#and then compare like recipes from multiple places

[unityrain24]

ghhh... got lost under mexican cooking tutorials...

[orteil42]

Cookie Clicker turns 10 today! Having outlived our enemies, let us celebrate with a fresh batch of announcements!

🍪First of all, Cookie Clicker is 40% off on Steam this week! The perfect gift for your loved and/or hated ones! (the web version is still free forever but you don't get Steam achievements or music by C418!)

🍪Secondly! The mobile version has been lagging behind the browser game for years and is in dire need of an update. I've been dedicating most of my time recently to bringing its content up to par! Here's a progress report:

Compared to the current version, this update adds back 284 upgrades and 179 achievements from the web game, which leaves 83 upgrades and 94 achievements still unimplemented plus a good amount of heavenly upgrades. I am determined to close that gap!

Seasons and the pet dragon are currently partially implemented. These are complicated, compound features with side-effects in all kinds of places so once the update gets an alpha release I'll likely be needing everyone's help to hunt for bugs and oversights. I'm being as thorough as possible but there's no way I didn't forget some obscure interplay somewhere!

I'm also updating the UI! Cookie Clicker's interface makes heavy use of woodwork, which is largely absent from the mobile version; I've been aiming to bring it back. Rather than recycling desktop assets, I'm looking to push the game's visual identity towards less "plain wooden boards" and more "victorian biscuit shop" (something I'd have liked to go for when I first made the game but didn't quite know how yet). Here's some early screenshots!

I'm using Blender for the new assets, I might make a more in-depth post about my process in the future. Please note that these are experimental and I'm still fiddling with the look! Once I'm happy with it I'll ideally be giving the desktop game a similar makeover.

This update will hopefully come out later this year and will likely involve multiple rounds of alpha. Once stable, future updates will focus on adding sugar lumps and as many of the minigames as possible.

🍪Thirdly: the Makeship grandma plushie is real and we're doing a giveaway! Please read this twitter post to enter. Note that if the launch campaign succeeds we've got other plushies in mind! Maybe a wrinkler?

🍪Fourthly - there was going to be a really cool announcement here but I've been informed I'm not yet at liberty to discuss it. It's sooooo cool tho trust me. things happening. u gotta take my word for it. tune in next time

🍪Lastly:

i've got enough dough for like, idk 50 more? mom's recipe. white+dark+milk chocolate. they're very good thank you

PS. thank you for playing with us all these years! odds are some of you reading this have been here since the very start. that's mad to think about! Opti and I couldn't have done this for 10 whole years without all of you hyping us up. i want to see if we can do 10 more. get real freaky with it

[corvusspecialartist]

Planning a Party for the Two Worst People (pt. 1)

You were an Imperial Agent working for the Sigilite. You were not one of the highest ranked, but still up there. You had access of many of the smaller found relics of humanity... trinkets and long lost recipes. To you, it was a miracle that you had made it this far; but compared to the nobility of Terra, you were nothing but a filthy peasant that somehow sneak their way up to the higher ranks.

But never mind that, it was a new day. You were on a personal cruiser waiting for the orders to receive from Terra. Recently, through your efforts, a crucial mission that your colleagues had somehow messed up, but through your skills... you managed to somehow mange to turn the mission around. Honestly, you didn't expect much in terms of a reward, but you hoped that you had... you had been working for the Great Crusade for years... but even then you have had doubts.

You have heard rumors and seen the Marines preform their work. You had seen multiple systems surrender once they heard of the mere mention of certain Legions. You were true to the Crusade, but not the officers that were near it. Often, during your assignments, many of the Imperial men and women often fought and bled in the droves....often to be used to as support for the trans-humans... in your taste.. it kinda rubbed you the wrong way, you were loyal the Emperor's vision yes, but the way you have seen countless men and women struggle to support, only to really be treated more harshly (in some cases) in return.

Shaking those semi treasonous thoughts from the back of your mind, you noted something was different within your work quarters... upon the holo-pict, it was flashing red. An urgent notice. Odd...but you immediately darted over and opened the message. You adjusted your formal uniform and prepared for the message's contents.

A large head appeared from the holopict, its features thin, and having an almost predatory like appearance. Their face had been treated by various medical treatments, but you could detect ancient scaring underneath it all. You tried your best to smile, despite the bile raising up in your throat. The head as if sensing your placidity or just basking in this moment, cleared its through and began to speak.

"I bring great news... a report has been recevied that the Lord Primarchs Konrad and Mortarion have completed joint missions successfully. Due to their grand successes in crushing the xenos... a grand party will be held to celebrate. " You tried to keep your smile wide, despite your thoughts racing... personally you heard rumors and had information on them... but it wasn't until the head finished it

"On the behalf on the Sigilite and as a commanding member of the 606th Exploratory Fleet, Master of the King's Blood... you will plan and host this party for these two primarchs. I will send you the location of where the party will be planned. It will take place around three months from now. Anything that you will buy for this event will not be reimbursed."

The pict said its standard formal salute, and disappeared. You started to laugh... it was almost too absurd of it all, why you? And party planning... it was not your forte after all. But orders were orders, no matter what. Still, it seemed like a complicated way to get rid of a rival, why didn't they just plant treasonous materials on you and send out the Assassins? Why didn't they just slowly grind you down assigning a worthless position?

No. This was meant to a public gruesome execution. You knew that Konrad, leader of the fearsome and based on the reports that you have read, has a nasty habit of brutalizing and tormenting those who may accidentally gain his ire. And, the other guest of honor, Mortarion.. a grim stalwart of a primarch..who's stubbornness and spite put the Master of the Iron Warriors to shame... so that you have been told. Many lifeless planets had been left in the wake whenever the Death Guard battled with the poor souls that drew in their ire.

You sighed getting up and pulled up the location of the ball, it was on Terra of course. You didn't know where it was, but at the very least it was on neutral ground, so the risk of an undue assassination was low. There were so many factors to consider: For an example, making enemies based on who you invited amongst the military and traditional nobility; you certainty had to invite the Mecanicum, and the navigator houses. Still... you had so little time, but you would take on this challenge,for everything depended on it.

[thewertsearch]

Trolls Made Our Universe: The Analysis

Let's talk about it.

Looking back, it's pretty clear that this was always our destination. The comic's scope has been on an upward trajectory for thousands of pages, and the Ultimate Alchemy hype has been building since midway through Act 4.

Hell, even I thought the planet I theorized about was just going to be a stepping stone to something bigger. Homestuck just keeps escalating - we might not even stop here, although I can't predict what the next step would be, since we're working with multiple varieties of multiverse already.

Anyway, this reveal confirms that Sburb's grandstanding about the Players' importance isn't just hot air - they really do serve a critical purpose. Assertions that this 'purpose' is more important than saving Earth are still dubious - but now, I can at least understand the coldly utilitarian place the game is coming from.

I still don't know why it has to work this way, but now I finally know what's happening. Earth's universe was born from the blood of Alternia, and the kids were created to perpetuate the cycle again, creating a new universe from the blood of Earth.

Close! It was less of a gasp, though, and more of an under-the-breath 'what the fuck'. I don't know why a universe surprised me as much as it did - like I said, I was already half-expecting a planet!

I think the real sticking point is the difference in scale - and, as a consequence, the difference in Grist cost.

It makes a certain intuitive sense that you could convert the Denizen Grist into a planet - comparable in size, presumably, to the planetoids that the Denizens call home. But a universe is an entirely different animal, one which would dwarf the Incipisphere by dozens of orders of magnitude.

Extrapolating from the typical volume of a Grist piece, four Land-sized vaults of the stuff wouldn't be nearly enough. Even if Denizen Grist is a million times more valuable than normal, and each Denizen released a million times the Incipisphere's volume in Grist, it still wouldn't be nearly enough.

I guess the game could just hardcode the Grist cost of a universe down to a manageable value, but that would break the game's own rules, and doesn't seem in spirit with how its progression system works.

No, I think something screwy must be going on with the Denizen hoards. Maybe they're full of special Grist, each piece of which is worth 1e70 normal pieces - or maybe picking them up actually multiplies the value of your grist cache, rather than adding to it.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the hoards are this comically large. After all, their value is beyond even Vriska's imagination.

The exact mechanics here are definitely worth speculating about. Let's talk about how, exactly, this universe may have come to be. The trolls obviously can't have crafted this thing atom-by-atom, or even planet-by-planet - not unless Aradia took them into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a billion years of blueprinting.

A lot of Alternian culture is integrated into Earth, though, and it had to get there somehow. In keeping with what anon said, I think these ideas were sort of 'merged' into the universe when it was created.

After all, Sburb is all about merging ideas, and we've been working with idea-merging machines since day one!

The trolls alchemized their universe, even if they didn't use a traditional Alchemiter to do so. If they wanted their universe to exhibit certain traits, all they needed to do was feed it certain ingredients, merging them with whatever 'universe' object they presumably gained access to at the end of the game. I'm just going to call it the seed.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls is because the trolls inserted their codes into their universe's alchemy recipe, perhaps attempting to revive the troll species without the Matriorb.

Wait, scratch that.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls, and have red blood, is because one specific troll's code ended up in their recipe.

Come to think of it - since we're already doing large-scale alchemy, there's a pretty easy way for the trolls to ensure that every trait they want ends up in their new universe.

All they'd need is a fetch modus and a drawing tablet.

If you're being evicted into a new universe, you might as well make it feel like home.

Adding Alternia's code to the seed would, in one fell swoop, explain all the facets of troll culture observed on Earth. It would also, in a way, 'resurrect' the troll homeworld without truly reviving it - a bittersweet prize for our victorious Players.

As mentioned above, it would be weird if Earth was the only planet to inherit DNA from Old Man Alternia. It would make sense if each civilization exhibited different Alternian traits - like, maybe there's an exoplanet out there somewhere where lusi evolved, and another where everyone has the same necromantic powers as Aradia.

It also means the universe was probably full of space empires. If the meteors didn't get Earth, Neo-Alternia might have eventually come knocking...

I also think I was conflating the signs on the trolls' clothes with the signs of the Alternian Zodiac, without considering that those might be two entirely different sets of 'signs'. The trolls themselves never refer to Cancer or Aquarius as Zodiac signs, after all. Maybe the Extended Zodiac is a different thing entirely.

Anyway - yeah, that is interesting. The kids' universe was created by twelve Players, and now its stars bear their signature - so whose signature is embedded in the trolls' stars?

An implied 48-Player session sounds amazing. Doubly so, if Hussie's using Squiddles to imply a Horrorterror session. That's an absolutely fascinating idea, on so many levels, and I do hope we see the trolls speculating about their own creators at some point.

Of course, this 48-sign Squiddles stuff could also be a red herring. I'm getting used to how this comic works, and just so it's on record...

...this is what I suspect is actually going on.

In any case, I'm as hyped as you all are!

Hussie's hand has finally been shown, and Homestuck has been revealed as the creation myth that had been built up all along. I can't wait to see what's next.

[theshinazugawaslut]

i hope this isnt rude or anything but how come you get so much interaction? because compared to other blogs youre relatively small, not in a bad way just i dont think youre as popular as i wish you were. as someone who just started their account, your account grew so quickly... from what i can tell it feels like its because youre very welcoming but i wanna know your "recipe"

First of all, do not worry at all, this is not rude whatsoever!

Honestly, I'm very surprised that I became as popular as I did, and I'm genuinely so, so grateful. I don't have a 'recipe' per se but my Wattpad was nowhere near as successful as my ao3 and Tumblr! I'd say this is because of a multitude of reasons:

Like you said, I think you need to make your blog a nice place to be — I avoid hate, negative vibes, or just complaining overall since I believe it unintentionally puts an almost cynical, bleak cloud to be associated with you. I try my best to answer everyone's questions, write their requests though I do try to make sure it's clear that I won't tolerate disrespect to anyone on my blog. I also avoid drama since it irritates me and it feels immature.

Also, you need to be grateful for what you have, it'll help your mindset. A lot of people focus too much on 'reblogs, notes' which I do understand but I find that when you focus on it too much, there's actually a less likely chance of it meeting your high expectations which sets you up for sadness or disappointment. Though I do find that I personally get annoyed by blogs who constantly complain about low interaction but their blogs are either not the most inviting or they're getting so much interactions but still complain; I understand that it can be disheartening but it often makes the people who do interact upset as well.

This is the most important thing I will say: do it for fun. Don't, and I repeat, do not, pressure yourself to shovel out content and do not feel pressure. When I say I plan on writing everyone's requests, there is never any pressure on me since I don't let it, I take it in my own stride and do the best I can when I can. Don't burn yourself out. Take breaks. Reward yourself. Often, I've found that people immediately take pressure on themselves or make it a sin to take a break. For example, when I realised I needed to withdraw from writing for awhile to shift my focus and attentions elsewhere, I simply just did; I interacted as much as I could/wanted to but I never forced myself to sit down and just write when I'd rather do something else.

Now, for the actual content-aspect: keep it diverse! The things I write range from drabbles, one-shots, one-liners, long fics, multiple-chapter fics! If you have a wide array of things on your page, it keeps you active and it gains more followers! I'd also suggest making a masterlist/navigations page!

I hope this helps !!!

[exhausted-archivist]

Comparing and Contrasting Recipes From the Cookbook to Previous Mentions: The Differences, Similarities, and My Thoughts

A full list of recipes that have been previously mentioned in the series, coupled with my thoughts on the cookbooks working recipe in comparison.

I find interest in the fact that the working recipes have little to no grounding in lore as they are often in contradiction to the lore blurbs that accompany them or are in direct contradiction of in game recipes in instances that don't seem apparent as to why they made the ingredient change. Fluffy Mackerel Pudding being the exception to this.

But I broke this into 4 sections:

Previous Dishes Recipes and Their Differences

Drink Recipes

Lore Differences, General Notes

Short Summary of Opinion

Going to put all of this under the cut as it is super long.

Previous Recipes and Their Differences

Antivan Gnocchi This one was a curious one, as the dish was only recently introduced into Thedas in Tevinter Nights. I enjoyed the lore blurb for this recipe as it really anchored in some food and cultural facts you only hear in the anthology. However, the lore blurb describes the gnocchi as dressed with leeks and cheese sauce but then the working recipe... distinctly lacks any leeks and instead goes for a rather basic pine nut pesto sauce. Which puzzles me why they didn't just simply describe that rather than what is in the lore blurb.

Eggs à la Val Foret Originally mentioned in a note in Trespasser. It is described in the cookbook to have tons of cream and in the original note to have a cream sauce. However, the working recipe does not follow that criteria, using hollandaise sauce and giving this recipe a form of eggs Benedict, leaving the first case for why the recipes in the cookbook are likely not adhering to canon.

Black Lichen Bread This one I almost didn't include as the specification of black lichen has never been mentioned before in canon. However, we do know that in Origins we have mentions in Orzammar of lichen bread and in the lore blurb it specifies "this is lichen bread not bark bread" so I'm running with that. My thoughts on this particular recipe is the fact that instead of using a grain that would give a brown colour and mixing something like black seasame of gel food colouring to achieve the dark colour and instead used activated charcoal. Which shouldn't be anyone's first choice due to the known risks of consuming activated charcoal. Which is a whole post in and of itself that I went into here.

Dwarven Plum Jam The plum jam was first mentioned in Origins and has been remarked on multiple times since. There isn't really anything to contradict here in terms of the lore blurb, the working recipe throws me, because this recipe is not meant for long term storage outside of the refrigerator. Which is arguably not made clear enough as the final step says "The plum jam will keep for up to 6 months sealed in a cool place. Refrigerate after opening." Which contradicts the last line of the previous step "Store the jars in the refrigerator." As minor as they seem, these are pretty big distinctions. A cool place does not necessarily mean you keep it in the fridge, and this has to be kept in the fridge. The recipe doesn't call for any sugar so there is nothing actually preserving this for long term storage outside of it. So, it really isn't stressed at all and the wordage is conflicting. I would have adapted this for a smaller batch because 4-5 - 14oz jars in your fridge of the same thing take up a lot of space if you aren't giving them away. Additionally, I'd use allspice instead of cinnamon and vanilla extract. If you bloom the allspice before putting it in the plum reduction you get a much larger depth of flavor and you get the notes of vanilla and other things with it.

Fish Chowder First mentioned by Zevran in Origins while speaking of Antiva, the lore blurb carries the same theme. Speaking of how it is a dish that will bring you to Antiva city. There isn't much to speak of in terms of pre-established ingredients, however I find that the working recipe is a bit rich for a dish to be served to folks between a tannery and the coast. Which is a theme I have noticed in general with recipes of the poor or lower class. Instead of using them as simple, low-effort, and sort of beginner recipes they seem to evolve into one of the more complex. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I would have preferred they took advantage of more humble recipes from lore as such things and add additional notes of possible things they could include to "elevate" the recipe as it is called.

Fish in Salt Crust This is Avvar in origin and first mentioned in the DLC Jaws of Hakkon. The lore blurb and in-game description say that this is made by wrapping the fish in pungent leaves and cooked on banked coals. However where the in-game description specifies that the fish and leaves are wrapped in clay, the cookbook's lore blurb replaces that with salt. To be honest when I heard it was wrapped in pungent leaves and clay/salt, I was thinking something akin to banana leaves or something of the sort. The working recipe however uses thyme and rosemary, herbs. Which is an understandable and accessible swap, however the conversion of clay to a salt crust confuses me as there are casserole dishes, terracotta dishes, and other cookware means to replicate the "clay" wrapping while cooking in an oven. Especially considering the recipe calls for 4.5-6.5 lbs (2.04-2.95 kg) of salt I think a cookware swap would have been more economical. That said I do love a good salt crusted fish.

Fish Pocket Though referred to as fish wraps by The Iron Bull in DAI, these are the same dish. The lore blurb says that they learned this recipe from the Bull's Chargers. Which would imply the working recipe is roughly the same. However in the game Bull describes it as fish wrapped in thin bread. The working recipe has these more akin to a hand pie or pasty, wrapping the store-bought salmon filet in pizza dough with minimal seasoning of salt, parsley, pepper, shallot, and egg.

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding This recipe first debuted in Origins thanks to Mary Kirby and Sheryl Chee. It is in reference to the original weight watcher recipe and also the secondary example as to why the recipes likely aren't canon outside of the lore blurbs. The recipe in-game and the cookbook lore blurb calls for celery, eggs, mackerel and onion. The in game recipe also calls for Antivan pepper (Thedas replacement for cayenne), green pepper, mustard, salt, mace, cardamom seed and specifies the mackerel is to be poached. The working recipe calls for potatoes, smoked mackerel, butter, eggs, black pepper, and ground nutmeg. An entirely different dish for obvious reasons, as this dish was a play on a weight watchers recipe.

Found Cake First introduced in Origins and described very little aside from how it had likely seen better days as well as having mabari spittle on it. Something the lore blurb of the cookbook references. A new aspect of this cake coming from the cookbook is that it is a chocolate cream variety topped with white frosting and strawberries. Much like the item icon in Origins, though it should be noted the item icon is also shared with the sugar cake. As far as the working recipe, it's simple and sounds delicious.

Goat Custard This one is technically introduced in Inquisition, however it is not a desert custard but a savory one. It's actually not a custard at all but a broiled goat head. So, a very big switch up! I do enjoy this recipe as a whole though, from the wonderful short lore blurb to the rather simple recipe.

The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew Previously only mentioned on a loading screen of DA2, this stew in the lore blurb is kept the same. A mysterious meat stew made every day, but not knowing what exact type of meat you might be eating. Personally, I find the working recipe in the cookbook too elaborate for a tavern that is known for its ill-reputable clientele and is described as smelling of sour ale, vomit, and desperation. The working recipe calls for olive oil, onion, garlic, pancetta, ground pork, tomato paste, dry red wine, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, canned corn, red bell pepper, chili pepper, bay leaves, allspice berries, clove, salt, pepper, paprika, caraway, oregano, sugar, lemon, and parsley for garnish.

Heath Cakes Another recipe that debuted in the World of Thedas Volume 2 under 'The Whole Nug' section on page 295. It also notes that it is traditionally made with halla butter but can be substituted with goat or cow butter, same as in World of Thedas. Hearth cakes are noted to be "common Dalish fare".

Lamb and Pea Stew This was a stew first mentioned in Origins and has been jokingly referred to since, even in the cookbook. Alistair's version of this dish is a uniform grey colour that leaves Leliana unable to discern that there was even lamb in the stew. Though the cookbook calls this King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Stew, it is clear in the lore blurb that Alistair's opinions on Fereldan cooking is incorrect save for throwing it in a large pot. Overall the working recipe is fairly basic; potatoes, oil, onions, ground lamb, tomato paste, beef stock, canned peas and carrots, pepper, paprika, butter, cream, nutmeg, cheese, and thyme. However instead of a stew, this working recipe instructs you in what would better be described as a casserole. Which isn't the first time that the cookbook deviates so strongly from the dish name or even lore description.

Llomerryn red Mentioned in the recipe for Merrill's Blood Soup and is another recipe that debuted in the World of Thedas Volume 2 under 'The Whole Nug' section on page 286.

Nug Pancakes A dish first mentioned in Origins along with the famed nug-gets. A recipe, unfortunately only referenced in the cookbook. Over all the gist of these is the same and the working recipe itself takes on a more developed and savory path than one would expect for something deemed to be a child's favorite. And by that I simply mean it is a high effort meal that I couldn't really see being served regularly outside of Orzammar's upper castes of nobles, royals, and warriors. As in Orzammar such spices as sugar, coriander, cumin, spicy hungarian paprika, chili powder, and the like would all be expensive surface imports.

Peasant Bread Originally shown in the novel Masked Empire as Michel de Chalon watches the Dalish make it for their midday meal and reminds him of his mother making it. Like the novel, the lore in the cookbook keeps the basic ingredients the same, a simple recipe of wheat, salt, and grease. The difference between the novel and cookbook lore is their chosen topping, Michel's mother would top his slice with sugar and the cookbook suggests butter and jam. The working recipe however, calls for an alternative of active dry yeast, flour, sugar, milk, egg yolks, and butter.

Pickled Eggs Another recipe that debuted in the World of Thedas Volume 2 under 'The Whole Nug' section on page 285. It is also noted to be a popular Fereldan tavern food and cure all. The difference in tone between the two recipes is 'The Whole Nug' is written by an Orlesian and views the recipe with distaste, and the cookbook's narrator is Fereldan and speaks with a fondness. The recipe itself differs in that the World of Thedas calls for sugar, salt, vinegar, water, and boiled and peeled eggs while the cookbook - which notes it is providing a base recipe that you can customize - lists onion, bay leaf, allspice berries, cloves, mustard seed, peppercorns, dried chili pepper, caraway, water, sugar, salt, white wine vinegar, and eggs. It also suggest alternative herbs and spices such as rosemary, tarragon, dill, thyme, and curry or to include aromatics like beets, bell peppers, squash, and garlic. Overall, this is one of my favorite working recipes for how its formatted and how it encourages more openly with trying different seasonings. Though, I think the World of Thedas recipe is better as a "base" to build from. So if you do want to experiment, I think reducing to those basic 5 ingredients and building from there is the best way to go about it.

Roasted Cave Beetles Previously mentioned in the Dragon Age Tabletop RPG (TTRPG) in the Buried Pasts adventure, the dwarves eat the beetles in the shell after roasting them.

Roasted Wyvern This is an Orlesian and Avvar favored meal item, mentioned in Da2 and in World of Thedas Vol. 2. There really wasn't much description on the method of roasting, seasoning or anything. So there really was a lot of room to play with this. One thing I found curious was that they use turkey legs in the working recipe for wyvern meat. It is an interesting choice and one likely made due to the size of a turkey leg, as you can't necessarily make turkey steaks like the wyvern steak mentioned in the Rusted Horn.

Sera's Yummy Corn Another recipe that debuted in the World of Thedas Volume 2 under 'The Whole Nug' section on page 295. It was written in her hand and displayed as if it was slipped in. Like in the lore burb of the cookbook, it is specified that the corn used has to be yellow and "not that weirdly checkered stuff". That it needed to be "cake-hot, not forge-hot" and it required no pot or wrap, simply "steal-heat-peel". However, in contrast to both of those, the working recipe of the cookbook makes what would be a humble and delicious snack a little more. Introducing herb butter composed of parsley, chives, clove, red onion, butter, ground mustard, and has you boil the corn (it suggests pre-cooked?) in milk and sugar, before you grill or broil it and top it with chili pepper rings.

Smoked Ham from the Anderfels There really isn't much to say about this famous gag in Dragon Age. First mentioned in the dlc Mark of the Assassin, we get the first idea of what exactly is on this ham in the cookbook lore book. It comes with different glazes, Devon's favorite being a glaze composed of apples and apricots.

Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie Originally mentioned in Dragon Age 2 and later in Dragon Age Inquisition, this dish is spoken to be both Sebastain Vael and Samson's favorite dish. It is a recipe that appeared in the World of Thedas Volume 2 under 'The Whole Nug' section on page 283. The working recipe in the cookbook vs The Whole Nug differs a fair bit. To start, the amount of ingredients between the two, the cookbook having 23 and The Whole Nug having 15. I couldn't really compare the two in which I would prefer, but I do have a leaning towards The Whole Nug due to it being more adaptable as well as being intentionally anchored in-world.

Stuffed Vine Leaves These were first depicted in the comic Deception, where they are in a tavern in Tevinter and in the background you see someone eating what looks like dolmas or stuffed grape leaves.

Sugar Cake Another Origins item, this cake is described as being a simple pound cake dressed in strawberries and sugar-cream icing. However, the lore blurb and the working recipe directly contradict this. The lore blurb describes it as a humble mixture of butter, sugar, and almonds. Then, directly references a line from the origins item description about how it is "the perfect pick-me-up after a long day of travel." They seemed to have given the cream icing and the strawberries to the aforementioned found cake and turned this into a simple pound cake with almond topping. Which works well enough, however I think if they swapped the names on the two recipes they would make more sense. The working recipe calls for such little sugar, I didn't quite get as much sweetness as one would expect from such a cake.

Turnip and Mutton Pie Previously mentioned in Inquisition on the Rusted Horn's menu in Crestwood, this is another recipe with more play for the cookbook as the game only offers the detail that such a dish is worth 3 coppers. The lore blurb in the cookbook makes it sound like a humble and filling dish as well as describing it as a double crusted pot pie versus just a top crust. Which is what the working recipe gives you. Which isn't surprising and is of little consequence one way or the other, especially considering that the working recipe is for an 11-inch (27.94cm) pie.

Drink Recipes

All of my opinions on the alcoholic drinks is that they should have had a mocktail version, and if not all a good chunk of them would have worked well as mocktails.

Another opinion of mine that you will see pretty regularly is that most of these drinks have listed ingredients in lore and are usually remarked on in the lore blurbs. But the working recipes are so far removed it is rather jarring. Which circles back to my previous opinion of the fact they could have made these mocktails.

Antivan Sip-Sip Introduced in Inquisition, there is no official ingredient list for this one. Simply this description: "Careful, this one's mean. Attic-raised mean. Popular among highborn who wish to seem dangerous, but more at home grasped by the neck by those who actually are." A description that is vaguely referenced in the lore blurb. As far as the working recipe goes, it's simple coconut rum, Jägermeister, and pineapple juice. Honestly, it could be a mocktail but I don't think it's really a missed opportunity here that it wasn't unlike some of the others.

Chasind Sack Mead Described in Origins as "A brutishly strong honey liquor, reminiscent of warm summer days, apple blossoms on the wind with an unexpected aftertaste of father going off to war, never to return. Bitter, to say the least." The lore blurb makes another poetic description in the same vein where it is more akin to the changing of the seasons; "First, there's a near-overwhelming rush of honey, tinged with the sour-sweetness of apple blossoms, that fills the mouth with all the bright warmth of a summer's day. But as the initial sweetness fades, there comes an unexpected bitterness, reminiscent of the slow decay into fall, then winter." They're both distinct and evoke a certain flavour profile to the mind. Now I likely won't be making this at any time, so I cannot speak to how well the working recipe captures that flavour. But the ingredients it lists vaguely evoke the potential of it in theory of what I know for these ingredients. It calls for apple juice (unfiltered), pure culture brewer's yeast, water, honey, St. John's wort, meadowsweet, verbena, and kieselsol.

Dragon Piss This one is interesting because while it has this description in Origins: "The name is probably figurative, but no one knows for sure." It actually has its first draft of a recipe from a twitch stream where the recipe is "1oz light rum, 1 oz dark rum, fill with iced tea". The cookbook recipe is a far departure from that, as it calls for raspberry brandy, sparkling wine, and blue curaçao liqueur; as well as lighting it on fire. The main spectacle of this drink is that it is lit on fire. I think the twitch recipe is a good foundation of a mocktail as well as sticks more visually to the name. Could have been a mocktail.

The Emerald Valley This cocktail from Inquisition is a recipe from The Gilded Horn like many on this list. But for this drink, it calls for: a spirit distilled by Chantery sisters in Lydes from over seventy herbs and flowers, topped with egg-white foam and dusted with nutmeg. A rather specific spirit to say the least. So much so the lore blurb for this drink is only two sentences long and focuses on that. Meanwhile the working recipe calls for ice cubes, bourbon, herb liqueur, simple syrup, heavy whipping cream, egg yolk, and freshly grated nutmeg. The only overlap between the two is the nutmeg dusting. I do wonder why they went with bourbon and made what is in essence eggnog with less spices. The shift from egg-white foam topper to what seems like would have been a good herb infused liqueur or an herbal simple syrup and making it akin to a mule or mojito. If they really wanted to keep with the strong herbal taste a St. Germain would have been a good base to build off of. Could have been a mocktail.

The Golden Nug From Inquisition, this recipe from The Gilded Horn calls for effervescent (fizzy) white Seleney wine, dash of West Hill Brandy, and a splash of pomegranate juice, muddled with raspberries and a sprig of royal elfroot. The lore blurb also specifies all this but the royal elfroot and describes the drink of having a pinkish hue. The working recipe however calls for ice cubes, grapefruit juice, gin, tonic water, and rosemary for garnish. A departure from the fizzy white wine and brandy combo with pomegranate and raspberries. If they were going to keep it alcoholic, I think a better swap would have to keep everything but swap the white wine for tonic water and making this a brandy and tonic based cocktail with pomegranate and raspberries vs a grapefruit gin and tonic and still achieve a soft pink look. Could have been a mocktail.

The Hissing Drake In-game recipe from The Gilded Horn which includes: cinnamon-infused whiskey, dark Llomerryn rum, Hirol's Lava Burst. Two of those three recipes are pretty easy to find here, and the Hirol's Lava Burst which "tastes of burning" would have been replaced with a high-proof alcohol and/or mixing in hot sauce or garnishes with spice - as it does in the working recipe. However the working recipe amounts to a bloody mary, having: Lemon juice, salt, vodka, tomato juice, tabasco, worcestershire sauce, pepper, sea salt, celery rib, pickle, spiced jerky. Coupling the working recipe with the lore blurb, it feels a little weird to have a drinking contest with bloody marys. But, people can and do have weird choices for drinking contests. Could have been a mocktail.

Hot Chocolate Bull's personal mission in Inquisition, making cocoa with Orlesian guimauves. Overall the working recipe is fine, it is a simple cup of cocoa and they even direct you on how to whip your own whipped cream.

Lichen Ale First mentioned in Origins, this ale is known to be toxic to everyone who drinks it but non-dwarves especially. Something the lore blurb stresses heavily while noting that they made changes to remove the risk and fear of poisoning. Overall, a pretty straight-forward and fun piece. Just looking at the recipe and the things with substitutes I deem it: Could have been a mocktail. Especially because it could have been fun to have recipes for making your own Kahlùa.

Rivaini Tea Blend First introduced in The Masked Empire novel as a favored tea of Empress Celene, its listed ingredients were cinnamon, ginger, and clove. However the lore blurb for this recipe creates a whole new mixture of peppermint, lemon verbena, oregano, and licorice root, then cites the blend as the one that Celene drinks to alleviate her headaches. I'm not too sure why the change in that, but it is noteworthy. The working recipe itself calls for: peppermint, lemon verbena, oregano (flowers and leaves), mixed edible flowers (elderflower, mallow, and marigold), licorice root, vanilla bean, black tea, and honey. Overall it is a good and tasty mix, but one I would not be taking for headaches. If we followed Celene's reasoning for it - an aid for headaches, a better bet would actually be the original recipe as ginger and clove can help with headaches and migraines. Peppermint can as well, but the addition of the various floral notes as well as black tea and vanilla bean wouldn't. Not that the cookbook is necessarily providing the recipe for that purpose.

Lore and General Notes

In the recipe for nug pancakes, it notes that the taste of nug meat is akin to that of pork and rabbit, which is different from the pork and hare approximation from Origins.

The Jade Ham we see as a weapon in Inquisition is a smoked ham from the Anderfels with a specific glaze.

We've heard very little of Anderfels agriculture and animal husbandry prior to the cookbook. Save that they have apples that are small and bitter and largely import dried fruits. The cookbook introduces the fact that pig farming does profoundly well in the Anderfels, resulting in bigger pigs and by extension hams.

The cookbook introduces for the first time the existence of international connoisseurs as well as sharing just how widespread the use of goat milk is, seemingly more prevalent than cattle.

Chasind Sack Mead recipe mentions Chasind Wildwine, an ale that was originally only mentioned in the TTRPG and is made from a specific type of grain native to Ferelden called ryott.

Short Summary of Opinion

Overall my general opinion on the cookbook is that the lore elements are fun and I enjoy the references and nods to the series. The photos are very campy and fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously and also builds on nods towards the series through merch references. I feel like the cookbook is a solid 5/10 and I'm not really disappointed in it. It was more than what I expected and had the thing I was most excited and hopeful for: food and culture lore.

But I'm sure if you've read this far, my main issue with this cookbook, and something that is wholly a personal preference from my own work in this area as well as an opinion built from my other game/franchise cookbooks like World of Warcraft, Dnd, Critical Role, and Elder Scrolls being some of my favorites.

But I find the disconnect in the recipe description, recipe name, and lore blurbs from the actual working recipes a sizable detractor. I personally am not a fan of it simply telling you to get store bought ingredients - like the hollandaise sauce which is a simple recipe - instead of providing that recipe and suggesting the store bought as an alternative. A preference that comes from my own dietary restrictions meaning half of the "just buy store bought" requires me to look up a separate recipe elsewhere. Leading the book to feel a touch incomplete.

I also stated before in the drink section just how much it doesn't sit well that there aren't any mocktails and your only non-alcoholic options are tea and hot cocoa. I think they could have really explored that more and developed some really fun and inclusive drinks for those who don't/can't drink alcohol.

I also noticed, that this publisher who does a majority of game franchises or just media franchise cookbooks, is that they didn't have one of my favorite things about the Elder Scrolls cookbook, which was the Dietary Considerations chart. It was in the back of the cookbook and the chart had every recipe that fell in one or multiples of the following categories:

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten-free

Easily made vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free with simple alterations

The fact that the Dragon Age cookbook didn't have this was disappointing to say the least and makes this rather inaccessible for people with such needs. I also have just a general distaste for the fact that all but 2 of the 9 drink recipes were alcoholic. That there was no attempt to offer mocktails, which not only feels like a missed opportunity but also just a limiting one on accessibility when it's pretty clear that working recipes are not mirrors to their in universe counterparts.

A big thing for me in modern cookbooks is accessibility, from difficulty, to ability to add alterations, and actually putting efforts into non-alcoholic drinks that aren't just hot chocolate or a tea blend (though I do like that they did a tea blend.)

This book is definitely more for a fan who wants to look into a fun recipe every now and then but mostly was there for the lore blurbs and just the sort of fan service of it.

[liminalwings]

DMBR - Seeking Dragons: Connecting to Dragon Energy and Magick

Author: Virginia Chandler

Book Link

"The most honest, down-to-earth Dragon Magic book on the market. Great for those just starting a dragon path, and a breath of fresh air for those who have already been practicing for several years. This book draws from draconic lore around the world to create a personal system working with dragon archetypes, so does not fall into the trap of other works that presents Unverified Personal Gnosis as some sort of Universal Truth, nor does she make bold claims of a false ‘historic authenticity’ like certain others; the author states clearly that your path will likely not end up looking like her own path presented here as you develop your practice. 

This book is very much meant as a thoughtful springboard and introduction to working with dragons and becoming familiar with their energies. Out of the handful of dragon magic books currently on the market, this is the first one I would be comfortable recommending to beginners, as no matter your view on the nature of draconic existence, much of what is presented in here can be applied just as well. "

From the author of Year of the Magickal Dragon, which I've reviewed previously and gave lukewarm approval to (compared to other dragon magic books which tend to run mostly tepid). From the start, Chandler makes it very clear that she is offering a system of working that is, one, based on her own developed path rather than trying to claim a false historic legitimacy or universal truth, and two, is very clearly once again utilizing draconic archetypes. I'm not an archetypal kind of witch but it can definitely have its place and use, and a lot of practice suggestions in this book can be applied to non-archetypal beings as well. She also says plainly that a lot of the practices she presents are just how she does things and that your path, as you use her examples as a springboard, may end up looking very different as you practice; there is no 'this is how it absolutely must be'. As such it goes without saying that with how much personal leeway there is given and the fact that you're working with archetypes, there is little-to-no 'dragons are like this' or other similar absolute statements about the nature of dragons; dragons, in this system, are how you as the practitioner experience them. There is also no talk about Atlantis, multiple dimensions, Draconic Elemental Rulers/Universal Clan Leaders, or equating magic with quantum mechanics, thank gods. She does encourage readers to engage in some level of critical thinking and explore alternate ideas, though I do feel some of her alternate readings of dragon myths can be a slight stretch at times. 

It should also be mentioned that her practice is influenced by Neo-Paganism, which is to say Wiccan-flavored, at least a little bit. The meditations included are very similar to the ones she gave in her previous book, and are probably the most rigid part of her work (personally not a fan, but that's okay). Also included are incense and oil recipes for various rituals, and she does make a point of basic health and safety practices (especially fire safety). There is both a 'recommended reading' AND citations, mostly for the lore she discusses with each archetype, but it's still nice to see. Warning though: two of her three recommendations for rune information (pertinent to her path as also taking Scandinavian influence) are by Edred Thorsson/Steven Flowers (of AFA affiliation). 

If I had to be honest, a lot of this felt like if someone had managed to turn Tumblr’s collective dragon magic posts into a full-fledged book… with far more UPG than I've been comfortable sharing so far. I almost wish this had been available before Conway's works, and might even deign to make this my first 'recommended book' for those new to working with dragons, instead of my usual stance of "they're all crap." Do I think it's perfect? Well, no. But it's the closest Llewellyn has gotten so far. 

[yikesitskennawrites]

Transitions- Chapter Nineteen: Waking Your Acquaintance

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

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Pairings: Steven Grant x (platonic) Reader, Marc Spector x (platonic) Reader, Jake Lockley x (platonic) Reader, Layla El-Faouly x (platonic) Reader  

—

Layla taught you how to properly cook chicken on wooden sticks in the oven. You knew how to cook chicken on the broil setting thanks to Google, but you didn’t know that the length of time varies for kebabs. Throughout the time you cooked with Steven, well, you mainly watched him since he was too worried that you would catch the kitchen on fire or hurt yourself, you learned vegan recipes more than anything else that had to do with meat. So, you were surprised when the temperature and the time is different for this meal. Layla was surprised that you didn’t know the cooking time varies, she thought that maybe you would have learned over your time of cooking your own food or maybe Marc taught you, but she was wrong.

You sat on one end of the couch while Layla sat on the other. You both were killing time while dinner cooks in the oven by watching a movie that you weren’t paying enough attention to. Your mind was too preoccupied with your worry for your neighbors. You knew that Jake could handle himself, he proved that multiple times but that didn’t stop you from worrying for his safe return. You didn’t want to admit it to yourself but you got attached to your neighbors; and honestly, you didn’t like it. It wasn’t because you didn’t like them, you did like them enough to consider Marc and Steven friends; but it was more of your anxiety that they wouldn’t return and you would be back to being alone. 

If you were to go back to being on your own, eating dinner alone and nobody checking in on you, you don’t know if you would survive. You don’t know if you would reach your seventeenth birthday or your own high-school graduation if Marc and Steven disappear from your life forever. Before you met them, you were barely making it by. You don’t want to go back to being on your own. You doubt Layla would stick around long enough to become friends with you if the men don’t come back. You don’t think she would check in on you and make sure you’re taking care of yourself because she would be too busy grieving for the loss of her own friends.

 You would be left to your own devices and trying to survive on your own all over again. Knowing yourself, you know that you wouldn’t let yourself grieve for the men because you would destroy yourself. So instead, you would force yourself to carry on surviving rather than living because it's either that or giving up entirely; and this all can’t be for nothing. Besides, there's something lonely about grieving in a place you don’t consider home. London doesn’t feel like your home. The flat you’ve been renting for over a year now doesn’t feel like it either. You tried making it your own by hanging up picture frames and decorating it with furniture, but it doesn’t feel right. 

It’s not the home you grew up in and with. You left your physical home back in New York and your other home is six feet under ground in Wyoming where your parents are buried along with a false grave of your own. A family of strangers moved into your parents apartment and you left it. It’s not like you would have any power to kick them out because child protective services would have been called on you if you didn’t leave as soon as you did. Your home is gone and London does not feel like it is at all. You’ve been feeling like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t fit in the box it came with since you fled New York. The feeling just worsened when you met Marc and Steven. 

Besides that? Jake's departure felt different this time around. You don’t know how to pin down what’s different about it, but this time compared to all the other times he left, you were more worried about him. Maybe it’s because you know what he’s doing or maybe it's because you're worried that today's conversation was the last one you’ll ever have with him. What if that was the last time you’ll ever speak to him and all you did was call him a toad? 

Regret and bitterness churned in your stomach as you bite your cheek. What if they didn’t return?

“Hey,” Layla says softly. Her voice brings you out of your suffocating thoughts. “What are you thinking about?” You blink, your eyes stinging a bit from how long you were staring at the wall without giving yourself any relief through blinking. You looked at the television for a moment, noticing the frozen screen and the red bar on the bottom with a paused gray box before you looked at her. She was giving her full attention to you. She wore an expression of concern. Her eyebrows were a little scrunched and her eyes were soft. You felt like you couldn’t tell her how worried you were for the men. You didn’t know how to express to her that Jake's absence was different compared to the times he left before.

“Do you know why we’re staying in Marcs and Stevens apartment?” You ask instead. That was on your mind until your anxiety took over and made your thoughts feel like you were in a washing machine on the rinse and spin cycle. “I’m surprised that Jake didn’t dump you at my place and haul ass from there.”

“I think it has to do with the lack of a bed at your place.” She says. Oh, okay. Well, that made a lot more sense. “Is that what’s really on your mind?”

“Well, yeah. It’s weird that Jake would just make me a key for Marc's and Stevens' apartment and leave me here with you babysitting.”

“Watching over.” She corrects.

“Wrong.” You say. “He had no issues leaving me at my place for days to a week without sending a call or text stating that he is alive and well; but suddenly he left you in charge of me?” You shake your head a bit. “Somethings up and whatever it is, has him spooked enough to leave you and me together in Marcs and Stevens place.”

“It’s still watching over.” She says. “But you’re right.”

“I guess you’re right too.” You mumble before you add, “He wouldn’t even let me ride the bus home. He waited outside my work until my shift ended.” She hums. “A lady came into my work today and she had a scale tattoo.”

“A scale tattoo?” She turns her body to face you, the movement on the couch causes the television remote to fall to the floor which she ignores. “And you’re just mentioning this now? Right after Jake left.”

“You were too busy arguing about bringing me into this mess.” You say. “I could have mentioned it a week from now if that makes you feel any better.” She pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a breath of air. You could tell that she was more frustrated than angry. “I told him about it on the drive over and he said that her being in the shop was the threat.”

“Did she threaten you?”

“No, she just ordered a sandwich.”

“What kind?”

“Turkey and ham.”

“That’s so stupid. She could have made it at home and it would have been cheaper.”

“I know.” You say. “A lot of our sandwiches are like that. It would just be cheaper and you would get more bang for your buck if you bought the items at the store than just ordering one meal.”

“Like, she could have ordered a rotisserie chicken or a steak sandwich and maybe I would be a bit more understanding but, a simple turkey and ham?” She shakes her head causing her curls to lightly hit her face. “That’s not worth it.”

“Kids are more likely to order that than anyone else.” You say. She smiles a bit. “She gives off basic bitch energy.”

“You’re saying she’s a kid?” “She might as well be.” You say. “If she’s willing to stalk and harass me, that's kid like behavior isn’t it?”

“If anything, it’s creepy behavior.” She says. You nod in agreement. Silence settles between you and the only thing you heard was Gus’s fish tank. You supposed Jake also gave you a key so you would take care of Stevens and Marc's fish. You stood up to feed the two goldfish before you forgot and temporarily stopped to stretch your legs and back. Your arms raised into the air and a pleasant shudder from your torso and legs pleased you. Layla pursed her lips as she watched you and you shot her a slightly awkward smile before walking over to the fish tank and grabbing the sprinkles of fish food next to it. 

“Are you okay?” She asks as you pop open the lid of the food and sprinkle some into the water.

“Yeah?” You say with a little confusion. You closed the lid and set the container back into its place. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re okay with getting stalked by a cult and a knife held to your throat?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then are you okay?” She asks and points to your head. “Upstairs?”

“I’m fine.” You shrug. She gives you a knowing look.

“Really? Because the last time I saw you, you looked a hell of a lot healthier.” She says. “You didn’t look like you have these dark circles under your eyes and your clothes fit better.”

“If I wanted to talk about it, I would.”

“Would you?” She gives you a skeptical look. You nod as you fight against the urge to roll your eyes. You were glad that she cared enough to ask you about your mental health but, you didn’t want to talk about it and she just couldn’t seem to grasp that you weren’t up for sharing. Luckily the timer for the oven went off and you mumbled that you were getting it as you walked into the kitchen. You were too busy being steamed about Layla pressing you for the truth about your emotions and you were still wrapped up in your anxiety for your neighbors that you forgot to put on the oven-mits before you reached for the pan and grasped it with your hand. You hissed out as you let it go not a second later.

“Fuck!” You yell as you wave your hand in the air before stopping to look at the damage. 

“What?!” Layla yells as she pushes herself off of the couch and runs towards you. She had a worried look on her face as she approached you. Your eyes were on your hand as you took in the red and angry skin. You were lucky that you didn’t get any blisters from the heat of the pan. 

“What is it?” She asks and not a second later she seems to put two and two together because she brushes past you and turns on the faucet for the sink. “Come here.” She says gently and you follow her instructions. She gently grasps your wrist and brings your burnt hand underneath the running water. The coolness of it brings relief to your skin and you manage to breathe out a sigh of relief. She leaves you for a moment to take the pan out of the oven and close the door. 

“It’s not too bad.” She says as she stands next to you and you both stare at your injury. “I think Marc has some burn relief ointment somewhere…” She trails off and leaves you to go look for the medication. By the time she returned, your hand felt much better and it was more of a blushing pink color than a red. She shut off the water and patted your hand with a towel before uncapping the tube of ointment and applying it to your palm. You leaned against the counter as she took care of your burn. 

“Marc burnt his hand once when hot oil splashed onto him.” Layla said. “He had blisters as big as those small rubber balls you find in quarter slot machines.” You knew the ones she was talking about, you begged your parents for quarters to use on the machines when you were younger.

“Is that why he’s so careful when he’s frying steak now?” You ask and she smiles a little as she caps the ointment and sets it onto the counter.

“Injury is always a reminder to be careful.” She says and cups your cheek with her hand for a moment before letting go. You watch as she pulls open the drawers next to the oven in search of something. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“Tongs.” She says without looking at you. You pull open the drawer next to you and hand her the kitchen utensil. She tells you her thanks before she dished out the kebabs the two of you cooked. It was chicken, pineapple and tomatoes on wooden skewers. She handed you your plate and you walked back to the couch to sit on the same end you were previously inhabiting. She sat back down on her end and picked up the remote off of the floor before pressing play and resuming the movie you both agreed on. It was a film that you haven’t seen before and from the little you managed to watch of it, it was boring enough that your mind was becoming preoccupied with your anxiety for Jake. 

You don’t know if it was too boring for Layla to watch or if she noticed your worried look, but either way, she turned down the volume of the television and asked, “What do you like to do for fun?” You chewed on your pineapple slowly, savoring the taste. You missed the fruit. It was hard to choose what to pick and buy at the store when fruit cups cost more than a jar of peanut butter. 

“I used to paint.” You tell her after you chewed on your pineapple. “I haven’t in a long time. But, I miss it.”

“What type did you paint with?”

“Acrylic. I wasn’t the best at it, but I enjoyed painting.” You say and Layla nods.

“I don’t paint much.” She admits. “I’m more of a ceramic type of gal.”

“What things did you make?”

“Vases, cups, anything small, really.” She says and it was your turn to acknowledge her answer by nodding. “Is there anything else you like to do?” 

“Star gazing.”

“Marc told me that you were an astronomy nerd.” She smiles.

“I like to look at the stars.” You say. “The light pollution in New York and London make it difficult, but on some nights it’s possible.” 

You pop a piece of chicken into your mouth and chew as she says, “Maybe we could go on a trip outside of London to go look at them.” You nearly choke on the meat and the sight of you coughing made her concerned. You waved her away and gave her a thumbs up as you swallowed the chicken. 

“Are you serious?” You ask. 

“Deadass.” She says. “I don’t see why not.” 

“Well, I have work.” 

“We can go on one of your days off.”

“Don’t you have work?”

“This is it.” She says after she chewed on a tomato. “Watching over you or babysitting, as you put it.”

“I knew it. Jake is paying you.”

“No,” She shakes her head. “I’m choosing to do this.”

“For free?” 

“Yep,” She pops the p. You stare at her. What was her end goal? Nobody does anything nice like this unless they want something.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you doing this for free?”

“I want answers and you and Jake are the only two who can give them to me.” She says. You scoff. You know as much as she does, you don’t know anything outside of the little you’ve been told by Jake. That's exactly what you tell her. She frowns and stares at you for a moment. 

“Listen, I would have told you much more if I knew anything.” You say. “I don’t like being left in the dark, especially about whatever the hell Jake is doing.” You gesture with your injured hand. “So, I doubt you would too.” You bite off another chunk of chicken on the skewer and chew. 

“You’re right.” She says after a few minutes pass. 

“Is there anything else you like to do?” You ask. 

“Go on adventures.” She says and smiles a little. “Travel and find valuable items to sell.”

“Tell me about one of them.” You say. “What's the most exciting one that you went on?”

“Definitely the Cairo trip.” She says. “Steven found the tomb of Alexander the Great..” She trails off and her smile falls. Your mouth drops open at that but you quickly close it as you remembered that you had food in your mouth. Alexander the Great?? Nobody could find his tomb for thousands of years and your neighbor is the one who found it?? 

“Ammit ruined it, right?” You ask after you swallow your food. She doesn’t say anything and that causes your surprised feeling to morph into one of confusion. Did something happen on that trip that is causing her to suddenly become like this? You wanted to pry but, you figured she would have told you if she was up for talking about it. You both were similar in that way. You decided to change the subject by telling her that you were taking the couch tonight.

  “No,” She says. “I’m sleeping on the couch.”

“I’m used to sleeping on one anyways.” You reply with a shrug. You were looking forward to sleeping in a bed, but you’ll take the couch if she wants it.

“It’s alright. It’s already weird being in my ex-husbands apartment.” She says. You take a glance at her, she looked young every time that you looked at her, but in that glance, she looked older than you saw her before. Layla went through a lot more than what she's letting on and whatever it was, is wearing her down. She was too busy asking you how you were, when you haven’t asked her that question at all. If you did ask it, you didn’t know if she would tell you the truth or avoid answering. Would you be stepping over a line? You don’t know her that well, and yet she cares enough to ask you. Maybe you should ask her. You turned your gaze to the television, you didn’t know what was going on since you weren’t paying attention to it, but you could tell that it was reaching the end of the film. 

You focused on the screen rather than the movie to help prepare yourself to ask her that simple question. But when you opened your mouth to ask, all the courage you had gathered fled and instead you said, “You’re an old lady. You need the bed more than I do.”

“What did you call me?”

“Old.”

“Oh fuck off,” She says; and that caused the both of you to share a laugh.

---

You awoke from a nightmare you know too well of and to a person leaning over you. The sight of the human caused your breath to catch in your throat as you stared with wide eyes at the figure staring down at you. With the moonlight filtering through the slightly parted curtains you were able to make out that it was a woman, her features were hard to see with the curls of her hair hiding her face from the light. Oh god, it had to be the woman with the scale tattoos. Your heart was already pounding from your nightmare but the sight that greeted you when you woke sped up your heart rate. She broke into your apartment to judge you like she asked you if you wanted to all those weeks ago at the bus stop. Your right hand curled into a fist and you managed to breathe in a breath of air before swinging your fist directly for her face. The lady quickly stepped back and caught your hand with her own before using her other hand and turned on the bedside lamp. 

Your eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and the hand holding your fist let go. You blinked, trying to quickly get rid of the black spots in your vision and pushed yourself up onto your elbows. You looked at the lady, your heart still harshly pounding in your chest as you stared at the familiar face of Layla. Her hair was messy and her baggy t-shirt was wrinkled. Underneath her eyes were a bit swollen from sleeping and she stood a bit tensely a couple feet away from you. It took you a long moment after that to remember where you were, why she was standing next to you, and the bed that you slept in belongs to the men whose apartment you were staying in and not your couch. 

“Oh my god,” You breathe out. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Layla says, her voice cracking halfway through the sentence before she clears her throat. You remove your elbows from underneath you and allow yourself to plop onto the mattress and cover your eyes with your hands. God, you felt embarrassed that you could have punched Layla's lights out simply because you didn’t recognize her. You felt embarrassed that you woke her up by your screaming or crying. She was sleeping on the couch because she didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in her ex-husbands bed, so your cries and screams had to be loud enough to wake her.

“No, it’s not. I could’ve fucking decked you.” You tell her with a groan. You heard her feet shuffle around the bed before you felt the mattress dip on your left side. “It’s not the first time that happened and it certainly won’t be the last.” She says. You remove your hands from your eyes and once again find yourself blinking away the spots from your vision and staring at the ceiling much like you did before you fell asleep. 

“What time is it?” You ask. 

“A little after two-thirty.” Layla says. 

“I’m so sorry I woke you.”

“It’s okay. I was already awake.” “You were?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to sleep in a new place.” She says. You don’t bother to tell her that this was the opposite for you. You found it hell of a lot easier falling asleep in Marcs and Stevens flat than your own. Sure, it took awhile for you to fall asleep, but it was a much shorter time than usual. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” You shrug. You breathed in a deep breath to help calm your nerves. The scent of their laundry detergent and Stevens old books comforted you. Your heart ached in your chest due to how much you missed them. 

“Are you sure? It might help to talk about it.” She says. You roll over onto your side to face her. She was sitting up against the headboard and her eyes were trained on you. 

“I don’t want to.” You state and she hums in response. Silence settles between you save for the soft breathing coming from the both of you. She shuffled a bit until her head was resting on one of Stevens pillows and rolled onto her side to face you.

“What can I do to make it better?” Layla asks. You stare into her brown eyes. The light coming from the lamp behind you on the nightstand reflected in her orbs making them seem more lighter than usual. You wanted to feel better. You didn’t want to feel the choking sensation of the man's arm wrapped around your neck as he dragged you backwards. You didn’t want your screams and pleads to be unheard like Marc ignores them in your nightmares. You didn’t want to be thrown down onto the ground and choked out until your eyes pop out of your skull and the damn moon glows onto your corpse. You wanted to feel better and the people you knew that would comfort you were already gone. Your parents can’t come back from the dead.

Maybe it would have been better if you were in your parents' place. Where they would have been home and you would have been blipped in the middle of a crosswalk. You would be the one six feet under and your parents would be grieving for you rather than the other way around. Because at least they would have each other. You don’t have anyone to grieve with. You don’t have anyone to open up to and feel comfortable while doing it. You could tell Marc and Steven how much you’re suffering but you don’t feel comfortable doing that; and besides that? You were sure that they wouldn’t understand. You miss your parents and you don’t feel like you could tell Layla that.

“I don’t know…” You say. You trail your eyes away from hers and to the blanket covering you. Your fingers rubbed the fabric gently as you tried to forget your dream. It was embarrassing waking up another person because you couldn’t differentiate reality and something your mind has made up.

“I used to get night terrors.” Layla says. “All the time, right at the beginning of the snap. I was afraid that one day all the people I loved, my mother, my aunt, Marc…they would suddenly disappear like everyone else did.” You hum sleepily and look at Layla. Her features looked soft in the dim light. She was looking at you with a tired but gentle expression.

“How did you get over that?” You asked.

“I didn’t.” She says. “The terrors stopped when I got used to everyone being gone but the fear is still there.”

“So, what do you do now with the fear?”

“I grow with it instead of letting it manifest in other ways.” She says. “You can’t let your worry and regret hold you back otherwise you’re never going to grow and move on.” She places her hand onto your own causing your fingers to stop their movement. “I found peace in myself and I hope that you find it in yourself too.” You smile at her before a yawn escapes you. You didn’t know what to say to her after that. Sleep was tugging at your eyes and you figured that you would wake up again in a couple of hours from another nightmare. 

Layla must have seen how much you were fighting your eyelids from closing and being dragged back under because she says, “You’re safe. I got you, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.” Her finger gently traces shapes onto your arm as you close your eyes. The smell of Stevens and Marc's sheets comforted you as you inhaled slow and long breaths to help clear your mind. It took awhile but eventually you were lulled to sleep by the movement of Layla's tracing and the soft breaths of her own. That night no night terrors followed you into your dreamscape, but every night after that one was similar. Layla stopped trying to sleep on the couch by the fifth time and instead slept on top of the blankets next to you; and just like every night, Layla would turn on the light after you woke her and you both would fall asleep with it on.

—

Taglist:

@letugulus , @only-roaches , @jvdethirlwall , @xennityxen , @astrobuzzsstuff , @nub-the-stub , @em-asian , @yawn0-0 , @80pairsofcrocs

Want to be added to the taglist? Don’t be afraid to ask! :)

[poisonnxkki]

Protection Magic & Banishments🔮

What is a Banishment?

I often compare banishing and cleansing with cleaning. To me, cleansing is like dusting the whole house or wiping down the countertops but banishing is like deep cleaning the bathroom. Banishing removes specific energies or entities from a space or person. You can banish entities from objects or your home but you also banish people or habits from your life.

I have banished entities from my space but I more often banish energies. Especially after a fight between me and someone I live with, I will banish that energy from my space. I have also banished people from my life. You could do this by performing a cord-cutting spell (which severs your connection to that person, essentially banishing them from your life) or by simply writing the person's name (& birthday if you have it) on a black candle and anointing it with banishment oil.

When to Banish?

Banishing can be done whenever you feel like it, personally I have a cleansing routine but I also have a banishing routine. I am very good at kicking energies out of my space and so even though I may not necessarily need to banish as regularly as I do, it's good practice for me. People often banish when cleansing is not enough for them to clear the energy from a space.

As mentioned above, you may choose to banish when the energy is off (after an argument) or when a person no longer deserves a place in your life (or if they just won't leave you alone).

Banishing after deciding to kick a habit may help you break that habit successfully (ie. if you are trying to quit smoking, you may want to bind it from tempting you and then banish it). On a similar note, you may instead choose to banish a situation. Using the previous example of trying to quit smoking, you can also banish the temptation so that you are not tempted to start again.

Another instance where a banishment could be useful is when bringing in new items into the home, specifically if those items are secondhand or antique. If you only want the item and not the friends possibly attached to it, then you can anoint the item using banishment oil (after cleansing it).

My Banishment Oil Recipe:

Please do your own research on correspondence if you are unfamiliar with the ingredients listed. Ingredients can have multiple magical associations! Amounts are not listed because they are not relevant, measure with your heart.

🖤You will need:

a bottle or jar

a carrier oil (vegetable oil works because it is cheap but any oil you have on hand will do)

garlic (I prefer whole cloves but minced or powder will work)

cloves (I prefer whole cloves but powder will work)

coffee (ground, instant or beans)

nettle

cumin

bay leaves (I like to crush the leaves but you can leave them whole if they will fit)

red pepper flakes (optional)

paprika (optional)

🖤Steps:

Add your oil and ingredients (cleansed & charged with intention) to a jar on the new moon.

Write a banishing sigil (any will do but making one yourself will work best) on the bottom and top of the jar.

Allow the jar to sit (on your altar preferably) for an entire moon cycle. You can also have the jar sit near a crystal with banishing properties if you do not have an altar.

On the next new moon, you can strain the ingredients out of the oil (or you can leave them, it really doesn't matter), and begin using the oil.

🖤Feel free to change the ingredients up and personalize this recipe in whatever way works for you. Ideally, this recipe should be a skeleton for you to adapt into your own practice. The key part of this particular recipe is having the oil sit for one whole moon cycle.

*All images are from Pinterest*

[solomiracle]

just came back from my city’s farmers’ market and it made me realize that i would LOVE to take the brothers there

lucifer honestly wouldn’t feel like coming but he still would bc 1) he does NOT trust his brothers to be in the human realm without supervision and 2) bc it would make me happy <3. he would also love to see all the dogs walking around (while he still has his rbf)

mammon would just buy anything he found interesting with the goal of selling it later, price up by like 200000% bc it’s a “human realm artifact” (it’s a house decoration made by a white woman) (lucifer ties him up and spins him around for good measure). would climb the train

levi.... we take pictures for him :) probably for satan and belphie too. there’s nothing that would really interest any of them (aside from a poster i saw that said “i like big books and i cannot lie”. i would buy it and give it to satan if i was feeling suicidal)

asmo goes to take ~aesthetic pictures~ and comes back with mountains of scented candles and handmade soaps. everyone is forced to carry his bags

beel. my beautiful boy. i straight up think he would blurt out an “i love you” to me after realizing just how many food stalls there are. he has more bags than asmo by the end of it. lucifer and i have to tell him multiple times to not buy out every stall for the other customers. it takes all of his restraint to not eat the boxes the cinnamon rolls come in while in front of humans. he would cry

if belphie does go, he’s sticking with beel the entire time. maybe looks at the stalls selling fabric. ends up sleeping in the fountain or on the train

AND IF THE DATEABLES COME TOO OOOOOOOOOOO

diavolo is so HAPPY. he loves EVERYTHING. pays anyone playing music 100 dollars. idk what he likes but i can see him getting soaps with asmo and some trinkets. he has one on his desk :)

barbatos would love the soup lady more than my mother. buys all of her recipes. when i mention that there’s no traffic lights on the drive there he gains a new hatred.

idk shit about simeon aside from that he’s perfect. he would buy some nice food, maybe a house decoration or two, and listen to people playing music while holding everyone’s bags. for some reason i can see him holding a giant bag of kettlecorn

LUKE AND I ARE THE KOLACHE BROTHERS!!!! CZECH DUO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! would get one of every pastry he could get his little hands on with the desire to make them all. everyone jokes about getting him a balloon animal or comparing him to the small dogs. let the little man eat his giant cinnamon roll in peace please

solomon is happy to go to a place in the human world he’s never been to! he tags along with barbatos to the soup recipes, quickly followed by simeon so he can buy another bag of whatever solomon gets so the mixes aren’t wasted

if we pass by the capital building on the drive back i’ll mention that no building in town can be taller than it and everyone will understand why i experience vertigo so often

[hexyz09]

Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's, with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. She does this in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major, in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors and uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

She creates a small bowl of candy and puts it on her kitchen counter. This is because Vanny hated candy for some reason.

Tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure unadulterated bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result, she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

She stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed in her bedroom for 30 minutes. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine.

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends.

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before… before. (again, cut emails)

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

The process of healing is a long one indeed, and it's nice to see Vanessa going out of her way to do so, which she especially needs. But also.

Screw you Roxy. XD I happen to like ponytails. Way easier to maintain than that while mess you call hair!!

Though ngl, I do wanna know what sort of look Vanessa would have with a different hair cut. OwO I wanna know and see~~

And it looks like Luis is definitely helping around in keeping things positive. XP Boy be getting some positive feedback from his crush!

I mean. Judging from the emails in the other games he already was, but still! Also. Gregory. Don't go sneaking in some cupcakes while no one's looking. XP Just because you can hide your treasure in yer FazDad don't meant you can make him an accomplice to your misdemeanors, as hilarious as it would be. XD

But yes. New clothes as well. She seems the type to wear something sporty ngl, especially since they'd be the exact opposite of the long sleeve business which I can agree gets too stuffy when it's not winter.

And on another note, this be the last one. XD A bit of an interesting series to pelted me with, ngl. XP

[sourapplesauces]

Bot Boy Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's, with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. She does this in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major, in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors.

Uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

Tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure unadulterated bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result, she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

She stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed in her bedroom for 30 minutes. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine.

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends.

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before… before. (again, cut emails)

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

All of this sounds extremely accurate, what makes me sad about the game is that Vanessa legit has little to no scenes and also no depth to her character!! I like how this idea talks more about how she bonds with the people (and the animatronics) around her, the cupcakes idea is really sweet and as for the knife... im sure she'll warm up to it someday 😅😅😬

[halogenrobotics]

Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. This is done in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors

Uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

Tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure unadulterated bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

Stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed for 30 minutes in her bedroom. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine. 

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends. 

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before…before. (again, cut emails) 

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

[emarli-the-doodler]

Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's, with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. She does this in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major, in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors and uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

She creates a small bowl of candy and puts it on her kitchen counter. This is because Vanny hated candy for some reason.

Tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure unadulterated bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result, she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

She stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed in her bedroom for 30 minutes. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine.

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends.

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before… before. (again, cut emails)

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

Omg i love her getting herself a total glowup fr fr i rlly think she's now just trying to cooperate herself after the vanny fiasco and trying to get back into her roots. acting the way she used to & liking the things that she always liked before vanny dug herself into venessas mind (what a lil worm) but yes I love her getting better I rlly hope she is also seeking & receiving support to help her to continue into becoming her own person!

[officermaddie23]

Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's, with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. She does this in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major, in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors and uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

She creates a small bowl of candy and puts it on her kitchen counter. This is because Vanny hated candy for some reason.

Tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure unadulterated bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result, she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

She stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed in her bedroom for 30 minutes. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine.

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends.

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before… before. (again, cut emails)

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

Hmm I’m puzzled on this one

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Idea 13: Things Vanessa does to get over Vanny, a sequel to Idea 6 (kinda)

As has been previously stated, I consider Vannys personality to effectively be the polar opposite of Vanessa's, with some exceptions. I wanted to expand on that with this idea that Vanessa would try to do things as differently from Vanny as possible. She does this in order to help convince herself that they were not the same. Here is a list of some of those things, ranging from minor to major, in no particular order:

She stops wearing hats indoors and uses a different hair style (something easier to do than a damn ponytail, which according to Roxy, "hasn't been popular since the 70s". So Roxy gives her a friendly makeover)

She creates a small bowl of candy and puts it on her kitchen counter. This is because Vanny hated candy for some reason while Vanessa quite liked it.

She tries to avoid getting slightly upset or mad at anyone, but especially children. Vanessa is absolutely TERRIFIED of losing her temper in front of children, because then that means they will be scared of her. This makes Vanessa, in her mind, just as bad as Vanny. This is because Vanny was constantly irritated and annoyed by everything, and that was basically one of 2 emotions that she felt. The other emotion was…

…pure bliss, which Vanny only felt when she was murdering her victims while also wearing a deranged smile. As a result, she tries to find more reasons to be happy and smile softly in her life. This is comparatively easy, (although it is still a lot more difficult to be happy and positive then it was before) the animatronics help her by being available to talk to. Luis also assists by just being supportive and he is especially great for whenever she needs some comforting words of encouragement. He and Gregory also offer to play some games with her, which she really appreciates because of the company.

She stops wearing clothes with long sleeves like sweatshirts and jeans. The stuffy feeling they give her feels way too much like HER costume, something she only discovered after she tried wearing "her" work uniform for the first time after being freed. She had a flashback, had a small panic attack, and quietly sobbed in her bedroom for 30 minutes. She ended up just showing up out of uniform, but no one really cared so it was fine.

Starts making cupcakes and cooking again, something she loved doing before this mess happened (check the cut FNAF AR emails.) Everyone at her workplace loved them, Luis even had some made for him especially ;). Chica even asks for her recipe after Vanessa brings some to eat at the pizzaplex and the 2 end up sharing multiple recipes with each other and become great friends.

After being freed, Vanessa is extremely hesitant to be near knives, let alone hold one, for obvious reasons. However she really wants to get over this fear she has because she wants to start cooking things since that was a hobby she had before… before.

Vanessa would start by having Gregory take out a knife and put it on her kitchen counter before he then leaves the area.

Then once she gets acclimated to the knife's presence, she would move a bit closer.

She would repeat these steps until she is within arms reach of the knife. Now comes a more difficult step, touching it

Vanessa moves her arm very slowly towards the knife, gives it a small poke, and then quickly darts away like she touched hot coals. This repeats, each poke lasting a longer amount of time, until she is able to rest her hand on the knife.

The next step is the scariest for her, holding it. She takes it even slower, constantly reminding herself that she is in control and that nothing bad is going to happen. She manages to give it, moves it around, and then gently places it back in the drawer.

Vanessa relaxes, lets out the breath she was holding, and walks out of the kitchen.

Actually cutting something will come later, but for now this is enough.

Oh these are neat!!

I feel like the uneasiness around knives would probably take months to deal with at least given the severity of it. She's doing it though! Slowly, but surely! Until then, she gets Gregory or Chica to chop things for her. They're more than happy to do it of course. Whatever helps her out!

Another problem she may face would be cutting anything red. Might be too close to another kind of red, ya know?

But yeah these are neat! Vanessa has a support network and it's a good one! They're all supporting each other through this and it's really neat!

On another note, could you tell me anymore about the Vanessa from those emails? I've not seen them and I'm not sure where to go looking for them but it would be nice to get to know the previous Vanessa a little better since she's in a few of my active AUs and she's pretty neat.