#Ultra-Processed Snacks

[xtruss]

We Analyzed Dozens of Ultra-Processed Snacks. These Are The Healthiest Options.

Use This Guide to Find Snacks That are Lower in Salt, Sugar, Fat and Other Additives.

— March 11, 2025 | The Washington Post | By Anahad O’Connor

Linnea Bullion For The Washington Post

What Foods Do You Snack On?

The answer could have a significant impact on your health. The typical adult in many countries gets as much as a quarter of their daily calories from snacks and beverages that they consume outside of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In one large study, researchers found that compared with people who snacked on nutritious whole foods, like apples, oranges, nuts and seeds, those who snacked on junk foods, such as cookies, candy and potato chips, had more visceral fat around their internal organs and higher body weights, blood sugar levels and triglycerides, a type of fat that circulates in the bloodstream.

Even if you tend to eat nutritious foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacking on junk foods can undo the metabolic benefits of your healthy meals, said Federica Amati, a medical scientist at Imperial College London and head nutritionist at Zoe, a personalized nutrition company.

We analyzed dozens of snacks. These are the healthiest options. Linnea Bullion/FTWP

Because snacking tends to make up a large portion of our daily calories, the type of foods you choose to snack on can go a long way toward improving or worsening your metabolic health, she added.

While nutritious whole foods are the best options, sometimes the most convenient or satisfying option is a packaged snack. These tend to be high in salt, sugar, fat and other additives. To help you find healthier options, we analyzed nutrition labels and ingredient lists for dozens of ultra-processed and packaged snack foods. The most common red flags we found were high levels of sodium, sweeteners and chemical additives. It’s best to limit your intake of these ingredients, which are linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases. Below are some of the best options.

1– Popcorn

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Popcorn is low in calories and high in fiber — an important nutrient that most adults don’t get enough of. Amati calls popcorn the “unsung hero” of the snack world. It’s a whole grain that’s been popped.

Red Flags:

High Sodium: Some brands of popcorn have 12 percent or more of the recommended daily sodium intake per serving, which can quickly add up. Consuming a lot of sodium can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure and heart disease. If a food contains 5 percent or less of the daily value for sodium per serving, then it’s considered a low-sodium food.

Sugar and Sweeteners: Beware of popcorn snacks that have added sugars, such as cane sugar, and artificial sweeteners like sucralose.

Healthier Options:

Good Health Half Naked Popcorn: This brand is lightly salted, low in fat and relatively high in fiber.

SkinnyPop Original Popcorn: This snack has just three ingredients (popcorn, sunflower oil and salt) and is low in sodium.

Little Lad’s Savory Herbs Popcorn: This brand is low in sodium and contains simple herbs and spices.

Good & Gather Organic Olive Oil and Himalayan Sea Salt Popcorn: This brand contains just three simple ingredients: popcorn, olive oil and salt.

2– Chips

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Potato chips, tortilla chips and other types of crisps are considered ultra-processed foods. They’re usually made from highly refined carbohydrates and loaded with unhealthy additives. But some are made with simple ingredients that provide modest amounts of fiber. If you leave home with a small container of hummus, carrots and the right chips, you’ll have a relatively nutritious snack, Amati said.

Red Flags:

Excess Sodium and Saturated Fat: Some chips contain 15 percent or more of your recommended daily sodium intake per serving, as well as high amounts of saturated fat.

Synthetic Food Dyes: Look out for artificial colors, which are often used in flavored chips. Among the most common are red 40, yellow 6 and yellow 5, also known as tartrazine or FD&C Yellow #5.

Additives: Avoid thickeners such as maltodextrin and cornstarch; sweeteners like dextrose, cane sugar and corn syrup; mono and diglycerides and other emulsifiers; and flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

Healthier Options:

Thrive Market Grain-Free Sea Salt Tortilla Chips: These chips are low in sodium and made from healthy ingredients, including chia seeds and avocado oil. The Zesty Lime variety is also a good option.

Siete Foods Dip Chip Grain Free Tortilla Chips: These chips contain psyllium husk and pumpkin powder for a boost of fiber. “They haven’t used any saturated fats or emulsifiers or cosmetic additives,” Amati said. “It’s quite a good option.”

From the Ground Up Sea Salt Cauliflower Tortilla Chips: These grain-free chips contain cauliflower, chia seeds and a blend of shiitake mushrooms, carrots and other vegetables. Also, the nacho flavor from the same company contains fewer additives than other brands of nacho chips.

3– Crackers

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Most store-bought crackers are ultra-processed. They’re usually made from wheat and other grains that have been highly refined and processed into flour. The refining process makes the ingredients more shelf-stable, but it also removes the bran and the germ, two components of the grain that contain fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Some cracker brands, however, use whole grains, nuts and seeds. While they’re still a processed food, they often contain more fiber, protein and nutrients than traditional store-bought crackers.

Red Flags:

Enriched Flour: This usually means that the product contains flour from highly refined grains. Enriched flour is flour that has had vitamins and minerals added back into it, but typically not the fiber that was removed.

Excess Sodium: While salt is a standard ingredient in crackers, some brands can contain surprisingly large amounts of salt — in some cases as much as 14 or 15 percent of the recommended daily limit for sodium per serving.

Sugars and Fats: Some brands contain ingredients that you wouldn’t expect, like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and three or more types of oils and fats.

Healthier Options:

Mary’s Gone Crackers Herb Original Crackers: These are made with organic seeds and grains and are high in protein and fiber compared with other brands.

Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheat Crackers: These are low in sodium and contain just three ingredients: whole grain wheat, safflower oil and sea salt.

Blue Diamond Multi-Seeds Artisan Nut-Thins: In these crackers, you’ll find six different types of seeds: flax, millet, amaranth, quinoa, sesame and black sesame.

Simple Mills Fine Ground Sea Salt Almond Flour Crackers: Amati recommended these grain-free crackers, which are made from a blend of almond flour, flax and sunflower seeds. The garlic and herb flavor is another good choice.

4– Nuts

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Nuts are a nutritional powerhouse and an optimal snack. They’re high in protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. But they’re most nutritious when they’re not overly salted or sweetened, or laden with additives.

If you’re craving something sweet, try dark-chocolate-covered nuts. Dark chocolate is one of the rare desserts that’s associated with health benefits. Combine it with nuts, and you have a delightful treat that also provides some nutrition.

Red Flags:

Excess Sodium: Like many snack foods, packaged nuts can be a salt bomb. Look for varieties that are either unsalted or lightly salted.

Sweeteners: Some varieties of peanuts, cashews and other nuts contain multiple sweeteners, like cane sugar, corn syrup, fructose and honey. This can turn an otherwise nutritious food into dessert.

Emulsifiers: Some brands of flavored nuts contain xanthan gum, cornstarch, gum arabic, and other emulsifiers and thickeners.

Healthier Options:

Planters Deluxe Salted Mixed Nuts: This brand contains a mixture of five different nuts: cashews, pecans, almonds, pistachios and Brazil nuts. Planters’ Lightly Salted Cocktail Peanuts are another good option.

Kirkland Signature Extra Fancy Unsalted Mixed Nuts: Available at Costco, this brand contains four types of nuts and zero sodium.

Go Raw Sea Salt and Vinegar Snacking Seeds: This brand contains sprouted sunflower and pumpkin seeds mixed with vinegar and sea salt.

Hu Kitchen Chocolate Covered Hunks, Cashews and Vanilla Bean: This brand uses simple ingredients like organic cashews and organic cacao. It’s also low in added sugar. Also see the same brand’s almond and sea salt flavor.

Skinny Dipped Super Dark and Sea Salt Almonds: These chocolate-covered almonds contain just two grams of added sugar and seven grams of fiber per serving (about 18 almonds). That’s a quarter of your daily fiber needs. The dark chocolate option is a good one, too.

5– Beef Jerky

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Throughout history, many cultures have used beef jerky and other dried meats as a portable, convenient and filling snack food. Beef jerky is high in protein and contains essential vitamins and minerals.

Red Flags:

Excess Sodium: A lot of savory packaged foods are high in salt. But the levels of sodium in some brands of beef jerky are remarkable. A single stick of beef jerky can contain more than 30 percent of the recommended daily sodium intake for adults.

Sodium Nitrite and Potassium Nitrate: These preservatives have been linked to cancer. Look for brands that don’t contain them.

Saturated Fat: Some beef, pepperoni and other meat sticks contain high levels of saturated fat, which can increase cholesterol levels. Look for lean versions.

Healthier Options:

Jerky’s Gourmet Smokehouse BBQ Premium Beef Jerky: Made with grass-fed beef, this jerky packs a lot of protein. It’s low in sodium, sugar and saturated fat, and it contains no nitrates or artificial preservatives. Another option is the same brand’s black pepper flavor.

Savage Jerky Jalapeño Mojo Premium Beef Jerky: This low-calorie jerky is made with simple ingredients, spices and seasonings such as turmeric, cilantro, cumin, oregano and minced garlic. The habanero mojo flavor also contains zero saturated fat.

6– Protein and Snack Bars

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Sometimes a protein or snack bar is the best option available. You can keep them in your desk, car, purse or backpack and grab them when real food isn’t an option or when you just need something sweet. Protein bars can be a good way to ensure that you’re getting enough protein, an essential nutrient that our bodies need to grow and repair tissue.

But both protein and snack bars are usually ultra-processed and in many cases laden with sugar, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, synthetic colors and other additives.

Red Flags:

Sweeteners: Look out for bars that contain large amounts of added sugars, such as sucrose, corn syrup, dextrose, agave, invert sugar and fruit juice concentrates.

Fake Sugars: Don’t be duped by bars that claim they contain no added sugar. Some protein bars that are marketed as low or zero sugar may contain sugar alcohols like erythritol and xylitol, which have been linked in studies to an increased risk of cardiovascular events.

Healthier Options:

RXBar Minis Protein Bars: These bars come in a variety of flavors and contain just a handful of simple ingredients, like dates, egg whites, cashews, almonds, cocoa and berries. They also have less sugar and calories than the regular-size RXBar.

NuGo Slim Chocolate Mint Protein Bar: These bars contain an exceptional amount of protein (17 grams per serving) and are low in sugar. They’re also vegan.

Tosi Peanut Dark Chocolate Crunchy Meal Bar: These bars are high in protein and low in sodium and added sugar, and they contain 25 percent of the recommended daily fiber intake per serving. The almond variety also packs a decent amount of plant protein.

Kind Protein Crunchy Peanut Butter: While they do contain a small amount of added sugar, these bars pack a lot of protein (12 grams) and fiber (six grams).

Simple Mills Nutty Banana Bread Soft Baked Bars: These bars contain simple ingredients such as almonds, bananas, coconut flour and sunflower, flax and chia seeds.

Kind Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt: These bars are packed with nuts and contain seven grams of fiber, equivalent to 25 percent of the recommended daily fiber intake.

7– Cookies

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Most store-bought cookies are highly processed and loaded with saturated fat, sugar and chemical additives. But all cookies aren’t created equal. Some have less sugar, fat and additives than others. Whichever brand of cookie you choose, always be sure not to overdo it. Moderation is key.

Red Flags:

Excess Sugar: It’s not uncommon to find brands of cookies that have 20 grams of sugar or more per cookie — the equivalent of five teaspoons of sugar.

Saturated Fat: Some brands contain six or more grams of saturated fat per serving, which is nearly half the American Heart Association’s recommended daily limit for saturated fat intake.

Healthier Options:

Urban Remedy Superfood Cookies Chocolate Chip (Bite-Sized): One serving, which is three cookies, has just four grams of added sugar and three grams of fiber.

Maxine’s Heavenly Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies: For a decadent treat, these chocolate chunk cookies are relatively low in sugar and saturated fat. Also, the pumpkin pecan spice cookies by the same brand contain just three grams of added sugar per cookie and two grams of saturated fat.

[moonstruckme]

Idk if you’ve done anything like this before but maybe reader who’s feeling insecure in her swimsuit with Steve 🩵

cw: reader's swimsuit is compared to underwear, reader is insecure about her body, Steve is a silly boy

Steve Harrington x fem!reader ♡ 735 words

From beneath the surface of the water, you hear a voice. Deep, resonant. Your heart skips pleasantly as you kick upwards. 

You crest the surface to find Steve halfway to you. He’s squinting in the sun, one hand brought up to shade his face. There’s something indescribably but undeniably handsome to you about Steve’s frown. It brings those ultra-expressive brows of his down and together, causing his lips to purse and his jaw—you don’t know how, but you swear—to appear more defined. Or maybe it’s just that there’s usually a sort of exasperated care about the look, and you like to think that care could be directed at you.

“Hey,” you say, the word curving with your smile. “What’re you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” He crouches by the edge of the pool, leaning down for a kiss. Afterwards, you set your chin on your crossed arms to look up at him, lips buzzing. Steve touches your face with a finger, unsticking a piece of hair that’s become slicked to your cheek and combing it back in with the rest. “They’re showing Jaws at the movies for a buck a piece. You wanna go?” 

“Right now?” 

“In an hour. Plenty of time to get dried off and grab snacks.” 

You kick your legs idly, pondering. Really, nothing sounds better to your sun-warmed brain than showering and putting on some comfortable clothes to go sit in a dark room. Steve will probably have you half in his lap by the end credits, too, it being a scary movie. 

“Sure,” you say. “Want to hang out here while I rinse off and stuff?” 

Steve grins; it’s nearly as handsome as his frown, enough to send your stomach into fits. “Sounds good to me.” He reaches for your hands to help you out. 

You start to take them automatically, but hesitate. You and Steve are pretty comfortable with each other, but you haven’t had your clothes off in front of him. The bikini you have on now is really no different than underwear. You glance down at the body currently distorted by rippling pool water, insecure.

“What’s up?” Steve asks at your pause. 

You feel trapped. There’s really no way out of this for you. You could ask him to go inside so he doesn’t see you and you know he’d do it, but that feels worse. The only thing scarier than him seeing you like this might be confessing how worried you are that he won’t like what he sees. 

If Steve isn’t acting like it’s a big deal, you decide, neither will you. 

“Nothing,” you say, putting your hands in his. Steve hauls you out of the water without another delay. 

It’s not a pretty process. Your back bends forward as you emerge, tummy sticking out and water streaming off you. In your mind it glistens most obviously in the places you’d like not to show, the rolls and curvatures you’d rather Steve’s eyes sailed past unseeingly. You get one knee up onto the warm tiles surrounding the pool, letting his hands go so you can crawl the rest of the way up on your own. As you straighten, you fight hard not to bend your shoulders and cross your arms over yourself. 

But Steve has already turned away. Not in repulsion or some attempt at preserving your modesty, just to grab the towel you’d set nearby. He wraps it around your shoulders. 

Your stomach flips at the appreciative glance you catch him dropping to your chest. Steve notices you noticing; his cheekbones tinge a pretty pink. 

“Sorry,” he says hastily. 

You wrap the towel around yourself, feeling rather flushed yourself. “It’s okay.” 

“I just, I—you know, we haven’t—” 

“I know,” you say. “It’s fine.” 

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” You’ve never seen Steve so flustered. It makes it difficult to feel very self-conscious yourself, a laugh bubbling in the back of your throat. “Like, if you don’t want me to see, but you’re—you—obviously, you’re--” He gestures helplessly at your body, now mostly covered by the towel, then looks like he regrets that, too. “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m going to go inside, okay?” 

“Okay.” Your smile is irrepressible, now. “Steve, it’s really fine. You’re good.” “You go shower.” Steve turns around, walking face-first into your back door. He continues talking as though this doesn’t register. “I’ll be in the kitchen, just—not thinking about—uh, yeah.”

[badlydrawnmanic]

doodled some baby ultra beasts (edit: now it’s all of them!)

info below the cut :3

baby nihilego (UB phoresis) is a pure rock type. it doesn’t have access to its adult form’s mind-altering poisons, but it will still try to sit on other creatures’ heads, possibly hoping they will transport them somewhere new as they aren’t very good at the whole “moving efficiently” thing yet, either. it’s more or less just a smaller nihilego, given how baby jellyfish are just smaller versions of their parents

baby buzzwole (UB pest) is a pure bug type. while it has wings, it isn’t very strong yet and can barely fly, though it is incredibly determined when going after prey. it’s more of an annoyance than a threat, and typically has to go after slow moving or sleeping prey to actually get a chance to bite them. it’s based off of a mosquito larvae (albeit with wings) and the red parts on its head resemble overinflated pool floaties

baby pheromosa (UB nymph) is a pure bug type. they lack adult pheromosa’s pheromones, but will follow their parent’s scent trail very closely, learning crucial behaviors through mimicry. despite adult pheromosa’s aloof appearance, they will fiercely protect their young, keeping the curious, exploratory child out of trouble. it’s mostly just a smaller pheromosa, since baby cockroaches also just look like smaller versions of their parents, but the antennae shape is supposed to resemble a bow

baby xurkitree (UB spark) is a pure electric type. they will float on the wind to disperse from their parent, plugging their tails into the ground once they find an adequate spot. they will sometimes be seen linking together, forming long, twinkling strings. they are based off of christmas lights, specifically the spare bulbs, and when they evolve, it’s like a lightbulb bursting

baby celesteela (UB sprout) is a steel/grass type. as seen in the anime, they can be found buried underground in a dormant state awaiting proper growing conditions. once unearthed, they grow at a rapid rate, evolving quickly into celesteela. i didn’t design it, but its design is based off of a bamboo shoot and a swaddled baby

baby kartana (UB cut) is a grass/steel type. while they seem small and harmless, they have a tendency to spin rapidly towards anything that catches their attention, struggling to stop and slicing into it or even getting stuck in walls and trees. sometimes adult kartana can be seen commanding small swarms of them. i struggled with this one, but they’re based off of paper fortune tellers and ninja stars

baby guzzlord (UB hangry) is a dark/dragon type. they will gladly eat anything that is presented to them, remaining jovial and endearing so long as they have something to snack on, but will throw rather destructive tantrums once they get hungry again, letting out terrible, shrieking cries. adult guzzlord often abandon their own young out of annoyance, preferring to pursue their own gluttony alone. their design is mostly just a smaller version of guzzlord, though they vaguely resemble a jack o lantern, and the patterns on their knees resemble band-aids

baby stakataka (UB component) is a pure rock type. it is less of a baby and more like a single piece of the group making up an “adult” stakataka, these pieces very rarely being seen on their own. when crossing paths, adult stakataka won’t redirect their movements, each group sort of passing through each other and swapping pieces in the process, potentially as a way to share their knowledge. researchers disagree on whether it an individual piece would be called a “stako” or a “taka”

baby blacephalon (UB pop) is a fire/ghost type. when hit with a physical attack, the balloon making up its head will expand, stronger attacks causing larger growth. when significantly stressed, it will explode into a shower of confetti meant to stun or distract its attacker, allowing the body to run away, regrowing its head shortly after. i mostly just wanted this design to look weird, but it is loosely based off of those carnival games where you hit a target and it inflates a balloon, those confetti balloons where the confetti mostly sticks to the sides, and those toys that can’t be knocked over

[ysochonky]

Out of control. Truly a sheep that’s addicted to the ultra processed food we see everyday. Uncontrollable snacking. Take out 3-4 times a day. My bf has to help me out or bed. I ask for help in then shower because I’m so out of breath. Portion sizes would fill two large grown men. Love the idea of making poor decisions and putting my body through hell. My bf always jokes that I have it made. I get home and don’t move from the bed unless I use the restroom. Everything is brought to me. I over eat until the pain is unbearable. Wait 10 minutes and continue gorging. It makes us both happy. Then sex. He does all the work while I’m on top. I’m so turned on to use all the hard earned weight against him. Im pampered, fed, and fucked everyday 🥵.’

[muletia]

God I need to get Optimus pregnant and it's not even in a necessarly horny sense anymore.

It's the way Optimus referred to "family" as a strictly human concept to Ultra Magnus. Over his time on earth he's grown utterly enchanted by the idea of having one, especially once you're in the picture, but knows it cannot be. No matter how badly either of you want it.

I need him to one day, when everything settles down and you start living out in your little cottage, start noticing a bunch of strange symptoms: He's oddly fatigued, as if his frame is suddenly dumping power somewhere new. He's simultaneously overcome with an unexplainable hunger and nausea, as if his tanks are clamoring for fuel other than energon and reformatting to process it.

I need him to nearly break out in joyful sobbing when Rachet disbelievingly explains his scan's findings to you. Doesn't even have it in him to scold you both for being this irresponsible, not when his old friend looks so... fulfilled. Sincerely thanking him before turning and all but collapsing into you. It's probably best Rachet gives you both a moment of privacy with the news...

(Pregnancy glow hits Opti hard btw)

oh my god, OH MY GOD this is so peak

Me thinks Optimus, at first, would be completely unaware of the meaning behind all these symptoms. Sparked up bots on Cybertron were extremely rare, not to mention that after the war began, there was neither the time nor the opportunity for the creation of new sparklings. Optimus never really had much — if any — exposure to carrier bots. His knowledge of reproduction is limited to the basic understanding that his species is capable of it (something must have ignited that first spark of drive toward reproduction, after all) and that he very, VERY much wants to have one with you. All of the symptoms associated with being sparked up are completely foreign to him.

That’s why, at first, he isn’t concerned. He rationalizes the oddities as simply his body adjusting to a new, slower, more peaceful life. The shift from Autobot leader to house husband, whose most stressful responsibility is remembering to refill the hummingbird feeder, is drastic. No wonder his frame is responding to it. And the fact that these symptoms have persisted for weeks, months, even? Well. Maybe he just needs a lot of time to fully adjust.

Until you begin to notice that something strange is going on with Optimus.

The energon supply is disappearing at an alarming rate. More than once, you’ve woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of him rummaging through cupboards and the storage shed, searching for more. He snacks constantly, even though he’s just refueled. And lately, he’s been so clingy. Always wants to be close to you, touching you in some way, whether it’s cuddling or simply maintaining some form of contact. He’s stopped going on his usual walks to watch birds just so he can spend more time with you.

And most concerningly, he’s started whimpering when you are ready to leave for work, begging you to stay home. With him.

The realization strikes you like a bolt of lightning the moment you finally notice the slight swell of his abdomen (since we’re already fully committing to human pregnancy symptoms, why not give him a little baby bump?)

"Opti… are you… pregnant?"

And suddenly, everything clicks into place for him, too.

Ratchet is contacted immediately. Then comes disbelief. Shock. And joy. So much joy. The old medic has never seen his friend so genuinely happy, so full of life. Optimus' usual reluctance toward PDA is completely overridden by his sheer need to share his happiness with you. He covers your face in kisses, confessing that his greatest dream has just come true.

And while, at first, it’s incredibly difficult for you to process the idea that a robot can even get pregnant, let alone with an entirely different species, his joy is so raw and so pure that you can’t help but be swept up in it, too. For now, you don’t want to think about how or why. You just want to stay in this beautiful moment with him.

But, of course, there’s no avoiding a very long lecture from Ratchet about responsibility and how in Primus’ name is this even possible?!—it’s an unskippable cutscene. But the sting of his scolding is completely overshadowed by the sweetness of this joyous revelation.

and you are so real for the pregnancy glow. that Opti face card is gonna be LETHAL

[frenchkisstheabyss]

♡ OT8 Stray Kids Showing You They Love You ♡

♡ Just some ot8!stray kids showing their chubby!fem!gf how much they love her and what some of those things might be.

♡ The biggest of thank yous to @tryingtolivelifeblog for requesting this. It's such an adorable idea. I just love it to pieces and hope you do too!

♡ Genre: fluff

♡ Word Count: 1.4k-ish

♡ Bang Chan ♡

It isn’t unusual for your boyfriend to be up on his laptop all night, headphones in, chipping away at the next track for his group. That’s what you’ve assumed has been happening these past few weeks but you couldn’t be more wrong. He has been working on a song but it’s for you and only you. It’s much softer than what he’s usually known for with instrumentals that feel like a warm blanket on a cold night. You can feel his vulnerability in every word he sings. So much that you can’t even question if he really means it when he says that your gentle heart makes him fall for you more and more each day. Or that the sweetness of your voice brings calm to the chaos in his brain. He dedicates an entire verse to the brightness of your smile and how your laughter’s his favorite sound. By the end of it you’re trying not to cry which is fine because he is too.

♡ Changbin ♡

You have no clue how much self control it took for Changbin not to buy out the entire Build-A-Bear store getting those cute little teddy bears that say phrases when you hug them. It would’ve been easy for him to send someone else to get them for him but he does it himself instead, pretending to be at the gym while he picks out the perfect dozen for you. Once everything���s perfect he leaves them around the apartment for you to find with notes that say “Hug Me”. When you do you hear your favorite voice telling you that your eyes are so beautiful and brimming with love that he could stare back into them all day. He loves how you see him, really see him, for who he is and he never has to hide behind a mask with you. You’re his #1 cheerleader, always reminding him he’s good enough when he doubts himself. There isn’t a safer place in the world for than with you and he'll spend the rest of his life doing everything in his power to be the same for you.

♡ Hannie ♡

With your boyfriend’s hectic schedule, it’s important to him that he makes time to have special moments just for the two of you. This includes game nights which he takes very seriously, going all out to make sure the atmosphere’s ultra romantic and you have all of your favorite snacks. When you settle in for your latest game night you’re clueless when he presents you with an already built tower of blocks with hearts on the exterior of each piece. As the game begins you realize that each block you pull out has a reason he loves you handwritten on it. All 54 blocks. His hand cramped up 1,000 times doing it but it was worth it for you to know that spending an eternity cuddled up to your soft body would be the sweetest fate imaginable. That he never dreams better than when you’re there beside him, fingers running through his hair, singing him to sleep. That, even though it hurts sometimes, you make him miss you more than he has anyone else.

♡ Hyunjin ♡

Hyunjin’s never told you this before but he knew that you were the one since the day you first met. There was simply no way he was going to let someone as special as you get away. In the year since then he’s been drawing pictures of you in his sketchbook during moments when he’s feeling particularly sentimental. You’re always too respectful of his artistic process to peek at his work unless he asks so you don’t know until he shows you that he has such gorgeously vivid drawings of you making breakfast for him in the wee hours of the morning before he has to catch a flight. A few pages in there’s another of you playing with kids at the park when they needed one more person for a game. The last page is you sitting on the balcony of your hotel room, waiting to comfort him after an appearance he’d been dreading. The way you’re so thoughtful, lovely, and kind live in those moments he never wants to forget. 

♡ Felix ♡

“Felix, I think there’s…paper in this cupcake?” When Felix surprises you with cupcakes at work and sees you bite into the first one it dawns on him that he probably should’ve considered that maybe cupcakes don’t work exactly like fortune cookies do. But his heart was in the right place and you can’t bring yourself to care about biting into a little paper when you see what he’s written on them. He watches with the widest smile on that freckled face as you read how much being with you keeps him grounded in a life that can leave his head spinning sometimes. It means everything to him that his fame doesn’t make you treat him differently. You dance with him beneath the stars and kiss him in the rain because you love the Felix that’s just a silly kid from Australia and not the one on the magazine covers. You make him feel fearless because he knows even if he shoots for the stars and misses you’re here to catch him. 

♡ Lino ♡

Some people have this picture in their head of your boyfriend as this grumpy black cat who doesn’t quite know how to show affection but you know better than anyone that isn’t true. In reality you couldn’t imagine finding a guy more loving and thoughtful than Minho. What other guy would surprise you with a hike through a picturesque forest, hiding the cutest lock boxes at special landmarks along the way that hold his favorite pictures of the two of you together? A sentiment that particularly tugs at your heartstrings because you know he isn’t a picture guy but for you he is and always will be. On the back of each picture he writes something he loved about you at that moment. The warmth of your hand as he held it at the cat cafe in Tokyo or the scent of your perfume as you cuddled up to him on a neverending train ride that exhausted both of you. It’s the small things like the way you never hesitate to join him in making funny faces in front of the camera that make love you like he does.  

♡ Innie ♡

I.N could give you a bouquet of flowers that say “I love you” and call it a day. He knows you’d still treat it like he gifted you all of the diamonds in the world. But he wants to do more than that. Instead of giving you a bouquet all at once, he gives you a flower for each day of the week and, in place of a real flower, he gives you a glass rose that shimmers marvelously in the sunlight. Engraved on the side of each rose is something he finds special about you. Like the patience that you have with him while he figures out who he is in the world. You never pressure him to become anything or stay the way he was. Whoever he becomes he knows it’ll always be enough for you. Your kisses are like magic, cheering him up when nothing else can. And that counts for all kisses. If it’s on the lips, the neck, the forehead, wherever. They spark a joy inside of him that he isn’t quite sure any amount of words or roses could do justice to but he hopes this comes close. 

♡ Seungmin ♡

No one ever thought the day would come where Kim Seungmin got all mushy over a girl. Yet, here he is, head over heels in love with you, and he dares anyone to say something about it. Not that anyone would, it’s a well known fact now that you mean a lot to him. So much that wherever he is in the world he makes sure to bring you back something that reminds him of you. It’s left you with a collection of things from more places than you’ve actually visited. There’s the goddess carved in polished wood, nestled in the arches of a crescent moon with her curves on full display. When he saw it he joked how lucky he was to have one of his own at home, only prettier. Then there’s the music box that plays a song neither of you have ever heard before. Still, it reminds him of your melodic voice whispering to him between the sheets on rainy Sunday mornings. There was no way he could leave the shop without it. He knows one day you’ll run out of room for wind chimes that sway as gracefully your body when you dance, even if you don’t think so, but that’s okay. He’ll just buy you more room.

[amoreuxi]

Do you have tips for girls who have never done the "it girl" glow up but want to get started?

I don't know where to start, I've never exercised or even played sports, I don't know how to cook properly, and I'm too poor to buy makeup and clothes. Is there hope for me? (sorry for sounding too depressing)

hi, hopeful one!

there is definitely hope for you, since i myself was in your exact shoes until a couple of years ago

i always tell everyone who knows me, "if i could do it so can you", exactly because i was the most sedentary and lazy person ever, horrible eating habits, nightmarish views about health in general. and poor to boot!

i'll give you some general tips, but if you want more insightful or specific tips, just ask me and i can go deeper into any of them!

AMOREUXI'S GENERAL GLOW UP TIPS ✿

don't associate your glow up to having money. i know it always sounds hateful when someone who has money says "you don't need money" but i'm speaking from experience. expensive doesn't mean high quality anyway, not anymore at least, so you'll have to unlearn to make this association and start exercising a good eye for what is really quality, what is really needed, and exercising keeping your desires in check

start slow and small, and experiment a lot. if you've never exercised before, start with dancing and stretching and going for walks around the block, or the neighbourhood, if you can. just take an hour or two every other day that will be exclusively dedicated to moving around. if you create the habit of allocating time and energy to moving your body before you start to really get down to exercising and experimenting with different workouts, it'll be a lot easier to keep at it

forget the idea of motivation being the fuel behind consistency and discipline, and forget the idea that once you get started you'll get addicted to it. i have been working out in very consistent terms for almost 5 years now and most days i still have to fight inside my mind to get up and get to it. and i do actually enjoy it a lot, which is not the case for everyone, some people just don't like doing it and that's normal and fine. still, it's necessary, so we gotta do it regardless of our mood for the day

as for cooking, demystify the kitchen first and foremost. get to youtubing and learn the absolute basics before you even turn on the stove. watch professionals teaching things like how to hold a knife, how to choose produce, how to store them, how to select spices, which pan and pot does what. be humble yet shameless about it, and be curious

when you're less scared of the kitchen, learn how to make 3 meals, or 2 meals and 1 snack. if your favourites feel to hard to make (for instance, you like sushi), try to learn how to make the base of your favs (for sushi, that would be a nice rice bowl). practice these until they are just the way you like it, then move on to adding another recipe to your arsenal. food needs practice and even when you're experienced you're gonna need time before a new recipe gets good. be humble and curious

my personal advice: quit all ultra-processed food, and lower your meat and sugar consumption. this step alone will make you gain a lot of health points

if you want to go down the makeup route, practice it when you're staying home, and don't cake yourself up. learning how to draw an eyebrow and blend your blush are way more important than covering and covering and covering, trust me

these are all for now, but like i said, if you want more insights, just ask me ♡

[mbari-blog]

One of the best ways to hide in the deep sea: Ultra-black skin

Deep-sea animals have a variety of remarkable adaptations to help them hide in the midnight zone. But the fascinating fishes featured in this video have the best strategy to hide from predators and prey in this dark expanse: skin shades among the blackest of blacks known.

While there is no sunlight deep in the ocean, more than 75 percent of deep-sea life can produce light, a process called bioluminescence. When a single photon can blow your cover, ultra-black camouflage keeps these fishes hidden in the wide open darkness and also enables them to sneak up on unsuspecting shrimp or fish for a tasty meal.

Ultra-black fishes have unique structures in their skin that very efficiently trap and absorb light. Melanin—the same pigment found in human skin—is densely packed into super thin layers on the outermost surface of their skin. While most light photons are immediately absorbed, the specific shape, size, and configuration of these melanin layers scatters any missed photons into neighboring skin cells, where they are absorbed. Ultra-black skin absorbs 99.5 percent (or more) of the visible light with virtually none reflected.

The very blackest fishes known in the deep sea are the dreamer anglerfishes (Oneirodes sp.). Anglerfishes have a bioluminescent lure they use to attract a snack. Their ultra-black skin absorbs the bioluminescent glow so as not to reveal the giant mouth just beyond the lure. This incredible skin adaptation has evolved in many other fish species as well.

You can learn more about these amazing animals of the deep on our website.

[jellybeanium124]

kinda hate the rhetoric that "ultra-processed snacks and desserts are designed to be ADDICTING!!!" coz what person would pick a hostess thing over homemade cookies. who is picking entenmann's or pepperidge farm over homemade??? no one!! who wants store bought pumpkin bread over homemade. not a single fucking person. they put chemicals in there to stop it going moldy on the shelf, and/or to save money. those are the reasons. and they don't want things to go moldy bc they'll lose money.

[shadowfromthestarlight]

The MAHA movement/holistic wellness influencers generally tend to present themselves as positive and energetic, but there's also a great deal of anger in the movement. And the anger is - from what I can observe - almost always directed outward. Those evil agrochemical companies. Those evil pharmaceutical companies. That evil medical system. Those evil processed food companies. That evil government hiding all this crucial information from us. But I'm willing to bet that rage against The Man is masking a lot of shame, guilt, and anger towards oneself.

Because yeah, a lot of times, we weren't given the best information before we chose to take that pharmaceutical product. We didn't understand that the ultra-processed snacks were actually poison. Or we were eating food that we thought was healthy when it wasn't. We thought we were taking a drug that was the standard of care and didn't know about our options. We had no idea our clothes could be toxic. We didn't understand how all the plastics were affecting us. We were bombarded with propaganda from infancy about the dangers of the sun and red meat and the scary bacteria and viruses that are trying to kill us, so we made choices that weren't good for us. Etc.

But there's still a little bit of shame there, isn't it?

If I am really an intelligent person, why didn't I ask more questions? Why didn't I think things through myself? Why didn't I take more time to research the options, or to wait and see what the long-term impact of that pharmaceutical product was going to be? Why didn't I have faith in my body, in nature, in God's design? Why did I believe our bodies needed to be tamed and conquered by modern science? Why didn't I get off that drug sooner? Why didn't I stop eating that unhealthy food sooner? Why didn't I start changing my life five years earlier? Or even one year earlier? And for those who have children, the guilt is going to be felt tenfold.

And on top of all that, there's the guilt of knowing you were part of this system that's killing people. That you were contributing to it, upholding it, at times evangelizing for it, even.

That shame and guilt and regret and self-directed anger needs to be addressed. Otherwise, it's going to eat away at you forever. And your advocacy will always be driven by anger and hatred, deep down. And that's not a way to create lasting, positive change.

I think this is very important, because in the next few years, we're going to understand just how harmful a lot of commonplace drugs, vaccines, ingredients in food, pesticides, etc. really are. It's not going to be speculative. It's not going to be for the fringes anymore. Everyone's gonna know. And people are really going to be faced with what they did to themselves. And to their patients. And to their customers. And to their own kids. And to their neighbors and communities with the policies they pushed. That's going to be extremely painful. Many won't be able to handle it. Many will continue to lie to themselves. Many will lash out in rage against those who have revealed the truth.

That's why we need to learn how to give ourselves grace now, and model it for others as often as we can.

And that starts with taking some responsibility for the wrong you've done yourself and for the false beliefs you once held. Admitting to yourself that you were wrong. That you should have questioned things more. That you should have trusted your inner voice when it was telling you something was off. That you should have woken up sooner. When you did the very best you could at the time and you still made the wrong decisions, acknowledge that and give yourself grace. And when you didn't do your best, when you chose convenience over what was right, or you chose ignorance over painful knowledge, admit that, as well, and give yourself grace.

And once you do that, you can truly come alive and be a light to others.

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Celesteela

Celesteela (#797)

Celesteela celesteela

General Information: Celesteela the Living Rocket Ultra Beast/Pokémon. These creatures are absolutely colossal, towering at a whopping 30 feet height (9 meters) and weighing a ton. They are the “plants” of their world, who sit in the earth absorbing the raw geological energy that their home planet outputs and converting it into biologically useful energy

Celesteela are largely immobile creatures—but this is a matter of choice. It is seldom beneficial for them to disconnect from the earth (their energy source), and it extremely energy intensive for them to relocate themselves at all, especially as they get older and bigger. When they do move, the Celesteela launches itself into the air like a rocket. They will seek out a new location for themselves for any number of reasons that may incline a Celesteela into motion.

Habitat: Celesteelas are native to the world of Ultra Crater. They are found at the center of large craters, where the earth has piled and grown around it. Most critters have evolved to know better than to burrow at the center of these craters for the very reason that even if they are currently empty, a Celesteela may return and make its nest there at any time. Best not to be crushed to death beneath an unwitting Celesteela after all.

The rocket blasts of Celesteela cause earthquakes and are part of what creates the craters of Ultra Crater. In this sense, they are ecosystem engineers, for entire ecosystems will form within the Celesteela Craters.

Life Cycles: A Celesteela is born rarely to a pair who come together to mate once every several years. The only time in their lives that they experience any real threat from predation is when they are young, often the first couple years of their life, and then they start to become too and too powerful for any predator with sense to try snacking on them. While an unattended baby Celesteela makes an excellent lunch, it is rare for this to occur, for while Celesteela are largely solitary Pokémon both parents are highly attentive. The first-year survival rate is upwards of 70%.

When a Celesteela is old enough to manage on its own, it will blast off for the first time away from its parents to start a new life elsewhere. They reach reproductive maturity relatively late at around level 25.

The mating ritual of Celesteela’s involves a long a complicated co-dance in the atmosphere. This is an extremely energy intensive process. Leading up to this, Celesteela are capable of communicating long distances through vibrations in the earth’s crust that they can pick up. It’s through these long-distance communications that they may meet other Celesteelas and know if they would enjoy one as a mate or not. It is common for mates to nest near each other.

A Celesteela can live upwards of 200 years. During this time they shed parts of their body regularly, providing resources for the ecosystem around them. When they die, they are a boon.

Behavior: Celesteela are gentle giants. They are seldom threatened by their environment and are able to exist in a stationary lifestyle for long stretches of time without moving from their spot. There is little reason for a Celesteela to act aggressively to another creature unless it was being directly threatened, and when they do move they make an earnest effort to give fair warning to those around it before blasting off into the sky. And when they land, they strive to give the creatures beneath them an opportunity to get out of the way, but incidental injuries occur no matter what the Celesteela does for they are huge and cannot see everything beneath them or around them.

They are highly dangerous only in the sense that they are huge and create dangerous situations by nature of their existence. Astrobiologists recommend being careful around them.

Diet: Geological energy from their planet.

Conservation: Least Concern

Relationship with Humans: Celesteela are not native to the human homeworld and thus have very little interaction with humans, save for the odd astrobiologists and cosmic explorers. The timelines and civilizations that do know of them, know that Celesteela are regal giants to be admired, while simultaneously being dangerous living rockets to be cautious of.  

Classification: Astrobiologists have uncreatively named the Celesteelas “Celesteela celesteela” for they are the namesake species of their clade.

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[alolynn-heart]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

It doesn't know what you mean by that, but what it did sense was "snacks" in that thought process, and it wants everything to eat.

Everything.

(via @the-poke-nebula)

@the-poke-nebula

!!!!???

The screeching sound of the Guzzlord pierced through the night sky. No.. nope no no...not happening. She could only hop along in her blob like form. A simple sea pokemon at that. These ultra beasts weren't suppose to be here. Even more so she wasn't suppose to be a Pyukumuku! Lynn knew she was cursed. Although she did joke about it. But this???

This was absolutely insane!

"I reaaaaally don't want to become that things snack!"

Then again if she did meet her untimely end this particular water type did have an ace up its sleeve. A desperate look of mischievousness took over the former Aether scientist.

With that she stopped fleeing and turned around to face the pursuing Ultra Beast.

"That's right. I'm giving you the first move. Lucky, right? Just think of this as an appetizer~"

[mettatons-fat-doughy-asscheeks]

I love watching this robotic movie star slowly fall in ruin. What started as a snack evolved into his undoing. Too large to move, too brainwashed to think, and too incapable to being who he was once was.

Twink death at its finest.

*Twink death? More like total encompassing rumination. He was sooo fit not too long ago. But then fans like you sent him gifs of processed junk. That got him hooked. Now he's a flabby loser who couldn't act to save his life. He doesn't think with his brain anymore, just his gut and his buried lil cock. Both got cravings. Flabby roll covered gut wants disgusting, greasy, artery clogging, ultra processed fast food n sugary soda. Dick wants brain melting, fat filled, degrading porn n hour long bate sessions. He slowly started caving into those cravings so he got worse. And worse. And worse.

[watcherianlegacy]

You open up Faithbook and see a new post...

Little Aubrey is such a big help!!!!! She loves to help in the garden, toddling along and babbling at the plants!!!!

She even has an affinity for eating fresh veggies!!!!! We save SO much money just by letting her nibble on carrots, potatoes, and other produce as a snack!!!! And it's MUCH healthier than those ultra processed GMO extra sugar GARBAGE they stock at the shops!!!!!!

But what's TRULY important - aside from her devotion to the Watcher - is her devotion to family!!!!! And she is SUCH a good big sister!!!!! She adores little Beggy and looks forward to helping Mommy with aaaall her other future siblings!!!!!!! What a perfect little girl!!!!!!!!

[asknarashikari]

Ise meets Shouma

Shouma's pretty amazed to meet a little dragon, and one who can disguise himself as human pretty effectively. He's also a bit jealous because Ise has no worries about fitting in, even though his senpai point out that they have to be vigilant to avoid the secret from getting out.

He's also a bit disappointed that he can't always share his snacks with Ise since he can't have too many sweets or ultra-processed foods, but if Ise gives him the dragon-puppy eyes he caves and sneaks him some lol

[yakuzacanons]

Hello! Do you remember the "having a secret date night during Tanabata festival" request for some of the Ishin boys? Could I request the same thing but with Hijikata and Genzaburo, please? Many thanks!

Oh word yes I sure can, also sorry for the late reply, I promise you I had this one on the to-do list n all. Headcanons below, mwah.

Genzaburo Inoue

The date itself is secret but he isn't scaling no walls like the other boys. He's just slipping out a back door somewhere, real quietly. Honestly no one even notices he's gone.

Insists on meeting at your place and walking you to the festival. Won't wear matching outfits but will perhaps arrange an outfit that is complimentary in color scheme to yours.

Will buy you a nice little present or souvenir of your choosing. Doesn't go for the games that much but loves watching you. Spends most of his time browsing vendor stalls and snacking on various things.

Does take wish making rituals quite seriously. He can be a real wordsmith when he feels like it. Has great handwriting.

Walks you home and gives you a kiss on the forehead before he goes. Gen-san saves kisses on the lips for super duper rare ultra special occassions.

Hijikata Toshizo

Homey is not even keeping it a secret, he is walking his ass out the front gate without even saying bye. Since he's acting captain, no one questions it although Nagakura and Genzaburo have a good hunch what he's up to.

Will meet you wherever it's most convenient for you. Will extend his arm for you to hold onto or lean on, as that's one of his most preferred forms of physical affection, especially in public spaces.

He's kind of a people watcher so festivals like these are just for him to drink in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Doesn't go for any of the games much but will help you on really hard ones.

He doesn't really believe in the wish making process but always does it just in case. The problem is, he has so many things to worry about that his wishes can get longwinded. Sometimes he runs off the paper.

Walks you home and waits outside for a bit afterwards to make sure you got inside okay and you don't need him for anything before he takes off. He has an over protective streak going.