#special biscuit

[3dprintcess]

S15E9 outtake from the official Twitter account - Greg’s proud of Alex’s sneakiness, and promises him a treat.

[screwpinecaprice]

I was trying to eat noodles neatly and for some reason I got sad midway. So I drew them messy eating a biscuit and a strawberry to combat sad noodle blues.

[u-mspcoll]

Sugar & Spice: Cookies and Cookie Cutters from the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive

Cookie presses and cutters from the Winchester Cookie Cutter Collection, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center, Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive). Gift of Mark Winchester on behalf of Bruce Winchester. 

Join us on the 6th floor of Hatcher next Thursday, 19 December between 4-6p for our final Third Thursdays at the Library event of the semester! 

This event will feature a cookie extravaganza as we showcase historical cookie cutters and presses alongside three centuries of cookie recipes from the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. From Hannah Glasse’s 18th century jumbles to 20th century bar cookies from the Pillsbury Bake-off, bring your camera and collect new recipes to try at home! And after a taste of history, stay a little longer to enjoy some cookies and cocoa!  

[thebiscuitlabryinth]

Perhaps, if he had bothered to ask for a second opinion, Shadow Milk Cookie would have been told he shouldn't be doing this. Luckily, he hadn't, so he manages to confidently prepare the magic circle with very little concern towards the appropriateness of his own actions.

He steps back to look over it once more, checking for any errors, before finally setting the chalk down. Brushing off the dust from his hands, Shadow Milk admires his handiwork in the light of the crescent moon, his dough crawling with accumulated anticipation.

He noticed it a long time ago, the suffocating blanket of churning emotion that often drapes itself over him, heavy and dark. It isn't his own emotion, he realised that quickly, because it weighs over him instead of burrowing into his chest, and nothing happened to him personally to prompt such tumultuous feelings. This realisation was soon followed by another – namely, that some sort of external being must be the cause, and it must be following him, if its presence is plaguing him so strongly. It comes and it goes, but it always returns, and he is finally going to find out what it is.

So Shadow Milk is looking forward to this. It is his specialty as the holder of the Light of Truth, after all, to reveal unknowns, and this unknown has long become personal.

With the magic circle ready and the moon in the sky, there is no reason for him to wait any longer, so he doesn't. He steps carefully into the circle, making sure not to disturb the lines as he makes his way to the middle, and with a sweep of his robes, he settles down into a sitting position.

This spell is a difficult one because it was found incomplete, the rest of it either lost to time or unfinished. It had taken quite a lot of reworking to finalise something feasible, in between all his other duties. There is also the added caveat of it being a Black Magic spell, but Shadow Milk had found a compromise for that, which is precisely why he chose to perform it under the smiling crescent, mere days away from the new moon, instead of the full moon.

Regardless of the effort required, if everything went well, this spell should allow him to make contact with the being that had been following him, whatever it may be. More specifically, it should open a mental connection, allowing them to have a conversation even if this being was something incapable of speech.

That alone was worth all this effort. After all, Shadow Milk had plenty of questions to ask it.

He plants his hands on the ground, drawing power from the moon tentatively like unspooling a thread. It starts to spill in quicker, wilder, and he makes sure to remain calm as it seems to buzz and writhe through him, focusing on redirecting it into the magic circle. It begins to glow a cold white, and Shadow Milk feels his dough prickling like it is being watched, that familiar presence growing heavier around him like a blanket. He bites down on his excited smile.

Don't worry. Just a little bit more, and we'll finally meet.

Shadow Milk's hands twitch with the force of the magic coursing through him, and he watches out of the corner of his eye as the shadows in the room seem to congeal, growing thicker and pooling out of their hiding spots. They eat away at the magic circle, closing in on Shadow Milk swiftly, and he welcomes them as they eagerly swallow the circle, the floor, the walls, the room, everything.

What happens next is difficult to describe. He doesn't feel the ground fall out from under him, he just realises it is no longer there. It is so dark that it makes no difference if his eyes are open or closed, and they don't seem to adjust no matter how many times he blinks. It only makes the surrounding darkness begin to squirm in strange patterns, as if alive. He suddenly feels strange and cold.

But most importantly, he feels like he is submerged in those restless emotions, his every move weighted like he is underwater. They nearly choke him, stronger than he has ever felt before, and delight bursts in his chest in jarring contrast, thrilled that the spell seems to have worked.

"Hello?" He calls out, his voice echoing in a way that makes his ears ring. For a moment that feels like forever, there is nothing but a deafening silence around to greet him.

And then, he is attacked with blinding light.

Shadow Milk rears back as much as he can manage, instinctively shutting his eyes at the assault, and raises a hand to shield them when he immediately tries to open them again, curious of the source. Squinting past the shade of his palm, he finds dozens of white suns glaring down at him, their light doing nothing to penetrate the overwhelming black of the void.

"How are you here?" A voice calls back, hoarse and whispery and frantic, as if it had never been used before, and Shadow Milk's breath catches.

Upon closer inspection, the suns surrounding him are actually the pupils of a dozen huge eyes, bearing down on him with wide-eyed focus from all sides. Shadow Milk soaks in the attention, joy bubbling nauseatingly in his stomach like soda, his mind running so fast that his thoughts become incomprehensible.

"Who are you?" He asks, the question almost bursting right out of his chest with how suddenly it comes. He can't quite look at the eyes directly, with how blindingly bright they are, but he does his best to hedge in quick glances.

There isn't a response, not from the voice or the eyes, but that doesn't deter him. Now Shadow Milk has unshakeable proof that the being is here, capable of conversation, he doesn't need any more encouragement to keep going.

"I'm Shadow Milk Cookie, though you must know that already." He introduces himself with a polite nod of his head, somewhat entertained by the thought of his eldritch companion being shy. When that doesn't garner any meaningful result, he tacks on, lightheartedly, "Isn't it a bit rude to not introduce yourself back?"

The eyes blink at him, the syncopated movement rippling through the nothingness.

"...There is nothing to introduce." The voice replies reluctantly, though it sounds more stable than before, slightly stronger as it curls around him. "I don't have a name anymore."

"You must have a name," Shadow Milk urges with a creeping smile, "or at least something I can call you."

There is another stretch of silence, long enough that Shadow Milk is forced to reconsider his approach, before it is graciously broken by his companion, who must have come to some kind of conclusion.

"You can call me the Beast of Deceit, if you must call me at all." The Beast offers, and if Shadow Milk's attention hadn't already been fully devoted to it, that certainly would have done the trick. "That is all anyone calls me now."

"The Beast of Deceit." Shadow Milk repeats the syllables carefully, tasting them as he brings a hand up to the warm pulse of his Soul Jam. Something clicks pleasantly in his mind, like a perfect solution to an equation that has been bothering him. "Then you're almost like my other half, aren't you? Since Truth and Deceit are direct opposites." The thought is nice enough, he supposes, but more than that, it is intriguing. "Is that why you've been watching me?"

This must be the wrong thing to ask, because the Beast skates past his question entirely, eyes squinting as if pained. "You shouldn't be here."

"And yet, here I am. It took quite a lot of work for me to get here too, so you'll understand that I'm not in a hurry to leave." Shadow Milk explains amicably, hoping that if he was clear with his intentions, the Beast might entertain a more fruitful conversation. He pauses, looking around at the surrounding infinity. "Where is here, anyway?"

"Nowhere you would want to be." The Beast says cryptically, its voice slowly moving, collecting somewhere in front of him. It's a bit disorienting.

"...You aren't very good at holding a conversation, are you?" Shadow Milk sighs, not unkindly but certainly with growing frustration. Still, he has considered this possibility before, of his unknown companion being uncooperative, so he tries again. "Isn't it unfair for you to not answer any of my questions, after following me around for so long? I think I deserve an explanation, at least."

"I have no explanation to give." The Beast's tone is flat. It's… a disappointing response, frankly, but Shadow Milk smiles through it.

"But you can't deny that you are the one who has been following me." He counters, his voice light and pleasant so it doesn't come across too heavily as an accusation. "Your emotions are very palpable, so your presence isn't subtle. There is no mistaking it."

The coiling thickness of those emotions seem to shift around Shadow Milk now, almost self-consciously, but they do not lighten. Such strong negative feelings - he is fascinated by them, the researcher in him wanting to know what exactly could cause them.

The Beast sighs as if it is carrying the weight of the world on its shoulders, and the sound finally settles in front of him entirely as some of the eyes slide closed. The clashing light and dark begins to morph before him, a faint silhouette forming and rising out of the nothingness.

Shadow Milk watches, enraptured, as the shape of a Cookie emerges, dripping with the void itself. He looks battered, wrapped in dishevelled black robes with equally dishevelled dull hair. It is covered by a dark hat shaped like a crown, with what must be his Soul Jam set in the middle, its blue the only splash of colour to be seen. His eyes are covered in a thick black blindfold, and he holds a staff protectively in front of himself with both hands, eerily similar in style to the one Shadow Milk left outside of the magic circle, if not for the vertically oriented eye.

All in all, he does not look intimidating. If anything, he looks like a chess piece.

"I apologise for that, then. I wasn't aware my presence would disturb you so much." The Beast mutters, as if he would prefer not to be speaking, his form not quite fully formed. "But you shouldn't be here. Please leave."

"You don't look like much of a beast to me." Shadow Milk comments warmly, extending the friendly compliment in the hopes of distracting the Beast from his complete lack of intention to leave. Even so, his words are genuine. "That title doesn't fit you at all."

The Beast frowns, ducking his head lower. "Don't act so familiar with me. I am called the Beast of Deceit for a reason." He hisses, but it holds no malice, only tiredness. Then, after a beat, he repeats, firmer than before. "Please leave."

The title really doesn't suit him, though. Shadow Milk ponders this for a moment, before mentally renaming him as the King instead. A poor excuse for a king, perhaps, but that still felt far more appropriate than a beast.

"...Will you really not tell me anything?" Shadow Milk asks finally, growing more subdued. "You must know, since you have been following me, that I have worked hard to be able to contact you like this."

"I have nothing to tell, I have already told you that." The King reminds him quietly, unimpressed, turning his head away. "I apologise for your wasted time, but it was unnecessary to begin with." Then, after a beat, he repeats, an attempt at a lacklustre command. "Please leave."

Shadow Milk hums under his breath, pondering this too. This isn't going exactly how he had hoped, that is true, but to call his time wasted is completely incorrect. On the contrary, all this encounter has done is make his curiosity peak, even more invested in this mystery than he was before.

Maybe it was for the best that the King refused to tell him anything. Thinking about it now, wouldn't that have been too simple? It is more fun to unravel some things himself, and Shadow Milk is certainly capable of uncovering the truth behind this odd apparition.

It is his virtue, after all.

"...Alright." Shadow Milk nods, taking one last lingering look at the King, before closing his eyes. "If you insist, I'll leave."

The King doesn't reply. That's fine. Shadow Milk focuses on searching himself internally for the tether to his physical body, for the anchor that is the magic circle. Since this is his first time casting this spell, and the way the magic twists is unfamiliar, it admittedly takes him a moment to get a hold of it, but he does.

Concentrating on that anchor, he calls himself back to his body.

Much like leaving, returning is just as hard to describe. There is no jolt, or impact. Everything simply returns – his senses, the floor beneath him, the sound of the wind outside the window – from one moment to the next. He shudders as he gets reacquainted with his body, or rather, his body gets reacquainted with him.

The chaos of those negative emotions are awfully thick in the air, squeezing around him tightly like they hope to crumble him. Shadow Milk relaxes into it, releasing his grip on the flow of magic and the spell itself, and opens his eyes.

There, in front of him, the King is suspended in the air above the outer edge of the circle, unmoving. His form flickers, translucent and blurring at the edges. Slowly, unnervingly slowly like he doesn't know how to use it properly, he turns his head.

"...What is this?" The King whispers, the words almost dissolving into the ambient noise, his grip on his staff visibly tightening.

"The spell I used to make contact with you forged a connection between us." Shadow Milk says patiently, making sure his expression is open and welcoming, the same one he uses when introducing himself to new students. "If my presence could be projected to wherever we were previously, then naturally your presence can be projected here too. It's only fair, since you were watching me anyway, weren't you?"

Shadow Milk rises to his feet, brushing dust off his robes with both hands. The King says nothing, but he can practically feel the frown directed at him.

"I understand if you don't want to tell me anything. That's okay!" Shadow Milk assures, lifting his gaze back to that blindfold, that staff, that Soul Jam, near identical to his own. His curiosity burns.

"You don't have to tell me," he smiles like a promise, "I'll find out for myself."

[taptrial2]

funny my special au thing

[knightscanfeeltoo]

Bridget: Hey Roger, meet my New Friend, Boba Fett! Say Hi, Mr. Fett! Boba: Oh, er... Hello.

(I'm sorry if its Hard to see Bridge's Expression and I was gonna have some IG-88 or 11 shaking Roger's Hand but OF FRICKING COURSE there is No Model of the Droid in SFM Workshop so Boba shakes them instead...)

[narliearchive]

a very special day by bishyreadytocry [M]

In which the boys head home for Christmas, Sarah sees right through them, and the dogs are just happy to have their humans’ home.

I'll Be Home for Christmas by raanne [T]

Newly single Nicholas Nelson is not looking forward to spending the holidays alone. Three years past his divorce, Charlie Spring is not looking forward to spending the holidays with his family.

It's Gonna Be…At Christmas by PhoenixSpring [M]

5 Christmases with Nick and Charlie navigating life, their relationship and making decisions, together, about their future. Plus the 1 Christmas where Nick and Charlie aren't completely in control of how things are going to progress, they just have to be patient and trust everything will be OK.

snowman biscuits by CamilleLeo [T]

Set a few weeks after Charlie comes home from the in-patient facility. It's Christmas day and Nick finds Charlie on his doorstep. A Christmas story about recovery and found family.

somewhere else, just like magic by thetomkatwholived [G]

Charlie focused on the man Michael was talking to, immediately drawing in a sharp breath. Tori looked up in surprise, but Charlie couldn’t pull his eyes from Michael’s conversation partner. He was tall, almost the same height as Michael, but much broader with strong shoulders and arms that strained at the fabric that encased them. His hair was somewhere between blonde and red, artfully flopping on his head. And he had a special smile, the kind of smile that made Charlie wonder if every other smile in the world has just been trying to recreate this softness and beauty. This man was lovely; no other word felt right. Or, Charlie’s life falls apart so he escapes to a small town up north. And he may just find a better life up there than the one he had in the big city.

[journey-to-the-attic]

That's cute ???

The brothers deciding to move closer to IK and for whatever reason IK and her father moved to an apartment so the 7 brothers all rent there own apartments around IK (Possibly they all take an entire floor).

for the jtta equivalent of om s3 (where the brothers come to the human world) they just all move into one apartment building. NO big mansion for you brothers, you get a shitty landlord like the REST of us

(actually for real i think the brothers' feud with a strict landlord that has NO patience for them has so much comedic potential. just trying to fuck with him with the subtlest magic traps possible so they don't get in trouble. lucifer actually joins in because he hates the landlord as much as the rest of them)

the brothers are constantly causing trouble and all the other residents of the apartment building hate them <3

[newtness532]

caramel-chocolate biscuits !

[crehador]

brother crab's summer 2024 parting thoughts: a bunch of stuff

i've been falling behind on jotting down my thoughts this season and if i don't do it fast i am 100% going to forget what i watched lol so here's a bunch at once

tasuuketsu:

YEAH. GOOD. PLEASE. LET IT BE OVER

unfortunately this isn't actually over but you know what it is? bad. it's bad. worst death game series in A While. there are some... maybe? faintly compelling ideas here? but the execution is just a mess. the cast lured me in but i should have been more discerning umu

what's worrying to me is it feels like it could have ended in ep9 but then propelled itself straight into an incredibly unnecessary second arc (i mean in fall fairness the first nine episodes were also unnecessary) and there's still no episode count on anilist. i pretty much never drop anything but if this somehow ends up being two cour i might bounce

it's so so so rare for me to not have something good to say about a series but... yeah. not good

boku no tsuma wa kanjou ga nai:

if i turn my brain off this is a pretty cute, funny, and fun show! i had my reservations at first but after a few episodes wound up enjoying it quite a bit

if i think about it even a little it becomes completely frustrating to me that this show doesn't get deeper into the psychological and moral aspects that could have been explored here, which isn't fair to the show because that's not really what it set out to be

to its credit, it does kind of get into that sort of thing. not too deep, but in ways that were reasonably satisfying to me. i guess my mehness comes from the fact that this premise would have been more interesting to me if it had been played as a psychological/existential horror instead of a romcom, but again that is not the fault of the show itself, it can be whatever it wants to be

and seriously, decent romcom! mamoru is especially adorable. just leave your brain at the door

shikanoko nokonoko koshitantan:

i will admit that no episode of this was as gut-bustingly hilarious as the first episode to me, like it came out the gate strong and maybe floundered a bit along the way

but overall i still enjoyed it immensely! i'm a fan of surreal, absurdist humor, and while i wouldn't say this is one of the best in the genre (there are definitely better) it was a fun ride

the girls were great and i'm also a huge fan of a) narrators who get to be funny little assholes too and b) toriumi kousuke so the narrator here was a double win for me

[so-much-for-subtlety]

the world if we all had cats

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: The Intermission (p. 1154-1357)

Read the previous post here.

Apologies for the late post. Work has genuinely been kicking my ass. But now it's time to read the Midnight Crew Intermission. You either really love or really hate this section of the story. I've always been a fan, so I'm looking forward to going through it.

The Intermission is more in-line with the spirit of Problem Sleuth than the rest of Homestuck. Hussie is returning to the old adventure game format and jokes, like this one where interacting with one item transforms it into a completely different item.

Despite being a bloodthirsty mobster, Slick is quite prone to acts of silliness when dictated by the reader commands.

I like how the digital clock on Slick's own computer counts as one of the clocks in the Felt's mansion.

I love the Felt. They're like a lineup of Dick Tracy goons. I also appreciate how this page gives subtle hints about what each of their powers are.

There are a number of times where a command to switch the POV to one character instead goes to a different character. I'm not sure if there's any logic here, or if Hussie is just being needlessly confusing in an already very elaborate part of the comic. My gut says the latter.

Doze without a doubt has the worst power out of all the Felt. It's only useful in this specific use case where he's resistant to interrogation, but that wouldn't even be needed if he wasn't getting captured all the time.

You know, "WARdrobe" was right there. I know Slick's inventory is already called the "War Chest", but is there even a pun there? Why not call it a "Battle Chest" like Battle Chess? They're living chess pieces. Come on.

Super speed is such a high tier power, yet Itchy is felled with no effort. It's kinda funny how most of the Felt have these incredible powers and could easily trounce the MC if not for the fact that they seem to collectively share one brain cell.

It makes me wonder if the MC and Felt's rivalry had only consisted of harmless cartoon antics up to this point. And it's only after the Felt "knocked over" one of Slick's favorite casinos that MC decided to escalate to murder. I'd compare it to how the '60s Batman TV show was campy slapstick, but modern Batman media has since transitioned to being much grittier and more violent.

I need a version of this comic page with Clover being shocked about Slick killing his friends.

Unlike the previous carapacians we've seen (WV, PM, AR), Slick has five fingers instead of four. I think he, Droog, and the Queens are the only ones with five fingers.

Meanwhile Deuce only has three chunky fingers. I'm not sure what the deal with that is.

A lot of people like to infantilize Deuce in the same way they do to WV. Here's a reminder that he reads erotic magazines just like the other Crew members.

See what I mean? He is a grown ass man, people.

Trace is my favorite Felt member. I like his goofy underbite and the way his coat collar makes it look like he has a shark fin on his head. His power of seeing and interacting with people in the past is also pretty cool, even if it gives him away as soon as he starts messing with them.

It's a nice detail including Deuce in the panel since Droog had alerted him to where Trace will be at this point in the future.

I love this panel. I believe Hussie just grabbed that image of the cane without realizing what it was until this point.

It's telling that the only timeline where Slick is dead is one where he died before he was able to rebuild society.

This might be a contender for the horniest page in all of Homestuck.

Biscuits has no special powers or anything, he just wants to be included. I love that.

Fin, despite having the power to see what others do in the future, was unable to react to Droog smacking him with the cue stick and getting pumped with bullets. Again, these guys are all morons.

Remember when this was the only clue we had about Lord English's appearance and everyone thought he was going to be some tall, rail-thin Tumblr Sexyman? Good times.

I'm a fan of this detached method of writing how the characters talk to each other. There's a lot of personality being conveyed in what they're saying even though none of it is being presented as dialogue. Unironically it feels more natural to read than the standard dialogue box format.

Snowman can do whatever the hell she wants and all anyone else can do is just watch. The benefits of having your lifespan inextricably linked to that of the universe.

Also, I don't think it needs to be said, but "Three in the Morning" is a god tier track.

Nearly every mention of Sawbuck comes with a jab about his weight. Don't come at me with asks saying that it's just Slick being an asshole. We all know whose "voice" this really is. (Hint: It's the guy with all the fat jokes on his Formspring).

I wonder how many people remember that Slick is a canon zoophile.

Slick's "rapier wit" strikes again!

A strong contender for most gruesome death in all of Homestuck.

So does this mean that it's set to go off a few seconds after the point Biscuits would exit the oven? If the oven behaves normally and Biscuits is just sitting in there until the timer goes off, that must be the case. The wording is very awkward though.

Cans's ability to punch people into the future might make him the most powerful of all the Felt. No wonder the MC was hoping he wouldn't show up.

I like that the detail about the shopping trip is included.

It's noteworthy that this early look at Karkat's room doesn't look anything at all like how it appears when he's properly introduced. Also, this is the sole appearance of Crabsprite, which stings a bit since we don't ever get a proper glimpse of what Karkat's relationship with his lusus is like.

This was a fun little diversion. Not a lot to talk about here other than how much I enjoyed a lot of these gags. I kind of wish that Hussie expanded upon this and made a whole adventure with these guys detached from Homestuck. It would've made for a nice follow-up to Problem Sleuth, something more true to that story's tone and humor.

But that would never come to pass, unfortunately. Now it's back to business as usual. Act 4 awaits.

Read the next post here.

[karinasbaby]

HAHAHA SOSNDJNES MY OFFICIAL NAME?? i’ll take it. yours is definitely my pookie wookiee cutie patootie <3 because you’re my lil baby angel

our relationship IS so perfect. just as you are. i also love love suddenly. wonder why that is. AND YES PLS SPAM TF OUTTA ME I WANT MY PHONE TO VIBRATE OFF THE TABLE

NOOO WDYM ITS GONNA BE CRAZY? don’t say that. please. (STOP UR PREMATURE TOO?? we were fated, like)

my last exam is on monday! but i have a presentation on tuesday and a assignment due on tuesday BUT! monday

(it’s so funny because i planned to do the assignment in the bus yesterday but i ended up writing the brat tamer drabbles which is my own fault but)

oh it’s is absolutely your official name my honey bun sugar pie schnookums teddy bear chocolate cookie swirl pudding biscuit. and “my lil baby angel” my soul ascended to the 7th heaven and came back btw but we ball.

STOP FLRITING WITH MEEEELENDLSH “just as u are” GET OUT. ENOUGH. out here making me kick my feet in the air and hide my face under the blanket who do u think u are 😒😒😒😒😒 (don’t answer that.) but anywho i shall be spamming the living hell out of u after this just let me get on ig and bro 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

(WE REALLY ARE FATED IN THIS SHIT BRO LIKE YOURE PREMATURE IM PREMATURE YOURE A HEE STAN IM A HEE STAN WHATS NEXT⁉️⁉️⁉️) fate but not sponsored by enha 😁☝️ but AYYEEEEE LAST EXAM ON MONDAY LETS GOOOO 🤾🤾(tuesday doesn’t exist for me) (WHY DIDNT U WORK ON UR ASSIGNMENT >:( also u posting that is like so ridiculous to me lmfao bcs u have NO clue how terrified i am of ur account rn. i’m avoiding that brat tamer work so bad rn bcs i know im gonna die. im so gonna die. for sure gonna die.)

[eesttm]

S15E09 outtake

[taptrial2]

me and @schnuffel-danny 's little experiment vlads are now best friends (true) (real)

[jula483]

Link through Rhett's lens

(x)