#hi tumblr. this is a spicy meatball

[hopefulrefrain]

Fandom: Arknights Relationships: Skadi/Specter, Specter/Amaia or Specter/the Endspeaker if you squint Characters: Specter, Skadi, Amaia Warnings: Extreme violence, gore, eroguro, vore, strangulation Dreamwidth Mirror: here Description: Specter dreams of that creature that says it isn't Amaia.

#arknights #my fic #arknights fic #skaspec #skadi/specter #specter/amaia #hi tumblr. this is a spicy meatball

[ophexis]

Hi! I'm alive! Let tell you about the

Elder Scrolls Cookbook!

Winner of the last poll! I know I'm under zero time constraints but sorry for taking a while lmao.

This is kind of going full circle for me, because when I joined tumblr, the very first thing I ever blogged about was my Skyrim playthroughs, not too long before I got into Saints Row and changed my life significantly. So this is kind of nostalgic for me lol. Anyway, onto the book!

The Elder Scrolls cookbook is a CLASSIC. Like I'm pretty sure it's not at all the first "nerdy" cookbook ever made, or even the first cookbook made for a specific franchise or anything, but when this came out it was kind of a big deal, probably because Skyrim was still a big deal lmao. I remember people trading the sweetrolls recipe around.

I kinda wonder if it's one of the first cookbook that tried to stay "in-universe". Because sometimes cookbooks really don't (there are a few Star Wars kids cookbooks that come to mind). But the Elder Scrolls cookbook is in-universe and has little lore snippets in each recipe, which I'm always a fan of.

The book is themed for The Elder Scrolls setting as a whole, but you can tell it came out at the height of Skyrim's popularity lol.

The book starts off with a chapter covering basics, from spice mixes to pie doughs to sauces, which I think is really cool. Not every cookbook has those, and they'll be used throughout the book so it's good to have a look through that chapter. Then the rest of the book is divided between sides, main meals, soups, breads, desserts and drinks. The recipes lean towards hearty recipes, perfect for surviving the harsh wilds of Tamriel.

The Nines know my poor fifth playthrough insomniac mage who I walked manually from Whiterun to the College of Winterhold would have needed it.

The cookbook has a photo for every recipe except one of the meads for some reasons lol. But I'll let that one slide because it's "just" a drink. It's not that hard to put a photo of food on recipes but man it is not standard and I'll complain about it forever. But the Skyrim cookbook has photos, thank the Nines.

I've cooked only one recipe from this book but what a recipe it is. Pictured above on the right, it's the orsimer venison, a sweet, slightly spicy, soy sauce meat recipe that is fuckin delicious and I've made it dozens of time (always with beef bc it's easier to find lol). On the left is the redguard rice, which is a current contender for the recipe I'll make from this for the poll (though I'm also looking at the Companion meatball recipe....which sounds funny said like that lmao). The redguard rice uses ground lamb, and I can't remember ever having lamb before! If I can find it I would definitely like to try.

We also, of course, have the Sweetroll recipe. I haven't made it yet but I recently and FINALLY found a small-sized fluted baking pan so I really want to make them soon.

Overall this is a really solid cookbook, it looks pretty, the photos are huge, there's a little bit of lore and story on every recipe. There are more fish-based recipes than I expected, which isn't as interesting for me but it adds variety. I kinda wish there were a few more main meals in there. I'm also torn on if I'd like the book to be divided by meal types as it is currently, or if it'd be neat to have the chapters be themed around cultures for extra lore flavor, like the DND cookbook. idk!

The recipes are pretty standard and don't tend to go for funky ingredients but I think that's fine. They do tend to go for venison and lamb for meat, which I think makes sense, thinking about Skyrim! (and yes the book is still very heavily focused on Skyrim, thought there are a few recipes from elsewhere) The recipes are hearty, using cheese, meats, lots of veggies and with a significant soup chapter and also lots of desserts. You'll be well fed as you travel Tamriel! Just watch your back for them Dark Brotherhood types.

Bonus themed images bc I feel like it: Some of the few surviving screenshots I had from Oblivion, when our computer couldn't run it well so my dad modded it to run at even lower specs and I'm pretty sure it turned off all the lighting. But I had such a great time.

My khajiit assassin at home uwu

And my main, in casual wear for some reason. She was a heavy armor build lol. And my outlet for making drow, without access to dnd.

ANYWAY hope this was mildly entertaining! I'll try to choose a recipe for this week, but I'm being forced to go into office more often so I can't garantee a time. Currently it's between the redguard rice and the companion meatballs.

Also check out Misohungrie's several few videos of him covering the cookbook and some extra recipes! I love his videos so you should check them out.

#Phex cooking adventures

[danstupidaushit]

Decadent Society LEGACY

So uh, kinda having to move the info from the old tumblr page to this one, judging i am making an archive with "all" of my au shit, so yeah, i probably won't be having to rewrite much stuff like i did with 80% of the other things i'm posting in this page (haha i'm not tired at all)

But anyways, here's all the info i've written in the past about the original Decadent Society

Decadent Society’s basic story: Once upon a time, there was two races, monsters and humans One day by the monsters greediness, a war broke between the two races But unfortunately, the humans ended victorious They took a huge indemnity from the monsters and sealed them in the underground Mount Ynadd 20XX Legendes say that whoever climbs the mysterious mountain never comes back

Info about the chars - Frisk: The Fallen Child. * It’s a curious child, but gets afraid pretty easily. Items: Broken Stick and Bandage. Stats: 2 ATK 5 DEF 20 HP - Flowey: Your Only Friend * A scared Desert Flower/Black Flower. * Tries to attack Frisk, but soon he joins Frisk on their journey. * Usually hums classical music when bored Stats: 3 ATK 1 DEF ?? HP His themes are “Your Only Friend”, “Your Only Savior” and “FINALE” - Napstablook: The Lonely Beat Maker * Not really feeling up to. sorry. His theme is “Espiritual Strife” - Toriel: The Guardian Of The Decaying Catacombs * Can act super protective with Frisk, but is a sweet person to anyone who is nice with them. * She bakes Cheesecakes, but she isn’t really good at it so she bakes a pie instead. * Won’t let you leave that easily. * Nobody have ever saw her without the hood, that covers half of her face with a shadow. * Loves reading suspense and horror books. Stats: 75 ATK 55 DEF 450 HP Her theme is “Heartattack” - Sans: The Easiest Enemy…? * Always trying to earn some money so he can sustain his brother and himself. * Really enjoys telling puns, mostly involving dark humour or imature humour. * Sells chili dogs for high prices, but usually making discounts to his friends. * His favorite drink is Mayonnese. * He calls frisk “Poker-face” and “My Safe Box” * The judgement eye is blind. Stats: HP 1 ATK 1 DEF 2 His themes are “smells like rotten bones.”, “Song That Will Play When Sans Judges You”, “There is a storm somewhere” and “Sentence.” Check: He won’t lose to a stupid child that easily. - Papyrus: The Evilest and Coolest Skeleton * Wants to be a part of the Royal Guard, but got rejected 5 times in a row for being too stupid. * Loves making puzzles and traps, but mostly fails on making his traps actually harmful. * He cooks meatballs, but sometimes he tries to cook spaghetti or lasagna, but always fails to cook it. * Likes to say “Nyar har har” * Hates seeing sans smoking, but he always tries to not just slap his cigar * He got his scar and battle body while fighting undyne and supposely winning. Stats: ATK 40 DEF 30 HP 750 His themes are “Facing The True Evil” and “Sharpboned Cataclysm” Check: Likes to laugh like a goofy maniac. - Undyne: The Black Eyed Hero…? * She is the capitain of the Royal Guard. * On one of her fights, she got injured on her eyes, making her get hyphema on both eyes. * She liked to play piano, but stopped after the situation of the underground got a bit worse. * She doesn’t use much armor, meaning why her body is full of scars and marks. * After the fight she had with Papyrus, they don’t talk much like before. * She thinks sans is a weirdo and is a little afraid of what he hides. Stats: ATK 60 DEF 30 HP 2000 Her themes are “Agonizing Spears Of Fear” and “Confronting The Most Malignent Hero” - Alphys: The Royal Scientist * As said, she is the Royal Scientist of the underground, got promoted after the previous scientist disappeared. * Even tho she might look like a mad scientist, she is pretty chill, but sometimes she might get a bit out of control during her experiments. * Loves to eat spicy noodles and watching she buys illegaly. * As undertale alphys, she is romantic attracted to Undyne, but she can hide her attracting better than her undertale counterpart. * She was the one who created Mettatron, but didn’t really worked well on him. Stats: Unknown Her theme is “Alphys…” - Mettatron: A Broken Robot * Was the first experiment of Alphys that actually worked. * His humanoid body is just a prototype. * When on box form, he have four hands with destroyed arms, that are just connected to each other by some unknown liquid. * While on EX Form, smoke comes out of some of his orifices, mostly because his body is overheating. * He have a whole brand called MTT Enterprise. * Usully his brand makes every type of stuff, but usually focus on the food market. Stats: HP 9999 (Box)    ATK 40 (Box)    DEF 300 (Box)       HP 2000 (EX)    ATK 64 (EX)    DEF 40 (EX)       HP 30000 (NEO)    ATK 90 (NEO)    DEF 5 (NEO) His themes are “Metal Slammer”, “Tragic Death By Charm” and “The Lethal Power of NEO” - Muffet: The Negotiatior * She is still as greedy as undertale muffet, but she have great administration skills. * She owns a sodas and snacks brand named “Muffety’s Sweets Inc.” * Her brand is Mettaton’s biggest competitor. * She have a small shop hidden at the Decaying Ruins. Stats: ATK 45 DEF 20 HP 135O Her theme is: “Arachno Swing” - Asgore: The King of The Underground * Haven’t appeared to the public in a while. * His garden is full of Black Flowers/Desert Flowers. * He says that he likes how his garden looks like a huge hole. * He won’t let Frisk get out that easily. Stats: ATK 100 DEF 100 HP 4000 His themes are “Foran deres konge” and “THE KING ASGORE.” - Asriel: … * The King and Queen’s son. Stats: ATK ∞ DEF ∞ HP 9999 His themes are “His old theme…”, “Destruction and Despair”, “BURN!” and “SAVE the world”

Basic information about the locations Forgotten Palace: ruins replacement, once the first hideout for the monster kind, now just an abandoned castle, it’s dark but there is a lot of plants growing there, with huge trees included Foggyville: snowdin replacement, the most poor city of the underground, contains a small amount of establishments and has most just houses, instead of snow, there is a lot of fog, but is still as cold as snowdin… somehow Submerged: waterfall replacement, once a decent city, now completely flooded by the sudden unending rain, contains ruined/submerged buildings, with just some specific locations still not submerged VolcanoNation: hotland replacement, an industry only location, with both abandoned and still working buildings, the location of muffet’s and mettaton’s brand industries The CORE: still da core, is powered by the volcano’s lava, might turn off at any moment as the volcano is in risk of dying Capital: the most rich city, based around Brooklyn on it’s 80’s Precious Home: new home replacement, a small and dark house

Yeah and that's it, i don't have anything else to say The concept for the au, since from it's first iteration, was to be an underfell take based around the idea of using the way that Butter (commonly known as Khhoppang) did the fell for Swapfell, and make a new fell version with the aesthetic of Swapfell Yeah, it was that simple

#decadentog

[sun-berryy]

Intro post ahoy! Hi, I'm Sunberry (she/they)! I'm a pansexual mom friend making inclusive, cheerful, cozy gaming content on Twitch and YouTube! I'm also autistic and generally neurodivergent, and my community is too (and/or allies). Quick Facts: - 30 - Married to a cute dork - Pacific Timezone - Favorite Pokemon: Bulbasaur - Pets: Retired racing greyhound named Nina (princess of The Berry Fields, obviously) - Favorite food: Spaghetti and meatballs, and strawberries I love to play games where I get overly attached to the pixels, in particular survival-crafting games, farming sims, and life sims. I firmly believe that gaming is for anyone who wants to game - accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought and easy mode is valid for all! I love sharing that passion with others and having a good time with some goofs and shenanigans in the meantime~ Some of my favorite games: - Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Stardew Valley - Minecraft - Pokemon - Arcade Spirits - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Subnautica - Lakeburg Legacies - Pikmin - Splatoon - Fortnite - Raft - ARK: Survival Evolved ...and sooo many more! We're chatty, goofy, and plenty spicy over on Twitch and I'm learning how to make fun and comfy edits for YouTube if you want some longer format variety gaming too! Not to mention goofy gaming memes and talking about the nuances of gaming and nerdiness over on Tiktok~ I will note all my spaces are 18+ for my comfort and your safety. You will find yourself removed if I find you're not 18, and that's nothing personal. My community is silly and spicy but we also talk about mature themes that aren't suitable for younger audiences, and expect mature conversation in turn - we establish the line between a good d!ck n b00b joke and an important discussion.

Anyhow, that's the gist about me! It's been a hot minute since I've been on Tumblr, but it's good to meet y'all! Take care and don't forget to spread some sunshine to yourself and others until we meet again~

#new to tumblr #twitter migration #videogames #gaming #twitchstreamer #youtube gaming #neurodivergent #autistic creator #stardew valley #pokemon #minecraft #arcade spirits #ark survival evolved #legend of zelda #raft game #subnautica #pc gaming #console gaming #nintendo gaming #dinosaurs

[chelleztjs18]

Hello you mrs. traveling iced coffee drinker honey nut cheerio lefty eyebag 😌

How are you this morning? I'm not sure if you guys have left Oklahoma or have already arrived in CA, but I hoped you guys had a safe flight! 😅 hopefully not much troubles during the TSA stuff.

I've read the fic before. I'm really not a big fan of dark Wanda lol I can't see her as evil, even after MoM, I can't see her as the villain. But I like the story! I like how you incorporated the stuff from the movie. Although, I did wonder back then if you were going to make a part 2.

Yeah I'm on wattpad, but not very much. The people I follow haven't posted much. But I found your stories on tumblr. I don't remember how though.

I'll give them a listen. Do you have a favorite album by Glass Animals?

For your questions about my crush, I should really say crushes ahahaha but they are from real life and tiktok. I think I have a tumblr crush too, but I'm not sure yet.

That's cute. I'm like your husband. When I was with my ex wife, I would always sing to her when I bring her breakfast. Or when I'm being silly.

Any big plans for the day when you're in CA?

-CuriousGeorge

Hello corn-punn!

Hahha it's funny that u used ice coffee drinker nickname today.. because this morning it was like 20 degree outside n i ordered cold brew with salted caramel foam . N i was so happy because it was so good.

So we woke up at 4am to get ready but my flight got delayed. It was supposed to be at 8am n it was delayed to 1h40minutes. The Oklahoma airport was surprisingly not that busy. I wrote a bit in flight but then fall asleep for like 20minutes.

Anyway, how r u? Hows ur day today? Sorry for the late reply..it was a very very busy day. Spent time with the family, been talking with the in laws n i finally got some time alone just now.

We got here like 10.40. N we got at my in laws at 1.15. Im so tired right now..

N the weather here is so much warmer but we brought mostly warm clothes, i can only pray it will be cold. I hv vbeen sneezing. I think it's because the extreme difference of the temperature. I was in 15 degree this morning n end up in 70ish sunny weather. N on christmas here it says it will 80 degree.. 😩😫

Haha yeah i got what u meant.. i never see her as villain either but not gonna like, dark wanda / scarlet witch is hot.. 😅🤣 n i love that kind of dark fic that has obsession or stalking or jealousy in it. I like movies like that too.

I dont think i would make pt. 2 for that fic.. i actually have another my own idea and i have 2 more requests of dark fics wanda. So i probably gonna scratch my own. Haha. Or atleast postpone mine for a while.

Ah i see. Im in wattpad too n i havent really update there.

I havent really listen to all their albums but i know some of my favorite songs which i think they r from different albums.

1. Gooey Rework

2. Gooey

3. Youth

4. Your Love (Déjà Vu) and this one inspired me an idea of a fic which i havent write it yet.😅

5. Tangerine (with Arlo Parks)

6. Hazey

Ouh about ur crush... interesting! It gets my attention! 🤭😆 okay, so currently u have a crush with multiple people? Or some of them r past crush?

Alsooooo... u have tumblr crush?? N what do u mean with u r not sure yet? Why? (Sorry for the rows of questions. U dont have to answer it if u dont want to. Didnt meant to cross the line or anything.)

Wow, u sound like a romantic person.. that's adorable.. i would prefer small gestures like that than any jewelry money can buy.. 😊

Since i answered this too late. Im just gonna tell u, how was my day whn i got here.

I bought lunch from the chinesse place near where i used to live before we went to my in laws (we used to live like 5 minutes away driving) then i have been talking n talking with the in laws. We catched up. N we went for dinner with the brothers, nephews,his parents n his mom's husband, one of the family friend also came to see us n joined the dinner. There were 12 of us. We had pizza but i ordered spicy wings and spaghetti meatballs. Was gonna order spumoni ice cream but i forgot.😒🙄 i was craving it.

I bet u r asleep now but feel free to leave me next questions? N i will reply as soon as i can.

Cheerio!

#chellez answers #ask answered #anon answered #curious george anon

[theroyalcrouton]

sweetie!! how r u holding up? my heart is shattered w all that's been happening but i hope that u're staying safe & hanging in there!!! it's scary it's infuriating it's very troubling but i'm wishing u good things always, regardless of what ur future plans might be. i'm rooting for u & the love that u & ur beloved share. it might take a bit of work to get there but i believe that u will!! i can only hope that my words can help even the tiniest bit, even for just a short moment. just please be careful my dear, remember that u aren't alone in this!! if u need time off i can truly understand that but stay informed!! u can do this luv. i'm sending all the love & warmth i can give to u, ur beloved, as well as shadow!! 🌷🌷💘 i miss u too & u r my tumblr bestie also!!! i appreciate u a whole lot!!! <3

– rin/@barbwife 🌷 (from my main & also. i have two baby bunnies now!!! 🐰🐰 they've been taking up my time lately & hoping to tell u more abt them soon!!)

Hey!! I missed you so much 💞. And we're doing as good as we can be right now, all things considered. We've calmed down and are trying to come up with a plan if things go further south. And your kind words did help a lot. The people in our lives don't really care about that or aren't saying anything, so hearing someone say they're rooting for us and our lives was really sweet. Not gonna lie, I actually teared up quite a bit reading this. I hope whatever plans we make end up working out too. And I definitely plan on staying informed and staying on tumblr a bit to try and calm my mind down. I mean, it's kinda hard to stress on tumblr when my timeline is full of Obey Me boys either being cute or getting railed 😂.

Oh and I have wonderful news about Shadow!! The vet upped his medicine cause it wasn't working the best and now he's doing absolutely perfect!!! He's using the bathroom as much as he should be, he has a good appetite, and he's back to being our sweet and spicy meatball ❤. And I would love to hear about your baby bunnies!! Bunnies are so cute, and I completely understand why they would take up so much time. Taking care of multiple small creatures takes more time than some people realize

[whoneedsapublisher]

Nico Nico Neet

A spicy but very fluffy NozoNico today that I've been sitting on for a while deciding if I should cut the more explicit sections. But in the end, I decided they fit the idea of the story, so they can stay.

Words: ~2750

Summary: Nozomi is the envy of her office. A woman who can do anything, who helps out everyone else without a word of complaint, and who always has a friendly smile. But her love life is a mystery, and where there's mystery, rumours will always follow.

Also on Ao3. Mainly on Ao3, frankly, since that's where the vast majority of my readership seems to be, but there's a few people on tumblr I'm pretty sure so I'll keep crossposting here for the time being.

*****************************************

“Tojo, could you handle this?”

“Yes, of course, please just put it down there and I’ll take care of it before EOD.”

“Tojo, have you finished those reports yet?”

“They’re just there, sir.”

“Nozomi, I don’t understand how to do this part…”

“Ah, you just need to click there and fill in that field, then check this box…”

“Tojo really is amazing, isn’t she?” Umehara said, resting his hand on his chin as he watched her effortlessly typing, her fingers moving near constantly despite the barrage of interruptions. “She’s only been here, what? Three years?”

“Two,” corrected Maizawa, not looking up from the report she was leafing through.

“Jeez, really? And yet she’s already better than half the senior staff.”

“Maybe you should just be working harder, then,” Maizawa said, looking up at Umehara skeptically.

Umehara rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you can’t keep up with her either.”

“That’s true,” Maizawa admitted reluctantly. “She’s pretty amazing.”

“And what a beauty, too,” Umehara said dreamily.

“Y-Yeah…” Maizawa murmured, then shook her head and cleared her throat awkwardly. “Don’t get any ideas, though. She’s taken.”

Umehara rolled his eyes again. “There’s a shocker. Probably attending marriage meetings with some bigshot who owns half a company or something, right?”

“Nah,” Maizawa. “I heard she’s some kind of NEET.”

“She?” Umehara asked. “Wait, no, more importantly: a NEET? Seriously?”

“That’s what I heard,” Maizawa said. “Someone saw this scrawny chick in a hoodie and shades drop off a lunch for Tojo once, and when they asked who it was Tojo got all starry-eyed and said it was her girlfriend. Turns out she doesn’t have a job or anything, but Tojo thinks the world of her anyway.”

“What a waste,” Umehara said, sighing. “That girl better know how lucky she is.”

“Right?” Maizawa said, frowning. “I bet Tojo totally takes care of her, too.”

“So she works like this all day and then goes home and does the housework and cooking too?” Umehara asked.

“Probably,” Maizawa said. “Must be tough.”

“Man, some people have all the luck… I’d kill for Tojo’s home cooking.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Maizawa said. “You can complain when you cook anything yourself.”

“Hey, that wasn’t a dig,” Umehara said. “I like your food! And it’s not like I don’t pay you back for it, right?”

“You’re just lucky that I happen to suck at mending,” Maizawa grumbled. “Mister home ec genius.”

“What can I say? I’m an artist with a needle,” Umehara said, doing a flourish.

“Maybe you ought to start applying some artistry to that report, unless you’re planning to offer to darn the boss's socks when she yells at you for not finishing it,” Maizawa said, turning back to her papers.

“Fine, fine,” Umehara said, reluctantly returning his gaze to his computer. “Still, you want to taste it too, right?”

“I already have,” Maizawa said, not looking up. “We traded some our lunches once. She had some kind of western style meatballs and it was amazing.”

“Aw man, that’s bull,” Umehara grumbled. “I want to try that…”

“Lucky I got the recipe then, isn’t it?” Maizawa said.

“Did I ever tell you you’re my hero?”

“Not often enough.”

*****************************************

Slowly, the office started to empty out. One by one, or two by two in some cases, people headed home for the day. Nozomi was one of the last to leave, staying back to help a junior finish a report before she finally shut down her PC and left.

Her apartment wasn’t exactly across town from her office, but it was more than a couple of subway stops. Night had already fallen a while ago when she finally reached her front door and unlocked it, pulling the door shut behind her as she wandered in. She breathed in deeply, letting the aroma of cooking enter her nostrils and sighing contentedly.

“I’m home~!” she called, kicking off her shoes into the corner and pulling open the neck of her shirt as she started undoing the buttons on her jacket.

“Welcome home,” Nico said, stepping out of the kitchen in a frilly pink apron, her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. “Do you want dinner? A bath? Or Nico~ Nico~ Me?”

“Nicoooo,” Nozomi whined, slumping forward onto Nico and clinging to her.

“Long day at work, huh?” Nico murmured, her hands coming up to stroke Nozomi’s back.

“Yes,” Nozomi mumbled.

“Aww,” Nico cooed. “Don’t worry. You’re home now.”

One of her hands slipped down Nozomi’s back to grope her ass and Nozomi made a happy little noise.

“We’d better get you into bed, then, hmm?” Nico said. She couldn’t exactly sweep Nozomi off her feet and carry her, but she still supported most of Nozomi’s weight as she hurried them to the bedroom.

“Let’s get those clothes off, okay?” Nico said, her nimble fingers finishing the work Nozomi had half-hearted started and rapidly undoing the buttons on her jacket. As Nozomi shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor, Nico had already moved on to her shirt buttons, tugging it off and tossing it off the back of a chair, joined soon after by Nozomi’s bra.

Nico stepped back and gently shoved Nozomi. Nozomi obediently fell backwards, landing softly on their bed with her legs dangling over the edge.

“You work too hard sometimes,” Nico said, as she gently slid Nozomi’s stockings down, her fingers ghosting along Nozomi’s legs pleasantly as she did. “I hope they appreciate how much you’re carrying that stupid company.”

“They do,” Nozomi said.

“Not enough,” Nico replied. “But luckily for them, Nico Ni will generously pick up their slack and appreciate you enough for everyone.”

And then she was unbuttoning Nozomi’s skirt, and sliding off her panties. That was when Nico went quiet, probably because her mouth was otherwise occupied. That was okay, though. Nozomi filled the silence.

“Ah… Nico… yes… more…”

Nico obliged Nozomi’s request with admirable gusto. Her hands firmly holding Nozomi’s hips in place, her tongue dragged up and down, dipping inside Nozomi sometimes and flicking at sensitive spots with unbearable dexterity. It wasn’t an intense stimulation, though. It was slow and deliberate, not to the point of teasing, but leaving Nozomi sprawled out and moaning contently rather than thrashing and gripping the bedsheets. It was luxurious, rich and smouldering, and when Nozomi’s orgasm eventually came, it was long, drawn out, and blissfully wonderful, leaving her feeling like she’d melted into a puddle on the bed.

“Up you go,” Nico said, catching her before she slid off the bed and dragging her limp form up to lie down properly. Then she joined her, lying beside Nozomi and gently stroking her hair. “Consider that a thank you on behalf of all your slacker co-workers.”

Nozomi glanced over at Nico and was suddenly overcome by a fit of giggles.

Nico raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Niccochi, you’re still wearing your apron…” Nozomi said.

“Hmm?” Nico said, glancing down at herself. “Oh, I guess I am.”

Nico giggled again. “My perfect housewife,” she said fondly. Nico grinned cockily.

“Of course,” she said, preenering herself.

“You know,” Nozomi said. “The people at my work think you’re a NEET.”

“They what?!” Nico snapped, her grin vanishing and her eyes narrowing as her face swapped from proud to furious. “How dare they?!”

“They’re technically right, you know,” Nozomi said, trying to fight a smile. ”You’re not in education, employment, or training, right?”

“No one calls a stay at home mother a NEET, even if she’s not technically employed!” Nico fumed. “How dare they question Nico Ni’s housewife prowess? Do they think that your lunches just materialize out of nowhere?!”

“I think they might think I make them,” Nozomi said contemplatively.

“What?!” Nico said, rearing back in disbelief. Nozomi stifled a laugh. Nico was so sincerely indignant about it that she couldn’t help but prod her a little more.

“It’s probably because of that time you came to drop off my lunch in that ugly hoodie…”

“It’s not just an ugly hoodie, it’s a disguise, Nozomi! A disguise! A famous idol like Nico has to keep her identity safe, you know!”

This many years after the end of her career, Nozomi suspected that Nico probably didn’t need to disguise herself. Other than hardcore idol fans, it was unlikely that too many people even remembered Nico Yazawa the idol, let alone could recognize her in the street. Still, pointing that out would probably cross the line from “teasing” to “cruel”. So instead, she just leaned over and kissed Nico on the cheek..

“Of course, Nico. But I guess your disguise worked too well.”

“That must have been it,” Nico said. “Ah, it’s a curse, really, being such a talented actress.”

“Mmmhmm,” Nozomi said.

Nico stood up. “Okay, enough resting, you,” she said, standing up and extending a hand to Nozomi. “Time for your bath.”

Reluctantly, Nozomi reached up and took Nico’s hand. Nico pulled her up onto her feet and into a warm kiss, not breaking it even as she started leading them towards the bath, retreating for breath for just a moment before diving back in.

When they finally pulled apart again, they were in the bathroom. Nico let her go to turn on the faucet.

“Hmm,” she said, mock playfully. “It’ll take a little while for it to fill up… maybe we should do something in the meantime.”

Stepping forward, Nico caught Nozomi in a kiss again, pressing herself close. The feeling of her apron on Nozomi’s bare skin made her shiver a little, suddenly intensely aware of the stark difference in their attire.

As Nico deepened the kiss, her hand slipped between Nozomi’s legs, her fingers doing lazy, gentle circles. Nozomi moaned slightly into the kiss, and Nico’s touch started to slowly circle inwards, and get a little faster, and a little firmer, until finally she was directly stimulating Nozomi. As her fingers danced, Nozomi clung to her, feeling herself getting closer and closer, their kiss ending and Nozomi burying her face in Nico’s shoulder. Finally, with one last shuddering moan, Nozomi came again, her legs sagging as she leaned into Nico, panting.

“And just in time,” Nico said, letting her slide down onto the edge of the bathtub. Nozomi slumped backwards into it, still floating on a cloud as Nico turned off the water.

“Enjoy yourself,” she said, wiping her hand off on her apron. “Dinner will be ready when you get out.”

“Okay,” Nozomi murmured, her head still a little fluffy as Nico left the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Sighing, she relaxed back into the hot water, closing her eyes and letting the water sooth her tender muscles.

*****************************************

By the time Nozomi got out of the bath, the smell of cooking had already been wafting into her nose for a little while. If anything, it was the main reason she was coaxed out of the bath. She’d been tempted to lurk there until the water turned cold, but Nico’s cooking proved irresistible once again, and she finally got out, drying herself and dressing in the crisp, clean robe that Nico had left for her.

Once she opened the door, the smell intensified, and Nozomi shuffled towards the kitchen to find Nico setting food out on the table. She was almost supernaturally good at timing these things, no matter how slow or fast Nozomi felt like she’d been. Perhaps it was some the idol magic that Nico always claimed to have. Or perhaps she’d picked up some of Nozomi’s spiritual power from all these years of living together. Nozomi liked the idea of that.

Honestly, it was a miracle that Nozomi hadn’t gained dozens of pounds since she’d started living with Nico. She always made such delicious food that it was rare for Nozomi not to have seconds. Tonight it was chicken croquettes, with a huge variety of strange and unique side dishes. Nozomi didn’t recognize any of them, which probably meant they were foreign.

“I made tapas tonight,” Nico said. “It’s a kind of western food.”

“Really? Where from?” Nozomi asked.

“What?” Nico said. “Oh, um, F-France, of course. It’s a French word, after all! Has to be from France.”

Nozomi was fairly sure that wasn’t true, but she couldn’t claim to be fluent in French herself, and with how Nico had pronounced the word, she could hardly tell what language it had been originally.

Still, whatever it was, it was delicious. Which wasn’t much of a surprise, given that Nico had made it. After Nico had retired from being an idol, at first she’d been at something of a loose end. She’d been restless and tense, frustrated by the lack of an outlet for her passion. But then she’d started to focus more seriously on her cooking, and the change had been both immediate and obvious. The results were obvious too, and Nico had gone from “better than you’d expect for a highschooler” to “chef level”. Sure, she probably couldn’t get work in a michelin star restaurant or anything, but if she wasn’t “in employment”, it wasn’t because she lacked skills for it.

And yet, Nico chose not to find a new line of work. Sure, she didn’t really need to, with how frugal she was and how much money she had saved from being an idol, combined with Nozomi’s income, but Nozomi knew Nico wasn’t doing it out of laziness. She’d chosen to be Nozomi’s wife. Even if it wasn’t acknowledged on their family register, Nico had made it her life. Nico could be stubborn, and was capable of devoting herself to a goal no matter what- her highschool idol career proved that. And now that goal was being the world’s greatest housewife.

Nozomi should just take that at face value. She should just be happy that Nico was so devoted to her, and consider herself lucky to have such a wonderful woman taking care of her. But that wasn’t who Nozomi was. She couldn’t be comfortable just sitting back and taking something for granted. Not after her life had been torn up from under her over and over again. So even though she was afraid of breaking the spell, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Niccochi, are you sure you’re happy being a NE- a housewife?”

Nico narrowed her eyes and pointed a fork at her. “You were about to say NEET, weren’t you?” she growled.

“Perish the thought,” Nozomi said innocently. Oops.

“...Well, whatever,” Nico said. “The great Nico will overlook that. And of course I am.”

“Why?” Nozomi asked. “Why do you want to spend all your time taking care of someone like me?”

Nico looked at her with a gaze that looked insultingly like pity. “Awww, is my cute little wife feeling insecure today?” she cooed.

Nozomi frowned. “I’m serious…” she protested.

“Don’t you get enough positive reinforcement at work? And from me for that matter,” Nico said, sighing and shrugging her shoulders. “Honestly, I have no idea how you manage to still have these worries.”

Nozomi pouted. “That’s not the point…”

Nico rolled her eyes. “I’m a housewife because I want to be, Nozomi. And I’m your housewife because you happen to be the girl that I’m dating, in case you forgot.”

She reached out her hand and grasped Nozomi’s, meeting her gaze and smiling softly.

“You’re worth it, Nozomi. And I love you.”

Nozomi smiled back, her heart melting. Her fears and anxieties, no matter how powerful and all consuming they’d seemed, couldn’t possibly stand up that look on Nico’s face. There wasn’t any playful ribbing or deceit or ulterior motives in that expression. Even now, even with them as close as they were, Nico was a woman of performances, of emotional walls and roles that she carried out. But now, for just a moment, Nozomi was seeing a glimpse directly into her heart, with no disguises or exaggerations. And in that rare moment of sincerity, Nozomi saw enough to put her fears to rest for good.

“Anyway, eat your dinner already,” Nico said, her walls coming back up with an almost audible CLANG, as she pulled her hands back and her expression went from a soft smile to a fake pout. “I put in all this effort to make it and you’re here pondering instead of eating.”

“Okay,” Nozomi said obediently.

No matter how hard she worked, she could always keep a smile. Because she knew that she was coming home to the greatest housewife in the world.

#love live #nozonico #niconozo #n*sfw text

[byima]

California Dreaming pt 4

I shared this on AO3 half a month ago and I’m just getting around to cross posting for the tumblr folks and you can read the full story here.

Lunch was a boisterous event. They ate at, or commandeered depending on who was asked, an Italian restaurant in the city of Berkeley. Everyone was there; Frank, Hazel, Nico, Grover, Silena, Beckendorf, Travis, Connor, Katie, Rachel, Jason, Piper, and Leo. Remi was there too, and so was Annabeth’s dad and her stepmom and half-brothers, who were in town because of her own commencement which had been the day before, and so was Frank’s grandmother. The restaurant was cozy, it smelt heavenly; 70’s and 80’s music buzzed through the speakers, friendly staff flitted between tables. Their group was two tables strong, too loud, too rowdy and it was one of few times the whole commencement weekend that Annabeth felt overwhelmed but energized by that feeling, rather than drained.

“No Charlie, this is the perfect time! We can rent a van–”

“Yup, just picture it man, tearing down the roads, stopping wherever we want, camping out during the nights–”

Silena grimaced, and Charles laughed at her expression. She and Travis had been trying to convince Charles and Katie to take a west coast road trip: from northern California to Nevada, then Utah, then Arizona and then down to southern California.

“I’ll be down, if we do this without a single hotel stay.” From Charles. Who was next to Paul, who was next to Sally, who was across from Percy.

“Two hotel stays.” From Silena, next to Charles. She was in full negotiation mode.

Estelle, on Sally’s other side, ducked under the table to retrieve the errant crayon she’d been using to color her kid’s menu. Through the aged speakers, Dexys Midnight Runners chorused, ‘Too-ra loo-ra too-ra loo-rye-ayyyyyyy,’ and the space hummed with a spicy-herb/heavy-sauce fragrance and music and laughter and liveliness.

“Nah Silena, if we’re doing this, we’re doing this for real.” From Travis, a few seats to Percy’s right.

Grover, on Percy’s direct right, finally found the image on his mostly unused, worse-for-wear Nokia brick of a phone. He held up the battered screen to Percy’s face. “This is it. See the name on that wrapper? I need to find this place and try their samosas–”

“Explain to me how staying in a hotel would make this ‘not real’ Travis.”

He raised his slice of buttered bread to his mouth. “I’m just talking about getting the most experiential of experiences–”

“And I’m talking about having semi-regular shower access–” Silena leaned towards the Stoll brother sitting across from her to emphasize her point.

“And apparently the locals have nicknamed the San Francisco fog Karl.” A fun fact from Paul.

“Is that so?” Piper encouraged him with a broad grin.

She got an under the table kick from Annabeth for that one.

At the other table, Frank’s grandmother held her new smartphone for Leo to see.

“Don’t do it for me, show me how so I can do it myself.”

“Er, sorry, Grandma Zhang you just- you have to… here-”

“No, I said show me, and now you’ve done something else, Valdez!”

“I know, but I’m trying to show you how to go back without a back button,” Leo ran an agitated hand through his curls.

Travis leaned forward too, matching Silena’s energy, bitten bread slice brandished. “You’re weak. And I’ve outgrown you.”

Charles was laughing again. Hard. Like struggling to breathe belly laughing.

“Why is Beckendorf having a conniption?” Piper’s voice carried from the other end of the table.

Katie answered. “Travis is back to quoting The Incredible’s.”

Connor was losing it, too. “My man Beckendorf has caught every single one of them.”

“Name a better Disney movie–”

“I’ve already named one. Mulan. And– Travis, I’m serious, we’ll watch it tonight and it'll shut you right up-” 

“Katie, Katie, Katie…” Travis shook his head in pity. “You can’t admit defeat, huh? I saw you last night, trying to act like you weren’t hyped during the family fight scenes-”

Silena smacked her hand impatiently on the table. “Travis, can you, for just one moment, stay with me? You were supposed to be on my side.” 

“And I was. I am.” He leveled an accusatory finger at her face. “But you’re a wuss if you can’t survive one road trip without hotel amenities.”

“You’re full of shit, Trav.” Back to Katie, sitting between Grover and Travis.

There was a minor uproar.

“Hey hey hey, watch your mouth young lady there are children present��”

“Don’t forget the children–” 

Connor and Travis. They are the uproar.

“Percy says that word a lot. So, I know it’s a bad word.” Estelle looked at her brother, then Connor, as she sold the former out.

There were a couple “oooo’s” from the friends gathered and Percy shook his head at the betrayal, hand on his chest because, alas, he’s Caesar, and Brutus has two pigtails and missing teeth.

Estelle, loving the reaction of the masses and her moment in the spotlight, added, “So does my mom.”

The entire table erupted in a chorus of “OOOOOOOO’S” and Paul looked at Sally, a little baffled and overwhelmed and amused because how else could he feel in such a setting?

“Sally Jackson, patron saint of motherhood–”

“Despite the utter disappointment that is her first born–”

“You’ve been called out, ma’am, how do you respond?”

Sally covered Estelle’s ears. “Fuck off. All of you.” A thespian response from the “saint” herself. 

The large party collectively lost it, roaring laughter carried through the restaurant, other patrons looked around to spot the source of the ruckus.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Sally Jackson-Blofis–”

“She’s quick, she’s gritty, and she’s straight from New York City–”

“I think that’s us.” Grover’s eyes followed his nose, which picked up on the savory scent of freshly prepared food being brought near to them. A united cheer drew attention, once again, to the celebrating group. 

 “You guys are gonna get us kicked out before we can even take a bite.” Frank made accidental eye contact with a frowning restaurant-goer.

Waitstaff arrived at their tables with black trays laden with the steaming, heavenly smelling bounty.

The young woman who’d taken their orders earlier gestured to the guy accompanying her.

“Alright everyone, this is Gio, he’s gonna take over for me since my shift is ending.” There were some noises of disappointment and she playfully hushed the table of spirited demigods. She set a plate of spaghetti with meatballs in front of Estelle and a baked chicken parmesan dish in front of Sally, gently warning the child that her plate would be hot.

Gio waved hello before he started distributing ordered dish to orderer. “Nani told me we have some graduates here today…”

 -----

“So Italians will actually eat it like… this.” Nico demonstrated to Jason.

“Like this?”

“Yeah…”

“Really?”

“Nah, I’m just fucking with you.”

 Percy nodded at Annabeth’s dish. “How is it?”

“It’s so good. You wanna try?”

Annabeth was already twirling her fork into the pasta, and she speared a piece of shrimp on the end before raising the bite to Percy’s waiting mouth. His eyes rolled back and he made a low noise as he slowly chewed.

Her eyes danced. “I don’t think it was that good.”

He shook his head in disagreement. “Lemme have some of yours. And you can have some of my pizza.”

“I don’t want your pizza.”

“You do. This is what they mean when they talk about the best of both worlds.” Percy tried forking a portion of her food from her full plate to his and she stopped him, doing it herself before he made a mess of both of them with his clumsy portioning.

“And then I give you some of mine…”

Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned from watching Percy lower a slice of his pizza (which was actually heavy with cheese and red sauce and phenomenal tasting) to look at her dad who was seated behind her at the table running parallel to theirs.

“How does it feel to be finally done? Both of you, graduated and diploma’d.”

Dr. Chase had been on cloud nine the whole weekend. His daughter had graduated from the best public university in the country. What else would you expect from the academia-loving dad? But the last five years had been pivotal for their relationship, too. When Annabeth looked at her father, really looked at him, she saw the sadness edging his expression. Because he knew, as she closed this chapter of her life, she would begin another, and he would lose her to the east coast. So she’s been gentle with him, and maybe with herself too this weekend.

“I took my last final on Friday, so it doesn’t feel real yet.” 

She lowered her fork and looked to Percy for his response to see him shaking his head.

“Nah. I’ve been checked out for weeks now. Barely held on till the end.”

“He’s lying, dad. Percy’s been emotional all week.”

“I’m sorry to have missed the ceremony at your school.”

Percy had just taken a bite of his pizza and his eyes went wide when he realized Frederick was waiting for a reply from him.

Annabeth responded on his behalf. “Trust me, Dad. His ceremony was just like any other graduation ceremony. Too much sun, a boring speaker, and two seconds to cheer for the person you care about.”

“Dude, Annabeth gets it.” This was from Bobby, who was sitting across from his father. “Why did they have to do two graduations for you?”

“One was for everybody, which was like, over 6,000 people. And then the other was specifically for my department.”

It was a little hard to hear them over the clinking of silverware against ceramic dishes and Rachel and Remi’s loud debate over traditional versus digital art, so Annabeth turned in her chair to face her family.

“Nobody needs to come to our high school graduation if it's gonna be this much of a drag.” Matthew said this with resolve.

“I think you’ll feel differently about things when the time comes.” From her stepmom, Helen.

“This is how graduations and commencements work.” Frederick Chase picked up his fork to resume eating his pesto pasta dish. “You spend years working hard, pushing through to the finish, shouldering through challenges and all of life’s obstacles, and then the day comes–”

“Oooooo… And then the day comes…”

“Dun dun DUUUNN! Dad, you make it sound so dramatic.” Matthew and Bobby snickered.

“It is dramatic.” He waved his fork like a baton. “When you’re graduating, you are the star of the moment, the center of the universe, just temporarily, and all of us will do our best to show up for you in the biggest way we can.” His brown eyes twinkled and Annabeth felt herself blushing at the warmth focused on her. “We all will bear through ceremony after ceremony if that means we get to celebrate your accomplishment.”

Annabeth thought about the hug her dad had wrapped her in yesterday morning, long and tight, and the way that squeeze said a million things other than ‘congratulations.’ And Sally in the car earlier today… 

“Trust me guys, you don’t wanna be the person with no family at your graduation.” Piper turned from her conversation with Connor to give her two-cents.

“You were that person?”

“Yup. Eighth grade promotion. Me and a disgruntled nanny. As if junior high wasn’t bad enough.”

“Gonna have to agree with McLean here,” Rachel chimed in.

“Not to be the girl who complains about having a big family–”

“I’m betting you’re about to be that girl who complains about having a big family–”

“–but there’s nothing like having your aunt screaming on the phone in the middle of your high school graduation, simultaneously cursing out and giving parking directions to your tardy cousin.” Remi offered with a shrug.

Rachel and Remi argued the pros and cons of large heavily involved families, versus small, absentee ones. Frank coaxed his grandmother into trying the “too expensive” Italian cuisine. Travis and Katie were trying to out-embarrass each other with old camp stories. There were a million conversations happening at once.

“Jason, can I get the parmesan?”

“I feel like you have room for one more meatball in your mouth, kiddo-”

“Connor, I’m starting to regret allowing you next to my daughter.”

Sally held a napkin before Estelle’s mouth and the girl reluctantly ejected three soggy meatballs.

“So we pretty much knew Hazel was lactose intolerant at that point-”

“Severely lactose intolerant-”

And a million memories, so many silly, significant snapshots; Annabeth found herself wishing she hadn’t left Percy’s camera under the driver's seat of the rental.

“I’m never doing anything or going anywhere with you that has anything to do with Italy.”

“So we’re doing it?! This road trip is happening?”

“Does anyone need some more water here?”

“Lemme have some of your Bolognese-”

Annabeth startled. She’d been playing with the simple pendant that hung just below her collarbones when she felt Percy’s hand touch the crease of her elbow.

He had red sauce on his chin. And food crumbs on his upper lip. And all he did was lower their joined hands beneath the table and ask.

“What's going on in there?”

She rubbed her thumb into the first knuckle of his middle finger, gray eyes still intently consuming the surrounding scene; then her eyes met his and she saw understanding.

She tried explaining anyway, “I don’t want to forget… I want to- to be in this moment, you know? Or… I just- I wish I could-”

She pressed her lips shut and smiled ruefully, a little embarrassed by her abysmal attempt at the English language. 

“Yeah. Same.” He squeezed her hand. “Yeah.”

 ------

They were outside. In front of the antique looking benches that flanked the restaurant’s double door entryway. Annabeth was going to stay in Berkeley with her family for the rest of the afternoon and Percy would head back to New Rome with his family. For now, they stood together, waiting for Matthew and Bobby who were in the restroom, preventing the Chase’s departure.

Annabeth planted her hands on her lower back and stretched her spine. “You’re very… confident today.”

“Am I?”

“Mmhm.” She leaned closer to him. “It’s like you’re… aware that people are watching. All day, all of these eyes have been on you and you’ve been very okay with it.” Even now, she noticed, in his slacks and dress shoes and his light blue short sleeve button up, he was handsome, cleaned up and groomed and plain-as-day attractive and definitely drawing attention standing as they were, in view of all the passer-byers. Yet he was comfortable. Confident.

He shrugged, because he didn’t know how else to react to her keen observation. She read him so intimately.

She was still reading him, and she could see traces of that self consciousness that had been missing all day creep into his body language.

“Did I kill your mojo?”

If he’d been confident all day, then she’d been radiant all weekend. They’d spent the week, Monday through Friday, stressed, all over the place, sleeping odd hours and meeting up to study or cry (the tears were from Annabeth, Percy was a zombie at that point) just trying to get through finals week so they could actually graduate. And then the weekend had come and family had arrived and there were graduation ceremonies and baccalaureates and dinners with parents and dress shoes and dresses that made Percy want to carry Annabeth off to a beach and fucking frolic in the fucking sand. But he couldn’t, there wasn’t any time to frolic or marvel or drink to the last five years of their lives. So they bounced from ceremony to ceremony. And she’d been absolutely radiant throughout, walking across the stage during her graduation Saturday morning, receiving special honors from her department. Running toward him this Sunday morning, wrapping herself around him and confirming that he had in fact done this, he was in fact finished with school. He’s so grateful for her. In awe of her. He couldn’t imagine doing this without her. It was incredible to do this with her. She pierced his heart like a sweet note of his favorite song and he felt her in his bones. There was so much going on, and it was good, all of it was so good, and here she was, here he was, and he missed her. Annabeth Chase, mojo murderer.

“Yes.” He cupped her face and kissed her quickly, she didn't even have time to react. “No. Now I’m overthinking, like, everything though. Bobby is coming out.” He jerked his chin at something behind her. “I think your fam is ready to leave.”

She glanced back at them with a frown. “That was supposed to be a compliment, Jackson.”

“Your dad is looking at me like he wants to say something.” Percy insistently tugged her arm and turned her around. “Please go with them before he does.”

She pulled her arm free and walked backwards, pointing at him for emphasis as the space between them grows.

“Keep the confidence, okay? I’ll see you at dinner?”

He pointed back at her. "I'll see you at dinner."

#mypjofic #percy jackon and the olympians #percy and annabeth #percabeth #california dreaming #trying to motivate to myself to finish the last part #by looking at the most recent chapter #one more and done

[hang-on-a-mo]

Top 10 Favourite Characters

Tagged by @ilovejaskierthebard to list off ten of my favorite characters. Sorry it's so late, I did this twice and both times Tumblr ate it so I gave up for a bit lol. But here we are now, in no particular order.

1. Geralt of Rivia - Witcher 3

Catty beyond all reason. Talks to himself about the weather. White Wolf. The Continants smartest dumbass. Puns. Tries his best. Is actually really soft but don't tell him that. #ManSlut

2. Wei Wuxian/Wei Ying - The Untamed (Mo Dao Xu Shi)

Can be summed up with Wei Ying No. Sense of self preservation highly suspect. Dork level over 9000. Plays with things he really shouldn't. Like necromancy. Wei Ying No. Instant Lan Zhan trigger. Adopted brother is an ungrateful asshole. Seriously, Jiang Cheng check your priveledge. Too pure for this world. Except when he's not. Canonically a gay disaster. Bunnies.

3. Will Graham - Hannibal (TV)

A study in why emphasizing with serial killers is not a Good Idea. Spends too much time eyeballs deep in crazy. Needs a new job. And a nap. Adopts all the dogs. Murder Husband. Flannel. Allergic to socializing. Understandably. His day job literally boils down to fantasizing about brutally murdering people, a great conversation starter. Therapist is a literal cannibal. Needs a new therapist.

4. Guts - Berserk

Hundred man killer before it was cool. #ChildhoodTrauma. Actual dork. Swings big swords. Barra af. Still somehow projects Bottom Energy. Bad Life Choices. Possibly gay for his ex best friend. Who added #AdulthoodTrauma when he betrayed their boy band for demons. Revenge quest. Did I mention trauma. Reckless. Kind of an idiot but we love him anyway.

5. Sephiroth - FFVII

There's no dramatic like Over Dramatic. Needs better friends. Nothing like finding out your entire existence is a lie. Was a Hero until he was rudely shoved off the deep end. Hair porn. When they say Safer Sephiroth what they really mean is Danger Sephiroth. Butt Wings. Seven foot sword is not a euphemism. Very stabby. Mommy issues.

6. Nyx Ulric - FFXV

Spicy Galahdian meatball. 100% worth the wait. Hee-Ro. Deserves so much better. Sass master. Ex bartender. Now a fancy ass magic warrior who makes a living magically yeeting himself at things and stabbing them. For Hearth and Home. Himbo energy.

7. Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

Knight of the Sassy Order. Master of violent negotiation. Sith Lord's are his spEciAlitY. Back seat driver. Flirts with people actively trying to kill him. Obi-Wan No. Collects too many pathetic lifeforms. He is beauty, he is grace, he tends to land on his face. Absolutely savage. Hello there!

8. Superman - DC

Last dweeb of Krypton. Needs a better disguise. Except not. Who would ever suspect Clark "golly" Kent. Alien Big Dick Energy. Solar powered energizer bunny. Fan of lying by omission. And justITH. Property damage. One improper punch man. Someone teach this loser how to throw down pls god. Flyboy. Actual cinnamon roll. Every insurance companies nightmare. Supergeek. Allergic to space rocks. Frickin' laserbeams.

9. Jon Snow- GoT/ASoIaF

Jon "I'm gonna pet this fucking Dragon" Snow. Tries his best. Swings his sword sword. Steamy. The other White Wolf. Existence is a lie. Give the man a hug. And a dragon. Himbo. 28 STAB WOUNDS. Doom and gloom and drama. What happens when an introvert is forced to lead armies. Knows more than people give him credit for. Still himbo tho.

10. Leon S. Kennedy - Resident Evil

Wanted to be a cop. Got zombies instead. #Trauma. Kind of dumb. Can't drive for shit. Leon No. 101 sassy one liners. Also 101 statements of the exceedingly obvious. Needs hugs. Routinely ingests strange herbs randomly found lying around. King of fancy kicks. Somehow not a zombie yet. Cinnamon roll. Hunnigan is done. An actual disaster. Drink less, sleep more. Remake Lele, a bby boi. Both savage and adorable.

[helvetica12point]

Okay, so there's something I see going around on Tumblr pretty often, and it really bothers me. I know saying something about it is probably pointless for reasons that will become obvious, but I gotta do it.

It's the jokes about white people and spices. I'm not going to go into inaccuracies or the like, cause that's been done. This is much more personal. I have a capsaicin intolerance. In my case this means that if I ingest even the tiniest bit of capsaicin, it will trigger an asthma attack and my throat will start to close up and I will have difficulty breathing. At best, I'll need a couple hits off my rescue inhaler and to rest for the remainder of the evening; so far at worst I've had to use my nebulizer and was totally useless the rest of the night. If I didn't have one, that would've been an ER trip. So pretty darned serious, right? But what the heck is this capsaicin stuff?

Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers that makes them hot. It is in pretty much all the peppers except black pepper (different family) and bell peppers (the only ones that don't contain it). So this means that if it's seasoned with any pepper other than black pepper I cannot eat it without running the risk of not breathing. This isn't just hot peppers, like jalapenos or chiles or ghost peppers. This includes chili powder and cayenne. Do you know how much food those last two are in? They are in fucking everything. I don't even bother with BBQ sauce anymore. Sausage is a risky proposition. Grilled meet in general is risky, a lot of places and people will include cayenne in their flavoring mix. And this is not even getting into the random shit you'd think would be safe but isn't, like spaghetti sauce and meatballs, or, as I discovered last night, fucking pot roast. If you don't like to cook, eating is a bloody minefield. This also extends to the freezer case at the grocery, only it's even worse because at least at a restaurant you can ask if it's in there (they may or may not be able to tell you, and there is at least one waiter in town who will be taking questions about food allergies deathly serious for the rest of his life). Half the shit in the freezer case just says, "spices". Is there pepper in there or not? Who knows? I can't risk it.

And this leads me to the prompt for this whole awareness rant. Tonight I was getting groceries after work and I got excited seeing some dairy free frozen pizza (I am also lactose intolerant, although that isn't as bad and has totally different effects). But pizza sauce is danger food, so I checked the ingredient list only to see the nebulous "spices". Which immediately reminded me of all you jerks who mock folks for not eating spicy food. Fuck y'all for making me feel like a shitty stereotype for avoiding food that has the potential to literally kill me.

So far, it hasn't. I carry my rescue inhaler, and I stop eating as soon as I feel that painful burning in my lips. But sometimes it takes a few bites to kick in, or it's unevenly distributed so the first couple of bites are fine. But it takes next to nothing to destroy the rest of my night. And while it's not exactly a common intolerance, I know I'm not alone, and I just find it ultimately shitty that while it may seem like a harmless joke, it does mock anyone who has a legitimate allergy/intolerance/adverse reaction to certain seasonings.

#also for the love of God why does having flavor means a food had to physical burn you #personal #rant #waits for the inevitable Tumblr reactions

[meresnut]

Kemetic Deity Exchange 2018

for kemetic deity exchange 2018 (though happy 2019 now) i got set from @sensitive-tyet !

Set is a complicated name for me because I'm pretty sure Wepwawet let him in the front door a year and a half ago but I've been trying to ignore him because he intimidates me. (I did get this pin to protect me on travels though.) I have recently majorly recovered from events I suspect he was involved in, so it is probably about time for Set to sweep in again I guess.

I was asked to do something a little out of my comfort zone, which I’ll have to think on some more coming into the new year, or a food offering that’s spicy and/or an innuendo. So I made a spicy marinara sauce with red pepper flakes and onions with spicy meatballs and used rigatoni so I could make a dick yeah. Along with a salad with grape tomatoes and mozzarella balls and balsamic dressing. Also some blueberry wine and almonds covered in chocolate and dusted in cinnamon bc it felt like he’d want them? There’s a lot of balls here.

I’m probably going to try to pay a little more attention to Set in the next calendar year because to be fair, I’m probably in a spot where a bit of spectacular, mildly disastrous change is necessary even if it’s not comfortable. I was amused if not a bit exasperated to get his name for this, it kind of feels like a “haha, now you HAVE to come talk to me a bit” kind of thing. So we’ll see how that goes. 

Thank you for organizing KDE Anaputuwet! (tumblr won’t let me tag you rn sorry) 

#kde #kemetic deity exchange #set #sutekh

[johnnyccdc]

Had the privilege of meeting Mr @marino.monferrato last night at the soft opening of @jacksranchva ! His @daouvineyards are the only California wines on their Italian eccentric list, actually being poured on tap. @catoctincreek is present twice over. The Angelo Azzuro, is a refreshing and colorful Watershed Gin cocktail thanks to the edition of Blue Curaçao, @cointreau_us and lemon. The very delicious Palmyra Old Fashioned takes Roundstone Rye and blends it with Sicilian Liquor, bitters then gets garnished with a Luxardo cherry and orange peel. Chef @declan76 pulled out all the stops on this cleverly curated Italian cuisines meets smoked meats menu. I’ve been watching his TikTok video about his version of Lasagna that includes braised beef shank and San Marzano tomatoes with a trio of cheeses and a homemade béchamel. Absolutely a must try. The Risotto Aragosta e Zafferano is decadent, rich and insanely delicious. Butter poached lobster, saffron & creamy risottos combined with a tomato confit. We started the meal off with several samples of their pizzas (all airy crusts, Smokey and spicy meats and even one that was like a pierogi pie!) We had these absolutely insane meatballs with polenta bites (@unicornwhiskeyfairy, sis you gotta try these meatballs!), and an eye rolling into the back of your head foie gras gnocchi bomba (a terrine of foie gras that has been wrapped in gnocchi dough, nibbed almonds in the crust along with fig jam & a Port wine reduction. Absolutely divine. My wife will tell you the desserts are the best part of the menu. She raved over the strawberry rice pudding and tiramisu while I can’t stress it enough that you need to get your hands on the Butterscotch Budino Jar which was basically the insides of a crème brûlée and liquid caramel, I mean, holy smokes! I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks about this awesome addition to Tysons Corner and look forward to joining friends at the bar for cocktails and other delights. (Don’t be foolish, get the lasagna people! Someone get the Branzino and let me know how it is!) Jack’s Ranch is located at 1755 Tysons Central Street, Tysons Corner VA and will open to the public this Monday! Cheers! (at Jack’s Ranch) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWOT4zaL7Pe/?utm_medium=tumblr

[lockdownuk]

Lockdown Diary Part 11

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 301: Up at 1pm after a good few bevvies last night. usual Saturday stuff but my walk was astop/start affair due to yet more flooding. 

Facebook today informed me that Karen Wyles died suddenly. It really shocked me. I saw Guy and Gail while out walking (nice to bump into them and chat) and they told me it was a heart attack! I sent K a WhatsApp just in case she’d not heard. I put a few words on FB. I had known Karen for a long time and, while I took the piss a lot, she was a friend (that I often didn’t deserve) and a good person....I felt a responsibility to say something nice as a small homage.

During the week I ordered new boots (since my Merrells are fucked after only  few months but I am getting my money back) and, today, I also ordered McKenzie Attwood trainers (£20 cheap as fuck from JD Sports sale), slippers and jogging bottoms from Amazon. 

Now I am going to have pizza, drink, smoke and watch The Equalizer 2 (for the umpteenth time - I watched the first one last night). I could watch Tenet - Miles has given me his Amazon login details, which is pretty fucking cool of him, but I’m not in the mood.

Posh beat MK 3-0 at home. I fucking love beating them. It’s extremely satisfying.

Right, it’s Saturday, it’s nearly 9pm, time I got on it.

Day 302: Not the most mental night last night but still 4am-ish when I went to bed, so I am very pleased to type that I was up before my alarm this morning. But, also, as I type, at gone 10pm, I am fucking knackered. Just about to tuck into spicy-as-fuck sauasage casserole, wtach MotD2 and then bed!

Day 303: Slippers arrived today but they’re going back. Too tight in the left foot. I’m not wearing slippers in FFS!

Day 304: New trainers (McKenzie Attwoods) arrived. Now, this footwear I shall keep. £20, bargain.

Posh came from a goal down to beat Charlton at home 2-1. Nice.

I made some veg soup today and, quite frankly, it’s fucking stupidly chilli-fied. Barely edible.

Day 305: New trainers are sweet - wore them for my morning exercise routine. Pretty comfy - after a few wears, they’ll be ace, I think.

Got served notice on the house on Monday (why I didn’t enter that on day 303, I do not know). Lynda, from Woodfords, says a semi-detached place in Havelock Cottages is coming up that looks promising. I contacted Emily at Aspire today, there’s a two bed terrace in Basset Place coming up so i am looking at that on Monday. Choice of 2 I do hope! First is £700 pm, second £725.

Day 306: Flipping frustrating “nothing works” day at work, It’s been like it all year so far. Tbf, Sueanne gets it and is quite supportive, even though she dives in when I’ve been dealing with problems that drag on! It’s Thursday, I can’t wait for tomorrow and, I am all to aware, I am wishing what little life I have left away.

Spoke with dad, he had his first vaccination jab on Tuesday in Spalding - he said it was a very efficient process (he was full of praise) and that the jab itself was no bother, with no after effects apart from a slightly sore arm. Excellent!

Day 307: Not even one beer (Saporro) in, and I feel wasted. A toke has helped.

Day 308: New Scarpa boots arrived today and, while they will need some wearing in, I did the stair climb and a 45min walk in them. I think they are going to be ace. Just as well as the Merrells are falling apart.

I have decided to listen to the Rush back catalogue, 2112 (4th) is playing as I type. It’s been a trip down memory lane and a bloody good one!

I had a few beers last night, as yesterday’s entry confirms, which included a video catch up with Fog, Ham and Andy P. Gonna chat with Fog later tonight as well.

I watched King of Statten Island last night. I liked it but, in some parts, it was smultzy as hell, rendering it a 6/10. Later, I’m watching Outside the Wire and eating pizza. Can’t wait!

I reset my mobile yesterday ‘cos it’s been playing up. What a fucking ball ache, logging on to all the different apps, all the little settings you get so used to, only to miss them when set back to defaults. Things like the camera settings - photo size and watermark....ooooh, just realised, ‘first world problems’! Get a grip, Tim!

Day 309: SNOW! Thick and crisp and uneven. I walked 11.9km in it today and it fucking well knackered me out. The old Merrells held their own in the snow as well, totally waterproof and, for such a light boot, remarkably warm. I will actually be sorry to see them go.

Danny sent me a link to a free week’s worth of receipes from Hello Fresh (he’s nuts for it) so I and ordered one, worth nearly £40! 

Posh won away from home yesterday at Ipswich. Now, get this: the stats on the BBC’s report showed Posh had no shots on target but still won 0-1. How, might one ask? Own goal, that’s how. Piss funny!

Day 310: I am aching today. Walking in the snow yesterday certainly exercised different muscles than walking in mud. And, today, I walked less than normal, usual lunchtime but only 4km (instead of 8) in the evening. 

‘Cos of the snow, the woman from Aspire cried off showing me around 3 Bassett Place. At first I was well pissed off but, looking at the roads and traffic situation around Oundle, it was the right decision (she’d have had to get here from Nassington - a bit treacherous),

It’s just gone 8pm. I am going to eat and go to bed. It’s too fucking cold even with the heating on!

Day 311: Rearranged the viewing of Bassett Place tomorrow - I rang them ‘cos I saw it advertised on Facebook, FFS! My walk tonight was mad...melting snow, rain/sleet, ice made for fucking hard work. Plus, since I am wearing in the new Scarpas, I wore the Merrells. The right boot is now, most definitely not waterproof! Got home about 8pm, changed bed sheets, showered and made diner...bloody knackered. It’s now 11pm and I am off to beddy byes.

Day 312: Viewed Bassett Place and I really like it. It is advertised at £750pm but Emily (from Aspire) said it was £725. Sarah, who showed me round said there may be some leeway for the right tenant so i’ve asked if it could be done for £700. If so, I’ll take it. It’s a large two bed mid terrace, bigger than here (36, East Road), similar type place, just what I want. Fingers crossed.

Day 313: Having slept on it, I do believe I definitely want 3 Bassett Place. I phone Sarah at Apsire to say as much. She told me she’d forwarded my details and offer to the landlord and is waiting to hear. As yesterday, fingers crossed.

I couldn’t take the pic of the field for the Morning Walk album, too flooded due to melting snow. On that note, my new boots are getting worn in both by wear and by superficial looks, it’s that filthy out there. I need to clean them. I wonder that, if I’d cleaned the Merrells, they might have lasted a bit longer. That being said, no amount of cleaning would have save the soles from wearing as thin as quickly as they did.

Day 314: Typing on Day 315. I didn’t get Bassett Place, the landlord gave it to a couple who offerred full asking price. To say I was fucked off is an understatement. I phoned Emily to let her know as much. Tbf, she explained that the snow (delaying my original viewing) wasn’t her fault and that she is at the mercy of the landlord. Fair enough, when I heard her POV. But, I am still gutted. I should have gone for the full £750!

Glad the working week is over (I am really wishing my life away so far this year).

Long walk to Cotterstock - amazing light behind the clouds with a wolf moon (which I just looked up - full moon, basically) - I just wish I was a bit better at night photography, or at least the camera on the Mi9 was. However, once I tweak them a bit and post them, the feed back is usually good. In fact, I posted one on the move last night and someone on FB has asked if they can paint it!

Meatballs for tea and beers.

I have decided, when the year of this log is up, that I’ll end it (the diary, not my life, though that dark thought is never far away!). I have reached this decision because, while this diary is really only for me, it is as boring as fuck, really. I’ll continue to write a log but randomly, when the day’s events warrant it. It’ll be on the main Tumblr.

Day 315: Typing this on day 316. Up at 1pm-ish. Morning exercise routine, long walk curtailed by flooding (again!) more beers, smokes and trash food. Posh lost 2-0 away to Shrewsbury (a bit of a bogey team).

Day 316: Up at 1pm yet again. I really didn't feel like any exercise but I did the usual regardless. Google Fit isn’t fucking working!

I have got to start stopping these ridiculously late Friday and Saturday nights. My weekend is over before it’s begun. This coming Friday, I am not going to do the really long walk in the evening that i have become accustomed to - just a 8km one that I do most evening, and then start drinking earlier so as to go to bed early. If I can get out of bed in the Saturday morning, perhaps do a couple of long walks so as to get the weekly steps up.

Day 317: My left foot, during my lunchtime walk, killed. I must have sopped and undone & redone my laces 6 times. Dunno wtf is going on with the Scarpas. I wore my Merrells for the evening walk. I tried to got to Cotterstock but it was too flooded on the road just before the bridge!

Ordered new joggers, a boot brush and some new wireless earbuds (Mifo 05 plus Gen 2 - bought them off eBay -I hope they are the real deal, it’s the very latest spec and £74.99 instead of £89.99 from the Mifo website).

Day 318: I went shopping at 10.15pm mainly for pizza and party food since I have booked Monday off because it’s the Superbowl (Tampa vs Kansas) and booze! No fucking Sapporo. It was eerie shopping that late at the superstore in Corby. Boots still hurting (Merrells in the evening). Day 319: New ear buds arrived. Well impressed. So did the boot brush (BootBuddy) - on that note, boots weren’t so bad at lunchtime. I didn’t wear them in the evening but I think it’s just a ‘wearing them in’ thing, hopefully.

Day 320: Hello Fresh delivery day. I had pork and chipotle black bean tacos with pickled red onion, chipotle tomatoes and lettuce. It’s a good set up, decent ingredients and nice recipe sheets...but I don't need it, I’m good enough in the kitchen. And, I am no fan of minced pork. I am not being a fair judge though. Today, my sugars have been all over the place over 21 and under 2 mmol/L. I nearly fell asleep trying to recover from a low before my evening walk. When I got back (soaked - it was pissing down), I was over 21 by the time I had cooked it all....puts me off actually eating, even though I have to! Rang Barry Haddon today, to see how he is. I think he’s OK but, strangely, told me, during conversation, that he’s 77 years old. I don't think so! I also texted Posh Dave. I think he’s struggling being on his own (he lost mum and dad last year, I think). I must make more contact with him. I might call him over the weekend.

Day 321: Typing on Day 322 (well, 1am on day 323 actually). It was nice finishing work knowing I have Monday off. I also din’t do an extra long walk this evening as with most Fridays. Cooked the send Hello fresk meal, Mango chicken tacos -diced chicken thighs - it was alright. Rog video called so had a good chat with him and I invited Foggy to it (he was at his cousin John’s funeral today), so the three of us chewed the cud for a bit. I then went onto get fucking shitfaced. I couldn’t make it to bed with low sugars, lying on the runner rug, fell asleep, got up and could only make it top the living room rug..I felt so dodgy but I was too fucked and too full to even take more than a swig of coke. I think I’m going to fall asleep one drunken night, slip into a coma and then die. I can think of worse ways to go. Day 322: Typing  very late, it’s actually Sunday morning, 1.07am. I got out of bed at gone 2.30pm today. I managed my morning routine and a 8km walk (in the Scarpas, they are getting more comfortable since my episode of pain a few days ago; definitely a wearing in process). No booze after last night’s debacle. I am going to hit it during the Superbowl tomorrow though. The Hello fresh meal tonight was pasta chicken bake with pepper and courgette. Fucking lovely and I coudln’t eat it all. I’ve lerant that adding creme fresh to pasta, whacking it on top of meat and sauce on a casserole bowl and baking it for 15 minutes is the way to go. I watched The Dig tonight. It’s a good film but fucking glum. Posh won at home to Crewe today, 2-0. They are now 4th. Day 323:Bright as a button today, up at around 11:00am despite switch in the bedroom light off at just before 3am. Today’s walk was fucking hard work. It’s wintry, the wind was keen, strong and full of icy particles just not quite sleet. The fields between Park Wood and Monson Way were bloody tough. One wrong foot and you’d slip over. I did about 10 km; it took over 2 hours and felt like twice the distance.  I’ve just eaten Hello Fresk teryaki mince. It was good. One beer in, a film (probably One Night in Miami) and then Superbowl time. Day 324: The Superbowl was good. Tampa beat Kansas 31-9. The second half was a damp squib since Kansas never made a go of it. Tom Brady won his 7th ring. He is to American football what Federer is to tennis. The Weeknd half time show was excellent. So, it was about 4am I went to bed, nicely pissed. Up at just after 1pm. Exercise, omelette, long walk, done some washing. About to make the last Hello Fresh meal and watch One Night in Miami which I didn’t manage last night.   Richard sent me a message (screen shot of a) house up for shared ownership in Oundle (Sharmann & Quinney) - I need to look into what that is all about.

Day 325: Shared ownership isn’t straightforward and, actually, I have discovered that I need to look at something call ‘older persons shared ownership’ when I hit 55. Jon at work wants me to get involved in two additional pieces of work, he told me at the SUMO today (Sueanne is off) - he did say that “that’s what happens if you have a day off! Finished the last of the Hello Fresh (last night’s sausage bolognese including homemade garlic bread using a Tiger loaf from Co-Op which was reduced to 28p. I didn’t watch One Night in Miami last night. Shock. Day 326: I spoke with Lynda from Woodfords yesterday, viewing 13 Havelock Cottages tomorrow. Also, yesterday, Posh beat Ipswich 2-1 at home. They came from behind. Ipswich have never beaten Posh away. Simon Banwell posted on FB berating some new legislation whereby potentially people who travel and lie about it (the destination) are liable for 10 years in prison. His gripe is people get less for murder. I am beyond words...the potential for mass deaths of such actions! I tried to argue that case but it is, as always on social media, flogging a dead horse. Rachel Harris jumped on Simon’s bandwagon whereas Tim Francis posted a ‘well said’ to me (I think it’s genuine). Day 327: Carrying on directly from above; Candice Bellingsea, Rachel’s niece, Carla’s daughter, was also ‘vocal’ in defence of Simon’s post, joining in with the clamour for relaxation of lockdown (at the expense of safety) - citing more people commit suicide because of the mental pressure than die of covid. Well, today, I investigated and posted a FB status to poo-poo such claims. It felt good (and right) to address Candice’s ridiculous post albeit, I didn’t call her out directly but did have part of her comment on Simon’s post directly quoted in my status. I went to see 13 Havelock today. It’s OK. Not perfect but more than alright. When I left there I was very much in two minds but now, at 10:30pm, the place is growing on me. Still part of me thinks to hold out - I have got around 5 month’s notice left - but, if I let it go (and Lynda from Woodford’s has already said the landlord is happy for me to move in), I might regret it. I keep thinking of 3 Bassett Place though...if only I had said yes to £750 straightaway. That place would be perfect, I reckon. One major concern with 13 is the neighbours. There’s no way I could have my usual Friday and Saturday night revelry. But...I’ll sleep on it. I have only just finished doing some work - pissing about with Smartview Essbase (with Simon Welch’s help - he’s a bloody good bloke - no need to be so helpful, but he’s more than happy to be) - I sent him a Teams message to arrange a catch up tomorrow with some questions I have regarding the installation - he only bloody answered - working as late as I am! I have managed to watch some of One Night in Miami. Going to finish it now with a dirty, microwave hamburger for tea.

Day 328: Typing on day 329. Usual Friday but not so mad in the evening. One Night in Miami was good. For Friday’s viewing I chose Greenland. Not so good. Only 4 beers and two spliffs. I’m getting old! Day329: Up at 1pm, usual exercise including a long old walk. It included walking along the river (Oundle Mill bridge to the marina) for the fist time this year. The floods are in evidence but, obviously, receded enough to get through - that, or the resulting water, mud and boginess is frozen. I really enjoyed it today but it was freezing - the wind was evil at certain points. Tea’s on the go, beer in hand and I am going to watch War Dogs.  Posh’s game was off today due to a frozen pitch. Day 330: Typing on day 331. It wasn’t a mad Saturday night but mad enough to not be up until gone midday. Another nice long walk, Walk and eat is all I really do nowadays. I can’t even muster any enthusiasm to do housework since I am going to be out of here soon. I called Posh Dave in the evening. It was good to chat and I think he appreciated the call. He’s on his own and struggling, I get the impression. He told me both Matt Baxter (bowel) and Adi Mowles (neck) are undergoing treatment for cancer.

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #COVID19 #lockdownuk

[recentanimenews]

This IS the black pepper-mapo tofu-curry-surprise FINAL FORM RECIPE to end all final forms.

Everything we have been doing up to this point has just been a test, I swear. The black pepper bun, the mapo tofu...all good...but all just PRACTICE for what was to come. Soma outdoes himself, AND his competition with the Time Fuse Mapo Curry Noodles. It's a dish that combines his original idea- the black pepper bun- with the noodles he knew his customers would enjoy, and with the food of his competitor, with a super special surprise- a curry filling in the meatball! There is so much going on with this recipe, it is both amazing and overwhelming. Seriously, I'll give you a warning going into this- there are a LOT of steps involved. You have to want this dish to stick with making it. But is it worth it? Uhh....YES. 

  Let's start off with the curry filling. Soma gives very little indication of how he made it, beyond mentioning basic ingredients. So, I took some liberties with the recipe and went simply with the things he included, while sticking to the gelatin measurments I've already tested in the tranforming furikake recipe I made way back in the beginning of my food blogging days. As a result, this filling comes together quickly- it's really just a curry broth spiked with gelatin to help it harden and keep together while being wrapped up in the meatball. 

  The meatball recipe is very similar to the recipe I already introduced for the black pepper bun. However, I decided to tweak some of the measurements. I doubled the amount of pork to make big meatballs, and doubled almost everything except for the black pepper. I decided to take the black pepper flavor down just a bit, as it comes through really strongly in the bun version. While that's good there, I didn't want it to overpower the curry that would eventually be on the inside, so I decided to go easy on the black pepper in this version of the meat mixture. I think this was ultimately a good choice- if we want all of these different parts to harmonize nicely, we can't have one part of it superceding any other part in a distracting way. 

  The mapo tofu recipe I also tweaked from the original version I made. The original verison was based on a bunch of recipes I found online, and tweaked to resemble the version from Food Wars! as much as possible. However, in the episode directly after we first see the mapo tofu, Soma makes his own version, and gives more detail into what he puts in it. To more closely replicate the version that Soma would make, I changed the recipe a bit to incorporate in his ingredients and ideas so that the flavor in this dish would be spot on. I'm really happy with the changes I made- overall I found the mapo tofu to be really tasty, almost better than the first version I made. 

  Probably the trickiest thing about this recipe is the timing- I recommend making the curry filling ahead of time, and then assembling the rest of the ingredients when you are ready to eat. However, you can do this in one go. It took me about 3 hours, from start to finish, to make this dish, including freeze time for the curry. If I did it again, I'd do the curry the day before and let it freeze through. I'd also mix up the meat mixture to let it marinate together. Then, the next day, I'd assemble and cook the meatballs, and make the mapo tofu. I have indicated this path in the instructions below. 

  All in all, was it worth it? I am really happy and surprised to tell you: YES. This was SO GOOD. I was so worried the curry wouldn't work with the mapo tofu, but it definitely did. And the noodles were an amazing addition as well! I loved the curry and mapo tofu sauces with the noodles, and am so glad Soma included it- they act as the perfect vehicle to soak up all the sauce and really get the full effect of the flavors that have such a huge impact on the overall dish.

  To start making your own, watch the video below for more instructions! 

      Ingredients for the Time Fuse Mapo Curry Noodles:

Curry Filling:

2 cups bone beef broth

1 inch ginger, cut into slices

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 tbsp curry powder

1 packet of Knox gelatin

2 tbsp water

Meatball:

1 lb ground pork

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp Chinese five spice

1/4 tsp ground anise

1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

  Mapo Tofu:

2 cups chicken stock

2 tbsp spicy bean sauce (Doubanjiang)

2 tbsp fermented black bean sauce (Dou-chi)

2 tsp soy sauce

Crushed Red Pepper, to taste

1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns, freshly ground

5 green onions, finely chopped and separated into whites and greens

1/2 pound ground pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 400 gram package of soft tofu

2 1/2 tbsp water

1 tbsp cornstarch

Freshly cooked ramen noodles, 1/2 single serving package per serving

Szechuan peppercorns, freshly ground, as garnish

    To Make the Time Fuse Mapo Curry Noodles:

1. Start by making the curry filling. Prepare garlic and ginger. Bring beef broth, ginger, and garlic to a boil. While boiling, dissolve gelatin in water. Let broth simmer about 10 minutes, and then strain out and discard the garlic and ginger. Add in curry powder and gelatin. Stir through, and then portion off into molds (sphere molds if you have them, some kind of silicon mold if you don't), and set in the freezer, at least two hours, preferably overnight to set completely. 

  2. Prepare the meatball filliing. Combine pork, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and spices. Mix well, and set aside until curry pucks are done freezing. When they are done, flatten out a portion of the meatball meat, and fold around one of the curry pucks. Place in freezer while you prepare all your meatballs.

  You can optionally stop at this point, and pick up with the following directions if you'd like to make this dish in two days.

  Once meatballs are ready to cook, boil in a pot of water, 6-8 minutes, or until pork is cooked through. Strain from the water and set aside in warm place for later. 

  3. You can do this step while the curry pucks are freezing, or the day after you make the curry pucks and meatball mixture. When ready to eat, make the mapo tofu. Add the bean paste, black bean paste, crushed red pepper, and soy sauce to the chicken stock. Stir to combine. Brown the pork in a pan, and salt well. Add in the garlic and ginger and sautee until fragrant, about 1 minute over low heat. Then, add in the chicken stock mixture. Cover and let simmer about 5 minutes. While simmering, you can optionally blanch the tofu in boiling water for about two minutes to remove any bitter flavor. Then, add the tofu into the pork mixture, and stir through. Cover and let cook for another 10 minutes, or until tofu is well seasoned. Remove the lid, and season with Szechuan pepper. Stir your cornstarch and water together, and then add to the mapo tofu and stir through. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

  4. Quickly boil your noodles. Bring water to a boil, and dip your ramen noodles in, about two minutes. While noodles are cooking, portion off your mapo tofu. Strain noodles and immediately section off into mapo tofu and stir through until well combined with mapo tofu sauce. Garnish with green onion and Szechuan pepper. Then place prepared meatball on top. 

    I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe. To check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a Twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My Tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! :D

  In case you missed it, check out our last dish: Black Pepper Bun from "Food Wars!". What other famous anime dishes would you like to see Emily make on COOKING WITH ANIME?

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