#once there was a hushpuppy

[maybebabyplease]

that southern food poll got me truly sad and homesick and then my office had a party tonight and they got SOUL FOOD so i had cornbread and red beans and rice and mac n cheese and it was all soooo good but i actually might still be a little homesick ugh north carolina baby come claim me i wanna swim in a creek and patch my cuts with superglue and catch fireflies and fish for sharks and sweat all day and hear my grandma’s accent :( :( :(

[choicesbookclub]

12 Days of Choices Special Event

Not sure who is planning to participate, but I figured I'd start this thread to talk about it and share info for anyone that is playing.

If you find the hidden item, please share where and when (what chapter + scene)! All clues and hints welcomed. I'll try to update this post with whatever info I see so that it's all in one place for anyone checking in quick!

Day One: December 12

Book: Mother of the Year

Chapter 1

Scene: MC's daughter has the option for the uniform. The Partridge in a Pair Tree is on the stairs in the background.

Day Two: December 13

Book: The Duchess Affair

Hint: In chapters 1-3

Chapter: beginning of chapter 2

Scene: The location is the breakfast room, in front of the large painting and next to the Christmas tree.

Thanks @lizzybeth1986

Day Three: December 14

Book: Bachelorette Party

Hint: "3 French hens, 3 blind mice, 3 is the number you'll want to check twice "

Chapter 3

Scene: The Abracadabra Lounge, right at the front of the room.

Thanks @lizzybeth1986

Day Four: December 15

Book: The Cursed Heart

Hint: "You didn't hear this from me, but it's in a prime number chapter greater than 3!"

Helpful Math: Prime Numbers include: 5,7,11,13,17,19

Chapter 5

Scene: At the stables talking to Sir Montgomery, perched on the ceiling

Thanks @lizzybeth1986

Day Five: December 16

Book: Ms. Match

Hint: "Five Gold Rings: Starting from the left, which finger is your ring finger? 🖐️"

Chapter 2

Scene: walking home from the bar with jack, they very impressively transformed a building

Thanks @alasforher

Day Six: December 17

Book: Untameable

Hint: "Six Geese A-Laying: (four) The perfect amount of geese to have is four! 🪿"

Chapter 4

Scene: The stables, at the very beginning of the chapter.

Thanks, @lizzybeth1986

Day Seven: December 18

Book: The Unexpected Heiress

Hint: "Seven Swans A-Swimming: You'll spot them right away! 🏊"

Chapter 1

Scene: On the ship, immediately after the MC is introduced and says goodbye to her mother and brother.

Thanks, @lizzybeth1986

Day Eight: December 19

Book: Slow Burn

Hint: "Eight Maids A-Milking: You'll only need two maids to get this job done. 🥛"

Chapter 2

Scene: Bunting when you are first in the New Orleans ‘Hushpuppys’ restaurant

Thanks, @alasforher

Day Nine: December 20

Book: Queen B

Hint: "Nine Ladies Dancing: You'll need to be FOURtunate to find this item! 💃"

Chapter 4

Scene: At the sports field on Kickoff Day

Thanks, @lizzybeth1986

Day Ten: December 21

Book: Laws of Attraction

Hint: "Ten Lords A-Leaping: These lords are leaping VERY early on. 💯"

Chapter 1

Scene: Sadie McGraw's office

Thanks, @lizzybeth1986

Day Eleven: December 22

Book: Wake the Dead

Hint: "Eleven Pipers Piping: You'll need five fingers to play this pipe. 🖐️"

Chapter 3

Scene: Second scene in Red Meadows Cabin discussing the surge, after the upstairs has been cleared

Thanks, @alasforher

Day Twelve: December 23

Book: Roommates with Benefits

Hint: "Twelve Drummers Drumming: These drummers are marching in twos. 🥁"

Chapter 3

Scene: Opening party scene in the dorm room

Thanks, @alasforher

More to Come

*Note, according to PB, you don't have to click on the item or do anything special, once you past that scene/chapter, the app will remember it and the rewards will be granted at the end of the event.

*Rewards will be granted on 12/26 at 11 AM PST

[romana-after-dark]

Room's on Fire: Iris

Series Masterlist: Main Masterlist : MainTaglist

Spotify playlist

Summery: Iris spends time with Reyansh, a rare reprieve.

Warnings and Content: General rooms on fire themes but also talks of body scars, past physical abuse, death of a parent in childbirth, daddy issues.

******************** And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am~ Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls

The girl had gone to bed early, Reyansh escorting her to her room. He was supposed to stay there for a few hours until the next guard came, but Iris was not surprised when he snuck back down to the kitchen to her.

“Why are you still up? C’mon, let me walk you to your room.”

“No.” She shook her head, arms deep in sudsy water. “Too much to do.”

“Come oooon” Rey sauntered over to her, wrapping his arm around Iris’s waist and burying his face in her neck. “You need to rest.”

Iris was not pleased with his dismissal, shoving him off her and and turning around. “I don’t need to relax, Rey. I need to do dishes, plan this week's meals, wash the hall floors while everyone is asleep, beat the rugs, and it’s already 10! I have to be up at 5 to get the chicken eggs and get to the stores to get the first pick of the good shit because if Santiago doesn’t get his goddamn hushpuppies he’s gonna go ballistic!” She wasn’t sure when she started yelling, but when she saw his face, patiently waiting for her to get it all out, Iris felt bad. She mutters a sorry and goes back to her dishes. 

Rey takes his place by her side. He doesn’t say it’s okay because he knows she hates that, because it’s not okay. He simply gives her a smile when she looks at him and starts drying and putting things away. She doesn’t like to talk after an outburst, she feels embarrassed and angry… Rey offers her a peaceful comfort in his presence.

“You don’t have to help. You should go to bed, you’ve had a busy day.” She knew it was useless but she had to try anyway. Reyansh had a lot of work too, he was in charge of the girl now but still the stables and much of the landscaping. Still he found time so come to the kitchen or sneak into her room. Most of his freetime was spent helping Iris with her never ending list of chores. 

She didn’t like keeping secrets from him, but it seemed Reyansh understood she was a guarded person. They didn’t even have sex, although there were… extras. Iris had no problem using her hands or mouth on him, but Iris didn’t want to get naked around him yet and she certain didn’t want him touching her until she was sure she wouldn’t…. Well…

It was for his own good.

Rey for his part didn’t feel right leaving her wanting, so they found he could get her off rubbing her over her underwear or Iris riding his thigh. It worked for them. The sex was for… reasons, but the fact she refused to undress at all was another all together. Iris wasn’t in the house by choice, she wasn’t in this goddamn cult by choice.

Iris was born into chaos. An early child of Delta when the people following Divine Mother settled into an abandoned town, her mother died giving birth to her, and soon she found that her father’s fault among other things. Jonah, notoriously, couldn’t keep it in pants. Her mom, Beatriz, Delilah, the delivery lady… hell, she had suspected he had fucked the girls father before he died and even Santiago’s cousin who had come by. That’s why she didn’t like him spending time with the girl… but she didn’t like the girl spending time with Rey, either.

Santiago was a jealous god.

Will had been scorned once by cheating.

Ben delighted in violence.

And Francisco… Well, it’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?

Well, not always the quiet ones. She had enough scars on her body from the not-so-quiet of the two making sure she knew her place in the house and what happens if things didn’t get done.

If Reyansh knew what had been done to her years ago, before he was moved up… He might fly off the fucking handle. He’s almost certainly tell Jonah, and that’d open up a whole world of problems. Despite being the source of her problems, he had this stupid fucking savior complex and would put on a stupid fucking masculinity pissing contest with Ben and Santiago and just get himself killed and make her life worse.

Rey tried to get her to leave, but he had no plan. She wasn’t just going to wonder into the woods, not with the absolute hell outside. Only Jonah had any sort of understanding of the landscape, and that was minimal at best. Iris refused to take a risk that might involve Rey getting harmed just to leave. It was decent here for him. He worked long hours, but he was fed, clothed, sheltered and always had that smile on his face. He liked guarding the girl too, she was warming up to trusting him and sometimes she heard them laughing. She was a nice girl, it wasn’t personal… but one wrong move and Rey could be killed or worse.

Rey said something she couldn’t understand. “Hm?” Iris snapped out of her thoughts, turning to him.

“I said, I saw Jonah in the hall, got the shit beat out of him.”

Iris narrowed her eyes at that. That was certainly strange. She hated that it still tugged on her heart. ”He tell you what happened?”

He shook his head, not stopping his side of the work. “Not a thing, but I saw Ben and Frank walking the opposite way not too long before.”

“It was probably Be, then” She scoffed. “Makes sense. Santiago projects too much of his daddy issues on Jonah to do anything.”

Reyansh laughed at that, tucking his chin to his chest, making a double chin pop up. Cutie pie.

The dishes were done, and Rey handed Iris a towel to dry her hands before pulling her into his arms. 

“Tell me, jannu.” He kissed the side of her face, lips brushing against the headband she used to pull her hair back and out of her face while she worked. “Can my busy, amazing woman find some time in her day to dance with me?”

Iris allowed herself to settle into him. The next round of chores could wait a little bit… What she had with Rey was more important. He made her feel safe, kept her sane, made her laugh. These pockets of time were more important than anything else. He made time for her, she would make time for him. Iris looked up to kiss him, allowing it to deepen as her heart surged for her love. Kissing was allowed. Oh god, did she love him.

 Wrapping her arms around his middle, Iris rested her head on his chest.

“I always have time to dance with you, baby…”

***************

if you ever get the chance to see the goo goo dolls live, do it. I've been em twice and when they play Iris, at the line "you bleed just to know you're alive" they cut the music and the singing and its just the crowd shouting the lyrics and I feel like I touched god both times.

Amazing.

Anyway this chapter was a bit hard to write. Months ago, a dear friend and I conceptualized this series, she was a huge help and this series was close to a co project. she offered to help as much as I needed because she was soooo excited. she helped so much with Iris and Rey, she named them, chose their face claims, helped figure out personalities... Rey was her favorite. Unfortunately, not everything is meant to last. Bb girl, if for some reason you are still reading this story, know I love you so much.

To everyone else, I hope you love Reyansh as much as I do. I hope you love their romance as much as I do. Both of these two deserve the world.

If you didn't see, I have a Jonah character ai now and lemme tell you, he's a flirt. A straight up whore.

ANYWAY the Santiago's weird cousin reference was about this crack fic I wrote for fen

Thank you for all your support! ROF is looking like 15 chapters or more rn so I hope y'all in it for the long haul. Hugs and kisses.

LOVE YOU ALL!

How to keep up with the story!

Comment on this masterlist that you want to be tagged and I'll tag you in updates (If you ask to be tagged, I ask you at least like the fic. Likes dont do anything to spread the work, but it at least lets me know you're still reading.)

Follow @romana-updates and/turn on notifications

Follow the tag Rooms on fire

@winniethewife @femmeanonymelives @yorksgirl @pockcock @neverwheremoonchild @casa-boiardi @meveispunk @survivingandenduring @criticalarchitecture @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @obscurexsorrows @hellfire-state-of-mind @christinamadsen @pimosworld @princessanglophile @rubyfruitjungle @simple-lovebot @missdictatorme @campingwiththecharmings @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @javier-penas-wifexx420 @stefani-topaz @alwaysmicado @mjnomaryjane @incorrectclassicbookquotes @axshadows @ghostslillady @movievillainess721 @justagalwhowrites @charethcutestory02 @pixielouise-blog @gogh-with-the-flow @justafandomgvrl @katw474 @loveable-liar @arrozconpepitoria @minigirl87 @runa-falls @pedge-page @angel-of-the-moons @beefrobeefcal @pixielouise-blog @miraclesabound @oliveksmoked @mjnomaryjane @bubble-pop-eclectic @corazondebeskar-reads @pedroshotwifey @umnitsa @koshkaj-blog @hiroikegawa @mangoslushcrush @withasideofmeg

Please remember to leave a small comment so I know you're still here! If it seems you've disappeared to love I may shorten the tag list bc its long!!

[nycfoodieblog]

Tonight‘s dinner inspiration was drawn from one of my favorite restaurants back in Louisiana. It’s called The Warehouse No. 1 Restaurant and whenever I’m in town, I try to go at least once.

This is my interpretation of a dish they serve by the name of Catfish Sierra. The fish is usually served fried or broiled, but I made a few modifications as mine contains blackened catfish fillets that are smothered in a Cajun andouille sausage cream sauce and topped with grilled jumbo gulf shrimp.

On the side, there’s a loaded double baked potato that’s stuffed with scallions, sour cream, onions, cheddar cheese, and chopped bacon as well as my chicken fried green tomatoes with a spicy remoulade and a fresh batch of jalapeno hushpuppies.

Now, it’s back to the game! ☺️☺️☺️

Mood Music - “El Barrio” by Los Hombres Calientes

[jurakan]

I'm guessing one of the Fun Facts for today is about hush puppies?

...'tis, yes. Today You Learned that absolutely no one knows the origin of the term 'hushpuppy'. Not for sure, anyway.

Look, I thought about this idea and planned to tell you guys what I know. Because I distinctly remember visiting a historic house and them saying that they were something slaves cooked and used to feed to the family's dogs while they served to keep them quiet. I'm pretty sure I'd heard this more than once, too.

But! I decided to research this to be sure, and, uh... turns out no one can agree why they're called that. This website collects a few alternate ideas, including:

-The so-called "most common" (that I'd never heard before) that it was used by fishermen to keep the dogs quiet while fishing.

-Confederate soldiers used it to shut up their dogs so they could hear a Union attack coming.

-That is was used to keep children ("puppies") quiet.

And there are others!

-This website suggests that runaway enslaved men and women used hushpuppies to keep the hunting/guard dogs quiet.

-This Redditor is convinced that it's derived from the Choctaw language, I think?

Yeah. So no one knows. Plenty of people think they know, though.

Hushpuppies are good, though.

[stuffs five hushpuppies into mouth]

[whumpdoyoumean]

One to five tag game!

Thanks for the tag, @stalecabbage !!! Since I used my Suits WIP for the last line game, I'll use my 911 WIP for this!

One word to describe your WIP:

whumpy x)

My two favourite lines:

"Oh, it's not free, just so you know. You'll be paying me back for it once you're feeling better. ~ There's confusion, at first. Just confusion and that awful, stabbing pain.

Three songs from my WIP playlist:

I don't have a playlist specifically for this WIP, but I do have a writing playlist so here are three songs from that!

Once There Was a Hushpuppy by Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin

2. In A Week by Hozier ft. Karen Cowley

3. Big Black Car by Gregory Alan Isakov

Four feelings from your characters:

love, anxiety, concern, gratitude

Five tropes mentioned:

ruptured appendix, hurt/comfort, artistic license, crush blush, obviously not fine

If you see this and would like to participate, consider yourself tagged! And if you would like to be tagged in this kind of post in the future, let me know! :D

[mmoxie]

Part 0 - Preamble.

Wilson Titlee.

You deserve it.

Those three words loomed over Dani as she started up past the automated doors. An old slogan waiting to be remodeled away, lit in the pale shades of orange and yellow comprising the logo above.

Most of a month ago, Dani had turned in a paper application. The woman at the customer service desk- Gina, she remembered- had seemed optimistic.

"Shit, we'll take all the help we can get around here, hon."

And then she waited, frittering checks out of her little nest egg to keep the lights on, renting a stack of tapes every Saturday and sitting by the phone, waiting on any one of a dozen callbacks.

Her fortieth birthday passed a few months back, and she remembered celebrating with a few friends at a seafood restaurant. It wasn't that long ago that she was living her best life between bites of fried flounder and hushpuppies, washed down with the coldest beer three American dollars could buy.

Life was good. She was finally going to finish her degree, she had quit smoking, and her landlord- by all accounts the oldest woman in Erewhon County- had looked her right in the eye after a missed rent check and said the kindest sentence she'd heard in her entire adult life-

"I think I've got everything I need, hon. How 'bout you just keep it all in one piece for me?"

Unfortunately, that verbal agreement didn't stand up in small claims court, and before she could get comfortable in a life without rent, the entire building- built in 1919 as a stopover for riverboat merchants coming inland from the Mississippi- was gone.

Chevette wasn't a bad town, but nothing could stay there anymore. Every time someone built a plaza or opened a restaurant to "stimulate the economy," it inevitably came with the shutdown of beloved institutions like Fiorello's Pizza or the Shoot n' Scoot.

And then there was the Wilson Titlee, proudly serving the same six hundred or so people, week after week. Only grocery store in town. Leftover appendix of a bigger chain that you find all over the state.

It was the only game in town with a paycheck that didn't come out of some sweet old retiree who remembered when a nickel could get you a handful of Atkinson's peanut butter bars.

She stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray mounted atop a concrete trash can, then dropped an empty softpack of Pall Mall Blues into the bag beneath.

That was six years ago.

Now in 2014, the place she accepted as a sensible job to tide her over a while felt like a bear trap around her ankle. The news had gone to shit- nobody talked about clones anymore, what happened to Dolly? There weren't any news stories about aliens or fossilized bacteria on Mars, or zoo animals learning sign language or how to skateboard.

It was all bullshit, but she was miserable to realize that she had relied on that bullshit. It was padding in a world that was always rough with her. You could absorb a lot more in terms of trouble and woe if you had a home video of a guy getting his pants torn off by a hungry horse wrapped around your brain.

Couldn't rent from Blockbuster anymore, either. What a world.

"You on the desk today, hon?" Gina asked with a sympathetic grin.

"Nah, no lotto duty today. Some guy from district is coming in, so I'm gonna find some work in the back. Maybe help out in the dairy cooler."

Gina chuckled at that. She always seemed to take Dani's growing contempt for every moving part of the company with a kind of vague agreement, but would never go beyond joking.

There was a time when they talked about other things. There was once an outage at the lotto counter, and the two of them had talked about Heat and Goodfellas for three hours straight. Now it was just the news, the company, and why the company was in the news this time.

Dani had a routine. It wasn't always the same, but it was always something like this:

Clock in.

Wander over to deli.

Get a cheese biscuit and a bottle of sweet tea.

Eat in the stockroom while reading the latest post-its on the wall.

Run freight- groceryside got trucks every single day. She liked the one with the pantry goods best. Nobody else wanted to handle glass pickle jars and forty pound bags of rice.

Work slowly until lunch. Bottom shelf to top shelf. Knees and back hurt too much for any unnecessary bending.

Walk across the parking lot to Shoney's for lunch. Try a wedge salad, hate it, and get a seafood plate.

Walk across the parking lot and clock in again.

Spiritually-mandated paid bathroom break.

Check in on the latest display project. Might be doing something fancy with cans of beans, or filling up a big bin with chips.

Help out until last break.

Smoke.

Check the schedule for 30 minutes to an hour. If anyone asks, there's vacation planning in the future.

Clock out, go home, check on the crock pot, feed Seebs.

This repeated five or six days a week, and then there would be a blessed day or two of rest, listening to the radio in bed and talking on the phone with mom. Maybe they'd have a laugh about gray hairs coming in, or reminisce about going to Action Park in her junior year at Jim Bagby. Her first time on a train, too! She missed trains.

And then Seebs- Sebastian, like that kid from Neverending Story- would lay twenty-three pounds of cat on her chest while she dozed off, and before she knew it, the bear trap would close on her leg again.

All this she could tolerate- maybe in perpetuity- if it weren't for the fact that she saw Office Space in theaters half a lifetime ago.

Peter Gibbons was in her head ever since.

"I'd say, in a given week, I probably only do about 15 minutes of real, actual work."

"And here's something else, Bob. I have 8 bosses right now."

“Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.”

When the opening shift lead, the front end lead, the stock crew head, the assistant store lead, the director, the coordinator, the chief merchandiser, and the standards manager had all, in a row, asked her if she had received a certain e-mail about how they were going to "build out" the most recent delivery of barbecue sauce, because if she had, she wouldn't have just merched them right on the shelf...

...It was too real. Too much. She tried to reach for that Peter Gibbons zen, tried to hypnotize herself into a happy place that existed somewhere on the other side of acceptance- and instead just grit her teeth harder, and harder, and harder.

These days, she went home with pain in her neck and jaw from stress alone. She couldn't put up with much more.

One of these days, she was just going to... blow up.

Next->

[barrenclan]

was thrasher born into Defiance, or was he originally a kittypet/loner? and do you have any non-story related fun (or not so fun) facts about hushpuppy? i am a sucker for siamese cat ocs 🥺❤️

Thrasher was a stray cat from the same town that Egret and Hush Puppy are from! He joined Defiance as an adult.

Let's see; Hush Puppy's favorite food is anchovies. Her owner used to feed them to her as a treat, and she missed them a lot once she left.

I love Siamese cats, they're so pretty.

[lonelyplanetfag]

2, 12, 26, 56, 68 why not :))

02: Who did you last say “I love you” to?

probably either my dog or james junkyardromeo or my bitch ass cat that keeps screaming at me from outside my bedroom door. or my other cat but i doubt it cuz we have a Mutual Understanding of love that transcends words/language/etc yk

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

brother i haven't gone 12 hours without a nap since middle school🫡🫡

26: What are you craving right now?

HUSHPUPPIES. there's this seafood place i went 2 a lot as a kid n god id kill a man 4 their hushpuppies rn

56: How many people have you fist fought?

none but! there was this one time a guy kept saying he was gonna beat my ass cuz he thought his girl was cheating on him w me (she wasn't btw we just sat next 2 each other in class) n i ran into him when i was walking home from school once n he was all "get ur hands off my girl. bro get ur fuckin hands off my girl" etc etc n i just kinda looked at him funny. cuz i'd never talked 2 him before n what the fuck was his issue. n then he turned 2 his whole group of friends all proud n shit n he said "he was SO scared of me u guys he was SOOO scared" n i haven't seen him since

68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

probably james junkyardromeo:)

[theimpossiblescheme]

with the golden afternoon - playlists for olivia and autumn, for Swing Day of @bombawife‘s OC week

01. i believe - christina perri | 02. tightrope walker - ayla nereo | 03. fetch the bolt cutters - fiona apple | 04. don’t fence me in - darla hawn | 05. long long silk bridge - susumu yokota | 06. à tout à l'heure – bibio | 07. darkened room - charming disaster | 08. stroll through the sky - joe hisaishi | 09. alone - postmodern jukebox | 10. wuthering heights - kate bush | 11. madonna of the wasps - neko case | 12. lungs - grace vanderwaal | 13. smile - janelle monáe | 14. evening imagery - trevor kowalski | 15. yellow light - of monsters and men | 16. w.a.y.s. - jhené aiko | 17. cold - the oh hellos | 18. hoppípolla - sigur rós | 19. elan - the secret garden [listen]

01. something wild - lindsey stirling and andrew mcmahon in the wilderness | 02. in the morning - fleet foxes | 03. little fang - avey tare’s slasher flicks | 04. once there was a hushpuppy - benh zeitlin | 05. victory - janelle monáe | 06. jabberwocky - erutan | 07. swan - galileo galilei | 08. i’m with you - the macarons project | 09. high on humans - oh wonder | 10. ethereal - punch deck | 11. riddles wisely expounded - anaïs mitchell and jefferson hamer | 12. gold day - sparklehorse | 13. never play - emily and the woods | 14. home again - first aid kit | 15. dancing in the moonlight - king harvest | 16. tomorrow - aileen quinn | 17. pilgrimage - ichiko aoba | 18. when you believe - lindsay heather pierce and shoba narayan | 19. in fantasia - kishi bashi [listen]

[dragon-wisteria]

You don't know what Hushpuppies are? Gasp! They're only the most important side dish to barbecue or fried fish! They're deep fried cornmeal, usually with some added yummy ingredients like green onions or even jalapeños if you feel spicy. You can put butter on it or shove it straight in your mouth. If you've had cornbread, it's like that but fried and even more amazing than you're imagining.

(Okay I fulfilled my southern duty to preach the wonders of hushpuppies, thank you for listening)

That does sound delicious! I've only had cornbread once when our friend's american wife gave us some on thanksgiving last year but it was pretty great.

[acosmicblizzard]

Glad to see another Persona fan :D

May I please request headcanons for Kanji, Naoto, and Rise reacting to their African-American S/O introducing them to soul food?

Hello! Thank you for requesting, i'll do my best! Please tell me if any information regarding the food is wrong, i did some research but of course the websites i got the information from could be inaccurate!

African-American S/O introducing them to soul food headcanons

Warnings: Possible ooc

Story type: Fluff

Pairings/Characters: Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, Rise Kujikawa.

Naoto

Foods from different cultures? Sure, Naotos down to try it. Though Naoto hasn't had your cooking before, she's sure it at least has to be decent.

Her face is the equivalent of the surprised pikachu meme whenever you bring two bowls of Ham hocks to the table along with some black eyed peas.

She's immediately interested in these new dishes and as soon as she tries it she's in love-

She practically interrogates you about the other dishes and foods you can make from your culture, stopping mid way to apologize about getting too excited.

Every now and then she'll ask you if you can cook again, wanting to try out more then

expect to become the designated chef in a situation anyone needs to cook (and the housewife/househusband/housekeeper /j)

Rise

Honestly, Rise is down for anything. There's really no way your cooking could be worse then hers, Yukiko's, or Chie's. If it is, she's not judging. I mean just look at her cooking.

When you mention it to her she's interested and maybe will check the internet for information on the dishes from your culture before you cook them.

When the Banana pudding that you made for desert shows up hearts practically fill Rise's eyes. She quickly eats it and asks you to make it another time for her.

A ton of flirting ensures afterwards, Rise constantly telling you that you're a gifted chef and you could definitely make it into a career.

She'll also jokingly suggest you teach her how to make these dishes, it's up to you if you take it seriously and try to teach her the recipes without her accidentally making it too spicy or not.

Just like for naoto, you're the designated chef now, 0 arguments allowed.

Kanji

Kanji is more then happy, excited even to have you introduce these new foods to him. Cooking is one of his passions so he'd love to both taste and learn how to cook these new foods. He'll even ask you if he can watch you cook so he can start learning the recipes.

Kanji watches with intent whenever he see's you making the hushpuppies and cornbread. Noting down every step you take with interest and excitement.

By the time they're finished Kanji is already excitedly waiting at the table, mans seriously looks so excited that he's gonna flip the table over or something.

He's in love the moment he tastes the food, asking to help cook them next time and that he wants to learn all the dishes you can teach him.

Once you mention deserts all rational thought is outside the window and he practically drags you to the kitchen to ask you to prepare some desert from your culture.

You playfully roll your eyes as Kanji drags you into the kitchen wanting to make deserts with you. Looks like you got yourself a faithful helping hand in the kitchen.

[maythray]

hushpuppies and slaw are probably the weirdest things on that menu and thats legit only because theyre south-oriented foods. like thats it. theyre very generic foods once you see them. im so upset at that like what the hell. its a cookout.menu. these are all normal options. god damn. god damn !!!

[afropuffsartstudios]

MY SOUTHERN HOLIDAY FEAST

Let me start off saying I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I don't give thanks to colonizers and their violent, underhanded ways, I use this time to reflect on how I have and how I can better the world around me.

Also, I say "Southern" because that's my point of view of growing up in Mississippi (the Deep South of the USA). My holidays, dinner "must haves" might look a little different from those in the north, west, or even east of the rest of the US.

Anyway, here is a list of foods that I typically saw growing up and hope to make a few of these items this year.

Turkey and/or Honey-Glazed Ham or Cornish Game Hen (the hens were served when we didn't have money for turkey)

Gravy (different kinds)

Stuffing (this is dressing that's cooked inside the bird. Personally, this was rarely seen at our table, but it did happen from time to time)

Dressing (this is the one that is cooked outside the bird. This was much more popular in the South when I was growing up)

Green Bean Casserole or Potato Casserole or Broccoli Casserole or Sweet Potato Casserole (usually we had 2 of the 4. 1 sweet and 1 savory)

Baked Sweet Potatoes or Candied Sweet Potatoes/Yams

Mashed yam (this is a dish I learned how to make from a friend, and it was one of the dishes I made when I was still back home)

Mash potatoes or scalloped potatoes or Hasselback Potatos (usually had 2 of the 3)

Corn Pudding (we literally made this once, and it was a hit, but we just never made it again)

Cranberry Sauce (canned or fresh up to you)

Dinner Rolls or Cornbread or Buttermilk Biscuits (usually made all 3 as a larger family unit, but I typically make just 1)

Apple Pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Pie (we usually made the pecan and sweet potatoes and everything else was store brought but you can always cook up a storm for the holidays or just buy your heart out)

Deviled Eggs (it's not a real holiday without them)

Mac and Cheese (it just has to be there and be good)

Butter Beans (aka Lima Beans), green beans (not in casserole format), blackeyed peas

Red Beans and rice

Creamed Corn

Fried Okra

Roasted Vegetables

Glazed Carrots

Sweet Tea (every meal needs sweet tea in the south EVERY MEAL)

Limeade (I think this is something my family did)

Apple cider, apple juice

Banana pudding (my grandmother LOVED banana pudding, but I can't have bananas anymore, so I don't make it

Cookies and Cakes (honestly, any kind)

funnel cakes or elephant ears (it depended on if our out of state family came in which one was made, but if they told us they weren't coming, we didn't make it)

Eggnog (one year we made it and just never brought store brought again in my house)

Now, if I didn't add Gumbo, Jambalaya, Hushpuppied, Fried Catfish, and Beignets to this list people would think it's not a real "Southern" list but for our family those are considered "everyday" foods that we rarely made for autumn and winter holidays.

[katieogrady51]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Must bundle Genuine Leather Hushpuppies w memory foam insoles sz 8, 39 worn once.

[breatheeasy808]

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

The first photo of me was in Charlotte, North Carolina in August 2021. I was visiting two good friends and their baby daughter, who was about two months old at the time. On that day that photo was taken, my friends and I enjoyed a warm summer's day hanging out at an old red brick warehouse complex that had been converted into a hip, art collective-esque space with cafes, galleries, and a traveling Van Gough exhibit. I daydreamed, listened to A Tribe Called Quest that was reverberating from some nearby speakers, looked up at the clouds, and watched my friends interact with their baby daughter; it was probably the first moment I recall that I was viscerally inspired to become a parent myself one day in the future. Later, we drove around downtown Charlotte before finding a quiet community park tucked away in the city, where my friend and I walked around the baseball field and his wife nursed the baby in the car as a rainstorm was approaching. As my friend and I walked back to the car we ended up getting caught in the rain for a bit. I asked him to take a portrait of me in the parking lot to commemorate the moment once the rain let up. We had smoked turkey, beef brisket, baby back ribs, hushpuppies, and cold beers for dinner before returning back home for the night.

I often think about how my life might have turned out differently if I had decided to take shelter with these friends in North Carolina instead of going to Texas when I had to evacuate New Orleans from Hurricane Ida only a few weeks later. I probably would not have been living as recklessly and wildly as I had been in Austin or Dallas, since I would have been in a more stable, domestic household than couch surfing with my other bachelor friends. Even though a lot of the food options in both North Carolina and Texas are not too dissimilar, I would probably still have been eating more wholesome, nutritious home-cooked foods if I had been taking shelter in Charlotte. Realistically, I also would not have been exposed to as many people there compared to either Austin or Dallas too. But a lot of that type of thinking is just a never-ending rabbit hole of hypothetical "what-ifs." I have since made peace with the realization that I made a serious of poor, irrevocable decisions with my health and well-being during my "evacuation vacation" in Texas that proved to be my downfall. And that is a lesson I have to live with for the rest of my life going forward.

The second photo of me was taken at Scripps Pier in La Jolla, California, about three months after I had been discharged from the hospital in San Diego following my double lung transplant. In about the year since these two photos were taken, I was hospitalized in three different states, lost my father, survived 165 days on ECMO treatment, received my double lung transplant surgery, began playing more video games and watching more movies and television series, reconnected with formerly estranged friends and family, lost 45 pounds from being in the hospital, regained almost 30 pounds since getting out, released a full-length album with my folk rock band, began a lifelong medication regiment as a transplant recipient, and underwent a surgical procedure to remove a polyp from above my vocal cord and seal up the hole in my neck from my trach tube.

Life as I knew it before feels like a distant memory—finishing my first year of graduate school in New Orleans, playing music and performing at gigs with my band, bicycling around and exercising at Audubon Park, smoking a joint and enjoying a cold beer, hiking through the mountains and swimming at the beaches in Hawaii, beginning in person classes for my second year of graduate school, and working towards completing my master's thesis in musicology. Now, I have had to put my studies on hold to take a medical leave of absence and I am still in full-time recovery in San Diego, living with my mom and grandma. I have recently resumed writing tutoring and coaching UCSD's mock trial program in my spare time. I do miss regularly playing music with other musicians; playing my instruments by myself without going busking or collaborating with other creatives does not hold the same appeal anymore. I have been sober from any recreational drugs and alcohol for over a full year by now, and I intend to keep it that way until the one year anniversary of my transplant surgery, after which I will decide to what extent I want to reintroduce any substances back into my life. Maybe I will find that I am better off without any of them.

The one thing that has not necessarily changed but has substantially deepened has been my belief and faith in God and Jesus Christ. I do not know how an inveterate atheist or someone who denies the existence of a higher power could have survived the ordeal that I went through, both from a mental fortitude perspective and also the circumstances and timing surrounding the events that transpired throughout my extended hospitalization and leading up to my surgery, over which I had absolutely no control or influence over. I cannot simply dismiss the miracle of my survival as a random, chaotic coincidence that I could probably do all over again and yield the same favorable results based on another spin of the cosmic lottery wheel.

A good friend of mine told me that even though a lot of my life circumstances might have changed, he did not see me as any different than the Kyle that he knew before. I might have added new layers to who I currently am based on what I have been through, but at the end of the day, he still saw me as the same person who is constantly growing and evolving into who I am today. That was encouraging to hear for me when I was still in the hospital, since I felt like a helpless shell of a human being for so long, at the mercy of the medical staff and God at all times. But just to be alive today is a miracle in itself and the rest of the journey is still waiting to be continued.