#Autumn can’t get here soon enough imo

[chellesdump]

It's Just A... Prank? - 97' Line

"The 97’ Line of idols including Miyeon, Jihyo, Rosé, Mina, Lisa, BamBam, Jungkook, and Minnie, decide to have a playdate on their favorite playground, but once there they can’t decide what to play until hide-n-seek is mentioned. But one of them says they should make the game more entertaining by pranking the adults, everything is okay until it backlashes at them"

word count ─ 1.7k

tags ─ little! miyeon, little! jihyo, little! rosé, little! mina, little! lisa, little! bambam, little! jungkook, little! minnie, daddy! jackson, papa! namjoon, mama! nayeon, mama! jennie, big sis! soyeon, autumn, playground, pranks, guilt

notes ─ This is for the Prank prompt, I didn’t knew if I would be able to write today’s prompt in a timely manner, the power went out in my neighborhood for close to 13 hours and none of my devices had battery :(. But thankfully I was able to do it after all. Please enjoy :3

"Mama! Mama!" was the sound of the screams that could be heard throughout the house, "In the kitchen" was the yelled answer that Jennie gave, soon after the pitter patter of footsteps made itself present, nearing her location.

"Mama there you are! Been looking for you. What you doing?" exclaimed the little girl taking a seat next to her Mama, “I’ve been sitting here drinking some coffee while reading this book” said Jennie showing her cup and book. “Can I has coffee, please?” begged the little girl with her best puppy eyes, “Sorry baby, this is just for grown-ups” responded Jennie giving an apologetic glance to her little girl.

“You are so mean, Mama!” pouted the little girl, “Oh yeah, I’m a mean Mama. Now Lili, why were you looking for this ever so mean person?” asked Jennie looking over to Lisa with a raised brow, “Oh yeah!! Can you calls Nayeon imo p’ease?” requested Lisa extending her phone toward Jennie. Grabbing the girl’s phone she began dialing Nayeon’s number, “But why do you want to call Nayeon?” asked Jennie before pressing the call button, “Wanna talk wif’ Hyo and Mina” stated Lisa, “Then why don’t we call one of them instead?” reasoned Jen, “Yes p’ease Mama, call Hyo” said Lisa.

Once her Mama had dialled Jihyo’s number Lisa took her phone and went back to her room, only coming out to grab snacks, Jennie could hear how the girls seemed to be playing some game so animatedly online, after about 2 hours of playing Lisa came running back out screaming “Mama! Can we, can we p’ease!?”, “Can you what?” asked disorientedly Jennie, “Go to the playground wif’ Hyo an’ Mina an’ Minnie an’ Miyeon an’ Bam… Bam says he gonna tell Kookie, but we don’t knows if he going” excitedly answered.

“Surely but isn’t Rosie going with you?”, “Yes, we both go and see our friends,” said Lisa before running screaming Chaeyoung-ah we go to the playground, Jennie proceeded to prepare a bag with the girls' things before getting everything loaded on her car and driving to the playground.

—

“Everyone we here!! Let’s play!!” excitedly yelled Lisa grabbing Rosie’s hand and dragging her over the rest of the kids, when she arrived she went to hug all her friends with Rosé closely following her lead.

“So what you wanna do?” asked Hyo since she is the eldest among them, everyone started throwing out ideas about what to do, “Let’s go to the swings” “But there not enough ones”, “Play tag?” “We could, but it’s chilly”, “We could play hide and seek?”, and with that last idea every kid agreed except one.

"All those games are so boring, we should play somefing more exciting. Or make the game more exciting" mentioned Kookie, "What you suggest to make it exciting?" asked Bam, “We make pranks” stated Kook, “We here, you can’t prank us” retorted Hyo with a duh sound.

“No pranks for us, pranks for them” pointed Kook to their adults with a devilish smirk on his face, “I’m out, when Soyeon unnie gets mad it scary” stated Miyeon with a confirmative nod from Minnie, “Yeah I agree, our Mama is scary too,” said Rosie, and soon everyone said their discontent with the idea of pranking the adults.

“Oh p’ease guys, don’t be such babies. Nofing is going to happen, everything will be okay” assured Kook, finally convincing the rest to make a harmless prank on the adults, so after everyone agreed Jungkook started explaining the plan of action, they were to play little meaningless games like tag, swinging and other ones, then they’ll start with hide-n-seek.

The first few rounds of hide-n-seek were normal ones, hiding through the playground on the tunnels, slides, nearby bushes, and among the adults, then the real prank started, it was Rosie’s turn to be the finder so she sat down near the sandbox to start counting. She found everyone except Minnie and Bam, she made a huge show of looking for them, getting desperate the more time passed and she couldn’t find them, the adults took notice of this and went towards the children to find out what was happening.

“What is happening here? Why do you all look scared? Did you get hurt?” asked Nayeon looking over her children to see if they were harmed, the other adults followed suit checking over their own kids, and that’s when they realized. 

“Have you seen BamBam? Where did he go” screamed Jackson trying to find his boy, “Where is Minnie? Miyeon-ah where’s your sister?” asked Soyeon scared like Jackson, that’s when Rosie spoke up, “We were playing hide-n-seek, but I not find them”, the rest of the kids agreed with the statement. So everyone started looking all over the playground for the missing children but did not have luck finding them, Jackson and Soyeon started having so much panic at not finding their children, it was such panic that Soyeon who is a switch started regressing a little into her teens at the stress.

Jennie saw this and went toward the teen to comfort her, “Oh Soyeon-ah, I promise we’ll find them. We will not stop until they are safe once again in your arms”, Soyeon started having a panic attack yelling, “What if something bad happened to them unnie!? I would never forgive myself for not taking good care of her!” and the sobs overtook Soyeon’s whole body. The children saw the scene that had just unfolded, and huge guilt invaded them, Hyo and Rosie that are the eldest among the children - after Miyeon but she was being crushed in a hug by her unnie - went to tell the Thai kids to come out of their hiding, Kook and Mina stayed put in their place watching everything unfold while the girls fetched the ‘missing’ kids - Lisa was being smothered by Jackson trying to see if either BamBam or Minnie had said anything in Thai that only she had perceived -.

Nayeon and Jennie were panicking when they saw their kids walking into the trees that surrounded the playground, since Jennie was comforting Soyeon it was Nayeon’s job to follow after the girls, telling Mina to stay with her imo and woesamchons. She trailed after the girls, and then she saw them stop at the edge and call for someone, that was when the missing kids came out, “Omo! Are you okay kids?! Where were you?” said the bunny running to them and hugging them, making sure to check them over quickly before taking the 4 kids back to everyone else.

When Soyeon and Jackson saw them they ran to hug them and check them over when they made sure they were okay they asked what had happened, the first to break down was Minnie, followed by BamBam and Lili, the 3 Thai kids were sobbing while hugging each other, then the eldest followed, Miyeon, Hyo & Rosie also started crying, Mina was the last to join the crying fest, throwing herself at her Mama’s arms. 

Kookie was the only one who wasn’t crying but he seemed nervous, fidgeting in his place, looking all over the place, and fidgeting with his fingers, these were all signs of him being nervous, when his Papa saw it he knew Jungkook had something to do with the sudden disappearance of his peers. With a heavy heart, Namjoon dared to ask Kookie for an explanation, “Kook buddy, would you be so kind as to tell me what exactly is making you nervous?”, “Nofing at all Papa, just don’t wanna be… kidnapped?” said - asked? - Jungkook fearing being discovered.

Everyone became aware of the scene unfolding between Namjoon and Jungkook, turning all their attention their way, curious glances from the adults, and nervous ones from the children. “Namjoon-ah, is everything okay?” dared to speak up Jackson, “Yeah everything is okay” reassured Namjoon, “but I think Kook here has something that he isn’t telling us,” said Nam with a sigh.

Feeling all the eyes on Jungkook made the kids break their silence, “I’m so sorry Mama! I didn’ wanna do it but he said it was fun! P’ease forgive me!” cried out Mina being the first one to speak up, “Daddy are you mad? I didn’ wanna scare you!” was what came out of Bam’s mouth, suddenly all the kids started apologizing, with a Kookie just standing there speechless at the treachery from his fellow kids.

“Can someone please explain what is happening here?” asked disoriented Nayeon, the one to respond was Hyo, “We were choosin’ what to play and we all wanted different fings, until someone said hide-n-seek so we say yes” let out so quickly that it was almost imperceptible, “And Kook said it was boring, we told him then what, an’ he said we play that but more exciting. We asked how, and he said… he said” rambled out Miyeon, not daring to finish her sentence. “What did Kook say?” asked Jennie wishing to know what had happened, “He said we make pranks, but Hyo said you can’t prank us we already know. But then he said we prank you instead of us” answered Lisa with a hung head.

All the adults started berating their kids, that was until Namjoon’s voice distracted everyone, “Kim Jungkook! What have we told you about making everyone do things you clearly know you shouldn’t?” came the chastising voice, the rest of the adults tried to convince Namjoon to not be like that with Jungkook since it was something that all the kids did together. 

After explaining that it was a common occurrence of Kookie being a menace like that and dragging everyone on his misdemeanors, everyone parted ways and went home, you could hear how they were being chastised over the evening. The prank awfully came to bite the kids on the back, but it was a clear lesson to learn, they shouldn’t joke with that kind of thing, at the end of the day all the kids were punished with groundings and a prohibition of going to the playground for a while, but with a promise as well of having another play date, as long as they behaved.

[inga-don-studio]

The absolute mindfuck every late Summer when you get that first taste of cooler weather and the ‘autumn/Halloween button’ is pressed somewhere deep in your lizard brain, only for the heatwave to return with a vengeance.

[ladybirdwithoutdots]

(long post about) why I love Flynn’s Mr. Knightley (and this version of the romance)

Someone said that the best thing about Emma 2020′s Mr Knightley is the fact we see the story from his pov too. I was thinking about that a bit more and I think, indeed, it’s a correct take and the reason why I love him too.

First of all,  I think Johnny Flynn did a great work balancing the assuredness and seriousness of the character with his funny and sweet side, and he surprisingly embodies the down-to-earth, eccentric gentleman side of the character and his yourthful, sensible, passionate, soft masculinity energy.   He’s 37, just like Knightley, and I know some think the age difference between him and Emma should be always over the top obvious but this interpretation isn’t, IMO, so consistent with how Austen actually depicts their relationship and the character for she describes him as youthful and effervescent for a gentleman of his status, and you see his maturity only when he argues with her (in the movie you see that when she kisses him too for he does come across as much more experienced than her there ;) ), but he’s otherwise young and not so ‘fatherly’ to her.

I like all the Mr Knightley, I think they all bring something different to the character, but it’s true that in other adaptations he’s forced to tone down his feelings a bit more. I think it’s because the novel is from Emma’s pov, and his love comes as a surprise to her in the end, so other adaptations try to misdirect Emma and the audience a bit. IMHO, it would've been a mistake if yet another adaptation handled his character like that, though, and I can see why a female creative team humanized the character a bit giving him a bit more agency too.

Mr Knightley's love and jealousy for Emma challenge his self-control in the novel. He dislikes Frank without even meeting him just because Emma talks about him. He is surprisingly impulsive when he runs away to London because he thinks Emma is attached to Frank. With the same impulsivity, he leaves his brother and rides under the rain to get to Emma as soon as possible when he thinks she’s distressed over the news about Frank’s engagement to Jane. His declaration of love is something that just happens, without any premeditation or control, because he simply can't help it anymore. Most of this turmoil happens offscreen, though, within the walls of his lonely house and when he runs away from Emma and stays with his brother after Box Hill.  It’s only in the end that you get his pov a bit but you are otherwise not privy to all the details.

Autumn de Wilde chose to show his transformation and turmoil.  His affection for Emma (and jealousy) is obvious from the beginning but Johnny Flynn keeps enough ambiguity to make it believable when, after dancing with Emma, the realization that he’s in love with her and he can’t hide it anymore briefly trasforms his character into a lovesick fool.  I find most of their choices with the character are a clever way to extrapolate his pov in the story from the ‘if i loved you less’ line for you do see he is always struggling with his feelings, torn between the fact he wants to tell her, and the fact he doesn’t think she loves him back or it’s too late for him because of Frank’s interference. For some people, scenes such as the one where he has a meltdown after the ball because of his feelings for Emma will be very familiar, and they will recognize what is happening to him on screen for what the director intended it: a panic attack.  It’s real for a character who, since the beginning, is the most human. And it’s valid because when you think about Mr Knightley and what he goes through even in the novel, he has many reasons to be heartbroken for he really, really, loves her and there is so much conflict in him for many reasons.

Unlike what some writers, and even the audience sometimes might think, those moments where you see his feelings and vulnerabilities don’t make him weak, they just make him (just like in the novel) simply human and make you understand that it isn’t just Emma that has a journey but Knightley too who has his assuredness challenged by love. I think I also realized why they deleted this:

It’s because they gave his character more agency. The scene in the movie keeps the same energy of the one in the novel even without him touching her. Especially because he doesn’t touch her. Because he can’t. You can feel he wants to tell her much more but he can’t. He struggles even looking at her. I think there is another reason why they changed this scene a bit, though: it’s Emma and how this movie develops the romance from her side too. In the book, Emma realizes at last that she had always been in love with him but one of the reasons why she hadn’t realized her feelings before is because she took him for granted. She is mature enough to admit it to herself: she was always sure of the fact she was first for him and his affection for her was unquestioned. It’s only in the end, when she realizes she could lose him that she’s forced to admit her feelings for him. This movie emphasizes this all the more by taking out the detail above because here Emma needs to see his feelings (even if she still doesn’t know why he acts this way. She just thinks she has ruined their relationship and lost his affection), and that he isn’t someone to take for granted. This forces her to realize her feelings for him all the more.

In the novel,  the journey of Emma’s feelings and realization is in her thoughts for the most part; it’s the (amusing) contraddiction between what she thinks she feels and what her thoughts actually hint that give you the clues about her feelings for him even before she realizes them herself. Realistically, we have to recognize that this isn’t something that a film adaptation can easily convey on screen and sometimes, Emma’s feelings for him may feel very sudden in the end if there isn’t enough build up. In this movie they changed this a bit so you see Emma’s own journey a bit more: she’s attracted to him from the beginning, she’s jealous of Jane (changing the singing scene so that it’s Mr Knightley and Jane was a clever, yet effective, way to include Emma’s jealousy from that moment in the book where Mrs Weston makes that comment about them), she shows her attraction for him in the dance scene (a nod to book Emma also finding him hot there even while it’s with Frank she’s dancing). The ‘not brother and sister’ scene is also handled well for it’s a foundamental moment for me because it’s the moment where you not only realize he’s in love with her, but Emma is subconsciously trying to tell him she’s not his sister and he can thus see her as a woman and possible partner. In the movie Emma does feel that something between them is different from before.. and then, at last, she realizes she had been in love with him the whole time. As I said at the beginning, other adaptations tend to relegate their romance to the last act, the very end, a bit only because it’s where Emma realizes her feelings and the fact they keep Mr Knightley more aloof and surprising as a love interest is a way to misdirect the audience too.  But!  Who are you kidding??? Everyone knows who ends up with in Emma and that she and Mr Knightley are in love! So why not place their romance to the foreground from the beginning, for once?  It’s actually a clever way to include and emphasize a lot of things from the novel too that would get lost, not least the subtle, Austen-clever, journey to Emma’s feelings too.

(sorry for the wall of text!)

[weaselle]

I like knowing the nature of a place.

I’m getting ready to move after a stint back in my childhood home, and I’m realizing that for me a big part of feeling at home is knowing the Nature of the place.

Here, I have a deep knowledge of the surrounding nature. I know the water, as the house water is all supplied from a well. I know the clayish soil, having pulled tree stumps out of it, grown gardens in it, dug trenches and set foundations in it, sat in it making little mud castles as a child. I’ve tasted it even.

I know the fat little squirrel that knows us also. I know the 3 mocking bird pairs who’s territories converge near here. Or did until recently, when a pair of california scrub jays moved in after a several year hiatus (we lost the willow tree and it became less desirable jay real estate) and now the mocking bird territories are in a state of disarray. I’m excited to see the scrub jays, those clever little corvid bastards, because it means we might actually get to eat some cherries this season. The mocking birds sort of tend to fight more over nesting sites, but the jays will see the cherries coming in and declare all three trees a no-fly zone for other birds -- and boy do they enforce it. Which means instead of every bird in the area eating some of our cherries before we can get any, we get what the two jays can’t eat, which usually works out to about half the crop.

I know the fire ants that patrol areas with water, harvesting the other insects that are drawn to it, the drowned bees, any injured insects, and so forth. I know where the yellow jackets tend to nest, and which plants the bumble bees prefer -- we keep a hedge of those flowers specifically for them because while honey bees are still numerous here (helped no doubt by the six bee boxes in the yard of the house across the field) the fat fuzzy bumble bees used to be a lot more numerous here than they are now. I know where the lizards hang out and what kind of spiders I’m likely to see, and if I wanted to find some salamander burrows on this block I know what to look for. And I know the local possum posse stopped using the north side fence as an autumn path once the walnut tree died, and now in fall they use the south side fence where the guava trees offer them a foraging opportunity. 

I know the raccoon clan. Well, I know of the raccoon clan. After years of jostling for territory with each other, we and the raccoons worked out some boundaries which, like, five or six generations later are just now starting to be contested.

We did things like get geese to protect our ducks from the raccoons and we stopped having outside cats with their outside food, so we turned into a less reward / more risk territory for them and tradition became sticking to the far edges of the yard. But now the waterfowl have been gone for years there’s no more dog and we’ve been dumping the parrot’s half eaten mix of nuts and seeds out there so that what he doesn’t like doesn’t go to waste. I don’t think my mother has caught on to how much that has been slowly changing the local biosphere.

It used to be her mother’s bird, and she has a lot of emotions about Joker (who still occasionally laughs grandma’s laugh or coughs her cough) which results in her offering him quite a banquet to pick from. So his leftovers are a significant resource she’s pouring into this little biome.

I think the raccoons are becoming interested (tracks right up to the edge of the house, three feet from where the bird seed sits). The pairs of birds more or less doubled, and it may be a big part of why the jays are back. The squirrel solved the problem of getting into the elevated dish recently, instead of just picking from what the birds scatter. Which is definitely why he’s so fat and glossy and I predict he’ll have to start fighting harder for this territory soon. The seed dish draws little birds in, but the hawks that would hunt at it like a watering hole have stayed away so far. Except for one newly adult hawk that studied the situation for a couple weeks from the old pine but couldn’t figure out how to exploit it when we responded by moving the bird seed pedestal to under the low hanging branches of a small tree. She finally got sick of the squirrel screaming at her to get out of his pine tree and left. Which is good news for the squirrel because silencing that delicious little alarm probably would have been step one for any intelligent hawk deciding to make this her hunting spot. Honestly imo tho this particular ecological niche would probably benefit from a hawk’s attention. 

We live under a hill, and I know which side of the hill the coyotes stick to, and which side the mountain lion prefers. And I can conjecture a few other mountain lion territories, centering on the smattering of hills off that direction, because it’s been generations of cougars up there and we spot a cub with whoever is currently Queen of This Hill every few years. Sadly, most of them don’t survive, based on both the statistics and the fact that while we catch glimpses of mom and small cubs semi-regularly, we’ve never once seen any in the close to one year old range, when they would be nearly adult sized but still accompanying their mother. Which doesn’t mean there have been none, but does imply that they are rare. And of course there are the years she’ll be spotted with two cubs for a while, but then only with one cub for a while after that.

They coyotes don’t come down unless times are tough or maybe if they are very bored and want to tease the dogs, but every now and then one does wander a couple blocks down our little street that dead-ends halfway up the hill, and slinks across the tree line that separates our front yard from the small field across our driveway. Years ago they used to come along more regularly, but there’s more people these days and the jackrabbits have pretty much disappeared, so now they mostly just come down the other side where the cow pasture is if the cows aren’t going up the hill soon enough for them during calving season. Pretty sure Queen Cougar goes over there whenever she feels like it and tries her luck at a calf now and then too.

I know the deer that come down and wander the neighborhood. They used to swing through our back yard until I engineered the fence between us and our neighbor to discourage them. The neighbors and my parents didn’t want the deer in their gardens but no matter how high they put the wire the deer were trying to go over it and damaging the top of the fencing which meant there was a chance they were injuring themselves. None of us want that. When it got brought to my attention one visit, I went and looked at it and solved it right away. Wood was too expensive, so they were just topping the existing fence with like 6 feet of wire grid. But the deer are coming through dusk/dawn and midnight, and they already have eyes that aren’t built for detail, and this is wire the thickness of a fat toothpick... so I went out to the bamboo patch and got some bamboo as thick as the butt of a pool stick and wove a line of it along the top of the wire. Light weight enough to not bend the wire, and something to smell, big enough to see. End of problem. One mamma deer has figured out how to get through from the other side, and she keeps a fawn in our neighbors yard almost every year.

Anyway, I just automatically tend to learn this sort of thing when I move into  a place, but I haven’t stayed anywhere long enough to get this level of knowledge about anywhere else, and being back here is making me realize how important it is to me. Observing and understanding my surrounding natural setting is, well, natural, and I won’t feel like my new place is home until I start to learn the biome there.

[polar-stars]

Erina, Souma, Yuki, Ryoko, Shun, Zenji, Megumi, Hisako, Ryo, Alice, Takumi, Rindou, Uraraka, Ikumi for the character thing please? (I already sent one but I think tumblr ate it so I'll try again)

Ahhh….Gosh, I am so sorry about this being so late. I also received your other message but I really am a turtle. 

Also, I hope you don’t mind me only doing Erina to Megumi for now and doing Hisako to Ikumi tomorrow. It’s just that my Laptop is not in the best conditions and can randomly shut down sometimes and then a lot of work would be lost…which would really kill my motivation. 

So okay then. let’s go!

(Original Meme)

Erina Nakiri

favorite thing about them

- Her development I think!! She came such an incredible long way, I am so moved. She started out as an untouchable queen with a limited idea of cooking, slowly opened up to the people around her,  was shaken to the core as her father came back to Totsuki, found courage at a place where she’d have least expected it, became a strong leader who’s going up against her father who scared her so bad to save the people dear to her. I honestly just love this progress and what she grew into.

least favorite thing about them

- I always liked Erina, but I have to say that she was pretty mean in some of the earliest chapter. I think her cruelest moment is during the Breakfast Challenge tbh.

favorite line

-“If you all really have the drive to remain here, then I swear on my God Tongue, I will support you all! […] Come! If you all truly are proud chefs, follow me!” (Chapter 172); “I am no longer a queen content with sitting pretty on her throne!” (Chapter 247)

brOTP

- Erina & Hisako, Erina & Alice, Erina & Polar Star Dormitory Students (mostly the girls)

OTP

- Erina x Soma

nOTP

- Erina x uhm Azami or Jouichiro I think :/

random headcanon

- Her favorite movie of all time is James Cameron’s Titanic

unpopular opinion

- There probably is something but I really don’t know

song i associate with them

-“I Won’t Say I am In Love” from Hercules; “Paper Crown” by Alec Benjamin

favorite picture of them

- Yo this is the main heroine of a manga that is absolutely beautifully illustrated. Aka. It’s awfully hard to actually find my favorite picture…because she is gorgeous at all time!

It came down to these four:



Rest (Soma/Yuki/Ryoko/Shun/Zenji/Megumi) under the cut!!

Soma Yukihira

favorite thing about them

- I absolutely admire his optimism and how he never even considers giving up no matter the situation and always tries to come up with a solution. As someone who immediately goes into panic-mode as soon as one thing doesn’t goes as it should, I hold great respect for this guy who was able to turn his situation at the Breakfast Challenge around due to his coolness in the situation.

least favorite thing about them

- This is not really his fault but more on Tsukuda’s part…but most recently I am really tired how he takes victory after victory. Like…can he please struggle again, Tsukuda and experience an actual loss?

favorite line

-“The journey’s no fun if you know where you’re going.” (Chapter 170); “Tomorrow you’ll defiantly have to open your restaurant, that’s what it’s like to be a chef.” (Chapter 89)

brOTP

- Soma & Megumi, Soma & Takumi, Soma & Zenji & Shun, Soma & Hisako are probably my faves

OTP

- Soma x Erina

nOTP

- Soma x Jouichiro….Also honorable mention to Soma /x/ Ikumi

random headcanon

- Likes both cats and dogs but prefers dogs a little bit more

unpopular opinion

- uuuhhh…There must be something but I really can’t come up with anything right now

song i associate with them

- Right now, all I can come up with is “St Elmo’s Fire” by John Parr

favorite picture of them

Yuki Yoshino

favorite thing about them

- Embodiment of sunshine! Cheerful and full of laughter at almost all times. It’s such an incredible joy watching her!! She’s just so positive, cute and energetic! I just can’t help but to feel happy as well when I watch her getting excited about luxury, her friend’s accomplishments, her dorm etc. Adding to that she also get’s me to laugh with her adorable, over-the-top reactions.

least favorite thing about them

- I know it’s played for comedy and it’s also hard to blame her on that matter but I am sad that she’s actually shown to be insecure about her looks. Like, my god, Yuki you’re very pretty. Don’t think other wise.

favorite line

- “I really don’t like this! I don’t want the Polar Star Dorm to be gone!! I wanted..to be with you guys and together….I…I wanted to, cook more with you!” (Chapter 141); “We of the Polar Star are so fearsome even kids stop crying!” (Chapter 14)

brOTP

- Yuki & Ryoko

OTP

- Yuki x Zenji

nOTP

- Yuki /x/ Shun

random headcanon

- Into Baseball.

unpopular opinion

- Surely there is something but again…I can’t come up with something right now

song i associate with them

- “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper; “

Wannabe” by the Spice Girls tbh for some reason

favorite picture of them

Ryoko Sakaki

favorite thing about them

- GRACE !! This lady is so mature and elegant, gosh what a woman! She’s just so calm, patient and sincere but also able to tell someone off when they deserve it. I really can see why they call her “Older Sister”. Again, she’s just so caring and graceful. Defiantly a person one can look up to imo.

least favorite thing about them

- Except for that she doesn’t appears enough….I really….really don’t know. Does she have any bad quality??

favorite line

“…is that what you’re thinking?” (Chapter 96)

brOTP

- Ryoko & Yuki

OTP

- Ryoko x Shun

nOTP

- Ryoko /x/ Zenji

random headcanon

- Secretly writes her own romance stories.

unpopular opinion

- Some fan works interpret her as pretty lewd. You know the girl who slept with nearly everyone, is very open about that as well and yadda yadda. I can’t see that. At all.

song i associate with them

- /sigh” I’ve been skipping through my phone for a good while now, but all I can come up with is “She’s a lady” by Tom Jones (they’re probably way, way, way better fitting ones)

favorite picture of them

Shun Ibusaki

favorite thing about them

- I have to say, I absolutely love this stoic and reserved character! He’s calm and doesn’t talks much or shows a lot of emotion which adds a layer of mystery to him only supported by that hairstyle of his and the smoke that’s always around him. Considering that he’s hiding quite the passionate and determinded mind hidden behind this shell makes him all the more interesting. And well his seriousness and straight expression while surrounded by chaos really add a good level of comedy for me as well.

least favorite thing about them

- Not Shun’s fault but I really wish his bitterness about the Autumn Elections Outcome would not only be addressed on the side but actually be explored. More screen time for my smoky son please!

favorite line

“Like hell I can give up! I’m turning things around…” (Chapter 116)

brOTP

- Shun & Zenji

OTP

- Shun x Ryoko

nOTP

- Shun /x/ Yuki

random headcanon

- Writes Online Reviews on movies.

unpopular opinion

- I really can’t see him being as flirty and straight-forward as I have seen him being portrayed here and then. I actually think he’s very shy when in love.

song i associate with them

- “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day for some reason….

favorite picture of them



Zenji Marui

favorite thing about them 

- Everything!? Haven’t you noticed by now that I love this guy with all my heart? I think I mostly appreciate how hard-working he is. Despite saying he has no outstanding sense for cooking, he studies very hard and grew into a very competent chef that way. I know a lot of people love to forget it, but he’s, on-par with Shun, the best chef out of the ones who didn’t passed the AE Premlins (if we go after the scores). 

least favorite thing about them 

 - That one Chapter that I will ignore for all existence. Hm, I dunno. He could appreciate the Miyazato Seminar a little more I think. At least in the Manga (The Anime showed him to care about this Seminar). But this is really just a little thing. 

favorite line 

“I don’’t have an outstanding cooking sense, and my physical strength is below average. That’s exactly why I have a strong desire for ‘knowledge’. All so that an ordinary man like me can fight against all those geniuses!” (Best Chapter Chapter 55)

brOTP 

- Zenji & Shun

OTP 

- Zenji x Yuki

nOTP

 - Zenji /x/ Ryoko

random headcanon 

- The period in European History that interests him the most is antiquity.

unpopular opinion - 

I now could write a very long, whiney text about how misunderstood my son can be sometimes, but I’ll keep myself short and just answer with: I honestly think he gets underestimated a lot, a lot of time. But it can easily also just be my point of view so /shrug. 

song i associate with them

- All I have right now is “Wouldn’t It Be Good” by Nik Kershaw and kinda “Welcome To My Life” by Simple Plan

favorite picture of them 

Welp, I do have an mobile folder with only pictures of him. I just….Cherish every time he is on screen! And I got a great ton of favorite pictures. But for the sake of this….I was able to pick out my absolute, absolute favorite ones. 

Megumi Tadokoro

favorite thing about them

- CUTEST & PUREST CINNAMON ROLL! Gosh, Megumi is just such a good person with such a warm heart, I am truly in awe. Her care for others is so heartwarming to watch and I absolutely love how she truly thinks about the person that’s going to eat her dish. I really don’t understand how anyone can hate her, tbh. 

least favorite thing about them

- This is not at all Megumi’s fault but Tsukuda’s, but we’ve seen Megumi grown from the very beginning on. And it still didn’t really payed off, as she didn’t truly won something on-screen yet. Everytime there is just talking about her “potential” going on. My god, “show don’t tell” is the rule, please showcase her skills finally. /sigh, I just hope that when she’s finally gonna take a victory it’s going to be absolutely huge and grand. 

favorite line

“Just make it while thinking of a person important to you, if you do that, your dishes will become a lot tastier.” (Chapter 61

brOTP 

- Soma & Megumi, Megumi & Erina, Megumi & Ryoko & Yuki

OTP 

- Megumi x Isami

nOTP 

- Megumi /x/ Kojiro

random headcanon 

- Loves “Animal Crossing”

unpopular opinion 

- I don’t know at the moment

song i associate with them

- “Firework” by Katy Perry

favorite picture of them

Again…Rest will be answered tomorrow…Thanks for the question !

[bellumu-ec-lida]

This is a REALLY long theory; you can read it under the cut!

Before I can answer any of these questions--if you don’t already know about it, you need to learn about the Dream Sequence.

This comes up again in the game waaaay later, after Sora defeats Riku at Hollow Bastion. Sora goes back to Traverse Town, talks to Kairi, gets a badass keyblade, and then a mural in the Underground Cavern changes from a sun to a moon. This switch from “dawn/midday” to the “dead of night” symbolizes a switch in the player’s leveling pace.

*Note: This Dream Sequence stuff isn’t part of my theory. It’s certified canon.

Okay, now that we’ve got that squared away, we can partially answer one of the questions: what do the Hotel Paintings mean?

In the Second District of Traverse Town, there’s a Hotel with 5 cryptic paintings adorning its walls. If you click ‘X’ next to the paintings, the game tells you their titles, which are:

• Midsummer Dawn • Midday Jungle • The Autumn Dusk • Bald Mountain -7:00am- • 18:00 in the Past -Time Flies-

Hmm, dawn? Midday? Some of these paintings’ titles are strikingly similar to the Dream Sequence. Sure enough:

Pretty interesting parallel! It seems each of these paintings represent a part of Sora’s adventure from the first game.

It also implies that Sora’s journey begins in midsummer and ends in autumn, which is probably more metaphorical than literal. Seasons are often portrayed with symbolic meanings by poets and writers; I’ve listed some of the most common ones below:

So we’ve figured out the meaning behind three of the five Hotel Paintings. That just leaves Bald Mountain -7:00am- and 18:00 in the Past -Time Flies-. I can’t explain these two without outlining some other points, though, so we’ll come back to them later.

The Hotel Paintings point out a seasonal metaphor within Kingdom Hearts, as well as one other metaphor--one relating to the time of day.

Dawn = beginning of the journey Midday = midway through the journey Dusk/Dead of Night = climax of the journey, ‘the beginning of the end’

A lot of things throughout the game exemplify this metaphor, including the Dream Sequence, the Underground Cavern mural, and even the Disney worlds’ skylines. You may notice, by looking at the skylines, that it looks like it is midnight in Traverse Town, roughly noon in Deep Jungle, and night by the time you get to Halloween Town. This indicates the passage of a full day:

Note that Sora isn’t literally traveling through all of the Disney worlds in a single day. This is merely one huge metaphor that shows the progress of his journey.

This symbolism is REALLY cool imo, because it also ties into the “light” and “darkness” theme of the game. In general, the “daytime/light” parts of the game tend to be easier and more lighthearted, while the “nighttime/darkness” parts of the game are harder and more serious. Also, remember when the game gives you this iconic line during the tutorial?

As you progress through the story, you go from dawn to midday, and the sun gets closer to setting, which brings out more “shadows.” You confront the ultimate darkness (Ansem) in the dusk/dead of night when it is completely dark out. And then you get a new sunrise at the end of the game—a new light. (“I KNOW NOW, WITHOUT A DOUBT.....THAT KINGDOM HEARTS IS LIGHT!!1!”)

This metaphor is also supported by clocks scattered throughout the Disney worlds, which roughly indicate the passage of a full day:

Some of these times are approximated. And this is NOT all of the clocks found throughout the game; I’ll spare you a list of all of them. But for the most part, with very few exceptions, the clocks fit nicely within the time metaphor.

(One exception, for instance, is the White Rabbit’s clock in Wonderland, which displays a time of 5:00. This doesn’t make any chronological sense, since by that point we’ve already seen a clock during the Wonderland opening cutscene that says 7:00. But in traditional depictions and illustrations, the White Rabbit’s clock often says 5:00...so it’s merely a design element and is not counted as part of the time metaphor.)

The season/time metaphor is elaborate and pretty awesome imo, and Kingdom Hearts hints at in a lot of subtle little ways throughout the game. It adds some nice flavor to Sora’s story.

Bear with me here, because now we’re going to delve into the stuff that will end up explaining the meaning of the remaining two Hotel Paintings, the Gizmo Shop clock, and the Green Room clock.

If we expand upon the “world skylines” idea, we can actually lump Kingdom Hearts into a journey of 7 metaphorical days:

Days 1 and 2 take place on Destiny Islands. They are pretty straightforward, as you can literally see the passage of time with the skyline and Sora going to bed and whatnot. These days are what the Hotel Painting Midsummer Dawn is referring to.

Day 3 encompasses the bulk of Sora’s journey, with the Hotel Painting Midday Jungle marking the midway point of the day. You can see the world’s skylines progress from morning to midday to evening to night. (I included the coliseum tournament skylines in the timeline above to help exemplify this.) Sora gets to Big Ben, which displays a time of 12:00am, announcing the end of Day 3.

Tons of major plot stuff happens during Day 4, which takes place mostly in Hollow Bastion. The Riku fight, portrayed in the Hotel Painting Autumn Dusk, occurs on this day. This day concludes when the Underground Cavern Mural switches to “dead of night.”

Off-topic a bit, but this is also the day Roxas is born. Kind of fitting that it occurs during the “twilight” of Sora’s adventure, eh? ;)

Day 5 is a day of tying up loose ends before the final showdown. Sora returns to Hollow Bastion to seal the Keyhole, which unlocks the long ass 50-seed Hades Cup--which is so dang lengthy it spans the entire day (as you can see with the changing tournament skyline, from dark to light to dark again). Sora hunts down remaining trinities and puppies, does last-minute item synthesis stuff, and fights whichever optional bosses his heart desires.

This day ends when Sora travels to The End of the World, which is evidenced by the Bald Mountain -7:00am- Hotel Painting. (I’ll explain that soon.)

Day 6 is lots of plot plot plot plot. It consists of traversing through The End of the World, battling Chernabog, and shoving a Keyblade up Ansem’s ass. It ends when the door to light is opened, revealing the “light” of a new day.

Day 7 is “the end” of the game as well as the epilogue. We finally see the Mickey Mouse cameo we’d been waiting for, and then Sora runs down some strange path chasing Pluto.

So there you have it, the 7 metaphorical days of Sora’s journey. This theory is supported by the synergy between Hotel Paintings, the world’s skylines, and the world’s clocks.

The timeline also fits well with the seasonal metaphor. It might be a bit of a stretch, but you could even argue that most of the Disney worlds you visit are “summer-like.” Halloween is an autumn holiday, so visiting Halloween transitions us into Autumn. And then eventually you get to the End of the World, which is winter-like with its snowy fragments of landscape (pictured below). And finally, the epilogue, with its bright blue sky and lush greens, brings us into “spring.”

With all of that explained, we can get back to the Hotel Paintings. We can fit Midsummer Dawn, Midday Jungle, and Autumn Dusk on our metaphorical 7-day timeline:

Where does that leave the remaining two paintings, Bald Mountain -7:00am- and 18:00 in the Past -Time Flies-?

Bald Mountain -7:00am- refers to the battle against Chernabog in the End of the World. We can deduce this because “Night on Bald Mountain,” composed by Modest Mussorgsky, plays in the background during the Chernabog battle. -7:00am- tells us that this happens chronologically at the beginning of this new day. It tells us this is “morning” occurring after the “Dusk/Dead of Night,” building up to yet another climax in Sora’s journey.

18:00 in the Past -Time Flies- is talking about Sora’s fight against Ansem. 18:00 is about 6pm in military time, so it is referring to some point in the “evening” of the game. In the Past represents Sora going back to where he lived in the Past--in other words, Destiny Islands. -Time Flies- is like, “Wow, I’m back here on Destiny Islands? Seems like only yesterday I was dreaming about getting off this island. Man, time sure flies.”

With that being said, both of these Hotel Paintings denote events that occur on Day 6 of our timeline:

So that’s what the Hotel Painting titles mean! They highlight some of the key points in Sora’s journey and establish a metaphor about seasons and the passage of time.

Go on to PART II to learn about the meanings behind the Gizmo Shop clock and the Green Room clock. (Part II is shorter, I promise.)

[devilontherun]

MY THOUGHTS ON ONE DIRECTION’S FUTURE

Okay so I just wanted to make this post because I’ve seen a lot of people being super pessimistic about the boys coming back, so I thought I’d share my theories with you. Now please keep in mind that I don’t have any insider information or anything like that, I’m just an (admittedly emotionally invested) observer of the situation, so I’m basing all my theories on what I’m seeing. Also, like, if you know me you probably also know that I’m a pretty optimistic person, but most of my optimism (in general!) is based on logic and rationality, so what I’m saying isn’t just overly optimistic wishful thinking, but theories with valid reasoning behind them.

So basically what I believe is that the boys are going to announce their comeback at the end of this year or in early 2018 and go on a reunion tour in 2018. Yes, I know they’re all working on their solo material at the moment, but bear with me for a second, yeah? I’m going to delve into that later on.

The thing is, the boys are SMART, okay, they’ve been working in the industry for quite a while now and they know how it works. At the moment both the fandom and the GP are still showing lots of interest in One Direction, and speculation about 1D’s future is a - I wouldn’t say daily, but definitely weekly - topic of discussion in the fandom and in the media. So if the boys announce their comeback at the end of this year - after a 2 year hiatus - it’ll be THE biggest thing ever. “One Direction reunite after 2 year hiatus filled with solo projects, shocking everybody who believed the band was over” (or something like that lmao I can’t write headlines, don’t hate me^^). Everybody will want to buy their stuff because “HOLY SHIT this is such a big thing now and everybody’s talking about it”, like, everybody will want a piece of the cake. Career-wise this would literally be the smartest thing they could do, at least IMO. If they wait longer (3 years, 4 years,...) the GP and also parts of the fandom (let’s be real, people are going to leave the fandom if it becomes less and less likely that the boys will come back, of course some people will stay and support the boys’ solo projects - including me - but not everyone is dedicated enough for this, that’s just how it is) are going to lose interest in them. If they came back then, the whole thing would get so much less publicity, and they wouldn’t really profit from it career-wise. But if they came back in the near future, they would come back to a big dedicated fandom and get loads of publicity in the GP as well. 

And now about the solo projects: Like a lot of people have already pointed out, them working on solo material is their way of rebranding themselves and making the transition from their “boyband with prepubescent girls as their fans” image to being respected and recognised as serious and truly talented artists, which will basically help them extend their fanbase to a broader audience and gain credibility both in the industry and in the GP, so that’s how their comeback would end up being this really big thing, with everybody wanting a piece of the cake.

I know it seems rather unlikely that they announce a comeback this “soon” because they’re all working on solo material at the moment, but the thing is, each and every single one of their solo careers is shady in some way. (Also quick disclaimer: I do believe that all four of them are going to put out (more) solo music (and I’m super excited to hear all their stuff!!), I’m just pointing out the shadyness of how their solo careers are being promoted etc)

Let’s start with Niall. He dropped This Town last year, obviously a lot earlier than planned, and now he’s working on a solo album that’s going to come out “in the summer” and also constantly changes its status from “writing process is done, it’s just recording now” to “more writing is happening”. If you say there’s nothing shady about that you’re lying to yourself.

Then we have Liam. He announced his solo deal last summer and has been sharing little glimpses of his work in the studio every now and then since then. About the release date of his music he’s been saying “soon” for I don’t even know how long, but it’s definitely been a while. So there. That’s shady as well. And additionally there is the Chiam and baby situation, but since I honestly don’t know if I believe in this whole thing or not and simply don’t have the energy to deal with yet another possible babygate, I’m not going to delve into that. I just want Liam to be happy and as long as he is, I’m happy as well.

Then there’s Louis. JHO was obviously released earlier than planned because of Jay (which is a topic I feel quite uncomfortable talking about because it hits very close to home, so please don’t take me not delving into that any further as brushing it off or something like that, I just can’t really talk about it for personal reasons), but the little promo “tour” he and Steve went on in January/February suggests that it was originally supposed to be released early this year. Now we’ve seen and heard stuff about Louis writing and possibly collaborating with other artists, but at the moment he doesn’t have a record deal, at least not one that we know of, right? (Please correct me if I’m wrong, I find it really hard to keep up with all the existent and non-existent contracts sometimes, so I might possibly be confusing something here, so feel free to nicely (!) correct me if I’m wrong :)) So here’s the thing: I love Louis more than anything, you know that, and I would probably give my left hand for a solo Louis album, but at the moment I’m not sure if he’s even going to put out an actual album in the nearer future. I definitely see him putting out songs in collaboration with other artists, but I kind of doubt that there’s an actual solo album awaiting us any time soon. And, sadly, I do believe that him not having a solo record deal is connected to the stunts he’s still involved in, because the thing is, that when the stunts end his image is going to be controversial. I don’t believe it’s possible to end all the stunts - especially after they’ve been going on for so long now - without him getting negative backlash from the media and the GP. So before he can put out a solo album and promote that properly, the stunts need to end and his image needs a proper rebranding, and that’s going to take some time.

Then lastly there’s Harry. He’s probably going to kill us all on April 7th and I’m not ready at all, but also GIMME THAT SHIT HAROLD. What I find very intersting about his solo stuff now is that he’s releasing it BEFORE Dunkirk promo begins, which obviously limits the time during which he can promote his music, and that honestly just makes me believe my theory about 1D announcing their comeback at the end of this year or in early 2018 even more, because - no matter if we like it or not - Harry is the most famous one out of the four of them and since the solo Harry narrative has been pushed for years, his solo stuff is probably going to get the most attention in the GP and the media, so him having this limited time frame to actually promote his solo material kind of strikes me as an attempt minimise the whole “Harry has left 1D” narrative that we can already see being pushed and that is probably going to get pushed a lot further after April 7th. I also feel like this is one of the reasons why both Harry and his team aren’t very vocal about his solo career. (Another reason is probably that Harry is a dramatic little hoe, and I also wouldn’t rule out his silence being connected to contracts, but that’s another topic.)

So basically what I think is that we’re (obviously) getting solo Harry now, then I actually believe that we’re going to get solo Liam in the summer and solo Niall this autumn, so always about a year after the “announcement” of the solo deals (the Columbia rumours about Harry did start last spring, didn’t they? Or am I confusing something again?). And I believe that Louis is going to release collaborations with other artists over the next few months, after the stunts have (hopefully) ended (I find the theory about the stunts being supposed to end around the time Harry drops his solo stuff quite convincing actually, but I’m not going to get into that now) and while his image is getting a proper rebranding. So that by the end of the year all of the boys have gained credibility and changed their images for the better, so that they can announce their comeback and it’s going to be like the biggest thing ever.

But like I said, this is just my personal theory and to me it makes sense and seems logical but it’s just based on what I’ve observed and I don’t have any insider information, so I might also end up being entirely wrong in the end, so don’t send me hate if things go differently lmao. It’s just a theory.

And I also feel like I should clarify that I’m going to support the boys both as a band and as solo artists and I’m super excited for all of their solo work because it‘s going to be pretty diverse with each of them dabbing into different genres, and my personal taste in music is very diverse as well so I can’t wait for them all to kill me invidually. (But I also can’t wait for them to come back to kill me as a band asfdgdhsjs) I’m here for whatever they decide to do.

And I’m going to stop rambling now lmao bye

[thechocolategarage]

The Smooth Chocolator Is Back!

November 3, 2017

Now open Saturdays only, and moving to an online platform for 2018! 

Hello Everyone! Hello to those of you who just joined our newsletter, those who have been perusing here and there, and those of you who faithfully read through all my missives telling you what is happening in chocolate and other ideas and thoughts that sprout! First thing, a correction: last week I mentioned three Areté bars using cacao from India. I said that Anamalai was from Tamil Nadu, and that Iddukki and Jangareddygudem were both from Kerala. In a classic move that my mom would make, I over ascribed wonderful things from Kerala. Jangareddygudem is an origin being grown a state further north, Andra Pradesh. Second: I am sending out a call for a tutorial help with iMovie. Is there anyone out there who would sit with me for a couple of hours to give me a basic tutorial to get me up to speed to edit very short videos pieces? I basically need to learn how to cut and paste the video segments and have images that don't match the recorded voice, or incorporate voice over that I record. Can anyone help me with this? Pretty please? Next, fantastic news, and this loops into the video help, we just received a new order from The Smooth Chocolator. Temperatures have finally gone down to regular autumn temperatures, so Yoon (pictured above!) waited patiently before zipping us a fresh new pile of her bars. My plan is to insert video descriptions of these four bars. I would love to be able to have video descriptions of all the bars we get in and are featuring. This will be a creative and new way to get you some of the details about each bar, even if you can't come in, and as we start to transition to our online platform. I want to hear from you, feel free to let me know what you would like to see as we transition to online! For example: I have heard requests for being open once a month. Or having pickup options for customers who live close by, who would be happier to shop online to choose the bars, to then pick them up at The Chocolate Garage. I plan to keep the physical space of The Chocolate Garage to do private tastings, and host makers who are in town, to come and meet up with our community, to have special events to taste, screen films, host guests and speakers, to tasting sensory evaluations, etc etc. So, if we were to open once a month, and you could come in and taste new items and stock up for the month, would this be of interest? Let me know if so. Saturday Tasting Menu The Smooth Chocolator Haiti 70% The Smooth Chocolator Madagascar 70% The Smooth Chocolator Tanzania 70% The Smooth Chocolator Belize 70% Keep in mind we will still be doing private tastings, the larger they are, the more fun for me! I am also training Katie to lead tastings in The Chocolate Garage, for when I am away leading Cacao Origin Trips. And, India is our next Cacao Origin Trip, and then we'll be bringing a group of you to Nicaragua the first week of April 2018. Please email me if you are interested in more information about our Nicaragua adventure! Ok, lovely chocolate loving lovelies, heh, I am off to San Francisco tonight, so I need to head and beat the traffic, but I will see you tomorrow and I leave you with more chocolatey resources in case you need plans for what looks like a rainy weekend! MORE CHOCOLATEY reading, listening and watching. A few notes of interest, if you are interested in diving more deeply into chocolate, an article just came out in Forbes, written by podcast host, author and all around chocolate loving activist Simran Sethi, check it out! Our local Areté Fine Chocolate is held up as a top craft chocolate maker, as are many others you probably already know. If you like what Simran writes, you can look up her Maker Series podcast, or delve more deeply into more nitty gritty ideas from all sides in her first Season of The Slow Melt. It recently got an award for being the Best Food Podcast of 2017, by SAVEUR. Oh, and closer to home, you can also check out Brian and I's podcast called: Unwrapped, (Android version) the most recent talks about new models for the last part of the supply chain... Anyone who wants to talk more about how we fix the last 100 (1000?) miles of the supply chain, contact me! The essence of what I am fascinated by, and would love to tackle next (The Chocolate Garage was an experiment to address this often ignored, but essential, IMO, piece of the supply chain) is how we take this new craft chocolate movement that is innovating around all the cacao and chocolate producing rules, and make sure we also innovate all the marketing and distribution rules in order to successfully have a completely new system to serve all supply chain share holders. Also if you want to take a deep dive into a podcast focussed on the rare and under-represented women in the industry, you can check out Lauren Heineck's Well Tempered podcast featuring all the women who are breaking ground in the craft chocolate industry. While we are on this topic of other areas to seek out resources, there is a whole pile of books being published this fall to check out. There is one that some of you have already bought, that has a nice mention of the special work we do at The Chocolate Garage (thanks Megan, for recognizing this community experiment that we have run in Palo Alto during the past seven years) by Megan Giller called: Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America's Craft Chocolate Revolution. Many of you remember when we carried Askinosie Chocolate in past years, well Shawn and his daughter Lawren have now co-written a book that speaks to how to build new business models and find work that feeds your soul. Meaningful Work: A Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, And Feed Your Soul, can be pre-ordered, in which case you will also get a bar sent to you! In addition, one of our local makers Dandelion Chocolate has also published a book on bean to bar chocolate: Making Chocolate: From bean to bar to smore. I had a chance to proof-read two of the chapters and comment, and as always, Dandelion does things in an accessible, friendly, generous way. Oh, and I may be biased, but here is a great series of heart felt and bootstrapped documentaries about the growing Happy Chocolate scene in various countries... Nicaragua, Cuba, Hawaii and soon to come: Switzerland and then India! They are by yours truly, I have partnered with two lovely humans, to story tell and report back from various places that are building inspiring chocolate movements. I am lucky to be working with Juliette Sutherland, filmmaker, feminist, intrepid traveler and human being, and with Seneca Klassen, founder of Lonohana Estate Chocolate, farmer, chocolate maker, feminist and multilingual story teller extraordinaire. I won't use intrepid again, even though he is, because three times in one newsletter is more than enough. If any of you watching these found that you learned something from these videos, please do me the favor of sharing them, via Twitter, direct email, or recommending to friends who wonder why you love Happy Chocolate so much, share these short films to help them understand why Happy Chocolate is not only yummy, but really important in bringing about more transparency, and a kinder system that makes one of our favorite foods. These films are a new passion for me, they have always been what I wanted to do, tell the story of cacao farmers and help connect us to those who work at the beginning of the supply chain. I got engaged and distracted the past seven years trying to build a revenue generating model selling Happy Chocolate (eek, very hard project!) in order to eventually tell the cacao farmers stories once the business was profitable... Since that day didn't come, I am letting go of the unprofitable brick and mortar to transition to online and use our trips to enable me to story tell the cacao farmers and chocolate makers who are building change. A sweet goodbye and I hope to see you tomorrow! Warm wishes, Sunita

What will happen to our tasting room? We will keep it and use it for our special gatherings, to host private tastings and special events. Too much love and work went into this space to let it go!

The first Arete Chocolate Factory tour last year was *outstanding*. Email if you would like to join us on another local chocolate field trip.