#ANYWAY! even if this doesn't end up panning out i intend to have a great time no matter what

[greenscreen-dress]

Fun exciting stuff: I'm going to Japan Expo Paris! I'll be there for all 4 days (11th to 14th of july), & it's my first time going to something like this as a visitor (& not as volunteer staff @ my local con) so I'm very hyped... And since this is the biggest convention in FR (and afaik a pretty large european con too) there's a smidge more of a chance that I could run into any kind of mcyt fans and maybe even some artist alley stuff nope nope not getting my hopes up yet :)

Anyway!! Bc of how last-minute this is I don't have any kind of cosplay or even a particularly fandom-heavy outfit planned... But I'll definitely have a blue hand fan, orange backpack that says "iQuit." and a Miku plushie / green bunny plushie somewhere on my person.

If any mcytblr peeps see this & also happen to be going, PLEASE interact! In English or French or even Spanish, I just want to meet other mcyt fans irl because most of the time it feels like we barely exist outside the UK & USA :')

Also I'm probably going to have my Hermit TCG cards on me! I never really got a chance to play w them or make a proper deck (bc I only bought 1 booster box) but yeah, that's an option.

Hopefully something comes of this post ^^

[kaijuposting]

The Pacific Rims that never were

Before Pacific Rim: Uprising as we know it was a thing, there were a number of sequel and spinoff ideas that never made it to production. Here are some that made it to the Internet:

A prequel cartoon Pacific Rim: Steel Warriors was going to be a two-season cartoon prequel series that would have expanded on the franchise's lore, featuring Mako Mori and a number of new characters. The wiki has a page on it here. I'm always a sucker for expanded lore, so I definitely think it's a bummer that this one didn't pan out. Also, making Mako Mori a major character in an entire series would've been rad.

Showing more of the other universe Guillermo del Toro was vague about it, but he expressed intentions of showing off the other universe. He ruled out "invading" the other world, so it doesn't seem he meant to have jaegers just go in and start attacking. Perhaps he meant to reveal more through more kaiju drifting. Perhaps he meant to have scenes featuring the aliens doing their thing. Or maybe it was something else. It is a mystery. I do know I'd have loved to get a better look at what was on the other side of the breach! More comics Guillermo del Toro intended for the Tales From Year Zero comics to continue, running up until the release of the second film. Alas, it was not to be.

A jaeger named Black Maria In 2015, Guillermo del Toro talked about plans for a Mexican jaeger named Black Maria, piloted by two convicts who'd been promised their freedom in return for piloting the jaeger. (I also can't help but notice that this sounds very much like Travis Beacham's plans for Matador Fury and its pilots.) Also, gotta love a name like Black Maria - it sounds all piratey. Was del Toro planning on a pirate-themed jaeger? Because that would have been awesome. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of kickass!

A jaeger cadet played by Maisie Williams On October 3rd, 2015, Guillermo del Toro tweeted his wishes to cast Maisie Williams as a jaeger pilot in the second Pacific Rim film. I'm not a Game of Thrones fan, but I did love Maisie Williams's character in Doctor Who, so I'd have loved to see this. I wonder who her character would have interacted with. Would she have been friends with Mako Mori? What would her co-pilot have been like, and would she have been played by Jenna Coleman? Alas we'll never know, but we can imagine! The destruction of San Francisco In late 2017, del Toro said that he planned for the second film to end up on the west coast and have San Francisco destroyed in a battle between kaiju and jaegers. Utterly demolishing the first city that had ever been attacked by a kaiju would be a brutal move, but I can picture it leading to some interesting questions - why do we fight when things are destroyed anyway? Is it a waste of time, or is gaining even just one more day with those we love worth it?

A techbro villain, a time travel plot twist, and more Mako Mori In late 2021, del Toro said that he'd planned for the villain of the second film to be "this tech guy that had invented basically sort of the internet 2.0." It would be revealed that he'd been getting all of his ideas from the Precursors, who would have been revealed to be humanity from the future. Del Toro also said that he'd intended Mako Mori to be one of the story's main characters.

I dunno about you, but I think a techbro villain who isn't actually inventing the shit he's taking credit for is a great idea. I also think the reveal that the "Precursors" are actually humans from the future is excellent on a philosophical level, because it forces us to confront that fact that what we often like to think of as "alien" is really just humanity at its worst. Also, more Mako Mori? Hell yeah! I'm sure there's more articles and interviews out there that talk about plans that never materialized, and hopefully I'll come across them - or maybe some of you know of them? If so, please feel free to add on with them. :D

[traaansfem]

A large sieve, or a colander with medium or small holes for water drainage that you line with a rough cheesecloth to prevent the rice just spilling out both work for this, and those same implements end up being very useful for cooking pasta and draining it if you have a sink in your kitchen (SUPER IMPORTANT. one of my highest priorities in a residence is good access to water in useful spots). This lets you clean rice much faster than swirling it in a bowl or something, particularly as you can run water over it for as long as it would take to fill a bowl of water and remove more aflatoxin or other detritus by simple dint of the mechanical motion of the water and the rice not settling to the bottom of a bowl to soak in dirty water. Moveable sink heads are your friend for this, but they are not strictly necessary- they are just a time saver.

Colanders also work for storing small pans and bowls, as long as you don't put anything narrow enough to fall through the holes in them. Store colanders and similar things in drawers and cupboards below head height if possible, and optimally in pull out drawers- this prevents you from pulling a pan off a shelf and accidentally dropping a pail full of knives on yourself because a visiting relative or new roommate doesn't know how you organize your kitchen and tried straightening.

Anyway, colander and a stainless steel saucepan with wide sides- good for a lot of starches, even rice if you don't have a rice cooker. There are thermal plates with weird alloys to allow you to cook rice on the stovetop but it will not beat a rice cooker. The stainless steel saucepan also works for sauces, some dessert recipes, frying (if you're moving out of a rental soon and you think your landlord could deal with the smell of fried fish, donuts, chicken, and assorted aerosolized oil bits, etc). Cast iron skillets are good for higher heat cooking, but you'll want some way to handle smoke for that, since it will produce some simply due to the temperature differences from stainless. A fan you can mount near your window or some way to ventilate a kitchen is important for some bigger recipes.

Anyway, my kitchen appliance necessities list is:

Rice cooker

Sieve that nests in a colander (or the inverse, colander that nests in a sieve- doesn't matter much- don't bother matching brands, sizes are fairly similar across them)

Stainless steel sauce pan with high sides (a good one will be inherited from your parents or someone 20-30 years older than you (age bracket stuff more than anything), after they bought it moving into their first rental in a new city, or something like that. and you can often find those same exact models of pans today- not going to shill anything, but you can often check embossed or engraved metal bits in the handles and track down more of a good type of pan with that.)

Cast iron pan (pick one you can fit in your oven if you have one, or comfortably one your stovetop if not. the smallest ones I see much use out of are 7-ish inches- as long as it fits on a stove, you can get use out of it. these are great for breakfast dishes where you heat eggs or starches, and often high fat proteins.)

Cutlery- Spoons, Knives, Forks, Serrated knives. DO NOT bother buying any that aren't marked dishwasher safe- even if you aren't using one, that is an implication of lower durability and resilience overall.

A fan you can use to clear smoke out of an area FAST (multipurpose for people without my allergies, from what I gather)

1 or 2 Chef knives- generally larger and sharper than cutlery meant for eating. (do not put these in a dishwasher, as the blade will deteriorate.)

Paring knife- a tiny chefs knife, usually has a different tip shape depending on its intended use. (meant for small, less starchy/tough vegetables and fungi by and large.)

2 Cheap cutting boards- you use these until they are marked and scratched enough that they're hard to clean, then you get new ones. mostly for food safety reasons.

A couple food safe prep bowls- glass, non-american pyrex, ceramic, metal, plastic, whatever you can get that will last. my preference is for simple metal, but I've known people who prefer plastic bowls with metal interiors and a rubber base for stability.

Optional but highly recommended

Whetstone or knife sharpener- Will extend the life of chef knives and paring knives significantly, at some point the blade will be back past the fuller- you'll need to get the fuller reground by an actual professional then, unless you've taken up metalworking.

Pressure cooker- Instant pots are actually as useful as the raving maddened hordes on SEO recipe sites say- also great for stock without boiling bones on the stove for six hours.

Cheese/vegetable grater- many are garbage, but sometimes you'll get one that lasts you for 30+ years with no discernible change in sharpness, even if it goes through a dishwasher.

Fish spatula- actually just a really long metal spatula with slots running down the metal section- basically just a stiff spatula but netter for most stovetop cooking, although they are not great for baking.

A little stainless steel chainmail square for cleaning pans- not strictly necessary, but it makes cleaning cast iron pans way faster, as well as cleaning particularly dirty stainless steel pans without nonstick coatings. This is a good tool for cleaning pans with caked on grime, burnt things, and similar stuff- dried or burnt caramel for instance. If something is very stubborn and would shred a sponge to clean, it would be wiser to sue one of these and then go over again with a sponge. I have one of these, and I put it in the dishwasher after use- it is an incredible tool for minimizing time spent scrubbing pans.

Things TO do for cleaning:

Clean the metal inserts of pressure cookers and rice cookers. Put them in a sink and fill partway with warm/hot water, a little dish soap and scrub them with a sponge. good practice in general, but these benefit from this a lot, as it prevents bacterial buildup a lot more effectively than just dishwashing with a mechanical dishwasher- although if the insert is rated for that, it can be good to put it in for a cycle in that afterwards, if the recipe you cooked had you worried about contamination.

Set out a towel or a drying mat for washed utensils and pots/pans, and dry them after you wash everything you can stand to wash at once. If you have chronic fatigue, prioritize the things you'll use the most or the easiest things to clean. This step can be exhausting, and the drying mat saves you some time, and prevents water from pooling on the objects as they rest, before you dry them.

Run water over things before adding soap and scrubbing when you clean them- this saves effort, as sometimes things you think will be a nightmare to clean have a section that is water soluble, and the problem ends up being much smaller than you feared.

Finally, advice on things to NOT do when cleaning these things:

NEVER put something with rivets in a dishwasher. There are quicker ways to crack the surrounding materials via thermal stress, but mostly only with liquid nitrogen. A lot of kitchen knife and stiff spatula attrition is down to this.

Do not put anything with wood in a dishwasher. This will damage the wood and make it dry, brittle, and prone to splintering.

Do NOT reuse a sponge for more than a few days and NEVER use a sponge for more than a week. There is very quickly a point in a sponge's use cycle where it spreads more bacteria than it removes grease, grime, and other forms of debris.

Don't dump things in a sink full of sudsy water. I have seen people slice off fingertips when there were knives in a sink of water that was obscured by soap bubbles, murkyness, or simple water based refraction- this is easily avoided, so please do avoid it.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should have the basics, and it should serve as a good resource for the cleaning stage of cooking and baking. I hope this helps to anyone looking for more info on the original post or clarifications on the matters below.

Dear people living on your own for the first time:

Here’s some advice I wasn’t told from the myriad of posts before that I wish I’d been given before

Wash the OUTSIDE of your pots and pans as well as the cooking surface. I’ve had a few roommates now who have only cleaned the inside and I’ve had to replace a $150 set of cookware twice.

“its only one time, how bad could using metal on nonstick cookware really be?” very bad. don’t do this.

Buy a rice cooker. Buy the middle tier rice cooker. Cheap ones will burn your rice, high tier ones are too expensive. Rice is good and cheap and, really, you don’t actually have to wash it if you don’t care about making gourmet food.

Buy band-aids. You don’t think you need band-ads until you need a band-aid, and by then it’s too late. (if you don’t follow this advice, a paper towel and some tape is an acceptable solution while you go get real bandages and neosporin)

You are on tumblr, which means you probably spend most of your time in one spot on a computer or phone. if this spot doesn’t have a trash can in arm’s reach, put one there.

 I spent 4 years piling trash on my desk in increasingly precarious ways until I had a designated area to put it. Trash cans can and should go anywhere there is a frequent generation of trash, typical locations be damned.

If you live with one or two roommates, discuss placing empty boxes in the back of your fridge and freezer. You probably don’t need all the space that the standard 5-person-family fridge provides, and tupperware will be shoved back there and left to stink up the entire appliance.

Get a wall calendar, put it somewhere communal, and have everyone put their household-relevant schedules on it. Communication is by far the weakest link with roommates (even good ones!) and having something to reference for appointments is always good

[babywarg]

For the drpepperony prompts: so basically sickfic. Stephen and Tony absolutely freaking out over Pepper getting sick or smth and they panic, get a bit too much and hover, but Pepper doesn't mind bc they're usually the ones who get hurt and taken care of anyway so its a nice(?) change of pace. she likes having her boys with her to cuddle when she's feeling horrible even if they have a tendency to overreact sometimes. love your writing btw! and thanks for getting me into this OT3 💖

Hi anon! I have to post this very quickly and run, so I hope there are no major errors! Title to follow later, too. And I really hope you like it 💗

***

Tony had the night shift. But he had an important dinner meeting for Stark Industries, which he was attending on behalf of the CEO, who was on sick leave, so he had to take care of that first.

His big secret was that he had, in fact, skipped that meeting, so that he could take care of the CEO on sick leave.

At home.

Where she was already being cared for by their husband.

Yes, she had enough help. Perhaps the best help in the world.

But right now, there was no other place Tony wanted to be.

His first stop was the kitchen. He took the better part of an hour learning how to make chicken noodle soup from Google, YouTube, and his own intuition.

As soon as he was done, he didn’t even bother tasting it. He walked out of the kitchen with a small bowl and a soup spoon in his hands. If Pepper wanted more, he had a whole pot of it on the stove.

And he walked up to Pepper’s bedroom.

The door was closed, but unlocked, as he expected. He made it a point to knock, all the same.

When he opened the door, he saw that Stephen was there with Pepper, as he expected.

But he was sitting on a chair reading a book. Reading.

While their spouse was in bed with her nose bright red, sniffling miserably as she worked through her (fourth? Fifth?) box of tissues for the day.

Tony inwardly seethed. He would have been more attentive. He would have spent all of the day shift with her, if he’d known that Stephen was just going to sit uselessly like that. And if only he hadn’t been needed at that damn meeting...

Their jerkwad husband looked up at him lazily.

“You’re early,” Stephen purred with infuriating calm, then glanced at the bowl Tony was holding. "What's that?"

"Chicken noodle," Tony jovially answered.

Stephen frowned. "She had chicken noodle soup for lunch," he disclosed.

"She had your chicken noodle soup for lunch." Tony tossed his chin up. "Mine's better. The real deal. This is going to get her off that bed and back in her dancing shoes in no time."

"She's had dinner."

"It's okay," Pepper answered weakly, diffusing the tension between her two spouses. “People with flu could always use a bit more liquid, right?”

Tony beamed, and brought the soup over to Pepper. Stephen looked on warily.

Pepper promptly started choking on the first spoonful.

"Is there...cough syrup in this??"

Okay, uh...Tony wasn’t entirely prepared for that reaction.

"It was” - he cleared his throat - "cherry-flavored, not strawberry, I thought it would make a nice..."

"Yeah." Pepper set the whole kit and caboodle down on the bedstand. "My throat still hurts a little bit, so..."

"I'll take care of it." Stephen picked up the bowl and stood. Then, he asked Tony: "Wanna come with?"

"And leave Pep here all alone?" Tony challenged.

"She's not going anywhere," Pepper answered, touching his arm reassuringly. "Please go...it would be nice to have a little 'me' time. You know. While I'm sick and all."

Tony softly traced her jawline with the side of his forefinger.

"Back soon, hun," he said to her.

She smiled up at him, caught his hand and leaned against it for a few seconds.

(Pepper was such a different creature when sick, Tony noted with fondness: in top form, she was always in control. Always so strong, so graceful.

The sight of this baggy-eyed, snot-faced, scraggly-haired, helpless creature was so strange. So compelling. It filled up his heart.)

She let him go. He planted a kiss on her hair before he left.

 ***

Stephen dumped the soup into the “organic waste” bin as soon as he set foot in the kitchen.

Not only that, he levitated the pot off the stove, and dumped all of its contents into the bin, as well.

"Oh you asshole," Tony said softly, completely without judgment. Really, he would’ve done the same.

"Okay," Stephen breathed out, "you only try to cook for either one of us when you're hiding something upsetting. So spill."

Tony ignored the “try to” part of the sentence, and instead sputtered, "Something upsetting?? I -- you -- I don't -- "

"Let's try this, for starters,” Stephen impatiently interrupted. “How'd the meeting go?"

Tony found himself tongue-tied. It was those eyes. Those magic eyes. Could see through anything.

"You might as well tell me,” Stephen said in a slightly less hostile tone. “Pep's going to ask as soon as we get back in that room."

Goddamn. Those eyes + that voice + that motherfucking conviction got him every time.

Tony fought against the urge to not lie, until a few seconds later, when he well and truly caved.

"I bailed," he might have said more loudly than he’d intended. "Okay? I pretended I had to use the bathroom, then I snuck out and called an Uber."

Stephen sighed pityingly (and a little judgingly). “Oh Tony...”

"Meetings are boring as shit, Stephen, you know this. And I kept worrying about Pepper all the while."

Stephen shook his head.

"She's going to flip," he warned Tony.

"I know she is, that's why we're not going to tell her." Tony sighed as well, but in exasperation. "By the way, Happy's going to flip, too; he's still waiting outside the meeting venue with the car."

He thought Stephen was going to bombard him with a lecture - wouldn’t be the first time. To be perfectly honest, it was part of why he loved both Pepper and Stephen, Tony told himself: they kept him in line, as best they could.

They didn’t let him spiral out of control.

But instead, Stephen thought for a long second, took a deep breath, then asked, "Is the meeting still going on?"

Tony blinked. "Think so, it’s only been like - an hour and thirty minutes..."

"You just have to be there, right?"

Tony shrugged.

Stephen let a low groan out of his throat, then nodded.

He closed his eyes tightly. Tony felt something happen - but he didn’t know what.

"There," Stephen presently announced, opening his eyes. "You're at the meeting, unusually quiet throughout the whole thing...and when the meeting ends, you're going to say your gracious goodbyes, and climb into Happy's car - where you're going to promptly disappear, like the illusion that you are."

Tony blinked, again.

"Wha--seriously?" You’re letting me get away with this? And helping me...?

Stephen smirked. "Do you want me to open a scrying plate over a frying pan so I can show you?"

Not really, you smug bastard, I trust you, Tony thought affectionately.

"No." He stepped up closed to Stephen. "I already know you're all sorts of amazing."

He reached up for a genuinely appreciative kiss, which Stephen returned.

As they broke apart, however, Stephen frowned at him.

"Don’t get used to it," he warned. "I only did that because I don’t want Pepper to worry. She doesn’t need the stress. If she asks, we’re going to tell her the meeting went great.”

“Absolutely,” Tony said, completely placated.

Stephen smiled, then leaned down for another quick peck.

“Now,” he pronounced, “let's see to our patient."

 ***

When they got back up to the room, Pepper was asleep.

Snoring softly through her half-open mouth and clogged nostrils.

“First time she’s slept all day,” Stephen pointed out.

“Probably because you hovered the entire time,” Tony countered.

Stephen glared at him. “Excuse you, I am a doctor,” he snapped. “I monitor, I do not hover.”

Tony snorted, then moved toward the bed.

Stephen’s eyebrows shot up. “And what do you think you’re doing?”

“I skipped out on a big meeting so I can cuddle with my sick wife,” he whispered over his shoulder. “It’s gonna happen.”

Despite Stephen’s objections, Tony slid into bed beside Pepper. As careful as he was, his movements woke her up.

“Hi,” she greeted, as if he had just come home. “How was the meeting?”

Stephen stared at Tony. Tony ignored him.

“It went great, honey,” he answered, wrapping an arm around her. “That contract is in the bag.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said weakly, still sniffling. She cuddled up close to him. “You’re wonderful.”

Tony beamed. Watching his two most beloved people embracing so fondly, Stephen couldn’t help but smile.

“Stephen’s wonderful, too,” Pepper remembered to say. “Got me everything I needed, without leaving my side all day.”

“Not even to cook that famous chicken noodle soup of his?” Tony joked.

“What can I say? I’m an expert in being in more than one place at a time,” Stephen answered, with a sharp and knowing look that promptly shut Tony up.

Pepper motioned to Stephen, then to the empty side of the bed. Stephen knew what that meant.

Gently, he lowered himself down beside Pepper. Warm and snug between the two men she loved, Pepper drew out a contented sigh.

“You two are so good to me,” she murmured.

“Well, you’re good to us, love,” Tony replied. “When we’re sick, you’re the one who looks after us. We’re just returning the favor.”

She chuckled softly. “Should be sick more often, I think...”

“You better not be,” Stephen whispered sternly. “Either of you. Doctor’s orders.”

“And miss out on all this attention, Doc?” Pepper leaned the side of her head against his. “Wait...it’s getting late. And Tony’s home. Isn’t it time you went back to the Sanctum?”

Stephen hesitated. “I...think I’d like to stay like this a bit longer. If that’s okay.”

Tony snorted. “Course it’s all right, dummy. You can stay all night, if you want.”

“Mm,” Stephen said, snuggling up closer to Pepper, so that his hand met Tony’s across her warm body. “I just might take you up on that.”

[candied-boys]

Gurl we should be best friends 🤝🤝🤝

Ugh Gil is so complicated. I don't even know where to start right now. He would absolutely push someone away to reduce the pain of loss and he also brainwashes himself into believing he's too evil to deserve love etc and he should die. He so messy 🥴🥴

But in Luke's dramatic end it's implied that Gil kinda sorta maybe might have set those soldiers on Leyla... And Gil told Luke he could've saved her if Jin hadn't killed her (which is probably true) but it's also implied that Gil probably killed those soldiers just to manipulate Luke into trusting him and make him believe Gil cares.

So at best Gil planned to save Leyla and win Luke's gratitude (but then why would he want revenge on the royal family) and at worst Gil would've let Leyla die by the soldiers hands anyway?

Which is all concerning given, yeah Gil loves kids!! He's great with kids and Gil does his best to give Luke what he couldn't have himself! So man I dunno what to believe... I only know that Gil, like Chev, sets up all possibilities to ensure success will pan out one way or another. So Luke is just one of many pawns he has in motion. But that doesn't really make the above conclusion (that he intended on Leyla dying) okay?

Rawr. So many thoughts. My brain hurt now. Need more coffee.

do you think...would luke feel weird about emma marrying gilbert? they're supposed to be close in age, while gilbert is probably the closest thing he has to a father figure, despite having maybe a max of a decade between them?

then there's also, uh, the elephant in the room

anyways, i can see some angst about where exactly luke slots into this mess of a family. to their kids, is he uncle luke? big brother luke? but, like, it's emma so he probably has to concede that she's good for him, right? idk i feel like that probably makes him feel worse.

[i haven't read gil's route yet]