#sort of how i feel about affogato LOL

[skybristle]

oh my god im not alone in hating him. thank you i was going insane

i think itd be fun if he was... an actual threat since hes meant to be CHAOTIC but instead he does Vaguely evil stuff and acts grating. i dont like the beasts but i can recognize mflour and bspice have good writing for the most part hes just annoying and shows just how devsis values a character being likeable more than the actual plot - tell me one reason why he somehow got unsealed other than needing more screentime

and then was prominent in the wind archer event too .....

idk i dont find him funny at all just very childish. also its a shame the silly jester character can't take an offense whatsoever and is always throwing tantrums. i think i migth have found him less annoying if he was more aloof

i just think it bugs me how [to me anyways] he is SUCH OBVIOUS fandom bait and everyone FELL FOR ITTTTTTTT

[xskywalker21]

(Main blog is pjunicornart)

I've been thinking about how cute it would be to see Cornelius trying some traditional Italian food made by an Italian family like mine.

I grew up in an Italian household, so I ate a lot of Italian food like Torta Della Nonna, Affogato, Lasagna, Pesto, Spumoni, Biscottis, Panzanella, Panna Cotta, Spaghetti Carbonara, Ravioli, and my favorite - Pizzettes! You can imagine how fattening our Thanksgivings were lol.

Also, don't forget: You got that AU I gave you. That could be fun to play around with.

Ooh rightttt he’d definitely love all sorts of Italian food. I feel like he’d try to learn how to cook it too, to be immersed more in the culinary aspect of the culture ✨

Ooh I haven’t forgotten 🫶🏼

[ecastily]

Sorry i keep bothering you lol i just need rp ideas-

also love your work keep it up but dont overwork yourself

is it like- painful for dark cacao to transform or is it just -poof- monster form- like what happens?

:v

also bro tho monster dark cacao be lookin like hellclown tricky tho..

Naah its alright, I rarely get any questions from my inbox so its really enjoyable so far and thank you for your concerns ehehe. I was going to sleep but I just couldn't wait to put my thoughts into this.

Hmmm, I'd say its a "Yes it did hurt but also no, it no longer hurts" at the beginning it was painful. I like to interpret his monster form as a sort of self hate or something as he views himself as undeserving, a monster, whenever I would listen to his voice lines he sometimes sounds sad. He has this line of thinking that he has to carry everything that it is HIS responsibility. It's like he doesn't love himself... Like, "it's okay, as long as cookies are safe and happy then it's okay for me to carry this burden all by myself" or "Its okay for me to get hurt as long as the cookies of this world can live happily and freely".

Its like he doesn't care if he gets hurt, he doesn't care for himself. He always puts his life and devotion to his kingdom, his people and the wall, "the last bastion" as he says. He cares for the life of others, but what about himself?

Here are some of his lines that really oofs me off. (There are many more but I won't put them all here cuz that would make it pretty long)

If you were me... Could you forgive yourself?

This is my responsibility...

I was once a king... Trapped in a castle of regret.

So many Cookies... Have they gathered for me...?

Responsibility is stronger than joy...

My burden has grown...

Even at ep 13 where Affogato was telling him to take a break but nahh man Dark cacao just "stfu, wall is important than my health".

Now back to the question at hand, hehe sorry that took long. Over time when he finally accepts the pain,trauma and all the repressed feelings he's been through he'll starts to learn how to love himself. Like he's finally accepting the pain he's been through. All of those are gone, the weight upon his shoulders are now at ease. So whenever he transforms into his monster form he will not feel pain, that pain he felt all those years will still and always puts a scar to him but ultimately it'll just fade away and he can finally move forward. Like Pure vanilla said,

Anyways so sorry if its so long huhu, I like to put into so much words and ideas into this. Sorry if there are some grammatical errors. I like to overlap the cannon crk and my headcannon of Cacao in crk that way I can love both cannon Cacao and my Cacao.

[o-wyrmlight]

So devsis aren't really clear with his backstory right?

From what I can see, it says that he is from a poor upbringing and didn't have a place to belong, which, sad, but like devsis how old is he

So rmb when carrow came out and you could see affogato in the bg? I think?

But then I saw some pics of affogato being short and fully embraced the hc

And then I was like: Ok how old is he

For all we know he could be 40, but there's probably something floating around in canon i haven't found yet

So I though: hey what if he's younger than carrow

So his timeline is now : starts wandering at about 8, and gets into the black citadel at 14

When canon events hit, we have a shortass 17 year old affogato, except no one knows cause no one can reliably dig out his non existent info, including affogato himself

He knows his birthday, but not which year he was born, so he assumes he's 7 when he's 3

No one assumes he's underage cause have you seen this man? He walks and talks like a 30 year old man pretending to be 20.

I'm not sure whether he genuinely doesn't know about what happens outside the walls, but it is mentioned that he wandered a lot, so I'm saying in this he knows, but he's just a petty unhelpful brat

Then I have this obsession with tk cookie, cause pretty, and she just sorta interferes with cannon and throws the ginger squad except chili on one side and says kids not allowed, which, fine

But then she throws affogato cookie to the side

Affo: BUT IM NOT A KID

TK: Ur literally 17

Affo: wait hol up Im 17??

And then just the chaos occurring after,because gingy having loose lips is canon

Sorry if this really doesn't it what you were expecting, feel free to delete. Just needed to scream into the void.

This is a pretty funny (albeit sort of sad) headcanon ngl. And you're fully entitled to your own headcanon, of course. But it's not really something I myself can get behind, considering I can appreciate the concept of shipping Affocao, and Affogato being like... 17 is a small 'yikes' moment for me. But that's a personal thing, lol.

[remembermemorablememories]

Monday, February 11, 2019

post #399

main points:

- visit starbucks reserve roastery again

- get dim sum at din tai fung / stop by barneys

- walk to pike place market to get some cherries

- walk to gameworks and play left 4 dead 

- walk over to underground tour

- thai dinner with andrea, toby and jwoos

- pack up

writing this on wednesday february 13

today i:

- woke up at 10am and chilled in bed for a bit before jwoos woke up at 10:30am. then we both got ready and left the airbnb around 11am. we walked over to starbucks reserve roastery again

i got my mom some coffee beans, sun brazil, which is supposed to be a lighter coffee with citrus-y flavors. it’s the one we tried a few days ago at the bar the first time we went. jwoos got an affogato type thing, then took some pics of the baristas

we left and then walked through the convention center area to din tai fung in the pacific place shopping center. before we went up to the fourth floor for dim sum, we stopped by barneys new york. jwoos wanted to see what size shoe he’d need for a shoe he was interested in, it was like a white leather type shoe that cost $400 retail. it was in european size so he needed to find his equivalent. he’s gonna buy it for resale cause retail way too much

- ate lunch at dim sum. we split xiao long bao (they were tiny o_o), fired noodles, and a pork rice wrap appetizer. it was pretty good overall, but the soup dumplings were soooo tiny

- walked down to pike place market again to get some cherries. jwoos got some chocolate cherries as souvenirs to bring home. then we walked around the basement area again, looking at some shops. we looked at a japanese store and an artists’ shop. just browsing around trying to figure out what to do. it started snowing again outside... T.T and the flakes were actually like huge... adding to the already existing pain of walking in the snow

- we walked back to the convention center to check it out but there was a microsoft event going on, called microsoft ready (?). it was closed off to public so we were like... now what?? it was 3:30pm and we planned to go to the underground tour with andrea for 6pm. we saw gameworks was right across the street so we went there. we browsed around looking at arcade games and saw an esports section with PCs and consoles. we signed up for an hour for left 4 dead 2 and played from 4:15-5:15pm ish. it was pretty fun, though i sucked LOL. jwoos carried pretty hard. and also i think the mode we played may have been on easy or something, cause i remember playing with dimitri and martin in singapore and it was hella hard then. idk what campaign we played but it was in a circus area and the last part was fighting in a concert area

- walked over to the underground tour in pioneer square. that walk was like 20 minutes but it was suuuuuper rough. it was like light flurries, sort of rainy. the sidewalks were covered in snowy slush as a result from the snow earlier today and then the subsequent rain ish. my shoes got super soaked... feels bad man. super uncomfy and it was fairly cold, like 30 degrees. i just wanted to be at home and warm and dry

- we got to the underground tour, around 5:50pm, just before it started, bought our tix. then we were brought upstairs for a history talk/lesson. andrea and toby were a bit late (like 5 minutes) but were fortunately able to make it in and sat down with us :D 

we learned about crappers and the seattle spirit (being stubborn about potentially terrible ideas), the first mayor, and other stuff. the tour guide was interesting... toby described her as deadpan and i think that’s a good description. her jokes were funny at times but also kinda weird LOL. after the history talk, we walked around the surrounding areas being brought underground. there were 12 of us total (including the tour guide). she told us about the history of why there is an underground. there were actually stores down there during that time before they built over it to the main sidewalk, we saw some cool purple glass tiles above us that were on the sidewalk. they were purple because of the material that they were made of. after enough sunlight they change color. there was apparently a ghost hunter episode or something done here in 2007 where they were inconclusive about the results after living down here for 3 nights. also it was really moggy, like mold growing above us on the ceiling, water seeping through from the rain/snow above :s

we finished like an hour and a half later and ended up in the gift shop around 7pm

- then we took the link back to capitol hill. first time riding the public transit, yay :) it was interesting cause they only had one line but pretty smooth. they have a caltrain like card tapping system where you tap in and tap out which is neat

- we got thai food dinner at manao thai street eats. i got pineapple fried rice and we just hung out talking. it was nice, we got to learn more about toby and his work life. we also talked about the trance music played in cal anderson park a few days ago, seattle vs NYC, joking about april fools pranks/instagram followers, and other stuff. lots of laughter and fun :) 

we said good bye to andrea and toby and then jwoos and i walked back to our airbnb. ugh it was so bad out :( my feet were so cold and soaked, we’d done a lot of walking today in the snow. since seattle doesn’t have infra to handle snow, most uber/lyfts weren’t driving around much

- we got back home, each took a shower, then packed up all of our stuff. i packed up all my dirty clothes, laptop and stuff, figured out how to get the two shoes in there, and then called it a night. we decided to wake up at 4:30am tomorrow to catch our flights, so i went to sleep around 11:30pm/12am

the end!

[mecatchingraindrops]

Play Underground 2

Disclaimer: events may or may not have happened. Names are fictional. Any resemblance or similarities to people in real life is purely coincidental.

—Foreword—

The vigor of youth transcends as every sweat trickles down your body in the heat of the afternoon sun. The eyes open up possibilities in multitudes, however, fate only chooses one that will shape you as a person. For love, lust, and mind can play with your heart relentlessly, spinning the wheel of fortune that binds your fates together from the moment of your first hello, to your last goodbye.

——

“What have I gotten myself into?”

I asked myself as I brave the most difficult course of Play Underground’s wall climbing facility. Just last week, we finally completed the intermediate area, of course, after falling several times. Ok, thousands of times. Now we took on our new found friends and the challenge that faced us: completing the most difficult wall.

A few minutes earlier we started our stretching and began climbing the beginners wall as warm up. I was in a strange yet familiar high as I felt anxious to prove to these newcomers who owns these walls.

When it was finally my turn I suddenly felt like I could easily finish it in half the time I usually spend reaching for the top. My veins were filled with energy I have not felt before as adrenaline pumped in large quantities resulting from anxiousness, excitement, and the usual bravado facing rivals on one’s turf. Not to mention the Venti Frappe Affogato I had earlier. 

Then it happened. I missed a rock and slipped. ON THE BEGINNERS’ COURSE. And I say that with emphasis. 

Adrian wasn’t really paying attention as my belayer and was on his phone more agitated than I am as I climbed up so without any resistance, I fell down with a thud. I imagined myself falling with a scream or wailing, but no. My fall was a no nonsense fall. Let’s get it over with so ground, here I come!

What I saw next would haunt me relentlessly in the weeks to come. They were the most beautiful brown eyes only an angel could possess. With hair damp from sweat, his bangs swaying side to side. His white shirt plastered on his muscled body. Wet but warm. I thought he would smell disgusting like those locker rooms in the gym filled with soiled undergarments but instead, he smelled of... Issey Miyake.

“Damien!”

Adrian’s voice brought me back to my senses. It also brought in the pain on my butt as it started to radiate.

“Ow” was the first thing I said as the angel’s strong arms helped me sit up right.

“Ow” I said again as I got steadied into place.

“I think I broke something” I said under my breath while trying to feel my butt.

“Hopefully not your heart” the angel said smirking. 

“What?” I thought to myself, contemplating if I actually heard those words or was imagining everything. Wait. What angel would say something as cheesy as that? He’s definitely from hell.

“I’m Kyle” he introduced “this is Paul my best friend”

“Damien” I replied trying to get up to shake their hands but I slipped on the wet mat. I started to wonder where it came from. Was it sweat? But I asked myself how clumsy can one be to slip twice within a minute. Luckily My best friend caught me this time.

“Oh, this is Adrian. The great belayer” I said with annoyance and sarcasm.

“I’m so sorry. I thought you got this since we finished intermediate last time and mom sent me an sms so I had to get back at her. So soooo sorry....” Adrian rambled on as I spaced out and murmured

“I am never gonna do this with you again”, then I punched him lightly on his right arm.

Kyle laughed again. While Paul now threw a jab at his side trying not to laugh.

“I wanna die” I thought to myself.

This is so embarrassing. On the way here I thought Kyle and Paul were amateurs but they’re already on the most difficult wall. Paul would’ve reached midway till he saw me fall and got down as his belayer came to my side. And here I am, slipping and falling from the beginner’s course. Then I remembered Kyle saying something and asked him in a naïveté way, “you said something earlier. After I said I broke something. Wha...”

He cut me off and continued “hopefully not your heart?” He tried and failed miserably to stifle his laughter. “You see, you fell... hopefully not with a broken heart..” then he couldn’t contain his eminent laughter.

Not an Angel. Yeah, probably the devil’s first born. Just my luck. That’s what I thought and I think I looked annoyed cause Paul took another jab at Kyle. “I’m sorry, Kyle can be a bit... cheesy...and...”

“..And corny” I added with utter annoyance as I rolled my eyes instinctively.

Two seconds of silence arose. The longest two seconds of my life. I began to overthink if I might’ve offended the cute devil, and what they will think, say or do. I thought, should I laugh halfheartedly, as I tried to sense the air for the mood. And as if on cue, all three started to laugh.

“Tryna be funny and clumsy at the same time huh?” Kyle retorted as his laughter died down.

Standing up, I realized the angel is really just a cherub. A cherub on steroids.  Well not really that buff but toned. A midget of an angel was my exact words in my head. Maybe he is half angel and half demon. I wonder.

Kyle is kinda short, he can pass as 15 or 16, while Paul his best friend is almost as tall as I am which stands 5’8. Kyle seems almost like 5’5. Shorter than my best friend Adrian who stands at 5’7. I found out later they were three years older than I am.

“Isn’t this wall to tall for you shorty” I blurted out trying to get even without thinking and realized I might’ve gone overboard so I covered my mouth hastily.

“Hey! I never said anything about you falling from the beginners wall! That’s below the belt!” he mouthed off before pouting. The cutest pout I’ve seen. It was too sincere to not be not adorable. Then Paul and Adrian laughed at us like parents seeing their kids argue about childish stuff. Kyle and I looked at each other and joined them as well. 

Adrian decided to get the four of us something to drink. While Kyle, Paul, and I chatted about random topics. I then started to notice Paul. He’s also good looking but not as ripped as Kyle. He seems kinder too while Kyle seems a bit on the wilder side. Like he is the life of any party he goes to, exuding with confidence at every stride his ripped muscles make as they flex and relax. It was like a dance. A ballet of muscles of some sort that is too beautiful to describe with words alone. Yet Paul’s smile overflowed with sincerity and warmth, it seems the pain of my earlier fall seem to fade into the bright light of his perfectly white teeth. A shining beacon for any dentist...

I found out that Paul was getting fond of me as I happen to remind him of his younger brother. Kyle agreed and even told me that Paul’s brother and I share the same reaction when being teased. He also noted that we both have an air of sarcasm. The sarcasms yes, but I didn’t know I blushed a lot. Now everytime Kyle opens his mouth and tries to mess around with me, Paul kept on pointing it out. But sometimes, I feel my face grow hot just looking at Kyle. Or when I hear him talk annoyingly. 

After resting a bit, all four of us shared an inexplicable bond new friends have during these years. Like we clicked immediately and seemed destined to be bestfriends.

We then decided to climb walls again. Adrian being the naughty bestfriend suggested we switch partners. It took me a minute to realize he has the hots for Paul. As always, he was brazen enough to strategize this situation to his advantage.

So, to my surprise, I was paired with Kyle as Adrian tried his luck with Paul. 

Kyle offered “you go first. Don’t fall this time”, looking stern and at the same time trying to contain his laughter. He still can’t get the knack of embarrassing me. (I mean hey, I am cute when I want to be lol).

Wittingly, I replied, “If I do, will you catch me?” And gave him a coy look.

Shit. Was that too much? What was I thinking? He doesn’t even know I’m gay, I think. He is straight. Appears to be at the very least. What if he was a homophobe? Are there homophobes in Manila? I was beginning to space out and recall my experience with homophobes in Vermont when I noticed Kyle still unable to move even a single muscle. Oh those muscles. How hard and soft they must have felt... Focus god damn it Damien! Homophobes!

But the look of shock on his face was enough to bring me back to reality and snap me out of my internal monologue with lasted one second. It was utter disbelief which made me switch gears and burst with laughter. A perfect excuse. We Filipinos love to joke around so I’ll tread that path and see where it goes.

He then got the “joke” and looked annoyed. But what surprised me is that he started to blush and hide his eyes behind his beautiful jet black hair.

The next words that escaped from his lips gave me the feeling I’ve never felt in a long time. Those words that was only for me. Those words that nobody else heard. Not the children screaming at each other, nor their parents mindless watching over them, nor the staff busy overseeing everyone’s safety. Not even our two best friends trying to out do each other with one showing off on the wall while the other giving out directions on how to better climb it. It’s as if the whole powerplant mall fell into a perpetual silence that only Kyle’s voice emanated in my ear drums, trying to sync with the sound of my heartbeat that goes faster and faster as every second ticks and tocks. He spoke, no, whispered as he turned and tied the rope to the anchorage on the floor.

“I’m more than capable... of catching you”

[lolitashawn]

Easy Ways To Enjoy Your Coffee Iced

The temperatures in the Northwest are rising this week. Heat warnings throughout Washington and Oregon. For me and Johnny....1 0r 2 days of 107 degrees is a walk in the park when you have experienced 115+ degree temperatures week after week in the summers of Phoenix AZ. 

Regardless of the needle hitting 100 or below, I always enjoy a good hot cup of coffee. Yes, a hot cup! Not everyone agrees with me as they would rather enjoy coffee cold and iced. 

It's so easy to go to your nearest coffee shop and grab an ice cold creation to-go. I enjoy it too. Who doesn't love going out to eat for a nice meal instead of cooking at home? But who can do it everyday? It's expensive and not always a healthy way of eating.... same goes for coffee. 

What I wanted to share is how easy it is to make your favorite iced drinks at home and take it to-go. Buy a great tumbler or buy some plastic cups and lids (plus straws) and write your name with a sharpie right on it. (wink wink smiley face)

One of my favorite ways to make and store cold coffee is via cold brew. I have posted the recipe in an earlier post, Cold Brew How-To. Feel free to check it out if you're not familiar with making cold brew at home. If you don't want to make cold brew?...no worries...use your fresh brewed coffee and let it cool. Quick mention: Be sure to make a strong batch so you can taste and enjoy the coffee flavor. 

I've mentioned some of these ideas before, but I wanted to group some together so you can review and hopefully make some of these at home. 

Iced Coffee-If you brewed some hot coffee, enjoy a cup and let the rest cool for a bit. Put in a pitcher of container and place in the fridge. I always say get your coffee cooled down so when you are ready to have a glass on ice, it won't melt the ice cubes as much and water your coffee down. My choice would be making a batch of cold brew... it will be stronger, brewed at room temperature and place in the fridge after. 

Make a Frozen Latte- Ive written about lattes at home before and its quite simple. Especially if you own a serious blender like a Vitamix. Add 1/3 of strong coffee and 2/3 milk of your choice. Fill your cup with ice. Do not fill ice to the top or you'll have to eat it with a spoon. (Which may not be bad) Add your sweetner and/or flavorings like cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate syrup...it's up to you. Don't have a blender or the time? Simply add the ingredients to your tumbler filled with ice, give it a good stir and go. 

Make Coffee Cubes-Many of you do this especially brewing regular coffee and making an iced coffee or latte. It's great to fill your cube tray with leftover coffee and freeze. I usually will take some cold brew and freeze too. Yes, it keeps your iced coffee from being "watered down" however, you can toss the frozen cubes in the blender verses ice and make an awesome frozen latte. But one thing I really enjoy is taking cold brew ice cubes, fill in a short glass and I will add almond milk. The ice cubes begin to melt and gives me a iced latte that isn't blended but tastes just as good.  

Coffee Tonic-Coffee Tonics or sometimes called Black Tonics! A sophisticated version of the simple iced coffee? The key (for me) is to get the right tonic water and coffee. I prefer a tonic water with no "lemony" or fruit flavor added. Just a plain naturally light tonic water. However, you can experiment by trying different kinds and seeing if you find a great combination for your coffee. Fill a cup with ice, add 6 oz of tonic water and 2 oz of cold brew/espresso or strong coffee. The original Coffee Tonic is made with espresso. If you don't have access to an espresso machine, you can use your concentrated cold brew or if you have a Moka Pot, make a quick espresso and let it cool. I've never tried it with regular brewed coffee...I would suggest make a strong batch to compliment the tonic water. You'll either love this or hate it...I love the "fizz". Since I pretty much quit drinking sodas, I enjoy this for the refreshing "fizz high" I get. LOL 

Iced Coffee-Vietnamese Style-This comes from a hot version of Vietnamese coffee using sweetened condensed milk. Pretty simple...fill a cup with ice, fill your cup 3/4 full and add 2-3 Tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk. Stir and enjoy. It's quite sweet so I would suggest a larger glass off coffee. You can add a shot of Kahlua or other favorite spirit in the evening for a nice "after dinner drink". 

   Coconut Iced Coffee-This one I have tried several times. I typically fill a glass with ice, I like to add 1/2 cold brew (or regular brewed coffee if you want) and add coconut water. I enjoy coconut water...I didn't like this combo as much. I have tried this with different levels of coffee and adding the coconut water, and I still didn't enjoy it. However, many of my neighbors tried it and loved it. I guess I was searching for a fizz of some sort. Maybe I should try adding sweetner and see. I added some milk and it did taste better...but still...didn't like it. You try it and see if you like it. I wasn't as big of a fan but I wanted to be honest and share. 

   Iced Affogatto-Are you familiar with an Italian drink...Affogato (means drowned in Italian). You take a scoop of ice cream and pour an espresso shot over it. Of course you may wish to add another scoop...or more. I have a slightly different spin AND a couple of variations. To make a great variation of the Affogato, take a scoop or two of ice cream in a glass, pour 4-6 ounces of cold brew coffee/brewed coffee (add as little or as much as you like) over the ice cream and add some whip cream on top, that's it. If you are having guests and want to add something "more adult"? Add a shot of Ameretto or other liquor. Johnny likes to call it the "Drunken Lolita”. (Sarcastic Ha-Ha from Lolita)

I hope everyone stays cool...enjoy making some great iced coffee drinks at home and take them to-go. Made your way! Let me know what you tried AND if you have other recipes you use to enjoy your coffee cold!

Lolita 💋