Rose Thorne

I’m trying to get my own hands on it, but all of her cookbooks are in boxes that currently reside with my grandfather’s new wife, who has made it her mission to piss on everything of his old life, even his family.

Funnily enough, the men in my family are the cooks, normally!

My step-grandmother, though… She knew how to bake. It didn’t matter what she decided to make, it would turn out delicious. She refined a Black Forest cake recipe from scratch, I’ve never had another one like it. The moistness of the cake, icing just rich enough to make a statement, cherries that were the perfect ripeness.

She ruined that cake for me. I know a part of it is the memories, all the time wrapped around when she would bake that, but if I had one wish, it would be to have one more slice.

Only if the little pizzas have even smaller pineapples on top.

Possibly served by a tiny coffeeshop, within a small bookstore, contained in a slightly larger coffeeshop, and an even larger bookstore.

I wish I did! There’s a photo album, somewhere, that has some pictures from back then, but I have no clue which relative most likely has those.

Not really “rare”, outside of it’s niche, but definitely unusual!

I owned a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, with an electromagnetic clutch. Instead of a clutch pedal, you pressed down on the stick and shifted it up/down, releasing once in position.

Not many vehicles used that particular style of clutch, and that was one of the last years VW built a model with one, as far as I’m aware. Miss that little car.

They might not be the fastest or prettiest, but old Volkswagens were reliable and stupid simple. Still hope to one day get my hands on an old Microbus and a Karmann Ghia.

If you’re exploring the green tea world, I highly recommend mint green tea. Exactly what it sounds like. I find it quite refreshing, especially after a hot day. The mint adds a nice coolness.

As someone who’s been in a position like your friend, you did more than you realize. Sometimes we need someone to help us open that door, and help push us through.

It’s hard to tell yourself you’re okay, that you can make it through, because you’re dealing with those feelings directly, all of their intensity, it can feel like a constant battle with yourself. When there’s someone else, though, someone who sees all this and still makes you feel normal, it gives you ground.

A small moment of making someone feel genuinely valued, be it as a friend, a partner, or just another valid existence in this world, can be a bigger help than some people know.

Yeah, but it was weird cable. You could find local channels mixed in, and you got local commercials for places you’d probably never see again.

It always felt like going to a neighbouring country, to my little kid brain. Things looked familiar enough, but with a different name. There were places I recognized, but surrounded by things I didn’t.

I was there for my grandmother’s last breath. It kinda fucked me up at the funeral, the stark contrast between the last moment and then.

Aren’t there external Workshop downloaders floating around, or has Valve closed that gap?

Uncut, every time. I love the original, but the uncut is a fuller story, in my opinion.

And make sure to be taking notes. The Dark Tower series touches on several other novels of his. It’s kinda a nexus point for everything, and it gets to be a slog later on.

Just a generally overwhelming day. Got slammed at the end of my shift, had to work over handling customers on top of the absolute mess my coworkers had left me, traffic was an absolute hellhole turning a 15-minute commute into 45, and when I got in, the air conditioner, at some point, had a malfunction so on a nearly 90 degree fahrenheit day, my house was almost boiling on the inside.

Was kinda the last straw, and I was rushing to get my pills.

Yeah, but it took me years to realize it. I used to be a part of a FFXIV LGBT+ focused Facebook group, and there was one woman there who was the start of breaking down some brick walls in myself. Just listening to her talk about her journey through transitioning opened my eyes to some negative feelings I was carrying, and later on in my life, where those feelings really stemmed from.

I wish I had said “no” when she asked me if I was so sure about myself. I feel like I missed a wide open door I should’ve jumped through, instead of stumbling through it already half-broken 10 years down the line.

This is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever written, it’s an impossibly small chance, but if you’re out there, I miss the fuck outta you, you pole-smoking thundercunt. I wish I realized what a friend I had before I chose to walk away.

Now that I work retail, it’s normally more mundane, like forgetting something in an oven, but back in my factory days…

About once to twice a week, something caught fire. Sometimes outside the plants, sometimes inside. Hell, on one occasion, while I was actively working inside the thing that caught fire!

Another common one some coworkers had were getting caught in vehicle lifts and crushed/cut in half. Close calls were more frequent than they had any right to be.

Basically, factory work is fucking dangerous, no one should be in that shit, we need massive safety reforms, and those need to come with lowered output expectations, because that is a major part of the stress people are under in a lot of those places. Yeah they’re skipping key safety steps, you’ve given them 20 jobs to do in just as many seconds, and the safety shit adds on time.

I kinda had to live my nightmare school experience(Graduation day, friends and families all wanted to go to a certain restaurant, several of us got severe food poisoning, I ended up shitting my pants in public), and surprisingly, after that, I stopped having any school related nightmares.

Plenty of work-related nightmares, though! Mainly about things catching fire, but I chalk that up to multiple jobs where something catching fire wasn’t that uncommon of an experience.

A general lack of control, but mainly manifested in not being able to stop doing something. Mainly walking, it’s like things can be peaceful, but the moment I try to stop, take a look at something, there’s an overwhelming feeling of I can’t, I’m not allowed to, I’m moving for a reason and if I stop now, I’ll never start again, they(whatever it is) won’t let me.

Or sometimes it’s coming out of hiding. I’ve had a few where it’s like a horror movie, there’s party music somewhere above me, but I’m hiding in something, and I know there’s something just wrong, but if I try to leave wherever I’m at, I can’t. Like my body in the dream locks up, refuses to let me step out and face it. It makes it feel so much worse, like I’m locked in by my own self.

It might sound odd, but genuinely, check if any local wildlife rehabs/centers need volunteers.

There’s constantly something that needs done, often in creative ways, especially when doing something like designing an enrichment area. It might just look like a bunch of random junk, but a lot of thought and effort goes into constructing something that actually mimics situations an animal might encounter in the wild.

Eh, it doesn’t sound destructive or interruptive to your day.

Manifesting isn’t just a new-age hippy thing. Ritual can put your brain in a certain space, and that can be a massive motivator for someone. Picking your socks to fit the theme isn’t all that different than telling yourself affirmations in the mirror.

It’s kinda like the “lucky shirt” concept. Sure, the shirt doesn’t really have some metaphysical power, but you’re putting yourself in the mindset of “Good things happen when I wear this”, and when you’re already in that frame of mind, the good things stand out even more.

They really want martyrs to prop up, don’t they?

How long until they bring out an actual body to praise over for their “noble sacrifice”? Bottle the fucking tears to drink while they demonize the “enemy”.

I actually finally got around to playing it for myself fairly recently! I was actually surprised at just how well they got the discomfort across, it took some genuine talent to bring those scenes to life.