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tumbleranch-dorm · 3 years

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I’m a re-introduced to my fandorm again bcuz my stupid brain had a second thought of polishing my blog & redo everything from the first post so I’ll be updating my ocs bio’s and doing this again (P.S. it’s gonna be a long post)

Howdy folks an’ Welcome to Tumbleranch Dormitory! (タンブルランチ寮)

Founded by the vainglorious (自惚れた), endowed with a notorious reputation of an outlaw of the West and is inspired by the world of Home on the Range

The students are a bit unruly and sharp-witted, forcing out their rebellious behavior from playing by its rules and to the public’s critics, keening to seek thrills on dangerous events occasionally, commit dangerous mischief on their own free will but despite the overall subversive characteristics, people are industrious, dependable and as unexpectedly talented intending to boast their skills heart out. Moreover, they do possess a top-notch prowess either defensive and offensive magic also in practices in gunslinging

Of course we do need regulations if ever goes too far with an oath of head (with vice) taken the responsibilities to teach seize problematic students to stay out of trouble by any means necessary force for the sake of NRC’s well being, following a SIMPLE regulation is a BIG must! and people do be careful having them to be part of your friends circle as they’ll drag you to their buffoonery situation or rather alleviate them not to get reckless

Anyone’s social background won’t matter whether you’re noble, town folks, or farm folks because here we have liberation on our side and anyone are familiarize western culture to show off that cowboy rules in Twisted Wonderland

Once you are sorted here, each and everyone are encouraged to work in the mines

Leadership Qualification: Traditionally, a student must be industrious and sharp-witted of all their peers

The color scheme is Brown & Orange

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Dorm Settings

The dorm itself is similar to Savanaclaw’s dry land environment but with greenery, trees, and cacti’s on the sideline. The students will be living the interior of a high rocky mountain and the dorm itself has an underground mines[1]

(just going to show bunch of pics demonstrating how the dorm presents because I’m not that best at drawing much of it’s landscape ;-; so let’s just use our imagination instead, shall we? djfjfjfjr)

DORM ROOMS

Imagine this is how our dorm rooms will look like except it doesn’t look abandoned but a nice cabin houses carried upon with supportive planks & cliffs, with stairs, bridges connecting to the other cabins, and also a minecart railway tracks[2]

COMMON ROOM

The common room inside is like lodge cabin where can people can relax and able to concentrate their studies if ever suggesting to have study groups with your friends in a quite place is our common room

MINES

The underground mines called “DARK HALLOW MINES” has few levels deep but mainly 3 levels are acceptable to mine and the dorm head will decide where the miners be held in each, depending the capabilities of the students. It’s possible the dorm head will allow them to choose willingly

First Level: Miners rather insist mining the old-fashioned way without magic but can only use regular mining tools

Second Level: Miners are permitted to use magic but also still use the mining tools

Third Level: Only miners are capable to manage small amount of explosive dynamites and also can use their magic as well

Furthur Levels: these parts are off limits to mine here. In truth, these levels are quite mystery or unknown to people’s knowledge that aren’t yet discovered but have been told it’s prohibited to go any further deep. Various rumors were spreading across our dorm telling they’re might full of surprises and mysteries: curses, evil spirits/monsters lingering around, a student step foot the forbidden area and never came back alive, many centuries people died there and etc. you guessed it! anyone couldn’t imagine what lurks down the deeper levels. Sometimes a group of students did a popular game “Kimodameshi” (test of courage) of going there. Most were well-convinced to stay out while some rather ignored and ready to see what’s beyond, nevertheless and since the mines are wide enough and has tons of tunnels, anyone could get themselves lost easily here even retracing footsteps would be futile

However there is a different way to enter & exit Tumbleranch instead of using the Halls of Mirror. Another long tunnel oddly connected to the dwarf’s mines (in the prologue chapter) but there’s a catch, there’ll be a debris wall blocking its path once reaches a dead end. But in fact, it’s not. It’s reveal to be a practical wall but in illusion where it’s made by an unknown magic user. Any outsiders nor students ever knew this path to the dwarf’s mine exists and with that, it is better not worth discovering the secret entrance to our dormitory unless you intentionally want to get to the dwarf’s mines (inferior level), facing off hundreds of ghosts and stumbled an illusional wall by accident

PRIVATE SALOON

Our dorm has its own private saloon called “THE ROWDY HORDE” and is located below the dorm cabins. The inside is lively, many students always comes here just for hangout with friends just after accomplishing their mining jobs or class as a reward for everyone’s hard work. It also does have a stage where anyone can enjoy performing, dancing, or playing music with their hearts out

Here in Rowdy Horde mainly serve root beer floats but only 18 above gets to drink root beer while other additional drinks available for minors like apple cider, milkshake, and cherry soda. Unlike what Octavinelle served, each beverages costs 50 maddols each

This saloon is supposed to be private and kept to itself. Everyone must not spread information about our saloon to other dormitories but if any other dormitory students knew & wanted to visit here at least few companions are permitted of coming here much as they like but in a condition to keep a secret from the headmaster and school staffs

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Uniform References

Dorm:

Brown and orange cowboy hat, blue bandana around the neck. Wearing lighter orange long sleeve with yellow buttons, and suede open vest with two patch pockets both chest sides (dorm logo on the right) with orange frills and dark blue running stitches. On top of the shirt, wearing a large blaze color shawl with orange frills.

Brown chaps pants and shingle fawn denim pants with running stitches and on the waist is an ebony buckle. The footwear is brown and black tip toed cowboy boots and has light metal locks for ankle and foot.

Also everyone are allowed to costumize the uniform as you like! :D

Work:

The miners are wearing navy blue overalls with bull strap hook and deep blue running stitch, white shirt, blue scarf, black and deep blue tan gloves as well as boots. Also, in addition to wearing a navy blue mining cap for safety

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Main Weapons

Magic Gun (Magic Pen)

Only those who sorted in Tumbleranch can shift their magic pen to a gun holding weapon than any other dormitory could. It may seem unpleasant for a mere student but this can be useful to master their aims both through magic and bullets. Moreover, anyone can customize what type of gun they wanted to look like, anything that represents them. The bullets are limitless and rest assured it aren’t just regular bullets except it does contain elemental magic (fire, water, plant) same as using the magic pen. One or two shots will make an impact of a physical pain/sting in themselves and their opponents. Students tends to practice shooting at the colosseum (TEST) in battles/duals or survival war game in a group but only Tumbleranch are allowed to fight like this but if they wanted the traditional way, they may fight with pens

Lasso

A typical weapon tend to use for capturing, tied, and taming your peers by a lasso. It’s up to students if they want to bring along with them in their dorm uniform

Dynamite/Bombs

Yes, some students may use whether small or large size dynamites/bombs useful for special counter attack at their opponents only during in battles

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Dorm Members from left to right:

Ebenizer Blackburn — a 2nd year bison whom had called himself the strongest delinquent amongs delinquents in NRC. Throwing fits at anything by unknown reason and often involves in fights with Savanaclaw because of the “inferiority” but despite being the terrifying bad boy, he’s fully loyal and trusted to be the dorm head’s bodyguard

Clinton Hollingsbeck (vice head) — a 2nd year vice head who wouldn’t stand wasting precious time in everything often looking at his pocket watch, wishing the students of Tumbleranch would act a head of time without much slacks. He’s very serious of the responsibilities of running and taking care Tumbleranch together with his business partner, the leader also taken the position being the head’s right-hand man so everything he worked so hard to change this problematic dorm to be perfect

Ferdrick Y’Oddel (dorm head) — a narcissistic 3rd year & a leader who thinks too highly of himself and his favorite talent of yodeling sometimes would subconsciously share or praise his favorite legend non-stop to his peers and would show off how fearless “the great outlaw” was than any other legends. Most of his students were disturbed by his sadistic nature from time to time but what terrifies them most is when he’s furious while holding his favorite weapon: branding iron

Hunter McGriffin — a 3rd year who’s truly mysterious and difficult to interpret. Hardly understand emotions of himself and expressing it. He hardly speak like a normal person but slower in few words (especially hard to talk about himself) and hard to read his expression & atmosphere around him because of his bandana/mask but somehow shows intimidation and his movements is overwhelmingly quick

Cole Brantley — deranged but strangely a genius invetor of a 1st year and has the love of inventing different kinds of bombs. With a little bit of smartness & childish act, he likes to test out his inventions by decent pranks and anyone he hangs out with but when it comes to the dorm head, he shows an awkward and timid side infront of him

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[1] The secret lair “Echo Mines” is where the villain lives in the movie

[2] This was inspired during the cart chase scene and also going to be a good idea for the rhythm game

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #tumbleranch #fandorm #dormitory information #ferdrick y’oddel #clinton hollingsbeck #ebenizer blackburn #hunter mcgriffin #cole brantley #home on the range #cowboy #outlaw #miners

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thedeviltohisangel · 3 years

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Whiskey In A Teacup/1

When Santi first got out of the military, he hadn’t known what to think of his options. There was always the option of giving up and going back in. The option to join a shadowy private military company. Go into private security. Go on the recruiting circuit. Maybe even become a cop. But none of them seemed like the best path. They all seemed like giving up. He had been trained by his country to be an elite, lethal machine. Being anything but the best felt like a cop out. So when an old friend of his reached out with an offer from the Secret Service, he accepted it on the spot.

masterlist is my url/writing or on ao3

send me any one shot requests for these two

----

The election had recently ended with a brand new administration being ushered into the White House. Pope thought he looked cookie cutter. Like he was aging perfectly, his wife wasn’t aging at all and his family had all done Cotillion. He was in an empty conference room flipping through the personnel files that had been left for him before he waited for his friend to pick him up for whatever orientation he had to go through.

“Santi! Glad you were able to make it in.” He stood and shook his friend’s hand, happy to have someone to talk to.

“Yeah and was cleared to read the briefing materials,” he answered as he dropped the folder back down onto the table.

“Good. So the basics are out of the way. Now, I vouched for you hard with leadership and they want you on the detail. Close circle, last line of defense type of shit.

“Perfect. Exactly the stakes you know I’m cut out for.”

“I know that. But the future First Lady doesn’t.” Santi furrowed his brow.

“Why does that matter?” His friend cleared his throat.

“She has requested she look every agent in the inner circle in the eye before they are officially assigned. Protective wife and mama bear.”

“You’re not saying the debutante daughters are included in my assignment are you?” Santiago hoped he wasn’t. They looked like stuck up brats and he would rather join Will on the speech circuit than put up with attitudes like that.

“I’m saying the other agents have been tripping over themselves to try and get conversations with the older one.” His friend pointed at her picture on the table.

“That’s disgusting,” Pope whined. “How do I get her approval? I got to wait a week for an appointment?”

“Her and the daughters are at a photoshoot right now for the cover of Vogue. Said she would talk to you there.”

“Great.” It would be one of his more unconventional interviews but Santi was eager. Chomping at the bit to get back in the game. Feel useful again. Devote his life to something other than thinking about the past.

----

The people allowed on the set were few. His friend introduced him to a few other agents and pointed to where the incoming First Lady was smiling for the camera.

“Let’s find somewhere we can wait for her to be done.” Santi kept his head down, smiling politely and shaking hands where appropriate, as they made their way towards the rooms in the back of the studio. There were two agents standing outside a door, nodding once as they let Santi and his friend into the room.

“Marnie, can you help me zip?” The female voice was coming from behind the dressing screen in the corner. Both men looked at each other, not sure what the appropriate thing to say was.

“Sorry, ma’am, we can go-”

“No that’s fine. I think I can do it myself.” Pope stayed silent as the woman, he thinks it was Penelope, stepped out in a beautiful blush pink dress that hugged her like it was made for her. He hates that his mouth ran dry and his tongue felt thick. But he pushed it aside as quickly as it came. “You’re new. And not in a suit. A friend of yours, Sam?”

“Yes ma’am. This is Santiago Garcia. Old Army buddy. He is here for a job interview.”

“A pleasure to meet you ma’am.” Santiago extended his hand and Penelope shook it even though her eyes were rolling.

“So stupid she makes all of you talk to her first. But I guess that’s why I am not in charge,” Penelope shrugged. “I’m sure it will go well and I’ll see you around, Santiago.”

“Santi,” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “Just...Santi.”

“Santi,” she whispered like she was just testing it out. “The pleasure was all mine.” She smiled as she spun, the skirt flying around her like a Disney movie, and then she was out the door and gone.

“Isn’t she something?” Sam mused as he still stared at the door she had just disappeared through.

“Beautiful. And probably a troublemaker,” Pope replied.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” his friend teased with a slap on his back. The sad thing was, he thinks he did.

----

Penelope hated that no such privacy existed in her life anymore. It hadn’t for awhile but it had only gotten worse in the past month since her father won the election. Even now, lying in bed flipping through fashion magazines, there were people bustling in and out to pack her stuff for the move. People asking which fabric and color she thought looked best for her inauguration dress. If she liked this or that singer for the National Anthem and if she thought her peers would find this or that choice relatable. She answered with a smile and took it all in stride but couldn’t wait to shut the door and go to bed. But even there she dreamt of flags and men in suits and waving until her arm felt like it was going to fall off. There was no such thing as privacy and there was no such thing as peace. Penelope felt she was no longer her own person but everyone’s. They told her that’s what being in the first family meant. But she didn’t like it and she didn’t want it.

“Ma’am?” It sounded like her new assistant on the other side of the door.

“Yes?” Penny had just started winding down for the night. Her face was soft from copious amounts of moisturizer. Her hair was fluffy after she took her time drying it. Her silk nightgown was kissing her legs with every step. She was tired. She wanted to curl up in a ball under a pile of blankets and dream of simpler times.

“Your new agent is here. I just wanted to introduce you before he started his first shift.” Penelope sighed and moved back towards her closet to find a knit robe that would help protect at least some of her humility.

“You can come in.” She recognized him instantly as the handsome man from the Vogue set. He looked even better now. Well groomed and in a suit that must have been tailored by an old school professional.

“Ma’am this is-”

“Santiago,” Penelope said before the introduction could be finished. “I’m glad to see the interview went well.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“We’re practically the same age. Any other title other than ma’am would work better.” He made her blush just by looking at her. It was tragic and sad. That she had to meet him like this. That he had to be someone that worked for her father. That he had to be stoic and professional all the time. That they hadn’t just met in a bar on a Saturday night or bumped into each other at a mutual friend’s backyard picnic.

“Of course. I’ll think on it and get back to you,” he offered with a smile.

“Agent Garcia is on interior duty tonight but I am sure you’ll get used to his presence quickly, ma’am.” She didn’t bother correcting her assistant. She didn’t care what she called her.

“I look forward to it.”

----

“Alright let’s go over Polar’s schedule for the day.” It had been a couple of days since Santi had started and so far he was enjoying it. His fellow agents were nice enough and had a similar sense of humor to him. Many of them had even served and it was nice to swap stories with people other than the men in his unit. He was posted close to the action and was never really bored. Penelope was his principle. Her safety was his only priority most days and he was by her side at morning show appearances, fancy dinners with campaign donors and visits to DC elementary schools. Things were moving faster and tighter the closer they got to the inauguration.

They hadn’t spoken much since his first night. Just nods and smiles as they made elusive eye contact throughout the day. She was beautiful. That was the simplest way for Santi to describe her. The most professional way. It was wrong but he wanted to know more about her. Learn what made her life. Made her cry. What she liked to eat and what she would order at McDonalds. Santi was someone full of life and warmth and love for those around him. Sometimes it was hard to be so cold. He hadn’t had to be so since he retired from the military. It was dredging up old feelings from the past. But he was more concerned how he felt more comfortable than he had before. How being alert and hearing radio static and a gun at his hip made him feel more at ease than the creature comforts of home ever could.

“We’ve got a pilates class, Skype call with a dress designer and then a private dinner.”

“Private dinner?” Santi hadn’t heard that on the schedule before and it made his ears perk up.

“She’s been seeing this guy-”

“Kind of a douche,” one of the other agents chimed in.

“-and it's very underwraps, very lowkey.”

“We normally draw straws or play rock, paper, scissors to see who has to take it.” Santi furrowed his brow as all the comments flooded his system.

“What’s so awful about a dinner date?” he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“It’s the company she keeps,” one chimed in.

“He’s dull and chews weird.”

“Hurts to listen to and hurts to watch.” They all groaned in unison.

“I’ll take it then. The watching and listening part.” He was a low man on the totem pole anyways but he was also curious. He wanted to see this train wreck with his own two eyes. He took the file when it was offered, leaving the room when they were dismissed.

“Curiosity killed the cat, you know,” Sam muttered as he fell into step next to him.

“I know. This will satiate me,” Santi replied.

----

He stood dutifully by the car, waiting to open the door for Penelope whenever she was ready to go. The twisted part of him was excited to see how this night played out. Maybe it would at least be worth the good story. How the beautiful first daughter dated a slob and he was paid to be a third wheel.

“Santiago? I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” Her fingers tightened around her clutch as she squared her shoulders to face him.

“Yes…” he froze when he remembered he had agreed to not refer to her as ma’am.

“Still thinking of something else to call me?” she asked with a smirk. Penelope didn’t wait for him to respond and instead slipped under his arm and into the backseat of her car.

The drive was dead silent. Santi felt awkward but knew this was a part of the job he would have to get used to. She wasn’t his friend. Wasn’t a girl he had picked up at a bar. She was his top priority in the least romantic way possible. He would take a bullet for her. When they arrived at the restaurant he moved swiftly to open her door and escort her into the dining room. They moved towards the back where a man was sitting alone. He looked like a college lacrosse player to Santi. In the most stereotypical of ways. His hands itched to pull Penelope’s seat out for her when her date didn’t, his eyes going to the menu instead of complementing the black dress she was wearing. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe this was going to be torture.

#santiago garcia #oscar isaac #triple frontier #santiago garcia fanfiction #oscar isaac fanfiction #triple frontier fanfiction

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everlarkficexchange · 4 years

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You're Not Alone

My apologies to the anon who submitted this prompt. I wish I could have had it done but like so many others, I find myself busier than ever. I am still working on it and I wanted to at least post part 1.

Prompt 70: Peeta picks up a hitchhiker in the mountains one night, only to find it’s his childhood best friend and now escaped convict Katniss Everdeen. In a panic he calls police but after hearing her side of the story comes to believe she didn’t actually murder anyone. Everlark on the run. [submitted by anonymous]

Written by @sunsetsrmydreams.

Rated NA

Beta’d by @justajjfan, all mistakes are mine. Subject to change.

It’s dark, so dark that without the bright headlights, you couldn’t see a hand in front of your face…and it’s fucking freezing.

Peeta punches the buttons again, trying to force the heater to work a little faster, even though he knows it’s pointless.

His car rattles with the effort and he prays that the old beast won’t leave him stranded on the side of the road. He’s not sure anyone would be there if he needed help. So, with a calm pat to the dash he stops messing with it and tries to get used to the cold.

Mother had put him on the early shifts after graduation and after 4 years, seemed to delight in his exhaustion. He was now too tired to fight back when she started on him about this or that and it made him feel just like his father, worn down and defeated. The thought makes him ill. It almost seems normal for him to feel so much older than his 22 years after working to that kind of daily grind year in, year out.

All his friends had all gone off to college, far away from this little mountain town…but not him. There was no money for a third son’s education, especially since his brothers were off with their successful careers, leaving the responsibility of the Bakery all to him at 3! FUCKING! AM!

Peeta continued to work the double shifts so he could pay for the community college classes he took two towns over and giving up was not an option. Not if it meant he could someday leave the Bakery, his parents, this entirely unsatisfying life, all of it gladly behind him.

He sighs tiredly, rounding another corner on the pitch black of the mountain road. His foot hits the brake.

Shocked. His eyes blink and a figure comes into focus.

What the hell?

Peeta slows the car and as it crawls closer, he can make out the small form of a woman who has a coat tightly clutched around her form as is limping down the side of the road.

Never pick up hitchhikers. That’s what he’d always been told, but Peeta wasn’t about to let this person freeze to death…not on his watch.

Pulling up beside her, Peeta rolls down the window and whatever heat the interior managed to accumulate, wafts out of the window and he grits his teeth against the cold.

“Miss, are you okay?” he asks, but the woman doesn’t turn to look at him and he notices her posture is rigid and fearful.

“I was just on my way to work so if you need a ride to town, I can drop you somewhere. Or you can come to the Bakery with me and use the landline. I know the cell service is bad out here,” Peeta tacks on the last part because he doesn't want her to think he’s presumptive.

She turns towards him, and at the sight of her shadowed features, Peeta starts to babble. “I work at Mellark’s Bakery, have you been there? Our baked goods are pretty popular and it’s not too much further.”

He finally manages to stop talking and watches as she carefully opens the door and slides into the seat.

Her bones seem to creak from the cold and as soon as the doors closes, he starts pushing buttons again trying hard not to stare at the woman in the passenger seat beside him as they continue the drive to town.

“Are you new here?” Peeta asks just to break the silence, “I’ve lived here my whole life. My brothers left years ago but I’ll probably be stuck here since I’m the baby–”

“Peeta?”

His name, whispered like a question causes him to jolt and swerve slightly and he’s lucky no one is on the roads at this early hour.

“Yeah. Do I know you?” He sneaks a quick glance at her. He can’t see much but he can tell she’s pretty.

“It’s me…Katniss.”

Tires screech as he slams on the brakes, once they’re at a full stop at the side on the road Peeta switches on the dome light and takes a good look at her.

Katniss Everdeen. His childhood best friend and first love. Her entire family disappeared from town the year they both turned fifteen. There were rumors that the family was relocated due to Mr. Everdeen’s job but that had never sat right with Peeta. There were no calls, no notes, nothing from her to let him know she was okay. She was just…gone.

Peeta was depressed for months, but his mother repeatedly assured him that Katniss was probably just happy to be rid of the chubby bumbling boy he was back then.He had never stopped wondering about her though.

“Katniss?” He tests her name as his eyes move over sharp cheekbones and pale skin. She looks frail, not at all the healthy, olive skinned girl he knew when he was younger. Her hair was still dark as a raven’s wing, but it was her eyes that made him believe.

Light gray and impossible to forget.

“Oh my god, Katniss! Where have you been!?” Peeta didn’t expect her to break down at his words and was horrified when tears began to pour from her eyes. Shuddered sobs shook her frame as he watched helplessly from the driver’s seat.

“We don’t have to talk about it now.” Pulling back on to the main road, he sped towards the Bakery. He could fix this..she just needed a warm drink and a cheese bun, those had always been her favorite.

“It’s going to be okay, Katniss.”

Distraction made the drive seem fast. They were pulling up to the side door of the Bakery in no time. Peeta shut the car off, moving carefully so he didn’t startle her. She was half asleep and shaking so he kept his voice low and calm.

“I’m going to come around and help you get inside, okay? Then we’re going to figure all this out.” At her weak nod, he gets out and walks quickly around to the passenger side and opens the door. She spills into his arms. He helps her stand, bracing her against his side for the short walk, holding Katniss securely with one arm as he unlocks the door and flings it open.

After half dragging Katniss to the office, and slowly shifting her onto the overstuffed leather couch, he races in to make a hot cocoa and warm a few of yesterday’s pastries. When Peeta returns he finds her unconscious and panic sets in.

It takes her a couple minutes to come around with him shaking her shoulder and saying her name repeatedly, finally a slow blink and then two and he lifts the cup under her nose.

“You need to drink this, it’ll warm you up.” Katniss looks at the cup suspiciously and it makes him wonder what has happened to his friend in the years she was away.

“It’s hot cocoa.” Her eyes brighten slightly and Peeta smiles. “And I brought some pastries too.” he offers and her eyes widen.

“Is that…are those cheese buns?”

“You remember them?”

“I remember everything about this place. I was happy here.”

“What…what happened to you? Why were you out there?”

Katniss looks down. Peeta follows her eyes and lands on the bright orange of a prison jumpsuit.

He struggles to understand why she would be wearing it and it must show because with a shuddered breath, Katniss speaks.

“If I told you I was in prison for killing a man, what would you do?” She asks.

“I’d ask what he did to you. The Katniss I knew, would never do something like that unless it were life or death.”

“People change, Peeta.”

“Yes. But not you…not that way. Please, I know it’s been years but I…know you Katniss. I care about you. And I’ll help if you’ll let me.”

“It’s not safe. I can’t….it’s not safe.” She starts to panic, trying to stand but her muscles quake and she falls back. “There are people after me. Powerful, dangerous people.”

“I know someone who can help but you’re not going to like it given what you’re wearing.”

She pales, afraid to ask the question.

“I want to call the Sheriff.”

“Are you crazy! You think the law is going to help me?” She grits.

“You’re obviously terrified Katniss! We need someone on our side!”

“Why do you think anyone would be on my side ,Peeta?”

“I’m on your side and he has known us both since we were in diapers. He’ll believe you, I know it.”

“No.”

Her voice was still ringing in his ears and hour later. Their short conversation had zapped what little energy she had left. Her eyes sliding shut against her will.

Peeta sits quietly and contemplates her situation. She needs protection and he might not be enough. He stands and moves to cover her with a blanket before walking haltingly over to the phone, taking one last look at her sleeping face…he dials.

“Sheriff Abernathy, it’s Peeta. I need your help.”

#Springtime Edition 2020 #sunsetsrmydreams #prompt 70 #submission

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reinestudies · 5 years

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Hey folks! Musta? I am new here in studyblr community and get to know me better with this first blog post of mine.

i am 🍃

reine (my french name)

18 years old

from philippines

stem student

slytherin

taurus

can speak bikol, filipino, and english

mother of art and bullet journals

owns an online business

no boyfriend or MU since birth

i love 🍒

art, in any form

interior designs

architecture

poems

photo and video editing

drafting

lotsa coffee (im trying to avoid but uh)

numerous youtubers esp bestdressed (which is the one on the photo), nigahiga, alex gonzaga, doktaura, matt d'avella, alivia d'andrea, and so much more

reasons why i made studyblr 📚

motivation!!!

to be accountable for my self-review for the upcoming CETs (college entrance tests)!!! i really want to pass 2 CETs that I applied to and it's super near so i need to study hard to go to my dream unis in college

friends!!! i know about studyblr for a long time already and i now, i just decided to make my own too and experience studyblr community. hope to have friends here. my message box or social medias are widely open for talks

anticipate 💫

my art and bullet journals which i dont show to anyone but hopefully my anxiety won't bug me to post it here

100 days of productivity challenge

my stationeries

lines excerpt from books or movies

writing forms that i may be proud of

studyblr inspo 🍂

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#studyblr #studyblr community #filipino studyblr #ph studyblr #studystudystudy #study blog #study space #studyinspo #studying #student #studyblr intro post #studyblr introduction #studyquill #tbhstudying #university #reinestudies #studyblr ph

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wearejapanese · 5 years

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The Dilemma for Incarcerated Nikkei Canadians: Dispersal to Eastern Canada or Deportation to Japan

As World War II neared its end, the Canadian government had to decide what to do next with the Nikkei Canadians it had forcibly uprooted from the British Columbia (BC) coast, dispossessed of their homes and property, and incarcerated mainly in ghost towns in the interior of the province. There was intense pressure to prevent them from moving back to the BC coast. Consequently, in contrast to their American counterparts who were allowed to return to their homes and property, the Nikkei Canadians were prohibited from doing so, and, in the form of a ‘loyalty test’, were given two very undesirable choices: disperse to eastern Canada or agree to be “repatriated” to Japan. Those agreeing to move to eastern Canada would be deemed ‘loyal’. Those who instead agreed to be sent to Japan would be deemed ‘disloyal’ and given free passage to Japan with 200 dollars for each adult and 50 dollars for each child. By August of 1945, a total of 10,347 Nikkei (about 40 percent of the Nikkei Canadian population) were on the list of those who had supposedly volunteered to be deported (Sunahara, Ann Gomer. The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company1981, 2000.p.109).

Reasons for Choosing Deportation

Although the government claimed their choice was voluntary, most felt they had no other realistic option. Due to the confiscation of their properties and the prohibition against their returning to the BC coast, they had almost nothing with which to restart their lives. Also, those who had spent their lives fishing or working in the forestry, mining or agriculture industries on the west coast doubted they could acquire new job skills and make a living in the unknown environment of eastern Canada. Rumors of hardships and discrimination faced by a few Nikkei who had already moved east aggravated this anxiety.

Another compelling factor was deep anxiety about relatives in Japan, particularly elderly parents or children who had been sent to Japan for education before the war and were stranded there. During the war, communication with them was impossible, resulting in desperation to learn their fates, and returning to Japan seemed to be the only way to do so.

Illness and old age within some families made it impossible to move east on the government’s hasty schedule. When officials refused to show flexibility for such cases, the only option was for the younger family members to move east and leave their ailing elders behind. This unbearable situation caused more Nikkei families to agree to be deported to Japan. In addition, some elderly Nikkei wanted to return to Japan so they could die in their hometowns. Others felt so betrayed and unjustly treated by the government that they just wanted to get out of Canada. There were also some who, in fact, were loyal to imperial Japan and even refused to believe that Japan had lost the war. Sunahara (106) points out that the extremely low morale in the internment camps after three years of incarceration strengthened this faction and enabled them to coerce others into choosing deportation.

Naturally there were also disagreements within families about what to do. For example, some older members wanted to return to Japan for reasons such as the above, while their Canadian-born children, who spoke little Japanese and had never been to Japan, had no desire to leave Canada. Yet in the end, most reluctantly acquiesced to going to Japan with their parents.1

Later, as they received more news about the atomic bombings, the surrender of Japan, and the dire conditions in post-war Japan, many regretted and tried to cancel their decision to go. However, the Canadian government refused to accept any cancellation requests made after Japan’s surrender.

Public Opposition to the Deportations

As the war ended, the government tried to move ahead quickly with the deportations, but was slowed down by bureaucratic red tape. There was spirited opposition to the policy from the small but vocal socialist party, and reservations were expressed even by some members of the two mainstream political parties. In addition, due to the eye-opening experience of World War II and the horrors of Nazi racism in Europe, there was within Canadian society a growing awareness of civil rights and sympathy towards immigrants.

Eventually a large number of religious organizations, labor unions, civil rights organizations and liberal-minded members of the press united in protest against the deportation of the Nikkei as a violation of their fundamental citizen rights and challenged it legally all the way to the Supreme Court. Although the court ruled that first-generation Nikkei who still held Japanese citizenship and even those who had become naturalized Canadian citizens could be deported, it also ruled that it was illegal to deport their Canadian-born children who were still under sixteen years old. This seriously complicated the government’s plans. The matter was finally appealed to the British Privy Council, which ruled that the deportation plans were legal under Canada’s War Measures Act and the National Emergency Powers Act. Meanwhile, however, public opposition increased, and the government finally yielded and ended the deportations.

#Canada #Canadian #Japanese Canadian #Nikkei #Deportation #Deportes #Deported #Deport #Discrimination #Racism #Japanese #Japan #Discover Nikkei

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loki-the-predator · 6 years

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A guide to writing starters

This blog got quite busy (which I absolutely love) however, I noticed that some people struggle to come up with a starter to call out to my character. When it comes to starters I’m quite picky because I have two ultimate pet-peeves being God-modding and one-liners, and sometimes it can be hard to create something.

Because there are probably many out there who struggle with creating starters I decided to make a little guide on how to create starters along with examples, and why stuff works and why not. This guide can be both used to create open as closed starters.

I’m going to use my character Loki in these examples and I picked a couple of examples that I created for him, and a couple of examples that were handed to him. Yes, I asked those mun’s if I could use them.

So, let’s get to this.

Four foundations

To create a starter you need some foundations. I create my starters mostly on a couple of foundations, listed bellow. Not every foundation has the be used in every starter, you can mix and match but there is one foundation that you almost cannot leave out and that is the first one of this list. The four foundations I use are:

What is my character doing

Scenery

Openings sentence

plot

It sounds simple but let’s take a closer look...

What is my character doing?

This is one of the most important things, and as I said, it’s almost impossible to leave this one out. If you are going to write a starter you should know that whatever your character is doing, it affects the other. On top of that it is very important that you write the actions of your character alone and not the other as well.

You can place small little details on how your character is looking (handsome in a neat suit or bloodied if he just got out of a fight), but also other small things as age, hair, eye color, etc. Just make sure to not barrage the other player with an infinite amount of details because it can get overwhelming, and when characters are in their first meeting you will get there along the way anyway.

An example; gotten from @jester-datshyboi

The young boy, which appeared somewhere around 14-15 walked silent as ever through the dark and gloomy forest. He had absolutely no idea how he got there, or what lead him to the forest, but it was similar to a strong energy pulling him in. He gripped the wooden handle of his butcher knife in his padded pocket, just to comfort himself. He knew whatever beasts would be in this forest couldn’t be harmed by that little dagger no matter what.

In this case it was very important that he stated that his character was a minor, which for a lot of rp-ers changes their behavior towards them (Had I not liked it to rp with a young boy, I could have made him turn away and abandon the post, and because I’m polite I would have contacted the mun to let them know).

Please note how the mun keeps his character's actions to himself. This is very important because what your character does, affects mine even though you have no clue yet how my character is going to respond.

Scenery

A second and very important part of a starter is scenery. It can be abandoned mostly as you will see in the example with ‘openings sentence’, but it makes it more difficult. What do we mean by scenery? Well, any place you can think of. A house, a beach, a forest, a living room, whatever. If it fits and it is a place, you’re good to go.

For my character Loki I have created (like literally in my mind, I made map) a couple of places he resides if I want to create a starter. This way I can create a scenery for someone or can start from my scenery which I know.

An example, written for a Venom I wanted to rp with

Loki walked into the lab eyeing the interior with disgust, the door sliding shut behind him. He really disliked the sterile and white rooms and even more so all the weird machinery and tools.

The God slowly turned on his heel taking in his surroundings, the smell of bleach filling his nostrils. In the middle of the room stood a single chair, the kind where they usually strapped someone into to keep one in control. Glass cabinets were placed along the walls holding various of pots with liquids and there was a trolley with some shining tools placed on them.

Loki wasn’t quite sure what to make of this yet. Would he end up in that chair or someone else? His contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. stated he would not be harmed as long as he worked for the Avengers (even though he didn’t like that one bit and he had been forced to do so), but one could never be sure. There were many who still held a grudge against him and he was certain a couple of them wanted nothing more than the prod and pry at him like some lab-rat.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked coldly.

I created this scenery with a specific character in mind I was going to reach out to, being Venom. Luckily I knew a little about the character and I knew from the trailers that the creature resided in a lab of some sorts, this gave me some pointers. This scenery is very detailed and I explicitly chose to do so because of the other character. In this case the scenery could play a major role where my character could have been forced to sit down in that chair and suffer the horrors from the alien. Or the other could have made the tools rattle or the cabinets explode, whatever they would have liked.

Openings sentence

So, you have decided what your character is doing and you’ve set a scenery, now he/she/it wants to say something to give the other an opening to make the reply easier. Please note, this is optional as you saw in the first example.

I really cannot tell you what your character should say because it depends on the other rp-er you are interacting with (you probably know that character otherwise you wouldn’t reach out). The most easy thing is to ask a question because it is far easier for the other to answer to a question than a statement, but statements would do fine as well.

If you want some inspiration you can search Tumblr for “rp starters” or “prompts”. You will get an endless lists of things your character can say.

An example, written for a Klaus I wanted to rp with

It had taken him quite some time to track the man. The other was smart, quick and didn’t leave many tracks behind but even the slightest detail was enough for the God to eventually close in on him.

The Trickster was sure that the man - if it was a man that you could call him - was aware that he was being followed. But Loki had his own tricks to cover up his tracks and he was sure they had been dancing around each other for a while now.

He crouched down and ran his index finger through a puddle of blood and rubbed his finger against his thumb, a little green magic coming from the tip of his fingers to test it before he cleaned his fingers with the same magic. Then he gracefully raised to his feet.

A sly smile formed on his lips as he felt a presence behind him. “It is truly a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a velvet voice and turned a little.

I was struggling with how to introduce the other character to mine because I very much wanted them to meet but their universes differed very much. The sentence in this was the inspiration to build the scenery and Loki’s actions around it. I choose the difficult way in this to start with a statement instead of question.

As you can see there is barely any scenery in here, just a puddle of blood somewhere. I left it open for the other to fill in or not, in this case it really didn’t matter.

Plot

In my opinion is this one of the most difficult things to create especially when your characters aren’t even introduced yet. Usually I don’t put in plot with first meetings, this can wait until characters know each other. Plot is nothing more than a problem or a challenge for a character.

If you really wish to incorporate plot but you can’t come up with something, just google ‘dnd plot generator’. There are tons of websites which give you a random one-liner plot which can be used as inspiration for your rp.

An example, gotten from @dr-stephen-v-strange

So we did some research and apparently you can duplicate or something, so we don’t really know whom to contact or who is trustworthy (Thor is not acting like a reliable source). But we are kinda getting desperate. Mordo has been killing off magic users and with the Sorcerer Supreme gone, we could use someone with a bit more experience than the novices who keep creating portals to random places and then walk through them into walls or falling down hundreds of feet.

Well, I guess it’s pretty clear on what we are going to do even though we haven’t even met; we are going to hunt Mordo!

Another example, gotten from @xsimpletrashx

Lastly I have another example from a starter I got and I’m going to break it down for you a little and put my comments and thoughts in there in bold and you’ll see why.

The plan was simple. Loki had to stay at Stark tower to compensate for the damage he had done during the invasion of New York.

Okay, so I’m being forced to be stuck in a tower? Let’s see where this goes.

The tower has already been repaired and equipped with one of the best security systems in the US.

Scenery, awesome, I can not escape if I wish so.

Not that they needed much security with those enchanted handcuffs around Loki’s wrists anyway. They were separated, not to confine him too much, but still capable of restricting any kind of sorcery and godly strength.

Wait what? You are restricting my character? wha-?

In those cuffs, the trickster was basically human, at least that’s what Thor said.

Ah good, a fail-safe that almost neutralizes all that has been previously stated! If I don’t want to be restricted I can denounce it because Thor said something that could have been a lie. Good!

Tony was delighted when he heard the news, much to his teammates’ dismay. The genius was simply intrigued with things that were… new. The god was new and Tony yearned to know what made said god tick. To learn about his magic and use his thousand years old knowledge to defend the earth, who wouldn’t want that? …maybe he was also pleased to get a little payback for all the people who died during the attack. Well, nobody could blame him for that.

Good, this gives me some information about the other’s character and his motivations (plot).

“For all it’s worth, my dad didn’t give a shit about my problems either but here I am.” Tony joked halfheartedly as he led his new guest into his workshop.

Openings-sentence meant for me. I can respond however I like. Good!

Of course, he was still wary of being around the god without his suit on, handcuffs or not, especially since the last time that happened he got thrown out of the window, but that never stopped him from running his mouth.

More plot and character insight.

This particular example is very tricky because it borders a little on god-modding. Luckily for the both of us Loki has been restricted and whatever not for his past so many times in so many fics that I was willing to roll with it - heck! It even made sense! But had another character - for example Jester from the first example - forced this upon Loki, or had Loki forced this upon another character such as Klaus from the thirds example, than things might have turned out very differently.

What not to do

Well, of course you can do this but as I told at the beginning, god-modding is my ultimate pet-peeve and I know I’m not the only one. For example if you send me this I will not answer:

Loki had been reading a book in the corner when he suddenly heard a voice. “And who might you be?” she inquired, breaking the silence making Loki jump out of his boots by the unexpected sound.

Why I don’t like this? First of all, you are forcing my character to read a book. Good thing he loves his books but maybe he doesn’t want to read at this point, that is a decision for me to make. Then we get some scenery which is incomplete. Where are we? Home? Library? Beach? Just pick a place and try to fit it to your character. Then there is a sentence (which is fine), followed by how my character reacts to breaking that silence. Again, you decided how my character reacts (startled) which goes against the nature of my character because it takes a lot for him to jump out of his boots.

As you can see this starter is short but that doesn’t really matter. Let me give you an example on how you could write this differently.

She walked into the library silently, her footfalls barely disturbing the silence until she noticed the man. “And who might you be?” she inquired, breaking the silence and startling the other occupants of the room.

The difference here is that you kept your actions for yourself and haven’t forced any on mine, he can be doing whatever he wants. You created a scenery (a library and a silent one at that! Yes, could have been that there was a riot going on!) You created an openings-sentence, a question even which gives my character a reason to respond, and you even used some npc’s to create a reaction you EXPECT from my character as well but you didn’t force me.

TL;DR

In any starter just stick to the following things: what is MY character doing or saying? What is the scenery, aka, where is my character and is it logical for the other to be there too? What do I want to say? Can I insert some plot? You can mix and match these in any way you like.

I hope this was useful and if you want to add some things, please let me know. Also, this is my humble opinion on how I create starters and on how I love to see them, there is not rule to play by, my words aren’t chiseled in stone. ;-)

#rp advice #creating starters #starters guide #rp guide #Admin post

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theheavymetalmama · 5 years

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Katie Reviews “Fallout 76″

Apocalyptic

I originally had no intention of playing this game. While I was wowed by the teaser trailer, the second it was confirmed that it would be an online massive multiplayer spinoff I immediately lost all interest. It’s a genre I couldn’t care less about, as MMO’s are all just endlessly killing random things across an open world that’s as big as an ocean but as shallow as a petri dish. Still, with WoW running on fumes and the battle royale genre being the new hotness in gaming developers and publishers are giving the MMO thing another shot, and in the case of Fallout 76 Bethesda asked “Can we have both?”

Clearly that answer is no.

Now full disclosure, yes, I played the original Fallout and Fallout 2, as well as Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 3, New Vegas, and the very divisive Fallout 4. No, I’m not one of those fans who hold 1 and 2 aloft like She Ra’s magic sword nor do I think 3 or 4 are blights on the series. I also really dig New Vegas, but I’m one of the fans who likes the game and will admit its’ flaws other than the glitches.

So to answer your question. Is Fallout 76 the worst Fallout game ever? No, that would be Brotherhood of Steel, but 76 is right up there. I’m not kidding. Fallout 76 is a terrible game. When reviews and word of mouth came in I just had to try this game for myself, and luckily(?) for me a friend of mine got this game and let me give it a shot. I fired it up, created a character, watched the opening cutscene and jumped into the game, and oh my jumping Jesus. It wasn’t just bad, it was so much worse than I could have imagined. It’s exactly the kind of bog standard open world survival game with crafting and zombies shamelessly cashing in on the then success of games like Day Z and Rust that still flood Steam’s front page to this day.

First person shooting in Bethesda Fallout games were always a bit janky at best, but combat in this game feels like trying to play Fallout 3 where the VATS system doesn’t work and there’s an agitated cat constantly jumping on and off you while you play. Speaking of VATS, in this game, forget about it. I can’t tell you how often I shot at something at damn near point blank range and still managed to miss the target completely. Thought to be perfectly honest, even if I was landing direct hits it still wouldn’t matter all that much because pretty much every weapon in their vanilla form that isn’t a minigun or missile launcher has so little impact they may as well be BB guns.

The story is awful. Say what you will about the trite and lopsided main story of Fallout 4, but it was still a story. There a beginning, middle, and end with all sorts of different characters you meet along the way. In 76, all you do is talk to a bunch of random computer monitors and maybe a couple of robots that send you bouncing around all over the map like a Fallout themed pinball machine and you’re the ball. And to what end? I don’t know, because it was so soul crushingly boring that I outright abandoned the main story after like the fourth time speaking to a static screen with some dude’s mug on it.

While there is some impressive lighting in this game, on the whole the graphics and aesthetics look like a bland, washed out version of Fallout 4. There are a few decent visuals and some of the interior details paint a clear picture of what happened when the bombs fell, but unlike previous installments almost none of them are memorable. It’s been well over a year since I last played Fallout 3, and I still remember the locations, set pieces, and visuals like the wrecked Nuka Cola truck and the entrance to Rivet City. Meanwhile I dropped 76 not two days ago and I barely remember anything as far as location specific details go.

Now I don’t know if this part was just me, but the server I played on was barely populated. I ran into maybe three other people, one of which was a griefing little shithead. Not only did it feel empty for an online multiplayer game, but this made fights with certain enemies mind numbingly tedious. You can go it alone, but it’s painfully obvious the game was designed for you to pal around with at least five or six other players. Again, I don’t know if this is common or just me, but my playthrough was pretty damn barren. I know that sounds weird since Fallout games are supposed to feel dead, barren, and empty, but this felt less like wandering a post nuclear wasteland and more like exploring an abandoned shopping mall.

And speaking of tedium there’s the resource management and crafting. I only made it to about level 10 or so, but even then by that point I was spending about ten minutes every hour or so sorting and scraping through my loot so as to not overburden my character. See, the only place you can safely sleep and store items is your own personal, portable camping sight. It’s a good idea in theory, but in practice it only serves to add more arduous busywork as your storage box consists of a measly 400 pounds. Which wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that after Fallout 4 I was wired to pick up every single useless piece of junk for every scrap of resources for building my settlements, so in Fallout 76 I was endlessly juggling my gear deciding what to keep, what to scrap, and what to leave behind. I don’t feel like I’m making use of what I have in order to build a new world from the ashes of the old; I feel like Tim the Tool Man at a fucking garage sale.

Fallout 76 is to the Fallout series what Chinese Democracy was to Guns n’ Roses. It’s well and truly awful, a blight not just on the series and Bethesda, but on gaming as a whole. MMO’s in general rarely make any impact, and even the ones that succeed eventually get chewed up and spat out by World of Warcraft. And since WoW refuses to die, time and time again a publisher throws their hat into the MMO ring to test their mettle and very few of them are successful.

Bethesda is yet another notch on the holster of failed MMOs. They wanted World of Fallout, and instead they ended up with City of Zeroes.

2/10. Country roads, take me home. Please.

#fallout #fallout 76 #bethesda #video games #gaming #review

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beastofeasto-blog · 5 years

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Medlar and Quince Jam

There’s a special pleasure in making your own jam. It’s not just another thing to brag about: ohh look at me I made a strawberry-Chablais-black pepper abomination, I’m better than you.

The point, I think, in making your own, is to scratch an itch that isn’t widely commercially available: don’t bother with berry jams. It’s just going to be a whole lot of effort on your part resulting in something you could’ve popped down to the shops for.

Now, where I’m at, in soggy old England, tis the season for two excellent fruits.

This is a quince. It looks like an especially large, yellow, tumourous pear. When you poach it (cue eyerolling from the zoomers in the audience, derisive snorts and rhetorical questions as to which century it is), it takes on an implacable, exotic fragrance, and a taste somewhere between roses, apples and pears, and a texture that’s both grainy and soft. I know that’s not to everybody’s taste, sometimes, not even to mine. If you have a quince at home and don’t know what to do with it, the best I can advise is to cut it into chunks, put it into a pot, cover with water, add maybe three tablespoons of sugar and a few well chosen spices: a stick of cinnamon, a couple star anise, maybe some cardamom. Subtlety is the name of the game here, so don’t be excessive. Then let it bubble away until the white flesh has blushed to magenta and it will yield to the pressure of the back of a fork. You can serve this as is, or with double cream or even custard. It’s the perfect thing to cheer you up on a wet November afternoon.

The other fruit is something that some of you probably haven’t tasted or even seen. English poets of yore charmingly nicknamed it “cat’s arse” or “open arse” due to its suggestive, rectal shape. Medlars are doubly strange because they’re inedible raw, and it’s standard procedure to allow them to blet: soften, darken, their interior flesh changing from cream to an applesauce-brown to something somehow even less appetising. Yeah, bletting is a more appealing way of saying rotting. So why am I telling you about them? Not just due to centuries of jokers making allusions to them, but also because they’re delicious. I mentioned applesauce because that’s an approximation of what they taste like. Applesauce, or medjool dates. They also have the quality of being absolutely packed to the gills with pectin. This is another reason why I want to tell you about this recipe: unlike many other jams, it doesn’t require pectin. It’s strictly a jelly: silky as the jar of Welch’s, but at least a dozen times better tasting.

Now, in absolute brevity, pectin is a polysaccharide, like starch or cellulose. It’s different from something like fructose, glucose or sucrose, because they’re all monosaccharides; just one "unit” of sugar. Pectin, on the other hand, is a polymer chain of many monosaccharides, all bonded together. The gel forms because when heated, the different pectin chains form hydrogen bonds with one another. For those who’ve neglected their chemistry, hydrogen bonds are comparatively weak interactions, that occur between a hydrogen and a pair of free electrons on most usually an oxygen, nitrogen for fluorine. Despite their weakness, they’re still significant, because they can affect the 3D structure and behaviour of molecules. They allow DNA to have its double-helical shape. Pectin is another great example. The pectins (remember, they’re chains of sugars) interact via hydrogen bonding, and form a net-like structure. In real terms, this means a gel forms.

However, what this recipe does need is a pot, a wooden spoon or spatula, something to strain with like a relatively fine-grained sieve, and a cooking thermometer, ideally a candy thermometer.

I’ve modified a Nigel Slater recipe here. Nigel Slater is my favourite food writer, and he probably should be yours also, not just because of his evocative prose but because he doesn’t give a shit what’s going on at El Bulli or Noma or God knows where else. He cares about good, tasty, unpretentious cooking. He’s one of the reasons why I’m so interested in food today.

You’re going to need for about two jars.

about a pound of medlars, 2/3 of which are soft and squashy, and 1/3 of which are still quite hard.

one big quince

an apple

a lemon

water

caster sugar

and some spices of your choice

First, cut your fruit into pieces so that they’re all roughly the same size. I’d suggest that you go for “half a medlar” as your size, but it’s entirely up to you.

Then put them into a big old deep pot, cover them with water, and then about a thumb’s depth extra.

Bring the pot to a boil, and then turn it on low and let the thing bubble away for an hour. Poke at the fruit a little with your spoon, but don’t stir because the jelly will cloud, thereby partially ruining it. While you’re boiling, you could skim the foam off the top if you want to. I did it, but you don’t have to.

Then, pour all of it into the sieve, which you’ve sat over a bowl that’s at least 2L in volume, and let the liquid pass through. You can help the juice on its way, but generally let nature take its course, until all that remains in the sieve is a dark mess, and the bowl is full of a pretty, deep coloured liquid. You could, of course, use a jelly bag or cheesecloth, but you probably don’t have one and they’re the very devil to clean. While a sieve isn’t as fine, it’s good enough.

Now, measure out how much liquid you’ve got, make a note of it, and return it to the pot. Boil for a few minutes, not just to deepen flavour and colour, but also to bring it up to heat. Here, you can add some spices. I chose cardamom and hibiscus: about four cardamom pods and a small handful of dried hibiscus flowers. The cardamom because I think that it works beautifully with stewed fruit, and the hibiscus to amp up the gorgeous colour. Add the same volume of sugar as you did liquid. Stir to combine and bring it up to to 108C/220F. This is the gelling temperature, and if you don’t do this the jelly won’t set. Cook at that temperature for a few minutes. Dip a cold metal spoon into your jam and remove it. If two drops coalesce to form a “sheet”, it’s ready. Another way to test for doneness is to put a teaspoon of jam onto a saucer and put that into the freezer for a few minutes. If it furrows like a brow when you run your finger through it, it’s also done.

Now, once you’ve done that, pour it into sterilized jars. Hot jam likes hot jars, cold jam likes cold jars. I’m not sure how long this keeps, but it’s probably weeks-to-months.

The first thing I ate it with was some baguette and brie. It was excellent. I’m no sommeilier, but let’s see if I can evoke the flavour. It was sweet, even for me, fragrant, intensely tasting of quince, with that subtle bitter/sourness from the hibiscus flowers, and with a distinct almost creamy flavour which I suppose comes from the medlars. Very rich stuff. The texture was jelly-like, but subtly crumbly.

So here we are. Medlar and Quince Jelly. My first post. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did cooking it. Next time, maybe something about Japan.

All images were taken by me except for the quince illustration, which is by Ann Swan, and is called “Champion Quince”.

#food #quince #jam #medlar #recipe #science

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dawnjeman · 5 years

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Before & After Home Renovation with Pictures

Designed by Suzanne Bolling of Restyle Design, LLC, this home was a complete renovation! The interior designer took it down to the studs and redesigned the space for this young family. They opened up the main floor to create a large kitchen with two islands and seating for a crowd and a dining nook that looks out to the beautiful front yard. They also created two seating areas, one for TV viewing and one for relaxing in front of the bar area, and added a new mudroom with lots of closed storage cabinets, a pantry with a sliding barn door and a powder room for guests.

This home went from outdated and dark to funky and young. Although the entire home mostly features a white and grey color scheme, pops of tangerine brings a sense of happiness to this home. By the way, tangerine will be the color of 2019!

Feel free to pin your favorite “Before and After” transformations. I did a few collages so you guys would see how this home used to look before the renovation. These are always fun to look at, right?

Before & After Home Renovation

This kitchen is not a cookie-cutter by any means! I am loving the combination of all elements found in this space. The wall paint color is Sherwin Williams Repose Grey.

This island measures 75 x 64.

Counter Stools – Mid-Century Park White Leather Barstool – similar here & here.

Kitchen Island Lighting – BESA Satin Nickel Pendant.

Before & After Kitchen Renovation

Did your jaw just dropped? Because mine did!!!

Isn’t it an amazing “before and after” kitchen renovation?! My goodness… look at the details! This one really deserves a pin.

Range Hood: Custom range hood in reclaimed barnwood – similar here.

Kitchen Cabinet

The perimeter cabinets are textured melamine in white zebrine flat panel.

Backsplash is ADEX Neri 6” arabesque tile – similar here – Beautiful Arabesque Tiles: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Pot Filler Faucet: Delta.

Kitchen Faucet – Delta faucet in matte black.

Kitchen Sink: Kohler.

Dishwasher: Jenn-Air.

Main Floor and Lower Level Flooring– ADS Eagle Creek syncore 7 x 48 plank in heatherstone – similar here.

Kitchen Island Cabinetry

Island cabinetry is Durapro Stone Grey, shaker style.

Kitchen Island Faucet – Delta bar faucet in matte black.

This island measures 70 x 64.

Countertop & Hardware

Countertops are Arizona linen quartz on perimeter and Arizona frost quartz on island.

Cabinet Hardware: Berenson metro pull in matte black 6 11/16”.

Range: Jenn-Air.

Open Floor Plan

This kitchen features two islands – one is opposite to the range and the other is opposite to the fridge.

Before & After Dining Room

The new kitchen and dining room are located where the former living room and dining room used to be. Notice the bay windows. The windows were changed but they were placed in the same spot.

Dining Room Decor

Dining Table – Four Hands – similar here, here & here.

Dining Chairs – West Elm Mid-Century Dining Chair in Cayenne.

Dining Rug – 8ft round sisal rug – similar here.

Lighting – Varaluz pendant.

Window Treatment – Hunter Douglas Silhouettes in white.

Wall Paint Color

Paint color is Sherwin Williams Repose Grey SW 7015.

Entry Lighting– Savoy House.

Bar

The dining room opens to a sitting area with a custom bar. The bar cabinets are Textured melamine grigio pine and backsplash in Ghost Wood horizontal planks.

Chairs – Four Hands.

Ceiling Treatment

Ceiling Reno: The ceilings were raised by 1 foot.

Sofa – West Elm Sofa.

Coffee Table – Four hands coffee table – similar here.

Rug – NuLoom.

Before & After Living Room

It’s hard to believe this is the same room. The designer kept the same brick fireplace!

Fireplace

The original brick fireplace had the brick “whitewashed” and a reclaimed wood beam was added.

Chair: West Elm.

Lighting

Lighting is by Hinkley Lighting – Large.

Inspired by this Home:

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Staircase

The old staircase was replaced with a custom metal staircase with beam treads in a clear finish. These beams are called “Parallam”, which is an engineered laminate lumber, often used as structural beams and posts.

Hallway/Stairwell Sconces – ELK.

Pendant – Hinkley – Large.

Kids Bathroom

The bathrooms also felt very outdated. New cabinetry, flooring and shower tiles create a space that feels fresh and more practical. Paint color is Benjamin Moore Super White.

Backsplash Tile – Here.

Faucet is Delta widespread faucet in chrome.

Lighting – Minka in chrome.

Hardware: Berenson Metro Pull Chrome.

Similar Floor Tile: Here, Here & Here (large).

Beautiful Bathroom Mats: Here.

Master Bathroom

Cabinetry is Durapro in Benjamin Moore Gauntlet Grey. Doors are Shaker-style.

Faucet is Delta widespread faucets in polished nickel.

Lighting – ELK 3 light Vanity Light in Weathered Zinc/Polished Nickel.

Backsplash – Mir Cityscape Stax Grey 6” splash – Other Beautiful Mosaic Tiles: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Hardware: Berenson – Chrome.

Shower

Shower Tile – Walls: Porcelanosa Japan in Marine 12 x 35 horizontal straight set (similar here). Floor: Atelier Light Grey 24” square tile straight set (similar here).

Power Room

Paint color is Repose Grey SW 7015 by Sherwin Williams. Wainscoting is Super White by Benjamin Moore. Notice that a mosaic tile was placed just above the wainscoting.

Lighting – Savoy House.

Faucet is Pfister Kenzo faucet in matte black.

Basement Before & After

Oh, that basement!!! Well, things are looking much brighter and practical now. The designer added an under-the-counter beverage fridge and a drawer dishwasher to the wet bar.

Basement Bar

The lower bar cabinets are textured melamine grigio pine and backsplash tile is Porcelanosa Qatar Nacar 12 x 35 straight tile set horizontal – similar here.

Faucet: Delta.

Hardware: Berenson.

Before & After Mudroom

This space was completely reconfigured and it now features plenty of storage. The barn door opens to a pantry.

Mudroom

Mudroom Barn Door Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Cayenne SW 6881 – Similar Chalk Barn Door: here & here.

The mudroom cabinets are textured melamine in grigio pine.

Mudroom Lighting – Savoy House Flush Mount.

Hardware: Berenson – matte black.

Runner: Here.

Many thanks to the designer for sharing all of the details above.

Interior Design: Restyle Design, LLC (Instagram – Facebook)

Photography: Kathy Peden Photography.

Home Bunch Favorites:

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Amazing End-of-Season Sales!

Thank you for shopping through Home Bunch. I would be happy to assist you if you have any questions or are looking for something in particular. Feel free to contact me and always make sure to check dimensions before ordering. Happy shopping!

Serena & Lily: Tent Sale Up to 70% off! – Enjoy an Extra 20% OFF. Use Code HOORAY

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Anthropologie: Winter Tag Sale: All sales at an extra 40% Off! Amazing!

Posts of the Week:

2019 New Year Home Tour.

New Year, New Beautiful Homes of Instagram.

Family-friendly Home Design.

Christmas Inspiration.

Interior Design Ideas.

Small Lot Modern Farmhouse.

Transitional Home Design.

Newlyweds Home Design.

Family Home Renovation with Casual Interiors.

2018 Norton Children’s Hospital Raffle Home.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: California Beach House.

Neutral Home Interior Ideas.

You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch

See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives.

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Lead me in Light and Love”.

Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

with Love,

Luciane from HomeBunch.com

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civilcoconstruction · 3 years

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Courtney’s Small Apartment Bedroom – The Inspired Room

Hi! It’s Courtney back again today to share with you my apartment bedroom! As I mentioned in my empty apartment tour post yesterday, this is my first time living in an apartment with a totally separate bedroom. My first apartment was an “open one bedroom” so the space was open but had a partial cutout wall that at least separated it from my living room. But now that I know the joys of a bedroom that is completely separate from my living space (with walls and a door!) I have to say…it is pretty nice!

My apartment is only 500 square feet total, so I knew before I moved in that the bedroom would be a very small space. That is fine by me! Simple and cozy was the goal, but I wanted to make sure my furniture choices didn’t make it feel tighter than necessary.

I have a pretty ivory iron bed that I could have brought with me, but I decided for this room I would look for a bed without a footboard. Even though the iron bed’s footboard was pretty open, it was just more of a barrier than I wanted to feel in such a small space (although that footboard was perfect for visually separating my old apartment’s open bedroom!).

So, the bed hunt was on! It was surprisingly difficult and overwhelming to find a bed within my budget that I was excited about. I’m pretty sure I looked at every bed on the entire interwebs, ha! I ordered fabric samples and went back and forth on many options. At one point I had this pretty wingback bed in my cart but panicked last minute (it was a final sale and I wasn’t sure I was ready to commit to that kind of investment!).

Eventually when my move date was approaching and I really needed to make a decision, I found this simple upholstered platform bed on a big sale (you can see it below in my mood board!). It actually reminded me of one I had liked at a higher price point, so this was a great ‘look for less’ find.

I had a few fabric choices for the bed. My apartment walls and carpet are both a light gray, so I wanted to make sure I got a lighter bed that wasn’t the exact same color. I chose ‘Zuma White’ without even getting a fabric sample first, so I just hoped for the best and it turned out to be perfect. It’s not too white, just a nice off white in a soft textured fabric.

I was impressed by the bed quality and it was relatively easy to put together, too.

I started searching online for a mattress that could be easily shipped straight to my apartment when I got the keys. My preference was to find one that was made with healthier materials (some mattresses are full of chemicals that aren’t good to be breathing in). As I researched the options I found Tuft & Needle. Their mattresses were Greenguard Gold certified (meaning their mattresses satisfy the strictest chemical emissions standards tested for by UL Environment), in addition to other safety certifications.

It was just what I was looking for, so I chose the Mint Mattress with Down Alternative Pillows.

The mattress arrived at my apartment door in a box, I easily unpacked it myself and just watched it expand before my eyes! It was so simple. The Mint Mattress and the pillows are both very comfy and really great quality. I’ve been super happy with them so far and would highly recommend Tuft & Needle if you’re looking for a new mattress.

I purchased this shallow wall shelf without a specific plan for where to put it, but I knew it was versatile and there was bound to be a good spot for it somewhere! It ended up being perfect on this wall next to my bed. I love that it provides a little extra storage and display space for pretty things. I also used it as a perch for some of my most reached for essential oil rollers (I keep them in this lipstick holder).

My bedding is this linen duvet and shams with pompom trim (mine is the Light Grey color), and the optical white linen sheets. Super cozy! I shared more about this bedding a couple years ago in this post.

My nightstands are both ones I’m borrowing from my mom! This tray table doesn’t provide a lot of storage so I may swap it out eventually, but I do love the warmth of the wood and how it’s nice and airy for this small space. The little mirror above my bed was once a set of 3 from Target or Home Goods many years ago–it was actually once a part of my mom’s family room gallery wall you can see here. My mom gives some pretty great decor hand-me-downs

and I love taking the same decor and finding new ways and places to use it.

I’ve had this little white alarm clock for years and the mint green lamp is the Forsa lamp from Ikea. (Ps…I made this pretty bouquet with flowers from a local florist just down the block from me–I love living in a town with fun places I can walk to!)

The rest of this room is still a work in progress since I just moved in about a month and a half ago, but I am loving how restful and calm it is feeling so far! I definitely look forward to nestling into this cozy space every night.

If you missed yesterday’s post, you can see my empty apartment tour and the rest of my design mood boards here!

Thanks for letting me take over the blog over the last couple days, friends. Hope you enjoyed these peeks at my new place–I’ll definitely be back to share more as I continue to get settled!

Click to follow Courtney on Instagram for more apartment updates and behind the scenes!

Thank you to Tuft & Needle for gifting the mattress and pillows!

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from CIVICLO Construction & Interior https://civilco.construction/courtneys-small-apartment-bedroom-the-inspired-room/

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tauers-go-dutch · 6 years

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Italy: like putting on an old boot

Since losing my passport in Madrid, I had a two-week window before our next trip to get a new one. I ended up going to the US Consulate in Amsterdam, which was an adventure all in its own. If you picture the DMV, but on ‘roids, that is about the experience of applying for a passport abroad. After getting a new passport photo, I got to wait outside the building on the literal coldest day of the year for an hour before being ushered through security in order to wait for another two hours interspersed with quick trips up to the counter to explain that I don’t know what happened to my passport because I lost it and then being chastised for losing my passport because I must look too young to possibly be able to comprehend the gravity of importance such a document. Oh, and I had to pay $140. But luckily the US is very efficient at printing rush order passports and it arrived the following Friday, just in time for our trip to Rome. But of course, there would be one more hiccup in the story- the city lost power on Friday afternoon when I planned to pick up my passport. So the Consulate did not have power… or at least the backup generator did not power the whole building. Luckily, the guards were able to just grab the newly printed passports (I was not the only one trying to pick one up that day), and I was on my way.

Once we got into Rome, the same feeling of joy I had from my first visit washed over me, and I think I had a smile on the whole weekend. Rome is a huge city, so it is crowded, busy, smelly, full of trash, a bit rundown, etc. However, I love it for the amazing art, culture, and food. What can I say, Rome was the center of Western culture for much of history, and for much of my Catholic upbringing (and my brief stint as a Latin nerd), so it generates some degree of awe.

We threw in our coin, so I guess we’ll be back again

We checked into our hotel, which was across from some state building. When checking us in, the clerk said if we take photos from the window, the state employees might think we are spies and send people over to the hotel to investigate. I’m pretty sure he was joking? Mariah may have tested the theory the next evening after a few drinks.

We went to dinner that evening and tried some authentic Roman dishes, including an artichoke sampler platter. To be honest, steamed artichokes and butter was one of my sister’s favorite meals growing up, but they were never one of mine. But the Roman style artichokes blew me away. They are originally prepared by Jewish immigrants, but were quickly adopted by the Roman locals, so much so that Rome is one of the largest artichoke producers in the world. The Jewish version is lightly battered and fried, while the Roman version is steamed, and both are incredible. I also had pasta al’amatriciana (tomato sauce with pork cheek) and Mariah had ravioli before we split an incredible tiramisu. Before calling it a night we walked over to the Trevi fountain and threw in a coin. I guess we’ll be back one day.

Magical artichokes

We had some super delicious pastries in our hotel the next morning before heading to St. Peter’s Basilica. After taking some initial photos, I was talked into upgrading our museum tickets to a guided tour. While this is expensive, it is worth it- the guide is great, but you’re really paying to skip the 3+ hour line to see the basilica from the museum (and Sistine Chapel). We learned why the Vatican is its own country (long, convoluted story short- the modern church never wanted to join the united Italy, and the arrangement stuck- helps when you have your own private army). The Vatican treasures are as incredible as they are extensive. We saw Greek/Roman gods, human personifications of the Tiber river, supposed tombs of Helena and Constantina (mother and daughter of Constantine), maps of the world, paintings and tapestries for days, and a Roman Zach Galifianakis. But this was all a lead in to the Sistine Chapel, of Michelangelo fame. Of course there are no photos, but the Creation of Adam and the Last Judgment are every bit as amazing as hyped. We then fast tracked to the staggeringly beautiful St. Peter’s basilica. We saw the tombs of the popes (St. John Paul II has his own chapel on the main floor) and the Pieta, but my favorite is the altar from Bernini. Just look at the pictures.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Is that you, Zach?

Pieta

Pope JPIII!

Bernini’s altar

After a lunch of arancini (rice balls- I might not be able to eat the ones at Cinzetti’s ever again) and cacao e pepe (literally cheese and pepper- basically Italian mac ‘n cheese for adults), we set out to explore the city. We saw Castle Sant’Angelo (the pope fortress/Church of Illumination), Piazza Navona, The Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and so much gelato. Eventually, we met some friends who also happened to be in Rome, and had dinner and a shared a few bottles of wine.

Gelato number two - sadly, we have no evidence of number one

The Pantheon

These two like their Italian wine

Brent and Christine happened to be in town

The next morning, we packed in some more sightseeing with the Altar of the Fatherland (Mussolini funded statue dedicated to the united Italy), Palatine Hill, the Capitoline Wolf, and Turtle Fountain (which does not have live turtles in the fountain). We ventured to the Jewish quarter of town, and had more marvelous artichokes, pasta, and possibly some of the best table bread ever (I had to take a picture it was so good). We went to a beer bar and enjoyed some brews (Italy has some good breweries), before going over to the hip Trastevere neighborhood and having more food (including a tremendous prosciutto sandwich which I would not shut up about, more arancini and a pizza) and beers. We needed to get back to the hotel, and decided to walk by the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus on the way. Unfortunately, the sky opened up and we were drenched in ten minutes… so we made a quick pit stop for more gelato to let the rain pass. There are worse things.

Remus and Romulus!

No live turtles

Mariah’s happy place (Gelato three of four?)

...and mine (prosciutto sandwich)

Sometimes I can get her to drink a beer

But it generally involves bribery with margherita pizza

Aaaaand it’s pouring outside

Rain keeps the tourists away - most of them, anyways

Are you not entertained?

All that’s left of the Circus Maximus

We packed a ton into our Rome weekend, so in Florence (the following weekend) we were a bit more relaxed. We arrived late on Friday so our adventure really just started on Saturday morning. Our first stop was to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is better known for ‘il Duomo,’ or the massive dome that adorns the church and dominates the city skyline. It was a fairly easy climb, but the vertigo is real when you are on the interior of the church and looking down. But you are rewarded with amazing art reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno (Florence is his home town, btw) and panoramic views of the city.

I hope you’re not claustrophobic... or afraid of heights!

Afterwards, we put our name down at Trattoria Mario for lunch, and killed some time at the markets before our table was ready. I don’t think you can see more leather outside of a Vegas S&M convention, but to be honest it is really cool. We stopped into a market and bought some pastries- creampuff for me and a chocolate cookie for Mariah- to hold us over. Luckily we did not have to wait for lunch long. Trattoria Mario is regarded as the best restaurant in town, and is only open for lunch. The place is tiny, and you will be seated at a two-person table with two other people and sit on stools that are made for toddlers. The bread is disappointing, but the food is marvelous. The place is meat-centric, and their specialty is the classic bistecca alla fiorentina, which is a super thick, bloody porterhouse steak. The frites were good too.

After lunch, we crossed the famed Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the city. We walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for more magnificent views of Florence. We walked along the river and stopped by a small tea shop, and sampled some of their goodies. We walked out with some good stuff, and an aspiration to become a tea sommelier and to (keep) travel(ing) the world. We had a rest at a dessert shop before finding dinner (easier said than done, since our first choice for dinner just never opened the restaurant for service- no notice posted physically or online), and closed the night with more beers. It was a bit early, but we have been traveling a lot.

It was a pretty creepy sculpture...

We slept in, but woke to go to the Galleria dell’Accademia, which is a museum that has nothing of much significance except for a little piece from Michelangelo called the David. Before seeing the main event, we did explore some of the other parts of the museum, including the musical instruments and some religious paintings. Two asides- first, we saw a pair of little girls (say seven) on a private guide with their parents looking at the musical instruments and throwing out some serious knowledge of the Medicis and the Renaissance art movement (the girl was a self-proclaimed art history buff, and I believe it!). Second, some of the art made to explain the dogma of Christianity is as bizarre (though simultaneously stylish) as the Thai paintings we saw in Bangkok. Seriously, if I didn’t have knowledge of the immaculate conception, I would have thought Christians believed that an old cloud god shot pigeons at a sleeping woman while some creepy dude with wings looked on approvingly.

But onto the David. It is every bit as masterful as everyone says. The story is unbelievable too. Just think, some 27 year-old just said, ‘hey, can I use that chunk of marble over there? I wanna make something for you.’ And then the Florentine people were graced with one of the most incredible works of art in history is ridiculous. Michelangelo was TWENTYSEVEN!!! Oh, and he made the Pieta before that (pictured above, from Rome).

Just look at him!

Afterwards we just relaxed. We had some pizza, coffee, macarons and beers. I did grab a snack- a lampredotto. There was a stand just outside of our hotel which filled up during lunch with locals, so I figured I’d try it. The sandwich is made from spiced lamb intestine, and it’s pretty good. I mean, it’s no prosciutto sandwich, but its good. We did make our outside the Uffizi gallery before leaving, and took in some of the city’s most famous patrons before saying goodbye.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes... singing ayo...

NBD, just our country’s namesake

Last minute snack

Italy is superb. It is a country with so many different layers of nuance and culture. Sometimes I feel people boil it down to pizza and statues, but it’s so much more. Each region, from Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Sicily, Milan, etc. is so different from the next. The food, outside of the tourist traps, is every bit of what makes Italian fare heralded as some of the world’s best. The culture and history is dense and rich- just think, Rome was the center of the western world through two different points of time for two different reasons. Sure, Italy has its problems and frustrations like we all do, but it is a country I will enjoy returning to time and time again.

#tauersgodutch #tauers go dutch #Italy feels like putting on an old boot

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