#keep dropping crumbs for us tracy

[worth-this-and-more]

thoughts and opinions on bree's birthday gifts!!!!

[spoilers for legendborn and bloodmarked, read at your own caution ;)] it's been long since i got to do long ass posts hehe i'm back in the game yall

first of all, happy birthday bree!!!! (real footage of me making cakes)

starting off strong with alice chen;

that's so cute?? and two gifts!! bree gonna keep that gift card close to her heart!! like common we all know they are book besties like awwieee so cuteee!! and tickets to eras tour?? keep up with the spoiling your bestie i love you alice!!

then we have edwin matthews;

this is so him tho, ofc he's gonna take care of his lil girl for the winters. that winter coat is gonna be very handy on the run. and bless his soul i hope he doesn't have to find out what the battle is-

our golden boy, nicholas martin davis;

that is so thoughtful tho?? and it's so cute he had it handmade like damn dude, and with her initials too. and what did you say about late-night sword training sessions you mean they trained whennnnnn we have been robbed????

our favorite sorcerer, selwyn emyrs kane;

the coupon?? that is so fucking hilarious, imagine selwyn drawing that coupon and smiling to himself like "ahh the perfect joke" comon this is so cute and i bet bree loved it. and the rose?? got me giggling and shit like dude i had headcanoned something like this as like a ring during bree's college trips but comon a rose is so much better?? ahhhhhhhh I'm in looooooveee say what you want this is so cute mann (and the rose kinda reminded me of the rose in tracy's insta story?? is this something or am i too obsessed??)

our rootcrafting companion, mariah;

lmaoo she is not wrong about the reasons tho. bree definitely needs that spa day. maybe add in a braiding session too. she needs those curls fresh and on for the newest adventure.

the cutest legendborn!! greer taylor;

oh my gosh that is so cool bree in training gear yalls I'm so pumped for bree's 1v1 fights with anyone honestly like my oh my!! good job greer!!

our deadliest softboy, william sitterson;

william is a tea guy for sure, ofc his birthday treat is at a teahouse!! spending the day enjoying william's favorite tea and maybe a lil bit of teasing on both sides?? what will be the treats tho him baking his favorite biscuits or a luncheon with his king, i say bothhh

now there are a two people that i really wanted to see;

larkin douglas; yes he hasn't been around in bloodmarked too but comon even he would know sometime from William hehe about bree's birthday what would he gift her?? he did gift her those leather gauntlets, an updraged version of them?? metal gauntlets?? now if bree has her powers in control ofc she doesn't need the gauntlets but it could be a gesture of trust, for the old days sake

valec; like comon i do think he'd just give her a chocolate or a life advice and move on, but given that he has taken a liking to her and has become very protective (as his baby sister okay guys he's not in love) he might offer something else. his knowledge maybe, he has been around for 200 years you bet he has a lot to tell. or like he could answer three questions she wants the answers to, we all know our bree is best at questioning everything.

my thoughts??

can the order of how the people are placed have any correspondence to how events have passed or any foreshadowing to what could happen?? because i am the type of person who likes to order things like that; so if this is foreshadowing, because for the past events we need to put sel after alice and all that yk, does this mean we are going to start oathbound with a different pov?? because alice and edwin are shown first so it is possible oathbound can start from the new pov (either nick or selwyn)

nick giving bree a scabbard, foreshadowing?? i still have to read on arthuriana more, so i can't say for sure but please enlighten me is this related to the legend. all i know is that excalibur's scabbard was gone which is why arthur fell in camlamn. so that means nick giving bree could potentially symbolize him protecting her?? but from what?? selwyn?? shadow king?? who??

also, from the whole order apart from the found family, only greer is mentioned. now i was assuming that sarah will be in charge now after tor has been "betrayed" aka kicked out of gc. so if greer is mentioned does this mean greer will be in charge?? but aren't they kinda young in the whole order, like young as in new?? and if they are in charge, then what will sarah do because by the order of lines sarah should be after tor, right??

and if this order of names thing is correct, we will be seeing mariah yayy but William is last, so is this for the whole book or like the first half?? because there's no valec no lark (my babies i wanted to see themmm??)

or maybe im just reading too much into this

[attempted--eloquence]

Hello it’s me tossing out shit in my drafts again. I humbly present you a wacky thiam college campus coffee shop ficlet that i wrote sometime last year solely bc i had feelings about alt milk fees <3

CW: brief alcohol mention

Theo is three customers away from the coffee shop register nibbling on the crumbs of what was a banana nut muffin as he considers dropping a class just so he can eat a fucking lunch, for once. Third time this week that his anthro course hasn’t let out early enough to nab a ham and cheese quiche.

By the time he darted across campus, up two sets of stairs, and weaved in and out of a campus tour group, the order line for Stomping Grounds wound its way around the front counter, past the condiment station, and out the propped-open double doors with Theo at the tail end. His hopes for decent sustenance fled the coffee shop lunch rush in the hands of the ungodly patron that found it appropriate to not only buy the last quiche before Theo even made it inside the shop, but also to eat it grasped between their grubby hands like a fucking sandwich.

Absolute animal behavior.

So he settled. Claimed the dead last spot in the queue, after which no one joined presumably because of the egregious wait. Twiddled his thumbs through the twelve minutes it took for him to near the front of the line. Made himself unpleasant enough that the couple of classmates that spotted him idling didn’t stick around long for small talk. Snagged a banana nut muffin from the pastry case that, really, he tried not to eat until making it to the register.

But here, now, after a few more minutes of shuffling forward, the muffin’s been reduced to a few crumbs on the inside of a wrapper. He’s still hungry. And certain to be late to his four-hour neuro lab.

He really could’ve used that fucking quiche.

There’s only one barista on duty. Some disgruntled guy that Theo vaguely recognizes, usually works the closing shift. His face isn’t as twisted up and sullen then. And he usually offers up free leftover pastries and the gritty remnants of whatever’s in the coffee urns half an hour before closing. He’s real decent about letting Theo keep studying after hours while he counts down the register and cleans up, even though Theo’s certain that probably goes against some shop policy. Always locks the doors and sends him off with a genial “Have a nice night.”

But now, he’s got lunch rush fatigue written all over him. A thin sheen of sweat clinging to his forehead, cheeks flushed from espresso machine steam, eyes wide and frantic like he’s rapidly burning through both the patience and caffeine that have fueled his shift. His customer-service-smile has fully inverted into a permanent frown.

It’s contagious. His un-sunny disposition. Theo has witnessed the last five customers—at least—get all huffy about the slow service or the fact that the Earl Grey is out of stock or the lack of napkins at the condiment counter. And the alternative milk surcharge. Especially that.

Theo gets the discontent. Almost a dollar fee. For a different kind of milk. Sounds like the kinda thing they’d debate in his ethics class and come to the same conclusion as they do with all other hotly-discussed topics: yeah, the world’s kinda fucked up in general.

But he’s pretty sure the barista on shift didn’t single-handedly implement the policy—despite the fact that he’s taking all the heat for it—so Theo won’t be a dick about it. Even if he wants to. Just a little. Tracy said he’s gotta work on dismantling his natural air of hostility.

“Hey. What can I get for you.”

It’s less of a question and more of a dread-filled entreaty to hurry up and place an order while there’s a lull in activity.

“A banana nut muffin, and…a large oat milk latte,” Theo says. And just because the guy looks about ready to shove his hand in the coffee grinder, he tacks on a belated, “Please.”

“Sure. $5.90. Oat milk costs 75¢ extra, just so you know,” he replies, bitter-voiced as he jabs buttons on the POS system.

Disgruntled Barista Guy goes stiff at the blank expression on Theo’s face, takes on the demeanor of a preemptive flinch, like he is waiting for something worse than Theo’s shrug, outstretched hand gripping a $10 bill, and, “Yeah, I know. That’s fine.”

Look at him. All unhostile. Tracy would be proud.

“Okay,” he exhales, something like relief. He readjusts the lacrosse-stick-embroidered baseball cap on his head. “I’ll have that up for you in a second, Theo.”

Theo falters. He stuffs his $4.10 in change into the mostly empty tip cup that has FEED ME scribbled on the outside mostly as an apology for not knowing how the hell this guy knows him. Says, “Thanks.”

He squints at the plastic name tag pinned to his apron. Liam. He almost says it aloud, but the window to attach a name onto the end of his halfhearted display of gratitude has closed by the time he has concluded his internal debate about the merit of establishing rapport with someone who’d probably also rather not engage in humdrum small talk. Liam’s got his back to Theo, hunched over his latte cup. The edges of a tattoo peek out from beneath his shirtsleeve.

Ding ding ding. It’s a reminder.

This Liam, lunch rush grump Liam, isn’t just familiar from closing shifts. But from Scott’s potluck at the beginning of the quarter, which was really just a party that happened to have a meager smattering of appetizers to go along with all the alcohol everyone opted to bring.

Theo showed up after most of the snacks were gone but the drinks were plenty. Remembers his half-coherent rambling about wanting a tattoo. Skull with crown. Hazy memories of Liam drawing a sketch of it on his bicep with a silver sharpie. Stiles having to talk Theo out of booking an appointment right then and there and using Liam’s drawing as a reference photo. Right. That night—or, the awful morning after—is the reason he swore off strawberry lemonade Svedka for good.

He’s pretty sure it’s also the source of the one unrecognizable number in his text history. The only message from it was “dont wrory I googled it dude sharpies are nontoxic ook” that probably went unanswered by Theo because he passed out beside the toilet in his bathroom the moment he got back to his apartment.

Huh.

Liam places his drink on the counter with a grin that’s less customer-service-y and more friendly. Says, “See you around.”

Theo retrieves the latte, double-takes. There’s a hasty scrawl of near-illegible words trailing around the circumference of the cup. A ballpoint pen ramble that covers the cup’s surface from top to bottom.

Most of the baristas here draw little doodles on the cups. A smiley face or cartoony mug of coffee with squiggly lines to represent steam. Maybe a “have a nice day!” if they’re feeling particularly chipper.

Not Liam.

Listen, I find the convention of upcharging customers for alternative milks ridiculous and unreasonable considering the vendor prices for these milks are only marginally higher than that of dairy milk so really, non-dairy drinkers are getting scammed for their shitty digestive systems or dietary preferences.

Theo reaches the bottom of the cup. And yet, not the end of the rant, which continues on the drink sleeve Liam had slid across the counter with his order.

Personally, I prefer to upcharge based on how much of an asshole a particular customer is when they order. It’s a much fairer system than capitalism, I think.

There’s an arrow pointing to the other side of the cup sleeve. Theo glances up at Liam, who's got his hands buried in soapy water, washing a sink full of dishes. Real casual like he didn’t just spew his pent-up dairy product industry frustration on an innocent bystander. Theo would be lying if he said he didn’t respect the effort. He flips the sleeve over.

P.S. I didn’t charge you extra for oat milk

P.P.S. Thanks for the tip, you get first pick of stale pastries if you’re here at closing later

Something in Theo’s stomach flutters. Could be butterflies. Or maybe it’s his shitty digestive system.

Half of a person’s caffeine intake is eliminated from the body within six hours of consumption—sometimes neuroscience classes provide more practical knowledge than the redundant lessons on the functionality of the human eyeball—which means his awful caffeine dependence will be in full force soon after his lab ends.

Maybe Theo will swing by the closing shift. Just for the free coffee and stale pastries. That’s all.