Really!!!! Unlike regular stovetop cooking, baking is highly reliant on the chemical reactions that occur among its ingredients. You get your measurements off for one ingredient and your product can come out completely different!
well, that explains why my sister's bread always came out funny she was always too impatient to measure anything carefully instead she'd grab fistfuls of everything and toss it in
[That it doesn't hurt—much—to mention Freja is a surprise. More of a twinge and less of a sword stab, a blade plunging deep and then withdrawing again.]
That would do it. Me, I can't remember how many times I've let a cake bake too long or accidentally added too much food coloring because the cap fell off.
[ .........................
Her baked goods always come out to be either really good or a monumental disaster. So maybe she averages out to an okay baker? ]
So you have a sister... I pictured you as the type to have lots of brothers.
and i had two! a younger one and an older one i'm the second youngest
[Though it hurts less than before to mention her family at all, she still can't help but make it sound like they're dead. Closing that door in her heart, warding off something worse than pain and grief: brittle, paralyzing hope.]
[ They absolutely sound like they're dead?? And while some people might feel shy asking after potentially dead family members, Ema with her own definitely dead family members does not. ]
[Off-screen, Lys pauses, dimly surprised by her own uncertainty. That she actually feels torn about what to say, about saying anything at all, instead of automatically bottling it all up out of fear of sharing the burden.
....well. She's admitted something like this to Summer already, in bits and pieces. The vague shape of it, sanitized and minimized. A second time couldn't hurt much worse, right? And besides, she owes Ema for a lot more than the balance of an honest answer.]
i don't know. i left home when i was 15 it was pretty bad, so it's just easier to talk about them like that
[Like they were dead. Or she was dead. Something final; something over.]
[ ... Awkward. But interesting. It fits in with Lys's extreme self-sufficiency.
Again, some people might change the subject here, but there's something about Lys's anecdote about her sister that Ema understands. Little thoughts about loved ones that flutter into your head for no reason, but which you share anyway because they feel good and important and bubble right out. ]
It sounds like you got along with your sister. Did you get along with your brothers too?
[She half-smiles despite herself, despite the melancholy curled over her heart like a fist. The grief that's like a stone in her gut, heavy and unchanging.]
yeah, of course! the only ones who fought sometimes were the eldest two being twins, you'd think they would get along the most...
[ Hmmmm smells like pointed redirection. But hey, whatever. Lys can talk about what Lys wants. ]
One older sister by 13 years. I've been worried about her, honestly. We're each other's only family, and she practically raised me. She's always been a little protective of me. If she ever thought I was missing, I don't think she would handle it well.
[ Considering the lengths Lana went to to protect Ema from a potential manslaughter charge years ago.......... yeah. ]
[In a different, happier universe, she'd be like that one grandpa with fifty thousand pictures of his grandkids spilling out of his wallet, except with her whole family. But they're not in that universe, they're in this one, where Lys already knows—believes—that nobody else cares.
She's certainly been told as much.]
she sounds like a wonderful sister and so do you
because you'd try to protect her too, wouldn't you? if you had to
The penal system is jail, basically. Someone tried to frame me for murder once, so my sister helped manipulate the crime scene in order to turn suspicion away from me. Highly illegal, of course. It ended up being a huge mess down the line.
She tries to imagine it, lying to protect someone from another's lie, and feels her stomach twist up inside. It's not the lying itself that bothers her overmuch, the illegality of tampering with evidence—though it probably should—so much as the thought that Ema's sister felt she had to do it. That someone had driven them both into a corner.]
woah yeah, i can see why it would but, geez she really does love you that must have been so hard on you both
but why would anyone want to do that to you? i can't see you having any enemies
It was difficult at the time, but we've made our peace since then. There's a lot to be said for coming clean with your secrets, even if it's frightening to think of what might come as a result. You hold on to a secret long and tight enough and you'll just end up crumpling around it.
As for why? Blackmail, pure and simple. My sister was a detective herself back then. One of the best around. She was primed to move into prosecution, and everyone knew she would rise to the top sooner or later. By making her think I'd killed someone and helping her cover up the crime, the framer had a powerful hold on her. He knew she would do anything to keep my potential involvement under wraps.
wish i couldn’t imagine that i don't know how anyone could do that and live with themselves but i guess it makes a certain kind of awful sense
back home, noble families did stuff like that all the time killing this one’s cousin, kidnapping that one’s brother…
[She’s not trying to brush aside what Ema’s admitted, what she’s shared, only put something she finds so reprehensible in a context she’s a little more familiar with. And also, maybe, because Lys would rather not think too hard (or at all) about the very good advice that’s just been given regarding secrets, the damage they can cause simply by being carried for too long—like shrapnel inside a stitched-up wound.]
[ What happened to Ema is an open secret, in a sense, so it doesn't bother her sharing it. When your whole traumatic story is public record, unraveled in front of multiple audiences, and then blared across the news, recounting it is old hat. ]
You can say that again. But I suppose people who have power and riches are just wired differently. They're just as shifty where I'm from. Better to stay humble, if you ask me.
[ Who needs a big house and popularity!! A few reliable friends (and science) are more than enough. ]
Anyway, I'm not sure how we got here from fun group activities, so I'll let you go before the topic gets any more depressing.
[Sometimes a conversation is like an onion, with layers, and sometimes those layers are topics that don't overlap so much as loosely orbit each other, like an archipelago seen from space. Lys herself doesn't wonder at the "how" so much as blink in surprise over how long they've been chatting, the ground they've covered.]
oh, it happens! but i bet you're pretty busy yourself so that's fine
depressing or not, i'm glad i got to talk to you and i won't forget about having a movie night!
[As soon as she has any, plus a television and movie player, not to mention a couch…..with her priorities, it might take awhile. But it'll happen!]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Lys cares!! Lys cares a WHOLE LOT which.....is not a good barometer, actually. But please continue anyway!]
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Unlike regular stovetop cooking, baking is highly reliant on the chemical reactions that occur among its ingredients.
You get your measurements off for one ingredient and your product can come out completely different!
no subject
she was always too impatient to measure anything carefully
instead she'd grab fistfuls of everything and toss it in
[That it doesn't hurt—much—to mention Freja is a surprise. More of a twinge and less of a sword stab, a blade plunging deep and then withdrawing again.]
no subject
Me, I can't remember how many times I've let a cake bake too long or accidentally added too much food coloring because the cap fell off.
[ .........................
Her baked goods always come out to be either really good or a monumental disaster. So maybe she averages out to an okay baker? ]
So you have a sister... I pictured you as the type to have lots of brothers.
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[Lys, that's just you.]
and i had two!
a younger one and an older one
i'm the second youngest
[Though it hurts less than before to mention her family at all, she still can't help but make it sound like they're dead. Closing that door in her heart, warding off something worse than pain and grief: brittle, paralyzing hope.]
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Had? Did something happen to them?
this is the worst kind of s-link upgrade
....well. She's admitted something like this to Summer already, in bits and pieces. The vague shape of it, sanitized and minimized. A second time couldn't hurt much worse, right? And besides, she owes Ema for a lot more than the balance of an honest answer.]
i don't know.
i left home when i was 15
it was pretty bad, so
it's just easier to talk about them like that
[Like they were dead. Or she was dead. Something final; something over.]
no subject
[ ... Awkward. But interesting. It fits in with Lys's extreme self-sufficiency.
Again, some people might change the subject here, but there's something about Lys's anecdote about her sister that Ema understands. Little thoughts about loved ones that flutter into your head for no reason, but which you share anyway because they feel good and important and bubble right out. ]
It sounds like you got along with your sister. Did you get along with your brothers too?
1/2
yeah, of course!
the only ones who fought sometimes were the eldest two
being twins, you'd think they would get along the most...
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what about you?
any siblings?
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One older sister by 13 years.
I've been worried about her, honestly. We're each other's only family, and she practically raised me. She's always been a little protective of me.
If she ever thought I was missing, I don't think she would handle it well.
[ Considering the lengths Lana went to to protect Ema from a potential manslaughter charge years ago.......... yeah. ]
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She's certainly been told as much.]
she sounds like a wonderful sister
and so do you
because you'd try to protect her too, wouldn't you?
if you had to
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You would do the same for yours, no?
[ She can't imagine what it's like to not care for a sibling, and Lys already seems like the caring type, so... ]
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that's what family is for
[Family that's worth having, anyway.]
my sister saved me from a bear once
but i bet yours did something just as amazing!
repent and do no harm...
Jury's out on whether that beats a bear.
[ Correctional officers vs. bear... Considering the kinds of cops they have in the LAPD, Ema truly can't predict who would come out on top. ]
What did she do to the bear, exactly?
sorry daddy, i've been bad
but it's not a competition, haha
i didn't mean it like that
[Just that all big sisters are good and amazing, unless they aren't. In which case, what the fuck!]
she shot it in the face with an arrow
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[ rip, bear... ]
The penal system is jail, basically.
Someone tried to frame me for murder once, so my sister helped manipulate the crime scene in order to turn suspicion away from me.
Highly illegal, of course. It ended up being a huge mess down the line.
no subject
She tries to imagine it, lying to protect someone from another's lie, and feels her stomach twist up inside. It's not the lying itself that bothers her overmuch, the illegality of tampering with evidence—though it probably should—so much as the thought that Ema's sister felt she had to do it. That someone had driven them both into a corner.]
woah
yeah, i can see why it would
but, geez
she really does love you
that must have been so hard on you both
but why would anyone want to do that to you?
i can't see you having any enemies
no subject
There's a lot to be said for coming clean with your secrets, even if it's frightening to think of what might come as a result.
You hold on to a secret long and tight enough and you'll just end up crumpling around it.
As for why? Blackmail, pure and simple. My sister was a detective herself back then. One of the best around.
She was primed to move into prosecution, and everyone knew she would rise to the top sooner or later.
By making her think I'd killed someone and helping her cover up the crime, the framer had a powerful hold on her. He knew she would do anything to keep my potential involvement under wraps.
no subject
i don't know how anyone could do that and live with themselves
but i guess it makes a certain kind of awful sense
back home, noble families did stuff like that all the time
killing this one’s cousin, kidnapping that one’s brother…
[She’s not trying to brush aside what Ema’s admitted, what she’s shared, only put something she finds so reprehensible in a context she’s a little more familiar with. And also, maybe, because Lys would rather not think too hard (or at all) about the very good advice that’s just been given regarding secrets, the damage they can cause simply by being carried for too long—like shrapnel inside a stitched-up wound.]
it’s messed up
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You can say that again.
But I suppose people who have power and riches are just wired differently. They're just as shifty where I'm from.
Better to stay humble, if you ask me.
[ Who needs a big house and popularity!! A few reliable friends (and science) are more than enough. ]
Anyway, I'm not sure how we got here from fun group activities, so I'll let you go before the topic gets any more depressing.
wrapping threads, we are
oh, it happens!
but i bet you're pretty busy yourself
so that's fine
depressing or not, i'm glad i got to talk to you
and i won't forget about having a movie night!
[As soon as she has any, plus a television and movie player, not to mention a couch…..with her priorities, it might take awhile. But it'll happen!]
see ya, ema