#baking soda is the answer to a LOT of things

[omppupiiras]

a quickkkk rough translation if anyone's interested:

"I put ketchup on almost all foods"

Artist Jere Pöyhönen is not a morning person and he uses the snooze-button, and you shouldn't ask for cleaning tips from him. In his daily life he tries to avoid unnecessary complaining, because at the end of the day things are pretty good.

In the morning when I wake up, I hit the snooze button and keep laying in bed. Sometimes I snooze for 1-2 hours if I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere. I am for sure a night person, so my mornings are slow.

For breakfast I usually eat porridge, to which I add peanut butter and honey, and with it I have a cup of berry tea. Breakfast is something I've tried to get better at, because when you're in a rush it's easy to skip it.

To me it's a luxury to spend relaxed time with my close ones. The best thing is to spend a slow evening with friends, for example a barbeque party. Friends and food - there's no better combo!

I get inspiration for cooking from my mom. Mom likes trying different foods, and everytime I visit I grab a few recipes for my backpocket. Last time I made a chicken and potato casserole dish inspired by my mom.

In my shopping basket you'll often find chili-cheese-sausages and an energy drink. The latter I've tried very hard to consume less. They're not good for your teeth or wallet.

My specialty dish is thai mince meat with rice. For seasoning I use oyster sauce, garlic, sugar, basil and chili. When I was younger I liked to bake a lot, but I stopped when I moved out on my own.

I wish I'd learn to eat more regularly, every few hours. When your job is being on the move, sometimes the times between meals get too long. When you're hungry it's easier to snack on treats, like chocolate and chips.

My normal home evening ends in front of the TV either on the living room couch or in my bedroom. Usually I always watch a tv show or a movie before bed.

My best money saving tip is buy discounted food items at a good price. Then it's handy to immediately put them in the freezer at home and cook later.

I scrimp on bread toppings, like cheeses and cold cuts. I'm not brand loyal with them and usually choose what i grab first.

I get fancy with my glögi, I am its biggest consumer! It's my favorite drink and I have it all year.

My everday superpower is that I don't take things too seriously. Everyday I am grateful for what I get to do for a living, and I don't ever take it for granted. In general I think it's good to avoid complaining too much and try to keep a positive mindset: at the end of the day things are pretty good.

I clean at home about once a week, but I admit, I could be better. I don't spend a lot of time at home, so sometimes my clothes get everywhere and the dishes get piled up in the sink. You shouldn't ask for cleaning tips from me!

My guilty pleasure is squirting ketchup in mince meat soup. It tastes excellent in there. In general I have ketchup with pretty much all foods.

My Pirkka hack is using baking soda to get rid of stains. It's especially great with textiles. With baking soda I've gotten rid of many stains and dirt off of the couch.

[skullcandy11111198]

Leveragetober23 Day 3: family

Soon after Breanna came to live with Nana, she got a visit from one of her new big brothers. Nana was all in a tizzy for a few days beforehand, when she first learned one of her children would be coming back home for a few days. Apparently Hardison was a legend around here. Nana was baking like crazy, and when Breanna built up the courage to ask why she was making so much food, she learned that her "big brother and his partners" would be coming to stay with them.

Now, Breanna was pretty open minded, her parents raised her well, but she will admit she did a slowblink when she was first told. No one else seemed to have any thoughts on that topic, no weird or judge-y faces from any of the other children in hearing range, so she shrugged and went with it.

When they finally arrived, she was only more intrigued. Hardison could best be described as a whirlwind. He moved fast and talked faster. His two friends, on the other hand, were the direct opposite. They both smiled when talking to others, and answered rather succinctly, but otherwise they didn't move very fast, and in the scheme of things, barely talked at all.

Breanna wasn't quite sure what to do with them. She had accepted her parents were gone, and her definition of family had to change rather quickly, but every time she met a new child of Nana's, it hit her again how much her life had changed over the last two-ish years. Therefore, she was back in her room, decompressing a bit after meeting Hardison and his "partners."

(After meeting them, she honestly couldn't tell if they were romantic-partners or business-partners. They talked about work, a lot. They were vague about it, but they obviously worked together. On the other hand, Parker was a very clingy person with both Hardison and Eliot. Inevitably she would be hanging off one of them, touching them in some way. Hardison and Eliot were known to share a knowing look with each other too, whenever Parker did something. Parker and Eliot always made sure an orange soda was in Hardison's reach, and Parker and Hardison would make googly eyes whenever Eliot even just talked about cooking.)

A knock on her door distracted her.

She opened her door to reveal a slightly nervous looking Parker, who kept checking over her shoulder while she asked if she could hide in Breanna's room for a little bit. Breanna was unsure about this new person, but eh, why not? When she said as much, Parker beamed and thanked her while sliding inside and sitting on the ground behind where the door would hinge open.

Okayyyy. Breanna hesitantly sat down criss cross apple sauce, facing her. "Not to, like, stop you or anything…but, why are we sitting on the ground, exactly?"

Parker looked at her with a sharp eye. "Well, I'm sitting on the ground. You just decided to do it because I did. Sophie says that has to do with psychology, but I don't remember which theory right now."

"Hey! It feels perfectly reasonable right now to go to ground when the only adult in here right now is doing the same!" Breanna pouted, but all she got back was a small smile from Parker. "And hey, don't distract me! Why are we on the ground?"

Parker laughed, then suddenly went quiet. Breanna started to open her mouth to ask her what was happening when Parker suddenly whipped her hand up to stop her from speaking. A few moments later Breanna heard footsteps walking down the hall, pausing at the end, then turning around and walking back to the main part of the house.

Once she was sure whoever it was was gone, she lowered her hand. Breanna was even more curious now, and slightly worried. She knew Nana, and she knew how she raised her children, but either way there was another woman in her room, an adult, who seemed to be hiding from the other adults. Breanna needed to know what was going on.

Parker must have been able to read her face because when she turned her head back towards the younger girl, she immediately started to explain.

"Okay, so to be honest, I've gotten wayyy better with people. Like, way better. I haven't stabbed anyone with a fork in two months, Hardison and Sophie are really proud of me. But there are still a lot of people out there, and they were starting to get loud, and I don't like loud. Loud means notice and I don't like to be noticed, so I went to the place I was sure no one would check because I know Hardison, which means I know Nana, which means I know they will give you privacy because new people are around, which means people are way less likely to come looking for me in here, and when Nana introduced you, you were really quiet, so you are not likely to be as loud as it is out there. So, safe space."

Breanna's head was reeling from trying to keep track of…all of that but yeah, it made sense, in a weird way. She was the newest kid, and one of the previous kids was coming home to visit for the first time since she arrived, plus they were bringing other people too, so Nana was likely to quietly tell everyone to give her some space.

Breanna nodded definitively. "Okay, that makes sense. But…floor?"

Parker nodded, very serious, "First lesson: even when you're hidden, don't assume you're safe, always hide somewhere in a hidden place. Then you're way less likely to be caught" She paused, eyeing Breanna's head speculatively. "You have really curly hair. That's good. You can hide a lot of things in there, lots of pins, maybe even a key or two." Another pause, Breanna felt like her soul was being weighed. "Do you want to learn how to pick a lock in less than 5 seconds?"

Oh, they were going to be friend-friends. "Okay!"

[toxictigertonic]

Okay. Here me out. I know I already asked for something and this i can't ask for anything ever again from you but please your magnificents I am but a poor little British boy asking for the crust of your bread:

WHAT IF THEY WERE HOSTING A BAKE SALE. WHAT IF.

Keep asking me things!! I love to yap!! My bread crusts are free, I shall even throw in some butter for them!!

A bake sale hosted by the prime assets for the reagents would be the most hectic, hilarious, and probably dangerous thing you've ever seen, and that's saying a lot. Where did they get the baking materials? Did anyone follow a recipe? Should you eat anything that Franco or Leland had a hand in creating? Who knows!

COYLE

- He cannot bake to save his life.

- It's both underbaked and overbaked at the same time. Outside's burnt to a cinder and the inside is still batter. Turn down the heat on your oven you fool.

- He'd either try to make something really simple, like oatmeal cookies, or he'd think he's a God at baking and try to make some shit like macarons or a soufflé.

- Kinda guy who thinks he can just fuck with the measurements and imgredients in a recipe and still have it come out the same. Also doubles his recipes and forgets to double the baking soda (I'm guilty of that ngl)

- The reagents would buy his baked goods just to use them as throwable items. Bricks are out, Coyle's homemade oatmeal rocks are in.

- Honestly I think he'd be good at making things taste good, he just can't bake them properly.

- As for being at the bake sale, he's immediately jealous of how good Phyllis' desserts look. They've got that homemade charm but still look amazing.

- Takes some comfort in seeing the mess Franco is serving up though.

- Would tell people that if they don't like the way his cookies are baked then they should make them themselves. I payed 2 tickets for these cookies I deserve to complain.

MOTHER GOOSEBERRY

- The QUEEN of the bake sale. Bow down to her.

- She spent an entire month planning and prepping for this bake sale, this has been the only thing on her mind for 4 goddamn weeks.

- Makes at least 5 or 6 different desserts, ranging from mini apple pies, to simple chocolate chip cookies, to actual perfectly made macarons. This woman is magic when it comes to baking.

- She even has cute little packaging for all of her baked goods. This woman went all out and you better appreciate her.

- Will offer you a sample if you don't know what something is, but if you say you don't like it you better be ready to answer to Futterman.

- Futterman is not allowed to advertise the baked goods. Mainly bc anyone who says they aren't interested is chased down. There's no more room underneath the table to hide unfortunate reagents.

- Besides, Phyllis is already amazing at advertising her own baked goods. Her personality makes people want to try her stuff immediately (and the table smells heavenly).

- By the end of the bake sale, her table is empty. Sold through everything and had people begging to order stuff from her. (There might be some angel dust in those cookies but don't tell her I told you that)

- Franco was not allowed to try any of her baked goods. Samples are only for paying customers, little man. He tried to snag one secretly many a time but he's almost gotten a drill to the hand as punishment.

- Coyle and Franco fight over who gets to lick the spoon when she's done mixing batter. Neither of them get it, Futterman gets the spoon.

FRANCO

- I want you to be honest now. Would you really eat anything he made? Would you trust his baking skills?

- Remember how I said he likes his cookies severely underbaked? That's what he's bringing to the bake sale. Just nearly raw cookie dough. And it's not even good cookie dough.

- I love him, you know I do, but he would not change spoons between taste testing the dough.

- Forgot about the bake sale until the day of and just threw something together so Phyllis wouldn't yell at him for not participating.

- The only way I'm trusting anything he makes is if Phyllis is supervising him. They can make thumbprint cookies together :)

- Honestly I'd probably just give him 50 dollars and let him buy things rather than allow him to sell things. Let him buy some cake pops.

- The reagents bully him for his shitty baking skills, and the poor guy had to hand Lupara off to Phyllis at the door. He's just gotta take it, or start a fist fight.

- He'd throw a mini tantrum anytime somebody bought from the other two. How DARE you not buy his cookies, he made them with love! And potentially teeth.

- Spends most of the bake sale trying to steal a single thing from Phyllis bc she won't let him have any samples. Hides under the table and keeps getting his hand slapped by her.

Keep sending in requests, art or headcanons I don't mind! It gives me something to do and I love any chance to draw or think of the sillies.

[bonny-kookoo]

Yoongi

Lock Me Up | Found

He promised.

Tags/Warnings: Detective Agust D my friends, Criminal Kitty!Reader, hybrid Yoongi, mentions of violence, kidnapping, major angst, fluff?

Length: Drabble

There is no taglist for this fic

A/N: now stop trying to ruin their happiness thanks

⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅

Where could you be?

Police forces are out looking for any trace of you- his home already having been checked as well as your usual spots you'd be at during the day. But there's nothing. You've vanished without a trace, and Yoongi doesn't even have a clue who could've taken you in the first place. There's really nothing to gain from you other than maybe money- but in that case, someone would need to know your value first, and the people you're connected to. No one just randomly kidnaps someone and hopes their family can pay what they want.

It doesn't make sense.

And the number you told him? He doesn't know if it's complete, or if you got interrupted. He's got no clue what you meant by it, doesn't know what he's supposed to do with it- but it must be important if you say it to him. You're smart- much smarter than one might think, and he personally believes you're not even aware of it yourself. The streets have taught you a lot of things that can keep you alive in a situation like this-

so he hopes you'll use that knowledge until he finds you.

He's walking down the street on the edge of town where a patrolling officer seems to be arguing with an elderly lady, her dog on a leash barking, especially when Yoongi walks closer. He tends to have an effect on animals- though one look from his eyes seems to shut the small dog up. He hasn't been wearing his covering contact lenses in a long time now-

he's embracing who he is these days, much of it thanks to you.

"What's going on here?" Yoongi asks, the patrolling officer sighs, as the lady interrupts him, giving him no chance to fill the detective in.

"That constant banging noise is what's wrong!" The lady whines. "Every day, every night, bang bang bang, it's driving me mad!" She complains.

"Where is it coming from?" Yoongi sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He's got better things to worry about than a noise complaint from a pensioned post-menopausal woman in her late 50's.

"Apartment 265, right above mine!" She says. "I don't know what that guy is up to these days but he should really think about his neighbors-" She rants, and Yoongis eyes sharpen.

"Which apartment?" He presses suddenly, cutting her off- and even she seems startled about his reaction.

"..265?" She answers a lot more quietly now, and Yoongi draws his weapon at that.

"You, ask her about any information she has about whoever lives in that apartment. I want a name, I want a description, I want when he leaves the apartment and what fucking shoesize he wears if she knows it!" he barks at the young officer, before he dashes into the apartment complex, running the stairs instead of taking the elevator to be faster.

Of course.

"He sold catnip laced with other drugs and baking soda." You'd laughed, looking at him upside down as you lazed around on his bed while he washed the dishes. "He wasn't too happy I basically snitched on him and told everyone about it. He was pissed!" You had told him.

"Try not to make anymore enemies from now on though." Yoongi had sighed. "Someone's gonna kidnap you one day, I'm gonna have to shoot someone, and that's a shit-ton of paperwork." He's told you, joking mostly.

"But you'd come and save me, wouldn't you?" You'd teased-

and he'd smiled, simply nodded in confirmation.

"Promise?" You ask him, and he sighs, before he turns around to walk closer to you, kissing your upside-down face with a stoic expression- but eyes filled with love.

"Promise.

He doesn't even knock or anything, simply shoots the door to unlock it, before he enters with the by now familiar phrase announcing his presence to whoever might be inside the apartment. The first thing he notices is the stench of garbage and sweetness, before the tiny flies seem to attack him as he looks around the apartment, searching for anybody.

And there he is, a man dressed in dirty sweatpants and an equally soiled sleeveless shirt, looking at him with angry eyes. "Should've known you hybrid rats stick together." He grunts, as Yoongi points the weapon on him, multiple officers entering the apartment behind himself, making sure the surrounding area is under control.

"Where is she?" Yoongi wants to know, walking closer with the gun still drawn.

"What part of her would you like?" The man sickly jokes, and Yoongi doesn't waste a second to shoot right next to the guy into the stained couch, visibly startling him.

"The next is gonna land right between your legs and trust me-" The detective growls, "-My aim is great." he threatens.

"Detective Min!" Someone calls instead, and Yoongi's attention is taken away as he runs towards the room he's been called to.

And right there, in the bathtub, there's you- wide eyed and bruised- a thick and clumsily wrapped cloth around your thigh stained in what he assumes must be old blood, but you're alive.

You're alive.

The moment he bends down to get closer, something seems to happen within you, as you scramble up to reach him first, wrapping your entire body and every available limb around him, even your tail- and he's never held you so tightly than now, finally breathing again as your scent is all around him once more. "You're okay." He reassures you- or maybe more so himself.

"You found me." You whimper into his chest, frantically scenting him. "You came.!" You say, and he nods.

"Of course." He tells you, uncaring of anybody in this moment as he just runs his hand over your back.

"I promised, didn't I?"

[valve3nthusiast]

(Answering @camp-mithril-lake , my asks are biffed atm)

Roddy absolutely got that pregnancy glow, highkey one of my favorite things to think about with this au is how happy he is. Happy people are very attractive, and after it's gotten out to the crew and everyone actually believes that Rodimus is going to somehow make a newbuild...

Well. after a ridiculously long and population-devastating war, it's going to make a lot of mechs Feel A Certain Way

Extremely funny part of vector au that I haven't mentioned yet: At some point, probably around the third or fourth time Roddy starts fabricating another sparkchamber, Ratchet someone's got to ask, "So... when are you going to stop getting pregnant?"

And Roddy, rubbing his new baby bump with a goofy little smile, is gonna go, "Oh! When my protocols think there's enough newbuilds around. No clue what that will happen. It might take a while"

And Ratchet the person who asked is going to look at the newbuilds, currently running wild in Swerve's (he made a "newbuild's night"). One of them is on top of Whirl's shoulders, screaming excited nonsense as he shoots things. One of them is making a """baking soda volcano""" with Brainstorm. One of them is going back and forth between Drift and Cyclonus, begging them to teach him sword fighting

That bot's gonna give the most defeated groan you can imagine, before throwing back the engex he's definitely not supposed to have at kids night. Being Ratchet is suffering

(I think I remember the art you're talking about, lmao. Multishipper that I am, I sometimes headcanon the Lost Light as an extremely expansive, extended polycule. Loveboat ftw)

[allandoflimbo]

I  C  E    P R I N C E S S  11

Pairings: Popular Girl!Reader x Outkast!Bucky

Explicit Content - Smut - NO MINORS

Summary:

Bucky Barnes is the quiet boy who gets picked on.

The Reader and her friends run with the popular crowd at Stark High.

As the Winter Ball approaches, she is partnered with Bucky Barnes for a class project. They grow close in an inadvertently secret friendship, which later turns into love.

Only catch is…she’s Steve Roger’s ex girlfriend, and before she was partnered up with Bucky, her friends had planned to use and turn Bucky into Stark High’s new it boy to try and get back at Steve; a disgusting bet.

Another catch: She’s a figure skater at the town’s arena every Tuesday and Thursday nights. Bucky works part time at the rink resurfacing the ice. The other doesn’t know.

Modern AU High School fic - later goes into adulthood.

M A S T E R P A G E - FULL SERIES

Warnings: This story will have a lot of angst, a lot of fluff, a lot of cursing, and a lot of sex. Oral, praise kink, body worship, overstimulation, etc. you know me. There will also be loss of virginity in this.

Please support your content creators and writers and leave a review.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

A/n: The chapter you've been waiting for. Smut ahead. Reminder that everyone is 18 or older and consenting adults. :)

The Cabin

The day had started a little awkwardly. Everyone had to find their rooms and unpack. Sam and Bucky were rooming together, Matt and Steve, you and Sharon, and Carol was with Monica. There was a spare room for if your friend Nat decided to arrive tomorrow.

You had spoken to Bucky only briefly, he'd been acting awkward since Steve showed up. He was always so chatty but now with everyone around, it was like he reverted to not speaking as much.

But you don't miss his eyes the way they stay with yours.

Now the popcorn was popped, and the pizza was baked. Closing in a eight pm, the lights were off and the fire in the fire place was blazing. Your eyes would meet across the circle as everyone talked to each other.

At one point, you decided to go into the kitchen for a can of soda when you heard footsteps behind you.

You turned around and the blue-green eyed boy smiled at you.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey, Steve."

You feel a bit awkward as you move through the kitchen and closer to him.

"How are you doing?" He asks softly.

"I'm alright," you answer, you push a strand of hair behind your ear and cross one of your arms over your chest, "takes time, ya know?" You add a chuckle in for the sake of you me sanity. He knows you're talking about multiple things. Your break up, his cheating, your accident, your recovery. He knows you've changed in the last six months and he's admired the girl you've become. He would always respect you.

"How's skating going? I missed your last one. I'm sorry."

You swallow hard.

He sees a far away sadness in your eyes before you respond.

"It's okay." You whisper. You look away from him and to the ground, "I miss him, Stevie."

Steve reaches forward and cups the back of your neck with his right hand.

You blink away tears as his thumb runs over the scar there.

"Oh, Y/N." He says.

"I never thanked you properly for being there for me."

He smiles at you.

"I'll always be there for you."

It's then that you both hear someone walk into the kitchen. You look over to see Bucky standing in the entrance mid step.

You don't know why you overthink the situation. Maybe it's the way he eyes Steve's hand on your neck.

Bucky feels like he's suddenly intruded on something he didn't want to see, even though he had no right to not like it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean—" Bucky mumbles, about to turn back around.

"No, it's okay." Steve says, dropping his hand away from your neck, "Bucky, right?"

Bucky nods.

"I was just telling Steve about my brother," Steve is momentarily shocked, not expecting you'd be so transparent with Bucky, but he doesn't mind. If anything. It just peaks his interest. He doesn't miss the way your eyes soften and the way your voice has taken on a new tone. Bucky clears his throat, "he was there for me through it all when it happened so he knows everything."

It's meant to console Bucky. You don't know why you feel the need to justify this position and make Bucky reassured it's nothing happening. But the words do the opposite of console Bucky.

"I understand." Bucky says. He forces a smile and your eyes meet once more. You're the one that swallows hard this time, "but really it's fine. Just wanted to let you guys know they're about to start a game. I think telestrations or something."

You and Steve both nod and Bucky leaves.

Steve clears his throat and turns to you with a knowing smirk.

You frown at him.

"What?" You ask.

"He likes you."

You blush as you look away from him. You let out a small chuckle.

"No, I don't think so." You say quietly.

Bucky didn't like you. Did he?

"Please. The way he was looking at you?"

You shake your head to yourself remembering all the things Bucky said to you at the restaurant.

"He'd never like someone like me. He's said so himself."

"A sweet girl like you?" You don't say anything as you stare back at the entryway Bucky just walked out of, "and something tells me you like him, too." Your eyes flicker to his at those words.

—-

"That's not fair! You cheated!" Sam yells.

"How the hell did I cheat?" Steve exclaims with laughter.

"You and your damn drawing skills, that's how."

"This game doesn't  even keep score." Carol says, "get over it." She rolls her eyes.

Sam glares at her as he reaches for the Grey Goose bottle, downing the rest of it in one go.

You raise a brow at him.

"Sore loser alert." You mumble.

Everyone laughs.

"You know what, y/l/n?" Sam says once he puts the bottle down.

"What?" You ask playfully and smirking.

He squints at you and a smile fills his face.

"You're lucky you're cool or I swear." He says.

"Alright, enough of this shit." Matt says, reaching over for the telestrations box and packing up everyone's little notebooks.

"Hey!" Sharon protests, "we weren't done."

"I don't care Sharon, let's play a real game. Anyone up for truth or dare?" Matt says with a smirk, "an X rated version?"

You're biting at your bottom lip as your eyes migrate towards Bucky on the couch next to Sam. You pull out your phone.

Let's ditch everyone. Want to see something cool?

You send him the text. You watch as he frowns when he feels the vibration in his pocket and pulls out his phone. He reads your text and smiles.

| Sure. Go ahead I'll be right behind you.

You smile as you read his response. You clear your throat as you stand up.

"I'll be right back, guys." You announce, pulling your black hoodie down.

Sharon looks up at you with furrowed brows.

"Where are you going?" She asks.

"Just outside for a bit. I'll be back." You say.

Bucky feels the butterflies in his tummy as he watches you walk out the cabin and into the night air.

He takes a sip from his Coca Cola can and then places it on the table next to him, next to a stack of Uno cards.

"Alright, who's going to start?" Matt asks, obnoxiously excited. His eyes dart over to Bucky knowingly, but Bucky's patience is wearing thin:

"I have to excuse myself, guys." Bucky says, throwing everyone except Matt a smile.

The girls all smile back at him and Sam and Steve give each other a knowing look with a small smile.

"Okie dokie." Sam shouts, "be safe out there."

Matt's face is in a hard glare as his nose flares, eyes not darting away from Bucky.

He can't help the scorn as Bucky follows behind you out the door.

"I'm tired. I think I'm gonna head to bed." Carol says, yawning.

"Me too." Steve says.

"Same." Sharon.

"You're a bunch of old people." Matt mumbles, marching away.

—-

"Where the hell are we going?" Bucky asks you, following across the large open field and into the woods.

You smile faintly.

"You'll see," you look over at him and smile. His eyes meet yours in an intense stare, and his gaze follows the bridge of your nose, "you trust me?" You ask so quietly he almost doesn't hear you.

"Yeah." He doesn't even hesitate to respond.

"Come on." You say.

You two walk for about three more minutes. Through heavy trees and over a small river that has a log connecting one side to the other as a bridge.

He halts when you stop in front of him. His eyes follow your gaze to the white building standing in the middle of an open field.

It's a white church with black shudders, completely abandoned and half falling apart.

"This is creepy." He says.

You giggle.

"You're safe, don't worry," you grab his hand and you lead  him into the church. The moldy wooden floorboards creek beneath your feet as you step inside, letting the heavy black door close behind you.

You look up at Bucky. His jaw is sharp, handsomely perfect, and his eyes take in the terrifying dark space. Half the ceiling is caved in, exposing the night black sky.

"Stay here." You tell him.

"What?" There's a certain fear in his voice that you find adorable, "where are you going?" He asks as he watches you walk into the abyss of darkness.

You don't respond and Bucky shifts his weight from leg to leg anxiously. He says your name once more and nothing. He licks his lips and is about to decide to disobey your order when he hears a loud bang and a humming sound. Then he sees you perfectly clear as you walk back to him.

He can see you because there's a large chandelier hanging from the partial ceiling that he hadn't seen before and it's hundreds of bulbs glow a bright orange above you. He's speechless as his heart beats like crazy inside of his chest.

You're giving him the brightest smile he's ever seen in his life and you're glowing like the sun. You looked breathtaking.

You motioned  your arms around you to show him to look around and he does. The whole church is glowing and it looks beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you.

"How—" he starts, his voice fading off.

"I found this place a couple years ago when we first started coming here."

"Alone?"

"Alone." You confirm.

"You've never showed anyone else?"

There's a beat of silence.

"No. Just you." You say.

You watch him intently as he walks up to you. He's giving you a look you can't identify. Then he smiles wide.

"I don't know if I should be scared of you or..."

You tilt your head at him.

"Or?" You ask.

You both hear a rumble and your eyes dart up to the sky. Somehow you had both moved to the center of the church.

"I don't know. Something. You're interesting." He whispers, looking back down at you.

You don't realize how close you both are. You're too caught up in this moment to tell.

"You're something, too." You say, a smile pulling at your lips.

He laughs.

And just like that, the skies open up and the rain begins to pour over the both of you.

You look up and laugh.

"We're going to get sick." Bucky chuckles.

The rain picks up even more and Bucky stares down at you. You're soaking wet. Your hair glues to the side of your face and to your shoulders. The rain drops dangles over your lips and your eyelashes.

Somehow, he finds himself grabbing your hand. You squeeze each other tightly.

The lights flicker above you until they finally shut off completely. The rain was getting worst.

Bucky doesn't say anything as he pulls you behind him in the darkness.

For the first time in a long time, you feel truly safe.

Out the church, you both speed walk towards the woods. The trees help a little to shelter you from the rain but it still continues to wet you nonetheless. The cold air didn't help either.

He guides you across the log that's laid over the river, his hands holding your waist. Through more woods and more mud, you're both practically walking puddles.

Both escape the woods and the cabin comes in straight view.

You both make a run for it through the sheets of water, your hands still clasped tightly together.

You find yourself slipping on the mud beneath your now dirty shoes and it causes you to slide to the side and towards the grass.

Bucky laughs out loud as he catches you and you laugh too.

He's got you until you're steady back on your feet and you continue your run inside.

You're at the front door and his hand keeps slipping from the doorknob. He chuckles as he watches you getting even more wet, if possible.

You looked goddamn adorable.

He finally manages to get the  door open and he closes it quietly behind you. You're both still laughing and your shoes squeak over the floor. The cabin is dark, a clear sign that everyone was already asleep,

Bucky is still laughing and your mind is in a daze. You're giggling non stop. Your back is against the wall next to the stairs that leads up to the other rooms and he's standing right in front of you, laughing and smiling non stop.

You place both your hands on his chest as you giggle, and suddenly he's right up against you. Your hands slide up until they are near his shoulders. You can feel him rumbling beneath your hands as he laughs and whispers something you can quite  understand.

"Shhh, shhhh..." you tell him playfully between giggles. He giggles and his eyes crinkle at the sides, "shhh." You say again.

Eventually his giggles dial down, as do yours, and silence engulfs you both.

The rain patters against the glass and ground outside.

Your eyes follow his piercing blue eyes and how they're looking into your own, and then they travel down his nose, and to his lips.

There's no more laughing.

Bucky leans his forehead down against yours and closes his eyes.

Oh, this, this felt like a thousand burning suns.

You find your hands on either side of his neck as his nose hits yours. You both smell like a fresh thunderstorm.

With a sigh he opens his eyes. His left thumb runs over the tops of your cheeks and your eyes meet again.

You feel like you're going to implode when he starts to slowly move in. You find yourself meeting him halfway.

Both of your eyes are halfway closed as his lips finally run over yours in a soft but languid peck.

You're both still when he pulls back just enough to meet your eyes again.

In total sync, you both move in at the same time, smashing your lips together in a passionate and dirty kiss.

You find your hand going to the back of his head, near the nape of his neck, and you deepen the kiss even further.

The sound Bucky makes as he tilts his head for better access, letting his tongue run over yours, makes your core tingle and your insides burn.

His right hand is on your waist traveling upwards to your neck. His left hand is cupping your face. The sighs of contentment that you leave on each other is magical and a language of its own.

He slows down his kisses and then fully stops. You're going to ask him what's wrong when he grabs your hand and starts to walk up the stairs.

You've never felt like this before.

This was a first for you.

Your heart skips a beat as you watch him find the spare room that was being unoccupied.

His fingers run over yours as he opens the door and pulls you inside. He locks the door with an audible click and neither of you waste an extra second.

Your kisses are hot and frantic. He's pushing you to walk back towards the bed and you sit on it on your knees. You grab his shirt in a fist and pull him to follow you.

Once he's also on his knees in front of you, he grabs your wrists and leans back to look down at you. Both of your lips are swollen and both of your eyes are dark.

He runs his hand once more over your chin and to the back of your head where your hair runs between his fingers. He leans his forehead down against yours.

Suddenly, you're both nervous.

You've never done this before. You wonder if he has.

You're so shy right now but also so scared; in the best way possible.

"You want this?" His question is hoarse and three octaves lower than it normally is.

You nod.

He kisses you one more time and then his fingers go to the hem of your soaking wet sweatshirt.

Once he pulls it off you, your skin feels much colder and crave his touch. You've got a black tank top on and you help him remove that, too.

You were beautiful. Your perky breasts are the sweetest things he's ever seen and your nipples are hard against the cold air. Left hand to your neck, he kisses you again, letting your tongues dance together.

This time, you help him pull off his own black sweatshirt. He has nothing underneath and your hands immodestly goes to his pecks and down his torso. He shivers underneath your touch.

You're not sure what to do. Since you've never done this, you don't know how much is too much yet. You've only read about scenes like this in books and fanfiction but doing it in real life felt so much scarier.

You knew it was because it was your first time, it would get easier, but you wished it wasn't this scary. Every move you make is determined but hesitant. You're afraid of disappointing him. You wanted this to be perfect.

But you knew that if this was his first time too, it wouldn't be romance book perfect.

But as he removed your shoes and pants, and when you were both just in your underwear, you realized it didn't have to be perfect and that's what made it perfect.

It wasn't about who did what but about what you were trying to express to each other. You hoped deeply that he was feeling the same thing you were.

He's hovering over you. The pillow is behind your head and he's got his left forearm over it. His right hand is on your waist where he rubs soft circles just over your underwear.

You both kiss again, this time his lips catching your bottom one beautifully.

"Bucky." You whisper, hating to break the silence but knowing that communicating is going to be important right now.

"Yeah?" He asks just as quietly, his thumb running over the top of your head.

You maintain eye contact as you shimmy your underwear off and down your legs. Bucky gulps, his eyes darting down as he watches you.

He doesn't miss the way you close your legs involuntarily to shy away from his eyes.

No one has even seen that part of your body before.

"Please be gentle with me." You say.

He whimpers at your words. Not because he doesn't like it but because you sound so sweet.

"Of course," he says, his right hand going to the outside of your thigh. He kisses you again and you moan against his mouth, "I'm scared."  He freezes up at your words. Did he do something you didn't consent to? Did he scare you? Shit. He starts to pull away from you but you grab onto his neck again, "I know it's going to hurt, that's why I'm scared. It's not you. It's that part of me, I never...and I've always heard..." your voice starts to fade away as small tears fill your eyes and  he starts to realize what you were saying.

Bucky doesn't know why he'd always assumed you and Steve had slept together before. Maybe it just seemed to him like it made sense. You and Steve were together for so long and were eighteen already. Bucky wonders why it never happened.

But he's also feeling something else. He's feeling special and prideful. Because you, god how he treasures and admires you. He would never do anything to hurt you ever again and the fact that you will be each others first, it sends a fire through his heart.

He's so happy it's you and he hopes you feel the same way about it.

"I will never hurt you," you trust him immensely even though you know that what he's about to do to your body he has no control over how it will feel. At least not much control, "I've never done this either."  You kiss him when he says that, "it won't be perfect, but that's okay." You whimper, "we'll have other times after this one." He says against your lips. You chuckle at his words, finally feeling more at ease. His words lighten everything for just a moment, but that's it.

"Can I touch you?" He asks against your lips.

You nod.

His lips leave yours and they move to your collarbone. He leaves you three pecks there, then he moves his face back to hover over yours again.  It's then that you watch as he dips two fingers into his mouth and then down to your  core.

You moan quietly as he rubs your clit in small circles. He responds to your moans with his own and he watches your face. Your eyes are closed and the smallest of pants and gasps leave the break of your lips.

"So beautiful." He whispers.

He gains more confidence when he watches you lick your own fingers. You meet his hand.

"Put them inside me." You tell him desperately.

Buck gulps and nods his head. He's never done this. He's watched porn before but actually doing it was different. He doesn't want to disappoint you.

He slides his fingers further down your folds, he gathers something of what's leaking out of you on to his fingers and then slides into you bit by bit with his pointer finger. Then he adds his middle finger.

He stretches his left arm above your head as he looks down at what he's doing to you. He gains confidence and his fingers gain speed and technique, making a come-here motion as he watches you unravel underneath him.

Your hand leaves your clit as his own palm starts to do the work for you.

"Oh, fuck." You groan. It sounds so filthy along with the squelching noises around you and Bucky knows he won't last long the second he's inside of you. He's taking pride in when he sees how he's giving you so much pleasure right now.

He quickens his movements, and you lean up on your arms, looking down at him work you. Your left leg widens a bit and you start to meet his hand with your hips as you feel your end approaching.

You don't care how loud you might be panting and the noise the mattress might be making over the bed. This felt unworldly.

You feel so close that you start overthinking it. What if you became too sensitive and it made the pain worst?

In a matter of seconds you have your hand on Bucky's wrist, stopping him.

You're still panting as he looks at you confused. You don't pull out his fingers, you just hold onto him. You both share a sloppy kiss.

"I want you inside me." You say against his lips.

Bucky keeps eye contact with you as he nods.

He pulls his fingers out of you and your hands go to his boxers.

Bucky hisses when his dick is free. He's already leaking precum and is as hard as a rock. This might be your first time but you know he might not last very long.

That's okay.

Bucky gasps as he feels your small hand wrap around him. It feels softer than you thought it would and heavier. His legs tremble over you as you stroke him once and then twice.

"Fuck,—" he grunts. You look up at him and god if he doesn't look absolutely gorgeous and perfect. He had his own hand on his abdomen as he looked down at you work him just right, "stop, stop." He whines, pulling you off of him.

He grabs your hand and folds your fingers with his. He holds it on the pillow next to your heard. Then he's over you again, and he looks completely enthralled by you.

Your right hand goes to his cheek as you lean up and kiss him softly.

Bucky's thumb from his other hand drags over your top lip.

This was it.

You feel him maneuver and then you feel it. His tip runs from your clit all the way down to your entrance and back again.

You can tell he's already so close and you're so apprehensive.

"I'll go so slow for you, okay? Okay? You don't have to worry with me. I gotcha." He reassures you.

You can only nod as you feel him prepare.

The first inch push isn't so bad. The second still isn't terrible but he can tell you're starting to tense up. You're gnawing at your bottom lip as you stare down. He stops.

"Hey, hey," he says gently, cupping your face, "your tense. Shhh." He wipes the tear that runs down your cheek.

"I'm sorry." You say.

"Don't be sorry. I just need you to keep remembering what I promised you." You nod again.

He waits a few more seconds and then continues. It's the fourth inch that does it for you and you find a shout getting stuck in your throat. It doesn't come out because you're biting so hard on your bottom lip.

"Shh, shh," he says softly, "I got you. I got you."

He keeps going further in and the sting you feel hurts bad, making you almost move up the bed. You gasp, your hand going to his toned abs.

"God." You groan.

"Almost there." Another and another and another.

You shake your head back and forth.

"Just do it fast, Bucky. It's okay." You tell him.

Bucky leans his forehead down on yours and nods.

You close your eyes tightly together until you feel him flush up against you.  He starts with soft thrusts that make you cry softly, but after a few seconds, it starts to go away and you find yourself trying to find his lips.

He moans as you both share a deep kiss and as his hips pick up in speed.

He pulls away from your lips and he moans. It's so hard to keep it quiet when you know everyone outside could hear you. But the sound of skin slapping on skin and your little breaths are too noticeable.

He feels so good inside you, and the way he rubs your clit perfectly in sync with his movements has you feeling amazing.

His thrust get faster and harder and you can see the sweat on his chest.

"I'm sorry, fuck, I can't—" he whimpers, his eyes closing tight. His mouth opens in a gasp as he rams hard into you just once and he's grunting out loud.

You knew this would happen and it doesn't surprise you. It also doesn't disappoint you. You gave him pleasure and you were his first as he was yours. This was everything you wanted.

You let him spill into you and you run your fingers through his hair, pulling his face closer into the crook of your neck where he places little kisses.

He does something you don't expect.

He doesn't stop moving. You know he must be in pain from being over sensitive but he's on a mission for you.

He wasn't going to be a cliche first time where his girl doesn't cum.

"Come on, baby," he mumbles into your neck, his tongue dancing over your hot skin. You feel his fingers on your clit and he starts flicking you fast and hard, "come on." He repeats.

He's practically sobbing at this point as he works overtime to try and get you to cum and fuck, you do.

You cum hard.

You're groaning and moaning and gasping as you grab onto his head and back, eventually your left hand going to the pillow behind your head. You move your hips faster against his rod until you know you've coated him entirely in your cum. Your movements slow down as does his and all you can hear is your heavy panting.

"Oh my god." Almost inaudibly and more to yourself than anything.

He kisses your neck again. He lifts himself just slightly to pull out of you.

He lays down next to you, facing you, and pulls the covers over the both of you.

You're staring at each other, completely lost in the other.

He's trailing your features with his fingers and you're kissing his fingers as they occasionally pass your lips.

He leans forward and kisses your lips once more.

Then, sleep overcomes the both of you.

N E X T   C H A P T E R

[bunnymajo]

Time to fill out that OC questionnaire but for Thistle this time!

He'll be in the @sonic-oc-showdown so be sure to give him a vote!

Name: Thistle the Tenrec

Species: Highland Streaked Tenrec

Home: Central City

✨How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Since he’s inspired by Amy I wanted to pick another prickly flower name. Thistle flowers can have a lot of negative connotations in flower language just as much as positive ones (aggressiveness, unwanted intrusion). If roses are known for being noble and lovely, thistles are more wild but pesky, they’re also hard to let go if you end up stuck by one. The image of thistle flower suited him the more I thought about it.

🌼  - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

Same age as Surge.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Currently Surge and only Surge. He’s had previous partners but they usually don’t last very long. Current record is 1 month.

(The only tragic thing about Thistle is that he's not trying to be the worst boyfriend ever. He really wants to do good but he's too self-centered and stupid to realize that he's the problem)

🍕  - What is their favorite food?

Key Lime Pie, he likes anything tart but sweet.

💼  - What do they do for a living?

Works part time at a flower shop in central city, he’s actually quite popular with customers. 

🎹  - Do they have any hobbies?

Flower arrangement and astrology charting. Loves reading romance novels and watching old classic movies even if he gets the meaning of them completely wrong. He’s good at baking and also spends a lot of time online on social media. He’s a jack of all trades and always ready to learn something new to get closer with people in his life. He’s here for you. What more could you want from a guy :)

🎯  -What do they do best?

Anything that’s considered traditionally feminine Thistle excels at. Baking, shopping, event planning, crushing your enemies. But even with all of that he’s incredibly good at finding information. Does his new crush have a favorite band? Well Thistle just doxxed every band member and knows the rest of their schedule for the next 3 months.

🥊  -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Thistle likes doing anything that will get him lots of compliments and attention, especially if it’s something he already finds fun. He’s the type to get really wrapped up in tedious side project so probably mapping out his and Surge’s life together via astrology 

Hates doing something that doesn’t serve him in some way, like doing volunteer work for strangers. He also isn’t much of an adventuring type unless it’s to chase Surge down, he’d rather not though, he’d rather keep her tied down close to him and they can live a cozy domestic life.

Running around beating up robots getting sweaty and gross and for what? just to protect the masses? Awful, blech, Sonic can have that. 

❤️  - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

One time he and Surge accidentally shared a soda, therefore doing the incredibly scandalous “indirect kiss”. She vaporized the soda can to destroy the evidence and then punched him in the gut when he told her. He passed out for about two days.

✂️   - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

His first relationship was an online one where the other person ended up blocking him and then publicly warned other people about his creepy behavior.

Thistle made one of those “am I the asshole?” posts about their relationship and everyone in the forum went “yeah, you were totally the asshole.”

Thistle deleted all his accounts and started over. He learned nothing. “It’s the forum that was wrong, they were all just jealous.”

🧊  - Is their current design the first one?

There’s a few initial sketches I did to get the overall idea going and there’s a few minor tweaks but he’s basically the same design as when I started.

🍀  - What originally inspired the OC?

It was a bumblekast question asking about what a glitch Amy would be like and I liked the answer so much I wanted to develop it into a real character. 

I really like aggressively-in-love characters like this in media actually, something about them being not shy at all about the person they’re in love with leads to a lot of funny or interesting situations, also since Surge is my favorite sonic character at the moment it’s fun thinking about how she would react to someone like this too. It’s a win-win situation for me lol.

🌂  - What genre do they belong in?

The villain in a shoujo romance manga

💚  - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Identifies as male, Pan, he/him/they pronouns

🙌  - How many siblings does your OC have?

Zero. Probably for the best because he’s terrible with children.

🍎  - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

He’s an absolute mama’s boy when she’s around. (It should be noted that Thistle doesn’t really have a tragic backstory or bad childhood. He really is just like that for some reason.)

🧠  - What do you like most about the OC?

Thistle can be a lot of things I like about male characters (a goober in love, not afraid to appear “feminine”, a polite good boy, twisted priorities) and also be the worst person I’ve ever wanted to write thoughts for. He’s a very fun punching bag.

✏️  - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Probably too much haha, I don’t usually write a lot of actual terrible people so he’s a refreshingly fun rom-com villain.

💎  - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

It’s funnier if he stays alive imo. If Surge ever changes her ways in canon or something drastic happens to her he might lose interest in her and move on to his next victim, that’s about as close as I’d ever get to “killing him”. It would have to be a very drastic personality change though.

💀  - Does your OC have any phobias?

Whatever the fear of being unloved is. 

To him, being loved by someone is the ultimate goal. “I can love so easily, why is it so hard for someone to stay in love with me? I must not be loving hard enough, I need to love someone who craves love just as much as I do. Yes, then it would be the ultimate romance”  - is basically the rationalization here.

🍩  -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

I mean probably Amy, not just for Surge’s sake, Amy will fight anyone she finds being a selfish creep in the name of love.

In Thistle's mind anyone who even smiles in Surge's direction is a rival. She's spoken for, who do they think they are??

🎓  - How long have you had the OC?

A little over a year!

🍥  - What age were you when you created the OC?

33

[sotogalmo]

I SAW IT EARLIER BUT FORGOR TO SEND SO for flors bday !! sorry if it's too much dhfjsjfbf

💭 THOUGHT BALLOON — what is your oc's MBTI, enneagram, and/or other personality aspects (if known/interested in)?

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal?

💘 HEART WITH ARROW — what and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

🍝 SPAGHETTI — what is/are your oc's favorite food(s)?

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

NAH NAH ITS FINE AMIA. YOU ARE SO SWEET AND KIND TO MEEE. GRRRRRRAAA, kiss kiss to amia/p (sorry I answered this- not on her birthday- grrrr. Still tho. You are so amazing amia)

💭 answer; I think her MBTI type would just be Captain SpaceBoy's; ENFJ- 7w6 in enneagram. Tho ... Euh. Have her personality thrown at you

💯 answer; I remember that @paperstarry asked me about this (along with 🐷 & ☕)- so yh. Three random facts. Okay! / Flor's rabbit antics are like. A stim for her. Flor is actually very heavily autistic coded;; autistic clownnn :3 — Flor moreso bakes then cooks actually, she likes baking cookies!! — Flor is a physical stimmer, and so she. Randomly mimics "glitching" movements!! She's very interested in games.... Or the idea of one (she possibly visits Lang for that)

☕ answer (adding this in for the hell of it); Her favorite beverage between coffee, tea, chocolate milk, milk, water, etc— I think she would be a.. chocolate milk drinker out of the example. But for the "etc" part would DEFINITELY BE THE RAMUNE SODA. RAMUNE SODA FOR THE WIN. RAMUNE SODA 🔛🔝‼️

🐷 answer (to which @chevalperd asked me along with 🍝 for my other ocs, but imma still tag them in this); favorite animal. I'd like to think it's the ones she acts like (a rabbit), but then again she could most definitely like much smaller animals. Like rodents! Hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, mice, etc. I think in a modern au, Flor would def buy a pet guinea pig

💘 answer; the most important to Flor, is what's stated in her personality— she values a lot of communication and connection and overall attention. That's why she has her band of friends, and a larger range of acquaintances.

🍝 answer; favorite foods! Oh. It's a hard pick, since I didn't really fully expand on what she ate before she went to ANAKT. But I do think that she likes a lot of meat (lamb, pork, beef, etc). She would most likely say that they taste better raw (but that's only because she was a scavenger and didn't have time to eat the finale of the meal but doesn't matter as she at least helped chew some things and made it easier for pet humans to at least eat that type of food, should their owners give it to them)

🤔 answer; the biggest thing you can always know it's certainly Flor, is the whole rabbit thumping. It's semi-iconic I suppose.

[possessionisamyth]

Genuinely a shame that resident evil doesn't really go into food that much, but I also completely understand since the "food" you see being eaten 99% of the time is people and rot. However, this will not stop me from food related headcanons, so lets talk about eating traits for the recurring (3 or more separate RE appearances) cast:

Chris Redfield- Never been a picky eater. Before RE5, he pretty much let his metabolism do all the work along with his "stay in shape" workout regimen, so he ate whatever he wanted and most of the time it was junk food, fast food, and meals with a lot of bread and potatoes. When he started working out more, his diet shifted to eating more fats and proteins since they give him a steady flow of energy instead of quick bursts. It doesn't mean he's stopped eating junk food or eating out. His palette simply changed from eating bags of chips and a roll of cookies everyday to maybe a large bag or two of chips and a large pack of cookies that he slowly finishes over the span of a few weeks. Beer and water are interchangeable depending on the meal.

Jill Valentine- She's the pasta person that will use a fork and a spoon underneath to twirl her noodles before eating them. Loves anything covered in a good savory sauce, and she will tear bits of bread off to swipe the rest of her plate clean. She prefers chicken over beef and pork over tofu. Entered a hot wing eating contest once on a dare, and she lost, but she made sure to find out what hot sauce they used so she could keep a bottle in her pantry. She drinks a lot of water, and she likes the taste of it. Not a fan of tea unless it's iced and sweetened heavily. Otherwise not really a fan of sweets when it comes to candy or baked goods unless there's some tartness or sourness to it.

Rebecca Chambers- Her diet leans more into foods she doesn't need utensils to finish like sandwiches, wraps, tacos, and the classic pizza fold with thin crust. She has a sweet tooth, but this is mainly for drinks and hard candies. She loves soda. She doesn't like how gummy candy sticks to her teeth due to the texture. Baked sweets are okay as long as they aren't super sticky to handle, but she'll make an exception for things which have a heavy amount of chocolate. She has a bag of mini-muffins on her desk for breakfast in the mornings. People know not to take any unless they desire her wrath. She knows when Chris has eaten them when she see's a package of snack cakes and an apology post-it note in her drawer.

Barry Burton- Before the gun incident, Barry was the guy who ate primarily meats and very little vegetables unless his stomach was fighting him. After the incident, he opened up his palette more to show he appreciated the hard work put into the meal. Ask him what his favorite food is and his answer changes every time cause it's always what his wife cooked for dinner the night before. He's a dinner guy. He's either too tired in the mornings or too in a rush to go to work, so breakfast is a no-go, but dinners are spent with his family, and post Revelations 2, he cherished them even more. Only drinks water from the tap.

Albert Wesker- Eats expensive looking food because it has the least amount of mess during consumption, and is an ego boost to his god complex wherein everything has to be prepared exactly to his taste. If during his time with S.T.A.R.S they managed to drag him out to eat, he would get a drink and nothing else. He doesn't like limp vegetables no matter how much dressing people cover them in to compensate, and he hates greasy food. His taste towards sweet things are minimal. He enjoys sweeter cheeses like cream cheese or mascarpone, and he tried to like tiramisu, but he didn't like how soft angel fingers are. He will also only eat macarons with a dark chocolate filling sandwiched between. Neutral about water and enjoys teas and wines.

Claire Redfield- Was the pickiest eater as a kid. Hated it when the food on her plate touched, or the juice from one part of her meal touched the other. She had the special disposable plates where each part of her meal was separated so that she'd actually finish the food she was given. She was also disgusted with canned vegetables. As an adult most of those hang-ups are gone. She'll eat almost anything now, and she loves trying new foods from the places she travels to. Flatbreads are her best friend. Pita, naan, chapati, and so on, she can make a meal out of bread and butter alone. She still hates canned vegetables, but she buys fresh or frozen vegetables and incorporates them into her meals where she can. She also hates the taste of water. She'll go for coffee or tea first.

Leon Kennedy- Allegedly is relaxed with all foods except when there's one thing on it he doesn't want to eat. No pickles on his burger. No red onions in his guacamole. No sliced fruit in or on his cake. It's not even that he hates these ingredients or has a texture discrepancy. He just has preferences on where they should be and where they shouldn't. He'll put those same pickles on his club sandwich, or ask for red onions on pizza, and he loves a good fruit pie. He also eats so many of those pre-packaged fruit cups. Neutral about regular water but treats flavored sparkling water like a treat and sometimes hides it in his flask. It's a fun prank to play on Claire.

Ada Wong- Eats more vegetarian style meals, but is not a vegetarian. This isn't done on purpose or for any particular reason. Simply a lot of the meals she favors tend to have an equal amount of vegetables and grains to a lower amount of meat, and some cooks are much more scarce on the meat than others. This resulted in a palate shift where she's fine if there isn't meat on her plate. She's not a big fan of greasy, deep-fried foods, but her guilty pleasure is shrimp toast, and she only has it off the clock when she finds someone who makes it well. Her other guilty pleasure is cinnamon sugar donuts, and she has that more often as a snack to finish off her lunch. Neutral about water and has an iced coffee preference.

Ingrid Hunnigan- She likes rice more than bread and will eat several bowls of rice with whatever the main food is if they go together. Seasoned and spiced long grain rice or plain sticky short grain rice, she'll enjoy them all as long as it's prepared correctly. Loves eating tofu. She'll trade any meat for tofu except for seafood. She's the one ordering surf and turf or the dish with shrimp in it if the option is available. Yet, she cannot eat anything with a face. She doesn't care how pretty the presentation is, there shouldn't be a shrimp or lobster head on her plate when she gets it. She always orders dessert unless she's eating with others, and likes anything cherry flavored. Enjoys drinking water and has to drink water between her energy drink refills.

Thanks for getting to the bottom of this even if you don't agree with any of them! I'll gladly do more of these for any other RE characters if asked, and I'm open to playful debate/convo about the ones listed or not listed.

[chicaotaku-fanfics]

There's Three of You?! Pt. 11

New chapter finally, I'll confess that school has gotten in the way (not in the traditional way I expected), but it's getting sorted out. I hope that, by Monday, my school mess's fixed.

Warnings: foul language, might be some medical inconsistencies.

CHAPTER 11

Another normal day at the hospital, patients to see, charts to make, the usual. I had just finished with a consult and decided to take a quick break to grab a bite from one of the food trucks outside of the hospital. I managed to arrive right after Ethan, I had him, Reese, April and Connor in front of me, the last one being the first to notice my arrival.

“Korean Spanish fusion?” Asked Reese.

“Oh, yeah, the short rib and chorizo burrito is delicious” answered Connor.

“What if you’re a vegetarian?” The med student asked, I chuckled lightly.

Connor’s getting interrogated today. I thought, he gave me a stinky eye and I tried to contain my laughter.

“Then I would go with the tofu kimchi quesadilla.” He said, Reese just looked at him and placed her order.

“Can I have a garden salad, please?” She asked the server.

“Yeah.” The man answered, Connor looked at her with incredulity in his eyes, not believing what just happened.

“What? You said get anything I want.” She answered, I chuckled at the surgeon’s misfortune.

April got her order and took a picture of it. Ethan apparently decided in the last minute that he didn’t want anything, so he gave me his place on the line.

“Dr. Halstead, nice of you to join us.” Said Connor, I smiled at him.

“Why thank you Dr. Rhodes.” I answered sincerely. He turned to the side and spoke a bit louder.

“Hey, Will, you sure you good?” He asked my brother. I turned to the side to notice Will standing next to Natalie.

“Yeah, I brought something from home.” He lied through his teeth.

“No you didn’t!” I exclaimed, he looked at me as if I’d murdered his dog, I shrugged. “It’s the truth Will, sorry for being honest.” I added, then turned to look at Connor. “Don’t listen to him. I’ll get that tofu kimchi quesadilla, and for my stubborn elder brother, the short rib and chorizo burrito, please and thank you.” I said, Connor nodded and looked at the server.

“You heard the lady, man.” He said, the man looked at him and then at me.

“Coming right up.” He said.

“Thank you very much.” I said, then turned to look at Connor, moving to take my wallet out. “How much do I owe you?” I asked him.

“Nothing at all Lilly. My treat.” He answered, I side hugged him.

“You are too good for this world.” I said to him, he hugged me back, chuckling at my words.

“It’s $75.50 total.” Said the server, Connor walked over and paid with a $100.

“Hey, thanks a lot man.” Connor said, and at that exact moment, our orders came up.

I took mine and Will’s and walked over to him.

“Here. Eat.” I said to him, handing him his burrito, Will gave me a look. “Don’t look at me like that mister, just eat.” I said, he took the burrito reluctantly and gave it a bite. I smiled and started eating my own lunch.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Said Will, I just shrugged.

“I think I did. I saw your fridge earlier this morning, what were you gonna bring? Expored yogurt and baking soda?” I asked him, he made the motion to hit me behind the head.

“I’m going to kill you Lilly.” He joked.

“No you’re not. You love me too much to do it.” I said, then gave my quesadilla another big bite.

“What is that?” Will turned his attention to Natalie, and the tupper she had on her lap.

The hell is that?! I thought, looking at the stuff inside the container.

“It’s some cabbage kale thing. I promised my mother-in-law I would try it, so…” and she actually took a bite. Just a second later, Natalie’s expression changed, showing her disgust. “Oh. Ugh…” she added, making a face.

Will chuckled a bit, I was trying not to gag, so I turned to look the other way. I moved towards the garbage can, literally giving my quesadilla the last bite. I took a napkin and cleaned my hands and face.

Just as I threw my dirty napkin in the bin, my pager beeped, and Maggie came running towards us.

“Shooting in a movie theater. Mass casualties. About to get crazy. EMT four minutes out.” She exclaimed, and just like that, we saw the ambulances arrive, their sirens blearing.

“Looks like they beat those four minutes.” I said.

“Check that. They’re here.” said Will at the same time.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Maggie exclaimed. We all ran inside the hospital, sanitized our hands and grabbed gloves. “I need two” she added, some other doctors walked up to her and took the first patients.

“Another maniac going crazy in a theater. This the world we live in?” asked Will while walking towards a patient and putting on his remaining glove, I could only say one thing before focusing on the job.

“Unfortunately it seems that way Will. Now, less talking, more doctoring.” I said, he let out a little Halstead Chuckle® at my chosen word.

“Maggie! Trigger disaster plan, get ortho, neuro, walk-ins can wait.” said Ms. Goodwin, our chief nurse gave an affirmative response.

“Got it. What do we got?” Maggie then asked the paramedics as they rollen in the patients.

I had already treated one of the first patients in, a man with a dislocated shoulder, when in came Sylvie and Chilli with a woman and her kid, Connor and I went straight to them.

“Lucy Simms, 34, unresponsive. Flaccid, agonal breathing. Tubed her without drugs.” said the blond paramedic, Connor was already looking at her.

“Trauma 2.” said Maggie.

“The boy hurt?” Connor and I asked at the same time.

“He was never touched. Mom was literally a human shield. Dad's in the ambo behind us.” said Chilli, who had the boy in his arms.

“Let’s do this, Connor take the mom, I take the boy.” I said, moving away from the gurney so it could continue its path to the treating room, and extended my arms for the other brunette to give me the kid, she did.

“You heard Dr. Halstead. Lilly, take care of him until Dad arrives.” Connor said.

“No need to say it twice. Good luck” I said to my friend, then turned my attention to the kid. “Hey sweetie, I’m Dr. Lilly, and I’ll stay with you until Daddy gets here, ok?” I asked him with a calm and sweet voice, he nodded. 

I went to the kids area with him and we started playing, I also made sure to include some of the other kids who were there. Many of them started asking questions to me about being a doctor, and I answered as honestly as a doctor could to kids without breaking the illusion.

Sometime later Maggie came over with the father of the boy, Max -as the kid introduced himself- hadn’t notice him, so I took it upon myself to help.

“Hey Max, look. Daddy’s here.” I said, pointing towards his Dad, Max looked up and a big smile made room on his face.

“DADDY!” he exclaimed, standing up and running to his dad, I smiled.

“Max!” said the man, I stood up to go to him. As soon as I did, all the kids started saying «bye» to me, as if they were members of a choir, it was so cute.

“Bye kids, behave, ok?” I said to all of them, they all agreed, it was adorable.

The parents all looked at me with relief and gratitude, all I could do was nod in return with a smile on my face. I walked towards the entrance to the ED and turned to address everyone there.

“Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Halstead. On behalf of the entire ED, I want to thank you all for your patience, and understanding, as well as your collaboration during this times of crisis.” I said to everyone in the waiting room. Most people nodded, other smiled, and then I heard both, my pager and Connor calling for me.

“HALSTEAD!” Connor’s voice made itself heard all the way to the waiting room. I think the way my expression changed was enough for the people to know that the day wasn’t over yet.

“Go be a hero miss doctor” said one of the kids, I coo internally. Many of the adults did coo at his cute sentence, I looked at him with a smile on my face.

“I will.” I said, then turned and ran towards my colleague and my brother. “What do we got?” I asked as I grabbed my protective glasses and a pair of gloves, already being near the gurney.

“17-year-old male. GCS six, multiple GSWs to the abdomen. Two large bore IVs. Tachy's at 160. Pressure's marginal.” said one of the paramedics.

“Baghdad turned over?” asked Connor.

“Yeah, it's all yours.” said Ethan, Connor and I looked at each other, then we nodded.

“ Reese! Stay with us.” I said, when I saw the girl in the hall.

“All right. On my count. One, two, three.” said Connor, we all lifted the board to switch it over to the bed. “All right, check for breath sounds.” as soon as one of the nurses had helped me with the gown, I did as told.

“This the shooter?” asked Will, as he was been helped with the same process for the gown. The paramedic just nodded.

“Don't knock yourself out over this one.” he said, I just looked at him.

This’s got to be a joke. He’s human, no matter what he’s done.

“Yeah, we got it from here, thanks.” said Connor with some heat in his voice, I mirrored the sentiment with the glare I gave the paramedic.

“Breath sounds bilaterally.” I said, just then one of the monitors started beeping rapidly.

“Can't even go to the movies anymore.” said my brother, I just wanted to slap him behind the head.

“Doctor.” said one of the nurses, now the monitor started to flatline.

Not good.

“No pulse. Reese?” said Connor. Implicitly giving the order to start CPR.

“On it.” she said, starting compressions on the patient.

“He's bleeding into his belly.” I said.

“We need to clamp the aorta to keep whatever blood he has left going into his heart and brain.” said Connor, I passed him the necessary equipment to do the procedure.

“You're gonna crack the chest here?” asked Will, just as Connor started doing just that, me helping him.

“Yeah.” said the surgeon.

“It's futile. What, are you just practicing your thoracotomies?” asked Will.

“Actually, I’m trying to save his life.” Connor and I said at the same time.

“Aw, the heart's empty.” said the surgeon.

“Pump the blood with the level one now.” I ordered.

“Give me the tubing, I'll run it through the groin here.” said Will.

“All right. Aorta's cross-clamped.” said Connor.

“Clock starts now. We have 30 minutes to find out where he is bleeding from.” I said.

“Call the OR, tell them that we're on our way up with an open chest and a gunshot to the belly.” said Connor, we both raised the rails on the sides of the gurney.

“Good luck.” said Will.

“I'll let you write it up in JAMA when he pulls through.” said Connor, I moved for the nurses and Connor to be able to leave. “Let's go.” he added.

I turned to look at Will as I was ripping of my gown, he did the same. As he also took his gloves, I slapped him in the back of the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” he asked, offended.

“Let me remind you, that no matter what he did, the boy’s a patient here. Our job is to provide care to patients. Don’t you forget it.” I said, mad at him.

After that literal shitstorm had passed, I learned from Will that Lucy Simps -Max’s mother- was braindead and the father had given consent to remove her from the ventilator. It was sad, knowing that Max, sweet and playful little Max, wouldn’t see his mom ever again. Suddenly, many people started cheering and clapping, I raised my head and turned to the commotion. It was the teacher who had shot the shooter at the theater.

“We need more guys like that.” said Will next to Maggie and me.

“Right.” said the nurse, not as thrilled as I thought she would be, but I understood the sentiment.

Something’s not adding up here.

[justkidneying]

Foaming at the mouth.

What can cause it, why do those things cause it (seizures, rabies, poisons, having a xeno burst out of your chest, etc)?

And--have you seen it used in fiction where/when it doesn't make sense?

This is fun, who doesn't love rabies and poisoning! I'll go through a few causes: seizures, rabies, poisons, and drug overdose. Then I will cover its presentation in fiction.

First, why do people foam at the mouth? The mechanism behind it can be a lot of things, but this is basically just from your saliva mixing with air from the lungs. So if someone is drooling and not in control of their facilities, this can cause foam to leak from the mouth.

Seizures

The specific type of seizure here is tonic-clonic (aka Grand mal). First, the patient will lose consciousness and their muscles will contract. Air is going to be forced out of the lungs and the person may even cry out and gurgle. They're also not in control of themselves, so they aren't going to be worried about swallowing their saliva, which equals foaming at the mouth (it might even be pink foam if they bite their tongue/cheek). That is the tonic phase. The clonic phase is the jerky spasms of the limbs, which takes up most of the time spent seizing.

saliva + can't control swallowing -> foaming at the mouth

Rabies

One of my personal favorite diseases (to learn about), rabies is caused by a virus that is commonly transmitted by bites (mostly from bats). It is mainly spread through saliva. There are two types of rabies: "violent" and "dumb" (those aren't medical terms, lol). The violent type (about 80% of cases), is the type you're most familiar with. This sees increased aggression, fever, confusion, paranoia, increased saliva production, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia. The hydrophobia is interesting because the person will have violent and painful throat spasms if they see water or try to drink it.

increased saliva + can't swallow -> foaming at the mouth

The dumb form of rabies is the paralytic form, which causes muscle weakness. I've seen this in a horse before, and I'd say this form is probably more common in livestock.

Poison

This one isn't as fun, just because it's a bit boring. Poisons affect our cells and central nervous systems. Eating them can also make your mouth water. Confusion, loss of consciousness, muscle spasms, and loss of function can also follow.

loss of function/increased saliva -> foaming at the mouth

Drug Overdose

This depends on the type of drug, but both stimulants and depressants can cause foaming at the mouth. Stimulants (coke, amphetamines) can cause jitters, muscle spasms, and increased saliva production. Depressants (heroin, opioids) can cause drooling, respiratory impairment, and loss of consciousness.

depressed/stimulated nervous system -> foaming at the mouth

In Fiction

I think the goofiest one I see is from poisons, specifically cyanide. For some reason, people feel like a cyanide capsule works like a baking soda volcano. There is no chemical reaction here, it's just spit and air, they aren't going to foam that much.

What I've seen from seizures, OD, and rabies (in dogs) has been somewhat realistic. Nothing really stands out to me as being super incorrect about the foaming specifically. The one thing I will say is that usually seizures are only presented in the clonic phase (jerking), rather than the tonic phase (cyanosis, tensing). And there is usually no postictal phase (after the seizure). Not saying any of that would be good to watch or read about, just that it doesn't get shown a lot. Usually people just start jerking it on the floor.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and that I answered the question well.

[thesoulbox]

How do beckorellis spend valentines? :]

OMG HEYY!! 🫵🫵

They would be so silly, hear me out.

Really the answer depends on what time it is in the timeline...

Say it's pre-GGY and everything is fine and dandy and working out with the three of them without the mass tragedies that occur later on, I feel like they'd definitely go to the pizzaplex and go hang out for the day, Tony would definitely kill them at Bonnie Bowling, I just feel like he'd be that guy BAHAHA

The three of them would be able to do all of the things they each like to do there and share it with one another and it'd be so awesome :) I feel like Ellis would definitely try his hardest to get the two of them cool stuff with his tickets but Tony and Gregory totally throw him a curve ball when they combine their tickets and get something for him instead, like aha let me just slide an uno reverse your way...(at beee-kayyy....)

The three of them would probably go pick up a pizza and some drinks in the Pizzaplex and go sit out in the parking lot and have a really unorganized picnic of sorts under the streetlights due to them literally staying there until like, 9-10 pm...it's a bit chaotic and they are sort of just sitting on the curb and waiting for someone's parents to come pick them up (most likely Tony's mom, you know she'd absolutely be all over the three of them and be like "Oh my goodness gracious my baby boy is growing up and falling in love they are so sweet together!!!") but they all have tons of fun just hanging out and having a small lil pizza dinner together underneath the moonlight...

Now say it's post GGY, and all of the tragedy happened and now they're traumatized and sad.

I don't think they'd go to the pizzaplex that time around, considering that Faz-Ent and such is behind most of their issues, but I think they would definitely go wander around their small town and go to the little shops and whatnot! And when they get bored of that they'd probably go get ice cream :)

And Ellis probably knows some weird little spot in the inner workings of their itty bitty town and over time they kind of just see this as their designated spot, and they go and hang out there, now theyve staked their claim there for months...and I'm not entirely sure what it would be, maybe a small spot underneath a bridge or something? Somewhere cool I'll need to look at pinterest for this...

They have it totally decked out and stuff though, Ellis would probably be crazy into graffiti, so would Gregory, but Tony probably thinks it's gross...although he doesn't bother to stop them when they manage to rope him into it and get him to spray some stuff up himself (he loved it but he's too much of a butt to admit it...)

Theres also a bunch of drawings along the walls from both Gregory and Tony! Artistic (autistic) lil buggers!!

The three of them just settle down in there and have a picnic (they like eating food in peculiar places I suppose.) Gregory definitely brought baked goods (I feel like he'd exceptionally be good at baking NO JOKE, THIS BOY CAN MAKE SOME GOOD COOKIES) Whilst Tony brought some food his mother made (HIS MOTHER IS ALSO A CRAZY GOOD COOK.) And Ellis brings drinks of courss, gotta wash down the yummy food with something 😔

And so the three of them just hang out and talk amongst themselves, whilst stuffing their faces with good food and soda (please limit Gregory's mountain dew intake that boy literally loses his shit)

When they finish eating and they realize it's getting dark, they decide to head back home to Gregory's house and go rent a movie on one of the streaming services, and the three of them just kind of scooch together on the couch with some blankets + snacks and relax and enjoy the movie, with most likely all three of them falling asleep before the movie even ends...

*EXHALES DRAMSTICALLT..* I put way too much thought into this..

[petitmimosa]

This or That Ask Game

Tagged by @alittlefrenchtree for an obscure reason. Should've made you guess what I was going to answer and you'd get one sugar per cup of tea for each one you got right.

Iced or hot coffee ☕

Why would you make me drink coffee in the first place? Why was coffee even discovered and who decided it was an acceptable beverage? If I have to make a choice, then iced and with a shit ton of sugar/chocolate/white chocolat syrup. You know Starbucks' white chocolate frappuccino? Very little coffee, lots of everything else.

Iced or hot tea 🍵

Why would you ice TEA? This is why the human race is doomed I'm telling you. Tea is to be served hot but never burnt so get that kettle off before it boils.

Lemonade or sweet tea 🍋

Sweet tea is an abomination. Why would you give me BAKING SODA TO DRINK? Ugh. Lemonade is alright if homemade by someone who's not addicted to sugar though.

Fruity or minty gum

Not allowed to chew gum anymore but I was more of a mint person. Fruity flavors were too chemical for my taste.

Pasta or potatoes

Niak. This is a hard one. Potatoes are fun and you can fry them and they're creatures of God but pastaaaaaa... Parmesan goes on pasta and for that reason only it gets my vote.

Olives or pickles

There are two things you need to know about me if we're gonna share food together: I will never, ever willingly consume olives and will have pickles with absolutely everything. The small ones though, cornichons. Not the gigantic ones people in America like to grow.

Rice or bread

Bread. Bread. BREAD.

Cookies or brownies

Brownies take too long to bake and you have more fun with cookies. Also, that's my cat's name and if I don't say cookies he will know tonight when I get home and he will bite me to punish me.

Handwritten or phone reminders-

That notes app is somewhere on my phone because I can't uninstall it. But I hate my handwriting with a passion so I just remember everything since I have an excellent memory.

Zip-up or pullover hoodie

I hate zip-ups, I look like a whale in them. And hoodies are COZYYYY.

Jeans or sweatpants

I look even more like a whale in sweatpants so I'll have to say jeans. But when I'm home I'm just wearing pjs.

Flip flops/thongs or slides

Both are evil so they can crawl back to where they belong. I'll sleep with socks (even thin) all year long. I'll take them off when we reach 40°.

Paperback or ebook

I use my kindle before bed but paperback all the way when you want to spend hours reading.

Enemies to lovers or FWB to lovers

Enemies to lovers all the way. The hatred, the tension, the angst, the oh, oh maybe I was wrong? the messy feelings, GIVE IT TO ME I'M READY.

One bed or fake dating

That one bed trope has been alive way too long and needs to be put to rest, pun very much intended.

Hurt/comfort or whump

Hurt/comfort. I'm all for angst but the heavy hurt usually deals with atrocities and, nope.

Mutual pining or amnesia

Amnesia! That's the kind of angst I like.

Canon compliant or AU

It depends on the ship. I usually prefer canon but there are some excellent AUs out there.

Soulmate or Sports AU

My issue with sports AU is that it's almost always about the characters in the sports world rather than the chosen sport itself. I end up frustrated with how poorly depicted the sport is or how irrelevant it is to have them in this world in the first place all.the.time. Like okay they're figure skaters but why would you have them do 3 triple lutzes in one program when it's not a thing and yolo spins without telling me if it's a flying sit spin or a back camel?

Celebrity AU or Coffeeshop AU

I may have outgrown the coffeeshop AU, so, celebrity.

One shot or long fic

Quality over quantity. Which isn't an answer but :D

Anyone who wants to answer this, have at it!

[thedemoninmywalls]

Normalities

This fic is a roleplay between myself and @dokukoi! They wrote Rire and I wrote Aro <3

It was small things, at first. Spelling of words being slightly changed, the color of things being just slightly off. Light switches being reversed. Just tiny things that caught Aro's attention for a second. Things you could easily chalk up to needing more sleep.

Lately, though, things have been different. Everything has been different. The location of buildings have swapped with the ones next to them, the personalities of her co-workers and friends were off, and it seemed like she saw more and more violence in the streets each day. Aro felt like everything she knew about the world was slowly changing to be what it shouldn't be.

Everytime she brought it up to someone though, they reacted like she was the strange one—the world has always been like this! Why was she just now questioning it? It was getting harder to keep going through her daily routine without question.

A few things had stayed the same, despite that: she got home at the same time, and the same man was always waiting at her dinner table, drinking tea.

Today, it… smells like coffee, instead. Huh. Rire swirls the teacup, lifting to smell it before drinking it as if a fine wine. "You're back. How was work, pet?"

"It was fine," Aro answers. She puts down her purse and takes off her shoes.

"I saw a fight on the street today. Two women, clawing at each other. I thought about calling the police, but just hurried home instead."

She feels a little guilty about that.

Sniffing the air, she's surprised by the different smell. "Is that coffee?"

"Humans are really a pathetic lot. Entertainment is all they're good for," Rire turns his head to face Aro's direction. "Interesting, though, that you left them to gouge out their eyes. Has that bleeding heart of yours finally bled dry?"

He looks at his teacup—his expression hasn't changed from his signature smug smirk. "As usual. Why, did you want a cup?"

She frowns at the comment about gouging eyes - hopefully that isn't what actually happened. She probably should have called the police.

"No," she answers his question, sitting at the table across from him. "It's just…different. I thought you preferred tea."

"No, I've always preferred coffee," He arches an eyebrow. "I don't expect much from you, pet, but I thought you were capable of remembering that much."

Rire leans forward, a grin spreading on his face. "I can think of many ways to jog your memory if your little mind is already failing on me."

Aro unconsciously leans back, unnerved by his rows and rows of sharp teeth. She squints at him suspiciously.

"You're messing with me," she says cautiously. "I don't know how, but you're messing with my head…making me think I'm crazy. You must be."

"Please. All over a cup of coffee?" Rire chuckles, leaning back. He takes a sip from the teacup before continuing. "You're paranoid. There's much more fun ways to break your sanity, to make you squirm, to make you scream—why in Hell would I choose a cup of coffee over all those? I simply just enjoy coffee, pet, like I always have. If you'd like for me to break you, I'd be more than happy to. Eager pets get rewarded, after all."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," she frowns, standing up. "And it's weird to have coffee in a teacup. I'm gonna go make dinner."

She heads into the kitchen and starts opening cabinets, looking for the ingredients she wants. All of the ingredients are there, but the packaging and brands have been swapped. What was once sugar was now pepper, and what was baking soda was now salt. It doesn't seem like a single product wasn't touched.

As Aro goes through her kitchen, she finds that everything has been swapped around or changed in some sort of way. Even things that she thinks at the first glance are the same have been changed, however little.

Rire minds his business at the table, sipping on his coffee nonchalantly.

"Hrnnngh…okay, I can do this…" Aro tries to work with her misbehaving kitchen, opening up random products to confirm what they actually are, trying to memorize what is now in what. She gets progressively more frustrated as she tries to put a decent meal together.

"Wait, I thought that was the - fuck, that was salt!" Aro desperately tries to salvage the remains. This is impossible!

Rire looks over, chuckling. "What, have you started to forget how to cook, too?"

He stands up, leaning over her shoulder to look at the ruined dish, then at the ingredients she had pulled out. "Mixing up things that have always been the same is quite the feat. I'm almost impressed."

He takes the cookery from Aro, starting to add and mix in the swapped ingredients as if it's how everything's always been. "Go lay down. You're so incompetent that you can't cook a simple meal—it'd be a shame for perfectly fine food to go to waste because of it."

"I'm not - It's just --" Aro tries to make sense through her frustration and embarrassment. She grabs a bag of pepper. "This used to be sugar! I know it was! Pepper doesn't go into bags! I'm not making this up!"

"As far as I can remember, humans have bagged pepper for years. Since the Romans," Rire doesn't look up from the dish as he fixes it. "I admit, it doesn't make much sense, but humans don't challenge the status quo much… which is why it's obvious you need to lay down."

Rire looks over his sunglasses at her. It's an order, not a suggestion.

Aro knows that look very well, that look he has when his patience has run out. She decides that this particular battle is not worth fighting. So she takes a deep breath and concedes.

"Fine, fine…just…call me when dinner's ready…" She turns on her heel and leaves the kitchen. She goes to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes and put on more comfortable pajamas.

Over the next 30 minutes or so, the house begins to fill with a delicious smell. Eventually Rire calls for Aro—as she walks to the kitchen, the delicious smell gets stronger…

…but on the kitchen table, instead of two plates of a gourmet dinner, there's two plates of a squirming mass of… well, it was hard to tell. It looked fleshy, but it was alive, moving. It was coated with a gray gruel that looked entirely inedible. The dish made squelching and squeaking noises—almost like a small scream—as it writhed around on the plate.

"Spaghetti." Rire states, as if anyone with two eyes would look at whatever this was and agree with him.

"…You have got to be kidding me."

Aro makes a face at the meal. "I dunno what demons eat in Hell, but humans generally don't eat food that's trying to crawl off the plate."

"This is perfectly normal spaghetti," Rire picks up the fork and twirls some of the fleshy mass around it. He eats it. Higher-pitched squeaks—screams—came from it as he chews. "Demon cuisine is much more refined and usually has long pig as the main meat."

"It's generally polite to at least try whatever's made for you before sticking your nose up at it," Rire nods towards the chair. "I'd say this is far more edible than whatever you were trying to make earlier."

"It's literally screaming. Can't you hear it?"

Aro looks sickened, but she sits down and picks up the fork. Maybe it doesn't taste as bad as it looks? But she's nervous to even stick her fork in there, for fear of hurting it….whatever it is, it's clearly in pain, which makes her nauseated.

"That's normal. It's been noted in thousands of human gastronomical texts over the years that the screaming enhances the flavor of the spaghetti. Have you never eaten spaghetti before?"

It does, in fact, taste like a decent plate of spaghetti, but the texture is gag-worthy. It feels like eating paper pulp, with every other bite a node of something pops and lets out liquid. The gruel on top of the flesh feels like sandpaper in her mouth. The screams with every bite doesn't help.

Aro barely gives it a lick before giving up and standing up from the table.

"Now you're just making things up. Spaghetti doesn't scream!" She throws up her arms in exasperation. "And I don't have money to order pizza…maybe I can find the cereal?" She goes digging in the cabinets again. Rire rolls his eyes. "You're being ridiculous. How pathetic is it for a demon to know more about humans and their culture than a human living it? If you don't believe me, go look it up. I have better things to do than lie to you about coffee and spaghetti."

Thankfully, the cereals seem to be untouched. Until Aro opens it, that is—one is full with writhing bugs, the next, parts of dead, small animals, and the rest are filled with similarly gruesome things. When double-checking the cereal boxes, they've been changed to reflect their newly discovered contents.

Aro quickly puts away the cereal boxes before she throws up right then and there. Isn't there a single edible thing in this house?? Ignoring Rire, she continues searching until she digs up an old box of granola bars. At least, they better be granola bars. She ravenously wolfs one down without checking the box.

They taste like granola bars, and the texture seems fine.

Rire laughs. "I never thought you would be so picky with what you put in your mouth. Beggars can't be choosers, can they?" He stands up. "If you're so unsatisfied with my cooking and what you have in the house, why don't I take you grocery shopping?"

The way Rire smiles at her sends a shiver down Aro's spine.

She tries not to let him get under her skin.

"I already went grocery shopping this week," she points out firmly. "I don't have money to buy new groceries….unless you're willing to pay?"

"That is what, 'I take you,' implies, doesn't it?" Rire keeps the same smile on his face. "I suggest you take it before I change my mind—otherwise it seems you'll starve for the rest of the week, if you're so picky that not even cereal is up to your low standards anymore."

She opens her mouth to argue, again, but realizes there's no point. Her cheeks burn with frustration and embarrassment, his constant negative comments wearing down her willpower.

"Fine! Fine," she grumbles. "Lemme get my shoes and coat - and we'll go shopping."

"Alright. Don't take too long, or I might change my mind." Rire waits by the door for Aro to get ready. She hurries on her shoes and pulls on her coat - and they head out to the nearest grocery store. At least that's where Aro assumes they're going, and she heads in that direction.

Rire walks by Aro's side as they head towards the grocery store.

The walk starts normally, although It feels like the walk is way longer than normal. As they walk, the people around them get more hostile. Every accidental bump elicits some sort of nasty remark, and people shove and push around the two without so much as an 'excuse me'. There's several yelling matches going on. Rire seems unfazed by all of this.

Aro finds herself subconsciously walking closer to Rire, almost clinging to him, to try and avoid confrontation. She's afraid of all the hostility and nastiness going on around them, and she feels like he will protect her, somehow. She's always tried to see the good in people, or at least give them the benefit of the doubt. But now she doesn't understand why people are acting like this - why does it feel like the demon is the only thing in her life that makes sense right now?

"Are you scared?" Rire looks down at Aro, amused. "You've walked these streets a dozen times, haven't you?"

A man punches another out cold. He lands on the ground with a crack. Rire steps over the man's body without even looking at it.

"This is the world you live in, not Hell. It's nothing to be scared of. As soon as a scared little puppy like yourself stepped into Hell, you'd be flayed alive."

Despite Rire's words, the confrontations get more and more violent as they walk. It seems like the grocery store is nowhere near in sight no matter how far they walk.

"I-I'm not scared," Aro mumbles, clearly lying and still clinging to him.

She tries to steel her nerves and ignore the violence going on around them. She looks ahead, searching for the refuge that is the grocery store - it's always on this street! Where is it?!

"I've seen abandoned kittens braver than you right now." Rire grins. He's clearly enjoying Aro's fear.

He deftly weaves through the crowd bordering on a riot. A broken glass whizzes by Aro's face. Swings that miss their target just graze by Aro, and knife stabs hook themselves on her clothes instead of the flesh they aim for, leaving cuts and holes in them.

No matter how violent their surroundings get, Rire walks through with ease. The same can't be said for Aro—despite her clinging onto him, she's a hair's breadth away from being dragged into one of the skirmishes. Until someone grabs her ponytail and yanks her back.

She crashes onto the ground, in the middle of a mob. There's a few people next to her that have already taken quite a beating, sobbing and writhing on the ground.

"GAH!" Aro shrieks as she's suddenly yanked back, landing hard on her butt. Panicking, she tries to jump up and get away.

"Rire!" she calls to him, scared that he'll keep walking without her.

Aro can see Rire standing just outside of the mob. He makes no move to help Aro.

One of the assailants kicks Aro in her side, sending her back down to the ground. The other victim gets a boot ground into their face. They yank Aro by her hair and hold her, while others punch, scratch, and kick at her face and upper-body.

The mob is loud, and it's an assault on the ears. They yell obscenities between themselves and egg each other on. It's hard to pick out exactly what they're talking about due to the sheer volume of voices; sometimes, it doesn't even sound like gibberish.

"Stop! Lemme go! Stop it!" Aro holds up her arms to shield her face and tries to kick at the people hitting her. The attack is so chaotic she can barely tell where she's being hurt. She screams for Rire and can barely be heard above the crowd.

When she manages to crawl away from her attackers, beaten and badly bruised, Aro tries to reach Rire - the only familiar face in the crowd.

Rire smiles. Once she gets closer, he steps his heel on her hand, grinding into it. He crouches down with the same smug smile. Rire digs his nails into her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

Crowds weave around them. It seems everything is back to normal. People talk on the phone or to their friends. Couples and friends laugh as they pass, holding hands. Just people going about their ordinary life. Ignoring Aro beaten, bloody and bruised in the middle of the street.

"Pathetic," he sneers. "Nobody wants to help you. What makes you think I'd save you from the horrors of the world, if not even strangers think you're good enough to help?"

By now Aro is sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, too terrified and in pain to answer him. She just tries to pull her hand out from under his shoe.

"P-Please," she begs helplessly. "Please stop--!"

His grin widens as he digs his heel in further. "You're all alone in this world. Strangers won't help you—your friends, family, they won't help you. You're as insignificant as a human gets, an ant. An ant that comes marching toward poisoned honey. You're delusional—you like this situation that you're stuck in, pet. That I'm stuck in."

Suddenly, Rire stands up with a sharp kick in her side. "Get up and stop making the sidewalk even dirtier. I think I've had my fun—and gotten my point across into your thick skull."

Still sobbing, Aro slowly raises herself to her feet, holding her side where she was just kicked painfully. Everything hurts, but she stands there waiting for his next orders. She's starting to believe his cruel words, his relentless bullying, because she has nothing else to cling to. By now she's forgotten her hunger, now she just wants to go home. She wants to feel safe again.

He looks over her, satisfied. Without a word. Rire puts his hand on the small of her back. He pushes her back towards her apartment, against the flow of pedestrians. It's as if she's not there—nobody looks at her, and they weave around the two like there's an invisible forcefield. Their smiles and laughter, their normalcy, almost seem mocking.

The walk back is shorter, and Aro finds herself being unceremoniously shoved into her apartment sooner than she would expect. "Go clean yourself up."

Grateful for being released, Aro hurries to the bathroom. She peels off her dirty, torn clothes and steps into a hot shower. Here, at least, it feels normal. The blood and dirt are washed away. When she gets out of the shower, she tends to her injuries - medicine and bandages on her cuts and bruises, a bag of ice for her crushed hand. She changes into fresh pajamas and washes her face. She feels a little better now, a little more human. Still hungry, though.

When she walks out of the bathroom, Rire seems to have disappeared. There's another delicious smell wafting through the house. This time, when Aro goes into the kitchen, there's a decent meal sitting on a plate. The portion is small; just enough to barely satiate her hunger.

Aro stares at the food warily. There must be some sort of catch - maybe it's drugged or poisoned or will make her throw up immediately. Is it worth the risk? Should she just ignore it? Even if she goes into another room she can't take her mind off the meal sitting right there, so close. Hating herself for having so little willpower, she sits down and takes a bite. When there's no immediate adverse effects, she gulps down all the food and licks the plate clean.

It's just normal food. Why was she so paranoid? Her kitchen is clean; everything that she had taken out to cook, or looking for cereal or granola bars, had been put back. Everything was still scrambled, but it was put back neatly. Back to a state of normalcy.

Aro finishes eating and feels tired. Her apartment suddenly feels too big, too empty. Too quiet. She crawls into bed and begins shivering with fear and anxiety. After everything that happened today, the last thing she wants is to be alone. She desperately wants to feel safe again.

After Aro fell asleep, everything seemed to go back to normal. The next morning everything was completely normal, except for one tiny thing: the date read back to a month ago. When everything had started changing slightly.

Her kitchen was normal, people were usually nice and polite, and everything was exactly as it should be. When Aro got home, Rire was sitting there, drinking tea. Perfectly normal; well, her new normal.

It just felt like she lost a month of her life. It's not like it hadn't happened—nasty bruises and cuts were all over her body. Particularly, her hand—but no bones were broken.

If she ever questioned Rire about it, he kept a straight face, his smile, and told her that she must've dreamt it up. Humans often have vivid dreams like that; not common, but not unheard of, either.

It was just all in her head.

[violivs]

NMTDaily: A Wild Hero Appears

- It makes me a little sad that Bea tweets out this video with “meet the prettier version of me”. You’re beautiful in your own right, Beatrice, and I don’t think Hero would want you to compliment her by putting yourself down. This moment starts to show Beatrice’s insecurities, in a very teenage-girl way. It feels very accurate to that time of life for sure.

- What’s interesting, though, is that this tweet, where Bea thinks of herself as less pretty than Hero, is a direct parallel to and reversal of the moment in a future episode when Claudio tells Ben who he likes (Hero), and asks what Ben thinks of her, and Ben says he prefers her cousin, naming no names. These lines are adapted from the play. Now, I’m not going to say it’s good or ok for the guys to be comparing the girls to each other, even unintentionally, and of course Beatrice has to develop her own self-confidence outside of what anyone else thinks of her. But it is very sweet that at the time she makes that self-deprecating tweet, Beatrice already, unknown to her, has someone who looks at her before anyone else, who always thinks she’s the prettiest girl in the room. It’s just that even he doesn’t know it yet! Ben has thought Beatrice was gorgeous since long before he could admit it to himself, and that just makes me happy.

- I bet Hero’s “you’re not so bad looking yourself, Bea” is her answer to the tweet. She’s too sweet even to directly address it.

- Hero reading TFIOS is so incredibly 2014. (I can also tell she’s an actress and isn’t actually reading it right now because she’s that far into the book and she isn’t SOBBING. I’ll never forget how hard I cried and I’m not afraid to admit it.)

- “Hero it’s Darcy on a horse” being the thing to get her attention is hilarious and adorable and how many Jane Austen Movie Nights do we think she and Bea have had? Definitely some!

- Hero is adorable and we love her enthusiasm and many many video ideas 😆

- there are so many amazing quotes in this episode. “room tour. room tour. ROOM TOUR”; “I am very proud of the witty capabilities of 3-in-the-morning me” amazing.

- Bea is starting what’s essentially senior year in April at a new school. That has to be stressful. Good that she seems cheery about it. I’m sure she’s not at all worried about who else is in her classes…

- Now I want lemonade! Lol. But US lemonade for me. Research is telling me that NZ/Aotearoa lemonade is just basically lemon soda, like it is in the UK, as opposed to the US lemon juice + water + sugar situation. I hope Bea gets to try US lemonade on her travel year. It’s so good when it’s good.

- the Hersula origins! “She’s so lovely I catch myself wanting her to insult me” 💕

- Shoutout to the NMTD Fandom Revival Discord for catching the fact that Bea’s line “what is this cake even for” is a reference to the TARDIS cake Ursula shared on her tumblr, showing that Ursula and Hero surprised Bea with the cake for no reason at all, they’re just that sweet and lovely!

- A brief aside: Ursula’s tumblr has been lovely. She’s posted lots of desserts including one that she said is her dad’s specialty, so now I headcanon that she likes to bake because it’s something she and her dad do together. Ursula lore!

- Poor Meg. It’s tough to be an early bloomer, and you can tell the girls know they shouldn’t be making fun of her for it. I’m glad Hero told Bea to stop, but she was still going along with it and was the one who said the “Queen of Scream” line. We know they’ll learn, though.

- I also notice the link to Ursula’s first video in the description of this episode is now broken and goes to a page that says the video doesn’t exist. Fortunately VOX POPS is alive, well, and next in the playlist. Interesting how links break over time.

- This episode is apparently from before the characters start answering YouTube comments, I checked the comment section. That’s something I’m interested to see whether the NMTDaily emails will highlight, because I remember the characters’ comments being very fun to read! Good for immersion too!

- I’m embarrassed to even admit this, and I blame growing up without cable tv or video games, but I’m just now realizing this title is a Pokémon reference. This show was always even nerdier and more full of pop culture references than I realized! Excited to see if I find anything else I didn’t get before!

💖🥭🦩

[unidentifiedmammal]

I've been meaning to make more posts about this, but there's so much i have to say/images to show that this will be a part 1 out of ??? and this one focuses mainly on the first batch of Purple Iris watercolors and the pH mystery they made me unravel through chaotically-organized researching.

Basically, I've been messing around with anthocyanins, a common class of plant pigments that are pH sensitive/can be used as a pH indicator. The first source I've tried has been purple irises, which i've only vaguely been familiar with in the past. The ones I picked were the ones that had begun to shrivel slightly, to the point where they were still a deep purple but picking them they would almost be leaking a purple liquid that stained my hands. I put them in a thing of hot tap water (not boiled, just the hot setting on the faucet), enough to cover the flowers, and let them steep. they began changing the color of the water almost immediately, with the fresher ones not losing their color as quickly as the ones that had begun to wilt on the plant. within 30 minutes i decided it was extracted enough.

This left a strong purple in the water, which i then poured off into three other containers, two of which i would alter the pH of.

The purple is due to delphinidin, a type of anthocyanidin that forms the building blocks of anthocyanins. Note i italicize the word anthocyanidin just so it's easier to tell apart the two.

there are anywhere from 16-31 anthocyanidins depending on what source you find, but they are basically the backbone structure of anthocyanins, of which there are over 600 something. The main thing that turns an anthocyanidin (aglycon) into an anthocyanin (glycoside form) is a sugar attached to it.

Realistically, that distinction isn't useful when simply extracting things from flowers in hot water, but i thought it was a fun fact to note. Anthocyanidins also come in handy for knowing what builds the anthocyanins in your flowers/plant part;

cyanidin (30%), delphinidin (22%), and pelargonidin (18%) make up the base for a good majority of all the anthocyanins in plants (~60% collectively),

peonidin, malvidin, and petunidin being runnerups (20% collectively)

the 20-something remaining anthocyanidins make up the rest

So basically, they all have slightly different colors that are pH reactive, and can provide anything from red to pink to orange to purple to blue. But, for our purposes, if you have a blue/purple flower, that likely means it has some amount of delphinidin-based anthocyanins in it! there can also be more than one anthocyanidin type present in the same plant.

Other well-known sources of anthocyanins are grape skins, red cabbage, red onions, butterfly pea tea, and purple violets. However, they're also very abundant in many many other plants, these are just the common ones i can think of that lots of people are probably familiar with to some degree.

Fun fact, grape skins are actually really well-studied as far as anthocyanins go (i believe they mainly have malvidin-based ones) because they're so important for the coloration of wine! Anthocyanins as a whole are also studied as a natural source of food dyes, along with other flavonoids such as carotenoids.

As for why it turns colors, this is because of the way the anthocyanin changes structure in different pHs. The short answer is it turns red/pink in low pH (acidic) conditions, purple in slightly acidic/neutral conditions, and blue/green in slightly high pH conditions.

The long answer is something I'll explain in a moment, but for now here's the acid/base colors:

(on the left, i altered it with vinegar and it became a bright magenta color; on the right, i altered it with baking soda and it became a sea green/blue cyan that refused to show up accurately on camera). That's one thing I've noticed, and others have too, is that when working with pigments (especially natural ones) the color accuracy of the camera often just completely fails. there's only so many colors a digital camera can capture!

Here's a slightly more accurate color due to different lighting, note how it's more a malachite green than a pure blue. off the bat this was interesting becuase I wasn't expecting as green of a liquid as i got.

Anyways, the first thing i did with them was use them as-is, no alterations past the addition of the respective vinegar and baking soda. I painted with them just as one would paint with watercolors, and interestingly enough, when i put them onto paper, they began to change from their pink/purple/malachite colors to a teal/indigo/emerald set instead.

This seems to be the result of something in the paper itself, likely calcium carbonate (which i only recently learned is added to "buffer" paper against acidic substances; the cellulose in paper is more stable long term when there's no acid present, and the calcium carbonate neutralizes any acids applied to a degree).

It's still interesting that even though the acids are neutralized, they give a unique color when compared to the basic paint.

I also tried soaking some of the same paper in vinegar water, which got rid of that buffer and let me paint with the pinks intact, but that's for another post.

Also, note that i said "neutral" for the middle, this is just what i wrote down for the tap water sample; in actuality the tap water is actually a bit closer to pH 6 instead of a true neutral 7, which i only found out after i had gotten this far. So whenever i say "neutral," i mean "tap water that's slightly acidic"

Here's something interesting that happened, though. Overnight i left the jars on my desk, and while the acid and neutral colors were the same when I came back ~24 hours later, the basic had degraded into a murky brown. this was interesting since that meant the instability was pH-dependent.

So, i made another color swatch with the acid/neutral/base, and used that as a comparison to look at how it had changed. Surprisingly, it painted out a yellowy-green instead of a murky gray-brown

here's the murky water that the once-malachite-green turned into:

I also poured off a bit into another container, and shifted it back into a low pH with a bit of vinegar to see if it would still change color. Surprisingly, it turned a slight pink, like pink lemonade, which means there were still anthocyanins in there but they were likely a lot less concentrated than they used to be.

Here's the pink, with a few leftover bubbles from the baking soda/vinegar reaction:

Here's the results of painting with these:

the acid was basically unchanged after sitting in a jar for 24 hours, the neutral had lost a bit of its purple color but was still about the same, and the base was now a lot yellower/tanner with a bit of green still showing through. The shifted sample was a pale stormy gray that ended up taking on a green color as it dried, as though following the trend of pink shifting to a bluer color but on a much more muted scale.

Now obviously, i wanted to figure out what caused this, so i dug around both on wikipedia and other sites but found myself eventually reading into scientific papers on the topic, at which point it became very clear that i would need to learn like, organic chemistry and such to be able to say for sure what was happening.

I did eventually manage to figure out a few things despite the dense terminology; for one thing, anthocyanins are more unstable than other plant pigments such as carotenoids. there are plenty of things that can affect their stability, including the pH of the substance they're stored in. Any higher than pH 7 (basic pHs) and theyll begin to degrade. This explains why the high pH sample lost its blue/green color, and why there was very little left to be shifted back to a pink color.

I also found out that the pH color shift isn't as simple as it seemed. Rather, there are multiple chemical forms of anthocyanins.

At the lowest pHs, basically all of them are in the "flavylium cation" state, which basically means it's positively charged and this is what gives a red color

still at a low pH (2-4), there's anothe chemical form that appears, the "quinoidal" structure that gives a blue color. Note that the red cation is still present, just no longer the only form

the more the pH rises, the more forms start to coexist, with some of those forms being colorless (one of which is a "colorless carbinol"

so, between 4 and 6 there are the cations (red) quinoidal (blue) carbinol (colorless) and something called a chalcone that gives a pale yellow

and then past that, I'm unsure, but of course that's around when the anthocyanins begin to degrade

There are also a lot more than these that i've encountered in various contexts but these seem to be the basic ones.

Do note that i do not fully understand these terms (flavylium, quinoidal, carbinol, chalcone, etc.) and have only recently begun to actually try to learn what they mean and the context surrounding them as i only had a class of basic high school chemistry under my belt prior to this. The main paper i combed over to try to find info on it seems to be behind a paywall but the DOI is:

doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.09.001

for anyone curious and able to access it, whether through legit means or what have you.

That being said, to me, the takeaway here seems to be that there's a yellow form that appears around the time that other color forms begin to disappear, and as those degrade it makes sense that the resulting degraded forms also contribute to a murky color. This helps explain why it changed color in the jar and also retained a bit of yellow and green.

This also explains why the blue form seems to also be slightly green, it's got the blue quinoidal chemical form as well as the yellow chalcones.

There are also interesting things of note that I will get into at a later date, such as the texture/reflectivity of the way it dries, the differences in extraction ease between this and purple violets, the addition of a genuinely neutral/pH 7 sample later, a sample from a plant that doesnt seem to have delphinidins, and sample the seems to genuinely sparkle??? Much more of interest to come soon!