#frozen kitchenware

[samsdisneydiary]

Exclusive Frozen Merch You Can Only Find at World of Frozen

Beginning on Nov. 20, World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland will be home to an all-new, exclusive Frozen merchandise collection! From cozy sweaters to adorable headbands and more, there’s just so much to choose from. Everything is absolutely worth melting for and we’re guessing you may not know where to start! We’re here to help with a few of our favorites that you will find throughout the…

[alexiroflife]

"it's not for me to say"

tooth rotting, stomach aching, heart palpitating fluff

kento nanami x reader

Synopsis: you and your husband share a dance in your living room after your anniversary dinner

to sum it up: married life with nanami >>>>

WC: 1,429

Warning(s): none

It's not for me to say you love me

It's not for me to say you'll always care

The room is empty. The fairy lights strung messily about the four corners of the walls light up the space delicately as the vinyl spins tirelessly in the corner, confined to the needle that the deep red record player presses into the disc. Dirty dinner plates sit atop the oak wood of the dining table, the disarray of kitchenware and dishes completely forgotten. The fireplace burns and crackles comfortingly, warming the legs of the couple standing just a few feet away from it. The soft vocals of muffled jazz matches with the gentle hums emitting from the dirty blonde's lips as he holds his partner close. The rest of the home stands still and silent, as if frozen in time to allow the serenity of the darling moments occuring within the dining room to extend into the night.

Oh, but here for the moment I can hold you fast

Your head is tucked just under Nanami’s chin and cheek pressed against his chest. The softness of your hair tickles his neck perfectly, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks at the gentle feeling: a reminder of your gentle grace. His large hand holds your waist snugly to his body, his fingers caressing the satin fabric of the crimson dress he purchased you for this very occasion. His left hand holds yours out, bejeweled fingers moving to trace your palm to imitate the strikes of the piano keys dancing in the background. Your eyes stay closed in serenity while they sway lazily to the music. You are far too busy soaking up the warmth of the fire against your skin and the warmth emanating off of your lover's embrace to be interrupted by opening your eyes just yet. You want to savor this, engrave it into your mind so that it may stay with you for years to come.

Nanami’s lips ghost over her forehead, sending the vibrations of his hums throughout your skin.

And press your lips to mine

And dream that love will last

The sorcerer’s heart hammers against his ribs in the best way imaginable, his chestnut eyes swollen with admiration. Happiness is a concept that had grown foreign to him for the majority of his life, and when he finally stumbled upon it by meeting you, he found it almost humorous that one person could enter his dull course of existence and change everything he believed he had known prior. 

The blonde inhales slowly through his nose as he pulls back to look down at the woman in his arms. You lift your head when you feel him shift against you and slowly blink open your eyes to gaze up at him softly. The deep (e/c) of your irises drags him deeper into her gaze, his pupils dilating almost instantly as he takes in your breathtaking features. Your free hand lifts from his shoulder and brushes the side of his face lightly and the short, silky strands of his hair blissfully. Your red glossed lips stretch into a dreamy smile upon taking in your husband’s striking face, eyes crinkling with the pull of your lips upward. Your knuckles graze over his sharp cheekbones, feeling his skin grow heated under your touch. His eyes flicker from yours to your nose, your lips, and all across her face. He could only define you as a dream, and in times like these, he could not believe that you were married to him.

As far as I can see this is heaven

And speaking just for me, it's ours to share

Nanami releases your hand and wraps both of his arms around your waist, yours instinctively moving to wrap around his neck. He leans forward so slowly until his nose brushes against yours. He feels your arms tighten around him as he brings his lips to press between your eyebrows tenderly. He then kisses your nose and the corner of her mouth before resting his forehead against yours. The blonde hears you release a contented sigh and smiles, proceeding to sway you in his arms as his thumbs rub the small of your back. Your lavender scent fills his senses, sending his mind into a blur. You’re everywhere, in his arms, in his mind, and in his heart. He closes his eyes this time, clinging to this peace and wishing it could last forever.

Perhaps the glow of love will grow with every passing day

He doesn’t want to lose this feeling. This terrible, beautiful, world-altering feeling. He wants to hold onto it, to you, for as long as he can, for he had been alone far too long before you brought light into his existence. Thinking back to a time when work occupied his loneliness when he didn't have your face to study in the mornings as the sun peaked shyly through the curtains, when he didn't have your stories to listen to as you rambled on about whatever your sophisticated mind was overanalyzing, or when he didn't have you to simply love and respect wholeheartedly; it made him wonder how he had come so far without you by his side. 

Nanami goes to bed each night pleading the universe not to take you, his lovely wife, away from him. You’re perfect; kind and understanding, far too perfect for this wounded planet. You work too hard and care too much for others, and he even finds your flaws are beautifully imperfect. To even think about your perfection, how perfectly you fit into his life and into his home choked him up and tightened his throat with gratitude. 

Or we may never meet again

But then, it's not for me to say

You can feel Nanami’s emotional thoughts as you look up at him curiously. Your hands move to hold his cheeks daintily, finding a better angle to look at his loving, thoughtful expression. You coo softly at the vision of him, whipped for you just as you are for him. You stroke his hair deftly, eyes scanning every familiar mark and handsome curve in his features. His glossy eyes meet yours in the midst of your touch, and no words are spoken. Only gazes were exchanged. 

He watches you intensely as you lean upward to close the distance, breaths fanning against each other’s lips. Your lips meet his in a chaste peck, his hands instinctively pressing further into her waist. You tilt your head and kiss the corner of his jaw next, and find yourself stifling a quiet giggle when you notice the imprint of your lipstick on his skin. The sound of your laughter sends a jolt to Nanami’s heart and dries his mouth, and he can’t fight the grin creeping onto his face within a matter of seconds, for absolutely anything you do makes him so wholly and indescribably happy. You make him feel like a damn teenager, or the kind of teen he would have been if he had not been negatively impacted by his experience at Jujutsu High, but that was all in the past. You are his present and his future. You are everything.

You bury your face into the crook of his neck and squeal when your feet suddenly leave the ground and your body is spun around giddily. 

And speaking just for me, it's ours to share

Perhaps the glow of love will grow with every passing day

Love is such a feeble word for what you two share, for it’s impossible to stuff the amount of time spent in each other’s arms, the plethora of stressed and exhausted tears shed, the range of sleepless nights you spent waiting your husband to return home anxiously, the meaningless arguments sparked by miscommunicated frustration and passion, the hardships overcome, and the way your souls bonded together throughout nights of prolonged passion into one, stupid made up word. A little word could never encapsulate the whole of the feeling Nanami experiences any time your skin touches his, or the complete security and luxury you feel under the protection of his affectionate gaze. What you have is more than love. More than any kind of emotion that can be searched online or found in a dictionary. More than you and him, more than the earth, more than the very universe. 

So you slow dance in your living room. soaking in one another because it is all you can do to say more than “I love you.”

Or we may never meet again

But then, it's not for me to say

[gloomlet]

Gloomlet’s TS4 Script, Gameplay & Replacement Mods

So I decided to compile a list of all the script/gameplay mods that i use or have used in my game. This was mainly made for my personal use, but i’m sure it could be helpful to other people too!

UPDATE! PLEASE READ!! This list is no longer up to date - use the Google Doc! - 04/25/24

Basic & Recommended!

TS4 Mod Manager ui cheats extension mc command center Carl's Sims 4 Gameplay Overhaul Relationship & Pregnancy Overhaul Wonderful Whims The Mood Pack Mod First Impressions Contextual Social Interactions Simulation Lag Fix Teleport Any Sim Better Exceptions

CAS Mods

Stand still in CAS More Traits in CAS Tidy details in CAS More CAS columns Lifetime Aspirations Child Aspirations Set Housewife - Aspiration Unlimited Likes + Dislikes Preferences Plus Homebody - Preferences 100+ CAS Traits Resized Facial Piercings

Replacements & Retextures

Fan Art Maps Map Replacements Overhaul Clean UI Sims 1 & 2 Font LIS Fonts Fluffy Clouds (Ghibli Clouds) Feet replacement Hand replacement Bra + Panty Default Replacement better babies + bottle replacement Another baby bottle replacement Default Cutlery! Cute Kitchenware Replacement Boxing Gloves Aquarium Fish Recolor Ceiling replacement paint it up mod A brighter mop Selfie Override

Objects Phone Replacement Smaller dollhouses Switch Controller + console Game controller PS1 console pc game override Remote control sponge & spray override Another Sponge & Spray override

Electric Toothbrush Razor Bassinet override infant rug +  infant tub child drawing replacement weather controller Cats & Dogs Fireplace Headphone/earbud override Old-fashioned Suitcase The slightly nicer Tree House Fireplace Lil Campers Light

Replaced + more Interactions Bed Cuddles Better Woohoo Reactions Realistic Reactions Brush Teeth From Toothbrush Holders Wake-up animation Greetings

Visuals & effects No overhead effects No zzz No object highlight no plumbob please Smaller Mosaic Minimalist CC Icon More Holiday icons

Gameplay!

Playable Pets Slower infant needs Expanded Mermaids Who's Knocking More Visitors No Bad Microwave Buffs Memory Panel Smarter Pie Menu: Searchable Smart Sim Randomizer Play Chess on any computer Strangerville Story toggle

Careers & Jobs Career Overhaul New Careers Simdeed Recruitment Services Flex Part-Time Recruitment Agency Game Developer Career Ultimate Nursing Career Modeling Career Tumbling Tots Daycare Career Shear Brilliance - Cosmetology Seasonal Odd Jobs - Autumn Odd Job Overhaul Modeling and Makeup Odd Jobs Babysitting Gigs Freelance Chef

Education Uni Tweaks Education Overhaul Uni Application Overhaul University costs more Choose Your Roommate Long Distance Learning No Uni Housing Restrictions Uni Aspirations School Lunch Override Longer or Shorter Degree Requirements

Cooking + Food Food Retexture Pack 1, Pack 2, Pack 3 Breakfast Retextures Pizza Retexture Grannies Cookbook Chef Buffet S’more Options Srsly's Complete Cooking Overhaul Dine Out Reloaded Delivery Services Sims Eat and Drink Faster Porto Luminoso Market Cutouts Buyable Cakes Functional Mixer HCH Mixer & Cookbook Functional Air fryer Functional Blender Functional Cookie jar Another Cookie Jar Functional Toaster Functional Cake Stand Functional Rice cooker Functional Pressure Cooker Boba Tea Add-ons Functional Beer Functional Frozen Ice Cart

Pregnancy Realistic Pregnancy Cherished Moments - Pregnancy Science Baby Tweak

Services & Apps Sim National Bank “SimDa” Dating App Exchange Store

Interactions Meaningful Stories Cute Romance Drama Mod Autonomous Go Steady and Propose Autonomous Break Up and Divorce Dynamic Teen Life Parent-Child Relationships Let's Get Fit Modpack Sumba Fitness

Functional Items Playful Toddler Pack Toddler Play Telephone Little Chef’s Toy Kitchen Void Critter Tablet Functional Pool Slide

Functional Toy Bin Functional Hopscotch Functional Broom Functional Paper Sketchpad Functional Drumkit Functional Spiral Staircases In Your Safe Piggy Banks Film Reaper Movie Theater Left End Counter Dishwaser

Random Small mods

Loading and CAS screens

Free Sims 4, Free Loading Screen Bonehilda Loading Screen Custom Color loading screens Lights Out Loading Screen The Blues Collection Loading Screen Lin Sims Loading Screens San Sequoia Loading Screens Abstract Art + Landscape Loading Screens H-O-B & Sulani Loading Screens Autumn Loading Screens Pink Kitten Animated Loading Screen Life is Strange Loading Screens Cloudy TS2 CAS Background Ocean Waves CAS Room Old School - CAS Room Modern Minimalism CAS Room Plumbob replacements Crystal Loading Screens

lighting mods

sunblind lighting + installation Milk Thistle Better in-game lighting Gentle CAS lighting

[solitasims4]

15+ Sims 4 Food Mods Nara Smith would approve of

hey solita squad 😏 y'all know i'm passionate about my Sims 4 mods, & one of my favorite categories of Sims 4 mods has always been food mods! today, I’ve uploaded a YouTube video showcasing 15+ Sims 4 food mods that YOU should install in your game to improve your Sim's kitchen game, with the queen of making food from scratch, my Sim-version of real-life influencer Nara Smith, helping me! you can watch the video here if you’re interested.

Perfumery by Simsonian Library

Toast-E Machine by Littlbowbub

Functional Stand Mixer by Sixam CC

Grannie's Cookbook by Littlbowbub

Cookbook S&S by Somik & Severinka

Fruit Platter by Somik & Severinka

Functional Bottle Warmer by Somik & Severinka

Smoothie Blender by Icemunmun

Functional Blender and Protein Shakes by Somik & Severinka

Functional Electric Kettle Smeg by Somik & Severinka

OnePot by Icemunmun

Frozen Summer Ice by Icemunmun

Plant Milk Press by Icemunmun

Functional Mill by Icemunmun

Pastry Maker by Icemunmun

Functional Toaster by necrodog

Recipe Pack by ONI

Custom Grocery Mod by ONI

Cutting Board override by channel4sims

Kitchenware Retexture by Apricot Rush

[xxlady-lunaxx]

Before Muzan’s death, there had never been any time for, well, anything. Life, if you could call it that, was a constant chase of cat and rat, with the exception that the rat had a katana. Daylight was used for resting and training and night was a long, dangerous droll with death only a breath away. Perhaps it was luck that Giyuu and Sanemi had both lived, if not in one piece, to see the day where they could truly live their lives to the fullest till the end.

Although never acting upon it, both had taken an interest on each other. Of course, it was a mild interest, mere curiosity. Anything more could give them a weakness; another person easily torn from their grasp. But once Muzan had died, they were free to explore their relationship.

It was a slow process, of course. A friendship building throughout the months. It wasn’t until the marking of the fifth month of this life of peace that their relationship took a turn around a sharp curve. Nothing bad, no. Really, it was everything and anything they could’ve wished for.

The night had been dark. Sanemi had stayed over after they had gotten carried away and lost track of time. His house was a bit far from Giyuu’s and they had begun to grow more accustomed to this life so the traveling by night was less inviting—though really, it never had been.

At one point, in the middle of the night, Sanemi awoke. Perhaps his honed senses had been the reason for this because, when he left the room and went to the kitchen for a glass of water, he found Giyuu was there too.

For a moment, the two simply gazed at each other, both tired and not bothering to react. Giyuu stood by the sink, holding a glass filled half way with water. He had lowered it from his mouth as Sanemi entered and it was held at chest level, mostly forgotten. “Shinazugawa? Did I wake you?” he asked, his voice gentle but cutting through the silence and startling Sanemi. He sounded apologetic, but whether from disturbing the quiet or from waking Sanemi was anyone’s guess.

“Dunno.” Sanemi strode over and took Giyuu’s cup of water. He didn’t feel like getting his own cup and it had occurred to him that he didn’t know where the kitchenware was, anyway.

Giyuu frowned as his glass was stolen, but didn’t try retrieving it as Sanemi downed the rest of the water, placing the cup on the counter afterwards. “I drank from that,” Giyuu said, quite uselessly.

“I know. I was thirsty.”

They stood there for a moment and, in the stillness, Sanemi became suddenly aware at how close they were. He had long ago adjusted to the dark, but he found at closer proximity, he could see Giyuu better. Giyuu’s hair was a mess, sticking out in different directions. It bothered Sanemi and, without thinking, he reached out with his free hand and tucked some of hair that had gone awry behind his ear.

Giyuu flinched at the sudden touch but, when he didn’t recoil, Sanemi continued. He smoothed down the dark locks, running his finger through Giyuu’s tangled hair. When he paused, his hand was by his ear. He moved it down, slowly, until he was cupping Giyuu’s cheek. At one point, he had moved closer, though maybe Giyuu had been the one to walk forward—anything was possible.

Even in the dark, Sanemi could see the dim blue glint of Giyuu’s eyes, flashing slightly as his head turned and caught on the sparse moonlight that streamed through the window. His breath hitched and he took a moment to wonder: was it just the light, or was Giyuu… beautiful? In fact, he looked hot. The nest of his hair somehow brought more attention to his face and Sanemi found that the features of the previous Water Hashira were so perfect, in a way. Even his skin, his cheek pressed against the roughness of Sanemi’s palm, was smooth. His thumb stroked slowly, along Giyuu’s cheekbone. In the silence, Giyuu’s sharp inhale was projected through the room. Their eyes met; neither moved.

For a moment, both had their attention solely on each other, gazes locked and frozen. Sanemi could feel Giyuu’s breath against his face, grazing his skin. Heat rose into his cheeks and he wondered whether it was from the breath or something else. His eyes flickered down, tracing Giyuu’s lips in his mind. He looked back up, stilling at Giyuu’s expression.

In the past couple months, Giyuu had been considerably more expressive and freeing with his emotions. He smiled, he laughed, he cried. And spending so much more time with him, Sanemi had been sure he’d seen it all. But now, in the tranquility of the night, not even a foot away, he was proven otherwise.

Giyuu’s cheeks were a hue deeper, undoubtedly red but looking more like blue in the darkness of the room. His lips quivered, a breath slipping through them and separating them by a centimeter. Oh, but his eyes, wide yet holding a stare full of meaning. His gaze seemed to carry life all for Sanemi, something flickering behind the dramatic blue flare. It was intense, nothing anybody could place, as if there wasn’t a word to describe the emotion.

“Shinazugawa?” His voice was barely a whisper; could have easily been mistaken for a misheard breath of wind. But it was there and it took Sanemi a moment to realize it was his name that had been uttered.

“Wh- Yes?” he asked, startlingly loudly. They both jolted as his words wavered in the air a moment longer, amplified from the quiet. “Sorry. Yes?” he repeated, softer now.

Giyuu’s head tilted slightly, fitting into the palm of Sanemi’s hand so perfectly. He gazed at him imploringly, oasis eyes fixated on Sanemi—only… Sanemi. “Have you… have you ever kissed a man?” he asked.

The question, though delivered with a serene sort of tone, caught Sanemi off guard. It took him several processing seconds before he responded—which he only did when he noticed Giyuu starting to retreat, undoubtedly worrying he’d made him uncomfortable.

“No… No, I haven’t,” Sanemi muttered. That was true. He hadn’t been in many relationships in his life anyway, too focused on his job. Any romantic relationships he’d indulged in were with woman and much too fleeting.

Giyuu, who had moved away an inch, caught Sanemi’s hand which had been in the process of dropping. He cradled his hand, encompassing it with both of his own before bringing it up and pressing his lips gently to his fingertips. Sanemi held his breath, trying to force away the thoughts that screamed for Giyuu to do that to his face, too.

“Tomioka?” he asked, his voice only just palpable, hesitant and awestruck. “What’re you…?” His question trailed off into the air, joining the emotions that swirled thickly around them.

“Would you want to?” Giyuu asked in return, referring to his original question. He still held Sanemi’s hand up to his lips and as he spoke, Sanemi could feel the movement brushing lightly against his fingers. He shivered. God.

Sanemi’s mouth felt suddenly dry and he swallowed, blinking quickly. “Depends,” he murmured. “Are there any offers?”

Giyuu inched forward until they were less than a foot away from each other, so close that Sanemi could feel Giyuu’s body heat radiating off of him. “If there were, would you take them?” Giyuu whispered, eyes seeming to consume every part of Sanemi, swerving around and around until he reached his lips. He paused, leaning closer.

“Yeah,” Sanemi said. “I would.”

And just like that, they were kissing, lips pressed close together, bodies flush against one another. Sanemi’s hand left the warmth of Giyuu’s and reached up to tangle in the dark locks of hair, pulling him into the kiss. They parted, eyes wide and chests heaving from exhilaration more than lack of air.

“Oh,” Giyuu breathed. There was so much unsaid in that one word yet it held more meaning than essays of words could. Sanemi felt he could fully understand the small breath and he vaguely registered a smile forming his lips before he leaned in again, catching another, but brief, kiss.

“Oh,” he echoed, as he widened the space between their lips once more, resting his forehead against Giyuu’s.

Giyuu gave a sort of disbelieving laugh, the sound splitting the quiet of the night but neither minding one bit. “I… Shinazugawa?” he said, sounding awkward and fidgety.

Sanemi moved away slightly, giving him room so they could meet eyes. “Mhm?”

“Do you want… to date?” Giyuu asked, looking ready for rejection.

In response, Sanemi kissed him gently, pulling him closer. Humming, he smiled at the surprise in Giyuu’s expression. “You’re an idiot, did you know that?” he said affectionately. “Let’s go to sleep, it’s late.”

“Yeah… Yeah, okay,” Giyuu agreed, gazing at Sanemi as if he were some sort of god as he was pulled to the guest bedroom by his boyfriend. He doubted he would be able to sleep now.

started this in june then forgot abt it <3

[bokettochild]

Opera house AU

I can actually see Linkle being pretty close to Wind and Aryll. She's just as responsible with them as Wars, but more open to Shenanigans. The four have the most intense board game nights ever seen, there's more double dealing, backstabbing and gerrymandering in their average game of Settlers of Catan then the 2020 US Election

Well, since you asked (suggested?)

Happy late birthday! Here is the Catan fic we've been chatting about!

There are many ways Warriors likes to de-stress after a long day at work. Running into his twin sister outside of his apartment though, is not one of them.  

 It’s not that he dislikes his job, in fact, he’s very fond of it. He likes acting, he likes the opera, and most importantly, he likes his boss, his co-workers, and even most of his fans. His agent, not so much, but that’s neither here nor there; almost nobody likes their agent. The only people he’s heard of who like their agent are Legend and Ravio, and that’s only because Dot is their so-called ‘agent’, if only on paper. The girl isn’t fully qualified for the actual job, but he’s half a mind to sign with her once she is, if only to get away from the Dragmire agency.  

 Regardless of future plans though, he loves his job. He has no intention of leaving, even if balancing rehearsals and college is a bit of a struggle on some days. Today is one of those days though, and after spending all day working with Sky and Time on choreography, the only thing he wants to do is make dinner for himself and the kids, kick his feet up, and finally read something other than a textbook. No, check that, maybe watch a show with Wind; Aryll too if she’s interested, although she usually isn't. Still, he has the feeling if they start watching anything, she’ll come out for snacks and cuddles, which he doesn’t mind in the least.  

 He’s running down the list of movies they’ve been wanting to watch as he climbs out of his car. Some of them are action, some thriller, a couple mysteries at his insistence and of course some pirate ones for Wind. Usually, he’s not so keen on that sort of thing, but he supposes the whimsical part of his brain has been gathering dust for the last while, and he could probably tolerate a pirate movie tonight, after sufficient begging from his cousin and maybe the promise to get the dishes done for the next week.  

 Right, dishes.   

 Heavens, he needs to talk to the landlord about when the new dishwasher is supposed to be installed. He also needs to wash and put away the dishes from last night, because he’d had an assignment due and hadn’t had time once the kids had gone to bed, and this morning he had to drop them off at school, so there wasn’t time then either. Honestly, you’d think three people wouldn’t use that much kitchenware, but the full sink waiting for him in the third-floor apartment would indicate otherwise.  

 Warriors sighs. Keys in the front door but know not yet turned, he takes a moment to just... lean against the doorframe and sigh.  

 It’s been a long week.  

 “Link!”  

 The sound of his name, his birth name, even spoken by a familiar voice, makes him start, and he goes from leaing on the door to slamming his head against it in surprise, keys already ripping out of the lock and brandished like they could actually do any harm. Well, they could, but not as much as a proper weapon. He hates city rules; back home he could have a switchblade on him and no one would think anything of it!  

 He doesn’t need a weapon though, at least at the moment, because the person standing behind him is his twin sister, and honestly, even if he was properly armed, she’s almost as good with a switchblade as he is, and she’d probably be able to dodge an attack even if he did make one. As it is, the blonde woman stares at him, bright eyes hard for a moment and smile frozen as she takes him in, but then it’s gone and she’s all sunshine and madness again, something wild in her smile that has him on edge for a whole new reason. A reason that has nothing to do with mistaking her for one of his stalkers. “I‘m so glad you’re home! I brought something for you and the kiddos!”  

 Loosening his fingers, he lets most of his keys fall free again from between them, door key still in hand as he fumbles for the knob, wary of turning his back even if it is his sister. Especially if it is his sister; she’s unpredictable at the best of times, and he’s not sure she won’t pull something if he’s not looking. It wouldn’t be malicious, but it would be incredibally annoying, and they both know it. Her attempt at an innocent smile as he finally slides the key into the lock says that she knows it, and she doesn't regret it either.  

 “Do I want to know?”  

 A shrug, but her smile lingers, bright and chipper, and he can’t help how the sight of it makes him smile in answer.  

 “Is it chaos contained, or something nice?”  

 “Can’t it be both?”  

 “No pyrotechnics in my home. I will kick you to the curb and block you from all social media; even the opera one.” Linkle pouts, which would be effective from any of their other sisters, but considering they’re nearly identical twins, it just makes him snort in laughter instead. “Well, is it a nice surprise, or one that will make me disown you?” he chuckles, pulling the door open, and then wincing when it squeaks.  

 He needs to talk to the landlord about that too, he supposes. Mentally, he adds it to the list: dishwasher, squeaky door, and the flickering hall lights. Honestly, he swears no one in this building talks to the guy anymore! If he doesn’t call, nothing’s ever done about these things!  

 He must sigh aloud, because Linkle starts shaking her head, clucking her tongue like Mother used to when they were small. “You need to find a better place to live.” She ducks in through the door without invitation, but he holds it open for her all the same. It has to be tugged firmly so that the lock clicks back into place again, but it’s long since become habit to do that; it’s an old building, the door frames warp with time. Honestly, pulling the door shut is the least of his worries about this place.  

 “It’s cheap.”  

 “You have kids living with you.” She reminds him.  

 He shrugs, juggling his bookbag, keys and the grocery bags he’d grabbed on his way home, in order to find his other apartment key; the one for his unit, not just the front door. “Know another place where I can rent a clean three-bedroom apartment; I’m all ears.”  

 His sister’s fist makes contact with his shoulder in answer, but he’s been fielding punches from Sky all day, and it honestly hurts far less than the skyloftian’s blows. Usually, he dodges Sky just fine, but he’d been a bit off his game today, and he’s pretty sure he’s got some nasty bruising under his shirt as a result, although admitting as much to Time, or Sky for that matter, is out of the question. They'd been worried enough as was. He’s fine, honestly. The skin is tender, and the muscles will be sore, but letting them know that would just upset his co-worker, not fix it. And would’ve made Time’s scolding to them both far more intense.  

 He knows, beneath that harsh veneer, that their director is a kind man, but on days like today, it’s easy to forget that. Maybe he needs to text Twilight and tell him to let the old man watch Legend for a day, that might get him to ease up.  

 Linkle, beside him, must get tired of him fumbling his keys one handed, because she snatches them out of his hand with a put-upon sigh, flicking through them until she finds the right one and unlocking the door for him. Honestly, he doesn’t mind. If anything, it means he can re-distribute the weight of the grocery bags between here and the kitchen counter.  

 “I’m home!” He calls, stepping into the door and sliding his shoes off onto the mat. Linkle has to crouch to untie her steel-toes, but those too join the three other pairs on the mat as he moves to the kitchen, relief washing over him as he sets the groceries down. There’s shuffling from down the hall, one or both of the kids busy in their rooms. Like their old hound, Linkle starts towards the sound immediately, back-pack still slung over one shoulder while he turns his attention to putting away food and starting a pot of water for pasta.  

 No pyrotechnics, he reminds himself. No destruction. Linkle wouldn’t actually, he thinks- he hopes, but he’s still got no clue what her “surprise” is. Knowing her though, she’ll tell the kids she has one, then hold it over their heads through dinner. Ah well, better to get food on the proverbial table sooner rather than later, that way the eager nagging won’t last forever.  

-  

 Warriors isn’t the best cook, not by any means, but he’s managed to keep himself and his kid cousins alive this long, and while he’s under no delusions that his work in any ways lives up to Granny’s cooking, the kids are happy, and well fed, and that’s really all he can ask for. Sure, food is messy, and yes, there's dishes left, but Linkle, sweet, sweet Linkle, his bestest twin sister, has bribed their cousins into washing the dishes before they can have their surprise. Neither question it.  

 He could have asked them to help, but putting his feet up while they work never sits well with him. Aryll pushing him into the family room and into his recliner while Wind scurries around the kitchen, cajoling Linkle for clues, well, that’s a different matter! The girl won’t let him get up!  

 “We’ll hurry!” His youngest cousin promises, yanking on the lever on the side of the chair and making him laugh as his feet are literally swept up in front of him onto the footrest. Linkle cackles too, but then Aryll’s bouncing over to the kitchen, voice shrill. “Wash faster, Wind! I wanna see the surprise!”  

 He laughs at the two, soft, so they don’t hear and think he’s making fun of them, but he can’t help it. Likewise, his twin does the same, moving to climb into the recliner opposite his own. “Oh dear, poor Link! No dishes for him to wash!”  

 “Poor me,” he sighs, sinking into his chair and blessing his past self for buying the set. It was a bit of a splurge, but it’s proved to be worth it over the years, and a great delight at the end of a long day. He’s just letting his eyes slip closed- not to sleep, but to rest them long enough that light doesn't hurt- when a flick to his nose has him blinking up at his sister again with a huff. “Seriously?”  

 “Don’t go sleeping now, there’s still a surprise,” she scolds.  

 “For the kids,” he rubs at his nose. That hurt. “It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”  

 “Did I say that?”  

 “Linkle.”  

 “I didn’t say that.”  

Another sigh. “No, I suppose you didn’t.”  

 “It’s for all of us,” she says, but her voice is low, conspiratory, and there’s that twinkle in her eyes again.  

 He has some concerns, but he doesn’t speak them. No. Instead, he humors his sibling while the kids clean up, and then when they've all gathered again in the family room, Aryll squishing up beside him and Wind flopping down in an ungraceful pile of teenage boy on the floor, he turns to stare pointedly at his twin. “I believe there’s a surprise someone owes us?”  

 Another sly little grin, but the backpack is opened, and a brightly colored parcel, somewhat badly wrapped and definitely scuffed, is produced and dropped into Aryll’s lap. “There we go.”  

 No cue needs be spoken, little hands are already tearing away paper, and while neither of the two younger ones is really sure of what it is once the paper is gone, Warriors can’t help the deep belly laugh that explodes out of him when he sees the familiar box. “Catan? Linkle, are you kidding me?”  

 “I thought the kids-”  

 “Oh, sure! ‘The kids’!”  

 She’s laughing too, although she’s trying so hard to pretend that she isn’t. “Yes! You never have any good family games here-”  

 “We have Monopoly!” Their young cousins chorus, but the words get drowned out by his twin’s own.  

 “-so, I thought I’d get you one!”  

 “You’re a glutton for punishment, you are.” He laughs. “Was it not bad enough, me handing you your ass all those years as a kid? Need me to do it again, do you?”  

 The kids are exchanging a look, confused but amused, glancing between the two adults with expressions that he’d dare say are amused, in their own way. They both definitely take after their mum; he swears Wind’s eyeroll is just the same as the diva’s aunt when she was left out of a conversation by her older siblings, his own mother included. Still, he takes his time teasing his sister for a moment more, before finally both twins decide to explain how to play to the kids, who are all too eager to learn now in the wake of their banter. 

 “So, it’s pretty simple,” he opens the box as he speaks. It’s a new one, the game, and doesn’t nearly crumble under his fingers, but he’s dreadfully careful all the same, out of habit. The pieces sit in their little plastic cubbies within for all of a moment, before a flick of the wrist has the box spilling onto the coffee table where they can all reach. The ‘thief’ piece rolls off the side, and Wind dives for it, but honestly, Warriors isn’t worried about it. “I’ll show you how to assemble it, but play is easy enough.”  

 And assembly is easy. Their old game was so used it was warped on the edge of the frame (Lilly had spilled water on it when she was tiny) but the ocean painted pieces fit nicely together with this one, and after a quick shuffle of the hexagonal land tiles, he lays them out at random into the frame. Well, mostly at random. The desert tile goes in the middle, because it always does. Linkle snorts at him for it too.  

 “Desert in the middle.”  

 “It’s not a rule.” She points out, as if she wouldn't protest if he'd done anything ese. 

 “House rules. My house, my rules.” He’s not mad though, even if his tone is flat, and Aryl is now the one rolling her eyes as Wind sighs at them, head propped up in his hands and making his cheeks squish adorably.  

 “You two are ridiculous.”  

 “We’re adults,” he corrects, continuing to set the tiles, “which means we take the time to be dumb when we can.”  

 A brow raises in answer, the older of his two charges leveling him with a Look. “I have video evidence otherwise.”  

  “And I have baby pictures I’m happy to leak,” he tugs his cousin’s ear in response, “don’t make me use them, snickerdoodle.”  

  That seems to get the kid to stop with his threats, which is for the best because he most certainly does not want Linkle to have all the details about his work life. Wind, he doesn’t mind knowing, Aryll too, but his twin is a whole other matter; he doesn’t want the chaos from work to spread to the family. He’d ever lie it down. 

  “So how does play work?” Aryll asks, already spilling out the packets of little wooden buildings and roads into neat piles along the edge of the table, color coded because of course she does. 

  Warriors grins at her, setting the box aside and resisting, barely, the urge to shove it on Wind’s head. He’s an adult though, a responsible one, and he will not display such behaviors. No, he’ll just kick their asses in game with a smile on his face. “Well, now that the land is spread out, which you do at random, we have to lay the number tiles, here-” he picks up the back, tugging it open and spilling it into his hand for the middle schooler to see, “-out on top of the land pieces.” 

  “Also, at random,” Linkle adds, swiping one. “You place them on whatever order you get them, on every land piece except the desert one.” 

  “What goes there?” Wind asks, fidgeting with the ‘thief’ he’d picked up off the floor. 

  The eldest mischief maker reaches over a smile on her face as she plucks the wooden figure from his fingers. “Our lovely knight of course!” 

  “It’s a thief.”  He corrects, still laying number tiles with Aryll’s assistance. 

  “Knight.” Linkle corrects, knowing she’s wrong and purposefully causing problems on purpose because that’s what she does. As kids, they never would have dreamed of challenging the ingo of the game, even if their terms hadn’t been quite what was in the rulebook. As adults though, Linkle delights in opposing everything he has to say, as if doing so makes this more fun. She’s not wrong either; the easy, mindless bickering is relaxing in its own way. It definitely distracts his attention from anything else at any rate. 

  With a roll of his eyes, Warriors puts away any extra pieces. He debates placing them neatly in the box, but then decides, screw it and drops them it to land how they will. He can worry about it later. Or not at all. Losers are the ones who clean up the game, after all, so it might not even be is problem. “Okay, so, play goes like this.” He grabs a tiny wooden house from one of Aryll’s piles; blue, because they don’t have purple. “Each player takes a turn laying a house on a corner where three of the land tiles intersect,” he sets his down between a forest tile, a brick quarry and a sheep pasture, “usually with the knowledge that when we play, whatever resource tile your piece is touch is the resource you’re going to be earning during the game.” He plucks a matching blue road from the pile Aryll has pushed in front of him, setting it down beside his house, facing in land and already starting a path towards where other desirable tiles are. “The way it works is that, when each player rolls the dice, if the number on the dice matches the number on one of your land tiles, you get a resource card for every house touching that tile.” 

  “So,” Linkle picks up, setting down a green house a fair distance away from his, on forest, field and pasture tiles, “because I placed my house near a ten a three and a four, if any of those numbers are rolled, I get the resource for the land tile.” 

  “So, four means a sheep?” The youngest holds up the deck of cards she’d sorted through, apparently while no one was watching, offering the mentioned resource to the older girl. 

  Her cousin nods. “Yep. And because Wars is touching a nine a six and a five, if any of those numbers are rolled, he gets what’s on those.” 

  “What’s the thief-knight for?” One sun-browned finger toggles said figure back and forth in the midst of his desert wasteland, big sea-green eyes staring at the older two.  

  Warriors chuckles. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, all the number tiles have numbers from two to twelve on them; all the numbers you can roll with two six-sided dice; but there’s one missing.” 

  Those green eyes fall to inspect the board, Aryll popping up to lean over the table, likewise searching until both blonde heads are popping up in time with each other. “The seven?” 

  “Yep,” he pops the ‘p’. “If you roll a seven, there’s no land tie for that, so you move the thief to someone else’s land tile and get to take one of their resource cards.” 

  “But whatever number you put the thief on, if someone rolls it after, no one gets whatever resource it is. The knight has that depot under siege, and nothing gets in or out!” Linkle adds, with enough drama that really, she could have been an actress. If she was better at following orders anyhow. Time wouldn’t, and can’t, tolerate her as is. 

  The younger of his two cousins nods, slowly. She’s still processing, but they’d really dumbed the game down a bit. Honestly speaking, he doesn’t remember most of the official rules, although in playing it with others, he’s since learned that there are many ways and some rules that are held as golden by some and disregarded by others. In the long run, he doesn’t suppose how they play matters much, as long as the core basics stick, and he’s not going to overwhelm the little guppy with finite details. As is, she’s grabbing for the red pieces and shuffling the pile of wood her way, prompting her brother to do the same with the orange ones. 

  Of course, Wind chooses orange. He should have seen that coming. 

  “So, I place my house, and then this….” 

  “Road,” he supplies. “It has to touch the house, but you can put it between any two of the pieces.” To illustrate, he motions to his own set up, tapping carefully the other two possible routes for the wooden highway to follow. 

  Aryll nods, setting down her house, between a field, a pasture and a mountain quarry, big blue eyes looking up at him expectantly. 

  He nods. “Perfect.” 

  “What are these though?” Trust Wind’s eyes to fall on the printed ships set around the board at the edges of the land tiles. You can take a child from the sea, but you can’t take the sea from a child it would seem. “Can you sail around in this game?” 

  “No,” and while Linkle turns a questioning look at him, he still shakes his head. “Not this version anyway, although I think someone told me once that there is a version for that. I could be wrong though. In this version though, those are what we in the game call ‘ports’.” 

  The deadpan stare is worth all the effort he’d put into keeping his face straight for that line. 

  Laughter overtakes him at his cousin’s obvious “no really!” and Warriors has to be terribly careful not to disturb the board in his mirth. “The sails on the ships will tell you what trading discounts you can get by putting your pieces there. See,” he leans over to read the one under Wind’s finger, “this one says that you can trade for any resource if you give up three sheep.” 

  “What if I don’t have sheep?”   

  “You suffer.” 

  Linkle snorts. “You have to make sure you get sheep somehow then.” 

  Wind nods slowly. “So, you can only trade if you have a house on the port?” 

  “No,” his sister shakes her head, braids flopping against her shoulders. “As a rule, you can trade any set of four like cards for one card of any other type, even if you’re land locked. The ports just mean you get discounts, but they come with a disadvantage too, because by having your house between two land tiles and the ocean, you get one less resource than if you were on only land.” 

  “Is it worth it?” Aryll pushes, chewing her lip. He should tell her not to do that.  

  Linkle shrugs. “Depends really. It can be a lifesaver, or it can ruin you. Depends on how you play your cards.” 

  “And speaking of playing cards!” He’ll let Aryll be tonight, she’s not hurting herself so it should be fine. “Here are your purchasing menus!” He hands out the reference tiles to the two younger, in their chosen colors. He doesn’t grab any for himself or Linkle though since they don’t really need them. “You can trade resource cards for more buildings and roads, or upgrade the buildings you already have into cities. These tell you what resources and how many of them you need to do that, and how many points you get for each one.” The rest is self-explanatory, and the kids nod, apparently already catching on. 

  His sister grins. “Now, Wind, place your house and road. Once we’ve all placed one, we get to set out a second one wherever we want.” 

  “What about the shield cards?” Their youngest holds up the deck of painted cards, backed with the image of a round shield. “How do we get those?” 

  “They’re called development cards,” he explains, taking them and setting them beside the board, carefully, so they don’t scatter. “You can get them by giving up a sheep card, wheat, and some ore. They allow special moves, extra points, or sometimes, if you get the monopoly card, you can steal all of a single type of resource card from everyone else.” 

  “Everyone?” 

  “Me, Linkle, and Wind, yes.” 

  “Sweet. I want that one!” 

  He chuckles, tugging at her ear as well, a little gentler than with her brother. “There’s only two of those ones, pumpkin, so chances are slim for most games, but I like your enthusiasm.” 

  She takes that news with a shrug, easy as can be but no doubt already looking forwards to the chaos she could cause by robbing the lot of them. It’s easy to miss with her sweet face and big blue eyes but the younger of his two charges is just as much a terror as her older brother, if not more so on some days. 

  Wind places his houses, and the rest place their second ones, and then with a quick review, and a reminding that “cities” double earnings- because he’d forgotten to mention it until Wind asked why they mattered at all- they start playing. 

  Taylor Family Rule’s state that youngest and ladies go first, but also that, when that becomes a source of contention (as the only brother among six sisters, he did kick up a fuss on occasion about being last every time) then all roll dice for the highest number, and the winner goes first. Maybe out of pity for him, Linkle elects to call for the second option, but it doesn’t matter, because Aryll rolls an eleven anyways. Luckily though, he’s second after her, something she’s quick to cheer about. 

  The kids catch on quick. And much like the cursed game that is Monopoly, it’s not long before the wheedling tones and puppy eyes start turning on him, although Linkle opts for the more direct option of threatening him, point blank. His sister knows, just as well as he does, that weakness such as one sees in those who crumble to cute faces, is a quick path to defeat. Aryll and Wind are cute, but they’re not cute enough to make him budge If anything, just to have him teasing them and reaching out to tickle their sides until they’re screeching at him to stop. 

  As is his habit with Catan, as something of the family champion, Warriors put’s every resource into expanding his territory, building out roads to block the others from building outwards at all, which, unfortunately for Wind, works all too well against the older of his cousins. Linkle, on the other hand, is too used to him, and is building out from two locations, meanwhile Aryll quietly builds circles around her favorite pieces, long winding roads that circle back on themselves, and while that means he’s cut off from her space, he’s not too worried about her out-building him either. 

  And then Wind manages to settle a house in a pasture, and sheep enter his fold and he starts trading for development cards. 

  Really, they should have expected the kid would take unlimited delight in controlling the knight-thief (they have compromised with that horrendous name). Actually, the fact that he keeps rolling sevens would imply that the thief, too, has an affinity for Wind, something that makes the rest of them all suffer exceedingly. 

  Another seven is rolled, and when Wind’s knight-thief lands on Linkle’s only source of brick (arguably the most in demand resource in this particular game) his twin sister starts glaring. “No.” 

  “Yes.” Wind replies, smugly reaching over.  

  A hand blocks his access to her cards, splayed over to try and protect them. “Wind.” 

 “Linkle.” A bright flashing grin that says he knows he’s won.  

  Warriors and Aryll share a look, and, while the two are fussing at each other, trade a few cards. He’s finally established the longest road, effectively blocking Aryll on one side of the board, opposite from her sibling, and surrounding the smaller of Linkle’s settlements so that she can’t build out and towards anything on that side of the wall. In a way, he and Aryll have established a truce as a result of his ‘protection’, but Linkle and Wind are beginning to go at each others’ throats. 

  He trades a sheep to his youngest cousin in return for more wheat. Might as well start converting settlements to cities, and looking at Aryll’s little pile of cards, he imagines Wind is soon to be challenged for his right to control the thief-knight. 

  “Child, I will end you.” 

  Wind smiles sweetly, fluttering his lashes a bit at the woman. It reminds him of how Legend reacts when he’s especially pissed. “Brick please!” 

  There is only one brick in Linkle’s deck of cards. A overwhelming amount of sheep and wheat fill her hand, but tragically, her forest tile has been blocked frequently, and no one is trading her ore. 

  That’s the downside, he muses as he slips Aryll another sheep, if you don’t build quickly, you lose fast, and really, Linkle ought to know that by now. He taps silently at one of the littlest’s ore this time, which she gives him readily.  

  Aryll, unlike him, had built around the tiles she’d chosen in the beginning, and built thickly. She may not have a twisting road like he does that blocks others one way or another, but she’s got ore and wheat coming out of her ears, and ran out of city pieces ages ago. 

 Technically, the game should have ended when one of them reached ten points, but Taylors never play that way. They play until overwhelming defeat is left to all but one. It’s more fun that way, he muses, sitting back, now out of his chair but resting his back against it all the same. Aryll, predictably, settles against him, squirrelling her way under his arm and propping herself against his shoulder. He doesn’t mind in the least, hand lifting to toy absently with her hair while their siblings bicker.  

  “Do you want me to fix your pigtails?” They’re coming loose. 

  She shakes her head, humming a bit. “No, Imma just pull ‘em out later anyways.” 

  Right, because it’s getting late. He glances down at his watch, it’s 8:38. It should be okay, the kids usually get their homework done before dinner, and they can stay up a bit later tonight, it being a Friday and all. If anything, they’ll be waking up just fine in the morning and it will be them hauling his ass out of bed in the morning! 

  Ignorant of their exchange, of cards or words, Linkle continues to try and convince Wind to take literally anything but her precious bricks. “You’re killing me here! I barely got any building done!” 

  “Well,” Wind returns, fingers inching forwards while royal blue eyes are fixed on his face, “you should have thought about that before you became a peasant!” The card is whipped away, and just as quickly, deposited in the bank as a new orange house finds its way onto the board. 

  Linkle groans, head sinking. “Why me?” 

  “I don’t know,” the voice of their youngest is muddled with a wide yawn. “Warriors warned you, but you didn’t listen. Looks to me like this is your fault.” 

  Aryll is officially his favorite. 

  “I give,” his twin sighs, looking at her desolate kingdom and meager profits before glancing up at them. “Another win for you, I guess, Link.” 

  “No,” Aryll’s smile is wide as she blinks innocently up at the older girl. “I win.” 

 Wait, what? Warriors glances over, counting. He has less cities, yes, but he has the longest road and more settlements and- 

  “I have the biggest army, and the most cities, and-” a development card is flashed, and then another, and three more! “Five bonus points.” 

  “So you do.” He finds himself saying, blinking dumbly down at her where she’s still nestled against him, smile innocent and devious. He’s not sure if he’s feeling more betrayed or proud of her right now. 

  Linkle is giggling like a mad woman. “Oh this is golden! Link lost Catan to the baby! On her first game!” You’d think she was the winner from the way she crows. “This is the best! Absolute best! Wind, you’re forgiven, now help me take a photo to memorialize this moment in family history!” 

  Despite anything he says (and really, they’re toke complaint’s anyways) they do take a photo of them, the board, and Linkle’s wild smile as Aryll flaunts and preens before the camera like any good Taylor would. They take a few more, funny ones of the boys cow-towing to the tiny champion as she drowns in Warriors’ recliner, and all sorts of the like. Honestly, silly photos are basically required in this household. 

  It’s only when Aryll can’t keep smiling past her yawns that he decides bed-time is in order. “Linkle, Wind, you’re on cleanup.” 

  “You lost too!” 

  “I did,” he stoops, scooping up their winner in his arms and smiling as she comes willingly, arms wrapping tight around his neck, “but it’s the winners bed-time, and as winner, she deserves to be tucked in nicely, not ignored. So have fun!” And without further ado, he heads down the hall, eating the losers in the dust. Or rather- leaving the losers amid the tiny wooden houses and cardboard tiles. Eh…it doesn’t have the same ring to it. He likes leaving them in the dust more. 

[dnickels]

The​ Imperial War Museum was established in 1917, while the fighting was still going on, ‘as a record of the toil and sacrifice of those who had served in uniform’ during the Great War. It was first called the National War Museum; the change to ‘Imperial’ was made after India and the Dominions complained that the name did not reflect their sacrifices. Today it describes itself as a ‘global authority on conflict’. It is a subdued and serious place, eager to point out that it does not celebrate war or victory; it was never supposed to be a frozen military parade, even if the suspended Spitfire in the main atrium – the military equivalent of the Natural History Museum’s Diplodocus – appeals directly to Britain’s neurotic Second World War triumphalism. Toil and sacrifice remain the watchwords. (Only in the gift shop does discipline break down, with poppy-spattered kitchenware and Churchill cult icons playing to a less reconstructed wartime imaginary.) The museum’s commemorative ethos presents war as a kind of social paroxysm, which from time to time afflicts ordinary men and women. A carefully weighted combination of historical exactitude and apolitical detachment can be maintained for the world wars, as they were joined in defence against aggression and fought by conscript armies; with 9/11 and ‘terrorism’ emerging as the pivot point, the museum also shows ambiguous signs of trying to construe 21st-century engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan as similar tragedies of necessity. There is some justice in this approach. Soldiers do not start or choose the conflicts they are shipped off to fight. But many of Britain’s 20th-century conflicts would not respond well to the same treatment: the Kenyan torture camps, the Special Night Squads of Palestine, the beheaders of the Malayan Emergency and Britain’s other dirty wars of colonial counterinsurgency are not easily transformed into neutral objects of genuflection. Castrating prisoners with pliers is the wrong kind of toil and sacrifice.

[princesssarisa]

Autistic house- and dog-sitting things...

*Bringing my own pillows and my own sheet from home. I may have no choice but to sleep in their guest room, but at least I can avoid having other people's sheets on my skin as much as possible. And at least they have a guest room, where no one regularly sleeps: at other sitting jobs, the people have expected me to sleep in their bed, which is undoable unless I stay on top of the covers.

*Bringing multiple bottles of store-bought water, which I wasted way too much money on, so I can drink my 8 cups per day without having to use their glassware.

*Getting carry-out food or frozen microwave meals rather than cook with their kitchenware or eat from their plates, and packing plastic utensils so I won't have to use their silverware.

*Wiping my hands with Kleenex after I wash them in the bathroom because I don't want to use their hand towels.

*Leaving the dog for a while to go take showers at home, because even if they paid me double for it, I wouldn't use their soap, or their towels, or stand on the shower floor where dirty water has streamed off of their bodies!

I know they've washed everything, and I'm not this way at hotels or restaurants, but staying at other people's houses always makes me a fanatical germophobe.

It's a good thing I love dogs enough to do it anyway!

[bottlecaprabbitgames]

Absolutely loving Mind Games so far! Might be simping hard for Blake but honestly who isn’t.

I am curious, how good are each of the ROs at cooking? Who’s saving the poor MC from endless nights of ramen and leftovers? (not that there’s anything wrong with Lainey’s cooking 💙)

I'm glad you love it!!! <3 AND YEAH, Blake has been the most popular RO alongside Loche since the very beginning of me writing the game, lol!!!

So, Freja is definitely the best one at cooking. She also loves to do so, and is especially fond of baking!

Blake is a good cook, too. You don't grow up in no Cajun house and get out unable to cook!!! A Cajun mom would beat you senseless if you tried to get out of your fair share of cooking LOL

Adontis is also a good cook, but he's also Mr. Fancy Pants and if he's cooking, he's going all out. Man has absolutely dropped $1,000 or more on ingredients for a regular dinner night, because if he is to eat food it's gonna be the best... no matter the cost.

Fawn is probably the last one that is safe enough to be put in the kitchen. She's not making anything super complicated, but she can still whip something up and have it be tasty. However, she'd rather others cook than herself, unless it's meat.

Loche still hasn't, uh, figured out human kitchenware. Truthfully, they can cook decently over a fire or something, but in an actual kitchen? Yeah, no, they won't even make an attempt. They learned their lesson the hard way when they went messing with Freja's mixer.

God help you if you ever let Iri into a kitchen. It'll be a mess, a potentially explosive mess, and the whole house might just burn down. They're a menace in the kitchen, an absolutely DISASTER.

Listen, Lainey sending over leftovers definitely helps, but at least half the ones in MC's fridge are from nights over with Sylvia, lol! She is the very backbone of MC's dietary needs because she can cook amazingly and is also tired of MC living on ramen and T.V. dinners and frozen food, lol!

Thanks for the ask!!! <3

[babsvibes]

Perspective flip + turn down corn-nut (at LEAST the ending I gotta know what Logan was thinking when he found her raiding his cabinets and during all the events after 😌)

Turn Down Corn-Nut

Logan was so sure he had slept before. He had to have. How would anybody get to their thirties and not sleep?

Just close the eyes. Think about nothing. And sleep.

Sleep.

Aaaand sleep.

Nothing. He grunted, letting his eyelids fling open so hard they would have ripped the skin clean off if he had tried taping them down. Which he definitely hadn’t considered doing.

With another grunt, Logan turned on his side and glared at one of his pillows. He would have thumped it, but he had a guest that threatened to kill him a few too many times to risk waking her.

Maybe that was it. Louise was across the hall. Not the complex hall like normally, but his hall. In his apartment. Where he slept. Or at least where he was supposed to sleep. Come to think of it, it was really only natural that his body refused to give into the call of his mattress. Call it survival instinct.

And maybe one could argue that locking his bedroom door would ease the fear of one boot-knife wielding maniac.

But where was the fun in that?

Still, he felt the bags under his eyes deepen as he checked the time on his phone. Late. Too, too fucking late.

In his restless stupor and over the sounds of his own irritation, Logan just barely made out a door creaking open.

He stopped, and he listened.

She was trying to be careful, he could tell, as she moved. Her footsteps were half the speed of her normal gait, WHICH he only knew because he had to be alert when she left her apartment. If he surprised her coming out into the hallway, he met the business end of her gut punch.

The quiet thuds of her steps moved away, and he wasn’t disappointed at his lack of a late night visitor. He listened harder to see where she went and mapped her tracks to the kitchen, the slight sticking of her bare feet hitting the tile.

He nearly pissed himself when, after all that light-footed sneaking, she knocked over an orchestra’s worth of kitchenware.

Even if he hadn’t already been awake, there was no way he slept through that.

Logan did not grin at the excuse to talk to her again.

He made a show of it, getting out of bed and letting his door swing open in a way that told her he was coming. After a few leisurely paces, he propped himself against the wall and blinked down at her.

With only the low lighting of the oven clock shining on her and the mess of baking sheets she made, Louise still stood out as a vision. A messy-haired, flannel covered vision tense at being caught.

As much game as she talked, she never looked smaller, frozen in the act but with too much adrenaline in her eyes. Like a rabbit, he snickered internally. Of course, he valued the safety and well-being of his testicles, so he kept that comment to himself. Instead, he went for… lower hanging fruit.

“You’re not at the end of the rainbow anymore, pal. If you’re looking to steal my gold, you’re out of luck.”

It didn’t take her long to shake off the guilt of supposedly waking him, no more than a sentence or two really. She loosened up to snap at him in that dry way she did, and he felt… soft watching her become herself and falling into their easy banter.

When she asked for snacks, Logan bit his tongue to avoid reusing the old “baking sheet out of luck” pun. It wouldn’t win him any favors if he brought up the past (no favors in the direction he was headed anyway).

He played their game, holding a bag of corn-nuts just out of reach and demanding fair trade. Considering how little she had on her when she got locked out of her apartment, she couldn't actually give him anything. He supposed he would have to settle for an unspecified favor (oh no, the horror) if she refused to play nice with his very generous offer to take flattery as payment.

Sure, he should just give her the snack, but this was better. In the way her lip twitched as she called him an egomaniac, he knew she thought so too.

Then, the air changed.

She asked him about their run in a few weeks ago, when she was having a crisis about turning thirty and he just… happened to be around and knew a little about the subject. Yeah he remembered it. No one forgot Louise being vulnerable or him being kind or the way they looked at each other so, so… so something.

That something was in the way she looked at him now. A signal, one that he picked up on and stopped moving to receive.

Maybe because it was the bizzaro hours she acted differently. She slowed all of her movements and actually considered what she did as she pulled him down for a kiss. Completely bizarre but also…

Damn. Damn her and her momentary softness. He felt himself melt and freeze simultaneously, knowing he wanted to pull her in deeper, pick her up and put her on the counter, pull her hair and bite her neck and show her the attention all her little teasing built up. Instead, he matched her in her momentary softness and her intensity, careful not to scare her away.

If he did this good enough, would she want to skip ahead? Not just to the part where they don’t go their separate ways at the end of the hall but beyond that. To the part where they have to stomach one of Cynthia’s awful organic meals once a year maybe. To the part where she yells at him for getting junk letters that clogged their mailbox perhaps.

But it ended too soon and so do the visions of a cat, or a dog, or a cat, or a dog, that they call different names (even though her name for it is better).

She pulled away, swiped the bag of corn-nuts from him, and left his field of vision. Only momentarily of course, because he absolutely whipped around to find her in the dark again.

Logan could be clever, he could be witty, but he was not smart. He knew that now more than ever as he watched her walk away from him. And he just… let her. Dammit.

In for a penny, he thought to himself, and called out to her.

“Did you just pimp yourself out for corn-nuts? They’re not even that good?!”

The only response he received was a shutting door, and Logan was left alone in the kitchen with the booby trapped cabinets and the clock oven displaying the wrong time. And his thoughts. His dreams even.

How the fuck was he supposed to sleep after that?

[spicevillagesblog]

Discovering Authentic Indian Groceries: Finding Your Go-To Stores in Berlin

Have you ever craved a taste of home and wondered, “Where can I find an Indian grocery store near me?” If you’re living in Berlin or just visiting, the vibrant city offers numerous options to satisfy your culinary needs. The quest for authentic Indian groceries can be daunting, but Berlin’s multicultural landscape provides a variety of stores that cater to your preferences. This article explores the thriving market of Indian grocery stores in Berlin and offers tips on finding the best options near you.

The Need for Indian Grocery Stores

For many Indians living abroad, finding the right ingredients to recreate traditional dishes is essential. Indian food, which is well-known for its flavorful and aromatic spices, mostly depends on particular ingredients that aren't often found in standard stores. This need has led to the emergence of numerous specialty stores across Berlin, ensuring that residents and visitors alike can enjoy authentic Indian meals.

Indian Grocery Stores in Berlin: A Diverse Landscape

Berlin is home to a growing number of Indian grocery stores, each offering a wide range of products. These stores cater not only to the Indian community but also to food enthusiasts interested in exploring Indian cuisine. From basic staples like rice, lentils, and spices to specialty items like pickles, chutneys, and regional delicacies, these stores have it all.

The beauty of shopping at anIndian grocery store Berlin lies in the experience itself. Walking through the aisles filled with familiar scents and vibrant colours can transport you back to an Indian marketplace. Since they frequently have in-depth knowledge of the goods they sell, store owners and employees can offer helpful advice and suggestions for preparing authentic meals.

Finding the Best Indian Grocery Store Nearby

When searching for an Indian grocery store near me, convenience and variety are key factors to consider. Berlin’s extensive public transport system makes it easy to access various neighbourhoods, each hosting its array of Indian stores. Whether you live in the bustling city centre or quieter suburbs, chances are there’s a store nearby ready to meet your needs.

Online tools and community forums are excellent resources for discovering these hidden gems. Websites and apps that specialize in locating ethnic grocery stores can guide you to the nearest options. Additionally, local expatriate communities often share their favourite spots, providing insights into the best stores for quality and variety.

Why Choose Specialty Indian Grocery Stores?

Specialty Indian grocery stores offer numerous advantages over general supermarkets. The most significant benefit is the authenticity and freshness of the products. These stores import items directly from India, ensuring that you get the real deal. This authenticity is crucial for anyone looking to cook traditional dishes that taste just like they do back home.

Moreover, the variety available at these stores is unmatched. You can find everything from fresh produce to frozen foods, spices, snacks, and even kitchenware. This comprehensive selection makes it a one-stop shop for all your Indian culinary needs.

Conclusion

Berlin’s rich cultural diversity is reflected in its array of Indian grocery stores, making it easy for anyone to find the ingredients they need to cook authentic Indian cuisine. Whether you’re looking for an Indian grocery store near meor seeking out the best Indian grocery store Berlin has to offer, the city’s vibrant marketplace will not disappoint. For a seamless and convenient shopping experience, websites like spicevillage.eu provide an excellent resource for finding top-quality Indian groceries. Embrace the flavours of India in the heart of Berlin and enjoy the culinary journey.

Blog Source URL :

[derbykitchen]

Healthy Cooking Made Easy: Best Tools for Meal Prep

Healthy cooking is not only about the ingredients you use but also about the tools you employ to prepare your meals. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a novice in the kitchen, having the right tools can make the process of meal prep much easier and more enjoyable. In this guide, we'll explore some of the best tools for meal prep that can help you create delicious and nutritious dishes with ease. When sourcing these tools, partnering with a reliable kitchenware supplier ensures you have access to high-quality equipment that enhances your cooking experience.

1. **Quality Knives**: A sharp set of knives is essential for any kitchen. Invest in a high-quality chef's knife, paring knife, and serrated knife to cover all your cutting needs. Sharp knives not only make chopping fruits, vegetables, and meats easier but also ensure precision and safety in the kitchen.

2. **Cutting Boards**: Opt for cutting boards made from durable materials such as wood or plastic. Having multiple cutting boards of different sizes allows you to keep raw meats separate from other ingredients, reducing the risk of cross-contamination. Consider using color-coded boards to further organize your prep work.

3. **Food Processor**: A food processor is a versatile tool that can be used for chopping, slicing, shredding, and pureeing ingredients with minimal effort. It's perfect for quickly preparing large batches of ingredients such as vegetables for soups, sauces, or salads.

4. **Blender**: Whether you're making smoothies, soups, or sauces, a high-speed blender is a must-have tool for any kitchen. Look for a blender with a powerful motor and durable blades that can easily handle tough ingredients like frozen fruits and vegetables.

5. **Vegetable Spiralizer**: For those looking to add more vegetables to their diet or reduce their carb intake, a vegetable spiralizer is a game-changer. It allows you to create noodles and ribbons from zucchini, carrots, and other vegetables, providing a healthy alternative to traditional pasta.

6. **Steamer Basket**: Steaming is one of the healthiest cooking methods as it helps retain the nutrients in your food without adding extra oil or fat. Invest in a steamer basket that fits inside your existing pots and pans, allowing you to steam vegetables, seafood, and even dumplings with ease.

7. **Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker**: These multi-functional appliances are a lifesaver for busy individuals who want to enjoy home-cooked meals without spending hours in the kitchen. With features like pressure cooking, slow cooking, sautéing, and steaming, an Instant Pot can help you whip up a variety of healthy dishes in a fraction of the time.

8. **Non-Stick Cookware**: Cooking with non-stick pots and pans reduces the need for excess oil or butter, making your meals healthier without sacrificing flavor. Look for cookware with a durable non-stick coating that can withstand high temperatures and frequent use.

9. **Digital Kitchen Scale**: Accurately measuring ingredients is crucial for consistent cooking and portion control. A digital kitchen scale takes the guesswork out of cooking by providing precise measurements in grams, ounces, or pounds, ensuring your recipes turn out perfectly every time.

10. **Mason Jars and Storage Containers**: Proper storage is key to keeping your meal prep fresh and organized. Invest in a variety of mason jars, glass containers, and reusable silicone bags to store prepped ingredients, leftovers, and ready-to-eat meals in the fridge or freezer.

By equipping your kitchen with these essential tools, you can streamline your meal prep process and make healthy cooking a breeze. With the right tools at your disposal, you'll be able to create delicious and nutritious meals with ease, helping you stay on track with your health and wellness goals.

[buttermolds123]

Butter Molds Enhancing Your Culinary Creations

In the realm of baking and culinary arts, presentation is just as important as flavor. This is where butter molds, specifically silicone butter molds, come into play. These tools are not only functional but also add an artistic touch to your table. Let's delve into the world of butter molds and discover how these versatile tools can elevate your culinary creations.

Butter Molds

Butter molds have a rich history and have been used for centuries to shape butter into decorative forms. Traditionally made from wood or ceramic, these molds were often embellished with intricate designs. Today, butter molds are popular among chefs and home cooks alike for their ability to transform ordinary butter into a centerpiece-worthy element of dining.

Silicone Butter Molds

Silicone has revolutionized the kitchenware industry, and butter molds are no exception. Silicone butter molds are preferred for their flexibility, non-stick properties, and ease of cleaning. They can withstand a wide range of temperatures, making them suitable for various applications, from shaping chilled butter to crafting chocolate or fondant decorations.

The Versatility of Butter Molds Silicone

The real beauty of silicone butter molds lies in their versatility. Whether you're hosting a fancy dinner party or want to add a touch of elegance to your family meals, these molds come in various shapes and sizes to suit any occasion. From simple, classic designs to more elaborate, festive shapes, there's a silicone butter mold to match every theme and style.

Butter Silicone Mold: A Must-Have Tool

Having a butter silicone mold in your kitchen arsenal opens up a world of creativity. Not only can you create beautifully shaped butter pats, but you can also use these molds for other purposes. Consider making small chocolate treats, frozen herbs in butter for cooking, or even cute ice cubes for your drinks. The possibilities are nearly endless.

PJ Bold: Your Destination for Quality Silicone Butter Molds

If you're looking to add silicone butter molds to your kitchen collection, look no further than PJ Bold. Our selection of high-quality, durable silicone molds is designed to inspire your culinary creativity. From elegant floral patterns to fun, seasonal shapes, our molds are perfect for any occasion. Visit our website PJ Bold to explore our collection and start transforming your dishes today!

In conclusion, silicone butter molds are a simple yet effective way to elevate your culinary presentations. They are easy to use, versatile, and a creative addition to any kitchen. Whether you're a professional chef or a home cooking enthusiast, incorporating butter molds into your repertoire will surely bring joy and artistry to your table. So, why wait? Start exploring the endless possibilities with silicone butter molds and let your culinary imagination soar!

[mukundafoods1]

Upgrade Your Commercial Kitchen with Top-Notch Equipment from Mukunda Foods

Effective and dependable commercial kitchen equipmentis critical for success in the fast-paced food sector. Mukunda Foods provides a large selection of premium appliances designed to simplify your kitchen’s operations since it recognizes the special requirements of companies in the culinary industry. Mukunda Foods has everything you need, including 2-door vertical deep freezers, under-counter chillers, four-door chillers, 2 door vertical chillers, vertical chillers, 4 door vertical freezers, and 4 door vertical chillers.

Commercial Kitchen Equipment: A wide range of demands is satisfied by the vast selection of commercial kitchen equipment offered by Mukunda Foods. The deep-fat fryers from Mukunda Foods are revolutionary for anybody looking for the ideal deep fryer to get food perfectly crispy. Your fried food will always be of the highest quality thanks to the durability and efficiency with which these fryers are constructed.

Deep fat fryers: Mukunda Foods has a variety of solutions for chilling and preserving your products, such as under-counter chillers, four-door chillers, 2 door vertical chillers, and vertical chillers. The exact temperature control maintained by these appliances guarantees the quality and freshness of your food while making the most of your kitchen’s storage space.

Double-door vertical deep freezer: Mukunda Foods offers its double-door vertical deep freezer and 4 door vertical chillersolutions to enterprises that need plenty of frozen storage. These appliances provide the dependable freezing capacity you need to keep your ingredients and goods fresh since they are made to endure the rigors of a busy kitchen.

Why Select Foods from Mukunda?

High-quality and long-lasting commercial kitchen equipment is a source of pride for Mukunda Foods. Their goods are manufactured using premium components and put through a thorough testing process to make sure they live up to the high standards set by the industry.

Energy-efficient appliances are essential in today’s environmentally concerned society. The vertical chiller machinery from Mukunda Foods is designed to use as little energy as possible without sacrificing functionality, which will lower your operating expenses and environmental impact.

Mukunda Foods continuously incorporates the newest technical developments into its machinery. Their solutions, which range from sophisticated temperature control systems to intuitive interfaces, are intended to improve the efficiency and smoothness of your kitchen’s operations. 

To ensure that their equipment is a great match for your demands and area, they provide customization choices.

Mukunda Foods is committed to providing top-notch customer support. Their staff is available to help with installation, upkeep, and any queries or worries you may have.

Overall, Mukunda Foods is the place to go if you are looking for high-quality commercial kitchen equipment, such as double-door vertical deep freezers, under-counter chillers, four-door chillers, 2 door vertical chillers, vertical chillers, 4 door vertical freezers, and 4 door vertical chillers. To increase the effectiveness and productivity of your commercial kitchen, Mukunda Foods is the reliable partner you need because of its dedication to quality, innovation, and client satisfaction. Look at Mukunda Foods’ extensive selection of kitchenware at mukundafoods.com now to expand your culinary enterprise.

[angelgrian]

need financial advice. went to ikea

kitchenware- 50£

lunch- 20£

frozen meatballs- 1800£

bedding - 70£

somebody please help my family is falling apart

[ecolates]

Time-Saving Convenience: How Microwave and Freezer Safe Disposable Meal Trays with Lids Simplify Meal Preparations

In the fast-paced contemporary world, the crux of managing our bustling lives lies in the realm of convenience. When it comes to meal preparations, having the right tools to facilitate cooking, storing, and reheating food proves to be a game-changer. Enter disposable meal trays with lids, revolutionizing the way we handle food. This article dives into the unparalleled versatility and advantages of these groundbreaking meal trays, which make everyday cooking and storage an effortless task.

I. Embracing Modern Lifestyles In the midst of our relentless schedules and limited time, people incessantly seek means to simplify their daily routines, especially in the domain of cooking and meal preparation. Traditional kitchenware, such as glass and metal containers, though dependable, often lacks the convenience and practicality demanded by today’s fast-paced lifestyle. The advent of disposable meal trays with lids effectively addresses these challenges and offers a multitude of benefits tailored to the needs of modern households.

II. Convenience Redefined: The Advantages of Disposable Meal Trays with Lids Time-Saving Solutions Disposable meal trays with lids alleviate the burden of washing and cleaning after each use, saving precious time and effort in the kitchen. Whether you’re preparing a family feast or organizing weekly meal preps, these trays allow you to focus solely on the star of the show, the food itself.

Perfect for Meal Preparations For individuals and families who plan their meals in advance, disposable meal trays with lids prove to be a dream come true. These trays offer a seamless solution to store prepared food, securely sealed with the lid, and safely stored in the refrigerator or freezer for later consumption.

Microwave and Freezer Safe One of the defining features of disposable meal trays with lids lies in their impeccable microwave and freezer-safe properties. From reheating delectable leftovers to defrosting frozen meals, these trays effortlessly transition from the freezer to the microwave, sparing you any unnecessary hassles.

No More Food Waste Available in various sizes, disposable meal trays with lids encourage portion control, effectively reducing food waste. Whether you’re preparing a meal for one or catering to a group, you can rest assured that every portion is precisely measured and ready for consumption.

Ideal for On-the-Go Meals For individuals juggling jam-packed schedules or opting for meals on the move, these sugarcane bagasse meal trays with lids emerge as lifesavers. The leak-resistant design ensures that your meals remain intact during transit, preventing any undesirable spills.

Safe and Hygienic Crafted from high-quality materials, disposable meal trays with lids are entirely food-grade safe and free from any harmful chemicals. They provide a hygienic solution to store and transport food without compromising on safety.

III. Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Alternatives While convenience indeed reigns supreme, consumers are becoming conscious of the ecological implications of their choices. Many disposable meal trays with lids are now manufactured from sustainable materials, such as sugarcane bagasse, which offers biodegradability and eco-friendliness.

IV. Embracing the Trend: How Disposable Meal Trays with Lids Simplify Our Lives As the demand for practical and time-saving solutions in meal preparation surges, disposable meal trays with lids have seamlessly integrated into the routines of countless households. From busy professionals to families with young children, these trays provide a straightforward yet highly effective approach to managing daily meals.

V. Conclusion Disposable meal trays with lids have indeed redefined the notion of convenience in the kitchen. Their microwave and freezer-safe properties, coupled with their invaluable time-saving advantages, render them indispensable tools for modern-day meal preparations. Add the sustainability factor to the equation, and these trays deliver a win-win solution for those seeking both practicality and eco-consciousness in their daily lives.

#sugarcanebagasseproducts #ecolates #ecolatespvtltd #ecofriendlyfoodpackaging #gogreen #sustainability #ecofriendlyproducts #biodegradeables #sugarcanebagasseproductsmanufacturer #biodegradeableplates #disposablemealtrayswithlids