Welcome to Our Substack!

(We Promise to (Almost) Never Flop)

NOVEMBER IS HERE!
(aka: Life after the Halloween sugar overdose)

We’ve officially fired up the grill—uh, we mean launched our Substack! 🎉

From now on, this will be your cozy little corner for monthly updates (we’re aiming for at least once a month—because let’s be honest, adult life sometimes eats us alive). Here we’ll share news, fun facts, deeper dives into our Instagram posts... and maybe even a few personal tidbits about Nyx and Seika, so you can judge us accordingly.

November is that hinge-month that waves goodbye to the spooktacular chaos of October (and those costumes that mysteriously shrank) and pushes us headfirst into the festive overload of December. The air should be getting cooler (unless climate change decides to troll us again with another heatwave, thanks a lot), and nature starts to wind down—much like our motivation to leave the house.

Symbolically, it’s the decline before the rebirth, or the twilight before your aunt asks if you’re seeing anyone yet. Pure poetry.

In many countries, November is a time of remembrance — we honor those who’ve passed on (and conveniently use it as an excuse to inhale every possible sweet from All Saints’ Day).
In Japan, though, the mood gets softer: there’s Shichi-Go-San, celebrating children’s growth (and their cute kimonos), and Momijigari, the national sport of leaf-peeping — best enjoyed with a thermos of tea, a blanket, and the noble commitment to doing absolutely nothing else.

And then, the Christmas lights start popping up! Yes, those lights that appear in early November because some people have been living in full Mariah Carey mode since August. If you’ve already put up your tree, confess — we’re judging you (lovingly… but still judging).

Writers, brace yourselves: it’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) — the wild challenge of writing a whole novel in 30 days. Respect to the brave souls who actually hit 50,000 words… and to those who don’t, hey, at least you’ve got some spectacular eye bags to show for it.

And as if that weren’t enough… it’s Seika’s birthday month! Ta-da! Born right on Pocky’s Day — bonus points if you can guess the date.

Speaking of sweets — Elias loves spoiling his beloved Domini. And since our favorite omega is basically a walking craving (and Eli’s the definition of a devoted malewife), today we’re sharing a recipe that combines love, chocolate, and dangerously high levels of cuteness: Kitten Gâteau au Chocolat.
(Because Dom is his “kitten.” And Elias? He takes that way too literally.)

What You’ll Need

• An oven (obviously)

• One large bowl and one smaller bowl

• A spatula

• A whisk

• A spoon

• 7 cat-shaped molds (paper or metal)

The molds we used are 1.5 cm deep, 7.7 cm wide, and 5.5 cm long.

Ingredients:

For the gâteau au chocolat mix:

• Wheat flour – 20 g

• Pure cocoa powder – 15 g

• Powdered sugar – 20 g

• Ground almonds* – 5 g

• Salt – a pinch (approx. 0.5 g)

• Large egg (L) – 1

• Milk – 30 ml (2 tablespoons)

• Butter (or margarine) – 50 g

• Melting chocolate – 40 g

• White Decopen (Coating pens) – 10 g

*You can use cornstarch instead for a more delicate texture, or mix both—just keep the total at 5 g.

Instructions:

1. Melt the chocolate

   Pour hot water (around 50 °C / 122 °F) into a large bowl, then place a smaller bowl inside—make sure no water gets in. Add the chocolate and butter, stirring slowly with a spatula until everything’s smooth and melted together.

2. Make the batter

   Use the same large bowl (dump the water and dry it first). Crack in the egg and whisk it lightly. Add the gâteau au chocolat mix and milk, then stir with the spatula—don’t use a whisk, or it’ll get all stuck. Mix for about a minute until everything’s fully combined.

3. Add more chocolate

   Fold in the remaining chocolate and mix gently until smooth.

4. Fill the molds

   Spoon the mixture into your molds. If yours are the same size as ours, 2–3 tablespoons per mold should do it. Adjust if yours are bigger or smaller, but leave a little space for the cakes to rise.

5. Bake

   Preheat your oven to 160 °C (320 °F) and bake for 15–18 minutes.

6. Prepare the decoration

   While they’re baking, warm the Decopen by placing it in a cup of hot water. (Careful not to burn yourself!)

7. Decorate and enjoy

   If all went well, it’s time to decorate your kitty cakes and dig in.

Here’s how ours turned out (proof that miracles do exist).

We hope yours turn out so good they make you forget your worries. And if you’ve got any questions, ask away! We’re here to lovingly sabotage your diet.

And yes, here’s your bonus track: a picture of our favorite grumpy malewife himself. Enjoy the view.

Elías, our grumpy sweetheart.

And remember: November is for slowing down, eating sweets, and admiring autumn leaves (as long as it’s not too cold).
Do all of that — but preferably with a chocolate kitten in hand.

That’s all from us for this lovely in-between month.
Thanks for reading, for laughing with us, and for being here. May your projects move forward, and your mugs of tea never go empty.

See you in December!

— Nyx & Seika (still fighting November laziness)