#and most the time other ingredients will get in it regardless and I can't eat it anymore cuz that entire area is infected with the taste

[dan-crimes]

I gotta complain abt being a picky eater here for a sec cuz I'm lookin @ all this stuff on the breakfast menu and there's always the SAME ingredients in all these SAME food items and it would be SO much easier if I could just order food without having to think of all the stuff I DON'T want on my food cuz I always gotta put in so much effort to look into every single ingredient in every since food item that I order bcuz I DON'T LIKE MOST FOODS !!! SMHH !!

[littleplantfreak]

Grocery Shopping Headcanons 1

I said I'd do these a while back and someone requested I do them when I was taking requests for my 100 followers event so uwu)/ one request fulfilled!! There will be a part two with the others coming eventually...Once I get through the rest of my requests.

____________

Umemiya Hajime

-One of the funnest people to go grocery shopping with tbh.

He's talking you into buying a few extra snacks/food by holding them up in front of you and puppeting them at you, asking in a silly high pitched voice if you'll please buy them because they've heard your pantry is the best vacation spot in town! He gets so silly with it.

-The older people in town tell him when and where the best sales are, which makes budgeting a lot easier. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes if one of them is in front of you in line, they'll have the cashier use their senior discount for your stuff as well. Don't try to fight them on it, though; they'll insist the only thing they need is for you both to visit them every once in a while, which you planned to do regardless.

-Gets upset if he hasn't found you in the store for a while after leaving to pick some things up. Once he does see you, he acts like it's been weeks and refuses to leave your side for the rest of the shopping trip. He's quite literally stuck to you like glue.

-The type to have really funky or cute looking reusable bags.

Choji Tomiyama

-Can't stay on task to save his life. If you're pushing the cart, he will stand on the other side of it being pushed around. He insists he'll take turns, but he gets a bit too enthusiastic with how fast he should be going through the aisles. Nearly runs a few people over before you decide maybe just pushing it normally works best.

-Do not let him disappear on you; he'll end up at some other grocery store two miles down the street.

-Sometimes he knows your tastes better than you do. If you're deliberating over trying something new, 9/10 times he's correct about how you'll like it. He actually pays a lot of attention to what you like to eat and drink.

-Calls Togame and not only asks him what he wants from the store, but tells him to come down by the time you guys are done to help carry your stuff. He hasn't said no to Choji yet.

-He's feeding you both all the samples he can find until you realize you snacked so much you're not even hungry for dinner anymore.

Suo Hayato

-He's pretty relaxed compared to the other two. He'll let you take the reins for the most part since he's got all the stuff written down and knows each aisle it's in. He doesn't often stray from his normal foods so it's almost muscle memory now.

-When he does try something new, it's weird stuff. Like you didn't know this was in the store weird, what aisle does that even go in? You look around to see, and find nothing. He either took the last one or he was in the forbidden part of the grocery store.

-Sometimes, if he knows you're getting a lot, he brings the collapsible grocery wagon. (don't even play with me, this is the hottest thing someone could do for grocery shopping.)

-Watch out if you lose sight of him or he goes to grab something without you, because he WILL jumpscare you and you WILL have to try to smother your yelp.

Nirei Akihiko

-Extreme couponing Nirei edition tbh he's got it down to a science

-Knows a surprising amount of recipes by heart, so if you're trying hard to remember what you need for what you wanna make? Don't even get out your phone to struggle with finding enough bars (because for some reason grocery stores are iron fortresses that don't have cell service?) Nirei has it all up there in his beautiful brain.

-He's never in a rush and doesn't really separate from you (why would he want to?) He's just thrilled to spend time with you.

-Also one to have a bunch of different reusable bags.

-If you have a certain diet or need a certain ingredient, he knows all the specialty food stores around and is more than okay with making the extra stop with you.

-He has a certain type and brand of ice cream he likes to get as a treat every time, and although he tells you he doesn't need it, if they happen to be out of stock, he deflates a little.

Sakura Haruka

-You wouldn't think someone could be bad at grocery shopping, but....he's bad at it. An excess of meats and carbs is what comes home if you send him by himself, so it's best just to go together.

-Also you could swear he's giving a nasty look to the vegetable section hoping you don't pick any terrible ones up (though what's terrible to him is most of them)

-You catch him trying to hide if he sees someone he knows because to him, it'll just make it a longer grocery trip, and honestly, he just wants to go home with you. Point out who he's hiding from and say hi and watch the look of betrayal as he's turning red and grumbling.

-It takes him a bit, but after a few trips he starts to get the hang of things. He can tell the better meat cuts, and now knows to check the eggs to make sure they're not cracked. Sometimes, he texts you a picture of the vegetables you're looking for to make sure they're the right ones or to make sure they're your preferred ripeness if you're not there

The self checkout becomes his best friend, that way he doesn't have to worry about making small talk. He's screwed when he picks up meats, though, because the scale never picks up the weight properly, and then he's sweating waiting for one of the workers to come help him out.

-Refuses to let you carry the bags in, and is also one of those people who insist on loading up all the groceries on his arms at once. There will be no second trips to the car.

[heartfullofleeches]

Monster reader x Yan cult leader where monster reader's horns finally grow out fully?

[light angst]

Mystery Meat Monday.

Your favorite day of the week. Every starting day of the new week cycle your underlinings and the ancient deity presumed to be you at one point in time crowded together in the mess hall to watch you dine on the feast they worked in union to harvest. Rich stews and roasted slabs of meat. The cuts reminded you of pork, but a little more gamey. Regardless of what it was, you gobbled every bite and asked for seconds which where soon to come as nearly everyone refused to eat the flesh despite your insistence on just one small bite. Ah well, more for you... and Axel. The cultist was quite fond of the strange meat same as you.

"Mmm..."

Your head throbs. The one downside to mystery meat was the headaches you'd receive shortly after consuming. At first it was only a little buzz, but now it felt like your skull was splitting in two. You didn't want to bring it up and risk wasting everyone's hard work for something you could easily handle after everything you've been through - but something's wrong. It's getting worse. You clutch your hands over your temples as a bowl rolls across the floor and a loud hammering drones on in your ears. Tears leak and your cohorts are quick to swarm as you claw at the aggregated skin.

"Master, is everything alright?"

"It...hurts...my head is....something - arghhh!"

Pain ripples throufh your entire being. Crying out with a squeal that rattles the windows in their frames and the cult members to their knees, some crawling towards you as others clasp their hands over their ringing ears. Your mate joins your side, pinning your flailing limbs to their larger self as boiling black blood pools from the gaping wounds expanding at either sides of your head - joining your tears in streams down your scarred cheeks. It hurts. You're scared. It's so much worse than the experiments. Your body can't handle anymore of this. You're so tired...

"Shhhh.. it's almost over...Hold me, my love. Know that you are safe."

But you're not alone...

Your terrible screams turn to weak sobs in the deity's arms. At their death, the cult joins their forgotten master in worshipping the new in their new stage of life. The leaders hold on to your weary form as the lessers pray at your feet for your safety and wellbeing. Your breathing steadies as the pain subsidies into a dull ache. Your head feels heavy, much heavier than the rest of your body. You try to lift, but the the weight is too much for your neck to support. Your mate helps you to a more comfortable position as a member brings over a small mirror - your horns too large to fit in the miniature frame.

Horns... Not quite as long or pointy as the one your bound to, but horns nonetheless. They curve backwards against the base of your skin and dyed the same onyx black as your horns and notably sharper fangs. Your mate coos as you examine yourself in the mirror, leaning down to nuzzling your head with theirs.

"And to think I thought you couldn't get any more adorable. A celebration is in order for you awakening your truer self. "

You grumble. "No more...mystery meat."

The deity laughs. "Yes, yes - we won't feed you anything else unless you know every ingredient."

Quietly, the leader signals to one of their followers. "Drug the rest of the "livestock" and leave them out in the woods on the farthest side."

The cultist whispers back. "...we already killed most of them as soon as the word celebration was mentioned."

Axel scraps the bottom of your discarded bowl with their tongue and wipes their mouth with their robes. "I could always go for fourths."

[scarawiki]

idk how this app works help

scaramouche x gn!reader , idk the word count 😬

first one shot ever prbly ooc scara i'm not sure how to write him very well :( most of it is rly self indulgent for comfort im going thru it i fear lawl. not beta read either i almost never write pls be nice 🤕🙏🙏 excuse any grammar or spelling errors

cw: mentions of poor eating habits due to depression & anxiety , mental health stuff , yada yada nothing super explicit

divider creds: @rookthornesartistry

You laid still in your bed that you shared with your partner Scaramouche, while he was out and about finding ingredients for dinner.

Since he left, you were once again alone with your thoughts. Constantly ruminating on the past and picking apart everything. Your mind had kept screaming at you, and you couldn't calm it regardless of what you tried. You were left feeling even more hopeless than before.

Scaramouche had picked up on your "odd" behaviors lately, but you simply brushed it off and just told him,

"I'm probably coming down with something. The weather is changing, don't worry about it too much."

You didn't want to burden him with your silly problems, right? Knowing his past, you didn't want to add more to the mix. You were sure you could deal with it on your own.

Following that afternoon, you sobbed. You were so dizzy and your head was pounding, wishing the world had swallowed you whole already. You felt that Scaramouche deserved someone better than your pathetic self. You didn't understand why you couldn't just feel happy. Why was it so hard? Why can't you get out of bed? Why can't you wake up in the mornings?

You heard the front door opening, and you quickly wiped away your remaining tears that rolled down your face, and tried to get comfortable again. Your whole body ached and you just wanted it all to end.

"(Y/N)? I'm home. I managed to find a few things for later tonight. I had to bargain a lot though, food is getting expensive these days."

Scaramouche called out from the living room, setting down everything on the counter. After no answer, he became curious and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Hey? Don't tell me you're still asleep, it's almost 6 PM."

He let out a small sigh after more silence followed, and then opened the door. He saw you were burrowed under the blankets, and came to sit down on the edge of the bed. He pulled the covers back to reveal your tear-stained face, and a wave of concern came over him.

Scaramouche was never particularly good at comforting others, or feelings in general. He was never shown gentleness and compassion in his 500 years of living, before he met you.

"Who did it?"

Scaramouche asked, immediately jumping to the conclusion that someone had caused you harm to hurt this badly.

"No one," you managed to whisper out. "It's really nothing. Don't waste your time on me."

He was slightly taken aback by your dismissive behavior, but decided to pry further. Scaramouche wouldn't know how to deal with himself if anything ever happened to you.

"Okay... well, you haven't been eating, and last time I checked, you aren't a puppet. You've been sleeping in until dinner time for the past few days. Out with it."

He sounded demanding, but soon mentally scolded himself for his tone with you when he saw the vulnerability in your expression.

"I just don't know what to do anymore... I feel so scared and exhausted all the time, I can hardly wake up in the mornings, and food doesn't bring me joy anymore. I can't even remember the last time I felt okay. I didn't want to bother you because I didn't think it was that bad, to be honest. I'm sorry for keeping it from you, Scaramouche. I swear it has nothing to do with you."

Your vision blurred as you spoke, and you could feel your throat closing up. You didn't know how much more you could handle of this constant misery.

Scaramouche stayed silent for a few moments, taking in everything you had told him. You had always seemed so bubbly and excited around him, and when he saw you completely falling apart in front of him for the first time, he felt confused.

"...How long has this been really going on?"

He inquired, and his eyes had a softer look in them.

"A few years, it comes and goes but it doesn't seem like it'll ever get better. I'm tired of suffering, Scaramouche. I want to enjoy life again and look forward to the future. Instead, I dread the next days to come."

You responded, avoiding eye contact and fidgeted with your hands. When Scaramouche took notice of this, he gently grabbed your hands and set them in his lap.

"I'll be blunt, I'm still figuring how these whole "emotions" work. But, I do see that you aren't yourself right now. Yes, you can be a little irritating at times, but I wouldn't be with you if I didn't... love you."

Scaramouche felt hesitant to say those last words, but at the same time it felt right. He then continues,

"It would be pointless to be in a relationship with someone if you weren't upfront with them, but I can see how you might have felt like a bother. I promise that you will never be a burden to me, and I hope you know that I would rather die than ever lay a finger on you, or hurt you any other way. You're one of the first few people to show me how to love and broke through my tough exterior. You never left me during my hard times, and I'm sure as hell not leaving you."

Scaramouche took a deep breath, and looked down at his lap to give your hands a slight squeeze.

"I will do everything in my power to help you feel better. I want to see to see you happy. I want to see that smile on your face again. But, you have to work with me, alright?"

He looks back up and lifts one of his hands to gently grab your chin to face him.

You reluctantly look into his eyes, and slowly nod.

"Okay, I'll try... Thank you."

You replied slowly, drained of any remaining energy you had left. Scaramouche leaned down to remove some of your hair out of the way, and placed a delicate kiss on your forehead. He came back up and caressed your cheek, and sighed softly.

"I'm not letting you suffer alone. Ever."

[mochamvgz]

home dates💽hyung line

; hyung line x reader

; genre: headcanon, plain silly fluff, can be read as idol or non idol au

; warnings: none really, unless you count mexican food, legos and hoon having second lead syndrome as warnings 乁⁠[⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠]⁠ㄏ

; 0.85k words

; perm taglist: @inkelea @bunreis

heeseung || decorating your appartment

you and heeseung had just moved into your new appartment and you wanted to decorate it yourself instead of hiring someone. heeseung was totally on board with the idea and you guys started browsing for home decor on amazon and looking for inspo on pinterest. you also took a trip to your local craft store for paint and other supplies.

when you had all the stuff, heeseung played some music on his phone and you guys got started! you had never imagined having a date of this kind but you weren't complaining!

first thing you did was change into some old clothes and start painting the walls. it got pretty messy, especially after that mini paint fight you had. some of the rogue paint ended up of the wall where the paint was still drying but you didn't mind, it was a nice touch.

next up on your agenda was setting up furniture and placing the decor items like picture frames, a clock, lamps, etc.

you observed the finished result and were left in awe. you swear you've never had more fun.

jay || cooking

c'mon you can't tell me you weren't expecting that from enhypen's personal chef.

the plan was to make enchiladas since you mentioned how you were craving mexican food that morning (he isn't gonna tell you that tho ofc).

you guys had gone grocery shopping for the ingredients beforehand. you weren't the most experienced cook, more into baking, but you had jay by your side so there was nothing to worry about. you were more than glad to play sous chef.

he had assigned you the task of preparing the stuffing, giving some basic instructions he headed over to the stove to prepare the sauce.

ding! that meant the enchiladas were ready! putting on some mitts, jay took your dinner out if the oven and the smell almost had you drooling. when it was time to eat, however, your impatient ass dug in too quickly and burned your tongue. jay immediately got up to get you a glass of water but you knew he was gonna laugh at you for it later.

the enchiladas tasted heavenly after they had cooled down enough to eat.

jake || lego building

"darling i don't think that piece is supposed to go there" you looked back and forth between the manual in your hands and the unfinished model on the floor.

you had ordered a new lego set for jake for your 6 month anniversary. his eyes had lit up instantly, letting out a gasp with his mouth wide open making the ':0' face which quickly gave way to the puppy smile you adored, as you looked at him affectionately.

"do you like it?" "ARE YOU KIDDING??? I LOVE IT!! AND I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE!!! i've had my eye on this particular set for a while now!" your own smile widening at this reaction "i'm glad".

"let's do build it together!" "r-right now?" "why not?" you were caught slightly off-guard by his eagerness but went along with it regardless, finding him too adorable to resist.

and that was how you had ended up here. you weren't objecting tho. "are you sure?" you detached the piece and repositioned it at a different angle like how you had seen it in the manual, and gestured towards it after you were done to answer his question, "oh".

you stood up, dusting your hands as you surveyed the finished result, jake mirroring your actions. "i think we did a pretty good job" turning to look at him expectantly. "we did more than a good job sweetie". with that he picked up the model and placed it beside your tv and you knew it was staying there for a while, not that you mind of course.

sunghoon || movie marathon/tv shows

your favourite thing to do after a long day was curl up and binge netflix. after meeting sunghoon however, the activity was no longer something you did alone. being in his comforting embrace while watching some random kdrama or movie was the coziest and nothing short of therapeutic.

"what're we watching next?" you flipped through the various shows, you and sunghoon were clad in your comfiest pair of pjs with your blanket such that it covered both of you perfectly, you head nestled on his warm chest "i saw a clip from that one on youtube yesterday!" "okay! let's watch it!" you pressed play.

one thing you found out about sunghoon from these dates was that he had MAJOR second lead syndrome. you would often bicker over which male lead was better or in the rare case that you agreed over it, the two of you were just yelling at the screen.

"NONONONO!!!! GET AWAY FROM HIM! JUNGWOO IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!" "YES!! KISS KISS KISS KISS"

remarks like these were always flying about.

turning into an ugly sobbing mess while watching 20th century and twenty five-twenty one, laughing at shin hari's antics till your stomachs ached while re-watching business proposal for the millionth time, whatever it be, you could always rely on these evenings to take away the stress of even the worst day at work.

; a/n: hello there! hope you enjoyed the hc!💌 i'm still overwhelmed by the insane amount of love my previous hc received 😭 i literally can't thank y'all enough!! even tho ik I can definitely do better so here's me having another go! lmk if you would like a maknae line ver!

© mochamvgz on tumblr | all rights reserved | do not plagiarise, repost or translate

[flagellant]

perhaps this is in bad faith, but don't you think it's plausible that ms appleton was just a government food scientist who was sent to japan as sort of U.S. ambassador and given a generic, americanized name? we know that resources were scarce during the war and that many changes had to be made, or simply were made to cut costs, in the production of lots of things at the time. it just makes sense when you break it down that traditional shoyu is time and labour intensive to make but improves the taste of even outright bad dishes. at a time when people were forced to eat whatever food was available to them demand was likely very high to the point of unreasonably outweighing supply. either officials at kikkoman reached out to american food scientists for a solution or they offered one up themselves, given the fact that food science was undergoing a huge international renaissance led by the americans during the 30s, 40s and 50s. americans have a tendency to synthesize food. they also tend to feel strongly about imposing their culture on other countries. it seems more to me like this is a story about the american government taking extra steps to obfuscate the story of how they semi-successfully tried to be the final nail in the coffin of widespread, traditional shoyu production. less like some kind of yakuza conspiracy somehow centred on one woman. just the perspective of someone who's felt compelled to do their own research. it's my opinion that the way you're presenting your findings leaves massive gaps as well as leaps to get over them. i can't speak for the things you haven't shared publicly, obviously, but it feels a lot like you're dancing around the point. good luck to you in your research, regardless of my own feelings.

I think I agree that you're either arguing in bad faith or simply aren't really paying attention to a wider picture here. It's common knowledge that postwar economics in Japan were heavily influenced and remain to this day connected to organized crime and the Yakuza as an old tool of the imperial/noble order. We also know for a fact that the CIA worked with the yakuza during American occupation in order to manipulate political culture and economic structures.

It's also a common conspiracy in Japanese circles (or at least so it appears, and I want to be clear I am not voicing this as more than preexisting theory/belief, so I will not directly source to give complete credibility; consider this as context for why I might be interested in investigating further, just in case) that Empress Michiko and the Seifun Milling Company had close under-the-table connections with America, which would further influence the traditional shoyu brewing culture.

Like, I feel as though if you seem to be aware enough that America's treatment of Japan was one of extreme hostility and cruelty with little-to-no care about the nation or its people, solely using it as a means to enforce American/Western ideals and principles onto an unwilling populace and using violence and illegal organized crime syndicates to fulfill those goals...then why are you acting as though it's sus of me to look at a single woman in 1947 having this much power/control over Japanese-American relations when you have said yourself that shoyu is the single most important ingredient for Japanese food of all time, and only moreso during war rations/scarcity times?

[nearestend]

staring at my muse roster. thinking about which one of them i would most like to see stranded in the woods with a soccer team and forced to cannibalize the team captain. putting it under the cut for all the triggers that come with y.ellowjackets (dying and death and violence and cannibalism and going insane)

orla would kind of just be the funniest option. she'd be good at it though because she canonically has legit survival skills (according to her mum anyways). still irish in this and it's never explained why or when she moved to north america. still melting stuff for her own enjoyment

idk philly though, she's a city kid at her core and extremely annoying, regardless of any au, so people probably try to attack her when they get fed up with that. but she's immediately retaliating by biting people (it's a hereditary trait from her mother's side) and then screaming at people "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THAT I HATED DOING THAT YOU FUCK". good at defending herself but probably bad at everything else

kate would be perfectly fine. aside from having some mental breakdown on occasion but really smart about everything and probably good at hunting. mean and bossy though

amelie would be weirdly calm and accepting of the situation. really reassuring and comforting to people during moments where they might be close to death.

alice is probably fine with it too. i mean, she'd go into deep depression but also just knows things that no one ever thinks would be useful until they actually are. she might actually be fine with killing and violence. in a way that should be concerning to everyone but no one wants to acknowledge it. she finds a way to romanticize the situation in a really fucked up way and inevitably writes the more interesting and critically acclaimed version of the survival tale

jodie would be hysterical for the most part. only really useful because she brought so many snacks, but not that helpful otherwise. eventually would learn to adapt but you know, spirals every once in awhile

amy would have a horrible time and cry a lot because she misses home and the family so much and is quite codependent. helpful with cooking and gathering supplies once she's calmed down. boosts moral by coming up with activities for distraction

lizzie could go either way. she's a bit of a wildcard here, but i think she has the potential to be quite ruthless if needed. very full of anger about current situation and all that emotional baggage she brought along

jia-yi would get manipulated into joining the cult

ginny might actually be helping run the cult. not intentionally or nefariously, but like, she's definitely experiencing visions and dreams and whatnot. unclear if they're actual omens of any kind or just wilderness hallucinations. open to interpretation

mandy is way too comfortable with killing. decides to start killing people who don't even need to be killed because she claims she's "getting rid of dead weight"

i'm not going to talk about camille because i can't imagine anything good happens in that situation. like obviously it's not good for anyone, but i really don't need to do that to her specifically

sydney is doing all the cooking. pretty mad about the fact that she can't get a variety of ingredients but learns to forage. those kids would not be eating belt soup if she was there, i can tell you that much

cameron is pissing everyone off somehow by being cameron. but they're also experimenting with trying to make useful things out of plane parts. probably crafts some type of shiv or stabbing tool but also brought their own knife

marlene is dying immediately

ellie is absolutely fine with the situation. stayed around long enough just to cannibalize marlene for "friendship" (romantic) reasons, then promptly abandoned the team to go live in the wilderness on her own. kind of happy to be there actually

teddy is playing psychological mind games and turning people against each other. ruining everyone's life and having the occasional gay affair

it wouldn't make much sense for ada to be there but it's already cannibalizing people anyways. if it were there then it would be some type of mysterious creature that is slowly hunting and killing everyone off one by one

sid is one of the teachers they got stranded with. trying to keep the kids moral up and keeping everyone safe but also helplessly watching everyone go insane in the process

obligatory connell mention even though he does not belong there. he's a gaelic football player though which is somewhat adjacent to american soccer. if there was any reason for him to be there in a way that made sense, he's the boy everyone except the lesbians have a crush on but is really embarrassed about it and kind of concerned that this is what people are focusing on instead of the not dying part

[rrasado]

how do u think the savanaclaw boys would react to the reader cooking some traditional/comfort filipino foods for them while they're sick or smth?? stuff like sinigang or tinola or arrozcaldo yk??

• Tastes from the far East •

My utmost apologies for getting to this late it's graduation season and I'm a tad busy dealing with papers and school transferring TwT. This req definitely helped me unwind before the big day ;D. Even had to ask my brother for help because his favorite Food is sinigang.

Serving them something from home:

There's a very faint feeling in my chest that he'd like our tomato sauce dishes. Afritada, Caldareta, Menudo, Mechado etc. He's someone who doesn't like vegetables but I feel like the sauce/broth used in the aforementioned dishes would somehow overpower any other veggie present that and- Savory meat 🤤.

In the case that you do serve one of the above while he's sick, I'm partially certain you can sneak the carrots into his system but that's just me most likely hidbdkf

Leona would most likely be against eating them in the first place, especially with how they look. It's not that he looks down on the dish/es it's probably because he's more used to another sort of mix from the afterglow savanah. Even then you'd have to shove the spoon into his mouth in order for him to eat said food (don't worry you didn't forget the rice)

Ever since then he had a very distint memory of the taste, remembering how foreign your recipe was yet it wasn't so otherworldly to the point of alienating. On the contrary it was an ironic nostalgia he can't pin point but suffice it to say he's mood isn't too bad as it was the first time.

"What? You honestly think that's enough to get me full? What do you take me for, Herbivore?

Be careful of feeding him other ulam tho TwT. Tinola, Sinigang and Bulalo are clear enough for him to turn away from the complimentary greens. Perhaps tomatoes aren't a bad part to his diet tho...

Undoubtedly the most appreciative, at first glance he comes off as just grateful that he doesn't need to spend any money or effort for his meal (sick or not). I'm pretty sure Ruggie himself is a hidden specialist in concocting delicious food from the most simplest of ingredients. So it's easy to picture him being somewhat astonished by Tinola and how tasty it is despite the few ingredients you used.

You could've been a bit fancier to be honest, but you had to purposely leave out a few ingredients due to the short notice. Then again you'd be caught dead if you dare remove the malunggay leaves. Regardless— Ruggie doesn't seem to mind, to him it was a good meal and the way the broth complimented the subtle flavor of the chicken and greens *chef's kiss*

He's cheeky enough to joke about cooking that food again for him next time. In the case you do entertain his lighthearted request he doesn't turn down the serving. And now that you've had time to actually prepare for it the dish is finally complete in its contents.

He definitely spits out the peppercorn, tried biting it the first time thinking it'd taste a bit differently with your foreign dish but no it's just the same annoying piece of dried crop he's accidentally chewed as a kid in the market.

"Oi it tasted fine without it the first time!- maybe leave it out next time? Eh? Well yeah there's a next time-"

Worry not about the tedious preparation, the more times you do it the more willing he becomes in assisting with the gathering process. If you're both dedicated enough, you'll reach a point where Sam has your order of ingredients memorized and prepackaged.

I'm gonna take my chances with Jack. You feed him Paksiw na Isda and he's opened a whole new alley of culinary pallete. Before even getting him to eat the dish he's turning his nose away from the smell of fish and..vinegar? Yes he's questioning it-

He's sick, but his sense of smell is painfully hyphened and the aroma of vinegar isn't exactly helping his nasal health- the look on your face was the only thing that got him to open his mouth when you spoon fed him a portion of the salmon within the dish.

His ears would twitch in different directions but eventually he opens his mouth for another bite without any other word whatsoever. You'll have to take this as your sign that he did indeed agree with the odd combination (as odd as it is to him.)

Then you serve him Sinigang the next day, he's slightly taken aback by how different two sour dishes can be despite both being, well, sour. Yet he somehow prefers the latter soley because he cam bare the scent a bit more.

"Look you really didn't have to... it's a nice change though and well- I think you're holding back."

He was partially right- you did held back after his first reaction to your paksiw dish but you started a routine of experimenting other ulams for yhe first year. By the end of the month he's likely made a verdict of what's his favorite but he'd keep it to himself. After all you looked quite happy cooking your native dishes.

Taglist: @sherbet-shark @luvielle @citirusu

[tastesoftamriel]

Recently found out about thermopolia, places in ancient rome where you could buy quick and easy take-out food or the roman version of fastfood. And I can't help but wonder what each of the Scrolls races would sell at their own thermopolia.

I'm of the opinion that Tamriel would grind to a halt without quick foods to keep us going. Every Province of course has its own specialties, but these are some of the most popular snacks you have to try!

Altmer

Eating on the go is difficult to manage in Summerset. After all, eating with your hands is uncouth, so what is one to do? Ricepaper-wrapped salads are a staple for healthy eating when pressed for time, and can contain any number of ingredients one likes. Common fillings for these ricepaper rolls include lettuce, shredded carrots and cucumber, sweet shrimp, cold roast chicken, and tahini.

Argonians

While Argonians prefer to sit down for a meal with friends and family, sometimes it's necessary to grab a bite before heading into the swamp. Saltrice steamed in banana leaf packages with tasty ingredients on the side makes the ideal portable meal. Each package is water-tight and contains just enough for a single meal, while the banana leaf imparts a great aroma on the saltrice. For something similar, why not try my Blackwood Stuffed Banana Leaves?

Bosmer

Out of all the races, the Wood Elves have truly mastered the art of quick and easy foods to eat on the road. While it's less appetising than other snacks, pemmican, a type of dried meat and tallow patty, is great for filling your belly when you don't have the time for a meal. It can be eaten as is, or is sometimes pre-fried to make a crunchy, meaty snack. More interesting than jerky, and quite nutritious too!

Bretons

High Rock is renowned for its excellent inns, and many of them cater to travellers needing a quick bite to eat. Hot pies and pasties are a Provincial favourite, and they are usually filled with meat and vegetables, though plenty of other variants exist. When I'm in High Rock, I spend a lot of time eating my favourite steak, cheese and onion pasties, or a good steak pie with mushy peas on the side.

Dunmer

Dunmeri traders and travellers for centuries swear by wickwheat rolls, which are soft rolls that are a bit like a cross between puff pastry and rye bread. These rolls are baked with fillings and are easy to bring around with you, and taste great regardless of their temperature. One of the most common variants is a chunky mix of scuttle, hackle-lo leaf, and nix-hound meat paste, which is seasoned with a good amount of herbs and spices. It's meaty and creamy, and sure to keep you sated for some time.

Imperials

There are so many types of snack foods in Cyrodiil that it would take a day and a half to list all of them, but out of all of them, fried bread sandwiches are probably the most common and popular due to their versatility. These aren't sandwiches per se, but are pockets of bread that are flash fried in olive oil after being stuffed with ingredients like cured meats, cheese, tomatoes, and peppers. They are usually served with a topping of fresh salad and shaved pecorino.

Khajiit

Rice rolls, rice rolls, we love rice rolls! These wonderful snacks are easily portable, making them the ideal meal on the go, and they taste great hot or cold too. Fresh fish, vegetables, pickled spicy cabbage, and grilled meat are among the fillings you'll find tightly wrapped in a sizeable tube of seasoned brown rice, which is wrapped again in nori to hold the tube together. Filling and delicious!

Nords

There's nothing better than a fresh hot waffle on a cold day...except for a freshly grilled horker sausage or rabbit meatballs wrapped in a waffle, with a good spoonful of crispy fried onions, juniper berry relish, and strong wholegrain mustard. Eating these gracefully is an impossible task, so remember to pack napkins!

Orcs

Most Orcs prefer sitting down to a meal than a quick lunch on the go, but if you're heading out the door, it doesn't hurt to pack a potato croquette or two. Mashed potato is patted around meat and diced radishes, rolled in panko breadcrumbs, and deep fried until crispy. These greasy treats stay warm for ages when packed in metal lunchboxes, so they're ideal for travellers.

Redguards

The Redguards use folded cactus skins to make takeaway boxes, and their watertight properties mean that it's possible to pack soups quickly and easily for eating on the go. A goat meatball stew drizzled with yoghurt and honey is a nomad's favourite dish as it contains all the nutrition you need to stay alive in the inhospitable Alik'r for extended periods of time. The lid also acts as a way to eat your soup without sand getting in- just slurp it through a straw! You can also try my Pack Guar Pide for a Hammerfell-style street food favourite!

[iwritethat]

Dick Grayson: Fine Cuisine

Summary: Fluff

• Dick is unprepared for a family meal but your offer your fine expertise and have the whole family asking questions about you.

Warnings: Mature language

A/N: Hello lovlies! I’ve missed you all so much, I hope this helps a bit and there’s so much more I could add onto this so please enjoy and lemme know how you all are~

>>>>—————————>

It started with a family dinner.

As many curious situations do in retrospect, but with a family of vigilantes whose relationship ties have frayed, intermingled and been resewn makes for more interesting get-togethers compared to most.

One thing they could all agree on though? Dick Grayson cannot cook.

"I can't believe that, they just assume it's going to end in a takeout?" Came your amused voice as you placed a coffee on your kitchen island that Dick was currently seated - or rather slumped at.

"It's because the last two times I've hosted something like this, takeout has saved my ass." The ravenette embarrassingly clarifies, voice trailing off toward the end and did his best to avoid looking at you.

Dick Grayson was technically a neighbour, albeit living a few floors below your more lavish (and expensive) apartment suite. After moving into the complex on the same day, you quickly excavated the common ground to build a solid foundation for friendship - as such, meet-ups like these became a regular thing, switching apartments each time.

"Then, I'll help you out." You proudly confirmed, gesturing to your grand kitchen which was the sole reason you’d brought the place - one of the many things Dick envied about your luxurious living area compared to the standardised version of his own, though on an Officers salary he couldn’t afford something like this.

"Ah (Y/n) no, I can't let you do that!” Came his instant reply, hands waving defensively as he adamantaly brainstormed another excuse. “Plus you'll be working that night."

"True, but that doesn't mean I can't set you up beforehand. We'll start tomorrow, I'll teach you a recipe."

———

As previously planned, Dick turned up at your door rather nervously even though he’d been around you many times - not once had he demonstrated a serious negative flaw to his character in order to impress you, but cooking was one of them and you were about to witness chaos that’d likely dispel any romantic inclination he hoped you held for him.

“Ready?”

“No.”

With a playful laugh, you rolled your eyes and pulled the male into your kitchen noting how he was likely tired from his shift at Blüdhavens Police Department earlier that afternoon so a good meal should do wonders. Maybe it’d give him a better nights sleep too? The acrobat never seemed to obtain many of those for some unknown reason, apparently it’s ‘too noisy’ in the city.

“Oh and you can host in my apartment, it’s bigger and I’ll have all the equipment you need. You already have a spare key anyway.”

“You’re really amazing, I don’t deserve you - y’know that?” There were deeper feelings involved in that seemily offhanded thank you, ones relating to his role as Nightwing and his past mistakes which all remained a hated secret from you.

It started well, Dick following along with ease and you concluded that he picked things up fast with how observant he was which sped up the process. The main course he’d nailed with your guidance and so, you decided to move onto dessert.

“Now we add cocoa powder to th-“ You’d froze, mouth open out of surprise with the substances dusting your lips, cheek and part of your left collar bone - the offender in question mirroring your expression, albeit holding back his laughter due to his colossal misjudgement.

“I - I didn’t think it’d go everywhere when I ripped the packet open...”

“You don’t ever rip the packet, you tear it gently!” Came your dangerously mischievous correction, licking the sweet substance from your lips before flicking the currently non-chocolate brownie covered spoon at him with flecks landing on the side of his face.

“Oh, it’s on!”

This ensued an all out war, the two of you ducking and dodging oncoming attacks as you danced around the kitchen island with varying results of accuracy until Dick decided to slide over the marble surface and capture you in his arms.

His embrace faltered slightly as your back hit the island during your feeble attempt to get away, finding yourself trapped between him and the cool surface too enthralled in the carefree antics to notice the proximity. A beat of silence passed once the atmosphere had settled, Dick releasing a breathy chuckle with his grip around your waist loosening slightly as you looked up with a victorious smirk - he took the opportunity to lean forward slightly as if testing the waters and careful to note any kind of reaction you replied with.

However, there was a lack of trust as all is fair in love and war, hence your devious reasoning to close the gap some more and with the softness of his warm breath dancing on your lips you swiftly leaned past his whilst dragging your tongue across his cheek. Dick pulled back instantly, a mix of disgust and offence in his eyes as you spoke.

“Needs more sugar.”

“I’m sweet enough as it is thank you, you’d know that if you’d have just kissed me instead of betraying me like that!” Dick wittily snapped back, admiring the melodious laughter that escaped you at his response.

“I’m sure you do, speaking of - these brownies should last until the dinner so you won’t have to make them again on the day alright? I’ll get everything ready so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I guess you’d taste pretty sweet too.” Though referencing your kind nature, you couldn’t help but lightly punch him in the shoulder.

———

Regardless of Dicks wistful prayers, the deadline had finally arrived and his family would be sporadically arriving in a matter of hours - so help him.

"All the ingredients are on the counter - do not use anything else - and I've detailed the instructions on the whiteboard in case you forget anything." You pointed to each item as you spoke, donning a jacket before barely making it past the kitchen doorframe due to your neighbours dramatically desperate pleas.

"Can't you just stay? And do it with me?"

"I have to go to work." You laughed at his antics, the man looking like a lost puppy amidst your vast collection of kitchen utensils.

"Work will survive without you, c'mon you wouldn't lose out on much - I'll even pay for the trouble."

That, truly caused you to hesitate with a look of sheer bemusement, a mischievous glint dancing in your irises that mocked his claim almost as much as your sardonic tone.

"If you truly knew my job and paycheck then you'd take that back.” With that, you were quick to flip to a more cheerful voice as you waved goodbye to a pouting Grayson. “Anyway, you'll be fine and tell me how it went once I get back~"

"Wait (Y/n) h-"

The slam of the front door echoed your departure leaving a Dick feeling more lost than ever, the kitchen seemingly quadrupling in size now.

Bruce arrived first along with Damian, Cass, Duke and Alfred. Then there was Tim who’d apparently travelled from Titans tower and finally Jason who’d sauntered in fashionably late as predicted but only by 5 minutes. Each baffled by the sudden change of location which only intensified when the host brought out plates of home cooked dinner.

"..."

"This... this isn't take out..."

"No, it's actual food.” Dick confirmed almost offended and words laced with a hint of underlying sarcasm. “That I made myself."

"Okay, so uh - is it edible then?" Jason quipped back, smirking at his elder brother in a smug manner that only he could achieve.

"Would you just eat it? I went through a lot of stress and effort for this."

Dick encouraging everyone as he sat down, the action only bemusing the members of his family more as they complied to his wishes with varying degrees of hesitance from each of them. Damian trusted Dick the most, but he patiently waited for his father to finish his mouthful before even touching his own dish.

"Wow, this is incredible, the flavour and everything - Dick what happened to you?!" Duke enthusiastically mocked and continued to devour the meal with a sense of radiance which contrasted to Cassandras pure silence as she savoured every tasteful mouthful.

"Grayson, there is no way you are solely responsible for this cuisine." Damian suspiciously raised a brow at the older hero, tentatively laying his cutlery elegantly on the now clear plate.

"Thank you, and maybe I had some assistance from my neighbour."

“Thank you for dinner Dick, it was surprisingly delicious and please give our thanks to your mysterious friend too.” Bruce knowingly added, proud of his protégés accomplishments - though minor in comparison to Alfreds glowing exterior.

“I told you there was hope Master Bruce.”

"Bro, they left a whole list of instructions so you wouldn't mess up and hey, call if you need anything. Sounds like a plan -" Jason, who had waited until everyone was finished explored your kitchen in hopes of finding some evidence as to who their saviour was.

"Jason no! They're working!"

"It‘s an emergency, you’ve been replaced by a clone with adequate cooking skills!” Tim wittily added once leaning against the kitchen doorframe to observe the scene with Damian inspecting the whiteboard before questioning it’s purpose.

“Why leave this if they couldn't answer then?"

"That's the point, she will answer and I don't want to disturb her right now. They've done enough for me already." Dick painfully sighed, strategically slapping Jason’s phone into the air and catching it with his other hand in one swift motion much to the irritation of the latter.

"Hold up - she?" Duke cut in now, holding his hands out for emphasis and subtlety fishing for elaboration.

"Are you dating...?” Jason hummed, taking a moment to analyse Dicks reaction prior to cementing his assumption. “No, but you want to, right?"

“We are not -“

“You want to date someone?” Cass innocently inquired now walking in with a pile of plates, Bruce and Alfred following in afterwards with clean up of their own.

“I mean I -“

“I’ve seen enough of your crushes to know you have one, you’re already flustered by thinking about them romantically.” Bruce effortlessly deducted, Alfred nodding in agreement whilst commencing the washing up.

“You can’t just call me out like that Bats, after everything with been through too.” Dick feigned betrayal, a hand on his heart whilst Bruce shook his head.

“Oh yeah, how long did he wait for Starfire and Barbara though?” Tim jokingly nudged Jason who chuckled at the small dig, though charismatic and charming - when real feelings were involved, Dick Grayson wasn’t one to straightforwardly act on them.

“Real mature guys.”

“I think you should tell her.” Was the sincere voice of reason, Cassandras kind smile enough to silence the devilish remarks of his brothers who now shrugged in defeat.

“We could help...”

———

Miraculously, you'd attained reservations at the most eloquent restaurant in Gotham, located in the more luxurious district of the wealthy. As a result, it served only the finest gourmet cuisine and had waiting lists longer than any other, so much so that even Bruce Wayne had yet to successfully book a place at the establishment.

You had given him the news when he’d recounted the events of his family dinner (skipping over certain discussions) and how they were grateful for your generosity.

Now, you'd asked Dick for how many he'd like seated at the table so you could finalise the arrangements - he knew you worked there, meaning staff privileges were likely applied in this situation but he was still left speechless.

Gawking at the skyrocketing prices, Dick now understood how much missing one day of work would seriously cost you - he definitely couldn't have afforded your time that night after all.

"So, you say you're paying for this?"

With a painstaking hum of agreement, the eldest nodded with a hint of concern detected on his features, fortunately Bruce had come prepared with his own credit card (just in case). Although his family could be provoking and frivolous toward one another, they were also respectful in situations like these and wouldn't run the bill up too high like certain members would if Bruce had been footing the bill. Dick had a charismatic bond with all of them in that sense.

Meanwhile, you handled everything in your kitchen of organised chaos as the orders came pouring in, including that of Dicks table who you had yet to formerly greet.

"This is cereal..." The head waiter meant it more of a question than a statement, looking to you with upmost uncertainty due to the simplicity of the dish compared to those on your signature menu.

Did they even stock Lucky Charms with the ingredients? The answer was no, you’d intentionally bought them purely for this very day and scenario.

"I know, I know - please serve it to my neighbour on Table 12, he'll get it." You humourously assured the man who seemed to have more to say but didn’t wish to argue with higher authority.

"Ah, Chef..." Your sous chef called moments later, overlooking the scene with mild skeptism before realising the nature of your scheme.

"Hm?"

"You do realise he is currently seated with Mr Bruce Wayne, don't you?" Upon processing that unprecedented information you immediately bolted - hot on the trail of the waiter with a weak promise in your wake.

"What?! I thought he'd bring his friends along not his- oh god, I just sent them cereal- shit, I'll be right back!"

With strategy and precision, you carefully intercepted the tray only seconds before it’d be placed in front of the empty seat of Dick Grayson - the man in question probably taking a bathroom break.

"Aha, pardon me, this was an incorrect order on my part, please forgive the interruption." You bowed with an apology, disappearing in hopes the remainder of the party hadn’t the time to fully decipher the mistake.

Of course, unbeknownst to you, this was a table full of detectives who constantly observed even the most trivial of details.

"Was that... cereal?"

The night followed on as planned, yourself wrapped up in cooking and supervising throughout the night with the only interruption coming from the waiting staff informing you that Table 12 would like to meet the Chef. Such a gesture was commonplace for you, customers regarded as strangers being much less intimidating than your neighbours family - you couldn’t comprehend why, it’s not like you were dating him or anything but their auras just radiated strength.

"Good evening, I'm glad to hear you -" Arriving at the table, you weren’t given the chance to finish before Dick had stood to greet you with a warm smile gently brushing your upper arm once deciding against hugging you out of habit.

"Hey, (Y/n). You didn’t come over this morning, everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine Dick I just had to readjust a menu." You waved his worries off with a grateful nod, hands on your hips in accomplishment as you expected to resume natural conversation with him.

"Okay okay, compliments to you, the food was immaculate - but how do you know our brother?" A youthful male bearing a white streak through his hair cut in, genuine sincerity in his tone when offering his praise before incredulously gesturing to Dick.

"He's my neighbour."

"I - he's a what now?" Duke shook his head in disbelief, looking between you both rather unconvinced.

"Are you kidding me Grayson?!" Tim was next, the most exasperated out of the whole table as he pinched the bridge of his nose whilst Dick quizzically scanned each of his company for insight.

"What...?"

"You got cooking lessons from one of the top Chefs in the whole damn country, you're friends with her, and you didn't even know who she was?!" The slimly built youth exclaimed, apparently knowledgeable in regards to the culinary world and had read of your famous reputation.

“(Y/n) (L/n) owns this restaurant Dick. Also, thank for the other week, the recipe was lovely.” Bruce politely added, nodding to you with a smile.

“You didn’t say that, you only said you worked here.” Dick turned to you now, in a feeble attempt to justify his lack of acknowledgment to your renowned status.

“Well, I do. In my defence you never asked, I mean my apartment and kitchen are rather fancy - that didn’t come on minimum wage.” You replied a matter-of-factly with an air of confidence to your voice.

"Are we forgetting that this is also the chef who was going to serve Richard cereal?" At the remark from Duke, a heated flush adorned your skin due to the embarrassment of being caught - the whole table breaking into collective chuckles.

"You were? - Wow that's such a dick move!" Dick was openly laughing at your failed attempt at humour, lightly nudging your side as you pushed him away in playful defence.

"Shut up! I didn't realise you were with your family, or else I wouldn't have done it."

Jason immediately waved that claim off, cheekily smirking at you as he spoke. “Oh no, I'm so glad you did, honestly it's the main reason I like you right now."

“That and you spared us the horror of Graysons cooking.” Damian conviently inputted, conniving grin sent to his favourite brother.

“You’re welcome, ah I apologise but I should get back to work so please excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you all.” Taking a calculating glance over the expanse of exquisite tables and order exchanges you thought it best to return to your duties with a gracious smile and started toward the kitchen.

“Can I drop by tonight, I won’t be able to afford any thank you gifts after this but I’ll bring you a coffee?” Dick cheerily inquired, causing you to spin on your heel with a shy laugh and confirmation of his proposal.

“Don’t worry, this is my treat. You guys don’t have to pay for anything so enjoy the rest of your evening.” With that you were once again swept up into the busy atmosphere beyond the kitchen doors.

The table remained quiet for a few moments, Dick sitting down and looking to them almost as if searching for their impressions of you only to be met with bemused, impressed and mischievous gazes.

Not for you, oh no - these were shamelessly directed at a now enamoured Dick Grayson.

“Please marry her.”

[fallen-grace-smd]

Vent post: Way too much; Way too fast

I wanted to make some soul cakes for Halloween. I have to find a good recipe and convert it to a gluten free recipe, without any sugar, and make it pleasant to eat. My work means I get off at 9 PM. So I have to walk to the grocery store at night, and walk back with all of the necessary ingredients by myself because anyone who MIGHT be able to help me is too busy for me to even accept a text message.

I still have to both write and then record Friday's video. I'm trying to focus enough to write down enough to even improvise a script. But if I force myself to focus and write then I can't write because of course that's how my brain is wired.

There was a work meeting about facts with the Covid-19 vaccine and of course anti-vaxxers from the company came to the meeting repeating the same false information throughout the meeting so I couldn't ask any of my questions.

My mother of course is overworking herself because her new hires can't be reliable so she calls me after work so she can vent and this Saturday she has to work so I need to go to work with her to make sure she doesn't become so stressed she has a seizure while driving (yes this has happened. And yes it was because she was so stressed out that she had a seizure, and yes it occurred during the one day I was too busy to talk to her)

I spent the time yesterday to make sure my friend was well enough to relax. Spent time made sure she was through a stressful day and that she felt well enough to happily rest.

Next day, by the time I wake up she's so stressed out that when I said good morning to her caused her a panic attack because I overwhelmed her. So spent most of the day unraveling her stress. 10 hours later I thought she might be well enough to talk about my day. Immediately after I mention the fact I was going to make soul cakes she needs to be alone for an hour. So after that we spend more time unraveling her stress and dealing with her issues.

Can't stress my friend out with the fact I need to find a recipe (the simplest conflict of my day) so it's just talking about her today. The same as it's been since the Crisis began because she cannot cope with stress enough by herself to ask about my day, or even handle me mentioning my day.

But I need to be the moral one and be understanding. Regardless of how bad my day is, or how stressed I am. My friend's day is always worse. Every single time. I understand this. I know this.

She knows I'm stressed. She knows that I want to talk about my day. She knows I need a turn too. That I need attention also.

But she's too stressed. The Crisis offers no comfort, and between the two of us I'm the one who's better adjusted and in a better place. So it's my moral responsibility to make sure that my friend is doing OK. Regardless of how much it hurts me, how much I'm stressed or even if it feels like I'm dying. My friend has it worse and I need to do better so they can make it through the Crisis without feeling like there's no hope in the world.

My tech keeps failing me. I can troubleshoot and solve my issues but it takes time and it's a small stressor that keeps building since I cannot self soothe or get comfort today.

My coworkers are older than me. Some by 5 years others by 30 years. I had to FUCKING REMIND THEM to talk to their supervisor about their technical issues because they kept bringing them to me. Why? "BECAUSE YOU'RE YOUNG. YOU KNOW TECHNOLOGY BETTER THAN THE IT DEPARTMENT." Just because I'm young doesn't make me able to fix other people's technical issues with a proprietary software on a remote desktop. Please for the love of the gods I'm tired of reminding people old enough to be my parents or my grandparents to ask their boss like it's their first time working.

My neighbors keep smashing their floors and walls and they live above me so naturally I can't sleep and relax properly.

My vent post kept deleting itself so I had to keep retyping it.

I'm fucking trying my very FUCKING best in every situation. But this is all too much too fast. There's only one of me and my friends are too busy or too stressed to even hear about the smallest of my issues.

I can't tell them. Their issues are so much worse than mine. And they keep piling their stress on me and I have to fucking remind adults who have been adults for decades to be an adult.

I need attention and comfort too. I can't keep giving from an empty basket. But even pausing long enough so I can enjoy a 15 minute break without dealing with someone else's crisis is too much to ask from my friends in this stressful time.

How do you set healthy limits when people aren't socially able to understand "maybe say good morning first before telling me about your job interview?" Or even understand "Hey, you didn't ask me about my day. Maybe we can talk about my day for 5 minutes before we go into your anxiety and body dysmorphia for the rest of the night?" How do you set healthy limits when your friends can't even understand that they're not even giving a symbolic act of care?

I'm not ok. If something doesn't change and I can't destress I'm not going to survive the Crisis.

[pangtasias-atelier]

How about this: Felix has been eating cake very often, everyone has told him, he can't stop. He'll grow bigger and will realize that no matter how much he trains he cannot recover his figure, on the contrary everything gets worse. Someone will tell him it's out of control. Felix will refuse. Sudenly he feels is about to burst and BOOM. It was a dream. He had fallen asleep without finishing his cake. He will move it away in anger "Im NOT out of control" After a few minutes, he will eat it. Ty~ :3

This one got really long omg. And after shortening down the ideas I had for the other Blue Lions’ interactions lol

But! Another one I’m happy how it came out. Now I just wish I actually bettered myself and took like actual writing lessons but eh, focusing on other stuff right now.(Still wanna make sure I’m not fucking up and mixing tenses tho)

This was really fun to write, so I hope you enjoy!! Especially since you’ve made a bunch of good FE fats for us and thank you for that!~

___________________

Felix doesn't know how it started, maybe it was a spell, new ingredients, a better chef, but it was something. Anything. Anything but his own fault.

All of a sudden his innate disdain for cake was replaced with a wanton need for it. Everyday, he needed some of it to satisfy his insatiable cravings for it. 

And despite the signs all pointing to a clearly obvious problem, Felix was the only one who refused to see it. Even as a bit of pudge began to form on his thin body.

The first had been Annette. 

On a visit to House Fraldarius, the day had been spent in relative uneventfulness, the day consumed with talks about their territories. It was upon dinner that the mood had changed.

Unable to control her expression, the puzzlement displayed on her face on a visit to House Fraldarius is evident to Felix, his features tightening in a scowl.

"Just say whatever it is your thinking instead of keeping it to yourself like those mindless gossipers," Felix spits out, already scowling.

"I'm surprised to see you of all people eating cake, Felix," Annette smiles at him. 

Felix responds with a scowl, his grip tightening. His slice of cake sits nearly finished, Felix almost devouring it entirely if it hadn't been for Annette interrupting him.

"You always hated the stuff,"

"Well, opinions change," Unwilling to deal with any comments over his shameful new preference for the decadent sweets, Felix simply stands up and walks away with his plate in hand.

It takes a couple of hours when he's cooled down from the conversation for him to leave his room. Unfortunately, despite the cover of night, he encounters Annette in the training grounds.

Casting a simple wind spell, the rush of air still flows faster than it should, both of their clothes willowing in the rapid gusts. 

Felix catches the glint of metal against the wall, Crusher resting. Deciding to head back, Annette turns around, face neutral. Caught, Felix sighs, resulting with his hand on his hip.

"I overreacted, what else do you want me to say?"

"An apology would be a nice start," Closing her tome, Annette wipes the sweat off her forehead, her hair disheveled. Grabbing Crusher, Felix forces himself to not visibly react at the way she easily grabs it and carries it.

"Sure, I'm sorry for whatever I did," Felix grumbles. Crossing his arms on his chest and resting on the heels of his feet, Felix makes out the way Annette's eyes quickly drift down this time before they don't, Annette making sure to be less obvious. 

“Don’t let it get out of control,” Annette offers, smiling.

Felix doesn't ask her what else she wants to say this time, biting his tongue back and blushing.

The second had been Ingrid.

The embarrassment of Annette noticing his slight paunch apparently hadn't been enough shame for Felix, his constant devouring of cake only worsening.

The small bump for a stomach grew into a large swell, clothes needing an upsizing by his tailors. His flat, sightly defined chest filled out with small flabby bumps. Yet it was his lower half that grew larger in proportion. His thighs became swaddled with a generous portion of overlapping fat, his graceful movements now slower and clunkier. The rise of his ass was a reminder to his size, his sizeable asset jostling about with each hefty waddle. 

Annoyed with having a visitor so soon again, Ingrid's usual calm disposition was relatively easy to deal with. As long as he didn't raise his own temper, her's wouldn't rise either. 

Except Ingrid had no sense of calmness, immediately going to fretting over Felix.

Felix who had been so agile and active. Felix who hated cake. Felix who had been 

"You do know you have a problem, right?" Ingrid asks over dinner, her eyes on Felix's plate of food, the portion much larger than before. The clanking of his fork on his plate only prompts Ingrid to speak more. “Of course you don’t,” Ingrid sighs. “You’re too busy criticising others and their issues that you don’t even see your own,”

“I don’t have a problem,” Felix leans back into his chair before he feels the heft of his own body resting on him, Felix sitting upright once again. Yet even in that position he feels the way his stomach seeps onto his thighs. 

“Really Felix?” Ingrid frowns, pushing her hair to the side. 

“I can work it off,” Felix gives in, only partially.

“Then you would have already,” Ingrid fights back. “It’s getting out of control,”

Yet no matter how much further she goes, Felix refuses to admit his issue. And so by the time Ingrid’s entourage and ride arrives, she finds it far better to simply leave and free herself of Felix’s own stubbornness than to deal with even more back and forth arguments.

Nothing learned, Felix pays no heed to Ingrid’s words, cake far more important. Any kind he could get his greedy hands on would do. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, lemon, regardless of the flavour, Felix felt the need to devour it all the same. 

His sense of time lessening, the only truly memorable moments was when he was stuffing himself with the delicious sweet contents of cake.

His waistline suffering for it, his own remarks of training off the extra abundant inches off his waist never came. Soon, walking became more difficult, chairs became too weak, doors too narrow, clothes too revealing. To Felix, everything else had an issue except himself. Even as he continued to grow fatter and fatter.

Most likely through Ingrid’s meddling, soon other former members of the Blue Lions came to check up on him. 

The third had been Mercedes. 

Her charitable nature and nice sensibility had led to her coddling him on her first day, Mercedes even baking a cake for Felix. That had apparently been a test, Felix failing it when he finished it in one sitting. Her kind coddling was only met with more detest on Felix’s end. 

Felix undeniably fat, his poorly fitting outfit was only more cause of concern on Mercedes’ end. Instead he had merely  thanked her for the cake before waddling away, his shelf of an ass wobbling behind him all the while.

The fourth and fifth had been Ashe and Dedue together.

The two specializing in cooking, Ashe’s own successful inn clearly showed on his short frame, Ashe containing a paunch. Dedue was the same as ever, his figure massively built and stacked.

Whereas Ashe was at most chubby, Felix was obese, his titanic rolls swaddling his body, his cheeks marring his own scowl and softening it. And instead of hedding both of their concerns, all Felix had were retorts to Ashe’s own size. 

The two didn’t remain long, Felix targeting both Ashe and Dedue for Ashe’s newfound weight alongside both no longer having the patience meant Felix had been free of their torment. 

Some dedication to his training grounds, and he’ll easily work off the extra weight is what Felix clings on to.

But those days never arrive, Felix happily gorging himself on cake and nothing but cake.

The sixth had been Dimitri.

Finally able to take the chance to get away from his own dealings as King of Fhirdiad, Dimitri instead had to deal with an annoyed Felix. Only a week after Ashe and Dedue’s visit, Felix had overall been the same out of shape angry person. 

Dimitri a passionate person, his scathing remarks had been the only ones to get Felix to shut up and listen. Pointing out Felix’s need for three chairs at the table, if he even bothered to walk instead of eating in his room, the way his body was inundated with rolls making even the simplest of tasks a chore for him to pull off, his increasing appetite that only would worsen with time. Dimitri had actually even made Felix use his training grounds for the first time since Felix could even see past his mountain, roll riddled gut. 

The pathetic speed Felix swung his sword only made Dimitri worry more, Felix struggling to even get a proper grip with his bingo wingo arms pressing against the side of his moobs. Felix’s complaints and asks for a break were ignored by Dimitri, forcing his friend to keep going. 

By the time Dimitri had left the next day, he left with hopes for Felix, Felix grumbling yet thankful for talking sense into him.

Except after a couple days, Felix’s own inability to control his appetite left him giving up, Felix merely reverting back to his gluttonous lazy self.

The seventh and last had been Sylvain.

Felix so far gone in his ravenous ways, the last vestiges of his own mobility was apparent. Sylvain had whistled upon sighting Felix, eyes wide open, unable to believe it himself. 

Where Dimitri embarrassed Felix to help him, Sylvain had done the opposite. Ridiculing Felix, Sylvain did it with the intention of putting him down. 

Grabbing Felix and forcing him to walk, Felix sweating and waddling by his side while he heaved and puffed all the while in between curses, Sylvain would tire him out only to leave him alone, Felix falling down to the floor with a resounding crash and staying there. Forcing him to sit on a single chair instead of the necessary four so he’d crush yet another piece of furniture. Pushing him into too narrow doorways only to leave him stuck inside, Felix too fat and wide to get through or push himself out. Barraging Felix’s entire body with powerful slaps to make his engorged body shake as if an earthquake had just occured.

Sylvain’s cruel methods had only reinforced the subconscious idea in Felix’s brain of why even bother. Unfortunately for Felix, Sylvain had stayed the longest, a month of disparaging remarks and acts endured by Felix. Sylvain had even left without a word, disappearing in the night.

Unwilling to act and far too fat to do so, Felix’s only companion was the increasing amounts of cake he devoured each day. The ability to one day quit and lose all of his weight always in the back of his mind, said day never came, Felix reaching immobility before he even had time to consider the possibility. Not that he ever would consider it, Felix too stubborn to think he’d let himself go this far. 

A feeding tube in his room, Felix hadn;t even remembered asking for such a thing, his mind in a constant haze of cake. Barely a couple hours after lunch, Felix was already on his fifth meal. Each lasting an hour, he only paused intermittently for a few minutes, his hunger quickly coming back. 

Bed completely covered in his own rolls, Felix can feel all his weight press down on him from lying on his back. Only able to stare at his tube and the ceiling, wiggling his fingers and toes are the only other things for him to do besides eating or sleeping. His ass encapsulating the bed and reaching the floor, Felix pays it no mind, focusing instead on guzzling the cake flavored whatever, Felix even uncaring about what it is he’s devouring. 

Reaching a full state, Felix mumbles past the tube, his incoherent words a jumble. Expecting the tube to turn off, it remains on, filling his stomach with a torrent of cake. Increasing his complaints, the only response is his feeding tube picking up in speed, Felix gurgling as he;s forced to devour it all. Chugging it, Felix feels himself expanding.

Stomach rising in the air and cascading all around like melted vanilla ice cream, his breasts flow and sink back down towards his face, his numerous neck rolls meeting them head on. His thighs become even more dimpled, the couch sized appendages forced even wider to accommodate the rapidly filling thighs as they grow larger and wider. His ass pushes him high in the air, Felix groaning as his large room becomes even more cramped, his now blob like body filling it.

His feeding continues, Felix groans, his eyes half lidded as he continues to guzzle. His stomach stiff, the stuffed state of it feels oddly relaxing, Felix giving in to the tube. Suckling it, Felix complains as his body finally reaches the edge of his room, fat reaching from corner to corner. Huffing,the cramped and compressed nature of it makes him complain. Body seemingly one large blob with no definition, joints seemingly improbable, the walls begin to crack and tumble as Felix grows ever fatter,his eyes even hard to keep open with so much fat clinging to his body. The floor even cracking underneath him, it takes no time for the whole area to explode, Felix’s body rushing out like a dam breaking.

Jolting up in his chair, Felix hisses as he hits his arm against his table. 

Alone in his room, Felix heaves as he checks himself. Nightclothes on, a simple pair of shorts and a shirt, the moon high in the sky notifies him of it being night. Grabbing his stomach, Felix grimaces as his hand wraps around a sliver of pudge. Sniffing, the aroma of strawberry assaults his nose. Turning to the table, Felix spots the remnants of a slice, a couple of forkfuls left. 

Sighing upon realizing it was all a dream despite the vividness, Felix leans back into his chair. Glaring at the cake, Felix stands up. Bones aching, he stretches, humming as they crack. The warm covers of his bed calling and reaching out to him, Felix takes a couple of steps. His stomach growling, the hunger calls and reaches out to im as well. Glancing at the bed, then the cake, and then finally his stomach, Felix frowns. Grabbing the plate, he swiftly devours the remains of the cake.

“I’m not out of control,” He grumbles to himself.

[kentthewolf]

4 Things Self-Disciplined People Don’t Do ✋ — Leave These Bad Habits Behind & You Can Achieve Goals Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!

I highly admire fellow self-disciplined individuals. Because what ever their goals might be — from making the Olympics or starting a business or adhering to another eating routine — self-discipline is regularly the special ingredient..

In any case, self-discipline is a misjudged idea, principally in light of the fact that we consider the big picture as a fixed character trait. Yet, this is what the vast majority don't comprehend:

Self-discipline comes from good habits and not genetics. 

As a mentor, I work with individuals attempting to be more disciplined in their lives. In the process, I've seen that it's not for absence of desire or motivation… 

The reason we battle to be more disciplined has nothing to do with lack of morals or faulty genes — it's the bad or lack of good habits meddle with the chances of us being disciplined. 

On the off chance that you need to turn into a more self-disciplined individual, figure out how to distinguish these bad habits and dispose of them. Self-discipline won't be far behind. 

1. Depending on willpower

Individuals with a ton of self-discipline comprehend that willpower is a last resort.

Consider willpower to be the emergency brake in your vehicle — it's ideal to have, yet you would be in great difficulty if you depended on it as the essential method to slow down your vehicle. 

Willpower ought to never be an essential procedure for getting troublesome things done. 

Self-disciplined individuals comprehend that there are unmistakably more effective methods for remaining focused on challenging objectives. For instance, a "unmistakable advantage" some high-discipline individuals exploit is environmental design.

The essential thought is that as opposed to pushing yourself through an objective, it's smarter to design your current environment to be helpful for the objective and pull you through it. 

For instance: 

Suppose you need to study hard for a test. Rather than attempting to "stay focused" learning at home when you're barraged by distractions, from the enormous TV, to your friend texting you about going out for drinks, get together your things, go to a library, leave your phone in the vehicle, and locate a back corner of the of the facility where not many people sit in. 

Better to avoid temptations rather than attempting to oppose them. 

Self-disciplined individuals comprehend that they don't have the willpower that others might suspect they do. What's more, they comprehend that willpower is something delicate that frequently fails us. Subsequently, they don't depend on it and get innovative about alternate approaches to remain focused and committed.

On the off chance that you need to become more disciplined, ask yourself this:

How might I accomplish my objectives in the event that I had zero willpower? 

2. Depending on motivation

Self-disciplined individuals see motivation as additional credit — ideal to have when it appears, yet never expected to be there. 

Feeling motivated to go to the gym, study for a test, or work on that project you’ve been looking forward to is extraordinary. We as a whole love that feeling since it makes it generally simple to do hard things. 

In any case, listen to this: 

Feeling a that thunder of motivation isn't needed to do hard things. 

Individuals often think that if “I'm not feeling it" I can't actually do it or it's not worth attempting. We approach our lives trusting that motivation will strike, however at the same time our dreams, goals, and desires blur further into memory as life appears to cruise us by. 

Self-disciplined individuals don't fall into this snare since they comprehend the real essence between feeling and taking action: 

Action prompts to feeling just as feeling prompts to action. 

What does this mean? the connection among feeling and action is a two-way street: Sure, feeling great causes you do hard things; yet doing hard things causes you to feel better — specifically, it makes you more motivated to do more hard things in the future. 

Self-disciplined individuals are addicted to taking action and the high they get from it, it’s uncanny.

They comprehend that the best way to feel consistently motivated is to build the habit of consistently taking action — regardless of whether it's exceptionally little activities at first. This way the build up momentum into the harder things with a rush that cannot be stopped.

So , yeah! there it is: The secret is that self-disciplined individuals are more motivated than most of us, and not because of luck or good genes. They basically see how to make their own constant flow of motivation by making moves and taking action regardless of how they feel as opposed to keeping an eye out, waiting for the “feeling”. 

Quit waiting for motivation and figure out how to construct your own. 

3. Trusting your emotions

Self-disciplined individuals realize that emotions are not reliable. 

This doesn't mean you shouldn't tune in to your emotions and know about them. Indeed, profoundly disciplined individuals are frequently in contact with their emotions. Be that as it may, they're not controlled by them. 

Self-discipline requires a self-awareness and skepticism of your own emotions.

The critical understanding here is that while emotions frequently communicate to us important intuition, they can just as regularly push us off track. 

At the point when you're climbing through the mountains and your nervousness springs up on the grounds that you hear an abrupt shaking sound, that is most likely something worth being thankful for — your mind's method of rapidly setting you up for the chance of stepping on a poisonous snake! 

Then again, when an email from your supervisor appears in your inbox saying "we need to talk," your nervousness may be yelling at you that something's wrong, however it's totally conceivable that your manager was busy and didn't have the opportunity to create a full message. 

Here's another way to see it: 

Emotions are common sense — your mind's reactions about how you should act, are worth paying attention to, but not to be followed blindly. 

Your relationship with emotions matters for developing self-discipline since how you feel will regularly conflict with your core values: 

Your values might be to work out before anything else, yet your emotions will attempt to persuade you to get an additional 30 minutes of rest. 

Your values might be to adhere to a small serving at every meal, except your emotions will attempt to persuade you to get more calories. 

Your values might be to ask your manager for a much higher raise, yet your emotions will attempt to persuade you that something horrible will occur in the event that you face him/her about it. 

On the off chance that you want to be more self-disciplined, develop a skeptical relationship with your emotions. 

Tune in to your emotions, yet try not to take orders from them. 

4. Worrying over results

Self-disciplined individuals have a skill for remaining focused on effort rather than worrying about results.

The most obvious trait to self-disciplined individuals is that they are very goal oriented. They have numerous objectives, consistently pursue them, and regularly accomplish them — often times to an astonishing degree. 

Here’s the secret: 

Self-disciplined individuals can gain consistent progress toward their objectives because they don't invest a lot of energy contemplating them. 

Instead, self-disciplined individuals maintain their focus on their actions — things they can really do and control. Things that, whenever done consistently after some time, will probably prompt the ideal objective or result. 

To put it another way, self-disciplined individuals understand they cant control the result of their goals, but they can control their efforts:

You can't control whether a novel gets composed. You can control whether you compose 300 words every day during your mid-day break. 

You can't control whether you shed 20 pounds. You can control if you have dessert. 

You can't control the grade you get on a test. You can control how frequently you study. 

Investing a lot of energy pondering your objectives is an distraction from the things you really have control over — your actions 

The best mindset toward results and objectives is to "set it and forget it." 

You need to think of your objectives at first. it's ideal to savor them for some time whenever you've achieved them. Yet, keep your eye off the prize and focus on the little actions you can take at this moment. 

Don’t waste your energy on things you can’t control.

Follow these four tips and you’ll be the person others look up to as you breeze through every single one of your goals. Leaving little to no chance of failure and stress.

[spookysanta]

miss you. (g.d.)

part i of ii.

Summary: long distance relationships suck; but especially for (Y/N) and Grayson.

Pairing: Grayson Dolan x Reader

WARNINGS: mentions of sex (not yet), angst??????????????????????????, fluff, bad writing

UNEDITED

YUH look at me on a writing streak :) and let’s all reminisce on fetus baby boy by these precious “date” snaps:

(@trapezoidmouth on IG)

***THIS TAKES PLACE AROUND APRIL/MAY***

i only mention that bc it’s talking about graduation and it’s july so i didn’t want people to make a big deal about it

***

"So," she told him with a big sigh on the phone when she got home from class. "I did my presentation today."

"Oh, really?" he replied, while cooking himself an omelette. It was three o'clock her time and noon in Los Angeles, where he was; so it was brunch time. "How'd it go?"

"It..was awful." She tried to force herself not to cry, because when she cries, Grayson is quick to get up and go wherever she was to comfort her. Which might be good in the moment, but she doesn't want to do that to him (anymore--this would've been the fourth time he'd done that). "Gray, I did everything my teacher told me to! I added the information I needed to, took out some stuff, and I even memorized everything! But when I got up there...I couldn't do it."

"What was your topic again?"

She recited her research question as if it were read out of a book. "How listening to music during pregnancy helps a baby's development in the womb."

"Really? That doesn't sound hard at all."

"It wasn't that my topic was hard, it was that the questions I got asked were too hard for me to answer, and how I answered questions was a big portion of my grade." she was getting a little misty-eyed. She'd been working on this project for months; she thought she'd learned just about everything there is to know about music's effects on child development. "Gray, I really thought I had it until then."

"Listen, baby. Regardless of how you think it went, I'm sure you did better. Because I've heard your presentation and you sounded like you knew exactly what you were talking about. I think it's all in your head, angel." He sighed, flipping his omelette in the pan. He liked omelettes when she made them for him when she visited, because she knew exactly what he wanted, how much of each ingredient to add, and she makes sure they're always cheesy and delicious. But when he makes them, sometimes they're a little...underdone.

"I can't focus." she put him on speakerphone and took off her top, pants, and bra, opting to wear one of his t-shirts for comfort. She has a few of them, but her favorite one to wear is the black crew neck. It's plain and simple, and it fits him like a god. But she managed to take it when she left L.A. the last time; and honestly, she took a little vile of his cologne, too, to spray on the shirt after she washes it. "It's so close to graduation, baby, and I know you're gonna call me a loser for saying this, but I can't do this anymore. I want to drop out." she groaned.

"You're a loser either way, in my opinion." he heard her laugh on the other end of the phone. And that laugh was like air to his lungs, if he's being completely honest with himself. He hadn't heard that angelic laugh in months. The last time they'd been together was when she visited him the last few days of her Winter Break--and that was in January. "But you literally graduate in a month. Shut up."

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay." she groaned again. What she wouldn't give for his bone-crushing cuddles right about now. That's all she wants. She'd been feeling weepy and anxious and a bit sad all day, but now that she's talking to her man, she's starting to feel the heavy weight of her stress lift. "I miss you." she confessed. "I know we agreed that we wouldn't get all sappy like this but I'm wearing your shirt right now and all I smell is you."

“I miss you, too.”

She heard noise on the other end and nearly vomited at the sound. "Move your mouth away from the receiver, Gray. I can hear you chewing."

He chewed louder, his mouth hovering over the phone's microphone. "Like this?"

She hung up the phone.

***

He called her again later, at around four o'clock his time. He and his brother were outside and he was about to grill some steaks for dinner. "Hello?" he greeted into the receiver. "Baby?"

"Hey." she groggily replied. She'd fallen asleep while talking to her best friend on FaceTime and she woke up about five minutes ago. "What's up, boo?"

"Just checkin' on you. I wanted to make sure you're in better spirits than earlier."

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sat up and stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen , finding a box of Kraft mac and cheese in the pantry to cook. "I'm just glad everything’s over with."

"I understand. I just don't want you to be all sad and mopey."

"I'm not sad and mopey only because of my presentation, I'm sad and mopey because I miss my boyfriend." she sighed. "I really don't think I can wait until my birthday to see you."

"So what do you want me to do? You want me to come there, or fly you out here?"

"It doesn't matter, honestly. I just want to see you." she stirred some salt in the pot of boiling water, then poured the noodles into the pot, turning down the heat, and shutting the lid. "Doesn't even have to be long. I just want cuddles and kisses."

"I'd be glad to give you that, and you know I would come and see you right now if I could, but I can't right now. We're filming all week this week and both of us need to be here for it."

"I'm dying without my fuckin' cuddles, man." she drained the pasta, hissing to herself when a little bit of water got on her brown hand. She cursed quietly, already assuming that Grayson knew she'd injured herself somehow--as she usually does. She put the pasta back in the pot and added butter, almond milk, and the powdered cheese, stirring it and letting it cool a bit before pouring it in a bowl next to the stove. "I wanna see your pretty face." she spoke, holding the phone to her ear and with her bowl in one hand and a bottle of sparkling water in the other.

"Hold on a second." she heard shuffling on the other end of the phone. He was making a space on his desk for his phone to sit on, but she already knew that that'd been what he was up to, because his desk is constantly cluttered with papers, receipts, pens and pencils, etc. His desk was riddled with stuff. She heard the quiet his of "ah dammit", and then she finally saw it. That gorgeous grin that makes his hazel eyes crinkle in the outer corners. "Hi, honey."

And as happy as she'd typically be to see his face on FaceTime, all she did was sob. "Hey." She grabbed her food and her drink and with cloudy vision, she guided herself to the couch to eat.

His face fell. "What's wrong? Did I catch at a bad time?"

"No." She sniffled. God, she was so emotional today. "I just...I want you."

"Oh, babe. I wish there was something I could do about that but right now my hands are completely tied."

"I just want cuddles and kisses and hugs! And I want to wear that new shirt you just bought because it looks comfy and I bet it smells good."

"Baby I promise—hold out a little bit longer and you can have whatever it is you want." He paused. "Except for that shirt.”

"Why?" She whined.

"Because I bought that shirt last week. It's still new."

"So? I want it."

"You can have every other shirt except that one. At least not for a while."

"Ugh!" She groaned. "You're the worst."

"I've been told."

She looked away from her phone that was propped up on a pillow and turned on the television, turning to a DVR recording of Botched and settling into the couch, fully accepting the fact that she had to cuddle with the pillows next to her instead of her boo. She picked up her fork, sadly poking the orange-dyed macaroni noodles and putting them in her mouth. "I don't want this anymore." She muttered to herself, catching the attention of the boy on the other end of the phone, who'd only just found something to do on his laptop to distract himself from looking at her tear-stained face.

Because if he did, he'd be at her every beck and call and give her exactly what she wanted. And he was a busy guy; he didn't have time to fly across the country to snuggle her like he has the slight habit of doing.

As much as he craved her—her body, her mind, her laugh, her smell (God, the way she smells? Absolutely intoxicating. He finds himself thinking of the inticing scent on the days when he misses her the most, and it's almost as if she infiltrates his nostrils. Ergo, causing him to miss her 1000x more.)—he cannot leave Los Angeles for at least the next week. If he leaves, then that means Ethan would be left with editing their upcoming video's footage, and that's the last thing he needs right now.

"Why not? When we texted earlier, you said you were hungry."

"Yeah. I was. But now...I don't know." She shrugged. She stopped the recording on the TV, picking her bowl back up and setting it in the microwave for if she wanted it later. Then, she trudged her way back upstairs and got in her bed. She sighed, feeling the lump in her throat form again.

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Illusionary Bird

Marisa visited Kourindou carrying one of the beautiful crested ibises that had been increasing in number in Gensokyo lately. After catching it near Hakurei Shrine, Marisa was planning to cook it and eat it with Reimu. In the now lively Kourindou, the owner Rinnosuke was immersed in thought about the reason for the increase in the ibises...

Chapter 2 of an original story based on the Touhou series!

Illusionary Bird

“Hey, Kourin! What's up? Today's our routine hot pot day!”

She shouted as she threw open the door. As far as I'm concerned, today's Animal Protection Day.

“Oh, it's you, Marisa? What's the meaning of coming here and claiming this to be a 'hot pot day'?”

Marisa showed me what she had in her right hand, and there it was, a limp, red-and-white lump...

Some way from the Human Village in Gensokyo is the Forest of Magic, and close by this forest is my shop, Kourindou. In other words, it's halfway between where the humans live and where the youkai are. I thought that I could do business with both humans and youkai in this location, but the truth is that I almost never have clients of either kind. Well, it gets lively at times, but...

“Isn't that a crested ibis? What happened?”

“Yeah, I caught it by the shrine. Reimu's preparin' stuff for the hot pot, so she'll be late.”

“And why did you decide to meet at my place? You never even asked.”

“What are you talkin' about? This'll make a great meal! Sure, he looks a bit worse for the wear, but...”

The crested ibis. More and more of these birds have been appearing in Gensokyo every year. Wherever they become roused, the sky would become dyed in their colors. Yet their meat tastes good, despite their shabby appearances. The hot pot too, would end up dyed in that ibis color, almost a scarlet red. Not a nice way to put it, but it'd look like a human hot pot made by a vampire.

“Well, I guess it's fine, but why hot pot, all of a sudden?”

“Isn't it obvious? Cold days are all about hot pots.”

Marisa continued to chatter while barging into the kitchen. "Well, I just found 'im by chance, but he was pretty lively until a while ago."

Gensokyo is, quite literally, a place where illusionary creatures dwell. At some point, the people in the outside world wrote off “illusionary creatures” as nothing more than “fantasy creatures”. But, of course, illusionary creatures and fantasy creatures are very different. A fantasy creature is just another name for a delusion, misinterpretation or misunderstanding. On the other hand, an illusionary creature is one that can only be found in Gensokyo. It goes without saying, then, that both Marisa and I are also illusionary creatures.

However, the reason behind the sudden proliferation of crested ibises is something I don't understand. Could it be that they have become “illusionary birds”? That would be unthinkable in the outside world I knew, but then again, too much time has elapsed since then. As much as I try to imagine the outside world from limited literature and old memories, it would amount to nothing more than imaginations. An imagination plagued by imaginations is no more than a fantasy. For imaginations, I rank them in the order of Fantasy, Delusion, Prediction, the Virtual, and Illusion.

“Sorry for the wait! Marisa is here, too, right?”

“...I wasn't waiting. How could I when you girls showed up so suddenly?”

“Well, of course we came suddenly. But you should be waiting at all times. Isn't this a shop and everything?”

Reimu came just as Marisa said. She was carrying several bags with her. Ingredients for the hot pot, I guess.

“Hey, Reimu! Took ya long enough! Let's get this hot pot cookin'.”

Marisa had her arm outstretched, with a feeling of “C'mon, hand it over!” to it.

“I brought everything, yes.”

“Huh? This is red miso. Who told you to bring red miso?”

“I didn't need to be told. Red miso is the obvious choice for ibis broth!”

“Hey, hey! The hot pot is already red enough, so we should make it with white miso. Putting red miso in red broth? Are ya some kind of Communist?"

“It's not like you aren't going to eat because of the color. Since ibis meat is red to begin with, it shouldn't bother you, right? And why white miso? This isn't the Genpei War.”

The two of them went on about food coloring, but I wasn't listening. Regardless, Marisa was holding the ibis, and every time she gave it a squeeze, the ibis would squawk. It was kind of weird, like the ibis was supporting her. I'm sure Marisa was doing that on purpose.

"Don't red pickles go with tonkotsu? Wouldja put it in miso ramen?"

"And doesn't fukujinzuke go with curry? But knowing you, you'd probably throw it in cream stew.”

“Having somethin' red in the middle of somethin' white is the sign of a Japanese soul!”

“I'm already red and white enough. And what part of you has a Japanese soul, Marisa? Do you even know what 'Wabi-sabi' is?”

“I don't think ya know yerself, Reimu.”

“Of course I don't.”

“Anyway, we're not makin' a hot pot like that.”

“Wasn't it you who came up with the hot pot idea? We can't eat this ibis raw.”

“So is that how it is? Alright then, let's just divide it now.”

“Decide it?”

“Yeah, that'll work, too. Wanna go?”

In the end, it seems like they decided to settle the matter in a shooting duel, without so much as asking for my advice (even though they came to my shop uninvited). The rules were: 1-on-1 with Spellcard Rules. If Reimu won, the hot pot would be done her way; if Marisa won, she'd apparently make her go buy white miso. Never mind that I had white miso in my place, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I just let them be. Speaking of which, I actually know the tastiest way to cook a crested ibis...

“Marisa, what do I always tell you?”

“If you're gonna fight, then go outside, right?”

“More importantly, could you divide the bird up for Marisa, Mr. Rinnosuke?”

Their objectives seem to have changed already. Whatever the result is, I guess they'll happily eat it however I cook it. I could go as far as to think they arranged this scenario from the beginning, since it always follows the same pattern. Those two are frequently dueling to decide the most insignificant things. On top of that, they've been using attacks with lots of projectiles. It's extremely bright, and hard on the eyes.

Their duels are always a study in contrast. Against the gung-ho Marisa, Reimu – either on purpose or naturally – fights in a more laid-back style. The duels mostly go Reimu's way, but Marisa doesn't always lose. It's just that Marisa attacks with all her skill and might against Reimu, who looks just like she was made of air; it's like trying to pound a nail into dust. In any way, when looking at Reimu, she gives off a feeling that she is not quite from our own world. Anything more than that is something one cannot quite grasp.

“Hey, that's dangerous! What if it had hit me, Marisa!? Geez...”

“Aw, c'mon! Why didn't it hit?”

“Your bullets swerve to avoid me on their own. How nice of them!”

“They're flyin' straight...”

Since I could hear their voices, I went to see how things were going. Reimu looked like she would practically teleport at times. And her bullets would fly guided in impossible directions. It was kind of unfair.

Well then, this nice, round ibis looks really tasty; I've never seen one like it before. Speaking of which, Marisa said something that bothered me...

“Sorry for the wait, we've just made a decision.”

“Yes, you always make me wait like this. I already made the hot pot. With red miso, as expected.”

“Grrr... You already prepared the hot pot? What would ya do if I had won, Kourin?”

“I would have had you eat an ibis cooked in the tastiest way.”

The Hakurei Shrine is located in the edge of Gensokyo. And by edge, that doesn't mean only in the physical sense. There is the border between the outside world and Gensokyo. Because of that, the Hakurei Shrine is not an entirely “illusionary place”. And Marisa said she caught the ibis by the Shrine. It may be that this ibis is indeed from the outside world. So it would seem that crested ibises are not Illusionary Birds yet. I feel somewhat relieved.

[audreymerwinn-blog]

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