#some people on there are fantastic nature photographers

[hellsitegenetics]

I'm doing it. Whatever organism this comes up as, I will make a character* of that species. Even if it's a plant. Even if it's a mushroom. Even if it's microscopic. Even if it's barely studied. Even if it's a species I've made before.

(if this comes up as human I might actually cry but I'll still do it)

*probably just a character design but still

String identified: ' g t. at ga t c a, a a caact* tat c. t' a at. t' a . t' ccc. t' a t. t' a c ' a .

( t c a a gt acta c t ' t t)

*a t a caact g t t

Closest match: Sus scrofa family with sequence similarity 76 member B (FAM76B), transcript variant X4, misc_RNA Common name: Wild boar

(image source)

[marzipanandminutiae]

Madame Marzi I must defer to ur wisdom

Recently you rb’d a painting with some younger ladies and in the tags talked a bit about short hair in Victorian Times

Do you have any reference for how shorter hair was styled at the time? I’ve seen plenty of paintings and such with VERY short hair (post illness or perhaps childbirth) where all you can really do is smooth it back, but what about that awkward, past the shoulders sort of stage where it’s too long to just brush back but too short to do much to? Surely they had some styling guides..?

(Also, a side question— how old would one be before going from shorter skirts to adult/full length ones?)

The two little girls in the garden (probably preteens-young teens)? Yes, I did!

It's hard to find images of women with in-between hair lengths, and I'm not sure why. Possibly because they'd find ways to put it up with false hair, whereas hair too short to put up is more obvious in photos. This could also have to do with the type of woman who has pixie- or bob-length hair voluntarily vs. mid-length: the latter is more likely to be attempting a grow-out, and thus to try her darndest to do The Culturally Accepted Long Hair StylesTM where a lady who chose a much shorter look wouldn't care. If that makes sense? Because, indeed, some of the women with very short hair were not ill or postpartum: ladies could, and did, choose to eschew long locks back then. It wasn't very common, but it happened.

(Nicole Rudolph has an excellent video about localized short hair trends for ladies during the Victorian era.)

You see a lot of these bob-type looks in photographs where the hair is center-parted and either naturally curly or curled on purpose, around the mid-19th century:

(1850s or 60s)

(Author, feminist, and abolitionist Anna Elizabeth Dickinson- no relation to Emily that I know of, though Anna was also a queer female writer around the same era -c. 1860s. She wore her hair short all her life, so it was voluntary in this case.)

(Also 1860s.)

Pre-Raphaelite muse Fanny Eaton frequently appears to have chin-to-shoulder length hair, though given that she was Black with a corresponding hair texture, it's hard to tell what the actual length is- it may be long and looped up in the 1850s-60s styles popular when she was most commonly painted (most free Black women in England and the US wore styles also popular with white women, to the best of their abilities given that fashion plates assumed European-textured hair as the "norm"):

(Fanny Eaton, 1861. Also worth noting that we have no images of what her hair looked like when she wasn't posing for fantastical paintings.)

I've never actually seen an image of a Victorian woman with mid-length hair outside the context of theatrical or artistic images from the end of the century, now I think of it. Huh. It's a mystery, I suppose!

As for skirts, while in earlier periods children had basically worn miniature adult clothing, it became fashionable around the 1830s-40s to dress girls in short skirts and boys in short pants. The usual rule was knee-length until around age 10, then mid-calf-length until somewhere between 16 and 18 when skirts would be "let down" and the girl would start wearing her hair up, becoming a young adult in the eyes of society. (Contrary to popular belief, this had nothing to do with marriage- while you were theoretically eligible for it when you started dressing as an adult, girls/women younger than 20 were still often considered a bit too immature to marry. It wasn't forbidden, but many people thought it unwise. And yes, unmarried young women did still wear their hair up and their skirts long.)

...unless she preferred her hair short, which as you can see, was an option!

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @fourbrickstall​

I’m a photographer who likes to shoot portraits,  acro, and toys. My favorite themes are medieval fantasy, steampunk, and apocalypse. I manage a fan community about LEGO photography called BrickCentral, and I am its LEGO ambassador.

Check out our full interview below!

How did you get your start in photography?

I think I have always really liked looking at things through a lens—I had plenty of microscopes and telescopes growing up—so photography was a natural progression. I started out taking photos of nature, architecture, and travel but really became a photographer in my mind when I learned studio photography. I love creating interesting light on people in particular.

What inspired you to work with LEGO specifically?

Several years ago, a couple of photography blogs I followed featured a 365-day phone photography project by Andrew Whyte about a miniature traveling LEGO photographer. It was the first time I had ever seen toy photography. And LEGO! It had been years since I had ever even looked at LEGO, but it brought back memories of smiley-faced space explorers on lunar bases. I was surprised by how modern LEGO minifigures had become: this LEGO photographer was so urban with a beanie hat on its head and a cute camera in its hand. I immediately wanted to create a little LEGO version of myself, too (called a “sigfig” or signature figure, I later learned.) Around that time, I had my hands full with a toddler and was looking for a way to keep shooting creatively. But I only had space for one bag at a time—a diaper bag or a camera bag—so a phone and a minifig seemed like a fantastic way to keep taking photos.

Once I got my LEGO minifigure in the mail, I started shooting and became instantly hooked. Not only on the photography but on the collecting aspect too. I now have hundreds of minifigures and even more LEGO minifigure parts to create custom characters with. So it was the LEGO that caught my attention right away, but the photography workflow is what sealed the deal for me.

What is your favorite piece of all time? Why?

I really love this photo for lots of reasons. It’s the kind of photographer I want to be: someone who doesn’t let weather or terrain or whatever become an excuse for not doing what they love. I also like that this shot looks like I found this great location in the forest, but the reality is that I shot this on my window sill with just some bark, twigs, and moss that I collected from around Brooklyn. It doesn’t get more metropolitan than NYC, but with just an idea and a few materials, I created a completely different environment. Atmospheric effects are another thing I like to add to my photos, so the “rain” hits the spot. It’s just spray from a water bottle.

From idea to final piece, how long does it take for you to create something?

The great thing about shooting LEGO is that it can be as easy or as complex as you want it to be: from subject to gear, to lighting, to location. As a portrait photographer, shooting an unusual or interesting character is part of the thrill, so I spend about an hour creating one custom minifig from my hundreds of loose parts.

Sometimes I use official LEGO models as a subject or as a background, and these take some time to build, depending on the size of the set. I build my own models and scenes, too—known as My Own Creations (MOCs) in LEGO lingo. These take me forever because I’m not a great MOC builder, and I don’t have thousands of LEGO parts at my disposal. It’s not unusual for MOCs to take days or weeks for me to finish. 

This tiny red house on wheels took me about 5 days to build:

This Japanese alley took me a month:

When shooting outdoors, I look for locations that scale well to LEGO minifigs and models and also have beautiful light. I seek out pockets of light through trees to put my subjects in, but I also make sure to have patches of shadow throughout the scene to give it some depth.

I already have some favorite locations, so it’s really just a matter of getting to them or waiting for the right time of day. Indoors, I can get shooting rather quickly at any time of day in my studio nook, which is an alcove I’ve set up with lighting and supports just for my LEGO photography. Having that dedicated space and grip really accelerates getting into a flow state. Negentropy is my friend.

A custom minifig in a MOC photographed in my studio nook is my favorite kind of work to do, but that also takes the longest because of the build time and more complex lighting.

What are 3 things you can’t live without as a creator?

My camera, my lenses, and Lightroom are three things I can’t live without as a creator. I love the whole process of shooting—seeing how different settings and gear change an image—and then taking that image and making it truer to what I feel in post.

What do you wish you knew when you first started out creating content that you know now?

I wish I knew that it’s easier to find your tribe when you figure out who you are as an artist first. I think it’s tempting to try to belong immediately because it’s exciting to find other people who share the same interests as you. But doing that too quickly and investing too deeply can influence your art or trap you in a style that isn’t really you.

What are your file name conventions?

FBT-desc-of-lego-subject.jpg I’m not as organized as I would like to be, but I have my folders set up descriptively and by date in Lightroom. It’s great for managing thousands of photos.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

I love the DnD artists on Tumblr! I’m so inspired by their beautiful illustrations, character creations, and storytelling. I played a few campaigns with my Dungeon Master brother as a teenager, so I know and love that world. I guess my affinity for custom LEGO characters is rooted in the character creation part of DnD.

My favorite characters these days are artificers and tieflings, so I follow those tags on Tumblr to see all the stunning artwork by the community.

Check out more amazing LEGO photography over at @fourbrickstall​!

[takecareluv]

a blurb where reader and vinnie are taking a nap at the beach and one of their friends posts about it cuz they’re just the cutest ❤️

a.n. thank you for sending a request, lovely. 💖 i hope you like what i came up with! a beach day with vinnie seems like a dream tbh <3 xoxo

beach cuddles || vinnie hacker x reader

for the last few weeks, you’d watch the beautiful summer weather pass you by through the small window of your office.

and when you weren’t working, you laid in bed, too tired to do anything but scroll through each and every social media platform filled with vacation photos from everyone you followed.

the most excited thing you’ve done so far this season was go in your friend’s hot tub. although it was soothing, nothing compared to the cool touch of those salty waves you so desperately craved. 

you were most definitely feeling the summer blues. and vinnie could tell. no matter how hard you tried to put on a fake smile, vinnie knew you like the back of his hand. he instantly could tell when you were feeling out of it, and this was one of those times. 

as soon as he noticed, vinnie, being the incredibly sweet boyfriend he was, began planning a day trip to malibu for you and all your friends to go on, knowing the warm sun and majestic ocean was exactly what was needed to cheer you up.

he promptly messaged everyone, tossing around a few dates to see what would work for the whole group. once everything was set and stone he finally clued you in on the plans, to which a massive smile became glued on your face, one he realized hadn’t seen in quite some time. 

you were so excited for the upcoming beach trip. no more wasting away this perfect summer, you thought. you were going to enjoy yourself even if it was just for a day.

-- 

you had been counting down the days in your calendar until you would be lounging on the soft sand you’d missed so much, and finally the day you’d been anticipating all week for had finally arrived. 

you woke up bright and early, changing into the new bathing suit you were looking forward to wearing all summer, and packing all the essentials into your hefty beach bag. you made sure to grab a fresh bottle of sunscreen, knowing how easily your precious boy burned, along with quite a few snacks and enough drinks to keep you all quenched throughout the day. 

once you, vinnie, and the rest of the group were ready, you hit the road, cruising down the coast with the windows down and upbeat music blasting through the already blown-out speakers. 

luckily you guys got there early enough to find the perfect spot to lay out your towels, close enough to the water, but still secluded from the rest of the people already settled on the beach. 

it was truly the most fantastic day; the sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky. mother nature had been on your side, much to your relief.

for hours you went back and forth between laying on the shore, soaking up the sun while reading your book, to going for a swim in the water to cool off.

you found yourself sharing a towel with vinnie, always needing the comfort of each other’s touch, as you laid in the shade for a short break from the intense sun rays.  

however your short break turned out to be a little bit longer as you both fell asleep, the heat definitely wearing you out. 

you were cuddled together, vinnie’s arms wrapped around your body to keep you close as you tucked your head in his neck to further shield your eyes from the bright sun. your friends all cooed at the sight once they returned from taking a dip in the water. 

liza especially thought the two of you looked adorable, quickly snapping a picture that she knew you would love to see, always acting as your own personal photographer.

she took the photo to instagram, knowing the fans would absolutely eat it up, adding it to her story along with the caption, “these two could fall asleep anywhere”. 

-- 

about forty-five minutes later, you woke up to an endless amount of notifications on your phone. you grew confused until you saw the photo of you and vinnie napping together reposted about a hundred times, everyone freaking out about how cute you and vinnie were together. 

you continued to scroll through the comments, even liking a few, before deciding to make a post of your own. the picture showed you smiling with vinnie still asleep in the background next you. “my sleepy boy <3″ you captioned it. this caused fans to go even crazier, always adoring the couples content since your rarely shared it. 

you and vinnie were slowly becoming the internets favorite couple, and understandably so. 

[seven-oomen]

Since I've had quite a bad day today I decided to pauze the writing for Caught somewhere in time for the day and instead work on some Clone / Clone wars headcanons of my own that I'm going to include in the fic. Link now under cut!!

A few things that will be a plot point:

Parentage of Cal Kestis (Like one of them is Obi-Wan, but the other...??? I know, you don't.)

Romance of Cody and Obi-Wan

Sibling relationship between Anakin, Cal, and Ahsoka

Corruption in the senate (Sith Lord and after)

Way to free the clones and end order 66 (chip storyline)

Headcanons:

The Jedi can tell all the clones apart by their presences in the force. It's like a second nature to them. They never mix them up.

Cody likes to knit.

Obi-Wan finds that an absolute delight and happily provides him with the materials and anything else he needs.

Although all the clones can technically count as 'twins' only the ones that shared a gestational pod are considered official twins among the clones. Fives and Echo are among these twins. The prevalence of 'twin births' is about 3%.

Triplets also occur but they are much rarer, there have been three documented cases in the history of the clone troopers. I kinda wanna headcanon that Cody, Fox, and Wolffe are one of these triplets. Out of the three Cody was the smallest at birth. (He caught up later just fine).

Echo has a photographic memory, Fives has a natural gift to spot patterns and connections.

Wolffe seems like a stuck up hardass, but he's an actual softie on the inside and has a knack for sensing when his brothers or others need him the most. His pack is his life.

Fox honors his name by having a very mischievous streak with his brothers. Even if he seems to be a bitch for the rules in every day life, his brothers know him better than that.

Wolffe is excellent at poker.

Fox and Echo battle for the title of Holo-tactic champion.

Waxer is actually fantastic with kids, this stems from his time in training, when he would often visit his little cadet brothers and spend time with them.

Kix is an excellent cook.

Cody can't cook to save his life. Neither can Obi-Wan. Fortunately Obi-Wan knows the right people who can cook.

All the clones are caf drinkers, black, no additives.

Rex carves jewelry like bracelets for everyone, Cody puts trackers in everything Rex carves, or he knits. He'll find a way.

All the clones have unique sleeping positions. It's one of the ways to tell them apart.

Cal and Anakin have a brotherly rivalry, to the point where Cal has actively tried to electrocute Anakin, and Anakin has attempted to force push Cal down a flight of stairs. But if anyone else tries to harm one of them, the other unleashes hellfire upon the assailant.

Cal and Ahsoka quickly become best friends and team up against Anakin whenever the situation allows for it. Obi-Wan actively encourages this, it's hilarious to him.

Among Anakin, Ahsoka, and Cal; Obi-Wan is known as mom. Cody is dubbed 'dad' at some point. The other clones find this hilarious.

While Ahsoka starts as a relatively short teenager, her species tends to grow larger than the average human. So by the time she's an adult, she stands at a respective 200 cm (6'6.7). Anakin hates this in particular, because he was used to being the tallest in the group.

And that's what I got so far. Will probably add more at some point.

[literaticat]

Most (not all but most) writers seem to hate or strongly dislike phone calls, video calls, author photographs, putting up videos, etc. etc. You can clearly see this just based on the questions you often get asked on here or probably on forums like Absolute Write, etc. Why do you think this is? Is it that writers tend to be anxious/socially awkward, reclusive, tend to overthink - a combo of all of the above? It's so different from YouTubers or influencers/Tiktok/Insta stars, actors and actresses, etc. It's like writers would rather crawl under a rock than speak to someone on the phone, even face-to-face, or have their photo taken! (And I say all of this not to judge my fellow writers because I'm someone who pretty much feels the same way, at least most of the time! LOL)

Writing is kind of a solitary pursuit, as opposed to Social Media Influencer or Actor, which are both examples of jobs that literally depend on engaging with an audience or it isn't happening.

Like, if you are doing improv with your cat, fantastic for you -- but if you aren't filming it for TikTok, you aren't being a TikTok comedian, you are being a weirdo cat mom, and Fluffy is probably going to hiss at you at some point. If you are reciting monologues to yourself, you aren't acting in a play, you're acting like the Unabomber. If you are by yourself writing a book, you are a writer.

So, yes, I think it's safe to say that people who are drawn to things like Influencing or Acting probably enjoy "putting themselves out there", at least to a certain extent, while people who are drawn to writing are probably fairly comfortable being quiet and spending time in their own heads.

Still, I feel like you're painting with a pretty broad brush here. Sure, some authors are shy / introverted / "socially awkward" -- but plenty are gregarious and outgoing. And lots are a little bit of both! (I am!) -- I'd say all these personality types are well-represented amongst my writerly clients and friends.

I just think that people who are naturally shy / introverted / anxious tend to be... well, ANXIOUS, and thus you see them asking questions like this all the time. Whereas people who aren't don't have as many worries about things like "having a normal conversation on the phone" -- so they are asking DIFFERENT questions.

[hooked-on-elvis]

"Being around him was something I can't even express, it was constant excitement, he had a charisma about him like no one else I ever met, you can feel him walking into the room, it hits you right in between the eyes, he was a just an amazing person." — Ed Bonja ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was just listening to an interview with Ed Bonja, by Joe Krein, and I wanted to share it with you, guys. It's a great interview. Ed talks about how down to earth, "one the guys" man, Elvis was, and general things about his job touring with Elvis and taking awesome photographs of him from 1970 to 1977.

Side note: Actually the whole "Elvis Presley Collecting King Elvis" Youtube channel is filled with awesome interviews on Elvis' personal friends, family, his women and the people who got to work for/with him over the years. If you haven't subscribed yet, there's your chance. I wouldn't miss it. There's always great content being uploaded. The interview with Ed Bonja, guys:

Ed Bonja's photographs of The King are just fantastic shots. Some of them were used in official recording material releases, such as "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" LP cover.

If you want to get a collection of all his photos of Elvis Presley, Mr. Bonja published several books on Elvis, including "Elvis: Shot By Ed Bonja", "Viva Elvis", and "Spotlight On Elvis". There's also the DVD "Elvis, The Colonel & Me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who was Ed Bonja? For those of you unfamiliar with his background life, Ed was nephew to Colonel Parker's right-hand man, Tom Diskin. Tom Parker would have dinner or breakfast at his home from times to times, as a close family friend. In one of those days, back in the 50's, Colonel casually mentioned to Ed and his family he had just signed contract with a young boy named "Elvis Presley". After that, naturally Ed grew up on Elvis, and he says he was a huge Elvis fan. How fantastic it must have been to Ed Bonja actually got to work with Elvis and take so many great memorable photos of him! We truly appreciate his work and devotion to his job. Here's another great interview, with Mr. Ed Bonja, from Elvis Info Net. And here's another one from Daily Telegraph (the quote at the top of this post came from here).

Ed Bonja sadly passed away in 2019. Rest in peace, Mr. Bonja. Thank you for the memories. ♥

Elvis Presley September 2, 1973 3:00 Am Las Vegas Show, photo by Ed Bonja.

Ed Bonja took this photo of Elvis Presley board of his private jet on Tuesday, September 15, 1970 as he was leaving Mobile, AL to fly home to Beverly Hills, CA.

[theroyalsims]

XIMENA FLAUNTS “RELATABLE” BIKINI BOD DURING ROMANTIC TRIP TO THE BEACH

Love is in the air... on a beach somewhere. 

The latest photographs of lovebirds Prince Alistair and Ximena Kalarmy went viral for all the right reasons. 

Aside from the obvious “cuteness” of the pair, people couldn’t help but praise Ximena’s for her chic beach style and confidence.  Dressed in a ruffled blue bikini, with her hair haphazardly tied in a messy bun, Prince Alistair’s lady love rocked her ensemble and proudly flaunted her natural curves.

The shots were reportedly taken earlier this week, after Prince Alistair returned from his first official overseas trip to Nueva Brindletonia, where he met with the troops currently stationed there. 

Many royal watchers lauded Ximena for having a “relatable” body, and for promoting body positivity and inclusivity. One person wrote:

“I just love how Ximena is so relatable. She has no make up on, her hair’s a mess, she’s flaunting her cute little pooch, and she looks fabulous! She’s not built like a supermodel, but that’s great, too! She looks happy and healthy! I’m loving it.”

Another commented: 

“I’m here for Ximena looking so real. Look, I love me some Anya, Eleanore, and Ingrid - bless them and their wonderful silhouettes, but I simply adore how Ximena looks...normal. She’s confident. She’s gorgeous, and she knows it. That woman is here to stay.”

A source close to the Kalarmys claim that as a teen, Ximena struggled with weight and body image issues due to bullying, but eventually learned to love herself for who she is:

“She had a hard time growing up. She wanted to be skinny and conform to what was considered ‘beautiful.’ As a teen, she went on these fad diets and trendy weight loss regimens, but she ended up really unhappy and her weight was always fluctuating. It didn’t help that she was bullied, too. But eventually, with the help of her family and friends, she realised that she didn’t have to ‘fix’ anything about her. She was perfectly okay being just her.

I think she really found herself during her university days. She really flourished there. She's a fantastic cook, and she realised that she didn’t have to deprive herself anymore. So she eats what she loves, she wears what she wants. She’s not all too concerned about her dress size. Basically, she just tries to maintain a healthy weight.”

After months of relentless media scrutiny and mostly negative press (so much so that Prince Alistair had to issue a public statement in her defence), it’s quite refreshing to see that people are finally realising just how awesome Ximena actually is. 

[bloggingbrin]

DigiThoughts: Mju Mini/Stylus Verve

I've been shooting with a cam that sort of has some cult status in digicam community for a bit, here are my thoughts.

0. The camera

This camera is the digital cousin of Olympus Mju point and shoot analogue cameras the prices of which exploded after analogue photography youtube evangelized it. This one is in a very Y2K friendly alien shape and is ripe with potential to make tiktok go crazy at some point due to its physical, and not just photographic, aesthetics factor. In the digicam discord I was told that this is a camera that people love due to its form factor (cult status, barring its own emoji in the server) but also the pictures it can produce. I got it as a, stylish, replacement for a Canon Ixus 40 I was taking photos with before with the hope that it can be a replacement capable of good all around photos.

It took me a bit to adapt to the camera, but I think im in a stage where I feel comfortable with it now!

1. Shaky

My first impressions were that every picture I take is quite... blurry.

Shooting mostly in the evenings and just starting with using AUTO everything the camera tried to compensate for the lack of light with long exposure times. The previous Ixus I had handled automatic shooting quite well but decided to dig a bit into the shooting settings.

2. ISO + Ev to rescue

ISO 400

EV: -0.5 or lower

Smacking ISO up high helps a lot already, adds some beautiful noise to the picture and made it lighter. The EV definitely needs to be hit into negative if shooting in lowlight otherwise the camera leaves it's shutter open for too long and you end with blurry pictures. Maybe a tripod could be interesting to use with it.

Anyhow, this lead me to nicer, noiser photos at a day trip to Rijeka with friends. Importantly tho, I felt like I needed to do some post corrections to "pull out" the colours id like. It's something I'd like to avoid, not necessarily because its bad - it's completely valid - but I work so much with a computer in my day-to-day that I'd rather not make my photography hobby depend on it too.

3. Cuisine Preset

A few weeks later I had the chance to visit my good friend Luka in Italy and this is where I feel like I hit the stride with this camera. With the quest to reduce the amount of editing work I tried out the "modes" the camera offers for shooting, like "Night Time", "Nature"... I don't know what exactly these modes change as its not clear, but I believe they act sort of like a colour filter as they don't seem to override the ISO/Ev (which seems odd for some modes like Night Time).

I found that for the warm, noisy photo style that feels very fuzzy using the Cuisine preset alongside the high ISO made for fantastic results. I guess it fit cause everyone I was shooting was a snack hehe.

Rambling on pricing

Last thing I'd like to note is, I love how gimmickry this camera feels in the hand. It has such a weird shape. However, I think the regular price of this thing, 100€ on Ebay, is outside of what is reasonable. I got incredibly lucky and found an almost pristine one on an Austrian second hand site for 50 with shipping to Slovenia. If your goal is to shoot nice photos, i don't think this is worth it.

What I want to say is that you can take photos of this style on cameras way cheaper as well. I also believe that the digicam spirit is to pickup something cheap and make it work. Another part of the digicam spirit, to me, is finding weirdly shaped things. In an era of glass slabs seeing some weird angular designs like this is exciting and harkens to a wild west of electronics design and this one is definitely in that category and it feels like this is being abused by sellers a bit. I don't know man, scarcity and collections are a weird thing.

[fourseasonsfigs]

Harvest Tomatoes

Following up yesterday's Little Farmer Jun is the fruit of the harvest!

We continue on with the (many) figs that were inspired by Gong Jun's November 2022 Cosmopolitan Magazine shoot. There's a ton of them.

The inspiration for this cutie is this:

This magazine cover is not the one I have, I got this cover:

Outstanding! But, we're not here to talk about A+ purchasing decisions, we're here to talk about this little man:

This sweet little guy, wheelbarrowing his way across the Pacific to me. Safe and sound in his little polystyrene cocoon.

Like a number of figs in this series, there was absolutely no way this fig was going to stand up on its own. In this case, on the cart. It was too heavy towards the back and toppled right over when I tried it. Usually I can at least take a header pic if I prop the fig up against my backsplash there, but for this one I just immediately put it on a fig stand. It was just too unstable. I wasn't going to take any chances on the cart breaking!

I put a tiny bit of glue on the wheel and each of the ... uh ... wheelbarrow... stands? What are those called? Anyway, I glued that cart down, it's not going anywhere.

You can see we would have needed much wider, uh, stands in order for the cart to hold up the weight of that big ol' head.

Speaking of big ol' heads, I find Junjun's little khaki hat here adorable. It's like, fascinator size! Not to scale in the slightest, but ever so cute for it.

Look at all those beautiful tomatoes! I know people were incredulous at Junjun biting into a tomato for the photo shoot, but let me tell you. When I was a kid, I used to work at a local farmer's market on the weekends selling flowers with my uncle, and I would wander around the market when we had slow times. A great farm fresh tomato really is like nothing else - a glorious burst of flavor and juicy texture that literally tastes like summer. So you go on with that tomato, Junjun!

Tomato solidarity aside, I love how packed this cart is, it makes for a great visual presentation.

Junjun covered in tomatoes wasn't where I saw this mag shoot going, but like I said in yesterday's post, I don't even question this sort of stuff anymore. There's no denying the harmony of the red tomatoes with the cart and the contrast with his clothing is a great pop of color.

I really love how the fig maker designed the 3-D nature of his open shirt. This must have been a difficult fig to engineer, just given all the details here. His hair also looks fantastic - they really got those curving bangs that look so great in the photo shoot.

Speaking of details, here's a close up of all those tomatoes that wonderfully 3-D shirt. You can actually see the modeling on his abs there too! No detail spared for sure.

More detail of the other side of the cart. There is a LOT of tomatoes in that cart. Pour one out for the overworked and probably underpaid photographer assistants that have to set up these fashion shoots. What a perk though. I'd artfully place tomatoes around Gong Jun for free, no problem.

Here's a good view of how well this wheelbarrow was modeled. It may not stand up on its own, but it looks fantastic.

And the other side. I like the blue soles on his Hogan boots a whole lot.

The boots are all we really see (and yet more tomatoes) from this angle!

No box art or box cards for the figs in this series unfortunately.

There will be more figs in this series to come, and more figs outside of this series too. Literally every single photo in this shoot was turned into a fig by some enterprising fig maker! I'd call that a successful photo shoot for sure.

Material: Resin and a whole ton of tomatoes

Fig Count: 419

Scene Count: 29 (I don't think this counts)

Rating: The sweetest fruit of the harvest

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[creator-of-calm-queer-chaos]

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Book Review

HOLY CRAP!! It deals with such important topics SO WELL I LOVE IT!!!

Okay here you go:

Fast facts:

Title: Ace of Spades Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Pronunciation Guide: Fa-ree-dah Ah-bee-keh Ee-yee-mee-deh Genre: YA Thriller Rating: 10/10

Review:

When you mix the mystery/thriller quality of One of Us is Lying but better with the complexity of race from The Weight of Blood but better, you get Ace of Spades. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. It genuinely held me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. It deals with genuinely difficult subjects with a skill level I have NEVER seen before. This story is supposed to be dark, and to shove the horrors of systemic racism at you so you cannot ignore them, as so many people do. If you are able, and especially if you are white, I beg you to read this book and to actually think that shit like what happens in the book is real. We see it in slightly more toned down versions more frequently, but this shit happens. It is supposed to be dark. And it is supposed to teach you a lesson about what gets hidden away.

Okay, okay, what's the plot?

Devon and Chiamaka are the only two Black students at Niveus Private Academy, a fancy high school made of white legacy students. Devon is a musician with dreams of getting into Julliard to help his mom and younger brothers get out of their struggling home. Chiamaka is a popular girl who, while her family is well off and stable, doesn't have a legacy to lean back on.

As Devon and Chiamaka enter their senior year, they are made Prefect and Head Prefect, respectively. Chaimaka is not shocked. Devon is. At first, it seems like senior year will work out splendidly.

And then Aces comes into play. An anonymous texter (or texters?) starts sending texts to the entire school with information about Chiamaka, Devon, and a few other students - information that they all thought they had buried deep.

Chiamaka and Devon end up teaming up to uncover a nasty history of racism, secret societies, and discover just how far Aces is willing to go to bring them down.

Told in a dual perspective, this book explores the horrors of systemic racism and what it means to be Black in a world of weaponized white privilege.

DUN DUN DUUUUN!!!!

Seriously though, it is a fantastic book. I read it for a book club and I cannot wait to discuss it.

It deals with some pretty heavy topics, so I will put those, along with how prevelent/how much it is discussed below the cut. Spoilers in the sense of that these topics will be discussed, but no plot details. I would suggest skimming those, or feel free to message me if you just want a yes/no answer about a specific topic.

Again, I want to highlight that this book is dark. It is supposed to be dark. If you read it and think it is a fluffy thriller, you have missed a fundamental part of it. This book is about racism and the depths of white privilege - and weaponizing race.

Check out Àbíké-Íyímídé's website about Ace of Spades here, and where to buy it: https://www.faridahabikeiyimide.com/aos

Potentially triggering topics and how long they are dealt with (spoilers in the sense of these things will come up, no major plot points are revealed. Some small scenes will be spoiled.)

Racism: The entire book (more obviously in the second half) deals with racism. This includes institutions that are explicitly trying to ruin the lives of Black students specifically. This includes benefits of having white legacy parents. This includes what it feels like to have curly hair, and the power that wearing your 'natural' hair can have. This book deals with racism, and it does not hide how terrible it is.

Stalking: Aces stalks Devon and Chiamaka. Like, explicetly stalks them. There are major invasions of privacy that happen. A character is photographed changing - levels of stalking.

Homophobia: There is quite a bit of homophobia throughout the book. A character is non-consensually outed, multiple friendships/relationships are broken because of fear of how people would treat them if they knew they were queer, and a character is beaten up (it's show as a memory) because he is gay (in this scene/memory, he remembers being called slurs)

Bullying: Most of this story is about bullying. I don't know how else to put it. People are assholes in this story.

Toxic friendships: There are many many toxic and fake friendships, including when the main character is the toxic one.

Death/murder: A character killed another character pre-start of the book (we do see this scene in a vivid memory/nightmare, more in this in car accident/death), and that haunts them throughout most of the book. We learn about a group of people who killed at least one person, though we do not know how.

Hate crimes: There is a group of people who commit terrible crimes (including murder, as mentioned above) to people of color. This is a major premise of the book, more explicitly in the second half as the characters figure out what is going on.

Drug dealing: One character dates a drug dealer and works for them at one point. The person they are dating gets arrested later in the story.

Drug use: A character is revealed to have been using drugs, and it is rumored that another character also used drugs. These themes are present for about a page each.

Car accidents/death: A character gets into a car accident with another character that kills someone, and they do not report it. This haunts one of the main characters throughout the story. The accident is described in detail for a few pages, and the character has flashbacks to aspects to this scene multiple times.

Suicidal thoughts/attempts: It is mentioned that a character tried to commit suicide very briefly (the whole conversation lasts less than five lines).

Gun violence: A character is held at gunpoint towards the end of the story. This part lasts about two pages.

Police brutality: It is mentioned that a character is killed by a police officer (we do not know the character who was killed). This part lasts for only a few lines.

Incarceration: A drug dealer above gets incarcerated, and a main character visits them in prison. A main character's father was incarcerated, and we read a memory of the main character visiting their father in prison as well.

Sexual assault: There are two instances where characters were assaulted, one where a character does not remember pictures being taken of them, and another where pictures are found of an unknown character and a character describes the photos as feeling nonconsensual and as if she was being 'used.' Each of these instances are maybe a third of a page long.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Fictober 2022: The Central/Keystone City Comic Book Convention

Day 3: “That was not my intention.” 

TW: Mentions of violence.

Sam Scudder hadn’t been to the Central/Keystone City Comic Book Convention in decades. Every year when the convention rolled around, he made plans to attend, but something always ended up intervening, and he would miss his chance. Sometimes one or another of his fellow Rogues would call him up and propose a heist. Other times, the Flash would show up and haul him off to prison before he could attend. And sometimes, James would get bored and start following him around, forcing him to drop his plans to go to the convention in order to prevent the other Rogues from learning that he was a closet JSA fan. He and the guys were close, but not that close—and besides, he had a reputation to maintain! 

This year, however, everything had lined up in his favor. No one had called him up to propose a heist, the Flash hadn’t shown up to arrest him, and the Trickster was off in LA bothering some B-list superhero named Blue Devil. Even the weather had cooperated, with the day of the convention dawning bright and clear. (As annoying as Mardon could be, it paid to be friends with the Weather Wizard.) Sam had gotten up at 6:00 AM sharp and, after spending an hour and forty-five minutes ensuring that his hair was perfect, he had entered the Mirror Realm and transported himself to the convention center in downtown Central City—just in time to be there at the convention’s opening. Now he was wandering around the various booths, waiting for the autograph signing that was going to be held by Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard and occasionally inquiring about the price of an old JSA comic that he didn’t yet own. Most of them were a bit outside of his current budget, but he had managed to purchase a slightly battered but still perfectly serviceable copy of All-Flash #19 for only $110. He couldn’t wait to get it home and finally have a completed All-Flash collection. 

“You a fan of the Flash?” The sudden question jolted Sam out of his reverie. 

“Huh?” 

“Oh! Sorry for startling you. It’s just that I’m a huge fan of the Flash myself, and I noticed that you were holding a copy of All-Flash #19. I was wondering if maybe I'd found a kindred spirit.” Sam grinned.

“Yeah, I’m a fan. I’ve been collecting Golden Age comics since I was seven or eight, and I’m especially fond of the ones about the JSA. They were my heroes as a kid, you know?” The other man, who had a blonde crew cut and a polka-dotted bow tie, smiled. 

“The JSA were my heroes too. It was so cool knowing that there were real-life people with superpowers who went around saving people, and even cooler that one of them lived right in our hometown. When I was a boy, I even used to dress up as the Flash—Jay Garrick, of course—and pretend that I was saving my childhood sweetheart Daphne Dean from mortal peril or fighting dastardly villains—not that there was all that much peril or all that many villains to be found in Fallville, Iowa.” 

“That reminds me of that year that I dressed up as Dr. Mid-Night for Halloween. My mother couldn’t afford to buy a costume from a store, so she hand-sewed it herself. There’s probably still a photograph of me in that costume somewhere, but I hope that it never resurfaces. The costume itself looked fantastic—Mom’s a seamstress—-but I was eight and so I naturally ended up looking like a total dork wearing it.” 

“If it’s any consolation, there are several photographs of me dressed up as Jay Garrick, complete with pie container helmet, at my parents’ home in Fallville, and every time my wife sees them, she collapses into a giggling fit.” 

“Are you just a cosplayer, or do you collect too?” The other man, who was seeming increasingly familiar the longer Sam talked with him, nodded.

“Yes, I’m another collector. I’ve got 745 Golden Age comics, including 77 issues of the original Flash Comics and 14 issues of All-Flash. How about you?” 

“ I own 697 total Golden Age comics. I’ve only got 65 of Flash Comics, but I actually own all the issues of All-Flash now that I’ve got #12 ,” Sam replied. 

“Wow! That’s impressive! How’d you track down All-Flash #4? I’ve been searching for that one for years, but every copy I’ve ever found is insanely overpriced.” 

“I lucked into that one. The grocer in my neighborhood gave out JSA comics to any kids who wanted them. He said that we needed heroes more than anybody else, growing up on Skid Row,” Sam replied. 

“Skid Row?” 

“Yeah. I grew up on Baker Street, in downtown Central. And everything you’ve heard about the place is true. The Candy Man’s men really do run the place. I remember hearing gunshots outside my apartment all the time, and when I was nine I saw one of my neighbors overdose on heroin. I…I guess that’s why the JSA meant so much to me. They were strong enough to protect people from guys like the Candy Man, and brave and good enough to actually do it. When I was a kid, I always hoped that when I grew up I would be able to be a hero like them. Dumb dream, huh? Everybody knows that superheroes don’t come from Skid Row.”

“Why not? Even if you don’t have special powers, everyone can help to make the world a better place.” Sam was suddenly struck by the memory of the last time he had attended the Central/Keystone City Comic Book Convention. He had been eight years old, and, had it not been for the unexpected generosity of an older boy, he would have never been able to afford to go. The other boy had offered to pay Sam’s way in even if it had meant sacrificing his own chance to attend the convention, and, for some reason that Sam still couldn’t fathom, he had actually turned the offer down, saying he didn’t want the other boy to miss out on seeing the JSA. Maybe he just hadn’t been very bright when he was eight. 

Both he and the other boy had gotten the shock of their lives when Wildcat, a leading member of the JSA, had suddenly come up to them both and praised them for their willingness to sacrifice their own happiness for someone else’s. (When was the last time Sam had sacrificed anything for anyone since? He couldn’t even remember.) Both he and the other boy had been welcomed into the convention free of charge and had gotten the once-in-a-lifetime chance to actually eat lunch with and interview the entirety of the JSA. Sam and the other boy had also gotten autographs from every member of the JSA—autographs which were now proudly displayed in a special corner of the Mirror Realm. 

“You mean, like by offering to sacrifice a chance to meet the JSA so that you could pay for a little boy to do so instead?” While he had been reminiscing over his fondest childhood memory, Sam had finally realized why the other man had seemed so familiar. He had been that older boy who had offered to pay his way into the convention! 

“Wait. You were that little boy who met the JSA with me? The one who refused to let me pay his way into the convention even though he probably would never have another chance to go?” 

“Yeah, that was me. I’ve been wanting to thank you for years. If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have gotten to meet the JSA.” 

“I could say the same thing about you. I remember being super impressed by how someone with so little was willing to sacrifice for someone with so much, and I always sort of wondered what had happened to you.” Sam was wondering the same thing. What had happened to the Sam Scudder who cared more about making others happy than about being happy himself? How could they possibly be the same person? 

“I can’t believe we ran into each other after all this time.” 

“You suppose that this is the start of a beautiful friendship?” the other man asked. 

“Could be. What’s your name?” 

“Barry. Barry Allen.” Sam felt the color drain from his face. He knew that name. He knew it all too well. How was it possible that the boy who had given him his happiest childhood memory had grown up to be his enemy? 

“Barry Allen? As in the Flash?” 

“Yes—but don’t feel intimidated by that. I’m really just a regular guy; somebody who loves his family and geeking out over comics.” 

“You’re the Flash. And you haven’t realized who I am?” 

“Beyond being the boy at the convention all those years ago?” Was the Flash toying with him, or did he really not know who he was talking to? 

“Samuel Joseph Scudder. My name is Samuel Joseph Scudder. Does the name ring any bells?” The Flash’s mouth fell open.

“You’re the Mirror Master?” Sam had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The Flash had seen him out of costume how many times now, and he still couldn’t recognize him without being told? 

“Yes.” 

“Why are you here, Scudder? Did you come here in order to enact some plan to defeat me?”

“No, that wasn’t my intent. I didn’t even know that you were here until you came up to me and started talking to me.” 

“Then why did you come to a comic convention that celebrates superheroes?” 

“Because I’m a comic collector who loves Golden Age superhero stories? I wasn’t lying when I told you that—or when I told you that the JSA were my heroes.” 

“Then that little boy who met the JSA with me, the one who wanted to be a hero himself—he grew up to be the Mirror Master? What happened to you, Scudder?” Sam shrugged.

“I learned that being a hero gets you killed. Reverend Collins, the closest thing to a hero Baker Street ever had, got shot to death by one of the Candy Man’s drug dealers—and that grocer who gave out the free comics was murdered when he wouldn’t pay Handsome Jack’s protection racket. The good guys might be able to come out on top when they have superpowers, but if you’re just a regular guy, well—better not live on Skid Row. The bad guys always won when I tried to play the hero, so I decided the only way for me to defeat them was to beat them at their own game. And I did!” 

“And what price did you pay for it? What happened to the little boy whom you became the villain to protect?” Sam frowned. He didn’t have an answer. 

“I—I don’t know what happened to him! Why does it matter?” 

“You call yourself the master of mirrors, Sam. Maybe to find the answer, you ought to use your powers to examine your own reflection.”

[hessa-and-oh]

Story Ideas for Marry Me 2

Nobody asked for this post, but I just want to write it because I really like Marry Me, and after re-watching it, I have some plot ideas for a sequel.

Given that Marry Me is a romantic comedy, a hypothetical sequel should keep the light-heartedness while adding more depth and realism.

Charlie Gilbert and Kat Valdez are obviously very different people, and based on the movie's premise, their relationship may not last long, despite the ending's claim that they will live happily ever after.

However, since the plot is fantastical, we shouldn't worry about the relationship's future, right? Yes, I suppose, but as I noted in a recent review, this movie is fitted in such a way that it could address rarely discussed issues such as social media addiction, fame, and maintaining youthful appearances in the future if they wanted to.

Subplots about what it takes for a relationship like theirs to work in the face of these possible challenges, how they use their differences in personalities and lives to their advantage, and so on.

So, the first act of this film would be of Charlie and Kat doing romantic activities, being a couple, and being a family with Lou. In the meantime, Kat teaches them how to speak Spanish and a bit about the culture.

Then the story can explore how they plan their time around each other, and how they deal with the fact that their relationship is in the public eye. Later, there could be some situations where the paparazzi photograph whenever they are out in public perhaps getting ice cream or something.

Then, at some point in the movie, they go out for a recreational activity, say indoor rock climbing or something, and a guy makes a snarky comment to Kat about marrying another stranger if she and Charlie don't work out, which provokes Charlie and makes him want to physically respond, but Kat calms him down. The statement has an effect on him, and it influences the following act of the film. So, while Lou is staying at her mother's, Kat invites Charlie to meet her circle of friends who are equally successful and influential as she is.

Charlie feels out of place at this gathering, much like he did at Kat and Bastian's after-party after they won the Grammy. His insecurities resurface.

He shouldn't feel this way because she proposed publicly for all to see. She's professed her love for him, which is natural for Kat at this point because she wasn't trying to mislead or deceive him from the beginning. She's been quite open about her feelings, but what happened with the heckler fed his feelings of insecurity.

So, Charlie is at this gathering with Kat and her circle of friends and he notices how he is dressed ordinary compared to the people he is in the company of. Everyone at this mini party is all geed up.

Kat is not complaining about his appearance or condescending, she loves him for who he is. The problem is that she is oblivious to how he feels in the presence of individuals of her calibre. So, Charlie excuses himself at some point, and Kat thinks there is a problem, but he assures her all is well that he wishes to use the restroom. After he enters the men's room and studies himself in the mirror. Then he phones his friend Parker and expresses his concerns to her. So, she suggests a makeover and how they would go about it.

So they decide to do this while the school is on break and Kat is performing outside of the country. Parker suggests that he change his hair and dress style. After getting his hair done, he looks different in a good way. This boosts his confidence a bit. Then, Parker takes him to a clothing store where she selects some clothes for him to try on. He looks great in them, and Parker takes pictures and videos of him with his phone. After that, she posts to his Instagram, Charlie goes viral, and he starts getting DMs from brands asking if he can model their clothing.

Melissa informs Kat about what is going on in the social media space. Kat is happy that he is having his moment. She calls him on the phone, as she always does, and they discuss the viral moment.

Parker could appear in filler scenes assisting Charlie in capitalising on his viral moment. Perhaps taking part in an internet challenge or creating reaction videos of people reacting to him, or something along those lines.

Then, Bastian enters the story and wants to partner with him on a project or like a marketing campaign for a brand he has a stake in. Charlie initially refuses but he decided to accept anyway.

Kat is fine with it, but she is concerned that he is becoming excessively distracted by it all, and the female attention he has begun to receive from younger women makes her feel emotionally fragile, but she chooses to trust him and keep herself busy with her own schedule.

Some tabloids start reporting on Charlie's partnership with Bastian as a way for Charlie to meet young women. Charlie dispels the rumour by appearing in public with Kat.

At the end, all of Kat’s fears comes true, Charlie gets lost in the sauce with the fame and attention that he starts to spend less time than he normally would with Parker, Kat and Lou but then Tank having a health scare makes him realize himself. So, he and Kat work things out, go through therapy maybe, and bring their family back together with Lou. The movie ends with them finally getting married.

Now that I've written this, I'm starting to think it's cheesy, but what do you think?

[jaynerose]

Butterfly Necklaces

(A bit of supernatural/fae stuff going on, based on a weird dream and an abundance of butterfly necklaces. I’m not making that part up.) 

One Christmas, about five years back, I was gifted a butterfly necklace. The chain was thin and shone silver, a small butterfly pendant sparkled with small purple rhinestones. My grandmother got it because she thought my birthday was in February and amethyst is the birthstone for that month. I was born in January.

We weren’t close and she didn’t know many things about my life. The necklace was small, sweet, both things I had wanted to be but wasn’t. Still, she tried, and that was what mattered to me. This was the first butterfly necklace. 

The second butterfly necklace, was gifted to me by my mother. Bejewled, golden, with hot pink and glassy coating. It was ridiculously over the top in sparkles, and also ridiculously more me. This is my favorite of my collection.

A close friend gave me my third necklace in my collection. It was at this point I realized the strange trend in gifts. It was also beautiful, silver, but made by her own hands. 

Now, I never claimed butterflies to be my favorite, nor did I have a particularly large interest in jewelry. So, once I had at lease eight different butterfly necklaces, all gifted to me by people who had next to no contact with each other, I thought it a curiosity.

There wasn’t much I could do with this curiosity though. Not until I found out why. Not until I met him. 

My college held an art fair, a large portion of the students were artists (myself included). This was when I first met the man with silver eyes. 

The smell of fresh cut grass was a comfort added to the warmth of the summer sun. Crowds of people moved through the neat rows of art displays and small shops. As I passed a folding table filled with photographs, I came to a new exhibit. 

White wired displays held up the most beautiful pieces of jewelry. Shining in various metals, twisted and wonderful and fantastic. All were themed in nature, and many were themed in butterflies.  

The man who was behind the cash box flashed a grin at the customer he was talking to. As he was busy, I moved into the display area. My hand drifted to my mother’s butterfly necklace that I was wearing, and looking to see if there was a ring or bracelet that might match. If I was going to find one, it’d be here. Strangely, no prices were listed anywhere near the items. 

“Hello, see anything you like?”

“Oh, everything is beautiful.” I turned and saw the man who was previously helping the customer.

He offered a smile, “I appreciate you saying that, I created most of it myself.” 

His eyes drifted to my necklace. It was the kind of thing that was difficult to miss. “I could almost have mistaken that for one of my own, where’d you get it?”

“It was a gift. I’ve actually gotten a lot of butterfly necklaces over the years, it’s just a strange trend in the thought process of my family I guess.” I kept rambling, it was difficult not to, “Not that they are strange, well maybe a little, we’re mostly artists so that merits a bit of oddity, I think. I don’t usually speak this much at once.”

He laughed a bit, and when he did I noticed his eyes were a peculiar silver. “Don’t worry, I tend to have that effect on people. May I have your name?”

“My friends call me Jay.”

An emotion flashed across his face before I could identify it. “I see.” 

“Did, um, did you have prices listed anywhere? I didn’t see any.” 

He moved to the rings I had been looking at. “These are most likely what you’ll want.” He picked one up and surely enough the one he had chosen matched my necklace rather closely. “You’re an artist, correct? Then this will cost you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Art for art. Equal value ideally.” 

I laughed, “The only thing I have on me right now is my sketchbook.” I was joking, clearly. This must be some kind of bit. 

“Let me see.” He held out his hand. 

I paused for a moment, maybe I should just leave? Apologize? He looked serious, though. What was the harm, I had a dozen sketchbooks at home, hoarded like dragon’s treasure. 

“Ok,” I dug through my backpack and grabbed a small sketchbook. “I just started using pastel pencils though, so don’t judge too harshly.” 

Wordlessly, he took it. And as his hand curled around it I noticed his nails were came to sharp, clean points. 

He flipped through the pages, his lack of expression making me nervous. I knew some of the pages were filled with nonsense. A doodle of a raccoon wielding a flamethrower, a crocodile crawling out of a cauldron. That was what sketchbooks were for though, practice and nonsense. 

He came to a page that broke his expressionless face with a laugh though. His silver eyes looked back up at me. “This is acceptable. A ring for your sketchbook. Do you accept the deal?”

At this point I kind of had to. “Yes. That sounds good.” 

“Excellent.” He turned quickly, dropping the ring into a white box and then into a bag before handing it to me. 

As I turned to leave he said something that stuck with me. 

“Perhaps those necklaces made their way to you for a reason.”

When I turned back to reply, his stall had vanished and so had he. In that place was a caricature artist, confused by my sudden staring. 

[oliviajames1122]

15 Foods That Help You Have a Healthy Gut

Here are our Many business listings of the finest gut-health foods. Here are some delightful and odd meals that are also excellent for your insides, in no particular order:

1 - Yogurt

Friendly bacteria, often known as probiotics, may be found in abundance in live yoghurt. For a great breakfast, look for sugar-free, full-fat varieties and add your own fruit. Yogurt drinks can have considerably more germs that are excellent for the gut than regular yoghurt. However, keep in mind that they may contain a lot of sugar.

2 - Kefir

This probiotics yoghurt beverage is prepared from fermented milk and is high in beneficial microorganisms (which can help to reduce a leaky gut). It is said to have originated in the mountainous region between Asia and Europe, as well as in Russia and Central Asia. It's also a terrific addition to smoothies and soups, and it may be used as a salad dressing base (add lemon juice and seasoning) business listings.

3 - Miso

Miso is created from fermented soy beans, as well as barley or rice, and includes a variety of beneficial bacteria and enzymes. It's a savory paste that may be used in dips, sauces, and soups, as well as a salmon or tofu marinade. It's a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, and it's dairy-free. Although there is some doubt in the studies that the bacteria reach the stomach, people in areas where Miso is a primary fermented food source have better gut health and less bowel diseases.

4 - Sauerkraut

This is fermented cabbage that has been coarsely diced. This excellent source of probiotics, fiber, and vitamins is primarily recognized as a German meal, although Eastern and Central European variations exist as well. Choose a food that hasn't been pickled in vinegar because the advantages aren't the same. It's wonderful with sausages, and it's inexpensive and simple to prepare at home.

5 - Kimchi

Probiotics bacteria, vitamins, and fiber are all included in this Korean specialty of fermented veggies. Serve with meat, salad, or eggs as a vibrant side dish. Koreans refer to "kimchi" in the same manner that we refer to "cheese" while having our photographs taken.

6 - Sourdough

This is incredibly trendy right now, but there's a solid reason behind it. It's more digestible than conventional bread and delivers energy slowly because it's made by fermenting the dough. It also makes great toast.

7 - Almonds

These are abundant in fiber, fatty acids, and polyphones, and have strong probiotics characteristics, so they're a treat for your gut bacteria. When you're hungry, a handful of almonds are a fantastic snack free listing.

8 - Olive oil

Fatty acids and polyphones are beneficial to gut flora and microorganisms. Olive oil contains these. It has been found in studies to help lower intestinal inflammation. Use it to season salads or to sprinkle over cooked vegetables. Olive oil has also been shown in certain studies to help with indigestion and can aid your pancreas by reducing the amount of digestive enzymes it produces.

9 - Kampuchea

We all know how important water is for gut health, but what else can you consume? Kampuchea is a fermented tea drink full of probiotics beneficial bacteria that is said to have originated in Manchuria. It has a harsh, vinegary flavor and may be served alone or blended with fruit and spices for a pleasant drink. It's also an excellent basis for drinks.

10 - Peas

Fibre is necessary for gut bacteria to thrive, therefore the more fruits and vegetables you eat, the better. Peas are high in soluble and insoluble fiber, which helps to keep your digestive system in check. Peas may be used in stir-fries, soups, and salads.

11 - Brussels sprouts

They include the kind of fiber that beneficial bacteria prefer, as well as sculpture compounds that aid in the fight against harmful bacteria like H pylori. For a delectable side dish, stir-fry with garlic and a meat of your choice.

12 - Bananas

Bananas are one of nature's most convenient and healthy snacks, as they are high in the type of fiber that beneficial bacteria prefer. They also have beneficial minerals.

13 - Roquefort cheese

Live, runny, stinky French cheese* will help to enhance your gut bacteria, but only in moderation. Toss it in salads or spread it over sourdough bread. While we can't guarantee that all of the bacteria will survive digestion to be useful, additional qualities are thought to aid in the preservation of some bacteria throughout digestion.

14 - Garlic

Garlic's antibacterial and antifungal qualities can aid in the management of "bad" gut bacteria and the balance of yeast in the gut. It may be used to flavor savory meals. Garlic's characteristics operate as a fuel source for bacteria, allowing them to accomplish their jobs more effectively, which improves gut function and aids in gut healing.

15 - Ginger

Fresh ginger stimulates the digestive system and aids in the creation of stomach acid, allowing food to pass through the intestine more quickly. Freshly grated ginger may be used in soups, stews, smoothies, and stir-fries. To create delicious ginger tea, pour boiling water over grated ginger.

What are probiotics, exactly?

You might have noticed probiotics yoghurts or yoghurt drinks on shop shelves. These living cultures and yeasts are often referred to as "good" or "healthy" gut bacteria, or simply "gut-friendly" bacteria. Probiotics are thought to aid your digestive and perhaps overall health by increasing the amount and type of helpful, or healthy, bacteria in your colon. Fermented vegetables like kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage) and sauerkraut, as well as miso and kefir (fermented milk), are naturally high in probiotics and have recently become popular gut health foods.

What are prebiotics, exactly?

Prebiotics are non-digestible meals that promote the development and activity of good bacteria in the intestines. They essentially give the probiotics with the fuel they require to grow. Artichokes, leeks, onions, garlic, asparagus, bananas, legumes, honey, oats, and lentils are just a few examples. Prebiotics can also be synthesized synthetically and used as supplements to improve gut health.

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Escape to Nature's Paradise: Fishing Lodges in Ontario, Canada

In the boundlessness of Ontario, Canada, where fresh lakes and rivers spread as one can imagine, angling cabins nowhere to be seen is a haven for people who would love to fish and also people who are just nature lovers. At such locations, in the middle of the wilderness even, anglers find themselves face-to-face with some of the most fantastic fishing venues in the world, which will offer you such abundance of indelible memories that you will never forget them. It has the Canadian Shield's rugged beauty, as well as the peaceful waters of the Great Lakes, from which Ontario's fishing lodges choose just the bass to catch which fishing lodge ever which customers. So, if you are a fly-fisherman who likes to chase those selective trouts in a place where mountain streams are as clear as a window to the sky or a veteran bass angler who is determined to catch a great big trophy, these lodges will offer you the right type of trips to fulfill your individual desires. One of the main pillars in which fishing lodges in Ontario Canada are based on are the practice of sustainability and natural stewardship. The majority of these waters resorts work stringently with catch-and release laws, which help sustain the precious ecosystems and long term survival of the fish population. Guides and the staff members have sound knowledge and understanding of conservancy measures. If every visitor has a share on this information, then it can be said that everyone in this activity will have a passion for preserving these locations as well as all the beautiful surrounding areas.

However, instead of the trll of the catch, you get to drown yourself in silence together with the birds and the wildlife. It is a true escape from the crowdy noises of the cities. Under the serenity of nature, beloved by the spectators, they introduce a non-tangible world and emerge with the reality of the content and simplest skies. Be it the calming hum of a little brook or the dazzling image of a flying eagle, stop by every second spent where we are makes the person aware about the wonders around. Ontario's fishing lodges can offer you a wide range of accommodations from rustic cabins to deluxe properties which are cost-effective and keep comfort at their door. Most lodges will provided created all – inclusive package in order to let the guests ease out and simply enjoy so as not to be worry about planning their meals or any logistics. Many local fine dining restaurants offer cuisine with locally sourced produce and fresh catches as well as the whole process elevates the indulgence. The lakeside rentals act as a favor for those who want more than just fishing, providing them with numerous supplementary outdoors activities. Hiking paths go through verdant forests which serve as a perfect anthropism for wildlife viewing and for photographing outstanding views. Kayaking and canoeing trips would provide an opportunity for a relaxed search of the hidden tranquil waterways and an ATV adventure path bestowed adrenaline rush for the rugged terrain. https://uchilakelodge.com/accommodations/