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avis-writeshq · 8 months ago

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pairing: early seasons!spencer reid x sunshine!fem!reader genre: fluff, pining, best friends to lovers warnings: reader struggles growing her nails out, reader gets her nails done. vietnamese women are the best at doing nails i swear (also if you get the reference you win another kiss) wc: 1.08k

Spencer thinks you deserve all the best things in life. There are various reasons for this but the one that sticks out to him the most is that fact that you have always been exceedingly kind to him. You have always listened to him when he talks and never once tried to belittle him for any of his interests. A part of him thinks that it’s because your ages are so similar. Another part of him thinks that you’re just pitying him. He truly hopes that isn’t the case.

He makes you your coffee in the mornings. He knows how you take it– which milk you prefer, the amount of sugar. He has even gone as far as to buy your favourite instant coffee brand– the kind that are unreasonably expensive and have to be bought through a weirdly sketchy website despite its raving reviews. He remembers the way your eyes lit up as you held the familiar box excitedly and he can’t help but preen at the memory.

“Thank you for coffee, Spence,” you chirp as you spy your unofficially assigned mug on your desk. You’re wet from the rain, the shoulders of your coat darkened from where your umbrella has dripped water onto it. “Hotch would’ve killed me if I had to spend another five minutes at the kitchen. It’s not my fault my train came fifteen minutes late.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, watching as you shake your hair away from your face before warming your hands with the mug. “I did tell him that there was a correlation between rainy weather and increased train delays which could have been a reason that you were late.”

You smile, clearly amused, asking, “how did he take it?”

“He pointed out that I’m still earlier than the rest of the team,” Spencer responds sheepishly, his cheeks growing pink. “I planned my train route for when the rain would be the least heavy.”

“I should follow in your footsteps,” you muse, sipping at your coffee and sighing in relief. “You always make this better than me.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he murmurs, his hand brushing against his scarf. “I was– um, I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch together later?”

You laugh softly and he relishes in the sound. “I only just got here and you’re already asking about lunch?”

He feels his cheeks glow hotter as he scrambles to explain himself. “Well– usually– uh, JJ usually asks you so I guess I wanted to ask before she did. And you have lunch with Garcia a lot so I thought I should ask when you get here and– sorry, is that wrong?”

“No, of course not,” you assure, beaming. “I’m touched that you think that I’m so popular that you need to book an appointment with me.”

“You are popular?” He says it like a question because a part of him is genuinely baffled that you don’t realise how well liked you are. He has found that you always manage to command the attention in the room and he has seen first hand the way people would be instantly drawn to you. He finds that he is no different.

“I promise you that I am not as popular as you believe I am,” you say with another laugh. “I’m flattered though, truly. I’d love to have lunch with you.”

Spencer cannot stop smiling.

***

“You’re whipped.”

Spencer shoots JJ a look, his cheeks glowing hot with embarrassment. “I am not whipped.”

“You have been staring at her talking to Officer Deetmore for the past six minutes and twenty seven seconds,” she points out, her eyes narrowing.

“They’re probably just making small talk.”

Emily shrugs from her desk, mixing her cup noodles around. “I don’t know, I’m surprised that she can hold a conversation with someone so intellectually disinclined.”

JJ snickers. “You’re just mad that he mislabeled a file and spread the profile.”

“Intellectually disinclined.”

“Guys,” Spencer pleads, inconspicuously gesturing to you saying your farewells and already heading in their direction.

You’re smiling although it doesn’t quite reach your eyes. Your arms are folded over your chest, a classic sign of discomfort, and your hands are tucked into your armpits. “Hey. What’s going on?”

“Are you alright?” Spencer asks instead of answering, soft enough as not to call attention to your little group. “What’s wrong?”

“Hm? Oh. I broke a nail.” You show him briefly– your natural nail has split at the corner just where they’re gaining length. “I’m a little bummed. It caught on the zipper of my go-bag.”

“Do you want to get your nails done after the case?” He asks, brows furrowing. “I have a nail clipper and file in my bag.”

JJ can’t help but be amused at this new fact. “You have a nail care pack in your bag? What, do you just take it around with you everywhere?”

He shrugs, ignoring the slight jab, pulling out the little pack from his satchel and handing it to you. He is well aware that you take pride in what you look like, especially your nails. You’ve told him the reason before, that your school was so strict that they wouldn’t let anyone grow their nails long and if they did they would be cut short by the nurse. He thinks that it’s borderline abuse.

“Manicures are expensive,” you murmur, your eyes downcast as you focus on clipping each of your nails to an equal length. “Are we even allowed to have our nails done?”

“Federal Enforcement Resources states under grooming guidelines that ‘Makeup (including fingernail polish and artificial nails) may be worn by employees but must be professional and must not interfere with the proper use and handling of equipment necessary for their assigned duties’,” Spencer provides helpfully. “I can pay for your nails, too, if price is the issue. The bakery I buy my banh mi from has a nail place next door. I’m sure I can get a discount.”

You laugh as you file down your nails into a smooth edge. “You want to pay for my nails?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” He nods, cheeks suddenly hot and he wipes his palms on his slacks. “If you’d let me.”

“Gosh, well, at least take me out to dinner first, Spence.” You say it with jest, your eyes lighting up with mirth.

He doesn’t seem to catch your joking tone, nodding in earnest. “Alright. After the case, how does Saturday sound? I can pick you up at 6?”

Emily and JJ are all too pleased.

reblogs are always appreciated !!

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader fluff #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds x reader fluff #criminal minds fluff #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler x reader fluff #matthew gray gubler fluff

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 7 months ago

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To a Tea 3

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Part of the Sweet and Spicy AU

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: A demanding customer grows increasingly needy.

Character: Raymond Smith

The title is a pun, don’t @ me.

Please comment and reblog if it’s not too much. I always love getting to chat about these stories and hearing all your ideas! You all are wonderful and loved.

Six days in a row and you’re ready to keel over. Amid your busy schedule, you hadn’t a chance to fill your quickly dwindling cupboards and fridge. So, after a ten-hour shift on your feet, running all around the tables and between tea rooms, you expend the last of your strength on a quick trip to the shop.

It isn’t too far out of your way. It’s just a half-block away from your stop. You could wait until tomorrow, your day off, but you’re dying for a strawberry shortcake mochi before you tuck into bed. The rest of your night isn’t too unusual; you’ll be happy to fall asleep to an episode of the same old sitcom that you know by rote.

You yawn over the bask hooked over your elbow. You have your mochi and a few other staples to get you through; eggs, oat milk, and your favourite brand of granola. You rub your forehead as a stitch threatens to imprint itself permanently. Tomorrow you’ll do a proper shop.

You stop just before the cashier and peruse the discount shelf. Those chocolate-covered gummy worms are deadly. You shouldn’t.

You reach for the package, eyeing it up, blinking away another yawn. Those will only have you waking up with a sore tummy.

“You’d be better off with the dark chocolate, or even the peanuts,” someone says. The timbre is dulcet but firm, and strangely familiar.

You look over at the figure standing around the side of the shelves. You fear you might be hallucinating as you stare at Raymond. He has a square of protein chocolate in hand but sets it back where he got it, making certain it and every other bar is straight.

“Oh, hi?” You stammer.

The tea shop is busy and you’re certain you’ve probably crossed paths with at least one customer outside store hours, but never like this. If anything, you both look the other way and carry on. Instead, he’s intent on you, shifting to face you fully as he sets his shoulders, clutching his hands before him.

“Though I do suppose you’ve already got the ice cream, it hardly matters what else you add to your lot,” he muses.

You look in your basket then at him. Is he judging you? Mr. Black Tea, plain. You hang the bag back on the hook. As you do, he steps forward and you shuffle back on your heels. He pulls the bag in line with others, rescinding his hand with a flutter of fingers.

“If you’re in the mind for something sweet, there’s a place near here, it has a sticky toffee pudding more worth the expense,” he suggests.

You don’t know what to say. You haven’t seen him since he muttered about your apron strings. In the two weeks after, you assumed he might not come back. As particular as he is, you thought you’d gone egregiously over the line. And yet, you’d forgotten about him for all the other bodies passing through the door.

“Thanks, I’ll look into that,” you say.

“Mm,” he hums and his eyes flit up and down behind his lenses, “you sound different.”

“Do I?” You reach to scratch your neck.

“You look different too.”

You tilt your head and give a confused grimace, “well, I...” you glance down, “suppose I'm not wearing my apron.”

“Must be it,” he agrees, “you sound tired.”

“I guess... yeah,” you take a breath and let it out slowly.

It’s strange. He’s not a customer here, there is no need to please and yet you feel you must. You poke the tip of your tongue out then hide it behind your lips.

“Not in a bad way,” he assures you.

“Right, thanks,” you say in a fracture, “that’s nice, but uh, I... I’m just on my way home.”

“I know,” he says.

“...so then I’ll just be--” you point towards the checkout and falter, “what did you say?”

“Yes, down Trafalgar. I know. It’s late,” he peers over towards the transparent walls along the front of the shop, “these parts aren’t too safe this time of day.”

“Trafal--“ you begin but can’t finish, “Raymond.”

He blinks, his expression scarily placid.

“Details,” he says evenly, “it is best to keep note of them. It is dangerous not to mind them.” He raises a finger, “one might not notice the shadow that walks behind theirs or the window they left open in the kitchen.”

Your lip trembles as your heart sinks, “have you... have you been following me?”

“Following... that sounds sinister,” he gives a crooked expression, “no, no, I would consider it... I keep you safe.”

“Safe. From what, exactly?”

He narrows his eyes and his lips straighten thoughtfully.

“Well, from men like me.”

His words turn your blood to ice. Men like him. What does he mean?

“I...” you take a step back and he moves with you. You put your hand up to stop him as you still, “Raymond, do not come any closer.”

“You don’t understand, I wouldn’t hurt you,” he says, “that’s what makes me different. Not like those other men.”

“I mean it,” you warn him. “If you come any closer, I will make a scene.”

Your adrenaline courses through you. You’re awake now. The yawns have dissipated and your eyes are wide.

“Ah, and that’s where I am like the other men,” he shrugs, “it doesn’t matter if I come closer to you right now. Hardly matters. Because I can wait. I have waited. And when I...” he steps towards you and you put the basket between you, his stomach pressing against it, “come closer, you will not even see me coming.”

You stare at him, horrified. His blue eyes gleam and he reaches to straighten his glasses. He smirks and his brows draw up coyly. He leans in and you lean away. Then suddenly, he backs off and tugs his cuffs straight, then fixes his tie.

“Don’t forget to close your window,” he says as he spins on his heel, “wouldn’t want some nocturnal creature creeping in.”

You gape after him as he saunters off. You can’t quiet move as disbelief has you stuck to the spot. It’s all so sudden. So unexpected. How could you ever predict something like this? The uptight man from the tea shop, a stranger really, a face who disappeared for a whole fortnight, and he’s just shaken your entire world into disarray.

Men like him? You don’t even know who he is. Only his name and how he likes his tea.

#raymond smith #dark raymond smith #dark!raymond smith #raymond smith x reader #the gentlemen #series #drabble #au #sweet and spicy #to a tea

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meltedbluecaterpillar · 2 months ago

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Olfactophilia

QUARTET NIGHT - HE★VENS

TW FOR SEMI SUGGESTIVE CONTENT! These are my personal headcanons on what I think the idols would wear. You do not have to agree with me. I just dislike how Broccoli always gives their character merch scents like; apple or lavender. They are adult men in an entertainment industry. They usually get promotional items so I think that they have preferences... But I also have a thing for exploring the world around me with my nose first. I hope you enjoy.

Quick explanation; top notes, middle notes, and base notes are the length of how long the scent will last when applied. Top notes; 5 - 15 minutes / Middle notes; 1 hour / Base notes; Max of 6 hours

Otoya Ittoki

God of Fire by Stéphane Humbert Lucas Unisex Cologne Around 200 USD // 29,896 Yen

I chose this particular cologne based on my personal views and how I see Otoya Ittoki. Usually for character merch he has a very delicate and gentle smelling item (lavender usually) but I personally do not think it fits him. Especially now that he is a fiery adult! Do I think he would actually spend that much on cologne? Once... If he is planning to go on a special date or he has to go to a big fancy event he will have this prepared. God of Fire has the scent of smoke and embers. Imagine a wildfire that has reduced it's surroundings to ash. Otoya is a very free spirit and he is full of energy like a burning flame. He and I also share a star sign, so I know my Aries men the best. The top notes are mango, ginger, lemon and red berries (usually this is raspberries) which gives it an upper tropical and fruity smell. Middle notes; Coumarin (a grassy smell mixed with vanilla), jasmine and cedar. Making it very woodsy! And base notes have musk (this usually means fabric, soft and clean), amber, agarwood. The base notes are the raging, smoky flames that will reduce everything above to ash.

You won't be burned by Otoya, although he is much hotter than any sun...

Ren Jinguji

Triumph of Bacchus by Argos Masculine/Unisex Cologne Around 250 USD // 37,370 Yen

Ren usually will have citrus as his scent. Oranges... But I think that is overplayed. Allow me to entice you my little lost lambs!~! This cologne is designed to seduce. And Ren is also a nepobaby so I don't think he looks at prices very much? As long as it is something he truly wants. And what he wants is to charm you out of your clo- I mean... Take you on a date... And fun fact, Bacchus is one of the twelve Olympians and he is the god of wine making, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and 'religious ecstasy'. Catch my drift? The top notes are Rum, white peach, green apple and saffron which are nice and fruity!~! Middle notes are tonka bean, patchouli, jasmine and vetiver (it's a grassy smell with wood as well). This is where the more sexy aspect starts to really kick in especially when he hugs you tightly against his chest... The base notes are tobacco, vanilla, amber, sandalwood and musk. Tobacco (natural and unburned) is actually oddly sweet so it fits extremely well to me.

Don't lose your way little lamb, the big bad wolf might lure you in... Just kidding, it's only Ren...

Natsuki/Satsuki Shinomiya

Au Lait by Alkemia Unisex Perfume 20 USD // 2,990 Yen

Le Lion by Chanel Unisex Perfume Around 325 USD // 48,581 Yen

Natsuki is our double dipper because he is a very special case. His scent is... Pure yellow. But that reminds me of extra strength cleaner which is so horrific. I like these instead! The first one is something I think he would buy because it reminds him of bouncy fresh bread. He doesn't seem interested in prices or anything like that. Just if something is small and cute. Because it isn't a luxury brand... Fans would go insane knowing this is what he wears. It has only a few ingredients which aren't really categorized. But we have wild honey, hints of brown sugar, tonka beans and creamy milk. Some reviews say it really does smell like fresh buttery bread which I adore. The next one is technically Satsuki, but still Natsuki. But please interpret this however you want. I picked this particular fragrance for many reasons , but I won't bore you to death! Honestly... A fan probably bought this and sent it to the company PO box... The top notes are bergamot and lemon. Which is very acidic and citrusy, like a sudden jolt when you inhale. Crackle even. The middle notes are labdanum(woody smelling resin from a species of rockrose) and amber. This makes it have a very inviting and somewhat... Almost animalistic... In a good way. Kind of wild and a little... Dangerous. But it lingers around because if Natsuki is wearing it there's nothing to worry about... Right? The base notes are vanilla, patchouli, sandalwood, and musk. This is where that charm really shines through for me Natsuki wise. It's delicate and masculine, still inviting and strong just like he is.

Natsuki wishes he could hold you all the time... Satsuki has other intentions...

Cecil Aijima

Oro Verde by House of BŌ Unisex Perfume 175 USD // 26,159 Yen

Unfortunately Cecil is a victim of the green apple craze. I do not think green apple suits him at all it is such a childish thing. Something I would get at Claire's. So I choose this. Which is very simple but I also do not see Cecil as someone who would wear a lot of cologne? He doesn't want to rub stuff on his skin that isn't natural so he probably dabs this on his clothes or staff will ask to put it behind his ears/on his wrists. The top notes are bergamot, cannabis, mate- LOWER YOUR PITCHFORKS! Cannabis smell when it is unburned has an earthy scent to it. Somewhat sticky and almost like fresh cut grass. When it is burned that's when you get the skunk and garlic... Okay? Middle notes are basil, watermelon, and vetiver sables (earthy like rotten log smell). This with the light scent of lingering fruit really makes me smile it has a very fresh smell which I really like. Like the scent of your skin when you sunbathe. And finally the base notes are herbals and spices (I don't want to list off all of the plants). When they say spice that actually is in reference to black pepper! Which all together is so wonderful to smell. And Cecil is a prince so of course he smells good.

The fresh scent lingers on your clothes, just as Cecil had hoped!~!

Masato Hijirikawa

Quasar Ice by O Boticárioro Masculine Cologne 50 USD // 7,474 Yen

Of course our ice prince gets something ice themed. I did not want to give Masato something expensive like the others just because I don't think he is into luxury items. I am not suggesting the others are... I am implying that he doesn't think to hard about cologne. As long as it smells nice for a meeting he won't mind. The only issue is that this is an alcohol base so he would spray it gently... Leaving a nice fade out. No dousing... The top notes are ice (this is hard to explain but it is the molecule that allows you to smell cold air), lime, sage, and cardamom. So in other words... A store bought key lime pie! I wanted something sweet for Masato since I think he is a very sweet guy, even if he doesn't look like it. The middle notes are cedar, black pepper, bourbon geranium, and lavender. This will reminisce a nice winter walk though the forest! And the base notes are oakmoss, amber, sandalwood, and cashmere. So after your frozen pie and a chilly walk, it's like you've returned to a nice cozy cabin with him at the end of the night...

To think that even Masato could wear something so romantic...

Tokiya Ichinose

Midnight by Rawchemistry Masculine Cologne/Pheromones' 30 USD // 4,485 Yen

My original choice for Tokiya was something different. However I cannot find the original scent and nor do I think it truly fits the Tokiya that lives in my mind anymore. So, I chose this. It is also not an alcohol base which I think Tokiya would like because he is overly conscious and critical of everything he eats/wears/does. And this is technically pheromones. Not cologne. So there aren't really top, middle and base notes. Just an overall scent. And that would be; lavender, orange blossoms, patchouli and vanilla. And if you didn't know... All four of these are aphrodisiacs. The usual notes used in cologne are made in fact to attract. But these all together are made with the intent to seduce if that makes sense since there are no other ingredients to note. Is Tokiya a sexual character? No. But he is designed and written to have that form of charm without directly saying it. So that is also why I chose this. He is very confident with what he does as an idol. So... He wants you to understand that without him saying it...

Maybe there is some appeal to Tokiya after all... Just kidding...

Syo Kurusu

Sahara Rose Absolute by Habibi NY Unisex Perfume 135 USD // 20,180 Yen

So... Usually Syo will have a rose scented item. Which... I personally like a lot actually. He is a character designed to not fit into most traditionally masculine stereotypes while still being very masculine. So I chose this scent because it sort of replicates what I think his actual character scent actually is and what he would like to wear. Although I regret to inform the masses that he used to drown himself in Axe body spray... Thankfully he's grown now and he knows that shit was wack. The top notes are Turkish rose, geranium, jasmine and black currant. Very floral and very delicate which is so pleasant when it lingers. The middle notes are pink pepper, saffron, incense, and agar wood. These are spicy and semi-sweet, the balance between femininity and masculinity. The incense offering a powdery-ness that makes it not overwhelming. And finally the base notes are musk, sandalwood, vetiver, and amber. Very sensual at the end, and again not overpowering. I love the balance it has personally and this one was my 'absolute' favorite.

Even though Syo is so strong... He still leaves that rose colored hue behind...

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bluecloudsandpinksnow · 4 months ago

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strawberry milk (akabane karma x reader)

summary:

He likes it. It’s his favorite brand and you are so good at this ‘communicating’ thing. You’re pretty sure Karma said something after that, but currently, you are on cloud nine and you can barely process the words over your feelings of success.

You would have fist pumped and yelled ‘sublime’ too, had he not waved a hand in front of your face in concern.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re acting kinda- weird?”

Okay, you did not respond fast enough, what did he even say before that? You shake your head and prepare the fastest, most soundproof response you can muster.

“Sorry, I fell down the stairs this morning.” fandom: Assassination Classroom by Yûsei Matsui pairing: akabane karma x gender-neutral! reader warnings: none, unless you count second hand embarrassment notes: - cross posted on ao3 under the same name - first fic ever posted for me, i have more plans n drafts for this universe already but that depends on my motivation lmao - i hope you have as much fun reading as i had writing --- START ---

Mustering up the last bits of courage you can, you pull the two tetra packs from your bag and abruptly stand up.

Unfortunately for you, your chair screeches against the floorboard from the force, and all of your classmates look in your direction.

You could feel the heat creeping up your neck as you quietly mutter out an apology. Thankfully, no one makes a big issue of your disruption and they all return to their own activities.

Now to face the daunting task that’s been plaguing your mind ever since this morning at the train station, where your whimsical decision-making had you convinced that you should totally, definitely, get something for Karma.

You briskly walk across the room, over to where the aforementioned red-headed boy was conversing with Nagisa about some topic you couldn’t process at the moment.

All you want to do is to get to know him better, that’s it. No underlying motives, whatsoever.

“Hey, this is for you.”

You shoved the strawberry milk carton into his hand. A flash of innocent confusion crosses Karma’s face, and you almost let yourself think about how cute of a look it was for someone like him. Before you get to entertain that preposterous thought, he tilts his head in amusement, waiting for an explanation.

“So, uhm- The vending machine! I got lucky, cause it, uhm- it broke, so I got two instead of one- Not that it’s lucky that it broke of course! That’s bad, that has some very bad implications. Uh, you know?” you wave your hands around in an attempt to explain, gesturing to your milk carton as if it would suddenly start talking in your defense.

From the corner of your eye, you see Nagisa giving you a sympathetic smile before grabbing his notebook and gesturing to Karma of his intent to review for the next class.

You were thankful at first, until the realization sunk in that you now have to explain yourself to Karma.

Alone.

No verbal or social support from your peers.

This will be fine. You convince yourself this before the urge to backflip out of the classroom window can overtake you.

“Thanks, I guess? Why the sudden gift, you like me or something?” He teases, because of course he does, and now you have to come up with the reply or he will know that you lied about the vending machine and that there’s some dubious reason as to why you got two strawberry milk cartons that just so happen to be his favorite brand.

Karma cannot know. He absolutely cannot.

“Huh? Psh! Of course not, I just wanted to thank you for helping me last week, you know? Math isn’t my strongest subject and I- what you told me, that shortcut? It just- it’s cool! It really helped me and I felt like I had to thank you. Yeah?” you ramble, and a part of you wishes the ground would collapse beneath your feet just so you could escape this tragedy of a conversation.

You stare awkwardly at Karma, anticipating his response. You swear he looks like he wants to ask what on earth is wrong with you, but maybe it’s just the nerves.

He shrugs, “No biggie. You didn’t need to go through the effort of buying me something just for that one tip.”

He hates it. He thinks you’re weird and over the top. It’s time for you to exile yourself.

“Thanks, though. How’d you know I like this brand anyway?”

You would have fist pumped and yelled ‘sublime’ too, had he not waved a hand in front of your face in concern.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re acting kinda- weird?”

Okay, you did not respond fast enough, what did he even say before that? You shake your head and prepare the fastest, most soundproof response you can muster.

“Sorry, I fell down the stairs this morning.”

‘WHO SAYS THAT? WHY DID I SAY THAT?’

You need to pass out right now. Maybe if he thinks you have a concussion you can still salvage your reputation in his eyes. Karma’s eyes widen in concern and you can’t help the butterflies ricocheting in your gut.

“Woah, maybe you should go have that checked with the nurse? I can take you there, I wanna skip class anyway.”

In normal circumstances, you would have reprimanded him for even suggesting that he skip classes and use you as a reason. However, now it is different. Now it is very different when you feel these very dreadful, un-platonic feelings for the redhead.

‘Calm down butterflies, he just suggested a friendly gesture of good, normal, regular, concern.’ You reassure yourself, because if you don’t, you might just blast off into the stratosphere like you were Koro-sensei being complimented by a pretty barista lady.

Karma puts his hand on your shoulder.

‘ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆ'

You imagine swatting away the butterflies to keep yourself sane, and you try your best to collect an actual, reasonable response this time.

“No, no, it’s fine. Thanks for the concern. A lot of things just happened today, and I’m just a bit overwhelmed. I’m sorry if I’m acting strange.” you speak slower than you did prior, and you find yourself more composed.

Well, as composed as you can be considering Karma still has his hand on your shoulder. You bow your head in shame, not being able to meet his eyes.

He scoffs in amusement, “Hey, don’t worry about it, and really, thanks for the strawberry milk.”

You look up at him and sigh in relief, thankful that he doesn’t think you’re completely insane. He gives your shoulder another pat before moving his hand off to pry the straw from the back of his tetra pack.

“No problem! Thanks again too, for helping me last week.”

A big part of you is relieved that he took his hand off of your shoulder so your heart rate could normalize itself, but a tinier, more delusional part of your brain feels disappointed that he had to pull his hand away at all.

You move to turn and walk away, but Karma speaks again.

“Hey, if you’re still feeling overwhelmed, you can always skip class with me. We can just tell Koro-sensei you weren’t feeling well.” he offers, and it takes every ounce of sense in you to not just accept it then and there. Especially not when you meet his eyes and see them light up with mischief.

You have to be reasonable. Doing so just to entertain your silly little infatuation would disappoint Koro-sensei and tarnish your good record. You can find more excuses to spend time with him without breaking the school rules.

“No thank you, it’s okay. I think I’ll just go to the bathroom and wash my face. I appreciate the concern though.” You nod your head and flash Karma a light smile, to which he shrugs and moves to sit at his desk, drinking the strawberry milk you gave him.

You move to make your way out of the classroom, and you see Nakamura smirk at you. She was probably watching you make a fool out of yourself in front of Karma, and you know for a fact she will tease you about that horrid display of human interaction later. You squint your eyes at her, daring her to laugh or say something, to which she just smiles at you wider and you swear you can see devil horns form on her head.

Nakamura held her phone up while you were walking past. You gape slightly in frustration as you realize what she had shown you.

She had recorded your god awful attempt at giving Karma the strawberry milk. There was physical evidence of it for others to witness.

The worst part? There was physical evidence of it for Koro-sensei to witness.

You quickly stomp into the bathroom and turn on the sink, shoving your face into your hands before you let out an exasperated groan.

There was no living this down for you.

You just hoped Karma wouldn’t take the news so harshly if he found out.

---END---

Thanks for reading! :DDD

#assclass #akabane karma #ansatsu kyoushitsu #nagisa shiota #korosensei #assassination classroom #assassination classroom x reader #akabane karma x reader #nakamura rio #drabble #bro morpheus sent me a few dreams and i slipped #an assclass fic in 2024? that's crazy

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aihoshiino · 8 months ago

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Episode 3 Rewatch: "Manga Based TV Drama"

YEAH WE'RE BACK ON THESE AGAIN!!! As much fun as the liveblog format was, I found it was actually getting in the way of me *doing* the liveblog (it could take multiple hours for me to watch and queue up One Single Episode) so I've decided to return to a format a bit more like my chapter reviews just in the desperate hopes of getting these actually done before season 2 airs. In the immortal words of Brian H oobh i got plany off time. But let's get to it real quick anyway!!!

I have a really soft spot in my heart for episode 3 in particular because it was the first episode I actually anticipated watching after I got into the show - episodes 1 & 2 were already out when I fully contracted brainworms so episode 3 was the first one I had to actually wait for. A lot of the cuts from it are like carved into my brain because I watched that episode preview so many times while waiting for it to air lol…

I've said this before but the anime's take on her really is what turned me into an active Kana Enjoyer. Megumi Han's delightful performance and her character acting an animation all combine to make it really hard not to be endeared to her. Her excitement at being reunited with Aqua is really cute, too - I remember Han saying that she was specifically told not to play Kana as a girl meeting an old crush but as someone excitedly reuniting with an old friend and I think that's particularly sweet. The AQKN dynamic at its heart is kind of just two lonely kids who don't have a lot of other connections that aren't couched in transactional utility creating a space together where they can just exist without any ulterior motives.

gotanda's words being visualized as literally skewering kana is so fucking funny too. bro killed her. you really can't blame her for biting back during dinner later lol

Kana's putting on a pretty positive face about it, but knowing how deeply alone and abanoned she feels by her parents, it's hard to not feel really sad about this scene. She's chipper about it but this is the first hint towards Kana's current honestly kind of dire circumstances we'll see get expanded on all the way to the end of the anime.

Aqua's refusal to let Kana see his old acting is also really interesting to me. Intentionally or not, it feels like it's sewing the seeds for some stuff in Tokyo Blade; Aqua respects Kana's acting and Kana herself as a professional to the degree that he doesn't want to 'lose' to her in that sense. Or rather, he'd be embarrassed to have someone he respects seeing him stumble like that - a little like Ruby's freakout in episode 1 over the idea of Ai, specifically, seeing her be bad at dancing.

Aqua trying to play it cool and then immediately nerding out when Kana mentions Sweet Today is so so so so soooooooo cute. I love it when that side of his personality pokes out…

KABURAGI NAMEDROP JUMPSCARE!!!!! i made the same face, aqua... I won't go into my Kaburagi Villain Propaganda here, but it really is so deeply suspicious that Kaburashi was on her oldest, most private phone…

KANA'S LITTLE 'I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE' MOMENT………. AQUMELT REAL AFTER ALL…. (NOT CLICKBAIT)

ruby's lain brand milk vexes and haunts me

Aqua's quietly pained, guilty expression when Ruby misreads his intentions for becoming an actor is so good, as is his cold internal dismissal of Ai's wish… it's funny to see him insisting he's not doing this for Ai's sake when really, everything Aqua does comes back to his mom.

Man, though. What even is there to say about the Sweet Today bits lmao. Holy shit. Particular shout out to Melt's seiyuu, Seiji Maeda, for making his in-character acting so authentically awkward and clunky without it coming off as overwrought or like he himself was giving a bad performance. That's suuuuuch a delicate thread to weave but he does it exceptionally well.

This scene also has one of my all time favourite punch ups from the manga - in the original, Ruby just kind of gets the manga from nowhere and makes the comparisons that way but the anime makes Aqua the one to go get his copy and start silently flipping through it to compare until Ruby snatches it… it really is the perfect teeing up for him to run off and tattle to Kana even though he was pretending he didn't give a shit lol. Dork ass boy.

This talk at the karaoke bar is really good, too. The directing is pretty simply but I feel like the anime producton really shows off just how strong its expression and character acting work is here which does a lot to help along what's otherwise a very static conversation. The contrast in Aqua and Kana's energy is also very fun - Aqua's really still while Kana's very animated.

The manga hasn't really touched on this in a while but the content of the conversation here also starts a thread that I really liked in the early parts of Oshi no Ko about how hard it is to create good art in an environment like the entertainment industry. Tokyo Blade centers this more and is almost explicitly a follow up to Sweet Today's exploration of this idea but the seeds are sewn here, of the necessary compromises that need to be made just to get something out the door and how that can ultimately destroy the final product no matter how many well-meaning and passionate people are doing their absolute best to make something worth engaging with.

i'm also pretty sure this talk is the first time we see aqua smile after episode 1… cute.

The directing also really shines in that little moment at the end where Kana grabs Aqua's hand. In prior cuts, the two are visually separated in that they're both sat apart and there are multiple lines running between them in the background to section them off from each other.

But then just as Kana breeches Aqua's defenses and disarms him, she physically reaches past all these little barriers to finally get into his space. It's subtle but well done.

His wide-eyed slightly stunned face is also really sweet. We see this look on Aqua a lot when it comes to Kana and it always makes me smile a bit. She's excellent at getting under his skin whether she means to or not.

"now my body has caught up with my mental age" says aqua, confirming his mental age is that of a teenager, and mfs are still out here acting like he's a 30 year old man.

Oof, oof and oof. Kana's little speech here already makes me so soft and knowing how it's going to be utterly spat upon in just a moment by Kaburagi's callousness towards her just makes it hurt even more. We continually see reference to this supposed good relationship between Kana and Kaburagi during this episode and so knowing that he's ultimately just another shitty adult taking advantage of her clear desperation… masaya kaburagi when i see you it's on sight

This is also a really fantastic character moment for Aqua, I think. He himself says he's done everything he needed to do on set, so there's no need for him to start shit like he does. It's purely out of respect and fondness for Kana as a person and anger on her behalf as a fellow actor. For as much as Aqua likes to convince himself he's a coldhearted bastard, he really just cannot help himself when it comes to leaping in and helping people. He's a lot like Ai in that once somebody has his heart, he's theirs for good.

i also just have to fucking Scream at this cut of him. it hit me like a fucking TRUCK when this episode dropped. because it doesn't quite look like the equivalent panel of the manga, does it?

But doesn't it feel super familiar, even so? Doesn't it remind you of something? I wonder wh-

OSHI NO KO ANIME STAFF, WHEN I GET YOU!!!!!! (ENRAGED) (POSITIVE)

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #onk rewatch #onk spoilers #onk anime spoilers

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imanes · 3 months ago

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good evening Imane, different anon but I wanted to ask if there is a specific brand of matcha/hojicha you like? I actually like hojicha more so any insight into what brand and how to best brew it would be very much appreciated. perhaps even your preferred way to make the cold foam/cream top? I know these things can be googled but I remember you would share recipes or cooking tips in passing a few years ago and I always found your approach to food and drink so helpful

good morning! i always love talking about food and drinks so thank u for not googling it hahaha. i placed my last order of matcha (and first of hojicha) at iro matcha, but I think it's a belgian brand, so I don't know how accessible it would be for you! the most important part is that the hojicha is powdered, because you can also find it in loose leaf form and it wouldn't give you the same taste/consistency. i always look at online reviews and i prefer to order from websites that also offer ceremonial matcha powder.

in terms of how to brew it, i only ever make lattes with it and i do it in the same way as my matcha: around 3g of hojicha powder (using the traditional bamboo spoon) in a bowl, a bit of hot water at 75 to 80°C, whisk it (with a bamboo whisk), pour it in a cup and add foamed oat milk to finish it off. sometimes I'll add a little bit of honey after I'm done whisking it with the hot water because it tastes really good when it's sweet <3 i don't know if it's the best way to do it but it gives me the same result as what i order at cafés!

for a cold foam, i use a french press (tutorial here). i know some people use heavy cream and a mini electric whisk but with the french press you can use any type of milk you want, the process will add enough air to foam it. you can also add a little bit of vanilla bean extract or pumpkin puree to make dupes of the special foams you find at cafés. and then for a hot foam i just use the spout on my coffee machine! i actually want to change my coffee machine because a barista told me that the best spouts have three little holes to make very fine foam whereas mine is just one big hot air spout so i can never make latte art :( anyway that was a tangent but i'd love to be a barista fr

finally omg thank you for putting up with me for so many years akjlfkgj it's true that it has been a while since i shared my cooking/baking/drinking. i had a little food trauma episode over a year ago but i got over it now. I'll go back to sharing more <3 might try video form as well for fun drinks

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sugarpuptard · 5 months ago

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yesstyle haul from april ❤︎ $66 ε(*´･ω･)з

i felt like sharing how i feel about the stuff i got! the price raise on yesstyle goes crazy compared to the true price in japan but i got stuff on sale + with coupon codes (use my rewards code here! or use EBHJPT for money off any YesStyle orders Σ(ノ°▽°)ノ)

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❤︎ Products *:ﾟ*｡⋆ฺ(*´◡`)

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クリアターンうるうるBOMBマスク (clear turn uruuru bomb face mask) ❤︎ $11.70 on YS, ¥527 in JP

❥ これが大好き hydrating asf it rlly lives up to the name, its for dry skin and it really helped plump my skin when i notice dehydration lines. it has ingredients such as white jellyfish extract, hyaluronic acid, amino acids & others and is very gentle, i have sensitive skin and this works wonders! it has so much serum too

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クリアターンごめんね素肌キニナルマスク (clear turn gomenne bare skin kinishinai mask) ❤︎ $11.70 on YS, ¥660-¥718 in JP

❥ another mask from the same brand i rlly like, this one is for acne breakouts using stuff like salicylic acid, licorice for anti inflammation, yokuinin calendula, niacinamide, lactic and amino acids, and vitamin C to take care of blemishes gently, it works really well on my sensitive skin, sometimes SA makes my skin react but this didn't! it works quite fast too

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ロート製薬肌ラボ極潤ヒアルロン乳液 (hada labo gokujyun hyaluronic acid hydrating milk) ❤︎ $12.06 on YS, ¥868 in JP

❥ i need all the hydration i can get and this lotion/milk is amazing for that, it doesn't feel heavy or sticky to me and it soaks in very well, i like to layer it on depending on how much hydration i need. sometimes i wear another moisturizer on top but especially during the day this works great as a moisturizer on its own

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ファイントゥデイ資生堂 fino（フィーノ）プレミアムタッチ浸透美容液ヘアマスク (fino premium touch hair mask) ❤︎ $15.90 on YS, ¥752 in JP

❥ my hair gets so shiny with this mask and it helps make it a lot softer, i used it while also using rice water on my hair and my hair was the softest i've ever felt it, it smells so good too it feels like a nice salon product

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花王ビオレUV アクアリッチウォータリーエッセンス (biore UV aqua rich watery essence sunscreen SPF 50+ PA+++) ❤︎ $15.40 on YS, ¥785 in JP

❥ i only tried this once so far since i haven't really been leaving the house so i cant give a full review but i like it so far, its not heavy to me but it does make me look quite shiny, but i think some setting powder would fix that issue easily

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資生堂尿素10％クリームチューブ (shiseido urea 10% hand & foot cream) ❤︎ $9.70 on YS, ¥906 in JP

❥ love this stuff, i get dry spots and this helps heal them pretty fast, definitely will be repurchasing

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mask fit red cushion foundation trial kit ❤︎ $1.00 on YS, ¥??? in JP

❥ i actually haven't tried this yet (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀) but i'll update when i do

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（アンドハニー） &honey Melty モイストリペアシャンプー1.0／ヘアトリートメント2.0 お試し 10ml+10g シャンプー・コンディショナーセット (&honey melty moist repair trial set) ❤︎ $1.00 on YS, ¥110 in JP

❥ this smells so good omllllll, my hair felt quite nice after too, i wanna get more trials tho and see how it is using the whole packet in one wash instead of half, my hair is pretty thick so i might of not washed it 100% good

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emmaharrison · 3 months ago

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Essential Ingredients for a Perfect Vegan Pantry: How Vegan Connects Can Elevate Your Plant-Based Lifestyle.

If you are you ready to transform your kitchen into a plant-based paradise. Stocking a vegan pantry is the first step towards embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. But where do you start? With so many ingredients to choose from, building a well-stocked vegan pantry can seem overwhelming. Luckily, Vegan Connects is here to help you every step of the way!

Vegan Connects is a vibrant new Facebook group dedicated to vegans, aspiring vegans, and plant-based enthusiasts living, working, or visiting London. Our community is the perfect place to share and discover tips on vegan nutrition, find the best vegan-friendly products, and connect with fellow plant-based foodies. Let’s dive into how you can stock your vegan pantry with essential ingredients and why Vegan Connects is the best place to do it!

Common Challenges in Building a Vegan Pantry

Identifying Essential Ingredients Starting a vegan pantry can be tricky when you’re unsure which staples are essential. With so many options available, it’s easy to feel lost in a sea of beans, grains, nuts, and spices. Knowing what to stock up on can make a big difference in the ease and success of your plant-based cooking.

Navigating New Products With the rise in popularity of veganism, new products are constantly hitting the shelves. Keeping up with the best brands and new arrivals can be time-consuming. Finding reliable recommendations for high-quality, affordable products can save you both time and money.

Balancing Nutrition Maintaining a balanced diet while stocking your pantry can be challenging. It’s important to ensure you have a variety of ingredients to cover all your nutritional needs. This includes protein sources, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.

Avoiding Food Waste Purchasing large quantities of ingredients without knowing how to use them can lead to food waste. Learning how to effectively store and use pantry staples is crucial for reducing waste and maximizing your investment.

How Vegan Connects Can Solve These Challenges

Vegan Connects is a new Facebook group designed to make your vegan pantry-building journey smooth and enjoyable. Here’s how our community can help:

Discover Essential Pantry Staples Wondering which ingredients are must-haves for your vegan pantry? Vegan Connects is the place to get expert advice on essential items. From versatile legumes to nutrient-rich grains and spices that pack a punch, our community members share their top picks and tips for stocking up. You’ll get recommendations on the best products to keep your pantry well-stocked and ready for any recipe.

Get Recommendations on the Latest Products Stay ahead of the curve with the help of Vegan Connects. Our members are constantly sharing their favorite new vegan products and brands. Whether you’re looking for the perfect plant-based cheese or the latest in dairy-free milk, you’ll find real reviews and recommendations from fellow vegans who’ve tried and tested them.

Balance Your Nutritional Needs In Vegan Connects, you’ll find guidance on creating a nutritionally balanced pantry. Our community shares tips on how to ensure you’re getting all the essential nutrients, from protein-packed beans to vitamin-rich leafy greens. Learn how to incorporate a variety of ingredients into your diet to support your health and wellness goals.

Learn Smart Storage and Usage Tips Avoid food waste with the help of Vegan Connects. Our members offer advice on how to store your pantry staples properly, ensuring they last longer and stay fresh. Plus, get ideas for how to use up your ingredients in creative and delicious ways, so you make the most of what you buy.

Connect with a Supportive Community Building a vegan pantry is easier and more enjoyable with the support of a like-minded community. Vegan Connects provides a platform for sharing your experiences, asking questions, and learning from others. Whether you’re a seasoned vegan or just starting out, you’ll find support and inspiration in our vibrant group.

Join Vegan Connects and Elevate Your Plant-Based Lifestyle

If you’re excited to enhance your vegan pantry and connect with a supportive community of plant-based enthusiasts, Vegan Connects is the place for you. Our group is dedicated to making veganism accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Share your favorite vegan products, discover new ones, and get the tips you need to stock your pantry with confidence.

Ready to transform your kitchen and embrace the benefits of a well-stocked vegan pantry? Join Vegan Connects today and become part of a dynamic community that celebrates plant-based living. Your journey to a perfectly stocked vegan pantry starts here!

Links!

https://www.instagram.com/vegan_connects?igsh=YzljYTk1ODg3Zg==

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satoshi-mochida · 4 months ago

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Metaphor: ReFantazio ‘ATLUS Exclusive’ introduces locations, traveling on the gauntlet runner, quest dungeons, and Eupha - Gematsu

Publisher ATLUS and developer Studio Zero have released the fifth “ATLUS Exclusive” showcase video for Metaphor: ReFantazio, which introduces several locations players will visit, traveling on the gauntlet runner, quest dungeons, and new party member Eupha.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is due out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store on October 11.

Watch the footage below, including a full transcript.

Extended Travel Beyond Fantasy Trailer

English

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Japanese

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ATLUS Exclusive 5 Showcase

English

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Japanese

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Transcript:

■ Introduction

Hello everyone, I’m Katsura Hashino, the director of Metaphor: ReFantazio. My representative works include Shin Megami Tensei III, Persona 3, 4, and 5.

In previous showcases, we’ve revealed the general flow of the game, as well as the combat and story elements. In this ATLUS-exclusive showcase, World Tour Edition, we will be going over the “journey” aspects, a wonderful hallmark of fantasy RPGs.

The journey gameplay is what uniquely sets this game apart from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series. I’m extremely excited to share the details with you all. For today’s Exclusive Showcase, World Tour Edition, I’ll be sharing brand new, never-before-seen content. For RPG fans as well as those who are first learning about Metaphor through this showcase, I hope you see the fun adventure you can experience through this game.

Without further ado, let us depart to the world of Metaphor: ReFantazio. I hope you stick with us until the very end.

■ The Start of the Journey

First, let us start by reviewing the beginning of the game: the story is set in the United Kingdom of Euchronia. The protagonist is on a mission with his fairy companion, Galica, to save his friend, the prince, from a curse. During his journey, he awakens an Archetype, The Seeker. In order to save the prince, he has to defeat the person who cast it. And not only did they curse the prince, the culprit also assassinated the king. The protagonist travels to the Royal Capital to take him down.

However, upon the king’s death, the king evoked royal magic, which began the Royal Tournament, where the people’s faith is the key to select the next king. As a result, the entire kingdom is thrown into chaos. In all the turmoil, the protagonist makes the decision to participate in the Royal Tournament for the throne, to catch the culprit, Louis. This is how they begin their battle—a journey that takes them all across the kingdom, traveling on a mechanical carriage called the Gauntlet Runner.

■ Old Castle Town Martira

This is a town out in the countryside that the party visits in the beginning of the story. While we designed the game to incrementally increase freedoms for the player, obtaining a Gauntlet Runner after the story prologue increases the player’s ability to travel around.

Let’s explore the town. At each destination are activities unique to that area. In this town, there’s a test of courage where you bungee jump up a cliff. You can also do things like milk cows. Through these activities, you can increase your virtues as a traveler. Increasing these virtues enables you to take on new requests.

It’s up to you, the player, on how you want to spend every single day of your journey before encountering your main quest. Leading up to your main quests, you can strengthen your forces by completing side quests, increase your bonds with your followers, or do activities that increase the protagonist’s virtues. You have the freedom to choose what you want to do each day, much like real life.

If you want to improve your fighting abilities, you can visit the recruitment center to accept side requests called bounties to exterminate monsters. We took on a request to exterminate a monster called Valmo. You get information on its whereabouts, but there’s no need to head out immediately if you’re not prepared for the fight.

This person standing outside looks like he has a request for us. We’ve been asked to buy something from a nearby town. There’s a stop on the way to the labyrinth where the Valmo is, for the extermination request we took on. There’s a lot of people in town that have information. There’s some who will talk to you about the main quest, but in this town, you can also ask about the town’s specialties. Among these people, the informant is particularly valuable for getting intel. They’re useful resources, as you can learn more about rumors as well as the habits of monsters that you might come across. But the information costs money. If you’re confident in your fighting abilities, you could choose to tackle enemies without buying the information beforehand.

Here’s someone who can tell us about how the Royal Tournament is going. The protagonist’s goal is to get closer to Louis, who also has the ability to become king himself because of the royal magic. Let’s see what our current standing is. Looks like we’re quite a ways from being in the public eye. This ranking changes through story development, but it also increases through completing quests.

As you can see, the player has a lot of options on how they want to spend each day of their journey. You can use the online feature, Traveler’s Voices, to see how other players spent that day. You can also use it to reference the party formations of other players who beat the quest you’re tackling. Each player will have their own day-to-day way of progressing through their journey as they move through the story, which is one of the true charms Metaphor offers.

Let’s move on and see how it’s like to travel on a Gauntlet Runner.

■ Traveling on the Gauntlet Runner

Expeditions on the Gauntlet Runner

When you open the map, your allies will give advice on destinations and tell you what the schedule will be. We have two requests to do in Komero, so let’s head there.

It’s dangerous outside of town, so traveling is done by Gauntlet Runner. While on the road, you can do things you might do in real life when on a camper van, such as reading or cooking. How you perform in battle can vary greatly depending on how you decide to prepare yourself while en route somewhere.

Passing Time in the Gauntlet Runner

Your allies have their own things they do while on the Gauntlet Runner. Let’s try talking to Strohl to see what he’s up to. He invited us to do weapon maintenance with him. It looks like maintaining your weapon hones your Courage. By improving your virtues like this, others’ perception of the protagonist changes. It’s particularly indispensable for gaining cooperation from your Followers, so we should do what we can to raise these virtues.

Players are free to choose how they spend their time while on the gauntlet runner. You can make special items in the kitchen, or even do laundry with your allies. Looks like we found an item from the laundry; someone must have been hiding it.

Like how you spend time in town, players can choose what to do and enjoy their journey at a smooth pace. You can also stop by a nearby village if there is one. We got something; let’s go hand it to our ally right away.

We’ve finished our request from Neuras, the gauntlet runner engineer. Thanks to that, we awakened the Gunner Archetype. Completing quests like this is an important factor for deepening your bonds with your followers.

Let’s go buy the eggs that someone requested we get for them. They’re also selling bath salts that you can’t find in town. You can buy valuable items like this on your travels, so you should try visiting as many places as you can.

■ Quest Dungeons

Looks like the gauntlet runner arrived at the labyrinth called “Man-Eater’s Grotto.” Let’s try channeling that Gunner Archetype we just got. The Gunner can attack quickly from afar in Fast Battle, so it’s relatively easy to get an advantage and move to a Squad Battle, even for those who aren’t that good with real-time action.

In Squad Battle, the Gunner shoots ranged physical attacks and also maintains its attack power from the back row. One of the benefits of improving your bonds with your followers is that you can obtain new Archetypes, which gives you more strategies to use in battle in addition to unlocking all kinds of useful abilities you can use in battle.

By the way, you can always return to your base town from the dungeon in an instant, so if you feel underleveled, you can always retreat. If you can’t complete a dungeon within a day, you can set up camp in front of the dungeon and go back to tackling it the next day. However, don’t get too distracted on tackling dungeons that you forget the time limit for your main mission.

In the Belly of the Worm

What we just looked at were dungeons for the mini side quests we have in store for you, but let’s take a look at another kind of dungeon as well. Here’s a first look at a main quest dungeon: it’s the belly of a giant worm, believe it or not! It’s a dungeon with a special time limit since you have to escape before you get digested and dissolve.

There are a lot of creative fantasy dungeons that await you on your journey in Metaphor. We’ve prepared a lot of dungeons, big and small, and we hope you look forward to them. Now then, let’s continue on with the main quest.

Now then, let’s continue on with our journey!

■ Port Brilehaven

Here’s a first look at the town, Port Brilehaven. It’s a lively port town where sailors come and go. First, let’s head towards the port itself. You can see a lot of street stalls lined up.

Let’s take a look at the armor shop. Thanks to one of my followers’ abilities, I can get a discount here. And after talking to the owner, it seems like there’ll be a sale soon.

Here’s the port area. There’s some strange balls of water. There are a lot of strange sights throughout the area of Brilehaven. There’s also a coliseum further inside the city. Can you tell how many things are in store for you to do?

Let’s keep walking. Now we’re in the area where the tavern is. There are a lot of inns, too. Business is booming from people coming in for the Royal Tournament for the throne.

Here is a seafood restaurant, which you might expect from an ocean town.

The more you progress through the story, the more there is for you to do. If you’re unsure about what to do, you can always press teh Ask Gallica button to ask your fairy companion for advice. She’ll always help show you around, like a concierge for your travels.

■ Travel Routines

Planning Your Travel Route

Your travel map will slowly get more and more complex. As you can see on this screen, there are multiple routes you can take to get to the same location. If you visit multiple places in one stretch, the number of days you use will decrease proportionally, but you may end up needing to tackle battle after battle, so you’ll need the power to match. Planning your travel route is another area of the game where you’ll have to strategize carefully.

Campsites

Despite how tough gauntlet runners are, it’s still dangerous to go around at night because of the monsters running free. So at night, the party pause their travels and rest up at a campsite. Here, you can take your pick of nighttime activities, such as having a relaxed conversation with your allies, or taking a bath.

Let’s try taking a soak in the cask tub at the back of the deck. While we’re at it, let’s use the bath salt that we bought at one of the villages before. It has a relaxing effect, which increased the protagonist’s stats. By the way, there are different kinds of bath salts available, which you can find as you travel throughout the land.

Encountering the Scenic Sights

Looks like we came across something. Another pleasure of traveling is coming across scenic sights you’d only see in another world. An ally will draw you a commemoration sketch. If you give it to one of your Followers, a young girl who’s awaiting your return in Grand Trad, will be happy.

■ The Uncharted Isle: Virga Island

Here’s another location reveal: a place called Virga Island. On this island, you can enjoy unique tracks themed after religious music composed by Shoji Meguro, who is well known for his work on the Persona series.

Here, the protagonist makes yet another new encounter. Her name is Eupha, a new ally that’s only now being revealed in this showcase. I wonder what role she plays in the protagonist’s journey. I hope you look forward to learning more about her in the future.

■ Review

So, what do you think? If you had to actually go on a long journey in real life, it wouldn’t be a simple endeavor. Taking that into account, we hope that you enjoy the journey of Metaphor, where you can travel as you please in the comfort of your own home.

Though we’ve largely focused on the profound fantasy elements Metaphor, simply, it is also a game filled with the joys of traveling from town to town, an element we hope for in fantasy RPGs.

Though this title is a rare attempt from us at the fantasy genre, we aim to make this a culmination of the efforts in our previous RPGs.

We hope everyone, including fans familiar with Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, as well as those who love fantasy RPGs, enjoys playing Metaphor.

We’ve shared information on Metaphor‘s world setting and story, battle system, and other aspects of the game in other Showcases. Please feel free to take a look at those if you haven’t already.

The next Exclusive Showcase coming out this fall will reveal exciting new information. Please look forward to it. In addition, Tokyo Game Show 2024 is taking place this fall, and we will be having a large exhibit where we’ll offer a hands-on game experience of Metaphor: ReFantazio. On top of being able to experience the journey gameplay like we introduced today, there will also be another special demo available to play at the event. We’ll release more details related to the event in the future. We look forward to seeing you at Tokyo Game Show.

Once again, Metaphor is scheduled for release this fall on October 11, 2024. Both the physical and digital editions are available for pre-orders, so please pre-order your copy or add it to your wishlist. Along with the standard edition, a Digital Deluxe Edition commemorating the 35th anniversary of the ATLUS brand is also available.

See you at the next ATLUS Exclusive Showcase. Thank you very much for your time today.

#Metaphor: ReFantazio #Atlus #Studio Zero #RPG #Gematsu #Youtube

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postgamecontent · 3 months ago

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Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the Week Ending September 28, 2024

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the week ending September 28, 2024. This has been a busy week for new releases, with a handful of obvious attention-grabbers and a lot of weird and interesting smaller games. I've included as many as I could fit, and I hope this helps you separate the cool junk from the boring junk. Let's check out this week in the world of Switch!

Select New Releases

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom ($59.99)

A brand-new top-down Zelda game, this time featuring… Zelda?! Wow! Link has gone missing, and Princess Zelda is going to flex her magical power to save him and the rest of Hyrule. She has some help from a fairy named Tri and a magical artifact called the Tri Rod, the latter of which opens up all kinds of fun-looking mechanics. I might do a review of this one, in case anyone needs a review of something like this. You probably have already decided if you want it or not, though.

EA Sports FC 25 Standard Edition ($59.99)

It's the latest edition of EA Sports' long-running series of soccer/football games, and I'm not going to disrespect either of us by pretending I know what's new here or even what makes one of these good or bad. Consider this a notice that it is now available for general purchase on Switch, no more and no less.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed ($59.99)

Warren Spector's much-hyped Mickey game gets remade for the Nintendo Switch with this release. I haven't played the remake yet, but the original game was decent enough. If nothing else, this gives me the chance to remind everyone that Disney traded play-by-play commentator Al Michaels' contract to NBCUniversal to acquire Oswald the Lucky Rabbit for use in this game. And, you know, elsewhere. But the first use was in this game, and that's really funny to me. Anyway, try the demo and see how it sits with you.

Iron Meat ($19.99)

Hailed by folks with numerous conflicts of interest with the publisher as "better than Contra" and by others as "a pretty good run-and-gun", Iron Meat is another solid entry in a genre that has seen a decent amount of love in recent years on the platform. Is it better than Blazing Chrome? Better than Operation Galuga? Does it matter? If you enjoy games like these, stop comparing flavors and dig in! You never know when winter is coming for any given genre.

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 ($39.99)

Sure, why not more World Brothers? Look, this isn't the Earth Defense Force some people would ideally want to see on Switch, but this is what we've got. And it's fine for what it is. Very much in line with the first World Brothers in design and performance, so if you liked that game on Switch then you're all set here. Similarly, if you found the technical sacrifices were too much in the original game, you won't have a better time with this one.

Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition ($24.99)

Why would you buy Worms Armageddon for twenty-five buckeroos when you can get W.M.D. for six dollars during its very regular sales? The addition of the Game Boy Color version of the game probably won't be much of a pot sweetener for many, but this being a stealth Digital Eclipse Gold Master entry might. Yes, you get that timeline hotness! You don't even have to like the game, so long as you have an interest in gaming history. I can vouch for that, because I hate this game but I think this is a neat release that could have been even better as a full-blown Worms collection.

Cash Cow DX ($5.99)

Moo-ve over, Donut Dodo. There's a new retro-style arcade action game in town, and it's ready to milk you out of your six bucks. This game comes from the developer of Donut Dodo and has a lot of the same qualities to it. You're running around each stage trying to grab all the cash while avoiding enemies. Very enjoyable stuff. Feel free to have a look at the review I posted yesterday, if you haven't already seen it.

REYNATIS ($59.99)

Oh, it's FuRyu time again. I suspect we've got the usual FuRyu experience on our hands here. Which is to say, a rather middling game hobbled by its low budget with a few glimmers of greatness that might be enough to satisfy a few players. This one is an action-RPG, and the famous names that have been affixed to lure in the blissfully ignorant are scenario writer Kazushige Nojima (Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey) and composer Yoko Shimomura (Code Name: Viper). This game is not very good at all. I might write up a review to explain why, if I have the time. No one brought their best here, but it's FuRyu, so what do you expect?

3 Minutes to Midnight ($24.99)

It's never encouraging when you see that registered trademark name on a title. It suggest a certain set of priorities that are sometimes at odds with a quality creative endeavor. Fortunately, this bucks that assumption by being a rather decent point-and-click adventure game. It's one aimed at the more hardcore fans of the genre, as it is quite lengthy and involved, but there's nothing wrong with that. If you're a fan of the genre, this is worth investigating.

Go Mecha Ball ($19.99)

Add another twin-stick roguelite to the pile. We've got tons of these, so what's this one's gimmick? Basically, you can ball up Samus Aran style and roll around at high speeds. You can get a bunch of weapons, abilities, and upgrades to help you on your way, which is more or less how these things go. There's something here, but I don't know that the spark of potential properly ignites. Not bad, but I wouldn't rush out and buy it or anything.

Exographer ($19.99)

An exploratory adventure that sees you on a rescue mission on an alien planet. You'll explore levels, investigate an extinct civilization, and earn new powers that will help you reach previous inaccessible areas. There are puzzles to solve, and you'll have to make use of your special camera to figure things out. This game is really pushing science as its selling point, so we'll have to see if that results in an enjoyable game or not.

Lets castle ($13.99)

I've retained the exact title from the eShop here, and believe me, I also find it a little irritating. This is a relatively low-pressure game where you have to build a castle from given parts. You'll occasionally get specific orders from the Queen and will need to build to her specifications. I like the pixel art, at least.

Ahro ($11.99)

Okay, get this. Ahro is a side-scroller with a simplified yet stylish look, and it's a metaphor for mental health issues. Anxiety and panic disorder, to be specific. The gameplay gimmick is that you can release your spirit to explore and collect goobers. I'm kind of tired of this kind of thing by now, but perhaps you're feeling more fresh about the idea.

Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports ($49.99)

Oh no, it's Game Mill. Don't expect too much. You get four sports here, including Basketball, Soccer, Golf, and Tennis. Up to four players can join in via local multiplayer, and there are nine playable Looney Tunes characters. I'm sure it's at least as competent as some of the sports games we see around the ten dollar price point on the eShop. If you really love the Looney Tunes, don't let me stop you.

Murder Is Game Over: Deal Killer ($4.99)

I guess these must be going well for Ratalaika. Another mystery for Detective Guy and his dog to solve, this time concerning the murder of an executive of a video game publisher. I choose not to read anything into that. You don't have to have played the previous games to enjoy this one, so feel free to jump in if you're interested.

Luna-3X ($9.99)

An off-beat game about a pair of heroes trying to save as many creatures as they can before the world ends in seven days. They do that, of course, by having one play the tamborine while dangling from a fishing rod held by the other. You can play alone, but this one is built for two players. One person controls the fishing rod while the other plays their instrument in rhythm to lure the creatures in. Charming and quite unique.

Arcade Archives Blast Off ($7.99)

You would think that a 1989 release from Namco in a well-worn genre that also serves as a follow-up of sorts, albeit in name only, to Bosconian would be a safe bet. Alas, Blast Off is a rather dull example of the vertical shoot 'em up genre. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone except those are basically buying every Arcade Archives game or every shoot 'em up. A really rare total miss from this publisher, but history is history. Hamster isn't just in it to reissue the hits.

JALECOlle Famicom Ver. Bio Warrior DAN The Increaser War ($7.99)

The Earth is on the brink of total ruin, and only a time traveling bio warrior named Dan can save us! City Connection packed in a lot of extras for this one, including a new map screen, quick weapon switching, and a number of other UI improvements. The game is also fully translated into English, so that's nice. I'm really appreciating these releases so far.

Night Slashers: Remake ($9.99)

I like Night Slashers as much as the next Data East fan, but even I wouldn't have had it near the head of the list for a remake. Nevertheless, here we are. Night Slashers in a very clean, modern graphical style that is probably trying to evoke Streets of Rage 4 but not quite getting there. Still, the price is right and it's as gory and goofy a time as ever, now with support for four players. I gave my thoughts on this one yesterday in my review, so do check that out if you haven't already.

Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles ($24.99)

Hey, it's another one of these Slay The Spire/Darkest Dungeon deckbuilding turn-based roguelite things. As you can guess from the name, you'll be playing with dice in this one. It seems to have reviewed rather well on PC, and I imagine there are many Switch owners who will appreciate it as well.

The Holy Gosh Darn ($19.99)

A time traveling narrative action-adventure, with four different worlds to explore across space and time. You'll have to engage in some time shenanigans to solve the puzzles and move the story forward. I feel like this has some real potential, but I haven't had a chance to try out the demo for it yet. But hey, the demo is indeed right there. Give it a shot and see if you like it.

Bloomtown: A Different Story ($24.99)

This is a turn-based RPG with a 1960s Americana theme, and that's enough to help it stand out a little right off the hop. There's monster taming, some life sim bits, and a mystery involving two very different sides of one small town. Naturally, it's up to some kids to save the day. Early reviews on this have been positive, if not excessively so. If you're keen on the premise, you might want to look into it further.

Silver Axe - The Honest Elf ($18.99)

Another Metroidvania-style adventure for the pile. This one has a nice look to it and it's not outright terrible or anything, but in a genre this competitive I don't think it has what it takes to really stand out. It's just a bit too floaty, and the map designs don't have a nice flow to them. You might feel differently, though.

revive of the moon ($19.99)

I suppose it is almost October, isn't it? Here's a zombie action game supervised by Japanese comedian Hidetaka Kano. It's not the fanciest of dinners, but there is a certain charm to its straightforward approach. The writing is a little better than you would expect, too. I'm not very interested in zombie stuff anymore, but if I were? This might be something I'd go for.

Creepy Tale: Some Other Place ($9.99)

This little series has clearly found its audience. This is the fourth game in the series, and it tells its own little self-contained story within the fairy tale world and aesthetic that Creepy Tale is known for. Anyway, the usual business. Solve puzzles, follow the story, immerse yourself in the atmosphere. I've never been able to get into any of these, but I can at least see the appeal.

Beyond Galaxyland ($17.99)

A sci-fi RPG about a human high-schooler named Doug who, along with his guinea pig Boom Boom, narrowly escapes the destruction of Earth. Now residing in a zoo-like collection of planets called Galaxyland, Doug embarks on a quest to try to set things right. He'll meet an odd cast of characters along the way, of course. This game fits a lot of things in, including puzzles, platforming, turn-based battles, and a creature-capturing mechanic for good measure. So far reviews seem relatively good, and I'm looking forward to checking it out when I have a hot minute.

Resope! ($2.99)

It's always fun to find really low-priced games that serve as a good distraction for an evening, and Resope! is certainly one of those. There are sushi pieces trapped between wood blocks, and you need to free them. You do that by igniting the wood blocks, letting the sushi drop to the bottom. Make combos for a higher score, as one does in this kind of thing. There are a couple of extra modes here but the main one is fairly short, so be aware of that before you buy.

Anarkade ($14.99)

This genre of game feels like it has dropped off a high cliff in terms of popularity, but you still see the odd one release now and then. It's a 2D multiplayer arena shooter for up to four players, either local or online. Nothing particularly special about this one as far as I can tell, but it seems well-made for what it is.

Food Boy ($11.99)

It's like Paper Boy, except you're tossing pizzas at customers instead of newspapers. Run down any angry customers, and try to make a solid buck. Watch out for the many obstacles that will get in your way, of course. I'd rather have Paper Boy, but WB Games seems shy about sharing their old toys these days. That leaves an opportunity for games like this one, I suppose.

That's all for this week, friends. We'll be back next Saturday with another Round-Up as we make our way into October and the many games that will come with it. As ever, I will plug both my Patreon (where you can find lots of cool exclusive articles) and my Ko-Fi (tips help me run this blog). There, plugged. I hope you have a super Saturday, and as always, thanks for reading!

#nintendo switch #switch round up

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not-poignant · 2 years ago

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PIA. WHAT. please tell us about being a professional tea taster!!!!

Ahahaha, there's honestly not much to tell!

I fell into it completely by accident. I didn't actually even used to like tea, but that was because my only exposure was like, the milky sugary shit my english side of the family used to give me, and turns out, I don't like milk or sugar in my tea! I would've liked it just fine if they'd given it to me without those things.

(No shade to people who like milky sugary tea, I believe that stuff is the bomb if you love it, especially with biscuits).

However, a friend's older brother was just starting to be the first place in Western Australia to import in very high quality green, white, oolong and pu-erh teas into the state, and would do so by touring through China first, etc. This was before green tea drinking was really a 'thing' here (late 90s, early 00s), so they were here before any of the 'boutique' tea shops etc.

I started getting involved in tea ceremonies through said friend, started tasting the teas, and eventually we all realised I had a pretty good palate for it, and so I engaged in further training to help them write out their labels / brands etc. and eventually became a tea taster. I specialise in green and oolong, and started to get into white, but I think I miss too much of the nuance to do much more except enjoy it, lol.

Unfortunately their company never went far, they were outcompeted due to being at the crest of the 'green tea drinking is a thing' and while I kept it up for a while, I decided I didn't want to go the tea sommelier route (pairing tea with food), and just kept it up as a general skill, doing tea reviews for a couple of websites.

When I developed anemia, I had to stop drinking tea for a long time, because tea is actually one of the worst things you can drink if you have iron deficiency or any kind of anemia (yes, really, ask your hematologist if you don't believe me).

I can probably have about one/two cups a day now, and I'm one of those elitist bitches who has the temperature kettle (certain teas are best brewed at specific lower temperatures), and only drinks loose leaf tea with no milk, honey, lemon or sugar in sight and sets all my brewings to strict temperatures. But that's just because that's the way I like it. I can't stand matcha, unless it's in a matcha tiramisu. And my personal taste means nothing, because it's about other people's personal tastes. The tea you like says nothing in particular about you, except that you like it. :)

I once had a moment when we had some tradespeople come over and I offered them coffee/tea, and when they said tea, I realised they wanted like... a teabag brewed tea with milk and sugar and on the day we had no milk (I'm lactose intolerant) and only had green teas and I felt so embarrassed, lmao, so now I always carry some teabag tea for guests.

This is now my favourite brand:

And this is what they all look like.

I go through them a lot more slowly than I used to! And I don't drink much black tea anymore sadly due to reflux, but I'll still make time for it.

I can talk a little too much about different provinces, aging techniques, and more, but not enough to do it as a job anymore. But I loved it when I did it and I still love sharing green tea with the friends who love it these days.

Lmao me like 'there's not much to tell' but still manages to turn it into like 100 paragraphds fasdlkjfsa

#asks and answers #personal #i don't make tea enough to be honest #valley green tea are a lovely company #and for the australians #T2 is bullshit lmao #if you like it that's cool but don't say it's fancy or high grade tea #because it's not lmao #it wasn't when it started and it's gotten worse with time #anyway yeah so my family are big tea drinkers #but i used to be like 'i HATE tea' all my life #and then one day i had an oolong on its own #properly brewed #and my entire life changed fdsalkfjsa

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amphtaminedreams · 11 months ago

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Relevant on the Runway in the Run Up to Fashion Week: F/W23 through to Pre-Fall 2024 & My Top 25 (Part 6)

-Susan Fang, top to bottom: RTW F/W23, S/S24-

-Tanya Taylor, top to bottom: pre-fall 2023, RTW F/W23, resort 2024, RTW S/S24, pre-fall 2024-

-top to bottom: The Attico RTW F/W23, RTW S/S24, resort 2024, Theory RTW F/W23-

-top to bottom: Tia Adeola RTW F/W23, S/S24, Tokyo James RTW F/W23-

-top to bottom: Torey Burch RTW F/W23, resort 2024, S/S24, Tomo Koizumi RTW F/W23-

-top to bottom: Trussardi RTW F/W23, Vera Wang RTW S/S24-

-Ulla Johnson, clockwise L-R: RTW F/W23, S/S24, resort 2024-

-Valentino, clockwise L-R: RTW F/W23, S/S24, pre-fall 2024, haute couture S/S23, pre-fall 2023, haute couture F/W23-

-Versace, clockwise L-R: RTW F/W23, S/S24, pre-fall 2023-

-Victoria Beckham, clockwise L-R: resort 2024, RTW F/W23, S/S24, pre-fall 2024, pre-fall 2023-

-L-R, top to bottom: Viktor & Rolf haute couture S/S23, F/W23, Vivetta RTW F/W23, pre-fall 2023, RTW S/S24-

-top to bottom: Viviano RTW F/W23, S/S24, We11done RTW S/S24-

-Vivienne Westwood, top to bottom: RTW F/W23, S/S24-

-top to bottom: Wiederhoeft RTW F/W23, S/S24, Y/Project “ -

-Yohji Yamamoto, clockwise L-R: RTW F/W23, S/S24-

-Yuhan Wang, top to bottom: RTW F/W23, S/S24-

-Zimmerman, clockwise L-R: resort 2023, 2024, RTW S/S24, S/S23, F/W22-

-Zuhair Murad, top to bottom: haute couture S/S23, F/W23-

And that’s the lot!

So to round it all up, here’s a quick recap of my standouts from the last year or so of collections, and what’s still on my mind to get me through this winter.

It was hard to choose how many to limit myself to. A top 50? Too much, a whole post on its own. But a top 20? That’s not enough.

So signing off, in no particular order, here are my top 25 from F/W23 all the way up to S/S24, in time for the start of the FW24 collections we’ll be seeing over the next few weeks!

Schiaparelli EVERYTHING: Is it any surprise Schiaparelli is on the list? Alll the fashion girlies atm are obsessed with everything Schiaparelli does, and how could you not be? Daniel Roseberry’s designs are intricate, luxurious, dramatic, and consistently ahead of the game in terms of creativity. Nobody is doing it like him right now, and for that reason, his pieces are instantly recognisable.

-clockwise L-R: Schiaparelli RTW S/S24, haute couture F/W23, S/S23, Fendi haute couture F/W23, S/S23, Schiaparelli RTW F/W23-

2. Fendi Haute Couture F/W23 and S/S23: Fendi’s Haute Couture collections never disappoint me. Time and time again, Kim Jones offers us her elegant take on glitzy femininity, balancing glamour with soft, ethereal colour palettes, silhouettes and fabrics. This year, she’s given us the red carpet iteration of balletcore (which is an aesthetic I never saw coming or thought of but am obsessed with btw) and for that, I am forever thankful.

-clockwise L-R: Dilara Fındıkoğlu RTW F/W23, Ambush RTW S/S23, F/W23, S/S23, S/S24, Chopona Lowena RTW S/S24, Di Petsa RTW S/S24, Roberto Cavalli RTW S/S24, Yuhan Wang RTW F/W23, Moschino RTW F/W23, Rave Review RTW S/S24, Yuhan Wang RTW S/S24, Roberto Cavalli RTW F/W23, Di Petsa RTW F/W23, Ermanno Scervino RTW S/S24-

3. Dilara Fındıkoğlu RTW F/W23: Dilara’s ethereal, post-apocalyptic take on grunge delivers everyyy, singleee time! As if I didn’t wish I had Bella Hadid’s life enough already (minus having Yolanda “have a couple of almonds and chew them really well” Hadid as a mother), she then stepped out in that DF custom set and my envy increased tenfold.

4. Ambush EVERYTHING: The way Yoon Ahn’s styles the garments she designs under her label Ambush is the end result I’m trying to achieve whenever I actually make an effort in putting together an outfit these days, as rare as that is atm. Yes, at it’s core, the brand embraces a street wear-friendly version of the grunge aesthetic (I know, I use the word grunge to death but my love for that way of dressing will never die! I lived one full year in the 90s and I’m going to milk being a 90s baby only in the very literal sense for all it’s worth!) But through that lens Yoon plays with a number of other trends, from techwear to the academia-influenced styling craze, and has all that fun incorporating elements from those avenues, whilst retaining the edge that underlies her vision of the brand. The level of flexibility she manages to display without compromising the Ambush blueprint is exactly what makes Yoon’s collections a reliable source of outfit inspiration for those of us who have a strong attachment to one particular style but like to take cues from whichever other aesthetic is dominating the trend cycle at that moment too.

5. Chopona Lowena RTW S/S24: Cutesy ‘90s inspired grunge? Bloody love it. Which reminds me that I should reiterate, NO you don't get a pound every time I say grunge. Not in this economy:(

6. Di Petsa RTW F/W23 & S/S24: I was lucky enough to see a Di Petsa piece in person at the Design Museum’s Alexander McQueen sponsored REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion exhibition, and yes, it was as perfectly sculpted to the mannequin as her pieces are to the models who wear them on the runway IRL. Dimitra Petsa is a little bit of a genius I think. She’s so clearly fuelled by an appreciation of the divine feminine energy of women in the sense which we originally started using the term rather than the way we mostly use it now which is more often than not sardonically to justify our bedrotting days (which I’m totally on board with btw because performing femininity is fucking exhausting tehe), meaning her designs highlight the raw, stripped back power and beauty of the female body and everything it does without us even having to try. Di Petsa’s collections give the world a much needed reminder of the strength and grace of women whatever size or shape we are, and shows us that we don’t need to A). have some otherworldly power or B). Get a shit tonne of filler and plastic surgery to emulate the goddesses of both today’s and yesteryear’s standards.

7. Roberto Cavalli RTW F/W23 & S/S24: Fausto Puglisi treads carefully along the line separating bold and gaudy with his take on Cavalli but both the RTW collections were fucking phenomenal this year, taking it back to at a time when Coachella fashion was at the peak of cultural relevance, and what a TIME to be alive that was.

8. Yuhan Wang RTW F/W23 & S/S24: Take something bit granny chic, a bit little girlish, a couple of pieces from a motorcycle gang and throw it all together, and you get that signature Yuhan Wang look. To quote Liam Hess’ review for Vogue Runway of Yang’s RTW S/S24 collection: "Yuhan Wang’s vision of femininity may appear delicate on the surface, but it’s always undercut with something steelier and a little dangerous." Yah. He said it much better than I can. That's why he writes for Vogue and I talk to myself on here, lol.

9. Moschino RTW F/W23: Glitzy, opulent, old-Hollywood infused punk? Consider me obsessed.

10. Rave Review RTW S/S24: SoOoo glad to finally see a collection from the pioneers of chintzy grunge (I’m sorry but what other word can I use?!) on the runway. See, I make the distinction between Rave Review, Chopona Lowena and Yuhan Wang because Rave Review, in the best way possible, excel at a creating pre-loved feel to their collections. That isn’t to say it looks like the shit no one wants. It looks like the wardrobe of the coolest girl you know who can spend an afternoon browsing her local charity stores, the evening in front of her sewing machine, and by the morning can produce some up-cycled magic that you wish you had the talent to create yourself. I want to be that girl! I’m just a sewing machine and few decent charity shops in my local area short but trust and believe I’m working on it, lol!

11. Ermanno Scervino RTW S/S24: How very high-end LoveShackFancy of Ermanno Scervino to give us this Y2K style Bohemian dream and then refine it in line with the whole “stealth wealth/clean girl” minimalism craze that had such a chokehold over 2023 (and which I hope we leave behind, for the sake of its racist undertones if nothing else). Taken to either end of the spectrum, as in pink frilly floral overkill or an endless cycle of shapeless neutrals, I’m beginning to get a bit worn out with both but the meeting of the two here with the pops of colour in the embroidery was something magical, a beautiful partnership<3

-clockwise L-R: pre-fall 2023, RTW F/W23, resort 2024, RTW S/S24-

12. David Koma EVERYTHING: Beyond slept on and idk why! This man was behind Mugler for several years, which is one of my alll time favourite brands, and I think it’s safe to say a staple for many. So where is the buzz about his solo offering? Idk. It is strange because I feel like his collections share a lot of the attributes (y2k feel, hyper-feminine, sex appeal, a bit of edge, overall bit of a Bratz doll vibe if ygm?) as Blumarine and everyone is head over heels for that? So yeah, I truly don’t know. Maybe it’s not luxury enough? I’ve never really cared about that. You don’t get much more luxury than a Hermes Birkin and yet I think they’re dull as dishwater and no one can convince me otherwise regardless of how much a status symbol they’ve become. Maybe it’s my youth, maybe I’d feel differently if I too was a real housewife of Beverly Hills but yeah, give me David Koma over Hermes any day.

-clockwise L-R: Diesel resort 2024, pre-fall 2023, pre-fall 2024, RTW F/W23, S/S24-

13. Diesel EVERYTHING: Wow, Diesel must be the no.1 contender for fashion house comeback of the 2020s so far. And it’s what’s deserved for a name as cool as Diesel, I mean, it is so simple but so good!

As far as I’m concerned Diesel had been relegated to the leagues of the higher price mark section of the Next catalogue for the past decade and yet the past couple of fashion weeks their shows have arguably been amongst the most anticipated. I feel like I’ve said sexy biker grunge or some combination of these 3 words too many times in this post already but look, it’s kind of like the aspirational aesthetic of choice for me minus the sexy part and add in a girlier, more dainty strain of femininity instead bc I do not have the body nor the bone structure or the RHYTHM to have sex appeal. I was built with the body that’s giving little boy at its lowest possible weight and chubby baby at its highest so yay. The sexy thing isn't gonna happen for me, I’m at peace with that, lmao.

-clockwise L-R: Erdem pre-fall 2024, RTW S/S24, pre-fall 2023, RTW F/W23, resort 2024-

14. Erdem EVERYTHING: Genuine question here, would Erdem Moralioglu's work be fitting of what Gen Z mean when they talk about whimsy goth or am I way off-base? Honestlyyy, I’m so out of the loop when it comes to this phenomenon of coding everything and idk if I like it because tbh, it seems like it’s only accelerated the pace of fast fashion. Once TikTok has put a label on aesthetic, it starts getting manufactured cheaply en masse and within a matter of weeks, everyone is fatigued and moves right onto the next craze of X/Y/Z “core”. Like apparently mob wife core is a thing now? Kill me FR. When I hear that all I think of is Teresa Giudice flipping a table and calling Danielle Staub "prostitution whore".

Sorry, I'm getting wildly off-topic here, back to whimsy goth…I don’t know what the TikTok/Pinterest certified cues for that vibe are, but within my understanding of the word, it’d be something like this? Because romantic, gothic, elegant, and eurgh, I hate this term, but also like, badass. Essentially, Erdem's dark dramatic touches constitute what I think of as the gothic part and the former adjectives contribute the whimsical part. Anyways, yah, sorry I had to say the word badass. I’m now thinking I could’ve more accurately summarised my understanding of whimsy goth by saying steampunk Disney princess, lol. It pained me to type especially because we don’t really say ass in England, but badARSE sounds really awkward and yeah, let's just move on...

-clockwise L-R: Zimmerman resort 2023, RTW S/S23, F/W23, S/S24, resort 2024-

15. Zimmerman EVERYTHING: I feel like the two opposing sides of the coin representing my personal style are in such stark contrast to one another because yes, one the one hand, I will always be obsessed with that whole forbidden g-word ‘90s look but I also do adore the whole flower power vibe, and for me, Zimmerman does that perfectly. This is to say, essentially, it leans subtly enough in that direction that you can still imagine a Zimmerman dress looking gorgeous with a big, vintage oversized coat, clunky boots, and dark makeup if you get me? There is one particular FKA Twigs look I’m thinking of as I type this, iykyk. But yeah, I never don’t love a collection from them, hence the inclusion on this list!

16. Jacquemus RTW F/W23: Speaking of clunky boots…Can you IMAGINE one of the little white dresses from this collection with some black platform Doc Martens and a black velvet choker or corsage? Like to reference Courtney Love for what is probably the millionth time, this would be the dream outfit inspired by her, however much of a groupie that makes me sound.

On a side note, Jacquemus’ S/S24 collection only came out, like, last week which is why it wasn’t included in the post but I can’t lie…it is a hugeee step down from this. The disappointment echoes my feelings the new Gucci collection, only I guess I can hold onto the hope this is just a meh year for Jacquemus rather than the loss of another absolutely legendary creative spark. Yeah, Alessandro Michele I miss u xx

-top to bottom: Le Fame pre-fall 2023, RTW S/S24-

17. Le Fame EVERYTHING: I only found out about Le Fame, Miss Sohee, Sultry Virgin etc. through HF Twitter (yeah, X is never catching on) and I feel indignant that only a handful of those are on Vogue Runway. Look when it comes to my A-Zs, if I find anything I like in a collection, I will include it, even if it’s nothing groundbreaking in my eyes. Because range, you know? But amongst the standouts from a collection, the rest can be really fucking drab, and yet the brand makes the top of the Vogue feed regardless, purely based on reputation. Yet Le Fame gets tumbleweeds. Where is the justice for Shanghai Fashion Week? ALL the non-western centric fashion weeks for that matter. WHY has ShuShu/Tong only just got a place on the Vogue Runway archive? I mean, it’s bad all round but the erasure of Shanghai FW in particular bothers me because western fashion is so clearly influenced by East Asian fashion and atm it’s just like we capitalise on it without paying our dues (shocker).

-clockwise L-R: Rahul Mishra haute couture F/W23, S/S23, Giambattista Valli haute couture F/W23, S/S23-

18. Rahul Mishra Haute Couture S/S23 & F/W23: Whilst we're on the topic, thank god for HF Twitter for alerting me to yet another designer ignored until very recently by Western fashion critics. Don’t get me wrong, I like a bit of Elie Saab as much as the next girly girl but every collection lately has been more of the same, risk-free and repetitive. You look at Rahul Mishra, and instantly, you can see just how much work and passion goes into his designs. The end results are that these dresses are utterly ETHEREAL. I have been seeing more talk about RM lately and his collections have recently started being covered by Vogue. I hope this acknowledgment continues!

19. Giambattista Valli Haute Couture F/W23 & S/S23: The princessiest (yeah, that’s a word now) of princess dresses. OFC GV makes it on this list. For the sake of my inner child, if not anything else, who thought that a job in the fashion industry was actually achievable and that wearing a dress like this one day was within my reach. The little me who didn’t know what nepotism even meant, this is for you.

20. Selkie RTW S/S24: So I wouldn’t usually include Selkie in a fashion week post as maybe, for reasons stemming from my own prejudices, I assume anything I have ever been able to afford at any point in my life does not count as high fashion. But the Selkie show for this season, imo, truly epitomised what is supposed to be the whole point of fashion which is to translate our inner beauty to outer beauty on our own terms, in a way that makes us feel empowered and the most magnificent version of ourselves. Selkie speaks to the playful feminine spirit within me, and to see women of all sizes, ethnicities, ages, and abilities looking absolutely enchanting made me feel hopeful for a day when I don’t still feel like the only version of myself that is worthy of being “perceived” (lmao) is the one who still owned that beautiful, tiny Selkie dress, who has to punish and deprive their body to fit into it! Seeing this runway on Twitter gave me a degree of faith that this future where I feel confident and comfortable in my recovered body does exist. So yeah. I had to include it here:)

-top to bottom: Shushu/Tong RTW S/S24, F/W23-

21. Shushu/Tong RTW F/23 & S/S24: I hate to introduce new material at such a late stage but I was choosing my favourite looks from ShuShu/Tong’s S/S24 collection and just thought, I want more! So I did some Googling and managed to find the F/W23 collection too! And it’s just as stunning as S/S24. This is why it’s such a calamity that we don’t get more Shanghai FW coverage, I s2g.

-clockwise L-R: Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini RTW S/S24, Cult Gaia resort 2024, Dominnico RTW F/W23, Zuhair Murad haute couture F/W23-

22. Zuhair Murad Haute Couture F/W23: Okay so obvs the S/S23 couture collection was gorg and lush too buut holy shit, the gothic touches of F/W23 took things to another level for me!

23. Dominnico RTW F/W23: If Sam Levinson decides to have Maddy Perez go through a kawaii-influenced cyberpunk phase and then become a dominatrix in season 3 of Euphoria (and let’s be real, equally nonsensical things have happened on that show), this is what her character should be wearing in keeping with her personal style. Niche, I know. Just please, for the love of god, make her come of age first. I have no time for that man’s insistence on sexualising minors. Justice for Barbie Ferrera and Kat Hernandez, honestly.

24. Cult Gaia Resort 2024: Is it…mermaid core?

And lastly…

25. Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini RTW S/S24: He made layers SEXY.

Honourable mentions go to a few brands I plan to focus on anyway over my next couple of posts (another In the Front Row at…kinda post, and also little 2023 Pt.2 Recap) so I won’t go overboard yapping on about them here too, but to summarise a few points:

I was pleasantly surprised by Maria Grazia Chiurui’s work at Dior this past year? IDK if it’s just that my expectations of Dior based on the collections we’ve seen over the previous few years have set the bar really low, but almost all of it was super pretty. Maria has garnered a reputation for being all quantity and no quality, which is fair enough, however I truly think we saw both this year. So maybe this is all to say…Dior gets the Most Improved award?

Alessandro Michele’s final Gucci RTW collection was full of showstoppers and honestly, I don’t know how Sabato De Sarno is supposed to follow on from that. His Gucci S/S24 was nice enough and probably more in keeping with the brand's old school aesthetic but the character Alessandro brought to the brand is gone and I feel like a little part of me has died along with that. I don’t know what to feel because his version of the brand is the brand in my eyes, at this point, like he resuscitated it and nourished it and got people excited enough about it to reestablish Gucci's place at the precipice of high fashion, and yet seeing S/S24 I feel that artistic flair is gone. If I’m being optimistic, maybe De Sarno is just playing the long game and that, in going back to basics, his aim is to create a point of reference he can build upon over time to develop his own equally bold vision of luxury. Let’s say Sabato De Sarno gets the Person I Most Hope Will Improve award.

Finally, in the absence of Michele’s Gucci and on the back of another year of incredible collections, I think I can finally say…Rokh, you’re my new number one.

To conclude, though, that’s enough from me! I’ve already done way too much chatting shite for a photo post. If I start talking about anything else now, it’ll surely end up as some rant about the state of the world which will inevitably be coming soon, anyway, so for now all I have to say is 1. Free Palestine and 2. I hope anyone reading this is doing otherwise okay notwithstanding the horrific levels of injustice occurring, i.e the abhorrent displays of solidarity with a government perpetrating war crimes by many Western “democratic" leaders. Even when we knew they were awful before, seeing this situation play out is devastating. Be kind to yourself. All we can do some days is get by and that’s okay. To exist in a place where our lives are not constantly at threat is in itself a beautiful thing that everyone deserves, and I know most of us appreciate that and want that for everyone else too.

With that, I’ll say goodbye and will be posting again soon.

Lauren x

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tellmeallaboutit · 14 days ago

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Will you read the new Irvine Welsh book “Men in Love”?

It will depend on the book reviews!

That being said, I think that Trainspotting is a wonderful finished story and it never needed a sequel. Sometimes you just need to let the characters rest. Their story has been told or better left untold.

On a slightly related note, I was also not too happy to see Ciri as the Witcher 4 protagonist today, especially the version that has undergone the Trial (!?!). That's... yeah. Like I said, just let some stories and characters rest, and start a brand new one.

So I am not too keen on Welsh milking the same old characters.

#Irvine welsh #sequel #asks #Witcher

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jpatricechocolatestudio · 2 months ago

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Custom Chocolate: Tailored Perfection for Every Occasion

Custom chocolate is more than just a sweet treat; it’s a way to make an impression, express your creativity, and celebrate unique moments in life. From birthdays and corporate events to weddings and holidays, custom chocolate has become a top choice for people who want their gifts to stand out. In this article, we’ll explore what makes custom chocolate so special, the different types of customizations available, and tips for choosing and ordering custom chocolate.

What is Custom Chocolate?

Custom chocolate is personalized, made-to-order chocolate that can be tailored in terms of flavor, shape, design, and packaging. Unlike regular, mass-produced chocolate, custom chocolate is crafted to meet specific preferences, making it an excellent option for gifts, events, and special occasions.

With advancements in chocolate craftsmanship, artisans can create intricate designs, infuse unique flavors, and offer distinctive presentation options. Some custom chocolates are even made for specific dietary preferences, including vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free variations.

The Benefits of Custom Chocolate

Custom chocolate offers a range of benefits that make it a great choice for thoughtful gifting:

Uniqueness: A personalized design or message on chocolate makes it one-of-a-kind.

Memorability: Custom chocolate creates a lasting impression, especially when it’s tailored to the recipient's tastes.

Thoughtfulness: Custom chocolate shows that you've put effort into creating something special.

Versatility: Custom chocolates work for any occasion, from romantic gestures to corporate gifts.

Types of Custom Chocolate Customizations

When it comes to custom chocolate, the possibilities are nearly endless. Here are some popular customization options:

1. Flavors and Ingredients

Classic flavors include milk, dark, and white chocolate, while more adventurous options may feature caramel, sea salt, fruit flavors, or spices.

Add-ins such as nuts, dried fruit, or even edible flowers can add both taste and texture.

Dietary preferences like vegan, dairy-free, and organic chocolate can also be incorporated.

2. Shapes and Molds

Chocolatiers can craft chocolates into specific shapes, such as hearts, stars, or logos.

For corporate events or brand promotions, logos can be molded directly into the chocolate, making it ideal for brand recognition.

3. Designs and Artwork

Edible ink or food-safe coloring can be used to print designs on chocolate.

Some chocolates come with intricate designs, patterns, or even images that are transferred onto the chocolate surface.

4. Personalized Packaging

Packaging options include everything from custom wrappers with a logo to luxury boxes with personalized messages.

Packaging can also align with the event’s theme, such as holiday designs, wedding colors, or corporate branding.

5. Special Diets

Custom chocolate can also accommodate dietary restrictions like vegan, gluten-free, or sugar-free, making it accessible to a broader audience.

See the selection of custom chocolate to discover creative options that can make any occasion extraordinary.

How to Choose Quality Custom Chocolate

Selecting quality custom chocolate ensures that your gift will be both beautiful and delicious. Here are some factors to consider:

Quality of Ingredients: Look for brands that use high-quality, ethically-sourced cocoa beans and other fresh ingredients.

Artisan Expertise: Choose a chocolatier with a reputation for quality craftsmanship.

Customization Flexibility: Find a brand that offers various customization options to get the exact product you want.

Customer Reviews: Reading reviews can provide insight into customer satisfaction, flavor, and presentation quality.

Common Uses for Custom Chocolate

Custom chocolate is versatile and suitable for a wide range of occasions. Here are a few examples of how it can be used:

Weddings: Personalized chocolates can be used as wedding favors, each with a unique message or design.

Corporate Events: Branded chocolate with company logos can be a memorable gift for clients or employees.

Birthdays: Customized chocolates can add a personal touch to birthday celebrations.

Holidays: Custom chocolate is a popular choice for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and other holidays, with designs and flavors tailored for the season.

Baby Showers and Anniversaries: Custom chocolate can be tailored to celebrate life’s milestones.

Tips for Ordering Custom Chocolate

Ordering custom chocolate can be a fun process, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

Plan Ahead: Custom chocolate often requires time for design, production, and shipping, so order well in advance.

Discuss Your Preferences: Clearly communicate any preferences for flavors, design, and packaging with the chocolatier.

Review Options Carefully: Some chocolatiers offer templates or design examples; reviewing these can help you choose the best option.

Consider Your Budget: Custom chocolates can vary widely in price depending on complexity, so ensure that your design fits within your budget.

Ask About Allergens: If you or your recipient has dietary restrictions, inquire about allergen-free or special diet options.

Conclusion

Custom chocolate offers a unique way to show appreciation, celebrate special moments, and indulge in a luxurious experience. Whether you’re looking for something simple or extravagant, the ability to tailor chocolates to fit personal preferences and event themes makes custom chocolate a memorable and versatile option. By understanding the various customization options, considering quality, and planning your order, you can create a chocolate experience that’s both visually stunning and incredibly satisfying.

FAQs

1. What makes custom chocolate different from regular chocolate? Custom chocolate is personalized to fit the preferences of the buyer, with unique options in flavor, shape, design, and packaging that aren’t typically found in regular chocolate.

2. Is custom chocolate suitable for dietary restrictions? Yes, custom chocolate can often be tailored to meet dietary restrictions, such as vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, or nut-free options.

3. How far in advance should I order custom chocolate? It’s best to order custom chocolate at least 2-4 weeks in advance to ensure time for design, production, and delivery.

4. Can I add my logo or design to custom chocolate? Yes, many chocolatiers offer options to print logos or designs onto chocolate, especially for corporate or branded gifts.

5. Are custom chocolates more expensive than regular chocolates? Due to the personalization involved, custom chocolates are often priced higher than regular chocolates, but the added thoughtfulness and unique features make them worth it.

#Custom chocolate #Personalized chocolate gifts #Unique chocolate designs #Artisan chocolate #Custom chocolate boxes #Chocolate for events #Customized chocolate packaging #Chocolate favors #Corporate chocolate gifts #Luxury chocolate

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