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procrastinatorproject · 8 months

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Procrastinator's Kitchen Countdown - An Introduction

About 6-7 weeks to go (I hope)

When I came back from studying abroad a few years ago, I moved into a shared flat with a friend of mine. Finding housing in this city is a bit of a hassle, and her former flatmate left a few weeks before I returned, so the arrangement was perfect.

The flat is in the attic of a fairly old "Mehrfamilienhaus", i.e. a house with a number of units big enough for single people or small families. It's fifty steps down to the front door and another seven or so to get into the basement where the washing machine lives (woe is me!).

I like my flat! It was turned from a simple attic into an actual living space somewhat hastily in the 1950's, so the insulation isn't amazing, the doors and windows are fairly old, and it gets really hot in the summer. But it's a decent place to live and it's close to both the university and downtown areas. And because my previous flatmate had lived here for many, many years, the rent had stayed much lower than other places around town, where landlords could increase their ask every time the tenants changed - a frequent occurrence in a city full of students.

Then, four years ago, my friend finished her degree and moved to a different part of the country, which meant I was faced with a decision. I could get a new flatmate (not ideal, since I hate sharing living space with strangers and was really looking forward to living on my own again for a while), or I could try and find a smaller, cheaper place somewhere else in town. However, when I looked around, I realized that my current rent would get me a place about 2/3 the size of my current flat, and to pay less, I would barely get half the space or would have to move to the edges of town. So, I decided to stay and take the rent on myself. After all, it was "just for a short while" and "just until I finished my humanities degree and figured out where I'd go next".

Four years later, I am back in school, studying to get a BSc in computer science, and I'm unlikely to leave town, or even this flat, any time soon.

While I'm glad to have a little more certainty in my life (and finally allowing myself to switch to a career path that actually gives me so, so much joy was easily the best choice I made in the last decade), it also made me realize something: I was no longer in a holding pattern, uncertain whether I would be living in this place for six more months or six more years, and I could start making real plans to make this flat my home.

Which brings me to my kitchen.

My kitchen is pretty small, even by German standards. It's more than the tiny pantry kitchen I had when I first moved out to go to university, but it's still barely big enough to have two people in it at the same time and is nestled under the roof, with the slanted wall coming down to about knee height. The furniture and especially the appliances were already a student-flat-share inheritance when my former flatmate moved in over ten years ago. They got a new fridge when she arrived (the guys living here before had simply hung a bunch of their foods out the window in the winter after their old fridge broke down and apparently had been content with that), but the oven was already worn out at that point. By now, the bottom of the fridge keeps flooding, the sink is starting to leak, and the oven... well.

I have been wanting to bake more cakes and biscuits, and to really try my hand at baking bread for a while. But especially the latter requires you to have fairly good control over your oven's temperature, and for the longest time, my oven door wouldn't even close properly! It took an evening of intense pre-Christmas baking and food-prep to get it hot enough that the warped hinge finally decided to jump back into its original form with an almighty CLANG!, allowing me to close the door without leaving a small gap at the top.

So, about a year and a half ago, once I knew I was going to stay in this flat for the foreseeable future, I started toying with the idea of getting a new kitchen.

For those who don't know, if you rent a flat in Germany, it's maybe 50/50 whether it will come with a kitchen provided by the owner, or you have to bring in your own. Actually, I think having a pre-installed kitchen might be a lot less common than having one, but you can get lucky and buy the previous tenant's kitchen off them for a small fee, which might skew the general perception. Either way, my kitchen is one of the tenant-owned ones.

So, getting new applianves and furniture would fall entirely on my own head (and budget!). This would of course give me a lot of freedom to design it the way I want, but it also means I'll have to figure out what to do with it once I do I move out. I might be able to sell it to the next tenant, or I might even be able to take it with me wherever I move next. But this worry still made it very difficult for me to actually commit to the undertaking - which is one of the main reasons it has taken me until now to get there.

One thing that finally helped sway me was that any time I mentioned possibly getting a new kitchen to people who had actually been in and used the current one (my mother, my sister, my friends), their reaction pretty universally was: "Oh, thank god, finally!!" And as a Christmas/birthday present, my presents promised to chip in financially and help with planning and organizing.

And now, two years after deciding to stay in this flat and well over a year after first opening the IKEA kitchen planner, I Am Finally Doing It!

I have a fairly clear idea of what I want my new kitchen to look like, I have talked to the IKEA kitchen people about logistics and planning, I have created a dedicated section in Notion to keep track of all the cleaning, sorting, ordering, painting, buying, building, etc. I need to do, and I have a rough time frame.

I AM GETTING A NEW KITCHEN!!!

And I'm taking you all along for the ride!

#kitchen countdown #procrastinator's home projects #lili's personal adventures #long post #(this goes in the 'i promised myself not to stress so much about my posts being too long and just Going For It category 😅)#i will try to do some before and after photos at some point and i'm sure there will be floor plans #i am me after all #but it's difficult to get any good angles in the tiny kitchen and it's been a while since i properly scrubbed the floor #so we'll see how long it takes me to get pictures 😅#BUT THIS IS HAPPENING!!!#FINALLY #i am *very* scared and *very* excited!

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heniareth · 1 year

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also an npc fmk for balance! 8 Zevran, Alistair, and Morrigan

Heck yes!!! Lovely people, lovely people- difficult question.

8. share a car with, share a bank account with, share a cake with

You know, it's very funny, because my first reaction was that I trust none of these characters that I love very much with neither my car nor my bank account. To be fair though, I would share bank account or car with almost nobody except family and I'm imagining them as strangers, so let's say we've known each other well for some time and are flatmates for the next foreseeable future. Like, a decade, give or take. Relationships are platonic. Romance throws in some variables. We share a household. On to the question itself!

(Ah crud I'm the only one in that flat who'se had a stable family unit during my whole childhood alright let's go).

I'll nominate Alistair as the sharer of the car, mainly because I'm pretty confident that it would work well. He seems like someone who'd drive responsibly. Neither of us would be good at keeping up with mechanical check-ups or the insurance, probably, but we'd make it work as a team. I think he'd be up for that.

I think I'll share the bank account with Zevran. I'm a bit hesitant bc he strikes me as someone who doesn't plan ahead much, but I think he'd be more involved in the account's management than Morrigan AND he knows what money is worth. I'll take that. I would like somebody to do this together with. We could make it fun! Discuss it over some special snacks or something

And I'll share a cake with Morrigan. Not only because Zevran and Alistair have taken over the other options, tho. It's also because this poor woman probably seldomly had cake, let alone a birthday, and she deserves good stuff damnit! I'd get her some sort of a fruit cake that was more sour than sweet bc I'm not sure how much sugar she's had in her life and I don't want to alienate her from the glorious experience that is baked goods with something too sweet. Or maybe something with coffee? Morrigan looks like someone who'd enjoy coffee. You know what, maybe she should choose, since this is an experience supposed to be nice for her.

And there we go! Sharings assigned! I can see Zev and Alistair pouting at me bc they didn't get cake, but maybe I can save up some pieces for them. Take them back home to the flatmates. It's not like Morrigan and I would be able to finish a whole cake alone. Or would we? 👀👀👀👀👀

Thanks for the ask! It briefly stressed me out before I remembered that I don't actually have to give anybody control over my bank account, and from that point on it was a lot of fun XD XD Have a lovely day!!

Here's the ask game in case anyone's curious

#dragon age #dao #alistair #morrigan #zevran #for fun

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restorativemeal · 7 months

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Menu Seven

Menu Seven from Rowan Bishop and Sue Carruthers' "The Vegetarian Adventure Cookbook".

Kumara and Zucchini Timbale with Green Peppercorn and Nut Sauce: kumara, butter, garlic, cumin, curry powder, sour cream, cream, eggs, zucchini, salt, black pepper, tofu, green peppercorns, walnuts.

Mediterranean Kebabs: eggplants, salt, capsicums, tomatoes, mushrooms, pepper, oil.

Rainbow Salad: celery, mung beans, strawberries, lemon juice, oil, honey, whole seed mustard.

Seven weeks into the Vegetarian Adventure Cookbook and it feels like I’ve lost sight of the beginning, all the while, I also can’t see the end. I am treading water in a vast ocean. Making a three course menu and hosting a dinner party every week is just part of the bump and grind of this ordinary life. To its discredit, this way of being opened up my more contemplative nature. Selfishly, I thought mostly of myself this week and very little of Bishop and Carruthers. Week seven, the second week of October was the week of the open wound. The week felt like the most important week I’d had all year, the threat of the second Friday the 13th this year looming over my head.

Monday, my usual provisions day, was disrupted by an impromptu outside of work hours event for the job I didn’t lose. I read over the menu, tipsy and manic when I got home from the event, and wrote myself a timetable for the night of the dinner party in such a way that I wouldn’t have to do any cooking on Tuesday. On Tuesday I stole an orange from the kitchen at work to use in the Rainbow Salad.

Wednesday began at 5 30AM. I trudged from my bed into a close friend’s vehicle while it was still dark out. We had a 6 AM boxing class. When I was punching the bag I realised I wasn’t an angry person. Still, I felt to a degree crazy as I sat in my car listening to SOS by Rihanna before work four hours later thinking about the way I was being yelled at by a fitness instructor in a dark room and now I was going to sit at an office desk for the next eight hours. I got home that evening at 6 15PM, my first guest had already arrived. I had told my guests to come earlier. I wasn’t drinking, but the cooking process was a blur, three dishes, one person, one oven, four stove elements, and a cluttered bench top.

There was a kumara to be boiled, to be soft to blend for the Timbale. My timetable went awry from there. I had elaborately planned out in five, ten minute increments which stage I should be at. After 7PM I wasn’t achieving any of these time stamps. The Mediterranean Kebabs were supposed to be in the oven while the Timbale was prepared. The baking dish wasn’t big enough to cook them all on one and the second one I needed to use for steaming the Timbale. I was in a conundrum but I couldn’t share this with the guests. I got territorial when they entered the kitchen.

Mediterranean Kebabs pre the oven.

Bishop and Carruthers introduced protein to the cookbook this Menu, seven menus in. 60 grams of tofu to be blended into the Timbale mixture, 60 grams of protein to be dispersed on the plates of six people. The Timbale was steamed poured into a baking paper lined cake tin sitting inside of the second baking tray, filled with water and wrapped in tinfoil. I cooked the rest of the Mediterranean Kebabs at this point, putting them in the oven along with the Timbale. The Rainbow Salad was put together with ease, the strawberries looked okay for being out of season. When the Timbale came out of the oven later, it split apart on the plate. Water seeped out of it and I had to pour the liquid off the plate into the sink before putting it on the table when it came time to eat.

A sous chef in my kitchen

The dinner ran smoothly, eating in synchronicity the way we had the past six weeks. There were no complaints about the food. Though days later my flatmate and guest would agree with me that we didn’t actually like the Timbale.

Contented guests.

I realised on Thursday at work that I had forgotten to put the orange that I’d taken from work in the salad. Friday the 13th came and went with no issue and I ate the orange from work that morning for breakfast.

#vegetarian #food #home cooking #foodblogger #self discovery #foodpics #foodblogwebsite #cooking #ai girl #cute #love #writeblr #on writing

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eggmeralda · 1 year

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the vanilla extract thing is reminding me of the start of uni when I did not know how to cook or bake anything, but I decided to make some cupcakes anyway. I followed a recipe but the ingredient measurements were at the bottom of the page and for some reason it never occurred to me to scroll down so I was just like "weird there's no measurements. maybe I'm supposed to estimate the amount based on this picture of all the ingredients" which kind of looked like this

(wasn't that exact image but it was basically like that) and I don't know which ingredients were more prominent and which ones were lacking, all I know is not a single one had the right measurement, bc I was looking at the picture going "okay...a cup of vanilla extract.......a bowl of salt....." and just putting them in there. the cakes weren't baking properly so I kept re-putting them in the oven like 4 times. eventually they were cooked through and they looked like this

(yeah I also didn't have a proper cupcake tray so. they ended up rectangular)

but I gave some to my flatmates and tried some myself and somehow all of us are still alive today so? I guess they were edible. but they were quite bitter, probably bc of all the vanilla extract

#i have since learnt to bake and also to check the end of a recipe for measurements #and to put in the right amounts of.........#vanilla extract #and salt as well #ramble

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fernsehn · 4 years

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like....I’ve never had a blessed birthday as this one...in a way? despite the home office situation I basically got to talk to most of my friends and many more which rarely happens on bd’s. corona is a bitch - a damn motherfucker. but ...it turns out that it can accidentally make for nice birthdays?

#also: my flatmate baked a cake #yes #but just now?#we watched another handmaids tale ep...and he was talking and talking and talking.....#and I was like..half jokingly....#you talk to much!#and he didn't say anything for the remainder of the episode #when it ended I asked him about it and said that I was sorry #and damn #he really was kinda sad or pissy about the you talk too much comment #i told him that i can totally relate to that feeling #i hate it when smn tells me to shut up #haaaate it #so....yeah...#a weird ending...#to a super nice and beautiful day #damn #:)

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loudlyunladylike · 2 years

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I just sent a different ask lmao but I now need to say I just tried ginger snaps for the first time and these are so good, was a little surprised the recipe i was using to make 'em didnt have white sugar or butter, but it used some other stuff to replace them and ginger snaps are delicious, this is my official recommendation to try ginger snaps (and to make them yourselves!!!! I enjoyed the baking process 'cause the recipe had molasses and it was my first time working w/ it!!! Which was very fun!!!!) -Moth anon

Oh my god I want ginger snaps now!!! Proud of you for baking them too, look at you go!! They sound so so good, maybe I should get back into some baking

#ask box #moth anon #my flatmates baked a cake the other day #maybe i should get cookie making #i also feel like ginger gives me such autumn/winter vibes yanno

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kaleidoscopeminds · 2 years

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hi meg!! if you're up for it: fic authors self rec time. When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written and then pass it on to other writers. alternately, i will just make a post of my top 5 meg fics. - <3 molly

ok so i have thought and thought about this and thought some more and thought myself into a small crisis so i am just going to look at my ao3 and see what feels right

meet you in the back under exit lights (M, 17k) indie luke journalist calum, my best characters and best paced fic. i think this is the fic that says the most about me as a writer in terms of set up and delivery

and what if you'd never smiled at me (T, 15k) rival bakers and shy calum!!! it's taken me a while to come around to liking this one but the work did pay off. also making both of them bakers, obviously. i think the baking motif is cute i liked that i tried that

walmart sonata (M, 33k) the fic i have put the most work into by far! nearly deleted it in the first 24 hours but i have gone back to sample some of the texting in this fic and that's why its made this list. i literally went full romcom

the flatmate arrangement (T, 20k) a fic i am scared to reread but i can't really ignore in this context. just happy this made several people happy!

and i don't really know if i have a fifth that stands out? maybe let's throw in a wildcard

you wanna be closer (T, 5k) a short and sweet fic that i wrote early in my cake days that just felt so nice and easy to write, with one of my favourite ever scenes

#ngl molly your favor on some of these has influenced me #ttmb would be on here on a different day maybe #or dream makes the sounds #ah ok i'm going to stop looking at this now #ask #molly #fic talk

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whocalledhimannux · 3 years

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@peregrer the What. 👀👀👀 *insert John Mulaney gif of "say more right now"*

ok so when I say "the extent to which I've fleshed out the QT GBBO AU in my head is getting to be embarrassing," I truly and deeply mean it, please enjoy 1,900 words of utter ridiculousness.

first, our competitors:

Legarus - performs so poorly that viewers are a bit confused how he got on the show in the first place, a la Jamie (series 10) or that one guy who made a lime and chocolate cake in the first week.

Chloe - nice flavors and good ideas for decorations, but pretty sloppy. was up for elimination in the first week but came back with a great showstopper.

Melheret - good but not as good as he thinks he is (hence his bread week elimination because of sloppy technique), heavy-handed with the alcohol flavoring

Agape - solid competitor, not flashy but tasty + pretty results. I haven't worked out exact week-by-week themes (that would indeed be Too Much) but I imagine this is something like "Dairy" or "Caramel" or "Vegan," some particular element she just happens to not be strong on. viewers are disappointed by her early elimination

Teleus - Dad contestant. brings in a bunch of weird pans and gadgets he made up himself, does pretty well until it comes to Fiddly Foreign Foods he doesn't know (probably eliminated in French or Patisserie week)

Laela - typically has good flavors and pretty designs but technical knowledge is a bit lacking, so there are usually some flaws in the execution and she's often in the bottom half of technicals

Phresine - Grandma contestant. nails the classics but ultimately isn't creative enough to make it further.

Magus - the "Ian (series 6)" flavor of Dad contestant, often brings in foraged ingredients or eggs from his own chickens or whatnot and revives old recipes/flavor combinations no one else knows about. one week, some of those turn out to just be too weird, leading to his elimination.

Sophos - pretty elaborate decorations and good flavors (on the border of classic and new), but he tends to try a million different embellishments on everything and struggles with timing, occasionally to the detriment of technique.

Kamet - always has really interesting and different flavors and tends to do well in technicals especially, assuming he doesn't get overwhelmed. which is... an assumption (Finalist)

Costis - leans towards classic and indulgent flavors, although sometimes a bit sloppy--the kind of contestant where the judges look at his dishes and say "it's a bit of a mess" and then Paul Hollywood starts laughing because it still tastes delicious (Finalist)

Irene - absolutely stunning visually, queen of the technicals, occasionally gets the "style over substance" warning (Winner)

more details below the cut

I've gone back and forth on whether Eugenides should be in it but ultimately I decided no because I wanted to maintain a pre-show relationship between Laela + Kamet (I thought otherwise at first but then I realized I hadn't left Kamet any longterm friends or family for his finalist video and that's depressing af) and Irene and Sophos which to my knowledge hasn't happened once on the show so far? so having a married couple on top of that seems like it would be a stretch, and also then I think I'd need to make Eugenides the winner on principle and you know what? he can stand to be second fiddle to his wife for a little bit. My alternate backstory for him is that he was actually the winner of MasterChef one year (good with knives), so in the first episode Irene's first little chat to camera is something like "my husband's been bugging me for years to try out and I keep telling him he's got a skewed perspective on cooking competitions, finally I applied just to shut him up... and here we are." Her little video introduction is about how baking is a stress relief from her bigshot job. Her decorations tend to be abstract and gorgeous rather than cutesy.

Kamet, likewise, was nagged into applying by Laela, but she very cleverly framed it as she wanted to apply and wanted him to do it to for moral support. both were confident the other would get in and surprised that they did themselves. This is one of those series where everyone's friendships are immediate and obvious and super adorable (cast of series 10 my beloved...), and in particular these two are holding hands in episode 1. Laela's deep blue robe from TaT sticks in my head for whatever reason so I imagine her making an elaborate blue peacock cake or something one week that wins her star baker. somebody always does a peacock something and it's always impressiev.

Phresine is cool as a cucumber under pressure, always has lovely things to say about everyone else's bakes, and is the go-to last-minute helper because she usually comes in under the time. Irene starts out similar but as the weeks go by she starts to feel the pressure a bit more and cuts it a bit close. Sophos is the worst on timings, and mentions his wife at least once an episode. (I also played with him being single on the show and meeting Helen later through Irene and Eugenides, but this idea is too cute to pass up tbh.) Teleus lives with Relius, a fact that isn't mentioned until a few weeks in when he comments that Relius likes a recipe or gave him an idea for a flavor or something (Relius does not bake himself but will happily sample practice bakes), to the surprised delight of every viewer whose favorite contestant is the oldest gay in any given series (me, me, that person is me).

Costis tends to use a lot of chocolate and, as I said, pretty "classic" flavors--one of those people who makes a full English savory bake at some point. He's usually in the top half of the competition but doesn't get the top until one of the later weeks in the competition, which is a Honey themed week, and he absolutely nails it. The delicate decorations of his honey nut cakes and his use of honeycomb are particularly praised and that's the week he gets star baker. One of those bakers who flirts with elimination the first few weeks but noticeably improves over the course of the show.

My most, like, plot-y ideas are about Kamet (SHOCKER). I imagine he was born in Setra (I usually make Setra a non-autonomous region in my AUs) but arrived in Britain as a child due to [Unspecified Crisis] and ended up with foster dad Jeffa, who was roughly from the same region but not Setra itself; whenever Kamet wanted Setran food as a kid, Jeffa would take him to the library to find recipes and that was what sparked his love of baking. He's well-read on the subject and knows about foods from a lot of different cultures, so he's usually heard of the technical challenges even if he hasn't made or eaten them. He does a lot of fusion flavors, and is ALL ABOUT bread week.

I don't usually make the his-relationship-with-Nahuseresh-is-romantic leap in modern AUs but I think it works for this one because of the nature of the format--Nahuseresh doesn't actually appear on camera but is alluded to once or twice, ends up being Very Displeased that Kamet is doing something for himself, and during the week following Laela's elimination they have the fight that makes Kamet realizes this is actually a terrible relationship and he needs to leave now. He calls Laela to let her know what's up and mentions that, since he'll need to stay in a motel and has presumbly lost his job as a secretary (yeah working for your boyfriend is Bad, he's realized that now), he's going to have to drop out of the show. Laela, despite living in a studio flat without room to host him, immediately thinks "um fuck that" and calls Costis, and within an hour Costis and Aris and a few rugby buddies have moved all of Kamet's things into Costis and Aris's flat, where Costis insists that he'll squeeze into Aris's room (they've shared before, it's fine) and that Kamet gets first dibs on the kitchen for all bake off practices.

None of them actually reveal any of this to the show's producers. Kamet gets a little overwhelmed the following week and nearly walks away from the tent, but Costis jumps in to keep his bake from being ruined, and some soothing words from Irene + the hosts calm him down and he returns to finish. The only mention of the Drama comes in the finale, during the longer video clips they do on each of the contestants. Kamet is deliberately vague about the details of the situation, but Aris shows up in both Costis's and Kamet's videos and references the fact that having TWO flatmates in the bake off is a bit difficult because they only have a standard size kitchen, so he hasn't cooked for himself in a month and has been living off cake and savory breads. one of the hosts talks to Kamet in the tent after that clip is shown and he still won't talk about it in more detail, but says that he wanted to tell people so they could appreciate why Costis hasn't practiced as much the last few weeks (the judges scolded him for winging it a couple of times), and admits that he totally copied some of Costis's techniques for honey week based on watching him at home.

I imagine the finale task is something like an illusion cake--probably with a bunch of additional required elements because the show has been going bonkers with the finale showstoppers in the newer seasons--and Irene wins with a jewelry box containing, among other things, ruby earrings made out of candy. Kamet does a stepwell, and Costis does something architectural (I was thinking castle but something visibly Greek-ish so maybe a temple or a megaron? idk). Irene wins but they're all BFFs and that's obvious, so everyone's delighted for her. The little montage at the end reveals that Irene + Gen are expecting twins, that everybody hangs out all the time, and that Costis + co recently helped Kamet move into his own flat where he's now working on a novel (Immakuk and Ennikar inspired, obvi, leaning heavily on the honey-shared-on-the-road thing and including some recipes that actually work in the narration, albeit still written in an ancient-novel-like-way).

[Obviously not part of the show, but when Kamet mentions that it's time for him to look for his own place, Costis tries to v awkwardly invite him to stay forever and Kamet is like "nope I've got to try this on my own but yes we will go on a date once I've moved out and see how it goes from there."]

[This is so far beyond the scope of the show but also several of them go on to have more baking-related careers and have active social media presences and at one point they're all hanging out and Eugenides pulls out a camera and demands they all produce baking pick-up lines. Teleus refuses and also doesn't believe anyone knows baking pick-up lines off the top of their head or could make them up on the spot. Sophos sort of proves him right by coming up with "you're the apple of my pie," which Eugenides instantly mocks because Sophos's three greatest loves are baking, Helen, and poetry, and that's the best he can do? Helen comes up with "I like my cake the way I like my men--rich, sweet, and bright red," to which Sophos blushes on cue. Irene's is "when I'm with you, I feel like chocolate heated to 50 degrees--I struggle to maintain my temper." Eugenides protests this is more like an anti-pickup line. Irene insists this is the most accurate marriage-related baking pun anyone could ever come up with.

[Laela's is "You and I are like custard--I hope we never split." Kamet's is "You remind me of bread, because I knead you." Costis freezes for a minute and finally comes up with "Fancy a cream horn?" which produces a lot of giggling and makes Kamet slap his arm in such a way that, hen Eugenides posts this video to instagram, fans of the show all go WAIT ARE THEY DATING NOW] [by this point, yes they are] [I didn't even have to google baking pickup lines for this, guys, I legit came up with them on my own, please clap.]

am I obsessed? I might be obsessed

#queen's thief #attolia irene #kamet #costis ormentiedes #sophos #eugenides #teleus #eddis helen #laela #oh dear I bet her tag is virtually unsearchable #sorry laela

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igarbagecannoteven · 3 years

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Helllllo you seem like someone who reads a lot of fanfictions so i wanted to ask if you can recommend some cake fanfictions? Rather longer ones than oneshots that you currently like? That’d be awesome 🤲🏻 no worries if not!

ok i typed up an extremely detailed answer to this ask only to accidentally delete it but! hopefully i can remember everything i said (if not i shall commit major crimes) anyways if i’m missing something it’s definitely because of that and not bc i spaced it,,,, okay take 2 answering this ask

hi anon!!! i am so incredibly honored that you appreciate my taste in fic enough to ask me for recs i am all !!! i do need to issue 2 disclaimers b4 i begin: 1) i only started reading 5sos fic this fall so there are def other people who have better knowledge than me and 2) i don’t read explicit fics which limits the amount of fic i read/the ones i can rec. however! i am pretty sure i’m one of the only people who searches for 5sos fic by wordcount instead of pairing so if you’re looking for long(er)fic you’ve come to the right place :)) cake is a rather popular fic at the moment so there’s tons of good fic out there beyond what i’m going to rec here! i’m just going to list a few of my favs and if anyone knows of any good fics i left off feel free to add them! (i’m only going to be recc’ing completed fic as a matter of principle but if other people want to go crazy!) also, since i don’t know what you consider “longer fic” i’m going to put the word counts by each fic so you know what you’re getting into lol (i did make sure none of these recs are under 10k tho) okay with all that being said i guess i’ll dive right in!

if you’re a fan of cake fic you almost definitely know of the incredibly talented unofficial queen of cake @kaleidoscopeminds but just in case you should 100% check out her ao3! she has several longer fics, but my personal favorites are flatmate au (20k), journalist calum/musician luke au (16.8k), and her roadtrip fic (36.6k). they’re all incredibly written and clever and funny (with just the right amount of angst) so if you haven’t checked them out i highly recommend it!

if when you said longfic you *really* meant longfic, then you have to check out vegas au (88.4k) by @emmybazy from all the way back in 2014! it has some absolutely stunning worldbuilding and has a very unique way of framing the plot that i’ve never seen in fic before which made it a very refreshing read for me! if you’re looking to get lost in a fic this is the one for you 😊

moving along to another member of cake royalty, @staticsounds is a brilliant fic writer with loads of cake fics! (you should definitely check out her ao3 if you’re a cake person) my personal favorites of her longer cake fics are her la au (40.4k) and the cake version of bake off au (17.9k)! they’re both total showstoppers (get it? bc bake off? yes i do think i’m hilarious thank u) while also having very different moods? if that makes sense? like they both fit different vibes i look for at different times which is wonderful!!

and of course i can’t talk about molly and not bring up one of my favorite fic projects of all time, which was her collab with the spectacular @cringeycal for their college dance au (15k) & college pet au (14.7k) (that is a horrible way to describe it and i apologize but it’s also 6 am and i haven’t slept yet so cut me some slack) these are both genius and hilarious and i could go on about them for actual hours so if you haven’t read them yet go crazy go stupid and if you don’t love them i’ll eat scorpions on live television :))

how could i talk about cake fics without bringing up beloved hanukkah fic (13.6k) by the light of my life @clumsyclifford?? this fic is not only just a lovely piece of prose all around it just has so much love and warmth and fluff it’s practically overflowing and i personally think it should be required reading bc it’s so !!! bella hasn’t written any other cake over 10k but i have yet to read a fic of hers i haven’t loved so if you’re looking for some shorter cake (or longer of another pairing) you should def check out her ao3 😊

if you’re looking for some angsty fic, i highly recommend @lifewasradical ‘s fic where calum leaves the band (10.1k) it is absolutely heartwrenching in the best way!! she also has an adorable bakery au (11k) that is extremely fluffy and cute!!

there’s also her collab with @pixiegrl for their wrong number au (16.1k) if you’re looking for some disaster college kids making a mess of falling in love!

ok this post is getting very long and the sun has just risen (insert yikes emoji) so i’ll wrap it off with @michaelsarmbandtattoo ‘s trans luke au (12.8k) which balances fluff and angst extremely well imo and is a great read!

ok it is now past 6:30 am and i have an appointment at 10 and have yet to sleep so! that’s all for now! i am almost certainly forgetting some excellent fic but my brain is fried from last week of the semester vibes so someone else can fill in the blanks. this is probably way more rambly than you were looking for but it wouldn’t be a megs’ production if it wasn’t :)) thanks for asking for recs i’d love to do this again sometime for another pairing! (not this week tho lol) 💙

#this is so fucking long i apologize i just have zero chill #plus there's so much good fic out there! and i love to gush over fic if you haven't figured out yet #i really hope all these links work #i was going to say something else in the tags but now i can't remember #no one yell at me about my bad sleep decisions plz i am well aware i fucked up staying up this late during this week in particular #but! it is too late now #i'm going to go crash on the beanbag for 2 and a half to 3 hours b4 my class 🙃#good night y'all it was a pleasure doing business #answering mail #long post #fic rec #cake

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calumsash · 3 years

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ok so i posted a cashton fic rec a couple of months ago and since then i have expanded my horizons and read more than just these two. this fandom truly has the best writers and i can’t thank you enough for the joy and comfort your fics bring me and many more im sure. most of these are cashton and cake since they are personally my favourite pairings to read, i still have many more on my to-read list so hopefully i make another one of these with more fics! so here we go in no particular order with the fics i got around to reading in these couple of months:

calum hood/ashton irwin

Empty Gut by @daydadahlias - Cowboys and horses and long, lonely nights in the wilderness. (11k)

here’s the thing, i have been hearing about jess’ fics from a friend of mine before i came across their blog, got many screenshots of their lashton fics (which the moment i start reading more lashton they’ll be first in line) and from what i saw i was in love with the writing. so when i saw you writing a brokeback mountain AU for cashton, none the less, you got me. it was so heartbreaking and i loved the way you wrote all of ashton’s inner monologues. i knew how the movie ends and i still cried at the ending for calum.

Fall Into Me by @ashtcnirwin - In which Ashton acquires a couple of piercings and it comes with a slight change in his way of being, and it throws Calum for a loop. (16k)

holy shit where do i start, it’s always refreshing to read sub!ash since usually it’s the opposite. i really loved the different dynamics you put into these fics between all the guys. one second i was laughing my ass off and another second it got way too hot in the room while reading this, which in my opinion is a great combo. also, im very grateful you graced us with a part two for this series cause when i didn’t think it could get better it did.

In Your Sweet December Haze by @fourdrunksluts - It’s been years since Ashton’s last seen his best friend's dorky little brother, Calum, but when their families decide to get together for their first shared Christmas since they were all kids, it’s more than just the holiday spirit that pulls Ashton in. (20k)

this fic has just the right amount of angst and comfort, i could literally picture this as a film. i loved the back and forth in the timeline and that way you slowly realize the chain of events that let them to the present. also, you made me cry over a furby and i can’t get over that.

i want you (bless my soul) by @michaelownsmyheart - In which Ashton moves in with a guy named Michael, Michael is in love with Luke and annoyed at Calum, and the guy with shaved blue hair from the elevator is too hot for Ashton to know what to do about it. (22k)

oh boy this is a good one, another sub!ash and im really loving this. the cashton here was excellent, but what was also excellent is the friendship between michael and ashton - their dynamic was so funny and sweet and they’re the perfect roommates.

calum hood/luke hemmings

He Did Ballet by @kaleidoscopeminds - Luke's life is perfectly on track. He is about to get everything he's ever wanted, to become a Principal dancer for the Royal Ballet. He's focused, determined and nothing will get in his way. Then he meets Calum, a smooth-tongued barman with dangerous eyes, and suddenly not everything's so simple. (37k)

the motherfuckin ballet fic everybody! the first cake fic i read and what got me into this mess. i really loved the buildup in the relationship and the combination of fluff and angst (chapter 7 im looking at you) and ballet au just has my heart ok?

more than just a neon weekend by @clumsyclifford - Calum shifts into a sitting position. The sheets fall further down his body and Luke looks down at his hands so he won’t stare. He’s still mostly naked, too, and he can feel Calum watching him, and his cheeks burn. Calum needs to leave. Calum needs to take his clothes and go and they need to never tell anyone about this and never talk about it again, because this could destroy the band if it turns into — if anything. (8k)

listen, im a sucker for angst and miscommunication and this got it. the whole fic got me hurting for both luke and, just wanting for them to be ok. “Means nothing to me if it’s nothing to you” you just had to hurt me huh. i was just waiting for them to talk properly and for them end each others pain.

the flatmate arrangement by @kaleidoscopeminds - Hi Calum/Poor Struggling Paralegal, So I’ll be upfront with you. It’s a one-bed flat. I also live here. HOWEVER before you delete this and think I’m a freak, I work nights so I wouldn’t be here anytime you would be. You can have the flat exclusively from 6 pm to 8 am, Saturday night and all day Sunday. Understand this sounds like a bit of a crazy arrangement but I could do with the cash, let me know what you think? Luke Hemmings (Poor Struggling Children’s Nurse). (20k)

this au is so cute, you really got me wishing to have a roommate that i will never see. i love how michael and ashton both were like “this is crazy, why do you wanna die?” and luke and calum are like “it’s fine, don’t be dramatic”. luke backing when he’s stressed? leaving calum baked goods? them leaving notes to each other? this is so sweet i love this fic.

michael clifford/ashton irwin

Gotta Be Cruel to be Kind by @fourdrunksluts - The fandom required 10 Things I Hate About You fic. (26k)

you are right. every fandom needs a 10 things i hate about you fic! and michael and ashton as patrick and kat was just perfect. side cake was also adorable. it got all the great parts of the movie, but you changed it in a way that made the story so much better.

luke hemmings/ashton irwin

Off-Screen by @allsassnoclass - Now that classes are being taught from home due to the pandemic, students are getting a glimpse into Professor Irwin's home life, especially when his mysterious husband keeps interrupting class. (3k)

i loved that this one was from an outsider’s perspective. it gave me the feeling like i was one of the students in ashton’s class haha. luke being a clingy husband is also adorable. just pure fluff.

OT4

Let Go Of Any Hesitation by @fourdrunksluts - When Ashton's frustration is a creative block, it becomes the entire band's problem, and they each have their own idea of how to get him out of his head. (18k)

this one got it all, i love reading about ashton getting all the attention and getting taken care of. truly is a sucker for ashton and his boys. ashton is so stubborn here, but the moment he lets go it’s so good.

once again, thank you for writing these, you all are incredible and deserve all the love ♥

#yay another one! love all of you!!#i have so many more fics to read i just need to find the time!! need more hours in the day #5sos #5sos fic #this is so long im so sorry for my ramblings i had to put it under the read more #go check these out if you haven't already and give the authors love!!!!

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winryofresembool · 3 years

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 33

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: What happens after Leo returns? (At Waystation, pt 1234)

A/N: What is this? A new chapter? I know I probably apologize too much but still, sorry for the long wait! Writer's block is not fun, you guys. It seems that I'm getting more and more insecure about where I should take this story by each chapter, but I did get a couple of encouraging comments while I was writing it and they motivated me to keep going! Extra special shoutout to my bff Cris(sy) for both recommending me the song that eventually helped this chapter to be born, and also helping me edit yesterday because I certainly wouldn't be posting this right now without you. (((((((((huug))))))))))

Disclaimer: The song New Year's Day obviously belongs to Taylor Swift and I definitely recommend listening to it while reading this chapter (specifically the scene where it's mentioned).

Words: 3300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Leo stayed at the park for a while longer, but eventually he knew he had to return to Waystation. The talk with Piper had made him feel a bit better, but he was still worried about how Calypso would react to his meltdown. In his opinion, she had every right to be mad. He would have to explain his behavior, but how? That was the big question.

It was already well past noon when Leo showed up at Waystation again. The building was surprisingly quiet when he entered, hoping the others were looking for him. Usually Georgina was all over the place around this time, sugar high from the chocolate she had eaten and making a mess with her new presents. Luckily, once he had removed his coat and his hat, he started hearing some clunking from the kitchen, indicating someone was there.

Instead of just bursting into the kitchen and announcing that he had returned, he stopped to watch by the doorway. Only Calypso and Georgina were in there, the younger girl chatting enthusiastically while the older one was instructing her with baking. They were standing with their backs towards the door so they couldn’t see Leo. The smell that was coming from the oven somehow felt very familiar… something he associated with Calypso. It wasn’t until she bowed down to take something out of the oven that he realized what it was. The cookies smelled the same as the cake Calypso had baked a few times at their flat, and the shampoo she used: cinnamon-y.

“Look, Georgina!” Calypso showed her the cookies. “These ended up pretty good.” It sounded like she was hesitating a bit before she continued: “Hopefully your brother will like them as well.”

“Oh, he will, Calie! He’d probably like anything you do!” Georgina noted in the straightforward style she was used to.

“But I didn’t make these alone,” Calypso reminded her. “I had a good helper.” She put the oven pan on the table and reached to ruffle the top of Georgina’s hair a bit.

“Where do you think he went, anyway?” Georgina asked. Leo wasn’t sure if he just imagined it but to him she sounded pretty worried. “I’ve not seen him that way often…”

Calypso sounded pretty cautious when she answered. “I’m sure he will be back soon. He must be tired because he’s been working a lot lately and that’s why he’s a bit on the edge… but he wouldn’t want to miss your gingerbread cookies. Hey, what color should we use to decorate these?” She turned Georgina’s focus back to the cookies again. “Do you think pink would be cute?”

“No, I want all the different colors! Blue, red, purple, green, yellow…” Georgina started listing all the colors that she could remember.

“I don’t think we have that many food color bottles here,” Calypso pointed out with amusement. “But you know, we can try to mix some together!”

“That sounds great! Hey, is pink your favorite color?” The girl asked suddenly.

“Hah, what gives me away?” Calypso chuckled. Even the apron she was currently wearing happened to be pink, although Leo knew that was probably purely coincidental because she was using one of Emmie’s aprons.

“You’re always wearing something pink and you even wanted pink gingerbread cookies,” Georgina noted while she started mixing the sugar frosting very eagerly.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Calypso teased. “I do really like pink, though. I don’t know. Maybe it reminds me of the sunsets back in my childhood home… But lately I’ve noticed that I have quite a lot of red things in my wardrobe too. But what about you? What’s your favorite color?”

Georgina gave Calypso a long and colorful answer, which Leo only half listened to. He started thinking about Calypso’s statement. He wasn’t completely dense; he had noticed that Calypso had often picked those outfits that he may have complimented at some point. But could it be that she had even started using more red because of him? Nah, he shook his head, that was a selfish way of thinking. Her outfit choices were probably purely coincidental.

Suddenly Leo realized that he had been standing there eavesdropping the girls way too long. When he was about to leave, though, he heard Georgina say: “my moms try to hide it from me, but I know that Leo is not OK. I mean, maybe he is, sometimes… but I remember that last Christmas was a lot like this one.”

“What do you mean?” Calypso asked.

“He didn’t yell at anyone, but… when he is in a bad mood he either shuts down and avoids us or is even louder than usual. But between the jokes, he doesn’t look happy at all. Moms would probably say ‘Georgie, you’re too small to understand that stuff’, but I’m not a baby anymore. This one golden haired dude visits us sometimes and he knows a lot about health things and he’s been teaching me as well. I know sometimes people get depressed, if for example something really bad has happened to them. And I think something very bad happened to big bro before he came here.”

“Yeah… sometimes things like that happen, sadly… But you know what?” Calypso said, probably attempting to sound more cheerful. “I think your brother is really trying. He cares about you so much he puts your happiness before his. He doesn’t want you to worry about him. But he’s strong, just like you, right? He’ll pull through.”

At this point Leo felt he had heard enough. He had been expecting some talk about him; after all he had just caused a scene in the middle of the present opening. But to hear Calypso talk about him that way? So sweetly? That he hadn’t expected. He had imagined she’d be mad at him after the ‘incident’ of that morning. Maybe she was just trying to be nice simply to calm Georgina down, but that he would never know.

He slowly started backing up, so that the girls wouldn’t notice his presence. However, just when he was nearly by the stairway, his foot hit a box that someone had left on the floor, making a loud noise. Cursing himself in his head, he quickly looked up to see that the sound had piqued the girls’ interest and they both tried to see where it had come from. He hid upstairs as quickly as he could, but that didn’t change the fact that Calypso most likely knew he had been listening to them.

Great, he thought, as he closed his bedroom door behind him. As if things hadn’t already been awkward enough even before this…

… (Calypso POV)

Once she was done with baking with Georgina, Calypso withdrew into her guest room for some ‘me’ time. She had a lot to think about. Leo hadn’t been around for the lunch, which meant that the Waystation group had been unusually quiet while finishing their meals. She knew everyone must have been thinking about him, but no one dared to bring him up. After the lunch, Georgina had asked Calypso to bake with her and she had agreed, welcoming the distraction. But Leo still hadn’t returned so she had started playing with the idea that she wouldn’t listen to Jo and Emmie’s advice, instead going to look for him after cleaning the kitchen. Before she had gotten that far, though, she had heard him in the hallway, but he had disappeared from there before she had time to even properly see him. However, she knew it couldn’t have been anyone else.

While she was relieved that he had finally come back, one part of her was also kind of mad that he had been eavesdropping and hadn’t even told them that he had returned. She was pretty close to just marching into his room and letting him hear it, but eventually she decided she wasn’t quite ready for that talk yet. If only there was some machine that would allow them to exchange their thoughts without the actual confrontation… But that was a naive thought, Calypso knew.

Finally, she decided that dwelling on the issues the whole day wouldn’t help anything. Since the Waystation family would get some Christmas guests for the evening, she decided that she should probably change out of her baking attire (a simple t-shirt and sweatpants) that had gotten a bit floury despite the apron that had covered it. Thankful for having taken several outfits from her flat (see, Leo, they were useful for something after all, she thought), she was drawn between blue jeans and a white blouse and a pretty 50ies style red dress she had only recently sewn for herself. It had sleeves that reached her elbows, a ribbon around the waist and a v-shaped neckline. Calypso wondered if the dress was a bit ‘too much’ for a family dinner but she liked how it had ended up looking and felt pretty confident in it. That’s why she ended up picking it instead of the more casual option. Besides, a tiny voice said in Calypso’s head, it didn’t hurt that Leo liked that color...

Tying her hair into a small braid pun and adding a ribbon around it, she was finally happy with her look. Then her gaze fell into the silver bracelet Leo had given to her that was still around her wrist. Briefly, she wondered how he’d feel about seeing it after their earlier incident, but she decided to leave it on. She had kind of expected Leo to give her something silly, like a CD of him singing Never Gonna Give You Up or chili seeds as a joke, but the jewelry box and the bracelet had been very thoughtful. Leo really knew how to surprise her – in a good way – sometimes…

Realizing that she had already been spending over an hour in her guest room, Calypso decided it was time to go back to socialize with her hosts. She heard Georgina’s voice coming from the living room and decided to go check up on her. The young girl was sitting by the piano, singing one of those more modern Christmas songs that she herself wasn’t crazy about, but somehow it sounded a lot more bearable when Georgina performed it. But what really surprised Calypso was Georgina’s pianist. Leo was sitting there next to his adoptive sister and focusing on running his fingers on the instrument. For some reason she hadn’t expected him to be musical and especially not interested in playing Christmas songs (Calypso knew he was more of a rock ‘n roll type of guy). She wasn’t sure what to think of this discovery.

Calypso had always loved music and she had even attempted to learn to play the piano with the help of a nanny for a little while, but when her dad had discovered what they did, he had immediately told them to stop. To this day, Calypso couldn’t understand why; she just assumed that maybe her beloved father hadn’t wanted her to learn something so ‘useless’. Thankfully, her voice wasn’t something her father could take from her so she had kept singing mostly out of spite, and became pretty good. Now she began wondering if Leo would ever mind teaching her to play… that was, if they were able to have a normal conversation again.

Georgina’s song ended and Calypso stepped forward to let the others know she was there, applauding the girl.

“That sounded good!” She encouraged her. “I’m not a fan of Christmas songs but you did well.”

“Thanks, Calie!” Georgina beamed at her. “Leo has told me you can sing too. Can I hear some? Please? Leo can play!”

“I… uh… wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Calypso turned to Leo. “Since when have you been playing the piano?”

Leo ignored Calypso’s first remark and replied: “Since I was a kid. Yeah, I bet you thought I’m more like a drum person or something but it was my mom’s idea I’d try this. Well? Are you gonna sing something?” He asked when Calypso remained quiet.

“I don’t really know that many Christmas songs…” she replied hesitantly. “Georgie, do you have any suggestions?”

“I love Taylor Swift’s songs!” the 9-year-old announced. “Do you know any of them?”

Calypso nearly burst out laughing. “Of course I do! She’s one of my favorite artists. But I thought we were going to sing Christmas songs.”

“Nah, I think I’ve already had enough of them,” Georgina stated. “But TS has made some holiday themed songs as well. Like New Year’s Day. I have the piano sheet for it!” The girl showed her a book she had borrowed from the library.

“You’re a real Swiftie, huh?” Calypso couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “But fine, I actually quite like that song so I could sing it.”

Leo had been following the conversation quietly but now he took the book from Georgina and eyed the sheet.

“Let me practice a little; I haven’t even heard this song before so I have no idea how to play it.”

“Sure, take your time,” Calypso said carefully. She was relieved to see that Leo was acting that calmly now despite the morning’s incident but she couldn’t help but wonder if that was just the surface. Surely he couldn’t have just completely forgotten about it? She would have to bring it up at some point, but now was not the time. Even when she attempted to read the lyrics her thoughts kept going back to him.

She was so lost in her thoughts that Leo had to raise his voice before she noticed he had stopped playing. “Hey, did you hear me? I asked if you’re ready.”

“What?” she shook her head. “Sorry. I was just wondering something. But yes, I’m ready now.”

Calypso noticed that Georgina kept looking at them curiously, but for once she didn’t say anything.

“Good. Let’s go,” Leo said in a neutral tone.

As she started singing, the lyrics started sinking into her differently than before. Suddenly she felt like she was the narrator, singing about the aftermath of a party she had attended. Even though Calypso wasn’t big on parties, and the latest one she had been in – the Halloween one – hadn’t gone ideally, when she kept picturing herself among her friends that she had gained during her time in Indianapolis, smiling, carrying their shoes because their feet hurt from the dancing, she felt… happy. Adding to that the image of spending time with Leo cleaning up their home while he made his snarky comments and probably tried to sabotage her cleaning process, she felt warm in a way she hadn’t expected. However, she tried to stop that track of thoughts because she realized what it implied. The narrator of the song was singing about her significant other, and Calypso had decided a long time ago that she shouldn’t get one.

As Leo kept playing, Calypso tried to keep her focus on his fingers running on the keys. For a while it worked; Calypso was amazed by how fast they could move, but then again, she supposed that all those years of building things with his hands really helped him develop that skill. Calypso could spot some stains on his hands from the machines he had handled that would barely leave even with soap, and the under nail area could definitely have used some proper scrubbing, but he wouldn’t have been Leo without those things. She couldn’t imagine him not fiddling with something 24/7. That was one of the reasons she admired him; she valued hard work pretty high and couldn’t imagine being with someone who was just sitting still.

”But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away…”

When Calypso reached that part, she felt chills go down her spine because of how well that line described her and Leo’s current situation. He felt lost because of some past traumas. She was scared of both letting him too close and losing him and everything she had gained since that fall. He had turned away from her and his family already twice that day. But there was hope; maybe, if they managed to finally communicate properly, they’d find a way to even deal with the ‘midnights’.

“Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you.”

Calypso stopped to think about that line. At first her thoughts went to the badmemories such as the times when she had been living with her father. But when she repeated the line, she understood the song was talking about the good memories that would carry you even in your worst moments. Before she knew it, she was filled with flashbacks. Yelling at Leo after Festus broke her desk. The weird warm feeling after she saw the fixed desk. Casually spending time together; cooking, cleaning, playing, watching shows together… That time when Leo had given her the seeds of her favorite flower… The ‘therapy’ sessions… The Halloween party and the almost kiss after that… the weird tension they’d been having ever since that moment… His smiles and laughs… No matter what would happen, she would always hold those memories close to her heart.

Suddenly, Calypso knew. This wasn’t just some infatuation that would go away with time. She had learned to appreciate Leo’s company more and more, the good and the bad sides, to the point that she was now in love with him. Back in August she had thought that they would probably never get along, but to her surprise they had more in common than she had expected and he had become a big part of her life. Lonely, unsure about their futures, past traumas… that’s what tied them together. And even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to deny that what she had been afraid of had already happened.

“And I will hold onto you.”

Those five simple words made Calypso’s voice crack. With frustration she swept the corner of her eyes quickly and attempted to clear her voice for the last lines of the song.

“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”

She looked up from the lyrics with blurry eyes and glanced at the boy with the piano. Some months ago, she had told herself that she wouldn’t let anyone get too close to her. But somehow Leo and all her new friends had just snuck into it, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them. She wanted them to be a permanent part of it, but with so many uncertainties in the future, could she count on it?

“What’s the matter, Cal?” Leo asked when she very clearly had difficulties pronouncing the last few words of the song.

Calypso knew the words she was going to say were probably unfair, but she couldn’t stop herself. The frustrations of that day just demanded to get out. “What’s the matter, Cal?” she mocked him. “I don’t know, Leo. You just… freak out all of a sudden and run away and then you come back and act like nothing happened?! Don’t you understand at all how worried we all are about you?!”

“I…” Leo stammered but didn’t finish his sentence.

“Well? Are you gonna explain yourself?” Calypso asked.

“Listen, you need to understand…”

“Understand what, Leo?”

Calypso waited for a little longer, but when the answer never came, she said: “You know what? Never mind. Clearly I was a fool to think that you care about us… about me the same way I care about you.”

“Calypso…”

Calypso turned her back to him and muttered: “I’m going to see if Jo and Emmie need my help with something. Do not follow me.”

In reality, Calypso withdrew into the closest bathroom and finally let the tears come.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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jeddyfest · 4 years

Text

Jeddy Fest 2020 Master List

A massive thank you to all our contributors for making Jeddy Fest so much fun this year!

Fic:

All Smoke, No Fire - by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion (20K, T) - Teddy and James have been partners for years, taking the Curse-Breaking world by storm. They know each other. They trust each other. There's no room for secrets, not in their line of work, and definitely not in their totally platonic, casual, friendly partnership.

as beautiful as endless - by @mapyourstars (5K, E) - James comes home from training with, like, 10 times as many freckles.

that love of mine - by @goldentruth813 (5K, E) - James and Teddy have been together for a while, and things are good. Great even. Perfect, if you ask James. And while James is maybe (okay definitely) arse over tit in love with Teddy, Teddy doesn’t do love. And that’s okay. That’s fine. James can pretend things are casual as long as he needs to. Or so he thinks.Until one day James catches Teddy wearing his clothes, and there’s no ignoring his feelings any longer.

Where You Belong - by @fidgetyweirdo (26k, T) - He lost everything during the coma. His flat, his girlfriend, his career, and six years of his life. Now, as James -- who he remembers as a mischievous fourteen year old but is now a fit healer -- helps him adjust to his new normal, Teddy discovers that what he gains might just make up for all the rest.

Caving In - by @motherofmercury (7K, E) - On a family holiday, James Sirius persuades Teddy it's a good idea to go exploring in a cave system that has long been rumoured as cursed. Alone and stuck in the caves, with certain memories wiped, the pair realise that despite the situation, they are both incredibly attracted to the other...

The Best Birthday Of His Life - by @ladderofyears (4K, M) - It was April the nineteenth and today was Teddy Lupin’s thirty-first birthday.Today was April the nineteenth and James Sirius Potter was a messy, stumbling drunk and all alone in a flat that was horribly, eerily silent.There ought to be a stack of birthday cards above the hearth, the images on their covers dancing and spinning. There ought to be a steady stream of friends, family and loved ones knocking on their door, bearing armfuls of beautifully-wrapped, enchanted gifts. Mum ought have baked Teddy one of her six-tier birthday cakes, each layer of icing charmed to replicate exact shade of Teddy’s rainbow hair.And Teddy ought to be there, pulling James into his lap at the end of a long, busy day that they’d both enjoyed.“The best birthday of my life,” Teddy ought to have said, brushing a series of chaste kisses across Jamie’s jaw and Jamie would have raised an eyebrow at his lover’s predictability. “They’re the same words you use every year,” Jamie would have joked and Teddy would have laughed then. He always did. “That doesn’t make them less true,” Teddy would have replied.

Masquerade - by @micheleblack (10k, T) - You know Cinderella. You know Jeddy. Oh, you’re still reading… Teddy learns about a masquerade ball in Prince James’ honor. Will he go? I mean, duh, it’s a retelling of Cinderella - Jeddy-fied!

out of step, off my feet - by @valryon (4k, M) - Teddy wraps his arms around James tightly, letting himself feel his warmth and the unmistakable sound of his heart beating strong and loud against his own chest. He’s so grateful for the way he can hold James like this after a match like that, instead of walking next to him on a stretcher.

Who We Are - by @thirdeyeblinkings (6k, M) - Teddy and James have a history of lifelong friendship, as well as an incident of bad timing when they might have become something more. But none of that matters now that neither of them remembers who they are or what they mean to one another. Lucky for them, love has a way of transcending time, memory, and magic.

it’s a thing to see (when a boy comes home) - by @potter-loves-malfoy (10k, E) - If it was anyone but James—or any other family member—he would tell Harry about it in a heartbeat. But there’s just something off-putting about telling your godfather, ‘It’s weird between us because I fucked your son five years ago, right before I fucked off to Japan for five years, and then ignored all of his owls. Oh, I also definitely would not mind fucking him again.’

Love on hold - by @andithiel (18k, E) - James Sirius Potter is a world famous quidditch player, he’s good looking, and he can have anyone he wants. The problem is, James has been in love with Teddy for years, and he's been trying to get over it in every way possible. Surely becoming flatmates can't make it any worse? But James hadn't considered how it would feel to see Teddy with one partner after another, especially as his own feelings only seem to be getting stronger, along with his insecurities.

along the dotted line - by @mapyourstars (6k, M) - James and Teddy have been best mates for a long time, but living together for the past year has started to put some strain on their friendship.

In My Arms - by thegirlwhochosetostay (11k, T) - When James and Teddy find themselves stuck in a cave while their memories are lost, it's up to them to figure out who they are and what their relationship is to each other. When the incorrectly assume they are lovers, hidden problems reveal who they really are. And when they are found do they want to continue the relationship they thought they had in the cave?

Art:

Clothes-Stealing - by @eleonorapoe (G) - Teddy and James are dating for some time when one day Teddy realize, that he didn´t bring any clean clothes to James. If only there was an easy solution to his problem before he will be late to work;)

Bubblegum - by @motherofmercury (G) - Art of Teddy and James kissing bc jeddyfest and why not.

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giulietta-in-roses · 3 years

Text

Baking Ideas for Vegans!

So one of my flatmates is vegan, and I really want to bake treats that everyone can eat. I still bake plenty of non vegan goodies, as I have an ongoing love affair with butter, but making your baking vegan and all inclusive isn’t as hard as you think!

I love the recipes from Exceedingly Vegan since they all turn out moist with perfect crumb.

My two favorite ones are the apple and almond cupcakes and the blueberry cake.

https://www.exceedinglyvegan.com/vegan-recipes/baking-desserts/easy-apple-and-almond-cupcakes-vegan

https://www.exceedinglyvegan.com/vegan-recipes/baking-desserts/easy-vegan-blueberry-cake

Both were absolute hits with my vegan and non-vegan friends alike, I absolutely recommend them as an on the spot baking idea, especially you have some fruits or berries that need to get eaten.

I also love baking pies in the fall, but the traditional butter filled pie crust can make things tricky. I really like this vegan pie crust recipe made with coconut oil. I promise you can’t taste the coconut, ands it’s so good! The only problem I’ve had is that is really crumbly and harder to roll out than a butter crust, but it’s very doable and tastes delicious. I use this as the crust for pretty much of all my vegan pies.

I also love this vegan pecan pie recipe. Pecan is probably my favorite type of pie, and this one is amazing, and my friends practically inhaled it. The only unusual twist is that instead of eggs, the recipe calls for silken tofu to get that wonderful gooey texture that makes pecan pies so lovely.

My cousin, who is allergic to dairy, highly recommends this vegan lemon and ginger scone recipe. I haven’t made it myself, but I did get to try it, and it was delicious!

#I meant to post this a while ago #lol #I'm now trying to give up dairy so its even more relevant lol #food #recipes #baking #dessert #vegan

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fantastic-bby · 4 years

Text

Strings - Happy Ending

Pairing: Reader x Jaebeom

Word count: 3.1k

Genre: Fluff, romance, soulmate au, an attempt at comedy

Summary: The happy ending to Strings.

Read Strings first lol

Masterlist

"Ugh! I can't do it!" (Y/n) let out a groan and threw her arms up in the air. She couldn't bring herself to get them to meet. As much as she tried to will herself, she just couldn't muster up the courage in bringing them together.

Call her selfish but she was not ready to let Jaebeom go even if it was to her best friend. She simply couldn't.

That was where she started to plan everything to make sure they would never meet without her knowing. She was going to make them avoid each other at all costs.

»»————-　　————-««

Haneul stepped out of her car and let out a silent groan. Work that day was absolutely terrible and she felt like all she needed was a long bubble bath with a glass of her favourite wine to unwind.

Stupid work, stupid coworkers, stupid intern that keeps losing the files and paperwork. This was the fourth time! Who hired that kid?! She thought as she made her way towards the lift, her black heels clicking against the marble floor as she did. She stepped into the lift and was relieved when she saw there was no one else inside.

Haneul let out a loud groan and crouched onto the ground as the lift went up. She ran her hand through her hair and messily tugged onto it as though she wanted to rip each follicle out of her scalp out of frustration.

The lift stopped at her floor and she grabbed her leather briefcase off of the floor as she made her way to her apartment.

"Oh, Haneul-ah!" A voice called from behind her. She turned around and her spirits lifted slightly when she saw the sweet elderly woman peeking her head out of the apartment.

"Hi, Mrs Kim. Good evening." Haneul bowed politely as she greeted her.

"You look like you just walked through a tornado. Are you okay?" The woman eyed the poor girl's messy hair.

"Oh… bad day at work." She chuckled awkwardly as she started to smooth down her hair.

"I made cookies and tea. Come inside." Mrs Kim sweetly invited as she pushed open her door. Haneul followed her into the apartment. It was smaller than Haneul and (Y/n) 's apartment but it was perfect for a lil' old lady who was living alone.

There was a familiar scent that filled Haneul's nostrils; cinnamon and baked goods. She sat herself at the kitchen island barstool and excitedly watched as Mrs Kim placed a plate of gingerbread cookies in front of her.

"My grandson and his wife were supposed to come over today, but they're stuck in Incheon. Eat as much as you'd like, they'll only be reaching here next week." She smiled as she placed a mug of chamomile tea in front of Haneul.

"Thank you, Mrs Kim." She hummed out as she took one of the cookies and bit into it, the flavour of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg quickly coating her tongue. She let out a content hum as she chewed on the cookie, "Mrs Kim, these cookies are delicious."

"Thank you, dear. Now, tell me what's bothering you." She smiled as she sat beside Haneul and placed a motherly hand on her back.

»»————-　　————-««

Jaebeom stared at the ceiling as he laid on his bed, a smile never leaving his face as he replayed his day with (Y/n).

“Ah, I can’t believe I’ve met her.” He bit his lip as he spoke to himself. A meow came from his side and he turned to see Cake eyeing him curiously. “Cake-ah, I’m so happy!” He happily scooped the Munchkin into his arms as he stood up from his bed, scratching her belly as he danced around his room all the while trying not to drop his cat.

He never thought he would be so lucky in bumping into someone. He felt so much love for her, he was absolutely sure he would never leave her even if he met his soulmate. Hell, he didn’t even want to find his soulmate anymore. Even in his black and white world, (Y/n) was all the colour he needed to lighten up his spectrum.

Jaebeom placed Cake onto his lap when he sat at his desk chair and looked at the sticky notes that decorated his wall.

Jaebeom-ah~ don’t work too hard and make sure you take care of yourself well <3

He smiled to himself like a child who had just gotten candy. He pulled the note off of the wall and brought it closer. He loved her handwriting. He loved everything about her. He was so in love with her, he felt like his heart would’ve burst even though he had only known her for a few months.

He stuck the sticky note back onto the wall and leaned back in his chair.

“Cake, should I write another song for her?” He questioned the small bundle of fluff that sat on his lap. Cake turned up to him and let out a meow in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He chuckled as he turned on his keyboard and his computer.

There was a tune that popped into Jaebeom’s head the moment he saw her earlier that morning. He saw her running towards him, snowflakes falling past her as she did. She looked so happy to see him that he felt like he was going to explode from how cute she looked.

“Ah, she makes me so happy and she doesn’t even know it.” He hummed out as he pressed a few keys on his keyboard. Cake let out a happy meow when he did. “Does it sound nice?” He questioned as he turned down to look at her. She let out another meow and he laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

»»————-　　————-««

"Thank you so much for the cookies, Mrs Kim." Haneul bowed as she stood in the hallway.

"No problem, dear. I should be thanking you for getting those cookies off of my hands." Mrs Kim smiled warmly as she waved at her, "Take care, Haneul-ah!" Haneul waved back as she closed the door and turned around to head back to her apartment.

She stopped in front of her apartment and pulled her keys out of her purse when she heard Jaebeom’s door open, causing her to turn around and freeze. Her keys fell out of her hand as she stared at Jaebeom’s figure, his entire body showing colour amidst the black and white hallway.

“Holy shit.” She breathed out as they both stared at each other with wide eyes. Jaebeom dropped the garbage bag in his hand and it fell to the ground with a slight thud. He took a step towards her,

“It can’t be you.” He muttered out incredulously as he stopped right in front of her, “You’re (Y/n)’s flatmate. It would break her.” He pointed out, he felt hesitant to believe that his soulmate had actually been living across from his apartment for the past few months. Not to mention, his soulmate was his current girlfriend’s flatmate.

“It really would.” Haneul sucked in a breath through her teeth as she grimaced. They both turned to the ground as they further thought about it. Neither of them had the heart to break (Y/n). Hell, if (Y/n) was sad, Haneul would feel as though it was her fault for getting her to forget about Jaebeom’s string and forget about the possibility of Jaebeom meeting his soulmate.

But that was when she noticed something. “Jaebeom-ssi.” Her voice made Jaebeom turn up to look at her. “Touch my hand. I need to check something.” She extended her hand in front of him.

Jaebeom stared at her hand then back at her. He reached his hand out hesitantly and took hold of hers. He gasped when he saw the white walls melt into an ivory colour, the lights hanging off of the wall starting to glow yellow.

“Holy shit.” He retracted his hand as he turned around to scan his surroundings, watching as the colour started to chase away the black and white. “Oh my god.” He breathed out.

“I know right.” Haneul breathed out as well, making a full turn as she watched the colour melt into her world as well. “Is this colour?” She questioned as she turned back to Jaebeom with a glint in her brown eyes.

“I think it is.” He nodded. “And I don’t think I’m in love with you.” He pointed out, slightly confused at the feeling in his heart. He didn’t want to hold her, he didn’t want to kiss her, he didn’t want to marry her. He just wanted to know her.

“Just to be sure.” She spoke before leaning up and pressing her lips to his. No, this felt wrong. Jaebeom quickly pushed her off,

“Dude!” He exclaimed as he took a step back, “What was that? I’m dating your flatmate!” He pointed out as he stared at her in disbelief. Haneul furrowed her brows before staring at the ground with her finger on her lip as she thought about it.

“I think we’re friend soulmates, Jaebeom-ssi.” She spoke out with her eyes still to the ground as the pieces started to fit together in her mind. “I don’t think we’re meant to fall in love. I think we’re meant to be companions.” She turned up to him with a wide smile on her face when she also realised what that meant. (Y/n) wouldn’t have to break up with him.

“This means I can continue to date (Y/n).” Jaebeom let out a breath of relief. He didn’t have to leave her. He could keep being with her for as long as he wanted. “Should we tell her?” He questioned but Haneul quickly shook her head,

“She’s going to get the wrong idea. I’m worried she’ll start to feel insecure.” Haneul muttered out.

“What if we just don’t tell her we met.” Jaebeom suggests, “We just don’t let her know that we can see colour and we try avoiding mentioning it.”

“That sounds impossible, but for her sake, let’s try it.” Haneul nodded and with that, they did their best to hide their meeting. Jaebeom went back into his apartment, wishing Haneul a goodnight as she walked into her own apartment.

Haneul thought it would work. Even though she knew that (Y/n) could see the strings, she didn’t know that the strings would change their colour depending on the situation.

(Y/n) saw the string the moment she stepped out of her bedroom. She froze at the doorway of her bedroom and stared at Haneul. Her string was blue.

"Mrs Kim invited me in for cookies. Sorry I came back a bit late." Haneul mentioned as she placed a tupperware onto the counter, "She insisted I bring some back for you to eat." She turned around and stopped moving when she took notice of (Y/n) staring at her.

"You met Jaebeom already?" She questioned softly. Haneul felt her entire body tense up and muttered out a 'shit' before she gestured to the barstool. (Y/n) moved towards the kitchen and sat herself onto the chair, preparing her heart for the heartbreak.

"I bumped into Jaebeom in the hallway and…" Haneul trailed off. It sounded weird in her head as she tried to form the sentences before actually speaking them. "I don't think we're supposed to be in love."

"Wait, what?" (Y/n) stared at her in confusion.

"We saw each other, I held his hand but I don't feel love for him. Well, maybe it is love, but maybe it's a different kind of love." Haneul explained.

"So… You're not in love with each other?" She questioned slowly.

"Nope." She shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"One hundred percent sure?" (Y/n) asked, still hesitant to believe that she was still able to be with Jaebeom.

"I kissed him too. He immediately pushed me off of him." Haneul nodded.

"You kissed him?" (Y/n)'s eyes widened and she shot up from her chair.

"Just to check!" Haneul immediately lifted her arms up in front of her defensively, "It felt wrong. I didn't feel any explosions, or love, or anything like that. It actually felt wrong."

"And Jaebeom didn't feel anything either?" She questioned.

"Well, he pushed me off immediately and called me 'dude', so I guess no." Haneul flashed a smile at her. "(Y/n), you can keep dating him. I think we’re meant to be friends. When I held his hand, I didn’t feel like I wanted to kiss him or hug him, I just wanted to be friends with him.” She shrugged as she opened the tupperware and handed a cookie to her flatmate, “Our souls are connected, but I guess we’re just not connected by love.” She shrugged once again.

(Y/n) took a moment as she processed everything while nibbling on the cookie Haneul had handed her.

“So, you seriously don’t love him?” She questioned once again.

“I’m serious. You could probably go ask him right now.” She gestured to the front door. “When we found out, we didn’t want to tell you because I was worried you might feel insecure or scared. I guess there’s really no hiding soulmate things around you.” She chuckled as she pulled out a cookie for herself.

“Your string changed colour.” (Y/n) pointed out. “When you haven’t met your soulmate yet, it’s red, if your soulmate’s dead, it’s black and after you meet your soulmate, it’s blue. Your string,” She pointed to Haneul’s chest, “Is blue now.”

“Yeah, see? You never told me that.” Haneul remarked. “So, your string’s black?” She asked as she looked at (Y/n)’s chest.

“Yeah, and it’s ripped off about here,” She put her hand at her abdomen. “I can’t touch it. It’s just there. I remember the most painful thing when my soulmate died was watching how the string looked like it was trying to pull itself out of my chest until it just tore.” She hummed out as she recalled the excruciating memory.

“Maybe that’s why it hurts so much.” Haneul pointed out softly.

“Maybe. Strings are usually floating freely like they’re in water. Mine was pulled so tight, it looked like I probably could’ve played it like a violin.” (Y/n) joked. Haneul chuckled at that.

“You know, I never wanted Jaebeom to be my soulmate. I’m glad that we’re friend soulmates instead.” She gave (Y/n) a soft smile.

“I’m glad too. What would I have done if you two fell in love?” She punched Haneul’s arm.

“Ow!” She exclaimed with a scowl on her face.

“You were the one who told me to fall in love and I didn’t even realise his string kept leading into our apartment.” She grumbled.

“That’s… on you. How could you have not noticed it in the first place?” Haneul retorted as she rubbed her arm.

“You weren’t even here for the first four months, and every time I was at Jaebeom’s apartment, you were at work.” (Y/n) argued. “I only saw the string because you came home early last week. I tried to keep you two away from each other because I was scared he’d leave. I’m sorry.” She whispered out the confession, her voice small at the end of her sentence.

Haneul looked at her in surprise but she mostly felt a sense of sadness. She had known (Y/n) for years. She knew how much she’d have to go through. She had seen what she had to go through. The idea that she would be the reason (Y/n) would have to go through it all over again, well, it made her sad.

“I don’t blame you.” Haneul placed a comforting hand onto (Y/n)’s arm, “I would’ve done the same if I were you.” She smiled. “I’m more sorry that I encouraged you like that. I never want you to be sad.”

“That’s sweet. Thanks, eonnie.” She smiled and pulled her into a hug.

“Oh, you should go and tell Jaebeom-ssi you know that we’re soulmates.” Haneul mentioned as she pulled away. “I think he was a bit concerned that you might be sad.”

“Okay, I’ll go. Don’t trash the apartment or eat all the cookies.” (Y/n) jokingly warned as she left her apartment.

»»————-　　————-««

“I’m so happy for you!” Haneul squealed as she bounced on her feet. “Oh my god, can I plan the wedding? Am I a bridesmaid?” She gasped. “Am I the maid of honour?!” She asked as she looked at (Y/n) and Jaebeom, his arm wrapped around (Y/n)’s shoulders.

“Yes, you can help plan the wedding. No, you’re not a bridesmaid. Yes, I’m asking you to be the maid of honour.” (Y/n) giggled as she answered all of her questions.

“Can I be the best man too? Oh my god! My best friends are getting married!” Haneul let out another excited squeal as she hugged the two.

Being Jaebeom’s friend soulmate meant that they got along really well. They ended up connecting to the point where sometimes it seemed as though she and Jaebeom shared one brain cell because Haneul was always encouraging Jaebeom to do really dumb shit and he tend to listen to her. This had left poor (Y/n) to pick them up in the middle of the night once when Haneul had convinced Jaebeom that breaking into her old high school while they were drunk was a good idea.

“You can’t be the best man because you’re the maid of honour. You can’t do both.” Jaebeom shook his head with a chuckle leaving his lips. “But, you can help Mark make sure the groomsmen don’t do anything stupid during the wedding.” He smiled.

“I’ll take it.” She nodded. “Have you guys chosen a date yet? Can I help choose a date? My mum’s one of those really superstitious mums so she knows all the good dates for weddings, baby making and all that jazz.” She laughed.

“I’m sorry Haneul eonnie, but Jaebeom and I have already thought of a date. We’re going to do it on the same date that we met. It’ll be in a few months, so you have to get busy.” (Y/n) let out another giggle.

“Oh, I know the perfect place to get your dress, and I know exactly who we should call for the decorating.” Haneul clapped her hands excitedly, “Jaebeom, I’ll text you a number to a tailor for your suit. This is going to be the best wedding ever!”

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write-place-write-time · 5 years

Text

Found It

[ Can be read as a sequel/companion to "Lost It", or as a standalone ]

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

“Bit busy, mate.”

“Baker Street. Come at once.”

“Sherlock, I’m trying to -- No, Rosie, no biting! -- change Miss Nibs here--”

“Bring her along. I need you both.”

“For what?!”

Click.

John Watson pulled the mobile away from his ear with a resigned glare. Young Rosie babbled and grabbed at it, wriggling herself out of the 18 month frock he’d just wrestled her into. John turned his glare to his daughter, who giggled at him unashamedly.

“Between you and your godfather, nudity is trending at an all time high,” he grumbled, though there was no heat in it.

****

Upon arriving at 221b, the Watsons were met with a perturbed Mrs. Hudson, dashing out the door with her brolly and handbag.

“That boy is a menace, I tell you,” she said in between cooing at Rosie. “Got himself all aflutter and refuses to tell me why.”

John frowned at that. “Aflutter? Is he…?”

“He’s clean, of course, but he’s also cleaning. Sherlock Holmes, cleaning the flat!” She tutted, striding off towards a cab. “Good luck, you two!”

John and Rosie shared a look, making their way in and up to the flat.

The faint scent of lemon cleaner and fresh sugar biscuits wafted down the stairs as the Watsons entered their home away from home. The flat was clean. No sign of newspapers, weaponry, abandoned teacups, nor assorted baby-care items strewn about the space. Any paraphernalia of Rosie’s was organized in a designated area that John was impressed to find both conveniently out of the way and visible from all angles of the living room.

The yellow chair from the corner was positioned across from his, angled in companionship with Sherlock’s own. There was a soft, cherry red afghan that John had never seen before draped over the back. The mirror above the mantle was clear of any chemical residue or hand-swipes (from clearing off residue to use the mirror for its intended function); even Billy the skull looked especially clean, as though the teeth had been brushed. The bison skull was free of dust, and the headphones had been replaced by a -- “Flower crown?”

“John, Rosamund, hello!”

John turned from the baffling sight of the bison and its floral corona to where Sherlock’s voice had sounded behind him in the kitchen, and his jaw dropped.

The consulting detective stood barefoot in jeans -- jeans -- a button-up white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, purple dish-washing gloves, and a flour-powdered green tartan pinny. John gaped, trying to gather and understand the sight before him.

“Lock!” Rosie squirmed until her confused father set her down.

“Yes, hello, Rosie,” Sherlock grinned down at her, shucking his garish gloves and tucking them in the pinafore pocket before reaching out to assist the toddler in her steps toward him. “Your father’s gone quite fish-faced, hasn’t he?”

“And your godfather has gone domestic,” John shot back, fighting a grin. “What’s all this then? Have you finally had one-too-many nicotine patches? Therapist electro-shock you?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes as he scooped the girl up and brushed a kiss to her chubby cheek. “Shut up, you’re late.”

“Yes well, little Nudist Nancy refused to cooperate with her wardrobe. What’s the urgent business then?”

“I want to have sex with Molly Hooper.”

John sputtered, “Oi! Tiny ears, Sherlock!”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, but his retort was cut off by John’s second sputter of, “Why the hell do you think Rosie -- a toddler, mind you -- and I would be able to help you with that?”

Sherlock maintained his same passive look, but the creeping pink tinge on his ears gave John insight to his friend’s nerves. “Well, seeing as you have experience -- three continents, was it? -- and the proof of said experience is currently chewing my apron strings, who else would I call upon for aid in such a matter?”

John blinked. “Irene Adler. Your mum. Mycro--”

“Please don’t mention my brother in this context lest I subject myself to eternal celibacy,” Sherlock grimaced. “The Woman is not a wise decision, as it would be ‘not good’ to consult a lesbian dominatrix in love with me about intimacy with another woman. Mummy is right out. She explained the whole ordeal when I was twelve and made Father blush so hard I think he still looks sunburnt. No, it has to be you, John Watson.”

He grinned and made his way back to the kitchen, setting Rosie in her high chair with a freshly baked and cooled biscuit that she immediately set her eight new teeth into. John followed, still baffled.

“Does Molly know you want to… y’know?”

Sherlock shot him an annoyed look.

“Fine,” John capitulated. “Does Molly know you wanna get off with her?”

Those ears grew pinker as Sherlock busied himself with washing the baking materials like a normal adult human. “I don’t suppose how she’d know. She hasn’t asked.”

“She hasn’t asked? Christ, Sherlock. You two have been dating though, right? Coffee two weeks ago, dinner at Angelo’s last Friday?”

“Yes.”

“Did you by any chance, oh I dunno, kiss her goodnight?”

Ears were now pink to the bottom of their lobes. “Last date, yes.”

John grinned behind his friend’s back, snagging a cooling biscuit. “Did you snog?”

Huffing, Sherlock turned. “What’s the difference?”

Through his biscuit, John said, “Kissing is just kissing. Snogging is a bit more involved.”

Sherlock made a face and crossed his arms. “Juvenile.”

“Which means it wasn’t a snog, then?”

Sherlock shrugged. “It was satisfactory.”

“Oooh, ‘Dear Penthouse Forum’--”

“Oh shut up, John.” Sherlock dropped into one of the kitchen chairs, in a full pout-soon-to-be-sulk as he face-planted into the tabletop.. “It’s pointless and you are deplorably unhelpful.”

Daughter of deplorably unhelpful friend reached out with her tiny hand and patted her godfather’s curly head. “Lock! Okay?”

John sighed and sat opposite Sherlock. “Look, I’m taking the mick. You’re not the sexual deviant Janine crowed about in the tabloids, and you’re not the unwitting virgin that Mycroft and Moriarty claimed you to be.” He paused. “Are you?”

Sherlock’s answer was spoken low and into the tabletop. “No. The Woman once in Karachi. Janine… sort of.”

John blinked, fought off a triumphant I-knew-it grin, and cleared his throat. “Right, well, sex with Molly is a different beast, though. Molly Hooper is a friend. She’s your pathologist. You did say the L-word to her two months ago.”

Sherlock hummed, Rosie still petting his head.

“She’s not like Janine -- you actually want Molly. She’s not Irene -- you trust Molly.”

Sherlock mumbled something.

“What?”

Sherlock’s head popped up. “With my life, my body, my very soul if such a thing should exist. She matters most. She counts.”

John’s lips quirked up in the corner. “Yeah. And then Sherrinford…”

“I am quite wholly aware that I love Molly Hooper, John. It’s why I want this to go further. It’ll-it’ll mean something. For the first time.”

“Have you told her since then?”

The brief silence was answer enough. John nodded. “Well then that’s it.”

“Hmm?”

“You need to find it.”

“It?”

“Your courage,” John smiled softly. “You admitted you loved her under extreme, traumatic duress. Not ideal. But it is what it is. And what it is is terrifying.”

Sherlock held his gaze, not quite understanding.

“Look mate, Mary…” his voice caught on his wife’s name, his eyes sliding to their daughter who was peering at Sherlock in a very uncanny Mary-like way. “Mary said it first. She knew I loved her by our third month anniversary. She beat me to the punch, and what I never expected was the fear in her eyes right before she said it.”

“Fear?” Sherlock frowned. “Out of the two of you, Mary’s penchant for fear was far less likely than yours, army training notwithstanding.”

“Right. But Mary was like you, and affairs of the heart affect psychopathic geniuses differently than us poor mortals.” John fixed him with a knowing grin. “Mary was afraid of rejection, as anyone would be. But she did it anyway, like she always did.”

At this, Rosie slammed her little hands down on the table, demanding both men’s attention. “Mawee!” she crowed, proud to know her mother’s name.

They chuckled at her, Sherlock kissing her pudgy hand. “So I need to just… to just say it?”

“Well, don’t spring it on her like a booby trap or pop out of a cake with it,” John advised. “But yeah. Boiled down to its bare essentials, she’ll either return the sentiment and snog you silly, or she won’t.”

His friend blanched. “And if it’s the latter?” he whispered.

John smiles sadly. “Then you’ll at least know, and can begin to move on. But Sherlock?”

“Mm?”

He reached over, and in his awkward way, patted Sherlock’s hand. “It won’t be the latter.”

The men shared a look that only brother-in-arms and former flatmates would understand.

The look was was broken by Rosie clapping her hands and giggling madly. John tickled her belly. “Yes, all right, Miss Nibs, let’s treat ‘Lock to some chips.” He looked to Sherlock, who smiled gratefully. “This kind of battle needs a well-fed soldier.”

****

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

Sherlock was playing his violin when Molly arrived that night, a soft melody she had yet to hear. Possibly a new piece for his sister? He looked up as she came into the flat and dropped her bag and scarf on the coffee table. Hmm, she thought, the entire flat is spotless. He definitely wants to impress tonight.

“Hullo, Molly.”

She smiled at him. “Hi.”

He nodded to her yellow chair, still playing that light, tender song. She slid out of her flats and curled up into the chair, her oversized jumper pulled over her bent knees. As she settled in, she looked over the detective. He was so casually dressed, jeans and a white button up with sleeves rolled up, feet bare and warmed by the small fire in the hearth. Molly hugged herself, happy to see him so relaxed. He’d been through a lot since Sherrinford and their phone call. She too was still coming back to life from the ordeal and the knowledge of what happened on that horrible island and at Musgrave Hall. A particularly sweet note rang out, and she watched him feel it. Oh but she loved him. Doomed to, it seemed. Well, doomed might’ve been harsh -- destined sounded better.

The song ended as her ruminations did; she clapped quietly, smiling at him. He gave a small bow and set his violin aside, turning and gazing at her intently.

“Did you want me to order a takeaway?” she asked, curling her toes as he held that same searching gaze. “Maybe Chinese? My treat.”

“I love you.”

Molly froze. “Well, er, you got our cheque at Angelo’s, so this one is on me--”

“Molly Hooper.”

She stopped rambling, tears pricking at her eyes. “Sh-Sherlock Holmes.”

He came to kneel before her chair, his eyes still on hers. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”

She didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Sherlock’s hands, warm and sure, gently grasped hers. His pulse beat erratically under his skin, she could feel it match hers. Her heart was screaming, her mind refusing to remember the last time she’d heard him say it. When it’d been torn from him by his sister and her own pride. She simply stared at him, let his confession wash over her and through her like a sea breeze after a storm.

Sherlock slowly let her hands go, and he stood gingerly. John’s voice, so sure that Molly would requite Sherlock’s affection, taunted him in his mind. He cleared his throat, a curious and unfortunately familiar lump forming, and made for the kitchen, scrounging for the takeaway menus.

“Chinese, yes?” he called back to the quiet pathologist, his mouth working fast to fill the silence and not panic. "I’ll get it ordered. With rain imminent, it’s best to order now. You’re probably craving that house lo mein you like -- always are when you’ve worked in the lab, can’t figure out why though it isn’t exactly a mystery, probably just a chemical reaction to the, well, chemicals you’re working with that have you ravenous and craving sodium and carbohydrates and various proteins--”

He stopped abruptly at the feel of her small hand on his. He looked up and Molly’s cheeks were damp, tears slowly spilling down, but her eyes were kind, dark, and calm.

“I love you,” she said simply. “I love you, Sherlock.”

She came up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his, taking advantage of his relieved shock to -- as John Watson had predicted -- snog him silly.

****

The takeaway was never ordered, but the fresh-baked biscuits were consumed heartily.

The imminent rain arrived.

The tidy flat remained so, save for the shed clothing upon the bedroom floor of a consulting detective and his pathologist.

#sherlolly #sherlock holmes #molly hooper #john watson #rosie watson #mrs. hudson

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