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love-takes-work · 4 years

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Cookie Cat Cake

Isn’t it weird that this cake canonically doesn’t have the Cookie Cat’s signature eye holes??

See below for the recipes to create your own chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, pink and white frosting, and vanilla glaze, all from scratch.

(I made this to commemorate Steven Universe Future ending one year ago today, revising my original Cookie Cake recipe which was yummy but not as aesthetically accurate.)

See more SU food tutorials!

Today, let's take a look at Steven's "Cookie Cake," which was featured in "Steven's Birthday" for his fourteenth birthday.

This cake is odd because a) its center frosting between layers is visible; b) its edges are very even; and c) it's a Cookie Cat, but it doesn't have the Cookie Cat's signature eye holes!

With an edge that even, it almost looks like it would be an ice cream cake, but they had it out at the barn where there is no indication that they have a fridge or freezer, so I think it's an actual cake. This is going to take some doing, because the cake will have to be made into that shape and then somehow be made smooth on the sides to look like the image.

We're going to have to have four recipes: A chocolate cake, a chocolate outer frosting, a vanilla inner frosting (half dyed pink), and a vanilla pour for the top!

Here we go.

FOR THE CAKE:

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup boiling water

Sift your cake flour into a bowl and stir it together with your baking soda and salt.

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt your chocolate chips and your butter. Stir that together and take it off the heat once it's all melted together. Off the heat, stir in the sugar and get it well combined.

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs in a big bowl until they get fluffy and paler. Then begin to add in the chocolate sugar mix. Once it is all combined, add in your extract.

Finally, boil the half cup of water, take it off the heat, and add the buttermilk to it. Take your dry ingredients and add about a third of the mix to your big bowl, alternating with a third of the hot milk mix. Do this two more times, alternating, until it's all combined. Make sure it looks smooth and thin.

Preheat your oven to 350º F / 175º C and make sure there is a rack in the center of the oven. Prepare your pans: Grease two eight-inch round cake pans with vegetable shortening, then cut a circle of parchment paper out for the bottom of each. Grease the paper too, and flour the pans. Then load them with half the mix each and bake them in the oven for about 40 minutes. (Check them with a cake tester or toothpick at 35 minutes.) This is a very thin cake mix so it may seem peculiar.

Cool for five minutes on a rack before removing the cakes onto the rack to cool. I recommend wrapping them in food wrap and refrigerating the cake layers overnight.

Once the cakes are very settled and cool, you can prepare them to become Cookie Cakes. First, level the cakes with a knife or cake leveler. (This is because most cakes puff up in the center and that shape makes them harder to work with. Cut them down to flat.) Then use a picture of a Cookie Cat or something that's Cookie Cat–shaped to draw yourself a stencil. I drew an approximate Cookie Cat on parchment paper and cut it out to help me shape the cakes. After laying the stencil on the cakes, I scored the cake tops with the design and cut them into Cat head shapes with a sharp knife.

Even though this recipe makes for pretty even sides, it would look strange to keep the cake this way with a bald edge that's been cut into. That's why we need a coating of chocolate frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Ingredients:

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. It takes a little while but just be a little patient with it--don't turn the heat up as high as medium. Once these are melted together and stirred into evenness, stir in the sugar, the milk, and the corn syrup.

Once these are added, you can turn the heat up to medium or a little above and wait for a slow boil to hit. Once the boil develops, set a timer for 3 minutes and let it boil while stirring. If you smell any hint of burning, turn the heat down. Once the time is up, take the frosting off the heat and let it cool for five minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract at that point and use a stand mixer or hand mixer to whip the chocolate frosting until it is thicker. Refrigerate the frosting for about half an hour and then stir with a spoon and whip with a mixer until spreadable.

Get your Cookie Cakes and put them each on a separate plate. (It sounds weird, but we're going to be frosting them separately, since the middle frosting has to be put on after so it can show through the edge.) This frosting is a fudge and therefore it is an unusual texture--it's not as creamy and whipped as traditional frosting, and it molds easily. Frost the tops and sides of each cake--the frosting should mold to the edges and stand up to being smoothed by a spatula. When finished with both cakes, refrigerate them without a cover briefly so they can set.

VANILLA FROSTING

This frosting will be the base for the interior frosting and will be divided and modified to pour on the top. For now, make this base:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Red food coloring

Using room temperature butter (or butter that has been briefly microwaved to softness), whip in a bowl with a fork and begin sifting powdered sugar into the butter a cup at a time. (Sifting is a very important step for frosting. Do not skip it.) Once you have added 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and have a very dry mix, add in the milk and combine, then add the rest of the sifted sugar. At the end, when it is combined, stir in the vanilla extract.

This bowl should be refrigerated briefly. Once the frosting is relatively stiff, take it out and separate half the frosting into another bowl. Set the other bowl aside for now. Lay down a piece of parchment paper exactly so its edge is exactly halfway dividing the bottom Cookie Cake (so you can exactly mark the halfway point between the white frosting and the pink frosting). Frost the white half of the cake (the left), top only, all the way out to the edges. Use a frosting spatula to smooth its edges if needed. Then peel up the parchment paper.

Add three drops of red food coloring to the remaining frosting in your bowl and stir to make pink frosting. Then apply it in the same manner as above to the right half of the cake.

You can then use a spatula to lift the top cake layer onto this frosting. Make sure it matches up and is secure. Refrigerate briefly to stabilize.

Now take the remaining white frosting and add some more milk to it to make it thinner--we need a consistency that will pour instead of needing to be spread. When ready, take the cake back out and pour some frosting onto the top. Do this carefully because you want to mostly keep it on the top layer! Pour it and then guide it right out to the edges of the top of the cake with a frosting spatula. Let it dribble just slightly over the edges in natural patterns. The bottom layer of your cake should mostly have no white frosting on it, but you most likely will get some drips there and onto the bottom of your plate. But if you did all the refrigeration as instructed, the layers will be relatively independent and you will be able to carefully wipe extra frosting off the chocolate bottom layer without disturbing the chocolate frosting.

At the right consistency, frosting lumps resolve themselves in this frosting, so you should get a really nice smooth top coat with no interruptions and almost total opacity. (Another layer is fine if you need it, but it probably will not be necessary.) Don't refrigerate the cake while the frosting is still trying to settle into a flat sheet. But once it looks nice and shiny and smooth, you can refrigerate to stabilize.

Steven's cake has numeral candles for his age, 14, but of course this is optional!

Enjoy your Cookie Cake, even if it is not your birthday!

See more SU food tutorials!

#steven universe #cake #food #cookie cat #steven universe recipes #myblog

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kidchickpea · 4 years

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Clear Shell Football Helmet Restoration

Vintage clear shell helmets are by far my favorite type of collectible helmet. Like most old helmets, however, most of the ones we find are in bad shape. Restoration is much more difficult because you can’t just sand and paint - you have to remove the paint while trying to maintain the transparency of the shell.

Once the paint has been removed, dealing with replacement decals and painting can be just as challenging:

What to use for decals? They have to be applied to the inside of the helmet, before the paint, securely to avoid paint bleeding, and colorful enough to adequately show through the plastic shell.

How to prep the inner surface for paint considering you want the shell to be as clear as possible?

What paint to use?

How to avoid paint bleeding into the decals?

If you mess up any of this once you start painting, the only way to recover is to go back to step one and re-remove the paint and decals...yikes.

Over the last several months I've worked (and reworked) a few 1970s MacGregor helmets. I thought I'd share my experience. Some of this information may be obvious but is included for someone starting with no experience. This is by no means a complete guide, just some of what I have learned.

This work is not for the faint of heart and this information is presented without any guarantee of success. If you don’t want to deal with the heartache and disappointment that can come from trial and error (and almost certainly screwing something up bigtime) then I would recommend sticking with refurbishing regular plastic shell helmets. Those can be challenging enough just getting the paint to look right. But if you really want a reproduction of that sweet helmet worn by the likes of Joe Washington or Hollywood Henderson, without doling out hundreds or thousands of dollars, refurbishing an old clear shell might be worth it.

Paint removal

Always test a small inconspicuous area before trying to do the whole helmet.

I found that Motsenbocker's Lift Off Paint & Varnish Remover works very well and does not damage the clear plastic shell. I applied it to a 1974 MacGregor that was painted silver and after a few minutes the paint literally peeled right off with no damage to the plastic. The helmet had red horseshoe logos under the paint and that material was actually harder to completely remove. See sanding and polishing info below for the solution.

I also used Motsenbocker's on a helmet that I had repainted with Krylon spray paint. After applying the remover and letting it sit for an hour the paint came off cleanly using a plastic scraper. Again, no damage to the plastic.

I have only done this on a few vintage MacGregor helmets so results may vary if different paints were used originally, if the plastic is in poor condition, etc. I have not tried this on Kelley, Maxpro or any other older clear shells.

If you're going to try Motsenbocker's, the only place I could find it was ordering online from Home Depot. $25 for 64oz. A reseller on Walmart.com has it listed for $100 which shows how hard it is to find. As stated earlier, test it in a small area first.

I also tried CitriStrip Paint & Varnish Stripping Gel and it was more harsh, melting the clear plastic if left on more than a few minutes (similar to nail polish remover). I would not recommend it.

Cleaning up the plastic shell after stripping paint

There will be some residual paint after the Motsenbocker's. I have had success wet sanding with 400 grit to get rid of the residuals. Follow that with wet sanding with 600 grit, then 800, then 1000. Go to 1500 if you like. A spray bottle filled with water is very handy. Also, if you have stubborn paint you can use 100 grit dry to start, followed by 220-320 wet, then 400, etc., and it will clean up OK.

After wet sanding, the shell will be hazy but should be scratch free and smooth. To restore the clear shell I use Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit with a cordless drill with foam polishing head. #3 (heavy scratch remover) followed by #2 (fine scratch remover). Polish each step until the material dries up or wears off. Wipe out the residual after each step.

The Novus does a good job but the residue left behind, while invisible, adds to the challenge of painting. You can wash the helmet with Dawn dish soap to remove the residue; however, you will consequently lose some clarity and get some haziness (which is when I redo #2 polishing). Balancing the transparency of the shell vs. having the best surface for painting is challenging. I have applied decals (see below for details) then wiped the exposed inside with rubbing alcohol to prep for paint. I've had mixed results.

Logos and stripes

This step is probably the hardest. One option is to not use decals or vinyl at all - mask off the inside of the helmet and paint logos, stripes and then the shell. This is a viable option but painting scares me enough that I try to only have to do one color, that of the shell, and use decals for logos and stripes.

I purchased Sunnyscopa Waterslide Decal Paper from Amazon. They offer white and clear. White is only useful for white stripes or simple white logos (like Oklahoma). Anything bigger and it's very hard to work with. And of course you can't print on the white because the sticky side has to face outwards.

The clear labels are good for small things printed in black (reversed of course), like the MacGregor or Kelley logo for the back of the helmet. I have not had luck with colors on the clear decal paper, as they do not print with full opacity (washed out). That is not to say it’s impossible - maybe I don’t have the right printer. Also, the larger the decal, the more stretching needed to fit the curve of a helmet. When stretched, the ink widens with the label and you’ll eventually get gaps in the colored areas.

I have heard there are companies that print custom waterslide decals but I have not found been able to find any in my limited Google searches. Sounds expensive (relatively) and it might be hard to find anyone that will print what may be considered copyrighted material.

I have a Silhouette Cameo 4 vinyl cutter and have had some success with Oracal 651 vinyl. However, I have also had some problems with paint bleeding inside the label. I have tried applying vinyl decals with strips of clear waterslide decal paper along the edges to act as a seal against bleeding. This does a good job of preventing bleeding but:

Applying the material along all the edges can be challenging. Depending on the decals there might be a lot of edge to cover. Also, working with larger pieces of the waterslide decal paper is difficult. The edges fold over and it’s very hard to undo that, often forcing you to start with a new piece.

The decal paper keeps the paint from adhering to the plastic because, obviously, it is a layer of material between the paint and the shell. If the waterslide material lifts or is removed, the paint goes with it.

I have also purchased 8 mil white Convex GearWrap (SKU C8155W), which is thicker than Oracal and also seems more adhesive. It is possible to place decals cut in Oracal on the sticky side of the GearWrap, thus using the GearWrap adhesive to hold the decal in place on the helmet. This is an acquired skill however.

Painting

Painting clear, smooth, glossy plastic is definitely a challenge. You want to keep the plastic as clear and smooth as possible so the decals, stripes and paint show through as clearly as possible. But that goes against the normal process of prepping a surface for paint by sanding it.

That said, I have had good success with Krylon Colormaxx paints (labeled for metal, wood, plastic...). Make sure you inside surface is a clean as possible. Try wiping a small area with alcohol. As mentioned, however, you’ll probably get some haziness in the plastic when cleaning it with alcohol. Keep in mind, though, when the paint is applied it seems to “moisten” the surface, thus removing the haze.

Spray several light coats, waiting the recommended minute or two, or even longer, between coats. After several coats, hold the helmet up to a light source and examine the entirety of the inside. If you can see any light showing through the paint, focus subsequent coats on those areas. Interestingly, even if you end up with some light spots, they are not often noticeable in the finished product.

One of the advantages of painting the inside of a helmet is that if you end up with drips they won’t be visible from the outside (unless it’s metallic paint - see below).

If there are spots inside the helmet that are not properly prepped, you might see some patches where the paint “beads”. Like drips, however, this is not as big of an issue as it might seem. Try letting the coat dry for a few minutes and reapply paint. Eventually the patches will be covered. How well the paint has adhered is another story, though. Try to ensure the inner surface is as clean as possible before painting.

Metallic paints present additional challenges and I would recommend avoiding them. If you run into drips or beading, you will most likely see these defects in the finished product. Because of the metal flecks in the paint, if it is not applied evenly the finish will be uneven, and drips will be obvious. Also, if the paint is not mixed (shaken) consistently it will come out of the can in different mixtures, further hosing up the finished product. I don’t know anything about the makeup of different spray paints but I would not be surprised if metallic paints have additional ingredients that don’t mesh will with smooth plastic.

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bdo-pilarrp · 6 years

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Memories: Training

Training under General Solaire was a special type of hell for anyone.

It was especially worse for Pilar.

The woman’s reputation for being ruthless and dispassionate was well warranted, her icy disposition and indifference to those who displayed weak qualities in her eyes making her a true tyrant.

Despite her mercilessness, she was well respected. And rightfully feared. A brilliant tactician and Warmaster, General Solaire was one of the more accomplished and decorated warriors of her people and so it only seemed appropriate that she would also instruct new and upcoming ones.

None of her students got it worse than her own daughter, however.

From early on in her youth, Pilar wanted nothing more than to please her mother but it seemed no matter how hard she tried, it was never enough. It was a hard fact of life that the young girl had to accept and live with. Being the only child of general Solaire, and a girl no less, meant high expectations were set upon her young shoulders, especially with the contract of her servitude under House Trislee being sealed.

Through the hardships of her conditioning and training, the gentler qualities she had were dispelled through the ceaseless pushing of her limits. She began to learn from early on that timidness and hesitation could cost lives. Soft-heartedness was not an option.

Too many times, Pilar laid awake at night unable to sleep, aching from being black and blue from her training. She even nursed a broken bone or two more than once but she learned quickly that there was no point in crying over the pain. Tears were for the weak and having no control over one's emotions was just another sign of weakness. It was all for her own good in the end, she had been told. In truth, she grew a thicker skin because of it.

Thinking back, Pilar held no hatred for her mother. She did the best that she knew how, and being a life long soldier meant reading between the lines- peeling back the layers to see that the woman did indeed love and care for her daughter. She wanted Pilar to have the tools and skills to survive in a harsh world when she could not be there.

It was almost contradictory how General Solaire demanded so much from her daughter and yet wanted her to marry into a wealthy noble House and have a family of her own. Wanted Pilar to exceed her limits and yet demand she retain the traits of a noble Lady born of status. To learn to fight and protect the son of House Trislee yet dislike her growing closeness to the boy.

Pilar learned to tolerate the demands of her mother the best she could but it was tedious, exhausting both mentally and emotionally. But Pilar was nothing if not strong-willed and she endured, becoming stronger and more relentless she grew, surpassing the other students under General Solaire’s tutelage. It was what was expected of her after all as she was next in line for House Evergreen’s matriarchy.

Through it all, through the struggles and pain, the rage and sorrows, the one constant Pilar always had in her corner had always been Alboin. He watched her train, consoled her in his own teasing way when she reached her limits, encouraged her when she was about to break.

Alboin had been her only friend and comfort in her youth. At times, they would wind up in mischief together, resulting in Pilar receiving even harsher punishment for letting herself be lead astray but to Pilar, it was always worth it. Her childhood was never easy and in truth, the only semblance she had of a childhood was the time she spent with Alboin.

He was always in her corner, always smiling, always encouraging, always understanding, never judging.

He was the driving force behind her inner fires. Admittedly it wasn't always so. When they first met, he teased her in that way boys do to little girls but there was no maliciousness behind it. In time, it became apparent that they had a chemistry and they soon became inseparable. They protected and supported one another, complimenting the other where one had a weakness the other had a strength. As they grew, so too did their bond. What was entirely meant to be a Master/servant relationship blossomed into a close friendship and as neither was good at making friends with others, they seemed content in their own little world together.

It was her desire to be able to protect her most precious friend that drove Pilar to succeed, exceeding her mother's unreasonable expectations. To continue pushing herself, always challenging herself and never giving up, strengthening her resolve and striving for perfection.

Because of Alboin, Pilar no longer had any tears left to cry.

#ic happenings #short story

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marcos008-blog · 5 years

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India – Karnataka – Hampi – Banana Plant – 3

A banana is an edible fruit, botanically a berry, produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. (In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called plantains.) The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic (seedless) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name Musa sapientum is no longer used.

Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. They are grown in at least 107 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine and banana beer and as ornamental plants.

Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such as Southeast Asia, many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the simple two-fold distinction is not useful and is not made in local languages.

The term "banana" is also used as the common name for the plants which produce the fruit. This can extend to other members of the genus Musa like the scarlet banana (Musa coccinea), pink banana (Musa velutina) and the Fe’i bananas. It can also refer to members of the genus Ensete, like the snow banana (Ensete glaucum) and the economically important false banana (Ensete ventricosum). Both genera are classified under the banana family, Musaceae.

DESCRIPTION The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. All the above-ground parts of a banana plant grow from a structure usually called a "corm". Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy, and are often mistaken for trees, but what appears to be a trunk is actually a "false stem" or pseudostem. Bananas grow in a wide variety of soils, as long as the soil is at least 60 cm deep, has good drainage and is not compacted. The leaves of banana plants are composed of a "stalk" (petiole) and a blade (lamina). The base of the petiole widens to form a sheath; the tightly packed sheaths make up the pseudostem, which is all that supports the plant. The edges of the sheath meet when it is first produced, making it tubular. As new growth occurs in the centre of the pseudostem the edges are forced apart. Cultivated banana plants vary in height depending on the variety and growing conditions. Most are around 5 m tall, with a range from ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ plants at around 3 m to ‘Gros Michel’ at 7 m or more. Leaves are spirally arranged and may grow 2.7 metres long and 60 cm wide. They are easily torn by the wind, resulting in the familiar frond look.

When a banana plant is mature, the corm stops producing new leaves and begins to form a flower spike or inflorescence. A stem develops which grows up inside the pseudostem, carrying the immature inflorescence until eventually it emerges at the top. Each pseudostem normally produces a single inflorescence, also known as the "banana heart". (More are sometimes produced; an exceptional plant in the Philippines produced five.) After fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but offshoots will normally have developed from the base, so that the plant as a whole is perennial. In the plantation system of cultivation, only one of the offshoots will be allowed to develop in order to maintain spacing. The inflorescence contains many bracts (sometimes incorrectly referred to as petals) between rows of flowers. The female flowers (which can develop into fruit) appear in rows further up the stem (closer to the leaves) from the rows of male flowers. The ovary is inferior, meaning that the tiny petals and other flower parts appear at the tip of the ovary.

The banana fruits develop from the banana heart, in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers (called "hands"), with up to 20 fruit to a tier. The hanging cluster is known as a bunch, comprising 3–20 tiers, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh 30–50 kilograms. Individual banana fruits (commonly known as a banana or "finger") average 125 grams, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter.

The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry". There is a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with numerous long, thin strings (the phloem bundles), which run lengthwise between the skin and the edible inner portion. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety can be split lengthwise into three sections that correspond to the inner portions of the three carpels by manually deforming the unopened fruit. In cultivated varieties, the seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence; their remnants are tiny black specks in the interior of the fruit.

Bananas are naturally slightly radioactive, more so than most other fruits, because of their potassium content and the small amounts of the isotope potassium-40 found in naturally occurring potassium. The banana equivalent dose of radiation is sometimes used in nuclear communication to compare radiation levels and exposures.

ETYMOLOGY The word banana is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof word banaana, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.

TAXONOMY The genus Musa was created by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The name may be derived from Antonius Musa, physician to the Emperor Augustus, or Linnaeus may have adapted the Arabic word for banana, mauz. Musa is in the family Musaceae. The APG III system assigns Musaceae to the order Zingiberales, part of the commelinid clade of the monocotyledonous flowering plants. Some 70 species of Musa were recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of January 2013; several produce edible fruit, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.

The classification of cultivated bananas has long been a problematic issue for taxonomists. Linnaeus originally placed bananas into two species based only on their uses as food: Musa sapientum for dessert bananas and Musa paradisiaca for plantains. Subsequently further species names were added. However, this approach proved inadequate to address the sheer number of cultivars existing in the primary center of diversity of the genus, Southeast Asia. Many of these cultivars were given names which proved to be synonyms.

In a series of papers published in 1947 onwards, Ernest Cheesman showed that Linnaeus’s Musa sapientum and Musa paradisiaca were actually cultivars and descendants of two wild seed-producing species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, both first described by Luigi Aloysius Colla. He recommended the abolition of Linnaeus’s species in favor of reclassifying bananas according to three morphologically distinct groups of cultivars – those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics of Musa balbisiana, those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics of Musa acuminata, and those with characteristics that are the combination of the two. Researchers Norman Simmonds and Ken Shepherd proposed a genome-based nomenclature system in 1955. This system eliminated almost all the difficulties and inconsistencies of the earlier classification of bananas based on assigning scientific names to cultivated varieties. Despite this, the original names are still recognized by some authorities today, leading to confusion.

The currently accepted scientific names for most groups of cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla for the ancestral species, and Musa × paradisiaca L. for the hybrid M. acuminata × M. balbisiana.

Synonyms of M. × paradisica include: A large number of subspecific and varietial names of M. × paradisiaca, including M. p. subsp. sapientum (L.) Kuntze Musa × dacca Horan. Musa × sapidisiaca K.C.Jacob, nom. superfl. Musa × sapientum L., and a large number of its varietal names, including M. × sapientum var. paradisiaca (L.) Baker, nom. illeg.

Generally, modern classifications of banana cultivars follow Simmonds and Shepherd’s system. Cultivars are placed in groups based on the number of chromosomes they have and which species they are derived from. Thus the Latundan banana is placed in the AAB Group, showing that it is a triploid derived from both M. acuminata (A) and M. balbisiana (B). For a list of the cultivars classified under this system see List of banana cultivars.

In 2012, a team of scientists announced they had achieved a draft sequence of the genome of Musa acuminata.

BANANAS & PLANTAINS In regions such as North America and Europe, Musa fruits offered for sale can be divided into "bananas" and "plantains", based on their intended use as food. Thus the banana producer and distributor Chiquita produces publicity material for the American market which says that "a plantain is not a banana". The stated differences are that plantains are more starchy and less sweet; they are eaten cooked rather than raw; they have thicker skin, which may be green, yellow or black; and they can be used at any stage of ripeness. Linnaeus made the same distinction between plantains and bananas when first naming two "species" of Musa. Members of the "plantain subgroup" of banana cultivars, most important as food in West Africa and Latin America, correspond to the Chiquita description, having long pointed fruit. They are described by Ploetz et al. as "true" plantains, distinct from other cooking bananas. The cooking bananas of East Africa belong to a different group, the East African Highland bananas, so would not qualify as "true" plantains on this definition.

An alternative approach divides bananas into dessert bananas and cooking bananas, with plantains being one of the subgroups of cooking bananas. Triploid cultivars derived solely from M. acuminata are examples of "dessert bananas", whereas triploid cultivars derived from the hybrid between M. acuminata and M. balbinosa (in particular the plantain subgroup of the AAB Group) are "plantains". Small farmers in Colombia grow a much wider range of cultivars than large commercial plantations. A study of these cultivars showed that they could be placed into at least three groups based on their characteristics: dessert bananas, non-plantain cooking bananas, and plantains, although there were overlaps between dessert and cooking bananas.

In Southeast Asia – the center of diversity for bananas, both wild and cultivated – the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" does not work, according to Valmayor et al. Many bananas are used both raw and cooked. There are starchy cooking bananas which are smaller than those eaten raw. The range of colors, sizes and shapes is far wider than in those grown or sold in Africa, Europe or the Americas.[35] Southeast Asian languages do not make the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" that is made in English (and Spanish). Thus both Cavendish cultivars, the classic yellow dessert bananas, and Saba cultivars, used mainly for cooking, are called pisang in Malaysia and Indonesia, kluai in Thailand and chuoi in Vietnam. Fe’i bananas, grown and eaten in the islands of the Pacific, are derived from entirely different wild species than traditional bananas and plantains. Most Fe’i bananas are cooked, but Karat bananas, which are short and squat with bright red skins, very different from the usual yellow dessert bananas, are eaten raw.

In summary, in commerce in Europe and the Americas (although not in small-scale cultivation), it is possible to distinguish between "bananas", which are eaten raw, and "plantains", which are cooked. In other regions of the world, particularly India, Southeast Asia and the islands of the Pacific, there are many more kinds of banana and the two-fold distinction is not useful and not made in local languages. Plantains are one of many kinds of cooking bananas, which are not always distinct from dessert bananas.

HISTORICAL CULTIVATION Farmers in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea first domesticated bananas. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 5000 BCE, and possibly to 8000 BCE. It is likely that other species were later and independently domesticated elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is the region of primary diversity of the banana. Areas of secondary diversity are found in Africa, indicating a long history of banana cultivation in the region.

Phytolith discoveries in Cameroon dating to the first millennium BCE triggered an as yet unresolved debate about the date of first cultivation in Africa. There is linguistic evidence that bananas were known in Madagascar around that time. The earliest prior evidence indicates that cultivation dates to no earlier than late 6th century CE. It is likely, however, that bananas were brought at least to Madagascar if not to the East African coast during the phase of Malagasy colonization of the island from South East Asia c. 400 CE.

The banana may also have been present in isolated locations elsewhere in the Middle East on the eve of Islam. The spread of Islam was followed by far-reaching diffusion. There are numerous references to it in Islamic texts (such as poems and hadiths) beginning in the 9th century. By the 10th century the banana appears in texts from Palestine and Egypt. From there it diffused into North Africa and Muslim Iberia. During the medieval ages, bananas from Granada were considered among the best in the Arab world. In 650, Islamic conquerors brought the banana to Palestine. Today, banana consumption increases significantly in Islamic countries during Ramadan, the month of daylight fasting.

Bananas were certainly grown in the Christian Kingdom of Cyprus by the late medieval period. Writing in 1458, the Italian traveller and writer Gabriele Capodilista wrote favourably of the extensive farm produce of the estates at Episkopi, near modern day Limassol, including the region’s banana plantations.

Bananas were introduced to the Americas by Portuguese sailors who brought the fruits from West Africa in the 16th century.

Many wild banana species as well as cultivars exist in extraordinary diversity in New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and the Philippines.

There are fuzzy bananas whose skins are bubblegum pink; green-and-white striped bananas with pulp the color of orange sherbet; bananas that, when cooked, taste like strawberries. The Double Mahoi plant can produce two bunches at once. The Chinese name of the aromatic Go San Heong banana means ‘You can smell it from the next mountain.’ The fingers on one banana plant grow fused; another produces bunches of a thousand fingers, each only an inch long. —Mike Peed, The New Yorker

In 1999 archaeologists in London discovered what they believed to be the oldest banana in the UK, in a Tudor rubbish tip.

PLANTATION CULTIVATION IN THE CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa. North Americans began consuming bananas on a small scale at very high prices shortly after the Civil War, though it was only in the 1880s that it became more widespread. As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available. Jules Verne introduces bananas to his readers with detailed descriptions in Around the World in Eighty Days (1872).

The earliest modern plantations originated in Jamaica and the related Western Caribbean Zone, including most of Central America. It involved the combination of modern transportation networks of steamships and railroads with the development of refrigeration that allowed bananas to have more time between harvesting and ripening. North America shippers like Lorenzo Dow Baker and Andrew Preston, the founders of the Boston Fruit Company started this process in the 1870s, but railroad builders like Minor C Keith also participated, eventually culminating in the multi-national giant corporations like today’s Chiquita Brands International and Dole. These companies were monopolistic, vertically integrated (meaning they controlled growing, processing, shipping and marketing) and usually used political manipulation to build enclave economies (economies that were internally self-sufficient, virtually tax exempt, and export oriented that contribute very little to the host economy). Their political maneuvers, which gave rise to the term Banana republic for states like Honduras and Guatemala, included working with local elites and their rivalries to influence politics or playing the international interests of the United States, especially during the Cold War, to keep the political climate favorable to their interests.

PEASANT CULTIVATION FOR EXPORT IN THE CARIBBEAN The vast majority of the world’s bananas today are cultivated for family consumption or for sale on local markets. India is the world leader in this sort of production, but many other Asian and African countries where climate and soil conditions allow cultivation also host large populations of banana growers who sell at least some of their crop.

There are peasant sector banana growers who produce for the world market in the Caribbean, however. The Windward Islands are notable for the growing, largely of Cavendish bananas, for an international market, generally in Europe but also in North America. In the Caribbean, and especially in Dominica where this sort of cultivation is widespread, holdings are in the 1–2 acre range. In many cases the farmer earns additional money from other crops, from engaging in labor outside the farm, and from a share of the earnings of relatives living overseas. This style of cultivation often was popular in the islands as bananas required little labor input and brought welcome extra income. Banana crops are vulnerable to destruction by high winds, such as tropical storms or cyclones.

After the signing of the NAFTA agreements in the 1990s, however, the tide turned against peasant producers. Their costs of production were relatively high and the ending of favorable tariff and other supports, especially in the European Economic Community, made it difficult for peasant producers to compete with the bananas grown on large plantations by the well capitalized firms like Chiquita and Dole. Not only did the large companies have access to cheap labor in the areas they worked, but they were better able to afford modern agronomic advances such as fertilization. The "dollar banana" produced by these concerns made the profit margins for peasant bananas unsustainable.

Caribbean countries have sought to redress this problem by providing government supported agronomic services and helping to organize producers’ cooperatives. They have also been supporters of the Fair Trade movement which seeks to balance the inequities in the world trade in commodities.

EAST AFRICA Most farms supply local consumption. Cooking bananas represent a major food source and a major income source for smallhold farmers. In east Africa, highland bananas are of greatest importance as a staple food crop. In countries such as Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda per capita consumption has been estimated at 45 kilograms per year, the highest in the world.

MODERN CULTIVATION All widely cultivated bananas today descend from the two wild bananas Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. While the original wild bananas contained large seeds, diploid or polyploid cultivars (some being hybrids) with tiny seeds are preferred for human raw fruit consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots. The plant is allowed to produce two shoots at a time; a larger one for immediate fruiting and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" to produce fruit in 6–8 months. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates.

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, i.e. the flesh of the fruit swells and ripens without its seeds being fertilized and developing. Lacking viable seeds, propagation typically involves farmers removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana pseudostem) with some roots intact. However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet elongated suckers, are easier to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to two weeks; they require minimal care and can be shipped in bulk.It is not necessary to include the corm or root structure to propagate bananas; severed suckers without root material can be propagated in damp sand, although this takes somewhat longer.In some countries, commercial propagation occurs by means of tissue culture. This method is preferred since it ensures disease-free planting material. When using vegetative parts such as suckers for propagation, there is a risk of transmitting diseases (especially the devastating Panama disease).As a non-seasonal crop, bananas are available fresh year-round.

CAVENDISH In global commerce in 2009, by far the most important cultivars belonged to the triploid AAA group of Musa acuminata, commonly referred to as Cavendish group bananas. They accounted for the majority of banana exports, despite only coming into existence in 1836. The cultivars Dwarf Cavendish and Grand Nain (Chiquita Banana) gained popularity in the 1950s after the previous mass-produced cultivar, Gros Michel (also an AAA group cultivar), became commercially unviable due to Panama disease, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum which attacks the roots of the banana plant. Cavendish cultivars are resistant to the Panama Disease but in 2013 there were fears that the Black Sigatoka fungus would in turn make Cavendish bananas unviable.

Ease of transport and shelf life rather than superior taste make the Dwarf Cavendish the main export banana.

Even though it is no longer viable for large scale cultivation, Gros Michel is not extinct and is still grown in areas where Panama disease is not found. Likewise, Dwarf Cavendish and Grand Nain are in no danger of extinction, but they may leave supermarket shelves if disease makes it impossible to supply the global market. It is unclear if any existing cultivar can replace Cavendish bananas, so various hybridisation and genetic engineering programs are attempting to create a disease-resistant, mass-market banana.

RIPENING Export bananas are picked green, and ripen in special rooms upon arrival in the destination country. These rooms are air-tight and filled with ethylene gas to induce ripening. The vivid yellow color consumers normally associate with supermarket bananas is, in fact, caused by the artificial ripening process. Flavor and texture are also affected by ripening temperature. Bananas are refrigerated to between 13.5 and 15 °C during transport. At lower temperatures, ripening permanently stalls, and the bananas turn gray as cell walls break down. The skin of ripe bananas quickly blackens in the 4 °C environment of a domestic refrigerator, although the fruit inside remains unaffected.

"Tree-ripened" Cavendish bananas have a greenish-yellow appearance which changes to a brownish-yellow as they ripen further. Although both flavor and texture of tree-ripened bananas is generally regarded as superior to any type of green-picked fruit, this reduces shelf life to only 7–10 days.Bananas can be ordered by the retailer "ungassed" (i.e. not treated with ethylene), and may show up at the supermarket fully green. Guineos verdes (green bananas) that have not been gassed will never fully ripen before becoming rotten. Instead of fresh eating, these bananas are best suited to cooking, as seen in Mexican culinary dishes.A 2008 study reported that ripe bananas fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light. This property is attributed to the degradation of chlorophyll leading to the accumulation of a fluorescent product in the skin of the fruit. The chlorophyll breakdown product is stabilized by a propionate ester group. Banana-plant leaves also fluoresce in the same way. Green bananas do not fluoresce. The study suggested that this allows animals which can see light in the ultraviolet spectrum (tetrachromats and pentachromats) to more easily detect ripened bananas.

STORAGE & TRANSPORT Bananas must be transported over long distances from the tropics to world markets. To obtain maximum shelf life, harvest comes before the fruit is mature. The fruit requires careful handling, rapid transport to ports, cooling, and refrigerated shipping. The goal is to prevent the bananas from producing their natural ripening agent, ethylene. This technology allows storage and transport for 3–4 weeks at 13 °C. On arrival, bananas are held at about 17 °C and treated with a low concentration of ethylene. After a few days, the fruit begins to ripen and is distributed for final sale. Unripe bananas can not be held in home refrigerators because they suffer from the cold. Ripe bananas can be held for a few days at home. If bananas are too green, they can be put in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process.

Carbon dioxide (which bananas produce) and ethylene absorbents extend fruit life even at high temperatures. This effect can be exploited by packing banana in a polyethylene bag and including an ethylene absorbent, e.g., potassium permanganate, on an inert carrier. The bag is then sealed with a band or string. This treatment has been shown to more than double lifespans up to 3–4 weeks without the need for refrigeration.

FRUIT Bananas are a staple starch for many tropical populations. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Both the skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. The primary component of the aroma of fresh bananas is isoamyl acetate (also known as banana oil), which, along with several other compounds such as butyl acetate and isobutyl acetate, is a significant contributor to banana flavor.

During the ripening process, bananas produce the gas ethylene, which acts as a plant hormone and indirectly affects the flavor. Among other things, ethylene stimulates the formation of amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar, influencing the taste of bananas. The greener, less ripe bananas contain higher levels of starch and, consequently, have a "starchier" taste. On the other hand, yellow bananas taste sweeter due to higher sugar concentrations. Furthermore, ethylene signals the production of pectinase, an enzyme which breaks down the pectin between the cells of the banana, causing the banana to soften as it ripens.

Bananas are eaten deep fried, baked in their skin in a split bamboo, or steamed in glutinous rice wrapped in a banana leaf. Bananas can be made into jam. Banana pancakes are popular amongst backpackers and other travelers in South Asia and Southeast Asia. This has elicited the expression Banana Pancake Trail for those places in Asia that cater to this group of travelers. Banana chips are a snack produced from sliced dehydrated or fried banana or plantain, which have a dark brown color and an intense banana taste. Dried bananas are also ground to make banana flour. Extracting juice is difficult, because when a banana is compressed, it simply turns to pulp. Bananas feature prominently in Philippine cuisine, being part of traditional dishes and desserts like maruya, turrón, and halo-halo or saba con yelo. Most of these dishes use the Saba or Cardaba banana cultivar. Bananas are also commonly used in cuisine in the South-Indian state of Kerala, where they are steamed (puzhungiyathu), made into curries, fried into chips (upperi) or fried in batter (pazhampori). Pisang goreng, bananas fried with batter similar to the Filipino maruya or Kerala pazhampori, is a popular dessert in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. A similar dish is known in the United Kingdom and United States as banana fritters.

Plantains are used in various stews and curries or cooked, baked or mashed in much the same way as potatoes, such as the Pazham Pachadi prepared in Kerala.

Seeded bananas (Musa balbisiana), one of the forerunners of the common domesticated banana, are sold in markets in Indonesia.

FLOWER Banana hearts are used as a vegetable in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, either raw or steamed with dips or cooked in soups, curries and fried foods. The flavor resembles that of artichoke. As with artichokes, both the fleshy part of the bracts and the heart are edible.

LEAVES Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. They are often used as ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as "plates" in South Asia and several Southeast Asian countries. In Indonesian cuisine, banana leaf is employed in cooking method called pepes and botok; the banana leaf packages containing food ingredients and spices are cooked on steam, in boiled water or grilled on charcoal. In the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala in every occasion the food must be served in a banana leaf and as a part of the food a banana is served. Steamed with dishes they impart a subtle sweet flavor. They often serve as a wrapping for grilling food. The leaves contain the juices, protect food from burning and add a subtle flavor. In Tamil Nadu (India) leaves are fully dried and used as packing material for food stuffs and also making cups to hold liquid foods. In Central American countries, banana leaves are often used as wrappers for tamales.

TRUNK The tender core of the banana plant’s trunk is also used in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, and notably in the Burmese dish mohinga.

FIBER TEXTILES The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and household use dates back to at least the 13th century. In the Japanese system, leaves and shoots are cut from the plant periodically to ensure softness. Harvested shoots are first boiled in lye to prepare fibers for yarn-making. These banana shoots produce fibers of varying degrees of softness, yielding yarns and textiles with differing qualities for specific uses. For example, the outermost fibers of the shoots are the coarsest, and are suitable for tablecloths, while the softest innermost fibers are desirable for kimono and kamishimo. This traditional Japanese cloth-making process requires many steps, all performed by hand.

In a Nepalese system the trunk is harvested instead, and small pieces are subjected to a softening process, mechanical fiber extraction, bleaching and drying. After that, the fibers are sent to the Kathmandu Valley for use in rugs with a silk-like texture. These banana fiber rugs are woven by traditional Nepalese hand-knotting methods, and are sold RugMark certified.

In South Indian state of Tamil Nadu after harvesting for fruit the trunk (outer layer of the shoot) is made into fine thread used in making of flower garlands instead of thread.

PAPER Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is made from two different parts: the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for artistic purposes, or from the fibers of the stem and non-usable fruits. The paper is either hand-made or by industrial process.

Posted by asienman on 2014-06-11 20:33:34

Tagged: , India , Karnataka , Hampi , Vijayanagara , asienman-photography , Banana Plant , Banana Flower

The post India – Karnataka – Hampi – Banana Plant – 3 appeared first on Good Info.

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allthebeautifulthings9828 · 7 years

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Literally allergic to the sun. My advice for photosensitive people.

I'm photosensitive. That means I'm allergic to certain kinds of rays coming from the sun - that hateful, gassy, orange ball in the sky. If you've seen The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, then you've seen her two children who have a very severe form of my condition (although I think Mummy was a hypochondriac and the allergy wasn't as bad as she made out).

Being photosensitive happened to me because I took way too many antibiotics for urinary tract and kidney infections over a decade ago and my sun allergy has gotten worse and worse every year. Too many antibiotics of a specific grouping have been known to cause a body's chemistry to change until the sun is no longer an option. Most people who are photosensitive due to antibiotics usually grow out of it after about seven years. Not me. My allergy has only gotten worse over the course of my adult life despite my reluctance to take more antibiotics. This condition is permanent for me.

So what happens if I go outside in daylight? I have about 20 - 30 minutes of luxurious freedom before my body starts the reaction process. It used to be a few hours of freedom outside but my window of opportunity has gotten smaller with each passing year. A few hours after sun exposure, I start to itch and big blotches of redness and swelling will appear on my body. It always goes to my face as a butterfly rash (common with Lupus but I don't have that) and it'll spread at random to different parts of my body. The photosensitive rash resembles a burn at first but it's not - it's an internal allergic reaction and can even spread to parts of your body that were not exposed to sunlight. You have to treat it like an allergy instead of a burn. Prolonged exposure will make my skin turn purple and I'll develop blisters as well, but that's a severe reaction I've only had a couple of times.

Here I am with a mild butterfly rash in 2007.

And here I am with a purple rash and swelling (there were intense blisters later that morning) in 2015.

What I call "the rash cycle" lasts anywhere from 7 to 10 days most of the time. The first couple of days, my skin just feels tight and itchy. Swelling is the worst in the first and second day usually. People tell me I feel hotter to the touch as well. Around the third day, the pain really kicks in, which feels like itching until I scratch it and then it feels roughly like I set myself on fire. I go on wanting to rip flesh from bone for a few more days until the affected skin actually dies pretty deep - deeper than a sunburn. A few dead flakes quickly turns into wondering if my flesh is really going to fall off like a zombie. My mother says it reminds her of a chemical burn or when Samantha got an acid peel on Sex and the City. The last couple of days, everything I killed by being audacious enough to go outside in daylight hours will come off my body. The worst of it for me is on my face, my legs, and my feet. And if you want a real good time, I'll tell you about the week the rash spread to my inner thighs, which didn't see sunlight at all! Fun times.

I have a few tips for you in no particular order if you are photosensitive too:

1.) Do NOT apply aloe from the tube at the store. Manufactured aloe has alcohol and chemicals in it that will prolong your suffering. Buy an aloe plant and use the pure stuff instead. My plant is named Frederick the Great and he lives on my kitchen windowsill.

2.) The rash cycle lasts (in me) 7-10 days from the appearance of symptoms. A rash may not appear for anywhere between 2 - 24 hours after exposure. The worst days are 3, 4, and 5. It's all like clockwork.

3.) No makeup, lotion, perfume, shaving, etc., on the rash sites until the skin has completely healed. My doctor told me it can cause infection because parts of your skin might open from blisters or dead skin coming off, exposing raw baby skin that might not be toughened up yet.

4.) Your skin will come off. A lot. For days. It's not big peeling pieces like a sunburn. The rash kills layers much deeper than a sunburn so the dead stuff might be thicker, yellowed, and it might scare you. Don't pick at it. You're far more susceptible to bleeding at this stage. Wash the area with a cool, wet, clean cloth a few times a day during this "I can't go out because children will scream" stage.

5.) There is no cure. Extra clothes, sunblock, and umbrellas are not going to help much. The UV rays we're allergic to are not the ones American sunscreen will block. I have to get special sunscreen from Canada or Australia. Even then all it does is buy me a little more time.

6.) Other fun, gross symptoms include skin "weeping" and fevers. I'm not sure if this is common for everyone but the first couple of days in my rash cycle seem to kick my entire body into fighting an illness. Along with a periodic low grade fever, I also experience congestion as if I have allergies or even a cold. If this happens to you, it's okay. You're not really "sick". Weeping skin is what happens in the medium to severe rashes. You'll notice your skin feeling wet or you might even notice clear fluid. It happens. I don't know why. Keep your skin clean with cool, wet washcloths.

7.) My doctor instructed me to take Benedryl as soon as possible after sun exposure. Benedryl helps with the initial itching and swelling. If you experience pain, you can take over the counter pain relievers. I like ibuprofen because it's an anti-inflammatory too. The midpoint of the rash cycle hurts the most because the top layers of my skin have all died but they haven't begun falling off, which makes you feel like you have a thick, dry crust on your body. If you stretch the skin too much, it can crack and bleed. That's the most painful thing besides blisters. Use Neosporin with the numbing stuff in it. That's the only way I survive. I also use ice packs wrapped in dish rags for pain and swelling too.

8.) Wear good sunglasses that block UV rays. My eyes have swelled shut from sun exposure before. Too much light hurts my eyes. It might happen to you too.

9.) During the rash cycle, avoid wearing denim or wool. Stick to lightweight loose fabrics that won't rub irritated skin.

10.) Do NOT expose yourself to sunlight again if you're already in a 7 - 10 day rash cycle. You'll prolong and worsen your symptoms. It can get severe enough to land you in the hospital if you're not careful.

There you have it. I hope my experiences help impart some wisdom for you. Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and the tips I offered are only based on my personal symptoms. Consult your own doctors in all matters before you try them on yourselves.

#photosensitivity #photosensitive #sun allergy #lupus #sunburn

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batterymonster2021 · 5 years

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Eyelash Extensions 101 | Full Tutorial on Application

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/eyelash-extensions-101-full-tutorial-on-application/

Eyelash Extensions 101 | Full Tutorial on Application

Hello guys! Welcome again to my channel thanks for tuning in at present. We’re gonna go over eyelash extensions one hundred and one so the purchaser i am gonna exhibit on, she wanted an extraordinarily typical eyelash set… That is the consumer’s very first time of ever getting eyelash extensions so i’m going to illustrate how I provide an explanation for and the way I advisor them by way of the method so they may be not scared they usually’re relaxed for the period of it so i’ll quilt the prepping, the appliance, what I do with them it would be the entire-on process and i’m going to reply tips and methods as i go so it’s variety of a protracted video so if it is if specified components that you just think like you do not maintain or you know tips on how to do i’ll put a breakdown of the time of which query I reply and what time of the video and that you can just skip by way of and get your questions answered however clearly let me read you the list of the questions i am gonna answer a at the same time i am doing the entire set of basic ordinary seem on this customer.K so in this video i will go over learn how to tape down the bottom lashes or use under eye patches should you prefer to the place to position the eyelash extension so that you may position it or observe it to the patron’s normal eyelashes and the reasoning in the back of that and how I opt for the curl and the size established on what the patron wants in this video she wants a very common seem so and it is her very first time of ever getting eyelash extensions so i am gonna go over how I choose the lashes to ensure it can be now not gonna be too dramatic for somebody who’s on no account had eyelash extensions.I’m going to also go over the choices of consumers who have very straight eyelashes the way to investigate if you must do the eyelash extensions what curl to prefer for them or if it is a greater choice to do a elevate after which do the eyelash extensions on top of them i will additionally duvet what what to do within the process if the client is opening to feel uncomfortable or if the tape below eye patches form of moved and it’s itching them or find out how to isolate and practice the eyelash extension on top of the usual lashes. I’m going to also answer the question of what to do with baby lashes if it is k to use an extension on there or now not and learn how to investigate that how so much glue to make use of and the place to prefer up the eyelash from…I quit! So first thing we’re gonna do is tape down your bottom eyelashes to safeguard them from sticking to the top ok so um it’s a little weird however it’s now not uncomfortable or it would not damage so it is just a bit weird when your eyes are open however whenever you shut them you do not particularly consider some thing okay so open for me k I comprehend it’s super weird okay there we go and this is to preserve them from touching the highest okay i’m going to provide you with a break k are attempting opening once more or let your eyes loose kind of shut them but let them loose and i’m going to just carry there without opening them ok regularly that’s extra secure okay that was once the worst section I promise is that ok ok it’s no longer a foul one that’s cool don’t worry about your eyes twitching a bit keep it closed they’ll come down once they believe me.I am simply gonna put a little bit further layer of clear tape on high of that tape same method and this is by and large to have a smoother floor just in case if any of the lashes get stuck we can with no trouble just peel them off with out unsafe or hurting your average lashes k Worse than surgical procedure? I know the first-time so it’s super weird however I promise. So now i am gonna just put this tissue for your forehead okay only a tissue i am gonna gently tape it down this is what i’m gonna use to place the extension on the way to practice it to your ordinary eyelashes k and to also no longer have my palms stick to your brow. Only a tiny bit longer than yours appears like So i am gonna do a D curl which is somewhat bit further curly on the grounds that your usual eyelashes are so straight this curl will support it have extra curl so what it’s, honestly, the extension itself is curlier so the bottom of the extension is connected to your common eyelash after which the relaxation of it will curl up. It won’t curl your traditional eyelashes however the way in which it sits on there it look curly overall and i will type of also probably create just a little little bit of a double layer effect in your ordinary eyelashes given that they are a little bit straighter and it should give it, it gives it a particularly first-rate seem.So yet another choice with straight eyelashes is now we have a lift or a perm approach so if you need your natural eyelashes to stay completely curly for two months then we will just do that and we can curl them and it stays like that for two months and then if you wish to have it more dramatic than we are able to add extensions so a variety of occasions persons are k with simply having the curlier extensions, in many instances men and women that want them quite curly then they might curl their usual eyelashes if they have got them particularly rather straight and then put the extensions on the highest but due to the fact you want a traditional this must be satisfactory you don’t must memorize that we will write it down and your method so when you adore it or if we wish to organize whatever to change if your gonna get them filled we can continuously we are able to consistently have a establishing point and maintain making minor changes to get that perfect seem you want however I believe you can be completely happy with this given that additionally for those who open your eye when the glue’s no longer fully dry, it kinda stings or tingles so each time you’re gonna open or gonna adjust something I wish to be certain we thoroughly dry it earlier than we repair or we prepare the tape otherwise you open ok so do not open except I let you know sincerely.Yeah it can be the tape that’s it Yeah hold it closed k it’s the inner nook or each? Did that aid? Sometimes it sneaks up whilst it’s closed, it just wiggles up. Is that better overall? K if it sort of moves up once more and it’s itching you let me understand okay Do you intellect if I do like a little bit speaking for the video? Ok so I zoomed within the video so that you guys can see how i’m setting apart making certain that there is only one common eyelash in between my tweezers before I follow the extension ok and it is very primary to do this and not stick something together given that that is when that you could intent damage to the natural eyelash due to the fact that each eyelash has a further development expense so if too many matters are stuck together like that and one is trying to develop out and the one subsequent to it isn’t capable to develop or yeah develop yet it is gonna be pulling, pulling the eyelash that’s now not capable to grow.. Does that make experience? I’m hoping it is smart! K, if it does not make feel remark under, i’ll give an explanation for extra however clearly very very fundamental for you to make certain nothing’s caught collectively and you’re only applying one extension on one of the crucial common eyelashes k and in addition if you can see how a long way i’m applying them from the natural progress of the eyelash line there it’s only one or two millimeters away from it okay you do not need it to contact the skin since that’s when you can intent infection or close the pore of hair follicle however you also don’t need it too a long way so it doesn’t seem funny okay so about one to two millimeters proper there and that i need to show you guys you see how there may be all these little baby hairs around this one eyelash if they may be very very tiny do not follow it on these but for instance this one’s a bit bit thicker we will still follow a shorter lash on it because the more we apply the longer they’re gonna final.In view that customers or on the grounds that each person loses 1 to five hairs a day, you want to attempt to position it on almost each single eyelash unless they’re very very tiny youngster hairs and the rule of thumb of thumb is you not ever want to apply greater than double the quantity of extension as the typical eyelash so if the typical eyelash is ready that thick I on no account wish to put something greater than double the thickness of that k or else it can be gonna be too heavy and it is now not gonna help it. I additionally need to exhibit you easy methods to dip the eyelash extension within the glue given that some people put too much glue or don’t know what’s sufficient to make sure it is gonna be proper so what I do what my trick is in the event you guys can see my little glue ring over right here once I grab the eyelash and you’ll discover I seize it from practically on prime of the place the hair is and i dip it in more virtually all of the method except it’s not touching my tweezers and then I kind of wipe it on the rim of the glue ring after which I observe it so like that i am getting enough allotted in all places the eyelash yet i’m not losing time into you recognize casting off any excess over here or yeah i am hoping that is sensible.I am gonna attempt to center of attention on the glue ring so you guys can see okay so clutch an eyelash i’m grabbing it practically from the highest and i am dipping it in almost where my tweezers are and i’m wiping on the rim after which it goes on the usual eyelash. See there is a youngster hair attaching to it so i will gently peel that off to make sure nothing’s stuck together. Sorry there it wasn’t specializing in this so there was this little little one hair that was once hooked up to my eyelash extension all I did was kind of peel it off from it to make sure nothing’s caught to nothing’s caught collectively alright to preserve the wellbeing of the typical eyelash. Now they’re getting pretty full so it’s tougher for me to find any further empty normal eyelashes to use on but i’m gonna try my satisfactory to seem and ensure, ensure that we’re putting on virtually or each single certainly one of her traditional lashes. See after I went again and looked for it again I located another one so i am gonna go ahead and practice one other one i am gonna maintain shopping.Oh seem there’s a different one so consistently double double verify to ensure you received each single eyelash if you want a just right full set i suppose on account that when you don’t put adequate they will not last as long because we do lose one to five a day okay it is going to seem excellent in the beginning but they is not going to last so you need to make sure that you’re double-checking although it appears relatively full now that it appears like I put it on every single eyelash i am still gonna go in there and style of carry them and seem around to peer if there’s whatever that I would have missed the primary time around appear there is one other so do the due diligence and take further five minutes to do this and that’s what will set you aside compared to someone who would not take their time to try this for his or her purchasers and of direction that is what makes a loyal purchaser or a joyful consumer and you that is your intention to be certain everyone’s glad.I want to dry them relatively well so it doesn’t burn while you open i am gonna go ahead and untape this phase. We are going to determine to be certain nothing is caught we’re just right. So maintain it shut i am gonna gently take the tape out I might pull somewhat, should no longer be too dangerous however we’re gonna try to dry just a little extra and i will additionally need to tape this facet so that you would be able to open *BLOOPERS* She also asks the query in there hi guys welcome back to my channel Yegi right here I need to go over… In a couple of days i’m going to go forward and put up an extra video in order that what occurred with this customer used to be virtually after we have been done with her very first time ever doing eyelash extensions she thought they appeared method too ordinary okay so plenty of occasions it’s better and it can be safer to go more traditional for a consumer who’s under no circumstances had them earlier than on the grounds that if they’re no longer used to it frequently they consider oh my god is simply too dramatic it can be an excessive amount of and it can be tougher to eliminate them then add a number of additional okay so what I so in few days i will put up a video of how I control that challenge and how I turned it into a hybrid appear to offer her a bit of bit fuller appear and preserve her happy and sure that is i am accomplished for in these days.Bye! .

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airoasis · 5 years

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Eyelash Extensions 101 | Full Tutorial on Application

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/eyelash-extensions-101-full-tutorial-on-application/

Eyelash Extensions 101 | Full Tutorial on Application

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itsworn · 6 years

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Quick Tech: How To Smooth a GM A-body Firewall

If you have the engine out, there is no reason to live with a rusty, crusty firewall that is full of unwanted holes. As the home for your beast’s reactor core, the look and presentation of your engine compartment reflects not on just the engine, but the entire car, and the guy doing the wrenching! If you have replaced the factory AC or heater unit with an aftermarket system, then you really need to re-work the firewall because that giant hole from the heater core is not going to do you much good.

The outer heater box on the engine side of this 1971 Olds Cutlass had been removed by the owner. The previous shop painted over everything including all fasteners, clips, and even spider webs.

Take this 1971 Oldsmobile 442 for example. The owner had recently had the firewall and undercarriage painted at a local body shop while the frame was being powder coated. Because the shop was only getting paid to paint it, they did a really bad job. Not only did they not fill any unnecessary holes, they painted over all of the wiring, brackets, and even the heater box without even cleaning it first. Nothing says quality like painted-over spider webs. The customer brought the car to us to finish, but we can’t let a poorly-prepped firewall detract from the rest of the build. Time to fix it up right.

Inside the car, the inner box remained. The bolts are secured on the engine side, so we just had to pry it loose and pull it all out. The box is sealed to the sheet metal with caulking, so a thin blade or spatula is helpful to break the seal.

The plan is to remove the factory heater box (inside and out), remove any unnecessary holes, smooth out all the spot-weld dimples, and spray the firewall semi-gloss black. Removing the heater box leaves two fairly large holes in the firewall; these get filled with patch panels we made from 18-gauge sheet metal. The square hole for the heater core has a raised lip around the edge; that gets flattened out with a little hammer and dolly work. All the small holes were welded up, leaving only the spot weld dimples.

We used a dolly and a small body hammer to work the lip flat. This is easier and much cleaner than trying to cut it off. Just place the dolly behind the lip as shown and lightly tap the edge until it is flat.

The patch panels were stitched welded, which is a special technique used for welding thin sheet metal. Instead of a solid bead, which will severely warp thin metal, a series of short welds (1/2-to-1-inch long beads) every 3-5 inches across the seam. As you come to the end, simply jump back to the end of the first stitch, and repeat until the entire seam is welded. If your seam is small, such as one of the small holes on this firewall, you can use compressed air to cool the metal faster. All of the welds were dressed with a grinder using an 80-grit flap disc, which put less heat into the metal and leaves a smoother finish than solid grinding discs.

We removed all of the paint with a DA sander and some 36-grit paper. The low spots show themselves with remnants of the black paint, all of those have to be filled. We made two patch panels with 18-gauge sheet metal—one for the heater core opening, the other for the fresh air vent. We used a combination of magnets (round vent opening) and sheet metal clamps (core opening) to hold the patches in place.

Once the welding was completed, we started on the body work. We used two types of filler on the firewall, first a layer of Duraglass, which is a fiberglass-reinforced body filler, then a skim coat of regular lightweight body filler. The Duraglass is used over the welds and spot weld dimples. Duraglass will fill and seal any pinholes in the welds without holding moisture like regular filler will, and it can be applied thicker, which is good for those dimples. Once it is cured, it is feathered out like any other filler. For this project, the Duraglass was sanded with a DA sander using 50-grit paper. The 50-grit will give the next layer of filler a bit more surface to grab onto. A skim coat of regular filler was applied to the entire firewall and block sanded with 80-grit, then 180-, and finally 320-grit paper until everything was perfectly flat and smooth.

Using a stitch weld technique, the patches were welded in. We also made some small patches to fill the smaller unused holes. Make sure you know what holes you need before welding them up.

The filler needs to be fully cured before priming, so we let it sit for about 3 hours and then primed it with Axalta Premier sanding primer. Sanding primer builds thick; this fills any sanding scratches or small pits that you missed. Once cured overnight, it needs to be blocked or scuffed. We used red scotchbrite pads to scuff the primer, removing all of the orange peel from the surface. This can be done wet or dry. Skipping any of these steps will leave your smooth firewall with ghosted edges, pits, and filler rings.

After all the welding was completed, we dressed the welds with a flap-disc on a grinder. Note the two holes that are circled, those are the ones we will reuse for the new AC system mounts.

We sprayed the firewall with Axalta single-stage semi-gloss black. Unfortunately, we got a little heavy-handed and ended up with a sag in the middle of the firewall. This gave us an opportunity to show how to fix runs and sags using a razor blade. The run is carefully shaved down until it is just about level with the rest of the paint, then carefully block sanded smooth, the area around it scuffed, and then the affected area is re-sprayed. This trick works on all types of paint provided you follow the guidelines for the paint. If this were a clear coat or single-stage gloss paint, we could have simply buffed the panel after shaving and sanding, as long as we didn’t break through the paint.

The end result of the job turned out quite nice. The semi-gloss black melts into the background, so that the 486-ci Oldsmobile remains the jewel of the engine bay. The entire process took us about 3 days to complete, including fixing the run in the paint.

The driver side did not require much work, as all of these holes and mounts were reused. We replaced the old seam sealer with some new 3M seam sealer that is sandable and paintable. Once it is dry, it can be lightly sanded to smooth it out.

This is Duraglass, which is fiberglass-reinforced body filler. It is water resistant and very strong. It is perfect for going over fresh welds, which need a little extra protection. It comes with a special hardener which is usually white, so you need to mix it really well, as it is hard to tell if it is thoroughly blended.

Next, we wiped the Duraglass over the welds and dimples, DA sanded it smooth, and then skim-coated the entire firewall with body filler. We sanded the filler with 80-, 180-, and 320-grit sandpaper.

We also stripped the cowl and prepped it for the same treatment. No welding, just filled the dimples.

Two coats of Axalta primer went down and was allowed to cure overnight before scuffing it with red scotchbrite.

Here is the issue we ran into. It doesn’t take much to get a sag on a big flat vertical panel like this. It happens, but now we have to fix it. Do not attempt to fix this until the paint has cured—you‘ll just make a bigger mess.

We used a razor blade with some tape on the outside edges to shave down the run. Don’t try to get it all in one pass, just work slow to bring it down just above the rest of the surface. If you dig too deep, you could make it worse, so be careful.

This is what it should look like after shaving. No nicks in the surrounding paint, and you have a slight lip.

Next, we carefully blocked the run with 320-grit. If this were clear or gloss paint, we would start with 500 and work up to 800, 1000, 1500, and then polish it with a buffer. For this, we have to re-spray.

Semi-gloss does not buff out, it just turns glossy, so we have to paint again. Single stage paint blends really well with itself, so we simply scuffed the firewall with red scotchbrite to prep it for a re-spray.

Parts List

Description: Part No.: Source: Price: Duraglass, 1 qt. 20435 parts store 26.95 Evercoat body filler, 1 gal. 156 parts store 28.95 Transtar 2k primer, 1 gal. 6131 parts store 149.95 Transtar hardener 1 qt. TRE-6144 parts store 36.99 Nason single-stage paint 1 qt. mixed at store parts store 65.99 Nason paint hardener 1 pt. 483-15-6 parts store 35.99 sand paper varies parts store 25.00 sheet metal scrap bin in-house free!

The post Quick Tech: How To Smooth a GM A-body Firewall appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/quick-tech-smooth-gm-body-firewall/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Hot Rod Network

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royalquartz · 7 years

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Shape Up Your Eyebrows: Useful Threading Tips

A drop or two of oil, rubbed gently gives them luster. Eyebrow Threading is an all natural alternative to waxing and plucking. Perfect eyebrows almost transcend the beauty of the face and make an immediate visible impact in a makeover session. One of the best features of threading is that it is suitable for even skin that is too sensitive for laser hair removal or waxing. Eyebrow threading is a practice of shaping the eyebrows using a thread. The eyebrow threading is doing for the good looking of face.

Eyebrow threading has sure as great as pleasing results. These formula embody cleanser as great as straighter lines, offset facial facilities as great as mostly lift a eyes. Eyebrow threading is really accurate for an eyebrow figure which frames your face. It is ordinarily practised by women in India as great as a Middle East. They operate a pristine string thread. They in all turn a hair as great as threading pulls out a total quarrel of hair, as against to tweezing where usually a singular single hair is pulled out. Other benefits to eyebrow threading is no allergic reactions such as rashes, no chemicals have been involved, it is a great technique for people with supportive skin as great as a tip layers of skin have been not shop-worn when regulating this technique.

Benefits of Eyebrow Threading

For those who have discovered eyebrow threading, it has easily become their preferred method of hair removal. The process is very accurate and can remove a clean line of hair in one pull, or individual hairs to get the precise eyebrow shape you desire.

Eyebrow threading is the best alternative to waxing, tweezing and using creams for people with sensitive skin. Waxing removes a layer of skin which causes skin irritation and may cause wrinkles with continuous treatments. It is also suitable for individuals who are on Retin A and Accutane, or who have recently had a chemical peel.

Waxing and tweezing make facial hair grow back thicker and faster.

Unlike other hair removal methods, you can have your eyebrows re-threaded as soon hair grows above the surface of the skin.

Other hair removal methods use hot wax, harsh chemicals or expensive brow tweezers. Eyebrow threading requires a single piece of twisted cotton thread, thus making it a cheap and safe alternative.

Tips for Eyebrow Threading

Here are some simple tips to tame your brows:

Spray a little hair spray on your brows and brush them using your toothbrush to keep them in place.

Eyebrows slanting upwards make you look angry, so be careful not to take off too much at the outer corners.

If your brows are sparse, use a freshly sharpened brow pencil to fill in the areas with light, quick strokes.

It is important to use the correct shade for your brows. Fair women can use blonde shades while olive colored women should choose tawny or brown.

In case, you have over tweezed certain brow area, try to fill the patch using brow shadow, applying in the direction of the hair growth.

Eye shadow gives more natural look to your brows than an eyebrow pencil.

#eyebrow #groom #shape #thread

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dunesofblack · 7 years

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For the Pics below, I convinced Vizgoth to repost a chapter of it here. Enjoy! =)

(Setting: Extermination Mission-Venus)

(communications inbox):

Greetings Tenno!

You have been selected for a special survey of an exciting new robomorphic compound!

All one needs to do is insert the needle into any robot nearby, wait for a few moments, and presto! Profound and pleasing changes will occur.

No charge or exchange of monetary units are needed for this FREE sample. Good luck Tenno! And happy hunting!

All rights and proceedings are owned by ‘Mag the Engineer’ (Relay Patent #7834687-T_wf 395)

Thistle and Dragonfly had finished their mission almost to completion. There was still the remaining question of what to do with the last MOA. The lone robot twittered and quirked as it patrolled the icy grounds on the Venusian mountain alcove. Likewise the Nyx sisters crouched up by the landing platform, hidden by a large orange cargo container with several lockers strewn up to their hiding place.

In all technically, they could leave but the warframes decided to stay. Lotus had declared the mission successful and their operator would have the Liset dispatched as soon as the warframes were in need. Li’da, their beloved operator, foresaw the unasked craving for solitude and so left the warframes to their privacy. She still glimpsed occasionally at their status to monitor them but otherwise let them be.

As if in question Dragonfly raised the strange gift they had received in their inbox. The fat cylinder was little more than an inch long and held a strange mercurial liquid behind a stubby needle. It had been guessed that as soon as the needle sunk into the target the liquid would be pushed in by an automatic plunger.

In a nod of agreement, Thistle flicked her hand to the ignorant MOA. The gilded sister descended as a gold crested cloud to the snowy path steeped in unseen death. Her Yamako Syandana fluttered behind her, dark blue banners marking her judicial status. Midair she let fly the small device with unerring accuracy. The needle hissed through the air and impacted against the robot’s shields before slipping through to puncture it’s synthetic plating. As Dragonfly rolled out of her sliding dive she stood, eyeing the MOA with her visual sensors and taking care to examine its every action.

The bipedal bot acted normal at first, as if it’s systems had not registered the attack at all, then it started to squeal and hiss. It bobbed up and down on it’s legs as it rocked back and forth. It’s head and gun mount twitched in agitation as internal alarms started going off.

Crouched in patient waiting, the Nyx Prime merely observed the micro and macro changes as the Corpus MOA was slowly reformed at the barest mechanical level. Sooner than later such alterations became evident. From beneath its core a layer of softer metal plating formed a female groin between its tantalizing thighs. Lubricant glistened on the newly forming lips and they light up with a strangely attracting yellow glow.

Dragonfly stood with an appreciative nod. She knew that the MOA, unlike the other warframes and herself, was just a robot. A manufactured sentience operating on a minute artificial intelligence cortex. Warframes were fully functioning, self-aware, sentient, understanding beings that could adapt to any environment on their own. Each warframe had a different personality and conscious. An individuality grown in a bio-mechanical body that could not be replicated in a factory. Only grown in the birthing chambers of the Orokin could such a miracle take place. And only in those chambers would the warframes be given such absurd modifications.

Reaching between her plated thighs, Dragonfly gave a sighing coo as her armor plating slide away from her milky dermal layer. The cold breeze would not hurt her, the warframe was immune to death by cold but the thermal sensors acted better than human nerves. A shiver curled up the Nyx Prime’s back as she reveled in the naked feeling of the mountain air on her thighs and still covered slit. Unlike most female warframes, the Nyx sister’s female genitals were located a little further back to make way for her secondary pleasure organs.

With a slight flexing a secondary slit appeared directly above the first and from it gushed forth a flat headed phallus of worrisome proportions. The modified organ was at least 5 inches thick and growing thicker by the minute, but not overly long as it was only 8 inches in length. A thick tubular cock of pearly white with swirls of purple-ebony toward the base.

Dragonfly knew it was formed in the likeness of an extinct group of old Earth mammals called equines. The Orokin masters, perverse in their infinite luxury, had perhaps gifted this to her. Odd organs to please their self-destructive parents. A sort of perverse thought to have their gilded warriors satisfy the Orokin’s sexual fetishes. They were the master’s blessing. The sister’s curse.

A cold, exhilarating feeling of primal lust pounded through Dragonfly as she gripped her own girthy member, her hand not long enough to close her fingers around the thick artificial length. Though she had no need to, the Nyx Prime stroked sensitively up and down from sectioned base to flat head as she contemplated her prey.

The concoction that had altered the MOA so drastically was likely a concentrated fluid of nanites. Once injected the microscopic robots would attack and alter the body of the robotic host and reform it to the preprogramed form. In this case, the nanites altered the MOA into a more pleasing female form with constructed genitalia and more than likely install foreign software to cobberate with the new modifications.

Once the MOA seemed to settle down, it’s animalistic head turned to observe the Nyx Prime jerking readily. The Corpus robot turned to allow entry to its rear and crouched down a little further to allow easier access to the new nether port.

Pleased, Dragonfly moved forward and lathered her cock against the MOA’s leaking slit. She was not sure if the small bodied robot could take her length but any sort of entrance would do. With another slick wipe of her pearly phallus along the wet nether lips, Dragonfly adjusted her length and eased forward.

She hissed in pleasure. The newly constructed passage was exquisitely tight and wetly warm. It did not lurch and constrict around her thick member as a living vaginal canal would. However, it was far superior to any manufactured replicant available. And more realistic.

Dragonfly had to resist not being seductively sucked in. With slow thrusts she leaned into the MOA. Her body weight sinking her deeper into the welcoming passage. The equine member stretched the female slit painfully wide. As if a fist had been shoved in. Deeper and deeper the flat head pushed into the MOAs insides, abrasively shoving apart the pleasurable walls. The Nyx Prime placed both her hands on the MOAs “hips” as she stood on tip-toe, arching her back and thrusting out her armored breasts as she sunk further in. And she was only halfway done.

A few more pushes and the pair fell into a more suitable position. Despite only being able to fit three-quarters the way in, Dragonfly did not hesitate as she began a more aggressive assault. Her speed picked up, the massive pearl phallus bucking in and out as it butted up into the end of the MOAs available capacity. Manufactured lubricant squeaked out of the stretched hole as the Nyx Prime rammed herself in again and again without mercy. Her pace growing at an belligerent pace. Wet squelches punctuated movement as Dragonfly pleasured herself with the MOA.

Up by the orange container and strewn lockers, Thistle had peeled back her armor only to allow enough access to give her slit attention. She leaned heavily against the alcove of rock, her vision focused on her sister as she massaged her armored breasts and teased her own nethers. The Nyx’s RIV Elite leg guards glittered in the sun and her armored shoulder plates scrapped against the bare rock. But none of this bothered her as she busied herself with the present pleasure. Her clit peaked like a small, pointed, cyan head eager to join the action. And Thistle was eager to please.

It was not long before Dragonfly’s other additions entered the fray. A pair of black balls also popped out of the slit, each the size of a clenched fist and purply black in color. The ebony sacks heaved back and forth as the Nyx Prim buried her shaft into the stretched wet slit. Loud slaps echoed through the mountain path punctuated by the slicks of gushing fluids as Dragonfly’s bulging shaft was dragged back out.

Thistle kept stroking around her nethers, spreading the lower lips and stroking along her entrance up to her tingly clit. Every node in her body washed and echoed with pleasure as she carefully watched her sister ravish the Corpus robot like a doll. The Nyx frame huffed in heated gasps as she slipped her middle finger inside herself. Hot inner walls gripped and spasmed around her digit. The palm of her hand mashed against her clit and brushed back and forth as she strained friction against the protruding nub. Her other fingers spread her wet lips wide in lewd display for no one other than herself. Cold sent shivers through her body as it met the heated, wet petals between her thighs.

The Nyx Prime was lost in her lust, her phallus throbbed with pleasure and already leaking precum. With a little difficulty, she pushed the MOA a little further down and her right leg over it’s thigh. Dragonfly mounted the bot with new voracity. Chirping and twittering in delight, the MOA bent to her wishes. The large seed sacks swung beneath her, smacking into the robot frame and getting soaked in the sticky lubricant. Her white and purple phallus pounded into the loosening hole.

So close. The Nyx Prime growled out a moan as she felt the first way of her orgasm explode up through her core.

A turquoise jet of cum sprayed in spurts from her female slit as she bucked into the MOA, her instinct to drive her phallus as balls deep driving her forward. Dragonfly moaned as her soft sack jerked and she came. Her equine shaft gushed cum, spewing synthetic seed into the hot passage. Grabbing the robot’s head with both her arms she yanked upward as her back curled in ecstasy. Her thick member still cumming. With no womb to hold the fertilizing concoction, the warframe’s seed spurted back out. The thick, pearly cum gushed back out. It splattered onto her soft ebony balls and heavenly armored thighs, soaking the Nyx Prime from stomach to knees in her own seed.

Dragonfly jerked through several more spurts, whimpering all the while before climbing off the abused MOA. Her semi-hard shaft coming out with a wet pop and a squelch as white cum splattered onto the snowy ground, glowing a faint green color.

With an affectionate sigh she patted the MOA’s smooth armored rear. The sturdy Corpus robot had held up to her assault despite last minute modifications. Dragonfly stalked back up to her waiting sister, hips swaying and the new pet MOA at her heels. Her cyan sister stood like a naughty schoolgirl caught doing something naughty, her legs crossed, hands behind her back, and her head down. A quick scan revealed traces of internal lubricant coating Thistles thighs.

Dragonfly hummed an amused sort of laugh. Like the show sister?

A nod.

Join in next time? The Nyx Prime cocked her head to the side.

Hand on hip, Dragonfly used the other to hold her phallus as she retracted first her sacks then her shaft back into her body. Armored skin shifted back into place like growing skin

If there’s enough holes. Thistle communicated back.

The pair shared a twittering laugh. Only question that remained was what to do with the MOA. Then a devious thought entered their minds almost simultaneously. As the Liset came to pick them up the sound of a Condor Corpus dropship could be heard heading to their location. Before departing the pair cast Mind Control and Chaos on the MOA, sending it into an anti-Corpus frenzy. The sisters shared a laugh as to what would befall the Corpus troops when they stumbled upon the converted MOA.

(Vizgoth already put a disclaimer up on Archive of Our Own but just in case, we do not claim anything of the Warframe Franchise or Name/Brand.)

#warframe #smut #story #moa #nyx #nyx prime

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charlestmcure · 7 years

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Eliminate Wrinkles And Fine Lines With A Few Effective Beauty Tips Lips Dry

The Most Effective Teen Beauty Advice For Winning Good Looks

Address your beauty routine smarter, not harder! There are numerous methods for you to improve your appearance without spending tons of money. The next article gives you expert beauty advice.

Should you be light skinned or have light hair you might like to consider tinting your eyebrows. This can boost the shade of your eyebrows and will draw attention to the eyes and brows. You can tint your eyebrows alone and might discover the the tint at most of the beauty stores.

Whenever you file your nails, make sure you don’t file in only one direction. This will put stress on the nails and cause them to weaken, become thin and break easily.

Gently brush your lips with a soft toothbrush. This can help you remove dead skin cells from the lips making them soft. You must then apply Vaseline or another type of lip balm to moisturize your lips while keeping them soft. This can be done every day or on alternate days.

You can adjust your hair’s color and style to higher accentuate the shape of the face. Select a cut with sleek, elongated lines, using the longest layers reaching anywhere between your jawline and shoulders. It is also possible to make use of highlights and lowlights in order to frame the face. These are quite flattering and highlight the features of your respective face.

In order to stay beautiful, make your skin healthy, and feel great, drink plenty of water! 5-8 glasses of water per day is wonderful, and much more is always good whenever you can manage it. Drinking a good amount of water assists with bad or dried-out skin and several other ailments.

To get softer and sexier lips make use of a honey scrub! Take 3 drops of honey, and combine it with half a teaspoon of sugar. Apply the mixture liberally in your lips, and allow it to sit for approximately ten minutes. Once you wash it well, you’ll find your lips have gotten softer and may even look fuller.

Foundation creates a fantastic concealer. If you’re out from concealer, use several of the foundation that’s beneath the cap. As this is thicker makeup, it can mask any imperfections.

Bump your hair color. When you have dyed your own hair as well as the results aren’t as dry lip dramatic as you want it is possible to fix this with the addition of a box of hair coloring for your shampoo. Lather it in your hair and allow it to looking for 5 minutes, then rinse it all out.

To help your lip gloss stay longer, apply lip liner first. Fill the entire lip together with the liner before putting on your gloss. With all the liner applied, the gloss can have something to stay to, that will help it stay on the whole day. For the best effect, utilize a liner near to the natural color of your lip.

Build a funky, modern nail design by making use of scrapbooking scissors with scalloped, zig-zag or some other edges. You may cut regular cellophane tape with all the scissors and set them on your own nails before painting to generate great stripes, two-tone effects, or some other interesting designs. Use matte polishes next to glossy ones for any multi-textured effect.

It is quite common to hear the words “real beauty comes from within” and this is true, even though discussing external beauty. If you feel confident with yourself, it allows you to change many small factors that you may possibly not really realize. The effect of this is that you simply actually look more beautiful, too.

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A post shared by MareLuna Essentials (@marelunas) on Jun 5, 2017 at 10:54am PDT

For those who have ever caught yourself peeling off nail polish as it had started to chip, it’s possible you possess done damage to your nail. If the nail polish is peeled off this way, you will discover a chance you are taking off a layer from the nail plate. This will cause your nail to thin out or crack. Select an acetone-free nail polish remover instead.

When you are spanning a certain age and uncertain regarding the best way to wear makeup in the flattering way, please take advantage of the makeup professionals at your local department store. Select a brand that suits you and plunk yourself down from the chair of the very most skilled-looking makeup artist. They are happy to provide you with plenty of free helpful advice on the simplest way to bring your “now” beauty out. Whether you acquire their items or not is entirely up to you, however the makeover and the advice are free of charge and yours to maintain.

Don’t overlook inner beauty. You are able to look as great as you’d like, however it won’t mean anything when you are a terrible person. Haven’t you met somebody that was attractive at the beginning till you found out what sort of person these people were? Work on your inner beauty just as much as you focus on your outer beauty and not only will it show, but you will feel better about yourself during this process.

Looking good will not be an exact science. Using these tips, it is possible to learn the science and the craft of proper makeup application. Add your very own suggestions to personalize your look. Stop wasting time and expense on beauty gimmicks, and commence looking great today.

Source:http://tinnitusmiraclecure.org/eliminate-wrinkles-and-fine-lines-with-a-few-effective-beauty-tips-lips-dry/

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marcos008-blog · 5 years

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India – Karnataka – Mysore – Devaraja Market – Bananas – 121