#I have a lot of texture problems with fruit

[cupiidzbow]

I absolutely love your art don't get me wrong but do you ever worry about coming off as perpetuating racism by giving the Kongs "black" traits like textured hair and alike? I was designing a Candy Kong gijinka a few days ago and I drew her black but stepped back on that given the racist association of poc and especially black people with monkies. I didn't subconsciously just think monkey equals black person, I just thought up whatever her race was as more of an afterthought but I see how that may be a deliama for anyone wanting to draw the Kongs

I am white so I wanted to hear your take on this since idk if I'm overthinking it haha 😥

i totally see where you’re coming from anon! I think it’s a lot different for me personally cause like (gestures) yknow. i am black 😭 i was super terrified of drawing my own sona bc i was super scared of people taking it the wrong way but like. well one it’s literally me . and like it’s also such a matter of like damn…… it’s so unfair that black people literally cannot enjoy cute little monkey characters or have a sona that’s a monkey bc it’s been spun to be racist against us for so long 😭 like im far from the only who’s expressed this sentiment

like i have people calling me slurs in my inbox a lot bc of my sona / most of my sonas for series are monkey characters, i guess i make it easy for people yknow . low hanging fruit. but i genuinely just love primates and it feels so unfair how it feels like i can’t enjoy an animal with racial connotations FORCED on me. 😭 like nonblack people can have a primate fursonas but it’s only a problem went black people want to. like I wish the shadow didn’t loom over my head the way it does, even thought this is something i love 😭

like it’s a totally different ballgame when it comes to nonblack people because it doesn’t have the same implications of a black artist purposefully making a monkeysona, but the whole thing with the dk series there’s many many characters with arguable black coding in game. ( I honestly think this is a rocky bc a lot og these people who made these games are not black) but i’ve seen a lot of black people who are a fan of the DK series embrace the coding a lot yknow at least I do ? 😭

( like Funky’s Jamaican coding in game and in the show isn’t lost on me, the new kong girl in the new game being brown skinned, kaylpso. many many people love tinys redesign and both dk’s voice actors in the show were black 😭) when it comes to humanizations as a nonblack person I think it totally matters if what your intention, are you purposefully playing into stereotypes/colorism etc. but that’s something you should always be nuanced about! like I don’t think all of the kongs are black but i like to think some of them are, I don’t think it’s a bad thing if people think that way too!

it’s not that im trying to perpetuate stereotypes by seeing myself in these characters but i have to deal with people thinking the worst of it . 😭 which sucks admittedly.

LONG WINDED RANT OVER TLDR . I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making them black/ or brown skinned it’s just like. be careful . use your brain a bit before you do so 😭

[kipercrow]

Stardew Gas (Shane x Male Farmer) (M/M)

The Luau was a wonderful tradition in Pelican Town. Omar being the town’s farmer, always made sure to bring his best ingredients for the big Soup! Everyone gets to put in their own ingredients, and Omar always wanted to show the fruits of his farming. Especially since the governor would come to town just for this event. Since he began getting close to Shane, Omar had been perfecting the way he grew his chillies. It was after all one of the ways he got Shane to see him as a friend, and then eventually a partner. They’ve been dating for a year now, and Shane with the help of Omar, town doctor Harvey, and his therapist in Zuzu City, he’s been able to work on his mental health, and improve a lot! After Joja Mart closed down following the completion of the Community Center, Shane started spending more time with Omar, helping around with the animals. They loved working together. It’s why when it was their turn to add something to the Luau Soup, they both added chillies! The soup was delicious! With the approval of the governor, everyone celebrated, eating more food and joking around with each other.

Late at night, after the Luau ended, full of food Shane and Omar walked back to their shared home together. “Ughh... *gurgle*... I feel a little bloated... oof... too much Joja all-purpose dipping sauce.” Shane said, rubbing his belly. “Same here. We ate so much. Elliot’s bean casserole was phenomenal. I have to ask him for the recipe the next time I see him. You know he told me that he was working on a cookbook.” Omar said. “Oh is that so? Do tell him that chickpeas don’t work in a bean casserole. Too many different textures.” Shane said before smiling. The two of them entered their home, and removed their shoes and walked over to their bedroom to change into their pajamas. Shane put on his blue plaid pajama pants, and an old band tee for Bimar, both Shane and Omar were fans of the band and loved their song ‘Distressed Position’. Omar changed into his black pajama shorts, and a normal t-shirt that just had a cat on it. The two men sat on the couch, and turned on the TV. Even though the Luau was lively, they weren’t tired. Omar’s dog Buddy sat on his bed next to the couch, it was the same dog that Shane’s aunt Marnie found and brought to Omar. Buddy took a liking to Shane almost right away, and has been very beneficial to Shane’s mental health improving. 

Shane rubbed his belly, the food from the Luau was beginning to mix and become gas in his stomach. This wouldn’t be a problem if he was back at Marnie’s home. Shane would usually just take a walk around the barn, and walk past the forests and let out any farts he had on the way. Hell, he’d probably be letting all of his gas out in his bedroom, as long as he kept his window open Marnie wouldn’t mind. But here with Omar things were different. He hadn’t farted in front of Omar yet. Sure he assumed that his loving farmer boyfriend had farted before, he by all proof was a human, and humans fart. He couldn’t fart no matter how bad the gas pains were, he didn’t want to ruin this love. But through the corner of his eye, Shane saw Buddy, sleeping peacefully in his bed. Dogs fart, Shane could totally blame his release on Buddy, Omar has probably blamed his farts on Buddy many times before. Omar was focusing very much into the movie about a team of young adults solving a mystery, he wouldn’t notice Shane farting. 

Shane slightly shifted in his seat, and released a fart blast.

PRBPRRRRBBTTRRTTTTT

The fart was a quick rumble, Shane had hoped that it would be an SBD but oh well, better now to blame the dog. “Ha Wow Buddy that was a good one!” Omar looked at Shane smirking, unbeknownst to Shane, Omar was not buying that at all. He knew that Shane had farted, breaking the barrier in their relationship, it would have been broken weeks ago but Marnie had called the home asking if Shane could bring over some fresh eggs from the barn, before Omar could be the first to let rip. Shane looked back at Omar, and began to internally panic. “W-What? That was the dog. I swear” Shane said, trying to seem calm. Omar shook his head and looked deep into Shane’s eyes.

BRRRAAAAPPTTT

“Yes, the dog.” Omar said, smiling. Shane didn’t know what to say, Omar didn’t buy his lie, and then farted in front of him. “I-I’m sorry Omar. I didn’t mean to lie to you” he said, feeling absolutely awful. “Oh Shane, don’t apologize. You tried to blame a fart on the dog, so what? You’re not the only one feeling the effects of tonight’s Luau meal.” “I just felt embarrassed to do it, in front of you. I was afraid that you’d think that it was gross and wouldn’t want to be with me.” “Shane, I would never ever dump you, especially not over a little fart. It’s not even that gross, heck I have to clean up cow poop now that’s gross. I know it stinks, but they’re happier when they get to let that shit go. So you know it’s like us, I’m happier when you’re able to fart freely in front of me.” Shane smiled after hearing that, and kissed Omar on the cheek, it’s what he needed to hear. Shane and Omar continued to watch the movie together, feeling better now that they’ve broken the fart barrier. Almost 30 minutes later, Omar got hit with a smell of rotten eggs, he looked towards Shane. Shane with a smirk on his face looked at Omar, “What? I’m at my happiest.” Omar cracked up at that comment and he kissed Shane on the lips. “I love you, you smelly cow.” “Moo.” Omar and Shane continued to laugh together and watched the movie till its end.

After the movie ended, Omar and Shane turned off the TV and walked to their bed letting out little farts along the way, taking full advantage of their newfound comfort. They got into bed, Buddy in his bed. Shane felt really happy, he was soaking it in how he was sleeping with his boyfriend, he didn’t need to worry about Jas and Marnie, Buddy was sound asleep, and he was comfortable with Omar. He was so comfortable in fact that he didn’t think twice about releasing some of his gas.

PBRRT

It was a little fart, nothing big to write home about, but it made Shane happy to not have to hold back anymore. “Don’t blame the dog on that weak one.” Omar said cheekily. “Weak?” “Yes baby, weak. That was alright. Here, let me show you better.”

BRRrruuuRRPBRRTT

Omar released a loud fart that slid into a low rumble before coming back up in volume. “That’s how you do it.” “I see, I see. Here, I’m going to take credit for this one.”

PPPRRRBBRTTTTT

Shane let out a big fart, showing how serious he was to prove that he wasn’t weak. “Good Good. That’s better to see babe.” “You got anymore?” “Oh Shanny boy, you won’t be able to beat me. I used to out-fart my dad, and that man is why Mayor Lewis is a mayor and not the town farter.” “Town farter?” “Yeah Lewis used to fart a lot in town when he was younger. My dad beat him so bad in a contest, with a fart that some say is still going on.” “Really? I can’t believe Lewis would be so open about farting. He never seemed like the type to even burp!” Shane, now sitting up, was surprised to learn that Mayor Lewis would be so nonchalant about farting. Sure he knew that Lewis had his secrets, he thought to himself, “I mean Omar did catch Lewis kissing Marnie one night after a pretty eventful night at the Saloon. There was also the time Lewis forgot his underwear in Marnie’s room, Omar doesn’t know but I saw him bring it to Lewis. They don’t think I know but Lewis climbs in through the back window in Marnie’s room.” Omar sat up too, and began talking about the memories his dad told him about Mayor Lewis. “Yeah, when my dad lived here with my grandpa, my dad and Lewis would challenge each other in things. Lewis mainly farted when he was alone, but some days he’d fart in front of my dad to see if he’d do something. But he never thought my dad would fire back, so when one day that he did they set up a contest. My dad said it lasted for about an hour, they were firing back and forth within seconds of each other, they did it in this old home near the lake, he said that place stunk so bad! But after my dad let out a big 10 second fart, Lewis had nothing to return so my dad was declared the winner. Nowadays I notice that whenever Lewis walks by my barn he scrunches his face, like he’s letting something out. I think he uses my cows to block the farts.” Shane couldn’t believe his ears, Lewis a farter? And Omar’s dad beating Lewis, and Omar beating his dad? “Omar can’t be that impressive, if he’s using Lewis as a base.” Shane thought to himself. “Well Omar, if you’re such a pro-farter let’s see who can stink out this joint. Make Pelican Town think your cows have started to rot!” “You really want to go for it?” Shane pulled his knee to his chest and let out a 4 second bassy fart. “Yeah I’m going for it.” after saying that Shane let out 2 smaller farts back to back. “Oh! I see how it is, watch this!” Omar said before leaning slightly to the left, with his butt facing Shane and let out two bubbly farts that were 3 seconds. “Still want to go against me?” Omar said. Shane stood up and turned around and stuck out his butt, before letting out a wet 5 second fart! “And that was all air baby!” Shane said gloating. 

Omar and Shane kept their eye contact, the room falling silent until they both began to laugh and Shane fell onto the bed. “I love you honey” Shane said, kissing Omar’s cheek. “I love you too. Now if you truly want to start a contest we gotta do it by my dad’s rules.” Seeing that Shane was confused, Omar gave more information. “We pick a day, pig out on a bunch of fart inducing food, and whomever runs out first loses.” Omar punctuated his dad’s rules with a low rumble of a fart. “That sounds like fun, I mean I think we could do some damage to Pelican Town if we go full force-” Shane paused, letting out a wet note. “We should go some place far. Where no one can hear us-” Shane lifting his leg, releasing a loud bubbly fart “Where no one can smell us”. Omar smiled at Shane, letting go a short pop of a fart. “That sounds perfect, we can make the paint peel, in more ways than one.” Omar said, tracing Shane’s arm and stomach with his fingers. Omar releasing a longer bassy fart, punctuating it with tapping Shane on the tip of his nose, “Boop”. Shane smiled. Shane and Omar laid there in silence except for the bursts of gas releasing into the air, it wouldn’t be long before they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

[forestshadow-wolf]

The olive theory

Simon loves peaches, price actually won't buy more than one or two at a time though. There may have been an incident where price bought some in bulk for him, and he may or may not have eaten so many that he threw up. It was in the middle of the night, and price was awakened at 2am to ghost at the foot of his bed saying he "frew up".

BUT he absolutely hates the feel of the peach skin, it makes him feel "itchy" under his skin. So before soap he'd either have to use a pair of gloves to skin the fruit, which is messy and wasteful and impractical. Or he'd have to ask someone to do it for him, which is also impractical, plus he's not exactly keen on telling a random recruit that the big bad ghost can't handle touching a fruit. This of course meant that his choices were down to Price and Gaz, but even gaz didn't know about his dilemma, so really it was just price. And having to go find than man and bother him to peal his fruit seemed both annoying and like a lot of work so he could have a snack.

And then soap comes along and well, he wouldn't exactly say peaches are his favorite fruit, but he has no problems with its texture. For a while he wasn't aware of Ghost's touch aversion to the fruit, probably because they hadn't had peaches on base for a few months. But you could only be attached at the hip for so long before learning something new about the other person. Eventually it became habitual for soap to peal ghost's fruit for him.

Soap also may or may not sneak ghost some extra peaches when price cuts him off.

I have more olive theory thoughts for them if y'all want

[aroacewxs]

rui facts that are common knowledge atp but i just feel like repeating

hates vegetables because of their texture, and dislikes anything that has similar texture to certain vegetables. example: he hates watermelon because apparently to him the texture is just like a cucumber's? he's not very fond of many fruits either, albeit he dislikes them less than vegetables

only eats at places he's a regular at and becomes distressed when the menu changes. he picks off all vegetables from his food and sometimes emu helps him and eats anything he doesn't like

preferred rivers and lakes over pools as a kid. he would search for shiny rocks and the like in these rivers and lakes and show nene his discoveries

he owned many encyclopedias as a kid. one of them being one about poisonous plants. it had a bright red cover that scared nene LMAO but he read it over and over so now he can recognize which plants are poisonous or not

favourite animal is the platypus because he finds the fact that they are egg-laying mammals interesting

owns three monitors. has a tablet (owned this tablet since he was a kid) and a phone

horrible at packing! he's always thinking about worst case scenarios and possible hypotheticals that could occur during his travels, causing him to overpack and not use half of the things he brings. he mentions that this was the case when he went to america with wxs, and he struggled with the same problem when he was trying to pack for his kyoto trip in pandemonium

his favourite show he performed with wxs was the little mermaid. the show that made him feel the most nervous was a pianist named torpe, and the show that left the strongest impression on him was the one tsukasa performed with the others to convince him to join wxs again

dislikes cleaning because he finds it pointless when his room just becomes cluttered again sooner or later

worst sleep schedule known to man. has been scolded by wxs for coming to rehearsal with horrible eye bags

he people watches a lot. very observant of his environment and uses anything that catches his attention as inspiration for shows and other stories. this can be seen in island panic, where he makes up an entire possible conversation between three monkeys he was observing and in the area convo where he views students fighting to buy bread at the tuck shop as a metaphor for human nature and survival

his role model and inspiration is a director named tom gray! he watched interviews of him and read his books over and over

enjoyer of sci-fi

eats his taiyaki by first splitting it in half to avoid burning his mouth with the hot bean paste. interestingly enough, it is said in japan that the first bite you take in taiyaki determines your personality. rui breaks his taiyaki first before eating, making him a "person of action."

he deepened his interest for shows as a kid by imagining how he would adapt his favourite books into stage productions

there's a specific stool in his room that has remained since his childhood. also an orange box of toys(?) It seems

on the other hand, several aspects of his childhood room have changed: his lampshades are in the shapes of flowers now, his couch is patched up in blue, and he has multiple streamers and balloons. the balloons have little faces on them btw. he also installed a clock. the step ladder near his bookshelf is gone too from what i can see

ok that's all i can think of from the top of my head, hopefully none of these are incorrect,, i'll be very sad if something is wrong. if you know any fun rui facts that aren't listed above PLEASE enlighten me

[ofdarklands]

food and drink: 3, 7, 12, 15, 16, 17 / hobbies: 3, 4, 18 for mitr'a? 👁👁

whoa mama

ehem, long:

🍽️Food and Drink

3 Is there a food or drink your character is unwilling to try?

hmm i think not, at least not because of the food in itself. even meol he refused to try not so much because of the soylent green part but because it was a hateful Eulmore Product tm. also because someone (even worse, a clown of some breed) was handing it to him and it was thus suspect

he's also tried lots of things that are not technically food so

7 Is there food that has made your character sick?

man sadly somewhat lactose intolerant. i don't think keepers have herds of anything, so it didn't come up until he left for gridania. he refuses to admit this however, because the making processes of cheese and yogurt and assorted milk products are fascinating and he's not dropping that

that's regarding food that is innocent

he has eaten all manner of other things experimentally that have absolutely wrecked him until he built up tolerance or decided it was actually hopeless. fruits, roots, plants, walking plants, frogs, snakes, lizards, bugs, sea bugs, fish, that one poisonous bird, barks, water that turned out to be fouled, and many many delicious but evil mushrooms and molds <- guy who shouldn't be alive

12 Which mealtime is your character's favorite?

as a guy who lives on his own at his own rhythm, mealtimes are not particularly fixed. he mostly eats when he's hungry. but whatever he eats at sunrise before going to bed is nice. cold, but a good view. and quiet

15 What food or drink does your character consider a treat?

grilled things. with just some salt and some herbs. takes more time, not very stealthy, bit wasteful. very tasty though. mmm goat on the stick

16 Is there a food texture your character doesn't like?

doesn't like much things that are so dry and crumbly they stick to your mouth forever or too sticky-gooey, generally. like, have you tried chewing fluid honey? that kinda texture. he'll still eat it of course, but still

otherwise he's an equal opportunity chewer

17 What kind of drinks does your character prefer?

dense. give that thing some substance (his beers are basically liquid bread). otherwise, water, teas and juices are the daily go-to. he's got favourite water springs to source water from, too

.

🎲 Hobbies and Activities

3 What is a talent your character wishes they had?

he's generally very satisfied with what he can do, i think. he's skilled with his hands and his mind is adept with crafts. his body allows him to fight well. his reflexes are good. he can even manage the ocassional act of rolling a 20 on CHA, if he really cares about it. what else is there? not consistent human interaction skills, surely

4 Is there an activity your character used to enjoy that they now dislike?

not really? his range of activities has actually broadened together with his character development during msq

though! i guess he doesn't get street food anymore; he just stares somewhat creepily at the preparation process until he can do it himself and feed it to someone else to taste-test the accuracy

18 What is a topic your character wouldn't want to talk about?

economics and politics are not interesting to him, and also culturally not his problem. to him they're only worth talking about as context in stories. sadly being alphinaud's attack wol means he gets to hear a LOT about it. after the banquet he doesn't tune out anymore but by oschon's balls. torment

regarding what i think the question is actually about

things he'd honestly answer but mostly isn't asked: where he's been, his fights, his age, killing people, losing people, his job, his opinion on people, his opinion on the current plan, which cities suck the most, how he would kill lolorito, any plant or rock in sight, what sex he's been having, what the fuck do you mean ardbert was there the whole time, etc

things he might try to slide around for the sake of the other person, but would answer if asked point blank: his experiences and opinions with the wol legend (bleh), the almost-lightwarden times (bad), what the fuck do you mean zenos was there (great), do you regret almost dying at the end of the universe for no reason (no), if he likes fighting by the scions's side (fucking stressful), are you fucking my mother warrior of light (yes)

things he won't talk about: affection (not something for words), where his clan is (security reasons), hildibrand (not real), magitek (enough robots already*), any time he's failed at something he's actually good at (embarrassing. no more queshtions)

[rattus-dirus]

I rated all the doughnutfruits

I actually also rated the tropical fruits in general but it's too long so I'm starting with this much more manageable one. Reasonings under the cut

S TIER

Chocolate doughnutfruit - chocolate doughnut that grows on a tree. Self explanatory

Grilled doughnutfruit - Almost didn’t count this one as it’s more of a prepared food than a fruit on its own, but it’s different enough to be considered its own thing imo. This one is an improvement on the regular doughnutfruit which is already great.

Purple Doughnutfruit - Jimmy’s favorite (Jimmy is the purple one I made sure). There’s 0 information about the flavor but considering Jimmy only seems to eat doughnutfruit I trust his judgement on which one is the best one. It’s this one, apparently.

Yellow doughnutfruit - It tastes like a glazed doughnut. Fuck yeah dude

A TIER

Doughnutfruit - the OG. Tastes like a doughnut. Excellent concept for a fruit.

Sprinkled Doughnutfruit - like the grilled, this one is more of a prepared food, but still different enough to warrant a spot here. Personally i prefer plain doughnuts but sprinkled is still a solid option.

Cloudberry Doughnutfruit - Cloudberry doesn’t have a lot of flavor information, but if we infer it to be a mild berry flavor with a light texture this actually sounds pretty solid as a doughnut.

Fish Doughnutfruit - This either tastes like a regular doughnutfruit but is fish shaped OR it has a fishy flavor, which brings to mind takoyaki. Either way, delicious. It’s nice to have something a bit more savory on the list.

Strawberry Doughnutfruit - Tastes like a strawberry doughnut.

B Tier

Prickly Doughnutfruit - The only one that needs to be peeled. I’m inferring that it would be similar to a prickly pear flavored doughnut

Blue Doughnutfruit - Tastes like a blueberry muffin. 

Green Doughnutfruit - lime flavored doughnutfruit. Like lemon cake but lime?

Pineapple Doughnutfruit - if we take the description at face value this is just a regular ass pineapple with less prep. Otherwise, this would probably end up tasting like a pineapple upside-down cake, which sounds really good.

C Tier

Fiery Doughnutfruit - Neopets can eat fire. However, because I am a person and not a neopet, this sounds difficult and painful to eat. If I could though, I imagine this would just taste like eating a doughnut directly out of the fryer, which sounds awesome

Sponge Doughnutfruit - Texture sounds weird. Would still probably eat it if it was the last dessert at a potluck.

D Tier

Checkered Doughnutfruit - There genuinely isn’t enough information on this one to give it a proper grade

Rainbow Doughnutfruit - As above

GARBAGE Tier

Grey Doughnutfruit - Depression is not something I want in my food. It looks gross and the flavor is gone. No thank you

Gold Doughnutfruit - this is literally just metal. I guess you can lick it?

Silver Doughnutfruit - Same problem as the gold doughnutfruit, but it tastes worse.

Limestone Doughnutfruit - A cross between a doughnutfruit, a lime, and a stone veggie. It isn’t literally made of limestone at least, but based on the description of the stone veggie I have to imagine it just tastes like a rock hard green doughnutfruit.

Dung Doughnutfruit - I’m gonna be honest chief. I didn't even read the description for this one before putting it down here.

Snot Doughnutfruit - I didn’t read the description for this one either. TNT what the fuck

[ms-demeanor]

Do you know how invert sugar works? I've heard a lot of conflicting things about it and it seems to be increasingly popular in packaged foods and restaurant food which is frustrating cause it seems to be an IBD trigger for me. I avoid artificial sweeteners cause they're triggers for me, but invert sugar is increasingly in things that say all natural or no artificial sweeteners, is it natural? what is it?

It is natural! Or, well, it uses natural ingredients. It's sucrose (a disaccharide, white sugar) split into glucose and fructose (monosaccharides) through a simple chemical process (boiling and optionally adding some acid).

Sucrose is the common kind of sugar that we use all the time; it is made up of two simpler sugars: fructose, which we often think of as "fruit sugar," and glucose, the most common carbohydrate in nature (it's the product of the Krebs cycle and it's the carbohydrate that your body turns into stored energy through glycolysis). Here's a diagram of a sucrose molecule:

you can see that it already looks like two molecules, kind of, with just one oxygen atom in the center to hold it together. If you split this molecule with a chemical reaction, it will create distinct glucose and fructose molecules:

(Glucose is on the left, fructose on the right).

If you want to make your own invert sugar you can do so on your own stovetop right now. All you have to do is mix sugar, water, and lemon juice.

Have you ever made simple syrup for sweet tea? Or made hard candy? Simple syrup is 1:1 white sugar and water. Hard candy is 4:2:1 white sugar, water, and sugar syrup. Invert sugar is a syrup in between those two which is about 2:1 sugar to water with a very small amount of acid added.

There are several reasons that bakers and confectioners will do this, including:

moisture - invert sugar is a humectant

texture - the addition of invert sugar can help control crystallization of sugar in candy-making

sweetness - invert sugar is slightly sweeter than white sugar

appearance - invert sugar helps things to brown faster

So invert sugar can be totally natural, it's easy to make at home, and it has lots of uses in cooking that are difficult to achieve without introducing more ingredients or ingredients that might change the appearance or structure of the final product. However, if you have issues with processing fructose, invert sugar is likely going to be a problem for you.

Honestly this kind of question (which I had a lot more of after getting diagnosed with food allergies and celiac disease!) is part of why I started getting more into cooking and more into learning about food production and nutrition. When you have to learn about hidden sources of corn in the American food system you have to learn a LOT about food and you come around firmly to the idea that "natural" on food product labels is at best useless and at worst misleading.

When you (you specifically, anon) are looking at a food label you're likely looking to see if it's going to cause problems for you. You're not really looking to see if it's natural, but "natural" has become a kind of shorthand for "no high fructose corn syrup" - if what you're avoiding is fructose, natural is not the word to look out for.

[lowkeycasanova]

private lesson

Plot: Sanji is a huge flirt, talking about doing private cooking lessons with him. And to his surprise, you actually agree.

pairing: opla!sanji x fem reader

word count: 1.8k

------------------------------------------------------------

Early one morning, the Straw Hat Pirates anchored their ship on a new island. And as usual, they were eager to explore new uncharted territory. Sanji was left with finding groceries to stock up on.

He wandered through the bustling market. A hand in his pocket and a freshly lit cigarette in the other as he took in the vibrant colors and sounds. The exotic spices, fresh fruit, strange seafood, and beautiful women all piqued his interest.

Heavy on the beautiful women.

Sometimes he had to stop and remind himself why he was there in the first place: finding ingredients for the crew's meals and any other culinary inspiration.

He bought his usual main meats and vegatables and a few things to experiment with later, but what really grabbed his attention was the aroma wafting from a nearby restaurant.

**

You were the sous chef for the restaurant you worked at. But make no mistake, you worked your way up to that position. Starting on dishes, then the plate line, and finally, you got to cook in the kitchen and craft dishes yourself. You also went to culinary school for a bit, so you did have some formal training under your belt.

The head chef was getting older and had a few health problems, so you'd pretty much take over. It was impressive at your young age. Although it could be stressful at times, you were nice to everyone. Everyone had a lot of respect for you.

It was going on brunch time and surprisingly, it wasn't all too busy. So you spent your time behind the counter at the bar, wiping down the area and trying to perfect a new dish.

The bells above the door jingled. You looked up from what you were doing and made eye contact with a young blonde guy, about your age. He smiles at you. You give him a small smile back, but not sure if it was directed at you in the first pace.

He exchanges a few words with the host and makes his way to the empty seat at the bar across from where you stood, setting his bags down next to it and getting comfortable.

"Hi, welcome in." you greeted him. "What drink can I get you started with today?"

"Just a glass of water, love"

You'd never been called that before. He definitely wasn't a local.

"Here you go." You poured him the water with a friendly smile and slid him the menu. "Let me know when you're ready to order, or if you have any questions."

Sanji looked at you with geniune interest, taking in your professionalism and the surroundings. He couldn't help but be captivated.

As his eyes pursed the menu, his eyes occasionally drifted back to you, the beautiful woman behind the counter who caught his attention. The menu was filled with great dishes, each sounding more enticing than the last.

After a few minutes, he looked up and caught your gaze again. "I'll try the sobrasada brioche."

"Excellent choice." You write his order on your little notepad that you pulled from your back pocket and relay it to the kitchen.

**

"This is amazing." he beamed. "The texture adds a nice touch."

"I'm glad you like it." you chuckled as you handed a drink to another man who came and sat at the bar a few seats away.

"You know, I didn't catch your name, love. I'm Sanji." his eyes twinkled and he flashed you yet another radiant smile.

"I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you."

"And you as well, madam."

A blush creeped up on your cheeks. It was somewhat unusual to be called "love" and "madam". There was a certain charm to it that you couldn't deny.

"So Sanji, you're not from around here, are you?"

He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms, taking a second to answer. "My crew and I anchored here. I was looking around, trying to find ingredients for our meals, as I am the cook. But I couldn't resist the alluring aroma that was coming from this place. And I'm glad I didn't."

You opened your mouth to respond when a youngster from the kitchen came out looking for you. Excusing yourself from Sanji, you turned to the boy and allowed him to go on and talk.

He just wanted to get in extra hours and wondered where you could place him.

"Cool, thanks chef." he said after you two came to an agreement and went back between the double doors.

Sanji wasn't the one to eavesdrop but he couldn't help but hear that last part.

"Chef?" his eyes lit up when you turned in his direction again, referring to the title the boy gave you.

"That's me." you smiled proudly. "Well...sous chef."

"It's a pleasure to meet someone so beautiful and talented.

You nervously looked down at your hands. He was direct.

“Have any signature dishes?”

“Well,” you started. “I’m working on this dish.” You grabbed the plate off to the side that held the small entree to show him. “It’s a lobster roll that I want to add for the seasonal brunch menu. It’s…not quite right yet.” you admitted with a bit of self-critique in your voice.

His eyes locked on the dish and he studied it intently and then brought his gaze back to you. "Mind if I try it?"

"Sure, go ahead."

He took a bite, his expression thoughtful as he savored the flavors. "It's exquisite. However, it is missing a certain...kick. And I'd be happy to help you, if you like."

You tossed the dish rag over your shoulder and put your weight on your forearms, leaning closer. "You? In my kitchen?"

Sanji smirked. "If you'll have me."

It was intriguing. He seemed genuine and he definitely had knowledge based on how he spoke and his reaction. You contemplated for a moment, weighing the potential benefits of having him help.

"Alright," you finally replied, with a playful glint in your eye. "But you're not getting paid."

**

After you instructed another member of the kitchen to watch the bar in your place and getting confused looks as Sanji followed your lead through the area, you both spent the next two hours working, experimenting with ingredients and techniques. He took control, and you let him. The prep area was a mix of different fixings. You worked diligently beside him, chopping the garlic like he asked, your hands moving in unison.

The garlic, along with some white wine vinegar, egg yolks, hot water, salt, olive oil, and spice, he drizzed the sauce (which had a mayo like consistency) onto the dish.

"It's a saffron aioli." Sanji described.

You took a bite. It definitly added flavor as well as color. With a touch of elegance.

"You're incredible!" you told him. "You should write a cookbook."

"Well, you know, a true artist never reveals his secrets. But, I could be talked into offering some private lessons." he replied, leaning against the counter with a mischievous look in his eye.

"Oh gosh." you groaned. "That was so cheesy."

He chuckled. He couldn't help but flirt. Of course, he thought you were gorgeous, but he also saw a lot of himself in you. Someone who seems to love food the way he does and the appreciation for little details.

"Sure."

Sanji blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Yes, I'll take you up on your offer."

He was a bit caught off guard. A woman has never given into his advances. He was always met with soft or harsh rejection everytime.

You knew he was being coy, but if he was actually serious, you could learn from him.

More like, you could learn from each other. What's the harm in that?

He smiled. "You won't regret it. Cooking is a pleasure that's meant to be shared."

The restaurant started to get busier, so you and Sanji had to wrap up the impromptu cooking session. It was time for him to go as well as the crew was probably wondering where he was at this point. On a napkin, you gave him a description of your house and how to find it with the plan to see each other again the following night. He put is safe in his pocket.

**

You said your goodbyes and Sanji went back and met up with the crew again. He couldn't help but gush about the encounter he had at the restaurant. Luffy listened with interest, Zoro couldn't care less, and Usopp and Nami teased him.

The next morning, he found himself eagerly anticipating what was to come. Although Nami was the skilled navigator, she was also the avid shopping connoisseur and offered to help Sanji find something suitable to wear.

She had an eye for fashion and wanted to make sure Sanji made the best impression possible. Together, they scoured the markets, looking for the perfect attire.

**

Sanji made his way to your house, per the instructions you provided. After hearing a soft knock on the door, you opened it swiftly. And there he stood.

Clad in a blue sweater and black pants, holding a bouquet of blue flowers to match, two loaves of french bread, with his blonde hair neatly covering his eye and signature cigarette in his mouth. He looked so adorable, you had to admit.

His eyes sparked in enthusiam, mixed with anticipation and hope that you would appreciate his effort.

"You clean up nicely." you complimented, inviting him in and taking the flowers and bread from him. "These are beautiful, thank you."

"My pleasure. Your outfit is nice too."

You look down at your regular ole tshirt and shorts then back at him. "Oh, it's just my usual." You weren't expecting anything fancy. But maybe that was just his style. "So, what do you have in mind?"

"Anything. Just tell me what you want."

At first, you didn't know what to expect from this "private lesson". You were a little nervous and were expecting to say no to anything you weren't comfortable with, if it came to that.

But the night seemed to fly by. The kitchen was productive and filled with laughter. You knew that in due time, Sanji would eventually leave with his crew, but it was nice to have an experience like this.

With the ingredients you had, Sanji managed to make a cigala fideua. A dish that consisted of prawn, baby squid, and garlic aioli served on top angel hair pasta. He was going to serve it with rice but the pasta was your idea. You also sauteed shishito peppers tossed with sea salt as a side dish.

"Mhmm, this is my new favorite thing in the world." you say, mouth full of deliciousness.

Sanji sits across from you at the table, a glass of wine in his hand, smiling at you.

"What?" you raise an eyebrow after you swallow.

He shrugged. "There's nothing better than watching someone enjoy food."

----------------------------------------------------

a/n: someone on tik tok said they had the sanji cookbook and posted pictures of it. it was there where i got the idea for his outfit.

from @/surogori8 on tik tok

[ladyhoneydarlinglove]

{one piece fic} blunt force comfort — robin & zoro

{previous chapters: nami | usopp | sanji | chopper } CONTENT WARNING: this chapter has depictions of self-harm, specifically cutting. it’s nothing graphic, but anyone who could be triggered by that might want to skip this one. i haven’t been part of the one piece fandom long enough to know if robin self-harming could be considered a controversial take, but based on my own experiences with severe to suicidal depression (including self-harm tendencies), i think it makes a lot of sense.

Rating: T Notes: takes place somewhere between Skypiea and Water 7

{Read on Ao3}

~~~~~

There’s a strange physiology to the limbs summoned with Robin’s devil fruit powers. For all intents and purposes they function like extensions of her real body, complete with sensory feedback; temperature, texture, even pain—though the damage they take doesn’t transfer to her physically. But, for whatever reason, they don’t bleed the way that real limbs would.

Robin doesn’t remember exactly when she discovered this particular quirk that’s quite useful, in its own way. Good for things like sneaking and spying, keeping her from leaving any kind of physical trail behind. But the place that she makes the most use of it is alone, in the quiet and the dark, with a sharp knife and a heart full to bursting with pain.

See, Robin’s existence is defined by suffering. To live is to hurt, and there is no escape from it, not really. This is a fundamental truth of her world that Robin has known since she was only eight years old, watching Ohara burn for the crime of daring to seek out what others didn’t want them to know. 

The problem is, the pain she feels on a day-to-day basis is largely on the inside, where no one else can bear witness to its existence. A festering wound that only she can see, a toxic sludge born of all the tears, the anger, the screams that she can’t afford to let loose, lest it draw the attention of the World Government. And that pain will just keep building and building and building inside of her, until finally Robin can’t bear it any longer.

She read in a medical text once that when a boil becomes filled with pus, it needs to be lanced before infection sets in. So when all the pain and hurt inside her becomes too much to bear any longer, Robin will sit down, knife at the ready so she slice and slice and slice, until finally it feels like all the suffering of her existence has been made tangible.

Of course, if she tried to do that on her real body, she would have run out of space—and blood, for that matter—a long time ago. That’s where her powers come in handy; Robin can summon arm after arm, and no physical evidence will be left behind. No wounds, no blood. Just pain. Easy and clean.

She’s been doing it for years. No one else has ever known, though even if they did, Robin doubts they would have cared enough to try and stop her. It’s gotten to the point where she barely even thinks about it when the need arises, which is perhaps why Robin doesn’t take more precautions not to be caught the first time she does it onboard the Going Merry. She figures doing it in the storeroom in the middle of night when everyone else is asleep should be enough to ensure no one walks in on her, so it’s a bit of a surprise when Zoro does.

“Oh, Robin,” he says, standing in the doorway to the storeroom, holding a bottle of what Robin presumes is liquor. “What are you doing in… here…”

Robin watches as he blinks several times in rapid succession, clearly trying to process the scene in front of him, which is two blossomed limbs already cut to (bloodless) shreds sprouting from the floor, while Robin works on a third, her knife point still buried in its disembodied flesh. She doesn’t usually vanish them until she’s done, because she likes—or needs, maybe—to see the physical evidence of her handiwork. She supposes she could get rid of them now, though there doesn’t seem much point; from the bewildered frown she watches overtake his expression, Zoro’s probably already seen enough.

“What… are you doing?” he asks, an entirely uncharacteristic hesitation in his tone.

Robin smiles at him blandly, trying to be as disarming as possible. “Just a little ritual of mine,” she says lightly, like it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“Oh.” Zoro blinks slowly. “What, uh… what… kind of ritual?”

Now it’s Robin’s turn to blink. She wasn’t actually expecting him to ask.

“Call it… a catharsis ritual,” Robin says after a moment, which is true enough.

Zoro’s frown deepens, taking on a slightly harder edge. “What kind of catharsis?”

Robin blinks again.

“I—” she begins, and suddenly her mind blanks, tripped up by the fact that Zoro is even asking. Before she can stop herself, Robin blurts out, “Pain.”

One of Zoro’s eyebrows shoots up almost comically high. “Pain?” he repeats, and there’s something in his tone that Robin hasn’t heard directed her way in a long, long time.

Concern.

Robin is suddenly, horribly, acutely aware of two things.

The first is how macabre this little ritual of hers must seem to the outside observer. The second is that despite their rough and tumble exteriors, the Straw Hat Pirates are all, at their cores, fundamentally kind people. The type of people who, when they see someone in distress, rush in to help, heedless of consequence. And Robin doesn’t want help, not for this. It’s her strange little habit, her burden of pain. Accepting help would just feel… wrong. 

(Wouldn’t it?)

“It’s not… It isn’t a bad thing,” she says hastily, feeling entirely out of her element, which does not often happen to Nico Robin. “It’s sort of like, um…” 

She casts about frantically for a metaphor Zoro might understand that will satisfy him while also stopping him from pressing any further. “When you train really hard, your muscles get sore afterwards, right?” she says after a few terribly tense moments of silence. “It hurts, but doesn’t it also feel good because you know you’ve accomplished something?”

“… Right,” Zoro says slowly, clearly not buying it. “Except that when muscles are sore after a workout, it’s because you’ve been breaking them down so that they can become even stronger. This—” He gestures at the shredded arms in front of her “—just seems like you’re trying to hurt yourself.”

There’s something about the way Zoro says it. No hesitation, no doubt; just a simple, honest, brutal truth. It cuts right through to Robin’s core, and she finds that she can’t help but answer in kind.

“… I suppose I am, in a way.”

She thinks that might be the first time she’s ever said so out loud.

For a long moment, Zoro simply looks at her. There’s nothing particularly scrutinizing about it, and yet Robin still feels like she’s being flayed alive under his gaze. Then, after an interminably long silence, Zoro suddenly nods and says, “Okay.”

Robin blinks. “Okay?” she repeats, surprised.

“I mean, I don’t get it but…” Zoro shrugs before reaching up to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly. “This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you quit doing just because someone tells you to. So if this is how you need to find ‘catharsis’ or whatever, I’m not gonna tell you to stop.”

That wasn’t what Robin was expecting him to say at all. On one hand it seems almost callous and uncaring, like Zoro’s trying to wash his hands of the whole thing. But on the other, she finds it… strangely reassuring. Like he’s acknowledging it’s a problem he knows he can’t fix, but he still wants her to know that he’s aware of it.

It feels… kind.

“… Thank you, Kenshi-san,” Robin says after a long, quiet moment. It doesn’t seem quite adequate enough, but she’s not sure that anything would.

Zoro nods again before he moves to leave the storeroom, but then pauses for a moment in the doorway before turning back around. 

“Hey, uh…” he says, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck again. “You know, if you ever want to try a different kind of catharsis, I could… teach you how to start lifting.” He coughs nervously before adding, “You can, um. You can get pretty sore. If you do it right.”

There’s a rising lump in Robin’s throat, and she has to swallow around it before she can respond.

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

[souldregs]

being so brave and thinking about feedist stony agenda (talk about ED, drug use, and body image issues under the cut)

as ive said before its clear to me tony does Not have a great relationship with food and eating. this kinda just comes with having the entire world's eyes on him but also just from close family friends *cough* OBADIAH *cough cough* watching him like a hawk. not to mention howard probably smacked tony's hand away from the dessert plates if he thought he had way too much as a kid/teenager.

tony definitely saw food as a comfort early on, but also a taboo. he isnt allowed to have a lot of dessert or fast food and was definitely forced to eat some things even if he hated the texture of it. unfortunately obie probably reinforced this thinking by bringing tony treats to garner his trust (while at the same time reprimanding him for it and telling him not to eat a whole large pizza in one sitting) (yes i'm taking that one scene in IM1 as context), thus leaving tony with weird, conflicted feelings.

he was scrawny as a kid and well into his late 20's cause of this, even with his persistent drinking problems and drug usage. (though you could say him getting into harder stuff aided in this too.) and then tony's body started slowing down a bit as he got older, started getting a bit pudgier. naturally he flipped the fuck out and started trying too many diet fads to try and get his body "back to normal" in his mind. he HATED working out if it wasn't his engineering work keeping him busy, but he forced himself to. none of this worked of course and everything kind of just stuck to him. flashforward to the cave, starving didnt feel good but something in his dumb little head said 'well, at least i'll probably lose weight from this if i dont die first'. of course this ALSO doesnt work because of how fat will cling to the body during dire times (ty lovely mutual for bringing this up, i had totally glossed over it in my original post!)

not to mention how the moment he comes back he is binge eating like nobody's business. he's stressed. he wants to be alone. he doesnt want to be alone. he wants to improve himself. he's anxious. he's busy trying to take all his food in his lab or have it delivered. so naturally he's gonna put on a lot of weight. and everyone around him will be concerned (or faux concern in obie's case) about it in very strange ways he isnt comfortable with.

on the other half of the coin you have steve rogers, a malnourished scrawny kid who could barely afford to keep himself alive during the great depression. he's used to eating tasteless, barely filling food, if he even had the appetite that day. or if he could even get out of bed that day. bucky having to come into his apartment with peanut butter sandwiches and some soup from his ma's place and hand feed steve sometimes, much to steve's embarrassment. he didn't want to be catered to or cared for. but bucky's his best friend who would do literally anything for steve, and he knows it, so bucky was the only one allowed to do so at the time. even with the super soldier serum improving steve's body, mobility, and appetite tenfold, steve still didn't eat much, or just ate what he needed to, to live. he wasn't used to it. didn't think he deserved it, etc. any extra food he ended up getting went to his fellow soldiers who needed it more in his eyes. it wasn't until he came back from the ice that he was utterly overwhelmed with choices.

there was food EVERYWHERE. he could get it anywhere. hot dogs. pizza. burgers. even healthier stuff like salads or fruit smoothies. all of it relatively cheap (he was probably astonished by the price inflation at first). and he could get it whenever he wanted to.

steve, honestly, still probably had his hang ups on if he "deserved" it or not. should he be eating this much? most likely not. so at first he would stop himself even when his super soldier metabolism was screaming at him to just eat more. but he does end up putting on a bit more weight before avengers 1, and it kinda startled him at first. shirts barely fit him anyway, though.

eventually steve and tony end up meeting face to face on the helicarrier. its obvious that they both look much much different than the photos from their files. (or in tony's case, photos from howard.)

steve, busy studying everyone, saw tony's photo, probably something the man picked out himself since it was something from when the man was in his late 20s. scrawny, lean muscle from engineering work, sharp beard but he still had those glazed over sad brown eyes as the man he sees before him. now though, tony is much bigger, wider looking. the suit and shapewear hides a lot, but tony's face is rounded and soft, which contrasts with his dry wit and cocky, cynical attitude. steve... is surprised. not in a bad way, just a little shocked, and wonders what exactly happened even if it isnt his place to know. but he's nosy.

tony meanwhile, enters the room, nervous. anxious. feeling like he's compressed himself into a can with what he's wearing and his heart is going a million miles an hour. so he does what he always does when he's nervous: talk a million miles an hour so no one can question him or get a word in edgewise, lean a little on the light insults. take up the air in the room. he was surprised that he hit it off with the man who holds a massive green monster in his body, of course. but looking at steve rogers, captain america. he thought something was a little off.

steve was... a little different from the photos howard had constantly showed tony as a kid. all the slightly faded black and white photos from the 1940s showing a tall, blonde, blue eyed boy wonder. a specimen of a man. tony always felt a little jealous he could never have muscles like that, seeing steve's biceps being almost as big as his father's damn head.

but, here, before him. steve was a bit... larger. not as fat as tony is (tony's ego taking another blow there), but noticeable. he looked softer, wider. thicker legs and arms (as if he needed that, tony thinks), a heavy soft chest and a pudgy stomach that was hanging a little over the belt of his jeans. the plaid shirt did wonders to hide any details, though, but overall tony could see his shape was much different than he had remembered.

and tony, being the impulsive guy he is, takes a risk when he goes to dress himself down from his suit. takes the shapewear off. lets his body breathe. puts on his skin tight jeans and black sabbath shirt over his usual black long sleeve and saunters into the lab to find bruce, the other chubby scientist, working on loki's staff. tony feels. a little safer. a little more like himself. treating the lab like he would his workshop in malibu. he does feel more exposed, but he's hoping, for once. it doesnt backfire.

i am rambling like crazy so, fast forwarding a little bit, domestic avengers shit. pre-age of ultron. tony and steve together on the couch in the rec room of avengers tower watching a movie. the others have gone to bed. both tony and steve are definitely a bit fatter than they were 2 years ago, but mainly just ... from being comfortable with each other, challenging each other. caring for each other. theyre sharing a few large pizzas between them without a care in the world because food and eating together is a universal love language in of itself. there's trust, a bond, but obviously it was an uphill battle to even GET to this point. with tony's ego and fame. his self image in the garbage and still getting tossed in the dumpster occasionally. and steve thinking his own self doesnt deserve such nice, kind things. that he has to earn it or he shouldnt have comfort. these issues will always crop up, and its hard to push down on them. but they at least have each other for the time being and can reassure themselves.

[iguessmynamesbiscuit]

What’s it like having ARFID?

Tw for weight, eating disorders, and vomit

I have moderate-severe ARFID, “avoidant restrictive food intake disorder”. In summary, I can’t eat a lot of things, for a variety of reasons. Because of how restrictive my diet is, I’m resting at an unhealthy 70-100lbs. It fluctuates depending on access to food.

My main reasons for the restrictive intake is sensory problems, contamination anxiety, and food anxiety.

I have autism, and included in that is some severe texture and taste sensitivity. I can’t handle the crunch of any fried food. I can’t handle the texture of cooked vegetables/fruit. I don’t like the viscosity of any protein supplementing drinks. It’s a long process to recover from sensory problems, and I’m still in therapy for it.

Secondly, contamination anxiety. I’m not officially diagnosed with OCD yet, but I have almost all the contamination anxiety symptoms. I found a spider in my yogurt once, two years ago, and I still won’t eat yogurt to this day. I don’t eat anything even slightly past the due date, or if it smells off in any way. I sometimes even go as far as not eating food if someone’s sneezed or coughed near me.

And finally, food anxiety. I’m so used to not having a stable food source, even living as a middle class white ameircan. My parents buy me food, but my brain prevents me from eating most of it. Because of this, when I am given food I can eat, I will eat as much as possible, usually making myself sick or throwing up. The smell of that smelling like the food I just ate then makes me not eat the food anymore.

It’s a self perpetuating cycle. I’ve made significant progress of coming from 75lbs in January to 100lbs in October now, which is major progress. But I’m still a long ways from being healthy, and I’ll likely have to live like this for the rest of my life.

Thank you for reading/listening to my story :)

[14dyh]

Nerdy Love | H.Z.

Pairing: Hange Zoë x reader Summary: Hange with a nerdy lover headcanons! (Science Edition: Chemistry, Botany, Physics, and Astronomy) A/N: the physics part was pretty self-indulgent, i just want to share the world of science with Hange :")

Hange with a nerdy lover...

Chemistry

if you're a chemistry nerd,

Hange would be overjoyed at having someone who shares their favorite subject with them

when you first met, they sat beside you in the lab and went on talking about chemistry and such

enthused by your knowledge, Hange will begin to search even deeper chemistry knowledge so they can keep longer conversations with you

periodic table of elements jokes (Hange will, I just know)

will probably bring their own microscope kit when there is no schedule for lab

will look at you like you hung the stars even when you're talking about highly toxic chemicals

looks at you with heart eyes even if your hair is mostly disheveled from working for hours in certain chemicals

thinks you look adorable in safety goggles

shares a matching chemistry-themed coffee mug with you that looks like a beaker

one time, you had a lab accident but Hange was there, and unsurprisingly, they are efficient at first aid. their presence was a huge comfort, and they made sure you wouldn't panic the entire time

making sure you have appropriate experiment equipment is their love language

Botany

if you're a botany nerd,

Hange will try to impress you by identifying leaves around the school garden

will give you a leaf with a unique shape they found

will also pick the best tree bark piece for you (the one that doesn't have a brittle texture, it's sturdy enough that you can turn it into a pendant)

will show you a collection of dried leaves they tucked on their enormous books as a bookmark

they adore textured plants so they would be so happy to find some in your garden

loves the vibrant flowers that grow in your garden

they would likely want to surprise you by growing a plant and giving it to you on valentine's day

lotsssss of plant puns

knows how you water each of your plants because they always observe you when doing it

loves the way you observe each plant, knowing well if it grew new leaves, flowers, or fruits

they take you to garden dates <3

Physics

if you're a physics nerd,

Hange loves interactive toys that use physics. they would probably share lots of that with you

both of you would fall asleep together listening to Feynman lectures (it was relaxing, trust me)

this post:

you could talk to them about the most obscure physics theories and they'll know what you're talking about (which makes your heart leap with joy and end up kissing them on the cheek several times)

they're genuinely interested even if you're talking about steam engine history for hours

you get pissed off when the laws of motion are discussed in such a shallow, abecedarian way in high school and Hange adores your pouting face.

loves helping you out with calculus problems in physics

they became invested in chemical physics because of you

exchanges science books with annotations for you at least every week

loves silly, theoretical questions with you

listens attentively to you even if you're describing light and optics during a school disco party

adores you when you discuss torque mechanics using a basketball during PE

even when walking past a river, you can't help but tell them the amazing hydrodynamics of the flowing water. Hange loves seeing the sparkle in your eyes whenever you describe the beauty of the world using physics

volunteers to participate in your mini physics experiments

they are very resourceful so they mostly help you with applying physics to real-life devices/inventions

their eyes lit up when they see both of your inventions materialize but they're more happy to see how delighted you are

(i still remember how happy they were when they successfully developed the "Executioner from Hell")

it's canon that Hange has the best intuition and analyzing skills in AOT so you get along very well since those qualities abide by the principles of physics

these headcanons are mostly modern au bc AOT is depressing but I bet you and Hange would most likely bond over developing or designing weapons or devices for the Survey Corps

(personally, I believe that they would most likely be a physics teacher in modern au since most of their inventions use physics)

This teacher reminds me of Hange so much

Astronomy

if you're an astronomy nerd,

Hange still teases you about the day you met because your conversation starter is what is your favorite star

they adore you and even tell you their favorite constellation

probably gave you one of those glowing circular glass lamps with the solar system inside for valentine's day

romantic stargazing :D

and planetarium dates!

they love hanging out in your room because you can talk for hours while gazing at glow-in-the-dark astronomy stickers on your ceiling

you have matching astronomical sphere ball necklaces (probably have both of your initials too)

you share an astronomy playlist (could just be music or podcasts)

(self-indulgent but I think they would enjoy StarTalk and SciShow Space marathon with you)

they have this cute habit of giving you star-shaped food or any object that happens to be star-shaped ("this reminded me of you :D" they'll say)

your space movies watchlist will be playing on movie nights, Hange will also share a sci-fi movie list with you in return

they'll surprise you with intriguing astronomy questions and your heart leaps because you know they've been paying attention whenever you talk about your interests

-

I'm pretty sure Hange would also enjoy watching Rick and Morty, Futurama, The Big Bang Theory, Fullmetal Alchemist and such with you, especially in their downtime. Aside from science documentaries, that is.

[nardo-headcanons]

Kirigakure Worldbuilding II - Specialties

Inspired by a recent conversation I had with @pxssy-stuntin-for-itxchi, I got wanted to add more to my Kirigakure worldbuiling post!

Food Preservation Since except for a month during the winter, it never really gets cold in Kirigakure. This has lead to its citizens becoming very creative at enhancing the shelf life of the food that they have. Meat/fish is dry-aged and smoked, fruits are turned into preserve, cheong, or slow-dried. Dairy is a luxury in the water realm, so there are a lot of plant based dairy alternatives already, so it’s no surprise the wave realm has a quite big vegetarian and vegan population. Even though their spice tolerance is not the highest, when talking SALT tolerance, no village can beat Kiri. They are VERY generous with salting their food. In order to get a smokey flavor to any dish, you can obtain smoked salt everywhere in the country. The water realm was the first region the come up with the concept of fermentation of food. Milk is turned into yoghurt and cabbage is turned into kimchi and its more popular variant - sauerkraut. Fun fact: Suigetsu comes from a high ranking caste, so he actually was able to afford dairy yoghurt and jello with actual gelatine, and they're his favorite foods.

Kimchi and Sauerkraut

The general spice tolerance of Kiri citizens is not the highest across the shinobi world, so kimchi is mostly exported to Konoha and Suna. The cabbage grown in the water realm is specifically bred to be extra heat resistant and crunchy. In order to cut down on waste, the excess is turned into sauerkraut juice. To put less of a strain on the public healthcare system, the water realm government has issued its citizens to exercise and eat healthy – especially children. To get more children to drink sauerkraut juice, it is produced in portable, biodegradable little juice boxes which are handed out for free in the Kirigakure academy. Every Kiri genin has tasted it atleast once. Scurvy was once a big problem for most shinobi going on long term stealth missionas, since most just lived off dried meat and crackers, except for Kiri Nin, since they always carry sauerkraut juice (and kumquats) with them.

Fruit

Mangos: With their sweet and fruity taste, they’re popular amongst children, especially when dried, rolled into balls with an added sugar crust. While other countries see them as a special treat they’re a staple in Kiri. Papaya: Another Kiri staple. It is eaten either as a fruit in its orange form or in its green form in more hearty dishes. The seeds are ground and sold as a pepper alternative. Its extracts of the are used by the Kiri beauty industry, which is the biggest one, closely followed by Suna's beauty industry. Peaches: Often grown on the mountaintops of the water realm, they’re loved all over the country. Peach trees are seen as a sign of fertility, renewal and good luck. The pits are turned into persipan, which many foreigners don't like. Durian: Those stinky fruit are banned in Kiri’s public spaces. However, it is still the most popular fruit overall, so only a few get exported yearly, much to the other countries' durian lovers' chagrin. Jackfruit: Not a lot of Kiri citizens like its fleshy texture but it is often used as meat alternative by Kiri’s large plant-based population. Lychee: They’re often sugared and canned, or added to jelly. They're amongst the most popular fruit to make cheong with.

Kumquat: Kiri nin love them because they’re basically easily portable, vitamin c filled snacks. Other honorable mentions include: Rambutan, Mangosteen, Starfruit, Cherimoya, Soursop, Yuzu and Tamarillo.

Jelly If you’ve read my last post on Kiri specialties, you probably know that instead of manufactured candy, Sweet tooths (teeth?) in Kiri chomp down on dried fruit, fermented sugary sticky rice and – jelly. Gelatine, like most non fish animal products, is a luxury so most jellies are made with agar-agar, a plant based “gelatine”. Just take some fruit juice and set it with agar – and there you have jelly. Most foreigners find Kiri’s obsession with jelly pudding off-putting, but that doesn’t stop them. Fun fact: Suigetsu comes from a high ranking caste, so he actually was able to afford dairy yoghurt and jello with actual gelatine, and they're his favorite foods. Non food fun fact: As genetic engineering gets more advanced and Kirigakure already having no issues using bacteria, they're also the biggest exporter of nutrient agar for agar plates which are used for the cultivation of bacteria and funghi. Kigakure is the leading village when it comes to biological and medical advancements, which is why Orochimaru has visited very often (and eventually ran into Kimimaro)

[parakaryote]

I like putting multiple autistic characters in the same story to show how different we can be.

The Verdantland Trilogy has Taryn and Florence, friends who quickly become girlfriends. They have some similarities: both are sensitive to sound, are going into careers relating to their special interests, and have major hand-movement stims. However they're also different in a lot of ways. Taryn's SI is biology while Florence's is photography. Taryn flaps her hands while Florence claps them. Taryn's other main stim is tactile (she likes smooth, hard objects like her hourglass charm), while Florence's is vocal (she makes clicking sounds).

This passage, which I'm quite proud of, shows their differences and similarities quite well. (If you want to read it in its original habitat: here you go!)

[Image description:

“A lot of foods you can’t tolerate, you say?” Florence laughed. “I’m the same way. For example, I can’t stand fruit. Any fruit.”

“You’re drinking fruit juice right now.” Taryn couldn’t wrap her head around what she was saying. How was it possible to not like any fruit?

“Juice is fine. Solid fruit is the problem. I can’t explain it very well. It’s something about the texture and the juices when they’re still in the flesh.”

Actually, Taryn understood that. She loved eating olives despite being disgusted by olive oil. She occasionally enjoyed loud music, even though a shout of lower volume could bring her to tears. A number of her repulsions seemed arbitrary to others. Thankfully, her family had always believed her about what she could and couldn’t tolerate. Understanding was not a prerequisite for respect.

End ID.]

Then there's Darby and Cevare Chedanta, daughter and father, from The Mysteries of the Apricot Sun. While they're similar in terms of general stims and sensitivities (though Cevare represses his more), they differ in other key aspects. For example, Darby doesn't really have a SI, while Cevare does (but doesn't talk about it much). Unlike Taryn and Florence, they also both have HSD since that's common in autistic people.

The biggest difference, however, lies in how they think about their differences from their neurotypical family and peers. Darby doesn't put much thought into them, as she's already long accepted she's "weird" no matter what she does. Cevare, on the other hand, has issues. The way he was treated when he was younger, being seen as "lesser" for missing social cues and "overreacting" to things, led him to develop an inferiority complex. As he grew older, he underwent a weird shift into being the "you can't criticize me for anything because I am simply too socially inept to understand I might be doing anything wrong UwU" type, while still having the underlying inferiority complex.

(I get nervous talking about Cevare since I'm worried people might badly misinterpret his character, but whatever.)

Finally, there's the way their respective societies treat autism. Kenor (the country where the Verdantland Trilogy is set) is very accommodating to all sorts of minds and bodies, so Taryn and Florence had an easy time growing up. Meanwhile, Datéyon (the city-state in which Apricot Sun is set) has a less understanding, more pitying attitude towards disability in general. The situation isn't as bad as it is with real-life ableism, but still pretty isolating to grow up in.

There are others too, just not in projects I'm working on right now. There was a novelette I scrapped (but might bring back at some point in the future, idk) that centred around a group of six autistic teens making themselves a little space of their own in a pocket dimension, and I tried to make them as diverse as possible. There's also a different fantasy story idea with a mother and son who are both autistic but have significantly different traits (for example, the mother is prone to losing speech ability if she's stressed, but the son isn't at all).

So yeah,

♾️❤️

[beneathsilverstars]

you could. probably think if some characters are texture eaters and if so which textures they would prefer or what reactions they'd have over disliked textures

@kimdokjafan replied

I would love to hear what you have to say about the party's food preferences! Things like favorite food, things they dislike/won't eat

i started answering this anon and then got this reply, so i'll combine them. got really long lol, food is such a complex topic!

bonnie enjoys the multi-textured fish head, so they're probably big on texture! i think they're starting to have enough cooking experience to get put off when a texture isn't correct. like the problem isn't the texture itself but rather that rice should not be like that, they overcooked it, yuck, ugh! they would probably make a new batch if possible. however, they're also used to eating what you have because it's all you have — sometimes the nice neighbor drops off her shitty mac n cheese and it's better than nothing, or you mix up salt and sugar for today's bread but you're almost out of flour — so they'll try to come up with a new use for the fucked-up batch where the weird texture works better, or just eat it themself. unpleasant, but better than serving it to someone else or wasting it! as for what they enjoy the most: lots of different textures mixed together, like a salad or deluxe burrito. and chewy things!

we know bonnie's favorite foods are pineapple, rice, and samosas. i'd say they love sweet things as most kids do, but they're really starting to prefer a little more complexity to their sweet treats, like the tart acidity of pineapple. rice is a great favorite bc it's a comforting plain staple, but it can also be used in such a variety of dishes, as the entire base or to add texture! bonnie likes spicy, sour, etc... bring on the flavor! honestly i don't think there's many ingredients they don't like, it's more often a case of that flavor doesn't go there, why would you do that??? maybe they haven't grown into bitter vegetables yet.

siffrin also likes the fish head, so they really enjoy a fun texture, and they like trying new foods as they travel — but when they don't like something they hate it. but they also hate to raise a fuss! so if they're eating with other people, they'll try to just eat around the offending element without making it too obvious that's what they're doing, and then claim they're just not that hungry. if they're by themself, they'll spit it out and rinse out their mouth and eat something crunchy. they don't like tomatoes, which is convenient bc they also don't like when sandwich bread gets soggy at all. they don't like mushrooms or caramalized onion. they enjoy super crunchy things and a nice thick soup!

we know malanga fritters are presumably his favorite. i think he likes mashed potatoes too. fish, of course, and hearty stews. he loves clam chowder! he used to be a big sweet pastries fan, but post-canon he pivots to fruity sweetness bc he can't stand caramel-marshmallow-candy sweetness anymore, and even fruit's on thin ice. most of his disliked foods are about the texture, not the taste. but he's also really sensitive to associations - if he coincidentally gets sick after eating something, eats something badly seasoned, etc, it'll put him off of that taste for a while even if he doesn't remember why.

iirc isabeau wasn't into the fish head. he likes simpler and more predictable foods! he gets yucked out by overripe fruits, but luckily it's usually pretty easy to tell if a fruit will be good. if he does accidentally bite into a bad one, he makes a face and swallows it as quickly as possible, and asks if anyone else wants the rest before he donates it to the local wildlife. he likes fluffy breads and nuts! he's the kind of guy to pack a stack of pb&js and an apple for lunch every day, just buying a different flavor of jam each time he runs out. he doesn't like anything too spicy or bitter! probably a cheese fiend too.

mirabelle isn't super particular about textures, but she is pickier about tastes; she doesn't like a couple common vegetables, like green beans and cooked carrots, and a couple common sauces, like mustard and marinara. she doesn't like nuts, but sometimes eats them anyway because they're so popular in dormont's house for some reason and she gets tired of refusing to eat them, and now she sorta hates them even more but also will absentmindedly stand there munching on them? in general if she doesn't like a food she's served she'll still try to eat enough to be polite, but sometimes can't manage it. some foods she loves are honey, olives, and apple pie. she does love plums too, but it's less that they're objectively her favorite taste and more that they're her thing. it's fun having a thing!

odile likes delicate textures like flaky pastries and watermelon, and doesn't like purely glop-based foods like oatmeal, though it's tolerable with a crunchy topping. she really enjoys a good meat, like a nice herby steak or buttery pork belly. she doesn't dislike sweets, but she doesn't indulge in them in often; when she does, she prefers lemony desserts or bitter chocolate. she finds most foods tolerable at least, and especially likes sharp flavors, like vinegar and vodka!

[lostthenfoundmyself]

So. I kept kosher for Passover for the first time.

Or…mostly kosher. I didn’t boil my water bottle and I ate fruit off a non-kosher plate once because I was super hungry. But the actual food I ate was kosher for Passover.

It was certainly an experience. I met a lot more Jewish students through the k4p meals at Hillel, which was nice. It felt really good to have an environment where I could speak honestly about certain things. And it definitely made me feel more connected to my Jewish heritage.

But also, lettuce and grapes are, sadly, not an actual dinner, and that was literally the only vegetarian k4p food available one night. I can also barely stand the texture of quinoa but ended up having to eat it pretty much every day, and had some GI problems from my diet. I ended up being really hungry quite frequently. Distraction-level hunger, not I’m-gonna-faint-level hunger, but it was overall very unpleasant.

I think that as long as I’m on a meal plan, I might just eat in the regular dining halls in the future and avoid things with chametz as an obvious ingredient. When I am a full adult with the ability to buy my own food, I would like to choose kosher for Passover foods, but relying on Hillel to happen to have healthy vegetarian k4p options is hard. Good vegetarian k4p options do exist, but are unlikely to be present in a very small meal plan for a limited number of students.

Still, regardless of what I do in the future, I’m glad I did this at least once. I learned more about Judaism, myself, and the Jewish community at my college, which was nice.