#I am a true spice wimp

[athenasparrow]

Do you like spicy food?

No! (NO NO NO NO NO)

[mrslittletall]

For the True/False game!

You like spicy food?

False. I am a spice wimp. I am very white person when it comes to spice. That is one of the few things (along the love for cheese) where I laugh about white people jokes. I just cannot take spicy food well. It is too BURNING!

That being said, it is not that I dislike the taste, it is the spice that is too much for me. If it just wouldn't burn so much...

[hymnoire]

Laying on the bed, her thoughts are spinning and spiraling. Her eyes, stuck on the ceiling. The sheets are made of silk, the walls covered in velvet and the lights, dimmed. It is a small world within a world in this room, the World of Mask Girl. The lamps of colors; golden and red reflect on the satin of her dress and the glitters of her skin, her blond hair spread all around her uncovered face. The live with the community has ended an hour ago. She danced tonight, for them. It was a first, it was fun, for the praises to fall and drown her, heart emojis, gifts, virtual hugs and kisses. Her Stage. On this one she was a Goddess, the one and only, the Truth in a world of lies for them all : these men, her fans, her followers. They adore her. And as time goes, she adores the adoration they cover her in. A sound sings from the desk, at the other side of the room : a notification. Raising from her sheets, Mara sits down and eyes the screen. Crawling on the top of the bed she leans in line a cat to check on who is requesting her : T-Leo. A regular who talks to her every night. Besides her fame, Mara does not accept all requests. To begin with, she was not supposed to accept any, it wasn't necessary for the investigation now, was it? Some are of bad taste, others that make her uncomfortable but him? She always opens their conversation. There is something enslaving, on their side and on hers : the enslavement of being seen. Sitting down the leather chair, there's a corner smile on her rosy lips reading his words. He had a bad day and he wanted to see her to make it better. She had a bad day too - a day of fighting for her transfer to the homicide unit, a day of facing her hierarchy choosing someone else over her, a day of coming back to an empty home alone, a day of her phone never ringing for real life company. All these men, praising her, wanting her, dreaming of her were alone, lonely Oh so Lonely. Poor poor little human dogs wimping for a piece of Mask Girl. Wasn't she just equally... Lonely? There is something soothing to her, in realizing that despite wearing masks, despite hiding behind aliases in online spheres, true colors of a soul, theirs and hers, can only show here. Her thin fingers wrapped around her mask, she places it delicately on her eyes.

[ Mask Girl ] I am always online for you, Mon Roi.

He is nice, she thinks. Mara is surprised of how respectful of her privacy he is, never insisting for her to take the mask off, never insisting for her to take of her clothes off. The call is launched and she waits for him to answer. He is handsome too, Mara believes. Foreigners and older men always have that little spice to them - it's the way he pronounces the words with a french accent tainted english, it's sophisticated. Lonely - he is too, but what it is that Mara likes it even more when they're isolated like that? Perhaps it's the eyes, the more alone they are, the grander they worship the Mask. I'ts dangerous to enjoy performing that much, and she does : when she places her elbow down the desk, her chin in the palm of her hand, a smile on her delicious lips. She knows he desires her. She wants him to. The mask she wears when the calls are private is a little smaller, only covering her eyes, revealing her mouth for him to follow the words on them. "Bonsoir, Mon Prince." Her voice is suave and slow. Her french is not the best but they have their effect on him, she knows that. "I can tell you had a bad day. You usually come and find me a little earlier than that, didn't you miss me?" The question is a little bit of an act, the pout on, before letting out a discreet, charming laugh indicating she's just teasing him. "Mmm. Wait, what is it I see you're eating? This microwave stuff... they're never good are they? I would have cooked something for you instead, for us to share." She then adds with her thin smile never disappearing, on a calm; soothing voice. "I had a bad day too, Mon Ami, so I'm happy to see you. The world outside of our bubble is Oh so cruel, isn't it? You can tell me about all the horrible things it did to you and then, I will make put a smile back on those lips of yours with a little surprise, how about that?"

[writeforfandoms]

Hi lovely 😘 for fall asks

Pumpkin Spice - favorite seasonal drink?

Syrup - waffles or pancakes?

Scary - what's your favorite scary movie?

Trains - if you could spend the fall anywhere, where would you go?

Warmth - bonfires or indoor fires?

Hi Ari my dear!! Thank you for sending this in! ❤️🧡💛

Pumpkin spice: SALTED CARAMEL. I will take a salted caramel mocha over literally anything. Ever.

Syrup: hmmmm. I honestly have no preference. I like them equally. Unhelpful but true.

Trains: Vermont. I went in the summer once years ago and it was gorgeous. I can't even imagine how pretty it'll be when the trees turn colors and everything is shades of gold, orange, red... Wistful sigh. One day maybe.

Warmth: indoors! Because I am a wimp from SoCal 😉 also I don't mind cleaning out the fire place. And you can still do s'mores in the fireplace.

EDIT: Adira pointed out that I missed a question.

Scary: Event Horizon. It's sci fi. It's horrifying. It's super scary. It's got Sam Neill, who I adore. The first time I saw it, I was like 12 or 13. My brother rented the movie while the parents were out to dinner. I was so scared I ran upstairs and shut myself in my room for the rest of the night. ❤️

Autumn asks!

[powermetalhag]

Digging Deeper

 @alienfuckeronmain​ tagged me in this massive tag meme (Thank you!! I love doing these things). If I tag you, feel free to ignore this if you don’t feel up to doing it/reading it. If you aren’t tagged and want to be, feel free to just say I tagged you ❤

I tag: @flowerkitten @meemimajima @darlingdear @wizards1977 @violet-tea @lickthatbattery @lusamine @misfit-on-a-journey @lampshroomomg @cyrsed @wooden-duck @wildbayou @curse-you @ghostly-rowlf​ @icedchailatte​ @oni-lover​

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? black

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? City

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? I’d love to be able to sing and metal-scream really well. I’m trying to learn but I practice pretty inconsistently and it’s an uphill battle bc I don’t have much natural aptitude for it. Also it would be really cool to be a contortionist. 

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? I don’t drink coffee. Sometimes I sweeten tea, sometimes I don’t.

5. What was your favourite book as a child? I didn’t like reading books much as a child. When it came to reading novels, my reading comprehension was pretty below average (I think I posted about this ages ago, but when I tried to read Harry potter when I was 7 I couldn’t follow it at all. I somehow thought that Harry and Hagrid were the same character and that Hagrid was just the name for Harry’s Wizard self. My concentration just wasn’t there). I read a lot of manga though. I think my favourites were fushigi yuugi, saint tail, and miracle girls.

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? showers.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would it be? Hobbit

8. Paper or electronic books? I prefer paper books, but I mostly use electronic ones.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing? my cloud-print long sleeved mesh shirt

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I used to want to change it, I don’t anymore. 

11. Who is a mentor to you? I don’t think I have one

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? I like the idea of creative projects of mine becoming a little bit known, but I’d never want to be famous.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? Not really

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? I’m probably less romantic than the average person, but in the right situation I can be.

15. Which element best represents you? I associate myself with fire (bc I'm a leo) but in some ways water or air might better represent me. Idk.

16. Who do you want to be closer to? Honestly? Pretty much all of my friends. My life is complicated and the severity of my ocd makes me keep everyone at a distance more than I’d like to.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? Everyone who I haven’t seen since quarantine started.

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. As young kids my sister and I hated Tracey Sketchit from pokemon so passionately that we would draw his face on the bottom of our feet before going to jump on the trampoline so that we could feel like we were jumping on him

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? When we were little my sister and I would sometimes eat raw dried spaghetti dipped in vegemite when there was no other easy snacks in the house. We called them cardboard sticks. (The food situation in my house wasn’t dire or anything, we were just too lazy to make a sandwich or something lol)

20. What are you most thankful for? I am thankful for the people I have in my life and for the amount of stability i’ve been able to have in my life in recent times.

21. Do you like spicy food? I do, but if I eat it often enough to increase my tolerance to it I get bad reflux. So I remain a spice wimp who can only have mild.

22. Have you ever met someone famous? Zakk Wylde, Chris Lilley, and some guy who was on Blue Heelers. Also I spoke to Tracy Grimshaw on the phone once. Meeting Zakk Wylde was funny because I was REALLY weird and embarrassing.

(Long story ahead, feel free to skip) Basically, my friend and I were 16 and wandering through the city high on acid. We saw Zakk standing near Hungry Jacks and became completely captivated by him. We had no idea he was some big famous rockstar, we thought he was just some random guy. I cannot convey to you how intense his presence felt at that time. It was like he was everything that is and ever will be metal but congealed into a human being and magnified by 2000x. (in case you don’t know him, he looks like this)

We were so high that we were very in our own world and felt like we were the only ones who really existed and that everything else was just kinda there for us to observe. So we started following him and discussing him as if he couldn’t hear every word we were saying. 

I remember us being like “He’s the most metal thing i’ve seen in my life” “He’s like Neptune, king of the sea, but a brutal version” “He’s the raw original concept that all other metalheads were disseminated from. He’s the true, the original.” It made sense at the time that he could be the origin point of metal and the first ever metalhead because time and space felt like it existed in a looser way than usual. We were really fixated on the idea that metal was invented through his very existence as a direct expression of self, then people copied him, then people copied those people and so on. The further they got from the source (Zakk) the more diluted the essence became. That’s why being around normal metalheads wasn’t as viscerally overwhelming as being in the presence of the raw undiluted concept. We concluded that no metalheads were actually expressing themselves through their subcultural identity. Unknowingly, they’re just expressing him. And we were saying all of this while walking maybe a metre and a half behind him while he ignored us.

Eventually some of the people he was with noticed we were following him and started talking to us (they may have been members of Black label society or they may have just been friends of his, idk). They were friendly and said that they used to do acid when they were younger too and invited us to get drunk with them. We said yes and walked with them for a little. I don’t think Zakk said a word to us the entire time. He probably found us annoying. But we kept staring at Zakk and getting overwhelmed by how intense it was just to be in his presence. Then me and my friend abruptly turned and left without saying anything because being around Zakk was getting to be too much. It was like a sensory overload. As we walked away we barely heard them yelling back to us “something something something ZAKK WYLDE!”. I was familiar with the name but I’d never known how he looked. I googled him a few days later and learned that it was indeed Zakk Wylde who we met and that he’d been in Brisbane with black label society.

And that’s the story of how I passed up the once in a lifetime opportunity to get drunk with Zakk Wylde because his vibes were off the charts.

23. Do you do you keep a diary or journal? No. Kinda wish I could, but the habit doesn’t stick.

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil?  Pencil

25. What is your star sign? Leo sun (Virgo cusp), Scorpio moon, Sagittarius rising.

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? Crunchy

27. What would you want your legacy to be? I’d like to have a positive effect on the people in my life and leave art behind that people might enjoy or relate to (I use the word art loosely, I mean any kind of creative project). I think I've become more aware recently of how important that is to me, which is why I've been so uncharacteristically dedicated to finishing my comic.

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? I like reading books but I don’t always have the attention span for it. I tend to read more non-fiction than fiction. The last book I read was Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. A really great book if you want to learn about emo history. The only downside is that it was published in 2003, before emo really took off in the mainstream. Had some insightful things to say regardless.

29. How do you show someone you love them? Idk I can’t think of a concise answer for this. I think it varies depending on who it is and what our dynamic is. When I took that love language test it said my love language was quality time.

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? I don’t like it in water. It’s fine in most other drinks.

31. What are you afraid of? I don’t think I can answer this without oversharing or getting too bleak

32. What is your favourite scent? I like tropical scents like mango and coconut

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? By their name

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? I’d buy a house with my sister and I wouldn’t have a job but I'd volunteer and do freelance creative work. I’d donate a lot more and help people out more. I’d learn lots of new skills and make lots of art. I would have an amazing wardrobe too.

A kinda sillier dream is that I'd start a cheerleading team where our routines are exclusively to metal songs. As well as entering competitions, we would also be an opening act for bands (in this dream i’m much better at cheerleading than I currently am). It would be cool ok

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean.? Ocean. I miss going to the beach so much

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? See if someone dropped it. Then idk, would depend on my financial situation at the time.

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Yes

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? I’m not going to have children. I’d like to be a good influence in my friend’s children’s lives though.

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? Probably some old-school gradient style neopets art (maybe an aisha) or 90s tamagotchi art or a cool wizard. I’d get it on my thigh. I’m very unlikely to ever get a tattoo though

40. What can you hear now? The hum of my computer. It’s old and loud and on its way out

41. Where do you feel the safest? In my bed at home with my cat Luna or hanging out w my sister

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? Once coronavirus is less of an issue (which may be in the near future where I live), I’d like to try and push myself to start dating again. I haven’t done that in a long while. The limitations that ocd causes me makes it hard for me to imagine a relationship-- even a casual one--being workable. But I ought to at least try before I decide that. Sometimes things turn out to be easier than I think they’ll be 🤷‍♀️.

43. If you could travel back to any era, what would it be? This is so hard!!

If this is purely for enjoyment and not to change the past, i’d probably just want to see all my favourite bands live while they were in their prime and like, cry the whole way through because I am so moved.

44. What is your most used emoji? :) or :/ 

45. Describe yourself using one word. I’m really bad at questions like this

46. What do you regret the most? Eh, that’s a bit personal. I feel like i’ve overshared enough in this thing.

47. Last movie you saw? Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

48. Last tv show you watched? Degrassi the next generation

49. Invent a word and it’s meaning. Idk

If you’ve read this far ty!! Here’s a little sheep for your trouble

[strawberriestyles]

The Christmas Series: Part 2

Harry X Reader: Fluff (and angst?)

In which you try to find Harry’s merry.

Read previous parts here.

Request? Yes:

buying a Christmas tree with harry and a spider crawls out it while he is putting an ornament on and he screams his ass off

I have a Christmas idea that might be silly but…..your first tree with Harry! You insist on starting small, just a little runt of a tree with some of your old ornaments from your childhood and some of his from his own childhood but then also going shopping to pick out new ornaments to showcase your time together like a little pair of skates for the time he took you to the rink, a coffee mug for all the late nights spent talking all night, etc. it just makes me melt 😍😍 also I love the icon 😊

“It has to go in front of the window, Harry,” you argue, placing your hands on your hips. “I’m not settling.”

“Didn’ go in front of the window last year,” he mutters, sighing deeply. “Don’t know why we can’ just put it in the same spot.”

“Please, stop moaning about it. I thought you’d jump at the chance to show me how strong and muscley you are.”

“Am strong and muscley, aren’t I?” Harry asks, finally rising from his chair to help you move the sofa. It’s only taken a solid half hour of bothering him.

Patiently, you squat to grip one side of the couch, waiting for Harry to lift his own side. Once it’s hoisted into the air, however, Harry’s mind seems to wander.

“H, you need to move it my way. It’s going over by the door, not in the corner.”

“Why? Don’t yeh think—”

“Harry,” you interrupt, tilting your head. Your patience has begun to wear thin. “Baby, please cooperate.”

“Fine,” he mumbles, following you to reposition the couch where you’d like it.

You love your boyfriend. You love him more than you’ve ever loved anyone else, but he can be a pain. Right now, for example, when he’s been home for a little over a week, there have been at least three times that you’ve considered booking him another entire tour, just to get him out of your hair. You understand his exhaustion. Really, you do, but he can’t expect you not to be excited for the holidays, and he certainly can’t expect you to do all the preparations yourself.

“Right here is fine,” you tell him, but his mind has wandered again, and he continues walking. “Harry! Harry, I said here is fine!” you shout, stumbling backward with the pressure he puts on the sofa.

“Oh, sorry,” he apologizes, setting the couch down at his feet. You lower your own end and huff indignantly, glancing at the bare area by the window. It’s perfect.

“It’s fine. Just grab the keys,” you tell him, heading off to slip into your coat.

***

“Fuckin’ frigid out here,” Harry complains, zipping his coat up further so that it covers his mouth.

“Yes, I know,” you inform him, pulling your hood up to shield your ears from the cold. “We’re in the same place.”

“All righ’, well yeh don’ have to be so bloody snarky about it,” he mutters as you begin to walk away from him.

“Me, the snarky one,” you whisper under your breath, trekking through a foot of snow and away from the car. Wind blows up mists of white and presses against your front, making your path that much harder.

“Y/N, will yeh slow down, please?” you hear Harry call after you, his voice muffled by the material of his coat and by the whistling of the breeze.

“Move your little ass,” you yell back at him.

Harry trots to catch up to you, nearly tripping in the thick snow. He always was clumsy. He’s still muttering under his breath when he reaches you.

“What was that?” you ask, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Certainly you’re not trash-talking your loving girlfriend, who’s trying to have a nice day of tree shopping with her ‘treat people with kindness’ boyfriend. Right?”

Harry goes silent, a deep frown etching itself onto his face. All you can see is the pouty crinkle of his eyes beneath the hood of his coat. “O’ course not,” he mumbles.

“You would never do that.”

Harry doesn’t say another word as the owner of the tree farm welcomes the two of you from inside a cozy wooden shack. Harry takes a saw and knee pad from the sweet old man with merely a nod of thanks. You roll your eyes at his lack of speech.

“C’mon,” you urge with a sigh, gripping his arm and dragging him through the snow to the many lines of trees. He trudged along beside you, swinging the saw back and forth, and suddenly you’re not so thrilled about him wielding the tool.

“Let’s get this one,” he says, stopping at the first tree the two of you pass. Your eyes turn to scan the spruce he gestures to and you can’t help but let out a scoff.

“Harry, you’ve got to be kidding.”

The miserable tree in front of you is missing entire patches of branches. Pine needles litter the snow around its base. The top of it curves off to the side, making the entire plant appear lopsided.

“Wha’? ‘S got character, yeah? Innit that what yeh’re always on about?”

“There’s a difference between character and just plain ugly, baby. I’m pretty sure this tree is dying.”

“Okay, fine. How long are yeh gonna make me walk around, though?”

“Until we find a good tree, Harry. For fuck’s sake.” You roll your eyes and let go of his arm, tromping ahead again.

“Tha’ gonna take long?” he yells after you. “The air’s hurtin’ m’face!” “Fucking wimp,” you mutter.

Harry follows you in silence for another few minutes as you scan trees. Finally, you find one that would look perfect where you picture it. You stop to test it’s branches and they’re quite strong.

“I don’ like it,” Harry says when he stops beside you.

“And why’s that, Harry?” you ask as you take a quick tour around the tree. “‘S too perfect. ‘S got no character.”

You turn to look at him and his eyes are serious. His hands are stuffed in his pockets, saw and knee pad clasped between his arm and torso. His face is buried in the front of his coat and his eyes are watering from the cold. 

“I suppose you’re right,” you say with a nod.

“Now this one,” Harry says, gesturing to the tree beside the one you’ve been looking at. “This one could work.”

You turn and laugh loudly. “Harry, it’s huge!”

“Yeah, it’ll look grand, don’ yeh think?”

“Maybe if we cut a hole in the ceiling. It’s too big, baby.”

“C’mon, love, we could squeeze her in.”

“We could absolutely not. We’d have to cut four feet off the top.”

“Then let’s do that!” His eyes are hopeful, but he’s being ridiculous.

“Harry,” you chide with another laugh, “it would look very stupid with half of it cut off. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He sighs and continues walking on, thoroughly disheartened. You kick up snow in your wake as you race to catch up to him and cling onto his free arm. He barely acknowledges your presence as he trudged along. You almost lose your balance when he stops suddenly, squeezing his arm to keep yourself upright.

“What is it?” you ask, turning to find him with his eyes locked on a tree.

“This one,” he whispers. You can barely hear him over the whistling wind. “This is it.”

You scan the tree and raise your eyebrows. It certainly has character. The trunk has a slight bend to it and there are a few bare patches. You move forward to test it’s branches.

“It’s sturdy enough,” you say, biting your lip. “Are you sure this is it?”

“‘S the one,” Harry confirms with a nod.

“Okay, then.” You reach for the knee pad and toss it to the base of the tree. “Get working Mr. Lumberjack.”

***

“Harry,” you breathe with a gasp. “Harry, pull over.”

“What?” He peers out your window and furrows his eyebrows. “Righ’ here? This grubby li’l place?”

“Harry, pull over!” you shout.

“All righ’, all righ’!” he yells back. “Christ.”

The two of you whip into the parking lot of a small trinket shop. You hang on tightly to the door handle.

“Thank you,” you say sweetly as he puts the car into park. You lean over the console to press a hard kiss to his cheek.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, getting out of the car.

You unbuckle your seatbelt and step out into the lot, closing the door carefully behind you. Your tree is strapped haphazardly to the top of the car.

Harry strolls ahead of you into the shop, not even bothering to hold the door open for you. You push inside to find him across the store already, filling up a cup with free, steaming hot chocolate. He brings the styrofoam container to his lips and yelps.

“Every fuckin’ time!” he nearly shouts. Everyone in the store turns to stare at him and you find yourself chuckling at his unfortunate luck.

“Maybe you should be more patient,” you tell him as you approach. “Let it cool down first.”

“‘M not a patient person,” he mutters.

“I’ve noticed.”

The store smells like spices and Christmas. Most of the shoppers are little old ladies. The room is split up into small cubicle-like spaces, each holding different types of trinkets.

“C’mon, grump,” you beckon, leading the way toward a stall packed full of ornaments.

“We need more ornaments?” he asks as he enters behind you.

“We’re missing some special ones,” you answer, reaching for a guitar-shaped ornament that resembles his own instrument. The one that Mitch gifted him.

“Woah,” he whispers, taking the decoration from your outstretched fingers. “‘S just like mine.”

“Mhmm,” you hum.

The two of you skim displays of ornaments. Harry doesn’t pick any up, but watches as you collect a few. A pair of skates, a miniature mug of hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows, a snowy tree to place on your own tree, and a fake frosted cookie.

“I get it,” he says, nodding. He takes a sip of his hot chocolate, which is now cool enough for him to drink comfortably. “‘S all stuff tha’ we’ve done. But what about the cookie?”

You turn to grin at him. “That’s still to come.” Then you lead him to check out.

***

Harry showers when you get home, despite your protests and reminders that baking is not a clean process.

“Was cold outside, but I was sweatin’ the whole way home in tha’ thick coat,” is his complaint. “Feel gross.”

Now, his hair is damp and he smells like soap and cologne. True to your words, his clean gray shirt is now coated in flour as he rolls out another batch of cookie dough.

“How come I have t’roll again?” he asks.

“Because you made me mix the dough all by myself,” you remind him. “That’s hard work.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters. “Don’ even want any cookies.”

“You will eat them and you will like them,” you command. All he does is roll his eyes. “That’s thin enough.”

Harry sets down the rolling pin and picks up a cookie cutter. He cuts out a snowman and flops it carelessly onto a cookie tray. You get the feeling that he’s not enjoying himself as much as you hoped.

“Let’s take a break from cutting,” you suggest, moving toward the oven as the timer goes off. You pull out the most recent tray of baked cookies and set it on top of the stove. Cooling racks along the counter are overflowing with cookies. Your hands ghost over the pastries and find that they’ve cooled sufficiently.

“Wha’re we doin’, then?” Harry asks, itching at his jaw with the back of his hand.

“Let’s frost some.” You move a cooling rack to place in front of him and reach for the bowls of different colored icing that you prepared while Harry was in the shower.

Your boyfriend doesn’t say anything as he picks up the knife from a bowl of blue frosting and smears it over a snowflake cookie. You cover your own sled-shaped cookie with pink icing.

“Are you not enjoying this?” you ask after another few minutes of frosting.

Harry sighs, setting down a green tree. “‘Ve told yeh, love. ‘M just—”

“Tired, yeah,” you interrupt. “I know. It’s exhausting for me that I have to be excited enough for the both of us, though.”

“‘M not tryin’ t’be unexcited.”

You hum and set your most recent cookie down, reaching out to swipe a glob of frosting onto his cheek. Harry clenches his jaw and sets his own cookie down.

“I just washed m’face,” he whines.

“It’s frosting, Harry. I can lick it off, if you’d like.”

Your tongue finds his cheek before he has time to protest. He groans and tries to pull away, but your hand finds the other side of his face, trapping him.

“Tha’s bloody gross,” he complains. You can feel his face cringing beneath your mouth as you lick away any remainders of icing.

“You’re such a grouch.” You pull away and he wipes at his wet cheek with the back of his hand.

“You weren’t just slobbered on,” he retorts.

“Why is it only gross when my spit is on your face, huh?”

“Dunno what yeh’re on about.”

“Sure.” Your lips find the crook of his neck. True to your words, he doesn’t pull away, even as your tongue peeks out to swipe at his skin. Instead, he hums, a deep, throaty sound that makes your throat constrict. You leave a trail of soft pecks up to the line of his jaw. Harry wraps his arms around you and tilts his head to press a long kiss to your lips

“I love you,” you whisper against his mouth. “Even when you’re miserable.”

“Mmm,” he hums in response. “Love yeh too. Even when yeh’re a nag.”

***

“Can’ see a fuckin’ thing,” Harry complains from behind the tree.

“Just keep walking straight,” you direct.

The tree has been out in the garage all afternoon, allowing the snow to melt. Now, it’s time to get it inside and in front of the window. Harry isn’t thrilled about the extra task, though.

“Okay, you’re almost there.” You guide Harry out of the hallway and into the living room. “About three steps to the left.” He follows your directions until the tree is in place, and then he steps back.

“Looks nice,” he comments.

“Was that something positive?” you ask, feigning shock.

“Ha ha.” Harry rolls his eyes as you reach into the box beside you and pull out a string of white lights.

“Get to work, Father Christmas.”

Harry sighs loudly and takes the lights from you. While you busy yourself by kneeling down to sort through a box of ornaments, Harry plugs in the string and begins to wrap it through the branches of your crooked tree. You find some of Harry’s childhood ornaments, and can’t help the grin the finds its way onto your lips. A picture of four-year-old Harry, wrapped up in Anne’s arms and cheesing for the camera, framed with ceramic candy canes.

“Jesus Christ, bloody fuckin’ hell!”

You spin around, dropping another ornament onto the carpet as your heart hammers in your chest.

“What?” you shout. Harry is dancing around the tree, still shouting and waving his arms around wildly. He looks like an amateur interpretive dancer, floundering his way through a heavy metal song.

“A bloody spider jumped out o’ the sodding tree!” he yells, throwing the lights onto the floor and running his hands up and down his arms. “Dunno if it’s still on me. Make sure it’s not on me!”

“Okay, okay,” you say calmly, struggling to stifle your laughter. You push yourself onto your feet and press your hands to Harry’s back, running them down the length of his shirt.

“‘S not fuckin’ funny, Y/N!” he snaps, running his fingers compulsively through his hair.

“I know,” you whisper, walking around to stand in front of him and scanning his clothes. “I don’t see it.”

“Great,” he mutters. “Now it’s in the house. Bastard’s gonna sneak up on me again.”

“I’ll protect you,” you assure him.

“With what? A bloody flamethrower? That thing was ginormous!”

You pick up the string of lights and hand them back to him, grabbing a cookie from the platter on the coffee table and stuffing it into his open mouth. “Stop complaining, okay? Let’s just finish decorating the tree and then I won’t ask you to do anything else.”

Harry grumbles something inaudible through his mouthful of cookie as you press a kiss to his cheek. He continues to string the lights while you go back to your box of ornaments. You see a small movement to your right and look to find a tiny spider crawling slowly along the edge of the box. Harry always has been overdramatic.

“How big was it?” you ask.

“Big-ass spider,” Harry answers. He continues around the tree and you roll your eyes.

With another glance at the little arachnid beside you, you nod. “I’m sure it was.”

Part 3: Christmas Snow and Mistletoe

[snowball-with-knives]

Mel’s/Anthy’s Deviled Egg Macaroni salad.

(( NOTE: This is not a healthy food. It is 100% a comfort food to go with sinfully delicious bbq. 

This is not a vegan food. You do need eggs. You do need mayo (which can be subbed with vegan friendly mayo--but as far as I know to get the true taste of boiled eggs (? correct me if I am wrong?) you need...boiled eggs.) 

I DO NOT measure with cups and tablespoons like normal people. I cook like my nana (grandma) taught me. By eyes and by actual tasting as you go. 

Because

@malumcanis and

@duxbellatorum liked. Here’s my Deviled egg macaroni salad recipe. 

What you need: 

Six hard boiled eggs

1 box/package of elbow macaroni. Size: your preference. I like the largest macaroni size. 

Smoked Paprika

Salt

Pepper

Frank’s red hot sauce

Mayonnaise of choice 

Dill relish (or, tediously chop your favorite dill pickles into tainy chunks. Your choice.)

White vinegar

DIJON mustard. NOT normal mustard. DIJON. You can go fancy stone ground dijon (that has more whole mustard seed in it) or whatever. Just make sure it is Dijon--because dijon has a particular, tastier taste than normal yellow mustard. 

HOW TO: 

Boil six eggs. Set aside or quick cool in bath of ice and water. 

Boil 1 box of pasta macaroni until al dente OR soft as your preference. 

When macaroni is cooked to preference, strain and give a quick rinse under cool water to stop it from cooking further. Let drain in colander at least 5 mins. 

In your favorite huge ass bowl, place: 

2 to 2 and 1/2 cups of preferred mayonnaise

1/2 cup dill relish of chopped dill pickles

2 tblspoons (or, as I call it, a splash) of white vinegar. 

Salt (to taste preference.)

Pepper (to taste preference) 

At LEAST 3 tablespoons Franks red hot sauce. (SPECIAL NOTE: I am a spicey-hot wimp. Frank’s red hot sauce is a lie. Mixed with everything else in this recipe you can be very heavy handed and generous with this “hot sauce” and not have it come out spicy at all. Frank’s, to me, again, a spicey wimp, is more an extra flavor boost and tanginess than spice. So don’t be afraid to eyeball / add more as you stir and taste.) 

3-8 tablespoons of DIJON mustard. (Ok, here’s the deal. As I said, I do not measure. I eyeball it. Then mix it. Then taste it. And then if it needs more, I add it. All I know is that I added a generous (but not more than 1/3 cup of) stone ground dijon. So, to be safe, add SMALL amounts, and work up to more according to what YOU like. 

Smoked paprika (2 tablespoons. Again. If you stir this shit up and want more, add more. Always err on adding too little though. You can always add more. You can’t really REMOVE more easily. 

Stir. 

TASTE to see what it needs more of. 

If all goes well, and nobody dies, mash your six boiled eggs in a bowl with a fork. Dump in your salad with all your other shit and STIR. 

Set in fridge for at LEAST 3 hours. For BEST FLAVOR, let sit for at least 8. 

Eat the shit out of your delicious salad.  Also, I am being told by a very dorky husband I have to get ready for bed now. :( GOOD NIGHT.))

[captaingondor]

tag type thing

Tagged by @aceofstars16​!

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke! As far as I am concerned, it’s just objectively better.

2. Disney or DreamWorks: I’d say I lean more towards Disney. I love me some musicals and princesses

3. Coffee or Tea: Tea 100%. I love tea. I don’t drink coffee at all. If the tea can be mate, that’s the absolute best

4. Books or movies: Books are my true love

5. Windows or Mac: Windows

6. DC or Marvel: Make mine Marvel!

7. Xbox or PlayStation: I’m awful at videogames and have never personally owned any, much less a console, so... if I do play games it’s OC

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I’m playing through Dragon Age right now (Re: earlier statement that I am bad at video games, my husband is playing the combat parts... I’m just here fore the cool choices and character interaction.) But I can’t really compare since I have not played Mass Effect at all, though I intend to

9. Night owl or early riser: night owl. What’s a morning?

10. Cards or chess: Like, I know the rules of chess, but not how to make them work to my advantage. Cards

11. Chocolate or vanilla:  If the question is chocolate, the answer is always yes.

12. Vans or Converse: Converse, for sure.

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: I’m 90% sure this is something for one of the later Dragon Age games but I’m still on Origins so

14. Fluff or angst: Fluff!

15. Beach or forest:  Forest. Love em

16. Dogs or cats: I love them almost equally... but not quite. Dogs win.

17. Clear skies or rain: Oh I like some variety but you can’t beat a nice clear day

18. Cooking or eating out: My personal cooking skills are kind of basic, but I also don’t like eating out like, over frequently? so

19. Spicy or mild food: Spices taste good, but I am a total wimp with spicy food, so mild

20. Halloween/Samhain or solictice/yule/Christmas: CHRISTMAS. though you aren’t allowed to celebrate it til after Thanksgiving

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: ‘forever a little too cold’ is honestly my life... I’m fine with it

22. If you could have superpower, what would it be: I know it’s basic but man, I just wanna fly

23. Animation or live action: Yes

24. Paragon or Renegade: This is a Mass Effect thing right? I’ll tell you once I’ve played it

25. Bath or shower: Shower... who has time for that

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Team Cap, forever and always, my heart and soul. *chanting in the distance* Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap!

27. Fantasy or sci-fi: i love me both of them, but fantasy is my deepest love. And really, my favorite ‘sci fi’ tends more towards fantasy

28. Do you have 3 or 4 favourite quotes, if so, what are they:

So I’m in my LotR reread... and I just keep thinking ogf LotR quotes so here you go, y’all

“Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself, and nameless?” -Tom Bombadil, ‘In the House of Tom Bombadil,’ The Fellowship of the Ring

“Eomer said, 'How is a man to judge what to do in such times?''As he has ever judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and evil have not changed since yesteryear, nor are they one thing among Elves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.”- 'The Riders of Rohan,’The Two Towers

“All words are magic words.” - me, in my main story, I’m just throwing this in here because I can

Bible verses are sort of a different category than quotes? But imma give one anyway

‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’ - 2 Corinthians 12:9

29. YouTube or Netflix: Netflix is the joy of my life tbh

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson:I feel like I gotta say HP cause I engage in it almost daily through RP

31. When you feel accomplished: When I write stuff, always. 

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Wars is in my blood, yo. I love Star Wars. I love it so much

33. Paperback books or hardcover books: I really like hardcover with nice dust jackets that I can use the flaps for bookmarks.

34. Fantastic Beasts or Cursed Child: Gotta say Fantastic Beasts, though Scorpius is honestly the greatest. 

35. Rock or pop music: Pop

36. What is the most important thing in your life: Jesus *doesn’t change the answer and nods in agreement* <yup. Though if you’re talking earthly thing... Neil <3 

37. Mountains or sea/ocean: Mountains?

38. Name a couple songs you’ve been really into recently:

- ‘Rivers and Roads’  by the Head and the Heart

-The entire Moana soundtrack but ‘I am Moana’ is my heart

[beat-weightlosstips]

Healing Adrenal Tonic ~ My Version of the “Singing Canary”

Healing Adrenal Tonic ~ My Version of the “Singing Canary”

Have you heard of the Singing Canary?

No?  Well, it’s not a bird&#8211you’ll see what I indicate.

Numerous of you know that I have battled adrenal fatigue for a lot of years. And with our stressed-out and hurried lifestyles, the adrenals of a lot of are on the fritz.

I’m undertaking worlds better now than years in the past, but I still want to do a lot more and carry on to assistance my entire body utilizing diverse implies.  I will be sharing a lot more what I am doing in the potential, but nowadays I want to share something that has been a blessing to me &#8212 an Adrenal Fatigue Tonic, which is my edition of Trim Healthful Mama’s Singing Canary.

I heard about this drink a long time ago, but by no means tried it.  Finally, when I did try out it, I felt that it was exacerbating or creating insomnia. I tried it again and thought that it took place once again.

I don’t give up easily, nevertheless :).  So I ended up reintroducing it into my diet program and the insomnia did not recur.  So some thing else need to have been going on.

I enjoy possessing this as an alternative to water, and genuinely am satisfied being aware of about all of the healthful components that I am putting into my diet program every time I drink it.

This week, in particular, I have had added tension that you can go through about on Instagram.  Let’s just say I’m a tiny &#8220laid up&#8221.  Not enjoyable :(.

The &#8220Singing Canary&#8221

The unique recipe comes from the gals behind Trim Wholesome Mama. It really is an eating prepare that is taking the globe by storm.  I will not adhere to all factors of it, but there is some genuinely sound science behind it and the benefits of this prepare are generally phenomenal in the way of fat loss and an general improvement of health.  If we could all consume healthier, just believe of the affect on so several things&#8230our wellness, our families, our nation&#8230.our planet.

The original Singing Canary was good, but I felt that it necessary some far more &#8220something&#8221 to counter the turmeric taste for me&#8211call me a wimp, which is Ok by me :). So I monkeyed about with some spices and located a combination that performs nicely and adds some added well being benefits to boot.

Plus, the unique recipe called for the addition of lemon vital oil as an optional add-on. I’m not comfortable with internal use of vital oils with out consulting with a practitioner or aromatherapist.   Nonetheless, if you truly do wish to add the lemon essential oil to your drink, and have consulted with someone appropriately, you may.

I consulted with an aromatherapist about this situation and she advisable only making use of 1-2 drops of essential oils a drink of this dimension with the coconut oil amount in the drink. The coconut oil acts as essential oil emulsifier but you even now do require to be cautious with the sum that you use.

I call this drink an Adrenal Fatigue Tonic, but there are so several great things in it for absolutely everyone.

Adrenal Fatigue

A quick note about adrenal fatigue.  Some people say it really is a true situation and others say it isn’t.  You can take this Adrenal Fatigue Test to see if you might have this situation.

Regardless of what you feel about the condition, it truly is a truth that we are above-worked and over-stressed.  We are pushing ourselves to the restrict and our bodies are taxed with too several harmful toxins.

Bottom Line&#8211our bodies require assist.

So whether you feel you have a diagnosable issue or not, do by yourself a favor and help your entire body with this tonic.

Positive aspects of Components in the &#8220Singing Canary&#8221

Water

This is, of course a simple thing we need to be consuming anyhow, but it’s important.  Just please make certain that your water is purified.  I have used loads of water filtration methods more than the many years.  You can see the info in this post on water filtration and see what I am utilizing now.

Lemons

Lemons include vitamin C, citric acid, flavonoids, copper, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, fiber.  They also have potassium&#8211more than apples or grapes.  Potassium is known to be beneficial for your heart.

Lemons also help your entire body stay more alkaline. Read through about lemons and adrenal health in this submit on foods for adrenal fatigue.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a single of the main vitamins hosted by the adrenals.  It’s a huge support for these glands.

Note that I reference sodium ascorbate in my recipe. The explanation for that is that there have been reported considerations regarding the ingestion of ascorbic acid.  Additionally, sodium ascorbate is not acidic so you will not be endangering your tooth enamel with this portion of the drink.  See my DIY Swim Spray for far more information on the difference.

Turmeric

Turmeric has so numerous overall health positive aspects that it truly is hard to know exactly where to start. A single critical way that turmeric aids with adrenal health, nonetheless, is by assisting the body detox.  Toxins are a tension on the body and any time that you can eliminate stressors from the physique, you help your adrenals.

Turmeric reduces histamine amounts which reduce anxiety on the entire body. (supply)

Salt

A genuine unprocessed salt is made up of minerals which are acknowledged to be depleted in those with adrenal concerns.  Salt is also mentioned in this submit on food items for adrenal fatigue.

Ginger

Ginger has anti-inflammatory results that, as mentioned over, will help the adrenals by minimizing the tension load on the entire body.  (supply)

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is recognized for its ability to increase the immune system, detox the body, and a lot more. (source)

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a properly-identified anti-inflammatory.  (source)  There have been many studies on it showing it truly is influences on the entire body such as to reverse stressors and regulating hormones. (source)

Cloves

Cloves have also been shown to be beneficial in mitigating stress on the entire body. (source)  If you like, feel totally free to add much more to this recipe primarily based on this details :)!

Vanilla

Vanilla, even though it is mostly recognized for the wonderful taste that it adds to baked goods, has well being positive aspects of its own, which includes anti-inflammatory properties. (supply)

Protein Powder

Protein is vital for adrenal well being.  In this submit on meals for adrenal fatigue, animal protein is mentioned due to the B nutritional vitamins that it involves. However, protein is critical no matter exactly where it comes from.  If you can tolerate it, you can use whey or egg protein powder in this tonic.

I personally really like Miessence’s vegan protein powder since it truly is allergen-totally free and the amino acids are perfectly balanced in it to mimic the amino acid profile of animal protein.  Just 1 25 gram serving provides practically 2/3 of the everyday Essential Amino Acid requirement for a standard grownup.  It’s expensive but I discover this solution to be superior to anything on the market and anyone can get special discounts just by becoming a buyer.

If employing one more vegan protein powder, I extremely suggest utilizing an organically sourced powder. The cause is that several of the substances in vegan protein powders are crops that several pesticides are employed on.

Coconut Oil

Fats are crucial for adrenal well being.

A lot of men and women (like me) have prevented fats in the hope of losing fat. However, your entire body wants fats for your endocrine system to work well.  So including even just a modest quantity of excess fat to this drink is a plus.

You never want to drink this drink all at when (not that you could) simply because your physique can only soak up so considerably vitamin C at once.

Make this tonic in the morning and sip on it all day extended.

  four. from 1 testimonials

Adrenal Fatigue Tonic ~ My Model of “Singing Canary”

&nbsp

Writer:

Adrienne

Recipe kind: Beverage, DIY Foods

Cuisine: Gluten-Totally free, Dairy-Totally free, Sugar-Cost-free, Grain-Cost-free, Lower-Carb, Vegan, Paleo

Serves: 1 huge serving

Print

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Ingredients

-1-2 lemons, peeled

– 1½ cups filtered water, plus a lot more for the jar (see How to Make Your Water Safe)

– ½ to one teaspoon ground turmeric

– one teaspoon MCT oil, or ½ teaspoon additional-virgin coconut oil

– one teaspoon protein powder or collagen

&frac12 tsp vanilla extract (see how to make Alcohol-free Vanilla)

– two generous pinches salt (I use Real Salt)

– &frac12 tsp cinnamon

-1/four tsp ginger powder

-one/four tsp ground nutmeg

-pinch clove

– &frac14 tsp stevia extract (see How to Use Stevia). Use an on prepare sweetener for AIP.

– two,000 mg vitamin C powder (optional. I use this brand but this is a whole food brand I am considering)

– one-2 drops lemon vital oil (optional. Please see notes in post)

– Ice cubes

Guidelines

Peel the rind off the lemon(s) employing a sharp knife. Depart as considerably of the white pith as achievable as it has loads of dietary benefits. I used the complete lemon, minus the seeds, if making use of organic lemons.

Slice every lemon into quarters. Reumove the seeds, and spot the lemon pieces into your blender. Add water and all of the remaining substances in addition to the ice cubes. Mix nicely.

Area the blended mixture into a quart jar. Include ice cubes and more water to fill the jar to the leading. Put a tight lid on the jar and shake just before drinking.

Notes

You may possibly discover that the drink is nevertheless a little also “bitter” due to the turmeric. I recommend commencing with &frac12 tsp of turmeric and rising from there if wanted. Following producing the drink, if you locate it to be as well bitter, you can include more stevia and/or vanilla to taste.

three.4.3177

Get pleasure from the drink and all the well being benefits it affords.

Do you have adrenal fatigue? What have you found that assists?

The post Healing Adrenal Tonic ~ My Edition of the &#8220Singing Canary&#8221 appeared first on Entire New Mom.

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