'Deja vu'

A video shared on Facebook claims portable toilets have purportedly been set up outside a Walmart in Tennessee to accommodate migrants. Verdict: False There is no evidence supporting the claim. Posts shared on Facebook in December 2023 and January 2024 indicate the Walmart in Sevierville‚ Tennessee is being renovated. A spokesperson for Walmart denied the […]

Book Recommendations Backlist Bonanza Backlist Bonanaza: 5 Underrated Romantasy Books Five books with all the magic and swooning you could want. By Alex Brown | Published on February 26‚ 2024 icon-comment 1 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed What is romantasy exactly? Is it romantic fantasy? Fantasy romance? A new name for paranormal romance? A whole new subgenre or just another marketing term? I’ve seen all kinds of books given the label “romantasy”‚ from romance novels with fantasy elements to fantasy books with romantic themes to fantasy books where there just happens to be a romance subplot. Right now I think romantasy is more vibes than anything‚ so that’s what I’m bringing you this month. Here are five books with all the magic and swooning you could want. Sunshine by Robin McKinley Starting off strong with a classic. This is one of those novels that every reader obsessed with vampires gets around to at some point. A young baker‚ Sunshine‚ gets kidnapped by vampires and is set up as bait for Constantine‚ who is sentenced to death. She uses her sun powers to help them both escape. He needs her for her ability to let him move about in daylight‚ she needs him for his strength and protection. Cue romance. It’s been nearly 14 years since McKinley teased a second book set in the same world and even longer since she announced she would be open to writing a direct sequel‚ which probably means we’re never getting more Rae “Sunshine” Seddon. At least what we got is literary perfection. (Berkley Publishing Group‚ 2003) Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles (Green Men #1) Disgraced archaeologist Saul Lazenby tries to keep it together as magic and hearts collide in this historical romance by one of the reigning queens of the Romance genre. Saul gets tangled up with Randolph‚ an arcanist whose life is dedicated to protecting his country and his people from those who use magic for ill. Charles has a ton of historical romantic fantasies—The Charm of Magpies series is the big one that always makes the rec lists—but this is my personal favorite. If you want more in the way of Emily Tesh’s Greenhollow duology‚ here you go. (KJC Books‚ 2017) Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier (Tower of Winds #1) Makiia Lucier is so good at writing YA fantasy romance novels. The fantasy is always creative and compelling‚ and the romance is sweet without being sugary. Her stories are complex and have a sharper edge than you expect‚ but the emotional beats are grounded in honesty. Mapmaker Elias and Mercedes the spy team up to untangle the mystery of what really happened the day King Ulises’ brothers were murdered. Their journey takes them across fantastical realms and through hard truths before the pair find their way to each other’s hearts. (Clarion Books‚ 2018) Best Laid Plaids by Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures #1) It took me a while to check out this series‚ mostly because I can’t stand puns and the series title is like nails on a chalkboard to me. But Cornell Collins is one of my favorite audiobook narrators so I decided to try it anyway. I’m so glad I did! Set in Scotland in 1928‚ the story is about Dr. Ainsley Graham‚ an academic who trashed his promising career by revealing that he could see ghosts‚ and WWI vet turned psychology student Joachim Cockburn who is using Ainsley as a bit of a test case. Supernatural occurrences and romantic scenarios ensue. (Carina Press‚ 2020) Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues by H.S. Valley Never going to not yell about this book to people. Sorry not sorry. I just love it so much! Tim is a Māori teen attending a secret magical boarding school in New Zealand. He’s assigned to raise an egg with his nemesis‚ Elliott. Romance tropes blend with teen fantasy drama in enchanting ways‚ but the real heart is Tim dealing with his anxiety and issues with his father. It’s often comped as Red‚ White‚ and Royal Blue crossed with The Magicians‚ but I’d put it closer to Carry On meets In Other Lands. (Hardie Grant Books‚ 2023)[end-mark] The post Backlist Bonanaza: 5 Underrated Romantasy Books appeared first on Reactor.

News Naruto Live-Action Naruto in The Works‚ With Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton Directing Is this the reason why the director left Avengers: The Kang Dynasty? By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on February 26‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Lionsgate is finally moving ahead with a live-action adaptation of the popular Naruto series‚ with Marvel Cinematic Universe alum Destin Daniel Cretton helming the project. The Naruto film will be based on the manga by Masashi Kishimoto‚ where a young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki strives to become the leading ninja in his village. Cretton‚ whose current credits include directing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‚ its upcoming sequel‚ and the MCU TV series‚ Wonder Man‚ expressed great joy in joining the project. “It was a true honor to meet Kishimoto-san in Tokyo and hear his expansive vision for his creation‚” Cretton said in a statement. “We are very excited to collaborate and bring Naruto to the big screen.” The news of Cretton’s involvement also comes after we learned last November that the filmmaker stepped down from directing another Marvel film‚ Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. That move likely freed up his schedule to pitch himself to the Naruto creator. “When I heard of Destin’s attachment‚ it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his‚ and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto‚” Masashi Kishimoto said in the same statement. “After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people‚ I became convinced that there is no other director for Naruto.” He added‚ “In actually meeting Destin‚ I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input‚ and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process. To put it simply‚ the live-action Naruto is bound to be a film with spectacular action and profound drama. I can’t help but be excited for it.” The project is still in its early days‚ so no news yet on casting‚ let alone a release date. [end-mark] The post Live-Action Naruto in The Works‚ With <;i>;Shang-Chi’<;/i>;s Destin Daniel Cretton Directing appeared first on Reactor.

Book Recommendations book review Unapologetically Queer: Saara El-Arifi’s Faebound A review of the first book in a new romantasy series. By Liz Bourke | Published on February 26‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Faebound begins a new series from Saara El-Arifi: a fantasy set in a world of perpetually warring elves‚ where an exiled soldier stumbles across the hidden race of fae‚ who are cursed to remain in their underground kingdom on account of their eradication of an entire species.  Yeeran is the youngest colonel in the history of her tribe‚ the Waning elves. They fight with the other elven tribes over a precious resource‚ the mineral known as fraedia. The wars have been going on for longer than anyone can recall‚ and it has driven their society to the point where starving children are enlisted younger than ten years of age. From the text‚ the fighting seems confined to the region where the resource is located‚ and the regions that the elves inhabit do not seem to be particularly vast. Yeeran’s lover is the elected ruler of their tribe; Yeeran’s sister‚ Lettle‚ is a diviner‚ following the old magic of foretelling that few among the elves still respect. When Yeeran makes a fatal error on her first day in her new command‚ exceeding her orders and getting several hundred troops under her command killed‚ her chieftain lover orders her exiled in lieu of her execution. To Yeeran‚ exile is a fate worse than death. When‚ soon after she’s left in the wilderness beyond the bounds of elven civilisation‚ she sees one of the magical beasts—the obeah—whose hide and bones are necessary to make the tools that allow elves to deploy offensive magic‚ she thinks that maybe she can earn a reprieve by killing it and bringing its skin home. For obeah are rare and growing rarer‚ and Yeeran still believes her lover wants what Yeeran wants: an end to the war‚ and for their tribe to live in peace and prosperity. Unbeknownst to Yeeran‚ Lettle has followed her to the wilderness‚ accompanied by Rayan‚ one of Yeeran’s loyal under-officers. They meet up with her in time to witness her kill the obeah—and in time to be captured by a party of fae‚ secretly scouting in the world outside their prisoning homeland. The obeah are companion animals to the fae. A bond with an obeah is what allows a fae to use their innate magic‚ but the fae’s life is linked to that of the obeah‚ and vice versa: To kill one is to kill the other. Yeeran has just killed the obeah that was bound to a prince of the fae‚ and their fae captors mean to bring her back to their home to execute her—and to keep her companions in perpetual imprisonment. The leader of their captors is the fae Furi‚ sister to the dead prince. She’s viciously angry at Yeeran. Yeeran finds her attractive. Buy the Book Faebound Saara El-Arifi Buy Book icon-close Faebound Saara El-Arifi Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget Yeeran’s execution is forestalled when an obeah chooses to bond with her. This is unprecedented in fae history. Instead‚ she’s sentenced to a term of service in the fae military—if she can survive an initiation designed to demonstrate her mastery of fae magic. The people training her for that initiation include Furi‚ who still hates her‚ and Prince Nerad‚ the only other surviving heir to the fae throne. Meanwhile‚ Lettle is falling in love with Rayan (and is convinced that a prophecy means she’ll cause his death if she lets herself love him) while trying to gather information on fae society and the constraints of the fae’s imprisoning curse in order to escape. Only members of the royal family can prise open the barrier holding the fae in their underground kingdom‚ but if the royal family leaves‚ the kingdom will decay. Power‚ politics‚ and fraught personal relationships collide with the assassination of the fae queens and the revelation that Rayan is the secret child of the dead fae prince‚ and so eligible for kingship according to the magic that chooses fae rulers. There is much of interest in Faebound: the glimpses we get of elven society‚ with their perpetual war and elected leaders; fae society and the magics that bind the fae to their underground kingdom; Yeeran and Lettle’s dysfunctional but loyal family relationship; Yeeran’s taste in women and unshakeable (yet unearned) loyalty to her chieftain; the mystery of what the fae are in fact doing in the world above. And yet I do not see how Faebound ties the thread of its events together into a unified narrative. It is the first book in a series‚ but I have no sense for its narrative arc‚ or the potential direction of its sequel. Part of this is that our two viewpoint characters‚ Lettle and Yeeran‚ do not make many intentional decisions that much effect the events of the narrative: They’re central to events‚ in that several important things happen while they’re present‚ but they’re not moving most of these developments‚ and certainly not on purpose. Staggering around trying to figure out how things work is intensely relatable‚ I grant you‚ but not particularly satisfying. All the more so as more than one piece of significant information is hidden from both viewpoint characters and the reader until Faebound’s conclusion‚ and at least one of those pieces of information—that Rayan‚ too‚ has become bound to an obeah—is hidden by someone who is supposed to be their friend and ally for very slight reasons. (Although the characters are in their twenties and thirties‚ they frequently act like young‚ insecure teenagers‚ and fail to talk to each other about things of emotional import in favour of storing up grievances to blow up angrily at inopportune moments‚ or of ignoring each other’s reasonable concerns until a furious argument is the inevitable result‚ or of moping resentfully because they assume that someone they’ve turned down for a sexual relationship might—they’re just assuming‚ rather than talking about it—be having a sexual relationship with someone else.) And some connections are simply never drawn: Yeeran’s relationship with Furi combines antagonism with sexual tension and eventually leads to respect and also orgasms‚ but never leads Yeeran to re-examine her previous relationship with her old chieftain‚ or consider whether there are any problems associated with getting sexually involved with someone who holds a position of power relative to you—even though Furi occupies a similar position of authority‚ including over Yeeran‚ as her previous lover. I wanted to enjoy Faebound. And at points‚ I did: The prose is straightforward—stylistically‚ Samantha Shannon is a good comparison—the character relationships engaging‚ the setup interesting and full of potential. But Faebound’s characters seem to me more observers of the narrative than drivers of it‚ and they make too few connections in what they’re observing (and see too few thematic complexities) for me to feel satisfied with the experience. Should I soften this conclusion? Should I tell you that reading is a matter of taste‚ and that where one person sees a lack‚ another finds a perfect balance? But you know this already. I think Faebound is probably perfectly pitched to appeal to people who prefer their epic fantasy to be less dense and much more straightforward than I do‚ but just as unapologetically queer. [end-mark] Faebound is published by Del Rey. The post Unapologetically Queer: Saara El-Arifi’s <;i>;Faebound<;/i>; appeared first on Reactor.

Read the original post "How We Make $8000+ A Month Online from our Homestead" on A Modern Homestead. Last year we decided to stop living in the rat race of the corporate world and work towards making money online instead! As of 2019‚ we now make over $8‚000 a month online from our 8-acre homestead! How To Make Money Online You see‚ everything changed one day in January 2016‚ when my husband came... Read More The post "How We Make $8000+ A Month Online from our Homestead" appeared first on A Modern Homestead.

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Important information for anyone kissing frogs in search of a prince – if you’re hoping to start a family‚ measure the testicles first. The bigger the balls a glass frog is carrying‚ the less chance it will make a good father. The finding is consistent with evolutionary models‚ and for that matter‚ with evidence from some other species‚ but the pattern is not universal.Along with survival of the fittest‚ evolution is driven by sexual selection‚ among other processes. The animal kingdom has found a lot of different ways for this to operate‚ usually – although not always – among males. In some species‚ males woo females with bright colors or dances‚ in others they fight for dominance. Then there are the species where sperm competition is key to passing on one’s genes‚ usually identifiable by the size of the cojones. This has now been verified in neotropical glass frogs‚ with the findings appropriately published on Valentine’s Day. But there’s a price to pay for all that testicular endowment‚ and it comes when it’s time to raise the young.Many Centrolenidae‚ popularly known as glass frogs for their transparent abdominal skin‚ live in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America‚ when not presenting The Muppet Show. The females lay eggs on leaves hanging over water before moving on to greener ponds. The males hop in to fertilize after the female has gone‚ which means she exercises no choice over the father‚ and there can be lots of competition over a newly laid clutch.How this competition plays out varies by species‚ providing Anyelet Valencia-Aguillar of São Paulo State University and collaborators with an opportunity to explore strategies.Males of some glass frog species have spines sticking off their upper arms‚ which they use as weapons to fight over who gets to spread their seed. Others guard the eggs‚ both from rivals and sources of danger. Another form of competition – we suggest not reading the next bit while eating – is by maximizing sperm production so that if multiple males all jizz over the same set of eggs‚ those with the most sperm have the most tadpoles. Naturally‚ larger testicles are key to winning the sperm wars.This raises the question of the extent to which frogs manage an all-of-the-above strategy‚ or if there is a trade-off between approaches. An alternative idea is that growth in testicle size is driven not by competition‚ but by females producing larger clutch sizes. In this scenario‚ frogs need big balls simply to be able to handle a whole clutch.Rainforests lend themselves to species diversification‚ and glass frogs are no exception. Comparing characteristics of 37 species‚ the researchers concluded that testes were larger among species that (shall we say) eat‚ shoot‚ and leave‚ than those that stick around to keep the eggs safe.On the other hand‚ or upper arm‚ the authors also expected males with fighting spines would come less equipped down below‚ but found no statistically significant relationship.Apparently‚ fighting capacity only takes you so far in the frog world‚ and even members of species with arm spines need a backup strategy in the crown jewels. Nor were the males much larger than females among small-balled species‚ a pattern often seen with other animals such as great apes‚ where gorillas don’t need to engage in sperm competition‚ using their size and strength to repel rivals.“Paternal effort could lead to a decrease in gonadal investment because if a male invests more in clutch guarding‚ he will have less energy to invest in survival‚ growth‚ or gamete production‚” the authors note. However‚ this opens the question of why other strategies like fighting spines don’t show the same correlation.The authors speculate that testosterone drives both testicle size and fighting capacity‚ so these can go together‚ but the hormone is less compatible with parental care. However‚ this theory has yet to be tested. Alternatively‚ males that spend time looking after a clutch probably only fertilize one per mating season‚ rather than needing lots of sperm in the hope of happening upon several.Certainly‚ the hypothesis that testicle size was a response to larger clutches failed. Indeed‚ if anything‚ the opposite was the case: larger clutches were associated with more parental care but had no relation to testicle size.Frogs are far from the first type of animal in which such studies have been done. In bats‚ there is a trade-off between testicle and brain size. Like aircraft‚ flying species can’t carry too much luggage and a bat with big balls aboard must jettison brain weight to stay airborne. Those who invest in intellect probably live longer‚ but also may have better strategies for wooing mates. On the other hand‚ studies of parental care and testicular size have produced differing results depending on the branch of the animal family tree being explored.Either way‚ we definitely think someone should tell Miss Piggy to check under the…whatever it is Muppets have.The study is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.