#fodder for cow

[krishnayangaurakshala]

First Roti for Mother Cows: A Tradition of Divine Blessings and Prosperity

In Hinduism, the act of feeding animals holds profound spiritual significance. Among these revered creatures, the cow stands out not only as a symbol of motherhood but also as a divine entity. Cows are worshipped, and feeding them is considered an auspicious act that brings blessings and positive energy into one’s life. One such sacred practice is offering the first roti (flatbread) made in the household to a cow, which is believed to be akin to offering food to God.

The Spiritual Significance of Feeding the First Roti to Cows

Feeding the first roti to a cow is a deeply rooted tradition in Hindu culture. It is believed that this act can absolve a person of their sins, attract the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi, and bring positive energy into the home. Families who observe this practice often experience an abundance of happiness and progress. The presence of cows in the vicinity is said to ensure that the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi are ever-present.

The religious scriptures state that feeding a cow can lead to prosperity and financial stability. It is also a powerful remedy for overcoming debts and household problems. The first roti, when offered to a cow, is believed to clear the path for personal and professional growth, ensuring success and well-being for all members of the family.

Attaining Happiness and Prosperity through Gausewa

The practice of feeding roti to a cow not only ensures spiritual benefits but also promotes happiness and prosperity. A person who regularly feeds cows is said to progress rapidly in life, free from the burdens of past sins. Additionally, feeding jaggery (unrefined sugar) to a cow, especially a sitting cow, is believed to remove debt and bring financial stability. This simple act opens the doors to progress and wards off poverty.

According to tradition, if you wish to rid your life of financial troubles, you should break the first roti into four pieces. The first piece is offered to a cow, the second to a dog, the third to crows, and the fourth is placed at a crossroads. This remedy is believed to bring relief from financial crises and ensure prosperity.

Achieve Career Success and Resolve Astrological Issues

Regularly feeding roti to a cow is said to bring career success and protection from evil forces. Those who follow this practice are believed to be blessed with wealth, grains, and opportunities for progress. Mixing jaggery in the roti and offering it to the cow is especially effective in completing unfinished tasks and achieving success in various aspects of life.

Astrology also emphasizes the importance of feeding animals to resolve planetary defects. For instance, feeding the last roti made at night to a dog can help eliminate defects related to Rahu, Ketu, or Saturn in one’s horoscope. Similarly, serving a red cow during unfavorable Mars periods or donating a black cow during Saturn’s dasha can mitigate the negative effects of these planets.

Divine Blessings and Peace at Home

The cow is revered in Hinduism for embodying the blessings of 33 crore (330 million) gods and goddesses. When a person feeds the first roti to a cow, it is as if they are offering food to all these deities, earning their blessings and divine grace. This practice has been followed since ancient times and continues to bring peace and positivity to homes.

Feeding the first roti to a cow is also believed to resolve domestic conflicts and bring peace and harmony to the household. Serving the cow, especially during twilight when they return from grazing, is considered particularly auspicious. The dust from their hooves is said to destroy all sins, further highlighting the cow’s sacred role in Hinduism.

Join the First Roti for Cow Campaign with Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaurakshashala

Participating in the “First Roti for Cow” campaign not only enhances your spiritual growth but also strengthens your connection to divine energies. At Shree Krishnayan Desi Gauraksha, we are deeply committed to feeding thousands of cows daily. By joining our mission, you contribute to a noble cause and invite divine blessings into your home.

Currently, over 21,000 stray and destitute desi Indian cows, bulls, and their progenies are being sheltered at our Gaurakshashala. These animals are brought to us through various channels, including the police, government agencies, NGOs, and farmers. We provide them with a second chance at life by offering shelter, food, and medical care.

Nourishing the Cows: A Mission of Compassion and Care

At Shree Krishnayan Desi Gauraksha, nourishing the gauvansh (cattle) is of paramount importance. We follow a carefully crafted feeding regimen, providing them with a balanced diet that includes dry fodder, green fodder, grains, mustard cake, and jaggery. Our dedicated team ensures that each cow receives the nutrition they need to stay healthy and thrive.

We also have a fully equipped medical facility on-site to address any health concerns. Our team of expert doctors works round the clock to ensure the well-being of these cows, offering them a peaceful and happy life.

Support Shree Krishnayan Desi Gauraksha

By supporting Shree Krishnayan Desi Gauraksha, you become part of a mission that not only serves Gaumata (Mother Cow) but also uplifts your spiritual and material well-being. With over 21,000 destitute cows living a peaceful life under our care, we are dedicated to giving them a second chance at happiness. Join us in our mission and experience the divine blessings that come with feeding the first roti to cows.

[firethatgrewsolow]

[aria0fgold]

Me: calls a cow stupid for walking into a thorny rose and getting damaged.

I turned around and saw...

My Kangaroo is constantly taking damage by a rose too.

I forgot I had my own idiot in the form of a kangaroo I tamed orz...

[krishnayangauraksha]

Donate Fodder for Cows

Ensuring that cows receive adequate nourishment is a fundamental aspect of animal welfare, and at Krishnayan, we are committed to providing the best care possible for these gentle creatures. Our "Donate Fodder for Cows" initiative offers you a meaningful way to contribute to the well-being of cows by supporting our essential feeding programs. Your generous donations help us provide nutritious feed and ensure that cows receive the sustenance they need to thrive.

[shrilalitambagautirth]

By sowing the seeds of compassion and taking practical steps to support the well-being of cows and other animals, we can contribute to a more compassionate and sustainable world.

Donate for sick street cows and fodder online click here- https://www.shrilalitambagautirth.org/Home/DonationForm

[ineffectualdemon]

Idea: Shen Jiu wanders by the camp of children waiting for the entrance exam one night and comes across a small child beating Shang Qinghua with a stick shouting about his terrible writing and stupid ideas

It's very amusing even as Shang Qinghua is clearly not hurt he still looks cowed. And Shen Jiu is thoughtful, leaving his Shidi to get beaten by a small child

The next day the kids barely break soil before Shen Jiu is like: "That one" pointing at Shen Yuan

Everyone is surprised and pleased with his decision he leaves and in a frantic bit of panic Shang Qinghua nabs Luo Binghe

Which leads to Shen Yuan repeatedly stealing Luo Binghe and when questioned he says "he belongs on Qing Jing, not with that man"

Shen Qingqiu is delighted by the spite and joins Shen Yuan in trying to get Luo Binghe to switch to Qing Jing but Luo Binghe actually quite likes An Ding and Shang Qinghua who ruffles his hair and personally taught him to read.

(Shang Qinghua just wants to not die)

Anyway Shen Qingqiu secretly delights in Shen's sassy and snarky ways but he's also bad with children so he's like "fascinating." *pokes Shen Yuan with a long stick*

Ming Fan tries to bully Shen Yuan and gets called a "forgettable cannon fodder" and "ant boy" and immediately deflates and cries

Remember Shen Yuan was a bored rich kid internet weirdo. He's not dealing with bullshit if he can get away with it

[anitralivestock]

Anitra

“To optimize the value chain of livestock for the benefit of all the stakeholders with bias towards Farmers"

Anitra through the process of unique identification and certified traceability facilitates, a fair value for livestock through a scientific mechanism that helps in the monetization of livestock of Indian farmers, who normally have small herd size and does not follow a system of systematic record keeping.

Anitra assists farmers in the monetization of animals at doorstep, providing ease and best value for livestock. Anitra brings best practices in Livestock Maintenance, Transport, and Logistics increasing farmers profits.

[bogleech]

@bobipineman first began kiwifarm gossiping about me in response to me blocking him 5 years ago, still hatereads my blog for fodder and more recently tried to "call me out" as a bully (for bashing a different kiwichud, no less!) when we had both of eachother blocked, but now cries that I'm a harasser because I used a sideblog to tell him to knock it off.

Ignoring him never worked, yes that was the main thing I kept trying at first. But he earnestly believes it's neutral, innocent behavior to go drag someone as a "sperg cow" elsewhere online, and that it's crazy weird of me to think that's creepy.

Please tell him how creepy that is. He's not playing dumb, he just really doesn't seem to understand what's wrong with trashing someone on "lolcow" stalker forums, as if he thinks it's a harmless casual pastime. External help is all I haven't tried so anyone willing to try and talk to him about it would be massively appreciated, at least to figure out why the fuck he does it at all or believes it's like, acceptable.

[blackcrowing]

Important Facts about Samhain from an Irish Celtic Reconstructionist

Pronunciation

SOW-in or SOW-een ~NOT~ Sam-han, Sam-win etc.

Dates

Most reconstructionists celebrate Samhain on Oct 31-Nov 1, however some may choose to celebrate on Gregorian Nov 13-14 as this would match the Julian dates of Oct 31-Nov 1. Some also believe that it was a three day festival spanning Oct 31- Nov 2 on which Nov 2 is specifically devoted to ancestral veneration, but there is no specific evidence of this, only possible extrapolation from more modern practices.

Following the Celtic method of days beginning at sunset, regardless of the specific dates you choose to celebrate on your festivities should begin at sunset and end at sunset.

Importance in the Mythos

Ná Morrighan has a strong connection to this time of year thanks to the story of Cath Dédenach Maige Tuired (The Last Battle of Mag Tuired) in which she is found depicted as the ‘Washing Woman’ (sometimes washing herself in the river and other times washing the bloodied armor of the soldiers that would die that day), on the eve of the battle which is also Samhain. The Dagda approaches her and couples with her (creating the ‘Bed of the Couples’ along the bank of river and granting Dagda her blessing in the battle to come). This encounter seems to over emphasize the liminality of the encounter by taking place during the changing of the year and with the couple each standing with ‘one foot on either bank’ of the river.

She and her sisters (Badb and Macha) then use various forms of magic to rain destruction on their enemies (in the form of fire and blood). After the day is won Morrighan speaks a prophecy that describes what is taken by some to be the end of days and others to be the events which will later lead to the Ulster Cycle.

Beneath the peaceful heavens lies the land. It rests beneath the bowl of the bright sky. The land lies, itself a dish, a cup of honeyed strength, there, for the taking, offering strength to each There it lies, the splendour of the land. The land is like a mead worth the brewing, worth the drinking. It stores for us the gifts of summer even in winter. It protects and armours us, a spear upon a shield Here we can make for ourselves strong places, the fist holding the shield Here we can build safe places, our spear-bristling enclosures. This is where we will turn the earth. This is where we will stay. And here will our children live to the third of three generations Here there will be a forest point of field fences The horn counting of many cows And the encircling of many fields There will be sheltering trees So fodderful of beech mast that the trees themselves will be weary with the weight. In this land will come abundance bringing: Wealth for our children Every boy a warrior, Every watch dog, warrior-fierce The wood of every tree, spear-worthy The fire from every stone a molten spear-stream Every stone a firm foundation Every field full of cows Every cow calf-fertile Our land shall be rich with banks in birdsong Grey deer before Spring And fruitful Autumns The plain shall be thronged from the hills to the shore. Full and fertile. And as time runs its sharp and shadowy journey, this shall be true. This shall be the story of the land and its people We shall have peace beneath the heavens. Forever

(based on the translation by Isolde Carmody)

It is also mentioned in Echtra Cormaic that on this festival every seven years the high king would host a feast, it was at this time new laws could be enacted. (but it seems that individual Tuathas or possibly kings of the individual providence may have done this for their territories at Lughnasadh).

It seems to be a time considered especially susceptible to (or of) great change as it is the time which the Tuatha de Danann win victory over the Formorians and take control of Ireland, the invasion of Ulster takes place at this time in Táin bo Cúailnge, in Aislinge Óengusa Óengus and his bride-to-be are changed from bird to human and eventually he claims kingship of Brú na Bóinne at this time of year.

Celebration Traditions

Samhain is the beginning of the “dark half” of the year and is widely regarded as the Insular Celtic equivalent of the New Year. The “dark half” of the year was a time for story telling, in fact in this half of the year after dark is considered the only acceptable time to tell stories from the mythological and Ulster cycle (the Fenian cycle being assumed to be no older than the 12th century based on linguistic dating). Traditionally anything that had not been harvested or gathered by the time of this festival was to be left, as it now belonged to the Fae (in some areas specifically the Púca).

This was also an important time for warding off ill luck in the coming year. Large bonfires would be built and as the cattle were driven back into the community from the pastures they would be walked between these bonfires as a method of purification (the reverse custom of Bealtaine where the livestock were walked between the fires on their way out to the summer pastures). Assumed ritualistic slaughter of some of the herd would follow (though this perhaps had the more practical purpose of thinning the herd before the winter and creating enough food for the feasting). In some areas the ashes from these fires would be worn, thrown or spread as a further way to ward off evil.

Homes would be ritualistically protected from the Aos Sí (Fae or ‘Spirits’) through methods such as offerings of food (generally leaving some of the feasting outside for them), carving turnips with scary faces to warn them off (we now tend to do this with gourds), and smoke cleansing the home (in Scottish saining) traditionally with juniper, but perhaps rowan or birch might be an acceptable alternative. It is likely these would be part of the components used in Samhain bonfires as well, for the same reason.

Lastly based on later traditions as well as links in the mythology this is a time where divination practices or those with the ‘second sight’ were regarded to be especially potent.

Art Credit @morpheus-ravenna

My Kofi

[yanoverload]

beau x farmer reader and his new owner brands him with tattoos that mark him as meat..... like a barcode or cut here lines...... tyvm

Sometimes I think of an AU where Beau didn't escape the barn, but rather his owners died of old age and he got sent to another farm.

Farmer! Darling is rigid, but nice overall. They would mark him with those cow ear codes to keep track of each cow and bull hybrid they have. At first Beau was terrified, but in this AU he's very passive so eventually he becomes obsessed with darling anyway.

He hated his old owners because they hurt him, but he drools at the thought of you treating him worse than fodder.... How the turntables.

He hopes to be your very own special show cow. Your favorite little belle.

Ok maybe I think abt this AU a lot.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Sticks and Stones

Pairing: Shigadabi

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Commissioned by @azzydoesntexist. Dabi has been out recruiting for a while now and keeps turning up goose eggs. His lover is more than understanding of the care that he’s trying to put into doing this job right, but the rest of the League are starting to consider him deadweight. 

Contents: Canon Divergence, BDSM, Consensual Non-Consent, Feminization, Bondage, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Humiliation, Praise Kink, Semi-Public Sex, Exhibitionism, Hand Jobs, Cumming In Pants, Light Breath Play, Fear Play, Dacryphilia, Creampie

Word Count: 12,343

It's been two months since Kamino. Two months since he got to see any of the others when he was the only one that Tomura trusted to be able to go out on his own without getting into any more trouble and actually look to try and build the networks that they lost now that AFO's are lost to them. It feels like it's been even longer than that, but he keeps wanting to chalk that up to the fact that living in the bar was the best that he's lived at all in a good long while, and he just misses the creature comforts of having a bed to sleep in and food in his stomach whenever he wants it. He does miss those things, of course, but it isn't the same way that he has missed Shigaraki. 

He still can't believe most times that their animosity was able to warp into something else throughout the long nights at the bar. He had only decided to play nice with the League at all because he thought that they would be good fodder to get him to Endeavor. He hadn't been looking to mend things with his boss after their rocky start, he just wanted to keep himself from getting destroyed by the scrawny weirdo until he served his purpose. He wasn't expecting their one-on-one sessions where they planned the summer camp job to reveal that, even under all of the gamer speak, that Shigaraki was as focused and ruthless as he was. He didn't know that he would find that kind of hot. He didn't realize that long, deadly fingers would do it for him too. But Shigaraki had caged him up against the bar and gotten into his space one night when he had to admit they were just drinking together rather than actually doing anything productive, and Dabi's whole body got hot in a new way that he hadn't felt very often throughout his life. He wasn't expecting it, but it had felt... good. He had pushed back, hadn't let himself be cowed, and Tomura had wrapped one lethal hand around his throat, his lips against the shell of his ear as he described the things that he had been imagining doing to him if he gave him permission, as his other hand had palmed and stroked his hard cock until Dabi was whimpering as he'd cum in his pants, right there in the bar where anyone could have come downstairs and seen them. He absolutely had not been expecting that, but he was not about to complain about it when it was the first time any of his partners had ever bothered to put his pleasure first. 

It had been easy to agree to anything else Tomura wanted from him when he was in his bed after that, and dating him was just something that Dabi sort of expected when it became clear that Tomura wanted him as more than just a convenient hookup. He knew when everything fell apart that Tomura had only been sending him away because he trusted him, but it doesn't mean it didn't make his whole chest ache from how empty he felt as he was forced to be alone again even though he... finally felt like someone might actually want to keep him close for the first time since he broke. He knew that, but when Duster finally calls him to tell him that the other's are nearly ready to finish their mission, Dabi immediately wants to rush to them. 

He is so happy to just be back with the others that he manages to stop himself from getting sick as the van swerves horribly on the road as they try to catch the police convoy carrying the bastard that killed Magne. He is more than happy to kill whatever cops and heroes threaten his friends and lover as they approach the shackled Yakuza boss. He wonders how fucked in the head he really is when watching Tomura put his hand on Overhaul's arm to steal one of his makes him immediately want those hands back on his body. He could be so close to breaking like that, but Tomura never would. Just the thought of it makes his fires burn even hotter as they get their revenge and turn to get out of there before any more heroes can show up. 

He is still buzzing from the adrenaline when they get back to the new base. It's really not much. It's just an abandoned warehouse that Compress has managed to outfit with a ratty couch and some crates to serve as their other furniture. They have a case of water bottles in one corner, a few bottles of booze, and some snacks, but the lot of them have apparently been taking turns on the couch or on the sleeping bags that their master thief was able to pilfer. But most importantly, Toga and Twice are waiting for them there. She rushes right over to them and throws her arms around Shigaraki's waist. 

He stiffens slightly, clearly still not used to the affection, and from what his lover told him over the phone, she and Twice had been furious with him for striking a deal with the people who killed Magne. He can't blame her for that, but he couldn't deny that Tomura absolutely made the right call in not telling her or Twos the full plan either. If he had, there was a non-zero chance of Twice blurting it out and getting themselves and the rest of the League killed. This was a good plan, the best option, and when Twice throws his lover a case of bullets that can bring the strongest hero to their knees, he knows that all of the turmoil was worth it. He feels a twinge of regret that Magne died to bring them this, but these bullets will change the tide of the war. They just need to figure out how to use them.

That, however, it seems is something for them to worry about at a later time. Right now, Tomura wants the others to breathe again for the first time in months, and he gestures them over to the modest celebration that he, Compress, and Spinner must have scrounged together. They all gather up on the couch and sleeping bags, and Dabi chooses to just drink water since he knows they don't have nearly enough booze for him to get drunk with the way his quirk burns off the alcohol. He doesn't want to take away any of the others' fun when he hasn't been doing work anywhere near as tense as them. Tomura wants a debrief, of course, but he's more than willing to get that as they celebrate their win and mourn their loss. 

"We had it handled! It was insanely scary!" Twice tells them, his mask pulled up enough for him to take pulls off his beer between his words. 

"It was scary," Toga tells them, but she doesn't sound cowed. "They were weird. They followed that guy like he was a god or something. I didn't like it." He wouldn't have either if he'd been in her shoes, but she is picking at some of the chips that they managed to get. "You aren't gonna make us treat you like that, are you, Tomu?" 

"No," He says immediately and Dabi can't help snorting slightly, which gets his lover's eyes on him with a small glare. 

"Whatever you say, your majesty." He has absolutely not ever hidden the fact that he wants to be the king of Japan when their fight is finished. 

"Shut up, brat, or I'll start looking for your tribute." He says it so flatly and evenly that he doubts the others know what he means by that when the words come out. 

"Yeah, Dabi," Toga always jumps on the bandwagon to mock him. Dabi thinks it's because, even if she doesn't know it, they both have siblings. It's instinctive to try to go for his throat whenever she can manage it. "We didn't even need you to take care of things this time! And we actually brought back what we were supposed to. Where are the new recruits?" 

The words sting his pride sharply and he wishes that he had taken a bottle of something to put a different kind of burn in his throat. "No new recruits. The people who want to join us now are trash. Your fault," He says at Shigaraki without really looking at him, "because you made us run with Muscular and Moonfish." 

"We'll correct their assumptions soon, Dabi." He tells him easily. Today was a win, that tone seems to tell them all, they will make their way through every tomorrow that they have to before they get another one. And another. Until they destroy this world that he hates so much and that has hated each of them in turn. The others take that reassurance and run with it, but he can't pretend that there isn't a stone still sitting in his gut for the rest of the evening as the others go back to shooting the shit. 

///

Three sleeping bags and one couch. It's really, really not much, and at this point Dabi is pretty sure that sleeping in one of Mister's marbles would actually be more comfortable than this arrangement. But the others are exhausted. Either from the stress of the mission or from the drinks, it doesn't take long for everyone to be curled up in their sleeping spots for the night and for soft breaths and loud snores to start to ring through the room. He can't sleep though, and he slipped out for a smoke when it seemed like the others were starting to wind down. He... hadn't been able to make much small talk after Toga's comment, and he doesn't want to touch that discomfort that has rooted itself in his gut because he's worried pulling at it will turn it into an ulcer. So instead he focuses on something more productive. He doesn't know the layout of this base like the others do, and if they manage to catch the attention of any of the cops or heroes, he needs to know the layout so he can burn more efficiently and so he doesn't get cornered. So he moves around the room easily, looking here and there to make sure that he knows exactly where everything is. The setup is mostly just the main warehouse floor, but there are a couple of hallways to other areas. Places where people must have had offices, a men and women's bathroom that he's been told only has working water in the women's side, the small lobby, and what he thinks might have been a break room alongside the room with lockers where the employees must have used to put their stuff before clocking in. It's really not much and he's finished exploring not long after.

It's when he's starting to make his way back to the main area that one of those side office doors opens up and four fingers catch his wrist and tug him into the dark without warning. Dabi might have yelped if not for the figure pressing his hand over his mouth and getting close enough to pin him to the wall, letting Dabi see his face just a bit in the dim light. Tomura shuts the door softly, keeping the hand over his mouth, but letting go of his wrist to do so. His body presses him against the wall and his voice is just barely above a whisper when he speaks. 

"Talking back to me like that in front of the others?" He clicks his tongue, "I'm so disappointed that you forgot all of your training so quickly, baby girl." 

Dabi's whole body tingles as it gets hot. He isn't sure if it's from want or from the fact that he knows that he shouldn't want this, but it doesn't matter. He always gets hot when his lover's hands are on him and they haven't had each other at all since before the summer camp job. When the hand pulls away from his mouth so Tomura can lean in and take his lips in a hard kiss that steals his breath, it's not gentle and Dabi doesn't want it to be. He just wants it to be so good that he can't focus on the way that his stomach has been in knots since so early in the night. He tries to push Shig's hands away from him when they find his hips and gets a bite against his lips in turn. He can't help the weak moan that makes slip out of his lips, the pain grounding in a way that he has needed so badly since everything else went so wrong. 

He isn't expecting that to make a hand move up to his throat, squeezing just hard enough to restrict his breathing without taking it away entirely. "Such a whore that you'll take anything I give you, but if you're too loud, then someone is going to hear you, slut." 

That sends a different kind of heat going through his body as he realizes just how loudly the others' snores are echoing off of the cavernous walls from the main room. This isn't like the bar where they have the benefits of AFO's soundproofing to make sure that he doesn't humiliate himself completely if any of the others wake. He can't imagine how horribly it will go if they hear the things that he lets Shigaraki say to him. He tries to push away the hand at his waist and at his throat, "Don't," it costs him so much of his breath to say that, but his whole body is tingling with heat when he does and Tomura pushes harder, showing him exactly how he wants to play with him right now. 

"You really have forgotten all of your training, haven't you? You know that baby girls don't get to say 'no' to their owners." Dabi whimpers, his blood rushing south as his lover snarls those words against the shell of his ears. He's not wearing his gloves, so Dabi is the one who has to be scared, who has to be careful as he reaches down to his waist and Tomura starts to unthread his belt which sounds far, far too loud in the quiet room. 

"Please, sir," he hasn't gotten to be this for Tomura in so long, and after all of the exhaustion and stress that has been following him around for the past two months, he wants to be allowed the relief that comes with surrendering even if he pretends to fight it every step of the way. "Don't, the others--" 

"Are only going to hear you if you can't keep your slutty mouth shut." He takes the belt completely from his waist and Dabi really thinks that's just so he can get into his pants more quickly, he's not expecting the other man to grab his wrists and bring the leather around them, tightening it just enough he can slip two fingers beneath it before he secures it and then loops the other end into a pipe that Dabi didn't even notice was exposed in the low ceilings, hooking it in place so that he finds himself so suddenly trapped in the rafters. He didn't know that Tomura was capable of turning him on so thoroughly, so quickly, but his head feels dizzy from it when his lover's eyes are raking over him once he has him secured. "There. Now you can stay right there while I remind my princess how he's supposed to behave when his owner wants to use him." 

Dabi whimpers as he's made helpless, Tomura pressing in closer again, ignoring his lips and instead moving his mouth and teeth along his jaw. He can be rough with him there because he doesn't bruise in a way that anyone else will be able to see. Tomura can be as rough as he wants and no one will be able to tell unless they hear him moan at the prickle of pain as it sings across his nerves. "Please, sir, not here. I-- I can be a good girl," he is so hot as he takes those words for himself. Disgusting. He knows that it should be. He should have set Tomura on fire the first time he talked to him like that. But it makes his cock start to swell just like it did the first time. He can't help it. Something about the shame that soaks his body down to his very bones when Tomura calls him a girl makes him so hot. He didn't know that he could get hot like this, but it comes so easily when it's his lover treating him like this. 

"Can you? You've already been so naughty." His hands move beneath his shirt, tracing the scars over his stomach and up to his nipples. Dabi has to bite his lip hard when he touches him there. His fingers are always cool to the touch and they are deft as they tweak and stroke at him until they're hard and even more sensitive to every brush of their skin. "What am I playing with, baby girl?" He asks, his breath hot against his cheek as he keeps his voice so low that Dabi doesn't have to be scared that anyone else will hear Tomura. He just has to worry about the way his own ragged breaths are already filling the air and how any twist or tug at the belt keeping his arms trapped, scrapes the leather over the rusted pipe and sends a loud, hollow metal ringing throughout the base. He tries to strain his ears to make sure that the noise didn't wake anyone, but he can't be certain of it when he knows that he'll only get into even more trouble if he isn't good and doesn't answer Tomura quickly. 

The humiliation spikes in his gut so sharply as he takes on the words that his owner has trained him to use for himself. "M-My tits, sir." He can't hide how much he likes that sting of humiliation in his veins though because his cock is getting harder, starting to strain against the front of his pants in a visible tent. 

"That's right, princess."

Dabi has to bite his lip hard to keep from whimpering when he gets that honorific from the other man. He shouldn't want it, he shakes his head like he doesn't, but his whole body aches to be reduced to nothing but that. Being Tomura's princess means that he doesn't have to fear anything else. He will belong right here, with him, until he's finished with him completely. 

"Please, sir, not here. Please. I'll be good, just not here." He begs, hoping that Tomura still knows him so well that he won't believe the protests for a second. 

"Not here?" He feels Tomura's lips curve into a smile against his skin. His hands squeeze his chest hard enough to make Dabi's toes curl in his boots. "You want my hands somewhere else, baby girl?" He asks, bringing them down his sides, down to the clasp for his pants. He teases his fingers over the swell of his cock beneath them, and he makes himself shake his head instead of rutting his body closer to him.

"N-no, sir," he begs. 

"'No' what?" He opens his pants and doesn't give Dabi even a second to try and hold onto his dignity as he lets the fabric fall to the floor, his underwear falling without hesitation as well. Leaving him hanging from the ceiling with his pants around his ankles and his cock aching from how badly he wants the relief that Tomura's touches are promising, makes Dabi's whole head spin from the intensity of his arousal. He didn't know that he could want something like this so badly, but he is happy that his lover offered it to him without ever making him learn how to ask for it instead. He doesn't think that he would have survived that without immolating himself again from the embarrassment. 

"No, please, sir," he gasps, trying not to let himself move into the touch as Tomura's cold fingers touch the hottest part of his body. "Please don't touch my c-clit." Dabi's whole body gets even hotter as he tells him that. 

"But your body wants to be touched so badly, princess." Every mocking syllable only makes that more true as he wraps his fingers around him and gives him one stroke. "Absolutely begging to be fucked full, aren’t you, baby?" Dabi can't help shifting, the belt scraping against the metal loudly and freezing them both in the spot as they strain their ears to see if the reverberations of the sound caught anyone else's attention. The snoring in the distance continues and Tomura, thankfully, takes his hand from his clit. He hopes that maybe, how loud that noise was, might have been able to get him to understand just how dangerous this game that they're playing is. Maybe they can wait until the others are out of the building to have this part of their reunion--

But Tomura only let go of him so he could reach into his pocket and extract a packet of lube. Dabi whimpers, biting his lip, as Tomura wastes no time tearing it open and reaching for him. Not his clit, but bringing his wet fingers back, "N-no, sir, please," he can't ever keep quiet when his lover fucks him and he knows that he isn't going to be able to manage it now either. "Don't, I-- I can't take it when you touch my pussy." He doesn't even hesitate, even though the words make him so embarrassed that he would have to immolate himself ahead of schedule if anyone ever heard him use them to describe his body as Tomura sucks bruises onto his neck as his fingers reach back to rub against his hole. The nerves there immediately spark, eager to be full after months of nothing. All of him is too eager because of the long absence between when they could do this last. He wants to feel good. He wants the relief that letting go completely with his lover brings him. But Tomura has set their scene so that he can't relax at all. 

Dabi's face aches as his vision mists with red and he bites his lip harder as the first finger pushes inside of his hole and the first tears start to trickle down his cheeks. His frustration is so big, his arousal so sharp, and he is completely helpless to it. 

"Oh, princess," Tomura coos with such false sweetness in his ear. "I know how much you love to pretend. Always whining at me to stop when all you want is to have your greedy pussy," he pushes in two more fingers, the abruptness of it making Dabi's rim burn and a harder sob slip from his lips as he's forced to take so much so quickly, "Stuffed full. I'm going to give it to you, precious. You never look cuter than when you're falling apart on my cock." his other hand reaches down to hook around the back of Dabi's thigh, and he proves that the bullet and knife wounds have been healed completely because he's able to lift Dabi like that, giving the belt a bit of slack, as he wraps his legs around his lover's waist, held between him and the hard press of the door against his back. His lover crooks his fingers and Dabi's cock twitches as he rubs against his prostate, 

"Sir," he gasps breathlessly. It feels so good. He can't let himself feel so good. They aren't even stripped. If he cums, their clothes will be stained and he's not going to be able to hide that. Everyone will find out about them in the second most embarrassing way, right after the humiliation he will feel if one of the others wake up and come to pull this door open and he and Duster yank this pipe out of the ceiling when they fall. "We can't, the others--"

"If they hear you moaning like a whore from how good you feel with your cunt full, then they can thank me later. It's always a privilege for anyone if they get to hear how sweetly you sing for me, baby girl." The words are so sure, unwavering, and Dabi's nerves tingle from how good it feels as his fingers scissor inside of him, making sure that he's open enough that he'll actually be able to handle taking his cock. For as teasing as his words are, there is a franticness between their bodies. It's been too long, both of them aching to find their satisfaction and he can't bother to pretend to protest anymore when Tomura takes his fingers from inside of him and he reaches for his pants instead. The sound of his zipper pulling is so damning in the room that is only filled with the sounds of their breath panting and mingling together. 

"Ask for it, baby girl." Tomura demands breathlessly. Dabi whimpers, biting his lip and shaking his head weakly. Tomura glances up at his bound hands, and it takes him a second to remember, but against all of his better judgement, Dabi leaves three fingers open to show him that he is still in the scene with him even if his humiliation is real. His lover's eyes meet his again, shifting so one arm is cupped beneath him to steady his body as his other hand moves between them so he can slick up his cock. "Then I guess you'll just have to tell them I was raping your pretty cunt when they all hear you scream." 

Dabi has to bury his face in Tomura's shoulder, his teeth sinking into his skin through his shirt because he needs something more solid to gag him to keep his moan inside as his lover starts to press into his body. Heat saturates every part of him and Dabi is suddenly afraid that if the noise doesn't wake the others, the smell of smoke as it trickles out from between his seams will do it instead. It's only made worse when Tomura lets out a low moan against the shell of his ear as he lets gravity pull him lower until his cock is completely inside. Tomura always stays fairly quiet when they're in bed together, usually it's just his filthy words that tell Dabi how good he's making his lover feel. Hearing him moan like that into his ear sends his lust so high that Dabi almost forgets where they are as he tries to rock against him, wanting to get that sound again. 

"Fuck, baby girl, missed you so much." Tomura's words are thinner than they usually are. "Your pussy is so tight, princess. Feels so good." The tangle of humiliation and arousal that goes through his body at the praise has him tugging at his wrists, trying to get them free so he can pull his lover closer and get his cock fucking into him as hard as he needs it. 

The sound of the belt scraping over the metal, every rivet of it screeching as it moves even just a few centimeters, splits the air so loudly that both he and Tomura go absolutely still. It's possibly the worst thing that could have happened when he hears Twice shout, 

"Huh? Whu' was that? Shhh, man! People are tryin' ta sleep!" 

There's an awful pause as Dabi tries to hold perfectly still as he hears their companion moving down the hall. He wants to try to pull away from Tomura, but the fear that any movement might draw his attention to this door and result in a higher chance of them getting caught keeps him frozen in place. Twice's footsteps come down the hall, each one rivaling the thundering of his heart in his ears, but their companion moves past the door, a little way further down the hall, a door opening and swinging shut behind him. Bathroom, fuck. Dabi turns his attention back to Tomura, fully intending to put an end to his given how close they just were to being--

His lover holds him tight against the door and rocks his hips up into his own, stroking his insides and waking up the nerves that he'd been distracted from by his anxiety. He whimpers softly, shaking his head, but Tomura just moves again. He fucks him so agonizingly slowly, every movement of his hips dragging his cock against his oversensitive walls and bringing his arousal back to that fevered pitch even as his fear and humiliation send fresh tears slipping over his cheeks. 

"It's okay, baby girl." Tomura's lips are against the shell of his ear when he speaks, barely loud enough for Dabi to hear. "No one is going to see how cute you are with your pussy full if you can be a good little girl and make me cum before he realizes that he can't find us." 

Dabi's insides tighten around him, he can't help it. He wants to be good, wants to feel good after going without for so long, wants to make Sir happy by making him feel good too. He has been away from the group for so long that even Toga, who had been willing to slit Shig's throat for him when the three of them first met, is now saying that he's useless. He might not have been worth anything when he was out trying to recruit and coming up empty, but he can at least be useful like this. Dabi whimpers, but he tries to move his hips into the languid thrusts that his lover is giving him. His breaths sound too loud in the quiet room as he holds his arms as still as he can above him and lowers his voice to barely a whisper. 

"I-- I want to be a good girl, sir." Oh god, if anyone hears him say that he'll have to immolate himself ahead of schedule. "It feels so good with your cock raping my pussy." He has to bite his lip hard when Tomura huffs a soft laugh against his throat as he gives him a sharper thrust for using those words. A fresh sob slips out from his lips, "Please, please, sir, it's good, so good. You fill my cunt so much. Wanna feel how full you make me with your cum." He can hear the sweat sizzling slightly as it hits his skin around his staples and starts to evaporate. "I wanna have your cum marking me up inside so everyone knows that my pussy belongs to you." 

Tomura brings their lips together as he shifts his grip to push Dabi hard enough against the door that it doesn't slam into the jam as he starts to fuck him harder. And he keeps doing it even as Dabi hears the distant sound of a toilet flushing. He tugs at his wrists, bites at Tomura's lips to try to get him to slow down, but the harder he goes, the more Dabi's fear spikes, and the better everything feels. His clit is so achingly hard that Tomura has barely freed his hand and wrapped four fingers around him before his insides are tightening so much as his orgasm rips through him, his clit gushing his cum and staining his and Tomura's shirts with the thick messy spurts of it. 

It doesn't help his sanity, but does everything to keep the pleasure of his orgasm blinding when Tomura breathes another laugh against his throat as he murmurs, "Look at that, princess. Such a needy girl. Protested so much, but you just couldn't help yourself could you, baby girl? So pretty falling apart on my cock like a filthy little whore." He keeps fucking into his cunt, the squelch of their bodies together too loud, as Dabi hears that distant door creek open again. No, no, no, no--

Tomura shoves himself in hard one more time and Dabi muffles his sob against his shoulder as the spill of his lover's cum stretching his walls further sends fresh pleasure tingling across his nerves. They stay like that, trying to catch their breath in the dark as they hear Twice make his way down the hall, back to the others. If he notices that they aren't sleeping in the main area with the others, he chooses not to say anything before he settles back down to sleep himself. 

Tomura stays inside of him, his lips moving over his face, giving him kisses softer than any touch he's given him so far tonight and offering words to match. "There, you did such a good job, princess. Made me feel so good, and now your pussy remembers what it was made for, doesn't it?" When he barely manages a weak nod, Tomura coos at him and strokes his skin softly as he licks away some of the bloody tears on his cheeks. "It's okay, baby girl. You're so cute when you're being defiant, and I love to see my little girl cry. I know that you'll always be good for me no matter how far I let you wander." Dabi's arms ache as Tomura reaches up and unthreads the belt carefully from the pipe and lets him pull his bound wrists to his chest. It's only then that he pulls out and lets his cum spill down his thighs, absolutely soaking into the waistband of his pants and underwear, before he pulls him away from the wall. He didn't notice that his lover took his coat from the main room at some point, but both of their coats are laid out on the floor as a barrier to the cold concrete, and Tomura strips them both out of their soiled clothes and puts them into a bucket of water that has been set not too far away. 

He wipes up the cum from their skin with a rag and that gets tossed aside too before Tomura pulls him close, his hands now covered with his gloves so he can hold Dabi without the fear of hurting him. And after everything that came before and how low his mood had been before they even started scening, Dabi just curls tighter into his chest and lets himself cry. His lover doesn't mind it, knows that he isn't actually upset from the way he used his body, just knows that he needs this form of catharsis as well if he wants to loosen the knot of tension that has been coiled inside of him since they were able to see each other last. So Tomura holds him and presses kisses to his hair, murmuring soft words that speak so clearly of the love that Dabi still isn't sure how he earned. 

They stay entwined, the floor hard and cold, but his body, at least, can keep them warm. He manages to stop crying after a while and Tomura cleans up the blood from his face and keeps him close. He doesn't manage to say anything for a while, just letting himself lay there as he tries to find words. He missed him. Of course he did, but being back, seeing how much they were able to achieve while he was gone, makes the nothing he has to show for trying to do his job all the more glaring and painful. He's the one that Tomura trusted to be able to find them resources when their entire world came crumbling down, and he couldn't manage that even for a moment. They had to figure it out on their own and now he's just here as what? A burden? 

His lover holds him close and murmurs, "I missed you, princess." A sex toy. That's the only thing Duster would lose if he weren't here anymore. He curls himself tighter against the other's chest, hoping that he thinks he just wants to be close because the words are sweet. But Dabi just wants to cling to him until his lover realizes that he's not worth his time anymore.

///

In the morning, he realizes that the only useful thing he can do is be a dryer as he piles their wet clothes onto his body. It works so well and keeps them from showing any evidence of their evening activities, that he ends up offering to do the others' clothes as well since they haven't had access to laundry in months. 

Toga cackles when she understands what he's saying. "Thanks, Dabi! Maybe you should stick around all the time if you can do something more useful than just wandering around." 

The words sting his pride but he just snaps, "Watch it brat, or I'll touch yours." 

"Please don't." Compress had said, exhaustion clear in his voice. "We already have enough trouble keeping her clothes on her." 

She sticks her tongue out at him and the conversation shifts as they try to figure out where they're going next By the time they're finished with the discussion and Toga is wrapped up in one of the sleeping bags and the rest of them are going to hang out in one of the other rooms until their clothes are finished, Dabi is left wondering if he even counts as one of them now. He doesn't feel like it when the conversation flows so seamlessly around him like they've forgotten that he's even sitting there. 

Tomura doesn't even ask for his input as they plan. 

///

The plan that they eventually settle on, is trying to get funds so that they can take the quirk-stealing bullets to someone to have their contents analyzed. Then they can get Twice to make as many of them as they want. If they have as many of those as the Yakuza was planning on making, then they will be able to win this war much more easily than they originally anticipated. Dabi feels a prick of anxiety when they talk about, first and foremost, reserving a bullet for each of the top ten and Eraser Head. He needs to find a way to stop that from happening if they get to that point. At least when it comes to his father. The thought of his father being unable to meet him on the battlefield in a fair fight makes him sick to his stomach. 

"I mean if we're planning on robbing banks," He says, trying to keep his focus on the matter at hand, "Twos and I can run interference while you and Compress clear out a vault." 

"No," Tomura doesn't even look up from tapping at his phone. "If we start pulling common jobs like that, then the heroes might put together how much my teacher's arrest crippled our operation. We can't have them thinking that. You can go back out and try to find us more manpower" He orders lazily, no hint of his lover who held him close the night before. "We'll work on securing our finances." 

"If we don't want the heroes or the cops to find out," Spinner says, his tone more considering. "We could target other criminals. They aren't going to report the theft and expose themselves." 

"We're trying to get more villains on our side, not get them to hunt us down like the cops, lizard." Dabi responds just as lazily as Shig had. 

"Quit calling me a lizard, jackass!" Spinner snarls at him, and Dabi prepares to retaliate with a sharper word. 

"Knock it off, Dabi." His lover's voice is colder when he speaks this time and it robs him of his speech entirely. "What do you have in mind, Spinner?"

The heteromorph huffs softly, arms crossing over his chest and ignoring him entirely as he continues, "There are plenty of villains that we don't want to work with. If taking out the dregs of the Yakuza was a fine move, then why can't we make it clear what other parts of the underground we aren't willing to work with? More targeted, not just torching anyone who rubs us the wrong way." The pointed jab makes Dabi's skin prickle and he wants to snarl at the asshole. He wasn't even a villain a few months ago. Dabi has been in this life for eight years. He knows how to spot the kinds of trash that they don't want to be associated with. "What about going after the CRC? They're an anti-heteromorph hate group that have a rocky standing with heroes and villains alike, and they're an old organization with a lot of money from older families who want to keep heteromorphs oppressed. If word gets out that we went after them, then the police might just think that we were trying to get rid of another set of old blood that we don't agree with. If other villains hear about it, it's only going to be sympathizers that think it's a bad thing, and we won't want to work with them anyway." There is an edge of question at the end of that statement, but Tomura inclines his head enough to make the gecko continue. "And any heteromorph villains might be more drawn to helping our cause too." 

Shigaraki thinks it over for a second, but then concedes with a slight incline of his head, his nails going to his neck as he starts to dole out their responsibilities, "Compress, Toga, I want you to take the money we have and go out to gather any supplies that we might need to stay in one place for a few weeks. Try not to draw attention to yourselves, and when you get back, Compress will join Jin and I working on finding someone who can analyze the bullets. Toga, you'll join Spinner with researching the CRC and finding out where we should target them." 

"Okay!" 

Tomura starts to straighten, clearly meaning for that to be the end of the discussion, and Dabi's skin prickles. "No orders for me, boss?" He tries to sound unimpressed, not moving from where he's leaning against the wall. 

Shig glances at him and shrugs. "You're still recruiting until you bring back something worthwhile." 

Dabi can't help how the words, the dismissive tone, the way his lover just goes back to what he was doing before so seamlessly, all make his pride sting. He doesn't say anything though, fading to the background of the conversation until it becomes obvious that they... don't need any of his input anymore and he just slips out of the warehouse. 

It's not until three days later that he even gets a text telling him where they've moved to now with no word of anything else they've been up to. He tries to find more people so he'll have a reason to go back to the others with at least something in hand, but he just keeps coming up empty and that echoes in the hollow spaces that he didn't know weren't full of ash now. 

///

Finding recruits after Kamino is impossible. He knew that the League would have a harder time of being selective if they let in Toga and Mustard who are literal children, and Spinner who had never been a villain before he decided to join up with them. He, Compress, Magne, Twice, Moonfish, and Muscular had been the proved villains in the group and unfortunately the latter two gave people a very strong idea about the kind of shit that the League would let them get up to even if people thought that they were aligned with Stain's ideology at some point. Dabi doesn't want to run with crews that he doesn't trust, and as he tries to find anything useful to bring back to the others, he ends up just finding a lot of trash. People who would roll over on them if an even slightly better opportunity were to come up, people who just want to have a name to point to when they commit whatever crimes that they were already planning, people who he wouldn't trust to sleep in the same building with them. He finds criminal scum that aren't any better than the worst kind of heroes and anyone else who they might have gotten access to were somehow in AFO's network who seem to have no intention of allying with them unless somehow AFO's word reaches them from Tartarus. 

So Dabi spends his days sneaking around places, with barely a yen to his name, with no company or assistance in his work, as he tries to recruit people who are more likely to attack him when he turns them down than they are to just walk away. All of this while seeing the other members of the League talking in the group chat about the work that they're doing and how well things are going on their end. Spinner has located a mansion base for the CRC and with Toga's help, they've also determined the best time for them to strike if they want to not only take whatever valuables the bigots have, but also wipe out a number of them at the same time. Twice has found them a small abandoned waystation that they should be able to use as their hideout that's close enough to that location for them to use. Compress has been asking around his old contacts to see if anyone knows of a place where they can get the bullet contents analyzed and has turned up a couple of additional leads. Meanwhile, Tomura has heard that Kurogiri's mission to find the secret weapon his teacher left behind was a failure, with the mist man getting captured by the heroes. But he was able to send coordinates before being captured which means that after they deal with the CRC and bullets, they have another avenue to take for their work. 

It's all good news. This is more productivity than they've had in a while, but Dabi can't help but be bitter over how he doesn't even come up in those conversations. They never ask for his input, never consider if he should move over to some of the other jobs given he also has been a criminal for years and has the experience to back that up. It's just like he... doesn't exist at all. He did what he was supposed to for the summer camp job, but he had been knocked out for everything that happened afterward in Kamino. He was out recruiting for all of the Overhaul shit save for the very end, and by that point, they already thought he was most useful when he was covered in their sopping wet clothes as a personal dryer and space heater. There is a bitter humiliation that sits in the back of his mind every time he thinks about it for too long. He wonders if Duster only ever really called him back so that he could use him as a sex toy. The others don't even know about them. Every doubt, every day that passes without the others needing him, only makes Dabi more desperate to find something better to bring back to the group. He wants to prove that all of the time that he spent working on this job was worth it. He wants to bring back something that will help them change the very fabric of this war. But he refuses to lower his standards. Bringing in people they can't fully trust will only hurt their cause in the long run. 

So he goes to Giran and asks him for some help with his recruitment as well, putting his feelers out for people like the rest of them who actually have something they are fighting for instead of seeking out violence and anarchy for their own sakes. It still takes a few weeks, the rest of the group finishing with their attack against the CRC and they don't need him either. All he gets is a text from Duster asking him to come to the waystation so they can debrief and go over their next steps. 

He's on his way there when Giran tells him Hawks wants a meet with him in Fukuoka, and the hero had passed off hero patrols for the next week and a half as an act of good faith. It absolutely sounds like a setup, but something to show for his work after the others have already been successful in a large part of their jobs makes him just desperate enough to see how much the hero is willing to part with to make it actually seem reasonable that he's turning traitor. Dabi goes to the meet and even manages to make it out without getting arrested, though that still shocks him, and he gets a few more patrol schedules out of him. Of course the hero wants to meet the boss, but Dabi doesn't give him a fucking inch as he takes the hero's number and determines that he is never going to call him using his cellphone if he can help it. He doesn't want to ever lead the hero back to the others. He delays going back to the others for three days after their CRC job just so he can spend the next three nights transcribing the plans that he got from the hero before he goes back, sure that this will be something. 

He hates that he walks into the new base and finds Toga playing with costume jewelry, Duster tapping away at his game as Spinner watches, and the rest of them lounging around. He knows that they just finished a job, but he can't help trying to hit them with a jab that has been a thorn in him since they spoke to each other last. 

"Am I the only one actually doing any work?" He drawls as he enters the single room, kicking the door shut behind him. 

Toga blows a raspberry, "Yeah right, we got all of this and the nomu maker got back in touch." She tells him, making Dabi's skin bristle. "And you were just out setting people on fire." 

"I was working--"

"Do you have anyone new for us to meet?" Compress's tone is much more neutral than Toga's mockery, but when he asks and Dabi turns his attention to that side of the room, he sees Shigaraki looking at him expectantly as well and his throat closes up around his words. He absolutely does not trust Hawks. Sure there are plenty of bastard heroes who are as corrupt as they come, but he doesn't know if the hotshot golden boy who raced to to top of the charts really is one, or if the HPSC just thought that he would be such good bait that the League wouldn't be able to resist taking it. 

"No--" But before he can go on, Toga and Twice are cackling. 

"And you give us crap for resting after a big job? At least we actually have something to show for it!" 

"Yeah, come on man, what do we even need you for?" The question cuts him so deeply that he feels Toya bleeding out heat over his skin as an adrenaline-bright fear reminds him that he's always ended up thrown away. 

"Enough," Tomura's tone is lazy, like this conversation doesn't warrant his attention and is only a distraction to what he actually wanted to talk about. "The monster that Kurogiri located drew attention to us again from the doctor. He gave me a more precise location and now that we're all together again, we're going to head there and see if we can recover it together." 

That's the debrief on the surface, but as they gather their shit and start to head out, he also learns that the CRC base was a fucking bust. The mansion was derelict and they got more money stealing it off of the corpses than they did finding whatever valuables were left in the house. Dabi has to bite his tongue to keep from pointing out that they'd gotten as much out of that job as he has his so far, but he does bite it back as they start to travel. Camping with the others means that he doesn't get a chance to talk to Tomura one-on-one, which really only serves to make him more anxious and frustrated, but that doesn't matter much when they have more important things to worry about. 

///

The giant sobbing monster is a sight to fucking behold, and he is the first to take the doctor's instructions to subdue it by force and win its submission. He just also is the first to provoke it and discover that the rock-like skin is impervious even to the intensity of his fire and send the thing into a fresh rampage. He's already aching with further humiliation because that means he can't help with this job at all either, when a horrible tasting sludge spills out from behind their teeth and brings them to the doctor's laboratory. Ujiko and Tomura negotiate for access to the nomu and the rest of AFO's resources, but when it comes time to go back to the giant baby, Dabi tries to play it off. 

"I'm working on a recruit. You can handle that monster without me." 

And Toga snorts, "Pfft, we all know you're just running away because your fire was useless against it." 

"Knock it the fuck off, brat!" He doesn't mean to let the words escape him, but they slip out with smoke between his teeth. He doesn't know if he's ever yelled at any of them before and he sees tension ripple through the room. 

Toga doesn't back down though. "Why? You're never doing anything!" She snaps right back. "You just wander off because you think you're better than us and you don't ever bring anything back that can help us! Why do we even bother having you try to recruit when you can't bring back anyone? We would be halfway to conquering Japan if we did it ourselves!" 

"Try!" Dabi snarks back, sparks leaping from behind his teeth. "The last time you did you got Magne fucking killed and Compress crippled!" 

The words lash through the air more exacting than his flames and burn them all twice as badly. Twice and Spinner visibly flinch and Toga's mouth is hanging open as she looks at him. And Dabi wants to throw up. He hadn't said anything about that. He knows that Duster already had a conversation with Twice about that and he had chosen to hold his tongue because Jin already feels guilty enough about the entire situation. But he did bring the entire League to a meeting that they shouldn't have ever had, he didn't check in with him or with Tomura, and it got their people hurt and killed. 

He can't take the words back, so he pushes on. "I never bring anyone back because I am trying to find people we can trust! We need recruits and resources that can help us move forward with our goals. Not completely untrained people," he spits the words towards Toga and Spinner, "Who are here because it's fun or because they want to uphold ideals that run counter to our own. People who are stable enough that we won't have to worry about breaking down in the field because we can't spread our manpower any thinner trying to get them back on their feet if something does go wrong. People who are established enough to understand how to work with a new crew who aren't still so deeply in AFO's pocket that they would sooner break him out of Tartarus than actually help us to reach our goals! And absolutely no one else who is just here to destroy it all because they won't give a shit about how many of us get arrested if they can use our name and missions to further their own goals." He hates the way that his whole body feels hot, not just from his quirk, but from a spreading sickness that keeps pushing at his veins as he lays into them. "I am not useless just because I'm taking my time to make sure that anyone that I do bring into this group can give us more than they take." 

The words take out the last bit of the energy that he had and he hates the way that it feels like they've managed to cleave him away from the rest of the League. They already didn't like him much, always thinking he was too prickly, already seeing his long absences as reinforcing the idea that he... isn't really a part of this group. He can't bring himself to look at Tomura. His goals, both of their goals, have always been the most important part of what they were doing. Dabi always knew that he wouldn't give up his revenge to stay with Shigaraki until the end of the war. But the idea of seeing on his face how he doesn't want him to stay either makes him sick to his stomach. 

"Enough," Duster's voice is more even and clear than he thought it would be. "We'll take on your challenge, doctor. But you'll provide us the funds you've promised, a day of time for us to gather supplies and prepare, and transportation to and from our safehouse." 

"Ah, yes, I suppose that can be arranged. And, Dabi," he bristles at being addressed by the bastard. "If you're not going with them, I have a test that needs to be done on the new batch of nomu. It could be very helpful to have another set of hands for that." 

He doesn't know if the doctor actually means that or if he just is planning on turning him into one after he has seen firsthand how little he's meshing with the others. Maybe he thinks that he'll be more useful to the cause as nothing but a mindless beast. Before he can respond, not even sure of what he is going to say,

"We'll discuss that at base." Shig's voice is ice cold and leaves absolutely no room for any of them to protest.

"Ah, very well then." 

As money is exchanged and Ujiko gives them the location of an old warehouse in the area that they can use as their new base, the rest of them are completely quiet. Dabi is half certain that the second they get out of sight, he's not just going to get dumped for the outburst, but also dusted for fucking up group cohesion so badly. Just ten minutes ago Shig was keeping morale up by telling Toga that she would be able to do whatever she wants in the new world that they're going to make. He doesn't know what the others are thinking, but no one even complains about the disgusting sludge that they have to use to be teleported.

The new base they arrive at is a freezing cold concrete box in the mountains, snow already dusting the ground outside and reflecting light in from the tall windows. Great. Well at the very least they'll probably want him for a few more days so they don't freeze to death up here. He's no more useful than a space heater after all. 

Dabi isn't expecting Tomura's voice to still be just as hard when he speaks next. "Toga, you owe Dabi an apology." He doesn't think he's ever even heard Shigaraki say that word before. He was pretty sure that he never had to apologize for anything in his life, let alone familiarize himself with the concept of when it would be needed between other people. 

"What? Why? He yelled at us!" Because that's all it will ever be 'us' and 'him' alone in the same way he has been alone since he was a child. Natsuo was the only one who he tried to keep close and the truth was his brother only wanted to survive living in that house. He never wanted to be part of Endeavor's legacy the way that Toya had. He wanted him to stop caring about that too, join him, Fuyumi, and their mother as they were pushed to the side for Enji's ambitions because they thought being on the outskirts was better for them once he had what he wanted in Shoto. 

"You have been belittling him for weeks." Tomura tells her, his nails in his neck and his tone a little tighter like he's trying to keep hold of his anger too. "I gave you leeway because I know you two tease each other a lot, but at this point it's unacceptable. If you trust me as a leader, then you know that I am using all of my party members to the best of our advantage. That means you need to be respectful of the others and the jobs that I have them do, even if you don't see them providing results that you think are worthwhile. You didn't call Jin useless when he couldn't replicate the bullets for us. Dabi never reprimanded you for how little blood you were able to get during the hero licensing exams and the summer camp job." Dabi finally manages to actually look at the others and Shig is absolutely furious, but he's trying his best to keep a good handle on it. Compress is hard to read with his mask, but his shoulders seem a bit tense as Twice's contradictions make him a caricature of distress and indignance as he flips rapidly from taking the verbal lashing that is being aimed at the rest of them and wanting to defend Toga's honor while Spinner sinks his face deeper into his scarf like that will let him escape how uncomfortable this situation actually is. He wants to escape it too if he's being entirely honest. 

"Whatever, Duster. Let it go. She's sixteen." He says, trying to make this just stop so he can leave and not be the cause of this conflict when he's the one who brought it all on them in the first place. He's a grown man. He shouldn't have let the taunts burrow their way under his skin. 

"No," Tomura snaps at him too. "We are all we have to win this war. We are going to work together now or we're going to fall apart the next time the heroes come for us. I won't have infighting weakening our chances of winning this fight."

There is an achingly long pause as they all wait for how Toga is going to respond, but he's not expecting her voice to sound so small and watery when she speaks, not lifting his chin from her chest. "..I'm sorry." But the words are a fresh spark in the air, and they ignite the tar that spilled from his lips before when she speaks again, "But you weren't even there." He sees her shoulders hitch and knows from how his sister used to look when he took his cruel words against her too far that Toga has started to cry just like Fuyumi had. "You didn't come to see Overhaul like you were supposed to. If you were there, Big Sis wouldn't have had to get close. She would still be here--" her voice breaks into louder sobs and Dabi wants to die. He should have just kept his fucking mouth shut. It would have been better for everyone involved if he just hadn't opened this can of worms. He was already used to feeling worthless and discarded by the people around him. Why should this have been any different? It shouldn't have mattered at all if it still meant that he could reach his father by the end of this. 

"That's not fair, Himiko," Twice says after a second. "Talk about a cheap shot!" He shushes himself violently and tries again, "I was supposed to call Shig or Dabi, and I only called Shig to get everyone together." 

"I thought that Dabi had already okayed this meeting before we arrived and I was expecting him to meet us there." Tomura tells her, his own voice a little more even again. "I didn't realize until we arrived and he didn't show what had happened. There was no way for him to get to us when he didn't even know what was happening because we," he stresses at the others, "failed to communicate effectively among each other. Our oversight is what got Magne killed. If Dabi had been the one to vet Overhaul, we never would have been in that warehouse in the first place." 

The words seem so final, but they don't quite loosen the knots that Dabi's insides have tied themselves into. He just can't stop the way that all of this has unearthed the feelings that he thought he put away after he woke from his coma. He's spent so long trying to make it so that he doesn't need anyone else, but being shown now how completely his emotions can be riled is a rude awakening. 

He's not expecting Shig to sigh and try to pry his nails from his neck. "Take a look around this place. We'll meet back in this room in an hour to prepare what we need to before we move forward with this next job." 

Dabi isn't the only one who just picks a hall and all but sprints for it. 

///

He thought he did a pretty good job of finding somewhere that he could tuck himself out of the way in, but it only takes about ten minutes for Duster to find him in the storage closet. It's probably just big enough to hold three people with the shelving units that are bolted into the walls and covered in dusty fabrics and cans of something so old that the labels have just flaked away entirely from time. He steps inside and closes the door behind him before he moves into his space. He has his gloves on, and his hands wrap around his hips and Dabi lets himself be pulled closer. Tomura presses a kiss to his temple when he turns his head to avoid actually having to look at him when the seams under his eyes are aching pathetically with the need to cry. 

"You know that I value your judgement." His lover tells him, his voice even. "I wasn't ignoring your work or being dismissive of what you were doing when you weren't with us, I just knew that you would bring us something when you thought you had it. The others need more direct oversight because they have shortcomings that they don't have the experience to correct right now. I wasn't trying to alienate you from them, and I'm sorry I let it go so far before I stepped in." 

Dabi shrugs weakly, not liking how much that makes him want to cry as he feels the other's eyes on him. "I can handle myself." 

"Yes, you can. That's why I trust you. But if all of this is going to work, then you being able to tell me, to tell us, when you're feeling like this is important too. We've been figuring out how to support Twice's condition, we made sure to get Compress the help he needed after he was hurt, and we have been constantly covering for Toga and Spinner's blind spots as they still are getting a handle on villainy. If you need to spend more time with us instead of having to be out recruiting when I know that it's been such a difficult and frustrating effort, then that's okay too, Dabi. I just need to know that I can trust you to ask for what you need when you need it." 

Dabi hates how the words, how any amount of kindness feels like sandpaper scraping raw over his nerves, but he can't help the bloody tear that manages to slip from his seam. Tomura doesn't mock him for it. He kisses it away and Dabi lets himself turn into his touch and hides his forehead against his shoulder.

He's pretty sure that more than an hour passes before he and Shig move again. 

///

Compress is sent out with Toga and a good portion of the money that they were given to go get supplies. If the doctor expected that fight to last a while, then they need more supplies than what they have here. More blankets, food, drinking water, and a camping stove are all on the list, though they are each given an allowance to ask for other things that might be useful to them as they prepare for their next set of jobs. Dabi just takes his portion of the money in cash, mumbling about how he needs it for payphones, motels, and rations when he's out on his own. Especially if he's planning on going back to Fukuoka to actually see Hawks again. It will take ages to vet that pretty boy's intentions, and he doesn't know if he'll be done with that before Tomura is able to beat the giant baby into submission. No one bats an eye at that, and he hopes that by the end of the night, everyone else will be situated and he'll just be able to go so all of this awkwardness stops feeling so oppressive in the air around them. He just wants to be able to not deal with this shit anymore. He can go do his job with, at least, the assurance that to Tomura, nothing that he is doing is pointless even if he hasn't produced any flashy results. 

But after everyone is back, Toga with a new winter coat, they all sit down to actually have a meal together. It's nothing particularly elaborate, just cup noodles that they boil on the camping stove instead of making him act as one, but it's still something. He boils his own though so he can sit down a little away from the others as they start to cook, not wanting to get into anymore fights tonight when he isn't sure he can handle it without igniting.

So when Toga finishes her cup and comes over to sit beside him, he immediately bristles a bit. She doesn't say anything for a few minutes, the two of them just eating their noodles in silence, but after a while, she finally mumbles, "I'm sorry." 

"...I would have been there if I could have been." He would have. He needs the League to clear his path and Magne was one of their best. He wouldn't have let her die if he had been at that meeting. He wouldn't have let that meeting happen at all if he had known that it was on the table. 

"I know. I'm sorry for calling you useless." 

He hasn't had many people apologize to him in his life. The only person he's ever thought should apologize to him just buried him and went on chasing his ambitions like nothing ever happened. He doesn't know how to accept this one when she tries to offer it, when the words don't really make the raw edges of his hurt feel any better. Dabi wants to just shrug it off. He's an adult and she's a grieving teenager. If she's going to pick someone to lash out at for the death of their friend, then he should probably just suck it up and let it be him. But Shig is right. He can't actually be useful here if he is constantly trying to hide how he's feeling from the others the way that he has been so far. The cool guy thing worked with crews that he only ran with for a few weeks at most, but this is something that can last a long time. He isn't going to make it through this if he's constantly burning through his nerves trying to suck it up and let them treat him however they want. 

"It was a shitty thing to say and I don't appreciate it." He mumbles. "Don't do it again." 

"Okay." She sounds bad enough, but she stays sitting at his side until they're done with their meal. Tomura tells them that they'll work out how they're tackling their missions in the morning, and Compress presents Twice with a slip of paper that has the other man lighting up before he uses his quirk to produce two queen-sized beds. 

"I made a stop at a mattress store while Toga was picking out her coat and made sure to get the measurements." He explains easily. "It's not much, but it's something that will let us be a little more comfortable while we're here." 

"Oh! Dibs!" 

"No," Tomura says immediately. "We can take turns, but tonight Compress and Twice can share one, Dabi and I will take the other. You and Spinner can have the sleeping bags. We'll switch tomorrow night." He hopes that the others think that it's a reward for Compress and Twice who were able to actually pull this together, and maybe a way of Duster keeping an eye on him so that he doesn't bolt in the middle of the night after how bad things were before. But he thinks that they lose any subtlety at all when Tomura asks if Compress can help him move it to the private office they found during their explorations. 

Thankfully, after everything else today, no one asks him to bare any more of his soul, which is probably a good thing, because he might have bolted right then if he'd had to own up to the fact that he really needs to be cuddled up with Tomura tonight being his princess to help him put his head right again.

Thank you so much for reading, if you enjoyed this piece, consider leaving a reply or ask!

[krishnayangaurakshala]

Fodder for Cows: A Vital Cause That Deserves Your Support

In many parts of India, when cows grow old and stop producing milk, they are often seen as a burden and are cruelly abandoned by their owners. These gentle creatures, once revered as Gaumata, are left to fend for themselves without food, shelter, or care. Thousands of these innocent beings wander the streets, injured, malnourished, and homeless, searching for scraps of food in garbage heaps or being chased away from fields. Their plight is heart-wrenching, and their dignity is lost.

But at Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaurakshashala, we are committed to changing this narrative. Our gaushala serves as a sanctuary for over 21,000 desi cows, providing them with shelter, nourishment, and medical care. These cows, who once roamed the streets helplessly, now live a life of dignity and peace, thanks to the tireless efforts of our dedicated gausewaks.

The Importance of Fodder for Cows

Providing fodder for such a large number of cows is no small task. It requires immense resources and dedication to ensure that every cow is fed, healthy, and cared for. At our gaushala, we feed these cows a nutritious mixture of chaff, bran, green fodder, wheat, mustard cake, and sometimes jaggery. This diet is essential for their well-being, especially for those who are old, injured, or have been abandoned.

In addition to providing nutritious food, we also offer regular medical care. Every week, a veterinary doctor visits our gaushala to check the health of our cows, administering quality medicines and addressing any health concerns. This comprehensive care ensures that our cows, particularly the elderly and destitute, live a comfortable and healthy life.

How You Can Help

However, providing for such a large number of cows is a costly endeavor, and we need your support to continue our mission. By collaborating with Shree Krishnayan Gauraksha, you can help us supply essential fodder, medication, and care for these helpless cows and bulls. Your contribution can make a meaningful difference in their lives, offering them the dignity and care they deserve.

Join us in our mission to provide food and care for these gentle beings and honor their invaluable contributions to our lives. Your support can help ensure that no cow is left hungry, homeless, or in pain.

Our Commitment and Accreditations

At Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaurakshashala, we are committed to the highest standards of care and compassion. Our work has been recognized by several government bodies, including Niti Ayog, the Animal Welfare Board of India, the Uttar Pradesh Gau Sewa Ayog, the Uttarakhand Animal Development Board, and the Madhya Pradesh Gausewa Ayog. We are also registered under sections 12AA and 80G of the Income Tax Act, allowing your donations to be tax-exempt.

Moreover, we are proud to be certified by the Government of India and have received ISO certification for our services. We do not sell milk or milk products; instead, we distribute them freely to saints, tapasvis, gausewaks, and ashrams, ensuring that our cows receive the best care without any commercial exploitation.

Join Us in Our Mission

Today, more than 21,000 destitute cows are living a happy and peaceful life at Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaurakshashala. We not only give these cows a second home but also a second chance at a happy life. These docile creatures do not harm anyone, and we cannot leave them to meet a fatal end. With your support, we can continue to rescue, feed, and care for these vulnerable beings.

Your contribution can make a world of difference. Together, we can ensure that every cow at our gaushala receives the love, care, and respect they deserve. Let’s come together to protect and nurture these gentle beings who have given so much to us.

Support Shree Krishnayan Desi Gaurakshashala Today. Your generosity can help us continue our mission to shelter and feed over 21,000 injured, abandoned, and stray cows and bulls. Join us in this noble cause and make a lasting impact on the lives of these innocent beings.

[najia-cooks]

[ID: Seven yoghurt balls on a plate drizzled with olive oil. The one in the center is plain; the others are covered in mint, toasted sesame seeds, ground sumac, za'tar, crushed red chili pepper, and nigella seeds. End ID]

لبنة نباتية / Labna nabatia (Vegan labna)

Labna (with diacritics: "لَبْنَة"; in Levantine pronunciation sometimes "لَبَنَة" "labanay") is a Levantine cow's, sheep's, or goat's milk yoghurt that has been strained to remove the whey and leave the curd, giving it a taste and texture in between those of a thick, tart sour cream and a soft cheese. The removal of whey, in addition to increasing the yoghurt's tanginess and pungency, makes it easier to preserve: it will keep in burlap or cheesecloth for some time without refrigeration, and may be preserved for even longer by rolling it into balls and submerging the balls in olive oil. Labna stored in this way is called "لبنة كُرَات" ("labna kurāt") or "لبنة طابات" ("labna ṭābāt"), "labna balls." Labna may be spread on a plate, topped with olive oil and herbs, and eaten as a dip for breakfast or an appetizer; or spread on kmaj bread alongside herbs, olives, and dates to make sandwiches.

The word "labna" comes from the Arabic root ل ب ن (l b n), which derives from a Proto-West-Semitic term meaning "white," and produces words relating to milk, yoghurt, nursing, and chewing. The related term "لَبَن" ("laban"; also transliterated "leban") refers to milk in Standard Arabic, but in Levantine Arabic is more likely to refer to yoghurt; a speaker may specify "لَبَن رَائِب‎" (laban rā'ib), "curdled milk," to avoid confusion.

Labna is a much-beloved food in Palestine, with some people asserting that no Palestinian home is without a jar. Making labna tabat is, for many, a necessary preparation for the winter season. However, by the mid-2010s, the continuation of Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip, as well as Israeli military violence, had severely weakened Gaza's dairy industry to the point where almost no labna was being produced. Most of the 11 dairy processors active in Gaza in 2017 (down from 15 in 2016) only produced white cheese—though Mustafa Eid's company Khalij had recently expanded production to other forms of dairy that could be made locally with limited equipment, such as labna, yoghurt, and buttermilk.

Dairy farmers and processors pushed for this kind of innovation and self-sufficiency against deep economic disadvantage. With large swathes of Gaza's arable land rendered unusable by Israeli border policing and land mines, about 90% of farmers were forced by scarce pasture land and low fodder production to feed their herds with increasingly expensive fodder imported from Israel—dairy farmers surveyed in 2017 spent an estimated 87% of their income on fodder, which had doubled in price since 2007. Cattle were thus fed with low quantities of, or low-quality, fodder, resulting in lower milk production and lower-quality milk.

Most dairy processors were also unable to access or afford the equipment necessary to maintain, upgrade, or diversify their factories. Since 2007, Israel has tightly restricted entry into Gaza of items which they consider to have a "dual use": i.e., a potential civilian and military function. This includes medical equipment, construction materials, and agricultural equipment and machinery, and impacts everything from laboratory equipment to ensure safe food supplies to packaging and labelling equipment. Of the dairy products that Gazan farmers and processors do manage to produce, Israel's control over their export can cause huge financial losses—as when Israel prohibited the export of Palestinian dairy and meat to East Jerusalem without warning in March of 2020, costing estimated annual losses of 300 million USD.

In addition to this kind of economic manipulation, direct military violence threatens Gaza's dairy industry. Mamoun Dalloul says that his factory was accused of holding rockets and subsequently bombed in 2008, 2010, 2012, and again in 2014, resulting in repeated moves and the loss of the capability to produce yellow cheese. The Israeli military partially or totally destroyed 10 dairy processing factories, and killed almost 2,000 cows, during its 2014 invasion of Gaza, resulting in an estimated 43 million USD of damage to the dairy sector alone. Damage to cow-breeding farms in 2014 reduced the number of dairy cows to 2,600, just over half their previous number. Damage to, or destruction of, wells, water reservoirs, water tanks, and the Gaza Power Plant's fuel tank exacerbated pre-existing problems with producing cattle feed and with the transportation, processing, and refrigeration of dairy products, leading to spoiled milk that had to be disposed of. Repeated offensives made dairy processors reluctant to re-invest in equipment that could be destroyed at any time.

Israeli industry profits by making Gazan self-sufficiency untenable. Israeli goods entering Palestine are not subject to import taxes, and Israeli dairy companies are not dealing with the contaminated water, limited electricity, high costs of feed, out-of-date and expensive-to-repair equipment, and scarce land (some companies, such as Tnuva, purchase milk from farms on illegal settlements in the West Bank) with which Gazan producers must contend. The result is that the local market in Gaza is flooded with imports that are cheaper, more diverse, and of higher quality than anything that local producers can offer. Many consumers believe that Israeli products are safer to eat.

Nevertheless, Gazans continue building and rebuilding. Despite significant decreases in ice cream factories' production after the imposition of Israel's blockade in 2007, Abu Mohammad noted in 2015 that locally produced ice cream was cheaper and more varied than Israeli imports. In 2017, the amount of dairy sold in 74 shops in Gaza that was sourced locally, rather than from Israel, had increased from 10% to 60%. Ayadi Tayyiba, the region's first factory with an all-woman staff, opened in 2022; it produced cheese, yoghurt, and labna with sheep's milk from affiliated farms. However, demand for sheep's milk products has decreased in Gaza due to its higher production costs, leading the factory to supplement its supply with purchased cow's milk.

The current Israeli genocidal offensive on Gaza has caused damage of the same kind as—though to a greater extent than—previous shellings and invasions. Lack of ability to sell milk that had already been produced to factories, as well as lack of access to electricity, caused an estimated 35,000 liters of milk to spoil daily in October of 2023.

Support Palestinian resistance by calling Elbit System’s (Israel’s primary weapons manufacturer) landlord, donating to Palestine Legal's activist defense fund, and donating to Palestine Action’s bail fund.

Equipment:

A blender

A kettle or pot, to boil water

A cheesecloth or tea towel

Ingredients:

1 cup (130g) cashews (soaked, if your blender is not high-speed)

3/4 cup filtered or distilled water, boiled

1-3 vegetarian probiotic capsules (containing at least 10 billion cultures total)

A few pinches sea salt

More water, to boil

Arabic-language recipes for vegan labna use bulghur, almonds, or cashews as their base. This recipe uses cashew to achieve a smooth, creamy, non-crumbly texture, and a mild taste like that of cow's milk labna. You might try replacing half the cashews with blanched almonds for a flavor more similar to that of sheep's or goat's cheese.

Make sure your probiotic capsules contain no prebiotics, as they can interfere with the culture. The probiotic may be multi-strain, but should contain some of: Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium bifidus, Lactobacillus acidophilus. The number of capsules you need will depend on how many cultures each capsule is guaranteed to contain.

Instead of probiotic capsules, you can use a speciality starter culture pack intended for use in culturing vegan dairy, many of which are available online. Note that starter cultures may be packaged with small amounts of powdered milk for the bacteria to feed on, and may not be truly vegan.

If you want a mustier, goat-ier taste to your labna, try replacing the water with rejuvelac made with wheat berries.

You can also start a culture by using any other product with active cultures, such as a spoonful of vegan cultured yoghurt. If you have a lot of cultured yoghurt, you can just skip to straining that directly (step 5) to make your labna—though you won't be able to control how tangy the labna is that way.

Instructions:

This recipe works by blending together cashews and water into a smooth, creamy spread, then culturing it into yoghurt, and then straining it (the way yoghurt is strained to make labna). It's possible that you could skip the straining step by adding more cashews, or less water, to the yoghurt to obtain a thicker texture, but I have not tested the recipe this way.

1. If your blender is not high-speed, you will need to soak your cashews to soften them. Soak in filtered or distilled water for 2-4 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. Rinse them off with just-boiled water.

2. Boil several cups of water and use the just-boiled water to rinse your blender, tamper, measuring cups, the bowl you will ferment your yoghurt in, and a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir. Your bowl and stirring implement should be in a non-reactive material such as wood, clay, glass, or silicone.

3. Make the yoghurt. Blend cashews with 3/4 cup just-boiled water for a couple of minutes until very smooth. Transfer to your bowl and allow to cool to about skin temperature (it should feel slightly warm if dabbed on the inside of your wrist). If the mixture is too hot, it may kill the bacteria.

4. Culture the yoghurt. Open the probiotic capsules and stir the powder into the cashew paste. Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth or tea towel. Ferment for 24 hours: on the countertop in summer, or in an oven with the light on in winter.

Taste the yoghurt with a clean implement (avoid double-dipping!). Continue fermenting for another 12-24 hours, depending on how tangy you want your labna to be. A skin forming on top of the yoghurt is no problem and can be mixed back in. Discard any yoghurt that grows mold of any kind.

5. Strain the yoghurt to make labna. Place a mesh strainer in a bowl, making sure there's enough room beneath the strainer for liquid to collect at the bottom of the bowl; line the strainer with cheesecloth or a tea towel, and scoop the cultured yoghurt in. Sprinkle salt over top of the yoghurt. Fold the towel or cheesecloth back over the yoghurt, and add a small weight, such as a ceramic plate or a can of beans, on top.

You can also tie the cheesecloth into a bag around a wooden spoon and place the wooden spoon across the rim of a pitcher or other tall container to collect the whey. The draining may occur less quickly without the weight, though.

Strain in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours, depending on the desired texture. I ended up draining about 2 Tbsp of whey.

6. If not making labna balls: Put in an airtight jar, and add just enough olive oil to cover the surface of the labna. Store in the fridge for up to two months.

7. To form balls (optional): Oil your hands to form the labna into small balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. They may still be quite soft.

Optionally sprinkle with, or roll in, dried mint, za'tar, sesame seeds, nigella seeds (القزحة), ground sumac, or crushed red chili pepper, as desired.

Optionally, for firmer balls, lightly cover with another layer of parchment paper and then a kitchen towel, and leave in the refrigerator to dry for about a day.

Place labna balls in a clean glass jar and add olive oil to cover. Retrieve labna from the jar with a clean implement. They will last in the fridge for about a year.

[yappathon]

In defence of Eurylochus-

I've seen many people analysing him in detail and I just wanted to add my two cents to the discussion by giving my interpretation of the four moments for which the fandom dislikes him the most:

Reason 1: He opened the windbag !

Context: Eurylochus is Odysseus's close friend, second in command and brother in law, which means he knows Odysseus in a personal level and therefore knows that Odysseus is a fucking liar. Odysseus lies and cheats and talks his way out of things, he is crafty, he is clever and he is cunning; core Odysseus triats.

So imagine you're Eurylochus and Odysseus just came back with the wind bag. He says it has the Storm and the Winions (agents of Wind God) say it's a treasure. Who do you believe the liar or the god?

Additionally Jorge was pretty clear Eurylochus represents the crew always in Epic the Musical, so the wind bag opening is not necessarily his idea particularly, any of the crew did it but their face/brand is Eurylochus.

I think in this scenario it's a mix case of Odysseus 'The Boy who cried Wolf' and Eurylochus 'Curiosity killed the Cat'

Reason 2: He tried to abandon his men to Circe

Context: Just the day they lost 557 men to a God (!) due to a mistake Eurylochus made, so his survivor's guilt is fully active and his mental state is not it.

Now after that happened, he took a team to scope the island and saw them turn into pigs by a Goddess (!).

He learned the hard way the same day that Gods are very dangerous and had the fear of God instilled in him, literally.

So logically speaking he was right in that they couldn't defeat Circe. The only reason Odysseus was successful was because of Hermes's help which was an option Eurylochus did not even know existed when he suggested abandoning the pigs-men to Circe.

I understand that this point is less about him wanting to abandon pig-men and more about the perceived hypocrisy in Mutiny, so next let's see;

Reason 3: The Mutiny

Context: The lair of Scylla. Odysseus definitely knew what was going to happen there, but he did not warn the crew, he did not prepare the crew. Instead he used them as canon fodder which like you can argue that it was the only way to get home but Odysseus consciously lied to his crew and sacrificed them.

I wanted to talk about perceived hypocrisy that some people think Eurylochus's actions in being mad at Odysseus since he was ready to abandon his men with Circe. But the difference matters guys, Eurylochus 'abandons', Odysseus 'sacrifices'. The only equivalent to the situation is that if Eurylochus purposefully led his group to Circe's Palace knowing she would turn them into pigs. Eurylochus tries to make a hard decision to save whatever's left, that does not make him a hypocrite or uncaring and it does not negate his right to be mad/sad during Scylla/Mutiny.

He did not mutiny because he wanted power, he did it because he and the crew could no longer trust Odysseus to have their best interest in mind and in a sad kind of way, they are not wrong. Odysseus's number #1 priority is him making it home and the crew is #2.

Different Beast: "Sirens know every route in horizon, now I know how to get back to my island"

Mutiny: "Please don't do this? I need to get home"

and then we all know how Thunder Bringer goes.

Reason 4: The Cow thing

He was hungry, starving and has zero hope he'll make it home. I'm sorry, you cannot be mad at him for this; this is the saddest thing I've ever seen.

But I'll go to the "Captain" he says after killing the cows.

"If you want all the power you must carry all the blame" Eurylochus is not calling Odysseus as Captain because he's trying to shift the blame imo. It's a reflex response, he hears the panic in Odysseus's voice and like he has done all his life (close friend and brother in law hello?), he looks for Odysseus for guidance. Eurylochus and all the crew immediately follow Odysseus's instructions afterwards proving that Mutiny was never about power and they still think Odysseus is the smartest man in Greece.

I also wanted to touch on the grief aspect of Odysseus and Eurylochus's relationship

In the Epic-verse; Odysseus, Eurylochus and Polites are childhood friends. After Polites's death Odysseus copes by trying to honor Polites's motto still 'Open Arms' and Eurylochus copes by being extra vigilant and cautious (Luck Runs Out).

Their ideology and way of coping with grief clashes with the others directly and that is the real tragedy of their relationship. These two men love each other very much, even after all that happens there is not a doubt that things fell about because they stopped loving each other. It's because both of them are heavily traumatized characters and they cope differently and in a way that opposes the others.

[thecoiledserpent]

Can I also donate things for every planet? Or is it essentail only for the weak ones?

I dont have a problem donating things like every week for every planet when I can ofc.

:)

that's lovely! the best remedy is to feed animals, whether said planet is weak, malefic or maraka. you can't donate just about everything, but the following stated things can be, for everyone. other then that, i have a list of remedies to be done for the planets on my masterlist, check it out, it has some useful things. following animals can be fed in accordance with the planet to be remedied:

sun: birds can be fed with wheat grains, or cows with chapatis and jaggery

moon: respect mother first and foremost, otherwise no remedy will work. offering water to thirsty animals, or flour balls to fish, or feeding white cows (anything, but jaggery and chapatis are the norm)

mercury: feed green parrots, or free parrots from their cages. feeding cows with green fodder or green leaves is favourable, too. freeing little birds or parrots is highly beneficial and recommendable, especially if mercury is beneficial but afflicted in the chart. never keep little birds in your home, which will trap them.

venus: feeding cats milk, or offering candies to little girls. (don't be suspicious, please 😭 something good quality, preferably; doesn't have to be anything expensive, though). feeding fishes is also favourable.

mars: feeding gram (chana dal, small yellow pulses) or jaggery with chapati (or without it, it just makes it easier) to monkeys or cows

saturn: feeding black cows, or black dogs with buttered or oiled chapatis. feeding black dogs with milk or dog food is fine, too. just serve them, usually street dogs are better. looking after black or blue coloured fishes works, too.

rahu: feeding fishes with flour balls or fish food, or ants with a mixture of flour and grinded sugar. please offer this to ants at tree roots, to avoid making a mess and getting ants killed due to people stepping on them accidentally. looking after black or blue coloured fishes works, too.

ketu: adopting dogs or rabbits is recommended for ketu, but it is important to give them appropriate attention. if that is not possible, then feed cows and dogs with whatever you can.

i understand that in western countries it is not possible to have access to cows, in such a case, don't fret, simply do other remedies. but if its possible for some of you, then prioritise feeding cows with whatever's recommended, it always helps.

[dontforgetukraine]

Hryhoriy Bakalo, Photo - 1953

"I am Bakalo Hryhoriy Omelkovych. I was born at the end of 1923 in the village of Bohuslav. There were seven children in our family. We lived together with our grandfather and grandmother, Yavdokha.

We were not wealthy, but, for those times,we were not poor either. We were considered well-to-do. They demanded our father join the collective farm: they often came to our house and threatened him.

Little Vasyl was afraid of strangers and cried,so our mother took him out of the house. So he caught a cold and died.

When joining the collective farm, my father gave away the horses and all the livestock, so only a cow remained in our own household. As a successful owner, my father was appointed either foreman or head of the collective farm stable.

The farmers from the collective farm reluctantly accepted the collective farm (it could be called silent sabotage), and treated the collective farm poorly. A rider could leave a horse warmed up by running in the cold, etc.

In the end, poor care, lack of fodder, and unsuitable premises with the onset of autumn cold led to the death of horses. My father was accused of this.

He had an opportunity to "make amends": they offered him to organise the seizure of horses from those people who had not yet joined the collective farm. He did not agree, so he was arrested.

My father's arrest was a signal that a brigade would come to confiscate property.They came to us to seize our property on a horse-drawn sleigh (late November - early December 1932).This entire confiscation brigade included local peasants, but as they said, "not ours" led them.

It was very difficult to hide something from the brigade of collectors. They took everything with them, even clothes and canvas. They burned the icons right in the middle of the yard.

Using sticks, they found two sacks of wheat, one of flour, pine cones and seeds buried by my father in the yard. The utensils from the oven, including the dish in it, were also taken.

In total, they took eight carriages of goods (food, clothing, household goods, utensils, cloth, potatoes). They also took the cow, chickens, ducks - meat; before that, my father had slaughtered a heifer, so they took it too (it was hanging in the attic).

They did not find only the bag of flour, hidden in the barn under the barrel. I think that the older ones could have gone somewhere and there, maybe even survived, but they were "blacklisting" right after the arrest of our father. They were not allowed to leave the village.

Our mother cooked soup from the bag of flour left, and what she managed to exchange for clothes and jewelry (a necklace): water and a little flour...

By the spring, in February, when it got a little warmer, everyone was so exhausted that they could only lie down. Only I walked. I remember my sister calling: "Hrysha, go catch a frog and bring it to me."

I walked around the garden, went down to the river and then came back. "No," I said. And she asked: "Give me the scissors, I'll cut my hair and eat it." I handed over them and stood at a distance. She suddenly threw them at me, almost hitting me.

Later, my sister bit the skin on her fingers. Our mother beat her and wrapped her fingers with rags, but she took off the rags and again bit and sucked her fingers.

Our mother poured soup,and I carried it to my brothers.When I ate my share,I was sitting waiting, maybe,something else left for me.Mother:"Take it to Arkhyp." I brought it,and he said:"Put my bowl down,I don't need it." Then he died. Ivan didn't ask anything, he died quietly.

In March and April, everyone died except for me, Kolia and our mother. Our mother periodically, twice or even three times a week, went away to exchange that junk. And my brother and I wandered around the village.

My brother did not want to walk because he was thin, his legs and arms were like sticks, and his stomach was huge and transparent: the liver and intestines were visible.

My father returned seven months later after he had been taken away, in May, unshaven for seven months, scary, barely able to move his swollen legs wrapped in rags. My mother wasn't at home.

And I said: "Dad, now we will survive - there are only four of us: you, mom, Kolia, and me," and Father only replied: "They took all my strength there." The next morning, he went to the collective farm to sharpen scythes.

In the evening, he brought a quarter of a beet and some soup - he earned for the day. He gave it to us, told us to eat little by little, and lay down and wheezed. Foam came out of the mouth and nose. I ran to our neighbour, saying: "Something is wrong with dad."

She came, looked - "your father died." She covered him with a black blanket. He had been lying like that for two days until our mother came. Everything she earned was spent on the coffin and digging the grave..."

The carriage came to take him to the cemetery, and our neighbour came, asking: "Take my Pylyp to the cemetery too (the neighbour's son was my age). As I won't be able to take him there..." They took Pylyp away. On the way, someone else was taken away.

A storm broke out there. Thunder, lightning, rain, wind. The diggers quickly left. My mother covered the hole with her own hands..."

Source: Holodomor Museum