An excerpt from Tabby Kat’s story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.
I don’t care what species you are, when you come home to find your parents sitting awkwardly on the couch, everything automatically becomes terrifying. When you’re a werewolf, it’s just a slightly more hairy situation.
“Mama? Papa?” I dropped my purse outside the living room door. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great, Magnolia dear,” said my mother. “Your father and I just want to talk with you.”
Translation: everything is not great. There’s a problem, most likely with something or other that I had done in the last week or so. Something unladylike. Something that was drawing unnecessary attention to me, and by extension, to my family. I took a deep and hopefully subtle breath and braced myself.
My father gestured to the chair across from the couch. “Sit down.”
I sat. Nobody said I wasn’t a good, obedient daughter. A little strange, yes. A little out of the ordinary? Sure. Then again, I was part of a family of werewolves. You’d think that weird would be expected… but no.
`My parents looked at each other, then my father continued. “We’ve been thinking about your future. Nola, what are your plans?”
“For like, how long in the future are we talking?” I looked at them blankly. “Five years? Ten? Up until death?”
“Five years is a good start, but we were considering a range a little more long-term than that. Any ideas at all?”
I shrugged. “I guess I continue to work at college writing lab, correct freshman grammar, maybe get something published eventually? It’s not a bad job, all things considered, even though…”
My father shook his head. I could see thick, dark hair start to grow anxiously from his face. “Your job isn’t the issue.” That was a surprise, considering all the times he’d told me getting an English degree was a bad idea. “I’m thinking more along the lines of family. You can’t stay in your childhood pack forever.”
Read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE! Download the entire issue for any price on Gumroad or Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.
Statue of Bastet
Bronze figurine of the goddess Bastet. Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC, 23 x 7 cm. Now in the Musée de Picardie, France.
npr:
Cross the treeless, frozen tundra of southwest Alaska, over ice-covered lakes and ponds near the Bering Sea, and you’ll find the first community in the U.S. counted for the 2020 census.
While most of the country waits to take part in the once-a-decade head count of the U.S. population, the residents of Toksook Bay, Alaska — home to members of the Nunakauyarmiut Tribe — are ahead of the national curve. Local counting, which officially started in the village the afternoon after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, wrapped up on Jan. 27.
It’s the third Alaska Native village selected by the bureau since 2000 to be the site of the first count in remote Alaska, where the census has kicked off for decades before rolling out to the rest of the country by April.
‘We Are Part Of The United States’: The 1st People Counted For The 2020 Census
Image Credit: Claire Harbage/NPR
Ibis Figurine
Statuette of Ibis, sacred animal of the god Thoth, made of bronze and wood. Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC. Now in the Private Collection.
Dandelions =/= weeds
Like if you agree
Dandelions = Little drops of sunshine lighting up the earth.
Dandelions = Yummy food for pollinators and humans.
Dandelions = Medicine.
Dandelions = A resilient and adaptable plant that grows in areas most things can’t.
Dandelions = An improvement to your bland, useless lawn.
Dandelions = A gift.
Dandelions are actually part of the daisy family; Therefore dandelions literally arent weeds.
Yes! Dandelions are in Asteraceae, which also includes daisies, sunflowers and lots of other wonderful plants! All plants have a family, but people still consider certain ones weeds :)
The idea of “weeds” is a very human one. Humans love to control nature and when plants grow in areas where they’re undesired, they’re called weeds. The definition of a weed:
“a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth” especially : “one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants”
Basically a weed is any plant that humans have deemed as less valuable than other plants. It honestly amazes me how many people call all of their local plants weeds because they a) weren’t introduced by humans for a specific reason, b) grow abundantly without human influence/despite human influence and therefore must be bad or c) that person doesn’t know the name of the plant, therefore it must be a weed. If a plant shows up in my garden that I didn’t plant, I use the term “volunteer”! :)
Dandelions are non-native weeds and that’s ok and they are valid.
Just want to clarify that they are fairly harmless in the scheme of things if you live in the midwest. I have read a few papers talking about the issues behind their nectar and its effect on local pollinators as a detriment; but, I will assure you that they are better then 1950s turf grass and will naturalize without to much damage. They aerate the soil during winter, and they are associated with less hydro lag when it is compared to turf grasses by a decent margin. also bless all crack plants for existing in sidewalk cracks.
Yeah, I wish there was a bit more nuance in the Weeds Discourse, because weeds can be a) native plants holding on for dear life b) non-native naturalized plants that have been here so long we can’t say what overall positive or negative affect they have really because we have no control group area where they don’t exist and they’re pretty cool anyway c) non-native naturalized plants that are an issue mainly for agriculture settings but otherwise would be the same as b and d) invasive plants that openly choke out, destroy, poison, or overwhelm native areas or provide hosts for invasive insects/diseases/fungi
Dandelions? Group B weed.
Wadjet Eye Pectoral of Tutankhamun
This pectoral was found on the mummy of the king Tutankhamun, symbol of the entity of the body. The cobra goddess Wadjet wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt “Deshret”, while the vulture goddess Nekhbet wearing the White Crown of the Upper Egypt “Hedjet”. Howard Carter believed that this pectoral was a piece of jewelry that the king would have worn while still living.
From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 61901
Comfort food dinner at Panera with @kyle.belmont since he had a gift card to use up. Mac & cheese with avocado, so yummy. #ieatfoodjustlikeyou #noms #macandcheese #avocado🥑 #comfortfood #panera #delicious #tastycakes #pasta #carbs #witnessmybeanchewing
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