#what is subsistence farming

[damnation-if]

I don’t know if anyones asked about them yet but what can you tell us about the monks some MCs were born into if that isn’t big spoiler info & if it is what about just monks in general I’m guessing they’re not the Punches You, Punches You kind

the monastic community that some mcs can choose as an origin is indeed not a d&d monk class type monastic community; not to say that those kinds of people don't exist in Damnation's world or anything but just purely from a practical perspective it seemed fairer not to give one of the origins a distinct advantage in something like self-defence. then again it's not like fighting is really going to be a Huge factor but it still seemed best to keep everyone's mcs on a roughly even starting playing field.

the monastic community that mc grew up in is more in the "religious scholar" kind of vein, with lots of strict customs designed to help the people who live there achieve a higher level of spiritual enlightenment. in particular, the monastery where the mc grew up was dedicated to an extremely strict lawful good deity of agriculture and industry who demands high levels of diligence and conscientiousness from his followers.

mostly what they did was tending crops and other plants, working various farming machines and making lots of things like clothing and household items that they didn't get to keep but gave away to others in between prayers and scripture readings. there wasn't a whole lot of time pencilled in anybody's schedules for fun or relaxation... their god would have disapproved lmao.

i hope this helps answer your question!

[llycaons]

unrelated but there’s not a chance that wwx would want to run a farm with lwj postcanon. BM were literally the worst years of his life when he was the most isolated from his family and loved ones, when he was living in fear every day, when he was struggling to survive and take care of everyone, and where he had memories of months of horrific trauma. I cannot see him wanting that uncertainty or those reminders or that difficult of a life ever again once he has other options. I can see him gardening and making a lotus pond, but that’s it

[235uranium]

I love how anytime someone makes a post hating on anti civ and antiprim stuff ppl are like "what about [insert oppressed people forced to live on subsistence farming]??? checkmate atheists"

like idk perhaps it's bad that those people also don't have the option to survive outside of subsistence farming. maybe that's bad

[anarchistmemecollective]

sorry but this is important. in a globalized world with more than enough food for all crop failures do not need to lead to starvation.

the world food program estimates it would cost about $40 billion to end global hunger for a year. less than a quarter of elon musk’s current net worth, or less than half of what joe biden has spent funding the genocide of palestinians.

even if there was not enough food to feed everyone, as may happen with climate change and ecological collapse, the choice of who does and does not eat will always be political. the distribution of power is the definition of politics, and that includes the power to eat.

remember that during the irish ‘famine’ ireland was a net exporter of food. it was the bread basket of england. it was only the potatoes that the irish relied on for subsistence that failed. and i’m pretty sure even the blight itself was political, a result of human monocultural farming practices. potatoes aren’t even native to ireland, or europe.

[reasonsforhope]

Early mornings are chilly in Los Romero, a village high up in the mountains of western Guatemala. As in other predominantly Mam villages – Indigenous Maya people who have lived here since pre-Columbian times – households come quietly to life before dawn. Isabel Romero, a grandmother with long black hair, used to feel somewhat trapped in hers.

“I was afraid of speaking because I was cooped up at home. I didn’t go out,” she says, explaining that like many Mam women, her days were dedicated to the hard work of running a household with little money, and she rarely spoke with other women. “I worried a lot and had headaches.”

Residents of Los Romero live mainly from subsistence farming, growing maize, beans and squash, or grazing livestock. Almost 50% of the population is Indigenous in Guatemala, Central America’s biggest economy, but they do not share in its prosperity. Indigenous women in particular are discriminated against and dispossessed, with a life expectancy 13 years lower, and a maternal mortality rate two times higher, than the national average, according to the World Bank.

In Romero’s village and throughout the region, a community-based collective of women’s circles has been quietly improving Indigenous women’s lives, empowering them to find voices that have been suppressed through centuries of marginalisation.

It was a long process, but Romero’s headaches and fear are now a thing of the past. These days she gets out to workshops, meetings and women’s circles. She shares her knowledge of weaving traditional textiles on a backstrap loom and has a leadership role in the women’s group she co- founded: Buena Semilla (Good Seed).

The initiative emerged from Maya Mam women’s experiences, when French physician Anne Marie Chomat brought them together for interviews for her doctoral fieldwork in 2010- 2012. The simple act of gathering with others and sharing their experiences had a profound impact on the women, many of whom are still dealing with the traumatic legacy of Guatemala’s civil war.

During the 1960-1996 armed conflict between leftist guerrilla groups and the military, more than 200,000 people were killed, overwhelmingly Indigenous Maya civilians killed by the army. Another 45,000 were ‘disappeared’. A truth commission concluded that the state committed acts of genocide...

“There’s so much chronic stress and other issues that are not being addressed,” says Chomat, Buena Semilla’s international coordinator, who now lives in Canada. “So much healing happened in that space of women connecting with other women, getting out of their houses, realising: ‘I’m not alone’.”

Once Chomat’s fieldwork was finalised, several participants decided they wanted to continue meeting and with Chomat came up with the idea of women’s circles. With the help of a grant, the project got going in 2013 and now more than 300 women in two municipalities participate every week or two in circles, each comprising roughly 10 to 25 women.

Wearing traditional embroidered huipil blouses and hand-loomed skirts, the women gather, arriving on foot via the dirt roads that weave through the villages. They meet in a home or community building, or outside when they can for the connection with nature. The circle opens with a welcome and a prayer and then the group engages in breathing and movement exercises. Next up is discussion of the nahual, the day’s name and energy according to one of the interlocking ancient Mayan calendars, traditionally used for ceremonial practices. “Here in Santiago Atitlán it is only maybe 20% of people who speak about [knowledge of nahuals], so we are reviving it,” says Quiejú.

Then it’s time for the sharing circle. “More than anything, it is speaking what they have in their hearts,” says Quiejú. But every time and each circle is different, even though the leaders all work from the same guide, she says.

Sometimes circles will have a guided meditation. Sometimes they’ll have a workshop to learn weaving, or another skill that can help them earn money. Sometimes they eat together. Sometimes they cry. Often they laugh. No matter what, they generally end with a group embrace...

Only 1% of Guatemala’s national health budget is designated for mental health, and nearly all of that goes to the country’s one psychiatric hospital. Most mental health professionals are concentrated in the capital, offering psychotherapy and prescribing medications. For those in rural areas, there is little discussion of mental health or access to services.

“There is nothing for the preventative side, to work with families, to work with communities,” says Garavito. However, he emphasised that the concept of buen vivir (good living) among many Indigenous peoples in Latin America, which includes the traditional festivities, ceremonies and community of everyday village life, inherently incorporates good mental health. “Mental health is a fundamentally social concept and that has been a historical and common practice among Indigenous peoples, without them calling it that.”

...Financial constraints also pose challenges. Since 2020, Buena Semilla’s budget has been funded through crowdfunding and small grants. Staff and leaders all work part-time and many volunteer unpaid, but most circles now meet bi-weekly due to a squeeze on funds...

[Note: If you'd like to help, you can find out more and support Buena Semilla here, at their website.]

Despite the challenges, interest keeps growing. Elsa Cortez joined a circle earlier this year, motivated by her sister’s positive experience with Buena Semilla. In her mid-20s, she lives with her parents and as well as helping to run the household, she weaves belts, drawing from a basket full of spools of brightly coloured thread. She did not go out much before.

“There was a mentality that women were only supposed to be in the home or should only do certain things. That’s how we were raised,” she says. “My family was like that too.”

Thanks to Buena Semilla, those dynamics have started to shift in some families, including her own, says Cortez. Now she is exploring the idea of starting a circle specifically for girls, to help build their self-worth and self-esteem.

“It used to be difficult for me to socialise or chat, but now I am starting to socialise more easily,” says Cortez. “In the group I feel like it is psychological therapy every time we meet.”

-via Positive.News, December 8, 2023

[weiszklee]

What do y'all think, how much of this ridiculous current romantisation of subsistence farming is the fault of video games where for the sake of interesting gameplay crops grow in the span of days instead of months?

[marxism-transgenderism]

That poll of midwestern dishes is so funny cause all the replies from people elsewhere are like "these cannot be real" but the actual food history of the midwest behind that is so interesting. When midwest what invaded and settled by the US, it was expanded principally as a commercial enterprise of large companies getting granted allotments from the government. It was done not only to fuel land speculation on a previously unheard of level but to create new markets for the eastern states to sell their goods to.

So when the midwest was settled its primary economy was what of farmers who grew crops primarily to sell back east to be able to buy goods that came east and to the growing industrial cities of the region, including food. People still grew crops that they would eat (corn on the cob is a classic), but that was by and large to supplement what was bought rather than subsisting on it.

So the dominant things you see in primarily white settler midwestern food is mass produced, commodities like ground beef, salted pork, canned beans, and macaroni. Well known sweets are generally things that can easily be whipped up with eggs, flour, and sugar like sugar cream pie and butter cookies. And this continues right up to today with many of the main recipes people learn to make are casseroles, stews, and hideous looking but unbelievably delicious mixes of processed foods. Most other dishes more complicated than that you can trace directly to Betty Crocker.

But the thing is, this food history is one primarily the white settlers who were able to buy land and committed the ongoing genocide that created the white midwest. On the ground, indigenous dishes both ones that existed prior to colonization and ones like fry bread from colonization still persist especially in the norther midwest. Black dishes are common across the region, especially in cities where Black immigrants fled to during the Great migration. Tex-mex and Central American food is incredibly common.

So when midwest food is talked about, it's primarily the simple, commodity based dishes of the white settler population that are acknowledged. Food from other cultures, despite being more common than the white food dishes in large parts of the midwest, is either ignored as not really midwestern or appropriated. To the point that even now corn is primarily associated in the US with the white dominated commercial farms rather than as one of the primary foods of the Indigenous population that made this region so prosperous before and during colonization.

[tinybrooms]

The Beggining - Thomas Hewitt x Fem Reader

Thomas Hewitt (TCM: Beggining) and Female Reader

NOTE: This is my first one shot and it's pretty long, hope you like it, comments and feed back is always welcome.

Summary: Y/N has been the only friend Thomas has had his entire life and he will give his life to protect her when she needs it and after all, they're meant to be.

Warnings: Reader being abused, family being killed, hard lenguage, kill references, slasher content and fluff.

________________________________________________________

Everything was packed and ready to move to Austin, the town had fallen into a decline that there was no possibility of continuing to subsist in the place where you were born and that meant leaving everything behind to start a new life, your mama, a single woman in charge of 3 girls did everything possible to put food on the table, first working as a packer in the old meat factory and then helping Luda Mae at the small gas station, but money was little and they couldn't support two households with the few cents that the drivers left every time they filled up with gas and everything even worse when the pumps ran dry.

You were the oldest of those 3 girls, little Jo Anne was 5 years old while Ella had just turned 11 and was beginning to be a young lady, taking you as an example to combine her clothes and comb her hair as golden as the sun in a cute way.

One day before moving to Austin you decided to make your favorite dessert, some small bonbons filled with cherry jelly, your favorite fruit and you plated them in a nice container to take to the Hewitts' house, you wanted to say goodbye to them for being your second family but Above all, you wanted to say goodbye to Tommy, your best friend for as long as you can remember.

The road to the Hewitt's farm was short but the hot summer sun and the warm afternoon wind made you feel that it had taken you a little longer to reach the residence in the middle of a dry cornfield, your footsteps sounded as they stepped on the leaves and a greeting In the distance made you look towards an old tractor that made more noise than it seemed to move.

-Hello there little one, what'ya doing here? -Old Monty came down, wiping his hands on his pants, approaching you while he adjusted his glasses.

-Hello uncle Monty - you smiled watching him approach, greeting him with your hand - I came to say goodbye before we went to Austin, I brought my favorite dessert for you to eat tonight during dinner

-So you are leaving after all? Little Tommy still doesn't understand that you're leaving, he's been a little out of his mind these days - the old man sighed, putting his hands on his waist, closing his eyes a little for the strong evening sun

-I see…can I go inside? I would like to say goodbye - you looked at him letting out a little air feeling a blow in your chest, you knew that maybe you would never see your best friend again and the man just nodded making a gesture with his hand inviting you to go to the house while he returned to the old tractor

Your steps were slow, nervous and sad until you reached the entrance of the place and opened the screen door that made a peculiar squeak when opened, You left the plate on the kitchen table and wiped your hands on your skirt of your dress walking up the stairs slowly heading to the side of the hallway where you knew Tommy's bedroom was located.

The door was open a little and you could see his big back as he sewed what was apparently a shirt, your hand hit the door slowly making Thomas grunt without looking.

-Hello Tommy…- your voice sounded low and shy but it made Thomas turn around quickly looking at you as you opened the door and walked towards him, smiling and sitting next to him- how have you been? I heard that today was your last day at the meat factory

Thomas looked back at the floor barely nodding returning to his work with the needle and thread on his shirt

-What are you doing? Did you rip another one of your shirts again? -You smiled even though he didn't notice it and carefully took his hands to take the needle and help him - I'll do it for you.

The enormous man, submissive to your touch, let you take the things, looking at you through the strands of his long hair, releasing a sigh that sounded loud due to the obstruction of his mask.

-Do you remember that days ago I told you that tomorrow would be the day we were going to Austin? - You looked at him while you carefully sewed the sleeve of his shirt that covered your entire lap as if it were a blanket, Thomas just turned his face, looking at the other side of the room, clenching his fists, making his knuckles turn white.

- I know you don't want me to move Tommy, but I can't leave mama alone, I have to go with her to work and help her with my sisters - your hands fell into your lap looking at him sadly trying to get him to meet your eyes but he just lowered his head without growling as was his way of communicate - Tommy, don't be sad, we will always be friends, okay? I promise that whenever I can I will come visit you and bring you things from Austin - you smiled at him, taking his hand, making him look at you with his noticeably moist eyes.

After a few seconds looking at you, the huge man pounced on you, hugging you tightly, almost taking all the air out of your lungs, you felt that at any second one of your bones would break but that didn't matter to you, Tommy always gave those strong and wise hugs. You were going to miss him so you enjoyed it, the two of you staying like that for a few minutes until Charlie interrupted yelling from the kitchen with one of his mundane comments.

After a few hours and Luda Mae insisting that you stay for dinner, you went home again with a plate in your hands to take to your family, even though Thomas grunted and insisted on accompanying you home to spend more time together you convinced him that he should stay for reasons that Charlie only knew, you didn't want him to get in trouble so he agreed to stay, saying goodbye one last time with another hug and a kiss on your hair.

The breeze was fresh and the moonlight illuminated the path between the plants and trees that had already been formed from so many times that you and Thomas went or came to each other's house. After a few minutes walking you could see your small house with the lights on but something strange seemed to be noticeable when the door was open, you quickened your step almost running home entering while you looked everywhere noticing objects thrown and broken.

-Mama?…Ella? - You walked between the rooms looking for them, walking between glass and furniture lying on the floor - Mama?

Your steps stopped when you entered the kitchen, throwing the plate that was in your hands causing it to break into a thousand pieces while you tried to understand why your mother and sisters were on the floor unconscious among blood and pieces of clothing, the golden hair of Ella and Jo Anne was dyed a reddish color while your mother had a thin carmine line on her neck where a pool of blood formed, her dress was tangled around her waist and her underwear was missing.

Your steps backwards stopped when you hit your back on a wall, your vision blurred by tears and you could only run outside stumbling through the furniture to run towards the Hewitts' house, your only hope to help you.

It was a few meters ahead when you heard the engine of some motorcycles approaching while screams and shots in the air made you stop in fear, leaving you petrified.

-Well well, where are you going in such a hurry little doll? - A man with a beard and dressed in leather smiled at you, spitting out what looked like tobacco.

You couldn't say anything, your body was shaking and the tears didn't stop coming out of your eyes.

-Can't you talk, darling? The other bitches couldn't stop screaming a while ago and you don't say a word? - the other 2 men laughed while one of them got off his motorcycle, approaching you, pointing a gun at you, making your eyes widen with fear - I won't hurt you, I won't do anything you don't want, you look like a pretty girl, the kind that make cute sounds when they are fucked like the sluts they are

Your moans and cries came out muffled from your throat and your brain forced you to run as the only escape but a strong hand grabbed your hair, pulling you on your back while you screamed and moved your hands and legs trying to defend yourself from the scratchy hands that touched your body.

-Please let me go, I didn't do anything wrong - you screamed while your tears ran down the edges of your eyes, wetting your hair.

-Of course you haven't done anything wrong, little angel, that's why you're not a woman yet - the blonde-haired man laughed, putting his hand under your skirt, touching your between your legs, hurting you - stop moving, damn bitch, - his strong hand hit your cheek leaving you stunned

-Do it quickly, I want some of the slut too- the bearded man ordered as he took your wrists placing them on top of your head.

For you they were hours of agony, between blows, insults and three men abusing you, you lost track of time before falling unconscious among the neglected grass that covered the intruders, it was almost dawn when your eyes opened looking at the dark sky with some rays. of sun about to appear.

Your head hurt, your sore and weak body could barely get up, stumbling making you fall to your knees, your dress was torn causing one of your breasts to be exposed, your private part hurt and burned as if a knife had been stuck in your innocent crotch.

The path that took you 10 minutes to travel became a long trip of almost 40 minutes, your feet barely dragged and your dry mouth made your throat hurt every time you took a breath of air and when you looked at the Hewitt house a sigh came out of you in relief even though you still had to walk the entire driveway.

Luda Mae was walking carefully with a basket of clean clothes that she had recently washed by hand and was preparing to hang them on the clotheslines in the yard when she looked at you walking in the distance, she carefully adjusted her glasses on her sweaty nose and let out a frightened moan when she could recognize your battered form covered in bruises.

-Oh my sweet lord, oh my god - the woman almost screamed, dropping the basket on the floor, walking hurriedly towards you - for God's sake baby, who did this to you?

Your steps continued slowly, your chest rumbled with sobs as you looked at her and felt safe, but as soon as her arms held you, your body vanished, causing the woman to fall next to you on the floor, but not before taking care not to hit yourself.

-Thomas! Thomas, come here - the woman screamed hysterically, making Charlie and Monty quickly leave the house, Charlie still holding his cup of coffee which almost fell to the floor when Thomas rushed out to help his mother, but when he looked at you on the floor between her arms his steps hurried quickly as growls came from his throat.

-Take her inside carefully, son - Luda adjusted your corrupted dress to take care of your little privacy - Lord, have mercy on this poor girl - the woman was praying to herself as she followed her enormous son inside and the two men looked at the scene, frozen, scared of what that they had looked at.

Thomas ignored his mother's instructions and instead of lying down on the sofa in the living room he quickly went up to his room with you in his arms, laying you down on his bed slowly as if you were the most fragile and precious thing that his hands had ever held, his anxiety gnawed away his head looking at you unconscious and covered in wounds and bruises that went from your legs to your face, his growls were loud and aggressive and he didn't calm down until Luda took his arms making him look at her.

-Look at me son, Thomas relax -Luda looked at him tenderly but with a firm voice- this is not the time for you not to listen to me, we must take care of her and know what happened, do you understand? - Her hands went up to his cheeks, calming him a little while his chest rose and fell with an anger that he had never felt, not even the day he was fired from the factory and ended his boss's life.

Luda was in charge of commanding that day, she sent Monty and Charlie to your house to tell you what had happened, but as soon as they arrived and saw the scene, both men knelt down, bowing their heads, while old Monty shed a couple of tears, then After all he was the ''Uncle Monty'' of those little girls and someone had annihilated them, Charlie found a little humanity in his heart and ordered Monthy to find some sheets to cover the bodies of the three women to put them in the truck and take them home where they could give them a decent burial, after all they had been good people with their family and deserved respect.

When the men came home and told Luda what had happened, the woman couldn't help but cry and fall into a crisis when she saw the lifeless bodies of her friend and her little babies, what cruel person had done that to your family? They were the sweetest people in the whole town and they didn't deserve an ending like that.

While the three eldest were arranging everything to respectfully say goodbye to the three ladies, Thomas in his room had already carefully removed your torn dress, to be honest he had often imagined your body when Charlie forced him to watch those obscene movies or told him stories of how girls behaved when he touched them, but this time all his thoughts of desire disappeared when he saw you like that.

A bucket of warm water rested on his nightstand while he carefully cleaned your face with a small damp towel, when he removed all the dirt from your face, he could notice your broken lip and the bump on your cheek that was beginning to heal dyed purple, his hand slowly went down your neck cleaning and then carefully passing the towel between your breasts, your chest rose and fell slowly with your calm breathing, Thomas couldn't help but turn his gaze when he saw your breasts with scratches Just like your stomach that had red marks on your waist, his head didn't help him, he imagined what had you been suffer alone there and he wanted to kill slowly and painfully the person who had done that to you.

After all his thought's and after cleaning your legs covered in scratches and your injured knees, Thomas slowly separated your legs, squeezing his jaw looking at how your inner thighs had wounds, scratches that looked red on your skin that looked like porcelain, his hand covered In the damp cloth that every now and then he washed in the warm water, he slowly passed over the marks of the attack, as if he were afraid of hurting you even more than they had already done, your small moans of pain made him retreat in fear, but when he looked at your eyes closed without any sign of wanting to wake up, he returned to his tasks until he left you completely clean, then he took a Luda dress that he carefully put on you as if he were dressing a small doll that could break into a thousand pieces if he barely touched it with his big hands, the dress was too big on you but it covered your body and that was enough for him, he didn't want anyone else to look at you, you were his only and he was going to take care of you with his life.

After a few hours the sky had already begun to darken and your eyes tightened as you woke up in a room that you knew very well, you looked at the ceiling and the old closet on the side of the room, the old lamp on the nightstand was on and a blanket covered your legs, the heavy steps in the corridor made you look towards the door with fear, you knew that in that house you were not in danger but your state made you think that at any minute someone was going to attack you again.

But a large figure that covered almost the entire door frame appeared looking at you, releasing a deep sigh as he walked towards you.

-Tommy?…-your eyes moistened feeling safe, he walks to you letting his knees hit the floor next to the bed while his arms surrounded your waist and despite the pain, your arms surrounded his shoulders while you cried, hiding your face in his neck.

Not long after, Thomas looked at you with his frown, he was angry, more than that, you had never seen him this upset, his hand slowly touched your cheek over the bump and then pointed towards his chest, you knew what that meant, ''who was the one who make you this?'' cause he would be in charge of making them pay.

-I don't know who those men were, Tommy, but they hurt my family, I know that they were the ones who hurt my little sisters and mama - your voice was broken with your crying, his hand touched your face while his breathing sounded heavy - they were …motorcyclists, one had a beard, another was blonde, they were all dressed in leather - your eyes followed his enormous form as he stood up, turning quickly towards the door but your hand did not let go of his, making him stop - Tommy?…what? are you going to do?

He looked straight into your eyes, the blue of his eyes had disappeared, they were black and deep, you had never seen them that way, he just let go of your hand slowly and rushed out, making his heavy footsteps sound as he lowered the stairs.

After a few minutes Luda came up with a tray with tea and a plate of warm food, it looked like stew and smelled good but your stomach hurt from the blows you had received so you barely ate while the woman brushed your hair slowly with her fingers looking at you tenderly.

-Luda…where did Tommy go? - You looked at her curiously while you drank some iced tea that made your throat feel fresh.

-Tommy loves you too much, he would do everything possible for you to make you happy, you know? -She looked at you over her glasses while her hand stopped.

-I know, I would do the same for him but I'm not as big and strong as Tommy is, he takes care of himself and he also takes care of me.

-You're wrong about that honey, he is strong on the outside, my boy was blessed with a huge body that can intimidate anyone who stands in front of him, but on the inside my boy is just a pure soul who doesn't know how to deal with this horrible and disgusting world where we live, that is where you come to protect him, your heart and courage makes my Tommy feel safe and continues to be the strong and brave boy that he is

A small smile formed on your face thinking that you were very lucky to have Thomas in your life, everyone had always been cruel to him, they made fun of his poor ability to speak and his skin was always so sensitive and no one understood it, just You and that was enough, you had gotten used to only having Tommy's attention and affection for you that you wouldn't know how to deal if someone else took a little of his attention away.

That night Thomas did not come home, you spent most of the night looking at the door waiting to see him arrive but he never showed up, only the sound of the crickets and the wind coming through the window accompanied you and little by little you fell asleep between the blankets with its aroma.

It was early in the morning when you heard some murmurs and an argument downstairs that made you wake up.

-You can't do that, you don't know how she's going to take it, she's going to run away from here and accuse us, we would have to kill her too, is that what you want, damned idiot? - you could recognize Charlie's voice from his screams

-Stop calling him that way, he is not an idiot and he knows what he is doing-Luda shouted.

-Thomas, come here you damn bastard - Charlie shouted as loud footsteps went up the stairs that then became light as they approached the room.

There was Thomas, covered in blood, looking at you from the door, when he saw that you were awake, lowering his head thinking about what he would do but also thought if Charlie was right.

-Tommy?…why are you covered in blood? they hurt you? - Your hands rested on the bed, sitting up as fast as the pain allowed, he just shook his head and looked at you again, approaching - Are you okay?

Again his knees rested on the floor next to you while his blue eyes looked at you and his huge hand took yours carefully, his free hand rested on his chest pointing with his finger.

-You? -His hand moved slowly towards you, touching the center of your chest with his finger- me? - He nodded shyly taking both your hands in his, kissing both palms on the mask - I know you wouldn't hurt me, Tommy, you don't have to explain it to me.

He looked at you with relief and stood up offering you his hand to stand up, but when you tried, your sore knees felt like they were melting, making you stumble, Thomas holding you quickly and carefully by your waist.

-I'm fine Tommy… I just…- Thomas didn't let you finish your sentence when with his arm he held the back of your knees lifting you up making your arms quickly surround his neck in fear of falling.

His steps were delicate as he left the room and went down the stairs, three pairs of eyes looked at you, questioning his that you going down was the right thing to do, but Thomas cared little and continued on his way to the basement door.

The place was cold and damp, the walls surrounding the stairs had scratch marks and you could notice a couple of nails stuck in the cement, Thomas walked towards what looked like a work table and carefully sat you in a chair as he walked to a coat rack and took an old apron covered in red stains and put it on him.

-Tommy?…- He didn't pay attention to you for a few seconds, searching for something with his eyes until he took an electric chainsaw from a tool table and walked towards you, taking you again with one of his arms, walking to a place behind a shelf full of jars and he sit you delicately on a wooden table

You could notice three figures hanging from what seemed to be a nail where the animals were hanging in the slaughterhouse and when your eyes adjusted to the darkness you could notice the three men who had attacked you hanging from their tied hands, one of them moaning as they others were unconscious

Your hands quickly covered your face, fear took over your body when you looked at them, feeling the fear of being attacked again but Thomas approached you, took your hand and your scared eyes looked at him while your hands trembled.

-It's them Tommy…it's them - your voice hurts whispered the words when Thomas gently removed his hand and touched your face and then looked at the men, then his hand delicately touched your lap, caressing your wounds over the fabric of the dress and point at the men looking into your eyes - it's… him - your hand pointed at the bearded man

Thomas quickly walked away from you, pulling the motor of the chainsaw hard, turning it on with just two attempts to start it and with both hands he lifted it closed to the man, placing it on the crotch of the bastard who abused your innocence cutting him in half until he reached his neck.

Drops of blood jumped everywhere, Thomas was covered in it and you could feel the warm liquid wet your face.

You couldn't believe what you saw, but you couldn't believe that a feeling of fear didn't take over inside you, you had seen Thomas murder a man but inside you the only thing you felt was satisfaction and a small flight of butterflies, your Tommy, he had spent the entire night looking for the men who harmed his precious girl and was making them pay.

After finishing the first, Thomas looked at you with heavy breathing, he didn't need to say a single word, his eyes spoke for his and you understood his language perfectly

-Him too, Tommy…- you pointed at the blonde man and then touched your chest over the scratches that made your skin look swollen, Thomas didn't think twice when he lifted it again, closed it and moved it over the man, cutting his legs, his waist, his arms making him fall on the wet floor while he screamed in agony and then cut his head, the other man did not seem to react but he was not going to let him leave in peace, so he did the same with him and cut him in half When he finished his work he turned off the chainsaw and walked towards you, leaving it at your side to clean his hands wet with blood on his apron that was equally dirty and wet.

Your heart was beating fast, you were not afraid of Thomas, you did not feel in danger nor did you feel disgusted by him, on the contrary, it seemed that by seeing him perform the sickest actions he had finished convincing you of what you had begun to suspect years ago, what you felt was a deep and true love for the one who had done everything to heal you and defend your dignity.

-You did very well Tommy - you smiled at him, placing your hands on his cheeks over the mask, his blue eyes were so calm that it didn't look like he had finished with three men a few seconds ago, his forehead rested on yours while your fingers caressed his slow hair - thanks for taking care of me

He just gave a light growl as he hugged you around the waist, he wasn't going to let anyone else touch his little cherry, not even the sun could hurt your skin because he would be able to do anything to destroy it.

That afternoon and after Monty had spent the entire previous day making three graves in the back garden, Charlie, Luda, Thomas and you went out to say goodbye to your family, Luda had picked a couple of flowers in the front garden and Charlie surprised you when with his worldly mouth he said some beautiful words to say goodbye to your mama and your little sisters, Tommy never left your side, he was holding your hand, making sure your fragile legs did not collapse and make you fall.

-Well, all that remains us to say welcome to the family y/n, it will be a pleasure for us if you are a Hewitt, what'ya think? -Charlie approached you while Thomas worked hard to cover the graves with the dirt he threw with a shovel.

-Charlie… you shouldn't say that, it's so sudden.- Luda Mae looked at him, scolding him. She knew he wouldn't last long without saying an injudicious comment and she wasn't wrong.

-It's okay, Moma - you smiled at Luda, holding the small flowers waiting to put them on the graves. - It will be a pleasure for me to share Tommy's last name

-You see, mom - Charlie smiled, chewing his tobacco - our Tommy will be happy honey, welcome to the family

You barely placed the small flowers on the three graves and caressed the wood signs where the names of your family could be read, Tommy took your hand, caressing it carefully, with pain in your back you hug him, your arms were barely able to surround his torso as you continued reading over and over again the name on the wood that functioned as a tombstone.

-Do you think it's okay that I'm a Hewitt Tommy? - You raised your head looking at his eyes despite the rays of sun that crossed his long locks of hair, he just looked at you smiling a little making his eyes narrow as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders - Then I won't hesitate to tell everyone I meet that i am Mrs. Hewitt

Your hand took his slowly walking together to the house while you talked about things that he only answered by nodding or shaking his head, just when you were both a couple of steps away from reaching the entrance of the house the sound of tires made you both turn around to look at the car that came down the road approaching you

-Now what this people want? These damn city dwellers get lost and come to disturb my property - Luda Mae sighs, annoyed, looking from the porch.

-Come in Tommy…let me bring you your apron so you can work - you smiled as you entered the house knowing that now the family business needed you.

[newvegascowboy]

food & agriculture in fallout: extrapolation and speculative worldbuilding

Okay, well. This is going to be an extremely long and data heavy post. Bear with me.

I'm going to go into detail about the crops and available food given to us canonically and textually. I'm going to be drawing some real world parallels between the crops we see in Fallout and what we have here. I'll be pulling relevant data from all the games, but the majority focus on this post is going to be about the east coast and Massachusetts in particular because it gives us the opportunity to participate in the agricultural climate of the wasteland.

Is there a point to this? Not really, but I'm pedantic and I take things too seriously.

my sources will be linked in the text throughout. for those of you who want to read about agricultural and growing zones of the continental united states, please follow me under the cut.

Growing zones and real world agriculture

Shown here are the growing zones of the united states, divided into a temperature map of about 19 different regions. It's fairly intuitive to read -- colder temperatures are north and east, while warmer temperatures are south and west. The majority of the Mojave desert sits between 7a to 9a, a temperature range of about 20 degrees. DC and the nearby section of the southeast coast sits between 7a and 8a. The interactive map linked below will tell you where your growing zone sits.

The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones and further divided into 5-degree F half-zones.

For the moment, we are going to focus on Massachusetts.

Using the temperature above, we can see that the growing zone of Massachusetts is 5a (-20f) at it's very coldest, all the way to 7b, (5f) at it's warmest during winter. Most of what we see in fallout 5 sits in the 6a to 6b zone, which is middle ground during the winter, but cold enough to want to warrant crops that can withstand the frost.

There is a solid 5 month window for planting annual crops, like corn, melons, and gourds like pumpkin. Your perennial crops are limited to fruit trees and possibly grains, depending on the variety and whether or not a perennial variety has been bred.

Cold weather crops include beets, carrots, greens like cabbage, collards, kale, and potatoes. These aren't the types of crops that will survive the winter as much as these are foods that can go in the ground as soon as it is unfrozen enough to be workable. Root vegetables and greens can germinate in soil as cold as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which provides some leeway with unpredictable frosts and late planting times.

Much of the agricultural landscape of Massachusetts is dependent on the dairy industry, farming cattle, and aquaculture -- fishing and catching shellfish. Those with access to the coasts, fish and shellfish ought to provide protein during lean months.

Why are we talking about this? Well, if we're stepping into the shoes of a subsistence farmer in the fallout universe, we're going to have to take into account climate and ideal planting times for certain crops. It's not wholly important in terms of things like fic writing, unless you happen to be writing about the life and times of wasteland agriculture, in which case, I hope this is helpful! Again, I am pedantic, and this section is to provide a template when considering and discussing other parts of the game and what their specific diet and agricultural landscapes might look like.

Something to keep in mind when thinking about how farms might function in the Mojave, for instance, or if you're doing worldbuilding for a different part of the US.

Crops in the fallout universe

Now that we're familiar with growing zones and why certain crops are planted and when, we're going to apply some speculative worldbuilding to fallout itself. We will be revisiting growing zones when we talk about other climates, but for the moment, we're going to focus on fallout 4.

Now to preface -- I don't think that the food that is given to us in game is wholly representative of the plants or animals that survived the apocalypse. If some managed to mutant and survive, I'm willing to bet others did. I certainly won't deduct any points from anyone who wants to talk about growing cotton, or farming peaches or cherries, and I won't raise any eyebrows if someone includes things like spices into their wasteland cuisine.

In the 210+ years since the bombs fell, I do not think that the majority of the US is a desolate wasteland, but this post is not going to be my beef with the devs about how brown everything is. This beef is about food in particular. However, for sake of ease, I'm mostly just going to focus on the food that is presented to us in game.

There will be some extrapolation and speculation later, but if I do that for everything, then we'll be here all day, and we've all got things to do.

I would also be remiss to mention that agriculture in the US is old. It predates colonialism. The Native Americans cultivated the land long before any European settlers. They practiced a type of crop growing referred to as Three Sisters planting, which utilized corn, pole beans, and squash -- all things that exist in the agricultural landscape of Fallout as we know it.

Corn

I'm not going to say much about corn because there's not a lot to say about it. We all know what corn is. Fallout's corn is visually similar to wild violet, a hybrid corn.

But I am not going to say Fallout's corn is one such variety or another. In the 210 years since the bombs dropped, I imagine corn varietals have been bred and interbred a thousand times, and it is probably it's own unique strain. It's kind of a moot point. Corn is corn. You can do with yellow corn what you can do with wild violet, and whatever special breeds that make up Fallout's corn.

Corn is the third largest plant-based food source in the world. Despite its importance as a major food in many parts of the world, corn is inferior to other cereals in nutritional value. Its protein is of poor quality, and it is deficient in niacin. Diets in which it predominates often result in pellagra (niacin-deficiency disease). Corn is high in dietary fibre and rich in antioxidants.

You can do a shit ton with corn. It's a staple grain. It would not be incongruous with the fallout setting to have settlers making tortillas, cornbread, polenta, grits, tamales, etc. Corn can also be used to make corn whiskey. The husks can be spun into yarn and woven into garments similar to cotton, which I thought was interesting and also solves the problem of where the hell wastelanders are getting their clothes. Corn can be used as livestock feed, especially in the winter when cattle can't graze. While corn is a staple grain of the US, the east coast has minor corn production compared to places like the midwest. Corn is a staple, but it does not consist of the entire diet of your average wastelander.

Carrots

Not going to say much about carrots either. They're carrots. They grow well in colder soil and tend to have a lot of natural sugars. The carrots we're shown in FO4 seem to be a mutated variety different than the "fresh carrot" consumable in FNV, but there's virtually no difference, so I'm not counting it. Make some carrot cake.

Razorgrain

"This species appears to be quite promising. It's a toothy grain that we may be able to grind in order to replace wheat, which is untenable in the Wasteland. We are uncertain how to increase crop yields, which are very unpredictable. Will continue to study."

Razorgrain is our first unique mutated crop in the fallout setting. It most closely resembles a barley or a rye. Both are a fairly hardy species and can grow all across the continental united states; rye can germinate in cold weather temperatures. It wouldn't be outrageous to assume that razorgrain is similar too or a crossbred variation of both rye and barley. I have decided to base the majority of my research assuming it is a barley variant. Barley is also a major crop on the east coast near the Commonwealth, so that would explain why razorgrain is present in FO4 and not in the other games.

Barley requires a mild winter climate and can grow in growing zones 3-8, so it would be viable in Massachusetts. Barley can be milled into flour and it contains gluten; the gluten content of North American wheat and barley tends to be higher to survive the colder climates, so razorgrain would likely be very glutenous. It is also less susceptible to ergot than rye, but barley can still become infected -- and, I am assuming, razorgrain could as well.

Razorgrain fills the nutritional niche of carbohydrates and can be used to make breads, cakes, pastas, etc. It produces darker breads that have an earthier flavor than milled white flour. There has to be some method of actually milling the grain, though, which is an intensive process that can often be dangerous. Grain can also be used to make malted candy, which is our first option for wastelanders with a sweet tooth. Obviously, razorgrain can also be used to make malt or grain alcohol and is probably the source of all the beer you find littered around the wasteland.

Gourds and melons

Gourds and melons are actually a part of the same family, Cucurbita. The category of 'gourd' covers several different kinds of vegetables, including ornamental fruits that shouldn't be eaten. We aren't going to spend a whole lot of time on this one, simply because canon doesn't tell us that much and there's a lot of wiggle room in terms of interpretation.

FO4's model looks the most similar to a pumpkin, but it could be some other squash varietal from the Cucurbita family, which includes watermelon, honey melon, cucumber, squash, zucchini and pumpkin.

Melons is another pretty broad category. Melons and squash are part of the same family, as mentioned above. If we're going visuals again, the model is likely intended to resemble a watermelon. Watermelons grow best in humid and semi-arid environments between 70 and 8- degrees Fahrenheit. It's not impossible for wastelanders to be growing watermelons, but considering the humidity and frequent rainfall in Massachusetts, the melons would be vulnerable to fungal infections.

There isn't a lot of information on what specifically gourds and melons are in the fallout universe, so you could get away with writing in a pretty wide variety. Personally, I lean a little bit towards melons being a muskmelon variety, like cantaloupe or honeydew. Squash fills in some vitamin requirements for the human diet, and can be canned and stored for winter. It tends to be high in vitamin C and magnesium.

The limit to this one seems to be your imagination. Go crazy.

Mutfruit

This wiki claims that the mutfruit (it has a scientific name apparently, malus maata) is a mutated species of apple and crabapple. There are two different wikis about the mutfruit, both distinct. The first is linked above. The second is linked here -- I got most of my information from this second wiki.

There is a handful of "canon" information we can take from this set of wikis.

Priscilla Penske in Vault 81 is attempting to create foods that have increased resistance to radiation. She mentions the mutfruit would do well, but isn't certain how the hybridization would affect the flavor and texture.[5]

This claim is taken directly from the second wiki, but in comparison, it makes no sense. If the mutfruit tree is a product of mutation, then radiation shouldn't really affect it at all. It's survived and propagated to this point, hasn't it? I am disregarding this claim on the basis of being stupid.

Farmers in at Warwick homestead will comment on the fruit's characteristics, such as tasting sweet and being versatile in recipes.[1][2] The vault dwellers of Vault 81 trade for mutfruit with the outside world, and use it to make special occasion desserts such as pie.[6][7]

If the mutfruit is an apple variant, then it likely has a high sugar content, and it would have to be harvested in the peak of summer or in early fall.

There are fresh apples the be found across the wasteland, implying the existence of apple trees that have been unaffected by the bombs. Personally, I was assuming that the mutfruit was some kind of blackberry, given its appearance as a clustered fruit, or maybe even a type of plum. Regardless, the mutfruit is a fruit, which means that it would preserve well by being jarred or canned, has a high sugar content, and could likely be reduced to form sugar syrups. Like any fruit, it could be used to make alcohol.

Tatos

I want to stop myself from editorializing too much, but goddamn tatos. The crop that makes the least goddamn sense in the fallout universe. The bane of my existence. Let's get into it.

First off, we're given some pretty damning canon facts about tatos:

Tatos are a mutated hybrid of the cross-pollination of the tomato and potato plants.[1] The new consumable looks like a tomato on the outside, but the inside is brown.[2] Commonly cultivated in the Commonwealth, Appalachia and on the Island, its fruit is easy to grow and can keep one from starving, but their taste is described as "disgusting"[2][3][Non-game 1] and resembling "ketchup-flavored cardboard."[1]

According to some old botany texts we found, this appears to be combination of a now extinct plant called a "potato" and another extinct plant called a "tomato." The outside looks like a tomato, but the inside is brown. Tastes as absolutely disgusting as it looks, but will keep you from starving.

Note: This text was written from the perspective of someone who is unaware that both the tomato and the potato are being cultivated elsewhere. The writer also does not mention any sort of DNA test. However, the potato is also found in the Capital Wasteland, and the writer is a scribe in the Brotherhood of Steel, which originated from that area.

Both potatoes and tomatoes are from the nightshade family. They have the same nutrient requirements, and would compete for resources if planted separately but in the same soil. There is a method for planting them together where you splice a tomato stalk onto a potato root, but this is not the same as cross pollination and will not result in what fallout presents as a tato. What will happen is that the roots will grow potatoes and the fruit of the tomato will branch off the stems.

The potato itself is a stem tuber -- high in starch and calorically dense. A stem tuber is an offshoot of the parent plant that will grow beneath the soil as a type of asexual budding reproduction. We all know what a potato is. The tomato is a berry. It's the ovary of a flowering plant -- again, we all know what a tomato is.

I am going to give Fallout a little bit of grace and not comment on how mind bendingly stupid their description of a tato is. The outer skin is a tomato, but the inside is brown and starchy like the potato? I am not going to comment on how it makes little to no biological sense. The starchy tuber is starchy because it's an energy and nutrient storage device. The tomato is the enlarged ovary of a fruit. Why did those things, which are separately very good, combine into one very terrible thing? I don't know. It doesn't make sense. I don't really want to think about it. But these are the facts as they are given to us in game and I suppose I have to live with that. Obligatory "goddamn you todd howard. a pox on your house."

The tato is probably extremely calorically dense. It's specifically mentioned as being easy to grow and it is a better alternative to starving. It's probably grown as a staple crop throughout the planting season. I'm not entirely sure if the tato can produce glycoalkaloids like the potato does (that is, the green sections of the potato that can become poisonous when exposed to light) but if they can, and if stored improperly, it would negatively impact the health of whoever ate them.

I suppose since the taste is so offensive, tatos are better served as a carrier of some other type of food. Fried, mashed, baked -- the purpose of the tato is simply to get calories into your body. Starch can also be turned into alcohol, which I am going to need a lot of after reading the canonical facts of this stupid fucking plant.

 Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook p.158: "A mutated hybrid of the pre-War tomato and potato plants, with the stem and reddish skin of the former and the brownish flesh of the latter. Tatos provide decent nutrition, but taste disgusting. However, they’re relatively easy to grow and thus are a staple of wasteland agriculture and is an ingredient in a variety of recipes."

fucker

"non farmable" crops

You can't cultivate these plants, but again - we're taking what's given to us and interpreting it extremely literally. There is no reason that these crops could not be domesticated and farmed.

Siltbean

Siltbean is likely a type of bushbean, rather than a pole bean. It's squat and low to the ground. Bush beans require little care or attention and you can pick them when you're ready to harvest them. Historically in North America, beans and corn were grown side by side (though those beans were pole beans using the stalks as support). Bush beans require successive plantings since harvests are early.

There's no good allegory for what type of bean this might be. The potato bean (Apios americana) is native to North America and also produces edible tubers, but there's no reason this couldn't be just some other type of bean. No beans that I could find had red/orange pods.

Beans are a good source of both proteins and carbohydrates, and another crop that can store well for the winter.

Tarberry

Tarberry is a little iffy, considering it is farmed by the ghouls at The Slog, but they're the only farm shown capable (or willing?) to farm the berries. Originally, I had assumed that tarberries were a type of mutated cranberry, and I thought the wiki was supporting me in that claim by saying this:

Tarberries are small, dusty orange berries of the tarberry plant. It is a water-grown crop similar to cranberries.

But cranberries themselves are also canon in the world of Fallout. So who knows! There's no canon information presented on the tarberry's characteristics, so it can be treated the same as any other fruit or berry.

Fungus variants

Glowing fungus: Glowing fungus is one of the few real world equivalents we have. It is a Japanese mushroom called Enoki. It is also farmable as shown in FNV at Hell's Motel.

Brain fungus: This is harvestable, but there aren't any "crops" shown as we would consider them. Considering it's benefits as a mentat replacement, then it's likely that there could be a dedicated space for growing it.

Food and Plants mentioned in the text

Potato

Thank god almighty, potatoes are canon in the universe of Fallout. Fresh potatoes are found as consumables in FO3 and FNV but potatoes are also mentioned in the text of FO4:

Mentioned in dialogue -- {Angry} Shut up Jake. If I hear anything out of either of you, you'll both be peeling potatoes for the next year.

I'm taking this as word of god. Potatoes are canon and I don't care what anyone says.

Tomato

Tomatoes are mentioned in the text, but are never actually seen in game. The only hint that this plant survived extinction is this excerpt from the wiki.

Note: As fresh tomatoes and potatoes are seen in the Mojave Wasteland as of 2281, with the potato seen in the Capital Wasteland as of 2277, the claim of either's extinction by 2287 in the Commonwealth Plant Database could be taken to mean local extinction in east coast regions, as opposed to global extinction. This entry may also just be in error.

There's potential for leeway here, but take it as you will!

Fresh apple

We discussed this back up in the mutfruit section of the essay, but the existence of fresh apples implies the existence of non mutated apple trees. They're found in both FO3 and FNV as a consumable item, so the apple tress have either proliferated across the continental united states, or multiple varieties survived the bombs.

Fresh pear

See above. Pears are also naturally high in pectin, which makes them useful for making jams and preserves.

Pinto beans

Pinto beans are a consumable in FNV and is another W in the bean category of the agricultural landscape.

Jalepeno

Look, I'm picking out this one specifically because I need to believe that other spices and peppers exist in the world. Where would we be without her? Nowhere good.

Raw sap

I am going to say that sap collecting is probably where most of the sugars and sweeteners in the wasteland come from. It's relatively easy to tap trees and collect sap, and it only takes a few hours to reduce the sap down into useable syrup.

Wild Blackberry, Lime, Cranberries, as well as Watermelon as being distinct from simply 'melon' are all mentioned in the text. The list of fruits mentioned or found in the games can be found here.

Animal husbandry

Fallout doesn't give us a lot of canonical information on the animal side of farming. The biggest real world agricultural export of Massachusetts is dairy and cattle farming. Chickens are canon in the worldbuilding of fallout as of Far Harbor, but canon feels both restrictive and extremely loose with regards to what animals can be cared for and how.

We aren't going to spend a whole lot of time on this one, only because the information is pretty limited.

Brahmin

There are plenty of brahmin found throughout the landscape of the wasteland. We most commonly see them as either livestock or beasts of burden. Things like milk, cheese, and other dairy products would be common if a farm has access to dairy cows. The investment to raise cows would be enormous for a subsistence farmer. Dairy cows would likely be kept for a number of years, where steers would be raised 12 to 24 months before being slaughtered; they'd likely be grass fed in the summer and corn or grain fed in the winter. Leather and beef would be products, of course, and things like soap and candles can be made from the beef tallow.

Chickens

Chickens are largely easy to keep and care for, producing eggs and necessary proteins. Chickens can provide niacin, filling in the nutritional gap that would be left by a heavy corn based diet. The investment for keeping chickens is lower than raising brahmin, but so is the payoff.

Bighorners

Bighorners are mutated bighorn sheep native to the American Southwest.[1] Humans have since domesticated them for their horns, meat, milk, and hides,[2][3]

Granted, bighorners are only seen in FNV, but I don't think there's any reason they couldn't have migrated east. In the text, it says they're kept for meat and milk, but there's no reason that they shouldn't provide a fleece as well. In the colder climate of Massachusetts, they would find value in wool, which can keep its warmth even when wet. They may be sparse across the commonwealth, but that would make wool and fleece all that much more valuable.

Fish

Yeah, I know. Technically we can't fish in Fallout (and depending on the game you play, you might not even know what a fish is). But aquaculture is huge in Boston, and with access to the coasts, it's completely fair to say that fish, shellfish, and hydroponics is a completely viable source of food in the wasteland. We see dead fish washed up on shore all the time, along with whatever the hell those shark things are. There should be fisheries and fishing towns all along the coasts.

New Vegas and Fallout 3

Consulting our growing zone chart, we can see that much of the southwest sits between 7b to 8b. The winters in the southwest are fairly mild, and while you can get seeds in the ground sooner, the majority of the battle is going to be finding a reliable water source.

The farming we see in New Vegas has one distinct notable inclusion: the NCR sharecropper farm.

The sharecroppers are growing a number of crops, including maize, tobacco, pinto beans, and honey mesquite. Corn can handle hot, arid weather, it's just not commercially grown out west. Barley can also handle hot, arid climates, and razorgrain would be suitable for the western front -- maybe we can assume it's made it's way that far west and is being cultivated alongside corn.

Most of the plants we see in FNV aren't the type we would see typically domesticated for agricultural use, but that doesn't mean people haven't adapted to their surroundings. It makes a lot of sense for locals to have domesticated local plants like prickly pear and banana yucca. There are a number of fresh produce items to be found as consumables, alongside local fruits the local fruits.

Heat-loving plants are best suited for summer production in desert climates. The plant families that fit into the heat-loving category are nightshade or Solanaceae (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) and squash or Cucurbitaceae (cucumbers, melons, summer and winter squash). Corn and beans also perform best in hot climates.

Most plants CAN handle the heat and climate of the southwest, the issue is just finding a reliable source of water. Somewhere close to Lake Mead or the banks of the Virgin River would be prime real estate for farming, since irrigation could be accomplished without the use of pumps, like the sharecroppers use.

If we look back at the history of agriculture, it's developed along established waterways in almost every ancient civilization because that's what's easiest. There should be thriving communities surrounding the lakes and rivers in the southwest.

Comparatively, DC was formerly a swamp. It's hot and humid in the summer, though the winters are fairly mild. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that farming practices in the Commonwealth don't differ all that much from farming in the Capital Wasteland -- you could even posit that food from the Capital is of better quality ever since the successful activation of Project Purity. Fresh and unirradiated food was growing there before, so it's entirely likely that even more is growing now. YMMV!

Other consumables

We would be here all damn day if I did research onto every single consumable item available across all three games, so this mostly just because I'm covering my bases.

I am going to say that sap collecting is probably where most of the sugars and sweeteners in the wasteland come from. It's relatively easy to tap trees and collect sap, and it only takes a few hours to reduce the sap down into useable syrup.

Look, I'm picking out this one specifically because I need to believe that other spices and peppers exist in the world. Where would we be without her? Nowhere good.

Pre War food

Most shelf-stable foods are safe indefinitely. In fact, canned goods will last for years, as long as the can itself is in good condition (no rust, dents, or swelling). Packaged foods (cereal, pasta, cookies) will be safe past the ‘best by’ date, although they may eventually become stale or develop an off flavor. 

The risk with improperly canned good, or damaged canned goods, is botulism. Botulism will straight up kill you. You don't even have to consume that much of it; just a little bit will leave you dead in days. As desperate as I might be for a meal, I'm not going to risk dying because that can of two hundred year old peaches looks really tasty.

If properly sealed and in a dry, ideal environment, I... guess things like cereal and instant food could be okay? But again, with access to fresh grain, sugars, and yes, even potatoes and pasta, why would you want to risk eating InstaMash that's been around since before your great grandmother.

Pre War drinks

Sigh. Okay.

Unless stored extremely, extremely well, most bottled drinks aren't going to last much longer than 9 months. A year, if you're lucky. Exposure to sunlight and improper storage will break down the contents -- the best bottles are brown, then green. Clear glass is the worst because it does nothing to protect the liquid inside.

All the Nuka Cola you find throughout the world is flat, nasty, and will probably make you sick. I don't think that really needs to be pointed out, but there we go. I suppose the soda could probably be reduced to form sugar syrups, but with access to sap syrup and grain malt, I'm not sure why you would be desperate enough to do that.

So what does food look like in Fallout?

If there's one thing I know about humans, it's that humans like to eat. Food is culture, as much as culture and community is built around food. Good food and access to it is paramount to human happiness. All this to say is that food in fallout is whatever you want it to look like.

I can extrapolate and theorize all day long based on what Fallout tells us definitively, but I'm not going to tell you what the culinary landscape in the wasteland looks like. The only point that I will stress is that humans are really, really good at making things appetizing.

The fandom is already so creative when it comes to developing their idea of what food means in the wasteland. It's what's directly inspired me to write up this stupid, long ass post about farming and agriculture.

Obviously this is not a comprehensive list of all the base ingredients you can find in Fallout. I picked the ones I did because of the potential for consistent farming. Wastelanders have had two centuries to develop agricultural practices based around subsistence farming. I am not a subsistence farmer, and I have no idea how wasteland cottagecore would work at the heart of it. Running a farm is extremely labor intensive, and so much of your investment has to be immediately recouped in the form of eating what you harvest.

What a farm is likely to look like will start in the early spring when the ground begins to thaw, and a farmer can plant his cold resistant crops, like green vegetables and razorgrain. Potatos, carrots, and tatos will also weather the spring chill. When it starts to warm up, the more delicate plants like corn, beans, and squash or melons will get planted and tended to.

If your family is lucky enough to have a greenhouse, you can keep crops growing all through the winter and have a surplus for trade and barter, or just to preserve and refill the pantries.

A lot of the investment will have to be immediately recouped. Eggs from the chickens can't be preserved, obviously, but there will be meat from hunted animals, milk from the brahmin, probably an early harvest from the beans and tatos, and whatever else is in the pantry from the previous harvest.

Some of it will be canned or preserved in the forms of jams or jellies (just remember what I said about botulism). Meat from animals that get hunted can be smoked or otherwise preserved. Grain can be milled into flour or eaten whole and unshelled. Even the corn silk can be woven into clothes for the summer.

There really is no limit to what can be done in the end. While a lot of this information was taken from what we're given in the text, there's no rule that says you have to follow it word for word. If you believe something exists out there, then write it! We're all just making shit up as we go along anyway. If you need permission, then here it is. You can do whatever you want. Make up recipes! Go insane. Follow whatever your little foodie heart desires.

[novella-november]

Fantasy Discrimination, and The Implications

A post on my dash reminded me to share some more writing advice, so here is a very good article by @mythcreantsblog , about how to make sure you're not dehumanizing a species or culture in your writing, which is a good guide on how to avoid accidentally writing racist or ableist tropes:

In particular, I want to talk about the ever-present racist trope in a lot of fantasy and scifi fiction, and that is the decision a lot of creators make where the villains are not just a single person, a faction, or a kingdom -- *its an entire species* who is not only the villain, but are outright, inherently *evil*.

To start out, here's a political cartoon by Tom Gauld you've probably seen all around tumblr with the name cropped out:

[ID: a political cartoon by Tom Gauld, showing two identical cities and boats mirrored on a river, each with a purple or yellow flag; one side is labled "Our Blessed Homeland, Our Glorious Leader, Our Great Religion, Our Noble Populace, Our Heroic Adventuerers", The other side is labled "Their Barbarous Wastes, Their Wicked Despot, Their Primitive Superstition, Their Backwards Savages, Their Brutish Invaders. End ID]

This political cartoon is a very good tool for testing your writing for the trope of demonizing/glorifying your fantasy/scifi species.

Let's use a classic example: your fantasy setting is made up of the following species: Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and Orcs.

Your Elves are a long-lived, ethereal people who live in secluded, perfect cities, all of them tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, who are extremely wise and making plans that can stretch out over dozens of human generations, and they're the deciders of 90% of politics in your world. Your Dwarves are a short, squat, species who spend their lives working in forges, mines, and laboratories, tirelessly toiling (because they enjoy the hard work, of course!) and selling their products to the Elves who are their largest and wealthiest customer base; Dwarves work hard and studiously for decades at a a time to complete a piece of work in order to fufill the intricate orders from their Elven customers, which is how the majority of them provide for their families, working 16 hour shifts each day for decades per order. Your Humans are far more seperated, and often live on the fringes of what their longer-lived compatriots consider "Civilized Society", often living as Subsistence farmers and hunters, not out of choice, but often due to poor land and lack of resources; the wealthiest of Human cities are usually the capitals where the royals reside and may live in luxury with rich markets and high-quality products and running water, but the vast majority of Humans live in small, poor villages that must rely on traveling merchants to sell what produce and livestock they can spare from their farms in order to buy the supplies they need to live out another year. Your Orcs.... well, they don't really live anywhere, do they? Orcs strongholds can only maintain their grip in hellish wastelands where living is nigh impossible, with all food and water only obtained from outside sources; occasionally, Orcs will attempt to establish base camps in more fertile land, invading neighboring Human, Dwarf, and Elven territory to do so, who quickly unite to expel these vile, dark, brutish invaders lest they steal their daughters, destroy and taint all of the natural resources and steal the few jobs available to the Humans in Dwarven and Elven cities as manual labour and servants.

And Now, take a step back from this world, and take a long, hard look at these species (outside of humans who are just kinda there in the middle and the only ones capable of change because Humans Are Always Special) and societies and what ideas are being reinforced here, especially when the above descriptions are framed as Hard Facts which are both Just and True?

(archived read-more Here)

Elves are morally superior and are always Perfect and Correct,

Dwarves are happy to spend their entire lives toiling in the forges and mines to please their Elven patrons,

and Orcs are Evil Monsters who will rob, murder, and rape any hapless victim who comes their way, so it's better to slaughter them all on sight and kick them out of your cities and towns, and this is the 100% correct morally right choice every single time and the narrative and characters themselves support this?

Did you spot them already, or does the above just seem like a cool, fun fantasy world where Elves are the cool wise good guys and Orcs are the devil's army and can be used as canon fodder any time your main character needs to mow down some enemies for a Badass Scene?

Let's retrace our steps a bit, shall we, and examine this "perfect" world through a critical lens?

When your elves are all portrayed as Perfect Ethereally Beautiful Blonde and Blue-Eyed wise leaders of the civilized world, what idea is being reinforced here? Who does it harm, and what real world ideas is this mirroring and enforcing? Who is going to have their own biases reinforced by this narrative?

When only the longest-lived people are allowed to decide politics, what group biases are being enforced? Is portraying "young people" as "being incapable of making political decisions" as a correct, logical choice in your story something you wish to enforce? Are there any real world issues this trope mirrors?

When your Dwarves are all Happy Workers and Slaves, bound to and reliant on the superior Elves to live, spending the majority of their life purely in service to these Superior Beings while happy to do it, what idea is being reinforced here? Who might see themselves in the plight of the Dwarves and feel alienated and insulted by the Dwarves happily slaving away in the dark? Who might have biased ideas reinforced by seeing the Dwarves treated in such a way?

When your Orcs are portrayed as evil, dark skinned, brutish savages who will kidnap and rape poor helpless women from the "pure" species, when Orcs are incapable of creating anything of their own and can only steal, what racist messages are being enforced and upheld? Who are the real people and cultures being demonized when you perpetuate this? What real world peoples and cultures have faced *decades of propaganda framing them as such*?

If you spotted these harmful messages in the initial indented description, good job!

But if you didn't, it's time to find and read critical reviews and essays written by marginalized communities of works that include these damaging tropes, because if it your Evil Species are Weird Aliens, because when you characterize and describe your Evil Species, you are undoubtedly going to be drawing heavily on your own internal biases of what makes people Other and Wrong.

Are your Evil Species all dark-skinned, physically-strong and animalistic? Congrats, you have just regurgitated centuries-old racism that justifies slavery, segregation, and discrimination *to this day*

Are your Evil Species all nomadic ~cannibals~ who are incapable of creating anything of their own and have to loot and steal from others to have anything of value? Congrats, you are once again regurgitating racist propoganda that has been used against countless cultures and minorities for centuries.

Are your Evil Species reknowned for kidnapping and raping the women of your Good Guys in order to create Evil Twisted Halfbreed Offspring for ....uh, reasons? Congrats, once again, this is literally just racist propaganda being reinforced by your writing.

Anything you come up with to make your Species Inherently Evil is going to most likely be something that is weaponized against real world minorities that you are now reinforcing with your writing, from racism to ableism to queerphobia and all the ways they intersect.

How do you fix this?

It's incredibly simple!

Don't make an entire Species be Inherently Evil.

They need to be just as varied as real living people.

Your Species should not be a Monolith, let alone of *Evil*.

Your Species should not have their only "decent/civilized/kind people" examples come from ""crossbreeds"" [and this term itself should be used only by bigots as a deragatory term] or random orphans who were raised by one of the Good Species(tm)-- this is how your story starts advocating for *eugenics*, which is not something you want to do!

So, instead of having an entire Species be "Inherently biologically" Evil, consider instead:

Making your villain group diverse instead of all one Species.

if your villain group is a Species Supremacist, they're probably still going to have underlings and lower castes who do their dirty work, or have been taken in by the cult ideology.

Making the villains of this Species be a small fraction of a larger whole, who are part of a violent cult, ideology, or political party that not only puts them in conflict with your main characters, but also with the rest of their Species.

Having your main character or their friends be the same Species as your villain group, and they represents the vast majority of the Species, instead of hailing them as "the Paragon of Goodness who emerged somehow pure from of a species forged in hell" or anything similar.

You should also sit down and not only think about the harmful, racist tropes that would come from writing Inherently Evil Species, but also consider:

Why do you want to include an entire species of people who are inherently evil in your novel?

Is your novel gaining anything for including these tropes uncritically?

Does it make it a better, more interesting story to include these tropes uncritically?

What message are you trying to send with your story?

Does including these tropes uncritically in your story *undermine* your intended message?

Another trope in the opposite direction, is talking about "Oppression" and "Fantasy Racism" from the perspective of a character who is part of the oppressed minority, only to spend the entire novel talking about how your Opressed Class are Literally and Factually threats to the population that "discriminate" against them, usually by being rightfully wary in their prescence.

if the Oppressed Minorities in your story in anyway resemble the Orcs in Bright, the Predators in Zootopia, or the Khajiit in the Elderscrolls, where the Racism these peoples face in based on hard proven facts that these people have been and still are threats to most of the population..

... you're less writing a story about how "Racism Against Vulnerable Minorities is Bad"

and sound more like you're saying

"It's bad to be "mean" (afraid of) Nazis who literally want you dead and who can kill you with impunity and no consequences."

If you are writing a story about Fantasy Discrimination, and the basis of your Fantasy Discrimination is based on *cold hard facts that your narrative supports and upholds*, instead of actually basing it on and talking about what leads to discrimination in the real world

(xenophobia and the fear+hatred of The Other, economic gain, mainly),

then you are not making the progressive stance that you think you are, and instead are enforcing the ancient propoganda that racism is based on fact, that racism is "for a good reason", and you need to take care that you are not upholding this idea in your works.

TL;DR:

Instead of making an entire Species of people a trope of Wise Good Guys or Evil Incarnate, consider using *Factions not Races* for your groups, and think long and hard about the implications of your world's politics and how it mirrors our own world, especially in ways *you may not intend it to.* If your story is meant to be progressive and inclusive, but your villains are an entire race of black orcs who slave and rape the good guys species, you need to go back to the drawing board.

[scribefindegil]

I recently watched a DS9 episode where this woman deliberately crashed a colony ship on a planet that she'd rigged to make all technology on it inoperable so that the colonists would be forced to live out her primitivist fantasy and I'm still seething about it days later.

Like for starters: you couldn't have just found volunteers for your freaky cult? There are always gonna be people who think that subsistence farming is more virtuous, because they're idiots. Just fill a ship with them! You didn't have to kidnap people!

And what are you gonna do when your population starts aging, huh? Sure, you're all young and healthy now and can put in a full day in the fields to "earn" your dinner, but that won't always be true! What happens when people can no longer live up to your definition of usefulness? What if someone gets injured and never regains the strength or range of motion they had before? You've decided you're okay with people dying of preventable illnesses for your principles, but what if someone requires long-term care?

You talk about how everyone would have had unfulfilling lives shackled to technology, but who are you to make that call? Also you live in a post-scarcity society! You don't need a job! If you want to fuck off into the woods and play at being medieval peasants nobody's stopping you. Bitch.

Most evil woman in Star Trek.

And then at the end they all choose to stay behind "for the community" and it made me so mad I almost threw my laptop out the window.

[togglesbloggle]

So the original Monty Hall game show is midcentury, and the connotation of the 'goat' prize has been drifting over time since then. For us, it's a kind of flagrantly random and useless result, possibly a slightly adorable one depending on your temperament, but it's worth remembering that Monty's audience was a recently-urbanized population that had mostly grown up on farms and was living through rapid industrialization; they were enjoying a modern world in the context of the subsistence farming that preceded it. And the goat isn't just a random animal. It's an agrarian economic object, a farm animal, and a fairly dippy low-value one at that.

The goat is a joke about capital-P Progress, and being left out of it. It's about skyscrapers, monorails, chrome fins, the world of the future. Goat or new car? Goat or labor-saving kitchen devices? Goat or all-expenses paid vacation to international destinations, courtesy of American economic dominance and passenger airlines? Are you cunning enough, and lucky enough, to be swept up in the wealth of the new era? Or are you left behind, with your goat?

We can't quite even capture this in media any more, because progress itself is a much more complex proposition for us. It's sort of... getting away from us. It feels less like a human accomplishment in the early 21st century than it did in the early 20th, and more like we're all buckled up and along for the ride whether we want it or not. But there's still a bit of it left, especially around consumer electronics.

What I'm saying is, in an updated Monty Hall show, the consolation prize would be a Zune.

[sotwk]

Food and Agriculture in Thranduil's Kingdom

It's unfortunate that Thorin's Company was welcomed as dinner guests in Rivendell but imprisoned as invaders in Mirkwood. Had Thorin just shown King Thranduil just a little bit more respect, they could have been fed a whole lot better by the Silvans. And there would most definitely have been meat!

While the Rivendell elves seem to lean vegetarian, and Lothlorien's culinary specialty is the "one bite" lembas, the elves of Greenwood know more than a thing or two about indulgent feasting. These elves consider themselves permanent residents of their land, and with that outlook comes an attitude of celebrating Middle-earth's bounties.

The Silvans of the Woodland Realm have always been fond of feasting, merry-making, and community and family traditions centered around food. Furthermore, they are ruled by a King and royal family who whole-heartedly support this culture, participate in it themselves, and encourage trade that allows the realm to access food from other lands.

When it comes to food, the Greenwood elves are actually more alike Dwarves and Hobbits than they are the lofty High Elves.

Below the cut are SotWK headcanons regarding Food and Agriculture in the Woodland Realm:

Food, Cuisine, and Agriculture in the Woodland Realm

Prior to the establishment of the Woodland Realm and in the early reign of King Oropher (c. SA 700), the Silvan Elves populating Greenwood lived in smaller communities spread throughout the vast forest, but predominantly in the southwest, closer to their kin in Lorinand. Limited subsistence farming was practiced by a few, but by far most food at this time was obtained through hunting and gathering. The rich and bountiful Greenwood had always provided more than enough resources for its dwellers.

GATHERING

Greenwood Elves happily spend most of their immortal lives within Eryn Galen and the lands of Rhovanion, so they are accustomed to living off solely what the forest produces, and their diet is influenced largely by it.

The most commonly foraged edibles are:

Nuts: hazelnut, pecan, walnut, hickory, beechnut, chestnut

Fruit: plum, apple, grape, persimmon

Berries: mulberry, blackberry, currant, elderberry, raspberry

Wild garlic and ramps

Fungi: mushrooms and truffles of many varieties

Eggs: from various wild birds

Herbs and Spices: fennel, corn mint, dandelions, ground elder, pigweed, cicely, sorrel, hogweed, stinging nettle, watercress, wild carrot, rowan, wood avens, sneezewort

Maple: sourced for sugar and syrup

There are also hundreds of plant species native only to Greenwood and Rhovanion that are valued for their uses in healing. However, the Silvan herbalists of Greenwood are usually the only ones able to effectively extract the curative properties of these plants, indicating a connection between Elves and homeland may be necessary for the healing to work.

Art from Fantasy Flight Games

HUNTING

Greenwood Elves are expert hunters and trackers, with unparalleled mastery within their forest and the lands that surround its borders. With careful consideration and instinctual knowledge of the forest ecosystem, they select their prey according to what's most populous, and rotate as necessary to balance out conservation levels.

Among the animals they hunt regularly for meat consumption are rabbit, squirrel, duck, turkey, quail, weasel, racoon, boar, deer, wild oxen, and elk. On rare or special occasions, they hunt less common game such as lion and bear. They also obtain fish and freshwater mussels, clams, and snails from the Forest River and various streams.

It is illegal in Greenwood to hunt or kill specific animals that are declared a protected species, including the King's Elk (the breed of Thranduil's war elk), the silverwolf, and all species of eagle or falcon.

Any fauna or fauna may also be temporarily decreed off-limits for hunting or gathering, by order of the Elvenking and his council.

Any animal taken in as an elf's pet or familiar may also not be killed, so long as it has been properly tamed and does not pose a risk to others.

Throughout the Second Age, the Woodland Realm's population steadily increased under the wise rule of King Oropher and his court. As the communities and villages that made up the kingdom grew larger and more numerous, the practice of agriculture became more widespread to bolster the realm's food supply.

In the Woodland Realm, farming would always remain secondary to hunting and gathering due to the preference of Silvans for wild game and native vegetation. Farmed products serve primarily to enhance cuisine, supplement large feasts, provide reserves in case of war or famine, and as goods for trade with other realms.

FARMING and LIVESTOCK

Tracts of community farmlands were gradually cultivated in the arable fields between Greenwood's western borders (near the capital of Amon Lanc) and the Anduin River.

In order of output, the food crops most commonly grown are: wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, and peas.

Fiber crops grown for cloth, paper, and rope include: flax, hemp, and cotton.

Domesticated animals are raised in small numbers solely for their by-products and not their meat. In order of importance, livestock that are raised are:

Sheep: source of wool and milk

Chickens: source of eggs

Cows: source of milk and for birthing calves

Animals raised for labor include:

Horses: highly valued and raised exclusively for transport and mounted cavalry

Oxen: used as beasts of burden (large-scale/community work)

Donkeys: used as beasts of burden (small-scale/family work)

When Prince Thranduil built his own palace of Bar Lasgalen just south of the Old Forest Road (which would later become the new capital upon his ascension to the throne), he helped the Silvans residing in the valleys of the Emyn Duir to initiate small-scale agriculture, which encouraged further migration into that area and northward towards the Grey Mountains.

Elvish historians refer to the first millennium of the Third Age as the "Golden Age of the Woodland Realm". During these years, the kingdom enjoyed an unbroken peace under a wise King and Queen who also had five sons actively involved in the governance of the realm.

Departing from his father's more isolationist leanings, Thranduil encouraged trade with realms across Middle-earth. It included all the races except for Hobbits, since the Shire did not yet exist prior to the darkening of Greenwood.

Sadly, most trade came to a stop by the end of the Third Age, with the exception of the nearby Dale, due to the struggles with Dol Guldur. However, after Erebor was reestablished by King Thorin, trade gradually resumed with the Dwarves. After the War of the Ring and the Cleansing of Dol Guldur, Eryn Lasgalen once again thrived with renewed relations with their trade partners--finally including the Shire!

AGRICULTURAL TRADE

The Woodland Realm's three most valuable exported agricultural products are:

Rare spices

Mushrooms and truffles

Medicinal herbs (extremely valuable but highly controlled to prevent misuse)

Imported goods are considered luxuries and not necessities, and are brought in seasonally for community feasts and celebrations (of which there are many). Everything is meant for the consumption of all the kingdom's citizens, regardless of status; there is never anything reserved as "special" for the royals or nobles.

The top agricultural imports, usually from realms/communities of Men, are:

Wine

Textiles (silk, cotton)

Seafood

Sugar

Cheeses

ARTISAN COOKS and BAKERS

Exposure to outside realms and cultures also resulted in an expansion of the culinary arts within Thranduil's kingdom. Cooking and baking became full-blown, respected and sought-after professions instead of tasks done within individual households. With the King's support, talented Elves were sent to other realms to learn their culinary practices; chefs from other kingdoms were invited to Greenwood as royal guests to do the same.

A few culinary feats and innovations the Woodland Elves became known for:

Use of offal (innards) in recipes that actually taste fantastic, thanks to seasonings and skilled cookery

Using literally every single part of a butchered animal with zero waste

Aphrodisiacs in common food recipes, using plant ingredients (partly responsible for their marriage and birth rates and large families)

Salted game meat (jerky) that is highly nourishing and excellent for travel; essentially a meat version of lembas

The use of whipped egg whites to make essentially a type of meringue--which opened up an entire category of desserts that became staples at feasts

Bonus Fun Headcanons! (as a thank you for reading this far)

Mealtimes in Thranduil's Family

No one can beat Ada in drinking contests, ever; it has been attempted hundreds of times--usually with Dorwinion wine--and Thranduil has never been dethroned by his sons.

The King and every single one of the Princes are all heavy eaters, and everyone, including the Queen, eats meat.

While they all observe formal manners at the table, the Princes can get rowdy when not in the presence of their mother--especially when there's drinking involved. (Not quite as bad as Thorin's Company, but close.)

Breakfast: Taken individually in their own rooms, according to each one's schedule/leisure

Lunch: The most commonly skipped meal; usually taken "on the go", and oftentimes with people outside of the family (e.g. business lunches, lunch with friends)

Dinner: The family meal. Everyone is expected to sit down and eat dinner with the rest of the family, unless traveling or there is a prior commitment that takes precedence.

Random Fun Food Facts with the Thranduilions

The Princes regularly compete to see who can eat the most exotic/"disgusting" food items. Turhir remains champion at this (able and willing to eat literally everything), with Legolas frequently trying (and constantly failing) to unseat him.

They have also competed to see who can eat the riskiest (aka poisonous) food items. Arvellas has somehow proven to be the most impervious to natural poisons, much to Gelir's frustration.

Legolas can go the longest without eating food, but no one really cares to try to beat his record.

Mirion is the heaviest eater, but is also the fastest, and because he has flawless table manners no one really notices.

Gelir can find truffles just using his sense of smell--yes, like a truffle pig. He has successfully trained other similarly gifted Elves to do the same.

For more Thranduil/Mirkwood headcanons: SotWK HC Masterlist

Tolkien Headcanon tag list: @quickslvxr @laneynoir @auttumnsayshi @achromaticerebus @tamryniel @friendofthefellowshipsnerdblog @blueberryrock @aduialel @glassgulls @ladyweaslette @klytemnestra13 @creativity-of-death @heilith @fizzyxcustard @absentmindeduniverse @lathalea @tamurilofrivendell @jordie-your-local-halfling @ladyk8tie @scyllas-revenge @asianbutnotjapanese @conversacomsmaug @lemonivall @ratsys @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @entishramblings @stormchaser819 @freshalmondpandadonut

[rosen-dovecote]

@autisticslp asked (on the old blog):

So a lot of cooking advice that people tend to give that seems very basic honestly comes from decades of experience; there's a post that floats around Tumblr sometimes, actually, that talks about how a lot of "cooking from intuition" isn't actually intuition at all. It's deeply ingrained memorization about the "laws of cooking" that we've learned over time, that feel like second nature to us to the point where we no longer have to think about it or physically reference recipes or tutorials anymore.

In essence: We're good at "taking what we have on hand and making a meal of it" because we have a lot of practice! We've built up a skill! A skill you're lacking in. And that's not a bad thing! But it also means that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself because you don't know or can't seem to grasp this stuff that seems so "second nature" or "easy" to a lot of the cooks you know. You're still really new at this! And with various disabilities and mental illnesses, cognitive issues, etc? Of course you're going to struggle harder at it than "most" seem to, to you!

As a secondary aside to that, you mentioned growing up on a farm. But farming and gardening, and the various forms of food preservation that frequently comes alongside small family subsistence farms, is a very different skill set! Knowing what's seasonal in your garden doesn't necessarily inherently translate into cooking it, and building a full meal up from scratch unless you also had someone who had that skill as well to teach you that.

I know my Husband's mom sure as hell didn't. He grew up on a farm like that, and she could can all day ... But Lord. She couldn't cook to save her life. She attempted to impart neither of these skills to my Husband, either ... I grew up on one, as well. But where my mom couldn't can or garden to save her life, she was a damned good cook and imparted those skills to me. Now I'm passing them on to my Husband decades later, because his mother failed to.

What you're ultimately missing is a fundamental set of basic skills, and a knowledge set built up over time and practice. And the good news is, those are really simple skills to learn. The bad news is, it does take a while to learn them and to build up that pool of knowledge. Most of it's experimentation, though, and not a lot of it's super difficult.

For basic knowledge of cooking science and spices, I'd recommend The Science of Cooking and The Science of Spice- both by Dr. Stuart Farrimond. I own both and love them dearly. They'll debunk some common myths, and give you a basic understanding of certain food sciences that are honestly really helpful.

When you feel like you're ready to actually sit down and experiment with spices, I love The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World by Padma Lakshmi. It has information on various spices, tells you their cultural contexts, mentions what they're usually used on in those contexts (vegetables, which meats, etc), and even gives you some common cultural spice blends (though doesn't provide measurements). It's a thick boy, but it's a really fun one to work through if you have no introduction to spices or idea how to use them.

Past that, something you need to build yourself is a well stocked pantry with staple basics. I can't tell you what those are for you. That's something you have to figure out for yourself based on what you cook, how often, etc. But my minimum has always been at least 2 months worth of food in my pantry at any given time, across a broad enough spectrum that I can pick just about anything out of a recipe and only really need to shop for the fresh or immediate-need ingredients each week.

Staple Grains like Rice, Lentils, Cous Cous, and Quinoa.

Pasta Noodles of various types- like Elbow, Rigatoni, Bowtie, Penne, Fettuccini, and Spaghetti

Potatoes in the form of Mashed Potatoes and Scalloped Potatoes both, as well as a "fresh" bag each of Russet, Yellow, and Red Potatoes

Onions. I keep a mesh bag each of Red and Yellow (or White; whichever's cheapest at the time I'm shopping) on hand at all times.

Boxes of Stock (Chicken, Beef, Vegetable, and Protein Broth when I can find it)

Canned items that I use a lot of, like Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Paste, every kind of Bean (Cannellini, Great Northern, Dark Red, Light red, Black, Pinto, etc), and Chickpeas; plus canned fish (Tuna and Salmon, Sardines, etc)

Condensed Creams Of (Chicken and Mushroom are the two we use most often)

Spices. Of every kind. You literally do not want to see my spice box. It's insane. Yes I'm proud of it. But it would make the average person cry with confusion and fear.

Frozen Veggies in the freezer (Green Beans, Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli, Carrots, Squashes, etc; personally I prefer the frozen to the canned)

I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting. But ultimately when you have a full pantry and only have to buy your fresh or immediate-need ingredients? It not only massively saves your grocery bill each week, but it also makes it so much easier to "make things with what you have on hand". Because a large part of the trick is, honestly, having things on hand to make stuff with in the first place. And that's really the big secret that goes unspoken in a lot of circles. But it really shouldn't be an unspoken secret, because it holds so many people back.

Another secret is just knowing basic cooking methods. What is chopping vs dicing? How do you pan fry? What's a dry fry vs a wet fry? What about baking? Broiling? Boiling? What happens if you stew an ingredient instead? How big does it have to be for each of these methods? How does it perform with rice as opposed to cous cous? How is it raw- if it can be eaten raw? Other than that, just knowing recipes is really going to be the big key.

Unfortunately I don't have a recommend for learning any of these ones, since I learned all this the hard way. I do see some cook books that could be useful (like Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored Vegetable-Focused Meals by Nik Sharma; or Vegetables: The Ultimate Cookbook Featuring 300+ Delicious Plant-Based Recipes by Laura Sorkin). I can't personally recommend them, however, because I've never read or used them. But there's a lot of information out there on youtube that can be very helpful, especially for methodology since it's a visual medium- which is, I think, the best way to learn some of these skills in particular.

Personally, I did the recipe thing by looking at cuisines from regions where those foods or ingredients were really popular. So take your Eggplant for example. Eggplants feature a lot in Mediterranean, Levantine, and Middle Eastern cuisines. So when you want to learn how to use Eggplant and build up your knowledge about it? Looking at the people in those regions who use this ingredient a lot already is going to be really helpful to you. They know what they're doing with it!

When you've made those dishes a few times, you're going to get an understanding not only of how to prepare Eggplant for various methods of cooking, and how to cook it for those methods. But you're also going to get an understanding of what flavors pair well with it. And after a while of doing that, you're naturally going to start thinking "what if I do x instead?" and start experimenting on your own. Play with them. Get to know the ingredient on the most foundational level. And yeah, throw some herbs on it if you're comfortable! See what meshes with what flavors. What do you like? And yeah, some of those are going to be flops. But by the time you start thinking "what if" your skills are usually further progressed than you'd think to give yourself credit for. Just ask my Husband, ha!

As for the stuff regarding disability, mental illness, and cognitive function, I gotchu, babe! One of the most distressing things for me when I became disabled, started suffering really bad from cognitive decline, and started dealing with memory loss, was looking at the potential of never being able to cook for myself again. And that scared the piss out of me, because cooking is my joy. And so my Husband and I sat down and prioritized cooking and making it disability friendly for me. Here's some of the stuff we did.

First step: Get your butt a stool that's a comfortable height for your counter height. Once acquired, sit as much as you can in the kitchen. It conserves energy and lets you use more of it to focus your head.

Second: Get yourself all those fun little gadgets you think look interesting or helpful. Personally I have a fruit slicer (that works on more than just apples), a slap chopper microplane thingy, and a few others. Mostly I got these because occasionally my body loses my hands and has no idea where they went and it's safer for me. But I can't tell you how nice they are even when my body knows where my hands are, ha; they speed up prep, keep your fingers safe (usually), and leave more room for the brain to do its thing.

Third: Make as many lists as you can! I have a list on the inside of all my pantry doors of the staples that are in that section. When something needs refilling it allows me to put a mark there so I know to put it on the grocery list. But it also provides a quick reference when my brain's tired; it's so much easier for me to read a list than try and decipher box labels with various colors, font sizes, etc. Make lists wherever you need them and always keep them accessible.

Fourth: The recipe box. Yes. A good, old fashioned, classic recipe box. I have mine filled with tried and true recipes that I know for a fact my Husband and I love, that I know we have at least 90% of the ingredients on hand for at any given moment. So if all else fails and I can't think of anything? I can just go pull something out of the box and have him jot down to the store for anything we don't have.

Fifth: Keep easy meals on stock, because some days you really can't cook. Your brain won't let you, and that's ok! That's fine! But you still gotta eat, right? So we keep stuff like bagged Blackened Chicken Alfredo, Dirty Rice, Mongolian Beef, Jambalaya, Broccoli Beef, Red Beans & Rice, etc, on hand in the outdoor fridge. If at any point I just can't do it? We grab some of those instead.

And the good news is, you can spruce up a quick meal! Making Dirty Rice? Throw in some bread and butter, and a side of boiled Green Beans from the garden. Blackened Chicken Alfredo? Throw some Bell Pepper on in there; you can bulk this stuff up easily with your produce, and it takes even less effort most of the time.

As for the Covid sense of taste / smell? Keep trucking. It does get better; I suffered bad from Post-Covid Parosmia for nearly 2 years after I caught Covid the first time- bad enough to the point I couldn't bathe myself because of the smell of our water being nauseating to me; couldn't eat anything with Corn, or Wheat, or Onion, or Garlic in it for a year, either. the second I tried, my body auto rejected it. Bananas tastes like Iris flowers smelt ... I feel your pain so hard.

But it does get better. Your system is just rewiring itself completely from scratch right now. And Lord, it's so unpleasant. But the more you give it to taste, and smell, the better it does and the faster it rewires itself. Don't force yourself to eat things that are nauseating or unpleasant. But do branch out. Experiment. Even if it tastes left of how you remember it, keep going! I can't promise you'll get everything back (Lord knows there's still some things that aren't quite right for me, even 4 years later now). But it gets better!

I hope any of this helps- even if it's not as helpful if you'd like it to be. Hang in there, love.

My ask box is always open and Anon is currently ON.

[acti-veg]

‘In England, where capitalism gained its first foothold, it did so on the basis of what's referred to as the "Enclosure Movement." Millions of acres of common land were violently confiscated and turned into privately-owned plots during several centuries. Traditional rights to use common land for farming or grazing livestock were revoked, land was fenced in (enclosed) and restricted to private owners—whether through payment, theft, or law.

‘Through this process, land was concentrated into the hands of few landowners, while masses of people were left with no means of self-sustenance, and therefore no means to maintain economic independence. Forced evictions of peasants left villagers landless and roaming the country seeking livelihood and subsistence.’

-Hadas Thier, A People’s Guide to Capitalism

[elbiotipo]

whats your perspective on anarcho-primitivism?

I dislike it.

When I think of a better society, I don't think to return to hunter-gatherer tribes or breaking our backs working in pseudo-medieval village communes. I think of education, medicine, housing, food, being available to everyone and without anyone hoarding them. This can be accomplished by the right implementation of politics and technology, which does imply a state and industrial civilization. Anarcho-primitivism is reactionary, it's just a 'leftist' version of "everyone should go to church" fantasizing of the Middle Ages. Luckily, it's only the domain of some boring writers and some 'humanity is a cancer' people on Twitter (lol) but I think it's worth discussing because it reveals some biases.

Industry is not inherently bad. People can have decent, comfortable lifestyles if industry, instead of being guided towards profit, is guided towards the welfare of people: avoiding waste, planned obsolescence, consumerism, enviromental destruction. To accomplish this, you must have something (a state) that controls what is done and how (the means of production). To make the state works for the welfare of the people and the planet, it needs to be built on those principles. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm going with this.

Every human activity has an enviromental impact, from mining to agriculture. I simply do not believe this is inmoral, like many anprims seem to believe. I think it is harmful and yes, possibly inmoral that our current rates of consumption are damaging the global ecosystem, but I do not think farming or mining or using electronics is inmoral, when all those things can be done in ways that reduce impact as much as possible and allow people to have comfortable lives. And, this is key, industrial civilization and a state that provides for the common benefit of the people is what allows people to live good lives, to not worry about spending all their time doing farming and leaving other pursuits to a very privileged class, and importantly, not to die from disease or suffer by the abuses of a feudal class that would develop in such a situation.

Because let's face this: if anarcho-primitivism is implement, billions would die. You cannot feed the current human population without industrial farming (and I'm not even talking about GMOs or agrochemicals here, I'm saying stuff like tractors), and a transition to subsistence farmer civilization will only cause untold suffering and death. I do not even need to tell you that people who depend in modern medicine would die without the very complex industries that produce current medications and treatment. And if we go all the way to the extreme and abolish agriculture itself, not only humanity would be reduced to hunter-gatherer bands, but the enviromental devastation would be untold. An anprim society would be a decline on human quality of life like we've seen in the worst episodes of human history. All this for what? A moralistic, pure version of the past that not even far-righters have dreamed of? A medieval village but with D&D night instead of church? Thank you, I'll pass.

Also, and this is personal: I love space exploration, and I think humanity's future is among the stars. Any ideology that does not allow for that is worthless to me. Yuri Gagarin didn't touch the skies for people to tell me that it's proper leftism to stay down here in feudal farms forever.