altria "just keep smiling" caster (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
excaliburden) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
citylogs2023-11-12 05:20 pm
excaliburden) wrote in citylogs2023-11-12 05:20 pm
[open] welcome to the city
WHO: Altria Caster (excaliburden) & perhaps you!
WHAT: Help out a gal who just got here and is still getting used to magical city things like powdered sugar
WHERE: Across the city! Namely: a convenience store, park, subway, etc.......
WHEN: Early November
WARNINGS: N/A! Will update if necessary
a. local victorian orphan discovers convenience stores
[You're probably popping into the local convenience store for sensible reasons, like to buy a soda or to grab a few things you're missing for your dinner. Maybe for one of those hot dogs. No judgment.
Either way, you're getting interrupted by a gremlin in young woman form, who comes right up to you as soon as she makes eye contact, holding up... one of those small little packs of powdered sugar donuts.]
Have you ever tried one of these?
[She sounds awed.
There is powdered sugar around her mouth and on her fingers. She seems to have already eaten three of the five in the pack. It's a little bit like a religious experience, honestly.]
b. park break
[There's only so much walking around the city she can do before she gets tired. Even a few days in, it's still a pretty overwhelming place, and despite making many plans with many helpful people upon first arriving, she... has not acted on any of them.
So it is that even though it's either very early in the morning or very late at night, Altria can be found seated on one of the benches in the park, shoulders hunched and hands in her lap. She doesn't seem to be asleep, just... thinking very, very intently.
Of course, if she notices that someone's near, she'll immediately straighten, lifting a hand to wave--but with how deep in thought she is, it isn't hard to sneak up on her, either.]
c. subway
[Using the subway today to get across the city? That's a perfectly normal thing to do.
There's a young woman there as well, nose pressed to the window as she stares out as the train moves, even though it's, you know, underground and there's nothing to see. It's fine--she still seems amazed.
Also, if you hop back on the train a few hours later to go elsewhere, she's... still there. She might be leaning back in the seat, staring at the ceiling, or moving from seat to seat idly, or, in particularly empty times of day, sprawled along two seats at once.
Don't worry about it. Everything's fine here!]
d. wildcard
(Wanna tag in but these prompts don't work? Totally fine, hit me with whatever--or poke me over here to plot something out!)
excaliburden) & perhaps you!WHAT: Help out a gal who just got here and is still getting used to magical city things like powdered sugar
WHERE: Across the city! Namely: a convenience store, park, subway, etc.......
WHEN: Early November
WARNINGS: N/A! Will update if necessary
a. local victorian orphan discovers convenience stores
[You're probably popping into the local convenience store for sensible reasons, like to buy a soda or to grab a few things you're missing for your dinner. Maybe for one of those hot dogs. No judgment.
Either way, you're getting interrupted by a gremlin in young woman form, who comes right up to you as soon as she makes eye contact, holding up... one of those small little packs of powdered sugar donuts.]
Have you ever tried one of these?
[She sounds awed.
There is powdered sugar around her mouth and on her fingers. She seems to have already eaten three of the five in the pack. It's a little bit like a religious experience, honestly.]
b. park break
[There's only so much walking around the city she can do before she gets tired. Even a few days in, it's still a pretty overwhelming place, and despite making many plans with many helpful people upon first arriving, she... has not acted on any of them.
So it is that even though it's either very early in the morning or very late at night, Altria can be found seated on one of the benches in the park, shoulders hunched and hands in her lap. She doesn't seem to be asleep, just... thinking very, very intently.
Of course, if she notices that someone's near, she'll immediately straighten, lifting a hand to wave--but with how deep in thought she is, it isn't hard to sneak up on her, either.]
c. subway
[Using the subway today to get across the city? That's a perfectly normal thing to do.
There's a young woman there as well, nose pressed to the window as she stares out as the train moves, even though it's, you know, underground and there's nothing to see. It's fine--she still seems amazed.
Also, if you hop back on the train a few hours later to go elsewhere, she's... still there. She might be leaning back in the seat, staring at the ceiling, or moving from seat to seat idly, or, in particularly empty times of day, sprawled along two seats at once.
Don't worry about it. Everything's fine here!]
d. wildcard
(Wanna tag in but these prompts don't work? Totally fine, hit me with whatever--or poke me over here to plot something out!)
no subject
[ Like, your entire prickly attitude, sir... ]
no subject
Still, that feels like an argument she isn't going to win, so instead she puffs out her cheeks at him for a moment, sulky, and then shakes her head.]
Well. If you're really willing to teach me, then... I want to learn how to cut the eel as cleanly as you did!
no subject
And here I thought you'd ask me how to make all the sweets you love so much. You sure you don't want to learn that first?
[ There's still some time before the rice will be ready, so he pulls out the rest of the ingredients he obtained from the bags: sugar, vanilla beans, sesame seeds, an assortment of nuts, and palm dates. ]
This one isn't difficult to make.
no subject
She pouts a little bit, but after a bit of a sigh, she'll move closer to peer at the ingredients he pulls out. After all, she is interested in sweets...
And, far-too-proudly:]
I've made chocolate on my own before! ... With some help! So this should be really easy.
[Sure.]
no subject
Don't sound so dejected. I'll teach you later. I was going to make this, anyway.
[ He shuffles around the kitchen to pull out some measuring cups and spoons. ]
It's best to follow recipes when it comes to making sweets. Unlike cooking, precise measurements are required if you want it to turn out good.
[ He shows measures out all of the ingredients, taking care to show her how to use the measuring tools properly. ]
no subject
Her enthusiasm comes back ten-fold, like a beacon of bright light. She beams, watching as he grabs those spoons and measuring cups.
Nod nod nod!
She's listening, but is she retaining? Uncertain, especially because she follows it up with:]
But what if you have lots of delicious ingredients that aren't part of the recipe? Won't it be even better if you can work them in?
no subject
I wouldn't if I were you. Until you know exactly why a recipe works, you should stick to it. Otherwise, you'll ruin the result and you won't even know what caused it.
[ In a bowl, he crushes sesame seeds with oil to form a paste, to which he adds vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. In another pot, he combines water and sugar over heat, occasionally holding his hand over the mixture to assess the temperature. There's a thermometer in the pot too, but he only glances at it once he's determined that the mixture has reached the appropriate temperature. ]
For this dessert, you need to make sure this sugar mixture reaches the right temperature. If it doesn't, it won't reach the correct thickness.
no subject
He said this was an easy recipe, but...... he's multi-tasking so much! He's doing so many things and making them all look so smooth and easy!]
Um... how do you know when it's right?
no subject
He tilts the thermometer towards her as he lowers the heat to keep temperature while he teaches her. ]
You can use a device like this if you have access to one. I don't normally, so the other way I determine if it's ready is to test what happens if I drop the syrup into cold water.
[ He lifts the spoon that was in the mixture and drips a small amount of the sugary mix fall into a cup of water he had prepared. After a short moment, he scoops the hardened syrup out of the water and shows Altria. It's a ball now, firm enough to retain its shape, but when he squeezes it, it flattens easy under his fingers. ]
You're looking for the syrup not to lose shape after it's removed from the water, but still be soft enough to be malleable under force.
[ With that, he turns off the stove entirely and lifts the pot from the stove. ]
Now, we mix it into the other bowl.
no subject
The other bowl is... the seeds, and the oil, and the vanilla, right?
[She reaches for it to bring it closer, wanting to at least prove she's been paying attention and retaining what he's been showing her.]
no subject
He nods, his lips quirking up slightly. She's trying, at least. ]
Careful not to let your hands touch the syrup.
[ He begins to slowly pour the syrup into the paste, using a spatula to stir the mixture gently until all of it is evenly mixed together. ]
Stir slowly here. If you stir too quickly you can ruin the texture of the mix.
[ Once he sets down the pot, he grabs the various bags of nuts, quickly chops them up coarsely, and stirs them into the mixture.
He pours the final mix into a pan that has been lined with parchment paper, tapping it against the counter to flatten it out. ]
And now, we wait.
[ He sets the pan aside to let it cool and looks at Altria. ]
Now, did that seem hard?
no subject
[And with completely unwarranted confidence:]
I'm sure that I could make it myself now.
[This is unwarranted!! Confidence!! She'll mess it up!]
no subject
I'll send the recipe to you later. Make sure to follow it properly, especially when it comes to heating the sugar.
[ Anyway, back to the main dish! The rice is ready, so it's time to brew the tea. He gets that going on the stove, and then takes the eel, which has been covered in a dark glaze, and wraps rice around it, to hide the pieces. Then he starting working the rice into a flower shape. ]
You don't really need to do what I'm doing right now for this dish. It's... just for decoration.
no subject
Anyway, more importantly!!
She peers around his back as he shapes the rice, eyes wide.]
Can you do other shapes? Like--Proper Human History hearts or stars?
no subject
Proper Human History?
[ The way she says it is interesting, and must mean something. ]
no subject
Oh, oops. Tsuruno said I should stop calling it that...
[It's very ingrained, though.]
Um... how to put it...
[...]
I suppose--the history where humanity was the main driving force of history, instead of faeries, like where I'm from.
no subject
So you mean a sort of alternate timeline.
no subject
[At least, from how she understands it.]
My timeline is a separate one, where faeries thrived instead of humans. We do have humans, of course, but...
[You know. They are not near what they are in a regular human history.]
no subject
He wonders what his life would be like, in an alternate timeline. Maybe one where he didn't wipe himself from Irminsul. No doubt the Fatui would come after him, and the Traveler would not be so friendly to him.
He shakes the thought off. No use in pondering what-ifs. ]
There's a difference in the shape of hearts and stars in your timeline compared to that one?