#pip-star-blossom

[astralnymphh]

kneeling for her ⋆ | ellie williams headcanons

༺ ellie x fem!reader sucking her strap hcs/scenario! ༻ ☽𖤐☾

(ellie image from kittaeria on pinterest)

✧˖ ° 🕯 bright blessings!

AN: had the most random scenario blossom in my head yesterday so i wrote it per usual, went a lil more risqué with this one 😜at least to my standards

cw/tags: NSFW!! SMUT!! MDNI!! ellies a lil goofy in the beginning, blunt/straightforward-ish reader, not a fully wrote out fic, small time skips, sitting on lap, cursing, takes place in jackson but not specified to be before seattle (readers choice) soft-dom leaning ellie (except maybe less soft in one instance, nothing rough tho), guiding you verbally and with hands, praises, petnames; (good girl, baby, slut) sucking/choking on strap, clit stim (giving) strap-vag insertion, flatiron position, rewarding, gripping head/hair, deepthroating.

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

setting the scene

༻⛧one dusty orange sunset, cooped up in ellie's makeshift 'garage house' relishing a simple meal she whipped up for the both of you, albeit can you really classify her attempts at the art of culinary as five-star cuisine? regardless, the two of you slumped into the gray sofas' sufficient padding and dined like kings; in apocalyptic standards. no conversation had been rustling the space between you until a rather, interesting, unordinary, dare say- scandalous? scenario had implanted its peculiar self into your thoughts.

"hey babe?" you quell the silence, tone arching in curiosity.

"mhm?" ellie garbled through shut lips, chowing down her food.

"you know.. we should- try something new-"

"ooh~ like what?" she instantaneously hunches her back closer to you and tosses her barren plate aside, avid to hear your words go from mind to mouth. she invariably dotes on your ideas.

"uh- it's like.. related to.. bed stuff."

"like sleepin- wait! can we pleaaasee build a display shelf for my comic books above my bed-"

"ellie." 

"sorry." ellie, even being an adult, is still crazy about her long-kept hobbies.

"uh- anyways. I'm talking 'bout like.. sex." you impenitently tell.

her eyelids dim, sloping her head to the side in adorned interest, "sex? that's one way to ask."

"no ..seriously, I have an idea.." you stow the plate atop a stubby heap of books, conveying a genuineness in your stare.

ellie sails her tongue briskly through her lips, anchoring her torso back onto the sofas' arm, lengthening her legs out with a faint bend at the knees. her palm drops to her thigh, patting it twice.

 "c'm over here." she coaxes sweetly with an alluring gaze, imbued with a pip of power in her vowels.

a suffuse of blush overlies your midface, crawling your body towards her beckon.

her hands steady your hips down on her lap, finding refuge on the back of your thighs thereupon settling.

"what's the idea, then?" the moods' been shifted, emanating one of sensuality.

you nestle near her headspace, whispering, "y'know ur' strap?"

"yeah.." ellie likes where this is leading, clearly by her rapt smirk and tune of chords rising in tempt.

"what if I sucked it?"

⛧ oh boy, that set off a night she wouldn't be forgetting for the inbound days ahead. immediately you found yourself levitating up from the couch by her arms and bouncing on the mattress. a makeout session leads to fated stripping and now, your kneeling in front of her at groin-level and a hunter green mass protruding towards your nose bridge.

her optics glare down at you, the sight of you so keen and willing to do this. sure, it's not the real thing but the sight should and will be fucking exhilarating. 

"c'mon, what're you staring at?" ellie's hand gently smacks your cheek and splinters your blurry-minded trance.

you deduct a reply from your mouth, instead, taking a solid grasp of the strap and wrapping your lips round' the tip, all while preserving unwavering eye contact.

"shit.." 

her hands ease and twine the locks on each margin of your head, massaging the pads of her fingertips tenderly. her arousals' climbing new peaks every second at this rate. she presses her pelvis further upon your lip, steering you to open up.

your lips part and welcome the rotund tip in, stroking along your front teeth. the weak grasp on your head pushes the strap languidly to a greater extent that bounds it to the back wall of your throat.

"ach-" you jab out a cough.

"good girl, take that shit in.." 

⛧she's one to be in control, but it's nothing rough. her hands guiding you back n forth gently as the strap summons spurts of tickles in your throat each time it prods the back of it. it'd be far enough to chafe the hilt against her clit, per usual any time she wears the contraption, so you'd always hear quaint whimpers, curses, groans, etcetera, from above.

"mhh~ fuuhhhhckkkk.." ellie draws out a long euphoric groan, straining her neck back and exposing the mild protrusion of her adam's apple.

catching up with the motion, you begin bobbing your head on your own accord. her hands dull their hold and hover above, letting you work your utter sorcery, mouth wide open and drooling for her.

her head recoils down, "such a slut- oohh~ fuck.." 

⛧again, she's not rough without consent and a special occasion, but she'll clutch your hair firmly enough. to you, it's like her non-verbal sign that says 'go faster'.

thrusting your head faster, her own moans begin to burgeon and crowd the room over your sucking and popping noises. she looks so fucking hot from your angle, a clement sweat, fucked out face, leaning slightly back so her pelvis projects closer to you, a solo hand supporting on the back of her thigh, the other latched onto the apex of your head and knotting strands of hair around her fingers. it's all getting to you. 

"oh- baby, fuck- keep goin'n.. uhn- shit!" the climax augmenting within her hips jitters the shit out of her knees, begging to just buckle underneath her and collapse on the bed.

"gh- hn.." your words fumble around ellie's cock, still putting your all into pleasing her. adding a grip on the strap and stroking it was endgame for her, the adjoined knocking against her swelling bud ruined her.

⛧ellie's definitely more of a groaner and a huffer when she comes, it's not growling level but it's certainly not fake exaggerated ones.

⛧i think she's also the type who'd want you to come as well, like, there is not a single night where she's the only one getting pleased, she has to see you unravel and lose your shit under her.

"stop, baby- stop.." ellie hastily hushes through heaves of breath, pulling your head from the strap to which it springs off your lips.

"huh..?"

"m'not cummin' without you- fuck.." her fingers take a grapple at your jaw, guiding you up onto your feet.

you give her a blank stare until it's washed away with a surprised one as you're cast onto the bed, stomach down, ass up. she shambles over you and flattens you out till your hips settle in the cloudy mattress.

she mounts your thighs and inclines her crotch to yours, slowly inserting into your cunt from the back. her nails chisel into your plush hips, thumbs notably indenting on your ass.

"oh-my gmm.. ellie.." 

"god damn-" she mumbles to herself, cuffing out a quick chuckle, "you earned this.." positively rewarding you for your work.

insert a loooong night spent railing.

⛧random conclusion hc but I feel like in this position where she's behind you she'll litter you with kisses and bites on your shoulder-neck region, especially for being so good and disposed for her. 

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

MASTERLIST

#ellie williams #ellie williams smut #ellie tlou #the last of us #the last of us 2 #ellie williams x fem!reader #ellie x reader #lesbian #sapphic #ellie williams headcanons #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams fanfiction #ellie williams fic #tlou 2 #tlou ellie #ellie the last of us #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x you #ellie williams x y/n #dom!ellie #ellie smut

[zeenimf]

Where the Sea Ends - Wip Intro

Over the last century the tides have grown violent, and each day they climb higher and higher. Seo, a dune nimf from the northern isles has watched the sea swallow her home. Her Mistress, Ikuzand of the Grey Order, was destined to stop the flood, but just as the waves began to touch the beach of her home did she pass away in the night. Distressed, Seo travels to the capital of Hoogdam, hoping to find a way to bring her Mistress back to the world of the living. Little does she know that the quest she is about to embark on will take her beyond our world and put her face to face with the gods.

Genre: NA Fantasy

Expected Wordcount: ~80k

Hello! I am excited to share the first few tidbits from the project I have been working on the last two months. As I progressed through my academic specialisation in Japanese literature I realised just how little I knew about the literature of my own country. Not just literature, actually, but folklore and myths are almost completely unknown to me. This project is an attempt to rectify that in the hope that I can inspire other Dutchies to be proud of their culture and arts.

It will be a 'classic' fantasy story, filled with spell tomes, hard magic systems and knights. However, I will draw as much as I can from medieval and earlier Dutch folklore and history. I won't give too many details about plot/characters as they are still up to change. The core of Sen, a stoic and disillusioned mage with a sweet tooth, Pip, a young and ambitious archer and Karel, royal knight turned himbo barbarian will probably stay the same. Still, I hope you enjoy my research project turned wip as much as I do! Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist <3

Much love,

Katrielle

Here's some excerpts to grasp the *vibes*

The tree that marked Ikuzan’s grave stands before me. Its grey leaves hang above me, their edged gilded by the sun. The tree has grown over the gravestone, roots entangling the stone, removing any indicator of who lies below. The size of the tree surprises me. Has it truly been so long since I last visited that Ikuzan’s soul had blossomed into this large a tree? “So long, Miss,” I mutter under my breath. My hand rests on my staff. The faint hope that Ikuzan has hidden a secret near her grave, something that would solve everything, lingers in the back of my mind. But my staff stands lifeless, and the branches waving in the wind as if beckoning us to leave.

-x-

“Pip, now!” I shout, ducking behind a nearby cart. The dragon roars as it jumps off from the tower, breaking off the roof and sending hundreds of bricks to the ground. Pip steps into the alley, arrow nooked. “Zerikan feek,” I say, drawing on as much of my mana as I can. As soon as I finish speaking my spell the arrowhead of Pip’s arrow lights up in purple flames, and before the flames can spread to Pip’s bow does he shoot. The arrow flies through the air, splitting the curtain of smoke that has risen from the burning city around us. With a loud bang the arrow hits the dragon in her chest. A second explosion follows with such strength all the smoke is blown away. My hands reach for my ears, a loud and high pitched noise overwhelms my senses. Even the dragon's weeping as it falls down is barely audible. Silent to me, but as loud as a star, the dragon crashes into the church and vanishes through the roof. But a single arrow will not slay a dragon, I know that much. “CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!” Karel runs past us, axe in hand. Not much remains of the top of his leather armour, showing a conspicuous amount of skin. I am never sure whether it is the blade of foes, or Karel himself that causes his armour to wear out so quickly. One thing I do know, however, is that that dragon isn't long for this world.

Taglist: @peepos-prose

#fantasy #wip intro #writeblr #and no ikuzan's grey is not from gandalf haha

[xenicbaby]

Ace

Emma

Lily

Blossom

Leo

Olive

Princess

Nick

Bubba

Eli

Will

Ava

Henry

Lucas

Jay

Max

Mill

Den

Wit

Vex

Nuen

Exin

Vee

Xoon

Heps

Midd

Oom

Pip

Verrr

Sop

Bubs

Ved

Nyun

Hwoom

Yoop

Yan

Lizzy

Lavender

Rose

Ren

Smil

Huuu

Jio

She/Her

He/Him

They/Them

It/Its

Te/Tem

Ye/Yeom

Ple/Pled

Nyi/Nyin

Blo/Blot

Re/Req

Mya/Mya

Nya/Nya

OwO/OwOs

UwU/UwUs

Cute/Cutes

Kawaii/Kawaiis

Baby/Babys

Chaos/Chaotic

Silly/Sillys

Play/Playful

Space/Spaces

Gal/Galaxy

Moon/Moons

Star/Stars

Smol/Smols

Sweet/Sweets

Bake/Bakes

Cook/Cooks

Honey/Honeys

Sugar/Sugars

Bun/Buns

Cake/Cakes

Brown/Brownie

Choco/Chocolate

Girl/Girls

Boy/Boys

Per/Person

Thing/Things

Zoom/Zooms

Hap/Happy

Pet/Pets

Pup/Puppy

Kit/Kitty

Bun/Bunny

Kid/Kiddo

Pink/Pinks

Blue/Blues

White/Whites

Mint/Mints

Purple/Purples

Little/Littles

Freak/Freaks

Xe/Xeno

Hoard/Hoards

Eee/Eeee

Rock/Rocks

Shake/Shakes

Bounce/Bounces

Spin/Spins

Flap/Flaps

Stomp/Stomps

Jump/Jumps

He/Hehe

Pop/Pops

Head/Headphones

Hood/Hoodie

Sweat/Sweater

Tail/Tails

De/Demon

Wag/Wags

Wing/Wings

Flap/Flaps

An/Angel

Shake/Shaker

Love/Loves

Si/Silence

Cray/Crayon

Glit/Glitter

Bounce/Bouncy

Ball/Balls

Glow/Glows

Neon/Neons

Erase/Eraser

Ring/Rings

Ring/Ringpop

Lose/Loser

Heart/Hearts

Cook/Cookie

Straw/Strawberry

Gel/Gels

Pen/Pens

Rain/Rainbow

Gloss/Glosses

Lip/Lips

Lip/Lipgloss

Arm/Arms

Warm/Warms

Rush/Rushs

Stat/Static

Scib/Scribble

Cringe/Cringes

Dream/Dreams

Night/Nights

Fun/Funs

Sea/Seas

Slug/Slugs

Paw/Paws

Sock/Socks

Paci/Pacifier

Med/Meds

Pill/Pills

Nurse/Nurses

Bell/Bells

Mochi/Mochis

Cat/Cats

Rock/Rocks

Candy/Candys

Dino/Dinos

Nug/Nuggie

Plush/Plushie

Van/Vanilla

Lav/Lavender

Shut/Shuts

Hiko/Hikos

Deco/Decorate

Vamp/Vampire

Hug/Hugs

Marsh/Mallow

Impure/Impures

Unholy/Unholys

Ungodly/Ungodlys

Divine/Divines

God/Gods

Holy/Holys

Milk/Milks

Tea/Teas

Boba/Bobas

Swirl/Swirly

Meat/Meats

Fidget/Fidgets

Cube/Cubes

Pretty/Prettys

Leg/Legs

Stipe/Stripes

Reg/Regress

Doll/Dolls

Patient/Patient

Ster/Sterile

Comfy/Comfys

Rain/Rains

Blan/Blanket

Cud/Cuddle

Cuz/Fuzzy

Storm/Storms

Ad/Adhd

Aut/Auti

Fren/Frens

Friend/Friends

Share/Shares

Bond/Bonds

Smell/Smells

Anti/Antis

Hate/Hates

Spite/Spites

Tiktok/Tiktoks

Tumblr/Tumblrs

Xd/Xds

Quirk/Quirky

Steal/Steals

Joy/Joys

Scar/Scars

Gore/Gores

Love/Loves

Wound/Wounds

Cloth/Cloths

Balm/Balms

Coco/Cocos

Suc/Succubus

Witch/Witches

Bone/Bones

Reap/Reaps

Lace/Lace

Kill/Kills

Skirt/Skirts

Yan/Yans

Dere/Deres

Kuu/Kuus

Tsun/Tsuns

Hime/Hime

Otome/Otome

Trope/Tropes

Junk/Junks

Iri/Iridium

Eep/Eepy

Bore/Bored

Phone/Phones

Key/Keyboard

Smash/Smashs

Self/Selfs

Ship/Ships

Spite/Spites

Attack/Attacks

Heli/Copter

Spoil/Spoiled

Brat/Brats

Hate/Hates

Fox/Foxs

Whore/Whores

Rage/Rages

Oc//Ocs

Mouth/Mouths

Queer/Queers

Toy/Toys

Paw/Paws

[tipsycad147]

Apple Magic; How to use Apples in Witchcraft

From the story of Johnny Appleseed to a certain princess taking a bite of a poisoned apple; apples are involved in many stories, especially as magical tools or enchantments. Bobbing for apples, peeling the apple and tossing the skin to reveal the name of your lover, these are just some of many ways apples are used in magic! With Mabon approaching, now is the perfect time to talk about apples and their uses so as part of our Herbal Witchcraft, here’s some info about Apples and how to use them in witchcraft.

A is for Apple

Basically everyone knows what an apple is! Round, sweet or tart, commonly harvested in fall, and used for a variety fo dishes and drinks!

Apples(or Malus Domesticas) are part of the Roseacea family, with other members such as roses, pears, cherries, plums and strawberries. Grown worldwide, apples have 7,500 varieties!

Apples are made up of 4 parts. The skin and pulp are the most commonly used parts, making up the majority of the fruit. The stem and seeds can be ingested but are typically disposed of or recycled. (A great way to recycle the skins and seeds is to make apple cider vinegar!)

The tree of an apple goes through 4 stages before the fruit is ready to harvest. In early spring, the tree is covered in small green buds, waiting to open into flowers. Apple Blossoms are small and sweet smelling, typically pink or white in color. Once pollinated, the blossoms drop off and the tree begins to grow small green nubs that will turn into apples. Once the apples are ready and have changed colors(unless they’re a green apple) they can be harvested! This typically happens in September-October for the best sweetness.

There are tons of recipes on using apples from savory to sweet. Fall-time features many of these dishes due to the harvest. Put a spin on a classic apple dish by using kitchen magic to infuse your dishes with magic!

So how do we use apples in magic?

Apple Magic

Apples feature heavily in love magics. A sweet and often red fruit, its perfect for building a crush or relationship into a strong loving relationship.

Apples also have several spot in magic including things like, luck and prosperity magics, creativity, fertility ,magics and several stories of opening gates to the underworld or otherworld.

All parts of the apple and apple tree can be used in magic. From the blossoms to the bark and fruits there’s a use for basically every part.

In fact my very first wand was made from the branch of an apple tree, as are my rune stones! I save apple seeds for spell jars on love, self love, creativity and prosperity spells.

Apples are a feminine energy and are connected to deities such as Hera, Aphrodite, Gaia and Rhiannon.

Apples are connected to witches and wicca because when you cut an apple in half width wise, the pips or seeds form a star. a 5 pointed start forms part of the pentacle which is used worldwide by many witches and pagans.

Burying 13 apples leaves in the garden after harvest is said to ensure a bountiful harvest the following year.

Finding a Silver Bough, or an apple tree with buds, blossoms, unripe and ripened apples all at the same time; was said to be the entrance to the Land of Faerie, specifically the Isle of Apples, home of The Faerie Queen Morgan Le Fay.

For more ideas and craft tutorials, Check out our Pinterest Board on Green Witchcraft!

Apples(and Apple Magic) in Wiccan Holidays

Apples ripen in the Fall and consequently are featured heavily during the Harvest Festivals. Mabon and Samhain focus heavily on apples and apple dishes, as well as crafts and activities.

Bobbing for apples is a Fall party activity that started out as a courting ritual and race. Names would be marked onto apples and each suitor had 3 chances to grab the apple of their intended. If after 3 times they did not succeed, superstition said their relationship would fail! In the 1800’s the game had fallen away except for parts of Ireland and England. By the end of the century, American colonists brought back apple bobbing as just a game, to be enjoyed by both children and adults.

Here We go a Wassailing

Wassailing was the pagan version of caroling. Typically done during Twelveth Night, people would go from house to house, or to the town orchard. There they would sing songs and request a drink of cider before moving onto the next place to spread cheer. For orchard Wassailing, cider and other offerings were poured out and given to the trees, to give offerings for a strong harvest the next year.

Mabon sees an increase in crafts and magics. Creating apple dishes to bring in love and abundance to the home are probably the most common. Some Mabon crafts you can try is making your own cider,creating an apple candle, and drying apple slices for a natural garland or wreath.

Samhain also features apples. As the veil between the worlds thins, apples and pomegranates are left as offerings for the dead! Some versions involve making a meal and including it in your dummy supper; while others involves burying the apples for the spirits to receive them easier. No matter how you decide to do it, apples make for a good offering to the spirits and deities in fall.( For more info on dumb or dummy suppers check out my 4 part post on Samhain, available here!)

Apples in Mythology

There are quite a few stories involving apples. Most famously known is the Apple of Knowledge in the garden of Eden.

Other stories include:

The Apple of Discord:

The apple that started the Trojan war. When an apple was sent into a party labeled “For the Fairest” 3 goddesses(Athena, Aphrodite and Hera) fought for the title. When the human Paris chose Aphrodite in exchange for the love of Helen of Troy the most beautiful woman in the world, the other 2 were enraged. With the abduction of Helen, started the Trojan war which went on to last 10 years!

Hercules and Atlas, the 11th task:

As part of Hercules 12 labors, he was instructed to enter the garden of Hesperides and take a golden apple from the dragon and the 3 daughters of Atlas. Part of this story involves Hercules taking the world onto his shoulders to get Atlas’s help and then tricking him to take the world back. This completes the 11th of 12 labors required of Hercules.

Atalanta and the foot race

Another Greek myth, Atalanta was a huntress abandoned on a mountain because her father desired a son. She survived and grew to be a mighty warrior and devotee of Artemis.

When she returned to her father as an adult, she swore she would never wed a man unless he could beat her in a foot race(and those who lost would be put to death). Being the best racer, she beat many suitors with ease.

A man by the name of Hippomenes, smitten by her beauty, sought help from Aphrodite. Annoyed that Atalanta was a follower of Artemis and not herself, she gave him 3 irresistible gold apples.

During the race, he threw them at various points, giving him enough time to get ahead and win the race due to Atalanta having no choice but to stop and chase after the shiny apples.

Idun and Loki

To change it up from all the Greek Myths, there’s also Norse stories to tell!

Idun is the keeper of apples in Norse Mythology. Much like the Apple of Eden, there’s nothing that says that apples were specifically the fruit mentioned but it is the most commonly mentioned fruit when the stories are told.

Idun was one of the more important goddesses of Norse Mythology. As keeper for the fruit she controlled the immortality of the gods, for if they did no eat of her fruit, they began to age and weaken.

Loki,being a trickster god, was asked to help the giant Thjazi capture Idun so he could marry her. Loki told Idun of a new and undiscovered fruit outside of the walls of Asgard. She went with him to see this fruit and was immediately captured by Thjazi and taken to his Mountain home.

Some time after her capture, the other gods because to feel the effects of her loss,turning grey and wrinkled and becoming weak. They found out that she was last seen with Loki and after many threats of much pain, he eventually confessed to helping Thjazi with her capture.

With Freya’s help, Loki transformed into a falcon and flew to Jotenheim in search of Idun. He happened to find her unattended as Thjazi was out at sea fishing. Loki transformed her into a nut and quickly returned to Asgard.

Thjazi was furious upon learning he had be deceived and immediately set off after them. The other gods at Asgard created a boundary of kindling which as soon as Loki and Idun made it past, was set on fire. Thjazi flew into the flames and perished.

I wish I had time to tell you all the stories!

There are so many stories that deal with apples(including Avalon/King Arthur and the Underworld)! But these are some of my favorites. To wrap up this post, I’m going to share my Apple Properties list and then you’re golden!(a golden apple that is ha!)

Apple Magic Properties chart

Apple

Latin Name: Malus Domestica Folk Names: The Silver Bough, Tree of Love, Fruit of the Underworld Gender:Feminine Element:Water Planet:Venus Deities:Gaia, Hera, Aphrodite, Dionysis, Rhiannon Crystals: Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Morganite, Aquamarine Magical Properties: Love, Immortality, Luck, Prosperity, Hidden Knowledge, Divination, Opening Gateways, Abundance, Longevity,Creativity, Fertility Uses: Love spells, Healing Spells, Dream Sachets, Home wreaths and garlands, Divination Tea, Wands and Runes, Garden offerings, Carved dried apple faces

An Apple a day won’t keep the Witch Away!

I hope you found something interesting about Apples and their history in Witchcraft.Feel free to save my Apple Magic Graphic for your Book of Shadows or Grimoire. Check out our Pinterest Board for ideas and recipes on how to use apples for magic and kitchen witchcraft!

[buzz-africa-media]

Lata Tandon Biography, Wikipedia, Age, Husband, Career, Networth

Chef Lata Tandon has left an indelible mark on the culinary world with her outstanding achievements. Born on April 15, 1980, in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India, Tandon’s passion for cooking blossomed from an early age, influenced greatly by her grandfather’s wisdom in understanding food ingredients. Tandon’s culinary prowess earned her the prestigious Guinness World Record for non-stop cooking, an astounding feat of 87 hours and 45 minutes. As the first woman to accomplish this remarkable milestone, she has gained global recognition for her unwavering determination, dedication, and love for the culinary arts. Her list of accolades extends beyond the Guinness World Record, with numerous national and international awards to her name. Tandon has been honored by the India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, Indo-China Book of Records, Vietnam Book of Records, Laos Book of Records, and Nepal Book of Records. In 2018, she proudly received the International Indian Chef of the Year award, solidifying her status as one of the world’s top chefs. Throughout her career, Tandon has honed her skills working alongside esteemed chefs such as Claude Bosi, Jun Tunaka, Pips, Dale, Maxx, Paris, and others in London. She has also been privileged to attend masterclasses led by renowned chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver. Her time in renowned Michelin-starred restaurants, including Bibendum in South Kensington, Aqua Shard in the Shard Building, and The Ninth in central London, has significantly contributed to her culinary expertise. Tandon’s passion lies in cooking traditional meals infused with regional flavors, garnering international recognition for her ability to showcase the rich diversity of Indian cuisine. She aims to redefine the perception of Indian culinary artistry and hopes to expand its influence globally. Additionally, her love for food has motivated her to promote environmental sustainability by encouraging people to purchase and plant saplings. During her world record event, she successfully sold over 17,000 saplings, further emphasizing her commitment to making a positive impact. Despite encountering numerous challenges, Tandon has admirably managed to balance her successful career as a chef with her family responsibilities. Her unwavering dedication and achievements have made her a role model for aspiring chefs worldwide. Chef Lata Tandon’s exceptional contributions to the culinary realm have propelled her into the spotlight, earning her a place in countless households and inspiring many with her remarkable journey. Read the full article

[musicmaniahub]

Lata Tandon Biography, Wikipedia, Age, Husband, Career, Networth

Chef Lata Tandon has left an indelible mark on the culinary world with her outstanding achievements. Born on April 15, 1980, in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India, Tandon's passion for cooking blossomed from an early age, influenced greatly by her grandfather's wisdom in understanding food ingredients. Tandon's culinary prowess earned her the prestigious Guinness World Record for non-stop cooking, an astounding feat of 87 hours and 45 minutes. As the first woman to accomplish this remarkable milestone, she has gained global recognition for her unwavering determination, dedication, and love for the culinary arts. Her list of accolades extends beyond the Guinness World Record, with numerous national and international awards to her name. Tandon has been honored by the India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, Indo-China Book of Records, Vietnam Book of Records, Laos Book of Records, and Nepal Book of Records. In 2018, she proudly received the International Indian Chef of the Year award, solidifying her status as one of the world's top chefs. Throughout her career, Tandon has honed her skills working alongside esteemed chefs such as Claude Bosi, Jun Tunaka, Pips, Dale, Maxx, Paris, and others in London. She has also been privileged to attend masterclasses led by renowned chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver. Her time in renowned Michelin-starred restaurants, including Bibendum in South Kensington, Aqua Shard in the Shard Building, and The Ninth in central London, has significantly contributed to her culinary expertise. Tandon's passion lies in cooking traditional meals infused with regional flavors, garnering international recognition for her ability to showcase the rich diversity of Indian cuisine. She aims to redefine the perception of Indian culinary artistry and hopes to expand its influence globally. Additionally, her love for food has motivated her to promote environmental sustainability by encouraging people to purchase and plant saplings. During her world record event, she successfully sold over 17,000 saplings, further emphasizing her commitment to making a positive impact. Despite encountering numerous challenges, Tandon has admirably managed to balance her successful career as a chef with her family responsibilities. Her unwavering dedication and achievements have made her a role model for aspiring chefs worldwide. Chef Lata Tandon's exceptional contributions to the culinary realm have propelled her into the spotlight, earning her a place in countless households and inspiring many with her remarkable journey. Read the full article

[operation-occult]

☔️ : your muse offering to share an umbrella with mine on a rainy day

@pip-star-blossom

“i think i might need to hold the umbrella, sweetie”

SORRY I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ASK

#ask #pip-star-blossom

[artificialqueens]

Down with the Recipe, Bake from the Heart, 1/10 (Multi) - Juno

Summary: This year’s Great British Bake Off will see some baking for sure, but also a few surprises. Tayce goes into the Bake Off tent determined to bring the winning cake stand to Wales, along with a few Star Baker badges, but her attention may not be on baking for too long as she gets to know fellow baker Aurora, on the same row as her. And judging by the other contestants, Tayce might not be the only one focusing on something other than baking this season.

A/N: This is a DRUK2 group based on GBBO - there are a few ships! It’s also on AO3 with 12 chapters but I will post here with 10 for ease as the first two and last two will are being done together. No CWs for this chapter! I hope you enjoy.

PROLOGUE - October 2021

It had been Cheryl who had suggested a live react to the grand finale of this season of Bake Off, so the twelve finalists could all gather together, watch the finale, and then the winner’s reaction could be captured on film and put on the internet for the whole world to see. Cheryl hadn’t even been in the cast - she’d been on the previous season - but she said she’d become invested in the season and the bakers so much so that she hadn’t wanted to let them go yet.

And judging by the public’s reaction to her tweet about it, she wasn’t alone.

Pip had mentioned in their group chat that her sister had a big town house in the Wirral, and she’d offered to let them all use it as a base for their live watch. Channel 4 didn’t have anything purpose-built for them, and the filming location wasn’t available, so they’d all jumped at the chance. Plus, Liverpool served as a good mid-point for them all - it saved Joe having to go all the way to Dundee or Ellie having to go to Brighton.

Aurora had marvelled at the amount of space there was once they’d all arrived the previous day. The living room and dining area were one, with a dining table probably big enough to fit a couple of football teams at it; and the kitchen led into the room with an arched doorway. The kitchen itself was enormous too, in highly polished white surfaces that Aurora was terrified to touch with her probably-impure fingers

“Bit posh, isn’t it!” She’d muttered to Tayce.

Pip’s sister and her husband were staying away, and they had the place all to themselves - the twelve of them reunited, with just Blu and Cheryl for company, operating a handheld camera with the intention of sending the finale footage for Channel 4.

As three endings had been recorded back in June, with each of the finalists winning one of the takes, the actual winner’s reveal would be a surprise to all of them, including the three finalists, and ensure no slip ups from the production team.

That didn’t stop all twelve of them worrying. None of them had slept a wink, all of them keeping an eye on Prue’s twitter to make sure she hadn’t accidentally tweeted the winner again. But mostly they’d been together, reminiscing on some of the moments from the season that had made them laugh. All the funny moments, all the tense moments, and one or two viral moments loaded with innuendo.

Not to mention everything else that had blossomed in tandem with nature that springtime.

It had been quite a season. They’d started out as strangers, and now they were so tightly-knit that they hadn’t even entertained the thought that they would possibly be watching the finale without all of them in the same space.

Aurora swilled the glass of champagne that Joe had insisted on pouring for everyone, and watched all of the people she’d grown close to on the season, a peaceful atmosphere in the room as they waited for the finale to start.

Well, not all of them were peaceful. Lawrence and Ellie were being their usual loud selves, jousting with wooden spoons and shrieking as loudly as they ever did - but Bimini was utterly still for the first time since Aurora had met them, laid against Asttina’s chest as they both reclined on one of the sofas, while Asttina raked her fingers through their mullet; and Bimini’s eyes were closed, their lips in a sleepy smile.

Aurora felt familiar hands creep around her waist, a familiar chin rest on her shoulder from behind, and familiar lips at her cheek.

“I can’t believe it’s coming to an end now,” Aurora murmured, her thoughts escaping her unfiltered, as they sometimes did with Tayce at this close range.

“Well, it was never gonna be forever,” Tayce said into her ear. “But we’re all gonna be friends after this, aren’t we! The wonders of technology! Come into the twenty-first century, Rory. We have this thing called the internet, and group chats, and phones -”

“We’re not all just gonna be friends, though, are we?” Aurora replied.

“We’re all just besties, nothing more than that. Rory, I’m joking!” Tayce laughed at Aurora’s horrified expression. “All I’m saying is that this isn’t the end - just the beginning.”

“That’s so cheesy.”

“Yeah, but I’m right, you can’t deny that!”

Aurora let her eyes drift around everyone else in the room.

Tia and Veronica who had barely left their corner of the sofa, hands and legs wound tightly together, both with hearts in their eyes and bigger smiles than anyone else in the room as they chatted quietly, simply enjoying each others’ company.

Lawrence and Ellie, wooden spoons still in hand, making the most noise in the room in delighted laughter as they jousted with each other, almost knocking Pip over as she carried in another tray of snacks to lay on the dining table.

Bimini resting against Asttina’s chest as they reclined on the other sofa, Asttina still running her fingers through Bimini’s freshly-dyed mullet, both of them letting out a contented sigh in tandem.

“Yeah,” Aurora murmured, as Tayce held her tighter, “I guess so.”

——

WEEK 1: BISCUIT WEEK

April 2021

Tayce grinned at the cameras as they panned around everyone. She’d given the interviewer her spiel about how much she’d always dreamt of being in the gingham tent and how excited she was to bring the winning cake stand to Wales for the first time in Bake Off history; and a surprising calm settled in her chest, nerves dissipating, at the genuine warm aura from everyone and everything in the room.

At least Tayce wasn’t in full view of the judges right at the front. That privilege was reserved for two people from London, both of whom looked right at home in front of the cameras, although their names were a mystery for now.

It was all very familiar from seeing it on the telly the last eleven years. Immaculate worktops with varnish that shone like glass; the tent walls decorated with bunting and flowers, and the pastel shelves and adorned with china cups; the multi-coloured KitchenAids ready to whisk, fold and anything else - Tayce’s was pure white, while the woman from Nottingham on the bench opposite her had a turquoise one.

Tayce chanced another glance at her; the tight-lipped smile showed a single dimple, and her long blonde hair was tied off her face, but her fingers drummed nervously on the workbench, and she evidently wasn’t as poised as the veneer she displayed for the cameras.

Tayce smiled to herself. It’ll be fun winning this thing.

——

Signature: 24 Iced Biscuits

The best bit of the show when it was on the telly was the banter between Matt and Noel. Seeing them in person, even from a distance away, made Tayce’s stomach bubble with excitement, and she had to cling to the workbench a little tighter to stay upright.

“Well, bakers, welcome to the gingham tent! Back for another season of Prue-Paul’s Baking Race!”

Prue’s sweet smile was complemented by her brightly-coloured glasses and sharp, matching blazer, while Paul’s cool stare lingered on everyone in the room a split second longer than they all would have liked.

“For the signature today,” Matt said, “the judges would like you to make twenty-four iced biscuits. The biscuits can be any flavour -“

“ - but should tell the judges a little bit about yourselves or where you’re from.”

“Where are you from, Noel?”

“Oh, you know, the moon.”

Everyone was laughing, even Tayce; although it wasn’t that funny - but the whole room was dancing with nerves by now, starting to become contagious from the people around her.

“On your marks -“

“Get set -“

“BAKE!”

Once Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding had declared the immortal lines to the room, everyone was scrambling for ingredients from their bags and the fridges.

Tayce was still cringing a bit at the dragon-shaped cookie-cutter her mum had found in some gift shop near the castle in Cardiff. She didn’t understand why tourists would be making dragon-shaped biscuits inspired by their trip to Wales, but for once she was thankful for tourists. Her friend Cara had customised it a little when she’d seen her a couple of weeks ago, by melting the tail with her lighter, elongating it a little, and extending the jaw and ears to make it look a little more ferocious.

“Can’t have people thinking you’re not breathing fire,” she’d said, passing the cigarette back to Tayce, “otherwise they won’t think you’re competition.”

And Tayce had nodded, holding smoke in her lungs half a beat longer than usual, wondering if she cared whether anyone thought of her as competition. After all, it was Bake Off. The last sabotage attempt there had been a national scandal the following day.

The most unproblematic, drama-free show on the telly.

Nothing was going to happen here.

——

“The judges are coming for you next,” one of the cameramen nudged Tayce out of her thoughts, just as she was measuring out her flour, causing it to fly upwards in a cloud “Just a heads up. Oh, sorry love.”

“Right, right.” Tayce nodded, brushing flour from her face. “What do I say to them again?”

“Just … talk. It’s the first episode. Show them your personality.”

“Personality,” Tayce repeated, nodding. “I’ve got oodles of that.”

“Great stuff. And don’t forget to be doing something bake-ey while they’re coming over.”

The cameraman dodged out of the way to make room for the medical team, running to help the woman in front of Nottingham, who had managed to slice her finger on something already.

“Here they are,” Tayce muttered to herself, taking a deep breath and straightening as the judges, along with Matt and Noel, came over to her.

“Morning, Tayce!”

Paul Hollywood was shorter than he appeared to be, and Prue Leith was taller, but nothing prepared Tayce for meeting either of them. Tayce held her breath for a split second, smiling somewhat mechanically to try to mask the sudden heat in her face.

“Bore da, folks! I’ve brought the weather with me!” Tayce beamed, indicating the heaving downpour of rain that was falling outside the tent; and they all laughed politely.

Tayce momentarily stopped concentrating on the judges and noticed the woman opposite her, turning to watch Tayce interact with the judges. And every time she was describing the perfect quality that her dragon-shaped shortbread biscuits would turn out, she seemed to slow her actions, looking up over at them.

The conversation was light, but Tayce could feel the calm authority of both judges before her, making words freeze on her tongue. It only went on for a minute or two, but Tayce was left feeling as if she should have prepared more.

Oh well. What’s done is done.

The ingredients for her biscuits were mixing slowly in the KitchenAid, the gentle whirr of the blades almost lulling Tayce to sleep as she sipped her cup of tea, before she took out the ball of shortbread dough and rolled it out to cut into biscuits.

“Your accent is so nice.”

Tayce looked up from her biscuits, to see the woman from Nottingham had come over, tucking her hair behind her ear, leaving her hand resting at the back of her neck to play absently with the strings of her apron. Up close, the dimple in her cheek was emphasised as a shy smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.

“Thank you!” Tayce stood to her full height. “This place doesn’t look like Barry Island yet but give it some time!” She leaned against the workbench, tossing her hair away from her shoulders.

“My accent is … well, it’s just … northern,” she continued with a giggle. “I’m Aurora, by the way. I’m so bad at names, I’m sorry, you’ve probably already said yours!”

“Don’t worry, I am too. I’m Tayce. And if I forget your name, well - yeah, same.”

Aurora’s gaze lingered half a second too long as she tested the name on her tongue.

“Tayce.” Her smile widened. “Nice to meet you.”

——

Tayce was terrible at names. She had no idea how she was going to remember who all eleven of these other people were, especially as one of them would be going every week - the pool of people getting smaller and smaller until Tayce would be remaining with whoever else was any good out of these lot.

As the day went on, she started to pick them up.

She had to learn Asttina’s for one, because Asttina seemed to know everyone’s name from the word go. Asttina was one of the two Londoners at the front, and was the only one of the group who had made a deliberate effort to come round to all their workbenches to formally introduce herself during the bake itself, her demeanour confident but her handshake gentle and light as air.

“Nice to meet you, Tayce,” she’d said, with a cool smile that reminded Tayce of a Miss World competition. “Looking forward to tasting all your bakes!”

She knew Pip’s name too, on the bench just behind Asttina, as she’d turned up in the tent wearing elf ears, claiming they were for luck. Everyone had been staring at her workbench, where she’d positioned a tiny blue handbag with a red circle in the middle, saying she took it with her wherever she went.

“I had a sesh with a psychic,” Pip explained to them all as a group of them crowded round her. “She’s a bit of a local celeb in Liverpool, Psychic Sally they call her, but - anyway, she told me to look for a sign in blue and red, said it was from me great-grandpa - and the same day I walked past one of those handbag shops on Paradise Street and there it was, in the window, 70% off!”

“Definitely couldn’t have been a coincidence, Pippa,” Tayce grinned, and Pip shook her head in agreement, but she had a mischievous glint in her eye and Tayce wasn’t entirely sure how serious she was about the whole affair.

Ellie’s name too had become familiar, because of the amount of times the show’s medics would groan it when she managed to hurt herself on something that episode. Ellie herself had been quiet most of the day, seemingly a little shy and evidently the youngest in the room; but she’d bounced on the balls of her feet at meeting Matt Lucas, garbling something about her and her brother doing all the impersonations as kids.

The soft-spoken woman in front of Tayce was called Cherry, and Tayce had found that out because she’d pointed it out to everyone when she put cherry flavouring in her biscuits.

“Does that actually, y’know, work as a flavour?” Tia had asked her when she was explaining it to them.

Tia was another name that Tayce knew, mainly because the woman was so tall and striking. She looked like she’d come straight off a catwalk and wandered into the Bake Off tent by complete accident on her way to London Fashion Week, happening to become covered in flour in the process.

Cherry had huffed. “I don’t know, but you eat cherry-flavoured things all the time! What could go wrong with putting it in biscuits?”

Tia grimaced. “Wait. Have you … never put cherry flavouring in biscuits before? Didn’t you practise at home?”

Tayce couldn’t help but feel a twinge of mirth as she watched Cherry chew her tongue, her cheeks flushing, but her jaw set obstinately. “I know what I’m doing. I can do this.”

“You haven’t even practised this bake? Okay. So how late do the trains run from here to Newcastle?” Tayce had asked Cherry, and Aurora had doubled over in wheezing laughter as Cherry had folded her arms.

“Darlington. Darlington, not Newcastle. And there’s been trains there for nearly two hundred years, love.”

That had just made Aurora laugh harder, clutching her stomach and shaking in silent giggles, leaning on Tayce as Tayce had led her back to her workbench and let her wipe the tears from her eyes before continuing with her biscuit dough.

That was the most important thing Tayce had learned so far in the tent. The woman from Nottingham opposite her was Aurora, and Aurora lit up the whole bench.

When the judges had stood with her earlier, she’d cooed about how much she adored baking everything for all her family - making fairy cakes for charity bakes for work, birthday cakes for her family, tipsy cakes for her best friends for their birthdays, or anniversaries, or whenever they were just feeling crap.

From the smile that she couldn’t hold back, Tayce knew that Aurora was the only person in the room who meant it when she said that she loved baking.

——

“One hour break, folks, and then filming starts for Technical, okay?”

The first bake was over, and Tayce’s shortbread biscuits shaped like dragons had gone down pretty well with the judges. She wasn’t sure if she’d had the best feedback, her nerves kicking in and blocking out most of the other contestants’ comments; but she thought she’d done enough for this round at least.

One of the producers herded them like sheep - or maybe cats, judging by how Ginny had gone chasing after a squirrel they’d seen - back into Norton Hall where they were all staying for the weekends while filming was happening. It was a huge, Georgian manor mouse with ceilings touching the clouds, far more halls than were necessary, and so many excessive bedrooms that each contestant had a room each.

Tayce had half-expected four-poster regal luxury as she’d opened the door to her own, twice the size of her room in her flat; but no such luck - it was furnished sparingly, and all the beds were normal. A small double, she noted. Not that she was likely to get lucky with these master bakers, but a woman could dream.

The floorboards creaked as she crossed the room and flopped backwards onto the bed, gazing at the ceiling, the elation sending a shiver through her skin as she realised again that she had made it to Bake Off.

The Bake Off!

They weren’t meant to change clothes between takes unless they’d made a huge mess with the food, so Tayce just retouched her eyeliner and went back down to the communal room, where most of them had gathered back in the group, polite conversations carrying on amongst relative strangers as they sampled each others’ biscuits.

What a surreal scene.

A group of almost strangers, half of their names unfamiliar, and she was meant to discuss baking with them all.

“Alright, babs?” She heard someone pushing a plate in front of her. “My name’s Ginny, Ginny Lemon, and if you don’t like lemon, well - just skip my biccies, alright love?”

“No, lemon is great,” Tayce forced a smile, taking one of Ginny’s biscuits. “Thanks hun.”

“You’re welcome! Which ones did you make - wait, I remember, the Welsh dragons?”

“Now how did you guess that one?” Tayce raised an eyebrow at them. “My mum’s idea, she was like, do it for the Welsh! So of course she found a dragon-shaped cookie cutter from somewhere. One of the tourist shops in Cardiff. Tourists love dragon biscuits apparently.”

“Oh I know love, I know - speaking of weird biscuits, have you ever tried a Worcester sauce biscuit? I don’t recommend it if you haven’t, but have you?” Ginny shook their head, tutting. “Tastes like shit! Waste of biscuit. Waste of Worcester sauce too, though. Anyway, Pip’s looking lonely without me. Nice to see you!”

And Ginny fled from Tayce’s arm, scurrying back over to Pip. Tayce tasted the biscuit, bracing herself for Worcester sauce, blinking with surprise to find it was actually pretty good, the lemon flavour really tasty, and finding she wanted another.

Most of the rest of the biscuits were arranged on a bench at the back. Tayce picked up another of her own and went down the line, eager to see which had depleted the most.

Gravestone biscuits were the biggest shocker for her - two different sets of biscuits were there, iced to resemble gravestones, mostly untouched - but Tayce politely picked up the better-looking of the two and found a lovely chilli kick to it when she tasted. But gravestones weren’t the only common theme - two different rose patterns were there, one set iced in different shades of pink, and the other with a deep red icing. The pink roses were almost all gone, and Tayce took the second-to-last one, enjoying the raspberry flavour, and grabbing one of the other roses to go.

Tayce peered around the room at the other contestants from her vantage point at the table. Most of them had dropped into twos and threes - with twelve people it was bound to happen - chatting amongst themselves, quietly and politely for the most part, although the two Scottish women in one corner were laughing as if they’d known each other for years.

Eventually, she joined Aurora, who was talking to someone whose white-blonde hair and pencil-thin eyebrows looked very familiar …

“Joe Black,” she said, extending a heavily-tattooed hand to Tayce, whose stomach flipped upon hearing the name.

“You’re - on Instagram, that woman -“

“My internet infamy precedes me, but in that case I hope so too do my bakes, and of course my sense of fun.” Joe’s voice was theatrical, her gestures affected; but her smile was warm, and Cherry looked as enamoured with her as Tayce was feeling.

“And who wins the biscuit version of the wars of the roses?” Joe continued, pointing down at the two rose-shaped iced biscuits on Tayce’s plate. “Lawrence, or Veronica? I must say, the amount that Veronica worried about her own bake, that time probably could have been spent thinking up a better biscuit flavour than rosewater, don’t you agree?”

Tayce glanced at Veronica’s biscuit, then up at Aurora. “Does it taste that bad?”

But before Aurora could answer, they were interrupted by “Alright, babes! How’s it hanging?”

The woman joining them had rich violet hair scraped off her face into a bun at the crown of her head, and an intense green stare. Tayce took the hand that was extended to her, finding a firmer handshake than Asttina’s, trying to follow the stream of words from this woman’s mouth.

“I’m Lauren, but you might as well call me Lawrence, that’s all Ellie’s been calling me all day, thinks she’s fucking hilarious, and I’ve not really met any of you yet because, you know,” Lawrence paused for breath, waving her hands, “baking contest, ooh I’m not here to make friends, et cetera, but now that we’re all here and we’re not baking right now, I thought I’d better find out who everyone is! Are you the one who made the dragon biccies?”

“That’s me, baby!” Tayce grinned. “Bore da, bitches!”

“See, I knew you were Welsh, and there Ellie was trying to convince me the dragon biccies were by someone who just really liked Puff the Magic Dragon, she owes me a tenner now - and you’re - oh wait, I know you!” Lawrence wagged her finger at Joe, whose expression didn’t change apart from the slow blink. “That Instagram video!”

Joe fixed Lawrence with a stare. “Yes, that Instagram video; I know that precedes me, but I hope by the end of this competition that can be eclipsed by my culinary skills.” Her voice still kept the throaty drawl, but Tayce was starting to sense her irritation at the association.

Cherry had already offered her hand to shake, and Lawrence took it. “Alright, I remember your name, because you put it in your biccies as flavouring! Where’re you from, do they grow cherries there?”

“No - I’m from Darlington.”

Lawrence blinked, frowning. “Darlington, near Sweetie-shire is that?”

“No, it’s near -“

“I’m joking babes, I’m joking! I know it’s - hey, hey Ellie!” Lawrence stopped to shout to Ellie, who had evidently reappeared. “Els! It’s not Puff the Magic Dragon! Where’s my tenner? Hey!” And she was gone in an instant, Tayce turning to watch her chase Ellie as she scurried out.

“Anyway,” Joe continued, motioning to Tayce’s plate and one of the gravestone biscuits, “I’m so glad you’re enjoying mine! I know my sense of humour is a little … ah, morbid, but I didn’t count on being one of two people with this bake, let me tell you that!”

Joe glanced over to the left out the sides of her eyes; Tayce followed her gaze to Pip, oblivious, making herself a cup of tea.

“She didn’t - like, you don’t think she -“

“Oh, no, not in a month of Sundays! But it’s a strange little coincidence, isn’t it? The viewers will love the drama!”

Joe opened her mouth wide to let out a violent cackle, a sound that might have made a shiver glide down Tayce’s spine if she hadn’t been mid-biscuit.

——

Technical: 8 Wagon Wheels

The Technical challenge was the first time Tayce felt her nerves return in a rush.

Everyone had identical ingredients and an identical recipe, but nothing prepared any of them for whipping the gingham cloth from them all and flipping the instructions over. Tayce ran her pencil down them, her head spinning.

On the first read, she recalled nothing.

Focus.

She took one steadying breath, letting go of as many nerves as she could, and then ran her pencil back down the list, jotting down timings and a couple of notes. They only had an hour and a half; precision was key.

On her right, Aurora was fidgeting with her apron, twisting her hair around her finger, before grabbing as many bowls as she could from the drawers and setting them all down ready.

It almost felt like more pressure, rather than less, having no judges in the room - just Matt and Noel, and they couldn’t really interact with the bakers at this point, mostly just talking amongst each other and having to film occasional silly quips for the television interludes.

You’re not gonna get this finished if you keep looking at Matt and Noel!

So Tayce mentally blocked out everything and anything around her, not taking her eyes off her workbench. Instructions, ingredients, whisk, repeat. Oven, timers, filling, cooling, done.

She barely remembered anything else that happened in the room.

As she put the last wagon wheel on the tray to take to the front, she wiped her brow, took a swig of tea, and then heard the immortal lines.

“Bakers! You have one minute to go!”

Tayce looked around the room. Tia, three desks ahead, was looking flustered, covered in flour from head to toe - a difficult feat when you were six feet tall - and Veronica, just behind her, was rounding the corner to help her move the biscuits over to the tray one by one as she spread on the jam and marshmallow fluff. Bimini, who Tayce was sure had finished about ten minutes earlier than everyone else, was doing the same thing for Asttina, leaning over her workbench and talking soothingly to her as they both moved biscuits around.

On the other side, Ginny was rubbing Pip’s back, trying to help her load wagon wheels onto the tray but only succeeding in knocking the handbag to the ground. Ellie broke two of her wagon wheels by dropping a palette knife on them, her squeak causing Lawrence to turn from her bench and put her hands on her hips.

But Tayce felt an unexpected wave of relief when she saw Aurora finishing her own biscuits right on schedule, stepping back with a sigh, rolling her head and her eyes to the ceiling.

They had to bring the biscuits to the front table, and put them behind their respective photographs for blind judging. Looking at the other biscuits on the bench, Tayce nodded to herself in satisfaction. She definitely wasn’t the worst. The photos were all a blur, but there was definitely one disaster, chocolate and marshmallow oozing; Ellie’s broken biscuits; and another tray with a biscuit missing.

It was easy to breathe a sigh of relief for herself.

“Just get into any order,” the producer said, pointing to the stools that had been set in front of the table, “but don’t sit directly behind your photo. Otherwise it just looks obvious.”

Tayce’s biscuits were second from the right, so she bunched towards the left, and found herself between Aurora and Joe. Joe had pretended to trip over her feet while carrying her own biscuits up, cackling gleefully at Veronica’s pained expression as she watched. Veronica, mercifully, had sat as far from Joe as she could.

Aurora was breathing rapidly next to her, and Tayce gave her a nudge with her knee.

“Chill girl! Relax! It will be fine!”

Aurora nodded, but said nothing, focusing on trying to breathe at a normal rate once again. Tayce could practically hear her heart hammering. She nudged her again playfully, and Aurora nudged her back, taking a deep breath out and seeming to calm from then.

Once Prue and Paul were back, Tayce grew a little sleepy. The judging went on for much longer than on telly, and tent was hot from all the baking and warm bodies, plus Aurora’s knee jogging rhythmically was enough to make her feel a little drowsy. Her biscuits were second to last, and Tayce wasn’t really focusing on any of the other critiques as they went down the line, not even those of the two women on either side of her.

She hated tents. They reminded her of camping. This one wasn’t like any of the camping tents, propped by firm wooden walls and decorations but it still reminded her of trips to the Gower when she was at primary school. And thinking of the Gower made her think of day-tripping to Tenby, where the air was hazy with salt and fresh fish, and the sea was far too cold as they skimmed stones, watching them bounce once, twice, three times …

A nudge at her side from Aurora brought her down from her reverie; blinking, Tayce saw the judges had reached the biscuits behind her photo, looking up expectantly to see who would claim them.

Oh, yeah. It’s the Technical, and I’m here to be judged.

She raised her hand, realising that she’d been in a dream so long that she didn’t even know what place the judges had called her for.

“Tayce - good flavour, biscuits had a good crunch, and the chocolate has set well; it just wasn’t quite filled enough.”

Nodding and smiling, she waited for them to move on to the next person before she leaned over towards Aurora, muttering from the corner of her mouth “Where did they put me again?”

But before Aurora could answer, Paul spoke up. “And in second place, we have -“

“You came third, you bitch!” Aurora whispered, her mouth open in awe, and she looped her hand into Tayce’s and squeezed. “How do you do it? You always look so put-together! Not like - Miss Second-Place down there.”

Tayce glanced at Veronica, right at the end of the line of bakers on their stools, whose hand was raised to claim second place. She was nodding earnestly at the praise, but she still wasn’t smiling, her lips tight and her other hand still quivering a little in her lap.

“That means that first place goes to - Asttina!”

But Aurora hadn’t let go of Tayce’s hand, and Tayce was suddenly more aware of that contact than whoever the winner was, even as she slowly drew her hand away for the polite applause that followed.

“Where did you come?” Tayce asked her in a whisper.

“Seventh. Not great. I over-baked them a little bit,” Aurora shrugged. “I’m never gonna be good at technical.”

——

“Congrats on coming top of Technical!” Tia clapped Asttina on the back as they came back into Norton Hall, and Asttina responded with her winning smile.

“Thanks, babe. I thought you all deserved a taste of what I can do!”

There was a collective amused murmur around the other bakers at Asttina’s slightly smug tone. Tayce grinned, staying silent for now, wondering what the others would have to say to that.

“Oh, there’s more to come, is there?” Tia continued.

“I should hope so.” Asttina licked her lips. “From all of you lot as well.”

“There’s no need to be cocky,” Veronica said, the first time any of them had really heard her speak. Veronica was tiny, with blonde hair and a nasal voice that was louder than any of them had expected; most likely feeling the sting of coming second.

Asttina shook her hair back. “I’m not cocky, Veronica, I just know what I can do. Read the CV, it’s all there! If you want to win stuff, you need to know yourself. Do you want to win?”

“Does the Pope shit in the woods?” Veronica retorted.

It was Tia’s snort of laughter that started them all off, diffusing the vague tension creeping into the room. Asttina’s laugh was only drowned out by Veronica’s as she realised what she’d said.

“Is the Pope a Catholic, does a bear shit in the woods … I know, I know. I mean, yeah, I definitely do want to win.”

Asttina shrugged. “Then there’s no point being modest about what you can do. Let your bakes do the talking!”

One of the producers came in at that moment, motioning for them all to come round, and they all bunched together.

“Alright folks, the day’s filming is done, we’ll begin tomorrow at nine sharp for the Showstopper challenges. Until then you’re free to relax and have a nice time - please don’t go into any areas marked as Private, and no excessive drinking, but otherwise, have a good night!”

“Thank you!” They chorused, clapping for some unknown reason, as some of the staff rounded up the leftover biscuits and cleared them away.

“The filming crew get them,” Veronica explained to Tia, “I asked earlier what happened to them all because I knew we wouldn’t be able to eat them all.”

“You know what this means?” Cherry said, addressing them all from on top of one of the sofas. “This is the last evening we’ll all be together. Let’s all cheers to the cast of GBBO!”

She pulled a bottle of something from her bag, and the rest of them grabbed a mug each, sharing out the gin Cherry had brought, and bringing all their drinks together in cheers.

——

Showstopper: A gingerbread sculpture of a place that makes you nostalgic.

The Showstopper was about as broad as you could get. Everyone seemed to have something different in mind. Bimini and Asttina, on the two front benches, looked as poised and confident as they had all the previous day; and Asttina, buoyed by her Technical challenge win, puffed her chest in pride.

Tayce had practised her gingerbread over and over, but nothing prepared any of them for being in the tent, where the pastel colours and the novelty of the bright, friendly conversations started to switch to a competitive edge.

Especially after the Technical, where they had all been ranked. Having a number against your name now, combined with a vague grade against the Signature challenge, meant the Showstopper was the be-all and end-all for some of them.

That was it Tayce thought to herself, as she watched Aurora’s grim determination pass her face every second.

And she wasn’t the only one.

Cherry, on the workbench in front of her, had come sixth; but she’d been much quieter all morning, concentrating on reading and re-reading her instructions, tapping her pencil against her chin and growling frustratedly every now and then.

Ellie, wearing a pair or Pip’s elf ears, was doing even worse. Being ranked eleventh had done very little to ease the nerves she had displayed the day before, and her morning had already started with another blue plaster on yet another finger.

But Aurora was the only person Tayce was concentrating on. Something about the way she’d held her hand … and Tayce was far too quick to let her mind run away without her, thinking it meant anything, when obviously it probably didn’t.

“What are you doing?” Tayce called to Aurora over the chatter of everyone else around the room; but Aurora didn’t reply, her tongue running over her lips as she surveyed the mess that was the butter and sugar mix before her.

“Aurora?” She asked, making her way to stand by her behind the bench.

Aurora was still silent, but the noise from the bowls and KitchenAid she was using spoke volumes for her without her needing to say a word.

“D’you want a cup of tea?” Tayce asked her eventually, waiting for the curt nod from Aurora before sprinting to the tea station, in a tent outside.

When she got back, Aurora had moved up to Ellie’s workbench, and even though her back was to Tayce, she could see her shoulders shaking and Ellie’s hand rubbing her back, before offering her a can of the Monster she always had to have, the label covered in masking tape to escape product placement.

Tayce approached them both to comfort Aurora too, but as she did, cameras zoomed in on all three of them. Aurora pushed them both away and walked out of the tent, covering her face.

Ellie looked from the camera to Tayce and then back again, confused more than anything, and Lawrence, turning from her bench, looked back at them all with a frown.

“What’s going on here? Is she alright?” Lawrence pointed to Aurora, who was busy wiping her tears away in the far corner, with Matt Lucas at her side and a camera in her face.

“No,” Tayce muttered, “and she won’t be while there’s a lens on her.”

After that, Tayce kept half an eye on Aurora as she baked. She mostly ignored the cameramen as they hurried around the tent, taking stock footage of them cutting gingerbread shapes, using their ovens, and decorating, but Tayce purposely kept her mouth tightly closed, and her expression firmly neutral.

As Noel called for ten minutes remaining, Tayce was finishing the detailing of the roof of the stadium. The band were meant to be playing biscuit instruments and there was meant to be a crowd, but Tayce had settled for calling it a backstage pass moment, where VIPs could meet them, and just made models of herself and her friends.

“Time is up! Bakers, step away from your bakes!”

Noel called time, and Tayce took a step back to properly admire her finished product - and really, she was blown away by her own bake. The gingerbread houses she’d made in practise had gone alright, but this one, even in the pressure cooker environment of the tent, had gone almost perfectly, down to the timing of the bakes.

“Wow,” Tayce whispered to herself, “week one is done!”

She took a few seconds to admire everyone else’s in the tent. Some were much better than others. Joe’s looked a little strange - she’d meant to do a wedding scene with the gingerbread church, but the roof was crooked, and the gravestones falling over, not supported by the sticky sugar mixture they’d all used as adhesive. Cherry’s ambitious building was incomplete, and Tayce didn’t even know what it was meant to be.

But Asttina’s was incredible - a beautiful beach scene with a model of a beach hut and even a Ferris wheel. Ellie’s technical slip up was definitely repaired by the pub she’d built, adding fondant banners inside and making the dull gingerbread colours come alive with her imaginative take on the icing outside; while Lawrence had made a theatre, melting jelly babies to create beautiful stained glass in the windows, something Tayce kicked herself for not thinking of.

They all had a chance to leave the tent for a break, to sit outside in the shelter, and to have a breather before the actual judging of the bakes was done.

“I don’t envy the judges,” Joe said, her drawling voice awed, as she took in all of the gingerbread houses from their vantage point outside the tent. “They definitely have their work cut out for them, don’t they?”

“Everyone did amazing,” Aurora nodded, “it’s just a case of who did less amazing. D’you reckon they’ll just take this into account, or the whole weekend?”

Tayce didn’t know why she was worrying. Aurora had come middle of the pack in technical, but had been praised for her Signature, and her gingerbread house - modelled on her Nan’s, she had said - was so prim and dainty that Tayce knew the judges were going to eat it up, and not only literally.

“It won’t be you, chillax!” Tayce reached to rub her hand.

“Who d’you reckon it will be then?”

“Well, they tend to take into account the numbers assigned at the Technical challenge, and the Signature comments, to make the first analysis, at least,” Joe chuckled, “that’s what we see on the television. Who were the bottom three for Technical? I was tenth, Ellie was eleventh, who was twelfth again?”

“It’s - erm,” Aurora pointed, but the name escaped her for a second. “Tia. Tia was twelfth.”

“It’s probably between the three of us, then,” Joe said brightly, “unless something goes … horribly wrong to one of the Showstoppers. And how likely is that?”

As they looked through the panels of the tent, one of the gingerbread houses collapsed into pieces onto the tray it was set on.

Tayce glanced around the other eleven bakers to see whose it was.

One of the bakers had her head in her hands, shoulders tensed, while the two people on either side of her hugged her tightly.

——

“Seriously, Joe, how did you make that happen?” Aurora’s voice was hushed, tense, after the award for Star Baker and the first elimination had taken place.

Joe’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “I don’t quite know - maybe it was just something, spoken into the universe, made to happen.”

“Or maybe it was just gravity and shitty caramelised sugar sticking it all together,” Tayce added.

“Yes,” Joe replied, “or that too.”

Joe, Ellie and Tia had all survived their stint in the bottom at Technical - but Pip, who had come ninth in Technical, and whose Signature had received mediocre feedback, had laughed behind gritted teeth at presenting her collapsed gingerbread house - “More of an Ikea house,” Paul had commented cheerily - which had ultimately turned out to be too hard to bite into and had sealed her fate. Not even the lucky elf ears saved her from the first elimination.

“I was so sure I was going home this week,” Aurora sighed later that night, back at Norton Hall, where everyone had eaten so much of each others’ gingerbread houses that they all felt ill.

“You wouldn’t have, yours was good!” Tayce rubbed her arm. “Relax! It’s done now. Just focus on next week instead.”

“And I can’t believe Prue said she’d like to try a bit of carpet when they were looking at Ellie’s pub,” Aurora said, shaking her head. “Did anyone else catch that?”

“Yeah, I did!” Tayce sniggered. “They’re so innocent! This is just gonna be a load of innuendos all season, isn’t it? Imagine what they’re gonna say for next week too.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s cake week, isn’t it?” Aurora seemed to perk up. “That’s a bit more my comfort zone.”

Suddenly the door opened, and Asttina was led back inside the area by the cameraman and a producer. Everyone broke into applause - this time genuine, not the muted, polite sound that had echoed round the tent in the technical. Asttina had just given her winner’s interview and called her family, and now wore the Star Baker badge proudly on the lapel of her jacket, her grin wider than the Cheshire Cat’s.

“How did your mum react when you said you were Star Baker this week?” Bimini asked her.

Asttina smiled the warmest smile any of them had seen all weekend from her at the mention of her family. “They screamed so loud that you probably all heard it in here. My mum was falling off the sofa, my dad was waving a wooden spoon, my brother was banging on the floor with his feet - oh, it was great.”

“Well-deserved, babes,” Bimini nodded, and Asttina pulled them in for a hug.

Everyone else was clamouring around Asttina, congratulating her on her Star Baker win this week and admiring the badge she’d won - biscuit-shaped, or at least cookie-shaped - but Tayce hung back, exchanging a glance with Aurora, a glint in her eye; and both of them knew what the other was thinking.

Let’s not cross Joe Black. She might make our Showstoppers crumble.

——

ELEVEN BAKERS REMAIN

#rpdr fanfiction #juno #down with the recipe #rpdr uk #uk2 #taywhora #asttina x bimini #tia x veronica #ellie x lawrence #tayce #a'whora #asttina mandella #bimini bon boulash #ginny lemon #lawrence chaney #tia kofi #veronica green #ellie diamond #cherry valentine #gbbo au #lesbian au #fluff

[galaxyreaperwolf]

(So I created this rare pair ship Sonia x peko and souda x fuyuhiko story thing but I can't finish it so feel free to finish or read this) Sonia Nevermind was sitting on the ledge of the right tower in her golden ball-gown. Sonia looked up to the limitless sky, and suddenly she slipped. She fastened her grey-blue eyes shut and waited for the impact. Despite that, it never came. She cautiously opened her eyes and instantly saw the ground below her and a pair of arms?

A gentle voice suddenly pipped up and asked if she was unharmed. This voice was soothing, like honey going down a sore throat. The dear princess replied shaken, "I-I am unharmed."She politely replied still shaken. "Oh, do you require help getting off the ledge?" "Indeed."The truth was that she didn't need help. The princess intentionally wanted to have the arms carry her. They were affectionate and comforting. The arms easily pulled her from the ledge and propped her nimble feet on the tower floor.

As the enchanting princess looked around, she, fortunately, discovered the potential source of the gentle voice. It had gray hair in a ponytail, a bamboo sword bag, ruby wearing glasses, a ruby tiara, and a modest gray kimono with a dark gray cherry blossom design and an elaborate bow the same color. Telling the truth, it was a simple yet elegant dress. "A-Are you sure you're okay?" "Affirmative. Much appreciated for the help, Miss?" "Peko. Peko Pekoyama" "Oh well, thank you, Miss Peko." as she said 'Miss Peko' the princess started pondering why the name sounded similar. " You don't need to address me as Miss Peko." Oh, sorry, Miss Peko, It's a habit of mine" "Well, I suppose you may address me as Miss Peko" "Oh, thank you" "What were you doing on the ledge?" "I was star-gazing." "That's an enjoyable thing to do." 

"Indeed. Also, how did you prevent me from that dreadful fall?" "Oh, I was walking by when I saw you slip. I secured you before you could fall." "Wow, you must have quick reflexes." "Oh, I do. I practice with swords. I'm bound to be quick." "Swords? My parents would never allow me to handle swords." "Not even for self-defense?" "No, it's not ladylike, or that's what my parents say." "Well, I suppose they do possess a point, although it is a bit old-fashioned." "Do you happen to have any siblings?" "Indeed I do. His name is Fuyuhiko." 

"Oh, I believe I have heard that name before." "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you I was the princess of the neighboring kingdom." "W-WHAT?!" "Did I not inform you?" "No?" "I apologize. I suppose it had got away from me." "I forgive you." " Do you have siblings?" "Well, no. However, I do acquire a friend who's like a brother to me. His name is Kazuichi Souda." (so I was planning to do one where Sonia's parents are more strict and are very rude whereas Peko's parents are less strict and also more understanding. But you can do whatever.)

#sonia x peko #sonia nevermind #soudakazuichi #souda #souda x fuyuhiko #sdr2 peko #peko #peko pekoyama #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #princess au #au #fuyuhiko

[tookishcombeferre]

it’s just a passing thing

this shadow,

she thinks

the cracked window

fogs up with each breath

blown softly at the glass

patience is a virtue

cultivated by other humans

grown in sturdier soil than hers

or rather, she has patience

classrooms filled with budding minds

blossoming into little philosophers

circles run around the classroom

redirected back to their seats

ideas spilling forth a a mile a minute

reconsider - her mind

begs - that you have paitence for them

just not for this

sardonic smile creeps slowly over her lips

growing like a sticker weed across

fresh planted roses

she does have patience in droves,

just not for this

scorn and jeering at her profession yet

acknowledging her work

cannot be done another way

zeros once more;

heroes no longer

capes have gone silent in the wind

blathering voices raging on unceasing

parents blame her for problems

teachers did not have the representation

to solve

and she collapses beneath the weight

strained shoulders straining no more

fingers quaking at the end of a marathon

marathons she did not ask to run

finish lines that move further than designated

distance and pain she could not anticipate

she buries her head in her hands

releasing a slow breath like she would

when she is cross with her children

but, there is no teaching kings

no classroom for toddler politicians

no novel study to change the course of history

logic speaks this to her, and still

she prays and hopes that somehow,

someday, something will come to pass

shadows beset the city,

heart pounding in her chest

tears falling for all she cannot change

night is longest just before dawn

stars going dark in favor

of shadows

she knows this

she had studied enough science

but knowing and yearning are

two

dark

and separate streets

streets that are still in silence

anticipating the dawning

sunrise

combeferre thinks politics: “shadows”

~Pip E.

#combeferre #the miserables month #les misérables writing prompt #les miserables #poetry #my poetry #pip does life #special interest #me projecting? never

[ao3feed-creek]

To Be So Lonely

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3lZd6g2

by craigorytucker

South Park was a town fueled on rumors and football. There was never anything to do, so people talked. And they talked a lot. Despite everything, Craig Tucker has managed to keep his sexuality AND family finances under wrap. All because he was one of the star football players. But-when an old friendship blossoms his senior year of high school-maybe the truth wouldn't hurt for once.

Words: 6180, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: South Park

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Craig Tucker, Tweek Tweak, Tricia Tucker, Thomas Tucker, Laura Tucker, Clyde Donovan, Token Black, Jimmy Valmer, Damien Thorn, Phillip "Pip" Pirrup, Kenny McCormick, Bebe Stevens, Wendy Testaburger, Nichole Daniels, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, Richard Tweak, Mrs. Tweak (South Park)

Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak

Additional Tags: this is such a cliched high school au, so I hope you enjoy it, (will add more tags as time goes on!)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3lZd6g2

#Tweek x Craig #Craig x Tweek #IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic

[matthewschueller]

The 16 Best Things to Do in Portland Oregon - From a Local

Why Visit Portland Oregon? Advice From a Local.

Portland Oregon is a quirky, eclectic mix of crazy personalities and stunning natural beauty. Every time we fly back into Portland, we’re stunned by the view of Mount Hood overlooking the emerald green forests surrounding the city. There’s no place like it, and it continues to surprise us. The city is filled to the brim with evergreens, top-tier restaurants, green spaces, bike lanes, and unique neighborhoods. Just an hour from the coast or the mountains, the options for hiking and outdoor activities are limitless.

Besides the fact that Portland is basically a city within a giant forest, it has an interesting way about structuring its neighborhoods. Throughout the sprawl of the city, there are tons of neighborhood centers, each with its own unique personality and feel. What we love most about Portland is its irreducible attitude about not giving-a-shit about what anyone thinks about it. Portland is super weird, and it’s proud of that fact. From Voodoo Doughnuts, Powell’s City of Books (the world’s largest bookstore), to Darcelle’s (our personal favorite), anything here is accepted and loved as is!

Above that, Portland is an incredibly gay friendly city. Many have asked where the gay district Is in Portland, but really, we think the whole city is kind of gay. It’s awesome, and we feel totally 100% free and comfortable no matter what part of the city we’re in. Skip down to the 16th list-item below to see a bit more about the LGBTQ+ community in Portland.

It’s no surprise that Portland has become a popular destination for people from all over, and we’ve had many friends and family members ask, “What should we do in Portland? What should we see in Portland? Where should we eat in Portland!?" Well, we are here to answer all of that HERE!

Here are The 16 Best Things to Do in Portland Oregon

1. Get Lost in Powell’s City of Books

Powell’s City of Books is an iconic destination in Portland. The bookstore is 4 stories tall and takes up an entire city block. It holds more books for sale than any other bookstore on earth. It’s enormous, and you can actually get lost in there (I have)! On the top level, there’s an isolated room full of first edition and signed books, including original print copies from series like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. It’s amazing.

2. Eat as Many Donuts in Portland as Possible

We’ve all heard of Voodoo Doughnuts, and while this is a staple of Portland’s quirky eccentric attitude, these aren’t the best donuts in the city. Don’t get me wrong, we love Voodoo, but there are a couple Portland donut shops that have risen up above the rest over the last decade.

Pip’s Doughnuts

For something a little more classic, head to Pip’s Original Doughnuts and Chai. Known for having some of the most delectable chai in the greater Portland area, Pip’s offers donut holes topped with classic and seasonal custards and cremes. Whether you come in the winter for a rich Banana Custard and Salted Nutella doughnut or a little closer to spring to enjoy their Meyer Lemon Pear Butter doughnut, you will always be able to pair them with a perfect chai or matcha.

Blue Star Donuts

Blue Star crafts its donut creations out of a brioche base from scratch and pair that with fresh fruits, herbs and spices, even liqueurs. Whether your in the mood for something fresh like their Meyer Lemon and Key Lime curd creation, something rich like the Chocolate Almond Ganache, or a classic Old Fashioned (of which there are three varieties), Blue Star has a myriad of flavors that stem from the surrounding area to tantalize your tastebuds.

3. Shop on Nob Hill’s 23rd Avenue

Perched on the North West side of downtown, 23rd Avenue holds some of the best cafes and restaurants of the city. Stroll down 23rd Ave. and grab a coffee at Barista, browse unique gifts at Paper Source, check out the view on Restoration Hardware’s rooftop or find your favorite crystals at the small pop-in shops along the way. 23rd Ave is a beautiful neighborhood full of ornate victorian homes. Walking around the area is a treat, and this is a prime area for good shopping. One of our favorite places to grab a pick-me-up is Tea Chai Te. We love sitting out on their outdoor balcony overlooking 23rd Ave.

4. Have a Scoop at Salt & Straw

Their first storefront opened on 23rd Ave. and now Salt & Straw is pretty well known throughout the West Coast. With intense and crazy flavors, Salt & Straw typically boasts a line out the door and around the corner. Try their famous Sea Salt and Caramel Ribbon, Honey Lavender, Pear & Blue Cheese, or seasonal varieties like Bone Marrow & Smoked Cherries or vegan Coconut Milk with Cashew Brittle & Pandan! Everyone is welcome and encouraged to try as many flavor samples as they’d like while standing in line. Try them all!

5. Enjoy the View at Pittock Mansion

Pittock Mansion is a famously beautiful mansion overlooking downtown Portland from Forest Park. You can catch one of the best views of Mt. Hood from there, and in the Spring, the rhododendrons around the mansion are kind of magical. It’s one of the must-see places to anyone visiting! Pittock Mansion is best to visit on sunny days in the Spring, but is perfect for photography all year around.

6. Sip Lots and Lots of Coffee

This one is without saying. Portland has great coffee. Obviously, you have to try Stumptown. Their coldbrew is unbelievable—like nectar-of-the-gods-good. It’s chocked full of caffeine, so sip slowly! Check out their iconic location in the Portland Ace Hotel downtown. The lobby of the Ace Hotel is an iconic photo spot and an even better place for people watching. Other favorite coffee shops include Ristretto Roasters, Never Coffee, Heart Coffee, Barista and Good Coffee; just to name a few.

7. Find Some Peace at the Japanese Gardens

In the hills over downtown, the Japanese Gardens holds acres of rhododendron, blossoming trees and small ponds surrounded by bamboo. It’s a peaceful place to spend the day just far enough away from downtown. With views of Mount Hood, the famous Japanese Gardens attracts tourists from all around the world.

8. Stroll Down Mississippi Ave.

Mississippi Ave. is lined with some of the best restaurants and bars of the city. It’s really active any night during any part of the year, and is always bound to bring a good time. It also has a ton of cute trendy shops and cafes. Hanging out there is one of our favorite things to do on any given weekend! The food cart pod on Mississippi Ave. has cheap and tasty options including Matt’s BBQ and Little Conejo Food Cart. Our favorite spot to grab a bite on Mississippi is ¿Por Qué No?. This hugely popular taquería serves some of the best tacos and guacamole we’ve ever had. Food isn’t the only thing that has us coming back to this neighborhood, the bars are the best. Our favorites include Prost! for beer, Interurban for cocktails, and Psychic Bar for one of the most interesting witchy atmosphere’s we’ve experienced!

9. Eat at the Food Trucks

Portland’s street food culture also has made a name for itself. In the summer, you’ll see everyone out biking down to the food carts to grab Koi Fusion, Chicken and Guns, or Nong's Khao Man Gai. There are so many food trucks in Portland, we could do a whole blog just on which ones to try… and there are a lot we can recommend. Our advice, try as many as possible during your visit. The food culture here is just as good in the streets as it is in the sheets... or restaurants, oops.

10. Explore the Alberta Arts District

Few spots are more classically Portland than Alberta Avenue. The arts district is filled to the brim with Portland grunge. Graffiti stained walls, independent and bustling coffee shops, food carts and enough weed to get the entire state high. You can find yourself wanting to stick around Alberta Ave. for a while. Head to this neighborhood to admire the graffiti art, go bar hopping, or try any one of the incredible restaurants. We recommend Pok Pok, Pine State Biscuits, Proud Mary’s and Bamboo Sushi to start!

11. Hike in the Colombia River Gorge and See Multnomah Falls

The Columbia River Gorge is home to some of Oregon’s most iconic natural wonders. Located just a 30 minutes drive from downtown, Multnomah Falls is the most popular natural tourist attractions in the state. The historic falls plummet from the foothills leading up to Mount Hood and is perfectly framed by the iconic stone bridge located just in front. It’s a very short walk from the parking lot to the falls, but for those looking for a hike, there is plenty of trail beyond the falls. The Colombia River Gorge is full of adventurous trails that will lead you up paths to find countless waterfalls and epic views of the gorge.

Here are a few of our favorite hikes and views:

Hike in Oneonta Gorge —

Oneonta Gorge is itself a scenic canyon located in the Columbia River Gorge. The U.S. Forest Service has designated it as a botanical area because of the unique aquatic and woodland plants that grow there. There are four major waterfalls on the Oneonta Creek as it runs through the gorge. Middle Oneonta Falls can be seen clearly from a footpath and is very often mistaken for the upper or lower falls. The lower gorge has been preserved as a natural habitat, so there is no boardwalk or footpath through it as such. Thus, Lower Oneonta Falls can only be seen by walking upstream from the creek's outlet. Getting to the lower falls can require wading through water that, in some places, can be chest-deep, depending on the season and the relative amount of snow-melt. Bring your waders if you want to see the iconic lower falls!

Hike to Latourell Falls —

Latourell Falls is one of the easiest waterfalls to access while still having breathtaking height and power. Access from Portland takes you first to the Bridal Veil exit off of I-84E and then a quick double-back toward the city along the Historic Columbia River Highway. Park your car at the small lot and walk about 0.5 miles down the trail until you reach the falls. There is a 2.4 mile hiking loop if you want to enjoy the scenery around the area even more, see the falls from above and hit a second viewpoint at the Upper Latourell Falls.

Hike to Angel’s Rest —

One of the closest hike’s to the Portland metro area with rewarding views of the Columbia River Gorge. This is a moderately paced hike with clear paths, good elevation gain and is an easy day trip from the city. Due to its proximity this can be a slightly busy trail but is very peaceful at the early morning hours. If you want to secure your parking spot and have a climb with little disturbances definitely arrive before 9am.

Take Pictures at Vista House —

Vista House was built in 1917 on one of the most beautiful scenic points along the Historic Columbia River Highway. Prior to the construction of I-84, this building was intended as a place of respite and relaxation for those traveling along the highway. There is still an espresso bar with snacks during hours of operation, but the main reason to stop here are the breathtaking views in all directions.

12. Take a Day Trip to Cannon Beach — Haystack Rock

On one side of Portland you have the mountains, but on the other side is the beach! An hour and a half West from downtown Portland is Cannon Beach. Perhaps just as a popular as the falls, every traveler must plan a day to check out the Oregon Coast. You’ll find impressively wide beaches with powerful waves, along with striking cliffs and rock structures jutting from the water, like the famous Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. Spend the day walking down the beach, sitting in the sun, and exploring the tide pools around the rocks. Pelican Brewing Co. at the edge of the beach is our favorite spot to hang out, grab a couple beers and watch the sun set over the historic Haystack Rock. We try to make it out to Cannon Beach at least a few times a year, we love it!

13. Drink All the Beers

Arguably, one of the best parts about visiting Portland is the sheer number and variety of breweries throughout the city. Honestly, you can make an entire trip centered around trying the beers here. We are regulars at 10 Barrel Brewing Co.’s rooftop bar in the Pearl District. We also love enjoying a local tap at Departures Lounge on the rooftop of The Nines Luxury Hotel downtown. Departures also has amazing sushi if you’re looking for a bite to eat! You’ll find us enjoying a local IPA but if hops aren’t your flavor try the local blondes, ale or stout! We have them all! Other great breweries to checkout are Deschutes Portland Brewery, Migration Brewing, Breakside Brewery, Rogue Brewery, Occidental Brewing, Baerlic Brewing, Ecliptic Brewing and many more!

14. Go Wine Tasting in the Willamette Valley

For every brewery in Portland there’s another winery outside the city waiting to help get your drink on. The Willamette Valley outside of Portland is known for its world class Pinot Noir. And really, the wineries are not far from Portland’s City Center. If you’d prefer to stay in the city, there are plenty of tasting rooms like Boedecker Cellars and Cerulean Wine. Our favorite wineries to visit just outside the city are Hawks View Winery, Domaine Drouhin, Brooks Vineyards, and Stoller Family Estate. Wander down to Willamette Valley Vineyards just an hour south of Portland for some of the best Pinot Noir the West has to offer. All of the above wineries have shipping available for those who’d like to bring some bottles home without the hassle of getting them through the airport.

15. Bar Hop around Portland and Drink the Night Away!

As a warmup, we’ve mentioned all the breweries and wineries to try around Portland. We’ve also mentioned some of our favorite bars along Mississippi Ave and the Alberta Arts District. Here are a few of our all-time favorite bars and shows around the city.

Scandal’s

This is our favorite gay bar to hang at. It’s a pretty relaxed bar, no fluff. It’s comfortable, not intimidating, and an easy place to grab a drink and relax. I love this place because of how welcoming it is, and the drinks are honestly super cheap!

Blow Pony

This is a hugely popular queer event held once a month in Portland. It is a riot, and things get crazy. For those up for a party, it’s worth coming to Portland just for this! Wear as little as you’d like!

Darcelle’s XV

Darcelle has a history with the city. As the oldest practicing drag queen, Darcelle and her girls throw a comedy show four nights a week that will leave you on the floor. We went here for our bachelor party and had one of the best nights of our lives. They are so sweet, take no shit, and will give you a show you’ll never forget. 

16. Celebrate Pride in Portland

We love walking down Harvey Milk Street downtown, popping into Scandal’s for a bit and having a drink with friends. Portland is a big city, but still feels kind of small. The community here is super personal and extremely friendly. I remember my first time at Portland Pride and how I essentially just felt an overwhelming sensation of belonging. It’s tight knit, and people really look out for each other. The gay bars are scattered throughout the city, so it isn’t dominated to just one section of town. The free-spirited, anything-goes mentality is something I’ve only also seen in places like The Castro or the West Village. There are two gay beaches, one at Sauvie Island and another at Rooster Rock, in the Columbia River Gorge. There are also a ton of community and sports groups like the Portland Frontrunners, who I run with every Tuesday and Saturday.

More to Explore

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#Portland #Oregon #Portland Oregon #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQ+ travel #gay travel #gay Portland #PDX #what to do in Portland

[losille2000]

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0EnpbnkPuDglMJ7nc3jC4x?si=m9XAKvyjRA63VQbs_IAhNA)

This is the Mister America “soundtrack.” It has some general songs about America, but each state has at least 1 song related to it. 

For a full tracklist and to see which songs go to what state, see below the cut.

Songs about America:

“The Star Spangled Banner” National Anthem (F. Scott Key/Whitney Houston)

“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (Traditional/United States Army Band and Chorus)

“America the Beautiful” (Ray Charles)

“Captain America March” (Hollywood Movie Theme Orchestra)

“Star Spangled Man” (The Star Spangled Singers/Captain America)

“Captain America” (Alan Silvestri) 

“American Patrol” (Glenn Miller/United States Air Force Band)

“The Stars and Stripes Forever” (John Philip Sousa/United States Marine Band)

“America” (Neil Diamond)

“Born in the U.S.A” (Bruce Springsteen)

“Hail to the Chief” (James Sanderson, composer/US Marine Band)

State Songs:

Alabama - “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Alaska - “North to Alaska” (Johnny Horton)

Alaska - “The Alaska Song” (Lacy J. Dalton)

Arizona - “Take It Easy” (Eagles)

Arkansas - “Arkansas Traveler” (Harry Glenshaw)

Arkansas - “Arkansas Farmboy” (Glen Campbell)

California - “California Love” (2Pac, Roger, Dr. Dre)

California - “California Girls” (Beach Boys)

Colorado - “Rocky Mountain High” (John Denver)

Connecticut - “Yankee Doodle” (Traditional)

Connecticut - “Connecticut’s For Fucking” (Jesus H Christ and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse)

Delaware - “Delaware Slide” (George Thorogood & the Destroyers)

Delaware - “Delaware” (Perry Como)

Florida - “The Florida Song” (Ricky Sylvia)

Florida - “Miami” (Will Smith)

Georgia - “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Gladys Knight & the Pips)

Georgia - “Georgia on My Mind” (Michael Buble)

Hawaii - “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” (from Lilo and Stitch)

Hawaii - “Ke Kali Nei Au/Hawaiian Wedding Song” (Makaha Sons & Friends)

Hawaii - “Over the Rainbow” (Israel Kamakawiwo’ole)

Hawaii - “What a Wonderful World” (Israel Kamakawiwo’ole)

Idaho - “Idaho” (Benny Goodman)

Illinois - “Sweet Home Chicago” (The Blues Brothers)

Indiana - “Going Back to Indiana” (The Jackson 5)

Iowa - “Iowa Stubborn” (from The Music Man)

Kansas - “Home on the Range” (Gene Autry)

Kentucky - “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys)

Louisiana - “Born on the Bayou” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Louisiana - “House of the Rising Sun” (The Animals)

Maine - “Portland, Maine” (Tim McGraw)

Maryland - “Good Morning Baltimore” (from Hairspray)

Massachusetts - “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” (Dropkick Murphys)

Massachusetts - “The Devil Came Up to Boston” (Adam Ezra Group)

Michigan - “Detroit Rock City” (KISS)

Minnesota - “Rock n Roll is Alive! (And It Lives In Minneapolis” (Prince)

Mississippi - “Mississippi Queen” (Mountain)

Missouri - “Missouri Waltz” (Glenn Miller)

Montana - “Montana Lullaby” (Ken Overcast)

Nebraska - “Omaha” (Counting Crows)

Nevada - “Waking Up In Vegas” (Katy Perry)

Nevada - “Viva Las Vegas” (Elvis Presley)

New Hampshire - “New Hampshire” (Town Meeting)

New Jersey - “Jersey Girl” (Bruce Springsteen)

New Mexico - “Santa Fe” (from RENT)

New Mexico - “Taos, New Mexico” (Waylon Jennings)

New York - “Theme from New York, New York” (Frank Sinatra)

New York - “New York State of Mind” (Billy Joel)

North Carolina - “Wagon Wheel” (Old Crow Medicine Show)

North Dakota - “North Dakota” (Lyle Lovett)

Ohio - “Ohio” (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

Oklahoma - “Oklahoma!” (from Oklahoma!)

Oklahoma - “Oklahoma Sky” (Miranda Lambert)

Oregon - “Eugene Oregon” (Dolly Parton)

Pennsylvania - “Allentown” (Billy Joel)

Rhode Island - “Rhode Island is Famous for You” (Blossom Dearie)

South Carolina - “Just A Little Bit South of North Carolina” (Dean Martin)

South Carolina - “Hickory Wind” (The Byrds)

South Dakota - “South Dakota Morning” (Bee Gees)

South Dakota - “Big Foot” (Johnny Cash)

Tennessee- “Tennessee Whiskey” (Chris Stapleton)

Texas  - “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (Traditional/Mitch Miller)

Texas - “All my Ex’s Live In Texas” (George Strait)

Texas - “La Grange” (ZZ Top)

Utah - “Utah” (The Osmonds)

Vermont - “Moonlight in Vermont” (Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstong)

Virgina - “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” (from Hamilton)

Washington - “Come As You Are” (Nirvana)

West Virginia - “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver)

Wisconsin - “Green Bay, Wisconsin” (The Might Mighty Bosstones)

Wyoming - “Wyoming Wind” (Caitlin Canty)

Wyoming - “Cheyenne” (Cale Moon)

#chris evans #mister america #captain america

[pippindot]

Weekly agility summary:

We did a 90 degree jump setup first. Pip did well on our first pass and went around the first jump on our second try. That was my fault, as I keep dropping eye contact with her when I'm moving. It's one of my biggest problems right now (frustrating because it is so fundamental). I think I just get fussed about where I'm going and I need to be able to move my feet without losing contact with her. We did get it eventually, and she also did really well coming back to try again even though she was off leash, so she is a rock star for that in my eyes.

Next we worked A-frame. Pip was acting up for it, so SUPER AMPED which surprised me because I didnt realize she liked that particular obstacle so much (I think we have only done it once or twice before). We had to approach and walk away and approach multiple times until she could contain herself. Once I let her go, she rocketed up the ramp and--to my horror and amazement--executed a massive dolphin leap over the apex of the frame. She actually landed in the contact zone and then kept going onto the grass with her momentum but, while a valid move by the rules, NOT SAFE. She was unhurt and actually scooted her little booty to the reward mat with her proper 2o2o position, but I was hyperventilating lol. Second pass at the A-frame, the instructor met her at the top with a cookie and again at the bottom to keep her from accelerating too much. Broke using our new tug which she had a blast with, though I think I let her have it for too long cause it had lost its magic by the end of class. Gotta keep the mystique.

Weaves went AWESOME this week. Still using boiled chicken exclusively for the weaves which is working well. I didn't even have to keep my hand directly in contact with her nose this week, she was following the wires mostly of her own accord and not wasting much time sniffing. So happy to see that muscle memory building up.

Did a bit of teeter work. Just walking up on the end already on the ground and feeling it fall an inch or so. There was a point I led her up to it poorly so she didn't have enough room to get her whole body on, and while the instructor was correcting me Pip just got off and adjusted herself correctly, lure be damned. Glad that she is smarter than me when turkey hearts are on the line.

Last we did some tunnel work. It was curved but that's no problem. Very pleased with how well Pip held her Waits this week, even though I still struggle to trust her, and how reliable she was off leash. I feel like she is really blossoming and has so much fun playing the game and getting to flex her athleticism. Already looking forward to next week.

#pip #12 months #1 year #agility

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Tooth-Rotting Fluff Masterlist

Links Last Checked: September 10th, 2022

part two

7 Years - neutralhowell

Summary: Loosely based on the song ‘7 years’ so I’d recommend listening to that when reading this. Phil is a writer and Dan is a singer, they grew up together and both made it big, usually, time tears childhood people apart however for Dan and Phil, this wasn’t the case.

Bills - trysomecats

Summary: Phil is paying the bills and discovers that after Spooky Week for the gaming channel, their electricity bill has risen quite a lot.

Break The Laws Of Love (ao3) - Profrock

Summary: Dan just wants to go home. His day has been long and exhausting and he's tired, damnit. But then he sees a man on the tube dressed in the exact same clothes he's wearing. What will happen through a meeting a pure coincidence, and will Dan finally be able to get the happy ending he's dreamed of?

Frozen Heart - succubusphan

Summary: Dan's life changed with the seasons. Watch as his world blossoms and starts to shine with love, support and self improvement.

Home With A Heartbeat (ao3) - JenCollins, WordsAblaze

Summary: Uni’s hard, so sometimes Dan ends up missing lunch. This time he goes to Phil, who gives him not only worried looks, a meal, and cooking skills, but also a home.

I’m Proud of Us - glitterrhowell

Summary: Dan and Phil have finished the first show of their tour and Phil can’t get over how beautiful and proud of Dan he is.

Love, pride, deep fried chicken. (ao3) - embrcethevoid

Summary: Dan and Phil go to America, and to the whole world, and through their minds, and on a date. Not necessarily in this order.

Love Scenario - botanistlester

Summary: When Phil first saw him in the spring, he thought he looked like bubblegum.

October To April - dabidevito

Summary: “Let’s get married,” he says, mildly surprised at the way his voice doesn’t even waver.

Dan pauses mid-click, hands hovering over his keyboard. He glances down at Phil, one eyebrow quirked up. “What, like today?”

Personal Getaway (ao3) - developerdaniel

Summary: the fic where Phil takes Dan on a mini vacation to a personal villa in Italy where Phil treats Dan like the prince he is and romance & smut ensue on this personal getaway from a busy life.

Snow Fights and Warm Cuddles (ao3) - Misha_with_wings

Summary: Phil playfully locks Dan outside in the cold, resulting in him cuddling Dan to warm his grumpy little butt back up.

Sometimes Dreams Come True - gravityplant

summary: Dan and Phil enjoys a date night and eats out after that they spend the night at the beach when Phil suddenly finds out someone has stolen his cap.

The Camouflaged Pupper - adorkablephil

Summary: Dan, Phil, and a little black dog.

Their Peace (One Another) (ao3) - CircusSetsuna

Summary: For them, it was all about each other.

The Stupid Sushi Bubble Bath Fic (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualday)

Summary: Dip and Pip cuddle and eat sushi and take a bubble bath like the nerds they are.

bonus: phil forces dan to read to him.

Tiny Hands and Wedding Bands (ao3) - hygge

Summary: Dan and Phil are keeping quite a big, and also quite a small, secret from the world.

Warning: Extreme Fluff (ao3) - Do_it_with_the_Howell_Lesters

Summary: A very short snapshot of morning cuddles at the end of Dan and Phil’s honeymoon. Extremely fluffy, you have been warned.

You Are The Choice I'll Keep Making (ao3) - maybeformepersonally

Summary: In a universe where soulmates travel forward in time once in their lifetime to be with their bonded and solidify their relationship, 23-year-old Phil jumps forward to 2019.

You’re A Roller Coaster - botanistlester

Summary: Phil goes to an amusement park with his friends but ends up having to ride a roller coaster with a stranger because he’s the third wheel.

Your Love (Make Me Feel Like) - cafephan

Summary: “But you love me.” It’s the kind of statement that doesn’t need an answer, it never has. It’s always been obvious, and Dan still thanks his lucky stars every day. Or: Dan plans a spontaneous getaway for himself and Phil.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phanfiction #phanfic #phan #masterlists #fluff #fluff masterlist