#this is 37 layers and 20 of them are fire :) this is fine

[teryyo]

Hands of the Apothecary

[anxious-little-faicye]

CAMP UNUS ANNUS SAFETY RULES!

Rule #1 - Always remember the BS (Buddy System).

Rule #2 - When confronted by a bear (depending on the type of bear), confront it back and make lots of noises. But keep in mind, only do that for Black Bears.

Rule #3 - Bears can't get through the polyurethane of a tent. Plastic repels nature, since it's not of this world.

Rule #4 - The forest doesn't give a damn about you. Arrogance will get you nowhere.

Rule #5 - If you're stuck in a tree alone and two people happen to come across you, they are buddies. Don't just assume because another human life is nearby that they're obligated to help you.

Rule #6 - You help those in need though.

Rule #7 - Communication is key.

Rule #8 - Look, scan, observe, react, run.

How to survive a bear attack:

Rule #9 / Step Number 1 - Evaluate, determine which type of bear it is that it's attacking you.

Rule #10 - If the bear grunts twice it's a Grizzly, if it grunts three times then it's a Polar Bear.

Rule #11 - When dealing with Polar Bears, the biggest thing you want to do is make sure that you're covered head to doe, with as much armor as possible (sleeping bags work just fine).

Rule #12 / Step Number 2 - Try to maintain silence, maybe it'll go away on it's own.

Rule #13 / Step Number 3 - If step 2 fails, abandon all coverage plans, because clearly it's not going to work. However, you don't need to worry, because your tent is safe as long as the bear doesn't claim it as it's own by attracting other bears as competition.

Rule #14 - It is very important that when you go shopping for your tent (or you're finding your tent), you get one that's strong, triple layer made of the highest quality material.

Rule #15 - If the bear attacks with a gun, make sure you cover all of the important parts of your body. The smaller the target the harder it is for a bear to get you.

Rule #16 / Step Number 4 - This is an emergency step, you would never do this unless you were in a extremely dangerous situation... just run. With the help of your buddy (don't forget the buddy system!) you will roll the tent from the inside away from the bear.

Rule #17 - It's important to remember where your tent was when you pitched it.

Rule #18 - At this point the bear should be very intimidated by your skill and athleticism. It may think you and your buddy are now one large creature.

Rule #??? - RAGE, rage against the dying of the light...

Rule #19 - After all that escaping protocol, the bear should be gone by now. But in the case that it's not, just keep going rolling away in the tent.

Rule #20 - Bears are afraid of the sunlight, they can't handle it's intense heat.

Rule #21 / Step Number 5 - And finally, to escape the tent, you have to find it's weakest point and destroy it.

Rule #22 - Nature it's a dangerous place filled with evil, horrible monstrosities that are beautiful in their own way.

How to safely bury your friend:

Rule #23 - Carcasses can attract bears and other wildlife that are opportunistic scavenges.

Rule #24 - For this process you're going to need a shovel and a buddy.

Rule #25 - Don't forget the Buddy System (B.S) or you will DIE.

Rule #26 - The first thing you're going to do is search the area for a proper place for a burial. You want a place with some soft dirt, plenty of open space, and not too near to the campsite.

Rule #27 - Dig six feet down (at the least), so you can put their feet first, then head at the top.

Rule #28 - Your dead body will grow into the environment.

Author's Note: ... I don't trust counselors Mark and Ethan.

Rule #29 - B.D.S.B (Bearing Doesn't Stop Bears)

Rule #30 - You are also going to need a quality shovel that can break through. You want a sharpen blade and a good foot rest.

Rule #31 - Do not, under ANY circumstances, mention the Tactical Shovel to counselor Mark.

Rule #32 - When you're digging a grave you should bring water, remember to stay hydrated!

Rule #33 - You can only absorbe so much sweat you produce. After a while it gets unhealthy, because your body can't filter out the bad water that you produce.

Rule #34 - You piss out of your skin when you can't piss out of anywhere else. So if you drink that, but then you piss it out again, then it becomes Super Piss (and that's not good to consume). But if you drink that then it turns into Ultra Piss, which is very valuable but bad to ingest. It's also incredible dangerous because, while bees can smell fear, they can also see the vapors from the Ultra Piss. So, although rare and easy to sell to a high price, it would attract thousands of bees.

Rule #35 - B.E.C.W.U.B (Be Extra Careful With [the] Ultra B[P]iss)

Rule #36 - The forest is one of the most polluted places, you can't get a breath of fresh air.

Rule #37 - Your buddy is always a breath of fresh air. (Hey, please don't do what Mark and Ethan did on the video, COVID-19 is still a very, very real thing.)

Rule #38 - Once you are done digging the grave, lay the body on a fetal position. Remember to really support the spine.

Rule #39 - If you can, get a standing grave, it's great for the spine.

Rule #40 - You can feel more productive when you are standing.

Author's Note: ... I really, REALLY don't trust counselors Mark and Ethan. I knew that bacon tasted kinda odd-

Rule #41 - Now all that's left to do is lay your friend to rest.

Rule #42 - Now you can go ahead and say words of rememberness, a testament to their life.

Rule #43 - The truth is the nicest gift you can give anybody.

Rule #44 - If you listen closely when your friend is later rest, you can hear their soul whisper their final thoughts.

Rule #45 - Remember to hit counselor Mark with a stick for waking us up at 6 am using a pan.

Rule #46 - Team building is the most important part of being on a camp. Because you may have your buddy, but we are all a team.

Rule #47 - Trust is the very foundation of any team.

Rule #48 - At any moment your buddy can need you. You'll never know when a bear is going to strike, when a chipmunk is going to go rabid, when a raccoon is going to be sneaky. You've got to be prepared for anything. And above all, you need to be prepared to catch your buddy if they fall.

Rule #49 - When you're in the nature, you are going to be climbing on a lot of things. They may be slippery surfaces, you may be not sure of your footing. You've got to be prepared at any time to catch your buddy.

Rule #50 - The higher the fall the greater the trust. Anyone from your team could be falling at any moment, make sure to catch them.

Rule #51 - Trust counselors Mark and Ethan...?

Rule #52 - Your buddy can fall in any direction, you've got to be ready.

Rule #53 - With a trust fall you've got to trust your buddy, but you gotta trust yourself too.

Rule #54 - No better way to exhibit a team than to show your strength together (by making a human pyramid).

Rule #55 - Tug of War, classic team building from earliest man. Get a rope and you pull, but you've got to make two teams so you can compete and defeat their respective enemy (and they need to die).

Rule #56 - Don't forget, it's hot outside, so make sure you wear your sunscreen and drink plenty of water.

Rule #57 - Start in the middle (the knot needs to be in the middle), and whoever gets it to the point where the winner is obvious.... well, wins precisely.

Author's Note: UNUS! UNUS! UNUS! UN- oh, nevermind.

Rule #58 - The next most important part of team-building is sharing. Sharing with eachother is basically bonding. You learn from eachother, you have openness with eachother, and so on.

Rule #59 - The clue to win Three Legged Pace is coordination.

Rule #60 - It's always important when you go out outside to be prepared, and of course, bring water.

Rule #61 - Make sure to keep cool when you're in the wilderness, it is important for survival. And when you're done drinking water, you can play a little football with your friend using the leftover bottle.

Rule #62 - While playing Three Legged Egg Balance, remember to keep a steady "one-two" rhythm.

Rule #63 - FIRE IS NO JOKE. Don't play around with it.

Rule #64 - Knowing how to built a fire is one of the most important skills at Camp Unus Annus. With it you can cook your food, disinfect your water, clean your clothes, stay warm and call grandma.

Rule #65 - And if your grandparents are death, stare deeply into the fire until you see their face swim out of the flames.

Rule #66 - Fire is spelled F-I-R-T. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

Author's Note: Wait a second, are they not Camp Counselors?-

How to built a fire:

Rule #67 / Step Number 1 - Be aware of the current threat level for forest fires. Right now it's midnight. That's B, for Be aware.

Rule #68 / Step Number 2 - Kindling. Be aware, get kindling, find perfect stick (B.A.G.K.F.P.S)

Rule #69 (nice) - Remember, if you want to start a fire get your bag of piss.

Rule #70 / Last Step - Friction. The friction of the stick (zooming around in circles) against the friction of a wooden piece creates smoke signals. The smoke signals will travel to your candling and say "Hey, catch on fire." And in response it will sometimes go "Okay" in an umberwear farm. The umbers are what leads to the fire in an it case of a FIRE. Very important.

Rule #71 - Always have a fire extinguisher (preferably water) just in case something goes wrong.

Rule #72 - Put your prefect stick on your wood base and start rubbing said stick against it.

Rule #73 - Gently blow the base after rubbing the stick, fire needs oxygen to grow.

Rule #74 - If you manage to make a hole through the base, leave the stick there and start spinning it. With the power of insertion, if you get it going fast enough, flames should ignite.

Rule #75 - Fire needs to be seduced.

Rule #76 - To produce the flames you need to sin.

Rule #77 - Satan knows.

Rule #78 - For the love of God, keep counselor Mark away from sharp objects.

Author's Note: ... Does anyone else see the weird man dressed in a black suit outside or it's just me...?

Rule #79 - No matter what goals you may have in life, a little bit of hard work, a little bit of determination, a bit of luck gets you anywhere.

Author's note: Yay escape room! I love those!

Rule #80 - Beware of counselor Evan throwing things at the tents.

Rule #81 - On daytime the bats are squirrels, but on nighttime they are vampires. For this reason you shouldn't be around bats, or they will suck your blood.

Rule #82 - Counselor Mark really loves riddles.

Rule #83 - Stay six feet away from the trees to avoid being attacked by a squirrel.

Rule #84 - The most dangerous things about the deers are their antlers and hooves.

Rule #85 - To survive the snakes you need to: Look, Observe, Scan, React, Run (L.O.S.R.R)

Author's Note: Counselor Ethan is fucking smart, fight me. Also, shout out to counselor Amy because not once have I mentioned her and she's amazing.

Rule #86 - Run away from Mark. JUST RUN.

Rule #87 - Tragically, counselor Mark has turned into the beast called Neanderthalensis Marconius, also known as HeeHoo.

Rule #88 - HeeHoo feeds himself with wild Takis, roaming around the woods butt naked and in solitude...

Rule #89 - If you wish to communicate with the HeeHoo, there are sounds he will react to: Unus Annus.

(And here it is, after nights of work I present to you the -not so official- Unus Annus Rule Manual! This has been a blast, I am so glad I could finally finish it. Camp Unus Annus was absolutely amazing in every sense of the word, thanks Mark, Ethan, Amy and Evan for the experience!)

@tiny-crecher (I am SO sorry-)

@markiplier @crankgameplays

[steve-rogers-new-york]

Recipe Wednesday #37

Happy Recipe Wednesday!

These are real period recipes, taken from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a local newspaper that would have been accessible to Steve, his mother, and Bucky during their time in Brooklyn.

This week’s recipes come from the Tuesday 20 September 1932, Friday 23 September 1932, and Wednesday 23 September 1936 editions of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. For context, Steve would have been 12/16 (comics) / 14/18 (MCU), so these are recipes that Sarah Rogers may have made, or which Steve and Bucky might have read in the newspaper.

Creamed Mixed Vegetables 1 cup diced potatoes 1 cup diced carrots 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 cup green string beans 2 cups finely chopped cabbage 2 tablespoon melted butter 2 tablespoon flour 1 12/ teaspoons salt 1 cup milk Cook the potatoes, carrots, onions, and turnips in 3 cups of boiling water until almost tender. Add the cabbage, allowing about 5 minutes for cooking. Prepare a sauce of the melted butter, flour, salt and milk. Cook until thickened and stir this sauce into the vegetables. Cook a few minutes longer, until the desired consistency is reached and serve on toast. Add a dash of paprika as garnish.

Spanish Rice 4 tablespoons fat, (butter, bacon fat, ham “drippings” or chicken fat) 2 medium-size onions 1/2 medium-size green pepper. If desired 1/3 cup rice 1 qt canned tomatoes 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper (if desired) Melt the fat in a skillet. Add the chopped onion and green pepper and cook until the onion is brown. Remove the onion and pepper, and place the rice in the hot fat and cook to deep straw color, stirring constantly. Add the browned onion and green pepper, the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in a casserole or enamel pan and finish cooking in a moderate oven. If more liquid is needed before rice is done, add water or tomato juice.

Breakfast Ham Waffles 2 cups flour 5 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 2 eggs 1 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup melted shortening Mix and sift dry ingredients together; add milk which has been mixed with beaten egg yolks; add melted shortening. Beat until all lumps have disappeared and you have a smooth creamy mixture. Fold in egg whites which have been beaten stiff. Have your electric waffle iron piping hot; it takes about ten minutes to preheat it. Cut two strips of ham in half making four pieces. After better is placed on iron, place ham so that each quarter waffle has a strip of ham on top. Close lid and continue baking. When waffle is baked, ham will have cooked into the waffle.

Braised Beef 2 lbs. beef, round or shoulder Salt and pepper Flour 1 cup diced carrots 1 cup diced turnips 1 cup diced onions 1 cup diced celery 1/2 cup tomato ketchup Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper, dredge well in flour, and brown quickly in fat which has been tried out from the meat. When turning the meat, avoid piercing it with a fork, as this allows the inner juices to escape. Place in a casserole or deep pan and add diced carrots, turnips, onions and celery. Add the boiling water to tomato ketchup and pour 2/3 of this liquid around the meat and vegetables. Cover closely and bake about 2 hours in a slow oven, 325 degrees F., basting every half hour with the remaining liquid. Turn the meat over once during the cooking, whole potatoes should be placed around the meat and baked until tender.

Fish Baked in Milk 1 1/2 pounds haddock or other lean fish Salt Pepper 1 tablespoon flour 1 large onion sliced very thin 3/4 cup crushed crackers or bread crumbs 1 1/4 cups milk (fresh or evaporated) Clean and wipe the fish with a damp cloth. Cut the pieces for serving and sprinkle with salt, pepper and flour. Put the pieces of fish in a single layer in a shallow greased baking pan. Cover the fish with the onion and then sprinkle with the crushed crackers to bread crumbs. Add sufficient milk barely to cover. bake in a moderate oven (350 degree F.) from 45 to 50 minutes. If the crackers or crumbs do not brown in that time put under the flame of the broiling oven.

Hawaiian Dream Pineapple Cake (from Heckers’ Branded Ad) Sift, measure, 2 cups HECKERS’ Never-Fail FLOUR. Resift with 1 cup sugar and 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, also 1/2 tsp salt. Set one aside. Heat 1 cup pineapple juice drained from crushed pineapple. Pour hot over 4 egg yolks, beaten stiff with 1/2 cup sugar. Add flour, etc. Mix lightly until smooth. Beat stiff 4 egg whites. Add to them 1/2 cup sugar. Beat to points. Fold into batter. Flavour with 1 tsp vanilla. Pour into 2 deep 9-inch square layer cake pans buttered and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool. For filling use crushed pineapple, from which you have drained juice. Keep out a small amount of pineapple to garnish top. Mix rest of pineapple with red current or other fruit jelly. Place between layers. Frost with fluffy white icing. Decorate with small amounts of pineapple. Top with cubes of jelly.

Apricot and Almond Pie Drain the juice from canned apricots and fit into each halved apricot a blanched almond. Lay in regular rows in the bottom of a pastry-lined tin, sprinkle with sugar, and cover with strips of pastry, laid on crosswise. Bake and serve with sugar and cream.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Filling 1 1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate, cut in pieces 1 cup cold milk 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 can coconut 6 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Add chocolate to milk in double boiler and heat. When chocolate is melted, beat with rotary egg beater until blended. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and egg yolk. Add a small amount of chocolate mixture, stirring vigorously. Return to double boiler and cook until thickened. Remove from fire. Fold in vanilla and coconut. Makes enough filling for two 9-inch layers.

Banana-Orange Junket 3 cups milk 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 tablespoons sugar Salt 1 1/2 junket tablets 1 slices banana 1 slice orange Heat milk lukewarm. Add vanilla, sugar and salt, and stir until dissolved. Crush junket tablets, dissolve in 1 tablespoon cold water, and stir into milk. Pour into dish, let stand in warm place until set, then chill. Garnish with banana and orange slices. Serves six.

Lemon Crumb Pudding 2 cups scalded milk 2 cups grated bread crumbs Grated rind of one lemon 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 egg, beaten 4 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup grated coconut Grape jam 2 egg whites Pour the scalded milk over the bread crumbs and let stand for 15 minutes. Beat well and add the grated lemon rind, lemon juice, melted butter, beaten egg, salt, sugar and coconut. Mix well and pour into a buttered baking dish; set the dish in a pan of hot water and bake for about half an hour in a slow oven—300-degrees. When nearly set spread with grape jam and cover with a meringue made from the egg whites and sugar. Return tot he oven at 350 deg. F, to brown the meringue, for about 12 minutes.

I’d love to hear if you try out any of these recipes! Take photos and I might post them on the blog.

Visit the Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for the all the Recipe Wednesday posts, and the Indexed Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for all the recipes broken down individually!

[ Support SRNY through Patreon and Ko-Fi ] And join us on Discord for fun conversation! I also have an Etsy with up-cycled nerdy crafts

This post is the result of meeting a Patreon Goal. Thank you to all my wonderful Patreon subscribers for enabling the return of the Recipe Wednesday posts!

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #225

Thu Apr 29 2020 [10:09 PM] Wack'd: So the first two and two-thirds pages are something strange. Or I guess they're strange from an in universe perspective. [10:10 PM] Wack'd: It's basically a condensed version of the back half of the previous issue, rather than  a recap. So reading these back to back it feels like everyone's reliving a slightly different, slightly faster version of the same events. [10:10 PM] Bocaj: Yeah that happens [10:11 PM] Bocaj: I complain about comics not establishing context with recap pages enough that I can’t really say boo about this kind of thing [10:11 PM] Aleph Null: it’s just a jump to the left [10:11 PM] Aleph Null: and then a step to the right [10:11 PM] Wack'd: I think I might actually prefer it to the writer clumsily trying to give all of this information again in dialogue? [10:12 PM] Wack'd: It's basically a previously-on. [10:12 PM] Wack'd: Though the fact that it's not really marked as such is weird [10:12 PM] Bocaj: Like Aleph’s Japanese animes [10:12 PM] maxwellelvis: Remember recap pages? [10:13 PM] Bocaj: I’ve heard of them [10:14 PM] Wack'd: I think also what's throwing me is that they try to hit some of the same dramatic beats again? Like, you're not really going to convince me "the blind king weeps in crimson" is vital story information

[10:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Because it sounds cool [10:15 PM] Bocaj: Well that’s nightmare fuel [10:16 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, I've spent a weirdly long time talking about a recap, but I this is probably the normal amount of time I spend on the first three pages so be glad you're still getting content I guess [10:17 PM] Bocaj: I do like content [10:19 PM] Wack'd: Interesting thing about reading these blind and relaying that to you is that it's hard to know in the moment what information will and won't be relevant. For instance, I didn't really make much of this scene last issue:

[10:20 PM] Wack'd: But I wish I had, because it makes this moment look friggin bonkers in context:

[10:20 PM] maxwellelvis: "Consistency? What's that?" [10:21 PM] Wack'd: We've hit a new level of Sue as a blank-slate stock-woman-character: the same writer is making her either a nag or a worrywart one issue apart basically on a whim. [10:22 PM] Wack'd: Also: "just wants a normal life" Sue is the most boring version of Sue [10:23 PM] Bocaj: Just a receptacle for women stereotypes? [10:23 PM] Wack'd: Moreorless, yeah [10:23 PM] Umbramatic: the Ur-Woman-Stereotype [10:23 PM] Bocaj: Boo [10:23 PM] Bocaj: Defined personality women are great [10:24 PM] Wack'd: Agreed [10:24 PM] Wack'd: Moving along, we get a very long-winded explanation of the exact science of how this place works which I'm sure makes complete sense [10:24 PM] Bocaj: Science in comics is always to the highest standards [10:24 PM] Bocaj: Always [10:26 PM] Wack'd: Reed is like "I'm not really fine with being threatened and woulda saved your life anyway" and Korgon's like "y'know what, I trust you, we're cool now" [10:26 PM] Bocaj: See: he shoulda just said please to begin with [10:26 PM] maxwellelvis: "Oh, I shoulda thought'a that" [10:27 PM] Wack'd: Ha! He really does just send Vikings to go shopping for him

[10:27 PM] Bocaj: God. In a modern comic we’d see some Vikings at the supermarket and it would be great [10:29 PM] Wack'd: Have I mentioned yet Doug Moench seems to *really like science*

[10:30 PM] Bocaj: SCIENCE! :D [10:30 PM] maxwellelvis: Nah, like, not superscience. Real science. [10:30 PM] Umbramatic: i am glad that reaction image is making the rounds [10:31 PM] Wack'd: So Reed does a lot of research and asks a lot of questions and thinks really hard (all in narrative captions, you're not missing much) and eventually he's finally ready to operate! [10:31 PM] Bocaj: Woo [10:32 PM] Wack'd: Buuuuuut the Four's powers go haywire again. Korgon has a machine that cures them of the radiation to stabilize them, but Wiglif--suspicious guy from earlier--thinks they just wanna be at full strength so they can kill Korgon and escape. [10:33 PM] Bocaj: Dammit Wiglif! That’s such a Wiglif thing to think! [10:33 PM] Wack'd: To shut him up, Korgon gives Hrolf--trusting guy from earlier--a "Darkfield Rod" that will nullify their powers if they try any funny business. [10:34 PM] Wack'd: And then Korgon immediately falls unconscious. [10:34 PM] Umbramatic: that doesn't sound omnious at all [10:34 PM] maxwellelvis: I give it five minutes before Wiglif tries to steal it. [10:34 PM] maxwellelvis: NO! Five PANELS [10:35 PM] Wack'd: To be generous I will not count these three where we cut to Asgard

[10:35 PM] Bocaj: Oh hi Thor [10:36 PM] Bocaj: I didn’t know you’d be in this book [10:36 PM] Wack'd: "Just considering a crossover, m'boy! I just got the faintest whiff some other book is stealing our shtick!" [10:36 PM] Bocaj: I’m going to be imagining Odin speaking like the king of Hyrule forever now [10:37 PM] Bocaj: I want you to know what you’ve done [10:37 PM] Wack'd: I apologize for nothing [10:37 PM] Bocaj: =__= [10:37 PM] maxwellelvis: Sorry not sorry [10:37 PM] Wack'd: Anyway they do the procedure and we're not sure if it works. And then another cutaway! Sorry max it's been more than five panels [10:38 PM] Umbramatic: vsfb jnjgfdmkb ;zgl,;.' n [10:38 PM] Bocaj: To the punishment dome with you [10:39 PM] maxwellelvis: *the dome.gif* [10:39 PM] Wack'd: Hey what the heck does that third panel mean? Did...did Alicia just get a vision of the North Pole? Or, like...uh...I actually don't have a second guess

[10:41 PM] Bocaj: When did Alicia brunette [10:41 PM] maxwellelvis: She overshaded her hair this morning [10:41 PM] Wack'd: It's been orange for a while now, too [10:42 PM] Bocaj: She’s supposed to be close enough to Sue that she can be a bad imposter [10:42 PM] Umbramatic: technicolor anime hair [10:42 PM] Bocaj: It’s the foundation of a good 60% of the things I mock Johnny for [10:42 PM] Wack'd: I think we're all okay quietly forgetting that except you for some reason [10:42 PM] Bocaj: See also 60% [10:42 PM] Wack'd: Mocking Johnny is admittedly a pretty good reason [10:43 PM] Wack'd: Ben also had a crush on Sue in the very early days if you want to take that ball and run with it [10:43 PM] Bocaj: It definitely has layers [10:43 PM] maxwellelvis: You've both made it weird. [10:43 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the procedure worked! Probably! Korgon decides he's just gonna assume it worked.

[10:44 PM] maxwellelvis: Was he always that tall? [10:44 PM] Umbramatic: always a safe bet [10:44 PM] Wack'd: (Y'ever notice Reed's the only one who ever grows even a little facial hair? Did Johnny just never go through puberty from the neck up?) [10:45 PM] Wack'd: @maxwellelvis : Yeah, we've just seen him laying down on a nebulously high platform so far. Ben remarks on seeing him for the first time he's like 15 feet [10:45 PM] maxwellelvis: I think he just shaves regularly to keep up his heartthrob gimmick. [10:46 PM] Bocaj: Here’s Johnny with a beard [10:46 PM] maxwellelvis: When he gets on in years, he's probably planning to let it grow out so that the Human Torch can have a *flaming beard* [10:46 PM] Bocaj: How much do you hate this? [10:46 PM] maxwellelvis: Like that. [10:46 PM] Wack'd: Sure, but if Reed has stubble from tirelessly working on this procedure...well, I guess Johnny mighta found time to shave [10:46 PM] maxwellelvis: He can just burn stubble off and they're in a literal house of mirrors. [10:46 PM] Wack'd: That's not a bad look on him. He's like the hot version of a grizzled old sailor [10:47 PM] Umbramatic: dilf [10:47 PM] maxwellelvis: I want to imagine someone said to him at some point, "Okay, but consider: A beard of FIRE!" [10:48 PM] Wack'd: I feel like "flaming beard" is a gay joke somehow but like. If Johnny has a partner who's overtly stereotypically homosexual that's the opposite of a beard? [10:48 PM] Wack'd: Unless he doesn't want people to know he's straight, I guess [10:48 PM] Bocaj: Beard of FIRE? [10:48 PM] maxwellelvis: I mean he probably has some sort of LGBT following. [10:49 PM] maxwellelvis: Chamber? What are you doing in Japan? [10:49 PM] Wack'd: One of my earliest exposures to this character outside of the Story films was an essay on why he's definitely gay, so [10:49 PM] Bocaj: Having a flaming beard [10:51 PM] Wack'd: I tried Google to find the essay but it turned out the one piece of corroborating evidence I remember it is one that literally the entire Internet has picked up on at some point [10:52 PM] Wack'd: Do yourself a favor, google "johnny storm fire island". Or don't, and let it be a pleasant surprise in like 90 issues. [10:52 PM] Bocaj: Can doooo [10:52 PM] Bocaj: The latter [10:54 PM] Wack'd: "I think I might be Satan, we should talk about that later" is not a good way to make me eager to talk to you later

[10:56 PM] Wack'd: While everybody else is celebrating, Korgon loads up enough radiation to keep this place running for another hundred years, and then asks Reed to make him mortal again [10:56 PM] Wack'd: Wiglif ovehears and is going to do something sneaky [10:57 PM] Wack'd: The next day Reed tries it, but someone tampered with the machine overnight. Gee I wonder [10:58 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Korgon is now more powerful than ever and fucking pissed [10:58 PM] Bocaj: Dammit Wiglif! [11:00 PM] Wack'd: 'If you press this red button, you get godlike powers and life-giving laser beams, BUT everything looks real spooky forever"

[11:00 PM] maxwellelvis: *Sweating superhero guy* [11:00 PM] Bocaj: I mean you take the bad you take the good you take what’s left and there you have [11:01 PM] Bocaj: Spooky shadow monsters [11:01 PM] Wack'd: The fantasts of life [11:01 PM] Umbramatic: fucking paralasys demons [11:02 PM] Wack'd: Haha WHOOPS

[11:02 PM] Umbramatic: gee willikers, that was a curveball [11:03 PM] Wack'd: Anyway from here things get predictable [11:04 PM] Bocaj: Fucking Wiglif [11:04 PM] Wack'd: There's a fight, it looks like the Four are doomed, Thor shows up, the tide is turned [11:05 PM] Wack'd: For some reason when I first glanced at this panel I thought that second speech bubble was coming from one of the Vikings

[11:05 PM] Bocaj: Yay Thor [11:05 PM] Wack'd: "Uh, boss. Hey. You get that's the literal god of thunder, right? And you want us to, what, shoot him with lasers? Maybe think about this?" [11:06 PM] Bocaj: Lasers are just light and Thor’s Baldrother shines lights out of his armpits [11:07 PM] Wack'd: Korgon is so pissed by his impending defeat he's just like "fuck this, I'm just gonna destroy everything, including this dome" [11:08 PM] Bocaj: Hey sometimes you gotta cut your losses [11:08 PM] Wack'd: Wiglif: 😟 [11:10 PM] Wack'd: The Four and Thor are at a loss so Thor summons Odin [11:11 PM] Wack'd: 

[11:13 PM] Wack'd: This is kind of a solution for a different problem than Korgon has. Like. He doesn't want to be a God? It was kind of thrust on him? I guess it's true that God needs followers and followers need a God, but if he's content to be a follower I don't really see an issue with that [11:13 PM] maxwellelvis: He also has a responsibility to these people. [11:13 PM] Wack'd: And it's not like he abandoned his people, he left them 100 years of free energy, during which time they could've solved things on their own in any number of ways [11:13 PM] Bocaj: Yeah I don’t really understand what Odin is getting at [11:14 PM] Wack'd: Also, outside the religious philosophy stuff [11:15 PM] Wack'd: It's a bit naff to just have an all powerful being show up and solve the heroes problems. Especially if it's not with superpowers but rather with delivering the intended message of the story [11:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Have the Four solved any problems on their own this entire run? [11:15 PM] Wack'd: Like you could've had Reed talk about the responsibilities of leadership or Ben talk about being a freak or Sue talk about how sacrificing a normal life can be worth it for the people you care about [11:16 PM] Wack'd: None of those would've been fresh or original but they at least would've been, you know, the main characters solving the problem of their own book [11:16 PM] maxwellelvis: They needed Gabriel to deal with Scratch, they needed Captain Marvel to deal with the Skrulls, they needed Thor to deal with Korgon [11:16 PM] Umbramatic: geez [11:17 PM] maxwellelvis: They've been reduced to guest stars in their own book! [11:17 PM] Bocaj: Oof [11:17 PM] Bocaj: FIRST FAMILY [11:18 PM] Wack'd: Things have been kind of guest cast heavy yeah! Don't know what's up with that and I suspect if you asked Moench or Sienkiewicz they wouldn't remember, besides Gabriel being Moech's baby [11:18 PM] maxwellelvis: Are there any stories from before the hiatus by them that I missed? [11:19 PM] Wack'd: It's weird thinking about the fact that I'm currently reading a run of comics that were written by guys with social media presences who seem fairly approachable [11:19 PM] Wack'd: I don't know if it would work but I could probably just ask them things if I wasn't a dick about it [11:20 PM] Wack'd: Not sure there's a kind way to be like "why are there so many guest stars in this year's worth of comics you wrote 40 years ago" but [11:21 PM] maxwellelvis: Something like, "Hey, I'm reading through your brief Fantastic Four run you had with Bill Sienkiewicz and there seem to be quite a few stories in a row where the Four's issue is solved by someone from another book? Do you remember what was up with that?" [11:21 PM] Wack'd: (Btw Moench and Sienkiewicz were doing a *Moon Knight* run simultaniously with this which is why Sue was reading an issue to Franklin last time. Go figure) [11:21 PM] maxwellelvis: Heh [11:22 PM] Umbramatic: oh huh [11:22 PM] Wack'd: Yeah there's really no way to phrase this that doesn't sound like "why did you write this so bad" [11:22 PM] Wack'd: Ah well [11:23 PM] maxwellelvis: The best-case scenario other than getting some hot scoop on the Marvel offices at that time is probably Doug Moench suddenly realizing that himself. [11:23 PM] Bocaj: Were they long term writers or doing some fill ins and one offs? [11:23 PM] maxwellelvis: They did like ten issues. [11:23 PM] Bocaj: I’m in a period of that in avengers. There’s not a lot of guest stars but they’re a lot of inconsequential issues [11:25 PM] Bocaj: Shame because there are one off villains and characters that would have been interesting to be picked up for more stuff [11:30 PM] Wack'd: Yeah, ten issues and Moench wrote an annual. [11:31 PM] Wack'd: But also, their first issue announced that we were sticking with them for a while--I suspect it was intended to be a longer run [11:31 PM] Wack'd: And then Bryne sniped them somehow

[eldritchsurveys]

667.

1. If you found a baby turtle on the side of the road, would you pick it up and keep it? >> If I found a baby of any species on the side of the road, I’m not going to pick it up and keep it, I’m going to call the appropriate authorities and let them handle it. The fuck am I doing with a baby anything? 2. Did you and your mum ever have a big fight that caused you to move out? >> --- 3. Has the last person you kissed ever been to your house? >> --- 4. Have you had a good day today or was yesterday better? >> It was all right. At least the Sun was out a bit, and I managed to go out for once. Mostly I’m glad to be back in my bed now, lol. 5. Do you have any plans for the upcoming weekend? >> No.

6. How about you, do you have a bf/gf? >> Hm. 7. Could you date someone very attractive, but who thought they were better than everyone else? >> I don’t date, period, but I also wouldn’t hang out with someone who had a superiority complex. 8. So do you have a best friend? >> No. 9. What would you do if your best friend kissed the last person you kissed? >> --- 10. Do you dislike anyone? >> Not really. There are people I don’t really want to be around, of course, but I can’t think of anyone specific that I’m like “fuck that guy in particular” about except for people that have unapologetically hurt me (in which case it’s less “I dislike you” and more “I don’t even want to acknowledge your existence”). 11. Did you message your best friend today? >> --- 12. Do you think you will be in a relationship two months from now? >> I don’t see why not. 13. Do you always feel like you’re making mistakes? >> Yeah, because I have Trauma Brain. But I also know that I don’t make any more mistakes than the average person and most of my mistakes are easily fixed. 14. How do you feel about your hair right now? >> I’m going to need to buzz it again soon. 15. Does anybody have a tattoo with your name on it? >> Maybe someone has a tattoo of my name, because my name doesn’t just belong to me. But no one has a tattoo of my name that is actually about me. 16. Who did you last see shirtless? >> A couple of characters on Carnivale (before one of them got hanged with the word “HARLOT” carved into her forehead, of course. this is Carnivale after all). 17. How would you feel if you got the person you liked? >> --- 18. Do you think you can last in a relationship for six months without cheating? >> *sigh* 19. Do you like to make the first move? >> The first move to what? 20. Do you think you will ever be married? >> I am married. 21. Have you ever tried your hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? >> Sure. 22. Is it possible to be single and happy? >> Duh? 23. Was the first person you talked to today male or female? >> The first person I spoke to was the bartender at Gardella’s, who is female. 24. Do you remember who you liked on New Year’s? >> --- 25. Are you a morning person or a night person? I’m barely a person. <-- mood 26. Could you go the rest of your life without drinking alcohol? >> Whether I “can” or not is irrelevant because I don’t fucking want to. 27. Have you ever felt like you weren’t good enough? >> Sure. 28. Is there anyone who likes you? >> --- 29. If the last person you kissed saw you kissing someone else, would they be mad? >> --- 30. Do you understand football? >> I understand American football. I don’t know anything about soccer football except the obvious bits. 31. What’s the first thing you heard this morning? >> I don’t know. 32. Who last called you beautiful? >> I don’t know. 33. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night? >> No. 34. How many kids do you want when you get older? >> --- 35. Are you the type of person who has a new boyfriend/girlfriend every week? >> Of course not. 36. Ever been called a jerk/bitch? >> Yep. 37. Do you have feelings for anyone? >> Bold of you to assume I have feelings-- 38. If you fell pregnant to the last person you kissed, what would you think? >> Falling while pregnant is dangerous, oof-- 39. What’s your full name? >> *eldritch screeching* 40. Are you young or old? >> Depends on your perspective -- to a child I’m old, to a middle-aged person I’m young, etc. 41. What’s the gender? >> Oh, the gender outside is frightful... 42. How’s your heart been lately? >> You know. Beating and such. 43. Why aren’t you in bed? >> I am, though. 44. Did you do laundry today? >> No. 45. What kind of computer do you have? >> I have an MSI Leopard Pro and a Lenovo Ideapad. 46. Are there always other fish in the sea? >> Not if you overfish. 47. What can your tongue do? >> You know. Lick stuff. Form phonemes. Get chemical burns when I eat too many sour candies in a row. 48. What do you think your mum does when she goes out? >> --- 49. Do chickens have feelings? >> I don’t know anything about chicken neurology/psychology. 50. Do you think the body is the most beautiful thing that was ever made? >> No. 51. So how are you feeling today? >> Neutral. 52. Where is your sister right now? >> --- 53. Name five things you did today? >> Took a bus, drank at a bar, briefly logged into ESO, watched an episode of Carnivale, ate mac n’ cheese with bacon. 54. What kind of phone do you have? >> Moto g6. 55. What are you listening to? >> Nothing. 56. What do you smell like? >> A bit like my roll-on oil and a bit like my whipped shea butter. Mostly just like... clean skin or whatever. 57. What colour are your eyes? >> Dark brown. 58. Have you ever done a Chinese fire drill? >> No. 59. Do you know someone named Betsy? >> No. 60. What colour is your mum’s hair? >> --- 61. Do you have a dog? Breed? Name? >> No. 62. Do you remember singing any songs as a kid? >> I mean, yeah? 63. Are you married? >> Yes. 64. When was the last time you talked to one of your siblings? >> --- 65. Do you play an instrument? >> No. 66. Do you like fire? >> Sure, fire is nice. In moderation. 67. Are you allergic to anything? >> No. 68. Have you ever been to a spa? >> I’ve been to a nail spa because Sparrow works at one. I’ve also been to the Aveda spa that she did her training in years ago. 69. Do you miss someone? >> No. 70. Views on premarital sex? >> I have no views on it. I really can’t fathom having an opinion on whomst other people fuck and when. 71. What is a noise that you cannot stand? >> Face sounds. Any of them. Eating, breathing, sniffling, lip-licking, eugh. Stay away. (Sometimes I can hear myself blinking and I want to rip my eyelids off. It’s bad.) 72. Do you know how to do a cartwheel? >> Yeah. 73. What is the most you are willing to spend on a pair of sunglasses? >> Not much. 74. Does your mum vacuum early in the morning while you’re asleep? >> --- 75. Do you shower naked? >> Do I look like Tobias Funke to you? 76. Does wearing glasses really make people look smart? >> That’s not my interpretation. People with glasses just look like people with glasses. 77. Are you ADD or ADHD? >> No. 78. Do your band-aids have cartoons on them? >> I FUCKING WISH. I was so mad when I needed band-aids for my feet and none of the ones in the size I needed came in cartoon print. The only ones with fun designs were little baby band-aids. I think as an adult I should be able to buy whatever the fuck kind of band-aids I want, including ones with Stitch on them. Fuck you. 79. Have you ever kissed someone you shouldn’t have? >> Probably. 80. In one word, how would you define yourself? >> I wouldn’t. 81. Tell me about a dream you had recently? >> I can’t, I can never remember them anymore. I get vague wispy impressions upon waking, and then even those disappear after a few minutes. I feel disconnected from dream!Mordred and I’m so curious at what it’s been up to. 82. Who’s the funniest drunk person you know? >> --- 83. How did you feel when you woke up? >> Fine, I guess. 84. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? >> I don’t know, probably something related to Sparrow knocking around as she got ready for work, because that’s my first sensory memory upon awakening. 85. Name something great that happened on Friday? >> It’s Thursday, ask me on Saturday. 86. When was the last time you saw your father? >> --- 87. Do you wish someone would call or text you right now? >> No. 88. Have you ever been kissed by a person whose name starts with J? >> Yeah. 89. Do you crack your knuckles? >> Yeah. 90. What were you doing twenty minutes ago? >> Probably still this survey, since it’s so long. 91. You’re thinking about someone, aren’t you? >> No. 92. Have you held hands with anyone in the past twenty-four hours? >> No. 93. What would you do if your partner still kept pictures of their ex? >> Nothing? That doesn’t affect me. 94. What if your partner went through your cellphone? >> I wouldn’t be with someone that went through my belongings without my express permission. 95. What if your partner was flirting with another girl/boy? >> I’d be glad for her. I hope she gets whatever she’s looking for from that interaction. 96. Ever liked someone you thought you didn’t stand a chance with? >> --- 97. You want someone/something? >> Not really. 98. Is there really a difference between Coke and Pepsi? >> Yeah, which is why many people have a preference. 99. Is there any emotion you’re trying to avoid right now? >> No. 100. Are there any mistakes with your recent ex you wish you could have changed? >> I’m pretty sure the entire situation in itself was a mistake, and it was changed, by us ending up having no contact with each other. 101. Has anyone ever been with you while you were throwing up? >> I mean, sure. 102. Background on your computer? >> Right now it’s a wallpaper with a scene from the movie Interstellar. (My desktop wallpaper is on a shuffle timer.) 103. Have you cried recently? >> Like, within the last week, probably. 104. Who has hurt you the most? >> I don’t know. 105. Are you happy with where you are relationship-wise now? >> Sure. 106. What language do you want to learn? >> --- 107. Your ex’s car breaks down and they ask you for a lift. Your response? >> I mean, I don’t drive, dude. Also, we live in wildly different parts of the country. This is just so many layers of implausible. 108. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? >> ---

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Waking Up in Vegas--Ch. 22

Chapter 22: No Regrets, Just Love

Dean, Evening, 9:16 PM

           It broke my fucking heart to see Mera like this. She was curled up on the sofa, wrapped in every blanket we had in the house. Her amber eyes were bright with a fever, face flushed, hair slightly damp near her ears. She’d been sitting at 100 for two days now, unable to keep anything more than Gatorade down for long.

           She looked miserable.

           I sat on the edge of the coffee table, knocking several empty bottles to the floor. Mera glanced at me, exhaustion clear in her features.

           “Are you going to let me take you to the doctor now?” I asked as I made sure she was wrapped tight in the blankets. Even beneath all those layers, I could see her shiver every few minutes.

           A faint smile settled on her mouth. Even sick as a dog, she was beautiful. “No. I’ll be fine.”

           “Mera…” I was ready to beg. I was ready to plead with her on my knees to just get checked out. “You’re not fine.”

           She settled back against the cushions, sighing as she did. Every move she made was accompanied by a moan or whimper of pain and discomfort. The sound of it was a knife in my gut. It was enough to make my throat close in terror. My deepest fears rose to the surface as I thought of losing her.

           I slid down into the floor, perching on my knees next to her. Sweat slid beneath my fingers as I stroked her hair and tucked it behind her ears. Lead fell into my veins. It dropped into my stomach and into my lungs. Breathing was nearly impossible.

           “Please let me take you to the doctor.” I swallowed hard, focusing on her fever-bright eyes. “Please.”

 Mera, Evening, 9:20 PM

           I ached all over. From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Breathing was painful. Moving was agony. Even thinking shot discomfort through my nerves. My body was at once on fire and bathed in ice.

           “No,” I replied again. “It’s fine, Dean. I promise.”

      ��    His eyes were glassy, like he was going to cry. I wanted to reach for him, to promise that everything would be okay, that all I needed was some rest. But the blankets were so comfortable, I was finally warm, and I didn’t feel like risking the flare of pain to move toward him.

           “What can I do?” he murmured, fingers smoothing through my sweat-matted hair. His voice cracked, then broke. “I’m helpless here, and it’s killing me, darlin’.”

           I forced myself to smile, to push past the ache in my neck to nuzzle into his touch. “There’s nothing you can do, my love. Or the doctors.” My chest screamed with agony as I sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve been lucky for a long time, but I guess I ran out.”

           His fingers stopped their gentle stroking. Fear—real terror—flashed in his blue eyes, turning them dark as tornado thunderclouds. A tremble ran through his limbs, I felt it in his fingertips against my ear.

           “Tell me what’s wrong.”

 Dean, Evening, 9:37 PM

           Suddenly, I couldn’t stop thinking about the first time I’d seen Mera. I remembered it as clearly as if I was playing a film of it in my head. She’d walked in to FCW right on Seth’s heels—of course, he’d been known as Tyler Black then—with those gorgeous molten gold eyes and a smile that knocked the breath out of me. Her hair had been short then, but it framed her face in a way that made it impossible to look away. She laughed, and I was drunk on it. She shook my hand and said my name, and I felt my heart beat for the first time.

           And now, after all this time, she was mine. Mine to cherish, to adore, to worship, to protect.

           But I couldn’t protect her from this. Not when her own body was tearing itself apart.

           “Lupus?” I said the word like I’d never heard it before. Something about it made me want to cringe, as if just saying it out loud made everything about it a reality. I knew what it was, but I didn’t know what it was.

           “Is it…” I stopped, couldn’t finish that sentence the way that it had framed itself in my head. I refused to think any more down that route. Instead, I tucked her more tightly in the blankets and tried to stuff down my fear. “Is it always this bad?”

           She stretched her legs out slowly, biting down hard on her lip to keep from letting me know how much it hurt. I wanted to take every ounce of her pain away. Jesus Christ, I’d suffer a million beatings, each more violent and agonizing than the last, if only it meant that she would never have to hurt again. I’d die to take her pain away, if only it didn’t take me away from her.

           “Not for a long time,” she replied softly. I watched the energy drain from her body. “Not for a… long time”

           Mera’s eyes fluttered closed, head lolling against the cushions at the back of the sofa. She let out a faint whimper as her limbs settled into place. Her chest rose and fell with her deep, slumbering breaths.

           I couldn’t imagine how much such a simple thing, something so vital, could give her so much agony. At least she slept, spared from the conscious feeling of her pain for at least a little while.

           For a moment, I thought about gathering her in my arms and taking her up to bed. But she looked peaceful for the first time all day, and I couldn’t bring myself to cause her any more discomfort. Instead, I pushed the coffee table out of the way and took a quick run upstairs. There would be no sleeping in the bed without Mera. There was no being so far away from her in case she needed me.

           I made up a nest of pillows and sheets on the floor just beside the sofa. My back would be killing me in the morning, but that didn’t matter. Mera mattered.

           She was all that mattered.

 Mera, Morning, 7:09 AM

           My limbs were stiff as I tried to sit up. I was so hot that I can feel the sweat slicking along my skin. It was uncomfortable and sticky and all I wanted was to take a shower, to be clean, to be able to move without aching and feeling my skin crusted with salty sweat.

           I sat up, faint echoes of pain popping in my joints. The flare had been horrible. It had been years since my body had turned on itself in such a violent way. Nothing could ever hurt as much as when it felt like I was being torn open from the inside out. My muscles were still weak, my head still throbbed faintly, but it seemed that the worst had passed.

           It took me a few minutes to realize that I wasn’t in our bed. And Dean was nowhere to be seen.

           After giving myself a moment to let my body catch up, I sat up, swinging my feet off the edge of the sofa. My toe bumped against something as my feet hit the floor. When I looked down, I nearly burst into tears.

           Dean was stretched out on a makeshift pallet of sheets and spare pillows. He had swaddled himself until the only things visible were his feet and his mussed chestnut hair. I sighed softly, wiping tears from my cheeks. I could hardly comprehend it—he’d slept the entire night in the floor.

           For me.

           The ruffled hair moved. A face appeared out from the top of the sheets. Dean’s blue eyes blinked open, sleep matting his lashes together. When he saw me sitting on the edge of the sofa, his mouth curved up in a smile.

           “Morning, darlin’,” he mumbled gruffly. His hand appeared, scrubbing over his face, attempted to tame his hair. “How you feeling?”

           I sighed softly, taking stock of my body… sensing for aches and pains, discomfort and fear. There was a faint uncomfortable stretch in my legs, a lingering ache in my elbows. Very little of the horrible sensation from last night was still there. It was near heavenly compared to the hell that was a flare up.

           “I’m functioning so far,” I replied, reaching out to soothe some of the hair from his face. He leaned into my palm with a faint purr. “It’s going to be a few days before I’m back to my old self.”

           Dean sat up, cursing as he extricated himself from his cocoon. He looked so adorable first thing in the morning, especially when he got caught up in the sheets. “Then you’re taking it easy until you are.”

Dean, Morning, 7:20 AM

           My back throbbed as I unfolded myself from the floor and sat next to Mera on the sofa. Her face had faded closer to her normal complexion. Her eyes weren’t glassy with fever, sweat didn’t coat her hair until it stuck to her skin. She looked a thousand times better than she had the night before.

           A realization struck me in the gut harder than anything I’d ever known. In those moments when she was in pain, when she could barely breathe without wanting to cry, when there was nothing I could do to take it away… I was terrified that she might slip straight through my fingers. I missed the way she smiled at me like no one else mattered. I missed how she said my name in a way that made her eyes light up.

           I missed her, the woman who had taken a half-drunken trip around Las Vegas with me, who had married me in a roadside chapel without a second thought. And I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like if she had been taken away from me. If I lost her…

           She was mine. Mera was everything to me—my heart, my soul, my lungs, the ground beneath my feet, the sky above me, and the air in my body.

           “Let me take care of you,” I whispered against her shoulder. I barely touched her, just the slip of my fingertips along her skin. “Tell me how I can help.”

           Her head turned toward me, those amber eyes wide and trusting. My soul ignited somewhere deep within me when she looked at me like that.

           “A hot bath would be a good place to start,” she said with an innocent smile that hooked into me, a cable dragging me toward her in space, a sure reminder that I was always hers.

_____________________________________________________________

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it @houndsofjxstice @lunatictoosweet @xbutterflius-effectusx @mother-forker @instantboquetdestinysblog

[angelicteeth]

hi our boys are disgusting

god fuck yeah they are 

Aristotle: He/Him - Leo - 18 - 6′4

1. What is your OC’s favorite color? blueee!!!!!!!2. Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect? he loves art books! his mom used to show them to him and he’s collected them ever since. would also like to collect daggers/knives/swords bc he thinks they’re neat 3. What kind of things is your OC allergic to? nothing 4. What kind of clothing does your OC wear? ohhhh this guys 100% a metal head. leather jackets, spikes, ripped jeans, chains- necklaces and wallet, vans or boots, lots n lots of patches/pins- the whole ordeal! typically only wears reds, blacks, whites, and dark shades. muted colors. 5. What is your OC’s first memory? he was around 4 or 5 and his mother asked him to bake a cake with her, and he agreed, of course. they made a giant 5 layer red velvet cake with chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter chips in between and chocolate fudge drizzled on top/off the sides. they made a HUGE mess in the kitchen and all over themselves and he cherishes this memory so sooo much. 6. What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite? black panthers!!!!! he also loves dogs a lot… he? HATES?? butterflies ???7. What element would your OC be? oh boy fire 8. What is your OC’s theme song? uhhh anything Heavy Metal9. Do you have a faceclaim / voiceclaim for your OC? noooooo, i dont rlly like doing this edrfghu but! he has a deep voice, its warm and deep and kinda ? sultry? idk 10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC? wrath. 11. What are your OC’s hobbies? painting!!! learning about history/going to museums, annnnnnd does his bf count? LOL12. How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they? uhhh relatively patient? definitely depends. he’s VERY hot-headed but doesn’t ‘explode’ often 13. What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.? male, gay, and latino! he’s also human wsedrftg14. What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods? fucking LOVES cheese??? and big warm pretzels… CINNAMON ROLLS! hates olives ??? and most fish 15. If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why? he’d really want a big cat, doesn’t matter what… just a Big Boy16. What does your OC smell like? warm, cinnamon maybe but also musky and woodsy… but he sometimes just likes smelling Clean and like semi typical guy cologne ??? or just Expensive smelling cologne,,, idk he always smells really fucking good sedfgh17. How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job? uhhh right Now he’s just graduated high school and issss looking for work… doesn’t really know what he wants to be, honestly. he’s still trying to figure everything out 18. What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? he fears losing completely everything he loves, specifically his boyfriend and his brother. a weakness is how hard he is on himself, and how much he isolates/pushes people away when he’s low. a strength is just how warm and caring he is. how much he loves. even if he doesn’t always see himself as strong, he is. he really, really is19. What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song? h e a v y  m e t a l  h e ‘ s  a  f u c k i n g  m e t a l h e a d i havent looked too into it so i don’t know about songs, i WILL look into it at some point20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do? he live on this hell planet, sadly 21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves? the death of his mom… and his anger… he blames himself for her death and hes struggling hard with it, since his father doesn’t help at all and blames him, too. a pet peeve he has is people leaving doors or cabinets open, it makes him so mad dftgyhu just fucking close them 22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school? heee was a good one ? hardest subject for him was english :/ mainly got A’s! except for english 23. What is a random fact about your OC? he cannot bake or cook anything EXCEPT breakfast foods 24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living? he… didnt see a future until he met his boyfriend, nathan… after his mom died, so did everything else 25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them? amber wanted to play the sims and she told me to create 2 characters but i said hey! i do one, you do one! and then we were fucking idiots and turned them into ocs dfyudfhjkl; its soooo recent that nothings changed LOL im still developing him, as i am with all of my ocs 26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why? nathan… he gave him a second chance at life, he gave him a reason to want to stay alive, a future. also jordan is super super important to him they bffs xoxo (edit: dan n ty also mean the world to him) at his current age… his dad. their relationship does eventually get better but right now, hes the least important but has such a big impact on him it hurts27. What kind of childhood did your character have? A GOOD GOOD GOOOOOOD ASS CHILDHOOD up until 16 it was soooo good… his moms his best friend, he n his brother hung out all the time, and his dad wasn’t so angry or drunk28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions? he picks at his nails when hes nervous, but it doesnt happen very often so its nothing he tends to worry about. heee doesn’t stim but fucking loves paint mixing videos those are his shit uhhh no, no addictions… unless you literally count his bf wertyui29. If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose? “If You Sit On My Grave I WILL Haunt You” or “Long Live The King” because he’s a stupid fucking leo30. Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why? yesssssssss he wants to marry nathan So Bad sedrftyui he’s unsure about kids, though… kinda just wants a couple pets 31. What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory? his mom died on his 16th birthday driving to come pick him up. anything involving nathan… doesn’t even matter what it is, he just loves him so much32. If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be? his mom back33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why? uhhh probablyyyyy not… he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he actually killed someone,,,34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually? uh he likes concerts n shit but its not like,,, a social group thing… he doesnt do that shit…35. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? very vivid imagination, is often found daydreaming when hes not painting or with his bf. not really worried, honestly, kinda just lives in the moment and doesnt give a single god damn shit about a thing except on the bad days36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain? he wants nathan the most, out of everything- and he has him… but if he didn’t he would do anything for him. anything37. What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do? pees with the door open esdrtyuio38. What would your character do with a million dollars? ooohhhh spoil the shit out of nathan, get a tattoo or 2, and buy art stuff!39. What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can? eggs, leftovers, milk, orange juice, bacon, butter, and syrup. a couple of canvases, paint brushes, the shirt he slept in the night before. a couple of single issue comics, the graphic novel hes reading, a bottle of water, and a tiny art canvas. random plastic, paper, maybe an empty water bottle or 240. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with? out with nathan, probably on a date. ripped jeans, dark red sweater, black shirt, boots, wallet chain, necklace chain, and a single dangly earring in his left ear 41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why? yell, scream, get super physical. he’s burning, he’s burning, he’s burning. make it stop, better yet, let him thrive 42. Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from? nope! he’s clean for now43. What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said? oooooh uh he says some Shit when he’s pissed, especially to his dad44. How does your character react/ accept criticism? fine? doesn’t really care about it unless its from nathan. oooor if youre just being a shithead hell tell you off45. If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza? he enjoys it, wouldn’t mind it at all tbh46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works? fuck, yeah. he’d do something stupid to it to see if it works and then display it in his room or give it to his bf47. Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle? hellllll yeaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. everything, anything48. What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult? his mom was his best friend and the reason why he is the way he is. his dad was a good man, but now hes a stupid angry drunk who blames ari for his mothers death. its affected him positively and negatively, hes loving and passionate like his mother but insecure and doubtful because of his father49. Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush? d o  n o t  l e t  h i m  h a v e  a  l o t  o f  c a n d y  p l e a s e 50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count? would probably elope with nathan, do some crazy shit, and hope to god he doesn’t actually fucking die 

Jordan: He/Him - Sagittarius - 19 - 6′2

1. What is your OC’s favorite color? light green2. Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect? stamps, stickers, beanies, anything aquatic-themed, and tarot cards/witchy stuff!3. What kind of things is your OC allergic to? bananas…4. What kind of clothing does your OC wear? lazy type clothes, very sluggish. lots of oversized cardigans, hoodies, and sweaters. baggy shirts, but he religiously wears jeans. likes chains but preferably small ones, and usually only wallet chains. likes wearing a ring on each thumb and if hes Feelin it a couple more! punkish basically 5. What is your OC’s first memory? spying on his brother and dad training outside in the barn6. What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite? he has a giant soft spot for cows but his favorite is whale sharks!!! he doesn’t really like frogs 7. What element would your OC be? water! but with Slight fire8. What is your OC’s theme song? something slow and sad, probably 9. Do you have a faceclaim / voiceclaim for your OC? no! his voice is soft and low, like a lullaby. very warm and comforting, but also a lil husky10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC? envy/lust/greed wsedfg11. What are your OC’s hobbies? reading, using tarot cards, organizing his stamps/stickers, watching documentaries, and making sure aristotle doesn’t do anything Stupid12. How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they? he’s pretty patient but he’s also pretty hot headed. he Will lash out when angry :/13. What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.? male, bisexual, white (russian/american) also a human sedryui14. What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods? loooovvveeessss chocolate chip waffles! and breakfast foods in general. hates peas and green beans 15. If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why? a cowwwww… they remind him of his mom dfghj16. What does your OC smell like? clean but ? kinda minty!17. How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job? he currently works at a little bookshop/coffeeshop! he likes it but he wants to do something more when he’s graduated from college. 18. What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? his father and crickets. how emotionally attached he gets to people. how warm and soft he is, he never stops caring for others 19. What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song? goth, heavy metal, sad/emo shit20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do? he live here Binch21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves? his whole family besides his father is dead and he’s all alone with nobody to turn to. he h a t e s crunching noises. so much. also fucking HATES when people poke holes in shit just STop. 22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school? actually really really good, even though he looks like a fucking slacker esdrftgyhu probably got all A’s23. What is a random fact about your OC? he always has his fingernails and toenails painted black or dark red/purple24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living? fuck man he doesn’t wanna live hes so fucking Tired his dark circles are permanent but ari makes life worth living sdfg25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them? …once upon a time amber and i made a gang au with ari n nathan and promptly made jordan for the Shits and Giggles but it turns out i fell in love and way too deep making his character, thanks!26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why? aristotle, probably, because he assumes his mom is dead. least is his dad whos a fucking asshole murdering cuck27. What kind of childhood did your character have? uhhhh Not Good ill tell you that. his father only married and brought his mom to russia so she could give him kids, preferably boys. first was nikolai, second was kazimir jordan, and lastly was feliks. they were all 2 years apart, making nikolai and feliks 4, so they were all close in age and played together often. his father was most proud of nikolai but feliks had been showing signs of possibly exceeding all of their expectations. kazimir was last in everything, but he was his mothers favorite. he’ll never forgive his father for torturing him and killing everyone he loved. 28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions? he often picks at his nail polish, or the skin around his nails. definitely fidgets with his hands often. doesn’t stim but follows a lot of soap carving and squishy videos, also likes bread/cooking ones. he’s kind of addicted to red bulls but he’s cutting back and resorting to coffee, which he drinks black29. If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose? “hell’s waiting for me so watch your back”30. Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why? maybe married but almost Definitely no kids. no thanks. xoxo31. What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory? his father dragged him into the barns once after he accidentally spilled something over an ‘important’ paper so his father branded him with a cross on his side. his mother used to braid his hair with baby’s breath in it when theyd play out in the field, just her and the 3 boys running around, having fun. it was peaceful, bliss32. If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be? to tell his mother he was sorry and that he’ll never stop loving her33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why? no, he’s seen what killing someone does to people34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually? i dont really like this question edrtyu35. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? hes so tired all the time hes often in the clouds, never really focusing. daydreams a lot to make it through each day, pretending hes someone hes not. hoping that his mother is actually still alive, and that he doesnt have to keep reliving memories. they wont stop fading, he keeps getting them jumbled. he just wants to make more with her, be with her one last time36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain? his moooooooooom, he’d do anything for her37. What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do? he has to turn door knobs twice before actually opening a door 38. What would your character do with a million dollars? that’s so overwhelming to him but probably pay off college shit sdfghj debt is So Scary 39. What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can? yogurt, water bottles, red bull, orange soda, and some strawberries. a pair of jeans and boxers and random books hes checked out from the library. a half empty can of red bull, the book hes currentl reading, a beanie, and a cute little jar of jelly beans ari got him. garbage can has crumbled up balls of paper, empty red bull cans, empty bottle of soda, and an old textbook.40. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with? probably aristotle and nathan to a concert/out to eat. wears black jeans, a baggy red and black striped sweater with a black shirt underneath, boots or vans, and prolly a wallet chain + his thumb rings41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why? he screams and yanks on his hair fgyuhlj;k42. Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from? heee has a cross on his side, and a few Light scars on his face- over his bottom lip, on his forehead and on the left side of his cheek/jaw. a couple on his back and arms as well most of them are from his father…43. What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said? he’s never said anything Out Loud but in his head he says shit all the time dxgfhgjhjlio hes a snarky son of a gun44. How does your character react/ accept criticism? he will go home and Cry about it later 45. If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza? eh its Ok46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works? hes pretty paranoid about it and probably shows it to ari like ‘bitch what the FUCK’47. Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle? he doodles mindlessly when hes bored in class 48. What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult? uhhhh his dad is a big Cuck but his mom is an Angel and the best person he’s ever met. this has fucked him over hard bc hes father took her away from him and now he has nothing left so hes an anxious, paranoid Mess49. Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush? he l o v e s candy pls50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count? Kill Him Now

Tyler: He/Him - Pisces - 22 - 5′7

1. What is your OC’s favorite color? baby blue and pink!2. Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect? nail polish, lamb stuffed animals, comics, seashells, and washi tapes 3. What kind of things is your OC allergic to? nothin4. What kind of clothing does your OC wear? he likes soft colors, pastel. sweaters are his favorite but he also likes long sleeved shirts. dresses pretty feminine, isn’t a fan of dark colors on himself unless its his boyfriends clothes5. What is your OC’s first memory? when he was around 4 or 5 he was riding his bike when he hit a rock and went flying forward, causing him to scrape his knees and his nose to bleed 6. What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite? l o v e s  l a m b s and snails, doesn’t really like salamanders 7. What element would your OC be? w a t e r 8. What is your OC’s theme song? something soft and not too upbeat 9. Do you have a faceclaim / voiceclaim for your OC? he has a very smooth and kind of feminine voice ? but its masculine enough to not misgender him,,,10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC? envy???11. What are your OC’s hobbies? painting his nails, drawing/sketching, reading comics and graphic novels, watching documentaries, and journaling!12. How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they? very patient and rarely hot headed, gets more agitated or annoyed 13. What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.? male, gay, white human boy14. What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods? would Die for milkshakes he loves them so fucking much, isnt a big fan of hamburgers/beef in general 15. If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why? a lamb or sheep he is so infatuated with them. they are so so soooo cute 16. What does your OC smell like? strawberries and cream!17. How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job? heee currently works odd hours at a gas station, it’s definitely not his dream job but its not super awful… most of the time. he wants to go to art school, actually, to learn to make jewelry and to learn how to do more with his art18. What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? abandonment and ultimate loneliness. he’s really self conscious but he loves with all hes got and he loves so much, and so hard19. What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song? bubblegum pop, kpop, jpop, and some indie music!20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do? he here 21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves? he’s self conscious and in recovery for self harm/an eating disorder but he’s doing really well! its still hard but he’s pushing through… he hates having chipped nails drftugyihuo as soon as one chips, even a little, he repaints them as soon as he can22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school? he was a nerd he got straight A’s and actually enjoyed school kinda erdtfyuio but only because he loves to learn, not the actual people or atmosphere 23. What is a random fact about your OC? is really interested in astrology and loves reading his horoscope 24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living? he’s honestly trying to still figure that out but the more time he spends with his boyfriend, the more he wants to live and have a happy future with him25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them? amber made dan, dan needed a love interest, tada!26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why? daaaaaannnn, his boyfriend, nathan his best friend (+ari)  annnnnnd uh ? nobody really ??? 27. What kind of childhood did your character have? he had a pretty alright childhood, kind of lonely…28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions? plays with his ears if he’s super nervous, really fucking loves slime to stim and help him calm down- or chews on something29. If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose? something gay, probably 30. Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why? yes and yes!!! he wants to get married and have a family with dan :331. What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory? dan got into a bad bar fight once, he was having a shitty day and the guy was being an absolute douchebag asshole and tyler wasn’t there to help him or stop him and it was just… bad… once dan took him to a petting zoo to meet and pet some sheep and he cried because it was quite possibly the nicest thing anyones ever done for him and then the dumbass also set up a picnic for afterwards and he fucking bawled again stupid gay saps32. If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be? the funds for college esdrtf33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why? nope he is a soft crybaby 34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually? i dont LIKE this fucking q smfh35. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? he daydreams a lot, yeah, and hes almost always worried because his anxiety is an absolute bitch but hes working on it36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain? he just wants dan and to go to art school37. What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do? he has to say goodnight to all of his stuffed animals before bed every night sdfgfgghj38. What would your character do with a million dollars? a r t  s c h o o l39. What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can? strawberries, mangos, chocolate almond milk, leftover food from a restaurant he went to with dan, and some chocolate syrup. nothing, he has to keep his room clean always. nightstand has a graphic novel and book hes currently reading, a note/poem from dan with a small lamb he got him, and a bottle of peach tea. 40. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with? somewhere really really fancy with dan! he’d wear a cute suit, a white one with a pastel yellow button up shirt and a black tie. wears the necklace dan got him and probably a few dainty rings that match well together/when layered 41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why? he cries. a lot. he gets really overwhelmed when he’s angry, and tends to scream or yell42. Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from? on his arms from self harm, his hips as well… 43. What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said? he doesn’t like saying rude things44. How does your character react/ accept criticism? uhhh if he asks he’ll probably take what the person says into consideration but if he hasnt asked, he’ll get mad/sad 45. If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza? he like it46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works? he gives it to dan rdyftugyhio47. Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle? s e n d  h i m  t o  a r t  s c h o o l  p l e a s e48. What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult? err his parents were kind of absent a lot, they traveled so much for business that he was often alone, only himself for company. his mom was loving, for the most part, when she was home. she got drunk quite often, though, but that just made her more giggly and unfocused. his dad… was hard on him, kinda abusive. often ignored him, honestly, unless it came to school and ‘being a man.’ he can be very distant at times, and self isolates often… yet he’s afraid of being alone, he doesn’t want to be abandoned, so he loves the wrong people, stays with the wrong people, because it seems right. if they stay, ill be okay, even if im still crying. even if it still hurts 49. Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush? he does like candy! gets sugar rushes sometimes sdrftugyu dan finds it so fucking cute bc he’s so hyper and giggly 50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count? oh please don’t stress him out like that…

Alexander: He/They - Virgo - 24 - 6′0

1. What is your OC’s favorite color? dark purple2. Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect? swords, dragons, and bookmarks3. What kind of things is your OC allergic to? dairy and bees4. What kind of clothing does your OC wear? what he actually has to wear differs from what he personally likes. his father is the king so because of that, he often has to wear a lot of suits/prince attire. but personally, when he doesnt have to be Prince, he likes to wear dark and comfy clothes, a lazy emo5. What is your OC’s first memory? he vaguely remembers aster being born and wanting to help his mom take care of her 6. What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite? dragons!!! doesnt have a least favorite??? maybe mosquitos 7. What element would your OC be? hhhhh water 8. What is your OC’s theme song? something heavy and dark9. Do you have a faceclaim / voiceclaim for your OC? he has a charming n husky kinda voice !10. What deadly sin would best represent your OC? greed or envy11. What are your OC’s hobbies? fighting, taking care of dragons, making rings, and reading historical books12. How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they? he’s been trained to be patient, for the most part, but when he’s passionate about something he tends to get hot-headed sometimes 13. What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.? non-binary, bisexual, he’s an alien so he’s kinda pinkish… same color as aster but a little lighter 14. What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods? loves seafood… isn’t really into eggs 15. If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why? he Has his dream pet, a dragon, so he’s Good16. What does your OC smell like? woodsy and clean 17. How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job? he’s a prince but he works with dragons a lot!!! it’s his Dream… or to sell his rings 18. What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? commitment, losing his family, and sharks. he gets too lost in his head at times, distances himself from everyone. he’s physically very strong and a charming/calm guy by nature 19. What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song? he’s not the biggest music guy but enjoys rock/alternative/emo stuff20. If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do? curious about everything, goes into almost every shop he can find and tries out so many different foods…21. What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves? his last relationship was Bad and he’s still very much affected by it… he hates wearing socks to bed dfyguh it annoys him so much22. What kind of student were they/would they be in high school? excellent, top of his class23. What is a random fact about your OC? he loves tattoos and would love to be covered in them one day 24. What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living? currently, his outlook is very bleak dxfyuibj he’s really sad,,,25. What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them? i gave aster siblings and then slowly developed him in my head!26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why? his family, specifically his siblings, anddd his ex boyfriend still haunts his almost every thought and action :/27. What kind of childhood did your character have? good!!! he and his siblings did so much stuff together dxfghjkl; i Love them28. What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions? twists his rings a lot or shakes his leg when he’s nervous. doesn’t stim 29. If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose? fuck, man, i have no fucking clue and neither does he30. Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why? currently, no31. What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory? his ex boyfriend tried to kill him once. he relives that memory almost everyday, and hates himself for not telling anybody about it. his siblings always know how to cheer him up, which he’s soooo grateful for. the 3 of them went to an amusement park once and just had so much fun, eating waaaay too much and going on all of the rides 32. If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be? happiness33. Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why? er probably wouldn’t but if it was his ex… he would reconsider 34. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually? his dads the king, hes a prince, so he often finds himself at balls or parties and pretends to be super charming and openly available for marriage, even though he doesn’t want it and his younger brother will most likely take the throne instead35. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? he never stops living in daydreams or memories and would like it all to just. stop. let him b r e a t h e36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain? peace. he wants everything to stop, he wants his head to stop convincing him somethings wrong when hes fine and he wants his thoughts to stop wants the voices gone.37. What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do? he sucks skittles and starbursts for a long ass time before actually eating them…38. What would your character do with a million dollars? donate it all 39. What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can? nothing dfhgjk he hasn’t restocked it yet,,, probably some clothes and random books lying around. uhhh probably some alcohol, candy, and a map. crumpled up paper and wrappers in his garbage can40. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with? uh probably alone and to get wasted or high,,, doesnt matter where :/41. What does your character do when they’re angry? Why? self isolates and simmers in his anger, throws shit and screams because hes so mad/frustrated 42. Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from? theres some cigarette burns on his thighs from his ex, a couple on his back and arms/legs from either fighting or his ex… there’s probably more but id have to think a lot more on his ex and stuff, which i will do eventually!43. What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said? towards the end of his relationship he probably said some harsh things to his ex44. How does your character react/ accept criticism? fine unless its super personal to him, then it reminds him of his ex and he cant focus on anything, he shuts down45. If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza? inhales it. please feed him46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works? stares at it for so long.. would probably carry it with him always dsfgjkl;47. Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle? he things drawing buildings is super relaxing…48. What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult? very loving! hes very grateful for them and how supportive they are, even if its unconventional to being next in line for the throne. they just want him happy more than anything49. Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush? he loves candy, shoves it in his mouth so fast estrytuyul he only gets sugar rushes if he binges on candy around others??? never when hes just munching on it alone50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count? i cant say he’d be entirely mad at his current state… would probably say his goodbyes and then just wait, or wander around waiting 

[mensbodybuildingtips]

52 Ways To Lose Fat (1 For Every Week of the Year!)

We understand you're an over-achiever, so we put together a checklist of 52 weight loss suggestions in order to help you accomplish your objectives - continuing to be relatively lean during mass-building cycles, and going down body fat like a champ pre-contest or in warm weather.

Keep in mind that though these suggestions can be a pplied as soon as weekly throughout the year, if you even practice a section of these in some consistent combination, you'll have excellent success with weight loss and also getting lean.

1. Eat commonly - 5 or 6 dishes a day trigger the metabolic rate that a lot more typically than three squares, as well as avoids the storage of body fat from excess calories simultaneously sitting.

2. Plan dishes ahead for the day, so cravings does not surpass and also create grabs for arbitrary food as well as food portions.

3. Eliminate all sugar (consisting of white sugar, brownish sugar, honey, molasses, agave syrup) and also change with Stevia or Splenda

4. Eat protein at every meal - that suggests lean chicken, fish, steak and eggs, along with extra healthy protein shakes with few carbohydrates or sugar grams.

5. Do not eat carbohydrates after 2 p.m. unless you learn the late night. If exercises begin at 7 or 8 p.m., consume carbs up before 5 p.m.

6. Eat low-glycemic carbohydrates - those carbohydrates that do not increase the blood glucose quickly. Low glycemic index (LGI) facility carbohydrates consist of yams and also oatmeal, broccoli, asparagus and also cabbage.

7. Consume gradually as well as chew food entirely. Place the fork down in between bites and also food digestion will certainly be a lot more progressive and natural - much less calories will certainly be hoarded as well as kept as fat.

8. Don't avoid meals - ever before. Your body will certainly seem like it's starving.

9. Do not reduce calories seriously - reduce slowly by removing unnecessary foods. When you have actually cleared the diet of vacant calories, transformed percentages of macronutrients, and also added required healthy protein grams to improve metabolism, you will certainly lose the body fat.

10. Differ calorie matters daily. The body ends up being accustomed easily, as well as varying calories keeps the body guessing and the metabolic rate from slowing down during a diet.

11. Go with breast meat chicken, rather than dark.

12. Eliminate skin from poultry before cooking.

13. Eat fish - which keeps levels of the hormonal agent leptin (connected to sluggish metabolic rate as well as obesity) low. Eat white fish on reduced fat days, as well as pink-flesh fish, such as salmon (which has greater fat), on lower carb days - it's packed with Omega-3 and -6.

14. Clear out your kitchen or cabinets before starting a weight loss diet plan - biscuits and various other rewards will only call you and include in your carb count.

15. Reserve time to practice meditation as well as relax daily, listening to calming songs, taking a bath, reading or hing on the sunlight. Stress and anxiety generates cortisol which can stimulate the hunger as well as add to the production as well as storage space of abdominal fat.

16. Separate workouts into twice day-to-day journeys to the health club - either one to exercise and one to do cardio, or splitting body parts up with cardio following among the exercises. Little bursts of activity fire the metabolism.

17. Obtain beauty sleep (6 to 8 hrs) when attempting to lose fat, and also you'll maintain insulin and cortisol levels lower.

18. Cube lean harder cuts of meat and chicken in yogurt and also seasonings for 12-plus hrs to tenderize meat normally, after that grill as well as appreciate for much less fat and a delicious char.

19. Do cardio on a vacant stomach first thing in the morning to utilize on reduced blood glucose degrees as well as optimal fat-burning.

20. If you live within a half mile of the fitness center, walk there for exercises - a year of that might stimulate the loss of 10 added pounds.

21. Choose lean cuts of beef that are generally challenging, and also braise them for hours in liquids which contain no fat as well as few calories. Attempt non-alcoholic costs beers with soy and also flavors, or sugar-free root beer with beef broth. Fluids could be decreased as well as concentrated further for a tasty sauce that has no calories however leaves you feeling satisfied.

22. If you live within 2 miles of the health club, ride your bike there - a year of that could stimulate the loss of between 8 as well as 12 pounds.

23. Have sex a lot more frequently - those extra calories melted accumulate and, well, we don't need to encourage you or else, do we?

24. Treat more on raw environment-friendly vegetables, such as broccoli, eco-friendly pepper, cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce for fiber and also weight loss. The amount of energy it takes to crisis and digest them zeroes out calories and also you still feel full.

25. Chew sugar-free periodontal as opposed to tough candy.

26. Take 30 secs to one min much less rest in between collections - the rise in pace will boost heart price as well as metabolic process and burn even more calories throughout mass workouts.

27. Stay clear of monosodium glutamate and go with sea salt for less water retention.

28. Try to find fragrant non-caloric spices, such as turmeric extract, cinnamon, celebrity anise, as well as others that flavor food in low-calorie or non-calorie sauces with soy and Worcestershire sauce.

29. Have to have that item of deep-fried poultry? Bake chicken to within 5 minutes of being done, then layer with egg white and finely ground oatmeal, dip in fryer for 2 to 3 mins, and remove. The poultry flesh will not soak up oil once it's been cooked.

30. Throughout mass building cycles, make one exercise weekly a full-body exercise, and also train one body component each day after.

31. Throughout contest training, use supersets, giant sets, decline collections as well as work to failing in specific body component training, or do half-body or full-body workouts.

32. Block heavier carbs or cheats with carb-blocking supplements which contain white-bean and other ingredients that block the absorption of carbohydrates.

33. Take chromium 15 mins prior to eating dishes with intricate carbohydrates to avoid any kind of blood glucose spike and also fat storage.

34. Lower the fat in your diet regimen by eliminating milk products. Milk has both fat and carbohydrates, while lotion is sky-high in fat. Every gram of carbohydrate as well as fat count, and eliminating dairy is a wonderful method to eliminate excess calories and bloat.

35. Supplement with vital fatty acids (EFA). Flax seed oil is abundant in Omega-3 fats, which lower cholesterol and also figures in shedding fat.

36. Remove dressings from the diet - catsup, mayo, vinegar, as well as salt that are empty calories as well as do not add to nutrition, yet make you long for various other foods that push calories over the limit.

37. Remove white flour items - pasta, bread and also baked goods do not belong in a fat loss regimen.

38. Remove fruit from the diet during fat-loss cycles, to free the body of sugar that can be saved as fat.

39. Do not eat an hour before bed.

40. Have a rip off meal every a couple of weeks. Some select rip off dishes as frequently as once a week, but until you remain in an upkeep phase, however every two weeks allows you to have just what you want and assists your metabolic rate

41. If you stir up hungry in the middle of the evening, deal with a healthy protein shake with > 1 gram of carbohydrate.

42. Operating and cycling burn the many body fat - try getting outside the health club to do these in real life, but practice on the treadmill, elliptical machine and also fixed cycle indoors.

43. Protein is optimal between dishes and a 100-calorie shake with 20 grams of protein is excellent. Include a handful of almonds or pistachios for added power and also pack them with you in tiny packs to make sure that when you're running in between health club and home, you have some fuel as well as do not get to for rapid food.

44. High levels of caffeine is an efficient fat burner - make certain you have two mugs of black coffee in the early morning prior to noontime. Try one at 8 a.m. and also one at 10 a.m., then lay off.

45. Drink eco-friendly tea throughout the day

46. Supplement with Vitamin D, B, C, calcium, and also lots of iron - without enough iron, your body can not get enough oxygen to your cells, which decreases your metabolism.

47. Avoid alcohol, however if you must have some, consume alcohol a four ounce glass of merlot with dinner.

48. Choose workouts that service "waist heft" - Job with the conditioning ball, turning side to side while in a half-crunch on the decrease bench.

49. Consume 64 ounces of water daily, minimum. Water flushes out toxic substances as you removal with the fat burning process.

50. When training, focus on intensity, not period, in the gym.

51. Follow diet, workouts and also cardio exercise for recurring, long-lasting fat loss.

52. Be answerable to a buddy, or a diet regimen log. Every evening, you should account for specifically what you consumed - down to the last morsel.

[johnhardinsawyer]

“What is it?”  Providence

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

9 / 20 / 20

Exodus 16:2-15

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

“‘What is it?’  Providence”

(Into the Unknown – Part 3)

Years ago, I spent a summer in New Mexico working with a lot of youth and adults who were backpacking through the mountains.  At one point that summer, I met a grown man who, every day around 1 PM, would throw a crazy temper tantrum.  It turned out that he had difficulties with his blood sugar and, after hiking all morning and getting hungry, his blood sugar would drop and he would fly into a rage.  The guy had other problems, too, but he would get hungry and then he would get “hangry” – which is that dreaded and deadly combination of being both hungry and angry at the same time – so he would yell and scream “hangrily” for however long, and then he would sit down and eat lunch and be fine.

There’s a fine line between hungry and “hangry.”  Some of you might have crossed that line, before.  I know I have.

In today’s story from the Book of Exodus, we find the Israelites journeying into the unknown wilderness area of the Sinai Peninsula.  They have escaped the Egyptian army, thanks to God’s powerful rescue at the Red Sea, but now all of the food that they brought with them has run out.  And, they’re getting “hangry.”

According to the story, “The whole congregation of the Israelites [complains] against Moses.”  (Exodus 16:2)  In the original language, the people are “murmuring”[1] against Moses.  Can you imagine it?  Thousands of people, out in the desert, no food to eat.  Fathers, mothers, and children looking around for something to fill their bellies.  Eventually, they make their way to wherever Moses is.  He is the guy who kept trying to convince them to leave Egypt, in the first place.  So, clearly, it’s his fault.  People often lay blame at the feet of the ones who lead them – sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly.  And, as the Israelites stand there, looking at Moses, their bellies rumbling, someone starts murmuring under their breath, and then more and more people join in and the murmuring starts to roll through the crowd like thunder:  

“Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat?” [they say.]  “You’ve brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!”[2]

Now, there are a couple of things wrong with this statement.  First, the people might say that they were comfortable in Egypt, but they were not comfortable.  They were slaves and their masters treated them harshly.  The second thing that is wrong with the people’s angry murmuring is that God did not want the people to die in Egypt where they might have had goat stew and bread, but they were miserable while they were eating it, so God has led them out of Egypt.  God has saved them – sending plagues on the Egyptians, leading the Israelites with a pillar of cloud and fire, helping them to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, getting rid of the Egyptian army along the way.  So, now that they are safe from the Egyptians, do they really think that God is going to abandon them?  Sometimes, those with the shortest tempers have the shortest memories.  And, always, hunger trumps reason.  After all that God has done for these people – all of God’s mighty deeds of power – is God going to now leave them alone?  Not if God has anything to say about it!

So, the Lord says to Moses, “I know that my people are hungry.  Believe me, I can hear their murmuring.  So, I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each morning everyone will go out and gather enough for that day. . .”  (16:4)[3]  But this is not all.  Just to make sure that God’s people don’t go hungry after their continental breakfast that has fallen from the sky, the Lord is also going to send birds in the evening so that everyone can have meat for dinner.

“Here you go, people,” God is saying.  “I’ve given you freedom from slavery, dry ground through the Red Sea, victory over the Egyptians, and now I am giving you food that you can literally pick up off of the ground and eat.  So, how do you like me now?  Perhaps, it might start to slowly sink in with you people that you are, indeed, my people and that I will take care of you.”  As if to further prove this, at one point in the story, today, God even shows up, in person.  The whole congregation of the Israelites looks out toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appears in a cloud right in front of everybody.  “Here I am,” God is saying, “just in case you’ve missed me recently.”

That evening, a whole lot of quails – small birds that nest on the ground[4] – arrive.  And, the next morning, there is this layer of dew on the ground.  And, once the dew evaporates, there is a “fine flaky substance” that looks like frost. (16:14)  The people look at this stuff on the ground and ask one another, “What is it?”  (16:15)  If you were to ask that question in the original language, the words would be man-huh or manna.  “Manna?  What is it?” the people ask.  “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat,” Moses tells them.  What is it?  It is God’s holy providing for you.  It is providence.

Almost from the start, Christians have believed that God provides for creation.  John Calvin wrote, nearly 500 years ago, that

. . . we see the presence of divine power shining as much in the continuing state of the universe as in its inception. . . [that God] . . . sustains, nourishes, and cares for, everything God has made.[5]  

We see this in the words of Jesus, when he says, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)  A few chapters later, Jesus goes on to feed thousands of hungry people.  “Are you not of more value than the birds of the air?”  God is asking the Israelites out in the wilderness.  “Are you not valuable to me?” God asks us.

We have already touched on the strange disconnect of the God who provides everything for the Israelites – from freedom, to a pillar of cloud and fire, to the parting of the sea – and the people just don’t get it.  Or, maybe they forget what they have just been through.  Maybe hunger is more powerful than memory – even recent memory.  Or, maybe they are just fearful of the unknown.

There is something that is so urgent, so primal, so basic about hunger.  You can hear it in the voice of a child who comes to tell you that they are hungry and if they don’t get something very soon, there will be a meltdown very soon.  Any promises of, “I’ll get you something to eat in a minute, or when we get home” fall on deaf ears because the hunger is real and the hunger is now.  And, I’m not just talking about physical hunger, either.

In this time of unknowns and uncertainty – we are hungry for some good news, we are hungry for a cure, we are hungry to be with other people again, we are hungry for an end to partisan bickering and power plays, we are hungry for the things that won’t fill us up and even hungrier for the things that will.  But the hunger is real and the hunger is now and so many people are murmuring hangrily – yearning for some kind of sustenance that will give them peace of mind and heart and soul.  And, until we get whatever it is that we truly need, we’re going to try to feed our hunger with too much of everything else, from 24-hour news channels always telling us to be outraged and on “alert,” to doom scrolling through social media late into the night, to filling our bodies and our spirits with things that will never truly satisfy the hunger of our souls.

Jesus knows how hungry we are.  Maybe this is why when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, one of the things he tells them – tells us – to pray is “give us this day our daily bread.”  (Matthew 6:11)[6]  “God, give us just what we need – give us enough – for today.”

If you were to think back on your own life, you might notice that God has always provided enough – maybe even more than enough – for you every day.  You’re still here, aren’t you?  God still does provide enough.

As I said a moment ago, we live in uncertain times – uncharted territory in our history and culture – and as we journey into the unknown, it just makes too much sense to do whatever it takes to make sure we don’t go hungry.  Imagine if the news were to come out today that there was going to be another pandemic lockdown.  I wonder just how packed the grocery stores would be.  I’d probably end up there, myself, because the hunger is real and the hunger is now.  And the fear of hunger in the future can cause us to do whatever it takes for ourselves and for those we love.  This is a lesson that God teaches the Israelites out in the wilderness.  When they collect too much manna – because they are afraid they’ll run out – the bread goes bad.  It doesn’t keep.[7]  What does that say about the things that we try to keep for ourselves?

The real lesson that God is trying to teach us in today’s story is that we do have enough and will have enough because God gives us enough.  Yes, there are people who go hungry every day – even right here in the wealthiest country on earth.  But God provides out of God’s abundant generosity and somehow – through the ways that God calls those of us who have more than enough to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the least of these – God continues to sustain, nourish, and care for everything that God has made.  The responsibility to care for one another is – in part – what God’s providence looks like in the here and now.

I’ll close with this –

I know some people who would gladly eat the same exact same thing every day.  And I know some people who need variety when it comes to what they eat.  If you read all the way to the end of Exodus, Chapter 16, there is this little, almost, footnote to today’s story:  “The Israelites ate manna [for] forty years, until they came to a habitable land.”  (16:35)

Every day, for forty years, God provided enough. . .

Even in these uncommon days, filled with so much that is unknown, God is providing enough for you and for me.  The bank account and, perhaps, the pantry might not be as full as we would like, but there is enough. . . more than enough.  May we find that we do have enough – because God gives us enough – and may we be satisfied.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

-----------

[1] F. Brown, S. Driver, and C. Briggs,  The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody:  Hendrickson Publishers, 1997) 534.

[2] Eugene Peterson, The Message – Numbered Edition (Colorado Springs:  NAV Press, 2002) 102.

[3] Paraphrased, JHS.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_quail.

[5] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion – I.XVI.1 (Philadelphia:  The Westminster Press, 1960) 197-198.

[6] See Luke 11:3, as well.

[7] See Exodus 16:20.

[dailybiblelessons]

The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 20 Roman Catholic Proper 25

More information about the complementary and semi-continuous series is here: Which Series?

Complementary Hebrew Scripture from The Twelve Prophets: Jonah 3:10-4:11

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Exodus 16:2-15

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him–what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.” 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Complementary Psalm 145:1-8

I will extol you, my God and King,  and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you,  and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;  his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall laud your works to another,  and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty,  and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,  and I will declare your greatness. They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,  and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,  slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Semi-continuous Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,  make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him;  tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name;  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength;  seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done,  his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of his servant Abraham,  children of Jacob, his chosen ones.¹

Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,  and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed,  for dread of them had fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a covering,  and fire to give light by night.

They asked, and he brought quails,  and gave them food from heaven in abundance. He opened the rock, and water gushed out;  it flowed through the desert like a river. For he remembered his holy promise,  and Abraham, his servant.

So he brought his people out with joy,  his chosen ones with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations,  and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, that they might keep his statutes  and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

¹Paul, in Romans 9:7, writes that the descendants of Isaac are the true children of Abraham. This is part of a passage on God's election of Israel.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Philippians 1:21-30

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well–since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Year A Ordinary 25, RCL Proper 20, Catholic Proper 25 Sunday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image Credit: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from the Codex Aureus Epternacensis, via Wikimedia Commons. This is a public domain image.

[smolpocketmonstercoffee]

Interview Meme

INTERVIEW MEME

ENJOY AN INQUISITOR-AETHER INTERVIEW

1. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

"I believe you should already know this but the official title is Inquisitor Aether Lavellan."

2. WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME?

Aether stares at you for a long moment before rubbing his face, potentially an effort to scrub away the rising blush to his cheeks and then sighed. "Fine. My birth name is Aetherius Alerion. I became a Lavellan when I came into my talents as a mage and had to join another clan."

3. DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU WERE CALLED THAT?

"Inquisitor or Aetherius? For apparent reasons, I became the leader of the Inquisition," he says, absently lifting his left hand to brandish the green mark on it, "as for Aetherius, that is what my father always called the sky on clear nights. My mother liked it and decided to call me that. As for Aether... Well, not too many children could say Aetherius right off the bat."

4. ARE YOU SINGLE OR TAKEN?

"I... uh..." Aether glances at Leliana, his cheeks coloring, "is he seriously asking me this?"

"It is an interview, Inquisitor. I will make certain any unsavory facts do not leave the room."

".... Alright. I'm taken. And before you ask about the rumors, they are true."

5. HAVE ANY ABILITIES OR POWERS?

"I am a mage, naturally I have magic at my disposal. I favor healing with a close second being fire magic. I am also a knight-enchanter. And an archer of no small talent."

6. STOP BEING A GARY STU.

Aether looks to Leliana, "promise me if any more statements are like this that he will be thrown out."

7. WHAT’S YOUR EYE COLOR?

"My eyes? They're green. Many say sage green."

8. HOW ABOUT YOUR HAIR COLOR?

"I'm blond. And yes, it is my natural hair color."

9. HAVE YOU ANY FAMILY MEMBERS?

"Well of course. My half-brother who has an even worse name than mine, my mother and father, my step-father, and my father's wife. I... also have adopted a few individuals as da'len so I suppose they are family as well."

10. OH? WHAT ABOUT PETS?

"I had a hunting falcon back when I was still part of the Alerion clan but she hardly counted as a pet."

11. THAT’S COOL I GUESS, NOW TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON’T LIKE.

Aether glances at Leliana and then back to you, "tedious things and people doing stupid things that get them hurt."

12. DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES/ACTIVITIES YOU LIKE DOING?

"I do enjoy dancing. When I was still not used to my magic and I was traveling, I frequently entertained with Nevarran fire-dancing. I still do enjoy it however I spend most of my time reading and healing."

13. EVER HURT ANYONE BEFORE?

"Many, although those individuals did make attempts on my life first."

14. EVER….KILLED ANYONE BEFORE?

"Didn't I just answer this question?"

15. WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU?

Aether blinks slowly at you. "I'm a Dalish elf, not an animal. However, I am called the red cardinal in Orlais."

16. NAME YOUR WORST HABITS.

His lips press into a thin line before a slight smile and laugh escapes. "Well, I suppose my worst habits would be that I worry. I will not deny that I fret quite a bit over people I care about. I mother people. Some people don't like it. It's an unconscious habit."

17. DO YOU LOOK UP TO ANYONE AT ALL?

"Have you seen how tall I am?" Aether joked, leaning back in his chair a little. "Kidding. I look up to the people I keep in my inner circle. Leliana, Cullen, Josephine, Cassandra, the Iron Bull, Cole, Dorian, Blackwall, Varric, Vivienne, Sera, and Solas. There are many others that I look up to but those are the ones who come immediately to mind."

18. GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL?

"I don't see how this is a relevent question but I suppose some would call me bisexual. I... um... well, to be honest, I'm not necessarily bisexual. I'm demisexual. I develop a sexual attraction based on a psychological bond."

19. DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

"I was taught by my Keeper in the clan, which is as close to schooling as one typically gets in a Dalish clan."

20. DO YOU EVER WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS ONE DAY?

Aether's cheeks flush darkly. "I... ah..."

21. DO YOU HAVE ANY FANBOYS/FANGIRLS?

"What?"

Leliana chuckles, "he does have many admirers as the Inquisitor, however, Inquisitor Lavellan prefers to be humble in situations like those."

22. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF?

Aether held his silence for a long time, refusing to answer despite his left hand tightening on the table.

23. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY WEAR?

"I suppose that depends on the location. I wear battlemage armor when attending missions, elven wears when I am spending time with those of my own. Dalish elves, I mean, not elves in general. When I am in Orlias, I wear something a little fancier but still of Dalish make. And in Skyhold, I often wear comfortable layers."

24. DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE?

Aether's cheeks flush softly, a smile curving his lips. "I do."

25. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WET YOURSELF?

"I... what?"

26. WELL, IT’S NOT OVER YET!

"Please no more awkward questions."

27. WHAT CLASS ARE YOU? (HIGH CLASS, MIDDLE CLASS, LOW CLASS)

"As a Dalish elf, I technically speaking am low class in human society. As a Dalish mage, I am relatively upper-ish rank in Dalish clans though. However, since I have become Inquisitor, many would say I am upper class."

28. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?

Aether chuckled, "many."

29. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PIE?

"I suppose that depends. Is it cherry pie?"

30. FAVOURITE DRINK?

"Honestly, honeyed tea."

31. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE?

"I suppose if you are speaking of countries or of specific locations. I deeply love Nevarra where I was born and raised, but I am also fond of the Free Marches where the Lavellan clan resides. The Emerald Graves is a place of sanctuary for me, I suppose. And the Temple of Mythal was beyond anything I had ever imagined. But, my most favorite place in Skyhold is the library."

32. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SOMEONE?

"I suppose you did not understand the concept of the previous questions you asked me. I am taken, I am in love, I do believe that does in fact mean I am interested in someone otherwise it would be a very awkward conversation with Dorian."

33. WHAT’S YOUR BRA CUP SIZE AND/OR HOW BIG IS YOUR WILLY?

Aether's face turns a deep shade of crimson.

34. WOULD YOU RATHER SWIM IN THE LAKE OR THE OCEAN?

"Lakes."

35. WHAT’S YOUR TYPE?

"I suppose you mean in a romantic/sexual fashion? That is, A) none of your business and B) none of your concern."

36. ANY FETISHES?

Aether stares at you, slack-jaw and turning an angry shade of red.

37. SEME OR UKE? TOP OR BOTTOM? DOMINANT OR SUBMISSIVE?

Aether's angry blush spreads down his neck.

38. CAMPING OR INDOORS?

"Camping."

39. ARE YOU WANTING THE QUIZ TO END?

"Leliana, politely burn his notes and get me out of here."

———–

Tagging @seraphicmayin and @thereluctantinquisitor if you guys want u3u

[mubal4]

Black Canyon 100K – Race Wrap Up – Part 11

 Last week I wrote about the upcoming race from last Saturday, and how it was the only race I was going back to for a 2nd time; “The Sequel” was the title and it was about the Black Canyon 100K put on by Aravaipa Running.  Another big THANK YOU to Aravaipa, the staff, aid stations workers, volunteers, local and regional police, fire, and medical folks, fellow competitors, crews, pacers, and spectators.  Seriously folks, if you are looking to do a race in AZ, and it doesn’t have to be an ultra, Aravaipa puts on one, it seems like every week, mostly trails, distances for everyone. They do a first-rate job with all components of the race, logistics, and making it safe and fun for everyone.  I’ve done a number of their races since I moved here and they have all, yes ALL, been awesome experiences.   Last Saturday at the BC100K was no different and yes, the sequel, for me, was better than the original 😊.  

 Last year’s race, as you can read in the linked post, was a challenge for me and I had to dig deep.  Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot.  This year, there was some slight differences. To begin, the start was at a different location, the original, Mayer High School in Spring Valley, AZ.  We started with a loop around the track and then winded our way through the town of Spring Valley before picking up the Black Canyon Trail.  At that point, it was roughly 60 miles south until we hit the finish line at New River, AZ! Last year, because of heavy rains the week of the race, the course was rerouted back up north from the mid-point and we retraced our steps for the final 22+ miles.  This year, although we had a big rainfall last Monday, we were able to run the traditional, point to point course.  It is interesting, I have done the final 25 miles of the traditional course a few times during training runs.  I was aware of the terrain and the climbs; however, I had never done it before with 38 miles already on my legs.  There were a few sections of that last part that I wad dreading going in because the first 38 is mainly downhill with a few small climbs and a bunch of flat areas. Whatever the case, I was excited to get things rolling last Saturday and grateful to be doing the traditional point to point course.  I learned last year from going out to fast and not being patient and conservative the first 38 miles.  It bit me in the ass last year and that lack of patience almost caused me to DNF!!! This year, I had my plan to go smooth and steady until I saw Robin at mile 38 and then it was time to pick it up a bit.  Oh, the other thing that wasn’t in play this year was my crew. Isabella had gymnastics in the AM and Alaina’s soccer coach called a last-minute scrimmage for 4pm so, rather than have Robin driving all over the place, like last year, we bagged the idea of them being at a number of the aid stations.  This was the 2nd year for us doing this race, I new the course, so there wasn’t that tremendous need.  Of course, I always want to see them and have them there; it is certainly a pick-me-up, and this is a tough course, with the heat too, it was going to be another challenge, but, we decided Robin can just meet me at mile 38, roughly the mid-point aid station, and then she can gather the girls to see me at the finish.  I also had my buddy, Jeff Beck, packing me for the last 11 miles so after discussing it, this made the most sense.  Hell, I was going to be spending several hours running one of the most beautiful courses that I’ve had the great fortunate to run, with over 700 others on a beautiful February day.  I was in my happy place 😊.

 The 3am alarm went off and I actually had a good night’s rest.  Got into my race day morning routine and Robin was gracious enough to drop me off at the shuttle, not too far from our house, to take us all up to the start line, about a 45-minute drive. On the bus, I had a cool conversation with a younger dude, from New Mexico, who drove over the day before, camped out, and was doing the same that night after he got done before driving back home in the AM. I will say it again but a thousand THANKS to Robin for supporting me through this wacky and wild sport.  Well, and again to Aravaipa for hosting so many races close to our home 😊.  We arrived at the high school and this was so much better than last year.  We were in a big tent, with a few heaters last year prior to race start trying to keep ourselves sheltered from the snow.  This year, although it was 32* at start, we were inside the high school gym.  I was stretched out on the floor, getting a good rest and relaxing, shedding my layers about 5 minutes before heading out to the start line.  I was in a calm and chill place which certainly gets your mind right before tackling 62 miles.  With a few pre-race announcements, we were off taking our lap around the track, hearing cheers and support from the folks that were lining the course, and several minutes later, we began seeing the beauty that is this course.  I shared a few pictures of my favorite, the Bradshaw Mountains; you can see a bit of snow on them from the storm earlier this week.  At this point, so early in the race it was smooth, slow and steady.  Even though there was a chill, I got rid of my long sleeve and gloves less than 20 minutes in and was feeling great in a t-shirt.  The majority of this race is single-track; to a point where it is tough to get by one another.  You have to be very patient or very polite to get by folks.    My plan was to just stay smooth and steady and my fellow runners helped me with that plan.  I kept coming up on groups every so many miles and hitching onto their train as the caboose, just keeping stride with them.  This worked great for the first 25 miles or so then people started to get a bit fatigued and the passing began.  Over the course of the first 37+ miles, I had the chance to run with a number of groups, most had cool stories to tell and their own reason for being out there.  I did have the great fortune to run with a few folks running their first 100K and many from out of state, which was cool.  Shared a few miles with a woman from Wisconsin that shares that same love for Spotted Cow beer as my wife.  Even after running 62 miles, the sound of Spotted Cow beer doesn’t get my juices flowing; more on that later 😊.  The first aid station is probably my favorite, just for the views.  You get there, stop to fill up your water/hydration, maybe get some nutrition in and then look out over the valley you are about to run into. At this point, you are at almost at the highest point of the race and it is mostly downhill for the next few hours. It is an epic view.  The next aid station, around mile 12-13 is worked by a running group out her, the Arizona Traileggars, that I have run with a few times. There are a number of great folks that we’ve become friends with over the last year + and it was great to see them there.  Thanks Meghan, Brian, John and all of the Traileggars for being there.  You guys, as always, were wonderful throughout. The next stop was Bumble Bee Ranch.  This aid station last year, was the favorite of Alaina and Robin.  It goes through a small ranch town (population 11) and the aid station is the actual ranch.  It is beautiful and very, very western.  This year there was no stopping or seeing the family. I basically ran right through, grabbed some water, and was on my way.  

 Heading into the second 3rd of the race, I knew the next aid station would have some more friends at it volunteering but this section was the toughest part of the first half.  Although it is short, there are a few climbs and you are very exposed to the sun, just above.  It was great to see Rich and Erin at the aid station. They got me in and out quick, fueled up, and on my way.  I was excited to get moving because in another 13 or so miles I would be hitting Black Canyon City aid station and seeing Robin for the first, and only time, until the finish.  Prior to reaching her though, there were a couple of climbs, and a water crossing. This part of the course we didn’t see last year because the rivers where to high.  I will say though, crossing those this year, there were 4 totals, was fantastic.  The highest was about just below the knee (well, for me, I am 5’6” 😊).  These crossings gave us time to dip our head in the water, soak our tired knees and muscles, and cool down from the rising temps. It seemed that everyone I was running with at those crossings, at the time, were refreshed leaving them, at least for a few miles. 😊 At this point last year is when the dark spot, the pain cave, was reached.  This year, although my knees where definitely sore and I can feel the pain coming; I knew, after a few more hours, I would be sitting down having a beer and sleeping in my bed.  Seriously though, that was the thought going through my head.  Yes, my knees where hurting, just like pretty much every race I do. There were some other inconveniences too, but nothing out of the normal for a race like this.  And, in those races, I was fine; acknowledging that pain, but also realizing that pain would go away soon enough.  Actually, I did learn, from a race in October, TO SLOW DOWN!!!! I slowed my pace quite a bit, even going down hills, did some hiking at some points, and after several minutes, my knees felt better.  I would run for a few miles, the pain would come back, I would repeat the process. Before I knew it, I was heading into Black Canyon aid and seeing Robin.  She was good to go with my hydration, had some suggestions for food, change of clothes, headlamp, and some more sunscreen.  In and out quickly and the best part was the kiss and mental support. My mind was in such a better place at this point compared to last year.  Robin saw it, fed off of it, and used it to keep me moving through the aid station.  There were no thoughts about DNF-ing.  We were discussing logistics and the potential meeting time at the finish line. We came to an agreement and said I would notify her once I picked up Jeff at mile 51 and go from there.  

 At this point, mile 38, the race was going along as best as I could have wanted.  I was where I wanted to be timewise, and I was feeling good.  However, the next 25 miles are the toughest of this course.  And yes, although I had tackled these miles in the past, never before with that amount of mileage on my legs….and my knees. There are a few nice climbs, tough climbs, and much of the terrain is technical.  My mind was running though a self-check just to make sure I was good to go.  I had about 13+ miles before I was to pick up Jeff and my head was trying to notice the western sky as the sun began to grow closer and closer to the horizon.  The next 7 + miles to the next aid station was smooth.  I caught up to two folks, a man and woman, running at a nice pace so I tagged along.  We had a conversation about where we were from, the girl was from Pittsburgh and went to Temple University, so we had a lot of PA stories to tell.  The miles were ticking off quickly and before we knew it, we were at the aid station and I breezed in and out.  Next stop was picking up Jeff and I was really looking forward to tackling some miles with him. It had been two months since he and I did the McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50 mile together and we also have good conversations on the trails.  A little less than 2 miles from meeting Jeff at the aid station, there was another river crossing followed by a nice climb; one that gives you some time to think. After wading through the water, which felt great on my body….and knees, I started the climb up the mountain.  As you climb, you can look back and see the canyon and the river, seeing people tackle the crossing.  It was just getting to 530pm and my mind just thought of the folks that would likely be crossing that river, in the dark, at about 10-1030pm. Fortunately, the temps were not going to get lower than 50 or so, but still, once that sun goes down, the desert floor gets cold and that river was going to be frigid.  My thoughts went out to them.  Not sure where that had come from at that time but, your mind goes in all different directions during these races.  

 A few more steps up and some rolling downhills I was hitting the aid station, picking up Jeff, and, as a pleasant surprise, seeing his brother Greg.  We caught up for a couple of minutes, checked our gear, and then we were off to finish up the last 11 miles or so.  We would have one more aid station, a little less than 4 miles from the finish but once Jeff and I were together, in my opinion, we were hitting the toughest part of the course.  There are two, long, significant climbs, almost back to back, before descending down to the last aid station.  At this point the sun was behind the horizon, it was cooling down, and I was pretty damn tired. For the most part of the 51+ miles at this time I head my shit together and didn’t catch many toes and eat it.  Others on the course didn’t fare as well.  I can count about 20 folks that I actually saw fall during this race.  I may see one, maybe two, but over the course, at this point of 50 + miles, I had scene about 20.  And these weren’t soft falls, people got banged up, blood, bruisers, tears. It was brutal. Fortunately, I didn’t have a yard sale but did catch a toe a couple of times and had just about enough of that; so much so I was exaggerating lifting my knees.  Jeff and I were making good time; yes, I had an idea of what I wanted to do and, although my watch battery died, Jeff was making sure we were on pace to cross the line when I wanted to.  The slow and steady from several hours before picked up to a brisk pace.  Less than a mile out from the last aid station, we hit a smooth jeep trail, and surprisingly, my legs and knees were feeling real good.  We stopped real quick at the aid to top off some water, I sent a quick text to Robin, letting her know we were on our way, and……Jeff and I hiked, for a few moments. I am grateful for my friendship with Jeff.  We haven’t done a ton of running and we’ve only paced each other a few times but Jeff man, he knows when to say stuff, and when not to say stuff.  He gave me some words of encouragement and we were off to finish this thing.  The next 2 miles or so is on that smooth jeep trail and we moved.  We cruised into the single track again and Jeff gave me a “about 1.5 miles out,” included the time, and I knew we would be beating my time from last year easy.  About a mile out, with a little climb, Jeff gave me an update and at this point, it was running into the finish line.  I crossed to see Robin and the girls, got a great big hug from a friend giving out the finish awards (cools surprise and great to see him), hugs from the girls, and of course, a big thank you to Jeff. We did what we set out to do and for me, it was a great day, on a great course, with great people, creating great memories.  My body feels very good and my recovery is great.  Still feel some wonkiness in my knees but that is to be expected.  

 These races are weird, wacky, nutty, unwavering, unpredictable………for the most part.  Yes, there were moments that I asked myself why I continue to do them but that feeling you get, and I am not even talking about the finish; sure, that part is great; but the other stuff.  Robin at the Black Canyon aid station & Jeff the last 11 miles; saying what they did, not even knowing likely, that it is what I needed to hear at that present moment.  A smile or laugh from an aid station volunteer.  A high five from a spectator, you don’t even know, as you cruise into an aid station, saying “looking great runner.”  That connection you have with someone out there suffering like you are and dealing with that pain cave like you are.  Yeah, those are weird, wacky, nutty, and incredibly special moments that I have not been able to find elsewhere.  And, I am not yet read to give them up.  

 Oh yeah, and the PBR’s that Jeff and I enjoyed waiting in line for the shuttle (and maybe drinking on the shuttle back to the car) were fantastic.  Another perk of running 100K, ice cold PBR at the finish, and grilled cheese, fantastic grilled cheese.  Until the next adventure, coming soon in a few months.  Thanks again to Robin, Isabella, Alaina, Jeff, Meghan, Brian, John, the aid station volunteers, race volunteers, Aravaipa staff, fellow runners, spectators, and crews, pacers, all involved.  Thanks for making the BC100K another awesome experience.  See you next year!!

[thecreaturecodex]

Devil, Amnizu

Artist unknown

[Of all of the fiends I’m converting in this wave, the amnizu is the one with the oldest pedigree, being the only devil to appear in the 1e Fiend Folio. They also have the unusual characteristic of having a signature ability that changes in every version of their stat block. I’ve followed suit with my own variant on stupefying touch.

Also, for some reason I’ve always imagined these guys sounding like Danny DeVito.]

Devil, Amnizu This green-skinned humanoid has a face combining the worst features of a pig and a bat, with beady eyes and a pug nose on a grossly swollen head. It is stout-bodied but has thin limbs, and silver and black wings grow from its shoulders. Despite its grotesque appearance, it is clad in finery.

Amnizu, called gate devils or Styx devils by mortals, are charged with protecting gates, portals and other methods of entering and exiting Hell. This task requires a high level of responsibility and autonomy, and so amnizu are fairly high ranking in infernal hierarchy. Despite their freedoms and privileges, they covet the status of those higher ranked. Most amnizu maintain at least one scheme to undermine, discredit or even kill a more elite fiend in order to attain greater territory and status.

Many amnizu are found outside of Hell, warding over permanent hellmouths or at wayposts along the banks of the River Styx. They command the loyalty of barbed devils who serve them as security and cannon fodder while they themselves rarely deign to enter combat directly. The touch of a gate devil withers both the mind and body, and many amnizu keep a coterie of magically impaired mortals and monsters to serve as slaves and bargaining chips. Unusually for devils, they are capable of magical healing, but they typically reserve this right for themselves and resent being called in as medics to tend to their superiors.

Amnizu are short for a Medium creature, barely exceeding four feet in height. Amnizu are ostentatious creatures and typically bedeck themselves in fine jewelry and clothing, often times magical.

Amnizu (Gate Devil)       CR 15 XP 51,200 LE Medium outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful) Init +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +25, see in darkness, true seeing Defense AC 35, touch 23, flat-footed 26 (+8 Dex, +12 natural, +1 dodge, +4 deflection) hp 212 (17d10+119); regeneration 4 (good) Fort +21, Ref +17, Will +19 DR 10/good and silver; Immune fire, mental ability damage and drain, negative levels, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 26 Defensive Qualities secured spirit Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average) Melee touch +25 (10d6 plus stupefy) Spell-like Abilities CL 17th, concentration +23 Constant—true seeing, unholy aura (self only, DC 25) At will—arcane sight, charm monster (DC 21), dispel magic 3/day—enervation, feeblemind (DC 22), quickened fireball (DC 20), restoration 1/day—energy drain, heal, imprisonment (DC 26), summon (2 barbed devils, 50%, 6th level), summon hellmouth Statistics Str 12, Dex 27, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 20, Cha 25 Base Atk +17; CMB +18; CMD 37 Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Quicken SLA (fireball), Spring Attack, Vital Strike, Weapon Finesse, Whirlwind Attack Skills Bluff +27, Diplomacy +27, Escape Artist +25, Fly +28, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (arcana) +27, Knowledge (planes) +27, Knowledge (religion) +27, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +28, Use Magic Device +24 Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 100 ft. Ecology Environment Hell Organization solitary, conspiracy (2-4) or troupe (1-4 plus 2-8 barbed devils) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Secured Spirit (Ex) An amnizu is immune to ability damage or drain to its mental ability scores, as well as penalties to these scores. It also is immune to negative levels. Stupefy (Su) The touch of an amnizu deals 1d6 points of ability drain to each Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. A successful DC 25 Will save reduces this to 1 point of ability damage to each score. This is a mind-influencing effect. Summon Hellmouth (Sp) This ability acts as the planar travel function of the gate spell, except that it can only allow travel to the Prime Material Plane or to any layer of Hell. This is the equivalent of a 7th level spell.

[dailyofficereadings]

Daily Office Readings April 23, 2020

Psalm 18

Psalm 18

Royal Thanksgiving for Victory

To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.[a] 14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. 23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. 24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; 26 with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse. 27 For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. 28 It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. 29 By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?— 32 the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer, and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand has supported me; your help[b] has made me great. 36 You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back until they were consumed. 38 I struck them down, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you girded me with strength for the battle; you made my assailants sink under me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[c] you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.

46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation, 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; 48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.

49 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. 50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

Footnotes:

Psalm 18:13 Gk See 2 Sam 22.14: Heb adds hailstones and coals of fire

Psalm 18:35 Or gentleness

Psalm 18:43 Gk Tg: Heb people

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Exodus 16:10-22

10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”[a] For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.’” 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

Footnotes:

Exodus 16:15 Or “It is manna” (Heb man hu, see verse 31)

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Peter 2:11-25

Live as Servants of God

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. 12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.[a]

13 For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution,[b] whether of the emperor as supreme, 14 or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. 16 As servants[c] of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. 17 Honor everyone. Love the family of believers.[d] Fear God. Honor the emperor.

The Example of Christ’s Suffering

18 Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. 19 For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 20 If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23 When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,[e] so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds[f] you have been healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Footnotes:

1 Peter 2:12 Gk God on the day of visitation

1 Peter 2:13 Or every institution ordained for human beings

1 Peter 2:16 Gk slaves

1 Peter 2:17 Gk Love the brotherhood

1 Peter 2:24 Or carried up our sins in his body to the tree

1 Peter 2:24 Gk bruise

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

John 15:12-27

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants[a] any longer, because the servant[b] does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

The World’s Hatred

18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to the world,[c] the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants[d] are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “When the Advocate[e] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

Footnotes:

John 15:15 Gk slaves

John 15:15 Gk slave

John 15:19 Gk were of the world

John 15:20 Gk Slaves

John 15:26 Or Helper

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[jgoodlifemajorproject2018]

The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health

Notes from this book by David R. Montgomery and Anne Birke:

p2 ‘Another world run by tiny, invisible and largely unknown creatures’.

p2 ‘the conventional medical view sees microbes mostly as pathogens’

p3 ‘their cells outnumber our own cells... And out planet like the bodies of plants and animals, is literally covered inside and out with microorganisms’

p3 ‘not only are they abundant, they’re robust, able to withstand the most extreme conditions the planet can offer’

p3 medicine --> microbial ecology of the human body

p5 ‘Throughout the history of life on land, microbes repeatedly deconstructed every piece of organic matter on the planet, fashioning new life from the dead. Yet our relationship remains modelled on killing it... the profoundly simple reason we should care about this hidden half of nature is that it is a part of us not apart from us’. 

p5 ‘The tiniest creatures on Earth forged long-running partnerships with all multicellular life in the evolutionary fires of deep time’. 

p8 ‘Fertile soil is the frontier between geology and biology, a mix of weathered rock fragments and decaying organic matter’ ‘soil: a weathered blanket of rotten rock and dead things’

p22 ‘People think soil is static and inert, like the rocks from which it comes’

p22 ‘the natural world visible to us above ground is kept afloat by what’s beath the surface’

p22 ‘paying attention to the natural world is an ancient human habit. knowing about nature used to matter a great deal before we began to live in cities/ drive/ sit in front of screens... we used to spend our lives figuring out what to eat, where it lived and how it grew’. (before the dawn of agriculture)

p24 ‘humans paid little attention to microbes because we couldn’t see them... out of sight out of mind’.

p24 ‘despite their size, microbes are the most abundant, widely distributed and successful organisms on Earth. Nearly 99% of all species whose bones are preserved in the fossil record are extinct, having failed the test of time. Yet microbial life has survived since the earliest days of life, more than 3.6 billion years ago’. 

p24 ‘there are an estimated 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 microbes on the earth.’ (inconceivable numbers).

p25 ‘Archaea are the most ancient’ ‘viruses are not made of cells and aren’t alive, even though they do lifelike things’

-earth microbiome project – understanding the global microbiome project.

p26 ‘all microbial communities in the soil around the world do similar tasks: decompose organic matter, purify water and renew soil fertility’.

p27 ‘Bacteria roam earth’s lofty ceiling of the upper atmosphere, growing in cloud droplets. Archaea live near boiling volcanic vents on the deep seafloor... Microbes occur nearly everywhere because they are so remarkably adaptable’. 

p27 Some archaea are exremophiles. communities of microbes around black smokers in sea (high pressure keeps water liquid despite temperatures reaching 400 degrees C. Archaea also found in frozen lakes trapped half a mile beneath Arctic ice. And in Atcama desert in Chile where there is no rain, streams or lakes. 

p27 ‘Deinococcus radiodurans is unbelievably resistant to radioactivity, extreme heat, cold and exposure to acid. Allows them to thrive in the deadly cooling ponds of nuclear power plants. Scientists hope one day to genetically modify D.radiodurans and unleash them to eat and clean up nuclear waste.’

p28 ‘Many of today’s extremophiles are descendants of ancient archaea, dating from early days of life when Earth was a super hot planet with little oxygen’. ‘Todays oxygen rich atmosphere still depends on microbial mediation of the global oxygen cycle’. 

p29 ‘Archaea now inhabit the planet’s crust of fractured rock’. (avoiding oxygen). But Archaea still account for up to 20% of the biomass on the planet.

p29 Mud beneath sea floor in Peru illustrating ancient roots of modern biosphere. Microbial communities living in 5 million year old sediments.

p29 ‘We share the world with an entire world of subterranean life that we are just finding out about’. 

p30 Microbes can pass genes to protists, insects, plants and animals --> horizontal gene transfer. ‘violates all Darwinian rules’. ‘One study discovered that bacteria had incorporated DNA from a 43,000 year old wooly mammoth bone into their genome’. ‘The ability to trade gens and to vacuum up DNA from their surroundings including their surroundings including the genetic scrap heap of dead things, allows them to adapt to new conditions.’

p30 ‘With no hard parts to fossilise, early microbial life disappeared rapidly upon death.’ ‘but evidence for microbial life extends back to at least 3.4 billion years ago.’

p30 most microbes live as colonies in communities of multiple species, a far cry from how they are usually studied in single species laboratory cultures’

p30 Biofilms- instrumental in launching life ‘The earliest known fossils that you can see with your own eyes are stramatolites, finely layered rocks that record the growth of bacterial mats (biofilms) in shallow marine waters.’ ‘while the individual bacteria involved were not preserved, they left behind evidence of their biofilm structures, the dominant form of direct evidence for life on Earth’.

p31 ‘petroleum/ natural gas composed of remains of microbes or microially decomposed organic matter heated up and cooked at high pressure deep in Earth’s interior’. 

‘They run Earth’s nitrogen cycle, keeping soil fertile’. 

p32 ‘our bodies are made of nutrients that come from rocks. Microbes play a key role in breaking down and extracting elements from rocks and getting them into biological circulation.’

p33 ‘Long before agriculture transformed civilisations around the globe – and our relationship with the natural world – people lived immersed in the nature they could see and touch’

p36 Taxonomy: ‘The taxonomic label of genus and species defines every organism. Naming plants and animals frames the way people look at, talk about, and understand nature’. However: the idea of fixed species doesn’t really apply in the microbial world.

p36-37 Carl Linnaeus - ‘father of modern taxonomy’. Perplexed by microbes. He assigned bacteria to the genus Chaos.

p37 ‘our yearning to touch, see and classify the natural world falls apart when it comes to life too small to see’

p42 the ability of microbes to change matter from one state to another

** p51 ‘The more we know about microbes, the more they seem to defy our attempts to categorise them’

p52 ‘microbial symbioses led to multicellular life’ (achaeon merged with a bacterium- their union creating a composite life form) Ancient partnerships.

book: symbionticism and the origin of species

p55 ‘was it a coincidence that a scientist from one of the most capitalist societies of all, Victorian England, came up with the ida that competition frove evolution and that Russian scientists championed the idea of symbiogenesis?’ Cooperation is at the heart of symbiosis - clashing with Darwinian dogma that competition between individuals drove evolution.

p59 ‘these ancient microbial unions set the course for the evolution of subsequent life’ ‘teaming up offered ways to take advantage of or simply survive the progression and accumilation of different physical environments on Earth.’

‘every multicellular life form began a very long time ago as a series of symbiotic relationships between different microbes - mostly bacteria’

p62 ‘the more scientists look into the relationships between microbial life and larger organisms, the more evidence they find for symbioses.’ e.g. symbioses of plants and fungi - dates back to earliest land plants more than 400 million years ago.

p63 ‘working together or in competition, communities of microbes alter the chemical and physical character of their environments’

p63 Darwin would not have imagined that the microscopic world was such a collaborative place. ‘we inherited more than 1/3 of our genes from bacteria, archaea and viruses.’

these interdependencies are coming into focus... in particular we are learning how symbiotic relationships underlie plant health and soil fertility.

p67 Adam and Eve - hava- life and adamah- soil.

‘The origin of soil fertility remained one of the deepest mysteries long after humanity began farming and gardening’

p76 pesticides increase need for more poisons. chemical fertilisers as agricultural steroids- a way to enhance short term performance at the expense of long term soil fertility and plant health. ‘the slow poisining of the life of the soil by artificial manure s one of the greatest calamities which has befallen agriculture and mankind’

‘the modern explosion of agricultural woes - pests, parasites and pathogens - resulted from the breakdown of a complex biological system.

p81 an agricultural testament - a manifesto on organic agriculture

p86 ‘during 2nd world war, british defence regulations compelled farmers to apply chemicals to their crops. to help farmers, the government paid a portion of the costs, subsidising the development of the fertiliser industry. A factory that made fertilisers could be easily converted to munitions manufacturing and vice versa... after the war, governments sought new uses for instantly obsolete munitions plants. fertiliser factories preserved the option of converting production back to munitions on short notice.’

p88 ‘emerging view of soil ecology as basis for soil fertility is undermining chemical foundation of agriculture.’

p89 ‘we have a built in aversion to rot’.

p90 microbes use acids and enzymes to break down organic matter

p91 ‘forest networks of fungal hyphae are the largest life forms on Earth, forming subterranean networks that extend for miles’

p93 dead microbes account for 80% soil organic matter

p93 ‘microbes weave a carpet of life that ripples up from the soil to the plants and animals that upon death become the foundation for a thriving microbial world.’

p94 ‘soil ecosystems are far more ancient and every bit as diverse and complex as those that rise above them’

‘first lifeforms to colonise land - bacterial mats, algae, fungi and lichens’

p95 ‘although players at the top of the food web were shuffled several times by mass extinctions, the underlying symbiotic relationship between below ground and above ground life held’.

p95 ‘still only know about 1/10 soil dwelling species’

p97 ‘when beneficial microbes are present in the soil near roots they send messages to plants that lead to an immune like response called induced systematic resistance.’

what language do they use to communicate? plants use roots as ‘ears’ to listen to soil life.

‘Soil microorganisms are more abundant in proximity to plant roots, and this zone is called the rhizosphere’

p107 intimate relationships and coevolution in subterranean communities.

‘The new understanding of microbes as biological catalysts of natural soil fertility challenges the philosophical foundation of modern agriculture’.

p108 ‘when biocides take the good as well as the bad out, it is the bad actors that bounce back fastest’

p125 ‘there is a raft of microbes that eat excrete, reproduce and die on and in the human body’

p126 ‘bacteria alone bring about 2 million genes into our bodies’

p127 of all our bodily habitats, the richest in terms of abundance and diversity is our 22 ft long digestive tract. majority of gut microbes have never been cultured.

p136 considering the many microbial landscapes composing our bodies- ‘they have a multitude of interacting inhabitants and are as dynamic as any other ecosystem on Earth. they experience cycles of resources abundance and scarcity, catastrophes, predator-prey relationships, temperature and moisture gradients etc’

[unchartedtravel-blog1]

40 Things You Should Know About London

By Bobby 

1. They drive on the wrong side of the road.

2. They curse. A lot.

3. They have more of a mixed racial population than I’ve ever seen before! Italians, the Dutch, Germans, Portuguese, Spaniards, the French, Thai, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese. While perusing the roads of London, I think at times I heard more different languages spoken than I heard English!

4. London. Is. Hot. (at least for the 10 days I was there). Londoners don’t really wear shorts – it’s usually the Americans that you see wearing them. As a tourist, from all the walking, you’ll want to dress lightly, but at the same time appropriately. Be careful with layers. Just saying. It’s a hot city.

5. Speaking of which, air conditioning seems to be rare. Your only options for A/C are modern (AND I STRESS THAT) hotels, restaurants and cafes, and museums.

6. Trafalgar Square. It’s pronounced “Truh-FAL-guh” with emphasis on the “FAL”.

7. Traffic is scary. Be careful of the fast cars in narrow streets, the double-decker buses, and bicyclists! My first few days, I was almost hit by double-decker buses 10 times. Traffic is crazy, they drive aggressively, and they drive on the wrong side of the road. Add all those together, and you have a disaster for Americans.

8. When crossing the road, LOOK RIGHT, THEN LEFT. Because of #7.

9. Use the Barclay Bikes. Use them use them use them. They are all throughout the city available for rental with over 500 bike stations. Not only are there plenty of them, but they are very affordable. Just be careful, and make sure you use the bike lanes and understand the traffic laws. It gets quite scary at times when you have cars zooming past you just inches away from your bike.

10. London Bridge is Falling Down. This is not the bridge you are picturing right now. That bridge is actually called “Tower Bridge”. London Bridge is quite plain looking, and is one bridge over from Tower Bridge. Speaking of bridges, you should spend a morning and walk up and down each of the bridges over the River Thames. There are great views of London from these bridges!

11. “Cheers Mate” means “Thanks, friend!” Use it! It will make you feel AWESOME when you use it. I know I did.

12. Gloucester and Leicester. DO NOT SAY “Glau-ses-ter” or “Lay-ses-ter”. It’s pronounced “Gloh-stuh” and “Lee-stuh”. Yes, it’s pronounced like that.

13. YOU CAN DRINK ALCOHOL IN PUBLIC! Yes! It’s true! Meal idea: get a sandwich, beer, and crisps, find the nearest park, or find a place along the Thames, and enjoy your meal there! Be careful though, in the City of Westminster it isn’t allowed. Westminster is inside of London.

14. The zig-zag lines in the road mean something. I’m not sure what they mean, but they mean something. What I do know is that the black cabs are not allowed to pull over on a zig-zag line.

15. Speaking of roads, the traffic lights are different. They change from red to yellow to green to red.

16. The London Tube is the underground rail system in London. It’s an easy system to get used to and if you’re in London for a week, I recommend buying a 6-day Travelers Card to use on the Tube for £35 British Pounds.

17. Be ready to see Maserati, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Those high-end vehicles are a common sight around London. I giggle with glee every time I see one of those beautiful creations driving down the roads.

18. London has a depressing past, and is basically built on top of a massive grave-site. The city was almost destroyed three times. First time was the infamous Great or Bubonic Plague, second time was the Great Fire of London in 1666, and the third was the Blitz, or the Bombings of London by Germany in WWII. Thus you will see a wonderful mix of architectural styles, and at times one on building! Oh, on some of the underground rail routes, you feel the trains take a sharp turn. These are due to the bodies buried compactly together, and the engineers couldn’t remove the bodies for worries of the road and buildings collapsing above the ground. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

19. Double-decker buses are awesome. They’re awesome because they’re a constant reminder that “Hey, I’m in London.”

20. There is no real “British Accent”. You can probably just make one up, and the Brits will just assume you’re from another part of the Kingdom. You’ve got the Australian accent, New Zealand (and Kiwi) accent, South African accent, British-Indian accent, Irish accent, Northern Irish accent, South English, London English, the Queen’s English, RP English, Posh English, Cockney accent, Manchester accent, Coventry accent, Welsh accent, Scottish accent, and so many more. And don’t speak with a posh, or RP accent. It’s usually spoken by the older generation. In fact, QEII uses her own accent called the Queen’s English which is still somewhat posh.

21. British food is���unique. I’d recommend trying out the vast choices of ethnic foods around the city. Indian, Thai, Korean, Chinese, and Italian are always great places to try.

22. Speaking of British food…they like to put sausage in EVERYTHING. Everywhere you go, sausages are on the menu. I guess it’s a good thing if you like sausages for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner as well?

23. Lemonade in the UK. It’s basically Sprite or Schweppes.

24. Museums. London is filled with museums. You’ve got the British Museum (where I spent 4 long hours), Imperial War Museum, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Greenwich Visitor Centre, Tower of London, London Transport Museum, Museum of London, National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, are among the best! But don’t visit all of them – you’ll start to hate the museums, and it will be an expensive vacation if you do visit them all.

25. Castles/Palaces. Being a European city, there are plenty of castles to visit. Some of the more popular castles and palaces are Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Clarence House, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and Kensington Palace. Pick and choose, pick and choose.

26. The Globe Theatre. It’s not the original.

27. Dining in is expensive. However, there are plenty of affordable options when it comes to restaurants in London. Chinatown/SOHO is one place to find those options (just don’t stay there past 9pm). Also, unlike the U.S., servers in London will not do anything for you other than bring your food, beverage, and check. In the U.S., servers can get quite annoying when checking up on you every 5 minutes. I prefer the London way. Just leave me alone and let me dine.

28. I hate the £1 coin, and so will you. British money makes just as little sense as U.S. currency. The 2 pence coin is larger than the 20 pence, 5 pence, ten pence, and 1 pound coin. Also, what is up with the £1 pound coin. In the UK, you’ll weigh 5lbs more with pockets and wallets full of those annoying £1 coins. On the plus side, if you collect each newly design coin, you can make this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/New_British_Coinage_2008.jpg

29. I highly recommend taking a historic tour. Do it. You will not regret it, and it will be well worth the money. At least take a “Ghost Bus” tour: http://www.theghostbustours.com/

30. Houses of Parliament. No matter how many times you’ve seen the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, or any other popular attraction in London, it is just as breathtaking as the first time you see them.

31. The River Thames. Not the Thames River. And another pronunciation blunder: it’s “Temz”…silly Brits.

32. The rats own the city at night. And they’re not afraid of humans. I don’t mind a rat, but when they’re in groups, I squeal and flail my arms running away.

33. Tea is like water. The Brits will drink tea even on a hot summer day of 80F.

34. The Queen. The day I arrived in London, she left for Belmoral Castle. And the day I arrived back home in the U.S., she returned back to Buckingham Palace. There went my chance of high-fiving Her Majesty. Anyway, see if you can get a tour of Buckingham Palace, and maybe you’ll spot QEII and can take a selfie!

35. Nothing is FREE in London. Nothing.

36. Bacon. Delicious, crispy, greasy bacon. Unfortunately, bacon as we know it here is not the same in the UK. Over there, “bacon” is what we would call ham in the US. And it’s very salty too.

37. Black Cabs. They’ll rip you off if you’re not careful. Find the right one, get his card, and use his cab to get around the city . Great thing about the Black Cabs, is how spacious they are! They’re like mini limousines! But don’t take a Black Cab. Take the Tube. Or rent a Barclay Bike….or walk.

38. Staying hydrated will cost you! Water in London is more expensive than carbonated drinks. Find ways to refill your bottle for free. (Drinking fountains [be cautious], in a cafe, or at your hotel)

39. The entire city has WIFI!…but you have to pay for it…and it’s really slow. If it says it’s free, then it means it’s terribly slow. Just go find a McDonald’s or Starbucks and you’ll be fine.

40. The United Kingdom has five main train companies. Among them Virgin Trains which is a great choice! I took Virgin Trains from London to Coventry in First Class, and it was great! Snacks, drinks, and a comfortable ride.