Hey guys! So there's been some really solid tips posts circulating to help people prepare for the big winter storm coming in this weekend. I have wanted to share them for my followers, but I'm in a small pickle: My tumblr has been strictly PG since its inception and said posts contain some swears. I want to help without breaking this standard.
SO, my solution is I will share links to the three big posts that have been crossing my dash! If you are worried about the bad weather and want to be prepared, here are three great posts (some with multiple contributors) that can help you prepare and get through it safely!
Old and New Advice From Canadians (and Others)
Tips From a Southerner (and Guides for Dressing Warm and Detecting Hypothermia)
Miscellaneous Great Tips (Including Prepping Your House)
Fluffy FridaysâChapter 177: The Four Disappointments of Killian's Birthday
Fluffy FridaysâChapter 177: The Four Disappointments of Killian's Birthday
Summary:  A series of unrelated, fluffy one shots featuring Killian Jones and Emma Swan and the relationship that makes us all swoon. Will contain both canon and AU stories. My contribution to Operation Rainbow Kisses and Unicorn Stickers (aka, my attempt to drown out the season 4 finale angst with ridiculous levels of fluff.)
Other Chapters: (from the beginning) (previous chapter)
Tagging a few people who may be interested (Let me know if you want to be added or taken off the list): @sailormew4 @annaamell @flslp87 @emmateo26 @bethacaciakayÂ
@nickillian  @gillie  @britishguyslover @ginnyjinxedandhanshotritafirst @kmomof4
 @linda8084 @golfgirld @captain-swan-coffee @searchingwardrobes @hollyethecuriousÂ
@laughswaytoomuch  @allyourdarlingswans  @winterbaby89 @facesiousbutton82 @therooksshiningknightÂ
@lfh1226-linda @tiganasummertree @jrob64 Â @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv
 @i-will-sing-no-requiem @bluewildcatfanatic @laianely
(ao3)
January 26, 2019, around 4:00 pm
Emma cursed as she dropped the cake pan and then shook her burned hand as tears filled her eyes.
Everything was going wrong today. Everything.
It wasnât supposed to be like this. Last May, sheâd won the final battle, and the entire town had finally gotten their happy beginnings. She and Killian had taken a well deserved honeymoon, sailing the Jolly Roger down the coast and to the Caribbean. No new villains had shown up, no existential crises.
Wasnât their happy beginning life supposed to be perfect now?
Donât get her wrong. She was happy, happier than sheâd ever been. She had a husband she loved, a family, good friends, a strong community, and a town where the worst crisis she had to deal with was Doc disturbing the peace after one of his brothers crashed into his Miata. She wouldnât give up this life she and Killian had built for themselves for anything.
But into every lifeâeven the happiestâsometimes the rain would fall (or more appropriately, the snow). Today was one of those days.
Last fall, when Killian and her parents had planned and organized an elaborate, town-wide 32nd birthday party for her, something had occurred to Emma:Â In all the time theyâd known him, theyâd never had a birthday celebration for Killian.
The thought made her incredibly sad. After all heâd done for the town, after all heâd done for her, after all he meant to all of them, theyâd never even taken the time to ask him when his birthday was, let alone celebrate it.
That night, after the party as they lay cuddling in bed together, sheâd asked him about his birthdays, and his answer had only increased her sadness.
âI hardly remember my birthday anymore, Swan,â heâd said, his hand rubbing her back as he held her to him. âItâs been so long since I celebrated it, so long since anyone gave a damn about it, that even I forget to mark the day most years.â
It had taken some prompting from her, but in the end, sheâd gotten him to admit that heâd been born on January 26, 1781, and from that moment on, sheâd been planning itâthe most amazing 238th birthday party anyone had ever had.
Granted, it was probably the only 238th birthday party anyone had ever had, but that was entirely beside the point.
She and Henry had spent hours planning the partyâto be held at Grannyâs on his birthday night, with the whole town presentâa huge cake, gifts, his favorite meal, the rum flowing freely, the whole nine yards. Sheâd come up with some excuse to get him there that evening, and then everyone would jump up and yell âSurpriseâ
The only problem? She hadnât accounted for the fact that January was right smack-dab in the heart of a northeastern winter, and what tends to happen in the heart of a northeastern winter? Â
Snowstorms.
It was just her luck, that one of the biggest ones their area had seen in decades blew in the day before Killianâs birthday. What the rest of the Land Without Magic had named the storm, Emma neither knew nor cared, but theyâd christened the storm Winter Storm Ingridâfor obvious reasons. Theyâd been under a Winter Storm Warning, a Blizzard Warning, and a Cold Weather warning for nearly 48 hours by the time Killianâs birthday dawned cold and white.
She and Killian had been working nearly around the clock for the last two days, being the townâs only law enforcement. Oh her dad still stepped in to help out from time to time, but after heâd pulled a double shift, sheâd finally sent him back home to be with her mom and the kid while she and Killian soldiered on, responding to the endless calls to the sheriffâs stationâslide offs, small fires from faulty space heaters, the electricity failing, drunk and disorderly conduct. It was utter chaosâso much so, it made Ingridâs spell of shattered sight seem like a walk in the park.
Finally, at 11 am on Killianâs birthday morning, her dad had returned to the office with reinforcementsâall seven of the dwarfsâand absolutely insisted the two of them get some rest.
âWe got your back, sister!â Leroy said. âThis storm is nothing a little hard work and dwarf ingenuity canât handle!â
Theyâd returned exhausted to their house, only to find the second disappointment of Killianâs birthdayâthe freezing rain that had kicked the winter storm off had downed a powerline, leaving them utterly without powerâor heat.
Killian winked at her and made some over-the-top innuendos about ways they could keep each other warm, but in the end, they were both too tired to make good on any of them and had fallen fully clothed into bed, asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
When Emma awoke at 2 pm on Killianâs birthday afternoon, the third disappointment of Killianâs birthday became glaringly obvious. It was still bad out there. Really bad. Regina had just declared a level 3 travel restriction and warned that she would start throwing fireballs at anyone who was stupid enough to be out on the roads for anything less serious than a heart attack.
There was nothing for it. Killianâs birthday party would have to be cancelled.
It was quite a blow. All their hard work, all their planning, ruined. With the travel restriction, even Henry, who had spent the last few days at Reginaâs, would be prevented from celebrating with them.
Undaunted, Emma had decided to make the best of the far-from-optimal situation. Maybe they couldnât have a town-wide birthday party. Maybe they couldnât celebrate with their son or other family. Maybe they couldnât even leave their house until their next shift at the sheriffâs station, but they were together. They could have their own birthday celebration, right? She could whip up something for dinner and they could eat it and then cuddle in front of the fire.
And what was a birthday celebration without a cake? Granted, her culinary skills wereâŚ.less than gourmetâŚand baking would be made even more difficult by their lack of electricity, but she was resourceful! She had a fire, basic ingredients, a cake pan and the internet to search for no-oven cake recipes. She could do this!
Or so she thought.
Sheâd managed to mix cake ingredients and fashion a makeshift oven out of a dutch oven over the fire. All seemed to be going well until she noticed thick smoke seeping out of the pot. Sheâd pulled the whole concoction out of the fire, only to find not a fluffy vanilla cake, but a charred, black monstrosity.
And it was at that moment that she discovered the hitherto unbeknownst to her hole in her oven mitt.
So here she was, sitting back on her heels in front of the fire, her hand burning, tears of pain and frustration streaming down her face, finally ready to admit defeat.Â
âSwan?â Killian called in alarm, rushing to her side, âwhatâs wrong? Are you hurt?â
âNo,â she said, before looking down at her smarting appendage and amending her answer, âwell, technically yes. I did burn myself, but thatâs notâŚ.Killian, itâs ruined! Itâs all ruined!â
Killian helped her to her feet and over to the sink, where they discovered the fourth disappointment of Killianâs birthdayâgiven the fact they had well water, when the electricity was out, they didnât even have running water.
âCan this day get any worse?â she ground out.
Killian chuckled. âDonât tempt fate, Darling. Here, wait a moment, Iâll be right back.â She watched him step out the front door and gather a large pail full of fluffy, white snow before returning to her and placing her burned hand in the icy pile.
It felt good, so good against her burning skin, and she let out a quick sigh of relief before the tears started flowing again.
âKillian,â she said, âItâs your birthday, and I wanted everything to be so perfect for you. We planned a party, and then the blizzard happened. I was going to make you a cake, and thenâŚwellâ
She gestured aimlessly toward the dutch oven where her confection was still listlessly releasing wisps of smoke.
Killian glanced skeptically toward it. âThat was meant to be a cake?â
She glared at him, and he raised his hands in surrender.
âThe point is,â she continued, âI wanted you to have a birthday that made up for all the lonely ones in your past. Killian, you mean everything to meâto Henry, to our familyâand I wanted to do something to show you that.â
Killian kissed her softly, and when he pulled away, she saw tears in his eyes. âSwanâŚâ he swallowed hard, taking a moment to contain his emotions, âIâm honored and humbled. I donât need a fancy party. I donât need a cake. I donât need any of it, as long as youâre by my side, but the fact that you would go to such trouble just for meâŚI donât even have words.â
She leaned forward and kissed him hard, her non-injured hand coming up to pull him toward her. âYou really arenât disappointed?â
He chuckled. âDisappointed is the last word Iâd use. Swan, you are bloody brilliant. Amazing.â
âBut your partyâŚ.â
He waved her concern away. âItâs been a few centuries since my last birthday party. Postponing this one for a few days is no hardship. In the meantime, I have you all to myself on my birthday, and that is a delicacy far more enjoyable than even the most delectable cake. What say we dress your hand and then adjourn to our bedroom where I can properly express my gratitude.â
Notes:
âSurprise, Iâm back! I donât even know how long itâs been since I last added to this collection, but one of my New Yearâs resolutions was to write at least 2500 words per week. (I have spectacularly failed pretty much all monthâŚbut the year is still young!)
âIf you live in the United States, you probably are well aware of where I got the idea for this fic. Last weekend, a powerful winter storm slammed a good 40 states, leaving devastation in its wake. Luckily my area didnât have the freezing rain or the power outages, but we did get a lot of snow, followed by bitter cold, all of which trapped me in my house for a good 4 days. What better way to spend the time than to make my favorite fictional pair suffer the way I was suffering.
âAdd to that the fact that Monday was Colin OâDonoghueâs birthday, and I had all the perfect ingredients for a Fluffy Friday fic! With regard to the date I came up with for the day of Killianâs birth, that required a bit of math. (Ew! math!) I decided Killian would physically be the same age as Colin, so I figured out the year Colin was born and subtracted 200 years.  As to â238â--Colin was 38 in January of 2019, the winter after OUAT ended.
âUp next: Who knows what or when? Any suggestions? I could be persuaded to write a prompt that catches my fancy.
In your experience, whatâs the most snow youâve seen??
Sincerely a Texan
I think one year back in like 2017-2019, we got 3-4ish feet of snow
My brother was like 3, and it was over his head
But, it wasn't the most, but one year, my municipality cut down the tall ass snow markers on the fire hydrants bcuz they were high as shit, and then that winter it snowed over the cut down markers, so they put the tall ass ones right back
I have SO MANY snow stories, so please ask anytime
Rating: T
Pairing: Heero Yuy/Duo Maxwell
Wordcount: 1933
Summary: All Heero wants to do is go home to Duo, but instead, he's stranded in an airport during a snowstorm.
Read it here
There's a parsonage for a church that I go to(unwillingly) up my street, and recently, this like 24 year old guy has moved in there on what's basically a church pastor internship.
So I'm just looking out the window watching the snow in the less than 10 degree weather and this guy runs down the street in shorts, a T-shirt and a cowboy hat, waving a fucking american flag.