#Dr. Norms cookies

[jrueships]

brian, the new shoe manager and cookie's nice guy sweet little church boo that magic homoerotically dommed and destroyed out of sheer prideful bloodlust should DEFINITELY be looked into as a casting option for a sam cooke biopic bcs .. WOW??

LIKE AM I TRIPPING OR

[ancestorsalive]

BABA YAGA Fiana Sidhe tells us, “Baba Yaga is a very misunderstood Goddess. She is not just the stereotypical wicked witch. She often appears as a frightening old hag, but can also appear as a beautiful woman who bestows gifts. She is wild and untamed but also can be kind and generous. Even in Her haggard form, Baba Yaga has many gifts to share. Baba Yaga is the old crone who guards The Waters of Life and Death. She is the White Lady of Death and Rebirth, and is also known as The Ancient Goddess of Old Bones. The old bones are symbolic of the things we cling to, but must finally let lie. When we experience a death, darkness, depression, or spiritual emptiness in our lives, we journey to Baba Yaga’s hut, where She washes new life into us. She collects our bones and pours the waters on them, while She sings and chants and causes us to be reborn. She destroys and then She resurrects. Baba Yaga symbolises the death of ignorance. She forces us to see our true, darkest selves, then She grants us a deep wisdom that we can attain by accepting the dark shadows within ourselves. We can only receive help from Baba Yaga by learning humility. Her gifts can destroy or enlighten us.” Sr. Dea Phoebe has this to say about Baba Yaga: “So, while She is certainly a dark Goddess, a death Goddess, and may even seem ‘wicked’ in ways, Baba Yaga is hardly the villain of Her stories. But also, Baba Yaga is not a nice, clean, civilised Goddess. In the story of Valalisa the Wise, triple Goddess imagery repeats throughout – in Valalisa and her doll’s white, red, and black clothing, (colours traditionally associated with the Maiden, Mother, and Crone,) in the repetition of threes throughout the story (three colors, three enemies in the stepfamily, three riders, three tasks, three questions, three pairs of hands) and in Valalisa, (the maiden beginning her journey), her mother (who has given Valalisa gifts to guide her), and of course, in Baba Yaga as the crone. As a denizen of the deep forest, Baba Yaga is the wild aspect of the psyche, what Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés calls [in her book Women Who Run with the Wolves] the Wild Hag or the Wild Woman —not the gentle grandmother that bakes you cookies and tells you stories, but the stern grandmother that might just smack your rear with a spoon and tell you to smarten up! She is not pretty to look at, and she represents the deepest mysteries of death. No wonder she has a reputation of a scary old witch! When we work with Baba Yaga, when we take that path into the deep forest to face the mysteries of death and emerge with the light of wisdom, we also face the wild aspects of ourselves. They may not be pretty, they may have long stringy hair and iron teeth and a wild cackle, but they also hold mysteries our more civilised day-to-day selves never think upon. Baba Yaga is not tied by social norms and mores. She flies about in yet another symbol of transformation; She wipes away the signs of Her passing so you’re never sure if She’s really been there. She’s rude, She’s crude, and She lives in a hut that doesn’t have the manners to sit down and stay like we expect a house should—and you can bet She enjoys all of this. She is less concerned about what is civilized and polite than what is true. When you find yourself in need of true wisdom, when you find yourself being too nice, too polite in the face of ongoing boundary violations, when you find yourself stagnated by the expectations of others, it might just be time to retrieve your Wild Woman (or Man.) It might be time to brave the forest and meet Baba Yaga.” ♦️ How might you have courage, as Vasilisa did, to face the frightening depths of the dark forest? ♦️ What gifts can you find within yourself that will give you protection and guidance as you meet the dark goddess and learn from her? ~ Rebekah Myers ~ Fiana Sidhe, “Baba Yaga, The Bone Mother“ ~ Sr. Dea Phoebe, Order of Our Lady of Salt, “The Goddess and the Wheel: Baba Yaga – Wicked Witches and Wild Women“ Art: Rima Staines, Baba Yaga Rima Staines - Artist rimastaines.com

[writertitan]

Confinements - Pt. 3

pairing: soldier!levi x f!medic!reader

themes: war themes + war crimes, enemies to lovers, mature and heavy content (minors dni), medic!reader, reader is a tough cookie due to wartimes, levi is a prisoner of war, reader and levi are snarky lil fellas, afab reader, swearing, heavy themes regarding acts of war, mentions of death, dark content, finding warmth in each other during cruel and cold-blooded times, unconditioning of propaganda, slight mentions of torture tactics/aggressive interrogations, reader finally breaking out of survival mode in this chap

chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 updated weekly chapter word count: 3.2k a/n: hello sweet cherubs and welcome to pt. 3! if you haven’t read the first two parts, they are linked above in the chapters section. have a wonderful start to the week, and please enjoy. :) 

It was another two days before you saw Captain Levi again. 

A new hoard of wounded soldiers had been brought in and many needed complex surgery, to which you assisted. Even in the thick of the hardest one, your mind kept pulling you away to a certain captain hidden away beneath your feet, which was dangerous. You could never lose focus, not even for a moment, during such difficult medical procedures. 

There were rumors going around that the enemy was planning a blitz attack, though you were a little amused that they could even call it a blitz if people suspected it was coming. Because of that, however, the general was ordering for more ruthless attacks from some squads, resulting in many more casualties than your team could take on. 

But, as always, you made do and powered through, and in those two days you accomplished nearly all of the most serious cases that were brought to you. 

You were exhausted, to say the least, and all you wanted was to slump into your comfy chair at your dwelling and fall asleep listening to the pitter-patter of rain outside, maybe a crackling fire going in the fireplace. Once you’d gotten cleaned up from your final surgery, that was the plan, but of course, Dr. Muller had other plans. 

He was waiting for you outside the women’s washroom, his face apologetic - an expression you’d gotten used to from him as of recently. 

“What is it?” you asked, suddenly a little more alert and a little less lethargic. “Did more come in?” 

“No, it’s nothing like that,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. Then, he lowered his voice to a whisper, making sure nobody else could hear though it was basically only the two of you. “I need you to go check on the captain. Just a quick visit, then you’re free to take off. I won’t call you in for the next couple of days unless it’s urgent. We need the rest.” 

At the mention of the captain, you felt yourself grow groggy again. Still, it was an improvement that you weren’t feeling totally annoyed, and you nodded along to the doctor’s request with a small sigh and a wave of your own hand. 

“Sure, I’ll do it now,” you muttered, then waited for the doctor to disappear out of sight before sliding down the wall and resting your head back against it. 

The night of the “bath incident” - as you liked to call it - had brought forth a lot of unusual feelings and behaviors from you. While it was true that you’d fetched some clean clothes for the captain and that had been out of the norm for you, you’d also mentally made a promise to yourself to remember to bring him some decent food as well. 

There was really no logic to this sudden change of yours. Since when did you care so much about a patient, much less a prisoner of war that didn’t seem to be keen on you? 

You tried to get your bearings sitting on the floor like that for a solid minute before eventually groaning and standing up, doing your best to ignore the full body aches as you snuck your way into the kitchen. 

It was evening and supper had already been served out, so most of the staff were busy cleaning up. One of them, a young girl named Vel, noticed you come in. If anyone else did, they didn’t show it. 

She greeted you meekly, her big, round eyes trained on you as you stopped in your tracks. 

“Need something to eat?” she asked, tilting her head. “I heard about the work you and Dr. Muller have been doing these past couple of days. Doesn’t sound like you’ve been able to take a break at all, or even eat. Wait right there.” 

Though she had made a demand of you to wait, the demand, like Vel herself, was very meek. Still, you did as you were told, grateful for her generosity and for her exceptional observation. You could definitely sneak off with the food and give it to Captain Levi instead, and it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. 

Vel took her time filling up a tray for you but you didn’t mind the few minutes to yourself. 

“Here,” she whispered, offering up the small tray. 

Steamed vegetables, hot porridge, and buttered bread greeted you from the tray, alongside a small jug of water. It normally wouldn’t look like much for the average person, but for a person entrenched in war, it was a king’s feast. More importantly, none of the food was rotten or moldy. 

Relief and gratitude poured out of you and the quiet, “Thank you,” that you managed to get out dripped with the emotions and made Vel smile a little. 

“Eat up,” she instructed, then was off again to get back to whatever she’d been doing before. 

You hurried off and waited until the coast was clear before sneaking into the cellar, making the now familiar trek to the room Captain Levi occupied. 

You couldn’t lie and say that the food in front of you didn’t make your mouth water. Vel had guessed correctly - it had been days since you had had a real meal. The last thing you could remember eating was a handful of stale raisins aside from your mandatory hydration times during operations. Still, you did your best to ignore the food, wanting to save it for the captain, who no doubt hadn’t had real food for a very long time. Much longer than a measly two days. 

When you entered his room, it was eerily quiet. He lay there, motionless but rigid, clearly in pain. You briefly noted that he was no longer wearing his grimy uniform and had donned the clean clothes you’d left for him. However, he barely acknowledged that you’d come in, didn’t even open his eyes, and only did when you called to him. 

“Captain Levi?” 

His eyes snapped open and he turned his head to look at you, and then his gaze focused on the tray you held, grey eyes showcasing a hunger you’d never seen from him before. The black bruises that had adorned his eyes were nearly completely gone, replaced with dark circles due to restlessness. 

“I noticed last time I was here you weren’t being properly fed,” you explained, trying your very best not to stutter through your words. “I thought I’d bring you some actual food for once.” 

You made your way over to his bed and watched him wince as he sat up, but he at least looked eager for food. You set the tray down closer to him on the bed, a silent gesture for him to help himself. 

“Who brings your meals normally?” you asked him as he tore into the buttered bread. You couldn’t imagine that it would be anyone in the kitchen staff. With how much of a secret the captain’s capture was, you doubted the general was allowing anyone except a select few to come through here. 

Captain Levi didn’t answer for a few moments, more focused on devouring the bread, but eventually he found his voice. 

“That stupidly annoying nurse slides a tray of food in here once a day. Food, if you can even call it that,” he scoffed. Then, as if it was nothing, he added, “She hasn’t been here for two days.” 

That made you freeze. 

So, not only was he only being fed barely edible food only once a day, but he also hadn’t even been fed at all the past two days. 

“That’s unacceptable,” you choked out, in mild disbelief. Yes, Nurse Gatha had been quite busy herself with all the incoming soldiers, but that was no excuse. She wasn’t in the high trauma group and you knew for a fact she’d had plenty of breaks, unlike your group. “I’m so sorry, Captain Levi. We’ve all been running around the past couple of days due to an influx of patients, but she should have made the time to come down here.” 

A fleeting reminder that that influx was due to the captain’s own soldiers attacking yours flitted through your head, but you quickly shook it away. He’d had nothing to do with it, so it would be unfair to blame him. 

“She’s annoying anyway. I hate that she’s even around me for any amount of time at all. I’d rather starve,” he said, voice dull. Then, in a much quieter and calmer voice, he continued with, “I’d much rather have you do it. You’re much less irritating.” 

The admission left you stunned. 

Captain Levi shifted uncomfortably, his eyes pointedly avoiding yours as he said, “And thank you for the clean clothes. Even though they’re colors I’d rather not wear.” 

It clearly made him uncomfortable to express gratitude, or any sort of emotion at all, but you were secretly pleased that he would bear it just to tell you something so simple. 

“You’re welcome,” you said with a smile. 

It was then that your body betrayed you and a grumble sounded from your stomach. Instantly, you felt your face grow hot. It was loud enough for Captain Levi to hear it as well, which was mortifying.

“You said it’s been busy the past couple of days. Have you eaten?” he asked. He looked genuinely concerned. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” you said dismissively, your gaze avoiding his. In truth, you were definitely hungry, but that was something you could rectify later on when you were in the privacy of your little living space. 

Still, Captain Levi scoffed and pushed the tray back towards you. 

“Don’t let yourself starve,” he said gruffly. “Isn’t that medically frowned upon, Doc?”

You rolled your eyes, about to retort, but the captain wouldn’t let you and handed over the bowl of steamed vegetables. The smell was truly delicious, especially for someone who hadn’t eaten, but you still couldn’t bear the thought of sharing even a morsel.

“I’ve had something to eat. You haven’t,” you said firmly, pushing it back to him. He didn’t have to know that your “something to eat” had hardly counted as real food. 

Captain Levi looked ready to keep fighting you on this but when his stomach growled, the argument was over. He begrudgingly grabbed a fork and ate up the vegetables, though he seemed to genuinely be grateful. 

It was strange to see him sitting there, wearing your country’s uniform as if he were one of your own soldiers. He could have maybe passed for one, but you doubted it. There was something about his demeanor and the way he presented himself that gave him away. He didn’t belong in a place like this. He was resolute, confident, a little blunt, and just different from the other men here. No, he didn’t didn’t belong here. 

Did you, though? 

“How are your pain levels? Anything in particular I should look at today?” you asked, letting him swallow before answering. 

“Ribs are still bothering me but that’s it. Everything else is bearable. Should be able to release me any day now, Doc.” The last part was said a little condescendingly. You definitely felt yourself bristle. 

“I’m not a doctor and I’ve never appreciated that nickname,” you huffed, turning back to the kit you’d almost forgotten about. You’d taken to leaving it in the cellar these days, tucked away, and had hauled it in while carefully balancing the tray with one hand. 

“You’ve never told me your real name, so I don’t have anything else to call you,” Captain Levi pointed out. 

That surprised you. Had you really never told him your name? 

You blurted it out as a very belated introduction, a little embarrassed that you’d never done it the other times you’d come to tend to him, but Captain Levi didn’t seem too miffed. 

“I think I’ll still call you Doc, but it’s nice to meet you,” he said, then added, with a smirk twitching at his lips, “I’m Levi.” 

“Nice to meet, Captain Levi,” you snorted, but then you grew quiet when the captain shook his head and gave you a look you couldn’t quite discern. 

“Just Levi is fine.” 

“Okay,” you whispered, “Levi.” 

Some sort of wall between the two of you broke then. When getting rid of titles like that, a wall always tends to break between two people. There was less formality and more camaraderie. Maybe even friendship. 

You let Levi finish eating before getting to work. He unbuttoned his shirt and let you inspect his aching ribs, and that’s when you realized that he’d gotten thinner. He seemed naturally slim but when you’d first seen him he was sturdy and clearly held a lot of strength. Looking at him now, you could see he was weakening. Some ribs even slightly poked through his bruised skin. Something heavy stirred in your chest at the sight. 

Still, despite his complaints of pain, you were sure everything was healing nicely. The bruising on his chest concerned you, because they didn’t look as faded as you wanted them to, but rib injuries were tough to heal if the patient wasn’t careful. The bruise you’d been worried about on his abdomen seemed to be fading the way you expected, though, alleviating your concerns of something internal at play. The ankle was no longer swollen, just tender per Levi’s assessment, so you were confident that just a little more food and some proper rest would get him healing faster. 

As you worked to put a salve on his ankle, you were so concentrated on that that his voice startled you.

“Why did you choose to become a medic?” he asked suddenly. 

The question came as a surprise. You didn’t even really know how to answer it. For a moment, you thought hard on the story you were willing to tell. 

“The medical field has always interested me,” you started hesitantly, unsure of how much you should divulge. But then, when you saw those genuinely curious steel-colored eyes, you continued, voice a little softer. “I had a brother who enlisted as a soldier and he died. When we were told of his death, the captain of his squad alluded to my brother being unsalvageable. I don’t know why that hit me so hard. I hate the thought of me, as a medic, not doing everything in my power to save someone’s life. I already had a bit of experience and enlisted as a volunteer and here I am. Once I learned the circumstances of my brother’s death rather than getting a polite and vague answer on my doorstep, I was a little more understanding - he was apparently blown to bits and all. But it still bothers me to think he was left out to die. If someone like me had been around to try and help, maybe he would be back home.” 

Levi’s face was uncharacteristically soft as you finished speaking. 

“I’m sorry about your brother,” he said finally, and you shrugged it off. It was during times of recalling your brother that you could feel the cracks in your icy exterior, and the cracks in your heart. 

You gave Levi a small smile, noticing a look akin to that of confusion as you placed bandages over his ankle, mostly to let the salve stay and absorb into his skin better. Even so, you didn’t probe him. 

After finishing up with this ankle, you moved to the part that would be more uncomfortable for Levi - his ribs.

You had some numbing cream handy that you felt might work to relieve some of his discomfort. Taking it from your medical kit, you dabbed your fingertips with it and began gingerly rubbing it onto his chest and sides. You could feel him wince under your touch. 

“You should be more careful,” you quietly scolded. “I don’t know what you’re doing in here when I’m not around, but it’s certainly not helping your healing process. These ribs are taking longer than I’d like to heal.” 

Levi scoffed then, his entire body rigid suddenly.

“Tell that to your scumbag general,” he snapped, eyes hard as he looked at you. “He’s the one throwing me around.” 

It was as if someone had dumped ice cold water on your body. 

“The general is…being violent with you?” you asked, throat dry as the question left your mouth. 

Levi seemed surprised at your reaction. 

“Yes? During his interrogations.” He spoke slowly, a bit confused, but your initial shock was giving way to extreme anger. 

You had no idea. Sure, you were vaguely aware and understanding that with being a prisoner of war came the expectation of interrogations for information, but for some reason, you hadn’t expected to hear this from Levi. Was he being tortured for information? Was the general’s tactic to rough him up and beat the information out of him? 

All the other comments from Levi were weighing on you again. The fact that he was being treated like a feral animal was glaringly obvious all of a sudden. And that sinking feeling that something wasn’t right hadn’t wavered these last few days. 

Day by day, you’d started to accept your belief that this war was…odd. That your country was somehow not doing things right. That you were being lied to. 

“I didn’t know that you were being…,” you trailed off, unsure of what to even say. 

“Doc…how did you say your brother died again?”

The question seemed out of place but you answered anyway. 

“Some of your soldiers managed to get onto our territory and my brother and his squad caught them. This happened at a front line encampment that used to exist a few miles from here. Your soldiers planted landmines and threw grenades at my brother and his squad in order to herd them to the mines. They fell for it and got caught up in all the blasts. There were just…pieces of him left,” you said absently. You weren’t looking at Levi, but more like looking through him. 

Levi scowled at your answer, looking troubled. It was silent between you as he clearly was trying to put together what to say. When he did, you felt that icy wave wash over you once more. 

“We don’t do blitz strikes like that. And we don’t really use landmines. That’s a resource that your country has, not us.” 

He looked like he had more to say, but it was obvious that you were slowly breaking down. That coldness inside you, that emptiness, that disconnect you’d built up…it was all suddenly fragile and about to tumble down. Levi had, somehow, in such a short span of time, shown you how you’d basically been sleepwalking through your life these last few years. Levi had blitzed you, made you step on some sort of mental landmine you’d been sidestepping all this time. Things were blowing up in front of you, metaphorically speaking. 

“What are you trying to say?” you asked, tears pricking at your eyes. When was the last time you’d cried, or had even come close to it?

“There’s a lot you don’t know. I don’t know if you’ll believe me,” Levi sighed. 

But you already knew you would believe him, and you had an inkling of what he was about to say. He was about to prove your suspicions correct. 

A heavy silence fell over you but it didn’t last long. As you stared at each other, you with desperate and wild eyes and Levi with solemn and knowing ones, the bomb sirens started wailing. 

____________________________

read pt. 4 here

[hazeltail420]

Dr. Norm's Max Cannabis-Infused Indica Snickerdoodle Cookie 100mg THC

hazeltail420 on ig

[blueweave8]

India Bubble Tea Market Insight, Outlook, 2022-2028

BlueWeave Consulting, a leading strategic consulting and market research firm, in its recent study, expects India bubble tea market size to expand at a significant CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period between 2023 and 2029. The expansion of India bubble tea market is driven by increasing demand for tea and coffee among students and working-class population owing to its cognitive enhancing abilities as well as growing health awareness about beverages containing zero fat and low-calorie contents. Increased health benefits from the beverage's different constituents, such as green and black tea bases and tapioca, as well as cost-effective pricing. Dr. Bubbles, a native bubble tea franchise, is at the forefront of the movement in India. Bubble tea, which originated in Taiwan, is a popular flavored beverage that contains tea as the primary ingredient. Boba are soft, chewy, and gummy tapioca pearls produced from cassava root that are drizzled over bubble tea. Moreover, the growing popularity of bubble tea due to distinct taste, available in various flavors such as mango, peach, and others and customized using syrups which is also expected to increase demand for bubble tea, boosting the market growth. However, increasing preference for other caffeinated beverages and stringent environmental regulations are anticipated to limit the growth of India bubble tea market during the forecast period.

India Bubble Tea Market – Overview

Bubble tea is a Taiwanese tea-based beverage and referred as pearl milk tea or boba juice. Usually, the bubble tea recipes include a tea base mixed with organic product or milk, which is then topped with chewy custard balls (also commonly known as air pockets, pearls, or boba) and organic product jam. Ice-mixed forms are often blended with organic product or syrup to create a slushy texture. There are numerous varieties of the beverage with various ingredients. The two most popular combinations are bubble milk tea with custard and air pocket milk green tea with custard. The air pockets or pearls are tapioca balls derived from cassava root that contains vitamin C and calcium. India bubble tea market is expanding rapidly as the demand of bubble tea grows due to its plethora of health benefits and delectable taste. Along with antioxidants, bubble tea provides strength to the body due presence of milk, which is an excellent source of calcium and helps to strengthen bones. As it contains carbs, bubble tea is the principal source of energy for human brain and cardiovascular muscles. The beverage contains caffeine, which is an effective stress reliever since it relaxes the body's stiff muscles. Bubble tea functions as an immune booster due to its high antioxidant content, which prevents the accumulation of oxidative stress.

Request for Sample Report @ https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com/report/india-bubble-tea-market/report-sample

India Bubble Tea Market – Opportunities

The introduction of new bubble tea tastes, such as banana, apple, kiwi, lychee, and watermelon, are expected to provide huge market growth prospects. The introduction of exotic fruit flavors, such as avocado, coconut, grape, green apple, lemon, jackfruit, plum, and passion fruit, is expected to provide significant market growth prospects. Toppings such as cookie crumbs, red bean, ice cream, fresh fruit, and cheese cream, can also be added to the bubble tea. Additionally, there are numerous pudding flavoring options available, including barley, caramel, taro, chocolate, mocha, sesame, lavender, and rose. Therefore, all these factors are predicted to all these factors are expected to provide major development prospects in the coming years.

Impact of COVID–19 on India Bubble Tea Market

The COVID-19 had detrimental impact on most of the industries including the bubble tea market, due to imposition of stringent lockdown norms worldwide, travel and import-export ban, resulting in economic consequences. In addition, the supply chain disruptions have led to manufacturing process delay due to shortage or non-availability of raw materials. The lockdown regulations have jeopardized the livelihoods of millions of small tea farmers worldwide. The closure of cafes, restaurants, farms, and production units to maintain social distancing measures resulted in a reduction of supply and demand as well as travel restrictions and labor scarcity hindered the growth of India bubble tea market. However, an increasing government focus to expand the bubble tea industry worldwide are assisting the market’s recovery. In addition, for the development of the products, market key players employed new safety precautions. The online distribution channel is changing people's purchase behavior providing benefits, such as easy payment methods, a wide range of products, doorstep delivery, and heavy discounts, which aided in market growth during the pandemic and will further accelerate growth in the post-pandemic situation.

India Bubble Tea Market - By Flavor

Based on flavor, India bubble tea market is divided into Original Flavor, Coffee Flavor, Fruit Flavor, and Chocolate Flavor segment. The fruit flavor segment is predicted to lead the market during the forecast period. The availability of different fruit tastes, such as strawberry, passion fruit, mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, avocado, coconut, grape, lychee, peach, honeydew, kiwi, and banana, is the primary reason driving category expansion. The chocolate flavor segment is expected to hold the second highest place. The chocolate flavor bubble tea is becoming highly popular in which chocolate powder is combined with tea to enhance the taste; it can also be served with ice. Adding chocolate flavor to tea has many health benefits, such as increasing the functioning of brain and alleviating physical tension. The chocolate flavor bubble tea lowers the risk of heart disease and free radical generation, increasing cellular health and avoiding several types of cancer. These advantages are expected to boost the expansion of the chocolate taste sub-segment throughout the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

India bubble tea market is fiercely competitive with Coco fresh Tea & Juice, ChaTime Group, Bubble Tea Supply Inc, Ten Ren's Tea Time, Mongoose - Asian Bubble Bar, The Boba Place, Dr Bubbles, Got Tea, Cha Bar, Chai Lelo - Chai, Snacks & More, Burma Burma, Boba Tree, and Tea Trails. To further enhance their market share, these players are primarily focused on the development of innovative and efficient products, new product releases, mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, partnerships, and joint ventures.

Contact Us:

BlueWeave Research Blog

Phone No: +1 866 658 6826

Email: info@blueweaveconsulting.com

[scsacostamesa]

Dr. Norm's - Pecan Shortbread Enjoy the taste of sweet, buttery shortbread loaded with crunchy chopped pecans. Each cookie contains 10mg of proprietary THC extract – 10 cookies per bag.

[themalibucookiecompany-blog]

To get worlds best cookies, visit themalibucookiecompany.com, we offer varieties of cookies like weed cookies, Doctor Norms cookies, Marijuana cookies, Hemp cookies, CBD cookies. Visit our website for great price offer on CBD products, CBD gummies in Huston, Texas.

[writingwithcolor]

Jewish character as adoptive parent/patriarch of a found-family that ostensibly contains children from xtian backgrounds?

@lymanjosh asked:

tl;dr: how to approach Jewish character as adoptive parent/patriarch of a family that ostensibly contains children from xtian backgrounds?

(this is about fandom but i take it fairly seriously and want to do it right!)

so i’m not jewish, and i portray/hc a (relatively important/main) character A as a Jewish man. character A is at the center of a large found-family network, and he has a number of children adopted + otherwise who come from a variety of backgrounds and who are variously headcanoned by other fandom members.

a lot of the time (mostly in a roleplay context, where other people have equal control over the storyline) i’ll be faced with the assumption that the family would operate by the xtian norms dominant in a us context (particularly regarding xmas.)

id like to push back against this, but i hesitate to portray character A as asking his children to share in his own customs; i don’t think it would be in character, since he is very very reserved + rarely speaks about his birth family in the source material, but even if that were something he did i don’t have much interest in writing about it, nor do i think it would be my place.

what’s a realistic way for this kind of family to navigate the holidays? i’ve done some reading about adoption of children from oppressed groups by white/gentile families, in which it’s generally best to preserve the child’s connection with their culture, but i’m not sure if it would be different in this context? i worry about implying that A has to let xtian norms into his home to some degree in order to properly parent his children. 

Hi! OK, so when I first read this ask I completely read it as Magneto and was all set to give a complex and thorough Magneto answer, and then I realized I was jumping to conclusions and asked and I was VERY wrong – this is Batman! Which is also awesome. I’m not as familiar with DC but I still enjoy this premise.

So the question becomes: how does Jewish Batman handle the holidays if Robin and whoever those other found-family kids are, are Christian. How do we give them a Christmas without having to “do” Christmas ourselves? If I were in Batman’s Bat Shoes here, I’d ask the kids what it was they wanted. In other words, what part of Christmas would they need in order to feel like they weren’t missing out. And then I’d find a way to make sure they were getting to experience it. If they wanted to go to Midnight Mass, I’d ask if (Christian?) Alfred was okay taking them, or Commissioner Gordon, or some other gentile character. If all they wanted was Christmas cookies and everyone baking as a family, I’d orchestrate that without feeling uncomfortable. If they wanted to watch a movie it would depend on how overtly Christian it was vs. something like A Muppet Christmas Carol. (Note: this is going to be a big “your mileage may vary” here because of our varying discomfort with having to participate in Christmas, so I am definitely not saying all of us are comfy with secular Christmas movies.) If they wanted a Christmas tree, remember this is Wayne Manor so there’s gonna be room for there to be a Christmas tree or even a whole Christmas room that doesn’t have to be my space or my room. If I’m Batman. (Did I really just type that sentence?

Batman is so Alone TM that this post makes me lonely for him to have other Jewish characters to do his own holidays with. But. The whole time I was in grad school I was in a situation where I was celebrating all my holidays with all gentiles, and I basically did my own thing and taught them what I was doing and why, and then had movie parties. Like for Passover we had a “deconstructed seder” where I made all the seder foods as party foods and watched Ten Commandments. That way I got to feel like I wasn’t missing out. That would be a sort of secular way that the BatFam could participate in stuff like Passover without having to actually sign up to practice a different religion.

–Shira

I only have a couple minor things to add. Firstly OP, definitely pay attention to the ‘mileage may vary’ point and, as we’ve mentioned before, listen  to many Jewish experiences of Christmas from those who engage to those who are neutral to people who have negative associations and memories about Christmas. The examples Shira gave all work, as long as they fit with Batman’s wider Jewish identity and you’re aware that whatever option you go with, many Jews will feel completely differently to your character and that’s OK too.

Similarly, Shira’s suggestions for Jewish holidays like Passover are great, but this would again depend on Batman’s denomination and personal preferences. An Orthodox seder still has plenty of room to make it your own, but with a lot more do’s and don'ts. For example, (this obviously didn’t happen in 2020 but) my dad usually heads down to the local Jewish retirement home on first night Passover and leads a kind of 'highlights of the seder’ for the residents. All the songs they will remember from childhood, but shorter; all the food, but made a bit more palatable, as Shira also said; and all condensed into about 45 minutes. Your Batman might do something similar for his kids if they show interest in Passover. However, when my dad gets home he will still make sure he does seder night, even if he is by himself if the rest of the family are with my mum. It will depend on Batman’s denomination and beliefs as to whether he sees a condensed or modified seder as having fulfilled his religious obligation. 

–Shoshi

[chronicbatfictioner]

Exchanges and Compromises - Chapter 20

The dinner was just as Jason expected, bland, dull, a lot of formalities in which Bane was visibly struggling with and did not even bother to pretend to know the difference between steak or salad forks. Jason, Dick, and Tim managed to keep the conversation alive and light, somehow without offending the formality of the dinner. Good thing, Jason thought, that The League had taught him of formal dinner etiquette and whatnot, otherwise he would have been slurping the baiwang with the soup spoon instead of the Chinese soup spoon provided by Alfred - like Bane.

Dick, for all of his lack of etiquette education, won in the manners division - regardless of the fact that Tim was helping him by pointing out which cutlery should be used for what. At the very least, he was not beneath asking what he wasn't sure of. 

The day after was a little duller. Alfred merely informed them that the police were there along with the District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to arrest Bane on several counts of murder. Bane was arrested nearly without a fight - he had been purged of his venom strength and knew that he had no chance against some of the cops who were ready to taser him.

Jason was... frankly, a little disappointed.

"Would've been nice if there was a brawl or something," Dick voiced Jason's thought out loud just as he walked outside.

"Oh, goodness, I'm just glad this is over," Bruce commented, glaring apprehensively at Dick's back as the latter walked away with Damian. There was a good long silence before he added, "I presume now that Bane is out of this house, Damian will no longer need you two? I mean, he has me now - and his grandparents." he pointed out.

"I have vowed to guard Damian until he is an adult," Jason replied simply. Ignoring Bruce's sudden change of expression. "it is my order."

"Well, Talia... no offense. But Talia won't-- is no longer around to hold you accountable." Bruce argued.

"No, she's not. But Damian is." Jason looked at the child, sitting under one of the Manor's massive trees with a thick sketchbook before him. Dick, Jason knew, was on the tree. Even with Bane arrested, Oracle had warned that as long as he's not fully incarcerated in a maximum-security facility, he could still either get out and hurt the Waynes - including Damian. Therefore Jason asked Dick to remain with them for a little while longer. Thankfully, Dick didn't mind.

"He's a child. Children adapt well with changes of environments," Bruce said. "and if you're afraid that Bane would come back, I can hire some bodyguards for him."

Jason managed to hold back his smirk. People always thought that he was there to protect Damian; not realizing that he was protecting others from Damian's temper. Instead, he smarted, "like you protected your parents by sending them overseas."

"Oh, now, that's not fair." Bruce protested. "It was... we all thought that... at least mother and I..." he didn't finish his sentence as he exhaled exasperatedly. "His DNA check is back," he continued after a few moments of silence.

"Obviously, he hasn't a drop of Wayne blood in him," Jason suggested, a little dryly. "Something anyone with knowledge of the molecular structure of DNA would have known right away. You accepted Damian right away because you saw he has your mother's ears, in spite of his green eyes. Yet you doubted your father's denial in spite of the fact that there is nothing on Bane that resembled any of you - including about all of the portraits of your ancestors.

"And then there's something else I realized. Bane came with nothing; whereas Damian came with the Al Ghul wealth. You were more accepting because Damian would not equal splitting the Wayne wealth..."

"That is not true!" Bruce growled. "I would not have turned Damian away even if he was not Talia's child. He is my child, and I know that he is!"

"Then we're back to my initial point: You were unable to defend your parents because you did not have 100% faith in their virtues. The Al Ghuls are known leaders of the League of Assassins, to which the leadership shall now be Damian's. What will be your argument, when he decides to take over the League fully? 'Oh, I can't be associated with criminals, even if said crimes were just allegation and not a video recording of someone snapping off another person's neck'?" Jason sneered. "Now, Mister Wayne. I also would like to remind you, that I have Damian's legal custody. If you insist I should leave, I shall bring him along."

"You can't do that," Bruce scowled. "He's my biological child..."

"You have studied your country's laws, Mister Wayne. But you forgot the one crucial thing: Damian is not your country's boy by any means other than your claim." Jason mentally realized that he has placed one of his ace cards onto the table. But he honestly prefers this kind of conversation not to be had when Damian is present. And from the looks of it, he has packed his sketching materials and was making his way back indoors. "Do not try to deny Damian's access to me, or the League, Mr Wayne. He is not yours to manipulate," he added softly while Damian was still out of range.

"Hey guys, Damian and I are hungry," Dick announced as they went past the door. "Think Alfred would let us have cookies?"

"He's the one who is hungry, Todd," Damian told Jason. "I shall wait until tea time for the cookies. It is only a mere hour away."

"Why don't you scrub up a little? Tea should be ready by the time you're done." Bruce suggested.

Damian's scowl could have killed a cobra. "While I am planning on refreshing myself, father, it would be kind of you to cease directing me as if I am an imbecile," he stated, and for the second time in less than 10 minutes, Jason bit the inside of his cheek to stop a snicker.

Bruce, however, was not amused at Damian. "Well! That is not what a child should say to his father!" he admonished.

"Todd," Damian glared at Jason. "Did you not inform Mr Wayne here that I merely referred to him as 'father' due to common societal practices?" he asked with air quotes around the word 'father'.

"I have informed him that, Damian," Jason assured him.

"Do remind him on a daily basis that I am not obliged to remain here beyond what is demanded by his country's societal norms." Damian continued.

"I shall, Damian," Jason replied.

"Very well, I shall be in my quarters until tea time. You might consider feeding Grayson here, Todd," Damian said dismissively.

"I actually have some matters to discuss with you, Damian, if you don't mind. I think Grayson can fend for himself just fine," Jason told him.

"I don't mind. Let us, then." Damian said, leading the way back to his room.

Jason nodded politely to Bruce and motioned Dick to join him. "Mr Wayne, Grayson."

As they left Bruce, still standing in confusion - probably - Dick remarked, "ouch," softly.

"Go on and get your own cookies, Grayson," Jason remarked.

"I need to discuss something with you, too. You two, actually, somewhere safe." Dick said. Both Jason and Damian paused their steps. "Yeah, and we might need to call upon a certain bird for backup," Dick added, almost nonchalantly. It was not until then that Jason noticed the tenseness on his shoulders. He remembered that Dick, too, was trained to keep an eye out for danger.

"You go on ahead with Damian, I'll ask Alfred if he may have tea in his quarters." Jason decided. Damian nodded, realizing the urgency in Dick's posture, and stepped a little closer to Dick as Jason turned the other way.

Whatever it is Dick has to say, Jason could be certain now that besides himself, Dick would protect Damian fiercely. And/or protect other, possibly innocent people, from Damian's tempers.

He was just wondering why did it seem that Bruce Wayne was so intent on removing him.

And why Dr and Mrs Wayne would suddenly take a trip to Europe right after they were proverbially and literally freed from Bane.

Alfred, as usual, was in the kitchen preparing for tea time. In spite of being Americans, the Waynes seemed to like the habit of afternoon tea time.

Jason told Alfred of Damian's request, and Alfred nodded slowly. "Is Master Bruce still in the sun-room, then?" he asked.

"Last time I saw him, yeah."

"Ah, then... young Jason, may an old man request something from you and your vast knowledge of herbs?" Alfred's face was as impassive as ever when he said that, just a shade before he returned to his task of preparing some small sandwiches. But Jason was a little confused. Why would Alfred ask him for herbs? As far as Jason could tell, he was as healthy as... well, someone Jason's age, which has got to be at least a third of Alfred's; half at most. Jason didn't think that Alfred was any older than mid- to late-40s.

"Sure, how can I help?" he answered, anyway.

"Oh, I was wondering if there is any method you may suggest to... how do I put it... Chafe off surgical remains within oneself? I have had work done for my nose, you see, on a whim as a young lad; and I do not believe it looks becoming on me as I age. I feel as if it makes me look like another person is inhabiting my body, as Master Bruce was wont to say."

Jason blinked, and partially wished Dick was there to confirm his thoughts. In spite of being the exact same height as Jason, Alfred was bowing his head a little as he spoke; and Jason knew that there was a surveillance camera that would be able to record their conversation in the kitchen. His shoulders were tenser than the task of cutting bread would have required.

"Well, wow... okay. I'll need to actually search my books. You know some of the ladies back then would apply something to their skin for scars or bruises. But I'm not sure if it'll work on surgical stuff. I'll let you know?" Jason replied carefully.

"Thank you, Jason, for considering. While it shames me for being vain, it is... rather crucial." Alfred smiled at him.

"No problem, Alf," Jason patted him on the shoulder and made his way back to Damian's room - where each and every surveillance device has been disabled and/or misdirected by the combination of Tim, Barbara, and Damian's own skills.

Once Jason walked in and closed the doors of Damian's room behind him, he was greeted by both Damian and Dick's voices.

"That man is not my father, Todd! I believe my grandparents may still be in danger!" Damian exclaimed as Dick stormed over and announced 'There was an increase of drone activities outside, that's why I brought Damian in!' - followed by Damian and Dick glaring at each other, and Damian said, "Todd, we might need to acquire some new exit strategy!" at the same time as Dick saying, 'I've sent a text to Tim, but he hasn't answered. I've texted Babs, though!'

Jason cringed at them. "Whoa! Hold up! If this is how you two kids report, nobody would need surveillance equipment to hear you from Gotham Harbor!" he snarled. The two promptly stopped and glared at each other again, as if they both were hoping to have Superman's laser vision or something. "Okay, I've heard you both, and I'm upping the ante. Alfred just asked me practically for a method to dissolve foreign objects inside someone's body and allude that someone in the house is not who they seemed. And said someone might be Bruce."

Damian threw his fist to the air, stating, "I knew it!"

Dick's eyes were wide as saucers. "Okay... I would... I've wanted to say the same thing since we got in. But I was kinda scared I might be wrong. What makes you sure?"

"Alfred referred to Bruce in the past tense when talking to me," Jason said. "You? --wait, no, Damian first."

"He looked and behaved differently than the videos mother had shown me," Damian replied.

"I second Damian on this. Well, dude... we need to communicate better, don't we?" Dick said, telling the last bit toward Damian. "I've only met him once, way back when-- when my parents were... you know. But like I've told you, I remember everything from that day as if it has just happened. I remember Bruce Wayne was there with a blonde girl wearing chinchilla fur, a 50s hairdo, and an actual pearl pin. But when my parents... right after, I saw him directing traffic of people out of the tent calmly. His presence then was literally calming, like, everyone was looking at him for direction. This Bruce... generally, looked too nervous on everything; if that makes sense."

Jason thought a moment. Dick was really good at reading people's body language - even the most stoic Alfred. Before Bane was removed, Dick's assessment of Alfred was that he was uncomfortable with Bane, yet very welcoming of Damian. Thus his immediate trust in Alfred. However, since Bane was arrested and proven to not have been a Wayne; Jason hasn't got the chance to ask Dick to re-assess Alfred.

"Okay, I'll retrieve the video footage of your dad from 10 years ago from the League's servers. We'll cross-check. We'll tell the Birds once we're sure, yeah?" Jason suggested.

"Agreed," Damian nodded slowly.

"I'll have Tim keeping an eye on the Doc and Missus while we're at it, though. I mean, you know, precautions and all." Dick suggested.

"Okay, call Tim. If he doesn't answer, call Babs or his mom. I'd like this whole thing settled quickly before Bruce can do anything to harm Damian." Jason huffed a breath slowly, wondering what the hell is it with the Waynes that seemed to run on endless conspiracy theories, anyway.

[strandedcrow]

thoughts on the glass animals album dreamland? (info dump welcome)

YES hi hello thank you

I talked like,, a lot so I’m sparing y'all with a cut

The album itself is just so well organized and executed it’s insane. The entire album just captures the feeling of taking a nostalgic trip through your own life and the way that it ends up forgotten in a way, sickly sweet and vague, subdued, and so easy to get completely lost in. And part of what makes it so well done is the pure authenticity it’s completely drenched in. The album itself didn’t exist until quarantine hit, they had been taking a break after a band member was injured and had to recover, and that isolation had that same impact on them as it did on most of us, and the result was this extremely genuine album embodying nostalgia itself.

As a band they’ve always done such an incredible job of maintaining a theme throughout their album that is consistent without becoming repetitive. The song Dreamland does such a perfect job of pulling you into the album, easing you into a subdued album, fuzzy around the edges but clear once you can hone in on the details, on what’s being said, perfectly reflective of the theme it’s introducing you to. While it’s doing that it’s also providing a smooth shift from the last song on the album before it, HTBAHB. Agnes leaves that album off on such an extremely a somber, desperate, and lost note, which Dreamland picks up, just as lost in itself, taking off so beautifully from Agnes’ “You’re gone but you’re on my mind, I’m lost but I don’t know why,” and getting into the why. But it does so by warning you first, “You see in kodachrome, you see in pink and gold.” This album is distorted, it’s not right, the colors are wrong and everything is sweeter than it should be. At the same time, it sets up for the songs to follow, like “That worst thing you said” for It’s All So Incredibly Loud and “You were ten years old, holding hands in the classroom, he had a gun on the first day of high school” for Space Ghost Coast to Coast.It’s those vague, unconnected memories that you haven't quite grasped onto yet in full, but you know you’re going to get lost in them once you do. You’re stepping back from the overload of information and action today to visit who you used to be and what made you who you are now.

Right after it, Tangerine does something that Life Itself did for HTBAHB, it smoothened the general sound’s transition between albums. Just as Life Itself, with its beat similar to the album before its own could have fit into ZABA with no issue, Tangerine could have been on HTBAHB without disrupting the album. The “retro” vibe, the themes revolving around both the nostalgia of Dreamland and those of past relationships deteriorating because of missed opportunities and growing apart fits so well into both albums, it’s such a great transition from the past album to the current. The “I’m begging, hands knees please, tangerine” is also a common expression used (often as a double entendre) by them, again like in Life Itself, with its chorus being “Come back down to my knees, gotta get back, gotta get free, come back down to my knees, lean back now, lean back and breathe,” which just sets up for a really smooth callback to previous songs and album. Something else that Tangerine establishes is something that’s been a running theme with Glass Animals since ZABA: fruit. There is a lot of fruit here. It used to be a running joke that Glass Animals wasn’t actually a band, but a cryptic pineapple worshipping cult (no amount of music made will fool me, this is definitely a pineapple cult). This album uses fruit to remind you of the sugary sweetness of nostalgia, but there’s more history and, well, fan specific nostalgia that goes with that metaphor, too.

Hot Sugar is similar to a later song, Waterfalls Coming Out Your mouth, in that it’s about someone who is so cool that they aren’t actually cool. The person isn’t genuine, the idea of them isn’t actually them, but this was someone that you still want to be anyways, because who wouldn’t want to be that cool? The song doesn’t have much deeper meaning underlying it compared to some other’s because that depth doesn’t exist here, with this person. You know they’re “faking it,” but it doesn’t really matter beyond deciding if you actually like them or if you just want to be them, and the answer is the latter. This song is also similar to another, later song, Tokyo Drifting, introducing the listener to this person that he wants to be like, referencing “Hot rubber on the tar,” and setting the stage for the later song to tell you more about what he wanted to be like. Also, once again, through a mention of watermelon, fruit continues to be a recurring theme in the earlier tracks on this album, when the trip through nostalgic memories is still more sweet than bitter.

Right after we get introduced to this idea of who he wanted to be, we move onto what became of someone he knew closely, shared a lot with, and very suddenly lost touch with through Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The music itself is reminiscent of the music he listened to at the time. This song, being a telling of something that actually happened, is so authentic and raw in how it ends up, all still told through the layer of confusion, hurt, and again, that sweetness of nostalgia, with “You look bizarre in the apricot” establishing a deceptively sweet but confused tone over something heavy through yet another fruit metaphor. This song also manages to hit on other songs from the album when he tries to delve into why his friend did what he did, “Were you bored of gender norms,” matching with Dreamland’s “Go ask your questions like “What makes a man?”,” “… of being alone,” matching Heat Waves’ “I don’t wanna be alone, you know it hurts me too,” and “… no mama home, a bad divorce” matching pretty much the entirety of Domestic Bliss. Like Hot Sugar, this song sets up for Tokyo Drifting, with his idea of who he wants to be but isn’t, with “Remember when you stole mom’s old Geo Metro, you wore her old bathrobe, too small to see the road.” There’s also more blatant references being made to both past shooters (Black cap back with a trench coat, ay) and the arguments afterwards of what motivated them (Playing too much of that GTA, playing too much of that Dr. Dre). While he still wants to understand his old friend, and what happened for him to change so abruptly and dangerously, he does not want anything to do with him anymore. It’s a song about a loss of innocence and the understanding that sometimes you just won’t understand why someone does something. It’s just a complete banger in general.

Which then takes us to Tokyo Drifting, which absolutely slaps. The song itself revolves around what he wanted to be like, singing from a new persona rather than his own (Cane Suga from HTBAHB was done through the same persona). It breaks the pattern of referencing to fruit, instead focusing on drugs and alcohol, dropping the sickly sweet lens of nostalgia for something more fitting of the song’s specific theme. Don’t worry, though, dragonfruit was used extremely heavily in this songs promotion as a single, so the fruit is still there, just not directly, and that lack of directly referring to a fruit in the song itself fits with the way that the song breaks from nostalgia of things that have happened and people he knew into something that was never real. There is no rose colored glasses needed for something that never even happened. I don’t have much else to say on it, it just goes hard, this was my most listened to song two years in a row lmao.

Melon and the Coconut is just sheer Glass Animals. It’s weird, it’s fun, and it sounds great. It cleanly splits the album in half, splitting the POV’s straight down the middle while making a reference to its own position in the album, “Sometimes B-sides are the best songs.” Needless to say, there are some super subtle references to fruit in Melon and the Coconut, the song about two fruit.

Then, the second half of the album kicks off with Your Love (Deja Vu), a song extremely similar in theme to previous songs about missed timing, like ZABA’s Pools and HTBAHB’s Pork Soda. Instead of fruit, “juice” is mentioned in this song. It takes the turn from thinking about people you were friends with, what you wanted to be like, to people that you were with, and things that just didn’t work out.

And then there’s Waterfalls Coming Out Your Mouth. It’s such a clean parallel to looking back on things with nostalgia and seeing them through the fake sweetness that time brings, with this song being about the rose colored glasses that were present in the moment, the time when you start getting to know someone but you aren’t actually getting to know them, you’re getting to know this other, more impressive version of them instead, and they get the exact same experience of you on their own end. He’s letting this other person have their own version of him while he has his own version of them in his head, and he knows their version of him is wrong, so he also knows whatever he thinks of them is going to be wrong, too. He knows them, but at the same time he doesn’t. He’s realizing here, that this person, like the Hot Sugar person, is too cool, and they aren’t real, it’s all just talk, and it’s all fake like the “chemical warfare, red lips and television eyewear, raspberry soda hair, in the pool with a blow up gummy bear.” It’s sweet, sure, but it’s also fake. “Chat shit but where’s the real you? Never seen The Price Is Right, I’m a liar been on that shit since ’99. You make me look like a clown, clap clap, you’re a clever clever cookie now” has no right go that hard, and yet it Does.

Then, abruptly, we get to It’s All So Incredibly Loud. The song itself is subdued, it’s that point in your trip through your own memories where you remember why things went wrong. You get shaken from your train of thought and lose your place in it, because you aren’t there anymore, you’re here and you can’t go back, you can’t fix anything, all that’s left for you to do now is mourn the wrongs and accept them, even though its painful. This is remembering what Dreamland meant by “That worst thing you said,” the realization that you have to break someone else’s heart, and how much that hurts.

((home movie: rockets)) is the longest home movie audio in the album, and creates a smooth transition back into childhood, journeying back through a sound similar to that of their first album, ZABA, on the way there for the album to transition into Domestic Bliss. This time, with someone else entirely’s perspective falling back onto knees, but this time under an entirely different tone, “Fight for me. We can leave I’m begging, please, on my on my knees.” These two songs back to back continue the downward spiral that too much nostalgia can leave you falling into, the wrongs, the regrets, this trip down memory lane has lasted too long, now.

Which drops us off at Heat Waves, which returns back to his own perspective after Domestic Bliss focused on a friend of his. It fits the bittersweet feeling in nostalgia, the understanding and acceptance that you can’t go back, you just have to keep going forward and separate instead for everyone’s sake, a followup less to the tangent in thought that is Domestic Bliss, and more to It’s All So Incredibly Loud. It also wraps up those previous album’s songs, Pools and Pork Soda in a way, bringing a sense of closure to the nostalgic feelings, as well as to the entire album.

And finally Helium, the bookend opposite to Dreamland. This song flawlessly embodies that feeling of when you realize you’ve just been sitting and staring at a photo album for an hour now, and you finally take a look around you, feeling the air conditioning on your skin, hearing the sounds of the world around you, snapping back out of your train of thought and into real life again. Things didn’t work the way that you used to think they would, but that’s a good thing. It is such a perfect ending to the nostalgic journey that is this entire album. Fading back into the melody that started this journey of sickly sweet memories of people you looked up to, when you learned for the first time that people can change and you might not ever understand why, ideas of who you once wanted to be, finding something light that you can laugh about, realizing how similar so many things in your life have been to each other, the realization that the people you used to look up to might not have actually been that impressive the whole time, your regrets, times you wish you could have done more, and the understanding that sometimes you shouldn’t have done so much.

I love this album so much man

[mk-wizard]

Top 10 Things Rescue Bots Did that Should Become Normalized in Transformers

Hello, fellow and beloved fans.

Today, I am going to delve into the short lived, but amazing series that was aimed for kids, but still appealed greatly to adults and for good reason. This show delivered many things that we wanted to see in Transformers for decades that we want to see more often and for some things, become the norm in more Transformers series.

1- Well done and well written human characters. - In most Transformers series, the humans play second fiddle or comic relief. Not here. In Rescue Bots, not only is the Burns family truly capable at their job, they were the ones who often saved the day and they were entertaining to watch. Moreover, I could say that in the main series, Chief Burns truly felt like the real leader of the rescue team overall including when it came to the bots. Plus, a lot of the human characters were the same way. Only the humans who were meant to be comic relief acted as such and even then, that didn’t make them incompetent at their jobs or helpless babes which says a lot because the series was about rescuing those in needs.

2- Insight into Cybertronian culture and society. - With all of the series there are out there, we still know nothing about the Transformers as a race. Rescue Bots gives us insight about what life was like for Autobots and how they had law and order as well. They even give us an idea of what sports they played (cube) and how they even had fairy tales. Just the fact that it centred around four rescue bots shows us that they had jobs outside the military. Autobots did more than fight Decepticons.

3- Fresh new setting. - Can we talk about how Rescue Bots may be the first and so far, only Transformers series that isn’t about the Autobots vs. Decepticons? Even Beast Wars didn’t feel all that new because it was essentially the same thing, but with factions with different names. Rescue Bots was about bots learning about humans as well as keeping them safe from natural disasters and accidents. How about we have more Transformers shows like this? Why not let the next one be about exploration which can have educational properties? Or considering Cybertron gets rebuilt, the rebuilding of Cybertron? I would watch those.

4- Proper black representation. - I have to bring this up, but Rescue Bots may be the most black positive series I have seen yet. The Greene family is not the least bit stereotyped in any way and they are well balanced characters with both good and bad qualities. And it was revealed that Blades himself is a bot of colour according to his human hologram and he’s not stereotyped either. Plus, it is nice to see a series that doesn’t torment people of colour for a change.

5- Proper female representation. - As a woman myself, I have to bring this up because this hits close to home with me. The female representation was just as good as the black representation I mentioned before. None of the female characters are stereotyped, they are not second fiddle to the men nor do they steal the show or have to always be right, not a single one is there to only be love interest and they all have diverse personalities. Most importantly, each one of them is in some way in tuned with their feminine side shamelessly in their own way which is also good.

6- The spotlight was one someone other than Optimus Prime for a change. - Don’t get me wrong, I love the big guy, but it was fun to see someone else take the reigns at main character for a change. Optimus still appeared in the series, but as a guest character and he was not above needing to be helped at times. It was also good to see the characters be self sufficient without Optimus needing to hold their hands.

7- Likeable kid characters. - I really hate it in any media when the kid characters are made to be annoying or obnoxious. Cody and Frankie were very likeable. Heck, I outright loved them. They were fun, mostly believable and actually contributed to the team and to the show. Most importantly, I liked how the kids were actually discouraged from the action when it got too hot.

8- Multi dimensional Autobot characters. - Let’s face the big glaring truth about most Transformers. They have pretty cookie cutter and one dimensional characters most of the time. Not the Rescue Bots. Each one of them has their own personality, their own tastes, their own interests and their own hurdles to jump. More importantly, they actually experience character development that sticks such as Heatwave starting to appreciate his task and Blades overcoming his fear of flying.

9- Romance was on display for better or for worse. - Since Beast Wars, having characters fall in love or even have crushes became a big no show in Transformers. However, Rescue Bots allowed characters to be normal in every way which includes falling in love. Kade got an on-and-off again girlfriend, Dani got a boyfriend, and Dr. Greene wound up getting married and even had a kid with his current wife. Even Chief Burns got a crush at one point. You could say that the series was trying to tell kids that love is not icky or a waste of time at all. It is very natural to want someone in your life and to grow old with.

10- You don’t need violence to tell a good Transformers story. - The thing that was most obvious about Rescue Bots was that the show was not about violence at all. It was about rescues, science and solving problems. And it was very interesting and entertaining for it. It felt deep and educational without getting boring, emotional without getting dramatic or depressing, funny without getting silly, and moral without getting preachy. This speaks volumes about the Transformers though mostly it says they’re not just there to shoot lasers, throw punches or kicks and transform. You can put them in other situations and they can still be entertaining.

Well, that’s my list. What do think was most significant about Rescue Bots that I haven’t mentioned?

[thusatlas]

20

I have been wondering how to answer this for a few days now. For reference, the post and the subsequent question (feel free to ask for more):

Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

The obvious one story to go to is the Crownless. But I've been scratching my head on how to answer this without giving any spoilers because most of the stuff that I'm like 'aljnglajbgklrbgl' about, has been planted, but has not yet come to fruition.

So, I'm going to say that there will be spoilers in this post up to Chapter 20 if you have not caught up yet, and the rest is going to be a massive tease for what's to come.

(Which I think is rather fitting as we enter the last few chapters of part 1.)

Continue past this point at your own peril.

Hidden References

There are loads. I was brought up as a gamer, finding Easter Eggs is my crack. I'd love to go on about how, with the theme of wanting to fully embed the world in magical realism, I have incorporated a number of Easter Eggs from real life to enrich the text in a meta way - but that just simply isn't true.

I'm just a fiend who has a lot of fun with the freedom of fanfiction.

The most obvious one that near enough everyone who has commented has picked up on, is the Pirates of the Caribbean reference in Lucius' chapter.

My favourite Easter Egg of them all is that I have actually given away Raine's true identity and further hinted and the lore that goes with that identity. It's buried within the text, hidden in plain sight, which is in keeping with the theme of the story.

There's a fair few references to the Grimm Brother's, especially where the Black Forrest is concerned.

The narration style of 'describing the wallpaper' is a homage to Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, who have greatly influenced the humour and style of this entire fic. In particular here, the items that Hermione carries on her person is a direct callback to 'Hitch Hiker's Guide to Galaxy'.

There's a reference to Deborah Harkness' 'All Saints Trilogy' (highly recommend these books). I read these and fell down the alchemical rabbit hole that led me to the Voynich.

There are all sorts of popular culture references, from Marvel to Jane Austin hidden within the text, simply because they were on my mind as I wrote them and it brought me great joy to have the freedom to write them.

Not everything is serious. However, I am seriously considering going through and making an Easter Egg masterlist, and anyone who can name them all will get a cookie.

Characters, relationships and hidden foreshadowing (because I love spinning webs)

There are loads, every character has an arc, whether it be big or small. Someone once commented that they weren't sure whether some details was a red-herring and what was real, while another commented that every detail given is a clue.

Both are right, unfortunately - all details mean something but whether they're there for worldbuilding or character development is only something that can be seen when the point comes to light.

The two characters who show this the best are Theo and Raine.

With Theo, we start with this roguish, glib, charming character, who's a touch flamboyant but generally a smooth white-collar criminal.

With Raine, we start with a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde character - Dr Jekyll being quirky, weird and unassuming. In the beginning, we only see brief touches of Mr Hyde - the serious, cold and calculating General. The overall effect is a character that I am pleased to see no one trusts.

But the clues are in the names. They always have been, they always will be.

Just the same way that Fear was a foreshadowing from chapter 1...

For Theo, the reader has had some indication of his character arc since Chapter 2. This was re-affirmed in Chapter 13 and again recently in Chapter 20. Theo is closely tied to my favourite Easter Egg, whose name ties into this whole thing, and further builds upon Harry's canon identity, as we see in Deathly Hallows. I shan't say more, because spoilers. But you will find out soon.

For Raine, it's trickier. Again, it's all in the names, and as I've stated, I dropped that Easter Egg a while ago. But then the reader is told that 'Raine Willows' is infact a careless name, thought up in the spur of a moment. A name is an identity, ergo, what sort of Being cares little about that? Further to this, his journey is closely tied with Hermione's - always has been. The more Hermione has fallen down the rabbit hole, the more Raine has moved away from Dr Jekyll and become Mr Hyde.

The crux of their arcs is closely tied to the heart of the story. For Raine, he is Hermione's mentor. The other characters - Draco included - move around Hermione. She is the constant.

Much the same as the central plot. No matter how many side plots or whatever there are, it's all a helix towards the same focus point.

Part 2

It is my hope, that by the time we begin part 2, all the pieces will be lined up, ready to go. The Fuckening is one really really long introduction, setting the scene and laying the foundation. In order for the plot to exist and for our characters to go on the journeys that they will in part 2, everything has to break.

The allegory

Don't mind me whilst I put on my pretentious hat and dust off my critical thinking robes.

There is a fuck tonne of symbolism, sometimes in the staging of a scene, sometimes in the character's behaviour - Narcissa and Draco chapter 20, the character development of a Messiah.

But by now, if you've been following me or have spoken to me for more than 5 minutes, inevitably 'worldviews' would have cropped up. I sincerely apologise, I am aware that I am a broken record.

I started this fic in a really uncertain time in the world. As a STEM social science researcher, it's my job to look at the big picture and at the time (and still relevant to me now) the question was, wtf is going on?

So for me, along with it being a conversation about the psychology of love and friendship in a deterministic world, I wanted to highlight the importance of belief systems. I wanted to show from a psychological perspective how civilisation is built upon a very fragile network of beliefs both individual and collective, and the agreed-upon social norms only continue to exist, because we as a collective continue to perpetuate them.

I wanted to show how easily those belief systems can break which is why we begin with the disappearance of a horse and a somewhat intelligent cat. And the only way I could do that was to base canon in magical realism. A norm so adjacent to the ones we accept today, is one that will fracture everything so thoroughly and so quickly, that I won't have to write a tome to get my point across.

The Crownless is a story told from multiple perspectives, seeing and living the same long and winding conspiracy. And in worldbuilding, I have tried to show perspectives of different stakeholders, how politics is again, a delicate promise spun from beliefs. The Crownless is not meant to be a serious piece of literature, but it's my way of showing the hypocrisy of claiming Absolute Good and Evil in any situation.

[bimbocore]

this is random but i want to say that i felt very validated by seeing dr. cockroach/ruff ruffman/anti cosmo etc on your fictional characters list because i also was enamored with all of them at some point in the past but no one else seems to remember them. also absolutely cookie masterson too but that’s a current favorite semi-obscure fictional man

HI THANK YOU, i should really get around to updating it because it grows daily and I don't even think Norm the Genie and King Sombra are on there :/

[hazeltail420]

Dr. Norm's Max Cannabis-Infused Indica Snickerdoodle Cookie 100mg THC

hazeltail420 on ig

[tormvnd]

I'd like to know about allllll of Succession: Rome really but I'd settle for more of Tom's background and gereral existence in this universe if you are willing to give some crumbs.

PS: CIDER IS BEST

I am always willing to give crumbs, or if you’re lucky and my brain is working, the whole cookie. You’re lucky today!

TL;DR Tom is a weird man who will never fit in and needs to chill about what other people think of him for like, one second, but also he is full of love

Tom was born and raised on his parent’s wealthy estate in the bay of Naples, where they grow wine grapes and peaches and other fruits, mostly. But when he was growing up, his parents sent him to get a classical education in Greece. Familiarity with the art and culture of Greece was a mark of status among upper-class Romans. But at the same time, Greek values were considered morally lax and Roman values always took precedence at the end of the day. But Tom loved it in Greece. The anonymity and relative lack of expectations meant he was allowed to be as hedonistic and indulgent as he wanted, and boy did he indulge – in parties, in food, in sex, etc. Tom was probably at his happiest there. But what he loved about it wasn’t truly the indulgence, it was the freedom to be himself, which is not someone who is a strong, masculine, upstanding Roman man.

In Hadrianic Rome (where the main plot of Succession: Rome is set) Greek art and values were in vogue! However, Logan came up in Trajanic Rome, where Roman tradition was highly prioritized in all things – especially in the family. So while Tom fits in fairly well with the wider culture, within the Roy family Logan heavily disapproves of that past.

On top of that, while it wasn’t unusual for rich Romans to live outside of Rome, that background also means he’s way out of his depth. Tom begins Succession: Rome as a new senator with absolutely no idea how to handle politics. He is BAD at it. He’s not particularly charming, he doesn’t understand any of the existing alliances, and he wouldn’t know an opportunity if it bit him. He wasn’t trained growing up to look for any of that – he never expected to be a senator! He’s only marrying Shiv because Logan wants his land, and because he was the only one to agree to the unusual requirement that their children will be part of the Roy family line, not his own. Being a senator, thanks to Logan’s influence, is worth those conditions, but he was not prepared for it.

So Tom feels this deep sense of not belonging while at the same time under immense pressure to belong and to be what he’s supposed to be. What Tom really wants, ultimately, is stability in his relationships, and love, and love free from the extremely regimented and restrained roles prescribed by Roman norms. It takes a long time to break through those external and internal pressures and come around to a way of thinking that allows him to reach a stable and comfortable point with Shiv – that is, supporting her, and letting her make their decisions. And while he and Shiv aren’t in love, they absolutely do love each other.

His relationship with Greg is something that wouldn’t be at all unusual for a wealthy Roman man, except in the manner that they go about it. He doesn’t want to just fuck Greg and then go back to his wife. He and Greg act more as spouses than as just occasional lovers. The hedonism and indulgence that Greg brings him into isn’t just about drinking wine and taking drugs and going to bacchanals – though it’s also about that – it’s about letting himself have what he really wants, which is an equal and stable partnership with Greg, despite what others might think.

Bonus: When Tom was in Greece, he met Tabitha, who is originally from Greece. Tabitha is now a priestess of Diana outside Rome and may be falling in love with Shiv. Tabitha knew Tom when he was at his most unhinged and carefree in Greece and now sees him trying to fit into the husband role and is just. Tom, what the fuck, who are you. Tom gets better, but unfortunately, Tabitha never lets him live it down.

[leiascully]

What is the best way for white people to reach out when we are penned as dehumanizing, complacent, the source of the world’s oppressive racism. I think there are a lot of people who want to help but are hesitant or feel that it doesn’t make any difference

I think white people need to start by talking to other white people.  BIPOC don’t have any responsibility to educate you, and a lot of white people at the beginning of their antiracist work (self included) reach out as a way to relieve their own guilt and to be told that no, it’s okay, they’re one of the good ones.  We can’t be satisfied with that.  Asking for ally cookies feels good at the time, but a) we don’t deserve to be rewarded for not being racist, it should be the norm, and b) some people will take that and become complacent (you know, the old “my Black friend thinks I’m not racist” defense).  So don’t reach out.  Don’t burden non-white communities with trying to reassure you.  Listen.  Study the real history of our country, the one schools often elide or lie about.  Show up when people ask for volunteers, if you can, or donate to GoFundMes and such.  Do the work and don’t talk about it, or talk about it to other white people.  Do your research and speak out.  Confront your racist relatives (we’ve all got them) and your racist coworkers when they start talking nonsense about affirmative action or the suburban dream or immigration or telling racist jokes.  Let the police know they’re being watched when they use three squad cars to pull over one brown person.  Put yourself between racists in the street or on public transit and the object of their harassment.  I hesitate to cite the example of the Wall of Moms in the Portland protests, because I feel like it left out non-white mothers, but they did put their bodies between the police and the protestors, and there’s nothing white supremacist society claims to love more than white mothers.  

A lot of white people are complacent.  That quote going around from the Enola Holmes movie isn’t wrong: white people don’t want to change the system, because it benefits us.  And you can’t just disavow your white privilege, or whatever meme was going around on Facebook.  It’s not necessarily your fault that it’s easier for you to get hired, to get promoted, to get an education that’s tailored to your own history and interests, to get an apartment, to buy a house, to be treated fairly by banks and government officials and the police and teachers and and and and.  You personally didn’t create those circumstances.  But you can recognize and speak out about them.  You can train yourself to recognize microaggressions like “Where are you from?” and white people trying to touch non-white people’s hair.  You can stop appropriating non-white cultures and using words like tribe or slurs like g*psy and Esk*mo, and you can stop buying from companies that do.  You can demand transparency from your company about who gets hired and promoted, or at least make sure that non-white people’s concerns get heard in meetings.  You can stand with your non-white friends on the issues they tell you are important to them.  You can pressure your local school board to make sure that they include antiracism in their curriculum and ensure proportional representation in AP classes and school services like special education, counseling, and other therapies.  You can buy goods from Black-owned or Native-owned or Latinx-owned or Asian-owned businesses.  You can buy vegetables from non-white producers at the farmer’s market, or pressure your grocery story to carry Fair Trade coffee and chocolate.  You can watch movies and read books about people who aren’t white, by non-white authors.  You can make sure non-white people get paid for their labor.   Yes, some of those things are easier to do if you have money, but there’s something that can be done by every white person, no matter what their socioeconomic status.  Plenty of non-white activists have released a lot of their work for free on the internet.  Start by educating yourself.  Start by letting go of your image of yourself as a Nice White Person.  It doesn’t matter if you, personally, are nice.  

BIPOC don’t want to dehumanize you for being white.  They know how fucking bad it feels.  Imagining that you’re oppressed when people express their frustration with a system and with a group that you are intimately entwined with is an easy out.  Yes, your white ancestors were racist.  Yes, my white ancestors were racist.  Whether or not they actively owned slaves, they participated in a racist society and so do we.  Letting your feelings get hurt by the fact that people might suspect you might be racist toward them is just putting the blame back on non-white people.  That quote from Margaret Atwood about men being afraid women will laugh at them and women being afraid men will kill them is apt enough for white people and BIPOC.  So maybe your feelings are hurt?  So what?  Mine were too.  But what are my personal hurt feelings when I hold them up to generations and generations of oppression and discrimination and lynching and murder and assault of all kinds?  Nothing.  Nothing anyone else needs to deal with, anyway.  

tl;dr: don’t reach out.  Just learn what needs doing and do it.  Give up on the idea that you need to be rewarded by BIPOC for your good behavior.  Justice is its own reward.