#and it's not like arthur doesn't know that

[copperbadge]

Hey Sam!

I recently purchased a second hand bread machine, and I know you like to bake! (I got King Authur's Flour per your recommendation.) I was wondering if you have any recipes or tips and tricks for bread making? I don't have an oven in my apartment so sadly that's not an option for me 😔

Without an oven, a bread machine is a great acquisition! You can often also make rice, oatmeal, and sometimes even yogurt in a bread machine, depending on the model. If the machine didn't come with a manual, try googling for it, or googling the model name and "recipes" to see what else people have done with theirs. It's great you bought KA flour, because materials really do make the difference -- good flour and yeast are key. Freshness can matter with yeast so buy something with a long expiration date, and keep the yeast somewhere cool, dry, and dark.

For bread making, there are two main things I always think about: you are nurturing yeast, which is a living thing, and you're forming gluten (presumably, if you're not cooking gluten-free). The yeast wants to have food and be warm, so you want to use pretty warm water (most machine recipes say something very specific like 115-125F or similar, but it should be warmer than your skin and not so hot it hurts your skin, that's how I measure it). Sugar helps feed yeast, so often there will be sugar or honey in a recipe even if it's not a "sweet" bread. If you're using older yeast, adding a bit more sugar can help it work. Meanwhile, protein helps support gluten formation, so milk or milk powder are common ingredients often listed as optional but which are very helpful. If you have a stove, you can even make milk bread, which is one of the best, fluffiest kinds -- google "hokkaido milk bread" for recipes. Nearly any bread recipe that doesn't have a super long rise or need to be shaped can be made in a bread machine, but often (especially on the King Arthur site) a recipe will include special tips for adjusting it for a machine.

Specifically for bread machines, the bread can stay warm in the pan for a bit, but the longer it cools in the pan the more likely it is to form condensation, which leads to moisture on the surface of the crust in contact with the metal. That dries out pretty quickly if you leave it out for a bit, but moisture reduces the shelf life of homemade bread a LOT (moisture feeds mold). Your best bet is to remove the bread as soon as it's cool enough to handle -- it used to be the hardest part of making machine bread was getting it out of the damn pan, but they may have gotten better since I had one -- and wrap it in a tea towel or leave it out to cool completely before putting it in a package of some kind. I used to keep mine in the fridge because without preservatives it can mold quickly. These days most breads I bake included a few spoonfuls of King Arthur Bread and Cake Enhancer, which is a mild preservative and worth every penny -- it makes the bread softer, with better crumb, and it stays good for longer. There are other brands you can get cheaper on amazon, probably, but I've only ever used KA so I can't speak to their efficacy. It's generally not sold in stores.

Okay, two last things: one, I always put the bread machine on the floor when I was making bread in it, because it rocks back and forth a bit when kneading and I have had machines "walk" off the counter before. The floor or a wide table are best. Two, bread is difficult and even a machine for making it isn't perfect, so you may fail when you first start out. Even if you don't fail the first time, you may not get a good loaf at some point, and that's the nature of yeasted breads. Don't take it personally -- and don't give up! After a while, you start to notice if something seems "off" but it takes time to learn that sense.

Happy baking! I hope it goes well for you.

[ceaselessims]

personally i don't think arthur should get faroe back

[creatingblackcharacters]

Favourite characters: Guinevere (aka Gwen) and Elyan from BBC Merlin.

They're brother and sister, children of a blacksmith, Tom, who is killed by the king (not Arthur Pendragon, Gwen doesn't marry the guy who killed her father) late in the first series. Estranged at the start, their relationship improves after Elyan returns to Camelot in s3.

Gwen starts off as Morgana Pendragon's maidservant, before becoming Queen Guinevere Pendragon later in the show. She's kind and brave, and she accepts shenanigans (two days after meeting someone: "oh you need a wheelbarrow? To move a dog statue up a flight of spiral stairs into your room off the physician's chambers? Sure, I'll help you"). She helps save multiple characters and smuggles a knight out from the dungeons under the nose of Morgana when she takes over and an immortal army, while still pretending to be loyal (okay, so Morgana technically lets her to bait a trap, but she doesn't know, so it counts). She's also the only character on the whole show to figure out Merlin's magic without being shown or told about it, and one of the first to discover Morgana's treachery because she's suspicious and investigates. She helps take down a witchfinder on the king's payroll, and can use a sword! And argues for other women to be able to fight! She's awesome! And she's still soft, and cares for people, including assisting the court physician (she has more medic skills than a lot of people seem to give her credit for). She also fits into the damsel in distress role multiple times. She's the daughter of a blacksmith and knows all about armour, and is very, very loyal.

And she becomes a queen! They cast a Black woman as Queen Guinevere! She gets to wear pretty dresses and she looks gorgeous in them (she looks gorgeous throughout but yk), and she has an important, strong role in her debut two-parter as queen.

Elyan's Gwen's brother. He leaves Camelot when he's a teenager and reunites with Gwen when they're both kidnapped by an enemy king as part of a trap. He's the son of a blacksmith, and has been a smith in the years he's out of Camelot. He reopens his father's forge when he returns to Camelot, in that episode, and although there's no timeline iirc, it can't be too long before he becomes a Knight of the Round Table instead. He's very loyal, loving of his family and friends, and although he's made mistakes in the past (leaving Gwen and his father and not returning voluntarily, not even when he found out Gwen was alone because their father was killed), he's making up for them. There's a nice (? not sure that's the right word but anyway) scene of them grieving together at their father's grave four series after his death and two after Elyan's return that shows that well (also some continuity, and them doing this despite all their duties to the kingdom is something I like, it shows the importance of family to them both).

They did them both so dirty in the last series though. They killed off Elyan (in the episode with that scene above, unfortunately) and it was in the first of a completely unnecessary three-episode storyline of her being enchanted, so there was a funeral but she didn't get to grieve and they never went back to it after the enchantment was removed, and they didn't really show any grief from anyone else either. The show just moved on. And sure they did that a lot but it's particularly aggrieving with Elyan because he's a knight of the round table, the queen's brother, the king's brother-in-law, they both grew up with the first knight, and they didn't pay enough care to it.

(this will be your surprised face when you find out I don't rewatch the last series)

ANYWAY. I love them both.

GWEN!!!! You have to understand she was the Original for me. The first time I'd ever seen a Black woman in a main role in one of those fantasy sorts of shows, where there are white people around her and everyone acts NORMAL about it. She belonged there!! So she holds such an important place in my heart and identity, even if I didn't even finish Merlin. Fuck anybody who says Black people don't belong in fantasy bc Gwen was there and she did it and I loved and needed that. And she's wearing the hell outta that dress 😤

Well I wanted to be excited about Elyan, bit of course he doesn't make it 🙄 I hate it when that happens, when a character dies and everyone's just like... All right! That's it! Especially if it's other Black person on the show, like wow thanks a lot. Well, we care about Elyan, even if I don't remember him 😤

[astheflowersgrow]

Fanart based on

I really liked the idea of John getting full control over Arthur's body after he dies (which is not really canon now). Being separated, cut off like that. The body feels so empty without him. And then you still have to see that face in every window and mirror you pass. And you speak with his voice but it doesn't sound the same it doesn't sound right. Everyone still calls you by his name but you're not him you know he's gone.

[dyns33]

Ada : "You never told us, how was your wedding night ?" Arthur : "She doesn't have to share everything with us." Ada : "Oh, shut up. Nervous, I guess ?" Y/N : "Yeah, Alfie was really nervous." Ada : "… I meant you ?" Y/N : "Oh. No. He was good." Alfie : "Just good ? You said it was really good, treacle. Great even. Wonderful, fantastic, ecstatic. The best." Y/N : "Of course, like every other time after that." Arthur : "We really don't have to talk about this." Alfie : "I know how to please my wife." Arthur : "I'm getting out of here." Ada : "Finally ! He was never going to leave. Thank you Alf. So, for Arthur's birthday, I suggest…"

[couldeatthatgirlforlunch]

hi i really really like you’re justice league series and you’re writing overall!!

poor reader must feel a different type of work burn out some days or maybe everyday lmao. was wondering how the justice league would react to the readers burnout being more visible or i guess obvious even if reader hides it (martian reading their mind or the worlds best detective batman noticing). would they let them take time off? suggest for them to go on a vacation, maybe even with one of them. it’s funny to imagine them trying to organize a vacation for reader. maybe even try and get the kids (sidekicks) to go on the vacation and make it seem like a happy family. it would be weird to see batman or superman at a beach or disneyland in their costumes because reader still doesn’t know their identities.

sorry my english is bad.

I have lots of requests about Reader going to the beach, taking a break, going on a vacation, just trying to relax and get rid of burnout (which I'm going to write eventually), but since this one is slightly different, with the JL being the ones to notice and suggest a break, I'm going to answer this quick while I'm trying to clean my inbox

I think some of them would try to join Reader straight away, like Hal, Barry, Diana and Arthur, still in their uniforms, being like "Hey, let me take you there this weekend!", as if you're not trying to take a break from them. Bruce, Clark and J'onn on the other hand, I think as superheroes, they would just keep an eye on them from afar, making sure they're safe and no one's bothering or flirting with them

... That doesn't stop them from joining you on their civilian identities

Reader's like, wow, so many good looking people trying to chat me up here! And BRUCE WAYNE! While they made it all up.

[foolsocracy]

identity reveals are always fun

[sakuravalelp]

Ellie(Dani) didn't realize how dangerous Danny's home was for him until he was more worried about her when she got her own home. - Prompt I think(?)

Ellie wasn't sure how to feel when Danny excitedly animated her to accept Arthur's invitation to live in Atlantis.

"Just if you want of course, but you'll get a stable home, and Frostbite said living underwater might be good for your water cores stability."

She had already been planning to accept the offer. Once she gave the guy an opportunity to have some sort of conversation, the guy was pretty chill, and the castle was pretty cool. So yeah, she was going to accept the offer.

But for some reason Danny's eagerness for her to go with Arthur hurt. It felt like he was trying to get rid of her.

She knew that was ridiculous, she didn't even live with Danny. He looked out for her, and was always a call away but, as much as Danny parents her, he was just a child like her. It made sense he was happy to give away the responsibility of taking care of her.

So when Ellie moved into Atlantis, she was expecting to hear less from Danny. After all, she had settle down, and he didn't need to worry about her adventures anymore. That was Arthur's and Mera's job now.

Weirdly enough, it was the complete opposite.

Now that Ellie was living with adults, Danny seemed MORE worried for her. They went from a call once a week or so, to almost daily calls in the afternoons. He would be more insistent about her telling him if anything was wrong.

He would ask specifics about the food she was eating, and her activities of the day, and her room, and the castles security...

Sam had told her that it was because he used to be able to monitor if she was eating well through the transactions of the debit card they had given her. Tuck had told her that he used to evaluate how safe she was through the phones location, and the hotels receipts.

And well, maybe she underestimated how much attention Danny put on her before, but the way the calls went made it seem like he thought she might be in more danger now that she had a stable home.

Which made no sense, because unlike him, she didn't even need to hide her ghostlines. Anything that was out of normal for Atlanteans was excused with meta-abilities, she didn't need to worry about being classified as a non-sentient species.

That was when it caught up to her. Danny was worried now that she was in a stable home because his stable home had always been dangerous for him. It isn't even a think of it being dangerous now that his a ghost, it has been dangerous ever since he was a child. She remembers all of Jazz's rants about how unreliable their parents have always been.

The food has always been contaminated. The security now attacked him directly, but there had always been a possibility of it malfunctioning and hurting the residents. Him and Jazz had always had the responsibilities of not only keeping the house clean, but the lab as well. If she tops it with the house security system attacking him, and his parents been ghost hunters...

Ellie hadn't found it too dangerous back then, Danny mocked Jazz rants with her, and Jack and Maddie were kind when they interacted with her in her human form. The Fentons neglect seemed liberating in comparison to Vlad overly controlling nature. But thinking about it now, after two months living in Atlantis, she doesn't like the picture.

She doesn't like the idea of Danny being somewhere so unsafe, but where would he go? He doesn't have a water core like her, and even if he had gotten sorta used to shapeshifting, he isn't good enough to live in a second form, which isn't recommendable either way. So he wouldn't be able to move underwater with her.

More so, she doubts that Danny would like to leave his Amity, he had taken the sole responsibilities of dealing with the whole humans - ghost conflicts. With the anti-ecto acts, there's no way he would leave the portal unsupervised.

What should she do now? Should she talk with Arthur about it? He said he was part of the heros friend group, what if they already know about the anti-ecto acts and are okay with it? What if they change hoe they act with her when she tells them she isn't actually an atlatean meta?

[koszmarnybudyn]

This was made because I read a fic "Proximity" by rosesofenvy and now i'm yearning.

[total-trash-tenno]

Culture shock --

When can we roll into the mall with a whole ass skeleton horse?

(the kaithe's name is Fred by the way. he wants to steal)

[arthur-lesters-right-arm]

Arthur the typa guy to get put in a labyrinth

[gilded-gheists]

None of these bitches are wearing seatbelts by the by and I love that they're all probably for different reasons.

[arthursfuckinghat]

"I was gonna say you're like a son to me.. but you're more than that."

"It ain't that complicated!"

How quickly that shoulder pat of comfort turned into a condescending one.

[rudycrowley]

I'm cooking something guys

[tryanmybest]

i cannot BELIEVE kayne let arthur die like that

that's his blorbo. his silly guy. his favorite character. if i were him i would be in there killing the witch immediately

[dawnsedits]

Welcome to the last frontier. They scavenged ships from around the world to build this place. The Sunken Citadel. It is the one place in the world where the scum of the land and sea mingle. It is where people come to disappear.

Wow.