#beef nola

[nolafoodporn]

Beautiful braised beef croquettes in a peppery pimenton aioli garnished with pickled chilies @plates.nola 🌶️

🎁 From the kitchen

[menasimagination]

Thank god that Anne Rice vampires have a reflection bc that means my headcanon of Lestat getting ready in the mirror to film his millionth dramatic video diary entry like "hello all, it is the vampiyur Lestat again" is canon accurate.

I imagine post-plank Lestat would be earnest abt it in a snapewives devotion way. And maybe NOLA era Lestat would do well on tiktok but like kind of a troll.

Him and Armand would run in the same online circles and they'd be the ex-mutuals that anyone active on their side of the internet long enough knows have beef w each other and their other mutuals side-eye whenever they are mentioned in the same post. And Armand has a Lestat channel in the discord he runs to debrief whenever Lestat has a post that makes waves.

Claudia would have them both blocked.

[cancerian-woman]

how would you rewrite the originals if you had the chance? and would you had kept hayley in it?

blank page, you can do whatever you want

I would talk about klonnie and how it would’ve made sense in a hope perspective and portraying a nice enemies to lovers out for Bonnie/Klaus but to be different! (i could talk about that in another ask)

See if I had the pen…

Canon related-wise:

I would include more family moments. Make the Mikaelson’s have a FAMILY-feel. They can be toxic…which is fine.

Klayley being the slow burn relationship—I do enjoy CK, despite being iffy on Haylijah but I found Camlijah more interesting for Cami & with Camicent/Vincent. The idea that these werewolf bloodlines were beefing and accident baby.. interesting.

Mature Davina, have her see who Kol is and accept that. Nothing wrong with the villain dating in this franchise. In addition to this, give Kol a more important role. He was just.. there. Revived him and did nothing with him.

Make the season 1-2 time jump bigger, so we can skip past Hope’s baby moments have similar moments that the Saltzman twins had in their preschool years? Have more of Hope with her family.

Focus on Klaus wolf side. Yes, he’s a power hungry bastard and he was terrible too werewolves but he hybrid and no wolf form is crazy work.

No Hallow plotline. BUT, if the plot had to exist give Tyler those bones. Let Klayley admit their faults and apologize.

Address the elephant in the room that’s Marcel and blackness. Those writers pushed the topic and didn’t know how to address it

Stop portraying Hope as this beacon of pure saviorism not just for Klaus but for Hayley too. The only difference is they shifted Hayley more in the plot on that than they ever did with Klaus.

Let the women in the show bond. Barolena was done dirty, but I don’t think it’s an all girl trio in TO. Barolena fucks up all the time but where is the bonding with the TO women.

Gialijah endgame.

Non-Canon related:

Have Hayley be played by a WOC. NOLA needs diversity. Phoebe worked with what she had on the script but sometimes the performance wasn’t as great—TO ME.

If TO wasn’t set in NOLA, place the show in Chicago. The Mikaelson’s mentioned Chicago too much in s3 of TVD.

Hayley being a witch. No LGCS in mind, Klaus is a hybrid, Hayley was a wolf.. it was giving original werewitch and not tribrid.

Wrap TO up by season 6.

Instead, of “the big bad” being a witch I’d diverse that up species wise.

Give us something about Hayley that isn’t just rooted in motherhood. Great, she wants to be better than *insert parent name here* let us know her character wants (which happens with most women of this franchise). A career even.

Marcel and Hope having a relationship.

Seasons 3-4 would be “child Hope” , 5-6 teen/adult.

Would’ve developed Freya/Vincent similar to Bamon.

Losing my train of thought here. If the show didn’t revolve around a baby plotline. A time period drama would have been fun and each season could’ve focused on the Mikaelson’s lives when they were separated.

I just recently started watching the Vikings, I would’ve loved to see the Mikaelson’s past lives period.

Sorry, this was all over the place! Thank you for the ask

[samwisethewitch]

👀 would you ever publish a cookbook by chance?

I would absolutely publish a cookbook! Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies and I love collecting new cookbooks to try recipes from.

I'm actually currently writing a cookbook based on my spouse's homebrew Dungeons & Dragons setting. Basically, any time our characters are in a new part of the world I ask them a bunch of questions about 1.) the ecology, bioregion, and native plant and animal species (they have canon answers to this because my baby is on some Tolkien level worldbuilding) and 2.) the culture(s) present in the area and their food traditions. Then, I create recipes based on those answers so I can serve food at sessions that mirrors what our characters are eating in the game. The cookbook draft is on a shared Google Drive for all our players, so everyone has access to the recipes.

I'd absolutely be down to share some of those recipes here, but I worry they won't be as cool to people who haven't been playing an ongoing campaign in this fictional world for 5+ years.

In the meantime, if you want more recipes for food that tastes like what I post on here, here are some of the cookbooks I use most often:

An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery by Chris-Rachael Oseland (my favorite cookbook ever, everything I've made from it is delicious)

The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques (100% vegetarian! And has more simple, kid-friendly recipes I can make with my nephews)

The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge (THE BEST collection of regional cuisine from the Southeastern USA. If you aren't from here, your tastes may vary, but I can testify that the recipes are authentic and delicious. The brisket recipe I make for my Christian and Jewish family at our Easter/Passover/Spring Equinox gathering is from this book and is approved by my beef farmer in-laws.)

Chez Helene Cookbook: A collection of New Orleans family recipes by Ellen Chenevert Herry (Picked this up on my most recent trip to NOLA and I like to whip it out whenever I miss the city. I adjust the recipes based on cooking tips from my friends in Louisiana.)

Happy cooking!

[galvanizedfriend]

I'm curious on your opinions about the TO pregnancy storyline; tbh I was never a fan of the Wattpad ultra powerful baby trope and just couldn't enjoy Hope's character. While I understand it was so Klaus could have unconditional love, I feel like his "redemption" could've taken other avenues. What do you think it would've been like had Hope, and likely Hayley, not been included?

Thanks! I hope you're well <3

WATTPAD ULTRA POWERFUL BABY TROPE! 🗣️🗣️🗣️ That is the best definition I have ever seen!! I've been asked this a few times, nonnie, and despite the fact I have written over 1M words of baby fic based on the TO pregnancy plot, I hdo hate that storyline 😂 If I had been the one behind the show, I would've never gone down that road. I still remember my disappointment when I was watching the backdoor pilot in TVD S4! I was so excited about the spin off and could not fucking believe they'd made a baby the whole premise for the show. I was literally cursing at my TV. I cannot deal with pregnant vampires.

And I agree, I think there was a plethora of better options for them to explore. It was great that they decided to introduce more werewolf lore into the story, but I don't get why they did that through Hayley when Klaus was *right there*. Klaus spent a thousand years trying to break his curse only to never speak about being a werewolf ever again. We never see his wolf form, we never see how he relates to that side of him. Being a half-werewolf is the thing that defined Klaus' entire existence from when he was a child, and it never gets explored. The connections to the bayou packs should've always been his. If they wanted to go down the fatherhood avenue, on the other hand, then they should've looked no further than Marcel! It was such a better story all along, because Marcel was found family. He was someone Klaus rescued and raised and loved like a son despite the fact he wasn't his blood, he taught Marcel everything, and there's so much in that to unpack when it comes to the Mikaelsons and Klaus in particular. He mourned Marcel's death, losing him left a mark in Klaus that guided his actions for a hundred years, and then he goes back to Nola to find out he'd not only survived but had taken over the city. Hayley's pregnancy ends up totally overshadowing what should've been the big point of the season and Marcel is relegated to a glorified extra after. And then there were the Mikaelson sibligns themselves - the whole point of having the show to begin with! I thought it was great they brought Kol and Finn back, but they should've actually used them, made them the heart of the season, rather than a side plot. Finn had so much potential to be an antagonist better than aunt Dahlia or the Guerreras or the Hollow, lasting multiple seasons just like the Mikaelsons themselves did in TVD. Kol had so much beef with Elijah and it never got addressed. Why???? And lastly, the missed crossover opportunities. I honestly don't get the point of doing a spin off if you're just going to pretend you're not connected to the parent show anymore. The only decent crossover they ever made were the combined episodes in TVD S7/TO S3 when Stefan goes to Nola and they made it a two-show event. They should've done so much more of that. Things that happened in Mystic Falls could've affected Nola and vice versa. More characters could've crossed over for longer arcs, and I don't just mean Caroline, although I would've obviously loved that. Bonnie in Nola would've been amazing! Kol could've been back in TVD for a little while. There was so much they could've done by involving the characters in both shows that would've enriched the storytelling, but they decided not to because they were too scared people would get attached and then they wouldn't know how to break things apart again. lol Cowards.

So yeah, I think the baby plot was lazy, unimaginative, sappy and borderline stupid in a show about vampires who *already* have all the family they could ever need in order to generate enough dramatic storylines to feed the plot. Klaus deciding in all but five minutes that he wanted to be a daddy, and with Hayley of all people, who had been the one to turn all his hybrids on him to force him to kill them so she could deliver a sacrifice in exchange for a useless piece of information (congrats, your parents are dead!), was so OOC for him I can't even. At the very least it should've taken him a while to contend with the idea. And the worst part is that after all of that, he never becomes a good father lol He basically abandons his daughter and then commits a totally unncessary suicide at the end because I guess he'd rather die than be a single parent 🤷‍♀️ What kind of redemption is that?

I don't think Klaus needed redemption, btw. I don't think there was redemption for him. That was never the point of Klaus for me. Yes, there is more to him than a psychotic bloodthirsty murderer with anger issues and by giving him his own show we get to explore all this other facets and his past and his relationships and where some of his behavior stems from (or we should have been able to explore that, at least), but I don't think he needed to become *good* or to *prove himself worthy* in order for his character arc to be complete. This is a man who has been commiting terrible crimes against humanity for a thousand years with little to no remorse. The fact he loves his own daughter does not redeem him. It wasn't a redemption, and it shouldn't have been seen as such.

Plus, not every character needs (or wants!) redemption!!!

Anyway, thanks for your question, nonnie, and sorry about the TED talk 😂 Now let me go back to writing my baby fic 🥲

[milfzatannaz]

Whats the difference between Cajuns & Creole? My grandaddys from new orleans and he's white so I just assumed he would be considered white but someone said cajun a term for white louisianans but idk

Oh lawd. That question is perhaps the biggest can of worms in the entirety of south Louisiana history.

Cajun and Creole and distinct ethnic groups that can, and do, often intersect. This is because the definitions of what constitute Cajun or Creole are fluid and varied. You can be creole simply because your family has multiple lines of European ancestry going back before the Louisiana purchase. Cajuns hail from Canada originally, and settled here. Obviously both groups would’ve intermarried starting in the 18th century.

It gets dicey because these constructs don’t really fit the modern definition. I’m a black Creole, meaning the culture I hail from is highly localized to New Orleans and surrounding areas like New Iberia and Opelousas. My family is very much like LDPDL’s shown onscreen in IWTV tv. We’re light skinned, Catholic, and my grandparents are deeply connected to the city and its history. So yeah we have European mixed in but we also fit the definition of Creole simply by the community we’re a part of. I descend from Homer Plessy and his cohort of very light skinned “octoroons” (pls don’t ever call someone that) who, because of the one drop rule, were always seen as nonwhite by virtue of being mixed somewhere in their family line. The 7th ward in New Orleans is very interesting and historically relevant.

Cajuns are a separate group and while Cajuns can and do live in NOLA, they’re mostly concentrated in Acadiana. Thats where I go to school. As far as whiteness goes, it really depends on the context. There are black Cajuns. However, acadiana was established to distinguish white Cajuns from the black ethnic groups in south Louisiana, so there was a historical effort to ascribe to white supremacist ideals while maintaining a distinct culture. It’s really complicated. You can get a whole degree in it lol.

In my personal experience, a vast majority of Cajuns around here are indeed white and want the privilege of whiteness while eating their cultural foods and speaking their specific dialect. Cajuns in this part of the state do beef with creoles, partly because of generations of animosity and also plain run of the mill Republican antiblackness and intolerance. The more rural the Cajun the more they’ll insult my ancestors bc we make gumbo differently.

Idk if this was helpful, this is just colored by my own personal experience. I’m actually Cajun too, through my white dad. I just am not connected to those roots bc they treated my black mom poorly and I was raised by Creoles. Creole doesn’t really mean black, but if you’re in New Orleans most creoles you’ll encounter identify as black. Like I said, it’s a whollleeeeeee can of worms.

Creoles and Cajuns beef daily and fight over recipes and it confuses everyone. All I can say is the groups are have seperate histories with significant overlap.

[eaterofsoupwrites]

this is who nola(ss)n is beefing with btw

Chapter 5 of lizard tail on ao3, wherein mark is a child of divorce.

[murfpersonalblog]

Operation Matador: Wolf Killer Lestat

@blueiight FACTS! Lestat represents everything both he & Louis claimed they hated, but secretly admired/envied. Lestat lives for the aesthetic--he grew up just as slovenly and broke as any peasant, in the marquis' crumbling chateau, embarrassed about his brothers' rough manners throwing bones to the dogs at the dinner table & such.

For all Lestat's talk about being the rugged hunter, the Wolf Killer, the first chance he got he booked it to Paris to act the dandy Lelio. He HATED his family, and he admired/envied the lifestyles of the rich & fabulous. Part of why dandies act so flamboyant is because they're putting on airs--an emulation/exaggeration of what they thought the nobility/genteel acted like. The bourgeoisie/nouveau riche/lower & middle class all wanted to be JUST like the aristocratic elite--and the Reign of Terror showed how they became the monsters they were trying to kill. "I wanted to murder the man; I wanted to BE the man." Vicious cycles.

@likethemodel you keep doing this to me--STOP. 😵💫The Wolf Killer's red velvet cloak and the Bull Killer's red flag/cape, DANG.

Lestat got the prized wolf fur cloak, and matadors are awarded the bull's ears (orejas) and tail (rabo) if they perform exceptionally well during the fight. Lestat's family ate the wolf meat, and after bullfights the bulls are sent to the slaughterhouse and sold as beef. THE PARALLELS commemorating BLOODY victory.

@dirhwangdaseul And what's BANANAS is that Lestat is just as controversial as bullfighting itself. Their violence is not all/inherently bad, it's just whether one chooses to see it in a good/bad/neutral light. IWTV (i.e.: Louis & Claudia) is focused on making Lestat look bad. For Louis/Claudia, the "villain sequence" in Ep5 highlights how Lestat (dressed as The Killer (matador in Spanish)) is just like Akasha said in QotD: "so perfectly what is wrong with all things male." But that's not the WHOLE story, that's not ALL of what Lestat is, even though YES, when AR first wrote about him she was speaking from a place of pain & grief & anger about her own life. A decade later, AR had switched gears and gave Lestat his own perspective, as there's 2 sides to every story. In TVL he's FAR more sympathetic, and we see The Killer in a far more nuanced light, described best by Gabrielle (a la a mother's love).

Lestat LOVES Louis & Claudia. But by Ep5 things had gotten so dang BAD that he succumbed to his worst impulses ("my father's temper"), taking upon himself "the burden of murder or madness to be free of this place." Just like the tragedy of Louis was that he was weak/cowardly; Lestat's tragedy is that he's strong/impulsive--he's always been "stronger than anyone else." He's Hercules, killing his wife & children in a fit of madness thinking they were a pack of lions. But the beast was INSIDE Lestat all along. It's classic Gothic Horror.

@blueiight ALL OF THIS, yup! NGL I think Lestat's endless wealth made him an acceptable relic--his privilege saved him from being treated just like Paul. (Like, Paul acting up in public was only tolerated because of the money Louis kept pumping into the neighborhood (the church donations, those storefronts, etc), that made the DPDLs so respected.) There's a lot being telegraphed by Mr Bouillabaisse de Lioncourt partially because he's SO old that he's out of touch with modernity (I NEED to know if he was asleep before NOLA Rolin, PLEASE 🙏); partially because he's foreign and "there's things you don't get about America, Lestat;" and partially because he's white and he has no clue about the rich nuances of black culture until Louis educates him. (And even then Lestat insists he knows best--one-upping Jelly Roll Morton to create the Wolverine Blues (a la white people claiming blues/jazz/rock & roll Monsieur le Rockstar); whitesplaining about the race riots; etc...). And it's beyond hysterical that Louis was like "he ain't white, he's French," like SIR. 🤦 You of all people should be well-read enough about your own city, Mr. Heads on a Pike in Jackson Square, to know French Whites were the big bad wolves of NOLA's history--not to mention French imperialism across Africa & the Caribbean & Asia. 💀 (He's so lost in the sauce, bless his heart.) But Louis doesn't REALLY know Lestat, is the kicker.

@demonicdomarmand Soooooo multilayered. It's 100% satire @blueiight, agreed. Like, there's the IRL history of Mardi Gras flouting social/class hierarchies (turning everything upside down a la the Saturnalia); how Lestat plays into queer history through gender & drag; the Louis vs Antoinette of it all with the let them eat cake and French history; then they wrap it all up in a direct nod to vamps/demons accused of stealing/killing kids.

DIABOLICAL, AMC, please keep going.

@nalyra-dreaming Show of the Decade! <3 IWTV has the best allegorical handling of vampirism I've ever seen, but folks wanna complain about raceswaps & Claudia's age & them not being on a plantation anymore, like HUH?

@greedydemands I'm not LOL. Just living online and talking to all y'all teaches me more than I ever got in school.

@thebarnburn LOL I'm a student, just proctoring--DR. CAROL CUTSHALL is out here with TENURE. 🍎 It's a effing crime the Emmy's snubbed IWTV--if we don't get some roses come S2 the fix is in, officially, cuz their attention to detail has been downright disgusting.

[throne-for-queens]

This Super Bowl decision must be part of some psyop, 'cause there’s no way Kendrick went from being "what the culture's feeling" to having people actually pissed off in just a few months.

But how Lil Wayne was treated after the beef was disgusting. He once shared how he was at a party and everyone, except one person, ignored him. And now he gets this? Maybe this might serve as a lesson because "If you lie down with dogs, you might get up with fleas". And he still has at least two associated with his name, brand, label, and story.

There's a thin line between love and hate, and people only love you as long as it benefits their hate. Most of the people who praised Kendrick for the beef were mostly cheering because they hated Drake, not Wayne. All this resurfaced love for Wayne is performative at best because Wayne has a concert happening in Nola and 50% of the seats are empty; so why isn't this outrage generating more ticket sales? Wayne receiving heat for a beef that had nothing to do with him is also extremely performative. No one hates Wayne, they just turn down anyone who is adjacent to Drake. Furthermore, no one promised Wayne a guaranteed spot at the Superbowl, he wanted and assumed that he'd get it. His own city when given the opportunity did not pick him, and whether or not you think it's Jay z or someone else making these choices, Nola did not pick him.

[lordrethandus]

Daily Writing Challenge November 2023 Day 1

Party / Chills ( @daily-writing-challenge @corohveldha )

World: Final Fantasy 14

Theme: Clannad - Her and the Sea

Coroh was running ragged.

She had been up since the late afternoon of yesterday making miracle after miracle in the Heartwood Kitchen. The occasional taste-tester would come downstairs every now and then, enthralled by the aromas wafting through the rest of the estate, but she refused any and all help. The free company had been through the wringer these past few moons, both the people living and fighting under this roof and the building itself; cooking for them was the least she could do.

A plump dodo was drained and de-feathered, powdered with spices and drenched in sauces, and now it sat glistening in one of the many ovens at her disposal– the savory flesh would remain crispy but the meat underneath would be so tender it would slide right off the bone. The freshly hunted boar was too large for any one oven, forcing Coroh to roast the heavy beast over a bonfire outside and bring it down into the kitchen to marinate in her coveted honey glaze, piece by succulent piece. Juicy blood sausages hissed and sizzled on their racks, made fresh by hand from Shroud boar, butterbeef, and aldgoat. Ala Mhigan gumbo sat bubbling in a heavy iron pot on the stove, with soft carrots, savory beef, and hearty red popotoes swirling in the mesmerizing brown broth. She even made a crisp salad from island cabbages she bought fresh from the Gridanian markets– with thick Black Shroud mushrooms roasted over an open flame and covered in tinfoil to keep their savory texture and warmth. Well over a dozen pies of ogre pumpkin, sweet popoto, rolanberry, and honey lemon sat cooling on the bar countertops, far and away out of reach of any mischievous children and curious Lalafell alike.

Coroh was finishing up the drinks for the party, mixing fruits of all flavors with crushed ice and salted glasses. They didn’t have much for wine after the rebuilding of the estate, but they had plenty of vodka– with a bottle of cactuar tequila they would surely use for a drinking contest later. She only had a bell or two before they started shuffling in– and her time spent toiling in this place would be displayed for all to see. Make no mistake, she intended to assert her culinary dominance. She was already the greatest culinarian in Heartwood but it was never enough; she needed to be the greatest culinarian. Period.

She blinked as she stared at the pot of gumbo, suddenly missing her babies. Her firstborn Nolas was difficult to spend quality time with since she was nocturnal and he wasn’t, but her daughter Avanta was active for almost as long as she was. She wanted to hold them, to hug them, to kiss them. She wanted to make them feel happy and safe, especially with the chaos they’ve all been through just a few weeks ago. 

Hopefully the Starlight Celebration will be far more peaceful and relaxing.

[kaialawson]

hello everyone! i'm linny (he/him, 26, est) and i'll be playing kaia here, as well as @teddysmusings! i'm a little tardy to the party, but i'm here and i'm super excited to get to get to know everyone and their muses. underneath the cut you'll find all of kaia's background information, stats, and some connection ideas! if you're interested in plotting, just drop a like and i'll shoot you a message!

B A S I C S 

full name: kaia lawson. nicknames: tbd. gender:  cis woman. pronouns:  she/her. sexuality:  pansexual. age:  28 date of birth:  june 1st, 1995. zodiac sign:  gemini. birthplace: the bronx, new york. current location: jongno, seoul, south korea. residence:  high rise penthouse. occupation:  former singer-songwriter / current vocal coach. languages spoken: english, korean.

A P P E A R A N C E

faceclaim:  ryan destiny height:  5’5. build:  lean and toned. eyes:  brown. hair:  naturally dark brunette. piercings:  standard earlobe piercings.  tattoos:  a cherry blossom branch running along her forearm and wrist. other distinguishing features:  smile. style:  trendy, appears to be casual but is usually found wearing designer.

P E R S O N A L I T Y

traits:  (+) intelligent, honest, determined, dedicated , loyal. (-) picky, temperamental, bitter, easily angered , unforgiving.  mental health:  anxiety; medicated. depression; medicated physical health:  good. likes:  music, video games, spicy foods, bratz dolls, live concerts, wine, smoking marijuana.  dislikes:  being antagonized, people who don't respect boundaries, avocados, crowded spaces, groups of people that take up the whole sidewalk, being forced to introduce herself, being in the spotlight, being lied to, being told what to do, mint chocolate chip ice cream.  fears:  losing her autonomy.  phobias:  snakes. hobbies:  singing, teaching other people how to sing, crocheting, reading. skills: crocheting, singing, songwriting, jumping rope / double dutch, computer savvy. quirks:  cracking her knuckles when irritated, avoiding eye contact when feeling shy or nervous, rolling her eyes.

F A V O R I T E S

ice cream flavour:  cookies & cream.  time of the day / night:  late night.  weather:  summer weather.  breakfast food:  waffles, cereal, yogurt.  dinner food:  jerk chicken, beef patties, pasta, rice. colours:  lots of darker, muted colors.  music: nola adé, adele, fka twigs, kehlani, lady gaga, solange, yebba, paramore, hozier, ed sheeran, nirvana, beyoncé, megan thee stallion, sza, samara joy, flo milli, kendrick lamar. 

M I S C E L A N E O U S

a cherished item:  her maternal grandmother's locket. first love ( celeb crush ):  rider strong, circa boy meets world / ciara usual mood:  neutral. 1 thing they want to do / experience before they die:  visit her father's grave. 

B I O

childhood & adolescence: kaia grew up with a single mother in the bronx. her father, whom her mother didn't really speak about often, passed away just months before she was born. from a young age, it was quite difficult for her to deal with the fact that she grew up without a dad. she absolutely adored her mother, but being teased by other children for not having both parents in her life caused her a lot of inner turmoil. it didn't help that she was a rather awkward looking child - as most people go through their ugly duckling stages. despite being a shy, introverted girl, kaia had a very short tempered fuse - a trait that she inherited from her mother. her peers assumed that her quiet demeanor would make her an easy target for bullying, but she quickly proved them wrong after getting into a scuffle here and there; scuffles where she primarily came out on top.

her mother, tired of being called to her school for her fighting bullies, decided that she needed to redirect her short fuse into another avenue; which was when she introduced a ten year old kaia to music. her mother was an amateur musician in her youth, but retired and laid her music dreams to rest when she got pregnant with kaia. it became quite obvious that the music gene was passed onto her, because she took to it like a fish takes to water and fell in love with the art of music.

by the time she was fifteen years old, kaia had somehow landed herself a record deal and was placed in the lineup of america's next big girl group - KYC; the acronym standing for kaia, yolanda and carrie. three young girls with big voices. they took the country, and the world, by storm and became pop-r&b sensations by the time kaia was eighteen years old. and if she were being honest, she couldn't deny the fact that she loved it. she loved the fame and fortune that came along with being a singer, and she knew that the feeling would never die down or go away.

early & mid twenties: KYC lasted for five years before the trio decided to part ways in order to pursue their own artistic avenues. yolanda became a producer and did behind the scenes work. carrie became an actress. and kaia? she continued on the music path, debuting as a soloist and pushing her fame to the next level. awards, accolades and other accomplishments began swarming in, and for quite some time she loved it. she loved performing, giving her all to music and pleasing her fans as well as the general public. that is until she began to realize what a toll it was taking on her mental health and psyche. always being followed, never having a moment to herself, always having to live up to everyone's expectations. it was tiring and mentally draining. by the time she was twenty five and released her fifth solo album (her label had been working her like a dog, pushing her to release something at least once a year), she was done. she didn't want the fame anymore. she had experienced it, basked in it, and was over it. ten years of being in the spotlight was more than enough for her. she released her sixth album, her farewell album, on her twenty sixth birthday and hasn't looked back since.

current day: kaia has been living in south korea for two years now. after moving to the country for a change of scenery and to be closer to her cousin, tasha, kaia's been happier, healthier and calmer. gone are her anxiety attacks and worries of public scrutiny. while she still does get a little attention here and there, as well as occasionally being photographed or asked for a selfie or autograph by fans who recognize her, she's living a rather quiet and unassuming life in south korea. she's landed a job as the head vocal coach at canvas labs and enjoys her work there. although she can be a bit of a hard ass and very tough on the idols when it comes to their vocal training, it's only because she takes singing very seriously and wants them to be the best that they can be - and she doesn't want their poor vocal skills to reflect badly on her.

C O N N E C T I O N S

ex ( multiple ): kaia has had a few significant others in her life; some of them she parted with on friendly terms, others not so friendly.

fwb ( multiple ): self explanatory.

true friends ( multiple ): people that are actually friends with kaia because of who she is, not who she used to be.

music mentee: this person is interested in picking up a few music lessons and vocal coaching, and kaia can't help but give them a helping hand.

best friend / platonic soulmate: self explanatory.

gaming buddy ( multiple ): self explanatory.

sense of calm: one of the few people that can calm kaia down when her short fuse explodes.

sibling figure: kaia has taken this person under their wing as a younger sibling of sorts. she dotes on them, fusses over them and overall just babies them.

instigator: this person loves to push kaia's buttons until she bites back, because they love seeing how feisty she gets.

note: if you can't find anything to your liking here, we can always brainstorm!

[cancerian-woman]

What do you think of bonnie and freya as a ship? I thought of it as a crack ship and kinda like it now, just as long as no damn kidnapping is invovled😭😭

In general I think of how the fandom tries to have bonnie in these made up beefs with the other tvd witches like freya davina hope even vincent…… meanwhile she could’ve bonded with them and just have some witch pals yk.

I could see it! We need more WLW pairings in the fandom. I say this all the time but making Bonnie's bestfriend to be Damon she can be opened up to anything imo back to the point!

Freya and Bonnie are the same character with some minor differences. It's just that Freya's a white woman and a Mikaelson so when it comes to her selfish acts in the name of family she gets to do as she pleases without having major backlash from the fandom. TVD introduced the concept of “witches are servants of nature tasked to keep the balance” and the only witches who are held up to that standard are Bonnie and her family. No other witch is doomed in keeping the balance and given screen time to do such. NOLA witches were not given that forefront if they weren’t aligned with the Mikaelson’s or enemies of the season.

Kol was the only vampire in his family who was upset with Freya for sacrificing Davina. (and by proxy those Davina/Kolvina fans called Freya out along with Vincent/Marcel fans…) but that’s so little incomparison to the majority. Klaus said no, but it was so poorly handled. In return opposed to Bonnie choosing not to deactivate the Gilbert device, trying to murder Damon & being distant with Caroline/Elena in s1-2… She constantly faces backlash for that or blame for trying to save her friends at her own expense. Bonnie’s not given a fraction of privilege in the narrative or fandom. See what I mean? Again, Freya is very confident in herself people praise her for that. But the moment Bonnie has an inch of confidence she’s called a bitch and cocky needs “humbling”.

The Mikaelson’s are fan favorites which makes it harder to me to engage with that fanbase because so many of them are on a power-trip like their fave characters. You can’t have serious nuanced discussions with some people bc they’ll be like “the most powerful family to exist they did…” “__ is a Mikaelson of course they act like!!Okayyy! I wanted nuance lmao. Nobody said they had to be good or perfect (despite the narrative wanting them to do that.)

Freya is 100% a plot device after season 3. I personally would’ve loved seeing her make her family respect her but truly they walk all over Freya. It isn’t until Keelin that Freya gets more “selfish” so to speak but not nearly enough for the things she does for her siblings. But, there are other witches like Hope (who’s a plot device in more ways than one) and Davina who are treated the same way but people praise and fawn over them in the same breathe blame Bonnie for all her problems.

Bonnie loved meeting other witches. She felt bad about Luka’s death as she thought she finally found someone who understood. She begged Lucy to stay with her, and loved learning magic with Grams. Her friendship with Nora was so sweet once they got another.(Her first girlfriend fr. She told me so)

I think the only negative to the Bonnie meeting Vincent/Davina/Hope discussion is how “low” people view Bonnie or they immediately assume she’d start attacking those people? I’m sorry? But Bonnie and Rebekah shared a few scenes together she’s never initiated ANY violence to her. Or the “Bonnie should’ve met the anti-Mikaelson crew and hung out/did magic” but then when you mention romance or anything else “Bonnie should NEVER date a Mikaelson…” alrighty, you just wanted to see Bonnie be of service to the Mikaelsons lol.

Anyway Freya is Bi, Bonnie is definitely Bi-coded. I could see it working out.

[jkwontravels]

Seoul, Korea

My plan was to follow the lead of my friends who have been persistently asking to go to Korea for years. A part of me wanted to spend my vacation days exploring a different country so I dodged their request for some time. Even when we booked our flights, I read over the cancellation policy in case I wanted to back out last minute. But after my last relationship, I’m deeply grateful for friends who love my culture so much that they planned their birthday around Korea, making it a non-negotiable trip. 

Leading up to it, “Beef” on Netflix dropped and for the first time, I felt seen. It portrayed cultural nuances that influence my everyday thoughts and behaviors but were hard to justify in a way that resonated with others. Small things like what it means to be a praise team leader to bigger cultural norms like living life indebted to your parents are concepts I didn’t know how to explain to my non-Korean friends. But seeing my life and all the intentional pieces of my experience portrayed on TV made me long for this trip even more.

If Nola was where I learned to love myself again, Korea was where I was loved. The native part of me that I couldn’t quite explain was fully embraced by my friends who got to experience this part of my identity with me. My Western-side was validated by my extended family who connected with me more deeply than I ever had with my immediate family in America. Whether I’m Korean, Korean-American, or American, all of it mattered because being a blended mixture of all three is the reason I am who I am. Rarely am I afraid to talk about being Korean, but this trip has made me proud. 

Collectively, this year has been a healing journey, one trip at a time.

[bitch-butter]

i know that anon was asking your opinion on leitch which i'd like to +1 and add that he also strikes me as incredibly rude and heady with delusions of power and importance. the way he bosses around not just the whf506 staff but also the other actors and guest stars is uncute. he is also a bitch to people in the comments which blows my mind because why! he is a cringe middle aged white dad whom you can tell is always smizing for the camera which generally would be fine (and lbr not uncommon among bob cast) if he weren't also genuinely unlikable. he also gives very creepy vibes toward women. would you actually have been remiss not to stress how beautiful lucie is when she did the zoom with shane a couple yrs ago matt? would you? we all have eyes did it need to be said and in that way? quickly

uh YEAH

this asshole seems rude as fuck to everyone in such a way that I'm Shocked he continues to get people who pay to interact with him. I heard a rumor a while ago that there's beef with him and the larger cast bc of just Him Doing Him and that made So much sense bc to my recollection he and his Pod Partner were in nola for the symposium but he wasn't actually up there with everyone else. what is the truth here.

that zoom with lucie truly did ruin my life it was So uncomfortable i had to sit next to a window so i could smoke inside it made me so stressed.

[nepokisses]

laura   harrier.     she/her.     cis   woman.      ›spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   alana   davis   ,   most   likely   listening   to   heaven   by   nola   adé   with   their   airpods   pro   .   the   twenty   seven   year   old   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be   -introverted   yet   +humble   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about   a   pair   of   boxing   gloves   ,   late   nights   spent   at   the   local   gym   ,   her   maternal   grandmother's   locket   ,   a   newly   crafted   tiara   ,   followed   by   rihanna   nude   perfume   .   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   newly   crowned   princess   discovered   to   have   a   police   record   due   to   assault   charges   pressed   against   her   in   her   early   20s   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   good   reputation   .   (   tj   ,   21   ,   they/them   ,   est   .   )

B A S I C S 

full name: alana davis. nicknames: lana. gender:  cis woman. pronouns:  she/her. sexuality:  pansexual. age:  27. date of birth:  september 1st, 1995. zodiac sign:  virgo. birthplace: the bronx, new york. current location: the bronx, new york. residence:  her childhood home - she refuses to move out of the home she grew up in. occupation:  former amateur boxer/ current princess. languages spoken: english, a little spanish.

A P P E A R A N C E

faceclaim:  laura harrier. height:  5’9. build:  toned. eyes:  brown. hair:  naturally dark brunette. piercings:  standard earlobe piercings.  tattoos:  a cherry blossom branch running along her forearm and wrist. other distinguishing features:  smile. style:  casual for the most part, unless she's going to an event or somewhere special. 

P E R S O N A L I T Y

traits:  (+) humble, honest, determined, dedicated , loyal. (-) shy, temperamental, bitter, easily angered , unforgiving.  mental health:  anger management issues, bipolar disorder; medicated.  physical health:  great, very healthy physically. likes:  boxing, video games, sports, art, spicy foods, bratz dolls, live concerts, mma, wine, smoking marijuana.  dislikes:  being antagonized, people who don't respect boundaries, avocados, crowded spaces, groups of people that take up the whole sidewalk, being forced to introduce herself, being in the spotlight, being lied to, being told what to do, mint chocolate chip ice cream.  fears:  losing her autonomy.  phobias:  snakes. hobbies:  boxing, teaching other people how to box, crocheting, reading. skills: crocheting, fighting / boxing, jumping rope / double dutch, computer savvy. quirks:  cracking her knuckles when irritated, avoiding eye contact when feeling shy or nervous, rolling her eyes.

F A V O R I T E S

ice cream flavour:  cookies & cream.  time of the day / night:  late night.  weather:  summer weather.  breakfast food:  waffles, cereal, yogurt.  dinner food:  jerk chicken, beef patties, pasta, rice. colours:  lots of darker, muted colors.  music: nola adé, adele, fka twigs, kehlani, lady gaga, solange, yebba, paramore, hozier, ed sheeran, nirvana, beyoncé, megan thee stallion, sza, samara joy, flo milli, kendrick lamar. 

M I S C E L A N E O U S

a cherished item:  her maternal grandmother's locket, the first pair of boxing gloves her mother bought for her. first love ( celeb crush ):  rider strong, circa boy meets world / ciara usual mood:  neutral. 1 thing they want to do / experience before they die:  have one professional boxing match.  character inspo: rosalie hale ( twilight ), raven ( teen titans ), bonnie bennett ( the vampire diaries ).

B A C K G R O U N D

childhood & adolescence: alana grew up with a single mother in the bronx. her father, whom her mother didn't really speak about often, was never in the picture for her. from a young age, it was quite difficult for her to deal with the fact that she grew up without a dad. she absolutely adored her mother, but being teased by other children for not having both parents in her life caused her a lot of inner turmoil. it didn't help that she was a rather awkward looking child - as most people go through their ugly duckling stages. despite being a shy, introverted girl, alana had a very short tempered fuse - a trait that she inherited from her mother. her peers assumed that her quiet demeanor would make her an easy target for bullying, but she quickly proved them wrong after getting into a scuffle here and there; scuffles where she primarily came out on top. her mother, tired of being called to her school for her fighting bullies, decided that she needed to redirect her short fuse into another avenue; which was when she introduced a ten year old alana to boxing. her mother was an amateur female boxer in her youth, but retired and laid her boxing dreams to rest when she got pregnant with alana. it became quite obvious that the boxing gene was passed onto her, because she took to it like a fish takes to water and fell in love with the sport. throughout middle and high school, alana kept up with her boxing. it became a dream of hers to enter the professional world of boxing. in her mind, she had the perfect path set up for herself. she would graduate, focusing on training full time and eventually open up her own gym dedicated to boxing. as much as she loved the sport, being in the public eye as a famous boxer wasn't something that she was interested in. she just wanted to box without being known by the world.

early & mid twenties: boxing had become a huge part of her life by that point. training for hours everyday, competing in amateur fights here and there. she was saving up money to buy a local gym in her neighborhood when a sudden tragedy struck. her mother passed away not too soon before alana's twenty sixth birthday. it was due to health complications that she didn't share with alana - which broke alana's heart. she was devastated that her mother didn't share her health issues with her, and was angry towards her mother for quite a while after her death for that reason, but months in therapy has helped her start to move past that and let the anger go. all the money she had been saving up to buy the gym had to go towards her mother's funeral arrangements and all other loose ends that needed to be tied up; setting alana back at square one all over again.

current day: alana always thought that she was just a normal girl from the bronx. it came as a hell of a shock to her when she was contacted by her father's side of the family to let her know that not only was her father, and by association herself, royalty, but he was the king of the small european country he resided in - making her a princess. she couldn't believe that her life had turned into some fucked up version of the princess diaries. at first she didn't believe them - but after doing some research of her own and going through old papers that her mother kept stashed and hidden away from her, she learned that it was true.

then her life was flipped upside down once more. suddenly she had security following her around at all times, complete strangers vying for her attention. the royal family and consults are trying to control every aspect of her life - she can't box anymore, she can't do this, she can't do that. it's stifling and overwhelming for her. she never wanted this; she was content with her life, for the most part. now it was a complete circus. the one thing that she's held onto is her childhood home. she refuses to move out, although she knows eventually she might have to give in to her new family's wishes and move into a safer, more secure home. but until then, she's fine with having security roaming around her childhood home, as long as she gets to keep one piece of her old life for now.

C O N N E C T I O N S

ex ( multiple ): alana has had a few significant others in her life; some of them she parted with on friendly terms, others not so friendly.

fwb ( multiple ): self explanatory.

users ( multiple ): people that want to be close to alana due to her status and title.

true friends ( multiple ): people that are actually friends with alana because of who she is, not what she is.

boxing mentee: she's not supposed to be boxing anymore, but this person is interested in picking up a few boxing techniques and moves, and lana can't help but give them a helping hand.

best friend / platonic soulmate: self explanatory.

childhood friend: one of the few kids that didn't try to tease of bully her growing up.

gaming buddy ( multiple ): self explanatory.

sense of calm: one of the few people that can calm alana down when her short fuse explodes.

brother / male presenting sibling ( on father's side ): will be sending this wc into the main, but if you're interesting lmk! we can discuss it.

instigator: this person loves to push alana's buttons until she bites back, because they love seeing how feisty she gets.

[milfzatannaz]

one day I’ll get a follower from Nola and we’d have to beef depending on what HS they went to