#Culinary wanderings in a parallel world

[overu-up]

Hmmm, what kind of anime is this?

[seraphicyamchalover77]

Desert Dust & Dragon Ball Dreams: A Deep-Dive Of My New Headcanon;

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*“Headcanons are where fandom and imagination collide in a glorious explosion of ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’”—Me, probably.

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✨ Intro: The Seed of a Headcanon

From the moment I saw Yamcha stalking travelers in the blazing sands of the Diablo Desert, I felt something click. That shade of brown on his skin in *Path to Power* wasn’t just a sun-kissed tan to my younger self—it signaled an origin story begging to be told. Over years of re-watching, sketching, and daydreaming, I wove together a personal narrative: Yamcha as a bridge between two rich heritages—half Chinese, half Navajo.

This isn’t an activist manifesto, nor a declaration of *official* Dragon Ball lore. Instead, it’s my playful framework, marrying childhood nostalgia with cultural textures that resonate deeply with me.

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🌄 Chapter One: Roots in the Middle Kingdom

* **Name & Nuance**: “Yamcha” literally means “drink tea” in Cantonese—a nod to Chinese culinary tradition. In a universe peppered with puns (Capsule Corp’s Bulma = “bloomers,” Master Roshi’s “turtle hermit” vibe), this feels *deliberate*, almost an invitation to see Yamcha as part of the East Asian mosaic.

* **Martial Arts & Mythos**: His Wolf Fang Fist, martial discipline, and wandering ronin-esque trajectory echo wuxia archetypes: lone warriors treading shifting sands, balancing honor and survival.

* **Philosophical Threads**: Beneath the bravado, I imagine him steeped in Daoist ideas—embracing yin and yang, seeking harmony in chaos. His early posture of “take what I need and vanish” mirrors the hermit sage drifting between worlds.

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🦂 Chapter Two: Desert Winds & Diné Dreams

* **Visual Catalyst**: That scene in *Path to Power*, with Yamcha’s deep russet complexion under the midday sun, sparked my “not just a tan” theory. To me, his hue wasn’t transient—it was ancestral.

* **Why Navajo?**

* **Landscape Parallels**: The Diablo Desert’s ochre dunes & spiky cacti felt uncannily like Monument Valley vistas.

* **Wolf Symbolism**: The Diné’s bond with wolves as clan guardians resonates perfectly with Yamcha’s signature technique.

* **Survival Skills**: His desert-hardened resourcefulness—the ability to find water, set traps, read the wind—mirrors traditional Navajo teachings about living in harmony with a harsh environment.

* **Spiritual Undercurrents**: I picture him whispering traditional chants under the moon, seeking guidance from ancestral spirits, balancing his chi with the rhythms of the land.

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🤝 Chapter Three: Collision of Cultures & Identity Crises

Being biracial in Yamcha’s world would add layers of tension and yearning:

1. **Dual Allegiances**: Torn between the stoic discipline of Chinese martial lineage and the ceremonial wisdom of Navajo elders.

2. **Outsider Syndrome**: Neither fully embraced by the desert clans nor by urban martial academies, he becomes the eternal drifter—trusted by few, admired by fewer.

3. **Fear of Connection**: His infamous stage‐fright around women? A manifestation of cultural dissonance: unspoken etiquette from two worlds, colliding and silencing him.

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🔍 Chapter Four: Plot Holes & Self-Roast

* **No “Real” Earth**: We’re on *Dragon Ball* Earth—no USA or China flags here. So my headcanon exists in a delightful vacuum.

* **Maybe It’s Just a Tan**: I get it. But childhood logic is ruthlessly literal: if his skin looked darker, it *was* darker.

* **Canon vs. Creativity**: I’m aware that blending real-world cultures into Toriyama’s playground can feel clumsy. Yet, headcanons thrive on charming imperfections.

* **Yamcha’s True Heritage?** Could be entirely Japanese..who knows

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🎉 Outro: Salvation for the Underdog

Yamcha never married the girl he was so much in love with, never landed the knockout punch, and became the punchline for decades of memes. In my fan-crafted universe, he’s more than a desert bandit—he’s a man woven from two proud legacies, seeking belonging. Half Chinese warrior-poet, half Diné wolf-spirit, fully underappreciated.

So here’s to Yamcha, the scrappy nomad with a heritage as blended as his fighting style—still chasing Dragon Balls, still chasing acceptance, and forever proof that headcanons are where the heart meets the horizon.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The Bear's legacy

The series finale has already been announced

I still think Sydcarmy will be endgame, of course. But most importantly, I also think that all Carmy said in this scene in regards to HIS LEGACY (because that's what he was talking about, not just legacy in general but his own based on what he learned from the legends that taught him well) is the clearest foreshadowing of what Storer has in mind to wrap The Bear up.

I say all of this now because I believe S4 will be the last one and after this S3 we were just served my mind keeps wandering to: HOW CAN WE GET OUT OF HERE?!?! HOW WILL STORER GET US OUT OF THIS. HOW WILL HE CLOSE THE OPEN LOOP HE LEFT US STUCK AT IN THE SEASON FINALE:

I already went over my idea of how the endgame for the entire series may look like here, before watching S3. But that was just an assumption (yet fully compatible with what I will elaborate on below).

These previous posts of mine, also tap into The Family tree concept and I suggest you check them out for context as well:

The tree

Found Family

What I think will happen in whatever way Storer wants to go about it is that even though The Bear, the restaurant will not go under, at least not as a result of this bad review:

Eventually, it might close its doors like Ever did (after getting 1 or more stars for Sydney), so Carmy can live and escape the prison of his own design that Richie mentioned:

Now, I'm prepared to make a formal prediction based on the script presented in ep 03x07 → Legacy, which I cross-referenced with LWTH.

And the parallelisms, which would take a way longer post than what I have time to make right now, all point in this direction:

The team will spread around the world/country to open their own restaurants/bakeries, etc. - This happens either in the post The Bear era or even if The Bear remains open.

Or in other words, like Storer Carmy said:

This will be the case for each member of the family:

And because the show is about "found family", they still find a way to remain together, even if at some point they go their separate ways to carry on with The Bear's legacy elsewhere as Carmy foreshadowed and just like Carmy carried on with Michael's at some point, which was the kickstart of the whole series.

Thus, it will be a full circle.

IMO, and this is unrelated to the book, The Bear will close its doors eventually or change its name and Sydney will open her dream spot, maybe where The Bear once was or elsewhere. Carmy will change careers and will crossover into other arts, such as painting. Let's not forget that he's already an artist of the culinary arts, so it will not be too much of a stretch. He seemed to have found his peace once in Copenhagen doing this and he keeps coming back to it, even now, as he hits rock bottom, he keeps turning to this type of art to try and cope:

He never seems to drift too far away from it.

I think this is where he's headed post The Bear. Back to his solace (which will include Syd too).

And this is what comes to mind → an Austenian happy ending for the entire family that was foreshadowed in 03x07 "Legacy".

The ending will be all about carrying on with Carmy's legacy or better yet, "Sydcarmy's Legacy", one way or the other. Kinda like this fic narrates here.

And I can't wait.

Bonus track: I hope they leave the door open to continue telling this story on the big screen, which if you didn't cheat and carefully read the Found Family context post I linked at the beginning, you now know was Storer's original idea for The Bear. This, unlike all I mentioned above, is indeed a stretch. But... a girl can dream.

[izzyyys-world]

Sid and Cassie headcanons

Early Relationship

1: Cassie and Sid often stay up until dawn, talking about everything and nothing. They find comfort in the quiet hours when the world feels still.

2: Sid is awkward with physical affection at first, but Cassie teaches him to be more comfortable with hand-holding, spontaneous hugs, and resting his head on her shoulder.

3: They develop a secret language of shared looks and silly phrases that only they understand.

4: Sid makes Cassie mixtapes, and she adores each one dancing around her room to the tracks while thinking of him.

5: Cassie introduces Sid to weird and wonderful foods, making picnics with strawberries, pastries, and anything whimsical.

Emotional Growth

1: Cassie helps Sid open up emotionally, while Sid becomes Cassie’s anchor during moments when she feels lost or anxious.

2: Sid constantly reassures Cassie that she’s enough just as she is. Cassie, in turn, reminds Sid that he’s worthy of love and acceptance.

3: They both encourage each other to seek therapy or healthier coping mechanisms. Sid becomes Cassie’s quiet cheerleader during moments of personal progress.

4: They learn to give each other space when they need it, developing healthier communication as their relationship matures.

5: Together, they talk about a future filled with travel, art, and finding happiness in the little things.

Adventures Together

1: They plan spontaneous weekend getaways taking buses or trains without set destinations, just for the adventure of being somewhere new together

2: They love lying on the grass at night, staring at the stars and dreaming up stories about constellations and parallel universes.

3: They explore quiet cafes and diners, seeking out the best desserts and spending hours people watching or sketching together.

4: Cassie drags Sid to music festivals, and despite his initial awkwardness, he ends up loving the carefree energy.

5: They make a game of getting lost in new cities, wandering into strange shops, parks, or bookstores, and collecting random trinkets as memories.

Creative Side

1: Cassie and Sid work on a zine together Cassie providing dreamy, abstract poetry and Sid drawing comic-style illustrations.

2: They keep a joint notebook filled with sketches, song lyrics, quotes, and little notes to each other. It becomes a scrapbook of their relationship.

3: Sid secretly takes photos of Cassie when she’s lost in thought or dancing. He captures her in moments where she’s completely herself.

5: They spend hours listening to records together, making up dances or lip syncing to their favorite songs in Sid’s room.

6: Cassie turns their shared memories movie tickets, pressed flowers, and photos into whimsical collages.

Future Possibilities (let's pretend everything that happened... didn't!)

1: They dream of getting a tiny apartment together, decorating it with mismatched furniture, fairy lights, and walls covered in art.

2: Sid and Cassie eventually move somewhere new together for a fresh start perhaps Paris, New York, or a quiet seaside town.

3: They become each other’s biggest supporters in finding their passions whether Sid becomes a musician, artist, or writer, and Cassie pursues culinary school or performance art.

4: They create small traditions like cooking together on Sundays, celebrating random anniversaries, or leaving surprise notes in each other’s bags.

5: Over time, their relationship becomes a story of self-acceptance and growth, teaching each other how to find joy and stability while still keeping life spontaneous.

[thedigirealm]

Best Places to Visit in Vietnam

Embark on an unforgettable adventure to Vietnam, a Southeast Asian nation where captivating landscapes seamlessly blend with a rich cultural tapestry and an irresistible culinary scene. From the emerald rice terraces sculpted into the mountainsides to the turquoise waters of Ha long Bay dotted with limestone pillars, Vietnam offers a kaleidoscope of experiences for every traveler. This comprehensive guide unveils the best places to visit in Vietnam, ensuring you discover hidden gems and iconic landmarks alike. As your taste buds embark on a parallel journey, we'll delve into the heart of Vietnamese cuisine, introducing you to the nation's most delectable dishes and the vibrant cities where you can savor them.

Northern Vietnam: A Tapestry of History, Mountains, and Bustling Cities

Hanoi, Vietnam's energetic capital, serves as a perfect introduction to the country's vibrant spirit. Explore the bustling Old Quarter, a maze of narrow streets lined with shops overflowing with traditional crafts and local delicacies. Immerse yourself in history at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, a poignant reminder of the nation's revolutionary past. Take a stroll around the serene Hoan Kiem Lake, a haven of tranquility amidst the city's energy.

A short journey from Hanoi lies Sapa, a breathtaking mountain town nestled amidst breathtaking rice terraces. Hike through emerald valleys dotted with traditional villages, encountering ethnic minority communities who have inhabited these lands for generations. Witness the sunrise paint the rice terraces in a golden glow, a sight guaranteed to leave you spellbound.

Venture further north to Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site adorned with thousands of dramatic limestone pillars rising from the emerald waters. Cruise through this awe-inspiring seascape, exploring hidden grottoes and marveling at the majestic rock formations. Kayak amidst the towering pillars, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Central Vietnam: Ancient Cities, Picturesque Beaches, and Imperial Splendor

Hue, Vietnam's former imperial capital, boasts a rich cultural heritage reflected in its magnificent Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City. Explore the serene grounds of the tombs of past emperors, each a testament to the artistry and grandeur of the Nguyen Dynasty. Hue is also a haven for foodies, offering the region's signature dish, Bun Bo Hue, a spicy noodle soup bursting with flavor.

Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dazzles with its charming old town. Explore the colorful Japanese Covered Bridge, a symbol of the town's historical trade links. Wander along narrow streets lined with tailor shops and art galleries, picking up unique souvenirs. In the evening, lose yourself in the magic of Hoi An as the town transforms into a sea of lanterns, casting a warm, enchanting glow. Savor the delights of Hoi An cuisine, including Cao Lau, a noodle dish with a unique texture, and White Rose dumplings, a delicate treat filled with savory pork.

Venture further south to Da Nang, a coastal city offering pristine beaches and exciting activities. Relax on the white sands of My Khe Beach, indulge in thrilling water sports, or embark on a scenic hike up Marble Mountain, a cluster of five marble and limestone outcrops. From Da Nang, a short journey takes you to Ba Na Hills, a hill station boasting French colonial architecture, a whimsical Golden Bridge held aloft by giant hands, and breathtaking panoramic views.

Southern Vietnam: Bustling Cities, Lush Deltas, and Idyllic Beaches

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, pulsates with energy. Explore the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office, architectural remnants of French colonial influence. Immerse yourself in the city's vibrant street food scene, savoring Banh Mi, a crusty baguette filled with savory meats and pickled vegetables, and Com Tam, a broken rice dish with grilled pork and a fried egg. Delve into the city's wartime past with a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of underground passages used by Viet Cong soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Escape the urban buzz and cruise through the Mekong Delta, a labyrinth of waterways fringed by lush rice paddies and verdant orchards. Explore floating markets overflowing with fresh produce and local crafts. Get a glimpse into the lives of the Mekong Delta people as they navigate the waterways in their traditional boats.

Southern Vietnam (continued):

Further south lies Phu Quoc Island, a tropical paradise boasting pristine beaches, turquoise waters, and vibrant coral reefs. Hike through lush rainforests, snorkel amidst colorful marine life, or simply relax on the hammock strung between swaying palm trees. Indulge in fresh seafood dishes specific to the region, like Goi Ca Tron (banana blossom salad with fish) and Canh Chua Ca Loc (sour soup with snakehead fish).

Food Adventures for the Soul: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam

As you explore Vietnam's diverse landscapes, embark on a parallel adventure through its captivating cuisine. Vietnamese food is a symphony of fresh flavors and textures, influenced by its neighbors and its own unique history.

Northern Vietnam:

Pho: This iconic noodle soup, a national treasure, features a flavorful broth simmered for hours with fragrant spices, rice noodles, and thinly sliced meat (usually beef or chicken).

Bun Cha: A dish originating in Hanoi, Bun Cha features grilled pork patties served with vermicelli noodles, fresh herbs, and a sweet and savory dipping sauce.

Bun Bo Hue: Hue's signature dish, this spicy noodle soup boasts a rich broth flavored with lemongrass, shrimp paste, and various cuts of beef.

Central Vietnam:

Cao Lau: Hoi An's signature dish, Cao Lau features thick rice noodles with pork, crispy croutons, fresh herbs, and a unique broth made with water filtered through a well containing Cham moss.

White Rose Dumplings: These delicate steamed dumplings resemble white roses with their translucent rice flour wrappers and savory pork filling.

Mi Quang: A specialty of Quang Nam province, Mi Quang features turmeric-dyed rice noodles served with various toppings like pork, shrimp, or vegetables.

Southern Vietnam:

Banh Mi: This ubiquitous street food staple features a crusty baguette filled with savory meats (typically pork or pate), pickled vegetables, fresh herbs, and a creamy spread.

Com Tam: A comforting broken rice dish, Com Tam features fragrant rice served with grilled pork, a fried egg, pickled vegetables, and a savory fish sauce.

Goi Cuon: Fresh spring rolls, a healthy and flavorful appetizer, feature rice paper wrappers filled with a variety of ingredients like shrimp, pork, vegetables, and vermicelli noodles, dipped in a peanut sauce.

Beyond the Plate: Culinary Experiences in Vietnam

Vietnam offers a wealth of culinary experiences beyond its delicious dishes. Take a cooking class and learn the secrets of Vietnamese cuisine from a local expert. Visit bustling night markets, where vendors offer an array of street food delights. Enjoy a traditional Vietnamese coffee, strong and brewed with a unique metal filter.

Conclusion-

Vietnam is a destination that caters to all types of travelers, from history buffs and nature enthusiasts to foodies and beach lovers. With its diverse landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and mouthwatering cuisine, Vietnam promises an unforgettable adventure.

[my-fanfic-library]

Something Different {BBC Dracula x Reader} [6]

Masterlistt

A/N: really quickly I just wanted to thank you all for the love and support on this fic. I’m so overwhelmed with all of the attention it got so far and I can’t tell you all how happy your likes and comments and reblogs have made me. I’ve just had the worst three months of my life and I haven’t been this happy in such a long time, so I just wanted to say thank you all so so so much for giving this dumb fic your time and affection it really means the world and more to me ❤️ I also just wanted to say that I’m not being ignorant or rude with not replying to people in the comments, this is a side blog of mine and thus tumblr won’t let me comment on this account - only as my main. Please know all of your comments have left huge smiles on my face time and time again and everyone who has requested to be on the taglist is on there. There’s a few accounts that won’t let me tag, so I am sorry to those individuals, I have tried my hardest to rectify the issue and I’ll continue to do so until it works.

Enough of my blabbering, let’s continue with your’s and Dracula’s journey❤️

~^*^~

You looked past Dracula’s face for a second, eyes locking with Zoe’s as she frowned. Her back was pressed against the wall, standing close to a man armed with a gun and the usual (stake and cross). Again, you found yourself in the glass box, sitting at the large desk with the vampire sitting opposite you. Today, he had been granted one wine glass of blood, which was sitting beside him. A gentleman and a wine glass went hand in hand, and you didn’t really mind the fluid that filled the glass.

“Must we proceed with such formalities?” Dracula sighed.

“Yes, Drac.” You rolled your eyes, focusing back on him.

“And why is that?”

“Because this is my job.” You crossed your legs as you sat, trying to get comfortable under the heat of his gaze, “now, today we’re going to talk.”

“As opposed to the sumo wrestling we did last time?”

“Funny.” You sneered, rolling your eyes, “I just want to know a little about you.”

“Ask me anything, darling, I’ll spill all my secrets to you.” He tenderly took the glass between his fingers and took a sip. He gasped, like he had been deprived of air and he was finally getting oxygen back into his system.

“I want to know, specifically, about blood. The last time we spoke here, we talked about the Demeter, remember?”

“How could I forget? It was in those moments you captivated me, [First].”

“Enough flirting, I’m trying to earn a living here.” You scolded.

“My bad, go on.” He licked his lips, deciding he wanted to create a little eye contact with you. His mind wandered back a week, to the second night he was ever allowed entrance to your humble abode. It was the most interesting affair.

~^*^~

You sat curled up on the sofa, as you did most evenings, watching the usual soaps when your door knocked. Instead of getting up to answer, you allowed it to open itself and a low “only me” rumbled to your ears. When your living room door opened, you peered over to see the familiar face of your vampire acquaintance. He took no time in strolling in and settling down into the plushness of your La Z Boy. Clearly he favoured that seat above all others in your home.

About ten minutes passed as he allowed you to watch the end of your soap, and when the credits began to roll, you stretched out on the sofa. Dracula eyed you, much to your obliviousness, and then spoke up.

“I’m glad to see you got my message. Thank you for trusting me.”

“Yes, I was meaning to ask about that. When did you get a phone?”

“Oh, it was a gift from my lawyer.” He told you nonchalantly.

“Your lawyer?” You cocked your eyebrow at him.

“Yes, I helped start the law firm back before I even met Jonny, you see, so he told me he feels indebted to me. Bought me the phone to help me settle in and adjust to the new world.” He explained.

“Right. Well, should we go for a quick walk?”

“A walk-...” he cut himself off, “seems good...” his attention on you had all but disappeared as he watched the next show begin to start. A food show, showcasing all sorts of delicacies, “gracious, and to think back when I was a mere mortal all we had was over-boiled starches...”

“Yes, culinary has come far, hasn’t it?”

“Is that chocolate?” He ignored your question, “but it’s so expensive!”

“Actually, it’s extremely cheap now. Besides, why are you of all people worried about the fate of chocolate? You don’t even eat it.”

“Humans are always so greedy for the delicacies of life. I suppose such things as pineapples are common as well.”

“We can literally grow them here now.”

“Let’s walk.” He chirped, clearly irked at how society had decided to treat such magnificent things.

“Honeslty, though,” you spoke, “I’d kill for some melted chocolate and strawberries.” You threw the words over your shoulder as you walked to the door.

A soft “oh” came from your lips when you swung open your front door to find a heavy drizzle greeting you. You felt Dracula’s hand slide over your back and then the sound of material as he opened up your umbrella. He stepped out, nicely sheltered with nylon. He held his hand out for you to join him. Not thinking twice, you took his hand and found yourself pleasantly surprised when he linked his arm with yours.

You allowed him to lead you where he wanted, first nearing the river before deciding to walk parallel to it. Walking in silence, you listened to the gurgle of the river and the sweet birdsong up in the thick canopy of trees. It was nice to know that the birds were enjoying their break from the hot weather.

Dracula took you up the steep hill that lead towards the viaduct, and once at the beginning of the ginormous structure, turned left, away from it and further away from Whitby town. The cindertrack this way was not lit at all and you found yourself relying on sheer instinct and the man beside you. Your heart began to race a little, wondering why on Earth he was leading you down this dark path.

Below your feet was an odd mixture. The firmness and sharpness of small rocks and pebbles, and the sinking feeling of the drowned cindertrack that clung to the underside of your shoes. On more than one occasion, you found yourself slipping and had to cling on to the vampire for dear life.

How ironic.

A good chunk way down the track, where a holiday park was a little in front of you and positioned to the left of the track, Dracula stopped and turned to face you, keeping the umbrella perched high above you to prevent you from getting wet. Now your heart really began to run.

“No need to panic, I just want to talk.” He explained gently.

“What is it? Why did it have to be here of all places?” You grumbled.

“I’ve brought you here because it occurred to me that your neighbours liked to listen in. To save you any trouble, I thought we’d talk here where no one would hear. Well, I’ve brought you close to where there’s other humans, so that if you needed to scream, they’d hear and come running.” He spoke in a tone of seriousness, but once finished, broke out into a toothy and boyish grin

“You’re not funny. It’s dark and wet. What did you want to talk about?” You folded your arms.

“Your proposal last night. Your life, for someone else’s? Will you gift me with the information of this so called meal you wish to bestow on me as a token of your gratitude?”

You froze. In your delirium, you had promised Dracula another’s life for your own. Although you genuinely hated that person from the bottom of your heart, could you ever send such a cruel doom to them? How could you live the rest of your life knowing that you, and solely you, had caused their death? All over some teenage heartbreak? Their behaviour had lead to your drastic move, your enrolment in such a dangerous occupation, your distrust of anyone and everyone. Did that justify you sending a vampire to feast on them?

Then again, if you didn’t deliver, what would Dracula do to you? You would have lied to him and he had already spared you once before with a warning. Do not cross him again. Did you dare to defy him? Did you dare to retract your proposal? Even if you sent him to that person, there was never a guarantee that he’d let you be. He could always strike out. Were you willing to risk that?

“Yes... there’s somebody down south, in London to be exact. I... I think she’d suit your tastes very well...”

“I hope you’re not just sending me as a revenge plot [First]. I would hate to have completely misread you.” He continued to grin.

“Not... entirely...”

“Not entirely? You bad girl. And I thought you were afraid of me? Now you’re using me as a weapon? How cold of you, [First]... How very...” he grinned at you, a wretched grin that seemed to highlight the exact type of evil he was. It may have stayed on his face for a second, if that, but it was enough, “delightful.”

“Don’t get too excited, toothy. I don’t know exactly where she is.”

“Give me her name, darling. I will be able to find her. Hopefully she can live up to your promise.”

“You’ll really go?” You asked, genuinely surprised at his willingness.

“You trusted me with entrance to your home, as well as being utterly alone with you. I’d like to return the favour and believe your words, as well.”

“I see... well before I tell you, you must promise to come to the Foundation a week today. I promised Dr. Van Helsing I’d continue my study on you.”

“You have my word.” He bowed his head a little in sincerity.

“In that case, the person in London you’re looking for is Lucy Westenra.”

~^*^~

Dracula eyed you as you glared at him. Had he done something wrong? It took all but six seconds for him to realise just how badly he had zoned out. He wondered how long you had been speaking, how much of your words he had missed thinking about that evening.

“You didn’t hear a word of what I said, did you?” You inquired, tone laced with annoyance.

“Now, that’s not true, I heard that sentence.” He smirked with a familiar boyish charm.

“I asked you about blood. You told me that when you drink a person’s blood, you build your skills. Care to elaborate for me?”

“Of course. You see, I believe you call it DNA nowadays, but when it is consumed, due to my... superhuman abilities, I am able to absorb in sorts, the very DNA. I can acquire desirable attributes all by drinking blood.”

“And that’s why you chose your victims carefully aboard the Demeter?”

“Indeed. My goodness, you are a smart little lady once you get that brain working, aren’t you?” He leaned forwards, gaze boring into your eyes. He liked the way they sparkled with life, glistened with mortality. He wondered what you saw in his eyes.

“You’re the one telling me, I’m just piecing together things that I already know with the new information you’re giving me.” You shrugged.

You continued to talk to Dracula, writing down important notes on him as he spoke to you. His voice carried easily and as you were already too aware, was very pleasing to the ear. For a long time, you bantered back and forth as he gave you answers to the questions that you needed. He seemed very at ease with you. Every now and then, one of you would glance over at Zoe, who kept a strange look of discontent on her face.

You looked over at Zoe once more, who tapped her wrist to signal that your time was up. You alerted Dracula of this, and also informed him that he would need to stay in the Foundation until sundown.

“I do have one last question for you, though,” you whispered. Zoe did not need to hear this, “where have you been for the past week? Did you find... it.”

“Indeed I did.” He smirked.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, but you ignored it and stalked out of the cell, leaving him alone. Zoe informed you as you left that she wished to speak with Dracula, and you were free to go. When you left that room, you collided into another familiar person.

Jack.

“Sorry, [First], I saw you coming but I guess I couldn’t stop in time.” He flushed a little.

“That’s alright.”

“Were you just in there with Count Dracula?” He inquired lowly. It was as if he was worried about the vampire hearing his words.

“I was getting information. Why?”

“Well... Dr. Van Helsing and myself... we’re a little worried about how close you’re getting to him...”

“Jack, it’s my job.” You glared lightly at him.

“I know that, but-“

“But nothing. If he wanted to kill me, rest assured I’d already be undead by now.”

“[First]-“ he began with an annoyed sigh, however you pushed past him and stalked away.

You decided not to go home, and instead found yourself sitting on a lonesome bench overlooking the harbour. Your eyes continued to wander towards the sight of the Abbey stood proudly on top of the cliffs. It was a very attractive town, Whitby. You could see why Dracula would want to become acquainted with it. It was picturesque and oozed with an old-fashioned aura only a small seaside town such as this could ever wish to. It was perfect in every way.

Sitting looking at the sight, you couldn’t help but think about Dracula’s visit to London. You wondered if he would return after today. He seemed to have forgotten you a little. He would occasionally send you a text (something that still made you laugh with the ridiculousness of it) but for the most part, he seemed very much preoccupied with London.

Had he already taken her life?

Had he really found her or was he bluffing to save face?

That night at around 11pm, when Dracula had still not come to visit you, you let your curiosity get the better of you. You only wished to know if she was still living. Maybe he hadn’t found her after all, and had travelled south again to continue searching for her. After all, London was a very big city.

Facebook was the obvious choice as you typed in her name. It came up straight away with the amount of mutual friends you shared. Her face was still as beautiful and youthful. Still as deceiving as her outward personality. She had begun to see an American boy, you noted, maybe a month or two ago, however, his own account seemed to be missing from her page. You knew why. Even if some men did know she was taken, they’d still happily bed her. You supposed she just liked the secrecy of this permanent man in her life. You scrolled down a little, looking through shared games and memories when one post struck you as odd.

‘Lucy Westenra is feeling... naughty 😈

[not usually into older guys, but.... ;)]’

So he had found her... and the fact that he had kept her alive made something odd stir in your stomach.

Two months passed without hearing a word from Dracula. You had begun work with Zoe and Jack - a secret project looking into the undead with the information Dracula had given you, along with ancient accounts found from the nunery Sister Agatha had been a part of. Although no undeads had been reported for a few decades, it was still worth a look into given the complexity of Dracula and the possibility of more dangerous creatures like him lurking out there.

Zoe was more than a little concerned at his disappearance. You chose to neglect to tell her that you had sent him to London to murder an old friend. She didn’t need to know that. And neither did Jack, considering his crush on Lucy had seemingly tripled in the time you had not spoken. You had to question his choices, in all honesty, considering how kind-hearted and tender Jack was and how... well, promiscuous and without inhibition Lucy was. They could not be more mismatched and you wondered if Jack knew this at all.

It wasn’t that you were jealous of his feelings towards her. It was more that you were disappointed. You would never confess that to him, though.

Whilst Dracula was gone, you were able to live your life somewhat normally again. You occasionally found yourself wondering over where he could be but other than that, your life returned to normal. You could sleep in peace, knowing that he was hours away from harming you. It was a nice break from the whirlwind friendship you had formed with him. Was it a friendship? Did you have any right to call him a friend? The thought made you feel ridiculous. What kind of person befriends a vampire?

You honeslty had no clue, but the way things had turned out, it seemed you hadn’t befriended him at all. He had disappeared. It made you a little disappointed - the realisation that he maybe wouldn’t come back. But it was most likely more unhealthy to loiter around a vampire than it was to not.

~^taglist^~

@vampiregirl1797 7 @avalanet @bunnyreese12 @nerdonpluto @teamceleries @grifffins @hitbythunder @winterseoul @mymagicsuitcase @angeli-fucking-cat cat @benedictethegoddess @bloodhon3yx @nifflersravenclaw @writteninthestars288 @labelladrama @frankcastlesgrunts @angelicdestieldemon @quakerlasss @aliisa-jones @wolverinexmenn @clairedragonessbaker

[sebthesnipe]

Pencils

A prompt that myself and @gilby-the-geek-girl​ decided to do a ‘write this in your style’ involving Logicality roommates and Ticonderoga #2 Pencils

You can read her’s here.

Also check out her main AU that its based in on AO3 here.

If you’re interested here are some links to my work as well:

The Collection (My Oneshots)

My Dearest Procyon (My Multi-Chapter Magical!AU)

Other works by me

Now! Lets get this party started!!!!

Logan gave a small curse as another one of his pencils broke inside his cheap sharpener. He tilted the small plastic container to get a better look inside. Sure enough, a large piece of lead was stuck inside the small cone, pressing against the razor’s edge. He wouldn’t be able to resharpen his pencil until it was removed.

As he took the small pencil sharpener apart, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander. Perhaps, he could rearrange his budget to allow him to purchase some better writing utensils. Patton had already convinced him to spend some extra money on the ‘B2p’s. He had been right about them. The pens were 89% recycled water bottles, which was good for the environment, and they wrote very smoothly, which helped ease the pain that writing caused.

Carpal tunnel syndrome was far more unpleasant that Logan had expected it to be. Of course, he hadn’t expected to enjoy the tingling or numbness, but the sheer amount of pain it caused was staggering. The simple act of holding a pen longer than half an hour was something he could no longer do without the help of an anti inflammatory. His all night note taking sessions were now cut by more than half, and that was on a good night with a decent writing implement.

Surgery was possible, but it would pull him out of school for far too long, and cost more than he was willing to spend without the proper insurance. He was far too close to graduation and couldn’t afford the recovery time, mentally or financially. At least, not yet. For now, he would bide his time and push onwards towards his end goal.

He sighed as he pressed his pencil into the cleared sharpener and twisted. For now, he would make due. The pens Patton had recommended were more than satisfactory, but he only had a small budget for his supplies.

He removed the pencil and examined the now sharpened tip. The graphite was uneven, but pointed enough for his note taking, though the wood around it was rough and almost fuzz-like. It would smudge the graphite’s markings if he wasn’t careful. Luckily he was accustomed to such cheap craftsmanship and could make due with what he had.

He set the sharpener aside and took stock at the desk before him. Everything had its place. His box of untouched pencils sat perfectly parallel above his notebook, directly right of his lamp. His three subject college ruled spiral was open to a half written page, marked with a small blue tab indicating that it was on the topic of Mathematics (specifically Number Theory). Behind the blue tab, a number of tabs could be seen, neatly lined along the pages, each representing a different course. To the right of his spiral lay five sharpie brand highlights, each a different color, placed in a perfectly straight line. Every color had its purpose, just as every tab of his notebook did.

Logan could not compromise when it came to certain tools. He needed a brand of highlighter that would not bleed through his textbook pages or smudge his notes whether he wrote in pen or pencil. He needed pens that were a bit more pricey so as to ensure a smooth glide without bleeding or ink transfers. He needed index cards made of a decent caliber to avoid damage or creases. All of these things were important. Far more important than the way a pencil sharpened, or turned fuzzy or smudged when he tried to erase it.

There was no more room in the budget for any pencils better than the ones that he had and that was that. He would just have to live with the way the graphite would snap when he tried to underline something. He would have to deal with the way the lead would fall out of the faux wood, or the lines seemed muted unless he put more force behind it, which made his hands hurt even worse. It was all a sacrifice he must be willing to make. He couldn’t afford better.

He couldn’t help another small growl as he made a mistake on his graph and moved to erase it, the cheap eraser ripping through the paper. He stared at the spot for a long moment, willing himself to just leave it. It was just a small hole. He could work around it. He didn’t need to redo the entire page.

It was just a hole…

A tiny inconsequential hole…

Miniscule… infinitesimal….

UGH! Logan ripped the page from the spiral, crinkling it in his hands before tossing it into the bin next to him. Everything had its place! Everything was meant to be somewhere and a hole was not meant to be in the middle of his notes!

He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to push away the headache he could feel coming on just as his phone’s alarm began to sound. It seemed more time had passed than he had expected. Logan pushed to his feet, producing his phone and swiping away the alarm as he moved to pack up and head to his first class of the day.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Logan pushed open the door to their shared dorm, dark locks falling into his eyes as they dripped water onto the mat beneath his feet. He was silent as he kicked the door shut and began to shed his outer layers.

It was late. Far later than it should have been. Logan did not like when things didn’t go according to schedule. His second class ran long, which meant he was late to lunch, which didn’t give him the sufficient amount of time to go to the library as he had planned without skipping his meal. Which made him feel a bit lethargic during his third and fourth class, causing him to forget his bag, which had him missing his train. Which meant he had to wait forty-five minutes for the next one. Then the rain started, which was not in the forecast; which meant Logan’s ten minute walk home had him soaked through completely.

It had not been a good day.

He took stock of the small apartment. Patton must have already gone to bed. The poor man had four a.m. classes. Most culinary students started earlier than the rest of the students. It was no wonder the man was so early to bed. Well, ever since Logan provided him with the optimal schedule for his ideal personal time to study/class ratio that is. It seemed to be working out for him, though Logan didn’t get to see him much anymore, which was surprisingly disappointing. The man was far too chipper, but he certainly knew how to make Logan smile.

Logan headed for his room and the attached bathroom, dropping his bag next to his desk and trying not to drip too much on the carpet. He needed to get out of his sodding clothes before he caught a cold.

Fifteen minutes, a hot shower and some dry clean clothes later and Logan felt like a new man. He checked the time. There were still a few hours before bed. It wasn’t as much as he had hoped, but he could still manage some studying.

He moved to his desk, pulling out his chair and sinking down, thankful the day was beginning to wind down. He pulled his bag closer and dug out his spiral, opening it to the page he had been working on earlier that morning and laying it out neatly exactly where it belonged. He reached for his pencil and…

He froze. His usual box of 12ct #2b cheap off-brand pencils were buried. His heart skipped a beat as he stared at what lay atop them. He couldn’t believe it. Atop those horrid, demonic, sorry-excuse for pencils lay a box of 24ct Dixon Ticonderoga premium wood #2 pencils with latex free erasers.

Logan took a moment to calm his excited heart. Before he knew it, he was reaching out with a shaky hand, collecting the box for examination. The clear plastic had been unopened, each stick perfectly preserved within the transparent packaging. Logan turned the object over in his hands, admiring its beauty as he caught sight of thick black words scrawled in sharpie on the back.

‘To Logan, From Patton. I saw these and thought of you. So, I bought them. It just felt ‘WRITE’! XD’

Logan couldn’t help but give a snort at the joke before fumbling to open the box. It almost felt like Christmas had come early as he pulled one of the pencils from its place among the others and set the box aside. He took a moment to examine the utensil in all its glory before reaching for his sharpener.

He inserted the blunted wood and twisted. Once. Twice. Thrice. He heard the sound of the graphite against metal and pulled the pencil out, bringing it to eye level for inspection.

The sharply pointed lead was smooth and crackless, forming a seamless cone with the sleek pale wood that surrounded it. It had glided so perfectly against the razor’s edge and now stood regal and polished before him. It was perhaps one of the most stunning sights he had ever laid his eyes on.

His chest tightened as his smile widened, moving to redraw the graph he had damaged earlier. He drew the lead across the paper gently, the line coming out smooth and dark. Just as it should be. He flipped the pencil in one quick and fluid motion and erased a small portion, the graphite coming off cleanly and without much force. It was satisfying and rejuvenating.

How could he have ever thought a day like this could be bad?! He had everything he ever wanted! Warm clothes, a perfectly tempered room, his desk organized exactly as it should be, and a friend who cared enough to-

Realization hit, ‘The World’s Best Pencil’ falling from his fingers and clattering to his desk (without so much as chipping the perfectly pointed tip) as he brought his hand to cover his mouth in shock.

His heart pounded against his ribs almost painfully. His other hand tangled in his still damp locks. This couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t prone to emotional outbursts. Everything he did was purposefully calculated and scheduled. How could he… He wasn’t…. This wasn’t possible…. But the evidence was building against him.

Logan Sanders was falling in love with his best friend.

Taglist:

@nightashes

[ourmrsreynolds]

Hi, I’m wondering if you could answer my query. In the chapter Theon II of ACoK, he meets Asha after a decade, enough for her physical appearance to have changed & within a few minutes is attracted to her. Asha is somewhat similar to Arya IMO. We know that Theon’s a foil for Jon, based on this can it be reasonably predicted that Jon will be attracted to Arya almost immediately after they reunite even though he would know it is her?

I think Theon is indeed a foil for Jon, but I think we need to look at why he gets a hard-on for Asha in ACOK. It boils down to Asha doing an impressively believable rendition of a Cool Girl. This is the definition of the Cool Girl, courtesy of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl:

Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Here you have Asha who plies him with compliments and isn’t at all clingy, in stark contrast to the captain’s daughter (the one who was sucking him off in the previous Theon chapter) who actually has the temerity to beg him to take her for a salt wife in full view of the whole harbor!!! She’s weepy and needy and no fun at all. Asha otoh gently draws him out on his plans for the Iron Islands once he inherits the Seastone Chair, being sure to stop and praise his boldness and his vision every step of the way. So the point of the barely averted incest between Theon and Asha isn’t that you can be attracted to your sister after a lengthy separation, it’s that Theon doesn’t know Asha and never did. Asha of course is an attractive woman, and Arya will be too, and they both defy their society’s expectation for their gender, so I’m not saying there aren’t similarities them; just that Jon’s attraction to Arya would have an entirely different basis from Theon’s attraction to Asha, which was based on her stoking his ego. (Side note it breaks my heart that Asha asks him to return to Deepwood Motte “for the sake of the mother who bore us both,” and then when she gets back to Harlaw the first words out of her mom’s mouth are “Did you bring my baby boy” and Asha’s like “Theon couldn’t come” bc she’s trying to spare her mom the  the truth, and there’s so much guilt laced with her relationship with Theon you know? She feels guilty for not saving him from his own foolishness. She feels guilty for letting her mom down.)

ANYWAY what I actually want to talk about is what Theon being a foil for Jon means for Jon/Arya. Theon and Jon were both outsiders in Winterfell at the outset of AGOT; by the time ADWD rolls around Theon’s plot revolves around a bastard, a ghost, and a girl who is not Arya. “Roose is not pleased. Tell your bastard that,” Lady Dustin says, and putting aside why we are playing telephone (could Roose not have spoken to his own son himself?? they’re snowed in & they literally can’t leave the castle!) the way she says it implies Ramsay belongs to Theon and Theon to Ramsay. This is the chapter where Theon’s internal monologue repeats There are ghosts in Winterfell and I am one of them not once but twice. In the selfSAME chapter (Theon V “The Turncloak”). YOU KNOW WHO ELSE HAS A WOLF NAMED GHOST??? Also in this chapter: Theon corrects someone that “Lady Arya is not my sister.” Man, Barbrey Dustin is the the gift that just keeps on giving lol.

In conclusion: Theon’s identity is bound up with a bastard’s; Theon’s identity is implied to be a  GHOST or revenant; Theon is insistent f!Arya is not his sister. Then the coup de grace: Theon finds himself wandering in the godswood. Why? He’s not sure: “These are not my gods.” But you know who also rode two hours to a godswood so some recruits could say the words in front of a weirwood tree two chapters ago? Jon motherfucking Snow, that’s who. I mean, the parallels are astounding. Theon is thematically a stand-in for Jon in this chapter, and you will not convince me any different. And what is the overarching purpose of this chapter? Again, this is Theon V ADWD “The Turncloak.” Shoutout to my main bitch Barbrey Dustin who comes right out and says it: The North is rising for “valiant Ned’s precious little girl.” TELL ME AGAIN how Jon and Arya are not the most important people in each other’s lives

[osmw1]

Poison-Wielding Fugitive   Chapter 25

“Well, you certainly got what it takes. You’ve really shown yer skills with that monstrous medicine ya made.” “Dear, perhaps Mr. Cohgray is better than you at your own trade.” “What d’you just say?”

Ah, jeez… Arleaf’s parents are glaring at each other again. Are they on bad terms with each other?

“Oh, no, not at all. I’m just all talk; I don’t have much practical experience.”

Actually, Veno was giving me step-by-step instructions. Let alone it being made well, it was riddled with clumsy little mistakes. I simply don’t have much experience doing this stuff. But at least being a Poison-Wielder, I have my Senses and Masteries to fill in some of the gaps in my experience. Not like I want to be a White Mage anyway, so I think I’m fine like this.

I was thinking maybe I should dabble some more poison creation. I’ve never needed potions or anything since I have my Poison Absorption. But from this point on, I might need to run away to places other than the swamp. In that case, poison creation might come in handy.

“I’m just a wandering adventurer… I’m not an apothecary.” “Hmm… should we discuss this some more today?” “Yes, Mr. Cohgray, do tell us what kind of positions you’ll be putting Arleaf through.” “Huh?”

Putting aside the matter that Arleaf is definitely going to work for me, what do you mean “positions”?

“Umm… I’ll pick the herbs, get her to make them into potions, and to sell them too?” “That ain’t what we’re talkin’ about.”

That’s not it either? I was told not to lay a hand on her either. What else can a man do to a girl?

“You are an adventurer, Mr. Cohgray, so we were wondering kind of role you would be putting her in.” “Oh, that’s what you’re talking about!” “While our Arleaf is undergoing Chemist training in order to be an apothecary, she has also been practicing magic as well. I’m sure she can be useful to you.” “But seein’ how you can use magic too and you’ve got yer homunculus to take the front, we were just wondering what you’re thinkin’ to do with Arleaf is all.”

Oh, what? Does Arleaf’s parents know lots about battles?

‘They have suffered from Bloodflower for so long and yet were able to survive it. Perhaps they may be quite powerful.’

Well, maybe before they established their own store, they travelled around peddling their medicines. It seems like they get Arleaf to do it too. Plus, she frequently travels to the hills and dungeons. It’s only natural if they know a thing or two.

“Arleaf was planning to head to the church to change jobs, y’know? She can return to her Chemist training after she’s done serving you.” “If she follows you around, Mr. Cohgray, I’m sure she will learn a lot. Think of it as a shortcut by postponing becoming a Chemist.”

Her parents are saying she should spec into another class but would Arleaf be okay with that? Let alone common knowledge, I don’t even know the family values of this world.

“No, no. If Arleaf wishes to be a Chemist, I think she’s fine as is.” “Whatcha talkin’ about? She’s got lots more hidden talents, y’know?”

Hey, whoa. What are you hiding from me again? Oh, I can smell Arleaf’s cooking. … smells good.

“Mu?!”

Simultaneously… Muu begins twitching. It staggers into the wall and… huddles in the corner, almost as if it’s trying to say, “I’m just a normal mushroom.” Muu looks as if it’s about to plant itself down and then his eyes turn white. What’s wrong, Muu?!

‘… Muu has fainted. What happened?’

Veno, too, seems puzzled by Muu’s behavior. I look back at Arleaf’s parents and almost had a heart attack. All of a sudden, they both have gas masks on, seemingly retrieved from thin air. So it’s not just Muu. You lot, too.

“Mr. Cohgray, you are proficient at making antidotes, yes? I’m afraid it is now or never.” “If not, then… here.”

They plop down a gas mask in front of me… what the hell’s happening?! What do I need this gas mask for?

“… dinner’s ready.”

With a slight sullen look on her face, Arleaf throws… a plate of her cooking down onto the dining table. I have no words.

‘How… how did she turn those ingredients into this? How unfathomable! Surely this has to be a work of magic.’

The colorful dish gives off the impression of being food. Somehow, the ingredients still wriggle around even after being prepared. What the hell is this? It feels like I’ve failed a sanity check, resulting in a physical manifestation of my nightmares.

??? of Mimosa Wild Boar Quality: Inexplicable ??? of wild boar that has been prepared in a unique method. Paired with a side of ??? salad, this is a well-balanced meal.

Hey, the text has corrupted. What the hell is ???, Veno? Not to mention, what does “inexplicable” quality mean? I mean, that’s pretty special on its own, but to call it mysterious? Still flabbergasted, I point at the substance that is presented as cooking. Arleaf’s father nods.

“This is why our daughter still isn’t married yet! When nobles ask her hand for marriage, they turn tail and run away. Even the men of the village back off.” “You’re cruel, Father.” “You’re right. We shouldn’t have forced our daughter’s shameful display upon Mr. Cohgray.” “But if we don’t say nothin’ about it, someone’s bound to get hurt. Cohgray’s saved our lives after all.”

Her father says awful things while having a great laugh. Umm, what’s going on?

“Now then, won’t you have a bite? Just as an aside, we’ve buried this stuff in our yard once and not a single livin’ thing has been growin’ since. From time to time, we plant this stuff by the roads every so often to kill off the weeds. We even hang it from each corner of the village to ward off evil.”

“Then can I eat this?” is what I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue. I mean, Arleaf made it herself and everything.

“If you throw it in the swamp, the toxins actually get stronger. And you know how Arleaf has that monster-repelling incense that she burns? Yeah, that’s just this stuff watered down.”

I don’t think that’s anything to be proud about. This is the source of that smell, eh? So that means Arleaf possesses the skills of dark culinary arts… Poison Cooking, if you will. With no more than the most ordinary of ingredients and preparation methods, she created this work of art.

No, this isn’t some light novel I read when I was still a student. This is a parallel world after all. It actually exists.

‘I am extremely curious about the principles behind this. I have never seen this phenomenon before.’

Veno seems to be brimming with excitement for this still-squirming plate of food. I am not. And Muu’s passed out just by the stench. I’m afraid if I breathe this stuff in for too long, the poison will get to me and I’ll fall unconscious too. Arleaf flings open the kitchen window for ventilation.

“Arleaf is cooking again!”

After some villager shouted that out loud, the town turned calm and quiet. Perhaps her cooking is infamous already. How horrifying.

“Umm…”

I look over at Arleaf. Whether it’s because she’s uncomfortable with the situation or that she’s embarrassed by it, she blushes and hangs her head downwards. I think she’s self-conscious about it. She doesn’t want to have anyone eat her cooking. More than that, she doesn’t seem like she even likes cooking in the first place. If this were a fictional story, the main character would be oblivious and force others to eat it. But since Arleaf’s aware and didn’t want to cook anyway, I should forgive her.

“Perhaps she should marry into a household where they have servants to do the cooking.”

I mean, she had aristocrats eyeing her. If they knew beforehand, they should’ve been okay. Plus, she knows how her cooking is.

“Surely, they would be suspicious of her, seeing how it is…”

Ohh, if anything does happen, they’d suspect Arleaf of poisoning people to death. It’s not as simple as it seems, I guess.

“Not to mention that the villages around here like a girl who can cook well. Arleaf has it rough, y’know?”

Even though she’s such a cutie and she’s got such an honest character, her one weak point is keeping her from marriage, huh? Men usually want to see how a girl’s domestic skills are, but now I understand why Arleaf’s father has done this. He’s basically saying, “If ya want my daughter, you’ll have to accept this part of her too.” You can see how happy he is, being a father that doesn’t want to give his daughter away.

“She’s great as a Chemist though… I wonder why her cooking is like this.” “So, if ya want to get all chummy with our daughter, you’d best eat up. If not, we’ll just treat you normally, like her employer.”

What, you’re still going to threaten me after all this? No wonder Arleaf and her mom’s been giving him the cold shoulder.

“Father, you’re going to give it away to Yukihisa? But I made this all for you.” “That’s right, dear. Arleaf worked so hard, just for you. Now, open wide.” “Y’all tryin’ to kill me?!”

He went so far as to say he’s being killed. What a terrible father.

“Don’t worry about it. Dig in.” “N-No way I’m touchin’ that! Last time, I was stuck in bed for a week!”

This sure is some powerful stuff. If a bite is a week, then all of it… and you keel over and die.

“Come now, Father! I have kept you waiting for too long.”

Arleaf stabs a mouthful with a metallic fork to feed it to her dad. Though it’s made of metal, it sizzles as if it were being burning hot. Is this a new form of torture?

“Guh… I won’t die here today!” “You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.” “You can leave the store to me, Father.”

A matter of life and death is unfolding right in front of my eyes. But… it smells really good. Why, I wonder. I mean, it might disgust them, but that sweet scent is quite alluring to me. It’s familiar. Kinda like a good curry, just the aroma is enough to be mouthwatering.

‘You may be affected by the poison already. Perhaps she added something to lure you to try it… how interesting.’ “Uhh… is it alright if I take a bite?”

I don’t know whether it’s curiosity of instincts, but something’s urging me to try it.

“Huh?”

Not believing what she has just heard, Arleaf’s mother doubtfully looks at me. Her husband, who was looking for a way out of this, suddenly looks very happy and laughs out loud. Something doesn’t feel right, and I think I can take back what I just said, but my desire to try Arleaf’s cooking doesn’t go away. Oh, I know why. It’s definitely Poison Absorption that’s giving me this urge.

“Umm…”

I ignore their confused looks and go for it with my fork. I take a bite of what seems to be a wriggling piece of meat.

“Ah?!”

Arleaf and her family, frozen in place, watch me chew my food. Gah… the meat is moving in my mouth! It’s even coiling around my tongue with all its might and I can taste all of it. I’m not sure if it’s the meat disgusting by itself or how it was cooked, but I try to swallow it all. Perhaps this might be parasitic too, like Bloodflower Part 2.

And now for the critical review. It is not food for the living. It rejects all five of the known basic tastes—sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and savoriness. It’s not about how bad it is. It tastes like death. However, what I would call a taste of toxicity—and this may be unique to me—it completely overwhelms me in that regards.

The meat secrets a thick toxic flavor which surpasses all perfectly marbled meats. It dances on my palate, triggering my taste buds as it courses through my mouth, and it develops all sorts of flavors. It tastes like a beef-pork-chicken hybrid. Somewhat like tenderloin, somewhat like dark meat, and somewhat like liver… it’s an unending and ever-changing curious harmony of flavors. … why am I describing this like as if I were in some sort of food manga?

‘Hmm, is it really that delicious? I can sense what thou art sensi—hurk!’

Veno remains silent and I hear nothing else from him. I hear some sort of bubbling noise though. Veno? What’s wrong?

‘…’

Veno, you alright?! As much as I care for him, I care more for the food in front of me and continue gobbling down. My hand is moving on its own.

previously: /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /ch013/ /ch014/ /ch015/ /ch016/ /ch017/ /ch018/ /ch019/ /ch020/ /ch021/ /ch022/ /ch023/ /ch024/ /ch025/ /next/ (full list of translated chapters) (discussion thread on Novel Updates) (please support me on Patreon or Paypal)

[yoolee]

Modern SLBP Lord Story Parallels  (continued)

See Part One with Masamune, Kojuro, Shigezane and Yukimura

Kirigakure Saizo

Please pause for a moment to consider modern!assassin Saizo as the driver in all those glorious stunt driving getaways in Baby Driver trailer. Okay so for the life of you, you can’t figure out what Saizo’s job actually is. Some days he’s dressed as a janitor, other days a marketing executive, and at least once you could have sworn he brought his son to bring-your-kid-to-work-day. I mean, sure, Yukimura told you he was an assassin but this is 2017, there’s not a market for that, right? All you know is ever since you took a job catering for Takeda Corp, he hasn’t trusted you, and there is something both familiar and sort of terrifying about him, though that possibly has something to do with him showing up in your room at the company dorms day one threatening to kill you if you were, in fact, a spy. Which you aren’t, something you commiserate with the friendly florist next door to the company cafeteria. Shenanigans ensure, and you learn that the simple, straightforward world you’ve always believed in is a lot more dangerous the more money is involved, and the corporate world is as brutal, seedy and violently cutthroat as any gang war, and you are ill-equipped to navigate in the dark. How lucky for you that a certain shadow has an inordinate fondness for the company cafeteria’s new dango offerings…

Oda Nobunaga

What’s a cook to do when Japan’s Most Eligible Bachelor decides he wants you in his bed? Tell him to shove it, of course, because he’s an arrogant jerk. But the most successful business tycoon in the country isn’t exactly a man who gives up lightly; just look at his economic goals. Oda, Inc. is staged to singlehandedly bring the national economy back from the brink, and it’s clear to anyone watching the news that its ruthless—some would say hellish and foolish—CEO won’t be satisfied until his company is dominating the world stage without peer. His heartless firing of an old man who was days from retirement earns your objection and ire, and your interference with the whole affair gets his attention. Next thing you know, you’re a personal pastry chef to a man some say is even more powerful than the prime minister, and somewhere in the middle of midnight runs to deliver sweet treats, whirlwind trips to get ingredients from farflung corners of the culinary world, and some brutal corporate takeovers, you find yourself believing that maybe, just maybe, he’ll actually be the one to do it…

Lady Oichi

BECAUSE I CAN FIGHT ME In another era, the intimidating, quick-witted Oichi may have been forced to use her strength in more secretive measures, behind ornate robes and enigmatic smiles, but in today’s business world Japan there is little to hold her back. Wealth, exquisite looks, and a cutting wit both make her a target of people who covet either and both, but she is as much of a corporate warlord as her brother, serving as one of his executive vice presidents and holding her ground through fire and fallout, though rumors persist that she is intending to splinter off and strike off in a partnership with one of Oda, Inc’s subsidiaries led by Azai Nagamasa. You have no idea if the rumors or true or not—you’re just certain that if the clever beauty who compliments your cooking with firm praise wants to keep her secrets, she’ll have no trouble doing so…and more and more, you’re starting to think you’d do anything to be one of them.

Uesugi Kenshin

Truthfully, The Museum of Pretty Things I Found is…well it’s a bit of mess. The entire building is full of silliness and nonsense; crinkled leaves and rocks with a bit of a rainbow sheen to them, lanterns with crooked candles and heaps of fabric. The first time you wandered into it, you thought that surely it was a joke, or at least a very big waste of money by someone with too much of it if they could afford rent, electricity, security and staff! But over time, it tickled your humor, and you found yourself comforted by visits to the otherwise empty hall, wondering about the sort of person who would find and so truly treasure such things. This comfort becomes especially critical after a frightening encounter with your new employer leaves you shaken and unsure of your future. How fortunate for you that a beautiful man with blue eyes, who frequents the Museum as you do, happens to be there, and happens to know the owner of your silly sanctuary, who happens to be in need of a caterer for his company. Of course, when you get the application, you realize the company housing is only for men…

More of Lee’s Rambles

[newssplashy]

The scent in the workshop where Brian Christopher makes his wooden furniture is at once inviting and entirely unfamiliar.

American oak shavings on the floor of Christopher’s one-man business, Bicyclette, and pastries in the oven across the hall at an artisanal bakery, Machine Shop Boulangerie,

lend a certain aromatic ambience to the fourth floor of a former vocational high school in South Philadelphia known as Bok.

Christopher used to live in Manhattan and work in Hoboken, New Jersey, before migrating to Philadelphia, where he rented an apartment for half the price and watched his business blossom at Bok, a full-square-block complex that bustles with all manner of commercial enterprises, among them letterpressers and photographers, a hatmaker and a boxing school. Prospective tenants from New York are calling about moving into the retrofitted school, according to the leasing manager. And Italian sportswear company Diadora recently signed a contract to relocate its North American headquarters there from midtown Manhattan.

“One thing I like about Philly is it’s a bit slower paced,” Christopher said. “You do feel like you can slow down, and enjoy yourself a bit more.”

This New York-Philadelphia migration, fueled by a quest for cheaper living, has long existed. But this is not just the same story of young artisans priced out of Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. There’s another kind of New York transplant spreading out into Philadelphia.

Down the street from Bok, Kin Yeung finished prayers at Zhen Ru Temple and told a parallel story. She lived in New York’s Chinatown in 2003, regularly visiting Philadelphia to attend this Chinese Buddhist temple in two modified row houses. She soon saved enough money from her jobs in restaurants in New York to ditch her East Broadway walk-up to buy a house in Philadelphia. A second home soon followed, and now she’s a landlord of five properties, often renting to New York expats. “The houses in Chinatown are too small and little and old,” Yeung said, describing how eight people live in her old two-bedroom apartment. “New York City right now — they cannot afford the rent. Too expensive. No one can live there.”

And it’s not just the housing. Back in New York, a bag of bok choy cost as much as 89 cents. “And here I get it for 39 cents!” she said. Perhaps the best perk: In the yard of her home in Philadelphia, Yeung has space for a vegetable garden.

Yeung is part of a quiet wave of immigrants who stop for a few months or several years in New York before finding a more manageable city 1 hour, 45 minutes down the New Jersey Turnpike. These foreign-born ex-New Yorkers are enlivening Philadelphia’s businesses, restaurants and neighborhoods with a diversity only now beginning to come into focus.

The number of residents born abroad has increased 69 percent in Philadelphia since 2000, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, and immigrants now amount to nearly one-fifth of the city’s workforce. Many arrived via New York.

Bok is topped by two rooftop bars with dynamite views of the surrounding row house neighborhood, where, in a scene straight out of “Rocky,” vendors at the outdoor Italian Market still burn cardboard in garbage cans for heat in the winter. But scattered throughout that old Italian community are a dozen taquerias and an estimated 20,000 Mexican residents. In much the same way, West African immigrants are now dining at halal restaurants in West Philadelphia, and Russians are buying delicacies at the Brooklyn-based Eastern European supermarket NetCost, in the Bustleton neighborhood.

Northeast Philadelphia — an expansive region with strip malls and lawns that New Yorkers might recognize as a relative of Staten Island — is Pearl Huynh’s territory. A majority of the estimated 2,000 Chinese who are members of a new group she founded, the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association, migrated from New York City. Huynh was born in Vietnam to Chinese parents.

She has lived on Long Island, in Flushing, Queens, and in Chinatown, working as a software developer on Wall Street. Laid off in 2010, she moved to Philadelphia to be near family and began a new life owning and renting properties — and working as a volunteer, helping the legions of Chinese new to the city.

“I see many of them moving down from New York, and they’re kind of low-income and have language challenges,” she said. So every morning, Huynh sends messages to her members via WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, with YouTube English language lessons and announcements about neighborhood events and national holidays. She also educates them on the zoning rules regarding private gardens, and translates their mail during drop-in hours at the local library. Huynh said she had helped eight Chinese renters from New York apply for a Philadelphia property-tax exemption that enabled them to be first-time homebuyers. According to Pew, a majority of Philadelphia immigrants are actually homeowners, compared with an average of 37 percent across a selection of other cities.

“It’s like a flow of immigrants come from New York,” Huynh said. “I’m really proud I’m able to help them.”

Sylva Senat, who comes from Haiti by way of Brooklyn, can witness this renaissance from the roof deck at Maison 208, his sleek French-inspired restaurant and lounge. Senat fell for food when he took a culinary class at John Dewey High School in Gravesend that turned into an internship at Sign of the Dove, the former Upper East Side hot spot. He went on to become sous-chef at Jean-Georges at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York.

But while working as a chef, Senat also spent some time in Philadelphia — his sister and brother lived there. “Philly became kind of like the getaway from New York,” he said. His sister tried to convince him to move. He said she’d tell him, “It’s a lot more affordable, there’s a lot more things to do here, it’s a little more fun, it’s not as crazy as New York.”

Senat tried out at Buddakan, a game-shifting restaurant from the Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr. During his tryout, Senat spent two days in Old City, where restaurants and retail mix on colonial-era cobblestone alleyways. “I just fell in love with it,” Senat said. “It didn’t take much for Stephen Starr to convince me to stay in Philadelphia.”

Senat and his wife got an apartment right there in Old City. “We are definitely New Yorkers at heart; we like the busyness, and we like the bustle,” he said. “Once we got to Philadelphia it was like, ‘OK, not all major cities are as crazy as New York, and they don’t have to be in order to be great.'”

Senat said his friends in New York have inquired about Philadelphia, because they realize it’s just “easier to do things” in a city with about 1 million fewer people than Brooklyn. He relishes walking into a restaurant in the nicest part of town at 11:15 on a Sunday morning and immediately sitting down for brunch without a reservation. “It wasn’t like a big, you know, ‘Let’s plan this for six hours and let’s do it for two hours,’ which I think kind of happens in New York,” he said. “You have to be very specific about what you want to do and where you want to go, or else: ‘OK, now we’re wandering around New York City.'”

Immigrant or hipster, there’s a chief reason for choosing Philadelphia over New York: Cost of living. The American dream feels more attainable in Philadelphia at the moment. Asked about the flight of immigrant New Yorkers who are being priced out of the city, Seth Stein, a spokesman for New York City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, acknowledged the “challenges of income inequality and the affordability crisis that many New Yorkers face.” But Stein said that New York is still “the ultimate city of immigrants,” with health care and legal services offered to those newcomers.

Reasonable rents aside, Philadelphia is not an immigrant utopia. A ProPublica/Philadelphia Inquirer investigation recently concluded that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office based in Philadelphia is one of the most aggressive in the country, with high numbers of arrests of immigrants without criminal records. Peter Gonzales, who runs the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a nonprofit that assists new immigrants in Philadelphia, said Mayor Jim Kenney’s pushback against ICE has helped neutralize the deportation threat. Kenney sued Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold federal grants to sanctuary cities. In early June, Philadelphia prevailed, and Kenney did what can only be described as a happy dance on Twitter.

Immigrants are taking note, Gonzales said, getting a message from both their local politicians and their neighbors that they’re welcome regardless of ICE’s actions. “The tension is causing a lot of trauma and distress that people are experiencing, but it’s also bringing people together to fight back,” Gonzales said.

One of the activists fighting back is Prudence Powell. She was an unauthorized 12-year-old when she moved from Jamaica, in the Caribbean, to Jamaica, in Queens. At 17, pregnant with her son, she dropped out of high school. Powell struggled with poverty as she took off-the-books, part-time jobs in New York. At 21, she moved to Philadelphia and found her footing. She became a “Dreamer” through the DACA program for unauthorized young people, earned her GED at Temple University and began volunteering at the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition nonprofit. She now works there full time.

“Being in Philly has really opened up doors, sharing my story has opened up so many doors, DACA has opened up so many doors,” she said. And so has the affordability of life outside of New York. “New York is the first place you go, and then you branch out to Philly or Allentown or York or Baltimore,” Powell said. “New York is always the first stop.”

About 27,000 people move from New York to Philadelphia each year, according to the census, amounting to one of the largest migration flows between metro areas. A separate Baruch College study came up with a smaller overall figure but still concluded that more New Yorkers are moving to Philadelphia than the other way around.

Part of New York’s function, the study said, is to “receive large flows of foreign migrants and to redistribute people across the nation.” Those redistributed to Philadelphia will find a town on a winning streak. The population of the city is growing for the first time in decades, buoyed by both immigrants and millennials in Center City drawn by the luxury of living, working and drinking within the same few blocks. The skyline is rapidly expanding on both sides of the Schuylkill, punctuated by the nearly complete Comcast tower, the tallest building in the city.

The biggest good news for Philadelphians, though, is that the Philadelphia Eagles are finally Super Bowl champions. Public schools closed for the victory parade in February. That’s when Jason Kelce, the team’s center, donned a bedazzled lime green costume lent to him by a Mummers brigade, a Philadelphia-specific kind of performance group made up mostly of blue-collar men. He hollered at the thousands of assembled fans about how a team of underdogs defied expectations by going for it with a trick play on fourth-and-goal and won the championship.

“You know who the biggest underdog is?” he asked. He was speaking just feet from the statue of Rocky Balboa, one of fiction’s great underdogs. This is a town that lost both the capital of the United States and the home of the United Nations to New York, so there’s a bit of a chip on the civic shoulder. “It’s y’all, Philadelphia!” He then led the faithful in a profane chant that ended with, “Philly, no one likes us, we don’t care!”

The thing is, people do like Philadelphia. Immigrants like Philadelphia. New Yorkers, apparently, even like Philadelphia. But Philadelphia nonetheless feels forever slighted by her northern neighbor.

Down the list of transgressions, but not that far down, is the bitter memory of an article that ran 13 years ago in The New York Times Style section claiming Philadelphians occasionally refer to their city as the “sixth borough.” The writer, Jessica Pressler, lived in Philadelphia at the time but, according to the bio on her own website, “was virtually run out of town, and was fortunately granted asylum by New York.” She was excoriated for insinuating that Philadelphia was some appendage of New York.

Looking back on it now, Pressler said the piece “tapped into this resentment” that Philadelphia has toward its “big brother that lives really close and is cooler and gets all the attention.” But that perception may now be outdated, and for one major reason. “New York has gotten in that time so prohibitively more expensive,” she said.

“People don’t see leaving New York as a failure anymore like they used to,” Pressler said. “Now it’s like, ‘That’s a smart thing to do, why would you suffer here?’ You’re going to be able to walk to work and have a grocery store and have a patch of grass — that’s really cool.”

She now lives in Queens but said that two neighbors, both of immigrant backgrounds, recently told her they were moving to Philadelphia. “That sounds like a good idea,” she told them. “That sounds really nice.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Matt Katz © 2018 The New York Times

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Installing Java On A Mac? Beware The Now

The fifth most powerful business woman in America according to Fortune, DuPont's (s dd) CEO Ellen Kullman, has spent the last few years restructuring the two century-old company around using science to help meet the needs of a world population that will balloon to 9 billion by 2050. As Growstuff's user community grows, its data will become a valuable tool in measuring and assessing Melbourne's food production capabilities, by tracking the productivity of backyard harvests year after year. Once you've got a photo uploaded, the app has a selection of foodie filters to enhance your image, all with cute little food inspired names like Tapas and Tiramisu. Encourage your kids to help choose and make their trail mix, so they're extra invested in the results. As a student of the space, I've seen enough parallels between food and energy to posit that food may be the next frontier in green tech. Learn Martial Arts and Self Defense: $1.99 - Master teacher, Sensei Tom Levesque will help you learn these Martial Arts technique. The only shared quality seems to be that everyone eats, which somehow qualifies us all as food entrepreneurs. There's a bug (or a very questionable design issue) with upgrading farms and caravans, that causes them to produce a maximum of 4 food or 5 gold on their first production cycle, instead of the hundreds they should. June Intelligent Oven also works with sensors to improve timing and preparation, but can also recognize what food it's cooking. However if you consume the wrong food your character instantly projectile vomits until you start again. Calorie King's Nutrition & Exercise Manager has really helped me learn to eat better by thinking about what I'm putting down each day. In the former you must perform the push-up and sit-up exercises and, for the latter, you enter your daily food intake and My Health Coach: Weight Management will let you know if you're eating the right amounts of food for the amount of exercise you're doing. The idea is that all your data goes in and then it can come out via access to APIs. The great thing about assigning a fixed numerical value to a food by color category and portion size is that you don't have to bother looking up a lot of specific nutritional information; you just eyeball your plate and figure out what size each portion is and under what color the food would be categorized. Instead, it's recommended that farmers cut down on other sources of methane, like fertilizers, while also improving their cows' diets to help curb methane emissions. Food is not great, it's basically micro meals, but you can usually be sure it's fresh and in good condition. And that is sad, because English food is the disgusting skid mark on European food, of what is otherwise the best food on the planet. While all those data sources are already available to medical health professionals to help in their diagnosis and treatment, IBM hopes using machine learning will make the process faster and give an additional layer of insight. But it's totally fair for you to ask what his priorities are—and it's up to you to decide whether you're okay with that. Don't waste any more time missing out on the hidden gems you're favorite chefs frequent, keep reading to learn more about this app for serious food lovers. See, the funny thing is, while your army will consume food, they actually won't starve to death if you don't have any food. You need to take some time and do things that are going to settle your soul and help fill that void in you. I sympathize with the folks who get overwhelmed by the conflicting sound bites, headlines, and press releases on the latest nutrition research, not to mention all those diet books promoting the latest theory. Fact: Thanks in part to the popularity of the Paleo diet, which positions bacon and coconut oil as nutritional all-stars, there's a lot of conflicting information about saturated fats, and whether or not they're harmful for your health. Researchers are working on an antimicrobial film that would go inside food packaging to provide an extra barrier against pathogens.

For women who are active and using fitness apps to log their accomplishments, or for women who are getting in shape and using those same apps to track their progress, the integration of that data with sexual health data could yield some interesting insights. The researchers also discovered that food intake was inconsistent among the various test and control groups, and that even the smallest differences in food intake in primates were affecting aging and health. British food delivery giant Just Eat is a global player in online takeout ordering, and owns a 30% stake in iFood. He is an example of an entrepreneur who has built his food company first by hiring a bunch of Culinary Institute of America chefs to build a taxonomy for 6,000 foods and their associated tags. Prospera's crop monitoring system uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to help farmers improve their yields. The challenge is something - like the 1980s food processor - that not only gets bought but also daily use. I've been looking at the monthly food shopping bills lately and realised that stuff has gotten way more expensive over the past couple of years. Users can also ask their family and friends to sponsor them within the system to earn even more rewards. If you have any questions with regards to where and how to use mouse click the following article, you can call us at the website. But after you build up 3-4 boar traps and 3-4 dew catchers, you are completely set and are left with only wandering around the island in hopes that enough stuff will wash up on the shore to finally finish building that device to call out for help. You can search food items both by the barcode (you can use the in-built scanner or to enter the barcode manually) and by their names and brands. Of all the apps I reviewed, Livestrong had the most extensive database of food and exercise. Vivanda identifies food attributes and models them to consumer taste profiles, products, dishes, recipes, and beverages. The food logging pact and veggie pact are a little more forgiving: Food logging simply requires that you log your meals with My Fitness Pal , while veggie asks you to take photos of your veggie servings. This attention to Mind, Mouth and Muscle can also help with a condition highly associated with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder: weight gain A 2011 review found that 68 percent of those who seek help for bipolar disorder are overweight or obese. Volunteer groups are asking people interested in helping to stay home until roads are cleared, but you can share your contact information and time availability with them now. Evernote Food is an app that does one thing really, really well: allow you to keep track of the meals that you've eaten, where you ate and become your culinary lexicon. Experts recommend a white noise machine or ear plugs to help create a quieter, sleep time ambiance.

[hotelsmarket]

Mondrian Doha Hotel to Open This Spring in Qatar

sbe will open its first hotel in the Middle East with the launch of Mondrian Doha, Qatar in spring (quarter two), 2017. This soft opening will set the stage for Mondrian Doha's grand opening celebration, which follows in late September, 2017. The 270-room hotel has been designed in collaboration with Dutch designer, Marcel Wanders, along with South West Architecture - the architectural company of record for Mondrian Doha, responsible for the design of the building. The hotel will be an exceptional lifestyle offering for Doha and will be Marcel Wanders' first hotel for the region. Guests can choose from five distinctive room categories including penthouse suites, studio suites, one and two bedroom suites and a range of standard guestrooms - all of which share the universal design details of Swarovski crystal chandeliers and sumptuous bespoke furniture in hues to mirror the desert. Sam Nazarian, founder & CEO, sbe commented: "We are delighted to open our first hotel in the Middle East in Doha, Qatar which is one of the most dynamic cities in the region. We're additionally set to open two more hotel properties in Dubai in 2017 and 2018 and a number of restaurants. I know that Mondrian Doha will be an incredible destination for international and local travelers alike. It will be also a fantastic destination for the locals to experience all our culinary venues." He continued: "Following our acquisition of Morgans Hotel Group, sbe is now unrivaled with its unique platform, offering experiences encompassing all areas of hospitality. Mondrian Doha represents exactly this - you need never leave this luxurious destination hotel as we have all your desires catered to. That said, the city outside is remarkable - a thriving artistic centre, brimming with innovation and possibilities. I'm incredibly proud that sbe is partnering with such an admired group of people at South West Architecture and Toscana Ventures, who are leading figures in the region." Sensitively rooted in local Arabic culture, Mondrian Doha will express tradition with a modern point of view throughout. The hotel is the embodiment of Arabia through a modern lens, which in turn mirrors the modern reality of Doha - the Qatari capital that has grown immeasurably over the past few years, transforming itself from a modest fishing village into a global visionary capital. Mondrian Doha is symbolic of this tremendous growth and Qatar's future path.Advertisement The hotel will incorporate bespoke Marcel Wanders design features with influences from the beauty of local patterns, ornate Arabic writing and historic souks. Standout, memorable elements include giant columns with golden eggs, a 'tree of life' comprised of flowers, falcon video art, giant shisha, patterned carpets, ornate stained glass and intricate mosaic tiling. Marcel Wanders commented: "Stories connect us to our history, our culture and to each other. Stepping into Mondrian Doha begins the first chapter of a wonderful story that unfolds around every turn. Conceptually, we have married local culture with a modern design aesthetic. While many themes are collectively layered throughout the hotel, each individual space tells its own tale. Guests may therefore have many different experiences and weave for themselves a collection of stories to share." The essence of One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales and stories, has also influenced the design of the space, which is detailed-orientated and complex, with a number of facets, levels and layers. Structurally, the building of Mondrian Doha is shaped like a falcon, with many references to the national bird of Qatar also found inside; from paintings and portraits to falcon headpieces and ornaments. The location of the hotel next to Lagoona Mall in the West Bay area also acts as a gateway to the new Lusail City development, one of the world's most visionary single developments and a true representation of Modern Qatar. Mondrian Doha is a culinary emporium; with eight restaurants and bars - some of which are entirely new to Qatar - offering un-paralleled experiences in Doha. Middle Eastern cuisine is at the heart of Mondrian Doha's food and beverage offering along with internationally renowned chefs. This includes Wolfgang Puck, master chef and restaurateur, bringing his concept CUT by Wolfgang Puck to Qatar for the first time. The sleek contemporary steak restaurant offers a sophisticated menu featuring the finest cuts of prime beef and an extensive wine list, raising the bar on gastronomy in Doha. Furthermore, Japanese Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his seamless integration of Western and Japanese ingredients, introduces Morimoto Doha - the first eponymous Morimoto outpost to open in the Middle East. A fantasy-like environment, true to the Marcel Wanders design and the Mondrian ethos, is waiting to be explored by guests. Each day at Mondrian Doha will offer a new discovery and create a new memory – with enlightening scenes from the iconic lobby arrival through to the mesmerising stained glass dome skylight on the 27th floor. The striking, custom-designed four-level high spiral staircase acts as a focal point of the atrium and leads guests up to a viewing platform. This awe-inspiring sculptural piece gives the impression that the stairs extend to the sky, but provides a standing point from which to capture the moment on camera. Additional hotel facilities will include an entertainment floor complete with nightclub, rooftop pool and Skybar, an exclusive spa and a grand ballroom. Room rates at Mondrian Doha will start from $240 (£190).  Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

[newssplashy]

World: New Yorkers, finding the american dream in Philadelphia

The scent in the workshop where Brian Christopher makes his wooden furniture is at once inviting and entirely unfamiliar.

American oak shavings on the floor of Christopher’s one-man business, Bicyclette, and pastries in the oven across the hall at an artisanal bakery, Machine Shop Boulangerie,

lend a certain aromatic ambience to the fourth floor of a former vocational high school in South Philadelphia known as Bok.

Christopher used to live in Manhattan and work in Hoboken, New Jersey, before migrating to Philadelphia, where he rented an apartment for half the price and watched his business blossom at Bok, a full-square-block complex that bustles with all manner of commercial enterprises, among them letterpressers and photographers, a hatmaker and a boxing school. Prospective tenants from New York are calling about moving into the retrofitted school, according to the leasing manager. And Italian sportswear company Diadora recently signed a contract to relocate its North American headquarters there from midtown Manhattan.

“One thing I like about Philly is it’s a bit slower paced,” Christopher said. “You do feel like you can slow down, and enjoy yourself a bit more.”

This New York-Philadelphia migration, fueled by a quest for cheaper living, has long existed. But this is not just the same story of young artisans priced out of Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. There’s another kind of New York transplant spreading out into Philadelphia.

Down the street from Bok, Kin Yeung finished prayers at Zhen Ru Temple and told a parallel story. She lived in New York’s Chinatown in 2003, regularly visiting Philadelphia to attend this Chinese Buddhist temple in two modified row houses. She soon saved enough money from her jobs in restaurants in New York to ditch her East Broadway walk-up to buy a house in Philadelphia. A second home soon followed, and now she’s a landlord of five properties, often renting to New York expats. “The houses in Chinatown are too small and little and old,” Yeung said, describing how eight people live in her old two-bedroom apartment. “New York City right now — they cannot afford the rent. Too expensive. No one can live there.”

And it’s not just the housing. Back in New York, a bag of bok choy cost as much as 89 cents. “And here I get it for 39 cents!” she said. Perhaps the best perk: In the yard of her home in Philadelphia, Yeung has space for a vegetable garden.

Yeung is part of a quiet wave of immigrants who stop for a few months or several years in New York before finding a more manageable city 1 hour, 45 minutes down the New Jersey Turnpike. These foreign-born ex-New Yorkers are enlivening Philadelphia’s businesses, restaurants and neighborhoods with a diversity only now beginning to come into focus.

The number of residents born abroad has increased 69 percent in Philadelphia since 2000, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, and immigrants now amount to nearly one-fifth of the city’s workforce. Many arrived via New York.

Bok is topped by two rooftop bars with dynamite views of the surrounding row house neighborhood, where, in a scene straight out of “Rocky,” vendors at the outdoor Italian Market still burn cardboard in garbage cans for heat in the winter. But scattered throughout that old Italian community are a dozen taquerias and an estimated 20,000 Mexican residents. In much the same way, West African immigrants are now dining at halal restaurants in West Philadelphia, and Russians are buying delicacies at the Brooklyn-based Eastern European supermarket NetCost, in the Bustleton neighborhood.

Northeast Philadelphia — an expansive region with strip malls and lawns that New Yorkers might recognize as a relative of Staten Island — is Pearl Huynh’s territory. A majority of the estimated 2,000 Chinese who are members of a new group she founded, the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association, migrated from New York City. Huynh was born in Vietnam to Chinese parents.

She has lived on Long Island, in Flushing, Queens, and in Chinatown, working as a software developer on Wall Street. Laid off in 2010, she moved to Philadelphia to be near family and began a new life owning and renting properties — and working as a volunteer, helping the legions of Chinese new to the city.

“I see many of them moving down from New York, and they’re kind of low-income and have language challenges,” she said. So every morning, Huynh sends messages to her members via WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, with YouTube English language lessons and announcements about neighborhood events and national holidays. She also educates them on the zoning rules regarding private gardens, and translates their mail during drop-in hours at the local library. Huynh said she had helped eight Chinese renters from New York apply for a Philadelphia property-tax exemption that enabled them to be first-time homebuyers. According to Pew, a majority of Philadelphia immigrants are actually homeowners, compared with an average of 37 percent across a selection of other cities.

“It’s like a flow of immigrants come from New York,” Huynh said. “I’m really proud I’m able to help them.”

Sylva Senat, who comes from Haiti by way of Brooklyn, can witness this renaissance from the roof deck at Maison 208, his sleek French-inspired restaurant and lounge. Senat fell for food when he took a culinary class at John Dewey High School in Gravesend that turned into an internship at Sign of the Dove, the former Upper East Side hot spot. He went on to become sous-chef at Jean-Georges at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York.

But while working as a chef, Senat also spent some time in Philadelphia — his sister and brother lived there. “Philly became kind of like the getaway from New York,” he said. His sister tried to convince him to move. He said she’d tell him, “It’s a lot more affordable, there’s a lot more things to do here, it’s a little more fun, it’s not as crazy as New York.”

Senat tried out at Buddakan, a game-shifting restaurant from the Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr. During his tryout, Senat spent two days in Old City, where restaurants and retail mix on colonial-era cobblestone alleyways. “I just fell in love with it,” Senat said. “It didn’t take much for Stephen Starr to convince me to stay in Philadelphia.”

Senat and his wife got an apartment right there in Old City. “We are definitely New Yorkers at heart; we like the busyness, and we like the bustle,” he said. “Once we got to Philadelphia it was like, ‘OK, not all major cities are as crazy as New York, and they don’t have to be in order to be great.'”

Senat said his friends in New York have inquired about Philadelphia, because they realize it’s just “easier to do things” in a city with about 1 million fewer people than Brooklyn. He relishes walking into a restaurant in the nicest part of town at 11:15 on a Sunday morning and immediately sitting down for brunch without a reservation. “It wasn’t like a big, you know, ‘Let’s plan this for six hours and let’s do it for two hours,’ which I think kind of happens in New York,” he said. “You have to be very specific about what you want to do and where you want to go, or else: ‘OK, now we’re wandering around New York City.'”

Immigrant or hipster, there’s a chief reason for choosing Philadelphia over New York: Cost of living. The American dream feels more attainable in Philadelphia at the moment. Asked about the flight of immigrant New Yorkers who are being priced out of the city, Seth Stein, a spokesman for New York City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, acknowledged the “challenges of income inequality and the affordability crisis that many New Yorkers face.” But Stein said that New York is still “the ultimate city of immigrants,” with health care and legal services offered to those newcomers.

Reasonable rents aside, Philadelphia is not an immigrant utopia. A ProPublica/Philadelphia Inquirer investigation recently concluded that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office based in Philadelphia is one of the most aggressive in the country, with high numbers of arrests of immigrants without criminal records. Peter Gonzales, who runs the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a nonprofit that assists new immigrants in Philadelphia, said Mayor Jim Kenney’s pushback against ICE has helped neutralize the deportation threat. Kenney sued Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold federal grants to sanctuary cities. In early June, Philadelphia prevailed, and Kenney did what can only be described as a happy dance on Twitter.

Immigrants are taking note, Gonzales said, getting a message from both their local politicians and their neighbors that they’re welcome regardless of ICE’s actions. “The tension is causing a lot of trauma and distress that people are experiencing, but it’s also bringing people together to fight back,” Gonzales said.

One of the activists fighting back is Prudence Powell. She was an unauthorized 12-year-old when she moved from Jamaica, in the Caribbean, to Jamaica, in Queens. At 17, pregnant with her son, she dropped out of high school. Powell struggled with poverty as she took off-the-books, part-time jobs in New York. At 21, she moved to Philadelphia and found her footing. She became a “Dreamer” through the DACA program for unauthorized young people, earned her GED at Temple University and began volunteering at the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition nonprofit. She now works there full time.

“Being in Philly has really opened up doors, sharing my story has opened up so many doors, DACA has opened up so many doors,” she said. And so has the affordability of life outside of New York. “New York is the first place you go, and then you branch out to Philly or Allentown or York or Baltimore,” Powell said. “New York is always the first stop.”

About 27,000 people move from New York to Philadelphia each year, according to the census, amounting to one of the largest migration flows between metro areas. A separate Baruch College study came up with a smaller overall figure but still concluded that more New Yorkers are moving to Philadelphia than the other way around.

Part of New York’s function, the study said, is to “receive large flows of foreign migrants and to redistribute people across the nation.” Those redistributed to Philadelphia will find a town on a winning streak. The population of the city is growing for the first time in decades, buoyed by both immigrants and millennials in Center City drawn by the luxury of living, working and drinking within the same few blocks. The skyline is rapidly expanding on both sides of the Schuylkill, punctuated by the nearly complete Comcast tower, the tallest building in the city.

The biggest good news for Philadelphians, though, is that the Philadelphia Eagles are finally Super Bowl champions. Public schools closed for the victory parade in February. That’s when Jason Kelce, the team’s center, donned a bedazzled lime green costume lent to him by a Mummers brigade, a Philadelphia-specific kind of performance group made up mostly of blue-collar men. He hollered at the thousands of assembled fans about how a team of underdogs defied expectations by going for it with a trick play on fourth-and-goal and won the championship.

“You know who the biggest underdog is?” he asked. He was speaking just feet from the statue of Rocky Balboa, one of fiction’s great underdogs. This is a town that lost both the capital of the United States and the home of the United Nations to New York, so there’s a bit of a chip on the civic shoulder. “It’s y’all, Philadelphia!” He then led the faithful in a profane chant that ended with, “Philly, no one likes us, we don’t care!”

The thing is, people do like Philadelphia. Immigrants like Philadelphia. New Yorkers, apparently, even like Philadelphia. But Philadelphia nonetheless feels forever slighted by her northern neighbor.

Down the list of transgressions, but not that far down, is the bitter memory of an article that ran 13 years ago in The New York Times Style section claiming Philadelphians occasionally refer to their city as the “sixth borough.” The writer, Jessica Pressler, lived in Philadelphia at the time but, according to the bio on her own website, “was virtually run out of town, and was fortunately granted asylum by New York.” She was excoriated for insinuating that Philadelphia was some appendage of New York.

Looking back on it now, Pressler said the piece “tapped into this resentment” that Philadelphia has toward its “big brother that lives really close and is cooler and gets all the attention.” But that perception may now be outdated, and for one major reason. “New York has gotten in that time so prohibitively more expensive,” she said.

“People don’t see leaving New York as a failure anymore like they used to,” Pressler said. “Now it’s like, ‘That’s a smart thing to do, why would you suffer here?’ You’re going to be able to walk to work and have a grocery store and have a patch of grass — that’s really cool.”

She now lives in Queens but said that two neighbors, both of immigrant backgrounds, recently told her they were moving to Philadelphia. “That sounds like a good idea,” she told them. “That sounds really nice.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Matt Katz © 2018 The New York Times

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/world-new-yorkers-finding-american_22.html

[newssplashy]

World: New Yorkers, finding the american dream in Philadelphia

The scent in the workshop where Brian Christopher makes his wooden furniture is at once inviting and entirely unfamiliar.

American oak shavings on the floor of Christopher’s one-man business, Bicyclette, and pastries in the oven across the hall at an artisanal bakery, Machine Shop Boulangerie,

lend a certain aromatic ambience to the fourth floor of a former vocational high school in South Philadelphia known as Bok.

Christopher used to live in Manhattan and work in Hoboken, New Jersey, before migrating to Philadelphia, where he rented an apartment for half the price and watched his business blossom at Bok, a full-square-block complex that bustles with all manner of commercial enterprises, among them letterpressers and photographers, a hatmaker and a boxing school. Prospective tenants from New York are calling about moving into the retrofitted school, according to the leasing manager. And Italian sportswear company Diadora recently signed a contract to relocate its North American headquarters there from midtown Manhattan.

“One thing I like about Philly is it’s a bit slower paced,” Christopher said. “You do feel like you can slow down, and enjoy yourself a bit more.”

This New York-Philadelphia migration, fueled by a quest for cheaper living, has long existed. But this is not just the same story of young artisans priced out of Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. There’s another kind of New York transplant spreading out into Philadelphia.

Down the street from Bok, Kin Yeung finished prayers at Zhen Ru Temple and told a parallel story. She lived in New York’s Chinatown in 2003, regularly visiting Philadelphia to attend this Chinese Buddhist temple in two modified row houses. She soon saved enough money from her jobs in restaurants in New York to ditch her East Broadway walk-up to buy a house in Philadelphia. A second home soon followed, and now she’s a landlord of five properties, often renting to New York expats. “The houses in Chinatown are too small and little and old,” Yeung said, describing how eight people live in her old two-bedroom apartment. “New York City right now — they cannot afford the rent. Too expensive. No one can live there.”

And it’s not just the housing. Back in New York, a bag of bok choy cost as much as 89 cents. “And here I get it for 39 cents!” she said. Perhaps the best perk: In the yard of her home in Philadelphia, Yeung has space for a vegetable garden.

Yeung is part of a quiet wave of immigrants who stop for a few months or several years in New York before finding a more manageable city 1 hour, 45 minutes down the New Jersey Turnpike. These foreign-born ex-New Yorkers are enlivening Philadelphia’s businesses, restaurants and neighborhoods with a diversity only now beginning to come into focus.

The number of residents born abroad has increased 69 percent in Philadelphia since 2000, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, and immigrants now amount to nearly one-fifth of the city’s workforce. Many arrived via New York.

Bok is topped by two rooftop bars with dynamite views of the surrounding row house neighborhood, where, in a scene straight out of “Rocky,” vendors at the outdoor Italian Market still burn cardboard in garbage cans for heat in the winter. But scattered throughout that old Italian community are a dozen taquerias and an estimated 20,000 Mexican residents. In much the same way, West African immigrants are now dining at halal restaurants in West Philadelphia, and Russians are buying delicacies at the Brooklyn-based Eastern European supermarket NetCost, in the Bustleton neighborhood.

Northeast Philadelphia — an expansive region with strip malls and lawns that New Yorkers might recognize as a relative of Staten Island — is Pearl Huynh’s territory. A majority of the estimated 2,000 Chinese who are members of a new group she founded, the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association, migrated from New York City. Huynh was born in Vietnam to Chinese parents.

She has lived on Long Island, in Flushing, Queens, and in Chinatown, working as a software developer on Wall Street. Laid off in 2010, she moved to Philadelphia to be near family and began a new life owning and renting properties — and working as a volunteer, helping the legions of Chinese new to the city.

“I see many of them moving down from New York, and they’re kind of low-income and have language challenges,” she said. So every morning, Huynh sends messages to her members via WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, with YouTube English language lessons and announcements about neighborhood events and national holidays. She also educates them on the zoning rules regarding private gardens, and translates their mail during drop-in hours at the local library. Huynh said she had helped eight Chinese renters from New York apply for a Philadelphia property-tax exemption that enabled them to be first-time homebuyers. According to Pew, a majority of Philadelphia immigrants are actually homeowners, compared with an average of 37 percent across a selection of other cities.

“It’s like a flow of immigrants come from New York,” Huynh said. “I’m really proud I’m able to help them.”

Sylva Senat, who comes from Haiti by way of Brooklyn, can witness this renaissance from the roof deck at Maison 208, his sleek French-inspired restaurant and lounge. Senat fell for food when he took a culinary class at John Dewey High School in Gravesend that turned into an internship at Sign of the Dove, the former Upper East Side hot spot. He went on to become sous-chef at Jean-Georges at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York.

But while working as a chef, Senat also spent some time in Philadelphia — his sister and brother lived there. “Philly became kind of like the getaway from New York,” he said. His sister tried to convince him to move. He said she’d tell him, “It’s a lot more affordable, there’s a lot more things to do here, it’s a little more fun, it’s not as crazy as New York.”

Senat tried out at Buddakan, a game-shifting restaurant from the Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr. During his tryout, Senat spent two days in Old City, where restaurants and retail mix on colonial-era cobblestone alleyways. “I just fell in love with it,” Senat said. “It didn’t take much for Stephen Starr to convince me to stay in Philadelphia.”

Senat and his wife got an apartment right there in Old City. “We are definitely New Yorkers at heart; we like the busyness, and we like the bustle,” he said. “Once we got to Philadelphia it was like, ‘OK, not all major cities are as crazy as New York, and they don’t have to be in order to be great.'”

Senat said his friends in New York have inquired about Philadelphia, because they realize it’s just “easier to do things” in a city with about 1 million fewer people than Brooklyn. He relishes walking into a restaurant in the nicest part of town at 11:15 on a Sunday morning and immediately sitting down for brunch without a reservation. “It wasn’t like a big, you know, ‘Let’s plan this for six hours and let’s do it for two hours,’ which I think kind of happens in New York,” he said. “You have to be very specific about what you want to do and where you want to go, or else: ‘OK, now we’re wandering around New York City.'”

Immigrant or hipster, there’s a chief reason for choosing Philadelphia over New York: Cost of living. The American dream feels more attainable in Philadelphia at the moment. Asked about the flight of immigrant New Yorkers who are being priced out of the city, Seth Stein, a spokesman for New York City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, acknowledged the “challenges of income inequality and the affordability crisis that many New Yorkers face.” But Stein said that New York is still “the ultimate city of immigrants,” with health care and legal services offered to those newcomers.

Reasonable rents aside, Philadelphia is not an immigrant utopia. A ProPublica/Philadelphia Inquirer investigation recently concluded that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office based in Philadelphia is one of the most aggressive in the country, with high numbers of arrests of immigrants without criminal records. Peter Gonzales, who runs the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a nonprofit that assists new immigrants in Philadelphia, said Mayor Jim Kenney’s pushback against ICE has helped neutralize the deportation threat. Kenney sued Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold federal grants to sanctuary cities. In early June, Philadelphia prevailed, and Kenney did what can only be described as a happy dance on Twitter.

Immigrants are taking note, Gonzales said, getting a message from both their local politicians and their neighbors that they’re welcome regardless of ICE’s actions. “The tension is causing a lot of trauma and distress that people are experiencing, but it’s also bringing people together to fight back,” Gonzales said.

One of the activists fighting back is Prudence Powell. She was an unauthorized 12-year-old when she moved from Jamaica, in the Caribbean, to Jamaica, in Queens. At 17, pregnant with her son, she dropped out of high school. Powell struggled with poverty as she took off-the-books, part-time jobs in New York. At 21, she moved to Philadelphia and found her footing. She became a “Dreamer” through the DACA program for unauthorized young people, earned her GED at Temple University and began volunteering at the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition nonprofit. She now works there full time.

“Being in Philly has really opened up doors, sharing my story has opened up so many doors, DACA has opened up so many doors,” she said. And so has the affordability of life outside of New York. “New York is the first place you go, and then you branch out to Philly or Allentown or York or Baltimore,” Powell said. “New York is always the first stop.”

About 27,000 people move from New York to Philadelphia each year, according to the census, amounting to one of the largest migration flows between metro areas. A separate Baruch College study came up with a smaller overall figure but still concluded that more New Yorkers are moving to Philadelphia than the other way around.

Part of New York’s function, the study said, is to “receive large flows of foreign migrants and to redistribute people across the nation.” Those redistributed to Philadelphia will find a town on a winning streak. The population of the city is growing for the first time in decades, buoyed by both immigrants and millennials in Center City drawn by the luxury of living, working and drinking within the same few blocks. The skyline is rapidly expanding on both sides of the Schuylkill, punctuated by the nearly complete Comcast tower, the tallest building in the city.

The biggest good news for Philadelphians, though, is that the Philadelphia Eagles are finally Super Bowl champions. Public schools closed for the victory parade in February. That’s when Jason Kelce, the team’s center, donned a bedazzled lime green costume lent to him by a Mummers brigade, a Philadelphia-specific kind of performance group made up mostly of blue-collar men. He hollered at the thousands of assembled fans about how a team of underdogs defied expectations by going for it with a trick play on fourth-and-goal and won the championship.

“You know who the biggest underdog is?” he asked. He was speaking just feet from the statue of Rocky Balboa, one of fiction’s great underdogs. This is a town that lost both the capital of the United States and the home of the United Nations to New York, so there’s a bit of a chip on the civic shoulder. “It’s y’all, Philadelphia!” He then led the faithful in a profane chant that ended with, “Philly, no one likes us, we don’t care!”

The thing is, people do like Philadelphia. Immigrants like Philadelphia. New Yorkers, apparently, even like Philadelphia. But Philadelphia nonetheless feels forever slighted by her northern neighbor.

Down the list of transgressions, but not that far down, is the bitter memory of an article that ran 13 years ago in The New York Times Style section claiming Philadelphians occasionally refer to their city as the “sixth borough.” The writer, Jessica Pressler, lived in Philadelphia at the time but, according to the bio on her own website, “was virtually run out of town, and was fortunately granted asylum by New York.” She was excoriated for insinuating that Philadelphia was some appendage of New York.

Looking back on it now, Pressler said the piece “tapped into this resentment” that Philadelphia has toward its “big brother that lives really close and is cooler and gets all the attention.” But that perception may now be outdated, and for one major reason. “New York has gotten in that time so prohibitively more expensive,” she said.

“People don’t see leaving New York as a failure anymore like they used to,” Pressler said. “Now it’s like, ‘That’s a smart thing to do, why would you suffer here?’ You’re going to be able to walk to work and have a grocery store and have a patch of grass — that’s really cool.”

She now lives in Queens but said that two neighbors, both of immigrant backgrounds, recently told her they were moving to Philadelphia. “That sounds like a good idea,” she told them. “That sounds really nice.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Matt Katz © 2018 The New York Times

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/world-new-yorkers-finding-american.html