#4/10. the meat is good but at what cost.

[euclydya]

my god. crabs r hell

[candycandy00]

Roses in the Sky - An Original Alien x Reader Story Part 9

In a future where humanity huddles in decaying domed cities controlled by alien invaders, you and your best friend Anna work as make-shift nurses in a tiny clinic run by the young doctor Terrian. The city is ruled by the aliens' violent, half-breed offspring who serve as brutal overseers. You and Anna have always tried to avoid these overseers at all cost, but your life is changed when one of those same terrifying offspring is brought into the clinic, injured and unconscious.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

This is an original Alien (well half alien) x Fem Reader story! I hope everyone who enjoys my fanfiction will give this a shot! I’m posting the first chapter just to check for interest. Any feedback whatsoever would be loved! I’ve already written this story so it’s not going to delay my fanfics. Just thought I might post chapters of this between fanfics if anyone is interested.

Slow burn, as this is a novel-length story, but there will be smut in later chapters! Also: violence, blood, rape attempts, death of side characters, etc.

Work at Terrian's house the next day was awkward and slow. Anna was obviously still upset over Nariah, and Terrian flitted around nervously, making pathetic and desperate attempts to get Anna to talk to him.

"Look, girls! I'm breaking out the steak reserves for lunch today!" he called at one point, holding up two large slabs of frozen meat.

Steak was Anna's favorite. She had looked up then, apparently tempted to say something, but she held her tongue and continued dusting.

You waited until Terrian stepped out of the room, then turned to Anna. "How long are you going to keep this up? He already apologized."

Anna looked down. "I know. I'm not really angry at him anymore. I just don't know what to say to him. Yesterday I admitted for the first time that I'm in love with him. Now I feel insecure around him."

"Well you're not making any progress like this. Just act like you did before. He's worried sick right now."

"Are you making progress with Vartan?" Anna asked suddenly.

You were caught off guard by the question. You stumbled over your words for a moment before nearly choking out a quiet, "Sort of."

Anna grinned. "Oh really? Are you sleeping with him already?"

"Of course not! I made him a bologna sandwich, okay?"

"Whatever you say," Anna laughed, nudging you with her elbow.

Terrian's doorbell rang loudly through the hall. You laid down your dusting rag and stood up, straightening the too-short skirt of your maid uniform and making your way to the door. You sighed as you pulled it open. "Yes, can I help-“

You were immediately silenced when you realized the person standing on Terrian's doorstep was a male half-breed with silver chin-length hair that framed his pale face. His narrow eyes were ice-blue and a strange shade of violet that you had never seen before, not even on a half-breed.

"A doctor lives here, correct?" His voice was lighter than Vartan's.

You weren’t sure how to answer. What if Terrian had gotten into trouble somehow? Perhaps confirming his location wasn't a good idea. "Um... I..."

The half-breed leaned in close. "This is important. Tell the doctor to come and examine my..." He stopped there, as if he had no idea how to finish the statement. He glanced back, and you noticed the thin young woman standing behind him. She was very clearly human, and her face, while pretty, was darkened by visible sadness.

"Is she sick?" you asked.

The half-breed took the woman's hand and gently, too gently for a half-breed, pulled her closer to the door. "She needs medical attention, yes."

You stepped aside. "Come on in. I'll get the doctor." You led them through the hall and to the living room, shrugging at a very shocked Anna on the way. The couple sat down on the couch as you ran to fetch Terrian.

You and Anna followed Terrian back into the living room and stood on either side of him. The woman introduced herself as Sophie. 

"I'm pregnant," she said, quietly but bluntly.

You stifled a gasp. Terrian's face lit up. "You are? That's amazing! Pregnancies are so rare. You must be immune to the chemicals in the water."

Sophie did not share his enthusiasm. "I didn't believe it at first. I missed a couple of periods and then a friend gave me an old pregnancy test to try. After that, I still didn't believe. Then Keon gave me a Pagoda test, and it came back positive. He says there's no way it can be wrong."

You noticed that Sophie seemed so sad. Her voice sounded as if it was threatening to break at any moment.

"So, do you want me to monitor the pregnancy then?" Terrian asked.

"No," the half-breed spoke up, "we want you to terminate it."

The smile Terrian had been wearing dissolved. "What?"

"You are capable of terminating the pregnancy, are you not?" the half-breed asked.

Terrian looked directly at Sophie. "Is this what you want to do?"

The half-breed opened his mouth, but Sophie put a hand on his arm. "Please, Keon," she said weakly, "let me talk to him. I'll explain."

The half-breed, Keon, looked at her with a flash of anger in his eyes.

Sophie didn't move her hand. "Please," she repeated, and Keon stood up. He walked out of the living room and closed the door behind him. You had never seen a half-breed do as a human asked before. Well, not besides Vartan.

"Keon is the father, as you've probably guessed," Sophie began, her voice still shaky. "We met three years ago. He showed up at my door one day out of the blue, with a proposition.”

“A proposition?” Anna asked. 

Sophie nodded. “Apparently some half breeds make arrangements with specific humans. They offer protection from the other half breeds, and in exchange the humans satisfy their needs. It’s a mutual arrangement, or at least ours is. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d refused. But I agreed to the terms, and I’ve been able to walk through the city without fear. They call it ‘claiming’. I’ve been claimed by Keon, so no other half breed will touch me.”

Your heart was beating fast as the words sank into your brain. Half-breeds could choose specific humans? Other half-breeds would stay away? Was that what Vartan had done to you?

"It's not so bad," Sophie continued. "Keon has always been relatively gentle with me. But now..." Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her own stomach.

"So he doesn't want his pet to have a baby?" Anna asked with a tinge of venom in her voice.

Sophie chuckled bitterly. "He was so furious and disgusted that I thought he would kill me."

Anna's face was turning red, her hatred for the half-breeds boiling beneath her skin.

"But he didn't kill me," Sophie went on, "Instead he started frantically asking around for a human doctor. One of the other half-breeds apparently told him about a clinic they had shut down, and that they had heard the doctor survived. That's when he told me I have to have an abortion."

"But why?" you asked.

Sophie met your eyes, and you could almost see the agony and rage festering there, held back by her quiet sorrow. "The half-breeds are forbidden to breed, at all. If the Pagoda were to find out I'm pregnant, they would execute Keon and myself immediately. The baby would die anyway. If we somehow managed to hide the pregnancy until the child was born, the Pagoda would give it a gruesome death if they ever found it. We would have to live in constant fear. Keon said that we should end it now, before..." Her voice finally broke, and tears streamed down her face. "Before we... grow to care for the child," she finished.

Terrian stood up. "Alright, I understand. I can examine you in one of the guest rooms and make preparations."

Sophie nodded. "Thank you, doctor. Please just give me a moment."

"Of course," Terrian told her. "My nurses will help you when you're ready."

He left the room. You and Anna began to follow him out, eager to give the woman privacy while she regained her composure. "It's not fair, is it?" she asked, and you stopped to look back at her. Sophie’s eyes were red from crying and her hands were shaking. "It's a miracle, that I'm immune to the chemicals, that I can give birth. It's my miracle but... I have to kill it." She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Keon, who had been waiting patiently in the hall, walked into the living room and sat down beside Sophie. He stared at her wordlessly, and you saw a faint hint of pain in his face. He looked as if he wanted to reach out to the trembling woman beside him, to comfort her, but his hands remained stiffly by his sides. You found it sad that he had been sleeping with the woman for three years, yet he had no idea how to hold her.

Terrian examined Sophie several minutes later, and afterward told her to come back in two days for the procedure to end the pregnancy. He had to gather up the tools and medicines needed to ensure her safety. The couple thanked him and left, leaving the rest of the day clear for you and Anna to finish your cleaning duties.

Two hours of mopping and dusting later, Anna disappeared. You searched the kitchen, hall, and three rooms before hearing voices coming from behind one of the bedroom doors on the second floor. You pressed your ear against the door and listened.

"I'm not angry with you," you heard Anna say. "It's not your fault that Terrian kept you a secret."

"But my presence bothers you," Nariah's lovely voice responded.

"Well, I'm still getting used to... your kind."

"Don't worry," Nariah said, "you're certainly not the first human to regard me with fear and unease." Anna said nothing in response, and after a brief pause, Nariah spoke again. "Did you know that half-breeds are not allowed to meet their human parents?"

Anna must have shaken her head, because Nariah went on. "Most often, the human parents are executed shortly after the birth of the half-breed. But sometimes, very rarely, the human is kept alive if the offspring is viewed as exceptional by the Pagoda, for further breeding. I do not understand what their standards are, or how they determine such things, but I was considered one of these 'exceptional offspring'. My human mother was kept alive for three years after she gave birth to me."

You could hear Anna's breath hitch as she gave a small gasp. "You met her, didn't you?"

"Yes," Nariah said softly, "I did. One of the other half-breeds told me where to find her, probably more out of malice than of kindness. I searched the Tower, my curiosity overpowering my sense of obedience to the Pagoda. We half-breeds were forbidden from visiting the breeding and containment rooms, you see. But I found her, huddled in a metal contraption that looked like a cage. She looked so much like me, I knew in an instant that she was indeed my mother."

There was another pause, then Anna finally asked, "What happened?"

"I approached the cage, my heart pounding, and looked her in the eyes. At that moment, I called her 'mother'. I don't know why. We were never taught to use such sentimental terms, and I had only heard the word on the lips of the humans in the city. Maybe it was some buried human instinct. Regardless, she had heard me, and she screamed in terror. She recoiled from me until her back hit the other side of the cage. I was... repulsive to her."

Tears formed in your eyes as you listened outside the door. Anna remained silent.

When Nariah continued, her beautiful voice was slightly darker. "My mother began shrieking, 'Get it away from me! Get that monster away!' and she wouldn't stop until a Pagoda, my father, appeared behind her with a blade in his hand. He reached in between the metal bars and slit her throat, silencing her. She died in the cage, still looking at me with horror in her eyes."

For several minutes, the room was quiet and you heard nothing. Then footsteps abruptly headed toward the door and it slid open. Anna walked out of the room, her face red and puffy. She had been crying. "Oh, hey," she said when she noticed the hall wasn't empty.

"Sorry, I listened in," you told her, wiping your own eyes.

"It's alright. How much did you hear?"

"The story about her mom. That was awful. How could someone be afraid of their own child? And Nariah was only three at the time, right? How could she be scary?"

"Oh, so you didn't hear about the age thing," Anna said.

"What age thing?"

Anna smiled, the redness in her face dissipating. "Nariah is only fourteen years old."

"No way!" you said, a little too loud. Nariah looked at least twenty.

"I'm serious. She said half-breeds age a lot quicker than humans until they reach maturity. Then the process slows down to a crawl. So when she was three, she might have looked ten."

"Whoa, that's crazy. I guess we were wrong about her relationship with Terrian then.”

Anna's smile grew broader. "Yeah, she didn't know how to describe it, because she doesn't have anything to compare it to, but I think he treats her like a sister from everything she told me."

You smiled too. "That's great, Anna!"

They finished the chores, both in a slightly better mood. Anna was on speaking terms with Terrian again, waving and saying goodbye as she left. He was so happy he nearly cried, and you laughed as you headed out the door.

When you reached the door of your apartment, you wondered whether Vartan would still be there. You kept reminding yourself that he could leave at any moment without warning. With more than a little apprehension, you stepped inside.

Clearly visible from the door, Vartan was lying across the couch, fast asleep. You took a blanket from a nearby chair and spread it over his body. You turned out the lamp on the table next to him and leaned down.

"Goodnight," you whispered, then smiled as you walked to your own room and went to bed.

Tag List:

@scrumptiouslampwobblercop

If you’d like to be tagged in future parts, let me know!

[homeofhousechickens]

Not a shitty anon but someone who hopefully wants to get into owning chickens for meat and eggs one day. At what age do you tend to process your meat birds? Does the breed/size of the breed make a difference in that at all? Cause I've mainly been researching quail processing and some places say between 6-8 weeks, and that seems like a short time although they are small birbs.

When I raised freedom Rangers indoors I got them as young chicks in late August and culled them mid October. They were very hefty at that point since meat birds grow faster than normal chickens. One of them really needed to be processed as soon as possible as he was suffering from fatty liver disease which is very common in meat birds so I maybe could have culled him earlier or later in different circumstances.

The type of chicken you're raising does make a big difference. CornishX, for example need to be culled at a certain time (usually before 14 weeks), or their bodies can grow too much, putting a strain on their heart and bones. It's very difficult to raise a cornishX to adulthood, and it's almost impossible to breed them, so you need to keep buying your stock from hatcheries.

Freedom Rangers and other similar red meat birds still grow very fast but can actually function as chickens and can even be propagated and used in meat bird breeding projects. They can still be culled around 8-10 weeks which is what's standard for commercial meat birds or you can wait till later if they are robust and healthy.

Heritage breed chickens take a much longer time to raise. A wyandotte for example might need to be a few months older before being a good butcher weight but because they take longer they tend to have more flavor and texture. This goes for pretty much all heritage breeds but some take even longer to reach that weight then others. High quality large fowl Brahma and Jersey Giants can take more than a year to reach full size so if your looking for only raising for meat then they wouldn't be a great time and cost effective option. What's great about heritage breeds is that you can breed them yourself and have the hens for eggs while eating the spare cockerels which is really what dual purpose breeds are made for.

Egg laying production breeds suck for meat production in general. Even if you wait for the cockerels to fully mature. Your never going to get the same feed to weight ratio out of a leghorn cockerel compared to an orpington since their bodies are built for maximum egg production. Still good for soup though.

My personal breeding project birds are bantams that I wouldn't consider meat birds at all right now. I cull the cockerels once they have a nice layer of meat along their keel and have a bit of heft to them usually for my birds they are already sexually mature or very close to maturity which is usually around 4 months for them.

I haven't raised quail personally but that time frame sounds right to me. Quail are a good source of meat if you want to go that direction they aren't to expensive and are easy to raise just need to keep an eye on their social behavior as quail can be really aggressive to each other. It's really up to you if you want to wait longer to process or not. I honestly suggest trying out different things and seeing what you like. Maybe you would like an older more gamey bird like I do or maybe you like tender younger birds. If your the one raising them it's all up to you.

[matchalovertrait]

Dulce did train with the help of her brother, so timing shouldn't have been a problem, right? However, once she was praised for the specific skills she possesses, she decided to throw all her eggs in one basket. That decision cost her everything.

Previous (Transcript under the cut)

(1.) [Mia] This was a difficult decision to make.

[Carlo] Even for me. Everyone made a delicious dish.. but they all came with their major faults.

[Mia] And unfortunately, Dulce is being diced in this round

(2.) [Alex] I'm sorry, what?

(3.) [Rubiya] I'm trying to understand this.

(4.) [Mia] Dulce, you made us a terrific entree, but you have to keep in mind you who are cooking for. There are many people who do not tolerate spice well.

(5.) [Sofia] Dulce, tell us, what exactly do you want to be when you grow up? A restaurant owner? A food critic? A freelance chef?

(6.) [Dulce] I'm not sure yet, but I do know I want to be a celebrity chef.

(7.) [Mia] Celebrity chef. I remember you saying that in your audition tape. Well, Dulce, I want you to share your gift with the world, so I want you to remember what we're saying.

(8.) [Carlo] It's all love, but I think you need to balance your time-management skills with your creativity. I know you were thinking "go big" but you didn't remember the "or go home" part. That brain of yours is probably in constant motion, but don't ever forget timing.

(9.) [Mia] I also want you to learn more techniques. What really separated your soup from Alex's soup were the techniques they used. They spiralized the jicama and cut the meat into cubes. Those small details make a big difference.

(10.) [Carlo] Those techniques aren't always just for show either. Cutting the meat into cubes probably would have made the meat more tender. That is just one of the many reasons why we utilize them.

[Mia] Right, but thank you, Dulce. We enjoyed having you here.

(11.) [Dulce] Thank you, judges. I will always remember this day and the advice you gave me.

(12.) [Rubiya] Oh, Dulce! I'll miss you. Please don't let this be the last time we talk to each other.

[Dulce] It won't be. Bye guys, and good luck.

[Alex] Bye, Dulce. It's been fun.

(13.) [Dulce] This totally sucks, but they're right. I'm good in the kitchen, but I still have a long way to go. I'll get there, though.

[cupcraft]

Simple Cooking Tips by me trying my best:

1: Canned foods are fine. Canned foods are often affordable, very shelf stable, and versatile. Canned veggies taste great when seasoned and cooked. Canned meat is fine too. Enjoy eating your canned food little life!

2: Instant mashed potatoes are a great way to make a quick an easy side. You can always add extra seasoning/butter/creamcheese/sourcream/milk/broth/etc. if you need. The same goes for other instant foods they are very versatile. Instant foods can often be shelf stable, cheap, and also good if you dont have a lot of time to cook.

3: I made too much food or bought too much food or produce uh oh. Freeze/freeze/freeze (just make sure you keep track of dates and stuff/know that some foods texture will change when frozen). There are often plenty of tips and tricks to freezing things well when they have texture changes. Food never has to go to waste! And on days where its hard for me to function having a frozen meal ready to heat up is the best. Also, for excess produce especially see if your town has any local fridges/places to donate fresh produce for someone to take!

4: If the only way youre going to eat is ordering out then do it if you can afford it. Dont feel bad for ordering out. This is your sign that if you need to order out then do it, you dont need an excuse. Youre allowed to want or need ordering out.

5: Meal prepping is supposed to help you not exhaust you. I struggle to eat breakfast for example so its really helpful for me to make things that are quick while im already cooking dinner so that in the morning i have less effort to expend. I make things like yoghurt parfaits/chia seed pudding, over night oats, coldbrew coffee, boiled eggs, etc! Dont feel pressured to meal prep if it is more stressful for you. Its supposed to help you!

6: Setting alarms to eat is soo soo helpful if you struggle to remember or struggle to read your body's needs. I struggle with this myself, so I set alarms for lunch and dinner (as i usually eat breakfast at work). You dont need to be strict with yourself/regimented on the times but it just helps me remember to eat or to prepare food to eat later.

7: Once a pan/pot/cooking equipment cools soak it/rinse it off as soon as you can. It will make cleaning it a lot easier when there's less caked up on it. And if your someone like me who struggles with wet food textures while cleaning this can help a lot too.

8: Don't feel bad for not eating leftovers/finishing a plate/having to throw stuff out. It's okay and not a moral failing. You are not wasting food.

9: Instant ramen is amazing and you can add so much to it in order to make it a really filling meal. You can add veggies (i like to add spinach/kale and mushrooms), you can add more protein (eggs, spam/shrimp/other meats, tofu, etc.). Go crazy with it!

10: I plan my meals out for every day of the week. This helps me stay organized. You don't have to do this, but if youre like me and knowing what your going to eat everyday helps you focus/cook/not stress then do it!

11: If you have a roommate/someone you live with you can find ways to share certain costs/foods. For ex me and my roommate share things and the cost of things that are used so much like: onions, garlic, spices/salt/pepper, tea, etc.

12: You dont have to chop things if you dont want to. You dont have to mortar and pestle things if you dont want to. Use items that make things easier for you! If you need a food processor, if you need a garlic mincer, if you need a potato ricer, do it! Buy precut beef for stew, buy precut chicken tenders, etc! You dont have to chop a single thing! Make things more accessible and easier! And if you like to spend time chopping and mastering knife skills then do that too!

this is all i have for now but please add on if youd like :)!

[androgynousblackbox]

How To Lose A Lucifer In 10 Days. 4 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

Step 4: Have disagreements

On the next morning, Alastor found that the new bed had dissapeared alongside with the tiny king. Everything on his room was completely exactly the same as it was yesterday. However, any lingering hope he had that the tiny king could have either solved his own problem already or everything was too realistic dream quickly vanished when he came inside the kitchen on the morning.

The smell of cooked meat was what attracted him. Raw meat was usually his predilection, mostly out of convenience, but not even the most stubborn cannibal in all of hell could deny that what his nose was catching was positively alluring. But it was less so when he realized the one doing the cooking was the king himself, casually managing multiple pans with bacon, eggs and french toasts and, of course, one of them making pancakes that kept turning them on new plates that magically flew to the table.

At the same time, as if to show off none of that was costing him much effort, he was also talking with Charlie standing at her side.

"Yeah, you have a sister in my side" was saying the little monarch, dashing finally the possibility that he was their original one waking up with a particular good mood to serve everyone. "She fell for questioning Heaven too much, so me and my Alastor took her in. We adopted her officially and she stays at the hotel with us."

"And how is she?" Charlie's smile was big and genuine over her tea, fascinated with this alternative version of her life.

"I think you know her already" sang Lucifer with a cheeky smirk. "She used to be a powerful seraphim that, I believe, supported your ideas when you went up to Heaven? A very cute girl not afraid to stand up for her beliefs?"

Charlie gasped, her mouth making a perfect oh.

"No! Are you telling me that Emily is my sister?!"

"Like I said, she questioned Heaven too much and she had nowhere to go. Besides, my Alastor liked her already for uh… you know, being the only angel that listened to you. It wasn't a hard decision at all. She is adapting really well to hell, all things considered. You and Vaggie help her a lot."

Alastor would have caught that little moment of hesitation and archived it on his mind later as something that he could use. But all his attention was caught instead by the deer head that was still laying on the counter. The deer head without a body from the kill he brought just yesterday and he was planning to eat later on.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked, materializing next to the king in an instant.

Charlie jumped in place at the sudden aparition, a little of tea spilling out from the side of her mug, but the king just looked up to him with an easy smile.

"Oh, hey! It's going to be a ready in a about minute now. Why don't you sit down until is down?"

Alastor stood there, perplexed.

"What."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You like it raw" said the king, pointingly ignoring the short laugh that came out of Angel waiting for his breakfast at the table or the loud ssh Husk directed at him. "But trust me, cooked is not that bad either. Cooking can be pretty relaxing and considering I am, you know, stuck away from everything and everyone I know and love, I thought hey, why don't I make myself useful around here. This is not the whole deer, there is still some meat left on the fridge, so if you really hate this one you can grab it. Hell, I will even get you some more myself if you are still hungry."

A moment of silence passed through. Silence from Alastor at least, while the king seemed to be content enough with humming to himself as he worked.

"That is very nice of you, papa" said Charlie, frowning at Alastor as she patted the back of the tiny king. "It smells delicious."

Alastor really considered just going to the fridge and grab his meat to enjoy himself in the privacy of his own room. But that damn smell was turning his mouth into a fountain and well, it was going to be a waste of meat if someone didn't enjoyed it. Lucifer had put enough meat there to feed all residents at once and he knew they weren't going to eat it all, so there was clearly no other choice but to do it himself. He moved over to the table, still keeping watch over the cooking process just in case the king decided to slip some poison or mess with it on some other way.

"Years of practice, duckling" said Lucifer, casually flipping the pancakes on another pan with his own hand.

When the bacon and eggs were ready, he quickly served them on a plate and send it to the table, to the expecting hands of a hungry Angel who moaned loudly in delight. Husk rubbed his head, but when Lucifer's magic gave him his own plate, Angel looked at him as if saying "see what I mean?" None of them seemed to notice the full trash can on a side to the kitchen. Alastor saw a bunch of disregarded cooked meals there and wondered how many that tiny king had made in actuality. Since he could actually just duplicate anything he wanted, he could have gone at it for hours without any intention of feeding it to anyone, like a compulsion.

Charlie chuckled.

"Is that how you call your own Charlie? It's so cute!"

"Your Lucifer doesn't?" The king looked surprised at that. "How does he call you?"

Charlie scratched her neck, looking to the side.

"Well… when I was a kid, he used to call me apple pie a lot. And Charchar, I guess."

If he noticed the evasive tone of Charlie, Lucifer didn't showed it.

"Aww, apple pie is adorable too!" Lucifer smiled bright. "Maybe I should use that with Emily. I still haven't thought of a nickname cute enough for her. Do you mind?"

"No, of course not" Charlie smiled back and accepted the plates with a bunch of pancakes and more bacome Lucifer gave her. One for her and another for Vaggie, she understood. "Thanks, papa!"

"You are welcome, sweetie!" Lucifer continued working.

"Do you all hear that?" commented Angel, throwing a glance towards Alastor. "It's that the lack of a fight early on the morning? Peace and quiet for once? Who knew that was even possible?"

Alastor narrowed his eyes at him in such a way that Husk put a hand on Angel, warning him to keep quiet.

"Geez, is usually that bad around here?" asked Lucifer, carrying easily a big plate that contained the cooked meat for Alastor and his own plate of chocolate pancakes. His own mug with tea floated at his side as he sat down. Alastor took care to not lick his lips as he sniffed the meat, snearing when he only find it to be absolutely appetizing. Lucifer didn't seem to take any offense to it. "My Alastor and I have disagreements here and there, but it's never to the point we can't share a meal."

"Bad is putting it lightly" commented Vaggie, glaring briefly to Alastor as he finally dared to take a single bite. "I think this must be only the second time that a Alastor and Lucifer ever shared the same table. The first was bad too."

Ignoring her completely, Alastor digged his claws on the table when realizing it was, in fact, absolutely delicious. He cursed this tiny king as Lucifer didn't even looked on his direction to gloat about it. Instead he was looking at Vaggie.

"Huh" Lucifer took a sip of his mug, as if not sure if he should make his next question. "Would that… have anything to do with the big hole on the lobby?"

The entire table fell into silence for a moment. Even Alastor flinched a little, prefering to concentrate on his own meal than on anything else happening around him.

"Oh" said Lucifer, taking that as his response. "Sorry for bringing it up then."

"No, no, it's okay" said Charlie, her smile thinner than usual, but still sincere. "You had no way of knowing that, so of course you would be curious. Especially if you and your Alastor have another dynamic entirely."

"I mean, he is my husband, so one would expect we would know how to be around each other by now" Lucifer shrugged slightly.

On the other side of the table, Angel almost choked drinking his own coffee and he hit his chest a couple of times before speaking.

"Your what?" asked, his face fighting between incredulous and just laughing, his eyes going from Lucifer to Alastor, who was fully refusing to engage on any of this. "Charlie told us that you were friendly with each other and you had your own Charlie together, not that! Not that any of that isn't alredy weird as fuck."

"Uhm, yeah" said Lucifer, thinking that not even his own Angel had reacted that badly when he appeared on the hotel for the first time. "85 years and counting" added with a little smile, knocking the wood of the table.

Alastor stopped for a second, but renewed his eating as he ignored the twist on his stomach. 85 years was almost his entire life in hell. It was more years than he ever spend alive.

"Oh, shit" Angel smirked, supporting his chin on his hand. "I have to hear the story behind that already! No offense, Smiles, but I always thought you were the type to prefer to tap yourself before anyone else."

Alastor narrowed his eyes at the pornstar. Not that he was entirely wrong either, the only mistake being that he did not want to tap anything at all, but he still didn't appreciate the especulation around that specific topic. There were so many infinitely more interesting things to talk about him than something as vulgar and trivial as that.

"Hey, come on, that is not nice" said Lucifer before he or Angel could say anything else. "My Alastor is just different, can we just leave it at that?"

Alastor refused to look at the king, even when he knew that Lucifer threw a glance at him, and opened up his mouth further to grab bigger chunks, swallowing bones in the process and breaking it appart with his teeth. Husk made a face at him, but wisely kept quiet. Niffty tried to imitate him, chunks of her food spilling out of her.

"Whatever you say, king" Angel shrugged, leaving the subject for now. "My curiosity still needs to be fed, though."

"Yeah, figured" Lucifer sighed, putting his mug down. "Listen, normally I would love to tell you guys all about it. That is what we did for my Charlie all the time too, tell her stories about us and our lives together. But I would much prefer to find a way home first as fast as possible. We were already separated once before and we got just everything back to normal. I don't want to miss that. Please?" added, looking up to Charlie, whose tender heart could never miss the pained look on this version of her father.

"Yes, absolutely" Charlie looked the time on her phone and finished her tea with a final gulp. The pancakes had already dissapeared from her table. "I think Stolas should already be awake now. Let's go."

She stand up from the table, telling Vaggie to stay in charge of the hotel and kissing her forehead. Lucifer finished up his breakfast as well. He looked over at Alastor and for a moment Alastor stared back, as if daring him to ask if he wanted to come and give him the chance to just say no. Lucifer turned his eyes away first. Apparently realizing it was a waste of time, Lucifer sighed and followed Charlie. Alastor felt something brush against his ankle, but when he moved his shadows to catch it wasn't there anymore.

"Hopefully you will be seeing your own Lucifer soon" said the king instead of seeing you later, obviously hoping he wouldn't have to. "Nice to meet you all again."

With that, he took the hand of Charlie and they both dissapeared through a portal.

--

Alastor woke up and sat, not looking at the other side of the bed. A portion of his shadow came back to him with the memories of following the other Lucifer around the hotel, looking for whatever room happened to be free, which was still most of them. In the dark his shadow contemplated this other Lucifer changing with magic and plopping into his bed with a groan, falling asleep without any major concern or worry too big to keep him awake with anxiety.

Alastor rubbed his temple, realizing the same thing he had already thought the moment that Lucifer was revealed to not be his. He could look like him. He could talk like him. He could even move like him. But it wasn't him and his presence did not bring at all the same kind of comfort at all. Keeping an eye out for him was more out of a need of just seeing a Lucifer than because he wanted to check on that one, like a bad habit for whome now he had to rely on a less desirable alternative.

He was so used to keep Lucifer near him, that seeing his face but waking up alone just made him feel sick with a need and anger he could barely conceptualize to himself.

A knock on the door took him out of his thoughts and he changed quickly. The knocking didn't sound urgent, but he still rushed in to open. It could be Charlie announcing that Stolas had found the solution, that now they knew how to bring her papa home.

"Alastor" said Emily, going up to hug him as soon she was able to. She buried her head against his chest and squeezed tight. "Charlie told me about what happened to Lucifer. Are you okay?"

Alastor's shoulders relaxed a little. He resigned himself to hug her back and pet her short, grey hair. She had seen him at his lowest in Heaven, of course she would want to check on him as fast she could.

"Did you came all the way here for that?" asked, as if it was a silly thing to do and Emily lifted her head, pouting. "I am fine, dear. If you wanted me to be even better than that, you can tell me if Charlie got any news from our friend Goetia."

"She and the other Lucifer are eating something before going. If you want I can bring you something here" offered Emily, finally letting him go but her yellow eyes looking just as concerned as ever.

She probably thought that seeing the other Lucifer could be too hard. Or that they could get into another confrontation like the one last night, the one Charlie or Vaggie surely must have told her about. It wasn't an entirely unreasonable thought. Alastor had to see the place in front of his chimney with one less chair to know that. But he would be dammned again if he let a fucking imitation of his husband turn him into a coward.

"Don't bother, my dear" said, showing off his best smile. "I have handled Lucifer very well on my own and today is not going to be the exception" assured, putting an arm around her shoulders towards the door.

Away from the empty space on his bed that his tentacles had already fixed again.

"But this is another Lucifer" said Emily, looking up. "And I don't think him and his Alastor were friends where he came from."

Alastor had gathered as much already.

"We don't need to be friends" commented easily, taking her with him to the elevator. He could wrap her into his shadows downstairs, but taking a little bit to face that other face wasn't going to hurt anyone. "We just need to manage to not kill each other enough for my husband to return, that is all. If he cares about Charlie half as much as he claims, he will know to control himself."

"He had no idea who I was" said Emily, pressing the button in the elevator and stepping inside. Alastor saw her looking down, looking her blackened fingers. "Apparently the Emily of his side didn't fell, despite being on the side of Charlie."

"That is unfortunate. For her" said Alastor, squeezing her shoulder. "That Emily doesn't have a family like ours then. You should pity her."

Emily sighed, leaning against him as they descended. Probably mulling over everything that she could have done different and everything that turn out wrong. Everything that separated her from another version of herself.

"I prefer this version of us" said Alastor, sincerely, and brushed some portion of her bangs out of her forehead. "Charlie is amazing, of course, but I don't get to speak about books with her as much as I get to do with you. Why, if talking with you I finally learned what is the appropriate name for those ugly flowers that eat bones in the garden. How could I have such knowledge if you weren't here, dear? I would have to investigate it myself and who has the time for that?"

Emily giggled, looking up. Alastor patted her between her shoulder blades.

"Stop worrying your head with possibilities that never were, dear. We all have to learn to live with the decisions we made. Yours gave Charlie a sister and my husband another child to embarrass with his antics. They gave me another daughter. How can they ever be wrong?"

Emily smiled fully, giving him a sideway hug until the doors of the elevator opened up.

"Come on" she said, taking his hand. "Let's hope we can bring my papa back."

Alastor let her take him, already imagining the teary eyes in Lucifer if he heard that. On the kitchen, the other Lucifer was having some cereal in a bowl as Charlie was eating cookies at her side. In the center of the table there was a bunch of pastries the other residents were taking, absolutely delighted with them. She was being throughfully entertained with some anecdote of his and Alastor could not care less about what it was, but he did not like the way this other imposter was so casual about touching his daughter's shoulder for emphasis.

When Emily passed at her side to go make her tea, Charlie looked up and smiled big.

"Dad!" said, lifting herself to greet him with a hug.

An extra hard one, similar to the one Emily had given her. Alastor knew that he had to appreciate she had also being concerned about him, but all he could do was glare at the other Lucifer as he hugged her back, as if marking his territory. The other Lucifer just smirked at him as if sharing a personal in joke.

"Grab something to eat and then we can go, dad" said Charlie, squeezing his sides some more for the last time.

Alastor looked at the table, full with sugary things covered in more sugar and probably filled with sugar too. The other Lucifer had lost interest on him and grabbing another piece of pastry.

"I will prepare something for myself, dear" assured, petting his hair as he went to prepare it.

On the fridge there was only a chunk of meat with his name on because he still haven't gone for more. Containing a groan, Alastor brought it up with him to the table after burning it for a bit on his hand. It wasn't the best cooking method, but didn't feel like anything else. He sat next to Emily and Vaggie, in front of Charlie as he returned to her seat.

"Oh, so you still like things like that here too" commented the other Lucifer. "At least it's not a full carcass like the other guy would have."

Alastor would have much prefered him to stay quiet. To stop using that voice and those lips that were almost right, but were entirely wrong instead.

"Oh, I love those too" said with a grin. "I just forgot to go pick up more. Maybe later I can go grab some sinner's torso to enjoy with my husband for dinner."

Lucifer made a face like he smelled something rancid, but it didn't last long.

"Is that all you do together? Eat other beings that were talking your same language before being killed?"

"No, just one of the ones we enjoy the most" said, showing more teeth. "We do other things as well. Like not ruining the birthday of our daughter with a full blown fight, for example."

Lucifer narrowed his eyes without losing his smirk.

"Oh, yeah, I imagine that must be easier when you aren't dealing with a raging asshole who loves to push people around" Lucifer regarded him a moment. "Or maybe there is no difference at all and that Lucifer just lets you get away with it more."

"Or maybe my Lucifer is better at carrying himself in the first place."

"As if you knew anything about that in the first place."

Lucifer gripped the mug he was using on his hands and Alastor sneared at realizing it was the yellow one with duckies that his husband used on the regular.

"Don't you dare to break that, you brute" warned, his antlers growing up as Lucifer blinked, surprised, only after a second realizing what was he even talking about.

"I wasn't going to, you ass" said, leaving the mug there and lifting his hands.

"Dad" called Charlie, slapping both her hands on the table to get the attention of Alastor. "Dad, I gave him that. That is enough."

Alastor observed her with his eyes turned black. He closed them for a moment, returning to normal, even though his jaws was so tense squeezed together that he felt was going to bite through his own teeth.

"I lost my apettite" announced after a while, for the first time in his life, standing up. "I will wait on the lobby so we can go."

Alastor moved on to the closest couch and sat down, taking a deep breath. Why was he letting that tiny prick to affect him at all? He was nothing. Less than nothing even. Just a mere inconvenience that had no more fault to being there than a stain on the carpet had. When he lifted up his eyes again, he saw Emily standing with his cup of coffee in hand.

"We are all stressed out" commented with a little smile, rubbing his arm.

Alastor nodded silently, taking a sip. It wasn't as hot, so he heated up until he finished it all, but the burn did little else to comfort him. Emily sat at his side and didn't ask anything, didn't say anything, so Alastor spoke first.

"My Lucifer is not like that" he said.

Emily nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I know" said gently. "I miss him too."

Alastor frowned slightly. Miss felt too small of a phrase. He didn't miss Lucifer like how one misses that their favorite band wasn't playing anymore. That didn't even come close to describe the betrayal of a universe that ever let his Lucifer slip between his fingers again, and this time for no reason at all that any of them could discern. But he didn't had any better words for that, so he let Emily to assume they were correct anyway.

"Alright!" Charlie clasped her hands, coming over, the other Lucifer walking up behind her like he had just gotten an earful. "I send a text to Stolas and he is ready to receive us. Papa can take us there. Emily, are you coming?"

Emily nodded and stand up. Alastor let his empty mug be consumed by his shadows to get return to the kitchen and followed through, standing next to Charlie.

"Well, I know where his palace is already on my world, so I will step up first to make sure is the right place" commented Lucifer, opening it up the portal and traspassing it.

A second later his hand came out, encouraging them to step in. Alastor was the last one, seeing the tall palace erect in front of them. Charlie walked first over the stairs to the entrance and knocked. They didn't had to wait much for the door to open, a little imp servant looking over them and his eyes landing on Lucifer.

"Your Majesty" greeted the imp, moving to a side to let them in. "My lord is waiting for you up head. Follow me."

"Thank you" said Charlie.

Emily had barely known about another palace than the Morningstar one, as it was clear by how fascinated she was with the place. Alastor haven't visited it himself more than one time, for one of Via's birthday since Lucifer insisted they had to come, and only to see the party room. When they reached a room far back on the hallway, the little imp opened up the door to announce them properly before any of them could stop him.

"The king, his consort and the two princesses have arrived, my lord."

"He is not my anything" said Lucifer, taking a step away from Alastor as if necessary.

Alastor was considering grabbing the little imp and turn him into meatballs right there. How dare he to confuse his king for a lesser imitation like that one? Even as he knew how entirely irrational that was. For all intends and purposes, this Lucifer was the only king they had. Just not his king.

"The king, the two princesses and a neutral companion, my lord" corrected the imp. "Please, come in."

Once his job was done, the servant gave them a quick reverence and walked down the hallway again to continue his duties. Charlie had to grab Alastor's arm and drag him away from reaching out for him to enact revenge. When they came inside, they realized it was the library of the Goetia.

Stolas stood in front of a pile of book in his desk, reading all of them at once. At seeing them, he went over and kneeled as down as he could in honor of the king. It would be funny for Alastor coming from such a tall bird if it wasn't enfuriating how much time it was being wasted in these formalities.

"Your Majesty, it's an honor to receive you in my humble home. I hope that my knowledge can serve you today. Emily, Charlie, Alastor. Please, all of you, take a seat" offered, making a gesture with his hand for four chair in the air to move in front of his desk.

Lucifer was the first to sat down and Stolas flipped through another book.

"We have confirmation that you are most definitely not the king that belongs in this realm? That none of this is product of a mental spell or illusion of any kind?"

"We are sure" said Alastor, not needing to add more details even as Stolas seemed to want to ask. Charlie nodded just to confirm his words.

"Very well. Then the first thing to do is to confirm the exact origin of this kind of magic" said the bird demon, going to another table where he mixed some herbs and powders into a bowl, where he poured another liquid on top. When he came back to them, he grabbed a pinch of the concoction he made and draw a sigil on the air above the head of Lucifer. The sigil stayed floating there, going from purple to a dark blue, it's form changing into another symbol and then another. "Huh. That is interesting."

"What?" said Lucifer, absolutely lost. His magic expertise was energy propelled by imagination. Potions and whatot were completely out of it.

"Mmm" Stolas made a book float in front of him to double check. "Well, good news is, this did not came from an enemy. It wasn't done with the intention of hurting anyone in the royal family. This was never supposed to be malicious."

"But?" insisted Lucifer. "I am kinda still away from my daughter and these people are missing their Lucifer. I don't take that as benign either."

Alastor was tending to agree with him.

"Indeed, your Majesty. But the lack of negative intentions means that this is reversible. The bad news is that this won't be reversible until a certain condition is met."

"What condition?" asked Charlie now. "We will do anything to get papa back."

Stolas looked over at her and sighed.

"I believe you, dear. But it doesn't want to tell me" Stolas pointed at the changing symbols as if they were speaking to him. "All it's telling me is that it is related to both the king and his consort. Apologies. The king and Alastor" added, shaking his head.

"A condition of what nature?" asked Alastor while Stolas brushed away the sigil, as if anything useful from it had been told already. "Something we must do?"

"I believe so. Although do what, I can't tell" Stolas sighed again, going back to his table. "Your Majesty, you didn't had any compromise with the Alastor back at your place? A promise of some kind?"

"Fuck no" said Lucifer. "If anything I would like him to promise to stop bothering my daughter, but besides that we don't have much of a relationship or anything. I would remember something like that."

"Likewise, besides getting married again soon, Lucifer wasn't in debt for any promise with me. I don't know how this could be affected by our engagement either."

"It's not" said Stolas mixing up some more ingredients, following another recipe on his book. "If there was any romantic undertones I would have detected it already. The intention behind this magic was fully platonic."

"Does it really need to be met that condition then?" asked Alastor, who did not feel any more relieved because someone somewhere decided to screw with his life platonically. "Can't we just undue the spell?"

"I am looking into it, but my first instinct is no, your Majesty" Stolas was so concentrated in his work he didn't realize that, technically speaking, Alastor didn't have that title anymore. Nobody bothered to correct him anyway. "A spell that can travel across multiple dimensions is already a extremely powerful one. Travel from hell to Earth or from Hell to Heaven would seem like child's play in comparison, and most spells wouldn't allow that either. Here we go."

Stolas finished to make his potion and walked to Lucifer, reaching out his hand to ask that of the king. Kneeling in front of him, he spread a bit of the liquid on the palm of Lucifer, spreading it with his thumb. The bird demon observed the palm as the liquid draw lines over his hand, shinning a bright golden.

"So?" encouraged when Stolas kept silent, Alastor starting to get impatient.

"Mmm? Oh, dear, sorry" Stolas stood, clearing his throat. "This spell has not rewriting your entire fate, your Majesty. Meaning that we might be able to circunvent it somehow. By maybe finding a spell that is stronger or nullifying it. Oh, and on top of that, since you are both connected through this spell, I just confirmed that our Lucifer is safe and well on the dimension where you came from, your Majesty. I know that was a reason of concern for you" added, looking over at the rest of the royal family. "He is not in any immediate danger just like you are you not, your Highness."

Alastor squeezed one fist over his staff. In one hand, genuinely relieved that was the case and didn't had to think about Lucifer landing on some unknown land where people ate beautiful blonde angels for lunch. But on the other hand, he still wasn't there and a pretentious dick was instead.

"I am guessing you don't have any spells to just open a portal and let them exchange places" said Emily. "Me and Lucifer can open portals to Heaven or Earth. Can't we do something with that? Maybe combined them so they are stronger and reach them?"

Stolas put both his hands in front of his face, as if praying as he rummaged through his memory.

"My dear, interdimensional magic is an extremely weird subject that most people don't even bother with" said slowly, shaking his head. "I know about every secret of this galaxy and the universes beyond that, but even then this is different. I am afraid that even if you did managed to traspase to another dimension, there is no garantee it would be the one this Lucifer comes from."

"Can't he be summoned?" tried Charlie after throwing a glance to Alastor. "He is the still the devil."

"The devil is a unique title, darling, and he is already here" Stolas flipped through another book and groaned, frustrated.

Alastor looked over at Lucifer.

"Does that mean that if there isn't a devil, we can summon him?" asked in a tone that made Lucifer to frown at him.

"If you take me out, you mean."

"Perhaps. To me sounds like a reasonable exchange."

"That wouldn't help, your Majesty" said Stolas before Lucifer could respond in any way. "If anything happens to this version of Lucifer, ours will just get stuck where he is and we will have no way to know about his state" Stolas blinked. "Not to mention the crumbling of all of hell because it's head is gone. I would encourage not take that course of action."

Alastor shrugged, more convinced for the possibility that his husband could stay away than because of the state of hell.

"Then… what? We just keep waiting until a condition we don't know anything about is met?" asked Charlie, the desolation on her voice too obvious for Stolas to ignore.

"For now, I am afraid that is the best I can tell you. I am so sorry, princess."

[ros3ybabe]

Daily Check-in: October 11th, 2023 🎀

So I was wat more productive then I had thought i would be given the exhaustion I felt from jet lag. I am proud of what I got done! However, I only slept about 2 hours, and it was broken sleep at that so I am not exactly feeling top of my game at the moment. We'll see what my energy allows me to complete today.

🩷 What I Ate, Oct 11th -

Brunch/Lunch - Spaghetti with meat sauce and ground turkey, topped with grated parmesean

Dinner - Turkey & Roast Beef bagel sandwich with avocado, 1 slice muenster cheese, 1 slice cheddar cheese, and a small side of potato chips.

Snack - a half bowl of spaghetti with ground turkey and meat sauce

Extra - 4 cups of coffee, each with one sweet n low and a splash of French vanilla creamer

I actually cooked which is odd for me as I typically don't have energy. My goal for today is to cook a batch of ground beef for taco bowls!

🩷 Personal Achivements, Oct 11th -

Washed bed sheets + pillowcases

Did the dishes

Maintained Duolingo streak (1 lesson)

Maintained Busuu streak (3 lessons)

Video called with my boyfriend twice

Made a shopping list for langaueh tracker/bullet journal (purchased at 1am because Amazon prime big deals were ending and I wanted to save some money)

Made a schedule/routine for working out next week

Cooked myself a real meal

Swept kitchen and disinfected/wiped down counters in kitchen

showered + morning skincare

🩷 Academic Achievements, Oct 11th -

Completed and submitted lifecycle nutrition chart

submitted and passed lab 7 anatomy pre lab

submitted discussion post + replies for nutr discussion 3

I feel quite proud of yesterday! Let's hope today I can tackle some more stuff on my todo list!

🩷 Personal ToDo, Oct 12th -

cook ground beef for taco bowls (leftovers!!)

wash dirty laundry

put away all clean laundry

therapy appointment

video call boyfriend

morning + night skincare

morning + night journal (?)

do 2 duolingo lessons

do 2 busuu lessons

complete/continue genki I lesson one

type up draft for upcoming blog post(s?)

🩷 Academic ToDo, Oct 12th -

Chapter 9 Notes Psyc

Quiz Chapter 9 Psyc

Culinary chapter 10 Quiz

Consumer Debt Inventiry assignment

Using Credit personal finance assignment

I've put a lot on my to-do list for today, but if I can even get a third of each list done, I will still be very proud of myself. Productivity should not come at the cost of my own well-being. Maybe I'll take a nap today? My boyfriend thinks it's a good idea, but I'm not a big fan of naps regardless of the situation. We shall see.

I took complete advantage of the prime big deals on Amazon and ordered some new workout clothes, some hair accessories, a set of silk pillowcases, and supplies for my bullet journal language tracker/planner. I even bought this cute little journal that's made specifically for fitness and health tracking, as a little side thing of mine to help keep me going! It comes with stickers and already set up pages, so hopefully, it proves to be useful!

I may or may not have made an Ulta order for some makeup using my afterpay account as well, because as it gets colder outside I'm starting to want to wear makeup for fun again. I'm not typically drawn to full beat looks but in the winter I love going all out with my makeup looks, whether I'm doing a more grunge goth emo look or a soft coquette girly look and everything in between. I love makeup as a form of self expression!

May or may not buy some more skincare as well, I'm just trying to decrease the amount of stuff in my skincare cart on the shopping app but it's so hard choosing what to get now and what to wait on!! I'm super indecisive too so that intensified the struggle.

Thats all for today! I'll make sure to update you lovelies tonight/tomorrow!

til next time, lovelies 🩷

[christiansorrell]

RPG Read-through: Himbos of Myth & Mettle

After my recent read-through of .dungeon//remastered (originally posted to Twitter), someone there was like "I really like your old read-throughs. Have you put those somewhere else for when Twitter inevitably dies?" I hadn't! So here is a read-through I did last year about one of my favorite releases from the last few years Himbos of Myth & Mettle! - Christian

----------------------

Time to read-through one of the most fun games I've played this year: Himbos of Myth & Mettle by Maxwell Lander!

Right out of the gate, this game has such an exuberant, fun energy to it, and I like the voice throughout the writing. The concept could be done much more impersonally/traditionally, but it really wouldn't carry the same feel at all.

Straightforward d20 roll-under system with guidance to create drama and fun over everything else. I've played with the dice chain optional rule and enjoyed it! It's something I love in other games and it's fun to see its inverse here (smaller dice are better).

Interestingly, the system has a mixed success component as well - although you may not expect it with the d20 base. It takes something like your ability modifiers from a traditional game and makes that into a window of error that gets you success with a complication.

The magic system is a lot of fun here. Any himbo can use their Heart stat to attempt superhuman or supernatural things. You answer some quick questions to determine the cost and roll to see if you pull it off. There's an effect table too if things go wrong with some wild results.

The Heart system is a good encapsulation of what I enjoyed about this when I've had the chance to play it. It has this vivacious, positive, and often cartoonish energy to it where things almost always go big, in good and bad ways. It's very heartfelt (no pun intended).

Fun art (by Mary Verhoeven) and quotes throughout this book too. I wonder if these were real player characters from playtesting or maybe in-universe Legends of Himbodom?

One of the most memorable lists of player stats out there. It stresses letting players use most stats for most things. Doing something very courageous in combat? Roll Breast over Thighs. Flirting with an NPC to distract them while you pick their pocket? Roll Lips over Hands.

Death is rare, rather Himbos take Scars when they fall to 0 Heart (acting primarily as health but also "mana" to some extent). Each scar makes them more and more jaded, a bit more negative. After 4 scars, they retire - becoming a hero maybe (yes, heroes are bad here!)

There are special abilities, skills (gained from a lifepath system), and Heat (a bonus pool that reflects how sexy you are in the moment). I had a lot of fun with the special abilities in particular when I played.

D20 tables throughout help build the tone really well. It's clear what kind of characters this game is focused on after looking these over. I really like lifepath systems in games, and this one is surprisingly extensive. It's fun to roll a random character and see who comes out.

Tips section gives some guidance about trying to create a different type of story and different types of conflicts than you typically see in fantasy RPGs. I really like the take on Heroes here. It's a great twist on the genre (and is probably more accurate, honestly).

It's got two adventures in the back, including the 12th Annual Fresh Meat Games which was the adventure I got to play through at EFCon. It's a local festival and competition that the PCs join to test their mettle in front of big crowds. Lots of fun.

Nice little thing: there's a library check-out card holder on the back inside cover with little character sheets in it!

That's the game! It's a lean little book, quick to read and quicker to play. It's got a straightforward central system with fun twists and tables throughout to ramp up the drama and really the entire text just exudes a unique, over-the-top, heartfelt tone I love.

It's available digitally for $10 USD on Itch!

The hardback version is great - really nice quality, it has a ribbon and those cool sheets in the back! I'd recommend picking it up HERE.

Lastly if you'd like to hear more from me, you can do that in my monthly newsletter (includes an article, an RPG freebie, and a list of cool stuff from myself and others over the last month): https://meatcastle.substack.com

[gepetordi1]

The Big Food industry spent billions teaching you what to think about food. Everything you've been taught about eating is WRONG. Here's 20 tips to educate yourself:

1) The inner aisles of a grocery store are engineered to taste good and keep you coming back for more. They are closer to drugs than REAL food.

2) Eating 5-7x a day is not the way to boost your metabolism but its a great way to create insulin resistance.

3) You don't need more supplements. You need a whole foods diet.

4) There's nothing healthy about fruit drinks. They are liquid sugar IVs. 100% juice is still 100% garbage for your body.

5) Breakfast can be the most important meal of the day but not when your routine is eating 3 bowls of cereal. If you're going to eat breakfast start with hitting 30+ grams of protein to start your day.

6) The food pyramid maximized profits and destroyed people's health.

7) Vegetable oils are closer to industrial waste than they are vegetables. Stick with coconut, avocado, olive, and butter.

8) Terms like natural, heart healthy, and multigrain are marketing terms that have nothing to do with that food improving your health.

9) Heart disease wasn't a serious issue until the past several decades, yet red meat and eggs which have been eaten for thousands of years have become the scapegoat for what processed foods and insulin resistance have done.

10) Calories in, calories out sound great unless your diet is full of empty calories. Nutrient density matters when it comes to hormonal balance, metabolism, and overall health.

11) Low fat is usually just a smoke screen for high sugar, increased triglycerides, insulin resistance, and heart disease.

12) The sun has endless nutritional benefits and comes at zero cost and free of calories.

13) Everything in moderation is illogical. Just because your body can deal with certain foods doesn't mean its good for you.

14) Creatine isn't just for bodybuilders, it's for everyone. It's cheap, safe, and has cognitive benefits in addition to its impact on muscle.

15) You don't need energy drinks. You need a high protein diet and better quality sleep. Something as simple as magnesium before bed can have a huge impact on improving the quality of your sleep.

16) Artificial sweeteners lack sugar but can destroy your gut health.

17) Drinking alcohol because it's good for you in some way is bullshit. It's a toxin. If you want to enjoy it fine but don't use your health to justify it.

18) If it's designed to sit on a shelf for a year it's not food.

19) An exclusively plant based diet lacks essential nutrients. Don't be fooled by products like Beyond Meat which require high levels of processing to create a cheap alternative "food".

20) Cholesterol is the boogeyman you have been told to fear but cholesterol is naturally occurring and dietary intake of cholesterol is not strongly understood or supported by the data to cause heart disease.

P.S. Food companies are enabled by limited regulation to prioritize max profits over consumer health. It's important to be an educated consumer. You are responsible for your own health. Think critically and stick to the basics. If it wasn't eaten 100 years ago it's not worth eating!!

[angelmush]

hiii im going to be living w my aunt over the summer and therefore buying my own groceries. I am going to be busy w summer classes and working on the weekends but I do rlly want to try cooking at least once or twice a week. I can make an egg and pasta but that’s about it. What are some of your fave recipes that aren’t super complicated that I could start with if you have any? (I am open to a minor challenge but cooking can overwhelm me so I like a challenge but not too much of one lol). I am also vegetarian (not vegan) if that matters! If you don’t get to this that’s okay !!! I hope u are well 🩷🩷🩷

now it's been a little while for me since i've had to use this model due to moving back home w my family for a time but when buying groceries for one person i found it helpful to follow this sort of structure about once a week! when i do this it feels a lot easier to 'wing it' in the kitchen and mix and match my meal components. and to preface, this is what i find to be helpful and everyone is different and finds different things to work for them!!

1-3 protein sources - i like to center my meals around this because i've found it helps me feel the most nourished and full, i always think of it as things that can be the 'star' of your dishes. i eat meat so i usually do salmon, chicken thighs, and alternate pork + beef. but for u that could b things like tofu, eggs, beans/lentils, mushrooms maybe, vegetarian 'meat' fakes lol, peanut butter if u like any peanutty noodle dishes

3-4 veggies - i love to snack on veggies so i usually get snap peas, cucumbers, + bell pepper just for snacking, and then something like brussel sprouts for roasting as a side dish w a dinner, these can also be frozen

2-3 types of fruit - i am a smoothie enjoyer bigtime so i get a combo of frozen and fresh, almost always mango, and then whatever is seasonal that i can see myself being excited to eat throughout the week

2-3 grains - pastas, premade pizza crusts, bread, rice, etc!! these rly round out ur meals!! and imo they make it simpler to make a meal on the fly. i am a huge fan of microwave rice LOL

2-3 multipurpose dips/spreads/sauces/condiments/pantry items - now here is ur golden ticket for being able to reliably make well rounded and varied meals!!! slowly building up your collection over time is the most cost effective way imo. it's helpful to stock up your pantry w things like baking supplies (flours, sugars, leaveners), spices, shelf stable canned goods (canned tomatoes, beans, vinegars, oils, soy sauces, fish sauce, cartons of things like oak milk), and 'fridge pantry' items (parmesan, herbs, lemons for juice and zest, miso, gochujang, ketchup, mayo, hot sauce, jam, pickles, etc). you can use these to season your food as you cook!

2-3 snacks/frozens - any microwave meals or chips or desserts you might want!!

using this structure makes it easier to look at what you have and be like, i have xyz and they would go together well.

EX. i have rice, tofu, and bok choy, now i can cook the rice and pan fry the tofu and bok choy with my pantry ingredients (soy sauce, miso, sesame oil, chili oil) and create a filling meal!

some of my favorites that could be made vegetarian -

ground pork seared on the bottom of a dutch oven in patties (you could sub tofu or use a fake meat replacement), broken up into smaller chunks, eaten with linguine, sliced snap peas or celery, + a garlicky peanut butter sriracha sauce

pizza w a store bought crust!! super easy, done in like 10 minutes! i like to make mine in a cast iron following this protocol

i really love to dress up ramen w sliced veggies and eggs

i like to make pasta dishes and then form a sauce w parmesan cheese, butter, pasta water, lots of lemon zest and juice and sometimes chicken stock, then adding in peas and fresh herbs at the end

idk if this was helpful at all, but i also have a recipe + recovery tag on my blog w more of these if that is helpful to you! im also on Instagram (@clementineoliveoil) and like to post what i cook there sometimes too!! i wish u all the most beautiful meals in your future!!

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

True Riches

1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

2 put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

3 Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.

4 Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

6 Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:

7 for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink." he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

8 The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10 Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:

16 yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the LORD all the day long.

18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.

20 Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

25 Let your father and your mother be glad. Let her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

31 Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

32 In the end, it bites like a serpent, and poisons like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

35 "They hit me, and I was not hurt. They beat me, and I do not feel it. When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another." — Proverbs 23 | New Heart English Bible (NHEB) The New Heart English Bible is in the public domain Cross References: Exodus 22:22; Leviticus 19:32; Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 15:9; 2 Samuel 11:13; Job 19:25; Psalm 1:2; Psalm 9:18; Psalm 141:4; Proverbs 2:12; Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 4:7; Proverbs 6:26; Proverbs 8:6; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 22:29; Proverbs 25:16; Proverbs 26:24-25; Proverbs 27:11; Proverbs 28:14; Song of Solomon 7:9; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 11:8; Jeremiah 5:3; Matthew 6:19; Matthew 7:6; Matthew 11:19; Matthew 24:49; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 6:17

[brettdoesdiscourse]

So, let's talk about exotics and why you're probably not a responsible owner. (This isn't directed specifically at OP as I don't know them or their situation, rather just in general.)

Most celebrities with money to buy the best enclosures, food, care, vets, etc. aren't even capable of taking care of exotics. Let alone "normal" people.

Most people are not equipped to best care for an exotic animal because the simple fact is exotic animals aren't meant to be pets. Animals mixed with coyotes or wolves, lions, chimps, or any other exotic animal.

Ethics of breeding

Before you even get the animal, you have to deal with the ethics of them being bred. How do the breeders you're looking to use operate? Do they poach babies, for example? Such as the high rate of trafficked cheetahs.

Do they practice unethical breeding practices such as excessive breeding or inbreeding?

What are the conditions their animals live in? Are they well taken care of with lots of space? Are they in good health?

Space

The biggest issue people run into is simply not having the space for the animal. Wolves, for example, cover around 30 miles a day while hunting. They can run up to 40MPH.

These animals cannot be kept in the house. You simply cannot give them enough exercise if you keep them in the house and just walk them.

So, let's say you keep them outside. You have to have a big enough yard for them to run full speed if they want to.

Do you have that kind of space available to you?

But you also need fences to keep them in the yard. Coyotes can jump up to 8 feet and wolves can jump up to 12. So, you have to have a fence that's taller than that and it would probably be best to give them at least a couple feet extra just in case. Do you live in an area that allows you to have fences that tall? Most areas have a fence height of a max of 8 feet.

You also have to worry about them digging out. Do you have a feasible plan to stop them from being able to dig out from underneath the fence?

Food

Exotic pets often cost so much money to feed. Wolves need at least 3.7 pounds of meat at the absolute bare minimum just to survive. But on average, they eat about 10 pounds. Do you have a place where you can buy that much meat? Do you have a place to store the meat that isn't being currently eaten? Can you afford to feed them that much? With prices being up so high, people struggle to even feed themselves meat, let alone an animal.

With different kinds of animals, it's also important to provide them their array of diet. Animals such as raccoons and coyotes are what's known as scavenger animals. This means they eat whatever they can come across. It's important to feed them a variety of foods to keep them healthy.

It's also important to be providing them with the appropriate levels of things such as calcium and other vitamins that keep them healthy.

Because there's not a premixed food for them (like there is for dogs or cats) that means you have to do it yourself. It will be at the very least difficult, if not impossible, to make sure they're getting the right amounts of different foods and vitamins needed.

Health

You'll need a vet nearby that you can take your pet to as well as the money to afford them. Where is the closest exotic vet to you? Do they actually care for the type of animal you have? (Keep in mind, there's often a difference between an exotic vet and a large animal vet.) Do they cater to the public or only zoos? What all can they do? Can you afford their vet bills?

Enrichment

Not only does an animal need a lot of things to keep them occupied, they likely also need company. Where it's easy to keep a large group of rats, it will likely be harder to keep a large group of wolves. The average pack size is 4-9, but a minimum of two can happen. Do you have the space and money for at least two wolves? What happens if they become aggressive with one another, what's the game plan at that time?

Danger

Exotic animals pose not only a threat to their owner (who has consented and taken on the risks associated), but also strangers and neighbors who have not consented to taking on that risk.

Do you have kids or animals in your neighborhood? If so, having an exotic pet that can seriously injure/kill something likely isn't the best decision. Coyotes, for example, are notorious for attacking and/or killing pets. And there's even been a few cases of children being attacked by coyotes, and at least one child death due to them.

What happens if your pet escapes?

Pet chimps, for example, have a long history of escaping and posing a threat to others around. They are often a danger to children, animals, and adults in the neighborhood.

What precautions do you have in place if your chimp begins to attack someone or something? And more importantly, can you emotionally and mentally use them?

Calling the police will take too long and they will likely not be equipped to handle the situation.

Do you have sedatives that you can administer successfully from a distance? How long does it take you to get it ready? How long does it take to work?

Do you have a weapon in case you need it? Are you emotionally and mentally able to kill your pet if needed?

TLDR: While there's nothing wrong with truly ethical exotic pet ownership, the vast majority of people simply do not have the means or preparedness to ethically own an exotic pet.

[omgfloofy]

I’m doing this as an image since I don’t want to drag anything down on the meaning that’s being presented in the original message nor do I want to bring hate on the people posting it. But at the same time I want to add something on this.

My most creative time with cooking came from when I was unemployed, and barely able to afford the roof over my head and to keep the bills running. I had a really really old Kitchenaid (I think retailed at like $150?) cookware set that I got when I was living with a roommate. (And I still have and use it to this day, while it’s like 14 years old now.)

I couldn’t afford to eat out a lot at that time, so I experimented and played around with making dishes that I really liked. This often meant playing around with boxed items from the store, or just making things from scratch. I learned to make several portions of tonkatsu for less than $7 or $8 total. It would give me 3-4 meals out of the week. I also recreated several restaurant dishes for a cheap cost.

You don’t need fancy equipment to recreate flavors you like. I had a partially busted electric stovetop that had an unevenly cooking oven and no fancy appliances in my kitchen - I lived in a dirt cheap apartment at the time that was in a low income area.

I can’t argue on the large city part, being that I had a grocery store nearby, but I also knew when to go to said store - based on when they were removing meat from the butcher counter and discounting it to get rid of it. I bought that frequently and kept freezer bags to freeze it in parts since it was just me. Even if you don’t live near one, learn that time for where you get food on your own.

The most unique thing I ever bought for my kitchen was an oven thermometer, but those aren’t expensive. You can find those for less than $10. I needed it to find the hot spots for my

Look up Dylan Hollis and his videos. He doesn’t use stand mixers or anything, to show that you don’t need that stuff to make the things he makes.

Another online source for recipes that makes things easy to follow, no matter what you have available to you: Food Wishes. His stuff is great and some of his recipes are now staples in my lineup.

If you want to get better cooking equipment, look up estate sales or garage/yard sales and buy them second hand. Good brands will last you a very long time. (Case in point with my kitchenaid stuff.) Also look up cookbooks at your local used bookstore, or even just get them from estate sales.

Another thing to remember: if things aren’t purchased at an estate sale, it usually just goes into the trash, so you’re basically saving something from the landfill in that case. Estate sales are always your friend,and they almost always happen at least on a semi regular occurrence, regardless of where you live.

And one of the recipes I made during that period is very much my own and one of the favorites my friends enjoy me making. You never know what you can and will accomplish when you’re forced to be creative in the kitchen.

[misses-winter-soldier]

Broken+broken=fixed

Steve chetead on you but Bucky's there to show you what love really is.

Steve x reader -> Bucky x reader

Mention of nightmares, trauma, human lab rat

A bit angst

English isn't my first language so i apologize if they're mistakes.

Don't copy, translate or repost without tagging!

Part 1.

I meat Steve almost 2 years ago when I was trying to run from Hidra. I was a lab rat. They always wanted perfection. Perfect serum more specifically so they constantly made new versions that they needed to test. That's where I come in. I was the human tester. Well, after 27 versions of the serum I don't know how human I am anymore. They started when I was a baby. And never stopped. When they realized they can no longer control me they tried to kill me. Nothing worked. So they settled for hurting me enough to make me to weak to run. They tested weapons on me now. But I escaped. I was so lost until Steve came into my life. He helped me get away and even got me accepted in his team of superheroes. We've been dating for little over a year now. Everything was great in the beginning. He was nice, sweet, thoughtful. A gentleman. Last 2 months were different. He was cold and distant. He missed all our dates and movie nights. I would be asleep at the time he would come home. Mornings were awful. He couldn't get out faster. I felt something was off but I put it on the stress of finding Bucky and trying to help his best friend to get back on his feet.

Now 2 more months passed since Bucky came to leave with us. He didn't like me. I tried everything. Making him breakfast, baking cookies for him, inviting him to movie nights. Nothing. He would avoid me with all costs. If he had to be around me he would ignore me. It bugs me. He's my boyfriends best friend and he hates me.

4 months since Bucky has been living with Steve and I

Steves on a mission. Has been for 2 weeks now so it's just me and Bucky. He has nightmares every night. Tonight it's no different except that I can't listen to him anymore. He hates me but needs a friend right now.

*Knock knock*

"Bucky? Are you ok?" No answer. "Can I come in?" I hear some shuffling inside and the door opens. Shirtless. His shirtless.*hot hot hot* He's covered in sweat. Eyes red and puffy. He looks scared and sad.

"What do you want?"

"I know you had another nightmare. Are you ok? Do want to talk about it? Do you need anything? Water? Food? A hug?"

"I'm fine. Why can't you just leave me alone. I don't want to be friends i don't like you"

"No you're not fine. And why do you have to sound so rude when I'm just trying to help you? I know you don't like me. I get that. You made it obvious from day one but I'm not your enemy Bucky. I don't know why you hate me but I'm just trying to help you. I know what it feels like. I know the nightmares and shit. And i know Steve told you about my past. I just want to help you and you're always such a jerk to me. But fine. You don't want my help? OK! But then be quiet and let me sleep. I felt bad for you Bucky. For what they did to you . But not anymore. You know why? Because you refuse to get help. You don't want to get better. You've been pushing people away from day one. You want to be alone? Perfect! Be alone! But I need sleep so shut up!"

I'm awful. Where did all this come from?

Bucky was stunned and hurt so he shut the door in my face. I went back to my room and back to sleep just to wake up 10 min later to a crying Bucky sitting in my room.

"You ok ?"

"No. But you already know that."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry. I know i was an ass. I just don't know what to do. I'm scared and and and i want a hug please "

I moved a little and patted the spot next to me telling Bucky to sit down.

Next morning was a bit tense. We fell asleep cuddling and woke up with him spooning me. Morning+man = something poking my ass but hey he can't control that. At least he slept without nightmares and honestly i haven't sleept that good in a while.

I was making breakfast when my phone buzzed

Steve: mission's going to last a few more weeks. Is buck ok?

Me: He's fine. How long is it going to be? I miss you babe❤️

Seen

Me: call me when you can. Take care of yourself. Love you ❤️❤️

Seen

*Wow. Boyfriend of the year huh*

Part 2

[twotangledsisters]

Cheap Meals

So, I've got to shopping today because my fridge is literally empty. And I googled cheap meals to kind of inspire me and try not to buy the same five things every single week.

But whenever I do this I'm reminded how the word "cheap" is not always the same. And how often times cheap also means extremely high effort which isn't compatible with many lifestyles as well as people struggling with mental illness or physical illness...

So here are the meals that got me through some really difficult times (these meals aren't all healthy, they are simply healthier than skipping meals constantly which is what I did for a long time):

1.- Popcorn, where I live three bags cost one euro, that's 33 cents a meal that is hot, has flavour and just needs throwing in the microwave. Perfect to stop yourself from skipping a meal.

2.- Humus. A cheap blender, preferably the type uses for making juice is honestly the best thing ever. For humus you just throw chickpeas (I always use jarred) into said blender with whatever spices you like (I usually do salt, pepper, comino and curry powder), you blend and done! It can be eaten with nachos, on toast, or just on it's own. Takes five minutes is super cheap.

3.- Eggy bread, (basically French toast without the cinnamon) you just throw some egs in a bowl, mix them, add spices, dip the bread in and throw onto the pan. Takes barely any time, good hot meal, cheapest thing ever.

4.- Toast, obviously, having just some jam at home that can be spread onto some toast is another good way to avoid skipping a meal.

5.- Porridge, oats are super cheap, you just mix them with some milk, throw in the microwave and ta-dah! I add honey because honey is super cheap here but I know some areas it's more expensive, I've also added bananas when they're in season.

6.- Roasted vegetables, the other day pumpkins were cheap so I grabbed one, cut it in half threw it in the oven and that's that. Three meals ready to go. You can do a bunch of different vegetables, add spices or don't, do whatever works for you. Fried vegetables is also good but that requires a tiny bit more attention.

7.- Salad. People underestimate salad, at home you have full control, the other day I had glass noodles with cucumber and soy sauce. It was easier to make than pot-ramen and super healthy and tasted great. Sometimes I do pasta salad by making the pasta the day before and leaving it in the fridge (usually I make a pasta meal and just set some aside), russian salad is also amazing and super cheap.

8.- Vegetarian wraps, I just buy the frozen already chopped peppers form my supermarket, I fry them with a seasoner for burritos and then throw them into some wraps, cheap quick and delicious.

9.- Cereal, this is within the toast and popcorn area, just worth having around for when depression is high.

10.- Ramen but not ramen? Obviously, the pots of ramen are really expensive if you are dirt poor, but most supermarket sell noodles and chicken broth wich is the same thing. You just boil the noodle in the broth, I usually do this until their is no broth so it's not really ramen but to each their own. Make it extra amazing by adding a few more spices and an egg. Cheap, five minutes, delicious.

11.- Carbonara or bolognaise: just spaghetti (or any other pasta it doesn't really matter), for bolognaise I do tinned tomato, some onion, some garlic (depended on the season it'll be fresh or frozen), and if I have a bit of extra cash I add meat, but mostly my meals are vegetarian. For carbonara (this isn't proper carbonara but it works) I just do cooking cream, mushrooms, sometimes onion and again, if I have the money, bacon.

12.- Pizza bread, or pizza really. Just throw some tomato, cheese and ham on a piece of bread and put it in the oven. You can add or remove ingredients. If you have the time, flour and water makes dough to do proper pizza but you need to leave it to raise and I know I rarely think that far ahead.

13.- Toad in the whole, basically you mix water, flower and egg to make a pancake like batter, add some salt, put it in an oven friendly bowl or whatever, throw in some sausages (though I've done this without the sausages plenty of times), you get a bread, pancake, kinda thing and if you added sausages the juices make it taste extra good.

BONUS DESSERT: Cartwheels, basically you buy a pack of digestive biscuits and a bad of marshmallows, you put one marshmallow on one biscuit, put in the microwave for literally 10 seconds or less, when the marshmallow expands you place the other biscuit on top and voila! Super fast, cheap because you get lots of them out of those packs, warm.

Also, if you's feeling a bit depressed hot beverages are the cheapest treat I consistently get myself, like nice teas if you count the price per cup is super cheap but makes me happy. I also have like a pot of instant caramel cappuccino and some nice hot cholate powder.

Anyway, if you're struggling right now, good luck, the world is a mess right now and we just kind of have to trudge through that mess. Feel free to add anything that helped you through hard times because everybody has their own experience.

And again, most of these are not healthy, but sometimes you're just surviving and trust me, this is so much better than fainting because you haven't eaten in too long.

Good luck.

[fiftytwotwentythree]

Wellness Wednesday:

Cleaning Out My Closet Fridge

Part of my wellness journey is working on my financial wellness - What are my spending habits? What can I do differently? What can I cut out?

Couple weeks ago I challenged myself to use up as much as groceries/pantry supplies before buying more groceries - maybe meal prep here and there.

Well, I've been doing good on clearing out the freezer - working on the fridge and pantry now.

I noticed I had an abundance of deli meat and breads laying around - so - I was very conscious about eating up those foods first before they went bad.

To be honest I was little more conscious this week because not too long ago I had entire loaf of bread get moldy and I just despise when that happens.

So - I at a ton of sammies this week. Really spiced it up by changing my breads, meats, and cheeses - never got boring.

Other added benefit - I saw significant drop on my weekly grocery bill. A practice I want to entertain more in the future.

Another step to help out my pocket book is I made the decision not to buy any more expensive nuts - aka - my Wonderful's Pistachios. I am going to see if I can find a more cost effective snack alternative... Plus, I still have plenty to finish off in my cabinets.

Beyond my wallet and weekly diet - I broke the 2 week plateau streak and hit some weight loss (slightly over 4 pounds). Felt good considering I didn't do anything besides partake in some extra deli meats.

Sleep-wise - man-oh-man - I need to sleep. I hate how this is a constant battle.

Socially - saw some fam - good times/stories/jokes - and - tomorrow I plan on seeing some good friends at the movies... and hope to enjoy said movies.

.

.

24th CHECK-IN:

Current Goals:

Lose 52 lbs

Completed as of 4/12/2023

New Goal: Maintain or Continue on The Weight Loss Path

Avoid "Junk Food"

Minimize Take-Out / Fast Food Consumption

Short Term:

Vegetarian-ish Diet: Completed

End Date: 4/09/2023 - 46 Days Total

.

.

Meal Tracker:

THURSDAY

Lunch:

(1) Hot Ham & Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

Handful of Good & Gather's Tex Mex Trail Mix

Snack:

Bag of BBQ Corn Nuts

Supper:

(1) Hot Ham & Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

(2) Triangle Wedges of Watermelon

(1) Glass of Milk

FRIDAY

Lunch:

(1) Turkey Swiss on a Burger Bun

(1) Chicken and American Cheese on Burger Bun

Bag of BBQ Corn Nuts

Snack:

(1) Old Wisconsin Turkey Sausage & Cheddar Cheese Stick Combo

Supper:

(2) Chicken and American Cheese Sandwiches on Sesame Seed Buns

(1) Triangle Wedge of Watermelon

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

SATURDAY

Lunch:

(2) Chicken and American Cheese Sandwiches on Sesame Seed Buns

Bag BBQ Corn Nuts

Snack:

Handful of Good & Gather's Tex Mex Trail Mix

Bag of Smartfoods White Cheddar Popcorn

Supper:

(1) Pineapple Brat on a Bakery Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Taco Brat on a Bakery Bun

- Ketchup

(1) Grilled Potato

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

SUNDAY

Lunch:

Cesaer Salad

Snack:

Bag of Smartfoods White Cheddar Popcorn

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Supper:

Chef Salad

(1) Medium Orange

MONDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Handful of Wonderful's Smokey BBQ Pistachios

Supper:

Chef Salad

(1) Medium Orange

TUESDAY

Lunch:

Santa Fe Style Salad

Handful of Wonderful's Salt & Vinegar Pistachios

Supper:

(1) Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Swiss Slider on a Artesian Bun

(1) Medium Orange

WEDNESDAY

Lunch:

(3) Leftover Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Pepperjack Sliders on a Artesian Buns

Supper:

(3) Leftover Homemade Oven-Baked Ham, Pastrami, Chicken Pepperjack Sliders on a Artesian Buns

(2) Glass of Chocolate Milk

(1) Medium Orange

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

.

.

Workouts:

THURSDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

FRIDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

SATURDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

SUNDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

MONDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

TUESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [5 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 sets of 1 min]

WEDNESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges[4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 sets of 20]

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WEIGHT TRACKER:

Starting Weight (Noon, 1/01/2023): XXX.X lbs

Weight at Last Check-In, 6/07/2023: ZERO lbs

Weight As of Noon, 6/14/2023: -4.4 lbs

Total Weight Loss: -69.8 lbs

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Closing Thoughts:

The Good:

Coming off a 2 week plateau and losing over 4 pounds. Nice little bump - but - still aware another plateau can surdace.

The Bad:

I've had some tad off days at work.

The Ugly:

Feel like a broken record - but - I am jonesing for some good ol' fashion sleep.