#alreading finished season 2

[sweetshire]

btw i’m watching atla and i’m OBSESSED w it. hhhdhsjsaks it’s such a pleasant surprise bc this series is like this is the kind of thing i always used to daydream about. Little me would be so happy. It has quickly become all i can think about. Many many atla posts incoming, beware lovely mutuals!

[lemon-inferno]

Reborn Rich the final episode

What an ending.

It's so bittersweet but I love it. Maybe it's my obsession with Jin Do Jun, but if you follow the actual chronology of things - Do Jun was reborn as Hyun Woo first. Because he died first. And if fate cannot be changed then he was meant to recover his memories as Jin Do Jun, which had alread been burried within him. Even before Hyun Woo "died" (for a week), it was meant to happen. So who is really who at the end? As Hyun Woo called it, you could think of it as repentance, but for me personally, Do Jun existed in Hyun Woo long before Hyun Woo got "reborn" as Do Jun.

All that being said, I do have some very smaaaaaall issues with the ending.

First, it felt rushed. Honestly the last 3 episodes or so felt really rushed compared to the rest of the drama's pace. Everything that needed to happen still happened, but it was just.... I don't wanna say half-baked but.....

Second, Hyun Woo got shot straight in the head point blank. You're telling me he miraculously survived that? Sure there are some miracles that happene even in real life, but it's a patter I hate with tv shows, nto just kdrama. At the very least, he would've needed years to recover. Although, if I really want to defend it, I could say the years he spent as Do Jun somehow changed Hyun Woo's brain's perception of time which afforded him just enough time to recover. Still, between Do Jun's and Hyun Woo's death, Do Jun would've had a much higher survival rate than Hyun Woo. Sure, Do Jun's car got slammed pretty hard, but it's not comparable to getting shot at point blank IN THE FREAKING HEAD, now is it? :/

Also I would've loved to see the actual process of Mr. Oh Se Hyun working with Do Jun's mother, instead of just hearing about all the things they're gonna do..... but we don't get to see them.

Jin Sung Jun's character deserved more too. Sure he was greedy, but he was not guilty of ordering Do Jun's murder. Both times he was innocent. He knew everyone would've suspected him, which is was exactly what his father wanted. It's the reason why he got the company in the first place. Sung Jun deserves some justice too. I feel like it would've been that more epic if the show had gone back to the conversation between Hyun Woo and Sung Jun from episode 1 and committed to the bond that was forming. Imagine if we had Hyun Woo and Sung Jun working together in the final episodes. Hyun Woo gets to finish Do Jun's deed and Sung Jun finally has a change of heart and pays tribute to his grandfather and runs the company with the same heart his grandfather had.

On a more positive note (says anticupid), Hyun Woo did not end up in a relationship with Min Young! Which makes logical sense, for once. I'm not saying I'm happy that they didn't get together, I'm saying it happened for the right reasons. But I'm sure most of the ship's fans will be satisfied that she seemed to recognize Do Jun in Hyun Woo in the end. One could imagine they did end up meeting up and like.... making babies. Idk.

I liked the future Min Young a lot more. Although for her to become the Soonyang Grim Reapper and wear only black because she was mourning for Do Jun, I really would have loved to see more of their relationship developing at least? As it was all based on only a few times they talked? Briefly? But I guess human emotiones are unpredictable, so it's possible. Anyways, there's that.

A little sad the endings of the rest of the characters were rushed by too, but I didn't see anything that made me think "hmm this doesn't make sense". Honestly, is there not going to be a season 2? Now I'm kinda disappointed, because I wish we had spent more time with how the other characters' life continued. As well as more to see of Do Jun with his family. But I get it, it was never the focus of the show.

All my other thoughts about this drama flew out the window.

I can say it was a lovely experience. I enjoyed this so much despite constantly finding something to nag about. I loved following Jin Do Jun's life, and that particular era in South Korea's history. The real footage they used. I loved Jin Yang Cheol's character, I loved Lee Sung Min's acting (as well as Joong Ki's, always).

It made me cry a couple of times and any drama that invokes real emotion in me keeps a spot in my heart. Especially when Ha In Seok went to testify and thought Hyun Woo was Do Jun (was he wrong though?) and wanted to protect him. The unspoken hero of this show. It was a fantastic story, even if we look at it only from Do Jun's perspective, it makes for an amazing story. Had Hyun Woo not even been a part of this drama, I would've still loved just watching Do Jun and his grandpa. Hyun Woo's growth at the end was the bonus for me. I get to exprience something which unlocked his cage and his heart. The boy who grew up in poverty and had many hardships because of it, the boy who willingly walked into a cage because of his trauma caused by poverty. He put his emotions aside, thinking that money was more important than them. Finally, he was freed from it all.

With a new look on life, a new heart and a new dream, he was able to leave all of his hurt behind and live in a way that not only fits him better, as a human, but also a life that Do Jun would be proud to see him live.

Ugh. I'm gonna miss Do Jun's smile though. I know Joong Ki plays both, but that smile is now Do Jun's until the day I die and there's no changing my mind.

Alright, time to go cry in a dark corner. I love-hate this ending.

[hell-chronicles]

Hi! Romance Club is having a Diamond Rush event in about 15 hours, and I was wondering if you had any recs? I haven’t played any RC books, just been logging into it regularly to save up diamonds while I work through the choices books I haven’t finished yet, but I figured now would be a good time to start a book - but I really don’t know what’s good or not. Thanks!

Everyone becomes active during diamond rushes haha.

Personally I like the mythology based, fantasy and horror stories and most of my favourite stories fall under that category.

1. Path of the Valkyrie. The plot is all over the place but it's still fun since almost every chapter is action packed and the characters are pretty interesting. Plus it's based on nordic mythology and all the characters (except MC) are nordic gods, giants or just beings from across the nine realms so if you're into that I'd check it out.

2. Love from outer space. It's basically a cliche 80-90s sci fi story about aliens seeking refuge on earth and befriending a bunch of teenagers, X-file like FBI agents, mad scientist trying to get ahold of the advanced alien technology and so on. It switches between galactic and govermental threats that could kill everyone and normal highschool drama. Pretty fun if I may say so.

3. Legend of the Willow. Takes place in ancient Japan and is also very magic and supernatural based. The characters, especially MC, are pretty interesting and you get to romance a yokai which I did not expect but I'm glad it's possible.

4. Sails in the Fog. It has the old artstyle which looks kinda wack sometimes. But the story is alright, lots of action since its a pirate book and it focuses on mesoamerican/caribbean mythology since it takes place in those regions. Also this story is alread completely finished.

5. Sins of London. It's the fantasy steampunk story taking place in victorian london where you fight monsters with magic and guns. Pretty fun and the MC is hot.

6. Rage of the Titans. Basically ancient greek mythology but in a modern setting. The first season is kind of slow since the MC is trying to figure out what happend to her missing brother and how greek mythology is tied into that.

7. Arcanum. There are only 6 chapters out so far. It has this gothic horror vibe with unexplainable supernatural occurances and characters who all have their own secrets. Also the MC is mean and depending on your choices you can redeem her or not.

Honorable Mentions:

- Gladiator Chronicles. There's only one chapter but it has a male MC and it's basically just Star Wars in ancient Rome

- Shadows of Saintfour. I haven't played the story yet, but it's the main horror book and I heard its decent

- Sophie's Ten Wishes. It's the slice of life book and MC is canonically wlw. The first chapter is hard to get through but I heard the rest of the book is alright

- Heaven's Secret. It's just about Angels, Demons and christian mythology. The story has many flaws but it features my wife Mimi and you can choose 3 different personality paths for your MC. Also it is already completely finished.

[nerdyarchertea]

Oh also I finished Castlevania season 2 and I alread want to give Alucard a hug.

[excindrela]

12 Days of Demon Ayno - Day 12 (18+)

Supernatural AU

Pairing: demon! Ayno (Noh YoonHo) VAV / Female reader

Genre: Fluff / Smut

Warnings: Cussing, alcohol consumption, unprotected sex (be safe!)

Word Count: 2752

AU: Ok. TMI: I suffer from depression which means that I either can’t stop writing, or can’t make myself write...which is why it takes me forever. And sometimes I have writing ADD (well, I have that too...) and I can write 100 words on 5 different things, but not 500 words on one thing. I’m so sorry. Really. 

This should have been done in Dec of 19. It was finished in June of 20. I’m not sure anyone is still reading this. Is anyone here? If so, and you want me to keep going, send me a message. You can send anon. If you’re still here, thank you. Really- thank you.

Demon Ayno: Summoned, Thanksgiving, 12 Days: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11| Day 12 | NYE | Lunar New Year

On the 12th Day of Christmas: You & Ayno Brought Each Other Joy

The week leading up to Christmas had been bliss. With the exception of a few social obligations, you’d had absolutely nothing planned- leading you to spend your days in pajamas and lazing around on the couch and in bed with Ayno. It was just like when he had arrived in October- not having to be around anyone else or pretend to be human had allowed him to revert to bad-boy demon mode and it had pretty much turned into an eight day fuck fest. It had been a whole week of pure indulgence- the words “no” and “stop” never fell from your lips, but you had uttered plenty of “yes”, “more” and “don’t stop”. It was a good thing you didn’t have to go back to work until after New Year’s Day and it was turtleneck season, because your neck was a patchwork of purples and magenta, and your inner thighs were bruised beyond belief…you felt like you existed in a permanently blissed out state.

It wasn’t the only thing you did: You braved the cold to go see White Christmas on the big screen, and again to go to the Christmas carol sing-along at the college. You had been suckered into attending a cookie exchange, and although baking was still a disaster for him, Ayno cheerfully made the dough but left the actual baking of the cookies to you…and you left the eating of the cookies you brought back home to him.

Your favorite thing by far was all the moments when you just cuddled and enjoyed each other’s company in comfortable silence; or the opposite when you talked endlessly to each other about everything. But either way, you were always wrapped in Ayno’s arms- often snuggled against his chest, breathing in the spicy earthy smell that was uniquely his.

You passed on going to your mom’s house for Christmas Eve- you were unwilling to leave Ayno at home, but you weren’t sure they were all ready for each other after the Thanksgiving fiasco. Instead you opted to spend the afternoon in the kitchen with him, drinking wine and cooking dinner, stealing kisses, and laughing uncontrollably as he would break out into random dances to Christmas carols on the radio.

The two of you went through a whole bottle of wine while you cooked plus another entire bottle of wine at dinner, and it caught up to you around 10 as you were laying on top of Ayno, who was gently rubbing your back as you watched “While You Were Sleeping”. Your eyes grew heavy, and you felt Ayno pick you up and carry you to bed. He climbed in and spooned up behind you, placing soft kisses on the back of your neck, and wrapping his strong arms around you.

*          *          *

It was a little before two when you woke up cold and alone. You slipped out from between the covers and wrapping the throw blanket at the end of the bed around your shoulders, went in search of your demon and his unnatural body heat.

You found him- sitting on a blanket on the living room floor, knees pulled to his chest and his chin resting on them, gazing up at his beautiful glowing Christmas tree.

“Ayno? You ok?” you asked softly. He unfolded himself and opened his arms, beckoning to you with his hands. You went straight to him, letting him wrap his arms around you and pull you to lay on the floor with him. “Did I wake you?”, he asked as he placed a kiss on your forehead, “I was trying to be quiet.”

“No. I was just cold…and I missed you being next to me. I know the not needing sleep thing makes it boring just laying there.”

“I do not mind. I like looking at you when you sleep. You are so beautiful and peaceful. Sometimes I talk to you…”

“I’ve never heard you…”

He smiled and spoke in barely a whisper “I am very quiet. And I speak in my language so it will seem like background noise to you.”

You giggled, “What do you say? Are you telling me demon bedtime stories?”

He laughed lightly, “I do not think we have those…our stories are not the kind of thing that helps people sleep.”

“I don’t know…you seem to help me sleep…”

Ayno smiled and gave a slight laugh “That is not because I am telling you soothing stories, it is because I wear you out…” he said as he brought his lips to yours.

His kisses were achingly soft as he lifted you and slipped your shirt off over your head. You felt the cold sting your nipples to rigid attention. Ayno cupped your breast and let his thumb graze lightly over the bud as he lowered you back down to the blanket. His hands traveled down your sides and waist until he hooked his fingers into the waist of your pajama shorts and underwear so he could pull them off as he continued down your legs to your feet. He reached down and slowly ran his hands from thigh to ankle, and cupping your heel he brought your foot to his lips, delicately kissing the ball, arch and heel before bringing his lips to your ankle bone and beginning to leave a trail of kisses along your calf, the back of your knee, and up your inner thigh. You could feel his hands running soothingly up and down the outside of your leg as he went. You giggled as he nipped gently at your inner thighs “Mmm what are you doing No?” He smiled against your skin. “I am memorizing you. So even if I spent a thousand years in the circles of hell, I would still know every line and every curve.” He skipped over the place you most wanted him to touch and instead went straight to your other inner thigh kissing and nipping and working his way back down to your foot just as he had on the other side. After he had kissed each of your toes gently from biggest to smallest, he leveraged himself over you, and starting at your hip bone begin placing kisses in an arc just above your pubic bone before stroking his cheeks on your stomach, and ghosting kisses around your belly button. You ran your fingers into his hair, thumbs brushing over his temples and cheekbones as you breathed soft sighs of contentment. While you kept wanting Ayno to rough you up a little bit now and then, there was no denying that when he loved you gently you melted under his touch. His lips continued to explore your skin as he worked his way up your body, leaving gentle touches in the valley between your breasts, and then gently circling your mounds until he placed his hot mouth over your cold nipples, swirling his tongue and sucking. He ran his hands from your hips up your sides and breasts over your shoulders and down your arms until he reached your hands, threading his fingers between yours, and lifting your hands over your head. Ayno lowered his body and positioned himself at your entrance while still gently kissing your face and neck. He pushed himself inside at a slow steady pace, until he filled you completely. He stayed there, his body was flush with yours, creating as much skin on skin contact as possible. He pressed his cheek to yours as he continued kissing and sucking your neck and earlobe as he gently thrust into you at a steady pace. You closed your eyes, focusing on the incredible feeling of his weight on you, all over you, moving inside you. Wishing there was a way to get even closer, you wrapped your legs around his hips. Ayno lifted his head and kissed you passionately. He stayed close, nuzzling your nose with his, and lips still brushing yours and leaving fleeting kisses. When you opened your eyes to look at him, the tender look in his eyes caused your breath hitch. He looked deeply into your eyes with that soul penetrating gaze he had. “Thank you for keeping me. In all my years, nothing compares to these last weeks. Nothing even comes close.”   His words left you speechless, so you squeezed his hands and brought your mouth to his, hoping you could convey your emotions in the kiss. You felt his thrusts gaining speed and getting more intense. The familiar heat began to build in your belly, your toes tingled, stars appeared in your vision and you keened softly when Ayno hit the spot that made your legs start shaking and your whole-body jolt.  Your walls tightened around him as he took you over the edge. He slowed his pace, his hands squeezing yours tightly until he thrust into you one last time. He laid there and kissed you tenderly as his body softened and he could slide out of you without overstimulating you. 

 You had no idea how long you just laid there in each other’s arms just nuzzling and kissing, but Ayno’s bond with you told him you needed some after care. He wrapped you in your blanket before he padded off to the kitchen. He returned a few moments later, pajamas having magically reappeared on his body, with ice water and snacks- which he promptly began feeding you.

 “Do you want your present now?”, he asked, looking over at the tree, barely able to contain his excitement.

“It’s not Christmas yet!”, you laughed.

He pointed at the clock. “It is three hours past midnight. It is Christmas Day.”

Technically he was right, and he looked so hopeful.

“Ok,ok! Do you want yours?”

“I get a present too?”

“Of course you get a present! Did you really think I wouldn’t get you something?”, you said with mock offense.

He grinned. “Never got a present before! ...never celebrated Christmas before either. I did not really expect anything...already have you, so I consider myself spoiled anyway.”

If any other person had ever said that to you, you would have considered it the cheesiest fake line ever...but you knew Ayno meant it with utter sincerity.

He reached under the tree and pulled out a brown cardboard gift box

“You first!”, he said excitedly. “If you do not like it, tell me and I will fix it.” He seemed a little nervous. What kind of presents did demons give exactly? You undid the bow and cautiously opened the lid. You parted the tissue paper and pulled out a long, wide scarf that had been knit in an intricate open pattern out of soft cloud-like yarn in the most luscious color you had ever seen. “Do you like it?” he asked as he took it from you and began to drape it around your neck.

“Ayno, this is beautiful! …it’s so soft! …and the color is amazing…where did you get this?”

Ayno smiled shyly, “I made it for you.”

You sat staring at him with your mouth hanging open. “You made it???”

“Mmm-hmm. There is a shop downtown called “Knitch”. It is populated mostly with women who are nearer to death than not. They practice the old arts by using sticks and hooks to make things from fibers. I liked watching them. They noticed my interest, so they showed me how to do it…apparently I am clever with my hands. Do…do you like it?”

“I love it. It’s beautiful. I’ve never had someone make me a gift… I had no idea you could do this. I don’t ever want to take it off.”

He smiled proudly. “Now I will know you are warm when I am not with you. It is made from the hair of an alpaca and an angora rabbit, so we will have to clean it carefully.” He paused as he fluffed and adjusted it around your neck. “I am so relieved it pleases you…I was afraid you would not like it.”

 You took a small box out from under the tree. “I feel a little guilty about yours now. It seems so impersonal.”, you said as you somewhat reluctantly handed him the box.

Ayno’s face glowed as he turned the box over in his hands and ran his fingers over the foil paper. “So shiny! You wrap so well. I must learn this from you.” You expected him to rip into it with the fervor of a five-year-old, but he surprised you by carefully removing the tape at the seams and unfolding the edges. He lifted the paper away to reveal the gleaming white box with the holographic rectangle and number. He looked at it curiously before sliding the lid off and staring wide eyed at the object inside. He looked at you, and back at the box, a smile slowly spreading across his face. “For me??”

“Yes.”

“It is real? I may use it?”

You laughed. “Of course it’s real. And I got it so you could use it.”

He gently lifted it out and turned it over in his hands. “It looks just like yours! It even has the little apple on it!”

“Yes- we have the same model iPhone. But you have your own phone number. I hated that we had no way to get in touch with each other during the day, and well…it seems like you’re going to be staying awhile…”

You looked up into his face, his dark eyes filled with affection. He pulled you back into his arms, burying his face into the crook of your neck beneath the scarf. You realized that for you, giving Ayno his own phone had been a practical decision…but for Ayno it was far more: he had keenly observed that couples seemed to be linked by their phones – sending texts, calling, shared calendars and lots of pictures. While you had verbally acknowledged the relationship- and your desire to continue it…to him this was a physical symbol of that: a sign that you had accepted- and desired him as something fixed in your life.

“So exciting! Now I will look like everyone else at the coffee shop!” he said grinning.

“We can set it up and order you a case tomorrow, well, later today,” you said as you watched him power it on. “…or right now…”

“Can I play Candy Crush on it??”

“Yes, but you’ll have to start back at level 1.”

He was undeterred. “That is ok. Then I will have three stars on all my levels.” he said giving you a pointed look.

“So many languages…” he said scrolling through the list to make his choice.

“Is yours there?” you asked curiously.

He laughed “I think not…although more of us have cell phones than you might imagine.”

He happily set about picking a background, chose dark mode, let it scan his face for ID, set up a passcode (your birthday), found the app store and began downloading Candy Crush and Snapchat. Then he opened his “contacts” icon, pushed the “+” sign and handed his phone to you. You typed in your name, cell and office numbers, e-mail, and the apartment address.

“No picture?” he said as you handed it back to him. “Well, it’s the picture that will take up your whole screen when I call… so I’ll send you one that wouldn’t embarrass you…or me…to have everyone see it.” you explained.

Suddenly his face lit up. He pulled you into his lap, and turned on the camera to portrait mode, flipped it to front facing, and held his arm high as he brought his head next to yours and snapped his phone’s first selfies. He smiled with joy as he gazed at the two of you: still flushed with afterglow, colored lights reflecting off his blonde hair, bright smiles and all wrapped in each other’s arms. He immediately set it as his lock screen. “You don’t think we’ve taken better pictures?” you asked looking at your happy but disheveled faces .

He shook his head, “Look at us”, he said admiring the pic again, “so beautiful- happiness…affection...look how we fit together…all that is good in your world is reflected in us here. Now I have this moment forever.”

You threw your arms around him and held him as tight as you could. His arms came around you, holding you fast against him, his fingers in your hair and his soft cheek rubbing against yours. You wished you could stop time so this feeling would never end.

“Merry Christmas, Ayno”, you whispered.

“Merry Christmas.”

[sosoane1]

The Road to 1000 Novembre 2020 Edition

Movies (696-700)

Over The Moon (2020) 7/10 Watch it if you want (it’s good but could be better, feels like a disney movie)

Dracula (1992) 6/10 Watch it if you want (It’s old and long but it’s okay i guess, some of the movie making technics are cool)

Meet the Fockers (2004) 7/10 Recommended (its old but good)

Roxanne (1987) 6/10 Watch it if you want (Its old and feels like someone made a movie out of a fanfic trope)

A Knight’s Tale (2001) 8/10 Recommended (it’s a classic in my house)

Hamilton (2020) 8/10 Recommended (It might be the third time i watch it this year opps)

Radioactive (2019) 8/10 Recommended (I learned alot about stuff i didn’t know)

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) 5/10 Not recommended (It’s not at all what i thought it was.)

TV Shows (?-76?) I’m working on giving this a number so it might change

RWBY S6-7-8 (It’s really good but i had never finished it now with season 8 coming out i had to catch up)

His Dark Materials S2 (Season 2 here we go!!)

Class S1 (I watched a few episode again, i was kind of disapointed, not as good as i remembered.)

Glee S2-3-4 (I hyperfixated on glee but i didn’t finish season 4, i have alread watch the hole show when it aired so I’m not sad that i didn’t finish it this time around)

The Mandalorian S2 (Baby Yoda!!!!)

[mealsforsquares]

Thanksgiving, Part 2

And it was time, then, to start on the rolls, which felt weird, but also I didn’t want them to overprove, y’know? So I started some water boiling in a wide pot, and took the dough balls out of the fridge. I cut the wax paper underneath each dough ball, and dropped each dough ball into the water, flipping it after a minute to give it sixty boiled seconds on each side. I then removed them to towels (the wax paper having been pulled off already), then transferred them again to a silpat-lined pan and sliding them into a 400 degree oven until they were the right shade of golden-brown.

I started a pan on the stove, and fortified it with a handful of dried mushrooms, some red wine, and some soy sauce. This was going to be my secondary vegetable stock, made of trimmings from the rest of the day, replenished as the day went on. As I would peel an onion or a carrot or what have you, the uneaten part of the vegetable would go into this secondary stock, which I would use in part for all of the various stock applications that I had going today - it’s a meal that requires a great deal of stock.

Since I was already starting with the high-temp stuff, the next thing to come up was the stuffing*. I slowly melted some butter in a dutch oven, then diced 2 apples and threw them in there to get soft and buttery. I toasted a generous handful of walnuts in a dry skillet, then chopped those and tossed them in after the apple. I did the same with four small onions**, and then with four largish ribs of celery (I love celery so much, you guys). I minced a couple of cloves of garlic, then the leaves of a bunch of sage, and added those to the pan also. While they softened, I whisked together three eggs, and finely minced a goodly portion of parsley, salting and peppering this one heavily, since it was to carry the bulk of the seasoning for all of the stuffing. I mixed some stock in with the eggs, and used some more stock (it turned out to be about a quart or so total). I dumped my dry breadcrumbs into a pyrex baking dish, then followed with the now-gnarly-looking vegetable liquid and stirred it all around to make the bread as moist as possible. I then loaded that into the oven as well, to become the joys of soft, vegetable-filled stuffing. With crispy bread bits on top.

The next thing up was the cranberry sauce. I’ve not made a lot of actual regular cranberry sauce in my time, but I have made mostarda often to go with duck. The problem is that R probably wouldn’t have any taste for mostarda, being based as it is on basically pickling mustard seeds in wine and mixing them with sugar and vinegar to make a kind of jam. But I could use most of hte same flavors as the mostarda to make the cranberry sauce. So I popped some mustard seeds into some wine and set it on the fire to simme. I squeezed out three navel oranges (the kind of oranges tha twere the most readily available under the circumstances), and added the juice of two lemons. I made a sachet of cloves, allspice and cinnamon and dropped it itnot he simmering syrup. I added a cup or so fo sguar and let it all reduce down to a thick=ish srup. When it was done I added the cranberries and stirred them around to sort of smash open in the stuff, and then set it aside to cool, at which point it would thicken. It was a very fresh-tasting cranberry sauce, and that was the idea, since everything else was roasty and herbaceous. It was nice to have something to brighten up the palate on the table.

The centerpiece, other than the duck, was going to be a vegetables wellington. I was working from a recipe and had never mad eit before (both of which are things that I don’t ordinarily do very much of), so it was a little more difficult than usual, but it came out pretty well.

I started by peeling and boiling some carrots for the internal garnish to the pate***, then removing them from the water, hitting them with pepper and fresh thyme, and roasting them until they were soft. While that was happening, it was time to work on the duxelle.

I pulverized a package or so of crimini mushrooms, then got them in a pan and slated them, and waited for them to brown off. When they were almost brown, I added one finely minced shallot. I mixed together a large dose of bourbon with a splash of soy sauce, and added that when the mushrooms were brown. When they were just about dry from that, I added about a cup of bread crumbs, then moved the whole thing to a bowl. Into the bowl, I added the minced mushroom bacon from back in part 1, as well as a handful of minced herbs - I minced a generous bunch each of parsley, tarragon and chervil and added about half of them at this point (the other half would go into another part of the thing). I seasoned it and set it aside.

Now it was time for the puree. I dumped a pound of cashews into a quart of stock, then cranked the heat and let the whole thing boil until the cashews were nearly dry, at which point I ran them through the food processor until they were a fine paste. While that was happening I drained and rinsed a can of white beans****, then popped them in a low oven until they dried out and started to split. I cleaned a bag of shiitake mushrooms - took the gills out and all that, reserved the stems for stock - broke them into parts, and then cooked them until they were brown in a lot of hot oil, occasionally deglazing the pan with some stock to make sure to get all the browned bits up. I minced two cloves of garlic, and added them to the mushrooms once they were brown. I then transferred the beans and the browned shiitakes to the food processor, and processed them to another homogeneous paste. I placed a dry pan on the heat, and used to it to toast a half cup of sunflower seeds and a half cup of pumpkin seeds. When they were browned, they also went into the food processor, and were made into another paste. All of the various pastes - the beans/mushrooms, the cashews, the seeds - were combined with the other half of the herb mixture, and mixed together until the whole thing was homogeneous.

Some phyllo dough was laid out and brushed with oil, and a third or so of the pate***** was spooned out onto it, and then the whole thing was folded up like a burrito and set aside. At this point it became apparent, if it wasn’t already before, that phyllo dough is a huge pain in the neck, and setting it aside is the sort of thing that one should only have to do in particularly rough nightmares about going straight to kitchen hell. But I persevered.

More phyllo dough was laid out, and this time it was lined with the duxelle, with carrots placed on top of it, which were then covered by more of the duxelle, and then the first burrito was placed on top of it, leaving a double-burrito after it was all folded back over itself again. Then more of the pate was added to more phyllo dough, which was then rolled up again, and the whole thing became enormous and unwieldy, and then was covered in more layers of phyllo dough. Then the thing was brushed with more olive oil to brown up properly, and then gently wrestled (phyllo dough being the only substance known to man that would give me cause to use the phrase “gently wrestled”) into the oven to roast for awhile.

While it was cooking (I had no idea how long it was going to take) it was time to start the duck in a freestanding roaster - this served two purposes, it left th eoven free and able to be used, and it also made it easier to collect and distribute the juices when it was time to fry brussel sprouts and make gravy. The duck was presented fairly simply - covered in herbs, salt and pepper, then cooked slowly and gently, flipping and pricking with a fork periodically to render out as much fat as possible, and basting it occasionally with soy sauce. It took a little over an hour to come up to temp and yielded a couple of cups of duck fat, which was positively marvelous******.

While I was waiting for my duck fat to render out, and for my mains to cook, I started prepping the garnishes for the brussels sprouts. Into a cold pan went some diced bacon, whcih I cooked slowly. I poured very hot water over some onions to take the raw edge off of them, and put them in a bowl. I grated some manchego over the onions, and tossed the accoutrements with some raisins. When the duck was done, I reserved several tablespoons of the duck fat for gravy, and poured the rest into a cast iron pan. I added the brussel sprouts that I had alread par cooked (see part 1), and let them get nice and brown, then pulled them out and mixed them with the onion/bacon/raisin mixture and finished them with the fat that came off the bacon and a squeeze of lemon to brighten it back up.

The potatoes were very straightforward affair - I cut a half dozen yukon gold potatoes into cold salted water, boiled them until tender, and then stiuck them in a bowl, adding goat cheese, heavy cream, butter and more fresh thyme, and mashed them until they were the correct consistency. I covered them in foil and kept them warm.

(At this point the wellington came out of the oven, and the stuffing and rolls went back into the oven to warm before service)

I heated the duck fat that I had reserved in a pan, and added a roughly equal amount of flour to make a roux. I added some more minced fresh parsley, then some pepper, then some dry mustard to keep the flavors going. I poured the stock in over the roux and whisked it mightly, let it come to a boil briefly, then lowered th heat and called it gravy.

So the real question is: how was it all? It was fine. The rolls were especially nice, bagellish and rollish, and very good with butter. The wellington was tasty (although it had rather too much tarragon), but big and unwieldy. Next time I’ll trim it down a little bit and make it smaller, and it will be much easier both to manage and to enjoy. The wellington was also quite filling. The duck came out as well as ducks always do - rich and very slightly gamey and delicious, perfectly balanced by the cranberry sauce. The brussels sprouts were a work of art, although as they had been cooked in duck fat and dressed in bacon fat, they had no choice but to be utterly delicious. The stuffing was great and took the gravy well, the gravy was savory and unctuous, which also complimented the tangy, sharp potatoes. The pies were fine, although I remain a weak pie cook. I should probably work harder on these things.

All in all, it was very satisfying, and there was not a complaint to be had. Plus the leftovers made it all the way through, so life remains a succesful endeavor.

* stuffing is also relatively easy to reheat

** soon it will be the end of the time of the heirloom onions, and I will be so sad

*** the recipe had too many layers, but conceptually was sound: a pate was made, then wrapped in phyllo dough, which was then also wrapped in duxelle, which was then wrapped in more phyllo dough and then baked. The recipe called for a weird interstitial layer that I didn’t think was entirely necessary.

**** normally I would use dried, but 1) there wasn’t a tonne of stove space and 2) the pressure cooker was being used as a slow cooker to make mulled cider all day.

***** I’m using “pate” to refer to the bean/mushroom/cashew mixture, duxelle to refer to the other mushroom puree.

****** actually it was soy-sauce enhanced duck fat, which was even better for my purposes here, since I almost always use soy sauce in my gravy anyway.