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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week In BL

Feb 2021 Part 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series Thai

1000 Stars Ep 4 - so flipping lovely, I’ve come entirely around to this show.

Manner of Death Ep 13 - the penultimate episode was as angsty & twisty as we could want, but it’s starting to feel a bit stretched. Although new tag #oakcake is the best thing ever.

Brothers Ep 2 - still a mess but there’s a cute foodie side couple (young college student wants cute older baker). As the world’s foremost ChampDoc proponent I am obviously in it for them. The other couples though... eek.

Ongoing Series Not Thai

You Are Ma Boy Ep 6 (Vietnam) - second week running with no new episode and no indication as to why. If it ended at 5 then it ended on a cliffhanger. Grrr.

Amore Ep 27 (Pinoy) - FINALLY finished its run at 27 episodes! TWENTY SEVEN. I stopped watching it ages ago but it’s done now so if you’re a binger and you need to see the “everyone wants Joey” show, it’s all on YouTube. We salute your bravery.

Stand Alones

Finally watched Korea’s Step For You from 2018 (in preparation for You Make Me Dance). OMG it’s SO CUTE. And who says Korea can’t do kisses? Oh wait, that was me. Anyway, no dead fish here. School newspaper journalist has to interview the next big thing senior dancer and falls in love with him. Short af but ADORABLE.

I got my brains back and decided to FINALLY watch 2015 Japanese BL Seven Days. It comes in two parts: Seven Days: Monday - Thursday & Seven Days: Friday - Sunday. You can watch it eng subbed on YouTube. It’s one of the best Japanese BLs ever made (FIGHT ME) and that’s because it has a lot of the breezy style of something like 2gether (with, sadly the same heat level - low). The leads have a similar comfort level with each other which yields up fantastic on screen chemistry. It’s a charming af high school story with none of the usual stalker/obsession/rapey elements (nor the egregiously cartoonish humor) I’ve come to expect from Japanese BL. Despite the setting, it’s a lot more in the Cherry Magic vain than, say, Takumi-kun. GO WATCH IT. The hair is bonkers, but if that’s all I can think of bad to say, you know it must be good.

The TharnType Wedding Special PPV dropped last week. Champ & Doc officially got together so I was happy. They hit a bunch of tropes, said I do, and that was that. I pronounce it...

Breaking News - So Many Teasers & They Dark AF

More promos for HIStory 4 keep dropping so I think we can assume this is coming sooner rather than later. (Taiwan doesn’t raise funding the way Thailand does with test teasers, so we only see promo when the thing has started filming.)

We Best Love 2 dropped its trailer. It’s a doozie. We’re all hoping for a happy ever after but frankly Taiwan means 50/50 chance at best. They love pathos and many of us will never recover from HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count. I’m terrified by the season 2 trailer.

You Make Me Dance dropped a teaser, that’s our next one out of Korea.

Lovely Writer showed its dark underbelly with a new angst-riddled teaser... what’s that? A wheaser?

Secret Admirer the Series dropped its first teaser. I had this one on the rumors list but not actual, so I bumped it up in the upcoming 2021 BL master post. It’s only a taste, it could be gunning for 2022. The director can’t be trusted with happy endings - so I’m not sure about it.

Gossip

Wild rumors persist that there will be a new 2gether installment in which someone gets married. I wouldn’t be surprised to see GMMTV milk that cash cow especially if F4 is delayed. (With all these BLs featuring marriage, maybe the Thai government will legalize it on account of the boost destination weddings would give the tourist industry post covid?)

Bad Roommate dropped a teaser for all you Gen Y Padlock lovers out there (waves at @heretherebedork). Do we trust Star Hunter after the Gen Y debacle? Maybe? I don’t know. Who cares, it’s fresh content.

More rumors of a We Best Love special episode before season 2. If they’re true my guess is it’s another behind the scenes thingy.

Fish Upon the Sky is reported to drop ep 1 on Friday, April 9th, 2021! This is the rivals to lovers BL I’ve been waiting for!

I am SO FLIPPING EXCITED.

Initial murmurs about Close Friend - a 6 ep run featuring established BL ships from an unknown director: KimCop (2Moons & Gen Y), OhmFluke (Until We Meet Again), JimmyTommy & MaxNat (Why R U), JaFirst (TharnType 2), and YoonLay (YYY). Either each couple gets their own episode (like Our Skyy) or it will be more like You Never Eat Alone. Ships may or may not be playing the same characters as previous.

A few more promo shots posted for Y-Destiny. It looks more serious than director Cheewin normally goes for (YYY & You Never Eat Alone). I don’t know if that means anything or if it’s just a mature styling we’re seeing in Thai BL as a result of the actors getting older and the influence of Manner of Death and KinnPorsche.

Speaking of You Never Eat Alone is supposed to be finally dropping official Eng Subs somewhere, and ep 9 features Prem & Boun. I’m not bothering with this one so I don’t know where it’s posting.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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simon-newman · 5 years

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Full Update

Hello there again all those fascinated by arthropods or animals in general.

It’s been a while since I made a larger update regarding all of my animals and TBH I was feeling kinda down since Athena’s untimely death as she was the first animal I’ve got in two years (that is after my Red-eared slider turtle passed away at an age of about 25 years).

Something I failed to mention before in those posts - I’ve been keeping animals pretty much my entire life as I received the turtle from my parents when I was just a toddler and...

Well.. The last 2 years after it passed away made me realize that animal keeping really puts me at ease and without an animal to look after I am really feeling bad.

So I decided to stop putting everything “for a better time” and got a few arthropods to keep (they require far less effort than a reptile so I can keep more of them at once).

Here’s the (I think) complete list of animal posts so far:

1. Athena

2. Ants I want to keep

3. First molt

4. Lvl 5

5. Princesses Acquired

6. Tarantulas I want to keep at some point

7. Praying Mantis Additions

8. Ants video

9. Expo report

10. Big (late) update

11. Sad update - Athena’s passing

(Now I can limit the number of links in the followup posts)

Now. WIthout further delay I’ll cover all animals in order - Praying Mantises first, Ants second - according to numbers I gave them (most of them don’t have names as I don’t know if they are male or female yet).

I’ll finish with a new addition.

1. M002 - Hierodula Venosa “Golden” (!!??)

Ok. I’ve ordered this Mantis in the online shop so that I could compare it to Athena.

In the end the specimen that arrived was younger than desired and... Well... See for yourselves:

It doesn’t look like Hierodula “Golden” AT ALL.

She molted 3 times so far and is now older than Athena was when I received her so... Yup - it is not the species I ordered.

Perhaps it’s the same species as...

2. M003 - Hierodula Sp.

I didn’t receive any answer from the shop when I asked them to clarify which species it is. So I still have no idea.

This one didn’t want to pose at all - even within the cup that already causes the camera to lose focus.

I did however manage to take a photo of it eating a roach there.

She/He is doing well - just like M002.

They look similar but this specimen has a slightly blue hue of it’s abdomen.

I guess it MIGHT be Hierodula Sp. “Blue” just like the nymphs I got as a bonus from the same shop...

3. The Blue Gang - hierodula Sp. “Blue”

Ok - I’ll cover all 3 of them in one post.

All of them molted 3 times and I am expecting them to molt again soon.

I numbered them as well mostly for safety measures as now I know what to expect from each of them.

M004:

The most hyperactive, bolty Praying Mantis in my collection.

It refused to eat on camera and jumped out of the container after I took this picture - it turned into another chase on my floor...

I only saw him/her eating the roaches I left in her cup a few hours later.

M005:

As you can see this one is far more cooperative - it stood still while I took the picture and then ate without causing any trouble.

M006:

The most docile of the three - was not interested in posing for me and just waited for food.

I didn’t let him down.

And I say “him” because looking at the pictures above I think I can risk saying that it’s a male.

4. M007 - Hierodula Sp. “Golden” (Atum)

The intended mate for Athena - now a lonely older Praying Mantis in my collection.

He’s eating well but I try not to overfeed him.

He was on the same diet as Athena before so if she really got poisoned by something he could also be affected. So far he seems to be doing just fine - blissfully unaware of his future wife/executioner’s untimely passing.

I think I’ll follow the advice of the keepers at the expo and when he matures I’ll post a request on the forums to find a mate for him anyway.

Apparently mature males are quite in demand in the Mantis-keeping community.

We’ll see in the future. As of now it’s been almost a month since his last molt and he’s still accepting food.

I expect the next molt to be the semi-final one...

Which means that bast case scenario Atum has some 4-5 months to live.

Ok. Time to update on my Ant “colonies”.

5. A001 - Manica Rubida

Behold the stunning beauty of Her Royal Highness!

She made a pose like a JoJo character. Isn’t she fabulous?

Well - as you can see SHE is doing fine, but WAIT!

Do you see that thing among the larvae? (just under the queen’s abdomen)

No?

Here’s another photo:

Do you see those weird thingies now? There are at least four of them!

Those are pupae.

Yes - we have our first worker ants preparing to mature.

I guess it’s going to take about 2 weeks and we’ll finally be able to call this “a colony”.

So... How’s the other queen doing?

6. A002 - Manica Rubida

She’s doing fantastic but she’s not willing to pose for me.

As you can see she also has some pupae in there.

In fact the last time I counted she had 7 of them... Not sure where she stuffed the remaining 5 but she’s a crafty one - I guess she could even hide them under the cotton (I wouldn’t want to disturb her too much so turning the test tube to see is out of question).

Anyway - I’d love to provide more pictures of her but the sun started to do some weird shit and messing with my camera’s ability to focus.

I’ll just put this picture here:

Do you see this pupae? She has those cute, tiny eyes!

It’s hard to believe she’ll become one of the most hated ants in my country...

And with this we covered all the animals you knew I had.

But I did tell you that I’ll be visiting an expo last week.

I did.

I mostly intended to try and get some orchid Mantises (Hymenopus Coronatus) but...

Well - with Athena’s death I started doubting my ability to care for a more fragile species.

I am putting those on hold for now.

I went to ask about the possible reason of Athena’s death and three different keepers all had the same theory.

Pesticides.

She was kept the same as other Mantises in my care and fed the same food items.

She was the only specimen I kept on my window for display purposes.

All it took was for someone to spray their garden in the area and she might have gotten poisoned as well...

How... unfortunate.

Still - just to be sure I didn’t buy any new mantises.

The thing is - I convinced a family member who lives with me to go as well.

I was kinda surprised when she suggested I get something else instead.

Something to put on a display where my empty fish tank stands now (I’ll wait for 2 more years before re-establishing it).

Something... Different from the animals I am keeping now. Different and longer-living but still fairly easy to care for.

I am proud to introduce:

7. T001 - Brachypelma Vagans

Hard to see it down there but there’s a tiny little spider hiding in the burrow.

How tiny? Well - it was the size of my smallest fingernail.

It molted already a few days ago and now is the size of my index finger nail.

“I never saw it leave the burrow and it’s really hard to take a picture of it as it sits down there - this is the best I could do” - was the thing I intended to write here as I started this post yesterday.

Lo and behold.

As if it knew and wanted to become famous - in the evening it left the burrow to hunt down the roach I left in there during the initial photo session.

The last roach roommate stayed alive for two days and disappeared overnight.

I guess this one refused to share expenses and had to go.

Yup I got my first tarantula.

Umm... Well...

8. T002 - Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens

I got two actually.

This one is far more active as it’s idea of a burrow is a trench around the center of the cup.

It also actively responds to feeding roaches and takes them down instantly.

I guess it doesn’t want a roommate

Or she doesn’t want a roommate...

Most people don’t even attempt to determine if a small sling is male or female (that’s why they are quite cheap) but I am me and I have this Pocket Microscope I bought for $2 which can magnify stuff 60 times...

The problem here is that I am a complete amateur and the microscope can’t take pictures so despite getting quite a clear view I can’t tell for sure myself.

I give it 75% chance it’s a female tho.

We’ll see how good I am at it.

So yeah...

I have tarantulas now.

Two so far.

From what I’‘ve learned there are two types of Tarantula Keepers out there.

First type - the ones who keep 1-5 tarantulas.

Second type - the ones that own more than 100.

There’s no in-between.

For now I’ll stay at 2 - I’ll think about more when I am able to have a proper animal room... Perhaps in a few years...

Anyway - this post grew quite long, didn’t it?

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

I’ll keep updating - preferably every 2 weeks. I might also make more videos.

See you.

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royallyanxious · 6 years

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Collapsing Star Prologue

So I’ve started yet another story this time with a big pinch of moxiety (and eventual prinxiety because I’m a trash and can’t write anything else bye)

Collapsing Star

Obviously you can read it on AO3

next chapter

Parings: one sided moxiety, eventual prinxiety, logicality

word count: 2582

tw: depression and anxiety disorder

Roman is sitting relaxed on Patton's sofa, laughing at one of his puns. They accidentally bumped into each other few weeks ago just after Roman moved back to his hometown. That was their first meeting since high school times. Yet Patton's pun remained just as pure as they used to be. And Logan is still getting as annoyed as he used to be upon hearing them. The only difference is that now Patton kisses down each of Logan's frowns. Roman smiles. He's happy that these two found their way together. He used to ship them so hard during the school times and when he learnt that Logan is going overseas to study his heart broke. Apparently he came back after two years, called Patton and week later they were happy couple. They now have been dating for 3 years and Roman couldn't get happier. And apparently so do they.

"Oh man so many things has changed since high school..." sighs Roman "You two are together. I, instead of being a hollywood star, am managing the theater... So many has changed..." He looks around the comfy apartment Logan and Patton share. It’s so cozy, he has never been here before and yet it feels like home already.

"But is it a bad thing though?" beams Patton "As long as we're all happy it shouldn't matter what we accomplished and have yet to accomplish in our lifes!"

"Agreed." nods Logan and delicately squeezes Patton thigh.

"And I'm so glad that you came back to Florida Ro!" adds Patton grabbing a cookie "We've missed you so much here! This town seems so boring without you!"

"Well Patton, technically the number of residents of this city makes it almost impossible to avoid any interesting situa-" he stops in the middle of the sentence and the smile drops off his face "Your earbud is..."

Patton with one quick move clicks the earbud which has been in his ear since Roman walked through the door. Now that he thinks of it Patton has been wearing it every time since the reunion in grocery store few weeks ago.

"Hello?" asks Patton. He's not smiling anymore. His face is serious and his lips form one thin line. Roman can't remember seeing Patton like that. "Never." Says Patton after few seconds and Roman catches a sight of sadness in his eyes. Apparently someone on the other side of the phone has said something sad or disturbing. Patton has always been a sensitive guy. He gestures Logan to give him a piece of paper and quickly notes down some address "Okay I have this. Stay on the phone. I'm coming. Stay on the phone." he says and quickly walks out of the room. Soon the front door shuts and Patton leaves. Confused Roman looks at Logan who sighs and rests his elbows on knees.

"A lot has changed since you left Roman." he clears his throat awkwardly. This is new to Roman too. He knows that Logan hardly ever has problems with explaining things, but this time he seems to be clearly uncomfortable.

"You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to Lo. I understand that we may have… grown apart a little bit" says Roman, even though he's really curious. He knows that his friends' feelings go first so if Logan doesn't want to talk about it- he's not going to force him.

"No, it's nothing really..." Logan exhales loudly "Despite the time that has passed I still consider you one of my closest friends Roman." he smiles slightly and Roman smiles back. He's glad that the relation between them hasn't faded away completely and now they can restore this friendship.

"So?" asks Roman and moves a little bit closer. Now he can ask about details. The tight grip on his heart disappeared being replaced with new one. Why was Patton sad? What happened when he Romas was away?

"So you know Patton..." Logan's voice is a little bit softer when he says the name of his boyfriend "He's the best human walking on this world. He sees the best in people and he loves to help others..."

"Mhm..."

"Few months ago Patton has registered into this program."

"What program?"

"It's called...Guardian Angel... I doubt you’ve heard of it. It’s this kind of program you wouldn't never hear about unless you look for it. And believe me Patton was looking for something like this for a long time... But let’s start from beginning, shall we? You remember that he used to suffer from depression, right?"

Roman nods quietly. These were dark days. The diagnosis and the struggles Patton has to face every day... Finally he managed to win with the illness but Roman knows that he still has to check up at doctor from time to time.

"So Guardian Angel is about helping people with depression and other mental illnesses. The recreation process is long and arduous but Patton of course was determined to become someone's angel. He passed all the tests. And it’s not easy to pass them for someone who himself has had troubles with mental illnesses…. So after that he had to wait for a person who needed help and was willing to put themselves under Patton's care."

"Willing to?" Roman raises his eyebrow.

"Yes, the person of whom you're taking care of chooses the guardian themselves. Patton was like a little teddy bear to be shot down at the lottery. It made me a little bit mad because Patton being Patton was worried that no one will like him enough to choose him. But... after weeks of waiting someone has appeared... A boy though he would be offended if he heard me speaking like that about him." Logan chuckles "He's 19 now, but he was 17 back then... his name... his name is Virgil. And Patton is up to his disposition 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. He even have a special earbud. You must have noticed it. So whenever Virgil doesn’t do well or needs help Patton is there to pick up the phone which mostly ends up with him taking Virgil home.”

Roman leans, trying to analyses what Logan has just said to him.

"So now Patton is...?"

"Yes, picking up Virgil. They will probably come here if Virgil feels like meeting someone new. But I think he doesn’t mind that too much. So unless you want to leave, you can stay. You're no bother Roman." Logan stands up "I have to make some tea. Virgil will probably want something hot to drink... He was probably wandering around the town with his friends again. It always ends up like that... He gets hurt and..."

Roman follows Logan to the kitchen and watches as his friend boils the water. Suddenly a question pops into his mind.

"Are how do you feel about this situation?" he asks and Logan smiles slightly.

"At first it was weird... You know technically I’m no one to Virgil. I mean, I’m not the part of the project so at first I felt a little bit excluded. Especially since there are days when Virgil has to stay with us for a few days... And sometimes he needs to be taken to the doctor... Things like that felt weird at the beginning but now..." the smile grows wider "He feels almost like a little brother you have to take care of which is a pain but you still love him. It's hard to explain but despite all these horrible things he has been through Virgil is great person. And he has grown up so much during past two years! You wouldn't believe! He's so much mature now! He's not attending college yet but we're slowly thinking about it. He's health goes first so I sometimes teach him some random stuff from my textbooks, you know Roman and... wait what are you laughing about?" Logan frowns and Roman can't hold the laughter inside anymore.

"I've never thought about you in terms of proud father Lo!" he exclaims finally as he somehow manages to conduct a series of breathes in order to calm himself down. Logan snorts.

"If you spend as much of your time with someone like Virgil you would be proud of him too."

"Yea... That's what I dream of Lo.” Roman’s voice is laced with sarcasm “Handsome male with sad background story and I'm his prince on white horse! But in my vision I'm his lover. Not his mother, Logan!" laughs Roman. He knows he shouldn't but he still laughs. He feels a spark of excitement when corners of Logan's lips travel up.

"You haven't changed at all Roman." he shakes his head and pours the tea with water. Small, cozy kitchen fills with the smell of green tea and mint. "Do you like mint tea? Sorry that's all I have since Patton started freaking out about Virgil's health, all we eat and drink recently are greens." he says it completely seriously but Roman can sense a tickle of humor in the tone of Logan's voice.

"Mint is okay." replies Roman and Logan take another mug out of the cupboard. All of them are covered with colorful dots except of one which has little purple bat on it. Roman doesn't need a genius to guess who's the owner of this mug. He tries to imagine Virgil. He’s probably shy… With blonde angelic locks and big, green eyes. Following Patton everywhere like a lost puppy. Most likely wearing all grey. And on the top of that- gay. Roman hums to himself.

"Logan aren't you jealous though?" he asks with curiosity after few minutes.

"What do you mean?" Logan looks at him with surprise.

"I mean... Patton and Virgil must share a special bond since Patton is his ‘angel’, oh my that sounds stupid but anyway... The age gap between them is only 4 years too. And as you said before you don’t have access to everything they do. And that earbud thingy… Doesn’t it worry you a little bit? I know that you consider Virgil as your younger brother but... He doesn't have to think that way. Okay and now you’re laughing? Great just great, would you enlighten me what you find so funny?” Roman grunts embarrassed watching Logan holding his stomach as a wave of giggles comes from his mouth.

"Don't worry friend. First of all, Virgil and Patton tell me everything. I don’t feel excluded even in the slightest. Second of all... Virgil has hinted us recently that he may or may not have a girlfriend."

"Straight? In 21st century?" mocks Roman teasingly and Logan raises hands in defense.

"Hey, I'm no one to judge! He knows that I will support him no matter what. But." he stops abruptly and points at Roman "You. Don't you dare to hit on this boy. Playboy."

"I'm not a boy anymore Lo-ogic." snorts bored voice from the corridor and Roman immediately turns around. So that must be Virgil. He looks nothing like Roman has imagined. He's leaning over the door-frame with his hands crossed on the chest. He's wearing a dark leather jacket and black skinny jeans. His bangs is dyed purple and Roman would say that he looks like a classical bad-boy if it wasn't that Virgil's whole face is smudged with resting of black eyeliner and eyeshadow. Streams of tears are still visible on his cheeks.

"Oh Virgil. You're here. How amazing." smiles Logan softly. "Oh you too Patton. I've made you some tea. Sit down, both of it. You must be tired. So Pat, did it go smoothly?" asks Logan as Patton sits next to Roman who feels a little bit out of place right now. He watches as Virgil lazily walks over to the chair and literally falls onto it. He leans his head back with closed eyes. Roman finds it a little bit weird but basing on lack of reaction in both Logan and Patton's posture he assumes that it's normal.

"He forgot to take his meds again." sighs Patton with a pinch of accusation in his voice.

"Oh." escapes from Logan's mouth.

"For a week." finishes Patton.

"Oh!" this sigh is much more aggressive and both Logan and Patton stares into Virgil's exposed neck as if they were trying to burn holes in it.

"I just didn't feel like it." mumbles Virgil more to himself than to Logan or Patton. The purple lacy ribbon around his neck, moves slightly on his Adam’s apple.

"Well young man you know I will have to report that." Patton clicks his tongue. "Could you at least tell me if you have them with you?"

Virgil rolls his head and finally faces Roman. Until now Roman hasn't realized that he is sitting directly in front of Virgil. He gulps. This is awkward but Virgil doesn’t seem to care about Roman at all. Not something Roman has expected from a mentally ill person but who is he to judge.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't..." hums Virgil almost cheerfully and takes out his phone.

"Virgil." Logan's voice is cold and sends chills down Roman's spine but it seems that it doesn't bother Virgil even in the slightest. He types something into the phone, waiting if either Patton or Logan say something more.

"Okay I will take them now." he groans finally after replying to some text and takes off small box. Roman can't see the name of the medicine but it's pretty obvious that it's antidepressants. Virgil quickly gulps the pill. "Satisfied?"

Logan sighs and Patton smiles brightly.

"You want us to treat you like an adult and yet you act like this..." says Logan, gets up from the table and leaves the room mumbling something about writing to the doctor.

Roman notices that Virgil almost immediately buries his nose in his phone.

"Who are you texting kiddo?" asks Patton sweetly and Virgil flinches a little bit. His bangs fall into his eyes more and more.

"No one special." Comes a quick reply.

"Girlfriend?" chuckles Patton.

"Maybe." replies Virgil shortly with his eyes still glued to the phone.

Patton giggles once again.

"Do you want some more tea Roman? Oh right! Roman you don't know Virgil. I mean officially! Roman this is my little Virgil. Virgil honey this is my old friend Roman."

Virgil finally brings himself to look up at Roman.

"Sup?" he says quickly and his gaze drops down again.

"Nice to meet you too..." snorts Roman. Patton laughs as if he was watching a good comedy, not an awkward meeting. He gets up and ruffles Virgil's hair.

"I'll be back in a minute." he says and turns around.

Huge blush crawls on Virgil's face and he quietly looks above his shoulder at Patton who disappears in the door. Small smile wanders in the corner of his lips and Roman gasps. Virgil instantly turns his gaze on Roman and bites his lip. They for a while stare at each other trying to read each other's expression. Virgil is the first one who turns away his eyes.

"Guilty." flashes through Roman's head but he stays silent. Instead his clicks his tongue. To his utter surprise Virgil hisses at him.

"What the-"

"What?" grunts Virgil and his gaze falls back on the phone "Have you never seen a hissing emo with make-up ruined from crying."

Roman laughs quietly.

"No, I have not."

"You're welcome then." Virgil's eyes look up for a tiny piece of second before dropping down again.

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jewishtango · 7 years

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apple&honey macaron for a sweet new year

l’shana tova everyone!! i started making these last year and they were a big hit so i thought i’d share the recipe for you all, which is really a combination of recipes adapted from different sources. i’m going to start with the fillings, bc i always make them in advance. i make two fillings for this particular recipe, but if you want to try to combine them, that’s up to you. this is long so bear with me

the first is apple butter. this is adapted from cooks illustrated, who bless their hearts made some p glaring errors imo

1lb macintosh apples 1lb fuji apples 1/2 liquid cup apple cider 1/4 liquid cup calvados/applejack/some other apple alcohol 1/4 liquid cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar reasonable splash of lemon juice (approx 1.5 tablespoons) sprinkling of salt spices!

1. cut up your apples into little chunks KEEPING THE PEELS ON. put em in a big ol dutch oven with the other ingredients and stir a bit to get the apples coated in em. the original recipe doesn’t call for spices, claiming it takes away from the apple flavor, but theyre clearly idiots so go wild. i throw in a single star anice, generous cinnamon cloves and nutmeg, and a little dried lemon peel bc why the hell not

2. put the pot on the stove over medium heat and bring the liquid to boil, stirring occasionally.

3. turn the heat down to medium low, cover the pot, and leave that fucker for half an hour. in the wise words of my grandma, DON’T PEAK

4. i used a food mill to process the contents of the pot but i guess a strainer could work too. in any case, get rid of those skins and chunky bits, put it all in a smaller pot.

5. on the lowest of heat and stirring constantly, reduce what is now essentially applesauce down into jam. this is going to take a while, so make sure youve got everything u need first or someone to take over if you’ve gotta leave the pot alone. the jam should darken and once you’ve got it down so it sorta glops down from the spoon in masses rather than pouring off of it, get that shit in a jar. let it cool on the counter until its about room temp, then get a lid on it and refrigerate. you’re done!

the honey buttercream is from my dear rose beranbaum’s cake bible, which is a title i’ve always found sort of ironic considering she’s jewish, but that’s beside the point

3 egg yolks (if you can, use the ones left over from the macaron recipe!) 1 cup butter, cut into chunks and softened 1/6 cup (approx) clover honey

1. using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks until they’ve lightened

2. get a glass heat-proof container ready. in a small saucepan, heat the honey up, stirring constantly, until it gets to a roiling boil (what’s a roiling boil? the entire surface will get bubbly and frothy. its kinda hard to miss when it happens i promise) QUICK. take it off the heat and transfer immediately to the glass measure to keep it from cooking further

3. asap, start mixing the eggs while slowly pouring in the honey. this’ll cook the eggs so don’t go worrying about salmonella. keeping whisking til the mixture cools completely.

4. add the butter in chunks as you keep mixing, whisk until smooth. voila! put it in the fridge to cool a bit.

finally are the macarons. i use notsohumblepie’s macaron recipe which i’ve fiddled with to make work better for my oven, which is always at least five degrees too cold and takes longer to bake things. i like this one in particular bc it gets into some of science, why you don’t tend to flavor the shells, and the maturation process which is EXTREMELY important. here are some notes from my experience w the process

the recipe calls for aging your egg whites, which means measuring them out ahead of time and sticking them in the fridge for a couple days lightly covered to get rid of any additional moisture. make sure the bowl you use is ABSOLUTELY clean and dry, which i usually accomplish by taking a paper towel slightly dampened with vinegar and wiping the inside with that. also keep in mind that things like humidity WILL affect your macarons, which tend to like drier environments—my dishwasher is by the stove and everyone else in the house knows not to open it while macarons are in progress.

i use bob’s red mill almond flour, but i also find it helpful to grind the almond flour further in a food processor. i sift and measure out 125 grams of almond flour and powdered sugar and process for longer than i think i should, then sift and measure out the other 100 grams of powdered sugar, add that, and then process again for awhile. then i sift the entire contents one last time.

the recipe says to beat the eggs until foamy before adding the sugar/egg white powder mix, which is sort of vague. i interpret this to mean “foamy like a cappuccino” if that helps you at all

it also says to add the food coloring (GEL. ALWAYS GEL) before the macaronage/folding process, which i usually follow. in this particular case, fold in the almond flour mixture a third at a time first, then separate the batter into somewhere between 1/3 & 2/3 and 1/2 &1/2 and add red food dye to the larger portion and green/yellow to the smaller. individually finish the folding process with each until you can do the figure-eight test and the batter resembles lava. put some of the green and some of the red into your pastry-bag-thingy and pipe ‘em out, you should get a cool swirly thing if you do it right, which is to say the green and red are on diff sides, not on top of each other.

assembly!!

make a little circle of buttercream, and place a dab of apple butter in the center for each lil macaron sandwich.

feel free to hmu with any questions or problems!!

#rosh hashana #recipes #jumblr #jewish cooking #halle says some words

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mystic-messenger-writing · 7 years

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Hi, so I was wondering if I can get a head cannon of MC and rfa losing a baby and then maybe finally having one eventually? I lost my baby when I was a lil over 5 months and it crushed me. I've come to peace with it, but I'd love something to read and emotionally connect with. You're an amazing writer so I'm excited to see what you can do(:

Oh my goodness anonny you’re an amazing and such a strong person to have gone through that! I sincerely wish you happiness and love, I’m so happy to hear that this game has helped you overcome such a tough time! Thank you so much for your patience, I wanted to take my time and give you a well-thought out response plus I kind of got carried away when writing these! I truly hope that you enjoy, if you need me to change anything please don’t hesitate to ask!! :)

Side Note/Warning: I decided to get rid of the under the cut thingie since I had a few people message me about it not working plus it wasn’t working on my mobile. So this is a warning. this headcanon talks about pre-mature child deaths and I know that this cane make some people uncomfortable so please skip this one if you feel this way. Anyways, there’s my warning and I hope that the rest of you enjoy!! ^^

Yoosung

You and Yoosung were elated to see that your pregnancy test came back positive

The two of you had been trying for a while now to become pregnant and now that you finally were, Yoosung couldn’t stop tears of joy from flowing

You and Yoosung moved out of his small apartment and into a larger family home, immediately preparing for the baby’s arrival

The two of you even crocheted a tiny baby blanket together, Yoosung said happily that you both sewed it with love

Everything seemed to be going fine with the pregnancy until one morning you woke up and shrieked as you saw blood between your thighs and a sharp pain in your lower abdomen

Yoosung jumped out of bed and drove you as fast as he could to the doctors, trying to calm you down but deep down he knew what the truth was

When the doctor told the two of you that the you had a miscarriage, you sobbed into Yoosung’s shoulder as silent tears slid down his cheeks

Yoosung helped calm you down enough to take you back home but your crying started again when you walked past the nursery

Every night you and Yoosung would lay your crochet blanket in between the two of you, whispering ‘Good night’s’ and ‘I love you’s’ to your unborn daughter

It took a while, but after enough time of mourning for your daughter, you and Yoosung decided to try for another child

And when you became pregnant again, the two of you cried tears of happiness for two hours straight

This time, Yoosung studied regular medicine along side his usual veterinarian medicine to ensure that this child would be born happy and healthy

When it came time for the delivery, Yoosung was extremely nervous that something would happen to either you or your child but the birth went without any flaws

Yoosung held his newborn son close to his chest, kissing his tiny head as tears littered all three of your faces

You and Yoosung would constantly be with your son, giving him all of the love and attention that he deserved

The little Kim even inherited his older sister’s crochet blanket and when he would cry at night, Yoosung would wrap his son in the blanket which would immediately stop his crying

Yoosung would rock his son back and forth, telling his son how much you, himself, and his unborn older sister loved him and how she would always watch over the three of you

Zen

After establishing a relationship of love and trust, you and Zen decided that you both wanted children

So when your pregnancy test came back positive, you and Zen couldn’t be happier as he peppered your face with kisses and twirled you around

Preparing for the baby’s arrival would be a fun yet challenging time for the two of you

Zen became increasingly nervous about being a father but after much reassurance from you, he started to believe that he could be an amazing dad for his child

He even told his family about the pregnancy and while they still didn’t accept Zen back, his mother gave him a pair of his old booties for his child to wear

As your due date approached, Zen couldn’t help but notice how you didn’t seem like your tummy was growing big enough to support s baby, but he didn’t want to worry you so he kept his mouth shut

It wasn’t until one day at rehearsals that Zen received an emergency phone call from an ambulance driver that you were in the hospital that Zen felt true panic within himself

Zen rushed to the hospital to find you lying in bed, crying your eyes out as the doctor explained that your baby didn’t survive

To Zen, it felt like his entire world was coming crashing down but he knew that he didn’t have time to wallow in his own self-pity, he needed to take care of you no matter what

Every night Zen would have to calm you down from waking up with nightmares, you’d have to cling onto your husband’s old booties that were meant to be given to your son as Zen would softly sing or hum until you fell back asleep

Only when he knew for sure that you were asleep did Zen allow himself to cry for the death of his unborn son, not realizing that this process would be so painful

With time, both you and Zen healed and when the time was right, you both mutually agreed to try for another child

Zen broke down into a crying mess when you told him that you were pregnant, vowing that o matter what he would see his child be born

He was there with you every step of the way during this pregnancy, especially when you squeezed the life out of his hand during your perfect delivery

Zen looked down to be greeted with a pair of crimson irises as tears filled his own eyes as he looked at his son

He became extremely protective of his new son but still very loving and caring over him, especially when he wore his unborn older brother’s booties which he would always become a happy baby when he wore them

When your son outgrew the tiny booties, you, Zen, and your son would visit your eldest son’s grave and placed them onto of the grave as they talked to him

As Zen held his second son in his arms, he’d silently tell his first son how much he and you love him and how Zen knows that he’ll always watch over the three of them

Jaehee

It had always been your dream to have children and you couldn’t have though of a better partner to have a family with then Jaehee

She always had a motherly aura to her so when you brought up the idea of having children with her, she agreed

After much consideration, you and Jaehee had decided to go with a sperm donor from one of your close male friends

As your tummy grew bigger and bigger, yours and Jaehee’s excitement grew as well when the doctors told you that you would be having a daughter

Jaehee showed a newfound love of crafting and with your help, made a tiny pink floral headband for your daughter

All seemed to be going well with the pregnancy until you felt a sharp pain in your tummy so unbearable that you couldn’t even stand straight

Jaehee rushed you to the hospital only to hear the worst news imaginable, that you baby girl no longer had a heartbeat and had to be removed

Tears poured down your cheeks as Jaehee gripped your hand tightly letting her own tears fall

When the two of you got home, you clutched the small headband that you and Jaehee made for your daughter to your chest, with fresh tears falling

It hurt Jaehee seeing you this upset, so she wiped her own tears away and became your shoulder to cry on

After a while, you shakily asked Jaehee if she wanted to try for a child again, telling her that this is your dream and you know that she’d make an amazing mother

She immediately agreed so the two of you went to a different sperm donor, a friend of Jaehee’s

In a couple of months, you became pregnant again, much to both of your happiness and this time, Jaehee constantly reminded you to take your vitamins and to let her know if you feel any pain

Jaehee was there with you every step of the way, giving you lots of encouragement as you gave birth to a healthy baby girl

Your little girl was bombarded with love from you and Jaehee, even dressing her up with his unborn older sister’s headband which always seemed to make her smile

Jaehee would hold her daughter at night and would tell her how much her mommy’s plus her unborn older sister loved her, the little girl would grow up knowing that her family loved her and would always watch over her

Jumin

After the two of you got married, Jumin was eager to finally start a family with you

Once you came out of the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test and happy tears, Jumin felt his heart sing with joy as he tightly embraced you

The two of you had so much fun decorating the baby’s room, often having debates on the color of the wall, what the baby should wear Jumin wanted cat onesies and what kind of toys the little one would have

While the two of you did disagree on most things, you and Jumin bought a little cat stuffed animal for your child, one thing you both agreed they needed

As your tummy grew, you started to feel more and more pain, one day it became too much and had Driver Kim take you to the hospital

Once Jumin was notified, he stormed out of his office and rushed to your side only to find you sobbing that your baby boy’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck

Jumin was stunned, begging the doctors to do something, anything to save his child but he knew deep down that his son was no longer here

You would cry every time you walked past the nursery with Jumin gently holding your shoulder as you sat in the rocking chair, holding the cat plushie as you told your unborn son how much you loved him

After a while, you and Jumin decided that you both wanted to try for a child again

This pregnancy went as smoothly as any pregnancy could go since Jumin hired the best doctors, chefs, and caretakers

Jumin couldn’t stop his smiling when he saw you deliver a healthy baby girl into the world, holding her close to his chest as he fell to his knees from happiness

Your daughter inherited her unborn older brother’s cat stuffed animal, always seeming to laugh and smile when she held it

Jumin would hold his tiny daughter at night, softly singing to her and telling her that her unborn older brother would always watch over them and that he’d always protect her

Seven

Seven had always dreamed of having a large family with you

So when you excitedly showed him your positive pregnancy test, Seven fell to the floor holding your still flat tummy, thanking you repeatedly as he kissed your tummy

He tighten his security system, especially in his baby’s room and went to building so many robo cats

But Seven wanted to give your child something that the two of you made with love together so you both agreed and created a space and cat themed mobile for the top of their crib

Life seemed to be going so well for Seven until one night when the two of you were watching a movie

You suddenly gripped his arm as he saw blood trickled between your thighs as you said that you were in a lot of pain

Seven raced you to the hospital, praying that everything was okay, but they were far from it

The doctor informed you and Seven that your baby was no longer alive, with you immediately bursting into tears and Seven feeling a crushing weight in his chest

When the two of you got back home, Seven laid you down in bed, gently hushing you until you fell asleep in his arms

That was when Seven let himself cry, asking God why he hated him so much to take his son away from him

The two of you got through the mourning process together and eventually, you and Seven were ready to try for a child again

As if God was listening to Seven’s prayers, your pregnancy went flawlessly, the only thing was Seven needed to have his hand checked out by the doctor since you squeezed it so hard

Seven held his son close to him, gently putting his ear to his son’s heart, hearing the beats made him cry tears of joy

The little Choi had his unborn older brother’s mobile and would always seem to stare at it in wonder when it slowly spun

Seven would hold his son at night, gently telling him that even though he would never meet his older brother in this world, someday you, Seven, the little boy, and his unborn older brother would meet and become a true family

#mystic messenger #mystic messenger headcanon #mystic messenger imagines #mystic messenger Yoosung #mystic messenger Zen #mystic messenger Jaehee #mystic messenger Jumin #mystic messenger Seven

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