#also i made a huge jar of jam!

[geothebio]

today in gardening: picked another 1/2 gal of berries and am making the annual I Have Too Many Cucumbers jar of pickles

[kymtym]

Strawberry Jam

I make this often and it's the best jam I've ever had.

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds (1.360kg) strawberries, trimmed and quartered

3 cups (710 ml) granulated sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

TOOLS

a wide pot with a lid

A silicone spatula / scraper

A stove (range?)

A big spoon for stirring and scooping

A small spoon for testing readiness

A glass or ceramic plate to test readiness

A freezer (for the plate)

EITHER a potato masher OR an immersion blender (stick blender?)

A container to put the finished product in. This recipe is not shelf stable, the jam will need to go in the fridge.

Early in the day, combine all ingredients in the pot. It may seem like too much sugar, but don't worry. Mix it up with the silicone spatula, put a lid on it, and leave it in the kitchen. Every now and then, give it another mix. I just leave the spatula in the pot, the lid is just to keep and dust and the cats out of the mix. The sugar will eventually draw out a bunch of juice from the strawberries and you will be left with a pot of strawberries in syrup. This will take hours. If you scrape the bottom of the pot and no longer feel grainy sugar and you're no longer able to pull up any sugar, you're ready to cook it.

Put the plate in the freezer.

Mash or blend your syrup-strawberry mix to your desired smoothness. It will get thicker as it cooks, so keep that in mind. I blend the life out of the strawberries because I like for it to be easy to spread on toast, my sister likes for the to still be strawberry chunks, so when I make it for her I just use the potato masher.

Turn on the heat! Boil it! Stir almost constantly. My recent batch took just under an hour to cook all the way. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, I did like a 3 out of 10. If you stop stirring, goopy bubbles should appear like a slow motion boil. You will have like a pink foam on the top of the mix from the boiling. After about 30 minutes, the bubbling should be thicker and goopier. After about 40 minutes, the pink foam should almost go away when you stir the mix, like you can almost stir the bubbles into the mix.

Pull the plate out of the freezer and use the small spoon to spread a little bit of the mix onto the plate in a stripe. Hold the plate vertically so the stripe goes left to right. If the stripe immediately starts to drip down the plate, the mix isn't done yet, put the plate back in the freezer and keep cooking. Try again in like 5-10 minutes. If the mix DOESN'T immediately start dripping down the plate, turn the plate so the stripe goes up and down and swipe your finger through the stripe from leg to right (or right to left). The jam is done cooking when the stripe made from your finger through the stripe of mix holds and doesn't fill with dripping mix.

(If you have a candy thermometer, the jam is done when it reaches 220°f or 104°c)

CAREFULLY pour or scoop the jam into your preferred container. This jam is HOT and STICKY so please treat it like lava. This stuff is hotter than boiling water and will stick to you until you wash it off, don't let it touch your skin.

3 pounds of strawberries makes about 3 pint jars of jam with a little bit of room at the top of the jars. If you want to, you can properly can it and make it shelf-stable until it's opened, but I've never done that so your on your own. I just keep them in my fridge or give them to friends and neighbors.

I'm lucky enough to have a huge strawberry festival nearby every March. 20 pounds lasts me and my husband a year of jam, sorbet and cheung. I get them home, give them a vinegar bath, and trim them up before measuring out a bunch of one pound bags that I vacuum seal and freeze, and some 5 ounce (140 gram) servings for sorbet, also sealed and frozen.

Let me know if anyone wants the sorbet or cheug recipes.

Have fun! Be careful! Enjoy!

[babishfantasies]

I promised - part 1

“Come on sweetie, just a little more” She said with an almost sultry and tender tone. I couldn’t believe it, what was this all about? Was she actually serious about this? Well, I guess it’s not the time for questions, and as long as I do as she says I’ll get what I want I guess. How did things come to this? That’s truly a mystery for me, but who cares.

As I continued to advance slowly towards her, it’s kind of hard to ‘walk’ on your knees, she slowly started to accommodate herself on the couch. Her huge legs uncrossing and opening, her chest moving a little bit forward, her arms extended with her hands open as if she was saying “I’m ready to receive you, sweety”. All of this made her look even bigger than she was, her thick body and massive breasts looked even bigger, and that low cut floral dress made her boobs so accessible, so close to me. Could it be true? Is this some sort of joke?

Wow, she’s so attractive, and the closer I get the better she looks. I hope I don’t end up losing my cool too much or I might have an accident. I hope that’s not what she’s going for, but how am I supposed to look at her from here and not fear that. I can even smell her now. So intoxicating, it’s like putting your entire head in a massive jar of strawberry jam, but there’s also something else, may it be her own smell? Is it that I’m getting closer to her crotch too? Oh no, my loins are burning, I better get to her fast before it’s too late… or maybe that will just make things worse? Well, at the very least I want my head to be resting on her bosom when it happens.

“You made it sweetie, and just the way I told you to. Good work. Now let me handle the rest”. As I’m on my knees, contemplating her beautiful body, she takes me from my armpits and with little exertion puts me over her chest. Then she proceeds to take my legs and accommodates them over hers, so now I’m sitting on the space between her legs with my legs spread over hers and my face looking directly to her chest. I’m about to explode. I start to hyperventilate and my crotch it’s at its limit, my heart is running like crazy and some sweat drops start to appear on my forehead. I guess she notices my desperation and says “are you getting hot? Let’s do something about that.” and slowly starts to remove my hoodie and t-shirt at the same time. I can feel her soft hands moving my clothes upward, her long and cold nails scratch my sides. I instinctively moved my arms up and let her remove my clothes. After what feels like an eternity I’m finally shirtless. “Perfect. Now you’re ready”. I don’t think I am.

part 2

[norcalbruja]

Updates with Loki, because of COURSE it's Loki.

What's up folks, I went to a witch festival yesterday and bought way too many candles, lmao.

Copied and pasted from Instagram/Facebook:

--

October 5: In the hot-as-hell weather, I unwisely bought wax candles and metal or stone jewelry. I promised myself I would only buy what could fit in my bag or what wouldn’t get wrecked from the heat, so I just tried to jam the heat-sensitive items in my bag, away from the sun.

Most of it fit! I got a shop bag for the candle care kit, but then the jar candle started sweating inside my regular bag. Eek. I was damn lucky that it was on top of the candle dish, which was also wrapped in paper. Maybe I have an excuse to get belt pouches now, lol.

I probably made another unwise decision by buying a statue of NORSE MYTHOLOGY LOKI and not Marvel Loki, but there were these two adorable girls who spotted him and went “It’s Loki, my boy! …Asterisk!” Which clearly referred to Marvel-Loki being genderfluid, and it tickled me.

If you don’t hear from me next week, or if you hear TOO much from me, you know a statue of Loki is crashing at my place. Send help and/or a statue of Thor, so he can reenact the Lokasenna.

My smartest decision today was NOT buying a Norse drinking horn, even though they were super nice. I can barely afford normal amounts of alcohol—I will have no opportunities to use a Viking horn, that you traditionally had to pass around for everyone to get a drink. In Covid times, I don’t think anyone should share drinks from the actual horn, but I’d definitely pour out drinks. If I’m ever rich enough to buy any kind of keg or pay for a bar crawl, I’m getting a drinking horn to celebrate SOMEONE’S birthday. 😆

--

And copy-pasted from early noon, when Things Started Happening:

So I’m eating spaghetti now and not hangry anymore. Here is why getting a pound of ground beef was way too exciting for me.

Last night: Came home from the Witchfest and started cooking spaghetti, only to find that the now-thawed ground beef was too old and gray for me to risk using it for the sauce.

Sighed, ate something else, tossed the meat in the trash, and put everything in the fridge. Made a note to get more ground beef before lunch.

This morning: Took the trash out and the bag leaked meat juice on the floor!!! Wiped it up fine and double bagged the trash, but I did not need that smell. 🤮

Went to the nearest store: Someone was warning customers that the credit card systems were down and it’s cash only for now. Checked my wallet and bag, no cash. Said bye to the employee, headed out. Ugh.

On the way to the next store: A fire truck starts blasting their alarm and no less than two Volkswagen Beetles look genuinely TRASHED, like they were used for Mad Max. One was beat up and covered in dust, and the other had no trunk door.

Next store: Parked asap, headed for the meat section, stashed my keys in a back pocket, and THEN found five dollars hiding out. With meat prices right now, I wouldn’t have been able to buy anything with it, but I feel like SOMEONE up there was laughing at me, hint-hint.

While I’m waiting in line to buy this damn beef, the shoplifting alarm goes off twice. It’s sorted out quickly, but at this point I am getting wigged out, and I just wanted the damn spaghetti sauce to get finished.

THANKS FOR THE UNWANTED ADVENTURE, LOKI LAUFEYJARSON.

I should have bought the Thor statue to keep this dude in line. 😩

--

At 5:30pm: Me and my sister were headed to the hardware store and there was a DAMN FALLEN BRANCH lying in the road a block away. It was a huge widowmaker across the whole lane, and everyone had to drive around it. Loki is now on probation while I make a proper containment bag.

I’m not returning the statue or anything, but we clearly need some house rules before I unroll him from the Mjollnir joint. 😩

-

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-

-

--

Spirit-world/headspace wise, Loki was just cackling nonstop until I actually got fed up and rolled his statue up. He is confused that I was serious about Mjollnir and went, "Hey! Heyheyheyhey! Bro, I'm not trying to hurt YOU!" and the other spirits are like "Loki, that is not how things work. 😔 "

This seems to have literally "contained" the part of him responsible for "Things Happening WAY too close to me," because now he's just asking me to pleassssssssse let him outttttt.

I told him I'd let him out next Monday at the latest, and I might let him out earlier if he stays... NEUTRAL??? Like, I know he won't necessarily "behave" because he's a damn trickster, but he has to 1) avoid serious physical danger, and 2) try not to affect my family's finances.

And like, I assured him that I'd still FEED HIM until he was out. Because, you know... he seems genuinely distressed that I'm "locking him up," and he is specifically saying "Come onnnnnnn, Cyborg, let me out! I can't get you the good Marvel deals if I'm stuck in this dumbass shit!"

The other spirits are just constantly repeating to him about WHY he's rolled up in a Mjollnir joint. Even Sigyn came up while he was yelling, and she just sighed and went "Loki, what did you do now?"

Brighid is upset that I'm feeding him since 1) he's a god and (mostly) immortal, and 2) even if he needed food, it's not like he'd go hungry from LACK of followers like the Filipino spirits.

And I went, "Brighid, it's the PRINCIPLE of giving him basic necessities. I don't want to imprison him completely or banish him--I'd just prefer at least my BASELINE bad luck for when my mom gets home, and after I've had a couple of decent work-days."

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for yelling at some kid over text?

(Canon Characters, Fanon Scenario)

So a while back, there was this big party, and the only two people who bother hanging out with me got invited and I didn't. Not that I would've *wanted* to go or anything; everybody else who was there is LAME!

Well...almost everybody else. There's this one kid, around my age (not that *I'm* a kid); let's call him B.

B's pretty famous around here. You've probably heard of him; the one who saved all our butts from the Witch (whose plan I *helped* with, btw; you're welcome)? Yeah, him.

Well, you probably also heard what happened what happened to him that night: he got his head caved in by a jar of jam.

And that's where this kid, W, comes in. Apparently she waltzes up to the scene, decides that she's a detective or whatever, and takes complete control of the place! She's what, like, 6 or something??? Who let this kid cook!?

Anyway, a few days after the party, I hadn't heard anything from the two people I mentioned; we'll call 'em A and H. And look, I'm glad not to have them on my case for everything, but it's pretty weird for them, especially A! So I decided to shoot a text to H's phone to figure out what was going on.

Well I heard back, but not from H. W took his phone off him; probably to check for assassins or whatever, I dunno. And apparently, not only had she holed everybody up at the party, but she straight-up arrested A for murder!!!

Look, I know A. They're the most goody-two-shoes little weirdo imaginable. They don't do anything with their time besides floating around giving out blessings or whatever and nagging me for my life choices. Literally EVERYBODY knows that, and this kid *really* thinks they'd *kill* somebody???

So obviously, I wanted to know why in the hell she would think that, and SHE TELLS ME IT'S CAUSE THEIR FACE LOOKED WEIRD. THAT WAS HER FUCKING EVIDENCE. WHO LET THIS KID ANYWHERE NEAR A FUCKING CRIME SCENE!?!?

Anyway. I sorta blacked out and wound up writing a huge paragraph telling her to get her shit together. H read it when he got his phone back and was pretty mad about it; and not the fun kinda mad, either.

Look, MAYBE I was an asshole about it, but I was literally *made* to be an asshole. Besides, I know damn well I'm not the only one who'd be mad about it.

AITA?

EDIT 1: To clarify: A is NOT my friend, they're dumb and stupid and I hate them.

EDIT 2: What do you mean there was a vote.

[kujo1597]

Before I even got halfway through Sea of Stars I promised people a post about Garl when I finished the game. Well, it's been a week since I got everything I could in a single playthrough and I finally have time to write that post. (Original Post Link)

I'll start off with non-spoilery talk, and then put the part where I reach spoilers under a Read More, as is the norm in this fandom.

I absolutely positively love Garl. That never changed. He is such a good character. When I played the demo for Sea of Stars I pretty much just came from Live A Live. The remake specifically. And in it was a pretty typical fat character, he loves food, and his motivation is eating. When I saw Garl I remembered this LAL character and so many other fat characters and honestly sighed. Because I expected him to be the same way. Then I bought Sea of Stars the day it came out and even in the first cutscene we see Garl in it's clear that there's so much more to his love of food than it just being a love of eating. And I am really happy about that.

Garl loves food. And his love of food goes so far beyond him just liking to eat. He loves food because good food makes people happy. And this wonderful man just wants people to be happy and enjoy life. He wants his friends to be happy so he makes them their favourite foods, when he was a kid he made jam using the sap from a sacred tree and his two best friends absolutely loved that jam. So what did he do? He used some of that jam in a batch of cookies he baked for them. He couldn't see his friends until they were done their training so he left the jar of cookies behind.

Garl has a huge heart. The fat guy being the heart of the team is another trope, less common than him loving eating and refuses to even share a roll, but still, a trope. Garl was thrilled to be going on an adventure with his childhood friends. All his life he was told that he couldn't go on this journey. That only the two Solstice Warriors could. But Garl made that happen, he met up with them and reasoned with them by saying, "Yeah, I'll get out of the way when you do these big dangerous fights only you can do. But there's no reason we can't still travel together." So Valere and Zale let him come along, this was obviously a case of Garl twisting their rubber arms, but still. And when it came time to help the Molekin Garl was thrilled to have helped do some good for a whole town. And he even took the time to hear out little Malkomud and had a great talk to him about how everybody should have been treating him better, and how his powers are special. It was very sweet. And this sweetness and warmth from Garl continued through the game. It was really well done in my opinion.

But Garl also has a backbone and can be a leader.

Spoiler Talk Starts Here

Brisk got destroyed and a lot of citizens very understandably wanted to move and get a fresh start. Garl made sure everybody building the new town was well taken care of. He fed them, kept up their strength, and eventually stepped into a leadership role. He organized town meetings and kept them going. He made sure everybody's voices were heard. And the citizens repaid Garl by having him name the time. It was a very cute scene where Garl keeps pulling his name out of the hat for town name suggestions. He goes, "Haha guys, very funny. Garl's a bad name for the town." And once Garl was clued into why his name was in the hat he gave the town a perfect name. Mirth.

The acolytes pissed Garl off, it was one of the few times we saw him get angry. And The Fleshmancer was also the target of his rarely seen anger. Garl is not a pushover. And unfortunately this did cost him his life. Living off of borrowed time Garl helped his friends make it to the Sea of Stars. He came up with a bargaining chip, he'd wake up The Sleeper and soothe his savage soul. How? Freshly baked bread of course. Because as Garl said, nobody can be angry when they wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread.

This goes back to what I said earlier about Garl loving food because good food makes people happy. This was his logic, it's only natural that a delicious breakfast would make The Sleeper not want to destroy the world. And he's so right.

After Garl's death there is a hole in the party, I missed him, and his input. I'm glad the game had that funeral and gave the characters and the player time to start to miss Garl.

Now for the true ending. We get Garl back! :D He was brought back to life through time shenanigans. Garl was given one wish because of how good of a person he is. What was this wish?

To share a meal with all his friends at the Golden Pelican and celebrate his coming back to life. Garl could have had anything in the world, and he chose to share his wish with the people who meant the most to him.

And I think that does a fantastic job of showing what kind of a guy Garl is. A man with a huge heart who loves his friends.

In short: I loved Garl from the start of the game, and I still love Garl at the end of the game.

[seraphim-soulmate]

oct 29, 2024

weird day for me a little bit, and all because of a minor issue, which feels silly.

started off ok! was supposed to go grocery shopping in the morning but didn't do that bcs I was spending time researching something I enjoyed (trying to do more things that make me happy), and I was looking forward to my physical therapy session very much! it went really well, but at the end she'd gone a bit over time (which I didn't know) and I wanted to know how thick her yoga mat was, so she went over and told me the brand and I measured it by comparing it with my finger to measure later, but I guess I was taking too much time doing that and so she very politely told me that she was running late already and that she'd like to be able to get off work on time. Which is a totally reasonable request! but it just made me feel really shitty for some reason. It's hard to say what I was feeling and why, I will reflect on this now.

I think in part it's the "oh shit I fucked up" feeling (guilt??) of having to be redirected. Also feeling like I was being rushed and just not appreciating that bcs I was leaving anyways but she told me to leave before I could show her that I was leaving. Realizing something about this situation and my reaction read as "RSD" to me, so I looked it up and indeed. I felt very self conscious and guilty for doing something I felt I had done wrong, but my emotional reaction and duration of that feeling was disproportionate to the event itself. It took me until 8pm (PT ended at 3pm) having a positive interaction with my roommate to turn that around.

But also the interaction with my roommate was interesting bcs it did not start off positively. I had finished a jar of jam that was in the fridge, and it only occurred to me after finishing it that it might not be considered a condiment by some and therefore not a shared item, but instead my roommate's personal jam. So I asked her, and she confirmed it was indeed her personal jam, and either bcs the tone of her voice or just my residual feelings from my interaction with my physical therapist, I felt like I had once again fucked up. But not as bad as with my physical therapist bcs I was going to buy more jam tomorrow anyways, so not a huge deal. Then I realize, "shit. I was only planning on buying 1 jar of jam to replace the one I finished, but now I'll have to buy 2 jars bcs my roommate will want her own personal jar. but I don't eat jam regularly, and I don't know anyone who eats jam regularly enough that having 2 of the same flavors would make sense" etc. etc. etc.

But! instead of continuing to spiral and feel like a shit human being for being rude and inconsiderate and finishing my roommates jam, and who knows maybe she has that jam every day and it's her favorite jam but I just never noticed it move or change in volume since I've been here so I incorrectly assumed it had been abandoned and helped myself to it, and what kind of horrible careless person does that, etc etc etc.

INSTEAD of continuing down that line of thought, I sent her a message being like, "hey, would you be interested in sharing jam or would you prefer your own jar? I never manage to finish mine so it'd be really helpful for me, but I also totally get why someone would prefer to have their own" and guess what. guess fucking what. she's ALSO bad at finishing jams and she's more than happy to share jam with me! And now I'm very happy that I was brave and authentic to myself and my weird thought spirals and that it panned out positively for me!!! And now I can feel closer to my roommate as we share jars of jam! Wahoooieee!

[scary-ivy]

TMBG concert at the Fox Oakland 2023 thoughts

-missed the opening song. Again. But it was the They Might Be Giants theme!

-loved hearing synopsis for the latecomers, and when will you die in the opening

-PARTICLE MAN early in the show???

-Flansburgh joked about how most bands save their big songs for the end, but they do them early in the show

-2082!!!! John Linnell introduced the song by saying he wasn't sure if it was off Join Us or Glean, but it's a song about going back in time to kill your past self, which everyone can relate too

-Stellub was amazing tonight, when they played it backwards it was almost perfect

-John Linnell said he had recently found out the "They" crowns were quite popular with nonbinary people, which hadn't occurred to him, but he implied Flans already knew this. And then Flans said he wanted to tweet "Trans Rights are Human Rights" but he knew he would get angry messages from people saying "disappointed. I used to listen to you guys" and he said they probably hadn't even heard one song. This joke segment meant a lot to me, I think this is the first time I've ever seen a band this big openly say things like "nonbinary" and "trans rights".

-BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK THEY'RE INSANE

-they also clearly explained they were just going for 20 minute break, probably because last night they just said "this is our last song. Last song of the night!" before their break.

-THE GUITAR!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!

-Linnell got to do a very cool synth and keyboard solo that had a cool dissonant sound. Afterwards he said "that sounded awful"

-both Johns wound up improvising little short sing-songy bits while announcing stuff, which was fun

-I think I like Whistling in the Dark better live. I like the softer way he sings the chorus

-they were discussing what song was next and Linnell pressed a key and it played the sample from number 3, and then he joked that in his sennelity he could remember what key to press because it was labeled with the same number that was the title of the song. Flans joked that he had never heard the word sennelity before. NUMBER THREE WAS AWESOME WITH EVERYONE CLAPPING

-It can't even keep track of how many times people got up, were encouraged to stand up, to dance, to clap. High energy, or swaying to the slow songs.

-even with songs they had done the night before, members of the band seemed to improvise little bits here and there, changing the sound of the songs slightly. Very jazz.

-Istanbul was introduced with Dan doing extremely cool guitar instrumental this time, involving loops and both acoustic and electric guitar. Last night it was introduced by a horn solo. Is everyone talking turns soloing before this song?

-Spy! The freestyle jam after this one involved Linnell looping a sample of "here comes Santa Claus" on his keyboard, instead of the mock record advert he did last night. Legit jarring. The huge audience actually did and amazing job stopping cheering on a dime when gestured too.

-when they promoted BOOK and said it was typed with a real electric typewriter, everyone cheered. Nerd audience.

-DR WORM FOREVER

-FINGERTIPS AS THE LAST SONG!!!! WHAT?!?? EVERYONE SWAYED ALONG TO MYSTERIOUS WHISPER AND THEY MADE THE LAST PART OF IT ALL ANTHEMIC AND COOL SO IT COULD WORK AS AN ENDING SONG

-AMAZING SHOW, SO FUCKING FUN

[theinsanecrayonbox]

FOP: A New Wish ep1-4

alright, lets do this

long time watchers will know that i live for FOP lore, i die for FOP lore, and even in it's worst examples i try to find something of value...and then run away screaming like a lunatic to make it my own and a million times better lol

so New Wish. this is the...3rd sequel attempt (after the Live Action movies, and Fairly Odder) and could be considered the 5th continuation (if you count Sparky season and Chloe season as separate continuation attempts)

as a quick reminder, like s3-5 were my jam, Superverse is my baby forever, i hated 99% of the Sparky season, love Chloe but the season was heavily flawed, the LA movies suck (Christmas is the best only because it's a holiday special), and Fairly Odder was a huge hot mess that was very questionable

so again, lets do this

Episode 1: Fly Part 1 and 2

uhg ok first just going by the title, we are doing the stupid and counting half episodes (15 min segments) as separate full episodes again huh? i hate this, it makes keeping track of the chronology harder, and makes it so the TV Guide won't always register new episodes because they'll split a previously aired with an unaired but he guide says 'has already aired" so you miss the other new half. OR you get duplicate recordings of the same episode half because they keep pairing it with a new one and your DVR fills up and just urgh. it's terrible, 30 min blocks should be the norm again. please fix all animation peoples.

anywhos, onto the episode proper

i had seen the opening theme before this, and yes i approve of the completely revamped/brand new opening song. it's got the right vibe, but is it's own thing. they tried it with Chloe...but that just felt like a copy/paste clip show element. this is it's own thing, it evokes the original but is still itself unique.

and i guess i could do it now; the art style. i'm...eh? it's hard to explain. there's times when i'm getting an eerie uncanny valley effect where my brain says that they're like flat puppets (you know the kind you made in grade school out of construction paper and brass tabs so the joints would work) and that's not right. this isn't stop motion, but sometimes it looks it and i can't process that. it's...eh? maybe i'll be more used to it by the end of the 4th episode, and if not i'm sure over time i'll be used to it. it's not bad by any means, LEAGUES above the CGI in Fairly Odder. but it's...uncanny.

the title card being 2d while the episode isn't though is slightly jarring. HOWEVER i do appreciate having a 2d model for Hazel that is easy to see and not a blink and you'll miss is thing like in Fairly Odder (she also looks far better duh lol). it's just slightly odd to do it this way, idk maybe that's just me. it's fine.

not immediately recognizing any of the staff credits aside from the obvious...that could be good or bad...

the style is looking more stop motion clay now...weird...

but i cannot get over how many Chloe elements Hazel has to her. you've got the tooth gap, the voice is similar, the enthusiasm over learning things, collecting things. as i said above, i actually LOVE Chloe, it's just the writers didn't really use her to her full potential. it feels like Hazel is a doo-over to do it right. idk if that's a good or bad thing, because i want Hazel to stand on her own, but i also want Chloe to not just get swept up and hidden away in shame like Sparky; he deserves it, she doesn't. but back to the episode...

it is also a nice changeup that Hazel is in a more urban setting; it's still more west than east sure, but Dimmsdale was suburbia, so this is a new setting with different problems to tackle. and her being a younger child is also a new and exciting development. there is so much potential here, it is exciting!

are they going to explain why Cosmo and Wanda are pretending to be humans again? i know descriptions mentioned retirement...but why would the retain their magic...or unlimited magic at least.

is Hazel's dad the new Crocker?

Dev Dimmadome is the bully id ok...wait your dad is Dale Dimmadome?? HOLY COW! we have a spot on the timeline here folks!!! Dale was 16-18 when freed from Vicky's basement, and Dev here is a 10 year old, so this is at minimum 10 years in the future from the main series, if not more (because teen marriage/pregnancy bad, probably safe to assume Dale didn't have a kid that early). but how cool! and it makes sense that dale would move out of Dimmsdale given his history, and that his dad would give him control of stuff. ok Dev, i like you, you can be the new Remy with some Trixie and Tad and Chad blended in there.

ok that was a nice and easy and fast introduction of our supporting cast with a brief character trope to each. i like it.

heh ghost, gotta have a DP joke don't we

zomr the screencaps of Cosmo's times in space, pfftt. great continuity nod and visual gag. Totally/Spaced Out caps are obvious, the white asteroid one i don't recognize off the top of my head, but...that's an Oh Yeah! Darth Cosmo...idt they were in space for that one? how weird that they pulled s0 for this and Odder

i love it. Hazel's problems are realistic and plausible, and she's trying to deal with them in a way that makes sense. things suck, so yeah she'd need fairies. again, the element that a lot of later FOP lacked was the fact that these were mundane problems that just needed a little help to get through....and using magic usually made them worse and at the end of the day it was the lack of magic that made it better actually. i think that might be a reason why App Trap wasn't *as terrible* as the rest of the Sparky episodes, because it kinda did that...then again it had Missy and i think i focused on that way more. but conversely, that's why a lot of Chloe's episodes didn't work as well as they could've, because the situations weren't believable to start with. yes we got magic, we gonna be crazy and zany and fun and magical, but...this is also a storyline about kids learning to grow up and deal with things at their own pace. Timmy wasn't allowed to grow up after a certain point, the writers regressed him and kept him in a permanent absurd level, and that's why the series started to fail.

and i need to get back to the episode in progress, because i've already spent 40 min to get 12 min into the FIRST episode of 4 ^^; (maybe doing everything at once was a bad idea after all ^^;;;;;; )

ADULT TIMMY! ok, ok, slow it down! gah i can't spend hours untangling the timelines right now to figure this one out. because that's adult Timmy from The Big Problem (why do we keep referencing this episode suddenly?? i swear Odder did it too), as in he was aged up from 10 to this form instantly. compared that to the OTHER adult versions we've had (Channel Chaser 1, Channel Chasers 2, Channel Chasers college aged, LA, and Odder (we're not counting the grandpa 10 year old from the stupid "i paused time for 20 years" trial episode) ) who appeared to age naturally. this Timmy was guesstimated to be middle-aged, which is 45-65. SO if we go for 45, that's 35 years from the original series, making Dale Dimmadome like 50s...he did not look in his 50s. now i KNOW nothing says that that IS Timmy (though his vest did have T on it...but he is an actor...)

also "Chin-finity War". yes, that's mine now. idk how or when i'll use it, but i'm taking it, no takebacks. thank you FOP team, you know how to feed me well, i appreciate it.

they aren't assigned to her yet, why would saying "I wish" revert their disguises? i mean, i guess since they *wanted* to come out of retirement, their own desires could've triggered it, but still...they could hang around people who said "I wish" before and not be compelled to grant them. are they compelled because they're unattached? is that why genies work the way they do? does attaching oneself to a human limit their capabilities? or protect them more like it?? what lore ramifications does this have on the fae social and power structures?? also she's turned into a fly...that sounds like a genie's monkey paw wish granted and not a fairy's. again, is this because they are unattached to her? are they granting wishes "rule-less" so they are unfocused and more chaotic? are genie wishes twisted because they do it on purpose, or because they are unbound and unfocused?

O.o!!! i did not have Cosmo and Wanda body horror on my FOP bingo card...i applaud you writers, that surprised me

ok a carousel of timeline events...not referencing anything in the past canon...but is dating it for this time frame...eh i'll let it slide (because i missed it the first time because of the shock at the body horror)

wait their welcome gift was a Seemingly Harmless Plant? how did i miss that earlier? lol

dawww Hazel learns the lesson of the day from an ant that's going to be dead in 5 minutes. so sweet. see, using magic to fix mundane problems.

oh that's cool, their front door is an interdimensional portal. so they aren't living as humans in the human world. but oh boy, 2d flashback time again...oh no, but wait canonical confirmation that they were with Timmy for 7 years???? (pft 20, yeah that's real time i know, stilly funny). that...makes sense in both the you age out of fairies thing, but also that it was s8 where things started to loose proper focus what with only 5 episodes that you could fold into s7...and that's where the stupid Timmy's Secret Wish thing was. but also...s9 was Sparky, and s10 was Chloe; if we go back to the alternate timelines thing, ten that means it was after s7 (s8 folded in or not) that each continuation branched off from. best example being that Poof didn't speak until s9, but in the LA movies he only started to speak, so obviously those 2 are separate branches. now, this doesn't explain the lack of Poof in Odder or here (so far) i know, OR how there's a few connective episodes between s9 and s10 (very few) but DOES explain the absence of Sparky from Chloe's season since they could be considered different timelines, and why they both were not in the LA or Odder. this is fascinating, and i eagerly await more of New Wish to see if anything from s9 or s10 show up to disprove this theory

ALSO if they were with Timmy for 7 years, and we assume that 1 season = 1 year (not exactly right but roll with it), then since Dale Dimmadome first appeared in s2 (and last appeared s4) and Dev is 10...wait i lost my math train of thought and my tv went to screensaver i'm taking so long on this gah! well it's not the 35 years that adult Timmy woudl suggest. c'mon i gotta finish this episode before i hit the 90 min mark

oh i had a minute left lol. ahhhhh but the production? drawings on the credits with the instrumental of the opening theme, my heart! i love these latest sequel-reboots that know what they're doing.

so to sum it up; this is a yes. this series is looking good so far. i know, still got 3 more episodes to go. but hopefully it won't take me 3 times the length of the episode to get through them too ^^;;;;

Episode 2: The Department of Magical Violations

ok so this description says something about the fairies reupping their magical permits. makes sense, seeing as they've been retired for who knows how long (and we'll just ignore the magical build up implications of that since they do reside in Fairy World still so do regularly use magic) AND the old lore does have them having to redo their certifications like...twice i think in the canon? i know Temporary Fairy was one, but i think there was at least one other instance. so yeah, i'm on board for the premise, let's go

Jorgen what happened? you're in a sweater vest and you haven't shaved. did you retire too?

ok cool Hazel was already on the list to be assigned a fairy. Cookie though....already not vibing with them (which is the point i know, we want our OG pair tp be best after all)

Jorgen you're in cargo shorts and tall socks. did...did you become a dad?

Wish Fart...eh...i can forgive it

because this trial thing sounds very much like something they've done before too! Wishing Well, Wish Fixers, there's another one idr...oh but this is something different, cool. also nice that Hazel has performance anxiety; i guess that's our lesson for the week.

does this dance off date this...i'm not sure...the dabbing though does pretty sure

ahhhh Cookie's so proficient because she does whatever whether that makes her kids happy or not. she must annoy them so much that they willingly give up their fairy rights too early. thus leading to her productivity levels being "many jobs completed" but not because they were done properly.

oh look Da Rules!

Hazel hates chocolate chip cookies? hmmm...i guess i can still like you

huh just now noticed that the fairies are scaled smaller than Hazel.

mk, so yeah lesson of the week was communication and standing up for yourself. nice, sweet, simple. onto the next half!

Episode 3: Teacher's Pal

this description says she's lonely and wants to make friends. mk, that's a good lesson of the week, and very relatable. the title card even reminds me of A Wish Too Far...well in vibes, not in matching title card art obviously

"Dimmadelphia Enrichment Center" is the name of the school

oh wow that's interesting; Cosmo and Wanda took up her pop-it keychains but weren't them, they were overlaid on them.

"Dimmy Shimmy"...yeah...i don't get tiktok dances either

hm maybe the principal is the new Crocker...

wait does ASMR boy have a d20 on his shirt???

yup that's your lesson Hazel. see, a mundane problem made worse by magic and fixed in the end by the MC growing up and taking responsibility. good story telling

and was really a breeze to watch *shrugs* not every story is action packed or dripping in lore. as i said, some of the best stories are t he mundane and in the end are about growing up on your own terms at your own pace.

Episode 4: A Dinosaur in Dimmadelphia

it's the last aired thing my Xfinity On Demand is giving me, since this isn't on Paramount+ yet. weird that they list the previous 2 as a full ep2, yet the wiki has the half episodes (save for the pilot) being individual numbers. so for the sake of me not complaining, and simplicity, i'll just use the wiki as an episode guide from now on

(also Robby Daymond is part of the cast??? hurray! ok you just scored points with me. thanks wiki for telling me) (oh wait this is supposed to be on Netflix...but not yet...ok, so Xfinity we remain on)

so this description says dinosaurs. should be fun!

"Dimmsonian Museum" lol

"Obtuse Rubber Goose from 2001 BC" pffffft cute

classic wish train going on. get a dino, talk to him, get people to not care, don't send him back, make him fit into modern society.

convolute dover the top parade thing? lol sure

black vans huh? oh it's the mayor, not MERF, hm

but hey day is saved. and i guess a dinosaur just...is around now...mk

so this was a little less mundane, but you know that's ok too. it is a cartoon, we are silly and out there, not everything is a lesson of the week. (though one would argue that having a dinosaur around would lead to the magic reveal...but eh...)

so after 4 episodes...yeah the style was grown on me, it's less off putting. and yes, the writing here is doing very well. the team seems to know what they're doing, and they're paying attention to the past canon lore BUT they have the advantage of having a new main cast so they can be a bit looser with it. the easter eggs are fun, the energy is high, it's all good. i am looking forward to more of this series (and trying to detangle the timelines XD)

[biblioflyer]

Discovery S5E2 First Reactions

I've always been lukewarm on Discovery. This episode charmed me. Something I've long appreciated about Discovery is that it has continuously worked to address valid criticism without tossing overboard literally everything that sets it apart. I don't agree with every spicy Picard S3 take, but in spite of my enjoyment of that season, I felt a mild concern, if not irritation that what I liked about the series from its first two seasons was largely being ignored.

I've never had that sense with Discovery. With the exception of that utterly baffling episode where everyone started acting like Georgiou had redeemed herself without ever actually walking back her psycho persona significantly, Discovery has done a really good job of growing across all dimensions. The writing is more polished, the cinematography is excellent, the actors live inside their characters in a very natural way. There is nary a jar of eye drops in sight.

If this was pre-streaming era Trek with its 20+ episode seasons, we'd recognize this as the beginning of Discovery's third season. When Trek usually starts getting actually good rather than something with hokey charm.

And I'm actually kind of bummed this is its last season.

This was a nice "lore" episode. Lots of nice callbacks to bits and bobs of Trek trivia, but not overwhelmingly so.

I didn't see the twist coming with Raynor but I dig it. I liked Saru's observation that Burnham is "a force of nature." Like in previous seasons, Burnham's much criticized character flaws are acknowledged and overcoming them and working around them are part of the story, and handled quite well. Burnham is impulsive, empathic, and fiercely a creature of conscience. She benefits from having level headed people around her. Like Saru, whose arc throughout the series has been phenomenal.

Of course maybe I'm just a massive Doug Jones fanboy.

Culber doesn't seem like he's going to be a major player in this season, but he's doing good service as being the guy to deliver the good stuff, like "I asked how you were, not what you've been up to."

I'm steeling myself for a sudden pivot to the YA relationship drama genre next episode. I do have hope that given how everyone else is increasingly very natural in their roles and not feeling the need to oversell things, this will also be the case with Adira and Gray.

I recognize this is a loose end that deserves tidying up for fans of this particular relationship and I will endeavor to not be a spoil sport. Rest assured ready, its because I just don't like teenage / YA cringe, not because of the identities of the characters.

I'm not overly enthusiastic about Burnham and Book either. I've just never found it persuasive as an on screen romance, from a chemistry standpoint or character dynamics. It sort of made sense when Burnham was looking to leave Starfleet and as a sort of legacy of that time when having a sort of Han Solo type character as a partner made sense. But again, its just not my jam. They're interesting characters on their own, and it lowkey frustrates me that Discovery seems to think that romance is the primary way to do character evolution.

That having said, I maintain my promise to be seriously grumpy if anything happens with Saru and K'rina.

I am curious about what the MacGuffin will be in the end. I'm already assuming its another callback to TNG where everyone is hugely disappointed because its not the sort of thing that would radically shift the balance of power in the galaxy, but rather something more wholesome. Another message, the Progenitors' library: that sort of thing. A kind of passing of the torch where the Federation is kind of the new Preservers.

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 217

Hello everyone, Mage of Light Nick Card here. The autumn rains have arrived to quench the parched soil. it's nice to listen to the rain when nothing else is happening. for now though, it's time for the news.

Justice Quest Update

Early this week, after a bout of foggy conditions, Rogue of Heart Charles had arrived in Shoreport. Soon after arriving, they managed to locate the stabbing victim in need of justice at the local tavern. Charles managed to settle the situation by offering the person in question by giving them 1000g worth of desertian gold bars. The assailant now owes Charles the amount instead, details likely to be decided later.

While still at the tavern, Charles encountered three voidco operatives, a wizard, a warlock, and a rogue. With the skilled work of a mysterious magical performer that was also present, all three were relieved of their contractual obligations to the cursed company. The pact-broken warlock is reportedly searching for a new patron, one that won't slowly convert her into a copy of the Page of Darkness. It is very possible that she has already made progress towards finding a new one, though further news on the matter is currently unknown.

Return of the Movie Night

Rather recently after Charles returned home from Plit, they proposed restarting movie night, this time using an online screen sharing service and the memo already designated for movie night. The first movie chosen was the Digimon movie, complete with all three parts (including the one that eventually became the basis for Summer Wars), the infamous Angela Anaconda short at the beginning, and an additional mini-movie that expanded upon the second part of the movie. Overall, the event was a rousing success, with good times all around, no weird time-y stuff like the group used to experience with Katie's movie setup, minimal organizational delays, and plenty of laughs at Tai's mom's interesting culinary practices (onion juice! jerky shakes! 2 bean salad!). The next date and movie selection has yet to be chosen, but it is certain that the quicker setup will make organizing another movie night much easier in the future.

New Laptop!

Earlier today, Heir of Hope Hazel Serket received a huge package in the mail. It turned out to have a great deal of electronic paraphernalia from a particular Skye instance who needed to offload a number of things for safe keeping. Inside of the package, there was a big stack of captchalogue cards, absolutely chock full of various computers from different past eras, electronics and power distribution equipment, countless manuals, and a fetch modus development suite. Reportedly, one of the computers in the pile is a high-end 2011 PowerPC InterTeck ThinkPad running miniOS. Hazel is very satisfied with the veritable treasure trove.

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This week’s known market stands in Desertia Town:

DTA train ticket stand

Katie’s potion stand (Not available to plitlanders due to regulations, available to all others however)

shinyjiggly pokesnacks stand (also has a Unity Village location!)

Brae's produce stall: - Potted vegetables - Jarred vegetables - Various jams

Herbalist shop - Leechwort (25 gp) - Nepenthe (400 gp) - Allnight (75 gp) - Merfolk’s Comb (750 gp) - Garlic (1 sp)

Scissors stand

Hammock stand

That should do it for this week. I think I've managed to get my stride back, though it took some irritation and recruitment to get back into the mix. I really need to step up my game on this, though its hard when I've got so many other obligations. At least the rain sounds nice. https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/454/charcherry-weekly-issue-217

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 18th of June, 2024 Studio Work development

Studio Trials

Ashley Singer, trialling work on the studio floor, 2024, clementine casts in white candle wax with rind residue, 15cm long (each work to scale of a clementine)

Ashley Singer, trialling work on the studio window sill, 2024, ‘wild’ clay collected from a New Lynn clay deposit, clay cast in the shape of pansy and rose petals, also seen on top of a square of plaster and organic matter

Ashley Singer, candle wax mould of half an avocado pip, 2024, candle wax

Ashley Singer, trialling work on the studio floor, 2024, glass jam jar filled with the last of summer’s flowers preserved in candle wax and a keepsake flower dried ontop, wild clay avocado half cast

Ashley Singer, small groupings of casts in plastic containers for storage, 2024, mixed media and storage containers

My Reflection:

Taking this season (winter) as translatable into matter, I have introduced the organic material as un-preserved (I usually sun or air dry most of the vegetal matter) and have allowed some rot to grow in the rind of the clementine casts which I then re-treated and was able to cure the mould so it would only act as a pigment now on the rind and not progress further to show faithfully the way fallen fruit would rot during winter.

Keepsake definition: noun. keep·​sake is something kept or given to be kept in memory of a person, place, or happening. (Webster's Dictionary)

My partner and I traveled to new lynn and were able to get some clay from a worksite in bulk and store it in a very large bucket with a lid outside. Gathering clay directly from the earth in this amount was new for me, but since it all had to be removed from the site for building purposes I felt happy to collect en mass for the good use of the clay in my studio work. It requires a lot more moulding than the fine porcelain (kaolin) and each type has its own strengths.

I think the new lynn site clay type (having both grey and bright orange colouring) is some kind of stoneware/earthenware mix so it is interesting to use as it’s very plasticine-like. I think it works best when worked a lot and after removing all the stones and organic matter, the grey and the orange tones blend into a brown orange toned clay. The clay fits the best into the shape of smaller petals (unlike the kaolin and air dry white clay which worked best on bigger surfaces of Grandiflora like magnolias or lilies). It isn't as easy to scrap along the petals as it is fallible to cracking and is a lot coarser than the thinness of the more heavily refined kaolin I have also been using.

From a small couple of pots of pansy’s most of the impressions where made with the new lynn clay, pressing with my fingertips super gently and carefully on the petals as to not tear them and get the correct shaping for my cast. After pressing and smoothing the clay, I then peel it off of the cast and let the cast immediately sit in the sun on the windowsill to begin curing.

After a small amount of water has beaded onto the windowsill surface, I move the petal cast and wipe the water and place the cast back on the window ledge (and so forth for each cast). I have amassed a huge collection of casts over the year so far and have been storing them away in my plastic containers in my studio cupboard. This allows me to have an accurately built up picture of the seasons and when I come to installing be able to choose matter to show in groups of when they were made at the same time.

After a small amount of water has beaded onto the windowsill surface, I move the petal cast and wipe the water and place the cast back on the window ledge (and so forth for each cast). I have amassed a huge collection of casts over the year so far and have been storing them away in my plastic containers in my studio cupboard. This allows me to have an accurately built up picture of the seasons and when I come to installing be able to choose matter to show in groups of when they were made at the same time.

[lale-txt]

♡ DILFS DILFS DILFS: dancing together for the first time w/ Mihawk & gn!reader

a/n: requested by @sugxrslushy, thank you so much, maxx ♡ it's a shame how little i've written for Mihawk so far and i'm about to change that with this event ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ he is so fine. i want to live my cottagecore dreams with him once he's able to retire and live his farmer live in peace.

word count: 711

“Daydreaming a little?”

You don’t even notice how Mihawk steps behind you, his face close to yours as he peeks over your shoulder. His big hand wraps around yours holding the wooden spoon, gently helping you to stir the boiling pot of raspberry jam that almost burned because you got lost in your own thoughts for a minute, smiling to yourself like a fool in love. Feeling him this close made your heart bubble up with joy, even warmer than the sticky sweetness on the stove top in front of you.

In theory, there was no need for you to daydream because you were already living everything that you’ve ever wished for: A life in utter solitude with your handsome future goth husband, a huge and rich garden for cute berry picking dates and being kissed at any given time and place – whether it was in the morning when you traced the sharp lines of Mihawk’s face with your fingertips or at night, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, brushing your teeth together like an old couple who knows that love is stored in soft domestic gestures.

Even so, you can’t help but hold still for a moment and take a deep breath with a smile curling up on your lips, being nothing but grateful for the life you get to experience, enjoying mundane things like cooking jam together on a sunny afternoon in a castle of your own. There is no dream sweeter than this reality and when Mihawk calls out your name you learn once again what love sounds like, rolling over his lips with a softness reserved for you only.

Soon the empty jars are filled with the canned taste of late summer, a flavor reminding you of warm nights under the stars and a love carried by fireflies. While Mihawk screws the lids on, you flip over the vinyl and start humming once the needle hits it, filling the kitchen with soft tunes and melodies. Big bowls of freshly picked berries are still on the kitchen counter, waiting to be cooked, but first… 

“May I have this dance?”

Mihawk gives you a rare smile and the sound of his voice alone is enough to send warm shivers down your spine. Both of you don’t bother getting rid of your matching aprons first, just you reaching for his outstretched hand, him pulling you close by your hips, hungry mouths seeking each other as you sway through the kitchen, feeling weightless.

Kissing him makes you melt like the very first time, back then when your lips crashed on each other after tiptoeing around in orbits, taking both your breath and your heart away in exchange for his endless devotion. Mihawk made sure you never had to wonder about his feelings. He was outspoken and honest and when he gazes at you, it’s like he sees right through you, deciphering all your secrets and reading you in a language only you two know. 

His love was golden. 

“We’ve never danced before…”, you mumble against his skin, enjoying the feeling of his hand on the small of your back while yours rested against his bare chest, fingertips brushing the dark hair peeking out of his open shirt. 

“Our hearts did...” 

You look up to Mihawk, making a face at the cheesy line but also smile so widely, unable to resist his charm and how he can just say things like that and leave no room for doubt that he really meant them. Just like that you continue your dance, spinning around in endless circles, him leading you gently as if the messy kitchen was an opulent ballroom that belonged to the two of you only. 

So you dance and sway until the vinyl stops, and even after that Mihawk holds you tight in his arms, as if he has no intentions of ever letting you go again. He places a kiss on your forehead, then tilts your head up by your chin, making you look him straight in the eyes, before he kisses your lips again and you sigh dreamily, wrapping your arms around his neck and letting him pick you up with ease, carrying on with your little kitchen dance to the sound of your hearts beating in unison.

[f4irydaydreams]

oh i didn’t realise requests were open!!

I thought it was lovely when you mentioned reader baking cookies and all the little changes she made in eddies trailer cause I love reading about small domestic moments!! can I ask for something around that? like reader getting ready in the morning and eddie just admiring her doing her skincare or makeup. honestly anything you can come up with i’m sure it’ll be fantastic! tysm 💐💗

a/n i simply adore this trope cuz this is how i imagine what it would be like to date eddie. also i wrote like more than half of this as a long blurb and it got deleted so i hope this is enough <3 also lmk if anyone wants to be on my tag list

one of your favorite things to do was spending the night at eddie’s trailer.

he always had fresh sheets now that you started sleeping over regularly. his room was warm and his sheets smelled like him. you always slept in one of eddie’s shirts that were big and warm and felt like a hug.

while eddie was in the shower, you changed into his clothes and pulled out a small pouch filled with a couple skincare products.

since you spent so much time staying over you decided to bring some of your stuff to jot disrupt nighttime routine too much.

you had washed your face earlier and sat by the small mirror in his room pulling out your hair ribbon. eddie was back by the time you detangled your hair and watched with fascination as you delicately applied the various creams on your face.

he had no idea what you were doing or what the purpose of this was but he was enamored but how soft you were.

eddie and you were almost opposites and he couldn’t get enough of it. he loved that you made his trailer smell like warm cookies and how you brought flowers into his house because they were just too pretty to be washed away in the rain.

he also loved how you could share the different parts of your life. you were more than eager to learn how to play d&d and loved to see eddie so passionate and excited. he loved how you taught him how to draw and scattered pieces of you in his room.

“whacha puttin on your face sweetheart?” he asks, genuinely curious.

“it’s moisturizer! supposed to keep my skin soft” you noticed how intrigued he looked staring at the little jar in your hand. “want some handsome?” you held out your hand showing him the produced.

he cautiously inspected it and almost jammed his fingers into the jar earning a small yelp and giggle form you.

“not like that silly!” you smiled climbing onto his lap taking the jar into your hands. you gently applied the cool cream on his face as he shamelessly started at you.

he was so in love with you he felt like he could burst. you were so soft with him and after a long time he felt truly loved.

“you gotta be gentle with it” your nose was almost touching his as you finished up, “it’s cold” he whispered.

“feels nice yeah?” you questioned, putting the jar away and bringing his face back towards yours.

“now i’m all soft like you” he kissed your nose with a huge smile on his face. he decided to attack your sides, lightly tickling you making shriek and squirm alway. his grip tightened around you and he brought you back up to face him.

“you’re mean”

he kissed your little pout and said, “you’re adorable”

[pastafossa]

YOUR CUPCAKES LOOK ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE I LOVE THEM! I also love to bake and wonder if you have any favorite recipes or designs of yours that you recommend?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FELLOW BAKING ANON! 🥰 Cupcakes are just my favorite thing to bake and decorate EVER, I've made so many and I'm guilty of crawling pinterest to find new ones to try constantly!

Design wise, some Shark Bite Cupcakes are always a HUGE hit and are one of my favorites! The recipe says put strawberry jam inside but I like to do them with a raspberry jam instead (I use a jar of low sugar raspbery preserves so you get a more tart contrast to the sugary buttercream). It's hilarious to watch people's expression when they hit the little cored section, pull back to see the 'blood' jam, and start laughing.

Cupcake unicorns are adorable so I used the design on this unicorn cupcake recipe for it, but used my own recipes for both the cupcake and frosting since I wasn't sure if I'd like theirs. Bonus - fill batter with sprinkles and add EDIBLE GLITTER on top! This is also where my three color piping bag comes in handy!

My other favorite design, as someone who grew up living near Disneyland and LOVED the Haunted Mansion, is graveyard cupcakes for Halloween! Standard chocolate base, choco buttercream frosting, sprinkle crushed oreo cookies for dirt - then buy a pack of candy tombstones and bones (I stumbled across mine at Michael's, and knew I had to cupcake them 😂) and write funny names (Collin Sick, Noah Scape, Barry M. Deep) or cheesy rhymes on the tombstones just like at Disney (@wonderlandmind4 you might like these too 😆). Stick the little bones up out of the dirt, and you're good to go for Halloween!

Recipe wise I have some absolute workhorses I go back to over and over!

Vanilla buttercream frosting recipe 1 (but swap milk for whipping cream if possible) and vanilla buttercream frosting recipe 2. The first is a little sweeter than #2, so I switch back and forth based on what type of cupcake and/or filling I'm using! I love these and I've used these as bases for a lot of my flavored frosting - apple cider, pumpkin spice, coffee, PB. They work SO well and are so easy and quick to make!

Chocolate buttercream recipe! The espresso powder just YES. And depending on season I add a bit of cinnamon instead of espresso.

If I'm in a hurry or don't have from scratch ingredients and am using box mix for cupcakes, I use this recipe to improve it! So far no one's noticed when I sometimes switch to box mix (used to bake a lot for church on sundays)!

These chocolate cherry cookies are SO FUCKING GOOD! I've tried it with all kinds of cherries and it's GREAT, although I'd advise frosting *after* cause melting in the oven sometimes occurs.

I LITERALLY had people emailing me after doing these apple cider cupcakes.

[oflgtfol]

some immediate thoughts, as i'm sure more will come to me in the following days, weeks, months, years, etc.

overall mood leaving the theater: it was nowhere near as bad as i feared, but also nowhere near as good as it should and could have been. overwhelmingly meh. it was entertaining, certainly, but not as like, genuinely deep, layered, and emotional as the prior movies.

spoilers under the cut

let's start with the good things:

animation was top notch. i was especially impressed by the environments!! i feel like that was a huge improvement from previous kfp movies. none of them had bad environmental design, but it wasn't necessarily eye-catching either, as the kfp art always excelled more in character designs, fight choreography, music, and lighting imo. BUT! kfp 4 really stepped up with the environmental design, it was definitely eye catching and so so impressive. the wetlands and farms outside of the valley of peace village were so beautiful, and all the detail jam-packed into each alleyway of juniper city -- the shop signage, the candles, the general objects of these spaces being lived in -- was so great

fur texture also seemed like it was rendered differently than in previous movies. definitely looked fluffier than normal, but subtly so. it felt like they took notes from the animation style of puss in boots but still stayed true to the overall look of the kung fu panda franchise, which i like. as amazing as pib was, it would be incredibly jarring to suddenly change styles mid-franchise for kfp like that. so i'm glad to see a stylistic choice made but a subtle one. and frankly i doubt anyone else would even notice it but i'm like stupidly obsessed with these movies and have always taken note of how fur is rendered, particularly for po, and so i have noticed that slight difference

i LOVED the variety of animals in this movie. the pangolin guy, the manta ray, the howler monkeys (?), the pelican and the fish, and of course the chameleon and her komodo dragon (?) lackeys. i also even liked the inclusion of wolves but as casual background characters, since wolves had only ever really been generic bad guys beforehand

i liked when po called himself "the kung fu panda." like haha. lol

the fucking ending song. jack black covering hit me baby one more time was so fucking epic???!!? britney spears in MY kung fu panda?!?!!?!?!?! i loved it. absolutely fucking delightful

now onto my critiques. and i will admit a lot of these are nitpicky but as i said earlier, i am stupidly obsessed with these movies, and so i will nitpick to my heart's desire

the fucking dialogue felt way too modern. especially from zhen. like when she said "i love that for you" like yes it made me laugh but also like they have never spoken like that prior kfp movies. weird as fuck. kinda took me out of the immersion. there were several other instances of this too but i can only remember this one because it was the only one that got a chuckle out of me, and then immediately made me go ??? right after chuckling

zhen's character design still fucking sucks. my friend, who is nowhere near as kfp-pilled as i am, said "i thought that was judy hopps" as soon as zhen came on screen. she fucking looks like she's from zootopia. why is this fox wearing makeup. killing myself as we speak

WHERE the fuck was the furious five. they gave some half-assed explanation to where the furious five were at the beginning of the movie, but it's like, gah. this is what really made it feel like Not A Real Kung Fu Panda Movie, because they are always in the kfp movies!! it's not a real kfp movie without them!!! the dragon warrior and the furious five!!

along those lines, the inclusion of the previous villains of the franchise felt half-assed. the fact neither shen nor kai ever spoke was weird as fuck.

that, along with the lack of the furious five, really felt like they just weren't able to get the voice actors back for this movie, and so they just wrote the characters out entirely because of it. :(

the inclusion of tai lung was perfect i think. my one coworker, when discussing how unnecessary this movie was, and the appearance of tai lung in the trailer, said that he hopes this movie is a redemption arc for tai lung. and i said no fucking way. that would ruin it for me entirely. and so i'm glad they did not do that! tai lung barely showed up but still had a semi-major presence in the few scenes he did exist in. and it struck a good balance for me

however,

he did have sort of a little mini-redemption where he's suddenly rooting for po. like bro what. idk i think they could've handled his acceptance of po as the dragon warrior a bit btter, not have it come out of nowhere. i don't have any thoughts on how it could have been handled better just yet, but immediately post-movie, all i know is that it could have been better.

especially if they had given shen and kai some screen time? literally any voice lines at all? i think the thing that made tai lung's mini arc so weird to me is that he's the ONLY villain who got any sort of anything during that whole part of the movie. it was just weird. like, why did we not get a mini-confrontation with shen and kai. especially kai since this chameleon lady is, essentially, doing what kai was attempting, just from the other side of mortality??? not even a fucking snide comment from kai about like unoriginality or something?? kai was so sarcastic he could've had just a single sarcastic line while he was in his cage about what the chameleon was doing and it would've made his inclusion so much more satisfying. instead he's literally just there. in the corner.

and this is especially jarring for shen since shen was such a fucking fucked up villain for po and so i feel like seeing him again would make po at least do a double take? or like, have shen make his own little complaint about how the chameleon is the ruler of juniper city, like how shen was the ruler of gongmen city? but again shen is just there. sitting in the corner.

but by god they got ian mcshane back as a voice actor so by god they gotta give tai lung those voice lines even when no one else has any

the whole concept of the previous villains returning, even for just a brief amount of time, just all around felt so wasted and strange

anyway moving onto the chameleon now. god i have my issues with kai as a villain, about how his motivations are so fucking weak compared to tai lung and shen. tai lung was raised from childhood to adulthood with the expectation from his father that he would become the dragon warrior, and then when that didn't happen, he was thrown away and discarded (from his perspective). he was betrayed by his own family and that's why he goes around rampaging, cuz he's fucking pissed and betrayed. shen wants power and will do everything he can to stop any obstacles from preventing him from it, because his parents had been horrified with him and exiled him for what he did. he received a prophecy that a warrior of black and white would one day stop him, and so he went on to fucking genocide the pandas. shen is simultaneously egotistical yet also incredibly insecure that he must go to such extreme, violent lengths to stay in power, an insecurity that stems from his parents not supporting his actions in his youth. shen's motive is power for power's sake, but the REASON he wants that power is what matters. my problem with kai is that we really don't fucking know why he wants power. to one up oogway? i guess? literally a guessing game. blah blah beef with oogway like okay so why did you start murdering people for their chi in the first place. just weird. and now that problem is dialled up up to 11 with the chameleon. like oh no everyone underestimated me because of how small i am (no kung fu master would ever train her because of how small she is! quick, don't think of mantis of the furious five, who is literally an insect!) SO LET ME GO LIKE BECOME A GIANT EVIL DICTATOR? like what the fuck? where in god's name did that logical leap come from. everyone underestimated me so LET ME BECOME EVIL. like fuck man it could have been a deeper backstory if it was like, actually shown why she went to that extreme from something as petty as that. was she bullied, disenfranchised - rightfully angry at how she was treated and turned to a larger evil in response, like tai lung? or was she entitled and only perceived herself to be wronged, like shen? no, none of that! she's just evil cuz why not, with some random "motivation" slapped on over it. man i can't believe they made kai look like a better villain in comparison

and how exactly did she challenge po in any way that he hadn't already been challenged? the kfp trilogy was insanely deep beyond it's surface level silliness. tai lung represented a battle of the body. shen, of the mind. kai, of the spirit. body, mind, spirit. a perfect trio. they wrapped po's story up perfectly with the end of kfp3. there was nothing else to do with him. this movie was unnecessary and this villain did nothing that hadn't already been done before

the only character arc that happened was with zhen. literally the story was about zhen, not po.

that's like.... fine, i guess, if this wasn't named kung fu panda 4, in a franchise of three other prior movies, where po is the central character, with po growing and going through an arc in each movie. it literally feels like star wars the skywalker saga vs. star wars whatever is coming after. where kfp 1-3 is like, the kung fu panda saga, and then 4+ is about zhen instead. like, i don't care? this is kung fu PANDA

or, essentially: it feels like one of the direct-to-streaming spinoff kfp shows where the story isn't actually about po but about some other side character, and further exemplified by that lack of the furious five (see: paws of destiny, dragon knight). this does not feel like it fits on-par with kfp 1-3 as a theatrical release with a set cast, set tone, set story projection. side by side with the prior movies, kfp4 stands out really badly. it does not feel like a kung fu panda movie

like man what the fuck do you mean po isn't the dragon warrior anymore. he's literally theeee dragon warrior. fuck my whole life

it was still a good time, in the "shut your brain off and don't think about anything too deeply" kind of way. i must say if i was a kid watching this movie right now it would not grip me in the same way that kung fu panda 1 gripped me at the ripe tender age of 7, to the point where i'm now 22 still writing essays about these movies

going to see kung fu panda 4 today. wish me luck