#Bakery Style Butter Bun

[justmeinadaze]

I Have Nothing (If I Don't Have You) Part 6 (Steddie X You)

Warnings: Security Dom Steddie X Sub (slightly bratty) Singer Fem Reader, SMUT, spanking, dirty talk, slight rough play (they show her a bit more of what they are into), FLUFF, they go on a date through Paris and she shows them around, they do discuss being more exclusive (as if she or they would want anyone else🙄 ), ANGST, slightly so with her talking briefly about being sober and her fears of being in a relationship again.

Word Count: 4812

“Obviously, you’re taking us to the Eiffel Tower, right?”, Steve grinned in your direction as you three walked the streets of Paris. 

“Yes but tonight when it’s all lit up.”

The day couldn’t be any more perfect for you and you were the happiest you had been in a long time. You took them around to each place you could think of that didn’t have a long line, stopping at bakeries and little shops to have them taste everything while looking for little trinkets to bring back home. 

They seemed to really be enjoying themselves which made you smile. Eddie had befriended a street musician who handed him an acoustic guitar and he sat beside him as they played a couple of songs. You took them to a vintage store where they had a blast looking at the clothes. Steve keeping trying on different hats asking you how he looked. One had a brim that three sizes too big causing you to spit out your water as you laughed at him. 

After grabbing lunch, you took them to a park nearby and had a picnic. 

“Seriously, I’m going to gain like thirty pounds off of this bread but so worth it.”, Steve chuckles as he takes another bite of his sandwich. 

“Oh, yeah. The food is phenomenal but you have to watch out for the butter and the sauces. Don’t even get me started on the chocolate.” Eddie smiles when your eyes playfully roll back.

“Did you parents show you all these places or did you find them yourself?”, he asked.

“A bit of both. The first few years I came here I basically recreated that vacation but as I wondered the streets I found more places and things to enjoy.”

“Excusez-moi.” A little girl shyly comes up to your blanket holding out a pen and paper. “May I have your…”

“Autographe?”, you smile up at her comfortingly as she grins. “Of course. Um… Quel est… ton nom?”

“Chloe.” She beams in your direction.

“I’m sorry, Chloe. My French isn’t great.” 

“It’s…okay.” Her grin grows as you give the paper back to her and lean up on your knees to give her a hug. 

“Merci, Miss Y/L/N!”

“Merci, Chloe.”

The three of you watch her as she runs back to her parents. 

“That was adorable.”, Steve smirks.

“It was. I didn’t know you had fans that were so small.”, Eddie adds. 

“Yeah, that’s another reason I want to be better. I’m supposed to be a role model for them you know?”

“And you are, honey. You’re already doing so much better and we are extremely proud of you.”

***

“Why do I have to wear a suit?!”, Eddie shouts from the bedroom as he adjusts his tie.

“Because we’re taking her to dinner, you idiot.”

“I’m just asking!”

“Plus, this will technically be our first date with her so we should look nice.”

Both men turn when they hear you exit the bathroom and their mouths fall open in shock as their eyes drink you in. Your hair was pulled up into a neat bun displaying a pair of earrings that shimmered when you moved your head. The thin spaghetti straps held up a gorgeous, black, V-neck style dress that just barely touched your ankles. When you nervously shifted your weight, the slit in the fabric exposed your leg up to your mid-thigh showing off some fancy, matching black high heeled shoes. 

“What, um, what do you think?”

“You…you…Jesus, I may be underdressed.”, Steve breathily chuckled.

“Eddie?”

“You look beautiful, princess.”

Blushing, you loop your arms into theirs as they escort you out of the hotel. When you three arrive at the restaurant, they watch you in amazement as you talk to the people in charge and an antsy gentleman leads you to a table. Steve pulls out your chair and you thank him as you take a seat. 

Both boys straighten up when a man comes out from the kitchen and heads towards you but immediately calm when you smile, assuring them that this is someone you know.

“Miss Y/L/N! It’s been so long, my love! How are things?”

“Things have been rough but they are getting better. Julien, these are my friends AND security, Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington.”

They grin as they shake his hand and he returns their smiles with a bright one of his own. 

“Who better to watch your back than a friend that loves you, ah? Now, mon amour, should we start with the usual champagne?”

“Oh, no. Um, do you have something without alcohol?”

“Hmm? Oh! How about citron pressé?”

“Sure, I trust you.”, you giggle as you shrug, watching him disappear without asking the guys if that was ok with them. “I have no idea what that is but—what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Both men had been starring at you with a cute, goofy smile plastered on their face. 

“Nothing. You’re just adorable.”

“It’s nice seeing this side of you to. You really needed a break, sweetheart.”

The rest of the meal couldn’t be described in any other way beside perfect. They talked to you more about some positive things in their lives trying to keep the mood uplifted. Eddie told you about his love for fantasy related things like D&D which made you laugh when the other man rolled his eyes. Steve surprised you by telling you of some movies he actually really liked.

“Ok you can’t sigh aggressively when I talk about sci-fi fantasy shit but then tell her that one of your favorite movies is Star Wars!”

“It’s completely different, Munson.”

“How!?”

“It’s actually not that different.”

“Thank you, princess!”

“But to be fair, George Lucas said he made Star Wars kind of like a western so Steve may drift more towards that then regular sci-fi.”

“Ok, you’re not on my side anymore. Hush.”, Eddie responds playfully.

You did your best to tell them more happy memories with you and your family but you struggled because it hurt. Every time you stuttered through a story, though, one or both of them would reach for your hand and urge you to continue. 

After you were done eating, you kept your word and took them to the Eiffel Tower as it was all lit up. The people in charge cut off a section so you three wouldn’t be noticed or bothered which you greatly appreciated. 

“Wow, check out that view.” Steve exhaled as he took a few pictures pausing when he noticed your face as you leaned against the railing. “You alright, honey?”

“Yeah. I just wish I could stay here in this moment. I’m having a lot of fun with you two and I think this is the first time in a long time I’ve actually been…happy.”

Eddie’s palm gently reaches out to run down your back before bringing you to his chest to wrap you up in his embrace. 

“I know what you mean. Stop me if I’m wrong Harrington but we’ve never felt like this about anyone before. We really like you, Y/N.”

“We’re all in if you are.”

“You barely know me. What if I fuck up again? What if I hurt you? What if…I’m not what you thought I am?”

“She’s doing that thing again.”, Eddie murmurs to Steve as he releases you and leans against the railing. “It’s like her own brand of self-harm…or maybe self-protection?” He raises his eyebrows inquisitively and you quickly shift your gaze. “Ah yes. There it is. She keeps says ‘What if I’ but what she really means if ‘What if you’.”

“Baby, we’re not asking you to marry us or anything. What we’re asking for is MORE nights like tonight. To be able to take you out more and get to know you better and vice versa. We know you’ve been through a lot and still are. We would never push you like they do.”

“And quite frankly, sweetheart, I don’t think there could be any more surprises because you’ve already showed us you’re not who we thought you were originally.”

“Spoiled, washed up singer.”, Steve explains when you look at them in confusion. 

“When it comes to the I’s, babe, we got you covered. You slip again and want to run all over Vegas, we’ll come get you. You have one of those moments where you try to verbally hurt us, don’t worry, we got you. We have ropes and handcuffs for situations like that.” You can’t help but giggle when he winks. 

“When it comes to the you’s, you can ask us anything and we’ll answer. If there’s something you need or need to know just let us know and we can talk about it.”

Glancing out towards the city, you feel everything run through your brain at once. You knew from the moment you met them that they were different. You trust them with your life so why were you so scared to trust them with your heart?

Because everyone who’s supposed to love you, hurts you…

Do they even love you? They can’t possibly…like you said they barely even know you. I guess it couldn’t hurt to jump in with both feet.

“Ok. Can we…we keep it between us?”

“We honestly assumed you would because of the press and everything.”, Eddie answers with a small smile. 

“I think that’s another reason Simon was with me. He liked the attention from the press.”

“Hm. Well, coming from a small town where everyone was in everyone’s business, trust me, we don’t want that kind of attention.”, Steve retorts as he leans over the railing like you had. 

Looping your arm through his, you lean your head against his shoulder as Eddie holds your hand and looks out into the city.

##############

“I have a request.”

“Oh lord.”, the metalhead playfully sighs making you smile.

“Calm down, Mr. Munson.”, you giggle. “The other night I asked you two to show me how much you care about me…” They nod when you pause, urging you silently to continue. “Can you show me how to take care of you?”

Both men, who were now sitting on the couch in the hotel room looked up at you now with slight confusion. 

“When we first got together, you said you liked it rough. The other night you implied there was more to what you both were into. I want to give you what you want.”

“You do, honey.”

“You really do.”, Eddie follows almost too eagerly. 

“I still don’t think your ready.”, Steve sighs as he takes off his jacket and starts rolling up his sleeves. 

“Isn’t this all about trust? Not only do I trust you two but you should trust me to know my limits. Well…in this regard.”

The other man takes off his jacket as well, removing his button up shirt underneath along with it now donning a white tank that displayed his muscles and tattoos in a way that had you salivating. 

“Oh, come on, Stevie. We can start slow. Maybe we can show her what a punishment would look like. Something small for running away and having us worried.”

Steve sighs playfully as he motions with his fingers for you come closer. As you sit beside him on the sofa, he gently pets the back of your head while they both continue to look at you with nothing but care. 

“If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just say the safe word, ok?”

“Ok, Steve. I promise.”

He grins as his hand slides down to your back and guides your body till you’re laying across his lap on your tummy. While he flips up the underside of your dress Eddie runs his fingers through your hair, moving any lingering strands away from your face. 

“How many you think, Ed? 10?”

“10 sounds good. I think she can handle that.”

As your stomach tightens into knots with nerves, Steve’s palm soothes you as it runs down your spine and over the meat of your ass. Abruptly, it lifted and came down spanking your behind eliciting a shocked gasp from your lips. He didn’t hit you hard as it was meant to test.

“How did that feel, babe?”

“Um, odd but g-good.”

“Has anyone ever spanked you before?”, Eddie asked.

“No. Not like this.”

“Honey, I want you to count for me, ok?”

“O-O-Okay. One.”

His hand come down much harder and this time you let out a little moan especially after Steve soothes you by running his fingers along the reddening skin. 

“Two.”

“Good girl, sweetheart.”

He spanks you twice in quick secession and they both let out a groan of their own as you breathily count them off. Steve tugs down your panties, his hand coming back to travel a bit between your legs as your mouth falls open when his thumb slides between your sex. 

“Oh, Eddie. Little baby is so wet right now. I think the spanking doesn’t feel so odd anymore, huh?”

When you didn’t answer, ringed fingers gripped your hair tightly and tugged you back. 

“He asked you something, your highness.”

“Feels…good…AH! Five!”, you moaned as Steve spanked you again.

Eddie held a tight grip on you as the other boy began steadily rubbing your clit while occasionally delivering a harsh smack to your ass. 

“What number are we on, baby? Wouldn’t want Stevie to lose count and have to start all over again.”

“Mmm—Nine—Please, Steve. I’m gonna…”

You didn’t see it but they smirked at each other as he slide two fingers into your core and rapidly pumped them inside of you. Your eyes rolled as the coil snapped and as you moaned his name his hand came down one final time while you panted out that final number. 

“Good girl, honey.”, he cooed as he delicately lifted your dress over your head. “Let’s get this off here.” You keened into his neck as he sat you up and placed you in his lap while Eddie ran his palm along your legs. “Did you like it, baby?”, Steve whispered.

“Yeah, I liked it a lot. Did you like it? Spanking me?”

He chuckles under his breath, trying to stifle the moan that wants to come out at the sound of your little voice. Reaching for your hand, he places it directly on the bulge in his slacks. 

“I loved it.” Your eyes flutter closed as his lips tenderly trail up your cheek to your ear. “You like that, pretty girl? You like making us feel good?”

“M-More. Please. I can handle more. I swear.”

They glanced at each other mischievously knowing you were all riled up. 

“No.”

“Please! I can handle it!” As you begin to whine they smile and you can’t help but laugh. “You’re messing with me?”

“A little. We’re kind of curious in this headspace how far your brat can go.” Eddie’s grin grows as you climb on to his lap and wrap your arms around his neck. 

“Do you want me to be more bratty?”

“I think you’re capable of it. I work with you remember?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Hey. In here, honey, you answer us, not the other way around.”, Steve scolded. 

The metalhead tries to keep the upper hand as you grind your hips against his own. His eyes remain heavily on yours as he licks his lips to keep any other sounds from escaping. 

“In here, sweetheart, we have control.”

“You do out there to!”, you whine as you point absently outside. “Where do I have control?”

“Stop moving.”, he says sternly.

“Make me.”

His eyes grow dark as the smile he was adorning falls from his face. 

“Stop. Moving.”

You falter for a second as his voice and demeanor throw you off guard but you remain steadfast as you continue. Steve laughs from your side before Eddie lifts you up with one arm and carries you to the bedroom. 

Throwing you on to the mattress, he holds your down with his palm on your chest as he uses his other to unbuckle his belt and free his cock from its confinement. 

“If you want to stop, just tap twice, ok?” When you nod, his fingers grip your hair as he hovers his face above yours. “Ok?!”

“Ok! Yes, sir! Tap twice!”

Steve nonchalantly throws himself beside you as he watches Eddie slide his cock into your mouth. 

“She’s so fucking stubborn sometimes. I swear.”

While the metalhead takes over thrusting his length down your throat, Steve is always alert, watching you to make sure you really were ok. They genuinely did trust you would say the safe word if you needed but neither boy wanted to push you that far. 

“Fuck, princess your mouth feels so fucking good. With all that fucking sass, I’m not sure she deserves our dicks in her pussy tonight, Harrington.”

Eddie tried to control his eyes from rolling back when he felt you groan around him. 

“Did you have something you wanted to say?”

“Please. I’m sorry, Eddie. I’ll do whatever you want. I promise I’ll behave.”, you beg as you shift up to your knees and continue stroking him with your hand. “Please. I need you inside me. I need to feel you.”

Pinching your cheeks between his fingers, he brings your lips to his before firmly pushing you backwards onto the bed. 

“Go show Steve how much you’ll behave.”

As you crawl over to the now naked man, you tenderly kiss his stomach making him smile as he strokes your hair. Delicately running your tongue along his slit, he moans as he pulls your hair into a ponytail with his hands and watches you fully take him into your awaiting mouth. 

Eddie jostled you around a bit till your ass was fully on display for him and you both whimpered as he guided his cock into your entrance. The warmth of his chest encases you as he leans against your back and kisses your shoulder. 

“Come on, sweetheart. I know you can take him better than that especially with the way you run that sassy mouth.” Taking over Steve’s hold of your hair, he guides your movements making you gag and drool as the man mewls with pleasure. “Atta girl. There you go.”

Eddie rolls his hips hard, roughly nudging against that tender spot inside of you that has your eyes rolling back. 

“Is that the spot, pretty girl?” Pulling your head, he forces you to look at him. “Is it? Right there?” You struggle to form words as he continues to grind against you. “Answer me, Y/N.”

“Ah! Y-Yes, there. D-don’t stop. Please…”

The metalhead grins as he pushes you back down on Steve’s cock before releasing his hold on your hair to grip your waist as he leans back on his knees and pounds his hips into yours. 

“G-Good girl, honey. Fuck. You take us both so well.”, Steve coos as he pets your head.

Eddie’s fingers slide underneath you, rubbing fast circles into your little bundle of nerves, driving you crazy in the best way as you throw you head back in pleasure. 

“FUCK! Eddie please!”

Ringed fingers wrap around your throat and pull you up to your knees as you lean against his shoulder. 

“That’s right, baby. Say my name again. Who’s making you feel this good?”, he murmurs into your ear as he slams into you harder. 

“Eddie! I’m…Eddie, please…”

Your hand takes hold of his wrist as your other clings his hair while your arm wraps around his neck. His fingers move faster to match his pace while you continue chanting his name until the ball drops and your body trembles against him as you cum. 

“Fuck me.”, Eddie groans, shoving you back down against the mattress and holding your wrists behind your back as he chases his high. 

Grunting above you, his rhythm becomes sloppier and you mewl as you feel him release his seed inside of you. 

“Good girl, princess.”, he praised as he gradually pulled out of you and kissed any part of your skin his lips could reach. “It’s Steve’s turn, sweet girl. Whenever you’re ready.”

Your head shot up in search for him and as your eyes met his soft ones, his fingers reached out to caress your sweaty face. When you nod, he motions for you to come closer, taking hold of you under your arms and scooting you both up closer towards the pillows. 

“Come here, honey. No, the other way.”, he instructs as you started straddling his waist. After turning away from him, he guides you down till your back his against his chest. One of his strong palms holds on to your chest as his other holds the base of his cock and runs to along your dripping lips between your legs. “Jesus. Eddie made you feel real good, didn’t he, baby?”

Nodding, you turn your head to kiss his cheek and he moans as he breaches your entrance, sheathing himself inside of you with minimal resistance. As he thrusts his hips up against you, his fingers move around to massage your nub as the hand on your chest takes hold of tit making you growl in ecstasy.

“Steve! So…so deep…oh god.”

“Yeah? Does that feel good, Y/N?” Picking up his pace, the bed begins to move underneath you as he clings to your sweaty, messy frame. “Fuck, that’s it. That’s our girl. Your pussy is just fucking clinging to me, pretty girl, God damn.”

 Pushing up, you balance on your hands as your hips push down to meet his. 

“Can you see it? My cock disappearing inside of you?”

“Steve, please. Please!”

Tugging on your hair, he pulls you back against him, hugging your tightly as he thrusts into you harder. The sound of skin hitting skin fills the room and your eyes roll back as you drag your nails against his flesh.

“I’m…I’m…”

Without warning, he shoves against your back pushing you up and pulling himself out of you, yanking your hips backwards till your pussy was hovering over his face. Roughly, his hands pushed you back down, urging your lips over his cock as he wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you still as he his tongue devoured you. 

Your hips grinded against him as his head moved quickly from side to side causing you to lift your head and scream as you came. As he continued to lick your clean, you bobbed your head around his length wanting him to feel as good as he had just made you feel. 

His grunts reverberated in your cunt as he pumped his hips upwards till you felt rope after rope of his spend hit the back of your throat.

Falling to the side, you both panted till Eddie’s voice broke the silence. 

“Yeah, that’s cool. Just put your feet by my face.” You giggled as you lifted your leg and touched his nose with your big toe. “Ew, gross. With these beautiful pedicured, toes. Still purple, I see.”

“I like purple and no one is looking at my feet that closely in an arena style concert.”

“Do you want to take a bath, Y/N, or a shower?”, Steve asks.

“I want to curl up into a cocoon and sleep for 100 years.”

“Ok, bath it is.”, he grinned as he rolled over the side and lifted you into his arms. 

While he got everything ready, Eddie’s hands lightly gripped your shoulders and tilted you forward. When your eyes shifted to the mirror, you realized he was looking at your behind.

“It doesn’t hurt. I mean, it’s sore but…”

“I figured. I just need to take a look and make sure you don’t need any ice or anything. I’m sure you’ve noticed but Steve Harrington has big hands so sometimes he unintentionally leaves marks that last for a couple of days.”

“Part of the reason I ask questions.”, he winks as he guides you into the water.

“No one has ever asked me questions before or even done any kind of aftercare. I like it. It makes me feel cared for. 

“We do care… a lot.”, Eddie smiles as he holds up your hair while Steve continues to clean you. 

“Is this normal for you two? The shared partner thing?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘normal’ but we’ve done it before. Never with a client, however.”, Steve sighs. 

“So…this could look bad for everyone if people found out?”

Both men stopped moving as they gave you their full attention. 

“Yes. And not just because of the press.”

“People may not hire us anymore if they thought our judgment could be altered when it came to protecting them.”, Eddie followed in a serious tone.

“Are you implying Mr. Munson, that your judgment in keeping me safe has now changed?”

“I’m saying, Y/N, I would take a bullet for you but, for example, us keeping you sober isn’t a part of the security job description. If…If you wanted to get drunk right now we shouldn’t have any say in that…”

“Unless it leads to you roaming Paris in your underwear or makes someone want to hurt you.” Steve glances over your serious face. “What are you thinking, honey?”

“I just…I see what you mean. I wouldn’t want either of you to take a bullet or get hurt because of me. I’d rather it be me…”

It had been a while since you saw their eyes shift into this particular authoritative glow. Steve almost too roughly cupped your cheeks in his hands as he forced you to look at him. 

“Don’t ever think or let us hear you say that again. It’s our job to keep you safe not the other way around. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, I understand.”, you whisper as your hands takes hold of his wrists. 

“Y/N, like I said, we care about you but if your safety is on the line BECAUSE of us then we would end this right here right now.”

You pushed down the urge to cry at the thought of them leaving you. They had done so much for you in the short time they had been a part of your team. 

“I promise I won’t interfere. I trust you both to take care of me.”

Steve’s eyes flick to Eddie’s for a moment before he kisses your forehead and lets you go. 

##########

The following Monday, the three of you were sitting in your manager’s office waiting for him as he burst through with Sarah in tow. 

“Well, look who decided to finally grace us with her presence. How was the vacation, Y/N?”, Jack sassed. “I don’t know why you two are even here. You’re fired.”, he gestures towards the boys. 

“No they aren’t.”

“Excuse me?!”

“I said no they aren’t and you lower your voice when you speak to me!” Sarah smiled from her seat as the men on either side of you contained their excitement for you. “Jack, I’m tired. You were one of the ones that kept pushing me to get sober and now that I’m trying…I shouldn’t be on tour right now especially not with people like Mark shouting at me every 10 seconds. I need time to really have go at this.”

“Y/N…”, he sighed. “We’ve had this tour set up for months. Now I’ve put up with a lot from you but—”

“But nothing. I’m telling you no. I need a break. I can do interviews and keep working on the album. I can do little shows here but I can’t do a country wide tour right now.”

“Y/N, listen to me. Hear me. If you do this, if you cancel this tour, I will be forced to drop you as a client.”

You straighten up as you exhale, tapping into that sassy girl that resides within you. 

“So be it. Sarah? Have you thought about being an agent?”

“Me? Oh, um, I mean…”

“You’re honestly the only person I trust who has always had my well-being in mind. I’ll pay you what I pay Jack and then some.”

She smiles as she glances towards your now former agent. 

“I guess I just got a promotion.” You both stand, giving her a big hug before she pulls back to cup your face. “I’m really proud of you. I’ll come by later today and we can talk about a statement for the tour.”

“Y/N, please! Don’t do this! Look, why don’t you sit down and we can talk about this rationally.”, Jack begs. As he reaches for your arm to stop you from leaving, Eddie swats it away. 

“I’m sorry, sir. You aren’t allowed to touch Miss Y/L/N.”

“But if you would like to speak with her, feel free to call her agent Sarah to set up an appointment.”, Steve grins as they both follow you out of the office. 

#############

@rckstrbee @melodymishahiddlestan @strangerfreak

@siriuslysmoking @micheledawn1975 @cositaslua

@munsonmoonshine86 @unfocused81 @paleidiot

@dad-steddie @aol19 @strngrlytn @mrsjellymunson

@needylilgal022

[falderaletcetera]

was anyone going to tell me co-op bakery custard [style] filled donuts don't have dairy in or did I just have to read that in the ingredients while trying to figure out how many lactase tablets they would need MYSELF??

(this is good news. donuts are turning out to be surprisingly often safe so far! also hot cross buns! cake is gonna continue to be awkward but it's not like I don't like baking, and I've found a ganache recipe I wanna try - vegan butter and dark chocolate, apparently, which is about the level of complicated I'm after. but today I'm just happy to add another thing to my safe list.)

[cadmium-free]

Ranking Cities Based on the Deliciousness of a Gluten Free Sandwich I Ate there

this is really just me ranking every sandwich i've ever eaten as a celiac but i'm blaming the cities themselves.

Syracuse, NY

I had a "sandwich" where both pieces of "bread" were fried plantains. This would have been the perfect sandwich but I burnt my mouth on it pretty bad so -2 points. 8/10

Halifax, NS

I just ate this sandwich. It was on a schoolhouse bakery bun and those TO ME are half butter. Also I had a really good salad and that's bolstering this sandwich's rating. 8/10

Mulica Hill, NJ

Bread too dry. Everyone's always offering me the driest most dense bread. Anyways I had a Reuben which is a WET type of sandwich so that was nice. -4 points for dry crimes. 6/10

Windsor, NS

Best sandwich of my LIFE. The bread was so MOIST. A celiac's treat. Love me some wet bread. It had a pumpkin seed pesto and chicken or w/e too but I'm in it for the wet bread. 10/10

Glassboro, NJ

I had an amazing cheese steak. I also ate a bagel with egg, cheese, and bacon. The bagel was sad. I would eat it again. The best bagel sandwich I've ever had was on a Montreal-style bagel in Calgary at I Love You Coffee Shop in 2019 and every bagel since has been a disappointment. -6 points for not being that bagel sandwich. 4/10

Haddonfield, NJ

I had a delicious egg and brie sandwich from a bakery here. The bread was two waffles. The waffles were not structurally sound and the sandwich crumbled before I even ate half of it. -5 points. 5/10

Toronto, ON

Disgusting. A singular sandwich so bad I didn't eat sandwiches for a month. The bread was both bland and also so terribly flavored. There was so much overripe avocado in it? No good meal I've ever had in Toronto will make up for this sandwich. -10 points for everything. Toronto needs to pay for its crimes. 0/10

[levynite]

The week in the run up to America's Treason Day kept inundating me with videos of hot dogs and talk of hot dogs and I haven't had a Western style hot dog in a decade, just Asian bakery style hot dog sausage buns, so when I saw frozen cheese stuffed chicken frankfurters.....well I definitely forgot the buns but hey, you can't tell me my breakfast from yesterday ain't delicious.

Fried wholemeal bread in butter (the alternative was these sad white bread with flecks of carrots dad bought, why) with cheese stuffed chicken franks, Chinese lettuce stem pickles (cronchy salty sweet) and chilli sauce.

[fiftytwotwentythree]

Wellness Wednesday:

Cleaning Out My Closet Fridge

Part of my wellness journey is working on my financial wellness - What are my spending habits? What can I do differently? What can I cut out?

Couple weeks ago I challenged myself to use up as much as groceries/pantry supplies before buying more groceries - maybe meal prep here and there.

Well, I've been doing good on clearing out the freezer - working on the fridge and pantry now.

I noticed I had an abundance of deli meat and breads laying around - so - I was very conscious about eating up those foods first before they went bad.

To be honest I was little more conscious this week because not too long ago I had entire loaf of bread get moldy and I just despise when that happens.

So - I at a ton of sammies this week. Really spiced it up by changing my breads, meats, and cheeses - never got boring.

Other added benefit - I saw significant drop on my weekly grocery bill. A practice I want to entertain more in the future.

Another step to help out my pocket book is I made the decision not to buy any more expensive nuts - aka - my Wonderful's Pistachios. I am going to see if I can find a more cost effective snack alternative... Plus, I still have plenty to finish off in my cabinets.

Beyond my wallet and weekly diet - I broke the 2 week plateau streak and hit some weight loss (slightly over 4 pounds). Felt good considering I didn't do anything besides partake in some extra deli meats.

Sleep-wise - man-oh-man - I need to sleep. I hate how this is a constant battle.

Socially - saw some fam - good times/stories/jokes - and - tomorrow I plan on seeing some good friends at the movies... and hope to enjoy said movies.

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24th CHECK-IN:

Current Goals:

Lose 52 lbs

Completed as of 4/12/2023

New Goal: Maintain or Continue on The Weight Loss Path

Avoid "Junk Food"

Minimize Take-Out / Fast Food Consumption

Short Term:

Vegetarian-ish Diet: Completed

End Date: 4/09/2023 - 46 Days Total

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Meal Tracker:

THURSDAY

Lunch:

(1) Hot Ham & Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

Handful of Good & Gather's Tex Mex Trail Mix

Snack:

Bag of BBQ Corn Nuts

Supper:

(1) Hot Ham & Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

(2) Triangle Wedges of Watermelon

(1) Glass of Milk

FRIDAY

Lunch:

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Chicken and American Cheese on Burger Bun

Bag of BBQ Corn Nuts

Snack:

(1) Old Wisconsin Turkey Sausage & Cheddar Cheese Stick Combo

Supper:

(2) Chicken and American Cheese Sandwiches on Sesame Seed Buns

(1) Triangle Wedge of Watermelon

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

SATURDAY

Lunch:

(2) Chicken and American Cheese Sandwiches on Sesame Seed Buns

Bag BBQ Corn Nuts

Snack:

Handful of Good & Gather's Tex Mex Trail Mix

Bag of Smartfoods White Cheddar Popcorn

Supper:

(1) Pineapple Brat on a Bakery Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Taco Brat on a Bakery Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Grilled Potato

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

SUNDAY

Lunch:

Cesaer Salad

Snack:

Bag of Smartfoods White Cheddar Popcorn

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Supper:

Chef Salad

(1) Medium Orange

MONDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Handful of Wonderful's Smokey BBQ Pistachios

Supper:

Chef Salad

(1) Medium Orange

TUESDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Handful of Wonderful's Salt & Vinegar Pistachios

Supper:

(1) Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Swiss Slider on a Artesian Bun

(1) Medium Orange

WEDNESDAY

Lunch:

(3) Leftover Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Pepperjack Sliders on a Artesian Buns

Supper:

(3) Leftover Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Pepperjack Sliders on a Artesian Buns

(2) Glass of Chocolate Milk

(1) Medium Orange

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

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Workouts:

THURSDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

FRIDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

SATURDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

SUNDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

MONDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

TUESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [5 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

WEDNESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges[4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

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WEIGHT TRACKER:

Starting Weight (Noon, 1/01/2023): XXX.X lbs

Weight at Last Check-In, 6/07/2023: ZERO lbs

Weight As of Noon, 6/14/2023: -4.4 lbs

Total Weight Loss: -69.8 lbs

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Closing Thoughts:

The Good:

Coming off a 2 week plateau and losing over 4 pounds. Nice little bump - but - still aware another plateau can surdace.

The Bad:

I've had some tad off days at work.

The Ugly:

Feel like a broken record - but - I am jonesing for some good ol' fashion sleep.

[formeryelpers]

Pineapple King Bakery, 46827 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont (Warm Springs), CA 94539

Love Hong Kong style pineapple buns? Pineapple King Bakery has the widest variety of pineapple buns and pineapple puffs. An original pineapple bun is $2.75. Other pineapple buns have guava, salted egg, pandan coconut, chocolate marshmallow, custard, red bean ube, durian, sesame, matcha mochi, BBQ pork, etc. The buns are split open and the puffs are injected with filling. They also have egg tarts, baked buns, pineapple puffs, and drinks. I thought I saw mini pineapple buns too? And Pineapple King merch, including cute caps and canvas tote bags.

Gold butter Pineapple bun ($4.10): Served warm with a thick pat of Kerrygold salted butter. The bun is medium-sized with a “pineapple” cookie top (no actual pineapple in the bun). I’ve had bigger buns served with more butter. There’s a cheaper option with unbranded butter. It’s an excellent bun – soft, light, fluffy, with a crusty top that’s less sweet than usual (compared to other pineapple buns).

Hot milk tea, less sweet ($4.60): Still seemed quite sweet. Milky, strong tea flavor.

I bought buns for other people and they were all WARM. They’re super fresh.

There are two lines: self-ordering on the left, ordering from the cashier on the right. Online ordering is coming soon. There is no interior that’s accessible to customers, but they have some outdoor benches and tables. The place is popular. Also, it doesn’t open early, so plan to have an afternoon pineapple bun snack.

They’ll call your order number when it’s ready. It does take awhile and there’s usually a line. Closed on Tuesdays.

5 of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[gofooddy]

Bakery Style Fluffy Butter Bun Recipe

Forget store-bought pastries and mass-produced rolls. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of baking your own butter buns. These little pockets of joy are surprisingly simple to make, and the tastes incredible. With a crispy crust, a light and fluffy interior, and a hint of sweetness from the melted butter, they’re the perfect comfort food to enjoy any time of day. Butter buns are a…

[wonderandwanderinginmexicocity]

Pan de Muerto or Carbohydrates of the Deceased

“Remember me as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon will be. Prepare for death and follow me.”

– Traditional Calavera Verse

A fun fact about Mexico City is that oftentimes holidays or seasons are represented by a particular type of bread. For Christmas, there is Rosco de Reyes, associated with the three kings that brought gifts to Bethelehem. In mid-September, you begin to see an oddly named bread in bakeries and supermarkets: Pan de muerto, or bread of the dead. This bread appears when Mexico is preparing to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. For those who haven’t seen the movie Coco, the Day of the Dead is the time of year when Mexicans remember and honor their ancestors. Pan de muerto is often placed as an offering on home altars for the visiting spirits of deceased family members. 

By one estimate, between October 3rd and November 2nd (the actual Day of the Dead), over 30 million pieces of the bread are consumed in Mexico each year. 94% of Mexicans eat pan de muerto. 

What exactly is it? Pan de muerto is a rich, doughy style bread, similar in consistency to challah bread and roughly the size of a hamburger bun. It is said to be shaped like a coffin, with designs of a cross or skull and bones sometimes placed on top. Often baked with butter to give it a rich flavor, there are regional variants, but generally it is topped with sugar and an orange zest.

Like almost all local food in today’s Mexico, the bread of the dead was born of the contact between the indigenous traditions of Mesoamerica and the Spanish arrival and colonization. The main ingredients (wheat, butter, milk, sugar) came to Mexico through the Columbian Exchange, the great swapping of people, diseases, animals, and plants between the Old World and the New. Among other things, pumpkins from the Americas were brought to Ireland, where they replaced turnips as the vegetable used to make jack-o-lanterns. 

But while pan de muerto dates its creation to the time of the conquistadors in the 1500’s, the concepts behind the bread of the dead come from Mexica (or Aztec) religion and culture. One explanation is that around the start of Autumn, in order to give thanks for the harvest, the Aztecs would bake a type of bread made out of amaranth (a local grain), honey, and human blood as an offering to the gods. This was seen as a sacred offering, and was then eaten by the entire community. There is an echo of this today, in that the bread is eaten by the living relatives but is also thought of as an offering that is spiritually “nourishing” to the ancestors. 

Another origin story for bread of the dead involves the Aztecs sacrificing a young woman, placing her heart in a clay pot, and then mixing the heart with grain. The priest would then eat the heart in gratitude to the gods for a good harvest. The Spanish priests quickly banned these types of practices, but the the modern pan de muerto was born: A bread to represent the heart sprinkled with red sugar to represent the blood of the sacrificial victim. 

However it got started, pan de muerto is here to stay. A bakery near my house makes a version with a delicious mazapán cream inside.  On a cool Fall morning, sitting outside with a hot coffee and a delicious bread of the dead, there is nothing better. 

[kisari-v]

On that note I made food tonight, so here's a list of some of my favorite college food staples

before you continue, know that this is a long list:

-pasta with sauce

-caccio e Pepe but I used parmagean and garlic powder with milk and flour too

-buiscuits and gravy (the biscuits are from a can the gravy is homemade)

-ramen noodles with egg and maybe some green onionor seaweed and hot dog or ham

-ramen noodles with sirracha mayo and cheese sauce and maybe egg and hot dog

-eggs in a basket

-tamago gohan (japanese styled egg over just cooked rice, then you stir them together and the really hot rice cooks the egg for the most part while you stir)

-peanut butter and jelly (enough said)

-discontinued homemade dunkin donuts sandwich with pesto, cheese and fire roasted tomatoes (I owe this sandwich my life)

-guacamole and tortilla chips (this bad boy keeps you full forever)

-Onigiri with salmon and spicy mayo (a lot of work but only needs three ingredients if you don't count salt)

-pancakes (yay food!)

-tim hortans biscuit sandwich (sausage, egg, american cheese, ketchup)

-ham and cheese sandwich

-pan con frijoles (refried black bean paste and eat with sour cream or queso fresco, or grated parmesean if your desperate on top with whatever bread you have. It's also amazing on sandwiches or as a toast topping. preferribly cook with onions and garlic)

-hotdog and egg pizza (eggs mixed before you put them in the pan. cut hotdogs into small circles and place like you're putting pepperoni on a pizza. zigzag ketchup on top and eat with a fork and knife. add toasted tortilla that was cut into triangles for extra crunch.)

-grilled cheese and tomato soup

-miso soup with green onion and tofu and seaweed

-steamed pork buns

-Crisp Sandwich (sandwich made with butter and chips. Preferably barbeque or Salt and vinegar. It kept me alive for a week so you can do it, but not recomended to live on. Tastier than you think if the bread is sturdy enough. Target bread is not but dollar tree bread suprisingly is think enough and tastier too)

-japanese curry with potatoes, carrots, and either beef cubes or breaded pork and rice

-katsudon

-butter chicken

-chicken tika masala

-mashed potato patty fried in a pan with a fried egg on top. my mom's lazy dinner night specialty

-salmon with pesto butter on top with mashed potatoes ( I miss being able to eat costco salmon)

-alfredo sause and pasta with beef

-beef stroganoff but I made it with alfredo sauce, barbeque sauce, and worschechire sauce instead and something else that I can't remember but god it was good and filling.

for sweet tooth moment:

-pancakes with m&ms to make you feel special

-peanut butter and nutella (or chocolate frosting if you're desperate) sandwich

-toast with nutella

-chocolate frosting sandwich

-australian fairy bread for fun (you can use vanilla frosting if you can, it's okay, it doesn't have to be the butter if you're desperate)

-frosting

-corn bread

pancakes with syrup (it works as a treat if it's not breakfast

-geletan

-kids sugar cereal

-steamed red bean buns

-cookies (preferrably chewy bakery styled ones but the hard dollar tree ones will do)

-cheap off brand ice cream

Drinks:

-any drink concentrate you put into water (always iced)

-matcha latte

-coffee with milk and sugar

-just straight up milk my beloved

-orange juice

-berry smoothie with greek yogurt and sugar (tim hortans style my beloved)

[biglisbonnews]

A Sweet Spin on Lunar New Year Treats THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE JANUARY 28, 2023, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. Since 1924, customers have faithfully lined up at Eastern Bakery, the oldest continually operating bakery in San Francisco’s Chinatown. “A lot of people come over and tell me, ‘Thank God that you’re still around after 99 years!’” says owner Orlando Kuan. Eggy custard tarts, glazed pineapple buns, and sweet sesame balls line the cases here. Many of the recipes are closely guarded secrets, which have remained virtually unchanged for the better part of a century.“The sesame ball is something [bakers] have been making for 2,500 years—how are you going to change that?” Kuan says. “We just use the highest quality ingredients and do our best to make them right.”Many of the mom-and-pop bakeries in Chinatowns across the United States have their roots in baking styles popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jewel-like mooncakes, beloved in mainland China since the Tang dynasty, sit alongside flaky egg tarts, which originally made their way to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau via Portuguese merchants. Then there’s the airy chiffon cakes, an American invention from 1927 that’s since gained a firm foothold in Asia. “The older, immigrant generation bakers tend to stick to what they know and they are good at that,” says Heather Wong, the founder of Flouring LA in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. “You can rely on these bakeries to provide cakes that taste exactly like the ones you remember from 30 years ago.” As much as Wong loves the confections found in traditional Chinatown bakeries, she and other young Asian-American bakers are also putting their own spins on traditional sweets. For Lunar New Year 2023, she’s preparing a whole assortment of sweets, including cake bars filled with either crunchy black sesame butter or sweetened adzuki beans. Growing up, she remembers adults insisting on very light, not-so-sweet desserts. “We want to please the elders, but also we grew up in America,” Wong says. “We've grown up on Twinkies and doughnuts and things that are much sweeter and more substantial.” Her desserts draw on her experience in French and American patisserie, as well as the flavors from her childhood. “It’s a natural evolution of Asian desserts.”For Emmeline Zhao, managing partner at Silver Apricot, a contemporary Chinese-American restaurant in New York, traditional Chinese sweets served as a jumping-off point. “A lot of Chinese pastries and cookies are specifically designed to be consumed with tea, so they don’t necessarily stand alone,” Zhao says. “What we really wanted to do was to take that element of American cookie craveability and combine it with the inspiration of Chinese sweets you’d have for New Year.”For Lunar New Year, the restaurant is offering cookie tins filled with a mix of sweet and savory nibbles like scallion pinwheels and Pu’erh tea shortbreads. Lacy, crisp doilies are Zhao’s riff on hup toh soh, the crumbly walnut cookies. Meanwhile, black sesame palmiers are a nod to tāngyuán, glutinous rice balls stuffed with black sesame paste swimming in a light syrup.“Black sesame tāngyuán is so symbolic of Chinese or Lunar New Year, we wanted a representation of that in the cookie box,” Zhao says. “We felt like a flaky, sweet palmier was a perfect vehicle for that.”Aside from the fact that they’re delicious, tāngyuán are a popular snack for the Lunar New Year because their name sounds like “reunion.” “The Lunar New Year is, over the course of roughly two weeks, the largest migration of people in the entire world,” Zhao says. “That's because the Lunar New Year is about unity. It's about the coming together of friends and family.” Eddie Zheng, who co-owns The Little One, a dessert shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown with his wife Olivia Leung, has particularly strong memories of Lunar New Year. In between passing out red envelopes and watching the lion dances, much of his family celebrations revolved around meals. “Lunar New Year celebrations and traditions mean a lot to the both of us,” Zheng says. “That's because that was usually the only time our hard-working parents would take a day off, relax, and enjoy each other's company with an abundance of food. For us, the eating begins the night before Lunar New Year, when multiple generations of family get together.” For the Year of the Rabbit, Leung and Zheng are baking pineapple pinwheel cookies inspired by Taiwanese pineapple cake, as well as peanut butter-strawberry spritzes that nod to Chinese peanut candies. Yuzu linzer cookies are their inclusion of citrus, which is a traditional symbol of good fortune.“We look to offer what we liked to eat during our childhood and bring that little bit of nostalgia as well as showcasing Chinese culture,” Zheng says. The couple also teamed up with Kopitiam, a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown, to collaborate on a very special cake. “Kyo [owner of Kopitiam] and us were just hanging out talking about the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities and she became homesick,” Zheng says. “We remembered her telling us that she would eat these pandan chiffon cakes back in Penang and we wanted to surprise her by making her some.” The result was an incredibly light, golden confection with faintest pale green tinge and a hauntingly sweet aroma. “For us, we were excited to work with pandan as it is very underrepresented,” Zheng says, describing it as “fragrant with this sweet grassy aroma.” For Daniel Corpuz, founder of his eponymous shop Daniel Corpuz Chocolatier in Canal Street Market, sleek bonbons in the shape of miniature rabbits are on display for the Lunar New Year. As a Filipino-American, Lunar New Year celebrations were not part of his family traditions, but Chinatown has always represented an important community space for him. Whether traditional or remixed, sweets for the Lunar New Year are ultimately meant to be shared across the generations. Both traditional sesame balls and black sesame palmiers would feel right at home passed around a communal table. “In Chinese culture, the coming together of friends and family is also centered around having meals together and making meals together,” Zhao says. “Food is always at the center. Food, in our culture, is love.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lunar-new-year-chinese-bakeries

[gotjacobian]

[Fun fact I learned writing this - tumblr’s mobile app will not let me copy/paste text into a post. From any source, as far as I can tell. What the fuck, tumblr? Anyway:]

I decided food gets its own category. My general eating pattern here was very different than in Japan, because I was eating almost every meal with my gf’s family, who either cooked or ordered for us. Most of it was not new to me, plus or minus some ingredients that I suspect are less common in the US depending on where you go (local fish, river eel, bitter melon, [organ meat that no one can tell me what is in english]*) I read a lot about styles of chinese cuisine before coming because I was curious - we weren’t trying to track down all 8 of the ‘official’ styles, but I think we hit 4 in one way or another:

Shandong, which includes local cooking styles in Beijing. Lots of stewed dishes, soups, thick and sweet sauces, and finely sliced meats.

Sichuan is probably the most recognizable, and is also my favorite. It makes heavy use of chili oil and specific spices, most notoriously numbing sichuan peppers. This is the regional style in Chengdu.

Hunan, which has a lot of braised or stir-fried meats and vegetables in sweet or salty sauce. Often more spicy than Sichuan food on average, just less Visibly Red. (If you’ve been to Sumiao in Cambridge, many of its offerings are specifically Hunan cuisine)

Cantonese, which has a focus on plain ingredients over spices, and does a lot of steaming and fermenting. Also includes Dim Sum.

It’s not like there was a perfect mapping of meal to cuisine for every single place we went - a lot of meals offered dishes from a variety of backgrounds, especially since they were nearly all hugenormous family-style meals with ten bazillion side dishes. But there were definitely differences and patterns across places we went, and that was cool!

Some of the stuff that stood out:

Beijing/Peking duck. Roast duck sliced up and served communally - you wrap it up with sauce and cucumber (and sometimes sugar on the fatty skin) in a steamed bun or rice wrap to eat it.

A whole stewed fish in an earthy broth served, to my amusement, with what were basically johnnycakes cooked in the same pan. It kind of tasted like gumbo - it had that kind of earthy brown flavor. I’ve become mildly obsessed with trying to identify the origin of this dish. It was described to me as Beijing cuisine, but Beijing isn’t a port city or anything, so it must’ve come from somewhere specific before that. I haven’t been able to find it yet.

Soup dumplings

Dim sum that also included soup dumplings that were inexplicably colored black. Also Dim Sum again but at the Hong Kong airport (which was better).

Sichuan Hotpot at what I am convinced was the absolute most tourist-trap place in all of Chengdu, but in a good way. We had a private room overlooking some traditional opera-style performances - dances, instrument playing, and 'face changing' (where the actors do a sleight-of-hand trick where they swap the masks they're wearing out for other masks). Notably featured pork intestine served in a sphere made of ice, for some reason.

“Green pepper” flavored ice cream that had sichuan peppercorn in it, and was delicious. It made me want to try and make more desserts with that flavor.

Lamb Hotpot (meat cooked in plain broth, as opposed to the spiced sichuan-style broth.) If you’re gonna do just one hotpot, I strongly suggest the Sichuan over this. This is pretty plain except for a sesame sauce you can dip in, and to me that always feels like dipping meat in peanut butter. Not my favorite.

A really, really good egg tart from a bakery chain ("butterful and creamorous") that my gf and I kept walking past. Every location had a giant line outside of it. We eventually gave in and stood in a half-hour line to figure out what the hype was. It was worth it.

KFC in china also has really good egg tarts for some reason. I really like egg tarts. These had peach in them.

A katsu restaurant near my gf’s old high school that entertained me greatly because it was putting SO much more weight in the “authentic japanese restaurant” thing than the actual sorta-canonical katsu restaurant I went to in yokohama. The non-english-speaking server tried to convince me to grind sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle to put on my rice while my gf was in the bathroom, and I had no clue what was going on.**

A lot of jasmine, oolong, and “butter” flavored lattes. Nowhere seems to agree on what “butter” flavor is. Some seemed to think it meant buttermilk, some went with cookie butter. The jasmine latte thing should come to the US though, it’s very good.

A truly absurd number of handmade dumplings, probably about 1/4 of which I folded.

I liked most of the food a lot. I really like sichuan spices and chinese styles of cooking vegetables especially. I have only two consistent complaints: first, the tendency in some styles of cuisine to steam or stew meat into a paste. This came up at dim sum, and also with several of the fish dishes. I’m already not a huge cooked fish fan. I am SUPER not a fan of picking pin bones out of musty fish mush. The braised fish was better, though still bony. There’s an art to getting the pieces that are more meaty, I think, but I admit I have not learned it.

The other, most egregious violation was serving unsalted soup. I’ve garnered a reputation in some circles for my Salt Takes. My personal taste and cooking philosophies both favor more salt than I know some people’s do, and I can respect other positions, to a point. But being served unsalted pork broth by my high school girlfriend’s parents years ago (i.e. a social situation where I felt obligated to consume all of it) is, to this day, one of the worst culinary experiences I’ve ever had. It was like drinking blood. You CANNOT serve meat-based soups without salt. You can’t do it. This was basically the only thing served to me that I didn’t even attempt to eat past a single spoonful. (There were not usually seasonings at the table) The black soup dumplings also had no salt but eating a soup dumpling requires commitment and I was forced to power through. I gagged. You CANNOT.

To end, I also had a lot of tea. A LOT of tea. A lot of tea that I took home. I have literally 15 canisters of pu’er tea that I assume I was given for passing whatever implicit Boyfriend Evaluation was happening, but I do not need 15 canisters of one kind of tea and also four canisters of another, and five extra samples, and one plastic bag of an unidentified black tea I apparently said I liked at a restaurant.*** My suitcase coming back was only under the weight limit because we shoved half the tea in my backpack. Let me know if you are in the Providence area and want tea.

*My gf’s family got worked up several times about whether I’d want to eat [various green vegetables that when sampled basically tasted like collard greens or lemongrass or etc], but would offer unidentified organ meats without batting an eye - something I think would be WAY further outside the average American’s comfort zone - which I found very funny. The set of things I actually avoid eating (mushroom, tofu, eggplant) is weird enough that I get if that was confusing, I guess. I am not usually a big fan of organ meats, but tried any that were served and was pleasantly surprised. I think either they’re prepared better here than in the US, or that it helped having hosts who knew what to order.

** I got out "对不起，我的女朋友不在“ (Sorry, my girlfriend isn't here), and she continued to attempt to explain but in pantomime.

*** I often had 3-4 drinks served to me simultaneously - water, a wine or beer or small glass of baiju (chinese liquor) (pretty universally regarded as bad even in china. it’s bad. i brought some back if you want to try it.) , and one or two teas. I felt very called out about the [LARP character who I’ve declared often orders like 4 drinks at once] thing about it.

Coming back from China tomorrow. I wasn’t able to do the chronological journaling thing I did from Japan (this was jointly a tourism and “meeting my gf’s family” trip, so I had a lot less solo downtime overall.) BUT I got to do a bunch of cool stuff I want to have feelings about, so instead I’m gonna share in a sort of ranked list. First are Things I Think Are Worth Going To China For. Like, on their own - the once-in-a-lifetime stuff that’s worth structuring a trip around.

- The Great Wall. Probably the least surprising thing I could put here, but like, the name says it. It’s a pretty good wall. We went my second day here, to the stretch that’s near Beijing and is some of the most heavily touristed. The view is amazing. It’s one of the most “wow, this looks exactly how people draw it” things I’ve seen in my life. I couldn’t stop myself from commenting repeatedly on how photogenic it was for something that very much predates cameras. Like, just look at this:

It requires a lot of walking on stairs and uneven ground. If you pay extra, you can take a chair lift up (great if you can handle heights) and a toboggan slide-thing down. It’s like, slightly sketchier than your average US six flags experience? But only slightly. You get a brake that controls your own speed going down. I got assigned “young person who’s eyeing that toboggan a little too hard” by the ride operators and they made me wait a few minutes behind the group in front of us before starting the slide, and I’m proud to say I did still catch up to them.

Another thing, because I don’t know where else to put it - I was expecting to be taller relative to the general population in china than I am in the US. But I was surprised there were a few times I had to squeeze myself into whatever people infrastructure was available. I’m not *that* tall, but have absurdly long legs for my height. In the shuttlebus up to the wall, my knees were jammed into the seat in front of me even when it wasn’t leaned back. There wasn’t really any way to avoid it. I have no idea what i.e. my 6’4” father would’ve done.

One last note - there were cats! No one told me there would be cats, but there were a LOT of them. People were lined up to take pictures of the first one here, who was just chilling on the wall itself.

- Next, the Beijing Lantern Festival. We ended up here as a last minute thing. It was *technically* a Mid Autumn Festival attraction, which was before my trip. But it lasted into October and my gf’s parents offered to take us on a night we had no other plans. Parking was hell, it took us 15 minutes to figure out how to get in, and then:

It’s basically a small theme park of foods, souvenirs, and giant lantern displays. It was gorgeous. Walking through it was maybe my favorite part of the trip. Pictures don’t do it justice - a lot of the displays flashed or moved or reacted when you walked past. The construction and use of the lantern ribbing in the design were so, so cool. I was walking around with my jaw dragging on the sidewalk. Like, let it be known that I’m an easy mark for this kind of thing. But if you also are, I honestly think it’s worth timing a trip around.

You could also buy a small lantern to carry around as a souvenir. My gf and I got this red lotus one. I cannot express enough how gratifying it is in practice to get to carry around a pretty light at the pretty light show.

- Seeing China. Weird thing to include - like, obviously you want to see a place you’re going - but it was a defining feeling on the whole trip for me. I was really struck when we were driving into Beijing from the airport how much less I knew about what places in China look like than I did about Japan before going there. It’s not like it’s a secret, exactly, but I think the additional barriers to western tourism (it’s the only place I, an American, have been that I had to pre-apply for a visa to go. More on that later.) and uncensored internet access make a big difference in how the information diffuses. And China is bigger than Japan (and South Korea, but I feel less able to compare my experiences there bc I was only in Seoul, and only for a couple days). So there’s less of a centralized picture to sell, and when there was, it felt very… politicized. Not to mention that information on China in the US often comes with a lot of political and cultural baggage on the receiving end. The information landscape is just different.

Potentially reflecting that, there were way, way fewer western tourists here than in Japan. I was the only obviously non-chinese person anywhere I went except the Great Wall and Forbidden City. Some of this might’ve been timing? And some of it might’ve been that a lot of my travel was facilitated by people who literally live here, so I probably spent less time in “touristy” areas overall. But even there, the vibe was different - much more geared towards chinese tourists than western ones (think no english audio guide at a museum, or a guide assuming knowledge of china’s history beyond a US AP World History level). My layman’s read, fwiw, is that China feels like it has put a lot less effort into “courting” western tourists in general, and presenting a united picture of China For Tourists than i.e. Japan has. And has put more effort into selling a picture of What China Is to Chinese citizens. I’m now very curious if this is what the US (especially DC) feels like to non-american tourists.

But anyway, tl;dr: It was cool to actually see the country I’d only heard about secondhand. Maybe the one I have the most secondhand connection to, across several close relationships. It was interesting to try and put the cultural diffusion to the US in context. And it was affecting to go there and see even mundane stuff that was hard to see otherwise. I found some of the exact souvenirs I’d been given as gifts by friends in middle and high school. I took a lot more pictures than I normally would. Beijing felt a lot like Dallas to me in some ways (lots of 70s era buildings, lots of highways connecting a wide radius of suburbs) and a lot like a brutalist DC in the rest of its vibes. Chengdu felt like a cross between Chicago and Orlando- a beach city with no beaches. Tianjin was… beautiful but weird. I have too many photos to put in a tumblr post, but would be happy to share more with anyone who’s interested.

[rockislandadultreads]

Lunar New Year Starts Feb. 1st! Spruce up your Chinese Cooking skills with these titles! 

Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries by Kristina Cho

In Mooncakes & Milk Bread, food blogger Kristina Cho (eatchofood.com) introduces readers to Chinese bakery cooking with fresh, uncomplicated interpretations of classic recipes for the modern baker. Inside you’ll find sweet and savory baked buns, steamed buns, Chinese breads, unique cookies, whimsical cakes, juicy dumplings, Chinese breakfast dishes, and drinks. Recipes for steamed BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns with a thick slice of butter, silky smooth milk tea, and chocolate Swiss rolls all make an appearance--because a book about Chinese bakeries wouldn’t be complete without them!

Let's Make Dumplings!: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano, Sarah Becan

An accessible and easy-to-follow comic book cookbook for bringing Asian dumplings into the home kitchen, with recipes for savory and sweet dumplings, dipping sauces, riffs, and more—from the authors of Let’s Make Ramen! Chef Hugh Amano and comics artist Sarah Becan invite you to explore the big little world of Asian dumplings! Ideal for both newbies and seasoned cooks, this comic book cookbook takes a fun approach to a classic treat that is imbued with history across countless regions. From wontons to potstickers, buuz to momos, Amano’s expert guidance paired with Becan’s colorful and detailed artwork prove that intricate folding styles and flavorful fillings are achievable in the home kitchen.

The World's Best Asian Noodle Recipes: 125 Great Recipes from Top Chefs by Susan Sulich (Editor)

Chock full of delicious, healthy recipes, The World’s Best Asian Noodle Recipes includes the best of the best Asian noodle recipes from notable chefs around the world. Alongside step-by-step instructions, beautiful photography illustrates exactly how the finished recipes should look. From soups and salads to main courses, snacks and desserts, there are both traditional recipes and inventive interpretations. Recipes are organized by type of type of ingredients--Seafood, Meats, Vegetables, Poultry and Combinations--and  include a wide range of different noodle selections. Participating chefs are from restaurants that specialize in noodles, as well as from those that have more varied menus with fabulous noodle dishes as an option, along with recipes included from popular blogs, private chefs, and keepers of age-old family recipes. Includes recipes from the Ember Room, Jum Mum, Rouge et Blanc, Koh, and dozens more.

Asian Noodles: 86 Classic Recipes from Vietnam, Thailand, China, Korea and Japan by Maki Watanabe

If you're an avid noodle lover--or ready to graduate from perennial favorite Ramen Noodles--look no further! Experienced Asian cookbook author Maki Watanabe provides all her secret recipes and tips for creating delicious Asian noodle dishes at home with minimal fuss and time. These 86 noodle recipes cover the Asian cuisines best known for their noodle dishes: Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. They include all the classics that are already well-loved in the West--from Vietnamese Pho to Korean Japchae, and Pad Thai to Chinese Wonton Noodles (with gluten-free options available in the form of Japanese Soba and Udon noodles). However, this book also highlights many lesser-known classics that are popular in Asia but not yet widely found in Western restaurants. Asian Noodles is divided into four chapters: Tossed Noodles with Sauces and Toppings, Stir-Fried Noodles, Noodles with Soup and Japanese-Style Noodles. A bonus chapter gives a selection of 10 delicious Asian desserts such as Cilantro Sorbet and Mango Pudding--to eat after your noodles are all gone!

[fiftytwotwentythree]

Wellness Wednesday:

Dreaming About Vacation

Thoughts of travel are jumping into my head - mostly spurred by a bachelor party I had to miss due to work.

At the same time I have a massive amount of built up PTO burning a hole in my pocket.

Not looking for anything exotic or action packed. Just want some R&R somewhere other than home.

Weight-wise... I plateaued again. No Shame had. As long as it is not going up, I consider it a win.

As well - I've started to become a regular once again at my local movie theatre and I don't have any plans of stopping... at least for the month of June. Not ashamed to say that I have thoroughly enjoy each movie I saw in the last couple of weeks in some aspect - either through the content on the screen or through the company that I've been surrounded by.

And... to possibly add insult to injury... I heavily - passionately am looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie - all my eggs are in one basket. Come June 29th I may be very well heartbroken or vastly quenched... find out in 3 weeks.

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23rd CHECK-IN:

Current Goals:

Lose 52 lbs

Completed as of 4/12/2023

New Goal: Maintain or Continue on The Weight Loss Path

Avoid "Junk Food"

Minimize Take-Out / Fast Food Consumption

Short Term:

Vegetarian-ish Diet: Completed

End Date: 4/09/2023 - 46 Days Total

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Meal Tracker:

THURSDAY

Lunch:

(1) Leftover Grilled Hotdog on a Sweet Hawaiian Hotdog Bun

(1) Johnsonville Chili Cheese Smoked Sausage on a Sweet Hawaiian Hotdog Bun

Snack:

Bowl of Wonderful's Shelled Salt & Pepper Pistachios

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Large Bag of Movie Theatre Popcorn (No Butter)

Bowl of Wonderful's Shelled Sweet Chili Pistachios

Supper:

(1) Pepperjack Cheeseburger on a Sesame Seed Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Cheeseburger on a Sesame Seed Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Johnsonville Chili Cheese Smoked Sausage on a Sweet Hawaiian Hotdog Bun

(1) Ear of Grilled Seasoned Corn

(2) Scoops of Spring Pasta Salad

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

FRIDAY

Lunch:

Hot Ham & Swiss on a Bun

Hot Pastrami & Swiss on a Bun

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

(2) Bowls of Wonderful's Shelled Sweet Chili Pistachios

Supper:

(2) Servings of Stoufer's Meat Lovers Lasagna

(4) Scoops of Cottage Cheese

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

SATURDAY

Lunch:

(2) Servings of Leftover Stoufer's Meat Lover Lasagna

(4) Scoops of Cottage Cheese

Snack:

14oz Bag of Wonderful's Shelled Sweet Chili Pistachios

Supper:

(2) Cheeseburgers

(1) Ear of Seasoned Corn

SUNDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Snack:

Bag of Mexican Street Corn Style Flavored Corn Nuts

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Supper:

(2) Grilled Hotdogs on a Bun

(2) Grilled Chicken Breasts

- BBQ

(1/2) Cheeseburger on a Bun

(2) Scoops of Potato Salad

(2) Scoops of Broccoli Salad

(5) Baked Brussel Sprouts

(2) Glasses of Chocolate Milk

MONDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Handful of Good & Gather's Tex Mex Trail Mix

(1) Bakery Hotdog Bun

Snack:

Large Movie Theatre Popcorn (No Butter)

Handful of Nice!'s Salt & Pepper Cashews

Supper:

Chef Salad

TUESDAY

Lunch:

Cesaer Salad

Snack:

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

Handful of Nice!'s Salt & Pepper Cashews

Supper:

Cesaer Salad

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

WEDNESDAY

Lunch:

(3) Leftover Grilled Hotdogs on Bakery Hotdog Buns

- Ketchup

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Handful of Nice!'s Salt & Pepper Cashews

Snack:

Bag of Original Flavored Corn Nuts

Supper:

Chef Salad

(2) Ears of Seasoned Grilled Corn

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

(1) Homemade Smoothie

- (1/2) Banana

- Frozen Pineapple, Peach, Mango

- Cup of Two Good Mango Yogurt

- Cup of Tropicana Orange Juice

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Workouts:

THURSDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 21 min]

FRIDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

SATURDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 21 min]

SUNDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

MONDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 21 min]

TUESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [5 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [1 Set]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

WEDNESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges[4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 21 min]

.

.

WEIGHT TRACKER:

Starting Weight (Noon, 1/01/2023): XXX.X lbs

Weight at Last Check-In, 5/31/2023: +1.4 lbs

Weight As of Noon, 6/07/2023: ZERO lbs

Total Weight Loss: -65.4 lbs

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Closing Thoughts:

The Good:

Enjoying my summer evenings.

The Bad:

Getting tired of working out. I want to fully enjoy my summer evenings without the thought/pressure of having to work out.

The Ugly:

Due to amazing summer evenings and dread of working out, my sleep schedule is faultering exponentially.

[luimagines]

Fair warning I freaking love Cafes and Bakery food and drinks:

Leg while doesn’t like sweets, gets fruit teas. Green tea and peach or some sort of thing because let’s imagine Reader makes her loose leaf teas. He doesn’t get dessert’s but would get a croissant or like an almond biscotti. Really anything that isn’t that sweet. There is like certain points that he wants carrot cake or coffee but it’s not really that often.

Warriors is trying his best to like his coffee black. He truly is. In modern times he is that guy that orders the artisan coffee. You probably give him the experimentation drinks before it goes on the menu. His favorite is the (less modern) caramel macchiato or milk tea! Not sure what pastry he would like but macarons and mille-feuille. Probably because those are more fancy desserts.

So Hyrule wouldn’t get anything special. Maybe some bread or a bag of sugar cookies! Fae love sweets after all!! You sneak in cookies, cupcakes, and candied nuts and fruits! If he does have a drink it would be herbal teas. He even brings the things to make the Herbal teas! I would say Mate is what I’m thinking of but I never had so idk.

Twilight is as is said, always buying for his siblings. That he doesn’t get anything for himself to much. There are moments where he gets infused fruit water or fresh fruit juice in the summer time. You’ve sneak in some extra desserts for him when he gets stuff for the kids normally. He likes tarts and the sweet buns. Which… the kids like too…

TIME BRINGS READER THE MILK!!! So he 100% just gets black coffee. But he also is up to see what you create. You once gave him strawberry milk by making it with strawberry purée and the Lon Lon milk and he hasn’t been the same. That being said he doesn’t like sweets to much for like Leg he would get the non sweet items.

Wind gets Milk Tea! Aryll would get sweet tea! They both want to try the most exotic things in the small cafe. And by exotic I mean they are your taste testers. You almost regret giving them the chocolate s’more cookies … but they love your sugar cookies!

Sky’s Cafe Reader! Is on an island in the sky probably looks the same cottage style but with a garden. I love the idea of Sky getting hot chocolate! But also because I can have these anymore. Sky gets a pumpkin loaf with vanilla icing on top that has a small cinnamon line of icing. Another is a Gingerbread loaf/cake with candied ginger and vanilla icing!

I’m craving that gingerbread loaf now… hnnnng

I have to go to bed not eat more!!!!!!

Now I'm hungry....

I think a lot of these are spot on especially Legend's and Time's.

Twilight always gets his poor cinnamon roll stolen by the kids.... so what a shame it would be for him to go back and get more, now wouldn't it?

I know we already talked about Fours.

Wild though?

He'd probably get something in the middle. Not too sweet not to bitter. Like a vanilla coffee or a spicy tea like Ginger for example. He'd probably won't need to get food because he can make it himself/already has made it. In fact, he just might be their head baker. Just drops the pastries for the day.

He will eat bread as is though- I can imagine his favorite being garlic bread though and butter. Garlic buttered bread.

[fenheart87]

Blue Changes

We had a fun little challenge, we picked a prompt and had 3, 15 minute sprints to write something for the prompt. Then 24 hours for light editing to finish sentences if needed, grammar etc. This is my take on the the prompt "Has anyone ever told you just how adorable you are Because you really are." Dedicated to @verfound 🧡

“Marinette, where is my favorite designer at?!” Jagged burst into the studio, Fang trotting happily next to him on her leash and Penny multitasking between her phone call and tablet. Technically he was supposed to be on a plane to New York, but decided to swing by Paris on his way because he had an idea that just could not wait and wanted to check on his unofficial niece anyways. There was only one speed bump in that plan, the studio was completely empty. The chaos of fabric strewn about and pieces half cut with scissors still mid snip definitely screamed someone was working hard or trying to at least, the mannequin with a half-pinned design and ripped fabric seemed to lean toward the latter.

“Looks like she’s not here… Must be taking a break. Penny, why don’t we order from my favorite bakery and make sure something extra special for Marinette. I’m glad we came here before the next stop on tour.” Jagged poked around at the sketches laying in abandon on the desk, some half crumbled on the floor and more stacked on a sketchbook.

“Seems like she is having some massive creators block… We should treat her when we have a break on the tour.” Penny suggested, already on the phone with Tom and trying to insist they would pay for their order.

Some of the sketches were brilliant but had marks of black throughout them, others were completely marked out and you could not even tell what the design was to start with. It hurt to physically see what pain Marinette was going through, most of the ones with the darker markings were of the same style. He could clearly see the thought of Adrien in the suits and matching dresses for Marinette, the anger of the marks showing something had happened or changed. Sighing heavily, Jagged gathered the papers, Fang batting the ones further away with her tail over to her owner. One paper had him blinking in surprise.

“Penn! Pen! Lookie here! D'ya see this?!” jagged shouted, shoving the paper into his assistant’s face, not even minding when she sighed and pushed it to a proper distance. It was a one-of-kind leather jacket and a custom hoodie drawn to match it. Either could be worn seperate or paired together. The colors were a contrast of electric blue and smokey turquoise, the theme was music and snake. Jagged recognized it as a rough sketch due to the lack of color or material notes along the edge that appeared on her finished drafts.

“Why was this crumpled up? It’s a really great idea!” Penny wondered aloud, noticing that the eccentric rockstar she commonly felt like she had to babysit was scheming. “Jagged no, whatever is it the answer is no.”

The door opened and in walked the designer they were looking for, Marinette seemed stressed and a bit run down. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun, one sleeve was pushed higher than the other and her shirt was wrinkled where it was tucked into her pencil skirt. Flip flops clacked along with her steps, another sign she was worn out if the basic shoe was more preferred to her custom made and very comfortable flats. An energy drink dangled from one hand and her design tablet occupied the other. Both guests watched as she made it all the way to her desk without noticing they were there.

“I have no idea what I'm going to do! I don't have anyone that fits that one or the orange one… I could make it a dress but who would wear it?! Ugh! I’m going to fail at this rate and then I won't graduate and I'll never design again, who would want something made by a failure-” Fang chose that moment to nudge her head onto the petite woman’s lap, startling her so bad she screamed and fell out of her chair.

“Well I reckon that I would love to have exclusive rights to all designs made by my favorite niece but we all know that’s not fair to the rest of the world. Now I know you are in a pinch and you’re stuck like a boat in the desert, so you’re going to take a break, spend some time with uncle Jay and make sure that you show poor Fang some love, she was all excited and you just screamed right in her poor face. C’mere my poor baby, Marinette is so mean I know.” Jagged showed the croc in love through pets and scratches. 

“When.. How, why?” Poor Marinette was lost and couldn't believe the rockstar was in her studio when he should've been halfway around the world for the next stop on his tour. 

“Okay, the only thing we’re doing right now is leaving all this behind for a much needed break for food and maybe a nap in your case. Time to relax and stop stressing for a minute." Penny authoritatively stepped in, stacking the papers on the desk, handing Marinette her purse and phone and with the help of Fang scooted the younger woman out the door.

Marinette protested "Wait I need to finish, it has to be done! I can't take a break, I just did!"

"Negative, now it's time for chow, and you need a shower, at your parents then we need to have a little chat. Ladies first!" Jagged gently shoved the designer into the car with cheer, allowing Fang and Penny to enter before him. 

"So my little brilliant niece, we have some great news and a rock and roll deal for you! Can't tell you what is until after you've taken a break though." They grinned as Marinette grumbles as she gave fang the attention she wanted until they pulled up to the bakery.

Getting out of the car first, Marinette sighed at the smell of her parents baking, the smell melting off some stress like butter melting on a fresh from the oven croissant roll. Her stomach grumbled and she opened the door for the other guests, sneaking an excited Fang upstairs to not scare the other customers. Deciding to take a refreshing shower, Marinette went to her bathroom and put on some zen meditation music before getting in the shower. Quick ten minutes later and she was feeling much more alive and hungry. On a whim she grabbed a random outfit that she had made but never worn, pleated plaid skirt with a red checker pattern offset by the off the shoulder fitted top in a burgundy color, and threw it on before joining her guests. 

"Oi looking good! One of yours?" Jagged shouted with his mouth full, causing Penny to smack his arm as a reminder to use manners. 

"Sure is! Never worn it before but decided change can be a good thing and sometimes you have to start the change instead of waiting for it to happen." Grabbing her favorite pastry and a croissant because you can't just smell one and not eat it, she missed the concerned look her adopted guardians shared.

"So your studio was, well, you seem to be having a hard time." Pen tried to be gentle but made a face at her words.

"Yeah… Life is… Changing." Marinette mused, picking at the pastry.

"Marinette, what can Uncle Jay do to help?" Jagged's serious tone drew her gaze and his heart broke at the sight of unshed tears.

"I uhm well. I- That is, we-" With a huff, she calmed down and a look of determination shone on her face. "Adrien asked me out, on a date date in this really elaborate way. I turned him down. I have no idea what I was thinking but when he asked me I was so happy and then all I could think of was blue and how soft its is and it can be so calm or so chaotic and it’s always changing like the ocean but yet it's always the same and there this feeling of calm and I just couldn't say yes."

The quiet settled into a slightly awkward silence, Marinette was ignoring it and Penny was having nonverbal argument with Jagged on what to say next. With an eye roll that spoke louder than her shouting at him, the assistant took the lead once more. Quietly she rose from the chair she was occupying and sat next to the young designer smoothing out the crumpled sketch she had taken from the studio.

"Is this the blue you're talking about?" 

"Yeah… That’s my blue." A gentle smile touched peach lips briefly, blue eyes going soft.

"Is this the skater kid?"

"Skater kid?" Marinette blinked in confusion.

"Nah Pen it's the boat kid."

"He has a name you guys!" Marinette broke down into giggles, looking much more like herself and less like a zombie just waltzing around and going through the motions. "His name is Luka, yes the one who went me skating with Adrien and Kagami, yes the boat kid who has a heart way too big for just his mom and sister. And now me…"

"Sounds like you made a change?" Penny prompted smiling widely.

"A blue one yeah, I did."

"Has anyone ever told you just how adorable you are?" Jagged shouted, picking up the younger woman and swinging her around as she shrieked. 

"Okay Jagged, let's not take over her whole day. We did have a reason to show up here after all." Penny handed the tablet to Marinette after he relinquished his hold. "This is what we're looking at for a surprise concert once we are back here in Paris. There's some issues I'm ironing out but I wanted to see what you think and if you would take lead on the design aspect."

"Wait, lead designer for your show?" Blue bell eyes swiveled between ocean blue and hazel sets, wide with disbelief and building excitement.

"Yup, this tablet is yours by the way. I do ask you to keep just business on it for the show, if you want more traditional sketches that's fine but once it's done it needs to be uploaded on here." Jagged explained, clapping a red clad shoulder.

"Oh you need an opening act? I've got that covered." The sparkle was finally back in her eye to match the mischievous grin.

"I agree with Jagged, are you sure no one has said it before because you really are adorable."

[elrielllll]

“Elain was pretty sure they were lost” 😂 I love Perfect so much! I can never get enough Elriel though (those two are too sweet together) and was wondering if you could do 10 and/or 30 for the prompt thingy? 😍

A/N: Thank you so much love! I went with 30, I’ve already had asks for the other one and I’ve been writing so much angst lately that I needed something lighthearted...

Anyway here you go!

30“i’m not a damsel in distress, I’m a damsel doing damage”

Elain was completely and utterly swamped. Open a bakery, they said, it will be easy, they said, you can regulate your own work, they said.

Bollocks.

She was short for staff this weekend, it wasn’t supposed to be busy so she’d told everyone to take it off, (not the best management but Elain wasn’t all that good at the cold hearted bitch style.)

They had been overflowing with orders a few weeks ago when it was supposed to be their holiday, but she’d asked them to stay, so this was her making up for it. It had all been fine, no trouble at all, until this bride ran in, stressed to the max and fixed her pleading eyes on Elain. How on earth was she supposed to say no?

Even if it was catering for a wedding in under a week. She’d been pulling all nighters every day so far and she could honestly say that she wasn’t sure how she was still on her feet. She’d glance longingly at the couch in the back room where they did all the baking- not sitting down, even for just a second, was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. Elain knew the moment that she gave in she wasn’t getting back up for a very long time, so in the end she had moved all her cakes so they were covering it from her line of view.

She had managed to get a few hours of sleep though over the last few days, running home to shower all the flour and grease off her before falling into bed.

Elain knew Azriel wasn’t happy with this, he was making that very clear in a way that was too adorable for Elain to get angry at him. He would visit her at work and she’d have to completely ignore him for fear of being distracted, which happened way too easily. They had been forced to put this rule in place the seventh time Nula caught them in a rather...compromising position and threatened to quit. He wasn’t too happy about it to say the least, so he sat in the corner and sulked, looking so forlorn you’d think the world was ending.

“It is!” He’d always protest, before pouting, folding his arms and shrinking back into his corner.

But she had to power through, there was no way she was letting this girl down, besides this was the last day of constant baking.

Elain wasn’t sure what time it was, late afternoon, either way she was starving and completely dead on her feet. She groaned as she dropped her head down onto the counter, not caring that it was covered in flour. Elain might have ended up staying there for longer than she initially thought but she was too damn tired to be bothered.

She jolted up when the door banged open, quickly blinking icing sugar out of her eyes, “We’re closed!” She shouted towards the front door.

“I know,” came the low rumble and she relaxed, she’d know that voice and those measured footsteps anywhere. Azriel appeared in the doorway and lent against the wooden frame, a small smile playing on his lips. “How are we doing?” He asked scanning the state of the room.

Elain stepped back as well, lips pressed into a tight line as she surveyed the carnage. She braced one hand on her hip and pinched the bridge of her nose, “mh it’s going great.”

Azriel hummed from his stop by the entrance, “looks like it.” There was icing sugar and flour everywhere, even on the top of the fridge. How the hell did it get there?

Elain didn’t have to look in the mirror to know that she looked like a snowman. Or a scarecrow. A scarecrow snowman. Yeah that sounded right. She groaned to herself and Azriel’s lips twitched as he moved over to her, looping his arms around her waist. “You look great.”

Elain looked up at him suspiciously, “are you mocking me? You better not be mocking me.”

Azriel clamped his lips together and shook his head.

Mockingly.

Elain slapped him in the chest, frowning and he reeled back dramatically, clutching a hand to his chest. She rolled her eyes at him, and faced back to the counter, muttering “child” under her breath.

“If anyone’s the child here, it’s you,” Azriel was back by her side, pulling butter out of her hair. Elain scoffed at him but made no move to dump a bag of flour over his head.

“Need any help?” He asked, resting his chin on her shoulder. She rolled away from him and walked towards the oven to pull out a tray of buns. “I,” she waved her hand over them, trying to cool them down, “am completely fine. Managing brilliantly.”

“You’ve mentioned that, but I can still help you if you want.” Azriel sighed at her, when Elain got it into her head that she was doing something, especially on her own, it was damn near impossible to get her to accept some help.

“I’m not a damsel in distress Azriel, I’m a damsel doing damage!” As she said that Elain flung her arm out... and knocked off one of her mixing bowls.

She looked down as it shattered on the floor and just stared at it for a few minutes. “Shit,” she muttered softly and Azriel launched into a coughing fit.

Elain’s head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes, pointing at him, “are you laughing at me?”

Azriel held his hands up, still coughing, “never.”

She didn’t buy it.

Elain groaned and trudged over to the couch, she was done, there was a limit to her genius, even if she hated to admit it. She flopped onto it with a huff, letting her eyes fall closed. A moment later she felt Azriel’s breath fan across her face as he crouched down next to her.

“Elain?”

“Yes?” She sighed, cheek smushed against the pillow.

“Want me to call everyone?”

“Yes,” she groaned and Azriel chuckled quietly. Elain cracked an eye open, to see him still in front of her, in his hand. “Why aren’t you calling them yet?”

“My phone’s in the car,” he wasn’t making any effort to mask his amusement now.

“Then go get it,” Elain suggested, a little bit more aggressive than normal, but in her defence she was tired out.

Azriel huffed a laugh, “I’m going,” he pulled himself up and when he turned to leave Elain flung out a heavy arm to slap his ass, and he yelped, shooting her a death glare, all amusement gone.

Elain settled back into the couch, a cocky grin on her face that no one ever got to see but him. He was almost out of the door when Elain shouted, eyes still closed, “Azriel!”

“Yes?”

“I love you,” her voice was breathy as she snuggled down into the cushions.

“I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~ Tags: @sleeping-and-books @meowsekai @awkward-avocado-s @superspiritfestival @abraxos-is-toothless @stars-falling @thesirenwashere @queen-of-glass @nite0wl29 @negativenesta @illyrian-bookworm @theshadowsinger-and-thefawn @b00kworm @tswaney17 @jemma-nessian-and-elriel @bamchickawowow @qoingcrazy @lovemollywho @tyheronthorn @gorl-power @fucking-winchester-trash @keshavomit @a-happybird @mysweetvilllain @captainthefangirlofhp @woodland-mist @maastrash @silver-flames @empress-ofbloodshed @courtofjurdan​ @dreamerforever-5 ​ @jemma-nessian-and-elriel elriel​ @welcometothespeaknowworldtour​