Had To Perish Twice, 1/2 (Star Trek XI Mirrorverse, NC-17 with warnings)

Title: Had To Perish Twice, Part 1 of 2
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: NC-17 with warnings.
Pairing: James T. Kirk/Dr. Leah McCoy; Chekov/Sulu and Spock/Uhura alluded to.
Summary: The story of the Situlan revolt, or, Jim sees murder in his Bones's pretty eyes.
Content Advisory: Violence, destruction, dubiously consensual sex, nonconsensual sex. Genderswap. Mirrorverse.
Acknowledgements: mardia and spikeface for asking the questions that led to this story; graceandfire for inspiration; tigerbright for ethical and plotting advice; and lomedet.
Disclaimer: Neither the canon characters nor their settings belong to me.
Author's Note: This is a prequel to Part 6 of And Would Suffice, but you don't have to have read that to understand this.
Title from "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost.

( He's surprised by how long it takes her, and kind of proud that she gets there in the end. )

Had To Perish Twice, 2/2 (Star Trek XI Mirrorverse, NC-17 with warnings)

Title: Had To Perish Twice, Part 2 of 2
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: NC-17 with warnings.
Pairing: James T. Kirk/Dr. Leah McCoy; Chekov/Sulu, Kyle/Riley and Spock/Uhura alluded to.
Summary: The story of the Situlan revolt, or, Jim sees murder in his Bones's pretty eyes.
Content Advisory: Violence, destruction, dubiously consensual sex, nonconsensual sex. Genderswap. Mirrorverse.
Acknowledgements: mardia and spikeface for asking the questions that led to this story; graceandfire for inspiration; tigerbright for ethical and plotting advice; and lomedet.
Disclaimer: Neither the canon characters nor their settings belong to me.
Title from "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost.

( There are times when Jim would be amused by this level of defiance... )

Signs and Starting Up

I have two questions for whomever might like to answee:

1) I need to make a sign as in the kind one might carry in a protest, though that's not what I'm using it for. I figure a big sheet of cardboard, a thin wooden dowel, and two dowel cross struts should do it. Is there anything I'm not thinking of? With the demise of Pearl Art, where should I shop for these items?

2) I want to buy a young woman of my acquaintance (TL: the farmer girl) a very basic intro cookbook. Are there any you particularly liked, or really hated?