‘Surviving The Win’.
…
Chapter 007.
…
The Oni had rematerialized as a Krampus, born without of Avem's power and déjà vu, it was now roaming free.
All it took was Avem, now in the Past (and elsewhere on the map), to be onto this and, using her precognition, and locating this creature, she regained control of it, and lead it to St. Nick, to make sure things were still under her control.
…
Her better knowing of St Nick, from this, later became the basis for her knowing how to draw from him, for her original, 1980, Test Tube Baby Oni, known as, "Ben."
The part, of Ben’s, "Dovereign," known as the, "Holy, "Kohow ("Pigeon"/"Dove")," Spirit," became bound to Avem, for the benefit of her whole lifetime.
She had even worked it out to, which demon was responsible for the Creation of The Real St Nick.
It was Osé.
Ben threw his Final Coin in. The Pool of Water in the Grotto, rippled. His Koi Fish, Lasagna, had passed away, at the ripe age of 37 years.
Ben was now 50 Years Old.
Apart from his Dollar, Ben was in the habit of picking up random articles on his way. The, “Dao of Ben,” was very Thrifty, but not at all Frugal. He would Steal, and at that, he was a King.
Ben wasn’t altogether sure of how he Found His Way, but it was always cleared up for him.
When he dropped things off, he’d find pricier value. When he picked things up, they were what he needed.
He was left only at, that as he had been left, so too had he found more of the same, but Ben was hardly anything other than preoccupied, which meant he could not be found on, as he could not be focused about any.
…
Ben’s first Smoking Pipe was named, Delva La Plume. He had picked it up one day, along with a Fern (the begrudged little thing that the fern appeared).
The fern itself, being a ginger rock fern.
Temu being the term for ginger.
Thinking about ke, a word with with an in of dream, Ben quickly decided he had met the fern or rather encountered it by ketemu/encounter, as words would go.
Picking it up, and looking through it’s fiddlehead-like coil, at the top, he was surely next to have thought about chains of smoking, chains being known as ketju.
His next reaction in none other than a pair of duck leather boots, would have been to splash down at a lilypad for how he thought if the sky was so big, it needed a continual fraction, or spiral, of clouds. Continual fractions being known as Ketjumurtoluku.
…
Avem took a Chimes Losenge Chew out of the wrapping and shared with Mrs. Henchfrew that this particular part of her amazingly involved and dangerous story, had her laughing, if only, because she was about to savour some ginger herself.
You know what Avem? a worker just walking by, named Derek, said. I think Temu is also an Online Retailer.
Certain Moon Cycles after Lasagna The Koi Fish, who had somehow mysteriously been stolen back in time and by now, passed on, Ben woke up to find Delva La Plume responding oddly.
It was Bright and Early. He looked upto see a Yen-Reigned Dragon Cloud, in the Sky, above the Hole in the Cave’s Ceiling.
The Lord Had sent him a Propitious Omen. Lasagna had Ascended, into?... A Pixiu Wealth Dragon.
…
Ben was used to being in The Way, of something, that he was borrowing. It appeared that he spent a slightly different currency of time than regular mortals.
If you asked him, he would say no, he had never made a pact and was a Natural Born Fee/Feri, but, that is, for his Deformity leading people to call him a Demon.
Was it his fault that he didn’t appear Fair?
His Time when by regular mortals currency spent, would have him appearing, often only when Partly With Something Lost and that When Found, Wasn’t Exactly Found… But for him (and, never fully him).
During those moments, in his being held at attention, he could appear in a Young OR Old Visage, but in truth, the only common ruling there, was that Ben’s Life was Relayed Sporadically Across Our Own Lifetime’s Spent, and Only Partly Invested In Whatever Material We Might Say Did Turn Out.
…
In relative introspection, he was, for those who saw him, a haunt, or lurid gaze across time, that bent what it bonded with, to his will, in order for him to appear.
Wise Men who saw him, would say he was a Fallen, but rhen again, there was, “Ben (“Benashi Odel,” as his former compatriots might have called him).”
Relaying his own life, as though it were by our own set of Chronological Standards, though? Well, that was about the only thing that ever Made Him Seem Like a Thief.
On his end, of a Parallel Fairy Dimension, he lived forever, as though On Our Own end of that equation, and spread throughout our time, like a Forever Changeable Apparition.
...
Avem, traveling back to a time far earlier, went to arrange a deal for more Power in her lifetime. She did this with Apher. It had involved the drugs of her living era.
This plan, had been what enabled her to win her cut in of a deal for Pharmaceuticals. She was also able to transfer her memory from her past ages to herself in the present day through learned Reptilian forms of constrained cognition (Mind Control).
She needed to do this, to be reputable enough to instate the O’lich’archy's Den, in the future. Also, she would need her mental prowess for the Dragon, after the Den was abandoned by the Vampires. The Dragon would still be around.
She created a Living Magical Necrotome in her lifetime.
Swarma had destroyed Eldritch Spellbound, by a storm, when she showed up, in his life, through time travel.
…
This storm, had been due to her Reincarnation Napture, of him into Cherubim Kali Thornton.
As you may see, though, there's a missing piece, if Eldritch wasn't truly summoned into Kali, as Avem had genuinely believed.
Upon announcing her deal with Apher, to well-studied Eldritch, a swarm of bugs and wind descended upon him, and his business affiliate, rendering the two of them, lifeless.
Avem made sure to take the Signet ring of, "Signum," carefully off of Spellbound's ring finger and stow it away in her pocket, before leaving them where they lay, dead. This ring, had been from Spellbound's findings on St. Nick, and she needed it for full control of demon Osé, as she was going to use Aleister's work of Solomonic magic, which Eldritch was familiar with, due to his living from 1800 to 1880.
…
Avem, ultimately settled into fairyland, making sacrifices of mortals every seven years, for her Living Necrotome work, into the future, as well as for all of her Reincarnation Naptures.
One Sacrifice, she had messed up over, before being burnt for being a witch, as the Queen of Elphame, was Elfin Mortal, "Tam Lin."
She was burned alive, but she took her meditation up in the smoke, sending it straight to the, "Currency," Dragon Lasagna, in a sell, into the future. She had hoped that, as a time-borne current, it would awaken it's eternal life, as her own time-traveling one, in, "Lasagna,". However, it appeared, she would only be eternally vying to serve as it’s eternal muse.
...
Ben was a, “Lero Zeien,” or, ”Mockery’s In Of A Haul/Witness,” who, despite his soul's past life, wherein he was undoubtedly hit/bitten by something (if not Avem, herself), was in need of a mask (Probably, to cover his eye).
Not to make him Sound Like a Phantom Of The Opera, or anything, but still, if the Mask he was given possessed him, he’d need a better one.
Andrei would find Ralph kept one such Mask, and Dark Secrets.
He doesn't know anything about the NicNeven, Andrei explained to his aisle seat comrade on the way back. She was snoring lightly, and Andrei had his glasses on and nose in a Book, therefore he couldn’t tell, or care. Avem apparently kept him in the dark.
…
Antic wanted to go to Heaven, but, he had to weigh it more heavily on his own end, meaning he needed to be more dutiful.
He worked it out to, "De," or, "Moral," which he broke down into an acronym of, "D.E.," for, "Discipline and Exercise."
Having had very bad ardour in his life, he counted his duty as a blessing, for it engrained his service in him, more thoroughly.
...
A Flight Service Attendant walked by with Pretzels.
…
Ben’s service consisted of preaching in various languages. He had become quite the miracle worker.
The Frater's miracles munitarially manifested food, and even himself on it.
He would declare, "Weights of Gold, of Heraldry, Tal' a Lot, this Current Bead."
Then fetching his rosary, he would augur an activated bead, and open it within his eye... an eye, which he shared with his pet Lindworm Dragon named after Calligraphy master Liu Songnian. "Lasagna," for short.
He did this with a Buddhist meditation, as, in his Karma, the Buddhists transpired under a hierarchy of Heaven, and because he was an Oni/Demon, and All were technically still above him, the mandate was the bead.
A bead, which, when called a, "kài," also meant, "egg," or, "ball," or in Hawaiian, "food." Thus, if cracked reverently enough, it would, "hatch," a corresponding vision, which would prove most timely and useful to the endeavour.
Next, finding the recipe in the, "Dough Bren Book," he would ask, St. Pathwrit (a cypher), to write a coded transcription giving new taxonomy, to the food-type.
The writings of Pathwrit were written, and offered up in fire, regularly, using the four tools of the sacred study of calligraphy, one of them being a scroll.
Once these sacred writings were burned, Frater's currency dragon, with it's mental link to it's master, would dream in the smoke currents, tying the olfactory currents to the currency/"change," utilized by the Frater, in measuring virtues and vices.
This is how, the Repentant Oni, Frater Antic, became a, "Fee See (i.e. A, "Gier")."
...
A man struggled to get by the attendant to use the on flight toilet.
...
Watching people, on his all-time meditative spectrum channel, said Andrei, was also part of how he served the Governance of Heaven, as he would weigh them, as part of his prerogative, to have them, "in."
Consequent Hoodoo shades, found in the Den, would be taken care of, when Antic would make a prayer to the Dovereign Lord, to uplift them. Then, if he landed on a miolo, he might thereat find his best opportunity to appear in their food.
This, is why most people are bidden not to play with their food, and also, why they are commanded to say grace at the table. It is better not to concern oneself with demon testimony, let alone be let in it, by tantalism.
…
Andrei buttered a crusty roll.
...
Then, of course, we move on to how the Frater prepares his own food, in the Den.
Antic makes each recipe, from his book, by planetary hour, and only once. His food is prepared, "singulatently."
Each recipe, in his book, is meditated on, by it's realm of all time preparation, in existence. Upon it's planetary hour, he draws a seal, and uses teleprathy to command a dissonant summon of it's, "mean," standard of preparation, and the sound frequencies in the Den, "hammer," a knit-work, light-form, "fabriquer," of food, which is then carried off to a dining area.
This food, will disappear and reappear, at variant levels, in the Den's Dining Area, over time.
People let into the Den, may appear once, and still disappear later, but it is debatable whether they die or not, because the Den, is under an, "All-Time," Pact, with Portal work.
The Den, may have already been located, with no-one found within, but the question is, if it is indeed the same one, at what time will they even appear. When in time, is their work done?
Each congregant is allowed to have one food-type, which serves as their vampire memory, and thus, gives them planetary governance.
Hours for each person to be let in and/or out of the Den, will differ.
Nobody eats anyone else's food, at first, unless they've reincarnated, but meditations, mana, and ingredient-level shifting or mutuality is common. Therefore, everyone is still amply fed-up, and this equates to experience and makes for realm of discussion (burden).
A transcendental form of awareness, is afforded by the Frater's discussions on burden and the freedom offered by the Saviour, who offsets it.
All are sustained, forever, in this Den, but experience is as real, as becoming aware of the imperfection or near perfection of someone's meal preparation, on the mortal plane. Some seldom eat, and become as a light, many believe in the teaching of being fed, not by bread alone.
It is a good question if they ever eat, once first let in. The food, may be a form of fairy food/snare.
...
By now Andrei was back at the Airport Terminal.
…
From the Den, if you pay attention to Scripture and are penitent, more mana may be given to you, but if you do not heed, mana may leave you, and you may become more zombie-like, until your next Summons for Sermon, or meal with the Host.
Basically, in that realm, food bears no perishable quality, though does bear taint, and thus, generally, stays retroactive in the system of the eater, meaning what happens to food supply in the world, may impact one, or not, because they are still perpetually delivered of it's memory, and it can still exhibit a limited form of time-travel to their own time, and they may or may not perish.
The Den, is a perfuse spiritual realm, in the time of the Satanic World Order of the End Times, and though Dark, is full of an ethereal mist.
A transient, tandem shifting of material, is said to occasionally, and inexplicably happen, even if no-one is there. This is, because the Ghost Host of the Holy Kohow Spirit is still really in the Den's memory.
Supposedly, this process of shift, was how all demons were made known over history, and by how, all other creatures were to be found, as all found a root with ingredient, but more importantly, only some ingredients were ever lawed for consumption... or else!
Only some beings, over time, had souls, or were savvy enough to save them. St. Era, was a time traveler. He was in charge of the armoury and medicine, and would always show up around the world, when the armoury or medicine would take a pivotal turn, to learn and benefit, the Den's heirs in the future. These heirs, who, biding in the Buddhist Den's O’lich’archal Church, staked the demons as prize worthy, would ennoble their namesake for the Church's good service and uphold them in testimony as the, "Repentant Few," of the, "Fee, Fie, Foe, and Fum."
'Pin'. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ch%E1%BB%91t
Eldritch lay on the ground. The insects had flown in, and as a collective swarm, had droned him to a dull. He had been lying on the ground for about 1 to 15 minutes, before they finally all flew away.
Swarma had deserted the area, for somewhere else in time.
Birds, then began to gather.
A small bird, known as a shrike (a.k.a. Butcherbird), flew in.
It took Spellbound's lapel, off of him, and flew off to a perch, in hopes of attacking another bird with it. Eldritch, pricked by the lapel, it had been readjusting before loosing, had felt something of a pain, and slowly, regained consciousness.
The shrike perched upon a tree, and started to shriek some curious melodies. It had only been doing this for it's lunch, however.
Feeling dazed, Spellbound lay on his back, while a whole sky mapping, of birds making sounds, darted back and forth.
His eyes opened, and he slowly began to follow them.
Their songs continued, and suddenly a fresh breath of wind came into him. It seemed to speak... It was Lasagna!
...
'Fu's Party'.
Shortly after Christmas, The Dizzmith’s visited the Tich Residence for a belated Business Party slash Christmas Party. It was also their son’s Birthday.
Fu was over. His mother Lillian, had set out a Side Table of Food, from the Restaurant.
Ralph and Adelaide had brought an M&M Meatshop's Party Platter, as their own contribution.
Giselle sat with Terrence, playing Asian checkers, and Eric, was still hanging the indoor Chinese Lanterns.
Lillian asked Fu if he could open the Advent Calendar for the next day, but just then, the lights went out all across the city.
Goofily, the seven of them had to make their way over to the LampTop. Pulling out the new, "Central Table," and a bunch of chairs.
Adelaide tripped up, and nearly fell over something, and let out a little shriek, only to find out from Lillian, that it was just Giselle's, pet, bichon frise, "Garlic."
Fu had opened up a Jade cross from Adelaide.
Ralph apologized that it was made of a, "Kidney Stone," and told them how, it was, "Jade"/"Nephrite," hence, "Kidney"/"Nephros."
There was awkward silence.
...

I’m looking for help finding fiddleheads in New Hampshire. Let me preface my remarks by saying that I am a strong proponent of tending the wild. Whenever I’m out in the woods, I am releasing apple trees, planting elderberries, scattering mushroom spores, Inoculating logs. I try very hard to be additive not subtractive with my foraging.
I’m coming to you with my hat in my hands, looking for some basic help. Ostrich ferns are my white whale. Try as I might in years past, I can’t find them to save my life. I know it’s early this year, but I’m trying to plan ahead. I think 95% of my problem is geography as I am in the southern portion of the state. I would be very grateful if somebody could just point me towards a coarse geographic area to focus my search via DM.
I’m also curious if there is one or several soil series that ostrich ferns tend to be associated with? I’ve had some luck searching for rare plants (just to see if I can find them) by using soil maps and associations to guide my search, and it would be cool to do this for fiddleheads as well

My partner and I just locked in everything for our trip (paid tickets in full and booked our hotel) I just want it to be May already! Who is everyone excited for the most?! Turnstile is my main focus, last time I saw them was in 2021 and I haven’t been able to catch them since they blew up so I can’t wait to see them on this level. My partner is really excited for Flyleaf especially since Lacey will be performing, it’s their childhood dream!!
Deftones, Korn, Failure, Superheaven, Scowl, Fiddlehead etc etc. This lineup is insane i’m ready to get hyped!

romesentinel.com /stories/the-tailor-and-cook-has-a-recipe-for-success,149151

The Tailor and Cook has a recipe for success

Philomena Lawrence, Special to the Daily Sentinel 6-8 minutes
UTICA — During its decade-long history, The Tailor and the Cook, Utica’s esteemed farm-to-table restaurant, has followed a course from local recognition to national renown.
In 2014, just two years after opening its doors at 94 Genesee St., OpenTable included the eatery on its esteemed Top 100 Restaurants list. “That recognition is tremendously humbling, but it probably ensured our success. I’m not sure we would have made it this far otherwise,” states owner and executive chef Tim Hardiman, adding appreciatively, ‘’Besides, it felt like a nice pat on the back.”
The accolades kept coming — for four consecutive years, the restaurant was named as one of DiRoNA’s Distinguished Restaurants of North America, one of only 700 restaurants in America to land on this exclusive list; this year, Wine Spectator magazine chose it for its Award of Excellence.
As the 43-year-old Clinton resident explains, “Farm-to-table isn’t a lofty concept. That’s the way our grandparents ate.
They developed relationships with the people who produced their food ... they asked the farmers questions.” He adds reflectively, “In two generations, we have unfortunately moved away from that practice.”
He is encouraged, however, by the increasing popularity of farmers markets and food co-ops over the past 10 years, and estimates that 50 percent of his customers patronize the restaurant specifically because he purchases ingredients locally from growers committed to providing healthy, sustainable produce.
Almost daily, more than 50 vendors supply the restaurant with vegetables, honey, meat, and cheese, as well as other staples.
“Maybe our restaurant had a part in that resurgence. People are paying attention to the sources of their food, which benefits our cause,” he notes. He also feels lucky to have a reliable supply chain. Other businesses that rely on large suppliers often have problems with delivery, leaving the owners scrambling to find alternatives.
“Our menu navigates around the seasons and what Mother Nature provides,” offers Hardiman. In the fall, for example, preparations include figs, apples, and pears; scallops are paired with spaghetti squash. As temperatures drop, New England-style clam chowder, made with a dozen steamed clams, white wine, cream, and larger chunks of vegetables, becomes a popular addition, and entrees are seasoned with warmer, more aromatic spices such as chiles, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In late spring, peas, fiddlehead greens, ramps (wild leeks), and asparagus feature prominently on the menu.
There is an exception to the “fresh-only” rule; vegetables are served out of season when they have been preserved — frozen, pickled, canned, or dehydrated — on-site. Hardiman estimates that his staff preserves thousands of pounds of tomatoes and hundreds of ears of corn each summer.
New Hartford residents Drs. Atul and Amita Butala are repeat customers of the establishment. “As strict vegetarians, we have always been able to choose from a variety of dishes on the menu, and the staff prepares the food to suit our taste,” Amita states approvingly. “We highly recommend the restaurant for its delicious food and excellent service.”
As Amita’s observations illustrate, The Tailor and the Cook make dietary restrictions a priority. “Half the items on our menu are vegetarian, so we consider ours a vegetarian restaurant that serves meat. Many of our dishes include meat as a component, but it’s not always the focus and can also be left out, depending on the customer’s preferences, and we 110 percent make accommodations for them,” Hardiman affirms, adding that advance notice about such dietary issues is greatly appreciated.
The owner and his wife, Melissa, have experienced firsthand the truth in the adage “You are what you eat.” When Fionn, their first-born, was an infant, he suffered severe food allergies, which led the couple to diligently monitor their diets. They concluded that processed foods triggered the gastrointestinal issues and decided to incorporate fresh, locally sourced ingredients into their meals. Hardiman reports that “Fionn is now a healthy 13-year-old without any food allergies, as is his younger brother, Asa.”
Hardiman ensures that his suppliers are as committed to providing healthy food as he is to serving it to his customers. For example, he purchases “heritage pork” from Slate Creek Farm in Barneveld, where the animals are fed nutritious soy, wheat, and corn — as he points out, “the way it was done more than 100 years ago.”
He attributes a “huge part” of the restaurant’s success to his calculated decision to pair fresh local ingredients with exceptionally high-quality regional wines, noting that the eatery’s wine list is almost entirely based on New York-state selections that include more than 60 wineries. “Some considered that a foolhardy decision, but the Finger Lakes and Long Island produce world-class wines. It makes perfect sense to support both the area’s outstanding food and wine producers,” he declares.
Upcoming plans include relocating the restaurant this spring to the first floor of 311 Main Street in Utica, formerly the Children’s Museum. Hardiman highlights the move’s many advantages, including the building’s close proximity to the train station and easy accessibility; tall windows that provide bright natural light; and floor space approximately five times larger than their present location. In addition, the newly designed seating arrangement will feature “two concepts under one roof” — the bar section, which will accommodate 100 patrons seated on a first-come-first-served basis, will serve burgers, sandwiches, and cheese boards, among other casual fare; and the formal dining area, with seating for 50, will continue to offer the current menu’s high-end, locally-sourced cuisine. Reservations are recommended.
Then, as now, The Tailor and the Cook will continue to follow Hardiman’s prize-winning recipe for success: “I believe hospitality must be all-inclusive. I want to entice everyone — neighbors and people in the community — to savor the farm-to-table food we prepare as a labor of love.”

Why twins? Evolution has an explanation
Twinning might not be about twins, but about avoiding pregnancy failure. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01411-8
With more people eating at home due to COVID-19, new Curtin research has found more than half of Australian supermarket own-brand, chilled, ready-made meals are unhealthy and 94 percent are 'ultra-processed' – yet more than 80 percent are labeled with a 'pass mark' under the Health Star Rating system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-supermarket-meals-food-thought.html
Parents Want To Make A Change: No More Crazy Schedules After Coronavirus. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisonescalante/2020/05/20/parents-want-to-make-a-change-no-more-crazy-schedules-after-coronavirus/
Researchers from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick have today, the 20th May had the paper ‘Bioelectrical understanding and engineering of cell biology’ published in the journal Royal Society Interface, in which they have gone beyond the status quo of understanding cell behaviours, and argue a combination of genetics, physics and physiology can be grounded on a bioelectrical conceptualisation of cells. https://www.newswise.com/articles/a-new-understanding-of-everyday-cellular-processes
New Study Shows Significant Positive Impact of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy for Patients with Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200520005194/en/New-Study-Shows-Significant-Positive-Impact-Vagus
The Bottom Line About Bidets https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/bottom-line-bidets-180974916/
What are the wider consequences of universities moving online?
Announcements of teaching via video-link have implications for students and the economy. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2020/05/what-are-wider-consequences-universities-moving-online
As we all find out eventually, we lose a bit mentally and physically as we age. But even if you start an exercise program later in life, the benefit to your brain may be immense,” says lead study author Marc J. Poulin, from the university’s Cumming School of Medicine, in an American Academy of Neurology release. “Our finding may be important, especially for older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s and other dementias and brain disease.” https://www.studyfinds.org/run-for-your-mind-regular-aerobic-exercise-can-turn-back-clock-for-aging-brains/
Below, Chaplin-Kramer and Lonsdorf discuss the threat that murder hornets pose to U.S. honey bees and why it is so important to protect the habitats of more resilient wild bee species in our agricultural lands. https://scienceblog.com/516467/staying-off-the-murder-hornet-hit-list/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
Here’s the very unfortunate part, however: all this could have been avoided. The choir respected the guidance that was in place at the time. Now, the guidance recommends that face-to-face contact is avoided, but at the time, it was within guidance. https://www.zmescience.com/science/a-single-symptomatic-singer-infected-87-of-the-choir-with-covid-19/
The origins of autism may involve an interaction between genetics and the environment, which twin studies do not capture, says Brian Lee, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/environmental-factors-dont-explain-rise-in-autism-prevalence-67560
Magnetic north is migrating towards Siberia. Here’s why https://www.universetoday.com/146156/magnetic-north-is-migrating-towards-siberia-heres-why/
For the first time, researchers have explored the neural and genetic connections to romantic love in newlyweds. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and genetic analysis of 19 first-time newlyweds, Bianca Acevedo and her collaborators showed that "romantic love maintenance is part of a broad mammalian strategy for reproduction and long-term attachment that is influenced by basic reward circuitry, complex cognitive processes and genetic factors." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-wired-romance-fmri-imaging-genetic.html
Mining company pressing to enter Ecuador’s Los Cedros Protected Forest https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/mining-company-pressing-to-enter-ecuadors-los-cedros-protected-forest/
Researchers find that bumblebees damage plant leaves to accelerate flower production https://www.slashgear.com/researchers-find-that-bumblebees-damage-plant-leaves-to-accelerate-flower-production-22621652/
The first step is to understand how the environment in which we make our choices — also known as the choice architecture — influences our decisions. The second step is to change that architecture. This could be adjusting the constant notifications from our smartphone or changing the way we position foods in our fridge. The goal is to enable us to make choices that are in our own interests. In other words, to nudge ourselves in the direction we want to go.
The researchers describe four categories of self-nudging tools: https://psychcentral.com/news/2020/05/22/learning-to-self-nudge-helps-improve-self-control/156436.html
Would you pay to save this creature? Fake beasties reveal why some animals get conservation bucks https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/would-you-pay-save-creature-fake-beasties-reveal-why-some-animals-get-conservation
one teaspoon of spice mix containing coriander, thyme, cumin and parsley in your meal could counteract some of the harm from high-fat meals https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8347951/Coriander-cumin-thyme-counteract-harm-high-fat-meals.html
Getting too little or too much sleep may worsen asthma in adults, a new study finds. https://consumer.healthday.com/respiratory-and-allergy-information-2/asthma-news-47/your-sleep-habits-may-worsen-your-asthma-757665.html
A team at the University of California San Diego has developed a non-invasive skin patch that measures your vitamin C levels.An electrode sensor measures vitamin C in your sweat.The researchers hope this leads to the development of multivitamin patches that track nutritional deficiencies. https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/vitamin-c
Plant products ingested by pregnant women through their diet are broken down by the intestinal microbiota into chemical substances, some of which can cross the placental barrier and reach the fetus. These foreign substances can harm the unborn child, even if they are of "natural origin." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-natural-products-unborn.html
Safety of sugar substitutes remains inconclusive after years of research https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/safety-of-sugar-substitutes-remains-inconclusive-after-years-of-research/2020/05/22/ee29e32e-8406-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html
There is no escaping from climate change, even in the deep sea https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/hu-tin052220.php
Isolation of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in feces indicates the possibility of fecal–oral transmission or fecal–respiratory transmission through aerosolized feces. During the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome pandemic, 329 residents of a private housing estate in Hong Kong were infected; 42 died (10). Investigation of the building’s structure showed that faulty sewage pipelines led to aerosolization of contaminated feces, which was believed to be the source of infection.
Our findings indicate the need for appropriate precautions to avoid potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from feces. Discharge and hospital cleaning practices should consider this possibility for critically ill patients or those who died who had high viral loads and are more likely to shed infectious virus. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-0681_article
IPhone 11 May Emit Over 2 Times the Legal RF Radiation Limits
Research identifies health concerns with cellphone technology even as companies create more powerful devices https://www.theepochtimes.com/iphone-11-may-emit-over-2-times-the-legal-rf-radiation-limits_3355039.html
The Clothes That Make You Look More Intelligent https://www.spring.org.uk/2020/05/clothes-more-intelligent.php
Person-to-person transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is unlikely starting 11 days after infection, even if the patient is still testing positive, according to a new study from Singapore, the English-language Singaporean daily the Straits Timesreported.
The joint research paper – published by researchers from Singapore's National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, and based on a study of 73 COVID-19 patients – explained that a positive test "does not equate to infectiousness or viable virus," adding that isolating or culturing the virus after 11 days was not possible. https://www.jpost.com/health-science/covid-19-no-longer-infectious-after-11-days-new-study-claims-629129
Quinoa is exceptionally nutritious and robust – it even withstands extreme conditions of drought and salinity. A large new research project wants to uncover the mechanism that makes quinoa so resilient. This is meant to create the basis for future improvement of this unique plant. https://sciencenordic.com/climate-change-denmark-food-security/quinoa-is-a-super-crop-that-can-resist-future-climate-change/1687200
Arsenic and Global Warming: The Good, the Bad and the Deadly https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/.premium-arsenic-and-global-warming-the-good-the-bad-and-the-deadly-1.8868988
A separate study a few weeks ago also explained that the novel coronavirus can survive up to 7 days on the surface of face masks. https://bgr.com/2020/05/23/coronavirus-face-masks-virus-on-surfaces-covid-19-infection/
Depression Seen Differently When Thought Of As Biological https://psychcentral.com/news/2020/06/01/depression-seen-differently-when-thought-of-as-biological/156991.html
Switzerland's lockdown has sharply reduced the cases of COVID-19: study https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-switzerland-lockdown-sharply-cases-covid-.html
Climate Change Forecast: Rising Tide of Parasites in Warming Seas https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/.premium-climate-change-forecast-rising-tide-of-parasites-in-warming-seas-1.8885130
The stepwise assembly of the neonatal virome is modulated by breastfeeding https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2192-1
Astronomers find 'missing matter', solving decades-long mystery of outer space https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-28/astronomers-find-universe-missing-matte12291788
For every 10 adults in the world, four suffer from functional gastrointestinal disorders of varying severity. This is shown by a study of more than 73,000 people in 33 countries. University of Gothenburg scientists are among those now presenting these results. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-adults-worldwide-functional-gastrointestinal-disorders.html
These brain regions are the stomach’s master controllers
Rabies virus helps to trace the nerve network that keeps the stomach in good form. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01508-0
A special elemental magic
Kyoto scientists announce a 'nuclear' periodic table https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/ku-ase052720.php
A new study shows that people with a rare genetic disease that causes bleeding in the brain have gut microbiomes distinct from those without the disease. Moreover, it is the molecules produced by this bacterial imbalance that causes lesions to form in the brains of these patients.
The results are the first in any human neurovascular disease. They have implications both for treating the disease and in examining other neurovascular diseases that could be affected by a person's gut microbiome https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200527/Disordered-gut-microbiomes-are-found-in-patients-with-hemorrhagic-brain-disease.aspx
Pesticides disrupt honeybee nursing behavior and larval development https://phys.org/news/2020-05-pesticides-disrupt-honeybee-nursing-behavior.html
How Does The Brain Get Addicted To Gambling? https://www.medicaldaily.com/how-does-brain-get-addicted-gambling-453606
Specifically, to justify regulatory inaction and ensure that polluters can always come out on top, the agency has been advancing a permanent tipping of scales by:
Sidelining the science that illuminates the costs of pollution on public health and the environment;Slashing the value of included benefits; and Marginalizing the consideration of any additional benefits that remain. https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/manipulation-of-benefit-cost-analysis-hides-bodies-in-the-fine-print?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheEquation+%28The+Equation+-+UCS+Blog%29
The harm done by industrial mining to Boa Vista, and lessons learned, and not learned, over the last 40+ years, are especially relevant today, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro aggressively pushes forward his agenda to open indigenous reserves and other Amazon conserved lands to industrial mining. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/mrn-bauxite-mine-leaves-legacy-of-pollution-poverty-in-brazilian-amazon/
Menopause Comes Early With High PFAS Exposure https://www.medpagetoday.com/endocrinology/menopause/86889
Highlights
•The removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants from sediments was studied.
The ultrasonic treatment provided the best removal yields for organic contaminants.Desorption yield of heavy metals were greatly improved by the combined process. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1350417720306039?via%3Dihub
Atmospheric scientists identify cleanest air on Earth in first-of-its-kind study https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2020/Atmospheric-scientists-identify-cleanest-air-on-Earth-in-first-of-its-kind-study
Some People May Have a Head Start Against Coronavirus, Surprising Evidence Shows https://www.sciencealert.com/surprise-finding-suggests-some-people-are-already-primed-to-fight-the-coronavirus
The study included all patients with COVID-19 who were at least 50 years old, admitted to Singapore General Hospital, between 15 January and 15 April 2020. All of them had a positive RT-PCR test. The study outcome was to assess how many progressed to need oxygen in any mode, or intensive care unit (ICU) admission.
From 6 April 2020, all patients fitting these criteria were administered DMB and formed the study cohort. DMB consisted of one daily dose of vitamin D3 1000 IU, magnesium 150mg, and vitamin B12 500mcg for up to 14 days. It was stopped if the patient either recovered symptomatically and two successive PCR tests were negative, or if the patient deteriorated clinically.
Most patients in the study arm received DMB on the first day of admission and had continued therapy for 5 days (median). https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200604/Study-says-vitamin-magnesium-combo-may-reduce-severity-of-COVID-19-in-seniors.aspx
Diet and gut microbiome affect outcomes of chemotherapy https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200604/Diet-and-gut-microbiome-affect-outcomes-of-chemotherapy.aspx
Recently, to the highest precision ever, this sought-after matter has been detected as pulses of light known as fast radio bursts travel through them on their way to Earth. This is the "missing matter" that's finally been discovered, as reported in numerous outlets over the past week or two. It's an extremely important discovery for astrophysics, but it doesn't come close to solving the problem of what or where the actual "missing mass" in the Universe actually is. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/06/04/sorry-astronomers-practically-all-of-the-universes-matter-is-still-missing/
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna today sent the following letter to Congress outlining detailed policy proposals to advance racial equality in our nation. He also shared, in the context of addressing responsible use of technology by law enforcement, that IBM has sunset its general purpose facial recognition and analysis software products. https://www.ibm.com/blogs/policy/facial-recognition-susset-racial-justice-reforms/
Study finds another reason to wash hands: Flame retardants
Toxic flame retardants can move from your TV to your cell phone to your hands and then you, caution scientists https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/uot-sfa060520.php
23 years of water quality data from crop-livestock systems https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/asoa-2yo060220.php
came up with an idea to create light sources from ceramics with the addition of chrome: the light from such lamps offers not just red but also infrared (IR) light, which is expected to have a positive effect on plants' growth. The research was completed as part of a Russian Science Foundation grant, and the results were published in Optical Materials. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/iu-nlf060820.php
Unsurprisingly, aquatic insects, which primarily eat biofilm, had the greatest accumulation of PFAS compounds of all the living taxa the researchers sampled. This confirms a strong trophic link, or step in the food chain, showing how PFAS transfers from biofilm to insects, which are then eaten by freshwater fish.
When PFAS is in every step of the food chain, the compounds accumulate at each step. For example, a fish caught in an area with PFAS may have eaten hundreds of insects, each of which has consumed contaminated biofilm and other plants.
"We are part of the food chain and when we ingest these foods, we accumulate their PFAS loads, too," https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200605165909.htm
report on the mechanism that perchlorate uses to impact and damage normal functioning of the thyroid gland.
The findings, they say, suggest that an acceptable safe concentration of perchlorate in drinking water is 10 times less than previously thought. https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/news/environmental-pollutant-may-be-more-hazardous-than-previously-thought-335769
A recent eye-tracking study found differences in the way lonely versus non-lonely individuals automatically attend to faces. It was found that lonely individuals paid more attention to faces they deemed “warm”, while less lonely individuals paid more attention to faces deemed “competent.” https://www.psypost.org/2020/05/eye-tracking-study-finds-lonely-individuals-show-more-automatic-attention-to-warm-faces-than-to-faces-in-general-56902
In a regular 30-second hand wash, people use on average 0.35g of bar soap — compared to 2.3g liquid soap. In other words, washing your hands takes more than 6 times more liquid soap than solid soap. https://www.zmescience.com/othefeature-post/feature-solid-soap-liquid-soap-environment-29052020/
The US Has Higher Incidence, Survival of Rare Cancers Compared With Europe https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/the-us-has-higher-incidence-survival-of-rare-cancers-compared-with-europe
healthy eating, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, limiting alcohol consumption and not smoking — can boost life expectancy.
This followup study suggests these same practices may also increase one’s likelihood of enjoying extra years of good health overall. https://www.studyfinds.org/harvard-study-says-these-5-healthy-habits-in-middle-age-help-ward-off-chronic-disease/
The researchers studied 20 healthy volunteers - 10 men and 10 women - to see how they digested dinner eaten at 10pm compared to 6pm. The volunteers all went to bed at 11pm.
The researchers found that blood sugar levels were higher, and the amount of ingested fat burned was lower following the later dinner, even when the same meal was provided at the two different times. https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/scientists-explain-best-time-eat-22178213
After 16 washes, the study found that a 30-minute cycle at 68 degrees Fahrenheit was significantly better for your clothesthan an 85-minute cycle at 104 degrees. The quicker, colder washes cut the amount of microfibers released by 52 percent. The shirts tested also lost 74 percent less dye in the cooler laundry cycles. https://www.studyfinds.org/study-clothes-last-longer-shed-fewer-fibers-in-colder-shorter-wash-cycles/
To be anxiously attached in a relationship is to desire closeness and display signs of clinginess. An avoidant person in a relationship, on the other hand, seeks independence and repels that closeness offered by an anxiously attached partner. Each style may sit on two different sides of the romantic spectrum, but a new study shows they come together to create parallel financial issues. https://www.studyfinds.org/whether-too-clingy-or-too-independent-your-romantic-attachment-style-can-hurt-your-bottom-line/
The system can convert a 16x16-pixel image of a face to 1024 x 1024 pixels in a few seconds, adding more than a million pixels, akin to HD resolution. Details such as pores, wrinkles, and wisps of hair that are imperceptible in the low-res photos become crisp and clear in the computer-generated versions.
The researchers asked 40 people to rate 1,440 images generated via PULSE and five other scaling methods on a scale of one to five, and PULSE did the best, scoring almost as high as high-quality photos of actual people.
See the results and upload images for yourself at http://pulse.cs.duke.edu/. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200612111409.htm
The use of non-traditional models in the study of cancer resistance—the case of the naked mole rat https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388-020-1355-8
have screened almost 163,000 DNA mutations in 2,700 C. elegans roundworms to shed light on DNA damage. The results, published in Nature Communications, lead to the conclusion that mutation patterns seen in cancer are more complicated than we previously thought. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200608104731.htm
Research links personality traits to toilet paper stockpiling
High levels of emotionality and conscientiousness are indicators for stockpiling behavior https://www.mpg.de/14937230/0611-evan-019609-research-links-personality-traits-to-toilet-paper-stockpiling
How are calories counted? https://www.howitworksdaily.com/how-are-calories-counted/
A research team evaluated 14 different types of Sichuan pickles from southwest China. They extracted 54 different strains of Lactobacilli and found that one, L. plantarum K41, significantly reduced the incidence and severity of cavities. K41 was also highly tolerant of acids and salts, an additional benefit as a probiotic for harsh oral conditions. It also could have potential commercial value when added to dairy products. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611152451.htm
The egg decides which sperm fertilizes it https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200611/The-egg-decides-which-sperm-fertilizes-it.aspx
A role of low dose chemical mixtures in adipose tissue in carcinogenesis https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319449296_A_role_of_low_dose_chemical_mixtures_in_adipose_tissue_in_carcinogenesis
Physical activity may assist in decreasing serum concentrations of lipophilic chemical mixtures such as OCPs (incl some pesticides) https://pc.e-dmj.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/2004DMJ/dmj-44-e3.pdf
Why Gravity Is Not Like the Other ForcesWe asked four physicists why gravity stands out among the forces of nature. We got four different answers. http://abstractions.nautil.us/article/573/why-gravity-is-not-like-the-other-forces
Scientists develop peptides that restore balance in gut bacteria and reverse atherosclerosis https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200618/Scientists-develop-peptides-that-restore-balance-in-gut-bacteria-and-reverse-atherosclerosis.aspx
SPACE
A New Organic Molecule Has Been Detected in Our Galaxy's Interstellar Space https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-organic-molecule-has-been-found-in-the-space-between-the-stars
Einstein's core idea about gravity just passed an extreme, whirling test in deep space https://www.space.com/einstein-theory-passes-extreme-test-deep-space.html
The balancing act between plant growth and defense https://phys.org/news/2020-06-growth-defense.html
In the country's first extensive study of commercial avocado oil quality and purity, UC Davis researchers report that at least 82 percent of test samples were either stale before expiration date or mixed with other oils. In three cases, bottles labeled as "pure" or "extra virgin" avocado oil contained near 100 percent soybean oil, an oil commonly used in processed foods that's much less expensive to produce.
"I was surprised some of the samples didn't contain any avocado oil," said Selina Wang, Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology, who led the study recently published in the journal Food Control. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-percent-avocado-oil-rancid-oils.html
Some 54 scientists have resigned or been fired as a result of an ongoing investigationby the National Institutes of Health into the failure of NIH grantees to disclose financial ties to foreign governments. In 93% of those cases, the hidden funding came from a Chinese institution.
The new numbers come from Michael Lauer, NIH’s head of extramural research. Lauer had previously provided some information on the scope of NIH’s investigation, which had targeted 189 scientists at 87 institutions. But his presentation today to a senior advisory panel offered by far the most detailed breakout of an effort NIH launched in August 2018 that has roiled the U.S. biomedical community, and resulted in criminal charges against some prominent researchers, including Charles Lieber, chair of Harvard University’s department of chemistry and chemical biology. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/fifty-four-scientists-have-lost-their-jobs-result-nih-probe-foreign-ties
How Smart You are has a lot to do with the Environment You Grew Up In https://aqwebs.com/how-smart-you-are-has-a-lot-to-do-with-the-environment-you-grew-up-in/
5 strange theories about the universe https://www.howitworksdaily.com/5-strange-theories-about-the-universe/
Lower back pain – causes, symptoms and treatments https://www.womanandhome.com/health-and-wellbeing/lower-back-pain-205819/
This is the first study that shows long-term relief for chronic low back pain with a single dose of tanezumab delivered under the skin once every two months. The study was conducted in 191 sites across eight countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200619/New-therapy-provides-relief-in-patients-with-chronic-low-back-pain.aspx
The Alkaline Diet: Is There Evidence That It Benefits Our Health? https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-alkaline-diet-is-there-evidence-that-it-benefits-our-health
Nuclear Softening Allows Cells to Move Into Dense Tissue, Encouraging Injury Repair https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/june/nuclear-softening-allows-cells-to-move-into-dense-tissue-encouraging-injury-repair
Mercury with that? Shark fins served with illegal doses of heavy metals https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/mercury-with-that-shark-fins-served-with-illegal-doses-of-heavy-metals/
A telescope designed to study the universe’s mysterious dark energy released its first all-sky image today (pictured), showing what we would see if we had x-ray eyes. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/what-our-universe-looks-x-ray-eyes
Researchers say taking a walk is good enough, but doing an extra 30 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per day, like taking a bike ride or going for a swim, lowers the likelihood of death from cancer by 31 percent. https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/06/18/Increasing-physical-activity-by-30-minutes-a-day-reduces-cancer-death-risk-study-says/7021592487279/?ur3=1
Soap bubbles are quite good pollinators, a new paper shows https://www.zmescience.com/science/soap-bubble-pollinators-52343/
has identified a previously unknown mechanism involved in the development of intestinal cancer: The bacterial microbiome activates the so-called immune checkpoint Ido1 in Paneth cells, a special cell that is only found in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby preventing local intestinal inflammation.
However, this also gives rise to immunosuppressed areas, in which intestinal tumours can develop. The Paneth cells are therefore a new cellular target for immune-based therapies against intestinal tumors. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200618/Study-identifies-a-previously-unknown-mechanism-that-contribute-to-intestinal-cancer.aspx
Meta-Analysis of Gut Dysbiosis in Parkinson's Disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557853/
“Although short bouts of exercise have been shown to influence the gene activity in our muscles, it is the dedication to habitual exercise over a lifetime that is associated with long-term health benefits,” explains lead author on the new study, Mark Chapman.
The study conducted an impressively detailed analysis of accumulated gene transcription changes in skeletal muscle of 40 subjects: 18 long-term endurance trainers, 7 long-term strength trainers, and 15 age-matched untrained controls.
RNA was sequenced from skeletal muscle biopsies tracking the expression of more than 20,000 genes. The results revealed long-term endurance training, defined by either running or cycling, was associated with significant changes in expressions of around 1,000 genes.
These gene expression changes were not seen in the long-term strength trainers. In fact, only 26 genes were changed in this cohort of weightlifters. The researchers behind the study don’t suggest this indicates strength training is less metabolically beneficial compared to endurance training, but instead could more likely be a sign that exercises such as weightlifting more transiently alter gene activity through protein-related mechanisms instead of RNA. https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/long-term-endurance-exercise-alter-genes-metabolic-health/
Study finds performance-enhancing bacteria in human microbiome https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/performance-enhancing-bacteria-found-in-the-human-microbiome/
Plastic in plants and mercury down deepMore bad news about our impact on the environment. https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/earth-sciences/plastic-in-plants-and-mercury-down-deep/
The results imply climate sensitivity – how much the planet will warm based on a given increase in CO2 – is higher than previously thought. More realistic representation of clouds and aerosols seems the likely reason, according to Gerald Meehl at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and colleagues, who looked at 37 of the new models. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2246971-clouds-may-explain-why-climate-models-are-predicting-a-warmer-future/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=news
Hope for people with Parkinson’s after scientists eliminate the disease in mice https://timesfamous.com/unitedstatesofamerica/hope-for-people-with-parkinsons-after-scientists-eliminate-the-disease-in-mice/
found that increased physical activity is associated with a lower risk of obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep-related breathing disorder. The study is the largest to date focused on the relationship between sleep apnea and levels of physical activity in the general community. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200623/Increased-physical-activity-associated-with-lower-sleep-apnea-risk.aspx
The results of this study suggest that cycles of a fasting mimicking diet are safe and effective as a supplement to chemotherapy in women with early breast cancer. These findings, together with preclinical data, encourage further exploration of the benefits of fasting combined with cancer therapy.
doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16138-3 http://www.natureasia.com/en/research/highlight/13361
Earth is currently in its sixth known extinction event, and our co-existence with wildlife leaves much to be desired. Perhaps the current circumstances can teach us something about how to better share this increasingly crowded planet.
"Nobody is asking for humans to stay in permanent lockdown," says animal behaviourist Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute.
"But we may discover that relatively minor changes to our lifestyles and transport networks can potentially have significant benefits for both ecosystems and humans." https://www.sciencealert.com/the-pandemic-has-changed-our-interactions-with-wildlife-scientists-are-calling-it-the-anthropause
New Technology Can Improve Tsetse Fly Traps And Help Prevent Sleeping Sickness Outbreaks https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisongasparini/2020/06/23/new-technology-can-improve-tsetse-fly-traps-and-help-prevent-sleeping-sickness-outbreaks/
An innovative treatment for patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) which uses transplanted gut bacteria to treat the infection, is a more effective and more cost-efficient treatment than using antibiotics, a new UK study has found.
CDI is an infection of the bowel, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-faecal-microbial-transplantation-effective-costly.html
10 Plants That May Help Repel Bugs Like Mosquitoes, Flies, Spiders, and More https://www.prevention.com/life/g32982866/plants-that-repel-bugs/
Muscles like a young mouse
In fact, the researchers were able to show that the muscle cells of mice also carry the A2B receptor. When this is stimulated by a small molecule agonist, muscle growth in the rodents is increased. "The receptor regulates both fat burning and muscle development," https://en.farsnews.inewstext.aspx?nn=13990408000301
Based on our findings, continuous air disinfection with far-ultraviolet light (Far-UVC) at the current legal limit could significantly reduce the number of airborne viruses in indoor areas where people gather,” said David Brenner, lead author of the study published in Scientific Reports.
99.99% of coronaviruses dead in 25 minutes
At present, the UV-C germicidal light used has a wavelength of 254 nm. It is used in particular to disinfect unoccupied rooms such as hospital rooms and empty subway cars. However, exposure to such a wavelength is not possible if these rooms are occupied, as it could pose a health risk.
The light tested by researchers at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center has a wavelength of 222 nm: It cannot penetrate the tear layer of the eye or epidermis, so it cannot reach or damage living cells in the body. https://www.gilmorehealth.com/far-uvc-light-that-is-harmless-to-humans-kills-airborne-coronaviruses-and-flu-viruses/
"Zero-liquid discharge is the last frontier of desalination," says Ngai Yin Yip, an assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering who led the study. "Evaporating and condensing the water is the current practice for ZLD but it's very energy intensive and prohibitively costly. We were able to achieve ZLD without boiling the water off -- this is a major advance for desalinating the ultrahigh salinity brines that demonstrates how our TSSE technique can be a transformative technology for the global water industry."
Yip's TSSE process begins with mixing a low-polarity solvent with the high salinity brine. At low temperatures (the team used 5 °C), the TSSE solvent extracts water from the brine but not salts (which are present in the brine as ions). By controlling the ratio of solvent to brine, the team can extract all the water from the brine into the solvent to induce the precipitation of salts -- after all the water is "sucked" into the solvent, the salts form solid crystals and fall to the bottom, which can then be easily sieved out.
After the researchers separate out the precipitated salts, they warm up the water-laden solvent to a moderate temperature of around 70 °C. At this higher temperature, the solvent's solubility for water decreases and water is squeezed out from the solvent, like a sponge. The separated water forms a layer below the solvent and has much less salt than the initial brine. It can be readily siphoned off and the regenerated solvent can then be reused for the next TSSE cycle. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200625164849.htm
Chemicals released into the air could become less hazardous, thanks to a missing math formula for droplets https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q2/chemicals-released-into-the-air-could-become-less-hazardous,-thanks-to-a-missing-math-formula-for-droplets.html
An Obvious Sign Of Vitamin D Deficiency https://www.spring.org.uk/2020/06/an-obvious-sign-of-vitamin-d-deficiency.php
But what is climate change misinformation? Who is involved? How does it spread and why does it matter? https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-climate-change-misinformation-spreads-online?utm_campaign=RevueCBWeeklyBriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue newsletter
Swimming makes you hungrier and likely to eat more at the next meal – new research https://theconversation.com/swimming-makes-you-hungrier-and-likely-to-eat-more-at-the-next-meal-new-research-141161
Curcumin encapsulated colloidal amphiphilic block co-polymeric nanocapsules: Colloidal nanocapsules enhance photodynamic and anticancer activities of curcumin https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2020/PP/D0PP00032A#!divAbstract
In their initial set of experiments, Barasz and Hagerty demonstrated that we give higher-income people social permission to consume more. But the researchers wanted to also know why. Is it because higher-income people can afford more?
No. It’s because we assume lower-income people need less, according to another series of experiments. And that’s where the double standard takes glaring center stage https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2020/06/why-americans-are-harsh-in-judging-purchases-made-by-low-income-people/
These findings suggest that fewer than half of the fiddleheads from a given plant could be harvested and be sustainable with no follow-up harvest that year," Fuller says. "Plants whose fiddleheads have already been harvested by other harvesters that spring should be left alone."
More information: Effects of Long-Term Fiddlehead Harvest on Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-fiddlehead-overharvesting.html
Morning sickness' is misleading and inaccurate, new study argues https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-morning-sickness-inaccurate.html
New lessons from the worst oil spill disaster ever https://phys.org/news/2020-06-lessons-worst-oil-disaster.html
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“You know, I'm so glad Waharu bought you for me,” Ḥirōm was looking through one of his large wardrobes. “Let's look at what I have prepared for you.”
They had quite a long conversation about the city and its life, but that wasn't particularly interesting to Mibi. The man took a white tunic out of the shelf, it was made of thin silk, the kind of material only the rich wore. “This colour is called "white gold". I think it suits you just perfectly. Now put it on, go ahead.”
“It looks nice, thank you,” Mibi stood in front of Ḥirōm, who was now half sitting in the niche bed, staring at him with his yellow eyes. A hawk or an owl? At least Mibi wasn't a mouse.
“Is something wrong? You don't seem very happy. Are you not feeling well?” the man asked.
“All is well, Master Ḥirōm,” Mibi answered, putting on his new clothes, making Ḥirōm smile joyfully.
“Good. That is good,” he replied. “I need you in a good shape for today, since we're going to visit Lord Edzrīk'. I heard, he's fallen ill, and being the most powerful Yellow in the city, I was kindly asked to treat his illness. You and Ayrāta will come with me, of course. I usually attend such meetings with my wife, but she's busy at the moment.”
“May I ask, what Mistress Waharu does?” Mibi said. It seemed to have been bothering Ḥirōm a lot, so he was eager to share it with whoever listened.
“Let's say, she explains the incomprehensible to the indifferent,” Ḥirōm answered. Mib wanted to roll his eyes – that explained everything for sure. The man continued. “Still, it's just a part of her job here. She's Kaptōrit, not even I know the whole truth of what is her current goal, and she doesn't bother to discuss it with me. Sometimes, it hurts. Maybe she noticed and bought you, just so I wouldn't get bored. Isn't that a silly thought?”
“It's not silly to want someone for company,” Mib answered without thinking. He was too open with the man, and that could be dangerous.
Mibi found Ḥirōm a bit too odd. Not only didn't he treat Mibi as a slave, Ḥirōm acted, as if they were close friends of a more or less equal status. Of course, he didn't mind that, rather than being an actual slave, but it felt out of place, just like everything else in the palace. Everyone there was out of place, including the man himself, so maybe he was just trying to create the place that would fit. A tiny world of his own. Mibi decided not to mind it.
“I used to travel a lot, when I was your age,” Ḥirōm kept telling his story. “But my journey to Kaptūr was the most impactful. I had visited Kurpana once, their unofficial capital, as I called it, even though they have no capitals. The city itself – the only big city of the island – captivates you, it merely allows you to enter. If you dare. Buildings so ancient, some became part of the volcanic rock, on which they stand. Everything feels frozen in time there, even people, who feel like they belong to the Third Era. And it doesn't let you out, no. It alters you, consumes you, and you allow it to consume you, just as it allows you to be there, it's a mutual agreement. And you either come back changed, or you don't come back at all. I can't describe my experience there, for there are no such words that would fit it.”
Mibi realising what was so unusually familiar about that man – he talked like Emi, with this sullen darkness and his peculiar mannerism. That didn't suit him at all, it was frustrating, although Mibi couldn't tell why.
“But Mistress Waharu is from Koptūr herself,” Mibi said, hinting that she was not particularly captivating. If that journey was so undescribable, than what it had been like to grow up there, he wondered. Ḥirōm was likely exaggerating.
“She is, indeed,” Ḥirōm said, smiling. “Sometimes, I can't understand her, sometimes I her in myself. I still love her with that pure kind of love one may assume exists only in poems. It's not romantic, it's...”
“...different?” Mibi suggested. He wasn't sure if he understood.
“Exactly!” Ḥirōm said with excitement and then changed the topic. “I understand, you want to ask something. Go on then, don't feel shy.”
“My family used to call me a freak, when they were angry at me,” Mib started slowly. “They didn't hate me, but it was obvious, that I was not one of them.”
“And it made them uncomfortable,” Ḥirōm finished his sentence. “I see, what you want to ask. Well, although my family had never called me that, they treated me like one all the time. For a different reason, of course, we had our differences, and I couldn't change a part of myself that they hated. But I found a likeminded spirit on Kaptūr and so will you. Maybe not there specifically, but you get the point.”
“So it's all...” Mibi stopped in the middle. “Nevermind. I'm glad, it worked out for you.”
“Now, go find Ayrāta and tell her to put on something nice. A pale tint of azure would complement to your white gold.”
Mibi didn't want to be in the place, where the three of them went. It look just as magnificent, as the palace, where they lived, but the atmosphere inside was just dreadful. Death.
Lord Edzrīk' was burning with fever, squirming in a pool of sweat. His linen shirt had spots of brown blood, and even with assistance, he could not lift his own weight; it took all his failing strength to move his head. For a moment, his eyes met Mibi's. The eyes of a madman, full of aimless anger, he immediately thought. And that gaze felt oddly familiar.
“The yellow will not avail here,” Ḥirōm announced. “Lord Edzrīk's life is in the hands of the Allonīm now. I've managed to ease his fever, but it will come back, so keep him cool and bring him water.” The slaves immediately rushed for large wooden cups, filling them with water, but their master refused to drink. “You need to drink.”
“Can't you just do your magic?” the man asked desperately. The kūhinīm didn't like the word "magic", since it implied evil, but Ḥirōm's expression remained calm. The man was just desperately looking for salvation, whatever was necessary.
“That will require Waharu's attention,” Ḥirōm said and looked down.
“You can't do a thing without your wife,” the man spat out. He was dying and he knew that, manners didn't matter.
“Is there not a single blue channeller in the whole city?” Mib asked Ayrāta.
“It's not easy to combine yellow and blue forces, Master Ḥirōm has no misnêm,” Ayrāta explained. “But Mistress Waharu has me.”
Ayrāta wanted to flee as well, Mibi thought. He saw slaves in iron collars, with little bells that tinkled cheerfully. Though their faces didn't show any cheerfulness, not even a hint of being happy, instead there was only fatigue. And emptiness in their eyes; where would they end up afterwards? Such an honor for being a slave, Mib thought, he must have been very lucky, because that was the man, who had tried to buy him. Ḥirōm, on the other hand, kept his "treasures" rested and close to him, so everyone would watch. Did he realise, how they called his "retinue"? A freak show. But they were watching, and that made Ḥirōm happy for some reason. Mibi felt some compassion to his master, he was not bad, compared to others, and he heard, how other masters treated their slaves. Ayrāta was right: it wasn't that bad. Serving at banquets and meetings, as well as providing some company to Ḥirōm among other minor things. Mibi had soon learnt, that his master's family stood foremost amongst the lords of Ts'idūn, even though his family disinherited him from most of his title as the head of the house. So there was still a chance Mibi's friends would find him somehow.
Most influential houses had fled the South all together, while the remaining lords were only biding their time, waiting for a possible battle, as the unstoppable forces of Darkness quickly approached the city, according to the most recent news. A few didn't want to wait for the kūhinīm of T'ūr and Yaw-ma-Yatraw to arrive, and decided to fight for their city immediately, before the enemy reached its walls. Neither Ḥirōm nor Waharu would take any part in that. They just wanted to help any way they could, and in the current situation focusing on a sudden outbreak of a mysterious illness was the most reasonable.
“Is he going to die?” Ayrāta asked Ḥirōm quietly, so that nobody else would hear his slave talking to him in such a common manner.
“We all will die when our time comes,” Ḥirōm answered. “Being a Cyan, you'd likely know when his time comes sooner, than any of us.”
“Are you going to summon the Light?” Mib asked Ayrāta.
“Since Master Ḥirōm couldn't heal Lord Edzrīk', there is no other option. Yellow heals body, cyan heals mind and red heals soul, but when both body and mind are afflicted, we are powerless, and red is needed to summon the Light, that can purify this affliction,” Ayrāta explained.
“Isn't it dangerous?” Mibi asked.
“Mistress Waharu is the most careful with such crafts,” Ayrāta said. “Don't worry.”
Mibi wondered, what would happen to them, if Waharu failed. What would happen to Edzrīk's slaves? Arita told him, that some masters release their slaves, when they die, though most are transferred to the master's relatives instead. Edzrīk' had no relatives in Ts'idūn, though. Then his thoughts were interrupted by Waharu's arrival.
“Where were you? I've sent for you twice already,” Ḥirōm asked, being more curious than annoyed. His question didn't bother her in the slightest, she just flipped her hair back with a swift motion.
“The Silver Lady has died,” was all she said. She was one of the priestesses of Ts'idūn, but apparently she was more known for her love of silver coins, Mibi had overheared.
“Oh dear, the situation is more dire, than I thought,” Ḥirōm answered. “So you must know, why I called.”
“There's still a chance. Ayrāta, come with me. The new one stays too. The rest shall leave us,” Waharu commanded. All slaves immediately followed, Ḥirōm hesitated at first, but then nodded and left the room too. "The new one", such a lowly word, Mibi thought. Edzrīk' was rambling something, not being aware of their presence, as fever slowly took hold of his mind.
“This isn't a common disease, there is Darkness involved,” Waharu spoke, while mentally preparing to channel, as thin strings of scarlet red slowly rose from the floor around her. Ayrāta lifted her hands and pressed her palms together, while the strings of red began tangling around her wrists and arms.
“Dāsh,” Waharu called. “Stand next to Edzrīk' and don't move. Tyarphana is going to flow.”
Mibi did, what she asked, not understanding what "tyarphana" was, and waited, as strings of red began pulling cyan out of Ayrāta, whose face stiffened in focus. More and more cyan appeared around her body in a glowing cloud, until the red force began pulling and condensing it closer and closer to Edzrīk's body. Waharu clenched her fists, and the whole red and cyan cloud collapsed into a bright tiny star shining as bright, as the midday sun. Suddenly it begame very hot, and Mibi heared ringing in his ears as he was fainting. The Light, "tyarphana" was the Light in her native language, and its invisible streams were flowing through him.
“Stand still, both of you,” Waharu said in a tense voice, while the white star began pouring into the man's body, burning a hole through his linen robe. The air was filled with smoke.
“Waphakwi sa suphawayaita humekatu, Ameya [May this illness be carried away from this person by you, Ameya]!” Waharu shouted lifting her hands high up. The star fell and dissolved in Edzrīk's chest, while the link between Mibi and two women broke. Ayrāta immediately fainted and fell to the ground. Mibi rushed towards her, but he had no strength to lift her body. “Help her get up,” Waharu said, instead examining the man, who was still unconscious.
“It's all right, Dāsh, I can get up on my own,” Ayrāta said. “I knew you would bear it.”
“Did it work?” Mibi asked in a very common tone, earning a cold look from Waharu.
“No,” she answered with no hesitation. “But that's exactly, what I expected. I haven't seen such a powerful corruption in many years.”
“A curse?” Ayrāta asked, getting up.
“Likely. He must have found a cursed item, but who could have possibly made such an item?” Waharu contemplated. “Darkness so strong could only come directly from the Abad-Ḥadrit. In that case, we might have already lost the city.”
Ayrāta gasped. Could it be true? Or, perhaps, it was the curse of the Rotten City. It would be funny, if Mibi turned out to be the true Abad-Ḥadrit after all, he thought. So far, everything had been pointing to that. Then, the false one and his army just a few miles from Ts'idūn wasn't their main problem.
“We could sail to Ishkalōn, while we still can,” Ḥirōm suggested, after Waharu had told him about her suspicion.
“Would you want that? Go back to "those people"?” Waharu asked. They were leaving Master Edzrīk's manshion. The white building was radiating death, they could feel its chill on their backs, even being far from it.
“I hope, you know what to do,” Ḥirōm said. “This curse is spreading fast. We can only hope for the sick to recover soon.”
That was a lie, Ḥirōm knew they wouldn't recover. For some reason this didn't bother Mibi; not only that, he wanted Edzrik' to die, yet couldn't find out what was causing such strong hatred.
“How many crystals have you made so far? We seem to run out of time soon,” Ḥirōm asked after a while.
“None,” Waharu answered. “I've changed my goal, however, deciding it would be more efficient to combine the aduye of them all and store it within one – "Sawiru" –the Conduit. But it would require some... effort.”
“I understand,” Ḥirōm said. “I won't allow using up the last two to be the Conduit. I've become fond of them.”
Mib and Ayrāta were sitting in a cart silently, barely staying awake after being drained of all their energy. He couldn't make himself worry about the mumbling of their two masters, nor was he feeling anything about their situation.
“Are you all right?” Ayrāta asked with a cheerful smile.
“Yeah, I guess,” Mibi answered bluntly. “You?”
“I worry about our masters,” she responded. “And Arita, I haven't seen her today at all. But I'm sure she's fine too.” The smile intantly disappeared, as she silently looked away at the southern gate of the city. One could see the harbour from where they were, a tiny sliver of deep blue sparkling ocean just at the horizon, almost completely hidden beyond countless houses with their flat square roofs. “Once it all ends, you're free to go.”
“What?” Mibi was distracted and didn't hear her.
“It's nothing,” Ayrāta smiled again, her eyes were glowing bright for a moment, almost becoming turquoise. It always happened, when she channeled, Mibi noticed.
The evening came quickly, as Mibi was taking rest in his room. After getting up and walking outside, breathing fresh air, he took two pails, one in each hand, and went to the nearest well just at the outer corner of the garden. The sky was dark and covered in heavy clouds, resembling some kind of foam. He could hear thunder in the distance, as he was filling the pails with water.
“Canst thou feel it?” Mibi felt chill down his spine, as he heard that voice. “The power I shall grant thee.”
Mibi turned and found himself standing in a dark chamber, chained to the floor. The red-haired man was yet again in front of him, yet he couldn't see his cloaked face. And it was for the better – he felt those icy eyes beneath the hood, and didn't want to stare into their dark depths. The air between them was shimmering, but it was cold, so cold, that Mibi couldn't stop trembling.
“Go away!” Mibi shouted at him, but his words froze between them, never reaching the man. He started laughing.
“Thou art mine,” he said. “The time has comen!”
Suddenly, the vision had faded and instead he saw black smoke coming from the southern gates of the city. Mibi dropped the bucket into the well and just stood, frozen. It was Yahēl's plan, wasn't it? Mibi just took him inside the city along with few trinkets from the cursed city. A dark plume of smoke was now rising from within the city, he was sure of it.
“Dāsh!” Ayrāta appeared from the woods. “There you are. We should go inside.”
“It has started,” Mibi said. “The city guards didn't stand a chance, did they?”
“Our masters went to help holding the army,” Ayrāta said. “They are much more powerful, than the enemy. Besides, the kūhinīm from T'ūr are on their way.”
“You wield the cyan force, right?” Mibi said bitterly. “Tell me the truth. You know, how this ends.”
“Indeed,” Ayrāta looked down. “That's why we need to leave right now. Master Ḥirōm will need me soon. He will call me, but don't worry, I already know how it will go, and it will be fine.”
“Was it my fault? What did Ilit-Risist show you?” Mibi's legs started shaking, but he still didn't move.
“No, Dāsh, that's not...” she started, but then just took his hand. “It had all been predetermined long before you appeared. If it was your fault, Mistress Waharu wouldn't have taken you. In fact, it was me, who told her to look for you on that day.”
“Why?” Mibi asked. “You could have warned them all.”
“I did,” she said. “I perform my divinations weekly, but they aren't always clear, so I leave them for Mistress Waharu to interpret. But that doesn't matter right now. Now, follow me.”
With those words, she pulled Mibi along, as they were slowly going down the stone steps. He forgot to take the remaining pail, though they probably wouldn't need them.
“We're going the wrong way,” Mibi noticed.
“No, we're not,” Ayrāta denied and kept going. Mibi wasn't sure, what was happening, so he just followed. The were distant flashes of light followed by low rumbles. A thunderstorm was coming from the east. “There is a tunnel in the wall, it's narrow, enough for the excess water from a stream to pass through the city wall and further north. But it hasn't rained in weeks, so the tunnel is dry.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Mibi asked.
“Well, you wanted to go, didn't you?” she chuckled. “Now is your chance. I'm needed here, but you're needed elsewhere.”
“Won't you go with me?” he asked. “It's not safe to stay here. I know, you've lived with them for years, but here... well, you know.”
“I wanted us to stay together longer too. Don't worry, they will stop the enemy,” she responded. “Now hurry, I can't stay here for the whole day, they'll need me very soon.” She took a brief pause. “I know, that curse is on you too, so asking you to stay with us would be ill-mannered, when I know we wouldn't be able to help you.”
Mibi's mind suddenly came back and its focus narrowed to a single tiny point. “How much do I have left?”
“You know, asking that is improper,” she said sobbing, as tears flooded her eyes, yet she kept smiling. “But I'm glad we met.”
“Me too,” Mibi said and hugged her. “Take care.”
“I will. I'm not saying "farewell" though,” she said and ran away quickly without looking back, leaving Mibi alone, surrounded by dry shrubs. He didn't ask Ayrāta her real name. "The curse is on you" – he was so afraid to hear those words, but the spell was cast, released from its cage, becoming real. It was all pointless anyway, yet he decided to go forward. Nothing actually changed, he still wanted to find his friends. But at least, one thing was clear, so that Emi and Esmi could go back home. The army might be led by the false Abad-Ḥadrit, but he was the real one all this time. Mibi could hear the distant laugh of a madman, as he crawled through the tunnel in the northern wall.
The sun must have set by the time Mib got to the thick woods far outside the city walls. From there no smoke was to be seen, it was all foggy, as the first droplets of rain started falling. He kept walking anyway, looking back from time to time, until the stone walls faded from the view entirely. Then, he dropped down on his knees, getting tired. He felt something warm on his lips and wiped it with the back of his hand. He had a nosebleed, but fortunately it stopped fairly quickly. He wasn't completely alone – a raven was sitting on a dry tree branch, one eye shiny black, the other white, as a small round pearl.
“You won't get me this easily,” Mibi laughed. “Nürīm blood flows in my veins.”
The bird was staring at him intently without a single blink. Did it think, perhaps, that Mibi was a corpse? He waved it off with his hand, as if the bird was on him, but the raven didn't move, just pointed at something with its long black beak. Suddenly, through the fog he saw movement beyond the trees, this time it wasn't just a bird, but a person. Or a shadow, Mibi couldn't tell, not that it mattered at that point – if not the Henchman of Darkness, then the curse would take him soon.
The shadow slowly came closer, it was moving back and forth, as if without any goal, blindly. Not only didn't it notice Mibi's presence, it was not aware of anything around itself apparently. The fog around it was thinning out, pushed away by an invisible force. Mibi felt a metallic taste in his mouth, as reddened leaves started falling off the trees. As it came out of the fog, he knew he would have no force to fight or run away from danger, yet instead he froze instantly, finally recognising the shadow.
“Em, is that you?” he asked, yet the shadow just kept moving. “Emi, it's me. Em!”
“Mibi? What are you doing here?” Em suddenly snapped out of his trance state, yet Mib felt he was looking through him, rather than at him. Regardless of such an unexpected encounter he managed to stand up and ran towards his friend, grabbing him before he could fall to the ground again. “It is you.”
“Did you have doubts?” Mibi asked, laughing and struggling to stand. “You're soaking wet. What happened?”
“Rain,” Em answered, looking around as if he had just realised, where they were. There had been no rain yet. “A downpour. We must find a cover soon... You don't look well. Are you sick?”
“It will be fine,” Mibi lied. “I'm glad, we're both alive. Let's find a cover, before it starts raining.”
Hastily, Em grabbed Mib's arm and half pulled, half guided his friend through a quickly darkening forest. Mibi clutched his other arm, stumbling beside him with his head down. He refused to give up just now, that he had found his friend on such a miraculous occasion. It was as if Goddess Herself made it happen. He didn't want to die like Edzrik'.
As the first rain hit Mibi's face, a sound of thunder roared above his head, and he opened his eyes widely, staring at the gloomy grey sky.
“What is it?” Em asked his friend, beginning to shiver from the cold.
“Nothing,” Mibi answered. “We haven't seen rain in such a long time.”
He looked back just once. Nothing, but the thick woods for miles around. He didn't know, whether Ayrāta survived the attack. They were strong, he thought, they had the force on their side. His thoughts were slowly dissolving in the downpour and the roaring storm. Mibi tried to take Em's bag, he could at least do that, but Em held onto his belongings tightly. Did he not trust Mib? His legs felt weaker with every step, and chills began crawling up his body – the first signs of fever. He still felt, as if something was watching over them, while they were looking for some shelter. Not chasing or setting an ambush, how a predator would do. Just waiting. Sitting on that branch.
The rain had continued through the whole night, hammering at them as hard as the thunder out of a black lead-heavy sky. Mibi's new clothes became wet in minutes; while Em had already been soaked to the bone, but they couldn't find any place to wait out the storm. Mibi could barely see anything through the veil of rain, squinting painfully at the sharp flashes of lightning. Worry filled Em, as he watched his friend losing his strength quickly. It felt like they would never get out of that forest.
Em seemed to sense his friend's dismal thoughts. His wet hair stuck to his face, completely covering half of it. Mibi would laugh if he had more strength.
“Emi,” he said, “you won't leave me, will you?”
“I won't. No matter what happens,” Em answered without hesitation. “And I want to hear so much from you. But first, let's take a break. If we can't find a shelter, we'll just make one.”
They found an old wide oak tree, the ground under which was dry enough. Huddled together beneath the thick bushes under the oak, they tried to arrange Em's black rainproof cloak to make a little tent over the branches. It was far too late to think of staying dry, but it provided at least some cover and would let them dry out. They leant closely against each other to share warmth, even though it barely helped. Dripping wet as they were, the two slowly fell asleep.
“I see you,” Em heard a distant voice through the storm. Yamānuw's voice. The one, who had been the King over Darkness once. “Come back, take, what's yours by right. Or I will use my servants to bring it to you.”
He opened his eyes, and through the darkness he saw a man's withered hand stretching towards his head, trying to grab him. Pale blue light was coming out of it. A small glowing orb appeared, but it quickly became so bright and hot, Em felt his own skin melting and flesh peeling off his skull. He wanted to scream, but not from pain, as there was none, instead it was anger. Em woke up with a jolt, as water started dripping onto his face. He immediately touched his cheek, but it was just water, no blazing light hitting him. Mibi twisted in his sleep, breathing shallowly, he had a fever, Em realised. Em held him close against his chest, whispering quietly, that everything would be fine in the morning. He wished he believed his own words.
“I'm not going insane,” he spoke to himself quietly.
Just before dawn the downpour slowly dwindled, fading entirely with first light. Yet the light was dull, as the dark clouds remained, threatening with more rain. Cold morning wind was slicing through their dripping wet clothes. They had not slept again, but set off eastward, Em leading Mibi, helping him to walk, when his friend got too tired. After a while Mib even felt well enough to complain about the weather, though most of the time he remained silent. Em hoped he was better, he surely looked a bit better, than the day before.
They found a village shortly after midday, but Em deemed walking in too dangerous, keeping a distance and choosing a path through the woods and fields to the west. A lone farmer working in a muddy field was the only person they saw, though luckily the man didn't see them, as his attention was all on his work. They came to the road just out of sight of the village, their clothes were at least just damp and not soaked.
An hour later a farmer gave them a ride in his wain, pulled by two old white horses. Em had been taken by surprise, worrying about Mib. His friend was just muttering about how bright the sun was, when the two heard the rumble, it had already been too late to hide – the driver had been peering at them by the time they noticed him. To Em and Mib's surprise he offered them a lift. Em hesitated, but it was too late to avoid him, and refusing a ride might put unwanted thoughts into the man's mind, so he politely thanked him and helped Mib up into the wain, then climbed up right behind him.
The old farmer was a short, but stocky man, with a square face and large hands, both worn from hard work and worry. All he wanted was to chat with someone about his sick cows and chicken, that had stopped laying eggs. Apparently, it was happening everywhere, but Em suggested it might have been because of a long dry season. The man wondered whether there was any chance of getting hay on his own land, since everything was dying, even grass wasn't growing well. At least it rained a bit.
“The Queen should do something, I'm sure her kūhinīm can make something nice for us,” he muttered.
“Don't you mind the kūhinīm?” Em asked, and regretted he spoke before thinking through his words beforehand. He got lucky though.
“Why would I?” the man asked. “Last year a Green one came here and healed the sick. She fixed one man's leg after he had fallen off a roof badly. He could walk once again. A true story. But I get, why you asked. Many don't trust them, especially those Southlanders.”
Em sighed quietly – the man didn't figure out they were "Southlanders" too. He hardly looked at Em and Mib, but when he let them down by the narrow track that led off to a field and a small hamlet next to it, he hesitated, then said, almost as if to himself, “I don't know, who you are, and I don't want to. I have a wife and children, so I want no trouble. You understand?”
“We haven't even seen you, if that's what you ask,” Mib answered. Em didn't understand, what his friend meant, but the farmer did, he just nodded, his relief evident. He then turned his horses down the track, leaving the two friends on the road.
“Did he think, we might have been evil?” Em asked his friend.
“I don't know and I don't care,” he answered. “But I don't think I can walk any further.”
“We'll rest soon, but just hold for a little longer, please,” Em didn't know, what else to say. That helped little. The wind stiffened as the sun was slowly setting. The daylength was now much longer, than in the South, but the whole day was still the same twelve hours. Mibi continued asking tetchily, when they were going to stop, but Em kept pulling him behind, searching for a proper shelter this time, he was not sure they could survive another night in the open without both falling ill. The wind slowly grew and got colder, but finally Em cheered up.
“Here,” he pointed at a delapidated wooden building, hidden by crooked trees.
“Just lead your way, I can't see that far anyway,” Mibi complained. That made Em smile – his friend had been too tired to speak previously, and that gave him some hope.
Maybe not a warm room, but it was way better, than staying outside in the cold night. The shapes of the tree branches were playing tricks on Em's mind – he was seeing all kinds of reptillian monsters and people emerging and metamorphosing into different shapes, as they walked towards the abandoned farm.
Inside was not much warmer, but it was dry. Em left Mibi half-sitting on the floor against a wall, and went to get some grass and leaves for a bed. A fire would have been nice, he thought, but they couldn't allow themselves to be noticed, so after gathering enough materials, whatever was dry enough, Em came back and made a soft bed for them. Thankfully, there was plenty of his favourite bracken growing right next to the farm house, so it didn't take him too long. They were still wet and very hungry. Em picked some young green fiddleheads to eat, but his friend didn't want any food. He took some water, at least, especially when his fever became stronger. The only thought they had was a possibility to see their friends in T'ūr, whereto they were still heading. But in that condition Mibi couldn't walk anywhere, Em was certain, although he tried his best not to show his exhaustion. He found Mib and he would stay with him. Together they would find the others.
They were curled up together, wrapped in their cloaks for warmth, Mib already in his fever dreams with his head against Em's neck, while Em was unable to sleep, listening his friend's shallow breathing. He had been better before, Em tried to convince himself, he would be fine in the morning. Something stuck to him in that damned city, that shadowy man. Could he do anything about it? He couldn't do much against his own shadowy man though. The thought seemed amusing for a brief moment – each had their own shadow.
His state worsened a lot, since the last time they were travelling together. Mib had been sly, or rather he had a sharp tongue, but he was also full of warmth and joy. That man must have cursed him, and Mibi didn't want to bother his friend, to make him worry, instead trying to brush it off. No, they were both too tired to run. He had to do something, for both of them.
Em looked at metal bracelets on Mibi's forearms. Someone must have been kind to him, Em thought, brushing the metal, as it tingled his skin, making tiny sparks. It was as if his friend held a lightning inside, and it was trying to get out, back into the clouds, poisoning him at the same time. Mibi's hands were icy cold, something that had never happened before, as he used to be the "warm one" of the two of them, as Mib used to joke. The shadow was feeding on his warmth.
“I don't want to be left alone either,” Em whispered into the silence of the room. The last word that left him drowned in the splatter of rain on top of the leaky roof that covered them, and the crash of thunder in the distance. Em touched Mibi's forehead, closing his eyes shut, trying to will strength from himself into his friend. He imagined a stream of force, white as snow and bright as the sun gushing through the air, filling the space around them with its radiance. And then he saw himself, just for a brief moment, as more, than just a human in a mortal body, but as space filled with air, and the stars in the sky, and the deep void between them with everything inside of that space. For just a moment, as lightning flashed so bright, it illuminated them inside the house, Em could feel pure joy, he felt the world becoming so tiny, its matters becoming so meaningless. Centuries passed in that moment. But it was just a mere mind trick again. Then, a loud thunder rolled over them like the sound of a hundred drums being struck at once. Yet as Em started falling deeper into a dreamless sleep, he imagined Mibi breathing a little easier, and his fever gone.

first previous Royal Road
Resurrection Log: Ź̷̼͖ý̶̧̡̩̫͉͔͇̓̈́̋̎̽̌͐͛̈́̎̒́̐̍͠r̴̢͓̖̲͙̲̮͋̉̓̾͒̑͜͠ͅa̵̡̨̦͍͉̳͎͕̞͔̲̺̰̩̩̽͑̆̈̌́̏͝g̵̼͈̟̗͔͋́̈́̀͆̀̚ą̸̯̽̈́̑͒͑́ṙ̷͙̝̥͔̳̜̗͖̦͉͓͕͗̈́̇̇͂̐̍̒̍̔d̸͇̞̥͓̠̈́͒͋̌̐͝ ̶̨̧̛͔̲̻̖͚̠̣͔̻̰̫̒̇͐͜͠T̴̠͓͔̦̩̻̼̖̽͆̍͆̓̊̽̔̚͠ơ̷̶̵̸̸̸̡̛̛̬̖̰̦̦̮͚̗̞̻̻̞̻̙̘̘͈͈̭̲͙̪͍̭̭͉͚̤̅̾̽͋̀̑̋̆̍̉̇̉̈́̿͋͒̇̊̓̂̿̿̑̈́͆͑͌̂̌̑̆̉͘̚͜͜͝͝͝͝͠ţ̷̢̢̛͙̩͎̥͈̝̖̈̄͛̄͊̆̓̈́̊ͅͅȩ̸̠͍̱̖̺̣̖̄̉̔͜ņ̷̡͓̘̥̠̖̝̺͈̥͔̲͊k̴̛̯̫̪͑̽̔́̅͂̿̂͋̉̂̕͘͠y̵̟̟̰̪̻̼̖̌̽̇̓́̍̃͒̾̕̚͝͠r̵̢̨̠͉̼̲̲͛͒̂̽̄͐͌̏͘͘͝a̴̛̰̙̫͂͐̓̐ḿ̷̡̛̤͙͕̼̱̻͙̔͌̓̈̏͑̔̈́̓͘̚ą̸̧̧̯̺̫͈̞͎̻̤̫̂͐̐͘ņ̷̨̱̖̟͖͚̣̂͌͗̌̾̔́̕ ̶̨̨̲̘̭͚̣̝̞̲͔̦̽̾̏̄̒́̚͝K̷̖̻̘̣͐̽̀̅͛͜͜͜ṟ̴̛͇̺͈̲͉̤̰̰̥͉͓̜͑̈́͌̔̍̓́̕ą̷̼̄̾͊̓̽̾͊̈̒̍̍́̉̚͝l̸̨̞͇͈̖͔̘̜̱̦͈̊
Year 76,589 of the —Mother of Ruin—
M:6 D:18
Day 974 of Cycle 3
[transcribed memory/thoughtstream generated by Ṁ̵̢̘̭̬̙̘̦̳͓̺͈̪̒̂ǫ̵̨̛̠̫̻̐̋̓͗͗͗̏̎͂̿͌̕t̴̜̪͇͕͚́̓͐h̴̯͍̼̦̯̝̜̝̤͂͋͆͌͗͝ę̸͉͖͕̜̤̘͙͎͚̈́̏͒̒̄̏̃̋͘̕͘͜ȓ̸̢̨͍͉̱̮̞͔̋̇ ̴̡̛̱̳̘̠͎̫̩̪̦̠̦̣̀͒͛͊̚͠G̷̰̹̝͆̈͜į̸̧̟͙̰͖̳̯̈́̒͜͜g̶͉̗̹̻̟̰̞̭̠͉͙̈́͊̌̈̈̓̐̒̕ạ̵̧̧̘͖͔̟̝̳̅̇̂̂̅̓̇͛̓͋̊̏̇̕t̵̮̉͒̋̄̑̇̌̀̅͑̋͋r̶̻̟͗̋̀̆̿̃̔̄͒̎̊̈́̚o̵̪̦͇̫̾̋̊̾̋͗͗̊͊̄͜͠͝ḡ̵̛̰͎̇̐͒͋̊̀͝ẗ̶̡̮̠͈̗̗̃͛̈̊̾ḩ̴͍̖͖̥͈̻̪̖̤̰̥̣̋͌̚ř̵̝̤̩͈͎̤͎̯̤͔̝̬̖̓̏͐̀̿̊̂̈͋̕͝͝ĭ̴̡̡͙̺̪͕̻̺̥̫̭̜̺̳̃̂͊̓́̅̈́̎̀̽̀̚ͅṃ̵̨͇̺̪̤̄͜ȧ̵͓̟͖̞̩̤͙̩̖̠̝̣̔ź̶̡͇͍̝̳͚̱͖̳͖̬͓̋̂͜ ̸̢̺͚̍̎̈́̂͛̂̐͐̊̕̚͜͝͝Ȉ̵̢̹̜̞͆̃͗̅̈́̋͒̅͝Í̶̡͓͓̰̥̤̗̱̀͛́͆̒͋̂͠͝I̴̟̞̪̯͍̟̿̂̐̌͑̎̅̋͐͆̍́] [cont’d]
Rin cleared her throat, seeming to realize she’d been silently staring only several seconds into the act.
“Um,” she began, gaze skirting away from me again, hands clasped before her and twisting together. “I’m sorry for, uh, how I was. Yesterday.”
“There is no need for apology. It is common among your species to respond irrationally to criticism, and owing to factors which we have previously discussed, you cannot help what you are.”
Rin’s eyes stopped darting around at that, settling on a spot just to my left. Her lips pulled into a thin line, and she drew in a long breath through her nostrils.
“Be that as it may,” she said after a moment. “The best of our species is always trying to better ourselves. To surpass our…er, shittier tendencies. So. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” I replied, pleased to have the opportunity to engage in another bizarre human ritual.
She looked up at me again, a smirk curling her pink-glossed lips. “Ready to go schmooze with snobby rich people?”
I searched Fools for “schmooze” and came up blank.
“What is schmooze?” I queried.
Rin laughed—a light sound which would have distressed me once, but which I now found quite pleasing. Leading me from the room to join the others, she explained the concept at length.
By the time we reached the banquet hall, I felt certain I’d a thorough grasp of it.
I was ready to schmooze.
The Selva family banquet hall was nearly as grand as the Griffin’s main concourse, though on a smaller scale. The first level had tables and seating lining the outer ring, as well as an open central space where humans milled about beneath a chandelier of luminous viridian crystals. But upon our party’s entrance, we were shown at once to a second level that circled the hall and looked down upon the first through a series of wrought-iron archways. The tiles beneath our feet had the quality of dark frosted glass, and the lumicell panels resembled peaked windows, displaying an artificial view of Earthen foothills, lush with rainforest greenery. On that level there was only one table—the grand table, seat to the matriarch, her immediate family and her most honored guests.
I found myself placed nearly at its end, the one opposite Maye Selva herself and her favored. Shosho was in a booster seat beside me, and Tursa sat across from me. If Punjibar had been in attendance, I imagine they’d have been relegated to our grouping as well. I recognized some of those in the places immediately surrounding us as Indri’s cousins. Rin, unfortunately, was given a spot well away from me.
Upon taking my seat at the table, a drone supplied me with a glass of water and another of champagne (or sparkling wine—the correct term varies depending on the human you consult). I drank the champagne and put the glass back down. Ignoring, for the time, the many eyes pointed at me, I directed my attention to the display panel set into the table, perusing the menu and making my selections.
From the head of the table, a clinking sound issued. Maye rose from her seat, her champagne glass in one hand and a fork in the other.
“Good evening, my wonderful friends, family, and colleagues. Tonight we celebrate, of course, the arrival to Elysian of our grand vessel and ancestral home.” Red-painted lips pulling apart in a rigid smile, her eyes traveled from one to the next of her nearest human guests. “But it is also a very special evening for myself and my immediate family. The homecoming of my lovely daughter, Indriana!”
She raised the glass in the direction of the daughter in question, smiling.
“And as if that wasn’t enough, our very own Deputy Prime Minister Haldeman has graced us with his presence! And him only just returned from another lengthy stay landside.”
At that the attention turned to the middle-aged man who sat to her right. The man in possession of the second-highest rank in what remained of human political hierarchy. A man with pale skin, sand-colored hair and a strange sort of ephemeral sheen to the air immediately surrounding him. Beyond his Warp, there was something else…different about him. But I could not be sure exactly what.
For a third time, Maye raised her glass high.
“In the darkest of times, it is more important than ever that we come together to celebrate the light we find in our love for one another. And so please, everyone. A toast! To Arrival Day, and to homecomings!”
All present raised their own glasses, clinking them together as they echoed the last few of her words. I had forgotten to account for this particular human ritual, and so was forced to clink with an empty glass, putting it up to my mouth and pretending to drink.
With all of that done, the time for the schmoozing had finally come. I perceived my surroundings. Most of the humans had resumed the conversations they’d been carrying on previous to the toast, most of which pertained to the Benefactor’s recent edicts. As I scanned for one who was not already engaged in discourse, I met the eyes of the red-haired woman sitting beside Tursa. She’d shoved her chair as far as she could get it from the huntress without bumping up against the person at her other side, and was watching me with widened eyes.
“Hello,” I said. “My name is Zyr. What is yours?”
Her gaze darted from side-to-side, as if she thought perhaps I was speaking to someone else. When she realized that I was not, she seemed to struggle for words.
“R—Rebecca Monroe,” she said. “Maye’s first cousin once removed.” She added the last bit as though it were a justification of some kind.
“It is lovely to meet you, Rebecca Monroe, Maye’s first cousin once removed,” I said, doing my best to sound jovial, which from what I could tell involved speaking in a booming voice. Several more pairs of eyes turned to fix on me. “Are you aware that you are looking absolutely ravishing this evening? I declare myself entirely ravished.”
“Oh, um…” the woman shifted in her seat. “Thank…you?”
“You are slaying in that dress,” I went on, employing more wisdoms from Real Domicile-Mates. “I would seek to acquire a copy, but I could never pull it off. Tell me, Rebecca. What it is your occupation?”
“I, uh, I need to use the lady’s room,” replied the human, shoving her chair back and vacating the table. In her spot beside the emptied seat, Tursa leant back and narrowed her eyes as she observed me. I ignored her, turning my attention to the human at the other side of the unoccupied chair.
“Hello, sir,” I boomed. “I am called Zyr. May I make your acquaintance?”
The human, who’d only just stopped staring at me a moment before, turned his eyes back to me.
“Matthew Selva,” he said, his tone clipped. He looked away again.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mathew Selva,” I said. “The hair around your lips is exceedingly full. Well done!”
He acknowledged my praise with the slightest dip of his head, lifting his drink to his lips.
“If you have mates, they are a very lucky individuals. I am certain they take great pleasure in the copious hairs of your face. I know that I would, were I so lucky as your mates.”
The human did a thing which I have since learned is called blustering, which is to say that his face turned red and he made a number of incomprehensible sounds. The drones began to arrive with our food, then, and I directed my attention toward its consumption. Rebecca returned, very careful this time not to point her eyes at me.
After siphoning another drink from my refilled glass of champagne, I began to devour my food—cherry-glazed duck, roasted potatoes, and fiddleheads. [the sprouting fern, that is, not the components of musical instruments. The human tendency to use one name for multiple things continues to baffle me.]
It was all delicious, though a part of me regretted ordering meat despite my body’s cravings for it. It felt rather too much as though I was mirroring the hateful predator who sat across from me, observing my every interaction with some combination of judgement and amusement in her eyes.
Obnoxious creature.
When the meal had been consumed, the music shifted, building from a subtle ornament in the background to a more lively melody. Conversation grew increasingly more boisterous as well, and several at the table stood, gesturing to drones for refills of their drinks or new ones. Down in the first-level central space, a number of couples began to dance.
Rin, Allico, Marah, Indri and Grayman were drawn into this ritual with varying flavors of reluctance—some dour, others drunken—while the babies were held hostage by doting relatives. Jack C had retreated to brood near one of the false windows, avoiding all contact, while Lore and V quickly paired up to escape the activity as well. Tursa and Shosho, for their part, took their drinks to the upper level’s outer edge, where they proceeded to observe and comment upon the exploits of the humans below.
“Ah,” I said, perceiving a passing Rebecca. “May I have thi—”
But she just continued on past me, eyes diverted the whole way.
I received much the same response from every other human I approached. Worse, I noticed before long that Tursa had begun to glance over, observing my attempts and no doubt taking satisfaction in my failure. After a time, I gave up my efforts, taking what remained of my beverage over to the railing to experience vicariously what I could not engage in directly.
I sensed her approach, of course, but chose not to acknowledge it at first. And then she tapped me on the shoulder. Briefly I pointed my eyes her way in acknowledgement before turning them back to the spectacle below.
Tursa cleared her throat.
“Would you care for a dance?”
Slowly, I turned again to look at her. Met her narrowed eyes and narrowed my own as well. Like Rin, she was dressed in shimmering black—a sleeveless garment which sheathed her torso but split at the hips. The front panel draped between her legs—which were similar in structure to those of humans, but with raised heels that gave her fluid, stalking gate which I could not help but admire. The back panel had an opening for her fluke-tipped tail, which swished slowly behind her as she awaited my response.
I was certain that she thought I would refuse. But I would give her no such satisfaction.
“Yes,” I said, accepting her still-outstretched hand, though she had just begun to withdraw it. “Let us dance.”
Dozens of pairs of human eyes, if not more, followed us as we descended the grand stair and joined the dancers in the shifting green glow of the chandelier. I had perceived enough human media at that point to have a vague idea of what I was doing, and Tursa surprised me by being quite adept in the act. However, with my hands on her waist and hers on my shoulders, with our bodies so close that I could feel the heat rising from her flesh, I was overwhelmed by her scents of sea-salt and musk and mint. No…not by the scents themselves…but by my body’s response to them.
And all the while her hateful, glimmering eyes were locked to mine, a small smile baring her fangs and raising her whiskers, as though she knew exactly the effect she was having on me. From the movies I had perceived, I expected us to engage in an intense exchange of banter. However, it was all I could do to compose myself, to prevent my feet from stamping on hers or my tentacles from brushing up against some important human figure or another.
The latter was perhaps the most difficult of my challenges, as there were a great deal of such individuals in attendance. And as the song wore on, we drew ever nearer the most significant of them all. Deputy Prime Minister Haldeman and his dancing partner spun closer and closer, and I could not help but fix my attention on him.
Or perhaps I could have helped it—but I wished to look away from Tursa.
The deputy prime minister was one of the very few Warped humans I had seen aboard the Griffin outside of those of my own party. But his was a more subtle Variation, almost…uncanny valley. There was a sort of sheen, even a glow to his skin which, if one focused on it too closely, vanished from perception.
What’s more, he blinked only sparsely, seeming always to stare outright at everyone he pointed his eyes to. And yet none of them appeared to find this offputting. His dancing partner at the time—one of Indri’s aunts—showed every sign of being genuinely delighted with the man.
The music was quite loud, and so I leant close to Tursa’s ear to speak to her. As my face brushed against hers, I felt a shiver pass over her body which I took for disgust.
Good. Let her suffer.
{There is something off about the deputy prime minister,} I informed the huntress as I peered over her shoulder at the man.
She followed the direction of my gaze before staring back up at me once more.
{He is Warped,} she replied, her tone dubious. {But—}
{No, that is not what I mean.} I was frustrated that she didn’t at once perceive what I had, yet before I could explain further, the song drew to a close. Many of the dancing partners began to break apart, including the deputy prime minister and the Selva aunt.
I seized my opportunity.
Striding up to the human man as he exchanged parting words with the aunt, I extended my hand.
“Deputy Prime Minister Haldeman. I am Zyr. May I have the honor of this dance?”
next
Banner Art

Hello everyone,
One of the perfection tasks that drives me craziest is building friendships. Most of the time I default to giving everyone tree fruit/gems and waiting it out, but Loved Gifts can get you there with everyone in a single year. Unfortunately, figuring out a convenient workflow for all of the various Loved gifts, remembering who likes what, and managing inventory are painful. I'm making the following guide to break down the numbers, and to be a convenient reference for myself and (hopefully) others.
This will likely be a bit disorganized and rambling on first draft. I'll refine over time and take feedback.
Core Concept:
Giving a villager two loved gifts and talking with them on those days (and no others) gives a total 200 points/week. This means that without worrying about birthdays, movie tickets, item quality bonuses, quests, or dialogue options we can get any villager to 10 hearts in 12.5 weeks (210 points for two loved gifts and two greetings -10 decay every week). The bulk of this guide will focus on having a workflow that allows for easy inventory management, and having stable workflows for each villager. Every villager can take up to 32 gifts a year (technically 34 including birthday and Feast of the Winter Star) but strictly speaking, you only need 25 gifts to reach 10 hearts. Only 20 for bachelors/ettes you don't intend to woo.
I like to have a 'Gifting' chest near the East farm exit in which I put all intended gift items. Knowing that I will never need more than 25/villager prevents me from over-hoarding items and cutting into my profits pointlessly. Using this guide should allow you to store everything within one chest, excepting perhaps items that you have multiple quality levels or flowers that have various shades.
This isn't the only way of going about this, of course, but this is an attempt to optimize to use the fewest items possible to simplify the process, and make it such that even if you don't have everyone's Loved gift, you'll consistently have liked gifts in hand.
Seasonal crops are separated by season, but if you can access the Island farm or dedicate Greenhouse space, all the better.
*********What You Need********\*
In Total: 11 Crystalaria, 3 cactus, 3 animals, 2 fruit trees, 1 fish pond, 25 monster parts, a few forage items, and roughly 125 crops planted over the course of the year. That's all you need to get 10 hearts with every villager except Alex, who you can throw Universal Likes and Loves at. Other than maybe the crystalaria, I think most players wouldn't have trouble with having these done, or at least in place by end of year 1.
1 Peach and Pomegranate Tree in the Greenhouse/Island Farm - Having fruit trees in a Greenhouse is great, and I like to keep the peaches and pomegranates for gifting. They're universal likes, and Robin loves peaches while Eliot loves pomegranates. These are the easiest way to keep building friendships with folks for whom you don't have Loved gifts, while handling two of the villagers with ease. Of course, I usually have more fruit trees than this, but this is the minimal need.
8 Diamond Crystalaria - Will produce 22 diamonds in a year each, for a total of 176. This is enough diamonds for the following villagers (and once you're done make nice income): Maru, Penny, Evelyn, Jodi, Krobus, Willy, Gus.
2 Amethyst Crystalarium - Two makes enough for Abigail, Emily, Clint, and Dwarf. Takes (roughly) 2 days to generate, for 56 amethysts a year each, or 112 in total.
1 Frozen Tear Crystalarium for Sebastian
All told, only 11 crystalariums are what's needed for 12 villagers, and even that can be pared down for some folks as I'll note below. You can add a Tigerseye crystalarium if you prefer that to growing cactus for Sam.
3-14 cactus planters in the house - Linus, Pam, and Sam - All three of these villagers have fairly easy alternatives, but it's pretty simple to keep a hollow rectangle of 14 planters next to a chest that contains my Iridium watering can. Note that a single plant per villager is sufficient (3 day regrow time), but since 14 isn't really more time/effort on my part to maintain, I figure why not. Plus, I can filter down to the gold qualities with this level of redundancy to accelerate these three friendships.
1 Squid Fish Pond - Pierre only loves Fried Calamari – be sure to have one squid saved to reproduce here. You’ll get one every 3 days, which is enough to keep him satisfied.
25 Light or Void Essences for Wizard – As annoying as he is to visit consistently, the Wizard is easy to please. I always wind up flooded with these anyway.
Universal Loves are wonderful things, particularly when you can't nail down a workflow for something else. Unfortunately, the game makes it prohibitive to amass large quantities of these without spending a LOT of time in the Skull Cave, or amassing an absolute horde of rabbits. Still, if you get one and don’t have a Loved gift for anyone in particular, use it. Otherwise, I toss them at Alex, whose other Loved gifts are too annoying for me to bother with.
Spring Crops and Forage
8-32 Strawberries for Demetrius (and/or Maru) - 8 planted if planting on Spring 1, 16 if planting after the egg festival. Maru also loves strawberries, so planting more can allow you to shave off a Diamond crystalarium.
2 Coffee Plants for Harvey - I usually have some dedicated Island farm/greenhouse to the 22 coffee plants needed to keep me caffeinated with Triple Shot Espresso year-round. Just two coffee planted on Spring 1 on the normal farm will yield 176 coffee beans. You only need 125 beans to make the 25 coffee for Harvey. If planted later, you'll need to compensate with more plants.
25 garlic is not a favored gift in and of itself, but is needed to make Fiddlehead Risotto for Kent
Daffodils for Sandy
Morels and Leeks for George – The morels get fried with Oil for Fried Mushrooms. Leeks can have quality bonuses, but I use the mushroom cave and typically find it easier to stock up on the Fried Mushrooms as I’m not limited to Spring, nor going to the Secret Woods repeatedly.
​
Summer Crops and Forage
25 Sunflowers (summer) for Haley
25 Summer Spangles for Caroline
6-8 Hot Pepper plants for Lewis and Shane - I usually plant 40 or so of these so that I can be permanently speed boosted with Pepper Poppers year-round, an additional 6 produces 48 peppers - enough for Lewis and Shane while only taking up 1 more quality sprinkler. I use the quality ones as gifts, while the rest are used for my speed buffs.
Grapes are forage in Summer, and good for Vincent
Fiddlehead Ferns should be made into Fiddlehead Risotto for Kent
Sweet Pea for Sandy
​
Fall Crops and Forage
6-8 Grape Trellises for Vincent is sufficient even if you didn’t collect any in the Summer
25 Faerie Roses for Jas – or can be doubled to take care of Evelyn to shave off more Crystalarium need
Hazelnuts for making roasted Hazelnuts for Kent if you didn’t get enough Fiddlehead Risottos. I prioritize FHR because I can make it earlier in the year
Common Mushrooms are also need for Fried Mushrooms. If you use the Mushroom cave, you don’t need to worry about these.
​
Winter Forage
Crocus for Sandy
Catch a Squid for the Fish Pond for Pierre
​
Animals
1-2 Goats: Goat cheese is loved by Leah and Robin. 1 is sufficient for Leah, and I typically use peaches for Robin. Nevertheless, a second goat can speed things up when you get Gold quality for an extra 20 points.
1-4 Ducks - These are for Leo. If you get one early and bank your feathers, you can probably get by with 1. Otherwise, I recommend keeping 4 to consistently get 2/week for him.
1 void chicken - This is enough for Sebastian and Krobus, allowing you to shave off the Frozen Tear and a Diamond Crystalarium. If you have the crystalariums, you don't need the chicken. The void eggs can have quality bonuses though, and Crystalaria are precious. This may be the way to go.
​
Other methods to accelerate friendships:
Of course, if we have some of those options easily available to us we should use those to accelerate things. Birthdays in particular are 640 points for a Loved gift without a quality bonus, and 800 with gold quality (960 at iridium, but it's less common you'll be able to get those). Buy a calendar at from Robin, they’re only 2,000 and are much more convenient that constantly looking at the Stardew wiki or schlepping over to Pierre’s.
The Luau is amazing, though it's effect seems subtle at first glance. For a Best Response item, 120 points are granted with every villager. That's almost half a heart with…I think 33-34 people, or the equivalent of getting about 15 hearts in a single day. If you greet each villager at the Luau, that's another 600 points or so.
That raises another good point: one should try to go to every festival while building friendships. Just greeting everyone in one spot is the equivalent to gaining over 2 hearts in a day, though distributed.
If you need to get one or two particular villagers done, talking to them every day is a big boost. Two loved gifts and two conversations is 200 points in a week. Talking to them every day increases that to 310.
You can also use the wiki to strategically plan out some movie dates. A good date (loved movie and snack) can net you a full heart with someone (250 points). This is especially useful for Dwarf and Sandy, who are both geographically inconvenient and Love all movies.
Combining these techniques can make an extremely fast friend. For example, if one gave Sandy a gold star item on her birthday, two more as her normal gifts, greeted every day, and took her to a movie with a loved snack they could net 1360 friendship points (almost 6 hearts) with her in one week.
​
Alright, that's all I've got to say on the matter. I hope that others find this useful!

Hi horrorlit. I sometimes do posts where I read a whole short story collection or anthology and talk about each one in it. This is one of those posts. I hope you get something out of it.
Normally I try to include links to stories in the post itself, but the spam filters sometimes decide that they don’t want to play nice, and this is one of those times. Links to stories that are available online will be in the comments.
Body Shocks (edited by Ellen Datlow)
When this book popped up on my radar I was very excited. The anthologies that Datlow edits are top-tier, and her name combined with body horror was reason enough for me to get interested in this one. All of the stories in it have been previously published (the oldest dates back to the 1980s), but almost all of them are new to me, so I was very excited to dive in.
(As a note, Sadie Hartmann/Mother Horror did a similar review post about Body Shocks a while back. I don’t intend to rip off her post about it or anything, but just to share my own thoughts. Hopefully the fact that there’s been a long damn time between my post and hers is evidence enough of that.)

• “The Travellers Stay” by Ray Cluley – A strained family stops at a shitty roach motel for the night, and things go poorly for everyone. The buildup and the climax for this story were great, and the metamorphosis that acts as the centerpiece is just as creepy as you’d hope for, but after that it felt like it kind of fizzled. I enjoyed the quiet conversation that followed the transformation, but after that it didn’t work as much for me. The best moments of the story are spectacular, but it overstays its welcome by a bit.
  
• “Toother” by Terry Dowling – When I read the title of this story I felt some real, raw, deepseated panic. I can handle many bad things happening to human bodies in horror, but eye and tooth gore are the two that really fuck with me. And while Dowling kept the worst of the tooth-related body horror offscreen, this story was still chilling. We follow a psychiatric doctor, a detective, and a psychic (who is voluntarily committed in the hospital the doctor works at) as the three pursue a case involving grave desecrations, stolen corpse teeth, and grisly murders. If you like police investigation horror, you absolutely need to go find this story. The way that the case unfolds is wonderful, the psychic element makes it even more chilling, and there are enough blank spaces in the case that the questions it raises are disturbing. Apparently this is part of an ongoing series of short stories following these characters (and I did get the sense that there was history behind them while reading it), and if they’re all as good as this one, I’d love to see more.
  
• “Painlessness” by Kirstyn McDermott – A woman named Faith ends up befriending her neighbor, a sex worker named Mara who uses a condition that leaves her unable to be pain to service people into the more extreme end of S&M. As you can imagine, things go too far one night, and it unveils some secrets that Mara would rather have kept. The body horror here is of the surgical gore type, but in the end it takes a turn into an entirely different subgenre that I was not expecting. And even beyond all the gore and the big twist reveal, the quiet moments where Faith and Mara’s friendship plays out are also really effective.
  
• “You Go Where It Takes You” by Nathan Ballingrud – You know, I enjoy Ballingrud and I’ve read this story before, but I don’t really think it counts as a body horror story. I thought maybe reading it for a second time while keeping body horror in mind might change my outlook on it, but nope. It’s a story with a bit of body horror in it, but it’s not really the focus. Either way, it’s a great one, full of a deeply melancholy atmosphere, following a woman who meets an unsettling man who shows her a possible supernatural route out of her dead-end life. The ending of the story is perfectly mundane, and it’s even more upsetting than any of the body horror elements of the story. Ballingrud’s well-loved enough here on horrorlit that I don’t think I have much more to say that hasn’t already been said, but “You Go” is a shining example of the more melancholy side of his bibliography. Go read North American Lake Monsters if you haven’t already.
  
• “A Positive” by Kaaron Warren – A story about how you should get a goth girlfriend, move out, and leave your abusive parents to rot. With that joke out of the way: the story is actually about a man who was born to keep his father alive, and how he leaves the terrible situation. There’s something of a fairy tale quality to the entire story, from the evil father figure quite literally draining the life from his son to the borderline surreal nightmare of the nursing home of horrors that the story ends in. At the end of the day, it’s a story about breaking free from the ones who claim to love you while hurting you every step of the way, and it does it well.
  
• “La beauté sans vertu” by Genevieve Valentine – Most of this story’s body horror is confined to the beginning of the story, but nonetheless it’s still an effective satirical story about the evils of the fashion industry. In the story’s world, models are mutilated and reconstructed to fit society’s ideals, and we see the meticulous planning that goes into a fashion show that ultimately comes tumbling down. I’m always on board for a good old-fashioned “this bit of society sucks” story as long as the satire isn’t too heavy-handed (or at the very least, not heavy-handed in an annoying way), and the strange borderline science-fantasy world that Valentine builds and the contrast between elegance and abuse works wonders. Even if you don’t consider this one a body horror story, it’s well worth a read.
  
• “Subsumption” by Lucy Taylor – Two friends emerge from a bunker into a post-apocalyptic world where nature is reclaiming the world at a rapid pace. I really enjoyed the sense of being thrust from one world into a strange, terrifying new one, and the general concept of the story reminded me a bit of a much less cold and uncanny version of Brian Evenson’s Immobility. And, of course, there’s some good old-fashioned plant-based body horror. Big scary trees doing terrible things to people. A real great sci-fi horror story all around.
  
• “Spar” by Kij Johnson – If I’m being honest, I don’t really like tentacles in horror. They’re just not really scary. We all know what octopi and squid are in the modern day, and that kind of familiarity with animals that have them just kind of robs tentacles of their power as a signifier of the unknown. Plus, tentacle porn has existed since the early 1800s. It’s so commonly known that it became a punchline, then a cliche hack punchline that shows you don’t actually know much about the thing you’re joking about. Anyway, this topic is getting away from me, but the point is I don’t find tentacles in horror that interesting, yet Kij Johnson broke through that opinion of mine in a truly horrific way. The story follows a woman trapped in an escape pod with a tentacle-based alien lifeform that is doing unspeakable things to every one of her orifices in perpetuity and shows no sign of letting go. It’s a massively interior story, with the bulk focusing on our protagonist’s memories and her trying to grapple with the horror that the alien is inflicting on her, and whether it even truly knows what it’s doing or if it’s a mindless act, and which would be worse. I was constantly tense through the entire story, and even if the ending feels a bit anticlimactic, ruminating on it for a while made me appreciate it all the more. It’s definitely not for those uncomfortable with… well, everything about it, but it’s a truly unforgettable story.
  
• “It Was the Heat” by Pat Cadigan – A woman on a business trip to New Orleans starts to succumb to the heat, and discovers that it is connected to something old and strange. This is a buildup-heavy story with the supernatural only coming to the forefront in the very end, but just hanging around New Orleans and watching the strangeness slowly build is definitely an interesting aspect to the story, although I feel like it would have helped if the story went on for a few pages longer.
  
• “Atwater” by Cody Goodfellow – A man takes a wrong turn off the highway and ends up in a town called Atwater, where surreal, nightmarish body horror entities roam. The bizarre monster designs and eroticism in the story reminded me a good deal of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, but the ultimate reveal where the story goes into borderline sci-fi territory sets it apart in interesting ways. This is the second Goodfellow story I’ve read so far, and the way he combines gore and body horror with a reality that feels like it’s come untethered is really appealing. Loved this one.
  
• “The Transfer” by Edward Bryant – A woman looks back on previous relationships and how she became more like her partners. In the present, she is in an extremely bad situation, but her past might just save her. The pace is slow, but it works incredibly well since the more mundane aspects of the past really strongly contrast with the grisly fate awaiting the narrator in the present. A slow burn to be certain, but a solid one.
  
• “Welcome to Mengele’s” by Simon Bestwick – A story about how you shouldn’t go to a brothel named after a nazi. Seriously, it’s just common sense, people. Anyways, the story follows an extremely secretive brothel that specializes in plastic surgery; specifically, altering their “employees” to look like the clients’ biggest celebrity crushes. And doing worse things. Every single implication the story raises is skincrawling, and our protagonist’s ultimate fate is grisly. I will say that the more effective body horror elements came through in the more fantastical surgeries rather than the “look like a celebrity” ones, but having surgeries of any kind foisted upon you nonconsensually is certainly a chilling premise. The blend of sex and gruesome medical procedures hits hard, and the story ultimately worked for me more than I expected it to.
  
• “Black Neurology: A Love Story” by Richard Kadrey – Can’t say much about this one since it’s only 2 pages long, but it’s a simple but surreal story about an autopsy that goes in weird directions. The gore and the bizarre imagery play off each other well, and I really enjoyed it. (As a note – I try to include links to stories that are available to read or listen to for free online, and though this story is available for free, it is not available to just find on a website, so I have not included a link. You can download an audiobook version for free on Google Play or iTunes.)
  
• “Cuckoo” by Angela Slatter – A monstrous supernatural entity takes some time to terrorize a monstrous human being, though the being quickly realizes that it needs to take more extreme measures in its quest. The body horror here comes from the grotesquely physical descriptions of how our demonic narrator possesses bodies, and the continual escalation of its scare tactics just builds and builds to a truly grim breaking point.
  
• “Cinereous” by Livia Llewellyn – We follow an 18th century mad scientist working in a lab that does some really unethical experiments to children, and an experiment one day that goes horribly wrong. Llewellyn leaves the reasoning behind the disturbing experiments open, and honestly, the implications of the world were just as unsettling as the more physical horrors.
  
• “The Truth That Lies Under Skin and Meat” by Cassandra Khaw – A story of a rather misanthropic werewolf out for vengeance on someone else’s behalf. The wolf transformations and the maulings are where the gore really shines through (in everything I’ve read by them, I’ve found that Khaw is incredible at writing gore), and though many of the details of the relationships between characters are kept vague, there’s enough to puzzle it out for yourself. And the ending is a massive gut punch delivered in only four words.
  
• “Natural Skin” by Alyssa Wong – In a cyberpunk Toronto where body modifications are commonplace, a girl makes a trip to talk to a surgeon and make an arrangement. It’s the kind of story where you think you know where it’s going, but then the author springs something far, far worse on you. I felt my stomach drop when the true reason for the visit was revealed, and even if the grisly end is never fully described, knowing what was coming felt like one huge downward spiral. Definitely going to stick in my head for a good long while.
  
• “The Lake” by Tananarive Due – A teacher who just moved to Florida to teach summer school (protip from a born and bred Floridian: do not move to Florida) takes a swim in the lake near her house, and subsequently begins to transform. This story really got under my skin on a fundamental level, and not just because what little explanation we get for the body horror seemed slightly inspired by the stories of brain-eating amoebas we get down here in Florida sometimes. The teacher is also harboring some pretty predatory instincts towards her teenage students, and a veiled reference to an infamous real-world case of a teacher raping and later marrying one of her students just made it even more gut-churning. Essentially, the body horror in this story is turning a predator into a different type of predator, and that transformation is almost a good thing in light of the other implications of the story. (As a side note, to paraphrase the Phineas and Ferb meme: if I had a nickel for every work of literature involving a pedophilic female teacher in northern Florida, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?)
  
• “I’m Always Here” by Richard Christian Matheson – For anyone who needs clarification, this is the I Am Legend author’s son and not the I Am Legend guy himself. We follow a music journalist’s interview with a country music duo with a rather disturbing situation – specifically, being surgically attached. I feel like this story could have gone to some interesting places, and exploring the duo’s character dynamic was interesting, but we only really got to hear from one of the two musicians, and I feel like the story’s a bit too short to truly flesh things out. Interesting ideas, but I wish it was expanded.
  
• “The Look” by Christopher Fowler – Another story set in the world of fashion, this time about two students who try to get the attention of one of the world’s most notorious fashion designers. Needless to say, his methods are extreme, and things turn out more gruesomely than either of the students expected. What made this story especially stand out for me was a big reveal halfway through the story about who backs the designer that added a good deal of conspiracy thriller to the body horror. The evil of the fashion industry might not be new ground to cover, but the imagery and that one reveal are what help the story to really shine.
  
• “The Old Women Who Were Skinned” by Carmen Maria Machado – A dark fairy tale about two elderly sisters who fall for the king and end up tumbling into immortality and body horror, with a good bit of commentary about aging and beauty standards thrown in for good measure. Fairy tale inspired horror is not always a genre that works for me and I’ve enjoyed other Machado stories more than this one, but if you like your horrors inspired by the Brothers Grimm, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
  
• “Spores” by Seanan McGuire – A biotech lab worker comes home to find some mold on the fruit her wife bought, and things spiral from there. In my time reading horror I’ve really found that the most cringe-inducing body horror for me is the stuff that, instead of going over the top gory, is just subtle and low-key enough to be realistic, and this story is no exception. Didn’t help that it involved eye stuff too. “Spores” takes its time to build up the characters, and when the story swings from terrifying into heartbreaking, the emotions hit even harder as a result.
  
• “Sweet Subtleties” by Lisa L. Hannett – A tale of a living construct made of candy created by a master chef to put on sex shows for patrons, and things take a turn for the strange (or even stranger) one night. The concept is pretty strange, but Hannett makes it work, bringing body horror into a story about a person who isn’t even made of flesh. I’m not 100% sure if I got what was going on in the ending, but the imagery throughout is striking.
  
• “Elegy for a Suicide” by Caitlín R. Kiernan – I was excited for this one, and it did not disappoint. A story about two women in a relationship who stumbled across a fungal hole in the ground, one of whom (named E) was infected by it and is now considering taking her own life before the fungus takes her. This one isn’t just haunting because of the body horror, but because of everything else that it represents. The thought of slowly losing a loved one to suicidal depression is truly harrowing, and Kiernan does not pull punches with it. The imagery of cordyceps (which you might know as that fungus that takes over the bodies of ants in order to spread itself – or, if you’re a zombie nerd, that stuff from The Last of Us and The Girl With All the Gifts) slowly taking over E and leaving her a husk is disturbing, and the implication that there may or may not be something operating at a cosmic level behind the infection is even more so. Stories like this are why I absolutely love Kiernan’s writing. Simply astonishing.
  
• “Skin City” by Gemma Files – I encountered this story a while back when I first read Kissing Carrion, and it’s still real damn good. A gritty noir horror story about a man trying to track down an old friend who was tricked into calling something up long ago and now takes people’s skins. I don’t have too much to say about this one, but I enjoyed it. Evocative setting, great atmosphere, and a whole bunch of flayings.
  
• “A True Friend” by Brian Evenson – Can’t really say a whole bunch about this one because of how short it is, but it’s a story based on the idea of being trapped in one’s body. I’d recommend reading it via the link in the comments – apparently the site this was published on focuses on the idea of writing stories based around found images, and knowing what the story is describing helped me picture things better. If you like Brian Evenson and his cold, uncanny style, you’ll like this one.
  
• “What I Found in the Shed” by Tom Johnstone – A father and son discover a machine in their shed that can make living copies from photographs. There’s been a recent death in the family. You can figure out where things go from there. The story is a bit exposition-heavy and I think playing things out over a longer timeline would have been interesting, but it’s still a solid read, and the imagery near the end of the story is creepy as hell.
  
• “Fabulous Beasts” by Priya Sharma – A story about a girl slowly learning of her family’s dark history, and about snakes. I feel like body horror gothic is a rather apt description for this one. The unraveling of dark, disturbing family secrets until the absolute worst happens is done marvelously, the villain is monstrous, and the transformations are haunting.
  
• “Tissue Ablation and Variant Regeneration: A Case Report” by Michael Blumlein – I normally try to avoid talking about spoilers in these posts, but it’s kind of required here so that I can talk about what elevates an already incredible story to something truly astonishing. They’ll all be hidden, don’t worry. Anyways, if you know body horror, you’ve probably heard of “Tissue Ablation” at some point. This story is a disturbingly detailed case report on a truly gruesome surgery being performed without anesthesia. The language is incredibly technical (if you don’t know medicine a lot of it will probably be lost on you – hell, a lot of it was lost on me), and the fact that Blumlein was a surgeon before he started writing just makes all that cold, detailed jargon even more disquieting and realistic. Even when the story crosses into sci-fi territory, it still remains too close to reality to be comfortable. It's a truly unique body horror story, and if you like the genre, it’s a must-read. And now, the spoilers: With all the talk I’ve seen of this story’s visceral gore, I cannot believe nobody talks about how furiously political it is. It takes a minute to sink in, but the early reveal of this story is that it is about revolutionaries of the world mutilating and dissecting Ronald Reagan as slowly and cruelly as possible as retribution for being one of American history’s greatest monsters. Their goal: attempt an experimental procedure that would allow Reagan’s flesh and organs to constantly regenerate so that they can be removed and harvested to provide desperately needed commodities to the third-world countries and impoverished Americans he irrevocably harmed. And this story was published in 1984! Reagan was still in office! And that helps this story to feel truly transgressive. There’s a sense of tranquil but gleeful fury throughout the entire operation, and you can tell that Blumlein really had something to say about what Reagan inflicted upon society. More people deserve to know about this story’s political rage. It has a lot to say. I’ll close this section out by quoting a song by Killer Mike: “I’ll leave you with four words/I’m glad Reagan dead.”
  

Body Shocks is one you definitely need to check out if you’re into the body horror subgenre. As you can see it’s pretty damn sizable, and though there are a few stories that don’t hit it out of the park, there are enough incredible stories to make up for it. Datlow continues to be goddamn great at picking stories for her anthologies, and I cannot wait for whatever she brings to the table next.
Hauntings (edited by Ellen Datlow)
Not a whole lot to say here that’s not just repeating myself about Body Shocks. I like Datlow’s anthologies. The stories sound really interesting. There’s some authors I really like in here. That’s enough for me to give it a shot.

• “Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie” by Pat Cadigan – A simple childhood game of hide and seek in a small New England town spirals out of control, and a boy named Milo suffers the consequences, which echo across time and into his adulthood in unsettling ways. The haunting itself is creepy, but I found the buildup to the death that caused the haunting and the aftermath in Milo’s adult life to be a bit more interesting. The spooky small-town atmosphere really permeates throughout the setting in both time periods, and though the more ghostly events are certainly spooky, I think I had a bit more fun with the story outside of it. Either way, it’s a solid little small-town horror story.
  
• “Hunger: A Confession” by Dale Bailey – In the heat of a miserable, lonely summer, two boys make a strange discovery in their new house’s basement. Goddamn does this one hit it out of the park. The isolated rural setting and the things the boys find are already creepy enough, but the big reveal of the story builds tension and reveals new horrors like the best of campfire stories, and by the time it reaches its gory conclusion, the suspense is unbearable and the grisly aftermath is made even more stomach-turning by what the story doesn't reveal. Absolutely masterful.
  
• “Cargo” by E. Michael Lewis – The crew of a cargo plane transporting the bodies of victims of a real-world mass killing start experiencing strange events on the flight. I’ve read this story before all the way back in The Best Horror of the Year Vol. 1, and it’s still an amazingly effective piece of writing. Knowing the real life tragedy that “Cargo” is based on, it could have been a really exploitative work, but aside from some bits that focus on decay and rot, it’s more heartbreaking than anything else. Innocent children were victims of the event, and this story focuses on that element. These ghosts aren’t malevolent or monstrous. They don’t even fully grasp what’s been done to them. It’s a ghost story, but also a tragedy, and Lewis does not shy away from the unfairness of it all.
  
• “Delta Sly Honey” by Lucius Shepard – An odd but amiable soldier in Vietnam who makes fantastical radio calls at night and calls out to patrols of ghost soldiers gets more than he bargained for when one of the patrols that he made up responds. Wartime horror doesn’t always land for me, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. From the narration to how the ghosts make their presence known, it feels like a campfire story you’d hear from an older relative, and that quality really helped me to enjoy it. The way that the ghosts go from something out in the distance to a very physical presence is creepy as hell, and it’s always an escalation in the story when they show up. Damn good.
  
• “Nothing Will Hurt You” by David Morrell – After a man’s daughter is gruesomely murdered, he becomes obsessed with making sure the killer gets what’s coming to him and finding justice for his daughter. I’ve read one other Morrell short story before (“Dead Image”), and there’s a similar sense of inevitable despair in this one. The guilt that the protagonist feels for failing to protect his daughter is palpable, and that sense of despair and grief permeates every aspect of the story. If there’s one big criticism I have, it’s that the ending kind of sabotages that overwhelming sorrow. It feels a bit like a Twilight Zone or Stephen King-style cruel twist ending, and it’s rather incongruent with everything else leading up to it. With that said, I’m the type who can forgive a story for having a clunky ending if everything leading up to it made an impact and stuck with me, and I think this story hits the mark in many ways.
  
• “The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad No. 4)” by Caitlín R. Kiernan – A Kiernan story is always one of the highlights of a Datlow anthology, and this one is no exception. We follow a man with a few passions: the sea, the fossils of prehistoric sea creatures, and killing. He has commissioned a very specific violin made with fossils inlaid in the wood, and he wants somebody to play it. There is far less of the supernatural, monstrous, and/or eldritch here than there is in most of Kiernan’s bibliography (not to say there is none- it just takes its time to show up), and that makes it really fascinating to me. It’s a psychological serial killer story, but Kiernan’s heavy focus on the ocean and the things that lived in it long ago create a truly incredible gloomy seaside atmosphere. Eventually things build to a breaking point of suspense and terror, and it’s unbearably tense in all the best ways. Truly spectacular.
  
• “Haunted” by Joyce Carol Oates – Oates is an author I am slightly embarrassed to have almost never read. I’ve read “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” in college (though who hasn’t?), but other than jokes about her making weird posts on Twitter, that’s basically the extent of it. This might be the story to change that, because god, I loved this one. It’s about two girls growing up and hitting puberty in a rural American town, their hobby of breaking into abandoned farmhouses, and how it leads one of them to a gruesome end. Oates really communicates the sense of growing up bored in a shitty, dying town, and the subtle eeriness of the farmhouses escalates into terror when the story’s one ghost shows up, especially given the ghost’s deeply uncomfortable sexualized malice. It’s masterfully done, and I definitely need to read more of Oates’ horror. (Lucky for me my local library has an original copy of the now-OOP short story collection where “Haunted” was first published outside of anthologies. Absolutely going to check it out when I get the chance. And as a note for anyone else who wants to read it, but can’t find it thanks to it being out of print: Haunted the short story collection is available on the Internet Archive.)
  
• “The Have-Nots” by Elizabeth Hand – A cosmetologist tells some of her friends the story of a friend of hers, her sad life, an encounter with a certain musical legend, and a strange car. This one didn’t quite land for me. The second-person conversational style works pretty well, but on the whole it just feels kind of ambling and aimless, and not in a way that really works. There is a ghostly element, but it’s incredibly minor. I’ve enjoyed some of Hand’s other writing, but I just couldn’t really get into this one.
  
• “Closing Time” by Neil Gaiman – Someone at a comfy old drinking club tells an unsettling story from his childhood of some acquaintances who he went to an old abandoned mansion with. Gaiman blends childhood memory with a haunting and unexplained occurrence, and it’s wonderful. The story is dripping with atmosphere, from the smoky little club to the empty places of the English countryside, and everything works together to create a palpable sense of nostalgia. The implications of what exactly happened in the house are left almost completely unanswered, but the tiny details we do get are even eerier because of that absence.
  
• “Anna” by F. Paul Wilson – A man is nearly killed by a footstool he recently bought, and in his attempt to figure out why his furniture is attacking him, he digs deep into a tragic New England history. This was incredible. Wilson takes a premise that is very silly and expands it into a murder mystery full of betrayal and grief, with some incredible twists and turns along the way. I really cannot say much about this without spoiling it, but it’s absolutely worth reading.
  
• “Mr. Fiddlehead” by Jonathan Carroll – A woman tries to unravel the mystery of a pair of incredibly expensive earrings she received from a friend, and learns that they were created by something from her friend’s childhood come back to help her as an adult. For the most part this is a fantasy story with a bit of mystery in it for good measure, but the last two pages herald something much, much darker on the horizon. A massive, unsettling cliffhanger of the very good kind.
  
• “The Fooly” by Terry Dowling – On a walk home from the pub, a man encounters a ghost that haunts a lonesome country road. And the ghost is very intent on explaining how exactly he haunts people. It’s a pretty comedic story for a good part of it, with our protagonist trying to convince the ghost to just haunt him some other time, but eventually the horror begins, and it’s of the psychological sort. It’s a quick read but very effective, and the twist in the very end raises a pretty big question about who was really the one getting haunted.
  
• “The Toll” by Paul Walther – An end of summer ghost story about a lake lifeguard, the creepy older guy she works with who just can’t let go of his own summer memories, and something she sees out in the water. The first reveal of ghostly activity is chilling in how vaguely it is presented, and the true loathsomeness of the coworker builds into something nightmarish by the end. The seasonal vibes are perfect, and the ways that hauntings and memory tie into each other become something truly discomforting by the end.
  
• “The Pennine Tower Restaurant” by Simon Kurt Unsworth – I have seen this story hyped up on Twitter before, and good lord, it does not disappoint. The main character, an author named Simon Kurt Unsworth, gets a message from a friend about a historical restaurant just off a major British highway. The restaurant is soon to reopen, and according to this individual, there is something dark in the Pennine Tower Restaurant (which is a real place), and people will die if the place resumes business. What follows is a catalog of all the disturbing incidents and disappearances that have plagued the tower since it opened. The mockumentary style of the writing adds a level of cold reality to the events, and with every new tragedy or unexplained occurrence, the menace of the tower only grows, especially as some of the encounters become truly strange. It’s masterfully done.
  
• “Distress Call” by Connie Willis – This one didn’t really land for me, but I get what it was going for. The combination of ghost story and murder mystery is a solid idea, the shipwreck imagery was really fascinating, and ghost/supernatural stories that have a focus on the grifters of the age of spiritualism in America are always interesting to me, but I think getting tossed into the middle of the story didn’t really work for me personally this time.
  
• “The Horn” by Stephen Gallagher – A group of truckers broken down and hiding out on a freezing winter night try to make a run for help, only to find out that something terrible happened on the road they’re traveling. The abandoned roadside setting is incredible (empty places in the winter are a favorite), and overall it’s just a great retelling of a classic ghost story trope.
  
• “Everybody Goes” by Michael Marshall Smith – A true “less is more” story. Not necessarily a horror story, and while there’s certainly a haunting, the true reveal is a nice little twist. The prose is minimalistic and flat, but intentionally so, and done in a way that fits the child narrating. A really great little summertime ghost story.
  
• “Transfigured Night” by Richard Bowes – A story about a man called the Guest trying to bring back a best friend he made in childhood, the disturbing events that follow throughout his life, and how they connect to a childhood acquaintance he’s dropped in on. As the years pass by and the town that the Guest lives in has more of its most depraved side revealed, the tension builds until a bleak and bloody conclusion. It’s brutal and it’s incredibly done.
  
• “Hula Ville” by James P. Blaylock – A man buys a book of strange landmarks in the California desert and goes exploring. I’m a massive sucker for any kind of story about strange things in the empty places of America, and this one absolutely delivered. It’s a slow burn without much action, but it’s dripping with atmosphere and that slow pace just helped it work even better for me, and when the creepier parts of the desert begin to appear, it just highlights them even more. Loved it.
  
• “The Bedroom Light” by Jeffrey Ford – A couple lays in bed, telling some rather disturbing stories from throughout their lives. It’s not often that a story manages to be disquieting and cozy at the same time, but Ford pulls it off perfectly. The atmosphere is a calm, quiet night, and the unsettling things the characters have seen through their lives clash with that tone in the best way. When the actual haunting appears near the end of the story, it’s even more chilling as a result. It’s wonderful. Read it on a cold night when you’re curled up at home.
  
• “Spectral Evidence” by Gemma Files – Every single haunting story by Files that I’ve read defies traditional haunting story conventions in remarkable ways, and this one continues the trend. The story is told as an incident report regarding a series of photos discovered attached to a case being investigated by a now-dead paranormal researcher. Things got out of control, and the organization that employed the researchers is making sure to catalog every bit of the tragic incident. It’s a remarkable story with plenty of hugely creepy moments that aren’t at all buried by the clinical narrative voice, and as new photos and unsettling notes are laid out by the report, the terror just continues to build. If you’re a fan of stuff like SCP Foundation and The Magnus Archives, track this story down. Files is an incredible writer, and her take on paranormal investigations is just as good as I’ve come to expect from her.
  
• “Two Houses” by Kelly Link – A starship crew on break from suspended animation has the ship AI dress the common area up like a classy old Victorian hall (think Holodeck) so they can tell some ghost stories from their past. At first I really didn’t think this story would be very effective, but I was pleasantly surprised. After two more traditional ghost stories about weird sightings in the countryside, the third story told is a bizarre, almost Brian Evenson-esque uncanny tale about an Arizona house being constructed, then duplicated on the land of an English manor, and the unsettling discoveries made about the house’s past. It’s bizarre in just the right ways, and even if we don’t see any specters, the deep wrongness that permeates the houses is overwhelming. And there’s one last good scare that happens to the ship’s crew in the very last minute, enough to throw you off your guard and call the entire rest of the story into question. This story was a really pleasant surprise, and I was absolutely on board by the end.
  
• “Where Angels Come In” by Adam Nevill – Between this and No One Gets Out Alive, Nevill is damn good at making truly disturbing ghosts. A group of kids decide to break into the scary old mansion that nobody in town will talk about, and their attempt to become schoolyard legends goes horribly wrong. The ghosts in this particular story are feral, predatory things, and it creates a true sense of panic as our characters try to escape. Even the house itself is unsettling, with some really inexplicably eerie statues on the grounds. I really need to find more of Nevill’s ghost stories, because the ones I’ve read so far are incredible.
  
• “Hunger, An Introduction” by Peter Straub – A rather pompous narrator recounts the story of all the suffering throughout his life, and how it is connected to a grisly haunting happening in a local hotel. I enjoyed both sections of the story, and even if I’m not 100% sure if the two parts work together really organically, they’re both certainly interesting and worth a read. The man telling the tale is loathsome and stuck-up in a really comedic way, and the picture he paints of the town where he resides helps to solidify the details of his life. I have admittedly not read enough Peter Straub, and this story served as a reminder that I should check more of his writing out. Rest in peace, Mr. Straub.
  

I am admittedly very tired as I finish writing this post, so I don’t know if I have too much to say in closing. Hauntings is a really solid anthology, and I had a fun time with it. For the most part it’s more subtly creepy than focused on nonstop terror, so if you like slow-building scares and good old-fashioned ghost stories, it’s definitely worth checking out.

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jams, january, japan, japanese, japanese-, japanese-style, japanglish, jar, jarred, jars, jason, jedi, jeffrey, jell, jell-o, jelled, jellied, jellies, jelling, jelly, jelly-like, jelly-roll-style, jenny-o, jeopardy, jerk-style, jerky, jersey, jewish, jibes, jicama, jiggling, jiggly, jimmy, jims, jo, job, jobs, jocks, joe, johann, john, johnson, johnsonville, join, joined, joins, joint, joints, joke, jokes, jolyon, jones, josh, jostle, jostling, journal, journalism, journalist, journey, jowl, joy, joys, jr, judge, judging, judiciously, juice, juice-filled, juiceless, juicer, juices, juicier, juiciest, juiciest-on-the-inside, juiciness, juicy, julia, julian, julienne, julienning, july, jumbled, jumbo, jump, jump-start, jumping, junior's, juniper, junk, jus, just, just-picked, just-thick-enough, justifiably, justus, jut, jutting, ka, kabocha, kalamata, kalbi, kale, kamozawa, karmafreecooking, kebab, kebabs, keen, keep, keepers, keeping, keeps, kegs, keiko, keith, keller, kelp, ken, kenji, kenji's, kennesaw, kentucky, kept, kernel, kernels, ketchup, ketchup-and-brown-sugar, ketchup-filled, ketones, kettle, kewpie, key, keyboard, keys, kfc, kfc's, ki-yay, kick, kick-ass, kicker, kicking, kickstart, kid, kid's, kid-friendly, kidding, kidney, kids, kikkoman, kill, kill-temperature, killed, killer, killers, kilogram, kim, kimball, kind, kinda, kindly, kindred, kinds, king, kings, kink, kinked, kirby, kiss, kit, kitchen, kitchen-sink, kitchenaid, kitchenaid's, kitchens, knead, kneaded, kneading, knee, kneecaps, knew, knickknacks, knife, knight, knives, knob, knock, knockoffs, knocks, knot, knots, know, know-how, knowing, knowledge, known, knows, knuckle, knuckles, kobe, kobe-style, kohlrabi, koji, kombu, kong, koopa, korean, korean-style, koreans, kosher, koshering, kraft, krasner's, kuban, kudamono, kuhn, kuhn-rikon, kurt, kurti, kyoto-style, la, lab, lab's, label, labeled, labeling, labels, laboratories, laboratory, laboratory-grade, laborious, labs, lachrymators, lack, lackeys, lacking, lacks, lactic, lactis, lactose, lacy, ladder, laden, ladies, ladle, ladled, ladleful, ladles, ladner, lafrieda, lager-style, laid, laid-flat, lake, lamb, lamb's, lambs, lambs', lamby, laminated, lamsonsharp, land, land-based, land-dwelling, landmark, lands, language, lanyard, lard, larder, lardons, large, large-crystal, large-holed, large-ice-crystal, large-muscle, large-pot-insisters, largely, larger, largest, lasagna, lasagnas, last, last-minute, lasted, lasting, lasts, latch, latching, late, late-night, late-summer, later, latest, latex, lathe, lather, lathering, latin, latter, laundry, laurel, lava, law, laws, lawyer, lay, layer, layered, layering, layers, laying, layout, lazily, laziness, lazy, ldls, le, leach, lead, leaden, leading, leads, leaf, leaf-coating, leafy, leak, leaking, leaks, leaky, lean, leaner, leanest, leap, leaped, leaping, leaps, learn, learned, learning, least, least-cooked, least-trained, leather, leatherhead, leathery, leave, leave-in, leaven, leavened, leavener, leaveners, leavening, leavens, leaves, leaving, lebowski, lecithin, lecture, lectures, led, lee, leek, leek-potato, leeks, leeway, left, left-handed, leftover, leftover-consumer, leftover-porchetta, leftovers, leg, legally, legion, legislation, legitimately, legoland, legs, legume, legumes, leidenfrost, leidenfrost-ified, leisure, leisurely, lelio, lemon, lemon-, lemon-caper, lemon-dill, lemon-herb-rubbed, lemon-parsley, lemon-rubbed, lemongrass, lemongrass-and-turmeric-, lemongrass-and-turmeric-rubbed, lemons, lemony, lend, lending, lends, length, lengths, lengthwise, lengthwise-seeded, lenox, lens, lent, lentils, leopard-spotted, less, less-processed, less-scrupulous, less-sprung, lessen, lesser, lesson, lessons, lest, let, let's, lethargic, lets, letter, letting, lettuce, lettuce's, lettuce-free, lettuces, level, leveling, levels, lever, leverage, levers, levine, lexical, lexicon, liaison, liars, liberal, liberally, liberating, liberties, licking, licks, lid, lid-off, lid-on, lidded, lie, liebig, liebig's, liedenfrost, lies, life, life's, life-changing, lifeless, lifesaver, lifespan, lifetime, lifetime's, lift, lift-and-tilt, lifted, lifter, lifting, lifts, light, light-flavored, light-sensitive, lighten, lightening, lightens, lighter, lightest, lightly, lightness, lightning, lightweight, like, liked, likelihood, likely, likes, likewise, lily, lima, limburger, lime, limes, limit, limitations, limited, limiting, limitless, limits, limp, line, lineage, linearly, lined, liner, lines, lineup, linger, lingering, lingers, linguine, lining, link, linked, linking, links, linoleic, lip, lipoproteins, lips, liquefied, liquefy, liqueur, liquid, liquid-based, liquid-diet-based, liquid-to-solid, liquids, liquidy, liquor, liquors, list, listed, listen, listened, listing, lists, lit, litany, literally, literature, liters, little, little-person, littleneck, live, lived, liven, liver, livers, livery, livery-tasting, lives, living, lo, load, loaded, loaf, loaf-shaped, loaves, lobster, lobsters, local, locate, located, lock, locked, locking, locks, lodge, lofty, log, log-shaped, logic, logical, logically, logos, logs, loin, loins, lollo, london, lone, lonely, long, long-aged, long-chained, long-cooked, long-cooking, long-enough, long-form, long-grain, long-held, long-term, longer, longer-salted, longer-term, longest, longissimus, longtime, look, looked, looking, looks, looooooove, loop, loose, loose-grained, loose-leaf, loose-textured, loosely, loosely-whisked-together, loosen, loosened, looseness, loosening, loosens, looser, loosest, lops, lose, loses, losing, loss, lost, lot, lots, lotta, lottery, loud, louis-camille, louise, love, loved, lovely, lover, lover's, lovers, loves, loving, low, low-and-slow, low-brow, low-class, low-density, low-fat, low-gauge, low-grit, low-heat, low-light, low-output, low-roast, low-salt, low-sodium, low-starch, low-temperature, low-water-pasta-cooking, lower, lower-, lower-end, lower-fat, lower-graded, lower-middle, lower-mineral-content, lower-protein-rice, lowered, lowering, lowers, lowest, lowest-possible, lowly, lows, lox, loyal, loyalty, ltd, lubricant, lubricate, lubricated, lubricates, lubricating, lubrication, luck, luckily, lucky, luger's, lugging, luigi, luke's, lukewarm, lull, lump, lump-free, lumpier, lumps, lumpy, lunch, luscious, lust, luster, lustrous, luxurious, luxuriously, luxury, lye, lying, lynch, ma, ma-la, mabel's, mac, macadamia, macaroni, macgyver, mach, machine, machine-diced, machinery, machines, macho, macoun, made, madness, magazine, magazine's, magazines, maggi, magic, magical, magically, magnesium, magnet, magnetic, magnetically, magnets, magnificence, magnificent, magnitude, magnum, mail, maillard, main, mainly, mainstream, maintain, maintained, maintaining, maintains, maintenance, major, majority, make, make-up, makeover, maker, maker's, makers, makes, makeshift, makeup, making, makings, maldon, male, malicious, maligned, mall, malleable, maltose, maminha, mammal, mammoth, mammoths, man, manage, manageable, manageably, managed, management, manager, managers, manages, manchego, mandates, mandelbrot, mandoline, mandrills, maneuver, maneuverability, maneuverable, maneuvering, mangled, mangoes, manhandle, manhandling, manhattan, mani, manifest, manmade, manner, mannerisms, mantecato, mantra, manual, manually, manufacture, manufactured, manufacturer's, manufacturers, manufacturing, manuscript, many, many-bladed, manzanilla, maple, maple-glazed, maple-mustard-glazed, maple-sage, mapped, marathon, marbled, marbleing, marbling, marcella, marco, marcona, margarine, margaritas, margherita, margin, marginally, maria, marigold, marinade, marinade's, marinades, marinara, marinate, marinated, marinates, marinating, marination, mario, marion, marital, marjoram, mark, marked, markedly, marker, market, market's, marketable, marketed, marketers, marketing, markets, marks, marmalade, marmite, marnier, marooned, marred, marriage, married, marrow, marry, marsala, marsala-mushroom, marshmallows, mart, martin, martin's, martini, marvel, marvelous, marvelously, masculine, maseca, mash, mashed, mashed-up, masher, mashing, mask, masking, masks, mason, mass, mass-market, massachusetts, massage, massaged, massaging, masse, masses, massive, master, master-apprentice, mastered, mastering, masters, mastery, match, matches, matching, matchsticks, material, materialized, materials, materials-science, math, mathematical, mathematician, mathematics, mathieu, matrix, matter, matters, mature, maturity, maui, maurice, maws, max, maxes, maximize, maximized, maximizes, maximizing, maximum, maxing, may, maybe, mayo, mayo-based, mayonnaise, mayonnaise-based, mayonnaises, maytag, mcdonald's, mcevoy, mcgee, mcgee's, mcmurrer, mcnugget, me, meal, meal-per-day, meals, mealy, mean, meaning, means, meant, meantime, meanwhile, measurable, measure, measured, measurement, measurements, measures, measuring, meat, meat's, meat-based, meat-cutting, meat-deficient, meat-smeared, meatatarian, meatball, meatball's, meatballs, meatier, meatiness, meatiness-detectors, meatless, meats, meaty, mechanical, mechanically, mechanism, medallions, media, medicinal, mediocre, mediterranean, medium, medium-grain, medium-heat, medium-high, medium-low, medium-rare, medium-size, medium-starch, medium-well, meet, meeting, meetings, meets, megastore, meld, mellow, melons, melt, melt-in-your-mouthiest, meltability, melted, meltiness, melting, meltingly, melts, member, members, membrane, membranes, memorable, memories, memorize, memory, men, menial, mennonite, mental, mentality, mention, mentioned, mentor, mentors, mentorship, menu, menus, mercaptans, mercilessly, mercury, mere, meredith, merely, merguez, merguez-style, meringue, meringue-based, meringues, merriment, merula, mes, mesclun, mesh, mess, message, messes, messier, messings-up, messy, met, metabolisms, metal, metal's, metallic, metallic-tasting, metals, metaphor, metaphysical, metaphysics, method, methodology, methods, methylesterase, methylthio, meticulous, meticulously, metmyoglobin, metric, metrics, mexican, mexican-style, mexico, mg, micelles, michael, michel, michelin, michigan, micro-steam, micro-steamed, micro-steaming, microbiologist, microbubbles, microdroplets, microliters, microplane, microplaned, microscope, microscopic, microscopically, microserrations, microwavable, microwave, microwave-frequency, microwave-safe, microwaved, microwaves, microwaving, mid-nineteenth, middle, middles, midgets, midmeal, midrange, midrate, midservice, midway, midwest, might, mignon, migrate, migrates, migrating, mild, mild-flavored, milder, mildest, mildly, mildness, mile, miles, milk, milk-based, milks, milky, mill, millennia, millennium, milli, millimeter, millimeters, million, millions, milliseconds, mills, mince, minced, mincing, mind, mind-blowing, mind-blowingly, mindful, minds, mine, mineral, minerals, minestrone, mingle, mini, mini-fridge, mini-prep, miniature, minimal, minimally, minimize, minimized, minimizing, minimum, minor, minority, mint, minus, minuscule, minute, minute-simmered, minutes, miracle, miraculously, mirepoix, mirin, mirror, mirror-like, misconception, mise, misinterpreted, mislabel, misnomer, miso, miso-based, miso-honey, misono, miss, missed, missing, mission, missionaries, mistake, mistakes, misted, mistreat, mistress, misunderstood, mit, mitigate, mitigates, mitigating, mitts, mix, mixed, mixed-meat, mixer, mixers, mixes, mixing, mixture, mixtures, miyagi, mizuna, ml, mm, mmm-mmm, mo, mobiles, mocked, model, models, moderate, moderately, moderately-well-used, moderation, modern, modernist, modification, modifications, modified, modify, modifying, moist, moist-breasted, moisten, moistened, moister, moistest, moistness, moisture, moisture-absorbing, moisture-deprived, moisture-loss, moisture-retaining, moistureproof, mojo, molasses, molassesy, mold, molded, moldy, molecular, molecule, molecules, molting, mom, mom's, moment, moment's, moments, mon, monday, money, money-grubbing, mongolian, monitor, monitored, monitoring, monkey, monopolizing, monosaccharides, monosodium, monounsaturated, monstrous, monter, monterey, month, month's, months, months-long, monty, mood, moods, moon, moot, moral, morals, morcilla, more, more-bitter-than-mr, more-calories-than-any-entr, more-well-done, morel, morels, moreover, mornay, morning, morning's, mornings, moroccan, morocco, mortadella, mortar, morton's, most, most-heavy-duty, most-shunned, mostly, mother, mother's, mother-in-law, mothers, motion, motor, motorino, motors, mound, mount, mountain, mountainous, mountains, mounted, mouse, mouth, mouth-coating, mouth-friendly, mouth-numbing, mouthfeel, mouthful, mouths, move, moved, movement, movements, moves, movie, movies, moving, mozzarella, mpr, mr, mrs, much, much-maligned, much-needed, mud, muddy, muenster, muffin, muffins, mug, muir, mulato, mulatto, mull, multigrain, multiple, multiple-flip, multiply, multiplying, multitaskers, mumbling, mung, murray, muscle, muscles, muscles', musculature, mush, mushier, mushiness, mushroom, mushroom-marsala, mushrooms, mushy, mushy-ass, music, musical, musky, muslim, must, mustard, mustard-glazed, mustard-like, mustards, mustardy, musty, mutation, mutilating, muttering, mutually, my, myhrvold, myint, myoglobin, myosin, myrhvold, myriad, myself, mystery, myth, myth-busting, mythical, myths, n', naan-style, nacho, nachos, nail, naivet, naked, name, named, namely, names, nano, nap, napped, naps, narrow, narrower, narrowly, nasty, nathan, nation, national, nationally, native, natural, natural-casing, naturally, nature, navigate, nay, nd, neapolitan, near, near-cult-like, near-endless, near-fascist, near-pudding-like, near-spherical, nearby, nearer, nearly, neat, neater, neatest, neatly, nebraska, necessarily, necessary, necessity, neck, necktie, nectar, need, needed, needing, needless, needn't, needs, negative, negligible, neighbor, neighbor's, neighborhood, neighboring, neighbors, neither, neon-red, nerd, nerd's, nerdfolk, nerdling, nerdlings, nerds, nerdy, nerves, nesting, nestle, net, nets, network, network's, networking, networks, neutral, neutral-flavored, neutralize, never, never-ending, never-fail, nevertheless, new, newer, newfangled, newport, news, next, nice, nicely, nicest, niche, nick, nick-and-peek, nickel-plated, nickelodeon, nickerson, nickname, nicks, nifty, night, night-and-day, nightly, nightmare, nights, nine, nineteenth, ninety, ninth, ninth-grade, nipple, nirvana, nitrate, nitrates, nitric, nitrites, nitrogen, no, no-boil, no-brainer, no-go, no-handed, no-nonsense, no-reason-to-memorize, no-stir, no-veal, nobel, noble, nobody, nod, nodding, nohow, noise, nomenclature, non, non-knife, non-kosher, non-root, nonacademic, nonaromaticized, nonbreaded, nonbutter, nondangerous, none, none-too-crisp, nonenhanced, nonetheless, nonexistent, nonintimidating, nonkosher, nonmeaty, nonmustardy, nonna, nonna's, nonresters, nonsalted, nonsense, nonsmashed, nonstick, nonwet, noodle, noodles, nooks, noon, nope, nor, nora, nordic, norm, norma, normal, normal-appetited, normal-sized, normalize, normalized, normally, norman, north, northeast, northern, northern-style, norton, nose, noses, not, not-insignificant, not-so-inexpensive, not-the-least-bit-chalky, not-too-hot, not-too-sweet, notably, notch, note, notebook, noted, notes, nothing, nothing's, notice, noticeable, noticeably, noticed, notices, noticing, noting, notoriously, novel, novelty, novice, now, now's, now-closed, nowhere, noxious, ns, nuanced, nubby, nucleation, nude, nugget, nuggets, nuh-uh, nuker, numb-hot, number, number-one, numbered, numbers, numbing, numerical, numero, numerous, nuoc, nurse, nurture, nut, nut-free, nutmeg, nutmeg-scented, nutrition, nutritionists, nutritious, nutritive, nuts, nuttiness, nutty, ny, nylon, nyu, nz, oak, oaxaca, obfuscating, object, objects, obligatory, oblique-cutting, oblivion, oblong, obscure, obscuring, observation, observations, observe, observed, observers, observing, obsessed, obsession, obsessive, obsessive-compulsive, obsessive-emulsive, obsessives, obtaining, obvious, obviously, occasion, occasional, occasionally, occasions, occitan, occupied, occupying, occur, occurred, occurrence, occurring, occurs, ocean, odd, oddballs, oddity, oddly, odds, odor, odor-free, odorproof, odors, oelek, of, off, off-putting, off-season, off-site, offensive, offer, offered, offering, offerings, offers, office, officer, officially, offset, offspring, oft-recommended, often, oftentimes, oh, oil, oil's, oil-and-vinegar, oil-based, oil-dressed, oil-hating, oil-in-water, oil-loving, oil-packed, oil-to-vinegar, oiliness, oiling, oils, oily, ok, okinawan, okra, ol', old, old-fashioned, old-school, older, oldest, oleic, olfactory, oli, olio, olive, olive-oil-and-butter-based, olives, olivey, omega-, omelet, omelets, omit, omitted, omitting, on, on-the-cob, on-the-fence, on-the-fly, onboard, once, once-a-year, once-in-a-while, once-over, one, one's, one-and-a-third, one-chicken-sized, one-dimensional, one-quarter, one-sixth, one-skillet, one-tenth, one-third, one-time, oneness, ones, onglet, onion, onion's, onion-butter-stock-potato, onion-scented, onions, onions', oniony, online, only, onto, onward, oof, ooze, oozes, oozing, oozy, opaque, opaque-white, open, open-faced, opened, opening, opens, operate, operation, operations, opinion, opinions, opportunities, opportunity, opposed, opposite, opt, opted, optimal, optimally, optimize, optimizing, optimum, opting, option, optional, options, opus, or, orange, orange-chipotle, orange-cream-cheese, orange-pink, orange-scented, oranges, orbital, orbitally, orbits, orchestrated, order, ordered, ordering, orderly, orders, orecchiete, orecchiette, oregano, organ, organelles, organic, organisms, organization, organizational, organize, organized, organizing, oriented, origin, original, originally, originated, origins, oringer, oringer's, oro, oroweat, orsini, ortiz, os, oscillating, osmosis, ostensibly, other, other's, others, otherwise, ottolenghi, ouch, ought, ounce, ounces, our, ourselves, out, out-of-the-can, outcome, outcomes, outdated, outdoor, outdoors, outer, outermost, outlet, outliers, outlined, outlines, output, outputs, outright, outs, outside, outsides, outstanding, outstripping, outward, outweigh, oval, ovalbumin, ovals, oven, oven's, oven-fried, oven-safe, oven-sear, oven-temperature, ovenproof, ovens, over, over-, over-or, overall, overbrowning, overcaramelize, overcaramelized, overcook, overcooked, overcooking, overcooks, overdeveloped, overdone, overdoneness, overeducated, overfill, overfilled, overflowing, overhandle, overhang, overheated, overheating, overindulging, overinflate, overkill, overknead, overlap, overlapping, overlaps, overloaded, overlook, overlooked, overlord, overlords, overly, overmarinate, overmix, overmixed, overmixing, overnight, overnight-brined-then-fried, overpoached, overpower, overpowering, overriding, overrise, overset, overstatement, overtake, overtime, overtly, overtone, overturned, overview, overwhelm, overwhelmed, overwhelming, overwhelms, overwhipped, overwhisked, overwork, overworking, overwrought, overzealous, ovomucin, ovotransferrin, owe, owl, own, owned, owner, owning, owns, oxford, oxidation, oxidize, oxidized, oxidizing, oxo, oxo's, oxtail, oxtails, oxyacetylene, oxygen, oxygen-rich, oxygenation, oxymyoglobin, oyster, pace, pacific, pack, package, packaged, packager, packages, packaging, packed, packet, packets, packing, packs, pact, paddle, pads, paellas, page, pages, paid, pain, painful, painfully, painless, pains, painstakingly, paint, pair, pairing, pairs, pajamas, palate, palates, pale, pale-green, pale-orange, pale-orange-red, pale-yellow, paler, palest, palm, palms, palombino, pan, pan's, pan-burner, pan-grill, pan-roasted, pan-roasting, pan-sear, pan-seared, pan-searing, panade, pancake, pancake-like, pancakes, pancetta, pane, paneer, panel, panela, panful, panic, panko, panko-style, pans, pantry, pants, paper, paper-thin, paper-towel-lined, paper-toweled

Gaming has always been a pretty constant activity in my life and although the time I'm able to dedicate to it has dwindled as I get older I've never really totally lost interest or motivation in it like recently.
I can't really pinpoint a moment, but over the past 3 or 4 months - basically since the beginning of the new year - I haven't played a minute of anything - Steam shows I last played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl in December and that's it - and no real urge, either, even though I'll readily admit Elden Ring looks cool I'm just not.. in the mood.. if that makes sense?
I might be concerned I'm depressed if I weren't finding similar enjoyment in a different hobby.
Don't get me wrong I know it's totally possible to carve out time to do both and I probably will drift back towards gaming at some point but when I get focused on something it tends to be an all-consuming, all-or-nothing kind of deal. I've heard that's a potential symptom of ADHD but I shouldn't self-diagnose because my serotonin/dopamine delivery system is already a mess after years of weed and screen (ab)use. I've had a last.fm account since 2009 (shoutout to all my fellow scrobblers over at /lastfm) so I can kind of track the majority of my listening and so far in 2022 I've listened to more than 70% of the total amount I listened to in entirety of 2021 - at my current rate of listening I will triple the amount of listening I did the year previous.
Anyway here's a handful of songs I've (re)discovered recently and just wanted to share - mostly guitar-driven, kind of aggressive stuff just 'cause that's my inclination.
Fiddlehead - Heart to Heart
Neurosis - Lost
The Tallest Man on Earth - I Love You. It's A Fever Dream.
Pile - A Labyrinth With No Center
Chelsea Wolfe - Demons
Bear vs. Shark - Ma Jolie (Live)
Cursed - The Void
KEN Mode - No Gentle Art
Dystopia - Stress Builds Character
Slow Fire Pistol - Sever Myself
Protest the Hero - Rivet
Incendiary - Front Towards Enemy
Pedro the Lion - Bad Things to Such Good People
Webbed Wing - Years
The Sonder Bombs - Twinkle Lights (Live)
Pg. 99 - In Love With an Apparition
Gouge Away - Only Friend
Leonard Cohen - Love Calls You By the Name
Title Fight - Frown (Acoustic Version)
I could probably keep adding stuff well past the point of reason so I'll just cut myself off here and invite you all to post whatever music you're super into right now.

I realize I’m probably late to the party, but this has taken me several tries, hundreds of creative animal names, and a bunch of frustrated restarts later - the Community Center has been completed before the end of the first Winter!
Beach farm, standard bundles, single player.
The most consistently challenging items for me to get my hands on: red cabbage (of course), truffle, rabbit foot, and fiddlehead fern.
For those who have been-there-done-that, what other things do you focus on in game to make things a bit trickier?

A few weeks back I posted a Part 1 relating to planning during a game and did a deep-dive on a great Zone 4 discussion from ESA White which led to a successful rotate into end-game.
This part will be more focused on execution (both strong & not-so-strong) to help your team review the planning you're doing in game. Let's get into it...

How well can you improv?

Example 1: Too little too late
Really simple example of Stompez just not having enough time to see the ping or play the call effectively. He got kind of ripped on for this play but when you look at it in context of how much pressure he was under when the call was made it's no wonder it wasn't executed.
How to remedy?

1. Gotta make the plan more clear ahead of time
2. Or, if you’re in the shit and going into improv mode, Lucas has to be first up balloon and calling to follow him.

​
Example 2: Good attempt but too much left to chance
Prod does a great job here of getting some callsout really quick and concise both general (go left) and concise (run to the wall) while the world is going to shit around them... but overall it breaks down the second he goes quiet and there is nothing to fall back onto.
How to remedy?

1. Need a more specific end goal which should have been established ahead of time. The biggest thing that can be controlled is not making a last minute 'go left' decision.
2. The 'follow-the-leader' style for improv rotates is definitely the more reliable as your starting point - things can branch off from there but in general the default should be the 'move on me' call.

​
Example 3:" Move on my head"
There are a million examples from Albralelie doing this so well, here's is one in a slightly less chaotic rotate.
- Once he recognizes that they're going into improv mode, he immediately calls everyone over for a group hug before they move.
​
​

Does everyone buy-in?

Example 1: Rogue going Rogue
This example is the epitome of bringing Ranked habits into comp. The plan may be simple ("go here") but it's on everyone to not only follow it, but to reinforce it. Rogue gets distracted, but Zero also bites on it as well and gives up the rotate.
How to remedy?
- It's on all members of the team to wipe this kinda stuff out from your game. Full stop.
​
Example 2: The exact opposite of Example 1
I love the call outs here from PK (formerly CLT)
"They bubbled!"
"Fuck that, who cares, let's rotate"
​
Example 3: Walk this way
Aerosmith and Mel Brooks knew a little something about hard rotates into zone. Joey is on the same page to move as a team but doesn't fully buy in to how they are playing the rotate. There is no benefit to him peeking there. Prod could comm this a bit louder but the intention is to not take damage and fight for the spot after portal. lol I can just hear how this would have played out if it was TSM "Snipe are you a fucking idiot?! Crouch against the wall and stop taking damage!!"
How to remedy?

• As the IGL, keep reinforcing 'why' you're doing what you're doing. "I'm crouching on the wall here to not take damage, follow do not take damage."

For anyone interested, Here is the plan being made before hand... such a good job of being specific and getting everyone on the same page!
​

Clean & Concise

Example 1: Why leave anything to chance
TSM just needs to go 30m into a truck, but why risk something catching them off guard. Its like clockwork for Hal to reduce RNG in every way possible
​
Example 2: A man of few words
Such simple comms and teamwork here, just move together.. peek together..
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That's all for now, hope y'all enjoyed!

It's a new era of The Kirk Minihane Show. Justin leads off by pitching himself to Kirk for a full-time job and will have a formal presentation later this week. Kirk recaps the Madawaska live event and the hit piece about him in the Fiddlehead Focus written Hannah Caitlin. Another win for Kirk as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower-court judge’s move to dismiss Curtatone’s lawsuit. Kirk announces the next live show that will be held at the Saco Drive-In yet again. Tickets are on-sale right now. Support Our Sponsors: AllBirds- Discover your perfect pair at barstool.link/AllbirdsBSS Better Help- Get 10% off your first month at barstool.link/KIRKBetterHelp Miltons- Shop online at barstool.link/MiltonsBSS Simpli Safe- Go to barstool.link/simplisafeKIRK today to customize your system Vincero Watches- Go to barstool.link/kirkvincero