#salad-nano

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Sooo, Nano.

It was a bad idea, I knew it was a bad idea, but I wouldn’t have thought it would be that bad.

I put my 50k words into several different projects, ~6700 of which ended up in the one I had planned to write 🙄

21k went into Nuisance, which is now finished, scheduled to be posted until January, and which I hope to wrap up in a nice format soon after.

16k went into Undeserved/Fancy Boots after I had a sudden burst of inspiration how to end it. Together, it’s now 93k. The remaining chapters are scheduled to be posted until January (again), and perhaps I’ll have a nice xmas surprise 👀

When I said I cheated, I mean: This month was stressful. I had a week off at the start in hopes of getting ahead, but between having to clean up after my hamster died, several appointments & a cold, that didn’t work out. So when I had to write other things, like feedback for a beta swap, or a story outline, I just counted those words. Sue me.

There won’t be much of a break, but things will slow down. I still have a bunch of stories on my todo list, especially upcoming Glass Shards chapters since that one’s far from done, but also a short (shhhh *puts finger on lips*) new idea.

But I will also just play a damn video game or two.

And sleep. Sleep.

Another one from some days ago, because I will not be writing today.

There was a different kind of pain in Damien’s chest. Not quite happiness, and not quite sadness, but something in between, or maybe both. A happiness so large, it was hard to grasp, making him acutely aware of how rare it was, and how much he wished it wasn’t.

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Happy STS, Anna!

Half my dash is doing some variant of Nano right now. What do you hope to achieve this month? What are you most excited for?

Happy STS, Elli! 💜

I do not give two shits about nano 😂

I have no specific goals set for this month, or any month XD My goal is to do what I can, when I can.

That being said, I need to decide how widely I want to beta for Shattered Dreams. Plus, I'm not really expecting anything from the subs I did for it a couple weeks ago, so I probably also need to seriously think about a cover and when I want to publish it. Which would also depend on a beta timeline, so I *really* need to think about that.

Excited for? I'm excited to work on my revisions for Shattered Soul. I love that book so much, and I think the reason I haven't written the ending yet is because I'm not sure how much the changes I've made in Shattered Dreams will affect it. So I'm incorporating those in my revisions, and hopefully I'll have an ending before long. I want to share it so bad, but I want it to be complete before I do, so. :D

[lovers-instead]

here

[uninspired--poet]

Lena injures herself in the lab and gets a gruesome gash that needs stitches and a trip to the ER. She also bruises/sprains/twists her arm, leg, ribs, etc, something besides just needing stitches. Kara gets the call and immediately dotes on Lena when she arrives and after leaving the hospital together. Instead of worrying about herself, Lena’s thinking of better tech to invent for instances like these and what she can donate to the hospital to improve its operations. Genius CEO not thinking of herself and golden retriever (girl?)friend that’s definitely not platonic

Kara's eyes went wide and she came to a stop in the foyer of Lena's apartment. Lena didn't even look up from the glowing screen of her laptop as she tapped away at the keyboard in her kitchen. "Lena," Kara said her name softly to try not to let the worry and anxiety she'd been ridden with since they left the hospital the prior day seep into her voice. She failed miserably, if the sheepish way Lena finally looked at her was anything to go by. "I was just working on the nano sutures," Lena said quickly as she slammed her laptop shut like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "On my way to bed." "I don't believe you," Kara grumbled, walking into the kitchen and placing the bag of food she'd brought with her down on the counter. "But I'm glad we've already gotten you agreeing to go to bed out of the way." Lena sighed and placed her laptop down on the couch as she sank back into it and into the blanket Kara had covered her in when she'd left earlier in search of dinner for them both. "I don't really think all this is necessary, Kara," Lena said with a soft laugh as she began to get up from the couch only to flop right back down. She wasn't used to the unweildly boot the doctor had fitted her with. And it was currently her worst enemy. "Right," Kara said in disbelief as she crossed the room to fix Lena's blanket. "Anyway, I got you the strawberry vinagrette kale salad because it's your favorite - not because I think it's enough food for you while you're healing." "You act as though I've been in some sort of near-death accident. Like I'm in a full body cast. It's only a couple of sutures and a brace," Lena complained half-heartedly, but she allowed Kara to dote on her, anyway. More for Kara than for herself. That's what she told herself, anyway. "It's not a brace. It's a boot. You fractured your ankle, Lena. You're lucky you didn't need surgury," Kara said as she plopped down on the opposite end of the couch with a burger in her hand. "Anyway, your suture research can wait at least a few days. I'm not exactly opposed to you making strides in helpful medical tech. I'm just opposed to you needing it." "I'm a big girl, Kara," Lena chided gently, tossing the remote in her direction. "And even the most careful of scientists is bound to have an accident at some point in their life." Kara sighed and gave up for the time being as she flipped channels until she found a half-finished movie she thought Lena might like. It wasn't long before Lena relaxed in her presence as she always did and snuck a glass in her direction. "Kara?" She asked quietly from over top of the pillow she was hugging against her chest. "Would you mind opening a bottle of wine?" "Are you still taking the painkillers?" Kara asked, but she was already getting up, anyway. "Obviously. I'm not a masochist despite what you may choose to believe." "Half a glass?" Kara asked, already willing to compromise - if only to get Lena to get a good night's rest. Half an hour later, Lena had somehow made it over - not only to Kara's side of the couch - but pressed up against her side with her head on her shoulder, fast asleep. Kara figured between the prescription and the wine, carrying her to bed would be safe enough. She figured right. Lena was safely tucked in and Kara had picked up what little Lena had left laying around so she wouldn't feel compelled to tackle it in the morniing.

[thessalian]

Thess vs NaNoWriMo

So that time of year is fast approaching, and I think a lot of people I associate with on this platform are going, "But Veilguard's coming out on HALLOWEEN!", which is entirely fine - NaNoWriMo is optional. And honestly, all things considered, I am probably never doing it as an organised situation again.

It took some digging to find the original text, and I'll probably post the screenshot I saw on Bluesky too, but summary: not only is NaNoWriMo pretty much supporting AI (they say "absolutely not condemning", but the rest of the text isn't nearly so mealy-mouthed about it) but also calling people who are against AI "ableist and classist".

No, seriously. I mean, seriously.

Look, how people get their ideas is probably up to them. And stolen valour aside, plugging an idea into ChatGPT and getting some word salad in return is ... I guess someone's prerogative. The same as someone just typing, like, "rutabaga" 50k times technically counts as writing 50k words. But ... first of all, NaNoWriMo was supposed to support people who write. Second of all, the idea that not having someone immediately at your side to serve as beta reader is "classist" is ... no. Like, if you're online enough to understand NaNoWriMo, you can find a damn beta reader. Third, "Some people's brains don't work well enough to see the problems in their writing--" SEE ABOVE RE PROOF-READING, FOR ONE THING, and for another, that's just shit like spelling and grammar check, which has been standard on word processing programmes basically ever since the concept existed! Fourth, I'm not sure how AI assists in shit like "Can't find a publisher because publishers are only really interested in what will sell ALL THE BOOKS", but that's one of their arguments too.

But the last thing - the worst thing - is what that means. NaNoWriMo is not cool with plagiarism as far as I know, but that's what trains AI. More to the point, you have to verify your word count with their website by actually copy-pasting everything you wrote into the site for it to show you as a winner. The fact that they support AI, and that one of their sponsors offers a whole bunch of AI features? I don't trust them not to be selling every single thing people submit for word count total to feed someone else's writer-bot.

I mean, the NaNoWriMo bods have made some spectacularly shitty decisions the last few years. There was that partnership with those scammers at Inkkit, which also revealed the whole thing where one of their moderators - who operated the youth programme, by the way - turned out to be a paedophile and groomer. But this one is just ... disrespectful of the very thing they were supposed to be supporting.

Please don't use the official NaNoWriMo resources. I am concerned for what it will do with not only what you submit for word count, but what you put in their forums too. If you want to do 50k words in 30 days, I am with you all the way, and others will be too. Find a support group that isn't these jackasses and do that.

Plus the "not using AI is ableist" thing is bullshit, by the way. I am not participating this year (I don't think, anyway; not unless I get a great idea) because I'm damn sure I don't have the spoons for that ... because disabled. Because fibromyalgia. The thing is, I don't want to just say "I produced 50k words and won NaNo", I want to write. I want to use my voice, not something cooked up by a machine learning algorithm based on a single sentence. I think way too many people have forgotten what "in your own voice" means to art.

Like, on the r/criticalrole subreddit, we were talking about how Lance Reddick actually did record all his lines as Thordak in TLOVM before he passed, and I mentioned how different that was going to hit, with the example of having heard Robin Sachs as Zaeed in the ME3 Citadel DLC after he passed. And someone went, "Oh, shit, I didn't know he passed! Hey, do you think they'll one day be able to use the voices of dead voice actors so we can keep hearing them? Because I know it's possible because Snoop Doggy Dogg is reading me my homework now and it's awesome!"

I ... may have kind of exploded. I may also have mentioned that some bunch of assholes tried to make a George Carlin special after Carlin's death and his daughter (understandably) hit the roof. It's bad enough to disrespect thousands of people by training an AI to spit out whatever of their works will fit a prompt sentence, but imagine hearing the voice of someone you love, mangled by AI's inability to get real emotional nuance, possibly saying shit they would never say? Using their voices doesn't change that the emotion and power behind those voices is gone forever; it just parades a decaying copy of them around like some vocal equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's.

[cuprohastes]

Dave the Human

The Atrix named Atrix, who’s human name was Garfield “Garf” Bloomers, and her pouch lurking male, Un-Named Male were by the window, a blanket draped around Garfield’s shoulders.

Dave The Human, who otherwise appeared to be a scaled female Tsin with scales painted in colourful patterns, using nail polish form the human cosmetic vendor down on the Commerce deck, sat opposite Garf, picking at a large salad, and Dave the Human sat opposite, eating a hamburger with a knife and fork, just to be special.

Un-Named said something. More accurately he went “Graaak” and Garfield translated: “He wants to know why you both have the same name.”

The more human of the Dave the Humans shook his head. “We don’t. I’m Dave the Human, and that’s Dave.

The Tsin nodded. “Is a job title, innit?” She said, finishing the last cherry tomato off.

Garf drummed her claws on the table and Un-Named peered at Dave the Human and Dave The Human.

Dave The Human shrugged and got out her cosmetic bag, pawed through and selected some nail polish - A rather deep and luxurious shade of blue seeded with computational nano-clusters that gave her personal network a little extra computing power and razzle dazzle. Kind of a super-intelligent shade of blue.

“Well Dave the Human’s called that because he’s named Dave, and he’s a Human, and there used to be Dave Glorious-Tail, who was Atrix and they needed to tell them apart.”

“‘S right.” Confirmed that particular Dave. “And Dave there used to be on B shift. Back a few years ago they wanted to keep the Atrix and Human teams sort of half and half — Politics, doncha know — but Dave’s a specialist and we couldn’t get a human…”

Dave The Human carefully touched up a scale. “… Uhhhh huh. So nobody wanted to tell me that I couldn’t do the job I’m certified for because you know, it felt a bit prejudiced. Soooo… they worked around it.”

“‘S right.” Confirmed Dave the Human.

“And now I’m officially An Human” said Dave The Human.

“A male human too. Got paperwork and everything.” Said Dave the Human proudly.

Garf and Un-Named looked between the Daves with pink and orange faces (Pink and Orange: Suspicious of a good natured manner — Hey kids, pick up Atrix for Dummie and find out what your Atrix friends think!).

“The problem with humans is I can never tell when you’re joking or serious.” Garf said and Un-Named added a firm Grak.

Dave The Human spread her hands out. “Hey, it’s a human thing.”

“S’Right” Dave the Human confirmed, “He should know!”

[writingmoth]

wip list tag game!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

thanks to @kaylinalexanderbooks for the tag!!

i don't really have a folder, just google docs files thrown around so:

nano

antisnowwhite complete?

merpirate

puzzle pieces

the cursed prince of wouldn't you like to know

briarheart

queen of hearts

spooktober vn jam 2023

feel free to ask me anything about these!!

tagging @i-can-even-burn-salad @tisiphonewolfe @treesandwords

[mister-eames]

I see your Arthur singing Frank Sinatra and I RAISE you drunk!arthur singing Mariah Carey’s Loverboy (the firecracker version btw) at karaoke. Dream a little bigger, darlings and give that boy THE RANGE. Drunk!arthur doesn’t just sing, btw; he PERFORMS. & maybe eames has only worked with arthur a couple of times at this point so it’s like whiplash. Super serious pointman by day, karaoke king by night. He would be CHARMED.

Ooooh. So... a man like Arthur--for all intents and purposes, an 'uptight', all stitched in, no nonsense kind of man--has to have some kind of outlet, right, has to have some kind of side to him that goes to bed, undresses, relaxes, switches off, as we all do --a head to his tails, of sorts. I personally like to think Arthur is far from prim and proper (hey asshole, 'cause that worked so good, he's gonna help us break in...). I think, indulgently, despite how he presents himself at work, Arthur is.... very not neat and tidy, internally. Arthur is a red wine day-drinking, moodily salad-eating, elbows on the table (it's canon don't come for me) shit-at-life kinda mess outside of work. And I love however that manifests in our interpretations.

Let's say he sings.

I feel like drunk!Arthur definitely has a repertoire. Arthur knows the lyrics of his three-thousand-strong song playlist. Arthur had the first iPod nanos (and still does) and maxed them. Loverboy, L-O-V-E, American Pie, sung when he thinks he has no audience, tipsy, erring on drunk after more tequila than he remembers, maybe at karaoke, maybe just packing his suitcase for a job, sat on the floor cross-legged, rolling his socks into neurotic little mismatched bundles.

Eames stumbling across any of these, though. Like seeing the man behind the curtain, in a way, suddenly struck by this weird effervescence in his chest, a strange tickle under his sternum he initially mistakes for his own awkwardness, not realising some part of him was being dug out and reshuffled, making room for someone else. And then maybe filing that feeling away. Maybe letting it simmer. I don't know. I think Eames would feel some kind of way, moved unwittingly by Arthur's "messiness", Arthur outside of his own self made paradigm? *chefs kiss*.

[words-after-midnight]

Summer Reading/Writing Tag ☀️

I've seen a few people doing this one and I want to do it, so I'm jumping in. Tagging: @desastreus, @i-can-even-burn-salad, @joeys-piano, @scribe-of-stories + open tag

Describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer.

Actually all three of my current WIPs. Zero drafting Supernova now, The Dotted Line draft gets continued mainly in July for Camp NaNo, and I'm aiming to finish my line edit for Life in Black and White prior to September.

Recommend a book.

My favorite book of 2023 so far is Sundial by Catriona Ward. Can't recommend it enough.

Recommend a fic.

I cannot! I honestly haven't read fanfiction in years, sorry.

Recommend music.

Some of my top most played songs currently (I'm veeeeery into acoustics lately lol):

Becca Mancari - Golden Annie Lennox - Shining Light Novo Amor - Decimal Jesca Hoop - Pegasi Humbird - Pharmakon The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century Fleetwood Mac - Hold Me Sonic Youth - Star Power The Oh Hellos - Hello My Old Heart Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

Share one piece of advice!

Y'all know how I feel about writing advice, so I will not offer writing advice. I will offer one piece of general advice that has served me extremely well and that I do think applies to all writers who want to get published (including self-publication): be receptive to constructive criticism of your work. Deliberately seek it out. It will, more often than not, do wonders for your writing - and even if it doesn't, it will teach you how to be discerning in what types of feedback you take and leave, and it'll teach you to be gracious in accepting feedback. Anecdotally, putting myself in a position where I was receiving critique and constructive feedback (and, on occasion, straight up negative feedback) on my writing helped me develop a very thick skin and, eventually, confidence in my own work that easily withstands criticisms that I know aren't accurate. I think this is an absolute necessity for writers seeking publication (and, side note, I've been alarmed at the "constructive feedback is rude" culture that predominates in some online writing communities filled with - often young, but not exclusively - querying writers and writers in the self-pub process).

[crowandmoonwriting]

Happy STS, Crow!

Half my dash is doing some variant of Nano right now. What do you hope to achieve this month? What are you most excited for?

Hello Salad!

I'm just looking to keep my head above water tbh lol. It's my last semester of uni, and I have a Master's thesis to worry about. I want to do some worldbuilding for Tears of the Sun, maybe poke around in some spooky steampunk stuff I've got on the backburner, or my haunted House story (as horror is very much comfort to me as much as high fantasy), but my main novel On Crimson Wings is also crying for attention lol.

So everything, I guess! I can't wait til this month is over though lol, then I can really focus on my writing and the D&D game I'm setting up.

[kyofsonder]

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @pandawriterstuff and @aohendo to share the last line of the last WIP I was working on and tag others to keep the game going. Thank you for tagging me, and waiting for me to respond!

I'll tag: @writingpotato07, @sapphic-story, @mrsmungus, @365runesofwriting, @i-can-even-burn-salad, and as always anyone who wants to join can say I tagged them!

Last Lines Written for my Danny Phantom fanfic "Lingering Scars":

Danny looks up from where he'd crouched to press the hidden button and almost laughs. It's obvious that Sam and Tucker are both holding back the urge to run over and punch him in the face. They're keeping up with Ellie instead, hanging on her every word.

Last Lines Written for my NaNo "Love as Indicated 1: Chances Taken"

“I mean, I guess it’s pretty close to the quote, but it’s not what my dad meant. The way I said it sounds like your normal speaking voice doesn’t mean anything. Like you’re only important if you’re a pro. I get why Martin was happy with me saying that, it makes it sound like I’d never follow in dad’s footsteps. But I already don’t want to follow in dad’s footsteps. I don’t want to follow Martin’s plan, either. I hate singing whatever he tells me to sing and having everything I try to write for myself edited until it’s not mine anymore at all. That’s what I wanted to say when the interviewer asked me that question… not that I hate Martin. I don’t. Just… that I want to do things my way. I want to be me, I don’t want to be my dad or Martin or anyone else.”

Thank you both again for the tag, and for letting me share my writing with you after you've shared such good writing with me!

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Fifty fucking k.

Good night.

“Working with Cedric was… I don’t know. I hadn’t been proud to be stealing before, but helping him acquire certain objects his clients wanted? It was like a game. A risky game, I admit.” She grinned. “I’ve always been good at climbing. A window in the second story or entry over a roof was nothing for me.”

[six-of-ravens]

NANO UPDATE: 18,578 WORDS!!!!

WENT FROM 4505 WORDS BEHIND TO LIKE 200 WORDS AHEAD WOO!!

very proud of myself for not giving up when faced with the first real obstacle! instead I wrote myself out of a corner and came up with some good shit!!

bought pho and salad rolls to celebrate (and bc I completed a skip the dishes "challenge" or something and got enough reward points to get $5 off??) and now I'm just gonna chill and watch twin peaks!!!!

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Characters out of context tag

I was tagged by @i-can-even-burn-salad to: include one character quote — of your choosing ⁠— from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you’d like).

Give absolutely no context, save for what’s between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

From Hidden Depths :D

This was fun! I had a hard time choosing some of these, and I think I may have cheated and done two from one chapter lol.

Marcus: "I think I like the thorns–how did I never think to use them before? Would you like a necklace, Resh?"

Resh: "Please!" he cried out, not above begging, not at all. "What do you want me to say?"

Carr: "Getcha hands off me, you fucking creeps! I know how'ta walk, for fuck's sake. Are you even listenin' to me, or are you deaf as well?"

"Just thinking about how things could be so much worse," Resh said without thinking.

"Yes, you do," Resh said gently, eyeing the red dirt beneath Carr's outstretched leg. He had never heard Carr's voice sound so small. "I promise I don't expect anything from you in return."

Carr: "Do you want him to die, dickhead?" the voice in front of him chided. Then, under their breath, "Swear to gods, nothin' but a bunch of dimwitted fucktards down here."

"Carr, I'll help. I'll make sure… I'll make sure you're okay," Resh whispered. "Can I touch you? Help you up?"

"I'm right behind you," Resh managed to say, grabbing his head. Gods, it felt like it was going to explode. "Go!"

"Perhaps I'll find something a little more… permanent, when we're through here." Marcus patted Resh's cheek, then addressed the guard. "Bring him."

"Carr, I will not move from this wall. You are not trapped. Nothing is going to happen to you here," Nykim said, the corners of his mouth pulling down. "Did that fucker find out? Did he hurt you?"

Nykim: "Look, I know you're impatient, but don't draw your daggers on me in my own fucking office if you don't want to help decorate the room."

"Good." She ripped the knife out and stood, enjoying the pained gasp Istin made in response. Carr looked around the room. "Anyone else?"

Carr: "It hurt," she whispered, "leaving you behind. I didn't want to, you know?"

Resh: Of course. Can I hug you back?

I literally have no idea who to tag with this- same lol

For some nano motivation, I'm gonna retag you @i-can-even-burn-salad. I wanna see some quotes at the end of the month from your nano project! :)

Everyone else can have an open tag! Have fun, if you want :D

[themarcspector-hasmovedblogs]

prompt: send me ‘👀’ for something my muse has said about yours to someone else / when they’re not around | dia & sg!tv for: @moonsaintsverse: of gods and monsters notes: journalist!cloud, and not an art hoe cloud, goes on a blind date and her sister wants to know the details. thing is...she's still processing things. date was...different. i did not reread this btw. i am doing drabbles for nano and just posting stuff. so.....✌️♥️ we don't proof read here.

When Cloud walks through the doors of her sister Amya’s home, Amya’s arms are crossed and she’s shaking her head with a smirk on her face, which manages to make Cloud roll her eyes. Cloud looks like she’s gone through a walk of shame, because some of the buttons on her blouse are broken when they weren’t before and her hair is unruly and her makeup is, well, everywhere. Plus her heels are in her hand when she walks through the door and she looks like she's buzzing from adrenaline.

And though Cloud would typically high five her sister after a good night out where she got laid after a great blind date with an attractive person, that’s not what happened at all. She did not get laid, and her date night was more confusing than anything else.  

Last night she went on a date with a guy her sister had set her up with and the two of them had gotten along pretty well, up until trouble followed and made the date a whole lot more than your typical wine and salad that ended with a make out session. 

No – this night out, hadn’t even ended in trouble due to her own bullshit, it had ended that way due to his. Apparently, ‘trouble’ was this guy’s last name. Sweet, overly honest, wikipedia smart Steven, had people after him that caused even her to question things. Because, well, they weren’t uhm – human, or even just superhuman or mutant.

Whoever was after him were Other.

Which, you know, should have caused her to jolt the fuck out of any future date that could ever occur between them. And the fact that she was so chill about it probably made her seem suspicious enough for him not to call her – and he hadn’t since she’d left – but she thought it was interesting enough that, when her sister cleared her throat and had her hands out and asked, “So – how was the date?” Cloud couldn’t help but to smirk and shrug a bit half-shrug, before placing her heels near the door. 

“It was fun, I think I’ll call him in a bit. See if he’d want to have another date sometime soon. I really liked him,” even though there was more to it than that and more than one person on their date technically, when things began to go to the fuckening. Though that person wasn't technically her date. And the whole thing was a bit confusing, despite her own knowledge on these things. “He likes old things like I do. Talks a lot though. But he’s honest like you said and kind…Thing is, there’s more to him than meets the eye and I like that, too.” Amya leaned forward, rested her head in her chin. “That’s the first time you’ve enjoyed a date in a while. That good in bed huh?” 

Cloud rolled her eyes. “I don’t kiss and tell, you know that,” she lied. 

Amya rolled her eyes, “Boo.” 

Which made Cloud laugh. “No, no – we didn’t do anything. We just, like, had a good time. And you know me, always falling on my ass and injuring myself somehow. Fucked up my outfit. But it’s all fine. He doesn't mind the fact that I almost ended up in the emergency for having fun.” Another lie, despite Amya knowing some of the Delphine stuff she does not know all, so there’s not much else to go into. “Nice guy, you had a blast, and you didn’t even bone – a waste.” Amya teased, sitting back. “Just when I thought I knew you, I was wrong.” 

Cloud laughed at her sister again. “Amya, please. It was a first date.” 

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not like you haven’t fu–” 

Before Amya can say anything else, there’s a knock on the door, and when Cloud goes to open it, there’s no one there. “Weird,” she said.

“Actually no, you’re doing that thing you do. Where you think you hear something but –” 

“I don’t,” Cloud finished for her. 

Amya nodded. “Go rest. Go dream about your date that you didn’t get to bone, because you don’t live life as adventurously as I thought.” 

Cloud shook her head, ran her hand down her face. It had been a long night, and her sister had somehow managed to make it a good day. But Amya, more than anyone knew it was true, she needed to go to bed. Thing was, Cloud wasn't exactly sure she could sleep. There was too much on her mind. Too much that didn't make any sense.

[generalrice]

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Health Benefits: Basmati rice, particularly the brown variety, is considered a healthier option compared to other types of rice. It's low in fat, gluten-free, and contains essential nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and fiber. The glycemic index of Basmati rice is lower than many other rice types, making it a good choice for those managing blood sugar levels.

Versatility: Basmati rice is incredibly versatile and can be used in a wide array of dishes. From traditional biryanis and pilafs to modern stir-fries and salads, its light and fluffy texture makes it a popular choice for dishes where the rice needs to complement, rather than overshadow, the other ingredients.

If you’re looking for Basmati rice for sale, it’s important to choose a premium supplier who ensures that the rice is aged, as aging enhances the grain’s quality, making it more aromatic and less sticky when cooked.

Arborio Rice: The Heart of Italian Cuisine

In contrast to Basmati, Arborio rice has a short, plump grain that’s prized for its creamy texture. Arborio rice is named after the town of Arborio in Italy’s Po Valley and is primarily used in Italian dishes, most notably risotto.

What Makes Arborio Rice Unique?

Creamy Texture: Arborio rice is high in amylopectin, a starch that contributes to its creamy consistency when cooked. This characteristic is what makes Arborio rice ideal for risottos, where the goal is to achieve a creamy, luscious dish.

Absorptive Power: Arborio rice has the ability to absorb large amounts of liquid without becoming mushy, making it perfect for slow-cooked dishes. This allows it to soak up flavors from broths, wines, and sauces, making every bite rich and flavorful.

Nutritional Value: While Arborio rice may not be as nutrient-dense as some whole grains, it still provides essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, magnesium, and vitamins B and E. It's also gluten-free, making it suitable for people with dietary restrictions.

For those searching for Arborio Rice for Sale, ensure you're selecting high-quality grains, as this can significantly impact the final outcome of your dish. The best Arborio rice is harvested in Italy and is often labeled as Carnaroli or Vialone Nano, two sub-varieties that are especially prized for making risotto.

Culinary Uses and Recipe Ideas

Both Basmati and Arborio rice have distinct culinary uses, each bringing a unique texture and flavor profile to the table. Here are a few recipe ideas to showcase the best of both varieties:

Basmati Rice Recipes:

Chicken Biryani: A fragrant and flavorful Indian dish made with spiced chicken, saffron, and long-grain Basmati rice.

Middle Eastern Pilaf: Fluffy Basmati rice cooked with dried fruits, nuts, and a medley of spices like cinnamon and cardamom.

Rice Salad: A light and refreshing dish made with cold Basmati rice, vegetables, and a lemon-tahini dressing.

Arborio Rice Recipes:

Classic Risotto: Arborio rice cooked slowly in broth, finished with butter and Parmesan cheese for a creamy, rich texture.

Arancini: Italian rice balls made from leftover risotto, stuffed with mozzarella, and fried to perfection.

Rice Pudding: A dessert version of Arborio rice, cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla for a creamy and indulgent treat.

Where to Buy Premium Rice

When searching for Basmati rice for sale or Arborio rice for sale, it’s crucial to choose a reputable supplier that prioritizes quality. High-quality rice not only ensures better flavor and texture but also enhances the overall experience of your dishes. Look for suppliers who offer organic or sustainably sourced rice to ensure you’re getting the best possible product while supporting ethical practices.

Conclusion

Whether you're preparing an exotic biryani with fragrant Basmati rice or crafting a creamy risotto with Arborio rice, the quality of your grains matters. Each variety has its own distinct characteristics that can elevate your cooking and bring authentic flavors to your table. For those looking to buy Basmati rice for sale or Arborio rice for sale, investing in premium rice will undoubtedly make a world of difference in your culinary adventures.