#choco reads

[chocochipbiscuit]

Decided to revisit some old faves and read some (hopefully new) ones this year. 😊

[isjasz]

"[...]Plus, when it rained, the palace grounds were pretty much empty, everyone else taking shelter, so I’d usually have the whole garden to myself. Perfect time to dance around like nobody was watching.” 

“Dance around?” 

“Yeah!”

(In which the vex prince sets out on a magical journey of a lifetime, and an unassuming avian knight is dragged along for the ride.)

——————————

THE DOOR IS NON-EXISTENT ALREADY LAST BUT VERY NOT LEAST FOR HSBB FROM ME These are my pieces for @gaylotusthatexists's epic fic series "to the ends of the earth" again in @hermitshippingbigbang!! :D

This is for chapter 11 of the fic featuring THE DANCE SCENEEEEEE go. read it. it's so worth it i swear they are so SJKDADwijwa and the whole world Lotus has created within the fic is so cool!!

It's botw but epic and it's scarian and I might have immediately lost it when I saw the fic summary back in *checks dms with nox* September. and the actual fic did not disappoint it is absolutely lovely <3

GOOGGOO YIPPEE👉👉👉👉👉

[honeydudedraws]

this was so deeply unserious I just couldn't finish it

[ahhrenata]

GO TIGERS GO 📣

@chocoarts has once again blown my mind by bringing my little steddie lines to life. I don’t even have words to describe how in awe I am of choco’s skills. The lighting, the colors, the style, EVERYTHING is just so breathtaking- I’m forever grateful and honored to collab with you 💕

Concept: I say both of us! I said a pre-s4 steddie pep rally and you specified s2 :)

Literally everything else (including Reefer Rick 🤩): @chocoarts

the bare-bones sketch i sent under the cut:

[elderwisp]

oc portraits done ✔

[choco-mooooose]

Something else I have to say I really love about the Skip and Loafer manga is the fact that it tells girls reading it that, hey, there’s nothing wrong with not keeping up with style, or particularly caring about your appearance. There’s also nothing wrong with keeping up with fashion and style, or wearing makeup and doing your hair.

The narrative doesn’t try to put down young women/women who put in time and effort towards their appearance, which is amazing!! When I was younger, I didn’t really do much about my appearance, since I felt it didn’t really matter to me. Once I started seeing girls around me wear makeup, put together stylish outfits, do their hair, etc, I started worrying about whether I was behind things. Seeing Mitsumi experience something pretty similar to that makes me feel pretty seen, if I’m being honest. We need more of this in the manga/anime industry!!!

[cuppajj]

if there’s one thing about the crk fandom i’m surprised about, it’s that not enough people are making freddy fazbear jokes with choco werehound brute considering they have the same voice actor

[spookythesillyfella]

hey guys . heres my fair share of doodles from the magma i drew on with my big bro @chamom1le-t3a

[dreamersdwell]

Dark enchantress cookie redesign

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

So like a year ago, I made a post asking why Dorian confessed to murdering Basil in the 1891 edition of the book, but not the 1890. For the last few months, while working on tlg and the comic, I’ve on and off again worked on a small animatic for the ending of TPODG. Because of this I’ve had to reread the ending conversation with Henry again and again. And a thought occurred to me:

Is Dorian’s ‘desire to be good’ actually an attempt to stop being objectified?

Dorian’s ‘desire to be good’ is obviously horseshit, even to himself, but why does he do it? "To feel something new" is a lazy explanation especially when the book literally says that “[h]e felt a wild longing for the unstained purity of his boyhood”. He doesn’t want something new, he wants what he had before. But it’s not the innocence of his youth, nor something material he desires—it’s the way people treated him before Henry and Basil.

The thing that always stood out to me was this exchange (occuring after Dorian’s confession): 

“There is someone at White’s who wants immensely to know you—young Lord Poole, Bournemouth’s eldest son. He has already copied your neckties, and has begged me to introduce him to you. He is quite delightful and rather reminds me of you.”

“I hope not,” said Dorian with a sad look in his eyes.”

While many modern adaptations either forget this line or give a charitable reading, to me it reads as though Dorian realizes he’s replaceable. Even though he has a magic portrait and eternal youth, he still is a dying relic of a changing world. He will never be anything more than the innocent, youthful doll society and Henry treated him as.

His confession, to Henry of all people, was a final plea to be seen as more than the dumb youth, as an innocent angel—he is begging Henry to look at him and see that Dorian Gray is a person. That he feels more than youth, or beauty, or idolatry. That he is capable of great violence and even greater crime, like any other man and through that can be capable of evolving with the time like any other. He doesn't want to live as a passing fancy of perverts and naive young people.

But Henry breaks all of that in one simple line:

“You and I are what we are, and will be what we will be.”

But, Lord Henry was never going to see Dorian as a real person. Because Henry himself isn’t real. ‘Lord Henry’ is a role he plays, one that consumed him far before the first chapter. In many ways, his cynical philosophy is his own defective portrait. He hides any semblance of a person in his role of ‘cynical hedonist’ and denies any change. He too is a dying relic of a changing world.

When Henry denies his attempt to change, Dorian seeks Basil’s portrait of him. I think it's quite telling that even after he murder him, Dorian seeks implicit comfort from the man who had idolized his rose-white purity. Basil was the only relationship that was closest to what he had before. But the sad truth is laid bare:

No one ever saw Dorian Gray as a real person. 

He was always a role being played. 

And he dies tragically discarded.

[chocochipbiscuit]

So I've been reading Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino, and really enjoying it so far! The writing is engaging and I find the topic interesting, especially as he talks about how the loss of biodiversity risks us losing traditional foodways and more vulnerable to crop losses due to disease and climate change.

I've heard of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before, but never the world's first seed bank: the Vavilov Institute, founded in 1921 by a Russian scientist dedicated to ending world hunger. His ideas fell out of favor with Stalin and he was sent to a prison camp in 1940. During WW2, though:

….his seed collection came close to being lost as the German Army blockaded Leningrad in a 28-month siege. The Soviets had plans in place to save works of art from the city’s galleries but had done little to protect the seed bank. The Nazis, however, recognised its potential as a future food resource and saw the institute as an asset they needed to target. Fortunately, Vavilov had so inspired his fellow scientists that they moved hundreds of boxes of seeds to a basement and took shifts inside the dark building, in the sub-zero temperatures, to protect he collection. What happened next is well known to botanists, but it’s a story we should all know.

Surrounded by seeds they could have eaten, the caretakers of the collection faced hunger rather than jeopardize the genetic resource. By the end of the 900-day siege, in the spring of 1944, nine of them had died of starvation, including the curator of the rice collection. He was found at his desk surrounded by bags of rice. ‘We were students of Vavilov,’ one survivor said, explaining their heroic efforts to protect the seeds. By then, Nikolai Vavilov was already dead. In 1943, at the age of fifty-five, he was claimed by the very thing he had spent his life working to prevent: starvation. He died in a Soviet prison and was buried in an unmarked grave.

This book includes foods thought to have gone extinct, but which have been brought ‘back to life’ and restored to farmers’ fields because their seeds were collected by Vavilov and his colleagues and kept safe inside the institute. Nearly a century after his dead, a new generation is following in Vavilov’s footsteps.

Just!!! How is this not amazing? It’s sad and heroic and all I can think about is the strength of purpose it must have been to been literally dying of starvation while surrounded by the food that could have saved their lives, but still holding on to hope that these could be useful to replenishing food after the war, and for future generations.

[fisheito]

i told myself that yakuei only had one position then i proved myself (sorta) wrong

my fave face here:

[corrodedcoughin]

little story about little Eddie and his 2 new friends | word count approx 2.5k | general audience rating | steve and eddie are kids and Wayne is a pushover

Wayne sometimes thinks it was a mistake, not taking in the boy. God no, he would never think of Eddie as anything other than an important and intrinsic part of his life, couldn't be without him, wouldn't want to be. 

No, what Wayne worries about is how his readiness to help Eddie feel loved might contribute to the boy's difficulty in making friends.

It was an innocent enough request, Eddie asked for a pet as all young children do. He was so small and so wide eyed, just a scrap of an 8 year old with more feelings than he knew what to do with. Wayne knew he'd never hold up against any request Eddie made but he liked to pretend to himself that he could. And while technically he never pandered to the boy, yes Eddie usually got what he wanted but in a way that suited their means. Or so Wayne tells himself. 

8 year old Eddie asked for a pet and a pet is what he got.

-

Eddie barrelled into the trailer door, backpack swinging off his arm and ready to be thrown into the corner. Planning to shoot off back out the door to do his usual; lift up rocks and inspect whatever bugs he could find, to grab sticks and imagine them as wizard staffs, to let his imagination finally run wild after hours of sitting still at a desk under too bright lights and too busy class rooms. In truth he wasn't really paying attention to the insides of the trailer, expecting it to be the same as always. It took a very pointed cough for Eddie to register that Wayne was unusually home from work, far earlier than normal, and a further loud clearing of the throat for Eddie to pay attention to what Wayne had placed on the kitchen table. 

Right in the middle of the table, sitting in a beam of sunlight, was a cage and in that cage was what would soon become, Eddie's very reason for being. He crept up close, almost as if scared that any sudden movements would prove the whole thing to be a cruel illusion. He was brought out of his reverie by a pink nose wiggling at the bars, whiskers attached and twitching as the rest of the rat appeared.

'is he-? is he for real?' Eddie said with a gasp, hands inching towards the door of the cage. 

Wayne had to suppress a laugh, trust this boy to be bowled over in wonder at a rat as if it were a puppy. He opened the contraption of the enclosure door and dipped his hand inside, allowing the rat to climb onto his palm. The guy from work assured him that this one was the most tame he had, inquisitive to a fault and oddly enough, desperate to be handled. Quite honestly, the perfect match for his well meaning but excitable nephew-near-enough-son. 

'Yeah, yeah kid it's for real. And he's a she.' Wayne lets the rat sniff at Eddie's hands, little pink hands finding a platform on Eddie's palms, clearly holding himself a still as possible but if Wayne knew this boy, and he did, he knows that Eddie is so close to vibrating out of his skin, that containing that much excitement must be killing him. 

'I don't care. Wayne, I don't! Can she sleep in my room? Does she know tricks? Can I teach her? What does she like? Can I take her to school? Please! Wayne!' He's started now, words pouring out of his mouth, tripping over himself to try and release every thought entering his brain at lightning speed.

'Woah, there' Wayne says pulling the rat up, cradling it in two hands, 'We got to be kind to her alright? She's only small. Doesn't know what loud noises are good and which are bad, okay?' He watches as Eddie nods vigorously, eyes never leaving the creature. 'Now you promised me you'd look after a pet so that's what's going to happen. She is your responsibility. That means cleaning, feeding and loving, got it?' Eddie nods again, tentatively reaching his hands up, the image of Oliver Twist springs to Wayne's mind. 

Wayne comes around the kitchen table, crouches down to Eddie on creaky knees and hands the rat over, filling Eddie's small hands with a heartbeat and fur. Eddie giggles, watching as the rat surveils the new patch of skin its found itself on. 

'Tickles, Wayne' and its said with such love and devotion Wayne almost feels his heart break 

'Yeah son. She does, doesn't she?' 

-

 Of course it takes less than a week and Eddie and Sam are inseparable. As soon as Eddie gets home he's itching for his furry friend, delighting in the way she scampers around the room, over his arms and anywhere she can get. No matter what though, she always comes back to him. She can be digging in to a particularly interesting crevice behind the couch but she'll always come running back when she hears Eddie make a noise.  

The thing is, Eddie is a pretty lonely kid. Not for lack of trying, don't get it wrong. Eddie tries to socialise he tries to talk to the other kids in his class, get them involved in his imaginary games and play pretend but being the new kid doesn't really do him any favours. Being the new kid that lives in the trailer park and a penchant for biting to show affection does him even less. 

To Eddie, its him and Sam against the world. He can come home and know that his best friend will listen to all his problems, will stay close and won't run away even when he's extra loud or being 'a lot' as his teacher like to tell him. He's so tired of being told to use his 'quiet hands', his 'inside voice' and every other subdued phrase they try to press on him. 

This particular day was a hard one, Sally Winters had said that Eddie was 'bad luck' and the word quickly spread around by recess. Eddie had thought he was making some progress with a couple of kids from the class, was thinking today might be the day that he finally got asked to play but that hope quickly got squashed. He had hopped up to the potential friends with a stick in his hand and a notion of being a pirate when they both looked at him like he was a monster, they couldn't get away fast enough. And Eddie couldn't find a place to hide quick enough before the fat and heavy tears fell from his eyes. 

It was a long day and home time was his only saving grace. 

Wayne knows somethings up, can tell in the way that Eddie isn't even really talking to Sam, hardly looking at the Tv despite the fact that Wayne very purposefully had put the cartoon Lord of the Rings movie on. The sure fire fall back he liked to keep in his back pocket. The trump card to get his kid happy. This time though? No luck. Looking at the kid makes a chasm open up in his gut, deep and full of overwhelming sadness that he just wants to stop, wants to find the solution to make this boy smile like the sun again. They don't talk much for the rest of the night but Wayne makes sure to stay close, stay awake in case he's needed. Eddie spends the time between dinner and bed sitting on the floor, side pressed up against Wayne's leg and playing fetch with bits of Wayne's whittling with Sam, not a word said. 

-

Eddie wakes up the next morning with a plan and a devil may care attitude. Oh so carefully he maintains his usual routine; says good morning to Sam, carts her around the trailer as he washes his face and wanders into the kitchen, placing her in her secondary cage so she can eat breakfast with Eddie and Wayne - Eddie was adamant that they couldn't have meals without her, 'she's part of the family!' and soft hearted fool Wayne Munson agreed and an additional cage was sourced. 

When breakfast is finished Eddie begins his usual rigmarole of dragging his feet to get out of his pjs and into his clothes, reluctant to grab his bag and go out the door. Same old protests as Wayne watches him walk out towards the school bus. 

What is a new addition to the routine though, is Sam Munson hiding up the sleeve of a school boy and about to go on a secret and very dangerous mission. A mission to survive the school day. 

Surprisingly, Eddie manages to keep Sam secret, keep her safe, the whole morning. He came prepared with snacks to make sure she was entertained and happy, he couldn't stand the thought of her being sad, her eyes get so big and her tail droops as well as her ears, it makes the whole of Eddie ache. But no, she's happy, or happy enough at least. 

So the morning goes without a hitch, Eddie making noises to cover up any squeaks and keeping a hand in his pocket to reassure Sam, stowed in the pocket of his hoodie. He knows he's seen as 'weird' so what's a few extra noises? They are let out for recess and Eddie breathes a sigh of relief, thinking this is his time to let Sam out, knowing she's desperate for some fresh air. Sure, she's peed in his hoodie pocket, but he can't really tell with it's dark colour and the layer of t-shirt between the wet material and his tummy. 

He runs off to his usual corner, stuck between a bush and a tree and gently tips Sam out of his pocket, she scampers around his feet and gratefully accepts a broken off bit of cracker between her hands.

'Thanks for coming with me Sam. Everyone is so mean, its so stupid. I don't care. You are a better friend than any of those losers' He crouches down, hoping to find a twig to play fetch with. A game that he delights in, is immeasurably proud of her for learning it so quickly. 'Gonna find you the best stick Sam. Promise. Best stick for the best friend' 

He continues muttering to himself and doesn't notice that he's getting progressively louder after finding a twig and beginning the game. Doesn't register that he's drawn unwanted attention with his happy shouts and encouragement until a body is crashing through the shrub he's hidden himself behind. 

Sam doesn't notice either until the unexpected form is right in front of her and she bolts, running as fast as her legs will carry her and Eddie is right behind her, muttering under his breath as he trips over his own feet in an attempt to catch her 'oh shit oh no oh no oh no' He's pushing himself as hard as he can but it doesn't count for much, he never was the fastest. He keeps trying though but then a faster body is accelrating past him, in a evident bee line for Sam. 

Without thinking, Eddie lets out a painful 'NO!' terrified of what might happen.

He knows people think rats are dirty, thinks they don't deserve love and don't deserve life. He doesn't want to imagine what this person's intent might be. Sam reaches a dead end up against the wall of the school and the body, the boy, stops infront of her. Scoops her up? Cradles her into his chest? Eddie...Eddie doesn't know what to think, he's prepared to fight this kid but then the boy is looking up at him with curious hazel eyes. Stroking Sam's head gently and with intent.

He holds Sam out, careful with his motions, trying to blow his brown floppy hair out of his face without disturbing the animal in his hands 'is she okay? is she yours? did I hurt her? she looks okay, is she?' Eddie gingerly steps forward and plucks Sam out of the boys hands, gives hera thorough inspection as the other boy continues 

'I didn't mean to scare her I swear! I didn't even know you had her! I won't tell, I swear I wont! You know...you shouldn't really have a rat in school. If I promise not to tell can I play with you? I'm Steve' 

Holding her close, Eddie squints at the boy, at Steve, and thinks. Thinks about how he looks nice, about how soft his hair looks and how he asked Eddie, Eddie!, to play, that he didn't give him a wide bearth and that he held Sam with such care. It isn't even a hard decision.

They spend the rest of recess together. Eddie shows Steve just how smart Sam. That she can play fetch, that she can run across one arm to the next, over your shoulders without losing balance. That she can twitch her whiskers and it seems like she's laughing at the joke Eddie tells her. That she laughs at the joke Steve tells her! Steve learns that she's named after somebody called Samwise and it doesn't matter that he's a boy because Sam is brave just like Samwise and smart and cares just as much. That Sam is Sam and Eddie is Frodo and together they can take on the world. 

Steve asks if he can have a name too and Eddie calls him Legolas, doesn't tell him why. Doesn't say that Steve reminds him of the pretty elves described in the books Wayne reads out loud to Eddie. It doesn't matter, not really. 

Recess ends and they shuffle back to the school doors, both of them lagging behind the others.

Eddie steels himself, knows he has to bring his misfortune up so that he can own in, so that his new friend doesn't find out from someone else. 'I'm bad luck you know. Sally...she said it. now everyone wont talk to me. I wont be mad if you don't either. I've got Sam. We'll be oaky! So you can just go, I don't care!' He knows he's getting wound up, he can't stop himself. He just wants the bandaid ripped off so he can start feeling sad quicker, get it over with sooner.

Before he can register is, Steve is wrapped around Eddie in a flash of a hug, careful to keep his tummy away from squashing Sam. 

'Not bad luck to me. See you tomorrow Frodo' Steve whispers next to Eddie's ear and shuffles through the school door. 

Eddie is in a daze of joy and happiness, thoughts rumbling through his head but none of them sticking as he journey back into his class room. Pure happiness radiating out of his body, he takes Sam out of his pocket and holds her up to his face 'Sam you made my bad luck go away!' kissing her on the forehead as he hears his teacher scream 

'EDWARD MUNSON IS THAT A RAT?!'

-

So Wayne thought the already unpopular kid having a rat would make things worse. Turns out, he was wrong. Very, very wrong. He might have to start pocket inspections before school though.

--------------------------------------

also on ao3 if that's the preferred reading format for you

[catocappuccino]

It's been a year since I redrew that one Snorkmimi render...

So yeah I did it again ofc I would, why oh why wouldn't I? Tee hee silly meee

Attaching the 2023 redraw and og cause- uh- I donno, because yes, why not!!!

[a-cakehound-or-critter-a-day]

Werehounds are cake hounds too but can stand in two legs and have rational thinking xD. Would Brute or Esterhazy appear in doodles too or not?

sure why not xD besides the point they're a delight to draw anyhow! ^^ 1/21/2024

[queenbasicallynotbasic]

Batfamily Incorrect Quotes #5

(Groupchat) Dick: Hi everyone! Jason: Hello, people who keep bothering me Jason: now leave me alone Jason Todd has left the group Damian: Sometimes, Todd makes sense. Damian Wayne has left the group Dick: wait what Dick Grayson has added Jason Todd Dick Grayson has added Damian Wayne Damian: Grayson, let me leave. Dick: No Dick: This is good for you Dick: I'll get you another cat if you don't leave Damian: ...It is acceptable. Jason Todd has left the group Dick Grayson has added Jason Todd Jason Todd has left the group Dick Grayson has added Jason Todd Jason: Stop adding me dickiebird or istg Dick: what's that???? Jason: ... Jason: you dont know istg Dick: no??? what is that Tim: damn dick i knew u were old but this is like old old Damian: *you Jason: im callin you old man from now on Damian: I should've known you wouldn't know basic grammar, Drake Tim: thats acceptable for texts you demon child Dick: Tim, be nice Tim: ASK HIM TO BE NICE Tim Drake has left the group Damian: Oh look, all better. Jason: hey wait a sec Jason: if he can leave Dick: No! Jason: i can, too Jason Todd has left the group Dick: Oh, come on! Dick Grayson has added Jason Todd Dick Grayson has added Tim Drake Dick: Alright that's it Dick: The next person to leave doesn't get any of Alfred's chocochip cookies Jason: aw cmon Tim: That's just not fair Damian: Tt. I am going to study now. Dick: Happy Studying! Tim: wait Tim: where's Steph, Cass, Babs and Duke? Dick: Ummmmmm Jason: ...you forgot didnt ya Dick: yes? Jason: definitely old, old man Dick: Hey! Damian: Honestly Grayson, that was not expected of you. Tim: Go study, demon Damian: I would, but you heathens keep texting me! Dick Grayson has added Alfred Pennyworth Alfred: Young masters. Jason: hey alfred Tim: hi Alfred Damian: Pennyworth. Alfred: Master Dick has told me you all have been fighting. I would advise you to play nice and stop doing so immediately, lest there are some... consequences. Jason: yes alfred Tim: yes Alfred Damian: yes Pennyworth. Alfred: Excellent. Alfred: The cookies have cooled. Dick: And I've started eating them! :D Jason: dear God he knows emoticons Alfred: Master Jason. Jason: sorry alfred Damian: I am coming downstairs. Tim: Me too Jason: be there in 10 Jason: and save some for me alfred, they'll finish it all Alfred: Of course, Master Jason.