#for more on this see: the years of rice and salt

[utilitycaster]

I should note, I hate the soulmates "we would fall in love in every universe" trope for the aforementioned "where's the tension and interest and really anything worthwhile" reasons. However, "we would find each other in every universe" fucking rips. We would interact meaningfully in every universe but sometimes we are lovers and sometimes we are friends and sometimes we are bitter enemies and sometimes we'd simply both be in the same HOA.

[keeps-ache]

once again i am on the playlist lol

[saja-star]

I've had a hard time articulating to people just how fundamental spinning used to be in people's lives, and how eerie it is that it's vanished so entirely. It occurred to me today that it's a bit like if in the future all food was made by machine, and people forgot what farming and cooking were. Not just that they forgot how to do it; they had never heard of it.

When they use phrases like "spinning yarns" for telling stories or "heckling a performer" without understanding where they come from, I imagine a scene in the future where someone uses the phrase "stir the pot" to mean "cause a disagreement" and I say, did you know a pot used to be a container for heating food, and stirring was a way of combining different components of food together? "Wow, you're full of weird facts! How do you even know that?"

When I say I spin and people say "What, like you do exercise bikes? Is that a kind of dancing? What's drafting? What's a hackle?" it's like if I started talking about my cooking hobby and my friend asked "What's salt? Also, what's cooking?" Well, you see, there are a lot of stages to food preparation, starting with planting crops, and cooking is one of the later stages. Salt is a chemical used in cooking which mostly alters the flavor of the food but can also be used for other things, like drawing out moisture...

"Wow, that sounds so complicated. You must have done a lot of research. You're so good at cooking!" I'm really not. In the past, children started learning about cooking as early as age five ("Isn't that child labor?"), and many people cooked every day their whole lives ("Man, people worked so hard back then."). And that's just an average person, not to mention people called "chefs" who did it professionally. I go to the historic preservation center to use their stove once or twice a week, and I started learning a couple years ago. So what I know is less sophisticated than what some children could do back in the day.

"Can you make me a snickers bar?" No, that would be pretty hard. I just make sandwiches mostly. Sometimes I do scrambled eggs. "Oh, I would've thought a snickers bar would be way more basic than eggs. They seem so simple!"

Haven't you ever wondered where food comes from? I ask them. When you were a kid, did you ever pick apart the different colored bits in your food and wonder what it was made of? "No, I never really thought about it." Did you know rice balls are called that because they're made from part of a plant called rice? "Oh haha, that's so weird. I thought 'rice' was just an adjective for anything that was soft and white."

People always ask me why I took up spinning. Isn't it weird that there are things we take so much for granted that we don't even notice when they're gone? Isn't it strange that something which has been part of humanity all across the planet since the Neanderthals is being forgotten in our generation? Isn't it funny that when knowledge dies, it leaves behind a ghost, just like a person? Don't you want to commune with it?

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Slight note about the system of food.

'cause adding it to the large doc might crash my computer?

I've realized that though historical fiction minds this more when set in pre-industrial times, that often fantasy set in agricultural societies doesn't seem to do this, though it should.

So I'll give you an example...

Almost everything in Korean food is centered and bred for two things: Kimchi and soy sauce.

But what you don't realize in your industrialized state how freaking long it takes to make these things and how much planning is involved and how much you have to mind the seasons in order to make it correctly.

Kimchi:

Baekchu (or other vegetables) that's often harvested in fall.

The salt, which was traditionally sea salt was harvested in the spring and summer months.

Garlic is a spring to mid summer crop.

The sweet rice that goes into winter kimchi takes a ton of work to make and can take from Spring to fall.

The fish sauce that goes into Kimchi that helps preserve it for over a year, takes and ENTIRE YEAR to make. Yes, a year. You really, really have to plan on that. And what do you do if the fishing is poor for that year?

Spring onions are faster to grow, but you still have to time it for the fall kimchi making.

The fish are seasonal. For example, Yellow Corvina is taken in Korea in the spring. Shrimp in the summer (June), and anchovies in early spring to fall.

Your timing has to be impeccable and you need an entire year to plan this one dish.

Meanwhile, you, industrialized person, take for granted that you can get fish sauce any time you like and can pour it over kimchi.

In fantasy this could add flavor to your fantasy make up, if your character can only get this dish once a year. It can add political unrest (What do you mean the salt harvest was poor and we're left with the shitty metallic salt), because your characters in an agricultural society will be subject to weather changes, which you get when reading historical fiction and so on. Three seasons of poor harvest, daaaamnn... the people might overthrow their government. There might be new religions that pop up, there might be uprisings because the King and Queen are eating feasts every day while the peasants are eating things that are empty calories.

What I'm saying is that you can't be too entrenched into industrial mindset if you're not writing an industrial setting.

That orange is seasonal and only comes about in a connected system that has winter and a warmer climate.

Maybe there are key foods for your climate that are highly treasured or sought after. Mandarins once were. Cacao. Think a bit about those things and how it might interact with the larger world. When does your plant mature and when can it be harvested? is it different from different climates? There's wars that have been fought over food. (Tea, famously, at least a few times).

A staple crop failing is going to have devastating consequences.

And yet, often in fantasy, I often see people going, ya know what I can eat in the dead of winter, strawberries. Do we have greenhouses? No. Did we have freezers? No. But you know what my character is eating? A strawberry. Yeah, think about that. Strawberries don't preserve well. So plan out the timing of your dishes a bit (to the climate and subsistence system) and it can give a bit of background worldbuilding to your dishes and food.

I do have to say that the small mentions from Rings of Power on what's in season or not and why kinda made me feel like the world and the traveling was more "real" with the Harfoot. There's small references to fall v. spring crops.

[highschoolluver]

ALPHA! HQ BOYS x MANAGER! READER

ALPHA! HQ first years and their scents.

Pairings: Tobio Kageyama/reader, Shoyo Hinata/reader, Kai Tsukishima/reader, and Tadashi Yamaguchi/reader.

Warnings: None.

ALPHA! TOBIO KAGEYAMA 

Keynotes: Gunpowder, Rice, Authentic Matcha Powder, and Sea Salt.

Songs: Congratulations by Mac Miller, Infrunami by Steve Lacy, and Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean.

The first thing everyone seemed to notice about Kageyama was the intensity of his scent: especially during his middle school years. Alongside his short temper and inability to socialize, Kageyama’s scent made him all the more unpopular. 

His scent was weirdly engulfing to you which separated him from other alphas who usually had subdued scents with hints of strong notes like musk or sandalwood. Oddly enough, it didn’t turn you away from him.

When you first met him, the first thing you noticed was the sheer smell of gunpowder, which after speaking to Yachi and meeting the team, you figured out that it was coming from Kageyama. He was Beautiful, entirely a sight for your sore eyes. You didn’t hesitate to take up a position as a manager, and of course, didn’t hesitate to get closer to Tobio Kageyama.

In fact, if anything, it added to his allure. What interested you the most was that once you got over the smell of weaponry, the rest of his scent was oddly comforting.

In his calmer moments, the gunpowder's overall potency is replaced by notes like warm white rice and chunky sea salt. 

Despite the common characterization of Kageyama being arrogant and rude, Kageyama, at his heart, is simply a boy with a passion for the sport he’s loved for years. He misses social cues, can’t seem to be able to study properly, can’t seem to pass a math test but can calculate where and how hard he should hit a volleyball to score a point, and can’t easily communicate his emotions without yelling. These moments are when you can really make out the gentle details of the rest of his scent. When it's just you and Kageyama, not the great king of the court or the arrogant setter from Karasuno High School, you can smell the thoughtful picking of the brand of the powder, the careful measurements of hot water, and the brisk whisking needed to make a cup of matcha alongside a warm bowl of arroz con leche. It’s in these moments that Tobio Kageyama can’t deny his feelings for you.

ALPHA! SHŌYŌ HINATA

Keynotes: Carrot, Osmanthus, Waffle Cone, and Gasoline.

Songs: Oye Mi Amor by Maná, Brazil by Delcan Mckenna, You Look So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer.

Miyagi prefecture is known for many things but mainly, it’s known for its festivals. More specifically, It’s the famous Tanabata summer festival. That day in mid july was when you first smelled him: His scent alone had nearly stopped you in your tracks. There, among the sea of alphas who smelled like amber, was a soothing yet very pungent smell. Commonly, flowery, sweet, and vegetable-like scents usually belonged to omegas and some betas. This scent was floral with a strong note of osmanthus and warm sugar, however, the sheer intensity could only have belonged to an Alpha. When you looked in the direction of the aroma, you could only see the crowd and faintly smell the lingering scent of lighter fluid.

You never managed to forget the scent, afterall, it was so unique that it nearly drove you insane the rest of the summer. School started back up and one of your friends, Yachi, managed to get herself a position as one of the managers of the Karasuno volleyball team. Yachi eventually, through the fact that she begged and pleaded with you nearly every day to become a manager, convinced you to become a manager as well. The day that you first went into the gym was the day you met that alpha with the odd scent all those months ago.

The immediate smell of Gasoline filled your nose as you stopped dead in your tracks. There he was; you knew in your soul that it was the man that had fascinated you back in July. His brown eyes landed on your figure as he stood there before you. There was a shift in his scent, the bitter notes of carrot and gasoline were gone as they were replaced by something much sweeter: Instead, honeyed apricots and sugary waffle cones filled the air. 

He had noticed you back then too, back in July when the sun was setting and the only thing he could make out was your love-struck eyes. 

ALPHA! KEI TSUKISHIMA

Keynotes: Oatmilk, Hot Iron, Leather, and Papaya.

Songs: Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex, Playground Love by Air and Gordon Tracks, Religion by Lana Del Rey.

Someone once told you that Papaya was the fruit of love. They said that if someone were to eat the papaya’s fruit and its seeds before they kissed someone, then the two were promised eternal love. That was back before you learned that Papaya seeds were extremely toxic and that the flesh was barely sweet. 

You and Tsukishima had never really talked, even before high school. He always kept to himself and when he didn’t, he was extremely snarky and sassy, which made you want to talk to him even less. Despite his rude character, he never really treated you like that. Ever since Elementary school, Tsukishima had never once insured you. Instead, he either went along with what you said or stayed silent. His eyes always seemed to lock onto yours, even as children, which led Yachi and Kiyoko to speculate about what Tsukishima thought about you.

Yachi always reminds you of what happened that day when she talks about the two of you. Karasuno and Nekoma had a sparring match on a cool September day. After the practice match, the two teams had run out of water bottles which had prompted Coach Ukai to send you out to a nearby grocery for more. Despite it being somewhat light out, Ukai still sent an Alpha to accompany you, and that's how Kei Tsukishima joined you.

His scent, which was extremely intimidating with heavy notes of brown leather and hot metal, lingered in the air as he looked down at you. You had never realized just how tall he was compared to you, how much space he took up despite being so anti-social, and just how attractive he was under the streetlight. Usually, you would just politely ignore him but, under the early stars and cool 7:00 P.M. air, you couldn’t look away. His eyes, once so disinterested and dismissive, were full of passion and animalistic desire. You couldn’t bear to look away as Tsukishima suggested that the two of you deserved something sweet: a “reward” in his words for being such a “good manager” and for working “so hard”. 

In the end, he was the one who cut up the papaya he had bought for the two of you. He brought some of its flesh and seeds to his soft lips. The scent of ripe papaya and sweet oat milk wafted in the clean air as the taste of the fruit and its seeds lingered on your lips and in your mouth.

ALPHA! TADASHI YAMAGUCHI

Keynotes: Seawater, Ironed Laundry, Banana Leaf, and Cotton.

Songs: And I Love Her by Santo & Johnny, Oh My Angel by Bertha Tilman, and Contigo by Los Panchos.

You had always had a bit of a crush on Yamaguchi. Which, embarrassingly enough, was the entire reason why you had become a manager of the team. 

You always looked at him from a distance, never truly crossing the invisible line between the two of you. Because of this, you were able to realize a few things about him: He was extremely awkward around all girls, when he tanned he seemed to get even more freckles, his hair never was too long or too short, he always seemed to follow Kei Tsukishima, and he wasn’t like another alpha you had ever met. 

His scent wasn’t proactive or strong, it was somewhat faint that you initially mistook him for a beta. It was calm and so comforting that you couldn’t help but gravitate towards him. He smelled like the Pacific Ocean and sweet banana leaves, like long days on the sandy beaches of the Miyagi prefecture.  He smelled like some distant home, one where you’ll come back to after a long day in some bustling city, probably Tokyo, and relax in this small comfort. You’d come back to the aroma of warm clothes and cotton and greet your husband, Yamaguchi just doesn't know it yet but the two of you are already married, and he’d kiss you ever so gently. He’d kiss you just to kiss you because that’s exactly the type of man and alpha Tadashi Yamaguchi is.

In his presence, you felt safe. Yamaguchi, by no means, was the strongest, toughest, or scariest alpha you had met. But there was something in those awkward conversations, the vulnerability was intimate and of young love. Things like when he stuttered your name while helping you with something, when his knee would touch yours but neither one of you pulled away, or when he would look at you with such gentleness that it stunned you. There was no lust, no animatic desire, and no malice in those puppy eyes. There was only love, pure love, love that everyone grows up with.

You had spent such a long time yearning for Tadashi Yamaguchi that you had lost sight that he had started to look at you the same way.

AUTHOR NOTES: T’was fun to write ngl but let know if you enjoyed and if you want more!!!! tysmm for reading

[ms-demeanor]

You seem like a good sort of person to ask; how does one go about building up a good spice rack? Not only just having the spices, but knowing what they are and how to use them, when and in what quantities, and developing a wider spice palette in general? I grew up in white suburbia and my mother has no idea how to use anything other than salt and ground black pepper, and I want to start making my foods more flavorful. I am tired of utterly flavorless dry roast pork! But I have no idea where to begin lol.

I'd say to start by trying a lot of foods that use a lot of different spice profiles and seeing what you like. If you like Thai food, look into Thai spices and try cooking a few recipes. If you like Indian food, try Indian recipes. If you don't know if you like a particular kind of food, go out and try it and see if you do.

I think the best way to build up your spice rack is to do so slowly over time as you familiarize yourself with different flavors. Don't go out and buy a ton of stuff, go out and buy cumin and make a rice recipe that calls for cumin and see if you like it, then next time maybe add another spice like cayenne pepper to the recipe and see if you like it.

Spices can be really expensive, but they can also be really cheap if you're looking in the right places. Try to avoid the shiny organic spice jars, and see if there are packets of spices in the various "ethnic" food sections of your grocery store (in California it's pretty common to have a Mexican food section and an Asian food section in the store and you'll often find stuff like a packet of cumin for 70 cents that's got the same amount of spice as the organic jar that costs five bucks in the spice aisle).

Once you've got some basics down, start branching out and seeing if you've got any good markets nearby that have more unusual spices. Large Bastard and I get most of our bulk spices from a Middle Eastern market around the corner from our house or at an Indian market a few miles away because it's WAY cheaper to get allspice or turmeric or garam masala from those stores than it would be from the grocery store.

And if you're starting at the basic-basics, like how to season a simple pork roast, check recipe blogs. Find different bloggers and test their recipes until you find someone you trust, then follow their recipes. One good place to start is with Chef John and Food Wishes - he has a wide variety of cuisines that use a lot of different spices and has recipes that range from very simple to very complex.

Large Bastard really likes Food Wishes and trying recipes from Chef John - he cooks less than I do and has less of a sense of what to add to a pot to get something to taste the way he wants it to, but he's gotten very good at taking Food Wishes recipes and tweaking them or adjusting them and figuring out how to mix and match flavors.

Just cooking - finding a recipe that looks interesting and following it - is a really good way to get better at this kind of thing.

That's actually one of the reasons that I think meal kit boxes like blue apron can be worth it for people who want to learn how to cook - they give you recipes you wouldn't have thought to look for and provide small amounts of the required ingredients so you can sample them and figure out if you like them. My dad and sister got blue apron for like two years and it has significantly improved their cooking skills and ability to mix and match flavors.

It just takes time and money and trial and error. Easy, right? (It isn't, but there's also no way to make it faster other than doing more experiments. Thankfully there are ways to make it cheaper, and yeah looking at local specialty markets is a good way to save on spices)

[bonefall]

what poison/s were used in riverstar's heir at moth's celebration and when bright and flowerstar ate together? suggestion (if you hadn't decided yet): Monkshood/Aconite/Wolfsbane (Aconitum napellus) its a VERY poisonous plant native to the uk and europe, lethal with both ingestion and body contact and has historical use in killing and murder. symptoms appear quickly and death often comes in only a few hours; its a shame it wasn't used in canon lmao

Oh symptoms don't just appear quickly-- Aconite's name is said to be ancient Greek for "Without Dust." That refers to how aconite kills SO quickly that you will not even kick up dust in your death struggle. Death coming in a few hours is from the minimum deadly dosage, any good assassin worth their salt would use more (and take care to mask its bitter taste, it's not a subtle flavor like cyanide is.)

Forget "deathberries." Yew is nothing next to aconite.

Yew's deadly compound, taxine, acts by stopping your heart. Yawn. Aconite targets your heart, liver, kidneys, AND brain all at the same time. It's so potent that handling young roots will make your hands go numb. Only 2 miligrams of the deadly compound, aconitine, is a fatal dose in a human being; a single grain of rice weighs 20 miligrams.

Anon, my friend, you undersold aconite. It's not just a very poisonous plant in Europe, aconitine is top 5 deadliest poisons period. Members of the aconite family are widespread through the northern hemisphere-- indigenous Alaskan people have used it to hunt whales for tens of thousands of years. Its toxic properties break down within 24 hours, leaving the meat completely safe to eat.

So naturally, suggestion accepted. This is going to be SICK.

Especially since no one will be able to tell what happened. It looks like every major poison because it is. You might assume it was some kind of toxic cocktail from the symptoms. Convulsions, rapid heartrate, vomiting, numbness. It looks like yew, nightshade, and bryony all at once.

It'll be very easy for Bright Whisker to survive this and shake off suspicion simply by poisoning herself with a small amount of something else. If I go with Maple Whisker being a sibling instead of a cousin, I could have her simply join their meal a little late and realize that her mouth feels numb, just as everyone else enters convulsions, so she spits it out.

(Autism win! Avoided a poisoning because texture bad! Maybe she was waiting for the food to cool down too lmao)

And LASTLY... Aconite is Wolf's Bane. I think this is a really cool place to see the earliest incarnation of the Wolf Motif that will later show up in Bluestar's family. It tickles my brain a bit to think of Flowerstar somehow having the "hood" shape of the flower, and then she loses her first life in her gambit to poison the wolf among sheep.

I also had a stroke of inspiration and had an idea for one of the BB!DOTC cats, too. Dappled Pelt gets massively neglected in canon, imo, and I could set up the wolf thing even earlier. African Wild Dog time (painted wolf.)

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

If a town had their food completely self-sustained, how much farmland would they need? It's a heavily vegetarian community by the way. How much would it depend on the exact crops they're growing i.e. beans vs lentils, rice vs wheat? Let's say 30,000 people for now. If I need to adjust for a different population, would it be linear or not? What if they optimised their fields for most nutrition to land required? The town is in the coastal tropics by the way. Crops that can't be grown there can be greenhoused. Also, I heard about crops being grown in seawater instead. How much land can be saved if some of the crops were there instead? Also, how possible is it for this community to be able to achieve less than 5% food waste?

Tex: So I went and gave “how much farmland is needed per person” a quick search on the internet, and here are the first three results:

How Much Land Does It Take To Feed One Person – Online Calculator by William Swanson | Permaculturism

How much land to feed a person? by The Naked Scientists

Agricultural land use per person by Our World in Data

Now, I do not necessarily claim these are the best search results, only the first search results. (Admittedly, the top result is pretty good for most uses.) Adjusting your keywords and search parameters will likely net you more pertinent results.

For some additional context, here is a list of types of malnutrition (Wikipedia). It has a category for both under- and over-nourishment, which will be useful for your context and as a form of general education in real life.

Humans require a varied diet. If they do not get this, and in proper quantities, they fall ill. Trade has been an enormous supplement for this, in terms of things like preserved produce or meats that cannot be produced locally for various reasons, or preservation agents such as salt (which also fill a spot in the nutritional index).

Land can only produce so much during a growing period, and requires seasonal periods to lay fallow - something which typically requires the use of manure to amend the soil to a useful mineral ratio (you can use chemicals, strictly speaking, if you don’t mind destroying the microbiome in the process). Greenhouses have much the same pitfalls, hence their experimental or ornamental nature compared to the style of agriculture humans have been practicing for thousands of years.

The amount of arable land will dictate how many people can survive healthily in a given area. For this, you’ll probably want to use the calculator linked above, and make sure to account for non-arable, uninhabitable land for other flora, other fauna, and geological features such as rocks or beaches.

It will not be a utopia, and an agriculturally-dependent society that vegetarianism or veganism (an even more stringent diet) demands will necessarily spend the majority of their time tending to their crops and the accessory chores to keep their farms running year-round.

Additionally, food waste is a relatively new concept, and mostly for the Western or adjacent world, because historically most people have been too poor to afford wasting even a single scrap of a mealy vegetable. If it cannot be cooked into edibility, fed to a farm animal, composted, used to insulate crops over winter, converted into a useful craft (see: textiles, manufacturing of non-food goods), or otherwise consumed in a worthwhile manner, it generally is not bothered with as a crop because wasted crop costs money - and money is historically housed by the wealthy who need not worry about such things as where and when their next meal arrives, not the people who produce the food.

[misspelledwordswizard]

Chapter 6 - I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm not complaining.

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

We decided that food was our priority, so I had the idea of buying some things at the general store and using the cooking pot next to it, which I knew was possible thanks to the games, but I had to play dumb and ask someone where we could get something to eat.

Of course, I’m not as skilled as Wild, but I could manage, and I wasn’t willing to bet on the culinary skills of the man next to me. When we arrived at High Spirits Produce, we were greeted by the owner, Mrs. Trissa, who helped us choose food, the options were much larger than in the games, definitely.

With what we found there, we decided that the best option would be to make a vegetable risotto, so we bought some carrots, butter and Hylian rice, at least Four already had the rock salt so that the food wouldn’t be tasteless. We went outside the store to use the cooking pot, the hero insisted on helping me, because it wouldn’t be fair for me to do all the work.

The man might be skilled with swords, but I will definitely never leave a kitchen knife in his hands again. The task that shouldn’t have lasted more than half na hour ended up taking almost na hour. Even though he was so focused, the little guy seemed nervous when trying to help with the food and ended up getting all mixed up. But we managed to complete our mission without any serious injuries in the process.

Finally, with the food ready, we sat on the floor with our plates of risotto, laughing at how the presentation of the food wasn’t the best. When we put a spoonful in our mouths, we were surprised; it was very good. I think Four was even more incredulous about this. We both knew we had thought the same thing, so for a moment we stared at each other in silence before bursting out laughing.

— You really do work miracles to fix food that I put my hands on, but I still don’t think you’re capable of fixing one from Hyrule! – The blond spoke as a challenge.

— What, is it that bad? – I said in surprise, what could Rulie do to make a meal so indigestible?

— Be thankful that he hasn’t offered to help with the cooking since you joined us.

We continued to eat in silence, too hungry to hold a conversation, but it was a comfortable silence. The food was gone quickly, and I soon regretted having eaten so quickly, but it seemed that Four had also finished his.

So, as agreed, we went for a walk around the village, which was great as it would help me digest everything before finally going to rest. It was quiet at first as we looked at the scenery and greeted the friendly villagers, but I was curious about what the hero wanted to tell me first.

— So... what’s all this about? – I broke the silence, calling his attention, who seemed lost in thought.

— Hm, I’d like to just talk first, okay? – I agreed to his request, waiting for him to start talking, having no idea what subjects he would be interested in. – Were you really living completely alone?

— Yes, at most I visit my parents once in a while, but in general I’ve always been fine alone.

— You don’t have a boyfriend? – This question made me look at him in surprise. – Don’t get me wrong! I just wanted to know if you were really alone, and not just living alone.

— Okay, well, I don’t have anyone anyway.

— I see. – Silence fell for a moment. – Are you very attached to your home? Would you feel bad if you were away for a long time? – I didn’t understand where he was going with these questions, but I just kept answering.

— I’m not attached to places. I really like traveling too. Seeing those I love at least sometimes makes me feel like I can live anywhere, basically.

This all seemed more like na interrogation than a conversation, but I feel like the idea wasn’t to exchange questions and answers, he probably wants to get somewhere with all this.

— Would you feel bad if something happened and you had to spend years away from them? — He himself didn’t seem very comfortable with that question.

— ... Maybe. I mean, I would definitely miss them a lot, but depending on the reason for being so far away, as long as they’re okay and I can go back to them in the end, I think it’ll be bearable. — The blond seemed surprised by this, but smiled in understanding.

— You know, I’ve been away from my grandfather for a long time now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see him. But you’re right, knowing that he’s okay and waiting for me gives me the strength to carry on. — He finally graced me with something that wasn’t a question about me. I felt sorry for him, I could see how much he missed his grandfather, but his persistence was admirable.

— So, am I going to find out the reason for all this or are you going to keep this suspense in the air?

His laugh was rewarding, he turned to me amusedly, and then I saw his gaze lost in thought again.

— You’re a nice girl, you have a quiet life and you’re not very demanding... that’s why I’m so sorry that we got you involved in our mess. – I tried to say that everything was fine, that it wasn’t their fault. – But unfortunately this happened, and we have no way of reversing it at the moment... whether you’re with us or not, now you’ll be in constant danger.

— What do you mean? – I knew he was referring to the shadow, but I didn’t understand where he was going with this.

— If we leave you here, to start your quiet life over again, I’m afraid you might not be safe, I believe that shadow will follow you even if you no longer have anything to do with us... and – he paused contemplatively – And you wouldn’t have any way of defending yourself, and no one to help you.

— Well...

— That’s why I was thinking, maybe the best option would be to bring you with us!

— What?! – ok, now that surprised me.

— I know it sounds crazy! I haven’t even talked to the others about this yet, I thought I should talk to you first. But if you were with us we could guarantee your safety against the Shadow! – He started presenting his points quickly, as if he was afraid I would deny it before he could explain himself. – Well, I know it still won’t be easy, it would be something new and there would be many battles along the way, and still, I believe you would be safer with us, just for that I think you can already imagine the danger you would be in if we left you, right?

— I understand, and I’m touched that you are so worried about me, but I don’t think that’s the best idea, because I care about you too. – He seemed confused by my statement. – If I went, I would just be getting in your way, I would have to be protected, I would be another mouth to feed and I wouldn’t be able to help as much as I would like, since I have no experience in adventures.

He laughed, as if I had said the most absurd thing in the world, and looked at me as if I were a puppy trying to learn to bark – okay, maybe that’s a little too specific.

— Sorry, it’s just that of all the reasons I could imagine that could make you be against this, that one didn’t even cross my mind. — I don’t think my reasons are that absurd. — If that’s the only reason you have to be against it, then I don’t think it’ll be a problem for you to come with us. If you feel so bad, you can consider our protection as payment for your burned books. — I felt like he was messing with me now, but I was going to let that one go.

— You’re really insistent, huh? But don’t claim victory, as you said, you didn’t talk about it with the others, maybe they don’t think the same way as you.

— Okay, then I think it’s best if we leave this for later. After all, since we’re here, why don’t we go after the great fairy’s fountain? Wild told me it was nearby! — Maybe he was just trying to distract me from the subject, but the proposal was tempting. I quickly nodded in agreement.

We walked side by side as we climbed that dirt hill, which was quite steep to climb, but nothing compared to the walk to Hateno’s laboratory. I picked up the apples that were on the apple tree along the way, one for me and one for Link. At this point I already knew very well that he was the hero of the four swords, his name and clothes made it very clear. I wonder if he is still capable of dividing himself. He accepted the apple gratefully, his smile was very beautiful when he was like that, so relaxed. It’s interesting how he maintains a calm and centered appearance, but his emotions fluctuated quickly in situations of tension or nervousness. This probably had to do with the colors, perhaps having his emotions divided into personas made him susceptible to sudden changes between them. It was good to have someone to spend quality time with like this, even though we had just met, perhaps due to the recent dangerous situations we had faced together, I felt a greater connection with all the boys, it was as if my subconscious had finally realized that all of this was real, too real.

I shook my head to get rid of these thoughts, if I continued along these lines I would end up crying desperately in na emotional breakdown. I will keep all of my emotions deep in my heart and pretend that everything is fine for as long as I can – and I will probably regret it.

We finally arrived at the Shrines there, which I had no idea what they were called. I only paid attention to the names of the Shrines when I was stuck on them due to my stupidity and had to look up how to get past them. Embarrassing, I admit.

I don’t think Four had been here before, but he didn’t seem lost, although with the least amount of instructions it was possible to find the fountain, the path was so obvious. As we walked towards the large flower in the middle of the trees I could notice the striking presence of silent princess flowers, they were beautiful, and it wasn’t very common to find them in the place where I lived. The fairies there were also a special charm, it was beautiful, I had seen fairies very few times in my life, but seeing so many in one place was totally different.

— Well, according to Wild, it must be here. But I wonder if the great fairy will appear— Four was cut off with an almost sinful feminine sound echoing through the air, while the image of a beautiful woman appeared in the middle of the water of the great flower. The games would never be able to portray the beauty of a great fairy, she was almost divine, but her tone of speech and suggestive vocabulary made me blush. Perhaps it was not very appropriate to come accompanied by a single other person.

— Oh, what beautiful young people who came to visit me. A hero from another era and... a very wise lady, isn’t she? But how beautiful you look together. — Cotera said in her seductive voice, which I feel that, no matter what she said, everything would sound like a double meaning.

 — Ah, Great Fairy Cotera! It is good to see you, you are as splendid as they say! We just came to meet you, Wild- Link, told us about you! – See, I said it without thinking very well, I got nervous with all the provocation I think, I don’t know how to deal with it.

Four looked at me suspiciously, before turning his attention to the fairy and confirming what had been said. Cotera was happy to receive visitors, and we were graced with a while – a long while – of idle chatter with her, and gossip, from people I didn’t even know.

We finally decided it was time to say goodbye, it was almost noon and we were both in need of a rest, having been awake since dawn. I couldn’t wait to sprawl out on the comfortable bed at the inn and sleep for hours in complete peace. On the way back, the hero seemed interested in asking me a few questions.

— Wow, I was surprised you knew her name.

— Oh, yes, the fountain fairies are very famous, especially after they were awakened, lately everyone knows them.

— I see. – I don’t know if I was convincing, but he didn’t bring up the subject again. — How did you know Wild’s real name? – His question surprised me, he seemed serious, maybe he was suspicious of me, I don’t judge him for that.

— And how would I not know? He’s the hero who saved Hyrule a year ago, everyone knows who he is. I don’t know why he introduced himself with that nickname, but I don’t mind using it, it’s not like I’ve met him personally before. I just told Cotera his name so there would be no chance she wouldn’t recognize him. – It was partly true, if I didn’t have my past memories I would still know all of this, precisely because this information is no longer a secret to anyone.

— ... I see. Cotera is right, you are wise. – His voice softened with that, I felt relieved.

◇

When I got back to my room at the inn, I threw myself on the bed and passed out. I didn’t dream about anything, and if I did, I don’t remember. All I know is that I woke up drooling, not even knowing where I was, my hair looking like a bird’s nest, while someone knocked on my door.

Not really aware of my state, I went to answer the door, still groggy from sleep, only to find Warriors.

— Geez, what happened to you? You look like you came out of a hurricane. – He held back a laugh as he analyzed me, trying to wipe my drool and rubbing his eyes from the sleep.

— I was sleeping... what happened?

— It seems that Time wanted to tell us something, a small meeting, and for some reason it is essential that you be there, so I came to escort you, princess. – I couldn’t tell if he was trying to flirt or tease me with the last part, but I just nodded and tidied up my appearance before leaving the room completely.

Warriors led me downstairs, where everyone was waiting in a more communal area of the inn that resembled a living room in a house. There were really a lot of things that the games didn’t show.

— Finally, I was starting to get tired of waiting here so much! — I heard Legend complain loudly, but I just ignored it, which didn’t make him very happy, and sat down next to Wind on a small sofa.

— The reason for all this is that Four presented me with na important point about our guest’s situation, so to speak. — Time started the conversation, at that moment he already knew what it was about. — Leaving her alone would only put her in danger knowing our enemy, and we have no idea when we’ll be able to end this once and for all. Therefore, it would be wise if we could always be around to ensure her safety, but since that’s not possible, the best option would be for her to join our group permanently.

Everyone exchanged glances among themselves, while analyzing the situation, no one seemed to want to say anything about it.

— So, is everyone in agreement? – Four asked as he waited for someone to say something. Nothing. No one had anything to object to.

— Wow, really? I expected that at least Legend wouldn’t like the idea. – I found myself saying it due to the surprise that no one was bothered by my presence on their adventure. I mean, I figured they wouldn’t like having to protect someone who just gets in the way all the time.

— Hey, come on, I’m not that bad! I may not be like some people who become a sunshine with the first person who appears, but I won’t ignore a person who needs help, no matter who it is. – He seemed offended, but nothing too serious, but I felt bad for judging him as someone somewhat “selfish”, if that was the right term.

— I don’t see how this could be a bad situation, we could protect you while having more time to spend with you! It seems like a Win-Win situation to me! – Wind seemed excited about the idea, which made me a little more comfortable with it. I gave him a quick hug as a thank you, at least having him with me I wouldn’t miss home so much.

Everyone looked at me as if that was a unanimous thought, I sighed, in relief and because my still not quite awake brain was struggling to understand what was happening.

— Well, then I guess from now on I’ll be na adventurer, huh? – I finally said, wanting to end the subject quickly. – Can I please go back to sleep now?

Everyone reacted positively, with small laughs or cheers for me having “joined the team”, and Sky seemed drawn to the word “sleep”, getting even more excited.

 — Well, then I believe the subject is closed. We will stay in Kakariko for a few more days, until our addition can get new items for the journey and everyone is properly rested. You are free to go. — I heard some tired celebrations as everyone mobilized. Some returned to their rooms ready for another round of naps, others left the inn in search of food. I was obviously on the team that was going straight to the room. My bed awaits me.

I entered the room, closed the door, and threw myself on the bed. But I couldn’t sleep. Worry crept into my mind. What if I did something stupid that put one of their lives in danger? Or what if I got so attached to them that I would give more than I could at the time of saying goodbye?

Gosh, I’ve already gotten so attached to some of them in less than a week, let alone months of living together. It scared me, but having people in my life after so long, I missed it. Well, I’m just going to keep it all deep down, when it’s time for everything to explode in exaggerated emotions it will happen, now I need to sleep!

[homemadebabka]

ok no notes for live action one piece it looks silly as hell i’m excited but. but. i am not sure i like what direction zoro is going in. like i have said before i think zoro works as a stupid badass but it kind of looks at first glance like they are just making him badass. No!! he is allowed to be stupid!

like the line after luffy says that you should name your moves when zoro says “no you shouldn’t” (major paraphrasing). zoro names his moves. he says rice ball (oni giri) (it’s funnier if i pretend he’s just saying riceball) so like. making me think they are just gonna make him serious.

i think zoros character at the beginning of one piece is confusing bc pre mihawk he is goofy and messes around with everyone but post mihawk he is more serious but still has the stupidity to where the audience doesn’t take him SO seriously.

part of that change can be attributed to one piece being roughly a year in by baratie and his character settling but the fight with mihawk molded zoro into the character he is. i think if they make zoro stoic from the start then that fight is less meaningful for him because the audience doesn’t see that change in his demeanor

long post about something that i have only seen like 10 seconds of so WOAH please take with like. a bucketful of salt.

[monstersinthecosmos]

but now the cosmos crawls with monsters

KACY. 30s. She/They.

This blog contains adult content, please do not follow if you are a minor.

hi friends! I'm Kacy, I write fanfiction! I like ducks and heavy metal! I mostly use this space to talk about The Vampire Chronicles, but I also like Sheith, and horror films, and kink theory! I am an asexual porn writer and I'm obsessed with Marius!

LINKS

AO3 - I am monstersinthecosmos on AO3, I write porn about VC, Sheith, and sometimes YOI!

Bsky - kacycarr on bsky - you will find mostly Sheithing here!

Ko-Fi - feel free to buy me a coffee if you like my fics! I have some fics available for purchase in digital download and paperback! I will also invite you to check out projects I created & co-mod called @vamptember (vampire prompts during the month of September!) and @priapus-at-the-gate (the VC Kink Meme!) VC STUFF!

I mostly use this space to talk about VC since the fandom is either dead or toxic as fuck on other platforms. I've been into VC since like THE YEAR 2000 LOL. I had fics that got taken down in the FFnet purge! Ancient! Marius is my favorite character and I'm more partial to Marius subplots/timelines. I'm also really into the Devil's Minion and Trinity Gate! I'm super into whatever the fuck was going on with Marius & Daniel! I could talk about Armand all fucking day! Pandora is my hero! Please expect posts about these things! I didn't love the AMC adaptation so I don't talk about it very often, because I try to focus on stuff I enjoy. ♡ TAGS

#stuff i wrote - IT'S FOR STUFF I WROTE. contains fics and discussion of fics. if they're very short they might only be on Tumblr and not on AO3.

#deep ass thoughts about vampires - my meta tag, sorry I came up with the name while I was stoned back in 2016 and I'm too lazy to change it :)

#trauma hole theory - if you want even DEEPER ass thoughts about vampires, this is where I park thoughts related to "do vampires have neuroplasticity?" and "would therapy even work on them?" #asexual vc - I don't really shut the fuck up about vampires being asexual so if you wanna hear about it CLICK HERE

#simple italian perv - MISC SMUTTY THOUGHTS to keep the rent low lol if you're new here I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me

#the skateboard of shakespeare - I visited Tulane last year and documented a ton of info from the Anne Rice collection! I use this tag when I share! #vampire chronicles- for book stuff!

#vampire pajama party on amc - this is my tag for the AMC show; I'm not a big fan of it so please feel free to mute if you don't want to see salt posts. (I have a second, even saltier tag called #the rolin jonestown massacre if you want to mute that one as well!)

#devils minion girlies - STILL WORKING HARD TO POPULATE THIS TAG but if you like thinking about Armand & Daniel as lesbians please see this tag. #unethical marius - I've been really obsessed lately with thinking about an AU where Marius is an unethical therapist LOLLL please feel free to peruse or mute as needed. #vampire music - I have like a ND relationship to music and I love sharing it even if no one else cares and taste is subjective but if you ever want vampirey music recs they will be here :D #fandom lolitics - I try not to share too much discourse & drama but it's here if you want to mute it! #vcficfriday - when I have time & remember to I like to share fics I've read on Fridays!!!! Please feel free to use this tag in your own blog as well, to build up fic writers!

I THINK THAT COVERS IT, FELLAS, please be kind to each other and don't be shy to send me asks if you have any questions!

[frogonamelon]

It's that time of year again where it gets a little warmer and I remember that Amphibia is a show I very much enjoy thinking about. Have some Anne outfits, as a treat <3

If you would like to see what aspect of headcanon/ au worldbuilding had consumed my consciousness like a pestering maggot, feel free to continue below.

Hello! Welcome to I focus on researching one very specific detail until I burn out!

My entire day has been consumed by figuring out how Amphibia's farming works. Like... amphibians are carnivores why do they have farms?

Well, I'll tell you why! The Plantars grow animal feed for predominantly crickets but also others such as silkworms, spiders, snails, etc. They grow produce like cabbage, mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, dandelions, and turnips as well as heartfruit, a fruit not found on Earth.

In the past, the original amphibian hunter/gatherer societies found that mealworms were attracted to fallen heartfruit, among others. They began to use this knowledge to make traps and eventually began both containing the worms as well as growing the fruit.

Despite mealworms historical prominence in the farming and feeding of Amphibia, crickets are more popular nowadays due to their higher levels of protein. They also began growing a larger variety of produce to further increase efficiency.

Heartfruit is a kind of tree grown fruit with the color of a raspberry, size of a kumquat, and shape of a peach (hence the name). The Plantar's orchard is the only producer of this fruit as its traditionally significant but not necessary for frog kind. They are Anne's personal favorite of the Plantar's produce, being chalk full of nutrients and somehow feels nostalgic to her.

Speaking of Anne, she survives mostly on the Plantar's produce along with cricket meat (knowing that she can at least eat crickets).

After discovering that the amphibians hibernate, she begins to plant pole beans, blueberries, elderberries, and other produce and herbs in her greenhouse to cultivate while she forages and stockpiles for winter. She preps and stores wild rice, pecans, and sunflower seeds (discovered through trial and error). She keeps spare root veggies and other product in the basement. The Plantars help her do this, once they understand the situation, drying heartfruit and salting and smoking fish as well as making jerky out of bugs that they know she can have.

Anne's gonna learn to survive, even if the first winter is especially hard.

[wwrenwrites]

Jason Todd x Filipino! reader headcanons

A/n: i don’t care if this will be my most flopped post, I had to do God’s work

He would LOVE Filipino food

Jason is pretty open with food considering he has traveled frequently for work.

Being accustomed to seeing rice available even if it’s high in carbs lol. Started as a pancit (stir fried noodles) boy to a BIG garlic rice boy ever since you’ve introduced him to it.

Could see him really liking champorado (chocolate rice porridge) for some reason, since there is something so homey about it. Plus it’s not that sweet. He definitely have tried it with tuyo (salted dried fish) when you mentioned it but prefers it just the champorado alone.

Jason enjoys Jollibee most specifically the fried chicken, both of you have movie nights with a bucket on the coffee table with pineapple juice or alcohol. Would find Filipino spaghetti ‘meh’ cause it’s a bit too sweet for his liking but he wouldn’t mind it after a few more tries since there’s that child-like taste that makes it addicting.

Would 100% love lumpiang shanghai (Filipino spring rolls) and quotes as he explains it to Roy or any of his brothers ‘a way better version of Chinese spring rolls’, just like how you told him. He stops craving for the usual spring rolls if you guys go for Chinese take outs from then on.

Despite what the media depicts of having adobo (soy sauce & vinegar chicken stew), sinigang (tamarind stew) or ube hyped. He does think Filipino food is still very underrated compared to Thai, Chinese, Japanese etc.

Could also see him enjoying clear soup stews like pork sinigang (tamarind broth stew, though initially too sour for him comes to like it later on) & bulalo (clear soup with beef shanks & bone marrow) because of the homey taste versus the flavored stews but he definitely still enjoys them (also see him being a big kare- kare (peanut butter stew) lover by your influence despite not fully able to handle bagoong (shrimp paste) because of how pungent & salty it is, I think he would unconsciously get used to it.

Like every other man, he would be a sucker for San Miguel beer. He knew about it even before both of you were dating since there is a small Filipino town in Gotham. Considering he goes to different bars from time to time. He would enjoy the concept of food on sizzling plate but it would take time for him to actually try exotic street food specially Balut (duck embryo) lol. But he’s down for it!

Spicy White Boy

Canon- wise, he knows Portuguese and there are lots of similar words with Spanish. Which I’m sure he knows maybe the most basic and common sense ones; so Jason understanding a good amount of Tagalog shouldn’t be surprising but would baffle you when you find out he started learning bit by bit for you.

It is very impressive indeed, there are not a lot of good resources in studying it. However, Jason is a Wayne and if his father was able to learn Kryptonian. He would easily be in a level of fluency by time.

And being the intelligent simp he is. He would understand it in a good level in less than a year or two when both of you are pretty much ‘all in’ in the relationship. Especially when you brought up one time before you were both exclusive, that you were scared of the idea of your partner being left out in family events even if English is pretty much the second main language in the Philippines.

Though I feel he would have more confidence in trying to speak the language after a few more years including a few slangs cause he doesn’t want to handle the anxiety of being roasted by your family & friends even if he obviously has thick-ass skin.

You keep telling him that he has already won his parents approval (too fast) when he swoon them with just the use of ‘po’ and ‘opo’ the first time meeting them. Plus the very occasional whispers of ‘gwapo’ , handsome, or ‘matangkad’, tall, here and there would give him a mix of a sheepish ego boost.

Culture Differences

THE ‘NO SHOES IN THE HOUSE’ RULE is a mutual practice that both of you have no problem doing. It has always been a routine for Jason when he gets home and right away he would wash up just so he could be in bed with you.

The no shoes rule seems to be only followed by Alfred when he drops by with groceries for him in his apartment. It bewilders his siblings when he makes a big deal out of it even if they are just dropping by (uninvited as usual) but also more like so you wouldn’t get triggered if you get to meet them but frankly it triggers Jason more since he’s quite neat as a roomie (plus future hubby points too.)

THE FAMILY CULTURE in a Filipino household is usually a mix of chaos and laughter which Jason is quite familiar with but with your family he could tell how close all of you are from all the frequent get together celebrations or holiday trips.

But also he was told a few times from some neighborhood titos (uncle) when he was still in the streets that the number 1 rule when dating a pinoy (shortened term for Filipino) is if you’re ‘dating a Filipino you’re also dating their whole family.’ You even tell him when you show pictures of your immediate relatives and family, that it’s basically a whole village if you include your extended relatives which shocks him even more. You don’t even know who are all your aunts or uncles names nor your second cousins.

You gave him a heads up and number of pointers to Jason when you were both talking about your families plus the never ending group pictures and selfies that awaits. You get worried if he would be overwhelmed even if he tells you, “Doll, don’t worry you literally met mine” “It’s not the same.” With a kiss on your forehead and the cute pout he loves still present.

He immediately gets interrogated and compliments which takes him a back getting him a bit shy. Would vibe with your cousins and would be forced to sing. The karaoke machine playing till midnight, the never ending food being offered in his plate but also your baby cousins getting attached to him which you greatly adore. He would purposely annoy you with flirty gestures in front of your cousins just for you to swat his arm or his biceps multiple times getting a reaction from your comments mixed of ‘yiee’ or ‘landi!’(flirt).

SOUVENIRS in Filipino is pasalubong, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re materialistic it’s more of the thought when a person is away; may it be for family & friends.

Jason bringing home food or snacks when he goes out or something unique when coming from a long mission for you has been natural. You don’t expect him to always bring something home for you of course. Fortunately, Jason loves spoiling you and seeing you sulk when you rummage his duffle bag filled with used clothes and is helmet is too cute. Plus, this is definitely one of the first words he would understand besides the word ‘makulit’ (a neutral connotation of annoying, cheeky, and naughty combined.) and other cuss words.

The first time Jason brings you to the Wayne manor Alfred and Bruce immediately doesn’t see you as a threat especially with a bottle of wine or fruits as formalities. You panic a bit when both of you weren’t able to bring anything to the manor every time you go after that, he has to reassure you it’s fine. Though he appreciates and finds it adorable on how much his family becomes fond of you because of how genuine you are.

When you and Jason travel, you would be having an extra luggage for goodies and shopping and would get endless teasing from Jason. You would tease him back though if he needs something but you would also use his luggage as well if needed for everything you bought.

[merridelicious]

I’m moving into college in 3 weeks have you got any tips :0

yes!! quite a few actually. :) *for mutuals outside of the u.s., this advice is based on a U.S. American university experience, so some of it may not apply to you.

PLEASE SEND ASKS if you have specific questions, and I’ll either speak from my own experience or give information from other friends in university rn!!

packing:

You don’t need to bring ALL your stuff. (Really, it’s okay. Also, you have limited space.)

A quick Google search of “college packing list 2023” will yield many results. It’s up to you to decide what “essentials” are actually essential, but suffice it to say, think about the things you use on a daily basis and then think about what you don’t have at home that you’ll need in student housing.

Apartment or dorm, unless you’re really lucky—you’ll be sharing living space & appliances with other people. Yes, that includes showers. If you can get toiletries cheaper locally than in the location of your university, save yourself the time and money. Shower shoes are an absolute must, because those showers can get disgusting.

If you have a meal plan that lasts the entire year, you don’t really need to pack a bunch of food (or go grocery shopping a ton during the school year) but it can be nice to have dry goods & snacks on hand. (I keep rice, macaroni & cheese, crackers, & some type of dried fruit around, if nothing else. Whatever tastes strike your fancy, feel free to add/substitute.) If you’re cooking all your own food, you’re going to need at least a cooking pot, frying pan, spatula, dish sponges, and dish soap, as well as some resealable food storage containers and cheap cups and bowls (I got most of that at Target. They tend to have back-to-school sales and bowls & cups go for less than a dollar each.)

Laundry is going to be a pain in the ass, unless again, you luck out and have a washer and dryer in-unit. Ditto for dishes (unless your space comes with a dishwasher). Do yourself a favor & get a huge bin of Tide pods, pack of laundry sheets, & at least two paper towel rolls so you don’t have to run out every week to replenish cleaning supplies. (I personally despise having dish towels to wash, so if you don’t mind them take the paper towel advice with a grain of salt.)

My dorm was weird and had a sink in it. If you’re responsible for cleaning your own sink it will get nasty quickly. Either take turns with your roommate(s)/housemate(s), or figure out who the designated sink cleaner is.

friends/socializing:

Your first friend group in college will likely not be your last, nor will it last. This group is usually composed of people close in proximity to you aka convenience friends. You might realize three or four months in that these are not your people and you don’t like hanging out with them. This is perfectly normal and okay! You’ll find people who you do vibe with. I encourage you not to limit making friends to your specific university, although if you go to a small one like I do that can be tough.

Universities often have events with free stuff, including free food. Take advantage of these events if & when you can. They’re usually very laid back, and if you’re not in the mood to stick around, you can grab food and then dip.

Orientation events & icebreakers within your first week are to be expected. Try to remember a fun fact about yourself (which is what you usually get asked, along with your intended major, name, pronouns—sometimes, & hometown).

Your RA(s) aren’t cops, but they also aren’t your friends. They’re required to report sketchy shit that happens. My RAs had a rule that if they didn’t hear, see, or smell anything suspicious, it was like nothing happened, but try to get a feel for what yours look out for.

It is more than okay to need/want therapy. You’ve just gone through a massive change in your life and you did it mostly, if not all, by yourself. Your university counseling services (if applicable) are generally not the best place to go for therapy, though. This is especially true if you’re worried about your privacy. I don’t think I’ve heard of student discounts for therapy, but some therapists have this policy called sliding scale where you pay what you can. Find a person you can talk openly with and who is experienced with your mental health concerns/practices the right kind of therapy for you. (CBT, DBT, & EMDR are a few examples.)

dating, love, etc.

First and foremost, if this section doesn’t apply to you because you don’t participate or aren’t ready to in college, please feel free to skip!

If you’re still here, obviously I am not the expert on your love life—you are. That being said, without getting too personal, here are some things I’ve picked up through trial and error.

If you’re starting college, and haven’t yet dated anyone, it’s okay to feel behind. What isn’t okay is being patronized or taken advantage of for your lack of experience. I wish I could say it’s just common sense, but it’s crucial to figure out what your boundaries, limits, & standards are before getting into an intimate situation with somebody. (I myself learned this the hard way.)

simply put: It is okay to be picky! (Read that again.) Or not—what works for one person won’t work for everyone. Some people date & hook up just for fun, especially during college when a lot of changes are happening, and that suits them fine. Some people want stronger, longer connections, and that works for them. Some people focus on friends over partners and refrain from the entire dating & hookup scene. All are valid and healthy. (As long as you stay safe, sane, & consensual, and get tested.)

school stuff:

Please do yourself a favor and don’t schedule 8am classes five days a week. I don’t care if you could do it in high school—chances are you’re going to need to wake up way beforehand to get ready OR your roommate will do something ridiculous in the middle of the night that will wake you up. In this more than likely event, you won’t want to wake up and go straight to class. If you’re not a STEM major, this advice is easier than if you are (and if the first applies, my condolences and much love).

You need sleep no matter what—if that means midday naps, go for it. I don’t recommend skipping class to nap unless it’s an emergency though.

Re skipping class: some professors take attendance and your grade can suffer if you don’t attend. Aside from mental health days, skipping class for fun can be a slippery slope at some universities. (At some, Cs get degrees and grades don’t matter as much, especially if you aren’t looking to go down the postgrad path.)

[neon-in-the-night-time]

on may 12th, 2019, season 3 episode 3 of miraculous ladybug bakerix was released. a high schooler, i watched it as soon as the english sub was out. at the time, knowing nothing about bread, i questioned nothing of what the show told us of what's traditional in bread baking. 5 years, a full academic year's worth of classes in breads and viennoiserie, and partway through an internship at a bread bakery later, i am returning to the episode to see how badly astruc fucked up. let's do this.

ok u know what? i’m turning on the french dub with english sub... i don't want to hear any "cat noir"s here it's chat noir

ok i know i’m watching this for the bread but she KNITS her dad a WHOLE ASS SWEATER evERY YEAR for his birthday? holy fuckingn shit marinette where do u find the time... his birthday is TODAY and she has like a tenth of one panel done? holy shit marinette ur cooked

"he's a little old fashioned in his ways" ...he was racist, wasn't he? i feel like i remember the reason mari's grandpa became a hermit was bc tom married sabine

what the fuck is tom doing to that loaf of bread dough... the tiniest of folds lmao

bro* gets a flour delivery of a single bag of flour lmao... looks like a 50 lb but idk. no way that mailman is just casually hauling that over his shoulder. idk. i don't know how strong mailmen are

*bro being rolland dupain

ok but why is marinette struggling to carry the bag of flour... does she not help her parents in the bakery? i couldve sworn that was a plot point... or maybe it was fanfiction.

also the animation is waaaaaay higher quality than i remember... perks of not watching it on youtube i guess

what the fuck is rolland doing... only folding half the dough. why is he sprinkling salt onto it. more importantly why is he fucking with these mice

ok i mean like. you definitely want elasticity and developing gluten... but that's in the mixing stage. this is clearly after the dividing... that dough is hella overworked

bro doesn't like vegetables and cheese in bread.... so he's one of Those people. got it

"my son and his wife who thought adding rice to the dough would make the inside of the bread lighter" ...i’m sorry THAT'S what it was about? also wtf? rolland's right! why would you want the inside to be LIGHTER? you WANT a nicely developed crust! also i sure as hell hope tom and sabine aren't doing that to their baguettes because then it's not legally a baguette (i forget if it's in paris specifically or france broadly but either way if you're baguettes have anything except flour water salt and yeast it's not legally a baguette). also adding rice flour... wouldn't reeeeeeally lighten the inside?

damn rolland is so immature

so he puts the bread in the oven, then gets akumatized... damn this akuma fight's on a timer lmao don't wanna come back from fighting ur grandpa only to realize your bread is burnt

also love how they didn't even say what kinda bread it is (/s) like come on. is it pain au levain? sourdough? based on the shape, color, and way it's loaded i assume it's not any kind of sandwich bread. but no. everyone knows there are two types of bread: Round and Baguette

ooooh the akuma's name in the french dub is boulangerix... that's way better than bakerix. bakerix is a stupid name

watching this i think it mightve actually came out in a dub that wasn't french first. idk tho

most likely the akuma fight won't have a lot of bread shit i can critique

lmao the minute rolland deakumatizes he's worrying about the bread in the oven 😂 me too bro

that bread was not floured or scored before they loaded it into the oven lmao

not chat noir trying to get out of picking a favorite lmao

moral of the story: rolland was right except for when he was wrong and astruc knows nothing about bread

[alexrose000]

Diet. Workouts. Lifestyle

We are now entering a period wherein we adopt the culture of South Korean artists, especially their food, exercises, clothes, dramas, and music.

Have you ever wondered why K-pop idols and actors are so skinny?

K-idols and actors balance and are strict with their lifestyles, including their workouts and food intakes.

Who wouldn't like to be as skinny as them? Let's start to be fit before the year ends.

First, be determined to workout once or twice a week at your convenience for thirty minutes to one hour. There are a lot of workout exercises on YouTube right now; you just have to do them and make a choice on which exercise is best for you. For me, cardio workouts standing I usually do once a week. First year of pandemic, usually I do workouts every day. Yeah, I was satisfied. In two weeks, I did achieve abs and became skinnier. Some of us hit the gym to become fit, which is also good.

But let's see how K-pop idols and actors do their workouts. As they said, before you make your debut in a group, you must undergo a series of training sessions in proper exercise, diet, singing, dancing, etc. Let's focus on their workout.

4th Generation Le Sserafim workout routine: 100 jumping jacks, 4x25 burpees, 2x10 jump squats (holding ears), 1 song plank crawl, 2x10 plank up and down, 2x10 plank twist, and 75 crunches

Girls Generation leg workout routine: 15 thigh hovers, 20 squats, 10 side planks, 20 inner thigh lifts, 15 hip kicks, 15 high knees, 10 lunges, and 19 hip raises

Blackpink Jennie Kim does pilates exercise for one to two hours for five days in a week. This helps to be flexible, strengthen, and tone the body.

BTS’s Jungkook Workout Routine: Knowing Jk, he does boxing exercises in his Weverse Live, but he also does 20 squats, 20 pushups, 20 jump squats, 20 pike pushups, 10 planks, 20 mountain climbers, 15 burpees, 20 crunches, 20 leg raises, and 20 Superman’s exercises to achieve his amazing toned body.

Exercise has advantages; it helps our brains improve, helps us manage our weight, strengthens our bones and muscles, improves our daily activities, and has a low disease risk (don't abuse it too much because it may also have a great risk in our body).

Second is food. Who doesn't like food? Do you know kpop idols and actors are forbidden from eating condiments, sweets, fried chicken, tteokbokki, pastry, ice cream, noodles, hamburgers, and jokbal before they debut as artists because they need to have a slim or skinny figure? They undergo really strict diets.

In the Philippines, there are a lot of fast food chains and restaurants opening from time to time.

Salt is usually what we put in our food, but have you heard that if we intake too much salt, there is a bad risk to the body? Salt intake in excess can be associated with disease, weight gain, and much more, but for us Filipinos, we can't remove it from our foods. We are fond of eating noodles, junk foods, fast foods, and restaurants. I read a lot of articles about how some salty foods can cause swelling. Sweets can gain us weight, and articles show they tend to give us acne or pimples. As per my experience, I am very observant about it. Back when I was in high school, I loved eating sweets like chocolates, candies, and much more, which gave me acne on my face and on my back. In time, I stopped eating chocolate, any sweets, and milk too. It slowly disappears, but then again, consult a physician for more information. Meat is really delicious, but the fatty part is no good if eaten too much, especially if you are really on a diet. The breadings, sauces, and ingredients we put on them are sometimes bad for our health. chicken, preferably the breast part for those on a diet.

Let's see how K-pop artists eat.

For IU, apple, sweet potato, and protein shake for a day

Suzy Bae ate one chicken breast and a banana for breakfast and drank a glass of milk. For lunch, she ate brown rice and a small vegetable salad. She finished the day with two sweet potatoes.

Blackpink Jennie's low-sodium (salt) diet, detox juices, and salad with avocado

That’s why they could lose weight in a short period of time. Remember to drink water.

I'm not saying it is bad, but in moderation, did you know that home-cooked food is still the best for me because we can control it on our own? Eating vegetables and fruits can also help us in our diet, but it really depends on a person's lifestyle and diet. There are a lot of apps now that you could try to help us plan our meals and exercises. We just need the determination within ourselves.

Wait for Part 2! for a more extensive how-to diet