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softquietsteadylove · 9 months

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Hello beautiful! ✨🖤

I have an idea for a new AU with Thena and Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh starts at an elite culinary school where the food in each lesson is judged by strict critics.

The students in the higher classes warn the new ones that one specific critic (Thena) can never be satisfied and never gives a good review. Many students have dropped out of school because of this. But Gilgamesh wants to see for himself.

🖤✨ Hgs and Love! ✨🖤

"I heard she made everyone in her class cry in their first lesson."

"I heard that she subs in for real food critics sometimes."

"I heard that the dean himself gave her a full-ride scholarship she's so good."

Gil rolls his eyes at the classmates of his whispering - loudly - about their expected panel of judges. He doesn't think this critic can possibly be as frightening as people are making her out to be. She's just a student, like them, right?

"Can't they just put us out of our misery?" Druig grumbles next to him, shifting nervously on his feet as he looks down at his dish.

"Hey," Gil nudges his shorter, more nervous friend, "don't look so freaked out. "It's a great dish."

Druig sighs, "thanks, man. But it's not you I gotta impress, is it? It's 'em."

The door opens and three senior students step into the room.

Sersi is the top student in the Molecular Gastronomy course. She makes creations that seem transmuted right down to the atomic level, it seems sometimes. They look stunning, they're always delicious, and the way she can make one thing taste entirely different from how it looks is always a showstopper.

Phastos all but wrote the bible by which the school acts. He doesn't cook, but his knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics--is so all-encompassing that there's basically nothing he doesn't know. It is just a rumour, but supposedly he has written all the recipes the courses use for instructing students since he arrived.

Thena is last, and by far the scariest. She looks like she's never seen the sun or eaten a morsel of food, at that. Her reputation precedes her, and her perfect palette is as terrifying as it is rare. She doesn't cook either, but if there is any sort of flaw in any way, she will detect it. And she won't have the smile on her face that Sersi does when she breaks the news.

Thena stands between the other two, eyeing the class with an expression that already screams that she's not looking forward to this. "Please present your dishes."

The first two come up, their trays rattling from their nerves.

Gil watches from his table a little further in the back. Sersi and Phastos try first, giving their praise as well as gentle critiques and advice. Once Thena is done sniffing it, she takes a bite.

"You lack identity."

The whole class practically keels over. It may seem small, and maybe even nitpicky. But to hear that you - as a chef - have no identity in your food?--it's devastating.

"I would say you lack creativity, but that is not what this is," she states and sets her spoon down after the one bite. "You have replicated a family recipe in the hopes that it would convey an emotion. But the balance has been put off by your muddled intentions. It's over-seasoned, and the flavours battling for dominance has overpowered what would actually make it shine if you weren't so clumsy."

The class is practically crying for their fallen comrade. And this is round one!

Druig blows out a breath as they watch their fellow student shuffle back to his table in shame (borderline in tears). "And the Ice Queen strikes again."

Gil stares straight ahead. He shrugs, "she did give him advice, though."

Druig looks at him with wide eyes. "If I shove you into a lion's den and tell you not to die, that's advice, I s'pose."

Gil chuckles just a little, still watching eagerly, "shut up."

The critique goes on, many falling to the Ice Queen's sharp words along the way. It's not that she has nothing nice to say at all, it's just that the bad seems to always outweigh the good for her.

Sersi and Phastos offer sympathetic smiles and waves; obviously they're used to this.

"Next."

Gil and Druig approach with their trays, a plate for each judge. Druig goes first.

He clears his throat, "I-I've made a confit salmon with swiss chard gelee and potato mousseline."

Sersi smiles brightly at them, showing off what's made her such a darling of the culinary world already. "That's very impressive, Druig!"

"A lot of technique," Phastos murmurs as he takes a bite. "The textures are right, although it's maybe a little soft overall."

Druig nods, taking the criticism at face value, "thank you."

"You have too much to prove."

Gil keeps a careful eye on his tablemate. Druig is stubborn, and younger than the rest of them. She's right, she just doesn't have to say it like that.

Druig stands tall against it, though. He looks the Ice Queen in the eye as he says, "and?"

Thena raises her eyes to him. Gil sees that they're green for the first time. "You've selected the most advanced techniques you've mastered thus far, but as Phastos said, there is no cohesion to the presentation of all of them in one dish. You didn't have to make a mousse of the potatoes--in fact, potatoes are not what I would have served with salmon in the first place."

Druig crosses his arms.

"The salmon is cooked perfectly," Thena says just as cut and dry as the negative stuff. She places her fork down, again, needing only one bite of each element to make her assessment. "It only brings out that, had you leaned into your strengths instead of showcasing your weaknesses, this could be perfect."

Druig has his arguing face on, and Gil almost wonders if he should drag him back from the judging table to cool off. He rolls his eyes, though, going back into his dismissive and pouty shell for the time being. He huffs, "I'll take it."

Gil is left alone as Druig moves back to the table.

Sersi smiles, "and what have you made today?"

"Chicken and dumplings!"

A poor man's dish. Chicken stew with dumplings in it: something that needs no technique to put forth. The whole room is silent, not even trying to hide the overall horror that has descended over them.

Even Sersi strains a little to smile at him as they pull their bowls closer. "How...interesting."

"I know, I know," Gil laughs, watching as Thena draws her spoon up to smell everything. "Just hear me out."

"I made a really quick chicken stock and let it simmer while I was preparing everything else. I made it more ramen style than country chicken soup style, but I also added some cinnamon and star anise to kind of have an element of what makes pho so comforting."

"Then while that was simmering I was roasting some veg with the other half of the carcass. I mashed up and then pan fried some potatoes and there's actually a little something in those dumplings."

"Well, that certainly sounds..." Sersi trails off, looking to her left as she holds a dumpling in hand, "impressive."

Thena is smiling.

She licks her lips as she puts her spoon down, still smiling at the shimmering bowl of broth. She picks up a dumpling and her eyes spark.

"You already know, don't you?" Gil smiles sheepishly. She looks at him as she takes a bite, pulling out the cheese he put in the centre. He snickers at the look on her face. "I made a simple mash and then turned it in to a dough with some flour and a little duck egg for some bite to it. Then I added a little more potato with some butter and the little piece of cheese curd for some chew. Like a-"

"Pierogi."

Phastos pushes his glasses up his nose as Thena utters something that isn't a direct review of the food.

Gil beams, his whole chest swelling with warmth from the inside out. "You order them for lunch all the time, right? You must have made them when you were little."

Thena smiles, taking a second bite of the fried mashed potatoes and their filling. "I did."

Gil celebrates to himself a little, clenching his fist. He looks over his shoulder and gives Druig a big thumb's up.

Thena takes another bite of the soup, too, her lashes fluttering as she savours the small but deliberate spoonful. "Hm."

Gil inches forward.

"It's not...perfect."

The class lets out a collective sigh.

"But," Thena is still smiling, taking a third bite. "I think it's about as close as I've ever had."

#Thenamesh AU #okay I love this prompt though #Gil hears about this terrifying student and her critiques #and thinks bring it on #either she's gonna love it or she'll hate it #but he's gonna make a dish he's proud of #they hear that they're getting the scary critics this time around #and they all pull out all the stops #Druig is all technique #Gil thinks hm...what would they like #and probably he's thinking about the hardest critic to please #he thinks about the solitary student who keeps to herself all the time #he thinks he's seen her getting pierogies for lunch on the odd time she eats in public #maybe her family is slavic or Polish or something #funfact pierogi origins are untraceable but they think they might be something from the old days of Kievan Rus #anyway he makes a stew that will feel warm and comforting #and he thinks about making just a flour dumpling and sticking them in the broth to steam #then he thinks about the beautiful Ice Queen and her pierogi #and goes...potato dumplings #I must #also this is very food wars #and if you don't know what this already #I am begging on my hands and knees don't look it up #I saw it with a friend who legitimately likes cooking I swear

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egophiliac · 8 months

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starting off with an amuse-bouche of some of my initial favorite bits! y'all, this update was WILD.

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #we really got it all in this update huh #we got flashbacks! backstory! shocking twists! cgs?!#we got the silver breakdown to end all silver breakdowns #the boy does not emote for 6 episodes straight and now it's POURING out and i am shoving my face directly into it #not to mention my favorite: action scenes represented by intensely wiggling the sprites around #and OF COURSE meleanor my beloved. your highness. ma'am. holy shit.#i guess it's mel instead of mal? hey she can spell her name however she wants #meleanor can do whatever she wants about anything. who is going to stop her.#meleanor: hold on baby. mommy wants to make a point. (yeets malleus' egg across the room into liia's face)#man though i am so afraid that crowley really might turn out to have been revaan this whole time #because this means we live in a world where dire fucking crowley managed to pull BOTH meleanor and lilia and i cannot accept that #briar valley are you okay. is it something in the water.#mrs. zigvolt took all the good taste and left none for anyone else

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puppetmaster13u · 3 months

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Prompt 191

So. Apparently immortality does in fact exist. And is apparently very easily accidentally achieved, if the fact an entire city has it now.

The GIW will be waiting a very long time to be able to drop that ghost shield, because the city doesn’t seem to be dying out anytime soon. Or at all actually. It’s been several generations now.

They might need to request assistance. Maybe before others start to investigate now that vigilantes are becoming a semi-common thing.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #prompts #The ghost shield made it where the ecto wasn’t able to disperse as it came out of the portal & filled the city #Everyone became too ecto contaminated to be able to exit #And just… stopped being able to die permanently or by old age #They’re not exactly humans nor ghosts but something in-between #Aka Liminal as fuck #Technically everyone counts as a meta or alien #They sure aren’t human anymore & all remember the shit the GIW and government have pulled #They’ve opened up trading with the Realms a while ago #They give them living world things that help with obsessions & get seeds or whatever supplies in exchange #Along with training #They all give off necromancing fae vibes #Liminal Amity Park #Danny is Not ghost king

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lazylittledragon · 3 months

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did somebody say dadkarios

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale dekarios #galemance #dadkarios #pregnancy cw #just a man and his slightly terrifying wife and goblin offspring #the sign won’t stop her because she can read but she’s ignoring it #this was inevitable we all knew it was coming #i almost regret spending so much time on these but they’re so pretty #i love decorating the wizard tower #side note have you ever had a baby pull your hair it fucking HURTS #they’re out for blood from day one #spoilers for future stuff but poor cyra goes through fucking HELL with that baby and it looks nothing like her #also i'm fully a gale abs denialist. where's his tummy you cowards make him Soft

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stil-lindigo · 1 year

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the sunset.

a comic about two outlaws who loved each other, despite everything.

creative notes:

all my other comics

store

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 5 months

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Let the revenge games begin.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #jin guangyao #nie huaisang #He's gonna call his 5 horse friends up. They have to go on a 14 year long journey to finish the job but by god they will do it.#The sheer chaos in the Audio Drama is really fantastic. Reminds me of those traincar murder mysteries.#The lights go off and there's a scream and then BOOM dead body. Who did that!!!#Okay it was qi deviation and he did it to stop himself from killing his brother. He did it to himself.#JGY sadly has the worst alibi ever though. Both the strongest motivation and also uhhh presence at the scene.#Not to nitpick but as someone who loves murder mysteries - I do feel like even *one* other suspect would have made it stronger.#I get that he tried to make it look like an inevitable Qi Deviation and that it *is* something within the family legacy.#And a big part of NHS figuring it all out comes down to his own perceptiveness and intelligence.#If you weren't close enough to JGY and NMJ of course it looks like an accident.#Sadly 'guy who plays the 'poor little meow meow card'' is also weak to 'guy who plays the 'poor little meow meow card''.#NHS was the better subtle manipulator at the end. That's probably the strongest mystery part of MDZS. And why he's in my top 5.#My man pulled the 'kill him just as he falls from the top of his game and loses everything' gambit and I love him for it.

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xiewho · 19 days

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the bad kids using the power of friendship to bring adaine's insight check from a 4 to a whole dirty 20 just to see what oisin thinks of her is peak comedy to me . the teen/highschool energy here was at full force they truly get it

#they pulled out ALL THE STOPS #flash of genius + guidance + 2 bardics #riz just Observing #so funny GOD they get it #fhjy #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high

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saltpepperbeard · 7 months

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Stede's Slutty Stiddy Shirt™ for @gentlebeard

#OFMD #OFMD Season 2 #OFMD S2 Spoilers #Stede Bonnet #ofmd gifs #ofmdedit #ofmdblog #ofmdsource #ofmddaily #Edit #MEASURES??? AGAINST YOU??????#I'MMMMM THE CRIMINAL #I'MMMMM THE MURDERER HSDJKLSDHS #but yeah no i hear my wifey has a bad day and i pull out All Stops okay <3 #also come on this was delightful to gif because god would you look at him #would you LOOK at him #it's almost like he's WANTING to display a chest and neck full of hicke-(GETS SHOT)

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mayasaura · 1 year

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So I noticed something in Harrow the Ninth. In chapter two, when John is trying to console Harrow over having lost Gideon, he puts his hands on her shoulders, and he says "Gideon Nav did not die for nothing."

Harrow feels "a hot whistle of pain run down [her] temporal bone," which is, we know now, Harrow having a stroke as her skull alters her brain so that she hears him say 'Ortus Nigenad' instead. And she replies to him in kind, using Ortus' name. So the interesting bit is John's reaction, look:

He had his hands on her shoulders the whole time. Physical touch negates lyctoral blindness, and she had a stroke while he was touching her. That look on his face. Is he working out an emotionally taxing anagram, or is he taking a good look at her and working out what the hell just happened? Then he says Gideon's name again, like he's running a test, and Harrow has another stroke. That's exactly the same test Mercy performed to figure out what Harrow did to her brain in chapter twenty-nine.

He knows. He's known about the lobotomy since chapter two. He thinks she did it to forget her grief and guilt, and he thinks he understands.

Which means when he 'notices' the lobotomy in this scene:

He's not really noticing it for the first time at all. He's calling attention to it. He's just told Harrow that she didn't open the Tomb, that she's wrong about the events of her own life, and then he deliberately 'discovers' and points out her brain damage to seal the deal.

John Gaius uses: Gaslight! It's super effective.

#the locked tomb #emperor john gaius #harrow nonagesimus #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrow the ninth #htn spoilers #here's that fun new John crime I mentioned!!#lmao he touches her cheek and tucks her hair behind her ear just before this #he has never touched her like that before and he never does again #he just needed to make physical contact with her head in that moment so he could 'notice' her fucked up lobe #what was it Augustine said? John is never as sentimental as you think #incidentally this has me thinking he took her claim MUCH more seriously than I'd first assumed #he didn't get distracted—he pulled out all the stops to shut her the FUCK down #she scared ya didn't she John?

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turtleblogatlast · 6 months

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We were robbed of a Hueso Jr. episode because good god I need he and Leo to interact.

I can just imagine an episode where a very busy Hueso has no choice but to ask Leo to babysit, and Leo’s like heck yeah I’d rock at that.

And of course Hueso is constantly like oh god what if something goes wrong that’s PEPINO he left with his CHILD.

So continuously throughout the episode he imagines the worst case scenarios for what could possibly be happening.

Every time Hueso imagines another catastrophic scenario the scene cuts back to Leo and Hueso Jr just calmly watching a movie or playing a game or something else equally as innocuous.

Eventually the worry gets to Hueso so much that he cuts his business short and races back home to see -

A peacefully sleeping Hueso Jr smiling as he lays snuggled up next to a shockingly quiet Leonardo.

He’s pleasantly surprised, and agrees to ask for Leo again next time he needs a babysitter.

Or, as it seems he may need to, when Hueso Jr. wants Leo to visit.

#rottmnt #rottmnt leo #rottmnt hueso #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt headcanons #you can also imagine this story as a two parter where the first is Hueso’s perspective where all he thinks will go wrong actually don’t #meanwhile the second part is Leo’s perspective where an accidental portal mishap (not Leo’s fault this time!)#(Jr may or may not have snuck into his father’s office and grabbed a portal stone)#thus begins a chase where Leo pulls out all stops to make sure this shockingly slippery child is safe #at the end they’re both exhausted but on the top of a skyscraper and Hueso Jr is just like wow #so Leo is like you know what…I can do you one better #so he shows off the view from the Empire State Building that Jr never got the opportunity to experience #obviously the kid passes out when they get back but it’s the most fun he’s ever had #anyway I’m in my all Leo’s are good with kids agenda

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