette, barely discernible in the air, expanded before the three Spadian royals. It stopped growing at around six feet tall and sneezed when Yao touched its nose, approximately the size of a bocce ball.

“What a fine boy,” the jack complimented Butters’ chosen form, petting what felt like an enormous panda.

Yao felt the round ears under his hands and the strength behind the bones of its face. The doublecoat swallowed his fingers when the jack adoringly brushed them under Alfred’s pet’s ears. Beneath Butters’ muzzle were thick canines, and from the animals’ stomping Yao sensed hoofs rather than paws.

“Excellent form, bao.”

Butters wiggled at the praise.

With reluctance Yao released Butters from his coddling and stepped back, allowing the king’s approach towards his service animal. 

Steps hurried down the staircase towards them, the sound bouncing off the walls like a stampede of metal-wearing bison. 

“Time to go,” Arthur said, dragging a sword off an unconscious guard and advancing towards the stairwell, blade tip forward-facing. Yao chose a barbed mace from his own casualty and wasted no time in singing it through the air.

Alfred cringed against Butters’ neck after mounting, listening with unwanted familiarity to the shrieks and groans of wounded men and women. He had blown off many faces in his long career, but avoided violence when he could. 

Right now they could not, and Alfred didn’t bother looking away when he held out two fingers and punctured a soldier through the neck as he and Butters rounded the last turn. 

Ignoring any pain emitting from the base of his amputated leg, Alfred ushered Butters onward, the overgrown puppy smashing a recovering enemy back into the stone as they ascended the stairs behind his queen and jack. 

Arthur’s weapon, guided under the experienced swordsmanship of a centuries-old navy admiral, sliced through Diamond flesh like butter. The queen was momentarily distracted by Yao’s comment and jammed the mental length through a ribcage up to the hilt. 

The soldier’s scream was cut off as blood pooled up her throat and over her teeth, and when yanking went nowhere Arthur pressed one foot against the woman’s side and pushed, orange blood spurting all over him as the body crashed, limp and lifeless. 

“Somehow,” panted Yao mid-run, “I didn’t expect so much blood.”

“We didn’t correctly anticipate enemy numbers,” Arthur nodded. “Either our previous estimations of Fort Shellac were off by hundreds, or Diamonds has since fortified its defense.”

“Fucking Francis,” Arthur grumbled to himself, sweat pouring down from his hairline and mixing with the Diamond blood on his cheek.

In Alfred’s marital opinion, his husband looked actually terrifying- and handsome as heck.

“You better not be,” Alfred laughed. In front of him, Yao groaned in a mix of exasperation and disgust.

“Spare me,” the jack pleaded.

Two pairs of feet and one set of hoofs ran along the fort’s main floor, evading who they could and decommissioning any who they couldn’t with little regard for the permanentness of the blow.

With poor Edison’s admiration for Spades to blame, amassed over weeks of captivity, the three royals utilized their inhumane strength without restraint, bulldozing through room after room, leaving behind a trail of massacred soldiers, heads and limbs and organs soaking the stone floor with orange and yellow blood. Like a line of sheets hung out to dry whipped up by a hurricane, screams tore and ripped themselves out from the throats of the wounded and dying. 

“And that’s why we don’t wear white to the wedding,” Alfred joked at a guard’s white armor soaked through with orange “wine”. General Jones maintained a light mood with breathless chatter and the queen and jack responded in kind.

Anyone watching might express disgust at their attitude, might expect more from such experienced political figures. 

The seasoned monarchs had no reason for suppressing resentment, for the trust broken and their own time wasted and negligent treatment, and did not benefit by acknowledging the graveness of their actions in the moment.

Kidnapping a suit’s royalty was a serious crime, war or no war. It would spell out a dreadful escalation back home. The Spadian monarchs were no wet-behind-the-ear politicians- they were representatives of an empire, with a responsibility to their kingdom above all else.

King Rajesh and Queen Francis would regret their decision, and the first part of Spades’ retribution began with the public condemnation which would befall Diamond royalty when the media caught wind of Fort Shellac’s heavy casualties.

Finally, Yao caught sight of sunlight streaming in through the squares of the portcullis. "सृष्टि डायमंड्स के साम्राज्य और इसे बनाए रखने वाले सभी लोगों को अच्छे अवसर प्रदान करे।, “ said the jack without much relish, quoting from the metal sheet’s engravings. 

Only four women stood guard and they jumped in surprise at the correct spell, frozen with disbelief as the gate lifted.

The moment they advanced, the three royals were gone. Beneath them Butters galloped past, encouraged by Arhur’s remaining strength. They rode mile after mile, thoroughly exhausted by their massive expense of magical energy in so short a time.

The Clock gave them inhumane tolerance, but it would never be enough to keep the strain off their bodies in a fight like that. 

Eventually, Butters’ pace petered until he came to a complete stop on a road.

Arthur and Alfred had passed out against the soft fur off Butters’ back, too exhausted to stay awake.

The weight of Yao’s eyelids threatened him with the same fate, but sleep wasn’t an option until they were with Spadian authorities. 

Thankfully, Spades and Diamonds shared a long boarder and Yao only had to encourage Butters for another hour before a Spadian soldier’s blue armor could be spotted up the road.

She saw them immediately and grabbed her sidearm as she walked up. “Identify yourselves,” she demanded.

Without the energy to even speak, Yao peeled Alfred’s head from between Butters’ ears and used his sleeve to wipe the grime and caked blood from his face.

She recognized her army general immediately, even beneath the thickly remaining dirt, and dropped her weapon to fall to attention.

“Y-your majesties! My deepest, sincerest apologies, I didn’t recognize-,” She stumbled over her words, clearly struggling to find the next course of action.

“It’s fine,” waved aside the jack, feeling himself losing against consciousness. The woman before him might be a fresh recruit but he could care less. The sparkling spade over her breast was all that mattered.

“Just lead him to the nearest lookout,” Yao pointed to Butters. “Don’t bother waking us up,” Yao said before he slumped like a deck of cards with his king and queen, dead to the world.

[canonsinthehead]

A Naruto Headcanon - The Culinary History of the Ninja World.

i'm back and not so bare with me. this headcanons is related to a story telling how chouji and karui's marriage went down. ill post it eventually.

EACH COUNTRY’S CULINARY HISTORY

Konohagakure (Country of Fire) Konohagakure aka the land of the free. Many things make up the uniqueness of the cuisine of the country of fire. First, they are the king of importation, so their diet is really diverse and touched all sectors evenly. They grow all kind of vegetables to meet the need of its residents. While there are not has much native plants from the area in their current diet contrary to other villages like Suna and Kiri.

Konoha being built on a vast forest, their main fruit consumption comes from small fruit trees and fruit trees like apples, pears, and pomegranate. Anything that grows on a tree is often easily available since it takes its roots in Konoha’s founder Hashirama Senju.

The country are the main producer and consumer of eggs and meat especially pork (which they export all over the ninja world) this where you get the whole BBQ concept and omelets. Another downfall of the cuisine from Konoha is the heavy presence of processed goods in everyday cooking preparation. The current culture is far more removed from its traditional cooking methods. Referred to as the Senju Diet is almost getting lost and seen has a flower from the past. Many (often older individuals) resist the hard change that came trough time and tries to uphold the consumption of the way ninjas ate in the past.

Lotus Root is a staple of the Senju Diet

Even Naruto can testify to this and noticed how it hard for him maintain the same diet as when he was a child (aside eating ramen), the way fast foods chains have almost came out of nowhere and took over the market deeply concerns him (especially how its taking hold of this younger generation). The deliberate effort towards modernization and proving the country is the first in everything, can reach everything, can eat everything, can win against anyone basically walking like they are the goat of the ninja world has affected negatively old traditions in subtle ways and in other more obvious ways. Like how the Konoha can keep escape the threat of famine by stealing other nations resources.

At the same time, the combination of different culinary practice gave birth to various more dishes with various diverse ingredients and interesting like Takoyaki, okonomiyaki & dango

Like mentioned before, industrialization gave birth to many processed who are a staple in those dishes. products who are often only found in the country of fire like fish cakes & narutomaki. The land of fire is the soup & noodles master, it’s like their national food for being convenient and versatile with they make the infamous ramen but other dishes like stir-frys Yes, it a generous filling cuisine to overflow your stomach

Classic/Staple Konoha Meal=Shoyu Miso/Pork Ramen with Narutomaki, Apple Salad, Dango, Sushi, Takoyaki, pickled radish, Beef BBQ

Sunagakure (Country of Wind) The cuisine from Suna is unique. Not only emerging from a desertic land, but it was also able to survive the test of time and stay true to its original roots. Based on the high temperatures and sandy soil of the land of wind, the residents have access to interesting crops who cannot be found elsewhere in the ninja world. Suna is the homeland of dates, they are the main intake of sugar in its diet. They are used in countless recipes like sweet & pastries. they are used to sweetened teas since tea drinking is a big thing. Offering tea is a tradition when receiving guests and tea was used by nomads who made long trip in the desert in order to stay hydrated.

In Sunagakure, they go hard on sweets. Especially dates since the are the only producer of them. They have countless of pastries, candies and date-bases recipes because it was once use as a method of survival in the long windy season in the desert or to have the sugar necessary to be transformed in a energy source to endure long trip in the desert. They are a national pride since most nuts in the ninja world grows in the country of wind; almonds, pistachios, walnuts, etc. they also showcase delicate and unique culinary practices when it comes to pastries who set Suna apart from other nations. It is the only place to find citrus, olive & argan trees used to make oils mostly made for exportation & their lucrative citrus production industry.

Their eating style is different since it is not uncommon to eat with your hands. For a long time, families were large so the habit of having a large plate to share with many emerge from that condition

Due to frequent drought, the country of wind has specialized themselves in the production of survival crops like grains like millet, sorghum & wheat who are also a staple in the cuisine of Suna. they most of the time milled to make flour to produce various types of bread crepe and flat breads (also see as more convenient since they don’t require yeast to be cooked). Alongside that, the consumption of legumes like lentils and different kinds of beans is the main source of protein and prized as all around superfood. They are cooked in paste and stew often eaten with bread.

Staple/Classic Suna Meal=Large plate of various pastes/creamy sauces made of beans & lentils, grilled eggplant, hummus, flat bread, millet crepe, spinach, citrus tea,

Kirigakure (Country of Water) The main meal is Kiri is grilled fish.

Unfortunately, Kirigakure has the reputation of eating ANYTHING that swims, crawls, run or fly in the ocean. First and firmly base on their location and how the practice of fishing is part of so many residents lives.

Also, it comes from the lack of access to goods from importation of other nations. For very long time, Kiri and the surrounded regions were left on their own when a bad harvest happened, or if the climate hindered the quantity of fish collected. In those cases, the villager learned to make anything of every single thing they found (in the ocean). Due to their different economical system (mostly based on exchange of goods), it took a long time for Kiri to join the market of importation and exportation. Now they are the main exporter of seafood of various types and fish (a staple in their diet). The land of fire became the main consumers of seafood above the country of water itself. The never-ending high demand for sea product (including fish) has opened the door for illegal activity to create non-approved fish farms and illegal fishing. The country of wind is guilty, while having no access to water yet desiring sea products (which is recent because they try to follow after the country of fire and the whole globalization narrative).The Country of Fire being the biggest culprit due to their insatiable desire to reach all and taste all (even without permission).

Their known cultural theft has implication in the problem since a traditional dish named サメの目 (Same no Me written Samenome meaning Shark Eyes) which consist of thin layers of fish rolled and stuffed with black wild rice and bitter herbs (it is name like this since it resemble the pupils of sharks) was ‘’discovered’’ by ninja scientist from Konohagakure during early invasion of the country of water by various bigger nations for natural resources in this case being clay who was abundant along any body of water (used to make pots and tolls before the emergence of various metals) also to take control and harvest the almost infinite amount of fresh water. The devastation of natural habitat and the disruption of the ecosystem cause a destruction that couldn’t be healed instead it changed the nature of the environment. Since then, most bodies of water in the land of water turned into seawater, the once flourishing pastures of green leafy galore died and the remaining surviving plants gave birth to what we know today as bitter herbs (ex: dandelion, wormwood, chamomille, peppermint, etc) and they are a staeple in the cuisine of Kiri, for some their main intake of green plants. They are also valued for their medicinal values (you know them plants Haku was collecting in the woods)

Learn more about bitter herbs here: https://dirthappy.com/bitter-herbs/

(Going back to what we were talking about)The discovery of Samenome was then taken back to the country of fire and after being merged and modified with the local crops and different culinary practices became what we know today as sushi; the captain of Konoha’s cuisine along side with Ramen. The seaweed paper also originally comes from Kiri, they were not used as food but fertilizers for growing crops. The practice of harvesting seaweed became popular in the southern part of the country of fire after the nori seaweed was discovered in its waters. Meanwhile they still import wakame from the country of water since it’s a staple for various soups and side dishes.

In The Country of Water, they consumed more the wild varieties of different crops like wild black rice, quinoa & amaranth as a main source of carbs.

In Kiri, they seasoned everything with pepper, everything; rice, bitter herbs, fish & seafood, grains. Some regions of the country of water house the spiciest pepper you can find in the warm months of the summer and the most frost resistant cabbages during the cold months. Now, they import a lot of pepper product from The country of lightning during the most of the year. Most of the seasoning is onion-based but the access to salt from the waters allowed the spectrum of seasoning to widen but also utilize is in order to ferment or pickle foods for the winter making pickled goods a staple in the cuisine of Kiri even for pickled fish.

Staple/Classic Kiri meal= Grilled fish, Samenome, spicy pickled cabbage, amaranth crepe of fritters, bitter herbs, pepper sauce

Kumogakure (Country of Lightning) The cuisine of Kumogakure is different than typical meals you would find in other nations. Like Suna the uniqueness reveals itself in their cuisine since its most popular dishes are made of ingredients that can only be found in the country of lightning. Cuisine of Kumogakure follows various principals making their reputation.

Beef is a luxury food. Due to its location, residents of the country of lightning were consuming other animals like sheep and goat who are abundant in rocky areas. The first wild buffalos were in fact imported from neighbor countries and are domesticated for food in small quantities because most green pasture (outside of main cities) are already occupied by sheeps. Many attempts were made to grow the bovine population but failed due to competition for food and access to grass.

Meat is more regarded as side dishes since their protein source mostly come from green vegetable and beans. Like in Suna, where legumes are praised for their high nutritional value but in the country of wind they eat lentils & chickpeas, meanwhile in Kumo they are eating kidney beans, black eyes peas and their infamous black beans. Each nation has a particular legume/bean/pulse they cherish in their cuisine. The Country of fire is house to all types of sprouts like of mung bean and edamame/soy beans. Interestingly, the practice of making tofu comes from Amegakure and has spread to neighboring nations. In Kiri, they eat beans in their original form, simple steamed and sometimes raw so they prefer yardlong beans and peas of different kinds.

· The land of lightning is famous for their abundance of herbs & spice. Hence why they weren’t as enthusiast to rush into meat consumption since they can make many vegetables taste amazing by seasoning it right. Plants like ginger, turmeric, various varieties of peppers, allspice, paprika, star anise & parsley are native to the area. the exception is garlic since it can be found abundantly across the ninja world.

· The cuisine of Kumo could be defined as quick and simple. Hence why they are numerous meals in bites sizes like fried dough (a popular street food), samoussa, meat/bean patties, dried sweet potatoes chips (chouji’s favorite). Unfortunately, frying/pan-frying is a prominent method of cooking so to balance the diet the preparation of vegetables filled stews and soups comes in the picture and they don’t eat foods like white rice. First, because it does not grow in the region at all, instead it’s the rare place where eating brown rice is thing and meals like fermented pureed yam are often use as a substitute for rice along many sauces and stews (after white rice became popular across the ninja world.). In Suna, they sticked to basmati rice and Kiri to black rice but white rice & sweet rice (hybridized in the country of fire) has always been one of the first food to be distributed is smaller nations in food crisis and for daily consumption because of how easily it is to massively produce and for their poorer nutritional value.

(ex: meat/beans patties, sweet potatoes chips, deep fried dough (bottom pic above) called ふわふわ/Fuwa Fuwa meaning Fluffy since the yeast used to make them creates a treat light and airy/fluffy like clouds & samoussa)

· SAUCE, SAUCE, SAUCE. Again, we said people from the Cloud love when it’s simple (hence why many dishes from Konoha like Takoyaki seems like an equation of calculus to them but those who could taste it enjoyed it actually). Its ‘’we dump all in the pot and let it cook’’ cooking style. If your meal doesn’t have a sauce of any kind, its not from Kumo. Many of them contained some form of peanut butter (a national pride food). The country of lightning is the biggest producer of peanuts and use it in various dishes

(exemples: peanut soup, fermented cassava pulp, cassava leave sauce, callaloo/amaranth soup, spinach peanut butter sauce )

· Did you know that Kumo’s peanut brittle’s distant cousin is the Nougat from Suna? It’s the Raikage’s favorite snack. Like the menu of the wedding feature the country most prized, popular, and fancy meals, most of them are the raikage’s favorites.

(from left to right, Nougat (from Suna) & Peanut Brittle also called 稲妻バー/Inazuma bars meaning Lightning Bars) because when you prepare them it is tradition to punch the plate in the middle to break it into smaller portions, it looks like the food got hit by lightning.

Many exotic tropical grows outside of big cities like mangos, pineapples & papayas making fruit the main sugar intake in the Kumo diet.

[whencyclopedia]

Rationing in Wartime Britain

Rationing of food, clothing, petrol, and other essential items was introduced in Britain during the Second World War (1939-45) when the country's imports were severely threatened by German U-boat attacks on merchant shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and English Channel. Citizens were issued with ration books of coupons which they could spend at retailers to ensure that everyone had access to a minimum of essentials but nobody could buy in excess of restricted amounts.

While some staples like bread, fruit, and vegetables were never rationed, plenty of other necessities were so that meals became simpler and more monotonous. Rationed items included meat, sugar, butter, cheese, tea, and soap. The government also encouraged people to use cheap restaurants by exempting them and their customers from any rationing. Although a black market developed where people illegally bought goods that were otherwise rationed, the ration system worked largely thanks to everyone's self-regulation.

Short Supplies

Pre-war Britain was heavily dependent on many imported goods, which came by ship from around the British Empire, North and South America, and other trading nations. Now during the war, merchant shipping came under serious threat from German U-boats as they headed to and from Britain. Another threat to supplies came from the German bombing of major British ports and the East End docks in London. With Western and Central Europe occupied by the enemy, Britain's access to goods produced there was cut off. In 1941, Britain's exports were two-thirds lower than before the war. Another blow to supplies came when Japan occupied parts of the British Empire in the East from 1942. In addition to these limits, the government's approach to total war meant that many resources had to be diverted to the war effort such as weapons manufacturing and transportation, further limiting resources that might otherwise have been used to support the market for domestic goods.

In order to ensure certain essential items remained available to the widest number of citizens, rationing was introduced, a policy that had been used in the First World War (1914-18). Food prices were controlled from November 1939. Petrol was rationed from September 1939. From the first months of 1940, meat, butter, and sugar were rationed. From June 1941, clothes were rationed in response to a dramatic rise in prices. Soap was rationed from February 1942 and became one of the most popular presents for Christmas that year.

There "is ample evidence that such controls, to help win the war, were not resented" (Dear, 882), and there was the benefit that people felt rationing, applied to everyone, was helping make British society less unequal as everyone pulled together in times of trouble.

Continue reading...

[modelbus]

Who else could I possibly do this for except Wilbur? And does this even count as fluff?

Pairing: Cc!Wilbur x Gn!Reader

Flufftober 28 - History has its eyes on you

Wilbur’s hunched over a map, furiously scribbling on it. The sight makes you wince. Not because he’s defiling a priceless map of the country—he is—but because of what a mess he looks like. Unkempt hair spills wildly into his eyes, glasses smudged and dirty. His usual elegance and fashion is nowhere to be seen, leaving him in simple pants and a mismatched sweater.

You’ve been at war for 131 days, going on 132, and he’s been like this for all of them. It’s what war does to someone in charge, you assume. The leader of a country that was fighting for its life.

Everyone expects your country, and him, to lose. Wilbur’s determined not to let that happen.

“I brought tea.” You announce, setting the cup directly on top of the map.

“Thanks.” He murmurs distractedly, reaching for it and taking a drink. Wilbur pauses, narrowing his eyes and looking up at you. “This is—“

“Chamomile.” You confirm for him. “You need sleep, Wil.”

“I need to be strategizing. I need to be right here, doing everything I can.”

This is a familiar routine. In the midst of war, you enjoyed these familiar things. New and old.

“You’re of no help if you run yourself to death. A nap, Wil.”

“I really should start making you call me by title.” He grumbles, unmoving.

“And I really should start just dragging your ass to bed.”

Rounding the table, you stand next to him to stare at what he’s looking at. You manage more of the financial side of things, not the actual fighting, so all the lines and marks look like nonsense to you.

“I’m thinking we need to defend here more heavily. Our exports rely on it.” Wilbur taps a city along the water with his pencil end. There’s already loads of marks around the spot. “But that’s leaving this spot open. We can fill it by delegating soldiers from here, but we’re spread thin then.”

He was going to drive himself to the brink of insanity.

“Just take a break, please.” You implore. Although you’ve been regularly bringing him meals and water, sleep is a necessity too. “A nap. Two hours. I’ll even wake you.”

“Do you have any idea how many places can fall in two hours?”

“None, because your generals are the very best. Trust them.”

Wilbur scowls at nothing in particular, making you sigh.

“Let someone else take the reins for now.” You coax, hoping you’ll be making it somewhere.

“History has its eyes on me, not anyone else. Their failures are my failures.” He retorts.

You’ve known him since childhood, yet never would’ve imagined him in this situation. In charge of a country at war.

“History can wait.”

His head snaps up, and he finally turns his entire body towards yours. “No it can’t! We’re making it right now, and we need to…”

Wilbur trails off as you wrap your arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. After a long moment he relaxes into it, dropping his head on your shoulder and wrapping his arms around your waist.

“I can’t leave my country without me.” He murmurs into your ear.

“You won’t.” You promise. “I’ll get work done while you sleep, how about that?”

“Not for long.” He argues. Somewhere along the way, this turned into a negotiation rather than begging. You’ll take the progress.

“Eight hours.”

“One.”

“Five.”

“Two.”

“Five.”

“Three, and that’s final.”

“Deal.” Three is more than you expected from him, so you’ll take it. “Now, respectfully, get your ass out of here and into bed.”

Wilbur laughs softly into your shoulder. You can feel his smile pressed against your skin, which, in turn, makes you smile.

“Just another minute of this?” He implores quietly.

“Anything that you need.”

History does have its eyes on Wilbur, and unfairly so. But you’ll make certain his name in the history books will be gilded with gold, esteemed highly.

After a deep breath, Wilbur pulls away and straightens. He gives a longing glance back at his map, one you intercept immediately.

“No.” You deadpan. “Go.”

“And here I thought I had the highest position.” He grumbles, heading towards the door. He pauses there, looking back at you. “Thank you.”

“I’m not your best friend for nothing, Wil.” You reply softly.

He nods his head, then vanishes. You look around the room, taking in the multiple dull pencils and maps. There’s maps on the floor even, making your cringe. You said you’d get work done while he slept, and you will.

But first, you’ll clean this mess up for him.

[tomorrowusa]

The upcoming Trump Tariffs could provide an unintentional temporary boost to the economy – which will end on January 20th.

People who don't wish to pay 10% to 25% more for various goods when Trump takes office are advised to buy them sooner rather than later.

Already, Trump announced he will slap a new 25% across-the-board tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada as well as an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports the very day he’s inaugurated. And on the campaign trail, he pledged to levy a 60% tariff on all goods imported from China and a 10% to 20% tariff on goods coming from all other nations. Such tariffs have the potential to significantly increase the prices consumers pay on nearly everything that isn’t made entirely in the US, of which there are very few goods.

Tariffs are paid by those who import the goods – NOT by the exporting countries. Many idiots just don't get that.

Tariffs are a tax on imports. Governments often impose them to protect national security, bolster domestic businesses and raise revenue. But they can be expensive for consumers, as businesses often pass along higher costs. In total, the typical middle-income US household could be stuck shelling out more than $2,600 extra a year if a blanket 20% tariff on all imports and a 60% tariff on imports from China are imposed, according to research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Yep, tariffs are a TAX. The money goes to the government. Perhaps Trump thinks that he can tax consumers more to pay for more tax breaks for the pathologically rich like Elon Putz.

These are the five categories of items which CNN says would be good to buy now rather than after Trump returns. See the linked article above for details

Major household appliances

Laptops and tablets

Smartphones

Video game consoles

E-bikes

Another category would be imported foods. But their perishability would put a limit on how much you will save. Some items with naturally longer shelf-lives might be worth buying soon. Many teas come from China; my Bigelow Oolong tea, for example, has an expiration date of May 2027. I might as well buy a few more boxes of tea in coming weeks.

When you talk about tariffs, never forget to remind people who is responsible for them. Always call them Trump Tariffs.

[rarepears]

So, don't know if you remember that anon that read your fic without being in any fandom (GOT and Solo Leveling)

I'm, of course, a Sung Jinwoo kinnie, his simp, he's my babygirl and I love him, so of course I read it even if I don't like GOT (too much dead, and I always choose the ones fated to die, one season was enough to understand that I was better far away from them)

But I have to admit that half of the time I'm lost with Jinwoo.

Some dragons danced? LOL sounds important, too bad I don't know what it means

All the religious stuff? Who knows what it means, me no, for sure, I also don't care, brain empty just here for the laughs

What I'm saying, is that those people are unnecessary complicated

(That thing they say about Jinwoo doing something with the children and Kevan saying that he shouldn't do that with Tywin- the chapter of the tea party - yeah, Jinwoo and I are equally lost here. What did he do?)

Of course Jinwoo is lost, I'm lost half of the time, and I know what is happening so yeah

Jinwoo isn't just a himbo (he is, but that's not the problem here) that doesn't understand the situation, it's just we need a lot of knowledge to understand how they say hello

Poor Jinwoo, he just wants a meal and looks at the cute lord and ends up marrying and adopting three little psychotic kids (mission failed successfully ig)

Poor Jinwoo 😞

But hey, he gets to eat all the guilt free almonds. He still remembers when almonds were affordable and everywhere. Now though? Almonds are starting to be easy to buy again but it's still so expensive - but not as expensive as it was 10 years ago. Thank goodness for Westeros still growing all the fancy nuts.

(Hey, is there any fic that addresses like the impact of Kamish taking out most of the West Coast of the US?? Because like California produces 80% of the world's supply of almonds. As for pistachios, that's nearly half of the world’s supply and 99% of US production. California is the fourth-largest producer of wine in the world – ranked only behind Italy, France, and Spain. The state produces over 80% of all stone fruit produced in the US, including 70% of the country’s peaches, 95% of its plums, and over 99% of its nectarines.

California is the largest producer of vegetables in the US, accounting for more than 40% of the country’s vegetable acreage. The state has also consistently led the country in vegetable exports, accounting for 52% of the US total during the 2020-21 season. California farmers produce almost all of the US' artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, celery, spinach, and carrots. Other vegetables grown include asparagus, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and snap peas. California’s unique climate also lends itself to year-round lettuce production; more than 70% of the lettuce grown in the United States comes from California.

Anyways, California being burned down and made inhabitable is insane and the ripple effects are everywhere. WHERE IS THAT FIC?!

I guess you can also say that this is spoilers for why I have Jinah buying all the shit and clothes. She REMEMBERS that money means nothing when all it takes is one gate to wipe out nearly an entire world's supple of almonds. Then it doesn't matter how much money you have; there was no almonds for anyone to eat.)