#I see 20 flavoured syrups back there but I have never asked for any because idk what flavours there are

[proteusolm]

I know everyone has complained about coffee shops being confusing, but as an autistic kid who needed to know every detail of a social interaction and plan it out in advance, coffee shops without detailed menus (so, all of them aside from fast food ones like Tim Hortons) were an immensely harrowing experience every time for years. I still am too scared to ask for any customization in my drinks because it's not in the menu, so how can I know if I'm ordering it right? What if I order a fucked up beverage that makes them all think I'm a freak? What if I ask for soy milk and they don't carry it, so they shoot me with a gun for not requesting oat milk instead? Give me a little guidance, here. Hand me a list of normal drinks that regular people order to chose from.

[paramsiddharth]

#4: Searching for Hope

I am glad to tell that we have finally moved. Earlier residing in Uttar Pradesh, we have moved back to Bihar. Pertaining to the effect of COVID-19, the environment is in a much better condition over here. However, it wasn't easy moving here, and moving didn't solve all of the problems.

First of all, packing. Packing everything was a tedious process. Getting everything into sacks already seemed very tough. Then was mom's OCD, that would make it even tougher. How? Well, things like, she wasn't willing to place the sacks on the floor, because it would make it hard to clean the floor the next day, which she couldn't resist. That's how most of the work got postponed to the last day. Still, it was important to get things done soon, so I decided to go along with the greatest convenience possible.

It would have been more convenient if we had more time. The company where my parents worked had currently imposed a notice period of 6 months i. e. We must stay and work for the company for at least 6 months past resignation. Taking that into account, dad decided to resign in April, someday around their marriage anniversary.

However, it didn't go as well as expected. As May ended, we were told to leave early. Unfairly so, the company decided to violate its own notice period. We were already burdened with financial pressure. Having no other choice, we decided to leave by mid-June.

The lockdown made the process slightly more complicated. I was the most scared of our happening to get into any problems due to it. Thankfully, it didn't turn out to be a big problem, and we made it back to Bihar. The next day, all the luggage arrived too.

I was very happy. Little did I know that my happiness wasn't going to last that long. Within hardly 2 days, my parents had a terrible fight. It was so much worse than the ones I had previously witnessed that I almost felt hopeless. It is hard to express… But painful it was. Especially for me and my mom. Besides all that, it is Bihar, not Uttar Pradesh. Full of snitches. It takes less than half an hour for news to reach from one to the other neighbourhood. Care has to be taken.

Having spent years in a place that is synonymous to prison, my mom has become a person that easily becomes sad and hopeless. She totally discards anything that could make her happy. She says she doesn't want to live anymore, and so many things that she doesn't mean… Things I would never want to hear.

I cried a lot. I can face any problem in life if I have a stable, happy, and loving family having my back. After all, who wouldn't want a happy family? It's just that mine has been through 20 years of misery, and at this point, it is understandably unbearable.

I admit, it will take a lot of time and money for things to improve. We need to have a place for ourselves to live, and my parents are currently working on getting one built. Money would be scarce in the near future, because my parents aren't working at the moment. Some friends asked me to start working part-time to help, which sadly is easier said than done.

I am planning to get a new laptop for myself. The one I have (in the college) is at least 12 years-old, which makes it tough for me to use it to learn most of the contemporary technology, which I would need for my future career. Despite the difficulties, I am trying to keep myself up and learning, because that is the best I can do to help my family in being stable, loving, and happy.

Since I got to use the kitchen after a long time, I used the opportunity to make Shahi Tukda (English: Royal Piece), a really nice and quick sweet. It has a very simple recipe. You just need some sugar, water, rusk, and optionally, some cardamom (elaichi) for seasoning. In fact, here it is:

Prepare a cup of sugar syrup (by mixing water and sugar in 1:3 ratio and heating until mild yellow, viscous, and sticky). Add some cardamom for enhanced flavour.

Pour it in a plate to achieve a height of 1-2 cm.

Place few slices of rusk (dry-heated thick bread will work too) and let them absorb the syrup upto ⅓ (one-third) their width on one side.

Let the same happen to ⅓ of the other side. That would get ⅔ of the rusk soaked in sugar syrup and ⅓ dry in the centre to maintain crispness.

Ta-da! That's it. 🍰 You got yourself a nice Indian sweet to enjoy. In fact, it is quick and yummy. It hardly takes 2-3 minutes to prepare, and doesn't require a lot of syrup. You are free to try different variations and experiment with the recipe on your own.

I have been learning more of Golang. The most interesting part in it is yet to come, which is concurrency i. e. The ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time. I am also spending time learning Ruby on Rails, which is very famous for rapid prototyping, as I have heard. NodeJS, Flask and PHP are the only other back-end web frameworks that I have previously worked with. It will be great to learn more about database integration into webpages. I am very excited about it. Hopefully, I will soon be able to learn and develop interesting things.

Once I return to college, I am planning to make some new songs. I have already been preparing the lyrics and gathering ideas for quite some time. It will be fun to get creative after a long time. The more we learn, the more we do, the more we grow. Also, once I get a little more calm, I have to continue working on all my pending colourful prompts for Inktober! :(

That's it for now. See you soon with another post! <3

[btsybrkr]

Here’s A List Of Things I Hate

I've reached something of a mental block recently when it comes to writing. I think it's because, despite sometimes coming off like I'm mocking things or just being a general smart-arse, I usually write about things I genuinely love. I love The Apprentice. I love Come Dine With Me. I love the idea that the Saturday night schedule, currently occupied on ITV1 by The Masked Singer - a horrifying cross between The Voice and a recurring nightmare I had between the ages of 6 and 8 - might one day be livened up by a post-apocalyptic The X Factor-style talent show in which we choose the next Prime Minister from a roster of Average Joe’s that just feel like giving it a bash.

I usually have lots to say about things I love, but recently, for some reason, I’m struggling to even think of anything that I love enough to write about. Maybe I’m being dragged down by the fact that this January alone seemed to last three long months, or perhaps because January itself included ‘Blue Monday’, the so-called ‘most miserable day of the year’. Maybe it's neither of things, maybe I’m just suffering from a bad case of The Realisation That We And Everything That We Do Are All, In The End, Meaningless, And That Every Day, We Are Collectively Hurtling Closer And Closer Towards The Endless Void And There Is Nothing That Any Of Us Can Do To Stop It. There's probably a snappier name for that, but you know what I mean. In any case, I’m just finding it much easier to think about things I hate recently.

Anyway, what do we do with these feelings of negativity to get rid of them once and for all? We express them. So, for anyone willing to read it, here’s a list of things I hate.

Stephen Mulhern

ITV mainstay Stephen Mulhern arguably belongs on television - not for any positive reason, just because it’s only the barrier of television between him and the viewer that allows him to appear as a cheerful friendly presence, rather than an insufferable know-it-all prick, whose repeated condescending glances to the camera during interviews with rejected Britain’s Got Talent contestants just wouldn’t fly in real life. I mean, really, imagine you were having a conversation with someone, and they reacted to something you said by looking off into the distance, à la Fleabag, with an expression that quite clearly reads “This person is an idiot!! Laugh, everyone!! Laugh at the idiot!!” You know what, Stephen? You’re the idiot. But I won’t laugh at you, because then you might think that you’re funny, and I’m just not having that.

Coleslaw

I saw a tweet years ago that said “what was the first person to milk a cow thinking?”, and honestly, it raises a very good question. I can only imagine that there was some perverted ulterior motives at play, for someone to not only milk the cow’s udders in the first place, but then to drink it, at a time when that just wasn’t done. They must have been a pretty nefarious character, it almost doesn’t bear thinking about. Instead, I’d like to question the motives of the even dodgier character who first looked at grated carrots, cabbage and onions, and thought ‘You know what might really tie these bland individual tastes together? Mayonnaise. A fuckload of it.’

You know what, though? It's not the existence of coleslaw that confuses me the most about it - it's the popularity of it. It has pride of place on the table at every family buffet, it’s disappointingly included in otherwise-appealing wraps in the Boots meal deal fridge, and it's an option on the menu in a shocking majority of takeaways, despite the fact that nobody has ever emerged, staggering and bleary-eyed from Walkabout at 3:30am and thought ‘I could absolutely murder some coleslaw’. Most annoying of all is the way some restaurants chuck a bit of paprika in the mix and use it as an excuse to rename it ‘POW POW GROOVY SLAW’, or something equally ridiculous. Why are we trying to sex up a bowl of vegetables covered in mayonnaise? I can't think of anything less sexy, and I don't particularly want to try.

Let's face it, coleslaw has long overstayed its welcome. It's the last stubborn hanger-on from the pages of stomach-churning 1970s dinner party cookbooks (probably found somewhere between the recipes for spinach and tuna pie and a boiled, unglazed joint of ham suspended in gelatine), and it's time we admitted that and stage a renaissance for the real king of the veg/mayo combo. Rise, Sir Potato Salad - your rule has begun.

Facebook

I recently deleted Facebook off my phone, and immediately noticed an improvement in the overall quality of my life. I promise I don’t mean this in the typical ‘phone bad, book good’ way that fake-’woke’ holier-than-thou characters preach about (usually on Facebook itself, ironically). I still happily waste away hours of my life on Twitter, and Instagram, the latter of which arguably has the most negative influence on my brain out of all the social networks. The thing with Facebook is that it doesn’t necessarily have a negative influence on my brain, so much as it has no influence on any part of me whatsoever. Facebook is a vacuum. It's completely, entirely pointless. In fact, it’s where ‘point’ itself goes to die.

Considering there’s probably no two Facebook users out there with the exact same friends list, I'm willing to bet that everybody’s News Feed looks eerily similar. Every scroll through is the same - a former workmate announcing a pregnancy, someone you forgot about from school sharing a vague, ‘deep’ quote about their hurt feelings, an elderly relative you didn't realise was racist until literally right now, when they began sharing posts from a page eloquently titled ‘MUSLIMS!! it is TIME to go HOME so we can have BRITAIN BACK’, or something along those lines. If you ever have nothing better to do - although, I'm sure there is always something, anything, better to do - just set a timer, open up Facebook, and see how long it takes before you come across a single thing that genuinely resonates with you in any positive way at all. I just redownloaded Facebook to try it for myself, and it took me 46 minutes.

Sound like a lie? Well, to be fair, it is. But there's more truth in that than almost anything you'll see on Facebook.

Those Slush Puppy Straws With Tiny Spoons On The End

Plastic straws are on their way out, and quite rightly. The Sea Turtle Conservancy estimate that around half the world’s sea turtles have ingested plastic, and straws are believed to have accounted for a lot of that. With everything you read or learn about the effect of straws on the environment, it's surprising that it's taken this long for us to do something about it.

With that said, it's not just the turtles that are benefitting from the rise of the paper straw - I'm pretty pleased about it as well. Why? Because using paper instead of plastic might mean that we stop manufacturing those evil straws with tiny spoons on the end of them.

Yes, evil. How many times have you been enjoying a Slush Puppy on a hot summer’s day, only to realise you can't get to the bits at the bottom of the cup, because your straw inexplicably has a spoon on the end of it. What's that for? A Slush Puppy is a drink, and spoons are for eating things with. “It's for eating the delicious bits of vaguely-flavoured ice after you've sucked up all the syrup”, you might say, but then why? Mojitos are made with crushed ice, but you wouldn't go up to the barman and go "excuse me, mate, you forgot to give me a spoon so I could eat all these delicious bits of vaguely-minty ice", would you?

Anyway, you can't suck up all the syrup in the first place when the bottom of your straw just isn't a straw. This a problem we usually solve by holding the cup above our mouths and giving the bottom of the cup a gentle tap, usually sending the rest of it falling out of the cup and all over your face, shirt, anywhere but your mouth, faster than you can say “I can't believe I’m 23 years old and writing an angry blog about straws with tiny spoons on the end”. Another solution we often resort to is turning the straw upside down, which, in my experience, always leads to cutting the roof of your mouth on the tiny spoon that you were never going to use in the first place. No wonder it took us so long to show a bit of sympathy for the turtles - we've been ignoring our own straw-related injuries for years, probably just because we think it makes us look hard.

As far as I'm concerned, spoons are for food, and straws are for liquids. That's why, whenever I order soup in a café, I always ask for a straw. Yes, I get looks from the other customers, but I'm sure they aren't looks of amusement or confusion - everyone else just wishes they'd thought of it first.

Ladybirds

Ladybirds aren't cute. They are not ‘nice’ bugs. They are beetles, in a quirky disguise, who can also fly. With all that in mind, why are we taught to like them? Why do people spot one land on your clothes, or in your hair, and cheerfully announce “oh, there’s a ladybird on you!”, as if you’ve somehow been chosen by the ladybird and should feel honoured. Get it off me now, because I don’t know what it’s going to do! Don’t tell me that it’s ‘harmless’ and that I’m ‘overreacting’. We thought that cigarettes were ‘harmless’ before the mid-60s, cheerfully puffing our way through life, with one in each hand at any given moment, as we watched our darling babies speak their first words, which were usually something along the lines of “alright, mate, 20 Sterling Dual, please” - but then we learned. We learned that they weren’t as harmless as we first thought. And believe me when I tell you that, one day, we’ll reach the same conclusion about ladybirds. Just as soon as we find out exactly what they’re planning.

In fact, where have they gone? I haven’t seen one for a good while. Surely, they’re holed up in a specially designed lair somewhere, millions of them, carefully planning their next move in their efforts to overthrow the human race. Planning and watching. We may not be able to see them, but I’m willing to bet they have eyes on us. You know when you’re alone and you get the feeling there’s something or someone else present? It’s ladybirds. I’m sure of it. We need to watch our backs.

I’m not really sure where my fear of ladybirds has come from. Perhaps it’s down to a dream I’ve been having at least three times a year since I was a teenager, in which I’m leaving my Nan’s house and spot a ladybird the size of a Golden Retriever out in the alleyway, just sitting there, still and silent. I run around the corner to one of my friend’s houses, to warn him of the arrival of our ladybird overlords, but the entire front of his house is covered in millions of the things. I shout his name, up at an open window, and he replies that he’s coming down to open the door to me, but when he does, it isn’t him at all - it’s just a 6ft tall ladybird. I usually wake up in a cold sweat at that point, but when I try to go back to sleep, I can feel them crawling all over me.

I know I sound insane, but I promise you, I’m not - I just don't trust them, and I think that’s understandable.

Hate

If there's one thing I hate more than all the above, it's the very concept of hate itself. I don't just mean in a political or universal sense - although, I do agree the world might be a far better place if we all just hated each other a little bit less - hate has an effect on all our personal lives, too.

I'm really trying to make the most of my early twenties, and that means conserving what little energy I have left after I'm done working, drinking, and crying - just the usual daily activities that we all partake in - to be a little more productive. I can't be using that energy up on hate. In fact, in a scientific study that I've literally just made up, it was found that feeling hatred for even one fifth of a second uses up three times as much mental and physical energy as smiling at sixteen angry strangers, half of which are making fists at you. You can't argue with those sorts of statistics.

Anyway, I'm hoping to return to talking about things that make me feel a little more positive next time, because, besides anything, it's just nice to be nice, isn't it?

Not to Stephen Mulhern, though. He needs to learn his lesson.

If you like seeing me talking shit, but would rather it wasn't so bloody long, you can follow me on twitter here.

[ladygayfeels]

Cuddles and Cough Medicine

This fic is essentially just Nicole being the natural caregiver that she is, looking after Waverly when she’s sick.

Nicole chastised herself for yawning for what seemed to be the millionth time, and it was only 11am. She finished pouring a mug of steaming coffee for herself and briefly registered Wynonna wandering into the break room.

The brunette swiped the cup of coffee and pat the Officer on the back. “Thanks for the coffee. I really needed it.” Wynonna groaned, before slumping into a chair. Nicole rolled her eyes and poured herself — another— cup of coffee, before turning to face the brunette and leant back against the counter. She noticed the dark circles under the eldest Earp’s eyes and wondered if she’d been suffering from nightmares again. “You alright?” she asked, brow raised as she peered over the mug in her hands. Wynonna narrowed her gaze at the Officer. “If that’s your way of telling me that I look like shit… I already know. Waverly kept me up with her constant coughing last night. I love the girl, would do anything for her… but if she coughs one more goddamned time… so help me peacemaker…” the brunette’s ramble drifted into silence, as she pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled a deep breath.

As the brunette’s words sank in, a frown formed on the redhead’s face, giving her a striking resemblance to a puppy, Wynonna thought. “Waverly’s sick?” Nicole’s voice was quiet and the brunette rolled her eyes at the Officer’s pout. “She probably didn’t tell you because she doesn’t want you to worry. It’s nothing. Just a cough.” the eldest Earp shrugged, her intention to soothe whatever worries the redhead had, but somehow the nonchalant attitude only seemed anger the Officer.

Upon seeing the scowl on Nicole’s face, Wynonna motioned with her hand for the Officer to speak what was on her mind. “It’s not nothing, Wynonna.” Nicole sighed, “Waverly dated… Champ… for years. Do you think he paid any attention when she was sick?” she asked with an edge to her tone at the mere thought of the boy-man. “She’s probably used to being left to get well again, all by herself…” the redhead raked a hand through her hair, the very thought of her girlfriend not being taken care of properly, causing her heart to ache. A moment of silence passed and Wynonna could practically hear the Officer thinking from halfway across the room.

Next thing the brunette knew, Nicole was pouring the rest of her coffee down the sink, and returning to her desk. Usually she’d tease the redhead about being smitten, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Chump hadn’t deserved Waverly, Wynonna knew that for sure. But seeing the effort the Nicole puts into her relationship with Waverly, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d finally found someone worthy of her baby girl.

With a fond eye roll, she thanked the Officer again as she crossed the bullpen, before disappearing into the BBD office. Unlike earlier that morning when she’d arrived, Wynonna had a rare genuine smile on her face from knowing that —despite herself being back, for awhile now — Waverly wasn’t alone anymore.

—————————————————

Nicole lasted another 20 minutes, before she rushed into Nedley’s office. The Sheriff wasn’t as oblivious as everyone thought, and he knew from not seeing Waverly around the station, and the slightly frazzled look on his deputy’s face, that she’d be about to ask if she could leave early.

He gave her the afternoon off and when she requested the next two days off — unpaid — he was helpless to resist the redhead’s puppy eyes. Randy Nedley prided himself on being a strong man, but it was quickly becoming clear that his favourite Officer had him wrapped around her little finger, just like his daughter. He was unable to keep up his steely resolve when Nicole smiled slightly and those damned dimples showed. He immediately dismissed her and shook his head fondly as she left his office hurriedly. He really needed to grow a backbone when it came to Chrissy and Nicole, but somehow he knew that’d never happen.

—————————————————

After speaking with Nedley, Nicole finished up her paper work and tidied her desk, before leaving the station and going straight to the store. She knew what ingredients she needed in order to cook once she got to the homestead, what she didn’t know however was which medicine Waverly would need.

Not wanting to wake her girlfriend in case she was sleeping, and also wanting to surprise her, she got five different flavours of cough sweets, two different cough syrups and six different types of cold/flu tablets. In hindsight — as she made her way to the homestead — she realised she may have gone slightly overboard on the whole medicine front… but she couldn’t bring herself to care all that much. Her girlfriend was sick and Nicole was going to be there to see her through the worst of it.

She parked the cruiser next to Waverly’s Jeep, collected the bags of medicine and ingredients in one hand, as she locked the car and made her way to the front door. She fished around in her jacket pocket for the spare key Wynonna and Waverly had given her, for emergencies only, the eldest Earp had said pointedly, before highlighting that jumping her baby sister’s bones, did in fact not count as an emergency, which had left both Nicole and Waverly blushing furiously.

Entering the homestead she heard the faint sounds of coughing, a blowing of a nose and some exaggerated and frustrated groaning coming from upstairs. Placing the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, Nicole was familiar enough with the homestead now enough to know where everything in the kitchen was. She opened the cupboard and reached for a glass, filling it three quarters of the way up with water.

With the bag of various cough medicines in one hand, and the glass of water in the other, the redhead made her way up the stairs, frowning as she heard her girlfriend coughing violently. With a small knock on the door, Nicole heard a muffled, “Come in.” and opened the door, smiling sadly at the sight before her.

The trash can beside Waverly’s bed was overfilled with used tissues. There were some more scattered over the duvet and the brunette was laying face down in the pillow, completely exhausted. “Wynonna, I’m sorry I kept you up all night…” the youngest Earp’s apology was muffled by the pillow. “Not, Wynonna… but she knows, don’t worry.” Nicole replied, a grin spreading on her face as Waverly’s head lifted at the sound of the redhead’s voice. “Nicole!” she sighed, a dreamy expression on her face. “Hey baby.” the Officer made her way over to the bed. Waverly’s face dropped instantly as Nicole got two feet away, which caused the redhead to stand still, her hands held up in surrender, showing her offerings of medicine and water to wash it down with. “Don’t come any closer… you’ll get sick.” Waverly said before coughing again. She groaned and fell face first back into the pillow.

Nicole ignored her girlfriend’s worries and crossed the short distance. She placed the glass of water of Waverly’s bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed, beside her incredibly sick yet still breathtakingly beautiful girlfriend. Nicole gently massaged Waverly’s head, a small smile curving her lips as the brunette turned her head on the pillow so she could see her girlfriend properly. A content sigh escaped her lips from the feel of Nicole’s fingers against her scalp, effectively distracting her from the pounding headache she’d been suffering from all day, and her eyes fluttered closed.

With her free hand, the redhead started to unpack the contents of the bag in her lap. “I didn’t know which type of cough medicine you usually take when you get sick, so I kind of got one of everything I could find.” Nicole rambled, not noticing that Waverly had opened her eyes and was gazing up at her in awe. Once she did notice, a blast coloured her cheeks and the hand in Waverly’s hair stilled. “Y-you bought all that? For me?” the genuine shock in the brunette’s tone, caused Officer to lean down a little closer. “I’ll let you in on a little secret…” Nicole stage-whispered, briefly looking behind her for comedic effect, which caused Waverly to cover her mouth to stifle a cough-giggle. The grin lighting up the Officer’s face softened, as did the sparkle in her eyes, and Waverly found herself completely captivated by her. “I’d do anything for you, Waverly Earp.” the admission was quiet, and felt like a promise. The way Nicole said the brunette’s name, like it was the answer to all of her prayers, instead of a curse — like the rest of the people in town did — never failed to leave her speechless. Waverly found herself wondering yet again, just how she had gotten so lucky to call this beautiful soul hers .

Seeing the tears well up in the brunette’s eyes, Nicole leant down pressing a lingering kiss to Waverly’s forehead. “I brought up some water for you to take with whichever medicine you decide to take. I’m going to go downstairs, make some tea and something for you to eat because you can’t take medicine on an empty stomach…” her rambling was silenced from a hand reaching out and clasping her own. She looked over and found Waverly smiling gratefully up at her, “Thank you.” “Like I said… anything for you.” Nicole pressed a kiss to her girlfriend’s knuckles, before continuing. “I’ll bring everything up here so you don’t need to worry about making it down those stairs. Just rest up and I’ll be back.” she stroked her thumb comfortingly over the brunette’s hand, receiving a sleepy yawn and nod in response. A small chuckle escaped her as she watched Waverly’s eyes widen comically, at the array of medicine laid out on the bed before her. Before leaving to return to the kitchen, Nicole pressed a chaste kiss to the crown of her Waverly’s head, and received a “You’re the best ever!” in response, causing a permanent smile to spread on her face, as she exited the room and set about making her girlfriend’s favourite comfort food.

—————————————————

An hour and a half later, Nicole entered Waverly’s room with a tray. Her heart soaring as she took a moment to memorise this moment. Waverly was snuggling a pillow, the way she usually would Nicole. Her breathing coming out in short puffs, blowing a strand of hair from her face. She placed the tray on the chair in the corner of the room, before making her way to Waverly’s side.

Nicole didn’t want to wake her girlfriend, not after her looking so peaceful, but she knew that the woman in question hadn’t eaten all day. She awoke the sleeping beauty with a kiss to her forehead, and was rewarded with a sleepy Waverly. An involuntary grin spreading on her face, as the brunette reached up and traced the dimple in Nicole’s cheek. “I made your favourite.” Nicole whispered, dropping a quick kiss to the tip of the brunette’s nose. “You’re my favourite.” Waverly mumbled deliriously, the hand on Nicole’s cheek, sliding to the back of the redhead’s neck to pull her down into a cuddle. Sleepy Waverly was — arguably — Nicole’s favourite. The brunette was cuddly and all types of adorable. Nicole hummed and pressed multiple kisses to any patch of Waverly’s skin her lips touched. The brunette’s warm collarbone, neck, jaw, cheek, and a slight shiver ran through the brunette, causing the Officer’s heart to stutter. Sometimes she forgot that she had the same affect on Waverly, as Waverly did on her, and in those moments where she’s reminded of such a thing, she finds herself wondering how she got so lucky to call this smart, strong and brave woman, hers .

Nicole helped Waverly sit up, making sure there were enough pillows behind her, and that she was comfortable enough, before bringing the tray of food over. The Officer had recreated Waverly’s favourite dish, a bowl of sweet and sour soup and beside it, a tub of peanut butter and a spoon. Also on the tray was another glass of water and a cup of tea. The redhead had made chamomile tea, to help Waverly sleep and added some honey to it, to help soothe her sore throat. “The tea is for after you’ve eaten. It’ll help you sleep a bit better.” Nicole said, anticipating the brunette’s reaction.

What she didn’t expect was for Waverly to burst into tears. “Did I do something wrong?” Nicole immediately asked, panic shooting through her. The brunette shook her head, sniffling and reached over the tray towards Nicole. The redhead was instinctively pulled into her orbit and rest her forehead against the brunette’s. She wiped Waverly’s tears away gently with the pads of her thumbs. “I’m sorry, I just… I’ve not had someone take care of me like this for… well, years.” the sadness in her tone, caused a lump to grow in Nicole’s throat. They sat in companionable silence for a moment, just revelling in each other’s presence, before Nicole spoke up. “Thank you.” she said, smiling bashfully at the look of confusion on Waverly’s face. “I think I should be the one saying that.” Waverly looked pointedly down at the tray before her gaze returned to Nicole’s. “No, I just mean… I know you can look after yourself, but… thank you for letting me take care of you.” the redhead’s face flushed crimson and she looked down, avoiding the brunette’s gaze.

Waverly was left speechless, she like she was short-circuiting as she tried to process what had just happened. Her girlfriend had left work early, gone to the store to pick up a million different types of medicine, made Waverly her favourite food… and then thanked her. The brunette hooked her finger under and lifted the Officer’s chin, so she could look into her eyes properly. “Thank you. For everything. For all of this…” Waverly pointed to the tray of food and the many boxes of medicine on the bedside table, beside them. “You don’t have to thank me, Waves.” Nicole’s lips twitched with a small smile, “I wanted to do all this.” Waverly closed her eyes, rest her forehead against Nicole’s once more, and gave herself a moment to just bask in the feeling of being loved and taken care of. Just the overwhelming feeling of being safe with Nicole by her side. The brunette’s stomach rumbling loudly, ruined the moment, leaving both women laughing.

Nicole headed downstairs to clean up, whilst Waverly ate. She washed the dishes she’d used to cook the food, and finished tidying up the kitchen before making her way back upstairs. Waverly had finished eating and was currently sipping the tea. A warm smile spreading on the brunette’s face as she saw her girlfriend enter the room once more. The Officer moved the tray off of the bed and placed it back on the chair in the corner of the room, just as Waverly placed the now-empty tea cup on her bedside table, knocking some of the boxes of medicine onto the floor. Nicole moved everything out of the way, before sitting on the edge of Waverly’s bed.

The brunette looked like she wanted to say something. “What is it?” Nicole asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Waverly’s ear absentmindedly. “Earlier… you said the tea should help me sleep better.” Waverly began saying. “Yeah, it was chamomile to help you sleep… and I added a little honey to it too, to help soothe your throat from the cough.” the redhead tilted her head slightly. The thoughtfulness of her girlfriend caused another waves of tears to spring to her eyes. Nicole read the situation completely wrong, and hung her head, pinching the bridge of her nose as she mentally berated herself. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked… I don’t even know if you like-” she began to say but was silenced once again by a light grip on the hand covering her face. “Everything was perfect. You’re perfect. Thank you.” Waverly’s voice shook as a happy tear fell down her face. Nicole exhaled in relief and leant closer to place a lingering kiss to the brunette’s forehead. “Can you stay?” Waverly asked quietly, almost worried that Nicole might say no. The redhead pulled back and gazed into her favourite pair of hazel eyes. “It’s just, you said the the tea would help me sleep better… but sleeping with you makes me sleep better.” she said, searching Nicole’s eyes, before realising what she said. “I mean sleeping as in you beside me, but… well I guess the other way too but-” Waverly’s rambling was silenced by a pair of familiar soft lips moving against hers. “I know what you meant.” Nicole rolled her eyes fondly, caressing the brunette’s cheek softly. “Of course, I’ll stay.” she added, walking over to Waverly’s closet. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Waverly suddenly asked, the thought only popping into her head as she watched her girlfriend unbutton, and then hang, her work shirt up in the closet. “No, I took two days off so I could take care of you.” Nicole replied, her tone as casual as it could get. The domesticity of the situation causing Waverly’s heart to race.

Nicole shook her head as she shimmied out of her work pants. She then reached into the drawer Waverly had given her — completely unaware of how her current state of undress had captured her girlfriend’s complete attention — and returned to the bed with an old University shirt and shorts. She slipped the shorts and baggy shirt on, before climbing into the bed. It was only when she turned her head, did Nicole notice Waverly’s jaw slacked. Recognising the look in the brunette’s eyes, Nicole shuffled, pressing herself into Waverly’s back. “Nuh uh. You’re sick.” she mumbled into the brunette’s shoulder. “That’s not fair. You can’t just…” Waverly pouted. “Just…?” Nicole bit her lip to stifle a grin. “Just… look like that and then not…” the brunette got all flustered, and hid her face in the pillow, her head lay on.

Unable to resist Waverly, the redhead kissed her way up her girlfriend’s neck and draped her arm around the brunette’s waist, cuddling into her. “When you’re feeling better… I promise.” she whispered in Waverly’s ear, smiling against warm skin as another involuntary shiver ran through Waverly. An adorable yawn escaped the brunette and she hugged Nicole’s arm around her tighter. “Okay.” Waverly hummed, “Thank you again for today. You’re the best.” she added, her voice heavy with sleep. “Anytime, Waves.” Nicole promised with a final kiss to the brunette’s shoulder. Waverly hummed again in response. “Go to sleep now, Baby.” Nicole whispered, burrowing her face in the space between Waverly’s neck and shoulder. Both drifting off to sleep within seconds and both thankful for having the other in their life.

[londemsadventures-blog]

June 1st -17th, 2018: Almost up to date!

So the first few days of June fell towards the end of the mid term break. It was in this time that I saw another show in Richmond. It was the second in a row that was set in a kitchen. This one was not as good, mostly because we were definitely not the target audience. It was for the middle (to recently retired) age upper class. It took Hannah telling me at interval that it was meant to comedy for me to realise it wasn’t just straight drama. It was then that I noticed that I didn’t find any of the jokes funny because they were at the expense of the outrageous, gay, SJW milenial character or the character who was dealing with mental health issues and acted ‘crazy’. But it was great being in Richmond, on the way back to train station I saw a bread shop that sold loaves that looked delicious and similar to ones I’d bought before. Funnily enough, after buying some spelt pumpkin seed bread (*drools*) I saw the back and realised that it was the same chain bakery. I went home that afternoon and then got to smash at the ice in our freezer as we were defrosting it. It was a nice productive weekend.

Then on the 4th it was back to school (for the last 7 weeks of the academic year). I went into my trial day with confidence and delivered my lesson with enthusiasm (we read the book that was super descriptive and then I had students come up with their own adjectives and adverbs for a character of their own creation, which they then got to draw). I had one class for the whole day as the teacher was absent. I even got to go with them when they went swimming in the afternoon (with many other TAs, but still not a lot of supply teachers get to actually take students outside of the school). I didn’t have people observe me for long, Two people were in while I read the book but I was later talking to one of them and he assured me that he was actually there observing the students (but had told me how wonderful I had been with the students and passed on the compliments to the Tom, person in charge of hiring). Tom also came into my class during the lesson, but he just asked what the lesson plan was, walked around looking at the student’s books and then left. I felt pretty confident with the day, even having to leave a note at the office saying that I suspected one of the girls in the class had chickenpox, and hoped for the best. Which I found out that Wednesday the 6th, had come up all ways Emma. I had been offered a position in year 4 teaching the same children I had taken during my trials, and would start the 3rd of September! So everything kind of improved knowing that I would only have to have 7 more weeks of supply. It got even better when I was told that a close school to me which I liked, despite working in Early Years, had requested me to work with them every Thursday until the end of term. As it stand now, there are only 20 more days left of supply where I do not know where I’m going!

I attended another Aussie’s in London drinks night, this one not being as successful as the first, with Hannah, Gavin and I calling it a night by 10pm. But the drinks were cheap and inventive. I tried a popcorn flavoured daquiri. It tasted very strongly of rum, but the popcorn syrup was nice. It was nice to go out, but hopefully the next social will be a bit more social than this one was.

The last greatest thing to happen was that Kat and her family came to visit! Not me specifically, but after having flying out to LA to see Kat graduate, the 3 decided to visit Kat’s brother in Manchester and spend a weekend down in London. And I just have to say, that seeing them (for I hadn’t seen Kat in 2 years) was so wonderful and unreal that I was close to tears many times over the weekend. The familiarity of these people (who I view as my surrogate family), and playing board games before going out was spectacular. We spent the Saturday afternoon and evening at Camden Markets, and had a delicious turkish banquet back at their rented digs. The next day they invited me to join them on a discover london scavenger hunt (which I will be doing many of their other ones) where I had an absolute ball. We said goodbye to her parents who had to leave earlier than Kat and Lolly as they were driving back to Manchester, and I stuck around with the 2 girls until they had to board their train. I had my first London sushi (which pales in comparison to Aussie sushi) and we chatted about all manner of things. It was difficult to watch them go, made worse by my anxiety returning because I had been out all weekend and had not done any of my usual weekend routine which involves prepping the week’s lunches and getting all my laundry completed. But I’d do it all again just to see Kat.

This last week has been pretty uneventful. I was asked to go to a local school I had never been to before. I made a comment upon arrival that I would love to come back whenever possible just because of the school’s proximity. I was then asked to come back the next 2 days as the teacher was still absent and they wanted continuity. The classes I took weren’t the best, but being able to sleep in and leave at 8am makes dealing with them worth it. Due to being so close to home, I have also been able to start exercising again (not just relying on walking everywhere as my daily exercise) and play Harvey for an hour or so a couple of afternoons this week. I was also super lucky that on Friday, my 5 month anniversary in London, I was asked to go a new school that’s pretty far away. I had originally been booked at one of my regular schools (but with a class that is very behaviourally disruptive and extremely exhausting) and because this school was further away I was offered more pay to go as I am the closest person to this school. And boy am I gad that I went. First off, the school is newly built, so it is one level and really modern, but big classrooms. Secondly, I had year 6s who were absolutely lovely and very engaging to speak with. Lastly, the day was super cruisy and enjoyable. The students were studying The Hunger Games, so my first 30mins was to read the book with them. Then the next 30mins was to go through a slide and give them time to prepare for their big write. This would occur over 2 hours of the day (giving me nothing to do except continue to read on in the book, as I was not meant to help/guide the students during their writing time). Then after lunch the students had to come up with a skit to perform at their school’s leaver’s assembly and then I had to help them write the script. The last 40 mins of the day was watching them play dodgeball, as the sports coach had been asked to plan a P.E lesson so that I didn’t have to. And on top of all of this, the only work to have been completed was the Big Write, which I had been told not to mark. So as soon as the students had left and I had left a note telling the teacher how the day had gone, I was off home. And when I got home I ended up continuing to read The Hunger Games on my Kobo for a couple of hours (finishing it and then starting from the start). Once I had read and rested I was able to get up enough energy to do that day’s work out. And then I had a lazy berry smoothie for dinner while chatting with Emma for a few hours as well. It was a nice was to spend my 5 months in London, not doing anything spectacular, just having a nice night.

And then this weekend had been a do nothing weekend while I rest up from starting up working out, which has left me still and sore and hardly able to move haha. Now that I am caught up, I will try to keep updating this blog every week or fortnight, depending on what’s happening in my life. I don’t have many plans for the rest of the month at the moment, so it may be a while before I have something blog-worthy.

But there you go people, the last 5 months of my life in London. Enjoy :)

[fuck-you-i-am-spiderman]

what about... supercorp or hollstein for the pairing ask? I'd love to hear your thoughts on their dynamics!

Oh you have come to the right place Anon. How about both :P (and yes I will crossover slightly because I have headcanons about those friendships!)

Supercorp

proposes - hmmm? Who indeed. I feel like it would be after a long while given both of them suffer from some abandonment issues and some commitment troubles. I’m leaning towards Kara because I feel like she has some strong beliefs and on Krypton when they met their mate that was that, they had very heartfelt traditions about marriage and how to propose to their mate so Kara has been considering it for a while, she does it on Lena’s birthday and Lena’s crying and she doesn’t answer for the first 10 minutes before she realises she’s been silent for too long and then she of course says yes.

shops for groceries - Lena. They mostly order online because Lena is really busy and so Jess has a lot of work put aside when Lena asks for her assistance. She does not trust Kara to do it, last time Kara put in 10 pizzas, 20 bars of chocolate and 16 bags of donuts. She is not here for the sugar kick that happens with a powerful, hungry Kryptonian 

kills the spiders - Alex. Kara won’t, she floats to the ceiling and refuses to come down and Lena just does not want to so Alex gets called in and she busts in there, gun at the ready as Lena without looking up from her magazine just points to the corner where a tiny spider is lurking.

comes home drunk at 3am - Kara. Mon-El always gives her some liquid courage and then she’s singing a made up song dedicated to “Lena Luthor with an ass like the moon”. Half of the time Lena is far too amused to be annoyed by it. Though there was that one time that Alex, Maggie and James had to pull her off of Mon-El after he tried something with her helplessly intoxicated girlfriend, he didn’t make that mistake again.

remembers to feed the fish - they don’t have fish. Not after the death of Mr Fishington the 3rd. Lena will not spend another 2 hours mourning the loss of a fish she never wanted. Kara has been begging her for a puppy though.

initiates duets - Kara, she sings and hums constantly, she does it when she does the dishes, she does it when she gets home from work. She sings whilst Lena cooks and when she’s typing up her new articles. Lena doesn’t know how to react and she bursts into tears when Kara sings to her, she doesn’t come back for a whole day (side note: she stays with Maggie) and when she does Kara is nervous and rambley, after a heart to heart Kara makes it her mission to get Lena to contribute to a duet. Lena does when they slow dance on her balcony.

falls asleep first - Lena. She sleeps at the desk, she falls asleep sprawled on the couch and she pretends that she wasn’t sleeping during movie marathons. Kara comes home and sees the wine bottle on the table with a clustered pile of budget cuts and reports stacked next to it as Lena lightly snores as she sleeps on the couch, Kara covers her with a blanket and kisses her forehead most nights but sometimes she picks Lena up and floats them to their bedroom, Lena curls up against Kara and sleeps soundly.

plans spontaneous trips - Both. Lena is such a planner and she has a lot of money to spare so she likes to plan little weekends away or day trips to the zoo because Kara fricking loves it. Also Kara likes to occasionally fly them to random locations for lunch or that weekend where she took them to Lena’s private cottage.

wakes the other up at 3am demanding pancakes - Kara. Lena is a great cook and she cooks so naturally, she doesn’t even care about the fact Kara woke her, not when Kara’s arms wrap around her waist and she hums as Lena makes them pancakes. Every time is different and she likes to experiment with different flavours and treats to see which Kara likes. Though Kara does try and help but it only leads to food fights and a syrup covered Lena doing anything but making pancakes.

sends the other unsolicited nudes - Lena, she waits until Kara is in the weekly meeting that James throws at CatCo and then she strikes. She also likes to send them during lunch or when Kara is supposed to be hosting a game night, Kara has broken 5 phones, forfitted 2 potstickers and walked into a door. It’s worth it when she faces the wrath of a horny and slightly hungry Kara Danvers.

brags about knowing karate even though they never made it past yellow belt - None, mainly because Kara has superhuman abilities so she doesn’t need to and Lena can taser people. Lena isn’t weak by any means but she is quite clumsy and Kara can be pretty oblivious so accidents happen and who needs karate when your girlfriend can punch someone into space?!

comes to a complete halt outside bakeries/candy shops - “KARA ZOR-EL DANVERS YOU MADE ME STOP SO THAT YOU COULD DROOL OVER YET ANOTHER CANDY SHOP?!” Kara pouts for a whole day after Lena dragged her away. She goes into work the next day and finds a basket full of candy and plumerias along with a note that says “for my sweet tooth -L” 

blows sarcastic kisses after doing ridiculous shit - Lena. She’s a snarky little shit but Kara is incredibly awkward and seems to follow every awkward thing with finger guns and overly adjusting her glasses. They are both dorks.

killed the guy (also, which hid the body) - None of them. Kara does not believe in that and Lena couldn’t kill a fly, she may taser goons and threaten to hurt anyone that insults her sunshine girlfriend but she would never kill anyone.

wears the least clothing around the house - Lena. She’s so flirty and Kara is weak for her. Lena conveniently drops spoons and constantly leans across exposing her chest, she lets her hair fall down loose and Kara drools, she stutters and goes bright red and Lena loves it. She may not have a Kryptonian body but she knows how to strut her stuff. Plus she was never really allowed to just be casual around the Luthor Mansion so Kara loves seeing Lena completing work projects whilst sat cross-legged in just lacy black underwear. 

has icky sentimental moments for no apparent reason - They both have their fair share of sentimental moments and they come at random times, there are the times that Lena sobs at movies or when she tells Kara about the anniversary of when Lex got arrested. Kara likes to talk about her memories at night, she tells Lena about the stars and her planet, she sometimes just starts talking in Kryptonian and Lena loves to hear it all, she encourages Kara to be open and Kara helps Lena fight some of her worst fears.

Hollstein

proposes - Carmilla takes them up to the roof and half way through her speech Laura rambles and proposes first.

shops for groceries - They both do, though Carmilla regrets it when Laura puts 5 packets of Oreo Double-Stuffed oreos into their cart

kills the spiders - Carmilla. Those buggers don’t pay rent in their ridiculously expensive house and she has plenty of boots ready to squish them with.

comes home drunk at 3am - Laura is such a lightweight, Carmilla is a casual drinker she doesn’t do it often so there’s rarely a time when she’s drunk but you put Laura and Kara together and the two get drunk easily, leading to giggly girlfriends being handsy with their snarky spouses.

remembers to feed the fish - Laura does not trust Carmilla around fish, her girlfriend is not too keen on pets so they tend to avoid them.

initiates duets - Laura, she sings into spatulas and follows Carmilla around the apartment singing “what’s new pussycat” and “I knew you were trouble”

falls asleep first - Laura likes to stay up and watch Buffy re-runs until who knows what time, Carmilla sleeps like the dead.

plans spontaneous trips - Carmilla, much like Lena she has pretty much unlimited funds and she has travelled a lot so whenever Laura has free time she plans weekends away and little days trips.

wakes the other up at 3am demanding pancakes - Laura Eileen Hollis. She has cravings and she will have her chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes even if she has to drag a half asleep Carmilla into the kitchen and ravish her first, it’s just so she can get her pancakes *wink wink*

sends the other unsolicited nudes - Carmilla starts it but Laura gives as good as she gets.

brags about knowing karate even though they never made it past yellow belt - Carmilla, she pretends she knows all this kind of stuff but she definitely doesn’t, she can pack a punch though. Laura tried teaching her some Krav-Maga but they always end up....distracted

comes to a complete halt outside bakeries/candy shops - Laura. Carmilla will pick her up and carry her away. Laura proceeds to pout like crazy until Carmilla surprises her with a packet of those gourmet jelly beans that Laura nearly orgasmed at on one of their trips.

blows sarcastic kisses after doing ridiculous shit - Carmilla, she’s such a little shit, Laura hates her for it because it always sets her off into adorable giggles.

killed the guy (also, which hid the body) - Carmilla and oh yeah Carmilla. Laura would accidentally kill someone and then Carmilla would have to hide the body.

wears the least clothing around the house - Carmilla. She flexes and strips down randomly, she just saunters to the kitchen in that small silky robe Laura loves and she sprawls in her underwear and Laura both loves it and hates it because she should have self control but giver her a practically naked Carmilla and their kitchen table has been broken 3 times already.

has icky sentimental moments for no apparent reason - Carmilla, Laura has them too but Carm has become a lot more open so she will wistfully talk about moments in her life over dinner or during a tv marathon when a character reminds her of someone from her past. It always surprises Laura when she does it, especially that time when Carmilla cried and told her how much she missed Mattie and the feeling of family (she admitted it after Laura made her watch Lilo and Stitch)

[gawaine]

Rules: Complete the survey and say who tagged you in the beginning. When you finished tag 5 people to do this survey. Have fun and enjoy!!!

Tagged by the wonderful @wwwinteriscoming, who also gave me Isbah’s new URL (thank fuck @softdiego, I keep losing you)

1: Are you named after someone? Nope! The only criteria for my name was that it have an Arabic and English meaning, and could be easily pronounced in both.

2: When was the last time you cried? Yesterday, watching A Year in the Life on Netflix. Richard Gilmore died. It was sad. That was ‘single tear’ type crying though, the last time I had a proper cry was... Last week, maybe? I had a little cry after throwing my ankle out at the gym and it triggered my PTSD.

3: Do you like your handwriting? I have a love-hate relationship with it? Char and @drlegendaryhands swear it’s beautiful, but when I’m rushing it’s reduced to a mess, so... It depends on how much time I have when writing!

4: What is your favourite lunch meat? This is an odd question. But chicken. It’s filling, you can do lots to it, it tastes good and it’s healthy.

5: Do you have kids? No, thank fuck. Bleeergh, the thought of having a child this young is repellant to me (... and not even necessarily ‘this young’). No thanks. That’s what nieces and nephews are for - babies you can love, but give back.

6: If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Probably not? I like to think I’m a good friend, who is funny and loyal, but in reality I’m really out of touch with emotion and a load of other shit. Ref: all previous best friends for proof.

7: Do you use sarcasm? It’s my native tongue.

8: Do you still have your tonsils? No! It’s so weird to be able to say that now! Nope, I had my tonsillectomy in October. I was scheduled to have a coblation procedure, but it ended up being a standard electrocautery tonsillectomy instead :)

9: Would you bungee jump? Yes. No. Depends on why. I like the idea of conquering my fears but I also don’t want to die (today) so??

10: What is your favourite kind of cereal? Golden Nuggets or Weetabix. I have no chill. It’s either a sugarfest or really good for me. Plus, they absorb milk really well and I’ve gotten really fussy recently: milk left over from cereal disgusts me, I can never finish it, and it makes me feel bloated.

11: Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Low-top sneakers, like Vans and Converses, absolutely not, but boots and high-tops, yes. I don’t actually own any other type of shoe.

12: Do you think you’re a strong person? emotionally? or physically? lol no, but I’m arrogant enough to acknowledge the evidence shows otherwise. I think it just comes down to the fact that I’m very good at pretending, emotionally? And physically... HAHA. Actual quote from me at the gym today, talking to my trainer: “You know I said I have the upper body strength of a worm? I think that was too kind.”

13: What is your favorite ice cream flavor? This... Is not... Thorough enough. If it’s Ben & Jerry’s, it’s One Love (banana, chocolate and caramel) though that’s up for debate because I have new flavours in my freezer that I’m yet to try; Haagen Dazs, it’s cookies and cream (macadamia nut brittle is a close second); if it’s sorbet, I prefer berry because of its sharpness, though mango is smoother; if it’s unbranded, then mint chocolate chip. Gelato can only be from the place I went to on Borgo Pio in Rome, so fresh, made only of fruit and milk, where melon is a preference (I take ice cream very seriously, wow).

14: What is the first thing you notice about people? The way they look at people. You can tell a lot about a person that way.

16: What is the least favourite physical thing you like about yourself? My injury scars (whoa, look at me being honest today).

17: What color pants and shoes are you wearing now? I’m not wearing shoes - I’m at home - so I’m wearing grey skinny sweats and stripy ‘Fries Before Guys’ socks.

18: What was the last thing you ate? Butter biscuits I made a few days ago, but I can’t actually taste that - I can still taste the tuna crunch salad I had before that, because I put in a lot of crunch (read: a shit-ton of red onion and celery).

19: What are you listening to right now? Bollywood music from Shahrukh Khan’s new movie. If I wasn’t, I’d probably be listening to some The Pretty Reckless, I’ve been on a grunge trip recently.

20: If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple. No idea why. I guess it’s lighter than black but more complex than a primary colour? Oh, look, my English degree is showing.

21: Favourite smell? Fresh water.

22: Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? My big sister, Reehana. She wanted to see how I felt after I text her from the cardio machine at the gym, saying my arms felt like lead. They still felt like lead. Arm days kill.

23: Favourite sport to watch? Watching the cricket is more a tradition, so martial arts, probably? Or swimming? But I’m not a big sports enthusiast.

24: Hair color? Very dark brown. It looks black, but you can see it’s not in the light, and because in the summer, it reddens.

25: Eye color? Dark brown. I’m very boring.

26: Do you wear contacts? I’m beginning to. I hate it. I thought taking off a normal bra in exchange for a sports one was a pleasant feeling, but taking contacts out after 11 hours of wear and putting on your glasses is just... Heavenly.

27: Favorite food to eat? This is unfair, so I will go by my favourite cuisines. (Savoury) Italian: pizza. Mexican: burritos. Persian: grilled lamb is amazing. American: burgers and fries. Canadian: fresh maple syrup pancakes. (Sweet) French: macaroons. Italian: ice cream cake. I’m also a total ho for traditional Punjabi food, but that’s complex. (I also take food very seriously).

28: Scary movies or comedy? Ha, half the time, aren’t they the same thing? The girl moves towards the scary noise and drops her phone, the non-white person dies first, everyone trips over their laces? Okay, sorry - comedy! Definitely. Rom coms are cute too. 

29: Last movie you watched? Ummm, Dhangal, this Bollywood movie about a man who trained his little girls to become Olympic wrestlers. Based on a true story. Was absolutely excellent. I can’t remember the last English movie I watched at the cinema... Ghostbusters, possibly?

30: What color of shirt are you wearing? Grey. It’s a jumper with my university logo on the front.

31: Summer or winter? Summer, though I always die, because I wear too many layers. Usually I’d say winter, but our heating is being a little shit, so the whole warm-and-snuggled-while-it-rains ~aesthetic has gone to shit.

32: Hugs or kisses? Hugs. More intimate, they feel more safe and, whilst I have never been kissed on the mouth romantically, I’d assume less gooey, too?

33: What book are you currently reading? HA, I don’t think I’ve finished reading a whole book for pleasure since I graduated. I’m reading multiple. Attempting to re-read A Series of Unfortunate Events (struggling, no idea why) and Muhammad Ali’s memoirs (but Mum stole it). The Princess Diaries set so I could read the newest one, but I’m bored at no.5 because I’ve read that multiple times. Still a quarter of the way through reading The Da Vinci Code for the third time, so I can read the newest two of the set. Reconsidering breaking out my non-fiction book on the Medici that I started about four years ago, after watching Medici: Masters of Florence. You did not expect this long an answer, did you? Your fault for asking!

34: Who do you miss right now? My Dad, he’s away on business.

35: What is on your mouse pad? What is this, 2005? Who still has a mouse pad?

36: What is the last TV program you watched? sense8, I’m rewatching so I can watch the special/second season without having to rush a recap watch.

37: What is the best sound? The sound of rain on glass, or my brother laughing.

38: Rolling Stones or The Beatles? I feel like I’m not white enough for this question, I would struggle to name a Rolling Stones song from the top of my head and the only Beatles songs I know are ones that have been covered by other people. Sorry!

39: What is the furthest you have ever traveled? Had to Google this, but - Florida, USA. Thought it was Pakistan. I went to Disneyworld when I was 8.

40: Do you have a special talent? Yes, isolating myself and being able to fit more ice cream in the top drawer of the freezer, even if it’s full. The TARDIS has nothing on my freezer drawer.

41: Where were you born? St George’s Hospital, London. I’m a city girl, through and through :)

I tag @barefootonbrokenglass, @franklyineedcoffee, @nancyywheller, @intoxicatedinthedark and... I do not know enough people on this site to do shit like this

[pkmnnovareset]

multiples of 2 for ali declan and noll please (▰˘◡˘▰)

get to know my character!

This is great because I haven’t thought too much on the three of them yet. This ask also ended up being long so I’m putting everything after q10 under the cut! 

Also I’m sorry this took forever to answer, there were a LOT of questions lol, but here it is~!

02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness?

Ali’s insecurity is how he always ends up depending on his twin on basically everything. Don’t get him wrong, he loves Declan a lot, but sometimes he wants to be brave and courageous enough to handle situations on his own without having to fall back on Declan. He’s good at keeping this secret from others, even Declan (who isn’t great and pin pointing on other people’s emotions, not like him).

Declan often feels like he’s too much of a bother to people, like people don’t actually really want to hang around him or be his friend. That they’re only doing it to pity him or out of necessity. When he starts feeling those doubts, he pulls away from social gatherings, from other people and leave a distance between each other. He doesn’t want to end up being right about his paranoia that the friends he has made truly do hate him. Ali picks up on Declan’s insecurity right off the bat, being that Ali is extremely empathetic, and the whole twin-telepathy thing.

This took me a while to think because Noll is a character I haven’t explored deeply yet (granted the other two I haven’t either, but I planned them out before so *shrugs*). But I feel like it’s his image of being seen as weak? He doesn’t want to be pushed around by people who thinks they’re better than him, so that’s why he ends up donning a personality that rubs people the wrong way.

04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical)

Well, considering all 3 of them are like, 11, they don’t really have a lover - not yet anyways. Maybe when they’re older. But I can tell you what they think about their crush.

Ali loves how affectionate, kind, and sweet Miranda is. He loves how she’s always so true to herself and doesn’t falter with who she is to the entire world. He loves how brave she is for being who she is. A physical aspect is how soft Miranda’s hair is. Ali just loves running his fingers through her hair, it’s really soothing and honestly, it’s incredibly soft like holy heck.

Declan loves how Adrien is so reliable all the time and how he’s such an amazing big brother to Miranda. He also loves how the two of them share so many things in common: their loves for outdoor activities, their love and care for their siblings, etc. Declan really loves Adrien’s eyes, like they’re just such a pretty colour that Declan wouldn’t mind staring into Adrien’s eyes for hours.

Noll is tricky, because he really cannot stand what Adrien is all about. He’s too similar to his cousin, Declan. But he also finds it admirable that Adrien does things because he wants to, or things that betters others. Noll really loves Adrien’s fingers, they’re just long and slender (despite the fact that Adrien ends up shorter than Noll when they all grow up).

06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying?

Hmm… Not particularly?

Miranda thinks Ali’s hobbies are his hobbies and doesn’t judge him for it.

Adrien, although not knowing that the two people have crushes on him, don’t really judge Declan or Noll for whatever they do. I mean, many people tend to get annoyed that Noll ends up ignoring everyone when he goes off to read a book, but other then that, nothin’ really comes to mind.

08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

Ali is a people-pleaser. He’s very well aware of this and has tried to stand up for himself to stop, but it never worked. Declan has helped him many times, but Ali could never get a hang of it. Sometimes Declan ends up shoo-ing the people away and protects him from them.

Declan ends up disregarding the people around him when he’s focused in on something, or when a situation is at hand. He forgets that whatever action he does can potentially affect people around him until it’s too late. He’s not exactly someone who thinks ahead, only realizing the consequences after he’s done something.

Noll is self-centred and extremely arrogant. He isn’t very aware that he does this, but he does. He generally ends up looking down on people if they aren’t up to his standards intellectually. He can also be selfish too depending on the situation before him.

10. Is your character more feminine or masculine?

All three are on the masculine side

12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up?

Ali is very great at breeding Pokemon and would never give that up.

Declan is an amazing Pokathlete and has worked so hard to get to where he is now.

Noll has spent time perfecting his directing and videography that it’s pretty much become his everything.

14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates?

They all live with their families!

Ali and Declan LOVES their moms, Leaf and Serena!

Noll took a while to get used to his new family, but he’s definitely come to care for them very much, even Kylie, ha ha!

16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like?

Ali is not the athletic type at all, ha ha! He doesn’t quite have the stamina for any sports. He’d much rather watch. But he isn’t a couch potato since he does move his body a lot. Becoming a Pokemon Breeder helps keeps him on his toes!

Declan is obviously the athletic type being that he’s a Pokeathlete. His favourite events are: Hurdle Dash, Relay Run, and Disc Catch!

Noll is definitely a couch potato. He doesn’t do sports. At all. He’d much rather read his books in the comforts of his home.

18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode?

Ali would want to live in a home where there’s a large open field for him to continue his Pokemon Breeding! He’d also want to live with Miranda but SSHHHHH, don’t tell her that ;) (plus they’re like 11 so let’s hold off of that for now, just until they’re older). He’d want a house with two floors, a moderate sized bedroom and two extra rooms for whatever he (or Miranda) wants to put for their own personal space.

Declan wants to live in a penthouse. He just loves how big and spacious they are, it’d also be a great place to train and stuff. Maybe not the more intense trainings, but like the more smaller ones. Like lifting weights, doing sit ups, etc. Things you find at a gym.

Noll wants to live in an apartment where he could put all his books and video cameras. He’d want a room where he can use as his office to edit videos and what not. His books would be in the living room placed in bookshelves. He’ll also have a nice comfy reading chair next to all of those bookshelves!

20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures?

Ali and Declan grew up with lots of Pokemon as their stay-at-home Pokemon: Poocheyana, Skitty, and Pidgey. The two of them loved those three. Ali loved Poocheyana and Pidgey more, while Declan loved Skitty! Because they both grew up with stay-at-home Pokemon, they’d for sure want one of their own when they move out. Ali’s always been fascinated by werewolves, and Declan’s been interested in Banshee’s.

Noll isn’t a big fan of any troubling Pokemon that could distract him from his work. He really likes the Wendigo myth though.

22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have?

Ali has freckles all over his arms and legs.

Declan has two little moles on his right butt cheek in a diagonal line kinda.

Noll doesn’t really have any unique physical features.

24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like?

Ali: Brave

Declan: Considerate

Noll: Admirable

26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc?

I mean, I know I’m going to write about their adventures sometime in the future, and they’re all going to be aged up, but let’s not go there. At least not right now. They’re 11 years old. That’s just awks.

28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for?

Ali’d be famous for his Breeding research, probably

Declan would be famous for being a Pokeathlete and wining lots of medals at every Pokathlon

Noll would be famous for his movies/films and his directing skills

30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?

Ali loves watching romance movies

Declan prefers watching action-packed movies

Noll appreciates theatre as well as symphonies/orchestras!

32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do?

Ali wouldn’t care what he and Miranda do. He just wants to spend time with her, and make sure that she’s happy~!

Declan would want to see the big named Pokathletes in Pokathlons and cheer for them, he’d also want to go to gardens just to watch Adrien’s face light up.

Noll wouldn’t mind going to a cafe, or one of those Film Festivals!

34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc)

Ali enjoys having breakfast a lot, it’s the first meal of the day and the meal to wake you up in the morning. He really loves pancakes and would drizzle a shit ton of maple syrup all over em’.

Declan would eat pretty healthy considering he’s a Pokathlete and all. But there are times where he’d sneak in a couple of junk foods here and there! His favourite junk foods are Ruffled All Dressed.

Noll loves drinking tea and cinnamon rolls - or anything with cinnamon in them. He just likes the flavour of cinnamon.

38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc?

Ali and Declan both love sunny days the best! It’s when they could do the most without having to worry about the weather and such!

Noll on the other hand, prefers rainy days. He loves listening to the sound of the rain against the window panes, or the bushes, and etc. It gives him a good excuse to read his book inside! He also loves the smell of the rain.

40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?

Ali’s love for watching romance movie is usually kept hidden from his brother. Miranda knows of Ali’s interest for it and doesn’t really judge him for that. She thinks it’s cute and romantic. But Ali definitely keeps this away from Declan.

Declan actually enjoys tap dancing! He just loves being able to move his feet around and the sound of the tap shoes against hard surfaces! Ali and his mothers are the only ones who knows about this - being that Ali too, has taken tap dancing lessons with him.

Noll reads like, a shit ton of yaoi/shounen-ai manga okay like. That is the one thing he keeps hidden from everyone else lol. He has a stash of yaoi/shounen-ai stuff hidden away behind one of his many stacked books on his bookshelf. And some tucked away in the corner of his closet.

42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change?

For all three of them? Nope!

44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character?

Oh my god, oh my GOD.

For the twins, it’s DEFINITELY losing each other okay like. Y’ALL PUNKS REMEMBER IN HP DEATHLY HOLLOWS WHERE FRED FUCKIN’ DIED AND SHIT? AND IT WAS SAID THAT GEORGE COULD NO LONGER CONJURE UP A PATRONUS B/C HIS TWIN BRO IS DEAD AND SHIT? THAT’S HOW ALI AND DECLAN WOULD FEEL IF THE OTHER DIED. LIKE THOSE TWINS HATES BEING SEPARATED, EVEN FOR A FEW MINUTES. THEY KICK UP A RUCKUS IF THEY GET SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. SO IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY NO LONGER HAVE EACH OTHER - IF ONE OF THEM DIED.

IF AL DIED, DECLAN WOULD JUST LOSE HIS SUNSHINE CHARM. HE’D BE SO DEVASTATED AND SOLEM THAT HE WOUDLN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. IT’S LIKE LOSING HALF OF YOURSELF. HE’D NO LONGER WANT TO CONTINUE HIS POKATHLON STUFF AND ANY MENTION OF BREEDING JUST REMINDS HIM OF HIS BRO AND HE’D JUST, GET SEVERELY DEPRESSED.

IF DECLAN DIED, ALI WOULD CRY FOR HOURS ON END. NON-STOP. LIKE HE’LL STILL WORK HARD AT BEING A POKEMON BREEDER, BUT WITHOUT HIS BROTHER THERE TO SEE HIM ACHIEVE HIS DREAMS, IT’S MEANINGLESS. LIKE HE’LL JUST LOSE MOTIVATION. HE JUST WOULDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE FUCK HIS BEST FRIEND, HIS PARTNER IN CRIME, HIS TWIN BROTHER IS DEAD. DEAD AND GONE. LIKE HE HIMSELF WOULD JUST FEEL DEAD INSIDE OK LIKE BRUH.

I think Noll would be severely devastated by his fears and paranoia that his current family would abandon him, or lock him away somewhere. He’s extremely claustrophobic and his birth parents were pretty abusive towards him. So it would just trigger an onslaught of horrible memories for him if Brendan and Calem ended up being the same. But thank god that’s not the case.

46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover?

Ali loves spoiling Miranda with sweet, innocent kisses. He’ll also compliment her every single day and doing tons of romantic gestures. He’ll even reply to Miranda’s cute sticky notes with his own cute sticky notes!

Declan would always hug his s/o whenever he gets the chance! Loving hugs, surprise hugs, cuddle hugs, all the hugs imaginable!

It’s quite hard for Noll to randomly show affection to his s/o, but if he loves them a lot, he’d definitely start laying out kisses all over them with a straight face, but still blushing!

48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious?

Ali would totally get uncomfortable and jealous when other guys show interest in Miranda. He’d be pretty silent about his jealousy, but his actions definitely speaks louder than his words. He’d go up to Miranda and just wrap his arms around her protectively (even though when they get older, Miranda ends up being much taller than Ali, so it’s an interesting sigh to see from an outsider’s pov). His eyes would also just glare at the guys flirting with Miranda; like his glares could literally slice things up.

Declan gets pretty pouty when he’s jealous! He grumbles a lot and sometimes acts a little selfish! He wants the person he likes to give him attention and spend time with him! And, unlike his twin, he can be vocal about his jealousy - which is where his selfishness comes in.

Noll gets pretty protective and mildly possessive over his s/o/crush when he’s jealous. He’d go straight up to whoever was bothering his s/o/crush and tell them, bluntly and rudely, to fuck off. His glare is a bit more intimidating than Ali’s, being that he already looks like he’s glaring at people with his resting-bitch-face, but when adding jealousy into the mix, his glares are... Pretty scary.

50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say?

Ali would be the most romantic person ever when confessing to Miranda. He’d go full out with the romantic stuff and it’d be so cheesy but so cute at the same time.

Declan would probably be blunt about it? But in an embarrassed way? Like he’ll definitely blurt out “I like/love you!” first before stammering into a list as to why and how.

Noll is a bit trickier considering he’s kind of stoic when it comes to showing emotions other than his default.

[thegloober]

Sweet Potato Wedges with Tahini-Honey Sauce and Everything Bagel Spice

I’ve now been blogging for eleven years (11years!!!). And in those eleven years, you know what I’ve learned about you? You love sweet potatoes. You love tahini. And you love sauce. And if I post anything with those things – or even better – a combination of those things, I know it’s going to go over well. I often get preoccupied with making my recipe posts totally out there with crazy ingredients, involved techniques, and lose sight of the fact that a lot of you like really simple things too. Just like me. And just like me you like sweet potatoes and tahini and sauce.

The sweet potato wedges with tahini-honey sauce and everything bagel spice that I posted on Instagram drew many requests for the recipe. I thought it would be way too easy, but your encouragement reminded me that it’s okay if it’s easy! We all have a place for uncomplicated in our lives.

I was first introduced to “everything bagel spice” while teaching cooking classes down in the states this past summer. One of the women in the group proclaimed that it took avocado toast to the next level, and after trying it once, I was totally hooked. She gave me two jars of the flavour confetti before I flew home, and I have just recently shaken out the last grain of salt. Without a clue on where to buy such a random thing in Canada, I set out to make my own – only I decided to be highly practical and mix up a laughably large batch because it is literally good on everything.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with everything bagel spice mix, it’s the simplest combination of flaky salt, onion flakes, garlic flakes, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds, which classically tops an “everything bagel”. It doesn’t sound like that much, but trust me, if it can make a white, doughy   this blend far more than the sum of its parts. A generous sprinkle on any dish makes it all that much more dimensional, seasoned, and delicious. My favourite applications for it include sliced garden tomatoes, cucumber, steamed green beans, roasted beets, goat cheese, cauliflower, popcorn, green salads, steamed brown rice or quinoa, eggs, hummus, and sweet potatoes…you see where I’m going with this. Maybe it’s faster to write a list of the foods that it wouldn’t be good on? Chocolate cake. There, that was easy.

But I’m actually here to talk about sweet potatoes. These gorgeous golden roots are now in season, and the last local tubers being pulled from the earth as I write this. Since I live so close to a number of organic farms here in Ontario, I thought it would be fun to go see them being harvested. I called around my area to see if anyone still had them in the ground, and I got lucky when one place, Fiddlehead Farm, called me back with good news and an invitation out to their field.

Fiddlehead Farm is run by a tribe of boss women who support over 150 local families through their CSA program, and hold stands at four different markets. These ladies are busy, and growing a diverse range of vegetables, greens, and herbs that seemed to stretch on for miles. I could tell from walking around the property how passionate they were about their work, and how deeply they care for their little corner of the earth. What an inspiration!

Heather, the farm’s co-owner, hopped off her tractor to introduce herself and show me the goods. She pulled back a tangle of stems and gave a good yank to unearth a juicy bunch of sweet potatoes, all clumped together like a vegetable cuddle puddle. Jackpot! She said it had been a really good year for this particular crop, and right under my feet were literally hundreds of roots waiting patiently to be harvested before the impending frost. Seeing how things grow and meeting the people that work so hard to bring these food gifts to us gives me a deeper appreciation for every bite I take.

Sweet potatoes are nutritional powerhouses, as one of nature’s best sources of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a carotenoid form of vitamin A – an essential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant nutrient. The intensity of a sweet potato’s orange flesh is a direct reflection of its beta-carotene content, so find the most vibrant ones you can, and dig in. Remember that you need a little fat to help your body absorb beta-carotene, so a drizzle of olive oil, or dousing your taters in a sauce like the one in this recipe is an important step in receiving those life-giving nutrients. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Sweet potatoes can be enjoyed roasted, steamed, sautéed, or even eaten raw, but however you choose to eat them, keep those skins on! The skin of a sweet potato is loaded with extra fiber to regulate blood sugar and support digestion, potassium to maintain normal blood pressure, and iron to deliver much-needed oxygen to your cells. Scrub sweet potatoes firmly with a soft vegetable brush – you want to remove the dirt but not take the skin away.

When purchasing sweet potatoes, look for smooth, even skin without bruises or soft spots. Avoid buying sweet potatoes that are in the fridge, since cold temperatures negatively affect their flavour. Once you get them home, store them in a dry, and well-ventilated place away from a hot spot (like near the stove or on top of the fridge). Instead of keeping them in plastic, which can cause them to mold, store them in an open paper bag to extend their life.

Some notes on the recipe. Other methods I’ve seen online for everything bagel spice do not suggest toasting the seeds beforehand, and I think this is a major miss. It makes a huge difference giving the sesame and poppy seeds a quick tour in a hot pan to coax out more of their flavour. If you’re in a rush or simply can’t be bothered, that’s fine, just know that you’ll be missing out on some bonus taste points. And if you don’t want to make three cups of the mix to start, simply half, or even quarter the recipe. I am pretty confident that you’ll love it though, especially once you try it on avocado toast.

The Tahini Honey Sauce makes about one cup (250ml), which is plenty to cover the sweet potato wedges, but make a double batch if you want a great staple dressing for the week ahead. It’s delicious on simple green salad, folded into cooked grains, drizzled over roast vegetables, or on avocado toast. The honey taste is present, but not overpowering, so feel free to add more if you want to ramp up the sweetness. For a vegan version, use maple syrup or date syrup in its place.

    Print recipe    

Sweet Potato Wedges with Tahini- Honey Sauce and Everything Bagel Spice Serves 4

Ingredients: 3 medium organic sweet potatoes (about 1½ lbs. / 650g) coconut oil (expeller-pressed and flavour-neutral) sea salt flat-leaf parsley and / or cilantro for garnish chili flakes toasted pumpkin seeds Tahini-Honey Sauce (recipe follows) Everything Bagel Spice Mix (recipe follows)

Tahini-Honey Sauce Makes 1 cup / 250ml

Ingredients: 1/3 cup / 80ml tahini 1/3 cup / 80ml water 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 Tbsp. extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil 1 Tbsp. raw liquid honey (substitute with maple syrup for a vegan version) 1 small clove garlic, minced ¼ tsp. fine sea salt

Big Batch Everything Bagel Spice Mix Makes 3 cups / 430g

Ingredients: ½ cup / 80g garlic flakes ¾ cup / 85g onion flakes ¾ cup /100g sesame seeds (any colour you like) ½ cup/ 85g poppy seeds ½ cup / 80g flaky sea salt (I used Maldon)

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C.

2. Scrub the sweet potatoes well under running water. Slice them lengthwise into wedges of your desired thickness. Place them on a baking sheet with space between them (if they’re too close together they’ll steam each other and get soggy), and roast for about 20-25 minutes, depending on their size. Remove from the oven when fork-tender.

3. While the sweet potatoes are roasting, make the Tahini-Honey Sauce by placing all the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. To thin, add a little water and blend or stir until the desired consistency is reached. Store leftovers in the fridge for five days.

4. Make the Everything Bagel Spice Mix In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool. Place poppy seeds in the same skillet, and toast over medium heat until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool. In a large jar combine the cooled sesame and poppy seeds, garlic flakes, onion flakes, and salt. Shake or stir to combine, and secure with an airtight lid. Store in a cool, dry place away from direct light. Keeps for 3-4 month.

5. To serve, drizzle the Tahini-Honey Sauce over the sweet potato wedges (you can keep them on the baking sheet or plate them as desired), then sprinkle generously with the Everything Bagel Spice Mix, and top with fresh herbs, toasted pumpkin seeds, and chili flakes (but get creative, these are just suggestions!). Enjoy.

I want to sign off with a sincere thanks for the past eleven years of support from all of you. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been creating in this space for so many years now (I’ve never done anything for this long!), but I wouldn’t have the motivation to keep going if it weren’t for your curiosity, enthusiasm, and appetite for the heart work I put in here. I know that I’ll stay hungry if you do 😉 Let’s keep going, together.

In sincere gratitude and love, Sarah B.

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I have great news, dear friends! Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to the Life-Changing Loaf Subscription Box, we have reopened the sales so that you can still receive (or give!) the box before the holiday season. Click here for more information, and to subscribe. Thank you very much for your ongoing support of My New Roots!

Source: https://bloghyped.com/sweet-potato-wedges-with-tahini-honey-sauce-and-everything-bagel-spice/

[therankingking-blog]

Top Thirty Cereals (UK edition)

If you're anything like me, you probably like cereal - as in, really like cereal. When it comes to food, I can think of no meal more versatile, convenient and downright tasty than a bowl of cereal. However, we must acknowledge the cold hard truth about different cereals - they weren't all created equal. Maybe you're a run-of-the-mill Shreddies kind of person or a sugar-craving Frosties fanatic, but either way, there has to be some definitive way of ranking all the cereals on the market, which is what I've attempted to do here.

Now, let me go over my main criteria here - the cereal should have a good flavour and texture, should have good milk retention capabilities, should be able to be enjoyed without additions of fruit and whatnot (looking at you here, Shredded Wheat), should leave tasty leftover milk and (for children’s cereals in particular) should be yummy enough to evoke memories of me enjoying it just before school, Ratatouille-style.

May I also point out that any cereal not included on the list at the moment may be added in the near future (except Frosted Wheats - seriously, who adds beef gelatine to Shredded Wheat?), as I’ll admit I haven’t yet tried every cereal on the market.

Without further ado, though, let’s crack on with the countdown!

30: Shredded Wheat Can you think of a sight sadder than plain Shredded Wheat for breakfast? No? I'm not surprised. The taste is bland. The consistency is bad. The leftover milk is ruined by the floating bits of wheat. Okay, maybe that's too harsh, but chances are if you like this cereal you're either a) too old to enjoy even the more fun run-of-the-mill cereals or b) desperate to have regular bowel movements. Shredded Wheat are, in essence, depressed Weetabix.

29: Alpen Only marginally better than Shredded Wheat because they have taste, but still a cereal I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole for one reason - raisins. Eugh. Add to that that Alpen is marketed as a "healthy" cereal despite containing more sugar than Coco Pops - Alpen, you're fooling no one here.

28: Coco Shreddies Adding cocoa powder to certain cereals really elevates them to the next level. Unfortunately, Shreddies are not one of those cereals. Admittedly I have fairly vague memories of trying Coco Shreddies, but those memories are not particularly fond, since I recall the cocoa flavour being too strong and the milk retention even worse than regular Shreddies - there's a reason our household never bothered to get them again.

27: Jordans Country Crisp Another supposedly healthier option with rather poor nutritional values. I don't really have much of a problem with Jordans, they're just so...nothing. I don't know anyone who wakes up in the morning excited to eat a bowl of Jordans. If you're going to buy a cereal crammed full of sugar, at least make it a fun one.

26: Ready Brek It breaks my heart to put Ready Brek so low on this list, it really does. I have fond memories of my mum making me Ready Brek on rainy mornings before school, pouring out the oats and putting it in the microwave - then covering it completely with golden syrup. Yeah, as hearty as Ready Brek seems, it should only ever be eaten with other additions.

25: Frosties Yes, I am serious. Frosties are a below-average cereal. Yes, they are worse than Cornflakes. Why? Because they're totally unnecessary. They're Crunchy Nut Cornflakes without the satisfying crunch. They have terrible milk integrity (seriously, worse than Cornflakes) meaning they go soggy as soon as the milk hits them. The leftover milk is nauseatingly sweet. While Cornflakes and Crunchy Nut are both very good cereals, Frosties just lack that USP to give them any sort of edge - sorry, but they're really not that grrreat.

24: Bran Flakes I'm aware that ranking Bran Flakes above Frosties is perhaps a rather controversial choice, but have you ever tried them? Okay, they're not exceptional, I'll give you that. But after years of scoffing at Bran Flakes for being a high-fibre cereal for the elderly, I remember trying them one day and being rather pleasantly surprised by how nice they actually tasted. Bran Flakes aren't a great cereal (and their uncool stigma does knock them down a few places), but they're a fair bit better than you'd expect them to be.

23: Special K As far as healthy cereals go, Special K aren't so bad. On the one hand, you could say they're a healthier, sweeter version of Cornflakes. On the other, you could say that they have a terrible texture and that if they weren't marketed as a healthier option, no one would ever buy them instead of pretty much any other cereal. Plus there's the fact that unless you're a middle-aged woman, you'll always get funny looks putting Special K into your shopping basket.

22: Krave Launching in 2010 in the UK, Krave is a relative newcomer to the cereal game, which is really the only reason they aren't higher on the list. On paper, they have lots of potential - the solid texture, the chocolate centre and the way they flavour the milk are all redeeming features. But while I can go back and readily enjoy other kid's cereals I loved as a child, as a late entry into the cereal market, Krave just doesn't have that same appeal to me.

21: Honey Monster Puffs Sugar Honey Monster Puffs are a cereal I still can't decide fully if I like or not. On the one hand, they can be immensely satisfying from a textural standpoint, and they're one of the only sweet cereals that it's not uncool to have in your trolly as an adult. On the other, they are a bit like having a bowl of popcorn with milk, once they go stale (which is veeeery quickly from my experience) they're pretty disgusting and a lot of people online seem to closely associate them with the smell of urine.

20: Frosted Shreddies Another entry in the "adding a truckload of sugar will make it better" line of cereals. Frosted Shreddies are a concept I just can't really get my head around - to me, Shreddies only really work in the first place because of their lack of strong flavour (hence my dislike for Coco Shreddies) and though Frosted Shreddies are nicer in reality than concept, I always just rather wish I'd picked regular Shreddies over them. On another note, I firmly believe Frosted Shreddies leave one of the worst-tasting leftover milks of any cereal.

19: Rice Krispies In a lot of ways, Rice Krispies are a God Tier cereal. Few other cereals have as memorable a sound once you add the milk, few other cereals have as satisfying a texture (crisp, but not too crunchy) and few other cereals have the versatility to be reinvented as else something so damn impressive (Marshmallow Squares, anyone?). Yet for all of Rice Krispies' strengths, their defining bland taste cannot be ignored - that's both their ultimate strength and their ultimate downfall.

18: Rice Krispies Multigrain I sympathise with Rice Krispies Multigrain because I think the folks at Kellogg's just got it the wrong way around. Firstly, they're nothing like Rice Krispies. Secondly, they don't know their target market - with their only slightly sweet flavour they're really more of an adult cereal, but they're clearly aimed at kids with their cutesy shapes and branding (also, there's the fact that I basically never see these outside of Variety Packs). They're a pretty solid option - sure, they go soggy quickly, but their initial texture and flavour really is gorgeous. Rice Krispies Multigrain just need to really figure out their place in the cereal world.

17: Honey Loops Honey Loops are similar to Frosties in my book in that they both suffer heavily from unnecessariness. Honey Loops are Honey Cheerios for kids - they're nice, but they'll only ever remind you of the fact that you're eating the weaker version of the cereal. They lack the proper bulk, bite and texture of the real thing. I don't have quite the level of dislike towards Honey Loops as I do Frosties, though, because a) the taste and texture are rather decent and b) Honey Loops aren't constantly reminding you how good they are.

16: Nesquik Has there ever been a chocolate cereal so...average? Don't get me wrong, I like Nesquik. The slightly crunchy texture and chocolate-y taste are both nice. But Nesquik never really pushes the boundaries as a cereal beyond "nice" - it just doesn't really have the same status or panache as competitors like Coco Pops. In short, there's a reason why most children wouldn't default to Nesquik if you asked them to name their favourite cereal.

15: Ricicles We're approaching the middle of the list now, and it seems apt to honour this recently discontinued favourite for many. Whereas Rice Krispies major fault lay with their bland taste, Ricicles improved on this vastly by adding one simple component - sugar, which ended up being the sole reason for Ricicles' downfall. Sure, the cereal sweetened the milk until it tasted pretty much like how you'd imagine Milk Plus to taste, but they should never have been outright dropped. Why, Kellogg's, why?

14: Weetabix Weetabix are a deceptively strong cereal. At first glance they probably don't appear much (I mean, come on - they're essentially two bland lumps of wheat in milk) but Weetabix have a number of unique strengths. For one thing, they can actually get away with being enjoyed soggy. They can also be enjoyed hot. Most importantly, though, Weetabix took lessons from Shredded Wheat and improved on them tenfold. Still unexciting, of course, but there's more depth to Weetabix than first meets the eye.

13: Shreddies Ah, Shreddies. Quite possibly the most widely consumed cereal in the United Kingdom and for good reason - they're pretty damn good. They have their faults, of course - they're fairly bland, they have pretty poor milk retention and they suffer horribly from "end-of-the-packet" syndrome - but they're such an iconic (and surprisingly enjoyable) cereal, so who really cares? Shreddies aren't the most wild or exciting cereal (and they're definitely not my immediate go-to option), but if you just want a cereal that gets the job done, Shreddies is a solid option.

12: Quaker Oats What puts Quaker Oats so far above Ready Brek? Flavour. While Ready Brek only ever came in one flavour (that one flavour being "bland"), Quaker Oats comes in all different varieties (including my personal favourite Golden Syrup), meaning that it is almost certainly the tastiest porridge you'll find on the market. Most likely not something you'll have every single day, but if you're ever cold and in the mood for something cereal-y, you'll be surprised by just how satisfying Quaker Oats can be.

11: Weetos I'm not sure if two things as mismatched as chocolate and Cheerios have ever been combined together as successfully. Granted, Weetos aren't just chocolate Cheerios (they're owned by another company entirely) but they're probably as close as we're ever going to get, and that's not necessarily a bad thing - Weetos are pretty tasty. They're not quite as satisfying as other chocolate cereals (namely, Coco Pops) or as agreeable as the cereal they're piggybacking on the success of (Cheerios), but as a standalone option, Weetos - you're pretty great.

10: Cornflakes The most British of cereals. I always feel like I have to defend Cornflakes to people since they're so commonly maligned as bland and dull, and while they aren't the most exciting in terms of flavour, sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than just sitting down to a nice bowl of Cornflakes. Bonus points also for versatility - Cornflakes have been seen at more bake sales than probably every other cereal on this list combined.

9: Golden Nuggets Either because of the connotations of "gold" or because of the insane sugar levels (probably the latter), Golden Nuggets were one of my favourite cereals as a kid, and a box of them would rarely last a day in our household. As an adult, you realise they're not quite as good as you remember, since they go soggy almost instantly in the milk (which is always left tasting rather artificially sweet). When you're eight years old, though you don't care about those faults whatsoever - probably because you've just consumed your recommended weekly intake of sugar in one small bowl.

8: Coco Pops Coco Rocks If you've never tried these before, I'm not surprised - I recall these being one of the first in a line of Coco Pop variations (of which I might make another list of) that have since been discontinued. Coco Rocks are the only one to make this list though, and that's cos they were the best. Kind of a mixture of crunchy Nesquik "rocks" and molten-middle "boulders", I remember always hoovering up the former as fast as I could so I could savour the intensely chocolatey molten goo of the latter - if Coco Rocks didn't have the actual rocks, it could easily have been a top three contender.

7: Honey Cheerios Cheerios for those of you with a sweet tooth. As much as I like Honey Cheerios (believe me, the flavour is divine), I can't help but feel like there was some kind of missed opportunity here - while the taste is much sweeter than regular Cheerios, in pretty much every other regard they're weaker than the original. They don't hold up as well in the milk, they lack the diversity of colour and they just generally lack that satisfying kick of the original. Definitely a great cereal, but one that I always feel should be so much better.

6: Curiously Cinnamon A personal favourite of mine growing up, as it was one of the only cereals we'd buy where I (and only I) would be the one to eat them. I love cinnamon as a flavour and the crunchy texture of Curiously Cinnamon is always oh-so satisfying. I do have issues with how the remaining milk in the bowl always has powdery bits of cinnamon, but hey - if ten year old me could get a box of cereal completely to myself, I wasn't complaining.

5: Cookie Crisp Believe it or not, I was close to putting Cookie Crisp at the number one spot. Had you asked me aged seven what my all-time favourite cereal - scratch that, all-time favourite food - was, I'd have said Cookie Crisp in a heartbeat. The sweetness, the crunch, the chocolate - it was all there. In retrospect, Cookie Crisp is not a faultless cereal. They do go soggy, they do go stale and sometimes the taste is weirdly salty - but boy oh boy, nothing quite screams out childhood to me like watching Arthur in the morning while tucking into a good ol' bowl of Cookie Crisp.

4: Coco Pops Basically the definitive cereal for children, and still every bit as enjoyable as an adult. Covering cereals with chocolate or sugar doesn't always go to plan (looking at you here, Coco Shreddies) but when it works, it really works. Coco Pops are Rice Krispies with flavour - the satisfying texture is still there, but the cocoa really just adds that extra oomph that Rice Krispies were lacking. Not to mention that drinking the leftover milk was essentially like a chocolate milkshake for breakfast.

3: Weetabix Crispy Minis I love Weetabix Crispy Minis because they are essentially a children's cereal marketed as an adult cereal. They took all of Weetabix' faults and improved on them tenfold - they have amazing milk retention, the texture is incredible and the flavour is always just the right amount of sweet. If you're someone who loves drinking the leftover milk in the bowl then they might not be for you (they absorb milk like crazy), but that's the only qualm I can find in an otherwise perfect cereal.

2: Crunchy Nut Cornflakes Depending on who you ask, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are either Frosties for people too ashamed to put Frosties in their shopping basket or one of the most ingenious creations known to mankind - I'm definitely of the latter opinion. Their flavour is amazing, their texture (that crunch tho) is inarguably one of the most gorgeous out there, and unlike both Cornflakes and Frosties, Crunchy Nut actually manage to maintain their consistency somewhat even after being in the milk for some time. Not only one of the best cereals on offer, but also quite possibly the most satisfying.

1: Cheerios Why are Cheerios the best cereal in the UK? A number of reasons. Cheerios are the perfect balance of sweet enough to tickle your sweet tooth yet not too sweet to give you an insane sugar rush in the way most of the other top ten cereals would do. Their crunch is satisfying and they don't go horribly soggy in the milk - they soften just a little, so that they still maintain something of a bite even after a fairly lengthy period of time. They flavour the milk slightly so it's sweetened, but not too much as to completely overpower it. Basically, if you took all of my criteria for what makes the perfect cereal, Cheerios would be "just right" in pretty much every aspect.

[littlemissshortypants-blog1]

#1 100 Random Facts About Me!

I've decided to set myself a blog challenge for March which entails publishing a post everyday! I've already failed with this as this post is a day late but it wasn't as easy as I thought! So here goes #1 100 Facts About Me! 1. I'm named after the song 'Kayleigh' (shocker right?) by Marillion but I actually don't really like that song. 2. I prefer my middle name (Rose) to my last name (Allan). 3. I've had several nicknames including Kayleigh Allan, Kayls, Kayleigh-Steve, Steve and Little Miss Shorty Pants. 4. If I was born just over a week later, I would have been in the year below. I'm only a baby. 5. I'm a bit like a penguin; clumsy but adorable ;) 6. I've only ever been on a plane once (which is going to change very soon!) 7. I'm spending my summer working at an American summer camp in North Carolina and also by going on a North American road trip with added time in Orlando and New York (have I mentioned that already?) 8. I don't drink alcohol. It's not really something which appeals to me. People always try and get me to drink and often tell me 'it's just like pop' to which I respond 'yes, so I can just drink pop'. Perhaps it's also to do with the fact I don't like the idea of not being in control, everyone complains afterwards and it's expensive! 9. I'm good at not giving in to peer pressure. 10. I believe that you can have a good time without drinking alcohol but most of the time people think I'm drunk anyway because I'm a crazy gal. 11. I've never had a proper boyfriend (yet). 12. I'm a little (a lot) obsessed with musicals. 13. Aaron Tveit is my number one celeb crush (and when we watched Assasins featuring him, my best friend and I held hands all the way through). 14. But Jeremy Jordan, Wesley Taylor, Gideon Glick, Ben Fankhauser, Ramin Karimloo and George Blagden (the list goes on) are up there too. 15. I once got dried paint stuck in my eye as a kid and had to go to hospital. I vividly remember there was also a kid there who had broccoli stuck up his nose. 16. It took me three whole appointments at the opticians until I was able to wear contact lenses. 17. I broke my leg when I was younger by falling off a scooter. 18. As a kid I used to be scared of Santa Claus. 19. I once got admitted to hospital because I refused to take this disgusting orange medicine (which I can remember the taste of now). 20. I was deputy head girl and a prefect at high school and helped the head girl run the student council. 21. I never took drama at gcse but the career I'm heading into is acting. 22. I spend the majority of my wages on show tickets. But it benefits the career I am going to go into so it's not a waste of my money as some people seem to think. 23. I've performed onstage with Alfie Boe at The Echo Arena. (After a theatre group I was involved in bombarded him with tweets on twitter). 24. I've lived in Liverpool for a year studying musical theatre on a Dance and Drama Award. 25. I left my 3 musical theatre course after a year so I'm currently on a gap year and I'm loving it. I've learnt so much about myself and other people and I've also met lots of new people. 26. I'm a chocoholic. 27. I also love peanut butter (and almond butter and pretty much any other nut butter). 28. I'm easily distracted by anything pink and sparkly. 29. I've been to Disneyland Paris twice. 30. I've been a part of an original musical written by one of my friends. 31. My favourite film is Back to The Future and I can recite lots of phrases from it. 32. I've never read or watched the whole Harry Potter series (but I am in the process of reading the books so don't shoot me!) 33. I love learning new things, having new experiences and exploring new places. 34. I'm very small. Like below average height. People think I'm still 15... 35. I have a pen pal from Germany who I've been writing to for over a year. 36. I am a really fussy eater. I used to never touch any food that was saucy, sloppy or slimy. I've gotten better but I still tend to ask for most of my meals plain. 37. I really like twitter. I think it's good form of social media to meet new people and find out news about the world. 38. I help run a twitter account for a musical theatre site named Act 1 Act 2. 39. I once volunteered at Leeds Festival; it was my first time camping and my tent leaked. 40. My favourite Ben and Jerry's flavour is Phish Food. 41. I am an only child. 42. I like vintage things and wish I had more vintage clothes so I could establish my own quirky style. 43. My favourite TV series (which I can think of right now) are Red Dwarf, Friends, It Could be Worse, Chewing Gum and Miranda. 44. I really want to get hidden rainbow roots in my hair. 45. I'm (supposedly) allergic to Rabbits, Cats and household dust? Cats do make me feel on edge though so maybe that's a good thing for me... 46. I often get asked if me and my best friend are twins/sisters because apparently we look alike (Our families have gotten us confused at times?!) 47. My guilty pleasure is secret eating. You can often find me sneaking in the kitchen to get snacks shhh. 48. I attract some really weird guys but never actually anyone I like. 49. I'm a Disney fan. My favourite princess is Rapunzel. 50. I enjoy travelling and my favourite way to travel is by train. I feel like a lot can be accomplished on a journey. 51. I took art at college and for one of my projects I made a corset, tutu and waistcoat based on Assassins the musical. 52. I can fold my tongue in half and keep it there without using my teeth to hold it there. 53. I hardly ever burp and when I do it shocks me because it's not something that usually occurs. 54. I can listen to a musical soundtrack on repeat. At the moment it's Dear Evan Hansen which I've just booked tickets to! #firstbroadwayshow 55. I would like to write a book/play one day. 56. I would also like to star in a one woman play and I admire the people I see perform in them (when they're good of course.) 57. I played a Geordie version of the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella in which I wore a Mad Hatter outfit and put pegs in my sparkly, coloured back combed hair... 58. I have been in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as part of the children's choir several times and can recite every word (and pretty much action) of the show. On my last performance I swapped seats with a friend so that I could spend my last performance on the top step. 59. I once got asked if I was from Scotland? (By a Southerner) 60. I'm often told I speak posh or very northern. There's no in between. 61. I work in The Blackpool Tower Ballroom. 62. I worked at Strictly last year and Anton Du Beke blew me a kiss. 63. Toasted scones from work is my favourite smell. I think I have acquired an unhealthy obsession with them since working there tbh... 64. I could probably recall all the names of the dances done at the ballroom but not actually dance any. 65. I rode to prom in a camper van. 66. I got 100% on my first acting assignment during my first year of higher education. 67. I once did some method acting and went out dressed as a made up character with a crutch and speaking with a stutter...(I created the character from a random picture shown to me from the internet which happened to be a ridiculously obese woman). I also played Medviedenko from The Seagull which resulted in me borrowing my best friend's boyfriend's clothes and drawing a beard on my face. Additionally, I played Scullery from Road; a homeless alcoholic... 68. I don't swear unless I have to on stage. 69. I've climbed a waterfall with a fractured little finger. 70. I studied German at GCSE and I can only remember a few words/phrases (one being Guten Tag) 71. I've played Miss Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie and July in Annie. 72. I love people watching. 73. I'm terrible at accents. 74. I like tall guys in suits and glasses. 75. It annoys me when people think 'writ' is a word. It's 'I have written' or 'I wrote'. 76. I tend to cry when I'm not expecting to but not when I do expect to. 77. I cried my eyes the whole way through the second act of Book of Mormon because I found it absolutely hilarious (so much so the actors were laughing at me because I was on the front row). 78. I remember once when I was a kid I swung on a curtain in someones house and got kicked out. 79. In primary school I remember having a water fight with my friend in the toilets and got told I wasn't allowed to partake in IT so has to read a book instead 80. I've climbed a volcano in, snorkelled in the sea and been in a submarine in Lanzarote. 81. It makes me angry when people leave the theatre during the bows, before the show has fully finished. I've only done it on one occasion and that was at the interval (because the show was absolutely unbearable and it meant I could get home before silly 'o clock in the morning) The show was supposed to present Shakespeare's character's death's humorously but I'm pretty sure I didn't laugh once and one section of the show even included watching a fake fly buzzing on a camera for a good 5 minutes. 82. It also annoyes me when people eat (loudly) during a performance. Have some respect for the actors. 83. I hate not having a plan (especially when I'm on a holiday to a new place). 84. I have a wide taste in music. My Spotify playlists range from musicals (of course) to pop punk to rock to pop to folk to jazz...it's safe to say I like a little bit of everything (apart from dubstep because that's just a no no). 85. I have high aspirations and I've very critical of myself. 86. I once went on a tinder date (don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon). 87. I love milkshakes and hot chocolate. 88. The theatre cafe is my favourite cafe. 89. My favourite Starbucks syrup is gingerbread. 90. Sometimes bus drivers just charge me for a child on the bus without me asking. 91. I once played Oliver in a high school show and was faced with some onstage disasters...when being pushed into a wooden coffin, (a disaster in itself) my mic pack fell off and I picked up a tape measure instead. The big long napkin string thing I had to pickpocket out of Fagin's pocket had already fallen out so instead of picking it up I mimed stealing it and I also thought a 'nightcap' was a literal night cap, as apposed to a drink one drinks before bed. 92. I cried for a full hour when my high school music teacher told me he was leaving. 93. My uncle lives in Australia but I've never been there or seen him since I was a baby. 94. My favourite type of monkey is a squirrel monkey. 95. I'm really pale and barely tan. Once I got sun stroke at West End Live and threw up all the way home on the Coach for 6 hours...the sunburn was still visible 6 months after. 96. I tried peanut butter and jam together for the first time the other day and it was actually really nice. 97. I'm probably the most indecisive person you will ever meet. 98. I want to live in London one day (and potentially New York). 99. I ask for steak well done and my favourite type of steak is rump. 100. I don't drink coffee but you'll always find me in a coffee shop.