#now vanillin

[vanillinwrites]

I hope I’m not too redundant by sending in another thank you message for the Gundam requests, but you gotta know that finding your blog has been my equivalent of finding the One Piece 🥲💕‼️ I love Gundam and I love your writing sm!! I have so many thoughts in my head rn after your last two post.

You’re not redundant at all, It means so much to me! I really do love getting messages in my inbox or in my dms, sometimes posting feels like shouting into the void, and it’s really nice to interact directly with people. Please feel welcome to send in any kind of ask anytime!

I’ve really been enjoying Gundam as a franchise, I've binged three different series in the franchise in the past few months, and I've been loving writing for it! While I'm still very much into the other fandoms on my blog, Gundam is on my mind right now, it’s kind of my current hyper fixation- so thank you for taking interest! 

Feel free to send in any thoughts you have about my past fics, or requests for future fics, Gundam or otherwise! I’m absolutely dying for someone to share my yandere gundam thoughts with!

[by-vanillin]

i just got sent your rwby outfit redesigns and these are the best ones ive seen in a while! i adore just about everything about them from the fairytale silhouettes to the colorplay. theyre faithful to the spirit of the originals but fresh and fun and i cannot get enough of looking at them! ive seen quite a few of these redesigns at this point and yang is notoriously difficult to nail down but she looks absolutely fantastic in your rework. had to let you know <3

Thank you so much! That makes me so happy to hear, i’ve wanted to redesign team RWBY’s outfits for a while now, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it. RWBY’s characters and lore has always been dear to my heart, I'm glad to hear that I did them some justice. Your comment really made my day!

I think what I wanted to accomplish the most with the redesigns was to keep them recognizable, to keep their personalities in mind, and to make sure they each read as their signature color. With their colors, I tried to make sure they would all look good together as a team, so I added white to Ruby, black to Weiss, and purple to Yang. I wasn't able to add any more colors to Blake without overshadowing the black. 

I have some notes on their designs! 

With ruby, I wanted to try to incorporate more silver and gray into her look, because her silver eyes are such an important part of her character. As well as that, I wanted to make her look a little more ‘cute’ and ‘fun’ because she’s the youngest of our main cast. And of course, the most notable change is the addition of white on her, which was meant to be a nod to her mother, Summer. I also think it ties her in better with the rest of team ruby.

For Weiss, I wanted to mix some of her looks together, including her volume one dress, her snowpea outfit, and her volume five outfit. So it ended up being a lot of colors on her, balancing white, black, red and tho shades of blue. but I'm still pretty happy with it. I wanted to give her a princess look that might be reminiscent of snow white, or any princess character. 

I’ll admit for Blake, all I really knew was that I wanted to keep with the tuxedo cat look she had originally, and because of that she looks rather similar to her volume one outfit. I think the vest suits her, and I actually like her color palette in the show a lot, when she isn't losing the black in massive amounts of white. Really I'm disappointed in how little I changed her. But I do like the bows I incorporated in her outfit, to replace the one she used to wear in her hair.

Yang was actually the character I was most excited to redesign, for that exact reason. I feel like the show hasn't known what to do with her colors or outfits for awhile now, and they often dress her in almost all brown with no yellow. So im my redesign, i wanted to make sure yellow was present in almost every part of the design. As well, I wanted to make sure she kept her ‘youthful, older sister, party girl’ vibe that she was introduced with. 

[homunculus-argument]

Post the fig cake/banana bread recipe please?

I used this banana bread recipe as a base with some adjustments, but since it's in finnish I'll write out the whole fig cake recipe here, as I made it:

240 grams of fig jam

150 grams of melted butter

2 dl of brown sugar

2 eggs

3 dl of wheat flour

2 dl of rolled oats/oat flakes

1 dl of crushed nuts (I used a mixture of pistachios and almonds, but either just almonds or just pistachios is probably fine too)

1 dl of raisins

2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar (vanillin sugar works just fine)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of cardamom

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

(here, "teaspoon" is about 5 millilitres. For other measures and their imperial translations, you're on your own)

Mix the butter, fig jam, sugar and eggs together in a bowl until you reach an even consistency. It's going to be pretty solid, but don't be alarmed.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a separate bowl. Make sure that the raisins aren't all clumped together. I recommend mixing everything but the flour together first before finally adding in the flour, to ensure that it's all even.

Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl, mixing the batter between each helping of flour mixture. I used a ladle for this.

Grease a caking pan/oven dish/whatever you are using with butter. You can use whatever oven-safe baking dish you want, for as long as it can handle 1 litre of cake. You should probably measure your baking dish before making the batter, to see if it fits.

Pour/ladle the batter into the greased baking dish. It's going to be pretty firm and solid at this point, not foamy or runny, and it will expand to roughly twice the size it is now as it bakes.

Heat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (you should probably have done that earlier, too, so that it would already be hot by the time the batter is in the pan), and put the cake in the oven for 55 minutes.

Let the cake cool before pouring it out of the dish. It should come out easily and just fall right off. Have a serving dish already ready and try to aim there - it's going to be a bitch to get the cake off the floor if you miss. (And if you have dogs, you will no longer have cake. Or a dog. Raisins are toxic to dogs and there's raisins in the cake. Do not drop the cake on the floor.)

Conclusion: Cake. If you want to try making a vegan, no-egg, no-dairy or gluten-free version, feel free to fuck around and let me know what you found out, substitutions of this sort are not my expertise. For a nut-free version, simply leave out the nuts.

[compassionatevanillaorchid]

Several days prior...

Shadow Milk was doing his usual business - wandering the abandoned Vanillin castle, poking fun at the dead and watching the Archangel do their business. In fact, the latter was one of his more favorite activities now.

Notebook in hand, Shadow Milk hovers in the shadows, jotting down every movement he can spot. The Archangel didn't like to move: it spent its days either watching the night sky, wandering the halls, or holding the plushie that Shadow Milk had given him prior. What an interesting development that had been - but he's not had any breakthroughs since.

Looking down at his notebook, he realizes what he was writing and rapidly scribbles it out before looking back up at the Archangel. He squints - the Archangel's wings were looking a little rough. The Beast never flew, not as frequently as actual birds, and so he wondered if such was a matter of neglect. Not like it would know how to clean wings.

He closes his notebook and poofs it and the pen out of existence. Keeping to the shadows, Shadow Milk rounded the Archangel so he could get a better view of its' back. From what he could see, it appeared some of the feathers look matted. Well, what kind of caretaker would he be if he didn't clean that up?

Slowly and quietly, Shadow Milk began to approach.

The Archangel doesn't seem to notice at first, knelt by what seems to be the remains of a statue and leaning against it heavily. The plush was still cradled in his arms, the string was already pretty worn with how much he'd pulled it since receiving it. The angel's eyes were closed as he blissfully seems to be dozing off. He seems unaware of the fact he isn't alone anymore, at least until he can sense the presence intruding into his personal space.

Eyelids opening once more, he turns his head as if trying to locate the source. He can't hear anything, clearly whoever or whatever it was isn't walking. The Archangel furrows his eyebrows, unkempt feathers bristling and a low chirping noise emanating from him.

But despite his uneasiness and weariness, he's surprised when he feels a tug within his chest where his Soul Jam sat behind his ribs. There was a soft ringing noise and slight pulsing, clearly a song and sign of longing.

Perplexed, the Archangel of Destiny sat stiffly, begrudgingly allowing whoever it is to get closer even though he wants to pull away and lash out at this intruder. Surely if his Soul Jam cries for it, it couldn't be bad... right?

( @sillysillyshadowmilkcookie )

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Plastic-eating bacteria turn waste into useful starting materials for other products

Mountains of used plastic bottles get thrown away every day, but microbes could potentially tackle this problem. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science that they've developed a plastic-eating E. coli that can efficiently turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into adipic acid, which is used to make nylon materials, drugs and fragrances. Previously, a team of researchers including Stephen Wallace engineered a strain of E. coli to transform the main component in old PET bottles, terephthalic acid, into something tastier and more valuable: the vanilla flavor compound vanillin. At the same time, other researchers engineered microbes to metabolize terephthalic acid into a variety of small molecules, including short acids. So, Wallace and a new team from the University of Edinburgh wanted to expand E. coli's biosynthetic pathways to include the metabolism of terephthalic acid into adipic acid, a feedstock for many everyday products that's typically generated from fossil fuels using energy-intensive processes.

Read more.

[jessicamdawn]

Your Sky, ep 9:

This sounds like an adopt-a-kid discussion

Dom is so great.

Anyone know what Mookrob means?

Why are you surprised Fah wants to go on a date? You literally asked ‘where are you taking me today?’

‘I like everything my boyfriend likes.’ No you don’t. Be fricking honest.

That’s product placement to the extreme, but that is also exactly how someone would recommend their shampoo, so.

Are we gonna have a conversation about Fah buying everything Rak so much as glances at or mentions liking? He’s being so excessive. I’d be nervous about looking at anything because he’d buy it before I even knew what it really was. No? We’re not? Okay.

“You’re here?” How did he get into your apartment?

“You’re amazing!” He dropped spaghetti into a pot. Not exactly fine cooking skills.

What in the honeymoon is going on here with this cake and drink? I was cool with it until the ‘holding the strawberry in your mouth and leaning over the back of the couch to feed it to Rak upside down’ bit.

Just pick Hia up and carry him like a large dog. I’ve never seen someone get carried like that. It’s kind of funny.

Hia is far too drunk to have this conversation.

How did I know someone was gonna sleep on that couch as soon as I saw it in the background?

Oh. Hia’s crying. Like, actual tears, not just crying sounds. I like it. I love when they let men cry.

Why does Real have a guide to St. Petersburg on his bedside table? That’s so random.

“The tattoo is us.” is such a fake line. When exactly did you get that tattoo, Fah? Cause you only just started dating Rak for real. And while it directly relates to your name, it has no connection to Rak’s.

We just had over 5 minutes of this ‘they’re going to have sex/having sex’ scene and I honestly don’t know if we progressed past naked kissing above the waist.

Your Sky, ep 10:

“Are you okay?” “I’m totally fine.” Say that after you get out of bed. You have no idea your body pain until you have to stand and walk. I feel great and then I walk to the bathroom and my body is like ‘what the hell did we fight last night?’

“Everyone in your family is so sweet to me, except Lee.” Lee is your best friend???

Also, where’s the tattoo? Fah’s shirt hangs down in the back but I see no tattoo.

Lee is reading “I’ll Give You The Sun”~ (and something with a pink polka dot spine that I can’t place)

Don’t watch this man write his letter. Let him write in peace.

Stop Ignoring Lee at Family Gatherings 2k…er….24

These clothes are so basic, but they probably cost a fortune.

Ew, why’d you pick that outfit for Lee? The one before it was much better.

“You like ice cream?” “How’d you know I like ice cream?” One, she just asked, not stated? Two, liking ice cream is pretty common?

Hia’s shirt says “Vanillin’ across the back

No, I wanna know what the rest of his letter said. Did it say he likes Real? Because now Real’s comfortable kissing him, and it said ‘my feelings,’ but apparently wasn’t a confession????

Real’s got nice eyes.

“I don’t know if I like you as more than a friend. But we’re definitely gonna mutually make out.” And possibly do more in the leather chair?

This is the quietest, calmest puppy I have ever seen. It worries me, honestly.

MATTER MAKERS SHIRT! This one doesn’t look like a bottle of ketchup, though.

What in the Minecraft is that third fox?

More Lee/Klai! I demand it!

No, I want to hear Rak’s presentation. He said his project was an art toy? What is that? It’s a fox figurine in a model forest. I don’t understand. And what happened to the other fox models?

Your Sky, ep 11:

Your dad is NOT ‘fearsome and strict.’ “He won’t let us have a dog.” “You can absolutely have a dog.” He watches BLs and gives you head kisses on the regular. I don’t think I’ve seen a single scene where he wasn’t smiling.

Real and Hia are so ridiculous.

“Has your heart ever fluttered around me?” “I don’t know.” BRO. YOU TWO WERE MAKING OUT.

You have NOT been carrying that tea in your jacket this whole time. It’s huge.

If Klai doesn’t know that Lee is interested, he’s blind. This boy is laying it on thick.

So many times, I’ve thought that Real and Hia could be played by Fort and Peat.

The way Real flirts is so…different from his character.

I like that Fah and grandpa had a conversation via chess.

Aw, mom made me cry.

The scene is tense, but Babe going, “Anyone want some cake?” and dad (?) going, “Those are fishcakes, dear” was funny

Dad saying, “It’s so nice that Babe invited you, Muenfah” and even Dom’s face is like ‘not this again’ (also, Dom died his hair dark and I want it to be light again)

Wow. Dad’s not only yelling, he’s cursing.

I wish they’d have Teerak cry, rather than just look a little sad.

Lee going ‘His dad wants him to break up with Fah’ and Klai going ‘what?! Nooooo’ like he just heard his ship is breaking up XD

“I’ll do anything for you. I’ll do anything to keep us together.” Sometimes Fah says things that wouldn’t be out of place in a sort of yandere murderer AU.

I know it’s the American in me, but when Dad was like ‘I’ll pick you up right here after your classes.’ I was like ‘What if you don’t show up? What if you just didn’t listen?’

Teerak in all blue because he misses his Blue Boy.

Omg someone take me to paint something (says the woman with half a dozen blank easels who never opens her damn paints)

Gramps coming in the clutch. I loved his “Why do you think I wouldn’t [be okay with this]?” and the ‘you can be disappointed, but he’s still your son.’

Dad’s “you can do whatever you want, but if he ever hurts you…tell me?” made me cry.

GRANDPA! 8O

Your Sky, ep 12:

Oh good. Heat exhaustion. He’ll be okay.

Did Dom cut his hair? It looks different…

I…I think I’ve seen this hospital before? This open hall (by elevators?) looks very familiar.

Fah starting statements in the worst possible way again. “I can’t forgive you.” You gotta stop giving people heart attacks, dude.

Fah being pleased by the box lunch is cute.

Did you have that sandwich in your pocket???

Hia and Real are back on their normal bullshit. We’re all good.

Lee’s getting a happy ending. He’s gonna spend New Years with Klai!

Oh, so you can’t kiss on the beach, but you can make out all you want in the water? Your logic is silly, Rak.

Aww, Hia and Real are together and happy

“I’ll tell you when we’re on the cruise.” CRUISE?

What have Klai and Lee been up to all evening? I want to know.

Is this a cruise for their whole college class or something?

Things I like in this cruise montage: Joy and Babe looking real cute. Real not letting Hia drink. Lee peeling shrimp for Klai. All the Lee/Klai moments, actually.

So the boys are engaged now, right? Or married. These sound like marriage vows. And they’re both in suits, so.

[northwest-by-a-train]

what is "depleted vanilla"??

Well usually you have three choices when it comes to buying vanilla. Either vanilla extract (vanillin, alcohol and corn syrup for the cheap ones, distilled vanilla juice for the expensive ones) which is famously hard to dose. Vanilla sugar that's just sugar + vanillin. Or a Vanilla pod, full of fresh vanilla beans. If you're baking, or if you're just plain rich, that's the vanilla you do want to go for. Rich and flavorful, with that dark moist vegetable grease you extract from the tip of a knife... Heaven. But one pod is like 8$.

However!!! When using the pod, most companies who do care about taste will only use that vanilla you get from scratching at the pod with your knife (or similar machines). It's the one with the most taste, after all! But the pod itself is edible, and still tastes of vanilla. And there's some vanilla left in there anyhow. So they freeze dry the pod and the meagre vanilla left over in it, and turn it into a powder. In french we call that "Vanille Épuisée" which you can translate as "spent vanilla" or "overworked vanilla" but that I translated as "depleted" because it sounded better than the other options.

It's usually used as a cheaper vanilla substitute by ice cream places or bakeries. You can say it's real vanilla, not vanilla extract, while having a product with no real expiry date or disadvantages. It just tastes weaker than the actual stuff, and lacks the same texture, which is suboptimal if you crave that real vanilla high. But which is excellent if you want your oats to taste of vanilla, or your coffee, or your fish, or your bread, or your almond paste, or really anything in which you want vanilla to be the co-star, not the leading role. And it's cheap too! I've been using the same lil' jar for two months now and it only cost me five bucks. Any good baking store, or above average quality supermarket will have it.

[southeastasianists]

In Thailand, traditional food can be exquisite and elaborate. Nothing epitomizes this more than the use of tian op, Thailand’s culinary candle.

Though its name simply means “scented candle” in Thai, this double-wicked curl of beeswax is no ordinary room freshener. Tian op is a flavoring agent, or rather, a scenting agent, used to enhance specific dishes in Thai cuisine.

Chefs light the U-shaped candle at both ends, place it on top of the food to be scented, and cover it with a lid. Lack of oxygen snuffs the flames and the enclosed space fills with flowery smoke. Minutes or even hours later, the chefs lift the lid and serve the food, now garnished with the candle’s delectable aroma.

Tian op is infused with numerous ingredients also found in perfume and incense, like patchouli, ylang-ylang, mace oil, sandalwood, frankincense, and musk, to name just a few. The candle’s smoke contains a complex blend of scent molecules, including vanillin, named for vanilla but also found in woodsmoke.

This gives the scent of tian op a unique, musky sweetness which lends itself especially well to desserts. “It’s very, very distinct, very recognized,” says Thai cookbook author Leela Punyaratabandhu. “For me, traditional Thai desserts don’t taste the same, basically, unless they smell like the candle.”

In some recipes, tian op is a finishing touch, as with flower-shaped kleeb lamduan cookies, which are infused with smoke after baking. Other preparations call for ingredients to be individually smoked, such as sarim, which combines smoked sweetened coconut milk with multicolored starch noodles and crushed ice.

Though nearly all traditional applications of the tian op are for sweets, the candle is also used to make khao chae or “soaked rice,” a cold dish popular in the summertime. Chefs smoke rice with a tian op, then chill it in jasmine-scented water to provide fragrant refreshment between bites of crispy side dishes. “This candle is part of the bigger picture of Thais liking to scent things,” says Punyaratabandhu. Though chefs around the world use aromatics to infuse food, Thai cuisine has a particular appreciation for fragrance. Especially prized are fragrant ingredients like the herb pandan, which owes its nutty, roasty aroma to a flavor compound shared with jasmine rice.

Tian op isn’t even the only form of enclosed smoking used to aromatize food in Thailand. There’s also dhungar, a technique of sizzling ghee on hot charcoal in a closed oven, which is particularly associated with the cuisine of Thai Muslims. Though dhungar and tian op are superficially similar, Punyaratabandhu, who has written on both, believes that they are unrelated. Dhungar is primarily used for savory dishes, not sweet, and while dhungar originated in India and is found in other South Asian countries, tian op is unique to Thailand.

Tian op’s spectacular blend of aromatics carries, for Punyaratabandhu, “the scent of home, of tradition—of something that is dying these days.” Originally derived from the exclusive cuisine of the Thai royal court, tian op is still largely the provenance of professional dessert-makers, rather than home cooks. Those dessert-makers now have the task of preserving a tradition that is at risk of disappearing due to decreasing demand.

Traditional Thai sweets are fading in popularity, in the face of competition from foreign desserts like macarons and cupcakes, which are sometimes more affordable than the labor-intensive traditional options. And as Thai desserts go, so goes the tian op. Punyaratabandhu describes the candle as a “uni-tasker,” intimately tied to the purpose it was made for. “The candle doesn’t have a life outside of this,” she says. “We have to talk about it as a subset of what's going on with traditional Thai desserts.”

Yet while globalization threatens tian op’s original context, it also presents new opportunities. Modern Thai chefs have created fusion recipes with tian op, scenting Western-style cookies, cakes, and pastries. New York City’s Spot Dessert Bar formerly offered a candle-infused cheesecake, the brainchild of consulting chef Ian Chalermkittichai. In 2023, the show-stopping signature dessert at San Francisco restaurant Prik Hom earned its own profile in the San Francisco Chronicle: coconut ice cream smoked with a tian op for 15 seconds under glass. It’s served with the lid on, so that diners can release the sweet smoke themselves.

Punyaratabandhu cautions that because the scent of tian op is so specific, it doesn’t necessarily improve every dessert. When she used the candle on shortbread cookies, she didn’t like how it masked their original scent. “You're supposed to smell butter, not frankincense!” she says.

Like any flavoring, tian op’s power to elevate and transform must be used with care. But it’s a testament to the allure of this royal ingredient that chefs, in Thailand and beyond, are still drawn to experiment with its fragrant smoke.

[ifenvs3000w23]

Week 5

Initially I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my discussion post as this week we are free to write about whatever we want. I settled on talking about plastic recycling using plastic eating bacteria. Last week I read an article on this and it inspired me to look into how they are using plastic eating bacteria and how they could be used in the future. I found out about that In 2021 a French Company called Carbios partnered with nestle and Pepsi when they began using a enzyme called PETase (PETase is one of a handful on enzymes that is capable to breakdown plastic) to assist in the Degradation of PET plastics (PET plastic is the most common form of plastic in water bottles and product packaging) to process about 250kg of PET plastic waste every day or 91 tonnes per year, breaking it down into its precursor molecules, Which then can be made into new clear plastic. Typically recycled plastic is not clear and has a more opaque look to it which companies often find undesirable. For example A recycled plastic bottle becomes a mottled bag, which becomes fibrous jacket insulation, which then becomes road filler, never to be recycled again.  So having the ability to continuously recycle and remake clear plastic will massively reduce the amount of new plastic that is made.

Carbios is able to complete this recycling process by shredding the plastic and running it through a machine which freezes it and forces it through a tiny opening at great pressure. The plastic pops out as pellets about the size of corn kernels. At the microscopic level, it is much less dense than its original form. which gives the enzymes a larger surface area to attack allowing for increased degradation. 

The plastic pellets are placed in a solution of water and PETase, inside a sealed steel tank. As time goes on, the plastic erodes away, and its components dissolve into the solution, leaving only a grayish liquid. The liquid now contains the two components ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, which can be separated out and turned into new plastic. Fortunately, This technique scales easily. Two years ago the company was recycling a few kilos of plastic a day; now they do about 250kg a day. Next year, with the help of a new recycling plant carbios will be able to process 130 tonnes a day or almost 50 thousand tonnes a year. 

Many scientists hope that PETase will be used in the future for microplastic clean up. Last year, a German group engineered PETase into marine algae, noting that someday it could be used to break down microplastic in the ocean. Microplastics are a huge issue and there are not many effective ways to do this and using GMO algae is a possibility that should be explored. 

Another future use of PETase along with other chemical reactions is to produce hydrogen fuel from plastics. In Plastic on average the second most abundant element within is hydrogen, there are already a few research teams looking into the possibility of using terephthalic acid, one of the by-products of PETase, to make hydrogen fuel. terephthalic acid can also be used in perfumes and can be turned into Vanillin, the compound that creates the “vanilla taste”. 

Overall, this biotechnology is very promising for the future of global plastic clean up and recycling. Hopefully this will help make the world a greener and healthier place. Do you think we should release this marine algae into the world's oceans to help clean up microplastics?

Article Link:

[vanillinwrites]

Hi, I’m Vanillin! 23, she/her. This is my little archive for things I write for various fandoms, mostly character x reader. I write mostly yandere stuff these days, but i sometimes try my hand at non yan stuff too, feel free to request either.

And feel free to chat with me in my inbox! Id love to bounce ideas back and forth, as well as talk about various things. I always appreciate hearing from you!

Writing styles:

imagines- short blurbs about a particular idea or charecter. Questions like “what charecter would do…” “What charecter would like…” etc also count as imagines! 

Headcanons- list format of drabbles, still considered long form, but normally covers more scenarios or ideas.

Drabbles- story formatted one-shots based are a particular character and scenario.

Fandoms: 

Fire Emblem Three Houses! (All of the students, Seteth, Flayn, Rhea, Jeritza) 

DDLC / Doki Doki Literature Club! (monika, sayori, yuri, natuski) 

HXH / Hunter x Hunter! (the phantom troupe mostly, but feel free to request anyone and I'll let you know!)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 / Origin (char, sayla, garma, dozle, kycilia, gihren, bright, mirai, ramba ral and hamon)

If you want someone from one of these fandoms who isn't on the list, feel free to ask anyways! I might have forgotten them! The worst I can say is no!

Expect more fandoms to be added over time!

Masterlist: 

Any character under 18 will be aged up! Characters under 15 in canon can only be requested platonically!

Request guidelines: 

Please specify- 

Reader’s gender (if unspecified, i will default to female reader) 

The writing style you would prefer (drabbles, headcanons, etc) 

The character(s) you’d like ((i will do up to three characters in one ask if its an imagine or headcanons)) 

Any other specific requests you’d like, such as; reader’s traits, the scenario you had in mind, a poly ship, etc! 

If any of these aren’t specified, i’ll write it however it comes to mind

Will write:

Character x reader

Any gender reader ( if not specified, i will default to female reader )

Specific traits ( such as weight, height, hair color, etc. including mental health!) 

Monogamous or polyamorous

Smut // Angst // Fluff

Omegaverse

Yandere // non-yandere (if not specified, I'll choose)

Won't write:

Character x character (i’m picky about ships, and generally have low motivation for writing character x character fics. I may sometimes post character x character fics, but i don't take requests for them) 

Any romantic/sexual content for underage characters

Pregnancy

Daddy kink

Scat

I reserve the right to turn down any request and might not be able to write all of the ones I get! Thank you for reading! Please enjoy your stay!

Dividers used here and on my posts are by

@diviniyae @sweetmelodygraphics

who are both incredible creators who I reccomend highly!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

World’s first ice cream made from plastic

Reuters | 28 September 2023

The world’s first food made from plastic waste - according to its developer - is vanilla ice cream.

Despite being locked in a freezer in London, she hopes it kickstarts a heated debate about the future of food and the plastic pollution crisis.

The ice cream is actually an art installation called ‘Guilty Flavours’ by artist and designer Eleanora Ortolani, 27, intended to challenge the way we think about plastic waste and what we are - and are not - prepared to eat.

"Guilty Flavours is what I believe is the first sample of ice cream made from plastic waste,” Ortolani told Reuters at Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts London.

“It's coming from the same plastic as we can find in bottles, plastic bottles,” she said.

The process, developed by scientists in Edinburgh, harnesses the metabolic power of bacteria and enzymes to behave as eco-friendly factories to digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and turn it into vanillin, the molecule that gives vanilla its flavour.

“There are certain enzymes which do certain chemical reaction,” Dr Joanna Sadler, a biotechnologist at the University of Edinburgh, told Reuters.

“So if you plug those together, you can get through to lots of different chemical products," she said.

Plastic is made of a string of molecules bonded together into what are known as polymers.

Sadler broke those bonds with a hungry microbe, leaving her with molecules that were no longer plastic.

That former PET-soup was then easily processed by another bacteria into vanillin.

Sadler's research, published in the Journal Biochemist in December 2021, focuses on degrading and upcycling plastic and using it as feedstock for microbial growth.

She produced the specially engineered bugs for Ortolani's project but was at pains to point out that the student's ice cream is very much a research project.

It's not currently for human consumption.

"I've even had members of the public email me saying it's irresponsible to encourage people to eat plastic," Sadler said.

"It is really important that we take the safety side of it really, really seriously and we make it very clear that this has to go through exactly the same regulatory processes and food standard processes as any other food ingredient.

And only once it has been through all of those would it go anywhere near any kind of consumer product."

Ortolani, who is from Verona, Italy, said Guilty Flavours was inspired by her frustration with the failure of the recycling system to stop plastic polluting the environment.

It is locked away to highlight what she says is a looming global food crisis.

“We have the tools today to rethink the food system we're living in,” she said.

“This is ready now and today but nobody can really touch it or interact with it because it's not tested for safety yet."

Vanilla, sometimes called 'green gold', is the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron.

UK designer recycles plastic into vanilla ice cream

27 September 2023

Introducing the world's first food made from plastic waste... vanilla ice cream!

Named Guilty Flavours, the ice cream has been designed to provoke viewers into thinking about plastic waste.

The ice cream was developed by scientists in Edinburgh, who used bacteria and enzymes to digest PET plastic and turn it into vanillin -- the molecule that gives vanilla its flavour.

The ice cream is still in its research phase and currently not for human consumption.

[golvio]

Tried on "The Antikythera Mechanism" today. It's described as having tobacco, teak wood, oak, and vanilla notes.

It's a really interesting scent, though not quite what I usually wear. It's definitely got strong vanilla, especially when wet and freshly applied, but it's less a sugary, edible sort of vanilla and more like someone opened a bottle of pure vanillin nearby. Sweet, but not "foody," if that makes any sense.

This tobacco is more like the chewable stuff or the raw leaves than anything that smells like cigarettes. I wasn't sure what it was at first since I'm not used to plain tobacco, as my only exposure to it was from smelling my grandma's secondhand cigarette smoke. The smell as it dried when combined with the vanilla and the wood gave me the impression of the vaguely chocolatey smell that freshly ground light coffee beans have before they're brewed. The vanilla gives the impression of syrup, like a fancy mixed coffee drink.

As it dries, what i assume are the woods come through and give it a scent like old parchment and well-worn leather chairs in addition to the coffee and tobacco smell. It reminded me of the certain sort of smell that cafes in more modern libraries or bookstores have. The teak and oak also give a hint of "antique desk," adding to the library mood.

It was a scent that had to grow on me a bit because it's a bit strong and heavy, but I found I liked it more as the day went on. I feel like it's a "butch" scent. I could see it as unisex as it's got a little bit of both worlds for the masculine/feminine spectrum. The tobacco and wood combo give it a bit of a "cowboy" feel, but the vanilla makes it sweeter than you'd expect a "men's" cologne to be. However, the sweetness isn't the cloying sort you'd expect from more cutesy floral or gourmet perfumes. There's a heaviness and strength to it from its bolder notes that make it sweet and pleasant, but not "cute." It feels like something you'd wear with a leather jacket or a good pair of boots or pennyloafers. A scent you'd associate with somebody strong but also kind and gentle who helps out around the house or moves stacks at the library.

I've found I like a lot of scents with oak in them, and this one's no exception. It's interesting how I've inadvertently gone to the lighter and heavier ends of the oak spectrum with the light and sparkling "Golden Amber, Muguet, and Oak Menage a Trois," the deeper incense smoke of "Cleric," and now this. I've also recently discovered I enjoy lilac and violet, too, along with certain jasmine blends and lily of the valley. I'd like to eventually try out some champagne notes, too, with stuff like "Bon Vivant" or the New Year's Eve series. It's been a lot of fun figuring out what I like!

[philosophicalparadox]

Yes! One of the banes of perfume chemistry is that it can be influenced by the chemistry of the skin, which is different for each person, but which does have certain things in common.

One of the universal truths of which is that perfume almost never smells the same on skin that is 1. Sweaty, or 2. Oily.

It’s why men’s perfume (“cologne” if you must) has a different formulation. Their skin is usually oiler and assumed to be sweatier so the perfumes are made with that in mind.

There’s also just some stuff that doesn’t mix well with human sweat, which contains urea, and yeah. You’ll smell like piss because the chemistry of the perfume is separating the urea from the other salts in the skin and then aerosolising it. Many lotions do this too, on purpose, because that free urea is a good skin softener and conditioner, but because lotion typically wants to stick to you, it’s not as noticeable. Until you try to lick someone that’s had lotion on them. Then you taste that crap.

Anyway, vanillin, especially taken from oak, is one of these chemicals. It binds strongly to hair follicles but it reacts with the salts in your sweat to form urea and phosphorus salts that smell kinda funny. It’s why vanilla deodorant is rare and usually not actually vanilla scented. (It’s actually a blend of plumeria and other flower scents that mimics vanilla, but there’s no vanillin in it at all because it kinda defeats the purpose.)

However this is, mostly, fixable. Why no comment ever mentioned that I don’t know.

1. Spray your hair, not your skin. Perfume sticks to hair follicles better anyway and will last much longer. Can’t emphasize enough how much this helps.

2. Make sure you’re decently clean and don’t have other strong fragrances in said hair or lotion on the body. A little oily is fine and can make the perfume stick better depending on the fragrances, but being a week-without-a-shower oily can influence the smell in a bad way.

I offer these because perfume is expensive and sometimes you just lament the fact that you now have a bottle that’s useless.

Good luck.

starting to think fragrantica reviewers think literally everything smells like piss

[rockymountainbarrelcompany]

Why Used Bourbon Barrels Are the Go-To Choice for Aging Spirits

When it comes to aging premium spirits, the selection of barrel is perhaps the most important decision a distiller can make. Amongst many different choices, used bourbon barrels have become the gold standard for aging many spirits other than bourbon. From whiskey and tequila to rum and even craft beer, these barrels provide a special combination of flavor, history, and sustainability that newer barrels can't compete with.

If you're considering launching or growing your aging endeavor, learning why used bourbon whiskey barrels are so highly valued by distillers around the world will enable you to make an informed decision. Whether you're an experienced professional or enthusiast, this article will take you through the characteristics, advantages, and procurement tips for such superior barrels. And if you're searching for the finest bourbon barrels for sale, look no further than the Rocky Mountain Barrel Company.

What Are Used Bourbon Barrels Used For?

To better understand the attraction of used bourbon barrels, it helps to have some background on their creation and life. Bourbon, by law, has to be aged in new charred American white oak barrels. That entails that each barrel employed for bourbon aging begins from scratch, severely toasted inside, which contributes bourbon's characteristic taste and color.

After a barrel has finished its voyage aging bourbon—between 2 and 12 years—it is drained and is now a used bourbon whiskey barrel. The barrel still contains a treasure of flavors absorbed by its wood, along with the advantage of its charred interior, and is ideal for aging other spirits or even beer.

Distinctive Characteristics of Used Bourbon Barrels

The alchemy of old bourbon barrels is how the first aging of bourbon affects the barrel wood. The charring process produces a layer of activated charcoal that strains the spirit and adds desirable compounds such as vanillin (vanilla), tannins, and caramelized sugars to the liquid. Once used for the first time, the barrel wood stores those compounds and flavors, quietly adding them to whatever liquid is aged subsequently.

In comparison to new barrels, reused bourbon barrels impart a milder effect on aging spirits. They will not dominate the flavor but rather add a smooth, complex vanilla, caramel, spice, and oak layer. This makes them extremely suitable for aging multiple types of beverages. The wood also becomes more permeable after the first use, which enables greater oxygen interaction during aging, giving added smoothness and complexity.

Flavor Benefits for Different Spirits

Part of the appeal of used bourbon whiskey barrels is that they can add to other spirits without overpowering their individual flavors.

Whiskey: Other types of whiskey (rye, Irish, Canadian) use used bourbon barrels to add balanced oak with touches of vanilla and spice.

Tequila: Tequila aged in used bourbon barrels gains deep caramel and toasted oak flavors that harmonize with the natural sweetness of the agave.

Rum: Bourbon barrels mellow rum's hard edges and add depth with vanilla and caramel layers.

Craft Beer: Breweries utilize these barrels to age stouts, porters, and sour beers, which absorb rich woody, sweet, and smoky flavors.

As the barrels are already "seasoned," they enable more rapid and subtle aging, perfect for small batches and test runs.

Economic and Environmental Advantages

Using bourbon barrels that have already been used is also an economically and environmentally wise choice. New barrels are costly and take a lot of resources to manufacture. Recycling bourbon barrels not only saves money for distillers and brewers but also encourages sustainability by prolonging the lifetime of bourbon barrels.

Numerous distilleries and craft distillers proactively look for used barrels in order to reduce waste and decrease their environmental impact. Such behavior promotes a circular economy wherein barrels are appreciated much beyond their first life, helping to promote more sustainable production practices.

How to Source Quality Used Bourbon Barrels

If you’re interested in purchasing used bourbon barrels, it’s important to work with reputable suppliers who understand barrel conditions and the aging process. The right barrel should be well-maintained, free of leaks or mold, and have the appropriate char level for your project.

Here at Rocky Mountain Barrel Company, we deal in the best bourbon barrels for sale, with a large number of used bourbon whiskey barrels being part of our extensive collection. Our barrels are straight from the best distilleries and undergo rigorous inspection to ensure maximum quality and performance. Whatever your use for aging spirits, beer brewing, or producing something special, we have the barrels that can help make your dreams a reality.

Creative Uses for Used Bourbon Barrels

Aside from aging spirits, spent bourbon barrels have become very trendy for aesthetic and creative purposes. People oftentimes reuse barrels as furniture pieces, planters, or home bar accessories. The vintage appearance and deep scent of the barrels are ideal for creating character in homes, restaurants, or wine tasting facilities.

Conclusion

Used bourbon barrels are not merely vessels; they are flavor vessels packed with history and personality. Their special capacity to contribute rich, smooth, and complex flavors to a wide range of spirits made them the number-one preference for brewers and distillers across the globe.

If you’re ready to experience the benefits of aging with authentic used bourbon barrels, explore the extensive inventory at Rocky Mountain Barrel Company. Our quality barrels, expert knowledge, and commitment to service make us the trusted partner for your aging projects.

[nidhimishra5394]

Key Drivers Shaping the Future of the Biotech Flavours Market Worldwide

The global biotech flavours market has been undergoing rapid transformation, driven by advances in biotechnology, shifting consumer preferences, and the growing demand for sustainable and natural products. Biotech flavours, which are derived using biological processes such as fermentation or enzymatic reactions rather than traditional chemical synthesis or extraction, are reshaping the landscape of the flavour industry.

As consumers increasingly seek natural, health-conscious, and environmentally friendly food and beverage products, the appeal of biotech-derived flavours has surged. These flavours offer several advantages over traditional synthetic or extracted flavours, including improved consistency, lower environmental impact, and the ability to create novel or rare flavour profiles that are difficult or costly to source naturally.

Market Drivers and Growth Factors

One of the key drivers of the biotech flavours market is the rising demand for natural and clean-label products. Across the food, beverage, and personal care sectors, consumers are scrutinising ingredient lists more carefully and seeking products that are free from artificial additives. Biotech flavours, produced through natural biological processes, align well with this trend, offering manufacturers a way to label their products as “natural” while maintaining scalability and cost efficiency.

Another important factor is the growing sustainability concerns. Traditional flavour production often involves extensive land use, water consumption, and extraction processes that can deplete natural resources or harm ecosystems. Biotech production, by contrast, often requires fewer natural resources and can be done in controlled fermentation facilities, reducing environmental impact. For example, vanillin, traditionally sourced from vanilla beans, can now be produced through fermentation using engineered yeast or bacteria providing a sustainable alternative to both natural extraction and synthetic chemistry.

The market is also benefiting from technological advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Over the past decade, researchers have made significant progress in engineering microorganisms to produce complex flavour molecules. These innovations are not only improving production efficiency but also expanding the range of flavours that can be developed, opening up new possibilities for product innovation.

Applications Across Industries

The food and beverage industry remains the largest consumer of biotech flavours, with applications ranging from soft drinks and confectionery to dairy products and baked goods. Beverage manufacturers, in particular, have shown strong interest in biotech flavours as they seek to develop new products that cater to evolving consumer tastes, such as functional drinks and plant-based alternatives.

The personal care and cosmetics sector is also a growing market for biotech flavours, where they are used as fragrance ingredients or to mask unpleasant odours in formulations. Consumers are increasingly looking for natural and sustainable beauty products, and biotech-derived ingredients fit into this narrative.

Additionally, the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors are exploring biotech flavours to improve the palatability of medicines, supplements, and functional foods, where taste and mouthfeel play a crucial role in consumer acceptance.

Regional Market Insights

North America and Europe currently dominate the biotech flavours market, largely due to strong R&D capabilities, the presence of leading biotech companies, and a consumer base that is highly responsive to natural and sustainable product trends. However, the Asia-Pacific region is emerging as a significant growth area, driven by expanding middle-class populations, rising disposable incomes, and increasing awareness of natural and health-focused products.

Countries like China, India, and Japan are investing heavily in biotechnological research and development, and local companies are increasingly looking to biotech solutions to cater to diverse and dynamic consumer markets. As regulatory frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region become more supportive of biotech innovations, further growth is anticipated.

Challenges and Barriers

Despite the promising growth, the biotech flavours market faces several challenges. Regulatory approval remains a critical hurdle, as food and cosmetic ingredients must meet stringent safety standards before entering the market. While biotech flavours are often perceived as natural, they still require extensive safety testing and regulatory clearance, which can delay time-to-market and increase costs.

Another challenge is consumer perception. While some consumers enthusiastically embrace biotech-derived products, others remain cautious or sceptical, especially when they hear terms like “engineered yeast” or “fermentation-produced” on product labels. Education and transparent marketing will be key to overcoming these concerns and building consumer trust.

Lastly, cost competitiveness remains a factor. Although biotech production methods are becoming more efficient, some biotech flavours are still more expensive to produce than their synthetic counterparts. For widespread adoption, especially in price-sensitive markets, continued innovation will be needed to bring costs down.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, the biotech flavours market is expected to continue its upward trajectory, driven by the convergence of consumer demand, technological innovation, and sustainability pressures. As companies refine production techniques and expand their portfolios, we can expect to see a broader range of biotech-derived flavours entering mainstream products.

Collaborations between flavour houses, biotech startups, and large food and beverage companies will likely accelerate innovation, bringing exciting new products to market and reshaping the competitive landscape. With the right balance of regulation, consumer education, and technological progress, biotech flavours have the potential to become a cornerstone of the global flavour industry in the coming decade.

[thatquirkychanel]

Antiquarian

Dust veils the words I once caressed 

Set aside in a box, forgotten

Pages filled with my little notes 

Borges. Neruda. Charles Bukowski.

My midnight companions exiled

They are no longer on my nightstand

A corner left for the remnants of me

My old books stacked with the books showcasing my smile

I got my dream, they say

Should I thank you?

Should I forgive you?

Didn’t I ask for this?

The scent of vanillin 

Always carries me away

Bookstores were my solace

Is that why I could not fathom 

Who you were?

Hey, you

Was I just a rare edition to you?

You restored my binding

You thought you were putting the right strength 

When you hammered me

You claimed I am as good as a new

Yet, I am still me on the inside

Trapped in this new cover

In a glass cage

Who could I blame now? 

I walked back in

Every book needs a final act

Even if it is a tragedy

Was it my fault?

I knew in my heart

You,

You were the right one

My saviour

In the end, I became the damsel in distress

Silenced

Tucked in a dusty shelf of your fantasy

-Giah