#wum

[wummuseo]

Bandai #caballerosdelzodiaco box #saintseya hiper figuration Parte 1, 12 cajas y box display en venta. #wum #tienda #juguete #toy #bandai #cdmx #mexico https://www.instagram.com/p/CpFDAo7OLrV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ptmyg-explainer]

Pills That Make You Green, commonly abbreviated PTMYG, is a webcomic about wimmin.

[bloodskinandteeth]

Bound, break, desire for Wylla and Yulia !

bound: Has your OC ever been imprisoned or captured? What happened? How did they get out? Did the experience leave any scars?

Wylla has never been imprisoned in a traditional sense, but as far as her marriage it was like living in a gilded cage. She was married off at the tender age of fifteen, at the insistence of her father, who wanted the favor of a wealthy lord. It was a marriage of duty, not love, but things were relatively harmless until Wylla was struggling to concieve. 

The lord’s frustrations were taken out on her physically until she managed to get pregnant, only to miscarry the child toward the end. Wylla had broke to news to her lord husband after they’d retired to their chambers for the night and a struggle ensued. The lord drew his dagger and left a gnarly wound that descended from Wylla’s left cheekbone and curved down into the edge of her lip. This terrible scar remains as a reminder of that night and remains with her the rest of her days. She did get out, however. No one but Wylla herself knows what happened that night, only that the lord himself was found by guards dead in the dirt, as if having fallen from the window in his tower.

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

There are a few moments where she has broken down completely. Leaving her home to be married to her lord husband, and her subsequent return after his death. Another being the death of her brother Harlan. None of which were quite so cosuming as recieving a raven in King’s Landing to tell her her home has been reduced to ashes with no known survivors. Often her grief must be quite well hidden, having been taught to keep her composure as a lady should, however this tragedy had Wylla’s wailing echoing the halls. The only people who have ever seen her in such a state are her handmaidens, her mother and Aemond.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

Wylla, in her most idealistic desire, would want nothing more than to wed Aemond and live out their days together. She recognises this is a foolish fantasy, given they’re at war, and prays at the very. least they can make it out alive.

bound: Has your OC ever been imprisoned or captured? What happened? How did they get out? Did the experience leave any scars?

Similar to the previous answer, Yulia hasn't been captured or imprisoned in the traditional sense (at least not in the backstory i've created for her so far). However, she often finds herself in the presence - and under the authority of - vampires who are older and more powerful than herself. Being in this position various times since her turning means that the only way she's been able to survive thus far is by holding her tongue and playing her cards right. She has no physical scars but plenty of mental ones, especially after escaping the influence of her maker and her immortal 'brother'.

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

The death of her maker, for one, caused Yulia more pain than she could have imagined. Blood tears like rivers traveling down her cheeks and a dark hole within the soul she believed she no longer had. She can't quite remember the pain of turning after all those years, but she imagines it couldn't have been worse.

Outside of this, Yulia remains quite aloof. Time has numbed her to most tragedies, and breaking down often feels pointless after all she's endured. What is worth breaking down over when one can live forever? Few have seen her lows, vampire or human those who have are all dead now.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

After struggling for a long time to find meaning in her immortal existence, there is not much for Yulia to want for within her own life. She now often looks outwards for meaning and inspiration.

She's not very open about it, as fraternising with mortals is frowned upon, but Yulia desires more than anything to understand people and the world around her. She has a voracious apetite for knowledge and communication, to hear stories and philosophise with others; it's become her way of finding meaning in her long life as it's not a desire with a particular end goal.

[vega-and-me]

Zeds new word- Wum. 10/10.

[yumeyleo]

i just need to save this on its own post because damn

@gayest-squrrel

[dumbbitchhour]

taught a 61 year old man how to use premier pro today christ when will i leave this purgatory (warsaw)

[gender-euphowrya]

the dissonance between "ugh, no one wants to know about your sexual preferences, keep that to yourself" and the fact that "so do you like girls or boys then ?" is one of the first questions people ask me when they learn i'm trans

[lastamericanhero]

gum wim

[wordy-little-witch]

Incorrect quotes bc I need some dopamine-

It's long and this is a mix of shit I've heard in my life, random scenes my brain conjures up, and the result of a ridiculous amount of cold medicine.

Roger pirates edition!!!!

Roger: hey buglet, what have you got there?

Buggy: a bomb! :o3

Roger: .... ah. Seems like something a responsible parent would never let their child play with.

Buggy: :o(

Roger: good thing I'm a captain!

Buggy: :oD

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shanks: Bugs?

Buggy: what?

Shanks: would you love me if I was a worm?

Buggy: .... hmmm....

Shanks: you have to think about it?!??

Buggy: well duh! We're pirates! We're on a pirate ship, dumbass! How would I keep a worm alive, let alone happy and safe, on a pirate ship?? Not to mention all the different species of worms! What kind of worm would you be?? What kind of care would you need? It's a big question- *goes on a tangent about worms, worm care, and is slowly working himself into a panic*

Shanks, who just heard a landlocked girl ask her boyfriend it and wanted to ask buggy bc he thought it would annoy him: .... a h

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: .... what do you have there, Captain?

Roger, holding a baby in a treasure chest and another, smaller baby in his sash: an ADVENTURE!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Gabban, trying to teach the kids their numbers: one~ twoo~ threeee~

Shanks: t'wee!!!

Gabban: right! And what comes after three? Do you know, Buggy?

Buggy, with the confidence of a pirate toddler: FUCK!!

Gabban:

Rayleigh, appearing out of thin air, menacing smile in place: :)

Gabban: :/

Buggy and Shanks: :D fuck fuck fuck!!!

Rayleigh: remind me to kill Roger later, please.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Crocus: alright boys. Let's work on that math, okay? So, Bug, if you had seven treasure chests-

Buggy: yesss!!!

Crocus: focus! Seven treasure chests. Now Shanks asks for three of them. How many treasure chests would you have left?

Buggy: seven.

Crocus: no, Shanks asked for three of them.

Shanks: it's okay, Buggy, you can keep your treasure!

Crocus: no- I- okay, Buggy has seven chests. I ask for three of them. How many do you have left?

Buggy: seven.

Crocus: okay, I'm not asking, I am taking the three treasure chests by force. How many do you have now.

Buggy: seven and a corpse.

Crocus: .....

Shanks: ......

Buggy: ......

Crocus: ................ is this why Rayleigh made math time my job

Buggy: probably. I bit him last time.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Whitebeard: Roger! I never expected you to take on children! Taking a page from my book, are you?

Roger: something like that hahaha! Eddie, meet my brats! This redhead here is Shanks, he's a tough little cookie.

Shanks: hi!!

Roger: and the bluebelle here is Buggy. He's my little cupcake!!

Whitebeard: aw, because he's small and sweet?

Roger, smiling widely: no, because cupcakes can easily contain many varieties of mortal harm, I have learned, and he is small, cute and deadly.

Buggy, pouting: it was one time!!

Roger: three times, and that's not counting that one time with Garp and the arsenic

Buggy: >:o/

Whitebeard:

The Whitebeard pirates:

Roger: isn't he the cutest??

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Marco: GET YOUR FUCKIN CLOWN-

Shanks: he don't bite

Marco, trying desperately to shake Buggy off of his leg: YES HE DO, HELP-

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, 3 years old, slams his sippy cup onto the table top: I need a dwink.

Sunbell, trying not to laugh: aw, what's up, little man?

Buggy: S'anks is twyin' my patience. Gimme da good stuffs.

Sunbell: okay. Apple juice or-

Buggy: wum.

Sunbell:

Buggy:

Sunbell: baby bug, rum is for grown ups. How about some milk?

Buggy: no. Papa Rayray has wum when cap'in is being extra dumb. And S'anks is being extra EXTRA dumb ri' now. I need wum.

Sunbell: ...... alright then-

((He does not in face give Buggy rum, but he DOES make a point of saving a small rum bottle to fill with cranberry juice for future reference.))

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: hey, buddy, what's wrong?

Buggy: I have a headache that comes and goes.

Ray: aw, here, let's go to Crocus-

Shanks: hi, Buggy!!

Buggy: there it is.

Rayleigh: ..... yeah Crocus can't help with that.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, laying on the deck at 3 in the morning:

Roger: bugababy, what are you doing up?

Buggy: what is the point of life, if not only to suffer? What is the purpose of being here if it's all a cyclical preordained destiny of agony and heartache? Why would the Spirits see fit to put us into this hellscape if not for their own sick amusement-?

Roger: Buggy, is this because Shanks ate your gummy worms?

Buggy: that red haired fucker knew they were mine-!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shanks: hey, Captain? How does one confess their undying love to someone?

Roger: just because I'm with Rouge doesn't mean I know how it happened, son.

MEANWHILE

Buggy: hey, mom?

Rouge: yes, ma fleur?

Buggy: I think Shanks is in love with me.

Rouge: neat. Do you love him too?

Buggy: unfortunately.

Rouge: nice.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: I didn't choose parent life. Parent life came to me, mid-drink, in the form of an unhinged adult man, and then expanded further with the addition of two tiny humans.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Roger, with Shanks in a front facing baby carrier: you know what's cute than one baby?

Random pirate enemy, trying to figure out why this man showed up to a fight with a baby:

Roger, turning to show Buggy in a carrier on his back: two babies!!!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy @ Garp: were it not for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered you.

Gabban:

Shanks:

Rayleigh:

Roger: I mean.... we're pirates, so laws-

Garp, sweating, who just set down a draw 4 in Oro Uno: No, kid's right, gotta listen to the law

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: I have no fear

Shanks, pale and shaking: Buggy hasn't slept in two days he's making bombs

Rayleigh: I have several fears.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Sengoku: Garp, you've been acting strange ever since you came back from your last excursion.

Garp: no i haven't.

Sengoku: you just leveled a circus tent after seeing a bunch of clowns.

Garp, having flashbacks to being bitten by a tiny clown, thousand yard stare: their joyful levity is a lie

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy: if I had a nickel for every time I had a traumatic experience on this damn crew, I'd have enough to pay for my therapy bills.

Shanks: if I had a nickel for every traumatizing experience I had here, I'd have enough to pay for my drinking problem.

Gabban, looking at the 11 year olds: .... maybe pirates aren't built for being parents.......

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Whitebeard: I fear no man.

Also Whitebeard, thinking on that first time he interacted with Buggy one on one: but that thing..... it scares me.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

BONUS CROSS GUILD CONTENT

Buggy: it's hard being Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Cover Girl, but a bitch makes due

Crocodile: how did you survive this far

Buggy: I may have had rabies

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Mihawk: why does Shanks huddle in a corner when someone plays circus music

Buggy: bullseyes are red.

Mihawk: what does that have to do with-

Buggy: throws a knife and hits dead center of an apple, some unknown source playing circus music in the background

Mihawk:

Buggy:

Mihawk: this explain so much and yet so little

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Crocodile: have you been sneaking money

Buggy: I would love to do that, but unfortunately the clap of my big dumpy cheeks would alert you to my hiding place.

Mihawk, fighting a migraine: do you ever think before you speak

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy: hey, want a card reading?

Crocodile: a what

Mihawk: you read cards?

Buggy, laying a card down: oh, look it's a Caterpie.

Croc+Hawk:

Buggy: I means you're a douchebag.

((Buggy does in fact read tarot cards, smth he and Mihawk eventually bond over))

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, after almost dying part 2847164917: no mister reaper we have to stop meeting like this....

The guy who just shot him with seastone: what the fu-

[cupcakeslushie]

Why does Raphie have a shock collar and not Donnie? (Ur infecting me w the au brain worms,,,,)

Haha the wums.

It’s mostly because Donnie has never really given the Kraang too much trouble, except maybe being too slow to produce tech. And in that case they find hurting Raph makes Donnie compliant enough. Raph can react violently out of nowhere, so he needs a more instant form of discipline. But…the implant to link Donnie to the hive mind can deliver a shock if they need. The Kraang would only use it infrequently and as a last resort, due to the danger of it damaging Donnie’s brain.

[age-of-play-i-say]

Give a Peanut a Cookie . . .

daddy??

Yes, Peanut?

you said da cookie would make me all happy and lil but you didn't sayyy it make my peepee hard!! Hmph!

Ohh, poor baby! Is your brain leaking into your training undies? Come here, let's do a dryness check.

daddyyy! no wan check!!! need touchies!!

We'll start with a check and see just how much Peanut needs their tingly touchies, okay? I want to make sure I didn't give you too much. Come here, baby.

neeeed it, daddy, need it bad!!

I know you think so, but I'll be the judge of--Oh, wow, Peanut! You're soaked and-- Oh! You like that? I can feel you do, you're twitching for daddy. Oh my god, Peanut, are you coming already?

hahh hhhh hh, daddy!!!! ahhnn mmmm needed it so bad, daddy, so so bad. mmm, feels so sleepy an wum!!

That's right, Peanut, come sit in Daddy's lap, that was a big load for a baby like you! Maybe a lower dose cookie next time for baby hours hmm? No worries, baby, sweet dreams 😘🤍

[wummuseo]

Sofubi de #milmascaras Japonés de la marca #marusan #japon en venta. #wum #juguete #luchador #tienda #toy #cdmx #mexico #sofubi #luchalibre https://www.instagram.com/p/CpEln_BNq9w/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Paws, Feathers & Scales

Mausritter, by Losing Games.

It’s a huge and dangerous world out there, and it does not look kindly on a small mouse. But if you are very brave and very clever and just a bit lucky, you might be able to survive. And if you survive long enough, you might even become a hero amongst mice.

Take up the sword and don the whiskers of a brave mouse adventurer in Mausritter, a rules-light fantasy adventure roleplaying game. Mausritter is built on the chassis of Into the Odd, with new rules for setting, character generation, magical artefacts, and mouse-scale adventures.

Mausritter is a game that makes character creation deceptively simple - your little mouse doesn’t have much to them, but that’s because they’re small creatures in a much larger world. It’s very easy to kill your mouse, which means that your team is going to have to focus on solving a lot of problems without diving head-first into combat. This is a game built off of other games that are OSR, which has a lot of ties to dungeon-delving kinds of games. There’s an online character generator if you want a character fast, and a seriously gigantic amount of third-party content created for these little adventurers. If you like creating and solving challenges more than diving head-first into combat, you should absolutely check this game out.

Cats of Catthulu, by Catthulu.

In Cats of Catthulhu, players take on the roles of a variety of ordinary-seeming cats fighting conspiracies of cosmic chaos. Mighty spirits such as Snarlyathotep, slimy Phatphroggua, and Hastpurr of the Yellow Eye inspire their cultists to destroy civilization-but that’s where all the comfy furniture is! 

One person acts as the Cat Herder, arranging the secret plots, challenges, and rewards and guiding the others through the process of making an adventure. Rules are light and quick, emphasizing player cleverness and the fun of being feline. There’s plenty of darkness and chaos in the world, but our fuzzy heroes can handle it!... Usually.

This game is perfect for players who don’t want to deal with math, because cats can’t do math either! Normally you play using special cat dice, but using regular d6’s will work just fine. Your cats will dive into situations that have a Lovecraftian twist, but aren’t too scary for children. On top of rolling dice to determine whether you succeed, there are a few optional rules that add to the goofy feel of the game - particularly the rule of Wum Fing, which states that if a cat character picks up something in game, the player must put their pencil in their mouth and speak around it. If the player gets annoyed and takes the pencil out of their mouth, the cat drops what they are holding.

You only really need the Nekonomikon to play, but Cat Herders might benefit from picking up the Cat Herder’s Guide.

Capybara Capers, by momatoes.

A super elite team of capybaras has been assembled to steal the mythical Awesome Lemon once and for all. But each of you have your own motives...and there may very well be a traitor in your midst. Can you afford to trust one another?

Capybara Capers offers a smooth, seamless tabletop RPG experience for playing a criminal critter, with mechanics for sharing trust, escalating rolls, and even individual win conditions. Ideal for 3-6 players, plus a Game Master!

Each character has their own idea of what victory looks like. There are up to 6 unique Win Conditions that your character may draw from the deck - from gaining the trust of all of the other players, to betraying the rest of the capybaras. Characters also descriptors that will add dice to relevant rolls, in order to increase their chances of success. Throughout the game, players may exchange Trust tokens to give each-other aid or remove Escalation Tokens, which are added whenever the group fails three or more consecutive tasks in a row. If you like wacky hi-jinx and the possibility to betray your friends, Capybara Capers is for you!

Pugmire, by Onyx Path Publishing.

“Be a good dog. Protect your home. Be loyal to those who are true. These are the words of the Code of Man.”

— Sister Picassa Collie, Shepherd of the Church of Man

Dogs have inherited the world, building the kingdom of Pugmire untold centuries after the Ages of Man are over. These dogs have been uplifted to use tools and language, and they seek to rediscover the ruins of the Old Ones. Some have learned to use the leftover technology of humanity, but they believe it to be magic handed to them by their lost gods. Others seek to create an ideal civilization, using a Code of Man compiled from ancient, fragmentary lore left behind by humanity. The world is dangerous and mysterious, but good dogs will persevere.

Pugmire uses a simplified version of 5e, which makes it great for kids or first-timers to the RPG scene. You may clear the forest of Giant Ants, foil the plots of scheming cats, or race rat cultists from the Cult of Labo Tor in order to retrieve a ruin from an artifact. As adventurers, all of your endeavours serve to fulfill your over-arching goal: to become Very Good Dogs. For players, the core rulebook for Pugmire is free as a phone version on DriveThruRpg. For cat lovers, you can instead play in the scheming Monarchies of Mau, if that is what your heart desires.

Crustacean Bus Station, by kumada1 (Sprinting Owl).

You are a crab.

You live in a tidepool community with other crabs. However, your crab factory job is at the other end of the beach. To get there, you must traverse dangerous terrain, evade seagulls and seals and morays, and wear yourself out scrambling over barnacle-covered rocks. This commute would be so much easier if you had a bus.

Unfortunately, crab bus stops are banned by seal civic ordinances. Crabs are rejected from the prestigious Seagull School Of Engineering. And Moray Refreshments, your factory job, is very strict about attendance. Miss even a few minutes of your shift and you risk having your pay docked---which will put you behind on your rent and give Octopus Realty all the incentive it needs to start processing evictions.Tonight, you're going to build your own bus with nothing but pincers and theft.

Buckle up and ready your pincers, because this is a game full of crime and creativity. You’re playing the underdogs, crabs with only a few hit points and a lot of obstacles in the way of building your bus. Each character gets something called a Scuttle Score, which acts as player currency in order to get out of a terrible situation. However, if you Scuttle out of a situation, it makes the situation worse for your friends! Will you leave them behind, or will you stick it out and solve your problems together? 

Geese at the Beach, by Justin Joyce.

THE GOOSE KING HAS AWOKEN.  The annual event has arrived, in which the Goose King rises and sends his most powerful Geese soldiers to the dangerous lands of The Beach to gather Shiny things for his most powerful Horde. Perhaps he simply wants as much treasure as possible, or perhaps he yearns for the greatest treasure of all. 

Regardless of his wants, it is on you and your squad of geese to brave the horrors of The Beach and battle the Goose King's enemies to bring the king what he desires most: Shinies. If the Goose King's wants are not met, the risk of all out war between The Goose King and the Seagull Armada could threaten to drown the world. 

This game picks up a lot of cues from Belonging Outside Belonging games, which don’t usually use dice. This game uses 2d8, but much of your character abilities rely not on dice, but on the Favors you gain by doing certain actions. Players choose from five Goose playbooks: The Buff Goose, The Duck, The Pelican, The Cat, and the Fish. Each one of these playbooks is hilarious and guaranteed to elicit a game full of laughter. 

Wanderhome, by Possum Creek Games.

Wanderhome is a pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way the seasons change. It is a game filled with grassy fields, mossy shrines, herds of chubby bumblebees, opossums in sundresses, salamanders with suspenders, starry night skies, and the most beautiful sunsets you can imagine.

You might be a tamarin who dances with small and forgotten gods, a leporine mail carrier who relies on moths to get packages where they belong, a little lizard with a big heart and a mysterious past, or a near-endless number of other thrilling possibilities. No matter what, we’re always travelers—animal-folk who go from village to village and get to see the length and breadth of all the world of Hæth. The seasons will change as we play, and we will change with them.

Wanderhome is enchanting and endearing, and fundamentally encourages a different kind of roleplaying experience than you find in a traditional roleplaying game. Built on the Belonging Outside Belonging system, it requires absolutely no dice. Character sheets will give you the ability to describe the world around you, and encourage you to step into making mistakes in order to set your character up for successes down the road. If you are interested in stories about small critters travelling to pastoral locations and helping out the characters they find along the way, Wanderhome is definitely for you.

You can find both official and non-official Wanderhome supplements here.

[mindutme]

T’owal T’uesday #16

I really liked this post so I decided to translate it into T’owal! I should really update the font so I can make this look a little nicer.

First tweet: Pof k’ós e twus yul gwen su fán tso sú tsés ót í tsyén sú túl da tu k’eyen hú dá fén ts’af bon wan ikal htsts’

Quote retweet: Psil wum bus hú li ót máyol a hoh twít

The original tweets, as translated in the linked post, read:

I saw a piece of fabric? on the floor of my room so I went to pick it up but it was actually the moonlight that entered through the window lmao

1000 years ago this would have been a poem, not a tweet

Translation notes below!

One thing that was pretty convenient to translate was “fabric?”—the word pof in T’owal is usually used as an adverb to mean “maybe” or “possibly,” but in this case is used as an adjective to modify k’ós “cloth,” making pof k’ós “a possible cloth.” The unmarked word order would be k’ós pof and it would come later in the sentence, but moving the object to the beginning emphasizes it, and putting pof first further emphasizes the uncertainty.

On the note of the question mark, I didn’t write any punctuation in the image. I’m not sure why, really, other than that it felt more internet-ish. I don’t speak Japanese so I don’t know if there are any similar orthographic shortcuts in the original tweets, but putting all the proper punctuation just didn’t feel right.

Something that was much trickier to translate than expected was “moonlight.” What I wanted was more like “a patch of moonlight,” and the closest I got was tyot ts’af tso fen ts’af bon wan ikal: literally, “an area lit by an instance of shining of the moon, going through the window.” Not nearly as awkward in T’owal as that translation, but I didn’t like the repeated ts’af (once for “lit” and once for “shining”). I even tried out a version tyot ts’af tso bon tsin ikal, “an area lit by the moon via/using the window.” I ended up with fén ts’af bon wan ikal, literally “an instance of shining of the moon, going through the window.” To me, fén ts’af bon reads a little more like “ray of moonlight” than the intended meaning, but I think simpler here is better.

“lmao” is translated as htsts’ which is actually only three letters in T’owal (ts and ts’ are one each). It’s an acronym of hah tsin ts’o, “laughing with the voice.” Yes, the T’owal word for “laugh” is hah—before the recent (and tbh still not set-in-stone) merger of /x/ and /h/ it was xax, which is at least not as obvious.

[mozukumi]

it's a wummer wum-derland

Phineas is going through a bout of seasonal depression. His friends are there to help him out.

1K words. Read on AO3 or under the readmore. Comments much appreciated!

Phineas doesn’t know when this winter got so bad for him.

It wasn’t a problem when he was younger. He had always preferred the summer, but he didn’t hate winter or anything. He would still make the most of every single possible day.

Last year, though, things started to change. He doesn’t remember when it started then, either, but he began to feel a lot more lethargic and depressed during that winter. He didn’t think much of it, though. He was in his first year of high school - it was only natural for him to have been a bit moody, wasn’t it?

He didn’t think it was going to happen again this winter. It started out great, after all! He began December by celebrating Hanukkah with the Garcia-Shapiro family, which he greatly enjoyed. Next were his final exams for the semester, which… yeah, those weren’t fun, but it was a necessary evil. That finally led to the roughly 14 days of winter vacation which fell between Christmas and New Year’s – each of which were the best day ever.

The change had to have happened sometime in January, then. That’s the logical explanation. But he can’t remember when it started; maybe this wasn’t the sort of thing which started, instead being a gradual decline.

He supposes it doesn’t really matter how he got here, exactly. What does matter is this: it’s a Saturday morning in February and he doesn’t want to do anything.

He can barely believe himself. The whole day is ahead of him, just waiting to be seized! Yet he’s still wasting away in his bed. And that sort of thing is fine every once-in-a-while (the do-nothing day is a yearly tradition he quite enjoys). But it’s not like he’s choosing to relax and take it slow. He desperately wants to carpe his diem.

But he just can’t do it.

He’s snapped out of his wallowing by a knock at the door. It’s Ferb, peeking his head in. An is eyebrow raised and a question is implied: what are we gonna do today?

“Sorry, Ferb, I’m - I’m not really feeling up to anything today,” he admits. And he hates himself for it, because he really should just push through this. All of his friends were available to hang out today - and with their busy high school schedules, that was getting so much rarer. He wishes he could take advantage of it.

Ferb nods, then walks over to his bedside. He tilts his head ever-so-slightly, and if Phineas is reading his body language correctly…

“You’re right, it has been a rough couple of weeks for me,” he says. “Not like anything happened, it’s just, ah…”

“You’ve got a case of the winter blues?” Ferb suggests.

“Yeah, I guess that’s right,” Phineas says. “I don’t want to keep you - say hi to the gang for me, okay?”

Ferb gives him a thumbs up, although Phineas didn’t need any confirmation from his brother. A reminder that he could count on Ferb was like a reminder that water was wet: completely unnecessary.

-

A couple of hours later, his phone began to ring. It was one of his customized ringtones – a 8-bit version of Gitchee Gitchee Goo – which meant the caller was…

“Isabella,” he says, hoping he didn’t sound too groggy. He had just woken up from his nap minutes earlier. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m good! But I was really calling to ask about you. Are you feeling well enough to come down to the backyard for a few minutes?”

He thought about it. He was feeling a little bit better. Not enough to participate in a Big Idea, but well enough that he could come say hi and see what his friends were working on. “Yes, yes I am. I’ll get changed into my snowgear-”

“No need,” she interrupts, her tone a bit forced. “It’s… it’ll be fine! You don’t need to get out of your pajamas. Just come on down.”

“If you insist,” he says. He’s sure it’ll make sense soon. “I’ll be there soon.”

With that, he hangs up his phone and makes his way downstairs. It isn’t a long trek, but it’s just enough time to make him consider what the gang is up to. It can’t be anything open to the general public, since they told him not to bother changing. So it had to be a more personal project.

By the time he reaches that conclusion, he’s already at the front door. He steps out into the backyard, and -

It’s warm and it’s sunny.

That’s the first thing he notices. After all these months of overcast weather, the feeling of heat on his skin was almost alien. There was still snow on the ground, but it didn’t freeze his bare feet. Instead, it was just pleasantly cold. All around him, his friends begin to sing a familiar tune:

It’s a Wummer Wum-derland Unusual and grand Yeah, it’s anything but bland Because it’s Wummer (Bum bum, bum bum) Talkin’ ‘bout Wummer (Bum bum, bum bum) It’s so Wummer (Bum bum, bum bum)

Their cheer is infectious, and pretty soon Phineas is grinning from cheek to cheek. His eyes begin to water. “You guys, this is so… you’re the best friends ever, you know that?”

“Yeah, I am pretty aweso-”

“Do not ruin this moment, Buford,” Baljeet says under his breath, but Phineas can still very clearly hear him. Did he think he was being discreet…? Well, he’s not going to point that out.

“You always do all this amazing stuff for us, Phineas,” Isabella says, her voice soft. “Like, it’s pretty ridiculous how much you do. And I love- I mean, we love all that you do for us. But we want to take care of you too sometimes.”

“Since light therapy is an effective treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder, Buford proposed that we rework a classic idea in order to cheer you up,” Baljeet says.

“Wait, Buford?

“Hey, I was at S’Winter! It was a non-speaking cameo, but I was still there!”

Phineas decides to not ask any clarifying questions - Buford said stuff like that all the time. Better to let it pass.

“Thank you,” he says, and it’s really not enough. The two words are hardly enough to express his gratitude at the gesture. But for now, it’ll have to do.