#that's the motto for this year tbh

[citrijp]

anything can be tropical if you're not a coward

[keezybees]

HOW DO YOU DRAW SO FAST OMGGGG

I worked really hard on it tbh haha. A few years back I went through a long period of intense perfectionism where I slowed down to a crawl (like five comic pages in 4 months). I finally decided that that wasn't working for me, and so I started implementing my motto: shitty is better than incomplete!

Basically it's about the idea that it's more important to me to get the ideas and stories out there than it is for them to be perfect. I have a lot of stories I want to tell, and there's only so much time for me to tell them. It helps to remind myself of this as much as possible!

As for technical tricks, I do a few things that really help:

Draw a lot! Practice is truly one of the number one ways to improve speed, as annoying as it is to accept

I don't zoom in too far

I only use 1 brush at 1-2 sizes for inking (outside of specialized stuff like stippling)

I put hard limits on a lot of stuff--how much shading I do (if any), or what shape my comic panels are (only squares, no diagonals or weird shapes), for example

My characters (comic characters especially) all have pretty simple designs and outfits

I write down every idea for an illustration that I have, even if I'm not ready to tackle it yet. That way when I have a chance to sit down, I've got a whole list ready to go and I'm not waffling around in the concept stage

Finally, I've learned to accept my imperfections as a neat part of my art! It's not easy, and I slip back into bad habits sometimes, but I try my best to see every misplaced mark or color that bleeds outside the line as proof that a human hand made this. I don't spend a lot of time correcting mistakes or painstakingly trying not to make them.

Here's an example from Hello Sunshine, where if looks fine from far away, but if you zoom in a bunch, you can see all kinds of little "mistakes." gaps in the ink and color, the line of Alex's ear doesn't match up, very sketchy linework where their faces meet, haha.

But then when you zoom out even a little bit, you a) don't notice those things nearly as much, and b) I think it gives it a kind of traditional charm. Just because you CAN use ctrl-z doesn't mean you HAVE to.

Anyway I hope that helps!!

[whitebluewhitefem]

Started my first punk leather jacket DIY!

I've had this jacket for years but didn't do anything with it because I was too insecure about my clothes modification skills lol. Oh well, you gotta start somewhere.

The paint got weird when I used the fixative spray, so there's a white halo around the Venus symbol now, but I think it just makes it more punk tbh.

The drawing is a reference to S.C.U.M. the band, I learned about them from another radfem on this hellsite <3

Any ideas on what other radical feminist mottos to put under the symbol? Doesn't have to be a reference to anything, but there's still space, and I'd like to show what I stand for. Tips on DIY, studding, and painting on leather are also appreciated \m/

[strawberryseeded]

thinking abt bllk (no surprise there) and how (at least until now) all (well, most of?) the characters backstories aka basically the reason for their most prominent issues are, instead of extremely tragic and complex events, simply children's logic applied to recurrent situations in their daily lives (and especially the sport they love):

bachira feels lonely: bachira was a weird and lonely kid who was also extremely passionate abt (and talented in) football, more than any other kid, making bachira feel isolated even when he was playing with others. this got even worse when the kids he played with started to resent him, calling him a "monster" and bullying him. while talking with his mom, she told him to keep believing in his inner voice and ignore those who dont understand him, resulting in bachira giving that voice the form of a "monster" that can play football with him to feel less lonely. which, obviously, made him even more lonely, even if it was an imaginary friend created to aliviate that feeling. because bachira still felt lonely, even after many years and even after playing with other people in school who werent any fun for him, he kept the monster by his side. believing no one could ever beat this monster (thank GODNESS he did 🎉!!! HE is the monster no one can beat!!!! his arc is one of my favs hes literally unstoppable now, i love him dude i love h)

isagi holds himself back too much: isagi (i read the light novel abt him hehe) was a timid and mild mannered kid until he discovered football, which he fell in love with. while playing the sport he could let go of his shyness and actually be selfish and go all out. uuuntil... he entered his high school's reputable football club, where the motto was to play as a team above everything else (a very anti-blue lock logic lol). isagi then, in an effort to accomodate to the social norms of the club (bc hes isagi, and off the field hes calmer and timider), had to simmer down in the field as well. supress himself. at times it seems like his on and off switch is kind of stuck.

barou has main character syndrome: barou was a very, on top of talented, meticulous kid and therefore the best in football out of every other kid he knew, who didnt take it as seriously and were more than happy to let him score all the goals. he didnt understand why they were satisfied with letting other people take all the glory, so he secluded himself, convinced that he was the only player that actually mattered on the field. the best. the Main Character. everyone else was completely worthless, their only use being to serve HIM. (until he got his ass kicked by isagi and became the villan instead of the main character, bc oh, shit, barou's not actually the main character???? then he'll hunt down & DESTROY the main character).

rin (god, rin) has a brother complex (i used to hate when ppl oversimplify whats wrong w him w this term but tbh it does boil down to this lol ToT): rin idolized his older brother like crazy and wanted to be just like him. bc he was also blessed with talent and also had a great relationship w sae, he had everything he needed to fulfill his dream of being the 2nd best striker, the 1st obviously being his older brother, who rin viewed as the best, most talented player in the world. when sae comes back from spain and tells him 'the world is big and im not actually the best, you go and be the best striker by yourself' (basically: our (your) dream is over), rin has a fucking breakdown. its not really a tragic, despair-inducing event, objectively speaking. but in the manga its framed as such bc for rin, in his childish logic, it is. bc his brother IS the BEST player, what the fuck do you mean hes not number 1 outside of japan?? ....then what about rin? if his brother cant be the best, rin cant be the 2nd best either, let alone the best. he feels like sae ruined everything, gave up, broke their (rin's) dream!!!! after sae humilliates him, rin directs all of his frustrations at him and bows to defeat him. as long as rin sees himself as sae's little brother, he's never gonna be able to surpass him, bc in rin's mind, sae is still the best, his talented big brother.

ness believes kaiser, not him, is the magician: ness's case is more serious bc his family was (is?) emotionally abusive towards him. basically, like every other kid, ness believed in magic. the concept of magic is exciting for children and gives them, in the form of play, the opportunity to express their creativity and exercise their imagination; work out a way to make the impossible come true. bc this is so important for their development, usually its the parents role to, at least to a certain degree, keep alive the belief that magic is real. ness's parents, on the contrary, shut down this belief bc it didnt match with their own views. they saw his interests as a waste of time, even letting his sibilings bully him and treat him badly to make him give up on them. ness, however, didnt, and instead found a more socially acceptable way to 'do magic' and express his creativity: football. he feared greatly, however, that football would be taken away from him, so in that faithful match in which he met kaiser he decided to put all of his trust and hard work on him, bc ness believed kaiser was the person who would be able to make the impossible, the magic that ness wanted to create, happen. i think the key to unlock his full potential is stop relying on kaiser so much and start believing in his own magic (kind of like what happened in hiori's arc). we have yet to know kaiser's backstory but i have a feeling those two enable each other's worst traits...

ETC !!!! sorry i got tired of writing lol

anyways these r just my interpretations of the characters feel free 2 b like "was is she ON about"

[the-moon-and-stars-4ever]

the marauders character ask!

- love the sun and the warmth and the summer (i shrivel up in winter)

- i DEVOUR books

- med student with the biggest case of imposter syndrome youve ever seen

- procrastinator!

- friends think im neurodivergent but therapist said tests say no (dunno how tbh)

- so so so in live with my beautiful gorgeous girlfriend (asked her to be my girlfriend after 5 weeks of dating)

- love being busy doing things all the time (i always have to much on my plate)

- i plan birthday gifts months in advance

- i play piano (not very well im afraid but i was classically trained for 7+ years)

- the BIGGEST case of baby fever i melt when i see babies and kids

- kinda messy there are always clothes on the floor and every other surface

- i have a lot of social anxiety and not a lot of friends and feel like people hate me often lol

- life mottos: it's not that deep + if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out

- despite that i care very very deeply

jamess <3

[outsidereveries]

game: deep dive into 25' | closed

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

i have rules that i won't violate, so everything is the same like the last 3 games:

i'm not doing personal requests and readings so my games are strictly towards famous people (influencers and locals included)

i still have the right to deny your request even in a game if something is wrong, they don't want to share to me or i cannot share, depends on how many requests happen to be rejected to ask or not approved to share, you'll be somehow informed

without further ado, some add-ons:

you can ask anonymously, you can ask public, i don't mind how

therefore if you like this post will be greatly appreciated to see if you are really interested in these types of games or not

for this game, i decided to focus on the upcoming 2025 and questions for the upcoming year, i.e. basically almost the same stuff as what i did in the end of 2023. the suprise here is that i removed what wasn't popular or "involving x's personal space" then and added other options, including personal stuff in which i'm more comfortable to ask now.

the thing you have to do to participate is to send an ask choosing one of these emojis for your question and explain a bit further:

🍾 | what we can see from (famous person) in 2025? (asking for activities, gigs)

🚀 | where (famous person) want to be in 2025? (asking for specific place)

💶 | 2025: career reading, (famous person/group/etc.)

🎭 | 2025: possible controversies for (famous person/group/etc.)

📑 | 2025: possible rumors for (famous person/group/etc.) [≠ controversies]

🖥️ | 2025: possible viral moments for (famous person/famous group/etc.)

💖 | 2025: CASUAL love reading for (famous person) [note: casual is on caps lock on purpose :)]

🔬 | 2025: possible insider information that might occur for (famous person/group/etc.)

📝 | (famous person)'s motto/quote in 2025 [like lesson or sth similar]

🔮 | random predictions for (famous person/group/etc.) that will be important/impactful

👀 | what (famous person/group) want to try (activites-wise) in 2025?

saying for who (it has to be famous person or a group, depending on the emoji !! locally works too) i have to ask (it has to be one person/group per request). since the questions can be vague, i am open to additional stuff, modifications and individual changes if they don't violate my ✨rules✨. if you don't explain further why you chose your wanted emoji, your request/s will be rejected or answered last like the last game :) if there's really no reason why, just write it, i want further explanation or more information if needed because it's for the purpose to focus my energy better. otherwise again i will ask it in the end of the remaining asks (note: i thought i'll be too much if i remind you but it looks like i'll have to do it anyways)

when asking, adding the emoji and saying for who'd be perfect plus explaining further otherwise your request will stay.. and stay.. and stay.. and accepted after everyone else who apply my rules

compared to the previous 3 games, it'll be open until the end of the year (31st december at 11:59 pm or 23:59 [depending of what hour system you're used to] eet/gmt+2). i won't answer any requests for the game in november (will remind you if you want to participate frequently) and will start in december (maybe in the middle of it, i'm kind of unsure when tbh).

another note: in some emojis i'm approving companies, tv shows, political parties and etc. such as 💶, 🎭, 📑, 🖥️, 🔬, 🔮

again another note: when it comes to 🔮, if gets approved from x's guides, there won't be any readings with cards when i answer your request

game | closed

[orbital-obvious]

Anylasis of possible Jace interactions at the Vale/North (WARNING: long af)

I wish we had seen more of Jace at the Vale/North , and part of it is definetly self indulgent (I love the North and I always wish to see more of the Vale) but I've been thinking and it's like... This is both really important to the plot, overall themes, and characterization.

We've seen last season that noble houses wouldn't necessarily come for Rheanyra's cause for the sake of one vow they took 20+ years ago, so Jace DOES have some convincing to do. Also, it would be interesting to see Jace handling cultures not centered around his family and their dragons. AND Jeyne Arryn and Cregan Stark happen to be really interesting as characters.

There's a few points, and I'll probably forget most of them, so I'll just have a subject and see how both the Vale and the North would have approached the subject.

Why Rheanyra?

Choosing Rhaenyra is the more honorable option - maintaining the vows taken either by themselves (Jeyne) or by those who came before them (Cregan). But there are other concerns aside from one's own honor, other pros and cons, and I would expect a ruler to consider the good of their people before their own honor. With that-

Jeyne is an Arryn, who's motto is "As High As Honor", AND Rheanyra is her niece while she has no familial bonds to the greens, so, yeah, I'd say it's "in the bag" and it's really a question of what that support would entail.

As for the Starks, this show has this canon that they are also a very honor bound family which I don't really like, partly because it's really based on Ned (who must have gotten his ideas of honor, at least in part, from being fostered by Jon Arryn) and partly because it erases ideas like "the wolf's blood", the wild nature of the Starks, and more general cultural differences between the North and the South. Though, tbh, I don't think Cregan Stark would care to swear to the Greens - just because it will require him more involvement with Southren politics which I think that, at least at this point of the plot, is none of his business and none of his interest. I think actual loyalty to Rhaenyra could be fostered by his personal loyalty to Jace via the time they spent together.

What is the personal reaction?

How does Jeyne "as high as honor" Arryn would feel about treating with a bastard? Well, he is her blood, so how would other lords of the Vale, bound by Southern honor and virtue but not by the crown tight lip policy about Rhaenyra's children? You could even add a snide remark from the Royce, as siding with Rhaenyra is siding with Daemon, who they are certain killed their beloved Rhea.

Cregan and Jace are close of age and I think the show tried to echo somewhat the very strong connection they were said to have in the books. Weather you want it to be a romantic relationship or a brotherly one (leaning towards the second option myself but it's a matter of personal opinion) there are a lot to build and explore there. Also, I don't think the North heard the "rumors" about Jace being a bastard, let alone give a shit (due to cultural differences). Would Jace feel relief there? Would Jace connect to his father's First Men heritage - that he was never allowed to even acknowledge - in First Men majority North?

The Details - political gain:

Just becasue one is loyal to Rhaenyra does not mean this loyalty would come for free (and assuming so is a mistake, as we've seen with Luke in Storm's End). What is there to gain from this alliance?

As far as the Vale goes, I think we got a pretty good answer to that - they want a dragon. I doubt Jace would have given one so willy nilly, It would have been an interesting scene to see the give and take that led to that conclusion.

The North is more tricky. I know in the books there was the Pact of Ice and Fire which could have been connected to the whack prophecy storyline they try to push since season 1. Then again, considering the support the North currently dished out, I think "taking those men off your hands and let them die in battle before winter comes" is, in the mind of North culture, a good deal in itself.

The Details - army movement:

I know, I know, Rhaenyra is doing her best going to undercover missions to do peace gossip sessions with Alicent or whatever, but one should at least PREPARE to the option of war - including dragon war.

We sort of get that with Jeyne, requesting a dragon to protect the Eyrie (which is strong against ground attacks, but not against dragons). But what about the rest of the Vale? What are the main threats? I believe Jeyne's motive would be to keep war out of the Vale itself. How do you plan around that? Rhaenyra ended sending her youngest children (aka, potential heirs) there, which would make the Eyrie a target. Was this part of the negotiations? Was the inclusion of Rhaena?

The North, on the other hand, is probably not as concerned. It's not a worthy target for dragons - the North is big, but poor and faraway from location of importance (The Riverlands is the opposite btw and that's why I'm glad it was the focus of the season, more or less), so the Greens, without dragons to spare, would probably not send dragonriders to capture a difficult yet unworthy target. As far as more traditional means go, the North is also in a very good position: For an army to enter on foot they have to go past the Neck that has one entry point for armies which can easily be guarded, and any other entry point will require traversing the bogs and be at the mercy of the danger there, and either way the Crannogmen would bleed you dry (if you are lucky). Attack from the sea is not favorable as well, because the North is GIANT and would require transporting a lot of army on the ships and that is a waste of a good fleet if I've ever seen one, ESPECIALLY If the Vale is loyal to the Blacks and the Greens only option is to either pass the blockade + possibly the vale navy from the east or pass the ironborn from the west. All that for a bunch of frozen ground and trees with faces? fat chance. Which good for the North but a little bit bad for the Blacks, because "Rhaenyra will protect you from danger" is an important barging chip when gathering armies.

The Details - Other concerns:

The Dance is the main conflict of the show and what the Narrative should be centered about, but there are other concerns for both the Vale and the North that can be taken into account as the wardens of the East/North can use the treaty to secure help from the crown for their issues in the future, and Jace himself can talk about possible future solutions as a way to not only win their loyalty, but to prove his worth as the future ruler after his mother to both them and us, the audience.

I think the Vale's main concern is the upcoming war and weather or not an army or a dragon will come and ravage their lands, but aside from that there are other issues of clansman raidings, or maybe things related to trading with Essos (is Rhaenyra's blockade effecting this at alll?)

The North is in the opposite position: low chance of suffering from the Dance, but there are other, bigger problem. Same as it always was and always will be: Winter Is Coming. They actually touched that a bit in the show itself - more in the sense, I feel, of winter causing a higher activity of the white walkers and other matter of supernatural monstrosities; but there is also the very real issue of winter is death, as in - less food, harder weather conditions, etc etc. Cregan's concern should be first getting the North through Winter, and then whatever hissy fit the dragon family is having downstairs. I think bringing this up would cause an interesting challenge to Jace's worldview - for him and the south at large, the most dangerous thing in the world are dragons; for the North, it's winter.

Setting up other characters that would be important when the war will break out:

Not much to say about that, other than there are other characters very important to the Dance that could've been introduced in Vale and North segments. I know the show changes a lot from the books but I would hope they will at least keep their options open while mentioning certain characters and not just pull them out of thin air come season 3.

Reaction to the Green offer:

We know the Vale + North are taking the Black, so to say (not that kind of taking the black, Cregan, lower your swors none of us are deserters), but the Greens also sent for them. The Blacks have many riders so they sent their crown prince there, while the Greens only sent letters (I suspect also because they didn't really expect the Vale and the North to ralley to the cause). The show tells us those letters were left unanswered, but what was inside them? What would the Greens say to try and persuade them to their cause, and what would be the reaction?

Would Jeyne be angry at the Greens request to abandon her own niece?? and as a woman ruler, I'm sure she'll take offense in casting Rhaenyra aside for Aegon.

I kind of need a scene of a public reading and mockery of the Greens request in the North. Seems like something they would do.

Character foils and different points of leadership:

Jeyne Arryn is the head of house Arryn, Wardness of the East, and a WOMAN who does not live by the conventions of her time - she's a lesbian (well, in the book she was and I would hope the show won't erase that) who never married. She is, in many ways, what Rhaenyra aspires to be. How does she maintain her position? Rhaenyra, I feel, is too naive about people's support of her and the work she has to put in as a ruler - what about Jeyne, who probably clawed her way to the position? What is Jeyne, as woman ruler, opinion on the impact of Rhaenyra changing inherentce rules3 What can Jace learn from his great aunt?

Cregan Stark is much like Jace - forced to shoulder great responsibility at a young age. There are other parallels if you look at the book version - Cregan lost his younger brother and had a claim dispute with his uncle's side of the family. If you don't want to get into all o' that, you can also claim that if Jeyne is Rhaenyra's foil, Cregan is Aegon's - a very young man put as the head of a kingdom and forced to handle its issues at a difficult time. If we go by Wolf Blood ideology - how does Cregan's wildness compare to Aegon's? and, again, what can Jace learn from understanding the way Cregan handles his rule?

There's so much they could've done, and I don't think they could've (or even should've) looked into all of these, but touching on SOME points via Jace and character elaboration would have been nice.

[honeysuckleharringtons]

"Brew and Me" Series ~ S. Harrington x Reader

Summary: A dual timeline series about Y/N Byers, a part-time barista/student and full-time mother, and Steve Harrington, a quippy but attractive nursing student, and the game she creates in order for him to score a date with her.

Series Word Count: TBD

Series Warnings: in-depth details about teen pregnancy and its symptoms, in-depth talk about absent fathers and shitty men, details of earthquakes, mentions of hospitals/medical talk, food talk.

⚠️ PLEASE CHECK INDIVIDUAL CHAPTER WARNINGS BEFORE READING ⚠️

lil sneak peak snippet can be found here! ☺️

Part One: "Double Shot" ~ 1.8K words

Summary: (Then) In the small town of Hawkins, Indiana lies the Byers family, a family of four who might just be gaining a fifth member of the family. — (Now) Brew and Me, known for its punny motto and delicious coffee, might soon be known for bringing people together in unexpected ways.

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, small mention of abortion, vomit/morning sickness talk, mild swearing, mentions of food, mentions of medical-related things (not detailed, just mentioned)

POSTED ON: December 3rd, 2023

Part Two: "Déjà Brew" ~ 2.1K words

Summary: (Then) Back in Hawkins, Reader is still reeling from the news she's just received. Turns out, sometimes the love of a mother might just be the very help you need when times are tough. — (Now) At Brew and Me, Reader struggles with the stress of motherhood and working. Turns out, a visit from her least favorite patron might be the thing she needs to cheer her up.

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, mentions of food, mentions of medical-related things, small mention of childhood cancer (not related to any of the main characters in this series)

POSTED ON: December 3rd, 2023

Part Three: "Spilled Milk" ~ 2.5K words

Summary: (Then) Morning sickness has finally caught up to Reader, and unfortunately it has her spilling her guts in more than one way. — (Now) When Steve brings his roommate along with him to the coffee shop, the situation soon goes south when his friend starts to spill Steve's not-so-secret crush to a certain barista.

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, vomit/morning sickness talk, mentions of food, very mild swearing

POSTED ON: December 10th, 2023

Part Four: "Macchiat- Oh No..." ~ 2.4K words

Summary: (Then) Back in Hawkins, the time has come for Reader to break the news to her boyfriend… only, he doesn't take it as well as she'd hoped. — (Now) When Steve stops by for his daily coffee, things take a sour turn when his ex-girlfriend walks in.

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, mentions of vomit, adoption/abortion talk, mild swearing, Reader slaps and hits Jason, food consumption (Reader and Steve share a cookie), Jason is sorta out of character

POSTED ON: December 25th, 2023

Part Five: "Seasonal Specials" ~ 1.9K words

Summary: (Then) Christmas Eve has rolled around, and unfortunately for a very pregnant Reader, she is stuck at home with a migraine. Luckily for her, her younger brother doesn't make for too bad of company. — (Now) A slow shift at Brew and Me turns out to be a good night for advice and a call from everyone's favorite nursing student.

Content Warning: teen pregnancy, discussions of homophobia, discussions of abuse and allusions to physical abuse, discussions of slut-shaming, Reader is lowkey bad at advice when it comes to these topics LMAO, explicit language, food consumption (Reader drinks hot chocolate), not really a warning but Will is gay and autistic in this series

POSTED ON: December 25th, 2023

Part Six: "Full-City Roast" ~ 2.7K words

Summary: (Then) Valentine's Day has arrived, but unfortunately for Reader, it doesn't seem like much love is left in the air. — (Now) As the year comes to end, fireworks are going off everywhere, including in everyone's favorite little coffee shop.

Content Warning: the flashback chapter is pure angst tbh, partially takes place in a hospital, labor and delivery and medical talk, mentions of food

POSTED ON: January 7th, 2024

Part Seven: "Pour Over" ~ 1.6K words

Summary: (Then) Between postpartum blues and her baby's needy coos, Reader's having a hard time adjusting to her new life. But she quickly learns that sometimes you get by with a little help from your friends. — (Now) After dealing with her fussy child all night, the last thing Reader wants is a complicated day at work. Luckily for her, a certain nurse knows just how to make her day a little easier.

Content Warning: Content Warning: postpartum talk, anxiety talk, mentions of vomit (nothing in detail though), very mild swearing, mild hospital talk, mentions of food

POSTED ON: January 27th, 2024

Summary: Summary: (Then) Motherhood gets a whole lot more complicated for Reader when someone who she thought was gone for good shows up to meet her baby. — (Now) When Steve confides in Reader about his not-so-good relationship with his father, Reader reminds him that he's so much more than someone's opinion of him.

Part Eight: "Lukewarm" ~ 2.8K words

Content Warning: explicit language, infidelity/cheating (not by Reader or Steve), allusions to physical abuse, Lonnie is a creep and a douchebag, Steve's dad is an asshole, mentions of male genitalia as an insult, mentions of food, light mentions of medical stuff related to Steve's job

POSTED ON: February 26th, 2024

Part Nine: "A Steep Hill" ~ TBD

Summary: (Then) Despite the tragedy that's struck the Byers family, Reader finds herself quite happy with her new life. After all, there's nothing that brings people together like going up a steep hill with one another, right? — (Now) Steve is determined to make one last ditch effort at winning Reader over. However, his moment is ruined when a certain someone shows up at the coffee shop.

Content Warning: TBD

TO BE POSTED: January 21st, 2024

Part Ten: "I'll Chai My Best" ~ TBD

Summary: (Then) When Reader is reconnected with some old friends, she's reminded that sometimes it's okay to be vulnerable. — (Now) Reader's silly game with Steve's rears its ugly head, but the two remind each other that sometimes, it takes a couple awful tries before you get to make the beautiful latte art of life.

Content Warning: TBD

TO BE POSTED: January 28th, 2024

Finale: "A Whole Latte Love" ~ TBD

Summary: (Then) Reader's first day at her job takes an unexpected turn when a six-foot-something, handsome as all hell nurse walks in and, quite frankly, takes her coffee-flavored breath away. — (Now) Steve and Reader discover that with a little hard work and a whole lot of love, life might just treat you as sweet as the world's best latte.

Content Warning: TBD

TO BE POSTED: February 4th, 2024

series artwork: made by me!

series dividers: @firefly-graphics (edited by me to fit my theme better! feel free to tell me if this isn't allowed!)

support banners: @cafekitsune

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-died-inside @awkotaco24 @liberhoe @princesseddie @aftermidnightwriting @manuosorioh @esoltis280

[corvidkusnos]

Tbh I feel like the Davrin v Harding choice for distraction leader makes sense narratively

Davrin being a Warden, there's the motto of "In death; sacrifice." Not only that, but it's a direct callback to Weisshaupt how he fully expected to die killing Ghilan'nain's archdemon. He didn't have the option to think about what a future might look like for him, so he can either die here Davrin the Warden, or live on and become more than that!

For Harding, she started on this journey to stop the Veil coming down with Varric. She's the founding member of the Veilguard. She's spent the past 10 years doing whatever it takes to stop the Veil coming down. So it is fitting that she can sacrifice herself doing what she set out to do. Or she can live on in spite of what the elves have done to the dwarves and the Titans and share that with her people.

Harding being a founding member of the Veilguard in the sense of "we started this so we're ending it" is why I also feel like Neve made sense for the wards choice too. The fact that the OG team of Varric, Harding and Neve can all die is interesting to me (and happened in my playthrough).

So the fact that people make this choice all about Assan is actually insane to me. It's such a disservice to Davrin's character when there are a lot of interesting story elements to consider for his outcome.

[earlgreytea68]

A Note on Olivia's Speech -- Kinda

OMG this is so much babbling but I wrote it all down in case it might be interesting to anyone else who feels vast amounts of guilt over writing about guys all the time??????

When I was a younger writer, I used to write a lot of het. That's what I wrote all through my teenage years and into my early twenties, just tons of traditional male/female romance novels, which honestly was mostly what I read through those years, too (aside from the classics that I was forced to read for my degree in English, which was exactly why I majored in English lol). Even when I started writing fanfiction, which wasn't until my mid-twenties, I wrote het.

But then at one point I started writing m/m love stories, and I never stopped. And I worry a lot about that, like, is this betraying internalized misogyny on my part? Why am I writing about men (and often white men), who get so many of the stories anyway? I should write more about my actual gender identity, which is cisgender woman. But every time I did, it felt so weird and stilted to me. And my motto is that unless I'm writing for money I write makes me happy, so I kept writing m/m fic.

Once, years ago, I went to a presentation at an academic conference where they discussed the phenomenon of cisgender women writing m/m fic. I know this often gets characterized as just some kind of sexual kink, and I just don't think that's what's going on with me, and that presentation noted that cisgender men are the default, so to speak, in our society. And so characters with a cisgender male gender identity are allowed to be blank slates that can be absolutely anything you want. Whereas as soon as you make a character a cisgender female, suddenly there are all these societal pressures on that character. And that did resonate with me, that try as I might I couldn't just change the pronouns of the cisgender men I was writing and ta-da! They were cisgender women! Because there's just so much other baggage that comes with being a cisgender woman that they were freed from if they were cisgender men -- even if I resented that that was the case!

But I've been doing a lot of reading this past year, and not of romance novels, of quote-unquote "serious" novels (an adjective I strenuously do not agree with, as a writer of romance lol). I read Elif Batuman's books (both hilarious but both kind of fell apart about halfway through), I read Checkout 19 (which I pretty much hated), I read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (weird book), I read The Farewell Tour (which surprised me and I liked much more than I'd thought I would). Every one of these books had a cisgender female protagonist (or co-protagonist), and every one of these books had a major plot point where that protagonist has a terrible, unhealthy relationship with an obnoxious cisgender guy. Every. Single. Book. And sometimes it was more than one unhealthy relationship, and sometimes it was more than one female character within the book. Like, you're going along reading about these delightful and interesting adventures these fabulous women are having, then -- bam! they run up against some guy not nearly as interesting as they are and not deserving of their time and then they waste a bunch of their life (and the book) all hung up on him. And I was just like: It's the year 2023, and this is STILL what the female narrative looks like? This???? We can't tell other stories about women that don't revolve around what men do to them???

It's not that these books aren't critiquing that part of society (which I understand is still omnipresent all around us). All of the books are very conscious that the relationships are unhealthy and diminishing the woman (except maaaaybe the relationship in T&T&T, but that book also is really mean to its arguably asexual MC and basically implies that he'll never be of importance in his BFF's life because he doesn't want to have sex with her, so the book had other issues, tbh). Not a single one of those books actually, you know, has any apparent repercussions for the guy in question, who just seems to go on and live their life pretty carefree and the woman whose life they stomped all over is barely a second thought, to us the outside observer. And I'm sure that's also very true to how society works. But, all the same, it was striking to me that, even if critical, THIS WAS STILL EVERY WOMAN'S NARRATIVE. EVERY WOMAN'S NARRATIVE WAS ABOUT SELLING HERSELF SHORT FOR SOME GUY. Can we not imagine better for ourselves????

And so, Idk, I do try to put people of other genders in my m/m fics but when it comes to a character like Olivia, and thinking of what her happy ending looked like, I just could not make myself put her with a guy. And you might say: she could have gone with a woman! And yes! She could have! But I think I am craving female narratives that aren't about romantic and sexual love. Because every narrative I read about a woman is alllll about romantic and sexual love. The woman belittles herself to squeeze herself into the box of romantic and sexual love, cutting off all of the interesting parts of herself because she's been told THAT is the end-all-be-all. But I am a believer in all kinds of love, and how all of those kinds of love can give you a good and well-rounded life, and it's silly to pretend that there's only one type of love and that we should pursue it at all costs to our selves.

And then I think, well, gee, that's hypocritical of me, given that ALL I DO IS WRITE STORIES ABOUT ROMANTIC AND SEXUAL LOVE. But then it occurred to me that in writing them about two cisgender men, it does feel more like a narrative that needs to be told. Men get so many stories...but they don't often get THESE stories. They don't often get the love story. They don't often pursue their romantic love as if it will fulfill their destiny...because society tells men that their destiny has other shapes and sizes beyond who they sleep with. Maybe, I think, the world needs more narratives about guys who just love, unabashedly and deeply and fulfillingly, and THAT'S the narrative. That's the whole story. Just that. The way it so often is for women.

When I think about Olivia, and even as I sit and struggle my way with Megan in the Regency AU sequel, it's like...I want more for them than that. Like, for so long I grew up with exactly the expectation that Olivia talks about, that I needed to find a husband and that was the most important thing about me. And I watch the younger women I know still get that message. I've got a great career, went to good schools, do interesting stuff, and still a shocking number of people want to know why I'm single. What about everything else I can be????? I have great friends and a great family and I honestly like my life. Who can ask for more than that? Like, isn't the most amazing thing that could happen to Megan, especially in the Regency era, is just that she lives the life she wants??? And maybe that means she gets married and maybe it doesn't but it's cool either way and she has the freedom to choose it!

I don't mean to imply that I don't have internalized misogyny, because who knows lol. I also don't mean to imply that women shouldn't get married!!!! I have many cisgender female friends in very happy and healthy heterosexual relationships!!! It's awesome for them and it works for them and it's cool and I love them and the lives they have built for themselves. Lives come in all shapes and sizes, and that's great. But I finished yet another book with yet another female protagonist in yet another unhealthy relationship for the fifth time this year or whatever and I was just like, No wonder I gave Olivia that speech. No wonder I'm looking for another narrative.

[noahschnappinfs]

Hey do u have any info on Noah's future projects after ST S5 cuz I rlly love his work and acting. From what I have seen, he's one of the greatest child actors and deserves more appreciation and screen space. Also do u think this whole situation will affect the amount of work he will get?

I really love this boy and if u look at his apology. My biasness aside, it's actually genuine. Choosing the neutral grounds and peace for all should actually be the motto.

thank you so much for this message! noah, as far as we all know, is filming season 5 and will be going back to college afterwards. that’s what he’s said about his current plans saying he would just take a gap year to film and then go back. his education is really important to him and he’s focused on that.

now, we have only speculation that he’s working on something because a few months ago, he was with his team in LA doing some stuff and it looks like he’s working on some project that we still don’t know anything about. he also mentioned last year on an interview with variety that he’s been working on a show that he’s been developing for a while so there’s also that. he seemed very focused about his career in that interview saying he would like to act for the rest of his life but he wants to finish college first, so i think he’s mostly planning ahead what to do after he graduates so i won’t be anything immediate. he’s so young that i think he can do that successfully and i’m glad he’s doing what he wants.

anyway, i really don’t think i’ll affect his career in the long term, internet outrage isn’t real because people switch up all the time. fame is such a fragile and changing thing, many actors have committed literal crimes and have had great careers at the end. tbh he’s very lucky he still had season 5 left because i think his talent will speak for itself and a lot of doors will open for him.

[sweater-equestrian]

so. not today bc my dad didnt get me the cedar plank lol but. BEHOLD:

horseshoe crab molt shadowbox

me: yeah idk i tend to kill plants and cant keep ferns alive :/

also me: convinces my dad to buy me a staghorn fern

anyways please behold my newest prized possession before i kill it :)

[riacte]

Idly daydreaming about "choose which Rendog duo you like more" poll but it is appropriately and respectfully seeded, scheduled, managed, spreadsheet'd with the intention of trying to be as well run as the mcytblrsexyman poll which imo is still THE best run poll on the hellsite.

So it's gonna be like 16 duos, not defined as romantic/platonic, just see it as whatever/who they are. Then final 8, final 4, final 2, yay! And I need this to be seeded for my own sanity otherwise we'll get finale-level matchups in the first rounds and that will make everyone explode.

Seeding is beautiful (even if it's sort of unfair to lower quarter of entries). If a poll doesn't use seeding, then I don't trust it sorry.

Anyways I think this could actually work because Ren has so many duos and he does a lot of story, I think most duos have a lot of thoughtful moments that make for excellent propaganda. These aren't random fuckass Twitter duos firehusbands whatever who have interacted for one funny collab. There is history across the seasons and the years. There's storylines. There's babies involved. Multiple babies even. Whatever Ren and Cleo have going on. The king and his loyal knight. The queen and her guard. "But these can apply to different—" yes this is exactly why.

And I would say it's pretty obvious who the favourite is except they have been on a downright hilarious losing streak recently. And losing is their thing tbh. I'm so sorry.

Reasons I would not run this poll (other than lack of time and despite me liking spreadsheets):

Renskall would absolutely get steamrolled in Round 1 against a duo that almost certainly by definition came into existence later than Renskall. And I know it would be an embarrassing loss, think 30/70. This would dishearten me and I would scuttle into my cave and pull out videos from 2018.

False and Ren would most likely inevitably lose to yaoi and. And. Actually I'll keep my mouth shut for the sake of preserving peace.

Ren is so good at teaming up with people that I can probably imagine what the polls will look like anyway:

Final 2: Doc, Martyn

Final 4: False, Iskall (let me clown, he's here and he STAYS here)

And the 16 probably includes: Bdubs, Scar, Grian, Cleo, BigB, Etho, Lizzie, Cub, Xisuma...

Anyways. HomiesBeforeHoes 👍 (my hypothetical motto for the hypothetical campaigning)

[sanduchengjiu]

one thing that always bothered me and confused me about mdzs is why Wei Wuxian and Jiang cheng were pitted against each other so strongly. Bc even if you take into account that people would assume wwx was a bastard of jfm, in the narrative its something that is common? Or at least in terms of the Jin, there were bastards flying all over the place but I don’t remember there ever being competition about who would be the sect leader, it was always Jzx until he died. So idk if I missed something or I’m misremembering but it honestly feels like most of the pressure came from the fragile relationship between the Jiang parents and less about what society thought. Also favoring Wei Wuxian is one thing but jfm never gave any implication that he was being favored as the next in line, as shitty as his favoritism was. It just makes me feel sad that both boys were under so much pressure for absolutely futile reasons at the end of the day. Like was jc’s cultivation that bad?? I don’t think so?? And even then if he was less talented than wwx it wouldn’t matter bc he’s still the heir. It would be insane if jfm just decided to break convention over talent bc of some sect motto. And I don’t remember there ever being a requirement to be an outstanding amazing cultivator to be sect leader. If that was the case then there would be no hereditary structure to succession, and jfm wouldn’t even be on the roster? Neither would jgs. There was never any importance on their ‘talents’ so wtf was the problem.

Also what was the timeline on Wei Wuxians conception bc he and Jiang cheng were born like a week apart at least at most one year and it seems like wwxs parents were not even at lotus pier since they left to wander together. I feel like that would clear a lot of things up tbh. bc I don’t think jfm capable of finding csr on the road and conceiving wwx and then coming home to yzy and conceiving jc, and csr wasn’t even a yunmeng jiang cultivator it was wcz?? So what was the overlap. Like did jfm get wcz pregnant or what?? Were they regular visitors to lotus pier? To me it read like jfm was a great friend and leader to wcz and admired csr but I read it a while ago so idk. It’s not helped by the fact that jfm doesn’t seem to favor yzy more than is necessary at least outright, and we all know she ain’t the most attentive either. So basically jc and wwx were brought into the world into a weird and fucked up long distance foursome situation and spent their entire youth suffering under the second hand feelings of their parents.

[randomnameless]

Checking something about Hubie and Pat...

Okay, so far it's kind of normal

Billy's replies are mostly the same.

But then

Branch 1 is Billy saying it's necessary to preach what you can't (won't?) do yourself, Hubert acquiesces, but says only humans can apply this "principle" that borders, if you push it very far, on hypocrisy.

This is the same (more or less) in Pat's localisation.

Branch 2 though?

Pat's Hubert says that it's indeed absurd to preach that "hypocrisy principle" and has a weird mention about humanity being the push that makes people take the lead if needed...

When JP!Hubert reiterates his branch 1 choice : only humans can and must, at times, preach things they cannot themselves do.

WTF Pat meant for Hubert to say here?

Hubie considers that pointy ears, with their longer lifespans, cannot be hypocrites - "preaching what you can't do" doesn't apply to them.

Why?

The last comment is pure Pat's fuckery : Pat's Hubert wants to preserve what makes us humans, ake the ability to be hypocrites? What does it mean, being human? Preaching things you can't do?

But then, even JP!Hubert is kind of shooting himself in the foot : recognising that they chose to fight based on the, per him, exclusive human "preach what you can't do yourself" principle.

So... what is even his point?

Note that those lines follow this one :

If it is between love and hate, then I would choose the latter. The goddess failed to properly govern this world. That is why it is necessary for Lady Edelgard to become the supreme leader of Fódlan.

So what can we make out of this?

"the icky pointy ears failed to govern the world bcs they preached the world to use "power wisely" when they didn't even do it themselves, and only humans are allowed to be faillible, aka preach things they cannot do"

Is Hubie basically going "Pointy Ears BaD" bcs they didn't do enough for Fodlan : they should be able to do what they preach, unlike humans who are expected to... say things but never do them?

Like, they had the occasions (lifespan) and "power" to govern the world and didn't do it? Is he blaming their omission/refusal to govern/rule Fodlan?

Because they have "power" and a long lifespan, they should have been able to enforce their rule/mindest over the people and govern Fodlan, but they didn't do it so now Supreme Leader will do it instead?

I'm a bit confused tbh but in a way, it would make sense with what Supreme Leader's motto tends to, and the traditional "merit might makes right".

To them, Nabateans have power and can (to them) use it, but they didn't govern Fodlan "correctly" so now it's up to Supreme Leader to take the lead.

Now, to an astute reader/player, the kind of "power" Nabateans have is debatable at best, laughable at worst - for all the reasons laid down for the past 5 years - and the double standard JP!Hubert uses here also illustrates the complete lack of agency he believes the "people who are governed" have : those with "power" must use it wisely, and to them, "wisely" means enforcing their will over the others, by force (CF isn't a route where you pick up friends to start a friendly bowling competition) if necessary.

The ones without "power" are non-entities and shouldn't be taken into account.

And anyways, they can do whatever they want, because this rule "power must be used wisely" doesn't apply to them.

Tl,Dr : it's the "Rhea BaD bcs didn't do enough for the world" take with the twist that "humans are free to do whatever they want" since the Nabs didn't use their "power wisely".

but then

the best answer is to remove her armed forces AND make it illegal that she ever interfere/participates/do anything for the world.

To Hubert the Nabs are faulty for not doing enough, and to Supreme Leader they shouldn't do anything anymore.

Tru Tl;Dr : Lizards BaD

[ghoularaki]

Lovely pixie,

I hope you know that I’ve been BINGING baby’s breath on AO3 and I have work in a few hours. I cannot sleep because I haven’t been this enthralled in a fic in so long. You are an INCREDIBLE writer. The way you write just feels so real… god you are so so talented. I can only hope that one day I can be nearly as good as you. The way you write Levi and Erwin is just pure perfection. The fact that I’ve been shying away from writing this type of dark content myself because I feel like the niche is fading away (or maybe I’m scared of getting called out because of my old deleted content back in 2019) - you alone have made me fall in love all over again. You truly are a hell of a writer. I’ve been in this fandom since I was in high school nearly 10 years ago, and finding you was a godsend. It’s so good to know that creators still write such good shit in this fandom even after it’s all ended.

I also saw that you have been going through a rough patch mentally, so I genuinely hope you are taking care of yourself <3

I hope you know that your work has truly touched my soul, my heart and my pussy.

Please know that your works are adored and admired. You made me feel something again.

Much love

my dude i saw this while on my way to work and i almost teared up in the breakroom lmao kjrngkrgf and then actually snort out loud at the pussy part, thats so funny. i honestly can't thank you enough for the kind words. it makes me so so so happy that you are enjoying baby's breath so far and that i somehow made you fall back in love with dark content.

i get how you feel tho, back in like covid/quarantine era ppl were so chronically online about darker content and literally cancelling ppl over it. my motto is as long as you are properly tagging your stuff, its not about real ppl or underage content, who gives a shit. cringe is dead, be freeeeee.

tbh i have been in love with aot since i was 13 (literally over a decade now wow) and it was one of the first media i read fanfic for and i became obsessed. i was always so scared to write anything for it bc i was so scared of not getting the characters right. the plot for baby's breath has been brewing in my head since i was like 18? and i finally found the courage to write for aot and knowing at least a few ppl think i'm doing levi and (especially) erwin fills me with such joy.

again, thank you for the kind and encouraging words. and i'm so glad that i pulled someone back to loving fanfic once again <3