#why do i have to find a way to make exploring a salt farm fun

[exhausted-kari]

DMing is great because you get to coordinate a silly little game where your silly little friends get to be silly little fantasy characters and it's amazing. But you also have to faces the horrors and by the horrors I mean writing on a weekly basis and I don't think human minds are made to do such a thing.

[the-girl-in-the-box]

Not Today III

A/N: Hello everyone!  So, a little bit of foreshadowing has begun, and we have a brief insight into the relationship Aethelind has with Alfred! I really wanted to be sure to explore that relationship, since it will be so integral to the plot later on. So, a smaller chapter, focused on a smaller scene, but no less important to the plot! Next week, much of our cast will return for the feast. Skål!

Summary: When Ivar takes the throne of Kattegat, Lagertha flees to Wessex along with Björn, Ubbe, Torvi, and the Bishop Heahmund. There, they seek the aid of King Alfred. This aid comes in the form of his sister, Aethelind, who agrees to travel to Kattegat and try to reason Ivar, who she spent some time with during their youth, when her grandfather King Ecbert hosted Ragnar Lothbrok in their castle. Now, she is the only hope for Lagertha and her supporters to retake Kattegat from Ivar the Boneless.

Masterlist

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The servants all knew to stay away when Aethelind and Alfred were having one of their disagreements. That, or they knew if it went on for too long, to go get their mother. The struggle with these two was found in the conflicting parts of their father they each embodied. And, truthfully, Alfred did want to help the Vikings who had turned up on his and Aethelind’s door. He just…

He knew what they were capable of. He knew the destruction brought to the shores of Wessex by these Northmen. They weren’t safe, and couldn’t be trusted. But at the same time, he remembered the kind eyes of his grandfather’s close friend, the curiosity in the eyes of that man’s son. He couldn’t quite make the two go together, sometimes, in his mind. Perhaps that was why his sister was now pleading with him to assist the Vikings. She had gotten it all straight.

But then, he realized the same men in her villa, Björn and Ubbe Ragnarsson, had killed both his grandfathers, and he suddenly couldn’t bring himself to see them the way she apparently did. He couldn’t understand her heart for them. They had betrayed their grandfather, Ecbert. How could she know they wouldn’t betray her, too?

He had voiced that question, and that, he knew, was the cause of her absolutely bewildered look. Clearly, he’d messed up in asking that. He could tell by her expression exactly what was going through her mind.

“You let fear control you too much,” she finally said, after a few moments of simply staring at him. Perhaps he hadn’t known exactly what, then. “Our father would be absolutely appalled at this. There shouldn’t even be any discussion. You and I both know he’d jump to assist them.”

"Our father destroyed their settlement, Aethelind,” he countered, and then her expression turned pointed, unimpressed. He’d known what she meant, and dodged it, not wanting to admit she was right.

“Our true father,” she said lowly. “Athelstan.”

Ah, yes, thought Alfred. The closest friend of Ragnar Lothbrok. And what good did that friendship do him?

“He was betrayed by the Vikings,” Alfred pointed out. “We know one of them killed him. Grandfather told us this before he was killed by them, too.”

“Grandfather was found dead in his bath, you don’t know the Vikings killed him,” Aethelind argued.

“I know they brought their Great Heathen Army here, and when we returned, Grandfather was dead. Don’t be naïve, Aethelind. He turned Ragnar Lothbrok over to Grandfather Aelle. The Heathens came, went to Northumbria, came here to Wessex, and both our grandfathers died while they were here. What else can be assumed by this?”

“They never came here on that trip.”

Alfred sighed. He should have known that would have been kept from her. The truth of these sorts of matters could be jarring, he knew that, and so he understood why she wouldn’t have been told- especially as she’d continued speaking of that boy, even as he helped lead the army that killed their grandfathers.

“They did,” he confessed. “It’s why we left, right before Grandfather Ecbert passed. He knew they would come, and sent us away for safety. They killed him in his bath, and that’s why we returned to find him gone.”

Alfred watched as she seemed to grow cold, distant from him. That was never good. She was angry. Her brows creased together, her eyes hardened, and she let out a slightly bitter laugh.

“And no one saw fit to tell me of this?” she questioned, voice low. “No one thought I should know that Vikings came and killed both our grandfathers? Why? Was I deemed to be too fond of one of them to be trusted with this information?” Even though her voice hadn’t changed overly much, wasn’t too hostile in nature, Alfred flinched. This was almost worse than when she yelled. “You didn’t even see fit to tell me this, Alfred?”

“You… were too close to both sides of the conflict,” he said, and from the way he spoke, it sounded to her as if he were trying to soothe her. The idea was like salt in the wound he’d just reopened. “And it was difficult news to bear anyway. I thought to protect you by never saying-”

“No, you betrayed me by never saying,” she interrupted. “All this talk of how the Northmen will betray me, and you already have. And what harm could have been done anyway? I already sympathized with the Northmen. The worst case already was the case. If anything, you might have won my sympathies back! Yet now all you have done is solidified my convictions.

“And if nothing else, I know our father would have helped them. Our father left Wessex to be with them in Kattegat. He loved Ragnar Lothbrok. Despite all their differences, even when it came to faith, our father was the one at his right hand, even until his death. If he were here, he would advise that we send aid at once. I, for one, wish to uphold his legacy. I wish to be friends to these people, even if you find it ill-advised.”

Alfred regarded her with a very interested expression. He knew, of course, that she was right, but the way she was talking… “You sound just like him,” he said. “At least, how Mother says he sounded. His love for the Vikings… It’s as if you have inherited it from him.”

His comment seemed to lighten things a bit, though the mood became heavier in other ways, and she smiled a little. “Perhaps you have too,” she suggested. “You simply need to see them in a better light.”

“A better light?” Alfred asked. “What other way is there to see them?”

“Spend some time with them,” she suggested. “And perhaps, speak with our mother about them, and about our father’s relationship with them. She’s told me much of how it used to be, how they helped our grandfather take Mercia. How he, in turn, gave them land here to settle on to farm. How they lived there peacefully. All stories have more than one side to them, Alfred. Perhaps you should learn theirs.”

“Is that what you’ve just done? Spent time learning their story?”

Aethelind nodded, and sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. “It’s terrible. What’s happened to them… It’s nothing I would wish on anyone. Björn and Ubbe’s brothers have betrayed them- Hvitserk and Ivar. They took Kattegat from under Lagertha, who was apparently its rightful ruler. He murdered their other brother, Sigurd. And even more, Lagertha and Björn knew our father, very well. They loved him, and were loved by him. If you don’t want to help the others… can we at least agree to help them, Alfred? They are no ordinary Northmen. They were friends of our father’s.”

He sighed once more, his brows drawing together thoughtfully as he looked to the table. “Alright,” he eventually agreed. “Lagertha and Björn… I will agree to help, though I cannot say yet in what way. The others are your guests, and I will not take ask you to turn them away. In the meantime, while we work on a plan to offer them aid, I will order a feast to be held to welcome them tonight. Hopefully, this will ensure them of our good faith. And, in accordance with your request, I will… spend some more time with those who our father did not know- Ubbe and… what is the other’s name? The woman with him?”

"Torvi,” Aethelind supplied. “She’s his wife, yes. She seems to be very sweet so far. I wasn’t sure she trusted me overly much, when we first met, but multiple times throughout their explanation, she advised them to go more slowly, to give me time to process what I was learning. I like her.”

Alfred nodded a little, and smiled. “Ubbe and Torvi, then. I will try to know them better, to please you, dear sister.”

Aethelind smiled at her brother, and nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I will be trying to know them all well, especially in the event we must work more closely with them toward anything. It is imperative that they be able to trust us, not only that we be able to trust them. If we’re to accomplish anything, we must trust each other. We must become with them how our father was with theirs.”

Alfred chuckled softly, an amused smile on his face. “You are very passionate,” he commented affectionately. “They are blessed to have you on their side. I might have turned them away, otherwise. And yet, here you are, arguing for their good. I wonder what else you may try to talk me into, the longer they’re here?”

“Nothing too drastic, I shouldn’t imagine,” she teased. “Though, I’m not sure… Björn may be unmarried.”

Alfred nearly choked, his eyes widening exponentially. “That will not be happening. I am saying no to that right now. You will not be the wife of Björn Ironside. No.”

Aethelind giggled at how easily Alfred had fallen for her joke, a wide grin splitting her face, and he sighed. He should known better by now than to take such a comment seriously. As all their family were rather serious, he couldn’t be sure where she’d gotten such a penchant for mischief. But, it was amusing, and it broke the common monotony of daily life around the castle. He couldn’t be too upset about that, could he?

“One of these days I’ll learn to stop falling for your little tricks,” he told her, and she only laughed more.

“Oh, where would be the fun in that?” she asked. “No, if there’s something I can always rely on you for, Alfred, it’s falling for my ‘little tricks’. And, for coming around to the right way of thinking about things.”

“Or, more accurately, for supporting you. Even in the strangest of your endeavors- of which I’m sure this is one. Helping Vikings reclaim their village. Grandfather Aelle must be turning in his grave, right now.”

The smirk Aethelind wore made Alfred realize that didn’t upset her in the slightest, as did the comment she made.

“I don’t quite see the harm in that.”

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius, @wilhelmyna, @katfett, @fangirl-nonsense, @zuzus-sun, @heavenly1927

If you want to be added to the taglist, feel free to reach out either by commenting, reblogging, DMing me, or sending an ask, and I’ll be more than happy to add you!

[thedragonslibrary]

Is it possible to be blocked like magick or energy wise? I do not know how to put it in words but sometimes I feel like there is something that i should connect to or should be able to do but I am not. Maybe I am not idk well practiced enough but it sometimes feels like I am running against a glass wall. Maybe I Idk man. I am just really frustrated. I cant really give examples just everytime I do something magick related it feels like running against a wall and it makes me wanna cry. Sorry

Yes, of course it’s possible to be blocked!  

To clarify, your first statement about feeling as though you should be able to “connect” to something is a common beginner issue.  It may simply be that you haven’t found the thing you’re supposed to connect to yet - whether that’s opening your third eye and being able to talk to your guides, finding the deity and/or pantheon you connect most to in a religious manner, or simply opening your psychic awareness fully enough to feel the energies around you.  The best advice I can give is to experiment.  Try everything, and don’t hold yourself back!  

When I was a beginner witch, I tried everything from Wicca to demonolatry to Christian witchery, from reiki to hexing and cursing, from psychopomp work and shadow work and light work and everything you can imagine.  If you can think of it, I probably tried it in some way.  Only by putting yourself out there in as many avenues and paths as you possibly can, will you find what works for you.  If something doesn’t work, doesn’t fit or “feel right,” put it away and move on.  Read everything you can - on Tumblr, in books, in every single resource you can find.  It took me probably five or six years of exploration to figure out what generally “worked” for me, and I still feel like I’m learning and discovering new outlets for my magical expression.

An extra “something” is not for everyone.  Often in magical practices, you are the source of your own power.  Sure, crystals and herbs and grounding and gods help, but ultimately the magic is coming from you.  You might not necessarily need an extra “thing.”  Let your magic be intuitive, don’t let books or Tumblr bloggers tell you how to do your thing step-by-step.  Take spells or rituals and modify them to fit your needs - that is how they’ll be most powerful and useful for you.

But back to the topic of blockages, if you have already had magical abilities previously: I have gone through blockages myself, and they are exactly what you described here: frustrating, like hitting a wall.  Sometimes it feels as though all your “power” has been taken away, and you’re left without your previous magical agency.  You might have the thought that perhaps you were just making everything up all along, that maybe you’ve been deluding yourself.  Trust me, you didn’t, and things will get better!  

In my experience, there are two general types of blocks you can have.  I’ll outline them for you and how they can be worked through.  

The first is a bit simpler, and is more like an art block.  Lots of magic-users go through periods of this softer, mental blockage at some point or another on their path.  It can be sometimes referred to as a Fallow Period, which comes from a similar phrase in farming used to refer to when a partition of soil is meant to rest for a season or two to regain its fertility.  

A Fallow Period can arise from burnout, especially from outside sources creating stress in your life.  

Magic, especially psychic and spirit work, is infinitely more difficult when you are stressed, going through a rough mental health period, or when you are physically ill.  

Fallow Periods can also be caused through divine intervention - your spirit guides or deities may have decided that you need to take a break to focus on real life, or to focus on taking care of yourself for a little while.

Blockages of this nature eventually right themselves, but it can take time - it can last anywhere from a few months to over a year.

The best thing to do when you’re experiencing a fallow period like this is to not force it.  You are only going to frustrate yourself if you continue to attempt to perform magically and have little to no results.  Additionally, you’re going to create a deadly cycle of feeling disappointed in yourself, and eventually burn out so hard you won’t want to do magic at all anymore.

Instead, take some time to create: write poetry, draw, or paint.  Write devotional poetry.  If you want to do magical work, work on your grimoire or book of shadows.  Focus on practical magic you can do with your hands - cooking, creating items with intent, cleansing and clearing your home.

Take time to meditate and perform self-care.  Perform practical, easy meditations like the simple, free ones in the Headspace app, or find guided meditations for free on YouTube that bring you into fun, brightly colored astral spaces.  Take baths and imagine all of your troubles washing away down the drain when you’re finished.  Give yourself room to heal and just feel good about yourself.

When you feel ready to move out of your Fallow Period, it will come very naturally.  Like an urge to pick up a witchcraft book or to astral travel suddenly.  Don’t worry about easing back into it - while taking it slow might be good for some, it’s not for everyone.  If you’re really excited to get back into magic, and you’re being urged to do it right now, go ahead and do it!

The other type of blockage is a physical, energetic blockage.  These are usually sudden-onset conditions.  If one day you are performing just fine magically, and the next you wake up and you can’t feel any of your sixth senses, and you are not physically sick or particularly more stressed out than normal, you probably have a physical energetic blockage.

Ensure first that it’s an energetic blockage.  Perform a reading on yourself, check your energy centers, figure out how you’re feeling physically.  Meditation goes a long way here, as well as visualizing your energy moving through your body.  Does it seem to stop anywhere?  Likewise, do you feel extremely hopeless and drained energetically for no discernible, tangible reason (i.e. depression or a recent traumatic experience)?  Can you not even muster up the motivation to check yourself?  Then you probably have an energetic blockage.

Find an energy healer in physical proximity to you.  Trust me when I say that it is not enough to go to the local Hand & Stone and ask for a reiki massage (I have tried this for you already, and please believe me when I say it’s not going to solve your problems).  Distance healings do work and are worth it, but in my personal experience physical healings tend to be much more powerful when it comes to dismantling blockages in this way.

Ask around at your local metaphysical stores.  Find someone who is a reiki master or another type of energy healer, who has great reviews outside of what’s posted on their website and who has a great deal of experience.  Ask them if they have unedited testimonials anywhere they can share with you (such as Google reviews).  

Ask what their process is, ask to see their healing space, ask them what physical tools they use in their session.  Ask them if they’d be willing to charge a small fee for them to examine you and figure out what’s going on (don’t expect them to do something like that for free).  Remember that they should never suggest that they can heal physical ailments or claim that their services replace allopathic medicine - they should only focus on your energetic issues.  

Explain to them that you feel blocked energetically and that this is exactly what you are looking to be treated for - psychics and healers are not mind readers, and they cannot help you if they’re not told what they need to fix.  

Pay attention to your gut and what feels right.  Even in a blocked state, you always have decent access to your intuition.

I won’t lie, you will likely need to shell out a good amount of money for this.  A good healer worth their salt most likely won’t charge you less than $60 for an hour session.

If you don’t feel some kind of energetic release during your healing session, mention that to your healer.  Since you’ve already told them about your issue, they may be able to give advice as to why you didn’t feel any specific change, as everyone’s process is different and the healer you’ve chosen to work with is going to have the best understanding over the situation, after you.  Again, pay attention to your gut.  Give the healing a couple of days to set in, and make sure to drink plenty of water and pay attention to how you feel.

When I personally dealt with my own physical energy blockage, when it was finally healed it felt like a dam breaking and all of my energy flowing back into my body.  It felt like I had had one of my senses shut off, and for the switch to finally be turned back on.  Not everyone is going to feel this way, but if you’ve been blocked for a particularly long time, it may feel very strong and overwhelming to have yourself be un-blocked.

Whatever your situation is, I hope this post was helpful!  Good luck on finding your solution!

[chamerionwrites]

I love salt and vinegar. What's the topic eating at you most right now?

You know how sometimes a thing is not necessarily bad, per se, but for reasons of personal taste provokes an overwhelmingly negative response?

Bear with me for a bit but there’s a post floating around somewhere expressing astonishment that anyone would ever choose to play a human in a fantasy game where they have the option to pick something much more interesting. The answer, of course, is that there’s a lot of inherent dramatic tension in shoving a regular squishy human into a setting full of magic and dragons and demigods. As someone later in the thread put it: “It’s one thing to fight demons if you’re from a species that lives for hundreds of years, is tied to natural magic, and births the best archers on the planet. It’s another thing entirely to do the same when your species is known to be slightly-above-average at farming.”

I think this actually speaks to a distinction not just among DND players, but in the sorts of narratives people find appealing. Neither approach is wrong. But very broadly speaking I think people often fall into one of two categories: those who like high-power heroes, and those who like low-power ones. The former gravitates to power fantasies and Chosen One narratives, stories about characters with some unusual ability or destiny (eg Luke Skywalker). The latter gravitates to stories about aggressively ordinary characters thrust into extraordinary circumstances (eg Frodo Baggins). Obviously people can enjoy both, but given the choice I think they often find one or the other more compelling. 

That was a roundabout intro but the point is that I’m a low-power heroes kinda woman, and I’ve been pretty bored by Jedi since the prequels era at least, and my instinctive reaction to every single headcanon that suggests Cassian or Bodhi or Finn or whoever is Force-sensitive is HOW DARE YOU.

I’m not trying to ruin anybody’s fun! I’m sure it’s possible to tell an interesting story along those lines, and I understand why it might be meaningful to someone for representation reasons. I don’t think it’s wrong to enjoy stories about special powers any more than I think it’s wrong to enjoy stories about monarchy (hello, 90% of fantasy fiction and also, uhh, Star Wars). But I do think you can like something and still be critical of it, and imo this particular narrative device is really worth viewing with a critical eye. If you make all of your heroes Force-sensitive you can’t get away from the fact that - however unintentionally - you are telling a story about innate genetic superiority. And especially in the case of Bodhi or Finn (it’s no secret that I have a soft spot for defectors), you are turning a story about ethical choice and strength of character into a story about an inborn propensity to be extraordinary, turning a story where heroism is about what you do into a story where heroism is about who you are. A Finn with zero special space magic picking up that lightsaber and saying COME GET IT is 10000 times more compelling to me than the alternative.

Like I said, I get that some of this is down to my own subjective tastes. And I’m not saying that all stories need to be 100% Grade A Certified Ideologically Pure; most stories aren’t! I do think there’s a trend worth discussing here - what does it say about our culture that blockbuster media is absolutely saturated with these kinds of power fantasies and specialness narratives? What does it say that even where the special powers don’t exist in canon, fandom’s instinct is so often to make our favorite characters not merely especially brave or clever or moral but quite literally extraordinary in some way? But I also think there’s a slightly dangerous tendency in fandom to use the language of social justice not merely to discuss important issues, but to advocate for one’s own personal preferences and headcanons in a way that precludes argument. We use fiction to explore ideas in the language of emotion and metaphor, and different stories speak to different people in different ways, and people are allowed to like something because it tickles that particular id part of their brain. That’s a very personal thing, and part of what I find really fascinating and beautiful about storytelling.

But imho the most interesting characters in Star Wars are the absolutely ordinary people fighting a brutal fascist empire with zero special premonitions or powers to help them, and my immediate kneejerk reaction to any and all headcanons turning non-Force-sensitive characters into Force-sensitive characters is THANKS, I HATE IT WITH A FIERY PASSION AND WOULD LIKE TO IMMEDIATELY AND FORCEFULLY DELETE IT FROM MY BRAIN.

[sleemo]

Rian Johnson on the evolution of the Force in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' and more spoilers

Who is Snoke, anyway? Has Kylo Ren ever kissed a girl? Rian Johnson answers the burning ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ questions. — LA Times | Dec 18, 2017

As Obi-Wan Kenobi once told young Luke Skywalker, “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things — it surrounds us, and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”

Ever since Tatooine’s favorite farm boy learned about the Force, “Star Wars” fans have devoured every bit of the universe that’s come alive in the galaxy far, far away over the course of eight movies and counting.

But in Disney’s weekend box-office smash “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” writer-director Rian Johnson (“Brick,” “Looper”) takes bold leaps and shakes up the “Star Wars” universe, sending “Force Awakens” heroes Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) further into the fight between light and dark with one surprise after another.

How much does “The Last Jedi” redefine the rules of Force physics as we know it — and what do these tantalizing new possibilities mean for the future of “Star Wars?” Who is Snoke, anyway? What exactly can Force ghosts do from beyond the astral plane? Has Kylo Ren ever kissed a girl?

Back in Los Angeles between globe-trotting appearances, a week after his star-studded premiere, Johnson answered all these burning “Star Wars” questions and more. Heavy spoiler warning: Best to read after watching “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

“The Last Jedi” takes much of what we all thought we knew about this 40-year-old franchise and how the rules of the Force work, and expands them in some wild new ways. Knowing the doors you were going to open, what were your consultations like with Lucasfilm’s in-house protectors of the canon while writing the script?

There is a man named Pablo Hidalgo who is the sweetest dude in the universe, and he’s one of several keepers of the flame at Lucasfilm. It would always be a conversation, and if the story required it and if it felt like it stretches into new territory but doesn’t break the idea of what the Force can do, Pablo was down — I got the blessing.

The evolution of Rey’s relationship with Kylo Ren takes an intense and pivotal turn in “The Last Jedi.” We learn that Supreme Leader Snoke has linked them through the Force, as if he were connecting a call at a switchboard — an idea thematically mirrored in Poe’s “bad connection” scene with Hux earlier in the film. Where did that idea originate?

It was always through the demands of the story. With the Force connections between Rey and Kylo I thought, “OK, I need to get these two talking. But if I put them face to face they’re going to either fight, or one of them has to be tied up” —

Well, they could also make out …

They could also make out! I’m going to give you a spinoff movie …

Even if they make out, then they can’t be talking. So I knew I wanted them to talk, and to talk enough to where we could go from “I hate you,” to her being forced to actually engage with him. That’s where the idea of these “Force connections” came from, which is kind of a new thing. It’s a little bit of a riff on what happens with Vader and Luke at the end of “The Empire Strikes Back,” but it’s entirely new in some regards.

I’ve got a catchy name for Rey and Kylo’s sexy “Force connection” sessions for you: “ForceTime.”

[Laughs] I’ve heard “Force Skyping,” but that’s good! I’ve got to talk to Apple. There’s a real big co-branding opportunity here.

Some of these revelatory new Force possibilities might be challenging for fans to accept. Are they such a stretch within “Star Wars” science and the greater franchise?

The truth is, because “Star Wars” until “The Force Awakens” has been set in amber and we hadn’t had a new “Star Wars” movie in 10 years, you forget that they were introducing new Force stuff with each movie, based on the requirements of the story. Force-grabbing didn’t come around until “Empire,” it wasn’t in “A New Hope.” Same with Force ghosts. They’d introduce new ideas of what could happen with the Force each time.

After the climactic battle on the salt planet Crait we learn Luke was projecting himself from his island the whole time. How does that scene rewrite the rules of the Force? Could a Force user projecting themselves physically influence the world around them, not just the minds of others?

That’s a question. When Luke shows up he’s projecting, it’s like a hardcore variation of what Kylo and Rey have been doing the whole time and that’s why it takes so much out of him. In the version that we play, no. We tried to play really, really fair. In terms of his footsteps – we removed all of his foley — there are no footstep sounds. They never touch. And if you look, the salt flakes that are falling are sparking off of Kylo’s saber and not off of Luke’s.

What about Force ghosts and the suggestion that Jedi masters wield even more previously unknown powers from beyond the grave? Can powerful Force users create physical, tangible manifestations?

The one point where we do introduce a bit of a twist in terms of Force ghosts is where Yoda calls down the lightning onto the tree. That, I think, is a tantalizing hint of the potential of someone who is a Force ghost interacting with the real world.

Hypothetically speaking, can dark Force users become Force ghosts?

I think that would be interesting. We haven’t seen them in the movies as far as I can remember. But that would be really interesting considering the dark side is about self-preservation, trying to find immortality, and the notion that the light side actually got to it through selflessness — what would the dark side version of that look like? There’s so much cool [stuff] to think about if you’re willing to open your head a little bit!

Another surprise in this film is seeing Leia use her latent Force powers after decades of being the Skywalker twin who doesn’t wield the Force. Why was that an important parting gift to give both Leia and Carrie Fisher?

That was something Kathy [Kennedy] was always asking: Why has this never manifested in Leia? She obviously made a choice, because in “Return of the Jedi” Luke tells her, “You have that power too.” I liked the idea that it’s not Luke concentrating, reaching for the lightsaber; it’s an instinctual survival thing, like when you hear stories of a parent whose toddler is caught under a car and they get superhuman strength, or a drowning person clawing their way to the surface. It’s basically just her not being done with the fight yet.

I wanted it to happen [for Carrie] and I knew it was going to be a stretch. It’s a big moment, and I’m sure it will land different ways for different people, but for me it felt like a really emotionally satisfying thing to see.

Han’s dice are a nice touch that resonates with Luke, Leia and Kylo, not to mention the fans, and a callback to how he got the Millennium Falcon in the first place.

When I wrote it, it was something that was in “The Force Awakens.” I think they shot it and didn’t end up using it: When Han comes onto the Falcon, he takes his dice out of his pocket and hangs them back up, like, “This is mine again.” When it got pulled out [of “The Force Awakens”] I thought, even if it’s not directly set up I think you’ll get it that these are Han’s dice. The notion that they get used different ways ending with Kylo, I liked.

Fans have been obsessed with Snoke’s origins since “The Force Awakens,” and while we get to know him much more in “The Last Jedi,” you don’t necessarily give that answer. Does it matter who he was?

Not in this story it doesn’t, which is not to say it wouldn’t be interesting — they might explore it in the next movie or elsewhere. I wrote this script before “The Force Awakens” came out, so when I wrote it, the “Who is Snoke?” mania hadn’t arisen with the fans yet. Even if it had, my perspective is it’s similar to how the Emperor was handled. The first three movies you know nothing about the Emperor because you don’t have to, because that’s not the story. You know exactly what you need to know. Whereas in the prequels, you know everything about him because that is the story.

In this movie, Rey doesn’t really care where he comes from, so if in any of their scenes he had stopped and done a 30-second monologue about how he is [Darth] Plagueis or whoever, Rey would have blinked and looked confused and the scene would have gone on … and we would have ended up cutting it in the editing room because it doesn’t matter to the story right now.

Why does it matter, then, who Rey’s parents are — the idea that she doesn’t come from a lineage of “special” Jedi kin?

It felt like the way to go because it’s the hardest thing that she could possibly hear. It would be the easy thing for her to be defined by, “yes, this is how you fit into this story — it’s because your parent is so and so!” In that moment, for Kylo to be able to use that [information] as a knife and twist it to try and get what he wants, felt like the most dramatically potent option.

Please explain the dramatic necessity of giving Kylo Ren a shirtless scene.

At the premiere I heard somebody in the balcony say, “Yesssss!” You can see Adam was training hardcore throughout the whole process. It’s fun but it also has a specific purpose, which is the increasing feeling of uncomfortable intimacy. That was sticking with the theme of trying to give Rey the hardest thing you could possibly give her, which would be unavoidable intimate conversation with this person that she wants to just hate. This was just one more way of upping that ante.

So … is this the first time Kylo has ever held hands with a girl?

I actually talked about that with Adam [Driver]. Adam was like, “So … have I actually kissed a girl before?” I would think maybe he has. Maybe after hours in the Jedi camp, there was a game of spin the bottle — “spin the lightsaber…”

— LA Times

[otakutaylor]

Planetoid Exploitation Report

Subject - Jacoblixen Otan in the Recapa System (E Class)

A wind-swept world on the far edge of the five body solar system, Jacoblixen Otan is a plain and peaceful planet, devoid of purpose on it’s surface but rich with mid-grade deposits when you give it more than a cursory glance.

During entry, the planets substandard hydrodynamic weather pattern was evident, with a small variety of water conserving cacti dotting the landscape periodically on all sides. The cactus flesh might make a lure for low grade agriculture based companies, but there’s much more to discover once you make landfall.

Biodiversity is not a strong point here, but resilience is. Across the whole trip only these adorable little guys were discovered in any form of significance, they do make for excellent companionship on the long nights. The weather patterns on this planet are remarkably mild despite it’s distance from the system’s sun. Ranging from 37C in the day (a dry heat) to only just 4C, cold enough to warrant this species internal heat sources and my suits thermal protection. The kind of temperature a resort would clamor for if it wasn’t for the desert environment. Why talk so much about the unfortunate points on this expedition? Just look at what I found once morning came.

These little Succulents, found in bunches nearer the cavern entrances dotting the planet have a hidden bonus the shipboard scanners couldn’t pick up. Radon. Yes, Carbon and Radon from a single plant. It’s not a significant number, but with so much available real estate across the barren surface on this planet it’s a low energy cost farmer’s dream, and with pyrite deposits, the pulse drive fuel premiums to import salt or water are nearly negligible. Plus a few Cobalt and Platinum geodes often dot their preferred growing places, for some quick income before harvesting can begin in earnest.

Speaking of Cobalt, you’re seeing this right. A Surface vein full of it. No need for expensive free-walking mining drones. Drop an autonomous mining drill and you’re set. Worried about the Chromatic metal cost? This is an E class system. Emeril veins compliment the Cobalt at a near 1:4 ratio. With farms dotting the surface and mines beneath it Otan is well set to be a more than efficient resource production world.

While nothing stands out too starkly on this particularly windy space rock, an enterprising company would be hard pressed to pass up the opportunities this planet provides both agriculturally or geologically. Plus the human friendly atmosphere and fauna will make keeping supervisors happy a breeze. 

Data analysis gives Jacoblixen Otan a 3.2 rating for farming and a 3.7 mining. But the synergy is much higher than those numbers would tell alone. 

Jacoblixen Otan R.E.P. - Analyst: otakutaylor.

(This was just for fun, a bunch of screenshots pretending like I was trying to explore and sell this planet. I realized No man’s sky has pretty much all the tools developer could use to make the kind of space exploration game I think might be fun. Kind of a pokemon snap for planets, not only finding what resources a celestial body might have, but also finding the right way to frame a photo or scan and advertise it. Showing off fauna or mining deposits, iconic features or extreme environments. It’s what I kind of hoped Star Citizen would do 4 years ago, heh.)

[spockat]

Fave Fandom and Ships

in answer to an ask from weeks ago, sorry

Fave Fandom and Ships

001 Fandom Discovery

Least favorite character – when MU Lorca fully revealed himself a villainous villainous man [stomping that guy’s face – really?! Diatribe against alien races? Ugh]. I HATED what the writers did with Lorca. Emperor Georgiou also hits the stereotypical notes, since she doesn’t have a mustache she twirls cooked ganglia instead, and she’s also been given the Villain Trope of being bisexual – because [gasp!] “what could be worse” [this trope is on display in many shows and movies]. Yeah, we get it, she uses every. body.

5 Fave Ships – Prime Lorca/Cornwell; MU Lorca/PU Burnham; Stamets/Culber; Tilly/Tyler, I really don’t have any others. While Tyler/Burnham was well-acted, I didn’t really feel it except in the moment at the end of “Into the Forest I Go”

Character I find most attractive – ummm GABRIEL LORCA

Character I would marry – Prime Lorca [In my headcanon he’s a really decent guy – as I write in my BlackQat Katriel fics. [Although he can be stubborn as fuck, and when captaining his ship he’s pretty much like MU Lorca in temperament, using a tad bit of sarcasm here and there. He’s a little salty, but damned good and his crew would follow him through hell because he’s loyal to them.]

Character I would be best friends with – Katrina Cornwell. I hope I’d be good friends with her, she is so levelheaded and [headcanon] kind and compassionate, and probably encourages her friends. [You don’t become a psychiatrist because you’re unsympathetic toward, or uninterested in, people.] Runners-up, Sylvia Tilly, because she’s effervescent and a good friend to people.

A random thought – I so want Cornwell to find and rescue Prime Lorca. [Headcanon] Prime’s been busting his ass trying to help the rebels in the MU, and succeeding in large part since the Emperor’s departure. Maybe Cornwell has to make a devil’s bargain with Section 31 to get over there … [story in progress, grin]

An unpopular opinion – Burnham was RIGHT and Georgiou was wrong. The Shenzhou should’ve given the Klingons “The Vulcan Hello.” It might have shocked the Klingons and sent them to regroup. OTOH it may have just resulted in …The Battle at the Binary Stars … anyway. So either a win/lose or a lose/lose, and since the latter happened, it would’ve been worth a try for result #1.

My Canon OTP – Prime Lorca and Cornwell. Though it’s not REALLY established in canon as a romance. I hope it will be. I’d love to see them on Risa or somewhere together and get into an adventure while Discovery’s on a subplot adventure. Or they could be the subplot adventure. I DON’T CARE I JUST WISH I COULD SEE THEM TOGETHER

My non-canon OTP – MU Lorca and Burnham. If only he’d been fighting a just revolution for the rights of all races. Michael may even have joined him, for a time, and returned to the Prime Universe, say, after helping MU Lorca institute a better government after the Emperor’s death. OH WELL.

Most badass character – Tossup between Michael Burnham and Kat Cornwell on the female side both BAFs, and Lorca is a BAF.

Most epic villain - Emperor Georgiou. Farming and eating Kelpiens, honest to god. Killing how many, like 10 people in her throne room because she couldn’t trust them to remain quiet? Blowing up the rebel base, well yuh, I guess that’s to be expected. Quite the opposite of her kind Prime counterpart.

Runner-Up: Kol. He’s a mean Klingon, even by Klingon standards!

Pairing I am not a fan of – Tyler and Burnham, not so much. Something about it seemed a lit-tle forced, and I can’t say what. The actors did a lovely job, but I didn’t see the chemistry that was so obvious between Lorca and Burnham and Lorca and Cornwell.

And this is totally personal and y’all knock yourselves out and enjoy them, but I’m not a big fan of slash pairings in general, i.e., “making a gay couple out of a sisterly or brotherly canon pair of friends.” It’s just not my thing and I know people love to do this because of many personal or fannish reasons, like more representation, and y’all have fun with it. It is a really big thing now. But … I ship Prime Cornwell/Lorca and it isn’t yet established as canon (any more than Kirk/Spock) that they’re a canon OTP, so …

… take my “slash” statement with a grain of salt. What you want is what you want and what I want is what I want, and in fandom we can have All The Things.

I love Stamets and Culber and I love that they are a canon gay OTP.  [Stamets is great because he’s a salty scientist and a BAF (“as I’ve explained to you, Captain”)(injecting himself with tardigrade DNA to save “Ripper” and get the spore drive on line, and Culber is a warm fuzzy person with medical brilliance and compassion, kind of like Dr Crusher in TNG. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating him.]

Character I feel the writers screwed up one way or another – Tyler got it the worst. Couldn’t he have just been a human with Voq’s memories implanted? Jesus, they had to CHOP UP VOQ? At least give me a reason for that. Maybe because L’Rell’s beliefs said Voq would die if his body died? But noooo, no reason is given, and gratuitous bloody surgery scenes are there just [it seems to me] for shock value.

Lorca got fucked over [by the writers] the second he killed that guy outside the Agony Booth – he might could have been redeemed by leading a revolution for just causes.

Also Prime Georgiou. See elsewhere.

And Culber. What could be a worse screwup than killing a character for shock value?

Fave friendship - Burnham and Tilly

Character I most identify with – I am a lot like Tilly in the sense that I can be insecure and unsure and talk wayyy too much. As an older woman I also identify with Cornwell [and love her age-appropriate relationship with (Prime) Lorca, and I hope they’re more than just occasional fuck buddies.] In temperament I also identify with Salty!Lorca or CompassionateCulber or SaltyStamets.

Character I wish I could be – Cornwell or Burnham. Cornwell because she’s brilliant and capable, a psychiatrist, and a BAF Starfleet Admiral … being defiant and fighting L’Rell; with its attendant risks; Burnham because she’s also incredibly brilliant and capable and a BAF herself. Beaming onto the Sarcophagus to plant the sensors? Fighting Kol? I mean dayum.

002

Ships – Cornwell/Lorca [my OTP]; Burnham/Lorca

When I started shipping them – I think when she said, “Gabriel, why don’t you fix your damn eyes.”

[And Burnham/Lorca, when I read LadyFangs’ stories including “Human Nature,” then co-wrote “Human Nature II” with her.]

My thoughts – Headcanon: they didn’t meet till after Lorca graduated the Academy; Cornwell is four years older than he, and is a fully certified M.D. Psychiatrist [12 years] and comes to the Academy Officer Candidate School, which teaches candidates about the service and its history; Federation history as it relates to Starfleet; what it is to be an officer, not a civilian, and basic SERE training, working out, leadership. Kat graduates with a commission as a Lieutenant. My headcanon is that she and Gabriel  actually meet when they each come to SFA for Command Training School. Kat has decided she wants to enter the command track after serving as counselor for a year or so on a Starbase. She’s heard from patients how bad upper leadership leads to a lot of poor decisions in the field, and she feels she can make a positive contribution in this area. More thoughts in my fanfiction at BlackQat on AO3.

What makes me happy about them – They are an age-appropriate couple!! This is pret-ty rare in TV and movies. I note that some actors do seek to have age-appropriate co-stars Cornwell is beautiful, but not a fresh-faced 25-y/o, and sexy Lorca finds her sexy, and yay, there’s hope for women my age, I’m so glad, and that’s why I ship them and write them.

What makes me sad about them – that MU Lorca fucked Cornwell in more than one sense of the word. Bastard! And, that now she feels “my Gabriel is dead.” I really started shipping pretty hard when she said that, and I really hope Season 2 brings us some canon Katriel “more than fuckbuddies” subplots or references.

Things done in fanfic that annoy me ­– Please, writers, I’m beggin’ ya, PLEASE proofread or have a Beta proof your story. I don’t spend much time on things that aren’t proofed and beta’d. I get too distracted from the story because I’m an editor.

If you love slash don’t read this paragraph which is strictly my opinion – It really annoys me when slash shippers tag their stories as het, then turn it into slash. This is stealthy and uncalled for. When slash shippers try to get hits on their stories by, say, tagging it as Spock/Uhura and then having Uhura “generously step out of the way because she realizes Spock has never really been into her, he’s really into Kirk,” blah blah blah, just so the author’s real OTP [not tagged], K/S, can be the OTP in the story. Feh! Just be honest and tag it as slash.

Things I look for in a fanfic – QUALITY WRITING, good proofreading, and BELIEVABLE CHARACTER  PSYCHOLOGY. Also staying fairly true to the characters, maybe pushing the limits, but not too much. [I like to write angsty private Lorca—and the character, so far, is pretty much not so angsty [that was MU Lorca]—yet I still write him as an efficient, sometimes salty captain on the job. [In his private reflections and relationships, though, sometimes, angst.]

I also really love it when an author writes a Trek-like plot, with exploration, a little world-building, or a battle scenario, or alien interactions [something I don’t manage to do that often]. I love romance and angst, occasional fluff, and always, always, a good happy ending or at least a believable and decent resolution for the characters. I don’t like downer endings, but sometimes they’re realistic.

My wishlist – A canon romance for Cornwell and Prime Lorca! But first, FIND PRIME LORCA. He’s fighting alongside the rebels in the MU. He comes back to Prime Uni with Acute Stress Disorder or PTSD. Kat recommends a counselor and checks in with Gabriel to see how it’s going, but not poke her nose into his actual therapy, because that’s not the done thing. Slowly they progress to resume their romance.

Also let’s have another CBSAA series about Pike’s Enterprise. [I know that’s not what you asked.]

Who I’d be comfortable with [my OTP] ending up with, if not each other – Lorca, with Burnham. Cornwell, with … hmmm … unless we go over into cross-over country I just don’t know. Dr. McCoy of AU Trek maybe?

My happily ever after for my OTP – a long-distance romance, occasional meetings on Starbases or Risa or other planets; passionate discussions about Starfleet policy over coffee; passionate other moments [wink-wink-nudge-nudge], shirtless Lorca ;^), followed eventually by retirement somewhere where they can have fun outdoors. I think they’d be hikers and sailors and really dig nature and space travel to many planets.

003. Character

[Ask: Philippa Georgiou]

How I feel about her – the writers gave her a raw deal at the Binary Stars, though she fought like a boss when she fought with T’Kuvma. If only Burnham’s entire subsequent story arc hadn’t depended on her mutiny against a fairly reasonable captain. If only Georgiou had opened with the Vulcan Hello per Burnham’s suggestion and opened negotiations from there. Or discovered the Klingons didn’t want to negotiate, and left the system to regroup with a group of Starfleet ships. OH WELL. Now she’s dead, and that’s really too bad, because she was a good nurturer to Michael. She did let Burnham and Saru bitch at each other too much; I’d have told those two to take it off the Bridge. They were being unprofessional.

Any/all people I ship romantically with her Hmmm. She was a bit of a cipher so far as that went. I feel like she has an old friend / lover she goes on shore leave with. Hetero or bi/pan? IDK. Not sure if she’d have a long-term fully committed relationship; I think she is mother to her crew and that takes much of her emotional energy, but she could’ve been like I hope Gabriel will be and have had a long-distance romance. We have not met a lot of people her age in Discovery except Lorca, Cornwell, and the admirals at Headquarters, and sadly, Georgiou is no more, so the point seems moot.

My fave non-romantic rel for this character – other than “mothering” Michael Burnham, we don’t see a lot of this either. Some fanfic writers have Philippa as Gabriel and Katrina’s Academy classmate, an idea that I really like, although in my fic, she and Katrina are the same age and Gabriel’s a bit younger. [In my headcanon Philippa’s an Academy grad and proceeds straight from there; Kat’s a practicing psychiatrist who goes to Officer Candidate School, getting her commission as a Lieutenant, then straight on to Command Training School – where she meets Lorca and they fall in love.]

My unpopular opinion about this character – she should have listened to Michael and prevented the Battle at the Binary Stars. But could The Vulcan Hello have prevented it? Who knows. The writers had their plans. Alas Philippa paid the price :^(  … she need not have died; the fallout from Burnham’s mutiny could have made for some sparks between them before Burnham went off for sentencing, and Michael could have been equally heartbroken that she had sundered her friendship for a battle prevention tactic.

One thing I wish had happened with the chac in canon – That she had listened to Michael. The Klingons might still have fought, but I feel Burnham was right with the Vulcan Hello and would have set the Klingons back a bit. [Shrug] But then there would have been no Lorca rescuing Burnham, no episodes 3 – 15, so … there we are. As I said above, she could have lived.

Favorite friendship for this character ­– Her friendship with Michael was not one of equals exactly, seeing as their ranks differ greatly. But I like the idea in some fics that she, Lorca and Cornwell are friendly.

My crossover ship ­– Haha, again, I’ve no idea, I don’t tend to think in those terms. Romantically? Matt Decker, before he lost his crew, got ASD and gave his life heroically to stop the Doomsday Machine, maybe. Or a stellar cartographer.

[bastionbabble]

Lambchops and Cigarettes (Zulf, Zia, worksafe, 2074 words)

Zia looks out to sky beyond them, blue for miles, nothing out there but space and a broken veil of clouds. They’re past the stormy wet season and have settled nicely into calm skies and dry winds. Zia pulls her braid over her shoulder and twists it around her fingers like she always does when she’s thinking. The wind billows their clothing and pushes out the sails. They move along easily, although towards what, Zulf doesn’t know. The Kid says he’s searching for the Motherland, but that’s not marked on map. We’ll find it, he always says, but Zulf’s not so sure.

(ao3 link)

It’s more the act of smoking than the cigarette that calms him, but it works all the same, and Zulf sits on the edge of the Bastion and smokes what’s left of his tobacco. It’s been several weeks since they’ve last found civilization; last time, it was a small farming town, with tobacco as its main export, and before that, a group of pastoral nomads. Zulf liked the nomads; they traded meat for song and could play a good tune on the cittern. Sometimes he wonders if they should have stayed. Being a nomad wouldn’t have been so bad, and it was relatively safe, and every night was warm and sleepy. They weren’t with the nomads for long, but Zulf remembers the nights best, the music playing into starlit skies, the taste of fresh, gamey meat, the spiced wine working its way into all his aches. A man with dark eyes and a secret smile. But the Kid wanted to keep moving, so they went on. The Kid always wanted to keep moving. So far, he hadn’t steered them wrong. Zulf would hesitate to say the Kid knew what he was doing, but he knew how to manage, and that was good enough. It was better than anyone else could do, at the very least.

Zulf chews on what’s left of his cigarette, watches wispy clouds roll by below him. Idly, he traces lines through the grooves of his cane lying in the grass next to him, something kindly carved by the Kid. His body could only heal so much, and walking was difficult. The Kid made it easier, like he made everything easier. Zulf reminisces, and someone approaches from behind; he hears footsteps in the grass, and then Zia is standing next to him. She sits down, folding her legs beneath her. Zulf holds his cigarette out to her, but she refuses with a shake of her head. Instead, she asks, “What are you thinking about?”

Zulf takes a big inhale, exhales, taps away the ash. “Lambchops and cigarettes,” he says. “Do you think we should have become nomads?”

Zia looks out to sky beyond them, blue for miles, nothing out there but space and a broken veil of clouds. They’re past the stormy wet season and have settled nicely into calm skies and dry winds. Zia pulls her braid over her shoulder and twists it around her fingers like she always does when she’s thinking. The wind billows their clothing and pushes out the sails. They move along easily, although towards what, Zulf doesn’t know. The Kid says he’s searching for the Motherland, but that’s not marked on map. We’ll find it, he always says, but Zulf’s not so sure.

“…No,” Zia finally says, still fiddling with her braid. “I’m glad we didn’t stay. I think there’s something better out there.”

The wind picks up and snuffs out the last bit of Zulf’s cigarette. He grumbles and flicks the butt into the empty space below. He considers rolling another cigarette, but he’s nearly out of tonacco, and it must be conserved. He grits his teeth to quell the urge to chew. “What out there is better, though?” he asks. “We could have stayed at that last place, we could have been farmers. That wouldn’t have been so bad.”

“You just want tobacco,” Zia says. Zulf smiles only a little. “I don’t want to be a farmer, either. I want to be…”

Zia goes quiet. Zulf thinks about being a farmer. He’s not much for physical labor, but they’d make it out just fine. The people there were hearty and kind, and they spoke a curious and thought dead dialect of Cael, something he would have liked to study, if he had the time. They had a taste for drink and smoke and it was a little indulgent but it wasn’t so bad. Zulf could get used to a little indulgence. But the Kid wanted to move again, so they moved again. Farming would have suited the Kid, but less so the rest of them.

“…I want to be a princess,” Zia finally says. “We’ll keep going until Kid finds me a kingdom. I want a pony, too.” She looks very serious, and for a moment Zulf wonders about her sincerity, and then she’s laughing. Zulf laughs with her and pats her on the head.

“Very well, Princess Zia. Ask Kid, and he’ll do it.” And the Kid would, somehow or another, if she asked. The Kid had made it clear, more through action than word, that he would do anything Zia asked. He spent a week looking for after she’d run away; finding a kingdom wouldn’t seem too big for him. He’d make her a princess, no matter what the cost. He would move mountains for her.

(Sometimes Zulf wonders if the Kid would move mountains for him, too, but that was a thought that makes his teeth ache so he leaves it for a different time.)

Zulf shakes his head. Now’s not the time for that. “But what do you really want to be?” he asks. “Where do you want to be?”

They’d been traveling for a few years and explored many places and met many people, but nothing had managed to please everyone. Zulf still remembers when they first took off. Mostly; he was barely there when the Kid brought him back to the Bastion. It was something divine that kept him alive, he’s sure, although that’s not a theory he’s shared with anyone else. Not everyone is so understanding of his connection to the Gods. The Kid was what else kept him alive, but he supposes that’s what the Kid did for everyone. He supposes that’s what the Kid still does with everyone. But, he remembers being in a tent, warm and dark and nearly dead, and the feeling of the Bastion moving, and wondering if he had actually died. And hoping, back then, and hoping for a long while after that, and now mostly not hoping but sometimes, when things are too quiet and he’s staring up into darkness of his tent and he thinks Maybe—

“You’re thinking too much again.”

Zulf shifts his attention from the expanse in front of him to Zia. She puts her hand over his own. The warmth is grounding, and Maybe— recedes from his mind. “…Yes, of course,” he says. This is one of the many reasons why she’s his favorite. “What were we talking about?”

“About where I wanted to live,” she answers. “And what I wanted to do. I don’t know. Sometimes I think, why don’t we just stay on the Bastion? We’ve lived here long enough, anyway. What’s so bad about it?”

Words worth considering. The Bastion has given them many things, more than it should be capable of; it did curious things, like sprout a garden, and never seemed to run out of water. Rucks said none of it should be possible, but the Bastion has always been one for surprises. It isn’t a bad place to live by any means, and Zulf enjoys it for what it is, but the Bastion has its limitations, too.

“Don’t you want to be with other people?” he asks. “We could have a community outside the four of us.”

Zia shrugs. “What’s wrong with just the four of us? I like it that way.” She screws her mouth up in the way that means she’s measuring her next words. “…It’s more friends than I had before.”

She gives it more weight than it deserves, Zulf thinks, but he doesn’t voice that. “You could have even more friends,” he points out. “Wouldn’t that be fun? There’d be more things to do, too.”

“I guess,” she says. “But I like this. It’s nice. I don’t have to be anything here, either.”

The roles on the Bastion are mutable, and they all take different shifts cooking and cleaning and steering their flying island. Everyone shares jobs and responsibilities. You aren’t anything specific on the Bastion; you just… are.

“Sometimes it’s nice to be something,” Zulf says. It’s very nice to be something, and have a schedule, and have everything in a nice, rigid little form, everything put into perfect boxes. Sometimes Zulf wonders if he’ll ever get to do anything normal again. Something mundane, like going to the post office, or the market. Having a job. Running errands. It all seemed so troublesome, back before the Calamity. Of all the things he thought he’d miss, everyday minutiae was not one of them.

“Well, I don’t want to be something, I want to be me,” Zia huffs, in a way that puts an end to that line of questioning. There was a stubborn streak within Zia, something cultivated from years of being given both everything she wanted and nothing she needed, and it was equal parts admirable and infuriating. It made it so Zia never gave up no matter what the adversity, but also made it so no amount of pleading, cajoling, or threatening to get her to do something she didn’t want to do. More than once the Kid had to throw Zia over his shoulder and carry her over to the timeout corner they’d set up on the Bastion.

Zia inhales through her mouth, exhales through her nose, pinches her braid. She calms. “What about you?” she asks.

This is something Zulf has considered every time they’ve landed somewhere new. Every new civilization they encounter, every new land they explore, shapes and refines what he wants, sands it down until it’s smooth. “Somewhere warm, and near water,” Zulf says.

He thinks of a little island they found, once, long ago, shortly after they first set sail. There was little on it, and nothing from which to get supplies. But there had been a beach, and they spent all day in the sun, running and sleeping and splashing in the water. Even Rucks had joined in. Zia and Zulf glowed pink for days afterwards and the dried and dead skin itched and peeled, but the Kid was left more bronzy than before. It had taken forever to wash the salt out of his hair and the sand out from beneath his nails. That had been the first time he laughed since the Calamity. Zulf thinks of that space when his own becomes too dark and his brain is going Maybe— again, and it helps to settle the strange beating of his heart.

“And what would you be?” Zia asks.

“A diplomat,” he answers. “That is what I’ve been doing. I might as well keep doing it.”

Every new group of people they’ve met, Zulf has been the one to do introductions and keep the peace. More than once a language barrier has resulted in a misunderstanding, mostly by the Kid, and Zulf has been the one to smooth things over. One doesn’t need to know a language to know what angry yelling means. He’s learned how to get by on gestures and pointing and a jovial smile. If—when they meet anyone else, Zulf will be the one to handle the relations. His past life gave him some skills, and he’d be remiss not to use them. It led him well enough before the Calamity. It’s how he gained his love, after after all.

But his past need not be dwelt on, not now. “Why did you come over here?” Zulf asks, switching to the present, to the woman beside him and not the one behind. “Surely not for this conversation.”

“Oh! Right. I came to ask for your help with the laundry.” Zia hops up and holds out her hand out to Zulf. “Will you help me?”

“I helped you with laundry last week,” Zulf says, but still takes her offered hand to help him up, and steadies himself with his cane. “Will you help me with dinner if I do?”

“Maybe,” Zia says in a way that definitely means no.

Zulf sighs. How like her. She links her arm with his and leads him over to the laundry. Perhaps Zia has the right idea; maybe staying on the Bastion isn’t so bad. Maybe they’ll never find anywhere good enough, and live out their lives on the Bastion. Maybe the Motherland will be somewhere warm and quiet and flowing with water. There’s no certainty in the future these days, but Zulf can be certain in Zia, in the Kid, and that’s good enough.

[buycheeseonline]

Everything Cheese Lover’s Should Know

-         Many people enjoy eating Cheese in their meals. It is often said that Cheese has a myriad of uses, from appetizer to dessert.  Nowadays, you can buy Cheese online or order Cheese online.

 How to Make Cheese in Ancients days?  

  

-         Explore the ancient history of food with Cheese! Did you know that even before cows, sheep had been farmed? Around 8000 BC, humans learned to turn milk into cheese using cow stomach curdling enzymes. Even today, we use rennet—an enzyme found in the digestive system of cattle; it's what makes our favourite��dairy product so delicious and addictive! Take your taste buds on an 8000-year-old adventure to find out all the fantastic things cheeses can do for your health.  

  

Have you ever wanted to make Cheese at home?  

-         Making Cheese is a fun and easy process that can be done in your kitchen. It's also an excellent way to save money on groceries.  

  

Follow these steps for the best results.   

  

·         Get started by gathering all of your ingredients together. You will need 1-gallon whole milk, ¼ cup white or cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt.   

·         Next, heat the milk over medium-low heat until it reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius).   

·         Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.   

·         Cover the pot with a lid and let sit for 5 minutes before uncovering again.   

·         Stir gently as curds form into clumps, then cover the pot again for ten more minutes without stirring this time so that they can continue to separate from the whey liquid below them.   

·         Line a colander with a butter muslin cloth or other thin cotton fabric like cheesecloth, then set it over another deep bowl so that there is plenty of room below it for draining off excess liquid later on down the line when you press out the curds after cooking them further still in a hot water bath heated up to 190 degrees Fahrenheit (88 degrees Celsius).   

·         Pour mixture into a prepared colander lined with a butter muslin cloth or other thin cotton fabric like cheesecloth, then gather corners together tightly around the top edge of cloth bundle and tie securely closed using string if necessary but not too tight.  

  

Why we need Cheese?

  

1.      We can use Cheese as an alternative when cooking meat dishes or vegetarian dishes without compromising on taste.  

  

  

Cheese Dishes Commonly Enjoyed: 

a)     Bacon, Egg and Cheese Croissant Ring  

b)     Cheese, Pesto, Veggie and Salmon Scramble  

c)     Bacon Egg and Cheese Sushi  

d)     Cheese and Sausage Quiche  

e)     Cheesy Sausage, Broccoli, and Quinoa Casserole  

f)      Ham and Cheese Pizza  

g)     Blue Cheese Mac-And-Cheese  

h)     The Cheeseburger Salad  

i)      Bacon-Cheese Dip and many more  

  

  

2.      What are the benefits of eating Cheese, and how does it impact our body?  

In a recent study by the Agricultural Extension Service at Cornell University, we found out how drastically eating Cheese can affect your body in so many ways.  

  

ü  One benefit is that this food has a high-fat content, giving us energy for the day.   

ü  Another is that it can help with weight loss because it takes longer to digest than other foods.   

ü  From highlighting your immune system to increasing your lifespan and fertility levels,   

ü  Cheese raises our level of tryptophan – an amino acid that triggers sleepiness and relaxation 

ü  High protein source    

 3.      How much Cheese should we eat in a day  

Aim for two to three servings of dairy per day, and at least one should be a portion of low-fat Cheese. This measurement will help you meet your body's calcium needs and play an essential role in weight management or healthy hair and nails.  

  

4.      There are different types of Cheese - soft, hard, semi-soft, blue-veined.   

Visit Our Website, Order Cheese Online, for more cheese variant and experiment to find what you like best.   

Thank you.  

[easyfoodnetwork]

Food, It Turns Out, Has Little to Do With Why I Love to Travel 

It’s the people that make a place — but these days, human interaction is hard to come by

I used to love to travel. I’d wander through new cities for days on end, eating and drinking (but mostly eating) in four-seat izakayas, farm-driven pizzerias, southern seafood halls, and boat noodle cafes, talking to locals and walking for miles. Restaurants have always been my joyous entry point to a place and its people. The food, I thought, was what made me love to explore the world.

That slowly fading memory — what it felt like to discover a new city, stomach first — is what excited me about going out on the road again, which I did a couple months ago, driving from Los Angeles to Corsicana, Texas and back, stopping to eat in places like Albuquerque, Amarillo, El Paso, and Phoenix.

Let me be clear: I absolutely would not and do not recommend frivolous travel. In my case, a looming publishing deadline on The Bludso Family Cookbook is what sent me on the long, not-so-winding road to Texas in the midst of a global pandemic, where I would be staying with my longtime friend, mentor, colleague, and big brother Kevin Bludso. Once there, we would be cooking, writing, recipe testing, interviewing, living together, and, in all likelihood, drinking a fair quantity of brown spirits at the end of each night (please, someone get that man a Hennessy sponsorship).

I’ve spent the better part of the last 15 years working in the food industry in one capacity or another. I’ve been a bartender, server, chef, culinary director, restaurant consultant, cookbook author, and food writer. My plan since last year had been to continue writing and consulting on the side, but also to finally open my own restaurant. Nothing extravagant. Something small and intimate. A humble, comforting place of my own — clean and well-lit, a true neighborhood restaurant where people can get to know each other, where the food and the service is unassuming and genuine, something with no desire for expansion or duplication. I consider myself unbelievably lucky that I didn’t open a restaurant right before the pandemic hit.

Instead, I’ve spent the last several months at home, making a quarantine cooking show with my wife called Don’t Panic Pantry. It’s been a good distraction, but I thought a work-related excuse to drive through the American Southwest and its expansive desert would be a cleansing, meditative, soul-resetting break from what I’d begun to think of as perpetual purgatory.

I took every precaution. A nasal-swab COVID test right before I departed. I also hopefully still had antibodies (my wife and I both had COVID-19 way back in March). It was, at the very least, the polite thing to do: Get tested before joining someone in their home for two weeks.

I had planned on driving straight through Arizona from LA, avoiding anything except gas stations until I made it to New Mexico, surviving on a sturdy mix of cold brew and air conditioning to keep me awake. I’d never been to New Mexico before. I’d pored over Instagram photos of chile-drenched Southwestern Mexican food, enchiladas oozing with melted cheese, their red and green chile sauces popping with Instagram photo-editing exposure. My usual pre-trip Google map was loaded with thoroughly researched restaurants along my route. In earlier times, I’d have peppered each map point with essential info like hours of operation and must-order dishes; now, I was looking up intel like outdoor seating, takeout quality, and, most crucially, whether or not a place had managed to stay open at all.

I had slowly but gradually heaped unreasonable expectations on a green chile cheeseburger.

I left with a bullish heart. But each stop to fuel up took away a notch of my optimism-fueled excitement and replaced it with caution. Each person in a mask made me a little more depressed; each person without, a little angrier.

Ten hours in and I had made it to New Laguna, New Mexico. I stopped at Laguna Burger, an iconic mini-chain inside of a gas station. It’s a fast-food place to be sure, but according to old photos online there used to be stools set up against the counter, and even a couple of tables and a few chairs. Those are, of course, gone now — pushed to the side of the room and leaving in their place a vacuous emptiness, even for a gas-station dining room. The staff was nice but appropriately wary. I did not partake in the self-serve Kool-Aid pickle jar. I got my food and then sat in my car, emotionally deflated and no longer very excited to eat my first-ever green chile burger — something I had wanted to try for years.

Ordering a burger at a place like this was supposed to be a tiny gateway into the culture and personality of the place, however small that sampling was going to be. There is an emotional atmosphere, a vibe, that’s specific to each and every restaurant, and I had perhaps never been so truly aware that such a thing existed until I noticed it had been zapped entirely from this one. In its place was a blanket of nervous, sad precaution — added to, I’m sure, by my own nervousness.

So I sat in my car with my sack of food, gloomily disappointed even before the first bite. They forgot to salt the fries and it felt oddly appropriate. In this moment, to no fault of the restaurant itself, the food didn’t matter. It couldn’t have. I had slowly but gradually heaped unreasonable expectations on a green chile cheeseburger, wanting it to justify a 12-hour drive and to somehow soothe an anxious mind. But the food, it occurred to me, wasn’t what I was after at all.

Later on, in Albuquerque, I picked up a four-pack of beer from Arrow Point Brewing and received the now familiar and appropriate treatment: measured, cautious polite gratitude. It was a transaction, appreciated by both sides, but with a higher degree of precondition from both sides as well. I followed it up with a takeout bag of enchiladas and a taco from the beloved and iconic Duran’s Pharmacy, taking them back to the motel room I checked myself into earlier. It was 5:30 p.m. The enchiladas had sloshed in the bag. I took a bite and understood: It was comforting, but not nearly enough. Like being single and reconnecting with an ex, only to both immediately discover that there’s nothing there anymore — two empty vessels with no connection beyond a memory.

I took a sip of beer and fell asleep for an hour. When I awoke the city had turned dark and I knew there was no point in going anywhere. The world felt dystopian and deflated. I’d left my redundant, loving, comfortable bubble to experience life alone on the road, and all I wished was that I was right back there with my wife and my dog.

When my wife and I had COVID-19, we lost our sense of smell and taste for a bit. It was, as my wife put it, “a joyless existence.” Now I had my taste back, but somehow the joy of eating was still gone.

The enchiladas, in a box, alone, on the floor of my motel, were just enchiladas. Because here’s a thing I’ve come to understand of late: context really does affect flavor. A place, its atmosphere, the people within it, their mood (and ours) genuinely change the way things taste. A restaurant lasagna has to be twice as good as your mother’s — or that one you had on that trip to Italy — for it to remind you of it even a little. A rack of smoked pork ribs will never taste as good on a ceramic plate atop a tablecloth as it does from within a styrofoam box on the hood of your car, downwind from a roadside smoker. I hope that I never find out what Waffle House tastes like while sober, eaten in broad daylight.

So as it turns out, when it comes to my lifelong love of food and travel, the food might not have mattered — not to the degree I thought it did, anyway. Not without everything that goes along with it. The surly bartender in the dark room who fries your chicken behind the bar at Reel M Inn in Portland while a guy two seats down makes fun of you for being from California is a huge part of why that might be my favorite fried chicken in the world. The friend of a friend who abandoned his family (thanks Marc!) to drive a stranger, me, around Toronto for two days and show off the city’s outstanding versions of goat roti (from Mona’s Roti) and bún riêu cua (from Bong Lua) makes me realize that yes, the food is outstanding, but that it’s the people — excited to show off their hometown, its restaurants, and their community — who make travel worthwhile.

Would Tokyo be my favorite eating city in the world if my now-wife and I hadn’t befriended two total strangers in a six-seat dive bar, knocking back cocktails until we both threw up, only to come through to the other side fully bonded over late-night grilled pork skewers with another stranger who gave me his business card and said that he had been eating in this stall for over a decade? What is a bar without a bartender? It’s just, well, being home.

The restaurant business can be both horrible and wonderful. It pays poorly, it requires incredibly long hours, and in many instances, you are going broke while making food for people who complain that it’s too expensive. But it is, as Anthony Bourdain often said, the Pleasure Business. It has always been a place for camaraderie, human connection, and community. Those were the things that made the nearly unbearable parts of our business worthwhile — and that connection, when you can have a genuine one between staff and customer, is what I think everyone really, truly wants out of the transaction. Those things still exist, I suppose, but all at arm’s length, or across an app.

I still eventually want to open my own restaurant. I think. But maybe I just want to open my memory of what it would have been in a different, earlier world. I don’t want to be a dinosaur, yearning for the good old days. But I also don’t want to live in a world where a third-party tech company stands between the restaurant and its customer. I don’t want someone to visit my city and think that a robot delivering them a sandwich is the best that we have to offer. I don’t want to have to download an app to order a cup of fucking coffee. Human connection, it turns out, is essential too, and we need to find a way to make it a part of our essential businesses again.

So what, in the midst of a health and humanitarian catastrophe, can we do? Well, we can decide where we spend our money. We support human connection and small businesses. We pick up takeout with our own hands from the places and the people that we love (safely, responsibly). We know that it is just gauze pressed against an open, oozing knife wound, but we try anyway.

So we travel because we have to, whether for work or as a needed break from monotony, and we reset our expectations, we open ourselves up to receiving that connection, we seek out the places that are adapting and we smile through our masks, and ask each other how we are doing, if only to show that somebody cares.

When I eventually made it to Corsicana, Texas, hoisting a large bag of dried red New Mexico chiles, I was greeted with an engulfing hug by Kevin Bludso; it was the first truly comforting thing that happened on the whole trip. I melted into the arms of my friend. I was back in a bubble, connected to something.

I spent two glorious weeks in that bubble, taking turns doing Peloton workouts and then drinking vegetable smoothies, before recipe-testing dishes like Fried Whole-Body Crappie and Ham Hock Pinto Beans; researching Kevin’s family history and then, true to form, sipping rye (me) and Hennessy (him) before I had to head home. Kevin’s food was outstanding, but it was made all the better by the time spent together cooking it. So when I readied myself to get out on the road again, my expectations had changed. I knew the food alone could only do so much.

This disease has been a reflection and amplifier of all of our weak points — and the restaurant business is certainly no different. This industry was already ripe with flaws. It has been teetering on the brink of a seismic shift for years — COVID-19 just accelerated it, and all the platitudes, Instagram stories, and false optimism won’t fix anything. But there have always been bad restaurants as well as good restaurants. I suppose it’s no different now. Yet it is maybe just a little bit harder to give and to be open to receiving the human connection that makes the whole experience worthwhile.

I hope that I never find out what Waffle House tastes like while sober, eaten in broad daylight.

I hit the road early, and after about 10 and a half hours, fueled by caffeine, Christopher Cross, and Bonnie Raitt — with one depressing pit stop in El Paso at the famed H&H Car Wash, where an old curmudgeon out front insisted I take off my mask before going inside — I arrived in Las Cruces, at La Nueva Casita Café. I called ahead, hoping not to have to wait so I could just grab my food and get back on the road. My guard was still up, but then the woman on the other end of the phone was so charming and kind that I was immediately disarmed. She graciously steered me toward the chile relleno burrito (“it’ll be the easiest one to eat in the car”). A few minutes later I came inside to pick up my food and the two women behind the counter were, frankly, a delight. I paid, and was promptly handed my food and thanked with genuine, casual appreciation for coming in. The burrito was excellent.

Bolstered by the kindness of strangers, I drove another five and a half hours into Phoenix. As a bit of an obsessive pizza maker (I had the tremendous fortune to train with Frank Pinello of Best Pizza in Williamsburg, and also had a hand in helping to open Prime Pizza in Los Angeles), I was here to try the new 18-inch New York-style fusion pie by the great Chris Bianco at their Pane Bianco outpost on Central.

Just as at La Nueva Casita Café, the staff was friendly, genuine, helpful, and kind. In retrospect, it took so little but it meant so much. When I expressed a need for caffeine, they sent me next door to Lux Central for a large iced coffee, where the barista talked to me from a responsible distance, wished me a safe drive, and gave me a free blueberry muffin. Even eaten in my car, Chris’s pizza was truly outstanding — crisp, thin, and pliable, successfully pulling off the New York-modern Neapolitan (ish) fusion that, in lesser hands, turns into an 18-inch bowl of soup.

I drove the last six hours home, finding myself encouraged by these final two restaurant experiences, excited by what the best in our industry are still somehow capable of in spite of everything. It was, frankly, inspirational to find genuine interaction, care, and kindness in this new reality.

It reminds me of my mother, actually. I remember when I was a kid, she would pick up the phone to call a restaurant, or Blockbuster Video, to ask them a question. I would always hear her say something like: “Hi Randy! How are you today?” and I would say, “Mom! Do you know him?” and she would shake her head no. Then she would say, “Oh that’s great to hear, Randy. Hey listen, what time do you close today?” My brother and I used to make fun of her for that — for forcing this connection with someone she had no real relationship with beyond an exchange of services. Now, I plan to do exactly that, whenever and wherever I can.

Noah Galuten is a chef, James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author, and the co-host of Don’t Panic Pantry. Nhung Le is a Vietnamese freelance illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/34Oc66Q https://ift.tt/34RJ8TD

It’s the people that make a place — but these days, human interaction is hard to come by

I used to love to travel. I’d wander through new cities for days on end, eating and drinking (but mostly eating) in four-seat izakayas, farm-driven pizzerias, southern seafood halls, and boat noodle cafes, talking to locals and walking for miles. Restaurants have always been my joyous entry point to a place and its people. The food, I thought, was what made me love to explore the world.

That slowly fading memory — what it felt like to discover a new city, stomach first — is what excited me about going out on the road again, which I did a couple months ago, driving from Los Angeles to Corsicana, Texas and back, stopping to eat in places like Albuquerque, Amarillo, El Paso, and Phoenix.

Let me be clear: I absolutely would not and do not recommend frivolous travel. In my case, a looming publishing deadline on The Bludso Family Cookbook is what sent me on the long, not-so-winding road to Texas in the midst of a global pandemic, where I would be staying with my longtime friend, mentor, colleague, and big brother Kevin Bludso. Once there, we would be cooking, writing, recipe testing, interviewing, living together, and, in all likelihood, drinking a fair quantity of brown spirits at the end of each night (please, someone get that man a Hennessy sponsorship).

I’ve spent the better part of the last 15 years working in the food industry in one capacity or another. I’ve been a bartender, server, chef, culinary director, restaurant consultant, cookbook author, and food writer. My plan since last year had been to continue writing and consulting on the side, but also to finally open my own restaurant. Nothing extravagant. Something small and intimate. A humble, comforting place of my own — clean and well-lit, a true neighborhood restaurant where people can get to know each other, where the food and the service is unassuming and genuine, something with no desire for expansion or duplication. I consider myself unbelievably lucky that I didn’t open a restaurant right before the pandemic hit.

Instead, I’ve spent the last several months at home, making a quarantine cooking show with my wife called Don’t Panic Pantry. It’s been a good distraction, but I thought a work-related excuse to drive through the American Southwest and its expansive desert would be a cleansing, meditative, soul-resetting break from what I’d begun to think of as perpetual purgatory.

I took every precaution. A nasal-swab COVID test right before I departed. I also hopefully still had antibodies (my wife and I both had COVID-19 way back in March). It was, at the very least, the polite thing to do: Get tested before joining someone in their home for two weeks.

I had planned on driving straight through Arizona from LA, avoiding anything except gas stations until I made it to New Mexico, surviving on a sturdy mix of cold brew and air conditioning to keep me awake. I’d never been to New Mexico before. I’d pored over Instagram photos of chile-drenched Southwestern Mexican food, enchiladas oozing with melted cheese, their red and green chile sauces popping with Instagram photo-editing exposure. My usual pre-trip Google map was loaded with thoroughly researched restaurants along my route. In earlier times, I’d have peppered each map point with essential info like hours of operation and must-order dishes; now, I was looking up intel like outdoor seating, takeout quality, and, most crucially, whether or not a place had managed to stay open at all.

I had slowly but gradually heaped unreasonable expectations on a green chile cheeseburger.

I left with a bullish heart. But each stop to fuel up took away a notch of my optimism-fueled excitement and replaced it with caution. Each person in a mask made me a little more depressed; each person without, a little angrier.

Ten hours in and I had made it to New Laguna, New Mexico. I stopped at Laguna Burger, an iconic mini-chain inside of a gas station. It’s a fast-food place to be sure, but according to old photos online there used to be stools set up against the counter, and even a couple of tables and a few chairs. Those are, of course, gone now — pushed to the side of the room and leaving in their place a vacuous emptiness, even for a gas-station dining room. The staff was nice but appropriately wary. I did not partake in the self-serve Kool-Aid pickle jar. I got my food and then sat in my car, emotionally deflated and no longer very excited to eat my first-ever green chile burger — something I had wanted to try for years.

Ordering a burger at a place like this was supposed to be a tiny gateway into the culture and personality of the place, however small that sampling was going to be. There is an emotional atmosphere, a vibe, that’s specific to each and every restaurant, and I had perhaps never been so truly aware that such a thing existed until I noticed it had been zapped entirely from this one. In its place was a blanket of nervous, sad precaution — added to, I’m sure, by my own nervousness.

So I sat in my car with my sack of food, gloomily disappointed even before the first bite. They forgot to salt the fries and it felt oddly appropriate. In this moment, to no fault of the restaurant itself, the food didn’t matter. It couldn’t have. I had slowly but gradually heaped unreasonable expectations on a green chile cheeseburger, wanting it to justify a 12-hour drive and to somehow soothe an anxious mind. But the food, it occurred to me, wasn’t what I was after at all.

Later on, in Albuquerque, I picked up a four-pack of beer from Arrow Point Brewing and received the now familiar and appropriate treatment: measured, cautious polite gratitude. It was a transaction, appreciated by both sides, but with a higher degree of precondition from both sides as well. I followed it up with a takeout bag of enchiladas and a taco from the beloved and iconic Duran’s Pharmacy, taking them back to the motel room I checked myself into earlier. It was 5:30 p.m. The enchiladas had sloshed in the bag. I took a bite and understood: It was comforting, but not nearly enough. Like being single and reconnecting with an ex, only to both immediately discover that there’s nothing there anymore — two empty vessels with no connection beyond a memory.

I took a sip of beer and fell asleep for an hour. When I awoke the city had turned dark and I knew there was no point in going anywhere. The world felt dystopian and deflated. I’d left my redundant, loving, comfortable bubble to experience life alone on the road, and all I wished was that I was right back there with my wife and my dog.

When my wife and I had COVID-19, we lost our sense of smell and taste for a bit. It was, as my wife put it, “a joyless existence.” Now I had my taste back, but somehow the joy of eating was still gone.

The enchiladas, in a box, alone, on the floor of my motel, were just enchiladas. Because here’s a thing I’ve come to understand of late: context really does affect flavor. A place, its atmosphere, the people within it, their mood (and ours) genuinely change the way things taste. A restaurant lasagna has to be twice as good as your mother’s — or that one you had on that trip to Italy — for it to remind you of it even a little. A rack of smoked pork ribs will never taste as good on a ceramic plate atop a tablecloth as it does from within a styrofoam box on the hood of your car, downwind from a roadside smoker. I hope that I never find out what Waffle House tastes like while sober, eaten in broad daylight.

So as it turns out, when it comes to my lifelong love of food and travel, the food might not have mattered — not to the degree I thought it did, anyway. Not without everything that goes along with it. The surly bartender in the dark room who fries your chicken behind the bar at Reel M Inn in Portland while a guy two seats down makes fun of you for being from California is a huge part of why that might be my favorite fried chicken in the world. The friend of a friend who abandoned his family (thanks Marc!) to drive a stranger, me, around Toronto for two days and show off the city’s outstanding versions of goat roti (from Mona’s Roti) and bún riêu cua (from Bong Lua) makes me realize that yes, the food is outstanding, but that it’s the people — excited to show off their hometown, its restaurants, and their community — who make travel worthwhile.

Would Tokyo be my favorite eating city in the world if my now-wife and I hadn’t befriended two total strangers in a six-seat dive bar, knocking back cocktails until we both threw up, only to come through to the other side fully bonded over late-night grilled pork skewers with another stranger who gave me his business card and said that he had been eating in this stall for over a decade? What is a bar without a bartender? It’s just, well, being home.

The restaurant business can be both horrible and wonderful. It pays poorly, it requires incredibly long hours, and in many instances, you are going broke while making food for people who complain that it’s too expensive. But it is, as Anthony Bourdain often said, the Pleasure Business. It has always been a place for camaraderie, human connection, and community. Those were the things that made the nearly unbearable parts of our business worthwhile — and that connection, when you can have a genuine one between staff and customer, is what I think everyone really, truly wants out of the transaction. Those things still exist, I suppose, but all at arm’s length, or across an app.

I still eventually want to open my own restaurant. I think. But maybe I just want to open my memory of what it would have been in a different, earlier world. I don’t want to be a dinosaur, yearning for the good old days. But I also don’t want to live in a world where a third-party tech company stands between the restaurant and its customer. I don’t want someone to visit my city and think that a robot delivering them a sandwich is the best that we have to offer. I don’t want to have to download an app to order a cup of fucking coffee. Human connection, it turns out, is essential too, and we need to find a way to make it a part of our essential businesses again.

So what, in the midst of a health and humanitarian catastrophe, can we do? Well, we can decide where we spend our money. We support human connection and small businesses. We pick up takeout with our own hands from the places and the people that we love (safely, responsibly). We know that it is just gauze pressed against an open, oozing knife wound, but we try anyway.

So we travel because we have to, whether for work or as a needed break from monotony, and we reset our expectations, we open ourselves up to receiving that connection, we seek out the places that are adapting and we smile through our masks, and ask each other how we are doing, if only to show that somebody cares.

When I eventually made it to Corsicana, Texas, hoisting a large bag of dried red New Mexico chiles, I was greeted with an engulfing hug by Kevin Bludso; it was the first truly comforting thing that happened on the whole trip. I melted into the arms of my friend. I was back in a bubble, connected to something.

I spent two glorious weeks in that bubble, taking turns doing Peloton workouts and then drinking vegetable smoothies, before recipe-testing dishes like Fried Whole-Body Crappie and Ham Hock Pinto Beans; researching Kevin’s family history and then, true to form, sipping rye (me) and Hennessy (him) before I had to head home. Kevin’s food was outstanding, but it was made all the better by the time spent together cooking it. So when I readied myself to get out on the road again, my expectations had changed. I knew the food alone could only do so much.

This disease has been a reflection and amplifier of all of our weak points — and the restaurant business is certainly no different. This industry was already ripe with flaws. It has been teetering on the brink of a seismic shift for years — COVID-19 just accelerated it, and all the platitudes, Instagram stories, and false optimism won’t fix anything. But there have always been bad restaurants as well as good restaurants. I suppose it’s no different now. Yet it is maybe just a little bit harder to give and to be open to receiving the human connection that makes the whole experience worthwhile.

I hope that I never find out what Waffle House tastes like while sober, eaten in broad daylight.

I hit the road early, and after about 10 and a half hours, fueled by caffeine, Christopher Cross, and Bonnie Raitt — with one depressing pit stop in El Paso at the famed H&H Car Wash, where an old curmudgeon out front insisted I take off my mask before going inside — I arrived in Las Cruces, at La Nueva Casita Café. I called ahead, hoping not to have to wait so I could just grab my food and get back on the road. My guard was still up, but then the woman on the other end of the phone was so charming and kind that I was immediately disarmed. She graciously steered me toward the chile relleno burrito (“it’ll be the easiest one to eat in the car”). A few minutes later I came inside to pick up my food and the two women behind the counter were, frankly, a delight. I paid, and was promptly handed my food and thanked with genuine, casual appreciation for coming in. The burrito was excellent.

Bolstered by the kindness of strangers, I drove another five and a half hours into Phoenix. As a bit of an obsessive pizza maker (I had the tremendous fortune to train with Frank Pinello of Best Pizza in Williamsburg, and also had a hand in helping to open Prime Pizza in Los Angeles), I was here to try the new 18-inch New York-style fusion pie by the great Chris Bianco at their Pane Bianco outpost on Central.

Just as at La Nueva Casita Café, the staff was friendly, genuine, helpful, and kind. In retrospect, it took so little but it meant so much. When I expressed a need for caffeine, they sent me next door to Lux Central for a large iced coffee, where the barista talked to me from a responsible distance, wished me a safe drive, and gave me a free blueberry muffin. Even eaten in my car, Chris’s pizza was truly outstanding — crisp, thin, and pliable, successfully pulling off the New York-modern Neapolitan (ish) fusion that, in lesser hands, turns into an 18-inch bowl of soup.

I drove the last six hours home, finding myself encouraged by these final two restaurant experiences, excited by what the best in our industry are still somehow capable of in spite of everything. It was, frankly, inspirational to find genuine interaction, care, and kindness in this new reality.

It reminds me of my mother, actually. I remember when I was a kid, she would pick up the phone to call a restaurant, or Blockbuster Video, to ask them a question. I would always hear her say something like: “Hi Randy! How are you today?” and I would say, “Mom! Do you know him?” and she would shake her head no. Then she would say, “Oh that’s great to hear, Randy. Hey listen, what time do you close today?” My brother and I used to make fun of her for that — for forcing this connection with someone she had no real relationship with beyond an exchange of services. Now, I plan to do exactly that, whenever and wherever I can.

Noah Galuten is a chef, James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author, and the co-host of Don’t Panic Pantry. Nhung Le is a Vietnamese freelance illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY.

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A Healthy Hedonist’s Guide to Slovenia

The question I got asked the most this summer (besides why I decided to elope) was what made me choose Slovenia for our big summer trip. (And, er, where is that, again?)

The answer feels a little silly: it’s because of the Netflix show Chef’s Table. When I watched the season 2 episode featuring Ana Ros and her restaurant Hisa Franko, I was blown away by how beautiful the country looked. Sure, the cinematographers on that show could make a dingy back alley seem romantic. But there was something about the place that felt special—a secret oasis of natural wonders untouched by mass tourism, despite it being just a stone’s throw from the Italian border.

A few months later, I saw that one of my favorite Hashi Posse members, Sarah Wilson, had adventured there. Hearing her rave about the diverse scenery, eco culture, and fresh (gluten-free friendly) cuisine, put it even higher on my bucket list.

So when Charlie and I began discussing another European summer road trip earlier this spring, I thought it would be the perfect place to get the best of the mountains, alpine lakes, and Adriatic seashores—all the hot spots of the summer high season—without having to spend 50 euro a person at every meal.

The country surpassed our expectations in every way imaginable, and though we had a full 10 days to explore, it felt like we were only scratching the surface. That said, one of the hallmarks that makes Slovenia worth at least a week of your time is that you can cover so many different landscapes in a short distance.

With less than three hours of driving, you can visit the fairytale capital city of Ljubljana—with a public recycling system that’s even more impressive than its castle—laze by the water in the quaint, postcard-perfect town of Lake Bled, explore the otherworldly underground caves in Postojna, invoke your inner mountain goat in the Julian Alps, raft in the emerald waters of the Socca River, taste countless natural wines in Goriška Brda (Slovenia’s Napa), and float along the salty shores of the Mediterranean in Piran.

With a population of only 2 million, even during the busiest weekends of summer, the country still felt refreshingly empty and undeveloped. We barely heard any English speakers while we were there, and yet, due to its history, most Slovenians speak perfect English, along with several other languages.

Neighboring Italy, Austria, Hungry and Croatia, the country’s borders have been a constant moving target. Until voting overwhelmingly for independence in 1991, the country was the economic breadwinner of Yugoslavia. It was also the only present-day European nation to be completely absorbed and annexed into Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Hungary during World War II.

Despite this tumultuous history (or perhaps because of it?), the center of Slovenian pride and culture is love. There was far more tourist regalia dedicated to the fact that it’s the only country with love literally spelled out in the name than the fact that Melania Trump came from there. More importantly, the combination of being an international nexus, with a rich landscape, and heart-led people, meant truly memorable food.

Read on for my tips on eating gluten-free in Slovenia, the best restaurants we tried, hotels with stayed in, and how to plan an epic road trip itinerary.

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

How to Eat Gluten-Free in Slovenia

Thanks to the neighboring countries, you’ll encounter a lot of different culinary influences depending on where you are in Slovenia.

There’s the humble Hungarian-influenced peasant food that uses some combination of sausage, sauerkraut, beans and barley. Homemade pastas and Italian-style pizzerias on every corner. And no shortage of beer at the tavern-like Gostilnas across the country.

Farm-to-table local ingredients reign supreme throughout, with specialties including trout from the socca river, game meats like venison and rabbit, and all manner of wild mushrooms. If you’re a truffle lover, you might just pass out eating in Slovenia, where you can get freshly shaved truffles on appetizers that cost less than 15 euro. Take advantage of the porcini and chanterelles too!

Eating gluten-free in Slovenia was fairly easy. While servers aren’t as knowledgeable about cross-contamination and the particulars (so many thought barley was GF) as in Italy, many menus had in depth allergen indexes or icons.

Even at more rustic gostilnas (inn-restaurants), you can find some simple options like grilled trout with a side of spinachy potatoes, baked sausage with sauerkraut, grilled polenta, or a large salad with the oil and vinegar on the side to dress yourself. Plus, one of the most prevalent grains was buckwheat, which was served as risotto or a hardy side in its whole grain form.

10 Days in Slovenia: A Road Trip Itinerary

Our time in Slovenia was designed around two main events: a 3-day trek through the Julian Alps and the Socca Valley, and dinner at Hisa Franko, which we locked in before we even had plane tickets!

Below is a snapshot of our itinerary, with slight modifications for how I wish we had done things. We had a lot of guidance from our travel guru, Miha at SloTrips, and I know we wouldn’t have been able to design such a comprehensive, robust experience without him.

Especially if you’re looking for more than just day hikes, I’d highly recommend working with SloTrips to design your adventure itinerary. They can put together your whole trip for you, including arranging wineries, hotels and restaurant reservations. But if you don’t want to go all in like a traditional travel agent, I would at least recommend having them handle a hut to hut hiking experience for you, which we would have never been able to dream up or execute ourselves from the States.

Charlie and I are not ones for organized group travel. We don’t like spending most of our trip with strangers! So the self-guided option was perfect. Miha handed off a detailed packet of instructions for every stop we made on our trip and directions down to the turn for our hike so we didn’t get lost. He arranged transfers for the bikes, and to bring us back to our car when we finished. He even gave us a local smart phone with all the contacts built in, PDF’s and marked maps to follow.

Since we knew so little about Slovenia before going, it was also a treat to have someone give us a whole rundown on the history and fairytale lore behind each town we visited, and the best restaurant and local artisans to try. Miha put together an insanely comprehensive 40+ page guide for us that was like our own personalized Lonely Planet. I give full credit to him for half of the delicious things we ate listed below!

A few other notes:

We found the cheapest direct flights through Venice, which is about 2 1/2 hours by car to Ljubljana. To connect through another major city by plane would have taken roughly the same amount of time and was more expensive. We opted to design our trip around a few days in Venice on the backend, which was a fun way to round out the trip.

Instead of spending 3 nights in Piran, if we had it to do over again, we would have added a second night upfront in Ljubljana. It’s small enough to do in 24 hours, but also quite a pleasant place to ease into the trip, learn more about Slovenian culture, eat great food, and more importantly, get over your jetlag before more adventurous outdoor activities await.

Day 1: Arrive in Venice and drive to Ljubljana. Wander the canal in the afternoon and enjoy dinner at Spajza.

Day 2: In the morning, visit Central Market and explore the castle. Drive to Bled (45 minutes) in the afternoon. Walk around the perimeter of the lake. Enjoy dinner at Castle Bled Restaurant.

Day 3: Relax by the water and rent a paddle board or canoe to visit the island in the center. Do a nearby hike to visit one of the great overlooks over the water. Another option would be to rent bikes, take the train to Lake Bohinj (25 minutes), and explore that region.

Day 4 – 5: Drive to Kranjska Gora and begin hut to hut hike through the Julian Alps and into the Socca Valley.

Day 6: Finish the hike. Return to your car and drive to Kobarid in the Socca Valley. Go to Hisa Franko for dinner and stay there for the night!

Day 7: Drive to wine country and do a tasting at one of the many fabulous wineries. You can also pop over to Friuli on the Italian side. Another option is to visit the caves in Postojna. Arrive in Piran in the evening.

Day 8: Relax in Piran. Bike through Portorosso to the salt flats and dip in the Adriatic. Enjoy dinner at Pri Mari.

Day 9: Optional day trip to Croatia or unwind again by the sea in Piran.

Day 10: Return to Venice and fly home.

LJUBLJANA

What to Do and Where to Stay in Ljubljana

Though it houses a third of the population, Slovenia’s capital feels more like a town than a city. You can easily explore all the major landmarks in the old quarter in 24 hours. But it might be worth spending a second night there to try more of the fabulous restaurants and experience some of the more idiosyncratic remnants of socialism, like the pay-by-the-kilo art galleries, or cafes where you can hang out all day like it’s your home and just pay for your time when you leave.

For recommendations on great shops, music and art to check out, my friend Bianca’s article is a great guide. For more recommendations on restaurants that we didn’t have time to try, Sarah Wilson’s post is another great resource.

Hotel Cubo

We loved the sleek feel of this boutique hotel and its proximity to the center of old town. Request a room facing the castle!

Where to Eat in Ljubljana: The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants

Spajza

This restaurant on a quaint side street in old town was the perfect mix of old school Slovenian fare and refined farm-to-table cuisine. Make sure to take advantage of the extensive seasonal specials, which during our stay, included a wealth of fresh truffles (for a fraction of the price you’d find in Italy). I had a beautiful appetizer of baked scallops on the half shell with buttery chanterelles, and Charlie enjoyed mixed mushrooms and truffles with eggs. While my duck breast special was a little tough and undercooked, his entree was the real winner: bacon wrapped rabbit over a silky-smooth pea puree. It was good enough to forgive carving up one of my childhood friends alongside my spirit animal, “young horse,” which appeared multiple times on the menu as a specialty.

TaBar

Off the main canal drag, this small tapas bar is a great option for small plates or a light lunch of fresh local ingredients. The menu is well marked for allergies, and I was able to order a beautiful trout crudo with roe and grilled octopus.

Gelateria Romantika

It was a true treat to find gelato on the same level as neighboring Italy, but with inventive flavors like cucumber-lime and strawberry-basil. The former was a tart, refreshing revelation. And needless to say, there were plenty of options for dairy-free folks and vegans alike. Had I risked a little more cream before our hiking trip, I would have had the black sesame – it was insane. Sadly no GF cones, FYI.

Monstera Bistro

We didn’t manage to make it to this modern space with minimal, creative dishes. But heard great things! At dinner time the service is more formal with elaborate tasting menus. Go for lunch if you want a casual a la carte experience.

LAKE BLED

What to Do in Lake Bled

Lake Bled is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Slovenia, and can be swarmed with people during peak summer weekends. That said, it’s a relatively small town that’s mostly dominated by the lake. And since there are very few hotels and villas built around its perimeter, you can almost always find a quiet place to perch for the day.

The lake itself has garnered a lot of folklore over the years (you’ll notice there’s a lot of fairytale speak built into Slovenia’s major landmarks, in general). Besides the fairies who initially inhabited the valley and eventually flooded it to prevent the nearby shepherds from letting their flock feast off its mossy floor, the biggest lake legend involves the gold bell originally intended for the church in the center of the lake, which upon initial transport, sank to the depths, never to be recovered.

In later history, the lake has also been home to Nazi outposts during WWII, and is said to be the final resting place of several intelligence resources, and a large swath of hidden gold. Note to self: don’t leave anything in the lake that you intend to find again.

The perimeter is around 6 kilometers and has a well-groomed flat walkway along the edge that’s perfect for a light stroll. The sidewalk gets a little too congested for a pleasant bike ride during the high season (when we were there) but bikes make for a great way to get to and from dinner, since the roads themselves are even more congested. When we mapped out our journey one night, it was actually faster to walk than drive!

About a 25 minute train ride away from Bled is a second lake that’s equally beautiful and much less crowded. Sadly, we did not make it to Bohinj to confirm this, but if you have trouble finding accommodations in Bled, it would be the perfect alternative for visiting the lake region, or a second option for daytime activities, should you find Bled too mobbed.

Where to Stay in Lake Bled

Garden Village Bled

We chose to glamp at this fabulous matrix of tree houses and tents rather than opt for a traditional hotel. It’s a little pricey for what you get (and compared to some of the more formal hotels in the area), but we wouldn’t have traded the experience of sleeping by a beautiful creek, above an estuary of trout, and getting to relax by their man-made “beach” during the day. The restaurant on site is quite tasty and they source all the produce from the garden on the premises (and fish from those waterways!). Had we done it over again, we would have splurged for one of the larger tree houses cabins or tents versus the pier tents we stayed in (where you couldn’t stand up).

Vila Bled

The old country home of former Yugoslav president Tito, this beautiful villa is on the lake and includes a secluded area of beach chairs right on the water. You can also rent paddle boards and boats straight from their boathouse. We didn’t get to see the rooms, but the prices seemed reasonable given the grounds on offer.

The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants in Lake Bled

Bled Castle Restaurant

You can’t beat the views at this elegant restaurant overlooking the lake. While ordinarily one might expect overpriced and uninspired fare fitting of such a tourist venue (inside the Bled Castle), instead the tasting menu is refined without being fussy. If you let them know in advance, they will also provide homemade gluten-free options, which for me included a gorgeous tart stuffed with pumpkin and fresh local mozzarella, instead of the pasta course. The highlight of an all-around tasty meal was a seared trout served with buckwheat risotto. Sadly, it rained the night we went, so we enjoyed our meal inside the modern, minimalist interior, but ordinarily, there is outdoor seating cliff-side with a perfect vantage point of the island.

Penzion Berc

Despite it being ranked as number 1 on TripAdvisor, we found this restaurant to be hit or miss. The ambiance was beautiful, housed in a courtyard garden (with a live pianist) a kilometer or so from the lakeside. The white glove service was painfully slow, and the food similarly uptight. But there were some nice dishes, including a venison main course, wild mushroom risotto, and a light, cream-free carrot soup.

Ostarijia Peglez’n

Slovenia takes its fine dining seriously, and most of the plates we ate while in the country were carefully composed. But as you know, I’m usually happier in a cozy trattoria environment. Which is one of the reasons I so enjoyed my meal at this little mom and pop fish shop. It’s a great option for a simple lunch or unfussy dinner of reasonably priced seafood. We got a fish for two served in a large roasting pan with mixed vegetables and potatoes.

Restaurant Vrtnarija (at Garden Village Bled)

If you’re looking for an unpretentious farm-to-table (or garden to table) meal, the restaurant on site of Garden Village Bled is a great option. It’s particularly fun for lunch in the daylight since you can sit in the middle of their man-made pool and feast on tables covered in live grass. Make sure to order a side salad with their beautiful fresh assorted greens. The chicken skewers with rice off the kids menu was a safe and satisfying meal after so many indulgent ones at fancier restaurants.

Sova

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to this cute wine bar just a short walk from our glamping site, but I heard great things. I wish we had tried it instead of Penzion Berc!

THE JULIAN ALPS AND THE SOCCA VALLEY

Your jumping off point for all things outdoor adventure is southwest of the capital, in the towns of Kranjska Gora, Bovec and Kobarid. The first was where we begun our hut to hut hike into the Alps, but you can also find some beautiful day hikes. Bovec, where our trek ended, is where you can book other activities like mountain biking, rafting and sky diving.

So many of the pictures you see throughout this post were taken from our SloTrips 3-day adventure. It was an incredible way to see the country as it morphed from densely wooded forests, to craggy peaks, to mossy Fern Gully banks that lined the socca river. A day hike along the river is a must, though the water looks more inviting than it is. We could only stand putting our feet in for 30 seconds before they went numb!

Going from hut to hut also allowed us to taste some humble mountain foods like sausage and sauerkraut stew. As someone with an information-based business myself, I don’t want to give away our hiking itinerary. So make sure to get in touch with SloTrips if you’re interested in designing your own adventure.

We ended our hike in the Socca valley, which is insanely green and dotted with beautiful medieval churches. In Kobarid, we stayed at an AirBNB apiary for the night among the bees, which was a cool experience, before heading to Hisa Franko for our culinary reward.

They offer a small number of moderately-priced rooms above the restaurant, and if you’re going to be eating dinner there, I highly recommend you try to book for the whole night, as the wine pairing was generous and not to be missed!

So, as for the main event…

The meal at Hisa Franko blew me away. As you know, I’m not one for Michelin star, molecularly overly wrought meals. On the surface, this is what you get during your 11 course tasting menu. But Ana Ros’ cuisine is infused with so much more soul than the sum of her foams combined.

Our favorite dishes were among the most simple: her trout in a milky broth with briny beets to cut the fat, and the only substantial meat course, a beautiful venison medallion with anchovy butter and spruce dust that tasted like the forest.

The iconic pasta dish is sadly not gluten-free. Instead, they served me a delicate sardine. But I stole a little taste of Charlie’s ham and hazelnut broth. It was insane. I would recommend all GF folks request a cup of the broth without the pasta. I asked them if I could have it instead of one of the desserts and they laughed politely and said no.

My favorite part of the experience was Ana and Valter’s hospitality. They aren’t present in the dining room or kitchen during service, but since the restaurant is an extension of their home, you can see them having family dinner with their kids and wandering around during the day. They are incredibly friendly and make you feel at home.

GORISKA BRDA WINE REGION

These hills, a stone’s throw from Italy’s Fiuli region, are considered the Slovenian Napa. It’s a small area with lots of producers clustered around, and many have restaurants on the premises that offer tastings along with a tasty meal. There’s a large influence from Italy and much of the meats and cheeses (as well as the tourists) come from across the border.

Since most of these wineries of small family-run operations, you can’t just show up. Email them in advance to set up a tasting session or lunch reservation.

The wineries recommended to us were Klinec Medana for orange wines, Movia for natural whites, Edi Simcic for great reds, and Erzetic to learn from a younger next generation producer. We had a lovely lunch at Klinec Medada with overlooking the grapes with beautiful produce from their neighboring farm. I wasn’t as wild about the orange wines, but they were interesting to try.

The wine pairing at Hisa Franko introduced us to a lot of lesser known producers, and throughout the rest of the trip we tried many of the above wineries off the restaurant lists, so by the time we made it to wine country, we didn’t feel the need to do more than 1 appointment.

In general, the wine in Slovenia is mostly natural, organic and biodynamic. We got to try some interesting grapes I wasn’t familiar with like Malvasia, and generally loved everything we tried. If you find a Slovenian wine on a your menu, order it!

PIRAN

Last but not least, we made our way to the Istrian Peninsula, which is home to Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. In fact, if you lived in Piran for most of your life, there’s a chance that you’ve had citizenship to 4 different countries as the borders changed.

What to Do in Piran

This sleepy seaside village is the perfect place to unwind after a rigorous few days of adventuring. The Adriatic sea is incredibly buoyant, pristine, and perfect for habitual porpoising. You won’t find sandy shores, but the perimeter of town is lined with some pebbly patches to perch, and plenty of small concrete docks to dive off of if a dip is all you’re after.

The high salt content also makes it a hub for sea salt production. If reading by the rocky shore isn’t enough activity for you, try renting bikes and visiting the salt pans 5 kilometers outside town center towards Portorosso, the more commercial stretch of the marina. It’s an easy flat ride along the shore. Otherwise, your best bet for exercise is to hike up to the church at the center of town and take in the view.

Where to Stay in Piran

Hotel Piran

This is the main game in town, and though we found it a little shabby and overpriced for you what you get, you can’t beat the location and view. The rooftop restaurant is a great place for an evening spritz as the sunsets. And the breakfast buffet even had GF bread!

Note that cars aren’t allowed in the town center, but some hotels like Piran offer a shuttle service so you can drop off your bags and then return your car to the lot at the edge of town and get a ride back in. The hotel also offers bikes to rent that were very pleasant for exploring the outlying areas.

The Best Gluten-Free Restaurants in Piran

Pri Mari

We loved this cozy gostilna so much that after a mediocre experience at Pavel (don’t recommend), we decided to go back a second time for dinner. The sea bass baked in sea salt with baked potatoes and spinach is the perfect simple meal. For those who can partake, Charlie raved about his vongole pasta. And I was majorly smitten with my saffron risotto with prawns. Make sure if you’re celiac to avoid the crispy potatoes that come with some of the single serving fish entrees as there’s cross contamination in the fryer. Don’t miss the pannacotta for dessert and ask for a special aperitif to go with it. Whatever bitter anise-y spirit they served was just what we wanted.

Rizibizi

A short walk or bike ride outside town towards Portorosso, this restaurant is one of the more formal in the area, with prices to match. Still, the prawn and truffle risotto was affordable by US and Italy standards. We also had a beautiful beef carpaccio with truffles. Basically, we ate an entire truffle between the two of us and had no regrets.

Pavel

Right in the center of town by the shore, this restaurant is slightly touristy with some mediocre dishes as a result. BUT it was one of the few places with gluten-free pasta in town and the clams did not disappoint. I’d recommend it just for a vongole with a view.

Source: https://feedmephoebe.com/best-slovenia-restaurants-hotels-itinerary/

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The Young Living Difference

Welcome to our new series Thursday Night Live. Every Thursday Night we will be covering a wide range of topics. Enjoy the first presentaion of the series given on May 23, 2019 entitled, "The Young Liveing Difference". The video link is at the end of the presentation.

The Young Living Difference So, how did it Young Living begin? Our community of wellness started small in 1993, when D. Gary and Mary Young developed their first organic herb farming and distillation operation. In 1994 Young Living was established with farmland growing various herbs in Utah and Idaho.

Since then, Young Living has grown to become the world leader in essential oils and wellness solutions. Headquartered in Utah, it continues to expand the number of offices and farms it has around the world while staying true to the Young’s original vision.  Young Living is still expanding their resume of Farms and Partnerships

Farmers and Partners around the world Young Living has locations on 6 continents and in more than 30 countries. Their global presence is undisputed. Even with global growth, Young Living is committed to constantly improve when creating pure, potent essential oils and products through environmentally conscious methods.  It’s not only about the number of farms we have, but also the quality and integrity of them. It’s not uncommon for Young Living to be in talks with a potential partner for decades before they become part of the family.  It’s been proven that not all Essential oils are created equal. 

The Pyramid But not everyone understands the importance of this, and the harm that can be done when you use an essential oil that has synthetic chemicals or has been harvested in an unsafe manner.  The slide shows the wide range of quality found on the market. And there are not regulations in place, when in a store you’ll likely to pick up a Grade C essential oil that is labeled as 100% pure, but in reality it may only have 5-10% of actual essential oil and the rest is full of synthetics and fillers. It’s scary as they can do more harm than good. Notice they have use by dates and say ‘do not ingest’, or even ‘don’t apply to the skin’ If that’s the case this is something you don’t want to be breathing in either.   Young Living always produces Grade A - it doesn’t compromise with the quality of their essential oils, so why should you? Why avoid fragrances with harmful synthetic chemicals or fillers only to use an essential oil that is full of them. There are simple tests you can do to see the quality of your essential oil. I highly recommend that you compare and contrast brands with tests such as freezing, synergy, aroma and filler testing. I can give more details to those that want to take the time to do this, and once you have you’ll have no doubt which brand to choose.  You’ll hear many of us talk about Seed To Seal & it’s importance

Sead to Seal For the best and most powerful essential oils… sourcing of the plant, science AND standards are ALL vital. That means knowing exactly where the seed has been sourced, all the way to the essential oil being sealed in it’s bottle.  Please check out the website seedtoseal.com for more details, but as a quick overview:  Sourcing

Sourcing Again, no compromises, including any kind of synthetic, contaminants, cheap fillers or the use of unethical production practices…you can see on the left hand side of the slide, the various ways where all YL partners must meet the highest standards. Did you know you can visit and EXPLORE any of Young Living Farms, including their distilleries? Science

Science The Research & Development Team is a major reason why Young Living has such a wide range of essential oils and other products that have been tested for the highest quality. Plus independent third party testing is also conducted to ensure integrity. Young Living has state-of-the-art labs and industry leading research. Standards Young Living sets the bar not only for essential oil quality, but also sustainability, compliance and being ‘green’ throughout the world. Protecting and sustainably sourcing plants as well as supporting local communities is part of our stewardship that Young Living takes seriously.

Standards This has also led to the Young Living Foundation.

Giving Back Already you can see this slide is out-dated, as so far it has now supported over 170 charities and causes in various countries, impacting over 250,000 individual lives. And what’s rare and incredible about this foundation compared to others? 100% of all donations support actual projects as Young Living pays all administrative costs. Please check out younglivingfoundation.org to find out the amazing work they do. It’s moving what can be done when people work together.  Young Living’s members have A Community too.

Convention For our family, it was about getting rid of all kinds of toxins. This isn’t something you can do overnight, our bodies and lifestyles are complicated. However, we’re on a journey and love that we can share it with others, while also learning from them too! You’re not on your own!  You can be involved with and support others as much, OR as little as you want. That’s the beauty…it’s up to you. The good thing is that there is support in various kinds throughout our community - you pick and choose what suits you!  40,000 plus of us will be descending on Salt Lake City in Utah in July. It doesn’t matter which Young Living team you’re on, you get to connect with others that are also striving for Wellness, Purpose and Abundance, which is Young Living’s motto.  Young Living is more than just essential oils.

Product lines for throughout the home. As mentioned, for us it was all about getting rid of toxins, and that means being aware of what you breathe into your body and also put onto your skin. That also includes for our children and pets too!  Hence Young Living has product lines for throughout the home… personal care, babies & kids, make-up, health & fitness, supplements, nutrition, animal care and much more. From the very beginning Young Living produced supplements. There’s even science behind having essential oils in your supplements as they are more efficient and work better with your body. Synergy of ingredients is very important.  My degree isn’t in science, but there are plenty of reference books and speakers out there to help us understand it better one step at a time. It’s fascinating.  But the Seed to Seal commitment, that we went through a couple of minutes ago, and dedication that Young Living has, to have the highest quality farms and partnerships has lead to the development of over 600 products, around 300 of which are essential oils and essential oil blends. No other company has the resources for that, while also measuring up to the seed to seal.  Service Matters Too

Service We may all be fans of Amazon Prime, but just like other products there are multiple knocks off sold on that site. As it was drummed into me at school…Buyer beware.  Young Living nor any of its distributors are allowed to sell on sites like amazon or Ebay for good reason. There are videos out there that show you how to replace a lid so it looks like it’s come directly from the factory, but instead has been filled with synthetics and fillers for a profit. It’s scary. That’s why they can be found for significantly reduced prices. They look real, but their contents are not, and the harm they can do physically is not worth the risk.  It takes 60,000 rose blossoms to provide only one ounce of Rose oil. So do you really think a bottle should only cost you $10? However, when it comes to customer service - Young Living are amazing! I’m sure they diffuse ‘Joy’ in their call center. They are super friendly and helpful whenever I call them, which is extremely rare.  And if you ever have a delay in your shipment, remember…they are shipping out thousands upon thousands of fun parcels everyday and no two shipments are ever the same. And take advantage of the YL Go and YL Go Plus shipment programs - my monthly box arrives so much quicker now, no matter its size. Love it.  But There’s much more to it… It’s not until you use the products regularly and see the results, and then dive in deeper to learn about the power of essential oils that you can better grasp why Young Living are the world leaders in essential oils, and how they are making a difference to so many around the world. They can even benefit you and your family.  Yes, there are other safe natural based companies out there, but you have to know the source of ingredients to truly understand what is being slipped into products without you knowledge. It’s scary what some companies do for extra profit, but Young Living has always been about finding a solution first, before profit.  This is why we have some amazing products that we can be confident about. Young Living is a product driven company and this is shown with over 90% of members only buying products for themselves and not taking advantage of the business opportunity. Their products work, so people keep coming back for more. So I hope you all found this overview helpful, whether you’ve never heard of Young Living before today, or if it was a reminder of why you chose to use Young Living products in the first place.  Next Week, our Thursday Night Live will cover: The How, What, When, Where, Who & Why of Essential Oils Whether you’re new to essential oils or you want a quick refresher course, this will take you back to the basics of essential oils so you can have the confidence to use essential oils safely and understand why they are so popular.  Click to register for Thursday Night Live on May 30, 2019 The Young Living Difference Video Read the full article

[bowditch]

1-15

3. What inspired [insert fic]?

Let’s go with Developmental Milestones, actually, because I think the reason is significant for tumblr fandom.

I have long been fascinated by neurosurgery, which is probably why I wrote Foreign Object. But Developmental Milestones became a thing very largely due to people commenting on AO3 and saying that they liked Kiran Devabhaktuni. I already liked him but had never intended to do more with him other than give him a tiny supporting role and it was a mix of their interest and encouragement that led me to end up writing an even longer story with him as the protagonist. It was a great way to explore a lot of different aspects of the Batfam and I don’t think I would have done it if it hadn’t been for those commenters and my beta encouraging me. I’m still bewildered and honored that he got such a positive reception, and I owe them a debt because he became a more full, more fleshed out character BECAUSE of that story even though a lot of details were already in my head.

4. Do you prefer writing long or short fics?

Depends, haha. I’ll say long because I seem to have a hard time keeping anything short.

6. What’s the detail you wait on bated breath for readers to notice?

You know, I’m not sure? I feel like details enhance experience but if something is important, I usually try to make sure it’s clear. I do a lot of callbacks to previous details but that’s more just for fun so I’m excited if people notice, not bothered if they don’t. Possibly, I suppose, in Cor Et Cerebrum especially, Bruce’s reaction any time someone mentions Talia ah Ghul. At least for that universe, I use the date-rape backstory though I don’t think it’s ever explicitly discussed, but there are various times when he has a significant reaction to people talking about her, begins to shut down, or it ties in with his behavior in other characters’ memories or flashbacks to that time period.

9. What’s the fic you like the least?

Ugh I can’t do that to my creations. Maybe Five Tanks or To Meme or Not to Meme, which are both fluff pieces I wrote for requests and specifically tried to steer away from angst or conflict. For one, I feel like I didn’t capture Diana Prince very well at all, and for the other, it just seems fun but immemorable to me. And I don’t even hate them, I just don’t think they’re that great.

10. What would you change if you had it all to do again?

I’ve only been writing fanfic for the Batman fandom again for six months now, so I’m not sure I’ve been back in the game long enough to have significant regrets. I’d probably rewrite a lot of the Kent Farm scenes in Altered if I was revising.

14. What’s your favorite shipping fic you’ve written? Favorite gen fic?

I don’t write a lot of fics that are specifically centered around ships-- only The Librarian so far even lists the ship as a primary focus, so I guess that? If not that, then I’d say just the Selina Kyle chapters in Foreign Object. Gen? Probably Stubborn or All Grumpy on the Northern Front.

15. Give us a snippet of something from your WiPs!

I’ve worked on and off for a while on a story called “Other” about Bruce stranded for several months on an alien world. It’s fantasy horror and involves a monster in pursuit and a child, because, of course it does.

It is the middle of the fourth month, by his best calculations, that he weeps.His every other motivation has been to get home, alternating with the desire to protect Mim. But in all his drive to return, the concept of home itself has been an abstract and a goal. And one morning he steps out of the tent with a cup of tea in his hand, the mask tipped in a way that has become habit, he sips the steaming liquid and watches the horizon as the sun rises.He plans for when they will break down the tent and pack their things and move on, considers how much meat they have salted and packed, when they will need to refill their canteens. He looks forward to finding a few pieces of fruit now that they are coming into season along this stretch of the river, and it is such a pleasant thought that he doesn't even mind the feel of grit in his mouth.“Isru,” Mim calls from inside the tent, coming out with sleep in her eyes and mussed hair.He turns sharply because he did not hear this new name. He heard “Bruce.”And for a brief second, looking at her as she rubs her face, he sees Dick as Dick was ten years ago.It barrels into him like a rushing train.He is no longer surviving. He is living. He has routines and expectations, he has the lay of the land and no longer feels lost or overwhelmed or dependant on Mim’s constant explanations.He is living and his family is not here.The next thing he knows, his hand is burnt by tea and the cup is beside him in the olive grass and he is on his knees while Mim shakes his shoulder calling, “Isru, Isru!” while he sobs and after a while she's quiet and wraps her arms around his head and still he cannot stop.

[ginnyzero]

Completely Harmless Ch. 48

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Forty-Eight The Evergray Nights of Midsummer

The Baroness declared to them that she liked the cloud light displays in her stable better than the bubbles and jelly fish. However, she seemed amused rather than annoyed, so they took it well and promised it’d be down at the end of the week.

They all went over to the opening ceremony for the Midsummer Festival. There was a huge maypole, traditional music played, there was a special shop with traditional Jorvigian dresses in all color combinations and gear to go with them. Everyone cheered as the Master Ranger from Goldcroft and Loretta lit the bonfire that was to last all week together. There was food from the Summer family spread out all over the tables, traditional Jorvigian fare including a large pot of crawfish boil.

They ran around and gathered the flowers so they could try the dream tent. No one was willing to say who’d they’d seen when they came out flushed and giggling. They fished for prize tokens at the fishing tent. (They’d have to come back every day to get them all.)

The table had a map of the South New Jorvik County and the locations where they could find the flowers for all the different wreathes they could make around the county.

There was also the schedule of the Dew Family Race Challenge.

Because there wasn’t as much to do except to visit the parties to get vials of sand and make wreathes, it felt like a much more relaxed event than Rainbow Week. It helped that there weren’t rainbows crashing everywhere and leprechauns to chase around. They were able to take their time and enjoy it more.

The artists had come back and set up more art in Fort Pinta square. It was all beach themed, of course. Tim wanted help with selling beach balls and setting out towels and collecting the dirty ones. He also needed help mixing the drinks.

One of the girls asked him why he was making them one at a time? Multiple drinks! Multiple. You didn’t shake any of them with the soda in it. You put the soda in last. Really, the drinks didn’t need shaking but if that’s how he was going to be with the ice.

But he did have streams of customers and people were tearing up on the floor under the pale yellow and green cabana to the tunes of DJ Kai. (Apparently hearing she was being broadcast around to the different parties, she and Syntax had agreed to move to a new party each day.)

People were having fun and that’s all that mattered.

They did have to take a couple hours each day in the evening to make more food for the parties. And run around and refill the snack buckets. (Loretta had definitely come through with snacks and bread, and the things for sausages and s’mores.) It was a good thing they had extra shells and crystals and beads. People wanted to make their own embellished shells rather than take the ones that were decorations. (And the lace sailboats too.) So they set up a crafting center in the Baroness’ new Pavilion and announced it on Jorvikgram.

At least they’d decorated it!

Elsa stared at the happy tourists gluing rhinestone trim onto sea shells with glue guns. “We should have predicted this.”

“We can’t think of everything,” Linn chided.

Elsa gave her a flat look.

“We can’t!”

Elsa raised her hands above her head, waved them around, and stomped away.

--

They’d invited Linda and Alex to join them on their rounds. Though there were times Alex had made some rather thin excuses.

“Just admit you’re off to run races with Justin!” Lily shouted after the retreating Alex.

Alex waved at her and flushed but didn’t respond.

“Go dance with the idiot!” Linda shouted.

The two girls laughed as Tin Can broke into a flat out run at Alex’s urging.

“They fool no one,” Lily said as the two continued to trot through New Hillcrest.

A cough interrupted them from a man standing near the bus stop. “Excuse me,” he said and coughed again.

They stopped.

He was definitely an odd looking gentleman. He wore odd dark grey robes, and carried a staff with a couple of mysterious blue stones dangling from it. His black hair was a mess and in the lines of the left side of his face there was the distinctive pink glow of pandoric energy. “I am Evergray. I’ve come from the Evermist Forest in the far north in search of the Soul Riders and a girl named Lily. Some girls told me that they’d be here today. Have you seen them?” His sentences were punctuated by coughs.

Linda and Lily looked at each other.

“Well, we are them,” Lily said.

“You just missed Alex. I’m Linda,” Linda said. “Um, we can protect ourselves.”

Evergray leaned against his stick and laughed. It devolved into a coughing fit. Squatting down his coughed until he could barely breathe.

Lily and Linda got off their horses. Linda reaching into her saddlebag, pulled out a water.

“Here, take a drink,” she held it out to him when he was breathing again.

Evergray wiped his sweating forehead on his robe. “Thank you. You’re most kind.” He took a sip.

Lily rubbed his back. “What happened to you?”

“I have Pandoria sickness. This is what happens when you spend too much time in Pandoria. Yes, I am a great explorer of Pandoria. So much it’s like a second home. I once longed to be a Soul Rider and weild magic instead of keeping it, protecting it. I studied more of the ancient secrets than any other druid before they kicked me out. And I’ve come to talk to you, tell you what the Druids may not.”

“You aren’t a druid.”

Evergray stood. “I was. They exiled me.”

“Exiled you?” Linda blinked. “For what?”

“Asking too many questions.”

“That’d do it.” Lily stood and brushed off her knees. “They don’t seem the type to like those who ask questions.” She glanced at Linda.

“She always shuts me down.” Linda shrugged.

“Ms. Sunbeam, she’d tell you not to trust me.” Evergray half smiled. “Peh.”

“If you’re exiled. You aren’t supposed to be here.” Lily gestured around. “I mean, exile is just saying ‘eh, you’re someone else’s problem now.’”

Evergray grinned and coughed again. “I have heard tales of a rebellious leader of stable girls who is causing quite a ruckus.” He touched Lily’s chest with the head of his staff.

She cocked her hip. “Have the squirrels been talking? Or the chipmunks?”

“Both. They are great gossips squirrels and chipmunks. They know I’m trustworthy to tell things that might upset the druids. They’re very loyal to you. Made me swear many oaths I wouldn’t harm you in any way.”

Lily had been being sarcastic given she didn’t quite believe the squirrels and chipmunks had enough intelligence to actually spy. But if he was being serious, she had to go along with it now. “Well, you’ve found me, now what?”

“I’d like to show you someplace,” Evergray said. “It’s where I’m going to stay, tucked out of the way, where no one would think to look for me. Would you help me there? I brought some luggage.”

Lily took Evergray and texted the rest of the club she’d met a friend and be a bit late. Linda took his luggage. He directed them through the Mirror Marsh.

He coughed. “I don’t remember it being this tidy.”

“The Bulldogz have been doing trail rides around it and cleaned up the roads. Apparently one of the delivery carts got into a wreck and Bernadette finally saw reason and let them take ropes and at least get the logs out of the road.”

Evergray grunted in approval and coughed again.

They went through the Eastern Expanse. Evergray could see the beach. “What’s going on down there?”

“More counter insurgency against G.E.D.,” Lily explained. “One of our club leaders had the idea to do a charity race event. People get sponsors, and depending on how many races they run, they get money. The money goes to the Dew family to pull them out of foreclosure so they can have their farm back.”

Evergray coughed again. “How out of hand has it gotten around here since I’ve been gone? Leave a place five minutes and it becomes a mess.”

“I don’t know how long you’ve been gone.”

“Take the dirt track above the road,” Evergray instructed and didn’t answer her question. At the top of the track overlooking the hills down to the sea was a campsite. “We can leave my luggage here,” Evergray said. “Yes. This will do nicely. But do continue onwards.”

Alex rode up over the ridge panting. “I’d just met with Justin and you said I need to be here on Soul Rider business.”

“This is Evergray, former druid,” Lily introduced the man on the back of her horse. “He’s going to show us something.”

Whickering, Starshine came over the hill too.

“Ahh, and where are the others?”

“In Pandoria, all three of them,” Alex said grimly.

Evergray nodded. “Continue along the track. You’ll know where we’re going when you see it.”

The trail twisted back and forth with trees and bushes. The rocks close in above them making it dark. They pulled out their cameras for light holding them above their heads.

The trail opened up into a huge dale in the mountains. Above them, a small crack let in light.

To either side of them were four huge statues of horses. They rode through them to where there was a set of steps and on platform in front of those steps broken off rocks of what could have been more hooves.

Evergray jumped off the back of Lily’s horse. “Have a look around,” he said. “This is Guardians Dale, a place of great significance for the Keepers of Aideen. Or should be.”

They dismounted and wandered from statue to statue trying to take them in.

“Are these supposed to be the Soul Horses, the original Starbreeds?” Linda asked snapping pictures. Each of the horses lit up with the purple pink of pandoria with designs on their sides. Designs that were the symbols of the four circles. The star horse had a horn. The one with the sun had wings. The one with lightning bolts had cloven hooves. And lastly, the one with the moon had a beard.

Starshine huffed.

“He doesn’t see the resemblance,” Linda translated.

Lily leaned back to look at the horned horse statue. “I do,” she said.

Starshine struck a pose. Clearly, he was far more handsome.

“Well, this was you back then when you didn’t have so many other horse lines influencing your bloodlines.” Lily gestured. “It’s still you.”

Starshine huffed again and tossed his flowing mane.

Lily went over to the winged horse. “So, this must be Concorde.”

Meteor nodded rapidly.

“Interesting.” She spun on her toe and returned to Evergray. “It’s certainly impressive enough.”

Evergray coughed and eyed her. “You aren’t impressed.”

Lily looked down her nose at him. “You have your reasons.” She shrugged.

“This place is a gateway to Pandoria.” Evergray gestured at the stairway going up and ending in the side of the mountain. “A gate that Aideen can use to enter the final battle with Garnok.”

“Sounds pretty definitive.”

“You need all the Soul Horses, but, as you can see, many years ago the forces of Dark Core destroyed the fifth statue, the horse of Aideen. And now this place has become forgotten, and disregarded by those who haven’t read the ancient histories or know the secrets of the Keepers of Aideen.”

“So, you’re saying it’s not completely useless,” Linda said. She adjusted her glasses and looked around. “It’s awe inspiring. Think of the history.”

“There are other ways to open gates and portals into Pandoria. I would know. I am the one who learned how to seek them out and have travelled many places, many ages, and epochs of that cursed and yet blessed place. I sought a secret so that others could travel Pandoria safely. It was almost in my grasp, but if I return to Pandoria now I would die.” His speech was again punctuated by coughing.

Alex stepped forward. “So, you’re saying if we needed to, we could use this gate to rescue Anne, Lisa, and Concorde.”

“We’d have to know where they are,” Evergray said. “And there is an artifact that the druids wouldn’t hand over to just anyone. I think I know where it is, but, I am missing some of the pieces of the puzzle.”

“Would the Pandoria Codex help?” Linda asked.

Evergray’s eyes widened. “How did?”

“I borrowed it from Fripp. We can make you a copy.” Linda shrugged.

“You would just hand it over to me,” Evergray pointed at his chest with his thumb.

Linda sucked her cheeks in. “You’re the first person who has given us any hope that we could rescue Anne, Lisa, and Concorde. They are in Pandoria and now they’re out of reach of the Weeping Widow.”

Evergray tucked his chin down. “It will be dangerous. There can be consequences. Terrible consequences for Jorvik. The fabric between Pandoria and this world is fragile and tears easily. Rescuing your friends could upset that balance of energy.”

“You came anyways. You gave us this hope.” Linda lifted her chin. “What would you do to save your friends?”

“I find I no longer have many.” Evergray scratched his chin. “If I did, I would travel to any realm they might be in to save them and die by their side if necessary.”

“Any realm?” Lily asked.

“You think Pandoria is the only realm.” Evergray coughed. “How foolish.”

Lily put a hand on his arm. “Thank you, for showing us this place. For giving us hope.”

Evergray coughed. “We still need all four Soul Horses. I only see three. It isn’t much hope.”

“It’s more than we had before,” Linda said firmly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to enjoy the party?”

“I may wander down to see the show,” Evergray said. “But I don’t want the druids to catch wind that I’m here.”

“Understandable,” Alex said and mounted Tin Can.

“We’ll get you a copy of the Pandoria Codex,” Linda added and mounted Meteor.

Lily stared at him. “Could the Star Circle help you with your sickness?”

“They wouldn’t, even if they had the power or knew how,” Evergray said.

“Maybe one day you can lead us to the point where it eluded you and we’ll figure out a cure,” Lily said. She mounted her horse. “Do you need a ride back to the camp site?”

“I’d like to meditate here if you don’t mind. It has been a long time since I’ve been on such a sacred site.”

“Evergray,” Lily paused. “Do you worship Aideen?”

Evergray coughed again. “No. Why would I?”

“I was simply curious. I know nothing of this land. Aideen may have been an extraterrestrial person, but to me, that makes her a person still. Not an infallible being. It would seem she is more like the gods of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, rather than, say, the god of Jews and Christians.”

Evergray tilted his head.

“She can make mistakes,” Lily explained.

“You have been thinking a lot about it,” Evergray said and coughed. “I came to much the same conclusion. Aideen was a person, limited and flawed.”

“But the other druids, ones like Elizabeth, they worship her?”

“Some do, others mostly desire the knowledge that the druids possess.” Evergray shrugged. “But they are not so willing to ask questions.”

“I don’t think Moses or Abraham got as far as they did without asking questions and arguing with god,” Lily said dryly. “It was like god approved.”

Evergray eyed her. “I don’t know of these men or the god of which you speak.”

“Not really important. I don’t think I would be part of a religion or organization where asking questions isn’t allowed. Asking questions is how we learn. Babies and children ask questions and do things because they’re exploring their environment and learning. We aren’t supposed to ever stop learning. Keep asking your questions, Evergray. I’d dearly love to hear the answers one day.” Lily nudged her horse around. “If you can’t ask questions, it sounds more like a cult.”

Evergray stared after her.

“But what do I know, I’m just a stable girl, completely harmless,” Lily called over her shoulder.

Evergray coughed again and snorted.

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

[gustavowilh]

Customer Love Summit 2018: What to See, Do, and Experience

One of our favorite parts of the 2018 Customer Love Summit is introducing you to Seattle. We love our city and all it has to offer, and aside from spending the day with you learning from the best minds in customer experience, we want to help you make the most of your time here.

It can be hard coming to a new city and trying to find food and experiences that fit your preferences. Team Apptentive has come together to share some of our favorite places for you to check out during your stay. But first, if you haven’t reserved your spot at our Customer Love Summit, grab your ticket now!

If you want to learn more about the Customer Love Summit, check out this video from last year’s event.

The main event

Before we get to our Seattle recommendations, we want to make sure you get the most out of the conference. Here’s a high-level look at the conference agenda:

8:00 – 9:00 > Breakfast 9:00 – 10:10 > Session 1 10:10 – 10:50 > Networking Break: Industry Focus 10:50 – 11:50 > Session 2 11:50 – 1:20 > Lunch + Networking: Job Function Focus 1:20 – 3:10 > Session 3 3:10 – 3:50 > Networking Break: Tools/SDKs Focus 3:50 – 5:00 > Session 4 5:00 – 7:00 > Happy Hour

We’re bringing together an incredible lineup of speakers this year. Speakers from mobile giants including Starbucks, Disney, T-Mobile, Concur, and Dunkin’ Brands will share insight on how to communicate with, learn from, and act upon feedback from your customers, and of course, how to use it to drive #customerlove.

Throughout the day, you’ll hear from speaker panels and featured solo speakers, along with starting and ending the day with impressive keynotes. Here’s a quick peek into our keynote sessions.

KEYNOTE: The ROI of Customer Love: How to Measure Your Customer-first Strategy | Mike Hilton, Chief Product Officer at Accolade and Co-founder of Concur

Customer love might sound fluffy, but it doesn’t have to be. Mike Hilton, Chief Product Officer at Accolade and Co-founder of Concur, will share how customer-first strategies contribute to success, and how to put ROI against customer love. He’ll also share actionable advice on how to create a culture of customer obsession to create products customer love.

Mike has 30 years of experience in the technology industry, beginning his career as a software engineer at Apple. During his more than two-decade long tenure at Concur, Mike contributed to the company’s growth and profitability while serving as the CEO, CTO, and CPO, among other roles.

KEYNOTE: The Evolution of Customer Love: What’s Next for Apptentive | Robi Ganguly, CEO and Co-Founder of Apptentive

The world of customer experience is evolving. Consumer expectations have matured, from expecting companies have great experiences in each channel to expecting companies have integrated experiences across all channels. At the same time, personalization has taken on a new meaning.

It’s not enough to know your customers’ names or preferences. You must be able to understand the why behind their feelings and actions. That’s why Apptentive is changing the way companies interact with and understand their customers. In his talk, Robi Ganguly, CEO and Co-founder of Apptentive, will give the audience the first look into the exciting future of Apptentive.

KEYNOTE: Digging for Gold: How to Make Sense of All Your Data & What to Do with It | Hetal Patel, Vice President of Consumer & Corporate Insights at iHeartMedia

You have a lot of data sources, but piecing them together to get the insights you need to inform your strategy is a complicated, laborious, and convoluted task. Hetal Patel, Vice President of Consumer & Corporate Insights at iHeartMedia, will share how she makes sense of complex data streams and how to use your findings to have a positive impact on the business.

Hetal has over a decade of experience in consumer research and big data analysis, and has an MBA in Consumer Psychology from University of California, Riverside.

If you want more detail on who’s speaking and what to expect, check out our recently released full agenda.

Make connections with attendees

Another benefit of attending the Customer Love Summit are the connections you’ll make. One of the biggest hits from last year’s event was the intimate peer to peer networking opportunities attendees had throughout the day.

Like last year, this year’s event offers two designated times for peer connectivity, as well as countless chances to mingle throughout the day. To get a sense of who you’ll meet, here are some of the companies who attended last year’s event.

Explore Seattle through Apptentive’s favorite sights, bites, and beverages

There’s no place quite like Seattle in the summer. If you plan to come in early or stay through the weekend, we recommend the following activities, bars, and restaurants.

Seattle is easy to navigate by public transportation. If you’re visiting from out of town, check out this quick guide to getting around.

“Don’t miss the Chocolat Chaud at Le Pichet in Pike Place Market. They also have an awesome daily quiche, but you need to order prior to noon because it sells out quickly.” Recommended by Kelly Long

“Catch a ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island. Walk through the downtown area right off of the ferry called Winslow, and then go to Harbor Public House, a farm-to-table pub.“ Recommended by Ken Clements

“The Pink Door, an unmarked pink door on Post Alley, marks the gateway to a whole different side of Pike Place known mostly to just locals. They feature aerial cabaret and live music every night, as well as an outstanding menu.” Recommended by Lex Schoner

“For out-of-towners, I suggest checking out The Nest rooftop bar. Its proximity to everything walkable in downtown Seattle is great, and the views are amazing.” Recommended by Meghan Warbis

Best sights

Kerry Park

Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Underground Walking Tour

The Space Needle (recently redone!)

Starbucks Reserve

Woodinville Wine Country

Best bites

Betsutenjin Ramen

Biscuit Bitch

Dick’s Drive In

Il Corvo Pasta

Jack’s BBQ

Molly Moon’s Ice Cream

Nue

Ray’s Cafe

Saba Ethiopian Cuisine

Salt & Straw Scoops

Salumi Cured Meats

Tango

Virginia Inn Restaurant and Bar

Vito’s Restaurant & Lounge

Walrus and the Carpenter

Westward

Best beverages

Bathtub Gin & Co.

Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium

Damn The Weather

Mbar

Oddfellows Cafe and Bar

Old Stove Brewery

Smith Tower Observatory Bar

Tin Lizzie Lounge

Zig Zag

Stick around for Postback

Looking for even more mobile marketing knowledge and industry fun? Be sure to stay on for Postback, TUNE’s annual mobile conference, July 19-20.

Apptentive is pleased to offer 50% off general admission to Postback for all Customer Love Summit ticket holders. Plenty of Apptentive employees will be in attendance, which means the Customer Love Summit fun doesn’t have to stop on Wednesday after happy hour concludes.

See you in July

If you haven’t grabbed your ticket to the Customer Love Summit yet, be sure to register today. Tickets are going quickly!

We can’t wait to experience Seattle summer with you, and are counting down the days until #CustomerLove18 is finally here. See you soon!

The post Customer Love Summit 2018: What to See, Do, and Experience appeared first on Apptentive.

from Blogger http://gustavowilh.blogspot.com/2018/06/customer-love-summit-2018-what-to-see.html via IFTTT

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15 Photos That Will Make You Want To Visit Tanzania!

Travel Photography from Tanzania

Tanzania

Here’s a collection of my favorite photos from our safari trip in Tanzania. We managed to see all big five safari animals, hiked to a beautiful waterfall, and met with local tribes.

Last December Anna and I visited Tanzania for our honeymoon, heading out on safari with Soul Of Tanzania. We began our adventure from the town of Arusha, flying into the Serengeti in a small plane.

We spent a week bumping around on dusty read roads in a Land Rover exploring Africa’s Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara, and Lake Eyasi.

During the course of the trip we managed to locate all “Big Five” safari animals, journey through the savannah, into green forests, and past massive shallow lakes.

Tanzania’s wildlife and geography is as diverse as its people, and finally getting to visit the Serengeti itself was quite a treat, as it’s the world’s most famous National Park.

If you’ve ever dreamed about going on safari in Tanzania, these images should give you a glimpse of what the experience is like!

1: Lake Manyara Flamingos

Flamingos Take Flight Over Lake Manyara

Lake Manyara National Park lies on the edge of the Rift Valley, attracting thousands of pink flamingoes to its brackish waters. Surrounding the lake is a large grassy floodplain, and groundwater forests beyond that.

We stopped for lunch along some algae-streaked hot springs, with a boardwalk leading out over the lake. From there you could watch the huge flocks of flamingos stoop and graze in the water.

Occasionally, they’d all leap into the air and take flight together as a moving wall of pink and black feathers. It was quite a sight!

Did you know that flamingos are actually grey, and get their pink color from a diet of brine shrimp and blue-green algae? The alpha and beta carotenoids in the food they eat is what turns them pink.

2: Visiting The Maasai Mara

Sokoine Shows Us Around His Village

There are about 800,000 Maasai Mara living in Tanzania, many around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. I’d always wanted to visit the Maasai, so we stopped by the village of Endyoi Nasiyi as we left the Serengeti.

Maintaining a traditional pastoral lifestyle has become increasingly difficult for the Maasai. With their cattle grazing lands diminishing, they’ve become dependent on purchasing food like sorghum, rice, potatoes and cabbage.

Tourist visits help provide the tribe with money to make these purchases. Each village (boma) has a few college-educated & English speaking members like Sokoine, who taught us about his culture.

These village trips can feel a little awkward, like everyone is putting on a show. And they are a bit. However it’s one of the only ways the Maasai can earn money while maintaining their traditional lifestyle.

3: Materuni Waterfall

Hiking to Materuni Waterfall

Outside the town of Moshi, along the slopes of Kilimanjaro, there’s a beautiful and imposing 150 meter high waterfall called Materuni located deep in the lush jungle.

Locals lead hikes to this magical place, usually in combination with a coffee tour. The waterfall hike takes about an hour. On the way we saw brightly colored chameleons and butterflies.

You can swim under these powerful falls — however be warned, the water is very cold! I jumped right in though, never one to turn down a refreshing wild-swim. It makes you feel alive!

After returning from Materuni waterfall, we learned how to make coffee from scratch with a group of Chagga boys, one of Tanzania’s largest ethnic groups.

We helped separate the husk from dried beans, roasted them on an open fire, and finally grinding into powder for brewing — all while singing to keep up a good rhythm. Probably the freshest cup of coffee I’ve ever tasted!

4: Kings Of Ngorongoro

Lions in Ngorongoro

One of the best places to see wildlife in Tanzania, aside from the Serengeti, is the Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is the result of a large volcano that exploded and collapsed into itself about two million years ago.

High crater walls protect a large variety of wildlife at the bottom, including a population of 70+ lions. Tanzania is actually home to about one third of the world’s remaining lions.

We got lucky stumbling onto a pride of 8 East African lions hanging out beside the road! We watched them from the top of our Land Rover — lounging in the sun, playing in the grass like big house cats.

Surprisingly a group of antelope was only 200 feet away, but it seemed these lions weren’t hungry. These were only a few of the lions we saw while visiting Tanzania, but were the closest.

5: Elephant Pool Party!

Elephants at the Four Seasons Pool

Because Anna and I were celebrating our honeymoon in Tanzania, we decided to stay in some nicer hotels. The one we were most looking forward to was The Four Seasons Serengeti. Why?

Well, apart from being a luxury safari lodge in the middle of the world’s most famous national park, the complex itself is almost always surrounded by animals!

You’ll see all kinds of wildlife during their game drives, but you might also spot waterbuck, monkeys, antelope, elephants, and even the occasional leopard while walking the property’s elevated walkways.

There’s a popular watering hole right beside the pool, which often attracts large groups of elephants passing by for a drink. Definitely one of the most unique hotel experiences we’ve ever had!

6: Africa’s Miniature Deer

A Cute Pair of Dik Diks

Standing just over a foot tall, the Dik Dik might just be the cutest safari animal you’ll find in Africa — and probably has the funniest name too. These tiny antelope have long noses and big doe-eyes too.

They travel in pairs instead of herds, and dik-diks mate for life. The males may have horns, but the females are larger and the ones in control of the relationship.

These guys are super fast! It was fun watching them dart off as our safari vehicle drove by. Dik-diks are gernally shy, hiding from others most of the time.

When startled, they take off in a series of zigzag leaps calling “zik-zik”, hence their funny name. They also mark territory using “tears” that come from that black spot in the corner of their eyes.

7: Lake Eyasi Sunset

Sunset over Tanzania’s Lake Eyasi

We spent a night along the shores of Lake Eyasi, a large salt lake in the fertile Great Rift Valley. Staying at Kisima Ngeda Tent Camp, it was possible to hike up to the cliffs overlooking the lake for a nice view of the region.

The landscape around Lake Eyasi feels very different than the hot, dry grasslands we’ve been traveling through up until that point. It’s wet and tropical, with large palm trees full of squawking birds.

Animal life isn’t as dense here, other than birds, but the reason most people visit is to meet with the local Hadza and Datoga tribes, curious to see their ancient hunting and blacksmithing abilities in person.

I climbed up to a high viewpoint in order to watch the sunset over the mostly-dry lake. During the wet season, it can actually get pretty deep and attracts groups of wading hippos cooling off in the salty water.

8: Hunting With The Hadzabe

Hadzabe Village near Lake Eyasi

The Hadza bushmen are one of the last true hunter-gatherer tribes left in the world. About 800 of them live semi-nomadically in the dry woodlands of remote Lake Eyasi �� surviving on wild game, berries, and root vegetables.

We got up early one morning to visit a Hadza encampment, learn a little about their culture, and tagged along as they went hunting for small birds and antelope using hand-made bows and poison-tipped arrows.

The story of the Hadza is fascinating but sad. Basically their land has slowly been stripped away from them by commercial agriculture, the government, and wealthy Arab animal trophy hunters.

Their traditional way of life, which hadn’t changed much in thousands of years, is under threat. Like the Maasai, some have turned to tourism to support their families with limited other options available. Efforts to settle them in more modern farming communities have largely failed.

9: Dirty, Dirty Hippopotami

Africa’s Most Dangerous Animal

Anna’s favorite African animal is the hippo, so there was no way we were going to miss them on this trip! Luckily she got her fill of these massive dirty water pigs in the Serengeti and at Lake Manyara.

Ok, maybe they aren’t technically pigs. But they do have a habit of belching, snorting, and loudly shooting explosive diarrhea out their backsides… not MY favorite animal.

The hippopotamus is also Africa’s most dangerous animal, if you can believe that. They kill an estimated 500 people every year. They are extremely territorial, and much faster than they look!

I went kayaking with them in South Africa once, and it was a little unnerving to be so close. While it’s fun to watch them play in the water and splatter poo everywhere, you should always stay aware of your surroundings.

10: Leopards Of Tanzania

Baby Leopard Making Faces

The one animal I was most looking forward to seeing in Tanzania on safari was the leopard. Locating them can be a bit tricky sometimes, which is why it’s known as Africa’s most elusive big cat.

Luckily we were traveling through the Serengeti’s Seronera River Valley, one of the best places to find them in the wild. We eventually witnessed four different individuals perched in yellow-barked acacia trees.

However my favorite sighting was at Lake Manyara National Park while driving down one of the bumpy dirt roads. A baby leopard suddenly appeared just on the edge of the brush, about 50 feet away.

The cat briefly hesitated as we approached, then disappeared back into the trees. But not before I snapped the photo above. We continued searching for his mom, but never found her.

11: The Datoga Tribe

Narajah’s Beautiful Jewelry & Tattoos

Also living within the Rift Valley is the Datoga people. Originating from the Ethiopian highlands 3000 years ago, this ancient tribe moved South into what’s now Kenya and Tanzania.

The Datoga are expert blacksmiths — forging arrowheads, bracelets, and knives out of aluminum and brass over open fires. They trade these products with their Hadza neighbors in exchange for meat, honey, and animal hides.

We stopped in to visit with Narajah (pictured above) and learn a little bit more about her family and culture. Narajah is just one of her husband’s 7 wives. Each has her own house for raising their children.

Apparently Narajah’s husband gave her 10 cows as a marriage gift. When she asked Anna how many cows I offered, she wasn’t very impressed to learn all she got was a cat! Apparently I’m cheap…

A common body modification among women in the tribe is the tatooing of circular patterns around the eyes. It helps identify who belongs to a certain family and, to the Datoga ethnic group.

12: Magic Baobab Trees

Massive Baobab Tree

Finally! My first Baobab tree. I’d heard of these ancient giants for years, and didn’t even realize any grew in Tanzania. I thought the only place you could find them was Madagascar…

There are actually 8 species of baobab around the world. The largest is Adansonia digitata, which grows up to 30m tall in Tanzania. I think baobabs have to be the most iconic trees in Africa.

The trees vary in size depending on the season, as they can hold up to 100,000 liters of water within their trunks.

Hollowed out trunks of the baobab trees are often used as shelter by Hadza Bushmen, especially when it rains. Some trees can accommodate up to 30 people inside!

13: Angry Blue Monkeys

Blue Monkey Screaming in the Trees

Blue monkeys are not really blue, more of an olive or grey color. They live largely in the forest canopy, eating fruits, figs, insects, leaves, twigs, and flowers.

We came across a group in the trees on the edges of Lake Manyara National Park, calling out to each other. Some families can be composed of up to 40 individuals, mostly female, with one male leader of the group.

Other monkeys was saw on safari in Tanzania include vervet monkeys, baboons, and the black-and-white colobus.

Look at those teeth! I wouldn’t want to get too close — even if they do prefer eating fruit.

14: Buffalo VS. Land Rover

Buffalo Encounter at Lake Manyara

I love this shot at Lake Manyara. An old Cape Buffalo stands off against a Land Rover, each waiting for the other to make a move.

Buffalo are very successful in Africa because they aren’t picky eaters. We saw hundreds of them during a week of safari drives through Tanzania. Munching away at the grasses, or rolling around in the mud.

However they can become aggressive towards vehicles, charging them if they feel threatened. They have also been known to gore hunters (good for them!) after being wounded.

Buffalo herds stick together, and when attacked by predators, will sometimes return to save one of their own. They’re not afraid of fighting lions either, or killing lion cubs as a preventative measure!

15: Endangered Black Rhino

Lone Black Rhino in the Distance

The last of the big five animals we wanted to see in Tanzania was found in Ngorongoro Crater. The black rhinoceros is critically endangered, with only about 5500 left in the world.

Ngorongoro is home to about 26 of them, and because they are on top of everyone’s list to see, safari guides coordinate with each other over radio for news of recent sightings.

While we weren’t able to get very close (vehicles in the crater aren’t allowed to drive off-road), we did manage to spot a single rhino walking in the distance.

The poaching these animals for their horns is still a problem, however it’s been reduced over the past few years due to improved conservation efforts & security.

Tanzania Safari Travel Tips

The safari tour we booked was through Soul Of Tanzania. We had an amazing time! The jeeps are very comfortable with big windows, wifi, and plugs to charge your electronics.

Our guide Huruma was very friendly, knowledgeable, stopped frequently for photos, and was plenty cautious with the animals.

WHEN TO GO – Tanzania’s primary rainy season is during March, April and May. The famous Great Migration happens during the dry season, between July and early October. We were there in December, during the “mini” wet season. No matter when you go, you’ll see tons of animals.

COSTS – Going on safari in Tanzania isn’t cheap, however there are options for different budgets. National Park fees alone can cost $70 a day. While self-driving is technically possible, it’s incredibly complex to arrange, and often just expensive as a tour.

BUGS – Beware the Tsetse flies, they suck! Literally. These painful and annoying flies are attracted to dark colors – especially blue and black. This is the reason everyone on safari wears white or tan clothing!

PHOTOGRAPHY – If there’s one place where you’ll want to splurge on a zoom camera lens, it’s on safari in Africa. I’d recommend something at least 200mm, but 400mm is even better. I rented a huge 400mm lens from LensRentals.com (and highly recommend them). ★

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Any questions about going on safari in Tanzania? Are you planning a trip? Drop me a message in the comments below!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

from Tips For Traveling https://expertvagabond.com/tanzania-safari-photos/