#haven't tried them swedish style yet

[clatterbane]

Another "you may be in Sweden when..." moment.

Crayfish premiere!

...But if you happen to be hungry for something else, we have a 20% discount at lots of restaurants. Swipe and order here!

Mr. C was even talking about maybe picking up some frozen crawfish and accompaniments, to have our own little party. Hats were mentioned And he usually avoids shellfish. 🦞🥳🦞

(Not because of allergies or anything, at least. He just doesn't particularly like most seafood, and got food poisoned one too many times off shrimp that he ate out somewhere.)

But, apparently this time of year:

[misshoneyimhome]

have you seen the disney movie starstruck? could we get something like that with our boy willy styles?

Hey babe 🤗✨

Alright, I am so sorry for not coming to this sooner, but I have to admit that no I haven't watched the movie - I'd hoped I would've had at this point, but sorry love 💕 With that said, I did have a different thought though and I'd love your (and others) opinion on it - now I know this is probably not at all the plot of Starstruck, but your request did spark an idea nonetheless ✨

I've been having this idea, and I was thinking about turning it into a series - now please note that this is just a blurb/draft, so there are of course many many many more details to the plot 😉

Tropes; fake relationship, strangers - mild!enemies - friends - lovers;

_

➼｡ﾟ Love Me Harder I William Nylander x ofc

When Sofie was asked to plan her first wedding at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, she didn’t anticipate it would be for her ex-fiancé. However, since Anthony had specifically requested her, her managers insisted she accept the assignment.

Meanwhile, William Nylander was grappling with his own set of challenges, where the media seemed to be more interested in his personal life rather than his hockey career. And with his handsome face and charming smile, the Swedish forward naturally attracted attention. His composed demeanour and eloquence were a magnet for reporters. And so over the past year, William's private life had become rather eventful, with numerous women appearing alongside his many hockey activities, causing the media to eagerly speculate about his relationships and bachelor lifestyle. And this William found frustrating. He didn’t want to be portrayed this way, nor did he want his family reading such gossip.

Thus, when his brother suggested fabricating a relationship to manage his public image, William considered it a viable option. Yet, the challenge was finding someone trustworthy who could maintain the facade of a fake relationship—someone he wasn’t attracted to and who wasn’t attracted to him. Which eliminated many potential candidates in both Toronto and Stockholm. He needed someone uncomplicated, someone like...

One fateful night, as Sofie tried to escape the engagement party she had organised for her ex, she was accidentally knocked over by a door pushed by a hockey player. She knew the Toronto Maple Leafs were hosting an event in the greater ballroom of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, but she hadn’t expected to encounter one of the players in such a manner.

And William hadn’t anticipated anyone standing on the other side of the door as he sought some fresh air. Who would be so careless?

It was a classic, if awkward, meeting. Sofie thought hockey players were obnoxious man-children with too much confidence, a belief reinforced by her younger brother’s similarly arrogant hockey friends. And William thought Sofie was an idiot for standing against a door in a dark alley, and her sharp retort suggested she had an inflated opinion of herself.

Yet, she was perfect for his plan. And when fate brought them together again, they discovered a mutual benefit: William needed a distraction for the media to stop prying into his love life, and Sofie could use a companion to navigate the awkwardness of planning her ex’s wedding; a simple pretend fling would make it seem like she wasn’t affected by the situation.

Though the arrangement was unconventional, it worked. They didn’t particularly hate each other, nor did they especially like one another, making the fake dating feel almost like a game—a game they played convincingly. However, as life often proves, nothing can remain perfect forever.

[nanominyo]

Did some worldbuilding. Drew the general population of each country in my world + the nomads :'D

More details under cut!

Temporary world map:

please ignore city names they haven't been fixed

-----

People and lands:

Hello everyone!

I’ve been working on my world a bit more. Went from 6 countries to 14!!! So obviously I had to show the “main” traits off from the people in the different lands :D

My lands are still very much work in progress, but most cultures have inspiration from irl cultures!

A note: I’m only presenting the humans for now :’D

I also have Elven, orcs and Beastmen in my world. Before any confusion though: Humans originated from the Elven, as of why humans have pointy ears :D Basically humans are failed Elvens.

My Elven has sharp teeth, and humans have inherited the “bigger” canines. Some may have more sharp teeth too! More in the explanations!

The map is still under construction but please survive with the temporary map!

Fraycië and the Frayciën:

Clothing style: Norwigian

The Fraycië is a country placed towards the northwest. The people – while still having the traits of the Elven in the ears and teeth – has smaller and more rounded ears. The ears are not completely round as some of their more northwestern neighbors.

The population also has lighter hair colors reigning in from platinum blonde to browns. Darker browns and black hair are more on the uncommon side though. The people also sport eye colors there is typically blue, grey, or green in the lighter end of the scales. Occasionally lighter browns may appear.

They welcome the nomads with great joy as a lot of the population is indeed magicless and therefore takes in the knowledge that the nomads bring to improve their lifestyle.

I’m still figuring out the land as of now. This is one of my newly added countries! So I’m reading up on norwigian culture and gonna mix it up with my world’s many cultures of course!

Qutetish and the Qutetish

Clothing Style: ???

The Qutetish people have darker tanned skin and straight pointy ears, though a little droopy on the top which may have originated from their neighbor Ardelia. The people usually have very curly hair, and some may sport afros and dreads. The common hair colors are darker browns, reds and black. The eye colors range with Dark grey, blacks and brown of any kind.

The people are a taller population and are said to be half Elven. This also often give night vision and sharper teeth to the population than usual.

The Qutetish Empire has for a long time tried to win land from Ardelia but has yet to succeed. The people are purists and believes that other humanoids other than humans and Elven are tarnished and the Devil’swork. They also believe in the death of the nomads for having round ears and vast knowledge of survival without “magic” (Magic is seen as a sign of purity if humans and Elven can use it. If they can’t do the Qutetish say the people made a pact with the devil).

This is one of my 6 OG countries.

Donchase and the Donchatish

Clothing style: Swedish inspired

Donchase is a small country there has found it’s spot right below Fraycië. They are pretty good friends with Fraycië as of now and the people seem to share many common traits like the lighter hair and eyes.

Their ears are of the smaller kind but are quite pointy. Their canines seem to be slighter bigger than the average.

Unlike the Frayciën is there more magical users in Donchase, though the percentage is still lower than the average. They do still like to invite the nomads in to get the stories and medicine of the south.

Just like Fraycië is Donchase a newer country. A lot is still to be made up for.

Kanakaria and the Kanakarians

Clothing style: Romanian/Bulgarian

Kanakaria is a country there is right below Qutetish. They often try to be neutral ground but does often have problems with Qutetish. Ardelia often gets to their rescue but overall is the country not in the best state.

The people’s skin varies from lighter tans to darker tans. Common eye colors are in grey and brown tones and common hair colors are browns and blacks. Their ears are mostly straight but has soft tips which points upwards.

Kanakaria is one of the newer countries. Country still in works.

Shuirin and the Shuirinian

Clothing Style: A mix-match of middle eastern styles.

Shuirin is a country there is not good friends with the Ardelian Kingdom due to a few hundred years back where Ardelia took over some land from them. They are neutral towards their other neighbors as of now and are neutral towards Nomads.

The people have long pointy ears and sharper teeth. They are often seen with extremely curly hair, afros or dreads. The common skin colors are in the darker range and their eyes are usually darker browns to black.

Shuirin is one of the 6 OG countries but is one of those I ever hardly worked on beyond ‘they are enemies with Ardelia’…

Raeyeria and the Raeyerians

Clothing style: Arabian-Egyptian- Sahara Desert areas.

Raeyeria is a warm and sandy country in the middle. It’s usually considered mostly a desert but does have Savannas and tropical forests the closer to sea you come. The most common dressing styles are usually big ropes to help against the sun and sand.

The people sport darker skin colors and usually have black eyes and hair.

Political are the wary of Nomads and keeping an eye out on their neighbors. They do have good relations with Ardelia and usually hold an annually warrior arena where the countries compete for fun about who has the strongest warrior. They have a Queen as their ruler, and she seems to be respected by most of the country – maybe mostly because she is quite the strong warrior herself but has yet to win against the King of Ardelia.

Reayeria is one of my 6 OG countries.

Ardelia and the Ardelians

Clothing style: German-french

Ardelia is a giant country place towards north. It land itself between lots of other countries like Qutetish, Fraycië, Kanakaria, The Vitian Empire, Paskarë and Noshuriel. It’s on top of Shuirin and Dachacine. As of right now has the King of Ardelia gone missing and all political orders are in the hand of the Master Priest. This has begun creating further conflicts with neighboring countries like Qutetish, Vitian, Shuirin, Dachacine and Paskarë.

The population has small droopy ears and a normal set of teeth that you would find at us humans irl. They are of many skin colors but lighter to darker tans are most common. In the north and west part of Ardelia they may have lighter haircolors but else the population mostly sport brown, dark reds and blacks. The eye colors are usually any shade of grey or brown but doesn’t go black. Blues, green and occasionally purple may be found towards the northwestern area of Ardelia.

Ardelia were the first country I ever worked on. The only change in the update is the layout lol

Dotish and the Dotish

Clothing Style: Japanese-Korean

Dotish is an island nation there finds itself having a great power. Their political choices directly impact their neighbor Beizen who fears the Dotish army.

The population has smaller and more rounded ears (Just like the Frayciën). Their eyes are slimmer and the usual eye colors are darker browns and blacks. Common hair colors are darker browns and blacks as well, but the population is pale to light tan.

Despite being far away from Ardelia do they regard Ardelia as a friend.

They are against nomads though and don’t want them on their land.

Dotish was one of the 6 OG countries.

Vitian and the Vitians

Clothing style: Danish

The Vitian population has big straight and pointy ears. The common hair colors are ranging in the brown, but blondes may show up. Common eye colors are blues and grey while they are usually pale. Lighter tans may be found occasionally.

The Vitian Empire is the dominating political force towards the west, but despite that is the population quite poor. They rely on the nomads for survival against several disaster like the magical plague and handling of extreme weather conditions.

The Vitian Empire is enemies with Ardelia but friends with Donchase and Fraycië. They are neutral towards their neighbor Noshuriel.

They are one of the new countries.

Noshuriel and the Noshurielien

Clothing Style: Hungarian-Romanian

Noshuriel stands out in the westerns countries for having tanned skin and darker hair colors. Their eyes come in all sort of colors like blue, browns, black, green and occasionally purple. They got similar earform to their neighbor Vitian just pointing slightly more upwards.

Politically are they enemies with Ardelia but no one is 100% sure why though it seems to be over religion. Mainly due to the if one is magicless, they bring bad luck.

One of the new countries!

Also fun fact: The two characters illustrated is actually the parents of the male nomad. Story-wise they abandoned him because he had round ears and were magicless.

Paskarë and the Paskarian

Clothing style: Turkish???

Paskarë has a weird history, but it comes down to how Ardelia separated them from their neighbors which had a closer culture to them since Ardelia took over the neighboring countries towards south throughout hundreds of years. The Paskarians take great pride in their culture and in keeping it around despite none of the current neighbors sharing same culture. The only thing they share with a neighbor is their distaste for nomads that they share with Qutetish. The religion which plagues Qutetish seems to have taken origin from these southern lands there is now gone.

The Paskarian has big pointy ears which points slightly downwards. Common skin colors are in the tanned range and common eye and hair colors seems to be brown and blacks.

It’s one of the newer countries :’D

Dachacine and the Dacharen

Clothing style: Mixmatch of several African styles

The Dacharen has medium sized pointy ears which point upwards. Common skin colors are in the darker range and dark brown and black is common for hair and eye colors.

Dachacine is not great friends with Ardelia because of what happened long ago when they took over the neighboring countries. There is a fear that Ardelia will once again attack the neighboring countries and take over them.

IDK new country :’)

Meiis and the Meizen

Clothing style: Indian

Meiis are currently neutral towards all their neighbors, but they do carry a fear that Reayeria wanna take over them. They are slightly wary of nomads but overall live their lives as the end of the main-lands where they get the great riches from both the islands and main-lands to see and earn upon.

The Meizen has medium sized pointy ears. Common skin colors are medium to darker tans, and they have dark brown and black for both hair and eye colors.

Repeat repeat new country, still figuring it out…

Beizin/Silverroot and the Beizenian

Clothing style: Chinese

Beizin is known as Silverroot by the world for their mountains of silver and irons which is their biggest earnings of international trade. They currently work as an “own country” but are following orders from their neighbor Dotish. A revolution is on the way though.

Their current leader is a teenage girl who unfortunately is shy and afraid meaning the advisor is the ruler and take the charge. The only thing the teenage girl got going is trying to start a war against Dotish to get free from their grab.

The Beizenian has small and more rounded ears thouh still pointy. They rock pale to lighter tanned skin and darker hair colors like dark brown and black. Their eyes are usually black.

One of the 6 OG lands wow

Nomads

Clothing style: All over

The nomads are a mixed people and usually the outcasts. They usually have rounded ears unless they are from a certain nomad clan. This also means their traits are all over and they can technically look like anything just with round ears. People usually abandoned their round eared children due to the superstition that round eared people bring bad luck. These superstitions are dying out in the countries towards the northwest but are style plaguing the rest of the countries.

Nomads usually save abandoned babies and children which is how there come new nomads. Their other job is helping people where help is needed, spread stories, and stay safe. When they meet each other, they usually spread each other’s stories about how many new nomads there are or who died. They warn each other and teach other whatever they have learned on their journeys which can be useful for survival. While most of the nomads has magic are there indeed also many there doesn’t which is why they teach each other better survival without magic. Basically, they are walking lexicons.

Nomads has always existed so I always knew what they were…

[mezamomento]

Massage holly springs

There are alternative therapies for arthritis that are becoming more popular, and if you have arthritis you might want to turn to Massage holly springs to address both your pain and the stiffness of your condition and your general well-being. Maybe you haven't tried massage yet because you don't know what to expect, you’re not sure that massage is a good idea for your joint pain and inflammation, or maybe you don't know where to find a good massage therapist. This article will address these valid concerns and show you how massage can be an important part of your effective arthritis management.

So What is a massage? You will have a trained professional known as a massage therapist, who presses, rubs, strokes, kneads, and otherwise manipulates the muscles and soft tissues of your body. Massage is one of the oldest healing arts. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, and Greeks are all known to have practiced it. Massage became accepted in the United States in the mid 1800's only to disappear in the following century and not revive until the 1960's and 1970's.

Today, there are well over 100,000 massage therapists at work in the United States. They practice massage in many settings, from hospitals to health clubs to private studios. People go to them for many different reasons: to ease pain, to rehabilitate from injury, to reduce stress, to ease anxiety and depression, and to improve general well-being.

While there are more than 250 varieties of massage techniques, most practitioners use one or more of a few basic methods. Many use a form of Swedish massage, which employs long, flowing strokes meant to be calming and relaxing. As your body becomes relaxed, the massage therapist can also apply focused pressure to relieve areas of muscular tension. Other popular forms of massage include deep tissue massage, which features strong pressure on deeper layers of tissue, and myofascial release, in which long, stretching strokes releases the tension in the fascia (the connective tissue around the muscles). There are also the Asian techniques of acupressure and shiatsu, which use finger pressure on specific points on the body, and the technique called reflexology, which upholds that rubbing certain points on the feet, hands, or ears has a positive effect on various body parts.

What are the benefits of massage? If you have a chronic condition, massage can have numerous benefits. If done correctly, massage can provide a wonderful break from the stress of living with arthritis or another stressful condition. It can aid in relaxation, which by itself helps healing and reduces es stress. It can also reduce pain, improve joint movement, relax tense muscles, and stimulate blood flow. But, massage for those of you who have arthritis should be handled as a complementary therapy, that is, one that is used in combination with, and not to replace, other regular medical treatments such as pain medicine or physical therapy. Listed below you will find five ways that massage can benefit you, even if you don't have arthritis.

One is relaxation. The best and probably the biggest benefit is relaxation, that's number one. Massage should bring a sense of well-being to the body. Mary Kathleen Rose is a certified massage therapist in Colorado and after 25 years of experience, and much of that working with those with chronic conditions, she has developed a style of massage she calls Comfort Touch that is characterized by slow, broad, and surrounding pressure. It's not known exactly why or how massage encourages relaxation. Some speculate that massage triggers the body's parasympathetic nervous system, muscle tension is improved, the heart rate slows, and the fight-or-flight response is revered.

[clatterbane]

Tonight's extra-easy plan. I realized we had 2 boxes of the dried peas and everything else needed for it, so Pea Soup Thursday it is!

I did put half a box (so around 500g/around a lb.) of the peas on to soak before I went to bed. And I thought I would save at least an hour--and some sticking to the pot!--by cooking the soup in the Instant Pot.

(Auto-translated link, because I'm lazy that way. Nothing looked super blatantly wrong.)

A whole pack of bacon automatically sounds like overkill to me, but yeah the standard pack size here is pretty small so it should be fine. The one I have there is 140g/5 oz.

Gotta say, the Swedish style pea soup still sounds pretty minimalist to me, but it is tasty. This particular recipe is going particularly minimalist on the seasonings, and I do think I'll also throw in some marjoram and a bay leaf--even if I'm still not tasting well enough to maybe even be able to notice the difference. Also planning to fry the onion a little in the bacon pan, for the extra taste.

This isn't going to be totally a one pot deal, since I would want to cook the bacon in a skillet anyway. But, still pretty simple.

Speaking of simple, I think we'll just have to make do without the crepe-type pancakes. Again. I did consider making some, but I don't really feel like it. It's rare that anyone around here does feel like it. I don't actually recall the Household Swede ever turning any out when he's made pea soup. I haven't tried them in the same meal yet. Reminded to make some separately at some point, though!

[clatterbane]

Mr. C got in another order from ScandiKitchen. Including more of these aggressively Swedish pickles!

From Sweden [in Swedish flag colors]

Felix Sliced Salt Cucumbers

From our Swedish growers

(They're briny dills, in a style which really does taste more salty than fermented sour. Even if you don't need to soak some of the salt out of the commercial ones before eating them, like some he made before from a classic recipe! 😅 No wonder the Polish briny dill pickles which are now easy to find here aren't as good a stand-in as for the ones I'm used to back home.)

I had to get extra amused at the labeling contrast with the other jar of pickles next to it.

When they're labeled in English, presumably more for export? Those are still pointedly Swedish, but not as aggressively so. If anything, I might expect the opposite.

I haven't tried that type yet, and was surprised he got an urge for them since he doesn't usually like even slightly sweet pickles. Apparently Swedish ones are different! On a sandwich, at least. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

With the visible mustard seeds and the wavy cut, those actually remind me of bread and butter pickles in looks--though without the onion or turmeric. Probably taste totally different, though. Guess I'll find out soon enough! Though, that reminds me that I wanted to try making some refrigerator bread and butter pickles.