UPDATE – 26 January 2021
COVID has been in Canada for one year now.
The strange case of the CEO in disguise to get vaccine for himself.
COVID-19 tax tips.
COVID-19 and the world of work – the International Labor Organization.
A breakdown of cases among healthcare workers.
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If you’re having trouble regulating life while working from home, the fake commute might be for you, have a look: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/success/fake-commute-meaning-benefits-pandemic-wellness/index.html
“For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.” – Dr. Bonnie Henry.
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LOCAL:
· 82 cases among New West residents in the previous week.
· No new school exposures in New Westminster since that of the Queensborough Middle School on January 11th.
· Current outbreaks: Royal City Manor, declared Jan 21; Royal Columbian Hospital, declared Jan 20.
· The Rio Theatre in Vancouver has converted into a sports bar.
· The theatre is dealing with a full closure of movie theatres. But as restaurants and bars can remain open with safety protocols, the theatre is seeking other ways to do business. The move does show that the Rio cannot do business as a theatre right now, but can meet the safety requirements to operate as a sports bar.
· There are differences though. The theatre has to actually meet the requirements for a bar, such as taking orders from people’s seats rather than allowing a line-up at the concession.
· The move has stirred controversy, with some decrying the Rio as finding a loophole while the basic lay-out is still that of a theatre, with narrow entryways and tiny washrooms. Others welcome the move as innovative, a way for a theatre to survive during the closure.
Sources: CBC, Global News, Fraser Health
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PROVINCIAL:
· The strange case of the CEO in disguise.
· Vancouver couple Rod and Ekaterina Baker were fined $575 after sneaking into the Yukon to try to get the vaccine for themselves.
· The couple posed as local motel workers.
· The clinic at Beaver Creek normally has one nurse and a receptionist, but a team of six was flown in to do vaccinations. Beaver Creek was chosen because “of its remoteness, elderly and population, and limited access to health care,” said Chief Angela Demit of the White River First Nation in Beaver Creek.
· The story of the wealthy executive trying to get vaccine intended for remote elderly First Nations people has not gone over well.
· Rod Baker is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Canadian Gaming, since 2011, where he earns $900,000 per year as salary, but last year also made $45.9 million from company stock options.. The company announced his resignation yesterday. The gambling company cited it’s “core values.” Ekaterina Baker is an actor, but not apparently a good enough one to fool Yukon officials. The couple chartered a flight to the Yukon.
· “We had not been imagining that someone would go to this length to mislead or deceive.” John Streicker, Yukon’s Minister of Community Services.
· The manager of the 1202 Motor Inn, where the couple claimed to work, was also rather upset. “That’s a risk (serving travellers) that we take – not a risk that somebody enforces upon us because they are too ignorant.” Staff at the Beaver Creek clinic found the couple suspicious, and phoned the motel to check on their story. While at the clinic and pretending to live and work in town, the couple rather oddly asked if anyone could drive them to the airport afterwards.
· Story from the Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-great-canadian-gaming-ceo-resigns-after-being-charged-in-yukon-ove?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Coronavirus%20Update&utm_content=2021-1-25_19&utm_term=Coronavirus%20Update:%20Great%20Canadian%20Gaming%20CEO%20resigns%20after%20alleged%20botched%20disguise%20as%20Yukon%20motel%20worker%20in%20attempt%20to%20get%20COVID-19%20vaccine&utm_campaign=newsletter&cu_id=czq7hF%2BueFDcmmCKozRUQ1bduJl6paGe
· Ekaterina Baker is known for acting in productions such as Chick Fight, Fatman, The Asset, and The Comeback Trail, and as producer of Big Gold Brick.
· IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9698063/
· BC has adopted a four phase vaccination plan.
· Phase 1, December to February: Residents, staff, essential visitors with long-term care and assisted living; people waiting for long-term care; people in remote Indigenous communities and hospital workers caring for patients with COVID-19.
· Phase 2, February to March: Seniors over 80; Indigenous seniors over 65, Indigenous elders; more health-care workers; vulnerable populations and nursing-home staff.
· Phase 3, April to June: Members of the general public aged 60 to 79.
· Phase 4, July to September: Members of the general public aged 18 to 59.
· Premier John Horgan says the plan is based on those who get most sick, and those most likely to die, so priority goes to the elderly and vulnerable, and those who work around them.
· The Premier said multiple groups argued that they were front-line workers and so should get priority. But with vaccine supply limited, it didn’t seem to make sense to vaccinate people on the basis of their job, like being a front-line worker, ahead people ahead of seniors or those more likely to be hospitalized or to die. Health care workers are not only the most likely to be exposed, but they also work with and have direct contact with patients and the vulnerable.
· Here is a good article with the numbers and the rationale behind the priorities: https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-news/opinion-elderly-should-get-covid-19-vaccine-before-bc-teachers-3291898
· The dates might vary, depending on supply.
· Covid cases in BC have plateaued to an average of 500 per day.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the number is still dangerously high. “For the last few weeks, we have plateaued at 500 new cases. This is too many. We are at a precipice. The virus continues to circulate in our communities. We are at the threshold of where we were in late October and November when cases started to rise.”
· “Over the next two week, I believe we can bend our curve. Not just plateau, but bend it back down…. More than you’ve done before, stay home, stop social interactions.”
· B.C. will receive no new doses of vaccine over the next two weeks. It is not sure how much will be received in February.
· Over the past three days – Saturday, Sunday, Monday:
· 1,344 new cases. 618 of those in Fraser Health. 527 reported on Saturday, 472 on Sunday, 346 on Monday. 64,828 cases to date.
· 26 new deaths. 1,154 total.
· 4,392 active cases.
· 57,831 recovered.
· 11 outbreaks in long-term care declared over.
· 6 cases of the UK variant in BC, 3 cases of the South Africa variant. No community transmission of the UK variant, but the South Africa variant cases are not connected to travel and are being investigated. Dr. Henry: “I’m very concerned. I’m concerned that if those variants start to spread, it’s just going to make our job that much more difficult.”
· 119,850 doses of vaccine administered to date.
· New numbers for Tuesday:
· 14 new deaths. 1,168 total.
· 407 new cases. 65,234 total. (Comparison: a high of 911 cases happened for Nov 27).
· 313 hospitalized, 71 in intensive care. (A high of 381 were hospitalized on January 6th).
· 4,260 active cases.
· 6,450 in self-isolation.
· 58,352 recovered.
· 122,359 doses of vaccine administered to date. 4,105 are second doses.
· No new outbreaks, one outbreak declared over.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry: “For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.”
· New restriction may be necessary if the number begins to climb again.
· 4,850 cases among health care workers, from January 2020 to 15 January 2021. About 8% of cases.
· From January to December 17th 2020, care aides had the highest number of cases among healthcare workers at 1,193 or 24.6%. Nurses were second at 833 or 17.2%. Below are the ten highest number of cases by healthcare worker category.
· 1,193 – care aids.
· 833 – nurse.
· 304 – licensed practical nurse.
· 280 – administration.
· 177 – housekeeping.
· 156 – dental professional.
· 151 – physician.
· 149 – kitchen staff, dietary aid, food services.
· 91 – occupational therapist, physiotherapist, respiratory therapist.
· 75 – student.
· The document is here: http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_sitrep/COVID19_healthcare_workers_2021_01_15.pdf
· BC has has opened 3 clinics for people with longer term Covid symptoms.
· Located at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver General, and the Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey.
· Some people still have symptoms months after the start of the disease. Of patients who were hospitalized in BC, after three months half still had breathing issues. About 20% have permanent lung scarring.
· The St. Paul’s clinic already has 160 patients.
· Nanaimo Regional Hospital has had an outbreak.
· Two staff and a patient tested positive.
· Limited to the 4th Floor on the east wing.
· A homeless shelter in Surrey has had an outbreak.
· 2 staff and 24 clients test positive.
· The Surrey Emergency Response Centre was set up to make more shelter available to homeless people during the pandemic.
Sources: CBC, New Westminster Record, Globe and Mail, BC Centre for Disease Control.
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NATIONAL:
· Worked from home during Covid-19? Be sure to check out these tax tips: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/accountants-break-down-tips-for-working-from-home-expenses-1.5872477
· Covid has been in Canada for one year now, starting back on the 25th of January, 2020, with one case in Toronto.
· Long-terms care homes are particularly hard hit, and it continues to be so that care homes are getting outbreaks.
· From the CBC, “What we’re seeing in the long-term care facilities just demonstrates, unfortunately, years and years of neglect.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-canada-first-case-one-year-1.5884630
· In those early days, the public was generally told in Canada that the risk was low, and that people should not wear masks, and emphasized into March that there was no community spread.
· In late February, community transmission was evidenced in the U.S., and people returning to Canada from the U.S. began to show Covid. The halt to non-essential travel, on the land border, came on March 20.
· Canada is considering more travel restrictions, says the Canadian government.
· 143 flights have arrived in Canada in past two weeks with confirmed Covid cases. Deputy Prime Minister Freeland has assured, “We are considering the issue very, very seriously.”
· In this story, you can see where Canadians are flying during the pandemic. There sure seems to be a lot of urgent need to travel to places that happen to be warm vacation spots: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-travel-restrictions-1.5887163
· There is an 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, and that is hard on the city’s homeless people.
· Homeless people have seen a dramatic reduction in help since the pandemic began. Shelters have to have social distancing, if they are safe to open at all.
· The province has refused to exempt homeless people from the curfew. People who break the curfew are subject to fines that start at $1,000 and can go up to $6,000. Premier Legault says making an exception for homeless people could cause people to pretend to be homeless.
· Some shelters have been forced to close altogether, because they can’t meet the requirements.
· Story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-homeless-covid-curfew-1.5880946
· 90 “adverse events following immunization,” 0.015% of the 601,901 doses administered as of January 9th 2021.
· 63 were non-serious, 0.010%. This includes things like a skin rash.
· 27 were serious, 0.004%. In Canada, this includes a wide range of symptoms from headache to nausea to anaphylaxis.
· Learn about the Canada Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System (CAEFISS) here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/canadian-adverse-events-following-immunization-surveillance-system-caefiss.html
· Here is where the numbers are updated every Friday (but not consistently): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccine-safety/#seriousNonSerious
· Manitoba is now requiring a 14 day quarantine for non-essential travel from other parts of Canada.
· The move is being made to attempt to prevent new variants of Covid-19 from entering the province.
· Applies to air and land travel.
· Includes Manitobans who are returning to the province from elsewhere.
Sources: CBC, Toronto Star, Public Health Canada
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INTERNATIONAL:
· The world is experiencing Covid-somnia – an epidemic of insomnia.
· Insomnia is now at one-quarter of the population in the UK, and at 40% in Italy and Greece.
· There is concern that this is affecting people’s health in other ways.
· Work productivity is also affected.
· A University of Ottawa study of health care workers in 55 countries and 190,000 people showed that depression, anxiety, and PTSD have all risen at least 15% since the start of the pandemic. Insomnia has risen by over 23%.
· People are advised to seek help, which many are not as people avoid medical services, or those services are unavailable. Seeking help is important, because sleep issues over time can become and ongoing sleep disorder. “Tele-health” now makes treatment more available despite the pandemic.
· Working and using screens in bed is a big part of it. The recommendation is to use your bed only as a place of sleep.
· Full article: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210121-the-coronasomnia-phenomenon-keeping-us-from-getting-sleep
· Vaccine delays are happening around the world.
· Canada is receiving zero doses this week.
· Health workers who were scheduled for vaccination were mostly notified by email of their cancellations.
· In Canada, 50% of doses will be delayed for up to four weeks, up to 400,000 doses delayed.
· Restoration of supply will happen in the European union before it happens in Canada. Pfizer explained this as differing contract deals but did not reveal details. Europe has also threatened to sue Pfizer for breach of contracts, and threatened to abandon Pfizer altogether as a supplier, perhaps in doing so catching the company’s attention.
· Pfizer and AstraZeneca say they will catch up to their commitments in the Spring. Pfizer says their delay is due to changing production systems, so a short-term shut down for a greater number of people vaccinated more rapidly overall. Pfizers says that they are upgrading to be able to produce 2 billion doses per year, from the current 1.3 billion. AstraZeneca has not given details.
· UPDATED: The Pfizer production facility in question is in Belgium. The European Union has threatened to ban exports of the vaccine if commitments to Europe are not met. The company is attempting to distribute the problem in the world somewhat equitably. If Europe followed through on the threat, that could mean delays for other countries would be longer, including Canada, which is served by the Belgium facility.
· The UK, having had Brexit and pulled out of the European Union, has realized that they, too, would be one of those outside countries. The UK, somewhat ironically, is now arguing against nationalism as government policy, referring to what they called “the dead end of vaccine nationalism.”
· The World Health Organization’s Covax program, to distribute vaccine around the world fairly to low-income countries, has not been affected, some good news in the mix. The Covax problem is still on schedule, as its vaccine supply is produced in India and South Korea. The program has also received a substantial boost, following US President Joe Biden’s decision to contribute $4 billion to the program.
· The CDC in the US says that allergic reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare.
· Out of 4 million given the Moderna vaccine, 10 had severe allergic reactions.
· Moderna – 2.5 per million doses have severe allergic reactions.
· Pfizer – 11.1 per million.
· Normal flu vaccine – 1.3 per million.
· Allergic reactions begin quickly, at a median of 7 and a half minutes, so people are able to be supported through it. The majority were known to have severe allergies in advance. In the US, all vaccination sites must have people trained in responding to anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction.
· Story: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/health/moderna-severe-allergic-reactions-rare/index.html
· A doctor in Texas has been arrested for stealing vaccine.
· The doctor stole 9 doses to give to his friends and family, authorities allege.
· A man lived in the Chicago O’Hare airport for three months because he was afraid to fly. Story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55702003
· Los Angeles has lifted its air quality limitations for cremations. An emergency order was issued so that crematoriums can catch up with the number of bodies. One person every eight minutes was dying from Covid every 8 minutes. The rate of death in LA county is double the norm from past years. 13,800 deaths in the city, 7,400 currently hospitalized, and 23% of those in intensive care.
· Over 200 incidents with plane passengers over the wearing of masks have been reported in the U.S.
· The behaviour has included refusal to wear masks once onboard, shouting abusively at flight attendants, and even physical assault.
· On Thursday, President Biden issued an executive order requiring the wearing of masks across transportation, a move welcomed by flight unions.
· The FAA, Federal Air Administration, has introduced fines up to $35,000 and potential jailing for abusing aircraft personnel, a move made in December after two flight attendants were assaulted.
· One person has been fined $15,000 after hitting the flight attendant, and grabbing her phone away from her while she was notifying the captain of the problem. Another passenger was fined $7,500, who when asked to wear a mask approached other passengers without a mask and sexually harassed a flight attendant.
· Some airlines are banning passengers from their flights who refuse to follow the rules. United Airlines has banned 615 people from flying on the airline since June, Delta Airlines has banned 700.
· There is a lot of news about variants of the virus.
· New variants have appeared in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil, all countries that have had high rates of Covid.
· So, what about vaccines? Scientists have actually expected that vaccines would still work against the variants. Moderna says that antibodies triggered by their vaccine works on new variants in lab test results. More study will be needed of people who actually have been vaccinated and who had the variant. The study so far was a small sample of eight people. Early results with the Pfizer vaccine also show that it works against variants.
· Moderna is also studying to see if there is a benefit of giving a third booster shot.
· Reports vary almost daily about if the variants are more deadly or not. The truth is that data is too limited and it is too early to really tell.
· Covid job losses have been four times worse than in the financial crisis in 2009.
· That’s according to a report by the International Labor Organization.
· The report estimates that 8.8% of the world’s work hours were eliminated. The ILO looks not only at those who have become unemployed, but those who have had reduced hours of work as well. That loss is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, or $3.7 trillion dollars of income.
· Press release: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_766949/lang--en/index.htm
· Study: COVID-19 and the world of work. Seventh edition. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_767028.pdf
· What’s the latest with the Tokyo Olympics?
· The government of Japan wants to go ahead with the Olympics that were delayed last summer.
· The Olympics are planned to start on July 23, and the Paralympics on August 24.
· The International Olympic Committee is currently planning on proceeding, but has not made a final decision. Efforts are underway to have Olympics that are Covid safe. That might mean no audiences, athletes restricted to their accommodation areas, and each sport would have to have protocols around training and competition areas.
· “We need the vaccine to come to Africa.” A note about Grandmothers in Zimbabwe. I encourage you to read this one: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55726054
Sources: BBC, Toronto Star, International Labor Organization, CNN, Los Angeles Times.
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STATS (as of end of Monday)
CANADA
· 144 new deaths. 19,238 total.
· 5,628 new cases. 753,011 total.
· 1,222 fewer active. 62,446 total.
· 849 in critical care.
· 6,706 new recovered. 671,327 total.
USA
· 1,887 new deaths. 431,392 total.
· 152,244 new cases. 25,861,597 total.
· 9,812,845 active.
· 26,259 in critical care.
· 207,426 new recovered. 15,617,360 total.
WORLD
· 2,149,496 deaths.
· 100,286,772 cases.
· 72,315,474 recovered.
Sources: www.covid-19us.live/, https://www.covid-19canada.com/
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Pandemic updates provided on a voluntary basis as a community service, on Tuesdays and Fridays unless circumstances do not allow (currently dealing with an injury that limits my typing).
To provide accurate and timely information, locally, provincially, nationally and internationally, all in one place.
Feel free to share.
With love and hope,
Jaimie McEvoy, City Councillor, New Westminster, B.C.

This place is killing him.
Welcome to Rereading the Frame, a timely reread where bots remind you to not swear.
Narrative-wise, the last chapters of NOTW are the textbook example about how to close a good book. Actually,I suspect that NOTW 92 and WMF 151 are one of the reason why Rothfuss is struggling with book 3, because with Doors of Stone’s ending he won’t be able to use the tricks he’s used insofar. But since this is outside of the purposes of this reread, I’ll keep this thoughts aside (feel free to discuss it in the comments, tho).
 
Back on track. What about these chapters, rereading-wise? Well, there’s some good stuff as well: for example, you can see that Rothfuss really liked NOTW 92 because here he starts a tradition (the “oath system”, for lack of better words) that will be carried through all WMF.
At the same time, I’ve also noticed that these two chapters feature a series of curious mistakes. The interesting thing is that some of them come from the characters, while others from Rothfuss himself.
Have you noticed them?
If not, fasten your seatbelts: this post is here for you.
Ready?

Summary

Chapter 92 and NOTW epilogue

Kvothe gets whipped once again, buys a new cool lute, explores some tunnels and discovers that students have sex in the archives. The feud with Ambrose seems to have faded out a bit, but as Kote will say, ‘that is a story for another day.’

Kote stops his narration and calls it a day. Everyone goes to sleep, except not really: Kote seems tormented by the ghosts of his past, Chronicler is tormented by a psychopathic Faen, and Bast is busy tormenting poor scribes.
Bast and Chronicler sign the most one-sided partnership of all times, and then the princeling batmans out of the window.
Day One of KKC concludes with Kote, alone in his room, waiting to die.

Let’s start with the journey to Alveron’s court

More often than not, KKC likes to throw some spoilers to the readers. That’s why we know that Ambrose will bring more trouble in the future, that Kvothe knows the truth of a certain princess Ariel, that tragedy looms in the background, et similia.
In NOTW 92, however, there’s a mistake… and it’s either on Kvothe or Rothfuss. I tend to think the latter.
Notice that in this chapter Kvothe basically spoils most of WMF: thanks to NOTW 91 we already knew that Ambrose will manage to get Kvothe to leave the University, and here we get mentions of Felurian and learning to fight from the Adem.
On a meta consideration we could also say that NOTW 92 spoils Kvothe being at the Maer’s court (I mean, if he takes a journey towards that…), and on a deeper meta consideration, we could also add the whole Fake Ruh business, given that the Road to Levinshir chapter had been published already, although in different form (no Adem but some sword sage, for example).
Think about it: that’s the entirety of WMF minus the hunt in the Eld!
…except that the journey to Alveron’s court will just be briefly dismissed in WMF 52, never to be mentioned again. And without Chronicler probing for additional details, which seems a bit strange (and on regard, have a little spoiler from myself as well: there’s some anomaly in WMF around the subject!).
 
This either means that Kvothe was wrong… which doesn’t make sense, given that here he’s talking about his favorite stories.
Or it means that Chronicler and Bast will make a mistake in WMF by not asking him about his journey… which makes not much sense given Bast’s emphasis about making his Reshi recall his good times, and the same goes for Chronicler, given he cares about the full story.
…or it means, way more interestingly, that this is a mistake from Rothfuss.
If that’s the case, it opens up for some pretty cool meta speculation, because while we’re here mutually drying our tears because Book Three isn’t out yet, we risk forgetting that WMF took its time as well. And more importantly, that WMF took some heavy revisions from its initial outline.
So, while my initial feeling was that WMF 52 exists just to prove that not every story is worth retelling, or as a sort of little chapter to spice things up (I mean, that chapter is a nice literary device after all), now I’m inclined to think that the events concerning the journey to Alveron’s court were indeed written by Rothfuss.
Only, they were cut away for some reason.
Here’s why I think this:
 
1 WMF does actually portray all the things a Wise Man should Fear! And they make up the narrative arcs of WMF! Alveron’s court is all about the anger of a gentle man. Felurian warns about the dangers of a moonless night. And since we know that the Adem adventures were quite amplified only in later revisions of the book, we can speculate they didn’t take that much space in the book initially.
The only thing’s missing? A sea in storm. Which is part of exactly what the journey to Alveron’s court was about, by Kvothe’s admission.
Edit: u/BioLogIn also notes that Devi's alar during her confrontation with Kvothe is like the ocean in storm.
 
2 WMF 52 plays a trick: Kvothe will try to retroactively justify the lack of inclusion of these adventures with a nice…

”I must pass them over in favor of more important things”

…because “there events have little to do with the heart of the story”.
But if that’s the case, why keeping Count Trepe and the mysterious man that took a ship passage exactly like Kvothe, and the fact that during the voyage some treachery was involved?
Simple: because those events mattered. Only, either Rothfuss or She Who Must Not Be Named ^Betsy decided that their entirety weren’t worth telling.
But some elements remained, and for good reasons. After all, you don’t keep a character like Threpe around for two books, especially not in WMF 150, if you don’t need some Chekov device of sort. WMF 52 plays a bit of “goody-two-shoes” role and does it smoothly, but I suspect that the events Kvothe barely glanced did actually see Rothfuss’ pen indeed, even if just partially.
 
Remember: KKC can plays the awesome business of throwing minor (or major!) spoilers left and right exactly because Rothfuss has always had the general blueprint of the entire trilogy in his head.
Chances are, when writing NOTW 92, a draft of WMF with Kvothe’s shipwreck was on Rothfuss’ desk.
Important edit: u/BioLogIn offers a heavy counterpoint in Rothfuss' own admission here.

Details worth pointing out

• Bast’s footsteps
When Bast ‘goes to sleep’, his footsteps sound hard on the wooden steps of the stairs. Regardless of what happens in this very same chapter, we already know that Bast’s steps are actually silent. We’ve seen it at the beginning of the book, and the same will happen at the very beginning of WMF.
I’m pretty sure Bast is exaggerating his footsteps, be it to voice his displeasure towards Kvothe (like a child throwing a tantrum) or he’s always keeping up with his act for when he needs to be silent for real.
 
Btw, think about it: Bast has hooves instead of feet, and he can be silent on hard wood. Wow. Is this a testament to his skills, or does Glamourie involves also the sense of hearing?
• The nightly ritual and some possible mistakes
Kvothe ends the narration and starts with his usual errands. However, think about it:
1 Kvothe brings in new wood for the fireplace… but in the previous Frame chapter (NOTW 88) Bast had kept aside the wrecked furniture near the kitchen door to be used as firewood.
2 Kvothe once again starts sweeping the floor… but the floor had just been washed not once, not twice, but seven times straight.
3 Kvothe had forgot the light up the lamps outside the inn.
4 Rothfuss doesn’t mention that the lock of the inn is made of brass. Rather than a mistake, I wonder if the inclusion of brass came when writing WMF, given some brass barrels will appear as well.
 
Do we really consider these mistakes? Yes and no: yes, because it’s interesting to point out some inconsistencies (I mean, given how many times that fucking floor is swept/washed, I suspect it to be concave rather than flat), but at the same time not really.
Personally, I think it’s more of an escamotage from Rothfuss to emphasize the cyclical nature of Clockwork Kote, creature of habit and monotony personified: Kote (and not Kvothe) is intentionally predictable, repetitive, cyclical.
 
Crackpot theory speculation: Kvothe forgets to light up the outside lamps because Clockwork Kote is a condition that works only inside of the Waystone Inn. That’s why outside the Inn he has no troubles doing physical work and fighting the scrael, while inside the inn he struggles.
More likely explanation: Kvothe simply forgot to light the lamps because who the fuck would come late at night. Plus he had better stuff to do, like watching Shep die and hosting half of the town right after.
• The bottles, once again
Always mentioned and always mysterious. The text says that “through the motions, his eyes were far away, remembering”. I wonder if the eventual trip to memory lane is due to the bottles themselves.
• The foul smelling thing
No, it’s not my nickname during intimacy, it’s the salve Bast put on Chronicler’s shoulder in NOTW 88!
It’s worth pointing out that Chronicler trashes away Bast’s medication. Is it because he doesn’t trust Bast, or because as an Arcanum student, his beliefs concerning medicine spurn countryside remedies?
That wouldn’t be a first: we know that sometimes University students are wrong, think of WMF and the supposed properties of arrowroot.
• No lights in Newarre
It’s very late at night. This doesn’t surprise us the slightest.
• Cheeky sneaky Rothfuss
Once more, an evidence of his sneaky business: remember NOTW 2, when Chronicler’s amulet was just called “a ring of metal”? Ninety chapters later and it’s explicitly called “wheel”!
Notice however that in NOTW 2 it was already hinted that the ring/wheel was a religious symbol as well, although by then we didn’t know anything about the Tehlin Church.
• The Wise Chronicler’s Fear
Chronicler struggling to sleep is one of the things I love the most: it’s clear that he does not trust those two other guys!
I don’t think his worries have anything to do with the possibility of “Skinchanger 2: the Revenge”. The trio’s behavior after the Waystone Crowd leaves seems good evidence enough for that.
 
Worth pointing out that the trigger for Chronicler barricading into his room is his surprise at the bed sheets having being changed. Why? Simple: because if the sheets have being changed, it means the innkeeper knows the room where Chronicler is actually sleeping!
• Chronicler’s curious mistake
Chronicler decides to barricade himself in and that’s cool… but had he really paid attention to Kvothe’s story, he would have known what happens when you forget to lock the windows as well! NOTW 38, 51, 62, 72 and 90 are all good evidences for that.
Especially NOTW 90, given Kvothe told him that story just few minutes before calling it a day!
• He has ears like a hawk
We will have more evidences in WMF, but we already know that Kvothe has good hearing whenever he notices that someone is about to enter the Inn. We also know that in NOTW 13 he noticed Bast eavesdropping.
Bast always tries to sneak by, but are we sure he manages to go unnoticed most of the times?
 
By the way, Chronicler not knowing that hawks have ears seems in line with a medieval setting… except not really. I suspect this is more a mistake on Rothfuss’ behalf than Chronicler’s.
I don’t think irl medieval nobles would have used an animal who cannot hear commands for hunting. One thing is the animal refusing to obey, another is deciding to train an animal that…cannot hear your orders because it doesn’t have ears? Come on.
Fwiw Bast is absolutely right, because hawks have an excellent sense of hearing.
• Bast’s way of putting down the sulfur match’s light
Bast licks his fingers and pinches the match. Nice little detail from Rothfuss, not only it makes it a bit peculiar, but also tells us a bit about Bast: he doesn’t mind getting close to the fire, metaphorically speaking.
It’s also part of the setup for Bast’s ominous “transformation”, although talking about transformation isn’t right, given that this is what Bast has always been.
Speaking of which…
• …I had forgot how well done is Bast’s transition
This is textbook mob behavior.
It starts friendly, joking. Then it slowly turns more vulgar, up until the classic “I came to talk to you. Because I know best”. And once the refusal comes, here we have Bast getting angry.
First we have his angry eyes, then his smile changes from child-like to wide (and then, nearby the end of the chapter, to terrible), then he initiates physical contact by tapping Chronicler’s shoulder. Classic intimidation tactic. And after Chronicler refuses once again, here it comes the direct threat, and then a practical display of power.
 
Another little literary trick worth pointing out: when Bast enters Chronicler’s room the scribe is almost naked. Look at his description, used to make him look even more vulnerable:

Bare-chested, he gathered the blankets self-consciously around his waist and glanced towards the door

• Don’t scratch the floor!
Bast says that Kvothe gets angry if the floor gets scratched. Given he’s looking at the chest of drawers, I wonder if something happened when Bast and Kvothe moved the thrice-locked chest upstairs… especially since we’ll know in WMF that it was quite difficult.
• Anhaut-fehn
Derogative term, quite heavy given the context. I suspect the “an” of “anhaut” to be a privative particle of sort. Something like “witless fool”, for example. But for the sake of completion, the “an” in “anpauen” is nothing like that, so I’m likely wrong.
  Speaking of “anpauen”, here you can find its pronunciation and meaning, straight from the mouth of The Bearded and Terrible Man. Don’t you love it when he goes “I don’t know if I ever told what anpauen means” and then doesn’t tell it at all? Fucking Rothfuss, every single time. FWIW he told that anpauen means Iron Shoe/ Shoe Iron here, except the video is not available anymore, so here’s another “fuck you aowshadow”, I guess.
I wonder if it has anything to do with Bast having hooves instead of feet. In that case an iron shoe may have a heavy meaning.
Or if it is a nod with something that happened during the Berentaltha, a sort of dance mentioned in WMF 99, given that iron shoes are heavy and not suited for dancing?
 
Btw this is the kind of shit that makes me lose a lot of time between one episode and another: searching for iron melting temperatures, hawk ears, rereading two entire books because I had this vague notion of a faen dance and listening Rothfuss on youtube for 21 minutes straight, which for me is pure torture. I swear, I can reread his books ten times without blinking, but listening to him for more than 20 seconds straight, I just can't. I guess Mother Nature didn't intend for me and Rothfuss to live together. But I knew it already: after all, I shit you not, I used to be a pizza guy (“the fucking pizza guy” – cit.) when I was younger.
Sigh.
• Memoir
As any biographer worth his name, Chronicler basically gets an erection when Bast mentions Kvothe’s memoir. Will he manage to gets his hand on it?
On a serious note, I wonder why the memoir pages keep staying not only in Kvothe’s room, but right on his desk, if he’s supposed to have been furious about them. Something’s going on, possibly. I mean, it has been two months…
Notice Rothfuss’ choice of words in the epilogue: the memoir is “pointedly ignored”… but also “unforgotten”.
FWIW Kvothe managed to write his memoir for a night. He changed his mind the next day. Wonder why, given that at the beginning he looked “three feet taller, with lightning on his shoulders”, according to Bast.
• Martin Maskmaker
As noted in Rereading 5, Bast isn’t used to human fairytales.
Here we find something similar with Chronicler: chances are the story of Martin Maskmaker is told only between Faen creatures, because I find extremely unlikely that a man who makes his living from stories isn’t able to recognize a (possibly) famous tale. Chances are, this tale isn’t human.
 
Speaking of manling stories: I don’t know if The Ghost and the Goosegirl has an irl equivalent, but The Ha’penny King’s one could be KKC’s equivalent of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper.
• Possible huge detail

You see, there’s a fundamental connection between seeming and being. Every Fae child knows this (…)

That’s because Glamourie and Grammarie seem Faen prerogatives! I’m pretty sure Bast’s sentence is linked with them.
 
While we’re at it, know that I’m not neglecting to consider Glamourie and Grammarie… I’m just waiting for a certain WMF chapter to show up, because there’s some cool stuff to discuss (and it may even involve TSROST)!
• Basic psychology
According to Chronicler, if “you dress a beggar in fine clothes, people will treat him as a noble”. This is exactly what happens to Kvothe in both books. Think of Tarbean and Severen.
• Internal consistency
When Bast says to Chronicler…

There’s no reason we can’t be friends

…he is picking back the same words Kvothe said to both when they fought in NOTW 13.
This is classic Rothfuss: think of all the times the author throws back to some character specific words from the past! KKC internal consistency stays as sharp as steel.
Oh, and while we’re at it, notice that “what do I want? I just want my Reshi back” is exactly 10 words to break Bast's will.
^{But so is “Can I bring you anything before you go to sleep”, LOL}
• Another possible mistake
With his sulfur match, Bast lights up a lamplight. But at the end of the chapter, the room is lit by a candle.
• Flower smell
Bast’s breath smells like flowers. This is something that shows up from time to time. I thought it was a faen prerogative, but it doesn’t seem like that.
• Bast’s eyes
When Bast goes super sayan we can notice a cool progression concerning his eyes:

Color	Nature comparison
Solid blue	darkening sky
Paler	clear blue of a noontime sky
Pale blue-white	lightning
White as opal	full-bellied moon

That “moon” term is telling indeed. Especially given the nature of Fae.
• Bast’s choice of words
First consideration: in KKC initial drafts, probably oaths weren’t so formulaic. Notice that generally in NOTW people say “I swear” and that’s it.
But from this chapter onwards, many oaths in the series will follow Bast’s formula! I guess this chapter was a source of inspiration for Rothfuss…
Based chart incoming:

Who	When	First part	Second part	Third part
Bast	NOTW 92	I swear by all the salt in me	by stone and oak and elm	by the night sky and the ever-moving moon
Elodin	WMF 11	I swear it on my mother’s milk	on my name and my power	by the ever-moving moon
Kvothe	WMF 73	I swear it on my name and my power	by my good left hand	by the ever-moving moon
Felurian	WMF 99	I swear this by my flower and the ever-moving moon	by salt and stone and sky	I swear this singing and laughing, by the sound of my own name
Bast	WMF 105	I swear it by my tongue and teeth	on the doors of stone	I am telling you three thousand times (assuming it counts)
Dedan	WMF 107	I swear it by my good right hand	(ง︡'-'︠)ง?come at me	◟(•̀д•́◟ )ain't scared brah

 
Additional considerations:
-Dedan’s not particularly educated, so I guess his oath was simpler. I put it in only because unlike the NOTW oaths, he adds “by…”. I wouldn’t consider it particularly meaningful, although like all the others, it respect one criteria.
 
-Every oath involves the defining part of the person speaking. And before someone goes “LOL, Felurian swore on her cunt” let me add that in her case her flower IS a defining part of herself. Because Felurian IS a personification of lust and desire. Look how offended she gets when Kvothe sings “her skills in love / they do suffice”!
 
-Kvothe may or may not have unconsciously copied Elodin, as often happens when people adjust to their models.
 
-Faen like to talk in triplets. This isn’t restricted to oaths alone. Think of the classic “I am telling you three times…”
 
-Don’t underestimate swearing on salt: salt is precious and necessary to the body, as Kvothe notes when giving food to Auri, after all. Modern societies underestimate salt, but it has always been a precious substance.
 
-Bast swearing on the doors of stone is HUGE. I’m pretty sure this is a book 3 spoiler that will hit us hard when it comes. Insofar, it seems like it could be a geographical, definite place. Felurian talks about those as well.
 
-Of all the oaths, the only one who could still be broken is Kvothe’s oath to Denna. Which means that if oaths apply, the problem in Kvothe’s hands may be his left hand.
Speaking of Kvothe’s hands, read this if you haven’t already.
 
-Look how many times the moon shows up!
• What is sarcasm?

“I suppose you know best,” said Chronicler dubiously. Bast gave an emphatic nod. “Exactly. That’s why I came to talk to you. Because I know best. You need to (…)”

This is a good example, but it’s not the only one (both in this chapter and the whole Frame) where Bast simply ignores eventual zings from Chronicler. I don't think he even gets then, given how he’s incredibly dismissive of the scribe.
Funnily enough, this is something both Bast and Chronicler have in common.
There’s more to these exchanges, but for that we’ll need to wait the ending of WMF where we’ll have a chart for comparison.
• Dark sides
Bast says that Faen stories have their dark sides, without elaborating much on the subject. But we can speculate on something.
-First of all, Martin Maskmaker has a dark side for sure, because Bast was going to use it as a cautionary tale of sort.
-Then we have some of Felurian’s stories from WMF 99, and while we have just titles we can speculate something tragic concerning “The boy who ran between”.
At first I thought it could have been a retelling of Jax story, but then I changed idea given Felurian’s reticence about talking of some figures. I mean, she refuses to name Iax and threatens to beat Kvothe if he brings the Chandrian up again… why would she tell him this tale, if it was about Iax?
Therefore, I suspect “The boy who ran between” is about someone else.
 
Why do I think this story has a dark side? Simple: doesn’t the title remind you of the old tale of Rip Van Winkle?
• Don’t ask about music or magic
This suggests that Bast knows what happened to Kvothe, at least partially.
• Foundation
Many years ago, around the start of the Punic wars, Rereading the Frame 2 came out. In the comments of that fateful episode of this punctual reread, the mysterious Danceofthesugardicks said:

It bothers me that (…) you call the story Kvothe is telling a painting. (…) I would propose to title Kvothe's narrative as the foundation.

Back then I knew he was right, but only today I realized how much. Look at how NOTW 92 starts:

We all have the groundwork now. A foundation of story to build upon.

Wow. Since Kvothe himself proves the users right, we know we’re on the right path!
And now, a little moment of silence.
It is a silence of three parts, actually: the first silence is the hollowing, echoing quiet of the things that are lacking, like your pen on your paper drawing your version of the Waystone Inn map. But no, of course you aren’t drawing that, and so the silence remains. The second silence belongs to these heavy hands of mine, and pray they don’t catch you map-less. No, not you who have drawn you map already: you are a friend, and in your case these gentle, weak hands of mine would only caress your noble cheeks, and tuck you between soft blankets when you go to sleep. I mean, what else could you expect: you drew the map. But those who didn’t… rrrrrrrrrrgh… no, wait: luckily there’s still time to draw your version of the Waystone Inn map! Let’s be friends! A world of friendship and hugs! Draw your map. Now. End of the story.

B-but… you didn’t tell me what’s the third silence is…

Oh, right. The third silence is not an easy thing to notice: If you listen for an hour, you may begin to feel it in the thick walls of your room. And in the flat case that surrounds your internet device. And like the previous two silences it still fucking says: draw your Waystone Inn map. End of the story.

X

For the purposes of Rereading 7, X is Bast and whatever Bast wants to do to “help” his Reshi.
When Bast says to Chronicler…

He was my message in a bottle. One of many. You just happened to be the first person to find one and come looking.

…I can’t help but notice that the second person to come looking, as NOTW 88 title wants, was a skindancer. A more careful Bast would have considered that. Things aren’t necessarily linked, but dismissing everything would be naïve.
Bast’s careless way of thinking continues with this telling line:

Even old enemies come to settle scores would be better than him wasting away like this.

Like… really? What kind of psychopath would be fine with enemies explicitly coming to settle down scores in the Waystone Inn? Hasn’t Bast really been listening to Kvothe during the Frame?!?
I mean… did you see what kind of enemies Kvothe does have?!
To top it all, Bast has already noticed what happens when Kvothe fights. Look back at NOTW 5: Kvothe comes back to the Inn bleeding like a butchered pig. That’s what you want, Bast? Of course not, but you have to take into account that that’s what may happen. Because it has already happened once.
Bast is the textbook definition of the expression “eyes wide shut”.
 
But we shouldn’t be surprised that much: like Kvothe says, Faen and humans are as different as alcohol from water. Their similarities are always (and only) in appearance.
Insofar, it looks like the prime mover of Faen creatures is always their ego. And it’s not surprising that Faen creatures generally refer to Kvothe are a property rather than an individual. For Felurian, Kvothe was “my kvothe”. For the Cthaeh, Kvothe is either “boy” or “Felurian’s manling”.
One may imagine that Bast’s case is different given his feelings… but not so much. It’s just the other side of the spectrum. Because for Bast, Kvothe is his Reshi. His Reshi. And the get back his Reshi, Bast would do absolutely anything.
 
And that’s why, despite having already put dozen of stitches all over his Reshi’s body, Bast’s shock therapy continues: luring Chronicler to the inn is a move (and we know that Kvothe will suffer quite a bit when recalling some memories, like his parents’ fate), the deserters in WMF is another one.
None of them help Kvothe get back, all of them earn him more scars, or simply open back some old ones.
Worth pointing out that in WMF Bast doesn’t mind paying the price by himself… but at the same time he’s perfectly fine when other people pay it as well.
Faen are not human, and are ultimately creepy as fuck. But I guess we should have considered myself warned: after all, as Bast himself says, “there’s no demons.
Only my kind.”
 
It’s both bittersweet and unnerving how much little Bast does actually take Kvothe’s feelings into the equation: it’s like he’s chasing an image that exists only in his mind: ‘of course sending some troubles to Kvothe won’t be much, after all he’s able to take it,’ seems to be his reason… but at the same time he doesn’t bother considering that maybe, just maybe, Kvothe doesn’t want to fight.
Bast wants his Reshi to remember who he is, and to many extent we can wonder whether he can… but the real question Bast should ask himself is whether Kvothe wants to.
To top it all, the longer the story will go on, the more it’ll be evident that there are so many things that Bast does NOT know about his Reshi! His parents? The Cthaeh? These are no trivial things!
 
I truly wonder what happened before Bast and Kvothe went to Newarre. For now, I can only speculate few things:
-1 Bast knows Kvothe has been to Fae at least another time beside Felurian (more about that in future episodes),
-2 Bast has seen Kvothe fight (same as before),
-3 Bast has seen Kvothe really angry, and
-4 Bast has seen Denna in the past.
-Technically we should add that 5 Bast knows that something is Kvothe’s fault, given that he doesn’t object to all of his Reshi’s mood swings.
 
Btw, this chapter puts a big nail in the coffin to the theory that Bast and Kvothe are in cahoots concerning some bigger plan. I never subscribed to that theory.
Or rather, let me elaborate: does Kvothe trust Bast? Yes. Do Bast and Kvothe have something going on? Of course. Otherwise Bast wouldn’t be in Newarre, and he wouldn’t be in the whole “hey I’m an innkeeper” heist.
But that’s it.
Why? First of all, because It’s already proven that Kvothe lies to Bast (keeping a piece of the scrael for himself and then going to hunt them, for example), that Bast suspects that Kvothe tells lies from time to time (WMF 105, which will be covered in future episodes) and so on.
Second, because it’s pretty clear that Bast doesn’t know Kvothe that well, despite what he thinks, as already mentioned.
Third, because there’s not a single character in the entire story whom Kvothe doesn’t hide something from. Not a single one. The one who comes closer is Auri, who still doesn’t know anything about Kvothe and the Chandrian, for example. Bast thinks he’s special to Kvothe, because Kvothe is special to him. Maybe things are mutual, but definitely not to the same extent.
But most importantly, fourth: because of the prologues and episodes of both books. Because they let us know that Kvothe is a man waiting to die. Reread NOTW 92 and tell me that Bast would allow it, or that he’d be fine with that.

This place is killing him

…says Bast, and he does NOT want any of that. This runs counter to Kvothe’s desires.
There’s no way Kvothe told him everything.
 
Which brings us to the million dollar question: how much of Bast’s secret attempts did actually Kvothe miss… if he missed any?
Bast, another version of young Kvothe
Ever entertained the idea of Bast covering the role of Foundation Kvothe?
Check the similarities: clearly talented, noble lineage (cough-cough Notallya Lotless cough-cough), success with girls, quite vain, thinks he knows best over everything, animated by good intentions but also unsupported by careful thinking, prone to anger, likes music (in Bast’s case it’s dance, rather than singing – tho in WMF he’ll sing as well), doesn’t like to stay long in the same place, usually doesn’t wear shoes (lol), has rings and so on.
I wonder how much intentionality there is on Rothfuss’ behalf, and if there are conclusions to be drawn. If you want to, do it in the comments.

Kote’s lies

“I need time to think about the story”

This could be a lie since it’s quite clear Kvothe has been thinking about retelling his story since months (two, at very least), as the memoir pages in his room prove. Most likely, this is just a white lie to spend some time alone.

Narrator shenanigans

NOTW 92 is divided in three parts, and the POV shifts for a little bit.
It starts with Chronicler (because the “knowing a polite dismissal” means the POV is in Chronicler’s head) and then immediately switches to Kvothe when the scribe goes upstairs. Not a single line concerning the innkeeper’s thoughts.
But Rothfuss/the narrator feels the need to tell us about Kvothe’s usual activities, meaning this is important.
From then on, it’s all on Chronicler.
 
Epilogues and prologues feature an omniscient narrator and there’s not much to say, besides:
1 the omniscient narrator says that the memoir has a mad pattern, for all that it’s worth, and
2 that the silence is in Kvothe’s hands. Thing is, I’m not sure Kvothe isn’t doing anything. The narrator focuses on still objects, but the shadows are dancing. It could mean that Kvothe is actively doing something that the narrator isn’t telling us (not 100% sure on this one, but whenever in doubt, I always note down possibilities).

The nature of Frame interruptions

This time KKC isn’t playing dirty. Unless Kvothe is doing something that the narrator isn’t telling, NOTW 92 and Epilogue are pretty much straightforward. There are three time skips dictated by the simple passing of time, and they seem pretty much normal.

Geography and time notions

Chronicler’s room isn’t on the side of the Waystone Inn’s kitchen, because on that side there’s a forest!
In NOTW 92, instead, Chronicler opens the window and looks at the little town of Newarre. Logic tells me that his room faces East, but I confess I could have paid more attention to cardinal references during the reread. But it’s not too late for that, by the end of the reread it’ll be done.
 
Worth pointing out that, as we saw in previous episodes, the Waystone Inn a wooden landing at the entrance. This implies the existence of some projecting roof for obvious reasons, and if the projecting roof is only on the entrance side, this alone would have been evidence of Chronicler’s room being on the opposite side of the kitchen. Because the projecting roof is what Bast uses to get inside Chronicler’s room, and likewise!
 
Fun fact: during my first read I was convinced that Bast had jumped up to Chronicler’s window. The easiest way to prove how wrong that is… is considering that during WMF Chronicler visits Bast room as well: without some projecting roof to act as passage, how would have Chronicler been able to reach Bast’s window?
 
Additional consideration: we know the Waystone Inn features a wooden landing before the entrance. Generally speaking, irl buildings who feature something like that have a roof as well. There’s no point in building a wooden landing if you let rain ruin it in some months, after all…

Maps from the readers: the evaluation

Not this time, RIP.
But still, I dare to dream.

The Waystone Inn catalogue

The inn features:
-The stairs are made of wood.
-The inn has a sign outside.
-There’s lamps beside it.
-There are chamber pots (one for each room?).
-To I really need to mention that chamber pots have a lid (thankfully)? Of course I do.
-The windows of the guest rooms have curtains.
-Chronicler’s room has a chair, bed, nightstand, chest of drawers, lamp (candle?) and sulfur matches to light it up.
-Barn, therefore there’s a stable.
-Kvothe’s room features desk, memoir and candle.
 
The inn lacks:
-Horses and crowds of people.
-Music, of course.

Personal comment

NOTW ends with a monster chapter. I didn’t expect it to have many details, but research proved otherwise and I’m glad for that. A bit of a shame because I expected to use the maps today, but there was not enough space unless I had broken the OP in two parts, and I’d rather avoid that.
 
While we’re at it, let me add a personal appreciation: this chapters feature my favorite threat in the entire series: “I’ll make a game of you.”
I love this expression to no end.
English natives may consider it obvious, but for non-English like me this one is tricky, because “game” is an ambivalent term: it’s both an activity for fun, but also a hunted animal. And both meanings apply, making it double the threat! I love it, it’s simply brutal.
Next episode, exactly like my girlfriend, will definitely come later than expected. Hey, no, wait a minut-
 
Thanks for reading and for your insights, past episodes can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Reddit law dictates pictures first, so here's how my shawarma turned out. As usual if you'd like to support me or prefer video guides, here's the link to the recipe and technique. I've also linked to all my past cooking posts in the comments below.
The sight of a Shawarma spit rotating slowly while grilling is breathtaking and majestic. The meat slowly bubbles and fries up on the exterior, while melted fat and juices trickle down the assembled shawarma cone. Then like a trained violinist, the shawarma meister shaves the exterior of the cone into thin strips of grilled meat before wrapping it in some flatbread. It is a true site to behold, and the experience of eating shawarma that was shaved seconds before is one you'll likely never forget. So what is one to do when you have no shawarma shops nearby and the craving strikes. Well the answer is to make your own but the problem with that is it's near impossible to get the correct grilled flavor and texture without a rotisserie, that is until today. I'm going to show you how to make the best homemade chicken shawarma of your life, using a technique that I developed that requires no special equipment (except some skewers) and can be done in any grill or broiler equipped oven.

What is Chicken Shawarma

Shawarma is the name given in the Middle East to a dish of layered meat which is grilled on a rotating spit, it commonly comes in two forms; Chicken or Meat (either beef, lamb or a mix of both). It's served throughout the middle east with every country putting their own unique twist on the marinades and sauces that are used. For the most part shawarma is eaten as a sandwich, but it's also sometimes served with rice, on hummus or with a salad. The popularity of shawarma and it's appeal as a quick delicious street food has lead to it spreading all over the world particularly as a late night meal.
There are a number of international variants of shawarma such as Turkish Döner (this is actually the historical origin of shawarma), Greek Gyros, and Mexican Al pastor (invented by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico), though today we will be focusing only on Levantine (specifically Syrian and Lebanese) style Chicken Shawarma sandwiches. These sandwiches are put together using the freshly shaved chicken, Toum (Thick garlic sauce, see my last post for this, link in notes), salty pickled cucumbers and Shatta (Chilli sauce, also in my last post), all wrapped together in a thin stretchy flatbread called Saj. Some people opt to add in slices of Tomato, lettuce, French fries or potato chips (crisps) for additional flavors or textures, but I feel it's unnecessary and the shawarma sandwich can shine without them. Once wrapped in the bread, the sandwich is toasted on a panini press for a minute, to crisp up the exterior of the bread and seal the sandwich shut.
The issue with cooking chicken shawarma at home is that it's really hard to get the right texture without the assistance of a rotisserie. As the rotisserie spins, the meat cooks from the outside inwards, and attains a glossy grilled char on the outer surface. Once shaved you'll end up with pieces that on one side are perfectly juicy and tender soft meat, and on the other side are crisped and lightly charred with an amazing grilled flavor. That texture is essential for correctly made chicken shawarma, and unfortunately it's really difficult to get using most home cooking methods. Although the marinade adds the majority of the flavor to the dish, it won't taste or feel right without the grilled exterior.
The simplest method to use for home cooked shawarma is to cut your marinated chicken into strips and then pan fry them. It works in a pinch and will give you chicken strips that taste similar to shawarma, but I've found that this method doesn't give you any resemblance in terms of texture and crucially the meat is missing a charred/grilled flavor. Another method that is quite simple, is to grill whole chicken thighs or breast fillets (slices about 1 cm thick) in a griddle or grill pan, then slicing it into strips before serving. This will give you a better texture and some char, and is my preferred method if I'm in a rush. However the texture is still quite different from that of genuine shawarma and the reason for that lies in the direct contact the chicken pieces will have with the pan. It will cause the meat to cook a lot quicker on the outside than it will on the inside, so you'll end up with a larger variation of doneness across a cross section of the meat.
One strange technique I've seen a lot recently, involves stacking your whole chicken pieces on some skewers, and baking it upright in the oven. Although this might look closer to a traditional shawarma cone, it's absolutely illogical, as you have to bake the whole thing until cooked through to the center. Although well intentioned, this method will basically give you over done and dry outer edges with some browning, and a well cooked center with 0 color. So what can you do to get realistic shawarma at home?
My technique is designed to grilling steak in a restaurant setting, to ensure that we get a perfectly cooked center in our meat, while still ensuring we get a crispy grilled outside. We will use the grill or broiler function to obtain a nice crust and grilled flavor. First the marinated chicken is sliced into thin strips about 1/2cm or 1/4in thick, then its suspended between two skewers. The filled skewers are placed on the edge of a baking tray or dish so that the meat is suspended in mid air and isn't touching the base. The tray is then placed under the broiler or grill in the oven to cook and is rotated every few minutes until lightly charred and cooked through. This is the best technique I have found for cooking chicken shawarma at home, and it really does mimic that of rotisserie shawarma. The direct heat from the grill or broiler allows you to develop char and crispiness, without the meat constricting and shrinking as it would in a pan.

History

The origins of Shawarma is one of many stories and timelines, and has been claimed by many nations. The name Shawarma may have come from the Turkish word çevirme, which some sources say means turning, though my google-fu has said it means translation (technically this still is a form of movement). But all indicators do point to this being an ottoman food, and that's mainly due to its importance and stature in the countries that make up the former ottoman empire. One very important clue on its ottoman origins was discovered in the background of a painting from 1616 which the food historian Priscilla Mary Işın discovered and wrote about in her book 'Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine'. It dates the rotation method of cooking kebab to at least the 17th century.
Shawarma is thought to have first gone vertical through the work of Iskender Efendi in the 19th century (1867 to be exact) in the city of Bursa. He is also the inventor of the Iskender Kebab, which consists of meat shawarma placed on a bed of bread, then topped with a tomato sauce, browned butter and yoghurt. His descendants still run a restaurant in the city of Bursa to this day. Speaking of vertical shawarma, nearly all shawarma is now cooked vertically, but over the past decade there has been a resurgence in horizontally cooked shawarma. This is usually done over a coal fire pit and is honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten.
The spread of shawarma through the rest of the middle east is not clear and there aren't any credible stories of how it got transformed into a sandwich nor how it came to be combined with Toum and Shatta. However given that Toum is very much a Levantine invention and is a main component of chicken shawarma sandwiches, it's likely that it spread from either Syria or Lebanon. One clue to the Syrian origins of Chicken shawarma sandwiches also lies in the stores that sell shawarma throughout the Arab world. One of the oldest shawarma stores in Egypt is called Abo Ammar El Sory, which literally means Ammar's Father - The Syrian. There are also lots of other Syrian joints that specialize in shawarma throughout Cairo, though I'm unsure if this is just a phenomenon in Egypt.
One thing that we can say for sure is that Shawarma has spread throughout the world over recent years, and this is mostly attributed to the rise in Syrian refugees opening restaurants in the countries they now call home. London, UK is home to dozens of these, some of which put out shawarma that can rival any I've had in the Middle East. Europe has been a hotbed for Turkish Doner Kebabs for a long time, but the shawarma sandwich is now posing a new challenge to their dominance.

Flavor Profile

The chicken shawarma itself has a mild but complex spiced flavor due to the varied amounts of spices in it. You can easily pick up the flavors of Bay, cloves, cardamom and turmeric. The paprika and tomato paste add some depth to the shawarma and much needed umaminess. Adding lemon and vinegar to the marinade give it acidity but at the same time they serve to tenderize the chicken in conjunction with the yoghurt. Once cooked the flavors in the marinade mellow down slightly and you also get the grilled flavor coming through. Finally the great thing about cooking the shawarma with this method, is that you are still able to taste the chicken itself.
As a sandwich, it has quite a great and well rounded flavor. The first flavor you notice is the grilled bread, which I think is a step that gets left out too often. The freshly baked flavor you get from toasting it is essential to the shawarma experience. The next thing that cuts through is the garlic sauce, with its strong and pungent garlic flavor. You then get the flavors of the chicken mixed with the salt and sourness of the pickles. It's very much a memorable experience eating real shawarma for the first time as the flavors all blend together so well. If you add some chilli sauce as well then you will get a background heat in your sandwich that is really pleasant.

Ingredients

For the Chicken Shawarma:

• 1kg (2lbs) Boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 4-6 Garlic cloves
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 1 Cup of Yoghurt
• 4 Tbsp tomato paste
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Boharat
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Chilli Flakes
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/2 Tsp Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Cardamom

Sandwich Ingredients:

• Saj bread if you can find it, Lavash or Lebanese bread if you cannot
• Salty Lebanese pickled cucumbers or if you can't find it then get salty cornichons
• Toum sauce (recipe in my last post, link in the comments)
• Chilli sauce (recipe in my last post, link in the comments)

Directions

Marinade directions:

1. Butterfly or pound your chicken thighs until they are 1/2 cm or 1/4 inch thick, even thickness is crucial for a great cook. If you are using chicken breasts then butterfly them and then pound to an even thickness
2. Crush your bay leaves using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder (you can use some of the salt to help with this), then add to a bowl with the remaining spices
3. Mince your garlic and mix with the Yoghurt, Tomato Paste, Lemon Juice, Olive oil, white vinegar and the spice mix. Stir until well mixed and then add your chicken in to the bowl and mix to ensure each piece is well coated in the marinade
4. Place your chicken in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours so the marinade can really take effect

My oven grilled/broiled chicken shawarma technique:

I highly recommend checking out my video for this as the steps are kind of hard to translate into words

1. Slice your marinated chicken thighs into strips about 1/2 cm or 1/4 inch thick
2. Using a skewer, pierce your chicken strips all along one side and slide them onto the skewer until the entire chicken thigh has been threaded on to the skewer
3. With a second skewer, pierce the opposite end of the chicken, so that the chicken strips are suspended between both skewers, it will kind of resemble crochet. Push the thigh together so it's slightly compressed then repeat until you have filled all your skewers. Leave about an inch clear on both tips of the skewer.
4. Line a deep baking sheet with foil or dish with foil, then place the skewers across the edge of the sheet. Either end of the skewer should be resting on opposing walls of the baking sheet, with the meat suspended between them, floating above the sheet not sitting in it (you may need to use a deep baking dish if your trays are shallow).
5. Place your tray in the oven with your grill or broiler set to medium and cook for 3-5 minutes. Rotate the skewers to the second side and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Place them back in the over for 2-3 more minutes until slightly charred. Cooking times will really vary with each broiler or grill, but you should basically flip when it starts to develop a sear then flip when it happens on the other side. Your chicken should read 74c or 165f when done. If your broiler or grill only has one strength setting, try rotating it more often such as every minute.

Pan Grilled directions:

1. Heat a grill pan or griddle and place a few chicken thighs in it, but don't overcrowd the pan
2. Cook them on medium high heat, flipping them every 2-3 minutes until cooked through, this should only take a few minutes
3. Remove and let cool slightly before slicing into thin strips

To make a shawarma sandwich:

1. Place a piece of bread on your work surface and slather on a couple of tablespoons of Toum
2. Add your chicken pieces on top, as well as some pieces of sliced cucumber pickle
3. Add some chilli sauce to the sandwich then roll it up and seal
4. Place your sandwiches in a grill pan of griddle, and weigh them down with something heavy. Allow them to sear for 30-60 seconds per side until grill marks form. You may find that wrapping the sandwiches in greaseproof paper before grilling helps keep them from splitting open.

Notes and tips

• This recipe is specifically for CHICKEN shawarma and the marinade for meat shawarma is completely different, it probably wont taste right if you do this with meat instead
• You can use Chicken breast instead of chicken thigh, or even a mix of both if you are doing a large quantity. The best way to do this would be to alternate strips of thigh and breast for a well mixed texture
• I really recommend using metal skewers, but if you can't find them then regular bamboo or wooden ones will do fine, just be aware that they can burn under the grill
• Play around with the strength of the marinade a bit, the spice blend is great but you might find that you like it a bit weaker or stronger. Try halving the spices or doubling it to suit your taste. The rest of the marinade ingredients should remain the same though
• If you really wanted to go wild, I'd highly recommend grilling the shawarma on a charcoal grill. The flavor will be insane and honestly coal fired shawarma is so much better, you will thank me for this
• The recipe for the Toum and Shatta (Garlic and chilli sauces) is here

I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

I am a fan of Naomi Novik from the very beginning. To date, I’ve read each and every one of her published novels, including all 9 books of her Napoleonic Wars dragon series, Temeraire. So she sits alongside China Miéville and Jo Walton on my bookshelves as authors whose canon of novels I’ve read in entirety. With the notable exceptions of Tongues of Serpents and League of Dragons (book 6 and 9 of Temeraire), I generally enjoyed and was even wowed on occasion by Ms Novik’s body of work, so I was quite excited to hear her announce a new series that’s set in a magical school called the Scholomance. I am somewhat of an enthusiast of this sort of fantasy setting, and have attended many such sorcerous campuses (i.e. Roke, Hogwarts, the University Kvothe attended, Brakebills), Osthorne) in my readings.
Scholomance has a deep footprint in pop culture, and had appeared in many works from folklore to Bram Stoker’s Dracula to the World of Warcraft. In Ms Novik’s A Deadly Education, the Scholomance is a school where wizard children are sent to study the magical arts and um, to get murdered. Reading the Harry Potter books as an adult, one realises that Lucius Malfoy and the Board of Governors actually have a point regarding Dumbledore’s reckless administration of the school which unnecessarily exposes students to mortal danger and incompetent pedagogy. Ms Novik’s Scholomance makes Hogwarts look like a daycare centre for particularly squishy toddlers. The Scholomance has no headmasters or teachers around to protect the teenagers, and the whole revolving drum-shaped institution is fully automated, floating in a Lovecraftian void. Nightmarish creatures of all shapes and descriptions (called maleficaria) infiltrate it incessantly and ambush the fledgling wizards within at every opportunity: during meals, while showering, or even when they are asleep in bed. Further upping the danger level is some of its students who are actively malevolent—called maleficers—and practices dark magic. They do some of the murdering, since it’s an easy way to gain power and thus, increases one’s chance of survival. So why do wizard parents allow their kids to attend this diabolic charnel house? Well, it’s because being at the Scholomance is less deadly than not being there. As a wizard kid grows older, they start attracting maleficaria which hunger for their magical essence, and they need someplace relatively sheltered in order to grow in strength. The story follows the main character Galadriel “El” Higgin’s time there.
Before I proceed with this review, I want to address some accusations of racism that had been leveled at A Deadly Education (summarised in this Twitter thread by user asma).
I find that the charge against the most egregious offence of the book—the one which described dreadlocks as being “not a great idea” because it would be targeted by monstrous “lockleeches”—to be a legitimate complaint. It does perpetuate some troubling ideas about black hairstyles being dirty or prone for infestation. I get that in the context of A Deadly Education, ANY kind of elaborate hairstyle or even long hair is described as a bad idea in the Scholomance but it’s no excuse and it is not a good look for the book to single out locs.
I find the rest of the laundry list of complaints which followed that primary one to be less meritorious and sometimes, completely lacking in merit. I think how one perceives and reviews a book depends on how much one likes it. If you like a book, you are more likely to notice and remember its positive aspects, and forgive its faults. And if you dislike it, you are more likely to notice more faults and, in some cases, more likely to assume the author is at fault in the face of inconclusive evidence. It affects how charitable we are towards an author or a book. Let me give you some examples,

• Now, I am Chinese and I belong to one of the ethnic demographic groups that Ms Novik supposedly injured with her ignorance in this book. Some had complained that the character Yi Liu is as bad as Cho Chang (whose name is famously accused of being made up of two surnames) in the Harry Potter books, and the fact that she is often referred to as Liu (presumed to be her last name) by other characters is also perceived to be something negative. I just want to remind everyone that even the Cho Chang complaint is not an open-shut case, given the differences in how Chinese names are romanised across the world. In fact, depending on which dialect or sinitic language Cho Chang was romanised from, it can be a legit name. Also the correct way to write a Chinese name is to place the surname ahead of the given name, but in some countries practicing different naming conventions, Chinese persons often flip this (and sometimes even drop the middle name). Sometimes, some syllables of a Chinese name may be joined together or hypenated, like how the current premier of China’s name is Xi Jin Ping but you can also romanise it as either Xi Jin-ping or Xi Jinping. Many diaspora Chinese and Hong Kong natives adopt English or Christian names, like Donnie Yen or Jackie Chan, similar to how another character mentioned in A Deadly Education is called Jane Goh. I am just barely scratching the surface of how complicated this issue is. Yi Liu might be a given name in its entirety with an unknown surname, or more uncommonly, a name with just 2 characters/syllables instead of 3, with either Yi or Liu as the surname. This cannot be considered Ms Novik’s fault since this ambiguity and confusion exists in real life, and I can hardly imagine her dedicating an entire chapter of her book to explain all the intricacies of a side character’s name. So, if I am inclined to be charitable (and I am), I would actually praise Ms Novik for having other characters correctly refer to Yi Liu as Liu, since that's where her given name would be.
• Another complaint is that a group of Scholomance students from the Dubai enclave having skills in both Arabic and Hindi, citing it is insensitive because of labour issues in Dubai. Still, approximately 85% of Dubai’s population is made up of expats and 71% of them are from Asia, primarily India, so what’s wrong? Should she completely avoid acknowledging the diversity in Dubai or should she stop the entire novel to talk about modern slavery in the Emirates even though it has nothing to do with the fantasy story?
• There are conflicting criticisms about how the half-Welsh, half-Indian protagonist, El, is essentially a white girl with brown skin, considering how out of touch she is with the Indian side of her family (even though she was primarily raised by her Welsh mother in a hippie commune in the UK, which would explain why). Yet at the same time, they criticise how she is depicted as being unhygienic which is also not okay because it conflates being Indian with uncleanliness. I wish they would make up their mind on whether they see El as white or Indian. Why not blame her white hippie upbringing, which is stereotyped as being unwashed as well? Only a most uncharitable reader would see racism here since contextually, NO ONE in the Scholomance gets to shower much due to it being a potentially deadly activity. Being Indian and not showering was not singled out in the story the way the dreadlocks case was. Additionally, as a 100% Chinese diaspora kid myself, I must say that it is quite common for us to have trouble identifying with our culture or country of origin.
• There are patently false criticisms like how the character “Ibrahim shows up when they need Arabic, Aadhya has links to Hindi and Bengali speakers, Liu speaks Mandarin, but they have no real other character”. To me, none of them are defined as characters only by the languages they speak. Ibrahim is a minor character but he seems to have a bit of a crush or hero worship thing going on for Orion Lake, the second biggest character in the book. Aadhya is repeatedly shown to be a gifted artificer, social networker, and a good friend. Yi Liu has her whole entire side plot (and an actual arc) about her trying to survive the Scholomance by quietly being a maleficer! It makes me wonder if they even read the same book.
• Some people have grumbled about how Ms Novik appropriated the word “mana” in A Deadly Education to describe arcane energy or life force that the characters use to do magic while neglecting the word’s Melanesian/Polynesian root. Again, I feel this issue cannot be laid at Ms Novik feet since the word had been a staple of fantasy literature, role-playing games and video games for decades now. And I am pretty sure the people who is criticising Ms Novik now have used other Melanesian/Polynesian loanwords like “taboo” (Tongan) and “tattoo” (Samoan) before.

“You really think other kids get jumped a lot more?” he said abruptly, like he’d been stewing over it the whole time.
“You aren’t that bright, are you,” I said, speaking from downward-dog position. “Why do you think people want to be in enclaves in the first place?”
“That’s outside,” he said. “We’re all in here together. Everyone has the same chances—”
He turned around to look at me halfway through that sentence, at which point my upside-down stare knocked him off track and he listened to the regurgitated rubbish coming out of his own mouth.

Now, I will agree that this book does not handle racial diversity as thoroughly and thoughtfully as it could have, but I think what is not mentioned in a lot of critical reviews is how the ideas of class, wealth, and privilege is intimately tied to its world-building and plot—which I think was done quite well. It’s no accident that the most powerful and prosperous enclaves (basically magical factions) in the book are from places like New York and London.
Sure, we can wish A Deadly Education is more intersectional than it is. We can wish the book also considers race/ethnicity more deeply as well, but just because a book isn’t perfect and isn’t able to accomplish everything doesn’t mean it is bad. Personally speaking, I am not very eager to see a white American fantasy author tackle racism and am actually glad she didn’t. I believe every author, white or otherwise, have cultural blind spots, and the issues in A Deadly Education remind me of the antagonist white dragon Lien in Ms Novik’s Temeraire series, who was shunned because the Chinese considers white to be an unlucky and funereal colour. Yet, at the same time, other dragons belonging to the same draconic breed as her are revered in China, even though they are all black (also a colour which has negative connotations in Chinese culture—I should know, I’ve been told off repeatedly by my grandmother for wearing black clothes during Chinese New Year). Yes, it’s sloppy, but I think any author writing about cultures outside of their own is going to make mistakes and if I am unable to forgive them when they stumble, I’ll have to read books which only feature characters belonging to the author’s own race and I don’t want that.
I just got the book last night and read it in one sitting—so you can tell that I liked it. Longtime fans of Ms Novik will also see her abandoning her usual writing style for a less formal first person YA voice, and depending on one’s tolerance level for this style, it can be either a good thing or bad. I think Galadriel or El is a character who is easy to like, and has that combination of sarcastic taciturnity that I see in Tamsym Muir’s Gideon or Harrow, so the tone suits her well. I also really like the idea of a protagonist who is prophesised to be the Big Bad or Evil Overlord of the world, but tries very hard to avoid that fate. Ms Novik got a lot of laughs from me with how El is constantly being coaxed by the school itself to indulge in destruction and mayhem by comically misconstruing her requests,

“You’ve seen one of these before?”
“I’ve got a summoning spell that raises a dozen of them,” I said. “It was used to burn down the Library of Alexandria.”
“Why would you ask for a spell like that!”
“What I asked for was a spell to light my room, you twat, that’s what I got.” To be fair, the incarnate flame was in fact doing a magnificent job of lighting the room.

As much as I enjoyed Ms Novik’s previous books, Uprooted and Spinning Silver, I did not much care for the romance in both, which I consider to be problematic and abusive. A Deady Education is much improved in this regard with the himbo love interest, Orion Lake, who is everyone’s hero. I like how it started from El basically allowing other people to believe they are dating and not correcting them, while Orion remains seemingly oblivious about how his actions make it look. It seems that El and Orion’s relationship will be an important matter going forward in this series (given that mini cliffhanger at the end) so I am glad I enjoyed reading its development.
So what does this leave us? A Deadly Education is a good book for me. It’s not great, and it can do better when it comes to racial representation, but it is by no means the flaming, Heil-Hitlering, racist trashfire that some reviewers are making it out to be. I believe that it is entirely possible for anyone to commit acts of microaggression in their writing unwittingly (nothing in Ms Novik’s entire oeuvre or behaviour made me think she was being bigoted on purpose, unlike The Author Who Must Not Be Named), and I hope the author takes some of these criticisms into consideration for her future books. Similarly, I think it is important to point out what’s bad about a book without forgetting everything good about it either. I for one, am still looking forward to read its sequel, The Last Graduate, when it comes out.
P.S. Note that this review only reflects MY personal opinion. I do not speak for all people of colour or Chinese people. I also docked 0.5 points from my rating of this book for the dreadlocks thing.
fantasy 2020 Bingo squares:

• Novel Published in 2020 (easy mode)
• Novel Set in a School or University (hard mode)
• A Book that Made You Laugh (hard mode, subjective)

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

You can find this and other reviews I wrote at A Naga of the Nusantara.

Hey deadbedrooms, long time no see!
A year ago my life went completely sideways when my then-wife told me she wanted to separate. I was understandably upset, and I wrote a pretty lengthy post in this sub as a result.
>>> here’s a link to that post <<<
It was a pretty cathartic act in itself and writing it really helped me collect my thoughts. I was probably a lot more lost than I sounded at the time. I was really surprised by the number of people that commented on that post - and it really had a positive effect on me.
I promised myself that I’d come back, give an update once the dust had settled, and let lurkers and people stuck in bad relationships know that life on the other side can be good… and here I am exactly a year later [some stuff happened between then and now].
So, the TL:DR version of my previous post is

• 10 year relationship total
• Married five years in
• Kiddo popped out 3 months after the wedding
• DB scenario building up slowly from before conception, to a more or less complete sex lockdown for two years at the end.
• In total, I think we managed to have sex about four times throughout the entire marriage / after conception of son.
• She had several non-terminal but persistent health issues, so there were always a whole bucketload of readily available excuses
• Emotional lockdown too; behind closed doors she had walled-up after the first couple of years of being a parent; she was more likely to be staring at her phone than looking at me.
• Publicly though, when she was talking to her friends… we were ‘going to marriage counselling’ and ‘working on it’... and we were. I thought we were.
• During the last couple years of the marriage my old man passed away [she was no support here at all] - and left a fairly generous wad of money to me and my brothers and sister.
• Losing people changes you right? I wasn’t unaffected. I got a little more withdrawn, a little quieter. When my dad died, a little bit of me went with him, and never came back out of that hospital room when I left.
• But... I bounced back a few months from there with a refreshed attitude, and more of a lust for a social life, a desire to find a way to build a life, rather than just let life happen to me.
• I got busy retraining with a view to changing vocation and improving my financial standing long-term. I lifted and worked on my physical and mental strength.
• I started to view my Happiness and Time as a finite resource
• There was a brief period where I considered ending the relationship on my own terms, for the sake of my own happiness… but ultimately I didn’t go that way. Sliding doors, eh?
• Can you guess what happened next? The Marriage of course seemed to miraculously carry on for a couple of years until the inheritance money dried up; which took us up to November 28th, 2019, where - all of a sudden - I found myself being told that it was over.
• A couple of days after that, I was writing my initial deadbedrooms post… “help…. What do i do now…. My life is over….” and all those things you’d imagine.

But what came immediately after I submitted that post?
Initially, a really weird situation; in which everything changed but nothing changed - I wasn’t going to up and leave the marital home. It was rented rather than a marital asset; but I couldn’t simply disappear. Son has high functioning ASD, and from that point forward I’ve worked tirelessly at keeping things as simple as possible for him and his quality of life. I had to be present, for him.
A frosty atmosphere I could handle, I’d had years of training. Once kiddo was in bed, I’d get myself out in the evenings for a drive around, anywhere; i’d go anywhere - I just couldn’t handle any more nights of sitting in the living room in silence not being looked at or talked to; a complete waste of limited social time.
I had an idea of who I wanted to be, on the other side of this, but I had completely forgotten who I was before the relationship. I’d erased it all, I just couldn’t see any of it. For a few nights I drove to places that I knew from my youth; I knew they’d be empty in the late evenings and early hours of the mornings. The hill my sister and I flew kites with my dad. The long road I used to walk along to get back from school. Past old friends houses who’d since moved away or worse. So much had happened, just not to me.
I think I was looking for myself in some of these places, but it all looked different at night, illuminated under street lamps. It all looks very different in your late thirties, too. I’m glad I did it though, it was important. There were some residual memories, they were small but they reminded me that I was a person who could stand up and walk, talk, and eat and shit, and fuck, and have complex happy, exciting, sad, and fulfilling relationships, long before I was married. Removing the blinkers from around your eyes takes time, but the first step is discovering that they’re there.
One night, just before I was headed out, she ever-so-subtly double checked with me that I wasn’t going to be coming back for a couple of hours. She told me that she had a personal call to make. My brain told me that it was simply a bad idea, and my heart told me that it really didn’t want to receive another kicking, but I ended up quietly creeping back in a half hour after leaving.
I think I just had to know, you know?
So here’s a thing about me that any of my friends can attest to, I have a really terrible memory; but as it turns out when the stakes are high, it’s like a voice recorder switches on in my head.
There’s a place inside my old home, just inside the front door under the fuse box where i broke into pieces over the course of an hour or so. She was on the phone to her childhood friend, someone I’d considered a close friend too, for years. They were talking about how much she was going to allow me to know.
My mind went to the obvious place, but that wasn’t it; he’s gay, very gay in fact - end of. He’s in fact more likely to chase after me than her. He was being a diligent friend and talking her through her options and trying to calm her down as she was - supposedly - in the middle of some kind of mental breakdown.
Just, you know, the kind that you don’t let on to your partner of ten years about, right?
Supposedly she’d been allocated a therapist through her workplace and she’d gone hell for leather on it, and in doing so had dug up a monumental amount of damaged baggage that her therapist was urging her to finally confront and deal with. A lot of historic [non-abuse] family stuff was in there, and interestingly, as she was telling her childhood friend, she also felt compelled to reach out to an ex to apologise for something. The best friend wished her luck, but as he was leaving the call he made her promise to him that she wouldn’t kick me out of my own home before christmas.
Ah right, here we go. Whilst I’d obviously now been just inside the door for a half hour or so, I couldn’t leave now. It was already hurting me to do this, I was busting for a pee, I needed nicotine more than I’ve ever needed it in my life but I just stood, silently, not really knowing what to do. In truth, I was just kind of on autopilot, absorbing stuff. I was also acutely aware that opening the door to escape probably wouldn’t go undetected.
Next, she called her ex, and she apologised for causing a scene and really hurting his feelings the last time he came to see her and “fool around”, about eight years ago.
Eight years ago, right... ok.
She talked for a few minutes about stuff that was obviously bothering her, but I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t factor into any of this. There wasn’t a place where I fit. The marriage, and me too, were supposedly an unsuccessful side-quest set aside from the main story, here. She talked about having “married safe”. She talked about how I wouldn’t understand any of it, and wouldn’t be able to handle any of her issues. But… the things she was talking about, she’d never even tried to bring up with me. That bit hurt.
After she’d spent a few cursory minutes talking about stuff like that, she said something mean about my mother, and then they moved on to laughing and joking about old times. Shortly before they ended the call, he made her promise to delete their whatsapp history.
Which I found slightly odd. Why should she delete the whatsapp history if she was only just now reaching out to apologise for something said years ago?
She hung up, walked to the bathroom, and I quietly let myself back out whilst the toilet was flushing.
Listening in on conversations is bad, wrong, and invariably illegal - I get it. At the time, this felt like life and death. Part of me wanted to charge up the stairs and have a motherfucker of an argument, but what did I really have? A sleeping son, and nothing to fight with; she’d already cashed out about eight years ago, right? It wasn’t the right time, or the right place. I was vulnerable there, and still absorbing what had taken place over the last hour.
I let myself out, back to the car and drove around all night, I resigned to find a better way than a flat-out fight. I’d be too unprepared and can’t think on the fly like that; with me it takes time and planning. I’d gathered that she was intending to wait until the new year, and then drive the divorce her own way with her own agenda; relying on my historic tendency to let her have her way.
Which didn’t happen.
The next day, I spoke with my sister who lives locally. We’ve had each other’s backs since we were very young. She heard me out on everything, made me many cups of tea and coffee and was just about the most supportive human being in the world. Over the next couple of nights when i told the wife I was heading ‘out for a drive’, I was in fact quietly removing any expensive items of mine out of my home, over to my sister’s place for storage, my drone, some guitars, guitar amps, laptops, anything that my kid didn’t need to be present in the family home that I also didn’t need on a daily basis.
At this point i also had *NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER\* with jumping on tinder and, hey fuck it, just chatting to people. I’d spent years of my life at this point clinically under-sexed. If I got laid, great! But if I didn’t, it was just another way to measure how other people see single-me; like some kind of flirty research project. It was a win-win, and it was fun to pass the time chatting with random ladies whilst sat in my car at two in the morning, chain-vaping and drinking coffee from anywhere I could get it.
Interestingly, one or two young ladies that already kind-of knew me from various social circles jumped in once they saw my face on tinder. They obviously asked questions about what had been happening for me to end up with a dating profile, and I was honest about where I was at, at all times. To my surprise, they didn’t immediately rush off to cross-check this with my then-wife. In moments like that I had a weird conflicted feeling where I felt like I was the only motherfucker that gave a shit about my own marriage, an odd place to be.
Within the next week, all kinds of things started happening and life suddenly seemed to move fast.

• I’d begun the divorce paperwork, deciding that my best defense here was not to wait and see if she’d be sportsmanlike - I’ve seen people get completely destroyed by stuff like this over the years.
• I learned, through a lot of reading online, and calling various solicitors and moderators for a ‘free, initial telephone consultation’ as much as I could about the UK divorce process. I was astonished at just how helpful a complete stranger will be when you level with them and say please help me, I am reaching out because I don’t have a clue what to do. Those people helped me a lot.
• I didn’t leap for a jugular when writing my divorce petition; on paper, my reasons for divorce were ‘unreasonable behaviour’. The things I’d covertly become aware of were never discussed, and never mentioned, at all. It turns out that the generic, shitty-marriage reasons were entirely enough.
• I knew that once she was aware that I was going to be the one to initiate the divorce, that things would get much more frosty; so I quietly started to look around for places to live. I had to stay local - within walking distance, for my son, for family, for work, and also; this is my fucking town.
• With the paperwork filled in from my side and sent off, the courts informed me that my then-wife would be receiving my divorce petition within the next two weeks. It was a big trigger to pull, and it took constant reminders from my sister about what I’d heard to stop me doubting myself. I knew the sensible thing to do would be to confront her with it rather than letting her blindly open a letter and find out that way.
• One morning, before school, my five year old autistic son found one of the sex toys she’d casually hidden under a cushion on the sofa whilst she was out of the room. He of course didn’t know what it was, thankfully. I knew exactly what it was, I’d nearly bought one for her a couple years before in an effort to try and pick things up again. Turns out she was having lots of fun with someone remotely vibing her, anyway.
• I’d also happened across another 5-6 vibrators whilst quietly going through our up-till-then shared bedroom so that I could get my important items out of the house. For years, she’d said that she just didn’t have a sex drive, was asexual, had an early menopause, everything hurt, etc etc. Finding a bag-load of mechanical dicks proved all that wrong. You could draw the conclusion that I was butthurt that she wanted anything else other than me, but quietly, privately, it destroyed me that she couldn’t just… talk about it with me, right?

It turned out, through all of these things happening, that in the space of a day I got to completely embarrass her over the sex toy / kid thing, inform her that I was divorcing her for unreasonable behaviour, and that I had a viewing for a place just down the road. While I didn’t have proof of any emotional affair or infidelity, if she’d have fought aginst my reasons for divorce, I’d have happily started rolling out the things I’d learned.
In any case, She didn’t fight any of it, somehow I’d managed to line all my ducks up and fire my guns at the right time, she got broadsided and just took my lead on it.
My first freelance job paid out. This was visual effects / compositing work on a small Hollywood feature. I’d somehow managed to work on this thing in the small hours of the morning with all this going on. The producer was one of the actresses in the movie, and as such has been in some other productions over the last decade, including some DC/arrowverse stuff. Let’s call her AV, and come back to her in a little while. It’s kinda funny, because in part, a superhero helped pay for my sneaky surprise divorce.
My sister also threw a wad of money my way in a transfer to also pay for the divorce and cover my ass. Both of these things put me in a strong position to fight. And I felt strong. After several days of being caught in the maelstrom, I was pushing in a direction like a fucking boss.
It only takes a few days to learn that Tinder can get pretty depressing, so many conversations just dry up right? I’d gone for a coffee here and there, chatted a bit, but nobody was sticking around, nobody really wanted to know more about me, apart from B. We would talk and talk and talk. And she was interesting, I kept finding myself asking about her life.
It turned out she was a friend of a friend, and I just wasn’t aware, we’d been in the same places before once or twice but I just hadn’t seen her, too busy appeasing my then-wife. I think I’d even pulled her two kids along in a blow-up boat one year when there were a whole bunch of us parents and kids down at the local paddling pool in the summer.
B didn’t know the ex, and the ex didn’t know B. Which was good, because they wouldn’t get on. To this day I’m still a bit scared about what would happen if B, my lil' sis, and my ex-wife were left in a room together.
B got me, and after a few days of chatting invited me over for a coffee and to watch some TV, she knew my situation and couldn’t understand how I could spend so much time in my car every night. I think to be honest she didn’t know how I was coping with any of what had been happening. We watched netflix, ate pizza, talked more. She’s a singer, she paints, she’s so beautiful.
A few days later we were fucking like absoloute monsters. She actually stopped me halfway through a pounding to tell me I was very good at it, which is genuinely a high point in my life. We had more sex in two days than I’d had in the last ten years.
We continued to do our thing, and a happy, happy thing it was. but I made sure that I was still at home for my boy, right where he would expect me to be. Christmas was coming.
Just when my life couldn’t get any more cringe-tastic...
Months ago, I had agreed to spend the Christmas holidays with her side of the family; one of those things that gets decided six months before, y’know? I couldn’t change the plan, my boy was so looking forward to it. I defy anyone to tell an Autistic 5 year old that Christmas isn’t happening the exact way they’ve been expecting it to happen for months. So that happened; a small road trip, a stay in a hotel room [i slept on one side of the room with my boy, the ex had the other side of the room].
We were there a few days, we spent the days at her brother’s house, the in-laws were there. The kids played, the adults talked. At my ex-wife’s behest, only a couple of her family members were aware of the impending divorce, and the others had no clue - she didn’t want to make them aware of it over Christmas - and hey, I wasn’t going to argue; that’s her family. It was the kind of cringe-worthy Christmas that would make an excellent sitcom - questions from older siblings about what plans we have as a couple over the next year… that kind of thing.
In the evenings I’d sit and have a few expensive drinks in the hotel bar. I might’ve looked lonely sat on my own but I felt the total opposite, compared to what my life had been like up to that point.
I felt bad that I’d be losing out on my father in law - one of the only people who knew we were separating. He was pretty upset, he even took it as far as following me to a cafe one morning to check up on me. He’s the very model of what happens when you get to 65 and have remained in a dead bedroom your whole life - he stubbornly tried to stick it out, and it just didn’t pay off. He’s still married, but his wife lives alone and sees someone else. He got where I was coming from, and whilst I’d never divulge exactly why I was divorcing, he agreed with my on-paper reasons. We’ve remained in contact over email ever since, he still sends me whiskey on my birthday, he’s the closest I’ve got to a dad these days.
With Christmas over, we headed home. I spent new years’ with B. We got smashed, mixed drinks irresponsibly and sang to 90’s music videos playing on YouTube on her TV. She knew a fair amount about what was going on with me, but at about 3am I imploded and cried for hours. She held me and I told her everything that had happened, and then she kept on holding me and just didn’t let go, really. So that’s where B and me really started.
January was a month of waiting; I’d have my new place at the end of the month. It was frosty, but I got through it. I didn’t want the hassle, or expenditure, or having a third party divide up all the assets i’d bought for the family home. I decided if it was a thing my kid used, it would stay in the property for his enjoyment, and by extension, the ex wife’s; on the condition that I wasn’t responsible for fixing anything unless it was for my son, and also that she wouldn’t just throw stuff out; if she was getting rid of anything I’d get first shot at it.
On the 31st of January I left that place with nothing but some clothes stuffed into bin bags, a busted laptop, and my guitar in the boot of my car, I drove for about a minute and a half to my new place.
Miraculously I had found the place I’m sitting in right now. Being close to my son is extremely important to me; I want him to be aware that I am close by if he needs me. As such I got a place that’s halfway along his walk to school in the mornings. Most mornings, if he sees I’m home he’ll shout up to me and I’ll say hi back, same after school. He stays here with me one school night every week and every other full weekend, where we have intense PS4 and switch gaming sessions, lego ninjago vs minecraft battles, and he helps me come up with cool ideas for special effects. This has become a sacred place for him and I’m so pleased that he’s managed to come through this so well, it means everything.
I’d been here for a month, at the end of February I was doing some music recording on my computer, and needed to find some lyrics for an old demo that I was re-recording; I knew I’d saved it in google drive, so i started hunting around. No dice, couldn’t find it.
Of course, It’s google, so i used the search function, i typed the song’s title - “T...H...ERA...PY…”
And it came up, great! Been years since i’ve actually checked some of this stuff out.
Wait, what’s that next to it…
“Whatsapp Chat with [[name redacted]].txt”
Last modified: 30 Nov 2019
So when ex-wife was calling her ex-boyfriend, and was explicitly asked by him to erase her messaging history with him, well, I guess she did... but not before uploading a copy of it to google drive. She doesn’t really use it much and it’s highly likely that she’s entirely unaware that it’s there still - she uploaded it to a *shared* folder between her and I, we used to use it to put pics of our boy to upload to his pre-school [kindergarten] learning log.
So of course copied it out and read it.
Then I legit threw up.
Whatever I thought I heard during that hour of confusion and heartbreak hiding in my own house in the dark, the previous December - in between the front door and the coats, and my kid’s shoes, and however bad i thought I should have felt for having heard any of it, was completely overwritten by a black and white document, where every message comes with a time and date stamp. She’d unwittingly tossed it all my way.
Some deeply unsettling stuff was in there; the worst part of it being that she’d covertly taken pictures of a young female work colleague to send to her ex to masturbate over, they were fantasising about what they’d both do with her, dark stuff, I’m sure you could imagine. Aside from that there was a whole lot of time-and-dated proof that in the weeks leading up to telling me she wanted to split, she was having epic finger-banging sessions over whatsapp with her ex, on more than one occasion [i could tell by the times of each message] while i was playing downstairs with my kid. In one of the messages she remarks to him that she’s so horny she can’t even walk properly. She says she told me that she has a bad back. I remember that day, it was my turn to do bath/bedtime with kiddo anyway but I made sure that i checked in on her and took her drinks and stuff into the evening.
I’ve never felt so used in my entire life. I never imagined that the person I took those vows so sincerely with, could hide so much of themselves away. I wasn’t perfect, I was downright lazy at times, afraid, and slow; but I was always there. I always cared and provided for my neat little family.
I courted briefly with the idea of turning it in as evidence of a planned kidnapping/rape; but I was so mixed up by it that by the time I’d started to come together again with some kind of plan, so much time had passed I wasn’t sure if i’d be in trouble for holding on to it for so long.
I keep it to this day as insurance. It’s the thermo-nuke that I rest my finger on, not wanting to press the button, but happy to do so if I have to.
We’ve never talked about it, it’s never come up, and she has no idea what I know.
I keep her at arm’s length, we only talk if it’s to do with my boy. She’s a great mum, but she was a shit human being. I spend as little time as possible ever being in that place, because the very act of entering the house takes me past the doorway where I hid. I don’t want my kid to know this stuff, so i need to find a way to let it go some day.
deadbedrooms, I come to you with glad tidings; your story might be like mine, or completely different, but if you’re stuck somewhere with a shitty person I promise you that you might only know less than half of it. But even if that's the case, there is life after.
If you’re unhappy, get the fuck out of there. I had to Shawshank the fuck out of mine... and if I can do it, you can too. On the way out I learned just how strong you can be when you need to be, I rediscovered what it’s like to hold hands with someone, it’s been a rebirth and whilst it sucked, I wouldn’t change any of it, because it got me to where I am today.
I’m still with B. She’s incredible. We’re spending Christmas together with all our kids. She has her own story, we’ve all been through the grinder a few times right? I love her to pieces, and I feel like a new family sprung up around me this year.
For the first time in a lifetime I am wanted.
For the first time in a lifetime I am loved.
It’s out there, go and get it.

Last updated 2021-02-11 01:52 UTC: Added next opening date for US store (no time yet) This was wrong, nevermind. Added comment from stan about Limited / Reserva releases.
Previously: Confirmed time for EU, Ww, and UK opening.
Previously-er: Added strain list for UK/EU/Ww opening. Confirmed date for for next UK/EU/Ww opening. Added Canadian store bundle sale info. Added info about seed pack sizes, upcoming restock list for the US store, and note about delayed strain guide update. Added info about Supreme restock and upcoming Limiteds. Updated affiliates section. Added, removed, and re-added this sentence. Added link to strain review template.
Previously-er-er: Noted that seed production in Canada is in progress. Posted info about the new Illuminautos.

What/Who is Mephisto Genetics?

Mephisto is "a small outfit of autoflower enthusiasts", a boutique breeder that specializes in autoflowering cannabis.
As stan_mephisto (who manages the US store) put it:

My issue with most other breeders is that they do not list thier strain lineage. We tell you who we got our cuts from and credit the original breeders. Our cookies are really cookies, our haze is really haze, and if we re create a hype strain you better believe its the real deal.
All these zskittles, and gelatos autos you see come out are not the real deal, they are just using the hype name. Ask the breeder where they got the gelato, and how they managed to turn it into an auto so fast. It takes two years to turn a photo cut into an auto.

There is a long thread on ICMag, "Mitch's Auto Adventure", with lots of the early history of what would eventually become Mephisto.
The Mephisto website has its own FAQ, a Grow Guide, and a Strain Guide. There are also community autoflower growing guides on the autoflowers subreddit's sidebar / about page.
Mephisto has an instagram, run by Daz of Night Owl. Note that stan isn't on Instagram, and while I have an account (@parsing_trees) I don't really use it; if somebody claims to be either of us on IG and tries to sell you seeds, it's a scam.
The subreddit has a dry weight leaderboard and some strain reviews, also linked on the sidebar.
New strain reviews/smoke reports can use this template.

When / what are the next releases?

stan (on chat):

Limited Edditions are looking like April for EU, Reservas in MArch

stan says:

Expected restocks [over the next couple months] -
Mango Smile, Samsquanch OG, Creme De La Chem, 24k, Ripleys OG, AVT, Toofless Alien, #44, #47, Sour Crinkle, Grape Walker Kush, Forgotten Cookies, Super Orange Haze, Cosmic Queen, Pink Panama, Hubba Bubba Haze
Our farm expansions are starting to pay off, we have a lot of stock ready, its just a matter of getting it to the prospective stores.
We also have the new limited editions ready but they will likely be behind the ones listed.
[...] For all stores. Some of these are headed to seedbanks now. Some of the new releases will happen at seed banks first, then on the US store.

also:

Jammy [Dodgers] is going to be F2 and F3, had to make two batches. Sour Crinkle is F3.

On AFN, stan said:

Limited edditions this year will be - Purple Nuggets, Orange Biscuits, Orang-utan, Jammy Dodgers, Wookie Special, and Forgotten Strawberries.

Previously:

I plan on doing an official announcement soon. The first few drops of the year for the US store will take place on seedbanks. We got our asses kicked the last two events and need seed banks to try and help take the load off the main store.

also:

We sell to seed banks at 40/50% of retail and they mark it up however much they want. We are going to be doing the advertising for these seed banks so we will see about setting some standard pricing setup.
3 packs are 3s, and 7 packs 7s. We are discussing moving everything to 5 packs though to help streamline the packaging process.
Seedbanks will not get freebies yet, but we are looking at providing some freebies for special events.

Stores, Seedbanks, Getting Seeds

What regional stores are there?

US, Canada, EU, UK, "Worldwide" (other countries, see Mephisto's FAQ: Shipping).
Mephisto does not ship across regions -- if you're in the US, CA, EU, or UK, you can only order from that region's store, not the other regions' stores or Worldwide.
Prices are subject to change, but this post has a copy of previous prices at the US store. Prices vary by line, and the Artisanals and Medicinals are a bit more expensive because they require significantly more breeding work.
Direct order freebies are based on the overall order price (not including shipping) -- see Mephisto's FAQ for details, and note that the tiers are based on $ for all stores, because payment processing is now done in USD.

When will the US store be open?

No time/date has been posted for the US store yet, more specific than "looking like mid February" as far as I know.
On AFN, stan posted something which I had briefly quoted here, but in context, I now realize this was about the UK store (wish the newsletter messages actually specified!). No time/date has been posted for the US store yet, as far as I know.
On AFN, stan said:

All these except 24k will be a available in the store. Hoping the seed banks will take some heat off the store so people won't have to fight for it, but I would be prepared for battle anyway.

where "these" is 24 Carat, Orange Diesel, Forum Stomper, 3 Bears OG, Double Grape, Crème De La Chem, Fugue State, Mystery Mix, and Ripley’s OG.
Previously:

I plan on doing an official announcement soon. The first few drops of the year for the US store will take place on seedbanks. We got our asses kicked the last two events and need seed banks to try and help take the load off the main store.

All orders from the US Illuminauto Release have been shipped, but the postal system is a mess right now and many may still be delayed.
Also:

24 carat is drying and should be ready next time the US store opens. Ripleys, SOH, HBH, Pink Panama are all making seeds right now, will see them to start the year,

What other US-based seedbanks have stock?

Supreme seedback restock.
See the US Distributors/Retailers page. The US store is restocking seedbanks on a regular basis now. For the last five months, at least one of those seedbanks has always had Mephisto strains in stock, and usually several.
Seedbank packs are (usually) sealed, and each seedbank handles freebies differently. (The freebies may be from other auto or photo breeders.)
On AFN, stan said:

1x, 3x will still be the preferred pack size on our store front. Seed banks prefer the 7x but I have been pushing them to take 3 packs.

and:

Limited editions will be likely be in March. The new Reservas should hit seed banks in 2 weeks.

What about the Canadian store?

Canadian Store Bundle Sale, Friday January 29, 2021 at 12 p.m. Eastern (EST), see the post for details.
The Canadian store previously opened Saturday Jan. 23, with available stock, but they're still waiting on restocks. They will reopen once Saturday's orders are done processing, which will also give time for the restocks to arrive. They are also producing seeds in Canada now, so as those batches finish they will also increase supply.
Canadian Store Opening Information:

The Canadian store is still waiting on a number of restock items, but we wanted to go ahead and open the store with what is available. Some items are limited and may be quick to sell out.
Opening Date and Time – Saturday, January 23 - 1:30pm EST
Terms and Conditions
We will open the store again in February when all orders have processed, and shipping issues have been dealt with.
The payment methods available for this event are limited to Debit/CC and Bitcoin. Info about payment methods - https://www.mephistogenetics.com/info/payments
Please allow 10 BUSINESS days for your order to process and ship. An order status of processing means your payment has been approved and is awaiting shipment. You will receive a tracking email once your order has shipped.
Orders are processed on a first come, first served basis, first paid first shipped basis.
Please take care when placing your order, we are not able to add on/remove items or make other changes to your order. All sales are FINAL.
Please double check your shipping address. We ARE NOT accountable for missing orders if the address provided is incorrect.

Some of the US Distributors/Retailers also ship to Canada -- Harvest Mutual, maybe more.
Seed production in Canada is in progress:

Also just finished our first reproduction run in Canada. Hopefully after a few more runs Canada will have a good base stock to work from and items will not sell out so fast.

What about the EU, UK, and Worldwide stores?

The Worldwide website says

World Store Back / 13th Feb 11pm AEDT

and the UK website says

UK store back 13th Feb Midday GMT

and the EU says

1pm CET

11pm AEDT = 1pm CET = 12 pm UTC/GMT.
Strain list:

Chemdogging, Hubbabubbahaze, Forum Stomper, Fugue State, Northern Cheese Haze, Samsquanch OG, Skywalker, Super Orange Haze, Canna-Cheese 1:1, Double Grape, ManBearAlienPig.

Strain and Grow-Off Info

What is this freebie I got? Is there info about it? Has anybody grown it?

Check the Monthly Freebie Crosses Thread, which is now linked on the sidebar. Also try searching the subreddit.

What Grow-Offs and contests are in progress?

• Reserva Grow-Off -> submission thread (locked) -> winners!
  
• Freebie Cross Grow-Off -> submission thread (locked) -> winners!
  
• Mephisto Pumpkin Carving Contest -> submission thread -> winners.
  

Is a strain guide update in progress?

On AFN, stan said:

Our farm friend who did the latest update to the strain guide has some serious health issues atm. We have started it but it has taken a back seat for now. I would love to get it updated especially with the new up coming releases.

Does anybody have the 1:1 CBD Canna-Cheese strain description?

While the strain guide hasn't been updated since it was released, this post has a copy of the 1:1 CBD Canna-Cheese strain description.

Does anybody have Reserva strain descriptions?

Reserva Strain descriptions.

What about the Livers bx1 description? What does "bx1" mean?

Livers bx1 description.
"bx1" means backcross -- Mephisto's Auto Livers strain was crossed back to the photoperiod Livers cut and then worked for four generations to re-stabilize the autoflowering trait, but with even more of the Livers traits otherwise.

How do the different strain groups (Originals, Artisanals, Limiteds, Reserva, Illuminautos, Medicinals) differ?

• Originals: Mephisto's first collection of auto strains, which they've been breeding and refining for about a decade.
  
• Artisanals: Newer photo-to-auto breeding projects, based on the Originals (or other Artisanals) and elite photoperiod cuts.
  
• Illuminautos: A test bed for experimental crosses.
  
• Limiteds: F1 crosses of Originals and/or Artisanals. These are usually one-off releases. Some were previously available as Illuminautos or freebies.
  
• Reserva: Re-releases of older strains, usually Limiteds or Illuminautos that became very popular.
  
• Medicinals: High CBD (or 1:1 THC:CBD) strains. Currently there is only Canna-Cheese, but more are in the works.
  

Affiliates

What's the deal with Night Owl? Does Daz work for Mephisto? Is there a strain guide?

Night Owl is an independent auto breeder who did some breeding work for Mephisto several years ago -- the strain guide mentions GBD (Daz) doing early work on Cosmic Queen and Sour Stomper -- though now he just runs their instagram and represents them at events. Many of his strains are partially based on Mephisto's genetics.
There is now a subreddit specifically for Night Owl -- nightowlseeds. Announcements will go there from now on.
Night Owl sells directly through The Seed Bazaar, and indirectly through various other seedbanks. See his instagram for more details.
There isn't a strain guide yet, and info tends to disappear from TSB as things sell out, but u/BlueJayin has been collecting strain details in a google doc.

What about Chef Anna?

stan:

The relationship between mephisto and chef anna goes way back before I even starting working with mephisto. He has done a lot to spread the word of mephisto so we continue that relationship to this day.
To say we "support him" is very broad. He is an advertising partner and he purchases seeds from us to resale as a white label variety.

also:

Chef was an advertising partner with us for a while, currently we do not have any deals/partnerships in place with him.

Chef Anna has his own subreddit, ChefAnnaWithTheSub.

What about some other breeder I saw with Mephisto lines / crosses?

stan:

We do have an active relationship with James Loud not anyone else though.

There are a few other breeders that have collaborated with Mephisto in the past, such as Mainely Autos (not much info on them...), but there are also "basement breeders" that are chucking pollen and selling F1 or F2 seeds as a cash grab. Making seeds is the easy part -- it takes work not to! The real breeding work is in selection, especially over several generations.

What about RocBud? Didn't they sell an F1 with Jammy Dodgers?

stan:

Not a collab with us.

also:

none of the current mephisto breeders have any relationship with Roc. Seems like Roc likes to stretch the truth a bit.

Please read the Technical Support and General Support Megathreads before going through this one. These methods are intense in terms of processing and GPU usage, so it's absolutely essential to make sure your game is running smoothly. This guide also assumes you know the basics of downloading CC!
This guide is a work in progress and is not intended to be 100% comprehensive. It's more of an introduction to getting your game to look the way you want it to. Though some of the tweaks should work for Macs, this guide is written with Windows in mind.
Latest update 2021/01/25: Added a new ReShade installation method and restructured the text to be more understandable... hopefully so.

Table of Contents

0 Introduction & Glossary
1 DEFAULTS
1.1 Cosmetic Defaults
1.2 Environmental Defaults
1.3 Build & Buy Defaults
1.4 Alternate/Thematic Defaults
1.5 Misc. Defaults
2 DECORATION
2.1 Where To Find Beautiful CC
3 SCREENSHOTS
3.1 Helpful Programmes
3.2 Defaults & Mods
3.3 Hints & Tricks
4 LIGHTING MODS
4.1 What Do They Do? How To Use Them?
4.2 Choosing & Installing Lighting Mods
IN COMMENTS
5 POST-PROCESSING
5.1 Post-Processing Cheats & Tricks
5.2 Pine's Post-Processing Mod
5.3 iCad's Nvidia Tweaks
5.4 ReShade
5.4.1 Addendum regarding Sims2RPC

​

0 Introduction & Glossary

Have you ever wondered how some people manage to get their games looking absolutely amazing? The Sims 2 might be an old game, but it can be customised to a high degree.
This guide covers most methods of getting your game and screenshots to look their best. Some of them could be applied to lower-end machines as well.
If you’d like to see some previews of what my game looks like right now, go here. Note that I’m using ReShade and my computer is a gargantuan beast.
​
Some of the terms I’ll use in this guide might be a bit unfamiliar, so I’ve compiled a little glossary here for your convenience.

• EAxis = EA and Maxis, the original developers of The Sims 2.
• CC = Custom Content, also known as UGC or User Generated Content. It is content that doesn’t come with the game itself and isn’t endorsed by the developers.
• Vanilla = Contrary to CC, content that does come with the game itself. If you haven’t modified your game in any way, it is vanilla.
• AdFly = hell spawn A link shortening service that lets creators make a small amount of money every time someone clicks on their link. This is bad news for you, the downloader, because the site is known to contain viruses on a regular basis, to the point where your antivirus software wouldn’t help. Always hover over links, and Google the address if you don’t recognise it!
• Freeware = Software that is free of charge by design. No subscription or payment is required, and most of the time the software doesn’t have ads either. Yay!
• UI = User Interface. Compiles features in a way that is accessible for the users. For example, the UI of The Sims 2 contains your Sims’ wants, fears and relationships.
• EP = Expansion Pack. University, Nightlife, Pets, Open for Business, FreeTime and so on. Mansion & Garden is a Stuff Pack, but functions as an expansion pack, so if you've got it, it's your latest EP.
• SP = Stuff Pack. Family Fun Stuff, IKEA Stuff, Teen Style Stuff, Kitchen & Bath Stuff, and so on.
• .exe = Executable. Any applications run on Windows (such as TS2!) are .exe files.

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1 DEFAULTS

Defaults are one of the safer forms of CC since you can delete them at any time! Be sure to not use the in-game delete button though - it may delete additional resources and corrupt your game.
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1.1 Cosmetic Defaults
A lot of improvement can be achieved by replacing your Sims' skins, eyes, hair, eyebrows and makeup. There are also defaults for face templates if you don't like people running around with whatever the hell EAxis was thinking when they made those faces…
For all of this, go to the Sims 2 Defaults Database. It's the most comprehensive archive out there, and it gets updated regularly. It even has a folder structure for you to organise your defaults with! I go there for normal CC too, since a lot of the defaults come with custom versions.
If you do like the vanilla stuff, no worries! The database has simple enhancements and lots of Maxis Match defaults as well.
The only cosmetic default I couldn’t find on the Database is this one. Maxis glasses made clear-lensed
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1.2. Environmental Defaults
This is a bit of a trickier one. No one has really made an archive of road replacements, foliage, terrains, traffic and so on… So you have to look around a bit. A lot of Simmers use environmental defaults to improve the neighbourhood view. You can use them for lot view as well, provided that your render distance is high enough.
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I've linked some of the things I personally use or know of below.
lowedeus' EAxis clouds fix, Sims 2 originally had clouds floating over lots, but the feature was broken in Seasons. This mod fixes it!
lazyduchess made a version of the above that shows up on all lots automatically!
Poppet’s defaults, I use Flutterby, the School Bus default in turquoise and the Instant Meal one.
Ivy’s Spaghetti
Ivy’s Snowflakes, an eternal favourite and also recommended for lower-end machines.
pm&g’s defaults
CuriousB’s neighbourhood view replacements / Working download link
olivespecter’s defaults (also misc.ones)
dreadpirate’s MM roads
dreadpirate’s iCad stone roads edit
dreadpirate’s Voeille lush terrain edit
shastakiss’s brighter & less square fallen leaves
criquette’s linden trees as defaults Warning! Only for higher-end machines!
Honeywell’s tree defaults
psychosim’s defaults also includes other types of defaults!
lvstndhrt’s less square water lilies
knowledgeaspiration’s default roads
criquette’s traffic default
Lowedeus’ sun and moon defaults
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1.3 Build & Buy Defaults
Not a lot of these exist, but some creators have made defaults for Build and Buy mode objects using their own retextures and/or recolours. There’s no real database for this, so I’ve linked a couple of the things I know of below.
rudhira’s Buy Mode defaults
vegan-kaktus on MTS, lots of Buy Mode and misc. defaults
cluedosims’ Buy Mode defaults
Lifa’s object defaults
Ivy’s base game appliances
iCad’s object defaults
forceabduction’s TS3 logo posters defaults, a reblog since the original post has been deleted.
pm&g’s Build Mode defaults
pm&g’s Buy Mode defaults
dreadpirate’s ceiling-friendly walls replacement
Aquilegia’s curtain defaults
HoneyWell’s roof trim defaults
muupi’s bedding defaults
mirrortron’s bedding defaults
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1.4 Alternate/Thematic Defaults
I felt like this deserved its own paragraph, since it is an aesthetical thing. Some people like their game to be medieval! Colourful! Sci-Fi! It’s easy to create a whole new look, provided that you can find the right defaults. The Default Database hosts pretty much everything, so you might want to look there. But if you’re looking to create a medieval game, then the Plumbbob Keep (aka medievalsims) is your best bet.
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1.5 Misc. Defaults
These are things that don’t really belong to the aforementioned categories. You might have seen screenshots with a white UI instead of the default blue one. That’s greatcheesecakepersona’s Clean UI! It should be fine to use even with lower-end machines if you like the look. It fixes UI bugs and removes features that would corrupt your ‘hood. (See the General Support Megathread, FAQs part 1.)
If you don’t like the look but want a better UI, it has helpful links to fixes that work with the vanilla UI. There are other UIs available, but none of the ones I know of have been updated for Mansion & Garden or the UC.
You can also replace your loading screen! The Loading Randomizer by greatcheesecakepersona lets you randomise your loading screen so that it’s different every time. If you don’t want that, there are plenty of single replacements out there.
greatcheesecakepersona’s hi-res replacements
knowledgeaspiration’s Ghibli replacements
knowledgeaspiration’s Life is Strange replacements
adinc’s colourful replacements
The Clean UI does come with its own set of loading screen replacements too.
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Also, have some links to other miscellaneous defaults… Some can also be found in the other categories above!
Ivy’s Smooth Talk rose
Ivy’s pink First Kiss hearts
RentedSpace’s Social Bunny
Phaenoh’s clean Social Bunny
dreadpirate’s Create-A-Sim
Epi’s defaults e.g. careers and tombstones
EddySims’ better bubbles
EddySims’ new computer screens
NixNivis’ brighter computer screens
ZenaDewDrop’s hobby plaques
XanderGC’s better wedding & engagement rings
pooklet’s Matchmaker overhaul (not strictly an aesthetic thing, but the original NPC is a racist stereotype and has no place in modern gaming) and midgethetree’s Matchmaker name fix
kahlena’s easel painting defaults
A few misc. defaults by shastakiss
Azaya/skulldilocks' defaults, incl. various categories
Graverobber's dinnerware defaults in CuriousB colours
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2 DECORATION

This is kind of covered above, but non-default CC deserves its own category.
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2.1 Where To Find Beautiful CC
The ‘’Need Some Mods? Look No Further!’’ thread on this subreddit has a large list of reputable creators with good CC. There isn’t much else I could say here, other than to look for creators who don’t use AdFly.
Tumblr has a lot of CC finds blogs, and some of them are by CC creators themselves. I also recommend Garden of Shadows (especially the Monthly Themes and Wishing Tree) and Mod The Sims (especially Featured and Picked Downloads) for high-quality downloads.
Some creators have ‘’WCIF friendly’’ in their profile descriptions. That means they will answer any questions about the CC they use in their posts. It’s a great way of finding CC, as you know that at least one other person likes it, and as a bonus, a lot of people are willing to reupload anything that is no longer available to the public.
Some older pieces of CC are cursed with dead links, but a lot of popular stuff does get reuploaded by other people and sometimes the original creators themselves. sims2packrat on Tumblr is the number one place to go to for CC with broken links.
CuriousB’s SimFileShare folder
AllTheHairs - I don't recommend going there right now because of the malware warning though.
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Since they might be harder to find, here are some of the neighbourhood deco things I use in my pictures.
lowedeus’ skyboxes
greatcheesecakepersona’s horizons - they've got lots of other stuff on Tumblr and MTS too.
iCad’s neighbourhood deco
psychosim’s animated UFO perfect for Strangetown. ;)
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3 SCREENSHOTS

Why use TS2's default screenshot mechanic when you can take high-res fullscreen screenshots instead? This part also contains hints for making screenshotting easier.
3.1 Helpful Programmes
For better screenshots, you'll most likely want to use an external capturing programme. Print Screen only captures one image at a time, so you'd have to exit your game to paste it somewhere else every time you took a screenshot. The default camera is extremely crunchy and blurry, only saves the captures in .bmp format, and saves them in a weird location with odd names.
Windows has its own screenshot programme (Snipping Tool) which comes built-in with Windows 10. It's a pretty handy one, as you can choose the area you capture, and it doesn't require any additional downloads. You can activate it by pressing Win + Shift + S.
Gadwin PrintScreen is a popular choice as well. It's freeware, so you can download it from its website completely free of charge. You can customise it to suit your own tastes, and even email your screenshots as you take them.
Fraps is probably the most famous capturing programme out there, but I don’t really recommend it. Unless you use the paid version, you’re better off using Gadwin instead.
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3.2 Defaults & Mods
There are a few things you can use to make your screenshots a bit prettier and easier to take. First of all, you might want to remove the red pause frame for when you want to take screenshots. If you find that you don’t want to be without it, it’s safe to take these mods out for sessions, and then put them back when you want to take screenshots. Only choose one of these at a time!
simNopke’s No Pause Frame
BeosBoxBoy’s No Red Lines During Pause
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Then, a bit of a harder modding configuration. Even if you use the Freecam mode (which you should), the default camera is clunky and requires finesse for taking good screenshots. Oh, and if you’ve patched your game to Widescreen, Create-a-Sim becomes broken and nearly unusable. To remedy that, here are some camera mods!
Now, these are installed differently from your usual mods. CC goes into your Downloads folder, but camera mods go into the ‘’Cameras’’ folder (in the same location) and require you to overwrite the text files there. You’ll need to back up the originals in case you want to not use the camera mod(s) anymore.
GunMod’s Camera Mod comes with different options; please read the instructions and choose the one you prefer.
Lowedeus’ Neighbourhood Camera + Cursor comes with a default replacement cursor! The cursor option matches either the default UI or Clean UI, choose the one you want and not both.
Lena’s Widescreen CAS Camera Fix fixes the Create-a-Sim camera for widescreen resolutions. I recommend getting this one regardless, since CAS becomes so much better to use.
Lowedeus’ Camera Mod Compilation specifically engineered for use with simNopke’s SkyFix. You can also check the links for the mods used in it and build your own compilation. I found this to not suit my tastes so much, but it’s a great option!
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If you’d like to remove PlumbBobs altogether, you can do so by downloading this mod for neighbourhood view and live gameplay OR this mod just for live gameplay. Only use one, but you can remove it at any time if you want the PlumbBobs back.
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I’m just going to link to PleasantSims’ Mods Guide for Poses since it has every story-making mod I know of, with great explanations.
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3.3 Hints & Tricks
Some of the game’s cheats can be used to make your Sims co-operate better while being filmed.

• maxmotives – maxes your Sims’ needs so that they don’t complain.
• motivedecay off – makes your Sims’ needs static so that they don’t drop.
• moveobjects on – gives you the ability to move objects and Sims anywhere or delete them.
• boolProp testingcheatsenabled true – tons of options for doing things to your Sims, households and neighbourhoods… Just make sure not to click on anything you don’t know about. This one adds the game’s version number to the top right corner, but most people don’t notice or care.
• plumbbobtoggle off – removes the PlumbBob (aka the diamond above your active Sim’s head). Useful if you’re not using a default replacement to get rid of it.
• showheadlines off – removes speech and thought bubbles.
• sethour 1-24 – sets the time to the number you specified.
• boolProp useeffects false – gets rid of headline effects such as stink clouds, rain, sleeping ZzZ’s, and stereo music effects.

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Press TAB to go into freecam mode. It’s much better to take screenshots with, as it’s flexible and even has options for saving different camera angles!
Here are the controls:

TAB – enteexit freecam mode
W – forward
A – left
S – backward
D – right
Q – lower
E – higher
CTRL + 4/5/6/7/8/9 – save camera position
SHIFT + 4/5/6/7/8/9 – switch to saved camera position
Z – zoom in
X – zoom out

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If you're taking a screenshot in Live Mode, you should go to the Options Menu [F5] in order to hide your Sim's action queue. Otherwise it'll show up in your screenshot.
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4 LIGHTING MODS

4.1 What Do They Do? How To Use Them?
Lighting mods are a specific type of mod for changing the lighting of the game. They make the game look quite different, but much better since the default lighting is harsh and simple. Not a lot of them exist because they’re more difficult to make, but there are a few options. Please note that these mods are harder to install than normal mods, and they require you to be comfortable tampering with your Program Files.
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4.2 Choosing & Installing Lighting Mods
First and foremost, you should probably install the Scriptorium unless you’re absolutely sure you won’t change your lighting mod. It comes with an option to revert to default EAxis lighting, and you can switch between different lighting mods if you’d like to. It can also be used to install custom staircases and fireplaces, so you might want to get it regardless.
Please note that the Happy Holiday stuff pack and its different iterations make it so that some of the EPs and SPs have different numbers in different countries!
Why does that matter? If you’re installing a lighting mod manually, it will require you to replace some files with names such as SP4Lights, which might not be replaced correctly if your EP or SP number differs from the one the lighting mod creator has.
Always double check to make sure the lighting files were overridden. If you find that your files were not overridden because the EP/SP number is different from the one in the lighting mod, rename the lighting mod file so that it replaces the original.
E.g. my H&M Fashion Stuff’s lighting file is named SP4Lights.nlo, but because in some lighting mods the same file’s name might be SP5Lights.nlo, it would not be overwritten, and that would cause problems. In that case, I needed to rename SP5Lights.nlo into SP4Lights.nlo and accept the override prompt.
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The Scriptorium comes with GunMod’s Radiance Lighting System which you can also get separately. Follow the instructions, and if you’re not using the Scriptorium, back up your original lighting files!
The original Radiance Lighting System is great, but I highly recommend getting dreadpirate’s edit instead. It includes some shader fixes and tweaks the nighttime lighting to be more natural.
Spookymuffin’s lighting mod is quite simple and only modifies the base game lighting files. Still, please follow the instructions.
dreadpirate’s Maxis Match Lighting Mod is the one I use and recommend the most. You can also choose to only get the shader fixes, which work without the mod as well.
Note that some smaller lighting fixes can not be used together with the shader fixes, as they conflict and thus, they’re included. The fixes include simNopke’s SkyFix, criquette’s Neighborhood Lighting Remedy, Better Nightlife and Seasons winter road fix, Moi’s and Voeille’s water mods, and Niol’s roof shader fix.
The shader fixes can also not be used with Pine’s Post-Processing Mod, so dreadpirate has made a version that combines the two. Read on for more info about the post-processing mod.
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The Post-Processing portion of this guide can be found in the top comment!