#we'll see if i can make it a full 31 days

[i-love-when-women]

Day #8 of watching Megamind every day before Netflix removes it after the 31st.

Yes- I have a problem. No, I will not be watching any other form of entertainment for the remainder of December.

Anyway-

The fun thing about watching the same movie, at least once, day after day is that you start to take notice of things you didn't before- or at least didn't pay attention to before.

Like Megamind's range of expressions. To be fair, all the characters that aren't background fillers are extremely expressive- bless you animators. However, there's just something so wonderfully endearing about how damn expressive this silly blue man is.

I am particularly fond of the later scenes- the rain scene and Tighten's broadcast reaction- where you can just SEE the turmoil and/or thinking going on in his big 'ole head.

While a lot of his expressions are greatly exaggerated, and maybe sometimes just a little silly, the animators really did bless us with an animated character that can express SO MUCH with just his face (especially his eyebrows).

I haven't really posted on Tumblr before, nor do I really know how to use it (aside from liking and reposting, anyway). However, I'm half tempted to make this a series. I have so many silly thoughts about this wonderfully silly movie- and no one irl to share with.

Someone please tell me you've over analyzed this movie as much as I have- or anyway movie.

[volivolition]

prepping for my Bonus Days. i love tutorial agent lmao

[ailesswhumptober]

Prompts for AI-less Whumptober 2024

As promised, we're bringing you the official prompt list of AI-less Whumptober 2024 today!

We have 31 days of excellent whump prompts, with three prompts per day to pick from, fun themes, and 10 alt prompts to play around with. We hope you enjoy! Additional info + plain text versions of the prompts can be found under the cut.

FAQ and Rules

What sort of content can I create for this event?

You can create whatever you want (fic, art, edits, etc). Any fandom is allowed, as well as OC stuff. NSFW is allowed, but please tag your content accordingly! The only thing not allowed is AI-generated content.

Do I need to make 31 things to participate?

Oh heavens no! You can make as much or as little content as you like, skip days when desired, or combine prompts (so for example, write something that covers a prompt from day 1, 2, AND 3). You don't have to do the days in order either, go wild! To be considered a 'completionist', you only have to make sure that at the end of the month, you've covered 31 prompts from 31 different days, but whether you do that in 31 works or just 1 is up to you.

What are these alts about?

If none of the three prompts of a particular day are your cup of tea, you can swap them out for an alt prompt of your choice.

What are these themes about?

Just a little bit of extra fun for the mods. Like last year, we'll be handing out various badges for people participating in the event. A full list can be found here, perhaps there is a special badge or two for people who can't be completionists but who do manage to finish every single day of a specific theme ;)

How do I tag and is there an AO3 collection?

It suffices to tag your work with #ailesswhumptober for us to see and reblog it! Please also tag nsfw, since we'll be using that tag too. Tagging the day is optional but does help the mods along.

There is an AO3 collection to add your fics to here.

That should be all. If you have any additional questions, check our pinned or hit us up in the ask box. Or join our discord maybe, whumping can be a great group activity!

---

Plain text versions of the prompts:

October 1 - Torture Tuesday

public torture/public use, stress position, “If you cry, we’ll go easy on you.”

October 2 - Whumperless Wednesday

Unfortunate fall, car accident, “Don’t move. You’ll be okay.”

October 3 - Trauma Thursday

Shared trauma, survivor’s guilt, “It’s not your fault.”

October 4 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Painful transformation, non-consensual body modifications, “You’re a monster.”

October 5 - Sensory Saturday

Overstimulation, migraines, “I can’t take this anymore.”

October 6 - Surprise Sunday

Multiple whumpees, self sacrifice, “I’m the only one who can do this.”

October 7 - Medical Monday

Field medicine, running out of supplies, “Hold on, we’re going to have to improvise.”

October 8 - Torture Tuesday

Rope burns, gagged, “You’re so much prettier this way.”

October 9 - Whumperless Wednesday

Hypothermia, heatstroke, “You look pretty pale.”

October 10 - Trauma Thursday

Self worth issues, pushing away a loved one, “You don't need to earn this.”

October 11 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Hallucinations, truth serum, “Why would you even say that?”

October 12 - Sensory Saturday

Isolation, sensory deprivation, “Can you feel me? I’m right here, whumpee.”

October 13 - Surprise Sunday

Whumpee using themself as bait, defiance, “Take me instead.”

October 14 - Medical Monday

Seizures, concussion, “See if you can follow my finger with your eyes.”

October 15 - Torture Tuesday

Waterboarding, removing body parts, “Don’t break down on me yet.”

October 16 - Whumperless Wednesday

Drowning, hostile environment, “I don’t know how anybody could survive that.”

October 17 - Trauma Thursday

Abandonment, misunderstanding, “Why did I even think you cared?”

October 18 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Mind control, possession, “Everybody will end up despising you.”

October 19 - Sensory Saturday

Disassociation, losing a sense, “I wish I could get you back.”

October 20 - Surprise Sunday

Enemy/Stranger to caretaker, accidental de-aging, “I’m absolutely not qualified for this shit.”

October 21 - Medical Monday

Drugged, ambulance ride, “This will make you feel better, okay?”

October 22 - Torture Tuesday

Forced (to kneel/watch/hurt somebody else), whipped, “Do not look away.” October 23 - Whumperless Wednesday

Fever, passing out, “Hey?! Stay with me, okay?!”

October 24 - Trauma Thursday

Deconditioning, relapse, “It’s normal that you need more time.”

October 25 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Humiliation, betrayal, “How could you?!”

October 26 - Sensory Saturday

Electrocution, burning, “This is going to sting.”

October 27 - Surprise Sunday

Before vs after, Alternate universe, “Well, there’s a first for everything.”

October 28 - Medical Monday

Internal bleeding, needles and stitches, “I didn’t think the wound was that bad…”

October 29 - Torture Tuesday

Ownership, branding, “Everybody will know that you’re mine.”

October 30 - Whumperless Wednesday

Poison, delirium, “You’re not making sense.”

October 31 - Trauma Thursday

Panic attack, facing a phobia, “You need to get out of here!”

Alt prompts:

1) Pistol whipped

2) Co-dependency

3) Animal bite

4) Zombies

5) White room torture

6) Shock collar

7) Pulling teeth

8) Kidnapping

9) “You always make everything worse!”

10) “If you weren’t around, I’d be long dead by now...”

[kwanisms]

Hello dear readers, it's September which means Kinktober is almost upon us. I have planned for the full 31 days this time, taking my old Kinktober from last year, reorganizing and reworking it to make something new! Details and taglist below the cut!

For this year, I will be writing for all of:

Seventeen

Stray Kids

Ateez

I will also be including the Choi Line of TXT as well as DPR Ian & Woosung of the Rose! The kink prompts, creature list (yes, she's also a Creature Feature!), and dialogue prompts (there are two extra and you'll learn why as you read further) for each day is listed below but the idol will be kept a secret until the day of! Don't worry, if you want to read for only one or two but do not want to be tagged in ALL of the Kinktober pieces, you can sign up for only the groups you want to read for. When filling out the taglist, you will be able to select who you want to be tagged in. Check out the prompts below and the taglist will be linked at the very bottom of the post!

Dialogue Prompts

"Don't cover your mouth. I want everyone to hear how good I make you feel."

"Sit on my face."

"Make me" + "God, you're so beautiful when you're fucked out under us."

"I haven't even touched you yet and you're already wet."

"Good boys get rewarded, so behave."

"Is that my shirt?"

"I'm not jealous. It's just that... you're mine."

"I love it when you cry." + "What do you mean you've never cum from sex?" + "Your panties are soaked already."

"Oh no. Not until you beg."

Try to stay quiet for me, kitten. Can you do that?"

"I'm waiting for your permission to let me have my way with you."

"I'm going to have you screaming by the end of the night."

"Lay back and touch yourself, I'm going to watch."

"Aw darling, I almost believe you."

Do you really think you're in a position to give orders?"

"I cannot possibly focus with your damn hand in my-"

"You look so good on your knees."

"I promise I'll be gentle."

"Baby, I asked you a question so if you know what's good for you, you'd better answer me."

"Yell at me again and I'll give you a reason to scream."

"Come here, I'll show you how to make yourself feel good."

"I'm bored, let's fuck."

"Have you never been touched like this before?"

"What? Does that feel good?"

"Baby... you need me that badly?"

Tell me you love me."

"We can't do that here! What if someone sees us?"

"You heard me. Take. It. Off. Now."

"Why are you shaking? You're not scared of me, are you?"

"Were not just friends and you fucking know it."

"Don't act so innocent, I heard you."

The taglist will most likely close at the end of this month, or it might extend into the first week of October. We'll see how it goes but for now, the taglist is open!

[jmdbjk]

Are you sure?

August 14, 2023: I said this back last year:

Are Jimin and Jungkook going around the world Namjooning? In May they were in Japan. We know they were together in New York in July. And also in Connecticut during that same trip. And now they're cooling their butts off in the ocean down in Jeju? Where else have they been and we didn't know it? WhAt doEs it ALL mEaN? Are we getting some sort of vlog or Bon Voyage subunit at some point in the future? Is it for a subunit MV?

Last year, I knew saying all that might stir up some delulu controversy but I know there was a window of time in May when they could have snuck off to Japan. Someone supposedly saw them, and blabbed about it and that's why I had mentioned it last year. But that's it, only hearsay. It was enough to make me pay attention.

On July 12, 2023, Jungkook departed Incheon Airport for New York City to make appearances for Seven.

The next day, Jimin leaves to join him in New York (with a fresh full body wax that made his skin as slick and shiny as that terrazzo floor he's walking across):

Once in New York, the buzz about sightings of Jimin and Jungkook together began to heat up. First at a restaurant called Antoya where someone snapped some pics of them.

Then the next day the boat captain of the yacht they chartered blabbed about it and we got this from him:

That is this boat:

Another sighting in Connecticut, buying grocery store deli pizza.

Then Jimin goes back to Korea and Jungkook moves on to London for more appearances related to Seven.

On August 31, Jimin posted this on his Instagram:

It looks like it was taken while they were in New York state or Connecticut.

He posted these on September 28 on his Instagram and said Jungkookie drew a fish, we later find out directly from Jungkook that Jimin also helped draw but it was supposed to be a whale (awwww):

On September 29, Taehyung posted this sunset from Jeju on Weverse:

This is the same rock in one of the preview images for "Are You Sure?" Is Tae's pic above taken from the deck of the sailboat?

And on October 3, Tae posted these on his Instagram:

They were at a place on Jeju called Chai Cafe – Jjaidabang (짜이다방).

Chuseok holiday was Sept. 28-30 (Thurs-Sat.) last year. Did the three spend Chuseok weekend there? If so, what was the trip back in August for?

On November 21, BigHit sent out the notice that Jimin, Jungkook, Taehyung and Namjoon had initiated the enlistment process.

We didn't know yet that the enlistment process had begun months and months earlier for Jimin and Jungkook because it was only right before they went in that we found out they'd be enlisting together under the accompanying military program or companionship enlistment. It was still a shock.

They knew they had to break it to everyone that they were going to spend the next 18 months together and they spent much of 2023 laying the foundation for that.

On November 23, 2023, Jimin and Jungkook depart Gimpo Airport together for Japan.

At this point, they can't or no longer care to hide or be discreet. That entire trip was riddled with sightings at the airports in Japan. Rumors of them staying at an onsen (hot spring) resort in Sapporo emerged when it was mentioned on a Japanese show.

Jimin posted these on his Instagram on November 25:

But what were they doing in Japan back in May, if we are to take the rumors of that sighting as possible too? Hmmmm. Don't know.

Well, now we know they were going where ever the mood struck on the spur of the moment and making it up as they went along. "Are You Sure?/Is this Right?" (however you'd like to interpret "이게맞아?)"

And we'll find out soon what sort of fun they had on all of these trips. Will Tae make a cameo appearance in the Jeju episodes? Will we see if they actually went "glamping" or if they were really trying to rough it? I can hear them now: "Is this right? wait, are you sure that goes there?"

They'll be on watercraft, and various types too: kayaks, sailboats, yachts...

The foods they will eat... will they include grocery store deli pizza in one of the episodes?

I wonder if they are eating seafood will they be catching it, cleaning it and cooking it? Again: "Am I doing this right? Are you sure? this doesn't look right. What do I do with these fish guts?"

And can't forget to talk about the drinking. The brewery they visited in Connecticut and possibly Sapporo... All I can hear from them here are the satisfied "ahhs" when they take the first taste.

Will we finally see MMA in their sleep?

All I know is they were very, very excited about it.

They promise it will be unpredictable as they embark on their journey without any plans, simply relishing the joy of traveling together. 

As I sit here thinking about them (as I often do), the past year (or two or ten) continues to bring into focus more and more their dynamic and relationship. All the unnecessary projections and narratives that people have placed and continue to place upon them...Jimin and Jungkook just continue being themselves and as close as ever through it all.

All of last year and even all the previous years, all of the things: the "twinning" in their style concepts for their solo work... the scenes of them from the Beyond the Star documentary... the passages in the Beyond the Story book about them and the GCFT trip... every time Jungkook mentioned Jimin, calling out to him during lives or spending time watching Jimin content, especially the post-NY/CT-naked-in-bed live that made us glitch:

2023 was not just another year of copying each other or strange coincidences. It was them preparing us for the inevitable.

All of it bringing it all into such sharp focus.

Anyway. All that rambling to say I have never wavered in my understanding of them as two people who were so very close, so very similar and so very important to each other.

And one more thing... what about this?

I thought it was coincidental that the bar pendent necklace that was sold at the Monochrome pop up was so similar to the one Jimin wore most of 2022...

Will we see the ring necklace as part of a merch line at some point in the future too?

[thalialunacy]

[for the @calaisreno May Promptacular]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 6: cold (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31)

'Wasn't it sunny two weeks ago?' John grumbles, taking a too-big gulp of too-hot tea as the usual outside chaos of a Monday morning in London is superceded by-- for fuck's sake-- snow.

His personal chaos, though, is (perhaps predictably) worsened by it.

Sherlock doesn't look up from where he's feeding Rosie from a beaker of scrambled eggs. 'Why is it that people insist on asking inane questions about the weather?'

John turns his eyes heavenward, then crosses to put his mug in the sink. 'I cannot wait until Rosie grows up so I can have a normal conversation with someone,' he mutters.

Sherlock makes a derisive noise. 'Rosamund is not normal nor should she aspire to be. And she is already conversant.'

As if on cue, a sound resembling the word 'Snow!' squeals into the kitchen air.

'That's correct, Ms Watson. 'Snow day.'

'Snow day!' Rosie repeats enthusiastically, flinging her hands in the air. John casually moves the beaker out of flight range. Eggs are relatively easy to clean up, but still.

He looks towards the windows, where the curtains have been pushed back to reveal that brightness that only comes with snow. 'There's barely half an inch out there, you know.'

'Doesn't matter,' Sherlock insists. 'Snow day, it is.'

'Her nursery is still open,' John puts in.

'Snow day!' Rosie yells again.

'I have to go into the clinic,' he tries. The thought of leaving now, though, makes him even grumpier than just the fact of it being a Monday morning with snow on the ground.

Sherlock leans into Rosie. 'What do you think, Rosamund? Don't you agree it's rubbish that your father insists on keeping hours at that dirty place?'

John rolls his eyes. 'Always nice to see your snobbery in full force, then.'

'Nonsense, I'm just stating a fact.'

'Rosie brings home shedloads of germs from nursery every day, Sherlock.'

'All the more reason for you to stop working, cut the number of foreign bodies by half.'

'Sherlock, what--' But John stops, mind stumbling to a conclusion as he stares at Sherlock. Whose neck is starting to redden.

'Never mind,' the detective says, clearly trying to sound neutral but failing. 'Go forth and remain part of the toiling masses.' He plucks Rosie up and takes her over to the window. 'We'll be here having all the fun, we won't miss you at all.'

John pauses, wavering. He puts his coat on, listening as Sherlock and Rosie chat in a language only they understand.

Then he stands up straight, and goes to kiss his daughter goodbye.

Her cheek is soft, her mouth gummy yet sharp with tiny teeth. 'Well,' he says, smoothing back her hair but looking only at Sherlock. 'I cannot say the same will be true for me.'

Sherlock's eyes widen almost imperceptibly. But John's not ready to say more, so he nods once, and makes his way out into the snow.

[ <3 ]

[kafus]

hi guys meet scramble. the salamence i have been preparing for NEARLY AN ENTIRE FUCKING MONTH!!!! AAAAA

so okay. i am trying to build a 6 pokemon team to take on orre colosseum in pokemon xd gale of darkness. for the uninitiated, it's basically like gen 3 VGC, but against NPCs with predetermined and handcrafted teams made by the developers. you can honestly kind of think of it like the trainer battles in the indigo disk DLC, but if pretty much all the fights had a full team and some competitive merit. and of course gen 3 doubles mechanics (which have some WILD fundamental differences from modern VGC, but i digress as that's not really the point of this post)

despite getting perfect stat pokemon being extremely difficult and time consuming in gen 3, and basically impossible outside of emerald if you want the right natures on your pokemon, the NPC opponents in orre colosseum have pokemon with perfect IVs and such, so to not suffer you really have to have some Good Pokemon. now usually this wouldn't be a problem for me because i know how to RNG manipulate wild encounters and eggs in gen 3... but there's a catch.

see i've been trying to play this copy of emerald, my new main file as of last year, MOSTLY fully legitimately and as intended by the developers, AKA no RNG manipulation and very little use of glitches. don't get me wrong, there are exceptions to this, i make my own rules and i'm just here to have fun, not to prove myself like it's some sort of challenge run for the internet to judge me on. but as for battle tower pokemon and whatnot, i haven't used RNG manipulation at all, and i intend to keep it that way. i've used RNG manipulation for that stuff in the past and frankly i'm just bored of it.

this is the team i built for orre colosseum. it's first time ever building my own team for gen 3 doubles, so i suppose we'll see how it goes, but yeah. a writeup on it after i beat orre colosseum in the future perhaps. for the sake of this post, the important pokemon is that salamence.

this thing was a fucking NIGHTMARE to get without RNG manipulation. as you may or may not know, hidden power is a move that can be any type and of any base power between 30 and 70, depending on the IVs of the pokemon that knows the move. this is an extremely unforgiving calculation and it's also pretty complex so i'm not going to get into the exact math here. but what you need to know about breeding this salamence is:

bagon is 40 egg cycles. most standard pokemon are 20. they take double the time to hatch compared to other pokemon. collecting and hatching these eggs was excessively slow, even with flame body

dragon dance is an egg move and egg moves can only be passed down by male parents in gen 3, so that is something i have to juggle

the adamant nature has only a 50/50 chance of passing with the everstone hold item as opposed to the 100% chance in modern gens. additionally, it only works when the female parent is holding it (or a ditto, but that's irrelevant here)

there is no way to guarantee the passing down of specific IVs, and there also is no destiny knot to guarantee that 5 total IVs are passed down from the parents. you're stuck with getting a random 2-3 IVs from the parents in completely random fashion

this means that i have to hatch dozens of eggs to even get a pokemon with 3 perfect IVs, even off of two parents that have the 3 perfect IVs, and the process of getting those parents in the first place is a very slow and incremental and random process... WHILE juggling nature and egg moves

the cherry on top is that to realistically have the chance to get hidden power flying, i have to have two parents with a 30 IV in special attack/special defense and a 30 or a 31 in speed. so i can't just get a perfect bagon and call it a day, i have to cross two perfect bagons with all of the above parameters to roll for those parameters to pass down again, and also roll HP flying.

NOW. i made this WAY more torturous on myself. because the easiest way to get HP flying is by pairing two x/x/x/30/30/30 parents together. but knowing that orre colosseum pokemon can have perfect stats, and because of the relative lack of speed control options in gen 3 doubles (no tailwind, no trick room, etc), every point of speed matters. i wanted that perfect speed of 31. the issue? when rolling for x/x/x/30/30/31 pokemon instead, the only way that the type of the hidden power is flying is if all the three other IVs are even numbers. so alltogether, i need the following to happen on any bagon egg, assuming that i've already put together the two x/x/x/30/30/31 parents with a male dragon dance bagon and an adamant female bagon holding an everstone:

all three IVs to pass down from the parents (the way emerald determines which IVs pass down is weird but it's roughly a 1/16 chance for the offspring to be 30/30/31)

the nature to pass down with the everstone (1/2)

all three other IVs to randomly roll even (1/8)

so the odds? 1/256. and that's not even a guarantee that the final resulting bagon has GOOD IVs in its other stats, just EVEN numbers. or 0. they could all be 0!!!!

and the first bagon i got after probably around 200 eggs (i wasn't counting at that point)? a middling 16 in attack, and a fucking ZERO in HP. zero!!!! i was so sick of bagons at this point that i considered keeping it and stopping there on that fateful day of september 1st. BUT I WAS NOT SMART. AND I DIDN'T. i decided i would keep hatching bagon until i got one more HP flying one with the IVs and nature passed down, and THEN i would stop no matter what, just keeping whichever bagon of the two was better.

i actually started fucking losing it. i had to recount the amount of bagon i ended up hatching. i was doing it full boxes at a time, and later on i even added a second save file/GBA SP just to make it go faster. you know how many bagon i hatched?? 840!! for a 1/256 chance!!! dealing with the 40 egg cycles and everything!!!

my friends watched me slowly devolve into insanity as i routinely announced in our game liveposting channel that i was HATCHING MORE BAGON. and FINALLY after nearly a full month of on and off bagon hatching. I GOT ONE TODAY. AND GUESS WHAT ITS ATTACK IV WAS.

IT.

WAS.

2!!!

anyway i'm not even actually mad because i'm just so happy this is over. i was getting so fucking sick of it. i love long pokemon grinds but this was a lot even for me. it doesn't feel even remotely good like full odds hunting and this is the longest and most miserable egg grind i've ever done in these games and will hopefully ever have to do. and yet despite knowing that i couldn't stop myself because of sunken cost fallacy. and being stubborn. so i am glad to be RELEASED from BAGON PURGATORY

i am settling for the 0 HP IV 16 attack iv bagon and i will love her. she is named scramble as a reference to the sheer amount of eggs i hatched on this journey and also the scrambled RNG. and despite it all i am very proud of myself and excited to use her in orre colosseum regardless of everything. but i can't for a while because i have three more pokemon to breed... none of which should even be NEARLY this painful. hopefully. FINGERS FUCKING CROSSED!!

[drarry-week]

Got questions? We've got answers! Not sure where you are or how you got here? Check out the about page!

When's the event being held?

Event dates are January 5 - 11, 2025. Can't make it in time? That's ok! Late posts will be reblogged from the DrarryWeek2025 tag until January 31, 2025. Can't make the late posts deadline? That's fine too! If you @ this account, your post will be reblogged no matter what. Life happens, we understand.

How do I post my work?

Posting your work on Tumblr with the DrarryWeek2025 will guarantee your work will be reblogged onto this account. Please follow the tagging system in the about page to ensure ease of reblogging.

Will there be an Ao3 collection?

Yes, there will be. It will be linked here once its made.

Is NSFW content allowed?

Yup! However, it must be tagged appropriately and all NSFW content must be below a "read more" button. To see the proper tagging system, please check out the about page. There are no explicitly NSFW prompts, but feel free to take any prompts in any direction you wish.

Can I participate if I didn't fill out the interest check?/Is the interest check mandatory?

The interest check is not mandatory, but appreciated. The interest check is only there to see if the week is worth running and getting people's opinions on prompts and posting dates. The interest check is now closed, but we appreciate all who submitted responses!

How much do I have to participate?

As much or as little as you want! There are no word counts or restrictions. 10k full chapter fic? Love it! 100 word oneshot? Love it! Fully rendered art? Love it! Doodle in the margins of your notebook? You'll never guess. LOVE IT! All we ask is that anyone who filled out the interest check with a "Yes, I will participate" please post for at least one day.

Are late posts accepted?

Yes, late posts will be reblogged. The DrarryWeek2025 tag will be monitored until January 31, 2025. After that? Just @ us and we'll reblog it, no matter how late. Life happens, we understand.

Have another question?

The ask box is always open. If you asked a question in the interest check form, we may not be able to answer it without your info. The ask box is the best way we'll see it!

Not convinced? Check out the about page! Convinced? We cant wait to see your creations!

[ordinaryschmuck]

Full Family AU Part 31

It was bed time now, Manny tucking Luz into the top bunk per usual.

"You're going to play nice this time?"

"Yes, Papi," Luz muttered.

"What's wrong now?"

"It's Friday." Luz whined. "We stay up later on Fridays."

"I know, but it's been an emotionally draining day for all of us. We all could use an earlier bedtime today."

"What was draining for you?"

"Worrying about you." Manny booped Luz's nose, making her giggle.

"You do that a lot more than just today," she said with more of a smile.

"I know. But it felt especially draining today." Manny ruffled Luz's hair, give her a little kiss on the head, and climbed down the ladder. "Now, go to sleep, okay?"

"Okay, Papi."

Manny then bent down to tuck Vee into her bottom bunk.

"Now, Vee--?"

"I still want the jacket," Vee interrupted him, hugging it close to her.

"That's alright," Manny carefully said. "But one day, you do have to go without it. Be a brave girl like Luz. Who is, in fact, the bravest little girl I know. She has no fear, laughing in the face of danger. And I know you could be the same way too."

Vee looked unsure, rubbing her thumb on the jacket's rough, old material as a way to soothe her.

"Can I still have it tonight?" She asked.

"Of course," Manny told her, giving her shoulder a little pat. "Have it as long as you need to."

And with Vee tucked in, Manny got up and made his way towards the door.

"Goodnight, girls," Manny said ."Camila would say goodnight too, but she's busy doing research at the moment. But don't worry. I'll charm her to bed."

He then shut off the light and closed the door, leaving only a crack open. Vee laid back in her bed, staring up at the star stickers on the bottom of the top bunk. Manny was right, she felt drained. Just not emotionally, not entirely. Vee felt completely drained of magic, all the reserves she had left going into the final form she has now. It made her feel...hungry.

"Psst! Hey..."

Vee turned her head to see Luz's poking out from the top bunk.

"Papi was wrong, by the way," she said. "I do get scared. I'm scared of some of the horror movies he watches, I'm scared of the mailman who looks like a werewolf, and I'm scared of...other things too. I just pretend not to be so Mami and Papi can be proud of me."

"Oh..."

"And I was scared today too. I was scared that..." Luz looked away, feeling a little sad. "That you wouldn't like me."

Vee blinked, staring at Luz in surprise. "I like you."

"I know, but...I heard how so many kids had bad siblings. Siblings that fought and yell and stole love from their parents. And I don't want that for us. I want to be like sisters, but not ones who have to fight all the time."

"I don't want that either. You're nice."

"You're nice too," Luz said with a smile, looking at Vee again. "It's nice having you here and you are still so darn cool. If I had to have a sister, I'm glad that it'd be you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Vee now smiled back at her. "Thank you..."

"No problem. And don't worry about giving up that jacket. If Papi insists before you're ready, just give him your best puppy eyes. It's his weakness."

"Puppy eyes?"

"I'll show you tomorrow. We'll have the whole day then. For now, goodnight."

Luz pulled her head back, disappearing onto her bunk.

"Goodnight," Vee softly said before turning over in her bed.

She still felt hungry. But even more so, she felt happy.

[zedecksiew]

BLOGGIES 2023 BEST BLOG POST OF THE YEAR

On 31 January 2024, the tabletop-roleplaying-game community voted for the Best Blog Post Of 2023.

Contenders were drawn from the winners of four categories. Links, as well as their very excellent acceptance speeches---more exhortations and manifestos, really!---found here:

Theory

Gameable

Advice

Review

+++

Anyway---you voted. Results were very close; I was constantly worried about a tie. Nevertheless, a winner emerged:

Congratulations are in order, and an acceptance speech follows.

+++

(Like an idiot, I didn't plan for, and therefore didn't have the time to make a bespoke prize for the overall Bloggie winner. So they'll just get a full quadtych of lino prints. Fortunately these don't look too bad together!)

PLATINUM BLOGGIE FOR BEST BLOG POST OF THE YEAR:

🔮Re-inventing the Wilderness: Part 1 - Introduction🔮 from SachaGoat

Sacha:

As an (award-winning) blogger who only started 6 months ago - I want to use this "acceptance speech" to share the 5 steps that will start your blog: 1. You don't need a cool blog name. screenname(dot)blogspot(dot)com is probably available - you can move it later if you think of a cool name. The trick here is to set it up so your ideas can go live as soon as you're happy (or tired of editing). 2. Post something. Dust off your notebook (or note-taking app) and turn those musings into a structured post with paragraphs and context. Don't have anything ready to go? Take your latest game session and write a play report or spotlight a specific moment. This will take less time than your ttrpg prep. 3. Share it! With your gaming group, ttrpg friends, community discords, xwitter/bluesky, reddit, forums etc. 4. Don't worry about the rest. I don't have a fancy blog template. I've yet to compile a sidebar or blogroll. I don't have a newsletter or patreon. 5. Continue. Your readers will contribute with comments. You will be shared in community newsletters. Peers will write posts inspired by your posts. Your ideas will be used at another gaming table. (And if you're lucky, you can win the next BLOGGIES.) If you've shared your prep with a fellow DM… if you've contributed opinions on a ttrpg discord or forum… if you've read a blog post and have a thought that builds on it… if you have any tabletop advice or ideas … 👏 Start 👏 a 👏 blog This finally brings me to the "thanks". Winning the 2023 BLOGGIES is such a wonderful welcome to this creative niche. Many thanks to the creators who encourage the community to blog (especially around June 2023, I can actually see the thread that motivated me to start). I also want to thank a community whose collective enthusiasm and support nudge me to release the next post. And finally, everyone who voted for my post over the amazing nominations this year - a huge thank you.

+++

On a personal note: I am really thrilled at this final result.

The BLOGGIES can come off as clique-ish. Voting is public, but "public" on the Internet generally means a circle-jerk between subculture friends, a popularity contest.

This thing began as a jokey riff on those best-tweet-of-the-year polls over on Twitter. While Prismatic Wastelands grew it into a celebration of OSR blogging culture, it still has NSR / POSR inclinations---the specific community soil it sprung from.

As host this year I tried to extend the BLOGGIES' reach. Canvassing for nominations outside the OSR space got a couple of indie-RPG designers on the finalists list. Am proud of that; we have much to learn from each other.

I made prizes---hoping that, one day, with enough dangling carrots, these awards will eventually be tasty enough for non-POSR cliques / communities to attempt a takeover? We'll see.

Ultimately: I am glad to water this sapling and watch it grow slowly. Community is made by growing trees, not building greenhouses.

+++

SachaGoat snagging the final win is a vindication.

Sacha's blog is new. We don't share any Discord servers. We've never spoken, hitherto; the first time I messaged him ever was to tell him he'd won the Advice category.

The BLOGGIES fulfils its purpose: to introduce folks to quality blogs; to preach the gospel and importance of blogging. Its shade is spreading.

I'm glad to get to know Sacha and his blog. (Obviously it's been added to my must-read list!) I am honoured to be passing the torch: Sacha has agreed to host BLOGGIES 2024.

Thank you, everybody. Here's to growing trees.

[ask-zooted-lizzy]

I might not know who you are or if we'll ever get to know each other, but please listen to me.

What ever happens, where ever we are, do not quit like this on everyone. We enjoy what you do, you make us smile and you might have helped people through some hard times without even knowing it. Take your time, but please don't give up, don't get rid of yourself, we are rooting for you.

And I am saying this now, what ever happens, please don't hesitate to reach out...at all.

Threre over a 100 reasons to stay alive:

1. to make your parents proud

2. to conquer your fears

3. to see your family again

4. to see your favourite artist live

5. to listen to music again

6. to experience a new culture

7. to make new friends

8. to inspire

9. to have your own children

10. to adopt your own pet

11. to make yourself proud

12. to meet your idols

13. to laugh until you cry

14. to feel tears of happiness

15. to eat your favorite food

16. to see your siblings grow

17. to pass school

18. to get tattoo

19. to smile until your cheeks hurt

20. to meet your internet friends

21. to find someone who loves you like you deserve

22. to eat ice cream on a hot day

23. to drink hot chocolate on a cold day

24. to see untouched snow in the morning

25. to see a sunset that sets the sky on fire

26. to see stars light up the sky

27. to read a book that changes your life

28. to see the flowers in the spring

29. to see the leaves change from green to brown

30. to travel abroad

31. to learn a new language

32. to learn to draw

33. to tell others your story in the hopes of helping them

34. Puppy kisses.

35. Baby kisses (the open mouthed kind when they smack their lips on your cheek).

36. Swear words and the release you feel when you say them.

37. Trampolines.

38. Ice cream.

39. Stargazing.

40. Cloud watching.

41. Taking a shower and then sleeping in clean sheets.

42. Receiving thoughtful gifts.

43. “I saw this and thought of you."

44. The feeling you get when someone you love says, “I love you."

45. The relief you feel after crying.

46. Sunshine.

47. The feeling you get when someone is listening to you/giving you their full attention.

48. Your future wedding.

49. Your favorite candy bar.

50. New clothes.

51. Witty puns.

52. Really good bread.

53. Holding your child in your arms for the first time.

54. Completing a milestone (aka going to college, graduating college, getting married, getting your dream job.)

55. The kind of dreams where you wake up and can’t stop smiling.

56. The smell before and after it rains

57. The sound of rain against a rooftop.

58. The feeling you get when you’re dancing.

59. The person (or people) that mean the most to you. Stay alive for them.

60. Trying out new recipes.

61. The feeling you get when your favorite song comes on the radio.

62. The rush you get when you step onto a stage.

63. You have to share your voice and talents and knowledge with the world because they are so valuable.

64.Breakfast in bed.

65. Getting a middle seat in the movie theater.

66. Breakfast for dinner (because it’s so much better at night than in the morning).

67. Pray (if you are religious)

68. Forgiveness.

69. Water balloon fights.

70. New books by your favorite authors.

71. Fireflies.

72. Birthdays.

73. Realizing that someone loves you.

74. Spending the day with someone you

75. Opportunity to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

76. Potential to learn, grow, and evolve as a person.

77. Joy and happiness in the little things.

78. The power to inspire others.

79. The ability to create art, music, and other forms of self-expression.

80. To explore different cultures, traditions, and ways of life.

81. To make a positive impact on the environment and help protect the planet.

82. Experience the joys of parenthood and raise a family.

83. Learn new things and develop new skills.

84. Create a legacy that will outlive you.

85. Being wrapped up in a warm bed.

86. Cuddles

87. Holding hands.

88. The kind of hugs when you can feel a weight being lifted off your shoulders. The kind of hug where your breath syncs with the other person’s, and you feel like the only two people in the world.

89. Singing off key with your best friends.

90. Road trips.

91. Spontaneous adventures.

92. The feeling of sand beneath your toes.

93. The feeling when the first ocean wave rolls up and envelops your toes and ankles and knees.

94. Thunderstorms.

95. Your first (or hundredth) trip to Disneyland.

96. The taste of your favorite food.

97. The child-like feeling you get on Christmas morning.

98. The day when everything finally goes your way.

99. Compliments and praise.

100. to look on this moment in 10 years time and realize you did it.

And there could be more...

Stay with us...ok?

I have the gun loaded, but I feel like I should just put it away. Thank you.

[blessyourhondahurley]

Suptober day 31 - This Bliss

A fluffy domestic day in the life of a happy, settled, married, post-hunter Dean Winchester and family.

Suptober prompt: Trick or Treat

(Read on AO3)

As the coffeemaker blurts out its last few brewing burbles, Dean snags the pot and pours himself a tall, fragrant cup. They've been experimenting with flavored blends recently, a project that Cas has gotten really into after Charlie sent him a gift basket of assorted coffees and teas for his “birthday” last month. Thanks to four decades of sludgy diner joe, Dean maintains pathologically low expectations for his morning cuppa, but he's finally comfortable enough in his masculinity to admit that the salted caramel spice variety they're drinking this week is fucking stellar, especially with a dash of cream. He adds that dash now, then shrugs and stirs in a little sugar as well. Why not treat himself?

There's a scuffle behind him, and he turns just in time to see Sam and Eileen stalking through the kitchen, arguing silently. He hasn't yet mastered the finer points of sign language, but somehow he catches “screwdriver”, “watermelon”, and “recycling bin” and decides not to inquire further. They disappear together through the door to the garage, still gesticulating furiously at each other.

Dean smiles at their backs and takes a seat at the kitchen table, He has another sip of his coffee and unlocks his phone. The villagers in his Animal Crossing town need his help with a fishing tournament today. He casts his line and waits.

“–en we'll ask Dean!!” is the only warning he gets before his kids burst into the room. Jack's in the lead, looking distressed. Claire is half a step behind, sporting the world-weary smirk she likes to wear like armor.

As soon as they're in front of him, they both start talking at once, and it's impossible to understand anything they're saying. Dean puts out his hands above the table, palms facing down, and lowers them slowly, a sign for calm down. Their voices trail off in perfect sync.

“Okay, let's try that again, only maybe this time actual communication can occur?” Dean points at his son. “Jacky, you go first.” Claire jolts, her mouth falling open like she wants to protest, but Dean turns his pointing finger upwards to indicate wait. “You'll get your turn, hon. I promise.”

“Claire says I'm too old to trick or treat tonight!” Jack says plaintively. “I'm only five!”

“Yeah but you look twenty-f–” his sister butts in.

Dean cuts her off with a barked “hey!” Mollified, she makes a zip-it gesture across her mouth, crosses her arms, and waits.

Jack continues. “Am I gonna get in trouble if I go out tonight? I don't want anyone to be mad at me! You and Dad said I could, though! My costume's all ready!!” He's giving the most puppiest of puppy-dog eyes, and as he finishes speaking his piece, a single perfect tear wells up and runs down his cheek.

Dean reaches for his son's hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Claire-bear?” he prompts.

“I just don't wanna see the kid get his hopes up for nothing,” she says grimly. “He doesn't exactly look like your average first grader. People don't take too kindly to grown-ass men tryin' to scam them out of their Kit-Kats.”

“I get it,” Dean acknowledges, giving her a nod.

At this apparent confirmation of Claire's point, Jack looks like his heart is crumbling to bits in his chest.

“Hang on now, buddy,” Dean continues before the kid can work himself up to a full-blown meltdown. “Your sister's just looking out for you. But she hasn't spent as much time in Lebanon as we have, so she doesn't know that everybody's gonna be expecting you at their houses tonight. I saw Marta at the post office the other day and she said to tell you she's got a jumbo-size 3 Musketeers with your name on it.”

Jack is smiling so wide now it looks like his face is gonna split in half. Dean turns to Claire. “In fact,” he says, eyebrows raised, “I'm absolutely certain no one would mind in the least if Jack brought his big sister out with him this year. Whaddaya say, kiddo? You wanna scam some Kit-Kats with us tonight?”

His daughter likes to think she's a hard-ass, a firmly closed book, but Dean watches the emotions play across her face as she tries and fails to suppress her excitement at the prospect. She's still adjusting to peacetime, to post-hunter life. They all are. He and Cas like to grab every opportunity they can find to let their kids be kids for a change.

Claire is still struggling to find the words that will simultaneously convey both I don't give a shit about anything because I'm a stone cold bitch and yes please please please take me trick or treating tonight but Jack doesn't bother waiting. He grabs his sister's hand and starts tugging her down the hall, free-associating ideas for her costume as they go.

As their voices fade from his hearing, he gets up to freshen his cooling coffee. While he's at the pot, he reaches into the cupboard overhead and pulls out Cas's favorite mug, the sky-blue one with the cartoon bees all over it. He's just tipping a dollop of cream into each cup when his husband shuffles in, looking rumpled and delectable in his bathrobe and ratty slippers.

Dean presses the warm mug into his seeking hand and wraps an arm around his waist.

“Morning, sunshine,” he says with a soft smile. He nuzzles Cas's extravagant bedhead and breathes in the warm smell of the skin behind his husband's ear.

“Good morning, beloved,” comes the rumbled reply. “What were the kids talking about? They seemed agitated about something.”

“Claire's gonna come out with us tonight. Jacky's helping her figure out her costume.”

Cas takes a deep drink of his coffee and hums happily. “That's nice.”

“Mm-hmm. She's super excited about it, but she'd never admit that. Gotta keep up the tough cookie facade.”

“She reminds me of you at that age,” Cas says with a grin.

Dean snorts a laugh. “Yeah, I was a tightly-wrapped little basket case back then. Closet case, too, I guess. Took me a lotta years to become who I really am.”

Cas finishes off his coffee and sets his mug on the counter, freeing his hands to pull his husband close. “Indeed,” he rumbles as he starts to trail a line of kisses up Dean's neck. “You've matured into an exemplary father, a wonderful husband, and a magnificent man. And on that note...” Cas's morning stubble rubbing against the thin skin of his throat gives him the shivery tingles, like it always does.

“On that note?” Dean prompts, his voice breathy and tremulous.

“The children will be occupied with their costumes for the next hour or two,” Cas observes. His hands move down to gently cup his husband's ass. “I think you should take me back to bed.”

Dean flashes back for a moment on all of those basket-case years when he was too scared, too exhausted, too repressed, too busy expecting to die at any minute to bother dreaming about a happily ever after for his story. He never could have imagined anything this good, anyway. Safe in his home, warm with the knowledge that his family is nearby, he walks hand in hand with the love of his life back to their room.

[here2bbtstrash]

alright besties~*~ i feel i owe you an update so let's strap in, shall we?

TLDR: the final chapter of LDOMLT is not gonna be ready by 1/31. i don't know when it will be done, but i do know that i want to take my time with it and not force it. this means you're going to see me post other writing before i post chapter 11. if that makes you sad, i'm sorry (and also: me too lol). LDOMLT is not dead, it's not cancelled, it's not even on hiatus. i just can't say when the last chapter will be posted right now. once i feel like i can commit to a date, i will shout it from the damn rooftops lmao. but right now, i need to switch gears.

i hope you can understand or at the very least respect this choice, and please know that i love you all so so much. i just wanna give you the best ending possible, and as it turns out, that shit takes time!

longer version under the cut 💜

siiiiiiigh. i didn't want to have to make this post 😭 but y'all, i am really, really blocked. i kept telling myself that i would figure it out, magically get unblocked (it's happened before!) and be able to meet my 1/31 date (or if not 1/31, then at least 2/5...... hello grammys 👀). but right now neither date seems like a possibility, if i'm honest with myself. in part because i've got a whole stew of personal life shit going on as well! (some of it not so good, and some of it ..... very good lol 😏)

and the way i've been spinning my wheels over this is starting to feel unproductive and honestly, not great for my mental health (i **cried** last night because i was so frustrated that i couldn't make words happen. we'll blame that one on my period but 😩 omg! tears!!!)

so... what do i do? well, i actually feel like playing that ask game the other day made me realize: i need to write other things right now. amazing how the moment i put down this chapter 11 draft, ideas and words just flew out of my brain so easily!! and i have all these other wips i'm dying to get to, but i kept telling myself "not until we finish chapter 11", and i think that's gotten me into a bit of a mental bind 😞

so, as previously hinted at in past posts - i am gonna move forward with ~*~jihope month~*~ in february and allow myself to work on other things 💜 i'll make a separate announcement for that soon, but i'm very excited to dedicate a whole month to writing and reading about my two best boys 😩 and i'll be taking drabble requests too, which i think is gonna help me find my footing again creatively ✨

i know it might be disappointing to see me post writing that isn't LDOMLT chapter 11, so let me preemptively say: i get it 😞 and i'm sorry 😞 and i really really REALLY 👹 also wanted this chapter to be out before february. but the muse has other plans! and i just have to make peace with that even if i hate it lmao. i hope you all can understand where i'm coming from, and if you can't understand it, i hope you can at the very least respect it 💜

to be clear: i'm not gonna stop work on this chapter, but i'm also not gonna force it. if i manage to unblock and get it finished in february, i'll post it in february! (sorry to jimin and hobi lmao) but i don't want to try and hold myself to yet another date only to watch it zoom by with my chapter still unfinished, because that shit is depressing lmao. so right now, i cannot give you any kind of timeline on when ch11 will come. only that it will, and that i'm never ever gonna give up!! 💪

i also hope you can understand that i won't be answering asks about when chapter 11 is coming, and imma be swift with the block button if anyone tries to guilt me about this decision 💜 because i love y'all endlessly, but let us not forget that i do this shit for free, on top of a full-time job and the rest of my life (and now also on top of getting laid irl 🎉)

however, i have no doubt that 99.9% of y'all are going to be nothing but kind and supportive about this 🥺🥺🥺 i've already gotten so many lovely asks and comments and messages (not all of which i've replied to 💀) and i will never find the proper words to tell you how much i appreciate them. when you tell me to take my time and not stress, that you'll wait as long as it takes, that you want me to rest and take care of myself. it means so much and idk what i did to deserve such wonderful people and friends reading my work - all i can say is thank you thank you thank you 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

so yeah 😩 not the announcement i wanted to make, but it's the one i have to make right now. writing is so hard sometimes 😭 but i am determined to give this series an ending that i'm proud of and satisfied with! it just needs a little more time to get there. 💜

[thisismyobsessionnow]

Okay, so maybe I didn't finish it this weekend (that was a very ambitious goal of me to set) but I did get back into it. I did figure out how to finish it and I know this last cloud part will be so much fun to make. I'm already looking forward to when I can continue tomorrow night!

Me crying about my life choices, dreams, bobbin lace, goldsmithing and Joker out under the cut.

To be honest, I got a bit distracted by a huge breakdown and a small crisis over my life choices earlier today as some of you might have seen in my tags. I always get emotional over Joker out and the lace, this is not the first time they've used lace in their outfits. It's not new. But it did feel different this time and when I woke up to the Karlo Kirri post today, I don't know, it just really hit me?

My dream when I was 16 and started exploring goldsmithing was to make band jewellery - and contact bands to try and get to sell it as official merch. My dream when I was 21 was to combine my goldsmithing with my knowledge of bobbin lace (a craft I started learning from my grandmothers when I was 10) and create very unique and artsy jewellery that would still suit every day use.

I'm now 31 and I've not used my goldsmith's workshop properly in 6 years. I gave up. There's loads of reasons and I won't get into them right now. I have kept up with bobbin lace (in regular yarn, no metal), but that's only because I'm part of a bobbin lace group with my grandmother and a bunch of other sweet ladies over the age of 70 - I can't leave them.

Seeing Joker Out this weekend with all the lace? The jewellery? The combos? Everything? And also them reaching one of their dreams? It's been a lot. I could suddenly see myself working on those pieces and all of those old dreams I'd buried just came crashing back. Full force.

So I've been thinking and crying a lot today. So many "what if"s running through my mind.

But you know what? I'll never work with these things full time, I know that for a fact. But I still have everything I need, I still have the knowledge, I can just make stuff and see what happens? What's stopping me?? Does just the thought of going into the workshop terrify me? Yes, but I don't have to go there yet, I'm starting with the lace. Then we'll see.

[jmdbjk]

2023 Festa, the 10th Anniversary

I think I can speak for a lot of Army: we are relieved to see an official Festa map!

For new Army:

Festa is the annual celebration that happens on June 13 and celebrates the debut of BTS (June 13, 2013). Festa typically includes a pre-recorded video of the members discussing and answering pre-planned talking points and eating and sometimes drinking. We call it Festa dinner.

I'm sure you've heard that last year's was particularly heartbreaking in that they announced their hiatus to focus on solo projects and their inevitable enlistment to fulfill their military obligation. Festa also includes a lot of other content leading up to the actual anniversary day.

Older Army probably can shed more light on what transpired during previous Festas.

After last year, we really didn't know what to expect this year. But finally, we see they will have a full slate of content for us. The schedule on the map goes from May 31 through June 17.

Also in conjunction with Festa: the city of Seoul will commemorate BTS' 10th Anniversary by holding events throughout the city and lighting up major landmarks within the city with purple lights.

Looking at the Festa schedule "gameboard" it is laid out very similar to a Monopoly game board.

What could the pictorial icons on the spaces mean? 5/31: a ? and an Army flag. I think the flags represent playing pieces. 6/2: Video billboards on buildings? 6/3: Computer, popcorn, mic... Suga/Agust D online concert from Japan? and/or DANCE PRACTICE VIDEOS! 6/4 only has a gift box...6/5 has three-dimensional gift boxes... not sure if any of that will be actual content or just breather days. 6/7: A mic and a guitar... someone is going to sing, or perform or we get a song or ? 6/8: digital photos 6/9: another ? and Army flag. 6/10: Drinking and what looks like a calendar... not sure. 6/11: more digital pictures 6/12: we're getting a song. 6/13: The actual big day... another question mark... but with Seoul Tower on that space as well... hmmm. Also the flag is now a BTS flag. 6/14: more pictures 6/16: a trumpet and a mic... Trumpet makes me thing Taehyung... 6/17: a radio ... a radio show? Fireworks, Seoul Tower... a live broadcast? maybe they will turn the Seoul Tower purple... with fireworks.

I GUESS WE'LL FIND OUT! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

[lilypadlys]

Domestic December Day 1 - Cooking Together

The oven breaks so Dew lends Cumulus a hand, and his fire magic, so she can bake cookies. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a bit and this was the perfect excuse to finally write it. Now I want cookies…

So excited to be doing my first fic writing challenge/event! Since it's my first time, free time is limited, and I just wanted to have fun with this, I gave myself no word minimums for any of these. Some will be decent sized oneshots and other will be much shorter drabbles and headcanons.

I plan to have something for all 31 days but we'll see how that goes. The plan is all SFW and no smut this time around. Just a bunch of sweet domestic fluff. Prompt list by @comp-lady See prompt list here

600 words of Cumulus/Dew fluff below the cut or on AO3

Cumulus hums while she works, using an ice cream scoop to form the cookie dough she’d made into rounds before setting them on parchment paper lined sheets. With winter approaching, she’d been in a baking mood. She decided to use the day to try out a spice cookie recipe she’d found in one of the cook books in the library

“So, set the oven to 350 degrees…” She says to herself checking the recipe. “And let them bake for fifteen minutes. Okay!”

She reaches over the stove to the digital time display and presses the button to set the oven to preheat. And nothing happens. She presses it again, this time with more force. Still nothing.

“Huh.”

After further inspection, the oven light also fails to switch on, much less the heating coils.

“Is it a power issue?”

The time still lights up, perpetually two minutes behind, but the oven stubbornly refuses to heat. Shrugging, Cumulus prepares to slide the cookie sheets into the freezer. The dough balls will keep and she can bake them once the oven’s fixed. Failing that, they can just eat the cookie dough raw. The eggs were pasteurized and the ghoul’s have stomachs of steel. It should be fine.

She’s interrupted by Dew entering the kitchen.

“Whatcha making Lus? Smells good in here.”

She sighs. “I was making cookies but the oven isn’t working. I think it might be broken.”

Dew frowns in sympathy but suddenly his eyes light up. “What if we-”

“Oh no!” She interrupts. “We are not letting Swiss try to fix it. Not after last time. He still owes me a new hair dryer.”

Dew chuffs and rolls his eyes. “Satan no. I was thinking, what if we use fire magic?”

“Huh.” Cumulus considers. “Maybe. But you couldn’t just roast them. They’d burn. They need evenly distributed heat over a length of time.”

“Use your magic to spread the heat around? Distribute the warm air?”

“Oh! That might work.”

The two ghouls get to work, setting the test sheet over a raised cooling rack. Dew heats his hands and places one just below the cookie sheet and the other right above. He waves his hands back and forth a little to distribute the heat as Cumulus manipulates the warmed air to hover around the cookies.

To their delight, it works. It’s not perfect. It takes a while and involves a lot of guessing. A closed system would be more efficient and certainly easier. Regardless, they’re too excited to care. At the end, Dew risks a little open flame over the top, just to gently toast the edges and get them golden brown and crispy

Once the cookies seem fully cooked, Cumulus quickly cools them with a breezier gust of air. She picks a cookie up and breaks it in half, inspecting the inside. It looks done. She takes an experimental bite and hums in satisfaction.

“Good?” Dew asks.

She replies by handing him the other half. He accepts, taking a bite. His blissful grin soon matches the one on Cumulus’ face. The cookies are packed with pecans and cinnamon, and sprinkled with brown sugar that has since caramelized on the tops of the cookies. The edges are crisp but the insides manage to be soft with the pecans adding the occasional crunch. In short, they’re amazing.

“Lus, these are great.” Dew says around a mouth full of cookie.

“Thank you! Let's get the rest baked so we can bring them to the others.”

Dew’s smile turns into a pout. “Noooo…”

“What? Why not? You want to eat the cookie dough?”

“No,” He puffs out his bottom lip a little. “I don’t want to share.” He grabs another cookie possessively, causing Cumulus to giggle.

“Help me with these and as soon as the oven is fixed, I’ll make a batch just for you.”

“Okay.” His grin returns. “Deal.”