#storys from the coffee shop

[jeeklaart]

I have encountered the worst rizz of my life

"Heyyy what are you doing?"

"Just drawing for fun"

"that's not fun"

mY DUDE!?

[shouyuus]

"dance with me." "i don't -- i don't dance." "c'mon, just try." "i... i don't know how." "trust me and just let your body... move." // there's beauty in this too, beauty in this brutality. can't you see it? this art i've made of my body, this love i've written into my blood, my bones -- for you. // "hey. have you ever fallen in love?" "sure. once." "yeah? and then what happened?" "i dunno... the story's still ongoing, isn't it?" // in which a boxer and a ballet dancer fall in love // "touch her? trust me, buddy, you're not ready for the damage i could do."

𖥔 ultraviolet 𖥔 // rain x vi selfship

[e-louise-bates]

Trying to figure out if I hate my Inklings story because:

A) it seemed like a good story in my head but it's rubbish on paper

B) it's a good story but it needs way more time to mellow and would need to be written over a much longer period of time than what I have, and therefore is simply the wrong story for this challenge

C) I thought up too many details about the story before I started writing it and now it's boring and flat because there's not enough left to discover while I write

D) I am having a bad writing day

Solution: leave it for the rest of today and poke at it some more tomorrow to see if I can figure it out.

[girl-drink-drunk]

putting the horror couples who didn't survive together in the coffee shop au so they can be happy and safe

[sparklingwatermelo]

Jegulily!!!

“I listen to god when he speaks to me.”

“Wise woman.” The man says turning his attention away from James and regulus and looking at her with approval, the spiteful anger in his eyes receeding slightly. “And what does he tell you?”

“Usually he tells me to form an army.” She smiles sweetly. “Five thousand women strong. And to go round and gut all men…and leave their entrails as offerings.”

The mans mouth drops open, he stares at her in complete and utter shock. Regulus is smirking, James is attempting (and failing) to stifle his laughter.

“You-you…will go to hell! You w-won’t be laughing when you’re burning for all eternity!” The man stutters backing away then turning heel, practically sprinting away from them.

“I look forward to it! I’ve never been a fan of the cold!” She shouts after him.

James stops all attempts at restraining his laughter, doubling over, his body shaking as he gasps for air through the giggles.

“Lily Rosalie Evans. You are a mother fucking marvel.” Regulus says his smirk turning into a full grin, almost wolfish.

“I know.” She winks at him, pleased when a gorgeous soft blush paints his cheeks. “doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear it though.”

“I-I can’t.” James is still laughing his head off looking as if he can no longer breathe and yet he’s still trying to speak. “Entrails as-as offerings!” Then he laughs even harder.

Regulus shakes his head in exasperation. “You broke James.”

“Clearly.” She chuckles fondly, and leans back into regulus’s chest, he wraps his arms around her waist and leans his chin atop her head. She breathes him in, he smells like lavender and the fancy oil paints he favours for his canvases.

Eventually their boyfriend calms down enough to function normally again. “Me and Reg are exempt from having our entrails offered…right?” The trademark lopsided james potter grin on his face, dimples on full display in a way that makes her want to kiss him senseless.

“Sure.” She reaches out and pats James’s cheek softly. “My favourite boys get a free pass. I won’t be gutting either of you.”

“Is it bad that I kinda want you to?” He sighs, closing his eyes. “I think I would enjoy it if you gutted me.”

“Masochist.” Regulus mutters, Lily can practically feel him rolling his eyes.

“That would kill you james.” She shakes her head in exasperation, tucking a lock of messy hair behind his ear. “Then what would we do.”

“I don’t know. But it would be a lovely way to die.”

“Reg is right. You are a masochist.”

James’s opens his doe eyes looking at them both in adoration. “Maybe. But you two still love me anyway.”

“Unfortunately.” Regulus says, though his voice is soft.

“Very much so.” Lily leans forward placing a gentle kiss on his lips. James smiles so wide and bright she is surprised is face doesn’t split clean in two. “Now come on let’s get out of here.”

“We can go back to my place.” Reg offers. “It’s closest.”

James hums in agreement. “We can watch a movie or something, I’m pretty sure there’s a shop somewhere here, we can get sweets! Oh and popcorn, the toffee one.”

“Or wine and cheese. I can make a charcuterie board.” Regulus suggests with a pointed look.

She smiles fondly, Regulus has never been a sweet tooth, compared to James who would happily consume sugar and only sugar for the rest of his life.

“You’re so fancy love. To fancy for us mere peasants.” James declares dramatically.

Reg rolls his eyes and huffs in response. “Either way we should go now it’s getting late.”

“Mm hm.” Lily hums, straightening up, immediately missing the warmth of regulus’s body and the weight of his hands wrapped around her. “Let’s go.”

Regulus pushes himself off the wall, dusting himself off. Lily smiles, he looks very fancy even when he’s wearing casual clothes the way regulus holds himself shows he’s posh down to his bones. “You are very fancy.” She concedes leaving no room for argument.

Reg sighs in defeat. “Fine. I am… a little bit fancy.”

James throws his head back and laughs brightly, eyes shining and Regulus blushes again, while Lily smirks at their antics. “The fanciest.” James says still grinning as he takes both of their arms and begins to pull them down the street. In the direction of Reg’s flat.

[inkmaze]

did this local queer tattoo artist flirt w me or are they being friendly...

[butchvamp]

this is a long video but it popped up on my feed and i thought it was quite interesting, (she shares some videos in the description too i want to link directly: a shorter video/tiktok summarizing the topic, and another tiktok stitched in response that digs in a little deeper) and is kinda relevant with some of the things i've been talking about with DA, though this discussion is specific to monster romance + "cozy" fantasy and how a lot of these stories use d&d or tolkien as the foundation of their worldbuilding with little thought and without understanding the harmful, racist stereotypes it perpetuates..... and of course these are just prevalent tropes across the fantasy genre as a whole, whether inspired by d&d and tolkien or otherwise (as we've seen in DA). i really like the quote from the substack article she links by Michael LaBron, i feel like it makes it very obvious how these depictions are directly connected: "In the same way that Orcs create a boogy man that justify the hero's violence, sexy Orcs create a monster that the damsel in distress doesn’t actually have to be afraid of."

the other article i shared previously really expanded the first half of that quote with the "civilization versus savages" binary that we see with a lot of fantasy races (orcs, goblins, drow, and qunari in dragon age) but i think this half of the discussion is important to have as well so i just wanted to share. here is the article by Michael LaBron:

and here is this article again too that i shared when talking about dragon age earlier, by Daniel Heath Justice:

i love fantasy, it's my favorite genre, it's what i personally write for myself, and i think learning about and discussing the flaws within the genre are an important and integral part of enjoying it, too, which is why i've been discussing it so much with veilguard, and i wanted to share more examples as this discussion has become relevant in a lot of spaces right now outside of just gaming/RPGs/TTRPGs.

[heatwa-ves]

maybe I'm just being a hater but I really dont like a lot of alien stage aus and I don't like requited ivantill. the point of it is the tragedy and the point is that ivantill is unrequited and putting them in flat situations where they're a happy couple undermines everything that matters about their relationship

[captainclickycat]

Asking because I get why the term is broadly applied, but to me there’s still something amusing about the way it gets used for anything from like “people who got off on the wrong foot and were mildly standoffish towards each other when they first met” to “what if Batman and the Joker fucked nasty” when these are very much not the same thing.

[mifithemuffin]

aus where the core message stays true to canon but it's written in a very funky font you are so dear to me

[approvedtrash]

always finding you

"Please..." His voice cracked as his fingers ghosted across my wrist.

"Please what? It doesn't change anything. You're not changing your mind," I said. Tears streamed down my cheeks while I looked anywhere but at him.

"It's not because I don't want to. I would do ANYTHING to kiss you right now, but I can't. I'm not - you don't deserve to have your heart broken again," he said between gritted teeth.

Shaking my head, "Why do you get to decide that? How do you know this isn't what I want?"

He moved closer to me now. His chest was against my back as his hands found mine and wrapped our arms around my torso. His lips were next to my ear as I leaned into his warmth.

"Because you know, this isn't going to fix anything. You're still going to go back to him because it's the right thing to do, and I'm not going to be here forever," he whispered.

My body shuddered at his words, "It's not fair. Why can't I have you?"

He huffed out a breath almost like a snicker, "I would turn your world upside down."

"Maybe in the best ways though," I replied. I tried turning around to face him again but he wouldn't budge.

"if I look at you again, I won't be able to control myself. I'll steal you away from him without a second thought," he said almost like a promise.

I gulped, "What if that is exactly why -"

I couldn't get the words out fast enough. I heard my name being called. My duty to go back and be with someone I didn't love. My body started to shake as I knew my reality was getting closer.

"You be brave, my darling Starshine. I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures," he said. His voice shaking as he knew his time was coming to an end here.

"Please don't -" but my words shattered on my tongue as the white light shone brighter and his warmth was gone. He had gone back to his own time. He had left me to tend to my own world just as my fiance rounded the corner with relief in his eyes.

__________________________________________________________

Walking through the busy streets in a new city always had my head spinning. How did everyone know where to go? Even with my maps telling me where to turn, my navigation was off. I had decided to duck into a coffee shop. Earning myself a delicious latte as I got my bearings again.

"Is anyone sitting here?" I heard someone ask.

Still looking at my phone I shook my head, "No and I won't be here long so you won't be bothered with-"

My words got stuck in my throat. I had finally looked up into familiar eyes. Losing my thoughts in the process.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" He asked.

Licking his bottom lip as he studied me. Not in a creepy way but in a way that had my brain short-circuiting. I took him in as well, that voice.

Struggling to get words out I finally replied, "No I'm new in town."

He hummed at my response and pulled out a book. One of those fantasy novels I kept hearing about. Maybe I'd get to read some once I settled in.

"Are those books good?" I asked, wanting to keep the conversation going.

He nodded, "They're my favorite. They've got a wonderfully beautiful heroin that I can't get out of my head."

"That sounds right up my alley," I said taking a sip of my coffee.

"I think you'd really like her, she has the same - Nevermind," he said, shaking his head.

I eyed him curiously, "The same? What were you going to say?"

"You'll have to read them and find out," he said and whispered my name.

I hadn't told him my name and it wasn't on my coffee cup. Just like that, the darkness surrounding my day filled with a wonderful and joyous light. A light that felt familiar and safe.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

i’m spending my sunday evening going through my google drive, saving everything to my external hard drive (don’t @ me i should’ve done this ages ago), and deleting it from the internet, and hoooo boy am i already having A Time™

[kanerallels]

bessxhenry and i must know how you'd coffee shop them. (also have you written any other fic for them???)

Oh you have no idea how many different ideas I just cycled through before finally landing on this one I'm still not totally sold on it but I feel like I'm never totally happy with the M Sec stuff I write. I feel like I have a hard time getting Bess's voice right

But in answer to your question yes! I have! I wrote one Christmas drabble for them last year, and I have an unpublished fic about them and Stevie where I basically went "what if they interacted with one of my blorbos?" and didn't wait for an answer. Anyways, without further ado! My much longer than planned ficlet, beneath the cut

The clatter of pans in the background tugged Elizabeth’s attention away from the paper she was writing for what had to be the hundredth time, and she winced. Usually, this off the beaten track coffee shop was less busy at this time of day, leaving her in peace to finish her schoolwork.

But today, it was packed. Every table was full, and there was a long line stretching back from the counter. Things weren’t going to be getting any more peaceful any time soon.

Closing her laptop, she slid it into her bag. It was probably time to head back to her dorm room and see if she could get anything done there. The day had been enough of a loss already.

She grabbed her cup of coffee, which had long since gone cold, and moved to her feet. Elizabeth took one step towards the trash can— and immediately crashed into one of the other customers.

The coffee slipped from her hand, splashing across the front of the man’s shirt, and Elizabeth let out an involuntary gasp. “Oh my— I’m so sorry!”

Hastily, she grabbed some of the paper napkins from her table, apologizing as she did so. “I didn’t see you coming— it’s so crowded in here and loud and I was just leaving—”

“It’s okay,” the man assured her, offering her a smile as he accepted the napkins from her. Despite herself, Elizabeth found herself giving him a quick onceover. With dark hair and warm brown eyes that reflected his friendly smile, he was… definitely not unattractive. 

“It was my fault, anyways— I was distracted, wasn’t looking where I was going,” he continued apologetically. “The least I can do is buy you a new coffee.”

That made Elizabeth’s eyebrow shoot up. “I’m the one who dumped a drink all over you. If anything, I should be offering to buy your coffee.”

“Well, if you’re offering,” the man said with a half-grin. “But it’s not exactly good manners to tell someone to buy you a coffee. This gets the job done a lot better.”

Oh, so that’s what’s going on. Giving him a polite smile that, with any luck, communicated a polite disinterest, Elizabeth said, “I was actually just on my way out, I have some studying to do. I appreciate the offer, though.”

He accepted that with a nod. “Sure. You’re at UVA, too, right?”

“I am,” Elizabeth said, and the man smiled.

“Thought I recognized you. I’m Henry.”

“Elizabeth,” she said, casting a quick glance towards the door. Henry seemed to get the point.

“Maybe I’ll see you around, Elizabeth,” he said, giving her a final easy smile before joining the line for coffee. 

Despite her insistence that she had to leave, Elizabeth lingered just another second to watch him chat with the cashier, wearing that smile, warm as the sun. Interesting, she thought, and almost found herself hoping they did meet again.

However, it was unlikely— she had school to focus on, not a social life. And she wasn’t about to keep pining away for a boy she’d just met that day.

She headed for the door, and had almost made it to the door when she shot a last look over her shoulder. To her surprise, Henry met her eyes, and lifted his coffee towards her in a quick salute. Sending him a quick smile and a nod, Elizabeth pushed open the door. Focus, she scolded herself. She had work ahead of her that was bigger than some boy with a nice smile.

[mafiatsunafish]

Guanyu owns a quaint but also very popular coffee shop that tend to give out small gifts for the local university near by and George is a business student who can’t cook to safe his life from the very same uni 

They are neighbors and have diner together  

(Toto is the business professor and a regular at the coffee shop)  

[maximus-gluteus]

nothing to see here

[freebooter4ever]

You know what the best part about yesterday's adventure was? Even though it absolutely was an exclusive thing not available to the public - and a bunch of people on my insta are coming out of the woodwork like 'how did YOU get a tour with the LEGEND? (disbelief heavily implied)' - the vibe of the entire day was a group of friends chatting and joking and remarking on the history of the place we were visiting. And it wasnt a one time thing, we all volunteer together, im going to see them again on monday. And its just FUN! ^_^ i love it!