#Panko is next

[euamogifsebaa]

[yawnyztired]

New WIP because I have a problem

Egg!Net sketch

[necrytalkie1]

it is supremely hard to get good pictures of my food in my kitchen but :) I wanted a fried chicken sandwich so I made one

[oh-yes-i-did-not]

Attempt at fried, nori wrapped salmon that comes in the salmon ramen of my fav ramen place. It's a very good first attempt, considering I don't often fry things because messy eww. I put a little bit too much salt and pepper but otherwise it's really good. V crunchy but juicy from the inside, so I didn't under or overcook it \o/

[markatoto]

fan of breasts?

chicken breasts? yeah! they are, maybe & arguably, one of the most delicious part of the chicken. well, maybe next to drumsticks (which i personally prefer for things like fried chicken, or soups). in particular, i like to use chicken breasts for making katsu, which, lemme tell ya, i'm no expert cook, but id like to think that i do a pretty good job.

matter of fact, if you want an extremely simple recipe, here's how i personally make chicken katsu (all off the top of my head, so some slight details might be missing, so please bear with me):

you'll need a few ingredients

panko (any sort of breadcrumbs will work, but panko is just the brand i use)

cookin' oil (usually simple vegtable oil will work)

the actual chicken breast, of course

the ol' traditional: salt and pepper

one egg (u dont need any more than one egg, typically)

if u wanna make things extra crunchy, having some corn starch mixed in with garlic powder + onion powder for some extra seasoning. maybe even a scoosh of paprika for that yummy (i personally like using this filipino chicken mixture called "crispy fry", which is usually used for fried chicken, but it works here too. it's usually meant for fried chicken drumstick, but what is katsu but a different kind of fried chicken)

anyways, here's how u wanna do things:

take out your chicken breast, pat it down with a paper towel so that it aint wet on the surface and either: slice it so that the chicken breast is about inch and a quarter (or so) thick OR use a mallet to make it around that thickness. youll want your chicken flat as possible, but not too flat! i think you know what i mean.

salt and peppa that mothafucka, both sides (OPTIONAL STEP 2B: it's at this point id probably mix my chicken breast with the starch mixture/crispy fry. it just gives a lil extra flavour and crunch that i enjoy. but this is just me, u dont really gotta do it)

crack open an egg and put it in a bowl. MIX IT UP

put your flattened (and maybe crispy fry seasoned) chicken in the egg. get it drenched, you want that panko to stick to that shit

what i like to do is i like to put panko in a plastic container with a lid, then i put the chicken in the container, close the lid up and just SHAKE it so that its nice and evenly coated. super simple and fun and WAY cleaner to deal with after the fact LOL

pop your oil in your pan. put in generous amount, enough that your chicken wont necessarily be drowning, but enough that your chicken will be sufficiently fried. heat that up until the oil reaches that perfect temperature of around 350'F (that is THE temp for doing any deep frying)

pop your chicken on the pan and leave it frying on the one side for, id say, approximately 4-5 minutes. youre going to have to keep a close watch on it. make sure that panko is that GOOD crispy brown on each side. over all it should take you like…. 7-9 minutes for your katsu to be done.

BEFORE YOU EAT... make sure the internal temp of the chicken is around 160 - 165'F. if it is, it's good to go. take it out and, what i like to do is get a plate and pop on a paper towel to let the katsu dry off all the excess oil. even though its off the pan, that shit is STILL cookin, so youll want to leave it alone for like… a minute or two. plus if you eat it now you'll totally burn your tongue and that's the WORST feeling in the world

and after all that, your katsu is done! get some jasmine (white) rice, put on some katsu sauce and some japanese mayo with a lil bit of furikake for that slight seaweed flavoring and youll be GOOD to go!!

so yeah, i guess you can say i'm a fan of breasts.

[feyburner]

I forgot to take pics but I made a damn good totally improvised dinner tonight. Coconut lime rice, stir fried peppers, panko chicken cutlets.

Note to self next time make a sauce with the last bit of coconut milk.

[thebettybook]

Slices of Leona’s Life

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Strawbetty’s notes:

🍓 Characters: Leona Kingscholar x gn!reader. Other characters are Ruggie Bucchi, Jack Howl, and Cheka Kingscholar (with a brief mention of Farena Kingscholar). Leona and gn!reader are in an established romantic relationship.

🍓 Warning: None, all-fluff short stories (that I’ve been “cooking” for almost two months and finally got around to finishing and posting LOL), enjoy~

🍓 Special note: I got inspired by slice-of-life animes and Studio Ghibli movies where the presence of foods plays a special and comforting part of the stories!

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🍱 A Warm Welcome 🍱

🍱 All his life, Leona ate food served on the most lavish of gilded plates accompanied by the best of silver spoons.

🍱 Meals were often served either in the Kingscholar royal family’s private dining hall or in bed when Leona didn’t feel like eating with his family (which was pretty much all the time).

🍱 It wasn’t until his first day at NRC as a freshman that Leona realized he had to “fend for himself.” Following the tantalizing scent of food, the seventeen-year-old lion beastman entered the Dining Hall, where lunch bento boxes were given out during Orientation Week.

🍱 “What the hell’s this?” Leona peered at the plastic multi-colored boxes that contained a compact variety of dishes.

🍱 “Bento box lunches!” one of the ghost chef beamed at Leona. “There’s Set A and Set B. Set A has sushi rolls, rolled up eggs…”

🍱 “Yeah, yeah, which one has more meat?” Leona leaned in and sniffed at the boxes.

🍱 The ghost chef sighed and handed Leona the Set B Bento Box, which contained rolled up eggs, menchi katsu, tempura vegetables, and chicken teriyaki on a bed of white rice. “Hope this makes you feel a bit at home. Welcome to Night Raven College, kid!”

🍱 Hmph. Bold of the ghost chef to assume that Leona’s home at Afterglow Savannah ever felt like home (the kind that most people would describe as cozy and comforting). Still, Leona was too hungry to snap at the ghost chef, and took the bento box with a mumbled “thanks.”

🍱 Leona strolled into the Botanical Garden (his new favorite spot on campus) with the bento box in one hand, waving his tail in content at the peace and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the Dining Hall. After sitting down on a patch of grass, Leona broke apart a pair of wooden chopsticks and poked at the contents of the bento box.

🍱 He disregarded the tempura vegetables entirely and picked up a menchi katsu. Leona liked the scent of the ground beef, and bit into the menchi katsu’s deep-fried panko breading with a satisfying crunch.

🍱 A grin erupted on Leona’s face despite himself. It wasn’t long before he devoured everything in the bento box. The richness of the rolled eggs and tenderness of the piping-hot chicken teriyaki enveloped him in a welcoming hug.

🍱 The food Leona just ate was different from the carefully curated food he was served at his home palace. While Leona grew up eating dishes that were of the highest quality, those dishes often felt empty.

🍱 The world-renowned chefs who worked for the Kingscholars only cooked for Leona because they had a job to do; they didn’t know Leona personally to create dishes for him from the heart.

🍱 On the other hand, the ghost chefs of NRC believed that every student at NRC, no matter their background, needed proper nutrition and hearty meals to nurture themselves and reach their full potential. Even if the ghost chefs had a job to do, they did so by always keeping NRC’s students in their hearts and minds.

🍱 “Heh, I can get used to this,” Leona let out a loud BURP and laid down on the grass with his arms rested comfortably behind his head.

🍱 As Leona closed his eyes for an afternoon nap, he thought about coming back to the Dining Hall the next day.

🍔 Magift & MagiDonald’s 🍟

🍔 After every Magift interdorm tournament or one against RSA, Savanaclaw had a tradition where they would go to Sage Island’s MagiDonald’s (TWST version of McDonald’s) for burgers and fries.

🍔 If Savanaclaw won the interdorm tournament or contributed to NRC’s win against RSA, Leona didn’t mind treating his loyal subjects team. After all, the King of Beasts made sure that the trusty animals at the most bottom of the food chain never went hungry.

🍔 This time, Savanaclaw lost in an unofficial interdorm match before the actual interdorm tournament. With all the practices they’ve had since last year’s interdorm fiasco, Savanaclaw was neck-in-neck with Diasomnia during the unofficial match today. However, they still lost. Leona wore a scowl all the way to MagiDonald’s.

🍔 To be fair, Savanaclaw demonstrated a stronger (and more fair) performance compared to last year. Despite all the members pulling their weight, Leona included, they all couldn’t help but feel angry and disappointed with themselves.

🍔 Jack was especially dejected despite being one of the front players alongside Leona and Ruggie.

🍔 It wasn’t until they all stepped into MagiDonald’s that the scent of sizzling hamburger patties and French fries straight out of hot oil made them feel a bit better.

🍔 After ordering and receiving about a hundred double-beef hamburgers and fries, Leona stood up with his hands on his hips.

🍔 As the team leader, Leona cut to the chase and didn’t sugar coat his next words.

🍔 “We ran around like cubs out there. It was embarassin’.” Several Savanaclaw members hug their heads low, some putting down their burgers that they were just about to eat. “The interdorm’s comin’ up soon.”

🍔 “But…” All the members rose their heads in surprise. “We’re doing a hell of a lot better than last year. But ‘better’ ain’t cuttin’ it if we want to win. So eat up and we’ll practice more tomorrow morning. Understood?”

🍔 Ruggie gazed at Leona with wide eyes, surprised that Leona suggested practice in the morning of his own free will. However, the hyena recovered quickly. “Shishishi, you heard the boss!”

🍔 As Savanaclaw devoured their mountain of burgers and fries, Leona munched on his own burger and fries while giving each and every member pointers on their performance strengths and weaknesses.

🍔 “Jack, your defense was great, ya kept your eye on the disc,” Leona pointed a flimsy fry at the wolf beastman. “But sneaky opponents like Lilia can take advantage of that and find an opening or try to distract ya.”

🍔 Jack nodded, appreciating the feedback and feeling comfortable to offer pointers and feedback to Leona as well. Despite their junior-senior dynamic, it fostered discussion between the two and the rest of the team for improvement.

🍔 For what may be the first time, Leona, Ruggie, Jack, and the rest of the members of Savanaclaw learned that they needed to depend on each other’s strengths to survive and thrive in Magift and maybe in school life as well.

🍔 The dorm creed was always “survival of the fittest,” but Savanaclaw’s members wouldn’t improve or get anywhere if there was just one or a few strong key players. They needed to work on and help each other through their weaknesses together.

🍔 If a random passerby happened to walk past MagiDonald’s, they would’ve heard of a bunch of Savanaclaw students’ laughter and loud “Hey, that’s MY burger!”’s. And if said passerby happened to enter the MagiDonald’s, they would’ve seen a team.

🥣 In Sickness & In Health 🥣

🥣 “Say ‘ah’,” you brought a spoonful of chicken and ginger porridge you bought from the Mystery Shop up to Leona’s mouth.

🥣 Leona caught a cold due to the chilly fall weather creeping onto campus. His cold made him ten times more clingy with you, so much so that he even refused to have Ruggie take care of him.

🥣 He chewed on the spoon of porridge with bits of chicken and ginger. While Leona’s taste buds were kind of shot from his cold, he enjoyed the porridge’s warmth that filled his body. It, and the sight of you, made him feel more rejuvenated and energized.

🥣 After finishing the bowl of porridge, you fought the battle that was trying to give Leona his medicine. The dark cherry liquid made Leona positively retch. “Leona, don’t be stubborn,” you frowned slightly as Leona kept twisting his head away from the spoon of liquid medicine you held out to him.

🥣 He quickly turned to face you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Gimme a kiss first.”

🥣 Your eyes widened in disbelief. “Leona, I can’t kiss you! I’ll catch your cold!”

🥣 Leona crossed his arms and leaned back against his headboard oh-so-casually. “Haven’t ya heard the old saying ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down’? Well I’m gonna need a LOT of sugar.”

🥣 You rolled your eyes and blew him a kiss. Leona scowled, but then obliged to take his medicine. With the tray of a now-empty-bowl of porridge, you turned to leave and return to Ramshackle.

🥣 Of course, Leona wasn’t going to let you leave so easily. The cunning lion beastman wrapped his tail around your hand. “Stay with me, Y/N.”

🥣 “I’d love to, but like I said earlier, I’d catch your cold,” you arched an eyebrow at Leona’s clingy behavior.

🥣 “Ya wouldn’t deprive this sick and lonely lion of your company, now would you?” Leona pouted.

🥣 You couldn’t help but fail to stifle a grin; Leona NEVER pouted. “Who are you and what did you do to my Leona?” you teased, a grin quirking on your lips.

🥣 “So I’m YOUR Leona, huh?” Leona smirked, caressing your cheek with one hand. “Gettin’ braver, aren’t we.”

🥣 You rolled your eyes at him. “I’m going to leave now.”

🥣 “What happened to ‘in sickness and in health’?” Leona waved a hand dramatically to his forehead.

🥣 “Last time I checked, we aren’t married,” you put a hand on your hip, amused by Leona’s antics.

🥣 “Ouch, herbivore,” Leona replied as if he was wounded.

🥣 “If you don’t go to sleep, you can’t get better, and we can’t get married if you don’t get better,” you shrugged and shook your head with a little smile.

🥣 Despite the banter, Leona turned his head to the side away from you. He muttered under his breath in earnest, “Well I don’t wanna fall asleep without ya.”

🥣 If there was one thing you learned about Leona that day, it was that he hated being alone when he was sick. Growing up, his servants and attendants would just bring him food and medicine and make sure to fluff his pillows. They never stayed to read Leona stories or keep him company.

🥣 Sighing softly, you set the tray down on Leona’s bedside table and made your way into Leona’s bed.

🥣 “No kissing tonight, ok? I could catch your cold.” You put one of Leona’s pillows between you and him.

🥣 Leona ignored you completely, grabbing the pillow and chucking it off the bed. He tackled you in a hug and nuzzled his nose into the crook of your neck. “If ya get sick because of me, I’ll just take care of ya.”

🥣 The thought of Leona taking care of you for a whole day made you giggle. “You’ll have to do my homework with Grim too.”

🥣 Leona groaned, but before he could offer a witty response to not do your homework, his eyelids drooped and he let out a yawn. “Thank you, Y/N,” Leona mumbled into your neck. It wasn’t long until Leona was snoring by your side, with his chin rested comfortably on your head and his arms wrapped around your waist.

🥣 But before you could fall asleep next to Leona, you made sure to rub small circles on Leona’s hand with your thumb, reassuring him that you would be here until he got better.

🍊 Apples & Oranges 🍊

🍊 “Oji-tan, I’m here!” A cheerful voice called from outside Leona’s room. His dorm room door swung open to reveal a little cub with bright-orange and fire-red hair and an even brighter smile.

🍊 Leona heaved a heavy sigh, pulling his blankets over his head. That chipper voice could only belong to one being in this world: his five-year-old nephew Cheka.

🍊 “Oji-tan!” Cheka ran to Leona’s bed and jumped onto it. The cub grabbed Leona’s blanket to uncover his beloved uncle. “I missed you! I’m here to help you get better!”

🍊 “Gee, I wouldn’t have guessed,” Leona’s voice oozed with sarcasm as he sat up in his bed. Leona’s sister-in-law Safiya had sent him a million texts that morning of how he should take his vitamins and medicine, and that Cheka would be dropping by.

🍊 Leona almost fully recovered from his cold by now, but still felt tired (more so than on a regular basis). He wished you stayed in bed with him, but it was a school day and you had classes to attend.

🍊 Cheka patted a rather large bag he had brought with him. “Whatcha got there, furball?” Leona inquired, taking the bag.

🍊 “I brought my friends to cheer you up, Oji-tan!” Leona grimaced as he took out a soft giraffe plushie and an elephant plushie. Leona reached further in the bag, surprised to find a thermal cup.

🍊 “Eh? What’s this?” Leona took out the cup and opened it, sniffing the liquid content.

🍊 “Orange juice that Papa made! Papa said that you need more Vitamin C, Oji-tan!” Cheka answered, beaming with pride at the fact that he remembered to tell Leona the importance of Vitamin C.

🍊 Leona rolled his eyes. Ever since Farena became a dad, Farena began lecturing Leona to take his vitamins and take care of his health more. Farena even became a juice-making-fanatic and would make orange juice for the family whenever he got the chance to.

🍊 “Of course he did,” Leona grumbled. “Cuz he’s practically perfect in every way, isn’t he?” Leona mumbled the last part to himself, his mood souring.

🍊 Still, Leona chugged down the orange juice. It wasn’t too sweet and the tartness of the oranges grown from the Afterglow Savannah’s palace gardens reminded Leona of when he would spend his afternoons lazing under the orange trees.

🍊 “Is it good, Oji-tan? Are you feeling better?” Cheka tucked himself and his plushies into Leona’s blankets next to a Leona. Leona answered with a “mm” and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

🍊 “I’m tired, so don’t make too much noise, ok?” Leona mumbled, settling back into bed. Before he knew it, Cheka latched onto him and snuggled close to him.

🍊 “Papa isn’t perfect, Oji-tan!” Cheka giggled, replying late to Leona’s statement. “He accidentally put salt instead of sugar at first, and then Mama scolded him! I had to help Papa make better orange juice for Oji-tan.”

🍊 A chortle of surprise escaped from Leona’s lips. He could picture Farena mistaking salt for sugar, and Safiya scolding Farena for that. Leona would’ve loved to see it.

🍊 “Papa said he misses you lots and that he hopes you get better soon,” Cheka continued, emitting a kitten-like yawn as his eyes closed. Leona sighed; once the cub fell asleep next to Leona, there was no way to get him off.

🍊 He misses me, huh? Leona gazed at the now-half-empty thermal cup. His relationship with his older brother was complicated, given their ten-year age difference and the way Leona was compared to Farena his entire life.

🍊 While the brothers were as different as apples and oranges, people (whether it be distant relatives, members of the court, or even foreign diplomats) compared Leona to Farena constantly.

🍊 While that wasn’t Farena’s fault, Farena realized after he became a dad that he could’ve been there for Leona more. So the orange juice wasn’t just a “get well soon” gift, it was also a peace offering.

🍊 Leona’s phone buzzed, revealing a text notification from Farena. “Leona! I hope you like the OJ!🍊😃 Say hi to Cheka for me! ❤️🦁 Get well soon, brother ❤️.”

🍊 Leona contemplated leaving Farena on read; Leona usually did. Still, Farena DID go out of his way to make Leona orange juice. Leona reached for his phone and went to his messaging app before he could think twice. “Thanks for the orange juice,” Leona typed to Farena, hitting send.

🍊 It only took a couple of seconds for Farena to type something back. “No worries, Leona! Come home soon sometime so we can hang 😃 😎.”

🍊 Leona wanted to face palm himself. His older brother, the king of Afterglow Savannah, really was a dad—the type to use too many emojis and today’s “cool kid lingo” in a sincere effort to be “hip.”

🍊 Leona rolled his eyes and simply “liked” the message, deciding he had enough communication with Farena for the day. He set down his phone, groaning that Cheka started drooling on him. Still, Leona made sure that Cheka and Cheka’s plushies were tucked in properly.

🍊 Maybe one day Leona will choose to come home to see Farena mistake salt for sugar once more. Plus, it wouldn’t be so bad for Leona to laze under the palace gardens’ orange trees with a cup of orange juice (that he’ll help Farena make correctly) in his hand.

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Important:

🍓I don’t own any of the characters I mention or write about; they belong to their original and respective creators.

🍓 All content on this blog is created by me, @thebettybook (excluding posts I reblog that aren’t my own posts and unless I state otherwise). Do not modify, claim, repost or translate my work onto this platform and any other platform.

🍓 Reblogs are appreciated :). Want more Leona romance fluff? Check out my masterlist

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[gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot]

It's the little things (7)

Previous / Next

After nine years of knowing him, Christine Vega had about lost hope about ever learning how to not give in to John MacTavish's puppy eyes.

So when he had started whining about how long had it been since she had last cooked fried chicken (it was last month), she just... got to work. She couldn't help it.

And there she was, in the small kitchenette that Price had made install in their private common room, up to her elbows in flour and spices, coating chicken in it, then in eggs, then in panko crumbs, then dropping it in oil, checking over it with the wood tongs...

It was a tedious and messy process for just one person, but both Soap and Gaz had been roped into taking the privates to the assault course. So they'd be hungry when they got back. And that day Price had mentioned mournfully that Dr. Heather was having lunch with a friend. So she had to make sure it was enough food for five people, four of which ate like they were always famished.

But she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel joy seeing them devour the food she cooked. It made her feel useful to know that she was good at something.

Now, if only she had been good at tying her damn hair properly, that would have been awesome.

For the last ten minutes the shorter strands of her hair had escaped from her loose bun, and brushed over and over again her face, tickling her nose when she leaned in. And her hands were sticky with the mixture of flour and egg and bread crumbs, so she couldn't just... brush it back. So she did as she could using her forearms, to no avail. She even blew softly to get the loose strands out of her face.

''What are you doing?'' Simon's deep, gravelly voice sounded right behind her, and Christine let out an undignified squeak, almost dropping a piece of chicken and turning her head.

He was standing there, hands inside the pocket of his hoodie as usual, looming over her and watching curiously the messy display on the counters.

''One day, Simon, I swear I'll scare you to death just like you do when you sneak up on me'' Christine mumbled, facing again her task, but she couldn't help but smile. And then frown when with the movement her bun definitely came undone. ''Well, shit''

''Problems, lovie?'' His low rumbled laugh made her heart flutter as always, and the left corner of her lips hurt when her smile widened without control.

''Bad hair day, I guess. I can't seem to keep it up, and my hands are filthy and I can't...'' She froze when he felt hands... his hands, gently brushing her hair back and bunching it up until he could hold it with just one of his enormous hands.

God, he even had taken off his gloves.

''Does this help?'' His voice sounded lower than before, and a tad more uncertain, and she resisted the urge to nod like an idiot, trying with all her might not to tremble.

''Yes...'' Christine murmured, exhaling the breath she had been holding, and continued working while he stood there beside her, holding her hair with one hand and the other still inside his pocket.

Simon wasn't even sure why he had done that. And even less why he had taken his gloves off before touching her hair, but he had remembered Belarus. When she asked permission to touch the skull plate on his mask, and when he agreed, she had taken her glove off to touch it with her bare fingertips.

As if it would have been disrespectful, unholy, to touch him with anything less that her exposed skin.

Maybe that was why he had shed his gloves before touching her hair, and now, was still trying to decide if it had been a good or a bad idea. Feeling her hair between his fingers, the back of her head almost resting on his palm, made him feel things. Things that made him clench his jaw beneath the balaclava, his eyes focused on the nape of her neck.

Soft, pale and delicate skin where he could maybe...

Her low humming distracted him from his less than chaste thoughts, and he couldn't help but look at her fondly. Busy as a bee, completely dedicated to feed them like a mother hen, fiercely taking care of her newfound place.

Without thinking, his fingers tightened his hold on her hair, craddling her head in his palm, and he saw her shoulders relaxing, her humming becoming sweeter and softer, almost a purr.

Wait, he knew that tune.

''What are you humming?''

''Ah... Think, by Kaleida, it... it's in the first John Wick film'' Christine barely turned her head to look at him, not bothered in the slightest by how tight he was holding her hair now. If she had to be honest... she liked it too much.

Simon pretended to be deep in thought, and then shook his head.

''Don't remember it'' He was lying. That was the song that he heard in the video that Soap sent him during his last solo deployment.

She fell for it. Or maybe pretended to fall for it. But she turned her head back to her task preparing food and started to hum softly again, until she ended singing just as softly, warming his heart.

Think of me, I'll never break your heart Think of me, you're always in the dark I am your light, your light, your light Think of me, you're never in the dark

[ask-marios-apprentice]

Meggy's Story

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For today's post. I would like to talk especially about three things

This is going to be a long post.

There is some more violent and graphic content in this post that is not for the faint of heart. Read at your own feet.

I would like to thank Glitch Production and the writers of the SMG4 series. I will be attempting to retell one of their most important arcs for the blog. I apologize if I mess up or have anything unsavory. I'm trying to mesh The SMG4 existing canon with my interpretation and my additions to the Mario universe.

Enjoy with your own caution and my warning.

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For some reason. Meggy wanted to hang out last night.

They were gonna have some holiday gala thing at the castle. So Meggy needed to get out.

And apparently, her friend Tari is in New York for a Game competition. so she won't be back until next week.

Garth: Is there any reason why you wanted hang out with me. I think the splat arena is open.

Meggy: Yeah. But its mostly younger kids. It's not really a challenge.

Garth: Oh. … So what do you want to do.

Meggy: eh. I don't really care. As long as I can get back after my dad thinks he can do a "Backwards Long Jump" up the stairs.

Garth: Wait what?

Meggy: never mind. Why don't we go to your hometown and not talk about that.

Garth: Uh...Sure.

We used the warp.

We are both feeling kind of hungry so we just had decided to head to Jumpy' Sweets.

I ordered a Funnel cake and Meggy ordered an elephant ear

Meggy: This elephant ear is... The best thing I have ever eaten!!!

Why don't we have this on Panko.

Garth: FDA I think. [Redacted information] has made [More Redacted Information] more sought out after [Even More Redacted Information]

Meggy: If I could eat this. I'm willing to not eat DonMichaels ever again.

Garth: I mean I guess if you do it in moderation. You can still have both.

Meggy: Yeah but if I ever want to when splatfest for... Wait have i ever told you the story?

Garth: What story?

Meggy: The story of how I decided to win splatfest.

[Flashback: Summer 2009]

In an orphanage, Inkopolis

A young inkling was setting up her new bunk.

She had lost her parents to a car crash 3 years ago.

With no close enough relatives, she was put into foster homes and orphanages across the city.

~

Garth: Is that you?

Meggy: What do you think?

Garth: Sorry.

~

Recently there was a string of kidnappings happening

Only inklings and Octolings were being kidnapped.

So it was highly encouraged that they would only be outside with an adult or in heavily populated.

The orphanage was actually on lockdown.

???: Hey dweeb

Meggy: [Sigh] Desti. What do you want?

Desti: Me and some of the other kids were going to sneak out to the range to practice tonight.

Meggy: And?

Desti: We wanted to see if you wanted to come with.

Like a dumb[redacted]. I decided that that would be a good idea.

Desti: {Shoots ink] So what do you want to do when you grow up.

Meggy: I dunno. maybe be a Professional Splatfest player.

Desti: Really. [Snickers] Good luck trying. I'm going to be better than you.

~

I'm going to cut in here and give an abridged version since I can't remember the entire conversation.

It boiled down to light teasing and how they both want to win Splatfest. Meggy was a bit more casual while Desti was competitive. It was a bit nerve-racking yet a bit sweet.

~

Yet. Like a couple of sitting ducks.

Desti and Meggy: WHAT IS THAT!?!?

We were captured.

We did not know who kidnapped us. But it was a terrible thing to happen to us.

They kidnapped us. and transported us for what felt like forever.

When we were finally allowed out of the buckets. We found ourselves in a makeshift jail cell.

Desti: Where are we

Meggy: I'm unsure. but wherever we are. It sure is creepy.

There were lots of other inklings, outflings, and other Inkana citizens. Anyone who could produce ink.

We saw them as a group of people. not particularly threatening It was mostly nerds. But there were a few other people. But the most notable one was a large lizard in a shirt.

They grabbed an inkling by the neck. Forcing him into a cartridge. They used a device. I'm not sure what it was. But it looked like a giant ink pen.

???: Get It ready. I want to have this up and running. The

???: But Francis Are you even sure it will work.

Francis: If it doesn't. Increase the EMP Frequency with that Axolotle. Then demand the proper instructions again.

Whatever was going on. It was not good.

They forced a bunch of inklings and outflings into chains. Allowing them to drag them to who knows where.

They had come for us.

They were going to drain us of our ink. Ourselves.

~

Garth: Wait. Isn't ink getting removed from you all the time? Like sweat or carbon dioxide? I mean, You would realistically lose a lot when in a turf war or any other time when you use ink.

Meggy: Okay. One stop interrupting me, and two, it's okay if an inkling expels a little bit of ink. Even a decent amount if they replenish it quickly. Now let me get back to the story.

~

After they had tested the device.

They had dragged us to these large tubes. All bunched up together

It was not looking good for us. They had decided to drain us like leeches. Using us for ink until we were almost dead.

Francis: Let's drain this batch. My waifu is losing its luster and I need a new one.

They were using our ink.

For Waifus.

Apparently, there were also some people who wanted to use it for cheap work or something.

But it seems like they were using it for Waifus

They were going to use the ink pen thing on us.

Lucky us. They slipped up and broke our chains with the pen's ink. It made a large sword.

Those of us who could get out made a mad dash to get out of there.

Not all of us made it however.

They had this glass wall that closed.

Meggy: Desti!

Desti: Meggy!

The wall closes

Meggy: Don't worry. Ill find help.

Desti: You better. Just promise you'll come back.

Meggy: I promise. Keep fighting.

I ran like Underwhere.

I was being chased through the sewer.

Luckily, there was a manhole cover up ahead

After I jumped out into a place. It was called...Something Aurora. I managed to hide in a nearby bucket of paint.

That was the last thing i remember before falling asleep from being tired.

~

Garth: What happed to the other escapees?

Meggy: i don't know. I think some were caught, others went down the same path as me.

Garth: Have you tried getting in contact with them.

Meggy: I think so. I went to the retirement party of an old woman i escaped with.

But lets get back on topic. And stop interrupting me

~

Mario and Peach had just gotten off of recent political discussion. Citizens from Inkana had been kidnapped. but immigrated citizens had also been attempted to be kidnapped.

To get there minds off of it in order to destress. They decided to do some painting.

Wall Painting for some reason.

They opened up a can of paint to find...

Mario: An Inkling?

Peach: What?

Mario?: I found an inkling in a can of orange paint. She seems unconscious but otherwise okay.

After i had woken up. I was to tired to even talk.

~

Meggy: i had spent Grambi knows how long in a bucket. Its a miracle i did not get brain damage or stunted growth.

Garth: I didn't even say anything that time.

~

They treated me like a kid. I hadn't felt like that in years.

To be honest. It felt nice.

Even if they were calling authorities for missing persons report.

They still made me feel comfortable.

I remember that after the day i had. It was quite possibly the best day i had in years.

They sang me a lullaby before putting me to bed.

But in the morning. I had finally gotten my voice back.

And first thing (totally not after a delicious breakfast) i had explained the entire situation

Mario and Peach: FRANCIS!?!

Meggy: You know him?

Peach: I had to go through a [shudders] dating sim.

Mario: 2003 was a horrible year. But you know where he is?

Meggy: Something Aurora. i went through a sewer. Red bricks.

Mario: You must be talking about Port Aurora The 17 Street and Coconut Avenue Intersection.

Meggy: Maybe that's it. But i'm unsure if that is the location.

Peach: I'm sure of it. We actually had gone on a walking tour of the sewers on our honeymoon.

Mario: and you wanted to go to Isle Delphino.

They got help and headed to the island. They blocked off the sewer and proceeded to storm it.

Mario: Meggy, are you sure that you want to come with. We could manage to find their base.

Meggy: I made a promise to my friend. and I'm going to keep it.

Mario: Okay, you can come with, but be careful.

We stormed the base.

Mario: THIS IS THE SUPER AND AN ASORTED BAND OF HELP AND HEROS! GIVE YOURSELVES UP OR THERE WILL BE DIRE CONSIQUECES!

Meggy [Sitting on Mario's Shoulders: What he said!

Francis: Hark. Is that a band of loud mouthed dorks. Shall i give up....Get the Shonen protagonists and JRPG.

A fight broke out. It was like a world war. It was not pretty.

But we had managed to get to the main draining room.

Desti: MEGGY! you came back. Help me get out of this tank.

Mario: Is that your friend. Lets save her.

We freed the inklings and started breaking up the wei...i mean evil tech stuff.

Francis: [Grabs anime sword] IM NOT LETTING ANYONE MESS WITH MY DREAM. [STARTS SWININGING VIOLENTLY]

Mario: Go break the lock on your friend's cage. I'll take on this anime lover.

I ran to the tank that my friend was in.

[Robotic voice: Ink Still in subject. Do not open until all ink has left.]

As a split second decision. I decided to enter the device.

Desti: [weakly]: Meggy what are you doing.

Meggy: I'll give up some of my ink if it means we can make it out.

I turned on the device . Which would remove enough of my ink in order for both of us to escape.

The last thing i remember was a giant explosion. apperntly the

I don't know what happend next

But when i had awoken. Me and Mario were mostly alright. But Desti was...

She was dying.

Desti: Meggy. Im not going to make it.

Meggy: Don't say that. Well get you help.

Desti: Come close. i can see the light getting the way. And i don't know if its me. But you look diffrent. But what ever happens I want to do something for me.

Meggy: Anything. I'll do it.

Desti: I want you to win Splatfest. For both of us. I want you to win for the both of us.

Meggy: I will Desti.

Dest:

Meggy: Desti! Desti!!! DESTI!!!

~

...

Garth: I'm sorry that you lost some one important to you.

Meggy:...Thanks. Even if she is gone. she still lives on as a part of me.

And im still trying to win splatfest and live life.

Garth: That's good. but what happend next.

Meggy: Well. We held a funeral for Desti. We actually had dedicated the beach we sent her coffin away at.

Mario and Peach agreed to foster me until further notice. Eventually adopting me.

All the Inklings and Octolings were give the choice to go back home or see where they wanted to go.

That Axolotl guy got back his ink pen thing.

Garth: Thats good. But why did Desti say you looked diffrent.

...

Meggy: You can't be serious.

Garth: No. I am serious.

Meggy: You seriously don't know.

Garth: Know what.

...

Meggy removed her beenie.

@buddy-boi-420 drew this piece. They do great art.

Garth: Your Half Starchild!!!

Meggy: I feel like the story already established that. But yeah. I'm half Starchild.

Garth: But. I've seen you without your hat? and you had tentacle hair.

Meggys: No. You've seen artwork without my hat but with tentacle hair. I'm unsure why your friend draws me like that. The artist one I mean.

Garth: Oh.

I think she was talking about my friend @shootysturs / @poyo-shooty-art He draws great art.

Meggy: But you did see me without my hat at the Valentine Masquerade Ball.

Garth: ... That was you?

Meggy: Yeah. You act like you didn't know it was. I know it was you. Even if you were wearing a donkey mask.

Garth: [Blushes]

Meggy: You didn't know didn't you.

Garth:...

Meggy: [gets a notification on 1nk Phone] I got to go Dad broke the stairs.

Garth: What?

Meggy: Dad partied too hard. And he thought he could Jump backwards and through walls. I sent you a screenshot of the video.

Art also drawn by @buddy-boi-420

it's Mario before attempting to backwards long jump. Miyamoto is recording on his phone.

Garth: Dang.

Meggy: You do not want to see the aftermath. I'll tell you about it later though. See ya

...

I think I'm in love with my best friend.

[corner-stories]

handwriting

Jean Kirschtein. Mikasa Ackerman. Chemistry Notes. Lacrosse Games. Shiba Inus. High School AU. 2870 words. (ao3.) | part 1

The pressed forget-me-not rides in Mikasa’s textbook, the one with flowers doodled into the margins. It stays there as she attends her final class of the day, then heads off to soccer practice. 

She forgets about the note and the flower as she runs down the field, chasing the ball as she scrimmages with her teammates. She practices assists with Historia and shooting drills with Mina at the net until the sun disappears on the horizon. 

When Mikasa heads home, she enters the house on the west side of town. She calmly greets her Aunt Kiyomi in the living area, as well as the Azumabito household’s resident Shiba Inu. The dog screams in delight upon seeing its favorite human. Mikasa turns down her Auntie’s offer to watch a movie together and retires to her room for the night. 

After changing out of her clothes and into something more comfortable, she flops down onto her bed and wonders how difficult sleep will be tonight. As she rests, the dog pushes its way through her ajar door and hops onto her bed, immediately making itself comfortable amongst the cushions. Mikasa doesn’t protest and lets Panko Ackerman-Azumabito rest his head against her thigh. 

But before Mikasa drifts off to sleep, she remembers the flower she slipped into her textbook. 

Hopping off the bed, Mikasa goes to the backpack on the floor and digs inside. Panko can only sit up and watch in confusion. 

When Mikasa procures her textbook, she goes to her desk and finds the flower and note. 

It hasn’t changed since the moment she saw it fall out of her locker. It feels so small as she holds it in her fingers, as if the stems or the leaves could wither and rot if she does something wrong. 

That same feeling of curiosity fires up in her head, the one she experienced when initially finding the flower. 

She can’t even fathom who could have sent the note. She barely talks to people in school, reserving most of her words for answering questions or communicating with her soccer teammates. 

She’s not even sure which class she shares with the person. She doodles in her textbook during all of them. 

Mikasa holds the note in the light and looks it over again, trying to find some trace of identity aside from the phrase “I heard you liked flowers” scribbled onto the lines. But alas, she can’t find it. 

She reads the message over and over again, committing it to memory, everything from the hue of the pen to the intricacies of the handwriting. 

Questions dance fervently in her head. 

Who sent this? Why did they send it? Why didn’t they sign the note? And why a forget-me-not?

Then after a moment, Mikasa lets out a sigh. She slips the note and flower into her journal and tucks it away into her desk drawer. 

When she goes to sleep that night, her dreams feel blank and grey. 

…

…

…

Jean tries not to get hung up on his gesture. To be frank, he had not put any thought into what the aftermath of his gift would be. 

What is he to do now? Keep watching Mikasa during study hall? Pray that she somehow figures it out? Or go under a rock and die?

With the feeling of despair currently making his chest feel like an empty hole, Jean highly considers option three. 

The seconds after seeing Mikasa holding his pressed forget-me-not turns into minutes, then hours, then a whole day passes and he still can’t shake the sight from his head. He swore he saw her smiling, even if it was just for a little bit. 

At least when Jean wakes up the next morning, the initial shock is gone. He doesn’t feel as torn and sick as he did the day before, but still he barely touches his breakfast while going through his daily existential crisis.

After heading to school, Jean is thankful to have a reason to distract himself. He’s never been a slacker, but today he makes his chemistry notes extra thorough as an excuse to not think about that one certain thing. He doesn’t even joke around when Sasha falls asleep beside him. 

The hours and classes drag on, then soon Jean heads to the fateful study hall that started it all. 

As he navigates the hallway, the nervous knot in his stomach returns. With a sigh, Jean pulls his green hoodie over his head and places his headphones over his ears. He blasts the first song he can find to drown out the noise. 

When he enters the room Mikasa’s in her usual spot, except instead of drawing in her textbook or going over her homework, her glassy eyes are scanning the classroom. 

The knot in Jean’s stomach gets worse, much worse. He tries not to look like a deer-in-the-headlights as he scrambles to his seat.

Throughout class he doesn’t even spare a glance at her, fearing that doing so would lead to dire consequences. He’s probably put her on edge now, as she’ll be extra vigilant in order to find out the identity of her secret admirer. 

So to not rouse suspicion that the big dumb lacrosse player took the time to press a flower for a girl he liked, Jean goes over his chemistry notes like he’s trying to find the cure for cancer. 

…

…

…

The days go on and the lingering thought of the flower in her locker begins to fade. Mikasa keeps herself occupied with other things — soccer practice, SAT prep, or the university brochures that her Aunt kindly placed on her desk. 

Kiyomi is always observant, but either she hasn’t noticed her niece being preoccupied by something else or is too kind to bring it up. 

Around this time of year, in the midst of spring, Mikasa gets particularly glum. When she feels the remaining chill of winter melting away, it’s hard for her to feel entirely happy. The anniversary of her parent’s death — which happened barely a month after her ninth birthday — has been igniting her lingering grief for nearly a decade.  

At least Mikasa wakes up one morning to find an intricately prepared bento box in the fridge. The note on it reminds her to bring it to school. Kiyomi has always done this, leaving ample amounts of food in her niece’s vicinity to counteract Mikasa’s habit of not eating when she’s sad. It’s always nice to know that Kiyomi cares in her own way. 

One day Mikasa is standing near the net during soccer practice. Beside her Sasha — the team’s left winger — and her current partner for working on assists. 

As they work together to slowly kick a line of balls into the net, Sasha chats to Mikasa about whatever’s on her mind. Their interactions are usually like this, Sasha being a motor mouth while Mikasa nods along with her usual stoic, emotionless expression. Whether they be at practice or eating lunch together, it’s always the same. At least Mikasa can find comfort in the routine and familiarity. 

Today Sasha is telling her friend about the depths of boredom that can only be experienced in the throes of AP Chemistry. When the brunette brings up her habit of snoozing in class, Mikasa begins to wonder if anyone in her generation is capable of getting any sleep. 

Then suddenly, Sasha passes a ball with a little too much force and Mikasa ends up kicking it high into the air, something she was very much not intending to do. As it goes flying she can already tell that it’s going off the intended trajectory.

Unsurprisingly, the team’s star striker causes the ball to soar with breathtaking speed. Mikasa and Sasha watch as it heads towards the running track surrounding the sports field. 

The ball gets dangerously close to hitting some poor unsuspecting person trying to get a few laps in. It lands just in front of a guy in a green hoodie, causing him to curse and stumble back. 

While Mikasa feels horrible for the deed, Sasha lets out a laugh and clutches her stomach as she guffaws.

“Whoa! Looks like it’s raining balls, Jean Boy!” Sasha exclaims in utter glee. 

After sharply elbowing her friend to quiet down, Mikasa gets a better look at the person on the track. It’s the guy in her study hall who brings his lacrosse stick to class at least three days a week. 

“Sorry about that!” Mikasa calls out to him. 

When their gazes meet, Mikasa immediately notices a sense of nervousness taking over Jean’s disposition. At first he seems annoyed with Sasha, which is unsurprising for most people who know her, but the second Jean looks at Mikasa his face softens and he begins to look sick. 

“Uh… it’s fine…” he stammers out. Awkwardly, he grabs the ball that almost struck him head on and kicks it back to the field. 

She’s noticed him acting like this in class once or twice before, sometimes being surprisingly quiet and reserved out of the blue. He usually chats with his seat mates during the hour — to what extent Mikasa doesn’t know, but it’s a lot more than her. Seeing him huddle to himself does feel a tad bit peculiar, but perhaps she’s reading too far into things. 

When the ball returns to the field, Mikasa runs to grab it off the ground, then says — “Thank you.” 

Jean manages a smile despite his unease and gives a friendly wave. 

“You’re welcome!” 

…

…

…

A week and a whole lacrosse game later, Jean returns home with his mother and does not hesitate to let himself rest. After tossing his dirty uniform in the laundry hamper, he takes a quick shower to rid himself of the dirt and grass on his skin. At least tanking that body check was worth it, since protecting Connie Springer ensured the team’s winning goal. 

Once he’s clean, Jean heads back to his room and lies on his bed. He’s exhausted from the game, but before nodding off he manages to read a handful of texts sent to him while he was busy. His teammate Thomas is congratulating him for providing the game-winning assist, Connie applauding him for surviving a body check from the absolute unit of a defender on the opposing team, and the final is a message from Sasha regarding something completely unrelated to the whole-ass lacrosse game she just watched him in. 

‘Oh Sasha, never change for anyone,’ is the last thought on Jean’s mind before he truly falls asleep.

As per usual, Jean heads to school the next morning. Except instead of heading straight to art class to dick around until the bell, he’s making a stop at his locker to pick up the fabled chemistry notes that Sasha so kindly begged for. 

Despite his somewhat messy penmanship and the single staple haphazardly holding the papers together, at least the notes are thorough. 

As Jean traverses the crowded hallways, he wonders when Sasha will actually start staying awake during class instead of mooching off him to pass. One should expect more from a senior on the verge of graduation, but one should also expect that the inner mechanisms of Sasha’s mind must remain an enigma. 

As Jean walks, another text tells him to head to the soccer field to make the transfer. Due to the abundance of emojis following the message, he does what he’s told.  

After he exits the schools’ north building, the warmth of the sun grazes his skin. As he traverses the student parking lot, he’s suddenly thankful for a reason to be outdoors. 

When Jean arrives at the field he walks on the path between the bleachers and the running track. After scanning the area for Sasha, he looks forward and suddenly realizes that he’s in proximity of the last — or perhaps the first — person he wants to see. 

…

…

…

As a handful of her teammates scrimmage on the field, Mikasa remains at the side to warm up. With a few dynamic stretches she can feel the blood flowing in her veins and her muscles beginning to activate. Morning practices are not her favorite, but it’s a good distraction from her usual post-winter blues. 

Once she finishes her final stretch and gets onto her feet, she glances up to see a person she doesn’t often see at this time of day. 

Jean’s hair is scruffy as he walks near the bottom of the bleachers. His disposition is uneasy, just as it has been before, but he manages to approach her with a boyish smile on his face — the kind that is subdued, shy, but ultimately genuine. 

“Hey, Mikasa.”

She tilts her head to the side and furrows her eyebrows at him. “How do you know my name?”

“We’ve gone to school together for the last four years,” he explains, his tone turning dry. “And we have study hall. And weren’t you in my bio class last term?”

Mikasa tries to think back to where or when she would have seen his face. At this point in her high school career, everything becomes a blur the second she’s finished with it. Only a select few things have managed to linger with her.  

But nonetheless, she nods her head slowly and pretends to know what she’s talking about. “I think so.”

There is a beat, and Mikasa can’t help but notice that Jean’s nervousness returns. His resting face often looks mean and sullen, yet somehow — standing in front of her — Jean has suddenly adopted the mannerisms of Panko in a veterinarian’s waiting room.  

He runs a hand through his hair and avoids her gaze. “Uh… have you seen Sasha?”

Mikasa gently tilts her head towards the field. Jean looks over just in time to see Sasha doing passing drills with Historia near the net. 

“Coach threw her in at the last minute,” Mikasa adds. 

Jean clicks his tongue. “Ah.” 

As Mikasa reaches down to adjust her shin guards, Jean slips off his backpack and rummages inside. What he takes out is a handful of papers with various paragraphs and chemistry equations scribbled onto them. 

For a guy who worked somewhat diligently in every study hall, Mikasa has never noticed how messy his notes could be. 

“Could you uh… do me a favor and give these to her?” Jean asks as he hands over the papers. “Sasha seems a little…” 

He pauses, then looks to the field just in time to see the girl in question tripping over the ball. 

“...preoccupied.”

Just like before, Mikasa nods slowly and takes the papers. As sleep-deprived and tired as she tends to be, she’s not too unkind to refute a simple request. 

“I can do that.”

Jean gives her a slight grin as he slips his backpack on. “Uh… good game last week, by the way.” 

Mikasa raises an eyebrow. “You attend the girl’s soccer games?”

Jean nods like it’s the easiest thing in the world. 

“Yeah, for Sasha mainly, but you’re all good,” he lauds. His smile towards her gets just a bit brighter. “You’re a better midfielder than most dudes on the lacrosse team, that’s for sure.” 

Mikasa lets out a hum, which is the closest she can get to laughing. She finds something humorous in Jean’s ability to applaud her while simultaneously shit-talking the guys he plays alongside. She’s tempted to start attending the boys lacrosse games just to double check his claims.  

“I suppose that’s a compliment?” she asks, her tone getting just a bit softer. 

Jean gives her a nod. “It is.” 

For a brief second, Mikasa glances down to her cleats. They’re muddier than she thought they were. 

“I’m not good at taking those,” she says in a voice that’s more like a whisper. 

When she looks up again there’s a sense of sincerity in Jean’s eyes. She’s only realized now that they’re hazel. The hue goes well with the ashy brown tones of his hair. 

“Then you better learn,” Jean tells her, and his voice becomes warm and gentle. 

Mikasa’s grasp around the papers tightens as a rush of warmth surges to her face, but she doesn’t know why. 

Jean’s smile persists, and when he voids her gaze again he seems to be having a short, private moment to himself. Mikasa can practically see the gears turning in his head, but she can’t quite pinpoint what he’s thinking about. 

When he looks at her once, he manages a polite nod. 

“See you at study hall, Mikasa,” Jean says, and the way her name rolls off his lips feels so effortless. 

Jean turns around and walks away from the field. For a few moments, Mikasa remains where she is and watches him leave until he is a speck between the bleachers and the running track.

Once he’s gone, she folds the notes in her hands and walks to her backpack at the bottom of the bleachers. She has no choice but to stash them somewhere until Sasha’s done rolling in the mud. As she sits down to put the papers away, her eyes glance upon the scribble-like penmanship on the pages. 

Her heart skips a beat when she recognizes the handwriting. 

[castletown-cafe]

Castletown Café Episode 23: Fried Pipis

“HEY EVERY !! IT’S ME!! SPAM-  SPAMTON G. SPAMTON! [Back by popular demand] W1TH [[AN ALL-NEW]] VERY SPECIL PRODUCT!! Y0U [Want it? Need it?] MORE [[PIPIS]]? YOU [GOT IT]!! EAHEAHEAHEAHEA!!”

Another Spring, another pipis recipe!

If you’ve played a certain...alternate route in Chapter 2, you’re likely familiar with the FriedPipis action you can take during the final battle. This action implies that pipis may be edible. This wouldn’t be too surprising, since they resemble eggs and are described as “an invasive species of freshwater clam”.

Which gave me the idea of a scotch egg with a shrimp filling instead of sausage.

While I mostly stick to plant protein, seafood was the one meat I just couldn’t give up, so I still eat it from time to time. I thought a Scotch egg with shrimp sounded delicious (especially with soy sauce), though unsurprisingly, finely minced shrimp doesn’t hold together as nicely as ground sausage, beef, or plant-based protein. I solved this problem by making a “shrimp batter” by mixing together the minced raw shrimp with beaten egg, panko, and flour in order for it to hold together. Minced scallions, ginger, and soy sauce were extra ingredients added to give the batter even more flavor. The eggs were coated in this batter before breading them.

If you’re either allergic to shellfish or just don’t like seafood, you can always make a traditional Scotch egg instead with ground sausage, turkey, or impossible sausage. I bet it’ll be easier than a shrimp batter.

The hardest part, of course, is step one: soft-boiling the eggs. In order to prevent the eggs from overcooking during the frying stage, the eggs are soft-boiled as opposed to hard-boiled.

Soft-boiling eggs is tricky. There are a lot of variables involved that can get in the way of perfect eggs - even professional chefs can’t always get it 100%! Things like the altitude you live in, or the size or freshness of an egg, all play a role in whether or not the shell will stick to the egg. Although the eggs you buy at a grocery store might have aged enough for the shell to slide off without a hitch after boiling, it’s recommended to buy your eggs at least a week in advance, just in case.

For soft-boiling, the trick I was shown (thank you, roomie) is to, for one, reduce the heat from high to medium high shortly before adding in the eggs. Do it carefully with a slotted spoon. Immediately, once the eggs are all in, set your timer to 8 minutes. Since I use the timer on my phone, I set it to 8 before the eggs are submerged, but don’t hit start until after they’re all in there. Soft-boiling the eggs for a full 8 minutes should help prevent the eggs from sticking to the shell when it’s time to peel them.

While they’re boiling and your timer’s ticking, fill up a bowl of cold water and add plenty of ice. Do not skimp. The eggs will go immediately into that ice water once they’re done. This will stop them from continuing to cook. Be sure to remove the eggs off the heat first because you will be adding them one at a time into the bowl of ice water.

You can let ‘em cool for however long you like, and you could stick ‘em in the fridge once they’re done, but since you’ll be dyeing the eggs next, I suggest keeping them at room temperature after they are done cooling.

Next, it’s time to peel and dye the eggs. Hopefully you got lucky and your eggs slid out of their shells just fine. If they’re a little messy, no worries - they’ll be coated in shrimp batter and fried anyway. For the dye, simply make a solution using water, rice vinegar, and a mix of blue and green food coloring.

PIPIS TRANSFORMATION POTION:

2 cups water

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

24 drops blue food coloring

10 drops green food coloring

The longer you leave the eggs in, the more vivid the color will get. Once done, remove the eggs from their dye bath and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb some of that excess dye. Blot them with another paper towel to dry them off a little so that the flour and batter will stick to the eggs better. Finally, it’s time to make the shrimp batter.

FRIED PIPIS:

Batter:

1 and 1/4 cup finely minced raw shrimp (pre-prepared: headless, tailless, deveined and peeled)

1 to 2 beaten eggs

About 4 finely minced scallion whites

1 thumb freshly minced ginger

2 teaspoons soy sauce (you can add a little more to taste if you’d like)

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons panko

1/2 cup four

Assembly:

4 soft-boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, and dyed

Shrimp batter

1 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko

Wash and dry both your scallions and ginger. Peel and cut off about a thumb of ginger and mince it into tiny pieces. Mince your scallion whites likewise, and add both into a mixing bowl.

Since you will be mincing raw meat next, grab a different cutting board if you have one to keep your main one clean, and chop a couple heaping handfuls of shrimp into small chunks, enough to fill a measuring cup up to 1 and 1/4 cup. Add to your mixing bowl, then thoroughly wash your hands, knife, cutting board, and work surface afterward!

Next, beat eggs in a small bowl and pour it in. Add in your soy sauce, panko, and flour, then mix it all together until your batter has formed.

Re-use the bowl you beat your eggs in to beat two more eggs for the outer layer of panko coating.

Get two more bowls, one for flour, and one for panko. Pour a cup of flour in one bowl, and a cup of panko in the other.

Grab your eggs and begin the assembly! First, coat your eggs in flour so that the batter can stick to the egg easier, then coat that sucker up in the batter. Roll your battered egg in the flour once again, then the beaten egg, and finally the panko. Repeat this process until all of your eggs are battered and breaded.

Heat a pot with plenty of oil for frying. With the use of a candy or deep-fat thermometer, keep an eye on the temperature so that it reaches at least 375 degrees F. Once your oil is hot enough, it’s time to fry!

Fry your [PIPIS] until the panko is golden brown and the shrimp is fully cooked on the inside. It may be hard to tell when they’re done, as the outside will cook the fastest. The microwave is your friend if the shrimp hasn’t cooked all the way.

Enjoy! And....don’t manipulate your friends into freezing everyone in sight......

[alex51324]

I have all my food ready for the coming week!

On the left I have my sliced peaches, and snack boxes of blueberries, almonds, pecans, and cheese; I have five of those made up.

Next is corn, tomato, and mozzarella salad, with fresh basil, and a little vinaigrette to pour on when I'm ready to eat it. I have three helpings of that in the fridge. I started with this recipe, but I blanched the corn before cutting it off the cobs, and used sweet onion instead of scallions, because that's what I had. Also the only white vinegar I have is the big jug I use to clean the drains, so I went with balsamic--it turns the corn a little brown, but it tastes fine.

Then we have eggplant parmesan; that uses the tomato sauce I made yesterday, and then I used this recipe. (I skipped making homemade breadcrumbs, and just used panko from the store.) The little side dish is sliced green peppers, roasted with a few cherry tomatoes that I had left from the corn salad. I'm not sure how well the breading will hold up over reheating, but the helping that I ate right away was great! I also have three of these.

Last but certainly not least, is ham and green beans! I only recently learned that this is a regional dish. You take ham--it could be a ham hock, or leftover ham, or just a ham steak that you cut up into cubes--and put it in a pot of water, with green beans and sliced potatoes, then simmer it until the potatoes fall apart. Season with pepper, and salt if the ham wasn't salty enough. (Some people like to add a splash of vinegar at the table, but I don't.) Very easy & great for this time of year when the green beans and potatoes are coming in, but you can also make it in the winter with frozen green beans. I have four of those

[trekwiz]

I was inspired by that poll about "bad" burger possibilities. And came up with my own chickpea burger.

I looked up similar recipes and came up with something uniquely mine. I started with canned chickpeas instead of fresh: I wasn't looking to do the extra work with fresh.

After putting it through the food processor, I mixed in lightly ground pistachios. I seasoned it with tahini, a little bit of pomegranate molasses, za'atar, sumac, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cardamom, marjoram, and a little bit of loomi.

I sautéed onion and garlic with the herbs and mixed it into the chickpea and pistachio mix, along with the rest of the seasonings.

It formed patties well, but it did get crumbly over heat. I think when I add meat to it next time, I'll include an egg to help prevent that. A lot of similar recipes called for flour or panko, but I don't really think it's necessary.

We had the end of a baguette leftover in the freezer; I warmed it on the grill and added some Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce. It was really good!

@ovenroastedtwerkey was originally skeptical, but enjoyed it.

[akwolfgrl]

Chapter 21 LFT

Sanji finally let Zoro's strong calloused hand go. He had enjoyed holding it. He began to look through the drink menu. There was a pale blue cocktail that looked delicious called North concoction, it was a mix of alcohol from both the north and east.

“Let me guess, you're getting sake?” Sanji looked up from the menu to tease the man in front of him.

“Yup, let me take guess your getting some snobby wine,”

“Nope, I'm getting a cocktail,” Sanji put his menu down and pointed to it. “Looks good.”

“Hello, I will be your waiter today. Our specials for the day are Catch of the Day, which is a grilled Ahi with watercress cream sauce with a choice of white or brown rice, house vegetables, and manilla clam. A Seafood Duo: Deep fried Opelu with lomi tomato with Furi panko Ahi ribs. And a Miso black cod with Kabayaki with a choice of white or brown rice and bok choy, what can I get you to drink? ”

“Sake,” Zoro rudely grunted at the man.

“I'll have the north connection please, also can we get Angry Ahi Dip and the Fish Bites to start,” Sanji ordered, glancing at the appetizers. He was more excited for the first one, he loves spicy and seafood, which reminded him that he needed to pick up stuff for kimchi tomorrow morning.

“All right, I'll be right back with those drinks,” Thire waiter left.

“Here order me cook,” Zoro huffed putting his menu down. “Your the one who knows food,”

“Lazy ass,” Sanji grumbled, happy to pick out something for the sentient moss sitting across from him. “Hmm, I think you'd like the Miso black cod. It is on your list,”

“Sure, it won't be as good as yours, but it will be fine,” Zoro shrugged.

“All right,” Sanji could help but to preen under the praise.

“Here is your drinks. Your apitzers should be out shortly. Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, we will take the Grilled Peppercorn Swordfish and the Miso black cod,” Sanji held out the menus.

“I'm so sorry the miso was just cut from the menu,”

“Its fine if it was Eighty sixed these things happen,” Sanji glanced at the menu once again. “How about the Furikake Pan-Seared Ahi,”

“All right, I'll get your apitzers,” They took the menus and left.

Sanji took a sip of hid cocktail humming in apirsion licking his lips before take a larger sip. He watched as Zoro drank from the bottle of sake, ignoring the glass.

“Dam that's good shit, my master back home liked this, one time me and some of the other boys stole some of his sake and drank it under one of the large trees. We got caught of course but I developed a taste for the stuff,”

“Ahh an alcoholic from an early age how'd your parents feel about that?” Sanji teased him take a drink from his cocktail.

“Nah, I don't have any. My dad died when I was eight so I was raised in the dojo with a bunch of other boys and the dojo masters daughter,”

“Sorry to hear that, how did you get into bounty hunting?” Sanji asked him taking another sip.

“Here are your apitzers,” The waiter returned, placing plates in front of them. “Can I get you a refill?” He asked, looking at Sanji, who looked down at their almost empty glass.

“Sure,” He didn't realize how fast how drank that cocktail it was

“I left the village when I was sixteen after hearing of Mihawk, and one night I was camping out and someone thought it was a good idea to rob me,” Zoro grabbed a fish bite dipping it into the aioli before popping it into his mouth. “Mm you should make these, anyway I stopped him, tied him up and dropped him off at the Marines, turns out he was wanted so I got some money and headed straight for a bar. Drank most of the money and went back the next morning to look at the bontys and six months later I met Johnny and Yosaku,”

Sanji laughed and finished his cocktail before taking a wonton chip and dipped it into the dip. It was spicy, a little sour and salty, absolutely delicious. He tried the fish bite as well, Zoro was right he would need to recreate both of these dishes later.

[loopielupie]

Whumptober Day 4 - Shock

The thought that he might be in trouble now hits Katsuki slowly as he staggers against the wall of the alley, concrete harsh against his cheek. His breath comes ragged, fogging in the cold air but his next one catches on a hiss. He reflexively tightens his arm around his abdomen, hot blood dribbling over frigid fingers.

His knees threaten to give out but he grinds his cheek against the wall, the pinpricks of pain enough to clear the dizziness for now. his teeth chatter and he knows it isn't from the cold.

Need to get a move on.

He spares a blurry glance at the assholes that attacked him, making sure they're still down and he's not about to get a second surprise stab wound.

"Fuck," he hisses as his stomach protests the movement but he pushes himself away from the wall and staggers on. The plastic bag slung off his free arm threatens to trip him. He really should just drop it before he falls on his face but his fingers are locked around it, some weird part of his brain reminding him that Izuku needs the panko for dinner.

The whole fucking point of this post-shift excursion.

His heartbeat racing in his ears is so loud, he barely registers the sound of his phone. When he manages to get it free from his jacket, he paws the screen until a voice comes through.

"Kacchan?"

Izuku. This time when his knees go, Katsuki can't fight it: his head is too stuffed with cotton, his body much too heavy. His tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth so all he can do is breathe.

"Kacchan, what's happening?" Izuku's voice turns sharper, and Katsuki almost chuckles at the use of the "work voice". "Where are you, are you ok?"

He licks dry lips and drags his thoughts together long enough to grate out a request before the phone drops out of his hands:

"Might..need a bit'f help h're."

[fantasticnegrito]

Recipe for Kimchi Mac and Cheese The next-best Thanksgiving side dish is kimchi mac and cheese, which is simple to prepare for a large group if you have extra kimchi. 1/2 pound shredded Monterey Jack cheese, 1 pound grated Cheddar cheese, 1 package elbow macaroni, 1.5 cups panko bread crumbs, 5.5 cubes whole milk, 6 cups chopped kimchi squeezed dry, salt and ground black pepper to taste, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 6 tablespoons butter divided