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sol-consort · 4 months

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I am once again throwing my mass effect thoughts at you

Feeding people is one of humans many love languages. The first thing we often share from our cultures with each other is our food because we all need to eat, we all love things that taste good, and food can say a lot about a culture. So when humans made it to the Citadel and started mingling with galactic society they’d basically be handing out our snacks and bringing containers of our dishes to work and gatherings to share with anyone and everyone. After a while they’d realize the turians aren’t taking any, when offered it’s rejected, and at first maybe the humans think it’s because turians are still bitter from First Contact but humans still offer anyways. Takes them a bit to figure out it’s because turians can’t eat levo food. Queue humans spending days/weeks painstakingly researching how to adapt their food with dextro substitutes and how to prepare them (and how to keep everything sanitized for the quarians). Next time the human brings a treat to share with their alien co-workers they’ve got two tins of chocolate chip cookies and one of them is dextro. We like feeding our community and peers, making them happy by giving them something sweet, and when the human is present EVERYBODY is getting something to eat.

I still think about that one salarian during the Garrus loyality mission in ME2 who said he loves human food, despite being at an anti-human turian political street speech.

Because if humans are considered diverse, can you imagine how much our culinary dishes are even more diverse? There are different from culture to culture and use so many different ingredients.

We have things for every taste, the complex dishes that mixes so many flavours together, the simple seeming ones that actually require professional level chefs to get it right.

We even cook and make dishes we can't eat, just for our pets because we love them so much. Pet food is a huge market with a lot of science and testing involved in it just to find out which flavours the animals end up liking more. The whole concept of treats was invented because we wanted to share our snacks and chocolate treats with our pets but couldn't since it harms them.

There isn't a field or a craft that a human somewhere isn't passionate about, no matter how nichie or unique. I bet you there are already culinary schools for humans that began having special branches and classes for dextro food and non-hydrating food.

Hanar who are usually reclusive and take centuries to warm up to a species, immediately falling in love with human sea food dishes and the many hydrating fruits we have. Ironically enough, I see them liking any desserts that use gelatine like creme caramel or pudding.

In the Andromeda culture exchange room, at the end of the human introduction VI, they mention to ask a human about ice cream if you ever meet them.

Meaning that aliens don't have ice cream! It's a pure human invention oh my god. A turian in the bar also mentions how the cocktails and drinks were boring and limited before the humans made contact and shared their menus.

How were the aliens even living?? Boring food with boring drinks and no dessert? Fuck yeah we will share our food with them, cooking has always been one of the fundamental traits we associate with our species.

Not only that, it's even a whole love language in humans.

A human can love you so much that they start making you food for lunch and dinner just to make sure you're eating well! Because it makes us happy seeing someone eat something we made, we poured our heart into. Love being the most important ingredient in cooking is the one rule that unites all humans no matter what culture or dish they're making. You can taste the love in food even if it was cooked in a hurry or by someone with no experience, we still eat our loved ones burnt food because we see the effort. Be it the burn marks on their fingers or the dirty dishes piling in the sink, we see clearly how much they tried just to make us something and we smile through the bittertaste and tell them it's good.

Because everyone started at this point, when our food taste horrible and a loved one was subjected to eating it. Or maybe we had to swallow it down. And if we didn't see the love, the potential, we wouldn't have continued on or improved.

Cooking is many things, it's cathartic in nature. It represents family and safety sometimes, luxury and fun other times, resilient and survival and even new beginnings or love confessions.

So many of our holidays centre around food. It goes hand in hand with celebrations.

When it's our birthday, we share a sweet cake with everyone else. When it's an achievement we invite people for a dinner. When it's an average night with friends we go out for drinks.

We bring people snacks when we go out on errands, we keep treats for stray cats or dogs in our pockets, we gift homemade dishes to our new neighbours.

Of course a human is going to accommodate for a turian or a quarian diet. We already accommodate for our friends and their diet limits, be it medical, religious believes or simple taste preference.

I see it happening a lot in C-Sec where turians and humans are common coworkers. Eventually the humans bringing food from home to eat on their lunch break will offer some to their favourite turian coworker. Maybe it's a nervous new guy at work, or maybe it's their grumpy boss with a heart of gold.

Then they realise oh, they can't eat it. So they go back home and the subject gets brought up during dinner with their family when asked about their day at work.

The next day, to their surprise, their spouce packed up a smaller container next to their normal lunch one, labeled "Dextro"

Imagine how surprised the turian is by it when their friendly human co-worker brings it to them saying how their spouce thought of them. The day after it, the humans kid tells their parent they found a snack that's safe for turians and they wanted to share a piece with the turian coworker their parent mentioned before.

The human family inviting the turian to dinner, asking them to bring their family too if they want and sharing a meal together. Making sure the foods are well separated and won't contaminate each other.

Or imagine bringing your turian friend home one day, and your grandma is visiting and she makes a comment on how your friend is as thin as bones and they need to eat more before they leave.

You try to explain how this is how turians normally look but she is having none of it as she searched for a dextro recipe online and tries to whip something up real quick for your friend before they leave.

On another note, think of how funny it is if they could eat earth bird food. Like you're feeding pigeons at the park and a turian comes up and is like "hey I'm feeling a bit squimish...mind if I grab a bit?"

Or you have a pet bird home and go shopping for bird food and your turian friend asks why you're buying so many turian junk food, and that those are overpriced awful tasting brands.

Salarians who never paid cooking or food much mind. Their species dishes are basically those high nutrition cubes and pills we see in future dystopian cartoons. Their lifespan is too short, so they mostly focused on science and technological development.

So the humans with their many different cultures are a literal godsent angels to them. I see them developing a codependent relationship with human culture.

In which salarians relay on human inventions for their luxury and entertainment. Be it our music, movies, food, snacks and videogames. Human dishes become widely popular and a lot of salarian ships start employing human chefs and cooks.

> be a salarian

> culture only focused on technology development

> food tastes like drywall paint

> can't party must study

> speedrun spacetravel

> top of the species in terms of intellectualism but most depressed

> brain had to literally hardwire fast emotion processing to not become too depressed

> must grind for a qt3.14 asari gf

> what are those apes the turians are picking a fight with?

> convince turians to let the apes live

> apes share their cultures

> wtf their food is actually so good

> wtf their music sounds amazing

> wtf now I have a waifu anime gf

> mfw life is suddenly good

#☆salarians #☆turians #☆humans

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unohanadaydreams · 5 months

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Notes: Made egg bites this morning and was like ‘now I have to know how Bleach characters would make egg bites with me’ (these notes are from a week ago but it still stands true because Ive been prepping them every Monday morning lately lmao).

How They Egg Bite:

Ft. Kenpachi, Nanao, Unohana, Shunsui, Giselle, and Mayuri

Kenpachi Zaraki: Doesn’t bother with pre-heating the oven or mixing the ingredients beforehand. Just cracks eggs into a muffin pan and stirs them with a chopstick (he started using his finger but you protested greatly to that). He seasons them well, but only has salt and furikake on hand. His favorite part is cracking the eggs with just his fingers and watching you gawk over the clean breaks.

Nanao Ise: Has her eye half-on a recipe card the entire time. Everything is weighed and sorted before she begins mixing. Mis en place is her best friend and you her trusted sous chef. She tries to arrange the veggies into cute animal faces but gets embarrassed and mixes them back to random before shoving the muffin pan in the oven, blushing as you remark what a shame it is. She takes a picture to file away with the recipe card out of habit. There is a photo album of cooked creations.

Retsu Unohana: Rather annoyed at the process of pouring even portions of mixture into the muffin pan. Gives you a long, hard smile when you point out the first one has way more egg mix than the rest. Attempts mis en place but prefers keeping busy and indulging in chaos. Her favorite part is the wait for them bake, smelling the ogon peppers roast. She pours your tea with a heavy hand and a smile comes lighter as you struggle to blow on the curling heat without spilling.

Shunsui Kyoraku: Plays coy with his cooking ability, if only to lure you in front of him so he can ‘watch and learn’ with his arms around you. Has a precise cut with the peppers and stirs just the right amount of spinach in. He borrowed one of Nanao’s recipe cards and insist you take a selfie with the egg bites for her records. Absolutely gets distracted and asks you take his picture in an apron. And to be fair you should too! The egg bites are very overcooked from his distractions. He soaks them in green tea.

Giselle Gewelle: Tests the limits of what food coloring can do and alternates between sparkly purple eggs topped with pink stained green onions and a dour brown mixture decorated with bean sprouts tied like bows, smothered in beet juice. They’re bland and undercooked despite staying in longer than necessary. She smothers them with ketchup and feeds them to you, laughing when you pull a sour face. She refuses to try them and orders take out immediately after.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi: Uses egg from a source that’s in development and not yet on the market. Definitely not cage free. All the veggies are on the mundane side of GMO. Tougher flesh and large seeded tomatoes for better texture and nutrients. Mushrooms that transcend uncanny valley in how alike to meat they taste…okay so not too mundane. Does enjoy a good gadget, like a lid that seals over your mixing bowl and releases mixture in timed spurts. Ends up drinking his half of mixture raw and cooks it in his esophagus. He absolutely talks you through the process.

#may I offer you an egg in these trying times #today I offer you this self indulgence tomorrow? probably even less lmao #bleach imagines #queue

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year

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what are your expectations for the twilight reboot?

i don't know if i can envision a version of twilight that isn't cringe so i have zero expectations.

I have none either. I can make a few guesses but they could end up entirely wrong.

I believe the studio in charge of the reboot is Lionsgate Television, which among other things has co-produced shows like Mad Men, Dear White People, and several others. Notably, the parent company Lionsgate films produced the Hunger Games films.

What I'm getting at here is that this is a large subsidiary studio of a large well-established studio who has gotten their hands on a well-known IP that is primarily targeted to teenage/young women.

Specifically, they're not going to rock the boat. I expect the show to be marketed towards the audience of the books (young women/teenage girls) and not to a broader adult audience (see Mad Men).

More, given the books were so popular, they'll generally follow the plotline and try to tie into book moments they think audience members will like, but they will tone it down a lot. Much like the movies did.

Twilight will probably be kept entirely intact. We'll have the meadow, we'll have Bella nearly be crushed by a van, the blood testing in Biology, the Italian restaurant scene, the James subplot, etc.

However, details like Edward methodically planning the massacre of his biology classroom, will more than likely be dropped or else glossed over.

We're probably going to get an Edward who's palatable. He still has an aura of mysterious darkness, of course, but the audience can rest assured he's their sweet nerd and cinnamon roll and that the vampirism is just an unfortunate, if sexy, affliction.

We'll also likely get a Bella who's more talkative and takes more initiative. Not only does this address common complaints about the character, but it's very difficult to write a show where one of your main character rarely expresses herself out loud. (If you read the books, what Bella narrates versus what she says are two very different things.)

The movies addressed this in part by keeping the voice over narration for Bella with... uh... effect (I personally thought it was very poorly done and mostly hokey).

They might go the same route in the show, maybe Bella will intro each episode and outtro with a diary she writes in, "Dear Diary, today Edward stared at me, he was hot", or we'll get her voice over in pivotal scenes, or she's going to have to start talking to somebody about what she's feeling and thinking.

However, we'll probably get all the major plot points.

After Twilight, is where we might get changes.

It will probably take the film route and blame Edward's religious nature on his dad. They can't remove it, as Edward needs some reason to deny Bella becoming a vampire even when he and his family eat animals, and it can't be the spicy 'you'll probably eat humans anyway'. In the books what he said was Bella would lose her soul, Carlisle disagreed with this in a conversation with Bella. In the movies, they had Carlisle go all in as it ah--makes Edward look like the misguided product of his parents than it being him being religious himself.

Even though New Moon is hilarious in that the romantic lead disappears for an entire novel and Bella spends that novel hallucinating Edward, they're not going to drop it because of the importance of the Quileute characters as well as Jacob being the secondary love interest.

What they might try to do is spice it up and tone it down at the same time. Rather than be a complete depressed blob the entire novel, we might see Bella make significant recoveries to feed the Jacob/Bella side of the love triangle. We'll also probably spend a lot more time on the tribe both to flesh out the characters and to distract from the giant amount of nothing that happens in New Moon.

Bella may or may not hallucinate Edward. It was a large part of the novel, but it was weird, and never to be mentioned again when Eclipse happened. It's also not too fondly remembered by fans, even fans of the Edward/Bella ship. People remember the meadow and the wedding, not the time Bella rode a motorcycle with Edward saying "Don't dooooo iiiiiiiiit". It's entirely possible the producers would find it too spicy.

On the other hand, it's all we see of Edward of what could be half if not an entire season. Given he's the romantic lead that Bella ultimately ends up with, you can't have him on vacation for a fourth of the show.

So, 50/50 on Hallucination Edward.

Eclipse will probably remain mostly intact as well, as we get an exciting love triangle there, but they'll probably tone down Edward again. No longer will Edward kidnap Bella to his house, too spicy, instead he'll look sad and cuckolded as his girlfriend flirts with Jacob. The tent scene will probably be toned down quite a bit as well to remove some of Edward's more alarming statements.

Actually...

I expect all of Edward to always be toned down in every moment. I'm not sure what the hell they'll have him say, but it won't typically be what he says in the books in his more "WHOA" moments.

Now, Breaking Dawn is... interesting. On the one hand, they can squeeze a season out of it and if they're three seasons in and haven't been canceled yet then why not? On the other hand, it doesn't fit in with a typical teenage story that they want to draw people in for.

Bella's suddenly married??? And pregnant??? With a demon??? Their protagonists are out of high school, Bella's pregnant with a demon and dying, there's a war on and all these weird non-teenage people are showing up.

They could choose to end the show with the wedding. Bella and Edward get married, he promises to turn her, they ride off into the sunset.

On the other hand, there are fans who would murder them and cry tears of blood if they don't get the honeymoon/the rest of breaking dawn (even though fans simultaneously hate breaking dawn).

We could get a Breaking Dawn sans Renesmee. The Volturi instead accuse the Cullens of some crime they very clearly have not committed. Irina narks on them for a crime they didn't commit because she was secretly in love with Edward (her character having been merged with Tanya's) or else becuase she seeks revenge for Laurent and didn't act until now. Bella gets her wedding and honeymoon but has to be summoned back because shenanigans are happening again!

However, in that case, they have to figure out how to turn Bella since one of Edward's primary character traits (and one they can't really change as it would alter the entire plot) is that Edward doesn't want to turn her.) And they're going to want Edward to have to do it versus any other character, as it validates that Edward truly does wish to be with Bella forever.

There could be a subplot where Edward tries to hide Bella in the mountains when the Volturi are coming but Bella tells him, "No, Edward, this time we cannot run" despite, you know, the tent debacle weeks earlier where she said "Edward, we absolutely can run"

But again, I really don't know. I'm in the same boat as the rest of you.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #twilight tv show #meta #headcanon #opinion #achillean-heartbeat

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2jcore · 5 months

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hwanghon brew director's cut

hello everyone first of all, please bear with me this is the first time i've tried using tumblr and i honestly don't know my way around it yet. With that being said, please allow me to give you the director's cut of Hwanghon Brew i promised 2 years ago lmao TT

So, for starters, hwanghon brew was commissioned by my good friend ate cams (who was absolutely patient with me. love u ate cams mwa)

These were the things requested:

heejayke poly

established heejay

modern vampires

college/frat au

5+1

heejayke feeding on each other

THE PLAYLIST

I was given the freedom to do whatever, come up with whatever plot that ties these things together, so I did! The first thing that came to mind of course, was the vibe I wanted to go for. So i immediately looked up a modern vampire playlist to set the mood, and stumbled upon this playlist. which is honestly so fitting because 1) the cover is a screenshot from the given-taken japanese mv, and 2) the person who made it seems to be an engene seeing that the first song in the playlist is drunk-dazed.

Anyway, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse became the first song that I associated to Hwangwon. It was like, idk the theme song while i was writing it? In fact, the whole black market scene during the intro was written to supermassive black hole. I didn't really make a moodboard for HB and instead created a playlist and relied on getting the vibe from that instead.

if i were to describe the songs that i picked out for hwanghon, it would be dark and somewhat eerie. most of them were rock/alt, (Test Me - Xdinary Heroes, One in a Billion - Enhypen, Tonight is the Night I Die - Palaye Royal)

some were also alternative/indie like Teeth - 5SOS, cult leader - king mala, and Blood // Water - grandson.

I played this playlist 24/7 while writing the fic NO JOKE LIKE ESPECIALLY IN THE SHOWER even though some of the songs creeped me out T^T bc honest to god some of them lowkey sounded demonic but it is what it is. So, I listened to these vampy songs while trying to come up with the main theme of the fic.

If you watched the video teasers I posted on my twitter, you'd know that I strongly associated Xdinary Heroes songs to HB, especially during the scenes where they're playing tag and running around the city, especially Test Me.

Hold Me Tight, and Tunnel by KimYeji were for the more somber parts like Jake's inner monologues about fitting in, heejay talking about the coven and jake, and especially the scene were Jay runs to Jake in the bathroom and relives Heeseung's near death.

And while I do associate their running scenes with xdinary heroes, BONBON GiRL by SARM is an honorable mention. To me this is a bouncier song for the times they're leaping from one rooftop to another, just having fun while Seoul's citylights shine below them. When I play this song, Hwanghon Brew suddenly turns into this cyberpunk vampire anime in my mind.

Some special mentions that I really enjoyed listening to and helped me brainstorm for scenes are: Real Boy - Lola Blanc, Verbatim - Mother Mother, and Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High - Artic Monkeys.

OUTLINING

As some of my readers might know, my first step when writing a fic is to make an outline. My first thought was to think about the characters. With heejay being established, it only made sense for me to make them members of the frat/coven. With that thought in mind, I wondered how to write Jake into their lives. And thought, hmm, what if he moved to Seoul for college and stumbles upon one of the coven members? Let's make him a newly turned vampire from the country side.

(jake bagong salta to coven = jake new to the coven)

So i was trying to come up with the main theme of the fic and initially came up with this:

I was just thinking that jake was just, idk, desperately trying to fit in even though he was already part of the coven, and heejay could teach him how to be a vampire and their feelings could develop through that. Of course, this idea changed as the outline became more fleshed out.

After establishing the basics of the character backgrounds, my next step was to outline the plot itself. I divided the plot into the 5+1 structure, and brainstormed for a main event/scene per number.

this is the unedited original outline LMAOO which obviously was changed as I went along with writing it. I wasn't given an exact word count and was just told to write whatever I wanted (thank you sm ate cams 🥺) and honestly i went into this thinking that i'd be done by 10k HAHAHAHA BOY WAS I WRONG. then again, i shouldn't really be surprised because i have the habit of going over my target word count. In fact my bestie Erina (who helped me brainrot a lot during the writing process (luv u bubbie hwanghon brew will forever be your inaanak) was like. bubbie. how could you even think you'd be done by 10k LMAOO)

anyways, let's unpack this original outline. the [ 5 - hoon supposed to take him to hwanghon but can't ] made it to the fic since Sunghoon really asked Jay to take Jake to hwanghon. [ 4 - heeseung arc, bonding over ramyeon ] was only partially kept. Instead of the 4th part being about jake feeling hesitant, it becomes heejake growing closer through their convo while having ramyeon, and jake trying to get closer to jay by using the honey cookies. So i guess you can say that food holds importance in this part.

the third part where jake underestimates his appetite and heejay come to the rescue is kept, but added to it are heejake and heejay scenes, the latter giving more insight to the jayke aspect of things

The 2nd one. So my thought process here is: the initiation is successful. However, throughout and after this, heejay become more and more possessive over jake without them actually noticing and without them realizing why. So, the members intervene by acting all flirty with jake until heejay finally acknowledge their feelings, and this leads to the jealousy jealousy part in number 1. and somehow the tension just builds up until they all just erupt and make out, which would lead to them feeding on each other.

as you can see, khan's appearance in the fic was not part of the original outline. and that definitely changes a lot of things.

for the first few parts of the fic, i outlined the turn of events and crossed them out once i finished writing that sequence. my original outline somehow ends here? IDK how i outlined the rest of the fic LMAO IT WAS A FEVER DREAM. ANYWAY.

THE BLACKMARKET

i wanted to start the fic with a banger. literally. so, what better way to do it than to bombard countryboy Jake with the grim reality of the city, right?

After listening to Supermassive Black Hole, this black market scene immediately played in my mind and set the tone for the rest of the fic. It came to me quickly--the image of Jake stumbling upon a black market swaying, dizzy as hell, his vision splitting and all these neon signs swirling around him. for me, the song cemented the over all night life/cyberpunk vibe that I was going for.

At first, I was thinking that it's Jay who finds Jake in that market. Like the thought of spotting Jay amidst the blur of people was so appealing to me (especially as your resident jayker). But I figured that it would be better for Sunghoon to find him first, because not only does this create a foundation for jakehoon's friendship, but also sets the stage for a better meeting between jake and heejay.

Right off the bat I wanted this scene to be as descriptive as possible, so that I could immediately give the readers a good feel of the universe and the dark tone of the fic. Hence why I enumerated every single thing from a man trying to sell Jake drugs,

“Hyungnim,” A man suddenly slings his arm around his shoulders. “You looking for a good time?” “N-no,” He answers meekly, pushing away the man who had a couple of tattoos dotting the left side of his face, his leather jacket reeking of alcohol and some kind of earthy, herby scent.

(that's why he smelled earthy - y'know...marijuana) to prostitutes trying to beckon him over

“Hey, are you lost?” Two girls call out to him in coy voices, breaking out into giggles and taking drags of the cigarettes pinned between their long manicured nails.

Anyway, while i was writing this, i was constantly seeking opinions from my close friends (love u erina i could not have written most of this without you) and recieved good feedback about the intro, so i think it was pretty effective.

SUNGHOON

(this is the hoon in my head!! ugh so hot fr fr imagine him just walking along seoul at night jumping from one roof to another)

like I said, since i made Sunghoon the character who finds Jake, I wanted him to make a strong impression, which is why he is how he is--practically dragging Jake to the cafe, ordering for him, talking on and on even though Jake wasn't responding LMAO like Sunghoon didn't really care TT

I also wanted him to have #humor which is why he's so damn sarcastic all the time "don't worry i don't bite" SAYS THIS WITH HIS CHEST WHILE BEING A WHOLE VAMPIRE LIKE FUCK OFFF "no humans were harmed in the process" he's so??!?! anyway, it was super fun writing him, he's easily one of my favorite sunghoons in all the fics i've written.

though it looks like him being a lovesick fool is a common thing among my fics and i don't regret this one bit. It's so funny writing Sunghoon pining over Sunoo when the latter doesn't even give him his time of the day (not true, actually he's just equally enamored)

While it is true that Sunghoon is one of the comedic reliefs in this fic, Sunghoon is also the token best friend that everyone needs. He has his own way of looking after Jake that is just so endearing to me. In fact one of my personal favorite scenes would be the jakehoon skirmish during the initiation where they're just tumbling down from one roof to another. They way Sunghoon was so proud when Jake managed to get his necklace 🥺 and the way he was like "Go. The other three won't be as easy as I was."

In his own silly little ways, he makes sure that Jake isn't left behind and watches over him. (Sunghoon wouldn't have brought Jake to the cafe and bought him a blood smoothie to begin with if he wasn't so kind) Speaking of blood smoothie, that brings us to the next part

RASPBERRY ORANGES

also known as blood oranges, where Enhypen coined their album name "Orange Blood" from. If you check the dates, Hwanghon Brew was posted before this release so belift, i was first 🙄 (lighthearted) anyway, blood oranges are literally just oranges but the insides are red.

I was searching for a fruit that would pass off as the same color as blood because I wanted Sunghoon to order something cryptic. In the sense that it's not really on the menu since only vampires would know about it because it's a code for blood, but if per se, a human manages to overhear it and ask about it, they could just serve a real fruit smoothie and it wouldn't look any different.

I thought maybe dragonfruit? but it's too purple. raspberry is too pink. strawberry would be too pale. I stumbled upon the raspberry orange, saw the pulp looking like blood and i thought, yeah this is it. This looks vampire-y enough.

I included this fruit solely because of that and didn't really think of anything else lol. Later on, I found out through my moot Kaia that blood oranges hold meanings that really align with the concept of Hwanghon Brew

THE BASEMENT

I don't know if i should feel flattered, scared, or annoyed that there seem to be so many parallels between hwanghon brew and official enhypen content. because first of all, i posted HB in october of 2022, and it had the line "bite me" (i'm not gatekeeping that phrase but the parallels are just fascinating) and then they come out with Dark Blood and Bite Me as the title track in 2023. Also, like i said, blood oranges, Orange Blood, etc etc. And the basement/frathouse IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SET IN SWEET VENOM LOOKS LIKE

like. the strobe lights, the party, the dingy mattresses??? thanks to belift for bringing my fic to life i guess??!?W@#$ anyway, since they were a coven disguised as a frat, i figured it was only right for them to have a frathouse. i didn't do much research on frats because i didn't focus on it much in the fic, but i guessed that frathouses were mostly...well, messy. Plus, they're supposed to be broke college kids, so i thought it'd be fitting for them to rent out a cheap basement in one of the shady alleys in Seoul.

THE COVEN

While it is true that they're also kind of a frat, like Sunghoon says,

“It’s a coven and a frat. I mean, we’re fronting as a frat. But, it’s not exactly a disguise because we really are a frat? You get what I mean.” Sunghoon waves his messy explanation off.

they are a coven first and foremost, which to me crosses out the thought that they only have men (since y'know. frat). in my mind the coven also has female members. since txt are part of it, i immediately thought of itzy, pictured yeji and ryujin on the couch making out and i was like yeah, i like that.

aside from the basement looking like sweet venom, at the time I was writing it, SV wasn't out yet. So the party was actually mostly based on the drunk-dazed party

Anyway, it's mentioned in passing that the pioneer of this coven is Jay, and he served as its leader for a good few centuries before handing the torch to Jungwon. Since then, he took the backseat with the leadership, but still helped in calling the shots. Jungwon doesn't make big decisions without consulting him (and Heeseung consequently)

MEETING HEEJAY

Like I said, I wanted to set the stage for heejay--present them in a way that both Jake and the readers know that they aren't like any other. I wanted them to be revered. While everyone was wilding it out partying, they were in the backroom watching it all unfold. idk there's just something about them just sitting there and watching over their people. literally like kings over their constituents. (constituents??!!)

Tall nose, sharp lips, tanned skin peeking out from the rips in his jeans

Tall nose, small lips, sharp jaw trailing down to a chin that juts out when he frowns. A leather choker around his neck, his knitted top torn.

These were the pictures in mind when I wrote the descriptions of heejay's first appearance

JAY

i can't recall if someone left a comment about this or a friend told me, but i remember someone saying that it made so much sense that Jay was the eldest vampire. they said that usually, people would think of going according to enha's real age, so it was refreshing to see Jay as the eldest.

to me it just felt right to make Jay the eldest and only pureblood in the coven. I think i based this off of the fact that Jay in real life was obviously brought up in a high class (?) family and environment. He knows a lot of things, is well off, and yet he seems street smart and wise.

with this, i came up with his background--his family being around for ages, somewhat pioneers of the current seoul vampire society, and owners of the disguised vampire establishments. speaking of family, it's implied that Yoongi is Jay's relative.

aside from this, I was thinking, Jay is mostly a loving sweetheart in the fics i've written, so why not make him a loving but emotionally constipated tsundere in this one?

anyway, given the fact that jay is the eldest, only pureblood, and founding father of their coven, i think his disposition was to be expected. he's literally like a grumpy overprotective father. to him his coven is his family, which is why he's skeptical to let strangers get close to the people he loves. especially after the first khan incident. He let khan into the coven, treated him as his own kin, and khan betrayed him by abandoning all the principles and beliefs he stands by, and put their coven in a bad light because of this. I can't really blame him for being on guard and cut throat with accepting new members after this.

HEESEUNG

heejay being 7yearz going on 8yearz in real life is truly the basis of heejay in this fic, and consequently, Heeseung's characterization. much like in real life, i wanted them to have spent a lot of time together, which is why i wrote Heeseung as coming from 1235, which was the Goryeo era. Originally, I wrote Heeseung as coming from the late 13th century, but wanted to align his story with a real historic event. That's why I moved his year to 1235 where there were Mongol invasions, which led to him being injured, and then led to him being turned.

I think it's evident especially with the whole "While Jay is the storm, Heeseung is the calm before that" part, that I wanted to strike a balance with the characterization of heejay. To me it also felt so...idk, couple? so parents of them to be opposites in this way. It was like Tamaki going all out and then there's Kyouya, his silent and supportive right hand man. (from Ouran High School Host Club)

Which is why I leaned into Heeseung's laid back traits in real life and channeled his relaxed and easy going disposition. I just figured it would have been too difficult for Jake if both Jay and Hee were skeptical of him, so i thought let's make Heeseung someone who is a good judge of character, someone who immediately sees the good in Jake and becomes smitten.

I believe Heeseung acted as a bridge more than anything because jayke's bond was honestly the last to form, so he's a mediator in more ways than one.

With regards to the coven, it is mentioned that Heeseung is the second eldest, which means that next to Jay, he's the most respected because #age and #heirarchy and all. Also, no one would dare question Hee because he is after all, Jay's life long partner and lover.

In my mind, Heeseung is very wife in this fic, in the sense that most of the time he is Jay's voice of reason, lending his silent support especially during the times it is most needed. While the coven was founded by Jay, it would be crippled without Heeseung.

JAYHOON CONVO (OUTTAKE)

On the day that Sunghoon told Jake to come to the coven, Heeseung was the only one in the basement. Jay went grocery shopping and Sunghoon bumped into him on the way there. they both make an entrance while bickering

the door swings open and in comes Sunghoon and Jay, at each other’s neck. Figuratively. “You should have told me beforehand!” “Well, I’m telling you now,”

Actually, they were fighting over Jake. The whole conversation goes like this:

"I told him he could join." "Who are you to decide that?" "Oh c'mon, aren't we like allowed to make referrals? like in companies? I'm pretty sure I should be getting a commission for recruiting him." "??? we are not a multi level company. Go bring your pyramid schemes somewhere else. Not to my coven" "But I already told Jake to come over," "You should have told me beforehand!" "Well, I'm telling you now"

their convo sounds pretty funny and sooo jayhoon in my head that i just had to share this even though it didn't make the cut in the fic

HWANGHON BREW

the heart of this fic (only actually partly, but the fact that this fic is named after the cafe make a big difference, no?) I'm not sure where this idea came from, I just figured it would be nice for them to have their own establishment. Like. #made by vampires for vampires. something like that, and thought hm, why not a cafe? so i went on to a name generator and it showed me a bunch of corny names for cafes T^T. I saw the word brew and it kinda stuck. So the next thing i did was to search for the korean words of vampire related things--moon, blood, twilight. And that's how i found the word hwanghon.

I put hwanghon and brew together, decided that i liked the sound of it, and put it as the working title while i was writing. i honestly didn't think that it would be the final title. I was just thinking of replacing it when i thought of something better, but fortunately i was unable to come up with anything that topped it DFAHAHAHA i am also so relieved I kept the title because i think it's so distinct? It has a very nice ring to it and makes it easy for me to search people talking about it on twitter HAHSDHF

here's the logo/symbol of hwanghon brew, and it's exactly as it is described in the fic

a crescent moon with the tips downturned, red rays dripping down from the middle.

the red rays are an allegory to blood, hence why I used the word "dripping" to describe it. also, to me, the downturned crescent moon is a hollistic symbol of vampirisms. it is both a moon, and a pair of fangs. This symbol also plays a big part in the initiation because the necklace's pendant is in the same shape.

anyway, onto the system of hwanghon brew itself. Like Jay explained, the process of blood goes like this: human donations > health organizations > human government > high council > blood banks > vampire establishments (like HB) honestly, i didn't really consume much vampire media. i have never watched twilight or vampire diaries. the only knowledge i have of the collective concept of vampires would be from interview with a vampire, supernatural, a few clips from vampire knight, and a few panels from blood bank.

though i think the fact that i didn't really consume vampire media turned out to be a good thing in the long run, because I eventually had my very own take on the vampire universe and the world building. Though, it's not uncommon to have blood banks and whatnot, i just find it fascinating to have the vampire high council working hand in hand with the human government.

JAKE

oh my sweet Jake. he's just a baby girl, that's all. His characterization here isn't really far off from how i see him in real life? happy go lucky, very determined, absolutely resilient.

besides, i think that these are qualities of a person who can go through so much and come out of it stronger. these are the traits that would enable him to put his foot forward, join the coven, butter up to heejay, and go against a monster like khan.

however, while he is all those things---strong and brave, he is also very hesitant at the same time? He's the type to rethink his actions and mull over his decisions over and over again and question himself if he made the right choice.

he's also very conscious of the people around him, and he has his own insecurities, which to makes him feel more human than any of them, which also makes sense given that he's the youngest vampire.

EYE COLORS

I mention this throughout the fic--their eyes flashing inhuman colors whenever they're either hungry, protective, angry, etc etc. For Jake, it's blue. For Jay, it's red. This small detail isn't really important aside from the fact that only purebloods have red eyes, but I just got this idea from the japanese MV of given-taken. (actually, i rewatched that mv so many times while writing this fic)

GIFTS

it's mentioned in the fic that vampires develop gifts down the road. Jay's is super strength, Heeseung - telepathy, Jungwon - speed, Sunghoon - shapeshifter(?), Sunoo - gravity defiance, Riki - shadow manipulation/teleportation

Honestly, i just got this from the dark moon webtoon because i wanted to add a little flare to it lmao. Given, Jake's power would be fire. Initially, I thought of including his power in the fic. If I did, it would play out like this: jake getting beat up by khan > heejay comes to the rescue > khan puts up a fight, drives them into a corner > jake, livid that khan had hurt heejay, awakens his power and uses fire for the first time to protect them (wow, zuko who?)

but I decided to scrap that idea because I wanted Jay to be indomitable, and also kinda wanted Jake to play into that whole damsel in distress thing

anyway speaking of powers, if anyone's wondering why heeseung didn't just tap into jake's mind to find him, it's because heeseung's telepathy in this universe only works on covenmates. and since jake technically wasn't a member yet, he couldn't reach him.

THE INITIATION

actually, if i remember correctly, this idea came from one of my twt besties and gfs, nina. it makes sense of course, because they're a frat. and frats have initiations and it's just terrorizing new recruits, like Sunghoon said. They reason that it's to assess the new member (especially after someone like khan), they wanted to be more sure of new recruits--whether they'd play dirty just to be part of the coven.

Sunghoon also mentions that it's Riki who suggested to have initiations and that it usually consists of playing games (tag, hide and clap) but with a vampire twist. Not only does this allow the existing members of the coven to assess the new recruits physical abilities (speed, senses, etc.) but it also allows them to asses their decision making.

SUNOO, JUNGWON, AND RIKI

admittedly, I didn't put much details about these three compared to the hyung line for various reasons.

for one, I wanted Sunoo to be a mystery, and figured that would only be effective if I only gave out little information about him, leaving gaps and spaces for the readers to imagine. Which is why I mentioned that aside from Jay, no one really knows about his age or where he came from. (but his backstory is complete in my mind lmao.) also, I wanted Sunoo to be different from the other vampires, which is why he sometimes talks in shakespearean HAJSHA. AND I wanted his character to be different from all the other sunoos I've written. I just really love playing into the opposite of how majority of the fandom perceives him as well.

Jungwon, while being the coven's leader, only makes appearances once in a while. Despite his little screentime (sorry won I'll make it up to you), I wanted to make sure that he came across as reliable, especially since he is the coven's acting leader. Which is why he shows up to remind Jake to feed. To me, while he participates in initiations, he makes up his mind about the new recruits prior to that and acts based on this. He went easy on Jake because he actually liked him and wanted him to be a part of the coven, which is why he played along but gave back Jake's moon necklace in the end.

And Riki. He may seem like a playful vampire who's just there for the vibes, but he is also very perceptive. Like Sunoo, he plays a bigger part than what is implied, but I don't want to give out too much information bc I want to write a prequel HSDFHAHSD but yeah, Riki knows the streets and knows his shit.

well, that's that. Thank you for coming to my ted talk! I really enjoyed writing about my thought process while writing, and where I pulled inspiration from. I still think that I really outdid myself with writing this one and I think the comments I got just prove it. I love Hwanghon Brew with my whole heart and I am beyond happy that I get to share this with people who enjoyed reading it just as much as I had fun writing.

whatever i didn't cover here (like most of their character backgrounds, and khan) I will be including in the prequel. Anyway, speaking of the prequel, I've been told that some readers are curious about the timelines and the backstories of the members. I think if you pay enough attention to detail, you'd be able to gather a few hints about the timelines and their ages.

I do hope that if I ever do push through with it, you would be tuned in as well >< I have actually finished the outline, all that's left is actually writing it. I don't know when because I am unfortunately a busy college senior (writing her thesis and having her internship). But I do hope I get to do it soon because some of you really seem enthusiastic about it and it really warms my heart. Anyway, please consider this a love letter to the readers who enjoyed Hwanghon so much and showered it with so much love.

love u all ❣

#hwanghon brew

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theofficersacademy · 2 years

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Midsommar 2022 : Prompts and Memes Part 1

The sun begins its evening descent, bathing the sky in hues of pale yellow and gold. After a long day of collecting firewood and arranging the burning piles, your hard work is finally rewarded with the sight of a festival truly coming together. Merchants set up their wares and prepare their treats, filling the air with fragrant smoke and the warm scent of fried sweets.

Priests strike matches over each of your wood piles. Fires burns brightly. ‘tis the beginning of Midsommar!

The bonfires are burning….

[ ROAST ] Food over the fires, from meats to marshmallows. Each house has their own representative bonfire, and each fire has a large pot with their representative soup. Add something to it or try out what your classmates have been cooking.

[ EAGLES SOUP ] Black Eagles: Thick goulash, hearty, enough to feed a thousand soldiers. “Thousand Soldiers’ Soup” made with dried ingredients and reconstituted on the roads

[ LIONS SOUP ] Blue Lions: White fish, leeks, potatoes, heavy cream, keeps you nice and warm.

[ DEER SOUP ] Golden Deer: Broad beans, spiced sausages, seasonal vegetables, red hot with paprika imported from Dagda.

[ DANCE ] While Midsommar traditions began in the Empire and spread gradually across Fódlan, each country has its own Midsommar song and dance around the fire. Follow your house’s traditions, or bring in a little something from home.

[ BURN ] Burn different plants as offerings to the Goddess. Herbs and powders are sold by local vendors to change the scent and color of the smoke.

[ LEAP ] All around the hills outside of town, the people of Fódlan light bonfires to scare away evil spirits. Leaping over them is said to bring good luck, and many challenge each other to see who can jump the highest. Young couples link hands and try to jump together, hoping for prosperity in the year to come.

[ TELL ] Share stories around the fire. Lately, children have made a game out of whispering a story into their friend’s ear, who has to retell the story to the best of their ability to their friend, and so on. When the story finally reaches the end of the “convoy,” it’s often a completely new story.

[ TASTE ] Away from the noise of the festivities, the Chefs of the Round Table (the cooking club) has set up a mostly-private bonfire to test out some of their new creations. Their latest masterpiece? Something called a “marsh mallow,” a recipe from the Sreng region sweetened with vanilla and sugar. It’s supposedly delicious when toasted over a fire…

The Garland Moon begins...

[ CROWN ] Make a flower crown, or bestow one upon another.

[ GARLAND ] The Garland Moon is upon Fódlan, and garlands are being strung up all around Garreg Mach. Among the shop stalls selling handmade trinkets and knickknacks are florists with the last of the spring flowers, already woven and made into garlands and corsages. This may be your last chance to confess to your special someone before the season changes!

[ PAIR UP ] Single people get dressed up and paired off with other single people, this is the season of love and baby animals and the older adults won’t tolerate a humbug Singleton. If you already have a special someone, then dive right into the singing and dancing together!

[ SHOP ] The festivities draw merchants from all across the world to sell their wares, but beware: the crowds are ripe for pickpockets, and unscrupulous potion sellers take advantage of anyone who looks confused and gullible.

[ MUSIC ] There is no shortage of music or food. Join in with hymns around the cathedral, find the bards singing old folktales by the river, or try to swipe as many free samples as you can in the market.

#toa announcements #toamidsommar2022

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canisitsnotlupus · 2 years

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There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to pet food, I hope this can shed some light. - Grains are necessary (Unless diagnosed with grain allergies by a veterinarian). - Raw isn't always best. (Raw/home cooked diets need to be properly formulated by a board certified nutritionist to be balanced, more information below). - Grain free can be dangerous. - The vast majority of companies do not follow WSAVA guidelines. - Veterinarians DO NOT get kick backs from suggesting food. How are they going to get a kickback from a food you didn't even buy from them? If anything, the pet store employees are getting kick backs for suggesting foods! The “Big Five” Brands are the five brands that adhere to WSAVA guidelines (World Small Animal Veterinary Association). Which are: - Employs one or more full-time qualified nutritionist(s) and willingly discloses their credentials. - Foods are formulated by a qualified team of professionals such as nutritionists, toxicologists, food scientists etc. - Undergoes feeding trials that meet or exceed AAFCO standards, for most or all formulations. - Foods are produced and manufactured in US facilities, owned and operated by the manufacturer, or under close supervision of the manufacturer. Equipped with machinery, laboratories and staff that provide extensive on-site quality assurance. - Provides detailed description on quality control protocol. Selection criteria for partners, analysis and sample tracking of externally sourced ingredients, daily safety checks of product batches and facilities, physical inspection, key nutrient testing before final packing. - Provides exact number for any nutrient on an energy basis (grams per kcal). - Readily provides kcal content per gram and per cup. - Conducts research relevant to nutrition, products marketed, and product claims. Publishes research in peer-reviewed journals. So let’s get to it. The “Big Five” Brands are: Royal Canin - Breed specific lines that were created in conjunction with breeders and veterinarians, general health lines and targeted health lines + RX diets Eukanuba - Owned by Royal Canin, mainly their performance lines + general health lines Purina - Sport lines, general health lines, targeted health lines, most accessible and cost effective + RX diets IAMS - General health lines, cost effective, easily accessible Hills Pet - General health lines, targeted health lines + RX diets If you’d like to do some reading… Here are multiple links for kibble, raw diets, grain free vs grain inclusive, Diet Associated DCM and WSAVA. Peer reviewed resources on dog kibble: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/03/stop-reading-your-pet-food-ingredient-list/ https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/06/why-you-shouldnt-judge-a-pet-food-by-its-ingredient-list/ https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/12/pet-food-decisions-how-do-you-pick-your-pets-food/ https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2017-01/myth-busters-corn-edition/ Peer reviewed resources on raw diets: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/01/raw-diets-a-healthy-choice-or-a-raw-deal/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003575/ https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/debating-raw-diets-january-2019/ STOLEN FROM HERE

#dcm #dog food #resource

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liliallowed · 8 months

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snake dust lore

tw child abuse/murder

tw jincan experimentation

tw illegal monster trafficking

tw death

he was born in an illegal black market monster trafficking site.

specifically the result of countless trials and errors with throwing monsters to each other's throats just to live. he survived being wiped out due to his speed and clocking ability. his siblings we're not so lucky.

the experiment was an ancient tradition that had been modernized and twisted into a sick display of the worse cruelty humans had to offer. jincan was banned ever since the human monster war era. though that did little to stop the humans from weaponizing LV. increasing it's potency through creating addicted mind slaves that would only be born to serve the purpose of being their exp.

then again... nature also had the same excuse but animals wouldn't be counting only feed out of instinct.

so many bites, so much poison running through his tiny soul that was one chip away from snapping into shards.

so much pain. and yet by some luck. by some faint glimmer of determination he'd barely make it out... one day after another barely surviving.

he was slowly developing a unique tolerance to the toxins. and finally being the "result" the humans were after... immunity to toxic magic? or was it to create a venom potent enough to kill thousands for their little weapons?

he knew he wasn't the only one... the humans made sure to have PLENTY of test subjects to kill off before letting "unnatural selection" do it's thing. he had competition...

the luxurious food, or the praises... the fake smiles they'd give him looking at him like he was some sort of object... he was too prideful to let himself fall for it.

he didn't care. he just wanted to get out.

after a while they stopped throwing him in the pit. instead they would directly forcefully inject him with whatever "safe dose" of deadly substance they had to make a "cure". and it was extracted from his competitors...

just another guinea pig that was one of the very few to make it to adulthood through a hellscape.

family? siblings? friends? why even bother when they'd just be used against you?

mates? just for these freaks to make more of his kind suffer? just to repeat the cycle? no. no he wouldn't play their dumb sick game.

if they wanted a monster he'd give them one. he'd kill all their PRECIOUS research results, then himself and burn the place down. it didn't matter. nothing mattered.

though it never came into fruition.

he eventually escaped containment as he was being transported to a bidder. he went into hiding unsure where and where to strike back. all he could do was wait.

it was what had kept him alive so far after all.

#this is dark #basically dusttale but not #this bean losts his family when he was three weeks old #fuking protect the bean #he only trusts himself #scratch that he doesn't even trust himself #he would have more issues than dusttale sans ngl #childhood trauma just hits different #friking raised in a Minecraft mob grinder

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drlectertho · 29 days

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Hello dearest Hannibal community,

Thanks to all the peeps who are still following me after like 10ish years of more or less complete inactivity on here.

I did have a lil‘ peak now and then, looked at old posts of mine and reblogged some that didn’t feel all too cringe. Also scrolled through my feed and hannibal tags and found that actually not all too much has changed in this fandom - same humour, same love for the show, same insanity, same kind of lovely people… heck, some of you veterans from back in the day are STILL active! I very much applaud your committment! 👏🏻

I‘m actually writing this post because I thought I‘d give an update on what‘s been going on in my life in hopes that some of you also comment a wee update about themselves or make a post and tag me (and others from the community) 🫶🏻

I‘ll try and make this not too long (Spoiler: it got longer than expected):

Basically, Hannibal (@nbchannibal) fundamentally influenced the trajectory of my life.

I went to med school because of that show and got my medical degree few years ago. Never in my life thought about becoming a medical doctor until I watched Hannibal, more specifally after watching Season 3.

I‘ve always been fascinated by sciences, human anatomy, forensics, horror, the dark and obscure. But also loved arts and creative work, and for the longest time I’d wanted to make that my profession. I was planning on studying Digital Animation right up until I finished my last year of high school. At this point, I didn‘t really have a portfolio for uni application and was doubting my creative skills/potential.

When Season 3 of Hannibal aired, I‘d watched it 2 times in a row and then rewatched Hannibal all together (since have rewatched the whole series again about 3 times). I realized that I didn’t solely love the show because of the (b)romances, its story and its goriness, but because of the psychological and medical aspects of it. Really, really loved the „sassy forensics team“ and their work (even though it was very fantastical at times and surely not the most realistic portayal of forensic medicine). Suddenly, I had the epiphany of becoming a forensic pathologist. Silly me didn‘t know that meant that I’d have to do 6 years of medical school, get a medical degree and then do another 6 years of residency in forensic medicine. But applied for medical school anyways, passed the „big“ entrance test and sure enough, I fell in love with medicine.

My dream of forensic medicine was pretty much crushed right away, since I was told that there were only few residency options in the city where lived (and wanted to continue to live) and hardly ever any open positions in this niche specialty. Also job market was rather saturated - and still is.

Did a pathology internship during uni and found it very intrigueing but couldn‘t really cope with the smells, even though seeing, touching and cutting (recently) deceased bodies was no trouble at all. I then thought, maybe forensics would‘nt have worked for me anyways and abandoned the idea completely.

Last year of medical school I did an internship in psychiatry, enjoyed it, apparently did well enough and was encourage by my attending to pursue a career in that feeld. Before that internship I had again recently rewatched Hannibal, and rather unknowingly paid closer attention to the psychiatrists and psychologists portrayed in that show. Hereby became more and more fascinated by the subject of mental health and mental disorders. I was aware, however, that most psychiatrists in Hannibal almost exclusively performed some form of psychotherapy and hardly any clinical/medical psychiatry was shown.

Ultimately, I got a job at the very same psychiatric clinic I did the internship at and am still doing my residency there. I like my specialty very much, love and care for my patients deeply, and my work definitely gives me some sense of purpose. Do I feel completely fulfilled? No. But who really is, am I right?

As of late, I‘ve been entertaining the idea of forensic medicine again and changing my current specialty. I guess, I have not been able to let it go completely after all…

Anyways, did Hannibal affect your life also in some or great way as it did mine? If so, I‘d be curious to hear your stories! :)

Thanks and best wishes to those who read the whole thing or even just a small part of it. ❤️

- M.

#nbc hannibal #hannibal #psychiatry #forensics #psychology

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moontyger · 2 months

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Kuiken said his concern about the risk that infected raw milk poses is not so much that the practice might somehow help the virus to mutate in ways that would allow it to spread easily to and among people — in other words, trigger a pandemic. But he believes it would likely seriously sicken people who drink raw milk from an H5N1-infected cow. Reports of the amount of virus present in infected udders is higher than anything he’s seen in studies where he’s experimentally infected animals with H5N1 to chart the illness the virus wreaked, Kuiken said.

Jürgen Richt, a veterinarian and director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, spoke with a note of disbelief in his voice about the amount of dead viruses or viral particles being found in commercial milk that tested positive for the virus.

“From [results] I have seen, I wouldn’t want to drink raw milk,” Richt said. “And I wouldn’t feed it to my cats, nor my dogs, nor my calves, if I’m on a farm.”

The FDA is urging consumers not to drink raw milk or eat raw milk cheeses. That is a position the agency has long held, because of the other health risks these products hold, but it has re-emphasized it in the current context.

It has also recommended the dairy industry not “manufacture or sell raw milk or raw milk products, including raw milk cheese, made with milk from cows showing symptoms of illness, including those infected with avian influenza viruses or exposed to those infected with avian influenza viruses.”

Kuiken said he is less concerned about raw milk cheeses, saying the various processes involved in cheesemaking are “not conducive to survival of infectious virus.” He did suggest, though, that raw milk cheesemakers could be at risk, if they were inadvertently using milk laced with H5N1 virus.

Whether herds owned by farmers who sell raw milk have been infected by the virus isn’t publicly known. While authorities and scientists believe outbreaks are occurring over a much broader swathe of the country than has been detected, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has only confirmed infections of 34 herds in nine states — Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Colorado. It has not given any details about the operations on which infected animals were found.

But the USDA has admitted some farmers have been refusing to test their animals. And analysis of the genetic sequences of viruses retrieved from cows combined with evidence of H5N1 RNA in commercial milk found in a number of U.S. markets — the FDA said Thursday that about 1 in 5 samples tested for H5N1 from across the country have been positive — bolster the argument that this has been going on for longer than has been recognized and likely involves far more herds than have tested positive.

The testing of commercial milk was done by polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. In PCR testing, the concentration of a pathogen is estimated by how many cycles the test has to run to find it. The lower the cycle threshold — known as a “Ct value” — the higher the concentration. Anything with a cycle threshold of 29 or lower is considered a strongly positive result. Some milk testing has shown a Ct value of below 10, Kuiken said.

#H5N1 #bird flu #psa

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thegreataxolotlblog · 1 year

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Axolotl's as pets

Despite being endangered, Axolotls are gaining a quick market as pets. whether or not this is good will be covered in a later post but for now we're talking about Axolotl's as pets,

Axolotl Behaviour and Temperament

While axolotls are relatively hardy to slight fluctuations in their environment, they also have delicate, soft bodies with permeable skin. In fact, most of their body is made of cartilage rather than bone. That means they should not be handled unless absolutely necessary. And if you do have to move them out of their tank, do so with a fine mesh net that won't entangle any of their body parts.

Once you have their housing setup correct, you generally only have to spend a few hours per week on feeding and cleaning. The rest is simply enjoying them as a quiet, aquatic companion. Axolotls tend to be fairly bold and are perfectly content to move about their tank as they're being watched by their humans. Some will come up to the side of their tank when a person is there observing them.

However, they aren’t particularly social animals and don’t require any tank companions. They should not be kept with other species as axolotls might try to eat pet fish, and the fish sometimes nip at them, as well. You even should be cautious about housing them with other axolotls. Juvenile axolotls can be cannibalistic toward one another, so they are best raised in separate enclosures. Adults can potentially be housed together, but still, watch out for cannibalistic tendencies. If a body part gets bitten off by a tank mate, an axolotl actually can regenerate it over time. However, it's still best to avoid this situation altogether.

Housing the Axolotl

At least a 15- to 20-gallon fish tank is recommended for axolotls. Make sure the tank has a secure lid, as it's not uncommon for these animals to try to jump out of their enclosure. A land area is unnecessary in the tank for these fully aquatic animals. At a minimum, the water depth should be slightly more than the length of your axolotl. But adding extra depth will help with water quality and give your animal more room to move.

Keep the tank in a cool room away from bright sunlight with the water temperature between 57 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit (14 and 20 degrees Celsius); don't allow it to get above 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius). No special lighting is required for axolotls (unlike many reptiles). In fact, a dark hiding spot, such as a flower pot laid on its side or an aquarium castle, is often appreciated.

Some owners opt to leave the bottom of the tank bare, though others believe this might stress the axolotl if it can't get a foothold on the smooth bottom. If gravel is used on the bottom, it must be coarse gravel that's bigger than the axolotl's head. Fine gravel might be ingested and cause an obstruction.

Tap water treated with an aquarium water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramines is fine for axolotls. Never use distilled water, and make sure the pH of the water remains between 6.5 and 7.5. (You can find a water test kit to check at most pet stores.) Most owners find a filtered aquarium is easier to maintain because unfiltered water needs frequent changing to remove waste. However, if you choose to have a filter on the tank, the filtration rate should be slow. Powerful filters that create strong currents can stress an axolotl.

For a filtered tank, cleaning typically consists of a 20% water change each week, as well as siphoning waste from the bottom of the tank. If you're not using a filter, you likely will have to do a 20% water change daily or every other day. Never do a full water change, as this can alter the water chemistry too drastically and stress your Axolotl.

Food and Water

In the wild, axolotls feed on snails, worms, crustaceans, small fish, and small amphibians. In captivity, they can be fed a variety of brine shrimp, small strips of beef or liver, earthworms, bloodworms, tubifex worms, other frozen fish foods, and commercial fish pellets. Do not feed any worms or fish you caught yourself, as they can carry parasites. In general, no vitamin or mineral supplements are necessary.

Consult your veterinarian regarding the amount of food to offer, as well as how often to feed your axolotl, as this varies depending on age and size. In general, many adults take two to three feedings per week. One of the best methods to feed is by holding the food in round-nosed forceps in the tank near the animal. You also can simply drop the food in the water as close to the axolotl as possible. If your axolotl isn't interested in eating much during the day, try feeding it in the evening when it's typically more active. Remove any uneaten food from the tank every day to keep the water clean.

Common Health Problems

A notable characteristic of axolotls is their regenerative powers. In the case of injuries that aren’t life-threatening, they’re able to regrow their limbs, tail, and even other body parts, such as heart and eye tissue.

But this remarkable ability doesn't protect them from all health issues. Unsanitary tank conditions can lead to viral or bacterial infections, the signs of which include lethargy and a lack of appetite. Plus, ammonia build-up from waste in the tank can be toxic. If this occurs, it can interfere with the respiratory process causing damage to the gills as well as result in neurological damage.

Moreover, axolotls with gravel in their tank that's small enough to eat are prone to gastrointestinal obstructions. If your axolotl experiences an obstruction, it will likely be sluggish and not want to eat. And if it's not promptly treated, death can occur quickly.

Furthermore, axolotls rarely do undergo metamorphosis into a terrestrial form. The reasons for this are poorly understood, though it might have to do with hormones or water characteristics. The metamorphosis can be extremely stressful for an axolotl, and it can significantly shorten its lifespan. If you notice abnormal changes to your animal's body, such as it starting to grow larger, have a veterinarian who specializes in exotic pets examine it as soon as possible.

(Photo of unhealthy Axolotl)

Purchasing Your Axolotl

Always acquire an animal from a reputable breeder or rescue group. It's best not to buy an axolotl through the internet or a classified ad unless you've spoken directly with the seller, and they're able to provide you with adequate information on the animal. If they can't give you thorough documentation on its origin and health history, that's a red flag. It's also ideal to speak with people who have acquired animals from that seller to uncover any concerns. Plus, a local exotic veterinarian often can direct you to a good breeder or rescue.

Expect to pay between $20 and $70 on average. Animals with more rare coloring, such as copper, tend to cost more. A healthy axolotl will be active, and it might accept food if you offer it. Its skin shouldn't be flaky, and its body should be somewhat plump (as opposed to underweight), though it shouldn't have any abnormal swelling.

All information above was sourced from The Spruce Pets

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