#we love easter eggs in this household

[taegularities]

regarding: colour me in – okay – i've been wanting to ask this since i dropped cmi11, and i'd actually looove if you let me know 🥺 ! even if you haven't read the latest part(s) yet – which chapter would you say is your favourite so far and why? 🤍

[andy-15-07]

Easter Joy

masterlist ! pairing Drew Starkey x reader

SUMMARY: Rafe and his wife, Y/n with their daughter celebrate Easter.

Outer Banks Masterlist

The warm spring sun bathed the Cameron household in a golden glow as Rafe and Y/n prepared for their Easter celebration. Their daughter, Lily, bounced around the living room, her excitement palpable as she eagerly awaited the festivities to come.

"Mommy, Daddy, when are we gonna hunt for Easter eggs?" Lily asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she tugged on Y/n's hand.

"Soon, sweetie," Y/n replied with a smile, ruffling Lily's hair affectionately. "We just need to finish getting everything ready first."

Rafe chuckled as he watched the exchange, his heart swelling with love for his wife and daughter. "Looks like someone's eager to get her hands on some chocolate," he remarked, his voice filled with amusement.

Lily grinned mischievously, her eyes lighting up at the mention of sweets. "You know it, Daddy," she said, flashing him a toothy grin.

As they finished their preparations, Rafe and Y/n ushered Lily outside to begin the Easter egg hunt. The backyard was adorned with colorful decorations, the air filled with the sweet scent of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers.

"Alright, Lily, are you ready to find some eggs?" Y/n asked, kneeling down to her daughter's level as they surveyed the garden.

Lily nodded enthusiastically, her eyes wide with excitement as she scanned the yard for hidden treasures. "I'm ready, Mommy!" she exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

With a laugh, Rafe and Y/n watched as Lily darted off into the garden, her laughter echoing in the crisp spring air. They followed close behind, their hearts filled with joy as they watched their daughter's excitement.

As Lily searched high and low for Easter eggs, Rafe and Y/n took a moment to soak in the beauty of the day. The sun cast long shadows across the garden, the sound of birdsong filling the air as they basked in the warmth of each other's company.

"This is perfect," Y/n said, her voice soft with emotion as she leaned into Rafe's side. "I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate Easter."

Rafe nodded in agreement, his heart swelling with love for his wife and daughter. "I couldn't agree more," he replied, pressing a kiss to Y/n's forehead.

As they watched Lily race around the garden, her laughter ringing out like music, Rafe and Y/n felt a sense of gratitude wash over them. In that moment, surrounded by love and laughter, they knew that they were truly blessed.

As the afternoon wore on, Rafe and Y/n gathered with Lily to enjoy a festive Easter brunch. The table was adorned with an array of delicious treats, from fluffy pancakes to savory quiches and, of course, plenty of chocolate eggs.

As they feasted on the delicious spread, Rafe and Y/n couldn't help but marvel at the joy and laughter that filled the room. They shared stories and laughter, their hearts full of gratitude for the love and happiness that surrounded them.

After brunch, Rafe and Y/n led Lily in an Easter egg decorating activity, their hands covered in colorful paint as they laughed and joked with each other. Lily's face lit up with excitement as she carefully decorated each egg, her creativity on full display as she proudly showed off her handiwork.

As the day drew to a close, Rafe and Y/n gathered with Lily to reflect on the true meaning of Easter. They shared stories of faith and hope, their hearts filled with gratitude for the blessings they had received.

As they basked in the warmth of each other's company, Rafe and Y/n knew that they were surrounded by love and joy. And as they watched the sun set on another beautiful Easter day, they felt a sense of peace wash over them, knowing that their bond was unbreakable and their love was everlasting.

[battyjules]

BYLER IS LITERALLY SO REAL HERES WHY

Will byers is already CONFIRMED to be canonically in love with mike, this is known knowledge.

Now for mike, it hasnt been confirmed BUT

Throughout the series we can see implications of mike being queer

Back in season 1, even his dad questioned him "mike with a girl?"

As well as in season 3 we can see him projecting during the rain fight "its not my fault you dont like girls"

Mike is btw, NOT in love with eleven. Not only was it difficult for him to say "I love you" which yes could have been a side effect of how his parents are, people also kept expressing in season 1 that mike should be in love with eleven, so he wouldve believed it too.

Whenever mike and eleven kissed it was honestly very awkward as well, mike didnt really let el touch him at all and he literally had his eyes wide open once lol

You can also see in a lot of clips between mike and will that mike literally STARES at wills lips dude that is some homosexual behavior if ive ever seen it

We also know that the duffer brothers have no problem having canon lgbtq couples in the series (ie. soon to be robin and vickie)

Moving onto the van scene in season 4, mike could probably tell will was lying about how el commissioned the painting, or at least will piece it together soon. We know this because el has never shown interest for DnD so it wouldnt make any sense for her to commission it. Still, when will said el commissioned it and it wasnt necessarily from him, mikes smiled faded, he looked disappointed like he wanted it to be from will.

Onto costume design, everything is there for a reason. For one of robins designs, the costume designer stated that the triangles and equal signs on her shirt were an easter egg to her being queer. We can then see on mikes shirt he has a triangular pocket on his chest, which while also may be showing how mike has turned more edgy (as the costume designer said) it could also be referencing the upside down pink triangle symbol that symbolizes queerness

also, mike and CLOSET symbolism is INSANE

He literally has a "one way" sign POINTING TO HIS CLOSET

And and and

during one of will and els kisses, when his eyes were wide open and he honestly looked confused, el was holding wills teddy bear and they were in front of an open closet.

also due to the fact this is the 80s and he lives in a relatively well off, basic 80s household, if hes queer he also probably suffers from internalized homophobia which is why he tends to reject the whole concept (ie the rain fight)

as said earlier, throughout season 1, people kept implying that mike was in love with El, as mike was taking care of her. He kept denying it though, and need i remind you that when they found her they, including mike, were planning on sending her back to wherever she came from, until they found out she was in major danger and also had super powers and could help find will.

thats not all as in season 1 mike was saying el would be like family, until it came to him. el literally thought she was gonna be his sister until he denied it even though he was saying nancy would be like a sister.

i could go on about this for hours because theres more

[spot-the-antisemitism]

Ok I lost the post so I can’t confirm that these all haven’t been said already but I’m trying to say new ones! These are some things that I know about Judaism and Jewish culture as a gentile who has always lived on the US west coast (I didn’t know a single Jewish person growing up bc I went to catholic school. My partner is Jewish now. He isn’t practicing but the culture means a lot to him)

Bagels, challah, matzo, and latkes are all delicious Jewish foods

Prayers are said before meals (I have been invited to pray with my partner’s family!)

There is a list of 613 rules (mizvots?) but the exact interpretation varies based on translation

Many dietary restrictions are based on hygiene and health, such as not eating scavenger animals

Other dietary restrictions are a bit more curious to me, such as not eating dairy with meat. Many involve not consuming an animal with its offspring (like not taking the bird when you take its eggs, not consuming an animal cooked with its mother’s milk)

A glass is stepped on during weddings

Although there is a heavy emphasis on what is physically clean or unclean and the state of the body, Judaism, in contrast with many branches of Christianity, is less concerned with the “purity” of thoughts and more with actions. Whereas Christians are made to feel guilty for things like questioning faith, these types of thoughts may even be encouraged in Judaism

Similarly, certain concepts regarding the spiritual may differ a lot amongst Jewish people, such as beliefs about the afterlife

Passover is generally considered the most important holiday, but I hear Jewish new year is the most fun! If invited by a Jewish loved one, Gentiles are typically welcome to participate

I could try to pull out a lot more regarding faith, history, and culture, but I feel a lot less confident about it and don’t want to get it wrong. Correct me if any of these are wrong! I’m eager to learn and always enjoy spending time with partner’s family so I can learn more. They’re all always so happy to talk to me about being Jewish and what it means for them (:

Matzo is gross imho but everything else is correct

That again depends on the household

Correct and we are allowed to violate all but three to save a life

Of don't eat shellfish which was hard to cook back then

Yes what it symbolizes depends on sect (the wedding I saw in gritty 1920s silent film the rabbi said it was to acknowledge the broken world before the coming of the messiah)

I explain it as either sins are grave enough punished by exile (or smiting) or that's between that Jew and G-d. There is no original sin or christian guilt in Judaism

We JUST had a conversation between Jews, Christians and Atheists about our beliefs (or lack thereof) on the afterlife

Passover is very important but so is Rosh Hashanah- Yom Kippur. Just as there are Christians who only go to church on Easter and Christmas so are there Jews that only go to Synagogue on Passover and Rosh Hashanan

[generouskittentidalwave]

Fans: "Oh my god they keep putting Spider-Man through so much pain and suffering! They can't let him have one good moment! They need to give him actual support and let him take a break and not put everything on his shoulders!"

Insomniac: *Makes the story about how despite Spider-man being in his prime, Spider-man is at his weakest point due to the affects of the first game and him internalizing his pain and suffering, and is shown getting help from the kid he took in along with the people around him to get him back onto his feet and to help him overcome his pain. He now learned that he can rely on his apprentice to help handle things as a partner rather than a student, so he can find a healthy balance between being Spider-man and being Peter Parker without giving up being either, along with giving him a new set of powers to learn from and discover and a revelation that he isn't alone anymore*

Fans: "Oh my god they nerfed spider-man so much! They made him so emotionally weak and needing to get help from his friends so the game can replace him with this WoKe perfect version of Spider-Man who has a healthier more stable life which means they are trying to make Peter look horrible! The fact he is taking a break means he is retiring and they are gonna kick him to the curb! This is so ridiculous, Spider-man shouldn't need to get help like this! They are just trying to make Miles look better!"

Other fans: "Yeah well Miles is better than Peter anyway!"

Other fans: "No, Peter is better! He is the original! Miles has nothing on him!"

Spider verse fans: "Hey I kind of liked the Easter egg they added in-"

Other fans: "SHUT UP!"

All the fans: *Constant excessive arguing*

FOR FUCKS SAKE MAKE UP YOUR MIND PEOPLE! DO YOU WANT THEM TO BE EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY OR DO YOU WANT THEM TO SUFFER BECAUSE APPARENTLY WE CAN'T HAVE A HEALTHY BALANCE OF BOTH IN THIS HOUSEHOLD

This is LITERALLY ALL that I have been hearing lately and I AM ABOUT READY TO COMICALLY SNATCH SOME SPINES AND CREATE SOME PRETZEL KNOTS

BOTH Peter AND Miles ARE Spider-Men, neither one is better than the other, THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT. Peter lifted up Miles from a dark place in the first game, and in the second game Miles was the one to lift Peter up from a dark place. They both have their own unique traits, and unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. No one is taking over and no one is getting replaced.

The spider verse reference was just a fun little easter egg in a Sony game to show off the Sony movie, NOTHING MORE.

SO SHUT UP, SIT DOWN, AND JUST ENJOY THE LOVELY GAME THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE GRATEFUL TO EVEN HAVE BECAUSE I'M STARTING TO THINK THE FANDOM DOESN'T DESERVE TO HAVE SUCH A LOVELY CREATED SPIDER-MAN STORY WITH TWO AMAZINGLY WRITTEN SPIDER-MEN.

[marticoresims]

Planet Alades is a custom neighborhood with ALIENS ONLY!

Hardly anyone in this galaxy knows that Planet Alades even exists… Therefore it's a safe space for those whose home planets collapsed because of climate change, meteors or foreign invasions. As the inhabitants come from all different species and cultures, they have to stay open-minded and at least tolerate each other.

Neighborhood presentation on Youtube My gameplay series on Planet Alades

There are 6 households on Planet Alades:

Zoyvi A royal family of planet Elaganda. Maloya was the queen of her home planet, so here in this new land she's happy to be the Mayor. Her husband Unifu is an excellent architect who designed all the buildings on the planet.

Damaga A very powerful species of vampire-witches from planet Oppsnoxx. Their only weakness is a constant desire for woohoo... and the presence of sunlight.

Naikeman The asexual, non-binary species of PlantSims from planet Naike. They produce excellent fruits and vegetables and sell them in their store, providing most of the food for the whole community.

Yven Their home planet Repta was a desert, so the only flora they knew were succulents. Here on Planet Alades, they discover so many beautiful plants and would love to harvest good produce of their own. They're extremely envious of the Naikemans and their green thumbs.

Okm They still can't wrap their head around the idea that all the other species on this planet have a body part called eyes. And they can use it to experience their surroundings in a new dimension, additionally to hearing, smell, taste and touch? Back on planet Querty, no one had ever heard about it. This family consists of a doctor and a scientist, so it's extremely important to the entire community. They're very friendly and easygoing as well and their doors are always open to visitors.

Rojin Vateeg is the only specimen of his kind that survived the destruction of planet Mubic. As a former warrior in the worst intergalactic war of the Universe, he just wants to rest peacfully in his new home.

DOWNLOAD (MF)

There's also a Polish version!

In the folder there's a document with a list of mods that can help maintaining the no-earth-humans policy of this planet. It's located very far away from Earth, so there's no way humans can get there. Well, at least not on their own. I put a tiny easter egg regarding Maloya, but you have to resurrect her parents and see their bios to figure it out. I edited nearly all NPCs to look at least a little bit cosmic, I worked hard to keep it as human-free as possible. Only the Social Worker and the Unsavory Charlatan haven't been edited (although they can be, as we now know from April Black's video). Note: the burglar hasn't been spawned yet in this neighborhood, so I recommend quickly changing that Sim into a vampire with the Sim Transformer. They work nights, right?

Other than that, the neighborhood is CC-free! Might include Store content though.

Enjoy!

Credits:

The Boomerang map by HugeLunatic

[sugarywishes]

Well, as I've always asked it about the Afton Kids, I may as well ask about the favourite & least favourite activities of the Murdered kids as well? And perhaps the Emily's too, although no pressure there if it is too much of an ask. Sometimes even I forget just how many characters there are to ask about. XD

Totally, I wouldn't mind doing all of them! This will be quite a long post (which explains why this is a little late haha) but thankfully that's why we have the read more option, answers below as usual!

Okay, so we'll start with the Emilys first (just to get them out of the way /lh), more specifically, Henry. He, unlike William, actually liked making robots. He took that class in college for a reason! (He's the one who came up with an animatornic restaurant idea...) and when he was younger, he loved partying. He came from a very strict and religious household, so once he got his independence from them, he went wild! He'd mellow down in his later years as a dad. Speaking of dad, he also cherished anytime he'd get to spend with Charlotte, sometimes they'd bicker and stuff, but all families do that. She's his daughter, and he wouldn't trade her for anything in the world (ow) . And finally, one of his top 3 activities is...making money! He's a business man (and he used to be a very selfish one before Charlie's death) so running his business was one of his tops priorities. And since Henry is religious, he also liked going to church (he's also one of those parents who would force their kids to go to church with them no matter what, I would know because my parents do that shit too lmao)

For least favorite, being active LMAO (Charlie ended up being a tomboyish sporty girl, the total opposite of his wife and who he thought his daughter would take after, so constantly playing soccer or basketball or anything like that always wore him and made him feel bad that he couldn't keep up with her) He also doesn't like decorating because it reminds him of Barb (so when it came to the restaurant he'd let William or the other employees handle the decorations, and when it came to holidays he wouldn't really participate, Charlie would try her best to though!) Speaking of holidays, he doesn't do those either, which really annoyed Charlie since sometimes he'd try and get her to not go trick or treating or go caroling or go on Easter egg hunts (cause yk he's pretty overprotective!) He also doesn't like being by himself, it stresses him out quite a ton (and after severals years he'll grow to hate being alone since he was lonely as hell after Charlie died, and also cause he got locked away in a mental institution)

Okay moving onto his dead wife, Barbara! (Yeah I know she's dead and she's not actually important in the long run, but also, this is my account and I do as I please) She definitely adored decorating, she liked special occasions and holidays and all that jazz so she went above and beyond to make anything she made or used stand out when it came to girlypopping her house. She's a pretty 'traditional' girly girl, so one can expect her to like cooking and baking and shopping and getting her nails done (or things like that) when she was pregnant she really hoped for a girl since she wanted to do all those things with her (if she did live then she would've been a tad disappointed that Charlie ended up less traditionally feminine than her but she'll do her best to support her no matter what)

For least favorite, she didn't like partying (I mean like crazy, drunk and messy parties like Henry would throw during college) because she enjoys peace and quiet so that life was definitely not for her (so it's quite a shock that she even got interested in Henry since he was the polar opposite of her), she didn't like going out in bad weather because it would 'ruin her clothes' (bad weather to her applies to really cloudy days or any days without the sun in general) overall she didn't like getting messy, so painting or going to waterparks or things like that was a no from her! She is an indoor person (wow hey just like me!)

Okay, now onto Charlie. She liked sports (mostly soccer) and doing exercise and stuff (she probably really liked PE, which like can't relate 💀), she has quite a lot of energy and vigor! But like I said in her headcanon post, she still enjoyed girly activities like dress up and playing with dolls. She liked listening to older music (remember that the first half of the story is in the 80s, so by older music I mean during Henry's time of the 50s and 60s and 70s) and she was pretty great at dancing! (Before anyone says something about "Charlie isn't like that in the books!!" Just to remind, I don't care about the books and I don't like them, this is my rewrite/re-imagining of the FNAF GAMES. I'll only include some details of the books that I like into my story, which are not many. So no Carlson or Jessica or whatever is going on in any of that stuff)

Now onto her least favorite! She doesn't like school stuff (as one would expect), it's not difficult at all for her, she gets good grades and is naturally smart, but she prefers playing outside and having fun than reading books and writing math problems. She also HATES going to church because she finds it boring, which really bothers Henry (and he thinks she got this mentality from Lizzie, who also doesn't attend church because the Aftons don't believe in God with a capital G) Speaking of the Aftons, it's sometimes a 50/50 chance things will go fine anytime she hangs out with their family (cause yk they're really not a normal family) so sometimes she'll be hesitant to hang out with Elizabeth cause she is a little...okay VERY temperamental, Charlie has to walk on thin ice when it comes to playing with her (and on some occasions Evan, she once joked that he was the loneliest boy she knew and he cried and ran away from her) She also sometimes doesn't like being near Mike, he's a huge jerk to his brother and because she doesn't know the full extent of all the abuse that happened in the family, she just thinks that Mike is being mean just to be mean. And when she becomes the puppet she also hates being in the music box (But like it's not like Jeremy can just let her leave cause yk then she'll kill him 🤷) she hates being alone, just like everyone else I've mentioned beforehand lol

Okay so now that those guys are done, I'll speed run a bit through the MCI/KCI kids (mostly because I expect no one to really be interested in reading all that, and also cause I haven't fully fleshed out their interests or anything like that, they're important but not *that* important yk?)

Okay for Susie, she loves hanging out with her dog Quentin! As a matter of fact she's a nature and animal lover, so she likes dogs and cats and birds and going outdoors to smell flowers, or whatever I suppose. (She didn't have a lot of human friends but she was fine with the critters!) She also loved feminine interests publicly, but secretly also harbored an interest in video games (hence why she played that Fruity Maze thing)

For least favorite, she doesn't like 'boy hobbies' (her words not mine), so sports and roughhousing and all of those things are off the table. (She felt a little shameful that she liked video games since that's stuff for boys in her mind, hence why she kept it a secret from everyone) Susie also dislikes shopping cause all the choices seem too extreme for her. She also doesn't like going anywhere without her dog, so when he disappeared, she was super distraught about it

Now onto Gabriel, he wanted to become a detective when he grew up, so one can expect him to be writing notes (or clues) in his journal, or snooping into things that he shouldn't be. He is pretty nosy, but it calls it 'investigating like a professional' (Everyone just calls him a nerd 💀 he totally was though) He is basically the Huey or Dipper of the MCI. So he enjoys getting into other people's business for the sake of knowing what's going on (he is indeed a know it all)

For least favorite, manual work. His family doesn't really think his dream career will really take him anywhere in life so they often put him to work to try and get him to move on, so he'd get stuck helping his dad on his job or helping his brothers. Or even worse, helping his mom out with his baby sister. He also hated getting out of bed early (he is not the earliest bird 😭)

Now onto Jeremy, uh, he really liked sleeping and chilling (join the club) he doesn't get that a lot in his household so he takes any opportunity to relax and wind down. He also really likes going to the beach or the pool (even if the crowds are loud and annoying) He also enjoys book reading and music. Anything that calms one down basically.

For least favorite, going to school, he too also has 'school loser' syndrome so he would get bullied often and thus doesn't really like talking to people. (And also cause school work stressed him out a lot too) He hates going to amusement parks or parties or things like that because again, they're too damn much! So he's another introvert.

Moving onto someone who isn't one, Fritz! He really enjoys making chaos, he's like Horrid Henry basically except he's not 🇬🇧 thank god, and also his pranks aren't meant to be mean spirited on purpose. He likes being loud and crazy and overall enjoys having a ton of fun.

For least favorite, funnily enough he doesn't like playing sports (he thinks their rules are too restricting and he likes free play more) he also doesn't really like school, his teacher would be really strict on him because he was a 'rambunctious brat', and also his classmates thought of him as a 'Fregley', so like a weird and unpopular kid. He likes his independence and hates authority (except his mom and grandparents 🫶)

Okay so now we head towards Cassidy, she didn't have friends either (these kids are so damn lonely!! I mean it's for storytelling and metaphors and angst so yk 🤷) so she'd turn to books, comics, movies and TV for entertainment. And boy did she love them! She became really fascinated with all the adventures she'd see on those things and wanted her life to be just as incredible and to get away from the hell that is Utah to become...anything she wanted! She also enjoyed history as she found it amazing that the events she would read or watch about like, actually occurred!

Okay for least favorite activities, being dead (💀💀) okay okay besides that, she also didn't like talking to people, mainly adults because they would see her as undesirable and thought little of her because of her albinism (cause yk she's an orphan and people didn't adopt cause of that) and also she didn't like kids because they would bully her too for being and looking 'weird'. She also didn't like being stuck with Evan in Fredbear/Golden Freddy.

Okay now onto the KCI/DCI kids lmao, first off, Christine. She is a pretty typical nerd girl of the 80s, so it's common to see her bury her face in books and homework and be studious. But she also enjoyed shopping and putting on cute clothes, albeit she didn't do it as much as her sister because she thought pretty clothes would look bad on her because she's 'uglier'. She's also another closed off and reserved person (mainly because of her social anxiety) She also enjoys cleaning and keeping things tidy and neat.

For least favorite, hanging out with Holly's school friends (excluding Jonathan but she still doesn't like him lmao), she'd usually get ignored a lot by them or they'd use her for homework. She doesn't like spending time with her family, also because they favor Holly more over her. And as we already know she doesn't like hanging out with Jonathan either. She thought he would be the kind of boy who would ask out ugly chicks as a prank or just be overall shallow about appearances (in reality, Chris was actually the judgemental one because Jonathan ISN'T a jerk despite the fact he was a conventionally attractive boy but she just assumed he would be, just like how she assumes her sister to be vain and mean)

Onto Holly, she too is a fellow girly girl, so getting nails done or going to the hair salon is one of her favorite things to do. She also likes reading magazines (that are meant for teenage girls, what is she doing reading them at 11 YEARS OLD 😭), and watching movies and TV (cause yk she wanted to be a famous celebrity when she got older, so she'd base off her mannerisms and quirks from shows and stuff) she loved going to the mall and buying expensive things (thank goodness the Bennets are upper middle class cause dear lord the spending these girls do...) and she really liked holidays where she can dress extravagantly like Christmas or Halloween or whatever. And singing and dancing, I told yall she was inspired by Britney Spears and other child stars of the 80s and 90s.

Least favorite activities, cooking (she's horrible at it, Holly said she'll hire maids and chefs when she gets rich so she won't have to cook), arts and crafts, cause yk it's messy and stuff. And she also hates being active because always makes her sweaty (yet for some reason she idolized cheerleaders and ballerinas and thought of them as peak teenage beauty, as if they don't make you just as tired). She also thought going to school was boring too.

For Jonathan, he loves going outside and being happy and socializing with his (two) friends and shit (his step parents usually lock him away to do chores and housework, very Cinderella esque) and he was indeed a skater boy, she said see ya later boy, he wasn't good enough for her (okay fine I'll stop but he did skateboard and go bicycling and he knew some pretty sick tricks) he still liked quieter activities like coloring books and reading comics. (I would also add watching TV and movies but he doesn't get to do that a lot)

Least favorite, being with his step parents (they are pretty abusive, like I said he is Cinderella esque), on some occasions spending time with Holly, she'd get a little touchy with him by trying to hold his hand or hug him and he really hates physical touch. He also doesn't really like gossiping, which is a thing that Holly did a lot, and it made him uncomfortable. He also hates being alone. (At least his friends went with him in death,,,)

Next up is Brandon! He's a gamer, so of course he loves playing video games to the CORE. You should usually expect him to be high on the high score of Arcade games (plus his addiction to games was not helped by the fact his dad worked at a company that made game consoles, so he'd get early access to devices that haven't hit the shelves yet!) He too also loves TV cartoons and comics (and he is indeed another introverted character, he doesn't need real friends when he's already got his games) he has an entire collection of VHS tapes of TV episodes and movies he loves.

Least favorite activities, basically anything that requires going outdoors. He hates family road trips too, which really sucks for him because it's a yearly thing his family does. Hates sports, hates talking with other people, hates shopping (unless it's for new games or VHS tapes, and 9/10 it's not that), hates taking photos, hates going to school (his teachers would usually confiscate his things) and just doesn't like being in public. he's a loner, basically.

Okay FINALLY we made it to our last dead kid, Tommy. Tommy was also kind of a naughty and troublemaking kid, but instead of doing it for fun he did it for attention (living in a house with 7 siblings is quite a challenge!) So he also liked making messes and being annoying. He liked spending time with his family despite the fact he'd get neglected (because who else is there for him to hang out with? He didn't attend school yet) he loves going shopping for toys and candy (his parents would get him gifts to make him leave them alone) and he LOVED playing with his siblings. They didn't care too much for him so they'd only play with him whenever their parents told them to (Tommy didn't know that of course so he really thought they just liked playing with him)

For least favorite activities, he hates quiet time (it's basically his parents locking him in his bedroom to make him not bother them) cause they'd leave him in there for pretty long stretches of time. He hates being alone also, since he really likes attention (so becoming BB was also inconvenient for him, the only way for him to get Jeremy's attention is to be obnoxious!!)

Okay. That's it. Thank goodness 😭😭 sorry this post took longer to respond!

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Easter Imagine - Jensen Ackles x Reader

Summary - Easter in the Ackles household

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader

Warnings - None - this is pure fluff

Masterlist

A/N - G’day guys, Happy Easter! I just wanted to put out a quick little imagine for you guys for this holiday weekend. Side note: As much as I adore the Ackles family, this work of fiction has the reader as his wife and I have renamed their kids because the way I see it JJ, Arrow and Zeppelin only exist in a world with Jenneel. 

You’re woken up bright and early by your three-year-old daughter jumping on you and shouting excitedly. “Mama! Dada! The Easter Bunny come! I saw paw prints! And Eggs!”

Your sleepy husband sits up beside you wiping his eyes, “Careful, Bubba, you can’t jump on mummy at the moment remember.”

She quickly hops over onto Jensen’s lap, “Sorry, mama, I just excited!”

“I know, sweetie, it’s alright. You just have to be careful. So, what was that about an Easter Bunny and eggs?”

“Come on! Come on! Come on! I show you!” Lilliana yells pulling at her dad’s hands. 

Jensen gets up letting her believe she’s pulling him with her little muscles. You follow behind as quickly as you can while seven months pregnant. The joy of your three-year-old is contagious, you can’t help but smile despite how tired you are. Even the baby starts kicking as you follow Lilliana down the hall in the direction of the white powdery paw prints. 

“Dada! Can’t reach! Egg!”

“Where, Lily?” Jensen asks kneeling down to her height.

“On the shelf!”

Feigning surprise, he picks her up so she can reach the first egg. 

“Yummy! Is that for mummy?” you say, teasing. She frowns and then holds it out for you. “Aww baby, thank you, but I think the Easter Bunny left it for you.”

“I can share.”

You lean over and hug your little girl while giving Jensen a loving look over her shoulder. “Thank you, sweetie, that’s very kind of you.”

“Can we look for more?”

“Of course! Maybe you should look for a basket to carry them in,” Jensen says as he places her down.

She immediately runs downstairs ahead of us in search of the basket and more eggs. Jensen wraps his arms around you enjoying your quick moment of solitude before Lily inevitably calls for help and company. “We made a good one,” you say.

“Yep, and soon we’ll have another one.”

“Thank you for handling all this last night by the way, I just didn’t have the energy. I still won’t be able to keep up with her this morning. You mind helping her while I cook us some breakfast?”

“I love being able to do this sort of thing when I’m home. You never have to thank me for being a husband or dad, I’m just sorry I’m not able to do it more often.”

“You’re here as often as you can be. She doesn’t fully understand it yet, but we really appreciate everything you do for this family.”

Jensen pulls you in for a sweet kiss before you’re interrupted by yelling from downstairs. “Mama! Dada! Come see!”

You both laugh as you pull away, Jensen steals one more quick kiss from you before taking your hand and leading you downstairs in the direction of Lily’s yelling.

“What is it, sweetie?” you call out as you see her at the bar with a bright easter basket filled with a little chocolate bunny and a note. You also note the empty glass and bottle of whisky on the other bench.

“What’s it say, dada?” she asks handing Jensen the note.

“It says: Dear Lilliana, I’ve been here today. And since you’ve been such a good girl, I’ve dropped some colourful eggs along the way. So keep your eyes peeled and give it a whirl. Happy hunting, from the Easter Bunny!”

“Dada, help me look?”

“Of course, Bubba.”

“Mama help too?”

“Why doesn’t daddy just help you and I’ll cook us some yummy choc chip pancakes so we can have some breakfast when you’ve found all the eggs?”

“I love choc chip pancakes! Thank you mama! Come on, daddy!”

You giggle as Lily grabs her basket in one hand and Jensen’s hand in the other dragging him off to search for chocolate eggs. You head to the kitchen and start making the pancakes. You watch your husband and daughter giggling and looking high and low collecting eggs as you mix the batter. You love when Jensen gets to enjoy these moments with her; he spends so much of the year traveling or filming and you know how much he misses out on and how much it affects him. 

You finish serving up the pancakes and coffee (and apple juice for Lily) just in time for Lily and Jensen to return with a basket full of chocolate eggs. 

“Look at all the eggs, mama! I found so many!”

“Wow! That’s a lot of eggs! You must’ve worked up an appetite, ready for some pancakes?”

“Yes, please!”

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

After breakfast you all spend the rest of the day watching Easter-themed cartoons and sharing chocolate eggs. 

Around 5pm you start getting ready to head over to the Padalecki’s for a shared BBQ dinner. Once you get there Lily runs straight over to the boys to tell them all about her egg hunt and haul. You join Gen in the kitchen while Jensen goes outside with the kids to help Jared with the grill. As you walk in, Gen pours you a glass of non-alcoholic wine and then tops up her own glass. 

“How was Easter at your place?” Gen asks.

“Fun, I’m glad Jensen’s here to help out. I would’ve really struggled to make it special for Lily without his help.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Growing life really takes it out of you.”

“Hey, you’re only a couple of months in. Wait till you’re carrying around a basketball and it kicks you all day long.”

“I remember…not looking forward to the third trimester – well I am, but you know what I mean.”

“I do. You need help with anything in here or shall we join the gang outside?”

“I think it’s all handled. The kids set the table before you got here.”

You grab your glasses and join everyone outside. The smell of sizzling steaks fills your nose while the happy laughter from the kids fills your ears. You take a seat and watch the sunset as the kids chase each other around the yard. You couldn’t have asked for a better day with your growing family. 

[heckling-hydrena]

love being the resident Atheist Blasphemer in a household of Lax "yeah sure we believe in God" Orthodox Christians. I've already eaten 2 of our easter eggs early. Hristos vaskrse to all who celebrate I hope your chosen egg beats the shit out of all the other loser eggs

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveblog 8: Episode 5, AKA the one where we discuss Kerubim's dead family again

Since I made pointing out the food they eat A Thing we do here, let's start out with that for this episode.

First of all, their household is so fish-centric. An octopus? A lobster?? A different lobster and a fish?? Plus, multiple bags, one under the lobster, and one under the giant veggie on top of Joris's other veggies. Probably some grain, I guess. Simone is also carrying some greens in a bag.

Basically... Man, they love fish and veggies, I guess?

Yet again, we see Kerubim's low self esteem and need for validation in action.

Yes, he thinks he's amazing. Yes, he uses magic to force people to laugh at his jokes. And yes, it makes him very happy and proud.

Don't worry about it. :)

I find it kind of interesting that Joris is resistant to the magic, but the simplest explanation is that his soul is intermixed with a dragon. I won't think too much about this.

Joris should have a salary for the way Kerubim's reputation hinges on him not talking about the shit that goes on in their house.

Like the deadly swords and cursed items everywhere. Or having mold and rotting meat at every corner for his whole life.

Considering that bamboo milk is alcoholic, I am fascinated by the in-universe implications of this line.

I wish boil-able, alcoholic oat milk was real.

The best way to get Kerubim to do something stupid is to make fun of him. Again, his low, low self-esteem making an appearance.

Genuinely, instead of being at the bar, he should have been in therapy.

Very small note, but we can see an amputee among the many patrons who listen to Kerubim's scary drunken rambling. I wish more cartoons included this sort of thing.

Though, this might be a bit of a brick-joke, considering what we learn about YeCh'Ti and his arm collection.

COUGH COUGH COUGH. ANALYSIS EVENT LEVEL 10 ALARM WEE WOO WEE WOO.

Firstly, god. The sheer insanity of going from his child self's grief and pain over losing both of his parents, all of his sisters and brothers, to making jokes about this, jokes about having no family and being lonely.

Is it really funny to you, Keke? Or are you just pretending again?

Second of all... I could talk for hours about how much I love/despise this man, but fuck, the sheer level of cruelty in this line knows no bounds.

Are you really The Last Crepin in your family, Keke?

Or are you just being cruel and facetious again?

Cruel, and towards the only other person in the whole world who would understand what you went through, because he also went through it?

(This is, yet again, your signal to go read The Wheel of Destiny #8: Kerub Crepin and Dessous De Dofus)

No wonder Atcham wants to turn him into a coat. I would fucking hate him too.

Though, with Atcham kind of using his hate for him as a coping mechanism for not having control in his life, and canonically not thinking that Kerubim really... mistreated him, when they were young, it's far more complex than that.

Especially with the way Kerubim's own conflicted feelings on their relationship are portrayed in-canon.

I'm so normal about them. Haha.

...Aaaanyway, onto the rest of the ep, while trying to pretend this doesn't make me feel all sorts of emotions:

This moment is a continuity error, because Ogrest hasn't started his quest for Dofus yet. Also, he may not even be alive yet. Yes, Kerubim and Joris are that old.

It's too cute of an easter egg for me to mind, though.

God. Joris needs better loved ones. His standards are so low he's looking at Kerubim like 🥺

Something-something Kerubim would genuinely kill himself if it meant people thought he was funny and cool.

I don't think he learned anything from this, actually.

I think we have to kill this guy with hammers.

[jewish-vents]

i’m honestly pretty upset at the fact that my family hasn’t even mentioned purim this year yet my parents’ll get annoyed at me for not participating in an easter egg hunt. like i know we’re a multifaith household (kinda, my dad’s agnostic but he’s culturally christian) but honestly they’re all so obsessed with the non-jewish holidays we celebrate yet we barely mention half the jewish ones.

like don’t get me wrong i love halloween but i hate that it gets months of preparation for costumes and plans and everything yet no one’s said the word “purim” out loud for over a year. earlier this year on yom kippur i wanted to try fasting (i hadn’t done it before) bcz idk it felt like something i wanted to do but everyone just treated it like a normal day and my mother was confused why i wasn’t eating. and with christmas and easter they plan a huge thing with eggs and presents and going down to my (paternal) grandmother’s house for a day or 4 yet these days chanukah gets a quick lighting the candles then go do whatever, purim gets ignored, and pesach usually gets a good enough celebration (if lacking in a thing or 2) but honestly im worried this year we won’t do much.

other than that the only holiday that even gets a mention is rosh hashanah and all we do is the apples and honey stuff, absolutely nothing else.

between all this and my siblings’ very explicit internalised antisemitism (tiktok performative activist-style) i feel like i’m the only person in my family who isn’t ashamed to be jewish in some way. (i mean the youngest 2 aren’t really but they’re growing up with hardly anything jewish in their lives and idk that’s still really sad to me)

honestly i just hope i can be more jewish ig with my own kids but that’s years away, i don’t want to wait until im an adult with my own family to actually celebrate and observe the holidays in MY religion and not the ones about a guy from a completely separate religion i hold no care for

idk ig all this isn’t as bad as the massive amount of widespread antisemitism we all have to deal with daily but in a way it hurts more that throughout it all i cant even feel properly jewish because my immediate family consists of a cultural christian, a 13yo who sees tiktok as gospel on politics, 2 pre-teen children who know nothing of their culture, and a woman who’s lines of logic i could not figure out if i spent years in a lab studying her.

idk maybe our cat would be interested in observing shabbat with me, she’s probably the most likely to

.

[eddhouib]

Truth, dare, spin bottles, you know how to ball, I know Dr Taylor ❤️🫶🏻🥹

I just got to unlock my last bead on Tiktok and i cant describe how happy it made me to get the swiftie badge 🥹❤️❤️❤️

I’m now a certified swiftie, as I have been for the past 14years.

I still remember the day, back in 2010 my sister and I got our hands on an iPod, and we downloaded all the music we could get. ‘Mean’ was the talk of the town in my household. We related so much to this song, as we were bullied in school for just being Americans, living in a small town in Tunisia, my parent’s homeland. I, myself, would sing the line “someday, i’ll be, living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean” in my head over and over each time I faced a bully.

Taylor continued to be my inspiration throughout the years, until I actually moved back to my big old city 🥹 NYC in 2017 for college. I remember boarding the plane playing Welcome To New York, (July 24th, 2017).

Reputation came out after 4months, and hell broke lose 😈, and my love to Taylor strongly grew.

Now that i’m 25, the shelf life of my fantasies have never expired because of you @taylorswift @taylornation.

Now that i’m on the road of becoming a physician, i want to thank you for making me believe in myself, and making me dream bigger every day ❤️🫶🏻.

Pssst: Easter eggs about my life are thrown all around this video, have fun 😜🤭

Cheers 🥂

Ed, a tortured poet from the New York department.

[thepaleys]

Dmitri and I lived in St. Petersburg with our father, in a palace on the Neva. (...) [We] lived with our nurses and attendants in a series of rooms on the second floor. This nursery suite, the domain of our infancy, was entirely isolated from the rest of the palace. It was a little world of its own, a world ruled by our English nurse, Nannie Fry, and her assistant, Lizzie Grove.

Until I was six years old I spoke hardly a word of Russian. The immediate household and all of the family spoke English to us.

Father used to come upstairs twice a day to see us. His love for us was deep and fond, and we knew it, but he never displayed towards us a spontaneous tenderness, embracing us only when bidding us good morning or good night.

I adored him. Every moment that I could be with him was joyous, and if for any reason a day passed without our seeing him, it was a real disappointment.

He commanded at this time the Imperial Horse Guards. I recall him most distinctly in the dress uniform of that regiment. It was a truly magnificent uniform—all of white with gold braid. The gilded helmet was surmounted by the imperial eagle.

My father was tall and thin with wide shoulders. His head was small; his rounded forehead a little pinched at the temples. For so large a man his feet were remarkably small and his hands were of a beauty and delicacy that I have never since discovered in the hands of a human being.

He was uniquely charming. Every word, movement, gesture, bore the imprint of distinction. No one could approach him without feeling drawn to him; and this remained always true, for age could not dim his elegance, banish his gaiety, or embitter the goodness of his heart.

His humour ran sometimes to fantastic, enchanting lies which he maintained to the uttermost. He, deftly slipped under our pet hare one Easter, for instance, an ordinary hen’s egg and succeeded in making us believe that our tame hare had laid the egg.

"Education of a Princess" - Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna Jr.

[ginnsbaker]

That was Scenes from a Marriage (2021) level of angst, J. Can’t count the number of gasps I let out!

I have a lot of thoughts, i hope you don’t mind 😭

> Modern Idiots was a nice touch. 10/10 no notes. TS is MADE for fics.

> I absolutely love that Sara has become a recurring character! You write her so well, her confidence and appeal can be felt so vividly. It’s amazing how you were able to create an OC that is such a scene stealer (still picturing her as Rebecca btw)

> Chrysanthemums!!! I love how it’s like almost like an easter egg by now

> “Always just shy of what they hoped” “It’s more of an outline than a shape”

How beautifully put. being the eldest daughter in an asian household i have experienced that firsthand. You’ve captured that feeling so profoundly

> “I want to stop assuming things and thinking my perspective is the whole reality. We all do it, don’t we? Set traps for ourselves with our own expectations and assumptions.”

What a great thing to read at the end of a long, and taxing day.

> The confrontation scene was SUPERB. You have written an incredibly accurate scene of how painful and terrifying it is to stand across a person you love and to see this mask of coldness and indifference.

The courage it takes to stand there and try to chip at the walls, and to love a person who can switch off their emotions when it’s getting difficult.

Kudos to Leigh for trying, when it was easier to dismiss everything. And kudos to the reader for standing our ground.

“A lesser woman would have lost hope”

P.S.

I can’t say I understand nor condone Matt’s cheating. But i want to share how the conversation scene with Jules felt to me.

That for a brief moment there was hope, that despite the family’s feeling of grief and betrayal, and possibly conflicting feelings about us (given that we were a part of the disloyalty) there was a fleeting moment that we filled in the void of kindness that Matt left. That maybe, the memory of Matt isn’t all tarnished and somehow redeemed if his mistake brought another version of him, another sympathetic soul to their lives.

Thank you, J! This is an extraordinary work, and this chapter is just magnificent

Hi Oceane!!! So nice to hear from you :3

First of all, this is the first time I've heard of Scenes from a Marriage (2021), and I'm shocked that I don't know this movie existed because it has Jessica Chastain in it?? I need to see this asap!

re: modern idiots - I couldn't help myself because 40% of my inspiration always comes from TS' music. I physically cannot hold back from writing them into the fic lol

re: Sara - though nothing will ever be between y/n and Sara, i've grown to love her myself. But I wanted to portray an atypical relationship development between people who meet through dating apps. and of course, i wanted her there to remind Leigh that if she ever lets y/n go, y/n won't be left empty-handed ;)

re: mums - yes, the same flowers from ILGOSS :)

re: eldest daughter??? in an asian household??? are you like a mirror image of my life? lol. though i'm an only child. but i understand the pressure put on eldest asian daughters.

re: confrontation scene - i don't think i'd be able to write that if i haven't experienced that myself, tbh. it's painful and a risk, but someone needs to be brave or else it will fall apart.

re: final words on matt - I agree. I don't think one mistake makes a person. Matt was still kind, he did his best to love Leigh and in the end, it's himself he couldn't live with, and that was the tragedy.

Thank YOU for your wonderful introspection on the chapter. It's such an insightful read. I know I'll go back to your asks every now and then, and especially when I'm experiencing writer's block.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Happy Spring!

Hello, solarpunks! And HAPPY SPRING. Woot! Woot! It’s finally here!

This year, it feels like the ancient Persian tradition of Nowruz are everywhere. Or, at least, it feels like they’ve popped up this week in every online news service I peruse. As have articles filled with top tips for spring cleaning. Meanwhile, although Passover is still a month away, Easter is coming up fast.

All of this has me wondering, how do I want to mark the Sun’s having crossed the Equator? How do I want to bid briefly goodbye to winter, and pat myself on the back for surviving that duration which, where I’m living now, is so grey, wet, chilly, muddy, flooded, and miserable?

I’ve also been wondering how a solarpunk community might celebrate the return of the green, fecund, and growing time of the year. Because what could be more solarpunk than a big party with feasting, music, dancing, bunnies, community, hope, rebirth, and love?! Or, how would people in general celebrate spring in a future where people value what’s good and spiritually moving about traditions but shun the aspects of organized religion that are dangerous, repressive, abusive, racist, misogynistic, controlling, and patriarchal?

It’s kind of weird growing up on the secular periphery of Easter/Passover. I feel like it’s one of my favorite holidays and yet, I don’t quite know what to do with it. Having not ever been Christian, I don’t feel the need to celebrate the resurrection of a martyr who means nothing to me. How can I be thankful for being saved from my sins if I can’t even grasp the concept of sin! (It is possible to be as moral as just about everyone else without feeling like there are such things as sins.) Not having been raised in any religious tradition, nor do I feel the urge to engage in a rite to protect my household from evil or witchcraft, nor do I feel the need to celebrate the Exodus, even though, through the murdered segment of my family that I never met, I almost certainly had ancestors who took part in it.

But spring! I love spring! And I do want to welcome it back. So, I’m all for ditching the moveable feast aspect of Easter and Passover, pegging the celebration of spring to the vernal equinox. This just makes sense and it returns the festival back to its pre-Christian and pre-Judean roots. Not that I’m any sort of practitioner of a pagan religion. And not there needs to be an originalist observation of the spring celebration. It’s just that I personally feel more connection to the astronomical and ecological aspects of the celebration than the theological ones. I also think adding a spring celebration on the vernal equinox would include everyone while simultaneously not precluding anyone from having a religious observation of Easter or Passover. It does overlap with Nowruz, but that wouldn’t need to be a problem. If people are already celebrating on the equinox, I say, keep it up!

In addition to just the plain old idea of a Welcome Back, Spring! celebration, I’m also personally totally for the colorfully dyed or hand painted hard boiled eggs, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, panoramic sugar eggs, jelly beans, and marshmallow chicks (and marshmallow chick art) aspect of the Celebration of the Arrival of Spring (but, egads, we need to come up with a better name for the celebration). I’m also totally for a big bunny bringing that basket of sweets and hiding brightly dyed eggs in the backyard. I’d even be fine with replacing it with a gigantic hen. I must, however, say non to the the blessed, flying, chocolate dropping church bells the French went for because a bunny was just not Catholic enough.

Another tradition that I know and love is the Germanic/Northern European burning of an Easter bonfire, even if all that smoke gives me asthma and you have to be careful not to roast hedgehogs or bunnies. That being said, though, these huge bonfires, held the night or two before Easter, are now more about beer and sausages, chatting with the neighbors, and getting rid of all the debris you trimmed off your garden’s bushes and trees during winter than a deeply moving mystical celebration of the arrival of spring. Still, that’s not too many steps away from drinking alcohol and dancing wildly around a bonfire in order to banish winter and welcoming spring.

I also love the Germanic/Northern European tradition of hanging colorful eggs (these days made of paper or plastic) on a tree for a few weeks before Easter. And I love the Slavic tradition of intricately dyeing eggshells (although blowing the innards out of the eggs is a good way to make yourself dizzy—or perhaps I need to work on my technique).

And spring cleaning of your home and relationships, as I’ve heard is a part of Nowruz, also sounds super to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Free your life of dirt and clutter! Wash the windows to improve your view! And make true amends to your friends and family for the niggles and failings of the past year so you may start anew with a tidier slate.

And the aspect of all of these celebrations like Easter, Passover, and Nowruz that involves bringing loved ones together to partake in a feast after the long months of winter darkness and perhaps also fasting sounds like the wisest, most wonderful part of a spring celebration.

If I was a part of a real life solarpunk community, or if I had a family that was amenable to altering their own traditions, those are the aspects of the celebration of spring that I’d weave back together into a new tradition. And I’d mash in a bit of Earth Day as well, celebrating, not just the arrival of spring, but the start of that year’s greening and growing of ecosystems everywhere (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). The spring celebration would be a time to celebrate new life and new growth in general and the health of, our respect for, and our connection to the natural world.

Okay, though, there are still wrinkles to work out. Like, what about the Southern Hemisphere? We’d have to move the spring celebration away from Easter/Passover and shift it to the austral spring in the Southern Hemisphere. And I’m not at all sure what a spring celebration would mean for people living in the tropics, which are not terribly seasonal. A spring celebration is definitely more of a higher latitude happening, ecologically speaking, so if you take the Abrahamic religion aspects out, I’m not sure what you’re left with in the tropics to unite people in celebration.

But hang on. I’m getting off track. I’m not trying to invent a new feast for everyone in the world. Just dreaming of how I’d celebrate the arrival of spring with family and friends if I was given free rein. I’d have chocolate, and bunnies, and colorful eggs, and colorful eggs hanging on trees, and a bonfire we’d dance around all night long, and a big feast with family and friends. And spring cleaning (beforehand) and a making of amends to love ones and maybe also to Earth. Because a spring celebration done my way would deeply involve loving and appreciating the Earth whose surface we live on.

But what about you? Comment below! If you could reinvent our celebration of the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, or start a celebration of the arrival of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, what would you want to include in it? What are your favorite parts of Easter/Passover/Nowruz/etc? Do you come from a family that carves butter lambs or does something similarly spectacular? What do you eat for your feast? Do you dye eggs? Do you paint them? I have so many questions!!! And I’d love to hear all of the things that you do to celebrate Easter, Passover, Nowruz, or anything else along these lines, or what cool ideas you can share from spring celebrations from cultures around the world. And I want to see photos of your Peeps dioramas and your gorgeously dyed eggs and anything else beautiful and breathtaking that you create for your celebration of spring!

[mariacallous]

If you did a culinary DNA search on baba au rhum, you’d find that this fancy French cake’s ancestral line has the same humble roots as the homey babka. 

It all started with the inspired tinkering of an exiled Polish king. No one knows exactly what happened, of course, but it seems that Stanislaus I, twice deposed in 18th-century Poland, moved to his country estate in France, where he loved to cook and held court in the chateau kitchen. There, he baked a gugelhopf, a yeast cake invented by Viennese bakers to celebrate the victory of the Austrians over the Turks in 1683. Gugelhopf is rich and regal-looking. It’s usually baked in a tall, fluted pan called a Turk’s head mold because of its resemblance to an Ottoman sultan’s turban. 

The cake came out too dry, so the ex-king soaked it in wine and decided to call it baba (grandma), because it reminded him of the welcoming confections of everyone’s baba back in the old country. In fact, besides for the shape and some chopped-up dried or candied fruit, gugelhopf and baba are essentially the same. 

As is babka, which is among the most beloved of Jewish comfort foods. But while babas are large cakes and were mostly saved for special occasions such as Easter, babkas, though similarly egg-rich and yeasty, were smaller and regularly baked by Jewish balaboostas. Babka means “little grandma,” and in most Eastern European Jewish households, they were not only smaller but plainer, too, as dried fruit, raisins, and spices were costly. Babkas were more like little loaf-pan versions of Stanislaus’ gugelhopf. 

The ex-king was so pleased with his invention that he served it in dramatic fashion to his guests at a party one night. He poured some alcohol over his gugelhopf, set it aflame, and carried it into the dark ballroom, thrilling the crowd. He called the cake Ali Baba — a play on the word baba, but also a tribute to a character in The Thousand and One Nights. 

The story and recipe might have ended there, except that the Stanislaus’ daughter eventually married French king Louis XV and gave the recipe to Nicolas Stohrer, her pastry chef, who revised it to include raisins, candied fruit, and a soak with rum. And thus, baba au rhum was invented. 

Over the years, baba au rhum and babka went on to produce more progeny. Parisian pastry chefs, reluctant to be outdone by a Polish pretender, created several versions, changing spices, shapes, and alcohol soaks. More than a century later, when baba au rhum had already become a classic, a pastry chef named Auguste Julien decided to bake baba in a plain ring mold and substituted kirschwasser (German cherry brandy) for the rum. He glazed the cake with melted apricot preserves and served it with a mound of whipped cream in the center. The cake, named savarin to honor Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French author of The Physiology of Taste, is considered one of the most elegant pastries ever created.

And the homey babka? Less stylish to be sure, but most beloved by Jews and non-Jews alike, and reinvented with ever-more variations. For most babka-lovers, the basic question is: cinnamon or chocolate? But these days there are recipes galore and this “grandma loaf” is stuffed with chocolate, nuts, marzipan, fresh and dried fruit, preserves, and sprinkled with streusel in top. 

And so the baba, a simple old recipe, stands proud today, centuries on. We take pleasure in the numerous varieties that have sprung from it — fancy offerings in elegant pastry shops, humble cakes from neighborhood bakeries, and fragrant loaves baked in our own ovens. Because a great recipe will always stand the test of time.