#this is related to the issues I have with vegans

[scatteredcloud]

So here’s the thing about racist caricatures: there’s a root, it’s started by a characteristic blown out of proportion. It is not the responsibility of the people being caricatured to change those characteristics, regardless of how strange/unacceptable/weird it seems to people not in that group

[strangestcase]

tomblr discourse in the monster high universe must be something else.

0 notes

💝​ lalalala Follow

What would I do without cherry smoothies... probably die again 💔​

🟥​ b3lfrypr3pz-deactivated09182022

Of freaking course the frilly daywalker is a vegan 😒​ bet you do witchcraft too you dirty hippie

💝​ lalalala Follow

🝢🜊🝣🝗🜚🝰

🟥​ b3lfrypr3pz-deactivated09182022

WTF is that lol

🟥​ b3lfrypr3pz-deactivated09182022

i t burns. wh at did you do to me .

💝​ lalalala Follow

^-^

17k notes

🧠​ msdeadfast Follow

Ok but Dead Fast: Night of the Living (2002) has no business being considered the worst Dead Fast movie when the MCU (Murder Cinematic Universe) not only retconned his origin story to make him a virus zombie rather than a curse zombie (which throws off his entire arc about being something more than his deeds!) AND made him be allied with B.L.I.G.H.T. of all organizations because Like say what you will about NOTL and the forced heterosexual romantic plot but at least 1) it gets what makes Dead Fast a hero and 2) GIVES HIS LOVE INTEREST A PERSONALITY AND SOMETHING TO DO

🕷️ 8legscomix Follow

Literally

Also they made the villain Dr. Igorable's motivations so laughable like..... so his wife got turned into a zombie and he wants to cure her? Ok? Did she ask for it? She doesn't even have any groaning lines. Im not even a zombie but that was offensive as hell. Like in the original comics he wants to straight up undo all forms of zombism forever

🧠​ msdeadfast Follow

NO FR LIKE....... so suddenly the eugenics obsessed human is tragic because being a zombie must be such a tragedy you guyyyysssss -_- and wanting to get rid of an entire monster type is ok. I swear that movie has turned monster attitudes towards zombies back into the 80s

⚠️ mentalhealth-hazard Follow

I am not sure if I'm overstepping here but, furthermore, the addition of Pendulum to the movie was unnecesary. Stereotyping shapeshifters as untrustworthy and traitorous is something of a past era. Either leave the character behind, or change it entirely.

🧠​ msdeadfast Follow

Jackson I love you and I love your takes. but you type like a Victorian in his deathbed ;-;

⚠️ mentalhealth-hazard Follow

The MCU is so dreadful, it's irrevocably turned me into one.

#It has also substracted years off my lives.

23 notes

🌊​ lacriatura Follow

🦈​🦐​🐠🪸​​🐡​🐟​

^ aquarium!

#lagoona's originals #ocean #sealife #ah-! so refreshing <- aesth tag

26k notes

🔥 666firepit666 Follow

Not to vague anyone but some of you have to shut the freak up about the ocean. You don't see me making little dioramas of the Malebolge because I'm not a little cringelet like you lmao

1 note

🌊​ lacriatura Follow

If you don't freaking love the ocean don't follow the ocean tag. Yes that goes for @666firepit666, square up and fight me if you're so brave Heath!!!!

#lagoona's originals #personal #more skulls for my skull collection!!!

10 notes

🌙​ wolf-in-chic-clothing Follow

Day 1 no toxic doomed yuri

🌙​ wolf-in-chic-clothing Follow

WRONG SIDEBLOG

#stop reblogging this

80k notes

🔩​ stitchez Follow

Got a new arm! Can't wait to try it out!

🐯 ninelives Follow

try it out how 🤨​

🔩​ stitchez Follow

Building a wretched creature out of corpses, of course!

🔩​ stitchez Follow

OH that was a double entendre! You should be ashamed of yourself!

🔩​ stitchez Follow

I would never use my arms for violent purposes!

54 notes

🔥 666firepit666 Follow

Lagoona dragged me into the pool and now my hair is out 😡​

🌙​ wolf-in-chic-clothing Follow

Skull issue.

🧠​ msdeadfast Follow

skull issue

👻​ ghostlygossip01 Follow

Skull issue. Take the L

💝​ lalalala Follow

Skull issue ^-^

🐯 ninelives Follow

skull issue lmao

🔩​ stitchez Follow

Skull issue! I dont know what that means but I'm sure it relates to your experience!

🎸​ innerdemon Follow

SKULL ISSUEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!

🔥 666firepit666 Follow

Your own cousin 🥲​

🎸​ innerdemon Follow

I AM NOT RELATED TO ANY BALD PEOPLE

105 notes

💎​ scarab-g1rl Follow

Alright, who stole my sinister amulet?

[pforestsims]

I'm a fan of traits & trait mods and I really liked Atomtanned's mod /based on Dill's Turn-Ons & Turn-Offs/. This is quite an extensive edit - I just wanted to adjust it a little for my game and once I started I couldn't stop xD

Atomtanned's Trait-Based Chemistry EDIT

& (optional mod) ONLY TO Chemistry

⚡ Download: SFS ⚡BOX

11.11.2024 third UPDATE of Chemistry Mod. Fixed: Loner not triggering Introvert TO, Alien genetics trigger Alien TO correctly, Facial hair TO triggers correctly, Hats do not trigger Intellect TO, Cologne doesn't trigger Occult TO. Thanks for the fixes go to @episims . Correct file has "Update3" in the name

*Archive contains PDF file with detailed list of changes (added / removed stuff) and a few notes.

🟢 Trait-based Chemistry mod edit is available in 7 Languages: English, German, Finnish, Polish, Swedish, Russian, French

❕ New stuff: added Facial Hair TO (replaces Daydreamer), Business Shark TO (was: Serious), Expressive TO (was: Unique). Increased hobby and interest requirements from 5 to 8 pts, Formal wear added to Stylish TO - and more...

I also included an optional mod that switches off Zodiac / Aspiration chemistry and balances out the chemistry bolts gain - so it makes chemistry betwen Sims much less complicated. Obviously it will only be useful for those who like to control every aspect of their Sims romantic lives. Details under the cut.

You'll need Traits /and stuff required for these to work/.

Credits: @atomtanned , @lilbabydilljr , Epi for their TO replacements, @lazyduchess for Lua script

@peanuttysims for No Zodiac & Aspiration attraction (MTS2 link)

I used TS4 icons, icon mashups/ edits, and my own.

Thanks: @tvickiesims , @vegan-kaktus , @lilakartoffelbrei . Special thanks to @episims for all the support 💎🤗

*This is for The Sims 2

More under the cut:

NOTE: My mod edit has been in testing for a while and it seems I've managed to fix (with the help of Epi and Ramblin) all of the issues. However If you'd like to have a go at making your own TO chemistry edit, I recommend you base it on a mod by Fran/CuriousB rather than this one.

Trait-based Chemistry mod

It will replace original TS2 turn-ons and turn-offs with entirely new ones (only hair colors and fitness/fatness are unchanged!).

It conflicts with NickM406's No More Loading the * Family mod , and Tunaisafish’s Attraction Fix, make sure you don't have tunaisafish_fix_attractiontraits package in your Downloads.

🟢 It's compatible with mods that change /or switch off Zodiac chemistry, Aspiration chemistry, or both.

❕ TO-RELATED ATTRACTION DOES NOT UPDATE IN REAL TIME If you place new Trait in your Sim's inventory, it doesn't work right off the bat. You can try to force the bolt update by making Sim change appearance, loose/gain weight.

In original version of this mod, cologne (perfume) triggers occult TO - Epi created a fix for it, BUT it might have a temporary side effect - occult Sims may get cologne flowers effect (once). You can remove fx with Batbox or force Sim to reset, either with cheats of with any posebox that has 'snap reset' or 'reset' option, like the posebox by Decorgal ❕

⚡TURN-ONS / TURN-OFFS:

Note: I've added and removed some stuff, for example Plantsims and Bigfoot from 'Occult' TO, and Zombies from 'Undead' TO!

(This is an edit of the list posted by Atomtanned: )

Adventurous: 3 vacations, Adventurous, Daredevil, Sailor, Brave

Alien: Trait, skin, eyes

Animal Lover: 2 pet friends, Animal Lover, Cat Person, Dog Person, Equestrian

Artistic: Artistic, Avant Garde, Photographer's Eye, Savvy Sculptor, Flower Arranging/Pottery/Sewing silver badge, Arts & Crafts hobby, Creative skill

Athletic: Athletic, Equestrian, Loves to Swim, Sports/Fitness hobby, Body skill

Business shark: Born-salesperson, Ambitious, Mean Spirited, Snob, Workaholic

Charismatic (charisma): Charismatic, Irresistible, Schmoozer, Star Quality, Charisma skill

Cultured (bookish): Avant Garde, Bookworm, Film & Literature Hobby

Expressive: Excitable, Childish, Party Animal, Dramatic, Over-Emotional, Diva

Facial hair

Fitness / Fatness - original

Foodie: Natural Cook, Cuisine hobby, Cooking skill

Hair colors - original

Indoorsy: Bookworm, Computer Whiz, Couch Potato, Hates the Outdoors, Film & Literature Hobby, Games Hobby

Infamous (bad reputation): Bad Reputation*, Evil, Mean-Spirited

Intellect (high IQ): Genius, Logic Skill

Introvert (reserved): Brooding, Loner, Unflirty, Shy, No sense of humor, Grumpy, Socially Awkward, < 2 Outgoing personality points

Laid Back (slacker): Couch Potato, Mooch, Slob, < 2 Active personality points

Musical: Natural Born Performer, Star Quality, Virtuoso, Music & Dance hobby

Occult (mystical): Werewolf, Witch, Fairy, Mermaid, Supernatural Fan

Outdoorsy: Angler, Green Thumb, Loves the Outdoors, Sailor, Gardening badge, Fishing badge, Nature hobby

Outgoing (social): Irresistible, Flirty, Natural Born Performer, Party Animal, Social Butterfly, > 8 Outgoing personality points

Plant Lover: Eco-Friendly, Gatherer, Green Thumb, Vegetarian, Flower/Gardening badge, Plantsim, Fairy

Rebellious: Daredevil, Inappropriate, Hot-headed, Rebellious.

Stylish (elegance): Snob, Diva, Irresistible, Cosmetology badge, Fashion interest, Formal wear

Technology: Servo, Bot Fan, Computer Whiz, Handy, Vehicle Enthusiast, Robotics silver Badge, Mechanical skill

Tidy: Neat, Cleaning skill, > 8 Neat personality points

Undead: Ghost*, Vampire

Well-Liked: Good reputation*, Friendly, Good, Proper, Nurturing.

*"Ghosts" = sims turned into playable ghosts, with Ghost trait (and Mermaids are sims with mermaid trait, but ofc you don't need these to be able to use this mod).

*Known issue: Servo (as such) doesn't trigger this TO. That has been fixed.

🔸 Hobby requirements in Dill's / Atomtanned's versions (as well as interest) were set to 5 points, which is kinda an average in my game. I don't want TOs to trigger too easily so I've increased these to 8 points, just like Skill point requirements.

Update: I've removed One True Hobby checks, so now only actual hobby enthusiasm points matter for triggering TOs.

I also increased good reputation requirement from 30 to 60.

Above is the comparison of original vs new TOs, in the exact order.

FYI I've fixed the little mistake I've found in the mod - in my version stylish TO works as it should.

If you have any questions about how the game calculates attraction, read this.

And here's free version (SFS) of my buyable ReNuYu potion default, will be useful if you'd like to correct TOs for all your Sims.

"ONLY TO Chemistry" mod

Conflicts with No Zodiac Chemistry by Belladovah , chemistry mods by Peanutty (it incorporates their "No zodiac and no Aspiration"mod) and any other that contain Attraction Constants BCON and Attraction Tuning BCON.

In unmodded TS2 game, interests and skills do not play part in attraction. Trait-based chemistry changes that only to some extent because Zodiac and Aspiration are more important. To make TOs the crucial attraction factor in my game, I disabled Zodiac / Aspiration Chemistry, and tweaked bolt requirements.

This mod makes chemistry between Sims straightforward and TO-based however various bonuses to attraction also apply (!), like Beauty Wish, Vacation bonuses, bonus for very good rep or penalty for extremely bad reputation (even if your Sim likes bad guys, they will be put off by Dirty Dirtbag status, and enticed by extremely good rep). Anyways, if you use this mod and your Sims have no other attraction bonuses, then:

if one Sim has a turn-on towards the other, and the other has none, it results in no bolts

if one Sim has two turn-ons towards the other, and the other has none, Sims have one bolt chemistry

if one Sim has a turn-on towards the other, and the other has a turn-off, it results in negative chemistry

if a couple has single turn-ons towards each other, it gives them one-bolt chemistry

couple has three turn-ons, that gives them two bolts

couple has three turn-ons, one turn-off, that gives them one bolt

couple has double turn-ons, they have three-bolt chemistry

Special bonuses granted by mods for certain Traits like the "irresistible" still matter of course.

[freakingholland]

freakingholland's batboys headcanons part 1

A/N: Hi cuties! After posting some dc comics related imagines over the last couple of years I've decided to finally post a list of my own headcanons for batboys! Just a disclaimer - these are based on multiple dc related media (comics, shows, fan-made content) as well as just my imagination. I do not mean any harm with these! Also if you agree/disagree with these let me know in the comments/asks/rbs because I'm super intrested in what you guys think and your own fanons! Stay whelmed xx questions/ideas here! - rules here my AO3 archive is here If you enjoyed my work: Ko-fi.com/freakingholland masterlist

Dick Grayson (25-29ish yo)

Wears contacts all the time when he’s out. His sight used to be perfect up until puberty. Only wears prescription glasses when he knows he’ll spend the entire day wearing sunglasses – has prescription on them (he does have an emergency pair of regular glasses though).

Has a deep set of dimples. More visible when he’s a dehydrated raisin of a human being. He has a special bottle for just water to force himself to drink more.

Is left handed. His siblings bother him for that matter when he accidentally elbows somebody while eating.

Is “silently” addicted to energy drinks. Has tried to switch to other beverages but ultimately always goes back to energy drinks.

Sings in the shower, has a genuinely good singing voice. Pretends to be shy when people suggest doing karaoke.

Has chronic wrist pain due to a bad fracture.

Is a minimalist. Hates clutter and frequently gets rid of things like clothes, unnecessary gadgets, kitchen utensils etc.

Loves rock climbing and bouldering.

Has pockmarks on his cheeks. Had tried different products to make them fade away, but gave up and accepted his fate.

Uses a lot of post-it notes around his apartment.

Jason Todd (22-24ish yo)

Jason is the only one with brown eyes. You cannot convince me otherwise. Don’t try to.

He’s the best cook out of all the guys. Finds it very therapeutic. Genuinely enjoys making meals especially if others can stop by for dinner or pick up his food. (always makes me think of those pics of him and Dick in the kitchen in Gotham Knights!)

Has type 1 diabetes, uses a pump. (As mentioned here!)

Has a private library stamp for his book collection because any time someone visits him, somebody borrows (steals) books from him.

Plays the violin, self-taught as an adult. It’s his “safe” hobby that convinces his neighbours that he’s just a regular guy.

Has a full arm tattoo sleeve, it’s his way of dealing with body dysmorphia and body image issues. His tattoos include book references, fav movie characters and different symbols for all of the siblings (not their super hero stuff though, for safety reasons).

Has reading glasses. (As mentioned here!)

Hates arugula, loves Italian cuisine. He is not afraid of carbs (his glucose monitor states otherwise) and makes noodles often.

Has wavy hair but doesn’t use proper products for his texture.

Has veryyy straight teeth naturally. Others are jealous.

Tim Drake (20-21ish yo)

Journals. Even when he’s severely sleep deprived. It’s his way of dealing with heavy stuff, but also his archive in case he goes missing.

Has a nintendo switch. Doesn’t really use it but he knows that Damian steals it that’s why he keeps it instead of selling it.

Has a proper skin care routine. It includes dying his hair dark every 4 weeks cause he has gray hairs due to stress.

Uses ktape regularly. Struggles with chronic back pain and uses a foam roller.

Is vegan. Doesn’t try to convince other peeps to switch to veganism knowing that they are barely capable of making food for themselves. Will make an exception and eat meat if it’s a meal prepared by somebody close to him.

Is a huge music fan, listens to music often. Mostly metal, but also pop, rap. Doesn’t really discriminate music genres.

Loves playing board games. Is the type to bring board games to social meetings of sorts in case people want to play.

Has a very pleasant, contagious laugh. Rarely laughs out loud, but those who know his laugh try hard to make him laugh for that matter.

Has really sparse facial hair. Would like to grow out a stache or beard but cannot.

Blushes very easily. Doesn’t like it. Despises cold temperatures for that matter.

[souryogurt64]

also wait i need more info on pw saying he started girls to the front bc like lmao anyone who knows anything would be able to clock that lie

In Where Are Your Boys Tonight, there is a chapter about Pete Wentz's involvement in the hardcore scene. This chapter is 25 pages long. It quotes one woman, who is not famous and has made no significant contributions to emo or music, as stating exactly two sentences. Everyone else quoted is a man, they are all quoted several times, and they all get to say several paragraphs.

I don't think everything in the chapter was bad, and I think some things were portrayed well, but to me it is clear that the author (who is a Brand New fanboy, and white) was attempting to evade discussion of any feminist issues in relation to hardcore and shield himself from criticism of his choices in covering this by finding a random woman off the street who happened to say something convenient for the preselected narrative.

Racetraitor started at the end of the 90s and Riot Grrrl started in the early 90s. Pete Wentz was also a temporary bass player in high school. It is completely ridiculous to suggest that they invented girls to the front. Based off the LinkedIn profile of the person who stated the above, (who is also white) she would have been approximately 10-14 years old when Racetraitor started. It was at best very irresponsible for the author to quote her as an authority on this, but in the words of another Tumblr user on this book, "The lack of fact checking was the point."

While they were not a Hardline band and primarily focused on racial justice, Racetraitor did have a brief member in the band who identified as Hardline. Andy, who was also in Racetraitor, was in a band with Sean, the founder of Hardline, called Vegan Reich. A third person in the band (Eric) did not identify as Hardline but supported the movement. Pete Wentz has the ecology symbol tattooed. He got the tattoo when he was 15. The ecology symbol was the logo for Hardline. It's not clear if that was why he got the tattoo or if he got the tattoo for another reason.

Hardline (and a lot of hardcore bands) claimed they supported "equality for everyone including gender equality" (which is where this "I'm not sexist I invented feminism" attitude comes from). However, a lot of hardcore bands, especially Hardline bands, believed abortion was the same as the Holocaust, believed abortion providers were equivalent to Nazis, believed women should not be able to access birth control, and advocated for the extermination of all gay people.

Sean, the founder of hardline, referred to feminists who disagreed with his views as "yeastie infected" and "lard cunts" and specifically referred to "feme cunts" who didn't like a specific journalist in this way. According to Reddit (which is not the most reliable source but whatever), that person was fired from Maximumrocknroll for printing inflammatory columns about feminism, including critiquing equal pay and Smithsonian Magazine advocating for more women in STEM. Sean later tried to say he wasn't sexist and this was a joke.

Anybody who is arguing these people were not sexist and invented feminism is poorly informed or is arguing in bad faith. I think it was dishonest and irresponsible to print this without offering any other perspectives, especially given the context that this book was written by a white guy who is arguing that Brand New were the main driving force behind emo, something that is opinion at best and is often supported by blatantly misrepresenting core facts. His other coverage of women and women's issues throughout the book is also clearly very biased and dishonest while being portrayed as objective, which I think is a big reason why Fall Out Boy were the biggest band to sign off on it.

Like, it is obvious (implicitly) the author believes Brand New are at risk of not receiving enough credit for this because they were cancelled by MeToo or whatever. However, this is -- again-- poorly backed opinion at best.

For example, at the very end of a chapter about Brand New, Jason of AbsolutePunk is quoted as saying that after Brand New released The Devil and God, a bunch of bands "made an attempt at a rock opus." Sisky is then quoted as saying "In 2006, there was a big clash between early 2000s emo and everything that was going to come after." Then it immediately cuts to a chapter about The Black Parade. The implication that the author is leading the audience to believe is obviously that The Devil and God inspired The Black Parade.

However. This book fails to mention that in 2004, prior to Brand New beginning recording on The Devil and God in 2005, Green Day released American Idiot. Furthermore, MCR and Green Day toured together in 2005. Finally, The Black Parade came out a month before The Devil and God.

I don't even hate Brand New that much and they have good songs. However, it is obvious this book misrepresents a lot of facts in order to present this fantasyland narrative that instead of being a middling indie band with a cult following that never really went anywhere, Brand New were The First Band Ever Borned and are the sole source of inspiration for any band with credit, and are being oppressed out of their rightful legacy by the mean feminists. That just isn't what happened. Sorry. And this of all books is the one Fall Out Boy chose to endorse. Whatever.

The author also quoted someone in a band that has made songs "satirizing" feminism and rape culture (She Ain't Your Baby and Problematic by Screeching Weasel) as stating that nothing predatory occurred on Warped. This is the only discussion of sexual assault outside of the author's own platitudes to the audience in relation to his (poor) coverage of Brand New...despite several women being interviewed. The women who are interviewed (primarily random irrelevant people) are instead asked bizarre questions about Pete Wentz being gay.

LASTLY AND PERHAPS MOST EGREGIOUSLY, this book spends a ton of time arguing over whether or not Paramore were an industry plant. For example. The ghostwriter of Pete's book said this.

I'm going to be honest, I have also always felt weird about Paramore because yes, it is weird and uncomfortable and industry plant-y for FBR to sign a 15 year old in a Christian band or whatever and pretend it is 100% real. However, he clearly has issues with her that are apparent in his coverage including 1) Writing an article quoting from commenters on AbsolutePunk about whether or not they would "still hit it" after she dyed her hair 2) Constantly "addressing rumors" she was pregnant or “hooking up with various members of pretty much any band you can think of" and 3) Writing column stating she and Gwen Stefani are interchangeable and were "pretty girls with a dye job showing the guys how it's done (blech)".

Both he in his original coverage in the 2000s/2010s, and the author of this book, did not address the elements of homophobia or other stuff going on that contributed to the Paramore split, such as the guy who left speaking against Hillary Clinton (running in the presidential primaries at the time) shortly before all of that, when Paramore have made it clear those things were also major factors. Instead, they focused solely on this debate over Hayley being an industry plant and getting too much credit compared to her male bandmates and them not getting paid enough. The book also intentionally misrepresented how one of the brothers that left rejoined the band, is still performing with them to this day, and has been doing so for almost a decade, and instead made it sound like Hayley permanently kicked both of them out.

Most egregiously, the author did not interview Hayley or anyone else actually in Paramore but made it appear as if Hayley was interviewed by the author and inserting the fact that she wasn't into the copyright section at the back rather than a disclaimer at the front like most oral histories. Because again. This is an intentionally dishonest book and I would say it was irresponsible for Fall Out Boy to sign off on it, but that was probably the point.

While Pete Wentz didn't say any of this this directly, he and Patrick were the only major emo people who agreed to be interviewed for the project and presumably brought their massive entourage of losers with them. I assume FOB's management signed off on everything as well. Gerard, Ryan, Brendon, and Hayley all declined. Nobody made them do this, they were a huge reason if not the main reason why this was so successful and went from a self-published Amazon project to a real book deal, and I think it was stupid and irresponsible and dishonest for Pete Wentz and his massive entourage to endorse this and I think a big motivating factor for so many people to be a part of it was the very specific, cowardly, and dishonest way it approached women's issues, and the fact that it was being written during MeToo in summer 2020.

Fin lol

[nitedulalaruata]

oKay, so I might be only slightly insane, but there's enough unmedicated ADHD in me to make this a reality. Enjoy?

This is an edit of @hareofhrair's Cake Song video, which was based on a post by @reliqvia. please forgive me for some jankiness in the editing I had so many technical issues and ended up doing this on my laptop with 4GB RAM ._.

More info on how I made this under the cut:

So first of all I grabbed the lyrics from OPs video (slightly altered to fit the actual audio):

Beautiful women will be like "I baked a cake!" And you'll ask "Oh? What flavor is it?" And they'll say, well…

It's a honey lemon fig persimmon orange blossom sponge cake soaked in elder flower mint reduction champagne lipgloss in conjunction with an almond anise chocolate lattice saffron soufflé earl grey syrup balanced by scallions simmered in a coffee carob spear mint julep swiftly snipped and shipped round trip and kissed by only kosher lips and whipped with rich amalfi lemon foraged from the fields of heaven just a hint of limoncello parsnip poppy and tangelo arsenic olive steeped in aloe sous vide in a vegan jack fruit tallow lemon thyme lemon balm matcha wine hearts of palm fetta and nettle petal fresh with a fennel frond beurre blanc and beurre monté served burning on blancmange ensconced in: cream cheese goat cheese blue cheese brie cheese head cheese soil swimmin in a ribbon of my liminally limited extra virgin olive oil

(GET SCONED?)

Whipped chantilly meringue frosting please stop me if this gets exhausting bergamot and apricot and almond anise cardamom And seven swans! A golden ring! Lords are leaping! Here's the thing! It's topped with poppies picked in Oz~* Sugar gauze and puppy paws all sourced sustainably because it was a gift from Santa Claus

I juiced the moon for blue moon goo! And killed a cop for mountain dew! I fucked with space time yeah it's true And found out what those photons do I stole Schrödinger's cat so you could have this cake and eat! it! too!

And you're like Ok. I want to spend the rest of my afternoons walking around inside your beautiful mind like a garden.

Cake break down

Then I broke the lyrics down into the different cake parts, which was difficult as the lack of punctuation allows for multiple different readings on how exactly the ingredients are combined. After a bit of rearranging I ended up with this list and constructed a rough sketch from it (for the final product I again shuffled some of the planned stuff in the picture, but this is the gist):

Some of the ingredients are inedible or have an ambigous meaning (this is complicated by English being my second language and some words can be translated in multiple ways) or are .. uh .. hard to source (side eye to difficult trade relations with Heaven and Oz), so I swapped them out for ingredients that are safe for consumption and available to me.

Recipes

Some things I've made before and already had working recipes for - for most things though I had to look up recipes. I think it goes without saying that I had to alter the recipes HEAVILY, but the base recipes were:

Sponge Cake: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/sponge-cake-recipe/

Soufflé: https://eggs.ca/recipes/basic-souffle/

Mint Julep: https://iba-world.com/iba-cocktail/mint-julep/

Blancmange: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018142-blancmange

Beurre blanc: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246931/chef-johns-beurre-blanc/

Beurre monté: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/7939-how-to-make-beurre-mont%C3%A9-

Meringue Frosting: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/best-frosting-recipes/

(only used recipes in English for reader's convenience and reader's convenience only)

From the lyrics and the recipes I gathered the strangest (and most expensive) shopping list I ever made.

Figuring out the Fire Situation

As noted in the cake break down, the burning beurre on blancmange would be swimming in olive oil. Which - as I'm sure you can imagine - is not ideal for fire safety. First I thought about separating the blancmange from the oil underneath by some aluminum foil, but there's still the fact that I'd have a burning liquid on the tippy top of a cake. I'm not even sure if the beurre has a high enough percentage of fat to catch flame, but burning butter on a cake decorated with flammable things like fondant, flowers and almond flakes is uh … not great. And I'm not prepared to burn down my kitchen for a shitpost, so kiddie version it is: boring old cake candles far away from flammable stuff but actually they're cool because they glitter

(My kitchen has a fire blanket, just in case anything would go wrong. QUICK PSA: If you don't have some kind of fire safety stuff in your kitchen, please get at least a fire blanket. They're cheap and can save your life (and your kitchen) in case you get flames.)

Preparations

After the planning phase I grabbed the biggest bags I have and went to the biggest store in my area, fingers crossed that I'd be able to get every ingredient on my list.

Well. It's a scroll.

🫠 (honestly my estimate was around 180€, so yay?)

BUt at least I got almost everything!

*cough cough* if you wanna throw a Euro or two at me to help compensate for this grocery bill you can do so via my kofi

Baked the sponge cakes and prepared the "lipgloss", horrible syrup™️, scallions in julep, and blancmange, before calling it a day and falling into bed exhaustedly.

Assembly

Next day I sous vide'd the olive for the "tallow", made the swans and the chantilly and assembled the various remaining parts. Then meringue frosting and decorating, while beurre blanc and buerre monté simmered along. Multitasking babyy!

Then, finally, the cake is done and I can light the candles to bring everything together:

Video

During all of this ordeal I took a bajillion progress shots and some extra photos. I never used a video editor or made an animation in my life before AND MY COMPUTER DECIDED TO RANDOMLY FORCE ME TO RESET IT BECAUSE APPARANTLY MY 15 YEAR OLD PHOTOSHOP VERSION CAUSED IT TO CRASH REALLY BADLY (curse be upon ye, Windows 11 and Adobe!), so my learning curve was steep, but I had the combined power of great stubbornness and multiple energy drinks on my side.

Every picture that is not otherwise credited to someone else was made by me. The background for the "space and time" part is a crochet work I made, following the Arcanoweave pattern by Julia Hart of Draiguna.

The final product took a total of 10 days to make: one for planning, two for shopping and baking and making the damn thing, one for extra shots, and six for editing the video (including two whole days of troubleshooting the tech issue).

Taste Test

Bottom half: Sponge cake and cream were fine (not surprising as those are the most regular cake ingredients in this abomination), but I got a cardamom pod in the same bite, which was not as pleasant. Next bite: the parsnip-poppy-grapefruit jello is a bit unusal but ok. Next bite: jackfruit and olive. I actually spit that one out. Bwah.

Top half: Sponge cake and cream again, fine. Next bite: blancmange - grainy (as detailed below), the milky almond taste is okay, but I think I've overdone it with the cardamom. The beurres were okay with it too (I mean it's just butter, what can go wrong with that?). Next bite: The cheeses were an unexpected savory flavor, but the cream cheese with a bit of blancmange and sponge cake was actually nice (no surprise again, as cream cheese is also a normal cake ingredient).

Decoration: Did not eat the flowers (obviously). Cotton candy and chocolate were tasty (obviously), the apricots were fine I guess? I'm not a big fan of (dried) apricots, so *shrug*

Overall: Some great things in there - but also some truly horrible stuff. Looks very pretty though, 5/10

Detailed version of the individual parts

Honey lemon fig persimmon orange blossom sponge cake

Easy peasy: base recipe for sponge cake, add some honey and lemon peel and figs (and no persimmon as SOMEHOW the store didn't have any? (usually they do), also no orange blossom) to the batter, be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of batter and scramble to find enough cake tins for it all, then have a minor meltdown as you realise mid-baking you've set the oven to the wrong temperature and try to save your 7 eggs worth of cake by encasing it in foil, while cursing heavily because you just burned your arm on the oven door, and be glad that in the end the cakes came out only slightly over- and undercooked simultaneously.

Elder flower mint reduction champagne lipgloss

Uh elder flowers are not available on their own, so elder flower tea it is. Throw in some mint and reduce. Then mix the elder flower mint reduction and champagne (I'm not rich, so sparkling white wine it is) and make lipgloss out of that. Well, edible lipgloss is not a thing (or you know, there are dubious listings on various websites that claim otherwise but usually lipgloss contains stuff you shouldn't ingest in great quantities), but oils are a big part of their base, so we'll just throw in some coconut oil to give it a more creamy consistency.

Almond anise chocolate lattice saffron soufflé earl grey syrup

First I made saffron soufflé (first time I made soufflé and I feel lied to by all the people saying soufflés are hard to make - it was really easy). Then I tempered dark chocolate to make some chocolate lattices (free hand - I had already cleaned so many dirty bowls and tools just to use them again right away, I really was not in the mood to clean more chocolate tools than neccessary). While soufflé and chocolate were cooling, I threw some almonds and anis into a pan to toast. Added some water and an earl grey tea bag and let it steep. Removed the tea bag after a couple of minutes, cut out a cute shape from the soufflé to marry to its chocolate lattice …aaand ruined it immediately by putting it into the horrible abomination in the pan. Stir stir stir and shred in a mixer, strain the mixture through a sieve while trying not to puke from the smell. Reduce this liquid down and add sugar to make the worst sirup in history.

Scallions simmered in a coffee carob spear mint julep

Another easy thing: Pour hot water over some instant coffee and carob powder in a cup. Crush some mint with sugar and a little bit of water, fill with bourbon. Mix both drinks in a pot and add chopped scallions. Let simmer for a couple minutes, done.

(The scallions were super fresh so I assume they were swiftly snipped and shipped round trip. But I don't know anything about kosher etiquette, so I did not kiss the scallions just to be sure)

Whipped with rich amalfi lemon foraged from the fields of heaven

The lyrics say: "… [horrible] syrup, balanced by scallions … whipped with … [lemon]", so I made lemon sirup (from counterfeit lemons as I'm a dirty atheist) and combined those three things into a creamy sauce. (Had to add some whipped cream or it would have been too runny)

Just a hint of limoncello parsnip poppy and tangelo

There's no specific serving form given for those ingredients so I took it to mean those things can be present in any form. I chose to finely chop the parsnip and put it together with poppy seeds into a sheet made of a gelatinized mix of limoncello and grapefruit juice (no tangelo available to me - but it's a hybrid of grapefruit and mandarin orange, so that's close enough).

Arsenic olive steeped in aloe sous vide in vegan jack fruit tallow

Ah, another thing that is not advised for human consumption. Of course I'm talking about the olive (singular?), not arsenic :P (please, this is a joke, DO NOT eat arsenic). Forgot to buy aloe, so I sous vide'd the single (non arsenic) olive. Vegan tallow is an oxymoron - but "vegan [thing]" is often used to describe something made of vegan stuff that has similar properties to [thing], so no problem here. Just puree the jack fruit and place the olive in there.

Can I just say that all the websites that told me "jackfruit has a neutral taste" were lying. Jackfruit is the worst thing I ever smelled and tasted - even worse than the horrible syrup I just made - and while I am open to trying vegan alternatives any day, this can of jackfruit was the only ingredient that I just threw away after making this cake instead of using it up, because ugh. no.

Lemon thyme lemon balm matcha wine hearts of palm Fetta and nettle petal fresh with a fennel frond

Again, no specific form, though they could be served on the blancmange together with the beurres, but there's only so much that I can put onto a fragile pudding shape before it collapses. Better idea: chop what can be chopped and soak in what can soak, then sprinkle in between the cake layers. Substitutions made: Lemon thyme -> regular thyme, lemon balm -> lemon balm tea, matcha -> NOT FOUND, hearts of palm -> NOT FOUND, nettle petal fresh -> nettle petal not fresh (tea)

Beurre blanc and beurre monté served burning on blancmange

As the recipe for beurre blanc states, it can't be reheated so I saved the beurres for assembly day. Blancmange though needs fridge time, so: followed the recipe, got really frustrated with american measuring units (I have a set of measuring cups / spoons, but guys, that's extra stuff I have to CLEAN. Just use a scale, for god's sake), and it turned out grainy because I don't own a cheese cloth but that's fine with me. Beurre blanc and buerre monté were easy enough, just followed the recipe (in american units. hmpf.)

Ensconced in: cream cheese, goat cheese, blue cheese, brie cheese, head cheese, soil

It's just a list of (mostly) cheeses, nothing special here. I made the "soil" out of oreo non-denominational cocoa cookies.

Swimmin in a ribbon of my liminally limited extra virgin olive oil

Just plain old olive oil. It wasn't a limited edition, which makes it liminally limited indeed.

Whipped chantilly meringue frosting

Decided that this meant that both chantilly and meringue were used (not a combination of both). So whipped chantilly (which is just cream with sugar, but I added a stabilizer to make it more - well - stable as it is a load bearing part of the cake) for the inside, and meringue frosting for the outside it is. Number of times I made sirup in the past two days: 3 - new personal record.

Bergamot and apricot and almond anise cardamom

Another case of no specified serving form, but it comes after the frosting, so I assume these are toppings. Bergamot orange was not available, and I learned only after the fact that apparently in France (?) this can also refer to limes (?), but I did find some bergamot lemonade. Soaked the apricots in it before they went onto the cake, and sprinkled some almond flakes and the spices onto it too.

And seven swans!

Yay some sculpting! Swans are easy to make out of fondant: Just roll a ball, then squish it into a somewhat elongated scallot form with a point to form the tail. Make a snake and place it at the dull end of your scallot, then bend it into the typical swan neck pose. Now squish the end of the head to form its beak. Some food coloring for the eyes and beak and we're done! For assembly purposes I staked them - otherwise the moisture from the blancmange would dissolve the fondant.

Can you tell I did not look up how exactly swans look like before making these? Eh, geese should be fine for this cake, too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A golden ring!

Those come premade:

It's topped with poppies picked in Oz

I really tried to find poppies, but somehow you can't buy them anywhere?? Even though they are pretty flowers? After store number three I gave up looking and just bought a plant that had the most similar flowers. Obviously this means that they are not from Oz either… (I lied to you in the video- shame on me)

(also: I'm living in a city. If I had been visiting my parents' house in the countryside, I'd have plenty of wild poppies, but alas… (not driving 2h just for accurate cake decoration))

Sugar gauze and puppy paws

Sugar gauze? Not quite sure what that is, but I figured that cotton candy would be close enough? And while "puppy paws" is not a name for cookies, Bärentatzen or Katzenpfoten ("bear paws" or "cat paws") are a thing here. Unfortunately the store didn't have any (outrageous, I know), so I opted for Katzenzungen ("cat tongues") instead (no way I'd do more baking for this thing). Cat tongues are close enough to puppy paws, right?

Blue moon goo

Next blue moon is still far away, so I just used "blue" as a color descriptor for the goo - blue curaçao is the obvious choice here.

Mountain dew

While mountain dew is available here I didn't find it at the store, so for the visual I used some green Fanta. (I thiiink I tried mountain dew once and didn't like it anyway, so it was better that way)

Schrödinger's cat

Guest appearance: My precious kitty baby meow meow (she's 19)

Outtakes

My fridge has never been this full, let alone so full with useless items:

Almost everything in this picture went into the cake.

And kitty apparently wanted in on the space time fuck:

There was like one (1) frame in a whole two minute video that I could use, the rest was just kitty taking the spotlight.

[lipstickmarks]

Steven to the Rescue

Pairing: Steven Grant x fem!reader Category: Hurt/comfort, fluff, domestic fluff Warnings: none Content: Hurt/comfort, fluff, domestic fluff, kissing, making out in public, reader has a terrible horrible no good very bad week and steven is there for her, Steven’s love languages are acts of service and physical touch, reader getting princess treatment, reader is kinda corporate girlie coded, steven being smooth, steven can cook, steven might be slightly ooc bc he is my silly putty and i am bending him to my will

Steven loved his job. He loved going into work everyday to consume any and all things related to egyptology. It’s what makes him able to withstand the abuse from Donna– which is lessened now that he’s been promoted to tour guide and she technically isn’t his supervisor anymore. But today, he simply does not want to go. 

He’s been watching you pace around his kitchen nervously for the past five minutes, checking your phone, watch, and laptop in quick succession. It had been… a less than stellar week for you.

Firstly, your job has been stressing you out by offloading duties onto you that weren’t in your job description because someone else had quit unexpectedly. Then, there was an error with your bank and your paycheck wasn’t deposited so you had to wait an extra 3 days to pay your bills. On top of it all, your phone service provider was having some sort of nationwide glitch so you barely had any service. 

Not only did you have twice the workload but you weren’t getting any of your work emails on time. Plus, you had to be in constant contact with the bank to sort out their issue. It’s why you’d come over to Steven’s flat before work, to use his internet and hopefully get a better signal. Plus, you two wanted to see each other. 

Steven had made some cranberry muffins and vegan egg bites for the two of you but your plate remained untouched while you paced around, waiting for a bar. 

“Love,” Steven murmured, reaching out to grab your elbow. You looked up from the laptop you were cradling in your arms and Steven nearly sighed out loud at the sight of your eyes. Beautiful, but so so tired. The universe has been running his favorite person ragged and it hurt him to see you so downtrodden by life. “You really should eat something before work.” 

You sighed and sat down your devices, trading them for a muffin. Steven cracked a smile at how your demeanor visibly changed once you took a bite. You always swore Steven put some kind of happy elixir into his food because it never failed to bring your spirits up. You gobbled up one muffin and reached for another. 

“Thank you for breakfast.” 

Steven leaned over and kissed the side of your forehead. 

“You’re welcome, darling. Hate to see you so out of sorts.” 

With you finally eating, Steven finished getting dressed. He had to go into work earlier than you did so he let you stay and finish doing what you needed to do. Before he left, he wrapped his arms around you and gave you a soft kiss. 

“I’m off then, darling. You’ll be okay here?” 

You gave him a reassuring nod as you swallowed a bite. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna finish up in a little bit. I have a feeling today is going to be better.” 

Steven beamed at you. He kissed you once, twice, three times and he knew if we went for a fourth, he’d cave and stay home with you. 

“Right, I’d better get going before I lose my job again.” But Steven made no move to leave. He was staring at you with that dreamy look, the one that had been perpetually fixed on his face ever since you two started dating two months ago. Steven was the perfect boyfriend. Gentle, thoughtful, and he adored you so much. 

“Go,” You told him. “I’ll be fine, really.” 

Steven gave you one last squeeze before walking out the door. 

—----------

Steven was finishing up a tour with a school field trip and he was buzzing from how well it went. Usually, preteens were their own unique breed of nasty– making inappropriate noises, laughing obnoxiously, and just generally being awful but a boy and girl had been asking tons of insightful questions, spurring Steven on and letting him flex his breadth of knowledge. And if there was any snark, the teacher shut it down expeditiously so Steven could continue. 

It was probably the best tour he’d given since he started working there. 

Plus, earlier in the morning, the curator had pulled him aside and said they were looking for someone to give virtual tours that they could record and post online. If he got it, it would mean a pay bump and more benefits. 

Things were finally going his way!

The group was just starting to shuffle off for lunch when Steven spotted you, standing off to the side of the museum entrance. His whole face broke out into a grin and his heart skipped a beat, but that elation faded when he saw your eyes. 

You had been crying. 

As soon as everyone was gone, Steven crossed the room to you. You both reached for each other. His hands fell to your hips and you clutched his bicep. 

“Love, what’s happened?” 

You tried to smile but your eyes were bloodshot and puffy. You were holding back tears and you looked like you were on the precipice of a complete breakdown. Like if someone pricked you with a sewing needle, you’d pop. 

When you spoke, it came out small and broken. 

“I tried to call you but my phone—” Your voice died on the word and Steven’s grip tightened around you. 

“Darling?” 

“I came to ask for a favor. My apartment… they called me while I was at work. A pipe burst.” Your lip quivered. “All my stuff is ruined.” 

Steven’s eyes widened. 

“No.”

You nodded, fat tears spilling down your cheeks. 

“They said it’s gonna take three weeks to fix it.” You started wringing your hands nervously and took a steadying breath before you spoke again. “I was hoping I could stay with you.”

Steven’s answer is an immediate yes. 

“Absolutely, love. Anything you need.” 

He couldn’t stand it anymore and he pulled you into a tight hug. Your head fell lamely against his chest and he felt your tears soaking through his shirt but he didn’t mind. Not one bit. You peered up at him, face hot and flushed with tears.

“You’re sure it won’t be a problem? We haven’t been dating that long and I don’t want it to be…” You floundered, searching for the right word but Steven knew exactly what you meant. He caught your hand with his and brought it up to kiss the back of it. 

“It won’t be. It'll be like a slumber party, yeah? We’ll bake cookies and watch films. It’ll be fun.”

You nodded but Steven could tell you weren’t convinced. After the week you’d been having, what reason did you have to believe anything else was going to go right for you? You looked like you were a single moment away from shattering entirely. 

“Do you want to leave now? I can take the rest of the day off. I can find someone to cover my afternoon tours.” 

You shook your head and wiped your eyes.

“No. No, I have to go back to work. We have an important meeting.” You sniffed. Steven’s heart broke seeing you like this. You just looked so defeated. 

Steven thought hard for a moment. How could he make this better for you? How could he lighten your load? 

“How about this? I’ll pick you up after work. We’ll stop by your flat and get anything we need and then we’ll go back to mine, hm?” He brushed the falling hair out of your eyes. “We’ll get a takeaway, watch your favorite show, I’ll even let you braid my hair if you like.” 

You chuckled a bit. 

“Can we get dessert?” 

Steven kissed your forehead. 

“Anything you want, love.”

You nodded and a genuine smile returned to your face. 

“Alright, well I better get back. I’m on my lunch break and it’s gonna take me 15 minutes to get back across town.” 

Steven stopped you before you could leave.

“Darling, have you eaten lunch?” 

You looked sheepish when you shook your head. Steven wouldn’t be having that. Wordlessly, he laced your fingertips with his and lead you down to the employee lockers. He opened up his where the only contents were a book of Egyptology, his spare glasses, a Tawaret funko pop, his lunch box, and a picture of you taped to the inside. 

He pulled out his lunchbox and placed it in your arms.

“Steven, no.” You gasped. “I can’t take your lunch.” 

You took his lunch. 

No matter how much protesting you did, Steven insisted, waving off your concerns with a promise that he would get something from a food truck at lunch. He hailed a taxi for you before you could argue any further. 

“Steven, I don’t have cab fare.” You said with wide eyes as the taxi pulled up. “Remember? My bank–”

He pulled out his own wallet and handed the driver his bank card. 

“Can’t have my beautiful girlfriend going across town on public transport. Someone might steal you away from me.” 

You flushed. Your stomach was doing happy flips from feeling so taken care of. Steven took his card back from the driver and tucked it away. You were full on crying now as you wrapped your arms around him and weeped into his chest. 

“It’s alright, love.” He murmured in your ear. 

You pulled back to kiss him. It was eager and much too sloppy to do in broad daylight on the steps of his place of work but you couldn’t help yourself. 

“Thank you for going to all this trouble for me.” You mumbled as you pulled away. 

“It’s no trouble at all, love.” He opened up the cab food for you and didn’t shut it until you were inside. “I’ll pick you up at your office at the end of the day, okay?” 

You nodded and Steven leaned his head through the window to give you one last kiss. 

“Last chance to play hooky with me for the rest of the day?” 

You giggled and shook your head. 

“Tempting, but no. I’ve got to go be a grownup.” 

Steven smiled at you and mouthed a silent “okay.” He stepped back onto the curb and once the road was clear, your cab pulled out into the street. 

Once Steven was out of view, you opened up his lunchbox. He had a habit of overpacking in case he was stuck on the bus for a while and needed a snack, which came in handry because you were starving. You ate his sandwich, chips, soda, half a bag of grapes, and a cookie. 

At a red light, your driver turned back to you. 

“Your boyfriend is so sweet!” She swooned. 

“You don’t know the half of it.” You giggled. “This is his lunch.” 

She gasped.

“Shut up! That is so cute! Oh my gosh, you’re so lucky.” 

You grinned.

“Yeah. I am.” 

—-----------

The rest of the afternoon went painfully slow for you.Thankfully, you got so busy with work that you temporarily forgot you were broke, without a phone, and temporarily homeless. 

When it was finally time to go, you headed toward the front desk, intending to use the landline to call Steven but when you stepped into the hall, he was already there. You had to do a double take at first because you thought you might have been dreaming or seeing things. But no, this was real life. 

Steven Grant, your nerdy, sweet, perfect boyfriend was chatting to your office receptionist with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. 

“I never realized the museum was free! I always thought it cost money, that’s why I haven’t brought my kids.” The receptionist said, embroiled in a conversation with Steven. 

“Loads of people think that, actually but yeah it’s free entry. It only costs money for tours. Though, if you’re bringing your little ones, I can’t recommend the tours enough. You get loads of extra information that just reading the pamphlets won’t give you. Not to toot my own horn but I give a pretty educational tour if I do say so myself.” Steven said with a relaxed smile. Ever since he’d been promoted to tour guide, he’s been so much more sure of himself. He’s still the goofy, sweet, bumbling nerd he always has been but the constant exposure to his passion has cushioned him in a cozy little bubble of Egyptology, vegan baking, and you. How could he not feel content? 

“I think I’ll take them next weekend.” The receptionist said as you arrived at the desk. “I’d like a tour with you as well.” She looked up from scribbling the museum information on a Post-It note and saw you. “Oh, here you are, darling! Does this sweet man belong to you?” 

Just as she asked, Steven held out the bouquet to you. Red roses, pink tulips, white calla lilies, and some hydrangeas to fill it out. 

“He does.” Your cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. You took the bouquet from Steven and smelled the flowers. Steven gently pulled your purse strap off of your shoulder and took his lunch box out of your hands, holding them both and holding his free hand out for you. 

“Are you ready, love? The cab’s waiting.” 

Do not cry. Do not cry in your place of work. Do not cry because your boyfriend is being so sweet and you’ve never felt this cared for in your life. 

To avoid your voice coming out high and squeaky, you nodded and took his outstretched hand. Bidding goodbye to the receptionist, he led you out the doors and into the cab, leading you home. 

*****

It feels strange.

You’re not sure why. You’ve spent the night at Steven’s flat before, had dinner, read books, spent all night in his bed, but this felt different. 

You were standing in Steven’s bathroom, hair damp from your shower. The second you got back to his flat, you’d made a beeline to the shower, eager to scrub all of your misfortune off. And you felt so strange, so out of place. 

It was a little more intimate knowing that you’d be here for three entire weeks, which put a decent amount of pressure on a fairly new relationship. You and Steven would be seeing each other in undesirable states, have to give each other space, and somehow maintain the dynamic of your relationship despite these new circumstances. 

You unloaded the grocery bag of toiletries that you picked up from your flat on the way here. Thankfully your hygiene essentials and skincare weren’t damaged. The same couldn’t be said for your clothes, though. 

At least it was the weekend and you didn’t have to worry about outfits for work. You could just lounge around in the sweater and boxers Steven had given you, or nothing if you preferred. Steven certainly wouldn’t mind. 

“Love?” Steven’s voice came through the bathroom door. “The food just got here. I’ll queue up a movie for us.”

“Alright.” You called out. “Be out in a minute.”

“Take your time, darling.” 

What on Earth did you do to deserve that wonderful, wonderful man? 

After changing, you stepped out into the living room where Steven had arranged the takeout boxes, poured you a glass of wine, and queued up “Tangled” on the TV. 

“Steven…” You plopped down on the couch next to him. “We could’ve cooked, you didn’t have to order out for me. I don’t want you going to any trouble for me.” 

Steven looked at you with a glimmer in his eyes that only love could be the catalyst for. He took your chin between his fingers and angled your face to meet his lips in a sweet, slow kiss. 

“Darling, why would it be any trouble to care for you?” 

And just like that, as quickly as a match burns out, all of your anxieties and apprehension faded away. You didn’t feel out of place in Steven’s flat or mistreated by the universe. Here, in Steven’s arms, you only felt loved.

[autistichalsin]

PSA for omnivores

Hi! Vegetarian here.

I just wanted to let you guys know a few things for reference!

Vegetarian and vegan is not the same thing. All vegans are vegetarian, but not all vegetarians are vegan. Vegans are generally much stricter in their diets; while most vegetarians generally will eat eggs, dairy, and honey, vegans do not. However, some vegetarians don't eat eggs, either.

Most vegetarians do not eat seafood, though some do. No vegans eat seafood.

Not every vegetarian is also gluten-free, though some are.

There are many different reasons one might be vegetarian or vegan. Sometimes it's an animal rights or environmentalist issue, sometimes it's religious, sometimes it's health-related, and some people just don't like the taste and/or texture.

Please don't try to argue with us about our reasons for not eating meat, or try to convince us our diets are unhealthy. Yes, this includes concerns about protein and/or iron. With beans, legumes, and other such things, some vegetarians can eat even more protein than omnivores!

For the love of god and everything holy, please don't try to sneak meat or meat products into food, even if you're sure we "won't notice."

In general, if you wouldn't like a vegetarian doing it to you, don't do it to a vegetarian, whether that's tricking you into eating something, debating their religion, or expressing invasive health concerns.

That said, if you know a person well and have genuine, good-faith questions to ask, it is okay to ask them if they'd be willing to talk about it. Just don't be upset if they say no!

When in doubt about if something is suitable for a vegetarian, please ask! Most of us would rather read an entire ingredients list front-to-back, back-to-front, up-to-down, and down-to-up than eat something we try to exclude from our diets.

If you are at a setting (potluck, holiday dinner, etc) with a vegetarian, and there are both meat main dishes and vegetarian ones available, please wait for the vegetarian(s) to have gotten food before trying the vegetarian ones. You have no idea how upsetting it can be to be one of maybe five vegetarians at a gathering of fifty, and watch as all of the meat-eaters devour the cheese and veggie supreme pizza slices first, so that by the time we reach the line, there's only ten meat lovers pies left. If there is only a single vegetarian option, please don't eat it unless you absolutely have to.

Some items are often considered vegetarian-friendly, but in truth, aren't. Some of these include:

Worcestershire sauce. Aside from a few specifically vegan brands, these contain anchovies.

Meat broths, bouillons, etc. Yes, we do consider chicken broth not to be vegetarian, even if the soup itself has no actual meat in it.

Many kinds of miso are made with bonito flakes, and are therefore not vegetarian.

Many foods contain seafood derivatives for flavor; this also happens fairly often with chicken being added as well.

Caesar dressing contains anchovies, and is not vegetarian.

Foods cooked on the same surfaces as meat. Some vegetarians do not want to eat these (though others are more lax about this). In general, fast-food places and chain restaurants do not have designated vegetarian-friendly surfaces, and would therefore not fit the dietary preferences of a vegetarian who doesn't want to eat food cooked with meat.

"Jojo" potatoes (also known as fried potato wedges) are traditionally cooked in the same fryer as meat items such as fried seafood, chicken, etc.

Aside from some specific kinds, such as mushroom or onion, gravies are not vegetarian.

Many canned beans, refried beans, etc are not vegetarian as they are often cooked in lard.

Many brands and flavors of stovetop stuffing are not vegetarian. Ironically, the only flavor of Kraft's stovetop stuffing that is vegetarian is the pork-flavor one, while the savory herb one is not suitable for vegetarians.

Food that once had meat on it. Many, though not all, vegetarians do not consider "picking the meat off" of an item that had it (I.E. pepperoni pizza) to be acceptable. Part of the issue is the contact with meat, and another is that the flavors and oils will have seeped all over it. Have you ever noticed how much greasier the boxes are for pepperoni pizzas than for cheese ones? You are definitely free to ask, but please don't get offended if a vegetarian doesn't consider picking meat off of a dish to make it vegetarian-friendly.

Many storebought brands of puff pastry, pie crust, and etc are made with lard.

Many cheeses are made with rennet (an enzyme crucial for the making of many kinds of cheese) that is derived from animal stomachs and therefore not vegetarian. While some brands use microbial or plant-blased rennet, which are vegetarian, it is safe to assume that cheeses like parmesan or gruyere are not vegetarian, especially if they are traditional/DOP cheeses.

Anything with gelatin, as this is a byproduct of meat production. However, please note that some vegetarians are less fussy with byproducts than others, and this definitely falls into the "ask first" category.

Some, though not all, wines and beers use animal products in the process of purifying them.

Protein powder is usually produced using animal proteins.

Sugar, believe it or not, as often bone char is added to improve the whiteness. Try looking for vegan brands.

A lot of manufacturers love sneaking animal products into things it doesn't belong in, and it is really a miserable experience to get "meated". If you're cooking for or eating with a vegetarian, no one expects you to know everything, but again, when in doubt, ask! There's a lot of little things you can do to make it easier, especially during the holiday season. <3

[anistarrose]

Thinking of people with dietary restrictions this Disability Pride Month. Shoutout to:

People with dietary restrictions due to allergies

People with dietary restrictions due to related disorders, like eosinophilic esophagitis or MCAS

People with dietary restrictions due to autoimmune disorders

People with dietary restrictions due to sensory issues and/or ARFID

People with dietary restrictions due to plain old food intolerances

People with any combination of the above

People whose allergens/intolerances/etc are never labeled properly on ingredient lists

People constantly seeing "X ingredient free!" labels that just straight-up lie

People whose allergens/intolerances/etc are additives used in fucking everything

People who can't figure out what their trigger foods are, because their prime suspects are inescapably included in fucking everything

People who have such a hard time avoiding every trigger that we're just chronically ill now, apparently

People whose safe foods are impossible to find in stores consistently

People who had safe store-bought foods until they fucking changed the recipe

People who can't travel, because they can't guarantee access to their safe foods while away from home

People whose social life suffers, because they can't go out to eat at a restaurant or get coffee with friends

People with social anxiety about standing out as the only person with a pre-packed lunch and getting questioned about it

People who fell in love with cooking and baking for themselves, but started out with it because it was the only way the could get their needs met

People who can't cook or bake for themselves because of the time commitment, or because of any other disability they have

People who still just struggle with cooking, for any reason

People who miss that one food so so much

People who can never get a straight answer from their workplace about what food is going to be provided for that special lunch, or even if it will be catered versus going out to a restaurant

People whose dietary restrictions are ones that no one has heard of, or is willing to believe

People who would be vegetarian or vegan were it not for their dietary restrictions, but need animal products to live

People who are constantly left out of conversations on the environmentalism and ethics of food consumption because of this

People living places with dogshit healthcare systems, who can't afford to pay for an EpiPen or other life-saving medication

People with social trauma from being forced to sit alone at the "allergy only" table in elementary school lunch

People sick and tired of how all the media discussion and advocacy for people with dietary restrictions focuses on elementary schoolers

People with long term health complications from prior exposure to their trigger foods

People with trauma from medical episodes or the long term health complications

People with trauma from medical institutions not taking their dietary restrictions seriously

People who, despite everything, only hear their dietary restrictions mentioned when they're the butt of a joke

People who, despite everything, get told they're "just complaining" or "having a first world problem"

People who, despite everything, get told they don't count as having a disability

I see you. I'm with you. And you are under no obligation to be quiet about what you go through. We deal with a lot. But we're here for each other. And we are allowed to be visible and angry.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for calling my roommate crazy?

I (28f) live with 2 other people, a former college roommate who I’m pretty close with (29f) and 2nd roommate (28nb) who we both met when we moved in together 2 years ago.

Let me start this out by saying, this isn’t a fandom aita, it’s going to sound a bit weird at first, but bear with me.

I have a medical condition (relevant later) which stopped most of my bones from maturing past puberty (growth plates closing, cartilage not hardening into bones, ect.), so my skeleton is basically stuck somewhere between 13-19, (I look about 17-19, but the last time I tried to buy hard cider, the cashier thought I was 14, so that’s how young I can look). I also have very pale skin (unrelated to my disorder, just a ginger), and (related to my disorder) lack some liver enzymes so I need eat meat or I get sick (the same reason why cats need to eat meat), I ended up in the ER when I lived with my vegan sister for a week and ate the same veggie diet as her.

Trouble is, Roommate 2 is really into conspiracy theories and other fringe stuff. Nothing alt-right or anything, just like, (for example) they fully bought into that Mermaids: the body found show, and wouldn’t be dissuaded, even when Roommate 1 googled it and showed them solid proof that it was fictional. Wholeheartedly believes the US government preformed 9/11, does alternative medicine (homeopathy, ect), wishes there were ‘all natural’ vaccines (still isn’t an anti-vaccer though, just needs to be persuaded that Bill Gates didn’t put microchips in them).

Anyway, Roommate 1 and I have a recurring joke that I’m a vampire because of the meat thing and the pale thing and the not aging thing. Roommate 2 overheard us and laughed, but weirdly. She kinda joked along with us, but she seemed...odd. About a week later, they start asking me stuff about being a vampire. But they seemed friendly and not nervous then and I was hoping they were just joking and I also sincerely thought they were just asking me about how vampires work on one of my shows (I’m a big fan of Carmilla and the Originals), so I tried to explain, but I cited each show when I’m explaining a thing. This continued for several weeks, but getting worse and more weird every time, eventually culminating about 2 and a half months later into them asking me more stuff about life as a vampire and I really realised that they were serious. Bear in mind, Roommate 1 and I were trying to be very clear that we don’t believe in vampires this whole time because we both know how Roommate 2 is about this. As a result, this was the first time I really registered that they seriously seemed to genuinely believe I was a vampire. I firmly told them that I am not a vampire and that vampires aren’t real, they’re fun to joke about, but they aren’t real. They implored me ‘to be straight with them about being a vampire,’ and that ‘I could trust them,’ and I’m ashamed to say, I kinda freaked out at this point, cuz I was afraid that they would be scared of me and maybe try to hurt me, since they seemed kinda unstable because of this.

This is where I think I was an asshole, I am usually very sensitive to mental health issues. I have some c-PTSD myself and there are a lot of mental health issues in my family (unfortunately, I think some history with my own mentally ill father may have made me react this way, since he has very similar issues to Roommate 2 (vaccines, alternate medicines, specifically involving me in his delusions) and I had a very bad experience in my early teens where he thought I was a demon and ‘sent to destroy him’). Anyway, I got very upset and I yelled at them, I told them they were completely crazy and needed to get mental help and said I thought Roommate 1 and I needed to move out because they might try to stake my heart or something. I feel really bad for calling them crazy, especially because Roommate 2 has some very mental health issues and words like crazy make light of and stigmatise that and I’m very big into not blaming people for their mental health problems, but this was very triggering and in this moment I was very distresssed.

So, aita, all things considered here? I’m still gonna feel like the asshole no matter what, since mental health problems aren’t to be taken lightly or blamed on the person, but I’m curious what the internet thinks.

What are these acronyms?

[black-arcana]

ARCH ENEMY's ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ On Touring The World On A Vegan Diet: 'It Is Totally Possible'

In an interview with Metal Magnitude at last month's Metal Hall Of Fame in Anaheim, California, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz, who is vegan and straight edge, was asked if it's difficult for her to maintain her lifestyle while she is on tour. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been touring for about 20 years and I've been vegan for 25 years and vegetarian before that, so I've definitely seen it become way easier. I've done it all across the world, with language barriers and cultural barriers and lack of time or money or transportation, and I'm still able to do it. So I have to say it is totally possible.

"Moby, obviously, is a well-spoken animal rights activist as well, and he's a friend of mine, and so he did this documentary ['Punk Rock Vegan Movie'] sort of diving into the connection between the punk mentality and, by extension, the metal mentality and veganism. And I think it's a really cool aspect and an interesting facet of the movement."

Apart from her musical acclaim, Alissa is a passionate advocate for animal rights. She has been vegetarian since birth, and vegan since the 1990s, and her dedication to animal rights is evident in her collaborations with various animal welfare organizations and her outspoken stance on issues related to animal exploitation, aligning her musical career with a fervent commitment to creating awareness and promoting compassion for all living beings.

Alissa's distinctive blend of artistry and activism has garnered widespread acclaim, earning her recognition as a trailblazer in the realm. As an influential figure in both the metal community and the animal rights movement, White-Gluz remains steadfast in her commitment to creating a more compassionate and just world for all beings.

During the 2023 edition of the Tuska festival in Helsinki, Finland, Alissa was asked by Kiki of the "Bleeding Metal" podcast if her activism is part of her identity. Alissa responded: "Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I am an activist before I'm a musician even. That's really what drives me forward every single day, is hoping that in some way my existence on this planet can make it a little bit better for everybody else who is currently existing on the planet and who will exist in the future. And that's first and foremost animal rights."

Asked if she would describe that as her purpose in life then even, Alissa said: "I don't know if people have, like, a purpose in life. I think it's nice to think that we do. I don't really know if we actually do. I think someone's purpose in life can just be whatever they attach themselves to — you know, whatever drives them forward. It doesn't have to be some big grandiose thing. But with that definition, then yes, I would say that it's my purpose. Yeah."

As for what her activism entails, Alissa said: "For me, I mean, I don't look at it as a job or something that I can really detail out because if I did, I would do that and not this. So it's really just… Deep down inside, I love animals. I think it's amazing that we share this planet with so many different, uncountable species in the sky, in the water, on land, these amazing creatures. They look different than us. They have different abilities than us. I mean, a fish can just live underwater; we would drown. You know what I mean? Like, just even simple things like this. A bird just flies. They just jump off a building and then fly. I still have this childlike awe over animals that can do this. And I think it's so sad that we have built an industry that doesn't care about that and actually only cares about profiting off of exploiting animals. And so as much as possible, I like to just show people that you don't have to take part in those industries. You can actually still have all the things that you wanna have in life — everything that you like; your food, your makeup, your whatever — you can still have all those things without involving animals at all. And now, actually, I've been more and more involved in the tech space when it comes to this. So there's some really cool innovations happening in the tech space when it comes to the future of food and also just reducing animal testing."

In 2022, during a question-and-answer session at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, White-Gluz was also asked if it's difficult for her to maintain her lifestyle while she is on tour. She responded: "It super easy, actually, because I still party; I just don't intoxicate myself when I do it. But if other people wanna do that, that's their choice — it's up to them. Smoking, I'd like them to stay away 'cause I don't wanna breathe that in. But otherwise, it's really, really easy, actually. It's not even something that I think about. And actually, we have… In our tour bus, in our band and crew, I'm not the only sober one and I'm not the only vegan either, so I'm surrounded by a lot of different kinds of people and we all get along beautifully."

Two years earlier, White-Gluz explained why being vegan is definitely metal, telling the Mercy For Animals Facebook page: "So, I've been vegan for over 20 years now. I was vegan before I ever started in music. I've never eaten meat in my life. I grew up in a completely vegetarian household, so going vegan was just like the logical next step. And when I started doing music, there was nothing that I wanted to talk about more than animal rights. And so I was now using this heavy, passionate form of music to sort of convey a message that I wanted to. When I'm screaming in my band, I feel like I'm screaming for the voiceless. And I can't imagine being that loud if I had nothing to say.

"Being female, being vegan and also being straight edge in the metal world is just a combination of targets on my forehead that make it really easy for me to get singled out or pushed around," she continued. "But those are just things that are so much a part of who I am that I couldn't change them even if I wanted to. And I wouldn't — I wouldn't change for anyone.

"In my opinion, metal is all about rebellion — it's about carving your own path, thinking against what everyone's trying to make you think," Alissa added. "And veganism is the ultimate form of rebellion, because you are literally taking things that people have told you are normal that deep down inside you don't think are normal that you've been conditioned to accept about your day-to-day tasks, like eating or what you wear or what you choose to buy. Everyone says that that's normal, that you need to exploit other living beings for those things, but you don't. And so taking a stand against that is what veganism is. And that is really metal."

[anjanahalo]

Wayne Vs Fenton 3

start of the madness

pls note I'm putting these numbers in as "what I have written." They're not gonna necessarily be in order. I hope to make a full fic to put on AO3. In the interim, here's stuff I wrote in general as it strikes me in the moment. This bit is from Tim's perspective after Damian and Danny Are Friends become a known quantity in the Wayne household. ~*~

Damian making friends didn’t make sense. Everyone else felt complacent in simply accepting it. Tim wasn’t. Considering his upbringing, autonomous socializing wasn’t part of Damian’s personality. Nor was how calm and patient the former assassin child became with all of his siblings, Tim included. Damian himself insisted he and this “Danny” were friends. Hell, Damian even called the kid by a nickname. Not his last name, not “Daniel.” His actual, preferred nickname. Tim was suspicious and instantly began investigating. Daniel “Danny” Fenton, age 15, moved to Gotham two months ago from Amity Park, Illinois with his godfather and temporary guardian, Vlad Masters, former mayor of Amity Park, head of Vladco Industries, and heir to Wisconsin’s Self Proclaimed Dairy King’s fortune. Child of Jack and Madeline Fenton, doctors of something called ectobiology, former college classmates of Vlad Masters, and founders of FentonWorks, a cottage research facility that developed antighost (Ghosts? Really?) weaponry and equipment. Brother of Jasmine Fenton, currently a student of Yale in their psychology undergraduate program, and already a shoe-in for the Dean’s list. Honestly, of all the people related to him, Danny ended up being the least interesting. Middling grades that dropped in high school along with attendance. That was probably what led to his coming to Gotham. A set of brilliant - if evidentially weird - parents and a rich and involved godfather doing what they could to help their faltering son to succeed by sending him to one of the top schools on the east coast. There was evidence that Amity Park itself had some apparently minor meta vigilante protecting it, but searches for “Phantom” turned up nothing in the Justice League’s database, suggesting whomever this was might be an actual ghost like Deadman and, thus, restricted to access by those with JLD clearance. Tim put aside that issue for later. He could just ask B for privileges later. Besides, the only information he found on this vigilante was on a few amateur fansites and local papers. No major news sites or government listings. It couldn’t be anything major. His focus remained on Daniel Fenton. Except, even when looking into the kid’s socials, there wasn’t anything interesting. He had a couple friends back in Amity, the most interesting of the two was Samantha Mason of the Mason family, though Tim already knew of her from various socialite dinners she looked ready to burn to the ground, pink and lacey dress or not. Her social media was full of activism, conservation movements, and calls for both veganism and something called ultra recycle vegetarianism. Tucker came from an average family of upper middle class parents, nothing odd there, though his social media showed his love of technology and ancient Egypt. Nothing strange there. Danny’s social media, besides his friends, included links to Nasa, occasional rambles about high school life, and, for some reason, a dog photoshopped to look green. From the replies of his few followers, it was an inside joke since they all cooed over the dog and didn’t comment on the green. Again, nothing strange. Even the one time he managed to hack into Damian’s phone to see his messages yielded nothing. He and Danny would meet for what Danny called “playdates.” For some reason, Damian played along with a name Tim knew he’d scoff as childish and beneath him. Even that would be innocuous. One or the other would suggest meeting at various parks, arcades, even the observatory, negotiating dates and times, and that was it.

Danny was a normal kid. Damian was a born and bred assassin. Why in the actual fuck were these two friends? Nothing made sense. Everyone else was happy to ignore it because of the peace the irrationality before them instilled. Tim wouldn’t become complacent. Whatever Danny was hiding, he’d find it.

[vegance]

Some vegan YouTubers I like who have channels predominately about veganism are :

TotallyForkable (I really like the "Good Vegan News" videos) vegangaze ed.winters christinavanbeek clifgrant Natalie.Fulton

Channels with people who are vegan, and bring up veganism, but whose channels are not ABOUT veganism :

TheLeftistCooks (this channel has one video essay specifically about animals, but their other videos are about social issues)

BryonyClaire (she has video essays about pop culture, the environment, ethics, and social issues with a feminist focus, and while she brings up veganism, her videos are not otherwise about veganism)

imautisticnowwhat (her channel is mostly about autism but she mentions being vegan)

CassandraBankson (she is a medical esthetician but NOT a dermatologist yet, and she recommends vegan skincare and mentions how animals are treated and environmental issues sometimes while talking about skincare)

EvieLupine (she is an ADULT ONLY kink/BDSM educator who also talks about some social issues as they relate to her channel's theme, and she sometimes brings up veganism, and in a recent livestream mentioned she might make a video about veganism and the kink/BDSM/leather community, but her videos are mostly about the kink community)

The channels highlighted in green are ones that are openly trans friendly.

Thank you!!!

[beardedmrbean]

A cult-like US group known as Zizians has been linked to a string of murders, sparking several arrests – who are the people behind this group and what do they believe?

Jack Lasota, 34, who allegedly leads a group of a few dozen followers known as Zizians, was arrested on Sunday alongside Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, on charges including trespassing and obstruction.

Authorities say they are investigating at least six killings across the US that are allegedly connected to members of the group, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a knife attack in California, and the shooting of a US border guard in January.

Three other alleged members of the group have already been charged with murder.

The origins of the group

Lasota, a transgender woman, is allegedly the leader of the group.

She earned a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 2013 and, according to her blog, moved to the San Francisco area three years later.

There, she wrote that she applied for a series of jobs at tech companies and startups - including a brief internship with Nasa - and began to associate with people involved in the rationalist movement, an intellectual trend popular in Silicon Valley that emphasises the power of the human mind to see clear truth, eliminate bias and bad thinking, and improve individuals and society.

Lasota began blogging using the alias "Ziz", but soon fell out with mainstream rationalists as her writings spun off in bizarre directions.

The blog included posts of thousands of words, blending Lasota's personal experiences, theories about technology and philosophy, and esoteric comments about pop culture, computer coding and dozens of other subjects.

At one point, during a long diatribe about the TV series The Office, artificial intelligence and other subjects, she wrote: "I realized that I was no longer able to stand people. Not even rationalists anymore. And I would live the rest of my life completely alone, hiding my reaction to anyone it was useful to interact with. I had given up my ability to see beauty so I could see evil."

Other themes included veganism – total avoidance of any animal food or products – and anarchism.

In 2019 Lasota and three others were arrested while holding a protest outside an event held by a rationalist organisation. The last posts on her blog date from around this time.

False obituary

Over the next few years, Lasota and others would move around the US, according to reports, at one point living on a boat, and later staying on property owned by others in California and North Carolina.

In 2022, a warrant was issued when Lasota failed to show up for a court hearing, related to the protest outside the rationalist organisation meeting. But her lawyer at the time stated she was "now deceased after a boating accident in the San Francisco Bay area".

An obituary - noting that Lasota loved "adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals" - even appeared in an Alaska newspaper.

But the story was wrong: Lasota was still alive.

Jessica Taylor, an artificial intelligence researcher who says she knew several of the group members, told the Associated Press that Lasota and the Zizians stretched their rationalist beliefs to justify breaking laws.

"Stuff like thinking it's reasonable to avoid paying rent and defend oneself from being evicted," Taylor said.

Poulomi Saha, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies cults, says that while there is no strict legal definition of such a group, several of the Zizians' attributes align with the popular cultural conception of the term.

"This is a group of individuals that seem to share some unorthodox viewpoints," she said. "That in and of itself wouldn't open up them up to the cult label… but then there is this leadership figure 'Ziz.'"

Saha noted, however, that there is still significant uncertainty about the relationships between group members and about what may have motivated alleged acts of violence in recent years.

Escalating violence

Not long after the obituary was published, Lasota resurfaced along with other members of the group in Vallejo, California, which is north of San Francisco. Several members were living in vans and trucks on land owned by a man named Curtis Lind.

At some point the Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent, and Lind sued to evict them.

But the dispute escalated and in November 2022, Lind was attacked, stabbed 50 times and blinded in one eye. In an act of what police would later say is self-defence, he fired a gun, which killed Emma Borhanian, a former Google employee who was one of the Zizians and who had previously been arrested at the rationalist protest.

Two other members, Suri Dao and Somni Logencia, were arrested and charged with attempting to murder Lind. They remain in prison awaiting trial. Lasota was also at the scene of the attack, but was not charged with a crime.

The following month, two parents of a Zizian member were killed in a small Pennsylvania town.

Richard Zajko, 71, and his wife, Rita, 69, were found shot in the head in their home.

The Zajkos were the parents of Zizian member Michelle Zajko, who was briefly held by police but not charged with a crime.

Lasota was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident.

The hunt continues

Despite the links to those two attacks, the group mostly flew under the radar without receiving much wider public attention until earlier this year.

On 17 January, Lind, the California landlord who had allegedly been attacked by members of the group, was killed.

Vallejo Police Department say he was stabbed to death by an assailant wearing a mask and black beanie.

Police later charged Maximilian Snyder with murder, and alleged that Snyder killed Lind in order to stop him from testifying during the attempted murder trial.

That was followed just a few days later by the killing of a US border patrol agent on the other side of the country.

Two Zizians, Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, were pulled over by US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont.

A firefight ensued. Bauckholt, a German citizen who also went by the name Ophelia, was killed in the shootout along with Maland.

Youngblut - who was previously known as Milo - was wounded and later arrested on firearms charges.

The shooting led to a wider hunt for members of the group after police said the gun used to kill Maland was bought by Michelle Zajko.

Fugitives captured

After the Vermont shootout, police in Pennsylvania said they had uncovered new evidence about the shooting of Zajko's parents, and Lasota was wanted for failing to appear at several court hearings.

The whereabouts of the pair were unknown until Sunday, when they were arrested with fellow group member Daniel Blank in Maryland.

A police report said a resident of Frostburg, about 160 miles (260km) north-west of Washington DC, had called police saying he wanted three "suspicious" people off his property after they asked to camp on his land for a month.

Maryland State Police said that the trio were charged with trespassing and obstruction, and that Lasota and Zajko were additionally charged with weapons violations. All three were denied bail.

A lawyer for Lasota, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment on the arrest but instead sent the BBC a statement he had previously issued about his client, saying: "I urge members of the press and the public to refrain from speculation and premature conclusions."

[babyfluffybutt]

I saw you mention in a previous response to an ask that you have some digestive issues. Have you tried vegan food? I have had similar issues (not as extreme) and 99% of the vegan food I've come across or make has yet to give me a single problem. Might be worth checking out!

hey! yeah I've tried the vegan thing, and I'm not sure what they put in it but it doesn't sit right with my tummy. I'm not sure if its because of the stuff they put in it or what it is. I've found the opposite has helped me a LOT. I stick to red meats, eggs, and chicken. For some of you who've been following me for a while noticed that I'm a lot smaller than my older pictures and wondered what i did. That was basically it, gave up anything grain related, and stuck to meats. Its really helped, and I lost a ton of weight

[coochiequeens]

Transgender vegan cultleader tied to a killing spree. What in the Jerry Springer?

20 February 2025 By Mike Wendling

Jack Lasota pictured in a California mugshot dating from 2019

A cult-like US group known as Zizians has been linked to a string of murders, sparking several arrests – who are the people behind this group and what do they believe?

Jack Lasota, 34, who allegedly leads a group of a few dozen followers known as Zizians, was arrested on Sunday alongside Michelle Zajko, 32, and Daniel Blank, 26, on charges including trespassing and obstruction.

Authorities say they are investigating at least six killings across the US that are allegedly connected to members of the group, including a double homicide in Pennsylvania, a knife attack in California, and the shooting of a US border guard in January.

Three other alleged members of the group have already been charged with murder.

The origins of the group

Lasota, a transgender woman, is allegedly the leader of the group.

She earned a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 2013 and, according to her blog, moved to the San Francisco area three years later.

There, she wrote that she applied for a series of jobs at tech companies and startups - including a brief internship with Nasa - and began to associate with people involved in the rationalist movement, an intellectual trend popular in Silicon Valley that emphasises the power of the human mind to see clear truth, eliminate bias and bad thinking, and improve individuals and society.

Lasota began blogging using the alias "Ziz", but soon fell out with mainstream rationalists as her writings spun off in bizarre directions.

The blog included posts of thousands of words, blending Lasota's personal experiences, theories about technology and philosophy, and esoteric comments about pop culture, computer coding and dozens of other subjects.

At one point, during a long diatribe about the TV series The Office, artificial intelligence and other subjects, she wrote: "I realized that I was no longer able to stand people. Not even rationalists anymore. And I would live the rest of my life completely alone, hiding my reaction to anyone it was useful to interact with. I had given up my ability to see beauty so I could see evil."

Other themes included veganism – total avoidance of any animal food or products – and anarchism.

In 2019 Lasota and three others were arrested while holding a protest outside an event held by a rationalist organisation. The last posts on her blog date from around this time.

False obituary

Over the next few years, Lasota and others would move around the US, according to reports, at one point living on a boat, and later staying on property owned by others in California and North Carolina.

In 2022, a warrant was issued when Lasota failed to show up for a court hearing, related to the protest outside the rationalist organisation meeting. But her lawyer at the time stated she was "now deceased after a boating accident in the San Francisco Bay area".

An obituary - noting that Lasota loved "adventure, friends and family, music, blueberries, biking, computer games and animals" - even appeared in an Alaska newspaper.

But the story was wrong: Lasota was still alive.

Jessica Taylor, an artificial intelligence researcher who says she knew several of the group members, told the Associated Press that Lasota and the Zizians stretched their rationalist beliefs to justify breaking laws.

"Stuff like thinking it's reasonable to avoid paying rent and defend oneself from being evicted," Taylor said.

Poulomi Saha, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies cults, says that while there is no strict legal definition of such a group, several of the Zizians' attributes align with the popular cultural conception of the term.

"This is a group of individuals that seem to share some unorthodox viewpoints," she said. "That in and of itself wouldn't open up them up to the cult label… but then there is this leadership figure 'Ziz.'"

Saha noted, however, that there is still significant uncertainty about the relationships between group members and about what may have motivated alleged acts of violence in recent years.

Escalating violence

Not long after the obituary was published, Lasota resurfaced along with other members of the group in Vallejo, California, which is north of San Francisco. Several members were living in vans and trucks on land owned by a man named Curtis Lind.

At some point the Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent, and Lind sued to evict them.

But the dispute escalated and in November 2022, Lind was attacked, stabbed 50 times and blinded in one eye. In an act of what police would later say is self-defence, he fired a gun, which killed Emma Borhanian, a former Google employee who was one of the Zizians and who had previously been arrested at the rationalist protest.

Two other members, Suri Dao and Somni Logencia, were arrested and charged with attempting to murder Lind. They remain in prison awaiting trial. Lasota was also at the scene of the attack, but was not charged with a crime.

Curtis LindRest I pictured after he was allegedly attacked by Zizians

The following month, two parents of a Zizian member were killed in a small Pennsylvania town.

Richard Zajko, 71, and his wife, Rita, 69, were found shot in the head in their home.

The Zajkos were the parents of Zizian member Michelle Zajko, who was briefly held by police but not charged with a crime.

Lasota was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident.

The hunt continues

Despite the links to those two attacks, the group mostly flew under the radar without receiving much wider public attention until earlier this year.

On 17 January, Lind, the California landlord who had allegedly been attacked by members of the group, was killed.

Vallejo Police Department say he was stabbed to death by an assailant wearing a mask and black beanie.

Police later charged Maximilian Snyder with murder, and alleged that Snyder killed Lind in order to stop him from testifying during the attempted murder trial.

That was followed just a few days later by the killing of a US border patrol agent on the other side of the country.

Two Zizians, Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, were pulled over by US Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in Vermont.

A firefight ensued. Bauckholt, a German citizen who also went by the name Ophelia, was killed in the shootout along with Maland.

Youngblut - who was previously known as Milo - was wounded and later arrested on firearms charges.

The shooting led to a wider hunt for members of the group after police said the gun used to kill Maland was bought by Michelle Zajko.

US Border Patrol Agent David Maland, shown in an undated file photo, was shot to death in a firefight with Zizian members

Fugitives captured

After the Vermont shootout, police in Pennsylvania said they had uncovered new evidence about the shooting of Zajko's parents, and Lasota was wanted for failing to appear at several court hearings.

The whereabouts of the pair were unknown until Sunday, when they were arrested with fellow group member Daniel Blank in Maryland.

A police report said a resident of Frostburg, about 160 miles (260km) north-west of Washington DC, had called police saying he wanted three "suspicious" people off his property after they asked to camp on his land for a month.

Maryland State Police said that the trio were charged with trespassing and obstruction, and that Lasota and Zajko were additionally charged with weapons violations. All three were denied bail.

A lawyer for Lasota, Daniel McGarrigle, declined to comment on the arrest but instead sent the BBC a statement he had previously issued about his client, saying: "I urge members of the press and the public to refrain from speculation and premature conclusions."