#as well as Dark Cacao since this is what his son has become in his absence

[quibbs126]

I want to talk about/draw angst to do with the All Ancients Disappear AU, specifically with the Dark Cacao family (other characters have angst, but they’re the ones I’m fixated on), but I can’t because I don’t have designs for them yet

I’ve at least solidified stuff for Dark Choco’s kid in this AU. He has a son named Dark Syrup Cookie, who’s made of both chocolate and strawberry syrup. He’s 8-10 years old and he listens to and trusts his father (even though he shouldn’t). He does not yet know that his reason for existence is to be a vessel for the sword (but he will eventually)

[lexi-the-demon-69]

Tell us more about dad-bod Dark Choco, please! I gotta know how our boy is healing now that the COD have been divorced from his life.

I'd love to! He's from my first ever CRK AU "A New Life" which was made around when episode 14 was released. It's basically a continuation of Dark Choco's story and how he heals from his trauma.

So, after Dark Choco leaves his sword and old life behind, he decides to live in the woods for the rest of his days. He soon settles down right by a little creek with a waterfall and builds himself a nice, cozy cabin. His little cabin is far away from the Dark Cacao Kingdom and is settled near the Cookie Kingdom for convenience if he ever decides to go into town, which is quite rare.

Thanks to the Strawberry Jam Sword, Dark Choco has vowed to never pick up a sword ever again for the sake of his own safety, and now uses only a spear, along with a bow and arrow for hunting. He is still very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, though he is a little rusty with his archery skills. (Haha bad eyesight go brr.)

During his time in solitude, Dark Choco starts picking up some hobbies and habits that he never knew he had or never tried. Such as gardening, sewing, and napping... a lot. He's a big napper, since, well, that's what you get when you stay up for days on end. Not to mention nutrition. Choco was either starved or never given a proper diet so he was never able to eat the kind of stuff he liked/needed. Now that he's away from his old kingdom and COD, he can now eat whatever and whenever he wants! However... doesn't really help his pants line, does it? Yeah, the poor guy has packed on some extra dough and his dad can and will tease him about it.

Speaking of which, after his son left his homeland again, Dark Cacao has been desperately searching for him. Not to punish him for his crimes... but to apologize to him, properly. As Dark Cacao reflected on the past, he soon realized that he was not a great father... at all, and the apology he gave to Dark Choco was not one he truly deserved. So, he searches for his son day and night whenever he gets the chance, just to tell him he's sorry.

Long story short, Dark Cacao finds Dark Choco's cabin after months of searching and apologizes to him. Dark Choco simply says that he doesn't need to apologize and he already forgives him, after he showed him how much time he put into finding him. Dark Cacao asks if he would like to come home and they could start over, fresh, but Dark Choco declines. Stating that he isn't ready to come home... just, not yet. He still needs some time to heal properly before he can face the kingdom again. Dark Cacao accepts this and now, once a month, he visits his son to repair their relationship and to catch up after being apart for so long.

Later, Dark Choco finds and rescues Parfait Cookie after she is attacked by cake monsters. Parfait is initially scared of him until he reassures her that he means no harm. (he saves her before he gets the dad bod UwU) After this, Parfait goes out of her way to see Choco, soon becoming his friend and now girlfriend after Dark Cacao reads Parfait's love letter out loud in front of them during a visit on Valentine's Day. (Dark Choco also liked her too long before this happened-)

-----

That's about it, really. I had a lot of fun making this AU and to think that this AU actually predicted the future.- I must be a psychic-

(Also, if you guys wanna see more dad bod Choco, please let me know!)

[lady-zoras-artroom]

I made refs of Vanilla Choco’s Parents!

Meet Vanilla Cream Cookie! 🍦📚

Vanilla Cream Cookie is a traveler from the Creme Republic. Constantly she is out making journeys to other lands and Kingdoms wanting to learn about them and share her experience.

In her past travels she ventures into the Dark Cacao Kingdom and meets her soul mate, General Cocoa Powder Cookie. After a couple years of meeting each other, they married and have a daughter named Vanilla Choco Cookie.

Vanilla Cream Cookie is a graduate student of the Parfaedia Institute. While she cannot do magic, she has studied under Eclair Cookie having a fascination with the vast history and many cultures of Earth Bread.

Currently, Vanilla Cream Cookie has been pushing to take the Consul Spot that was once occupied by Mille-feuille Cookie after learning of her scandals with the White Masks. Having a soft spot for children as well as experience, she installs a sanctuary for the orphans.

Vanilla Cream Cookie aspires to do better for the children by enlightening them of the many wonders of Earth Bread, wanting to share how important the Ancients are to their world. In addition, she intends to spread awareness of the Creme Republic’s Dark History though with easy to understand material and clever use of her teachings as she has a strong distaste for how the Republic came to be.

Meet General Cocoa Powder Cookie! 🗡🍫

G. Cocoa Powder Cookie is a Cacao Warrior whom worked his way up to become a Cacao General of the Citadel - earning the trust of King Dark Cacao Cookie. He is regarded as a great General who looks over the guards and highly respects the Dark Cacao Watchers; they too respect him in return.

In his early years just after becoming a General, he met Vanilla Cream Cookie who quickly took a liking to him. Having a stoic nature about him, he never displayed what he thought or felt at first. After a couple of years of her frequent visits to the kingdom, he started to grow fawned of her and eventually fell for her softness, sweetness, and intellect. He then married her and soon as a daughter named Vanilla Choco Cookie, his pride and joy.

As a Dark Cacao Warrior he is quite versatile in combat, able to use swords, bows, staffs, or even a wooden spoon. To him, anything is a good weapon if you see their strengths. Tactical and strategic, he operates and maintains clear paths from threats that connect the villages to the Citadel.

Currently, he is still a respected General. He has grown a little wary ever since the inevitable betrayal of Affogato Cookie as he never trusted him in the first place. He worries of his King’s health especially since his son, Prince Dark Choco had returned home revealing to be more treacherous than Affogato at first. As a father himself, he knew the boy was lost and could tell he didn’t want to destroy his own home, but his anger and sorrow for his father was plain to see.

I will make little comics or storyboards of this as I can see how it will fit with the canon story, just told slightly different in my AU!

[chocoplagg]

So yeah.

Cookie Run headcanons that I'll introduce to Caffè Fortunato's AU.

Initially wanted to do it with drawings, but time said "no no", so, it's going to be a post with images xD.

Espresso Cookie

Espresso Cookie is autistic and has family issues

For the sake of my AU (and just because Espresso is one of my favorite characters and I'm really related to him), I decided to make Espresso an autistic character, and also give him traumas.

That last one would be in part the reason for his personality and bad habits, like not sleeping.

Madeleine Cookie

Madeleine loves plushies!

He loves plushies like a kid, he also has his personal favorite, a cat named "Fishy".

Wants to buy to his teammate a plushie to comfort him, but Caffè thinks "plushies are for kids".

I'm a kid in that case 👀

Strawberry Cookie

Wants to become a comic designer

So yeah, it wasn't enough for me to make her the "Alya" of the group in the sense of giving her the Fox Miraculous, but on top of that I gave her Nathaniel's personality traits XD

I was thinking to make her an indecisive person if we talk about the "what do you want to become at the future" question. But then she realizes that she loves drawing, comics, and also she is a superhero. So... Making comics.

Gingerbrave

He is a big fan of ninjas

For that reason, his superhero outfit is ninja themed. With the plus of his shield as a turtle shell.

Strawberry Crepe

Their fascination for robots started thanks to Dark Enchantress. Also with their fascination with bees.

Their fascination with robots and bees (again, for the sake of the plot and ✨ foreshadowing ✨) started with their adoptive mother: Dark Enchantress.

They also names their robots, like if they are their kids 🥺.

Pure Vanilla Cookie

He misses Tikki, and planted so many flowers for her. Yeah, he loves plants.

He was the original Ladybug Miraculous holder, but his superhero times were pretty sad since White Lily was his love interest. At least that's what he said multiple times.

Tikki was her best friend, and when he had to give the miraculous to the new holder, Espresso, he planted a lot of red flowers for the kwami.

Dark Cacao Cookie

Have got traumas when he realized that his son had been in the Dark Enchantress group.

He was really sad and furious when his son, Dark Choco, had been in the Dark Enchantress group, and his traumas started to make him more aggressive.

Plagg didn't help, but even then, the cat kwami gave him some good moments.

Hollyberry Cookie

She is the mother of the group.

Her mother instincts started at the Dark Cacao's traumas and Pure Vanilla's sadness with the "White Lily incident".

She was always saying "don't forget the chores", "you can ask for some help", etc.

Is the protector of the group.

Golden Cheese Cookie

She is always missing her kingdom.

She is always taking about her kingdom, missing it, and ofc hating Dark Enchantress because of her war.

She used the Fox Miraculous to replicate the Golden Cheese Kingdom while she was learning programming... To replicate the Golden Cheese Kingdom.

White Lily Cookie

Her curiosity about the creation of the Cookies was immensely huge because of her ability to read.

She was always reading a lot of books, even the ones who have been forbidden for her. For that reason her curiosity about the creation of the cookies started to grow at the point of... Well, I can't say that. Sorry folks.

[bellatheinkdemon]

List of Aus I made from different fandoms:

Note: I'm not adding the ones I made just for my ocs of that fandom

--------------------------------------------

Yo-Kai Watch Aus:

- Amnesiac Rage Au: Basically an Au that takes place in the Anime universe, where instead of killing Shinmagunshin, Shutendoji and Voidera (Douketsu's localized name) decided to spare it and move him to an area where he can cause as much chaos as it wants. It also makes friend with a human. (The reason why it's called Amnesiac Rage is based on how I see Shinmagunshin, mindless and full of rage with no memories of even himself.)

- The Fukuro House Au: A crossover au of The Owl House and Yo-Kai Watch.

- (I actually don't have a name for this one yet lol): Basically Umbral Enma, an Enma in which the Yo-Kai World was fucked via a war in his universe, becomes friends with a traumatized Zazel, who in his universe the Yo-Kai World ALSO gets fucked thanks to a war and whose Enma dies trying to protect it. (It should be noted that Zazel doesn't exist in Umbral Enma's world.)

------------------------------------------------------------

Cookie Run Aus:

- Headcanon Au: It's basically the canon au but with my headcanons. It's also my main Au.

- The Feral Chicken Au: Moonlight accidentally turned her brother (Stardust) into a feral beast whose memories are scrambled thanks to a potion. And Stardust also flees from his sister.

- Cacao's Brother Au: An Au where Cacao has a big brother and also had a son before Dark Choco but... Well let's just say something bad happened to him.

- Jellywalker Millie Au: Millennial Tree got turned into a bloody zombie and Wind Archer is his protector.

------------------------------------------------------------

Pokemon Aus:

- Soumm Region Au: Not sure if this counts as an Au but basically it's my own Pokemon Region with it's own story, characters, ect. (Just not Pokemon lol)

- False Belief Au: An Au where Arceus is a dick, and after they refused to take Akari home, Akari tries to use the Arceus Phone against them, but Arceus is like; "Oh you ignorant child. If it's my own power, what makes you, a mere mortal child, can use it?" And decides to punish her. (No, not THAT kind of punishment you perverts)

- Gijinka Au: Basically Legendary/Mythical Pokemon can turn into a human form. (And Arceus is genuinely nice in this AU and they and Giratina have a Pure Vanilla and Dark Enchantress relationship.)

------------------------------------------------------------

Sonic Aus (Most of these are Sonic suffering):

- (Haha I don't actually have a name for this Au either-) It's a Swap Au where Mimic swaps with Whisper, and Jewel swaps with Tangle... With a twist ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- Shooting Star from the Abyss: One day when Sonic was out for a run at night, he comes across a weird rock. (Not being aware that it was a meteor that fell from Space!) And the next day, when Tails get worried about him, he finds Sonic. But he's... Different. In fact, is that even Sonic?

- S Au: It's an Au inspired by Sink Sonic. Sonic and Tails were fighting Eggman and Metal one day, when an earthquake happened an it sends Sonic into the water, drowning him since he can't swim. Tails is mourning the lost of his best friend, thinking that he could've saved him and thinks this'll all his fault, even though it wasn't. Timeskip to 6 months later, Amy tells Tails that she made a new friend who she introduces him to Tails. In which it's a hedgehog with their name being S.

[blueberry-yogurt-academy]

sobbing thinking about how well white lily would’ve gotten along with some of the cookies of darkness/dark enchantress’s followers

(no real reason for this tbh I was just thinking like “what if white lily got to meet some of the cookies of darkness, and what would she think about them?”)

licorice (who she has the most parallels with imo)

both magic users

both went to a magic academy when they were younger

both were ostracized from their peers/the cookies around them (or at least with licorice it’s implied)

both ended up doing taboo things (licorice with beginning to use dark magic, and white lily with her cookie studies)

both ended up “joining the bad side” in a sense (licorice with joining the cookies of darkness and white lily with becoming dark enchantress (obviously the latter was unintentional but still :’))

ik this is less about how they would’ve gotten along and more about how they’re similar but I still think it’s cool ok

dark choco

he’s the son of one of her best friends! so of course she’d like him!

tbh since her and dark cacao were close, maybe white lily understands dark cacao possibly even more so than his son does (the reasons why he does certain things, why he’s so cold, etc.). and I feel like she’d be sympathetic towards dark choco too. and I like to think that she’s really good at peacemaking and helping people resolve conflicts. so maybe she could at least help patch up dark cacao and dark choco’s relationship? idk. or at least she’d get the two actually talking

strawberry crepe

they’re both super intelligent! in different fields, obviously, but I still feel like strawberry crepe would just be delighted to have someone to ramble their ideas to and I feel like white lily would be able to keep track with them and know how to care for them really well! because I feel like she’d see a bit of herself in strawberry crepe, tbh, even though their personalities are quite different-

poison mushroom

I don’t really have many substantial ideas for the two of them. but I mean, who could hate poison mushroom? they’re just a scrunkly little kid

I don’t really have any ideas for the other cookies of darkness but feel free to add on if y’all do have some! :D

[basil-except-writing]

I want the chess choco twins to have a happy relationship with Dark Choco yet know absolutely nothing about his past. Dark Choco just takes them away from the Cookies of Darkness with the help of his best friend Red Velvet and becomes their legal guardian. Then one day they somehow hear the story of the Black and White Dragons and Red Velvet even makes them costumes for them to look like dragons as well. They start to ask Dark Choco about the story and about the two dragons so he has to tell them the story over and over. Eventually Dark Choco runs into Dark Cacao somehow while he's out doing something, either some sort of job like an assassin or running errands for Red Velvet and the Chess Choco Twins. They have an awkward interaction and at the end of it Dark Cacao asks Dark Choco about his life and Dark Choco being tired of this and wanting to leave accidentally let's it slip that he has kids and they have an interest in the Black and White Dragons then makes up some excuse as to why he has to leave. Dark Cacao just stands there is shock by the fact his son who (in his eyes) is very young, has children and that they have an infatuation with the Black and White Dragons. (Yes I have to sneak in a bit of father son time because I'm fatherless and kin Dark choco) The Chess Choco twins start to learn even more about the tale like the name of the cookie who separated the Dragons and so they start wanting to learn more about him. So they go up to Dark Choco and start asking about Dark Cacao and Dark Choco attempts to answer all their questions in the most impersonal was possible and without revealing the fact that Dark Cacao had a son. The whole idea is that Dark Choco is now a single parent with his best friend who he's helping start a life outside the Cookies of Darkness, they have a house where they all live. Dark Choco is the only one who can cook considering Red Velvet has a very big cake hand which breaks stuff and makes it difficult to hold things. The Chess choco twins are little kids who much to Dark Choco's dismay got interested in the history of the Dark Cacao Kingdom, which while Dark Choco is an expert on it'd make him suspicious so he has to answer as if he had just recently gotten that knowledge for his kids and that he didn't have it ever since he was a kid. Red Velvet has no idea whats going on and just watches over the kids sometimes but all he knows is that Dark Choco does not like Dark Cacao and is very uncomfortable around Caramel Arrow and Crunchy Chip.

[a-scaly-troublemaker]

Cacao Headcanon Dump (mainly for ecastily lmao.)

I posted this right before my first period class on 4/1/22 lmao (I'm gonna date some of my stuff so no one has to fight to find the date in the settings thank me later)

Cacao shivers when he's upset and becomes less vocal until comforted or allowed to force his emotions down. His shivers can be temporary at the beginning of him feeling sad, or can last throughout the entire time he is sad. He doesn't cry much, but when he does, he absolutely spills his guts everywhere. Anyone who will listen, he'll tell them everything. A simple 'What's wrong?' Ans he'll start talking for quite a while. He appreciates it when someone will sit down with him in a quite room and take in his side, patch him up when he shows them his proverbial wounds.

Cacao is part of a small group of Cookies who love to be pet like cats, and purr when such is done. He is superbly insecure about this and is afraid he'll be seen as weak for melting so readily at attention given to him. His purring is rich and deep. Get under his chin and his arms will fall limp. Absolute bliss. He will smile and just relax,, resigning himself to the affections. Few Cookies are tall enough to get there, and he trusts few Cookies enough to bend down and let them. The Cookies on the list of those he will let pet him, in my AUs... Dark Choco, Espresso, Caramel Arrow, Red Velvet, Licorice, Pure Vanilla, and Hollyberry. Cacao is so touch starved that he melts under the affections of those he trusts almost the instant he is shown said affection. He lights up like a Christmas tree, will purr the entire time, and with Pure Vanilla, might beg for more.

Both Cacao and his son have sensory sensitivities stemming from a mental disorder. They have roughly the same general spectrum of disorders, and shut down in a similar way. However, Cacao does not allow himself to shut down. He will bite and claw at himself to stop himself from shutting down, not allowing himself to let his guard down for even a moment.

Cacao is a massive cuddlebug and an absolute sweetheart. He was open about this when he was younger and not a king, but it was practically beaten out of him gradually as the settlement grew and he took charge of it. His desire to protect them and belief that he was one of the best Cookies to do so caused him to adopt a less emotional stance. He was praised for his strength. Both directly and indirectly, other Cookies stifled his big heart until it was hardly there anymore, and he normally thinks less of himself for allowing himself to love and be loved openly.

However.

This is all BEFORE my AU stuff has occurred.

Afterwards?

Post the dark part of my AU, Cacao has reunited with his son and has left responsibility for the kingdom on the Watchers and the citizens themselves while he rests and heals with his family, most of which consists of adopted Cookies. In this AU, he has been married to Pure Vanilla since well before the main protagonists were baked, and the two kings spent as much time together as they could afford to. They were and still are deeply in love with another, taking care of each other as best they can. Pure Vanilla uses his powers to ease Cacao's nasty morning pains as well as comfort him through his trauma. They dote on each other to a point that it's obscene in private. Pets, kisses, gentle caresses, hugs, and snuggles. Cacao has opened up entirely to his family and servants, along with somewhat more to the public. He seldom allows himself to be petted in public, though.

After he has opened up, though, he is relatively calm and easygoing until allowed the opportunity to be sweet. Also in this AU, he has a secret ingredient in his dough that he conceals from others: Chocolate syrup. There's so much of it that it subtly tints his jam brown.

Small sweet headcanon: He picks up small children and will comfort them until a family member comes to pick them up. He normally does this outside the Black Citadel, but sometimes does it inside the Citadel. It has earned him a muted reputation of a kindred spirit, only believed in select few communities.

Another sweet headcanon: You can't tell me that what little time Cacao spent with his son wasn't precious. He would expel all of the servants from the castle so no one would be able to witness Cacao getting into a tickle fight with his young son. Only a few servants were allowed to hang around, and they never told a soul outside of Cacao's inner circle, for fear of his wrath.

[gendy-endy]

Hello Tumblr, this is your intro to the horror Muppet au.

Under the cutoff will be the introductions to the residents of snaxsburg and some spoilers to bugsnax in some of the intros so be cautious when looking under the break off.

It's very long btw.

Now that you've heeded my warning, let's do this.

Now of course the first Grumpus will talk about is the first grumpus you see in the tape she sent to you is the one and only Lunalma (lu-nal-ma) Moonsilver!

(Construction of moonlight's name Luna + lunala (yes the pokemon) + alma. Then last name is the words moon + sliver (because crescent moons))

This famous explorer has had some bad luck lately with a little scandal with grumlatus, but the story of an island full of food bugs sounds like it could change history as we know it!

The only problem is the fact she's gone missing with the rest of snaxsburg leaving it behind, except one…

That being of course Blorbo Flowerherb!

(The first name is literally just blorbo, don't blame me it was too funny of a joke not to include, this name literally could work in the bugsnax's cannon. The last name is a reference to the fact of bellflower does herbology and the fact her name is bellflower I guess)

Left her home to come here for two reasons:

Her unrivaled loyalty to lunalma

Her grandfather just kicked the bucket and she has nothing to lose basicly

With her interesting set of skills she might be the reason everyone left after Lunalma went missing.

But nevertheless we should meet the others

Like our resident tough guy Darmaul (dar-muel) Snowstrike.

(First name is dark (as in dark cacao) + Samuel (as in Samuel) (also looks like Darth Maul so it's cool I guess). The last name is a reference to the fact that the dark cacao kingdom is a snowy place)

A friend invited him to join this little journey to escape his family problems (aka it's his son, he has son problems) so that he can become the gardener that they need since he does do it in his spare time.

Well, you may be asking, why do we know such personal shit about some dude, well hidanna (hide-anna) scaleglow of course!

(First name is a mix of Heidi + hydrangea + anna. Last name is purely a reference to the glowing orbs in the locus dragon cookie stages and the fact she's the child of her in this AU I guess)

the little gossiper knows everything about everyone and that's kinda the reason she's here…

Anyway let's talk about the animal whisper of the group valvet whitherbloom.

(First name is a mix of velvet (as in red velvet) + valentine (because normally red velvet cake is used for Valentine's day stuff). The last name is a reference to the dark enchantress lore in kingdom (also that name slaps ass))

Valvet was invited for his amazing animal skills and his knowledge on biological workings of living things. (Also as a way to get away from his bad home life, or so I hear)

Next up is the one, the only preppy charmsong!

(Name is the word preppy which parfait is definitely, also it's basically poppy with a re in place of an o. Charmsong is a really cute name + my autocorrect wants the word to be turned into charming every time so it works)

A famous pop star who's in a creative slump and decided to join the exhibition to get out of it.

Well if you're exploring an island full of mystery you'd want someone who can look at bones and knows every piece of grumpus history right? Well redeglic (rege-lick) truecream is your guy!

(Name is a mix of Roderick + relic. And the last name is basically true crime but there can be milk in tea/cheese/eclairs so it works)

A triplet with something to prove to the rest of his family about their own history.

Well what do you do when your ex takes both kids and the house? You go on some crackpot adventure where you'll probably die from a rock slide or something - pielliam (pie-liam) capt sometime this year when he was drunk or something.

(Name is literally pirate + William. Last name is a cut off of captain)

This sketchy salesman has nothing to gain out of this and is only here because it's free housing and full of suckers who'd fall for shit.

Well if you've noticed by now we're lacking a lot of muscle aren't we? Well, flouris (floor-is) goldenroot is the solution!

(Mix of louis/flur (because it sounded French I guess, but apparently it's German I think). It also sounds like flourish, which is good. The last name is about his hair; it's that simple.)

He's here for more than one reason, but refused to tell anyone what they were, maybe they're related to our next grumpus…

(This is continued another reblog since Tumblr image limit is a thing)

[o-wyrmlight]

Totally probably gonna look like a weirdo here but

I was reading ur cacao/choco analysis and THANK U MY GODDDDD it was such a good analysis and I love how it wasnt entirely one sided as well💀

One thing I’d like to add if ur comfortable is the names of dark choco and cacao representing their parallel of the sweet and bitterness of their lives

Dark choco is irl sweeter than cacao but it’s still bitter regardless

While cacao irl is very bitter but with these characters it’s almost as if they’re names that represent the bitter and sweet are connected to their own personalities and relationships

For choco it’s a sweet beginning like how chocolate is sweeter than cacao but turns into a bitter ending like dark chocolate is especially with the people he’s surrounded with

And for cacao it’s bitter like cacao then becomes sweet like what cacao can become but then reverting back to bitter when he lost everything because cacao can always become a bitter dark chocolate

Idk maybe this is to much sorry if this is weird or I came on so sudden I just wanted to share my thoughts on these two since I love em so much and I loved reading ur analysis on them💀

No, you're fine! I actually do think about this sometimes.

I like the cleverness behind Dark Cacao and Dark Chocos' names. The cacao bean is an incredibly bitter bean that, when used as the only main ingredient to make chocolate, is known to be incredibly bitter. However, if you add some sugar and sweetness into it, the chocolate becomes something much more pleasant to the senses. In order, it's usually 'pure cacao chocolate', 'dark chocolate', and 'milk chocolate'--as the most well-known ones.

Dark Cacao as a cookie is well renowned for his bitterness. And yet from that bitterness, he is still able to have a son that carries with him some degree of warmth and kindness--a pleasantness to help subside the bitterness that cacao is known for. Dark chocolate has... A strange taste to it. It isn't necessarily bitter as much as it is just a touch sweet, if you know what I mean. But I'm sure that it's easier to stomach than chomping on a pure cacao chocolate bar.

Another interesting aspect about bitterness in general is that--if I'm recalling my information correctly--most medicines in general are bitter. There are theories that bitterness helps aid the immune system or kicks it into high gear, though take that with a grain of salt because I am not a dietician or a doctor. I just think it's interesting in general for Dark Cacao even though I'm drawing a comparison out of literally nowhere. Lad definitely needs a taste of his own medicine after that shit he pulled in Episode 13.

There's probably more thoughts I can up with past that but I've been procrastinating on driving home long enough lol

[quibbs126]

(Sorry if you already did this)

Could you do a dark choco x caramel arrow fankid? It’s a rare pair but I love it:DDD

(also I love your art)

For all the people who requested this, here you are, this kid is Caramel Fudge Cookie. He was actually a bit up in my requests, but since so many people were asking I thought might as well do him early. I’ve been skipping around a bit

Now, for the name, I know there’s definitely a bunch of things with chocolate and caramel around, I just had to find something that was just called “chocolate caramel”. The original name I was going to go with is something with syrup, since I know both chocolate and caramel can be made into syrup, but I didn’t end up going with that, since he didn’t give me that vibe. Now, what he reminded me of were brownies topped with caramel, along with marshmallows and maybe some graham crackers as well (my family’s made those before, they’re delicious and now I’m hungry). Well the marshmallows and graham crackers make it a s’more, but the chocolate brownies with caramel are called turtle brownies. So, I named him Turtle Fudge Cookie (the “fudge” part isn’t part of the food name, but I didn’t think Turtle Brownie worked as well, so I just put it in instead. Also there is turtle fudge, but I was thinking of the brownies). I was also debating changing it to Caramel Fudge, since I thought the “turtle” part didn’t fit, but after asking my friend she says turtle sounds better, so I’m going with Turtle Fudge

Turtle brownie/turtle fudge:

I really want brownies now

Anyways, on to his design, I think he looks cute, but also I worry he looks too much like a mini Caramel Arrow and not enough like Dark Choco. Maybe it shows more when he gets older. Currently he’s like 8. He also originally had black eyes like her, but I wanted to change it to look more like him. Purple eyes like his grandfather was also an option, but my friend told me the red eyes looked better

So on to him himself, so he’s determined to become a Watcher and is basically starting early, since he lives in the Citadel. He’s always trying to train, he goes around telling people when their shifts change (he knows when they do, he’s not making up times to change), and he’ll spend hours (or at least he’ll try to, he’ll usually end up falling asleep) looking atop the wall for any sort of threat. Thing is, he’s a little kid and basically just looks like a tiny Caramel Arrow, so everyone just finds him adorable. He’s so sincere in his efforts that no one can bring themselves to be annoyed or mad with him.

I gave him a spear just because those are another weapon in the kingdom and I wanted to give him something different from his parents. He does know how to use a bow though, he’s just not the best at it

Oh yeah, another thing I was going to draw as a sketch but forgot to, I had an idea that he might have some weird connection to the Licorice Sea. Like, he can’t help but stare out at it, almost thinking something in there is calling to him. Not sure if I’m keeping that or it just stays an early concept

Another potential plot point is that he comes across Affogato Cookie sneaking into the Citadel, not knowing who he is, only that he’s trespassing. Affogato sees him and immediately thinks “is that a tiny Caramel Arrow??”. Upon asking if he’s related, Affogato learns that this kid is the son of Caramel Arrow Cookie and Dark Choco Cookie, which by extension also makes him Dark Cacao’s grandson. Realizing he has an opportunity for revenge against the people who screwed him over, he kidnaps Turtle Fudge. How successful he is (he escapes with Turtle Fudge, I mean how long before he’s found or even if he’s found) and what that revenge entails I’m not sure. But there is a possible scenario where Turtle Fudge grows up to be a loyal servant to Affogato, either not knowing his parents or thinking they abandoned him, probably due to brainwashing on Affogato’s account. If anyone wants to do anything with this concept, feel free

But yeah, I think that’s about it for Turtle Fudge. I’ll be honest, I feel like I focused more on the Carrow side of him and basically nothing about Dark Choco. I’m half debating whether or not Dark Choco is even there, or if this is an alternate universe where they had the kid before Dark Choco got banished, meaning Turtle Fudge just has his mother. I’d like him to be there, but it feels like how I wrote him Dark Choco either isn’t there or is just in the background

But anyways yeah, hope you like him!

Edit: I just realized the second one asked me what I think of the ship. I mean, I get the ship, but personally I like to see Dark Choco and Caramel Arrow as having a sibling relationship, so it just doesn’t work out for me personally

Also I am just now realizing the second person might have been asking me to draw Dark Choco and Caramel Arrow and not a fankid. Sorry about that, I’ve seen so many of these that if you give me a two characters and ask about a ship I’m probably going to think you’re asking me to make a fankid

[h-e-l-l-b-r-o-k-e]

Fool [S.H. x you]

Request:

Inspiration: No More Blue Horizon by China Crisis

Word Count: 1564 Warnings: angst, and self-destructive behavior.

Written Date: 12/17-20/2019 Posted Date: 12/20/2019

[MASTERLIST]

Steve “The King” Harrington was nothing but a fraud who hid behind great hair, brand-named clothing, and, occasionally, tinted specs. But while he had everyone wrapped around his pinky, he was nothing more than a doormat in the middle of sleepless nights. Not because you often bumped shoes with him every time he welcomed you into his arms but because the only time you ever sought him out was after a nasty fight with your older boyfriend, and only in places no prying eyes could reach.

He hadn’t spoken more than a couple sentences to you in months―you have muttered even less to him―yet somehow the warmth between your heated skin had become well acquainted with his.

With your head on his chest and an arm around your waist, Steve’s bed had offered a fraction of the comfort after you decided to climbed into his window and sob unintelligibly against his shirt. Steve didn’t say anything when you flinched upon his fingers grazing over a bruise on your hip. This was the first time.

The clashing of teeth and swollen lips was the first kiss you had desperately bestowed upon him. The school’s boiler room had been too dark for him to see, and maybe that’s partially why the first kiss had been just a little too rough but somehow he had the feeling the brutal kiss was purposeful too.

The first time Steve had sex with you was on your bed of flowered bedding just fifteen minutes after the bell had released its students for the day. Your clammy hands hardly roamed his torso, opting to remain on his shoulders, while your thighs shook around his slim hips. You rode him, wanting Steve’s sweat to penetrate through your sheets and displace the scent of your boyfriend’s odor of whiskey. Meanwhile, Steve’s eyes took turns settling between your face screwed up in mild pleasure, your bouncing breasts, and the door.

Steve was somewhat of a douchebag, but he had a soft side. Your twenty-year-old boyfriend didn’t have a genuine latter. Those moments you stole from Steve were selfish yet they were the only occasion in which you could take control of.

This fucked up routine between the two of you was wrong. Steve had enough sense to understand that, but what else could he do? Steve had known you since your mother styled your hair in small pigtails with ever-changing ribbons.

Your mother used to bring you along for visits with Steve’s mother back when his home was actually a home lived in by a functional family and not just their neglected son. You used to run up the carpeted stairs in your classic Velcro shoes and barge into his room, demanding he’d stop hiding from underneath his bed and play with you.

As an eight-year-old who didn’t have siblings to share his toys with, he often wished to opt out of the presence of the free spirited and bossy girl, and hoped to avoid her. But, not wanting to disappoint the child of her dear friend, his own mother never covered for him with some made-up-on-the-spot lie as to why little Steve wasn’t available for a play-date. No matter how much he begged.

This childish stage was rather quick to pass, and the both of you managed to find some common ground that transformed into a stable friendship. As the years progressed, your oozing confident nature bathe him in a glow of his own.

But, the friendship didn’t last long. Once you hit the age of fourteen, your figure already developed, you met an attractive seventeen-year-old after you and one of your friends decided to crash her brother’s get-together. His name was Nathan, and he was already a high school dropout who sold drugs under the counter at his father’s liquor store. That didn’t matter; Nathan had a car, you liked him, and every girl in your grade wanted to be in your shoes.

Soon, your independence had run thin and every friendship you cherished was squandered under Nathan’s boots. Whatever you had with Steve was strained and peeling like an old coat of paint. It wasn’t obvious at first, but Nathan had been slowly molding you into his ideal twisted image of partnership. His father was controlling, so he figured he should be too.

The school began mailing home your borderline failing report cards and you sent them back with forged signatures. The discolored blotches that appeared on your skin from Nathan’s manhandling never had a chance to heal themselves before new ones appeared. Your arms and waist seemed to think it was some sort of game by collecting the most bruises he threw at you.

Your mother, who you’ve always had a close bond with, didn’t even recognize you anymore. No one did. Casual acquaintances drifted once the bubbles of your character popped while closer friends eventually gave up on you. But, not Steve. The separation of distance between Steve and yourself had always been on you. Your childhood pal spent afternoons knocking on your front door just to have your mother send him away with slouched shoulders. You spent less time at home and more time experimenting with other boys.

And once Nathan hands began twisting and turning your figure every time he so much as suspected you were out of line, Steve became an outlet for frustration. Steve never really spoke during the encounters―never even refused you―and in this perverted logic, you knew you could always count on him.

That is until tonight.

The air was thick from a random bout of humidity, even though summer is still several months away. Steve laid flat on his back, skin slick from moisture and hairline drenched, chest rising and falling in deep breaths. Your back facing him, you had already pulled on your panties and is now sitting on the side of his bed, picking up your fallen sweater.

One of your arms has just found the tunnel of a knitted sleeve when goosebumps pebbled the skin of your exposed spine. Your knotted hair dangles freely and you don’t move an inch.

Among the whirring of crickets chirping in the dead of night, Steve just confessed what he’s known since before puberty widened your hips and gave him armpit hair: “I love you.”

You suppose this knowledge had already been growing like a seed in the pit of your stomach, but hearing it is different. Hearing it so softly spoken sent a spray of acid rain into your tummy, destroying whatever progress was made of your garden. It made this hint of fantasy very real and very daunting.

You compose yourself rather quickly, though not because it’s easy, and slip your sweater on at double speed, eager to slip out of his unlatched window. The frumpy jeans you’d thrown on earlier are next in line for the picking, and once the zipper is zipped and the button is buttoned, you get up to slip on your sneakers.

But, you find you cannot because Steve’s fingers wrap around your wrist. “Y/n―”

“Stop.”

It’s forced between clenched teeth. Gratefulness envelops you when you notice that the curtains of your strands block your face from his view and you refuse to give him a passing of your eyes.

The pads of his fingers and palms stay shy of a caress, but they are softer and gentler than Nathan’s will ever be. And, you know that the gaze Steve has settled on you is nothing short of balmy and that his brown hues plead in a combination of honey and cacao while Nathan’s eyes are as deep as an ocean ready to drown you. Yet, none of these things keep you from shimmying your wrist out of Steve’s grasp.

It’s an easy tug and soon you are tying the laces of your sneakers and placing strands behind your ears, and throughout it, Steve lets you without another word.

No glances are spared as a leg slips through the opening of the window, and you don’t bid him a goodbye before disappearing―not that you ever do. 

His window stays open for the rest of the night just like his lids don’t drift him off to a dreamless sleep. His thoughts are on you; how you’re so quick to brush him off as if he was a piece of lint on a coat; the way you touch his body like he’s a mannequin yet attack his lips like a fierce fever, and he briefly thinks about how you behave with your boyfriend in such lustful positions. He wonders how you could be so desperate to find him and then twice as desperate to leave him.

Steve wishes he could be disgusted with you just as much as you self-loathe, but it doesn’t come naturally. He’s a doormat. A fool stuck in love.

[notable-law-music-tech-news]

The Chocolate Chip Cookies I Can't Eat Anymore, but Will Never Stop Making

I bake to feel like myself, especially when the outside world feels upside down.

In 2009, I was laid off from my first food media job out of culinary school. It had always been my dream to be a food editor, and I was crushed. Just after the cloud of self-pity lifted and the objects from my desk had been absorbed into my apartment with the disguise of belonging, I retreated to the kitchen with a new goal: to make the ideal chocolate chip cookie.

I had just created a food blog—following orders from the parting words of my mentor and former editor-in-chief—and it seemed like something a food blogger would do. Plus, a recipe by Jacques Torres had just appeared in The New York Times, and I thought that tinkering with his somewhat complicated iteration could help me find my own.

I was newly 25 and married to a first-year law student. My job had fallen victim to the recession and changing landscape of print media. I was as down and out as I’d ever been to that point, and somehow questing after the perfect chocolate chip cookie perked my spirits. It gave me purpose—a reason to orient my kitchen and efforts to produce something valuable, something worthy of putting out into the world.

After a few weeks and many batches of cookies, I finally arrived at what I felt was the perfect cookie: a crisp-yet-chewy classic bursting with layers of chocolate flavor, finished off with a sprinkle of sea salt. I loved the recipe so much that I began making it all the time, giving the cookies away to my friends whenever I had the excuse.

Soon the cookies began to take on a life and story of their own. I would trot them out every now and then to honor the often-overlooked small victories of life, such as a kind word from a usually grumpy boss or signing a new lease on an apartment. Over time, they developed a unique power.

Eventually, the cookies came along with me to every important meeting. I took them to a discussion about my first cookbook and credit them for earning my second. I made them to accompany the application for the offer on our house in 2015—the height of the housing boom here in Seattle—relying on their power of persuasion.

I wrote my first children’s book, the confidence to self-publish stemming from the very kind of determination held within building my food blog from scratch. It felt natural, then, to offer my chocolate chip cookies as a reward on Kickstarter. The crowd-funding campaign took place during a week in mid-February 2017, and I’d planned a series of Instagram and Facebook posts to promote the hopeful project.

One was a picture from my very first professional website that featured a version of myself that felt unrecognizable: young, blonde, childless, and without the glasses I’d come to proudly wear once I’d moved to Brooklyn in 2009. In that photo, however, the one common quality that baker and I continued to share was our signature dessert: the chocolate chip cookies.

I had no idea that, at the very moment of writing that post, I had a brain tumor lurking in my frontal lobe, or that the routine MRI I was scheduled to have later that very day would reveal it. An odd coincidence happened in that post, though; looking back later on it made me feel like my body was trying to tell me something. I used the word “legacy” in the caption in reference to my cookie recipe, describing it as the baked good I’d probably be remembered for best. Immediately after posting I realized it sounded a bit morbid because, well, I was completely healthy—or so I thought.

That slight moment of textbook dramatic irony has haunted me for years.

Somehow, I made it past the year the doctors gave me to live. “Now what?” I wondered in an empty kitchen.

Once I was diagnosed with brain cancer, I chose to give up chocolate, gluten, and sugar, which were the fundamental elements of my magical cookies. It was heartbreaking at first, but the prospect of surviving—especially for my two young sons—offered a healthy perspective.

Somehow, I made it past the year the doctors gave me to live. “Now what?” I wondered in an empty kitchen.

I was faced with a totally different life in food that revolved around an “alternative” baking vocabulary—and a stack of medical bills. I felt like a cookbook author without a subject; the food choices that were necessary to my survival stood in opposition to the generalist, jack-of-all-trades food editor I’d become. Once again, my dream career fell away overnight. And once again, I turned to these cookies as a currency of hope.

During the early weeks when I was acclimating to life on the other side of my prognosis, I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. I had gone to sleep after a terrifying review of our finances with my husband, battling a kind of panic that felt as though I’d been diagnosed with cancer all over again. I rose from bed and slipped out to my desk in the darkness, throwing my robe over my shoulders and shuffling into my slippers.

It had hit me, my next big idea: I would take the foods that held deep meaning to me and figure out a way to make them as often as I could. See, soup had taken on a kind of magic in my life the same way my cookies had—it’s what people brought me when I was sick. Neighbors, friends, and even strangers would bring me batches of their favorite soul-nourishing recipes, like bowlfuls of lentils swimming with vegetables, in the months that followed my recovery from brain surgery. I fully believe that it was this display of community that shepherded me back to myself and possibly to the miracle of health I am living today.

I decided to thank the people who brought me soup by bringing them soup. And, of course, my cookies. Just because I couldn’t eat them, didn’t mean I couldn’t make them—or share their magic.

And so, Soup Club was born.

My healthful, vegan soups paired perfectly with my cookies, a balance of comfort and decadence—hallmarks of my diet I’d come to appreciate since my diagnosis.

I currently live a life where I make over a hundred of these cookies a week and leave them with love (and soup!) on friends’ porches.

The myth of these cookies grows each time I share them. They continue to reveal belonging, connection, and hope—just as they have ever since I created them in my Brooklyn kitchen. And even though I may never taste one again, I am certain they will nourish me always.

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

View Recipe

Ingredients

For the cookies:

3 1/4 cups (445 g) homemade grain-free flour blend (see recipe below), or preferred gluten-free all-purpose flour 1/4 cup (35 g) cornstarch 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 g) baking powder 1 teaspoon (7 g) Kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling 1 teaspoon (6 g) baking soda 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup (212 grams) granulated sugar 1 cup packed (200 grams) light brown sugar 2 large eggs, at room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 pound best-quality bittersweet chocolate (50-75% cacao content), chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)

3 1/4 cups (445 g) homemade grain-free flour blend (see recipe below), or preferred gluten-free all-purpose flour 1/4 cup (35 g) cornstarch 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 g) baking powder 1 teaspoon (7 g) Kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling 1 teaspoon (6 g) baking soda 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (212 grams) granulated sugar 1 cup packed (200 grams) light brown sugar 2 large eggs, at room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 pound best-quality bittersweet chocolate (50-75% cacao content), chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)

For the homemade grain-free flour blend:

1 cup tapioca flour, spooned and leveled 1 cup arrowroot flour, spooned and leveled 1 cup coconut flour, spooned and leveled 1 cup almond flour, spooned and leveled

1 cup tapioca flour, spooned and leveled 1 cup arrowroot flour, spooned and leveled

1 cup coconut flour, spooned and leveled 1 cup almond flour, spooned and leveled

Which recipes bring you comfort? Tell us in the comments.

from Food52 https://ift.tt/3giq9Ws

[sjohnson24]

Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Travel & Tourism – Nature reserves in rainforests, protection programs for threatened flora and fauna, organically farmed cacao for cocoa production – Costa Rica is known for all that, and has a reputation as an ecological role model. When I visited I tried to track down practical examples of sustainable tourism in three places.

Watch out! Babies on the beach!

I’ve never witnessed a birth, but today I’m seeing several. One of about 80 freshly-hatched turtles has freed itself from the hole in which its mother laid her eggs, and is scuttling twenty meters down the beach. There it glides into the lukewarm water of the Caribbean Sea. Its siblings are doing the same thing – but not all of them have it easy, because they’re not alone on the beach. I’m there, along with about 30 tourists. The beach is freely accessible; there are no barriers. A few guides from Tortuguero National Park on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast are giving instructions: “Don’t get in the way of the turtles! Watch where you step! Don’t help!” The tiny animals have to find their way on their own. But many tourists only listen with half an ear – they’re much too busy taking pictures and filming. “Oops!” A señora next to me has just failed to notice one of the small animals between her legs and accidentally knocked it over, but the turtle picks itself up and keeps going.

It’s 5 p.m. – a good time to hatch, as the heat of the day has already slowly subsided. The nesting season of the green sea turtle, which is actually more gray than green, runs from July to October. “There is an estimated total of up to 40,000 nesting holes on about 30 kilometers of beach here,” Diego, one of the guides, tells me while tourists and baby turtles bustle around us. I want to know if there are official rules set by the authorities. Diego’s answer is a terse “no,” even though there are about 200,000 tourists annually in Tortuguero National Park.

“It hurts me to see this,” 14-year-old schoolgirl María Fernanda Vaquero Castillo tells me as I leave the beach. She lives here in the only village in the national park. “It simply has to be better organized and regulated. I don’t mean they should charge entrance fees for the beach. They should sensitize tourists about this natural miracle.” The eighth-grader has grown up here on the Caribbean coast, and together with her friends collects trash people leave on the beach. She has seen hundreds of turtles hatch. It’s certainly a beautiful experience, but now she has tears in her eyes. “Once I saw a dead baby turtle that had slit its throat on a beer can. That was the worst.”

The sun sets – and we go back down to the beach, this time to a different section of it. It’s pitch-black and suddenly sand flies in my face. The guide turns on his torch and it glows with a weak red light. I can just make out the outlines of what I was able  to admire in miniature version in the afternoon. A sea turtle about a meter in diameter is digging a hole in the sand under cover of darkness. She throws the sand far behind her with her flippers. “No photos,” the guide says quietly, not for the first time. Light and noise could disturb the turtle. Only the guide’s dim lamp is turned on occasionally and the beam of light moves over the animal’s shell. After a good half an hour the turtle has finished digging. While she lays her eggs, we slowly retreat.

Another half an hour later something moves in the hole. “She’s done,” whispers the guide. Shortly afterwards the animal ponderously moves back towards the water, followed by an entourage of tourists. No one speaks. All keep their distance and tiptoe behind the reptile. Has she noticed us? “We don’t know,” says the guide. The first small waves lap over the turtle, who continues undeterred and eventually disappears into the sea. The babies will never see their mother – perhaps only hordes of tourists who may be standing near the hole when they first see the light of day.

Touring the rainforest in an aerial tram

About 60 kilometers from the turtle beach as the crow flies, I’m taking an aerial tramway through the forest canopy. Below me I see the floor of the rainforest passing by. To my left and right, colorful birds sit in the treetops. “That one over there is a red-eyed vireo – an American songbird,” the guide calls from behind us, and the tram car stops briefly. It’s one of 22 that travel through the Rainforest Adventure Park.

The park is an hour’s drive from the capital San José and in private hands. In addition to the aerial tramway, which has stood here since 1994 and is considered the highlight of the park, zip-lining, hiking tours and birdwatching are on offer. 33-year-old Nicolas Staton, General Manager of Rainforest Adventures Costa Rica, welcomes 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a year here. Despite the number of visitors, he says it’s sustainable tourism: “We’ve been climate-neutral since 2012,” he announces proudly. That means that the park’s CO2 emissions are completely offset. Staton can name any number of examples of the sustainability of tourism here. “We are preserving 450 hectares of rainforest, waste is recycled and we use only ecological elements to clean up the park.” He adds that the park provides work for residents of the neighboring communities, which is part of sustainable tourism. “It consists of three pillars: ecological, financial and social development.” Instead of possibly hunting animals illegally or clearcutting in the forest, the locals who work here show its flora and fauna to visitors.

And in addition to colorful birds, that fauna includes other exotic animals. On a branch relatively near our tram car sits a huge spider. I notice it quite late, so I’m startled and jerk my camera and arm back into the car. I hadn’t expected the spider – but I did expect the laughter of the other five occupants.

The eco lodge in the middle of nowhere

We left the well-paved road to the Rainforest Adventure Park long ago, and if our Jeep didn’t have four-wheel drive, we’d be in trouble, because these ten kilometers are not paved at all, and there are many twists and turns. They couldn’t be driven in an ordinary rental car. At one point we even have to ford a river with our vehicle. Tourists have to accept this awkward journey if they want to get to Selva Bananito Lodge in the middle of the rainforest.

People who holiday here usually want to relax and switch off. What I have to switch on is my electric torch in the evening, in order to find the way to my small cabin. The sounds of the rainforest are impressive: chirping, croaking and tweeting everywhere. In the cabin itself I’m glad of the mosquito net over my bed, which in addition to an astonishingly small number of mosquitos keeps out a multitude of extremely diverse insects.

“This is no walled-off all-inclusive resort. I use tourism as a mechanism to conserve the rainforest,” says 51-year-old Jürgen Stein, who has lived in Costa Rica since 1974 and run the eco lodge for 22 years. But how does that work? “The great mistake is always to look for a quick buck. This is a small lodge with a personal atmosphere,” he says. “I might have 4000 to 5000 guests a year. In the future, our children and grandchildren ought to be able to carry out every activity here without our having destroyed anything.” That means, among other things, that every guest here plants a tree, that water in the cabins is heated by the sun and the soap is biodegradable.

Then Jürgen gets slightly irked. That’s due to my question of to what extent his eco lodge might be a mere drop in the bucket where climate change is concerned. “In my forest, more than 500,000 tons of CO2 are stored. The trees planted by my guests alone will make my lodge carbon negative in the next 200 years!” he insists. That is to say, Jürgen gives more to the environment than he takes from it. That’s the opposite of what his father intended when he bought 17 square kilometers of rainforest in Costa Rica’s Limón province four decades ago.  He had planned traditional agriculture: cocoa cultivation, banana plantations and animal husbandry. And that always involves deforestation. “My  sister and I saw that in clearing the forest he was destroying life support systems.” In 1985 that came to an end.

The next morning I see from the air that it wasn’t too late. Jürgen flies an autogyro – a slightly rickety-looking aircraft with two seats that resembles a helicopter. Before take-off I’m still pretty nervous, but in the air I’m so thrilled by the view that I forget my fears. High over “Jürgenland,” as the locals call this neck of the woods, it’s easily to recognize what the father did wrong and the son did right.  Three quarters of the area is a rich green in color – it’s pristine primeval forest. A quarter is light green. That part was deforested and is used for farming, animal husbandry and, of course, for the Selva Bananito Lodge.

We land, and now Jürgen is laughing again. I can hear him over the headphones in my helmet. Even though he’s flown innumerable times, that obviously hasn’t dimmed his enjoyment. I ask him whether Costa Rica can serve as ecological role model. “Yes,” he says, “but unfortunately there are so many areas that are overrun – for instance, Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific coast. There the monkeys on the beach come right up to the tourists and rummage through their rucksacks looking for junk food, because they’ve become addicted to it. The monkeys here in my forest throw sticks at you when they see you, because they feel disturbed in their habitat.”

And that’s how it should be, I think – because here I’m the interloper. The monkeys are at home.

Article & Pics – Lukas Stege, From DW.com

[basil-except-writing]

Good Ending/Reunion AU

(daddy issuesn't au)

Chapter 9

AU by: @future--ghost

Name and Help by: @iheardasimplesong

(sorry I had to make another chapter cus it wasn't letting me save ☹️☹️)

"Don't act like everything is fine because it's not, it won't ever BE fine. You have an entire kingdom in disarray and instead of make sure its alright you decide to bother me? What are you getting at old man, if you want information on the Cookies of Darkness I'll give you that. You want check to make sure I won't come and destroy your kingdom, I won't. What the hell do you want from me? I just don't get it-" Dark Choco was starting to get more and more aggressive. "Dark Choco take a deep breath in and out. You're starting to become more aggressive." Derrik told him. Dark Choco did what it said but still looked annoyed. "I didn't care for any of that. I actually hadn't thought of any of that, I just..." Dark Cacao felt weird about saying this. He thought he was making progress but it all came crumbling down. "Spit. It. Out." Dark Choco's patience was running thin. "I just wanted my son back." Dark Choco seemed a bit suprised by this. He turned his head away. "Well that doesn't matter I doubt that's actually why" Before he could even finish his thought Derrik interrupted. "Dark Choco if you don't fucking say it I will." "I don't even know what you're talking about!" "Okay then fine." Derrik faced towards Dark Cacao. "I apologize for him, he has a bit of pent up anger and a few worries about only being used. He's actually really touched by that he just doesn't want to admit that to himself." Derrik seemed so used to translating how Dark Choco felt. "Is this true Dark Choco?" Dark Cacao asked. "... maybe. BUT just because I might think what you said was nice doesn't mean I'm staying." Dark Choco looked at his father narrow eyed. "I know you won't, but I do want to at least try to help you. While I may have a kingdom I need to work on, I also have a son I want to protect." Dark Cacao said. "That also brings up another thing I wanted to tell you something I found out recently, since you're older and you probably would want to know, Dark Enchantress is White Lily Cookie..." Dark Cacao said with great sorrow. "I know this may come as a shock to you and it suprised me as well but I'll be here to help you." Dark Cacao put his arm on Dark Choco's shoulder. "I knew that already, I found that out while in the Cookies of Darkness." Dark Choco took his father's hand off of his shoulder. "EXCUSE YOU BOY?- *obviously real cough* I mean, how did you figure that out and how did nothing happen to you?" Dark Cacao looked at his son bewildered. "No I just had a- Actually I don't need to tell you that." Dark Choco realized something. "Do I really have to be here anymore?" Dark Choco asked. "Well you could leave if you want but I'd perfer to keep an eye on you since there's the looming threat of those 'Cookies of Darkness' and that cursed sword." Dark Cacao answered and to his suprised Dark Choco was calm about it. "I suppose that makes sense, especially considering how I'm a wanted criminal in several places and I'd have to go through that area if I wanted to avoid any serious troubles." "WHY ARE YOU WANTED FOR ARREST IN SEVERAL PLACES BOY? AND BEING WANTED FOR ARREST IS A SERIOUS TROUBLE!" Dark Cacao then realized it's his son he's talking about and then cleared his throat. "Hmph, nevermind I'm not suprised." Dark Cacao patted his son's head lightly. "You had done a crime punishable by death and I gave you the mercy of banishment! Then you went off and joined some group of evil cookies, I don't know why I'm suprised." Dark Cacao then ruffled his son's hair aggressively while keeping the composure of a cold and serious king. "Hm, despite you being so messed up your hair is quite soft it is truly a shame how you cut most of it off." The king stopped messing with his son's hair. Dark Cacao looked outside the window and then at his son. "Dark Choco?" Dark Cacao said while still looking off into the distance. "Yes?" He looked back at his son who was looking back at him. "I'll visit you soon." While it mightve came out as a statement Dark Cacao meant it as a question. "I'm fine with that." Dark Choco answered.