#thats in lieu of other toppings

[vangoggles]

i didn't take any pics bcuz they turned out low-key kinda ugly, but next time you make boxed pancakes, slice some apples really thin and toss the slices with cinnamon, then when you pour the batter into the pan top each flapjack with some apple slices.

if you want them to be pretty maybe arrange five apple slices into a flower shape, like petals. you could probably even do rings, or use a cookie cutter

then once the batter bubbles up around the edges of the apples and the sides of the pancake are starting to dry out, flip the pancake and cook the apple side until they're golden and starting to turn brown

serve with maple syrup

[irvingcoded]

freed some rambling litving thoughts from earlier off my priv and figured i might as well share them here as well... (transcribed below the read more + cleaned up slightly for readability!)

something about the li(t)ving dynamic to me is just so... LIKE jirv is probably one of the very few people on either ship who unreservedly seems to respect and value little's leadership and instincts (the amount of times the two of them exchange Significant Eye Contact alone...!) , probably in a big part because it seemed as if crozier during that period of time mostly relayed any real info/orders thru his inner circle which, of the lieutenants, only really included little (& jopson of course). compare that to how we mostly saw hodge & irv getting tasked with gruntwork and relatively simple errand boy tasks while little otoh regularly got shouldered with 3 lieuts worth of responsibility instead, INCLUDING having to basically be hodgson & irving's de facto command in lieu of crozier ever communicating much with either them directly or trusting them with tasks they'd absolutely have been capable of.

so anyway yes, imo jirv would very likely follow him anywhere if it came down to it. and as a ship i am always Thinking About like... sub top little and jirv very gently domming him by just being very nice to him and telling him how handsome and special and good he is, but also taking over the decision making if/when little is too stressed to focus... but at the same time still trynna encourage him to express what he wants and what he's thinking (yes yes, pot meet kettle etc) because maybe other people don't really listen to him or take him seriously enough but jirv does...

(& then also the reverse too because little is surely more aware than anyone that's kind of how crozier(/command in general) treats hodgson and jirving for most of the expedition as well)

AND YES MOST OF THIS CAN SIMILARLY APPLY TO ANY COMBINATION OF LIEUTENANTCULE TBH but thats why they're so great...!! they definitely share some overlapping weaknesses here and there, but put the 3 of them (or even just any 2 of them!) together and they balance each other out almost perfectly because when one of them is struggling then the other(s) can and usually will step up to compensate

[matrixwhore]

How do you think the show would’ve been different if Lestat made Lily and Louis vampires?

hmm is this in lieu of claudia or annie? I personally cant see Lily not leaving. she was too obsevant to stay in my opinion. she picked up on things like loustats attraction to one another right away and read between the lines. “you’re his destiny louis” reads that way to me as well as her trying to keep the peace and make her money you know? She was aware that she was in between them as a buffer. im sure louis isnt the only john she’s dealt with hiding/denying what they really want and coming to a swer to fill that need in whatever way—in louis case being able to just talk freely making him more palatable to her, but still.

i like to think she would have got that power and left like claudia wanted and she would have been able to bc she presented as an adult in a way claudia couldnt. maybe louis and her would have caught up to each other later. i actually think if lestat presented her with the option she would have said yes and he wouldnt need to make the choice dubcon. tho idk if that can be avoided since it seems they cant help but be violent about presenting the option. i think the reality would have been a traumatic adjustment as it is for all of them, but i think she would have endured quite well. now if it was forced on her i think she would leave sooner rather than later after she learned what she could from them. but she wouldnt have been stuck with them and just like louis letting claudia leave, he would have let miss lily leave. and shes not dependent on either of them for survival the same way claudia is. also i dont think lestat would force her to stay bc as an adult woman she really does pose the threat he’s irrationally afraid of in claudia. not that it would change louis’ stance he gay. but i digress.

i think she would have to leave eventually bc irt to lestat, sharing louis with her would have put lily in danger. thats why he killed her so swiftly. no, louis cant even have someone he pays to confide in over him. he has to come to lestat yk? and the fact that lily had to be there for the first night to lure louis in all the way would begin to eat at him. like “why did it take her for you to give me a chance, you’re in love with her” type thing.

i think their mess is something she wouldn’t wanna put up with anyways she’s seen it all. swer are in a position where men tell them the worst of things about the relationships they’re sneaking around and cheating on and to have to be eternally stuck in between that shit for free? hell nah. in my head canon if she gets turned she leaves bc the alternative is her death and i wanna know she out there using vampirism to her full advantage and here in the modern age in a nice condo after a long successful career as a top model. maybe she would have been a refuge louis ran to. he would go back to lestat but just that possibility is why she died in the first place. the way she connects to louis in ways lestat doesnt. her blackness being a key component. i dont know that her undead life would automatically be easy. she is a black woman so all the things that come with that would still be true, but she’s a swer. i feel like she would be resourceful in a way say ……Grace!…might not be able to bc of how her circumstances are different. miss lily didnt have a choice but to be resourceful. Grace grew up affluent and taken care of you know it would be different. thats not a dig at grace just an observation. and that’s not to make it absolute that Grace wouldnt figure it out. i just see her being more dependent for a lot longer and that would pose an issue…you did not ask me about grace lmao moving on.

i think lets say she got away and annie still happened and claudia still was roped into this. louis is forthcoming with her in ways lestat isnt (he has his reasons. dont come at me i know). so i think if she’s asking about other vampires and the only other one louis knows is miss lily he would tell her about her. claudia would fixate on her. she would go looking for her. a mother a companion who understands her in a way she cant be understood at home. one who knows loustat and what it is to be in between them. i think she would go out and find her. and i can see lily being receptive to that. i think this would alter the tragedy of claudia’s story the most. so idk if annie would be needed for that long. she might actually have seen that incinerator a lot sooner. bc claudia would be with lily and i think louis would have been good to at least know where she is. lestat might not have needed to die but then it would just be loustat to face all their issues and idk if lestat would see a reason to adjust and change if he was never plotted agaisnt and left to feed off rats in the junkyard after having his throat slit. that would change the trajectory of the whole last half of iwtv. hmm yeah soo many things would be different. what would get him to paris to meet armand? (no loumand 🥺)i think eventually theyd end up meeting sure there isnt many vamps. then how would loumaniel/armaniel come to be?? it could still happen [i say desperately] but yeah so many things would change now that i really think about it.

[atiny-crew-musings]

Hey Secretary Park may I ask out of Your and Fies mutuals who do you ship with the different people from muses?

Secretary Park: "i dont get paid for-"

CEO Hongjoong: "*gently holds up sign telling him to do it*"

Secretary Park: "...ugh. whatever. Im doing a short list and thats all. First is representative Smalls. I'd say she goes well with Seaborn Hongjoong. They both hold very good core leadership qualities and I feel they would play off of each other's creativity.

In lieu of sounding painfully obvious, representing Gaia would be a perfect match with Fuzanglong Jackson. He carries himself in a way that is cocky and honestly a bit overconfident, but I've seen him in the break rooms. He cares grately for the other trialmates and looks after them. Gaia works hard throughout the day and would do well to have someone around to just...help her feel small and turn off her brain. As much as he acts like a cocky jackass, Jackson would be a good fit.

As for our local mischievous ghost dragon Laz, i think his chaotic-and bratty bottom-behaviour makes him perrrrfect for Faerie Yeosang. Tinkerbell over there definitely had a deceptive, disarming smile when he first came into the office, but the more i talk to him and see him in action, the more I'm becoming aware of how good he is at wrangling brats and dishing out interesting "punishments". Granted, i wish he would use towels or a blanket in the office so my cleaning staff doesnt have to clean cum off the walls and floor for the nth time but thats besides the point.

Representative Tay likes a mean top who can take care of her, as well. So naturally, either Eldritch Wooyoung or War God Jaebeom. That describes both of them to a T and i honestly think she quite deserves to be, and i quote, "tossed like a pizza" . Undoubtedly, she'll gossip with me and give me the juicy details later.

Representative Luna would do well with paired with either the good doctor Yunho or Dragon Mingi. She stares out into the sea with such a sorrowful expression, making her potions by her lonesome. I feel she'd smile more and brighten up if she just had that one extra push to explore beyond her bubble. Those two do well at comfortably navigating their partner's struggles and issues.

And thats all for now. I dont get paid enough"

[kamoegoi]

hello i came back from playing my local store championship last night the format was modern and i dont play that format but the modern burn deck has a lot of cards in common wit the pioneer burn deck so we shuffled some cards around and were off to the races.

so the thing to know about me is that th emajority of my collection was from when i was like 10 and drafted every friday night as a kid and played vintage on tuesdays with the burn and stompy decks i built with my winnings from draft. so funnily enough, i actually own blood stained mires and sacred foundries and over time ive bene building up more of the red/white lands so i can eventually try either the convoke or heroic decks in pioneer, but i havent tracked down any of the actual white cards yet. it didnt make sense to splash white in my list for modern without any boros charms or literally any of the sideboard tools (good or otherwise) so i just put my searing bloods into the boros charm slot and left in eidolons. people love resolving ragavan and scam has plenty of things to searing blaze/blood. this will be great.

round 1 - eldrazi tron

reader all of their creatures are bigger than searing blaze/blood and my eidolons are actually just 2/2s that hurt me. i do not own blood moons, so i bring in smash to smithereens for the inevitable chalices and i bring in the kari zev expertises that i thought would be funny to resolve against murktide. in game 2 i manage to shoot my opponent down to single bolt range, but i forgot that karn can animate the one ring, so my opponent untaps and beats me to death with their ring. womp womp. game 1 i definitely had a chance to win, but i popped my only mire early to double spell, trapping a searing blaze in my hand. i died with that searing blaze in hand, facing down an opponent with a lot of eldrazi in play and 3 life. lesson learned. 0-1

round 2 - boros burn

seems like a nice guy! i stuff him game one with the good ol 7 bolts gameplan and game 2 he gets a little ahead on board against me, so i have to start blocking. my block buys me the turn i need to suspend two rift bolts with him at 12 and me with two more castable bolts in hand for when i untap. i am on 6 bececause of my very inspired choice to leave ramunap ruins in the deck in lieu of the horizon lands i dont own. opponent is only able to suspend a single rift bolt for his turn. i untap and burn him down. opponent saw 0 of his sideboard pieces. i had 0 sideboard pieces to put in. thats magic. 1-1

round 3 - boros burn

i know this opponent! we've drafted at a differet store in the city! anyways he kicks the ever loving shit out of me. this guy is a Burn Player. my last opponent also said he has been a burn player for years, but his deck didnt give him the opportuinity to leverage that experience it seems like. but r3 opponent? he knew when he was free to start shocking his lands in and he held back his creatures when he realized i was playing so many searing bloods/blazes so that i would be able to use all my mana efficiently and all of his turns seems perfect. absolutely stomped. 1-2

round 4- eldrazi tron (how???????)

i also know this opponent! i have like the worst record against this guy. i do what i can, but my bloods/blazes are poorly positioned against even his higher creature desnity version of this deck. he manages to chalice on 1 and 2 in game 2 and my only out is to draw my second copy of kari zevs expertise (drew the first one and used it to attack for lethal that made him trade his stolen thoughtknot seer with his other thoughtknot seer) and for him to resolve a 4 power creature or better that isnt thoughtknot seer, unless i am still in top deck mode wherein he has to play the seer AND THEN i draw expertise off the top the turn after. i was also playing extra mountains instead of sving them for blazes because he had shown me an ulamog in game 1 so i stayed on 4 lands with extra lands in my hand so that if he resolved ulamog, i could play my 3rd land and kari zev immediately if the opportunity presents itself. all of this was while he had an unopposed matter reshaper in play, so i had 4 turns to find the last copy of a card in my deck with about 40 cards left. my opponent even cast an ulamog for the style points so the stars were aligned. reader, they were not that aligned. 1-3

hey what can you do. it was nice getting a lot of opponents i recognized and the event was only 4 rounds (great turnout for modern!!!) so it was way less stressful. bummed i didnt manage to pull down one of those new eidolon promos but hey what can you do. i went in with a janky list and all of the games were p fun in spite of that so no complaints. honestly i spent the majority of the night talking to this guy who had shown up to ask about how to play magic actually, so i tried to be as good as a teacher as i could under the circumstances. in-between rounds he actually brought back a custard bun for me (because i was being so helpful i guess?) from the chinese bakery nearby which was very sweet of him

[happyinthebelly]

Ramen Night 2023 (Spicy Miso Edition)

Miso Tare

(about 7 or 8 servings) 

250ml Sake

250g red miso (shinshu)

250g white miso (shinshu)

50g Saikyo miso

50g Hatcho miso

25g light brown sugar

15g iri-goma sesame seeds

Directions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fynu0NHY6dE&t=2s Used combo red and white miso instead of separate. 

Dashi Stock

2 sheets of kombu

1 pack of bonito (about 5-6 grams)

1 quart of water

Assembly 

For sapparo style put aroma oil (see ramen night 2023) in wok then stir fry with fresh garlic, sliced thin carrot and sliced thin onions until softened. Note 4-6 servings can be done in a wok at once.

Add in paitan stock (see ramen night 2023) with dashi stock. Ratio 1 part dashi stock to 4 parts paitan stock

Once soup is heated up add miso tare - 1 heap tbsp per cup 

Dissolve in pan as you stir and add more tare as needed. 

Add in a 1/4 teaspoon torgashi per cup of broth used and a pinch of msg if desired. 

Add in a tablespoon of butter per bowl of soup

Add toubanjan/ pixen bean paste, 1/2 teaspoon per cup of soup

Soup is done. Just keep hot. 

Make noodles. 

Put in bowl and pour hot soup on top. 

Add any other desired toppings. Source way of ramen

Things not used but noted in recipe: After stir frying vegetables add and cook ground pork 30g per cup of soup. In lieu of aroma oil the recipe calls out for lard thats been cooked off.

Notes: 

Needs lots of butter added. I did about 4 tablespoons for the 4 bowls because I didn’t have lard.

Cook the corn in butter, some tamari, and a splash of mirin

Splash of rayu per bowl

Rayu Recipe:

4 tablespoons canola oil

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons ichimi togarashi (Japanese chili powder) (or Korean or Thai chili powder)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon paprika powder

Process:

Place canola oil and a bay leaf in a small pan and add low heat.

Cook until small bubbles are coming up, and the bay leaf is just about changing colour. Then turn off the heat.

Use a spoon, and sprinkle some chili powder over the heated oil. Check that it’s not burning the powder. If it’s burning (turning a brownish colour), wait for a little bit before adding the rest of the chili powder. Use a spoon and combine the mix. Make sure the spoon is clean and is not wet.

Allow the mix to cool down. It takes about ten minutes. Once its cooled down, combine with sesame oil and paprika powder.

https://www.miklia.com/rayu-chili-oil/

Soup assembly recipe source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fynu0NHY6dE&t=2s

[epistrefei]

[MORNING] (assuming some previous discussion re: consent) for sender to wake receiver up by fingering them. / yeah thats rosie too

-

The night before had been punctuated by Artemis' extremely late arrival. A fierce blizzard had slowed her days-long trek to one of the doors that led to Zahrosa's dimension. Ensuring the retinue of huntresses was her primary concern, so she had departed quite late in the night by snowshoe for the roughly 200 kilometer hike to the entrance.

By the time she kicked her boots off right outside of the cottage door, knocking snow off to watch it dissipate quickly in the milder temperature, the lights were already extinguished and the sorceress had long retired to bed. Artemis haphazardly stripped herself of wet clothes and fell asleep next to her lover in a matter of minutes. It was a slumber well needed and well deserved, the type to soothe tired muscles and sore feet.

Sometime in her reverie she feels the blonde turn over and press against her back. By now, she is back to radiating wonderful heat, that which the sorceress always gravitated toward. Lithe arms slide around her hips, curling them further together. Artemis merely hums a content little sigh while she is still floating somewhere between awake and asleep.

Presumably, Zahrosa had settled there for a while, as the brunette had faded easily back into sleep. It did not last long, but she would not complain. Those stony hands had begun sliding up and down the plane of her stomach, dipping low to the slope of her hips, teasing with her fingertips right against the crevice of her thigh and torso.

"Hm?" Artemis hums groggily, eyes still blissfully closed. She was not easily stirred today. Zahrosa's warmth breath meets the shell of her ear as she laughs quietly. Her voice cuts in and out from disuse overnight. The swell of her breasts presses purposefully, now, to the Goddess's back and shoulder.

"Good morning, my Lady," Zahrosa croons. Her lips first press to the back of her neck, then further to the more sensitive place just under her ear. Her teeth worry a mark there that Artemis certainly feels judging by the sigh and arch of her body. That spurs a black hand to slide lower into the slick heat already gathering between Artemis' legs. Her breathing hitches, the brunette parting her lips to groan softly while fingers press easily into the soft give of her cunt, curling in and out with ease.

The archer smiles, clearly roused now. She reaches back to grip Zahrosa's thigh. "I knew I missed being home for a reason," she breathes wryly in lieu of true reply, tilting her hips. The other hand slides on top of her lover's to guide it upwards. It follows the hard plane of her stomach, over the neat raised line where Zahrosa's hand had once forced through, ultimately till she can press her lips sleepily to Zahrosa's knuckles.

"Hello, Zahrosa," Artemis replies, voice suddenly deeper. Tell-tale. She turns her head searchingly. Luckily, her sorceress indulges her with meeting her lips in a deep, languid kiss. While doing so, Artemis gladly slides the blonde's hand back to the much better suited place upon the swell of her breast.

[starry-eyed-butch]

Lots of trigger warnings cause I don't have any healthy coping mechanisms that I utilize with any sort of regularity cause I'd rather suffer. So for mental health, destructive tendencies, etc., do not read more. If anyone really reads these anyways.

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I'm a whole ass adult and never got over the urge to harm myself but now that I have to give plasma just to get to work, I can't cut on my arms anymore and it's already been awkward every time they take my blood pressure and while there are other places, nothing is as satisfying as my arms (I've tried, it's just not it, I'm too picky, which is probably a whole other diagnosis but we're poor out here). So, in lieu of that, I should use that gym membership I've been paying for every month for years and I think I'm just gonna excessively work out again and maybe I'll actually be able to sleep a while night in the process. And restricting and exercise are the only time I ever lost weight so I'm just gonna work myself to nothing. Not as satisfying but it'll just have to work, huh. Hahahaha, I am so deeply unhappy. I'm trying like hell to work on it but I just can't catch a break and I just don't even care enough to stop the downhill roll. One of these times I'll actually kill myself for real and then I don't have to worry about it anymore. One day. And it sucks cause I KNOW that top surgery would alleviate probably 50% of my mental health strife. I can't even go get a fucking hair cut which is really all I have that affirms how I feel but that's $20 I don't have. I've been overdrafted on my bank account every check for the last several months.

Shittiest thing is yes, money does buy happiness because it buys stability and things we need. I'm back to not being able to buy groceries. My minimum payment for my electric not to be shut off that I just paid was $233. I'm $1500 behind on my car payment. I can't catch up after missing a week of work because of a kidney infection. I can't but weed, which is the only thing that even helps me sleep or gives me an appetite. I'm out of my little sleep meds and have been for over a week. I paid a $70 ticket for something I have proof I didn't do because I couldn't get ahold of anyone after days and days and they kept calling me back while I was at work. I ran out of time to fight it, not trying to lose my license too. I hate my fucking job. I'm taken advantage of every single day for wages that can't even pay my bills. I'm not gonna find another job thats gonna lay me 18 off the bat and I certainly can't makeess then that AND if I did quit, I'd lose school, which is a whole other source of stress but it's the only thing I enjoy and am good at most of the time.

[sassysousa]

My yard somehow has mother fucking amaranth and I'm also a moron who bought a can of 2-4d on my mother's advice. I don't suppose I could dig past the knot at the top of the root, cut it off, and then spray the root stump to kill it?

(And in lieu of buying rubber boots, I don't suppose I could throw the sneakers away?)

If the amaranth youre talking about is Green Amaranth then i've found it easy to hand-pull in my experience. Whatever plant it is, if it is a singlular plant and not rhizomatic (grows individually like a dandelion, not in a connected patch such as raspberry, goldenrod, daylily, lily of the valley, for examples) then cutting just below the growing point at the top of the roots with something like a trowel will indeed prevent the plant from resprouting, all you need is that, no herb needed. A connected patch of plant will just resprout but a singular plant will not. Consider getting a dedicated dandelion-puller, my absolute favorite garden tool, which is just a little metal rod with a small fork at the end which you push into the dirt next to your tap-rooted plant and wiggle just a bit and pop you can pull up the unwanted plant out (or harvest carrots and parsley, it's very widely useful). Should be like $5 at the hardware store for a cheap plastic-handled one, or more for one with more sturdy construction.

Plants that grow in connected patches need to be either very carefully and methodically pulled/dug/removed, herbicided, or smothered (with like black plastic or pizza boxes or what have you).

For the second part of your question: I CANNOT endorse you using sneakers to apply chemical in. Herbicides are poisons, however carefully regulated, and wearing porous clothes on your hands or feet is very dangerous. If you do not have or cannot purchase rubber boots AND chemical application gloves (such as green nitriles, gloves MUST be designed for chem application not just like dishwashing gloves) AND long sleeved shirt and pants AND safety glasses (not just prescription glasses or sunglasses but close-fitting, more wrap-around style glasses) then i suggest you simply dont use the herbicide. You dont want to get ANY pesticide on yourself, and the hands and feet (and face and groin) are the places that herbicide absorbs fastest. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a must, not a recommendation.

Fortunately, if the amaranth youre talking about is the amaranth I'm familiar with, it does not require herbicide to remove, just time and elbow grease. I like to put on a podcast or an audiobook and spend some relaxing hours just meditatively pluck pluck plucking weeds from various gardens or lawns. Wait for some nice, not too hot weather and enjoy a day outside. Pro-tip, the day after rain is the chefs-kiss best time to pull weeds as the soil is loose around the roots. Not that you cant pull other times but thats the sweet spot for easiest pulling.

[mapleshmaple]

,!

[goosedawn]

linguistics pog????? :D :D :D i will admit I didn’t do as much thought into the aus/nz language changes as I really should’ve (mostly because my understanding of the regions is basic at best ^^’) and I am 👀👀👀 at your tags……….. if you have more thoughts I would be FASCINATED to hear what you say :D!!! -bio nerd anon

LINGUISTICS POG!!! YEAHHHH

my knowledge of linguistics is limited but its so cool and ur HELLA valid, australia and new zealand are pretty isolated so like. fair (relatedly, most of my thoughts are nz based, i cant really talk much abt australian linguistics) but basically i absolutely have more thoughts >:3c

also im assuming this is still in the context of how language could develop in @possiblyaperson03​‘s strangers on the internet au, so im just gonna clarify this is all purely speculation based on what we know abt the au and my own knowledge + lived experience :D

... i also just keep on going about language development in this au in general so i put it all under the cut :’>

tl;dr: australian and new zealand accents are likely to converge, but also might have a mix of different languages mixed into the way they speak, with pockets of non-english speakers. humans in australia and new zealand might not have as nuanced terms relating to giants, and may not have the same level of understanding regarding the giants language.

....... tl;dr TWO: wild humans might develop “alarm calls” that are shared with other human groups even if they cannot understand each other otherwise, and might even mimic giants. sign and written language could also become more prevalent in giant inhabited areas.

-

SO, in new zealand theres already quite a mix of cultures, although. yknow. colonialization ended up in a largely westernised culture/language, with english being the ‘main’ language, however nz sign language and Māori are also considered to be national languages.

nz accents specifically tend to be quicker and kinda. slur some words together, but that also depends on the location around new zealand. people who are surrounded by more Māori influences tend to draw out some vowels a bit longer, which ends up with a slightly different cadence.

im not really sure how to describe the aussie accent kshdfksjd but i think generally its a lot sharper than nz accents but also has more of a drawl, and some vowels are more drawn out/accentuated

i think it would be likely that australians and new zealanders would probably keep these aspects but depending on how much people cross between the two (in lieu of traversing elsewhere, and interacting with other countries) its more likely for the accents to converge.

however!! differing languages would also kind of. stick to how they sounded when they split, with the language spoken by immigrants not only sounding more accurate to the original due to shifts in language in their original location (due to simplification and dangerous situations) but also because of people wanting to preserve their culture.

in new zealand currently (especially in places with a lot of mixed cultures/immigration, in big cities compared to more rural areas) there is already a lot of mixing in terms of accent and language, and even more so with outside influences due to media and such

people do whats referred to as “accent matching“ which is basically changing the way you speak to match other people around you (psychologically, its kinda like mimicking other people so they are more likely to like you/become attached to you because you are similar to them) and so people mimic accents around them and thats part of how you pick up accents when you move to a new place.

so in an isolated space, with a variation of accents, how does that work? honestly i think it would be similar to how things are in big nz cities currently, and because its even more packed together with a whole variation of people who may not necessarily be english speaking is that something that may happen is a mix of language, with people dipping in and out of other languages based off of what specific cultural influences an individual is surrounded by.

this is something that can be seen in places like malaysia, where there is often a mashup of languages and cultures, resulting in a variance of dialects depending on geographical location, picking up some words from other languages depending on who your neighbours are (or at least. thats what i’ve been told by relatives from there, and have seen reflected in the way they speak- they tend to mix english with at least 3 different dialects of chinese as well as malay and indian words)

like i mentioned in my tags on the other post, nz already has quite a few pockets of areas where there are immigrants who either have trouble speaking english or rely on relatives/friends to interact with english speakers, and this is something that is likely to develop in this au as well i reckon. i cant comment on how this might work in australia though.

-

also, if isolated with little contact from giants, it would be unlikely for australians/new zealanders to develop terms relating to giants, or at least not terms similar to other countries. they might be more abstract or scientific, with less nuance due to less interaction.

its unlikely humans in australia and new zealand would pick up much accenting from giants and perhaps depending on how long it would be after The Event, may even not be able to say certain words/hear certain differences in giants accents as well!

However, it should be noted that young babies (like a few months old) are able to identify variance in human accents that children and adults cannot, because we learn what sounds to listen out for based on what languages and cultures we are exposed to, so technically we are biologically built to understand a variation of languages, but quickly learn specificity and thus lose that ability.

(RELATEDLY: if this was also true for giants, unless they were brought up around humans when they were very young it would be unlikely that they would be able to tell some subtle differences in human speech, FURTHER solidifying what you said about giants just. not being able to hear human intonation).

in terms of language in countries inhabited by giants, you mentioned that humans might have more simplified language and such, which could result in varying “alarm calls”, much like modern animals have now, which vary depending on where a threat is coming from (e.g. different calls for birds compared to land based predators) these might transcend other language like words, if there was a larger difference between geographical areas.

on top of that, some groups of animals also reciprocally respond to other groups of animals alarm calls due to both being pressured by biological and environmental threats, and i wouldnt be surprised if something similar developed between wild human colonies. humans are great at mimicking, so it could be possible that a series of animal-esque calls, or heck even calls mimicking giants could be something that is used.

furthermore, it might also be likely for some groups of humans to rely more on visual (signed or written) languages to symbolise things, especially if they dont get to interact with other groups, perhaps out of fear of being caught in large numbers. on top of this, having visual signals would be useful for not notifying giants of your presence if you need to be quiet.

warning signs and such would probably be developed pretty quickly, with certain groups maybe having defining features depending on what materials they have (maybe some groups burn warnings into things, vs others who carve the symbols in)

there might also be varying ways of referring to directions that are easier to identify quickly. OH in the alternate universe with wilbur having a guitar, maybe music could be used for communicating certain things also?? idk ive gone on long enough jkfhsdfjhsdf

- 

thanks for reading all the way to the end! if you got here i appreciate you!! 💛

[lotus-baby]

Kisame for ask game?

hii :DD ty 4 asking

favorite thing about them

alot of his fighting scenes have funny dialogue.. i also rlly like the character design! (lame of kishi 2 not have made akatsuki more scary monsterish whatever tho)

least favorite thing about them

nothing i guess i dont think kisame has done anything 2 piss me off lol

favorite line

i tgink when kisame met itachi and within 20 seconds hes just like “sharks eat their siblings in the womb cool right.” acceptable things to say to ur colleagues.

brOTP

kisame and itachi being friends so huge and imoportant to me *sobbing crying gnashing teeth clawing at the walls*

also kisame and deidara r referenced 2 be pretty friendly in that one omake and thats v neat.

also also i feel like ive said this already but there this complicated web of akatsuki relationships i have in my head where kisame is besties with tobi and also besties with konan, so konan and tobi are bestie inlaw’s, even though konan and tobi hate each other but kisame isnt aware and tons of dumb shit arises from that etc etc. 

OTP

i dont really know i dont ship kisame w/ anyone

nOTP

kisaita LMAO i hate that shit 

random headcanon

kisames a good cook :)

unpopular opinion

idk i dont think hes the kind of nice as a lot of ppl r portraying kisame as, like he’s nice compared 2 the rest of the akatsuki but they’re the akatsuki idk. a big part of kisames character is being able to poke fun at ppl a little bit even when he respects them. i guess 2 me hes kinda like when a big brother will pick on his younger siblings but they’re still close at the end of the day

song i associate with them

none rn ;-;

favorite picture of them

the scene where he does a little spin on top of this wooden post before he meets team taka but i cannot find it T-T. have this in lieu 

[sammyloomis]

fic writer tag meme

god damn yall i got tagged by @love-fireflysong AND @queenofbaws, flattered so i am not much of a writer these days but lets give it a whirl ;w;

author name: fudgeroach :V

fandom(s) you write for: almost exclusivley until dawn!! but ive dabbled in some azumanga daioh and danganronpa stuff, and if we go WAY back i used to write twilight fanfic,,,,, it never saw the light of day so dont even try lookin for it

where you post: ao3

most popular one shot: Hot Mess which is a story abt ashleys drunk ass falling out from behind the partition and foiling the prank and thus saving everyones fkn lives :’] idk if i was expecting this one to be the most popular but thats p rad!!

most popular multi chapter fic: the squad be lit fam which is one of those chat fic things where everyones just chattin shit in a group text. i made it cause i wanted to do something goofy n fun between more serious stuff but reading it back its kinda just.... bad... not too keen on my characterisations, they all feel kinda samey

favorite story you wrote: hoooo boy idk if i even have a fave tbh tho maybe Dead Air cause i remember bein really hyped about posting it. even if it doesnt feature the ud kids that heavily, i rly Love my ghost au n thought it was a fun idea to have a couple of idiot internet people try and tackle the story of the blackwood tragedy 

story you were nervous to post: okay warning cause its porn. Closet Boinking. as im sure you can guess Why i was nervous to post it cause its fkn porn and thats all there really is to say on the matter (tho it IS my second most popular one shot so,,, clearly u guys like it)

how do you chose your titles?: sometimes i like bein rly cagey abt it and making it some obscure reference thats like 10 thoughts removed from the original concept, and sometimes its just as simple as me not being creative enough and just slapping something last minute into the title bar

how many of your stories are complete?: 13/17 and thats only cause theyre one shots fghjkl i Suck at multichap stuff

in progress?: uhhh 2 i guess?? the other 2 are vague enough that i could stop em now but tbh im probably not gonna be finishing any multichap stuff hh tho Hopefully the last chapter of Grapevine

coming soon: uhhHH NOT MUCH TBH FGHJK i cant even think of anything im writing that ill actually Finish rn. i have a few bits n bobs laying around, couple danganronpa one shots n half finished chapters, but im not rly confident in my writing skills to make more atm ;w;

upcoming story ur most excited to write: see above

do you accept prompts?: ahh not really, not for writing stuff anyway. but im always down for a drawing prompt!! lord knows im lookin for ideas all the time fghjkl cant garuntee ill do it tho

top 5 authors: hhHHH i HATE pickin people i know, im always scared im gonna forget someone so, in lieu of that, just assume that if ive left a review on ur stuff it means ur one of my faves (but it we’re talking like, published fiction authors i love me some ‘david wong’ for cosmic horror and ‘becky chambers’ for gay n emotional science fiction)

tag 6 people: DFGHJ AGAIN IDK WHO TO TAG FOR THIS so if u read this n wanna do it go for it!! i think everyone i woulda tagged already did this meme anyway ;w;

[misterbitches]

i’m high so idk if it’ll make sense but.....i’m guessing there’s like restrictions/amount of kissing or like they are asked to put restraint on it and don’t want to push it (they should) but it doesn’t feel as stilted and gross and obvious as it can be oftentimes.

i hope that as people and actors who, hopefully, actually care about acting and honing their craft that that can sink into their understanding as friends. like i hate how much money a company is making off of stuff like this, and fansigns, and just exploiting a very strange female identifying facet (why women like to see two men in relationships and part of what that means for us in the society we’re growing up in etc)

the point is to get $, as this company, so they can bring in more fans and get more $. knowing this, esp on that particular channel, actors who are getting into this specific genre have to also accept that kind of social transaction. while fandom culture is suffocating (and often seriously so fucking fickle because we’re human and learning) as actors you also know what comes along with that, what social currency is, and what financial literacy is  if there was no previous marginalization (IE if you are a rich good looking dude getting into this biz.)

i accept my conflicting feelings on the genre but knowing that people are just trying to constantly produce doesn’t mean acknowledging things that are produced with care in mind. i feel as if that there’s a big part of why certain actors drift away with a certain fan reception. they want the perceived ideal of them together, but not really, and also a girlfriend is bad and they own these people?

but taking into consideration what you are doing and signed up for, how can the blame become totally reliant on an audience specifically tailored to keep you afloat? this outcome is usually always known—something harsh will hit you as you get exposure and certain points (speculation, relationships) will be exploited for monetary value. on top of that, we see their work as objects and they themselves can be objects never to stray.

on the other hand, ships with way less of a sterile approach in the on screen relationships seem to have actors that can remain friends or have no qualms about it. there’s absoutely no way those dude in together with me didnt face torrents like this but the fact that they’re stll friends through that is a big deal. it’s also like, they knew their job was to make this so a lot of the negative is embroiled in that and you have much less worry about what it look slike if you are too overtsexual since we see that in the series

the downside to this is that many of these types of relationships/shows cna be super fucking clunky or i put up with things i dislike because, even with chemistry, i’m still like “damn theyre cute together and i wanna see em be cute” but not super into the story. because there is sometimes so much fucking intimacy and sex in the physical/close that thats all we are waiting for. which is oftentimes why secondary couples work by the time theres already been an adjusted dynamic

so kissing so little becomes suspicious and kissing so much becomes, “if i wanted to watch gay porn i fuckin would have damn wtf? how long can i watch bitches kiss?” and either way it’s voyeuristic but one is willing to go farther...however that adds the fetish to it and how weird girls and women are watching this shit enraptured mostly because of that???

2gether and WHY R U display that in my opinion. i’m not comparing cos it’s whatever but. tine and sarawat look like theyre actually about to kiss when they almost kiss instead of foreseeing the pause. it doesnt always work (acting wise) but theyre physical and actually cheek kiss. i can try and rationalize in my head: it’s ok if they dont kiss for now and wondering why i need the physicality and kissing more. 

outside of needing it (the kiss) to be there to represent something big because putting that out there, like any other romcom (that operates under capitalism too so...i coudl go on) and wanting that for them and everyone behidn the project.  and not getting a GOOD kiss scene can be frustrating (and their kisses so far have been what i dont like but also theyre both not expecting it idk i hope)

theyre like actually putting their bodies on each other and inhabiting the same space instead of around each other through a contrived intimate space that will always be interrupted and feel static. 2gether like each other and theyre funny with personalities and we can weather through the faults of the show or lack of kissing as a marker of love that should be demonstrated. so time was put in this show and figuring out how to go around a parameter (that they should break btw cos fuck a boss) was rly planned out (or seems to be.) hopefully  bright and win both are like “hey, this is my job and it’s cool and people are gonna be terrible but like this is something i love to do and i dont have to dissociate myself with him and sacrifice a friendship because of participating in the very thing i was hired to do and being exploited off of that idea in lieu think of advancing my career” 

yes i am always thinking.

[goat-yells-at-everything]

Hello Goat! I'm starting a D&D campaign and playing as a satyr, which is sort of like a goat. Aside from jumping whenever possible in lieu of walking, have you any advice for habits to make my Satyr seem more, well, Fey or Goaty rather than just A Person With Hooves?

1) DO NOT EAT EVERYTHING. Seriously. A HUGE misconception about goats is they'll eat anything. They will not. Goats use their tongues and lips like hands to figure out what things are. Obviously you won't do that cuse Satyrs have hands but don't get pushed into a stereotype where you'll eat anything.

2) Goats will TASTE anything. Again, using lips and tongue they'll decide if a thing is edible so they'll pretty much try anything. But they are actually really picky eaters. Clair and the yearlings loved pine needles but they are not good for goats in large doses (upset tummies). Otto loved rose buds, to Bunnys despair, but wasn't a fan of the sharp leaves and turns. Goats are more likely to prefer leaves and weeds to grasses.

3) Make note of some physical details. Goats have horizontal pupils which is actually pretty common in ungulates, but they also tend to have lighter colored eyes which make the pupil shape more noticeable and striking. Amber is most common but blue is an option. Their eyes give them really good distance and peripheral sight. They'll know someone is behind them before you know it and they'll also be able to distinguish danger from a very long distance.

Another thing is teeth. Ruminantes (goats, sheep, cows, ect) only have a lower set of teeth. Their upper plate is just a solid bone covered in a thin layer of tissue which they use to grind their food against. If you've ever seen an animal chew their cud you'd see their lower jaw has a side to side movement which is them grinding the pulp against that plate.

4) Tail language. Goats "talk" a lot with their tails, like dogs and cats do. Rarely are they down against their butts, only when pissed or super scared and can't get away. If they are scared and can run, it will be rigid straight up. Happy goats will have a perked but relaxed tail, even wagging it a lot. When angry itll be bristled and standing up. Id say this is not conscious for a Satyr so it would be hard to lie about your emotions.

5) Most of the time you'd be sure footed and graceful but, well, Emily fell out of the barn more than once cuse she got too excited and forgot there was a step so they are prone to derpage.

6) A bit flighty at first introductions but once you've accepted herd mates they are family for life. Being betrayed by herd mates is a serious mental and emotional blow.

7) Goats are matriarchal. That's not to say they don't value bucks, they do very much, but a doe is always the head of the family.

8) They cuddle. Ungulates are prey animals so their instinct when in a vulnerable state (like sleeping) is to cuddle up so the mass looks as big as possible. This may or may not be used to cause confusion or tension if there are no other characters with prey instincts. If there are other prey animal hybrids then you'll likely naturally drift towards each other and become friends.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. If you think of anything specific dont hesitate to ask!

[emmerrr]

heyyyy if you wanna write a pynch vday fic, how about one where they're like... both trying to be sneaky about planning sth for valentines day and so both think the other has forgotten about it and they're both like ://// but it all uhh works out in the end?? x

what a top notch suggestion, absoLUTELY i can write that 💕💕 (uhh heads up this got kinda long, i’ll put it on ao3 too and reblog with a link later)

-

Adam sat alone in a corner booth of Nino’s, History notes open on the table before him. He’d written VALENTINE’S DAY?? in the margin, underlined three times. He frowned at the words, wondering why he was fixating on them, and turned his head to stare listlessly out of the window instead.

Blue was there working, but she’d been too busy to come and say hello so far, simply offering him a harried wave when she spotted him walk in, pointing him towards the table he was now seated at. The other staff at Nino’s never bothered them anymore, knowing Blue would cover their table. Adam had heard them being referred to as “Blue’s Boys” on more than one occasion.

He was currently the only one there, having beaten Henry and Gansey out of the school gates. He assumed they’d got held up by a traffic light or two, and Ronan had further to drive than the rest of them so would likely arrive last anyway.

Thinking of Ronan immediately returned Adam’s thoughts to the words written in his notes and he scowled at the parking lot. On the surface, Valentine’s Day didn’t seem like it would be Ronan’s thing. Adam wasn’t even particularly sure it was his thing. But the fact remained that Valentine’s Day was a week away, and Adam didn’t know what, if anything, he was expected to do for it.

He tried to think back to previous years and remembered receiving an anonymous card from someone back in the seventh grade; a generic heart-shaped thing that simply said ‘Will you be my Valentine? x’ inside. He was fairly certain the sender was a girl in his English class who had never said a word to him but blushed every time she caught his eye. Adam didn’t see how he was supposed to answer whether or not he’d be her Valentine if she never told him she had sent it. And of course, she never owned up, and he didn’t want to suggest it was her in case he was wrong, and he didn’t actually want to be her Valentine anyway. So it was never mentioned again.

The difference here was that Ronan was his actual boyfriend. Didn’t that mean that they were each other’s Valentines by default, then?

Adam didn’t know. He’d never navigated Valentine’s Day before. Not like this.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t hear Henry and Gansey approach until they were right there.

“Oh, History notes,” Henry exclaimed. “Can I borrow them?”

Adam turned his head to see Henry already sliding the notebook towards him. “Your notes are always make more sense than mi—” Henry cut himself off, eyes widening at something on the page. Too late Adam remembered the VALENTINE’S DAY?? in the margin and slapped his hand over it, snatching back his notebook.

Henry was grinning at him. “Big plans?”

“No,” Adam muttered. “No plans at all.” He stuffed the notebook into his messenger bag.

Gansey had slid into the booth opposite Adam and watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. “What have I missed?”

“Nothing, apparently,” Henry said easily. Adam was grateful that Henry clearly wasn’t going to push it (at least not with an audience), but reasoned he could perhaps use some advice.

“So,” he started. “Valentine’s Day. Thoughts?”

“I’m glad you asked, Parrish,” Gansey said. “It was originally a Western Christian feast day honouring a couple of early saints called Valentinius—”

“Yes, thank you, Captain Wikipedia,” Henry cut in. “I’m not entirely sure that’s what he meant.”

A jug of Iced Tea was plonked onto the table without ceremony and they all looked up to Blue Sargent as she handed out glasses.

“It’s a dumb holiday invented by Hallmark to sell more cards,” she said, obviously having heard the tail-end of the conversation.

“Well, obviously there’s that too,” Gansey said, beaming at her. 

Adam sighed. They were all monumentally unhelpful. 

“Why the interest, Adam?” Blue asked, a knowing glint in her eye.

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I’m just…okay, with Ronan, do I just treat it like any other day? Do I get him a card? Will he think it’s stupid? Do I think it’s stupid?”

There was a short silence as the three of them blinked back at him, and then Blue carefully said, “Do you think it’s stupid?” 

Adam wasn’t sure how to answer that. The truth was that he sort of did think it was stupid, but he also thought he wanted to acknowledge it anyway. He thought doing nothing at all kind of made him look like an asshole.

In the end, it all circled back to Ronan, and whether he would care. Did he have anything planned? Was he having an internal crisis over it as well?

In lieu of an answer, Adam shrugged again.

“Speak of the devil,” Henry said, and nodded towards the entrance.

Ronan, dressed all in black (of course), had just stepped inside. He scanned the restaurant without turning his head but when he spotted Adam, his shoulders relaxed, and he smiled just a little.

Adam didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing that.

“Oh god, you two are the worst,” Blue scoffed as Ronan started to make his way over.

“What?” Adam said without looking at her.

“You know exactly what, Adam Parrish. You and Ronan with the googly eyes. Jesus Christ, you’re in public. Tone it down.”

“You tone it down,” Ronan said jovially, hip-checking Blue as he drew level. “What are we talking about?”

“The origins of Valentine’s Day,” Gansey said delicately.

Ronan snorted derisively. “Valentine’s Day,” he said with as much scorn as he could muster, “is capitalistic bullshit invented to sell cards and flowers and chocolate.”

“Hey man, that’s exactly what I said,” Blue said, sounding pleased, and she and Ronan fist-bumped. Adam rolled his eyes. They really were two sides of the same coin.

“You’re in my seat, Cheng,” Ronan said.

“Sit by Gansey, I was here first.”

Ronan shrugged. “Fair’s fair.” He stepped up onto the seat and over Henry and squeezed into the spot between him and Adam.

“Ronan Lynch,” Gansey hissed. “You’ll get us kicked out!”

“Calm down, Dick, no one noticed,” Ronan said. He had both arms stretched out across the back of the booth, and Adam and Henry were both leaning into him a little thanks to the lack of space.

“This is cozy,” Henry said cheerfully.

It was Blue’s turn to roll her eyes and she pulled her little notepad out of her apron pocket. “Alright, I have to actually do my job now, what do you want? Gansey, I’m assuming you want your usual half-avocado monstrosity?”

“You’re a millennial, Blue, you’re supposed to like avocados.”

Her disgusted expression was answer enough. The rest of them rattled off their food order and then Blue went off to put it through.

“Doesn’t anyone want to come and sit by me?” Gansey asked. “It’s lonely over here.”

“Oh, don’t pull that face, Gansey, you’re making me sad,” Henry said, swapping sides. He scooched right the way over to Gansey and draped an arm around his shoulder before sighing loftily. “It’s hard being this popular.”

“But someone has to do it,” Adam said drily, earning him a quicksilver smile.

“And I do it so well.”

Ronan was stopping at Adam’s for the night, but they had each come to Nino’s in their own cars so separated in the parking lot to drive over to St Agnes in a convoy.

Ronan was already peeling out of the lot by the time Adam reached his shitbox, and he was held up further by Henry calling his name. He turned and Henry jogged over, Gansey nowhere to be seen and most likely still inside saying goodbye to Blue.

“Oh, sorry,” Adam said. “You wanted my History notes, right?”

“No, that’s not — well, yeah, actually, thank you,” he said, taking them when Adam handed them over. “I actually came over here to give you some unsolicited advice.”

“About the Valentine’s Day thing?”

“That’s the one.”

Adam shrugged. “It’s not entirely unsolicited. But anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. You heard him.”

“Yeah, I heard him. Sounds like posturing to me.”

Adam tilted his head to the side. “You think?” Ronan certainly was prone to posturing.

“Sure. I mean, I have no doubt that he really does think Valentine’s Day is what he said in there, but I wouldn’t let that put you off doing something, if you wanted to.” Henry waited for a response, and when Adam didn’t offer one, he prompted, “You do want to, don’t you?”

Adam smiled wryly. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only if you know what to look for,” Henry said, but before Adam could think on that too much, he continued. “Look, I don’t know Ronan as well as you do, but even from the outside, it’s clear how he feels about you.”

Feeling himself blush, Adam immediately looked down at the ground. He did know how Ronan felt about him. It was often whispered to him in the middle of the night when it felt like they were the only two people in the world. It just took him off guard to hear it so plainly from someone else.

“Think about it, Adam. Regardless of how Ronan personally feels about what Valentine’s Day stands for, do you really think he’s going to let a day when he’s practically green-lit to be as obnoxious as possible about you just pass him by?” Henry shook his head. “Not the Ronan Lynch I know.”

Well, when it was put that way. “Did he say something to you? Do you know something?”

“Not a thing,” Henry said, and Adam believed him. “It’s just an observation and an educated guess.”

“Huh,” Adam said thoughtfully. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and tossed them in the air, catching them again, ideas already forming in his head. If Ronan was going to be obnoxious, Adam could be obnoxious too. “Thanks, Henry. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t lose my notes.”

“I will try my level best.”

Adam gave himself three rules for Ronan’s Valentine’s gift:

1) It had to be heartfelt.

2) It also had to be in good humour and not take itself too seriously.

3) It had to be cheap.

He was too sensible to spend money he didn’t have on some arbitrary gift Ronan wouldn’t appreciate. Not to mention that Ronan was impossible enough to buy for as it was; firstly he was rich enough to buy himself pretty much anything he might want, and secondly he could literally manifest his dreams. It was going to make future birthdays and Christmas’s an absolute nightmare.

(But what a wonderful problem to have.)

What it all basically meant was that Adam had to go homemade, and given that he had school and work (and Ronan) to work around, he didn’t have a whole lot of time to do it.

He borrowed Gansey’s laptop during lunch-break on Monday at Aglionby and made Ronan a mix-CD of the cheesiest love songs he could think of. It featured such classics as You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates, Heaven by Bryan Adams, True by Spandau Ballet, and many, many more. It wasn’t even remotely Ronan’s kind of music which made it funny, but as embarrassing as some of the songs might have been, they did actually somewhat echo Adam’s own feelings. He got to be a sap in the guise of it being a joke, and Ronan would get a kick out of it.

Obviously, he also added the Murder Squash Song for good measure.

Next up was a card. He could have bought one — his budget would have allowed it — but all the store ones were godawful and Adam couldn’t even imagine giving one of them to Ronan ironically.

Luckily he had an ace up his sleeve.

The first time that Ronan had stayed over at Adam’s after they were together in the very early days of their relationship, Adam had woken up to a frozen Ronan with a handful of strangely lovely flowers, the exact shade of blue as Adam’s eyes.

Adam had kept them in a cheap vase on the windowsill until they died, but unbeknownst to Ronan, he’d also taken one and pressed it to make a little print; his own private memento.

He was obviously keeping the original for himself, but he took it into the school library a couple of days before Valentine’s Day and scanned it, printing it out on some high quality photo card he’d ‘acquired’ from one of the Art rooms.

Once the ink was dry, he folded it down the middle as carefully as possible and put it inside his heaviest textbook to keep it folded and flat until he got it home.

He spent longer than probably necessary trying to decide what to write, but in the end, he went with:

Ronan,

I think maybe it was always you. I think it always will be. Happy Valentine’s Day (gross).

Love, Adam x

He didn’t have a nice envelope to put it in, so it had to go in a bigger manila one that Adam still had lying around. He slipped both the card and the CD inside, and wrote Ronan’s name in capitals on the outside.

He looked at his offering. It somehow didn’t seem enough.

Valentine’s Day was on Thursday, so on Wednesday— after school but before a shift at Boyd’s— Adam found himself in the kitchen of 300 Fox Way. He’d bought everything he needed to make chocolate brownies before he’d realised he didn’t have a tin in which to cook them in. He was also severely lacking in several other kitchen utensils, to be honest. One panicked phone-call to Blue later, and he had everything he needed and a helping hand.

Well, ‘helping’ was a strong word.

“Why brownies?” Blue asked from where she sat perched on the kitchen table.

“Because brownies are the best,” Adam said, frowning at the recipe he had printed out.

“Alright, can’t argue with that,” Blue said reasonably.

Adam was aware of her watching him while he slowly got out everything he needed and started weighing out ingredients. He felt unreasonably nervous about it, even though he knew that provided he followed the recipe, everything would be fine. Baking was a science, after all, and Adam was good at science.

But looking at it all now with Blue scrutinising his every move, he felt flustered and unmoored.

“I thought you were going to help,” he said pointedly.

“I am helping. I’m supervising,” Blue said.

Adam smiled at that. “I see. Are you the kind of supervisor who can grease this tin for me?”

“I suppose so,” Blue said loftily as she launched herself off the table.

Blue started chattering away after that which helped Adam calm down and focus on what he was doing, and it didn’t take long to make the mixture after that. Adam tilted the pan while Blue used a wooden spoon to scrape the mixture out and into the brownie tin.

After that, they just had to put it in the oven and wait.

Blue brewed up some of Maura’s least offensive tea as they sat and waited, and Adam finally asked what he’d been dying to all week.

“Do you know if Ronan has anything planned?”

Blue smiled and shook her head. “Honestly, Adam, I have absolutely no idea. He hasn’t said a word. I’ve barely seen him though, and never really without you there.” She shrugged. “If he’s got a plan he’s keeping it close to his chest.”

Adam nodded; he’d assumed as much. “I just want to know if I’m doing too much, or not doing enough? I dunno, it’s stupid. It’s only Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah, but it’s your first Valentine’s Day together,” Blue said, not unkindly. “I get it.”

“What are you and Gansey doing?” 

“I made him a card and found him a couple of ‘slovenly’ t-shirts at the thrift store. I’m gonna hazard a guess that he’s getting me flowers, and he told me to keep the evening free so he’s probably taking me somewhere. Wherever it is, it better not be expensive.”

Adam grinned. “Maybe it’s Nino’s.”

“God, don’t even joke, I’d murder him. Again.”

He started to laugh, and after a couple of seconds Blue joined in. When it died down, Blue put her hand on his arm.

“Don’t overthink it, Adam. Ronan will love whatever you give him, because you’re the one it’s coming from. It’s not about the gifts you get or the meal you have or how much money you spend. I think it’s more about the gesture. That’s what’ll mean the most to Ronan.”

Adam managed a small smile. “I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” Blue opened a drawer and gasped, then pulled out a heart-shaped cookie cutter. “Oh my God, Adam, you have to.”

She held out the cookie-cutter towards him and he took it, sighing. “Really?”

“Yes! This way, they’ll all be exactly the same size and I get to eat all the cut-offs. Y’know, as my fee for helping.”

And that’s how Adam ended up with nine perfect little heart-shaped brownies.

Adam didn’t see Ronan that night, thanks to finishing late at Boyd’s and then having homework after. 

When he woke up in the morning, he was hit by the realisation that he and Ronan hadn’t even arranged to see each other that day at all.

He half expected Ronan to show up at St Agnes unannounced with a bouquet of dream flowers and some donuts or something. But that didn’t happen, and Adam slowly packed his messenger bag for school, remembering to include the Tupperware of Valentine’s brownies and the envelope with its enclosed card and CD.

He wasn’t sure when he’d be able to give them to Ronan, but it was better to be prepared.

Adam walked down to his car, scanning the parking lot and the street to see if there was any sign of a shark-nosed BMW. But there was nothing, and there was nothing on the way to school, and Adam made it all the way through to lunch without seeing or hearing from Ronan.

Obviously, he had no phone, and Ronan hated his own phone. But Gansey had a phone, and Ronan could have got in touch that way if he had felt so inclined.

Adam didn’t know what he’d been expecting; that Ronan would show up at the Aglionby gates with a boombox over his head blasting out Lionel Richie songs? That he’d get back to his car after school and find out his favourite hooligan had broken in and left him a giant teddy bear and a box of chocolates?

It all seemed stupid now, and Valentine’s Day was stupid, and Adam was irritated that he’d let the pressures of the day get to him. It didn’t matter. It was a meaningless day.

So why did he feel so deflated?

At the end of the day, he caved and asked to borrow Gansey’s phone.

First, he sent a text that said: it’s adam, i’m about to call you so answer the phone

He gave it a minute until he’d seen that Ronan had read the message, and then pressed the call button.

“Parrish,” Ronan said in lieu of a hello.

All at once, like always, Adam was happy to hear Ronan’s voice. And yet he still couldn’t quite shake his irritation, even though the one who’d got his hopes up was himself.

“Hey,” he replied. “Listen, were you planning on coming over tonight?”

“Nope.” It was a little difficult to tell, but Adam thought Ronan’s tone was just a little off. “You come here.”

Adam sighed. “Ronan, I have school tomorrow so I wouldn’t even be able to stay that late. Can’t you just come here?”

There was a long pause. “Opal wants to see you.”

“So bring her with you.”

“Are you kidding, Parrish, she’s filthy. She’ll mess up the interior.”

The BMW wasn’t exactly spotless inside so this seemed a flimsy excuse. Adam started to wonder whether Ronan even wanted to see him at all.

“If you don’t want to see me today that’s fine,” he said, tone clipped.

“I didn’t say that,” Ronan said, tone just as clipped.

It felt like they were heading for a fight. Adam didn’t want to fight. He wanted to give Ronan the stupid sentimental CD he’d made. He wanted Ronan to make fun of him for the brownies. He wanted a hug.

Adam was abruptly exhausted, and it didn’t matter that he’d gone to the effort and Ronan hadn’t. He just wanted to see him.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m gonna go home and shower but then I’ll head over to you.”

“Okay, good. See you in a bit,” Ronan said, and hung up.

The sun was down by the time Adam pulled up at the Barns. The heating in Adam’s car was dodgy enough on a good today, and today wasn’t a good day. It had barely come on, so his hands were like ice as he got out of the car.

He walked straight in when he got there and made his way to the kitchen. He hovered in the doorway; Ronan’s back was to him, a tea towel strewn over one shoulder, straining pasta over the sink.

Adam rapped his knuckles against the door-frame and Ronan turned around.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Adam replied. “You cooked?”

Ronan shrugged. “It’s just spaghetti.” He gestured to Adam’s messenger bag. “You brought homework with you?”

All that was in the bag was the Valentine’s gifts for Ronan, and he shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay,” Ronan said with another shrug. “Sit. Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Adam pulled himself a chair out, and it scraped against the floor noisily in the otherwise quiet. He waited for Ronan to finish serving up and then asked, “Where’s Opal?”

“No idea. Haven’t seen her since this afternoon.”

Adam took a bite of his food. It was good. “I thought you said she wanted to see me.”

“She always wants to see you,” Ronan said smoothly. “I’m sure she’ll turn up when she spots your car.”

They finished eating in near silence, Adam waiting for Ronan to say something— anything— to acknowledge the day. But he didn’t, and the longer the silence dragged, the harder it seemed to break it.

Adam started towards the sink to do the washing up afterwards, but Ronan stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Just leave it, Parrish.”

“But—”

“Leave them. I’ll do them in the morning.” 

Adam sighed, uncomfortable in the tension. He didn’t know what to do now. Did Ronan just want him to leave? And if so, why had he told him to come in the first place?

“Look, do you know what day it is?” Adam asked, unable to take it any longer.

“It’s Thursday,” Ronan said, chin jutted out, arms crossed. Adam glared; Ronan clearly knew exactly what day it was.

“Okay, great,” Adam said tiredly. He opened his bag and pulled out the Tupperware and the envelope. “Happy Valentine’s Day, I guess.”

He put them on the table and stepped away, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He watched Ronan’s face, the expression on which had softened immediately. He looked to Adam, stricken.

“Parrish, I—”

“It’s fine, Ronan, just open them.”

Ronan snapped his mouth shut, and pulled the envelope over to him. Adam immediately felt self-conscious about his meagre homemade gifts.

“It’s not much,” he said quickly.

Ronan’s only response to this was a slight furrow in his brow. Then he took the CD out, quirking a smile at Adam’s inscription: LYNCH’S CHEESY LOVE SONG SINGALONG. It was surrounded by lots of hand drawn love-hearts that Adam now thought seemed excessive.

Ronan looked up and raised an eyebrow at Adam, a half-smirk on his face. “No track-list, Parrish?”

“It’s a surprise,” Adam said, smiling weakly, but relieved. “You’ll have to play it to find out.”

“I’ll do that,” he said with a sage nod. He put the CD down and reached for the Tupperware, pulling the lid off and tossing it aside. He looked inside and snorted. “You’ve really stuck with a theme here, huh, Parrish?”

“Hey, Valentine’s Day is all about the hearts, apparently. And to be fair, the heart-shaped brownies are Blue’s fault. She found a cookie-cutter and insisted.”

“She knew about this?” Ronan said.

“Yeah, she helped me make them.”

“That little sneak...” Ronan trailed off and let out a sharp laugh. “I asked her if she knew whether or not you were doing something, and she swore blind she had no idea.”

Adam thought about asking why Ronan had even wanted to know, but instead he pointed at the envelope. “There’s a card in there, as well.”

“In here?” Ronan turned the envelope upside down and the card slipped out into his hand. Adam watched as he took in the flower on the front, smiled a little, then did a double-take, glancing at Adam. “Hold on. Is this what I think it is?”

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I, uh, I pressed one, before they all died. I wanted to keep it, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Ronan said, something akin to awe in his voice. “I dream about them all the time.” He opened the card and read what Adam had written there, then dropped his face into his hands. 

“Parrish...” he mumbled. “I feel like a fucking asshole.”

Adam went over and gently pulled the card out of Ronan’s hand, sitting down on Ronan’s lap. Ronan’s arms circled his waist automatically and he tucked his face into Adam’s neck.

“You are a fucking asshole, Lynch. I love you anyway.”

Ronan grumbled something incoherently against Adam’s skin, and Adam smiled. “What was that?”

Ronan lifted his head so he could be heard. “I said I love you right back.”

“Good,” Adam said.

“I thought you’d forgotten. And I didn’t...I didn’t want a big deal, and this day is a fucking joke or whatever, but you didn’t mention anything. And I even thought you might borrow Gansey’s phone and like, text me or something this morning? But then you didn’t and when you finally called me you sounded annoyed and I didn’t know why, and I didn’t even think you wanted to come over. So then you finally got here and you seemed mad, and so I was mad and...I’m sorry. I was here thinking you didn’t give a shit and you made stuff for me?” He hung his head, penitent. “I love my gifts. These lame brownies smell great. I’m fucking sorry, Parrish.”

“Hey.” Adam cupped Ronan’s head in his hands. “It’s fine that you didn’t get me anything. Honestly I think I just let this whole day get into my head as having to mean something when it doesn’t. I don’t need a special day to let you know how I feel. And I’m sorry if I seemed mad. I just didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t mean to make it weird.”

He leaned in and kissed Ronan briefly. “And Lynch, you cooked for me. You made me a whole meal. I’m pretty sure we’re even.” He kissed him again, until Ronan pulled back and covered Adam’s hands with his own.

“Um...you should come with me,” Ronan said, and he almost sounded sheepish.

They stood up and Ronan swiped the mix CD off the table and shoved it in the pocket of his hoodie, before taking Adam’s hand and leading him out the back door.

Confused but intrigued, Adam followed closely behind, clutching tight to Ronan’s fingers. It was cold outside and neither of them had their coats on, which Adam was about to point out when they walked around the corner of the nearest barn and he was rendered speechless by the sight before him.

In the middle of the grass was a small gazebo tent, the base of which was covered in luxurious looking blankets. There was a laptop in the middle of the floor, hooked up to a projector which was pointing at the outer-wall of the barn. A precarious tower of DVDs was piled up next to the laptop; Adam couldn’t see the titles from here but imagined Ronan had assembled a variety of choices. There was a big thermos, contents unknown (coffee? Hot chocolate?), and various other treats; big bags of marshmallows and Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Mini Peanut-Butter Cups.

And everywhere, there was light. Ronan’s twinkling little dream lights, some in jars under the gazebo, others hanging in the air, changing colour, like little fireflies.

“Ronan,” Adam finally managed hoarsely. “What the fuck?”

Ronan smirked. “You thought I hadn’t done anything.”

“Uh, yeah, because you let me think that!” Adam said. He was struggling to process how cosy and romantic it all looked. Let it never be said that Ronan Lynch wasn’t an absolute sap.

“I didn’t let you think anything, you jumped to that conclusion all on your own.”

Adam scowled. “Now I feel like a fucking asshole.”

“Don’t,” Ronan said, pressing a kiss to Adam’s temple. “Anyway, this is nothing.”

“It is so far from nothing,” Adam said. He stepped forward and took a turn around, taking everything in as he walked in a slow circle, stopping when he was facing Ronan again. “I thought Valentine’s Day was capitalistic bullshit?”

“Oh, it is,” Ronan said happily. “But for one, I didn’t spend a penny. And two, a whole day where I can spoil you as much as I want to and you don’t get to complain about it? Sign me the fuck up for that.”

Adam burst out laughing. “You’ve just reminded me of something Henry said.”

“What did he say?”

“I told him that I wasn’t sure whether or not you’d do anything because we hadn’t talked about it, and he said, and I quote: ‘do you really think he’s going to let a day when he’s practically green-lit to be as obnoxious as possible about you just pass him by?’”

Ronan was grinning now. “Cheng’s pretty smart.” 

“Yeah,” Adam said. He caught one of the floating lights in his hand and then let it go again. “Just for the record, I think your dreaming abilities give you an unfair advantage when it comes to stuff like this.”

“Excuse you, Parrish, the only thing I dreamt up was the blankets because they’re heated. Oh, and the projector. And the gazebo. But that’s it.”

“‘That’s it’, he says.” Adam rolled his eyes, then accusingly added, “You dreamt up the lights.”

“Well, yeah, but not for this. I already had those. And the food was stuff I already had in the house, and the DVDs are ones I already own. I didn’t want to go overboard.”

Adam stared. “You are ridiculous,” he said, shaking his head. “Come here.”

Ronan went, without question or hesitation, and Adam wrapped his arms around his neck.

“This is the sweetest thing anybody’s ever done for me,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Ronan whispered, kissing a line up Adam’s neck and across his face, the tip of his nose, his forehead, “for the brownies, for what you wrote in the card...Jesus, Adam. It’s the same for me. You know that, right? It’s always you.”  

Adam squeezed tighter, feeling dangerously overcome. He breathed in the familiar, comforting smell of Ronan, and then released his grip. “And for the CD, obviously,” he said.

“Of course,” Ronan said, and smiled sharply. “Speaking of...” He pulled it out of his pocket and walked over to his laptop. “I’ll let you pick a movie in a bit, but first, I wanna listen to my present.”

He popped the CD into the drive and pressed a couple of buttons on the mouse, and a moment later the opening track started to play: I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston.

Ronan laughed, once, soundlessly, then came back over to Adam and held his hand out. 

“Well?” he said when Adam didn’t move. “Are you dancing?”

Adam grinned. “Are you asking?”

“I’m asking.”

“Then I’m dancing.” He took Ronan’s hand and together they swayed, far too slowly for a song this upbeat, but Ronan didn’t seem to mind, and Adam certainly didn’t.

They didn’t speak while they were dancing, both perhaps a little shaken at the near-miss of an argument, both relieved they hadn’t let it get that far. Both content to be in each other’s company, away from prying eyes and expectations.

It was still early days. They were still learning how to do this, navigating firsts and futures and each other, but they were both quick studies, and Adam couldn’t think of anything more worthwhile than building a foundation— and a life— with Ronan.

There were trickier days to come, but for now, they’d survived their first Valentine’s Day as a couple. As they lay curled together in a blanket watching The Princess Bride projected onto the side of a barn, Adam thought he’d have to mark this one down as a win.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Parrish,” Ronan whispered into Adam’s hair.

“Ugh,” Adam said, and kissed him. “Happy Thursday.”