#Smith field bakery

[suchananewsblog]

Try bun butter jam from these Chennai bakeries that are more than 50-years-old

On TM Soundararajan Road in Mandaveli, there is a 70-year-old building with fading yellow paint and blue windows. On its facade, is a bright yellow signboard that says Verghese Bakery. Below, is a glass door and whenever it opens visitors are met with a gush of cold air swollen with the warm aroma of sugar. Displayed in refrigerated glass shelves are red velvet cakes, doughnuts and Japonaise…

[levisfavoriteteashop]

aot men and where they would take you for a date

with: levi ackerman, armin arlert, eren yeager, jean kirschtein and erwin smith

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levi ackerman

levi is the type of guy that dislikes being basic and takes you out to a movie theater or something like that, so i can totally picture him taking you on more classy dates. he would definitely take you to an art museum, or to a play, like a show on broadway. I also picture levi taking you to a christmas market, or to an adorable small bakery, where he can also share tea with you. lastly, he’s the type to invite you to a dance, a real evening dance. levi is definitely not the type to just hang out with you at his place, when he wants a date he puts everything in it. 

armin arlert 

armin is a total sweetheart, and it is not surprising that he likes nature dates. I picture that he’d take you out on a picnic by the beach or in a field of flowers during summer and spring. During fall, he’d go to a pumpkin patch with you and in winter he’d definitely go ice skating with you, even though he may not be the best at it. he absolutely loves spending hours with you out there in the cold, watching how your nose and cheeks grow rosy because of the cold, and he would warm you up by giving you light pecks on the tip of your nose

eren yeager

eren is probably a little basic, he would take you out to a movie theater or to a restaurant. however that doesn’t mean that he puts little effort in it, because he pays attention to what you like or not, and he wants to make sure that it’s the perfect date for you. For example, when you go to a restaurant, eren would harass the staff to make you your favourite meal, even if it’s not on the menu. this boy is also the type to take you to the movie theater to watch a scary movie, because he hopes that you’ll get scared and cling to him for comfort. It may be a classic thing to do on a date, but eren still manages to make it adorable for you. even when you simply hang out at his place, eren will organise many things for you to enjoy, like baking together, or even drawing, despite the fact that his skills are very questionable in that matter.

jean kirschtein

jean definitely wants a date where the two of you can have fun and spend time together. of course he’s always down to go to a fancy restaurant with you or to just watch movies and cuddle, but he also likes to be adventurous. I feel like he would take you to an amusement park, and you two would end up clinging to each other while going down a rollercoaster. jean is also the type of boy to spend his money on a fair game, where he could win you a big stuffed toy. finally, jean would probably take you stargazing in a field at night, which is his idea of a perfect calm date.

erwin smith

i can picture erwin taking you on dates where the only purpose is spoiling you. i mean that he could take you on a shopping spree, and buy you all of your expensive jewellery and clothes. erwin would also book a spa massage for the two of you to enjoy. he would also bring you gifts and flowers every time he’d take you out, because the man loves spoiling you. finally, if the two of you want to go on a more creative and interesting date, erwin would probably take you hiking, or he would teach you different new sports. during the winter, the man would gladly go sledding with you, or even just take a walk in a snowy forest.

[blis00ya]

eruhan family

my most ambitious modern au headcanon for my most precious rarepair, the lineup for their children was finalized 230911 bcs 9 kids soothe my eyes

the family tree: hange-smith

the parents: erwin smith and zoe hange

bit of a background: they were classmates during kindergarten and he immediately grew a crush on her, but he had to go back to the UK due to his family's business. they met again during college and immediately hit it off and started dating despite a 3-year age difference.

hailing from a big family, zoe wanted to recreate it; crushing on zoe so hard, erwin wanted it too.

he eventually inherited his parents' companies and she became a scientist in many fields.

irish twins: eren and armin

while eren was planned, armin was definitely NOT. the former was a honeymoon baby while the latter... well, blame erwin! they have a 1-year age gap.

zoe thought of their names because she wanted it to sound like erwin's name. eren's green eyes are from both his grandmothers' eyes which made him all the more adored while armin took all of erwin's features, making him erwin's favorite. zoe was the main caretaker of the two but they're undeniably daddy's boys.

eren will be a firefighter and armin the sole heir of erwin's businesses.

the golden child: sasha

sasha was born 5 years later, inheriting all of zoe's features which erwin absolutely loved, making him see that she does no wrong in his eyes.

the couple decided to concentrate on the irish twins before having her who was her brothers' dream come true since they had been wishing for a sister. she's spoiled rotten and eremin does not allow her to do any household chores despite teaching her how. zoe was her main caretaker but she's both a daddy and mommy's girl.

she'd grow to be a baker and open her bakeries.

the triplets: pieck, marcel, porco (PMP)

6 years after doting on the favorite child, the couple decided it's time for another, although this time, they didn't expect it to be triplets. while they were overjoyed, zoe's siblings were stressed for her but erwin's parents were excited for them.

pieck had her the hair color of zoe's mother, but both grandmothers and zoe's sister declared her as their favorite, also armin's because she's smart; marcel is eren's favorite because he's very diligent, quiet, and observant, ever the peacemaker; porco is sasha's favorite because he used to follow her around and obey her every request just to get her approval. erwin is their main caretaker but they're very much the babies of their eldest siblings.

pieck would grow to be a journalist, marcel a diplomat, and porco an air force member.

fraternal twins: zofia and falco (ZF)

after 4 years, the couple again didn't expect they'd have another set and zoe's OB wanted to smack the shit out of erwin.

erwin named zofia because he wanted something similar to zoe's name while armin named falco because he felt like it. the triplets joked that the ink went dry with the twins' hair (and the two absolutely believed it). falco adores eren the most while zofia idolizes armin so much even if he's always making her cry for the fun of it. erwin was their main caretaker but the triplets helped the most.

zofia would be an astrophysics major and falco a literature major.

youngest: ymir

the result of erwin's request to zoe 7 years later and she agreed because she also missed having a baby in the house.

eren named her and declared her the sister he didn't know he was missing, she's closest to him and the twins; her grandparents liken her to a cat because she's always curled up with her parents. shy and distant with the triplets, the couple were her main caretaker with the rest of the siblings helping out.

she'd grow to be a pediatrician.

[folatefangirl]

List of  Disorganized Enemies to Lovers AUs and Prompts for Your Ficcing Needs

Rival coffee shops (courtesy of The Bookening Group)

Rival Parisian bakeries (courtesy of @ichabodjane)

Rival county fair blue ribbon baking contestants

Rival pet walkers/pet sitters

Rival fashion designers

Rival gamers (twitch streamers? youtubers?)

Rival succulent plant insta accounts (or houseplant fandom in general)

Rival morticians

Rival dragon trainers

Rival knights in a tournament

Other obscure sports rivals

Rival academics in the same niche field who keep responding to each other’s publications with increasingly snarky commentary and shading each other at conferences 

Rival ghost hunters who use wildly different methods of technology to try to find ghosts and mutually think the other is the one scamming viewers

Same set of Stabby McStabby characters, just make one side Sith and the other side Jedi aka the Star Wars AU (courtesy of The Bookening Group)

Rival Jedi Masters who want the same apprentice

Rival smugglers (Star Wars or Firefly or other AU potential)

Rival spies (The Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU, basically)

Angel and Demon trying to stop the apocalypse (aka the Good Omens AU or possibly the Daughter of Smoke and Bone AU, depending on what kind of reader you are)

Superhero vs Supervillain

Sidekick vs Henchperson

Their friends told them to try out for Beatrice and Benedick in a “Much Ado About Nothing” production bc they thought it would be funny

Pirate rivals who accidentally meet while trying to score the same merchant ship

Pirate vs Pirate Catcher

Vampire vs Vampire Hunter

Pride and Prejudice AU

The classic dance fic: “We have to dance together for XYZ thing [an important event or competition] because there are literally no other options and we’re competent at dancing even if we dislike each other immensely.”

One knits, the other crochets; both frequent the same fiber crafting circles (@longsightmyth)

One cooks food crimes, the other insists on cooking to the letter of the recipe every time

“You snapped the pasta in half?!” 

“What, like it’s hard?”

Someone keeps leaving the shared gallon of milk/carton of eggs empty in the fridge after using it up (and they were roommates AU)

Your Preferred Tarot Deck And Reading Method Is Wrong And So Wrong IDK Even Where To Begin

We have each other blocked on our mains but not on our sideblogs for a mutually shared fandom and we are both aware of it

You put lipstick in my Valentino white bag?!?

My name is [Character Name]. You killed my [relative]. Prepare to die. (Sword duels!)

I moved in and I nominated myself for the HOA as a joke and accidentally got the position and now someone with years of personal beef with the HOA hates me by default

If you keep blasting party music until 2 AM, I will keep doing my yard work at exactly 7 AM the next morning, thank you very much!

Our pets are very good friends. We are not. Our pets do not care in the slightest.

Oh no, I understand that particular language just fine, I just wanted to keep hearing the hot goss and shade said about me within earshot

You described corsets incorrectly in one of your novels due to inadequate research and I, a fashion historian, am going to continuously write you essays on corsets and historical underthings in general until you fix your shit. You, on the other hand, are wondering if all my long winded letters mean I’m fixing to turn your skin into a coat. (Maybe I am!)

[sophiagrimes]

the monster of the week campaign that my friend is keeping takes place in 1992, on an island called point au faire! here is my character :)

courtney andrea miller - the snoop - she/her - 25

BACKSTORY:

lived in a town called little hammock on an island off the coast of louisiana called point au faire as a child. plenty of friends, close with a few cousins. they had all heard stories of ghosts and creatures lurking in the night, but they never thought much of it. it was just life. they were like 10.

courtney is 13 when her best friend, joanna, goes completely missing. last seen leaving the library alone one night and never made it home, no body ever located. no foul play suspected. courtney cannot accept this and goes around town to try and investigate on her own but people are obviously reluctant to give a 13 year old too much information. the most she discovers is that joanna was talking to herself the last time anybody saw her. when courtney is 14, barely a year later, her parents decide to move to dallas.

she lives a normal enough life from then on and goes to college in san antonio, then transfers to arizona. started off as a blogger and print journalist. does “get to know me’s” for local names such as small business owners, popular coaches, local record breakers, etc. she’s always kept a goal of getting into investigative journalism but people are reluctant to hire her. she begins to go by “andy” in her articles to be taken more seriously. slowly begins to become more popular in texas, and she meets her boyfriend mark. he’s 3 years older than her and his dream is to write movies. promises of money take her to hollywood very briefly, she rubs elbows with paparazzis, and gets into slightly invasive celebrity journalism for a pinch.

her dream is to SHOCK PEOPLE. shes always been unassuming, able to get close without being noticed unless she wants to be noticed. she likes putting out celeb gossip and being praised for her nosiness. this same dream and her childhood history drives her to stay updated on anything supernatural she hears about. she keeps this mostly secret, but if she can find time to talk to a man about a “ufo” he swears he saw or a woman who claims her bakery is haunted, she’ll do it. even if she’s laughed at for it.

she gets a call one day that her aunt denise passed away and allotted in the will that courtney would inherit her house. she agrees to go back south and deal with that and other estate affairs. having just been assigned two student mentees (glorified temp assistants, her boss says) and not wanting to lose the opportunity to be a good mentor, and having good money saved from past projects, she negotiates bringing the temps with her and insists they’ll do some kind of work when in town.

(the students are both 22, a girl named heather and a boy named zack. heather is a staunch skeptic of the paranormal. zack believes in all of it. they both HATE courtney’s boyfriend)

(mark thinks her job is silly, believes shes wasting her time with celebs and now with ghosts. he wants to get married but she keeps coming up with reasons not to.)

nobody on the island calls her andy, she’s just courtney. she has a few old friends who still live in town and one of her distant cousins, a man her age named steven, is also there. she ropes him into helping go through denise’s house even tho he initially refused to do so. he’s denise’s stepson. her assistants fumble when remembering to call her courtney and it makes other hunters roll their eyes from time to time.

from her aunt’s house she takes a long haired old cat named zoë, a smith & wesson revolver, and a pendulum in a dusty velvet bag. having also brought a brand new digital camcorder, a film camera, a tape recorder, and electromagnetic field detector (from zack), she’s confident she can unlock some mysteries and possibly get her big break in her old hometown.

MORE DETAILS:

- you can talk to her for 10 minutes, lovely conversation, you think she’s so nice… then she walks away and you realize you didnt really learn anything about her. she had YOU talking and telling her stuff the whole time.

- shes afraid of heights

- despite being left the house, her and her assistants are staying in a motel in town

- courtney’s parents had a second child when she was 16, a girl named anna. she doesn’t see her sister much besides holidays & birthdays but does love her lots. slightly resentful of the fact that they didnt give her a sister when she was younger and needed somebody to be close with during the move, she feels slightly replaced as a child because she’s so much older, but keeps this to herself and says its fine shes a grownup its fine

[reasoningdaily]

Cookbook author Klancy Miller’s culinary journey didn’t originally involve food writing. Her story started in Paris, where she attended school to specialize in baking, with dreams of opening a French bakery upon her return to the States. Miller quickly realized, however, that running her own shop wouldn’t be sustainable for her—the work is often thankless, and the hours are long and hard. She described herself as being “slow in the kitchen” and unlikely to fare well in a fast-paced environment like a restaurant. So she transitioned to food writing and recipe development, eventually publishing her first cookbook, Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself, in 2016.

“Years later, I was approached to do an editorial piece on Black women in food, and it ended up not working out,” Miller told me over the phone. “But I got really interested in it, because I started doing a lot of research and meeting a lot of people doing amazing things that I wasn’t aware of. We work for decades—or, you could say, centuries—yet we aren’t the ones in the spotlight. I didn’t know of many Black women who were my peers or who came before me, so there was kind of a curiosity there. A friend encouraged me to continue that work, which became the beginning of For the Culture, the magazine.”

The magazine answered a clear need in the world of food media, and it quickly became a hit. For the Culture, the book, out this week from Harvest, is an extension of Miller’s previous editorial feat and a road map detailing the journeys and experiences of Black women and femmes in food. It’s a huge topic: Black women have shaped cuisine in America and all over the world, and it’s important that the nuances of their varied histories are presented with care.

A narrative-led cookbook, For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes represents a gold mine of Black women and femmes across generations and disciplines that center food and drink. The book begins with glowing profiles of our culinary matriarchs, pioneers such as Leah Chase, Edna Lewis, B. Smith, and Lena Richard—the first Black woman to have her own televised cooking show, predating Julia Child. Each of these women laid the foundation for those who came after them, in various ways.

“I believe representation really does matter,” Miller says. “And I believe when you see someone that looks like you, it opens your eyes to what your options are. When you see someone that looks like you doing amazing work in any field, it expands your conscious set of possibilities. If you’re already in the field—in this case it’s culinary and hospitality—you can be a chef. You can also be a food writer. You can also be a farmer. You can also be a sommelier. You can also be an entrepreneur in other ways in the culinary field, and that’s something that I didn’t know when I went to culinary school.”

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The robust roster of contributors to the book include farmer and educator Leah Penniman; chef, writer, and TV host Sophia Roe; wine consultant and journalist Julia Coney; author and Cook’s Country editor in chief Toni Tipton-Martin; pastry chef and Bakers Against Racism founder Paola Velez; and many, many more active participants and leaders from diverse food disciplines. In For the Culture, we learn about what called them to their work, what challenges them, and what they love to eat and drink. In addition to the recipes they’ve contributed, which range from calypso persimmon baked chicken wings to watermelon poke, they offer honest conversation about mental health, money, and working conditions, all invaluable lessons as they pertain to Black women and femmes in creative fields.

“I’m a Capricorn, so I’m always thinking about money,” Miller says. “I think about other things like humanity, too. But I live in New York City, and I’m constantly like, How is everyone affording things? How is everyone affording life? I don’t think everyone has to talk about their salary all the time, because that information isn't useful to everyone, but it is useful for me as a person who writes cookbooks to share with my colleagues what I got on this deal, or what this magazine paid me to develop recipes.”

She continues: “In terms of mental health, the hospitality industry is pretty brutal. It’s a hard field. You work a lot, and it often doesn’t pay as well as it should. Some people have financially abundant careers in hospitality, but it’s a rough business. The hours are intense, the workplace is sometimes odd or difficult, so I just wanted to know how people take care of themselves, especially Black women.”

For the Culture is a reminder that the histories and contributions of Black women go further back than we might think. It is an homage to our culinary predecessors, a spotlight for our current disruptors, and a rich resource for the next generation of Black women and femmes in the space.

“The world is your oyster,” Miller says. “You can have a vision, and that vision is possible. You can make an imprint on the world through your very specific experience. You can bring that to the world through food.”

For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes by Klancy Miller (Harvest, Hardcover)

[dcjournal]

I'm back!

After a long break, I'm ready and able to continue posting my Decades Legacy Challenge. As a refresher, I drew up a family tree for the Bakers and I recapped some life stories from their Sims lives. check it out below the cut!

Ed Baker worked the fields around his house in the countryside of Windenburg along with his wife Christine. He then became a factory worker and a blacksmith. When the Great War broke out he was drafted immediately and he died in the battlefield in 1914.

Christine Baker was a housewife and mother to three children: Kyra, Jeffrey and John. She started to suffer from various ailments and illnesses after the start of her second pregnancy. She progressively faded away until her death in 1918.

In 1918 at just sixteen years old, the youngest of Generation One, John Baker was also drafted in the Great War and died in 1918.

Before moving on to the Heir of Generation One, here's the status of Kyra's branch of the family.

Kyra was often sick as a child and, as a result of missing many school days, she became a shy teenager. Her mother Christine was her role model and she aspired to have her own family one day. She was courted by the Sheriff's son, Callum Jameson, but he sadly died in the Great War. To manage her grief she often visited the Church of the Watcher, where she got to know Nathaniel Nott.

Nathaniel was the Windenburg Vicar who married Kyra Baker. Together they had three children: Maximus, Elmer and Iris.

Maximus was a very clever boy who did well in school. He studied Physics at Britechster University, where he met his future wife Hannah. Following his graduation he started working as a researcher in Britechester and later he had his first child, Linda.

Elmer was an active child who did very well at sports in school so after graduation he pursued a career in athletics.

Iris was the youngest child and so she was pampered a lot. She did fairly well in school and she was very popular among the boys. She died in a freak accident at home at just twenty years old.

Now let's take a look at the Heir from Generation One and his family.

Jeffrey was a well-behaved a child. As a pre-teen he had a crush on an older girl, Niamh Smith. She was part of an upper-class family who forced Jeffrey to break things off.

Along with his brother John, he was drafted to the Great War. He was lucky to come back alive even if with an injured leg.

He married Lily, an artistic girl from the Windenburg Orphanage, and found a gardening job in Newcrest. The couple moved there and they had two children: Wesley and Madison.

Jeffrey started going to the local Speakeazy with his employer, Mr Tief. He had a one-night stand with one of the performers and his cheating streak unfortunately didn't end here. After the 1929 Crash he started working for the Lorden family and pursued an affair with the lady of the household, Diana.

Lily found out about the affair through a friend and kicked him out of their Newcrest house. Jeffrey moved back to Windenburg alone. He lived there until his death.

After moving to Newcrest, Lily secretly joined a Women's Right Society, which allowed her to network with many wealthy women. When her marriage ended, she was hired to work at the Willow Creek Art Gallery and she moved there with her children.

When the owner of the gallery Mr Priest passed away, she inherited and manages it with the help of a patron, Janine Tief.

Wesley is the Heir of Generation Two and first born to Jeffrey and Lily. He was a decent student and so he was permitted to attend High School. As a result of their parent's divorce he started stress-eating. He got a job at the Widowshill Bakery in Willow Creek and found out that he enjoyed the work. He developed a bond with the owner Mrs Munshill who left him the shop after her death.

At the same time, a while after graduation Wesley married his sweetheart Presley, whom he met right after moving to Willow Creek.

Presley lost her mother when she was little and her father towards the end of high school. Luckily, her father was a good business man so he left her a house and some savings. She also had older siblings, whom she lost contact with after they got married and before her father's passing. She worked as a secretary after graduating and then as a baker with her husband.

Madison is Wesley's younger sister. She was raised mostly by her mother after her parent's divorce. She started to reconnect with her father Jeffrey towards the end of his life, when she was a teenager.

Madison got on really well with her cousin Iris Nott. After the move to Willow Creek, she also became best friends with a school mate, Ellinor Rainhart. As a teenager, she starts dating a boy from Windenburg, whom she met during a football game at her school. Their relationship is kept secret because Allen Smith is Iris's cousin from the Nott side of the family. Madison and Allen are afraid their family won't approve and they'll be forced to split up.

And that's all for now!

Next post is going to show my 1950s gameplay. It mainly follows the Bakers' family life but we'll hear from their Nott cousins too.

[dknuth]

Fountains Abbey

We left The Traddock, our hotel in the village of Austwick in the Yorkshire Dales.

We headed to The White Swan in Pickering, in The Moors. It was less than three hours of driving, but the driving here can be very tiring. The Roman practice of straight roads didn't catch on with the Britons. The straight sections of road are rare and short. Most of the time it's continuous curves. That's not bad on a road with two full lanes, but many roads are just one lane or a series of widening and narrowing between one and two lanes. So not only are you navigating around continuous curves, but you are also watching for oncoming cars in those curves. The result is you see almost nothing beyond the road. There could have been herds of elephants in the fields and I wouldn't have seen them.

We made one stop along the way at Fountains Abbey, one of the huge abbeys that was closed by Henry VIII. The scale of these large abbeys is amazing. Fountains was a self-contained institution with their own flocks of sheep and cattle, fields of grain, gardens, flour mill, brewery, bakery, iron mine, foundry and smith, infirmary, stone masons, and more. It was really a pre-industrial corporation.

In fact, the Abbey owned port facilities and exported their production widely.

When they were taken by the government, they were stripped of valuables, which meant all gold and silver church articles, but also the lead roofing, glass and lead from windows, etc. Without the lead covering the roof, it didn't take long for the timber roofs to fail followed by the rest of the structures.

The remaining ruins give an idea of the size of Fountains, but the outlying properties and buildings are not visible to visitors today.

As you can see the lovely sunny day with scattered puff clouds got darker as our visit progressed. It was quite warm when we arrived and I ditched the long-sleeve shirt in the car. At the end of the visit, just the T-shirt was very cool.

I had visited Yorkshire and Fountains Abbey 30+ years ago while taking my parents on a trip. Returning had been a goal for a long time, as I was very impressed. While driving and sightseeing here is hard now, shepparding elderly parents at the same time, makes it almost impossible to really see anything.

Later wealthy owners of the property turned the grounds into decorative gardens, including an extensive water garden.

I remain fascinated at the scale of the operations of a place like Fountains Abbey and I am amazed at the idea of taking it over closing it all down and just stripping it of its valuables. Clearly, it had been a hugely successful operation and I would love to learn about how the closing of it worked. What was the effect on the local population, many of whom must have worked there? The brothers were pensioned off, which created an ongoing expense, while the income ended, other than taxes. Much of the land went to the wealthy and powerful and how much tax did they really pay.

It seems as if the move was a one-time boon for the crown, but not much of a long-term benefit.

This would be an interesting economics study for someone.

After another hour+ drive, we got to our hotel in Pickering about 5:30.

[voldemorts-tap-shoes]

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the one and only @cheesyficwriter! I hope you enjoy this little tribute to Find Me Under the Waterfall (and that Ron’s food choices make you as hungry as your fics make us!)

Making Plans

The words on the screen begin to blur as Ron scrolls aimlessly through what feels like thousands of menu options. His eyes skim over words like crudités, julienne, marmalade, reading without absorbing any of it.

He loves food—has made a career out of it, even—and somehow he can’t choose the most important meal of his life.

It makes sense for him to spearhead the catering efforts for their wedding, while Hermione puts her own expertise as a travel writer to good use planning their honeymoon. But the options are so vast, so varied, he’s having trouble choosing. The rioja braised short rib wonton sounds incredible, but he’s also intrigued by the lobster and Granny Smith apple appetizer—topped with avocado mousse and toasted fennel seed on cucumbers—and he knows Hermione would love the crispy brie drizzled in pear chutney. How is he ever supposed to decide when it all sounds so good?

It’s perfectly normal to hire four caterers for one wedding, right?

An ad blinks across the screen for a local bakery, and Ron shuts his laptop with a groan as he realizes he hasn’t even begun to think about the cake.

The front door opens and closes with a bang, and Hermione’s voice rings out through the tiny flat. Ron calls back a greeting, listening to the rustle of grocery sacks as she makes her way through the kitchen toward the spare room they both use as an office when they’re not traveling. Which, most of the time, they are. Fortunately, ever since Ron’s blog took off, they’ve been able to travel together most of the time.

“Hi, love.” Hermione breezes into the office, arms now empty, and settles into his lap with a kiss, lightening his mood immediately. “How was your day?”

“Oh, it was…fine.” Ron forces a smile; he doesn’t want to tell her how difficult a time he’s having with what should be the easiest task of the wedding planning, at least for him. But of course, she sees right through his facade.

Her delicate fingers thread into the hair curling around his ear as she frowns at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. Just having a hard time deciding on a caterer.”

Hermione huffs a laugh. “Tell me about it. I’ve looked at about fifty resorts, it seems, and not one of them is quite right for our honeymoon.”

He shouldn’t interfere—Hermione has her task, and he has his—but the answer seems so simple that he blurts it without thinking. “Why don’t we just go back to Costa Rica?”

“Costa Rica?” Hermione repeats, her brow furrowing. “Well, I haven’t even really looked there, but I suppose there must be other resorts…” She leans backwards in an attempt to reach for the colorful brochures that are scattered about her desk, but Ron tugs her attention back to him.

“I mean, let’s go back to Pura Vida. It’s where we met…seems appropriate, doesn’t it? Besides, we had our own rooms last time. I reckon we’re in need of a do-over and a thorough examination of the honeymoon suite.”

“You don’t want to go somewhere new, somewhere we’ve never been?”

“Not necessarily. Besides, if we go somewhere we’ve already been, there's less reason to leave the room.” Ron shoots Hermione an exaggerated wink, and her laughter fills the office.

“Okay,” she agrees. “Pura Vida. I’ll call them tomorrow.” She seals the statement with a kiss before turning to his laptop. “Now what are our options here?”

Ron sighs. “Endless.”

“Let’s see about that.” Hermione pulls the computer onto her lap, and Ron watches her click back and forth across the pages of menus he has open. After only a moment, she gives a definitive tap to the screen. “This one.”

Ron looks at the menu over her shoulder. It was definitely one of his contenders, but he had seen nothing to narrow down the field. Every item on the menu looks just as delectable as the next caterer, and the next.

“Why? How?”

Hermione shrugs. “This one has the most vegetarian options for Audrey.”

Ron shakes his head in disbelief. “You’re amazing, you are.”

“We make a good team,” Hermione volleys back, grinning as she leans in for another kiss that Ron returns eagerly. “We should try swapping tasks again. I’ll pick out the cake, and you decide on bridesmaids’ dresses?”

Ron laughs and kisses her again. “Let’s quit while we’re ahead.”

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Read in January 2022

I’ve had a pretty good start to the year - aided by the fact I spent two weeks with my siblings with nothing to do but read 😅 I enjoyed most of my reads and found a few new favourites but I seem to have slid into a reading slump this last week which doesn’t bode well for February - but we’ll see what happens!

Series reads:   The Veronica Speedwell Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn

A Curious Beginning - 4/5

A Perilous Undertaking - 4/5

A Treacherous Curse - 4/5

A Dangerous Collaboration - 4/5

A Murderous Relation - 3/5

An Unexpected Peril - 4/5

Backlog Books:

What They Don’t Know by Nicole Maggi - 5/5

Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz - 4/5

Windfall by Jennifer E Smith - 3/5

Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E Smith - 3/5

Being Miss Nobody by Tamsin Winter - 4/5

Other Reads:

The Heartbreak Bakery by AR Capetta - 5/5

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - 5/5

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger - 3/5

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire - 5/5

Court of Bitter Thorn by Kay L Moody - 1/5

[notwiselybuttoowell]

We're Stewards of Our Land: The Rise of Female Farmers

'I was always fascinated by getting things out of the ground’

Sinead Fenton

Grows vegetables and edible flowers at Aweside Farm, East Sussex

Sinead Fenton is on an early lunch break, hiding from the sun. “It’s ridiculously intense, so I think we’re going to call it a day and crack back on in the evening,” she says. Fenton and her partner, Adam Smith, have been putting in beds and getting ahead on groundwork for next year. This year, there will be no commercial crops on the couple’s 4.5-acre plot.

They signed the papers on their farm last November and moved onto the land in March. Around the time they needed to make decisions about how they’d manage their first harvest, lockdown happened. With restaurants and florists – their main clients – out of action for the foreseeable future, they made the decision not to sow seeds but concentrate on opening up the land. “We were going to do it over three or four years, so we’re squeezing three years of work into this year, so we can focus on growing next year,” Fenton says.

She and Smith cut their scythes at Audacious Veg, a 0.1-acre plot in Hainault, at the end of the Central Line between Essex and London. Shortly after volunteering at the allotment in 2017, they heard the project was about to finish: “Naively, with about three weeks’ worth of growing experience, we decided that we’d take it on and get the produce to chefs.”

Smith worked in insurance accounting and while Fenton most recently worked in software and food policy, her background was in geology. “I came at farming from an activist point of view,” she says. “I was always fascinated by getting things out of the ground, but that is a destructive industry. Farming is nicer because I can do something for the system instead of taking everything from it.”

There was a lot of insecurity around the project. Land is contentious, especially in London, and land law is difficult and expensive to negotiate for those with no farming background. “Adam and I are both from cities – I’m from London, he’s from Essex. We’re from low-income families, and we had no access to farms growing up,” Fenton explains. “It’s basically impossible to get on the land, because it’s so expensive, or passed down through generations.”

They got the land for Aweside through the Ecological Land Co-op, which buys fields designated by Defra as only being good for arable crops, then splits them up to create smallholdings. Aweside is neighbours with a veg-box scheme, and waiting for others who’ll transform what once was a 20-acre maize field into a cluster of small farms rich with biodiversity. Now Fenton and Smith have a 150-year lease, and no worries that what they create will be taken away.

It’s not yet a permanent home. Fenton says they’ll be living in a caravan for a few years: “Another part of land law in the UK that makes land inaccessible is that if you want to live on your land you have to go through five years of proving your business is profitable, viable and that there is a functional need for you to live there.” Having livestock is an easy way to pass the test, but because Aweside is a vegan farm, Fenton and Smith need to cultivate and show they use every bit of plot.

It’s daunting but Fenton is excited about having a blank slate to work with. “There’s so much more to food than what supermarkets tell us to eat,” she says, explaining that they’ll grow varieties at risk of extinction, or that aren’t commonly grown in a mass market food system. “Seed diversity and plant genetics are serious issues.”

The three principles the couple work to are: more flowers, more trees, thriving soil. They’re working no-dig, putting compost directly on the ground and letting the soil life mix everything over time. They’re pesticide-free and are counting on the fact that the more diversity they have in the system, especially with a high proportion of flowers to pollinators and insects, the fewer problems they’ll face.

“Socially, economically and environmentally, something needs to change. Things have been done the same way by the same people for a long time,” says Fenton of the farming industry’s need for greater diversity. “I learned to grow on an allotment site where there are lots of different things growing at once. Bringing that approach into sites like this is needed – the industry needs it to keep itself relevant.”

'I'm hoping this will be seen as quite a cool career… even if it’s not’

Abi Aspen Glencross

Head of grains at Duchess Farms, Hertfordshire

It was, Abi Aspen Glencross was well aware, an odd, even inopportune time to launch a crowdfunding campaign. In June, with the country still locked down, Duchess Farms asked for support to buy dehulling, cleaning and milling equipment. The Hertfordshire farm needed about £16,000, and the money would go towards boosting the production of ancient and heritage grains for making flour.

“A lot of crowdfunders have been for charity or ‘please keep our restaurant open’,” says the 28-year-old Glencross, head of grains – or “senior flour nerd” – at Duchess Farms since 2019. “We felt a bit bad, but we lost a lot of our business overnight when all the restaurants closed and we were like: ‘God, we hope we don’t go under.’ It was quite a scary time for everyone.”

Still, if we have learned one thing from Covid-19, when times are hard, British people get baking. Perhaps inspired by countrywide shortages of flour, maybe invigorated by a new interest in left-field, older wheats such as einkorn and emmer, Duchess Farms sprinted to its target. “We’ve just done some ordering of equipment this morning,” says Aspen, when we speak in July. “It’s been a tough time for everyone but it has cascaded into some beautiful things and we’re just so thankful.”

Glencross’s path to farming was circuitous. She studied chemical engineering, but while her classmates were heading off for jobs at ExxonMobil and Procter & Gamble, she was more of “a hippy at heart”. She decided she wanted to learn more about soil and its role in food production. This led her to Blue Hill Stone Barns, Dan Barber’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurant in the Hudson Valley, north of New York. She spent four months working on the farm and in the bakery, receiving a crash course in ancient grains – an obsession of Barber’s. But the moment Glencross knew she herself wanted to farm came in 2016 in a field in Hertfordshire. She was with John Cherry, who was showing her around Weston Park Farms, 2,500 acres of land he maintains with minimal fertiliser use and zero tillage.

“We were walking around the fields of wheat and I just said: ‘Where does all this go? There’s so much of it,’” Glencross says. “And John goes: ‘Oh probably for animal feed. It’s a consistent market, they’ll take it, it’s easy, even if we don’t earn that much money from it.’ And I was like: ‘This is crazy.’ And that was the beginning of me getting on this grain bender because I was like: ‘Why can’t we grow these grains organically and not feed them to animals?’ So I realised I’d have to start a business, because there were not very many people doing that.”

Heritage grains can be harder to produce in vast quantities – einkorn, especially, is “a bitch to harvest” – but they do have advantages over conventional wheats. They typically have deep roots and grow tall, which means they shade out weeds and do not require chemical sprays. The end product is more nutritious and then there’s the taste. Since 2017, Glencross has run a roving supper club called the Sustainable Food Story with Sadhbh Moore, and Duchess Farms has worked closely with bakeries such as E5 Bakehouse in east London and Gail’s, and restaurants including Doug McMaster’s Silo. “Heritage grains are delicious: when you stop growing for yield and you start growing for quality the flavour is insane,” says Glencross.

Learning to farm from scratch has not been straightforward, but you sense that’s a big part of the appeal for Glencross. “There’s all these decisions the farmer makes throughout the year and why he sprays and why he doesn’t,” she says. “You realise that most people get up, sit at a computer all day and if they press the wrong button, they just delete it. When you’re a farmer, you plant at the wrong time of year and tomorrow it washes away your whole crop.”

Glencross acknowledges that it is almost unprecedented for women to run arable farms. She struggles to name a single other example in the UK. She also notes wryly that men dominate all the farming conferences, saying: “They have a wife but it’s always the men who have written the book and given the presentation.”

With more role models, Glencross hopes things will change. “I’m not cool in any way, but I’m a reasonably young lady,” she says, laughing. “And so when people say: ‘What do you do? Oh, you’re a farmer. Maybe I could do that …’ So I’m hoping that it might become seen as quite a desirable, almost cool career.” A pause: “Even if it’s very much not cool.” 

[things-that-make-me-slytherin]

Non-Typical Slytherins

So I was taking a break from study, going through my inbox to see if I had already answered anything sitting there and I saw quite a few asks/submissions where my lovely little snakes are doubting themselves as Slytherins bc of their personality, star sign, patronuses, MBTI type, Ilvermorny house etc

The stereotypical Slytherins, the images that pop into peoples heads when they think of what a Slytherin is, is actually the minority of Slytherins in my opinion.

Take me for example, I am a Slytherin, Pisces, Pukwudgie, have a very strong sense of justice, morals, ethics. I am very caring, my jobs have usually been centred around helping people. In my pharmacy retail jobs my goal was to help people, when they came in complaining of stress related symptoms I would talk to them about fixing/managing their symptoms such as stress levels, acne/skin problems, trouble sleeping, self care - attacking the root of the problem while dealing with the symptoms. As a legal assistant I was driven by wanting to help people out with something that is usually extremely stressful and something out of their field of knowledge. Lawyers have a saying that we aren’t just our clients legal advocate, but their therapist and support person all at once.

On the other hand I am also very judgemental (I’m working on it), sassy, bitchy can be an asshole. It’s kind of like saying you can only like one fashion style or one type of cuisine. Very rarely do people fit into neat little boxes.

BUT NO ONE CAN TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE OR ARE NOT, so kindly tell them to go sit on a cactus.

People seem to forget that we aren’t necessarily what our house values are, that’s more Ilvermorny. We are sorted into our houses based primarily off what we value or aspire to be, that doesn’t mean that we automatically are those traits. It also doesn’t mean that we are all of our house traits. Because Crabbe and Goyle never came across as ambitious or cunning. 

Furthermore, these traits and values aren’t going to come across in the same way. Let’s take two non Slytherins in the HP world for example; my lovely Newt Scamander and Jacob Kowalski. Jacob’s ambition is to open up a bakery, Newt’s ambition is to save and care for magical creatures. They are completely different, someone’s greatest ambition could be to start a family, or graduate from school whereas another’s greatest ambition could be to get into politics, or medicine to develop a cure for some disease. Looking at these ambitions, you automatically place them along a scale at different places. But they are all ambitions.

For example, we can admire fraternity and traditionalism but these values don’t always mesh with others such as self-preservation or ambition.

What we value does however play a role in determining how we behave and make choices.

Most overlook that all of the Hogwarts houses are loyal, it just presents in different ways:

Gryffindors: loyal to house and ideals and morals

Ravenclaws: loyal to their passions, facts and hubris

Hufflepuffs: loyal to those they choose, loyal to their morals and ethics

Slytherins: loyal to their house and family, chosen or birth, loyal to themselves

Slytherins aren’t all massive assholes/bitches, moody and snarky and sassy. Just like Hufflepuffs aren’t all innocent little cinnamon rolls and can be just as snarky, moody and bitchy as anyone. Zacharias Smith anyone??? Gryffindors are not always chivalrous, brave and righteous - Peter Pettigrew. Ravenclaws aren’t all uptight swots who only care about knowledge or adhering to one school of thought, Luna Lovegood.

Slytherins have their own morals, ethic codes. We actually have a strong sense of fairness and sense of honour. It just may not marry up with other peoples, which is normal as a human being. We also tend to have the ability to set aside our own beliefs if it is in the way of what is right or needs to be done.

A lot of people tend to forget that others are just as complex and multi-faceted as they themselves are, which means that they tend to say “thats not right they dont go together” when they come across something that doesn't fit their own perception, which unless has been given thought is usually very shallow and takes in popular opinion and stereotypes.

They also forget that JK Rowling has her own biases which show in her writing. They also forget that it didn’t suit her story to show depth and diversity in the four houses. The stereotypes are a literary device.

So please be your unique selfs, fuck what others say and what the stereotypes are. You don’t have to act like others who fall under some same “label” as you, you were sorted into whichever house for a reason. Be a pastel loving, soft little cinnamon roll Slytherin or a badass bad bitch or whatever you choose to be. It doesn’t make you any more or any less of a Slytherin (Or Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor or what have you.)

You are wonderful as you are, there is no other who can be who you are ad life would be incredibly boring if we were all the same.

[imjusthereforbatfam]

Never-Ending Encore, Chapter 1

Summary/Intro: Okay. Ignoring all the death and dying, Eden Smith is a fairly normal person. So maybe not everyone grows up on a farm and gains a new “cousin” every few years, and— I mean, yeah, most people don’t have a mother who definitely used to kill people for a living, or have a father who walked out when they refused to become a superhero, or ran away to Gotham without telling anyone they know, or— or— Okay, FINE! Maybe Eden ISN'T entirely normal. Can’t you just let her eat her cookies and die a couple times in peace? Sheesh! 

Pairing: Jason Todd/Red Hood x OC

It’s supposed to be a little silly mixed with a little sad so just go into it with that in mind plz. Hopefully it’s not GOD AWFUL.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Chapter One:

It was, for once, a quiet night in Eden’s apartment. Her upstairs neighbors weren’t hosting an orgy or starting World War 3, the baby downstairs wasn’t crying bloody murder, and her next-door-neighbor wasn’t screaming at the TV.

Out on the street, it was equally quiet. Sure, a car alarm had gone off a few minutes ago, but there was no drunken shouting. No random gunshots, no gratuitous explosions in the distance. In fact, for what must’ve been the first night since she’d moved there, the city of Gotham actually seemed at ease.

Maybe that should’ve put Eden on edge. Maybe it was some kind of warning, a calm before an inevitable storm. But it was the first sense of peace she'd felt in months. She couldn't just ignore it. Instead of curling up on her bed with her headphones full blast, questioning her life choices, she sat out on the fire escape and enjoyed the calm night.

Her apartment was situated just high enough to peek over the rooftops of most of the neighboring buildings. The outline of Gotham’s tallest skyscrapers stood in the distance and car lights twinkled on the nearby highway like stars. Out here, a thick stench of smog and rotting trash usually choked the air, but tonight a soft breeze blew it away. A soft mixture of brick, iron, the herbs she was growing, and her freshly baked cookies took its place.

If she closed her eyes and tried – really, really tried – it almost felt like being back home.

The thick blanket wrapped around her could just as easily be protecting her from splinters on the front porch. The distant sound of cars could be a gust of wind blowing through the trees or the horses playing in the field. Her freshly baked snickerdoodles couldn’t be Mama’s – nobody’s cookies ever tasted as good as Mama’s – but Eden could at least pretend she’d made them at their small bakery at the edge of the road.

She ate another, savoring the warm, chewy center and trying not to focus on the difference in taste. She was baking most of their goods by heart by the time she was ten years old. Blindfold her, tie one hand behind her back, and Eden could still probably make anything on the menu without much trouble. But for some reason, here… things didn’t taste the way they were supposed to.

They still tasted good, she assured herself as she took another bite. It was probably just the store-bought ingredients she’d had to settle for. Or the city water. Or that they made her miss home.

Eden frowned. She quickly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, pushing the idea away. She had more important things to worry about right now than cookies and tastes. Like her newest job.

She'd landed a new role just last week and the sooner she could be off-script, the happier her director would be. She only spoke in three scenes of this show, but that was two more than the previous one and she was on-stage for several more. The better she did, the better her referrals would be. The better the referrals, the more work she would get, and the closer she would be to getting bigger roles. When she got bigger roles, she’d get even better referrals, which would land her even bigger roles, and so on and so forth until she could afford an apartment in a, uh… less interesting part of Gotham.

Even in this hotbox-of-crime neighborhood, her studio apartment somehow cost more than twice the two-bedroom house Kit and her boyfriend were renting back home. And the insurance fees in Gotham? Outrageous. But sadly necessary considering all the nutzo shenanigans that went down in the city. As much as it would kill her to work in an office, those insurance companies probably made some serious bank, so getting a “real job” at one at some point wasn’t totally off the table.

Eden huffed, unclipping her reading light to turn the page of the script and attaching it again. She had a good thing going now, but she was more than aware it was borrowed time.

Eventually, Frank's money would run out. Eventually, she’d need to call home and explain herself. Eventually eventually, she’d have to actually go home. She’d have to face everyone’s feelings of hurt and betrayal, including her mother’s, which would most certainly be laced with Louanne Smith's particularly frightening brand of ice-cold wrath. Eden would also probably get mugged or murdered in this insane city at least twice and have to listen to everyone's “I told you so"s.

But that wasn’t right now. Right now, Eden had it okay.

She had a small, shitty apartment in a huge, shitty city where she would most certainly die if she wasn’t careful, but at least it was her own place. No overbearing mother always staring over her shoulder, no runaways taking her bed for the night, no rag-tag group of semi-siblings gobbling up her time and space and arguing house rules when she fought back. This was her space, damn it, and she didn’t have to share it with anybody unless she wanted to! Not that she’d want anyone else coming to such a colorful part of Gotham in the first place, but still! It was hers.

And nobody here knew her. There was no history she had to take into account every time she stepped outside; no old rivalries or mishaps that mapped out which side of town she was and wasn’t safe on. In Gotham, you just plain old weren’t safe no matter who you were, where you were, or what you’d done. Eden had learned that quick. She almost preferred it some ways. It was easier than the small-town, passive-aggressive grudges and back-stabbings she'd grown up around.

Not to mention she had Gotham’s robust, ever-growing performance industry at her disposal. Despite all the insanity and crime that surrounded them – or, perhaps, because it surrounded them – the wealthy here demanded a constant stream of grand symphonies, operas, ballets, and so forth to distract them. Performers in Gotham were paid better than anywhere else in America. They had to be. With how often performances were interrupted by madmen and villains here, it had to be worth the risk.

For Eden, that risk wasn't something she really needed to consider. If something happened, she'd be fine. She always was. She was "lucky" like that.

And besides, fewer people willing to risk getting shot or blown up in the middle of a performance meant fewer people at auditions! Getting to be on stage, getting to follow her dreams... That was why Eden had left the farm in the first place. And Gotham was the best place for her to achieve those dreams as quickly as possible. So things were okay.

Really! Even if she was a little homesick, even if this dirty town was too crowded and too crazy, even if guilt hung over her like a knife... things were okay.

In fact, at this exact moment – in the strange but welcomed quiet of the night, practicing what she loved, eating still-warm cookies out in the open air – things felt better than okay. Things for once, actually, genuinely, felt good.

Then, a shadow flickered over her.

Eden froze.

Her free hand hovered over the plate of cookies. She’d been turning in such a way, leaning over the stair she was sitting on to reach the plate, that all her weight was now pushing into her toes. It was a hard position to hold without falling over. Blinding, too. Her head was cast down, facing the cookies and not at all in the direction of the shadow.

She wanted to move. Just enough to right herself and let her look somewhere beyond the metal grating underneath her. But Eden could practically hear Mr. Monroe, her old coach, scolding her.

“Hold position!” he’d say. Then, after noticing her shaking knees, he would trill, “I said hold, Eden! Keep your limbs still. Breathe carefully. I don’t want to see a single sign of life. In this moment, you are a prop. You are the scenery!”

The fire escape gave a small, almost unnoticeable shake as something dropped near her. Eden's limbs jerked instinctively. She shut her eyes, silently cursing, hoping it was just a raccoon.

Did Gotham even have raccoons? Eden hoped very much that they had raccoons. Giant, mutant raccoons that could cast large shadows and make fire escapes shake when they landed.

“You planning on staying like that all night or…?” a distorted voice asked.

Heartbreaking News: Gotham City does not have mutant raccoons.

---

Chapter 2

[skullrock]

the partners | Steve x Reader

chapter one: please, please, please, let me get what I want 

series summary: you and Steve are police apprentices at Hawkins Police Station in the fall of 1986. you get along famously, but there’s something Steve is hiding, and there is an unknown evil lurking in Hawkins. [friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff]

chapter summary: Steve finally agrees to hang out outside of work. 

warnings: swearing, 80s music 

word count: 2.4k

a/n: this chapter is mainly a ton of exposition, but it’s gonna get better I PROMISE. huge thank ya to @wolfish-willow​ who gave me some beautiful ideas (milky coffee + danish loving Steve) that helped this fic come to fruition <3 enjoy!

--

You pull into Hawkin’s Police Department at 7:30, a half hour before your shift. There are two coffees in the cup holders of your car, and a paper bag filled with two pastries on the passenger seat. You pull in beside your partner’s car and he hops out, a smile plastered on his face. He crawls into your passenger side and grabs the bag.

“This one’s yours,” you say, pointing to the coffee cup marked milk w/ dash of coffee. He laughs, pulling out his blueberry danish and handing you your strawberry donut. He bites into his pastry and lets out a sinful moan, making you smack his arm.

“It’s too early for you to be gross,” you say, but he looks victorious.

“I’m sorry you don’t like my happiness,” he quips, and you roll your eyes.

It was tradition that every Monday that you both worked, you’d get coffee and pastries from the local bakery and shoot the shit in your car until your shift started.

“So, I had a dream last night where I was dating Mia Sara,” he says.

“Wish that were me,” you reply, taking a sip of coffee. “Did it work out for you guys?”

“Nah, she left me for Harrison Ford.”

“Tragic.”

He pauses, listening to the music softly coming from your radio. He scoffs upon realizing what was playing.

“Stop listening to this sad shit,” he says, turning the dial, making you shout.

“It’s the Smiths!” You try to bat his hand away, but he manages to change the channel to a Queen song. Typical.

You and Steve had become good friends after securing your positions, despite your perception of him in high school. After the fire at Starcourt and the death of Jim Hopper, the federal government had given the Hawkins Police a grant to let aspiring cops train directly in the field. It would fast-track getting certified, eliminating the need for expensive schooling. It was like a paid internship. A paid internship where you basically get paid to bullshit with your best friend all day.

A third car pulls in. It’s Veronica, the secretary. She takes over on days that Flo wants off – she’s worked hard enough for it. Veronica was a bit obsessed with Steve, so he groaned when he saw her get out and wave.

“What do you think she’s going to say to you today?” you giggle, and Steve rolls his eyes.

“Probably, like… that she had a dream about us last night, or something.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “God, please don’t let her talk to me.”

Women were throwing themselves at Steve the minute he put the uniform on, but he claimed he wasn’t interested in dating. You weren’t really sure why, given his history, but he never answered any questions. He just said he wanted to focus on work and having fun, so you let him.

Steve was kind of a mystery to you. You were incredibly close at the station, but you’d been working with him for a few months and you never saw each other outside of work. There were talks of maybe going to a movie, but they never went anywhere. It was bizarre, considering how fond you both were of each other. But you didn’t want to push it, unsure if you were making him uncomfortable.

In reality, Steve was just nervous of letting people in. Not just because of his history with girls and friends, but because he also had Russians and demons to worry about. He felt that if he let anyone new into his life, he would be putting them in mortal danger. This viewpoint is also the reason why he applied for the apprenticeship in the first place.

When the position popped up, Steve had no second thoughts. He had looked up to Hopper greatly since the time Will was possessed. He knew without a doubt that he wanted to follow in Hop’s footsteps. But he also felt an obligation now that Hopper was dead. Joyce had left, taking Will and Eleven with her. The three people who had the best grip on the strange events that had occurred the past three years were gone, and the man who devised most of the plans (and executed them) was gone, too. Steve couldn’t sleep at night for months. He needed to constantly call the kids and Robin to make sure they were safe. Being part of the Hawkins Police seemed like a no-brainer; it was a way to ensure everyone was safe and be on the frontlines to protect them.

Not that he ever let this on; usually he would just say that he’s always wanted to be a cop, and he kept it at that.

You’d decided to do the apprenticeship after college didn’t work out. You went to one in Indianapolis after high school, but you weren’t really into it. Your parents decided to retire and travel for a few years, offering to let you have the house while they’re gone. You gratefully took them up on it, and you’d been living there since the spring. You’d enjoyed a few months off, but decided it was time to find something new to do. You’d always had a fantasy of being a hero. Maybe not a hero cop, but a hero. You wanted to save lives, make an impact. Being a police officer seemed like a good start. You knew it wouldn’t be like the movies, but the strange events that happened the last few years excited you. Maybe you’d get the chance to be someone you’ve always wanted to be.

“Why don’t you just give Veronica a chance?” you ask. “She’s pretty and she’s nice and she’s smart.”

“She literally told me she wanted a lock of my hair,” he says.

You choke on your coffee. “I forgot about that.”

“Yeah? I didn’t.”

Steve’s watch beeps, signaling that it’s 5 minutes until 8.

“Please keep talking to me when we go in,” he begs as you both climb out of the car.

“What’s in it for me?” you inquire.

“I will give you all of the lunches my mom brings me for two weeks.”

You pause. “Even the Fruit Roll-Ups?”

He sighs. “I’ll throw them in if you do a good job.”

You successfully make it past the reception desk without incident, waving hi to Callahan and Powell. You knock on the Chief’s door to signify your arrival, and you and Steve make your way back to the annex you worked in. Your desks faced each other, making it easier to talk through your 8-hour shifts. They were usually pretty boring. You and Steve were only cleared to respond to calls about petty things, like noise disturbances. But it’s not like much ever happened anymore in Hawkins, and the town had almost made it a full year without any weird occurrences.

A few hours go by, and boredom runs rampant. You hated Mondays: things hardly ever happened. Steve gets up around 10:30 and puts a mixtape into the boombox in the annex. Don’t You (Forget About Me) comes on, and Steve mutters, “aw, hell yeah,” under his breath. You know he’s going to start dancing, but it doesn’t stop the surprised smile on your face as he starts to swing and spin and sing. It’s magic, watching Steve dance. It makes no sense, it’s clumsy, it’s so white that it hurts; but it’s also hilarious and never fails to pick you up. Sometimes you’d join him. Other times, you’d call him an idiot. And sometimes you’d just watch as the magic unfolds.

This was one of those times.

--

The door to the annex opens around 1, approximately 5 hours into your shift. You and Steve are begging for something to do, because throwing M&Ms at each other isn’t fun by the second hour. You’d just thrown one at Steve when the door swings open, and you and Steve look at the intruder with wide eyes. It’s the Chief.

The new Chief was okay, you guessed. He was also brought in by the feds. He was a kind older man, with deep set blue eyes and wispy white hair. He could have come straight out of a storybook. You thought the Chief delegated nicely, and you’d shared a few good laughs. Something always felt off, though – but you and Steve chalked that up to the fact that you both were extremely biased against anyone who wasn’t Hop.

“Noise disturbance call,” Chief Edwards says. “Some kids out on Maple Street are causing mayhem.”

Steve groans and throws his head back. “Please tell me it’s not 30 Maple Street.”

The Chief blinks. “It is.”

“God dammit,” Steve says under his breath. It’s Mike’s house.

You and Steve get into a patrol car and set off.

“Do you know these kids?” you ask.

“Yeah, they’re kind of… my kids?”  He scrunches his nose. “I keep them out of trouble.”

You pause, confused. “So, you babysit them?”

“No, no,” Steve says. His face grows slightly red. “They’re my friends.”

Steve pulls into the driveway of the house, blaring the siren once to scare the kids that were on the lawn. Their faces quickly went from scared to excited as they saw it was Steve in the car.

You both get out of the car, and Steve takes the lead. He puts his hands on his hips and faces the kids. There were 4 boys and 2 girls, no older than 16, if you could guess. One of them with dark hair is holding a hose, and the others are wet.

“What are you shitheads doing?” Steve asks sternly. A couple of the kids giggle.

“What seems to be the problem, officer?” the red headed girl asks.

“I told you we were being too loud,” a kid you recognize as Will Byers says. He is smart, sitting on the porch and just watching, amused.

“Right,” says Steve, pointing at Will in recognition. “Way too loud. Mike, where’s your parents?”

There’s a beat, and then the girl standing next to the red head quietly says, “Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler aren’t home.”

Steve sighs. “Alright, well, you could always act like idiots inside the house, you know.” He looks at the dark-haired boy holding the hose. “Mike, what are you doing with that?”

The boy’s face breaks out into a devilish grin, and you can predict what’s about to happen. He points the hose at Steve and a curly haired boy turns the handle to let the water spray out, missing Steve by a hair. He jumps back.

“HEY!” he shouts. “Not cool dude, not in my uniform!”

“Wimp,” you laugh, and push him forward, allowing him to get splashed. The kids cheer, and then Steve’s hands are on your arms, and he swings you around to get hit, too. You gasp at the freezing feeling on the back of your legs, but burst into laughter, trying to wrestle Steve back into the flow. This goes on for entirely too long before you suddenly realize that it probably isn’t a good look to be out here responding to a call and then partaking in the offense.

“Steve,” you say, and that’s all it takes for him to snap back into reality.

“This is fun and all,” he says, letting you go. “But we came to bust you, not join in.”

The curly haired boy turns the water off and Mike sets the hose down. Steve has a way with kids. He’s able to level with them and call them out at the same time. It’s pretty great to watch and it’s certainly something you admired him for.

“Who’s this?” the curly haired kid asks, grinning widely.

“Oh,” Steve says. “This is my partner, Y/N.”

“Do you get to carry a gun?”

“Lucas!”

“Sorry!”

“You hang out with Steve? That must suck,” the dark-haired boy, Mike, says.

“Every single day,” you say solemnly. “It’s the worst.”

“Hey,” Steve says quietly.

“I’m kidding, bud.” You punch his arm lightly. “You’re the best.”

You look back at the kids and they’re all staring at you with wide eyes. It makes you uncomfortable, so you clear your throat and say, “Well, uh – shift is almost over. We should be going.”

After an awkward farewell and another “please be quiet or I’ll kick your ass” from Steve, you both get in the patrol car. Steve sees Dustin gesture to call him, and he rolls his eyes, pulling out of the driveway.

“Why did they look at me like that?” you ask. “Because I said you’re the best?” You pause. “Do they hate you?”

He’s quiet for a while. Finally, he says, “I think it’s because we are really buddy-buddy but… I don’t really… I haven’t ever really… talked about you.”

You turn in your seat to face him. “Do you hate me?”

“Of course I don’t hate you.” His cheeks are red – he’s flustered. “You’re one of my best friends –“

“Then why don’t you ever talk about me? Or hang out with me?”

“It’s complicated,” he sighs. “It’s really complicated. I just – I don’t like … I get nervous about having new friends.”

You nod slowly. “Tommy H. and Carol.”

“Yeah.” It’s not really why he’s nervous, but it’s a good excuse. “I don’t want to get dicked over again.”

“Man,” you say, turning back to face the road. “I buy you a blueberry danish every single Monday. And a coffee. And I let you sing Queen at the top of your lungs, and I let you dance, and sometimes I even let you do it at 5 in the morning. I think if I didn’t want to be your friend, you would know by now.”

He’s quiet, thinking. You look at him, trying to read him.

“I guess I owe you the pleasure of hanging out with me,” he says after a while, a smile forming. “So maybe we can hang out Friday night.”

You gasp and throw your arm out, hitting him on the shoulder, making the car swerve slightly.

“Jesus –”

“Do you mean it?” you shout, smiling widely. “We can hang out?”

“I said maybe,” he teases. “It’s board game night with the kids – maybe you can come?”

You start chanting his name – “Steve Steve Steve Steve Steve! Really? Are you for real?”

“Yes!” He laughs and rolls his eyes again. “I’ll pick you up. It starts at 7.”

You smile so hard that your cheeks hurt.

Steve silently hopes he doesn’t regret this.

----

taglist (message if you want to join!): @harrington-ofhawkins​ @wolfish-willow​ @gothackedalready​

[chronicalanxiety]

[here are their cutie marks and a sketch of their human forms that nobody asked for]

Now here’s a huge ass description for the kids™ if anyone is interested

Zap Apple

Rainbow and Applejack's first-born child and Lil' Cheese's best mate. Zap is a daydreamer and has a gentle soul, he's that one ripped nerd that likes writing and drawing things just for the sake of it. Exploring and discovering new things and places is what really makes his eyes glow (history and geography hoe), so he can be usually seen carrying his saddlebag around all the time (you never know when you're gonna need sketching and exploring supplies). Zap also loves puzzles and is a huge fanboy of Daring Do Books like Dash (and adventure books in general. AJ swears it's because Rainbow used to read so many Daring Doo adventures to her belly when she was pregnant). While he can be smart, he tends to over-thinks things, Zap has a wide imagination and is easily one of the most compassionate ponies around, though he used to be easily coaxed into fights or manipulated by his feelings. Like a good apple family member, the boy loves farm life and has a strong fraternal instinct, but his nature just doesn't allow him to settle there, though he still finds some peace whenever he's back in the environment he grew up in.

Random facts:

- Zap loved wearing his Ma's hat so much that she gave one for him as a gift in a Hearts Warming;

- He lost part of his his right ear to a bad fall when he and some friends went exploring one of his first off-limits area;

- Loves collecting comic books and stamps;

- AJ entered labor right during a Zap Apple harvest (Yep, that's exactly how he got his name);

- Inherited AJ's stare and lie detector;

- Upon noticing Zap's resemblance to his great grandmother, Rainbow nicknamed him Baby Smith.

Applejoy

Rainbow and Applejack's middle child. Applejoy doesn't take her name for granted, she's a total sunshine and bringing people happiness is what really makes her happy. She tends to be famous for getting a bunch of bruises all the time and being a little too reckless, so much so she lost two of her teeth out of pure clumsiness when she was little and had to wait until they began to grow to get them back (still has the best smile), and she also used to break her flying goggles at least once a week. The girl is also very outspoken and sincere, though it can end up being a problem sometimes. Applejoy is the family's Poly Athlete and has strong and fast wings (as well as legs, the girl is speed itself), she doesn't do very well in school but makes for it in sports and is very disciplined when it comes to it (Rainbow is her personal coach for every occasion). She hates losing, but tries her best to be a good sport and not to show she's upset most of the time. It was also awfully difficult for Applejack to handle her being all over the place when she learned how to use her wings (no need to say she was very grateful when her next child was born an earth pony).

Random facts: - Inherited Rainbow's habit of napping on trees (Applejack didn't like the idea, she was always concerned her children were gonna fall and hurt themselves for being too cloud-headed);

- Loves to indulge in her mother's sugary treats;- Rainbow started calling her junior (or AJJ) because her name abbreviation is the same as her ma's. No need to say the nickname was a success;

- Sleepwalker;

- The bandana she uses around her neck is a part of the fabric of an old sheet she used to nap with;

- Likes a bunch of crafts, specially wood-carving, but isn't really gifted at most of them (doesn't matter because she always tries her best every time).

Cider Splash

Rainbow and Applejack's youngest child and Tank's best buddy. Cider Splash a performer at heart, he's a innate dancer and plays multiple instruments very decently, he's the loudest of the bunch in every way and talks everyone's ears off (some conversations can also turn into musical numbers for no apparent reason). He's the most headstrong and stubborn out of the three, so he'll almost always get really deep into a project (or anything, really) when he sets his mind in it. He has blessed hoofs like AJ and is by far the one who ends up helping with the applebucking stuff the most, though he has a natural charm with the farm animals and prefers playing with them (his love for animal plushies wasn't taken for granted). He also indulges in cooking (mostly by Big Sugar's influence). Cider was always jealous of his sibling's ability to fly, so RD tries to compensate by taking him for a ride every once in a while and making sure he's the first one to get Wonderbolts tickets whenever they perform.

Random facts: - His love for music started when Applejack bought him a toy guitar to get him out of his tantrums when he was little. Later, his grandpa Bow Hothoof gave him a mini drum set as a birthday gift. AJ and RD weren't very happy when he started playing it all the time and making a bunch of noise, but they eventually saw potential in it and started investing in his inate talent;

- No need to say cider is his favorite drink ever;

- His bandana was a handmade gift from his Aunt Applebloom.

Florence

Fluttershy's big baby and Agate's older step-sister. Florence is a very resourceful and hard-working young mare, though she tends to spends way too much energy worrying about results and is almost constantly on the verge of outright panic (she's usually seen gritting her teeth or generally flipping out, no need to say she does not fare well under stress, specially when she is given a task to complete). Florence is known to be very sensible and intelligent, and even though she sometimes puts her own paranoia before common sense, she usually manages to find logical solutions to problems. She learned how to deal with stress by canalizing it into something productive, thanks to Rarimom (which ended up being another source of anxiety, ironically). She also has very strong beliefs, and when forced to question them, she becomes very upset. Despite that, Florence is extremely loyal and kind and will go out of her way to help other ponies.

Random facts: - Her scarf was given by Rarity, it made her feel safe when she was little, and she still uses it until this day (Her moms had to bribe with her in order to get her to let them clean and wash it after months of using it non-stop);

- Probably has OCD;

- She has also been known to retreat into her imagination when under extreme stress, often picturing peaceful, grassy fields or tranquil landscapes to calm herself down.

- Florence loves her coffee, tea and Fluttermum's pets more than her life (She loved growing up around pets, they still give her a sense of calm and relaxation. Her mom used to use them to calm her down when she was crying or couldn't sleep, she would almost always fall asleep after caressing some pet's ear for a while)

Agate

Rarity’s most precious gem and Florence’s little step-sister. Agate has been a very independent gal since she was little, she has been described as curious, monotone and sarcastic, and also appears to be more logical and mature than some of her peers, typically being the one to call them out on their ignorance, she’s inclined to remain passive and stoical to most things that happen around her. She has a fuckton control over her emotions and wears a neutral expression about 80% of the time, but is actually a pretty chill gal and has a very good (and weird) sense of humor. Agate has a great eye for photography (specially Avant-garde stuff) and turns out working as a professional photographer in the future.

Random facts: - Lowkey a huge mystery fan and computer nerd;

- Has a huge soft spot for Fluttermom's pets since she first came in contact with one, she can’t help but to smile the whole time she’s around them;

- Discord's favorite gal right next to Fluttershy.

Lil' Cheese

So let's get this out of the way, the script says Lil' Cheese is a colt, but many people see them as a filly, so they ended up being non-binary in my headcanon because I couldn't decide their gender (but go with whatever suits you better).

"Don't worry, Zap and Cheese got another infallible plan". Cheesecake, AKA "Lil' Cheese", is first and foremost known for the ability to talk their ass off anytime of the day for whatever reason (they used to spend most of their time besides their mom, so no need to mention that they practically picked up all her goofiness and energy by osmosis), they're also an excellent actor and are known as "The God of Puns". They’re generally a popular and gifted student, however, they're foul-mouthed and kind of competitive (but despite that, they are generally well liked and always looking after their friends). Lil' Cheese uses their innate talent for comedy and natural charm and charisma to help attract attention to their mum's bakery. Cheese had pretty deep random conversations with Pinkie since very little, so they turned out to be a pretty good conversationalist and improviser.

Big Sugar/Little Mac

I don't really have a very elaborate description for him (sorry peeps), but I imagine Sugar as a very sweet (pun intended) Big Baker Boy that loves cooking (and eating, most of all). He has that big bro energy and always gives the best hugs, but can also have with no mercy when messing around with his peers. He's very well liked around Ponyville and known for his extroverted and warm nature, though he may care way to much about other's opinions and tends to take a lot of them personally. Being a proud member of the Apple Family, he's the embodiment hard-work and loves working on the farm, but his heart always feel in the right place whenever he's preparing meals for other ponies.

----------

Okay, so quick backstory time about how Flarity happened in this canon.

Fluttershy was going through a very rough time with her previous marefriend, she always wanted to have a child of her own, and seeing her friends having some of their own made her even more eager to have one, so she found a sperm donor and conceived Florence with the consent of her partner at the time. Their relationship didn't get any less toxic even after Florence was born, so as a good friend, Discord felt the obligation to intervene (along with the rest of the elements of harmony) and convince Fluttershy to just end it and let go, as it wasn't doing any good for both her and the kid. When she finally got out of it, Discord and Rarity were the ones who helped Flutters to heal the most.

Meanwhile, Agate was the product of Rarity's previous marriage with Fancy Pants and was conceived as the last hope for their doomed marriage. Turns out having a child didn't save their relationship and they ended up divorcing, both going their separate ways with their own lives and businesses, however, it was a healthy separation and they remained in good terms with each other. Rarity took this separation as a way to get to know more about herself and to spend more time bonding with her daughter, having a break from her business life and letting Sassy Saddles and some other employees take the wheel for a little while, though she didn't stop playing her part on the creative side. During the time Fluttershy was going through her healing process, she and Rarity reconnected and some gay stuff happened. By the time the series ended they were probably on the dating phase and close to engagement. They eventually marry and join their families together.

Also Discord's still a very close friend of the couple and helps them and the kids whenever and in whatever way he's able to. He loves spending time with the kids, specially Agate, who finds his chaotic energy specially amusing.