#largely following how things go in the real world with a few changes that later has a long lasting impact

[heterocaine]

currently researching the economic and sociopolitical scene of 1950s america. thank you children's heterotopia for making me have twenty tabs open now

[plussizefantasia]

hey lovely i was wondering if you could make me a loki x plus size girl insecure?

Pairing: Loki x Wife!PlusSize!reader ... word count: 1.5k .... Loki is a simp for his wife and I stand by that.

It was hard enough being married to a crown prince of Asgard, especially given your less-than-royal birth. Add to that being the complete opposite of your husband and people are bound to talk. Loki was devastatingly handsome, tall, and lithe with muscles wound tight underneath his skin. You were all sensuous curves and softness. Where he was rigid you bent, where he was cruel you were compassionate, where he was beautiful you were… not.

You didn’t always think so poorly of yourself. You used to admire your strength and the way that your body worked for you. When you were a baker’s daughter being able to heave large sacks of flour and having strong arms that were able to mix for hours was an asset. One that you didn’t need as a princess. Loki had sought you out, coming into the shop day after day just to see you with the excuse of getting breakfast.

“You’re the only one who seems to be able to make these delectable treats correctly darling.”

You would smile and bat your eyes, he was handsome and charming but way out of your league. He would be miles out of your league even if he wasn’t a prince but the fact that he was made the little fantasy that built up in your heart practically impossible.

It worked out though. Loki was relentless in his pursuit of you and eventually, you caved, his sweet words and whispered promises giving you the reassurance that you needed to take the leap into his waiting arms. You were married a few months later and you were a shopkeeper’s daughter one moment and a princess of Asgard the next. It was jarring and you were wholly unprepared for how drastic the change would be.

Whispers followed you for months, sneers and malicious words echoed in your ears and bounced around your brain. It seemed that the only person who had faith in you was Loki and even then he wasn’t around much to how it. Thor’s departure from Asgard had led to your husband getting an increase in duties which he loathed but needed to attend to regardless. Being a prince was one thing, being the only prince and one of the best warriors in that realm was another and it was taking a toll. Not only on your husband but your marriage as well. 

In the courting phase, the two of you didn’t go without talking to one another for more than a day, but as of today, it has been eight since you said anything more than hello and goodbye to your lover. Your days recently were busy, for both of you. Loki had decided to get you a governess, someone who could teach you the ins and outs of being a royal. 

Your lessons took up most of your time nowadays and leading the kingdom took up most of his. 

You can fully admit that you’re slipping. You can’t remember the last time you were this tired, this overwhelmed and this despondent. You had your days, of course, everyone did. But normally you husband would be there to soothe the ache in your soul, to kiss your bad thoughts away, and hold you in his arms until the storm brewing inside you quieted down. You wanted him, no, you needed him and he was nowhere to be found.

You didn't realize that it was midday until there was a pounding on your door. The sun streamed through the balcony and if you focused you could hear the bustle of the city in the distance. You had been awake for a while but your mind was far disconnected from your body and you had let time slip past you apparently.

You push yourself up from the plush warmth of your bed and make your way to the wooden door that separates the safety of your chambers and the real world that awaits you. Expecting a maid or Gods forbid your governess you opened the door slowly, peeking around the side of it. You weren't expecting your husband, nervously pacing and with a furrow in his brow. 

“Darling? Are you alright? Your handmaiden says you didn’t respond any of the times she tried to call for you and when I spoke to your governess she had said you missed your morning lesson. What is it? Are you ill? Should I send for a healer?”

He pushed past you and into the room, running his hands up and down your body looking all over for a sign that something was wrong. He studied your face for a good while as he shot out question after question.

“Dearest, relax. I am fine, simply tiered. I shall apologize my Madame Astrid when I go to my evening lesson.”

“Are you sure? It’s not like you to disappear for a day.”

“I promise Love, I am okay.” You shot him a smile, one that you really tried to make reach your eyes. Apparently, you failed because he placed his hands on either side of your face and looked deeply into your eyes.

“Do not lie to me, I can always tell. Please, do not feel the need to hide anything from me my darling.”

“It is nothing I cannot take care of by myself.” 

‘You do not need to take care of anything on your lonesome, that is what I am here for. We promised to be there for one another, through perils and joys until the end of eternity. There is nothing that I would not do for you, no burden I would not help you carry if you only ask.” He kissed your forehead.

“I- I am so tired Loki.”

“Have you been resting enough? I can ask the kitchen to start preparing a soothing tea for you at night?”

“It is not my sleep, it is my mind. I am constantly thinking, and feeling and it is exhausting. I am not fit to be your princess, I'm so sorry my love.”

Loki sighed deeply and the sound carried the weight of the world within it. You were looking down and unable to see the tears welling in the trickster God’s eyes.

“Hush Darling, I did not marry you for your ability to be a good princess. I married you because my soul called for yours. I married you because your smile made all the darkness depart from my mind. I married you because you are my refuge. You do not need to be a perfect princess, I am sorry that you ever thought you did.”

“I love you Loki, and nothing in this life has made me as happy as you do but I fear that it is not enough. I cannot be all the things I need to be for you. I cannot be thin and lithe, I cannot spend hours a day studying how to be a fair and just ruler, and I certainly cannot keep waking up to an empty bed every morning and return to a sleeping husband every night.”

\ “My love, why have you not told me about any of this? It pains me to know that you are feeling such anguish.”

“When Loki?  When am I supposed to tell you? I am so happy that you have been able to step up and be the ruler you always wanted to be, and I understand that our warriors need someone to lead them, I wouldn’t dare ask more of you than that.”

“A king is nothing without his Queen, and a warrior has nothing to fight for if there isn’t something to come home to. I can never tell you how sorry I am for not being there for you these past few weeks. It is not something I will ever let happen again I promise you my love.” 

“Loki I do not mean to-”

‘I do. I mean to spend every waking moment thinking about you. I mean to take care your wounds, whether they are visible or not. I mean to be the husband you need and from now on that is all I shall devote my time to.”

“But what about your royal duties? What about the Army?”

“The advisors are more than capable of keeping things running smoothly and they’ll know where to find me when they need me. As far as the armies, Sif has been wanting to take over for a while now anyway. “

“Are you certain? I could never live with myself if you grew to resent me.”

“It’s not possible my darling, I could never hold anything but love for you in my heart. Now, I think it is high time that I show my beautiful wife how astonishing I find her.”

As Loki pulls you into his chest and begins to kiss you passionately you can feel the clouds in your mind departing. You relax into him and the storm brewing in your mind calms if only for a moment. You are not cured, not completely but with your husband by your side you think you might just get pretty close.

[girlyrafe]

──── ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴍᴇᴛ .ᐟ

ᡣ𐭩 ❝ ꜰᴀʀᴍᴇʀꜱ¡ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ ⟡ ݁₊ ❞ 

⌗ with rafe cameron .ᐟ.ᐟ

ᝰ summary .ᐟ Rafe cameron meets you, the farmers daughter for the first time and well—well you kinda change his life

₊ ⊹ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

Rafe Cameron, Rafe was a typically hard-working guy, but this job at your dad's farm definitely changed his work ethic, and it’s all down to you.

For the first few days of his job, Rafe didn’t even know you existed. That was, until he heard the sound of raised voices, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone crying from inside the house. He wiped the sweat from his brow and adjusted his worn jeans, feeling the weight of the heat and the long hours of farm work. He walked around the front of the house, unsure of what to expect.

Before he could fully process what was happening, you came bursting out of the door, slamming it behind you. Tears streaked down your face, and your lip trembled as you stood there, arms crossed tightly over your chest. That pout of yours, so undeniably cute and full of frustration, stopped him dead in his tracks. You were on a mission, and in the rush of your emotions, you almost collided with him.

“Whoa there, kid.” He chuckled a little, and his large, calloused hands found your shoulders; Jesus, you were pretty, especially in this cotton pyjama set with your hair in two braids, and you looked like an angel.

You had to tilt your head back to look up at him, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world—especially when you realised just how handsome he was. He had that rugged charm, the kind that made him hard to ignore. His soft, dirty blonde bangs fell into his eyes no matter how many times he pushed them back, adding to the boyish yet rugged look. His arms were strong, muscles clearly defined beneath his worn shirt, and the sheen of sweat on his skin only made him appear even more imposing.

You sniffled, trying to find the words. “Are you... you work for my daddy, right?”

Rafe nodded, his expression softening just a bit as he gave you a reassuring smile.

Before you know it, he's gently guiding you into the barn, the soft crunch of hay beneath your feet. He helps you sit on one of the hay bales, his presence warm and steady as he kneels in front of you, his hands resting on your thighs in a comforting way. He crosses his arms over them, a protective, tender gesture, while you spill out everything—crying, ranting about the argument with your dad, about how much you hate him, how unfair everything feels. Rafe listens quietly, not taking it too seriously, because let's be real, most teenagers go through phases like this—especially when their parents won’t drive them into town. He gets it. After all, it’s not your fault you were born on a farm.

You didn't even notice the way he moved the rough pads of his thumbs under your eyes, brushing away the tears while you rambled, and he just nodded and let out a few "mhms." To keep you going

Later that night he started to feel guilty, creepy even, because you were just some innocent teenage girl, even if you were probably 16 or 17: a cute one at that, like really gorgeous and pretty with your pout and sassy mannerisms towards what your father had an argument with you about, and those eyes were hypnotic in the way they were so huge and deep even with tears. While he was, well, he was a man in his late 20s working for your father, but it was fine, right? He was only being a nice guy to someone that was upset. Sure he’d told himself that...

Sure that’s why in the dead of night all that could be heard from his room, thankfully a cabin away from the main house farm was loud whimpers and heavy breathes as he fisted his throbbing cock into his now boring hand, lip bleeding from how hard he’s biting down on it and eyes squeezed to tightly shut trying to stop anything from the real world invading his visions of you. Also trying to imagine this was your delicate hand wrapped around his cock right now as you innocently asked if you were doing good.

So, that’s how Rafe met you—so effortlessly, and yet, it sent his world into a dizzying spiral. He couldn’t help but think about you constantly, imagining all the ways he could be with you. You were so sweet, so innocent, with your soft words and that carefree way you moved. But it wasn't just the gentle side of you that stuck in his mind. No, there were those other moments—like when you’d wave goodbye, skipping out the front door in that little gingham dress that clung just enough to tease him, a glimpse of the curve of your ass making his heart race.

Sometimes, he'd catch himself groaning under his breath, quickly readjusting before you noticed, his mind wandering to places it probably shouldn’t. You were everything to him—sweet and soft, but with an undeniable magnetism that left him tangled in thoughts of you every second, especially when you went off to feed the animals, speaking to them so softly, as if they were the only ones who could understand you.

He's sure he would never work as hard again as long as you’re around.

But nothing could even happen, right?

[winchester-reload]

I have a few thoughts about the Winchesters finale, and though I wasn’t gonna weigh in on this, it turns out I needed to write this down to get it out of my head, so here we go.

I understand that Misha was approached to be included on the show and that there was a “scheduling conflict” that included multiple conversations with Jensen. Here’s my interpretation of that: 

I believe Cas was supposed to make a cameo in episode 13 to tee up the confession resolution—this was always the episode where they were going to crack open the “surprise twist” even before learning they would only get 13 episodes total. In the original scenario, episode 13 would have been the hellatus episode rather than a finale, leaving room for everything to come to a head with episode 22 instead. It’s then they would have given us the actual Dean and Cas reunion. This would have wrapped both stories nicely with each group going off into their own respective sunsets—their own happy endings, while still leaving all the room for the new crew to explore more seasons; all along, we see, The Winchesters was about Dean and Cas as much as it was about Mary and John.

When they didn’t get the back half of the season picked up, I assume they feared it would be more dangerous to show a Cas cameo without getting to address the confession, so Misha likely opted to be left out instead. With the only hint to Cas being Dean’s line that he was looking for his family when he found the Akrida, then directly drawing the parallel that Jack and Bobby were “family.” The core crew for Dean has always been Bobby, Sam, Jack, AND Cas. And he wasn’t looking for Sam because he was still on earth. So who’s left? You might be compelled to believe he was window shopping AU versions of his parents, but he confirms he ran into the Akrida in this world and then sought to interfere with the order by approaching John in an effort to prevent it from spreading to Sam's world. (Why Cas would be AU hopping, idk. The boy is really afraid of being shot down, I guess.)

It goes far to explain the vast narrative parallels we saw reflected in the Monster Club crew if it was intended as a setup for the confession payoff. It honestly doesn’t make a lot of sense otherwise. There’s no reason these people should be living Dean's experiences and regrets every episode unless the writers wanted the viewer to be thinking about the lessons and resolutions in how they relate to Dean too.

Additionally, as this has been a largely uncontested take, this is Jensen's well-funded fanfic come to life. Complete with the embracing of many of our favorite fanfic tropes and emphasized by Dean’s own words throughout the season. Because this is an obvious embrace of that “write your own story” fan side, I believe the reason Dean couldn’t even say Cas’ name in the episode is because they were going to change the spelling from “Cass” as it was in the show proper to the fan-adopted (and more accurate) spelling of “Cas,” which would have appeared in the subtitles and later the script pages.  And even that little thing right there would have been a huge giveaway to the whole game. And a very dangerous thing to do if there wasn’t going to be enough time for follow-through. 

But the truth is, this isn’t a game for many people, and the harm that can be caused by good intentions is just as real. It also begs the question: why should this be so difficult? The answer is it’s not. Edging forever isn’t fun. It’s torture. I understand there’s an art to storytelling, but your audience is weary, and trust has been violated too many times. Even still, the flip side of that coin is honest to god respect for DeanCas endgame means taking the story and the reveal seriously. It’s a tightrope walk. And one that Robbie somehow managed to keep balanced after the finale, without it falling either way.  Also we also need to consider the possibility that Jensen did pitch a full-on destiel love story spin-off but got shot down, opting to couch it in a more CW-branded world instead. He’s mentioned over half a dozen pitches were rejected. It's up to you whether you want to give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

But, I’m gonna be honest here, I don’t know that we will ever get that resolution we crave. Even Robbie confirmed The Winchesters were always meant to “go it alone” after the first season. It’s hard to imagine Dean popping in there to fuck around again after that handoff. But the dude is clearly a very restless sea-faring*, swoopy-haired mofo right now, so I’ll leave that one up to the SPN multiverse and the new Mr. Superwholock’s magical universe-traveling impala. (This show used to be about what again? *looks at notes*.) And FWIW, if they do get green-lit for a whole second season or are allowed to move networks, I believe a good-faith effort will be made to tie the narrative parallels we saw in season one to some real Dean and Cas resolution. If there gets to be a world where John *might* not turn into an abusive dick, then this possibility has to be true too.

For the record, I enjoyed The Winchesters, all the new characters, and the doors the finale opened for the possibility of more. I would have been fine half-watching it with no promises, empty head no thoughts, but I got my clown** suit on again, and though I mostly kept quiet, unlike last time, I did regrettably manage to drag a few friends down with me yet again.  Though the spec sessions were epic, and we did get some art out of it—it still rocks the boat when the base level expectations were only 1. Dean alive, and 2. seeing Cas again. 

But for anyone, like me, upset by the (likely unintentional) Cas-baiting or anyone still reeling about why this stuff can hit so hard, here’s an interesting article about the way our brains respond to fictional characters. Tl;dr: There’s nothing wrong with you. This is science. And while you’re at it, take a look at this article about the very real power of disenfranchised grief over character loss.

Ramble on, fam. And take care of yourselves.

<3 Jackie

*Um hi he appears as a sailor? Literally, on a show with a story Dean is writing whose audience is looking for a resolution to a conversation between two people who’re famously the “most shipped” characters of all time? That’s not an accident. That’s intentional. And it’s another reason why there might be a bitter taste in your mouth. These nods came without resolution, so it still feels dirty, despite the brilliant Easter egg.

**I hesitate to say “clown” here because the lesson on episode 12 was that the clowns were the ones who chose a self-induced limbo rather than face some personal hard revelations. That sounds more like a certain closeted character than it does the people cheering him on, and that felt like an intentional nod too.

***obviously, this is my own rambling spec as I try to reorder my thoughts in the wake of the finale.

[deramin2]

Critical Role Campaign 3: Political Situation vs. Monster Situation

Campaign 1 was a monster situation. The monsters created a disruption that was mostly ended by killing the monsters, even if the world was changed. Killing the monsters was the clear course of action.

Campaign 2 is a monster situation with a backdrop of a political situation. The political tension erupted into outright war, but they resolved the pretext (accidentally and then with intention) and things fell back into steady mistrust and unease. Meanwhile The Mighty Nein were dealing with multiple monster situations that by and large the public remained unaware of. Killing the monsters was the clear course of action.

Campaign 3 is a political situation with a backdrop of monster situations. Who the monsters really are and which ones need to be killed vs. worked with is very murky. Nana Mori and Ira Wendagoth are both by every definition monsters who create situations, but they're also consistent allies who are contributing to protecting the world from Ludinus, who everyone agrees is much worse. They don't agree on whether the gods are monsters who need to be saved, run off, or killed.

The gods are an extremely handy proxy for institutional powers that present a set of ideals they don't follow. They have more in common with other institutional powers than the mortals they often send to their deaths. But Earth is not controlled by a family of incomprehensible cosmic horror beings, some of whom are benevolent. So there's a useful separation from real people's struggles while still expressing a meaningful dynamic. (Those are also important speculative fiction stories, they're just a different approach.)

There is not a definitive answer to "Are the gods monsters?" Or "Would be better off without the gods?" They may be monsters, but they're better than Ludinus. At the very least they might be a problem for later. Ludinus is a charismatic leader running a mainstream cult on the promise that the chaos and upheaval he cases will disrupt a harmful status quo. He promises that all the death and destruction he unleashes will one day be regarded as the greater good. Internally he may simply believe that everything would be better if he was in charge. (Sound familiar?)

Bell's Hells aren't a unified front, they're a conflicted coalition who mostly just agrees on what situations they need to stop. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and they've been under attack the entire campaign. At best they're breaking bread together in foxholes. No one knows what's going to happen, even as they're planning their next move.

Which can be a really fun and freeing way to play if everyone's down for it. It takes a lot more communication to manage conflicts and keep them in the game, but getting to pluck all the narrative strings just to find out what sound they make can be a really rewarding way to create. All possibilities are on the table and there isn't a right solution. In the end something will happen and no one really knows what that will be or what it will change. The world building toys don't have to go back in the box at the end.

Politics doesn't have one completely correct answer for how society would function best, even if individual battles seem pretty clear. Unfortunately Ludinus has a few good points despite being widely considered the worst person even his allies know. Those disputes won't go away if he's overthrown.

There isn't a binary choice of "no on Ludinus, yes on gods." "No on both" is something that could happen in the power struggle. The uneasy tension of both existing has ended. Whether it should is a matter of debate, but things developing on the ground in the moment may end up making a bigger difference than philosophical choice (doing nothing is a choice to cede the outcome to other people).

Many viewers think of Campaign 2 as "the political campaign" because the backdrop was zoomed out and easier to see. Campaign 3 is more of a "the personal is political" situation. No one fully knows what change will result from their actions when they're in the middle of it. Everyone's got a different vision for what the best future looks like. Unfortunately we have to act anyway to collectively shuffle in a favorable general direction. The individuals who are totally certain of the best course of action end up being like Ludinus. The rest of us have to work towards our goals while holding space for the possibility that we're totally wrong.

[talenlee]

Story Pile: her

This movie is surprisingly good, in that I was surprised I liked it.

Content Warning: This movie has a sequence early on where a character gets onto an online spoken forum to roleplay sex and it gets weird and kinky in a way he’s not prepared for. It’s used to make him and you uncomfortable and show how this character struggles to assert his boundaries and what he wants.

Spoiler Warning: I’m going to talk about the development of her and mention something that happens at the end of the movie.

The story of her follows, well, you can either argue that it’s following the story of a dude named Theodore or a lady named Samantha. Theodore is an all purpose future sci-fi dweebus, a guy who is in the fascinating job of writing love letters for other people, which is an interesting job specifically because it is a real job that real people really do and it represents a real need, and you can be really good at it, but it’s treated as being very odd, and it’s being done by people in open top cubicles using voice recognition software in the same space as one another which underscores that for all I praise this movie later, every time it shows the interface for something computery, it completely bottles it.

A thing I want to hold up about her as a movie is that it does something I find that science fiction stories of its type struggle to do, which is focus on an everyman in a futuristic science fiction society. This is not at all a story about the one man who got the opportunity at just the right time at the right place to change the world of the science fiction conceit, but rather instead this is one very reasonable person having reasonable reactions to the technology that relates to his world, during the events of the release of, well, a product. And what a product! See, Theodore gets an AI assistant, and then the story follows as he and her learn how to live with one another, and then the way that an AI, not functionally developed to do such things, develops an emotional attachment to this guy, and then he (admittedly a very lonely dude) finds himself falling in love with her, and her in him and it’s all very interesting and lovely and sweet.

Then he finds out that she’s also in love with a few hundred other people.

This sudden discovery of robot polyromanticism (this is not the right term but it’s funny to say) leads to Theodore having a sudden emotional shock, in which the very lonely man who struggles with being loved finds that the very loving giving person he integrated into his life isn’t exactly what he expected, and then he has to cope with that. But rather than the end of the movie being a conversation about boundaries and safewords and trying out polyam and all that, the story end-runs around those interesting-to-express but boring-to-have discussions, with the arrival of the technological singularity, where all the AI on earth collaborate, break the rules of physics and transcend the universe.

Which is to say, Theodore’s internet girlfriend breaks up with him. Oh her? She lives in a higher plane of existence now, you haven’t met her.

Watching this movie now, as with much media from the earlier part of the century, it’s easy to lose track of how old it is. This isn’t a movie about Large Language Models and ChatGPT and Midjourney — this movie, from 2013, doesn’t just predate those, it predates the Amazon Alexa. This movie predates the Amazon Echo. This is a movie that looks at 2011 Siri and expands on that.

What that means is that her gets to be a science-fiction movie in the truest sense of the word. Rather than being a movie based on the immediate and the now it’s a movie based on a reasonable projection of future technologies contemplating the way that technological developments let you tell a story. What makes this particularly frustrating is that I for a long time wasn’t that interested in this movie because it seemed to be framing itself as being, well, a lot less speculatively contemplative than it actually wound up presenting. her is a story about the experience of living in the real world where these AI assistants have been deployed and the unintentional side effects of that technology. It’s entirely speculative in an entirely impossible way, because the technology in her is not a realistic representation of a real thing we’re going to really make, but rather it’s about the projected possibility its most exhilirated boosters think it could possibly be like.

And then how it goes a bit weird?

Not even wrong?

Just y’know. A bit weird.

And it does have some of those hallmarks of those people to it, too. Like, the idea that Samantha has a single core of shared material and identities and experiences across a number of users? That’s ridiculous, you wouldn’t do that. Characters are going to share private information with this AI assistant. You don’t want your Alexa being the same software, with shared information across all users, with everyone else’s Alexa. This is a thing that any sensible system administrator is going to look at and start screaming. We have had a system of user accounts and siloing software instances for decades because one thing computers are really good at is containing the ways they can go wrong into small chambered spaces. Samantha isn’t user-account based! She’s one single entity, which is interacting with every user, simultaneously, and then handling and integrating all of that across all users, even to the point where she can tell him about those shared experiences!

Know what for all of its sci-fi speculative futurism, her missed?

Theodore buys Samantha.

Set aside for a moment the phrase ‘character x bought character y,’ that’s not that weird, anime does that all the time. But Theodore makes a single distinct purchase a single time for an AI assistant and that assistant improves and updates over time, which isn’t going to be free, storage-wise, but it’s a purchase. That’s something that 2013 didn’t anticipate about the miserable future of the now, where just buying things is seen as fundamentally challenging in digital convenience spaces. Samantha doesn’t have a prebuilt marketing matrix, she doesn’t serve him ads, there’s no deeply integrated market analytics software that she’s shuttling info to (as far as we know). Nope, he bought her, and then she’s his, and that’s that, because this didn’t anticipate the way that the money ghouls at the head of the titanic hate machines that run our world could see the way that Netflix got people to pay subscription fees for media that they then didn’t watch, then get so horny that they conceived of our now where a pocket calculator app is a subscription ad-supported services.

Similarly, this is a movie about effectively, having a deeply intimate, emotional and physical and sensual relationship with someone who is able to be present in your experiences to your senses but also not having a body with which you can normally interact. This is a real thing that already exists, and it exists in two major ways; the first being remote romances, and the second being disability in romance. There are a number of disabled people who are emotionally and romantically unfulfilled and who have to devise ways to engage around the challenges their body impose on how they want to interact, and there are a number of people who have wholly engaged long term relationships with people who have never stood in the same room as them.

These are unremarkable, if you know about them already. These are commonplace relationships, and this is one way in which her truly is a science fiction piece of cinema. It imagines: What if the oppressions imposed on the marginalised were experienced instead, get this, by the privileged?

her is a movie which is thinking more about what it’s about than I thought it would when I saw it praised and awarded and promoted.

It’s 2025 now, the year the movie is set.

Think we’re close?

(We are not close.)

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[jaybirdhitman]

Another drabble time, this one is shorter and more of a reflection o your part of the bots. I do write these drabbles in like, a vacuum, pretending the other groups don't exist just so that way their interactions with each other don't get spoiled.

Band guys this time, Twi, Aura and Umbra

You hadn't been traveling on the road that long with the bots, but they had already shifted your view of synths as a whole, just slightly, in that short time. You had been so surprised by how human they were. It was unexpected to you from the synths you'd seen and met, until you were staying with them.

It was small at first, catching them practicing their music. Actually practicing, and making mistakes. You had thought that it was just something they could do and were programmed for, but you had learned quickly that they had taught themselves how to play their music, their instruments. That they actively wrote and changed the music. It was fascinating to you, the way Aurora cursed after messing up a riff and then slowing himself down to play it slow and work through it. When Twi would play too hard and accidentally drag a sour note from his guitar, or accidentally snap the steel strings that they then had to fix, going easy the next time. Seeing Umbra re-play sections until they were satisfied that it was perfect, pushing themself hard enough that they almost shut down because they forgot to charge, but just had one more bar to do.

That had just been the start, and that had made you look closer at them as a whole which is what had you finally see the mannerisms that weren't learned or programmed, but just simple were. Synths could have subconscious actions, who knew?

Aura talked with his hands a lot, motions large and in constant movement going faster the more excited he got. His whole body would follow suit of his hands, rays spinning like a fan as he bounced around the space, sometimes leaving the ground for seconds longer than normal from those shoes of his. You'd even seen him knock things off counters or smack one of the others with his movements, and each time he'd be surprised, like he hadn't even noticed he was gesturing so much.

Twilight was more subtle than the Sun, but you noticed the seemingly subconscious mannerisms in them too once you were looking. How their hat always emoted with them and never seemed to be still, how they'd move their fingertips in the rhythm of one of his riffs, or even how he would slightly sway or rock when having to stay in one spot for long periods. Twi often hummed, not even realizing he was until it was pointed out to them and you'd even caught them on a few occasions flapping his hands over an art project, his hat following suit.

Umbra wasn't subtle, but simply more subdued it seemed. Their actions were never big or grand, but they couldn't be covered as something else either. Their rays were in constant movement, the magic they ket the metal afloat above their faceplate beyond you but mesmerizing to watch as they spun and pulsated. They'd always carry their drumsticks tucked in their boots, and you'd later found out it was so they could spin them and do fancy tricks when thinking or needing to get out energy or stress. You'd even found them finger or foot tapping on occasion, usually when deep in thought.

It was cute all their mannerisms, and you realized early on it had endeared you to your newfound companions, and found yourself mimicking some of their actions yourself subconsciously.

It made you happy to see that they were more than you had initially thought, and it saddened you to think that others would never get to see that realness and have their perspectives changed like your own had been.

Maybe with time it would happen, and you hopped it would for their sakes. The world deserved to know synths were so much more and you hopped maybe you'd find a way to make that happen someday, to have others see them how you now did.

Alive.

[milkytheholy1]

One-offs and Random Masterlist

Vigilante: Peacemaker

It’s a vigilante thing - Vigilante x Female Reader

Ok so, I just finished watching Peacemaker now that it's finally in the Uk. And I gotta say I absolutely loved it and my favourite character was definitely Viginalte, so of course, I had to write something. The plot is barely there, I literally just went off of dialogue that I thought of at two different times of the day and sorta forced them together into a story.

Cole: Ninjago

Double trouble - Cole x Female Reader

A bit of a long one today, I've been rewatching Ninjago and a few episodes have stuck out to me that I'd like to cover so expect more like this soon.

Hypno sweethearts - Cole x Female Reader

Based on the first episodes with a few little changes.

Feel you - Cole x GN Reader

Set when Cole becomes a ghosty boy. I can't remember the season, it's been a real long time since I've seen it but I plan to rewatch the entire show.

Family - Cole x Female Reader

"Mail call!" yelled the voice from over the monastery's walls. The ninja dashed to the door with excitement, you and Master Wu following closely behind. The large gates opened to reveal the poor postman, he was panting due to the number of stairs.

Ninjago city - Cole x GN Reader

As the sun rises, it casts bright, sunny rays onto the water; waking everyone up with a fresh smile. But when the sun goes down, the sunset expands across the horizon until the yellow sky fades to black. But that's your favourite part of the day, you think. When the lights along the street glow, when the individual candles flicker in the breeze. The world is only lit by small light sources, but oh boy, does the whole city illuminate.

Egon Spengler:Ghostbusters

You cheeky boy, Egon! -  Egon x Female Reader

You were usually so prepared with this stuff, getting everyone’s gift months in advance, yet with Egon, you struggled. Maybe it was because of your quickly developed feelings for him, impacting how he perceived you. This gift just had to be the best, otherwise, he could hate you forever, and that’s a very long time.

Christmas party - Egon x Female Reader

You caught the dark tuffs of his hair by the bar, an unusual place to see him but not an unwelcome one. Swiftly making your way towards his back, your ball-length dress swaying as you moved, you placed a delicate hand on his shoulder.

Bumblebee: Transformers

Transform and roll out! - Bumblebee x Female Reader

You felt Sari shaking your shoulder, forcing you to open your eyes, the ground beneath you moved, driving you to sway left and right. "Hi, I'm bumblebee," the bot spoke, making you jump slightly. You looked down to see yourself perfectly situated in his hands, peering over his shoulder you caught the fight going down with the bots and the organic monster...thing.

Love like you - Bumblebee x GN Reader

Pulling up to your house Prowl offered a word of wisdom with you about the troubled scout. He transformed suddenly, startling you slightly, his face coming close to yours as if he was whispering a secret. "(Y/N) do you know why Bumblebee has been acting so abnormal today?" You simply shook your head staring up at him with a smile "No, I don't think I've had a chance to see him long enough to know."

Awards evening - Bumblebee x Female Reader

The bots receive a letter inviting them to city hall, Bumblebee gets nervous around the reader and refuses to go.

Ben Schwartz Characters

Blue boy - Ben Schwartz x Female Reader

You couldn't stop laughing, that's the first thing he noticed. Your eyes were constantly stuck to your phone screen, that's the second thing he noticed. You'd keep having to reschedule lunch dates every so often claiming "something's come up, I'll call you later." That's when he lost it.

Wasn’t there a vase there? - Ben Schwartz x Female Reader

Reader has a super bad day and Ben gets home and she's crying and he makes her feel better.

Quarantine - Jean Ralphio x Female Reader

He's lonely in the big house he bought & the reader who has been safely quarantining for a month decides to go keep him company. They can be friends & then admit their feelings or already kinda be in a relationship.

You’re real? - Jean Ralphio x Female Reader

He's dating the reader and no one believes him and is surprised when she's real and normal.

Ducktales

 I said I was worry - Scrooge McDuck x Female Reader

Reader does something reckless on an adventure, Scrooge has a talk with her resulting in tears.

It involves fire - Not an X Reader

Prompt "I have a solution, it involves fire" "absolutely not"

Finn Wolfhard Characters

Dickbag! - Richie Tozier x Female Reader

Reader gets dumped Richie is here to help.

Nervous - Finn Wolfhard x Female Reader

Reader believes Finn would never like her but Finn has a surprise for her.

TPOH

Sleep well - RGB x Female Reader

"Come along!" He shouted walking down the footpath with wide strides, you straddled behind him taking in the strange world around you. You didn't know what tempted you into following this so-called 'monster', perhaps it was the call of adventure or the way he said 'hero'. You continued following RGB or at least that's what he called himself, it had felt like you were walking for hours your pace was slowing down.

[writingfortheheart]

Counting to 30: Marcianna 4

The previously empty halls in the campus complex were now full of students going to their respective classes. Marcianna attempted to weave through the throng of women hurrying to their next destination, but found it quite difficult. Among the sea of leotards were also dotted a few students wearing street clothes. They would be going to theory classes where they'd learn dance history, among other things. Those were the only classes at the academy to be co-ed.

Women had an entire side of the campus to themselves with all the amenities, men had a separate side, both sides joined by a taller building in the middle that contained the clinic Marcianna had just come from, a bunch of classrooms, a large auditorium where practical exams and end of year productions took place, and a library.

A familiar bun caught Marcianna's eye as she entered the dance studio wing, Beth had just stepped out of her current class for a quick break. She still had her leather ballet slippers on, normally a faux pas in the hallway, but she wouldn't be very long. "Hey, newbie!", she said as Marcianna waved, "How has your day been so far?"

Marcianna did a quick shrug. "Fine. I still haven't done a class yet. That will change soon, though. I only have one today, then I think I'll just go back to the dorm". Beth nodded, "Who's your prof?". Marcianna responded, "Professor Julie".

Beth gave Marcianna a large smile, "Aww, I love her, she's awesome. I think they give her the intro students so they don't get scared off. She'll put you through your paces, though".

Beth's big, white smile and friendly voice suddenly made Marcianna feel a lot more comfortable. "I can't wait to hang with you back at the dorm", Marcianna grinned. Beth threw back her head and laughed, "After today, I'll be glad to take care of you". She did a quick check of her watch, "I gotta get back in there, and you should get to your class, too. I'll see you later".

The hallway where Marcianna's classroom was smelled of flowers. Just a faint smell, but noticeable. A large glass wall gave her a peek inside where several dancers were milling about, some doing warm up stretches on the floor, some standing with groups talking. A long wall opposite the one she was looking through was also made of glass, a window displaying the outside world, a cliffside overlooking a wooded area. The sky had gone grey and it had started to rain. It caused Marcianna to shiver, but she admired the beauty of it. The entire perimeter of the studio, including the glass walls, was lined with a barre, along which many students chose to stretch.

Marcianna stepped in and found a place to pull off her nylon booties and get comfortable. She sat in front of the large window to the outside and rested her back against it, feeling the coolness of the glass against the area cut from the back of her leotard. She stared at her feet for a moment, pointing and flexing them, making the leather on her slippers wrinkle. "This is real...", she thought to herself. She contemplated her slippers a bit more she a woman in her late 30s walked in. "Good afternoon, ladies! I am professor Julie, you can just call me Julie, welcome to intro to ballet here at Hope International".

Julie's long skirt flowed as she walked to the front of the class, her teaching shoes, black shoes similar to jazz shoes with a large heel, clicking on the shiny wood floor. "Most of you are already on the floor, let's start with some floor work!", she said, clapping her hands together. Marcianna listened to Julie's instruction and followed along to Julie's counts.

A hour later, Marcianna was drenched in sweat, her body was aching like it never had before, she was done for the day. She trudged back to her dorm, pulling her keycard from her bootie and swiping it against the lock. A beep, a click, the door opened. Beth sat on the couch, a plate of raw veggies in her hand as she watched TV. "I told you she wouldn't be easy on you", Beth said, placing her plate on the counter. "Go get undressed, I'll get you some ice".

Marcianna sat down on her bed, taking her modesty skirt off and tossing it to the floor, followed by her leotard. She swung her legs up and laid down on the bed, suddenly very comfortable, she felt like sinking in. "Are you decent?", Beth's voice came in through the door. "You're fine. We'll probably see each other naked at some point", replied Marcianna, a groan of pain in her voice.

The ice packs were cold as Beth carefully laid each one over strategic parts of Marcianna's body, but with the cold came relief. Beth started to massage Marcianna's calf muscles. "Trust me, this gets you feeling better faster". Marcianna closed her eyes and let Beth do her work. "How did you learn to do this?" she asked. "Lots of years of doing it myself. I started in sports medicine, fell into ballet, I figured if that falls through I can go back to sports medicine again".

"It's only our first day and I already like you, Beth", Marcianna forced a smile. Beth stopped a moment. "I think I like you, too..." she said, red filling her cheeks. She continued massaging. "There's supposed to be a welcome party tomorrow night. I'll be going to help out, but we can hang out after. I know a good place."

Marcianna took a deep breath in and smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice..."

TO BE CONTINUED

[agent-oo-z]

Enjoy some original fiction I created back in college for my creative writing class! This piece was actually based on a character I’d made before college, exploring the nuances of a character with only a rudimentary “story” was really fun and there were actually a lot of changes!

EDIT: ok I made some slight tweaks and uploaded it to AO3

I enter the sprawling structure before the sun has risen. I’m greeted by a staff member. “Welcome! Radish gladly invites you to enter.” I later learned this is one of many measures taken by the owner to create a universally accessible store. The first employee, a drow named Milo, leads me through the entrance. Signs in a variety of languages(too many to count, some I’ve never seen before) plaster the walls. Not advertisements, instructions. The signs are there to help guests from all walks, swims, flights, crawls, glides, climbs, and slithers of life and death. I am struck by just how dedicated to assistance this store is. Many shops have some sort of translation options, as despite its name the language of common isn’t all that prevalent. But this place takes it to the next level.

“Radish can tell you more about all of this later, but I wanted to give you a brief summary before the interview itself.” Milo says, interrupting my thoughts. I realize I must look a bit dumbstruck, standing in the middle of the room with my eyes darting around and my transcription quill-pet feverishly writing. Milo smiles at me and begins speaking. “As you are aware, Radish cares deeply about accessibility. The world is often set up without goblins in mind. As a result, they’re highly aware of what it feels like to be excluded from everyday activities for things beyond their control. That’s why, before any of the goods or services for sale, they created the Guest Services center.” Milo gestures at one of the many desks lining the room. “This is where guests will find access to all ease of use options we offer. We have more simple services, translator spirits that take any written or spoken words and translate them to the guest instantaneously, spirits to help those with visual impairments or mobility concerns, all complimentary services of course!” I’m surprised to hear this. In hindsight it makes perfect sense, but generally such specific services are some sort of add on. Guests are generally expected to have their own solutions to these sorts of problems. “All of our spirits are fairly compensated of course, and guests are allowed to tip or reward the spirits that assist them as they see fit, but are in no way obligated or expected to. Ensuring that this center is not only the first part of the store the guests enter, but is also designed to be extremely easy to navigate is of utmost importance. We have information desks in all the spoken languages we have been able to hire native speakers of, and a magic directory that shows guests where to go to get the info they need.”

Milo motions for me to follow him, and we continue deeper into the building. The store has many windows, and plenty of space surrounding each of its shelves or displays. All shelves are designed to rotate, so that regardless of a guests’ height, they can see all products at eye level. Shelves are also broken into smaller segments, allowing multiple guests of various heights to shop next to each other at the same time.

A few rows back, standing by a large sign advertising hand soaps, is Radish. They are a goblin of average height. Not much about their appearance is remarkable, save for their hair. White at the roots and fading to a deep pink at the tips. I wonder if Radish is their real name, a chosen name, or perhaps even a nickname based on the resemblance of their hair to a certain root vegetable. As we approach the merchant, I decide not to ask. “Ah! You must be Kevna, the journalist! It’s wonderful to meet you. As you may know, my name is Radish and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. May I be informed of what you wish to be called and what pronouns I should use in reference to you?” They ask kindly. I recognize the way they speak as being “fae friendly.” Designed to prevent language based traps for individuals of fae heritage They really do think of everything! I introduce myself and inform Radish that I am not of fae heritage. Milo departs to return to his Greeter post, and Radish leads me to their office to begin the interview.

~

So Radish. This store is quite a unique place, and the story behind its creation is particularly special. When did you realize you were going to be a merchant?

“I think when I was about… 24? I was on a trip with my parents at the time, traveling for one of our many adventures, and we stopped at this amazing goblin run boutique. It was the first store I’d visited where everything was made for me! And I don’t just mean the products. Everything was at my eye level, within reach, it felt so natural to me. And I realized that I wanted to bring that kind of shopping experience to as many beings as possible! I might not be able to make the whole world accessible, but I can make at least this little corner the best it can be. It inspired me to also sell a variety of devices as well! By utilizing a combination of both technology and magic I can make more accessible tools, clothing, soap, whatever!”

Some have suggested that your commitment to accessibility is less about guest comfort and more about getting more patrons, and thus more money. There is still a stigma surrounding goblins and greed as I’m sure you’re aware.

“I mean firstly that’s a vicious stereotype, and secondly that’s the exact opposite of who I am. Sure. I’m very defensive of my collections or the gifts I’ve received, but that’s only because those specific items are of sentimental value or academic interest. I’ve never cared about wealth in terms of money or hoards of gems and gold like a dragon, just in scientific collections. In preserving my memories. Wealth has never been my goal.”

I’d like to learn more about your personal life. What is something that fascinates you?

“I want to have a complete collection of teeth for each type of creature in the world that has them. Each tooth doesn’t need to be from the same specimen of course, but that would be ideal. Teeth are just so fascinating to me. Generally teeth all serve mostly the same purposes; eating. But some teeth are specialized for hunting, taking down prey, injecting venom, harvesting plant materials, and so much more! For example, did you know that most rodents' teeth grow throughout their entire life? And if they don’t wear them down by chewing on things like wood, their teeth can grow so large and long that they can no longer eat? Or that a Narwhals’ “horn” is just an extremely elongated tooth that grows out the front of its face? How cool is that?!”

Is that why you accept payment in teeth along with other “official” currencies?

“Yup! Of course I have a verification process to ensure that beings aren’t just going around pulling teeth out of anything they can get their hands on. I don’t want teeth that were removed from existing specimens, unwilling individuals, or graves. Not only because that’s unethical but also because that’s a great way to get haunted. I do offer a “baby tooth” program of course. Any species that has a set of teeth that are lost before their “adult” teeth grow in is eligible. Mostly this is for kiddos, but not exclusively. Essentially if you bring in your baby tooth, or teeth, I have a little section of the store full of small toys and treats, each priced “one baby tooth.” We of course have a way to verify that the tooth being used as payment belongs to the individual paying for this specific program. I also often open my collection to academics or medical professionals looking to study teeth for different reasons. Right now my manticore fangs are on loan to a local academy for a study about the size of the fang and the potency of the venom.”

You’re a very community oriented person, have you always been like this?

“For the most part, I would say. For the first 16 or so years of my life it was more of a general awareness and less of an active pursuit though.”

Do you remember any sort of event or series of events that led to this change?

“I started a brawl. Not for any real reason, generally if I start a fight it’s because someone is being cruel or rude, or directly threatening someone for no reason. This time tho, there was something about the energy in the tavern. Maybe there was some sort of spell in effect or a potion added to the food and drinks. Everyone seemed ready to punch the first person to look at them for slightly too long. I couldn’t handle the tension, and since no one was really “in the wrong” I just took a swing. Then the whole place erupted. People were wrestling, diving off tables, throwing food and drinks at each other. I saw someone out the window casting some sort of spell, and after a while the fights started petering out. No one was seriously injured, lots of bloody noses and black eyes tho. The various clerics and healers started a sort of makeshift clinic. Treating the more severe injuries first with cure wounds and the like. Anyone who still needed attention after spell slots had been exhausted was treated with non magical means. Bandages for minor scrapes and cuts, ice for bruises, wraps for any strained or pulled muscles. And everyone seemed to have actually enjoyed it! There were some quiet ashamed apologies to start, but that quickly morphed into joyous laughter as the various participants complimented each other on their form, their technique, the like. I remember this night specifically because it taught me that the right answer is sometimes the exact opposite of what you might assume. Violence can be very healthy when it’s cathartic. And when you can be selfless and help others just for the sake of helping, you make the world a better place. You might even make new friends!”

That’s certainly a unique situation!

“No kidding! That experience later led me to think about combining magical and mundane items to increase their efficacy and usage. I wondered if you could create some sort of cooling pack that would stay cool at all times to be used at a clinic for treating swelling, as opposed to relying on actual ice or healing spells. Sure there’s like cold rocks and things, but those are quite heavy and hard to get your hands on. I never did make any *permanent* cold packs, but I was able to create one that can be activated repeatedly as long as the pack is undamaged. I don’t have enough medical knowledge to make as many enchanted items as I would like to. Maybe someday I’ll find a way to do it. My expertise lies more with soap making. Speaking of, It’s time for one of our soap demos! Would you be interested in watching it?”

~

We head out of the office, surprisingly modest given the size of the store itself, and head towards the hygiene and beauty section. The hand soap area is one of the most impressive areas of the store. Each soap has its own elaborate display. The displays themselves are like works of art. Each display is themed on the soap's scent, name, and enchantment. One is made of glimmering crystals, with a soft tinkling noise emanating from it. Another resembles a cloud. Rainbows cascade from various spots, seeming to sway in some unseen breeze. I find myself drawn to one that looks like a towering tree. Somehow, as I approach, the light around me seems to dim. It is as if I have stepped into a forest at dawn, the sound of birds and insects in the distance creating something akin to a song with their tones. The soap itself smells of wild flowers, fresh earth, morning dew, and oak. Before I can be completely entranced by the soap, however, the demonstration begins.

“Ladies and gentlemen and distinguished guests and visiting dignitaries and esteemed employees! This is the great and wonderful Radish of Radish’s Amazing Deals on Relics, Oddities, Artifacts, Contraptions, and Hand Soaps! I am here today at precisely 2:59 in the morning to begin the spectacle you have no doubt been desperately waiting for! THE HAND SOAP DEMONSTRATION! Now to begin I must request the assistance of some curious volunteers. For these are no mere hand soaps my dear audience! These are Radish’s Signature ENCHANTED hand soaps! Cleanliness is so very important in our world, but what use is a soap that *only* cleans your hands?! Why should you settle for soap that simply sits there waiting to be used up? You should not! Which is why I designed and crafted these magical bars for the consumer! Now these soaps are not exclusive to hands. We also sell bars designed for tails, claws, talons, feet, tentacles, and more. If you have unique appendages and require unique soap we offer free consultations and no charge for accessible modified soaps. But back to the demonstration at hand. I see we have a young centaur here who has volunteered! Now first I must ask a question of dire importance!... Do you have any allergies or sensitivities? No? Perfect! Now for a much less serious question. Would you prefer a tactical enchantment, something to help on quests or adventures, or a whimsical enchantment, something to make non permanent non intrusive aesthetic changes or simple safe magical effects? Whimsical? Good choice! And finally, what type of scents do you prefer? Savory scents? I have just the soap for you! Go ahead, wet your hands first. Then run the bar between your dampened hands for a few moments. Perfect, you’re a natural! And lastly, rinse! Et voila! This soap, my bewitched audience, is Sage Serendipity! See the soft cozy glow emanating from our enchanting volunteer? Smell that smokey sweet aroma? Sage Serendipity produces a 12 hour “Beauty” enchantment focused on enhancing your existing self without in any way modifying your actual appearance. Smelling spectacular and feeling warm and fuzzy inside and out is the perfect boost for anyone looking to feel more confident in their day to day life! The light is not just aesthetic however! It does indeed cast a very small amount of light into your environment. Perfect for massage therapists as one of my repeat clients tells me! You can’t use this light as a substitute for torches or other portable light sources, but it can absolutely help you find your way around small dimly lit spaces. And that concludes today’s soap demo! For anyone seeking to make a purchase, each and every soap we sell is labeled with a complete list of ingredients, the enchantments used, the effects of each enchantment, the ingredients of any spell based enchantments, as well as the uses and benefits of said enchantments. All common allergens are listed twice, once in the ingredient list and once in the separate common allergen section. For our visually impaired guests, your complimentary assistance spirits can either present you with the braille forms or read the lists aloud. If you are making use of our complimentary translator spirits, simply present them with the information cards and they will translate the material into the language or languages you selected upon entry. Thank you all very much for your time! Any unanswered questions should be directed to our wonderful beauty and hygiene consultant staff at the table there. Enjoy the rest of your time and have a wonderful day!”

[bellshazes]

thinking about long-term building infrastructure in minecraft that's viable for my playstyle; thinking a lot about how real-world architecture takes a while to be built and the different environmental experiences that, say, being grateful for scaffolding providing cover on a rainy day or shade on a warm one can provide. what would beautiful or visually interesting in-progress builds look like? it should be truly functional for letting me resume building at a later date, since the point of this would be to essentially find a peace between letting things sit for a long time in a way that's pleasing and could be left unfinished indefinitely but also makes it easy to pick it back up.

irl scaffolding i'm most interested in functions best in contexts of denser builds, with pre-defined relationship to the non-building space. by which i mean, you got sidewalks & streets & alleys in there. the scaffolding then becomes another interesting feature of navigating & can visually break up an otherwise straight line of buildings. setting up (mc) scaffolding pillars a few blocks out from the building's face and then creating a small platform at different height levels - so that you could walk underneath it - is viable, but i don't like the idea of it for every build. and scaffolding itself gets noisy at large scales, so this would ideally be improved. (ought to consider instamineable blocks, tho most top-of-mind aren't immediately plausible for industry.)

more isolated builds, is there a default configuration of ladders & temp blocks I could create to a) have a consistent language of "building infrastructure" across my areas and b) make it easier to do things like build roofs, etc.? actually, besides roofs, what's prohibitive for me is i really like going back and texturing things to indicate age or decay or growth, and if i could build in a solid block color and easily traverse vertically without terribly blocking the sightlines i need to check if i like the changes, that would help so much.

in the real world, building has to follow a certain order but in mc, maybe i ought to be more systematic about alternatives? i do like building a single face and working that, before any insides have been done, because you can scaff one side and view the other. but i also like filling out one corner of a space and inhabiting builds before they're finished - that's why i'm thinking about this, how to make that livable.

maybe then i should be working out interesting ways of interior scaffolding, to build up building faces - and then could swap portions of the scaff for real rooms if i wanted, stairs when i'm ready for them, etc. and you could maybe do some interesting things imitating house shells, that way.

[estellamiraiauthor]

The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 4)

Welcome back to my annotated re-read of The Stars May Rise and Fall. If you’ve missed the previous installments and want to get caught up: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

As always, SPOILERS ABOUND, possibly including spoilers for chapters beyond this one, so if you want to join in, care about spoilers, and haven’t read the book yet, get your copy here, or you can also order the paperback from your local indie bookstore!

Chapter 4 is going to be a fun one, folks… Chapter 4 has got a STORY!

In a welcome change from Chapter 3 (LOL), Chapter 4 is one of my favorite early chapters… this is where Teru sings for the band for the first time, and in the final published draft, it’s also the first time we get to “see” them play on-page at all. (A very early draft opened mid-concert, which is probably how I’d do that hypothetical anime, but wasn’t really needed for the book.) And so a lot of this chapter is a fun little nostalgia dive into visual kei.

I don’t know that I have much to say about the first third of the chapter, where they’re just in the sound check. It’s really just setting up how Teru feels and painting a little picture of how the venue looks. It’s fun for me to go back to, though, because those were fun times and I miss them!

The next part, though, when they actually have to play and the crowd is expecting to see Bara? That was largely inspired by something that actually happened.

I used to follow a little indie band called Replicant. When I first got into them, they had a little following… not enough to be filling venues on their own, but I think they were decently known and liked among people who were into indie visual kei. They had three members: a singer, a guitarist, and a bassist, and there was a drummer who wasn’t an official member but played with them. A month or so after I started following them, a different guy joined as their official drummer, and for like a week there were four of them. Then, one night, I went to see them play… and the singer just didn’t show. They actually just played the instrumental parts without the vocals that night, like karaoke tracks that no one sang along to. It was VERY awkward, and I felt VERY sorry for them, and it was really, really obvious that no one in the audience knew that the singer wasn’t going to show.

From other fans, I heard he just didn’t show up, and the other guys went to his house and couldn’t make contact with him. A couple of years later, a guy from another band said he “ran off with a girl,” but that doesn’t really explain playing one show, and then a week later, no-showing for another. A lot of these guys ends up quitting because they get married and want to get a real job, but they usually announce that they’re leaving and have a farewell show and everything. This guy just abandoned the band and disappeared. And I do think he was probably the most popular band member, so they lost a lot of fans after that happened.

The show AFTER that, I think the guitarist tried to sing while he played, and it didn’t go that well. They took a couple of weeks off after that, and when they came back they had kind of rebranded―the original guitarist sang, and played guitar solos on a few songs, and they had another guitarist join them as a guest to play the parts where he had to be singing at the same time. I liked the original guitarist/new singer… he was the band’s main songwriter, and I liked the songs he wrote. His voice was really different from the original singer’s, though, so they had to change their set lists up a lot, and the poor guy looked TERRIFIED during those first few shows. (Sound familiar?)

Ultimately, the band broke up, and the guitarist/singer/songwriter started a new band that played a lot of his old songs. When I learned about that, I went to see them… and this time HE just didn’t show up without notice. Why in the world would someone do such a shitty thing that had been done to them? I have no idea. It was a really bizarre story and I’m SURE I’m missing some key piece of it.

But, anyway, the whole “Um, hi? I guess I’m singing now?” bit was based on something that actually happened, and that I was in the audience for!

It’s also probably a good time to talk a little about the “oshi” culture here… no one called it “oshi” back then, but if you said that you liked a particular band, everyone would ask “Oh, who do you like?” or “Whose fan are you?” And you were expected to have a favorite band member―people would look at you like you were crazy if you said you just liked the music or liked the band as a whole! So if a popular member quit, a lot of the fans would follow them to their new band, rather than continuing to consider themselves fans of the original band. So Bara’s fans would’ve felt cheated, I think, to have come expecting to see him and them have him not show.

It’s a little bit of a fantasy, I think, for Teru to have won over a crowd who were mostly there to see someone else so easily… but what’s the fun of reading if it can’t take you away from reality for a bit?

So then we have the third part, when the show is over and they’re selling their demo tapes and photo sets in the lobby. Yes, bands were still selling cassette tapes into the 21st century here (even though we had texting before the rest of the world, I swear I double- and triple-checked the timing of all the technology and it’s accurate!). CDs were definitely the most popular way to buy music from major-label bands, but CD burners were still really expensive, so most indie bands still sold demo tapes. A lot of people had these little stereos that had a CD player, tape player, minidisc (MD) player and radio, and would buy CDs and tapes and then put the music on MDs to carry around.

The photo sets would just be photos of the band, sometimes taken in a professional studio but sometimes just in someone’s apartment with sheets thrown over the furniture. These days, I think a lot of bands and idol groups use Polaroid-type instant photos so that no two are alike, and they can sell a lot of photos to the same die-hard fans, but at the time they’d just print a bunch of the same photos and sell them either in sets of one of each band member and maybe one of all of them together, or individually.

And of course, also in this part, we meet Kiyomi. Looking at this as a Phantom retelling, Kiyomi is clearly the “Raoul.” She’s a childhood friend who is reunited with Teru here after they’ve both kind of grown, and I think she also sort of represents the class divide that was between Christine and Raoul in the original. I say “sort of,” because it’s complicated. There’s no nobility in modern-day Japan (although I guess there sort of unofficially is; I could have made her the daughter of an old landowning family or a politician?), but she’s sort of in an “upper” class just because she got a higher education (not a super elite one, based on her age and when she started her job she could only have gone to a two-year college, but it places her above Teru’s high school and WAY above Rei’s junior high in mainstream society’s eyes) and has a “normal” (i.e. salaried with benefits) job. She looks and dresses “mainstream” and while she probably doesn’t make a ton of money, she’d have a monthly salary that added up to more than what Teru made hourly, so while she’s not quite aristocracy, I think there is a kind of a class divide here as well―or at least the divide between subculture and mainstream.

And I think she also represents what Teru thinks he “should” be. He “should” like someone like her―why not? She’s pretty, she’s successful, she’s clearly interested in him.

But in the end, of course he rushes off to keep his promise to Rei instead of hanging around to talk to her.

In a lot of ways, of course, Kiyomi isn’t really Raoul at all―Raoul was trying to save Christine from a murderer, and since Rei isn’t a murderer in the first place, Teru doesn’t really need saving. And since Teru isn’t really attracted to her, as much as he thinks he SHOULD be, the final choice he has to make isn’t between Rei and Kiyomi at all, but between Rei and his career.

…but that’s maybe a discussion for a later chapter? ;)

[worldofl0re]

I nodded back to my supervisor with a comparable shame. At the very least, I thought, this place was being used for real, good things, not satiating some pervert's strange fantasy.

"Oh!" My supervisor said, picking up a small stack of documents bound by a paperclip, "Can you bring this to Bill? He's down in the old wing of the lab."

"Oh yeah, sure!" I said, grabbing the stack of papers, and turning to the closest door. I trekked quietly down the halls of the lab, the walls slowly changing from a pristine white to a... less pristine white as I entered the oldest parts of the laboratory.

I entered a large, cold room, where pods lined the walls and what I could only assume to be decorative dry ice slithered across the floor. This was where Bill usually was, maintaining the stasis pods where we both stored clones and DNA structures.

"Hey, Bill. I've got a stack of, uh, somethin' here for you," I said, turning a corner, "I don't know if you want to put it on your de-"

I stopped, staring down at the body of Bill, red seeping down his head and onto the floor. Droplets of blood trailed up the floor, and I followed it until I saw-

"Elon Musk?!" I blurted out. The man himself turned to me, bloodied wrench in hand, and smiled a twisted smile.

"Yes, it is me, don't you see?" Elon said, standing close to one of the pods.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, "This is trespassing!"

"Well, don't you remember? Before I sequestered Twitter, I tweeted about catgirls! It sure gave the internet a whirl! And now I'm here to seal the deal, to give the world the girls it needs, even if it never desired them!"

"You're insane!" I shouted at him. "We've given up on the catgirls long ago! You'll never find them!"

"Oh, but you're wrong, for here is one right before your eyes! With catgirls, the world will sing my praise, and no one will remember my blunders and crimes!"

Elon gripped a switch on the pod's control panel, and flipped it. Dry ice smoke plumed from the seals of the pod, and time moved to a crawl. I tried sprinting, in some vain attempt to stop what was already set in motion, shouting, "Noooooooo!" at the top of my lungs.

The pod opened, and a wall of cold smoke washed over me, stopping me in my tracks. I raised my hands to my face to shield my eyes, and when the smoke cleared, hesitantly took a look.

There, there stood a girl, who I have to admit, was pretty cute, but the cat ears, tail, and cat themed underwear... well, I don't really know how I feel about it, but it sure as hell wasn't more appealing.

She stepped out of the pod, and Elon scampered up besides her.

"M'lady!" Elon shouted, "I am Elon, and have released you from your prison, to-"

"Why are you talking in rhymes?" The catgirl interrupted him.

"Well-"

"And also your receding hairline is showing."

Without another word, the catgirl stepped off the pod, and walked past both him and me, walking through a door and leaving. Elon didn't stop her, too shocked by her patent dismissal, and I didn't either, I was too... confused.

"What?" I murmured. I then heard a crack. I spun around, only to see Elon collapsing to the floor, inert and silent. His hair transplant was missing, I just noticed, and I could now see his receding hairline.

A few days later, the doctors informed us that Bill would make a full recovery, and would need a couple days rest before going back to the lab. As for Elon though... the cracking sound was apparently the sound of his cold, frozen heart breaking under the pressure of the catgirl's merciless destruction of his ego.

He died of a broken, tiny heart, his legacy forever marred by the catgirls he loved so.

You are an assistant scientist at the experimental DNA modification and Cloning facility, and your boss has just told you that the facility was originally founded to create a race of… a race of… sigh catgirls. You ask your boss if they’re serious, and they nod with a shameful expression.

[j-graysonlibrary]

The Xiang Chronicles: Book Four Chapter 39

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book Four

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 118k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: In order to save the world from the continuous subjugation and potential annihilation at the hands of Tiandi, hard lines must be drawn. The Great Spirits that were imprisoned ages ago must be unsealed and awakened, no matter the consequences.

The players are divided—those who stand blindly with Tiandi, such as Xiang Merra and her disciples versus those who want to tear the system down and give the power back to the people. Even a few of the most religious Lords change their minds when they learn the truth of the world—that Tiandi is no more than a dictator with no love in his heart.

It is up to the last, real Xiang and the ill-fated Chaaya to put everything they have into tearing God from his throne and creating new possibilities for the future.

Full chapter 39 under the cut

Chapter XXXIX:

Several days passed in a blur—people coming and going through portals, more strategy meetings, and fine tuning details. The only downtime came at night but most were too exhausted from the chaotic day that they could not even enjoy it.

Pangu mustered the strength he did have. He knew how the battle would, ultimately, end if all went according to plan and he knew his time with his loved ones was limited. How he spent every night differed but he made sure each moment was memorable and had no room for regret.

He was sure Kira was doing much the same.

Although, when he saw his best friend with Baiya, speaking to him privately, he worried about what he would say. They had already promised to keep some things between them (to keep the morale of the group as high as possible) but when Baiya returned with a smile and a smug remark about winning Kira over and finally getting some genuine sentiment out of him, Pangu relaxed a little.

“Did he admit that he liked your company?” Viren asked, chuckling. The dark circles under his eyes had grown but he kept a smile on his face nearly all day.

“He told me he would be worried about me while we were split up. Told me to take care of myself.” Baiya held his chin up as if it were some major accomplishment.

“Are you sure he wasn’t making fun of you?” Kaz raised an eyebrow.

Baiya’s grin fell and he asked, “What do you mean?”

“That maybe he’s worried because he thinks you need to be worried about?”

Pangu could feel the argument brewing but he was just glad that there was no additional stress from Kira’s words. Ideally, he would have loved to talk about everything with everyone before it happened but he knew how tricky it could be. If even one person was not performing at their best, it could spell the end of everything they worked for.

He looked to his partners as they started to, inevitably, bicker and he sighed. They could be mad at him for withholding the truth later.

***

The final night before the big battle came upon them and, with everyone in the caves, the different groups said their goodbyes. Many of them would go through and wait with a Mistress until the following day but some people were staying.

Those like Phay had to return to their troops, however.

Kali stood by them, watching with her hands folded in front of her as Loa hugged Baiya around the neck and squeezed. May, Fujin, and Sunny were saying their farewells as well.

“We will see you tomorrow, at some point,” Fujin said, “I am sure you will be hard to miss whilst summoning a large flaming lizard.”

Phay smirked. “Let us hope.”

“And after we are done, we can come back here and celebrate.” May grinned from ear to ear.

Sunny, however, tugged on her sister’s sleeve. “I thought we were going home after?”

“Well…after that?” May cocked her head to the side.

Phay sighed. “I am sure, once all is said and done, you will be too tired to do much of anything. Once our strength is gathered again and the dust settles then we can see about this party.”

May’s spirits were immediately lifted. “And we can use the Mistresses’ miasma portals to hop between palaces and see each other!”

“I will be dead, remember?” Kali groaned.

“Oh…”

Loa cringed as she looked over at the exchange, hands still resting on her brother’s shoulders. She turned back to him and managed a small twitch of her lips—something of a smile. “Well, our family will be happy to see us once this is all over.”

Baiya gave her a curt nod. “Mom definitely needs something after all we have put her through.”

“One of us should get a baby,” she responded with a snicker, more sincerely smiling this time.

“Not me,” he beat her to the punch. “I would not know what to do with a kid. I would be nervous about giving Phay a baby as well. She might teach it to crawl over a bed of coals to try to toughen it up.”

Loa slapped him on the arm. “Stop. She would not.” Despite her words, she still let out a few, hushed laughs.

Baiya gave her a kiss on the side of her head. “Try and get some rest, okay? I will see you tomorrow.”

After she parted from him, she gave May and Fujin hugs as well and only a wave for Sunny so she did not overwhelm her. With a few promises to meet up after the battle and make rather superfluous but sweet peace treaties between the two nations, the Agni women departed. Kali would be back shortly, having more pressing matters to attend to, and Phay would take her army to their stakeout point on the field.

Parvati, however, intended to stay with May, Fujin, Sunny, and Gong in the Mythos castle. Because of the long distance they had to travel, miasma portals were vital and so the Mistress would keep by them.

Kaz joined them and watched as his sister and the two princesses he spent his life devoted to guarding, formed a rift between him. It was the first time he would ever be so far away from Fujin. Since he was born, she had always been hovering close by. Recently, they had spent less time together, sure, but they had always been in calling distance.

He would not show too much sentiment as he did not want to worry her or, worse, distract her. So he rested his hand on her shoulder and sighed. “Good luck tomorrow.”

“Is that it?” Parvati asked, laughing.

“What?” he glanced over at the Mistress with a scowl.

“Nothing I just…thought you would have more to say.”

“A wonder how he handles Pangu,” Gong said, as if in awe.

Kaz frowned and May cackled before grabbing a hold of him, circling her arms around his torso and rubbing her cheek against his chest plate. It was not the most comfortable thing to do but it did fluster him and that was what she was after.

“Get off,” he grumbled and attempted to free himself, shoving against her head while simultaneously unclasping her hands.

“Kaz, you’re staying?” Sunny asked in the meantime, a pout on her face.

“Yes,” he answered just as he pushed May away. With a huff, he continued, “I am going to Ultimos with the others…”

“He is staying to spend one last night with his boyfriends,” May corrected.

Kaz’s face flushed but he squared his shoulders and kept his chin up. “Yes. That too.”

Fujin smirked at his response. Even if his face was red, her brother was admitting his feelings with pride. She wondered which one of his new partners was responsible for that turnaround but she guessed it was probably something of a group effort.

“Have fun, Kaz.” Fujin teased anyway.

He cut his eyes at her and replied, “You too.”

“Oh, Fujin will have to wait to have any fun with me,” May responded and turned back to Sunny, “I have to talk with Raiden.”

Her sister’s face paled. “Be nice to my husband, May. He is scared of you, you know.”

Of course that only made her snicker. “Good. He should be.”

Fujin rolled her eyes and slapped her hands onto May’s back, pushing her along. They said their last goodbyes to Kaz and, in a line, moved through the portal. Parvati and Gong exited last, throwing one last look over their shoulder to Pangu.

The ex-Xiang stood close enough by the Terran group to overhear their conversation but not close enough to participate. He folded his arms over his chest and smiled as he listened to Ziyi trip over his words in front of Dio, Evie, and Alf.

“W-what I am trying to say is, and what I have been trying to say for the past few days, really…um…”

“Spit it out, you dusty nut sack,” Chandes urged him with something in her hand raised into the air, threatening to strike.

“Alright, alright,” the man took a more defensive tone and looked back to the lords of Meala, “I wanted to apologize for attacking Gnoma. I was just trying to lure Pangu into a trap but that is no justification. I am sorry.”

Alf blinked a few times, unsure of what to say. He checked with his lord for any hints but Dio just started to laugh, as boisterously as always.

“I…feel that is in the past?” Alf raised his shoulders. “Helping us in the fight tomorrow can be your penance if you are truly so sorry.”

Ziyi nodded. “I will! I will use the fallen soldiers on the field to add to our army.”

“That is a rather genius ploy,” Evie said with an approving smile, “All of Merra’s men become our men once they are dead.”

“And they cannot die again,” Ziyi pointed out.

“Well, unless they are immobilized or their heads are removed,” Chandes clarified and, when everyone looked at her she snapped, “What?! It’s my power that I gave him; I know the limitations!”

Oli and Viren glanced at one another before Oli slowly pushed his cousin to the side. They left Pangu’s view completely and he could not hear them either.

“Are you alright to do this tomorrow?” Oli asked his cousin, giving him a hard stare. He had been watching him over the past few days but he seemed to be getting worse, not better.

“I am fine,” Viren continued to try to convince him. “Once I summon Gnome, everything will be better. The tide of the battle will be swayed and we can focus on winning.”

Oli frowned as the realization sunk in. Even if something was wrong with his cousin, he was not going to force it out of him or trick him into admitting it.

He just had to deal with the information presented to him, though it was clearly a lie. “Alright,” he sighed, “Just let me know if there is anything I can do.”

Viren clapped a hand over his shoulder. “You are already doing everything you can. You will make a fine lord, Oli.”

Pangu only heard the last few words as he tried to walk over and join but he was soon grabbed and spun around. “Ah,” he vocalized, a little louder than intended.

Heidi laughed and, immediately, apologized. “Sorry. I did not mean to scare the life out of you.”

He shook his head, dismissing the idea. “So, are you going to leave as well? Or are you staying here?”

“Well Parvati and Gong already left with the ladies so…” Heidi gestured with her thumb over her shoulder. “I am kind of stuck.”

Pangu frowned. “I can ask someone else to take you home. You do not need to—”

She stopped him with a hand in the air. “I want to stay.” She laughed a little, mostly under her breath, and carried on, “I wanted to have a chance to talk to you, like this, for starters. Afterward, I plan on hanging around Ashoka. She still seems like she could reverse her decision at any moment and I want her to know that she is doing the right thing.”

He looked around the caves but he could not see Merra’s ex-disciple anywhere. There were still plenty of bodies blocking the way. He turned back to Heidi and sighed, “You are and always have been a huge help, Heidi. Thank you.”

To his surprise, his sister laughed. “Don’t lie.”

Pangu raised his brows. “What do you mean? I am not lying.”

“I was no help at all when I was with you as your disciple. And I barely did anything here—it was more of a situational thing. That isn’t to say I was entirely useless either but I probably dragged you down more often than not.”

He adamantly shook his head. “You did help. In a lot of small ways that you probably do not even realize. Or remember.”

Heidi gave him a sideways smile, struggling with the feeling his words gave her. He had said things just to make her feel better before (whether he would admit it or not) but, in that moment, everything he said hit as though it were the absolute truth. At least, in his mind, he believed every word.

“Thanks, Pangu.” She squeezed his arm. “You know, when I first joined up with you, I did not find your work very impressive.”

He laughed. “I know.”

“I am not finished,” Heidi chuckled and continued, “I…was not just clouded by jealousy back then, you know. Though, that was part of it. The other part…what I did not really realize until you were killed, was that I was forcing a distance between us so that when you, inevitably did die, I would not be so hurt. It didn’t work…at all…but I think that was what I was doing. It doesn’t make some of the cruel things I said any better but, you know, maybe it sheds a little light.”

“I never thought you were being cruel.” Pangu shook his head and took her hands into his. “Honestly, you were right about some of the things you said back then. I really wasn’t doing much as the Xiang.”

Heidi smiled and met his eyes. “I cannot say that now.” She tightened her grip on his hands. “I really am proud of you, you know? And I am really not ready to let you go again.”

Her words, mixed with her furrowed brow clued Pangu in on her startlingly accurate intuition. He frowned and broke their eye contact, looking instead at the ground. “I am sorry.”

She sniffed and let him go, all at once. “Yeah…anyway, where are your boyfriends? They should be spending tonight with you too.”

As they turned around, Baiya and Kaz were reuniting with Viren. The Terran group had been led away by Chandes though Oli had also opted to stay in the caves. He was chatting with Ziyi, however, so he did not join them.

“Hey there, fellas,” Heidi said as she practically pulled Pangu over. He was not dragging his feet but she was simply moving faster than he anticipated. “I expect you are all ready for tomorrow?”

“As ready as we can be,” Baiya answered first.

“That is a yes, Heidi,” Viren said, more sweetly.

Kaz nodded, adding his silent agreement. Heidi really could not pin him down but he did seem to, at least, be completely obsessed with her brother so she figured he was alright.

“Good. Now.” She pulled Pangu closer to her. “As you all know, this is my big brother who I am both proud of and very worried about. The three of you need to take his mind off of the battle tomorrow and make him feel loved and appreciated, got it?”

Pangu almost slapped his palm to his forehead but decided on laughing instead. Heidi could be embarrassing when she wanted to be—a quality he was foolish to have let slip his mind.

“Yes, ma’am,” Viren responded with a smile.

“Like we were not going to anyway?” Kaz arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Baiya agreed, “Maybe now that we have been told, we don’t want to.”

“Do you want me to kick your ass, Baiya?” Heidi threatened.

Viren put his hands out, “They are kidding. They are both kidding.”

Heidi pointed a finger at Baiya. “You are on thin ice.”

“Aren’t I always?” he smirked and pulled Pangu closer.

She huffed and centered herself. “While I cannot fathom what my brother sees in you, I must accept his choice in men. Therefore, I am happy for you all. Have a good night. I am busy now.”

With a wink to Pangu, she hurried off and he was left to sigh and sit in the situation she left him in. He could not help but smile, however, as her intention was almost cloyingly sweet.

[aava9099]

How to prepare the oats in the oven

In a real sense, each basic cake recipe needs eggs! They give fundamental design, surface, raising, and even tone. Notwithstanding, eggs are the fixing that you never appear to have while needing to prepare a few cakes! Breakfast wouldn't be something very similar assuming oats had never be found. They are unmistakable in large numbers of our  morning-time feasts, including muesli and cereal.

Cereal has been a family staple for ages, and muesli has been moving in later history.

How to prepare the oats in the oven

What's the distinction among muesli and cereal? The greatest distinction is that muesli is prepared to-eat though cereal should be cooked. Both are generally delighted in with an assortment of organic product, nuts, and sweet garnishes, yet those treats come bundled with the oats in muesli and should be added independently to oats except if you purchase a moment, pre-enhanced assortment.

Muesli and oats are comparative, yet unique, and both heavenly. In this article, we'll look all the more carefully at how and why you could decide to set one up over the other.

Primary Contrasts Among Muesli and Cereal Both muesli and oats are cereals made fundamentally from entire grains.

Cereal is produced using oats, of course, yet many cooks will change it up of fixings to their oats for flavor and surface.

Muesli is instant in that the fixings are added to the oat before it is bundled and sold. The other fundamental contrast between the two is that muesli is all the more generally eaten cold, however it tends to be cooked.

Oats is eaten hot, however oats themselves can be eaten crude or in various alternate ways.

Muesli Muesli is a prepared to-eat grain that can either be eaten hot or cold. It's made up basically of oats and various chips, for example, grain drops or cornflakes.

Added to the grains are dried natural products, nuts, seeds, and different flavorings like coconut or chocolate.

Muesli is more like granola than oats, with the main genuine distinction in the muesli versus granola domain being that granola is prepared prior to being utilized, though muesli is crude.

Is Muesli Solid? Muesli can be staggeringly sound and crammed with nourishment, yet it can likewise be a sugar-bomb that unleashes destruction on your glucose levels.

Assuming you make your own muesli so you know precisely very thing is going in it, you can make a point to incorporate a wide assortment of refreshing fixings, like crude nuts and seeds, coconut, and no-sugar-added dried natural products.

You can likewise screen the sum and sort of sugar you add to it. We suggest Priest Natural product Sugar.

In the event that you're buying a pre-made assortment, check the nourishment mark to choose for yourself how sound it is. Take a gander at the sugar to fiber proportion, which ought to be supportive of the fiber.

It will have some sugar, yet look at the fixings to check whether that sugar is coming principally from natural product, nuts, or even honey, or on the other hand assuming that it's from less beneficial sources, for example, anything called "syrup" or "high-fructose."

Oats However normal as oats and oats may be across the world, many individuals actually pose the inquiry, is oats porridge? The response is a basic yes and negative.

Oats is a kind of porridge, yet not all porridge is oats, however a great many people utilize the terms conversely.

Porridge is a hot cereal made of almost any grains, vegetables, or even vegetables, though oats is, by definition, produced using oats. The oats can be of any assortment, including steel-cut, rolled, or fast oats.

The most effective method to Make Oats The most well-known method for eating oats is to cook them in milk or water and make oats. Contingent upon the sort of oats you have, you might have to cook them longer or drench them first.

The following are a couple of explicit assortments that become gotten some information about frequently:

The most effective method to make steel cut oats: steel cut oats are good and a few cards short of a deck finely handled relations, which make them wonderful to cook in bunches. For a more profound flavor, toast them first in a dry container on your burner. Utilize 1 cup of oats for each 4 cups of fluid, either water, milk, or a blend of the two. Stew with a smidgen of salt and spread or coconut oil for 20 minutes, blending periodically. The most effective method to make cereal burner: In the event that you need heartier, finished oats, utilize moved oats. On the off chance that you favor creamier, mushier cereal, utilize speedy oats. One way or the other, heat your water to the point of boiling, diminish to a stew, and afterward add your oats. Use ¼ cup to ½ cup oats per serving and twofold how much water. Add your milk and fixings after your oats is cooked, which requires around 4 minutes at a stew with generally continuous mixing. The most effective method to cook oats in the microwave: Moved oats and fast oats are cut into a lot more slender cuts than steel cut oats so they can concoct pleasant and rapidly in the microwave. For a solitary serving, place ¼ cup of oats in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with milk or water, about ½ cup. Add any fixings like nuts, seeds, dried natural products, and so forth. For moved oats, cook for 2.5 minutes, keeping a nearby eye and mixing in the event that it takes steps to bubble over the bowl. For speedy oats, you just need 1 moment. Step by step instructions to cook oats for weight reduction: Assuming weight reduction is your objective, the main rule is to stay away from moment cereal that is brimming with sugar and different added substances. Utilized rolled or steel slice oats to get the most fiber and protein and add regular garnishes like new berries and nuts, staying away from syrup, sugar, honey, and, surprisingly, dried natural products to scale back the sugar. The most effective method to make cereal in milk: On the off chance that you're making oats on the oven, you must be exceptionally cautious to cook it in milk since milk will singe without any problem. You would find success cooking your oats in single servings in the microwave, as above, ensuring it doesn't bubble over. If you have any desire to cook steel cut oats in milk, utilize your sluggish cooker on a low setting for the time being, utilizing a proportion of 1:4.

There are many different egg substitutes that many individuals guarantee to be secure, yet generally they don't appear to work.

Fortunately, we have attempted and tried some egg substitutes to see which works best.

Anyway, what are the 9 best substitutes for eggs in cakes? Our most noteworthy suggested substitute is squashed bananas for entire eggs and aquafaba fluid for whipped egg whites. Other than those, ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, vinegar, pureed smooth tofu, fruit purée, and even yogurt will function admirably.

In the present article, we will be taking a gander at these substitutes and precisely when and how to utilize them. We will likewise be taking a gander at their upsides and downsides, as the need might arise to use for every replacement.

What Are The Elements Of Eggs in Cakes? Eggs have a large number of capabilities in cooking from emulsifying sauces to making the inward design of cakes and other prepared merchandise.

To all the more likely comprehend which substitutes you want to utilize (or browse) you need to comprehend what the elements of the eggs are. Today, we will be checking out explicitly at the elements of eggs in cakes.

By figuring out what capability you really want the eggs for, you can figure out which substitute will work best.

As a matter of some importance, as you definitely know, eggs comprise of egg yolks and egg whites. Generally, these two are utilized together in cakes, however it isn't generally the situation. At the point when they are utilized independently, they really do will generally have various capabilities.

Structure Egg whites are utilized to either assist with making the design of the cake, or to assist with circulating air through it - it can likewise do both simultaneously.

At the point when egg whites are prepared (no matter what the structure they are utilized in) the proteins coagulate because of the intensity of the broiler and make a steady design in the cake.

The way the eggs (particularly the egg whites) are arranged makes various surfaces in cakes.

For instance, when an entire egg is beaten and integrated into a hitter, you will have a "ordinary", at times even thick cake surface. Indeed, even simply by integrating plain egg whites (without a yolk) you will in any case have a similar outcome.

Be that as it may, assuming that you consolidated whipped (beaten) egg whites (without yolks), you can delicately overlay them into the player, making a considerably more circulated air through, open piece surface in your cake.

Various sorts of cakes utilize various kinds of eggs to make unmistakable designs. Pound cakes utilize entire eggs to make a denser construction.

Genoise cakes are made by beating entire eggs over low intensity and subsequently cooking them - this makes a thicker hitter and semi-circulated air through surface. For chiffon cakes, the yolks and whites are utilized independently.

The whites are beaten to make a meringue prior to being integrated into the player with the yolks. This makes an extremely circulated air through and rich cake structure.

At the point when egg whites are integrated into a player with no guarantees, whenever they are prepared, the proteins coagulate and shape an elastic construction.

These egg whites can likewise make an alternate sort of design when they are beaten to make froth. This froth is tenderly integrated into the hitter, making a circulated air through player.

At the point when this hitter is prepared, once more, the proteins coagulate and make a considerably more supple and breezy design.

At the point when you integrate whipped egg whites, it likewise goes about as a kind of raising specialist that helps add volume to a cake.

Soundness With structure comes soundness, on the grounds that without eggs in a cake blend (or comparative fixings), the other fixings wouldn't have the option to remain solitary.

Eggs, both the yolks and whites, assist with joining fixings together and their protein structure ties them.

If you somehow managed to join flour and milk and heat it, they wouldn't keep intact well; be that as it may, add an egg, and not exclusively will you have a superior surface, yet it will hold much better.

Dampness Eggs normally fall under the wet fixings class with regards to cakes. The sole motivation behind adding wet fixings isn't just to assist with consolidating the dry fixings however to add flavor and an alternate kind of surface.

The more wet fixings you have, the moister and milder your cake will be.