#y’all have a favorite part of the nutcracker ?

[otrtbs]

curlers in my hair i look like my momma and im going to the fucking ballet tonight . so. it’s a good day if i say so .

[domesticnct]

25 Days of NCT Christmas Winwin

Y’all I really have to get better about not flip flopping between active and passive voice so much LOL

 Christmas with Winwin would be extremely laid back.

He’s not the type to get extremely excited over Christmas, but he doesn’t dislike it either.

Before you had your son, he was pretty neutral about Christmas, but since your son was old enough to care about Christmas, he had been more involved and even found himself getting excited for it from time to time.

The whole month of December Winwin would be busy with work and would make you think he didn’t have much time to spend being festive.

After all, he was a high level manager for a huge tech company and taught dance and participated in dance classes most evenings.

This year, his class was participating in a studio wide nutcracker. He wouldn’t be performing this year, but your son was in the pre-K group and would be a little candy cane and he was so incredibly proud.

You were also pretty involved in dance as you had a dance background yourself. You had volunteered to help make costumes and spent many days grinding away on your sewing machine.

When your son was in class, you would hand sew and embroider different elements of the costumes. You also helped with the stage production and got a group of the teenage girl dancers to help you make and paint props.

Once opening night came, Winwin would seem way less stressed. He would attend every show of course while you sat in the wings helping the little dancers on and off stage while your mother and father in law filmed your son standing around on stage acting like he had no idea of what to do and following maybe two parts of the choreography before running off the stage to you crying for the first few performances.

It wasn’t until the last night when you and Winwin were able to sit in the audience and watch him that he would come on stage beaming and do all of the choreography. But of course it was the one night neither of you had brought your camera. The two of you were disappointed in the moment, but later when you all went out for eggnog milkshakes you laughed about it and realized some things are better watched through your own eyes rather than the lens of a camera. Memories like those always last much longer and hold more weight in your heart.

After all the nutcracker performances were over, you and Winwin would have few opportunities to really celebrate Christmas as you had been so caught up in the production. You had done most of your shopping online, but your in-laws and siblings really came through with helping you get the smaller things you forget about like stocking stuffers.

The last performance was on December 23rd and you and Winwin had been so caught up with work, rehearsals, and school as you were going back to get your master’s in curriculum development, that decorating the house would completely slip your mind.

So you and Winwin would get a brilliant idea.

That night while your son was sleeping you wrapped all the gifts and hid them, then in the middle of the night, the two of you spent several hours putting up the tree and decorating the entire house.

You would even bake a batch of cookies and put them out.

When your son woke up the next morning you told him Santa must have sent an elf the night before to make the house look so magical.

The day was spent making up for all the things you hadn’t done during the Christmas season. You watched specials, baked treats, and did Christmas crafts. You spent the day at home and then in the evening attended a work party for Winwin while your mother and father-in-law watched your son.

You would of course leave super early to have more time to spend as a family, and because no one likes his boss Mr. Lee.

Your son would be drifting off to sleep when you go there, but he would stay up long enough to leave peanut butter cookies and soy milk for Santa as his favorite movie of the day was the Santa Clause and he fully believed Santa was lactose intolerant.

The next morning you would wake up bright and early and wake your sleepy little one up. The two of you would pounce on Winwin and he would be super confused for a couple of seconds before he realized what was going on.

You would carry your son down the stairs and his eyes would get so wide at the sight of all the colorful wrapping paper.

You two would dive into your stockings first while Winwin just sat on the couch smiling as his parents entered the room rubbing sleep from their eyes.

Your son would pull out lots of candy, chocolate, and a huge slinky while you pulled out nail polish, perfume, bobby pins, and pointe shoe ribbons.

Christmas gifts for you and Winwin were not in abundance from each other. You usually stuck with getting each other two gifts each year, something you really wanted and something as a surprise. It was his parents who always spoiled you however.

There were fragrance gift sets, bath salts, new serving dishes for the dining room, an electric kettle, a history of dance art book, comfy sweaters, and a nice makeup pallet for you. Winwin opened a new camera, a cast iron dish, a plump scarf, some cookbooks, a teacher’s planner, and some new fancy pens for work.

You both always felt bad about just getting his parents small things like pottery, comfortable clothing, and a few things for their pets when they always went all out on you both.

But neither of you got each other anything crazy fancy or expensive anyway. 

His parents really outdid you when they revealed the big family gift was a trip to China to celebrate the New Year there. 

Your son of course was spoiled even more. He got a ton of new toys, new clothes, games, and puzzles. He spent the entire day playing with them and each adult had take a turn playing while someone else went to the kitchen to cook.

For dinner, you would always have a roast goose with baked vegetables and an assortment of other sides from the U.S and China. You also always went big on bread and desserts making three different types of rolls, and an assortment of pies. You made apple, pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, chocolate, and coconut pies which were always way too many and many slices were given to neighbors and friends over the next few days.

Christmas night would be spent eating leftover pie, watching a Christmas movie, and rocking your son to sleep even though he was a little old for it.

Winwin would just watch you with a smile and you would know in that moment that he was perfectly content.

[love-pyramus]

All I’m Asking For -Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Y’all are in college in this. 

This is for @mypassionsarenysins​ writing challenge. 

Warnings: N/A

“Nat,” Natasha ignores Steve as he continually tries to get her attention. Eventually, Steve takes Natasha’s laptop away. “Hey!” Natasha exclaims. “You promised me you’d come see a show with me. (Y/n) is performing tonight, and she’s the lead. So you better be at my dorm in a half-hour is a nice outfit or I will lose my mind.” Steve says. Natasha rolls her eyes but pushes Steve out of her dorm. She loves her best friend, she really does, but he could be annoying at times. Natasha throws on a nice blouse with leggings and walks to Steve’s dorm. 

Her roommates, Hope, Pepper, Jane, Gamora, and Wanda all say bye as she passes them to leave.  She reaches Steves dorm and waltzes in, Bucky, Sam, Rhodes, Tony, and T’Challa, Steve’s roommates, barely acknowledge her. They are all screaming at the TV about a video game. Steve comes out in a nice button-up shirt and pants. “Are you sure none of you want to come?” Steve asks. “Sitting in the same seat to watch people jump around on their toes for a few hours isn’t my thing,” Tony says. Rhodey hits the back of his head and Bucky laughs before saying: “But those shoes have got to hurt” The other boys let out a murmur of agreement before screaming at the TV again. As they walk towards the auditorium Nat talks to Steve. “So why have I never met (Y/n) before?” Nat asks. “She rooms with Carol, Valkyrie, Sharon, Okoye, and Peggy. Pretty antisocial” Steve says. “Carol and Val, those two girls who are the scary power couple? And your girlfriend, her cousin and the black belt?” Nat says. Steve nods. “Is the performance that we are going to see?” Nat asks. “The Nutcracker,” Steve says. Natasha nods as they take the seats. “(Y/n) is Clara, it’s taken her months to get this all together, and she’s really proud,” Steve says. He is keeping a bit of information to himself though. (Y/n) has a crush on Nat and would talk about how much she wanted Nat to be here for the performance. Steve was just giving things a nudge in the right direction. The lights dimmed and music started. Nat sat wonder eyed as the ballerinas performed, and when Clara came on Nat was enchanted by it. Steve sat with a grin on his face, and Nat was starry-eyed. After it ended Steve dragged Natasha towards the door that led to the dressing rooms. Steve knocks on the door and Scott opens it. “Scott, Hope was looking for you,” Nat says, referring to the man’s girlfriend. He nods and puts away his costume before running off to find Hope. “(Y/n)!” Steve says, spotting her after Scott leaves. She looks up from where she was untying her pointe shoes and grins at Steve. “Hey Rogers,” she says. “I brought Natasha!” Steve says. (Y/n)’s eyes widen as they travel to the redhead standing next to Steve. “Hi,” she mutters, returning to her shoes. “Hey,” Nat says. “Um, you did really good,” Nat says. “Oh, um, thanks,” (Y/n) says. “So, Christmas eve, in my dorm, we’re having a party, you wanna come?” Steve asks (Y/n). “I can’t. I have a show” Nat deflates at that. “Hey, you wanna be in the ensemble?” (Y/n) asks. Nat nods. Steve smirks and leaves. “You’re really good at ballet,” Natasha says. “Thanks,” (Y/n) says. “How long have you known Steve?” (Y/n) asks. “I met him through Tony,” Nat says. “I’m not a huge fan of Tony. He’s too arrogant, thinks he can get any girl with a smirk. Too bad I’m a lesbian!” (Y/n) says. “Same, but that doesn’t stop him,” Nat says. Nat misses the fear in (Y/n)’s eyes as she comes our, and then the hope as Nat does as well. “(Y/n)!” Carol says running into the room. “My second favorite lesbian!” Val says. Okoye, Peggy, and Sharon walk in. “Guys, this is Nat. Nat, these are my dormies,” (Y/n) says. “Hey,” Nat says. “I should go. See you at rehearsal.” Nat says. She walks out and the girls burst into whispers. “Rehearsal?” Carol says. “I invited Nat to be in the play,” (Y/n) says. “Let’s go get a coffee for the slightly forward lesbian!” Peggy says. Okoye and Sharon follow them out, both laughing quietly. “I think she has to get out of her leotard first,” Sharon says. Okoye can’t hide a snicker at that. “Thanks,” (Y/n) says running back. 

Nat walks to the rehearsal listening to the songs being sung. “Natasha?” the director asks. “That’s me,” Nat says. “Scott will help you out. He’ll take you to get fitted. (Y/n) will show you the parts and routines after.” Nat nods and walks backstage dropping the duffle bag. “Nat! Come here!” Scott says. Nat stands through the fitting and tries on the outfit. The thing is, it doesn’t look like the ensemble outfits. “Alright, now we have our lesbian stars,” Scott says. “Wait, what?!” Nat says. “Didn’t (Y/n) tell you? The other lead quit and (Y/n) says you’d be the best replacement.” Scott explains. Natasha is shocked. She walks to the stage to see (Y/n) instructing a few dancers. Nat stands on the side with her arms crossed. As they walk off (Y/n) smiles seeing Nat. “I take it Scott told you about you filling in for the lead?” (Y/n) gently asks. “Yeah. Is it a lot?” Nat asks. (Y/n) smiles and shakes her head. “No. I’ll show you.” Nat smiles as (Y/n) takes her hand and leads her to the center of the stage. 

~Time Skip~

Nat dances through the routine for the final show. She spins towards (Y/n) but watches as she is pulled away. “No!” She calls. (Y/n) rushes towards her and Nat pushes her behind. The ‘snow’ falls from the ceiling and the two run off the stage. A few minutes pass and the two run back on the stage. “Amalia, what are we gonna do? You were just kicked out,” Nat says, looking at (Y/n). “Violet, I’d follow you anywhere. I don’t care that they don’t accept us. Because I have you. And for Christmas, that’s all I’m asking for.” (Y/n) says. The two capture each other’s lips in a kiss as the curtains close. (Y/n) separates from Nat and lets out a cheer. Nat joins her. “We did it!” Scott yells. The two walk off the stage and to their dressing room. Nar and (Y/n) walk out side by side and they look up as everyone stares. Mistletoe.  “You don’t have to if you-”  Nat presses her lips to (Y/n)’s again, effectively shutting her up. “You finally did it, you cowardly lesbian!” Carol yells running to them. (Y/n) laughs as shes picked up. Natasha smiles as the group of girls run off with (Y/n) still being carried by Carol. “See you tomorrow Nat! Merry Christmas!” (Y/n) yells. Natasha smiles and waves to her. She touches her lips and smiles fondly. This Christmas all she was asking for was (Y/n). 

[iam93percentstardust]

33, 38, 54 for the writer asks 😘😘😘

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like?

Depending on what I’m writing, I usually have a set word count that I try to meet for the day (it used to be a certain amount because it would take me a few hours to write but now I can sit down and write 1-2k words in an hour so that’s nice). Before quarantine started, I had a set posting schedule but then with the classes that I teach all online so the undergrads weren’t showing up and my research on hold until I could get back in the lab, that posting schedule went down the drain, which is how y’all ended up with the tumblr ficlets of march and april.

If I’m working on a chapter for a full-length fic, I usually have an outline for the chapter of what’s supposed to happen. I don’t always follow the outline but it helps me divide up logical stopping places for the night. I try to write chapters over the course of a couple days without working on something else, just because I get into the mindset of a particular fic and I don’t like bouncing back and forth. If I’m working on one of the longer oneshots like Brewed Awakening or Electric Impulses, those also have an outline but I’m more flexible on how much I’ll write for that before moving onto a different fic.

As for the revision process, I don’t usually work with a beta unless it’s a gift fic or something written for an event. I’m very picky about what I’m looking for in a beta and after spending four years editing for a couple different journals, both fiction and nonfiction, I think it’s decent enough for fanfic. I don’t always catch everything but hey, it works. A King for Christmas gets a beta just because I’m fully writing it before I’m posting it and I need someone to keep me motivated through the process.

Oh yeah, nearly forgot: all of my longer fics have playlists associated with them. Mostly instrumental music because I get distracted with words but all themed around whatever I’m writing so like Bewitched, Body and Soul’s playlist had the soundtracks for Pride and Prejudice and Little Women and A King for Christmas’s has the Nutcracker on it. That kind of thing.

38. How do you nail voice in your books?

Ha! I don’t.

I’ve said before that I’m dreadful at dialogue and I think part of that is having issues with character voice. I do my best - Tony babbles a lot, Steve is pretty sincere a lot of the time - but I’m under no delusions that that’s my strong suit.

Since I write a lot of fluff, one of the big things for me was getting pet names down. Like unless I’m writing smut, I never use “baby” for anyone and even if I am writing smut, it really only shows up with Bucky. Steve always, always calls Tony “sweetheart” and Tony usually calls him “darling” in return.

54. Favorite first line/opening you’ve written?

I like a lot of the openers I write but currently my favorite is from More Important Things:

Kidnappings, Nile comes to learn, are a simple fact of life when you’re part an immortal band of warriors dedicated to upholding all that is right and good in the world.

Send me writer asks!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 9: So Tristan Died

Been resisting that springtime urge to buy a house plant and watch it slowly die while everyone else on my timeline posts beautiful terrariums and wallscapes. I have murdered nearly every plant I own, I have no idea why, I have killed several cacti. But I just found out about logees.com and y’all. Have you seen a rock fig? I want it so bad.

So, instead of wasting my money, I will write here and...not click buy on that rock fig. That beautiful beautiful rock shaped plant. That incredible and glorious miniature Deku Tree.

Also, this week Tumblr said that they’re extending the post limit size for text posts and like...there was a text post limit? Y’all I assumed these posts were hella long, (and in fact way, way, way too long) but like, I never capped a text post limit so...I guess I do all right.

So, switching over to Yugioh, we’re back with the Tristan-Duke-Serenity trio, who are still fighting over Serenity, the world’s most oblivious child. I haven’t gone over too much what their high and low points have been over these past like 5ish episodes but here’s what they’ve been up to, a refresher course of what they’ve been doing since Tristan drowned a Rhinoceros turtle in the lake.

1.) Serenity sneezed once and the Tristan and Duke had a big fight over who gave Serenity a cold

2.)

Sorry that’s all they’ve done. I really thought this would be a list when I started.

It’s been so boring that Serenity has decided this has been the best part of her tourney vacation (she is not wrong). And I just realized--she went to great lengths to get her eyes fixed and now she’s trapped in the VR zone and she doesn’t even need eyes to be here. Hell, if she gets trapped here, she’ll never need eyes again, she’ll have permanent perfect vision 24/7. We keep finding new alternatives instead of spending millions of dollars on Serenity’s eyes and the show kind of glazes over it.

Anyways, we learn a lot about Serenity this episode, mainly that Serenity is a little bit of a space cadet.

(Every episode Duke’s necklace is a little bit more simplified and today it is...almost just a cross. I look forward to seeing what necklace’s final form will be.)

Duke is supposed to be the antagonist of the three, but it really comes off that Tristan and Serenity have goldfish memories and somehow do not recall being launched down a hyperspace tube by five insane computer ghosts trying to consume their bodies. Most people would not forget that happening so like...it’s kinda hard not to side with Duke. Weird that the guy with such ridiculous hair is actually the most level headed person here.

And honestly, if Yugi had been speaking, then Joey and Serenity would have sobered up. Kind of a bummer that Duke doesn’t have the card cred, although Tristan was there when Duke beat Joey.

Like this episode was somewhat frustrating because Duke Devlin really is supposed to be incredibly good at cards, a kid who has only been beaten by the Pharaoh himself, and Tristan and Serenity sort of don’t believe him for some reason. Duke owns a version of the game they are playing. Like, he has ownership over Dungeon Dice and they don’t...care? It’s really weird, but it’s not like Duke has really done anything for an entire season so maybe he deserved this?

But considering that he’s been running for his life/kidnapped since they met up again 2 days ago during Kaiba’s tourney, maybe Duke just has no choice but to hang out with these people who do not respect him at all.

(read more under the cut)

Also, they’re still keeping it a secret that Duke beat Joey because...they’re still lying out of their ass for Serenity’s self esteem. It’s Season 3 and we’re still very concerned that Serenity cannot handle the truth. This girl was in a hospital for weeks and completely blind, I’m pretty sure if anyone can handle hard truths, it’s this girl. But, she’s very pretty, so better not spook her.

I am impressed that this random throwaway plot point from the beginning of S2 has come back to haunt us.

It checks out. This was about as much credentials that Joey had when he joined Pegasus’ tourney. I mean, Joey trained with Grandpa but Grandpa full on died in the middle of their training so...Tristan should have been fine this episode, he’s been interning with card people for like...years.

Anyways, this is where everyone else is.

And Noah decides to try his carrot-under-a-box trick that has so far worked on literally every child he has tried it on.

These kids cannot resist a door to save their lives--and that’s really the whole thing. If they resist the door, then boom, their lives are saved. But nah. Gotta open every door. So they enter, and behind this door is, you guessed it--their favorite place, the ever recurring supervillain of all of Yugioh,

Wow.

Anyways, the fourth of the Big 5 is here and he is a robot that’s gonna do some Russian ballet to the Nutcracker Suite.

Finally, someone who’s strong enough to safely do the ballet alongside Tea.

*I did not watch Gundam, I spent my Torrent days watching Cowboy Bebop and Love Hina and I remember none of it.*

Speaking of, Love Hina--that one probably didn’t age well, didn’t it?

Tristan just digging his own grave for no reason is basically the rest of this episode. Duke Devlin was their out. Duke Devlin has been primed to die for like a full season but then Tristan had to go and fight a giant robot like an idiot. Which is not a sentence I thought I’d be typing about Yugioh, the show about a haunted card game.

PS, I just remembered something. One sec, let me dig this up, something I wrote in S1 that at the time, when everything was about magic and soul snatching, seemed so outlandish that it would never actually happen.

I can’t believe that I predicted myself but at the same time was still just so wrong, because not only do they already have Gundams, they also are card playing Gundams.

This giant VR Gundam could just step on them, right? Like just step on them? I get that would be against Noah’s set of rules but like...

...just a little step.

And what’s even more nuts about this show, is that some things I knew going in, some things you can’t escape just living here on the internet, like Yugi being strapped to a saw at some point (I just didn’t realize it would be from...a clown and would have *such freakin large blades attached*, it was very sudden) and them dueling from the backs of motorcycles (which apparently isn’t even this show. Apparently dueling motorcycles is a spinoff and y’all...kind of disappointed by that). But Gundams? This universe is so zany that Gundams just went completely under the radar.

*this robot casually wearing a jumbo duel disc*

Faced with the reality of none of his friends ever take him seriously, Duke decides to find a weird compromise and asks for double duel. Thing is, this robot also can’t take Duke seriously, and so this super backfires.

Would it in fact simplify everyone’s dating life if we had a 1 in 3 situation? I mean it’s already a mess because we have two 3 in 1′s, but we could balance that right out with a 1 in 3. Then the math will be correct. Balance will be achieved.

And that was how Disaster Serenity sort of stumbled her way onto a dueling platform and killed her brother’s 2nd (3rd) best friend (4th if you count Joey’s rivalry with Kaiba).

Tristan, who’s job as a volunteer janitor is to clean up messes, could not clean up after this Wheeler hot mess.

This is a card now? OK. I see you, product placement. I see why you made Duke Devlin pick up a deck again. Just for this product. That’s fine. At least we did something with Duke Devlin. But we could have maybe used him at any point outside of dungeon dice monsters, ya? Like any point?

Anyway, Serenity explains that if they tell her exactly what to do, they will be fine, so the robot catches wind of this and does this move

Of course. Of course the abandoned warehouse is now full of lava.

Serenity doesn’t even know the rules since she was actually blind until yesterday. She recalls faintly that on the train Tristan told her the rules, and that there were stars on the card that line up with power or whatever. So she looks down at the card and goes “Ah! there are little stars on here!” she plays it, and she realizes that no one has ever told her that sometimes they are placed sideways. Basically Serenity playing this episode as a recently not blind woman would be like me playing cards as someone who fast forwards through all the shuffling.

It’s hard to say if it’s Serenity who caused all this or Tristan who didn’t just let Duke do his one job. Either way, Tristan will absolutely find a way to blame this on Duke until about the point Tristan dies. Between Tristan refusing to play ball with Duke Devlin who is actually a card expert and Serenity playing all of her cards the wrong direction, I’m fully ready for Tristan to die by the end of this episode. Boy had a million chances to just chill and let Duke do his thing so ya, kill him.

Anyways, here’s a desert brought to you by yellow ochre. A LOT of yellow ochre.

Was this also a background for an 80′s space anime?

At some point Nezbitt sat in a boat and watched Kaiba launch what appears to be nuclear missiles at a missile factory. Kaiba did say he needed to throw out the old and start over so like...do Marie Kondo the way you need to do that Marie Kondo thing, Kaiba. This clearly did not bring you joy.

Anyway, lets skip to the good stuff. That’s right this boy: dead because he couldn’t not.

As you all know, I’ve been looking forward to Duke Devlin dying for such a long time now. I’ve been waiting here, tapping my fingers delicately together all Mr Burns-style expecting that the only way they could possibly find a use for Duke Devlin--since they refuse to give him any cards--would be to die.

But guys. I forgot about Tristan.

(bro wants to point out that right above the dungeon dice card was the revive card that would have come in handy right about now.)

Truly unexpected, standing in between Serenity and Duke, the most killable of the Yugioh franchise, Tristan freakin died.

But most importantly, we’re getting very close to death 169 (nice). We skipped 69 proper (a shame) because *somebody* had to kill just a chunk of people at once, Kaiba. So...who’s it gonna be? Probably the Big 5 member who’s cosplaying around as a Sexy Fish? chances are good.

Anyway, if you just got here, we’re in Season 3, if you would like to start at the beginning in S1, click here to read my so many recaps of this show. I cannot believe how much Yugioh content is in this Yugioh show.

[speedy-reads]

Review: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

7.5/10

This short story collection puts a Grisha spin on some classic fairy tales and stories like Hansel and Gretel, the Nutcracker, and the Little Mermaid. With 6 Short stories in the book. Overall I enjoyed the different stories with the last one being my favorite, When Water Sang Fire, with this one I felt it could have been given a book of its own and been really good.

I have not read all of the Grishaverse books (I have only read Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows), but this one was very good and I would consider it a must read for all die hard Grisha fans. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations which adds to the stories and the collection itself.

You can read it without having read any of the other Grisha books, but I feel that you may get more out of it if you’ve read at least some if not all of them. I think that’s part of the reason why I gave it a 7.5 compared to an 8.0. Also, I’m not super into fairy tales, so there is that too.

Pros:

- These are short stories so it was easy to get through one of them in one sitting.

- They explore different parts of the world giving you better knowledge on some of the lore and culture of the different countries.

- While some of them are based off of or at the very least allude to pre-existing fairy tales they are very unique and all have their own twists

- It is a really pretty book from the inside out and will look very pretty on anyone’s shelf!

Cons:

- Some of them felt a little repetitive in format but I think that comes with the genre

- This is probably just a me thing but the illustrations would take the place of page numbers and I just like knowing what page I am on, and how much I have left no matter what I’m reading, so not having page numbers for me is annoying. (I’m like that with time I just always have to know what time it is, what can I say I’m just weird like that).

- It was hard to connect to the characters, but I think that’s because they’re pretty short so you don’t really have the time too.

No spoilery section cause I read this over a very extended period of time so I don’t remember much! But if y’all want to talk about it I’m down!

[goose-scratch]

Get to Know the Writer

I was tagged by @supersaiyansadie​ , thank you! c: I’m limiting my favorites to 3 (except with books, whoops), because otherwise these lists would never end.

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag twenty people to do the same.

Name: Cheyanne / Goose

Sign: Libra Virgo Cusp 

MBTI: INTJ, let me over-analyze the shit out of every interaction, thanks

Alignment: True Neutral (last check anyway)

Native language: English

Favourite book(s): 

The Night Circus - Erin Morganstern

Through the Woods - Emily Carroll

Finding Ms. Write - Jae and Jove Belle

Pride & Predjudice - Jane Austen

Favourite film(s):

A Knight’s Tale

My Fair Lady

The Corpse Bride

Favourite TV show(s):

Brooklyn 99

Steven Universe

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Favourite Broadway show(s):

Wicked

The Phantom of the Opera

Avenue Q

Favourite opera(s): N/A

Favourite play(s):

The Nutcracker

Hamlet

Favourite song(s): 

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant

Grande Finale - Studio Killers

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Favourite artist(s):

Music:

Tegan & Sara

Mary Lambert

Panic! At the Disco

Illustrastion:

@moxie.saturday on Instagram (some NSFW, sorry)

@sketchderps​

@mimiadraws​

Rural or urban: Urban

Do you enjoy politics? I hate them, I do like a good debate though.

Classical or romantic? Not really sure what we’re talking about. Romantic for uh... Honestly the majority of things this could be asking.

Do you have a type? I sure do. Diana Prince fits like, 90% of my Type criteria.

What are your aspirations? I want to get my art degree, get married, and have a little apartment in the city. I also really want to have a studio where I can do like, Wine and Painting events and maybe have a part time job doing payroll somewhere!

What is your philosophy of life? Do no harm, but take no shit.

Y’all killin me with the 20 tags… I think I have 20 followers at this point, you’re all tagged if you see this!

[thedesperatehousehusband]

2018. The Year That Was.

The Desperate Househusband is going to use the first post of 2019 to take a retrospective look back at 2018. I realize that most year-end reviews were written and published two weeks ago but sometimes I am not able to be timely. So deal with it. But I want to discuss the highs and lows of the year. The trials. The tribulations. The beer. The food. The travel. Just the shit that Juan and I did over the course of the year. To reminisce. To remember the year that was.

January

Bitch, I don’t know what I did in January of last year. It’s damn near 13 months ago. My mind is not the steel trap that it once was. Alls I can recall is that it was colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra on New Year’s Day. I think it was 2. I remember this because Juan’s dad was visiting us from Mexico and that type of cold weather about does him in. So let’s just skip forward to…..

February

First, February always brings my birthday. I celebrated my 44th year on the planet and I gotta tell you, it’s all pretty fucking good. Yes, I have some stress and there’s a bit more creaking in my rusting bones but, dammit, I don’t look 44. Expensive creams, y’all. Along with my birthday, we visited our friends, Andrew and Angela, in Granger, IN. Folks, there is nothing going on in the greater South Bend shithole region. Which is why Andrew and Angela are moving to Grand Rapids, MI in June. We look forward with much excitement about visiting them in their new home in such a craft beer mecca. As if on cue, we attended the Brewer’s Guild of Indiana’s annual Winterfest at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Mama Mia, is that an event! Sample until you can’t sample no more then enjoy a nourishing and gluten-rich snack from the box of Wheat Thins that’s hanging around your neck.

March

The end of winter took Juan to his annual pilgrimage to South By Southwest in Austin, TX. Oh, how he loves that event. The hipster-ness of it all. He learns a lot then applies it back at work. My work travels took me half way across the world. Or maybe more. I’m not sure how to measure it but I went to Sydney, Australia for a business trip and, fuck a duck, is that journey! Business Class or not, 13.5 hours in a tin can from LA to Sydney is intense. But Australia has long been one of the places I yearned to visit most and it did not disappoint. We didn’t get to do ALL the fun stuff but we did all we could on our days off. The Opera House is the real deal. Koalas actually DO HAVE chlamydia. Aussies eat a LOT of red meat. Red wine is next level. Craft beer is OK. And kangaroos are impossible to smuggle across the border. Customs did not take kindly to little Bindi, who I was trying to bring home as a pet.

April

April was a good ass month because it involved a very, very, very amazing evening at Alinea in Chicago. It’s the first time we ever did the downstairs tasting menu that happens at the same time to all 16 (or so) people. It’s indescribably incredible. Along with Alina and it’s 2 Michelin stars, we also managed to hit 2 ADDITIONAL restaurants with Michelin stars that weekend. Thus creating a theme. I hate to brag, and others say this, but we are living our best lives and I don’t care who knows about it.

May

As he does each May 14th, Juan celebrated his birthday. Turning 42 in New York. We travelled to the Big Apple for our first theater excursion of the year. We saw Angels in America, which was a 2-day theatrical event of epic proportions that left us bereft and exhausted but it was amazing. We followed that up the Mean Girls and My Fair Lady. Then we hit the upfronts. A very special TV network week that is for work. Getting to preview the fall TV lineups, meet celebs and mingle with our TV reps never disappoints. We closed the month with a #ohiobeercation over Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed time in both Columbus and Cincinnati. There is good fucking beer in Ohio. Rhinegeist is such a happy place as is Brew Dog. We also eat really, really well in C-Bus and Cinci. Do I remember where we ate? Not exactly. So you’re just going to have to take my word for it.

June

I’m positive we did shit in June. I’m certain we saw a Cabaret show or two. I’m sure we went out for beer. I’m sure it was hot. But I’m not recalling anything overtly special about June. Let’s just say that June was a relaxing month of summer fun and the return of My Dad’s Sweet Corn at the Farmer’s Market. If you live in Indy and this is not your corn of choice, you are dead to me and I actually think you’re dumb.

July

I do remember July very vividly. Independence Day was quite possibly the hottest I have ever been. EVER. We went to Metazoa Brewing’s 4th of July Fest. We nearly melted. And I kid you not….the band playing outside in the sun experienced a keyboard that ACTUALLY melted. It was so fucking hot and humid and miserable. But we are NOT afraid. We went to the fest. We hung with Joe, Cathy, Jon and Kelly for fireworks at Joe & Cathy’s place. Then we took showers to wash off the sweat that was pouring out of all bodily orifices. My drawls were beyond damp and moist. We also returned to Chautauqua for a road trip adventure with the Sullivan’s. The Chautauqua Institution is one of our favorite places and we are so lucky to have experienced it so many times with such wonderful friends.

August

There are many highlights each year but August 2018 is our big month as it involved a 2-week European holiday to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Two places that we could truly see ourselves living less the darkness that consumes the winter. I need more daylight than Stockholm in January can muster but it’s pretty killer when it’s still light at 10:30 PM in August. These cities are lovely. Just delightful, cultured, civilized places that prioritize the things that are important to us. Art, food, design, wine, beer, cocktails, fashion, culture, music, architecture. And when you can spend two weeks debating where you ate the best cardamom buns each morning, then you have had a successful vacation.

September

I feel like we sat on our asses a lot after our Scandi vacation in August. So September is feeling quite quiet. But we did make another trip to Granger to see Andrew and Angela with the added benefit of getting to meet their baby, Benjamin Jack, for the first time. We ate that baby. Completely gobbled him up. Andrew took us on a day-trip through Southwest Michigan for beer and autumnal fun. We drove around with the baby, who was incredibly good and basically just slept in his stroller while we enjoyed beer al fresco. Good parenting is so rare.

October

I don’t know if it’s a full-on tradition but in 2017 and 2018, October brought was road trip vacations. Or Beercations as they have become to be known colloquially. This year we trekked to Nasvhille, TN. What a fun-ass place. We ate really well. We drank really well. We bought very cool jeans. We walked around cool neighborhoods and the Vanderbilt campus. We listened to music. Then we drove home. I would for sure do that trip again. It’s a perfectly lovely 4-day weekend and an easy drive. You’re on the same damn highway the whole time.

November

I feel like November was incredibly busy and stressful but I’m not necessarily recalling major events. We had the Cabaret’s fundraiser which featured this insanely talented Swedish woman named Gudrun Carling. Our dear friend from Atlanta, Erika, attended with us. We did Thanksgiving at my mom’s and we let Whole Foods do some of the work. I gotta tell you. That’s the way to go. Their sweet potatoes, gravy, cranberries and jalapeno cornbread were right on time. The stuffing was less so. But we have long been spoiled by Juan’s mom’s stuffing recipe which is second-to-none.

December

What a wacky month December was. We jetted off to NYC for our second theater weekend the first weekend of the month. This is when we saw Harry Potter & the Cursed Child Part 1 & Part 2. Holy hell. It’s one of the coolest things ever. We spent a full day in the exact same theater seats. We also saw The Prom which is a hilarious. As well as the Ferryman which is not hilarious. But it wasn’t supposed to be. As soon as we got back to Indy, Juan left for Santiago, Chile for a TV shoot. He was gone nearly two weeks. He returned just in time for the Nutcracker and the final few days of work. We enjoyed a few days at home before going to my mom’s for Christmas. Then a few more days at home before heading to Mexico City for New Year’s with Juan’s dad. We ate alllllll the food.

And now it’s January so we need to get back to work because all this travel and fun shit ain’t free. We work to live not live to work but we still have to work.

Happy 2019!

[rikrakyarnncrafts]

Winter Holiday Chill Zone

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” – Edith Sitwell

It’s no secret that we love a good listicle. When the opportunity presents itself to write about our favorite things, we jump on it. Traditions vary for those of us here at Knit Picks HQ, but the one common thread is that for each of us, this time of year offers a chance to indulge in the nostalgic traditions each of us holds dear. Whether it be watching Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas on repeat or imbibing a classy holiday cocktail or two, we hold each near and dear to our collective hearts.

In the spirit of all things merry & bright, we bring you our guide to enjoying the winter holidays!

  Ultimate Cookie Platter

Alexis – I love December; it is easily my favorite month of the year. Besides my love for all things Christmas (movies, songs, decorations), I get to spread some good cheer baking for all my family and friends. Baking cookies represents all of the things I love about the season, as it ties together tradition and generosity in a small tasty treat.

What once started as a simple continuation of a family tradition soon turned into a spreadsheet and baking madness as my desire to share grew. As soon as the calendar flips to December 1st, my humble kitchen and dining room transform into a virtual cookie factory. Pounds of flour, nuts, butter, and sugar line any extra counter space. Sweet smells of melted chocolate and gingerbread permeate the air during my rounds of baking for batches that get shipped or hand delivered to local friends and co-workers. And of course a few for the surprise visitors: Santa and his reindeer.

Because it is impossible for me to grasp moderation, especially when giving, I go all out with seven different cookie options that have expanded and shifted a little over the years. There are the staples: Gingerbread People, Pennsylvania Dutch Coconut Macaroons, Linzer Tartlets (my favorite), Bourbon Balls (the boozier the better); a new classic: Chipotle Chocolate Chip, my spin on a Mexican Hot Chocolate; and two new fan favorites: Caramel Salted Pretzel Linzers and Italian Bakery Style Butter Cookies, developed by my favorite home chef Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. All of these are created with love and happiness as I dance to Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite Op,71a covered in powdered sugar.

  Winter Sips

  Daniel – I have four essential drinks that I have to have at some point during Winter.

Homemade Eggnog It’s not for everyone, but I’ve always enjoyed eggnog in all of its forms. I made my own eggnog for the first time just last year using this incredibly easy blender recipe. It was so well received that I made a second batch right after Christmas that I aged for three weeks. Not only do I recommend the taste, but aged nog is ironically also safer! If you’re particularly wary of raw eggs or prefer your eggnog kid- and teetotaler-friendly, you’ll need to cook your eggs! I like this clever recipe that tempers the eggs with scalded milk in a stand mixer, rather than going full custard.

Cinnamon Manhattan A serendipitous juxtaposition at a holiday baking party led directly to a festive version of my go-to winter cocktail. Just adding ground cinnamon to a drink results in unpleasant sediment, so now I make cinnamon syrup. Add a teaspoon to a standard Manhattan recipe (or any number of other traditional cocktails) for a healthy dose of holiday cheer. You can also add a whole nutmeg to the syrup for additional flavor, but I recommend avoiding clove.

Mulled Everything Full of spice and piping hot is my favorite way to have apple cider, the only way I’ll drink wine, and by far the best way to enjoy port. In my experience, store bought mixes are lackluster and not worth it, especially when it’s so easy to make your own. There are plenty of worthwhile recipes online, but I prefer the quick and simple like this one for mulled wine. If you’re thinking ahead, it’s simple to prepare your spices ahead of time and makes it more feasible to get a little more involved. Though it requires the extra effort to dry your own orange and ginger, I really like this fancier recipe. If you’re *really* ambitious, some homemade glogg will really impress at your next holiday party.

Cocoa! Absolutely necessary to all winter celebrations. While I’ll drink any kind of cocoa, and even have a special affection for store-bought mix packets, you don’t have to go crazy to make a good homemade mix. It also makes a delightful and easy gift!

  Festive Flicks

Hillary – The only surefire way to get me in the holiday spirit is by watching holiday movies! My favorite Christmas Eve tradition is going to the candlelight church service, coming home, and getting into new Christmas jammies to watch A Christmas Story.

Here are some of my must watch movies to snuggle in and catch the holiday spirit bug. Grab some hot cocoa, your favorite furry friend, and a cozy blanket!

In this sweet, feel-good movie, Charlie Brown seeks out the true meaning of Christmas with the help of his friends! Perfect for the young and the young-at-heart.

  It’s a Wonderful Life is a classic for good reason. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and is on the list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.

And my personal favorite, The Nightmare Before Christmas! Tim Burton blends Christmas and Halloween together in a way that is both spooky and heartwarming at the same time.

If you want a good cry, The Family Stone is perfect for you. Full of an all-star cast that comprise a family full of quirky personalities, the story revolves around the holiday season. Although not a typical Christmas movie, it is a GREAT movie I highly recommend.

  Holiday Tunes

  Kate – Full disclosure: I have to actively make it a point to NOT listen to Wham’s Last Christmas throughout the year. Not only do I get all 80’s kid misty-eyed when I hear it, but I may have accidentally indoctrinated my 5-year-old daughter into the Wham fan club, as she now requests this song as well. I blame my love of music on my dad, who ALWAYS had the radio on and tuned into his favorite classic rock station, and also my sister, who let me watch MTV* whenever she “babysat” me. Don’t worry though. This playlist does consist of more than just holiday pop hits from 1986. I added a little Darlene Love, Vince Guaraldi, and even a little of The Ramones for good measure. Download my Holidaze playlist here!

*Note: This was in the eighties, when MTV actually played music videos.

Favorite Winter Reads

Erica – For me, the best part of the holiday season is wrapping myself up in a big, cozy blanket and re-reading some of my favorite wintertime books. And when I say “wintertime books,” I’m referring to books I have deemed, for what I think are temperature-based reasons (more on this later), good for this time of year. Anyway, here are two of my favorites:

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I’ve read this book countless times since I was a child, and it never fails to make me happy. But what’s now intriguing me most about this book is … why do I consider it a wintertime book? Is it the cold/wintery aspects of the story that keep me coming back, or is it the warm cozy parts that draw me in? Do I instinctively snuggle down deeper under my blanket when Sara Crewe is shivering in her attic room or running errands around London in her hole-filled shoes and skimpy, old clothes? Or, do I feel some sort of vicarious warm fuzzies when Ram Dass sneaks in and decks out Sara’s attic room with cozy furniture, tapestries, a roaring fire, and yummy food?

(I would stare at this illustration for hours.)

I think I love this book for both, honestly. Also, I know lovers of this story can be pretty opinionated about which illustrator they prefer, but I’m just going to go ahead and assert that Graham Rust’s illustrated version (originally released in 1989, which just happens to overlap with my childhood … coincidence?!) is the best one. And really, my assessment of this very much hinges on the two-page spread depicting Sara’s decked out attic room (above).

If you haven’t read this book, please do check it out! Just make sure to get yourself a full, unabridged version … there are a LOT of abridged “retellings” of this story out there, so be choosy.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Fun fact! Charlotte Bronte’s unfinished manuscript for a novel entitled Emma was likely part of the inspiration for the book A Little Princess. (The more you know!) Anyway …

I think this is where my wintery feels start to be more about the cold and less about the warm and fuzzy. When I think about reading this book in the summer, it just feels wrong. How could I read about Jane shivering at Lowood school because THE WATER IN HER WASHBASIN HAS LITERALLY FROZEN during the dog days of summer? That just seems vulgar, doesn’t it?

It’s occurred to me that Jane Eyre features a similar “super cold” but then “warm and fuzzy” moment like Sara’s attic transformation in A Little Princess. Jane wanders the moor (SHE SLEEPS OUTSIDE IN THE COLD, Y’ALL), and shivers and starves, pretty much collapsing on St. John River’s doorstep before being brought inside to a cozy fire, food, and new friends!

But generally speaking, this book feels, temperature-wise, wintery. Sure, there’s fire. There’s passion. But when I think about Jane walking around, asserting herself even though she’s “poor, obscure, plain, and little,” I can’t help but imagine her with a cold nose and breath visible in the air.

Clever Non-Knit Gifts

Lee – I always love making and giving handmade gifts to my loved ones during the holidays, knit or otherwise! With a lot of non-knit gifts, you can batch-make several of the same kind of item to give everyone in your group, and/or you can have time to make more different kinds of items than with long-term knitting projects. In my old (pre-Knit Picks) life, I used to write a lot of craft project tutorials, so I’m going to point you to some of those projects that would make fun gifts!

Make yarn bowls out of old records for all your fiber friends! They aren’t quite as functional as real yarn bowls since they are very lightweight, but they’re still fun to have around. Just be sure to use scratched records that no one would want to listen to!

Spray paint thrifted picture frames with or without lace “stencils” and fill them with photos or song lyrics. I made these for my wedding and then let my guests take them home as wedding favors, but they’d also make great holiday gifts!

Many years ago I made this fun Before+After picture of my brothers as a gift to my parents. If you look at it from the left, you see a photo of them when they were little kids, and from the right you see them as adults.

If you have some pretty beads but no experience with jewelry-making, these easy 2-bead earrings are a great starting point, and they’ll make some quick+easy gifts!

And lastly, for your wool-loving friends, grab some of our Bare yarn and dye it yourself into custom hand-dyed gift skeins! I did a few Kool-Aid dyeing tutorials long ago (it’s food safe AND colorfast!), and you can also google to find more; here is one for specifically crock pot dyeing with Kool-Aid! It’s also easy to do this kind of dyeing in a microwave. Just be sure to use yarn that’s all or mostly wool, alpaca, or other animal fibers, in order for the dye to work.

  Tannenbaum Traditions

Hannah – The first year I got my very own Christmas tree, I realized that I’d not inherited a stash of ornaments! A new tradition was born: every year I make a handful of new decorations to add to my steadily growing collection. I try to make two sewn felt ornaments, two knit/crocheted, and a batch of cinnamon ornaments every year. Now, I’ve got a good-sized box, and I have sweet memories that go with every piece. I like Alicia Paulson’s felt patterns, this recipe for cinnamon ornaments, and I’m planning on making Annie Watts’ Walrus ornament this year (I love it so, so much!).

Whatever traditions you hold dear, or if this time of year is simply about relaxation and replenishment, we hope you are able to slow down and enjoy life a little. Happy holidays!

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