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whateverthedragonswant · 3 years ago

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Holy crap this episode was funny as hell until it wasn't and then we were plunged right back into the intensity. But great episode!!! I don't lb so I don't get spoilers but man I had a lot of reactions as I watched. Ngl, a lot of cursing and caps ahead but damn was this such a good episode:

“One minute before the blackout” - now we’re to 1 minute from 1 week last week

“The place where this heart’s from, it was a tragedy. But once we land, it’s gonna turn into a miracle, right?” “Yeah, I like that” -- so once we land and settle after all of this craziness, a tragedy will turn into a miracle? I like that *looking at you Eddie*

EDDIE GET OUT OF THAT CHOPPER RN, DO NOT DO THIS TO ME AFTER SEASON 4, DO NOT!!!

Bobby going in to save the heart, hmm...

Oh, thank God - Eddie, Hen, and Bobby are all safe

Dr. Salazar - we need more of her. I love her so much.

4 Days later - hmm...

Wow, they’re really bringing Harry to the forefront here, this whole kidnapping thing is going to happen isn't it?

Harry charging neighbors and Michael and David in a sort of co-parent situation - first of all, Harry you are a GENIUS and love that Michael and David with Harry are being focused on in this episode, ahem, is there possibly a reason...?

Lou survived!!!! THANK GOD

Nearly 5 days Lou was in hospital

5 day head start for Hudson - is there something with 1, 3, 4 and now 5? I'm keeping track here, Tim

Buck is the power czar LOL - omg I love this man so much

Ravi!!! We need MORE Ravi!!! but where is Albert???

CHIMNEY!!!!! OMG I LOVE YOU - "Give me a charger or Uncle Buck will never see his niece again" - "Give him a charger" - "Well played" - "Let this be a lesson, never give that man a clipboard" - "Excuse me for being efficient" - "That’s one word for what you are" - okay #1 I will forever be in love with Chimney, probably one of my top favorite characters on this show & #2 LOVE this whole brothers interaction, Albert may not be there but Buck and Chim are still going with the whole older-brother-is-exasperated-with-the-younger-brother's-shit vibe

Oh God, here comes more cringe, yay... not so much

Eddie kisses Ana on the cheek AGAIN (Eddie, can you hear me? This is your subconscious speaking, when are you going to end this, my man?)

Ana says going to visit was Christopher’s idea since he missed Eddie and thought he was hungry - muy interesante

Buck rushing over to greet Christopher and hugging him tight is a moment I live for - outside of the whole Buck and Eddie story, I LOVE this relationship with all of my heart, I am so glad Christopher has Buck, he really is his second dad (with or without Eddie being involved)

Eddie not introducing Ana to Ravi (nor Buck saying hi) - Buck’s expression - “You must be Eddie’s wife” Christopher: “Not yet” I FUCKING LOVE THIS KID, OKAY!!!! Buck’s smile, he loves Christopher, too - love how Ana and Eddie don't say anything to dispel or clarify this

SAME FUCKING TRIGGER AND THIS TIME BUCK SEES IT!!!! OMG (Eddie, this is your subconscious again, you need to listen! The universe and I are trying to tell you something, please before any more shit hits the fan like me having to watch more uncomfortable interactions between you and your placeholder friend!)

Eddie sending Ana and Christopher on a tour with Ravi IN THE DARK at his work place so he can put SALADS AWAY

Buck’s expressions the entire time - Buck knows something's up

Ana’s expressions the entire time - she KNOWS

Thank God Bobby wasn’t around - hear me out, I have a reason for this that I am still working on in this long ass meta

Buck makes sure to not make eye contact with Ana (except quickly when Ravi is waiting to be introduced), even when Ana laughs at his “Constantly”

Eddie being a probie when Shannon came back in season 2 (and Eddie pulled her into the locker room to talk) & Ana being left to tour the station house with Ravi aka Probie - hello parallels & contrasts, my old friend

“I don’t want these things to wilt” - interesting choice of wording there, Eddie (newsflash, it's already wilting, Eddie)

I almost feel a little bad for Ana here because she did do something nice and she gets the brushoff and some discomfort/embarrassment in return (I mean the woman brought three salads in the middle of a blackout that she most likely made herself, come on - I'm sure some people think salads are easy to make but to those of us in the inexperienced/uninitiated cooks' club, it's not that simple)

Lila dead - hmm...are we surprised? (Hudson didn't give a fig about her and what's sad is Lou would have saved her)

“I think she was smitten like those other fools. I think she saw him being led away in cuffs and she intervened on his behalf” - interesting line there, Athena...

I need more scenes with Athena and Elaine - I know Elaine is the captain and Athena is on her own with no partner but I gotta say I am enjoying this

Athena! Why are you not warning the survivors!!! I mean I get it but still!!!

OMG “He takes Christopher all the time, he’s got the place memorized” - BUCK LISTENED TO EDDIE IN 3x03 - OMG!!!

Oh Buck my poor baby, he knows what they’re walking into - I LOVE Hen’s line of “Just smile, Buck” and then Eddie and Chim both smile wide at him - OMG I AM LIVING FOR THESE SCENES WITH THE 118

“Welcome to the Jungle” - nice touch 911

OMG Buck you are cracking me up - no animals are getting past him

1 hawk or eagle or raptor maybe? I’m not good with bird species okay!!!

3 emus again

1 bird I have no idea what kind (wondering if that’s what we saw the back of last episode near the emus)

Giraffe again

3 wolves

3 camels

Elephant

“The animal makes a move, control it” - YOU GOT THIS BUCK (yes we are finally getting that scene we saw filmed!!!)

Buck’s expression when the camel runs by is KILLING ME 'yeah, that's right Camel, back up, back up, you don't want any of this, yeah that's right'

Stuffed animals in the souvenir store, interesting

2 for $5 sign - even more interesting

1 alpaca

I guess I kind of wonder why Hen didn’t become a vet at one point in her life? Like I’m glad she’s a first responder and about to be a doctor but damn she knows so much about animals, she’s like the 118’s resident animal expert, that’s my girl

“We were gonna get one” - um...what? Hen...

“I wouldn’t” LOL oh Bobby you slay me

Is it just me or do we hear ET almost type music in the background as Hen lays chips down for the alpaca? Bobby mentioning the Reese’s Pieces, the flashlight shining on the Alpaca when it steps into view...are we getting an ET reference?

“It’s calling its friend!” *another Alpaca appears through coats “Clever girl” - a Jurassic Park reference - It’s a fucking Steven Spielberg reference, holy shit!!!!

Okay so that scene was Eddie looking over at Bobby, got it, near the fire trucks

Oh Buck I love you so much “So you ran from an Alpaca?” “Two Alpacas and no one was running” - both Buck’s and Eddie’s faces and then laughter are freaking hilarious

Chimney: “After careful consideration, I have decided not to endorse this park” - OMG I have not stopped laughing for like five minutes straight, can you imagine a Jurassic Park AU for this team? - shot of T-rex above Ripley’s Believe It Or Not (nice one, 911)

Weird looking bird that I've never seen before and 2 emus and 2 vulture, 1 hawk/raptor bird, 1 rhino

May is awesome!!! And so are those neighbors!!!!

Eddie in the tank top!!! Buck with a clipboard!!!

“Hey are you sleeping or just pretending?” Buck is taking no prisoners today

Buck is trying to make sure he’s not having any symptoms, omg, seriously how do you not love this guy???? Eddie you better make an honest man out of him soon, I'm not sure how much longer I can take this

“You don’t give up, do you?” Oh Eddie you did not just say that, to Buck of all people, come on man (hello season 3 Eddie, my old friend)

Get him, Buck! Get him!

“Since when do you panic?” “That’s what I said, I don’t panic” Buck once again out there proving that he knows Eddie better than anyone else

Oh wow!!! Eddie came right out and said it “If I’m being honest with myself I think it was Ana”

And there it is folks “She’s been a constant through all of this, staying with Christopher”

“Somehow we became a ready made family and I don’t know if I’m ready for that” - wow, this is an excellent scene, he’s totally letting that wall down to talk candidly with Buck, nice - and him being stripped down to a tank top for this scene just reiterates that fact, he's baring some things

“I think I’m gonna stick it out. Ana’s the first woman I’ve wanted to spend this much time with since Shannon” - oh Eddie, you really need to shit or get off the pot my friend, this isn’t good for you, Christopher or Ana - how can you sentence all three of you to this? come on

“My kid loves her” but YOU DON'T - okay my heart is breaking, Eddie is making the same goddamn mistake all over again just like we predicted - Eddie please, what did Carla just say to you three episodes ago? Where the hell is Carla btw????

“Stick it out? That’s not the way you talk about someone you’re in love with” “That enough?” - thank you Buck, seriously THANK YOU

Okay my heart just broke again but for Buck this time “Eddie, I have been Ana” - aww =( I love my chaotic firefighter son with all of my heart

And of course Denial!Eddie aka repressed!Eddie are back, sigh - 5x03 has to be where it all comes to a head, it has to be, now even Buck is forcing him to face what he's trying so hard not to - word of advice Eddie, my repressed firefighter son, you can try to deny it mentally/emotionally all you want but it will come out one way or another, just like it's coming out in panic attack symptoms and anxiety - you have to end this, sweetie

And I think it’s very interesting that Eddie looks right at Buck during “If I’m being honest with myself” *looks away then right back at Buck* “I think it was Ana”, “staying with Christopher”, then right after “I don’t know if I’m ready for that”, “I think I’m gonna stick it out”, “Ana’s the first woman I’ve wanted to spend this much time with since Shannon” “My kid loves her”

OMG Eddie’s expression when Buck says “I know what it’s like to be in love with someone who’s not all the way in and deep down you know it and it hurts. It hurts worse than the truth” — RYAN WHERE IS YOUR GODDAMN EMMY??? If anyone ever doubted that Eddie was in love with Buck, there’s the freaking proof written all over Eddie’s face at Buck’s line!!! It’s not something he thinks he can have and it hurts

Okay seriously, Eddie saying “Ana’s the first woman I’ve wanted to spend this much time with Shannon” — VERY PURPOSEFUL MENTION OF A WOMAN HE’S WANTED TO SPEND TIME WITH, EDDIE PLEASE, CAN YOU HEAR ME!!!!

Then they go right to Chim calling Maddie, uh huh, I see you 911

I really love Hen’s full support of Maddie btw & I love how Chim is able to talk to Hen about it all

Oh no!!! Maddie please don’t fall asleep!!!

Oh thank God!!!! It’s going to be okay, Maddie, you got her, it’s going to be okay - I seriously want to give my girl a hug and tell her it's going to be okay

Omg Jee-Yun is so cute!!!

Day 4 or day 5 hmmm - I'm still keeping track, Tim

“Why is it every time the world ends, it ends some more?” “It just keeps us on our toes” “More like knocks us on our asses” - Universe is that you?

Awww Bobby just called Athena “baby” <3 I'm not crying, you're crying

YES more Athena and Elaine

Lou is awake!!!!

Awww Lou =( I may or may not be ugly crying rn

I cannot tell you how relieved I am that Lou is alive

Oh God!!!! Athena get the cops there now!!!!

Yeah you should have let Harry charge them Michael lol, of course they were there to just use the generator power (though I love and appreciate the contrast they gave us in the neighbors who helped the boy with the ventilator so we know not all people take advantage)

OH NO GET AWAY FROM HARRY YOU BASTARD!!!!

On a side note, it’s nice to see more Michael and David but at what cost, Tim? Can we please get more of them and especially David in a more lighthearted episode for crying out loud? Is that too much to ask???

Go Bobby!!!!

Good for you, Athena!!!

Omg this is practically Athena’s nightmare come to life, shit

Omg Hudson unplugged the goddamn generator, THAT FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!

HARRY!!!!!!

I’M SORRY BUT ARE YOU TELLING ME THERE’S NO BOLO WITH A PICTURE ON THIS GUY?!!? - oh right, no power, but STILL

Okay that was super intense, I really hope Athena is the one to take Hudson down, just like Bobby said

I have a few more rewatches to do before breaking things down but damn, I think I need a drink after that one.

#911 fox #911 spoliers #911 5x02 #911: desperate times #buddie mention #eddie and ana mention #bathena mention #911 fox posts

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dontasktheradiodemon · 4 years ago

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Secret Night Picnic

What's more romantic than having a midnight picnic, slow dancing together, and making love beneath the stars... on top of the concrete slab covering the grave where you buried your shitty ex “alive”?

tl;dr Alastor and Telly @usedhearts being sweet & romantic, but like, still like villains.

(last 1/3 of the thread is nsfw; I’m keeping it all together in one chat log anyway bc it’s part of the natural flow of the date night as opposed to a sudden shift in the topic.)

Sir Pentious

A dark night on the outskirts of Pentagram City usually precluded violence of some kind. Two dangerous sinners walking along usually spelt trouble. Not tonight though.

Tonight, they were going for a picnic. Telly held the basket on his arm, a blanket folded over it as well, a typical red and white picnic affair. The sight of the picnic isn't what one would generally classify as 'romantic', but it had other significance.

"Here we are," he said, when they reached another section of undisturbed concrete. It looked just like all the other concrete around, but it held a secret. That of someone buried underneath. Telly spread the blanket and settled on it, setting the basket down.

"George is here, underneath this slab." He reached to pat the exact spot.

Alastor

To Alastor’s eyes, the scene was incredibly romantic! A clear, moonlit night... a meal together out in the open rather than hidden in a grounded airship or a discreet corner booth... celebrating their love atop the grave of somebody who’d been unworthy of it...

Why, they even had a nice, level surface to have their picnic on, what could be better. “He makes for a fine table!” Alastor plopped himself down cheerily. “Tell me about this spot here! These aren’t *all* lovers who wronged you, are they?”

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed, shaking his head. "No, no, of course not. George is the only one buried here. The rest is to make sure that the only person who knows which one he's under is me-- Well, now, us."

He smiled, reaching to take Alastor's hand and give it a squeeze.

Alastor

Alastor squeezed back. “Really? Am I the only one?”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, you are. Not even any of the Eggs have ever been here. Not Hel either. You're the only one." He leaned over to kiss Alastor softly.

"Now, what did you pack for our picnic?"

Alastor

“Number 9 is going to hardboil himself with jealousy.” Alastor beamed.

“Nothing too exotic, just some picnic staples!” He rummaged through the basket. “Chicken paninis, macaroni salad, turkey sandwiches, cucumber-dill salad, broccoli slaw, salmon deviled eggs, hand pies for dessert... Oh, and these prosciutto pinwheels, don’t they look fancy! Give me a second to reheat the sandwiches, it melts the Brie and really brings out the flavor of the figs—“ This man heard “picnic” and packed enough to feed five people.

Sir Pentious

Telly blinked at the list and looked at the basket. How had he fit all that in there-- Actually that was a silly question, this was _Alastor_ after all.

"Sounds delicious, love." He chuckled. "But I don't think we two are going to be able to eat _all_ of that. We'll probably have leftovers."

Alastor

He paused, considered that, and looked over the sheer amount of food he was laying out on the blanket. Huh. “... Then we’ll be enjoying this picnic for the next few days, won’t we!”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, I think we will." He chuckled and leaned over to kiss Alastor's cheek.

"Now, what does the expert chef think his lovely taster should try first?" Telly winked.

Alastor

“The pinwheels! I’m especially proud of how they look.” He reached into the basket and pulled out... an entire tea kettle... He definitely used magic to fit everything in the basket. “I got the supplies for a watermelon lemonade before I realized we’d be out here at night when it’s cooler, and who wants lemonade at *night*—so instead I pilfered some mint tea I found in your stash, I thought it might be refreshing with some watermelon chunks in it!”

Sir Pentious

"Oh that sounds lovely. A nice warm minty melony tea." He chuckled, before reaching for one of the pinwheels. Telly took a bite and hummed in appreciation.

"Mm, delicious as always, my hart." He reached his free hand over to stroke his cheek with his knuckles.

Alastor

He automatically smiled wider at the touch. “I thought coming out here at night would mean it’s a little less hot, but here you are, trying to make me melt anyway.” He set the kettle on the concrete beside their blanket, pointed a finger at it and told it, “You figure out how to boil and I’ll check back on you in a couple of minutes,” and leaned against Telly. “So! What’s our agenda tonight?” He popped a deviled egg in his mouth. “Just dinner? Telling ghost stories in the dark? Simulating an earthquake for our underground friend?”

Sir Pentious

Telly wrapped an arm around Alastor's waist, holding him close against his side as he purred.

"I was thinking just dinning, maybe daintily feeding each other, like in the movies--" He stopped and his face scrunched a moment. "Wait, what do you mean, simulating an earthquake?"

Alastor

“You know—rattle the landscape a little, maybe accidentally crush his can down there—I was joking though, I don’t think I could actually do that without cracking all the concrete slabs out here. And Hentai doesn’t like to be called after five. Hah! Kidding—he doesn’t have a human concept of time.” He beamed up at Telly. “But I’m liking this dainty-feeding idea! I can cut up the paninis and sandwiches, they’d be perfect.”

Sir Pentious

"Oh! Oh, alright," He said, laughing. No, he doesn't look a little embarrassed or disappointed, not at all. Telly kissed his temple.

"Sounds good! Very good and romantic." He playfully nudged Alastor.

Alastor

“It sounds like something in an old Hollywood romance, doesn’t it. And decadently so. I don’t think there was anything in the Hays Code against feeding each other finger food, but it feels like there ought to have been!” He pulled over the sandwiches and started slicing them up—and glanced at Telly as he did. He was sure he’d glimpsed a hint of disappointment, hadn’t he?

“If you *want* me to shake up the area, I could,” he said. “I only said it as a joke because I figured you wouldn’t want all your slabs damaged! But if you don’t mind, I can certainly make it happen.” Look at him, so earnest. A very caring boyfriend who is very wrong about what Telly wants.

Sir Pentious

"I'm glad that I died before all that Hays Code nonsense, it sounds like a load of hogwash to me." He took another bite of the prosciutto, shrugging a bit.

At the reply, he blinked and quickly swallowed so he wouldn't choke as he laughed. "Oh, no, no darling, that's-- that's not it." He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was...thinking you meant something else."

Alastor

“Oh, it certainly was nonsense! I died just before they planned to start *really* enforcing it, luckily—at least luckily as far as my moviegoing experience is concerned. Mimzy tells me she hasn’t met an actor who’s died since ‘34 who hasn’t detested the Code.”

A blank blink. “Something else like what—an earthquake weapon? That’s *your* specialty, *mon roi.*” Give him a few seconds. “... *Oh!*”

Sir Pentious

Telly smirked at that-- seemed like Alastor finally got it. He leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Adorable."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I remember seeing around the Youknowwho-blr, a picture that specifically violated as many of the Hays Code policies as possible-- and it was some picture!"

Alastor

Adorable, huh. He’d take the hit to his dignity in exchange for the affection.

“Hah! What was the picture of—the 7 p.m. line at Hellbucks?” He offered a bite of heated-up panini to Telly. “Show me that picture if you see it again.”

Sir Pentious

"I'll be sure to save it if I see it again. It was something like a woman in next to nothing pointing a gun as a man laying on the ground." Telly leaned in, mouth open and very gently took the bite of panini. He chewed and smiled, picking up one to offer back to Alastor.

Alastor

Oh... hand-feeding really was romantic. For a couple of seconds all Alastor could focus on was the teeth grazing so close to his fingers. He nipped affectionately at the tips of Telly's as he accepted his own bite. "We should keep midnight picnics on our list of date nights to repeat in the future."

Sir Pentious

It was indeed quite romantic, and Telly purred at the nip. "Mm, yes, I definitely agree with that."

He chuckled, picking up another bit of sandwich to feed to Alastor. "So, if the Hays Code wasn't being enforced when you died, what sort of regulations were there?"

Alastor

Regulations? Oh, right, they'd been talking about movies. "Local ones, mainly!" He snapped up his bite and offered another to Telly. "By the end of the twenties, most states had censhorship boards to review films. That's one of the things that caused the Hays Code, see—Hollywood figured out that in a few years they'd have to be making fifty different versions of the same film to meet each state's guidelines, so they made their own guidelines first. But the state boards had more holes than Swiss cheese, plenty of good stuff made it through."

Sir Pentious

Telly leaned down to take the bite, letting his tongue flick out over Alastor's fingers as he did.

"Mm, that makes sense. But I've seen some of the things said in the Hays Code and they're just ridiculous, honestly."

Alastor

Alastor rolled his eyes. "Isn't that the truth." He flopped down to use Telly's tail as a pillow, and from there kept feeding him sandwich bites and eggs and pinwheels while they talked. "I don't think I agreed with any of their rules! Maybe 'don't show actual footage of a man dying,' I think that was one—not because I'd have *minded* the sight, but out of respect to the dead, you know. But maybe if some fellows on death row signed off permission for people to watch them die. I think I'd have done that."

Sir Pentious

"I always found the one such as 'law cannot be defeated' or 'cannot show a weapon being pointed' as the most ridiculous. The actual footage of death makes sense, though--" He took every bite that Alastor gave him, humming and chewing. He made sure to return each one, carefully lowering them into his partner-in-crime's sharp jaws.

Alastor

He peppered Telly's fingertips with nibbles, quick licks, and kisses in return for each bite. "Can't show a—I forgot about that one! How in the world did they make war movies after the Code started getting enforced? Did they point sticks at each other and yell 'bang'?" He shook his head in disbelief. "I was almost in a war movie down here—and they used live ammunition! That's the way to do it!"

Sir Pentious

"No idea! I think they just ignored that one, as they ended up doing with most, I believe. People found ways around them, as they do, and we're all better for it." He laughed, running the fingers of his free hand through Alastor's hair. He fed him another bite as he leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"A war movie? I suppose it was one for the Great War? That's the one you were in, yes?"

Alastor

He tilted his head to accept the kiss. "Yessir! This was back in the thirties, before there were posters of me everywhere and sometimes I could still have conversations. I thought I'd take a shot at the silver screen! They were looking for demons who could speak French and pass as human without much makeup."

Sir Pentious

"You know, I've always wondered about those poster-- who makes them? Who puts them up? Why are they so sloppily put together?" His face scrunched into a squint and the end of his tail started to wrap around one of Alastor's legs, somewhat protectively.

"I wonder because they are EVERYWHERE on the Pentagram. In the city, and on the outskirts, you can't walk a block without seeing one! Who is it that's _so_ very dedicated to warning people about you?'

Alastor

"I'd have *one* suspect if they didn't start popping up before he did. But he certainly encourages it. I've seen public service announcements." He tugged his feet up closer, giving Telly more room to wrap around him. "They're not there to warn people about me—they're there to ensure *I* know the people have been warned about me. What's the best way to get a pathological chatterbox to move past your café, if not to plaster the window with posters telling him he won't get a good conversation inside?" He smiled bitterly. "Of course, contrary scoundrel I am, I'd just walk right in if the sign said 'Radio Demon, go away!' So what do the signs say instead? 'Watch out!'"

Sir Pentious

"Mm, yes, he does, doesn't he?" His face scrunched again as he idly scratched Alastor's scalp, his claws gentle around the base of his ears and antlers.

"I wonder if it started out as someone genuinely trying to warn people about you because of your dangerous reputation, and then it just became a way to sort of ward you off-- or if it was always intended to ward you off? But if that was the case, then how did they _know_ that would ward you away and _not_ simply backfire like trying to bar you from places would? It's either purposefully genius tactic or accidentally."

Telly stroked his chin with his free hand, before picking up another deviled egg to feed Alastor.

Alastor

"It was probably genuine originally! Somebody thinking they were looking out for their neighbors, maybe. And I'd bet the intent to warn is still there, at least in part—how are they going to keep new arrivals from talking to me but by informing them? But the overarching motive isn't a charitable effort to protect others from me, but a selfish effort to protect *themselves* from me." A sigh.

He almost missed the egg; he'd shut his eyes to revel in the scratching on his scalp. "There's a lot more than there used to be. Most of them are photocopies if the same poster. If I ever get my hands on that artist..."

Sir Pentious

"Mm, yes, photocopies seem to be the only way to make as many as there are. Can you imagine back in our day, how many hours it would've taken to make that many by hand? I can't even fathom it." He hummed, his tail now fully coiled around Alastor's legs.

"I do wonder about that art, though-- why _are_ you wearing a circus tent?" Telly chuckled.

Alastor

"Ha! Someone would have made a woodcut or something, I'm sure. How do illustrations get printed in books—whatever it is they do."

He shifted a bit, getting cozy in the coil; then stuck a fork in the slaw and held it up to Telly's face, smiling sweetly with his entirely un-romantic offering. He was probably going to get as much slaw on his face as Telly got in his mouth, wasn't he? "My self-introduction to Hell started in a circus—that's where I crashed down. I wasn't sure if I'd get my clothes to grow with me, so I took the tent along in case. I ended up wearing it like a cape."

Sir Pentious

The bite was halfway in his mouth when Alastor's last sentence hit, and the urge to laugh punched him in the gut. The effect, of course, was that none of the slaw ended up in Telly's mouth, and _all_ of it ended up _all over_ Alastor.

Which just made Telly laugh even more.

"Oh! Oh no, love, I'm sorry-- you can't just hit me with the image of you wearing a circus tent like a cape whilst also trying to feed me! Oh, what a mess!!" He wheezed, half folding over Alastor's head in his fit.

Alastor

He looked up at Telly laughing with eyebrows raised and a patient smile, and then just as patiently wiped the slaw off his face and ate it himself. "You're forgiven." He raised his head and started picking bits off of his lapels.

Sir Pentious

"Oh, dear, here let me help." He picked up a napkin and began to gently wipe off Alastor's face, and the spots on his outfit where the slaw landed. The entire time, he continued to try his best to stop laughing.

Once Alastor was clean(ish), Telly wrapped his arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I love you, my very patient and forgiving partner-in-crime."

Alastor

He laced his hands over his stomach and kept on patiently smiling as he was cleaned. "I knew I was tempting fate, anyway." He returned the kiss. "But I'll have you know I looked good in that tent."

Sir Pentious

"You must've, considering that that's the image the poster-maker chose to immortalize." Telly picked up a fork, getting a nice forkful of the slaw, holding his hand under it to offer to Alastor, a peace offering after the botched feeding.

"I simply thought the idea of you wearing it as a cape after was very funny, but considering all you were doing, it must've been a fearsome sight."

Alastor

His smile wilted a little. "I suppose it must have." He ate the slaw. "You know, it tastes better straight from the fork."

Sir Pentious

Oh, no, that was the opposite of what he'd wanted to do. "I bet it does." He moved closer again, removing Hattie to set him aside. He wrapped his arm around Alastor's waist and laid his cheek on his shoulder.

"You regret it? The rampage? I know you told me before how much you dislike how everyone fears you now, but do you think you would've done things differently, had you known what would happen?"

Alastor

Alastor sat up to wrap his arms around Telly in return. “I would have done it completely differently,” he said. “Waited a week or two, did my research, chose my targets more carefully. I would have only hit overlords—and unpopular ones, at that. No punching down. Minimal civilian casualties, and no mentioning them on air. Less screams, more jokes. I would have framed it as something I was doing *for* Hell rather than *to* Hell.” He sighed deeply. “If only.”

Sir Pentious

Telly nodded, tilting his head to press a kiss to Alastor's jaw. "Sounds like you've thought about that a lot."

He sighed and closed his eyes, giving Alastor a squeeze. "I've thought a lot about if I would've done things differently, too. I wouldn't have relied on Leclerq's help as much. I would've made sure not to bite off more than I could chew, be more cautious. I never, _never_ would have even spoken to V--...to you know who.

"But I can't go back and change things. And who knows what differences there would be if I had? I might never have met you." He lifted his head and smiled, kissing Alastor's cheek. "And I am very, _very_ glad that I did."

Alastor

A nod. He *had* thought about it, countless times.

He listened quietly at Telly listed off his own regrets. He wasn’t surprised his alternate was at the top of the list. Alastor was sure he was at the top of Telly’s alternate’s list.

His weak smile perked up a bit. “I’m glad I made it to this place with you—I just wish to God I hadn’t burned so many bridges on my way here.”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, that is regrettable. But there's nothing to be done about it now. What's done is done, the past is the past. We're here now, though, together. And that's what matters."

He smiled wider, taking Alastor's face into his hand as he kissed his lips. "I'm still hungry, let's try that pasta salad."

Alastor

“Past is the past,” he agreed with a sigh. But his smile was looking more natural. “And the future is the future, and *my,* is it looking bright. The present isn’t too shabby either.”

He forked up a bit of the salad to present to Telly. “In all of humanity’s culinary history, I can’t think of any food more passionate or alluring than this: cold macaroni salad. This, my darling, is peak romance!”

Sir Pentious

Telly chuckled, this time before taking the bite, no more laughing food all over his boyfriend. He chewed and hummed, nodding.

"I must agree with you, darling, but only because _you_ made it, and with love, obviously." He winked.

Alastor

“Stirred it right into the dressing with the mayonnaise and mustard,” he said cheerfully. And does he realize that this, too, could be interpreted the wrong way? No. No he does not.

Sir Pentious

"Mm, yes, I can tell." He leaned in for another little kiss. He was just going to let that one slide. Not every innuendo Alastor accidentally made did he need to point out.

"Weren't we going to have tea with this too?"

Alastor

And that, right there, is true love.

His eyes flew wide open. “The *tea!*” He’d completely forgotten. He reached over to grab it up. “You! You’d better have stopped boiling by now!”

It had, but he was afraid it was going to be far too strong. He fished a cup out of the picnic basket, poured a tiny bit out, and grimaced. “*Oh,* goodness. At least we have the watermelon to water it down.”

Sir Pentious

"It'll be fine, darling, you know I like my tea strong." He smiled and nudged him gently.

"But the watermelon, yes! I want some of that. Did it come from the living world?"

Alastor

“Is there an upper limit to that?” He passed over the cup.

“It came from the bougie part of town, who knows where it was before that! I didn’t check whether it was imported or local.” It would have been fitting if he’d pulled an entire watermelon out of the basket, given everything else he’d crammed in; but no, just a Tupperware stuffed with ice cube-sized chunks, marinading in their own juice.

Sir Pentious

Telly took a sip and flicked his tongue a bit. "Hmm, it _is_ a bit oversteeped, but not badly enough to warrant making a new pot! The watermelon will surely salvage it."

He grinned and leaned in to flick his tongue at the watermelon-- though, of course, he couldn't smell it with the lid on.

Alastor

Alastor popped the lid off. Behold: the watermelon. Smells like watermelon. “Serve yourself however much you want.”

Sir Pentious

Telly plucked a cube from the tupperware....and just ate it. He made an appreciative noise before grabbing another to put in his cup. And a third that also went into the cup.

"Mm, it tastes very good." He took a sip of the tea and his purr started up. "And it goes wonderfully with the tea, definitely saves it."

Alastor

“Good! Glad to hear it.” He poured himself another cup, tossed in a couple cubes, and winced. “You know, I’m actually not fond of the flavor of watermelon, either?” A sardonic smile. “But the tastes compliment each other, I can admit that.”

Sir Pentious

Telly giggled, and then took another sip.

"Look at you, grin and bearing your way through tea and watermelon just for me." He leaned over to kiss his cheek.

Alastor

“I *did* think you might enjoy it!” He turned to meet Telly’s kiss. “... Although I think it tastes better in your mouth than in mine.”

Sir Pentious

"Oh, do you?" Telly took another sip, a devious glint in his eyes. He set aside his cup and took Alastor's face in his hand, leaning in to kiss him, tongue flicking against his teeth to be let in.

Alastor

Telly barely needed to ask, this was exactly what Alastor was hoping for. He leaned into the kiss.

Sir Pentious

He smiled briefly into the kiss, and then gently pushed Alastor's shoulder back, guiding him down. It was time for making out, the snake had decided.

Alastor

The movement passed unanimously. He'd been waiting to get to this part since they'd started teasing each other's fingertips. Something new to get his teeth on.

Aaand cue the sappy background music, courtesy of your local Radio Demon.

Sir Pentious

He probably should've been expecting the music, but he didn't. Telly laughed softly against Alastor's lips, kissing him deeper as it played. He unbuttoned Alastor's collar to kiss down onto his neck, scraping his teeth there.

Alastor

Alastor blinked in surprise. Really, unbuttoning his shirt? He hadn't expected that. But then who was around to see? They were probably less likely to be caught here than they were on the airship—no Eggs to barge in.

He tilted his head back to give Telly more room, gazing up at the stars. "... Do you know what I think would be lovely?"

Sir Pentious

"Mm, what's that, darling?" He asked, pressing soft kisses to his neck. He gave a teasing nip and then pulled back to smile at him.

Alastor

Alastor gave Telly a mischievous smirk, then bounded to his feet and pulled Telly up with him—with a little magical assistance. The moon and stars still gave off their usual reddish glow, but the ground seemed illuminated by a sourceless neon light. Surprise! Time to dance!

"*Midnight with the stars and you...*" He twirled Telly across the suddenly supernaturally slick concrete slab, then dipped him dramatically. "*... Midnight and a rendezvous.*" Smooch.

Sir Pentious

It all happened so quickly-- one moment, he was laying on top of Alastor, and the next they were both up and twirling. His hood flared from surprise, but he laughed, moving in time. It was so much easier to dance when there was no friction.

He hummed along to the song as they danced, Telly stealing kisses at every opportunity. What a feeling-- giddy and light and floating, twirling around like he always wanted to at a ball. It was so effortless!

When the song ended, he smiled wide, his hood flared fully with his excitement. "Oh, another one! More, I want to dance more!"

Alastor

That's the power of Radio Demon magic, baby. And oh, ever since the Mardi Gras ball, he's been dying to dance with Telly properly. To help him glide gracefully across the ground, aided by invisible shadows and strange physics just enough to let Telly move freely in spite of his long tail.

Telly wasn't the first snake Alastor had helped dance like this—but try not to think about that. That ballroom had been a long time ago, and here with a picnic under the stars... Completely different.

All the same, he couldn't help but to say, "Why, I'd be happy to! I haven't happened to mention that I'm an expert at helping snakes dance, have I?" He hooked a finger in Telly's bow tie to pull him closer, then oh-so-casually untied it and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. If Telly could undo Alastor a little bit, then Alastor could return the favor. "Granted, I haven't gotten in a lot of practice, but I bet I could show you a trick or two." Snippets from a half dozen songs played as he tried to select the best tune for their next dance.

Sir Pentious

Alastor wasn't the only one remembering the Madri Gras ball. Telly's mind also wandered back to that night, and how they'd held each other and just swayed. That had been splendid, but this....this was perfect. Twirling with him under the moonlight, on the grave of his ex-lover. How much more romantic could it get?

Apparently, at least fractionally, as his breath hitched when Alastor tugged him close by the bowtie. Oh, oh, that was hot. His hood stayed flared, and he purred.

"You may have mentioned that before, if I recall." He chuckled, letting his hands rest on Alastor's waist. "I do have a song request, Mr. Radio Demon, if you don't mind." He winked.

Alastor

"Oh do you! You know, this station doesn't play just anybody's requests—but yours, we're always happy to put on air." Maybe... another couple of buttons. Get that deep-cleavage Fabio look going on. "By all means. What'll it be?"

Sir Pentious

"I was thinking 'I Could Have Danced All Night'." He smirked and flicked his tongue at Alastor. Was he going to completely undress him? Well, Telly didn't mind, not at all.

Alastor

Not quite—although Mr. Hays might have something to say about Telly's wardrobe. "With pleasure! And how fitting. *I could have daaanced all night, and still have begged for more...*"

He pulled Telly close as they started to dance again; but a few measures later, when he pulled out from Telly at arm's length to attempt to twirl him (and probably trip them both), his eyes were instead caught by an unexpected light: lines peeking out from the unbuttoned shirt on Telly's chest, glowing white under the sourceless black light. "Oh, hello! What's this?"

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed as they started to dance again, and sang along in bursts when he thought to. He was entranced enough that when Alastor stopped, he blinked and had to take a moment to refocus.

"What's what?" He asked, brow furrowing. He tried to look down and see what Alastor had spotted but couldn't quiet do it.

Alastor

Alastor unbuttoned Telly's jacket and slid it and his shirt over his shoulders, not enough to completely strip him but enough to see more of the lines. Sigils? "I hope these are supposed to be there?" (Don't mind him while his mind frantically runs through all the heavy-hitters he knows that use magic symbols on people's skin to target or control them.)

Sir Pentious

It was when Alastor pushed his clothes apart that Telly was finally able to get a good look. He gasped and his hood flared-- though he was smiling, very widely in fact.

"OH! OH! MY TATTOOS! I THOUGHT I'D LOST THEM!! LOOK AT THAT!!"

Alastor

"Your *tattoos*? When did *that* happen!" He wasn't going to completely undress Telly right out in the open to try to get a better look, but he stepped back to see them more fully.

Sir Pentious

If Alastor wasn't going to undress him, then Telly would. He just tossed off his coat and shirt, revealing the tattoos in full.

A pair of snakes wound their ways up either arm, ending with open fanged mouths on his pecks– now on either side of his chest eye. And then another pair wound up from his hips, around his back and up to his chest again, framing the eye from the bottom. And the final one, an ouroboros around his neck, biting it’s tail like it was a necklace.

"They happened back when I was alive! I thought I'd lost them when I died!"

Alastor

Oh, well, if *Telly* was going to finish undressing *himself,* Alastor wasn't about to protest at all. Especially if it meant he got to see that Telly was covered in art. Secret hidden art! Art that only Alastor's magic could reveal!

He circled Telly slowly, one hand trailing along one of the snakes wrapped around his back, tracing its path. "Look at *that.*" His voice was hushed. "Beautiful."

Sir Pentious

Telly shivered at the touch, his tongue flicking out, and he smiled. He glanced down at the slab they were on and his smile turned to a devilish smirk.

"You know, George _hated_ my tattoos. I got the this one first–” He touched his neck. “And he despised it. Said it looked ridiculous. He even tried to stop me from getting more, but I did it anyway. Got the ones on my arms next, and then the ones around my torso were the last.”

Alastor

"George has no taste!" Alastor tapped a foot loudly on the slab—you hear him? He bent forward to kiss the ouroboros's face. "What kind of a buffoon gets the greatest mind in England in his bed, and then is only interested in his body instead of his mind—and then on top of that, doesn't even fully appreciate his body?" He kissed each of the other snake faces in turn. "... What were they surrounding before you had an eye there?"

Sir Pentious

“Oh, nothing. I had plans for another, but well, it fell through after I ran to Dover. No tattooists in Dover in 1870.” He chuckled and shrugged.

"But I agree, he has no taste, because _I_ think they look quite dashing, don't you?" Telly stood up taller, his hood folded and sleek. He turned his head to the side and posed with his hand folded under his chin.

Alastor

"Incredibly dashing! Dashing and a bit dastardly! You look like you ought to be sword fighting Douglas Fairbanks on a pirate ship." Maybe with a tricorn hat on to complete the look. Any other clothes optional. "What was the last tattoo going to be?"

Sir Pentious

He chuckled, looking down at his chest again, a small purr starting to rumble inside.

"Would you believe an eye?" Telly smirked, looking back over at Alastor. "I thought it would look neat! And I was right."

Alastor

Alastor laughed. "You know, I find things tend to work out like that down here!" He slid his arms around Telly's waist, tugging him close again.

Sir Pentious

The purr kicked up a notch as he smiled down at Alastor. He leaned in for a kiss, his hands resting on his shoulders.

"Hm, I think we were dancing before we got distracted, weren't we?"

Alastor

"I think we were! We'll finish 'I Could Have Danced All Night' properly in a bit, but..." This time, he pulled Telly into a waltz.

Sir Pentious

Oh, yes! A waltz! He knows this one. Telly smiled wider as they danced. It was so much easier to move with whatever magic Alastor had done, he loved it. "Hah! This is very fun...I'd forgotten just how much!"

Alastor

Alastor had thought he might know this one. "Somebody ought to have helped you do this a century ago. You shouldn't have had to wait for me to get to dance again." And around they went, circling their picnic blanket. "So what dances *do* you know?"

Sir Pentious

Twirl, twirl, spin, around they went. This actually seemed easier now, without legs to fumble over. That made him chuckle.

"This, the waltz….and the two-step….that’s about all. I've wanted to learn more, though, I just never had a partner.”

Alastor

"Oh, we're going to have fun! What do you *want* to learn?" Another turn... and then Alastor abruptly switched their hand positions, think fast Telly, you're leading now.

Sir Pentious

Oh, oh shit, he’s leading– well, at least he no longer had feet to step on Alastor’s! He stumbled through the first motions before getting a handle on things, remembering how the lead was supposed to move.

“I suppose anything with complicated footwork is out, but perhaps tango? That seems do-able. Or swing?”

Alastor

He stumbled as well on one of the first turns, he'd forgotten that the follow had to make bigger turns. "Ooh, tango! I doubt we'll ever get you tap dancing, but for most dances with fancy footwork I'm sure we can come up with a modification that lets you keep up." He paused thoughtfully. "I take back what I said about tap dancing. Now I want to strap castanets to your tail and see what we can come up with."

Sir Pentious

“Oh, well, won’t that be a sight. I was thinking more a single shoe just on the tip of my tail.” He winked and chuckled, pressing a bit closer.

"Just imagine, you doing a routine and me, adding in a single 'tap-tap' here or there with my tail." He snorted and giggled.

Alastor

"HA! If you can pull it off, I want to see!" He laughed. "Have you ever seen *Young Frankenstein*"—the music abruptly shifted to "Puttin' On the Ritz"—"that bit where Frankenstein is doing an elaborate tap-dance routine on stage, and every once in a while he points at the monster and he stomps a couple of times—except you can just... slap your tail on the stage."

Sir Pentious

"Oh! Yes, I have seen that-- HAHA! That part is very good. Yes, exactly like that." He'd snort and giggle a few more times, almost messing up the steps-- he'd forgotten he was leading, whoops.

“I’d need a very, very good teacher to do it, though-- that level of skill necessary to slap my tail onto a stage is something that can only be taught by a master!"

Alastor

The fact that he was trying to waltz to "Puttin' on the Ritz" probably didn't help. It was like trying to draw a triangle whose corners matched up perfectly with a trapezoid's. "A *master*, now! Oh, *well!* I can't help you there." He shrugged. "I'm only a so-so tap dancer. But! If you don't mind being a so-so tap dancer too, it would be my honor to teach you!" He put on his most winning smile. Mediocrity has never looked so appealing.

Sir Pentious

“I’d only be tapping with one shoe, I think so-so will cut it!” He chuckled, leaning down to kiss him-- and again, almost falling over.

"Darling, I think we need a change of song, Puttin' on the Ritz is nice, but it's messing with my rhythm."

Alastor

"You're right, you're right! I'm sorry." He switched back to the original waltz. "Don't you worry—we'll get anyone who sees you saying, 'Hey, that snake's not half bad!' No one will be able to say you've got two left feet!" Oh, he was on a roll. "But maybe the tango first."

Sir Pentious

“Yes I think I’d like the tango first before we delve into the comical!” When the song switched back, he started moving more fluidly again, humming along to the tune. The hand at Alastor's waist moved in, starting to slyly undo the buttons on his coat.

Alastor

He prepared to move his hands when Telly's slipped off his waist, were they switching leads again—? Oh, no. Telly was pulling a different sly little trick. All right, that was fair; compared to Telly, Alastor was a little overdressed. He kept on dancing as if he was completely oblivious to the fingers tugging at his buttons. (A couple trapped shreds of coleslaw fell out of his coat. Farewell.) "Of course! No need for us to do everything at once! We're going to have plenty of time to figure all this out, aren't we?"

Sir Pentious

“Yes, plenty. As much time as we want.” He smiled and leaned in to flick his tongue against Alastor's cheek-- and as a distraction from the hand now sliding inside of Alastor's coat to undo his shirt buttons.

Alastor

Alastor tilted his head in closer to catch the tickling touch to his cheek while obligingly keeping his body far enough out to give Telly's hand room to manipulate the buttons. "For the record, I don't think I have any hidden tattoos under my clothing. If I *do*, they're a surprise to *me*! But it doesn't hurt to check, does it?"

Sir Pentious

"No, doesn't hurt to check," He said, purring. Their waltz had devolved into a slow, lazy twirl as Telly's hand got the buttons unbuttoned, and the shirts untucked. It then slid underneath to scratch and grip at Alastor's side.

"Mm, think I want that earthquake now." He turned his head to capture Alastor's lips.

Alastor

"O-*ho*!" Alastor stopped dancing completely as they kissed, only swaying slightly on his feet to the rhythm of the music. "Really! Out here under the open sky, completely exposed? You never know who might pass by with a seismometer! How *exciting.*"

Sir Pentious

"Scandalous, isn't it? I do love a bit of scandal." He grinned, his kissing trailing down Alastor's neck as he had earlier.

"Touch me," He whispered against his skin, getting his other hand under Alastor's shirt too. Both hands now gripped his waist, digging the tips of his claws in enough to prick the skin.

Alastor

"Oh, it would be a wonderful scandal! We'd be the most exciting thing to hit the tabloids in years," Alastor murmured. "What are they publishing these days? 'Guess which power couple can't decide whether or not they're still together for the hundredth issue in a row.' 'Top five Goetias our readers think might have an angel kink.' Yawn."

He obeyed the command immediately, hands trailing from Telly's shoulders down his back and along his sides, slowing to linger at his gills, rubbing in small circles as he spoke. "I like ours much better. 'The Radio Demon and Sir Pentious caught rocking each other's worlds! Earth-shaking affair between orchestrator of worst solo act of carnage in Hell's history and throne-seeking supervillain extraordinaire! Magnitude 9 quakes registered in their wake as they leave Pentagram City devastated. Hell on edge as the aftershocks are felt in the furthest rings.'"

Sir Pentious

The attention to his gills had him gasping soft noises against Alastor's throat. He pressed the tips of his fangs there, letting his breath fan against Alastor's skin.

His claws dug a little deeper, and he groaned softly. "Mm, can't wait until we can reveal ourselves. Once I have enough territory and influence that blockhead or any of the other overlords can't find a way to slap me back down, they're going to be in for a reckoning."

A whimper left him, his teeth scraping against Alastor's neck, as he felt his sheath begin to part; it looked like the dicks were arriving on cue.

Alastor

"I can't wait, either." He nuzzled his nose against Telly's face, head tipped down so that Telly's hood hid his mouth as he murmured, "Someday, all of Hell is going to find out we're together—and their reaction is going to be terror. They'll know that with our forces combined, all of Hell will be *helpless* before us."

One hand crept around to the small of Telly's back, claws prickling lightly across his skin. It pulled Telly closer, pressing their hips together. "Part of me even wants them to see this. I want them to know I'm utterly obsessed with you—every inch of you, in every way."

Sir Pentious

His breath caught and sped at Alastor's words, the pricking of his claws sending shivers down his spine. His own claws slid around to Alastor's back, and dug in there.

"I want them to know that we would do anything for one another-- that anyone who tried to get to one of us through the other, it would be a futile effort, as either of us could destroy them utterly. I want them all to know that you're mine and I'm yours, and that soon, Hell will be oursssss...."

Telly's mouth opened wide and he bit deep into Alastor's neck, groaning against him.

Alastor

His breath hitched at the bite and he shut his eyes as the pain/pleasure washed over him. "I wish I could show off your bites."

He rocked back on his heels, reveling in how it made the claws in his back dig in a little harder, just long enough to undo his pants. He slid them down to mid-thigh, giving Telly somewhere more comfortable to press his dicks than against Alastor's belt. "You're the virtuoso of invention and I'm the maestro of magic. Between the two of us, we have every other sinner beat on every front. We'll be unstoppable."

Sir Pentious

"I wish you could too. I want everyone to know that you're _mine_." He growled the last word, tongue flicking to lick at the wound. Telly kissed down, moving his hand briefly to push Alastor's coat and shirt aside. The undershirt was still there, but he didn't mind biting right through _that_-- and so he did.

He ground his hips forward, rubbing them against Alastor with a whine. "I wonder....can you stay standing while I _fuck_ your thighs, my hart?"

Alastor

*Mine.* He loved the sound of that. He let go just long enough to shrug off his shirt and coat, then pulled Telly close again.

Could he? That was a good question. From the waist down, Sir Pentious was essentially a sausage the size of two people made of pure muscle, and they didn’t have any walls to brace against. “We can give it a shot. I might need your help to brace me.”

Sir Pentious

"We'll give it the old college try, and if not, well..." He glanced over at the blanket, still spread with food and the basket. "We _do_ have a blanket. But let's try."

Telly grinned, and reached down to press his dicks together. He positioned them right between Alastor's thighs, and purred. "Alright, here goes nothing."

Arms wrapped around Alastor, he started to thrust, slowly, his tail sliding around to coil around the bottoms of Alastor's legs to help keep him steady.

Alastor

“Making love on a picnic blanket *is* a classic. We’ll call that Plan B.” He stood as straight as he could to let Telly get in position, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and held on.

Alastor was definitely going to be feeling this in his thighs and abs tomorrow—the tail at least kept his feet from sliding back, but it was an effort not to buckle backwards at the waist with each thrust. And Telly hadn’t really gotten going yet. It wasn’t long before Alastor had to take Telly’s hands and place them on his own ass to hold him in place. Usually he wasn’t fond of being held there too long, but it would do a better job of saving Alastor from having to tense up for every thrust than anything else.

Sir Pentious

Oh, and that was something new-- he'd never been allowed to touch the ass before, let alone hold on. His claws flexed and dug in as he groaned, his hips rocking faster.

"Alastor," he whined, breathlessly against his shoulder, leaving a kiss there before biting through the undershirt once more. Telly panted softly, his tongue flicking out repeatedly to taste and smell his blood.

Alastor

He automatically played an alarmed bicycle horn sound effect when Telly squeezed his ass. Sorry.

Now that he didn’t have to focus on keeping himself upright, he could focus on the actual physical experience... which was unfortunate, as it turned out, because he quickly discovered he wasn’t enjoying the physical experience at all. The height difference made it inevitable that some of Telly’s thrusts bucked close enough to Alastor’s groin to send uncomfortable bolts of stimulation through his system; with his pants down and his coat off, his boxer-clad butt was exposed to all of Hell; and there was nothing he could do to contribute or to entertain himself but hold tight and try to focus on the sounds Telly was making. He couldn’t even catch Telly’s mouth for a proper kiss. Subtly shapeshifting away the bulge in his boxers helped with reducing the odd accidental rubs, but it didn’t fix the whole experience.

Okay. He was striking out this position. It had even snapped him out of his lovey-dovey mood. He’d let Telly enjoy it a bit longer, but then he was calling that they switch leads again.

In the meantime, he’d try to coax a little more something for himself out of Telly. “Tell me what you’re feeling,” he murmured, a warm buzzy distortion underlining his words. “I want to hear what this is doing to you.”

Sir Pentious

The horn caused him to startle, hood flaring out as his head snapped up, a louder than average hiss escaping him. Telly blinked and then whined softly, flattening his hood to tuck his face back against Alastor's neck.

And then he felt something oddly _shift_ down below and, while that didn't cause a flare, he did pull his head back again, blinking.

"What--what was that?" He murmured, his hips stilling. He huffed for breath a bit, pulling back enough to be able to see Alastor's face. The words, though, the words made him pause.

"Feeling a bit odd, honestly." He shifted his hands up from Alastor's ass back to his back instead, and pulled his dicks from between his legs, letting them rest between the two of them instead. "Are you....alright?"

Alastor

Ah. He'd killed the mood. Damn. Telly had been enjoying himself so much a moment ago. Alastor had a whole strategy—he'd get to hear in detail all the things Telly was enjoying, and that would give him enough to enjoy himself a bit, and in a couple minutes he could pull out his best stolen-from-a-romantic-movie sultry voice and go *why don't you let me try something a little different* and then they could switch to a more comfortable position...

Well, so much for that. He'd spoiled it. He offered Telly an apologetic smile. "It's not doing it for me. I was going to give you a minute or two and then ask to switch it up."

Sir Pentious

"Alastor..." He lowered himself, cupping Alastor's cheek, his thumb stroking over it. "If you're not enjoying something then I want you to tell me, all right? Right away. I don't want to continue doing something that we don't both like. So next time, just stop me and tell me, and then we can just switch to something else, okay?" He leaned in and kissed him softly.

"I love you, and I want when we're together to always be good for both of us, not just _me_." He straightened and tugged Alastor's pants back up, just enough to be able to allow him to move more easily. He put his hand on Alastor's waist and then took up the classic dancing pose again.

"L is for the way you look at me..." He began to sing softly, swaying a little.

Alastor

Not only had the mood been killed, it was getting field dressed before their very eyes. Damn everything. He leaned into the swaying and pulled up backing music for Telly’s singing, but he was going to sulk about it.

... He’d say something in a minute. He didn’t want to interrupt the singing.

Sir Pentious

He could tell Alastor was still upset-- there was actually quite a marked difference, and that mark was the fact he didn't sing along.

So, Telly pulled back just enough to tilt Alastor's chin up with a finger, getting him to look into Telly's eyes as he sang the next lines.

"O is for the only one I see. V is very, very extraordinary. E is even more than anyone that they adore. Love is all that I can give to you. Love is more than just a game for two. Two in love can make it, take my heart but please don't break it. Love was made for me and you."

Alastor

It actually wasn’t that deep, he just wanted to listen to his partner-in-crime singing a love song to him.

All the same, despite himself, the direct eye contact did buoy his mood a little. When Telly finished singing, Alastor pecked his lips and said, “I *was* going to switch to something else. After giving you a minute or two. I don’t want to slam on the breaks the *very second* I’m not utterly euphoric, especially if letting things run a few more seconds will let us segue more smoothly.”

Sir Pentious

Telly thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

"I understand, but I know that I'd enjoy anything we do tenfold if I know that you're enjoying it, too." He leaned in to kiss him softly.

"Alright, standing didn't work, what were you _going_ to suggest we segue to?"

Alastor

Kiss. “I know.” That was the ideal, wasn’t it; but sometimes Alastor was just okay, and he was okay with that.

“I was going to suggest you lie down on that blanket and I sit on top, see how that goes.” He’d been planning to put it much more alluringly, but that wasn’t really the mood at the moment, was it? The picnic spread picked itself up and neatly floated back into the basket and the blanket flapped once to kick off any crumbs.

Sir Pentious

"Oh, that sounds interesting. And fun," Telly said, smiling wider. He twirled his way back over to the blanket, not letting Alastor go for a moment. At least until reaching said blanket.

He chuckled and laid down, purring as he stared up at Alastor. "I'm ready for you, my hart."

Alastor

“I thought you might think so!” He could salvage this yet.

He shimmied out of his pants, sat straddling Telly’s tail, bent forward to give him a quick kiss, then straightened up to figure out how this would work. “Let’s see here...” He’d straddled Telly’s tail plenty of times, but that was typically kneeling. To get his thighs around Telly’s dicks, he had to pull his knees together and splay his calves out to either side. It was, he thought, like trying to ride home in an automobile from the grocery store with several stuffed bags of groceries in the footwell between his feet and a couple of soda bottles being carefully held upright between his thighs.

So a little goofy, from his perspective; but not downright unpleasant. “How’s this?”

Sir Pentious

A purr rumbled through him as he watched Alastor get into position-- from down there, it also looked a little goofy, but it looked a whole lot more incredibly hot. Alastor, on top of him, riding him-- that was a sight he'd never thought he'd see.

"It's good, though, how's your balance? You're not going to fall off?" He smirked a little, then gave his tail an experimental roll, to see how well Alastor handled it.

Alastor

He had to roll his hips along with Telly to keep his balance, his thighs shifting around Telly's dicks in the process. "Have you ever tried riding a mechanical bull?" Probably not, unless they'd let him ride side-saddle. "Like the first few seconds while the thing's still warming up." He rubbed the tip of one of Telly's dicks, "So, all good, as long as I don't forget myself and try to use these as a handhold!" He's joking probably.

Sir Pentious

Telly purred louder, and rolled his tail again, grinning up at Alastor. "It's all about the rhythm, then. As long as we're in sync, we'll be fine. Just like dancing."

He was proud of that analogy, and the smug smile on his face showed it. He started moving again, shifting like a wave coming from the tip of his tail to his hips. A soft groan left him as he felt Alastor's thighs rubbing his cocks. "Mm, that's nice...."

Alastor

Just like dancing! Alastor's grin widened. "Well, look at that! We already found a new dance that doesn't involve any fancy footwork."

He always loved watching and feeling how the length of Telly's tail rolled when he thrusted; riding atop it was yet another fascinating way to experience it. He had to join in the movement himself to keep stable, feeling it in his spine and hips.

Sir Pentious

"The dance of the beast with two backs." Telly snickered as he started to roll a little faster, trying his best to keep the motions even and smooth. His breathing picked up as his speed did, the feeling of his dicks sliding between Alastor's thighs sending sparks all through him.

"This....this is a good position, I think I like this one a lot," He muttered, his hands reaching to grab the outside of Alastor's thighs, letting the tips of his claws dig in.

Alastor

"HAH! I think this dance is a winner!" He was definitely going to be building up some rarely-used muscles until he got used to it, but so far it was the most comfortable position they'd tried that let Telly get between Alastor's thighs.

He placed his hands over Telly's, claws grazing the backs of his hands. "And it lets me see you, too." In the future they could do more with that—explore Telly's torso, maybe make out while they did this—but for now, Alastor was content just to see how Telly looked under the starlight.

Sir Pentious

With Alastor's hands over his, it felt so very intimate-- somehow even more than the fact his dicks were currently squeezed between Alastor's thighs. His breath caught a bit, and his body rolled faster. He stared up at Alastor, eyes half lidded, smiling softly.

"I _do_ like seeing you....feeling you...I love you, Alastor." He groaned softly.

Alastor

Alastor's smile was just downright goofy now. An utterly dorky grin. This wasn't the face of a man rubbing off two dicks, it was the face of a man who'd just had a baby fawn dumped in his lap at the petting zoo. "For Hell's greatest supervillain, you can be a real sweetheart sometimes, do you know that?" He laced his fingers with Telly's and squeezed his thighs a little tighter as they picked up the pace.

Sir Pentious

Telly smiled back at him, not as goofily, but very earnest. His speed picked up again, and he moaned.

"I'm only a sweetheart to those that I love. To the rest, I am as dastardly as they come." He gave his best dastardly expression-- a pretty good one, honestly, it looked like he practiced that-- before it devolved back into a wide smile. He squeezed Alastor's hands in his and groaned.

"Lord, this feels good...."

Alastor

Oh, he *loved* that face. Evidence of practice and all. As much as Alastor’s day-to-day persona was a performance, Sir Pentious was just as much of a showman when it came to his villainous work—and it *showed,* and Alastor *adored* him for it.

“I want you to focus on that,” Alastor said, suddenly intense, leaning forward. “Focus on how good it feels, and know that it’s *for you* and it’s *intentional.* Your pleasure isn’t the byproduct of somebody else getting off. I wouldn’t be doing this for myself, and I wouldn’t do it for anyone else—just you.” He lifted one of Telly’s hands to kiss it. “Somewhere underneath us is a selfish bastard who looked at everything you are, everything you have to offer, everything you’ve made of your life and your work and your body, and couldn’t see anything but a pre-heated masturbation aid—*and he’s down there,* and you’re up here with somebody whose only motive for touching you is to make you as happy as you can be. And that’s how it’s going to be from now on.”

(Has he been lowkey writing this speech in the back of his head since he unbuckled his belt? Maybe. But it was all true.)

Sir Pentious

The words made Telly's eyes begin to swim, his throat closing fractionally as the emotion washed over him. Alastor did this for him. Only for him. Hearing that straight from his mouth seemed to intensify everything, and his pace kicked up again-- if Alastor thought he was riding a mechanical bull before, that had nothing on what Telly's body was doing now.

He threw his head back and moaned, hands clutching Alastor's tight. He panted hard, tongue flicking out and staying there. "Talk to me, Alastor! More, I'm close!"

Alastor

He had to tense up to keep his balance as Telly’s movements intensified, which by lucky chance also meant tightening his squeeze around Telly’s dicks. That went over as well as Alastor had hoped.

“More! Is this what it’s like to be called back on stage for an encore?” He kissed Telly’s hand again. “I’ve dreamed all my life of hearing hundreds of strangers cheering and applauding me—but I can’t imagine it would sound half as wonderful as *you* begging for more of me. I’d sing you every song I know and talk non-stop from now til Judgment Day—and all I want is to hear you in return. I want all those sounds you make when you feel so good you can’t help yourself.”

Sir Pentious

Telly almost bit his lip, almost muffled himself-- but Alastor's words forced his jaw back open, letting the groans and gasps echo. His panting sped ever faster, as did his undulating-- and then his back arched high, his voice soaring with Alastor's name as he came.

Slowly, his body relaxed from the rigid pose, sinking down onto the blanket, a soft and reedy whine leaving him.

"Oh, Alastor..." He muttered, staring up at him with half-lidded eyes.

Alastor

He held his breath as Telly came; and then when the sound of his own name finally faded from his ears, he let out a long, shuddering sigh. “Ohh, if that’s not the most beautiful sound in the world.”

He wiped up some cum that splattered on his thigh and licked it off his thumb. “So, what do you think—do I have a future as a romance novelist?” He winked.

Sir Pentious

"If you intend on catering only to snakes of great genius and ego, then yes, I think so." Telly took a deep breath and gently pulled Alastor's thighs apart, to allow his dicks to slide back into his sheath.

His brow arched when Alastor tasted his cum. "How's that taste?" He asked, a small smirk forming on his lips.

Alastor

“That happens to be my target audience!”

He relaxed his legs and leaned forward to lie on top of Telly, his tail contentedly swishing back and forth. “About how I expected. Why, want to find out?” He stuck out the tip of his tongue invitingly.

Sir Pentious

Telly chuckled, a finger curling a piece of Alastor's hair. "Teassse," He hissed softly, before leaning in to kiss him. His tongue flicked into Alastor's mouth, and he made a soft noise.

Alastor

He scooted farther forward, pressing into the kiss. (There probably wasn’t much flavor left, but if any was, it did, in fact, taste about how one would expect.)

Sir Pentious

A tinge of taste, and that's all he really needed. But his real prize is swishing behind Alastor-- a little touch to his tail, that's all. Telly just wanted to feel it.

Alastor

His tail twitched in surprise—oh, it was just Telly. After pausing in his kissing for just half a second to consider, Alastor flagged his tail up high, tip curling toward his spine. Go ahead, touch away.

Sir Pentious

Good, he's glad he's allowed-- it looked soft. His fingers played through the fur, making sure to stay gentle. He was right, it _was_ soft.

"Your tail is very cute," he murmured against Alastor's lips.

Alastor

“*Your* tail is cute,” Alastor retorted automatically; then, after a couple more seconds of kissing, as if he hadn’t said anything, asked, “Is it?”

Sir Pentious

"I think it is. I like to see it swishing. Does that mean you're happy?" A purr rumbled through him.

Alastor

“Relaxed, usually. Either that or there’s a song stuck in my head. I’ve got a built in metronome!”

Sir Pentious

"Good, I'm glad I can make you relaxed. Or get a song to stick in your head." He chuckled and kissed Alastor again. His began to pet Alastor's tail, from base to tip, slow, languid strokes.

Alastor

He flinched slightly when Telly brushed the very base of his tail—he was extra sensitive there, in an unpleasant way that made him want to clench up. “Not quite all the way to the base, please.”

Sir Pentious

Telly's hand froze the moment Alastor flinched, and he nodded, resuming his petting with shorter strokes. He purred more, his other hand reaching to massage the base of one of Alastor's ears-- he knew he liked that, at least.

Alastor

Alastor immediately relaxed again. And that was why Telly got tail-touching privileges: because he stopped the instant Alastor was uncomfortable.

Alastor kissed Telly's cheek. "Well—they're going to be feeling that earthquake for miles around, don't you think?"

Sir Pentious

Telly chuckled, returning the cheek kiss with one of his own.

"Yes, I do! Bet George felt it, too. Half tempted to move the slab and dig him up to ask." He snickered.

Alastor

“Show him what he’s been missing out on!” Alastor laughed, propping himself up on an elbow. “Oh, he probably wouldn’t appreciate it. If he can’t even appreciate *this*...” He traced one of the glowing tattoos crossing Telly’s chest.

Sir Pentious

A purr rumbled through Telly at the touch, his tongue flicking. "That's very true, my hart. He didn't appreciate me at all, but you do."

And he leaned in to kiss Alastor yet again, giving his lip a little nip.

Alastor

Alastor returned the nip, humming into it as he started up his background music again—this time he’d finish playing “I Could Have Danced All Night” properly.

Sir Pentious

Telly hummed along with the song as he continued to pet Alastor's tail. What a lovely night this turned out to be.

Alastor

It certainly did. He dropped his head onto Telly's shoulder and quietly sang along with the rest of the song. "*I could have spread my wings and done a thousand things I've never done before...*"

Sir Pentious

Now it was Telly's turn to be quiet and listen to Alastor sing. He did keep humming, though, the sound thrumming through his chest.

Alastor

Alastor can feel Telly’s humming in his ribs. It’s the most relaxing sound he can imagine. For a moment or two after the song’s over, he just relaxes and listens to it.

“As lovely as it would be to sleep out here, under the stars... I suppose we’d better head back, hadn’t we?” He smirked. “Unless you really would like to dance all night?”

Sir Pentious

Telly chuckled, his arms wrapping around Alastor to keep him in place as he slowly sat up. He kissed the tip of his nose and flicked his tongue against his lips.

"I wouldn't mind more dancing, but I think that's best done back on the airship. It's getting late and I don't think I want to sleep on concrete."

Alastor

He straightened up with Telly, still seated in his lap. “Oh, right, you’re on the concrete! I’ve got such a lovely pillow, I almost forgot.” And just as importantly, they shouldn’t risk getting caught by anyone in their sleep. “Let’s go put up our leftovers and then I’ll dance with you as long as you want.”

Sir Pentious

"Sounds like a lovely idea." Telly leaned in to kiss him again, purring all the while.

Alastor

One more kiss for the road, then.

In a few minutes, with blankets, clothing, and basket collected, the only sign they’d ever been there was a slightly burned circle on the concrete slab where the tea kettle had sat.

#usedhearts #chat log

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bites-kms · 5 years ago

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Kalimera! Something to eat?

Greek hospitality means food. It taste like kalamata olives, fresh, sweet figs and strong, delicious olive oil, not to forget the soft grapes that torn you between harvesting them for the next delicious sip of House White versus indulging yourself in them straight out from the vine.

There are certain musts you should try in Greece (if you haven’t done so in Turkey or in Georgia) like Tomatokeftedes or sun dried tomato croquettes, Greek Fava Dip, that delicious yellow split pea puree, feta cheese in one of their multiple, exquisite special preparations, meat filled zucchinis and tons, tons of wine to pair with all of it.

I gained almost 2 kilos in 2 weeks, - thank god I was prepared and I lost weight before traveling - but no regrets nor harm feelings: those were the best 2 kilos I gained in a while. All the beauty and history surrounding you deserve a proper celebration, and when it comes to commemorate something, Greeks know exactly how to do it. A little bit of cheese, some home made pies or veggie croquettes, you name it. And that is just for starters.

We took this hospitality really seriously, and as my friend Mau would say, we knew our “priorities”, so FOOD became a crucial part of our experience and tour. The heat also made it easier for us to stop every 2 hours for a soul refill- since when we ate, we were happy. Here’s the recap of our favorites places went in Athens:

Diongenes Lisikratous, Athina, 105 58

It was our first dinner and we were both starving: Mau from flying 10+ hours from the future and myself flying almost another 10 from the past. Luckily, this restaurant which we researched before and was recommended to us, was around our place. It was a gorgeous taverna. Exactly as you would imagine a mild night in Greece might be like. We ordered some zucchini, tomato croquettes and an octopus, which seemed to be more tasty than what they usually and actually were given our flight famine. But still, the place is worth giving it a shot since the ambience and the service is very, very good. Kayak Durrachiou 30 & Amvrakias Athina, 10443

It wasn’t a brilliant idea, to be honest, to have a kick-in-the-butt-awaken Ellinikos or Greek Coffee that night instead of a regular espresso. Same as in Turkish culture, their coffee is extremely strong, heavy and with the grounded bean in it so it has this dusty and dry taste. Strong. Killer. Not at all jet-lag helpful. Worth it, though? Absolutely! Everest various locations Bites&Kms Fav: Syndagma Square, Athina, 105 63

photo courtesy of polyarch.com We found this place by chance and, oh, odds are in our favor! Since that moment, each time we needed a refilled, we stoped by the closest Everest we could find in seek for an orange juice or a cappuccino. Cheap, delicious, great service. Tons of food and snack options to go along, even at this store on Syndagma Square, freshly made pizzas, sandwiches and croque monsieur were available! Klepsydra Tavern Klepsidras, Athina 105 56

Finding this secret gem was pure coincidence but once again, we ended up in the most wonderful corner in between Plaka and Anafiotika. There was only one table left, with a “reserved” sign on it, and as soon as we mentioned we were there for lunch, they remove it, reverse their glasses and brought the bread. It was meant to be. The view, the service and the food was all perfect. We ordered some of our favorites: spanikopita, tzaziki and greek salad. Spanikopita or otherwise known as Greek spinach pie is a traditional yet delicious recipe. With its versatility the dish matches with every time of the day. Feta cheese, butter, olive oil all are mixed and baked until golden crispy perfection.

Greek salad is a must have for Greeks with almost every meal. Choriatiki, as they called them in Greek, are made of tomatoes, olives, cucumber and a large piece of feta cheese and served undressed. Dressing is left at person’s choice hence all restaurants serve vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil with the salad - although, in our experience, most of the times, it came already prepared. With the tradition of being a starter, Greek salad can also be a great side dish. Look at this beauty! We were definitely in food heaven!

Stamatopulos Tavern Lisiou 26, Athina 105 58

At night, we had a reservation on this place a Greek friend recommended. A little bit touristy yet fun, the only regret was that a couple came in after us and sat super close to our table, and started smoking non-stop, which became really annoying. Yet, there was nothing left to do, since it was an al fresco dinner place. Regardless, it was a lovely evening. They had live music with the traditional guitar and two guys with the typical voice you expect from the Greek coasts. The highlight of the night, aside from the great Moussaka, a lemon dressed lamb and some more croquettes, it was the time the musicians start playing the amazing Zorba Song! I couldn’t help myself and stood up, went to the front, and tried to learn that beautiful dance. After a while, right next to a two-left-legged old guy, I managed to do something, but the highlight of the night was when Mau joined and we killed the dance floor, throwing shame to all the other not-so-gifted people with our grace and moves! Coming back to the food, the moussaka is a legendary, traditional dish that is creamy and juicy. Moussaka is served in almost all tavernas in Greece. In the big family gathering this dish is prepared by Greek homemakers. In Moussaka, tomato sauce is used to cook minced beef which is subsequently layered with sweet eggplants and creamy béchamel sauce. This irresistible cuisine is filling so you don’t need too many side dishes. I was a little bit skeptical about moussaka at first since the ones I had before weren’t that good, but this one, OMG, completely changed my mind about them! Brettos Kidathineon 41, Athina 105 58

Brettos is Athens’ oldest bar and distillery, established by Michail Brettos in 1909. Most of the alcohol served there such as ouzo, mastiha, liqueurs and other beverages, are home made and they still respect the old recipe from Mr. Brettos. You can taste them are feel the fermentation happened in the old oak barrels placed inside. As soon as you step inside Brettos, you will be amazed by the wall adorned with colorful glass liqueur bottles and impressive original wooden barrels. Its unique décor is probably one of the reasons why Brettos is one of the most photographed locations in Athens, behind the Acropolis, Syntagma Square and other ancient monuments and sites in the city. We had two strong and delicious drinks: Aphrodite, which was ouzo gold, raspberry liquor, pink grapefruit soda and mint leaves and the one called Sea Breeze, made with Gin, fresh lime, fresh orange cubes and soda. Guess who got what ;)

Acropolis Museum Café Dionysiou Areopagitou 15, Athina, 117 42

When researching about the Acropolis, when to go, how to get tickets, etc, etc, the obvious question of “is the Acropolils museum worth a visit?” pops up. It is if you are super into history. Its greatly display showcases all the valuable stuff they removed from the Acropolis seeking for preservation. But, if you are like me and decide to go just for the real ruins per se avoiding an overflow of information, then the Acropolis and the other monuments spread out around Athens should do the trick. Although, there’s one thing not so many sites mention, and is that the Acropolis museum has a terrific terrace where to contemplate the Parthenon and a delicious seasonal menu to go with the view. We had some eggs, two delicious cappuccinos and the fantastic feta me meli - another Greek food dish that can be tasted as dessert or an entrée. Feta is wrapped in filo pastry before oven baked and honey is drizzled over it. The optimum balance between salty feta and sweet honey creates a mesmerizing taste. They served it with a tomato jam on the side instead of the honey and was absolutely delicious. Da Vinci Ice-cream various locations Bites&Kms Fav: 4 Selley Street, Athina, 10558

Play it safe, avoid a heat stroke: have an ice-cream! And if it’s a gelato, even better. The creative cone flavors at Da Vinci match the delicious and unique ones from the gelatos so be sure to pick wisely, or come again and again to try them all!

Thea Terrace Rooftop of Central Hotel Apollonos 23, Athina, 105 57

This was another fantastic, last minute Mau finding. It was so great, we ended up going twice. Close to Plaka but far enough from the crowd, this boutique hotel counts with a privilege terrace and rooftop bar from where we could see the sunset. It wasnt happy hour, but the drinks were so cheap and the prosecco was so good, we had two!

Nolan 33, Voulis 31, Athina 105 57

This place is definitely unique within the fusion restaurants I’ve been to. This is truly a delicious blend in between Greek, Asian and German cuisine, all the influences its owner has ingrained. As a Michelin recommendation, we left it aside pursuing Greek traditional tavernas, but it happens that after a while, you’re craving for something different like a burger or some pasta. What you don’t actually know is that what you need is a stop by Nolan. Once again, wondering in what we thought was a new, orthodox neighborhood, we ended up by its corner and its name rang a bell. We went in during a sunny Greek noon and we were lucky they were able to sit us regardless of not having a reservation. Minutes after, the restaurant got full, local artists started playing music on the streets and we were having a true fusion feast. We had some marinated tuna, a delicious octopus salad and some lamb dumplings. It was amazing, a must stop during your stayed in Athens.

Taf Coffee Shop Emmanouil Benaki 7, Athina 106 78

This is one of the top coffee places I’ve ever been to. Not because its price, look or location, but because of the love and passion they put on each brew. This is how they described their daily special - hence, the coffee of my choice: “Rosebud double shot cap creaming feeling, smooth body caramel chocolate and nutmeg aroma. Taste of cherry and caramel with apricot tangerine and almond nuts.”

Mind the Cup Emiliou Veaki 29, Peristeri 121 34

I took the train to Peristeri, just outside Athens, to check out what according to Buzzfeed “one of the coffee shops around the world you must check out before you die” Happily, it didnt disappoint. Not only the little town is super cozy, where I got a pair of amazing leather boots, but also, took the morning to write and to enjoy this wonderful plaza where Mind you Cup is located. It reminded me of old Montevideo, the city where I was raised when I was younger. I keep specifying this time and space issue since nowadays it’s quite different. It also reminded me of an out-side the tourist epicenter mini towns around the north of Spain or outside Porto, in Portugal. Even a “ciudad del interior” or countryside town from Uruguay. Even the tree to which shadow I was sitting and enjoying, was the same Willow tree I had at my school. It was a beautiful time travel adventure, on top of the delicious European house white wine, the home made pizza and the great service from the place. The menu looks like an old and corky newspaper and is not in English, which makes the adventure even more authentic, but the gentle waitress will assist you with all your questions. People were selling their crafts and some plants, and I couldn’t resist to get an envy eye anklet. On my way back, I found this delicious and traditional dessert Greek people have for Christmas, but I could have them every day with a glass of milk. They are called Kourabiedes, a shortbread-type biscuit usually made with ground almonds, flavored with either brandy, vanilla, mastika or rose water and they are shaped into little cute balls. In the end, they are sprinkled with icing sugar and they are just to die for!

Avli - Agiou Dimitriou Agiou Dimitriou 12, Athina 105 54

In the historic triangle of Athens there is a small tavern in a backyard called Avli which means ‘backyard’. This place is kinda secret: more and more people are accessing to its charms due to TripAdvisor’s fantastic reviews - although it still is easy to miss if you don’t go specifically looking for it. Within a small alley, behind a not so charming door, you can hear loud voices, laughs and some Greek music in the background. If you dare to go inside, disregarding your first thought of “oh, this is a private house, I shouldn't trespass it”, the scenery you will see is like it came from the ’60s. Checkered tablecloths, traditional chairs, old photos and a makeshift kitchen create an authentic feeling reminiscent of old Athens.

The always smiling owner, Takis, has operated this tavern since 1985. He pretended to know me, and after a nice “Kalimera, I remember you, please sit”, I sat down on one of the last free tables of the alley. I sat down right next to Stellios, this wonderful old man who greet me with yellow prunes, peanuts and come other spicy snack while we both waited to be served. He ordered some cheese and tomato, while I ordered the delicious feta with olive oil and some grilled peppers which were outstanding. I was so excited that I decided to copy Stellios and ordered a beer, the first Greek beer during by whole trip was waiting for me on my last day, and I ordered a Manos. It was good - that’s how far my beer knowledge and palate goes: good, not good :D To thank him for the company and the snacks, I invited him two more rounds of beer, which of course I’m not sure what happened since my Greek wasn’t that fluid so I made the best I could with Takis, so let’s hope at least some of the cash went for another Manos and the rest as tip! The whole experience was amazing, Stellios told me about his family, his lovely wife and two kids, as well as about his dog in very broken English. I showed a picture of my parents and told him I lived in New York, but that I was from Uruguay, land of football and meat. Yeap... some have Aristotles, others have Benedetti, and both of us share a Manos. Yamas, Athens!

#greece #athens #travel #food #foodie #love #passion #eat #europe

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reallyautomaticvoid · 6 years ago

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Calling It: Good Intentions Chapter 3: There’s Tim!

Characters (in order of appearance in this chapter): Conner Kent, Bart Allen, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson

Chapter Summary:

Conner and Bart find Tim. Or, rather, Tim finds Conner and Bart.

After checking the dozen safe houses that they knew about plus a couple of old ones that Tim had abandoned (shocking an old lady when they burst in through her front door, though they did get pie…) Conner and Bart are out of ideas.

“I’m telling you,” Conner runs to keep up with Bart, “I don’t think he’ll be there.”

“It’s as good as any to regroup,” Bart counters as he punches in the security code. “Besides, I don’t want to miss Tim’s apartment being this clean. It might not ever happen again.”

Conner snorts because yeah, Bart has a point.

Conner follows Bart into the living room. Conner walks towards the perch’s entrance and stares at it again.

How bad could the security be?

Conner hesitates for half a second before using his X-ray vision to see through the door into the stare case. Or trying to use his X-ray vision.

He couldn’t see anything.

“Shit, Tim lead lined the goddamn door.”

“Because, of course, he did,” Bart snorts, staring at the door, “that’s our paranoid bird.”

“It’s not paranoia if someone is really after you,” a new, weary voice came from right behind them.

Jumping, Conner and Bart before turning to see, “Tim!”

It’s something to be said that two of the fastest people in the world couldn’t catch Tim before he collapses onto the couch. Tattered suit pants and collared, long sleeves hung off of Tim’s frame making him like he’d lost ten pounds.

Clammy skin? Check. At least a half a dozen new scratches, some infected, covering his arms and face? Check. Giant fresh gash covering Tim’s forearm? Check.

Conner knows there was more but didn't trust himself to use his x-ray vision. With how shitty Tim looks, literally the last thing Tim needs is for Conner to fuck up and fry him instead of scanning him.

Instead, Conner gently puts his hand on Tim’s forehead.

“You look like shit, Tim,” Conner mildly says. He mouths fever at Bart who nods before running off to get supplies. “You know, when someone is missing their spleen, normal they do little things like gee, I don’t know, eat. Sleep. Take a shower.”

A faint smile twitches on Tim’s face. “I’ll be sure to let Ra’s know that you’re not interested in his vacation package. He was so hoping that you'd be going next.”

“You were with Ra?” Bart reenters the room but freezes at Con’s words.

The exchange a look; both knew the Demon’s Head has an unhealthy interest (obsession) in Tim. Tim’s never been keen on sharing the hows and whys of that interest which pisses Conner off to no end.

“Yup. Not the best vacation I’ve ever been on but still not the worst. That still the time that Bruce tried to make us all go on that family retreat when the Demon tried to leave me in the woods to starve.” Tim’s voice gets higher as he mimics Damian in a dead-on impression. “But Father, why do we even need Drake here. I’m here now; you don’t need a cheap replacement. Grayson, I don’t care if you like him; he’s weak and should be removed. Fuck, that was a long week.”

Conner and Bart exchange an awshiiiiiit look.

They know some of the Batfamily drama.

No, that’s a lie; they knew very, very little about the Batfamily drama. Tim rarely (if ever) talks about the ins and outs of what actually happened once Damian arrived at the Manner. All Conner knows for sure was once Damian moved in, Tim had slowly, but surely started spending more time in San Francisco and less and less time in Gotham.

Fuuuuuuuuck, Tim must really be fuck he’s talking about it so freely.

Bart grabs the thermometer and gives it to Tim.

Tim makes a face.

Bart arches an eyebrow. “It’s your mouth, or I’ll find someplace to put it.”

Tim takes the thermometer, putting it under his tongue. After thirty seconds, it beeps with a temperature of 101°. Bart and Conner exchange a knowing look.

“Oh, don’t look at each other like that,” Tim moans. “I’m fine. I just need a little sleep.”

Conner snorts. “No doubt, but let’s get you something to drink first, okay? When was the last time you ate?”

“Had a salad with Tam,” Tim grunt.

“Salad doesn’t count. When was the last time you had real food?”

“Salad does so count. It had chicken on it and everything.” Tim whines as he rolls over and shoves his face into the back of the couch. “Sleep.”

Conner looks at Bart who mouths fuck.

Little known Titan lore: if Tim Drake whines about wanting to sleep, it means some shit has gone down.

“Man, you really gotta learn how to take care of yourself.”

“I’ll be sure to let Ra’s know you don’t approve of his solitary confinement package.”

Conner files that away for future discussion (which Conner’s sure won’t get him anywhere) before hoisting Tim up bridal style. “Come on, man. Let’s get you some food. Can’t take your antibiotics on an empty stomach.”

Tim hisses. “I hate those things. They always make me nausea.”

Bart shakes his head, muttering, “sure it's not the whole not eating anything for a week things?”

Tim’s head lulls back to glare at Bart. “Nope. Defiantly the antibiotic.”

Conner doesn’t say anything, as he’s too busy trying not to laugh. Or cry. He isn’t sure which.

“Here you go,” Conner deposits Tim at the table where Tim slumps, face first, into the table. “What do you want—uh, what do you have to eat?”

“Coffee.”

Bart snorts. “One, that’s a drink, not a food. Two, you know the rules: no caffeine on an empty stomach.” Bart zips around the kitchen opening cabinets, looking for food. He finally ends at the empty fridge. “Power bars, energy drinks, and coffee? Really Tim? That’s all you have in your kitchen? Even I can’t make something out of that. More importantly, how are you alive if that’s all you eat in Gotham? How have you not had a heart attack?”

Bart’s— the best chef among the Titans—could do wonders in the kitchen. Conner once saw Bart make a mouthwatering casserole out of an orange, licorice, tofu, and a few other ingredients that Conner missed. As Bart put it, “if you had to eat twenty thousand calories a day, you’d get good at cooking too.”

“Coffee,” Tim stubbornly repeats.

Rolling his eyes, Bart says, “I’ll be back,” before zooming out of the room without another word.

Conner goes over to the cabinet that holds some of Tim’s emergency shits hit the fan supplies including bags of saline solution and an IV. Tim eyes Conner as he moves around but doesn’t object when Conner gently put the IV needle into Tim’s arm. Although, Conner isn’t sure that Tim has the energy to object to anything that the Meta might do to him. Conner sits down, watching the IV drip. Tim closes his eyes; head resting on the table.

“You want to talk about it?” Conner murmurs.

“No.” It’s the strongest thing Conner’s heard Tim say since Tim had stumbled back into his apartment, so Conner doesn’t argue.

After about ten minutes, Bart comes charging back in. “You know, fast food places really aren’t that fast. It took them FOREVER to get the food done.”

Conner snorts, “I’m surprised you didn’t go behind the counter and make it yourself.”

Bart tosses Conner a burger before handing Tim some plain toast. “Thought about it. Decided that it would probably just draw too much attention to myself.”

“You guys know I’m off of carbs.” Tim groans.

“Shut up and eat your toast or I’m calling Cassie.”

Tim flinches but starts nibbling at his toast. “I still want some coffee.”

After a long talk with Roy, who didn’t believe that Jason was okay which he was, Jason’s suiting up for the night when he feels his phone vibrate. Fishing it out of his pocket, the new text alert flashes from an unknown number. Jason opens it and read:

Got Tim. Heading back to the Tower.

Jason blinks, a knot that he hadn’t known was in his lower gut loosens, before he fumbles with his phone for a minute, trying to figure out what to write (things ranging from where the hell was he to get his ass to the cave now all floated through his head) before finally settled on:

Is he okay?

Jason had finished zipping up his jacket (contemplating the best way to go and find those ‘heroes’) when his phone went off again.

He says we’re inhuman because we won’t give him coffee. See you around.

Jason punches the front of his locker.

Luckily, it didn’t dent; otherwise, he’d have to deal with disappointed Alfred sighs for the next month. He didn’t like being brushed off especially by a couple of pip-squeaks.

Jason’s Robin Sense went off before he saw anything. “The fuck you want?”

Dick appears right next to him because fuck him Dick had been goddamn Batman.

“What happened to your phone?”

Because shit he’s still clutching his cracked screen phone in his hand.

Jason glares at Dick. “Nothing.”

Dick hums. “Okay. You seemed distracted. Everything okay?”

Jason slams his locker shut. “I’m fine.”

Dick gives Jason a smile that only an older sibling can.

Fucking hell, why is Jason here again?

Alfred’s food.

Right.

Fucking hell, say it already.

“I was just thinkin’ about Babybird.”

That got Dick’s attention.

Jason grins to himself.

“Why were you thinking about him?” Dick nonchalantly asks which he mighta bought if Jason couldn’t see Dick’s back stiffening and his muscles were twitching.

“Just trying to remember the last time I saw ‘em in the cave is all.”

Jason isn’t one for sublet.

It takes for fuck ever for someone (cough, cough, Dick…Bruce) ta realize the fucking point you’re trying to make.

It’s much more satisfying when you could smack someone in the face with their stupidity.

Preferable with a fist.

The Bats, however, like to believe that they were fucking perfect (especially Dick, especially in the brother department). They didn’t take it so well when they get caught being stupid.

Dick, for his part, gives Jason a look like Dick clearly question if Jason’s lost his mind. “What are you talking about, Jay? He was just here last week. He ran a virus sweep on the Batcomputer.”

Jason had to fight the urge to smack Dick.

Repeatedly.

With his fist.

Instead, he cocks an eyebrow at his brother. “That was six months ago.”

The reaction is instant. Dick recoils like Jason had punched him. He stares at Jason for a full minute before slowly shaking his head. Though it looked like there're ‘bout a billion thoughts flashing behind Dick’s eyes.

“What? No, it wasn’t. It was last week,” Dick insists, his voice rising. “Do you honestly think that I haven’t seen my brother in more than six months? I would have noticed not seeing him for that long.”

Jason pauses, giving Dick one of his patented, you’re full of shit but whatever you need to do to let you sleep at night looks before raising his hands.

“Sure, Big Bird. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Opening his locker, Jason looks for his rubber bullets.

Where the fuck are my motherfucking rubber bullets?

Days like today make him reconsider rejoining the Bats. Before all Jay had to do was shoot the asshole and move on.

Now, he has play nice with the Bats.

Some days, Jason wonders if it was worth it.

Then Alfred makes Jason’s favorite dessert, or Bruce would give him one of those goddamn almost smiles (which was like a goddamn hug from the old grump), and Jason found himself coming back home.

Home. Jason mused to himself.

It’s weird after all of these years to have a place that he’d consider a home.

“Jason?” Dick's voice sounds off.

“Yo,” Jason grunts without looking at Dick.

There was a pause.

Dick shifted uncomfortably as Jason finally found his bullets.

Damnit, Damian must have gotten into his locker again and moved shit around just ta fuck with Jason.

Again.

Maybe it was time for Jason to teach Titus how delicious Damian’s slippers were.

“Has he really not—did I miss—er—never mind.”

Jason looks up in time to catch a glimpse of Dick disappearance (showoff) before Jason he could say anything.

The next morning in Red Robin’s room at the Tower, Tim’s fever’s back down to normal. He was still coughing but he fine.

Really, he doesn’t understand why Bart and Conner are hovering. He’s in bed just like they want him to be.

Snug as a goddamn bug.

It’s Hell.

Tim does, however, have a company to run and needs to catch up.

“Don’t you have school,” Tim coughs.

“Flex day,” Conner answers while Bart nods along.

Damn. Tim thinks. “Why don’t you guys go catch a movie or something?”

Conner’s lip twitch and Bart gets a glint in his eye.

Shit.

“A movie does sound like fun.” Bart turns to Conner, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Marathon?”

“Marathon.”

“Good, bad, or terrible movies?”

“Mix, of course.”

“Perfect.”

“Food?”

Bart drums his thumbs Tim’s desk. “Give me half an hour.” And Bart dashes off.

Tim looks up at Con. “Do I get a vote in this?”

“Nope,” Con pop the p.

“Fantastic. I do have work to get done.”

“You were kidnapped and torched. You can take the day off.”

“Red Robin, maybe, but Tim Wayne? Didn’t you hear? He just got back from a lovely whirlwind vacation.”

Conner rolls his eyes. “Really now? Were there any hot models there?”

“Not a one sadly. There was some lovely time to meditate though.”

“Don’t they call that solitary confinement?”

Tim shrugs, “eh, if life gives you lemons.”

“You say ‘what the hell? I ordered oranges.’” Con smirks.

Tim rolls his eyes. “Well, I did order oranges.” Tim laughs which was a mistake because it set off another round of coughing. Before he could ask, Conner was handing him a glass of water. Tim grimaces. “Coffee would be better.”

“You know the rules: No coffee for twenty-four hours after a fever spike.”

Tim hisses. “It was only 101. That’s barely a fever.”

Conner looks utterly unmoved by this argument.

Bastard.

“Close enough.”

“I’m a mature twenty. I can take care of myself.”

“Uhuh. And what show did you leave as a parting gift to Ra’s?”

“Teletubbies,” Tim grins. Not his new business-friendly smile but a real grin that let the former Robin shin through. “I thought he’d enjoy it. Plus he could use a refresher on how sharing is caring.”

Con laughs at that before sobering. “You know, I was thinking,” Tim internal winces, but keeps his face smooth. He knew this was coming but it did make the experience any more enjoyable, “maybe it’s time you move out of Gotham? You could move to the tower full time or something.”

Tim keeps his expression smooth. “Aren’t you the one who’s always nagging me to get out of the tower?”

Con glowers at him. “To see a movie, take a walk in the park, go on a date. Not to go back to one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world. Hell, in the universe.” Con took a deep calming breath.

Tim thinks about it. He really thinks about it. He considers moving out of Gotham permanently. What would the ramification of leaving the city that's rejected him several times over? And while the idea is tempting, to be free of the Bats (fuck yeah that’s an excellent thought now, isn’t?), of all of the baggage that came with Gotham, but—

“It’s home, Con. I’m—I’m not ready to leave it yet.” Tim’s voice sounds young, even to his ears.

Con sighs. “Yeah, that’s what you always say. Had to ask though. I think you should still move though. Ra’s knowing—” Tim cuts him off with a snort.

“Ra’s make it a point to know what laundry soap I use. Hell, he makes it a point to know what kind of cough drops I take. He’ll know if I move. Might as well stay where I’m at for now.”

The rest of the argument is cut short by Bart reentering the room carrying way, way too much food. Bart then speeds back out of the room only to reappear in a blink of an eye with a rather large stack of movies.

Tim stares at the pile.

No way they’re getting through that stack in one day.

Bloody hell.

Thanks for reading!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18106355/chapters/43592294

#calling it #chapter 3 #fanfiction #conner kent #bart allen #Tim Drake #Jason Todd #dick grayson

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littlemissmeggie · 5 years ago

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random tag

i was tagged by @yeehawnarrie. thank you, lillie!

Favorite Snack?

i make myself a little mix of lightly salted roasted peanuts and cashews, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, dried figs, and prunes every single day.

Favorite place to go on vacation?

my mom’s family went to rehoboth beach, delaware every single year from sometime in the mid ‘60s until the early 2000s. i mean the whole family—my grandpa and grandma, aunts and uncles, cousins, my parents and siblings—and those are some of my best childhood memories.

Tea or Coffee?

i run on harney & sons tea. they’re a really nice family of master tea blenders who have their factory, headquarters, and a little tearoom just about a half hour from my house. they import and blend some of the best teas and i drink at least two cups of their tea every day.

And what kind?

i mostly drink black tea blends like harney’s rose scented, their irish breakfast, tower of london, scottish morn, russian country, paris, sally’s secret, and chocolate and chocolate mint teas. i do like a lot of their pure blacks like lapsang souchong, ctc assam, and kennilworth. i do drink oolongs, flavoured and pure, and some white teas. i’m not that big on greens.

What’s a song that makes you dance immediately?

“feel it still” by portugal. the man and “come on eileen” by dexys midnight runners.

Do you play an instrument?

i haven’t played in a while but i played violin and piano for years. i was also teaching myself guitar but stopped when life got in the way a little bit.

What’s your favorite type of personality?

mellow people who are genuinely nice, kind, and non-judgemental and a bit on the introverted side.

Favorite comedian?

ok. i love stand-up... louis c.k. and bill burr are two of the funniest comedians ever. joe rogan is pretty funny and mitch hedberg (rip) had his own charm. chris rock and dave chappelle make it on the list and i’ll throw david cross and chris d’elia on there. of course richard pryor and george carlin. i never cared much for robin williams’ stand-up (ironic because he’s my absolute favourite actor) but he was an amazing comedian. same with (unpopular opinion among the stand-up fans who like the comedians i just mentioned but i’ve loved him since i was like 10) ray romano. and jerry seinfeld falls into that category of brilliant comedian/not my fave stand-up.

Gummy candy or chocolate?

chocolate.

What did you want to be when you grew up as a kid?

not what i ended up being, i know that. probably an artist, writer, and musician were on that list.

What’s your favorite physical feature about yourself?

i think i have a pretty face. i have nearly perfect teeth and my hair is nice. and it’s taken years to say it but i’m fairly confident in my body.

When was the last time you watched a show or movie on a TV?

well, i watch my yoga videos on youtube on my tv every day. but it’s been a few weeks since i watched a proper show. my boyfriend and i have been watching chilling adventures of sabrina.

Unpopular opinion?

i’ll probably receive anon hate for this but fleetwood mac is vastly overrated.

Are you scared of bugs?

not really. i mean, i don’t like them but i’m not scared of them.

Cats or cats?

i have four cats and i grew up in a house of cats. we’re cat people.

Are you allergic to any food?

no. but it pains me to say that gluten seems to trigger migraines and headaches. as a chef, i know how irritating “i can’t eat gluten. what are the gluten-free options?” is. and as a pastry chef, i know how important gluten is in breads, cakes, pastries, etc.

Does the description of your star sign match your personality?

i don’t really pay much attention to astrology. that said, my birthdate and birthtime are interesting. my birthday is the cusp of libra and scorpio. some things say i’m the last day of libra and some say i’m the first day of scorpio. i once put my birthtime into a calculator and it said i’m scorpio. if i’d been born four hours earlier, i’d be a libra. i tend to find i match more with libra, though scorpio can fit me too.

Favorite type of accent?

irish. scottish. welsh. most english accents. i love a good sheffield and south london accent. and harry and liam’s are nice too.

Name the first song that comes into your head!

"crimson and clover” by tommy james & the shondells

Who is the sexiest famous person to you?

krysten ritter, aaron paul, alex turner. i’ll throw harry and niall on there, i guess. probably some others but i don’t know.

Cake or pie?

pie

When was the last time you read an entire book?

god, i don’t know. i’ll often reach to the bookshelf next to my bed and pull out a harry potter and read a few chapters but i haven’t just sat and read an entire book in ages.

Favorite junk food?

probably chocolate chip cookies. or potato chips.

Do you like your height?

yes. i’m 5′ even but it suits me.

Apples or oranges?

apples.

What’s your favorite personality trait in a person?

i agree with lillie. kindness.

Do you like salad?

i eat a lot of caesar salads.

Which person inspires you the most?

my mom and dad. they’re not flawless but they’re good people with good hearts and great work ethics. they embody the traits that i strive to cultivate in myself.

What is a song that has made you cry?

i cry every single time i listen to “fire and rain” by james taylor. i’ve probably heard it a thousand times and i still cry.

i’m not tagging anyone because probably everyone i would tag already has been. 💕

#meggie talks #fun tag thingy

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shachaai · 7 years ago

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[Gods AU] A Feast of Flowers

In late autumn, the mortals adorn their fonts and water-supply with flowers in thanks to and celebration of the gods and nymphs that guard them. Naturally, the water gods take it as a good occasion for a party, and Lusus, as Albion’s husband, is invited. Albion/Lusus = England/Portugal, a full list of the other characters can be found here.

En-masse, the divine family of the House of Water are… a lot. Both in personality and sheer size.

The House of the Earth, one of Lusus’ affiliations, technically only contains himself, his consort, his three children, his brother, brother-in-law, and the two hunter gods who are Pan’s wards: nine deities in all. In comparison, the water gods and their various offspring seem to number almost as many as all the drops of water in the ocean. They spill out of the palatial villa that is their haunt for the day, flooding the autumn orchards and countryside around it with their bright swift movements and quicksilver laughter. There is food and wine, talking and music and dancing, sun-brown children running in the dappled shadows beneath ripe fig trees whilst their parents, aunts, uncles and cousins laugh and mingle, kiss and twirl. There are colourful flowers hung in garlands around every neck, twined around young limbs almost as amorously as the lovers none-too-subtly embracing in the orchard’s shade, blooms and leaves worn in crowns upon pretty heads and woven through long braids of hair.

The sun is high in the sky, past noon; Lusus is late to the party. He wanders, more than a little lost, through the endless ebb and flow of his distant in-laws, searching for a major god - a face he might actually recognise - to point him in the direction of the King and Queen of the Waters, to make his belated greetings, or to just lead him to Albion, who had entreated him to leave the Underworld for the day for the occasion. There are too many divine and semi-divine beings gathered for even Lusus to easily sift out the presence of particular individuals, especially as everyone has allowed themselves to overindulge in alcohol and ambrosia, clouding the feel of them further.

Halting one sozzled nymph to ask for directions gets Lusus a blithe hand waved vaguely in the direction of the villa, whilst the two after her point in two different and opposing directions, leaving Lusus just as lost as before. One small toddling child too young to know who they are speaking to remonstrates Lusus for not wearing any flowers to the party until their mother, extremely flustered, arrives full of apologies to hurry them away. She hurries back to where Lusus has moved on in the crowds some minutes later, and thrusts flowers into his hands whilst almost bent in half in a bow.

Lusus dons them, pleased: the woman has brought him an appropriate crown of twisted cypress branches, green foliage and golden seed cones, brightness added with the deep purple flowers of saffron crocuses. Some of the golden pollen dusts the shoulders of his almost-matching purple tunic of the day, sweet-smelling and staining Lusus’ fingertips yellow when he reaches up to brush it away.

Albion, when Lusus finds him eventually - not too much later -, is dozing indolently in a cosy heap of pillows and blankets in the shade of an old fruit tree, thoughtfully left alone in a quiet spot by his less-powerful relatives. His skin is flush with wine and freckled with summer warmth, and his hair is long and spilling out of its braid like a sheaf of wheat, a crown of small pink roses, pale blue rosemary flowers and thyme askew on his head. Albion is eternally barefoot wherever possible; there are no sandals in sight nearby but there is a jug and cups of cut red wine mixed with ambrosia and honey, abandoned dishes and bowls of dried honeyed fruits and nuts, sweet cakes drenched in sticky honeycomb. Obvious priorities.

Lusus settles beside his husband in the cushions, thankful to have found his missing consort at last and also to rest his feet and eyes, closing them for a moment against the heat of the day. The world Above is harsh and loud for one used to the quieter sounds and colours of the Underworld; life is the chaos of change and death deserved peace - but both places especially the most at this time of year.

In autumn, the mortal lands are a blaze of gold and green, yielding the last of their lush summer bounty in one last great glorious desperation before winter sets in. The Underworld, at the same time, is muted, soft and grey - it sleeps without Albion there, but it now sleeps in hope, the year a breath away from yielding Albion from his duties Above to Lusus’ side Below. It will still be quiet with Albion there, but, with Albion in the Underworld, the rivers will flow more smoothly, the light will seem gentler, and, in the Underworld’s silvery fields and gardens, the dreaming flowers will grow.

The Underworld’s souls fare best with both their rulers there to watch over them, and Lusus has known since the first time he saw Albion that he fares best with Albion close beside him.

Moth to candleflame, Lusus strokes fringe and flowers away from Albion’s face - if only to avoid sliding his touch over the bare curve of Albion’s thigh instead, as Albion’s legs are bent in his slumber and his short tunic is rucked up high. He sleeps like a child and wakes like one too, nose scrunched and eyelashes fluttering against Lusus’ palm, drowsy and a little disgruntled and confused.

When he smiles, the afternoon breeze settles sweet and still around them, and his glow shifts from soft fluttering periwinkle to a content gold. “Lusus.”

Lusus bends to take the quiet kiss waiting for him on Albion’s mouth, his loose hair and saffron pollen falling around their faces as Albion’s palms curve in welcome over his shoulders, almost-clasp behind his neck.

“You are so late,” Albion sighs, tipping up his head to thoughtlessly drag his nose along Lusus’ cheek, his own face pink and warm. “I thought you weren’t coming.”

Lusus smiles apologetically, nuzzling back. “The furies were having a bad feather day.” He can still taste his consort’s kiss on his own lips with the tip of his tongue, Albion heady-sweet from snacking and ambrosial wine.

“They pick the poorest times to preen.” Albion shifts a little, beginning to sit up, and Lusus helps him, righting Albion’s crown of flowers when it almost slips entirely off of his head. “You have missed the ceremonies in the temples, and the blessing of the public fonts.”

The whole point of the party.

“But I came in time for flowers,” says Lusus, overly charming smile coming to him easily with his consort in his arms - even if said consort is thoroughly unimpressed, clicking his tongue.

“You missed the formal presentation of food,” Albion says archly, thoroughly aware of the crushing power his statement holds.

Lusus wilts a little, and one of the cypress seed cones on his crown accidentally catches a little too much of his downturn in mood, withers on its branch and falls off, bonking Lusus impolitely on the nose on its way to the ground. “No food?”

Lusus very much likes what his in-laws do with food. Earth gods have the best wine, the best game, the best farm-reared meat and grain, but only water gods really know how to cook a fish. Marriage to Albion has brought Lusus greater access to both types of culinary bounty, and he has grown deliciously, happily spoilt.

Albion half-laughs, half-sighs at Lusus’ immediate forlorn expression. “Have you greeted my parents yet?” When Lusus shakes his head, a few more leaves going the way of the seed cone, Albion clasps his hand and stands. “Then come; we will see if we can find you something on the way.”

Lusus may have missed the magnificent displays and presentation of the many, many courses of the gathering’s banquet, but, his arm looped with blithe contentment around his husband’s waist as Albion shepherds him through the happy crowds around the villa, (partly because he will take any excuse to be pressed up against Albion, and partly because Albion is just on the side of tipsy that means he wobbles on his ankles and appreciates assistance remembering the nature of straight lines,) it soon becomes clear that there is still plenty of food remaining to be eaten.

Sacrifices in the nearby city have yielded roast goat and sweet, tender sucking lamb to the table of the gods, with flocks of fat roasted pigeons from those who could not afford a larger offering. With this comes chunks of peppered chicken skewered on sticks with thin wedges of lemon, thinly-sliced spicy sausages, and truffles grilled and liquefied to a sauce with pepper, wine and honey before being stuffed and grilled inside sausage skins, served hot with three different kinds of sauce to choose from as an accompaniment. There are boiled eggs of chickens, geese and ducks beside bowls of salt for dipping, baskets and baskets of all kinds of bread with flavoured butters, sesame paste or hazelnut paste to spread over them, and endless dishes of onions, carrots, peas and leafy greens served roasted, boiled, and in weird and wonderful salads.

Lusus is more interested in the seafood, since it is a rarer sight to his own table in the Underworld - and especially done so well -, helping himself one-handed to crab cooked in herbs and butter to the great amusement of a group of crenaeae, nymphs of fountains, who observe him casually taking the dish from underneath the nose of one of the potamoi who had taken it to eat for himself but was too distracted by the nymphs flashing their naked breasts at him to notice the God of the Dead absconding with his meal. (Since the last time Lusus had paid too much attention to a nymph’s naked breasts the result had been him getting slapped across the face by his consort and ignored for a year, and the nymph involved being turned into a garden herb, it is probably best for everyone that Lusus focuses only on snuggling his husband. And eating the crab.)

After the crab there are oysters cooked in wine and garlic, and the meat of cooked lobsters stripped from their shells, mashed, soaked in wine, and served up in delicate little cakes. Albion helps himself to some crispy strips of fried seaweed whilst Lusus pauses to drink deeply of a bowl of clear fish broth, its surface flecked with more flakes of dried seaweed and sliver-thin rings of raw onions. Lusus’ withering flower crown recovers its spirits entirely - and starts putting out new buds and shoots, half-convinced it is springtime - when Albion kisses Lusus on the cheek for handing him a chunk of seared tuna.

Past a group of nixes juggling breadloaves and apples in a competition of one-upmanship, there are pickled sturgeons and prawns, and small squids stuffed with herbs and the beaten yolks of eggs and cooked whole, some fried, some boiled. The larger squids have been cut into rings and chunks and cooked until tender, served in a sauce made of their own black ink and sprinkled breadcrumbs, whilst octopuses have been chopped up, coated in egg and flour and fried in hot oil, or simmered until tender in a mixture made of olive oil, white wine, garlic, parsley and onions.

“When your family’s cooks die,” Lusus informs his consort with absolute seriousness, his mouth still full of squid and egg and only disappointed he cannot immediately find more of either, “we are keeping them.”

Albion, leaning against the table beside Lusus and thoughtfully inspecting one of the little lobster cakes in his hands, snorts. “I believe it’s custom that we at least ask the souls if they want to serve us in the Underworld for all eternity instead of being released to the reincarnation cycle.”

Lusus pouts at him, utterly uncaring of anyone that might see. “Food like this is wasted on mortals.”

“Let brief lives have bright pleasures, dear heart.” A little more sober now, Albion lets the pout roll off of his shoulders like water off of a duck’s back, holding up the lobster cake for Lusus to eat when it becomes clear Lusus’ mouth is empty. Lusus loves him for it, even if Albion is just trying to stuff his mouth with too much seafood to win the debate. “The only slavery we want in the Underworld is in Tartarus, where they deserve it.”

“We could move the palace -” Albion’s glare sends a freezing frisson of wind down Lusus’ spine, and the lobster cake in Lusus’ mouth suddenly develops small lumps of ice that crack dangerously between his teeth. “Or not.”

“Thalassa.”

The Sea Queen, reclining against her husband’s arm in the largest room inside the villa, has all the dangerously indolent grace that Lusus so admires in her son who inherited it, Albion. Her hair that day, heavy with ribbons and roses, is the colour of a violent sunset on the ocean, and her stola is a dark, stormy blue, flashing with the gold pins keeping it closed. The gown is sleeveless, leaving her arms bare and skin smooth under Lusus’ palm when he comes forward to her seat to grasp her extended forearm in greeting. (In meetings with many gods, Lusus finds it sensible to greet his mother-in-law immediately after his consort - the Sea Queen had known him in their shared youth, though he had been the far younger. There are not many beings alive who can tell embarrassing tales of Lusus’ childhood, and even fewer who can say they were there to pull a headstrong young bull around by his exceedingly petulant ear.)

“No kiss, son of mine?” The Sea Queen’s grasp is just as firm as Lusus’ and her smile teasing, a knowing thing.

The room, although busy with people prior to Lusus and Albion’s entrance, is silent enough her voice rings, music halting and actions pausing in both deference to high royalty and interest at their interactions.

“With respect, my lady,” Lusus murmurs back to his hostess with a slight dip of his head, “you are not the water deity whom I prefer to save my kisses for.”

At Lusus’ elbow, Albion blushes as red as his mother’s hair.

Sitting beside his wife, the Sea King, blond as Albion is blond but broad-shouldered as the oxen he is said to favour, snorts into his wine. Lusus is particularly glad his father-in-law has left aside his ridiculous-looking shell crown for the festivities that day, for when his fellow king sets aside his drink and offers Lusus his own arm to grasp in greeting, Lusus can actually look him directly in the eye without wanting to laugh for a change.

“You are most welcome here,” says the Sea King, and his voice booms like the ocean thundering into sea-caves, deep and sincere. The Sea King is not one for artifice, something for which his family fondly despair of him. “Your brother was invited as well, since we find ourselves so unusually sprawled all over his hills, though he had to decline.”

“Harvest time is busy for every earth god associated with domesticated lands,” Lusus explains, since he can see the hunter and lesser goddess, Reinhildr, in the room with them out of the corner of his eye, drawing a distinction between those who stalk through wildlands and those who farm. (Reinhildr smiles at him for it with a dip of her pretty blonde head, lifting her cup in Lusus’ direction.) “My own work also increases when it is time for the reapers, though not as much as my brother’s.”

“Your harvest is of a different sort,” the Sea Queen says, more agreement than true elaboration, and gestures to the long seat beside her. “Please.”

The seat, already occupied by one of the wide-eyed youngest of Gallia’s brood and her gawking nymph (nymphling? Baby nymph?) friends, rapidly empties. The godling sensibly abandons the coveted space beside her grandmother to scramble halfway across the room and into her foster father’s, Caledon’s, lap, easily able to help herself to the food on his plate whilst he is occupied in a quiet, serious-looking discussion with Reinhildr’s brother and fellow hunter god, Rathangrim, and the little child-nymphs all scuttle off to join a large group of other small divine and semi-divine children clustered around a rather fed-up-looking Yu Lian, the spirit of the water inside of them drawn to his silvery moon.

Many of the gods who must have been invited are here, draped out in the place of honour in the middle of the members and acolytes of the House of Water. Not just the Sea King and Queen, or their children, or Reinhildr, Rathangrim, and Yu Lian; Lusus can see the God of the Dawn, Ayasake, entertaining some of the besotted children at Yu Lian’s side, with assistance from the God of Medicine, Paeon. Tarchon, Atmos’ eldest and grumpiest grandchild, sits at Paeon’s side with a face like someone has slapped him with a fish, fielding off the attentions of an amorous lesser river god who appears to be attempting to court Tarchon with flowers, a series of lewd gestures, and a carrot.

Lusus sits, adjusting himself amongst the cushions, and, by the time Albion joins him, carrying a large bowl full of sweet things - again -, the music they interrupted with their entrance has started up once more. Two of Albion’s trueborn brothers, Nechtan and Manawydan, are alternating playing and singing, telling a tale between them of a doomed hero and the naiad who loved him, heartbreakingly lovely.

...Perhaps more heartbreaking for those who have not met the doomed hero in question, who is a resident in Lusus and Albion’s realm and, if Albion’s word has anything to say about it, something of an idiot in the Isles of the Blest. (It’s perplexing. Albion tends to attract idiot heroes.) Acquaintanceship with the protagonists takes some of the glamour away from tragic ballads, and, beautiful as Manawydan and Nechtan’s playing is, their story is now not at all interesting enough to keep Lusus’ attention away from Albion, who is pressed up snugly against Lusus’ back and eating pitted cherries.

His mouth is very red from the fruit, and his tunic, unlike his mother’s gorgeous stola and Lusus’ own deep purple outfit, is worn thin by wear and the sun, doing nothing to save Lusus from the imprint of his consort’s body warm against his own.

“Unfair,” Lusus says, soft to avoid prying ears, tipping his head back to look at Albion better. His crown slips in another shower of pollen.

Albion presses a cherry to his mouth, blithe and sticky-fingered, and goes dark-eyed when Lusus takes both fruit and fingers into his mouth to suck. “I will go west,” he says, even more softly than Lusus, “after this. In a few weeks, will you come to take me home from there?”

When winter yawns wide, Lusus will go to the ends of the earth, Underworld and heavens to assist Albion in coming home to him. He releases Albion’s fingers, tucking the cherry into his cheek. “You could leave with me, immediately after this.”

“And spoil all your brother’s work by cutting short the harvest?”

Lusus makes a face. Pan would whine at best, and argue at worst. The mortals would starve. And Lusus’ work would increase a hundredfold as legions of the famine-struck dead arrived at his doors, cutting into his allotted time with Albion.

Albion cups his face and kisses him, close-mouthed and brief. Warm and loving, though mindful of his mother sitting by them.

Some days, Lusus hates being known as the Just One.

When Lusus returns to the Underworld that night, long after sunset, he departs with the blessings of his parents-in-law and two deep baskets full of food. Delicious as it all is, more important are the last gifts he leaves with: Albion wound close with him in the darkness, kissing him a long goodbye that will have to last Lusus until winter truly comes and Albion returns to the Underworld to join him, and Albion’s flower crown, its flowers still full and blooming from spending so long upon a life god’s head.

That night, long after he has left Albion in the midst of his own family, Lusus’ mouth still tastes of his husband: of ambrosia and fruit, wine and honey. The air, too, is scented much the same way; Lusus takes his husband’s crown of flowers and twines them with his own, taking both to the King’s chambers in the Underworld and hanging them above the pillows of his and Albion’s bed.

Lusus can still smell the flowers when he lies down to sleep, the air soft with the scent of summer, and warmth, and love.

That night, Lusus sleeps deeply, and, though his dreams are formless, they are autumn-gold and sweet.

Lusus (and Pan with him) was actually born in the same generation of deities as Albion’s mother and father, although it was on the tail-end of that generation. It’s why Lusus is one of the few gods who greets Albion’s mother by - one of - her name(s), as well as the fact he’s equal to her in rank due to being a fellow divine ruler. His realm - well, his and Albion’s, at this point - is arguably more powerful than hers and her husband’s, so the power-difference and age-difference between these two balances them out enough he can drop some of the formalities with her other gods adhere to. ..Not too many though. She saw him when he was a wee thing clopping about with baby-fat on his cheeks and has too many embarrassing stories as leverage.

Incidentally, Lusus hardly ever greets anyone with a physical gesture - whether that’s touching them, or even him nodding to them (he only nods to equal rank or those worthy of respect). He touches foreheads with his brother and his children, and often touches foreheads with Albion before going in for a kiss. The Ancient Roman nobility tended to greet family and friends with a kiss to the mouth, eyelids, or neck (to the point where special orders had to be given out to the nobility during times of plague to stop kissing so much) depending upon who was kissing whom, hence the Sea Queen’s teasing.

It’s been a while since I read The Lusiads, but I distinctly remember giggling about the description of the God of the Sea in it. He has a stupid shell crown. Many conch jokes were made.

Notes about the flowers: The cypress is and always has been a symbol of mourning. In the classical period, it was associated with death and the underworld because the tree failed to regenerate if cut back too severely, and cypress was used extensively in funerary rites: both to fumigate the air at cremations as well as decorate Athenian homes when they were in mourning. It was thus considered among some of the better plants with which to adorn statues of the underworld gods.

Saffron crocuses have many uses. Ancient Persia used the flower for its thread, which was woven into textiles that were ritually offered to deities. The thread was also scattered across beds or mixed into teas as a cure for melancholy, as well as being used in dyes, perfumes, medicines and cleansing washes. Non-Persians at the time regarded saffron as an aphrodisiac and a drug. Alexander the Great favoured saffron in his food and baths as a curative for aches and wounds.

Rosemary is considered a herb of remembrance, particularly for the dead. Its English name derives from the Latin for ‘dew’ (ros) and ‘sea’ (marinus), thus making it the ‘dew of the sea,’ as it was discovered growing on hillsides close to the ocean. It also has associations with love.

Thyme derives its name from the Greek ‘Thymus,’ meaning courage. Thyme was burned inside homes to drive off stinging insects, and the Greeks used the symbol of thyme to represent style and elegance. The Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming, and later peoples used thyme as a sleep-aid and to ward away nightmares. In some funerals, thyme was used as incense and placed upon coffins, as it was supposed to assure passage into the next life.

#Shacha fic #Gods AU #engport #aph Portugal #Arthur Kirkland #and assorted others #hetalia

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vividdreamerblg-blog · 7 years ago

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The Heaven Agency

Today was going to be great, not for any particular reason, only because I said so.

I pulled up to this small white building with windows surrounding every side.

I parked my car in the normal employee parking and got out.

Today was going to be a good day I could feel it. Were more of a protection agency than anything, but there it was The Heaven Agency written in golden cursive letters above the sliding automatic door.

I sighed deeply breathing deeply, smiling at the sun, “ today is going to be a great day, I feel it in my bones.”

Coffee in hand, and briefcase full of certainty, I began walking towards the door. As I walked through the concierge greeted me, her name was Ann, I loved Ann, she was always so cheery.

“ Goodmorning Ann !”

“ Goodmorning Jennifer ! “ She replied with an award winning smile. “ Did you get your wings brightened they look great.”

I fluttered them a bit, and laughed “ Yes I have ! Thank you for noticing, you’re so great, have a good day babe !”

Ann smiled brightly, “ You too love ! Stay Gold !”

I gave her a wink with a smile and said, “Stay Gold”

I made my way over to my desk, greeting all my fellow work associates.

I sat down in my chair and sighed. Today is going to be a great day.

Oh, I’m sorry you’re probably wondering what we do here, well we protect things. Hahah- let me be more specific, we protect you, but most importantly. We protect them, this is our balance.

Them is , a little boy , he looks about seven to nine years old, but God knows he’s older than all of us. Then there’s his two dogs, a big German Shepard named Raziya and Abigor, he’s a tiny black dog, he’s so adorable but we can’t call him adorable, he get’s offended.

Now, what do we do for you ? Well, that one is pretty easy compared to The Balance. You pray to us, and we get this cute little emails, I love them so much. We used to get scrolls but sometimes they wouldn’t get filed right, and all of us guardian angels have different jobs, sigh, it was chaos.

Anyways, we get this emails, you’ll hear a pings all day long. Once we get those emails, we send basically blessings to you. They sit in this clear jar right next to our desk, there are about a million in that tiny jar, and sometimes you’ll receive a blessing and sometimes you won’t. It really depends on how hard you work for it, or how hard God wants to work for it, meaning you have to learn all your lessons first. Don’t worry everyone gets resent them same lessons thousands of times, and how we can see if you didn’t learn your lesson is by what you pray for. Yes, we do take into consideration everything you’ve been through in life ,but some people need to learn their lesson more than twice. All we do is send the word lesson through the email, then the email gets forwarded to God, who sends you the right lesson for you situation.

After an onslaught of pings all morning, it’s three o’clock and it’s time for lunch.

I pick up my suitcase, and head for the cafeteria. Which is huge by the way, about the size of a football field because we hold our group meetings there too. Its a white room with small stage for when God gives their meetings complete with a microphone and ten foot tall speakers on either side, even though the walls were about thirteen feet. As soon as you walk through the door their are windows on the other side, the view is breathtaking, the clouds are wispy and light and the always setting or rising sun, creating beautiful hues of color. In moments of darkness stars decorated the galaxy. No matter what, always beautiful, always gold.

I sit down and open my suitcase and find my lunch inside. We only bring lunch in our bags, but I thought the human invention of the suitcase was so cute, plus it makes me feel like my lunch is important business.

Mashed potatoes, smothered in homemade butter, roasted figs, an orange, and apple juice. My mouth watered, and I dug in.

Suddenly, John sat down across from me with his lunch bag, he’s from accounting.

Well, we call it accounting but he keeps records of all the little humans who have learned their lesson, in case of errors. He accounts for them. I chuckled to myself. I’m using that at parties.

“ Hey Jen , have you heard about the meeting ?”

I gave him a puzzled look, “ what meeting ? I didn’t get an email.”

“ They sent it right before we went to lunch.”

I must’ve been in such a rush to eat I hadn’t bother to acknowledge anymore pings.

“ Well what did it say ?”

“ It says that we have a meeting today during lunch.”

“That’s weird, that’s never happened before.”

“ I know, its weird right ? No one knows what’s going on or what its about.”

“ Oh geez, that makes two surprises,let’s hope it’s good news.”

“ Surprises like this ? Who knows.” John glances down at my lunch and smiles, “ roasted figs again?”

“Uhm, who are you to judge ? Roasted figs are a family tradition, and I can’t help that they don’t find into your mainstream idea of yummy.”

John laughed and shook his head, “ mainstream ?”

“ Yeah, what do you have their anyways, a taco salad, really John ? You’re going to judge me ? At least I’m healthy .”

He laughs, “ All that butter and, you call that healthy ? “

“ More than you.” I gave him a sassy smile , and shoved a heaping forkful of smothered mashed potatoes in my mouth.

DING DING DING, rang over the intercom, a woman’s voice said,

Meeting will begin in 30 seconds.

Everyone rushed to their seats and sat down. As the intercom predicted God, walked out, today they were a middle aged man, they looked like a college professor, wearing glasses with a button down collar.

God isn’t just a man or woman by the way, he’s both, so we get different versions of this entity, personified. Yesterday they were a woman with a beard, I think he’s trying to get more creative with his looks. Which is fine, we could all use a change every once in awhile.

“ Good morning, my cosmic children”

“ Good morning ” we all repeated in unison.

“ So our schedule was really packed today, so this meeting has to take place during lunch. So as we venture forth into this coming ascension, as you know, darkness lurks upon us. On ascension day, where we celebrate the love we have for each other and the ancestors that came before you, the threat of the darkness grows nearer, summoning us for battle, yet again. “

God pauses to take a deep breathe,

“ but what you were not aware of, is that this is the last battle, that decides whether or not, we are at peace or we go to war. “

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abiteofnat · 7 years ago

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TIME TO GET APPLE SPICE(Y)....

Because we only have a week left of October and if that isn’t the damn craziest thing I don’t know what is!!! Somehow this month has flown past in an orange-tinged glow, between making festive drinks for every. single. customer. and eating as many seasonal donuts as possible... it’s been good. I got to visit an apple orchard in Wisconsin, our family-favorite pumpkin patch + donut plant, and literally forget what it’s like to put on other clothes than Timberlands and a giant sweater because the chill has set in suddenly and permanently. My friend asked me to start up watching Christmas movies this week with her to which my first impulse was to scream and deny, deny, deny, we only have two months until Christmas... plus I haven’t had my annual viewing of “A Nightmare Before Christmas” so that’s on the agenda for every single night this week leading up to Halloween. Can you tell I’m a sucker for fall?!?!

The one thing I don’t loveee about these autumn months is that there’s an overwhelming assumption that because I am a (fake) blonde female who slaves over Instagram like it’s my religious literature of choice, I must adore pumpkin spice lattes. It’s like a joke everyone in society has formulated- the minute it’s October, should I even mention “I want coffee” someone will go “HAHA BET YOU MEAN A PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE YOU STARBUCKS CLOWN, YEAH IT’S YOUR SEASON YOU CAN COME OUT OF HIBERNATION YOU PUMPKIN SPICE SLAYER.” Which like, yeah, I’ll enjoy a sip or two, but the hot version tastes like melted pumpkin pie and it’s kinda gross. Heckle me all you want, you’re not going to get the satisfaction of me ordering a venti-nonfat-sugarfree-half-caf-pumpkin-spice-latte-with-extra-syrup-and-a-lack-of-dignity. Sorry.

I thought for this post I would just do a list of fall-favorites to guide you through the last weekend of this holy month and into November, which I think is a highly underrated month and deserves way more loving. November means cozy, cold nights but not snow yet, hot chocolate, the anticipation of holiday decor popping up everywhere, and a hell of a lot of dranks once classes end for winter break. I’ve got four weeks on the clock until I am officially halfway through graduate school and I’ll be damned if I don’t celebrate during every family occasion when mom feels ~spicy~ and puts out the wine.

ANYWAY, GO ENJOY THIS FALL-TIME FUN.

1. Sutter’s Ridge Family Farm

This place is my garden of eden. I had never been apple picking until a couple weeks ago when my friend Sheila and I went to Madison, Wisconsin and decided to spend the Sunday morning of our trip finding some fresh-picked fruit, and after a LOT of searching orchards on Instagram for authentic photos of what to expect we found Sutter’s Ridge. And it did not disappoint, not even a little. The drive there alone is stunning as you have to take a lot of long back roads along fields of wheat and grass to get to the private drive that takes you up a hill to the parking area, which after you park and jump out of the car hits you with an overwhelming sense of nature’s beauty. The whole farm looks out over rolling hills and is very quiet and picturesque; of course once you enter the farm it’s a different story because there are kids screaming and adults screaming because the kids are screaming and you really just have to take it with a grain of salt. But the prices are low; $5 gets you admission to everything and you get a plastic bag to go into the dozen rows of apples to pick as many as you please, for about $1 a pound. What a freaking steal; in Chicago an apple costs like $6 and it’s moldy. Not really but you get the picture.

The trees are absolutely bursting with apples, and there’s enough room for everyone and their literal mom to wander. You can also pet some horses, pick out pumpkins, and enjoy brats and baked goods such as raspberry bars and the pumpkin bars with cheesecake frosting, which blew me the fuck away. I shelled out a whole $2 for a giant hunk of pumpkin cake and oh my god, it was probably made 20 minutes before and so delicious. Definitely head out here if you’re looking for a fun day/ weekend trip!

2. Didier Farms

I have an ongoing theory I was actually born from a pumpkin here in 1995, because this might be my favorite place in the world. Lincolnshire, IL doesn’t offer much but Didier Farms is the only redemption it needs. My family has been coming here for pumpkins and all things fall for as long as I can remember, and the year I was studying abroad in London and they went without me was one of the worst days of my life. I’m not being dramatic; there are only so many family traditions that really hold up and this is one of them that I’m intent on never letting pass us by. No matter how busy October is, you bet you ass we’re going to Didier Farms.

There are one million great things about Didier, from the hundreds of pumpkins looking for a home to the corn on the cob that’s dripping with butter, but the apple cider donuts easily take the cake. These donuts are handmade and are soft, moist, packed with cinnamon and coated with a sugar dust that melts in your mouth and makes you absolutely powerless against them. Imagine your first love- you know that rush that fills your body, how you can feel your heartbeat in your neck and your toes, and you only stay alive for that next moment you can see them? That’s me and these donuts. (Pictured- sister and these donuts)

Go for the donuts, stay for the terrible carnival rides and the hot apple cider, leave never and build a home among the corn maze.

3. Hopleaf Bar

You’re going to need a filling dinner once all these day-trips are over, so make it a plan to head to Hopleaf Bar in Andersonville because the beer is flowing and the food is fantastic. Not only is Andersonville the perfect section of the city to walk around in on a cool fall night, given all the stores, coffee shops, and inviting restaurants, but it’s also not incredibly busy so it has a relaxed dining vibe. Hopleaf begins as a bar when you walk in, picture a very typical Irish bar with regulars at the counter but cute moms in turtlenecks sitting at the tables, and if you head back it turns into a stone-walled fortress of food. The decor yells old-English castle and the food supports that heartily, with options like heavy sandwiches and a lot of fried goodness. However, there are also a lot of unique salad/ vegetable-based dishes which shocks me about this place, and the menu is surprisingly diverse for the inside looking so Game of Thrones.

I got the grilled cheese that was on sourdough, with house-made cashew butter, fig jam & raclette cheese, and that came with mac & cheese AND potato chips that I subbed for onion rings. That is a real dinner I ate and I felt definitely not slender and light afterwards... but no regrets whatsoever. The mac & cheese was creamy and baked to be crisp on top, and the CBJ was crunchy on the outside but warm and gooey on the inside. The onion rings were more shoestring-like than I normally enjoy, but served with some sort of chipotle aioli I was digging it. Surprise surprise, I went with my foodie friend Erin, and we smashed everything on our plates while taking advantage of the 40-page beer list that ranges from $5- $150 pints of beer. That number is correct, they have some fancy as fuck ale there that I’m sure people order once they’ve had about 10 glasses of the $5 kind. This place was awesome, and be sure to get here wayyy in advance of your planned dining time because the wait stacks up fast!!!

Those are my top 3 fall favorites right now, enjoy this weekend and let me know what else I need to check off my list!

Until next time, Happy Eating!

-Natalie

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djseaward · 5 years ago

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the villages of the drôme provençale

this summer heat has got me thinking about one year ago on our holiday in provence. i wrote a little bit about the stay at our cottage in the drôme region and a day in arles, but nothing much about the many, many provençal villages we visited. the most known area of provence is perhaps the luberon, thanks to the popularity of a year in provence by peter mayle (a book which i highly, highly recommend if you’re going to provence at all), but we ended up staying in the northern drôme (southeastern france about halfway between marseilles and lyon) which was even more beautiful than i ever could have imagined.

every day we would visit one of the villages around us, once on foot but usually by car, as the only village close enough to walk to on foot was roussas. that was the first village we visited, and oh, what a beauty she is. on top of a hill, there isn't much in roussas except for residences but the views were absolutely fantastic -- lavender fields, vineyards and rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

then there was grignan -- the nearest town to us and even more of a beauty! on the approach, you can't help but notice the castle perched on a hill, surrounded by lavender fields. incredible. we hadn't even planned this, it's just that the northern drôme provençale is just that good. the first time we went into grignan, we drove right in to the town center. it was quite funny because this was alex's first real "european driving experience". by that i mean the real, old-world europe -- tiny, cobblestone streets, minuscule parking spots.

i read him the GPS instructions: "go straight, i guess". "like, straight into here?" [the most compact, cobblestone lane you could imagine] "...it seems that way".

we popped in just to ask for some tourist information at the TI, and were taken aback that we could barely communicate in english with them. i really am not being one those tourists that tries to get by with english everywhere, but you'd think... just maybe... at a tourist office? not really in the rural drôme! it was the first indication of many that this region was typically touristed by french only.

grignan is a delightful place to wander the streets and take in a lunch at a pizzeria. i can never forget the feeling of the bright hot heat, tucking into a table in the shadows, ferdie sleeping underneath the table, and repeat. very often, we prepared meals at our cottage, but i definitely wanted to have a few dining experiences out.

there were countless other villages that we popped into, parked at their square and strolled around a bit. i wouldn't even know their names, just that they looked nice from afar, so why not?

there was the morning we went to saint-paul-trois-châteaux because we were waiting for ferdie's procedure at the vet's. (more on that at this post) we hadn’t even intended to come here, but the fact that we had business there gave us a great reason to get gelato and wander the streets to the town center, as charming as any other.

later that same afternoon, we drove just a little to get to nyons, probably about 45 minutes east of where we were staying, and had a lovely time getting to know the olive oil capital of france! (and of course, a stop by the olive cooperative to pick up some very necessary souvenirs, like the most extra extra virgin olive oil you ever did taste and some soap, some olives for mum)

{salade niçoise, when in provence....}

nyons surprised me with its absolutely gorgeous river; the color, stunning, making me wish i had my swimsuit like the other more fortunate people on this broiling hot late june day. we walked around with our drugged dog, taking lunch at the most inviting cafe on a small square.

after awhile, a man leaned over and remarked about our dog: "he is very quiet, no?" "well, you see, he's a bit ...drugged....."

really great way to meet friends!

all in all, the feelings and sensations i remember the most about our summer in the drôme provençale: white hot heat. the joy of fresh apricot juice. the smell of rosemary in the evenings and early mornings. belgian beers. the clink of the pétanque balls. the sight of tiny but growing figs, which i had never seen before. cacti. orange poppies, swaying in the mistral breeze. cheese, bread, salami, SO MUCH BREAD. world cup matches on tv. sitting at a table on a light stone sidewalk, always with a dog under the table. icy cold rosé.

how does every stinking village look this stupidly beautiful?

it was simply one of the best vacations i've ever taken. i already can't wait to explore more of france! although the cities can be fun, the countryside is where i'll remain!

we’re about to go on a little film festival holiday ourselves -- catch you later next week!

ps, more provence posts? check out the first post and our little cottage or one day in arles.

#provence #drôme provençale #france #summer #travel #french countryside

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thepensiverambler · 7 years ago

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Little by little

26th I woke as usual, sweat on my brow to find another still day. Today was hot. Really hot. In my opinion it was no hotter than any other day only we didn't have a nice cooling breeze. I tried to get into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast on their was a great big lock in the way. After searching long and hard for a key (little over a minute) I resigned myself to wait for the others to wake and come and find the key. Once they did come and we were finally all sat at breakfast chatter began to wander towards the daily plan. I had had aspirations of starting to flatten the ground on which to dig the volunteer house and to dig it's foundations. It became clear to me that no one was keen on doing any strenuous physical activity. I helped Cuba with the minor chore of cutting away to filler he'd used on the walls in the kitchen. I decided I would go and help Hanna to rake field. We needed to get rid of all dry grass and other plants in order to transform it into a nice area for workshops. We decided to burn the grass in a metal drum as we were Coldingham the grass. The burning was talking too long so we tried burning the grass in clumps on the ground. We took precautions to contain the fire such as digging a small trench to around the fire, wetting the ground around it and we watched it closely armed with watering cans. The fire escaped after a while and crawled 2 or 3 metres aways before we spotted it and jumped into action with our emergency water. At the end of the field was a patch of ground I hadn't noticed before on which nothing grew. Perfect for our fire. I told the others that was the place for us. I was called a genius and we set to work, for about 5 minutes. Ali shouted at us all saying that we were all going to the beach. Now at this point I know a lot of you may consider me grumpy but I really didn't want to go to the beach. I'd had a day off the previous day, and I had a task in hand that was different to mixing concrete. I had’nt come to Turkey to simply go to the beach when it was a little warmer than was comfortable. After a little rebellion I and 3 others remained at the village to work whilst the others left to the beach. I was alone in the field. A vast expance to clear with just a bucket and a rake. I set to work. I worked nonstop for 4 hours. Well I took water breaks of course. And one for a coffee. And a few dates. And maybe a slice of water melon and a fig. After my tireless work I had got to about halfway through the field, there was now a large mound of hay at one end of the field but all I could see was the work still at hand. The four of us took lunch (pasta and a salad). As we finishing our post lunch coffees the minibus of beach goers returned. To get out of the way I went back to my field to get on with the job. I had the aim of finishing it by the end of the day and I knew that if stopped too long I wouldn't be able do it alone. Bit between my teeth I worked without regard for the sweat dripping of my nose and occasionally into my mouth. No regard for my t-shirt stuck to me with a large T written across my chest in slightly darker maroon than the original. Hoping all the while my morning crew would return and lighten to the load yet team never did. I had to employ the help of another volunteer, Eros. We worked for an hour together until at last my herculean task was complete. I had a haystack down one end of the field large enough to feed the entirety of the Grand national horses for a year. It was huge. Easily 6 feet in height, 10 feet long and another 6 feet in width. Now for the fun part or the day. The fire. After a few safety precautions we torched the lot, played a little ‘cricket’ as it burned. Cricket consisted of being tossed a ball and trying to pull the ball (stone) so that it might rain down on the others that were still building the kitchen. The bat was a slat from a pallet, not quite the fine piece of willow to which I'm used but a bat nonetheless. The shot need to travel around 60 metres but even my best times shots were falling 10 metres short. I had to go to the cafe to get wifi to find out when I would be going to University. Yes I should probably have known this before I came out and started to plan travelling Turkey but I didn't. I got on the pink bike and enjoyed a nice cycle into town. I spent a little time sorting my life out until I met a couple of the new volunteers. One was a 19 year old Norwegian girl that I’d chatted a little at the village earlier in the day. We sat and chatted for a while, to put it nicely she talked too much, to put it less nicely the girl had verbal diahorrea. I don't mean to be too rude because I thought she was a sweet girl but good lord she enjoyed talking about herself. I enjoy meeting new people because you never know what they'll be like but there's only so much I want to talk about exams and university. I would have assumed that being the same age we'd have had a similar experience over the past year of everyday conversations about university and future. I'm sick of it. I don't care what uni you're going to. I don't care what you're studying. I don't care if you're nervous, excited or unsure about the experience. I really don't care if you're looking forward to freshers or not, it doesn't matter either way we both know you're going to turn up at freshers, get too drunk one time and think you're now a ‘hardcore student’. Regardless of this it's the common ground we found and, wishing we were both into football I covered the usual topics as though ticking them from my checklist. After some dinner we had delivered I got a lift home and went to bed. 27th I was picking up stones in the field when Beret came to me and asked if I wanted to come to the police station to distribute to a group picked up trying to cross to Chios that morning. Yes. Of course I did. We got in the car and drove to the shop picking 48 bottles of water and countless loaves of bread. We then drove to the cafe and picked up toys for the children and tinned beans. 200 metres down the road was the police station which was right on the sea front between 2 fancy bars. I nearly walked straight past it but the others turned in and we walked up the narrow steps into a courtyard. I was expecting to find 15 or so refugees sat in a hostile, white synthetic room with water coolers and cork boards. This was not the case, 30 or so refugees sat in the courtyard struggle to find shade from the midday heat. We went round handing out bread, water and toys for the children. The groups ranged from large families of women and children to couples to lone men. I didn't find out where they were from which would have such an impact on their future. It seems strange to think how these people could be treated so differently to me due to their place of birth. How they could be treated so differently to each other depending on whether they were Syrian or Iraqi. During my visit we were fortunate to be supervised by a nice police officer. He was friendly, opening a tin of beans for us and even fetching another loaf of bread when we ran out. We are lucky in Cesme that the police station is quite nice to give us a call when they've made arrests so that we can come and offer some relief. We're lucky in Cesme, to have quite a cooperative police station which will call us when they've made arrests. Sometimes they'll feed them, sometimes they won't. The police argue they don't have enough money to spend on food for refugees. Some policemen aren't as nice as the one we were supervised by today. Every volunteer who has spent a significant amount of time in a camp has witnessed violence from police officers. The worst thing as a volunteer is in these sorts of situations there's nothing you can do. If you interfere you jeopardise the relationship with charity and police which endangers the welfare of far more future refugees than the one receiving the beating. The situation reminds me of that of Rwanda when the UN force was sent in during the mass genocide with a mandate that wouldn't allow them to interfere with violence. Cases were reported where UN officers had to stand by whilst they watched the slaughter of men,women and children. The effects of the genocide has given both murderers and UN officials PTSD. I'm sure this crisis will do the same. I'm fortunate not to have witnessed much violence in my brief time volunteering. It's seems silly that in the total 4 or 5 days I've spent in the presence of both refugees and law enforcement that I should feel fortunate not to have witnessed grave violence. Cesme police station treats it's detainees well to a point. They often leave it a few hours until they call us, leaving refugees to grow more and more uncomfortable and hungry in the midday sun. I see no point in treating refugees poorly in detention. Some argue that it's to act as a deterrent, to teach them a lesson. These people are willing to risk their lives to get to Greece a few hours of discomfort is not going to do well as a deterrent. The proof of this is easy to find, today I heard of a man that had attempted the crossing 8 times unsuccessfully. So why not treat these poor people as human beings and not animals to be punished for attempting to improve their lives. 28th The news came that last night a boat had sunk attempting to make the crossing. 7 dead, 10 alive. It shook me a little as I'd been to a departing beach just days before, met with refugees that had attempted the crossing just yesterday. It made me think and question whether I doing all I could at this moment in time. Surely it's more important to save lives than to improve them. But what life can you lead without the possibility of betterment? Just crossing your fingers and hoping that you'll be able to save enough money over the summer to feed yourself for the winter. I was told in Calais that whatever we do will never be enough and it's true. You can be working 20 hours a day 7 days a week and you won't think that it's enough. All we can hope to do is improve lives little by little to a point where they can start to improve them on their own.

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athleisure-aesthetic · 8 years ago

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Ugh I did the thing again where I was busy all week and forgot to post on here. So here’s a lightning fast recap of my workouts from the past week, if you care at all. I actually think I worked out (ish, except Friday kinda) every day which is a first in a while. Bless.

Tues Mar 21 Abs and shopping. I went home after work to get my car so that I could drive to trainings the next two days, but went out to Target as soon as I got home, cause duh. Stupid idea to try on like real clothes tho, my self-conscious ass was like ohhhhh no way you need to tighten up those saddle bags and that back fat before you get any of this. So. I got a crop sweatshirt and athletic leggings, felt bad about myself but hadn’t had dinner, so I went to Wawa. Woof.

3x each 15 reps straight leg raises 15 reps roll ups leaning camel x 45s bird dogs x 45s 60 reps heal touches plank 35s, 40s, 45s 10 reps assisted push up 40 reps russian twists 8# alternating superman 1 min 15 reps single leg pulses

Wed Mar 22 Run on the trail after this horrific training class in which I was literally the only student for an all day session. And I had to go back the next day 😩 went to Marshall’s before my run to see if I could find any cold weather gear bc I only had my sweatshirt, gloves, wool earwarmers, and thin leggings. Didn’t find any of that, but got those AMAZING NEON PINK LEGGINGS IN THAT ONE PICTURE and some other ones too. You know me, can’t stay away from that athleisure ish.

It was hella freezing and took me so long to warm up once I started on the trail. Fortunately it was so picturesque and my music was bangin so. I survived.

2.78 mi 9'55" min / mi

Thurs Mar 23 6 x 200m sprints on the trail. Bless up, convinced my instructor to finish early bc tbh he was not really all that helpful once I started following the book that was included, so I went to the mall and got some more athleisure (deh), cheap sunglasses, athletic ear warmers for $.50 each, a VERY cute lightweight rain jacket, and (!!!!!) these black leather slip-on sneakers I’ve been looking for for like 6 months. I just caved and got the name brand ones but stILl omg I’m so excited about them I finally found them.

Started the sprints in the cotton leggins I was wearing, then after like maybe 9 or 10 strides I was like oh FUCk no they suddenly lost all their elasticity and I was having to pull them up for my life. So after completely embarrassing myself hoisting those mothereffers up for my first sprint, I jumped in the car and changed into spandex pants, then zoomed back to the trail start and actually did my workout. Good thing my house is only 8 minutes away from that part of the trail.

I think I may have mis-read what my Nike app was telling me to do, but I’m pretty sure it said to do 6 x 200m sprints with 4:45 min in between. So that’s essentially what I did, I sprinted for the 200m and ran / jogged in between. Although the app only recorded the distance for the sprints, I wanna say I did a little more than the day before, since I went further on the trail. I hate that you can’t go back and check what it told you to do; you only see how you actually ran according to the app. Lame af. Though I was proud, I increased my sprint speed at almost every length except the 3rd.

0.77mi 6'59" min / mi (lol can’t believe I actually ran a mile faster than that at one point in my life holy shit)

Fri Mar 24 No real workout here, since I had to leave work early to take the train back to le Nova for Palooza. I scarfed down a Snap pizza (the classic spot) right before the show, and somehow stayed away from the dangers of late night college food. Though I did get all my steps in my showing one of our friends’ home friend around campus, and apparently that little tour counted for a nice brisk walk. Obvi the Snovas killed it, as a great opener for what my friends and I dubbed AcaWeekend. Saturday they’d be competing at ICCA regional semifinals #pitchperfect for the first time ever, which was so exciting. Palooza the day before was just their warmup, but fortunately we got to see two new songs from them. It kinda sucked for them though bc they went first out of the seven groups and the sound guys always need a few groups to warm up before they actually refine the balance, and they just sounded muddled. Womp. Oh well. Everyone knows they’re/we’re the best anyway. Proud alum.

Sat Mar 25 Run in the morning before the day’s festivities. This was a quick workout before most of the humans who stayed in my apartment became humans, a brief mile ish to the waterfront and back. I realized I’d been wearing a blueish shirt and black leggings in literally all of my pics lately so I spiced it up with these fun stripey ones. Lol.

We adventured to brunch, where I had a yummy spinach and goat cheese salad with fig dressing, and wandered around the city for the afternoon before we had to head to semis. I splurged on Hunger Burger at RTM because I told myself that this was my indulgence for the weekend, and I wasn’t going to be drinking anymore for the next few months (it’s not like I do it that often anyway, I just want to try it to see how it helps my training/weight loss, if at all), so I got a specialty thin mint shake. Woops. Honestly, it was so worth it though, and I didn’t even end up eating most of the fries anyway, so it wasn’t the worst I could’ve done.

At semis, there were literally so many good groups and we were all like oh shit how are they going to stack up?? But Snovas SLAYED even better than they did last time and ENDED UP IN THIRD PLACE WHICH IS THE CRAZIEST BEST HONOR WE’VE EVER GOTTEN AND IT’S JUST SO COOL!!!!! A cappella is the shit, guys, I swear. I’m so proud of those kiddos, and they get to submit a wildcard video for a chance at Finals in NYC which is like legitimately insane. They’re somewhere in the top 18-27 groups in the country right now, and coming from a school where we legit don’t have music majors and a joke of a music activities staff / support, this coulD NOT be cooler. They murdered it. And so did all the other groups at semis, like damn. We weren’t even sure anything was gonna happen for them, but they clearly did some things right. Ugh so obvi we celebrated when we got back to Philly, going to a few bars and ending up at Frankford, where we got some amazing soft pretzels and other snacks. Best day ever.

1.26 mi 9'21" min / mi

1.32 mi 10'03" min / mi

Sun Mar 26 Long ish run and relaxing. Got up and was worried about the weather forecast for Monday because I was supposed to be doing my long run for next week then, and it was going to be torrentially downpouring all day, so I was hoping to switch my days because the weather was decent enough that I could’ve done it on Sunday. But then I updated my app and A, it changed my schedule for this week anyway, and B, I remember I could’ve moved it anyway if I wanted to. So instead I went and did that 5K Sunday challenge thing that it introduced. And I ran back from there, so it actually was closer to the 5 miles I had wanted to do anyway. So ya.

I felt a little subconscious in these leggings because, though they are a spectacularly bright and amazing color, they also show my cellulite on the back of my legs… but I thought, fuck it, people will see me, and if they give me a look, I’ll just push harder and show them that cellulite means nothing if you’re fast and capable and strong. So. I used it to empower me, I guess.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching ICCA videos, still hyped up on the Snovas victory. Legit it’s still coming to me in waves, it’s actually incredible.

3.11 mi 9'41" min / mi

1.53 mi 9'44" min /mi

Mon Mar 27 Full body circuit and a benchmark run. Work is starting to bore me so much lol on Monday I think I may have done approximately 2 work related things all day, otherwise I was just distracted. I decided to do a NTC workout and then my benchmark, so I chose Body Flexor 2.0, which worked a lot of different areas and was pretty fun. Then I ran on the treadmill for my benchmark for the first time, which was weird knowing my exact speed at certain times and being able to force myself to a certain pace. If I have to do it that way again, next time I’ll just cover the numbers and just focus on how it feels to push hard. The picture up there is me literally dying because of how sweaty I was. Plus fun leggings from Marshall’s.

1.54 mi 9'49" min / mi

Tues Mar 28 Abs / some arms, plus 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was an idiot today, and not only forgot a hair tie after my shower, but I left my phone at home, which I realized too late in the elevator on the way to work. Nice. So I had to go without both all day, though Kelly let me borrow a hair tie so I could work out thank GoD cause I was looking at using a legit rubber band, which would’ve been awful. The moves I chose for abs today ended up also working my arms a lot, which was nice to combo them. Because I didn’t have my phone, I just kind of had to make up my elliptical workout, which was meh but whatever. Next time I’ll be prepared. That’s definitely not my favorite type of cardio anyway.

Tonight I made these AMAZING baked zucchini fries, I probably could’ve eaten like 90 million in one sitting they were so crunchy and good. My sweet potato fries didn’t turn out so good (I actually burned the shit out of them, but I’m going to attempt to eat them tomorrow for lunch anyway 🙃) but I’m happy I’m trying new things in the kitchen, even if it’s taking me like 3 hours each time lolol.

I’m down a few pounds from last week, though, which is kind of nice! A little affirmation after working hard every day.

3x each 15 reps dumbbell side bends alt. sides 8# 15 reps twisting core stabilizers alt. sides 8# 15 reps bow extensions alt. sides 8# 15 reps woodchops 8# 10 reps windmills 5# 40 reps russian twists 8# 30 s plank 7 reps full extension inch worms 15 reps in-&-outs

Wooooof I’m going to try to post more often now that I’m all caught up. Lol it may last for a day but you know. #Goals.

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carryforthtradition · 4 years ago

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Blackberries and the Buddleia.

Gosh it’s so hot this week, an unexpected heat wave, which we are never ready for. It could, for all we know, be snowing tomorrow! Yes, the good ole English weather, hours of endless conversation about that which I’ll leave for another day.

Blackberries

A brisk walk along the river this morning, in an attempt to avoid the mid day heat, brought me into contact with a small feast of blackberries along the way. Yes, it’s that wonderful time of year, blackberry abundance, time to grab your boxes and cartons and head to the hedgerows.

Round here where we live, in suburbia, we still have remnants of days gone by. Blackberry bushes can be wild but most likely have been cultivated around here. Left to their own devices they are really, really good at growing almost anywhere and, as you may know, if growing in the wrong place are quite tricky to remove!

But we forgive them, they provide food for so many birds, animals and insects and to those of us who are fortunate enough to know where to go…. and oh yes, I do know some great places near here! After walking down hedgerows, along the road side, on public footpaths, through farmland, packhorse trails, abandoned railway lines and bridle paths you get to know where to find the best ones - by this I mean the ones suited best to your taste. Because, although they may have the same name, they do come in different varieties and sizes, some are rather tart and some are pretty non descript, some earthy, some watery and - for me - the sweetest ones are the best.

Remember the simple ‘rules’ -

learn how to say this - ‘ We are going Blackberrying’

watch out for tiny, little worms and the cobwebs

leave the ones which have been in contact with mouldy ones aside

don’t eat them from the low branches along the path (dogs) or the the roadside (exhausts)

preferably have long sleeves and gloves

don’t get blackberry juice on your clothes - in fact only wear black or dark clothes (joking)

take a tall friend with long arms

When you do find some suitable ones to eat, those that are ripe, plump, juicy, sweet and shiny, it’s a real joy!

Blackberries can be used for a variety of foods, preserves and baking. The sweet-tart flavour and earthy quality allows them to be used in both sweet and savoury. They go well with creamy and aged cheeses, or rich fatty meats. Blackberries can be added to ice creams, jams, yoghurt, syrups and wine. They also go well with nuts, aged balsamic vinegar, salad greens, figs, and leafy herbs. There are many articles written about blackberries - I just came across these -

https://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/contactus.php

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/blackberries

https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/glut-blackberries-weathers-just-hot-crumble/

Buddlea Davidii

"Buddleia Davidii - Also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush, or orange eye, native to Sichuan and Hubei provinces in central China and Japan Named after Basque missionary and zoologist, Father Armand David (1826-1900) First introduced to Europe in the late 19th Century"

This time of year, the blackberry bushes are always accompanied by the butterfly bush flowering - or Buddleia - originally from China and Japan and it is everywhere around here!

I was brought up in a very old house - nearly 300 years old - and my mum loved cottage gardens. We had to fight our way past a huge Buddleia bush on the way down the garden path to the door, and each year we would chop it right back. Be aware! Each year it sprung back with even more vigour and once the flowers were out, we had lots of butterflies visiting which we could watch from the kitchen window. And bees too, lets not forget the bees.

Along the river here, you can find them growing everywhere. I even saw one growing out of the top of a wall, very hardy, very resilient. Always a welcome stopover for the butterflies and bees. The flowers are said to smell a bit like honey, but I’m not a huge fan. It’s quite a strong smell, and I can locate them by following my nose. The video below is quite lovely, and gives some background information.

I also have a Buddleia in our garden, it self seeded in the pot with my little olive tree, they seem to be in love and I have no intention of separating them. They look very happy together. If the Buddleia gets too big, I can always find a bigger pot for them. Be aware though they self seed everywhere very easily and can actually cause quote a lot of damage if left unchecked. They can break through concrete if they get into cracks - so it’s always good to make sure none are growing very close to your house or walls. One year I noticed one growing between some bricks on the top of a brick post - which is part of our fence!

Mum once bought me a miniature Buddleia with beautiful white flowers. It coincided with us having a very young dog who had just learnt that if you say ‘No!’, then it meant there must be something worthwhile doing, and who had also just learnt how to dig. Hmmmmm.

So - and yes it’s going to be another one of those stories - I would quite often go out into the garden and find my miniature Buddleia in the middle of the lawn.

Practicing Falun Dafa means I take tolerance very seriously (Tolerance is ‘Ren’ in Chinese which also means patience, endurance and forbearance) and I certainly needed more of it! I would pick it up, carry it back over to it’s hole by the fence, replant it. And repeat. It happened a few times. I kept saying no. She kept digging it up.

After a month or so of this, she finally lost interest and the plant rooted. And it sat there happily growing, becoming stronger and getting used to it’s permanent surroundings.

It didn’t seem to be flowering, and it’s first year we weren’t fortunate enough to have any flowers on it. I was looking forward to seeing them because - as it was a miniature - I was intrigued.

The following year, I noticed that a flower was coming, and each tiny bud was perfectly formed, ready for the right moment to open. So I looked on it daily when I was out in the garden to see it’s progress.

I was looking down at the garden form my bedroom window and I noticed the flower. It was open! It was wonderful. Lots of tiny little white flowers all working together on the same stalk to produce the beautiful effect on one whole long flower. I was imagining it’s scent, I wondered if it would be sweeter.

Then I saw my dog out of the corner of my eye and called her. She was a bit confused as to where my voice was coming from, so she ran over towards the sound, and straight into the bush and as she backed away I saw the flower head drooping…. oh no.

Yes, my dear friends, after possibly reading about my mini-lily pond - you are probably wondering how this could happen. Well, that’s life I guess.

Another flower didn’t grow, and the next year the little Buddleia bush had completely disappeared... another garden mystery. But in it’s place I now have a beautiful evergreen hardy jasmine and the scent flows up into my room on an evening, which also happens to be at the same time the Buddleias are flowering, and I must admit, this is a much more bearable scent.

#blackberry #foraging #butterflies #buddleia #bees #food #fruit

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daydreamingnightdrinking · 6 years ago

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Wheatfields with Crows

Vincent van Gogh, 1890.

It’s been a while.

I know, I know. I’m regressing back to the state where I’m about to put “writing” inside a drawer that I’ll open once in a blue moon. I’m trying not to do that, because I genuinely enjoy the time that I spend typing away on the keyboard. It’s decompressing in a sense. Ironically, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to say prior to writing anything, but it turned out that it was just something that I needed to do for the familiarity.

I’ve written so much about one experiences that I’ve decided to divide my travel posts into different parts, starting with this one on a special dinner with my friends.

I’ve been a lot more active recently in terms of being a nomad, and so about three weeks ago, I’ve had the opportunity to meet up with my friends at the one and only Las Vegas. It’s funny, because I’ve coordinated the trip with them since March, and at that time we thought that the end of October is a hefty distance away.

Time seemed to fly within a blink of an eye.

(Note: It was also the first time I’ve been to Vegas during Halloween, but since it landed on a weekday, I was more or less exploring on my own. That explains the painting I’ve selected from Van Gogh.)

Caesar’s Palace: Restaurant Guy Savoy

Ever since two years ago, my friend and I have had an ongoing conversation about going to Guy Savoy’s restaurant…one day. It happened when I was asking her for Las Vegas restaurant recommendations. She is the type of person anyone would call a fine dining connoisseur, but definitely not in a snobbish way. She’s just pretty passionate about food, making her the ultimate source to ask for recommendations.

On the other hand, we’ve both been to Joël Robuchon (@ MGM Las Vegas) as well as é by José Andrés (@ Cosmopolitan Las Vegas) so it was an overall great experience to explore somewhere new with someone I adore. I should really write about those two restaurants one day, too, as they were fantastic as well.

Therefore, when we finally get to visit Guy Savoy on the 28th of October (thanks, iPhone album) – it was appropriate to get the Prestige Tasting Menu. I think all of the individual dishes deserve its own picture, so I’m going to post that instead of bundle all of them together to do them as much justice as I can.

Amuse-bouche (Foie Gras)

Amuse-bouche (Salmon)

French butter (imported, looks like ice cream)

Bread cart (freshly made daily)

Amuse-bouche and carbs. Lots of them. They were freshly made so I ate a lot.

Without further ado, here is the start of a wonderful and filling menu (that might be my own problem though):

Kushi Oyster Concassée, Lemon and Seaweed Granité

I’m a huge fan of oysters – and in recent years, raw ones, even though I don’t know much about them yet. Raw oysters and lemon is a match made in heaven, and the seaweed gives it an additional texture. I may be biased, but it’s a good start.

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Osetra Caviar, Crab Salad and Heirloom Tomato Gelée

Honestly, I can’t really tell the difference between caviar quality, but I’m pretty sure the restaurant uses finer caviar. It’s still quite a light dish that introduces more flavors and a great successor to the oyster. I’ve decided to display three photos, because of the intricate detail that goes into producing the dish. The red nest on the top is made out of beets (lightly fried, if I remember correctly), and meshes well with the crab, caviar, and tomato once it softens with the liquid; it also provides more texture within the dish.

The most impressive detail of this dish was that the liquid the waiter poured down the dish was actually salt water from the sea if I remember correctly. I’m sure they’ve purified it somehow. The octopus was cooked perfectly – it wasn’t too tough to chew, and the additional croquettes add an extra crunch to it. Not to mention it was one of the most visually stimulating dishes from the entire menu.

Salmon Iceberg

My friends and I were trying to figure out the concept of this dish after it has been placed before us. The waiter rolled the cart over to us, placed the salmon on a huge slab of ice, and told us that the idea behind this dish is to play with extreme temperatures. The salmon is placed on ice at first, then on individual dishes with stock poured over it to heat it up.

When we ate it, the salmon wasn’t fully cooked inside (which was completely fine for us, as we all like Japanese food), which explains the disclaimer on the website menu. I’m still not too sure about the entire idea behind it, but the salmon was quite fresh and the stock was sweet.

Red Mullet, Fregula Sarda and Jus Corsé

This was the turning point for me. The dishes were getting stronger as evidenced in the jus – it was much thicker than the stock with the salmon, and the crisps on the top were the red mullet scales. If I remember correctly, the vegetable below the fish was spinach, and the fregula sarda (a type of round pellet pasta) was al dente.

As usual, everything went well together – whether it’s regarding texture or taste wise.

Seared Foie Gras and Unagi Napoleon, Cherry Extraction and Green Almond

Yikes. There’s no need for further introduction for foie gras – albeit its controversial nature. Unagi is the Japanese word for “eel”. I have to admit, I’ve never had a dish combination with foie gras and eel, both on the heavier side of the palette. The cherry extraction and green almond counteracts the oil and overwhelming greasiness that one gets when he / she takes the first bite out of foie gras.

Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup, Toasted Mushroom Brioche, and Black Truffle Butter

This was the second time I’ve had artichoke in the entirety of my life, so I can’t say I’m a good judge of it. However, oh my goodness – the biroche had the perfect crunch, and went well with the thick soup (think: pumpkin soup consistency). The black truffle wasn’t the only dominating flavor, and I have to say that the two make a pretty good duo.

Hazelnut Crusted Sweetbread, Summer Squash Variation and Roasted Veal Jus

If I were to pick, this would probably be one of the least memorable dishes in Guy Savoy. It’s not because it wasn’t good – everything was exquisite in the restaurant, but it is because of my own unfamiliarity for the ingredients that were used to create this dish.

The sweetbread provides an extra type of “crunch” to it, although I wasn’t aware of what it was until I was doing my research and searching for it for more accuracy of the dish. It’s not a big deal though, because I’m more or less and adventurous eater. The hazelnut provided a sweeter taste to it, balanced out with the squash and veal.

Pluma de Bellota Iberico, Textures of Corn, Basil, and Roasted Jus

Oh, Iberico. I was already in love when I saw that on the menu, but after further research, “Pluma de Bellota Iberico” is actually a type of cut from the pork, which is located at the end of the loin, and is one of the juicer parts of the meat.

What is so special about Iberico pork is that this type of pigs eat sweet acorns and grasses as their main diet, and they also get to roam around the range freely. This results in its unique texture and flavor as well as its marbling.

Overall, the pork, combined with the jus and sauce on the side was robust in flavor, and the fried slice of corn on the top added the crunch that accompanied well.

Petit Basque Cheese, Textures of Pear and Saffron

The waiter recommended that we eat the entirety of the dish in one singular bite for the flavor. It was a huge bite, with a serious crunchy texture on the outside along with softness inside (think: fondue thickness). I can’t really recall any flavor but cheese.

“From Beet to Sweet”

Beet lovers, rejoice. This was a dish full of beets, and perhaps a transition of savory to sweet. On the side there were diced and fried beets, and beet mousse enclosed within candied beets.

I think this dish was innovative and highly focused on beets. It was creative, and the presentation was beautiful and impressive. Not so impressive for one of my friends who really isn’t a huge fan of beets though.

In terms of taste, it was great, but not my favorite out of the entire menu as it was focused on one singular ingredient.

Fig, Mediterranean Flavors

Here’s another ingredient I’m not familiar with. Taiwan isn’t a place that has a lot of figs, and the ones that I’ve had here that were grown locally were pretty much tasteless. The local figs here are basically watery sacs over here, so I’m pretty much indifferent about them.

However – the dessert had a mixture of sweet and tartness, so it wasn’t sickly sweet. I’ve come to realize and accept the fact that my sweet and salty tolerances are declining (or maybe my taste is just getting more and more refined), so this is a delicate balance.

Dry Age Pineapple, Baked in Clay, Scent of Lemongrass, Mellowest Aloe Vera

This one is pretty neat, as one of the pastry chefs came to our table to explain the dessert while working on its plating.

What the restaurant has done was to basically dry age the pineapple (like how beef would be dry aged), and the size of the pieces as shown above were reduced severely due to dehydration. This resulted in bite sized, flavor packed pineapple squares. The chef was breaking open a pineapple shaped clay mold (if I remember correctly) to reveal the pineapple we were about to eat.

To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of eating pineapple by itself because of the stinging sensation it brings my tongue whenever I try them. There is a reason behind the “sting”; pineapples have an enzyme that breaks down called “bromelain” that breaks down protein (meaning it digests protein). This explains that there’s that feeling on the tongue whenever one eats too much pineapple. It also explains why pineapple is used as meat tenderizer as a culinary ingredient.

Again, I dug in (even though I was super full by that time) and finished the entire plate. Perhaps it was the dry age – the pineapple provided the tart with a smudge of sweetness that paired well with the ice cream. It was a refreshing dessert.

Cocoa “Pie”

I can’t say “no” to chocolate, even though I was so stuffed I could just pass out from food coma then.

The chocolate flakes on the top balances the sweetness of the pie on the bottom with a dash of bitter, which would’ve gone really well with the coffee and tea that the restaurant offered, but we were all planning to drink later, so we politely declined.

Dessert Cart: Fall (Halloween) Macarons

Last but not least, despite having a stomach that was about to burst, we were offered desserts on the cart. There was a hefty selection of freshly baked and made dessert, but ultimately I picked my favorite macarons to try, especially because it was close to Halloween and I do like seasonal desserts.

I guess I can save the others for next time with the same company or different.

The jack-o’-lantern looking macaron was of course, pumpkin flavored, and the cobweb black macaron was sesame flavored (I believe…? I forgot, really). They were both tasty, but I preferred the pumpkin flavored more as it was a flavor that I’ve never had.

So, was the restaurant worth the price tag?

I suppose it really depends on the person.

Personally, I am more than okay with spending money on experiences, whether it’s by myself or with my loved ones, so in my opinion, I’d say this meal was worth every penny spent. I also think that my palette has evolved throughout the past couple of years by getting the opportunity to travel and experience new cuisines – and not just fine dining, but also street food.

The ingredients, effort, and service was impeccable, not to mention the decor and ambiance of the restaurant.

I haven’t had the opportunity to try to wine tasting, but I would do so next time, as when we were offered the wine list, the server rolled a cart over with what looked like a dictionary or an encyclopedia on it. I can’t imagine how the list would be.

This is definitely somewhere I’d look forward to visit some other time in the future.

Food & Travel: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. (Part I – Fine Dining) Wheatfields with Crows Vincent van Gogh, 1890. It's been a while. I know, I know. I'm regressing back to the state where I'm about to put "writing" inside a drawer that I'll open once in a blue moon.

#Art #Blog #Blogger #Food #Life #Love #Personal #Photography #Review #Travel #Writing

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ama-accountability · 7 years ago

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" [Illustration: Robyn Lee] More The Vegan Experience It's not just great vegan food, it's great food, period. It's day five of this year's vegan experience (in accordance with Jewish customs, this year's Experience began at sundown on Friday evening, February 1st), and already things are going far more smoothly than last year. The biggest hurdle I faced back then was opening my refrigerator and realizing that there was almost nothing I could eat. Animal-based products are so pervasive—sometimes even hiding in plain sight in products where you least expect to find them—that my refrigerator needed a near-complete overhaul. But that was then and this is now. Upon completing my month of veganism last year, I mentioned that there were a few permanent changes in my diet that it would effect, even when I switched back to basic omnivorism. One of those changes is my basic pantry. The simple fact is that it's expanded. Greatly. I now regularly keep a stock of various canned and dried beans, nuts of all types, a collection of great olive oils and vinegars, flours and grains both for baking and for using in savory dishes, and vegan-friendly condiments and pickles. Indeed, my first few thoughts over the weekend this time around were not, "uh oh, what can I cook," but rather, "I have so many options I don't even know where to start!" If there was one single thing I could have handed myself last year before I started with my Vegan Experience, it would have been a list of pantry staples. The things I should have to help me create an easy, filling, and tasty meal with little to no extra ingredients. The List I know that everybody's tastes are different—you may prefer black beans to chickpeas or wheat berries to barley—and this list doesn't account for that. But I've tried to make the categories as broad as possible so that you can always find something you like that'll work in place of one of my personal choices. You'll notice that I don't include faux meats in this list, nor spices. This is intentional. I personally choose to say no to faux. I've never had faux meat that comes anywhere close to tasting like the real thing, and as a former meat eater, I end up thinking, "I wish I was just eating meat," rather than truly enjoying my meal for what it is. With real vegetables and grains, my mind doesn't draw that comparison. But if you do enjoy faux meat, then you're probably far enough along that you don't need this list to begin with. Spices are intentional left off as well, not because I don't use them and they aren't important, but because too often I find that spices are overused to cover up bland food prepared with poor technique. Spices are also expensive, and asking someone to purchase an entire collection of them right off the bat is a ludicrous proposition. Chances are, you already know which ones you like and have them stocked, and if you need more, well then a good recipe should help you decide that. I also know that long-a$$ pantry lists like this can be intimidating, particularly when you don't have much of a pantry to start with. But it doesn't need to be. You don't need everything on the list, just a few items from each category to get you started. Note: *I've starred the ones I personally use the most, if you want a really narrow and defined list.* Dry Storage Staples Fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits may be the backbone of an exciting vegan diet, but pantry staples are the things that are going to and fill you up and round them out into a full and fulfilling meal. Here are some of the things I like to cook with. I don't keep all of them on hand at all times, but I'll always have a couple of options within each category (even when I'm not vegan!) Canned and Dried Beans [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Canned beans get a bad rap, but I find them to be far tastier and more versatile than they get credit for. For one thing, they're always perfectly tender and creamy, which is significant, considering of the last dozen fancy-pants meals I've had in New York restaurants featuring beans, a full 50% of them served al dente beans that were so crunchy I couldn't eat more than a few. Even their flavor can be greatly improved by simmering them in an aromatic liquid, adding a bright dressing, or tossing them with a flavorful sauce packed with aromatics and herbs. When I'm figuring out what to make for dinner on a given vegan night, 75% of the time I'll start thinking about beans. *Canned chickpeas!!!* By far my favorite pantry staple. I use these in curries and stews (like this Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew with Ginger or this Chickpea and Potato Jalfrezi), in hearty meal-sized salads (like a Marinated Kale and Chickpea Salad), even in sandwiches (Braised Kale and Chickpeas on Pizza Bianca, anyone?). Kidney beans are great in soup or Vegan Chili. White beans Black beans can be cooked into soups and stews, mashed and stuffed into tacos or piled into arepas. Dried chickpeas have slightly better flavor than canned, and are more suitable for falafel, which has a tendency to fall apart when made with canned. *Dried lentils* are my favorite dried beans, mainly because they cook so darn fast—30 minutes on the stovetop will soften them perfectly for salads or as a side, while a long simmer can turn them into a creamy soup (like this Lentil and Coconut Soup with Cilantro-Habanero Gremolata). *Refried pinto beans* are one of my go-to snacks when I'm really lazy. Pile 'em on toast, add some sliced avocado, and you've got breakfast or a midnight snack. Refried black beans Grains and Flours [Photograph: Jennifer Segal] It's easy for a first time vegan to start a vegan diet eating way too many grains. This is not a good strategy. For vegans, perhaps even more than omnivores, a good balanced diet is essential to maintaining good health. That said, that doesn't mean there's no place for grains in a vegan diet. Whole grains and pulses in particular can make for excellent side dishes, or even small-but-hearty main courses. *Flour*. I mainly reach for the bread flour to make things like my Better No-Knead Bread or No Knead Pizza Bianca. Whole wheat flour is a good addition to any savory baked recipe. *Oats* are great toasted with some Cranberry-Raspberry jam stirred into it, but they aren't just for breakfast! We have over a dozen flavor variations, many of them vegan. *Pearled barley*, wheat berries, quinoa, and *bulgur wheat* all make great additions to soups and stews, or can be cooked, seasoned, and served as a side dish or salad on their own. (Check out this Lentil, Barley, and Olive salad, this Quinoa Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, Avocado, and Lime , and of course classic Tabbouleh. Polenta can be served soft and creamy as a base for a stew, or made into cakes and fried or grilled as a centerpiece for a dinner plate, salad, or sandwich. Risotto is excellent for vegans—it makes its own creamy sauce, a texture that is lacking in many vegan recipes. (Check out this Leek and Mushroom Polenta, which would be equally good with some awesome extra-virgin olive oil taking the place of butter). *Pasta* is great, but be wary of falling into the pasta trap that many first-time vegans (including myself!) fall victim to. The smartest move is to reverse the ratios, using a little bit of pasta to add texture to a largely sauce-and-vegetable based dish. This Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad or Pasta with Braised Broccoli and Tomato Sauce are good places to start. Dried Fruits [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Great for adding accents to savory and sweet dishes, or for snacking any time. *Raisins* are my go-to. I stir them into oatmeal, blend them into the base for my chili, or use them in sweet-and-sour savory dishes like this Sicilian-Style Broccoli Rabe. Dried Cranberries, figs, dates, apricots, mangoes, and, well, any fruits make for a great snack. Nuts [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] I normally store my nuts in the freezer to give them an almost indefinite shelf-life, but as a vegan, I find I go through them so quickly that there's no need. *Peanuts and Cashews* can be eaten on their own, or tossed into soups, curries, and stir-fries. Almonds and Walnuts are my favorite for mixing into oatmeal, adding to salads, or for baking with. *Pepitas* are nutty, toasty, crunchy, and so awesome as a garnish to anything from salads to soups to main courses. They bring their nutty crunch to my Chilaquiles with Charred Corn and Black Beans and my Sopes with Refried Beans and Salsa Verde. Refrigerated Staples The fridge is where you may see the most change. No more milk, eggs, mayo-based condiments, or meats. Here's what you should keep instead: Alterna-Milks Soy, almond, cashew, or rice milk. I personally don't enjoy alternative milk products (a good job too, as I'm allergic to most of them), but if you want something creamy to stir into your breakfast or need milk in your morning coffee or tea, here are some options to consider. *Coconut milk* Coconut milk is an essential for curries and soups. Pickles and Other Preserved Vegetables [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Pickles are packed with flavor and make a great accent to sandwiches, tacos, and salads. Acidity is an oft-overlooked element in cooking, but it's as important as salt in really making a dish stand out. *Dill pickles* are great for snacking or sticking in sandwiches. *Olives, capers, and pepperoncini* get chopped together and made into an olive salad that brings flavor to any vegan sandwich, pizza, or pasta dish, like this Broccoli Rabe Muffaletta. *Pickled jalapeños* get stirred into my beans with more frequency than decency. Sun-dried tomatoes are meaty, intense, and packed with flavor. A vegan's dream come true. *Quick pickled red onions*. I am never without a jar of these easy quick pickled red onions, and from what I gather ,neither is anyone else who's ever tried the recipe. Five ingredients and five minutes for a flavor punch to the gut. Zha Cai. Sichuan preserved mustard root. It might be tough to track down (check the cans at your local Asian supermarket), but once you do, it lasts forever. It's great chopped and tossed into stir-fries or Chinese stews, or as a bright, hot element in a soup. Sauces and Condiments [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] These are the fridge-stable sauces and condiments that can instantly amp up the flavor of a dish with just a dollop or two. *Tahini and harissa* *Really good olive oil and vinegars* (sherry, balsamic, white wine, cider). Extra points if you make them into a vinaigrette and store it in a plastic squeeze bottle. *Good mustard* *Soy sauce and/or liquid aminos* (like Bragg or Maggi). All three are umami bombs that can add a bit of savory depth to stir-fries, sandwiches, soups, stews, or other condiments. Miso paste is a great ingredient for marinades, rubs, and dips. Chili oil adds fat and heat. Vegan mayonnaise. You can go with the store-bought stuff, but homemade vegan mayo is easy enough, and tastes far superior. Tare is a Japanese condiment made by simmering flavored soy sauce and mirin until syrupy. It's great for drizzling over grilled or simmered vegetables like broccoli or pumpkin. Cilantro/Herb sauce is great for adding moisture, heat, and flavor to fried grain-based dishes like falafel or arancini. I originally included a recipe forCilantro Chutney with my Chickpea and Potato Jalfrezi, but it's a great condiment to have around all the time. Mix up the herbs for variety. *Nut butters* make for an easy and nutritious snack with plenty of protein and fat to fill you up. They can also be used as the base for creamy sauces. Other Essentials Tofu! Tofu (firm and soft) is one of the most underrated ingredients by omnivores. Far from being a meat substitute, it has a fully developed repertoire of dishes all its own. Try this Spicy Warm Silken Tofu with Celery and Cilantro Salad, or these Ginger Scallion Noodles with Tofu. Vegetables [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] Of course vegetables of all kinds are great for vegans, and I can't possible list all the ones I eat here, but I'll give you a few that I can't go a week without. *Kale and other hearty greens* last forever, are packed with vitamins and fiber, and are great in a multitude of dishes, braised, marinated raw, sauteed, simmered in soups, topping pizza, you name it, kale will work. *Carrots, onions, and celery* are the three most important ingredients in a Western pantry. There's something about the combination of them that just tastes right. I use them as the base for stocks, soups, and stews. *Squash and pumpkins* are two of those hearty vegetables that fill you up before you even notice it. They also last forever. Roasting squash and pumpkins can concentrate their flavor and sweetness, like in this Roasted Squash and Raw Carrot Soup. Eggplant *AVOCADO*!!! As Erin puts it, "avocados are like vegan butter." I probably average an avocado a day. Sliced and eaten for breakfast. Mashed and used as a spread on a sandwich. Seasoned into guacamole. It's creamy, filling, and simply delicious. *Mushrooms* or all shapes and sizes can help give you that rich, umami-blast you might be missing if you are used to a meat-based diet. *Fresh herbs* are a must for any kitchen, vegan or not. Parsley, mint, and cilantro are always in my fridge. Breads Just like with pasta, be careful not to fall into the too-much-bread trap. It's easy to do. Sandwich bread, preferably whole-wheat. And be wary—many supermarket brand breads are not vegan. They contain milk products or honey. Check those labels! Tortillas (corn and flour) are a better option for wrapping foods and making snacks that regular bread. They're less filling so let you focus more on the other ingredients than the wrapper. There are plenty of great vegan taco options, like these Potato Tacos (just use avocado in place of the cream) or these Charred Corn and Zucchini Tacos. Pita or naan are great for picking up dips and spreads. Here are a whole 15 versions of hummus, most of them vegan. Emergency Rations! Sometimes you just need a snack and all the fresh fruit has run out. Here are a few pantry-stable snacks that can hit the spot when hunger strikes. *Trail mix* Potato chips Fruit juices Ready-to-eat meals. Avoid those that are branded as vegan—I've never found one that I've enjoyed—rather look for normal heat-and-eats that just happen to be vegan incidentally. Tasty Bite's Indian Bite series is a great place to start. I've also had some decent success with the Microwave Meals from Barilla (who knew pasta could stay al dente in the microwave?). And Erin is a fan of the frozen potato and onion dosas from Trader Joe's. Am I missing any of the essentials here? What do you vegans out there keep in your pantry? And what do you omnivores think you'd miss most?"

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