#i think of her vanilla cinnamon tea as being vanilla chai

[juliandev0rak]

Beatrice’s Guide to Autumn 🍂

Happy autumn! To celebrate it being the best time of the year I’ve decided to share some of Beatrice’s favorite fall things, as it’s her favorite season 🍂✨

1. wear something cozy 🧣

warm sweaters, earth tones, and of course- her trusty green cloak, compliment any autumn ensemble

2. go on an autumn walk 🎃

there’s nothing better than a crisp morning walk to the library, or to the bakery where Beatrice buys as many warm pastries as she can carry

3. find the perfect book to read 📚

whether it’s an informative textbook or a fiction novel meant to pull you into another world, Beatrice can always be found with her nose in a book

4. make a cup of tea ☕️

any warm beverage will do, but here’s her recipe for the perfect cup of tea 

5. cuddle with someone you love 💌

if she can’t convince @leila-of-ravens’ Lysander to stay in bed all day, Beatrice loves to cuddle her familiar Bramble, a sweet (and always very sleepy) rabbit 

happy autumn ☕️🍂🎃

[rfaromance]

Remembering the marshmallow Saeran comparisons, how would all of the RFA + V, Saeran and Rika have their tea/coffee and are they a biscuit dunker?

Would how they have their drinks match up to their personalities too? Like with Yoosung, his could have a ton of milk or something to have the flavour nice and mellow

Ray is a tea man to me! He could have loads of sugar for sweetness? Actually Yoosung could too

Suit Saeran could have the blackest of black coffee, dark 'like my soul' XDDD

What do you think? :D

About the dunking biscuits, I'd love to know if the RFA like it because I personally hate it! XDD

I hate getting my biscuits soggy and weird :( T_T hahaha

Hello! Excellent question for the Marshmallow Boy and gang.

First of all, I don't think Zen would drink tea or coffee until Jaehee starts getting into coffee. Before that, it's all water or beer. But Jaehee manages to make him a smooth brew for a simple latte. Zen isn't into very sweet things, so milk and coffee is all for him. If you could get him to eat some sort of sweet with it, maybe a biscotti. He'd bite it raw and probably hurt his teeth. Help.

Jaehee is for sure a coffee girl! She is always trying all sorts of different creations, sometimes changing the beans she uses or the amount of milk she adds, or using grinds vs. grinding the beans herself, etc. I'd say her favorite is probably a lighter roast (think Starbucks blonde) because it has more caffeine, and she's always tired. She likes vanilla or hazelnut. She isn't usually one to have anything on the side, but if she did get a little scone or something, she wouldn't dip it because it would alter the flavor of the coffee.

Yoosung tried black coffee once, to be like a manly adult. Never again. Now he loves making latte art at the coffee club! But after his caffeine scare with Saeyoung, he's more likely to go for a tea, or perhaps a mocha with a nice balance of coffee and cocoa. Either way, it will have a lot of milk. He definitely makes little cookies or biscuits or scones to dip in his drink; he loves baking, after all! He probably experiments with different flavors and textures to figure out what fits each drink the best! Right now his favorite combination is a chai latte and a cinnamon scone, if only because of the autumn weather!

Jumin would unironically drink black coffee. He drinks red wine, so I'm assuming he doesn't taste tannins (the molecules that make coffee and wine taste bitter) and thus would have no problem appreciating black coffee. He might add a splash of milk for flavor, but it would probably be a non-dairy milk. If you give him a biscuit, he's going to dunk it in. You can't stop him. He likes that the liquid softens the texture of the baked treat so it isn't as crunchy.

Saeyoung doesn't drink coffee or tea--just Dr. Pepper! He has an aversion to any sort of drink that people can develop a dependence on. But you could probably talk him into a milk tea, if only because he likes slurping up the boba with the big straw. Honey boba, of course. Probably an almond or vanilla guy for the milk tea, but I wouldn't put any weird flavors past him.

V is a tea drinker. Please, give him something soothing. He is always stressed, whether from the weight of his thoughts or the many secrets he keeps hidden deep inside. I could see him being a fan of chamomile with a splash of lemon and sugar. I think he sometimes dips a treat in his tea, depending on his mood and the flavors. An orange or cranberry biscuit is going in. A chocolate one isn't.

Ray is 100% a tea guy. Full of milk and cream and sugar and honey. He's probably adding vanilla extract, too. He needs something sweet and basic (meaning MILKY, referring to pH, not to pumpkin spice latte girls like me) to counteract all of the elixir that burns his mouth, esophagus, and stomach. He's actually worked it down to somewhat of a science to figure out the best concentrations and mixtures depending on whether he needs comfort, energy, or a kickstart to his brain. But he isn't dipping his cookies in there; that'd ruin his perfect measurements!

Suit Saeran would try black coffee but it would burn his insides instantly. Please, dear, drink something your body can handle. You're not any less powerful if you really like strawberry milk.

GE loves strawberry milk, actually. He's getting strawberry milk tea with his brother. They're bonding. He also likes floral teas and flavors like earl grey, with a lot of cream and sweetness. Also a white chocolate mocha kind of guy.

Rika is a Pumpkin Spice Latte girlie actually. She doesn't care what people think. She likes the flavor, but specifically when it's iced. She has the aura of someone who'd drink only mature drinks, like a simple Americano or a flat white, but she wants the cinnamon lattes and the caramel macchiatos. Please, let her have something fun for once. Let her get a cake pop and a sugar cookie latte from Starbucks. Let her smile and indulge her inner child. Maybe also recommend she tries some black tea, though, because she needs to sit down and be calm for once in her life.

[plush-rabbit]

League of Villains as Ice-Cream

A/N: Because I am extra,,, and I want to procrastinate,,, I did actual research about the ice cream they would be and why,,, (slightly serious, slightly not)

Bubaigawara Jin:

I see Jin as a coffee. I see him having a more of a stronger flavor due to who he is and his more eccentric personalities. Adding things like fudge or chocolate chips would make it feel more like him, not entirely smooth but welcomed and craved for either way. I think because of the bitterness that it has, more of a slight aftertaste, it fits well with how his personality often clashes with the more positive one. However, the ice cream is also rather sweet and creamy, which pairs well with his love for his found family.

Dabi:

I am so tempted to say charcoal because you know he’d look at it and be like well, what’s up, it’s me as ice cream. But I see him as chai flavored. I think the mix of sweet and the bit of spice that comes from cinnamon works well for him. Vanilla makes it a bit creamer, a richer taste that while he may not seem like it, Dabi lived a rather decent early life, so chai can fit the sweet part of that, giving him the innocence that vanilla often brings out while the cinnamon is a flavor that adds that appeal to it.

Iguchi Shuichi:

I see Shuichi as mango flavored or something sweet like it. I can see him liking more of a sweet flavor compared to other things. I think he likes the “tropical” fruits because of how sweet they can be. While he has a rather stoic disposition, he’s also shown to be emotional and have no real life goal until Stain and he was rather closed off from people- due to isolation and the negativity his looks brought upon given his quirk- I can see him liking the more sweeter flavors like mango in order for him to just enjoy something and allow for himself to spurge on something like that. I also think because of his quirk, he’s just drawn more to sweeter things.

Sako Atsuhiro:

I’m tempted to say champagne and violette for him- a sort of expensive taste that has hints of citrus and herbs, a soft floral scent that goes well with his need to be front and centered, maintaining a prim and proper look that he sort of seeks after. However, butter pecan fits him as well. The creaminess of it fits his charismatic personality that stands out and tries to be a showman. The crunch of the pecans provides a welcomed surprise, the sweet and salty taste that’s paired with the buttery flavor that lives as an aftertaste.

Shigaraki Tomura:

I think chocolate fits him well. It’s a bitter taste given the ingredients and it’s heavy. While most might thick of chocolate as being sweet, it has a distinct aftertaste. Tomura is complicated and he’s rather rough around the edges, he is bitter and while there are other things added to counter the bitterness in chocolate ice cream, it is still left with the bitter cocoa powder since that is what brings the flavor together.

Toga Himiko:

I think taro fits Himiko best. I think the sweetness of it that makes it like you’re eating cereal is a perfect fit for her. It’s a light taste that lingers and it’s so sweet and creamy that be can be topped with sweets and not have it be overbearing. While she might also be partial to red velvet, I can see Taro fit more for the aesthetic and the overall cute character that she is portrayed to be- without the murder.

Bonus:

Kenji Hikiishi:

I think for Magne, butterscotch pairs well for her. The sweet and salty flavor brings out who she is. She’s a strong woman with steadfast beliefs and while she was shown for only a quick period, she proved to care for her teammates- Big Sis Mag- and I think if time allowed, she would have had a complex character arc, which would have paired with the molasses, giving her a bit of edge while the brown sugar pairs well for her sweeter side.

Kurogiri:

Match green tea. I think something nice and sweet, with a strong taste fits Kurogiri rather well. It’s sweet to show his caring side- Dadgiri- while the bitter allows for the more strict side of who he has become. It’s grassy but not unwelcomed, a complex flavor that becomes well liked.

[leftsidebonfire]

Jojo Characters and What I Would Serve Them If They Came Into The Tea Shop I Work At

A series.

Based solely on my interpretation of the characters and the available ingredients I have at my job that I can remember off the top of my head.

Battle Tendency Edition

What I would serve...

Joseph Joestar: I sit inside his cup. No charge. Sir please 🥵 OK no for real. I know he must really like his teas. So if he didn't just order a regular hot tea, this is what I'd make. Firstly, I think this man would want to try so many samples. So after I make little samples so he can try everything on the list, I think I would make him a peach tea. It's peach and raspberry with peach pieces, one of my faves.

I could also see Joseph ordering a cupcake tea simply because it comes with whipped cream and sprinkles, and I dunno, I get the vibe that Joseph secretly enjoys little stuff like whipped cream on a drink if he's not expecting it. 🥰

Caesar Zeppeli: Again, me in the cup please. Hes probably more of a coffee man. But luckily we do have a way to make any milk teas into coffee, so if he ever wanted to try that, I'd be more than happy to make it. However, if he didn't order a coffee (or tried a tea as a coffee) I like to think he would get a German Chocolate Cake (which is basically Chocolate and raspberry. It's a very good hot chocolate drink 😍)

His favorite color is orange. So if he ever got a legit tea, I'd make him something good and tropical 🥺 Pineapple orange. I think he'd like it. And if he didn't, I'd make him whatever else he wanted 🥺

Lisa Lisa: Lisa Lisa just wants black coffee. I feel it in my soul. But maybe on a hot summer day, I could see her coming in to enjoy a nice lemonade, maybe even a blueberry lemonade to cool off and relax.

Suzie Q: Suziieeeee!! This girl is getting cotton candy tea, I just know it. I hate making cotton candy teas because they are really thick and basically everyone who works there thinks they're annoying, but for her 🥺 I'd make her all the cotton candy she wanted. I also feel like she'd be very polite and leave a nice tip. I'd give her a huge piece of cotton candy on top too 🥺

Santana: Tbh he wouldn't care. He just wants blood and power. But I would still make him a tea. I think I'd go for another strawberry (it's the most popular flavor for a reason lmao) Santana gets Strawberry lemon. The lemon is very strong and distinct, and the strawberry kinda looks like blood.

Wamuu: Totally not holding a grudge here for Caesar. Not at all. Definitely not. No, okay, I can do this. Personally, I think he'd be something like the Matcha Vanilla Honey. It's good, a different flavor. It is simple but tasty and they honey is just 👌 Top teir addition. I think he'd like it. I sure hope he likes it, anyway. 😳

Eisidisi: I get vibes from Eisidisi that he would either get the most plain boring tea in the world, or it would be very outlandish. He would come in and either ask for plain green tea with no flavoring, or something very strange no one ever orders like Red Bean (definitely not a favorite of mine. I've never seen anyone order it 😬) Or he'd get something like Cinnamon Bun and I'd be so taken aback by it. But to be honest, I think I'd judge him more if he got Red Bean than if he got Cinnamon bun. Cinnamon bun is good af. And he'd get whipped cream with it. It all depends on the day tho.

Kars: Kars has a refined taste. I feel like he would want something not many people order. I think he'd get Taro, or Taro Vanilla. Taro is kind of hard to describe if you've never had it, but the best I could describe it would be kind of like a sweet potato. It's semi-sweet. It's not my favorite, however it is purple, which I think Kars would appreciate. I also think he'd probably prefer Taro with vanilla so it's not so plain. He may be aloof, but that doesn't mean his drink has to be boring. 😎

Smokey: I really think he'd like Orange Chocolate or Root Beer Float. Idk, its just a vibe. The orange chocolate is my favorite between the two of those tbh. It's especially good as a hot chocolate. Hardly anyone orders the root beer one, so I could see him coming in to order that and I'm like 👀 It is definitely interesting, and I could see him being the reason we keep root beer in stock. Nobody gets it except him, but hes such a good customer we keep it around.

Straizo (because I forgot to put him in the Phantom Blood Post): Tbh, he's probably going for something simple and refined. Spiced Chai tea. Every now and then, he mixes it up a little with Vanilla almond, but for the most part, he's pretty straightforward with his order.

Speedwagon (again): Speedwagon my love. Order whatever makes you happy 🥺 I'd want to give him peach lemonade because it is sweet like him and refreshing, and he just deserves to relax with a tasty tea 🥺 Old Speedwagon has my heart and I love him.

Well that's about it for main characters, but screw it, if you drop a character in the comments that you really wanna see, I'll tell you what tea I'd give em. Next parts shall be out soon. Because this is all I think about at work 😂😂

[pendraegon]

peppermint bubble tea and chai (if u go to Starbucks lol) for the ask game...

hi finny<3

peppermint:what’s your favourite holiday and why?

my normie answer is halloween because [1] candy [2] costumes [3] i fucking love fall. but also chuseok/the mid-autumn festival (which is coming up this tuesday lol)!!!! some years i make food, some years i don't, but i love seeing family, i love all the dishes, the sujjeonggwa (which is this cinnamon punch??), the songpyeon (which i want to make again this year!!!), hearing stories, or even just.....idk...it's important to me to commemorate and celebrate it every year and even though it's a bit more somber than lunar new year and maybe it's just because it takes place in the autumn, but it has a special place in my heart. last year, my grandma told us stories about her family and she often doesn't do that because of like....well.. [waves hand in regards to the occupation/war] but there's just something about hearing her speak about people whom i will never know and never meet and knowing that they existed and exist on that night in her contemplation. i know this is cheating bc im saying like, three different holidays, but also nowruz which is the persian new year (in the spring) because my dad always makes my favorite dishes and every year i make a vow to learn more about my dad's side of the family but it's always gone to the wayside which makes me a bit upset to think about alsjfdlkasjfdsa.

bubble tea:what ride would you pick at an amusement park?

OH, EASY...THE MERRY GO ROUND<3 like i do not care who is with me at the park and yes of course we can go on the roller coasters but it is VITAL, it is CRUCIAL, it is MANDATORY to go on the merry go round<3 like maybe while waiting in line i stare and try to figure out which is THE cutest horse/animal to be on? yes.

chai:what do you order at starbucks?

if im going to starbucks i want something more on the sweeter side and im a really big fan of their vanilla sweet cream cold brew!!! i've tried almost every other cold brew + additions there and i think this is the best one.

prompt list

send me a cute tea ask im not being productive 🍵🫖

[lalalun-lalun]

Day 16 - Lucubration

Elwyn Dyster chose to sit at the West tables, the one closest to the entryway, although she meandered among several others for a number of minutes before selecting her seat. I observed that even the seat itself seemed to be an item of much debate, for the lady tested each in turn ‘round the table. I will have to determine later as to whether there might be some difference in the fact of the furniture, or if this is a curiousity of the patron herself. She mentioned being in the mood for something particularly refreshing, and thus opted for the Limoncello, served iced, and paired with a trio of iced sugar cookies. Ah, what a classic combination—black tea, with the fragrant rinds of citrus, served over ice for extra brightness and quenching of thirst, and to meet the vanilla tooth of a cookie neither too thick nor too thin, spread with icing to add sweetness against the tea’s tannins. Clearly a guest who shall not be dissatisfied!

What an intriguing countenance has the good ser Beichix Muvier, and so determined in his order! Has he fought in the Dragonsong Wars, perhaps, riding out beyond the parapets of the great stone fortresses to do battle with the winged wyrms? Could his time in those inhospitable distant frozen lands have stirred in his heart the longing for Resolution, one of the teahouse’s flavoured green teas, rich with fruit from greenhouses and the tang of ginger? Surely in there lies a warmth and richness suited to the distant East, a welcome distraction for a tired soldier. Would the Mirror Apple Cinnamon Scone be a delightful accompaniment, or would it perhaps overwhelm him with thoughts of other apples native to Ishgard? He may also require a cut of sandwich or two, I think, but will only suggest if ser seems amenable.

Hihibi Hibi and her party, several other Lalafell, unsurprisingly requested the entire menu. This appears to be an interesting trend gaining traction among my peoples, and I can hardly blame them. Truly, who could blame anyone who elected to sample the full offerings of such a delightful menu? The range of teas is enough to bring a smile to the face of nearly any palette, the baked goods could simply not be improved upon other than to have even more amazing combinations added to the list, and the savories add the perfect balance of salt against a sea of sweet treats! So intrigued was this party that they also requested an assortment of cookies to go, two dozen! They will surely enjoy a marvelous afternoon of fellowship, with the perfect assortment of food and drink to keep their conversations dazzling!

Behold the tale of Guoluwil Xhenwyrn, a simple man with fine tastes, who asked for an opinion on the chai selection...  

The red-haired woman groaned as she rifled through the scraps of fine stationery on the kitchen countertop, shaking her head sadly. 

This was the last time Lalalun would be permitted to take orders.

[pavlovaprin]

vanilla chai, herbal tea and caramel macchiato !!✨

Vanilla Chai Latte : Are you in love?

very much so. 

Herbal Tea : You’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

highly depends on the season. my favorite winter candle is always pine/evergreen, spring candle is usually lilac or rose, summer candle is the yankee candle sun & sand (it literally smells like the beach and makes me think of my childhood), and my autumn candle is much more flexible but i love leafy/appley scents over pumpkin or cinnamon. a candle that doesn’t fit into any seasonal category but that i go WILD for is the lemon and tea candle from bath and body works. i don’t even know if they still make it but it’s one of the best scents ever created. 

Caramel Macchiato : You’re traveling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. Who do you take?

okay, this is a hard question and i have to explain my answer. i feel like i should say my boyfriend (whom i love with my entire being), but i am definitely picking bella. matt and i are so similar. like, literally identical in almost every way. he makes me feel safe in a way literally no one else can and he understands me in ways no one else can. it’s for those reasons i would choose bella if given the opportunity. bella and i, again, are so so similar (my whole platonic soulmate), but we’re also incredibly different in a lot of ways. like...we balance each other and i feel like the added level of being different would kick up a trip around the world a notch. i think as a team we’d be more willing to have new experiences and have so much fun. this is not to say i wouldn’t have fun with matt, but i’d be wayyyy more likely to stay in a lil bubble and never even leave my comfort zone because he has the exact comfort zone as myself. that’s not to say bella and i are polar opposites in that regard, but i always feel just a little braver with her. PLUS two babes taking on the world?!? like COME ON it would be a blast. the bonus? i don’t get to see her often and a trip that long would be a dream because that means i get more hugs and bina time. 

[mensbodybuildingtips]

The Right Whey: Tips And Recipes To Shake Up The Way You Use Protein

Water and healthy protein ... Protein as well as water. No matter exactly how you mix it, the combination is simply ordinary stagnant. So when was the last time you made a protein shake with anything however water, whey, and a shaker cup?

We thought so.

The irony of all this is triggered by the truth that whey protein solutions go to their advanced best. Yet, despite protein being at its absolute finest in taste, in bioavailability and in easily blended solutions, exactly how numerous of us still stand at the kitchen sink, fill up a cup up with semi-cold water, dump an inside story of healthy protein in, and shake, after that almost plug our noses as we down it?

At this factor, you're possibly objecting, assuming "I get on a diet - exactly what else should I mix with my healthy protein?" There is some truth to that - specifically if you have a total healthy protein that has a great fat resource included, as well as no sugar, however a pleasant preference. Formulas vary so considerably, it is possible you have a protein you actually like that in fact tastes good.

Whey Protein: Diets vs. Mass

Line up 10 leading brand proteins and also you might locate extremely various dietary assays on each label. Some will differ in whey type, while others contain greater than just whey, such as casein or soy, or vary in the sweetener or flavor utilized to earn the formula palatable.

Each will certainly also include a different macronutrient break down - with more or much less carbs or fats, and a broad swing in the variety of healthy protein grams. Add to that the number of tastes in each brand, as well as the fat resource in each brand name. Some proteins will feature a beneficial medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) such as coconut milk or oil, and others will simply mix in whatever emulsifying fat is cheapest.

Sweeteners also differ widely, and also could consist of every little thing from ordinary old sugar to corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, Splenda, Nutrasweet, or the even more all-natural and also healthy Stevia.

Give or take components, of those 10 healthy proteins, you can most likely separate them right into 2 classifications: Those fit to mass-building as well as those to dieting.

Typically, healthy proteins that attend to diet programs will showcase 25 to 35 grams of protein, no to 10 grams of carbs, and absolutely no to 12 or 15 grams of fat. Those fit to mass gains will include anywhere from 30 to 40 grams of protein, 15 to 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 5 to 20 grams of fat.

The excellent aspect of having such variance in proteins is that you can prefer to either use a protein on its own as a dish substitute during a diet plan, or as a meal replacement throughout a mass cycle, without having to add other foods.

But we think that if you locate a healthy protein you such as - and that's normally driven by components, high quality and preference - we assume you're going to persevere. So how does one adapt his/her preferred protein to be a year-round formula, as well as what criteria should own that choice?

Choosing a healthy protein that is formulated for diet plan, versus mass, has its benefits due to the fact that you could constantly contribute to the formula using a shake - you can not remove ingredients.

Shakes that claim to be meal substitutes or are mass-monster owned do not constantly have the most effective top quality ingredients either. They are usually rife with fillers that are not healthy and also can trigger fat storage space in the off season.

We assume it's far better to earn your own.

We are frequently asked: What does it cost? healthy protein do I require in a day in order to fulfill my objectives? We such as to take the center of the roadway as well as have you include or subtract from there. Whether you're dieting or intending to get mass, right here's a good guide that you could customize:

Daily Intake Based on 1 to 1.5 grams of Healthy protein per Extra pound of Bodyweight

Bodyweight

Grams of Protein Required

125 extra pounds = 125 to 188 grams of protein

150 pounds = 150 to 225 grams of protein

175 extra pounds = 175 to 263 grams of protein

200 extra pounds = 200 to 300 grams of protein

250 extra pounds = 250 to 375 grams of protein

Another method to take a look at protein requirements in the diet is by portions of calories allotted:

Daily Calorie Requirements/ Percent of Protein (20-40%)

1500 calories = 75 to 150 grams of protein

2000 calories = 100 to 200 grams of protein

2500 calories = 125 to 250 grams of protein

3000 calories = 150 to 300 grams of protein

3500 calories = 175 to 350 grams of protein

4000 calories = 200 to 400 grams of protein

5000 calories = 250 to 500 grams of protein

The biggest reason a bodybuilder cannot gain weight in the off season, or fails to keep it during a diet, might be that they does not take in adequate healthy protein. Yet the various other factor may be lack of strategy behind times a protein shake is blended as well as ingested.

Here's a good rule of thumb:

BEST TIMES TO HAVE A PROTEIN SHAKE

First thing in the morning - Complying with a fasting state you'll place yourself right into favorable nitrogen equilibrium immediately.

Between meals - Make these easy trembles that simply fill up the void and also maintain you in positive nitrogen balance.

Pre- and Post-Workout - Protein shakes before as well as after exercises can be loaded with included nutrients to sustain workout as well as healing: Creatine and also Nitric Oxide for pumps as well as power, as well as Glutamine and BCAAs for recovery.

Evening - If you're diet programs, yet do not wish to comply with the 'Don't consume after 6 p.m. rule' have a healthy protein shake or more (one with couple of carbs as well as reduced fats) to optimize nitrogen balance during sleep as well as maintain the metabolic rate burning.

Think you know a lot about whey healthy protein? Right here are some facts in order to help you utilize it

WHEY WISDOM FOR BOTH GAINER and LOSER

WW1: Throughout mass cycles, you can enhance protein uptake with fast-digesting carbs, such as waxy maze or add your own to shakes that contain hardly any carbohydrate.

WW2: The very best weight gainer shake has a carb-to-protein proportion of 2:1. No commercial blends around actually attribute that - always placing even more protein in the mix than carbs. Make your very own with this ratio in mind.

WW3: If you are adding added fat to a blender shake for mass-building, add great fats, such as Omega-3s: walnuts or walnut oil, peanut butter and flax seeds as well as flax seed oil.

WW4: A suitable diet plan must have an Omega-3-to-Omega-6 ratio of 2:1. To include even more Omega-3 foods to your mixer drinks - without the fat - add foods such as spinach, watercress, kale, mint and also oatmeal. Mint leaves make a fantastic enhancement to any chocolate shake.

WW5: Whether building mass or dieting, maximize your post-workout shakes by adding recovery aids, such as glutamine, arginine, waxy maize, beta-alanine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), along with additional vitamins An as well as C, and trace element, such as potassium.

WW6: The difference in between Whey Isolate as well as Whey Concentrate: Separate expenses much more as well as has a higher bioavailability rating of 98 percent, and nearly no lactose. Concentrate has lactose, has a reduced BV rating of 80 percent, as well as is less costly. For weight gainers, a whey concentrate could be the best option since it's greater in calories.

WW7: In spite of hearing that it's always much better to consume "entire foods" supplementing with whey healthy protein is hassle-free, requires no refrigeration, is much easier on the stomach and less dental filling, has a greater BV compared to a lot of foods, as well as is strengthened with vitamins you may not get eating just entire foods.

Tips for Easy Mixing:

All proteins advertise that they are conveniently combined, however exactly how numerous lump cost-free trembles have you had in the last 10 years? Because it's always a lot much more tasty to consume alcohol a shake that has been blended to a smooth uniformity, here are some suggestions in order to help:

Use a blender or food processor or glass and mix - don't utilize a shaker cup. No blender? Combine with a fork, not a spoon, or little mini-whisk

Add protein as well as water right into the glass a little each time. Fifty percent an inside story of protein mixes much better with 2 to 4 ounces of water.

Let it rest for a couple of mins before alcohol consumption, after that blend again.

WHEY SHAKE ADDITIONS and RECIPES

The possibilities are limitless for drinks as well as much of exactly what you can mix in relies on your very own taste as well as just how versed you remain in just what food mixes produce desirable preference. However mixing whey protein trembles ought to also be a calculated means to obtain specifically just what you need at any type of offered time throughout your day.

Foods You Can Mix Into Shakes:

Milk

Cream or half-and-half

Fruit (iced up for added density, or fresh)

Fruit juice

Coconut water

Brewed coffee (or granules for taste and also pick-me-up)

Nuts and nut butters (peanut, almond, walnut)

MCT oils (coconut oil, coconut milk, or Cap-Tri)

Cereal (Kashi, grapenuts, oatmeal)

Greek yogurt

Ice cream or frozen yogurt

Pasteurized egg whites

Pudding and dessert mix

Extracts (almond, vanilla, mint)

Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg)

You can also mix protein, thinned down with water, right into points like pancake and also mashed potato mixes to lend a higher healthy protein value to your carbohydrates.

Dieter Shakes:

Coconut Chocolate Mint Shake:

1 scoop of vanilla whey protein

1 small container of coconut water (not milk)

1 teaspoon Dutch process cocoa

3 or 4 mint leaves or mint extract

1/2 packet of Stevia

Chai Tea shake

Whey protein

Sugar-free Chai mix

4 tablespoons Non-fat Greek yogurt

Water

Weight Gainer Shakes

Maple-bacon-nut butter B-Fast Shake (Like a bacon-maple syrup pancake breakfast)

Unflavored or vanilla whey protein

Cooked crisp bacon, (ground into dirt in mixer)

2 tbsps maple syrup or 1 tbsp maple extract

1/ 2 cup raw oatmeal (ground in advance into dirt)

Pasteurized egg whites or whole eggs

1 tablespoon peanut or almond butter - or 2 tablespoons walnut oil

Whole milk

Berry-ana Peanut Butter Shake

Vanilla whey protein

1 Banana

5 frozen strawberries

1/3 cup heavy cream

Pasteurized egg whites

1/4 cup oatmeal

3 tablespoons peanut butter

[littlemiss-rio]

plain black coffee: Does your TC drink coffee? Do you know how they take it? Bonus: If they bring it to class, what does their mug/thermos look like?

- cherry blossom tea, to literally everywhere, in a starbucks cherry blossom thermos, although now that she’s cut her hair again she might go back to the black one

cold brew: How do you imagine your TC spends their Saturday nights?

uhhhhh working, but not her teaching job, the stuff she does for her friend’s company/her cousin’s company/watching football/watching musicals

iced caramel coconut milk macchiato: Have you cried over them?

not over them but surely i used to cry so much at her

iced mocha: Do they know how you feel about them (or do you think there’s a chance they do)? Do you want them to?

she does but she thinks its like super platonic, well she knows i “like” her but also that i’m mature enough to tell that it’s not “love”. i dont think she knows i want to kiss her really badly which is a blessing

white chocolate mocha: Describe how you realized you liked them. Was it love at first sight? Did it hit you suddenly or come on slowly?

i broke up with my exgf, and to get over exgf i slowly fell in love with p who i’d kinda? had a tiny crush on when i was still with exgf. i think seeing her every single morning kinda makes you fall a little bit in love. god i stared at her for like a whole year just wishing i could talk to her/be closer to her

iced vanilla latte: If you could travel with them to one place, where would it be?

japan!! we ARE going actually!! well corona kinda fucked up the plans but we’ll figure it out!! (we like the same japanese idol group)

cappuccino: What do you admire the most about them?

everything. shes the smartest, kindest person i know. she isn’t sweet though kdsfj she made me realise you can be kind without being sweet at all lol

americano: Do they drink or smoke that you know of?

ohhh she drinks, but like beer (i drink vodka? so i think beer is kjasdf lame). we hung out yesterday and she smoked in front of me but i’ve known for ages because i went to school drunk once and she lectured me by saying “you can only choose one vice in life, and drinking is the stupid one. i chose smoking”. shes jkashf not a conventional woman

ultra caramel frappuccino: What is your favorite scenario in your head that you’ve made up of the two of you? (come on, you know you’ve done it 😉)

we’re abroad, i go out to a bar trying to find someone to sleep with, she tells me its dangerous and stupid, i tell her i have needs, she tells me “well ill do it with you then”, we go back to the hotel room and [redacted], we proceed to act like a couple for the entire trip (feat. me kissing her neck while she does her makeup) its lovely and sweet and amazing

java chip frappuccino: What is your favorite physical feature of theirs?

… i really fucking like her.. are they freckles? idk but i like her cheekbones and her nose a lot and tbh her eyes are nice but i literally just told her they were ugly yesterday

iced soy latte: What kind of music, movies, and TV shows do they like?

idk about music, she got a film degree and likes japanese movies, she doesn’t watch tv i think she watches football

pumpkin spice latte: What cute/funny/weird habits do they have?

… she pretends to be a cat to get me to do things for her.

iced cinnamon dolce latte: If they were an animal, what would they be?

A CAT

chai tea latte: Do they have social media? If so, what accounts? Do you follow them? Do they follow you?

she has facebook that i stalked, and an instagram that she just started using because of corona online schooling boredom, and she watches my ig stories… which makes it weird… because i swear a LOT and complain about everything and she doesn’t understand english that well and doesn’t know that you can use the phrase “fucking” as an exclamation instead of an action. i use the phrase fucking a lot.

strawberries & cream frappuccino: If you could reenact any scene from a movie with them (and have it be real if that makes sense😂), what would it be?

any kabedon scene ever

[larpgourmet]

How to Feign Alcohol

Every great LARP has some sort of bar or tavern, but most LARPs allow for people under the legal drinking age to play -- which means that serving alcohol is usually a no go. Where I play, in Southern California, it’d also be doubly dangerous to drink something so dehydrating in the heat while being so active. So, how do you serve alcohol without serving alcohol?

For this post, I’m going to focus on simple bottled drinks, liquor, beer, and wine. I’ll do some recipes for faked mix drinks in a separate post.

Amber Liquors (Cognac, The Whiskey Family, Rum, Resposado) If you (like me) enjoy bourbon or whiskey, and you only want to emulate drinking such a drink -- you can imitate it easily with iced tea. You may need to play with the brewing time so it’s the right color -- but that’s how they do it on TV! Bonus, if you have something with a little caffeine, it’ll help perk you up! Black tea is best for this, as the color will be the closest. Simply bottle in a pretty decanter of some sort, and you’re good to go.

If you don’t like tea, apple juice is also pretty close in color, and doesn’t have the caffeine!

If you’re hardcore about wanting a flavor to match your offering, consider finding a vanilla honey tea. Most amber alcohols get their color as a result of the oak they’re aged in, usually adding notes of vanilla, honey, or molasses to the drink. Getting a tea flavored in the same vein will help! There are also teas that are designed to taste like amber alcohols, shop around!

Silver Liquors (Vodka, Gin, Tequila, Rum) For the easiest trick, just use straight water. But for added benefit, a clear sports drink will give you extra electrolytes while you’re drinking. If you go with the sports drink option, consider naming your alcohol to match “Raspberry Vodka” or “Cherry Vodka” for instance.

Cream Liquors (Amarula, Irish Cream) The signature look of cream liquors is that they do have milk (or cream) in them, but they’re mixed with something else that carries the alcohol. Consider making something like a cold chai tea latte, or other tea latte. The slight brown color of the tea will color the milk and give it the right kind of look. If you go with a chai latte, consider naming it as a Spiced Cream Liquor, for instance, as chai is a very spicy tea.

It’s also very easy to get creamers in Irish Cream, Amaretto, and Hazelnut  flavors. Rebottle creamers in pretty glass bottles, and label appropriately for the best visual appeal!

Be careful to keep these cold!

Coffee Liquors (Kahlua, Coffee Brandy) This is a fairly easy one! I would just serve straight, cold coffee. If you can get away with a decent kahlua flavored coffee, it’ll add a very nice smell!

Other Colored Alcohols There’s a variety of other colors in alcohol. Absinthe and other herbal liquors, like Jagermeister are usually green (food dye is your best option here.) For an added bit of realism, get an anise flavored extract to make your drink taste like anise.

For other less natural colors, look no further than a booze like Hypnotique, which is an odd blue swirly color (try blue food dye and edible glitter in your bottles).

And some liqueurs are dyed to be more beautiful. (Liqueurs, for the record, are sweeter, less alcoholic drinks. They tend toward being more syrupy (higher in sugar) and are often flavored with different things, like berries, honey, or nuts. They can be either silver or amber colored, or they can be colored artificially to be pretty much anything else in the rainbow.)

Wine Honestly, I think your easiest wine trick is to go with the sparkling grape drinks, and sparkling apple juice that’s readily available at any grocery store. If you’re feeling extra, you can always paint the labels to make them come from a winery that would be appropriate to your setting!

There’s a wonderful woman at my game who mixes a little vinegar in with her drinks (I’ll have to ask her for the recipe sometime, if she’s willing to share), to give them a bit more of the wine bite. Bonus -- apple cider vinegar is very good for your system.

For some more esoteric wines, like mead, you’re probably better using apple juice. If you’re trying to get the right flavor, consider adding honey to the apple juice and boiling the mix down so it thickens a little. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but slightly syrupy apple-honey will taste good (mix in some cinnamon to be really bougie) and if you serve it in small glasses as a speciality drink, people will love it!

Beer I think my favorite for this is home brewed root beer, or sarsaparilla. Totally non-alcoholic, fizzy, and served in fun bottles -- this is a great booze alternative for anyone who’s looking to do something more creative with their faux alcohol.

Don’t know where to start? Check out the link below for a home-root-beer kit you can buy on Amazon for about $16.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Root-Beer-Home-Brewing/dp/B0033UX8A8/ref=asc_df_B0033UX8A8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167124686369&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7605819140602283334&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030820&hvtargid=pla-84579849446&psc=1

Final Thoughts The real win here will depend on how you sell the bottle. If you’re old enough to drink for real, save any interestingly shaped booze bottles and paint the labels to fit your world, then simply fill with whatever liquids it needs. I’ve also made a game of relabeling certain other juices and things so I could make a cocktail completely of sodas and juices. “Fire Whiskey” could be cranberry juice, as a for instance.

Home made labels on a home printer will go a long way to selling the effect. Avery sells printable labels that have a nice texture on them. For an added bonus, increase your in game economy -- hire an artist in game to generate the art for your label for you! Check out the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Textured-Printers-2-25-Inches-22809/dp/B005IMARK8/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=avery+labels&qid=1564595329&s=home-garden&sr=1-6

If you’re running a bar or tavern in game, just make sure to leave a little note as to what is actually in the bottle, in case someone has an allergy or aversion -- or just doesn’t like the specific drink. A smaller sticker on the back of the bottle that is clearly marked with the real liquid will help a lot.

Another trick -- bring a funnel with you, and leave the larger bottle in your cooler. If you brewed iced tea, or brought apple juice for your bar, for instance, leave the majority of the tea or juice in your cooler, and simply pour a bit into the bottle based on how quickly it sells. That way it’s always pretty cold, and you don’t have to worry about it.

[sternenteile]

NAME!  ♡   nikki / bun HEIGHT! ♡   5′3"......... i am a small creacher. i Canot change this. NATIONALITY!  ♡   puerto rican / german, american-born. FAVOURITE  FRUITS! ♡   strawberries, apples, and watermelons! FAVOURITE  SEASONS!  ♡   winter. forever. FAVOURITE  SCENTS!  ♡   vanilla, honey, cinnamon, basically dessert scents. lavender vanilla is the best for sleep. FAVOURITE  ANIMALS!  ♡   cats, dogs, and bunnies! for more obscure ones, tardigrades, axolotls, and purple frogs. yes, purple frogs. i love them. they look so stupid. TEA  /  COFFEE /  HOT  COCOA! ♡   tea! spiced indian tea (so, basically, what we all call ‘chai’) is my absolute favorite with english breakfast, a builder’s brew, being a close second. AVERAGE  HOURS  OF  SLEEP!  ♡   wildly depends between like... six to ten hours. it is so inconsistent rip. WHEN  MY  BLOG  WAS  CREATED!  ♡   november 25, 2018! well, it was a bit before that, i think, but that’s when i officially ‘established’ geno. RANDOM   FACT! ♡   guess what, y’all. i used to hate geno. i used to think he was overrated and soulless and just kinda stupid. fanon’s boring portrayal of him didn’t help much. revisiting smrpg and thinking of his lore potential, personality potential, etc. made me go from hating him to absolutely loving him, though. it was a total 180°. FAVOURITE  FOOD(S)!  ♡   pizza, pasta (put it in a boooox), chicken thighs / wings, macarons, and just... a lot. i’m a glutton. FAVOURITE SHOWS!  ♡   steven universe, star vs. the forces of evil, original powerpuff girls, lots of old cartoon cartoons in general, gamecenter cx... aaaaa. tbh i don’t watch a whole lot of tv nowadays. FAVOURITE  MOVIE! ♡   heck if i know tbh, but i have quite a few that i liked a lot. the first four pokemon movies, deadpool and its sequel, the lego movie, the first two shreks (li STEN), wolf children, lots of ghibli movies... y’know. things. FAVOURITE  VINE!  ♡   soft and squishy, soft and squishy, shARP AND POI NTY

SEXUALITY! ♡   lesbian asf. PRONOUNS! ♡   she/her or they/them FAVOURITE  BOOK  SERIES! ♡   i dont. read much lately. oops. FAVOURITE  VIDEO  GAMES! ♡   smrpg + the first two paper marios, gens 1/2/5/7 of pokemon, a link to the past / majora’s mask / zelda ii (shh) / breath of the wild, super mario 64 / sunshine / galaxy (2) / odyssey, ghost trick, undertale / deltarune, almost every kirby game ever, literally every smash bros. game, the whole banjo-kazooie series (even nuts & bolts, fight me), grabbed by the ghoulies (FIGHT ME!!!), donkey kong country 1 + 2, terraria, okami... uh. i could be here forever tbh.

FAVOURITE  BANDS!  ♡   idk i mostly listen to vidya tunes nowadays. FAVOURITE  SUBJECT!  ♡   english literature. writing is a blessing. any art subject is up there, too, of course. GUYS   OR   GIRLS!  ♡   the layyy-deeeees. poses like a french girl. LAST  TIME  I  CRIED! ♡   yesterday over geno going through ROUGH SHIT. u will see soon enough. WHAT  I  SHOULD  BE  DOING!  ♡   actual productive things omG FAVOURITE  FANDOM! ♡   almost anything nintendo outside of smash fandom. (smash rpc is baller, though, i love u guys.)

[tfwonthefarm]

Fighting the Chill at the Homestead

So Dean runs hot, sleeps on top of the blankets most of the year, and seems genuine in his concern that the electric blanket is a fire hazard, but it's December and the central heating in the farmhouse is pretty crappy, and also our husband's feet feel like they're made of ice, so... 2 to 1, the ayes have it, out comes the best 75 bucks we ever spent at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.     

There are some downsides to having bed be the most comfortable spot in the house. I definitely run less often when I'm so warm in the mornings and remember how cold it'll be outside, and it practically takes a crowbar to get Cas out of bed when it's his turn to do the morning chores (again, he's a damn heat sink). Also, it means Dean banishes himself to the far side of the big bed (or to his own room) for the better part of three months a year, but given it keeps him from kicking me awake in his sleep every other night, I won't exactly be crying myself to sleep over that one. (JK - we miss him. He's a more vital contributor to cuddling than he'll admit.) 

So given the downsides, I thought this week I'd share some of our favourite ways to keep that cozy feeling alive and well even when there's three feet of snow on the ground and yes, you really, really gotta get up and feed the chickens, babe. Including a few nice, warm, and not totally out of season recipes.

Keep a fire going. It's actually not that hard to keep a fire running all day (and all night, if you have a set up to safely handle that) without wasting a ton of firewood, as long as you base your fire building technique on keeping big hardwood logs going rather than feeding in kindling. It heats up a house a lot faster than electricity, and depending on the size of your house, might be comparable to a furnace. Obviously, though, you have to feed it throughout the day, and for safety you shouldn't leave it unattended. We have a fireplace in the farm house, but if you're lucky enough to have a wood burning stove it's probably even more optimized to heat the house. Regardless, it's nice to have a warm spot to hang out without totally bundling up in blankets and falling asleep!

Tea! Dean and I have a pretty strong tolerance for caffeine, and can drink coffee throughout the day without an issue, but Cas starts feeling the jitters if he doesn't switch to tea, or even just hot water, about noon. Compared to coffee, it's also way less dehydrating and can in fact serve as a substitute to drinking cold water throughout the day which can be hard to think of as necessary when you're already chilly. We haven’t tried making our own herbal tea blends, yet, but it’s something Cas is likely to give a shot in the coming year.

Knit goodies. Since this is a homesteading blog, how about something else you can make yourself and reduce your dependence on the dubiously sustainable, often exploitative clothing market? Hats, scarves, and when you get good, gloves, are always a little warmer with the pride of knowing you made something with your own two hands, or when you can feel the love of a family member who made them for you. My favourite are socks and slippers, though. Warm feet? Awesome. Bonus: spinning your own yarn is also surprisingly easy. We keep sheep, of course, but Cas has a talent for sweet talking the lady a few miles down the road who keeps alpacas and I love him so much (for other reasons, sure, but mostly for scoring that sweet alpaca wool.) 

Baking. Long time readers know by now: bread is the best. The oven makes the whole kitchen warm, and bread is so, so easy to make yourself, and then you get to eat it? Amazing. We love beer bread (because Dean is predictable and realizing he could cook with beer was the best moment of his life bar none), which adds a bit to the cost compared to something like a peasant loaf, just for the cost of the 12 oz. can of beer it takes, but it's still cheaper by far than buying a decent loaf of bread at the store, especially considering we bake and eat three or four whole loaves a week between the three of us. Scroll to the bottom of the list for Dean's easy, foolproof recipe. (Seriously foolproof. Even Cas can do it.)

Cooking. Yeah, we're in recipe town, now. You know what goes good with bread? Stew. And chili. And soup. If you can make it hot in a pot (or a slow cooker!) it's a good wintertime meal. I've typed up our usual chili recipe below, but I think the best thing about chili specifically is that it's an easy formula to riff on. You don't like peppers? They're out. You love tomatoes? Put in as much extra as you want. Vegan? You can leave out the meat or replace it with whatever you want. Dial the spice up or down as much as you want. Our base version doesn't even include much in the way of ratios - it's all what you feel like. 

Drinks. I mentioned tea before? Tea is nice for all the time. Now I'm talking getting fancy. I'm talking hot chocolate with real, non-powdered milk. I'm talking cider. I'm talking boozy stuff. We've have a few favourites at our house, but at the risk of jumping the gun and getting Christmas-y too early, I'm going to include a nice eggnog recipe here - because if it can be made with eggs, Dean's mastered it just to keep us from being crushed by the hens' productivity.

Bonus Item: Illegal Barn Cat. Husband just kind of bummed out by the thought that the poor cat is sleeping in the uninsulated barn? Brother horribly allergic? Try Sneaking The Cat In When Dean's On A Run Into Town™! You can try to keep her in Cas' room, but she will escape! She will enter your joint bedroom in the middle of the night! And she will sleep directly on the chest of the one person in the bed whose breathing is affected by her dandruff! But what a hot water bottle substitute a cat can be before she's once again banished from the house because the hay loft is plenty warm enough to keep her safe and comfy.

Beer Bread [x]

3 cups of flour (sifted, but we find sifting only part of it lets you control how dense a bread you prefer - sift 1 cup for a dense loaf, all 3 cups for a fluffy loaf, etc.) 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 12 oz beer (or as needed for dough consistency) 1/4 to a 1/2 cup melted butter

1. Mix all the dry ingredients, then gradually add in the beer. Remember you want the dough to be semi solid, not like a batter. 2. Push the dough into the bottom of a greased or parchment-lined loaf pan. Pour the melted butter over the top. 3. Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Chili

1lbs ground beef (can sub other ground meat or meat substitute) 2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes 3 cans beans (we use kidney or black beans) 3 bell peppers, diced 1 large white onion, diced Chili powder

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan, ideally with the onion. 2. Put everything in a big pot. Heat on medium. 3. Adjust chili powder to taste, let it stew as long as you can stand (remembering to stir), serve with rice or bread! Sour cream and shredded cheese are also great toppings.

Chai Eggnog [x]

2 cups of cream (can sub coconut milk) 2 cups of whole milk (can sub almond milk) 5 egg yolks 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 chai tea bags Bourbon

1. Mix dairy, egg yolks, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a pan. Whisk it until it’s frothy. 2. Heat on medium, stirring, until it bubbles just a bit. Turn down the heat and add the tea bags, cooking for another 3 minutes, and then remove them again. Add and mix in the vanilla. 3. Adjust for taste and booze it up.

[missrcyna-blog]

under the cut are 150 (i think) answered questions about reyna mercedes - team fire! some are in third person, while others are in first.

1. if they were a candle, what scent would they be? “maybe like vanilla and coconut. is that a thing?” 2. what female celebrity do they wish was their sister? rihanna! she feels as if she’d be a super fun sister plus free fenty beauty supplies?? hello? 3. what male celebrity do they wish was their brother? finn wolfhard would be an adorable younger brother, in her opinion. 4. how old do they think they’ll be when they get married? she thinks she’ll get married in her late twenties, but she wants to be settled in her profession first. plus, she actually needs to find someone. 5. how many countries have they been to? two, counting america. she’s been to brazil to visit family 6. what would they name their daughter if they had one? celeste, after reyna’s mother, and after that, some names she likes are penelope, danielle, christine. 7. what would they name their son if they had one? she likes the names mason, jasper, kobe, and bruno, but she really isn’t picky.  8. what was their favorite tv show as a child? wizards of waverly place & lizzie mcguire 9. what language, besides their native language, would they like to be fluent in? she’d love to be fluent in french because she considers it such a beautiful language and many of her dance teachers had been french. 10. would they ever change their name? if so, to what? she wouldn’t, because she likes her name and her dad had been the one to suggest it. 11. what was the last compliment they got? “you’re the funnest counselor ever!” - young camper that got what she wanted. 12. what is their favorite flavor of tea? rose tea. 13. how did they find out that santa and the easter bunny weren’t real? she found out santa wasn’t real when she was seven and held a stakeout on christmas eve and saw her dad sneaking her gift under the tree. she never believed in the easter bunny. 14. what is their hogwarts house? (recommended: take pottermore quiz) hufflepuff! 15. what tarot card are they? (recommended: take this quiz) the sun card. it said she was typically a happy person because of her achievements. 16. are they more of a marvel or dc fan? “marvel. guardians of the galaxy -- hello?” 17. who is their favorite superhero? “does groot count? if not, maybe the she-hulk?” 18. everyone has a song that deeply reminds them of their childhood. what is theirs? rock with you by michael jackson. 19. what are the meanings of their first, middle, and last name? reyna - queen; eleanora - shining light; mercedes - mercies or greatest gifts. 20. have they ever stolen a street sign before? never. she didn’t know that was a thing. 21. what is their biggest pet peeve? buzzkills; people that take themselves too seriously. 22. if they were a month, what month would they be? may. she just thinks it’s a pretty month and it’s when schools start coming to an end. 23. what is their least favorite movie? “any of those films they used to show in history class.” 24. what five movies would they bring with them if they were stuck on a deserted island? “would i even be able to watch them? maybe i’d bring black panther, good burger, guardians of the galaxy, incredibles 2 -- i haven’t watched it yet but i know it’ll be great -- and the goofy movie.” 25. out of all of the late night talk show hosts, who is their favorite? “i love jimmy fallon. i feel like it’d be really fun to be on his show.” 26. what are three things they are afraid of? rejection, not being able to dance, and spiders. 27. what was the first concert they went to? “it was a one direction concert. i had total one direction infection, and i am not ashamed.” 28. is there a nickname that only their family calls them? she doesn’t really have any special nicknames. 29. what side of the bed do they sleep on? she’s a wild sleeper, so she’s pretty much all over the bed. 30. what is their favorite comfort food? strawberry shortcake. 31. what award shows do they watch? radio disney music awards, teen choice awards, billboard music awards, and grammy awards. 32. do they have any weird body skills (example: being double jointed)? not that she knows of. 33. if they drink coffee, what is their coffee order? she likes to mix it up, but her favorites are chai and vanilla lattes. in the winter, her go-to is hot chocolate with cinnamon whipped cream. 34. what social media platforms do they have? snapchat, instagram, facebook, twitter, dubsmash, whatsapp (to talk to family), and she used to have vine and kik. 35. are they a cat or dog person? “i love cats too, but i’ve gotta say i’m more of a dog person.” 36. if they were a supernatural creature, what would they be? “whatever peter pan was. i don’t want to grow up.” 37. what show are they currently watching on netflix/hulu? she’s watching a bunch of different shows, because she easily gets distracted, but she is currently watching on my block, black lightning, and jane the virgin. 38. what is their favorite disney movie? the goofy movie. 39. do they wear any perfume or cologne? only when she is dressing up. she usually sticks with scented lotions and the like. 40. what genres of music do they listen to? she’s willing to listen to anything. 41. have they ever seen the bee movie? three times. her bio for a while was “ according to all known laws of aviation, “  42. what are their favorite memes? “i love memes based on popular songs, like all the God’s plan and ‘then i freaked it’ ones.” 43. what celebrities do they share a birthday with? taylor lautner, jennifer aniston, khalid, kelly rowland, and thomas edison. 44. what is their moon (zodiac) sign? leo  45. which of the seven cardinal sins do they embody the most? greed. 46. do they watch sports on television? if so what ones? she only watches major sports events, like the olympics or world cup or finals. 47. what do they put on their typical sandwich? she loves sloppy joes and cheeseburgers with ketchup, mustard, and pickles. 48. what was the name of their first significant other? “michael donovan, but it lasted for like three weeks so i’m not sure if it really counts.” 49. do they care if people think badly of them? not as much as she used to. 50. what was the last thing that made them cry? she re-watched the last episode of the suite life on deck. 51. are they an iphone or samsung user? iphone 52. what type of computer do they use (example: apple)? she has a dell inspiron 11 3000 laptop. 53. what is one of their nervous habits? touching hair, tapping fingernails, avoiding eye contact, etc. 54. out of all reality shows, which one would they have a chance winning? she’d probably have a shot at so you think you can dance. 55. would they ever go bungee jumping or skydiving? she’s gone bungee jumping, but she’d probably never go skydiving. 56. what do they call their grandparents? vovó and vovô (pronunciations are different) 57. what do they do when they can’t sleep? she bothers whoever is available. 58. what time do they normally go to bed? around 10 or 11, unless she has a reason to stay up. 59. if they have instagram, what was the last picture that they posted? this throwback pic. 60. if they have twittter, what was the last thing that they tweeted? “ the day these ppl invest in air conditioning is the day i cry tears of joy😫 “ 61. who is their otp? “sam and freddie from icarly. they deserved better.” 62. do they like sweet, salty, or sour? “don’t make me choose between sweet and salty. it depends.” 63. did they play any sports in the past? cheerleading and dance, if those count. she loves to play sports like over the summer but those are the only two she officially played. 64. what is their favorite cheesy pick up line? “are you a parking ticket? ‘cause you’ve got fine written all over you.” 65. what tv show or movie is their guilty pleasure? “andi mack. i’m probably out of their intended age group, but it’s good, okay?” 66. if they were a fruit, what fruit would they be? strawberries are her favorite fruit of all time, so definitely that. 67. do they sing in the shower? yes, all the time.  68. what is their favorite type of chips? barbecue chips. 69. do they drink juice? if so, what is their favorite kind? strawberry juice. 70. what is more important to them: power, money, friends, family, love, or fame? family is most important to her, including friends that she considers family. 71. what does their handwriting look like? similar to this. 72. do they have reoccurring dreams? if not, what is their most memorable dream? “i once had this dream where the kardashians were trying to adopt me. they wanted to name me kasey.” 73. if they were a taste, what would it be? “salty. i’m always salty.” 74. what is one random fun fact about them? her favorite color is royal blue. 75. what is their lucky number? the number eight. it stands out to her and her eighth year was the last full year she had with her father. 76. do they have any pets? she wants one, but she has no time to properly take care of a pet. 77. do they believe in the paranormal or the supernatural? “who doesn’t? you can’t pass everything off as a ‘coincidence.’ 78. have they ever had any paranormal experiences? no, just pranks, coincidences and her own misunderstandings. 79. can they sing or dance? both, and she’s not afraid to let it be known. 80. who is the first person they call/text when something exciting happens? sofia, her friend from college. 81. what is their social media handle? @mercedesbends ! it’s a play on her last name, the fact that she dances, the car brand, and she got the idea from a vine. she’s a loser. 82. what swear word do they use/like the most? she likes flipping the bird (if that even counts??) but she doesn’t really curse. she says stuff like freaking or effing. 83. what is their ideal first date? “i’d love to have a first date at a fair or theme park. i think that seeing people on rollercoasters would tell you a lot about them.” 84. if they were a type of weather, what would they be? “snowy weather. gets you out of school, super fun, but dangerous after a while.” 85. what is their least favorite holiday? “any of the holidays that don’t get you out of school.” 86. what is the first thing that they do in the morning? browse memes on social media. 87. who is their ultimate celebrity crush? “ultimate? that’s like, an insult to all my other celebrity crushes. if i must choose, asap rocky, but don’t get mad at me if i change my mind.” 88. do they usually pay with cash or card? she prefers card because it makes her seem more official, but she usually uses cash. 89. what was the last thing that they bought? these glasses. no regrets. 90. are they a good or bad driver? she’s in the middle, but she prefers not to drive when she doesn’t have to. 91. if they could meet one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be? michael jackson. 92. have they ever gotten into a physical fight? nothing more than being shoved and slapped over stupid misunderstandings. 93. do they prefer pepsi or coke? "pepsi, because it’s sweeter.” 94. do they prefer the city or the suburbs? “i love the city life, but the suburbs feel more like home.” 95. do they have any special or odd talents? she can play piano and guitar. 96. when they were little, what did they want to be when they grew up? she wanted to be a professional dancer, but now she's aiming to be a choreographer or dance instructor since it’s a bit more realistic. 97. do they have any favorite smells? “favorite smells? i guess i’d say like the smell of cookies right out of the oven, anything strawberry-scented, cinnamon, vanilla, moqueca..” 98. if they could visit any place in the world, where would they go? atlantis. 99. do they wear jewelry? most days, she only really wears earrings. 100. who is the last person they talked to on the phone? her aunt called to tell her about a weird client she had received. 101. do they prefer ‘would you rather’ or ‘truth or dare’? she loves truth or dare. it’s a great way to get to know someone and have a blast doing it. 102. what has been their favorite halloween costume yet? one halloween, she walked around all day in a complete lego man costume. the stares she got at the mall were hilarious. 103. do they like horror movies? yes, and she actually finds them scary. 104. what is their typical breakfast like? she usually has a small breakfast, typically including with bread or fruit. 105. are they a netflix or hulu person? she loves netflix’s layout but thinks that hulu has a better range of options. 106. do they like to gossip? not really, unless it’s really interesting. 107. if they were a song, what one would they be? dancing queen by abba. 108. what was their best subject in school? english, even if it may not be apparent in her everyday speech. 109. what was their worst subject in school? she struggled with chemistry. she was that girl that’d make the project explode - most of the time on accident. 110. have they ever met anyone famous? khalid, adam levine, cody simpson and matty b. 111. who was their childhood hero? the stillwater dance and music specialist that helped her during her first year at camp. 112. were any tv shows or movies that they weren’t allowed to watch as a child? just the regular m or r rated stuff, or things that could be deemed too scary for her baby cousin. 113. what is the strangest thing they have ever eaten? she was dared to eat a mustard, macaroni, and ice cream sandwich.  114. do they prefer friends or family? don’t get her wrong -- she loves her friends, but family > friends. 115. how do they feel about pineapple on pizza? she tried it once as a dare but she actually enjoyed it. sue her. 116. do they put the milk or cereal in the bowl first? cereal in first because she has culture. 117. how do they think dogs would wear pants? the second one makes more sense to her. she thinks it’d be hard for the dog to move in the first one. 118. do they believe in luck or fate? “i believe in fate. i feel like we have a bunch of different destinies that are attainable and our choices affect which one we get.” 119. do they use emojis when they text? yes, to an abundance 120. who was their favorite character on friends? she can’t choose between phoebe and joey. 121. what character on friends are they most like? a buzzfeed article told her chandler, but she’d always considered herself more of a phoebe, because they are both childish girls who like music. 122. would they rather read the books or watch the movies? she thinks there is no reason to read a book when the movie is out. 123. what is their favorite time of day? “afternoon. you can do pretty much anything in the afternoon, and most people are in high spirits around that time. no one trying to go to bed and no one being grumpy because they’re not a morning.” 124. did they watch the teletubbies as a child? if so, who was their favorite? no, she didn’t really watch them. she definitely remembers them, but she never really got into them as a kid. 125. do they check the rating (like a rotten tomatoes rating) of a movie before they go and see one? nah, she just goes ahead and watches it. 126. do they have any favorite old hollywood movie stars? “does the girl from i love lucy count?” 127. if they had to live in any other decade, which would they choose? she’d like to live somewhere in the future. she doesn’t know exactly which decade, but she’d rather go to the future than the past. 128. if they could only listen to five music albums for the rest of their life, which ones would they choose? “that’s like asking a mother if she could only keep some of her children. don’t be cruel.” 129. do they believe in heaven/hell or reincarnation? she believes in a heaven and a hell, but she isn’t sure about her beliefs surrounding who gets to go where. 130. do they like chewing gum? “i love gum, but i can’t stand it when it loses its taste. gum flavors need to last longer. make it happen, science.” 131. do they like to go see musicals or plays? she loves them, especially musicals, so she watches them if they’re playing nearby. 132. were they apart of any clubs or teams in high school or college? she was on the dance team, cheerleading squad, and in the drama club. 133. what was their high school superlative? most likely to become famous 134. are they good at cooking or baking? she definitely needs to read the directions whenever she prepares something. 135. could they beat bobby flay? she’d try if she got the chance, but definitely not! 136. do they watch actual television? if so, what channels do they watch? she prefers to watch things on demand or on her phone, but she likes to watch disney channel and the cw television network. 137. have they ever seen rupaul’s drag race? she loves the show. she gets really into it and has audible commentary throughout each episode. 138. do they prefer pink or yellow lemonade? pink, especially strawberry. 139. could they lip sync for their life? in a heartbeat. she’d pull out all the stops to impress rupaul.  140. is their room messy or clean? it’s definitely never gross or smelly or anything like that, but she leaves pieces of clothing or other items lying around at times. 141. if they were a body part, which one would they be? if someone asked her this, she’d probably say an elbow just because. 142. if they were an emotion, what would they be? “this is probably really basic, but i’d like to consider myself like joy from inside out.” 143. if they were a planet, which one would they be? “jupiter, because that’s where all the boys go to.” 144. how would they describe their clothing style? “i don’t know.. i guess whatever fits my mood and the weather? i like stuff that i’m able to move in, and also clothes that go well with my figure. i don’t work this hard on my body just to cover it up with baggy clothing.” 145. do they shower in the morning or at night? both! she showers when she wakes up and takes another one when the day is over. 146. do they order regular fries, onion rings, sweet potato fries, or tater tots? her order of preference is: sweet potato fries, tater tots, regular fries, onion rings. 147. do they normally wear socks? whenever she’s wearing sneakers, yes. 148. do they fear natural disasters? they’re not really a fear of hers. she only gets worried about it if the news makes it known that it is a really big deal. 149. can they ice/roller skate? although she’s no expert, she can do both, but she’s better at roller skating. 150. are they good at video games? she likes to pretend she is, but not really.

[saferincages]

a couple of weeks ago, a friend showed me this amazing post (where the photos are far better than mine, which just didn’t want to turn out at all) of @the-far-bright-center‘s beautiful, sparkly Force Ghost Anakin, and it brought me such joy (I was maybe giggling excessively...), and today he arrived in the mail as a surprise gift! 💖

I want to take a moment to appreciate this bio, and the “weapon of choice” being loyalty and love, because it is. a lot.

this could be a very silly post (okay, it already is), but it actually gives me an opportunity to talk about something that I’ve never had a chance or reason to discuss before without some frame of context, so here is an unbelievably overemotional story (one of many regarding Star Wars’ history and special place in my life, I could write a series of these focused of specific themes and characters in all honesty) that no one really needs, but that I feel compelled to write anyway.

I’ve written before about my first experience seeing Revenge of the Sith (most recently here), so I apologize for retreading a certain amount of ground, but it’s important to know what the state of my life was at that time, which was a frightening, burned out shambles. ROTS premiered in May 2005, I believe I had just completed the physical therapy I’d been undergoing since the car accident we had that February. I was extraordinarily ill, and no one knew why (diagnoses were forthcoming), I was rapidly losing weight, and at the time, the scariest thing for me, was that I had no choice but to withdraw from school. Academia, which was such a constant for me, wasn’t even going to be on the horizon. I was, in short, not okay. I felt almost hollow in that uncertainty.

That midnight premiere was incredible, exciting, emotionally fraught, and I remember the weight and the sorrow of it hitting me in a very profound way when we got home, at which point I crawled into my bed and sobbed. I saw it several times that summer, but the final time (which is also a story a couple of my friends know, but I don’t think I’ve posted about it publicly?) was on my birthday that September. It is a crystalline memory. I can recall everything about that day, even what we ate (the cinnamon rolls my mom made for breakfast, the vanilla chai tea I had at Borders that afternoon), because it was the last birthday I had when certain things were not yet permanent, when I was still in the misty place between before and after. By then, the film had moved to our local little budget theatre, and seeing it that way, with a handful of other people rather than with a big, enthusiastic crowd, lent it an intimacy and poignancy which struck me on a wholly different level. (That was also the night Supernatural premiered, which is an aside, but don’t doubt for a moment that the events are inextricably emotionally connected for me.) September, and I should have been in school, but I wasn’t. I had no idea at that point that I never would be again, but I was frightened, and sad, and deeply angry. Anger isn’t a feeling I’d had a lot of experience with, I was a sweet, shy, overly sensitive, naive child (and teenager), but I didn’t often deal with anger, and then I usually sublimated anger with grief and guilt instead (and those things were warring in me, too, and of course I still carry them), but the anger at the unfairness of it all, at how cruel it was that this had happened to me, at how much I hated my own body for turning against me, how I irrationally hated myself for not being better or stronger or able to fight it, was consuming and yet almost childish, as though being ill was causing a perpetual temper tantrum in my mind.

My touchstone in the prequels was always Padmé, and she deserves her own post, but she was so inspiring to me, her compassion and her goodness and her belief in justice, her loving nature and her femininity and her tender heart being strengths, and never undermining her bright spirit, her keen mind, her ability to lead, her powers being her forgiveness and empathy and kindness. I love her so much and she had (and continues to have) such meaning for me. 

It took me by surprise when the aching heart of my identification in ROTS plunged more towards Anakin. I loved him too, and I had a lot of varied, complicated feelings about him already, about his gentleness and his trauma, about the immensity of his capacities and his contrasts, but this was the fall, the dark hour of the story, the nadir of everyone’s suffering, and so much happens at his hand, because of his tragic choices. When I was reading the novelization, I didn’t know what to do with the fact that I understood certain aspects of his struggling in such a harrowing way, and seeing it playing out made that even more acute. Those choices he makes out of desperate fear aren’t rooted in evil, they’re driven by the chasm of grief and terror of loss, and they’re mixed with disillusionment and disappointment and frustration. Up until the moment when he walks into the Jedi Temple, when we really see him cross a line he cannot return from, hope for a course correction seems possible. Even knowing what’s coming, it’s like...just turn back. You can still fix this. It ripped my heart out because of course he wouldn’t, he couldn’t. There’s the scene where he’s denied the title of Master, and his outburst at the council (“this is outrageous! it’s unfair!”) is tinged with an adolescent level of upset, but...of course it is. He’s still so young and he wants to trust them, it’s not ambition causing that fury, it’s desperation for inclusion, for some measure of respect, and he keeps being refused. It’s a strange analogy because the things holding me back had nothing to do with a council of old men deciding my fate, all my hindrances were physically trapping me in my own body, the jury denying me the ability to move ahead was my own failing immune system, but I understood his rage, because I wanted someone I could yell at. The person I was so terrified of not being able to save, of having to watch die, wasn’t my beloved, it was...me, the girl I was, the girl I dreamed of becoming. I’ve talked so many times about feeling like I let her down, like I’m the ghost of her, the revenant walking around in a shape that vaguely resembles her, but at that point, she wasn’t gone yet, she was just rapidly slipping away. I didn’t know what to do to save myself. People would say it wasn’t my fault, to let it go (which felt a lot like being told the useless “mourn them do not, miss them do not”), that I was still here, I didn’t ask to get sick, and I knew, logically, that was true, but emotionally all I felt was that crushing guilt and despair (all of this remains a lingering struggle). I didn’t want to be powerless. I would have clung to something that offered me a way out. I knew where Anakin, conflicted and misguided as he was, was coming from, and it eroded everything that made him good and heroic and kind, so the only power I had left was to fight against it and keep the anger at bay.

This is such a specifically personal thing that I won’t get into the analysis of what happens in regards to his descent (which I also expounded upon in that other post anyway), but every time it happened, the same muscle memory seemed to take hold of me, my hands would shake and I’d press them together, my chest would pound, I’d bite my lip to try not to cry. I have this overwhelming fear of fire, so Mustafar was its own nightmare, and I’ve literally only watched the immolation scene once (that first time, at the midnight showing), otherwise I close my eyes tightly shut. I don’t even like seeing gifs of it. But because of what I was going through at the time, what I’ve gone through since, the physical aspects of him so painfully and horrifically losing himself, being so stripped of his humanity that hardly anyone ever looks at or acknowledges him as a person again (until Luke) held its own terror (it’s such an awful metaphor when it’s examined, and it’s that re-enslavement, he did not choose that reconstruction) because I didn’t understand what was happening to me physically, and because so many people were questioning the veracity of my pain and my incapacitating illness, were treating me as somehow less (ableism wasn’t even a word in my vocabulary yet, I just thought maybe everyone had a point and I didn’t deserve the space to be heard or understood, since so much of what I was going through was invisible). I genuinely felt like my personhood and my agency was being taken away. I didn’t have school, I was quickly isolated from everyone else and kept in the (comforting yet confining) cage of my room, I didn’t know who I was supposed to be anymore, and I didn’t know what to do if no one would listen or believe me (my mom aside). The torture Anakin is put through in that conversion to Darth Vader is unimaginable and I don’t want to dwell on it, but there’s a passage from the novelization that goes in part: “The first dawn of light in your universe brings pain. The light burns you. It will always burn you...You can hear yourself breathing. It comes hard, and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it. You can never stop it. You cannot even slow it down...now your self is all you will ever have...and within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.” It’s such a wrenching description that some part of me separated it out from the villainous aspect, because the rest of it felt true. My nerves were raw and burned with sensation, touch and too much strain hurt, but my heart persistently, stubbornly kept beating, and I was left sifting through the alternating aspects of its passions (both the transcendent and the desolate).

This isn’t at all “excuse or justify the things Vader did” (since, again, this isn’t actual analysis, it’s sentimental personal nonsense), because of course I do not and never would, but the depth of empathy I had for Anakin, as a person and as a lost soul (and a lost future), and the way that left an imprint on me right at the onset of my illness became indelible.

There’s a point to this, I promise.

George Lucas did re-editing and reworkings of the original trilogy and I’ve never minded any of it, because they were his to edit and fix up if he wanted to do so, and little extra CG snippets of planets and creatures only expands the universe in my mind. That said, I realize adding Hayden’s Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi was divisive, even upsetting for some, but for me it was everything. I’ve hesitated to ever reblog gifs of the scene because I felt like I had to justify or explain why I hold it so dear before I did, so this is my chance to do that. 

As a child, I never felt really connected to the fleeting glimpse of Sebastian Shaw (my mom actually remembers me asking why he was so “old,” apparently I reasoned at the time that Anakin should have been younger, I think because I imagined him then as more of a dashing hero, based on Obi-Wan’s description in A New Hope). Anakin never lived as that image of a more middle aged man, that was never who he was within Vader’s suit, and there was always an evincive resonance that I was seeking. Once Attack of the Clones came along, Hayden was my Anakin, he was the embodiment of that character, and I loved him, and I loved his performance (and saw so much nuance and layering in it despite what was often said). Yet one of the last images we witness of him is burning on that scorched lava shore. It’s devastating. 

Luke’s unwavering faith that some glimmer of his father still exists, that goodness can’t ever be entirely erased, that love will overcome, that throwing aside his weapon is an act of bravery and grace, is the moment when Anakin is finally released from that. “He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son.” Balance is restored, and redemption is very small and quiet, not a washing away of violence, but a ceasing of it. It’s the hope that we can always find salvation, that we can still choose to act in love.

When Luke turns around and sees those spirits watching over him, benevolent and glowing and one with the Force, Anakin is his beautiful self again, as the description on this little package says, restored to the “hopeful young Jedi he once was.” The first time I saw that edit of the film, I wept. That was the connection I’d been looking for, the understanding that we’re never wasted, that our souls endure and are mended, that we can choose light, no matter how lost we feel we are, that love can persevere and illuminate even the longest night. It reminded me that I wasn’t only my body, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how it felt like it was collapsing on me, no matter how often I felt like I was failing to be the person I thought I would be, my body could never capture the entirety of who I was, or am. My spirit could still shine, my heart could still be soft.

Anakin says to Padmé in AOTC, “Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life, so you might say we are encouraged to love.” It’s one of my favorite scenes because it’s so sincere, and yet so richly layered in its meaning. And in the end, this is fulfilled, this belief is proven right.

People may think the idea of the Force is hokey, but because of the way I was brought up, and the intense theological discussions that used to be framed around it (particularly by my dad, we used to do this over e-mail back in the olden days of dial-up, I wish I had those conversations saved), it was a really important, formative concept for me. The Force is connectivity, it’s like a variant of the belief in Tikkun olam that parts of the vessels of the divine used to shape the world shattered, and their shards became sparks of light trapped within the material of creation, and thus exist and persist in all of us, in all the diverse and breathtaking life around us, and that we should respect and cherish that life. “The best expression of the Force is not a lightsaber fight or other combat techniques. It’s really about your connection to life, to everything around you, and your ability or willingness to let go, to find peace, and ultimately become a selfless part of existence...in the end there is no power that aids [Luke], except the power of compassion and love; the act of forgiveness and apparent self-sacrifice is what saves his father from the dark side.” 

It’s the idea that there’s something eternal within all living things, something powerful and connected that binds us together, that means we affect one another, and that we make choices as to whether those influences are for the better (or not). That we can decide to increase the power of light and warm energy in the universe. The idea that we’re not limited to our physical selves, that we’re luminous, radiant, possible beings. That we can reach out in love and compassion to heal the world, even if it’s only in small ways, even if we’re the only ones who see it exist, who know it happens, and still the summation of that additional light can radiate everywhere.

[ellocentipede]

Nocturne Alchemy Holiday 2019 Limited Collection Review

There are some stunning scents in Nocturne Alchemy’s Holiday 2019 limited collection. Fan favorites Vanilla Copal and Sandalwood were rereleased, along with many of last year’s delicious ice cream scents. Standouts for me in this year’s limited collection were Eternal Ankh Snow (a beautiful wintry vanilla), Sandalwood Chai (a warm, woody spice and resin), and Vanilla Dreams (a pillow, dreamy vanilla).

Eternal Ankh Snow

Scent description: White Amber, Powdered and reconstructed oil of Egyptian Vanilla Husk, Vanilla fleck, African White Vanilla, White Amber, Roman Blue Chamomile, White Pine essence, Bay Leaf, White Musk and a drop of pure Peppermint infused orange skin

This is a beautiful, wintry take on Eternal Ankh. It really does smell like Eternal Ankh with snow. It’s fluffy and pillowy, with hints of cold, bracing ozone and pine. It reminds me a lot of BPAL’s Go to Sleep, Darlings scent—pillowy vanilla snow. I love this one so much!

Dream

Scent description: Smoked Orange Zest, Benzoin, Lavender Absolute, Ginger, Vetiver, Orange oil and Sweet Clove absolute with a beautiful dry down of soft spice, orange zest and eNVie saphir

A hint of orange zest (freshly grated), benzoin, and ginger, that dries down into a fresh ginger scent (like a freshly cut slice) with just a bit of citrus. It’s very relaxing—a non-traditional calming blend. I tend to not love perfumes that have ginger, but this one is so fresh and lovely. I can see myself reaching for this when I don’t feel well or am exhausted.

Vanilla Dreams

Scent description: Bastet’s Ice Cream absolute, Tonka Bean concrete, Bourbon Vanille absolute, White Patchouli, Pear, Pink Grapefruit essence, Raspberry essence, Muguet flower, Vanilla Orchid and a rich creamy Egyptian Musk to scent your dreams

Fluffy, dreamy vanilla bean ice cream, softened into a gentle cloud by the musk. The other notes hover in the background. I can barely pick out the rich muguet and a gentle pop of grapefruit. This is a beautiful and relaxing scent that’s a nice change from typical herbal bedtime scents. It reminds me of a lulling linen spray that L’Occitane used to make about a decade ago.

Incense Chai

Scent description: Creamed Incense accord, Chai Black Tea and spices of Allspice/Clove/Nutmeg, Sweet Myrrh Resin, Vanilla dust, Vanuatu Santal, Bastet’s Musk

Ooh this incense is smooth. It reminds me of Alchemy Bazaar, which is one of my very favorite resin blends. It is smooth, golden, a bit warm and dry, and wears elegantly. It blends effortlessly with the chai and nutmeg spices. With wear this becomes a bit fuzzy on me, like a cloud of incense or a fluffy sweater.

Sandalwood Chai

Scent description: Chai Black Tea with spices of Allspice/Black Clove/Nutmeg, Santalum Absolute and Vanilla Beans

Cardamom Chai Sandalwood is one of my favorite scents ever and I only have a tiny sample of it, so I ordered this scent as soon as it was released. It is really lovely. I get a good amount of chai tea, though it is not at all milky. There is a lot of dry clove and nutmeg as well, and they are a touch sharp. Luckily the sharpness fades fairly quickly and I begin to smell more of the warm, dry sandalwood. It’s now ultra smooth sandalwood and fuzzy chai spice. A gorgeous blend!

Garden Rose Bee

Scent description: Orange Blossom Honey accord (creamy honey – this is a new honey we’ve created that is not like previous Black Honey accord), Black Rose, White Garden Rose, Bastet’s Amber Absolute and Eternal Ankh Absolute

Though a lot of people love it, I’ve had poor luck with NAVA’s honey blends in the past. They tend to go super funky on me. This new orange blossom honey accord is much better for me than the black honey accord, but alas it also goes a bit funky on me in the end. It’s a shame, because otherwise this is a lovely blend! The rose notes are beautiful—gentle, smooth, and soft.

Moonstone Nag Champa Seahorse

Scent description: NA Studio Nag Champa blend of Patchouli/Sandalwood/Dragon’s Blood/Champaka/Frangipani and Crystalline Vanilla Absolute with Moonstone Absolute and Copal Resin

Beautiful, airy Nag Champa (like a fresh, unlit incense stick) with a slight kiss of smooth vanilla from the Moonstone. I haven’t tried the original version of Nag Champa Seahorse, but I do have Tibetan Crystalline Creme, and Moonstone Nag Champa Seahorse has much less vanilla and creaminess (as one would expect). NAVA does Nag Champa very, very well and this is a beautiful blend.

Private Universe

Scent description: NA Oudh agarwood, Santalum sandalwood absolute, Cardamom, Teakwood, Cedarwood, White Patchouli, Black Clove and eNVie saphir amber musk

I have terrible luck with oudh blends, but I grabbed a decant of this one because I read a review that compared it to BIC Teak & Sandalwood, which is one my favorite scents. Alas, I get a fair amount of stinky oudh (think barnyard and band-aids). I do smell some lovely woods in the background, but they are all outshone by the oudh.

A Kiss Upon Her Shoulder

Scent description: Mimosa Flower, Gardenia, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Lilac, Eternal Ankh absolute, Skin Musk, Peach skin and eNVie saphir amber musk

A pretty, mild, musky floral. Gentle and will probably work for those who tend to not love florals. Well-blended—it’s hard to pick out individual notes, but perhaps I get more lilac than anything else. It’s not heady—I surprisingly can’t discern the jasmine. I smell a good bit of the peach skin. With time the peach skin becomes more prominent on my skin and becomes a bit sharp before settling in. A clean, elegant scent.

Peppermint Candy Cane Cotton Candy

Scent description: Cotton Candy Accord, Peppermint Pure, Violet, Marshmallow accord, White Lily, Peach essence and sugar accord

This is a very bracing peppermint candy! At first it’s a bit overwhelming, but it quickly mellows into a glittering white candy cane scent. Surprisingly, I don’t really get any of the cotton candy. I do get a bit of the pungent violet and peach, which make this more interesting than a simple candy cane scent. The use of peach in this is like BPAL’s Snow Angel—like a ripe fruit crusted with a thin layer of sparkling ice. The cotton candy does come out on drydown.

Vanilla Snow Cotton Candy

Scent description: Cotton Candy accord, Bavarian Crème accord, Malted Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Custard accord, Marshmallow accord, Vanilla Sugar and Bavarian Vanilla Bean

Oof—this one is very, very sweet! It’s too sweet for me, alas. It’s like sticky sweet cotton candy and the sweetened, custardy condensed milk topping on snowballs in New Orleans.

Frosted Japanese Cherry Blossom

Scent description: Asian pear skin, White Bulgarian Rose, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Mimosa, Cotton accord, Vanilla Whole, Bastet Amber and a drop of blue mint

A pretty, breezy cherry blossom blend. It’s a little too breezy for me at first, like clean laundry. The fresh, just-bloomed cherry blossom and mimosa sit beneath the cotton accord. The pear skin sharpens and peps up the blend, keeping it from being overly floral. There’s just a peep of vanilla lending some sweetness, but this is primarily a fresh and airy floral scent.

Vanilla Copal

Scent description: Peruvian Copal EO, Copal Resin, Crystalline Absolute, Kobalt Absolute, NA Studio Snow Musk (sweet wood-infused musk), Vanilla Bean extract

I wasn’t sure that I liked this one at first—and I think that it was just that I was expecting something different. This is not a sweet, rich vanilla scent. It is primarily a copal scent. That said, the copal is beautiful. It smells like an actual lump of copal that is lightly smoking in a censer. It’s sweetened a bit from the vanilla, but it’s a bit smoky and a bit soapy as well. This scent is addictive to me and I keep sniffing it. It fills a hole in my collection that I didn’t know that I had.

Sandalwood Copal

Scent description: Venezuelan Copal EO, Copal Resin, Sandalwood, Tibetan Sandalwood (future SL), SL Crystal Absolute, Skin Musk, SL N8 Musk and Crimson Musk Absolute

I love NAVA’s sandalwoods, so of the two copal scents, this one is my favorite. The sandalwood note is beautiful—dry, clean, warm, resinous. It’s a bit soapy, but in a pretty, clean way. It’s an elegant and effortless scent.

Warm Amber, Sandalwood, and Vanilla

Scent description: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vanilla Bean Extract, Tonka, White Cinnamon, Clove, Kobalt Vanilla, Amber Resin, Bastet Amber, Labdanum, Benzoin, Rockrose and Egyptian Sugar

This is an elegant resin blend. The sandalwood is warm, smooth, and dry, and the amber is sparkling. I get a hint of dry clove in the background, like an open jar of the powdered spice. I also pick out something like a fresher version of labdanum (not like a resin), which must be the rockrose (cistus). This is a nice, classy, well-blended scent, reminiscent of a fine perfume.

Pink Sugar, Patchouli, & Cotton Candy Sweater

Scent description: Red Sandalwood, Pink Sugar accord, Gold Patchouli Essential Oil, Cotton Candy accord, Egyptian Sugar, Spun Vanilla infused Sugar, Bastet Amber and Santalum White.

This review is for last year’s version of this scent. My track record with NAVA’s patchouli has unfortunately not been great (none of the bats have worked for me, alas), but this scent is beautiful! I think the sweetness of the cotton candy makes this wearable and beautiful on me. This does smell like a fluffy pink sweater. It’s warm and fluffy and comforting. It is not a sweet or gourmand scent. There’s just enough sugar and cotton candy to tame the earthiness of the patchouli for me without turning it into a confection. A beautiful, comforting scent for the cold months.

Sugar Cookie

Scent description: Buttery Sugar Cookie accord, Vanilla, Bastet’s Délicieux blend, extra Crystalline Absolute

When first applied, this smells like the sugar cookies that they sell at the grocery store for every holiday—heavily coated in thick, sweet icing and seasonally-appropriate sprinkles. The sprinkles are so sweet that they have a Lush Snow Fairy quality—almost like peptol bismal to my nose. Luckily the sugar calms down pretty quickly, and I am left with a perfect buttery (but not too buttery), sugar cookie, with maybe just a thin sheen of icing on top and flavored with a few drops of vanilla. It’s a beautiful gourmand scent that’s not overwhelming. I’m so glad that I picked this one up.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Original

Scent description: Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

This is well and truly the perfume that began my collection of NAVA scents. I received a very old decant of this in a swap, dabbed it on my wrists (because ice cream!), and was blown away. It is a rich, creamy vanilla ice cream. It even smells a bit frothy as if it has been churned like actual ice cream. This is a comforting blend for me, and I wear it whenever I need a warm hug or a pick-me-up. It’s truly lovely and I recommend it highly.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Cardamom & Tahitian Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Tahitian Vanilla Bean Absolute, Honduran Cardamom essential oil and pods, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, aged Tahitian Vanilla Bean whole

This scent is rich and warm and lovely! The cardamom is so fragrant, but not overwhelming. It’s very present—dry, full, and rich. I get more butter with it than vanilla, making this to my nose more like a warm cardamom bun slathered in butter than ice cream. The cardamom remains the dominant note for me with wear, and with time I do get a bit more of the ice cream.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Marzipan & Rum Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Almond accord, Mimosa, Marzipan accord, Rum, Vanilla-Benzoin, drop of Cassis, Coconut Milk, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean

This blend is potent! It smells of rich, almond marzipan and sticky-sweet rum and warm caramel. It’s more gourmand than Pistachio & Almond Vanilla Creme. The marzipan eventually disappears for me and I am left with an incredibly rich caramel rum scent.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Pistachio & Almond Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Pistachio, Almond, Vanilla Custard accord, Heliotrope, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

I don’t always love almond and pistachio blends, but I do love this one! This is a very realistic pistachio pudding blend. It smells like pistachio flavoring (not like actual pistachios) and almond extract, which I personally adore. It’s a little sharp, but in a good way, like actual almond extract. This reminds me of my very favorite cookies in the world—my grandma’s bright green almond flavored Christmas tree cookies.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Rice Milk & Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Delicate and creamy Basmati Rice crème, Rice Milk accord, a touch of brown sugar, Vanilla bean fleck, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

This one is beautiful—soft, mildly creamy, addictive. Surprisingly it’s not very sugary. It’s a bit like Lush’s Snowcake scent—creamy and comforting. The rice note is almost like the almond in Snowcake in that it is a bit like Play Doh, but in a good way. The Play Doh-ness dissipates with time and this starts to become a true rice pudding scent—warm, gently fragrant, and not overly sweet. This sits close to the skin on me.

Peppermint Crystalline

Scent description: Exclusive gift for NA Store Customer Holiday orders: Peppermint Pure, Crystalline Absolute, Apricot essence, Marshmallow, Sandalwood Light, Strawberry and Lily accord

This is another bracing peppermint scent! That peppermint pure must be strong stuff. I get mostly cold peppermint with some sweetness from the Crystalline and a light touch of fruitiness from the apricot and strawberry. This is similar to the Peppermint Candy Cane Cotton Candy, but is closer to smelling like an actual candy cane since it doesn’t have the cotton candy drydown. A nice scent for peppermint lovers.

Nocturne Alchemy’s scents may be perused and purchased at https://nocturnealchemy.com

[graysongraysoff]

All the ones you haven't answered!!! Lol

lol A’IGHT LET’S BRING IT HOME

vanilla chai latte: are you in love

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe

pumpkin spice: dream car?

i don’t have my license so let’s slow down (a cute little one, though)

old english: you’re stranded on an island, who do you bring with you?

this question doesn’t specify that i have to bring just one person so HA i’m not stranded i have brought all kinds of experts in Getting Off Islands

iced choclate: do you have a crush on someone?

so many………………….. actually only like. four people. but idk maybe that’s a lot?

caramel frappe: favorite video game?

i think actually the game @takethewatch recently ruined my entire life with, brothers: a tale of two sons, might be my new favorite. i’m not a huge Gamer, so i appreciate a game that’s fun and interactive without being so challenging that it’s discouraging, and that game definitely fit that criteria. also when i play games it’s usually for the plot (this is why i often prefer watching other people play games to playing them myself), and that game had a lovely one.

hot chocolate: are you an affectionate person?

i can be i guess but i don’t like. tend toward it?

caramel macchiato: you’re traveling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. who do you take?

this question learned from the last one and made sure to specify, huh.

my mom is a pretty good traveler, so probably her!

mint tea: how do you relax?

I DON’T uhhhh i tend to make some sleepytime tea and curl up in my bed with a book or some comics. turning off the phone/computer is key, as well.

vanilla latte: board games or drinking games?

i am not a huge fan of…………………… either of those tbh. i mean unless dnd counts as a board game, then dnd lol. (i mean it also depends on who you’re with, i guess, but i am never with cool people when i am playing board games or drinking games, you know.)

italian soda: describe your dream date

ROBOT MOVIE MARATHON

orange juice: have you ever had a valentine?

i guess not technically?

rose hip tea: describe your first kiss

drunk

herbal tea: you’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

depends on the time of year! in the spring/summer i like to have more sort of beachy/oceanic vibes with like coconut notes and things like that, whereas in the fall/winter i’m all about them warm spices and stuff like apple cinnamon and such

i try not to get anything that smells too much like a baked good though bc it just makes me hungry