#so going back to the recipes I've made and recreating them has been like an interesting puzzle

[emptymanabar]

I successfully made vegan soy-free sourdough cinnamon rolls that taste good and are texturally identical to what is expected from a cinnamon roll. It took four tries to adjust the original sourdough cinnamon roll recipe I had into the substitute version.

A lot of adjustments and experimenting after each failure, so I am actually proud of finally succeeding.

[thekrows-nest]

"Oh n-not this time, m-my Songbird. I-I've let it slide a bit, l-let you have your f-fun, and it is f-fun for me too. However. Y-you've been p-pampering me far too much. It is YOUR turn t-to be looked after and have a d-day off."

.....Darling, love of my life, my lil sugar bear you're my precious lil princess and I feel you underestimate my strength. I'll literally handcuff , put a collar on you and throw you over my shoulder as if It's the last thing I'll do, darling. ~~ ☺️💞

Now, now sit down. I've got a special surprise for you. I've been looking for the past hours for Indian recipes and tried my best to recreate them for you, my love. Also why need a chair? These thighs were made for you to sit on , and why do anything when I can feed you myself 😌✨✨

And don't worry your pretty lil head about taking care of me, I'm doing fine, Hun. you should be more worried about how you are going to your work tomorrow after I finish with you tonight, I saw that birdcage in your room maybe I should put it in use since you decide to disobey 🙂☺️

(fgsfgsfdadgagrsdg I'm not backing up until that lil shit accepts his new fate, I'LL CRUSH HIM WITH MY THIGHS LIKE A FUCKING WATERMELON AND HE'S GONNA LOVE IT!!! )

I fucking laughed so hard reading this. I wanted this framed and on my wall it's fucking art safndkfjg

Words cannot describe, or emphasize enough, the absolute joyous, yet positively gremlin, shit eating grin expression that Krow's face bears, including the rare sight of him showing his fanged canines without holding his hand over his mouth to hide them.

"R-really now, t-threatening me w-with a good t-time? I-is the collar a s-shock one? I've ALWAYS w-wanted to try one of t-those. C-cause that sounds AMAZING."

Krow gives a delighted little giggle at the thought, and continues to grin up at you. And at the mention of you recreating various Indian dishes for him, the teasing persona does crack, revealing him to be truly touched at this gesture.

"Ah... D-Dove. Y-y-you didn't... n-need to. S-some of these are complex t-too..." this time he does cover his mouth, though not from shame at his teeth, but out of the overwhelming feeling of gratitude he has.

He looks back to you, smile returning. "Do you r-really think, a-after all this, w-with how much you've been s-spoiling me, lavishing me, I-I can let you just.... g-get away with it? No. Oh no no no n-noooo. It is MY turn to t-take care of you, a-and service you, in a-all the ways you w-want."

He'd laugh more. "O-oh you noticed the cage? L-lovely, isn't it? Eheh, g-going to try and punish me, my Dove? My b-beautiful Songbird?" he drops his voice into a whisper. "Do it. M-make me BEG."

((Two service doms both just like 'no u' at each other nskjDFznsdf Place your bets on who's gonna crack first dfgsndkfjg))

((Given that Krow is like... an extreme masochist, he'd BEG you to crush him with your thighs. Destroy him. Please.))

[ramshacklefey]

I was reading this post from @headspace-hotel, and it got me back into a bunch of thoughts I've been rolling around in my head for ages.

The emptiness of white culture in the USA comes a lot from what the original post mentions: that people who started out with a variety of different cultural heritages in Europe were forced to assimilate to a hegemonic white culture or be crushed.

However, world history is full of examples of one culture conquering and assimilating another, but the extent of this homogenization to... nothingness seems to be somewhat unique to the history of the USA.

And I think part of that is the result of the precise historical and political situation that laid the foundation for what became the dominant culture in the USA.

The English Puritan Christianity that the early colonists brought with them to North America was largely defined by rejecting things: not only many of the traditions of Catholicism, but also everything in secular culture that was deemed immoral. I mean, these were people who forbade theater or celebrating most holidays. They basically stripped themselves of everything that we would usually think of as "culture" and left themselves with nothing but the imperative to work hard and not have fun.

In other cases, when one culture assimilated another, the assimilated group actually picked up the practices and traits of the assimilating culture. But in this case, there wasn't much to pick up. The only demand was to reject whatever your previous culture had been.

And this had a particularly strong effect on people from European countries and others who would eventually come to be considered white. Black and native peoples were subjected to more violence, but because they couldn't effectively "disappear" into the white cultural hegemony, they had less incentive to do that and managed to (in many cases) maintain or recreate some kind of culture for themselves. For white Europeans, the story was different. If you were Irish or German or Scandinavian or Russian, you could disappear into the rest of the white people in America if you dropped your language, dropped your accent, dropped your religious identity and culture specific practices and just started acting like the vaguely Puritan people around you.

Of course, Puritanism is no fun at all, and over time people started reinstating a lot of things. They picked up Christian holidays and such, but there wasn't much left to them on a community or spiritual level for a lot of people. And that made it really easy for corporate entities to turn them into commercial hullabaloos.

What's that you say? Christmas has been stripped of the solemnity of Mass and the power inherent in ritual practices? Guess all that's left is the decorations (which we'll sell you since you're too busy working to make them), and the food (which we'll sell you since you're too busy working to cook), and the gift-giving (which you gotta spend a lot of money on or you're being a selfish bastard).

Something similar happened to food. If you actually go to Europe and eat the food that has been made in various countries for hundreds of years, it's varied and interesting. True, Europe isn't home to a lot of the more exciting spices that are used elsewhere in the world, but people everywhere like food that tastes good. European food is traditionally flavored with herbs and garlic and pepper. And because they had to preserve a lot of stuff to last through the winter, they got pretty ingenious with pickling and smoking things. They went nuts with baked goods and dairy.

Come to the USA, and a lot of those foods were considered "gross," so people stopped making them and the recipes got lost. Throw in the early to mid 20th century rise in pre-cooked foods that made it easier to feed a family on almost no money when you didn't have time to cook, and you get a lot of really bland stuff that can be made in huge batches. This was especially true in the poorer areas of the midwest where there was less in the way of interesting ingredients being brought in from other places around the world, and the growing season was pretty short.

Oh right, and people's stories and folk practices got culled, because they didn't fit in with the dominant religious views. So those were out.

You mix all that together with the general social alienation and death of community and family life that capitalism has been steadily forcing on people for the last couple centuries, and you have an entire population of people who don't have any solid roots or traditions. No spiritual connection to ancestors and only the foggiest, most watered down understanding of their ancestral cultures. And it isn't a far jump from there to people feeling like the only thing they have that counts as culture is "being white."

We need a solution to this, and I'm not sure what it is. I know that we're going to have a helluva time changing anything as long as we're stuck under the thumb of a capitalist system that makes it almost impossible to build real-world community. That things aren't going to get better as long as any religious or spiritual belief system other than bland, Evangelical Christianity is considered hokey and idiotic.

What I'm sure of is that the only way it's going to start is if people start actively trying to build communities in real life. People who you can actually talk with and share food and build traditions and rituals... People who can help each other and form bonds that can be passed down to younger generations so that they have some sense of connection to the rest of the world.

I'm just one dude, and I'm not advocating for any particular shape that this should take. Just that it needs to happen.

[emberapatow]

Jemma and Ember try to recreate one of Jemma's favorite dishes and chat ft. @ijemmaokafor

Jemma:

-finding Ember in the kitchen, Jemma stops by- Hey hon, I’ve got that recipe if you wanna run through what we’ve got on hand for it.

Ember:

Yes, I would love to! Come on, by now I've memorized basically everything we've got in our storage, so it should be easy to figure out if it is possible.

Jemma:

Nice thing is, it’s pretty versatile. My gramma always made it with goat meat, but chicken works, too. Or just veggies, if that’s what’s on hand. The key is the peppers, so…what kinda do we have on hand?

Ember:

We don't have the biggest variety, but there are some choices. There are bell peppers, mostly red, but there are some green too. Jalapeno though they are not as hot as I'd prefer, but I think it's best for a lot of people. And black and white peppers for seasoning, mostly whole. Is it more of a sweet or savory soup?

Jemma:

-as Ember pointed out each type of pepper in the pantry, she collected them up- Well I think we can make do. Probably best we don't use scotch bonnets anyway...soup made in bulk like this, I don't think most folks can handle the real real spice. spotting bullion cubes, she grabs a couple It's a savory soup, mostly. The real authentic stuff uses these seed pods that are kinda like black peppercorns, but they have a fruitier kind of aroma. Doesn't quite make it sweet...ours will have to be savory.

Ember:

Yeah, they probably cannot handle the heat. At this point I know how to cook without heat intentionally, but when I started learning to cook, that was kind of a struggle, everything just turned out hot. -she nodded and started picking up spices and veggies for the base and placing them on the kitchen counter- Savory it is. I'm assuming onion, garlic, salt is needed? Wish we could do the authentic version, but but black peppercorns it is. You said your grandma used to make this, right?

Jemma:

Onions and salt yes, garlic...I don't know, keep it out just in case. I don't remember gramma using it, but we'll taste along the way and see if it helps since we're ad-libbing anyway. Her family was from Lagos, West Nigerians go heavy on the spice, and this was about as versatile as keeping a bottle of tabasco on the table. You can eat it by itself, add rice or yams. The trick is how you prep the peppers.

-remembering a last minute addition- NUTMEG. Do we have any nutmeg??

Ember:

-thinks for a moment- Hold on, there should be some... -reached at the back of one of the shelves and pulled out a smaller baggie, grinning at Jemma- HA, victory! Yes, we absolutely have nutmeg. Alright, which of the peppers are we using? Cause the prep on them heavily depend on it. Have you ever been to Lagos, by the way?

Jemma:

Twice! A cousin got married and they turned it into a big family reunion. And then I went again when I studied abroad. -considering the ingredients in front of her- Let's do the red peppers and the jalapeños. I know they're supposed to be roasted before they're stewed in the soup. And to save one pepper that gets sliced as a fresh garnish. But that's about the extent of what I know.

Ember:

You studied abroad? That sounds really cool. What kind of places have you seen during it? -nodded- That was my assumption. And then cook it up with stock from the bullion, the chicken - oh, we have chicken, we can use that, I forgot to say. Do you wanna help or do you just wanna watch? I'm good with either version, I like figuring things out. -she already put her hair up into a ponytail and started to work on the prep work-

Jemma:

I needed an international law credit and I'd always wanted to see more of my grandparents' home, so I signed up for a six-week trip across West Africa. Lagos was just one of the stops, but I got to see family while I was there. As for helping out...I can chop onions?

Ember:

I know I said this before, but that's really cool. Did you have a favorite spot, or something that was outstanding you've seen that stuck with you? -she got the onions with a knife for Jemma- There you go, can you do small dices? Just make sure not to cut the tip of your finger off. I saw that once, and it's not fun.

Jemma:

The whole city was pretty dazzling. There was a conservation center with this canopy walk though…wish I had pictures to share, that place was amazing. What about you? What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been?

Ember:

Makes you think about the old days, when they printed out all the photos a couple of decades ago, right? For me it was Mexico for sure. The only time I've been outside of the country, but I'll never forget it. My abuelita grew up near San Cristobal. Walking through the streets there just felt magical.

Jemma:

 I've never been to Mexico...but some of my favorite actors and directors were from there. I always figured it must be beautiful to inspire so much art. -she stays quiet for a moment, considering the woman before her, and just how enthusiastically she's thrown herself into this community- Y'know, forgive me if this is presumptive--working in the kitchens like you do is so crucial, and you're already totally pulling your weight. But is there anything else around town you might want to do? I'm always trying to keep an eye out for folks who have a kind of...community spirit about them? That makes it sound kinda corny, but do you know what I mean?

Ember:

That's... -chuckles- That's very kind of you, I was just trying to integrate. And feel like a human being again, if I'm being honest. But actually, now that you mentioned it, I did want to talk to you about something related to this. How much do you know about people having substance issues in Redwood?

Jemma:

I know there are a few who struggled with it in the before times. I’ve not seen it be an ongoing issue here, but we’ve got access to vices, and addiction’s a lifelong thing, so I could see it cropping up. Why, are you concerned about someone?

Ember:

-shook her head- No, I am not close enough with anyone to see it as something of a problem, I was just thinking-- do you think some sort of group meeting, something where people could talk about stuff like this, know there's some kind of support system there for them could be something this place could be interested in? I'm sure there are people from even before the outbreak with problems and then this environment makes people reach for these kinds of solutions easily

Jemma:

Kinda like an AA? Maybe not so much of the religious stuff -a lot of people's faith had been flipped upside down anyway- I think that could be good. We'll reserve the main room for it. Start with one get-together to gauge interest, then maybe schedule stuff from there?

Ember:

Yeah, see if people would be interested in it. -a pause- I know I'd be interested in it.

Jemma:

-she didn't want to pry right now, but the pause told her something important about her new friend- It's a really good idea. You tell me when you're ready to do it and we'll make it happen. I don't have any official experience with AA or NA, but I've helped folks in that world before, so I'd like to help where I can.

Ember:

I have no experience with any of it myself either. It all kind of happened right after the outbreak so I've never did anything like this before, but we can figure it out. And thank you, for your help with this, it means a lot.

[dzpenumbra]

4/17/23

Today was one of those "didn't feel productive but actually was" days. I got 6 hours of sleep, which is getting a bit too normal. I'm so well acquainted with insomnia at this point that I can estimate how much sleep I've gotten based simply on how my body physically feels and the light color and level out my windows within about half an hour of accuracy. Not really sure I'm proud of that, but... it's a thing.

I played more Per Aspera after yoga. Trying to allow myself more dedicated recreation time since I've been hitting the animation shit really hard. But first... I set up the grow kits my brother got me for christmas. I have been waiting for almost 5 months to just get little fucking end tables to put plants on by my big windows. 5 fucking months, all because I was like... trying to make it a group thing, trying to make some room for family to actually be involved in my life. Ugh. Big fucking mistake. I had to throw out one of the kits, I didn't realize it was mushrooms and it 100% has been growing inside the box the whole time, I was supposed to open it immediately. It's okay, I'm not a huge mushroom fan anyway... The other two were cherry tomatoes and chilis, both I'm really excited about. And it turned out that the jars they come in fit okay on my windowsill, so I pulled the trigger and got them set up.

I got a shower in, and before going for a walk... I had to get dinner prepped. I had a whole plan today - I was going to prep some dough for from-scratch naan, then make from-scratch tzatziki sauce, and some package falafel and tomato to go with it. But the recipe I went with called for yeast in the dough, so I had to roll that and let it rise. So... I prepped and rolled that and let it do its thing while I went for a walk.

I got out there pretty late, it was already starting to get dark. I sorta speed-walked down the river trail outside my window out to where it ends, then looped back, and decided to go under the bridge and explore that way this time. It wasn't much, it was like a 15-20 minute walk, but it was really nice to get the blood pumping, got a sweat going even. Music makes it much easier. I don't mind hiking in the woods with just the sounds of nature, and I can just talk to myself or sing or whatever. In the city, it's just so fucking loud. But the earbuds help a lot, and it's really good for my head to be getting more music in my life.

The past like 5-10 years there's been a huge uptick in time consuming narrative stuff - YouTube, Twitch, miniseries', podcasts, etc. And with that came a big downtick in time consuming music. So... I guess I'm working on evening out that ratio. My newest listens have been... Dance Gavin Dance's "new" album, though I have only given it one listen so far... I'm getting back into Veil of Maya, I've always really liked their False Idol album but I never really gave it the time or attention it deserved, so I'm giving it some now. I hope to soon be able to go back to Matriarch, that was when I was getting really into them, I was all about their new (at the time) singer... but... it was a really dark time in my life. Right when I moved into the pond house that was supposed to be my house with my ex, and then was our house, and then was complicated and stupid and sketchy, and then wasn't. At the time, I was using google maps and whatever historical documentation I could drum up to make a real-scale replica of the entire complex of Chichen Itza in Minecraft. I.e. not just the Temple, but like... the entire place. I made a lot of progress on it. Just... one of many huge scale projects that just... never went anywhere... that I was working on endlessly alone that no one else seemed to really care about and that never got finished. Yay. XD But, honestly, the album just reminds me of that time of my life and the fights, and winter, and sitting on the floor in my bedroom playing games and waiting for my ex to get off of work. Or wondering if she was actually intending on moving in with me? I don't even remember the timeline anymore. Regardless, not good memories, tough emotions.

But honestly... in the next couple years, I really want to reclaim a lot of music like that. I mean that. I really feel like it would be good to have emotional support available for that, but it's been a goal for a while. I need to reclaim Matriarch, ERRA's Drift album, Periphery III. I guess that's good enough for now.

God, how did I get onto this? Earbuds. Yeah, listening to music while walking. Yeah, so that's been good.

So I got back and rolled the dough, made the falafel mix, made the tzatziki sauce, cooked the naan on the frying pan, then fried the falafel. It took forever but the food was great, very filling. Though... the dough was very yeasty tasting. I don't remember naan tasting like yeast, and this was like... really yeasty. But yeah, probably not the end of the world, nothing to be obsessively worried about, just something to take note of for the future.

I tried working on the animation stuff a bit more. It... really frustrated me and I had to close out of it after a bit. It was just... upsetting. The grease pencil keeps clipping when rendering and looking bad, the massive amount of paths all set to Divide blend mode end up causing an effect I wasn't really intending... which... I don't really know if I like? So... yeah. I'm still working out the kinks and just really didn't have the patience for it today.

I need to get this idea out of my head, it's been nagging literally all day long, and last night too. I keep getting moss. Over and over and over. Moss, moss, moss. By getting, I mean inspiration calling, whatever you want to call it. I don't know exactly what to do with this, because I have too many ideas. The first and most focused was to grow it indoors. In my head, I picture something like an open terrarium, like a terrarium with super low walls, and gravel and some very basic soil and a stream running through it, circulating by using the water pump from my cat's old fountain. And moss growing in there. That idea has been calling me for months. It would be such a cool idea. Like an indoor zen garden. Even if it doesn't have a water feature it would be cool. Oh... snap. Okay. So... if the water is what's throwing me off and stopping me from doing this... Hmm...

See, part of me wanted to do the water feature so that... the entire thing would be self-sufficient. It would water itself. I mean, I'd have to replenish the water periodically, but like... you know. But... I don't mind watering. I have my orchid and my succulents and they've been doing great. I have a watering chore I need to do now with the tomato and chili plants. So... this is doable. And moss should be like... ridiculously low maintenance. Like... moss will grow on fucking rocks, it needs so goddamn little to survive. And it's really pretty and cool. So... I'm tempted to do mini indoor zen gardens. I just need to find a good container to do that in... something that won't fall apart when it gets wet, because I will have to water this thing.

The other idea I had... and this one is actually really cool, check this out. So... I've been playing Per Aspera, which is all about terraforming Mars. And... it's been absolutely enthralling. This whole concept of spreading life, growing, creating an ecosystem. It's a concept that's been super resonant with me the past 2 years in winter/spring. Big surprise in Spring, right? XD

So the idea I have is... to find a section of the woods out by the nature trails. Slightly off trail but not too far. Removed enough, but noticeable if you're looking for it. And to clear the dead leaf layer on the ground and start seeding a moss garden. And let it grow on its own. Collecting moss from other areas and transplanting it in a very deliberate area, maybe in a shape.

The more recent update to this has been a pretty cool image flash. I was seeing a central circle with multiple points inside, like an 8-pointed star. That's just the number that came up. And then at the points, there are circles that radiate outward, incrementally smaller, in line with the points. And the circles are raised stone circles, with a bed of moss in each one. I'm not sure what happens with the middle. I like the idea of doing design earthwork with a living element, it's something I haven't really gotten to. All of my earthwork stuff so far has basically been stone and water. I haven't really added life to it yet. I like the idea.

So yeah, really glad to have inspiration striking. It just... can be very tempting to drop everything with the really frustrating project I'm working on now and just... go head-first into that one. And... I still have to finish the hoodie backpiece. So... one foot in front of the other, one thing at a time.

A little Zen garden inside would be really nice to like... go and play with to chill out my anxiety, though. Just sayin.

[katnissmellarkkk]

Okayyyy here comes the next chapter ! Number .... lemme look. Okay, number six! 🥳🥳🥳

And yes, my thoughts as usual will be a messy, very Everlark-biased and full of typos. Letsss gooooo 🥰🥰🥰

Is this the first time Katniss and Peeta have been to their floor or is this just the most opportune time to explain and introduce the Tribute Center living quarters?

Also why are they called tributes anyway? That word suddenly seems weird to me after nine years... 🤔🤔🤔

“I've ridden the elevator a couple of times in the Justice Building back in District 12. Once to receive the medal for my father's death and then yesterday to say my final goodbyes to my friends and family” .... 😶😶 so only good memories and connotations to elevators then, huh?

“The walls of this elevator are made of crystal so that you can watch the people on the ground floor shrink to ants as you shoot up into the air.” My mind is just imagining the elevator in Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s Spider-Man movies 🤗.

“It's exhilarating and I'm tempted to ask Effie Trinket if we can ride it again, but somehow that seems childish” this is so cute and innocent omg. Katniss, like I said in my last chapter blog, still has some childlike innocence left in her 🥺🥺🥺. I’m a sad.

Also excuse the unnecessary extra gif use but 🤭🤭🤭

Oh wow, so Haymitch hasn’t been around since they were on the train? No wonder neither Katniss nor Peeta fled they could trust him for basically the entirety of the first book. 😐😐😐

You know it’s bad when Effie being around feels like a blessing to Katniss. Girl has more restraint than me, I’d have ripped off this woman’s janky wig by now without remorse. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Effie acts like they’re her purebred show dogs. I know I know how is this news, that’s a blatant fact. The movies really softened her up tho for the general audience. And I bleed the movies and books together more than I should 😔😔😔

Well at least she’s made herself useful, trying to get Everlark sponsors ... even if it’s ultimately to benefit herself above anyone else .... 😤

Effie calling Twelve barbaric while she’s preparing them for the slaughter isn’t even ironic it’s like literally just brainless. Johanna probably had the nickname floating around for a lot of people before she officially knighted Katniss with it 😭

“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district.” Is this how they refer to Twelve? So basically if a district makes a better item, it’s a more worthy one in the Capitol’s eyes? So essentially, if District Eight made like diamonds or pearls or whatever then it would be more worthy? So are the districts assigned their numbers (one, two, three, four, etc) based on their order of importance to the Capitol’s lifestyle? I always thought it was based on their distance in relation to the Capitol? Okay so I didn’t really pay much attention to these facts previously when I read these books ok look away I’m an idiot

Omg 😭😭😭😭 Effie is such an idiot. But the coal turns to pearls thing is my favorite line from her only because it serves as the cutest inside joke when Peeta makes a callback to it in Catching Fire and Finnick is just like “why are these two teenagers so stupid who did I ally with? 🥵😳🥵😳🥵”

“I wonder if the people she's been plugging us to all day either know or care.” After reading Songbirds and Snakes, I’m sure they don’t have a clue, boo. 😑😑😑😑 although not everyone was an idiot back then ... maybe Snow is putting lead in the drinking water?

“But don't worry, I'll get him to the table at gunpoint if necessary.” I know she’s trying to help and I know we say this kind of thing today, but considering this is two kids she’s well aware will be heading into a death match this is just bad wording I know surprise surprise 🙄🙄🙄😬😬😬😬

“Although lacking in many departments, Effie Trinket has a certain determination I have to admire.” Katniss really does see the best in people. What’s sad, y’all, is I think Katniss unconsciously really tries to like people and that’s why she has her guard up so high. Because the softer you are, the easier people will step all over you. Terrible phrasing here, Samantha, I’m so sorry to any of my readers ... okay now that sounded arrogant, implying I have readers 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤣😅🤣😅🤣😅

“My quarters are larger than our entire house back home.” Omg? I mean, yes, I knew this already obviously no duh but like also. Just the fact that three people live in a space smaller than a bedroom and bathroom arena is saddy sad sad. Also do they have indoor plumbing in the Seam or is their backyards just full of—okay, I’ll see myself out. 😶🤭😅🙃

“The shower alone has a panel with more than a hundred options you can choose regulating water temperature, pressure, soaps, shampoos, scents, oils, and massaging sponges.” I’m just imagining a Spongebob scene ngl.

I’m sorry there’s so many gifs this time around it’s probably taking us out of the reading headspace I’ll never do it again 😩😩😩😩 I talk like I have a class of people listening to me 🤭🤭🤭

“Instead of struggling with the knots in my wet hair, I merely place my hand on a box that sends a current through my scalp, untangling, parting, and drying my hair almost instantly” I need this someone invent this NOW my brush is yanking out my hair 😔😩

“I program the closet for an outfit to my taste.” ‘Yes, Alexa, I’d like a hunting jacket, some boots and a green shirt. Yes, it can be brown.’

“You need only whisper a type of food from a gigantic menu into a mouthpiece and it appears, hot and steamy, before you in less than a minute.” I like this idea because it means that Peeta could order hot choccy to comfort Katniss after her nightmares in Catching Fire from the comfort of her their own bed. 🤗🤗🤗 also I want this for myself. The bad people are giving my greedy self ideas look away everyone 😬

“I walk around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until there's a knock on the door.” 🤢🤢🤢🤢 Of everything you could have chosen, child, this is what you decided on? Someone help my girl and her rotten tastebuds now.

“Effie's calling me to dinner. Good. I'm starving.” Baby, you were just eating. She’s so nutritionally messed up. 😔😔😔

Katniss trying wine 🥳🥳🥳 she’s so funny, trying to find a way to improve the taste 😅. She’ll make a good taste tester for her baker husband one day.

Hahahaha Katniss not liking the feeling and judging Haymitch for always being tipsy. Also this is sad because she ends up addicted to morphling later one which is far worse than a little wine.

I’m glad to know Baked Alaska survived the apocalypse 😅🥳

Katniss just constantly trying to decipher the recipe of every meal and how to recreate it reads cute on a surface level but it’s actually so tragic because everything to this girl is based around food. Like even more than is typically noticed. They really should have given a hint at this in the first movie. Good thing she marries a man who can always keep her full.

I’m just forever side-eyeing you, Gare Bear.

That’s Gary Ross for the confused kids in the back.

Why does Katniss yelling mid-sentence, “oh! I know you!” add to her innocence? 🥺 it’s because she was overwhelmed by all the food and new luxuries she’d never even been able to imagine ... and also this is pre her first games so she’s still got some childhood left in her 😩😔

I wonder how Lavinia felt seeing Katniss volunteer and knowing she’d be her Avox? I wonder if she, like Cinna, somehow volunteered to be her Avox?

I mean ... talk about convenient placement that this specific girl was assigned to Katniss’ district—oh wait, y’all, I just caught myself. She’s from Twelve. She was assigned to Twelve’s tributes because she’s from there, duh. I’m such an airhead omg just call me Effie.

Don’t you actually dare.

“When I look back, the four adults are watching me like hawks.” Meanwhile, Peeta is just like 😬😬😬 eating his dinner.

Actually, ngl, this could be such a reach and it probably is but like maybe Peeta sensed a confrontation coming and, because of his implied upbringing, he naturally becomes silent or makes himself invisible when trouble starts looking like it’s gonna arise. 🥺🥺🥺 I don’t know why I say these things I’m just hurting my own feelings but ya know the drill. I thought it so I said it.

Why is Effie yelling at Katniss for saying she knows the Avox girl like omg overreaction much? And I know, the sky is blue 🙄🙄🙄 she’s prejudiced against basically everyone, I know, I know

Rip her wig off, Katty Deen 🤗🤗🤗

Oh I stupidly forgot that Avoxes are supposedly known by everyone to be traitors or criminals. So I suppose this isn’t Effie’s worst offense but I’m keeping a tally anyways

Katniss is blaming her stuttering on the wine but my girl just has social anxiety 😔😔😔

Peeta coming in with a save 😭😭😭 he’s already trying saving his girl 🤧

Alsoooo the unspoken friendship, the covering for the other and teaming up against the adults, is still riding high and going strong here 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 look away, y’all, the shipper comments are coming in strong

Also why is this the first real interaction with Peeta in this chapter yet? My baby needs more page-time 🤭🤭🤭

“Delly Cartwright is a pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly.” Now why did Katniss just tear Delly to shreds for no reason at all 😭😭😭 this was a surprise assault on the poor girl 🙃🙃🙃🙃

“She may also be the friendliest person on the planet - she smiles constantly at everybody in school, even me.” Okay not to tie absolutely everything back to Peeta ... but to tie absolutely everything back to Peeta ... this description of poor, sweet Delly is actually indicative of Peeta’s character? Since Delly, we find out in Mockingjay, is Peeta’s childhood best friend, her personality being this sunny, kind, good-natured person tells us Peeta has always probably been somewhat like her and perhaps not as much like the other town kids Katniss implies to be stuck up or snooty. Maybe Katniss is just shady and deflects onto others 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️.

Also the fact that she gives this like ... mean description of Delly but saw Peeta as popular, even though surely Delly and Peeta spent time at school together, implies further that Katniss did indeed harbor a secret crush on Peeta even before the reaping. A very mild comparison of his on her though, of course 😅😅😅

“It must be the hair” “something about the eyes too” their piggybacking on the other’s comments really is just chiefs kiss 😘🤗🥰🤧 FYI I know the saying is chefs kiss but I made the typo once a long time ago and decided to add it forever to my brand 🤗🙃🥳

Also though this Everlark interaction is reminiscent of when two kids get caught by their teacher goofing off in class and covering for each other 🥰 only it’s a lot more deadly stakes

“A few of the other couples make a nice impression, but none of them can hold a candle to us.” She’s so modest 🤧🤧🤧 her narration here and during the Tribute Parade just has the vibes of ... well .... sorry in advance

Haymitch’s comment “Just the perfect touch of rebellion. Very nice�� leads me to think he and Cinna and maybe Portia were always in cahoots about the rebellion even before Katniss and Peeta came along and well ... lit their match on fire 🥁🤗🤣🤭

Katniss is like “rebellion??? Rebellion where??? What’s that you old people speak of???” And yet, girlfriend goes out to the woods and hunts illegally every day of her life 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

“But when I remember the other couples, standing stiffly apart, never touching or acknowledging each other, as if their fellow tribute did not exist” too lazy too look it up but there’s a quote from Ballad about Lucy Gray and Jessup being distinguished by their visible friendship too that set them apart from the other tributes.

Either Suzanne thought of drawing a nice parallel showing what a failed Everlark attempt looks like, because I firmly stand by the fact that without their real feelings behind their act, even Katniss’ unconscious ones, they wouldn’t have pulled it off, or Suzzie just reused her own content. I prefer the former but I think it’s probably the latter 🤭🤭🤭

“Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk." I know Haymitch is being facetious here but this quote reminded me of the fact that the movies would have hit differently if they’d cast actual sixteen year olds in the roles.

“When we get to my door, he leans against the frame, not blocking my entrance exactly but insisting I pay attention to him.” This is such a flirty, high school boy pose, you cannot convince me otherwise 😭😭😭

Also I definitely feel like Peeta is getting more and more confident here because he’s oblivious to Katniss’ inner monologue as much as she is his actually we all are his sadly and he probably thinks she’s starting to like him 🤧🤧🤧

“So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here." 🤣 He honestly cracks me up idk why this line isn’t even special or that great. He’s just so ... subtly nosy / funny. Which brings me to that quote from Mockingjay where Katniss talks about his sense of humor because it’s one of the things she loves most about him 😭😭😭

But he’s like, “I can keep a secret, Katniss, tell me who that tongueless chick is to you 😬”

Katniss stop talking about debts, friends cover for the other all the time 🙄🙄 I know it’s in her character stop yelling at a fish for swimming that’s not a real phrase I know that too

Okay first of all, they’re about to share a secret 🥰🥰🥰🥰. My shipper goggles are on tight and obstructing my vision. I know this and am proud 😬🥳🤗

And secondly, “Maybe sharing a confidence will actually make him believe I see him as a friend.” Hey, butthead, you two are already friends. She doesn’t even recognize that the girl who constantly sits with her, talks to her, eats with her and trades with her is her friend either though, I’m shocked she calls Gale her friend

Does Peeta get to know Cinna too? I don’t think so but it’s mentioned now a couple times in this chapter alone that Peeta has interacted with Cinna. Katniss never interacts or has a conversation with Portia.... then again, is that even surprising? Katniss isn’t ... what you would call ... social. Hashtag relatable.

Awww, they’re communicating so effectively together 🥰😭🤧🥳

Also rooftops belong to Everlark only 😍😊😉 I mean, seriously, Katniss never goes up on a rooftop with anyone else. Besides Haymitch in the first movie but we ignore.

“Electricity in District 12 comes and goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day.” Earlier she said the Seam didn’t often have electricity, in particular, so either she’s not specifying her section of the district anymore or Suzanne is backtracking.

“But here there would be no shortage. Ever.” I’ve had two power outages recently so clearly the Capitol isn’t based on us currently today then 😐😐 I’m just joking ok

“I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?” .... boyfriend, where does your mind go sometimes? Peeta’s darker than we realize, y’all 🤭🤭🙃🙃

“He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space. There's a sharp zap and he jerks it back” between this and Catching Fire, Peeta is addicted to getting shocked by forcefields 🤧🤧🤧

“I wonder if we're supposed to be up here now, so late and alone.” If this was a romantic drama or comedy, that line would have meant something a lot more fun 😒😔😬😉😏

“On the other side of the dome, they've built a garden with flower beds and potted trees.” Is this meant to resemble Snow’s grandmother’s garden???? Like he had them put a garden there to like ... put a piece of his Grandma’am in the games? Idk this made zero sense it was a stupid thought

Two people in a garden at night, with wind chimes, sounds romantic in any other context. 🥺🥺

Ummm does everyone in the entire district know Katniss and her father used to hunt together?

Oh nevermind, Lavinia is not from District Twelve. My bad, guys. I should go up and edit my previous thoughts but that’s a lot of work. 😅😅😅

Katniss, stop being so hard on yourself. You and Gale were kids. 😣😣

Ummm, Katniss for a girl always complimenting Peeta’s storyteller, you’re pretty good at painting a picture yourself...

Peeta noticing she’s shivering 🥰🥺

He gives her ... his jacket 😭😭😭😭 such a romantic troupe Samantha, get over it there’s literally children dying

Oh wow, Lavinia was from the Capitol originally. Hmm, it is sus now that she got District Twelve this particular year.

But also 🤧🤧🤧 “he secures a button at my neck.”

His hands .... are .... often .... at her .... neck .... 😶😬 .... look away, y’all

Oh wow, Katniss is over here thinking, “who’d leave the Capitol if they were from here???” And Peeta’s like instantly, loudly, without hesitating, “well I would 🙋🏼‍♂️”

Hot take, y’all ready? Peeta was a bigger rebel than Katniss from the start. At least internally.

Awww, Peeta is so jealous 😭😭😭😭 and kind of nosy 🤭🤭🤭

Katniss : “me and Gale are not related” Peeta : “😬🙃😭😩😶”

“I'd set out to tell her I was sorry about dinner. [...] my apology runs much deeper. [...] I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger. Just like I was watching the Games.” I feel like this is actually a good comparison though, because of you grew up in a society where you have to watch kids die, your whole entire life you’ve watched it in a glorified television show, you would be really desensitized to it...

“You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” Here she’s talking about Lavinia but it applies to Peeta too. Katniss was Lavinia’s last hope and she feels like she let her down but Peeta was her last hope once and he came through. And, as she said in chapter one, she’ll never forget him for it. And for other things too. Later on. 😏

Of course my last bullet point was focused on Everlark 🤣 is anyone surprised you shouldn’t be we all knew who this post was written by right? 😅

And once again, if too made through this marathon, congratulations 🥳🥳🥳🥳 maybe next chapter I’ll talk less not likely though so don’t count on it 😅

[starrynavigator]

I got this letter from Megan and then the first thing she said to me when I found her was she wanted to move out, so I had to write a fic on how that transpired.

Note: megan's nickname for me is lollipop

-----------

"Hhhh..."

Megan let out an anxious sigh. She'd been toiling over this letter for the last half an hour, reading and rereading it, making sure it sounded good enough to send to the resident representative.

"Maybe I should just toss it, this is silly of me to send anyway."

She reached for the garbage bin next to the stand when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What do you think you're doing, private?"

Megan bolted up, clutching the letter to her chest. Wilbur stood before her. How long had he been there, watching her agonize over this? She blushed, covering her face.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry Wilbur. I dont mean to waste paper. I just... can't find the words to say what I'm feeling. I thought writing them out would help me feel better, but now that I have them on the page, it just seems silly."

Orville looked up from his book from behind the counter. "I could give it a read, if you'd like. I'm about as impartial as you can get!" He glanced at Wilbur and laughed. "Well, Wilbur too, but he's not much for reading."

Wilbur nodded. "Negatory, this bird has one love, and that love is flight." With that, he picked up his coffee from the desk and walked off into the back.

Orville rolled his eyes. "He's up until 2 am most days watching old compilation videos on NookTube of pilot commands."

He extended a wing to Megan. "Anyway, mind if I take a look?"

Megan fidgeted a little. "Promise you won't laugh?"

Orville snapped to attention, doing a salute. "I would never!"

Megan smiled and handed him the letter. "Let me know what you think."

She waited, watching him read over the page. He looked back at her and grinned. "This sounds just like you, Megan. I wouldn't change a thing."

He cocked his head, a little question mark appearing above it. "What did you get them that took so long to decide on?"

Megan blushed. "Well, I know they like umbrellas, so I thought I'd get them a really cute one I saw the other day. But I was worried if they'd like it or not. They really seem to like ones with fun designs and I thought this would be up their alley."

"What a thoughtful gift! I'm sure they'll love it."

She pulled out the umbrella and handed it to Orville. "If you think the letter is good, would you mind sending it off with this attached before I get cold feet again?"

"Okidodoki!" Orville did his dodo magic and stuffed an umbrella into a letter and tucked it away. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"No thank you, Orville. I really appreciate your help."

"Any time!" He smiled, and Megan took her leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, the sky darkened and rain poured down. Megan awoke to the sound of rain pattering against her windows, the rustling of the trees in the wind. She smiled, and went about making her breakfast. How fortuitous, now lollipop would be able to use their new umbrella. Just as she was putting her oatmeal on the stove, there was a knock at her door. Her heart jumped, was lollipop really up this early? She quickly opened her door, but instead found her black and white rabbit neighbor, Dotty, standing there with a bag.

"Morning! I could totes smell you cooking something scrumptious in there, so I thought I'd crash your breakfast party with some muffins!"

"Oh, good morning, sundae! Come on in, I'd love the company!" Megan let her inside. "Maybe even more than your muffins."

Dotty pulled the container of muffins from her bag and set them on her table. "I made them extra sweet, since I know that's your favorite." She took a carrot cake. "Anyway, whats up with you? Got any plans today?"

Megan took the oatmeal off of the stove and served them both. "Well, i was going to go do some exercises in the plaza later but I'm not sure now, with all this rain."

Dotty nodded "ugh, right? I'm soo ready for it to be summer, go away rain! I'm gonna craft this cool mask I thought up earlier. I was watching a streamer I like do this playthrough of a video game, and I was only half paying attention but I kept seeing these cuuute little forest things that wore leafs as masks! So I'm gonna go recreate them so I can do a little closet cosplay of them, doodle dip."

Megan smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "That sounds like fun! I'll be sure to tell Riley you're crafting when I see them, you know how they love learning new DIY recipes."

An explanation mark appeared above Dotty's head. "Thats right! Weren't you working for like, eeeveerrr on finding them an umbrella? Whatd you settle on?"

Megan reached over and grabbed a lemon poppyseed muffin out of the container. "Well, i figured since they really seem to like umbrellas that look like something else, I'd get them one that looks like a kiwi."

Dotty put her hand on her chin, thinking, a thought bubble floated above. "Thats a super cute idea, but I am worried about what they might wear with that? I like, totally don't mean to bring you down but I don't think I know anything they usually wear that goes well with green and brown."

Megans blood ran cold. She hadn't even thought about what Riley normally wears.

"Oh gosh, I hadn't even thought of that! Shoot, I have to go see if Orville hasn't mailed it yet. Maybe I can still take it back!" Megan jumped up and threw on her raincoat.

"Wait, Megan, you really don't have to do that. I'm sure senpai-" but Megan was out the door before Dotty could finish.

*maybe there's still time... oh why didn't I consider this beforehand...*

Megan burst into Dodo Airlines, out of breath. "Orville!" She ran up to the counter. Startled by the sudden giant purple bear, Orville jumped, splashing coffee onto this uniform. Megans heart fell further.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Orville!"

Orville brushed himself off. "Thats okay, it happens more often than you'd think. What's got you in a tizzy?"

"I need to unsend that letter from yesterday, I've made a terrible mistake!"

Orville frowned. "But megan, we already went over how your letter was lovely. Besides, I already placed it in their mailbox, I can't just go and steal mail back."

Megans shoulders sagged. "Oh..." sighing heavily, she walked out.

Megan retreated to the coconut grove, sitting on one of the islands Riley had made. How could she claim to be a good friend if she didn't even notice their fashion choices? What else could she be neglecting to pay attention to? No one deserved an unobservant friend like her. Dotty had only been here a month and she knew more about lollipop than she did.

Maybe it would be best for her start over again. Maybe if she made a conscious effort to observe people from the beginning, she wouldn't miss things like this.

As she sat there thinking, a figure approached. She looked up to see lollipop, who was now rushing over to her.

"Megan! I got your letter! I-"

Megan put up a paw, shaking her head. "I know, it was foolish of me to send it. Look, i.... I think I need a fresh start, on a new island. I'm not growing that well here, I'm awful at noticing things. Maybe if I go somewhere new, I'll learn how to be a better bear and a better friend."

Riley's face fell. "Megan, how could you say that? You're a wonderful friend!"

Megans eyes filled with tears. "But... but Dotty has been here way less time than I have and she knows you so well!"

"Yeah, but you know me too. You know I love umbrellas and got me one I don't have yet! And look, it helped me coordinate an outfit for today!"

Megan wiped her eyes, actually taking in what lollipop looked like today. They were wearing a lovely green blossoming kimono, kimono sandals, and the kiwi umbrella. Megan smiled, and burst into laughter crying. Riley fumbled, looking distressed.

"Oh, uh, shoot, did I say something wrong?"

Megan shook her head, smiling. "Here i was, worried about not being observant enough, and I still didnt even notice what you were wearing. Can you ever forgive me?"

Riley hugged her. "Of course, you silly old bear. Our friendship is important to me, okay? My friendships with others will be inherently different, but that doesn't invalidate ours, I promise"

Megan nodded, hugging them back. "Thanks, lollipop. "

Riley looked up at them from their embrace. "Have I buttered you up enough to convince you to stay?"

Megan laughed. "Oh, all right. Maybe I'm right where I belong, after all."

Riley released her from the hug. "Anyway, just so we're clear: I love the umbrella. You really know me well."

Megan wiped away the last of her tears. "If my gift makes you happy, then I'm happy, sundae."

[fratboykate]

Fill me in. What is this new thing we're watching? Who is BA? Who is Claire? Who is Brad? We clearly like them? I always trust your opinion and my sister was supposed to hang out with me tonight but is going out with her high school friends instead so I need something to watch since she ditched me. Is this show on Netflix or something?

Lol your sister is about to miss out on the best entertainment around. OK so BA is short for Bon Appétit which is a really dope culinary magazine that has been around since like 1950 or something. Anyway, they eventually started expanding into video content when everyone in the print world did so maybe 6-7 years ago or something like that. You know how a lot of restaurants and culinary magazines have "test kitchens" where they develop the recipes they either sell or print every month? Well after a period of trial and error and weird stuff they eventually started shooting videos in their test kitchen. At the beginning they were like what I can only describe as "Tasty videos but instead of just hands and music you would actually see the talking head giving you the recipe and talking to you."

The writers/editors for the magazine are obviously also recipe testers so they were the first ones that started to host these little cooking videos. I think Carla and Claire were the first two to actually start doing them. Anyway so Claire was a full time Senior Food Editor at BA. She's a nerd with three degrees (one of them from Harvard). She can cook anything and has videos ranging the scope of savory and pastry but she really especializes in pastry.

Eventually BA started trying to expand their content and they were like "What would happen if we had one of our chefs try to recreate junk food in our fancy test kitchen?" That's how Claire's show Gourmet Makes started in 2017 and we've all been blessed infinitely since then. Basically every episode Claire is assigned a snack food of some kind (Twinkies, Cheetos, Pop Tarts, Cheeze Its, Snickers, etc) and she has to reverse engineer it and make it "gourmet". The videos started at like 13 minutes per episode and like three years later we're up to full on 40 minute episodes because they're the pinnacle of entertainment.

Claire is basically a grumpy house cat who goes through multiple entire existential crises every episode. Like...she actually truly does hate the show which makes it 10000000% more entertaining. She hates it so much that she actually said "FUCK THIS!" and quit BA in 2018. After a very nerve-wracking hiatus for all of us they somehow convinced her to come back just to host the show and make some other guest appearances but not as a full time employee because she wasn't having any of it anymore lol.

Her videos are CRAZY popular and they've made her some weird internet sensation. All her videos trend on YouTube the day they're dropped. She gets crazy amounts of views on her videos compared to literally anything else BA does. Goes to show how truly cool/funny she is. You legitimately can't help but love her and want to protect her from evil snack foods at all costs.

The best part of what has come to be known as the "BA Cinematic Universe" in the fandom is not the content of the actual videos. Am I ever going to make a homemade M&M in my entire life? Never. But legitimately every single person who works at the BA Test Kitchen is a character so good that no writer could've come up with in a fictional world so the shows/episodes have expanded to become this weird, real life, work place sitcom that is just as rich and detailed as any fictional show I've ever watched. And not a damn second of it is scripted.

They each have their own shows now but they all happen in the same place so it's literally just like watching the same show for hours even though one "episode" was about how to make a Twix and then the next "episode" I'm watching someone blindfolded and the next "episode" is a giant fluffy hyperactive man who can't properly pronounce a single word in the English language pickling some eggs. And all the jokes cross over from show to show because everyone appears in each other's show anyway so it truly is the Cinematic Universe Marvel wishes it had 😂

That brings us to our giant golden retriever in human form: Brad. Imagine the absolute antithesis to Claire in every way...you have Brad. That's exactly why they're lightning in a bottle together. They carry the entire BA video enterprises on their tired backs. Brad is just...Brad. I don't even know how to describe him because I wouldn't do him justice.

Honestly, I've given you enough context and background info already. You need to witness it for yourself now. Here's a playlist with all the episodes of Gourmet Makes. I promise you, you won't regret it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKtIunYVkv_RwB_yx1SZrZC-ddhxyXanh

There's only 33 episodes and more than half of them are less than 20 minutes long. Start from the oldest cuz if not you'll be lost with all the running jokes. When you're done with GM watch Brad's shows. They're called "It's Alive" and "It's Alive: Going Places." After that there's still like 30 other shows from all the other people you'll be introduced to along the way and hundreds of other videos/hours of content. But you won't even need to be prompted to watch them. Everyone is so great that you'll want to do it anyway cuz its genuinely shit that puts you in a good mood. It's been my Happy Juice for years now lol It's why the internet loves the BACU haha