#a day early

[sheafrotherdon]

Nicky wakes up early. It’s still dark as he climbs out of bed and picks up yesterday’s discarded t-shirt and jeans from the floor, pulls them on, and pads out into the shadowed hallway. Everyone is sleeping and will stay that way for a while, attuned as they are to the specific silence of the safe house. The scent of coffee will tell them when it’s time to wake.

The kitchen floor is cool beneath Nicky’s bare feet as he pulls flour and sugar from the cupboard, and finds his favored mixing bowl. He selects two oranges from the platter on the kitchen table. They’re a pleasant weight in his hands as he rinses them at the sink, and he smiles as he gently peels long strips of rind from each fruit, orange oil dampening his fingers.  He chops the rind into tiny pieces with a kitchen knife he keeps predictably sharp, and lets his mind wander.

They all came into this long life with midwinter rituals, rituals that pushed aside the darkness and kindled light. Andy’s rituals were, by the time Nicolo met her, casual habits and scraps of poetry from more places than she could name. Quynh would find the means to make lamps from whale oil and tallow, beeswax in later years, but always she would meet winter with the industry of her hands. Yusuf leaned toward fire, kindling and branches, logs or turf, more than once the pungent blaze of cow shit. Always he would smile; always he would sing. Always Nicky fell a little more in love.  And then came Nile, with traditions that ran from Santa to mass, to knitted stockings for each of them when she had the means, and Catholic rituals that Nicky recognized as echoes of his own. Last Christmas she had given Joe coal, and he had thrown back his head and roared with laughter, and called her fond and obscene names.

But it was solstice where Nicky felt most grounded, where the patient observation of darkness in its fullest expression brought quiet joy. Thus the oranges, the creaming of butter and sugar, the addition of flour that he never quite manages to avoid spilling on his shirt. Dropping the orange rind into his bowl, he turns his attention to chopping sweetened cranberries into small, tart bites, and mixing everything into a dough.

By the time the dough is chilled and the cookies cut into small, precise rounds, the oven is ready, and the coffee has been set to brew. Andy shuffles into the kitchen as the first of the solstice sweets are cooling on a rack, and Nicky smacks her hand away from the still-too-hot cookies, a ritual in and of itself.  She accepts coffee in lieu of food, pulls her knees up to her body, heels resting on the seat of the chair, and hunches inside her oversized sweater that has seen better days but is worn and well loved.  Nile follows, and after a time, Joe, and only then does Nicky slip the cookies onto a plate and set them on the table.

The sky outside turns from black to morning grey, and the people Nicky loves eat the best expression of sunlight he knows.  He wipes his hands on a towel and fills a mug with coffee, pulls out a chair and as Joe rests a hand on his knee, covers that hand with his own.

[ficwip]

Since we are celebrating the moon landing here on tumblr dot com tomorrow, this week's word is...

✨ STEP ✨

...since we already used "moon" last year.

To play, find the word in any WIP and share the sentence containing it! Reply, reblog, stick it in the tags, tag us in a new post, or keep it private. All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome.

[mollywog]

✨ Everyday Magic ✨

Part 4: Fire

She really should know better than to expect a helpful solution from Johanna, but she’s desperate…

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Tomorrow's calling with birthday wishes for the beautiful Ms Marianne Faithfull. 💕

[southern-belle-outcasts]

GET TO KNOW ME: TOP 10 MOVIES.

In no particular order: list your top 10 favorite movies and tag friends to do the same.

1. Peter Pan (2003)

2. Chronicles of Narnia (wardrobe & caspian we don't talk about treader)

3. Attack of the Clones

4. Revenge of the Sith

5. Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron

6.  Brother Bear

7. Treasure Planet

8. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

9. X-Men

10. The Hunger Games

Tagged by: @dilffactory

Tagging: be gay, do crime

[krispytm]

You can only reblog this today or until the next Monday, June 19th, 2028.

[hinamie]

trick or treat!

[gerrykeay]

did you know there's a day-by-day timeline of the plot in the dungeon meshi adventurer's bible and TODAY is when it all kicks off

happy falin gets eaten and the gang starts eatin' day :)

[insomniphic]

What's your take on Odysseus's trauma and recovery back in Ithaca?

*looks at all the comics I made*

Lol but really, I realistically expect it to be severely rocky. He’ll have good days, mostly bad days, but what keeps him grounded is of course his family, you know?

But imagine losing your entire fleet under your command...

...only to come back to an entire population of thousands of people, expecting that you will lead them.

What if he fails again?

[otto-doctavius]

snooooork mimimimimi

[chongoblog]

Things That Happen In Gravity Falls Without Context

It's implied that rich people control their children with a bell

A single episode is shockingly reminiscent of both Five Night's at Freddy's and Doki Doki Literature Club. This episode came out 3 years before DDLC and one month after FNAF

Mabel kisses Strong Bad

There are two clones of the main character that are still alive and living in the woods

Larry King confirms that llamas are nature's greatest warriors

An old couple is killed by rap music

One of the scariest monsters in the show is eaten alive and loves every second of it

Neil Cicierega wrote a song for it that was unfortunately never used (yes, seriously)

Everyone in the town is a tad strange, except, ironically, Cecil from Welcome to Night Vale

Boy bands are kept as pets

A character proves she is pure of heart by performing a drug bust on gnomes (this does not work)

Zombies are defeated by Ke$ha

The most discourse-generating part of the show is a 12 year old giving a time traveler a snowglobe

And old man almost fucks a spider

When someone tells you they don't have a tattoo, believe them.

Fucking up a science fair will inevitably lead to your brother being stuck in another dimension

If you stick your head in a portal, you speak in code for a little bit before you turn into a hillbilly

Get your son to pay attention to you by creating a mech beast

We are all blanchin', unless we find a cool gun.

By the end of the show, the mayor's last name is "Cutebiker"

The president gives Dipper a negative 12 dollar bill

Bill Cipher

[000bun]

[areyousanta]

Happy October 3rd!

This has been my destress doodle that I have been working to death for weeks

[ionomycin]

[occudo]

Make a confession, face your crush- Love Archives the new visual novel going to Steam- well, never, but I thought it would be funny.

[egophiliac]

can't believe that skeleman has turned on us, and Halloween Prom is tomorrow.

(what a top-tier UM...we are about to be just totally obliterated in the absolute silliest way. what possible use could this power have outside of bringing us to the brink of utter holiday disaster.)